Boehner calls for firing of Obama’s economic team
Boehner is grandstanding here, IMHO.
Not gonna happen—although if they had any integrity, they would have voluntarily resigned long ago.
And even if it did happen—who would replace them? I can’t imagine it would be an improvement. No, the fish rots from the head.
Frankly, I would much prefer Obama make his decisions independently of his advisers. Take way we would get to see how the media would spin his disasters as miracles.
Hey, if the ship is sinking you can either cry hysterically or tell jokes.
It would be good to see the Obama economic team gone. Although I would much prefer the tall tree/short rope approach.
However if the Republicans win control of one or both houses in November and began a series of hearings about administration officials they will serve the nation’s interest poorly. And they will have insured a comeback by the Dems.
They should pass a budget demanding a real reduction of 5%/year in the Federal Budget as a percentage of GDP for the next ten years. Pass a law requiring a 10%/year reduction for the next 5 years in the regulations on the books of the various federal agencies. And finally demand, with the exception of the DoD, there be a 5%/year reduction in the number of federal employees for the next ten years.
Having done that they should simply adjourn; go home; and stay there.
I think Boehner might be displaying good strategy here. The Dems have little in their quiver for the November elections. If the polls deteriate any further Obama could dump his finance team and turn it over to a group with plenty of private sector experience. I say ‘could’ as in a hail mary type of ‘could’. Not likely as if you’re going to lose, better to lose with your base. This hail mary means reaching for independents that voted for him that have dumped him. Again, highly risky but if Dem internals start showing a double digit blow out or worse they may feel they can’t do significantly worse.
Boehner putting this out there makes it less likely I think. Independents won’t care and might return to Obama but the base will be dismayed at O taking cues from the evil Boehner. It makes for a double whammy: not only would he abandon lefty economics, he’d be taking his ‘orders’ from the evil Republicans!
Upon re-reading my comment it occurs to me I haven’t been paying enough attention to your posts, neoneocon (and your great commenters). Obama’s probably incabable of admitting that the rubes have beaten him. After wagging his finger at us for 20 months he’s now going to say ‘shoot, I was wrong and you were right’? No way.
Obama needs to get rid of those clinging to taxes and socialism, then resign.
Boehner has a ready-made winning strategy: promise that the Republican Party will introduce legislation to return all unspent stimulus funds to the taxpayers. Veto that puppy, Buraq.
I disagree.
I think that from the president’s perspective, his team is doing a bang up job. Hugs and attaboys all around.
We continue to delude ourselves that Obama’s objectives are our objectives. They clearly are not.
Otherwise, in the wake of the disastrous news that trickles out daily on the scouring of our economic foundations, we would see the front lawn of the White House strewn with the mangled remains of a failed economic team.
That is clearly NOT happening. This is Cloward Piven on steroids.
The objective of this president is to utterly destroy the free enterprise system. The ‘producers’ are to be punished for the perceived subjugation of the ‘looters’. All past sin is to cleansed by redistribution and reparations.
The sooner we get that through our collective thick skulls the sooner we can get to work undoing the damage that has been done to our Republic.
I’m with turfmann on this. Baraq’s team is doing a great job as far as BHO is concerned.
I have grave, grave doubts about ANY Congress tackling the enormous financial issues of Medicare, Caid, Social Security, the Fannies, etc.. ‘Twill be much easier to cripple the recent grotesque enactments such as Obamacare, Federalization of student loans, and the like. Not repeal; crippling, with euthanasia to follow under a new POTUS.
A more vigorous slash in spending will not exactly be met with favor by the dependent class. Who will endure the pain? Only the brave, the resolute, who are a precious few. The Dependents may start burning and rioting. And the corrective governance will be thrown out two years later by the dependents.
The sheeple must be motivated in order to share the burden. Perhaps the best motivation will come from public hearings and trials, with severe punishments essential. Kinda like Nuremberg. Then the blame will have been correctly set, and the Great Undoing can begin.
Rectification must start soon, or it will be pointless to try-thanks to the effect of compound interest.
“…although if they had any integrity, they would have voluntarily resigned long ago.”
That kinda answers itself, doesn’t it?
I heard an interesting lecture from one of my former economics professors (who is pro-free market and anything but progressive) in which he claimed that the Obama administration’s economic team was definitely composed of bright, able, and creative minds. However, the professor recognized that the problem with any administration’s economic team is that they have very little political capital. Their job is to validate or speak on behalf of the executive branch’s political concerns, not to preach economic truth.
That being said, I agree with Neo that Boehner is blowing smoke. I don’t think it would matter much even if Obama brought in the finest promoters of free-market economics from academia or the business world. We’d probably still have Obamacare and massive deficits, and many more unemployed economists…
As it stands, the economic team is falling apart without any need for firings. Romer left, Orszag is gone…
Barack Obama entered office in the middle of a complete economic meltdown.
The consensus of economists is that the policies enacted since then have averted another depression.
What policies do people here think should have been implemented instead?
miss disey: there is no such consensus about Obama’s policies.
And if you really want an answer to your question, all you have to do is go to the right sidebar, click on the category “finance and economics,” and read the posts there and the comments to each post.