Fisking the president, and a look back at 2008

Keith Hennessey takes a devastating axe to Obama's op-ed. Read it and weep.

I've become quite disappointed with the Democratic congress and Obama administration's handling of the economy. I'm convinced the situation would be measurably better if we had done a large payroll tax cut instead of the stimulus Christmas tree that has yet to kick in.

McCain and Palin know nothing of economics, which is part of why their campaign was incredibly pathetic. Yet were they in office, they'd be surrounded by advisors like Keith. This could potentially have outweighed their ignorance, if they listened well. But given how Democratic the congress is, much would turn on how they worked together. For all its flaws, the stimulus we have today is arguably better than nothing. Although its provisions have yet to kick in at a meaningful level, its psychological effect has been positive. Back in January, people needed to be reassured. Fear itself was a problem. People are less fearful now, and this is undoubtedly good. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know whether the interaction of McCain and a Democratic congress would have been better. I guesstimate 30-40% odds of being better.

The ideal political-economic situation would likely be Obama and a Republican congress. If I could swap this congress and administration out for Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Which brings me to evaluating my satisfaction with voting straight Democrat last election...

My vote for congress in '06 and '08 turned on my exasperation with Republicans' handling of non-economic issues. The blind and unrepentant support for an unjust war, lack of oversight on the Bush administration's crimes against humanity, expansion of executive power, disregard for the rule of law, their hostility to equal rights, and absurdities like the Terri Schiavo law were far too much to take. I regret the economic consequences of my vote, and am unlikely to vote Democrat in the future, but such Republican excesses gave me no choice for these past two cycles. It was the right call.

Obama vs. McCain on the economy feels close to a toss-up. As mentioned, the interaction of a well-advised McCain with a Democratic congress could have been better, but it also could have been worse. So I'm close to ambivalent on this. But Obama vs. McCain on everything other than the economy is a solid win for Obama. He hasn't moved to right the Bush administration's wrongs as swiftly as most of us hoped, but McCain was essentially running for Bush's third term and that's what nightmares are made of.

Hating politics

Wilkinson sums up my feelings of late:

God, I hate politics. It really does make people stupid, especially those whose tribe is out of power. When Sonia Sotomayor was nominated, I knew nothing relevant about her judicial philosophy or, much more importantly, about her actual record as a judge. You’d think you’d wait to learn something about this before saying something about her, but no. People just proceeded to go crazy on cue.

Like Damon Root , I’m in favor of libertarian judicial activism. But I know that Barack Obama is no libertarian, and I knew he wasn’t going to nominate Kozinski or Posner. Too bad! So I was hoping for a relatively centrist liberal who sees some merit in libertarian arguments, especially about the protection of economic rights. As far as I can tell, there is nothing especially worrying about Sotomayor. She’s obviously super-qualified. And from what I’ve read, she seems like a highly competent, fairly moderate liberal who sticks pretty close to the law (which nobody really likes when they don’t like the law!) and is perfectly willing to side with Republican-appointed judges when that seems to her the right thing to do. What are people going batshit crazy over? I don’t get it. And I really don’t get why many Republicans have taken this opportunity to reinforce the already widespread impression that they are morally odious morons. God, I hate politics.

Hence why my posting has died down—I'm not reading much political fare and don't know how soon I'll want to start again.

The last two cycles (2006, 2008) were exhilarating in a "throw the bums out" kind of way. And Obama was probably the most amazing presidential candidate ever, so following the primaries, general, and his first few months in office has been pretty interesting.

But I think the novelty has passed. He's The Man now—unlikely to foul things up nearly as badly as his predecessor—and covering the day-to-day insanity of the party out power is becoming repetitious.

Just remember Jane's Law:

The devotees of the party in power are smug and arrogant. The devotees of the party out of power are insane.

I'd say it's standing up pretty well, what with Democrats' new spend-o-rama and the right's lunatic flailings.

Meanwhile the WSJ wants Republicans to play grown up.  If only...