Obama's Jobs Speech

I will concede that I did not see Obama's speech. That said, he obviously faces two problems: (1) the GOP will seek to block him from accomplishing anything because those now in control of that party want the economy to tank for partisan purposes (they care nothing for families destroyed in the process), and (2) even many of those who supported him in 2008 no longer trust or believe him. It's a mess and frankly, I don't know what the solution will be. When one political party puts partisan advantage ahead of small businesses and families, it's the equivalent of dealing with terrorists. Rationality and the common good simply do not matter. The Daily Beast has gathered some reactions to the speech. Here's a sampling:

Howard Kurtz. Barack Obama looked forceful, almost angry, in his much-ballyhooed speech to Congress, pitching a plan that he promised would deliver a “jolt” to the nation’s sagging economy, and perhaps to his presidency as well.

But whether that happens depends in large measure on an aggressive White House plan to take the fight to the Republicans who have thwarted most of his agenda.

Yet Thursday’s address may not have much impact, and not just because it began at 4 p.m. on the West Coast since Obama was maneuvered into starting early before the NFL season kickoff. Many people are tired of this president’s speechifying, and with zero job growth last month, they want action, not words.


But the speech did what Obama has so often failed to do: lay down a marker against the opposition.

Harold Evans.Has Barack Obama found his inner Harry Truman?

The parallels are eerie. Truman in 1946 lost midterm elections, just as Obama did last fall. The Republicans took the House (their first time since 1930) and the Senate. Truman’s approval ratings tanked, falling much lower, at 32 percent, than Obama’s have done. Unemployment wasn’t the issue it is today, but inflation was just as scary, and one in 10 of the labor force went on strike in 1946.


Heading into 1948, Republicans were hungry to eat up the New Deal. For Robert Taft then, read Rick Perry today.

Truman brilliantly exploited that regressive attitude. He came up with new proposals—just as Obama has done with the American Jobs Act in his speech to the joint session of Congress. The Republicans became the party of No. Maybe they will do the same with Obama’s Jobs Act. And maybe Obama will do what Truman did.

Truman made the Republican Congress his whipping boy. He recalled it for a special session on July 26. “Out in Missouri,” he said, “we call it Turnip Day.” Taft, angry at being brought back into steaming Washington, duly fell into the Truman trap. He led the massacre of Truman’s Turnip Day proposals.

I'd love to see Obama repeat the Truman model, but I am not going to hold my breath. Time and time again he fails to go on the attack and lay blame where it principally belongs: at the feet of the GOP and the Tea Party.