16th July 2009, 11:01 PM
A tax hike on the rich might still happen, it IS still in the running to help pay for health care at least, I believe... and it was a campaign promise, so hopefully it will happen. The government needs all the help it can get after eight years of irresponsible tax cuts and spending increases under the Republicans.
Anyway... no, Obama hasn't been perfect. And yes, he did misjudge how bad the economy is, it seems, and the administration (or Joe Biden at least) has admitted that. I think he should be seriously thinking about a second stimulus, not dismissing it as he has done so far; while it is true that only a small amount of the first stimulus' money has been distributed, it's clear that things are worse than that bill thought (as people like Paul Krugman were saying, he was completely right on this, the stimulus was too small!) and thus more is needed.
... Of course the issue of how to pay for it is worrying long-term. But simply, when things are this bad, not spending makes things worse. That's one of the lessons of the Great Depression, some of the lowest lows were hit when governments got worried about spending and decided to cut spending on helping the economy... the results were disastrous. The current situation isn't quite that bad, but the lesson is similar. Government spending is a major way of trying to alleviate the worst effects of a recession or depression.
... Oh, and I know it won't happen, but America badly, badly needs universal health care... I wish Obama supported it too, so there'd be a strong advocate for it in congress, but sadly not. Not implementing it now would be a huge missed opportunity -- the simple fact that the government-run health plans we have are so popular and work (Medicare, Medicaid, etc) should show how well it could potentially work, how much better care would be, and how much money would be saved compared to our current system. However, even a lesser plan would be a huge, huge improvement over what we now have... expensive, yes. But worth it, and in other ways it actually cuts costs ,such as actually getting people to see doctors BEFORE they're in the emergency room and need expensive procedures that could have been averted with simply seeing a doctor more often.
Anyway... no, Obama hasn't been perfect. And yes, he did misjudge how bad the economy is, it seems, and the administration (or Joe Biden at least) has admitted that. I think he should be seriously thinking about a second stimulus, not dismissing it as he has done so far; while it is true that only a small amount of the first stimulus' money has been distributed, it's clear that things are worse than that bill thought (as people like Paul Krugman were saying, he was completely right on this, the stimulus was too small!) and thus more is needed.
... Of course the issue of how to pay for it is worrying long-term. But simply, when things are this bad, not spending makes things worse. That's one of the lessons of the Great Depression, some of the lowest lows were hit when governments got worried about spending and decided to cut spending on helping the economy... the results were disastrous. The current situation isn't quite that bad, but the lesson is similar. Government spending is a major way of trying to alleviate the worst effects of a recession or depression.
... Oh, and I know it won't happen, but America badly, badly needs universal health care... I wish Obama supported it too, so there'd be a strong advocate for it in congress, but sadly not. Not implementing it now would be a huge missed opportunity -- the simple fact that the government-run health plans we have are so popular and work (Medicare, Medicaid, etc) should show how well it could potentially work, how much better care would be, and how much money would be saved compared to our current system. However, even a lesser plan would be a huge, huge improvement over what we now have... expensive, yes. But worth it, and in other ways it actually cuts costs ,such as actually getting people to see doctors BEFORE they're in the emergency room and need expensive procedures that could have been averted with simply seeing a doctor more often.
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