When You've Lost David Brooks...

A disillusioned David Brooks blasts Team Obama:

Obama Rejects Obamaism

By DAVID BROOKS

I’m a sap, a specific kind of sap. I’m an Obama Sap.

When the president said the unemployed couldn’t wait 14 more months for help and we had to do something right away, I believed him. When administration officials called around saying that the possibility of a double-dip recession was horrifyingly real and that it would be irresponsible not to come up with a package that could pass right away, I believed them.

I liked Obama’s payroll tax cut ideas and urged Republicans to play along. But of course I’m a sap. When the president unveiled the second half of his stimulus it became clear that this package has nothing to do with helping people right away or averting a double dip. This is a campaign marker, not a jobs bill.

It recycles ideas that couldn’t get passed even when Democrats controlled Congress. In his remarks Monday the president didn’t try to win Republicans to even some parts of his measures. He repeated the populist cries that fire up liberals but are designed to enrage moderates and conservatives.

...

This wasn’t a speech to get something done. This was the sort of speech that sounded better when Ted Kennedy was delivering it. The result is that we will get neither short-term stimulus nor long-term debt reduction anytime soon, and I’m a sap for thinking it was possible.

Yes, I’m a sap. I believed Obama when he said he wanted to move beyond the stale ideological debates that have paralyzed this country. I always believe that Obama is on the verge of breaking out of the conventional categories and embracing one of the many bipartisan reform packages that are floating around.

But remember, I’m a sap. The White House has clearly decided that in a town of intransigent Republicans and mean ideologues, it has to be mean and intransigent too. The president was stung by the liberal charge that he was outmaneuvered during the debt-ceiling fight. So the White House has moved away from the Reasonable Man approach or the centrist Clinton approach.

It has gone back, as an appreciative Ezra Klein of The Washington Post conceded, to politics as usual. The president is sounding like the Al Gore for President campaign, but without the earth tones. Tax increases for the rich! Protect entitlements! People versus the powerful! I was hoping the president would give a cynical nation something unconventional, but, as you know, I’m a sap.

I don't see Mr. Brooks climbing on the Rick Perry bandwagon, but he might be able to get behind Mitt Romney.  Let's hope he avoids a flirtation with Jon Huntsman, whose campaign message of "I'm The Republican Who Doesn't Like Republicans" has not yet caught fire.

Comments

[Jane]

He should just change parties. Or date Joe Scarborough. He's a disgrace.

[fdcol63]

No, Brooks. You're not a sap.

You're a STUPID sap.

[fdcol63]

And you can't fix STUPID.

[narciso]

No he's a cancer on the face of punditry.

[Captain Hate]

Brooks is a slightly more male Peggy Noonan,

[narciso]

He endorsed the nascent candidacy of John Thune, thus killing it with brutal efficiency.

[Westie]

Finally David Brooks writes about something he's expert about.

[Danube of Thought]

I hope those of us who've been calling him a sap for years can be forgiven a few smug victory laps.

[Jack is Back!]

Inversely, Brooks lost me in 2007. In fact, that was the same time I gave up my subscription to the Slimes. I was ahead of Rummy in tha regard. I do miss the Sunday crossword, though. Sigh.

[narciso]

Speaking of irrelevance, they had Granholm on Morning Joke, plugging her memoir, subtitle,
'Crush the Jobs, See them Driven before You,'

[Captain Hate]

Granholm's memoir? How Miss Jiffy Lube killed Michigan?

[narciso]

That's the general gist of it, in other news of irrelevance:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/09/20/2011-09-20_mr_prez_youre_too_upbeat_gotta_go_negative_say_experts.html

[Clarice]

I remember just before the inauguration George Will hosted at his home a dinner with "conservative" writers and the President after which they were nice to Obama for a long time. Besides George I remember Brooks and Krauthammer were in attendance and I think Peggy Noonan. This week they all came down harder on O than I recall them each doing ever before.

Just a footnote.

As for Brooks, I repeat my theory that the NYT blows some mind blowing stuff into the office of the resident"conservative" to make them particularly stupid and tractable.

[Extraneus]

I wonder what Brooks' target audience thinks of this.

Well, his story only has 11 comments (all of which are pretty verbose), so let me check...

This is representative:

The GOP has made it clear that they would rather keep the economy in the doldrums so that President Obams is less electable and that they have no interest in deficit reduction in reality, but only as slogan to beat the president with since they remain adamantly opposed to raising revenue to deal with the deficit.

Finally, Mr. Obama has made it clear that the Repbulican Party is a bought and paid for subsidiary of the Koch Brothers and their co-conspirators in the corporate world and on Wall Street. Virtually all Republicans in Congress have signed the Grover Norquist pledge of obsequiousness to the financial interests of the super rich.

I teach negoitations to law students and a basic principle is that when your opponents are not acting in good faith, act accordingly. Power is all they respond to.

Heh. Plus, they're all hung up on some editorial that ran Saturday, which told them that 81% of the American people support Obama's new tax policy.

[Gmax]

OK the one NYT conservative (who never has a conservative thought) is also now a self identified idiot. And I want to read this publication for exactly what purpose? Gosh if he just got out more, we were telling the dolt before the election that this was no moderate and no centrist. The need for prozac in the NYT conference rooms must have jumped dramatically recently, as it seems reality has finally set in.

[Jane]

I teach negoitations to law students and a basic principle is that when your opponents are not acting in good faith, act accordingly. Power is all they respond to.

No wonder my profession has such a lousy reputation. I bet you also teach them that it's okay to lie under oath if it's just about sex.

[Jim Ryan]

Granholm's record, according to a Michigan engineering prof.

[Ranger]

Well, RCP has a couple of choice items this morning that might help clarify things for Mr. Brooks.

Greece And The Crisis Of The Governing Elite

Europe’s governing elite – and those who believe in the superiority of government in the management of the economy – is in crisis. Their visions of a more just society and economic security are being shredded by the stark reality that the governments they run are running out of money.

And as to the claim that people want taxes raised, that is hard to square with this new Gallup poll:

Americans Say Federal Gov't Wastes Over Half of Every Dollar

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans estimate that the federal government wastes 51 cents of every dollar it spends, a new high in a Gallup trend question first asked in 1979.

I think Mr. Douthat (also in the NYT) has a clearer take:

President Obama has always shied away from putting his name on anything that 1) acknowledges the actual scale of our deficit problem and 2) takes on his party’s interest groups in any meaningful way. So why should we expect his election-year proposals to be any different?

[narciso]

And we wonder why W foundered with this crew:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mitt-romney-a-safe-choice-for-risky-times/2011/09/19/gIQAD7gagK_story.html

[fdcol63]

So, let's get this straight:

The GOP and Big Corporate America, who like nothing more than making oscene PROFITS at the expense of the lower and middle classes, is INTENTIONALLY sabotaging the economy and keeping the rest of America so POOR that they can't spend money on the goods and services sold by those evil rich Corporatists and their companies, just to keep Obama un-electable?

[Jim Ryan]

fdcol63, of course they are. Because they're beholden to their Tea Party fringe in making stipulations about raising the debt ceiling and in opposing tax increases during a recession and Porkulus II. And their Tea Party fringe is a bunch of Bible-thumping bigots who don't care about the debt one iota but only about the color of the president's skin and who are so stupid they don't know they're being controlled by the Koch brothers.

This is what we're dealing with. This is the Dem intelligentsia.

[A.Men]

Brooks --- you are a stupid sap with delusions of grandeur.

[Comanche Voter]

He fell in love with a pants crease; only to discover that the pants crease was the sharpest thing about Obama. You know, you go with the dull crayons in the box, you finally discover that you're a sap.

Way to wake up there Brooksie! Only took you three years.

[narciso]

On a half serious note; because of the Latma report

http://www.carolineglick.com/e/2011/09/where-was-tantawi-during-the-e.php

[narciso]

And in the 'unintentional' irony department:

http://live.washingtonpost.com/compost-live-0920.html

[donald]

Yep. To the whole getting things straight deal.

[MarkO]

Is David the son of Our Miss Brooks? Gullible understates his condition. High school girl seems more like it.

Unexpectedly, Obama plans to complain about the GOP. He’s been too nice. Well, while he is just not that smart, he certainly has shown himself to be thin-skinned and mean. With any luck, this narcissist might take down most of the Democrat party with him.

[Jim Ryan]

Brooks, Fall, 2012:

...So, as I write these words, well aware of the 17% unemployment rate and the destruction of the dollar, I cannot help but look at that beautiful black man on the screen and think, "Give him another chance! He can right the ship!" The Perry-McDonnell ticket represents an extreme version of conservatism that is out of touch with what Americans today want...[SNIP] And so debonair! The way he strode out to the podium at the convention, nobly bathing in the adoration, his lanky frame modeling perfectly an exquisite Italian suit....

[narciso]

You borrowed the Time Machine, again didn't you Jim?

[Extraneus]

I believe that's the idea, fd - and a devilishly clever plan it is. I myself am hoping against hope that the market drops another 500 today.

[fdcol63]

Yes, the Dems' diables du jour are the Koch brothers.

Remember how it used to be the Annenbergs?

But Dems realize that demonizing the Annenbergs today would bring up a lot of inconvenient questions about Obama and his ties to Bill Ayers and their collaboration in the Annenberg Challenge Project.

[fdcol63]

We all know that Corporations exist primarily to provide .... jobs. Right? LOL

And that unemployment benefits and welfare stimulate the economy. LOL

[narciso]

An example of the former, and included an explanation of how O'Sullivan's law works
in practice:

http://www.slate.com/id/2071870/

[Gmax]

Another round of Liar Liar Pants on Fire? Even the AP feels compelled to point out this whopper:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama makes it sound as if there are millionaires all over America paying taxes at lower rates than their secretaries.

"Middle-class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires," Obama said Monday. "That's pretty straightforward. It's hard to argue against that."

The data tell a different story. On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government.

There may be individual millionaires who pay taxes at rates lower than middle-income workers. In 2009, 1,470 households filed tax returns with incomes above $1 million yet paid no federal income tax, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That, however, was less than 1 percent of the nearly 237,000 returns with incomes above $1 million.

Just take the family on another vacation Zero, its seems to have a positive effect on your ratings. Out of sight and out of mind.

[Ignatz]

Behold the stupididty of Andrew Ross Sorkin explaining why guys worth hundreds of millions of dollars don't mind paying higher taxes on their relatively small salaries now that they've socked away their hundreds of millions, leaving unasked the question of whether guys making a bit over $200,000 feel the same way.

Read the article if for no other reason than Warren Buffet's cynical final non-explanation of why he doesn't give more to the Gov if he thinks it's such a great idea.

The Sorkin column was at Real Clear Markets which has too many good articles to link individually today. Have a look.

[narciso]

So, this story is getting out, somewhat:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/09/15/lightsquared-did-white-house-pressure-general-shelton-to-help-donor.html

[matt]

Barack Obama has lost just about the entire country. What a sad state of affairs.

At a time when we need to pull together, the man has unified us in our disgust with his sheer incompetence, venality, and leftist agenda.

He combines the worst personal qualities within an arrogant, thin skinned, robotic persona that in itself has become an affront.

Unfortunately, I have yet to see the grown ups walk on stage. Boehner maybe, but McConnell is the same political hack he's always been. The Republicans are still largely the party of no, but we need ideas and leadership in a time of crisis.

[Extraneus]

Anyone find a link to jimmyk's WPIX TV interview this morning?

[Ignatz]

OK, one RCM link to John Tamney who explains why TARP was bad for the economy, bad for us and bad even for the banks and continues to depress growth even after it has supposedly been paid back.

[Captain Hate]

Does anybody think El JEFe is so stupid he never heard of the AMT? After all, this is somebody witless enough to reveal to a national audience he didn't understand the first thing about auto insurance and never dispatched his flacks out to cover for him.

[Captain Hate]

Btw, the jugeared fellow is about to step in it again. He plans on going to Cincinnati to try and embarrass Boehner by pointing out the poor condition of a bridge to Kentucky; but the reason the overhaul on the bridge was deferred was that Twitch Strickland was being spiteful to SW Ahia Repubs and moved it back.

[PD]

I’m a sap

Brooks could have stopped there.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Cap'n-

You must, of course, realize that AMT is one of the reasons there are no jobs being formed. He told us that already.

What's that you say? ATM, AMT, not the same thing? Whatever.

Pay up.

[MayBee]

Ha. I'm watching Suskind have to defend his book against the White House charges of its incorrectness. That's new. They used to make the White House defend itself against the charges of the likes of Suskind (and McClellan and whomever else wanted to criticize Bush).

[MarkO]

I found this article fascinating:

They are playing a word game to fool you, and if you listen carefully you’ll hear it repeated over the next few weeks. Team Obama knows they’d never win the public debate if they admitted that the President is now proposing massive tax increases to “balance” previously enacted spending cuts, so they’re engaging in a little misdirection.

http://keithhennessey.com/2011/09/19/balanced-misdirection/

[jimmyk]

What's that you say? ATM, AMT, not the same thing? Whatever.

LOL, Mel. Barry as Rosanne Rosannadanna. Except with him it's not "Never mind," it's "As I've always said...."

[Melinda Romanoff]

Jimmyk-

You have mail.

[narciso]

Ah there was some schadenfreude watching him interviewed by Curry, of course, one of the rebuttals, was that he posted a higher DOW number, I swear if they didn't have their teleprompter they'd be speechless.

[Captain Hate]

LOL Mel; he really is a pathetic dunce, much worse than Poppy Bush who was roundly skewered for not being up to date on bar-code readers in supermarkets, which a President has no business being in anyway.

[Jim]

Captain Hate made a good point. How does a Peggy Noonan or David Brooks survive other than in a kind of academic other-world atmosphere without ties to any real world at all.

Has anyone else noticed that academics are especially attracted to and susceptible to petulant arrogant child men like Obama? It is a trend. Where most of us almost immediately see artiface and an empty suit, the academics go gaga. It is strange.

I believe I spent half my class time during my masters degree explaining to profs why, having tried many of their theories, they do not work in the real world. Alas, reality has little bearing on most academics. And the icon of the successful professor / businessman is mostly a myth.

[Ignatz]

One last link to RCM this time one making my blood boil.
Dumbass John Judis proudly and condescendingly quotes his own damned lie to Romney thusly;

“I want to ask you something about history. You know, when Herbert Hoover had to face a financial crisis and then unemployment, his strategy was to balance the budget and cut spending, and that made things worse. When Roosevelt came in, unemployment was twenty-five and went to fourteen percent by 1937. With deficits. Aren’t you repeating the Hoover mistake?”

That dumb SOB surely knows or ought to that Hoover raised Federal spending over 50% and jacked tax rates through the roof. He also knows that unemployment was back over 20% by late 1938 after FDR's triumphal mismanagement.
Of course Romney fecklessly defended himself, but I wouldn't expect much else.

If anyone has a subscription to that worthless rag, TNR, and could rip him a new one in comments it would be much appreciated. If not maybe Tom could do a thread on what an ass this guy is.

[fdcol63]

As they say, "Those who can, DO. Those who can't, TEACH."

[Captain Hate]

narc, at least dhimmi Ann finally removed that Islamic head covering that her empty head was shrouded in last week from Iran. Please be more submissive to your rock worshiping overlords, Curry.

[fdcol63]

This Drudge headline says it succinctly:

Obama derides fat cats, then meets them for dinner to collect cash...

[Melinda Romanoff]

Ig-

FDR and Congress tried to "balance the budget" again in '34. That was the killing blow. Confiscation of gold didn't help too much either. Didn't instill much trust for some reason.

[Ranger]

Jim Geraghty has a good post up about the quality of one of Obama's hires:

Anita Dunn: Not Merely a Liar, But a Foolish One

It is a bit surprising that she lied so foolishly, either forgetting or not realizing that her on-the-record interview with a reporter was recorded.

And let us all remember that she was both a "respected" member of the press corps and a White House media person. Did she not realise that Suskind must have known he would be viciously attacked for making any criticism of Obama, and thus appropriately protected himself?

[NK]

Capt --- for a change I'm even more critical of THE ONE than you. I really dislike the man personally. Why? AP fact checks BarryO about 'millionaire taxes' and concludes Barry O either doesn't know what he's talking about or is flat out lying. Typical of Obama. But, you know what, I'm accustomed to all politicians 'spinning' i.e. lying. Of course Obama's Alinsky-Left world view is hurting the country, and I detest that, but that's politics. So why do I DISLIKE the ONE so? What gets me about THE ONE is he's such a PUNK. Yes a PUNK. Example--he's among the worst politician liars and certainly the worst crony capitalism politician today because his cronyism has so many zeroes. But he and his enablers still try to portray him as THE ONE who's stuff don't stink. That bogus holier than thou 'tude. That's why he's a punk, always has been, always will be. That's why I dislike him as a man. He's a punk, who never got the schoolyard beating he deserved in 7th grade.

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 21 at Raz today.

[Sue]

“$250,000 makes you really rich in Mississippi but it doesn’t make you rich at all in New York and there ought to be some kind of scale based on the cost of living on how much you pay,” Schumer said.

Schumer tax the rich just not his rich.

[DebinNC]

Of course Romney fecklessly defended himself

Romney should have knocked that out of the park. Unless I'm mistaken, the next Rep debate, a pivotal one, is Thursday with Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace moderating. If Perry again gets mediocre reviews from conservative pundits/bloggers, I'd hope Romney would prove to be an acceptable alternative, but if he can't even handle a FDR-tax hikes-ended-the-depression question idk.

[Ranger]

He's a punk, who never got the schoolyard beating he deserved in 7th grade.

Well, I have a feeling the electorate is going to do that to him in 2012. I doubt he will learn from it though.

[NK]

MelindaR-- one thing about ATM/AMT. Muni Bonds for PUBLIC purposes are fully tax exempt -- including from the AMT. That's why Theresa Heinz (Kerry-NOT) is the queen of Muni Bonds. She'll take her millions in Muni interest income from the Pa. Turnpike Authority etc etc and pay ZERO tax on it thank you very much -- not even AMT. That's the first thing that needs to change in out IRC--amongst many.

[hit and run]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CENTRALCAL!!!

[DebinNC]

HB, cc. Hope it's lovely.

[Sue]

Happy birthday, C-cal.

[narciso]

Happy birthday cc

[centralcal]

Thanks. Hey everyone, Narc posted the link to our famous jimmyk on the other thread. Go watch!

Off to work . . .

[DebinNC]

Watch "jimmyk" on WPIX this morning. Kudos!!!

[mojo]

It's "stupid metro-sexual squish", Dave.

[Captain Hate]

NK, he is a punk; I can't think of one word which describes him better.

HB CC.

[Neo]

There is one underlying assumption that seems to be less spoken than the name “Lord Voldemort.”

That assumption is that the “rich” don’t get any of the services from the federal government.

I mean, the "balance" is always a trade off where the “rich” get taxed while everybody else loses some services from the federal government, which the “rich” have to pay for.
Funny how that is never explicitly said.

[Chubby]

Jim Ryan

((This is what we're dealing with. This is the Dem intelligentsia.))

that post was so funny, and did I ever need a big laugh this morning

[Danube of Thought]

Let us not forget that after the Annenbergs there was the archfiend Richard Mellon Scaife, whose name must be near the top of any list of right-wing betes noires.

[Jack is Back!]

Poking around WPIX for a video of the jimmyk interview and came across this humdinger of Cheney on Fitz's case.

[NK]

Punk-- another example, he goes to NYC to hit up contributors for $38,500 a seat. All from fat cat favor seekers. Does our boy Barry say anything about Fat Cats or the Millionaires' Tax at the shake down fundraiser? Nooooooooo..... Is it because he's too polite? No, it's because he's a punk.

[Jane]

Happy Birthday CC -

You Rock!

[Extraneus]

Go, jimmyk! Well done.

[MayBee]

Oh my darling CCal! Happy day, girlie!

[Extraneus]

And Happy Birthday, cc!

[Porchlight]

Happy birthday, dear centralcal! May it be a wonderful day.

jimmyk, excellent work. Thanks for giving us the heads up.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Besides George I remember Brooks and Krauthammer were in attendance and I think Peggy Noonan.

I don't remember Krauthammer ever being particularly nice to Obama.

[Danube of Thought]

Expected?

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The world economy has entered a 'dangerous new phase,' according to the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. As a result, the international lending organization has sharply downgraded its economic outlook for the United States and Europe through the end of next year.

"The IMF expects the U.S. economy to grow just 1.5 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2012. That's down from its June forecast of 2.5 percent in 2011 and 2.7 percent next year.

"To achieve even that still-low level of growth, the U.S. economy would need to expand at a much faster rate in the second half of the year than its 0.7 percent annual pace in the first six months."

[Janet]

Happy Birthday, Centralcal!!! Love ya!!

[Jack is Back!]

HideeeHo, JimmyK - well done.

And lets do have a debated on the size and reach of our federal government and now even our international government. I think it is that debate that leads to whether we have a spending problem or a revenue problem. The trouble is that until the MFM decides to cover that and give it above the fold or primetime exposure we are going to have to do it one blog comment at a time.

[Jack is Back!]

Heck! I forgot to wish a big glorious Happy Birthday to CC. My birthday gift to you is a special prayer for rain. If I remember my California days - you always need rain in the Fresno valley, right?

[MayBee]

Is this plan that Obama is now unveiling the one that was billed as full of bipartisan ideas?

[Chubby]

re the jimmyk link, guess they are overloaded with traffic:

((We are sorry, but the server is temporarily unavailable. Please try back later.))

[Sue]

JimmyK!!! Awesomeness abounds around here...

[fdcol63]

"The trouble is that until the MFM decides to cover that and give it above the fold or primetime exposure we are going to have to do it one blog comment at a time."

Which is why the revolution needs to start with the MFM ... and academia ... and Hollyweird ... and the unions in gov't bureaucracies.

[Clarice]

Chaco, I seem to recall--and remember my memory is not anything to brag about--that Krauthammer gave him the benefit of a doubt at a minimum in the early months.

[Thomas Collins]

Jimmyk, I loved your argument that even those who favor bigger government should recognize that raising taxes now, in our fragile economic situation, is not the way to go. I also loved your comparing Obama to Hoover (both of whom seem to me view the economy as best left in the hands of intelligent intellects like themselves, and both of whom possess rocks in that area of their brains that do the calculating on what type of framework promotes economic growth).

[Clarice]

H B , cc..Hope you have a wonderful year.

[Thomas Collins]

LUN for centralcal.

[Danube of Thought]

Jimmyk! Wow! Knocked it out of the park, calmly and coolly. Really nicely done.

And happiest of birthdays, CCal. You're a peach.

[bgates]

there ought to be some kind of scale based on the cost of living on how much you pay

That's not fair, and the most important thing the government can do is enforce fairness. Keep the same tax rates for all states. If cost of living is a problem in New York, Schumer should just introduce legislation to lower it. Problem solved, fairness increased, everybody wins.

[Porchlight]

Blast from the past time:

Do any other JOMers think of this when you hear the call letters WPIX?

I also think of the afterschool lineup which included Little Rascals and Popeye, but which (aside from Little Rascals) I thought inferior to the WNEW lineup (Woody Woodpecker, Looney Tunes, Flintstones etc.).

[Rick Ballard]

HB C-C. Hope you have a wonderful day.

[Porchlight]

oh, sorry - the above is OT of course but the memory was inspired by jimmyk's appearance on WPIX...

[Melinda Romanoff]

Happy Birthday, c-cal!

[jimmyk]

Thanks, everyone. Of course, give Rick credit for the Hoover reference, and Jim R. for hitting Obama with his own words.

Happy Birthday, CC.