I thought the HuffPo was a liberal ally of the Messiah, but you wouldn’t know it from this. Of course, they see unemployment and blame the One’s advisors, rather than the liberal policies that created the mess, but it’s all good fun nonetheless. Sure, fire Geithner, fire Summers. Bring in a real Democrat and watch what happens. Heh heh.
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The entire story by Ariana is about how the Govt is responsible for job creation. What country do we live in? When the country wakes up from this “hope” induced coma people will realize that job creation that sticks starts with innovation and risk. The government wants people to pick up shovels and eliminate risk from capital markets but complains banks are not lending enough.
I would agree that Obama inherited a mess but his actions are just like pouring fuel on a fire
I too am shocked to concur that Ms. Puffington has written a sane and perceptive column. I’ll file it under Even A Broken Clock is Right Twice Each Day.
One line, paraphrasing a senator, is telling: “when it comes to putting the focus on Main Street, the president’s “advisors are mixed.”” This is consistent with my impression that many in the Obama administration, starting at the top, have spent their lives very far removed from the experiences of most Americans. The situation makes me think of the days when kings and queens or colonial governors often, literally, couldn’t even speak the language of the people over whom they presumed to rule.
Now comes some evidence to support my notion in a posting at an American Enterprise Institute blog (http://blog.american.com/?p=7572). A graph, reportedly produced by JP Morgan, shows what percentage of U.S. presidential cabinet officers since 1900 (excluding Postmaster General, Navy, War, Health, Education & Welfare, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security) had private sector work experience prior to becoming cabinet officers.
My read of the graph is that the average percentage of cabinet officers with prior private sector experience before Obama something above 40%, ranging from a prior low of about 29% for Kennedy to about 58% for Eisenhower.
In stark contrast, the percentage of the Obama administration’s cabinet with prior private sector experience is off-scale on the low side at about 7%.
Well he doesn’t make the1900 cut off but U.S. Grant had business advising him and it didn’t work out so well. Not that political activists and academics are better, I just think we’re screwed either way.
Mazama at 11:38, your second paragraph reminds me of how I felt during the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill misadventure in ’91 (’92?) … Forget who you sided with, the alarming thing was that ALL the people who spoke on behalf of BOTH of them were people who had spent their entire adult lives ping-ponging among academic posts, government jobs and think tanks. Apparently, none had ever had an actual “job”; you know, the kind where you can be fired, or laid off, or subject to a pay or benefits cut, or (gasp) find yourself reporting to someone who has less seniority but more initiative than you.
This is our “governing class.” It is appalling.