I would like to see Colin Powell’s image restored. It was tough to see him become the character witness for George Bush’s dishonest march to war with Iraq. Powell’s Meet the Press appearance during the campaign did a lot to help me respect the guy again. Then there’s his intriguing appearance today at the unveiling of the Renew America Together Initiative. How awesome would it be for Obama to tap Powell as the public face of his new service agenda? I would like to see that, though I know not everyone would.
Other than that, I didn’t see the press conference so I still don’t have many details about this new initiative. Anyone else know what it’s all about?
I was a little surprised at the tone of the President-elect’s speech yesterday demanding “dramatic action.” If you missed this speech, it’s here. It was unusual, possibly unprecedented, for a president-elect to give a major speech like this, so it’s very telling about how much trouble our economy is that Obama felt the need to do this. In a nutshell, he warned that we’re facing an economic apocalypse if the Congress doesn’t get its act together and pass a stimulus bill within the next few weeks. Or, more precisely:
We should have an open and honest discussion about this recovery plan in the days ahead, but I urge Congress to move as quickly as possible on behalf of the American people. For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs. More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied. And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.
I could sympathize a little bit with this reaction at Althouse. I hate to say it, but Obama’s tone sounded too much like Bush’s to me, using fear to push his agenda through. He wants to impress on the public and on Congress how terrible the economy is and how badly we need this stimulus. But I think he needs to be careful. Congress isn’t going to appreciate being talked to like this, and the public is tired of it. Just a few months ago the public was told how the economy would collapse if the TARP bill wasn’t passed. We all know how that turned out.
It’s a dilemma for Obama. How does he reassure the public that spending $800 billion more of our money is really necessary and will do good without eliciting spending-fatigue too early in his administration? I think the public will give him the benefit of the doubt considering his incredibly high approval ratings. But at what cost?