Obama in a Bind
Published in die Tageszeitung
(Germany) on 11 July 2011
by Dorothea Hahn (link to original)
The United States just can’t seem to abandon its low-tax dogma.
According to the figures, the outlook isn’t very rosy for the United States. On the one hand stands an army of more than 15 million unemployed — the official unemployment figures just rose again to 9.2 percent. On the other hand, a $14.3 trillion debt looms (about €10 trillion), also a record number.
But the United States is far from broke. On the contrary: Big businesses — above all, the oil corporations — are making record profits during these “times of crisis.” The political dilemma is caused by the fact that the faction that has gained the political upper hand embraces a “smaller government” dogma. These right-wing Republicans now control the debate. They set the agenda. They have their opponents on the run.
Politicians supporting a progressive social or environmental agenda hardly dare to publicly oppose the simplistic arguments of these taxation warriors newly elected to a majority in the House of Representatives last November.
Recently, even the White House has hinted that President Obama is prepared to make concessions in Social Security in order to lower debt levels.
Nothing could be more wrong. The social safety net in the United States is already nothing but a bad joke in comparison to other industrialized nations. Further cuts would only widen the chasm between rich and poor, a gap that is already wider and deeper than that of many Third World countries, making it even harder to close.
Instead of playing golf with the Speaker of the House and meeting with him behind closed doors, Obama would do well to remember his roots and to consider his political base and what he should be doing for those people. The unemployed are a gigantic problem. If he continues to remain on the defensive concerning such social issues, he can’t win the next election.
According to the figures, the outlook isn’t very rosy for the United States. On the one hand stands an army of more than 15 million unemployed — the official unemployment figures just rose again to 9.2 percent. On the other hand, a $14.3 trillion debt looms (about €10 trillion), also a record number.
But the United States is far from broke. On the contrary: Big businesses — above all, the oil corporations — are making record profits during these “times of crisis.” The political dilemma is caused by the fact that the faction that has gained the political upper hand embraces a “smaller government” dogma. These right-wing Republicans now control the debate. They set the agenda. They have their opponents on the run.
Politicians supporting a progressive social or environmental agenda hardly dare to publicly oppose the simplistic arguments of these taxation warriors newly elected to a majority in the House of Representatives last November.
Recently, even the White House has hinted that President Obama is prepared to make concessions in Social Security in order to lower debt levels.
Nothing could be more wrong. The social safety net in the United States is already nothing but a bad joke in comparison to other industrialized nations. Further cuts would only widen the chasm between rich and poor, a gap that is already wider and deeper than that of many Third World countries, making it even harder to close.
Instead of playing golf with the Speaker of the House and meeting with him behind closed doors, Obama would do well to remember his roots and to consider his political base and what he should be doing for those people. The unemployed are a gigantic problem. If he continues to remain on the defensive concerning such social issues, he can’t win the next election.