{"id":312348,"date":"2010-02-12T12:50:18","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T17:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"tag:business.theatlantic.com,2010:\/\/3.35872"},"modified":"2010-02-12T14:00:16","modified_gmt":"2010-02-12T19:00:16","slug":"should-obama-transform-into-an-economic-populist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/312348","title":{"rendered":"Should Obama Transform Into an Economic Populist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an interview with Bloomberg this week, President Obama resisted directly criticizing the bonuses of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs CEOs, noting that they were “savvy businessmen,” but adding that Wall Street bonus structure deserves rethinking in light of the economic meltdown. John Judis parses<\/a> Obama’s answers and is sickened. I’m not. Let’s hash this out:
Here’s what I find the most important exchange of the interview:<\/p>\n

\n

BBW: Let’s talk bonuses for a minute. Lloyd Blankfein:
\n$9 million. Jamie Dimon: $17 million. Now, those were in stock and less
\nthan what some had expected. But are those numbers O.K.?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Obama: First of all, I know both those guys. They are
\nvery savvy businessmen. And I, like most of the American people, don’t
\nbegrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market
\nsystem. I do think that the compensation packages that we have seen
\nover the last decade, at least, have not matched up always to
\nperformance…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the merits, I see nothing wrong with that answer, as I elaborated here<\/a>. But Judis pounces:<\/p>\n

\nOverall, the impression the interview leaves is of a president
\nsurprisingly oblivious to the fury that is sweeping the nation. Obama
\nhas occasionally attempted to speak to it, or read speeches that
\naddress it. But this interview shows that, in the choice between Main
\nStreet and Wall Street, his natural inclinations lie more toward one
\nside–and it ain’t Main Street.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think this — and other liberals’ — anger over the interview is a
\nfig leaf. The interview doesn’t matter. This is part of a much larger
\ndebate about whether Obama would be more effective if he breathed more
\nfire — if he pushed reconciliation on health care, made recess
\nappointments to circumvent the Republicans’ holds, directly criticized
\nGOP leadership more pointedly, twisted moderate Democrat arms “like LBJ
\nwould’ve!”, and, yes, took on Wall Street excesses and abuses with
\ngreat vengeance and furious anger. That’s not the guy we elected, but
\nhe’s the guy liberals still dream about waking up to. <\/p>\n

So the important question is: Would that Obama — the “I’m feeling your
\npain, and mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore” guy — be more
\nsuccessful? It is very difficult to know. The public still likes<\/a>
\nthe president. More celerity on health care might have helped Democrats
\nbeat the ticking time bomb of Massachusetts, but an overly partisan
\nWhite House might have sacrificed the trust mantle to Republicans<\/a>.
\nA good point I’ve read about this interview is that you don’t see the
\nGOP criticizing it because, really, there’s not room for a conservative
\nto criticize the idea that bankers are smart, success is often earned,
\nbut Wall Street bonus culture could use tweaking.<\/p>\n

I understand that liberals are upset about the lack of smoke pouring
\nout of the president’s nostrils, and maybe they’re right after all. But
\nthe interview sounds to me like the Obama we elected: A left of center
\nguy thinking through complicated issues out-loud.


\n

\n Email this Article<\/a>
\n Add to digg<\/a>
\n Add to Reddit<\/a>
\n Add to Twitter<\/a>
\n Add to del.icio.us<\/a>
\n Add to StumbleUpon<\/a>
\n Add to Facebook<\/a>
\n

\n\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an interview with Bloomberg this week, President Obama resisted directly criticizing the bonuses of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs CEOs, noting that they were “savvy businessmen,” but adding that Wall Street bonus structure deserves rethinking in light of the economic meltdown. John Judis parses Obama’s answers and is sickened. I’m not. Let’s hash this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}