Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

So, the Speech

Not only was it better than my worst fears, but actually it was even not bad.

Obama framed his case with a clear defense of a commonsense progressive vision of governance and ferociously attacked doll-eyed dolt Paul Ryan's GOP budget on moral grounds -- both of these profoundly welcome, powerfully good things for him to do.

He proposed defense cuts and raising taxes on the rich as the way to go, and that message is as right now as it always was. Defending the economies of insurance reform, putting bargaining to lower prescription drug prices back on the table, shrinking Pharma IP terms to get cheaper generics out, giving IPAB legs (expect the public response here to be about half dumb-dumb lies that this is do-nothing smoke and mirrors and half dumb-dumb lies that this is do-too-much death panels), all good substantive stuff especially compared to Teatard magical market thinking and the Cruelty Caucus' pointless austerity sadism.

Those liberals who are already hyperventilating about the sound-bite declaring Obama's plan three dollars of cuts for every one dollar of tax increase should really try for once not to be bamboozled by creative framing designed to bamboozle their enemies into accepting best-practically-possible liberal outcomes. Lots of savings that needn't be called cuts are being called cuts to make Obama's plan seem cruel and unfair enough to pass muster as "serious" inside the beltway as far as I can tell.

Needless to say, a compromise taking us halfway from Obama's proposal toward the direction of the brutal nonsense of Randroid Ryan and the Teatards is a compromise taking us all the way to disaster. But Obama's vision, outlined in this speech, while not my own dream plan, is perfectly acceptable, not even that bad, and should be taken as such.

We need to hold the line here, though, and to the extent that Obama has yoked governance to campaigning for re-election via this vision, I think we may have the bully pulpit on our side for once for such an effort. That's not too shabby.

No comments: