Obama as Hoover? By Tom Hill
Is Obama in danger of following Herbert Hoover to a failed presidency? A recent article in Harper’s (July) magazine, “Barack Hoover Obama” by Kevin Baker makes such an argument. Our system is in such dire straits that only major reforms will save us from a downward spiral. Compromise and bipartisanism are fine as long as the other side is willing to compromise and the changes made are sufficient to fix the problems. Sadly, the Republicans are unwilling to compromise and too many Democrats believe that small changes are sufficient.
As Baker says about Democrats, instead of rushing to implement progressive programs, “we have seen a parade of aged satraps from vast windy places stepping forward to tell us what is off the table. Every week, there is another Max Baucus of Montana, another Kent Conrad of North Dakota, another Ben Nelson of Nebraska, huffing and puffing and harrumphing that we had better forget about single-payer health care, a carbon tax, nationalizing the banks, funding for mass transit, closing tax loopholes for the rich. These are men with tiny constituencies who sat for decades in the Senate without doing or saying anything of note, who acquiesced shamelessly to the worst abuses of the Bush Administration and who come forward now to chide the president for not concentrating enough on reducing the budget deficit, or for ‘trying to do too much,’ as if he were as old and as indolent as they are.”
In health care, the for-profit system we have is not working and can not be saved. Ideally, we need a single-payer system, but that approach is not even being considered. A “public-option” is next best alternative, but even that faces stiff opposition. Unless Obama is willing to fight, and fight hard, for the public-option approach, we will end up with small changes that will ultimately fail. The next several weeks may set the tone and future of the Obama presidency. Are other people as worried as I am?