I didn't get to watch President Obama's speech the other day, but I read it after the fact, and heard some clips from it. It was a terrific speech--not one of his stadium-rousing barn-burners, but a low-key address that was still packed with both emotion and facts. A few choice quotes:
"But there has always been another thread running throughout our history - a belief that we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation. We believe, in the words of our first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, that through government, we should do together what we cannot do as well for ourselves. And so we've built a strong military to keep us secure, and public schools and universities to educate our citizens. We've laid down railroads and highways to facilitate travel and commerce. We've supported the work of scientists and researchers whose discoveries have saved lives, unleashed repeated technological revolutions, and led to countless new jobs and entire industries. Each of us has benefitted from these investments, and we are a more prosperous country as a result.
"Part of this American belief that we are all connected also expresses itself in a conviction that each one of us deserves some basic measure of security. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, hard times or bad luck, a crippling illness or a layoff, may strike any one of us. 'There but for the grace of God go I,' we say to ourselves, and so we contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss; and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children, and those with disabilities. We are a better country because of these commitments. I'll go further - we would not be a great country without those commitments.
"For much of the last century, our nation found a way to afford these investments and priorities with the taxes paid by its citizens. As a country that values fairness, wealthier individuals have traditionally born a greater share of this burden than the middle class or those less fortunate. This is not because we begrudge those who've done well - we rightly celebrate their success. Rather, it is a basic reflection of our belief that those who have benefitted most from our way of life can afford to give a bit more back. Moreover, this belief has not hindered the success of those at the top of the income scale, who continue to do better and better with each passing year."
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"But after Democrats and Republicans committed to fiscal discipline during the 1990s, we lost our way in the decade that followed. We increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug program - but we didn't pay for any of this new spending. Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts - tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country; tax cuts that will force us to borrow an average of $500 billion every year over the next decade.
"To give you an idea of how much damage this caused to our national checkbook, consider this: in the last decade, if we had simply found a way to pay for the tax cuts and the prescription drug benefit, our deficit would currently be at low historical levels in the coming years.
"Of course, that's not what happened. And so, by the time I took office, we once again found ourselves deeply in debt and unprepared for a Baby Boom retirement that is now starting to take place. When I took office, our projected deficit was more than $1 trillion. On top of that, we faced a terrible financial crisis and a recession that, like most recessions, led us to temporarily borrow even more. In this case, we took a series of emergency steps that saved millions of jobs, kept credit flowing, and provided working families extra money in their pockets. It was the right thing to do, but these steps were expensive, and added to our deficits in the short term."
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"The fact is, their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America. As Ronald Reagan's own budget director said, there's nothing 'serious' or 'courageous' about this plan. There's nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. There's nothing courageous about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it and don't have any clout on Capitol Hill. And this is not a vision of the America I know."
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The speech was just one part of a week in which Obama owned the Republicans, beginning to end. Starting with the budget agreement last Friday night, the deal that prevented the government shutdown Obama and the Democrats were trying to avoid, while the Tea Partiers in the Republican caucus were pushing for. At first, like a lot of liberals, I didn't like the deal because it gave up too much. It seemed like the president had negotiated from a position of weakness.
It was only days later--right before the final vote in Congress on that deal--that we discovered the real math, which I believe Obama understood all along. That deal didn't cut $38.5 billion from the budget for the next six months, which would have been terrible for the recovery. Instead, it reduces direct spending by only about $350 million. Still not great, but far, far better for the economy.
By the time the Republicans did the math, it was too late for them. Enough of them bailed from the plan that Speaker Boehner wouldn't have been able to ram it though the House with just Republican votes, but the Democrats got on board and saved it. The end result is that Boehner loses face with the Tea Party wackos, loses control of a big part of his caucus, and looks like a speaker who'd rather side with Democrats than with the controlling wing of his party. Good deal for Obama and Harry Reid, bad deal for Boehner.
The icing on the cake was Obama's "accidental" open mic moment the other night. He was overheard saying this about Boehner: "I said, 'You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We'll have that debate. You're not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we're stupid?'" About Paul Ryan, he said, "Eliminating the health care bill would cost us $1 trillion dollars. It would add $1 trillion to the deficit. So when Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure, he's just being America's accountant and trying to you know be responsible, this is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for. So it's not on the level.”
Now, neither of these are things that Obama wouldn't have said in public--he pretty much made those points in his speech. But by being overheard on an open mic, those points got a lot more attention than when they were buried in a long plicy speech full of math and other complex ideas that tax the minds of some voters. Obama described reality, and he did it in a way guaranteed to make headlines. Accident? Maybe. But I doubt it.
When I wrote Barack Obama: The Comic Book Biography, I reached the conclusion that most of Obama's opponents underestimated his abilities, and they usually regretted it. I think the same thing is happening now. They're underestimating him and he's showing that he's smarter and tougher and trickier than they are. He's winning every round right now. It may take a while for people to realize it, but Barack Obama has just had a very good week. And with 2012 on the horizon and more Tea Party battles to come, I think he's just getting started.