White House Comments

Note: former whitehouse comment e-mail address, comments@whitehouse.gov has been taken out of commission. You have to use the form, www.whitehouse.gov/contact , but they have increased the size of the comment field to 5000 characters, so you can get in several pages of text if you need to. Everyone should take the time to communicate with the government regularly!

Banks and Economic Reform

"Nationalization" is a loaded word, as we all understand, but Nouriel Roubini, Paul Krugman, and Joseph Stiglitz are clearly correct that some form of RECEIVERSHIP for the biggest insolvent banks is going to be necessary, and delaying it will only make matters worse. I urge President Obama to hold a major conference within the administration, inviting the best progressive economists from OUTSIDE the Wall Street club that has infected the thinking of Geithner, Summers, Ruben, etc. and work out what it will really take to restore a banking system that works for the people.

In general, I believe that the president must realize that the current crisis will take BOLD, PROGRESSIVE reform, which gets our country back onto a production footing, reforms the financial system so that it is smaller and no longer a parasite on the production economy, and puts forward an agenda of multiple rounds of stimulus and job creation, since it is quite clear already that the Stimulus is a good start, but not enough. Future stimulation of the economy should not involve tax cuts at all; we can't afford them.

The Republicans, unfortunately, have made it clear that their game plan is obstructionism. The President must develop and articulate a major progressive reform agenda, and must take it directly to the people, constantly, and relentlessly, so as to make the people MAKE their lawmakers pass this agenda. Bipartisanship will not work.
[sent to new comment form (5000 char. limit]: whitehouse.gov/contact

Don't "fix" social security

Dear President Obama,

I read with alarm where some in your administration are apparently transfixed by the mythology that Social Security is 'broken' and needs 'fixing.' Social security is not broken, and in fact is solvent with only minor need for adjustments in the future. Medicare, largely due to a generally broken health care system, is of course a different story. Please understand. The people who elected you did so in large part as a rejection of Bush economic policies as well as other failed and terrible policies: decidedly including his terrible, stupid plan to destroy Social Security. Social Security is a touchstone of stability and minimal financial security for ordinary Americans, and we will not tolerate any attempts to "jigger" it or reduce it.

Thank you.

David Studhalter

Recovery Bonds

I want to promote the idea of Recovery Bonds, which would be denominated in $50 to $5000 amounts, to encourage ordinary folks to invest, and which would pay roughly CD interest rates but would have to be held for at least 7 years or some period calculated to be optimal. These would be used to lend money directly to consumers and businesses, with emphasis on preventing foreclosures (with assistance from Housing Officials to negotiate refinance) and investing in green energy, U.S. jobs, bringing jobs back from overseas operations, etc. Pitched like WWII war bonds, as our patriotic duty. When the need for them disappeared, they could be phased out, just as War Bonds were.

Krauthammer carpipng, what the President might say

•The always negative Krauthammer in the Corner on the Stimulus bill:

•"Look, this is one of the worst bills in galactic history. [...] FDR left behind the Hoover dam and Eisenhower left behind the interstate highway system. We will leave behind, after spending $1 trillion, a dog run in East Potomac Park."

•President Obama should of course not dignify this distortion with a direct response, but something like the following would be helpful:

•Some in the Republican party have said that our stimulus plan is too dilute, with no investment in major infrastructure projects comparable to the Interstate Highway System begun under Dwight Eisenhower. To these critics, I would remind them that the purpose of the Stimulus Bill is to put money and energy into immediate recovery. Our longer term goals very much do include major infrastructure investment, to rebuild our economy, and to ensure the proper role of government as a partner for the private sector in making the investments in transportation, education, energy, health and environmental infrastructure we so need, and we very much welcome Republican support for this effort.

Kuttner Right: time to marshal public opinion

Robert Kuttner, writing in the Huffington Post, is right. Bipartisanship is all well and good, but what matters is moving an agenda that puts right the various misdirections of past governments, and affirmatively builds on these steps to repair our economy, redirect our foreign policy, address our environmental problems, and revitalize the social contract which has become so tattered under right-wing rule.

To accomplish this, President Obama needs to talk and listen to the Republicans, of course, but when they remain fixated on failed and futile policies, he needs to go directly to the American people. More explanatory, teaching speeches. Fireside chats. On all media, and in a major way. Outright advocacy, and urging people to make Congress do this, by demanding it of their own Senators and Representatives.

Congratulations, Mr. President

Congratulations, Mr. President. The whole country, indeed almost the whole world, is with you. We want you to succeed, we want to help you succeed, and we intend to help you succeed.

May our country be restored to its rightful place, and may its founding principles flourish anew and forever.