In the movie Saving Private Ryan, the mom of the Ryan brothers is spared losing her final son to WW2. First, she received news of one son being killed. Then another. And, I think there may have been one more before Tom Hanks is sent to save Matt Damon. Imagine how hopeless she was at that time. All she was getting was bad news. How could she have a positive outlook?
We thrive on hope…on the most simple things inspiring and motivating us. We don’t have any of that right now and that is part of the problem. Case in point:
The Freakonomics Blog at the New York Times has a post on “Who Wins for Best Recession Cover?” They compare the covers of The Economist and Time. One of the folks mentioned in the piece says that the Time cover is “better” because it evokes sadness.
I understand that we are in a recession and the economy is no good. However, it strikes me that the first thing we need to do is stop re-enforcing everyone’s fears and instead inspire some optimism and confidence in folks. That is the first step to recovery. I suppose the stimulus was supposed to do this…but quite surprisingly it hasn’t (maybe because it is not the right thing to do).
One of the things President Bush did right was expressing profound confidence following 9/11. America went back to work. Maybe that is easier to do when we can unite against an enemy rather than against an economic collapse. Nonetheless, our leaders from President Obama to Governor Markell to legislatures across the country may want to consider taking a time out from the doom and gloom, no matter how realistic and honest they are being, and start inspiring.
It is times like these when some empty rhetoric is good and justified.
The bottom line is that the public get that things are bad. We don’t need to keep hearing it.
You’re right about confidence being the key. Still, I want the truth from the President.
I don’t see where Bush was anymore “confident” than Obama. If anything, Bush seemed as honestly rattled by 9/11 as the rest of us. He didn’t try to sugarcoat the war on terror. He said our enemies might attack a city with biological or nuclear weapons capable of killing tens of thousands at anytime, so be on the lookout. He said if we did not attack Iraq we might see a mushroom cloud right here at home. I don’t recall anything real upbeat back then.
Obama is telling us this financial crisis is about as bad as it gets. Every statistic, news channel, newspaper, scholar, economist, politician says the same thing. The wealth effect works both ways. Nothing can change how we feel except positive numbers.
It’s the mainly the opposition to Obama that’s damaging the national moral. Not one single proposal by this new Government has been greeted by anything more than ridicule and contempt by the Republican Party.
In the Senate and the House all last week, the GOP screamed bloody murder that what the President proposed is not good that it will not work. They called the President’s proposals A Generational Theft Bill. A debacle. They bragged they could produce twice as many jobs for half the money. Republicans say the stimulus is mostly waste, TARP will not work, Obama’s foreclosure help plan is bad because it rewards stupid greedy people who bought a house that was beyond their means. Republicans voted unanimously against The Stimulus Bill.
You wonder why people have lost confidence? The Republicans are going out of their way to undermine our new Government and that is the biggest impediment to confidence at the moment.
The fastest way to improve the national mood is for the GOP to shut off the obnoxious negativity for a couple of months and let the President and his team do what has to be done.
I’m glad there is agreement on the need for confidence. Though, we will have to disagree on the point that “It’s mainly the opposition to Obama that’s damaging national morale.” The stimulus bill, if designed properly, would have increased confidence. Sadly, I, like those you mention, feel strongly that the stimulus bill will not make things better and will in fact make things worse. Clearly, my level of confidence is based on what I believe will work to fix the economy. As someone who follows the news, despite the voice of the opposition (which includes more than just the GOP), do you feel more confident in now that the stimulus has passed? I will concede that the loud voice of the opposition does not help build confidence. But, I will no more tell the GOP to be quiet when they strongly oppose something than I will tell the Democrats. So the question becomes, can we build confidence in a time such as this when the nation has made a move that so splits the country? That’s why I mentioned that I am okay with rhetoric. I want Obama and others to be honest about the problem as well. But you can be honest and inspiring at the same time.
Dear Resolute,
You are a better economist than most if you’ve figured out what the proper stimulus is.
I heard Republicans bragging they could create “twice as many jobs for half the money”. Personally, I think I could create three times as many jobs for twice the money. But we only have one President at a time.
The GOP base forgets how to be the loyal opposition. That’s the problem with absolute certitude – it’s hard to accept different opinions. The GOP is dragging national morale down.
Republican spokespersons Limbaugh and Hannity, are telling anyone who listens that Obama is a socialist, a communist, they compare him to Castro. They say if his plans go through it will be the end of America as we know it. They want his economic plan to fail. That is the vibe coming out of the defeated GOP. Very demoralizing.
Obama’s economic team includes Paul Volcker, Lawrence Summers. The Chamber of Commerce favors the Obama Stimulus, most everybody outside the conservative base of the GOP favors it. It’s not perfect. What is?
Obama inherited a trillion dollar deficit, two wars, and a wrecked economy from a Republican President who had a Republican Congress for most of his 8 years. So I hope you understand why people want the Republicans to shut up and go away for awhile. I am a Republican. First time I ever voted Democrat. Even I want the Republicans to shut up and go away for awhile.
Don’t kid yourself about the Nation being confused or split.
A record number of votes were cast in November. 69.5 million Americans voted for President Obama. A bigger margin for Obama than in most recent Presidential elections.
Republicans were kicked out of both houses of Congress. In Delaware we kicked the GOP out of the majority in our legislature. Even GOP Greenville and Centerville rejected the conservative Republican in favor of the Obama Democrat. The same thing happened all over America. So I don’t get where you are coming from when you suggest ambiguity on the part of the voters.
The message was crystal clear to everybody – Obama in Republicans out.
The behavior of the defeated GOP is causing us to lose confidence is our ability to form a new Government that can lead us through this mess. Like an obnoxious party guest, the right wing just won’t get the message, it’s time to leave.
think123,
51% of Americans as of last week supported the stimulus bill. That leaves 49% who either don’t support it or are undecided. My comment on the split country was referring to this, not the election.
As for your other points, if it is the GOP dragging the country’s morale down now because of opposition, are the Democrats to blame for bringing morale down during the Bush administration? Just following your logic on this one.
The minority voice in our country is always supposed to be loud. In fact, having this voice is part of the foundation of America.
Instead of the stimulus bill that passed, I would much rather have seen a plan similar to what was proposed by Jeffrey Miron, an economics professor at Harvard. His plan included a repeal of the corporate income tax, an increase in carbon taxes while lowering the MTR, elimination of wasteful spending, withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and stopping the bailouts for business that ran bad businesses.
We can argue different plans all day long because I will believe in one type of plan (the one with the libertarian bent) and you may believe in something else and yet another person will believe something else. All that said, pointing out alternative plans and criticizing a plan is not a bad thing.
resolute,
A 49-51 public opinion poll on how best to solve the economic collapse? Not sure how that is relevant. Did they ask what ratio of debt to GDP people thought would be sustainable? Or for that matter how many U.S. Senators there are in Congress?
I have a feeling we are not disagreeing about much. It boils down to this: The Republican Party is still in campaign mode, the rest of us are in the governing mode.
The subject you raised was confidence, how to inspire optimism as a way to work ourselves out of this economic meltdown. In that context, the Republican Party has to weigh what is good for the them, against what is bad for national confidence.You mention opposition to Bush. Bush had 9/11 the Twin Towers a pile of rubble. Obama has this unprecedented economic collapse. Do you remember how we all rallied all together behind Bush? How the votes in Congress went for everything the President wanted?
Maybe if the banks, insurance companies, Wall Street were all destroyed by bombs, rather than virtually destroyed on paper, Republicans would grasp the magnitude of the problem and simmer down.
Is it right for the GOP to tell America this President is a socialist, a communist. That his policies will destroy the America that we know and love. 30 million Americans are hearing that all day everyday coming from the propaganda apparatus of the GOP. Good for morale or bad?
We all know the Democrats by and large do not, did not like the Patriotic Act. But in the wake of 9/11 it passed with huge bipartisan margins 357-66 in the house and 98-1 senate.
Did Democrats like it? No. Did they stand with the President during a crisis? Yes. Maybe that’s the difference between lapel pin patriotism and the real kind, where we all come together during a national storm.
Right now Republicans are standing on the rubble of our economy with a bull horn telling everybody not to listen to the President. Nice.
Clearly there is a different emotional response to being attacked by terrorists than being in the economic condition we are in. That is just a fact of life, good, bad or indifferent. If I had a vote in Congress I would have loved to vote against many, if not most of provisions in the bill. Only Russ Feingold had the courage of his convictions in the Senate. You aren’t going to find many elected officials who would’ve voted against the bill in that situation even if they opposed it b/c it would not have been smart politically. And now that the emotion of the time had died down you’ll find folks across the political spectrum who oppose the bill. Fact is, comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges.
I am with the point that folks should not be running around screaming socialism, communism, fascism, whatever ism comes to mind. But folks should be able to criticize the stimulus plan…especially because major economic theory supports arguments against the plan. Remember, there are different schools of thought on economics.
I began this post wanting to highlight the need for confidence as an ingredient to get things going again, yet I still have no idea how to do this. However, I know that asking the opposition to stay silent is not the right approach.
Please,I am not objecting to mere opposition. I am talking about the power propaganda can have on mood, morale, and public confidence.
There still seems to be a bit of denial in your last post otherwise I would not continue to kick this around.
You say “folks” should not be running around screaming socialism, communism. But it’s not unknown “folks” screaming socialism communism – it is the Republican Party that is doing it.
They did it during the campaign, they are still doing it now – all day everyday Limbaugh, Hannity, Back, Savage are instructing millions of Americans that our President is a socialist, compare him to Castro, and say he must be stopped. This is the incessant voice of the GOP on radio and TV, so don’t kid yourself about “folks”. If you are Republican they are your “folks”.
It’s not good for morale, not good for confidence. You still have no idea how to do something that would help confidence? Tell the Republican party officials to tone down the demoralizing propaganda coming from GOP media.
Propaganda is all about affecting confidence. GOP propaganda is aimed at destroying confidence in our President. Tell them to stop. Now there is something solid you can do without spending a dime of taxpayer money..
GOP U.S. Senator Shelby had to be called out today for suggesting the President may not legally be President because Shelby has not seen Obama’s birth certificate – therefore Obama may not be a naturalized U.S. citizen. We all know that smear. Shelby was Chairman of Banking. He is a leading figure in the GOP. GOP media has been spreading that smear for two years, eventually seeped into Shelby’s brain. Demoralizing. Hurts confidence wondering whether our President is a legal citizen President.
Too bad our Party has no real leader to speak out against the venomous propaganda machine that seems to have a life of it’s own. We created a monster. Chairman Steele is totally old school, he defends right wing radio. Our de facto leader Rush Limbaugh is not about to reprimand Shelby. Maybe Bonier can talk to Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter about doing something. Best selling authors GOPer’s Hannity – Coulter both publish books saying democrats, liberals, communists are pretty much the same as far as treachery treason and terror go, liberals are to be totally defeated not listened to, not compromised with. As GOP Spokeswoman Coulter says, you should only talk to liberals if “you have to”. This is the intellectual foundation of our Party at the moment. The best seller list of the GOP propaganda machine. A far cry from William F. Buckley, Ayn Rand. This is what is killing morale and confidence. We need loud strong leaders to denounce extremist in our Party.
I agree we need GOP leaders to denounce the right wing extremist. If leading Republican elected figures stepped forward, condemned the tactics of right wing radio and TV and called for more civility – that would have a very positive effect on confidence. People would see a little light at the end of the political tunnel.