Krugman: Does Obama Have the Balls to Take on the Right Wingers?

Just push the ******* thing through. Do whatever has to be done.

 

Agreed

Single payer was taken off the table to appease the health insurance industry from killing any chance of reform.

It is painfully obvious that Republicans have no desire for negotiations or compromise. It is time to push ahead without them.

 

I really wish people would quit posting Krugman articles like he was some type of legitimate intellectual.

 

I was the guy screaming for review and thoughtful debate of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005 (which never happened). I certainly wanted there to be discussion regarding the Patriot Act.

Please do not lump me in with the muckety mucks in Congress.

 

Hey, me too. I do not, however, think the two are analogous. One was passed in a panic, the other is building on ideas decades in the making.

 

After those two bills were passed, I have been a little gunshy on rushing to pass major legislation. I do not want to have another mistake.

FWIW, the Bankruptcy Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) was being bantered about for over a decade before it passed in 2005 with no debate. Literally NO DEBATE. They had been trying to get reform through in various forms for 9 years.

I could give a 3 day seminar on provisions of that bill that have become a complete clusterf*** due to poor drafting and misguided ideas.

 

What, in your book, would make an intellectual legitimate? College prof, published author, ability to discuss areas outside their specialty, adviser to presidents, Nobel Prize winner? Do legitimate intellectuals have to be members of the Club for Growth?

 

winning a nobel in theoretical economics does not make one an expert on intelligence, foreign policy, war in iraq, health care, nor sarah palin, any more than winning a nobel makes al gore an expert in climate change.

 

The question was "What makes a legitimate intellectual." The question was not "Can you repeat winger-approved talking points that stupidly and ineffectively attempt to denigrate the accomplishments of Krugman and Gore."

 

Yea, well, winning the nobel prize nowadays doesn't take much.

Krugman just parrots Keynes over and over and talks like he's a genius.

He lies about what he's been wrong about in the past (saying the fed inflating the housing bubble would be a good thing)

and is, quiet frankly, exactly what's wrong with modern economics.

People like him have bankrupted this country.

That's why I don't like him.

 

He won a Nobel prize. What qualifications do you have to comment on his intellectualism?

 

Yeah, I keep mine in the garage as a paperweight.

Please link to one article where Krugman "just parrots Keynes." I won't even ask you to substantiate the "over and over" part, just find one instance where Krugman paraphrases any of Keynes' work.

Krugman was one of the people who called the housing crisis ahead of time. How out of touch are you?

You have apparently never heard of supply-side theory.

Riiiiiiight. Krugman, who has enjoyed no power or influence with those in power since the Clinton administration, is the one whose ilk "bankrupted this country." It had nothing to do with a trillion dollar war, TARP, the Medicare drug program, or tax cuts for the uber-wealthy.

People like you are the reason I think Faux "News" is ruining this country.

 

I don't think you could sound more stupid if you made a conscious effort. Krugman is the definition of a "legitimate intellectuall". You don't have to agree with him to recognize this.

 

So did Charles Krauthammer, 1987 Pulitzer Prize, but I don't imagine you are hanging on his every word.

But back to the question, "Does Obama have the balls to take on the right wingers?" In truth, I think he has the will but not the skill. He is a gifted speaker, but he is no Lyndon B. Johnson.

Johnson was skilled in the art of legislation, negotiation and pure arm-twisting, which he learned during a long run in Congress. As soon as Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, he started his run for the presidency and never paid one bit of attention to congressional politics and legislating. Perhaps this is why he appointed so many "czars" to run his administration. Obama himself simply doesn't know how. It shows in his vacillations on just about everything.

Cap and trade is virtually dead (thank God). National health care (which I favor) is dying. The stimulus overall has proved to be a boondoggle. He has proved amateurish on the foreign front.....but he is a gifted speaker.

 

A nobel prize in health care?

 

The Nobel prize comment was in response to a poster who claimed that it is impossible to consider Krugman an "intellectual." I don't believe it really matters what the Nobel prize is awarded for, but just the fact that he has one is proof enough that Krugman is indeed an intellectual.

 

Krauthammer won a Nobel or a Pulitzer?

Either way, I would never claim that Krauthammer lacks intellect simply because I disagree with his political philosophy. It really doesn't matter whether he won a Nobel or a Pulitzer or both, I agree that he is a man of intellect.

The reason we are discussing the Nobel is in response to a poster who claimed that Krugman is not "intellectual." That is a demonstrably false statement.

 

Pulitzer.

"These two awards are synonymous with classic literature. Only the best of the best are chosen, and sometimes those don’t even reach the bar. The Pulitzer and Nobel prizes are the two most distinguished awards that can be bestowed upon a writer and the competition is stiff. Although numerous well known books, poetry and plays have won over the years, there are countless others that never did win and have become ingrained in our culture regardless." -- Erica Davis

Intellectually speaking, they are equivalent (unless you are thadeus. )

 

So you think he's supremely qualified to opine on health care?

 

Given that healthcare is a huge part of our economy and he is an eminently qualified economist, yes, he is qualified to opine about healthcare. He is certainly more qualified than anyone on this board, any of the screamers at the town halls, and the VAST majority of the members of Congress.

There are certainly people who are more qualified than him, but that is a comparatively short list given Krugman's qualifications.