January 25, 2012
HE'S GHWB, NOT W:
Obama must bring back the opportunity society (Mark Penn, 01/24/12, The Hill)
In 1996, President Clinton used his SOTU speech to declare that the economy was the best it's been in a generation and to say that the "era of big government is over." These two themes were critical in taking President Clinton out of the trap of appearing to be a Democratic big spender and taxer and put him on the side of generating a new economy with expanded opportunities for all Americans. After the speech, he opened up a lead on the Republicans that they were never able to close. [...]Job No. 2 is to show that he is serious about creating new economic opportunity in a changing world. America has the talent but isn't producing the engineers and computer scientists the country needs. Its manufacturing base has continued to erode, and its education and training systems are in need of reform. It's behind even in broadband. The president has to have more programs that are about teaching people how to fish and fewer about giving them fish. The theme has to be how he will bring back the "opportunity society" that is the bedrock of American success and the creation of the American middle class.
The means-testing stuff was a step in the right direction, but the rest was just about punitive taxes on the wealthy. And, other than the health care mandate, there's still little evidence he grasps the opportunity/ownership society.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 25, 2012 6:28 AM
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