Obama Saved Capitalism and Lost the Mid-Terms

Timothy Egan shows how in The New York Times.

The three signature accomplishments of his first two years — a health care law that will make life easier for millions of people, financial reform that attempts to level the playing field with Wall Street, and the $814 billion stimulus package — have all been recast as big government blunders, rejected by the emerging majority.

But each of them, in its way, should strengthen the system. The health law will hold costs down, while giving millions the chance at getting care, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Financial reform seeks to prevent the kind of meltdown that caused the global economic collapse. And the stimulus, though it drastically raised the deficit, saved about 3 million jobs, again according to the CBO. It also gave a majority of taxpayers a one-time cut — even if 90 percent of Americans don’t know that, either.

Add the bailouts of the banks (started by Bush) and the auto industry, the costs of which are expected to be recouped by the federal government, and you see an administration that Egan points out is "good for capitalism, and should end any serious-minded discussion about Obama the socialist."

But, Obama's loudest critics can't be described as "serious minded" about anything but amassing political power.

--Ballard Burgher