Atlas Didn't Shrug

so much to be poutraged about. Methinks the latest target will be Neal Wolin, nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. See

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/economy/nominee-for-treasurys-number-t...

or else Kathleen Sebelius, for underpaying seven grand in income taxes over three years.

If all else fails, there's Queen Elizabeth and the iPod.

Feel free to name this law after me.

Here it is: the better things are going in real life, the more inane is the level of poutrage.

Hence, today, as the Obamas take the world by storm to near universal acclaim, there is the poutrage over the ipod and Michelle hugging the queen.  And yesterday, we had Sirota waxing poetic about Peter Orszag having a driver.

Just wait till we have a full-fledged economic recovery on our hands.  The imagination reels about the next complaint.

I ignored the suggested text, per usual (much phonebanking during the primaries and general election taught me that) and just got to the point (after all, what senate or congressional staffer needs to be convinced?--we just need to voice our desire for their boss to vote 'yes').

The three staffers I spoke to told me this:

Rep. Jane Harman - voting 'yes'

Sen. Feinstein - hasn't taken a position on a vote yet but supports the President's agenda

Sen. Boxer - hasn't taken a position on a vote yet but supports the President's emphasis on energy, education, and healthcare.

BTW, the online tool gives Senators' DC office numbers (at least it did for mine), and when I got the voicemail for Sen. Feinstein it supplied her S.F. office number, so I hung up and called that.

OFA has twice requested I call my congresscritter and senators in support of the president's budget. I'd be happy to do that - except I live in a deep red congressional district in Texas. The email I got lists phone numbers for my representative and senators, so I know they know who they are.

So my question is - why does OFA want me to call Cornyn (a joke), Hutchison (not a joke, but not going to vote with the pres), and my party-line Republican rep? None of these are swing votes, or even close... I'm just not getting the strategy of wasting effort on these guys.

Thanks!

Rachel - I don't claim to know but I'll make an educated guess: Opposition party legislators tend to only vote against their party if they feel afraid of their constituents and their rival's capacity to organize them. I would think, in that sense, calls to "red" legislators would be more important to OfA than to "blue" ones because it's a show of grassroots strength. Cumulatively, over time, to the extent a legislator feels OfA's capacity to organize in his or her district, there will be more pressure to make at least some votes that break with their party and align with the President. So even if the vote on the budget is seen as a lost cause, the grassroots muscle flexing would, if big enough, get someone like Bailey Hutchinson in particular thinking about cherry-picking a few votes she otherwise might not cast so as to position herself for election (especially since she's running for Governor). Just my hunch.

If this really is the bottom, and I predict we will crawl along flat or barely ascending for a while, here is what I predict you will hear from the opposition - it was never that bad and the economy was going to recover all by itself.  And to boot, they will scream that the fiscal stimulus was not only unnecessary but irresponsible debt.

I've thought about this when analysts have said that Obama will get credit if the economy improves.  I figure, no, the Rs will never give an inch.  This is what the Rs and the poutrage community have in common...they are both beyond the reach of reason.

Thanks, Al. I'll give it a try. I'll keep my hopes up for Hutchison - she did vote for Lily Ledbetter - although if she's running against Perry in a Republican gubernatorial primary I'd think she might have to tack right before she goes center.

Here in Maine we are receiving call lists from OFA headquarters and we are making calls mostly to Maine's 2nd congressional district.  Last night I had a small phonebank at my house and we had a terrific response to our calls.

One suggestion I would make to phonecallers is to look up the Senators and Reps and find out if they have toll free contact numbers or local office numbers.  Lots of folks I spoke with last night were unable to make long distance calls.

Thanks for posting. When I get these requests in TN 02, I feel impotent. Jimmy Duncan inherited his seat from his popular Dad. He is grooming his son to be ready to take it over. Alexander and Cocker have already clearly stated their positions. About all I can say is I hope they keep an open mind and support this president who is bringing honor again to the country.

Thanks to all who might have some influence.

I live in CA-03 and my representative is the odious Dan Lungren.

I think the people in his local office know me by voice because I call so often.

They just need to hear that not everyone in their districts buys the crap they peddle, and we're watching their every move.

I always tell them how sorry I am for them that they work for Lungren and wish them well finding new jobs after we unseat their boss in 2010. 

I got these links from Puget Sound Liberals' newsletter:

Good news from the EPA, USDA and FDA concerning food safety.
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/132452/why_what%27s_for_dinner_may_be_about_to_change/?page=entire

EPA halts hundreds of mountaintop mining permits
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/24-7

So while the pundit class is foaming at the mouth about the economy (read: diversion), then the real work is being done while no one is paying attention.  I like it this way actually.

Following on Al's mention of OFA's call for phone calls and canvasses, I wanted to mention that our group in Indiana (Wabash Valley Organizers)--a spontaneous outgrowth of the campaign put together by local volunteer organizers--has requested and received an audience with our Representative over this 2 week recess. In preparation for the meeting, which will focus on health care (the public option) and climate change legislation, we are going out on our own this weekend to get signatures for a petition that states support for the President's more aggressive health care and environmental proposals.  This should be interesting. I'll let folks know the Representative's response (he did vote for the budget today, thank goodness). 

The key point is that many Congresspeople are in their home districts this coming week--and would surely love to hear from Fieldhands--in person!

the thing that seems to happening to me is that we built up such a strong opposition force during the Bush years on the blogs that now folks don't know how to do anything but oppose. The idea that we have a president we can work WITH now is something that challenges all of that. And people can't seem to make the move.

With 'Atlas Shrugged' Hollywood may have its first anti-bailout movie. "Hollywood could soon be going Objectivist."

----------------------------

Simon Johnson, a MIT Sloan School of Management professor and head of the IMF 2007-2008, wrote a long piece in the recent Atlantic Monthly ripping the Wall Street financiers apart. Good piece. He has a blog. He wrote last week:

"But every global economic recovery has to start somewhere and it probably has to begin small.  And there are some slight glimmers of hope because (a) President Obama is taking a global leadership role, (b) he is doing this in a creative way that might seem surprising, but which should reduce the chance of a further global meltdown....[H]ow exactly is President Obama showing leadership and making a difference?  Here’s the creative surprise - it’s by raising a great deal of money for the IMF....The Obama Administration is pushing for closer to $1trn in total IMF funding and, after a lot of hard work, seems likely to get close to this target.

In essence, this is a clever way to force the Europeans to help themselves. The Europeans won’t do it with fiscal or monetary policy, and their regulatory changes - even if meaningful - won’t help the recovery.  So the US has persuaded other countries to stuff the IMF full of cash and line it up as the lender of last resort to European economies that now find their property markets collapsing, their currencies under pressure, and their budget deficits increasingly hard to fund.

But that’s not all.  The masterstroke is simple and also brilliant....Why is this a big deal?....By forcing open the leadership selection process of all International Financial Institutions (e.g., so this means no more guaranteed job for an American as President of the World Bank), the Obama team has jumped over major roadblocks around IMF governance.  It has also formed a natural alliance with large emerging markets (Mexico, Brazil, India, China, South Korea, South Africa, etc), who are also members of the G20; the natural next step would be to support a new MD from one of these countries.  Emerging markets lending to struggling Europe, through the IMF, is something we should all get used to thinking about.

Arising directly from the G20 process and this summit therefore, the IMF gets a large amount of cash and the real opportunity to establish broader legitimacy - this should help convince countries that loans from the IMF will come on reasonable terms in the future, and this in turn should serve as a buffer against further downturn.”

Obama pulled it off. Read the whole thing here.

[Disclaimer: I am normally suspicious of the IMF and World Bank and their tactics, particularly the latter.]

Kathleen Merrigan: Organic food expert  http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=kathleen-merrigan-organic-foods-exp-2009-02-24
Confirmed on Thursday as Deputy Sec. of Agriculture!!!

I'm ecstatic!

I knew her when we were both in our late teens/early 20s; her father Tom Sr., her brother Judge Tom Jr. (who helped me out with anti-nuclear organizing when he practiced law), in Greenfield, Massachusetts, seat of Franklin County, at the time a laboratory in organic food production and renewable energy. Good pick, Mr. President.

In the late night just after the budget passed the Senate, I found out that a good man that lost his Senate run twice here in Colorado (he lost to Senator Dullard, er, Allard - R) will be a Deputy Sec. for Fish and Wildlife Service. Ted Strickland!

Another good choice to join fellow Coloradan Salazar at Interior.