The Debt Ceiling Drama Makes Everyone Look Incompetent

The debt ceiling stuff makes me sick to my stomach.  Despite the fact that the warnings about default are clear and dire, our elected leaders seem to be only interested in political showmanship and not actually solving the problem.

On the one hand you have the Republicans who are the party much more responsible for our unwieldy debt, refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless all of their suddenly austere measures are met without any inkling of desire to compromise on any issue.  They are the major cause of the problem, are completely hypocritical about government debt and size now that they believe it is politically advantageous, and are unwilling to negotiate like responsible adults to avoid the catastrophe they precipitated.  They are more interested, it seems, in pleasing their corporate overlords than doing what is right for the American people.  Here is one graph, among many many many, that illustrates the level to which Republicans are at fault for the debt:

Don't You Make This Difficult For Me, Jon Huntsman

It's early, and my feelings are confused right now, but I think I'm starting to really like Jon Huntsman.  I mean, I liked him a lot when he was governor because we just never had governors like him in Utah.  He supported cap-and-trade legislation, he moved us forward on civil rights by supporting gay rights and civil unions, he supported immigrant rights, he called out those ridiculous congressional Republicans for being useless (his word was "inconsequential"), and he generally talked and acted like a moderate in a state where Republican politicians are almost universally crazies.  I even started to like that weird thing he does with his eyebrows.  He wasn't perfect, but he was pretty good.

Then he praised Obama and Clinton and went to work as the ambassador to China in the Obama administration, even when everyone knew he had national aspirations.

Now it is clear that he's running for president and he continues to talk like a moderate, reasonable conservative and, frankly, it's jarring.  Take a look at this article by the Deseret News and in particular the transcript of the interview he did with CNN's John King.

Rant Time: Pres. Obama is No Liberal

And he's certainly no socialist, despite the popular conservative argument otherwise.  Here's what we have seen so far:

1. He gave away the public option before the debate even began.  Health care reform ended up being a huge win for the health care industry which will soon be flooded with new customers thanks to the mandate.
2. The stimulus was too small and included too many tax cuts for corporations at the Republicans' behest.
3. He has failed to follow up on, pursue, and prosecute Bush Administration illegal activities such as torture and illegal wiretapping.
4. The war in Afghanistan, which pretty much everyone agrees we can't "win" militarily, has been escalated instead of ended.
5. The financial reform bill was watered down in the face of the powerful financial lobby to the point of likely being completely ineffectual to prevent the sort of the economic meltdown we are currently working our way out of, over two years later and with no end in sight.
6. He is now backing down from his stance of letting the tax cuts for the super-wealthy expire and extending the tax cuts for the vast majority of Americans permanently.
7. And now, reports are that the administration is stepping up covert attacks in Yemen.

On David Foster Wallace and Leadership

I'm requiring that all readers of this blog love the late writer David Foster Wallace.  If you can read through his essays in Harper's and the commencement speech he gave Kenyon College, and not want to go on and read his books, Infinite Jest in particular, you probably need to humble yourself and open your heart.  I'm not going to blaspheme and give you Moroni's promise here, but let me just say that I think the pure in heart will love his writing.  I know it's trendy to love DFW's writing right now, so sue me.  I love it.

So I was surprised that I had missed his article in Rolling Stone back in 2000 when he followed the McCain campaign around for a week.  He spends the last section of the article about leadership, which he defines as:

A real leader is somebody who, because of his own particular power and charisma and example, is able to inspire people, with "inspire" being used here in a serious and non-cliché way. A real leader can somehow get us to do certain things that deep down we think are good and want to be able to do but usually can't get ourselves to do on our own.

He then makes the point that we are less susceptible to real leadership today, as compared to JFK's presidency:

True, JFK's audience was more "innocent" than we are: Vietnam hadn't happened yet, or Watergate, or the Savings and Loan scandal, etc. But there's also something else. The science of sales and marketing was still in its drooling infancy in 1961 when Kennedy was saying "Ask not..." The young people he inspired had not been skillfully marketed to all their lives. They knew nothing of Spin. They were not totally, terribly familiar with salesmen.

          . . .

But if you're subjected to enough great salesmen and salespitches and marketing concepts for long enough — like from your earliest Saturday-morning cartoons, let's say — it is only a matter of time before you start believing deep down that everything is sales and marketing, and that whenever somebody seems like they care about you or about some noble idea or cause, that person is a salesman and really ultimately doesn't give a [I'll edit this, it is a Mormon blog, so use your imagination] about you or some cause but really just wants something for himself.

Characteristics of Great Leaders

Some have advocated that "giving power to any leader in the time of crisis" is a mistake. Images of Hitler and Mussolini are conjured to illustrate the danger of allowing a political leader to emerge and increase the power of government. While these two are poignant examples of the abuse of power that can occur, the mortal sins that will seal their fates probably don't include "I was given power in a time of crisis and increased the role of government." If so, then there are many others that will find a fire-side seat waiting for them.

An excellent, and often-cited, example of great leadership is Abraham Lincoln. Jacob S. recently posted about a book on the Civil War presidency, and I will direct you to a second book that further details the life and presidency of Lincoln. Much is said about the growth of President Lincoln, about his initial hesitation in leading a nation, about his sincerity, and about his self-doubt. One idea that persists, is that when Lincoln was faced with the single greatest internal challenge this country has ever seen, he rose to the occasion and led the country from the brink of disintegration.

First, when faced with economic distress of the north and impropriety on the part of the banks, he called on Congress to issue government-backed bond notes (Greenbacks) to cover labor and service to the United States. This action expanded the role of a central bank to issue national currency and resulted in one of the greatest economic and industrial expansions this country has seen. For example, a transcontinental railroad was established (Pacific Railroad Acts), provided for free public higher education (Morrill Land Grant Act), and consistently supported scientific research and founded the National Academy of Sciences (Act of Incorporation).

Second, he issued the emancipation proclamation. The long-term consequence of this policy wasn't just to end slavery. It in fact refocused political power to the central government - the federal law outlined in the proclamation overruled that at a state level, allowing the federal government to establish rules and regulations that affect the entire nation. In addition, it set up the federal government as the humanitarian watch dog of the citizenship. Before Lincoln, individual states had the right to decide on the legality of slavery.

Lincoln was a leader that was given power in a time of national crisis, and he centralized economic power of the government, increased government control of the private sector, increased taxes (first ever income tax), and increased the role of government in nearly every aspect of the economy: medicine, industry, banking, and manufacturing.

According to the criteria listed at the beginning of this post and elsewhere, Lincoln has a seat at Satan's dinner table. In contrast to that belief, I feel that Lincoln's performance in a time of national crisis was essential to the survival of the country. He did not abuse his power. He did strengthen a nation.

Alongside Lincoln rightfully stand other great power-in-time-of crisis leaders that increased the power of the central government: Thomas Jefferson (established a Federal Republic), James Madison (drafted the Virgina Plan), Franklin Roosevelt (New Deal), and John F. Kennedy (Federal Grants).

If all of the action Obama has proposed actually comes to fruition, he will not have done 1/100 as much as Lincoln, and others, to expand the role of central government. If Obama's proposals are successful, then I believe it can aid in returning the United States to a position of industrial, scientific, and moral leadership. He has not (so far) abused his power, and he has strengthened a nation.

I am in no way claiming that all increases in federal government are good. I only want to point out that not all increases in federal government are bad. Let me be very clear on this - a significant number of policies that have increased the power of the federal government have been imperative to the progress of our country. I feel many (I didn't say all) of the recent policies of the Obama administration continue in this vein.