The Discussion-Obama's Second Inaugural Address
1/22/2013
Dylan: Obama gave his inaugural address today. I'm curious—what did you think about the speech and the vision of the future he began to share?
Cameron: I thought the speech was modestly engaging and original. The biggest problem I see is that he laid out a vast array of wonderful and revolutionary new policy ideas, but I have strong doubts about his likelihood of following through. He's been laying out for years his vision of a stronger welfare state and more government-led investment in important, breakthrough industries, but he hasn't shown very much political leadership. All he has to show is Obamacare, which is significant but not enough, and green energy programs—that's all. We haven't seen him make great political efforts to do more of these things. I doubt he'll really follow through with these grandiose visions.
Dylan: It's interesting that you talk about the president's lack of political will. I think the President has done a lot more than people give him credit for and I blame the president for that. For four years he has come across as a conciliatory leader. It was the type of leadership we wanted in 2008 but not the one we needed. What I saw today was a President gearing up for an aggressive second term.
Cameron: What major accomplishments has he had besides Obamacare? He got Obamacare done very early in his presidency. During the last three years of his first term or so, couldn't he have gotten some of that stuff done or at least tried (I know he had a horrible House to work with)? He talked about immigration reform, government investment in breakthrough industries, and most emphatically creating an America with a strong middle class where the rich aren't the only ones succeeding and the poor have equal opportunity? What, to increase equal opportunity, did he do with the last three years or so of his presidency—after Obamacare passed? He laid out plans as grandiose as LBJ but hasn't done a tenth of what LBJ did with the Great Society.
Dylan: He saved the American auto industry. He saved Wall Street. He ended the Iraq war before surging and then scaling down in Afghanistan as well. He has had the most robust alternative energy policy of any president in history. He has actually removed more regulations than any other President in history and has added more than a few as well. He signed orders requiring the federal government to rewrite its codes and laws in a way that a layman could understand. He's raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans and cut taxes for middle class families. He has deported more immigrants than any president in history. He instituted patent reform and put our nation’s first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court. He ended “Don't Ask Don't Tell” and successfully pushed for the country’s biggest investment wireless infrastructure. Oh, and he killed Osama Bin Laden. There is plenty the President has done that we can disagree with, but saying he hasn't done anything is false. The problem is that the president has done a bad job of showing everything that he has done—not that he has done nothing. Though I will say in times like these doing a lot more than people think may not be enough.
Cameron: I agree that he has done a lot. I simply mean I don' think he's done a lot in terms of creating a more "equal" society and creating more equal opportunity. Raising taxes on the rich and lowering taxes (temporarily, I believe) on the middle class is not the kind of welfare state or equal opportunity I think we should have in mind. That really doesn't bring us significantly closer to equal opportunity. We haven't moved anywhere close to the Scandinavian countries, which I think serve as good models. Green energy programs are great, but I think he needs to be investing in other revolutionary industries besides energy. America is having a hard time readjusting economically to the loss of manufacturing jobs to developing countries. That’s where the government should step in—with a scope larger than just energy. What do you think about his positive attitude? How good are our prospects for the future?
Dylan: I think that we still have everything we need to make our country great, but the next four years will truly demonstrate whether we have the common sense to use those tools. If the GOP decides that their primary goal is not damaging the president but working on getting things done, and if President Obama shows a genuine effort to work in the trenches of congressional negotiating, I think we could see amazing things happen. Unfortunately, the occurrence of both of those things is dubious at best. Our biggest challenge will remain political in nature over the next four years. I think I share with many of American citizens serious doubts on whether our leaders are up to the task. What three things off the top of your head do you think the president should focus on most over the next four years?
Cameron: I think the President should focus on reforming the tax code to encourage investment spending in place of consumption. That will help economic growth. I also think he should work on passing more stimulus (if he can somehow get it through Congress). We are not operating at potential GDP. We need more stimulus. It's indisputable. Business and consumer confidence are too low. The third thing should be immigration reform—radical immigration reform. Immigrants are nothing but good for the economy, and it's a moral issue as well.
What do you think?
Dylan: I think we need to pass a budget that institutes long-term deficit reduction that will reduce the deficit considerably over a long period of time. That should help restore business confidence and ease our nation’s political turmoil. He needs to continue to prioritize our future through investments in alternative energy, wireless internet, education and infrastructure. This will cost us today but will pay massive dividends down the road. Finally, I think he needs to take a good hard look at inequality in America and instituting an aggressive agenda that will target the causes of inequality of opportunity and not simply lower taxes on the middle and lower classes.
Cameron: Absolutely. I agree with all of that but especially the last part. I could not have said it any better. I think he has been a good president, but frankly I'm a little tired of him being the "fair share" president and "equality" president when his agenda for equality hasn't been that aggressive. Tax reform is not enough. It does little to improve equality of opportunity.
Dylan: Obama gave his inaugural address today. I'm curious—what did you think about the speech and the vision of the future he began to share?
Cameron: I thought the speech was modestly engaging and original. The biggest problem I see is that he laid out a vast array of wonderful and revolutionary new policy ideas, but I have strong doubts about his likelihood of following through. He's been laying out for years his vision of a stronger welfare state and more government-led investment in important, breakthrough industries, but he hasn't shown very much political leadership. All he has to show is Obamacare, which is significant but not enough, and green energy programs—that's all. We haven't seen him make great political efforts to do more of these things. I doubt he'll really follow through with these grandiose visions.
Dylan: It's interesting that you talk about the president's lack of political will. I think the President has done a lot more than people give him credit for and I blame the president for that. For four years he has come across as a conciliatory leader. It was the type of leadership we wanted in 2008 but not the one we needed. What I saw today was a President gearing up for an aggressive second term.
Cameron: What major accomplishments has he had besides Obamacare? He got Obamacare done very early in his presidency. During the last three years of his first term or so, couldn't he have gotten some of that stuff done or at least tried (I know he had a horrible House to work with)? He talked about immigration reform, government investment in breakthrough industries, and most emphatically creating an America with a strong middle class where the rich aren't the only ones succeeding and the poor have equal opportunity? What, to increase equal opportunity, did he do with the last three years or so of his presidency—after Obamacare passed? He laid out plans as grandiose as LBJ but hasn't done a tenth of what LBJ did with the Great Society.
Dylan: He saved the American auto industry. He saved Wall Street. He ended the Iraq war before surging and then scaling down in Afghanistan as well. He has had the most robust alternative energy policy of any president in history. He has actually removed more regulations than any other President in history and has added more than a few as well. He signed orders requiring the federal government to rewrite its codes and laws in a way that a layman could understand. He's raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans and cut taxes for middle class families. He has deported more immigrants than any president in history. He instituted patent reform and put our nation’s first Hispanic woman on the Supreme Court. He ended “Don't Ask Don't Tell” and successfully pushed for the country’s biggest investment wireless infrastructure. Oh, and he killed Osama Bin Laden. There is plenty the President has done that we can disagree with, but saying he hasn't done anything is false. The problem is that the president has done a bad job of showing everything that he has done—not that he has done nothing. Though I will say in times like these doing a lot more than people think may not be enough.
Cameron: I agree that he has done a lot. I simply mean I don' think he's done a lot in terms of creating a more "equal" society and creating more equal opportunity. Raising taxes on the rich and lowering taxes (temporarily, I believe) on the middle class is not the kind of welfare state or equal opportunity I think we should have in mind. That really doesn't bring us significantly closer to equal opportunity. We haven't moved anywhere close to the Scandinavian countries, which I think serve as good models. Green energy programs are great, but I think he needs to be investing in other revolutionary industries besides energy. America is having a hard time readjusting economically to the loss of manufacturing jobs to developing countries. That’s where the government should step in—with a scope larger than just energy. What do you think about his positive attitude? How good are our prospects for the future?
Dylan: I think that we still have everything we need to make our country great, but the next four years will truly demonstrate whether we have the common sense to use those tools. If the GOP decides that their primary goal is not damaging the president but working on getting things done, and if President Obama shows a genuine effort to work in the trenches of congressional negotiating, I think we could see amazing things happen. Unfortunately, the occurrence of both of those things is dubious at best. Our biggest challenge will remain political in nature over the next four years. I think I share with many of American citizens serious doubts on whether our leaders are up to the task. What three things off the top of your head do you think the president should focus on most over the next four years?
Cameron: I think the President should focus on reforming the tax code to encourage investment spending in place of consumption. That will help economic growth. I also think he should work on passing more stimulus (if he can somehow get it through Congress). We are not operating at potential GDP. We need more stimulus. It's indisputable. Business and consumer confidence are too low. The third thing should be immigration reform—radical immigration reform. Immigrants are nothing but good for the economy, and it's a moral issue as well.
What do you think?
Dylan: I think we need to pass a budget that institutes long-term deficit reduction that will reduce the deficit considerably over a long period of time. That should help restore business confidence and ease our nation’s political turmoil. He needs to continue to prioritize our future through investments in alternative energy, wireless internet, education and infrastructure. This will cost us today but will pay massive dividends down the road. Finally, I think he needs to take a good hard look at inequality in America and instituting an aggressive agenda that will target the causes of inequality of opportunity and not simply lower taxes on the middle and lower classes.
Cameron: Absolutely. I agree with all of that but especially the last part. I could not have said it any better. I think he has been a good president, but frankly I'm a little tired of him being the "fair share" president and "equality" president when his agenda for equality hasn't been that aggressive. Tax reform is not enough. It does little to improve equality of opportunity.