The wishy-washy swings in the Obama administration’s approach to job creation and debt reduction reflect a deeper division and debate among U.S. elites about the future of our society and the American empire.
At the moment, the pessimists seem to have the upper hand. As a result, President Obama and other leaders of the Democratic Party are joining Republicans in championing austerity measures under the polite title of “debt reduction.” Obama’s latest plans for generating employment are deeply inadequate when compared with the actual needs of the American people. Comparisons with the more visionary programs developed by FDR in the 1930s render current proposals almost ridiculous. Framed as part of a program of reducing the national debt—and painfully constrained by that goal—Obama’s program for jobs is pathetically deficient.
By accepting the Republican agenda, which puts debt reduction as the highest goal, and by actually repeating the conservative debt...
