http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/opinion/03krugman.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212
Freezing Out Hope Paul Krugman NY Times Op-Ed: December 3rd, 2010 After the Democratic "shellacking" in the midterm elections, everyone wondered how President Obama would respond. Would he show what he was made of? Would he stand firm for the values he believes in, even in the face of political adversity? On Monday, we got the answer: he announced a pay freeze for federal workers. This was an announcement that had it all. It was transparently cynical; it was trivial in scale, but misguided in direction; and by making the announcement, Mr. Obama effectively conceded the policy argument to the very people who are seeking - successfully, it seems - to destroy him. So I guess we are, in fact, seeing what Mr. Obama is made of. About that pay freeze: the president likes to talk about "teachable moments." Well, in this case he seems eager to teach Americans something false. The truth is that America's long-run deficit problem has nothing at all to do with overpaid federal workers. For one thing, those workers aren't overpaid. Federal salaries are, on average, somewhat less than those of private-sector workers with equivalent qualifications. And, anyway, employee pay is only a small fraction of federal expenses; even cutting the payroll in half would reduce total spending less than 3 percent. So freezing federal pay is cynical deficit-reduction theater. It's a (literally) cheap trick that only sounds impressive to people who don't know anything about budget realities. The actual savings, about $5 billion over two years, are chump change given the scale of the deficit. Anyway, slashing federal spending at a time when the economy is depressed is exactly the wrong thing to do. Just ask Federal Reserve officials, who have lately been more or less pleading for some help in their efforts to promote faster job growth. Meanwhile, there's a real deficit issue on the table: whether tax cuts for the wealthy will, as Republicans demand, be extended. Just as a reminder, over the next 75 years the cost of making those tax cuts permanent would be roughly equal to the entire expected financial shortfall of Social Security. Mr. Obama's pay ploy might, just might, have been justified if he had used the announcement of a freeze as an occasion to take a strong stand against Republican demands - to declare that at a time when deficits are an important issue, tax breaks for the wealthiest aren't acceptable. But he didn't. Instead, he apparently intended the pay freeze announcement as a peace gesture to Republicans the day before a bipartisan summit. At that meeting, Mr. Obama, who has faced two years of complete scorched-earth opposition, declared that he had failed to reach out sufficiently to his implacable enemies. He did not, as far as anyone knows, wear a sign on his back saying "Kick me," although he might as well have. There were no comparable gestures from the other side. Instead, Senate Republicans declared that none of the rest of the legislation on the table - legislation that includes such things as a strategic arms treaty that's vital to national security - would be acted on until the tax-cut issue was resolved, presumably on their terms. It's hard to escape the impression that Republicans have taken Mr. Obama's measure - that they're calling his bluff in the belief that he can be counted on to fold. And it's also hard to escape the impression that they're right. The real question is what Mr. Obama and his inner circle are thinking. Do they really believe, after all this time, that gestures of appeasement to the G.O.P. will elicit a good-faith response? What's even more puzzling is the apparent indifference of the Obama team to the effect of such gestures on their supporters. One would have expected a candidate who rode the enthusiasm of activists to an upset victory in the Democratic primary to realize that this enthusiasm was an important asset. Instead, however, Mr. Obama almost seems as if he's trying, systematically, to disappoint his once-fervent supporters, to convince the people who put him where he is that they made an embarrassing mistake. Whatever is going on inside the White House, from the outside it looks like moral collapse - a complete failure of purpose and loss of direction. So what are Democrats to do? The answer, increasingly, seems to be that they'll have to strike out on their own. In particular, Democrats in Congress still have the ability to put their opponents on the spot - as they did on Thursday when they forced a vote on extending middle-class tax cuts, putting Republicans in the awkward position of voting against the middle class to safeguard tax cuts for the rich. It would be much easier, of course, for Democrats to draw a line if Mr. Obama would do his part. But all indications are that the party will have to look elsewhere for the leadership it needs. *** From: Mitchel Cohen Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 1:41 PM Hi, My friend Carol Soto (formerly Skelskey) is arranging for 4 survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing to speak with public school students in New York next week. They are on a peace mission. I suggest that you might feature them on your show as guests, to tell their stories. Strangely, I've gotten no response on this from WBAI management or Kathy Davis, so I'm going straight to a few producers. Carol's email is <[email protected]> and her phones: 212-749-7988 and 917- 453-7036 thank you!!! They also may be available for interviews on other Pacifica stations, and on Progressive Radio Network. Hi Mitch, You may know me as Carol Skelskey from the Nica Network but I married and changed my name to Soto (to protect the innocent). I don't know anyone at WBAI anymore and was wondering who I could forward this to? I tried desperately to get anyone's attention about this program in the spring when I had 25 survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki A bombs in the city for the UN nuclear proliferation treaty negotiations, but no one was interested. This time around I would especially lie to promote a truly cross cultural person Setseko Thurlow who has been living in Canada ( honored as a Dame by the Canadian gov't) ) who is politically savvy a nuclear abolitionist and tells one hell of a story. I have become involved, not by my absolute commitment to a nuclear free future, but because I got hooked in at a personal level and have been involved over the last year with this education program. I am of course a nuclear abolitionist but have hardly felt the need to devote my activism to nuclear issues since the early 70"s but here we go again. Schools spend two weeks on the holocaust but one day at most on the atomic bombing and are still teaching that the nuclear bomb was a necessary deterrent and instrumental in winning the war - I can't stand that !!! The survivors are all amazing in their transformative outlook and so totally determined to work for peace through nuclear disarmament. Each personal story is horrific but the transformation is one of those human aspects that is thoroughly amazing and important. The hibakusha approached the group I am working with and said they wanted to speak to high school kids personally so that they could become committed activists in the nuclear free future community. I would appreciate any help you could give me! Warmest regards, Carol Hiroshima Survivors to speak to NYC School Students Four survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bombing of 1945 will speak to students at 16 NYC High Schools in all five boroughs during the week of December 6 - 10 (complete schedule below). The program is spearheaded by Youth Arts New York in partnership with Peace Boat, Mayors for Peace, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Japan Society Education Programs, and New York Theatre Workshop. The Japanese word for survivors of the atomic bombings is "Hibakusha" which is now applied to survivors of any nuclear fallout including those from atomic testing sites in the South Pacific and Nevada, and those from accidents like Chernobyl. The four Hibakusha speaking to the students ranged in age from 8 - 13 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. They will relate their personal experiences in the aftermath of the bombing which includes their continuing struggle with the long term effects of high radiation exposure, their ostracism within their own country because of their 'contamination', and their decision and efforts to work toward a nuclear free world. The increased global awareness of nuclear arms proliferation brought about by North Korea and Iran, combined with Obama's initiative to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the major nuclear powers gives a timeliness and urgency to this project. Visits will provide students with a rare opportunity to hear eyewitness testimonies of one of the most significant events in recent history, and will introduce the students to the concepts of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation. Students will learn to see that nuclear war is not only a war against the present but also, because of the genetic effects of radioactive contamination, a war against future generations. Hibakusha Stories is an initiative that began in October of 2008 when Youth Arts New York was approached by the Peace Boat Hibakusha Project to bring survivors to New York City School students to tell their stories. In May of 2010 visits to 25 New York City public schools were arranged. ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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