From the beginning of his administration, there has been a perennial flaring up of tensions between President Obama and the liberal wing of our common party. His compromise on the stimulus package at the beginning, followed by his choice to avoid nationalizing the banks, deals cut with instead of given to the auto industry, cutting of the public option from the healthcare bill, and subsequent limitation of abortion services provided in the high risk pools dictated by that bill have all riled up the left against their President to the extent that many are threatening to refuse their vote to Democratic candidates in protest. I am writing tonight to defend what I consider to be this administration’s considerable record of accomplishment.
In chronicling the President’s achievements, it is necessary to begin with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Among the left’s grievances with this piece of legislation are its stripped-down size and heavy reliance on tax cuts for near-term stimulus. I would suggest that these concerns miss the big picture in terms of what the Recovery Act was intended to accomplish in tandem with literal economic recovery and job creation, the "investment" portion, if you will.
To begin with, the bill gave $237 billion of individual tax relief targeted at the lower and middle classes. That relief was more than a campaign promise, it certainly helped many families that were on the financial brink and needed a direct infusion of cash into their pockets. It is difficult to quantify an event that never happened, but any objective observer would have predicted many additional bankruptcies in its absence.
