Before I get going, a disclaimer: I don’t know enough economic theory or political science to even pretend to have an authoritative opinion about how to get out of the huge financial mess we’re in, my opinions about what moves we should take as a country are resting on shaky foundations, and I’m scrambling like crazy to make sense of all this and shore up that foundation.
That said, I know enough to know that it is absolutely vital that we find a way to get the best minds together to work toward a common solution. Friedman’s wish is also my own:
Which is why I wake up every morning hoping to read this story: “President Obama announced today that he had invited the country’s 20 leading bankers, 20 leading industrialists, 20 top market economists and the Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate to join him and his team at Camp David. ‘We will not come down from the mountain until we have forged a common, transparent strategy for getting us out of this banking crisis,’ the president said, as he boarded his helicopter.”
Instead, Republicans are acting like they’re safe on the sidelines, throwing criticism at the players without offering much help. Fox News is filled with snarky attacks and embarrassing attempts at humor, making it into a really bad imitation of the Daily Show (which, meanwhile, is delivering more serious commentary and critique in 30 minutes than Fox seems able to put together over three hour-long shows).
Of course, the Democrats can’t throw stones, either. But that’s the point: neither side is blameless in all of this, but instead of working toward a common solution to monumental problems that could literally bring down the country, it’s all about mud-slinging (and sometimes stones as well). We’re all going to go down together, no matter which side is able to scrape together more “points.” It’s infuriating and shameful.
Wed, Mar 11, 2009
Culture