Please rec to show your support for the people of France, England and Greece in

[girl gone mad]

16. Did Obama ever dump Plouffe?

Obama’s pivot to deficit reduction, explained

So why did Obama and Democrats pivot so hard towards deficit reduction, and away from job creation, after the 2010 elections?

The question is one of the central conundrums of the Obama presidency. The pivot led to a grueling series of standoffs with Republicans on their political turf that arguably damaged Obama further, at a time when more government action was desperately needed on jobs and the economy, the primary preoccupations of voters. We now have a new book that sheds some fresh light on what drove this pivot. And it won’t make progressives any happier.

In “Showdown,” an insider account of Obama’s response to the 2010 midterm losses, author David Corn reports on a number of behind-the-scenes disussions that led to the Dems’ emphasis on deficit reduction. Here’s what drove Obama strategist David Plouffe’s thinking (page 132)...

Plouffe was concerned that voter unease about the deficit could become unease about the president. The budget issue was easy to understand; you shouldn’t spend more money than you have. Yes, there was the argument that the government should borrow money responsibly when necessary (especially when interest rates were low) for the appropriate activities, just like a family borrowing sensibly to purchase a home, to pay for college, or to handle an emergency. But voters needed to know — or feel — that the president could manage the nation’s finances. The budget was a test of government competence — that is, Obama’s competence.

This is a reference to the “government must tighten its belt” analogy. Obama repeatedly has invoked this language, arguing that government, like families, needs to live within its means. As Paul Krugman has explained at length, this analogy is flawed on many levels. And judging by the above passage, Plouffe knew this. He knew the policy justification for the pivot was thin. But Obama’s team clearly didn’t feel they could win this argument with voters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/obamas-pivot-to-deficit-reduction-explained/2012/03/19/gIQA0l0GNS_blog.html

No. In fact he was appointed Senior Advisor!

The White House is still full of austerians last I checked.