In an Atlantic Current, I offer my thoughts on Henry Paulsen, the political strategist.
Comments (1)
Paulson is basically doing a rear guard action that makes it look good with a minimum of nip and tuck tweaks that do not address the problem head on, but does enough to achieve the following goals:
a) make him look good in the last few months of his term,
b) hopefully, tuck it enough to ensure that another blowup does not happen before December - after the election,
c) make sure that any problems are blamed on Congress for not acting
d) leave the entire mess to the next Administration
He knows that the full magnitude of the problem will require a bailout that could be bigger than the US can afford. Such a bailout could involve the US going to the IMF with all the political and economic ramifications.
Marc Ambinder, an Atlantic associate editor, is blogging the 2008 presidential election from the roadshows. He might also write the occasional post about aviation, national security, and cognitive neuroscience. Mostly politics, though.
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Paulson is basically doing a rear guard action that makes it look good with a minimum of nip and tuck tweaks that do not address the problem head on, but does enough to achieve the following goals:
a) make him look good in the last few months of his term,
b) hopefully, tuck it enough to ensure that another blowup does not happen before December - after the election,
c) make sure that any problems are blamed on Congress for not acting
d) leave the entire mess to the next Administration
He knows that the full magnitude of the problem will require a bailout that could be bigger than the US can afford. Such a bailout could involve the US going to the IMF with all the political and economic ramifications.
So let the next sucker deal with it.
Posted by D | April 3, 2008 9:08 PM