Economy: Krugman says Obama Less Progressive Than Clinton & Edwards

Economist Paul Krugman (who was right about the housing bubble, while our ex-Federal Reserve Chairman was stubbornly wrong) urged the media to stop focusing on presidential candidates' superficial  aspects and to start focusing on substantive matters -- like our economy, which seems to be recession bound.

Krugman also briefly discusses major candidates' economic plans (except McCain's, who admits to not understanding the economy).  After seven years of lax regulation and tax cuts for people who didn't need them, we're facing grave consequences and need major changes. 

Some media have painted Barack Obama as change incarnate, but Krugman's comparison suggests that Edwards and Clinton are more economically progressive.

"Before the economic consensus turned as negative as it now has, he [John Edwards] proposed a stimulus package including aid to unemployed workers, aid to cash-strapped state and local governments, public investment in alternative energy, and other measures.

"Last week Hillary Clinton offered a broadly similar but somewhat larger proposal. (It also includes aid to families having trouble paying heating bills, which seems like a clever way to put cash in the hands of people likely to spend it.) The Edwards and Clinton proposals both contain provisions for bigger stimulus if the economy worsens....

"There’s something to be said for presidents who know what they’re talking about.

"The Obama campaign’s initial response to the latest wave of bad economic news was, I’m sorry to say, disreputable: Mr. Obama’s top economic adviser claimed that the long-term tax-cut plan the candidate announced months ago is just what we need to keep the slump from 'morphing into a drastic decline in consumer spending.'  Hmm: claiming that the candidate is all-seeing, and that a tax cut originally proposed for other reasons is also a recession-fighting measure — doesn’t that sound familiar? (New York Times)

This seems to be a reference to some of President Bush's failed economic policies.  Krugman continued:

"On Sunday Mr. Obama came out with a real stimulus plan. As was the case with his health care plan, which fell short of universal coverage, his stimulus proposal is similar to those of the other Democratic candidates, but tilted to the right.

"For example, the Obama plan appears to contain none of the alternative energy initiatives that are in both the Edwards and Clinton proposals, and emphasizes across-the-board tax cuts over both aid to the hardest-hit families and help for state and local governments. I know that Mr. Obama’s supporters hate to hear this, but he really is less progressive than his rivals on matters of domestic policy. (New York Times)

Other BN-Politics Posts:

* More Ripple Effects of the Housing Crisis

* Greenspan's Book Blasts Bush & Others [Updated]

* Oil Prices Pass $100 Mark, Inflation Likely Ahead

* Navy Suspects Prankster Threatened U.S. Ships, not Iranians

* Iran: is Administration Telling Truth or Trying to Save Face?

 

Comments

[techinvestor]

We Need a Stimulus Now, But What Kind?

http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/01/we-need-stimulus-now-but-what-kind.html

[D. Cupples]

Corporate tax breaks might work, IF strings were attached. Tax breaks for middle- and lower- income people might also work, as they tend to spend the money that tax breaks help them save.

Beyond that, I'm not sure. Any ideas?