Alter on Obama

Jonathan Alter writes in Newsweek about President Obama and his ability to read the political situation that he has before him.
Jonathan Alter writes:

"He knows that now is not the moment to cheerlead, not when the financial players are lying dazed on the field. There will be time for that, when the banks have been 'restructured' (see, that sounds better than 'nationalized') and the credit starts flowing again....

"Obama is betting on two things: first, that people are so tired of being bamboozled that a little straight talk about their woes will make them feel more in control, the prerequisite for genuine confidence. And second, that he'll get props for trying, that the very effort of riding events instead of letting them ride him will at least offer the illusion of mastery. Once these mental pieces are fastened in place and we're fully 'in recovery,' to use therapy lingo, the enduring problems won't seem so terrifying anymore."

Watch Jonathan Alter interview by NBC's Norah O'Donnel here:

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Obama's Budget Plans

President Obama came out today and discussed his budget plans. It is how he kicked off this afternoon's "Fiscal Responsibility Summit" at the White House. In a bold statement that I am not sure is possible, President Obama said he intends to halve the country's budget deficit by the end of his first term.

NBC correspondent Chuck Todd reported on a meeting between President Obama and governors that took place last night and today. Watch his report here:

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President Obama went over a number of the steps that he is taking to fix the mess he inherited. He talked about the accounting gimicks that would no longer be tolerated, so that we would have an honest accounting of the financial state of the budget. He also declares that "Pay as you go" will be reinstated to the budget.

Watch President Obama speak at today's summit here:

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Lori Montgomery and Ceci Connolly wrote in Sunday's Washington Post: "President Obama is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious first budget that seeks to cut the federal deficit in half over the next four years, primarily by raising taxes on businesses and the wealthy and by slashing spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration officials said."

Now it had been rumored that President Obama had considered announcing the formation of a bipartisan Social Security task force, but had relented under pressure from the liberal left who were worried about what this would do to other initiatives like healthcare. Solve healthcare and you go a long way to solving Medicare (immediate problem) and Social Security (long term problem.)