Giving President Obama Credit (Really)

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the Obama Administration.  I do still respect the office—honestly.  Unlike so many others drawn to “public service”, Mr. Obama seems to me to be a committed husband and father and is decidedly not a philandering narcissist (ala WJC).  Integrity seems important to President Obama—I respect that, too.  And if conventional wisdom is accurate that he loathes Washington politics, I actually find that quality sort of endearing.     

BUT [“C’mon Simone, let’s talk about your big but.”], the things he desires for and from American citizens are antithetical to what I hold dear.  The times where his instincts have been exactly wrong are so numerous, and his leadership skills are so inadequate, that I’d fire Mr. Obama yesterday if I could.  Wait: Vice President Biden is next in succession—on second thought... 

       

Analysis precedes advocacy.  I try to live by that principle.  I'm often lousy at it, but I try.  Here are two recent examples of when I think the president has gotten it almost completely right.

Housing Finance Reform 

On February 2, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner delivered his update on the state of financial reform.  About ¾ of the way through came this little gem:

“Our plan will wind down the GSEs and bring private capital back into the market, reducing the government’s direct role in the housing market and better targeting our support towards first-time homebuyers and low- and moderate-income Americans.”

Yep, you read it correctly, their plan is to “…bring private capital back into the market, reducing the government’s direct role in the housing market…”  

We got the sense that this might be happening in 2011 (read about it here), but the statement above illustrates how far we've come.  This is the first time in the last 37 months that I’ve heard anything—actual policy, that is—remotely positive about private capital from this administration.  Except for occasional, vague, pandering, positive remarks about “small business”, the president has consistently portrayed private enterprise as something one might accidentally step in while mowing the lawn.  What’s important here is Mr. Obama’s implicit recognition of private capital’s importance: it can accomplish things the government simply cannot.

And they want to "wind down the GSEs"?  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the mechanisms through which Washington helped create this mess.  I'm tearing up.  

An encouraging juxtaposition: the conclusion of the government’s $25 billion foreclosure suit means banks can begin to process the huge backlog of properties needing to be repossessed and sold.  Painful for the families involved, yes, but a critical healing step for the housing market.

State Exemptions from No Child Left Behind

On February 9, the U.S. Department of Education announced that 10 states, which had proposed their own school evaluation mechanisms, had been released from the dictates of No Child Left Behind.  “The goals of No Child Left Behind were the right ones,” the president noted in a statement.  But as Education Secretary Arne Duncan recognized: 

“rather than dictating educational decisions from Washington, we want state and local educators to decide how to best meet the individual needs of students.”

Excuse me?  “rather than dictating…from Washington”?  Who are you guys?

I know, I know—Mr. Duncan’s statement indicates that he wants power to go to the educators, not to school boards.  But, gee whiz, did you see that power back to the states thing?  

I can’t completely fault President Bush for NCLB.  It was an attempt to inject some measure of accountability into an industry (yes, industry) for the benefit of our children and their educations.  But let’s be honest: in NCLB he created a massive new federal program.  Would that he just deleted the whole U.S. Department of Education…but, I digress.  

What’s so heartening about these two pieces of policy—delivered only one week apart—is that they display awareness of the federal bureaucracy’s limits.  The more local our focus, the more effective our solutions.  My hunch is that these policies are just subtle enough that they’re not simply election year stunts.

 

So, nice job, Mr. President.  I’m still going to try to get you fired, but these changes are worthy of our hope.