Obamisms

I'm starting to like Obama's ability to turn a phrase, enough to help me get over what I liked about Hillary's ability to grab the whole of a problem and wonk it to the ground.

Among the recent candidates:

• "A victory for commonsense." : On the aptness of a resource-constrained nation-building effort, eschewing language about a 'victory' for al-qa'ida.
• "The you're-on-your-own society" : Commenting on the grate beneath George Bush's "Ownership Society"
• "We let the special interests put their thumbs on the economic scales"

We know that the GOP are going to try to savage Obama with the label "liberal", that they have tried so hard to turn into a pejorative in America. But, looking at BO's speech from today, I suspect they will get as good as they give, as he seems to be up to the challenge rhetorically about as well as was JFK:

...the core of our economic success is the fundamental truth that each American does better when all Americans do better; that the well being of American business, its capital markets, and the American people are aligned.

I think all of us here today would acknowledge that we've lost that sense of shared prosperity.

This loss has not happened by accident. It's because of decisions made in boardrooms, on trading floors and in Washington. Under Republican and Democratic Administrations, we failed to guard against practices that all too often rewarded financial manipulation instead of productivity and sound business practices. We let the special interests put their thumbs on the economic scales. The result has been a distorted market that creates bubbles instead of steady, sustainable growth; a market that favors Wall Street over Main Street, but ends up hurting both.

....

in our 21st century economy, there is no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street. The decisions made in New York's high-rises have consequences for Americans across the country. And whether those Americans can make their house payments; whether they keep their jobs; or spend confidently without falling into debt – that has consequences for the entire market. The future cannot be shaped by the best-connected lobbyists with the best record of raising money for campaigns. This thinking is wrong for the financial sector and it's wrong for our country.

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