A public exchange between a billionaire and a financial journalist nicely conveys the corrosive economic effects of Obama\u2019s policies. In November 2011 hedge fund impresario Leon Cooperman wrote Obama an open letter criticizing the \u201cdivisive, polarizing tone of your rhetoric\u201d and implying at various points that the President was guilty of \u201cdesperate demagoguery\u201d and a \u201cnaked political pander to some of the basest human emotions.\u201d At a time of economic stress and high unemployment, he argued, it was irresponsible to create a gulf between the \u201cdowntrodden and those best positioned to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooperman is a busy man, and this was not an easy letter to compose; it took courage to do so when the media was demonizing the infamous 1%.\u00a0 One journalist who took him to task was Reuters reporter Chrystia Freeland, who has liberal leanings but, unlike most of her peers, considerable expertise on the topic of wealthy entrepreneurs.\u00a0 Her book Plutocrats<\/b> offers smart insights about the billionaires who are driving the global economy and reshaping social mores in the process.\u00a0 Unfortunately her New Yorker<\/b> article, \u201cSuper-Rich Irony: Why Do Billionaires Feel Victimized by Obama?\u201d is light on rigorous analysis but long on unflattering insinuation, which boils down to five main points:<\/p>\n Ultimately Freeland\u2019s critique of Cooperman is about style not substance. Yes, rich Wall Streeters are offended by Obama\u2019s juvenile attacks, but they are also coldly analytical, ceaselessly surveying the economic landscape to determine what could go right and wrong. \u00a0Cooperman correctly assessed the deleterious impact of Obama\u2019s divisive policies, which have produced a pathetic economic recovery.\u00a0 Unemployment and poverty would be much lower today if, instead of belittling \u201cmillionaires and billionaires,\u201d Obama had constructively worked with Republicans in such areas as entitlement reform, tax reform, immigration, and rebuilding infrastructure. \u00a0Just letting companies repatriate the capital stranded offshore would be a huge economic stimulus that would cost the Treasury nothing. But for Obama political ideology trumps sound economic policy.<\/p>\n Tom Agrees with Leon<\/b><\/p>\n One person who agrees with Cooperman is none other than New York Times<\/b> pundit Tom Friedman.\u00a0 His Sunday column argues the U.S. economy is poised for takeoff \u2013 or would be if a \u201cgrand bargain\u201d in Washington alleviated policy uncertainty over debt and taxes. Tom writes:<\/p>\n Barack Obama is president\u2026..he owes it to himself and to the country to go make one good shot at a Grand Bargain on spending, investment and tax reform before he opts for a strategy of trying to pummel the Republicans, hope that he can win the House for the Democrats in 2014 and then push through his second-term agenda unencumbered.<\/p>\n Friedman correctly points out that the \u201causterity\u201d debate that transfixes Keynesians is a canard, because spending restraint should focus on entitlements, which would cut future deficits without constraining current demand. He notes how absurd it is for Obama to push a rinky dink plan for a \u201cNational Network for Manufacturing Innovation,\u201d while Apple has $137 billion stranded offshore because of our antiquated tax laws, which Obama has done nothing to fix.<\/p>\n Copyright 2013 Thomas Doerflinger.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A public exchange between a billionaire and a financial journalist nicely conveys the corrosive economic effects of Obama\u2019s policies. In November 2011 hedge fund impresario Leon Cooperman wrote Obama an open letter criticizing the \u201cdivisive, polarizing tone of your rhetoric\u201d … Continue reading \n