Carrot or Stick?

It may be a bit of an overstatement to say that Obama owes his presidency to the financial sector, or Wall Street if you prefer. But what had seemed like a tossup two months earlier became a near certainty by election day. This was the direct consequence of the cumulative hell the Barons of Bucks had wrought during the administrations of Reagan, Papa Bush, yes Clinton and by all means W. Without their help Barack Obama might now be the Junior Senator from Illinois.

Wall Street money was fairly evenly distributed during the campaign. As president, Obama has treated the financial community with considerable deference. He began by choosing Timothy Geithner, one of “them” as Treasury Secretary. His Justice Department has yet to seek its first indictment of any of the miscreants who caused our financial disaster. Nevertheless the financial community is now hell bent on using its resources, or money in plain English, to prevent his reelection.

Evidently just letting the lords of finance keep their swag wasn’t enough. No substance abuse* equals the addiction to money, particularly in the harm done to others. any casual mention of regulations is blasphemy in their world. What Obama saw as a carrot these folks regard as a stick. It should be clear by now to someone as smart as he, that the time has come for no more Mister Nice Guy and to come out foursquare for the people they have been swindling, namely everyone else.

We hear constant reference to “energizing the base.” The right wing base is self energized for a variety of reasons, not least of which is plain old fashioned racism. Very few of them will stay at home even if it means holding their noses to vote for Romney. Many of us on the left are disappointed with Obama because he hasn’t even tried to deliver much of what we were led to expect, granted an impossible task considering our system of governance. Not much can be done in three months. But by calling out the culprits with some degree of specificity he might at come closer to earning an A for effort from those who voted for him with such passion four years ago.

*A more accurate term is self abuse. I know of no case of a substance experiencing discomfort.