I wrote yesterday morning, for my column in today's print Guardian:
On the stimulus package, I guess he wants about the same thing Krugman and other liberal economists want, if he can get it. Something closer to a trillion, with more spending and less in tax cuts. But he knows he's far better off if he just lets Congress do that. Let John Kerry bash him for proposing a $3,000 tax credit to businesses for each job they create. That credit is a poker chip. If Kerry can get it off the table, more power to him. But it's much better for Obama to let Kerry do it than for him to do it. That lets Kerry be seen as the liberal - which is no skin off Kerry's nose, since he represents Massachusetts and has a seat for life - and lets Obama be seen as more centrist.
This morning, news outlets are reporting:
Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama is making "significant" changes to his economic stimulus program, such as boosting energy tax incentives, after members of his own party called elements of the plan inadequate.
"I think they're moving very effectively to respond to the issues that we raised the other day," Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said yesterday after lawmakers met with Obama economic advisers Larry Summers and Jason Furman.
The general point I was trying to make was that Obama, more than many other politicians, may have a goal of X in mind, but he will never state X as his goal. He'll state Y as his goal and let others move him toward X. Then everybody gets to X together. It's good strategy that creates good feelings all around.
One of the most annoying things that's been happening during this transition is that Obama and his team announce such-and-such a thing, and it's not exactly what liberals want, and people start accusing him of being a sell-out and a hypocrite. As Mick said at Altamont, brothers and sisters, cool out. He is a slow and deliberate chess player who conceals his endgame strategy as long as he possibly can. Take it up with your shrinks if you must, but do try to remember that it'll be at least four months before we should start reaching any conclusions.
