Joe Klein (and Andrew, who flagged his column for me) kind of sum up my feelings about the Obama administration at the moment:
I'm taking the path of least crankiness in the early days of this new Administration. Sure, I'm worried that Obama isn't dealing decisively enough with the banking crisis--but, on the other hand, this is uncharted territory and maybe a cautious, case-by-case strategy will prove to be the right one. And yes, I'm worried that Obama is deferring a bit too much to the snails and toads (of both parties) in the Congress--but, on the other hand, savvy aides like Joe Biden, Rahm Emanuel and congressional liaison Phil Schiliro will focus and massage the legislative packages that will be forthcoming. It is entirely possible, as this magazine surmised last week, that Obama has taken on too much, too soon. Or maybe not. The public hasn't even seen the benefits of the tax cuts that were embedded in the stimulus bill yet. The shovels are barely ready for the new infrastructure spending.
That's kind of the spirit in which I intended my last post, about the bank plan. On the one hand, I'm a little concerned about the approach, and I don't completely understand how it's supposed to work. On the other hand, I'm willing to give it a chance and to concede there may be a logic to it I'm not yet seeing but will see down the road.
--Noam Scheiber