MSNBC's Chris Matthews is clearly worried the President that once gave him a thrill up his leg is not going to get reelected.
Appearing on Jansing and Company moments before Barack Obama's press conference Friday, the Hardball host said the President has "got to be aggressive. He’s got to be big time. Stop this nickel and dime, a couple of bucks for the teachers, a couple of bucks for the firefighters. 'I'm going to reduce the payroll tax.' This is pissant" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS JANSING, HOST: Well, the hope and change thing, Chris, obviously, was looking forward. Is there a way for President Obama to make this more forward looking than backward looking?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah, I think he has to say that one thing we've learned over the last hundred years about managing the economy is this: when business fails, as has failed in the last ten years, it has failed. The private sector fell apart under President George W. Bush. It's a fact. The financial market fell down, the auto industry was dead on arrival, everything has failed. The government has to act. When the consumer is uncertain and business is scared, the government has to act, which it did when Obama came in and it hadn't done before that.
He came in, took action, saved the auto industry, brought back the American economy with a big stimulus plan. He took a lot of heat for it, but if the government hadn't acted nobody would have acted, because even to this day business is afraid the consumer is holding on to his or her money. Nobody's really got the guts to spend money except the government. He's got to say, “We have to keep doing this. We have to keep shouldering the responsibility to keep the American economy roaring again until everybody's back.” He's got to say, “We've done the right thing, we’re going to do more of it. If the Republicans would get out of the way we would do a lot more.”
He's got to be aggressive. He’s got to be big time. Stop this nickel and dime, a couple of bucks for the teachers, a couple of bucks for the firefighters. “I'm going to reduce the payroll tax.” This is pissant. You can't get reelected with tactics. He needs a strategy which is, “We're different than the Republicans. They're basically free marketers who sit around and wait for business to deliver this country from hell and business has let us down.” He’s got to say it.
So what Obama's done with regard to creating jobs is "pissant."
For a change, I have to agree with Mr. Matthews.
(HT @MaxwellSilver3)
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— Noel Sheppard (@NoelSheppard) June 8, 2012
