Today's DMO!

Obama’s Team Has Trouble Connecting the Dots
By: Todd M. Schoenberger

Despite the run-up in stocks from the 12-year lows set on March 9th, 2009 will be remembered more for all of the great news stories our heroes, leaders, politicians, and celebrities presented to us for analysis and debate. And, I want to personally thank all of these newsmakers for making my life easier during this holiday season because now I don’t have to create artificial conversation with extended family when I see them for Christmas dinner.

Ah, but I digress.

The past few weeks have been great for guys like me because we now have topics to argue about for the next six months. That brings me to today’s topic. Yesterday’s opinion piece was about a television program that aired on Sunday; today’s is about two television programs that also aired on Sunday: Meet the Press and This Week.

If you follow politics as the ultimate reality show with drama that rivals the 1994 “Real World” series on MTV, then you know the chaos coming out of the Obama Administration is nothing short of classic television. So, on Sunday, the President of the United States was represented by two of his most visible employees: White House economic adviser Christina Romer and director of the National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers. Both appeared on global television, and both contradicted the other about the current status of the United States economy.

And, both are now hiding in the West Wing hoping the President’s 60 Minutes “fat cats” comment continues to divert any attention about their inept leadership skills.

First, on Meet the Press, when asked by moderator David Gregory if the recession was over, Romer said confidently, “Of course not! For the people on Main Street and throughout this country, they are still suffering; the unemployment rate is still 10 percent.”

But when Summers was asked the same question on the same day, but on a different network, he said, “Today, everybody agrees that the recession is over, and the question is what the pace of the expansion is going to be.”

Whoa there cowboys! Which is it? If the chief executives of the United States economy who report to the President of the United States can’t get the story straight, then what is our prognosis for the rest of this dysfunctional relationship between Americans and the Obama Administration?

This is the hang-up that millions of Americans, and let’s not forget—voters have about the President: He has no strategy. And, it’s practically impossible to develop a strategy when your so-called A-team isn’t on the same page when it comes to such catastrophic issues like the demise of the U.S. economy. Perhaps now would be a good time for the President to have another one of those beer and pizza picnics on the White House lawn with his economic team and craft a few unanimous points to strategize on.