Σάββατο 30 Μαΐου 2015

Can 2016 Republicans top Hillary on issue No. 1 — the economy?

Can 2016 Republicans top Hillary on issue No. 1 — the economy?
Friday’s rotten news guaranteed that the top issue of the 2016 race for the White House will be the economy. The question is whether the Republicans can come up with a prescription that beats Hillary Clinton’s message of Obamanomics Lite.
We yield to no one in our contempt for President Obama’s (mis)management of foreign policy, a litany of woes in which Clinton is fully complicit. But that’s not going to be front-and-center in voters’ minds.
Friday’s numbers show that the US economy contracted in the year’s first quarter. If the second quarter winds up a bit worse than early estimates put it, then the nation’s officially back in recession.
Either way, America’s still stuck in the “new normal” of an economy that’s essentially treading water.
The rich are doing OK, thanks in good part to Federal Reserve policies that keep Wall Street humming, even as Main Street drags. But the non-rich know they’re losing ground.
To be fair, the Fed’s just trying to keep everything from falling apart. It doesn’t have the tools to truly goose the economy. In the end, that’s up to the collective will of millions of private-sector decision-makers.
And the private sector’s just too nervous — about the direction of the world economy; about trends at home; about the likelihood that any big news out of Washington will be bad for business.

Hillary’s basic argument: The economy did great when her husband was president — and never mind that she’s already abandoned every position that made him a “New Democrat.” Toss in few hundred million bucks’ worth of negative ads, and it might be enough.
What Republicans need to demand of their candidates is a clear, credible explanation of why the nation’s on the wrong track, and how to fix it.
That means talking about what Washington’s done wrong — on taxes, regulation and just plain honest leadership. And what Washington’s failed to do — from really fixing the banks to truly caring about the regular Americans out there striving every day.
“Hope and change” beat Hillary once. It’s the way to beat her again.

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