Quote Of The Day

Robert Reich, on the upcoming event that Lambert Strether has sarcastically referred to as "The Greatest Speech On Jobs Evah":

He’ll choose either Plan A or Plan B.

Plan A would be big enough to restart the economy (now barely growing) and reduce unemployment (which continues to grow). That means spending another trillion dollars over the next two years – rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, creating a new WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps, and lending money to cash-starved states and cities.
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Plan B would be a bunch of policy miniatures that would have almost no effect on the economy or employment but would nonetheless be good things to do (extending the Social Security tax cut, extending unemployment benefits, reauthorizing the highway building trust fund, giving employers a tax incentive to hire the long-term unemployed, ratifying trade agreements).
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Which will it be — Plan A or B? Early indications suggest Plan B. The President is now saying his upcoming plan will generate “up to a million jobs.” But with 25 million Americans looking for full-time jobs that’s chump change.

Obama’s Jobs Plan: Will He Offer Policy Miniatures or Give ‘em Hell?

Once again, I can't argue with his basic conclusion. As usual with Prof. Reich, what I find I disagree with are his assumptions about why Obama will take this course. He thinks Obama is timid. I think he's doing exactly what's good for Barack Obama, which is taking rich peoples' money and doing what they tell him to do.

Either way, Lambert's sarcasm is well-founded. This speech won't be worth all the buildup. It might be less entertaining than Rick Perry's coming out party, at least if you have a stronger stomach than I do.

UPDATE: Corrected Lambert's description of the upcoming Obama speech. He used the superlative "Greatest", not "Best". I feel so ashamed...