Can Obama Be the New FDR?

Government must remain involved for economy to gain new footing

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration must resist the temptation to leave the economy to its own devices too soon, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. “Getting to the point where our economy can thrive without fiscal support may be a difficult, drawn-out process,” he writes, with no bubble in sight to replace housing. “Things can’t just go back to the way they were.” More»

Now isn't the time for divisive legislative battles: Samuelson

(NEWSER) - When Barack Obama takes office, he’ll have to decide whether he wants to revive the economy, or pursue his policy agenda. “The two approaches are at odds,” writes Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post. Yes, Obama could say energy and health reform will improve the economy, but these initiatives will be “at best distractions,” and at worst legislative battles the US can’t afford. More»

GOP participants may resist further bailouts

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama and Joe Biden will discuss measures to help the ailing economy with America’s governors next Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports, with a two-hour, bipartisan working session in Philadelphia. GOP governors are “looking forward” to hearing Obama’s ideas, but will definitely bring plans of their own, the director of the Republican Governor’s Association said. More»

Joe says Obama never called back; politicos talk bailouts on TV

(NEWSER) - Joe Lieberman told Meet the Press today that he regrets "some things I said in the heat of the campaign that I wish I'd said more clearly," and hopes Barack Obama will put, er, "country first" by leading in a bipartisan fashion. Lieberman said he called Obama during the campaign, but, oddly, never heard back from him, Politico reports. In other talk shows:

• On Fox News Sunday, Obama adviser David Axelrod urged the next Congress to create a new multi-billion-dollar bailout plan to create jobs, The Hill reports. “We don’t have time to waste here,” Axelrod said.

Obama needs to emulate Roosevelt's optimism in the face of deep crisis

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama keeps saying he wants to emulate Abraham Lincoln but he’s lucky that he more closely resembles Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Cohen writes in the Washington Post. Lincoln faced the massive challenge of reuniting the Union but knew just how to do it, while FDR, like Obama, confronted an economic crisis that stumped all the experts. More»