Dems' New Deal Can't Be Same as Old Deal

Financial crisis calls for tough choices, says Prospect editor
Dems' New Deal Can't Be Same as Old Deal
President Bush waves after arriving at TSTC airfield in Waco, Texas Monday, Aug. 13, 2007, to start his summer vacation at his ranch near Crawford Texas. (AP Photo/Rod Aydelotte)   (Associated Press)

If current market turbulence becomes a full-blown recession, a Democratic president would need revolutionary changes to solve America’s financial troubles, writes American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner. "In the short run, a faltering economy is a political windfall for Democrats," he contends, but pointing fingers at the GOP won't solve anything if the Dems inherit the problem.

The Republican-engineered trouble leaves the US in need of major market constraints and social spending. The current economy favors deregulation, speculation, and tax cuts—“Wall Street rather than Main Street”—but Democrats beholden to business interests can't dictate the future, Kuttner says, and he isn’t sure the White House’s next occupant will “have the nerve to think big.” (More US economy stories.)

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