What largesse he is offering has been sliced and diced to appeal to specific interest groups, including elderly people on low incomes, families with children in arts programmes, health-care researchers and volunteer firefighters.
One must be not just a star athlete but a civil rights champion, or an actor who was also a major philanthropist.Political calculations come into play with some nominees, as the president highlights cherished themes or pays tribute to specific interest groups.
The only way to do that is to pass expensive bills -- those that divert a lot of money to specific interest groups in specific districts, so that a "no" vote by the local Member of Congress is extremely unlikely.
This is precisely what differentiates the Philippines from many of its successful neighbors, which have had strong and enlightened executives, autonomously undertaking crucial (and correct) economic decision without pandering to specific interest groups.
If progressive centrists simply cheer Obama on, without aggressively supporting collaborative solutions, the administration will be forced to pander to specific interest groups with an old-style super-stimulus plan that pumps more money into a failing system, without dealing with systemic causes.
