Obamateurism of the Day

There’s amateurish, and there’s willfully obtuse — and there is a point where the two meet. Yesterday’s OOTD had Obama’s staff cutting off a constituent when he started making more sense on taxes and economics than Barack Obama. Today’s OOTD shows Obama giving the rhetorical equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears and saying, “Nah nah nah, I can’t hear you!”  Martin Feldstein attempted to argue that tax hikes at this point in time would send signals that the US was becoming more hostile to business, and that has implications for long-term investments, capital deployment, and job creation:

MR. FELDSTEIN: Well, thank you. I think there are two issues. One is about the size of the out-year deficits, because the administration’s formal plan, your formal plan, would continue for the 98 percent indefinitely. And so that’s the extra $2 trillion that people worry about.

But I think the impact of the tax increase for the high income who represent about, as you say, 2 percent of the taxpayers but about 50 percent of the tax dollars, the impact is one of attitude, confidence.

As we’ve talked during the PERAB discussion earlier, before you joined us, there’s this concern about the business community’s attitude about the administration. And it’s not just the business community, it’s high-income individuals, entrepreneurs and others. And so the increase in the tax on those individuals is a signal that the administration –

THE PRESIDENT: They have to pay slightly higher taxes. (Laughter.)

Sounds as though the President learned job creation from Richard Blumenthal.  The President that doesn’t understand capital flight is destined to deliver it, and perhaps it might be a wee bit helpful if this President listened with his ears rather than crack jokes.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!