Sometimes the media (of all types) are criticized for publishing only "bad" news. But Thursday was one remarkable exception, with big, positive developments coming on at least two fronts -- after 87 days, the flow of oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig appears to have been stopped for at least a while; and after an even longer period, reform legislation bringing needed changes to financial markets and practices has been passed.
The news about the Gulf of Mexico oil leak is especially welcome because it suggests we're in the end game of finally stopping the flow and with luck, soon being able to plug the well from below, permanently. Even Republicans haven't managed to find anything in this news to complain about. (Well, not yet, anyway - it's only been half a day.)
As for financial regulation, not everyone agrees its passage is good news; nearly all Republicans, incredibly, declined to take steps to help head off a future economic disaster of the sort they created this time. And partly for that reason, the new financial regulations are only the first step, analogous to the new sealing cap on the well. The spewing of pollutive financial practices may have been halted for the moment, but will they just erupt again later under the combined pressure of financial institutions and the legislators they so easily influence through their political contributions? There's no final "kill" technology in sight for this problem. Given a decade or so, financial institutions will find their way around many of the new limitations.
Charles Krauthammer is one who dislikes the new financial package. His economic analysis is politically colored and extreme, though he makes one valid point: the continuing expansion of "entitlement" spending is not a good thing. But that's not a Democratic Party problem, as he suggests; it's a problem politicians of both parties have created, and it won't be dealt with until the Republicans show more interest in working cooperatively to fix what's broken.
Krauthammer's political point, however is perceptive: Don't underestimate Obama. Of course there was euphoria when Obama was elected, but six months in, as the problems began to mount, who would have supposed this young President would have achieved two major, game-changing pieces of legislation, plus an economic rescue package, in so short a time? Krauthammer might have mentioned that this was done even while fighting several disasters that would be a challenge for any President, but nevertheless, the underlying point is well taken.
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