Larry Summers Seeks Support from the Fake Left

by: Matt Stoller

Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 13:43


Our petition against Larry Summers has hit 5000 people, and the energy against him is pretty remarkable and coming from a variety of different directions.  NOW's Kim Gandy has spoken out, Dean Baker has been on a tear, and I even got a review copy of a book sent to my address about labor economics, only the name on the address label was cheekily dubbed 'Larry Summers'.  So there's furious private lobbying going on about this possible pick.
Matt Stoller :: Larry Summers Seeks Support from the Fake Left

In response, Summers is seeking to bolster his credentials among liberals.  He's rumored to be having lunch with Gloria Steinem to repair his reputation as a sexist, and he's now breaking out his allies to appear liberal to make Obama think that he's got support on the left.  In this Wall Street Journal blurb, journalist Sara Murray and Gerald F. Seib take the bait (though they may not have written the title) and write A Vote for Summers-From the Left, in which they cite The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn as a liberal supporter of Summers.  Cohn dutifully discusses Summers's credentials on various keynesian economic policy concepts, but who exactly does Cohn represent?

He's an editor at the New Republic, a mostly centrist ideologically muddled magazine that comes out with occasionally interesting insider gossip-style pieces.  He's written a book on health care, and written articles for "the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, and Slate."  How does that validate him as a liberal supporter of Summers?  He was not, for instance, elected into office and did not join the progressive caucus.  He has not worked on elections on behalf of liberal candidates, and he has not as far as I know successfully moved forward liberal policies in liberal coalitions.  He hasn't built a popular power of liberals, and he hasn't started a left-wing activist blog, written a self-consciously progressively ideological book (like Naomi Klein) or organized workers or engaged in voter registration in disenfranchised communities or any number of other activities that would validate him as a spokesperson for 'the left'.

What, exactly, is Cohn, except a journalist with instincts towards liberal policy solutions?  There's nothing wrong with being a journalist putting out reasonable solutions to vexing policy problems, but the game whereby people at The New Republic get to reap the credibility of being nonpartisan Village journalists while also being selected to speak on behalf of the left should stop.  I mean, it's 2008.

... I've made the case against Summers multiple times, but for those of you who weren't paying attention, he was a key figure in deregulating our financial system and a cause of the current meltdown.  I deleted a bunch of concern troll comments and will begin banning shortly.

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Larry Summers Seeks Support from the Fake Left | 30 comments
in Eric Alterman's book on the Punditocracy (4.00 / 4)
Called "Sound and Fury," there was a whole chapter on how the New Republic delegitimizes arguments from the political left. "Even the New Republic" recognizes the need for aid to the Contras. "Even the New Republic" knows universal health care form would be a disaster.

I think the magazine should change its name to "Even the New Republic."

Join the Iowa progressive community at Bleeding Heartland.

This is true on foreign policy (0.00 / 0)
Definitely TNR is hawkish on foreign policy, in some respects almost at the point of lunacy. But generally I don't see that on domestic policy. I don't remember seeing an article, for example, in TNR that claimed universal health care would be a disaster (but I wasn't looking, so I'm not saying it didn't happen -- they have a lot of writers, and some of them suck.)

But specifically Jonathan Cohn is certainly a liberal in good standing, I should think. Here is an article he wrote last year examining the claim by those on the right that UHC would be the death knell for medical innovation. He examines this claim closely, gathers opinions from various points of view, and finally concludes that a well-designed plan would not harm innovation.

[ Parent ]
On health care, I think it's old news (4.00 / 1)
Back when Andrew Sullivan was the editor, he went all-out against Clinton's health care policy (someone correct me if I'm wrong).  But these days, overall, TNR is on the correct side of the health care debate.
[ Parent ]
Well, TNR (4.00 / 2)
ran that (dishonest) article by Elizabeth McCaughey, an effective attack on Hillarycare. Whether this was before or after, Sully ran "The Bell Curve" I'm not sure.
[ Parent ]
It was him (4.00 / 1)
Wikipedia says he was TNR's editor from '91 through '96.

Not sure of exact dates, but from some poking around, it seems that the health care article was sometime earlier in '94, while the Bell Curve stuff was in late '94.

[ Parent ]
Ah, yes (0.00 / 0)
I am familiar with that article from the Andrew Sullivan era (the McCaughey article is the one Haggai refers to, I believe). I guess I had blocked it out. Anyway, as I said, I consider TNR a centrist magazine, but since Matt is specifically attacking the credibility of Jonathan Cohn, I think it makes sense to look at his writing.
[ Parent ]
an "effective attack" on "Hillarycare"? (4.00 / 1)
In the first page, there were 14 lies.  I remember it well.  I counted them.

And confronted Elizabeth McCaughey about them at other venues later.

It was scurrilous.  Andrew Sullivan was almost as proud of that as he was on the heinous Charles Murray article on why minorities, African Americans most particularly, had lower IQ's.

It put a negative value forever in my mind on the value of Andrew sullivan's endorsement.

Hillarycare would have been universal healthcare 14 years ago. Uncertain why that would have been worse than the state we're in now.


"Incrementalism isn't a different path to the same place, it could be a different path to a different place"
Stoller

[ Parent ]
oops sorry didn't see this later clarification (0.00 / 0)


"Incrementalism isn't a different path to the same place, it could be a different path to a different place"
Stoller
[ Parent ]
Fine, fine, but Summers isn't running as a health care official! (0.00 / 0)
And Cohn is no outstanding expert on economic issues. Why should his endorsement have any serious weight???
[ Parent ]
Others supporting Summers (4.00 / 2)
Brad DeLong and Sheryl Sandberg both support Summers as well.

I'm one of your 5000 signees, but I must say the "fake left" think gets old pretty quick.  Sounds like "real American" or "real fan" or "real heavy metal".

He who refuses to take part in modern mediocrity will forever stand alone, an outcast. He is the bringer of change, changes that instill fear in all who go with fashion's flow. Their power comes from others, not from within. They are false! Woe unto them for the bringers of change have banded together. The time is now! We cannot be stopped! We are riding up, riding hard on the will of the people.
The battle rages-Choose your side
DEATH TO FALSE METAL
Forever
Fighting the World

(Hmm, the back cover of an old Manowar album fits better than I expected.  And here I planned to use it to make fun of the "real left" thing...)

and delong (4.00 / 2)
Is a supporter of corporate trade agreements.
[ Parent ]
That's a bit simplistic (4.00 / 3)
Delong was, like almost all economists, strongly in favor of NAFTA back in 1993. However, if you watch here you will see that Delong still believes in trade, but the (at least partial) failure of NAFTA to achieve what was claimed for it has caused him to rethink his views. He now believes that a model closer to what the Europeans did with the emerging Eastern and Central European countries, where expanded trade was accompanied by additional development assistance to improve those countries' physical, political, and economic infrastructure, would be a better model for us dealing with Mexico.

I actually think he's a bit like Summers in this respect; he once believed the neoliberal orthodoxy whole-heartedly, but now, having witnessed some of the problems with the so-called Washington Consensus, he has more nuanced views.

[ Parent ]
DeLong's argument (4.00 / 1)
DeLong's entire argument was about how Summers is really, really smart, and Rubin followers' careers turn out well. It didn't speak to any of the arguments being made with respect to Summers' policies.

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[ Parent ]
Exactly! I noticed this, too. (0.00 / 0)
DeLong didn't address the elephant in the room, Summers' very long history of stomping for deregulation. So his praise of Summers should be taken with a grain of salt.  
[ Parent ]
No misunderstanding,pls, (0.00 / 0)
an appointment of Summers would be a "totally wtrong message". I support Matt's view that Summers fishing for compliments and endorsements know is kinda ridiculous. The problem is his stomping for deregulation, and this disqualifies him from a serious official position at this time, no matter how many character witnesses he will present us for support.
[ Parent ]
wow, some heat here.... (4.00 / 1)
i'm usually one of matt's more vocal critics, but i actually don't find this post particularly objectionable.  basically, i agree with what matt is saying.  summers is trying to cover his left flank by pulling some strings, and matt is calling bullshit.  good on him.  

but more generally, making claims about who represents the left is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, especially when we are being imagined by those in power as an 'interest group' (see, for instance, Obama's selection of Mike Lux to serve as a 'liaison' to progressives.  you don't select liaison's for groups that are fully integrated into your administration, only for those that you are holding at arms length).  

so-called 'interest groups' always have internal squabbles about who represents the group, because without such squabbles the various factions within the group would have basically no way of effectively making their voices heard.  being boxed into an 'interest group' is not something to be happy about, but at least at the moment, it is where we are.  given that, we shouldn't hesitate to do battle in defining who is a 'real' representative of the left.      

The main point isn't that Summers is no progressive,... (0.00 / 0)
the core problem is that he stomped for deregulation right up until the bubble burst! Totally wrong message now, and it's very questionable if even an admittedly highly intelligent guy like Summers will be able to overcome his own convictions so fast. No, really, sry, too much risk in this appointment.
[ Parent ]
be careful what you wish for (4.00 / 2)
next in line is NY Fed head Tim Geithner who failed to regulate the ny city banks even though that is one of the NY Fed's primary responsibilities.

Michael Bloomberg, prince of corporate welfare
straw man (0.00 / 0)
Summers seems like the kind of possible nominee who is trotted out to hide the failings of the real nominee.  Get everyone upset about Larry and sacrifice him so the liberals fall in line for ... whoever, possibly Geithner.

Anyone whose PR skills are too weak to hack it as a university president doesn;t look up to handling the marquis cabinet slot of the moment.  So no Lary.

[ Parent ]
Take a feminist to lunch (0.00 / 0)
Dealing with women is so simple in Summersville. If you're worried about accusations of sexism, just take a feminist to lunch. If you don't have a salad thrown in your face, your reputation is saved. See, I actually had lunch with one of them, some of my best friends are feminists.  
Jon Cohn is ok, but a liberal icon, he ain't. (0.00 / 0)
Great work on Health Care issues, but it really takes a wide stance to call him progressive. If he can't come up with more prominent supporters from the left wing, Summers will be a very hard sell.
Larry Summers Seeks Support from the Fake Left | 30 comments
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