E. J. Dionne: The Government: Credit Where Credit Is Due

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/no_news_about_governments_good_news_20110508/

The Government: Credit Where Credit Is Due

Posted on May 8, 2011
By E.J. Dionne, Jr.


Don’t expect to see a lot of newspapers and websites with this headline: “Big Government Bailout Worked.” But it would be entirely accurate.

The actual headlines make the point. “Demand for fuel-efficient cars helps GM to $3.2 billion profit,” declared The Washington Post. “GM Reports Earnings Tripled in First Quarter, as Revenue Jumped 15 Percent,” reported The New York Times.

Far too little attention has been paid to the success of the government’s rescue of the Detroit-based auto companies, and almost no attention has been paid to how completely and utterly wrong opponents of the bailout were when they insisted it was doomed to failure.

snip//

Sorry to say, but you won’t see a news conference where the bailout’s foes candidly acknowledge how mistaken they were.

The lack of accountability is stunning, but not surprising. It reflects a deep bias in the way our political debate is carried out. The unexamined assumption of so much political reporting is that attacks on government’s capacity to do anything right make intuitive sense because “everybody knows” that government is basically inefficient and incompetent, especially when compared with the private sector.

Government failure gets a lot of coverage. That’s useful because government should be held accountable for its mistakes. What’s not OK is that we hear very little when government acts competently and even creatively. For if mistakes teach lessons, successes teach lessons, too.

more...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/no_news_about_governments_good_news_20110508/

:kick:

I retired on March 31st. In less than 1 month I received my first SS benefit and I obtained full coverage under Medicare. Much of this was done online. The system the Republicans want to kill is probably the most shining example of good, efficient government. And, I want to add that the government human beings I dealt with during this process were incredible helpful and courteous.