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March 21st, 2009
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Obama Launches Economic Reassurance Plan |
His Message: The Economy Will Recover, In Part Because of the Economic Reassurance Plan
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Some of the billboards being posted throughout all 50 states. |
Politics - Trying to soothe the nation's jangled nerves, President Barack Obama has launched a "national reassurance plan" aimed at restoring faith in the economy. The centerpiece of the plan is a series of comforting speeches that Obama will give twice a day for the duration of the crisis.
In the first of these addresses, delivered yesterday, Obama urged the country not to panic. "My fellow Americans, my message to you today is this: have faith," the President said in rich, fatherly tones. "You need not worry about your future, because my administration is going to get the economy moving again. And we're going to get it moving again by getting people to stop worrying."
The President's speeches are just the first step. A special radio station will be set up that plays a continuous loop of Obama making soothing cooing sounds 24 hours a day. Citizens are encouraged to tune in to this station whenever they read their 401(k) statement, drive past a foreclosed house, hear a downsizing rumor, read a newspaper, or watch a television news program.
Obama's advisors are reportedly also considering an evening storytime and lullaby.
The economic stimulus package enacted last month also contains provisions to ease the public's worries. It includes funding for a $180 billion advertising campaign aimed at convincing Americans that the economic stimulus package is being well-spent.
This campaign will include television ads urging Americans to stimulate the economy by spending rather than saving. In one commercial, a Scrooge-like character walks through a shopping mall, stubbornly refusing to buy an iPhone, Blu-Ray player, or plasma TV. A voice-over says, "Don't be a Scrooge! Buy something you don't need...today!"
Critics have complained that Obama’s efforts are not strong enough. In a stinging editorial in the New York Times, economist Paul Krugman argued that no fewer than five reassuring speeches per day are needed to lift the nation out of its economic malaise.
"The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, is addressing his country in a comforting manner once a day," Krugman wrote. "But the U.S. has a GDP about five times the size of France. So this country needs at least five times as much soothing."
Seeking to head off these kinds of doubts, administration officials are considering a $50 billion public relations campaign aimed at reassuring people about the effectiveness of the economic reassurance program.
In a brief question-and-answer period following yesterday's speech, Obama disagreed with the notion that all these efforts at reassuring the country might just possibly have the opposite effect.
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