Even the Obameter is reading empty

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post is the probably the strongest supporter of president Obama that one can find in the media; at least he is tied for first place. No matter what happens, Robinson spins it to show how Obama has done the right thing and that the Republicans are evil. But in a strange way, Robinson is a good indicator of the fortunes of Obama. I call him the "Obameter". Right now, the Obameter is reading empty.

In a new column, Robinson talks about how the Occupy Wall Street movement is a windfall for Obama. In doing so, he buys into the phony rhetoric coming from the president in which Obama claims that Republicans want to remove all regulation of Wall Street and return things to the way that they were in 2008. That claim would have some punch if it were not entirely false. The problem which Republicans address is that the Dodd Frank law which Obama used to "regulate" the securities industry actually operates to protect the big Wall Street banks from competition coming from the small and middle sized banks. In other words, what Obama has done is to reward those very same big Wall Street banks against whom OWS is protesting. At some point, the word will get out on this. Robinson himself makes clear that he understands this basic truth. He says, "the fact is that he [Obama] decided not to seek fundamental reforms." In the world of Gene Robinson, that admissions sounds like a trumpet. Obama, despite all of his rhetoric, did not even try to reform Wall Street. Clearly, this is not one of today's White House talking points, but Robinson nevertheless has to concede reality. It is a very bad sign for Obama.