There’s something Obama could have done that would have made more a difference than anything he did do. He didn’t do it because he was the most conservative of the major Democrats running in 2008. But he ran on being transformational, so why not transform?

What he could have done, was when he suspended his campaign and went to Washington because of the financial crisis he could have urged Democrats to Congress to not support the TARP, which was a Republican-created problem intended to help the investor class. A majority of Republicans opposed that bill proposed by their own president. Democrats should have joined them.

Second, after he won the election, but before inauguration, he needed to meet with Bernanke and make it clear he was opposed to the sort of actions (i.e. QE) Bernanke had suggested in his 2002 “helicopter speech” the Fed could do to stave off deflation (which would be very bad for financial markets).

Two things Obama could have done, that would be truly transformational in the way FDR was. But he and his party were too deep into neoliberalism and accepting of other Republican propaganda.

Why do you suppose Republicans have gone batshit crazy? It’s because Democrats have adopted all of their sensible policies becoming a modern version of pre-Depression Republicans. All that is left for Republicans that is on the Right is crazy-ass shit, and of course tax cuts, it’s all they know.