Arianna Huffington had tough words for President Obama and the health care reform package Tuesday, during a debate with Bill Kristol at Vanderbilt University.
Speaking to a crowd of approximately 800 in Langford Auditorium, Huffington and Kristol examined the current state of America’s middle class, as well as other issues at the forefront of today’s political atmosphere, in a debate moderated by Ben Smith, senior political writer for Politico.
Kristol and Huffington shared in criticism of the Obama administration — both said the administration failed to address the most pressing needs of Americans in the down-turned economy.
“President Obama underestimated the economic crisis. (He) didn’t listen to other voices, and there were plenty of them,” Huffington said. “If people don’t have jobs, giving them health care in 2014 doesn’t help.”
Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, opened the discussion by dismissing the idea that America’s middle class is in decline, a position Huffington takes in her most recent book, “Third World America.”
“The people in this country live quite decent lives and have great opportunities,” Kristol said. “Obviously, we can argue about which policies open up opportunity more.”
Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, argued younger generations are worse off economically than their parents and that it is more difficult to move up in society than in previous generations.
“Being behind France in upward mobility is a little bit like France being behind us in croissants and afternoon sex,” Huffington said.
Despite a fundamental disagreement about the state of the middle class, Huffington and Kristol found common ground in their beliefs in a need to focus on the entire country.
“I do object to some degree to categorizing Americans by class, and I do think we should think about the country as a whole,” Kristol said.
Huffington said that categorizing positions within the traditional partisan system marginalizes the issues.
“Caring for the middle class is not a right-left issue,” Huffington said. “You cannot have a stable and prosperous democracy without a thriving middle class.”
Hannah Twillman is a staff writer for the Vanderbilt Hustler. She is a contributor to the Student Free Press Association.
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