The Deficit-Reduction Obsession

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2031958,00.html

Joe Klein's article revolves around the obsession our nation's leaders seem to have with "balancing the budget" while remaining strident in their counterproductive lack of job creation.

          The recent release of a budget-balancing proposal from the Obama deficit-reduction commission co-chairman has raised a question among those savvy enough to comment on the recent proposal. Should our country focus on dispelling the long-term debts of war and international trade, or should the closer-to-home national economic crisis be addressed first? Before reading this article, I viewed these two economic issues as one in the same. To my knowledge, each played an equally dominant role in the fiscal strife our nation is experiencing. 

         Nay, says Joe Klein. According to the op-ed writer, our country can only ever be financially secure after first addressing the problems within our borders. Klein writes that "finding a way to encourage productive investment that creates jobs while discouraging the financial speculation that creates bailouts" is the direction in which we should be heading. He takes it upon himself to inform his readers of the current events of our nation because (well, it's his job and) it is his country too. He holds a position in which his views influence many people, and he honors himself by presenting his opinions in a manner that does not discourage his readers. Klein clearly states his opinion, but he also rationalizes the issue by respecting the opposing stance that wishes for long-term deficit-reduction first. 

Klein's Persuasive Details: 

1. Klein mentions 3 recent presidencies that engulf the adult life span of most of his readers. He respectfully acknowledges their success while clarifying where each went wrong.

2. He also uses rhetorical questions to indirectly plant his opinion in his reader's mind. 

3. Klein gives reliable examples of politicians who are wrong in their ways according to him. He does not mimic his pop-culture counterparts who commonly refer to a source as "a close friend" or "a reliable source." Klein's evident research forms a bed of comfort and reliability. 

4. Klein points out where Glenn Hubbard, George W. Bush's former chief economic adviser, contradicts himself. 

5. Klein clearly presents what he thinks needs to be done, and it is not in any way ridiculous.

How did Klein effectively portray his opinions while drawing his reader in? Rhetorical questions, of course. What better way is there to include the reader and befriend them to physically include them in the conversation? Except, of course, the reader is not really included because the questions are rhetorical. And they are subsequently answered in the following sentences by the questioner himself. But no matter; the sentiment was there.