Synopses & Reviews
In a riveting account based on new documents and interviews with more than 400 sources on both sides of the aisle, award-winning reporter Michael Grunwald reveals the vivid story behind President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus bill, one of the most important and least understood pieces of legislation in the history of the country. Grunwald’s meticulous reporting shows how the stimulus, though reviled on the right and the left, helped prevent a depression while jump-starting the president’s agenda for lasting change. As ambitious and far-reaching as FDR’s New Deal, the Recovery Act is a down payment on the nation’s economic and environmental future, the purest distillation of change in the Obama era.
The stimulus has launched a transition to a clean-energy economy, doubled our renewable power, and financed unprecedented investments in energy efficiency, a smarter grid, electric cars, advanced biofuels, and green manufacturing. It is computerizing America’s pen-and-paper medical system. Its Race to the Top is the boldest education reform in U.S. history. It has put in place the biggest middle-class tax cuts in a generation, the largest research investments ever, and the most extensive infrastructure investments since Eisenhower’s interstate highway system. It includes the largest expansion of antipoverty programs since the Great Society, lifting millions of Americans above the poverty line, reducing homelessness, and modernizing unemployment insurance. Like the first New Deal, Obama’s stimulus has created legacies that last: the world’s largest wind and solar projects, a new battery industry, a fledgling high-speed rail network, and the world’s highest-speed Internet network.
Michael Grunwald goes behind the scenes—sitting in on cabinet meetings, as well as recounting the secret strategy sessions where Republicans devised their resistance to Obama—to show how the stimulus was born, how it fueled a resurgence on the right, and how it is changing America. The New New Deal shatters the conventional Washington narrative and it will redefine the way Obama’s first term is perceived.
Review
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The New New Deal is the most interesting book that has been published about the Obama administration. Even Republicans should read it.” —
The Economist
“One of the year’s deepest books” —Politico
“A must-read book” —PoliticalWire.com
"One of the two best books ever written about government." —NationalMemo
“There’s plenty here for everyone to get aflutter about all over again in this riveting account of President Obama's stimulus bill. Grunwald, a Time magazine senior correspondent, provides captivating background history on the stimulus and how it may prove to be a far greater deal than the one FDR famously launched.” —Chicago Tribune
“Grunwald knows more about the stimulus than pretty much anyone else on the planet.” —Grist.org
“Grunwald makes the case for Obama's stimulus bill more vividly and persuasively than the president ever did...Grunwald peppers this Washington drama with dialogue and characters in action, which makes it a rollicking good read." —USNews.com
“Mammoth in scope. . . . Throughout, Grunwald keeps his tone snappy and readable, while consistently grounding the political story of the Recovery Act in its real impact on everyday Americans. The result is an impressive book about the startling gap between facts and media spin.” —Publishers Weekly
“A cogent reality check of President Obama’s Recovery Act. . . . A pointed, in-the-trenches study whose thrust will be borne out with time.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Michael Grunwald is one of our generation's most original and tireless journalists—a reporter who is allergic to received wisdom, a writer with an uncommon talent for illuminating hidden truths. So it is a delight, but not a surprise, that The New New Deal demolishes cliches and vividly reframes our thinking about President Obama and his stimulus package through a gripping narrative. Even if everyone doesn't agree with Grunwald's provocative conclusions, every serious reader will see his book as a vindication of serious journalism, at a time when we need it.” —John Harris, Politico
Review
“The New New Deal is the most interesting book that has been published about the Obama administration."
Review
"Exceptional...The single best book on the inner workings of the Obama administration. ... Grunwald points out how everything you think you know about the stimulus is wrong."
Review
"The New New Deal is not only the best book about the administration and its challenges, but ... one of the two best books ever written about government."
Review
"Grunwald peppers this Washington drama with dialogue and characters in action, which makes it a rollicking good read."
Review
"Engrossing ... It is a full detailed, careful argument, based on detailed, careful reporting."
Review
“Michael Grunwald is one of our generation's most original and tireless journalists—a reporter who is allergic to received wisdom, a writer with an uncommon talent for illuminating hidden truths. So it is a delight, but not a surprise, that The New New Deal demolishes cliches and vividly reframes our thinking about President Obama and his stimulus package through a gripping narrative."
Synopsis
The New, New Deal is a riveting story about change in the Obama era—an essential handbook for those who want the truth about the president, his record, and his enemies.Michael Grunwald tells the secret history of President Obama’s stimulus bill, the purest distillation of Change We Can Believe In, a microcosm of his policy successes and political failures. The stimulus became a national joke, but Grunwald shows in stunning detail how it really is a new New Deal, larger than FDR’s and just as transformative, preventing a depression while launching a quiet policy revolution. Its main legacy, like the New Deal’s, will be change.
Synopsis
A New York Times bestseller, now with a new foreword by the author, The New New Deal is a riveting story about change in the Obama era--an essential handbook for citizens who want the truth about the president, his record, and his enemies. Michael Grunwald tells the secret history of President Obama's stimulus bill, the purest distillation of Change We Can Believe In and a microcosm of Obama's successes and political failures. The $800 billion stimulus became a national joke, but Grunwald shows in stunning detail how it really is a new New Deal, larger than FDR's and just as transformative. It prevented a depression while launching a quiet policy revolution, and, like the New Deal, its main legacy will be change.
The stimulus has launched a transition to a clean-energy economy, financing unprecedented investments in energy efficiency and the world's largest wind and solar projects. Its Race to the Top is the boldest education reform in US history. It has put in place the biggest middle-class tax cuts in a generation, the largest research investments ever, and the most extensive infrastructure investments since Eisenhower's interstate highway system. It includes the largest expansion of antipoverty programs since the Great Society, lifting millions of Americans above the poverty line.
Michael Grunwald goes behind the scenes--sitting in on cabinet meetings, as well as recounting the secret strategy sessions where Republicans devised their resistance to Obama--to show how the stimulus was born, how it fueled a resurgence on the right, and how it is changing America.
Synopsis
Drawing on new documents and interviews with more than 400 sources, award-winning reporter Michael Grunwald reveals the vivid story behind one of the most important and least understood laws in U.S. history, President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus. Grunwald’s New York Times bestseller shows how the politically disastrous stimulus was a real new New Deal, preventing a depression while jumpstarting the president’s ambitious agenda for lasting change. It launched America’s transition to a clean-energy economy, established the boldest education reform in U.S. history, overhauled the nation’s antipoverty programs, and funded the most extensive infrastructure investments since Eisenhower’s interstate highway system. This is the definitive account not only of a transformative law, but of a transformative president’s first term.
About the Author
Michael Grunwald, a Time senior correspondent, has won the George Polk Award for national reporting, the Worth Bingham Award for investigative reporting, and many other prizes. The Washington Post called the first book, The Swamp, “a brilliant work of research and reportage.” He lives in Florida.