Those who arrived early to Michael Grunwald’s talk in Harbor Hall last Tuesday may have spotted the journalist in the entrance, doing what journalists do—filing a story.
Dressed in a crisp navy suit, with a Republican National Convention press pass hanging from his neck, Grunwald stood in front of his MacBook Pro, trying to find a suitable wireless connection before discussing his new book, “The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Stimulus.”
Ten minutes before the senior Time Magazine correspondent was scheduled to speak, the gallery was nearly full, mostly of older community members. Around 3:30 p.m., USF St. Petersburg students descended en masse, finding empty chairs and filling just about every one.
In a week dedicated to all things GOP, Grunwald provided an alternative voice, calling Obama’s stimulus the “most important and least understood” piece of legislation today—and the “purest distillation of change.” The “stimulus”—short for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—was signed by Obama in February 2009 and dedicated more than $800 billion to create jobs and recover a fallen economy.
Grunwald, a self-described “dork” who usually writes on energy, education, health care and infrastructure, first became interested in Obama’s stimulus when he realized the government was “pouring” $90 billion into clean energy.
“It was clear to me this stimulus everybody was laughing about was completely changing the game in energy,” said Grunwald, who began investigating other uses of the money, including the Race to the Top Fund for education reform. When he looked deeper, Grunwald said he found a “story hiding in plain view” the mainstream press has overlooked.
Grunwald said Republicans “don’t come off well” in “The New New Deal,”
explaining the party decided to block Obama even on programs they had previously supported, such as the stimulus, cap and trade and individual health care mandates.
“Bipartisan issues became toxic when Obama took office,” Grunwald said. “Once the narrative is set, it’s almost impossible to break the group think.”
Even Grunwald’s editors at Time were skeptical when he originally pitched his stimulus story—by 2010, they thought the story was “old news.” Grunwald’s book was released in August, and is on its fourth printing in two weeks.
The USFSP Honors Program, Florida Studies and the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and Civic Engagement sponsored the event.
