There are two things that caught my eye in today’s personal post from  Arianna  Huffington on HuffingtonPost.com. The first a remembered line that Larry Summers often spoke –  “that the important thing is just to be caught trying.”  She then goes on to question the seriousness of the Obama economic team. Even more telling to me is the Elizabeth Warren quote that went viral in the opening weeks of her US Senate campaign  that ends:

“…Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”

Going back and forth with quotes from others – economists, people of various political stripes, Huffington concludes:

The growing punitive tone of our national debate is not only inhumane, it undermines what needs to be done to turn around the economy for the sake of everyone — including the 1 percent.

As we head into the thick of the 2012 race, let’s be mindful of the chasm between truly trying to make things better and just trying to be caught trying.

Arianna Huffington is good at stirring things up. Read her full article here at HuffingtonPost.com and draw your own conclusions.