Take way the Republican’s desire to live in 1776 and there are a number of things that can be done by them, with the cooperation of the Democrats to put this country back on its feet and make this country the world leader for the rest of this century and far into the next,
Bipartisanship can work. Obama has laid out a strategy for innovation and growth that has space for both parties to achieve their goals. The Democrats want to lay out a plan for direct government spending while the Republicans want spending cuts and deficit reduction. Right now because of all the gridlock in congress and the approaching elections, there will probably be very little progress in solving our most important problem, unemployment. TARP and the Stimulus, contrary to Republican opinions were a success and if not for both we might now be in a depression to end all depressions.
If America is to come out of its current economic woes and face a future defined by growth and prosperity it must have a plan that calls for and encourages innovation, the growth of new industries and the development of cutting edge technology. The question is how to do that in such a politically divided climate.
The Republican solution is lowering corporate taxes to encourage business spending. The Democrats solution is to create federal investment in research, development and infrastructure by spending money to pay for or at least guarantee payment through an Infrastructure Bank. Both are right. Both are necessary. Our corporate taxes didn’t go up. Other countries have come down and we must compete in that area. On the other hand the greatest advances in technology in the last seventy years have come from government investment in research, especially through the Department of Defense, which sought out the semi-conductor, NASA which developed the computer, DARPA which all but created the internet and the Military which developed GPS. Based on the historical fact of these technological developments we should be doubling Federal research & development every year.
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David Frum, a Bush speechwriter and a guy I usually despise, expressed a very insightful view of the current situation on Fareed Zakaria’s show a couple of weeks ago. He made the point that the Republicans were now the party of the senior citizens and that conversely, all their current policies were aimed at reducing entitlements that were the main concern of senior citizens and which could only be provided by big government, the target of the Republicans.
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Watching Chris Hughes, identified as a co-founder of Facebook speak about Egypt on Chris O’Donnell’s show I was surprised to hear him say that without Facebook and Twitter it would be impossible for people to organize and form groups that could oppose their governments as was currently happening throughout the Middle East.
Here is an intelligent, informed young man who exhibits almost no knowledge of what happened before the 70’s, either in this country or the rest of the world.
True the fact of Facebook and Twitter have seemed to have had a huge effect on the revolutionary activities in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and a number of other hot spots but is it possible that this young man has such a limited view of history that he doesn’t know about previous revolutions in such places as France in the 1780’s, Russia in 1917, Hungry in the 1950’s Cuba in the 1950’s and oh, yeah this country in 1776, all accomplished without an assist from any of the social networks. Amazing!
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There’s no group that bitches more about their lack of freedom to do what they want than Christian churches. Tell them that they can’t put a Nativity Scene on the front lawn of a public school and you’ve got instant demonstration. But it seems to be okay for the Kentucky Finance Authority to kick in more than $40M of a proposed $172M for a bible based theme park, featuring a fill-size replica of Noah’s ark with, wait for it… live animals.
Conceived by the Christian Ministry that built Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY the Ark Encounter Park aims to promote a literal interpretation of the bible by “proving” that Noah had room to fit two of every kind of animal. It would be funny if it weren’t so ludicrous.
If this doesn’t seem a violation of the First Amendment’s prohibition of government’s establishment of religion, I don’t know what does.
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The Mercatus Center, a libertarian think tank (boy is that an oxymoron), has done a study on which state has the most freedom. This seemingly takes into account things like tax structure, official regulatory positions, safety laws, etc. The goal seems to be to find the state where you can do anything you want, regardless of how it affects others, the ultimate libertarian place to live. New Hampshire, South Dakota, Indiana, Idaho and Missouri were the first five. New York was last because of high taxes, social programs and safety regulations. It’s being trumpeted as a great honor for the five winners, the only drawback being that you actually have to live in one of those states.
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Republicans are always talking tough on home security so I always like to mention that 911 happened on a Republican watch but that’s not what this item is about. This is about the Republican House Appropriations Committee’s cut back from $2.5 billion to $752 million, an unbelievable 67% reduction on financing for eight anti-terrorist programs aimed at making our largest cities safer. Of course they did this instead of eliminating tax cuts for the rich, which just shows you how much they actually care about the dummies who voted for them. We already know they care nothing for the rest of us. Let’s hope there is someone in the Senate that’s still interested enough to cut this bill before it goes too far.
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Ross Douthat, in a recent Times editorial, attacks doctor Jack Kevorkian for his work in assisted suicide. I know there were obviously a lot of people who thought of Kevorkian as a murderer but I’m just as aware that many more thought of him as a humanist who was doing the work that the followers of various Gods had ignored. Is fascinating because he first makes the case for Kevorkian and then tries to subvert it.
He points out the inevitability of death and argues that if we can make that death a better, more dignified one, why not? Then he tries to subvert this point by arguing that allowing this right or privilege to the terminally ill opens a door to allowing it to all those who wish to avail themselves of it. My question is why not? Since we already know for a fact that all life is temporary and terminate, the only question we are dealing with here is one of schedule. I have not done the research and am not at all sure what the legal status of this argument is but I feel very strongly that the moral status, (ignoring various religious beliefs) is, that it is our life and if we only have one right it is the right of decision making as to its existence. If my point is true, and I understand that it is certainly arguable, then Kevorkian acted like a true humanist and in conjunction with the best moral principles.
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I understand greed. I understand that it exists on monumental levels. What I don’t understand is how it infects a man to such an extent that he is willing to oversee the destruction of the planet he lives on just to acquire a little more.
John Mica, Republican of Florida is sponsoring a bill cynically called the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act aimed at gutting the EPA’s ability to oversee state water quality standards.
The group of Republican’s and a couple of Democrats who are behind this bill must be on a direct financial feed from industries, farmers and municipalities who are currently under fire from the EPA for polluting and continuing the destruction of the Everglades in Florida.
Mica and his coterie of greedy self promoters are using the excuse of states rights, (How weak is that?) to promote their polluters lobby agenda.
The same kind of assault on clean water came in 1995 when Newt the Newt tried to undermine the same law. Why is it always Republicans? Don’t they drink the same water as we do? Or is it, as a liberal friend of mine claims, that they only drink blood?