Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Blood Moon<\/p>\n
See below for big omission**<\/p>\n
So Obama got the Peace Prize.\u00a0 I happen to agree with those who say he got the, “I’m not George Bush.” prize.\u00a0 Not that that’s a bad thing.\u00a0 I also agree with those who say that his accomplishments, re: peace, have been underwhelming. Perhaps the prize is prospective.<\/p>\n
I am not among those disappointed by Obama’s performance so far, though my reason is general skepticism about the capacity of Presidents to deliver political realities close to my heart.<\/p>\n
Specifically, we need universal health coverage with a single payer.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Oh, c’mon.\u00a0 Even if you don’t want it for self-interested reasons,\u00a0 you know why.\u00a0 We need to pull back from engagement in counter-insurgency warfare.\u00a0 We don’t know how to conduct these wars without tripping over ourselves.\u00a0 See Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.\u00a0 Financial services must get regulation of a type we can and will enforce.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Again, c’mon. Back to Glass-Steagall at least.<\/p>\n
We need sustained and increased funding for higher education since the fate of US prominence in world affairs lies in the realm of technological advancement.\u00a0 See this article<\/a> if you disagree.\u00a0 We also must clean up and shore up Medicare and Social Security.\u00a0 Again, you already know why.<\/p>\n We also need real and dramatic action vis a vis global warming.\u00a0 The means are not so important to me though the carbon tax seems to make the most sense.\u00a0 My only thought about those who disagree with this one is that perhaps they should buy up all that beachfront property.\u00a0 That would put their money where their mouth is and either they would become fabulously rich or very wet.\u00a0 Guess which one I think is more probable.<\/p>\n I happen to think, though this is debatable (yes, I really believe the others are not), that a large investment in America’s aging infrastructure is a good idea.<\/p>\n Why are all of these ideas so difficult to realize?\u00a0 Oh, let me count the whys.\u00a0 Chief among them is a method of selecting political representatives that got broke long, long ago.\u00a0 Right up there with this one is the impact of money and interest group politics on the political process after elections.\u00a0 Another has a corollary in the financial markets:\u00a0 our cycles of accountability in politics:\u00a0 2 and 6 years are too short for the magnitude of\u00a0 these problems.\u00a0 Thus, solutions experience time-shifting rather than resolution.\u00a0 And so, ad absurdum.<\/p>\n **Good health may have less to do with our health-care system than you think<\/strong><\/p>\n I neglected to mention poverty.\u00a0 The class disparity.\u00a0 My own recipe here is banks and economic development corporations focused on poor neighborhoods and towns, helping to nurture community-based businesses that provide living wage jobs.\u00a0 An earned income tax credit–proposed by Richard Nixon–would help, too. Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Blood Moon See below for big omission** So Obama got the Peace Prize.\u00a0 I happen to agree with those who say he got the, “I’m not George Bush.” prize.\u00a0 Not that that’s a bad thing.\u00a0 I also agree with those who say that his accomplishments, re: peace, have been underwhelming. Perhaps the prize … Continue reading Obama’s Prize and Other Thoughts<\/span>
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