There's a new show on TV right now called "Hoarders." It's about people who collect a lot of crap in their house and never throw anything away. In one episode, the adult children of one "hoarder" come to the house with a group of people to clean up the mess. Everyone but the hoarder is wearing a surgical mask. The hoarder wonders what all the fuss is about and thinks she didn't do anything wrong.
I kind of see that disgusting house as America, with George W. Bush as the "hoarder", and Obama as the cleaner with the surgical mask. Obama has quite a mess on his hands to clean up. He's got the unenviable task of having to clean up Iraq, Afghanistan, and the decimated economy of the United States.
Obama is asking for 30,000 more troops and over 30 billion dollars to continue the Afghanistan war. Although I support Obama and most of what he has stood for over the last year, I don't support continuing the war in Afghanistan. I don't think it will make the US any safer, and it's just going to kill more US trips, and lots more Afghanistan civilians.
If the economy were strong right now, and we weren't in a recession, maybe that would make a difference, but I see far too many people struggling here in this country right now. 30 billion dollars (at least) is a lot of money. That money should go right here, to the people who need it. Create new jobs. Improve the roads. Build more light-rail trains. Extend the unemployment benefits for those who need it. Help people who are facing foreclosure on their houses. Give more tax breaks to the middle class. Implement universal healthcare for everyone. Get the picture? My point in all of this is....spend that money here in the US.
Afghanistan is not our concern. We can't continue to be the police of the entire world when we can't even take care of our own people. I know that Obama would like to be seen as a "tough" president who is fighting the terrorists, but the majority of Americans want to see the war end, and I agree. Ten years of war is just too much, and it's taking too big a toll on our economy. It needs to end.
I kind of see that disgusting house as America, with George W. Bush as the "hoarder", and Obama as the cleaner with the surgical mask. Obama has quite a mess on his hands to clean up. He's got the unenviable task of having to clean up Iraq, Afghanistan, and the decimated economy of the United States.
Obama is asking for 30,000 more troops and over 30 billion dollars to continue the Afghanistan war. Although I support Obama and most of what he has stood for over the last year, I don't support continuing the war in Afghanistan. I don't think it will make the US any safer, and it's just going to kill more US trips, and lots more Afghanistan civilians.
If the economy were strong right now, and we weren't in a recession, maybe that would make a difference, but I see far too many people struggling here in this country right now. 30 billion dollars (at least) is a lot of money. That money should go right here, to the people who need it. Create new jobs. Improve the roads. Build more light-rail trains. Extend the unemployment benefits for those who need it. Help people who are facing foreclosure on their houses. Give more tax breaks to the middle class. Implement universal healthcare for everyone. Get the picture? My point in all of this is....spend that money here in the US.
Afghanistan is not our concern. We can't continue to be the police of the entire world when we can't even take care of our own people. I know that Obama would like to be seen as a "tough" president who is fighting the terrorists, but the majority of Americans want to see the war end, and I agree. Ten years of war is just too much, and it's taking too big a toll on our economy. It needs to end.
Ken... A story about Joseph Stalin on his death bed:
ReplyDeleteMoscow, 1953. Stalin calls in Khrushchev.
"Niki, I'm dying. Don't have much to leave you. Just three envelopes. Open them, one at a time, when you get into big trouble."
A few years later, first crisis. Khrushchev opens envelope 1: "Blame everything on me. Uncle Joe."
A few years later, a really big crisis. Opens envelope 2: "Blame everything on me. Again. Good luck, Uncle Joe."
Third crisis. Opens envelope 3: "Prepare three envelopes."
In the Barack Obama version, there are 50 or so such blame-Bush free passes before the gig is up. By my calculation, Obama has already burned through a good 49. Is there anything he hasn't blamed George W. Bush for? The economy, global warming, the credit crisis, Middle East stalemate, the deficit, anti-Americanism abroad -- everything but swine flu.
This hilariously funny anecdote was taken from a Charlse Krauthammer column and I think it fits. It's about time people get off the socially fashionable, but incredibly naive group-think notion that George Bush is the root of all evil. He's not and never was. He's just a man whose policies you don't agree with. Nothing more. After the historians of the future examine his presidency more objectively, the criticism will be far less vitriolic and more realistic.
If one man had as much power as you (and others) ascribe to former President Bush, then the same ascription of unlimited power should apply to President Obama, right? He should be able to stop the war, fix the economy and change the health-care system lickety split. Of course, that isn't the way our great system works. With all due respect, you insult your own intelligence as well as the intelligence of your readers with such president blaming bunk. You're smarter than this, I think.
Facts are stubborn things and the fact about health-care reform is that when you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul. And the Pauls are people who want something for nothing. The true cost (according to the dedicated bean counters at the venerated CBO) is 800 billion dollars over ten years. And that still isn't estimated to be enough to cover the cost. It's sure to rise over time and negate and render obsolete the CBO's projection. Your kids and grandkids will be still be paying the interest on the debt for this long after you are dead. How does that make you feel?
And the war in Afghanistan... yes, I agree the war has gone on too long. However, I agree with Mc Chrystal's first assessment. We need to conclude our business over there. Fight the war to win and win it. No more screwing around.
Cole,
ReplyDeleteThe healthcare issue will always be a big stickler for me. Having lived in a county with universal healthcare (Taiwan)and one without, it's a no brainer to me which one is the better system. Am I saying I want something for nothing? Not at all. All I'm saying is that I don't want to have to go bankrupt to pay medical bills. No one should ever have to pay $700 for an ER visit just to receive minor treatment. It's offensive. Like many have said before, health care should be a right, not a privilige. The cost may be high, but, unlike the war in Iraq, for example, it's actually worth it.
I don't blame Bush for everything. The housing crisis brought on the economic crash, and that was due to all the deregulation that began over 20 year ago. But the Iraq war is something you can definitely throw in his lap. Had Bush just focused on Afghanistan at the very beginning, and never went to Iraq, he'd have a much better legacy today.
Hey Ken,
ReplyDeleteI understand your concerns about health-care and respect them. I want to say however, having spent some time in Taiwan, that while I agree with you that the health-care system in there is cost effective, the quality of the care itself leaves much to be desired.
Seriously, if cancer or some other terrible disease requiring prolonged, detailed care were to strike your children or loved one, would you prefer to have them in a Taiwanese hospital because it's cheaper or would you want your loved one in a top quality U.S. hospital with the expertise and technology to greatly increase the possibility of saving their life?
The logical choice is, of course, a no-brainer. I know I would gladly go bankrupt and die penniless to save my child's life. You would too.
Many may have said that medical care is a right, but in truth, it is a service that requires compensation, sometimes big compensation. Yes, an ER visit is the closest thing to being raped, I agree, yet the costs of keeping a massive facility like a hospital open are astronomical. An administrator once told me the electricity bill alone at his facility averaged out to $20,000... a week. And this was 12 years ago.
Then imagine the rest of the bills to keep the place up and pay everyone. Add in R&D and marketing for new medicines. Someone has to pay it... the private citizen via direct billing or taxes. No way around it. Getting medical care is not like getting your car serviced or getting the house painted, obviously.
Like I have said before,the savings rate in China is high because people there have to pay ALL of their own expenses. Saving is a necessity. Tell a Chinese doctor that medical care is a right and he"ll laugh himself to a coronary right before your eyes. They won't even deign to examine you if you cannot prove you have to means to pay immediately after treatment.
Here in Japan, they have low cost socialized care with a 80/20 co-pay. If you are just going to the doctor for minor problems, it isn't a big deal. If you come down with something more serious, you had better have a supplemental insurance policy because some advanced treatments and surgeries are not covered under the socialized system. My wife had a large growth taken out of her ovary and the prescription to shrink the growth before surgery was not covered. We had to pay for the medicine out of pocket, but was reimbursed with our extra insurance, thank God.
It's a tough world. Always has been. Always will be.
Good debate, guys.
ReplyDeleteKen and I are the same age, so some of our earliest memories are from 1976--the Bicentennial year.
I remember patriotism and "Red, White and Blue" everywhere.
Then in 1984, the US had the Olympics in Los Angeles, the Statue of Liberty had a makeover, you heard the song "God Bless the USA" on the radio.
Is patriotism dead? Does anyone love this country anymore? Political Correctness, multiculturalism, and diversity seem to be the order of the day!
Be advised, I am a big "conspiracy theorist" about things like JFK, the Moon Landing, 911, etc. However, I'm able to separate my life and my country from what "the government" does.
I'm sure you both know the quote by Ronald Reagan: "Government is not a solution to our problem, government IS the problem."
I agree 100% Taylor. Thomas Jefferson said it in other words:
ReplyDelete"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."
More to the point... another quote from John Adams:
"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress."
I get the feeling that Mr. Adams had a Democrat majority in mind when he said this...
Just kidding Ken... plenty of great Democrats in congress. Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians - we are all on the same side. We tend to forget that as Americans sometimes.