Just a few days from inauguration I am forced to take a hard look at the beginnings of this administration and make some conclusions about what the future will look like.
I have said several times in the last several weeks that this "change" does not seem like much change to me. The Cabinet is rife with appointees that have served in Democratic administrations before. Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, Bill Richardson (now gone, but still was a name from the past), Rahm Emmanuel and Eric Holder all will be or would have been filling top spots in the Administration. This change is tantamount to giving someone a dollar for four quarters, at the end of the day it is still a dollar. These Cabinet appointments are indicative of the old Washington order, after the rhetoric of the campaign I was hoping for more, I think the voters were hoping for more. It is disappointing that originality went out the window somewhere, or that the talent pool just has a shallow end (which after the last election cycle may indeed be the case judging bu some of the buffoons that ran for office across this country) and I find it difficult to swallow this pill that I have swallowed before. The worst about this is that these people weren't even the most talented of the cast offs from the Clinton Administration, they were just the ones that were available. I have high hopes for Hillary at State, after watching her confirmation hearings she at least seems to get it. The only question remains, will she be allowed to pursue the agenda that she espouses in an Obama Administration?
The rhetorical output of the Administration sounds like a familiar tune as well. Spend, spend, spend, spend, spend and oh yeah spend. I have said before and will say again, spending will not get us out of the predicament we are in. Ingenuity and an appeal to what makes this country great will be the only thing that helps us out of the mess we are in. This country is in danger of "undeveloping" if oil hegemons continue to grow at the alarming rate that they are growing currently. Unless there is a move to develop new energy sources and crack reliance on foreign oil the entire future of Western economic civilization is at stake.
Showing posts with label Presidential Transition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Presidential Transition. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Bush Legacy? Let the Speculation Begin
So the end is near. Eight years of George Bush policy and leadership is now coming to a close and it is time to begin the honest asessments of what has transpired and what the legacy will ultimately be.
In previous entries I have argued that this administration was the most paranoid and aloof since the Nixon Administration and I will stand by that statement. The lid has been on this White House since at least 2005 and it could be argued that the lid was on before that. This administration has shown a remarkable inability to get out in front of it's failures. Couple that with the inability to trumpet the successes that they have had and it has been a recipe for disaster. Some of this has most certainly been to protect the American people from frightening details about the war on terror, but there has been a decided lack of trust in the American people to decide for themselves what the information means. The White House has shown an amazing inability to let the people to make their own judgements about policy successes and failures and that indicates a flaw in leadership. Successful administrations admit failures and headline their victories, this administration has done neither very well. Therefore the legacy they have built, at least for the time being, is a very negative one.
Bush can, and should be, credited for his continued principled stand on this war. The President has never deviated from the course that he set out on after 9/11, that is something that should be admired. In the face of failure and criticism Bush has avoided being a windsock in this day and age that is a rare trait amongst politicians. If the war on terror continues for a generation, and I believe that it will, this President will eventually be viewed in a favorable light much like Nixon was later in his life.
In previous entries I have argued that this administration was the most paranoid and aloof since the Nixon Administration and I will stand by that statement. The lid has been on this White House since at least 2005 and it could be argued that the lid was on before that. This administration has shown a remarkable inability to get out in front of it's failures. Couple that with the inability to trumpet the successes that they have had and it has been a recipe for disaster. Some of this has most certainly been to protect the American people from frightening details about the war on terror, but there has been a decided lack of trust in the American people to decide for themselves what the information means. The White House has shown an amazing inability to let the people to make their own judgements about policy successes and failures and that indicates a flaw in leadership. Successful administrations admit failures and headline their victories, this administration has done neither very well. Therefore the legacy they have built, at least for the time being, is a very negative one.
Bush can, and should be, credited for his continued principled stand on this war. The President has never deviated from the course that he set out on after 9/11, that is something that should be admired. In the face of failure and criticism Bush has avoided being a windsock in this day and age that is a rare trait amongst politicians. If the war on terror continues for a generation, and I believe that it will, this President will eventually be viewed in a favorable light much like Nixon was later in his life.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
What Kind of Weird Alternate Political Universe are We Entering?
In reading about and researching the new Obama economic plan I am forced to ask, what the hell have we gotten ourselves into? The centerpiece of the plan is to create 2.5 million new jobs (I did not see a timeframe within which this piece of magic is supposed to happen) by spending money on much needed infrastructure and urban improvement projects. The spending will top 700 billion dollars which when coupled with it's twin, the 700 billion dollar bailout from October, the cost for "fixing" the economy will be a minimal 1.4 trillion dollars. I am no economic expert, but that sounds like a lot of money to me.
The irony of this program is that it is also designed, as stated in Obama's own words of wonkdom, to be fiscally responsible. I will give everyone a moment for that to sink in. FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE!!! This must be some sort of joke and the punchline will be paid at the bottom line by the taxpayer. Obama paints the rosy picture of cutting govenment waste in order to fund some of his plans, but we have heard this song and dance before. The cold hard fact is that we will end up paying for this program of "responsibility" and at the end of the day I am not sure where the idea will take us.
There is some historical precedent for spending ourselves out of an economic crisis, it worked when FDR did it in the late 20's and early 30's. The US was on the verge of meltdown when FDR helped build the country from the ground up with infrastructure programs and targeted social welfare entitlements and then led the country to post war prosperity. The times now though are not apples to apples to the times then. At that time the U.S. was a burgeoning democracy and had many yet untapped rescources, natural and otherwise. American ingenuity was just beginning it's rise to the top. During the present time our ingenuity has been surpassed by the ingenuity of developing nations, much like we surpassed the developed nations of the eary 20th century. Our time as politcal, economic and military hegemon is drawing to a close and I could make the argument that it is already over. Attempting to spend the way out of this crisis with infrastructure projects and targeted social welfare entitlements will not work this time the world economy is too far beyond what we can do within our own borders.
The next hegemon in this world will be an energy hegemon. If some country does not act quickly to usurp the oncoming oil hegemony by spending resources to develop viable alternative energy sources every Western power will kneel to the new hegemony of oil. For the new President the agenda should be to create new jobs and spend new money in the area of developing alternative energy sources that could be viable on the world stage. We can become the energy hegemon and render oil nearly obsolete if the alternative source is pursued seriously enough and is made cost effective enough for large consumers like China and India. If we could remove the Chinese, Indian and American markets from the oil consumer list then over half of the world's population would be using a resource that only we knew how to make. Is this utopian? Sure. Is it improbable? Sure. Is it impossible? No. Obama has the chance to do for alternative energy what Kennedy did for space exploration, tap into the will of the American people and begin to get something done. Only a few Presidents have ever had the ability to move the country in an entirely new direction. Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan and now maybe Obama if he so chooses. Whatever you personally feel about the President Elect, it is no secret that I am not his biggest fan, the time to move this country is now. There is a new direction out there, the country is just waiting for someone to show the way.
The irony of this program is that it is also designed, as stated in Obama's own words of wonkdom, to be fiscally responsible. I will give everyone a moment for that to sink in. FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE!!! This must be some sort of joke and the punchline will be paid at the bottom line by the taxpayer. Obama paints the rosy picture of cutting govenment waste in order to fund some of his plans, but we have heard this song and dance before. The cold hard fact is that we will end up paying for this program of "responsibility" and at the end of the day I am not sure where the idea will take us.
There is some historical precedent for spending ourselves out of an economic crisis, it worked when FDR did it in the late 20's and early 30's. The US was on the verge of meltdown when FDR helped build the country from the ground up with infrastructure programs and targeted social welfare entitlements and then led the country to post war prosperity. The times now though are not apples to apples to the times then. At that time the U.S. was a burgeoning democracy and had many yet untapped rescources, natural and otherwise. American ingenuity was just beginning it's rise to the top. During the present time our ingenuity has been surpassed by the ingenuity of developing nations, much like we surpassed the developed nations of the eary 20th century. Our time as politcal, economic and military hegemon is drawing to a close and I could make the argument that it is already over. Attempting to spend the way out of this crisis with infrastructure projects and targeted social welfare entitlements will not work this time the world economy is too far beyond what we can do within our own borders.
The next hegemon in this world will be an energy hegemon. If some country does not act quickly to usurp the oncoming oil hegemony by spending resources to develop viable alternative energy sources every Western power will kneel to the new hegemony of oil. For the new President the agenda should be to create new jobs and spend new money in the area of developing alternative energy sources that could be viable on the world stage. We can become the energy hegemon and render oil nearly obsolete if the alternative source is pursued seriously enough and is made cost effective enough for large consumers like China and India. If we could remove the Chinese, Indian and American markets from the oil consumer list then over half of the world's population would be using a resource that only we knew how to make. Is this utopian? Sure. Is it improbable? Sure. Is it impossible? No. Obama has the chance to do for alternative energy what Kennedy did for space exploration, tap into the will of the American people and begin to get something done. Only a few Presidents have ever had the ability to move the country in an entirely new direction. Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan and now maybe Obama if he so chooses. Whatever you personally feel about the President Elect, it is no secret that I am not his biggest fan, the time to move this country is now. There is a new direction out there, the country is just waiting for someone to show the way.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
First Priority, Health Care?
There have been some rumblings that the first priority of the new administration on the domestic front will be Health Care. To this possibility I must say, I am baffled. With the current state of the economy could the neophyte about to take the White House actually believe that there is some chance to do anything with the one issue that there will be absolutely no chance of getting anything done on? I speculate that the answer to this is no and that there is some tomfoolery afoot about what the agenda will be. However, if it is true I am pretty sure that the new administration has already lost it's mind.
Let's remember back to when the country tried this last time. It was another Democratic President early on is his tenure that decided to push for a Health Care solution as well. Anyone remember how that went for him? Obama would be well served to table the Health Care issue for the first year or so an focus heavily on the economy and his other plans for the overall restoration of American faith.
Obama will make some early mistakes for sure, however I do not believe that Health Care will be one of them. Look for this issue to hit the moth balls as soon as Obama assumes the office.
Let's remember back to when the country tried this last time. It was another Democratic President early on is his tenure that decided to push for a Health Care solution as well. Anyone remember how that went for him? Obama would be well served to table the Health Care issue for the first year or so an focus heavily on the economy and his other plans for the overall restoration of American faith.
Obama will make some early mistakes for sure, however I do not believe that Health Care will be one of them. Look for this issue to hit the moth balls as soon as Obama assumes the office.
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