My admiration for Thomas Friedman knows no boundaries. As we ready ourselves to watch President Obama address a joint session of congress to save health care, the "ticking time bomb" of our economy, this is an opinion worth keeping in the back of our minds.
When President Obama was running, he outlined a health care plan almost exactly like what he is trying to pass today. At the time, the only rebuttal was from the Republicans who asked "how are you going to pay for it?"
Today, democrats seem to have discovered a distaste for the bill that simply did not exist last November. Despite inviting Republican leaders to offer alternatives, the minority leadership insists on using this plan as a political tool to hurt the president. Worse yet, Americans don't seem to mind that their health care is being used as a political volleyball on both sides of Congress.
Friedman makes a great point. The president's plan is not far off from the Mitt Romney plan in Massachusetts, and the funding looks like the one John McCain introduced during his campaign. The Republicans are fighting the very plans they supported a year ago, on principle.
The Democrats are even more infuriating. Michael Moore said it perfectly in the August 20 issue of Rolling Stone, "The larger disappointment comes from the Democratic Party itself, which is still behaving as if they're afraid to lead the country. I don't know what part of 'massive overwhelming victory' they don't understand. Millions and millions of people voted not only for Obama, but for the Democrats to run both houses of Congress, including a 60-seat majority in the Senate. It's a mistake to waste any time at this point in enacting the agenda that the American people want."
I honestly don't know how the Democrats' constituents are supposed to feel by their inability to take advantage of their majority. That is something that the Republicans trump Democrats on. The Democrats hold the Executive and Legislative branch and continue acting like the minority party. When midterm elections come up and we lose the house, which is certainly not out of the question, I don't want to hear Democrats complain that nothing is getting done because of a hostile congress. That said, i'm becoming less and less concerned about the Democrats losing control in Congress. It's not like it's helping them much anyway. Am I not supposed to think that Democratic leaders, who supported President Obama's plan last November, got a phone call from a major campaign contributor asking them to dial down the rhetoric on health care reform mentioning a public option?
Insurance companies know that bills like the Wyden-Bennet bill and others that scrap the notion of a single-payer system are digestible to reformers because they look smell and taste like a public option without the icky reality of government competition that would devastate insurance companies profit margins. Right now, insurance companies are spending 1.4 million a day advertising options to convince people to steer clear of a single payer system purely to protect their bottom line. That is appalling in and of itself, but for our elected officials to be complicit in this is truly concerning.
I am interested to see the result of President Obama's address to Congress.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
back to school
If President Obama announced today, that he is putting together a blue ribbon commission to eradicate AIDS, his detractors would have a problem with it.
Yesterday, President Obama gave a brilliant speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA. His speech was broadcast around the nation. Our president wanted to give a pep talk to our nation's youth on their first day of school.
I'd just like to take a minute to reiterate that point. Few would disagree that since taking office, our president has had his hands full with the worst global recession in decades, an unemployment rate at 9.7% (the highest it's been since the finale of M*A*S*H*,) health care reform, two inherited wars, pirates making a comeback (and not the witty kind played by Johnny Depp,) health care reform; and that's just the short list. By the way, he's been on the job for 232 days. While continuing juggling everything, he stopped to speak to students on their first day of school.
This speech should have been the furthest thing from partisan politics. In a recession, our president was telling our students to stay in school and work hard to secure a good future both for them and for our country. Here is a snippet:
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
I'm sorry, that was more than a snippet, but with a speech that good, it's hard to find a point to stop. By the way, you can read the speech in its entirety here.
So the speech boils down to describing the ideals of hard work and a can-do attitude that made and continue to make America great. I don't see how this can be negatively spun, I mean, maybe to a particularly cynical person, this can be construed as a stunt to score political points while the president's approval ratings are at their all time low. Still, how can anyone have a problem with the president speaking to a school?
Well, it turns out they do. It turns out that many parents actually went as far as to keep their child home on the first day of school so that they would not have to be subjected to the president's speech. The protests of the outraged parents were absolutely hysterical too. I heard on the radio one parent saying that Obama has a certain charm and he can use that charm to brainwash kids into his socialist agenda. That's right, some parents apparently identify our president as having the power to glamor, like a vampire.
That aside, let's look at some of the "socialist agenda" mentioned in the speech:
That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community.
...Volunteer in your community? sounds like pinko commie talk to me. Let's see if he'll push his socialist health care agenda on our children...
Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
How dare you, Mr. President?! If my child wants to have dirty hands and influenza, then by God that is his right as an American! We don't need our government telling our children to do community service or stay healthy!
...I digress. Now the president's craftier detractors had some more advanced opinions beyond calling the president a "Nazi-communist" (I still don't understand how someone can be both a Nazi and a communist, by the way.) They said that the president should not give the speech because "politics have no place in the classroom."
That's an interesting take. The problem is no one seemed to have a problem with schools discussing the 2008 election from January through November. No one seemed to mind on September 11 2001 when President Bush was reading a book to elementary school students.
True, as Fox pointed out , in 1991 when President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech, democrats were also outraged in the same way. Regardless, it was stupid then, and it's stupid now.
Not that I'm pointing fingers, but it would be interesting to ask the protesters how many of them feel prayer or intelligent design should be taught in schools. Again, just throwing that out there.
My greater concern here is that these parents fail to see President Obama as America's president. He is not working to save the Democrat's economy, he is not working on making health care more affordable for liberals. He is working for America. The man who spoke to students yesterday is not the leader of the Democratic party, he is the President of the United States. For the past 8 years, I have disagreed with most of President Bush's policies and decisions, but for the past 8 years, I have referred to him as President Bush nonetheless. I listened to every state of the union, and press conference given because whether or not I agreed with him, he was my president. I never rooted for him to fail. If the president is failing, then we are all failing. I wish President Bush did a better job. I wish he were the greatest president since Lincoln. At the end of the day, the man who sits behind the resolute desk makes decisions that affect all of us, young and old. Why in the world should that be kept out of our classrooms? When the president speaks, everybody should listen.
These parents have a lot of nerve. They must be of the same school of thought as those who don't care about global warming because "I'll be dead by the time the polar ice caps melt." Like saving the environment, the programs that President Obama is putting n place are meant to secure the future of our children. Why shouldn't they be privy? They have more at stake than anyone else. Just as children who were in high school in 2002 are currently fighting in Iraq, our modern day students will be living in an America deeply affected by the Obama presidency. As President Obama has stated from day one of his transition, transparency is key in ending back room politics and restoring a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people.
As always, Obama is 10 steps ahead of me. The last paragraph of his speech, while still meant for the students, seemed to be directed to the parents:
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Seriously, I wonder what this guy could accomplish if America would allow him to do his job.
Yesterday, President Obama gave a brilliant speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA. His speech was broadcast around the nation. Our president wanted to give a pep talk to our nation's youth on their first day of school.
I'd just like to take a minute to reiterate that point. Few would disagree that since taking office, our president has had his hands full with the worst global recession in decades, an unemployment rate at 9.7% (the highest it's been since the finale of M*A*S*H*,) health care reform, two inherited wars, pirates making a comeback (and not the witty kind played by Johnny Depp,) health care reform; and that's just the short list. By the way, he's been on the job for 232 days. While continuing juggling everything, he stopped to speak to students on their first day of school.
This speech should have been the furthest thing from partisan politics. In a recession, our president was telling our students to stay in school and work hard to secure a good future both for them and for our country. Here is a snippet:
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
I'm sorry, that was more than a snippet, but with a speech that good, it's hard to find a point to stop. By the way, you can read the speech in its entirety here.
Well, it turns out they do. It turns out that many parents actually went as far as to keep their child home on the first day of school so that they would not have to be subjected to the president's speech. The protests of the outraged parents were absolutely hysterical too. I heard on the radio one parent saying that Obama has a certain charm and he can use that charm to brainwash kids into his socialist agenda. That's right, some parents apparently identify our president as having the power to glamor, like a vampire.
That aside, let's look at some of the "socialist agenda" mentioned in the speech:
That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community.
...Volunteer in your community? sounds like pinko commie talk to me. Let's see if he'll push his socialist health care agenda on our children...
Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
How dare you, Mr. President?! If my child wants to have dirty hands and influenza, then by God that is his right as an American! We don't need our government telling our children to do community service or stay healthy!
...I digress. Now the president's craftier detractors had some more advanced opinions beyond calling the president a "Nazi-communist" (I still don't understand how someone can be both a Nazi and a communist, by the way.) They said that the president should not give the speech because "politics have no place in the classroom."
That's an interesting take. The problem is no one seemed to have a problem with schools discussing the 2008 election from January through November. No one seemed to mind on September 11 2001 when President Bush was reading a book to elementary school students.
True, as Fox pointed out , in 1991 when President George H.W. Bush delivered a similar speech, democrats were also outraged in the same way. Regardless, it was stupid then, and it's stupid now.
Not that I'm pointing fingers, but it would be interesting to ask the protesters how many of them feel prayer or intelligent design should be taught in schools. Again, just throwing that out there.
My greater concern here is that these parents fail to see President Obama as America's president. He is not working to save the Democrat's economy, he is not working on making health care more affordable for liberals. He is working for America. The man who spoke to students yesterday is not the leader of the Democratic party, he is the President of the United States. For the past 8 years, I have disagreed with most of President Bush's policies and decisions, but for the past 8 years, I have referred to him as President Bush nonetheless. I listened to every state of the union, and press conference given because whether or not I agreed with him, he was my president. I never rooted for him to fail. If the president is failing, then we are all failing. I wish President Bush did a better job. I wish he were the greatest president since Lincoln. At the end of the day, the man who sits behind the resolute desk makes decisions that affect all of us, young and old. Why in the world should that be kept out of our classrooms? When the president speaks, everybody should listen.
These parents have a lot of nerve. They must be of the same school of thought as those who don't care about global warming because "I'll be dead by the time the polar ice caps melt." Like saving the environment, the programs that President Obama is putting n place are meant to secure the future of our children. Why shouldn't they be privy? They have more at stake than anyone else. Just as children who were in high school in 2002 are currently fighting in Iraq, our modern day students will be living in an America deeply affected by the Obama presidency. As President Obama has stated from day one of his transition, transparency is key in ending back room politics and restoring a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people.
As always, Obama is 10 steps ahead of me. The last paragraph of his speech, while still meant for the students, seemed to be directed to the parents:
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Seriously, I wonder what this guy could accomplish if America would allow him to do his job.
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