The Party Not Walking Out on the American People

I read an op-ed by David Brooks in the New York Times the other day that defined the management style of President Obama. It was a very intriguing take on how our president goes about his business of finding solutions and visualizing legislation. Most importantly, it swooped me out of the black hole that is the media’s growing depiction of President Obama’s inability to lead our country. Brooks points out that it does seem as though our president has disappeared from the limelight when it comes to negotiating the lowering of our debt - and this seems far from the personality of the man who outspokenly campaigned in ‘08 and is known for coming off as cocky - but in reality this is the management style that has come to be for President Obama. He sits back and consumes all facets of an issue or policy debate and intervenes when he feels the time is right - after all it is Congress that makes the laws (although most of the time they can’t even accomplish this).

I agree with Brooks’ perspective that this is not an entirely horrible way to lead - and that it does in fact allow us to scale back from the lofty standards President Kennedy misled us to believe were attainable. Brooks goes on to encourage the president to finally step into the debt talks and exercise his passive management style of negotiating with Republicans. But, today, the president did the exact opposite and came out as the assertive party leader that was going to fight for the Democratic plan to lower the debt. He stepped into the ring swinging by stating that he would not back down from raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans (alright, he didn’t exactly state it so candidly, but you knew he meant business). It was an agressive leadership tactic that we had not seen from President Obama in quite some time, and it was great use of the bully pulpit to remind voters of the Republican ultimatum - cut spending on vital programs utilized by the middle class, leave the wealthy and their (barrels of) money alone, and then we will raise the debt limit.

This has become a debate that is being treated like a game in Washington, but most Americans will tell you their economic future is far from something to play around with. President Obama is finally stepping in as the adult in a situation that has been handled childishly by the Republican Leadership. There is no such thing as “cutting to prosperity,” and if we are going to fix our $14 trillion dollar national debt, we are going to do it by cutting waste and eliminating tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations. If the Republicans cannot arrive at this compromise, then they can pull an Eric Cantor and simply walk away from the American people when a solution needs to be found.

This is a time when all voters need to sit back and ask themselves a simple question that can be applied to many different scenarios: At what point do we stop funding the hedge fund manager’s third house, and start funding the college scholarship of a promising student? President Obama did an exceptional job of clarifying this today, and it is clear we have a man who is determined to find the best answer to decreasing our debt - not just a band of puppets settled on pandering to their party base with an election coming near.

An Intro to How I View Politics

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself the game of politics." My rendering of the infamous FDR quote when it comes to thinking about the current state of our government. It is understandable, yes, that this is the result of divided government, but you cannot sit here and tell me they don't know what they are doing. It is all part of an attempt to secure more power for your party down the road - but this just becomes a never-ending process.

The result is a government with representatives more focused on selling an image that sustains the party platform, and policy that fits within the contours of an ideology they are required to uphold. The objective should be to sell policy that ultimately solves the problem and that's it.

Case in point - the alternative energy debate stands right now with the Republican view that we cannot cut tax breaks to the big oil companies, and should rather invest more funding into offshore drilling (just another example of the contradictory Republican mantra: cut spending, but also maintain lower taxes). This conservative model for lowering our debt is not a feasible method, but yet it is something the Republican party must stay true to, in order to carry votes in the next election.

The Democratic stance isn't much better but at least they are trying to ween us off the super-teat of oil. They are trying to implement a plan that ends subsidies to the big 5 oil companies, but have recently changed putting these funds toward alternative energy R&D, and instead are conforming to Republican ideals of putting the money saved into lowering the debt. (Funny thing is, Republicans won't even vote on that option)

Yes, I know, both showing an effort to find compromise and lowering the debt are great initiatives. But, I agree with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and the fact that even though our country holds a massive and unsustainable debt, we are not broke! Cutting merely millions of dollars in spending on programs our country needs, will barely make a dent in the long run of our 14 trillion dollar debt. The only items that can lower this debt are the non-discretionary spending programs such as entitlements (medicare/medicaid/social security) and defense. Sure, putting money from programs that were easy to cut as a politician looks better in terms of job security than the big risks that many fear lead to political death. But, the only true answer to lowering the national debt is through reforming entitlements, cutting defense spending, and raising taxes.

So when it comes to childish arguments on how to handle tax breaks to the big oil companies, the real question should be how we are going to end our dependence and bring alternative energies to the fore. The gasoline problem is clearly one that will fail to get better, so instead of even debating whether we need to stop subsidizing (which we clearly do), we need to start establishing alternative energies as the future - the near future. The big oil companies turn billion dollar profits on a yearly basis, I think they will survive without our help. If gas prices continue to rise, so be it, maybe this will create more urgency toward ending our dependency.

Will we ever get rid of the game-playing in politics? I don't know, but the only way to start solving problems is to quit focusing on selling an image, and start selling a real solution.

In my next post I plan to talk about the recent developments in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This is becoming a very hot button issue, and I will give you my thoughts on the politics of the situation both in the Middle East and here.

The Beginning of the Beginning

This is the re-start of my blogging experience. I am going to make this one of my summer hobbies and hope to gain a following in the process. Be on the lookout in the next few days for my first new post - it will not disappoint. Don't forget to follow me and tell your friends too. Thanks!

Health Care summit aftermath (My reply to a comment on last blog)

I agree with the things you have said, but I think one of the main ideas behind the summit was a hope that the American people would watch and hopefully recognize the myths being tossed around by either side. Now that being said, Obama has stated that he is putting the reconciliation tactic on the table, which can disregard the super-majority needed in the house and senate and pass with a basic majority of I believe 50. He has already received harsh criticism for this, namely from some of the republicans who are more willing to pass a bill, but in recent news it has been stated that Republicans used this maneuver somewhere around 13 times in the last 22 years to pass tax cuts for the wealthy and expand Medicare/Medicaid. To answer one of your last points; the Democratic by all means cannot sit on this bill any longer as passing it will be one of the keys to re-election. They need to act now and prove some positive change, which the bill will provide, or the many confused and ignorant American people (Tea Party) will continue to follow the erroneous claims of a party conveying fallacy to rally support.

To follow up on your statement about republicans being bashed by the base; after just watching Chris Mathews last night there was a video clip of Rush Limbaugh bashing the new Republican Senator Scott Brown. Brown just this past week voted to pass a jobs bill that was trimmed down in cost and some of its content offered by both sides. Now after all the media placed around what a huge win this was for the party, just like that they change their mind and re-establish their motif of contradicting themselves. Rush said something to the fact that he never was going to trust a Republican from Massachusetts. This seems to be a consistent theme with recent reports on republicans sponsoring bills and then backing out on them and not voting. All this is done to save face in the political realm, yet their constituents follow them like brainwashed soldiers (or as Bill Maher said, "cults"), confused by a "Big Brother" figure that claims socialists are out to get them. Now I don't know what they are smoking, but I don't believe an American government administration was ever out to get its own people? The closest I could compare to that would be the ignorance of some presidents like George W. Bush or LBJ, who clearly made decisions on wars that, had fewer benefits than consequences, but were rushed into without enough debate.

That point made above, as a final statement communicates another important reason this summit was held; to show the American people the president is letting both sides voice their opinion (if valid towards accomplishing a bill and not towards political positioning), but also to reiterate the need to get something done now to fix health care. And many will argue that others want to start over from scratch but are being ignored, but again the fact of the matter was that this bill was revised and re-proposed multiple times last year only to have it die with the loss of the super-majority in recent weeks. Many of the republican arguments have been checked off and approved by an independent economic committee to prove this bill will succeed, but the question continues to mount that some members are stalling or playing the game of politics. With tools like the filibuster which halt a bill’s progress in a second, republicans put up a wall, which they hope to hold up till next election (last time a congressman was ever forced to actually filibuster he talked for around 26 hours and quit). If the American people really want something/anything done they should recognize these idiotic events in Congress that do no good for getting things done by either side. And if they think they can hold out till their side regains power the same thing will happen in reverse.

MY OPINION: some kind of law needs to be established in Congress (or government as a whole) eliminating foolish procedure (filibuster) that is outdated, forces truth and action, and eliminates private funding in campaigns. I believe enforcing these few things and others will result in more things accomplished in our government FOR the American people.

Ima Tell Ya What I Think

Ima tell ya what I think about the Health Care Summit. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the President is displaying great initiative to get back on track with health reform, but the circus that is Congress at the moment is not in the right mindset to handle these negotiations.

The one problem I have with this summit is that it is being televised. I understand the government’s need to become more transparent, but broadcasting this event live diminishes the hope of putting politics aside and pushing towards bipartisanship. The Republican Party has strong-armed with politics since democrats took over majority in Congress last year; it’s just a way of life for them to make things difficult when not going their way. Now the Democratic Party is wading in the water with the republican surprise senate win in Massachusetts, flashing a caution sign in their minds on what lies ahead with an increasingly impatient American public. Pit these two head-butting foes against each other on a national stage live and you are asking for a catastrophe. The one thing both these parties value most is their constituents, because the state and the people that support these congressmen and women are what supplies the power and leadership role so greedily desired. If you ask them to abandon items their voters specifically want for their state or community; well then you sacrifice their vote for the bill and/or succumb to the filibuster. Now many members of congress may be willing to sacrifice a little when behind closed doors, but put this debate on television where viewers can put a face to a name and ultimately you will never see compromise. The men and women of Congress will surely take note of the cameras in the room and be sure to put on a show for their constituents and lobbyists, for it is the only way they can insure re-election in the following year.

Thus the state of politics in our current era: More time and money is devoted toward campaigning for the following year than effort toward solving the problems of the present.

Now we have already seen the President succeed in the congregation of opposing sides with last year’s cleverly tagged “Beer Summit”, so he is 1-0. This summit though, marks a much more significant landmark for the administration and will determine the future of the health care talks. The time for reform is now as indicated by the American people and as always the ball sits with Congress, so hopefully they will show that time is of the essence in their efforts Thursday. As the old saying goes, “the camera doesn’t lie”, but will the players on the television screen speak with truth and fact? Only time can tell, but the informed citizen will be watching to either call out their representative for a scripted reality show worthy performance, or applaud them for achieving a historical milestone in our country’s progress.