Good News in Threes

Dear Friends,

There were three items that really caught my eye in The New York Times today.

First and foremost, it seems that I have once again beaten The New York Times to the punch.  Today's lead editorial was entitled "The F.C.C. and the Internet" which argues persuasively that the F.C.C. needs to be a strong regulator of the internet and that notwithstanding the recent court decision has the power to do so.  It just needs the will to do so and confront the Republican blow back. (here)  The New York Times editorial board probably got this idea from my post of April 11 (here).

Second, I constantly marvel at the fact that it may be possible that President Obama has an overarching master plan for addressing all the issues and that if we are just patient, we will see it.  I am afraid that I am too much of an cynic to believe that but there is evidence nonetheless.  In The New York Times today there was an article entitled "Reaching Out Quietly to Muslims in America" by Andrea Elliott (here)  President Obama is not doing anything that I would not expect him to do, it is just that I did not know that he was doing these things.  What is the saying about a long journey starting with the first step.  It is possible that there is a master plan.  We all need to applaud the President when he takes these steps while keeping pressure on him to make them.

Third, The New York Times had another article entitled " Democrats Seize on Oversight" by Jackie Calmes (here).  The online version of the article differs slightly from the print version.  Here are the paragraphs from the print version that made my day:

In a sign of the Democrats' increasing confidence that they have the better of the argument in an election year defined by voter anger at big banks and bailouts, White House officials said Sunday that President Obama would take his campaign for a regulatory overhaul on the road in coming weeks.
The campaign will resemble his push that helped the health care bill past it final legislative hurdles. 
Mr. Obama in effect has made the measure's fate a highly personal showdown with Senate Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.  Over the last 15 months, Mr. McConnell has sought to defeat each of the Democratic president's domestic priorities in turn.

I hope this approach to financial reform indicates that President Obama has recognized that he will need to go to the American people to argue his case so that the American people will pressure Congress to pass President Obama's proposal.  He has both the skills to convince the people and the right policies so that they should be convinced.  It is about time he recognized that this approach will be far more successful than trying to achieve bipartisan support by talking with members of Congress.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

PS  Here is a wonderful plant.