David Brooks

Dear Friends,

I very seldom agree with David Brooks, and I must admit that for awhile, I stopped reading his columns.  I have been chastised by several friends for not reading his columns, and as a result, I am trying my best to read them.  This morning I was glad that I read his column in The New York Times entitled "Death and Budgets" (here).

He addresses the issue of end of life medical expenses, and our country's focus on extending life regardless of the quality of the life being extended.  He very nicely combines the financial and emotional impacts of the end of life issues.  The last paragraph reads:

My only point today is that we think the budget mess is a squabble between partisans in Washington. But in large measure it’s about our inability to face death and our willingness as a nation to spend whatever it takes to push it just slightly over the horizon.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

President Obama and Excessive Budget Cuts

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to be sure that you all read Paul Krugman's column in The New York Times today (here) entitled "Getting to Crazy".  Here is one paragraph that says it all.

President Obama has made it clear that he’s willing to sign on to a deficit-reduction deal that consists overwhelmingly of spending cuts, and includes draconian cuts in key social programs, up to and including a rise in the age of Medicare eligibility. These are extraordinary concessions. As The Times’s Nate Silver points out, the president has offered deals that are far to the right of what the average American voter prefers — in fact, if anything, they’re a bit to the right of what the average Republican voter prefers!

There is nothing that I can add to that analysis.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Iraq

Dear Friends,

For reasons beyond comprehension, there appears to be a debate about keeping troops in Iraq after the end of this year.  As Barney Franks said last night, that is longer than President Bush was going to keep troops in Iraq.

According to President Obama we must cut spending even on really important social programs at home, yet we have money to keep troops in Iraq indefinitely in contradiction of his promise to bring them all home by the end of this year.

Another promise broken.  Another attempt to out Republican the Republicans.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Don't Ask Don't Tell

Dear Friends,

The Defense Department and the rest of the Obama administration have been dragging their feet about actually implementing the repeal of DADT.  Now the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has said enough is enough and ordered that the DADT policy be ended immediately.  While saying that they support the repeal of DADT, the Obama administration has just appealed the Ninth Circuit decision and asked them to reconsider.  It seems that every time President Obama is given an opportunity to do something good, he decides to take a cautious path that makes him look like a Republican.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Why don't we take care of our military families?

Dear Friends,

Last night I read an article in the July 4 & 11 edition of Newsweek entitled "Daddy, Why is my School Falling Down?" (here).  It is very depressing and speaks volumes about our commitment to military families.  The first two paragraphs read:

For nearly half her life, 11-year-old Catie Hunter has lived apart from her father, an Army platoon sergeant deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, and twice to Korea. Such extended separation would stress any child. But Catie must endure additional hardship at her elementary school at Oklahoma’s Fort Sill.

To get to class on stormy days, the fifth grader must dodge what she calls “Niagara Falls,” the deluge of rainwater that flows from the school’s rotten roof into large trash bins below. Pleasant days aren’t much better at Geronimo Road Elementary. Catie passes by chipped floors, termite-infested walls, and cracks in bricks the size of the principal’s finger. In the ceiling, tiles are bent and browned by leaks. Some dangle by threads of glue. A bucket, strapped by a bungee cord, hangs over the gymnasium door, another makeshift rain receptacle. Inside her classroom—built before Dwight D. Eisenhower became president—an archaic air-conditioning unit at times drowns out her teacher’s voice.

The article goes on to chronicle the deplorable state of the schools on military bases.  The way we treat military families today is obscene.  Everybody, particularly Republicans, talk about supporting our troops, but we fail to provide them with the equipment they need and the mental and physical health care they need.  We send them on endless deployments to fight wars of choice that are not winnable.  We ignore the impact on their families.  Now it seems we also fail to provide their children with even remotely adequate schools.

So I have a simple suggestion that could help in many ways.  We need to get Congress to allocate the funds necessary to bring all the schools on military bases up to the standards of the schools attended by President Obama's girls and by the children of members of Congress.  It is the least we can do to in some small way make up for the sacrifices these children make for our country.  In addition, it will create lots of good paying construction jobs and hence provide the economy with a nice stimulus. 

The Republicans should certainly agree since they say they are so patriotic and say they support the military.  The Democrats should agree since they actually are patriotic and do support the military and would like to see the economy stimulated.  But don't hold your breath, President Obama and the Republicans believe that they need to cut the deficit and the benefits available to government employees including the military.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

President Obama, debt and jobs

Dear Friends,

President Obama continues to spew forth Republican talking points that try despite all evidence to connect the current federal debt level with the appalling lack of jobs.  The New York Times editorial staff called President Obama on his Republican talking points in the editorial entitled "The Worst Time to Slow the Economy" (here) today. 

The Labor Department report showed virtually no job growth in June, with the unemployment level edging up to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent the month before. It seemed to confirm last month’s indication that the economy had stalled. After the report came out, the president went to the Rose Garden and said he hoped that a conclusion to the current debt-ceiling talks would give businesses “certainty” that the government had its debt and deficit under control, allowing them to start hiring again.
Certainty? That sounds like Mitt Romney, or any of the other Republicans who have concocted a phony connection between hiring and government borrowing.

The main thing that is stalling the recovery and preventing any significant job growth is a lack of demand.  Businesses only hire when demand increases, and demand increases when people have money to spend on buying things.  So you need to put people to work so that they can buy things.  The best way to accomplish that result is for the federal government to spend the money needed to improve our infrastructure.  Construction and maintenance of highways, schools, bridges, electrical grids, airports, railways, etc. result in great jobs that have to be done in this country.  It also leads to demand for construction equipment and supplies.  Anybody that has taken Economics 101 can recite all the benefits. 

We know that the Republicans reject reality, but I expect a President that claims to come from the Democratic Party to stand up for reality and true economic theory and the middle class and the poor.  We need a huge jobs program now for the sake of the country.  We need a President who will use his powers of persuasion to cut through the nonsense that is passing for debate in Washington DC today.  Unfortunately, President Obama shows no signs of becoming that President.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal