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Archive for Raise The Debate
November 8, 2008 at 3:25 pm · Filed under Finish Ahead, Raise The Debate
There is an alarming trend in Muncie politics, and I suppose the city in general, to “aim for the cheap.”
Mayor Sharon McShurley has her hands full to be sure, managing a city with no money. While some budget cutting is necessary, the mantra of “cut more and cut deep” is a short-sighted approach to our problems.
Economic development is also a function of government. City and local officials, working with groups like the Chamber of Commerce, are tasked with attracting new business to the community. Doing that costs money, though, and the taxpayers in this community seem to be only interested in “starving the beast.”
Well, when you do that, you lose the good as well as the bad.
Why would any company want to develop a facility here? The roads are bad, the schools are weak, the city corridors look and smell like ass, and there are signs all over town either griping about how property taxes are killing the county, or insinuating that the fire department is in trouble.
Would you want to relocate yours or your employees’ families here, if that was the only impression you had of the city?
The sad irony is that we have tremendous potential here, if we could just get out of our own way.
Real estate is cheap; we have a nationally top-rated school to model the others after; we have a good university, hospital and public protection services - we really don’t have nearly as far to go as places like Flint, MI does; and we’re further down the road than Youngstown, OH was when they began their turnaround.
The only thing stopping us is, well, us.
You have to spend money to make money. We need to invest in our community if we want to make it economically viable - and not just money. That means infrastructure improvements; trying to have the best city services, instead of just the cheapest; taking responsibility for the condition of your neighborhoods; and embracing and supporting local government, rather than just holding them in contempt because you actually have to pay for what you get.
September 23, 2008 at 2:33 pm · Filed under Call Bullshit, Raise The Debate
There are few times in one’s life when Americans are asked to put aside our political and ideological differences and pull together as a country. I believe that this current financial crisis is one of those times.
I’m confused, though, about some of the things I’ve heard and read; and it raises for me a very important question: What’s a patriot to do?
I am a patriot and I love my country. Sure, there are plenty of ways it could be better and fairer, offer more opportunities, and shine brighter as the beacon of global leadership and innovation. Just as parents love and nurture their children and want them to reach their full potential, I feel it is my duty to try and help my country do the same.
Last week, though, when Joe Biden suggested that the wealthy should pay more in taxes because it was the patriotic thing to do, John McCain and Sarah Palin mocked and ridiculed him for it – while standing behind a lectern emblazoned with the words “Country First.”
When did it become unpatriotic to suggest sacrificing for your country, especially for those that have benefitted so greatly from the opportunities that America provides? Generations that have come before us have sacrificed so that we can thrive – and not just on some battlefield – but financially, practically and personally.
We’re at war on two fronts, our infrastructure is crumbling, our education system is an embarrassment, millions of fellow Americans don’t have access to healthcare, our friends and neighbors have had their jobs outsourced overseas, and our economic system teeters on the verge of collapse.
What does this “Country First” crowd do in response to all of this? Anything they can to give less back. Whether it’s hiding profits offshore to avoid paying taxes on them, deregulating markets to expose investors to even more risk (and themselves to more profit) or relentlessly lobbying for larger tax cuts; it looks less like patriotism and more like “Me First.”
Now, I’m sure someone will try and convince me of the wonders of the free market and trickle-down economics; but take a look around: The only thing trickling down is a pervasive anti-tax mentality and contempt for public servants. Americans love everything their country has to offer, but ask them to sacrifice an extra three percent for it and they’ll run you out on a rail. Is it any wonder that such a political system attracts the greedy and corrupt individuals that have run our great nation into the ground?
Is this what patriotism has evolved into? Blind support of anyone that promises to never ask you to sacrifice?
Over the next few weeks, we will have to take a sobering look at the consequences of the last two decades’ financial freewheeling. And yes, one way or another, we will be asked to pony up for it. When the time comes, I urge every American to resist the temptation to sling mud at one party or another, to point out some slanted example of abuse, or to focus on “what’s in it for me?” Instead, simply ask yourself one question: Are you a patriot?
What’s a patriot to do?
September 20, 2008 at 1:00 pm · Filed under Call Bullshit, Finish Ahead, Raise The Debate
Monday, Senator McCain said the fundamentals of our economy our strong. He later went on to say that by “fundamentals,” he meant the American workers that have seen their wages reduced and their jobs outsourced.
Tuesday, he said that bailing out AIG was a bad idea, despite the fact that letting it fail would have been economically devastating. The free market would sort it all out.
Wednesday, he said bailing out AIG was necessary. It was, but anyone with any understanding of the economy knew that long before.
Thursday, the Senator said he would fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Never mind that the President doesn’t have that authority, our current crisis can hardly be pinned on Christopher Cox. He is part of the problem, to be sure; but replacing him isn’t going to magically fix anything.
Friday, he said that we are definitely in a recession, and the fault is Barack Obama’s, because the Illinois senator has been part of the Washington system for the past two years.
My friends, this has been more than just a tumultuous week. This is a glimpse into the future of a McCain/Palin administration. Like the Bush administration, McCain’s policies will be driven by fake populism, incompetence and greed; and when it all goes to pot, he will blame a Democrat.
Over the past 26 years – the same 26 years that John McCain has been in congress – the public protections put into place by FDR to prevent a recurrence of the Great Depression have been systematically dismantled by the GOP. It wasn’t that these protections were preventing growth and prosperity, but there was just so much more money to be made if greater risks could be taken.
Over the past 26 years – the same 26 years that John McCain has been in congress – we have been told of the wonders of the free market and the wisdom of trickle-down economics. Those policies didn’t result in new jobs and higher wages during the 80’s, and they still don’t today. During both of those decades, wages went down, unemployment went up and the economy went in the tank.
Now, to prevent the Great Depression II, we the people must take on a trillion dollars in bad debt, while corporate and financial industry executives – including friends and relatives of President Bush and Senator McCain – walk away with billions.
We’ve seen where President McCain will take us. We’ve seen it because we’ve been there before. It’s time for us to stop reliving the past and embrace a new future – the future of President Barack Obama.
June 11, 2007 at 11:07 pm · Filed under Musings, Raise The Debate
Section 8, Paragraph ‘a’ of the Federal Flag Code reads “The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
During a recent visit to Sofia by President Bush, the streets were lined with American flags, several of which were flown upside-down.
Certainly, there was no official statement intended; but surely many Europeans see Bush as a threat to their lives and security.
Already reeling from our current wars in their backyard, they feel new tensions rise between NATO members and Russia, as our president labors to divert attention from his failure in Iraq.
Often times, it takes a friend to point out to you that your behavior is self-destructive. We broke up with our oldest friend, France, when she suggested it. Maybe this time?
June 10, 2007 at 11:07 pm · Filed under Call Bullshit, Raise The Debate
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed me an article from WorldNetDaily, wondering if anyone was talking about it.
No one was. No one from the MSM, anyway.
The article concerned the new and improved National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, which grants the President extraordinary powers in a catastrophic emergency.
The idea seems practical enough on the surface: In the event of a crisis, we need to make sure the government keeps running, so a position is created to ensure national continuity. Sounds good, right?
Don’t be so sure. It turns out that there was already a National Emergency Act intended to keep the trains running and maintain our system of checks and balances. This one cuts Congress out of the equation, making the responsibility for maintaining government the exclusive purview of the executive branch. Sound familiar?
Also “catastrophic emergency” is rather broadly defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”
Let that sink in for just a moment.
Read the rest of this entry »
May 29, 2007 at 9:36 am · Filed under Call Bullshit, Raise The Debate
Last March, I travelled to DC to march on the Pentagon in protest of the war. While there, I met Cindy Sheehan, who is a true American patriot if ever there was one.
Cindy has tirelessly opposed the illegal and immoral war in Iraq for three years, ever since her son Casey was killed attempting to rescue some of his fellow soldiers in Sadr City.
Like many of us, when the Democrats took control of Congress in January, Cindy breathed a sigh of relief. The rubber-stamp approvals of reckless spending and abuse of power would stop, the President would be reigned in and the war would finally come to a close.
Last week, however, the Democrats reminded us why the right portrays them as being weak – because they are.
Among the many pieces of legislation put forth by this newly empowered congress, was a bill to make further funding of the war contigent upon troop withdrawal. It was something to be proud of – so long as you didn’t look at it too closely.
To the embarrassment of progressives everywhere, the bill also contained funding for more than $3.7 billion in farm subsidies, $2.9 billion in additional Gulf Coast hurricane relief and $2.4 billion for social programs such as money for rural Northwest school districts, health insurance for poor children, energy assistance for poor families and others.
To the surprise of…, well…, no one, the President pounced on them for it: “They have a responsibility to pass a clean bill that does not use funding for our troops as leverage to get special-interest spending for their districts…”
Then he vetoed it, telling them “They have a responsibility to get this bill to my desk without strings and without delay.”
So, after much blustering about the consequences of elections, Reid and Pelosi did what they have always done: They caved.
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May 23, 2007 at 9:15 am · Filed under Call Bullshit, Raise The Debate
Orlando Weekly columnist Billy Manes – who I generally like and even supported for Mayor of Orlando – disappointed me with his story on gasification, A Convenient Truth.
The story comes on the heels of recent revelations that – to the gleeful delight of neocons everywhere – the production of the electric motors used in the Toyota Prius is so energy intensive, that it effectively negates whatever carbon/energy savings its use provides.
The two stories are related in that they both point to unhealthy attitudes towards new technologies.
Somewhere in the past forty years, we as Americans became intolerant of the trial and error aspects of technological development (read: pathetic cry-babies). Were Thomas Edison alive today, he would be regarded as total loser for failing to produce a working light bulb the first 300 times he tried.
Don’t believe me? Let’s turn back 40 years to 1967, and the Apollo One mission.
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April 17, 2007 at 10:44 pm · Filed under Raise The Debate
There’s already so much being written and discussed on the tragedy in Virginia, that it’s hard to know what to say and which chorus to join.
There will be calls for stricter gun control, particularly regarding the 19-round 9mm ammunition magazines found in Cho Seung-hui’s possession. Formerly illegal under the expired Assault Weapons Ban, these will certainly be the centerpiece of much debate.
There will be investigations into the university’s response, specifically the two-hour delay between shootings, during which time campus police failed to lock down the facility, or notify students and faculty. There will be many procedural questions, no doubt followed by a flurry of ineffective and ove-compensatory regulation, legislation and resignations.
What stuck with me the most, though, was the descriptions of this troubled young man’s psyche that grew increasingly disturbing throughout the day – like a diseased onion.
The clincher, however, was listening to one of his English professors recount her experiences with Seung-hui. Concerned with his behavior, she advised VT’s administration that he may be a threat to himself or others – last year. He also had run-ins with campus police over stalking and other predatory behavior – two years ago.
Unfortunately, as with Columbine, there was no procedure in place to provide much-needed mental health care to this ticking bomb of a human being. In addition, school administrators, on every level, tread too carefully in fear of a lawsuit and become ineffective in any situation without a clear procedure.
So the chorus I will lend my voice to is the one that calls for the expanded availability of mental health care, and the means by which to connect it with the people that need it. Colleges and universities need to provide facilities for mental health, as well as physical health. The government needs to make provisions that allow the faculty to trust their instincts and take steps to protect themselves and their students, and to get potentially dangerous students the help they desperately need.
More information: HealthyMinds.org, National School Safety Center, US Department of Health and Human Services.
