What’s your number one priority for an Obama presidency? Should he do health care first? A green energy policy? An infrastructure/jobs program? Tackle housing/banking reform?
If you could list three bills in order of preference that you would like to see put in next year’s schedule, I’d be interested to see your feedback.
Hey, it’s a wish list. Especially given that apparently Obama’s mouthpieces (Cass Sunstein etc.) are already rolling out the “let’s heal the nation and move on” bullshit.
My only variation would be end the war AND prosecute war crimes. The other two are in the right order, IMO.
Fix the soon to be imploding economy.
Find new alternate energy resources.
Fix health care.
Those three will help the majority of the American People;
Then war crimes, corruption, ET AL.
PS, with one order to the military he can begin the end of our illegal occupation, and by his public statements I can see he already understands this.
He doesn’t need any program, just order the Pentagon and CENTCOM Commander to get the US troops out of Iraq.
That will be one result from elections have consequences version 2.0.
Clif, it should be 100% clear that Obama has no intention of getting out of Iraq. His intention is to reconfigure the occupation and continue it with a smaller force, which will most likely be less troubling to the American people. He clearly intends to keep the Imperial Command and Control Center – that monstrosity of an imperial citadel that they laughably call an embassy – fully staffed and fully functioning.
Yes, with one order he can relieve the Iraqis of the horror of the occupation, but he won’t.
Things are so messed up the only thing I would want is HR676 for single payer universal health care. So we have a chance to live long enough to solve all of the other issues.
1) End the Imperial Colonization and Occupation.
If we weren’t trying to invade and occupy other countries to steal their resources, we’d not be spending trillions of dollars over there which could be better spent on our own infrastructure. We’d also not be torturing, raping, killing… and forcing millions of people into refugee status…. which would help greatly with foreign relations. This item alone would improve matters all around: helping global relations and our own economy to recover.
2) Restore our Constitutional form of Government.
Clean out the Justice Department and any and all other agencies which were politicized. Hold war crimes trials. Force the mercenaries under the rule of law, and specify that they can NEVER AGAIN be used domestically. Get rid of the illegal wire-tapping and other domestic spying. Stop funding for the “war toys” that can only be used on US citizens: sonics, microwaves, lasers, massive databases, etc.. I don’t want to live in a police state when one man can, by his total whim, declare anybody to be an enemy of the state and have him/her “disappeared” with no hope of trial. Return ALL our 4th Amendment Rights. Return control of the National Guard to the governors of the states. The President already has the armed forces, he doesn’t need a private police to back up an Imperial Presidency.
3) Preserve and Protect the environment.
If the entire planet dies in a polluted stew of floating trash and noxious emissions, and we can’t breathe the air or drink the water, it really won’t matter if the banks fail or health insurance is available or the rest of that trivia. Yes, trivia. Wars fought for water will be more desperate and brutal than any war fought for religion or oil. Rising water has already engulfed a few islands… how many millions of people will be displaced and dying of hunger and illness by 2050? If we can’t deal with climate change, we are ALL going to die. Badly. Even the filthy rich have to breathe.
Take care of the human ecology of the United States. All good things will follow that.
What do I mean by this?
I mean reform the entire system of human services.
Education first, because we need an educated work force in order to succeed at doing the massive job of reforming our country that confronts us down the line on every level if we are to survive as a nation and culture.
The justice system. Prosecute criminal activity on the basis of how seriously it impacts the lives of citizens. Especially white collar and corporate crime. A driven-crazy gangbanger or poor, sick junkie messes up the lives of 10s or 100s and spends decades in the prison system. A white collar, corporate criminal negatively impacts the lives of millions and is rewarded with a golden parachute for his efforts. Fix that and you fix the country.
The healthcare system. Top down, including the insurance/AMA/Big Brother Pharma fraud that passes for medicine in this country. Also including the food production industry. Nourish the people well and they will not get sick in the first place. They will also work and learn better.
Do these things and the energy crisis/environmental crisis will be solvable because the efforts to solve it will be so much stronger.
Finally…and most improbably…open up the secret police system in this country to effective civilian supervision. We have an operating shadow government that has infilitrated every aspect of this system, especially the media and thus the cultural and informational network that forms the subconscious attitudes of about 99% of its citizens. (Maybe less, because if you do not think primarily in English you are freed from much of its influence.) Take that structure down and start over again. How to do that? Damned if I know.
That old saying about the devil?
That his greatest trick was to convince human beings that he does not exist?
Yup.
It’s like that.
Remember all the times when when various mob members sat in front of blue ribbon panels and denied the existence of the Mafia?
Right.
Like that.
Only so much more criminal,, so much bigger and more dangerous than the mob that its size and the scope of its activities…especially since BushCo’s legalization of its least appetizing domestic spying activities…the depth and breadth of its influence is inconceivable to the walking-around, just-trying-to-survive citizenry.
Long story short?
Stop wasting energy.
HUMAN energy.
Stop theft, stop fraud, stop false advertising and false culture.
Do that and the other problems…our parasitic dependence on not just foreign oil but on foreign energies of all kinds…will recede.
Do not do these things…and I have no faith that they can or will be done even if Obama personally understands the depth of the problems that face America today (Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. Or maybe the system is broken beyond repair and will have to collapse or be dismantled before things get better. We shall see within 4 to 8 years. Bet on it.)…but do not succeed in these efforts and the rest of the world will be forced to continue to consider The U.S. its primary enemy.
6.2 billion vs. 300 million?
Roughly 2000 non-U.S. citizens for every 1 American?
UH oh!!!
Bad odds.
VERY bad odds.
Bet on that as well.
Custer odds.
Worse.
UH oh!!!
Best get our act together or the Little Big Horn will look like a day at the beach.
Remember…Moctezuma’s revenge may well be America.
Only time will tell.
Later…
AG
Well, well you’re on to something here. If the PTB allow…they may have to to save their own skin. Obama needs to tell people the truth – the truth will not lose him the election. Sarkozy during his campaign in France told some harm truths.
When an MSM reporter, on BloombergTV, is allowed to say “the next president will inherit economic conditions similar to the 1930s” with a montage of FDR in the background, you know that’s just half the facts of the hardships ahead. a crippling hyper-inflation enveloped in The Great Depression II, 2009-2011.
Never mind the happy talk.
We’re right now in a deep well of shit. …trillions of debt…without a practical solution. Capitalism has destroyed itself.
Americans need to learn new languages: Mandarin, Arabic and Russian. The language of the new owners.
1)Begin Iraq withdrawal
2)Energy policy
3)Health care.
It’s not bills.
It’s:
TPO
Without those, nothing else will be worth a damn.
HR 676
HR 676
HR 676
And if the permagov hasn’t pulled a coup by that point,
then AG’s comments on criminal reform deserve serious consideration. This should include restriction of the rights of corporate “personhood,” which allows the commission of the collective equivalent of the personal corporate crimes that AG discusses.
My priorities are Energy and Climate Change.
However, I expect an Obama presidency to be an improvement in practically every policy domain, if only because they will look at things with an attitude of “how can we make things better?” rather than “how can we use this to our political advantage?” One of the things that has irritated me the most about the Bush admin is their complete disinterest in the real-world consequences of their policies (as opposed to the political consequences).
1 and 2 are toss-ups to me, but I lean alternative energy/climate change because if we don’t strike while the iron’s hot (and gas is at $4-$5 per gallon) we’ll be right back to the gas guzzling lifestyle the minute gas prices dip (which will only be momentarily). No worry about loss of momentum for healthcare.
Healing all the rifts with various other nations on the planet should come first. In an increasingly globalized economy we need them and they need us. Security needs and cooperation would be addressed with this rapprochement also. However, other nations will want a demonstration we’re serious about changing our ways, serious about justice for past crimes and aggressions. So, the #1 priority should be hanging Bush and Cheney.
I guess this is kind of cheating, making huge omnibus bills.
Frankly, I think the economy will be so bad in 2009 that anything Obama will want to do will be shelved.
We’re going to be very disappointed to see him turn into just another politician when faced with the very real prospect of a global economic depression.
We’re going to be very disappointed to see him turn into just another politician when faced with the very real prospect of a global economic depression.
Speak for yourself. To me he already is “just another politician”, so there’s no disappointment at all.
As far as what I’d like to see him do:
Do I think we’ll get any of that? Maybe #2 and part of #3. 2 can be spun as job creation, as “national security” and will be overwhelmingly popular with a lot of normally Republican leaning industry folks. Parts of 3 will be popular with struggling manufacturing industries like the auto industry. I think those both have a good chance of getting through a Democratic controlled Congress with a Dem POTUS. We’ll see if anyone has the stones to try.
#1 is a pipe dream. But I like my pink ponies, so I’m keeping it.
I think the inertia in the medico-pharmaceutical complex is so high that it will be impossible for Obama or even a successor to tackle that mess.
My priorities:
Restore the balance of power between the 3 branches of government. Make signing statements “quaint.” Cut the nuts off of the Executive Branch to conform to the Constitution.
Begin the foundations of the “Green Economy” by implementing green energy technologies, green industrial production, green commercial activities (green offices and stores).
I think this is about all that will be possible given the inertia to the past profiteering our Congress and 1% are comfortable with. And I don’t see Mr. Obama leading these efforts. Again, we put too much angst into the office of the president. We have to do this ourselves via our votes and stepping up to the plate and running for office (see 50-State Strategy).
If this is a wishlist, not an expectation of what Obama will do, one item stands before all others for me:
End government by bribery. No more contributions/gifts to candidates or officeholders. Full public financing of elections. Without that change, nothing else that matters can be done.
Beyond that,
— Bring back the pre-Reagan tax levels without the loopholes.
— Federal incentives for solar and wind energy development that level the subsidy playing field.
As to Iraq, it’s probably too late for anything the US decides to make much different. It will follow its own logic, for better or for worse. The most important thing we can do now is make an example of those who lied us into it in the first place, in hopes of traumatizing future administrations from contemplating such outrages ever again.
#1 Priority : Learn to tell the WHOLE story better. Stop parsing the problem into small pieces and start to address the situation holistically: solve the climate crisis through investing in new energy technologies and technology in general, infrastructure re-development and institutional reform.
And of course, Line Item Tax Allocation on our 1040s.
.. in the context of broad international co-operation, of course.
Cleaning up the DOJ and shutting down DHS. Both are the armed point of the fascist spear pointed at the American people. Of the two, Chertof’s institution is the worse, though less understood. Civil freedom first. Everything else comes after.