What’s your number one legislative priority? Mine is health care.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
35 Comments
Recent Posts
- Day 14: Louisiana Senator Approvingly Compares Trump to Stalin
- Day 13: Elon Musk Flexes His Muscles
- Day 12: While Elon Musk Takes Over, We Podcast With Driftglass and Blue Gal
- Day 11: Harm of Fascist Regime’s Foreign Aid Freeze Comes Into View
- Day 10: The Fascist Regime Blames a Plane Crash on Nonwhite People
It was the war, but that’s over now. Now, I don’t know.
War is still going. At least until July 2010 by Obama’s timetable.
True, but the end is near. That’s what I was driving at.
I’ll believe it when I see the helicopters being pushed over the side again.
It isn’t just the endless wars-for-profit and universal arms-dealing and mercenaries and sabre-rattling… these guys also have so many speculative cost-plus programs with horrendous surcharges and overages and delays. Billions of dollars just evaporated. Billions more were spent on shoddy construction put up by slave labor: schools, hospitals, even the embassy. And yet more billions get spent on toys-for-boys: the rods from god, the space platform with laser weaponry, the sonics, microwaves, drones, and robotic tanks.
Cutting the “emergency” appropriations is a start. After almost a decade, surely the military can budget their wars!
Cutting off all mercenaries is a big step. If we have the finest soldiers in the world… use them. Besides, it will improve morale.
If Congress puts the money into veteran care, training, and troop retention, and stop the endless war-mongering, we might get a chance to rebuild the military before it is really needed.
Getting out of Iraq will save $12 billion/month, but some will be needed in Afghanistan. So lets say $10 billion/month saved. Putting ALL developmental toyz for ALL services equally on hold for 2 years will save a lot more. (this means battleships and planes as well as robotics) Then tell ALL the armed forces that they must cut 25% from their budget. They get to choose whether they want people or machines, but they must cut back. No more bottomless wallet!
America needs money for infrastructure, health care, education. We can’t keep borrowing it. Even if we develop green technologies and produce new jobs, we must have money to invest first. That means stopping the profligacy and bloated mess in military procurement and ending the useless wars-on-nouns.
Immediately.
Economy, health care and war. For the most part, in that order.
Health care by a nose. Then the economy. But the implications of health care reform are significant for the economy.
It was the political castration of LIEberman, but now I’ll settle for a Congressional pay raise – at least I know they’ll deliver the goods…
universal healthcare, no excuses, no exceptions, no concessions.
Androderm patches for all Democrats.
simultaneously,
the economy needs a $600 billion stimulus bill to avoid a deep depression. Government is the spender of last resort.
Withdraw from Afghanistan, (a growing quagmire of a black hole) and fast forward Iraq too, deploy those funds to Universal Health care.
repeal the Patriot Act. restore habeas corpus, close Gitmo.
Yeah, I’m with idredit on this one.
Without the economy, nothing else is feasible. And the economy is in horrendous shape. Judging from the massive consumer spending pullback in October thanks to the twin forces of the housing crash and the credit crunch, we’re going to start having to worry about deflation.
If what happened to the oil market happens to everything else, we’re in deep trouble.
thanks Zandar1. honored.
add to our wall of worries impending shortages. Serious. International trade has grounded to a halt. Credit is still frozen — no letters of credit. THe only guys making out are Somalia pirates and Paulson’s selected friends.
What does Honda, Nissan, America Electric Power, Home Depot, Textron, and Dow Chemical have in common? I could add more.
They all are at the Feds to sell their commercial paper. And Paulson’s next big headache is Citigroup.
And QE quantitative easing by the Feds. Obama will need a quartet, not just a Secretary of Treasury.
John Podesta sends emails. He wants our ideas.
Healthcare – as close to Universal as possible.
Then infrastructure investment
Then college education in exchange for national service
Then hanging Bush and Cheney from the lamposts.
g.
universal, single payer healthcare
Health Care.
Yes, enough guilty white liberals voted to beat back the racist white conservatives. LOL
In truth though, Obama is sui generis as a politician. I doubt any other African American could have pulled this off at this time, despite Bush, despite the failure of the economy. Your bet probably seemed safe when you made it, but once I heard his speech on race, I knew he would be elected President.
i still dont believe it
Really, there should be legislation ready for an upperdown vote the first week. Signed within ten days. IOW before February 1. Can Teddy and his subcommittees pull it off?
The issues are known, the proposal should be simple (unlike the ponderous Hillarycare bill) and action should be so swift that opposition cannnot get going.
Once the economy truly tanks and people begin to form soup lines, malnutrition will wreak havoc on the population, especially the young and the elderly.
Free cradle to grave health care will save lives when the shitstorm hits but corporate handouts only fatten offshore bank accounts.
Funny how ‘socialism’ starts to sound pretty good when you haven’t got a pot to piss in.
Universal health care and an Apollo Program/Manhattan Project type national push toward viable alternative energy technology. And not one that substitutes food for fuel.
health care
Health care for all, of course. But, as mentioned up thread, if we don’t solve the economic problem, this creeping paralysis that is turning our businesses and banks into zombie companies, then, I’m afraid, we are all chopped liver. As to current wars, can we even afford them? Secretary of the Treasury appears to be the most significant cabinet choice. I sure hope it is a good one.
i just want some fuckin’ money again.
so I can look for another job. Then of course, Iraq withdrawal and the economy.
If we don’t beat this back, the only intelligent life in the entirety of the universe will die.
Healthcare is very important but I really want to see Bushco environmental giveaways undone. The damage is extensive.
It’s the only thing that would finally give them all a clue.
That’ll be worth a trip to Philly – I’ll let you know when I’m heading up that way. I have some family in south Jersey that I need to see anyway.
The economy. And to boost the economy, we need universal single-payer health insurance, which will take a burden off the backs of employers and enable wannabe self-employeds to leave their crappy jobs and strike out on their own; an end to wars of choice that waste money as well as lives, a shutdown of our zillion military bases all over the world, and stopping all the star wars and missile defense games; and an immense push for green infrastructure development to provide good jobs fast and energy independence.
Then a rollback of the PATRIOT Act and all the other scaredy-cat laws and domestic spying, with transparency going forward.
Are those numbers right? Can anyone confirm? If so, this is #1.
Send the Patriot Act back into the toxic waste of fascistic desire that it came from.
Restore & renew liberty first; all else will follow properly.
1) Economy; 1a) Universal single payer healthcare; 2) Energy – Wind, Solar, Tidal, geothermal; 3) Infrastructure update/rebuild; 4) Achieve 1 with a massive WPA-esk investment in 2 & 3.