As always, elections are about variables so myriad as to make polling effective only in trend for some elections, and entirely unreliable in others. It appears to me this 2008 election however, is about a crisis in confidence toward authority and the presidential winner will be the person having shown the most credible judgement.
Most American tax payers could not give a definition of the term "opportunity cost". Just as most Americans could not tell you what al-Queda was, prior to 9/11, 2001. Not knowing however, did not stop al-Queda from attacking America, and not knowing what opportunity cost is, will not stop those oppressive and suffocating costs from forcing future tax increases on income earners in America and pushing the nation toward bankruptcy.
Would you teach your children to make up their own minds about political party and candidates? Or, would you insure their politics were the same as yours? Parenting politics should be a fascinating topic, but, it is under researched. Scholastic Magazine sponsored an election conducted by school age kids, grades 1 - 12, on the presidential races. Obama 54% to McCain's 39% if I recall their interview on TV this morning, correctly. What is interesting is how those percentages mirror the adult population polls.
America has a future. American's have a future. In many ways, it will not look like our past. What is happening right now is a revolution, a political, economic, and cultural revolution. There is no choice about it. When Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, certain concepts and ideas were put to the test, and in 2007 and 2008, those concepts and ideas brought our economy crashing down, driving 10's of millions of voters to leave the two major political parties, and opening the door to dramatic cultural change going forward.
The title of this article (above) is the name of the Bill which passed the Senate last night. It is voluminous and the time between its issuance from the Banking Committee to its vote on the floor likely precluded most Senators from having time to read it themselves. But rest assured their staffers did. Visit and support the Sunlight Foundation for the full text of the Bill. Or, read this article, for an overview of what is happening, the rest of us can understand.
There is much debate and discussion about what is at stake regarding our economy and this bailout of wealth institutions who have gorged themselves on the profits of bad loans, collateral, and absence of prudence in managing that wealth of others. But, no one is telling the truth about what is at stake, or why these politicians are working feverishly with little sleep night and day. What is at stake is what no one in Washington D.C. wants uttered in a public forum. But history is not so silent about what is keeping them all up at night.
There is nothing as depressing as to be right about calamity foreseen and have such warnings go unheeded. To see what is coming, take advantage, and walk away, allows one to feel intelligent, profit from the knowledge, and avoid looking back at the suffering of others who didn't see what is happening. This, of course, would be the corporate executives and Republicans in power who fought against regulation and oversight since 1994, and won.
Republicans threw a fit on the floor of Congress today, and then called a news conference to grandstand their fit. [Link is to video of conference.] Almost no one listened. And for good reason. Rep. Mike Spence (R-In) gave the cookies away when he said we Republicans could have given the American public greater access to oil, but, didn't. He went on to rail against Democrats for having recessed without an energy bill.
With the doom and gloom hovering over consumers, the economy, Afghanistan, and corruption in government, it is important to revel in what good news comes our way. Otherwise, we risk becoming jaded and cynical, and that leads to apathy and inaction to improve what has gone wrong. There are various items of good news to cover. Let's take a look at this last week's worth.
During Obama's discussion with the Sunni Vice President, and Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, they did not discuss Obama's plans for withdrawal. However, after their meetings in press conferences, both of the Iraqi leaders said in unequivocal terms, we want the U.S. troops out by the end of 2010. Which happens to be, 16 months after our next president takes office, and when Barack Obama said we needed to be out of Iraq.
