March 2005 - Newsletter
I wrote this over a year ago. It is kinda fun to look back at what I was thinking about. What was on my mind? Bush and his misguided policies were on my mind!
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I’ve already written a book about the recent Presidential election and the state of politics in America; but, like many people who think and read and worry and talk a lot, I have more to say. A lot more. This on-line quarterly newsletter, with the working title, “Where’s the Outrage?” will be my sounding board—and yours—at least for now. Why this title? Because today, perhaps more than any other time in global history, outrageous events are happening all around the world; these events have me hopping, book-throwing, foot-stomping mad. And my question for you is: “Where is the Outrage?” As rational citizens of America and the world, we need to talk more and start thinking about what we can do.
Let me start by saying that, surprising as it may seem, I am not upset over the election. The best organization, the best politician won. I am upset at how George W. Bush won. He won, as he has governed, not by being the straight-shooting, no-nonsense fellow he is reputed to be, but by bowing to the so-called political savvy of advisors who advocate showing the public only shades of the truth. They told us why we had to go to war in Iraq–for the security of our country so we wouldn’t have to fight terror on our own soil. Iraq, they told us, posed an immediate threat. That turns out to have been a shade of the truth.
They told Middle America how the Bush tax cuts have helped our economy. Shaded truth again: our median income is still below year 2000 levels, the American economy has lost more jobs during the Bush years than it has created, and few of these new jobs are long-term, well-paying jobs.
To be fair, it is not unusual for politicians to stretch or shade the truth, especially during a campaign; and I expected Bush to puff up his record like a sixteen-year-old stud bragging on his pimped out Yugo. But the fact that so many Americans bought his versions of the truth and didn’t look a little harder at what was happening in their own neighborhoods is disheartening. The fact that we were distracted by Swift Boat Veterans—who ever heard of this group before now?—or that Kerry’s wife is wealthy and independent-minded or that the Bush daughters seem to enjoy life in spite of living in a fishbowl seemed to interest Americans more than the real issues like the war and the economy and education. Outrageous.
Now we are mired in Iraq—in part because we didn’t question the “truths” we were told about Saddam’s regime. Maybe Bush’s team didn’t know the whole truth at the time of the invasion. The idea of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the madman Saddam—that does sound serious. But now we know circumstances weren’t as dire as our “intelligence” told us. The situation in Iraq has become a huge vortex that is sapping our resources, sucking about $1 billion a day and who can see the end? The January elections have not stopped the violence. Now we talk about “containing” rather than ending the violence. Apparently, there is no exit strategy. Perhaps there never was. Outrageous!
On other fronts of the War on Terror, the Administration seems to be just as stumped about what to do. In Afghanistan, our goal was to kill or capture Bin Laden and the murderers who were behind September 11th. When was the last time you heard anything about our progress in the hunt for Bin Laden and his gang? Instead, we receive taunting tapes or Internet communications from Bin Laden and his henchmen almost every month. Until this stops, how can any American feel as though the war on terror is going well? Our invasion of Afghanistan, while initially successful, has turned into nothing more than pest control. We turned on the light and all of the Al Qaeda roaches ran for cover. But these nasty creatures are not truly “contained,” much less exterminated.
On the home front, thanks in part to our stalled War on Terror, the economy continues to struggle. The tax cuts have done what they were designed to do, which was to make the rich richer. Corporations are making more money than ever and are shouldering less of the tax burden than at any other time in the last fifty years. But the individuals, every day citizens in this country are still struggling financially. Our President wants to make these tax cuts permanent, in spite of the fact that they have worsened our deficit and that Bush’s budget has squandered much of the fiscal progress made in the Clinton years. It would not be unprecedented for President Bush to modify his economic strategy. When Ronald Reagan noticed that his tax cuts were hurting the economy, he gradually reversed them. Gerald Ford gave a tax cut to the middle and lower classes, not the rich, and that move actually did stimulate the economy, including increased growth of good jobs, something we need so badly today.
Of course, there is no easy fix to our massively complicated economy. But corporations will have to pay their share of the burden. The rich will have to pay more of their share, too. Especially if the Bush Administration is going to continue spending on the Iraq fiasco and, in case you haven’t noticed, building 2nd and 3rd generation stealth planes.
I continue to stew over the Social Security situation. The trouble here looks pretty desperate. According to the President, it is going to go bankrupt unless we take money out of the system and give it to investment houses. Does this make sense to any one? I am an educated professional. I subscribe to several money gurus’ newsletters and read many books. I still have trouble deciding about which stocks to invest in. Now, President Bush believes that choice is good. Everyone from the Wal-Mart greeter to the longshoreman should have the option to invest his or her portion of the Social Security budget in private accounts. Maybe these folks are smarter than me about the market; I hope they are. But suppose, under the Bush plan, that a mere 10% of retirees make unfortunate choices or are simply unlucky investors. When they run out of money two years after retirement, who is going to support these folks?
Phooey! We have too many decisions as it is. Our society is in choice-overload right now. Have you been to one of those upscale burger joints lately? “Do you want a hamburger?” “Yes with cheese.” “Lean or extra lean meat.” “Lean.” “Quarter pound or half pound?” “Quarter Pound.” “With the works?” “What is the works?” “Lettuce, fresh tomato, mayo, mustard and onion.” “That will be fine.” “White or wheat?” “Wheat.” “Swiss, American, Cheddar or Colby Jack?” “Cheddar.” “Fries?” “Yes.” “Waffle, cheese or seasoned fries?” “Forget it.” All I know is that the experts disagree not only about where and how to invest, but about how to solve the problems looming on the horizon for Social Security. Turning a lot of citizens loose on the confusing investment markets, giving our money to (rich) money houses (so that they can get richer?) does not seem to be a good idea. Social Security is too complex to fix this way.
Another complex home front problem is President Bush’s No Child Left Behind program. We have poured billions of dollars into what amounts to one-third of a program. Very effective. Why do I say NCLB is a third of a program? Because it only addresses the teacher part of the learning equation. Certainly, teachers need to take responsibility in the education of their pupils, and programs to increase their accountability make sense. NCLB does this. But the program does not address the other two-thirds of the equation: students and parents. Students must be willing to learn. Parents must actively support their children’s efforts to learn as well as teachers’ efforts to teach.
Numerous reports affirm that America’s children are lagging behind in terms of education5. What has happened in this country to stifle so many young people’s eagerness to learn? Young people are a sponge. They learn everything that we put in front of them. What happened to the parents, they seem to have no sense of duty about participating in their children’s education? In the days of those old, one-room schoolhouses, America did a pretty good job educating children. Apparently, kids wanted to please their teachers and their parents, and they took pride in doing well in school. Parents seemed to care about having the best-behaved and smartest child in the class. Finally, teachers were respected along with other professionals in their communities.
Somehow America lost its taste for learning (and the hard work it entails). But how can we legislate taste? I’m surprised that Republicans have not jumped on this bandwagon more creatively. Recognizing the tripartite nature of education should have been a no-brainer for the family-values-local-solution-Republican party and seeing the imbalance in No Child Left Behind should have been a no-brainer for Democrats. All Americans—Republican, Democrat, or Independent—need to understand that the failure of so many of our children and parents to care about education is a national crisis. Improving our education system—students and parents included–is the most important problem facing America today. I believe it is as important, if not more important, than national security.
Einstein reminded us that it takes better thinking to extricate ourselves from problems than it took to get into those problems in the first place. A nation full of undereducated citizens means fewer creative thinkers, fewer innovators, fewer entrepreneurs, and fewer problem-solvers. Unfortunately, our president is not known for being open to new ideas or changing his mind on his pet projects. Until the No Child Left Behind addresses the education crisis in a more balanced and enlightened way, it is doomed to fail. This may be the issue I am most book-throwing, foot-stomping mad about. Aren’t you?
President Bush has a mandate now, and a Republican-controlled Congress. If he is ever going to fix these problems, the time has come. Attend to what he does; care about his decisions be prepared to express your displeasure or to holler out when you are outraged.
