Where's the Outrage?

As many of you know, I love and admire President Barack Obama. What he has accomplished is truly remarkable. Not only was he elected president but he has also taken over the helm at truly rocky times. We have wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With escalating tensions in the Middle East, Iran and North Korea, the world is looking to us for leadership. Africa, South America and South Asia are in desperate poverty. Our polar ice caps are melting. Here at home, we’re in the middle of the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression and our political atmosphere is truly toxic. Through all of this, our president has stood tall and managed to pull together coalitions to get significant legislation passed in Congress. Yet I have this uneasy feeling, nausea really, over Iraq.

Before we unwisely invaded Iraq, there was a balance of power in the Middle East. Iraq and Iran hate each other. They would truly like to annihilate each other but after fighting a fruitless war which cost hundreds of thousands of lives and after which there is no clear victor, they were content to scowl angrily at each other. The third point in the Middle East’s triangle was Israel. So when we swooped in and took out Saddam Hussein, we tipped the balance of power. It is really unclear how this will play out in the long run, but for now Iran seems to be the big winner.

Last week President Obama addressed the nation. He told us that combat operations in Iraq had been completed. Our troops were coming home. Cool. Let’s break out the champagne. Then, before I was able to get to the refrigerator, our president stated, “a transitional force of US troops remain in Iraq with a different mission: advising and assisting Iraqi security forces, supporting Iraqi troops and targeted counterterrorism missions and protecting our civilians.” What? Then, just for a moment, our president seemed to transform into President George W. Bush and talked about extremists, terrorist bombings and sectarian strife. We’re leaving 50,000 troops in Iraq to do the exact same job they’ve been doing for the last three years. I was flabbergasted. I began to feel like Fred Sanford, from Sanford and Son, and I grabbed my chest.

As soon as President Barack Obama ended his speech with what I thought was an overly gracious tip of the hat to President George W. Bush, the Republicans, instead of being grateful, went on the attack. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner were two of the first to step up and criticize the president for not praising the surge and George W. Bush. Did we just enter the Twilight Zone? Did the conservatives say that the surge worked? To review, the surge had six key elements. These elements were unveiled to the American public by President George W. Bush, himself. Two of the six elements were to create space for political progress and diversify political and economic efforts. There has been no political progress over the last three years. None. Elections were held. No government was formed. The Sunnis, Shiites and the Kurdish Iraqis in the north continue to argue like school children. The surge did help decrease the sectarian violence but that was only one part of the plan (one out of six is an F, isn’t it?) Iraqis were supposed to form a functional government. That has not happened. We were supposed to create the space for Iraqis to lead. This simply hasn’t happened.

With Republicans giving each other high fives and congratulating themselves on the surge, I feel uneasy. With President Obama slipping into a George W. Bush-type trance and telling us that combat missions have ended when they really haven’t, I feel uneasy. This may be my whole problem with the Middle East — my feeling of uncertainty. I’m not sure it’s clear who our friends are (with the exception of Israel) and I’m not sure who our enemies are. We are embracing the Iraqi people as our friends but does that include all of the Iraqi people, including the Sunnis? I just feel that nobody has any good answers.

Tags: Afghanistan, Iraq, Newsletter, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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A friend of mine made this video. Please check it out. (Name of the Park corrected.)

After you have watched the video please go to this web site and vote. It was great wasn’t it?

Tags: Environment by ecthompson md
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Today is Labor Day.

All work merits respect. We should treat other working people with respect. How we treat other working people is a mirror of the extent to which we respect ourselves.

( The picture above was taken by Danny Cornelissen for the portpictures.nl website.)

Here is a history of Labor Day from the U.S. Department of Labor.

From that history–

“Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.”

Here is the web home of the AFL-CIO.

Here is an American labor movement history timeline from the AFL-CIO.

Here are a number of women’s labor history links from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It is a very good list.

Here are black labor history links from AFSCME.

The history of labor in the United States is your history. Work is the time and effort of your life. We need the wages and benefits we earn at work to be able to live decent lives.

There is also an International Labor Day.  International Labor Day, or May Day, marks the Haymarket Riot in Chicago in 1886. Please click here to learn more about the Haymarket Riots and the Haymarket Trial.

Respect for working people involves understanding that the goods you buy must be sold for a fair price if the people who make and sell those goods are to receive a fair wage and good benefits. Selling these goods at a fair price also helps your employer stay in business.

Respect for working people does not stop at the American border. Cheap goods we purchase in America are often produced by underpaid and poorly treated workers in other nations.

Labor Day is, for many at least, a time to get a break from work.

It is also a time to reflect upon what it means to be a working person in a nation and a world where the rights of workers—to the extent they exist at all—are under ceaseless strain.

( Photo above by Holger Hubbs.)

Tags: Economy, Living wage by Neil Aquino
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From Baseline Scenario:

Hedge fund managers may be good at investing money. (Or they may just be the beneficiaries of luck, like successful stock mutual fund managers.) But that doesn’t mean they can think clearly.

Andrew Ross Sorkin comments on the letter by fund manager Daniel Loeb, a former Democratic fundraiser, criticizing the supposed anti-business policies of the Obama administration. The letter includes blather like this:

“As every student of American history knows, this country’s core founding principles included nonpunitive taxation, constitutionally guaranteed protections against persecution of the minority and an inexorable right of self-determination.”

Who, in making a list of America’s founding principles, would put “nonpunitive taxation” first? Oh, right. A hedge fund manager.

More seriously, there is this:

“Many people see the collapse of the subprime markets, along with the failure and subsequent rescue of many banks, as failures of capitalism rather than a result of a vile stew of inept management, unaccountable boards of directors and overmatched regulators not just asleep, but comatose, at the proverbial switch.”

This is just sloppy thinking. I’ve written more than most people about “inept management, unaccountable boards of directors, and overmatched regulators.” I’ve criticized the Obama administration in many more words than Daniel Loeb. But putting the blame on certain categories of people does not somehow absolve “capitalism.” Our capitalist system–which until recently we considered the best, most pure version in the world–allowed incompetent people to become executives (and to run hedge funds), allowed incompetent people to become directors and to avoid any responsibility for their actions, and allowed companies to swamp regulators with battalions of high-priced lawyers and lobbyists.

This is a basic category error. Capitalism is an economic system; managers, directors, and regulators are people. They are not mutually exclusive. If you want to say that capitalism necessarily means universally good managers, responsible directors, and effective regulators, then that’s an argument you have to make (and good luck making it).

Just because you make a lot of money doesn’t mean you know what you’re talking about. Unfortunately, in this country if you make a lot of money, a lot of people listen to you.

(Here’s the full letter. Along the way, Loeb says that the current decline in confidence and economic activity is due to the SEC’s lawsuit against Goldman.)

Tags: Business, Economy by ecthompson md
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I have been one to caution students on education. Education is great, but you have to focus more than ever. If you would like to teach 8th graders but you want to get your PhD in education from Harvard, you might want to re-think your plan. Four years of college followed by a Masters and then a PhD at Harvard will cost well over 200,000.  The average teacher salary is about $42,000. It will take forever to pay that off. On the other hand, majoring in education at a good in-state school should cost less than $25,000. Now that can be paid off in a reasonable amount of time. My point is to carefully think through your opinions.

Recent unemployment numbers clearly show that education pays.

From Calculated Risk:

Click on graph for larger image

This graph shows the unemployment rate by four levels of education (all groups are 25 years and older).

Note that the unemployment rate increased sharply for all four categories in 2008 and into 2009.

Unfortunately this data only goes back to 1992 and only includes one previous recession (the stock / tech bust in 2001). Clearly education matters with regards to the unemployment rate – but education didn’t seem to matter as far as the recovery rate in unemployment following the 2001 recession. All four groups recovered slowly.

So far this year, the group with “less than a high school diploma” has recovered a little better than the more educated groups – although the unemployment rate increased for all four groups in August.

Click on Graph for larger image

And here is a graphic from the BLS based on 2009 data: Education pays …

This shows the unemployment rate and the the median weekly earnings by eight levels level of education.

The higher the education, the lower the unemployment rate – and the higher that median weekly earnings. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that “education pays”, because there is also a cost (both the actual cost and the opportunity cost), but in general education probably does pay (besides it is fun to learn).

Tags: Economy, Education by ecthompson md
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Clannad is a Celtic band that I started listening to nearly 20 years ago. (Damn, I’m old.) Enya got her start with Clannad.

Artist: Clannad with Bono (man, his voice is powerful)
Tune: In a Lifetime

Although I like the tune In a Lifetime it isn’t the velvety sound that Clannad is known for. So, I thought that I would include more of their traditional sound. Their sound is light as air with beautiful harmonies.

Artist: Clannad
Tune: Theme from Harry’s Game

Tags: Music by ecthompson md
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• The Department of Justice has gone back to the US District Court to ask for a stay in the court’s injunction preventing embryonic stem cell research.
• Although the mainstream press has tried to paint Glenn Beck as a changed man, I’m not sure that I saw much change. I know that he is not responsible for the actions of every single individual at his rallies but there was plenty of ugliness at his rally. Oh, by the way, was Glenn Beck’s rally much like a 12 step program?
• I’m not sure what it says about your preparation when you freeze during your opening statement. Governor Jan Brewer did just that. The governor has gone to greater and greater lengths to explain why she has to take such a harsh stance against illegal immigration. Back in July she stated that, “our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert, either buried or just lying out there, that have been beheaded.” No news or law enforcement agency is able to verify this shocking claim. Reporters ask her about this discrepancy (below)

• While we are struggling through the worst recession since the Great Depression, it appears that many CEOs, especially those who’ve laid off the most workers, are doing just fine.
• We know that tax cuts for the rich work… this is just intuitive. We don’t need any data. We know this just like we know breathing is good and not breathing is bad. At least that’s what Representative Mike Pence would have us believe.
• House Democrats are saying no to Social Security cuts.
• Federal income taxes on the middle class are at historically low levels. I wonder if McCain were in office if we would hear all of this about tax cuts.
• I know that the Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins in the final preseason game of the yea. I’m not sure that the Dallas Cowboys have given us, the fans, much to look forward to. Our offensive line has been simply awful. As far as I know, it is really hard to pass or run without an effective offensive line. I will not pretend to know what’s wrong. I will only say that, in the simplest of terms, the offensive line is about blocking someone on the defensive line for a couple of seconds. We don’t seem to be able to do this. (By the way, do you have your fantasy football team lined up?)

Tags: Economy, House of Representatives, Sports, Stem Cell by ecthompson md
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In a debate your opening statement should set up a framework. This is what you have done and this is why you should get re-elected. You can use your opening statement to attack your opponent. What you NEVER want to do is stare down at your notes like you don’t know what’s going on. You have had days to prepare your opening statement. There is no excuse for …

Wow. That was something. If you wanted everyone to think that you aren’t prepared and that they shouldn’t trust you, this was perfect.

Tags: Domestic Issues by ecthompson md
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Tags: Other Political Thoughts by Neil Aquino
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Dear Congressional Democrats/Independents:

I’m not sure what it is that you’re focused on but America needs jobs. We need a lot of jobs. The number of people who are unemployed or underemployed is astronomical. Big business has rolled up big profits yet they’re not hiring. Medium-size businesses have also made money but like large corporations, they’re skittish about the future and are not hiring. Tax breaks are not to make corporations all of a sudden have a rosy outlook for the future and begin hiring. We need more.

For some time I’ve been talking about green jobs. I’ve been talking about major investment in solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy and any other sustainable energy. Yet, our investments have been modest.

We need major investments in our infrastructure. We need to rebuild roads, bridges and schools. Maybe investing in a light rail system is exactly the infrastructure project that we need. California, Texas, Florida and the Northeastern corridor desperately need efficient ways to transport large groups of people around their states. This would be a public works project that would put millions of people back to work. I am positive, that each state, already has plans for such a project. Investing in infrastructure be something that cannot be shipped off overseas. It would put Americans to work. This is exactly what we need.

I understand that the American taxpayer is tired of writing checks to everyone but themselves. I also understand that millions are frustrated. In my opinion, the source of the frustration is that most of the American people have not seen benefits to their efforts. After forking out over $750 billion, the stimulus package has reduced the unemployment rate from an astronomical 11.5% to the current 9.5% (new unemployment numbers should be coming out tomorrow). The stimulus package has saved or created over 3 million jobs. This is great but it’s yesterday’s news. We have to do more. You have to do more.

Finally, there seems to be a fixation on Capitol Hill in retaining both houses of Congress in the hands of the Democrats/Independents. Americans are in a Janet Jackson mood, “What If You Done for Me Lately?” If your answer is we almost reformed Wall Street, we bailed out the big banks, we’ve almost pulled out of Iraq and we sort of fix the economy, that’s not good to cut it with the American people. If you want to save your jobs, you’ll put America back to work. The unemployment rate has to be below 7%, in my opinion. Good luck.

Tags: Congress, Economy by ecthompson md
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President Barack Obama told us in prime time that combat missions have ended in Iraq. More than 100,000 troops have been pulled out of Iraq. Then he kind of slipped in that troops still remain in order to train Iraqi forces and help hunt down terrorists. Isn’t hunting down terrorists what we have been doing for last two or three years? Haven’t we been training Iraqi security forces for more than three years? What’s changed?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tags: Iraq by ecthompson md
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