In an article from Clive Crook at the Financial Times (moderately liberal financial newspaper from London) he points out some issues with the Obama administration.
Before you get incensed about Obama bashing…look at the arguments before posting the obligatory comments. An excerpt follows. The link is at the bottom.
I encourage you to read the article and become more informed with the Cap and Trade bill that was modified at 3:00 am, and voted on 12 hours later by the House. There is no way that anyone really understands what is in the 1,000 pages.
I’m thinking that buying Gold (and a Swiss banking account) may be the way to go. Looking for an island, cheap! And maybe a supply of Prozac/Wellbutrin/Valium…Yikes!
America is terrified of the passage of time. Prozac Nation. Land of Face Lifts
Obama is choosing to be weak
By Clive Crook
Published: June 28 2009 19:09 | Last updated: June 28 2009 19:09
“As he promised last year, Barack Obama has brought climate change and healthcare reform to the centre of the nation’s attention. As well as evangelising, he is pressing Congress to act. Last week the House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill to curb carbon emissions, a measure that, if enacted, would touch every part of the US economy. Both House and Senate have drafted far-reaching healthcare bills, with stunning price tags.
“The cap-and-trade bill is a travesty. Its net effect on short- to medium-term carbon emissions will be small to none. This is by design: a law that really made a difference would make energy dearer, hurt consumers and force an economic restructuring that would be painful for many industries and their workers. Congress cannot contemplate those effects. So the Waxman-Markey bill, while going through the complex motions of creating a carbon abatement regime, takes care to neutralise itself.
“The greatest waste of talent in all this, however, is that of Mr Obama himself. Congress offers change without change – a green economy built on cheap coal and petrol; a healthcare transformation that asks nobody to pay more taxes or behave any differently – because that is what voters want. Is it too much to ask that Mr Obama should tell voters the truth? I think he could do it. He has everything it takes to be a strong president. He is choosing to be a weak one. “
QN: Highlighting is mine
If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln
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Obama does seem to be treading a bit lightly... in his push to appear bi-partisan, he's letting Congress make a mess of everything. ick.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone ever asked WHY it takes 1000 pages to write a bill??
I prefer simple solutions... where 10 pages would be considered "too long".
We also need to get back to one bill = one issue. (I would guess up to 998 pages of this bill are irrelevant pork.) Or give the presidident the line-item veto (which may not be a good thing, depending on how that would be implemented).