2010 23
Reminder on how Obama was elected
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in General with No Comments
Obama was elected…
“on a platform of universal health care, ending the Iraq war, a massive cap and trade system, 18 billion in new money for education, a revamping of the tax code to make it more progressive, a restoration of our civil liberties and enforcement of our anti-discrimination laws, a doubling of foreign aid, a huge expansion of national service tied to making college more affordable, tightening regulation in the financial markets, an unprecedented set of ethics and transparency rules governing the white house.”
For a while it seemed that the USA was headed nowhere. Now, as Lessig says in this great but long article, there is hope.
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johnwayne on March 24, 2010 ·
So much for Obama ethics and a new style of politics:
Here’s what then-Senator Obama had to say in 2005 about reforms in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program that he and other Democrats opposed:
“The TANF program affects millions of American children and families and deserves a full and fair debate. Under the rules, the reconciliation process does not permit that debate. RECONCILIATION is therefore the WRONG PLACE FOR POLICY CHANGES and the wrong place for the proposed changes to the TANF program. In short, the reconciliation process appears to have lost its proper meaning. A vehicle designed for deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility has been hijacked to facilitate reckless deficits and unsustainable debt.”
Shall we talk about the war in Irak or Gitmo? still going on, right?
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/President-Obama-meet-Senator-Obama-on-reconciliation-86225302.html#ixzz0j3LMm6XO
Eric on March 24, 2010 ·
Unfortunately, Obama has not met a single one of those promises. Guatanamo is not closed; the president has asked for the authority to continue the Bush policy of indefinite detention of terrorist suspects (meaning locking people in prison forever without a trial or due process). We continue to fight two wars, including the clandestine use of drones by the CIA in Pakistan (outside of international law). There is no universal, public health care system, but rather a system similar to car insurance where all citizens are required by law to purchase health care from …. you guessed it, the insurance companies (notice that the insurance company’s stocks have all soared). The Obama Justice Department has consistently argued in court against transparency, especially as it applies to the war on terrorism, torture, and domestic spying. What Obama has done is continue the majority of Bush policies, essentially institutionalizing them. And there will be absolutely no serious change in the regulation of the financial institutions, even after they received billions of free dollars as a reward for destroying the world economy.
I just wish Obama would listen to his campaign speeches instead of Rahm Emmanuel and the lobbies. If he doesn’t, the lesson will be that change is not possible, and that the status quo is just too powerful.
Paul Rodts on March 24, 2010 ·
@ johnwayne
Anyway up till know the USA did spent about 2 times more in percentages on health care compared with the averaged European system for much, much worse results…And still we have free choice of doctors and hospitals in Europe…
A bit of pragmatism would be a blessing for USA, here in Europe we take the best parts out of capitalism and way not, socialism…as long as it works….
@ martin
The Lessig link isn’t working…..
peter on April 3, 2010 ·
When is Obama going to abolish the U.S. ’embargo’ of Cuba? When he will normalize the relations with the island?
Another important topic is the Palestinian-Israel conflict. When is he going to work on it?
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johnwayne on March 24, 2010 ·
Hi Martin,
You are an entreprenuer- Do you realize that the bill entails a greater intervention of the US government in the economy? This bill will result in higher taxes, higher spending, more debt, economoic stagnation, less innovation. This is the end of American dynamism. You are an entreprenuer and should realize that America was the land of entrepreneurs because there was less government intervention and more private intervention. This bill is good bye to the new googles and microsofts and hello to a culture of dependancy like you have in Scoialist Spain.