A prominent businessman, Mort Zuckerman, recently said that Barack Obama’s administration was…”the most hostile administration to business…in decades.” I’ve known this man for quite a few years as a serious and thoughtful person. Why would he say something that is demonstrably false? He must have been trying to ingratiate himself with others in the business community. But, even so, it is a ridiculous statement.
After one of the most disastrous performances by the business community in decades, what did its members expect from the government? A tap on the wrist? A mild “don’t do it again” lecture? Some kind of presidential “you’re doing a heckofa job” compliment?
Extemely highly paid executives on Wall Street, in major investment banks, in peak financial circles did stupid and vastly greedy things. They did so under circumstances of relaxed government regulation. They weren’t interested in their shareholders and certainly not the health of the national economy. They were only [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Government and public policies | |
Before bombing Iran, as many now seem to want to do, here are some questions that require answers and considerable public debate:
1. Bombing a sovereign nation is a de facto declaration of war. Our Constitution requires the Congress, not the President, to declare war. Simply because we have launched a number of wars without a Congressional declaration does not mean the Constitutional requirement has been suspended;
2. Such an attack will have economic consequences for us. The Iranians most likely would blockade the Strait of Hormuz, thus reducing the shipment of Persian Gulf oil–almost one-quarter of our imports–and dramatically increasing world oil prices. This would have a powerfully negative affect on our already fragile economy;
3. Such an attack would place great stress on our military. We cannot continue the Afghan war, prop up the neighboring Iraqi government, and create a third battlefield in the Middle East. It is folly to assume that [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Government and public policies, National and international security | |
Congressional deadlock, created by lock-step partisanship and an unprecedentedly rigid opposition party, has been extensively analyzed, with no apparent resolution. In the midst of wide-spread citizen economic misery, many Americans have simply concluded that this is the way things are…and apparently always will be. In Kurt Vonnegut’s memorable phrase: “…and so it goes.”
But this isn’t the way it has to be. There is a better way to govern and that better way characterizes much, if not most, of American history. It certainly characterized the Senate of the 1970s when Democrats and Republicans found common ground, called the national interest, and held themselves accountable for achieving it. This better time was brought to mind this week when I had a unique opportunity to remember those times.
Esquire magazine convened a commission of two Republicans, Jack Danforth (Missouri) and Bob Packwood (Oregon), and two Democrats, Bill Bradley (New Jersey) and this writer. [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Books and ideas, Government and public policies | |
Among the many things I know little about, one big one is accounting. But I do know there is a difference between expensing and amortizing a purchase or investment. There is also the question of balancing assets against liabilities.
Now that the budget hawks have reappeared, it is instructive to consider both. Take for example two big and venerable weapons systems: B-52 bombers and Nimitz class aircraft carriers. Both have two things in common: they cost a lot of money; and they last a long time. By comparison, the B-52s are much less expensive than their replacements, the B-1 and the B-2. But in their day they were considered expensive. And the CVNs (Nimitz class carriers), with a full complement of aircraft on board, are up around $10 billion or more.
From a budgeting standpoint, though, we “expense” both plane and ship, meaning we allocate their costs to the years in [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Government and public policies | |
Paraphrasing Tolstoy: all happy empires are alike; every unhappy empire is unhappy in its own way. Without entering the rhetorical jungle of whether the United States has been exhibiting imperial tendencies in the early 21st century, it does share some unhappy symptoms with previous empires.
It is always a cause for wonderment that those most eager to go to war spend so little time thinking about its long term consequences, especially in human lives. This commentator has carried on a running word-fight with the media over the definition of “casualty”, usually used to indicate those killed in combat but intended to be used to include those wounded in combat as well. Total U.S. casualties in Iraq, for example, are approaching 40,000.
But now the long term payback for that war, and Afghanistan, is coming due. In recent days Defense Department studies reveal the number of suicides, drug abuse cases, and psychological [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Government and public policies, National and international security, The changing nature of conflict | |
As the world changes dramatically, so does the nature of conflict and methods for achieving security. Even as nations increasingly find the costs of war unacceptable, stateless nations, such as al Qaeda, have found unconventional conflict attractive and insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown the limitations of our Cold War large-scale force structures and weapons systems.
Chechyan separatists, Somali pirates, Mexican drug cartels, Pakistani Taliban, Turkish Kurds, Tibetan nationalists, and many others join al Qaeda (though not always as viciously) in representing the conflict of the new 21st century.
But they all have one thing in common: they are not afraid of nuclear aircraft carrier task groups, B-2 bomber wings, or big infantry divisions. Despite our massive military superiority (at least in traditional terms), this fact–plus the rejection of stupendous reward offers–illustrates why Osama bin Laden is still alive almost a full decade after 9.11.
From these circumstances, certain conclusions may [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Government and public policies, National and international security, The changing nature of conflict | |
We Americans may be entering (or have already entered) a period of national re-evalution. It was fashionable a few years back for “values” to be a political buzzword, meaning if you believed in “values” (undefined) you voted in a certain way. But now, we may actually be forced to define what our true values are.
In the past three decades or more we have all become consumers. Bigger houses, bigger cars, more things. At the same time we were producing less, importing more, and basing our economy on manipulating money to make money. The results were predictable. Huge trade deficits. Selling US bonds to finance the deficits and to buy more things.
It’s pretty obvious we can’t keep doing this forever. This pattern has brought us to the mess we are in today. The question is whether we’ll find a way to pick up where consumption, money manipulation, and unproductivity left [...] Continue Reading…
Posted in Uncategorized | |
Though the blogosphere is a wonder, care must be taken by those who venture into it on at least two counts: over-opinionation that becomes strident and dogmatic; and the temptation toward moral superiority. Both seem rampant in today’s public world.
Now, having issued these caveats and cautions, as much to this blogger as anyone, let me suggest a growing impression. Even as we Americans battle against each other in ever harsher terms, there is a dimension to public matters that seems missing. That is the ethical, and even moral, dimension to the serious problems we now face. Previous entries here have stressed, for example, the moral dimension of climate alteration to the degree it degrades our public heritage to future generations, the “posterity” for whom our Republic was formed by our Constitution.
In addition to climate other similar challenges arise. These include: concern for mounting public deficits and debts; unnecessary energy [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: blogging, civil discourse, ethics, moral issues, public debate, public opinion
Posted in Books and ideas | |
Many Americans are out of work. Many too many. Who’s fault is that? If you believe in so-called market economics, that’s just too damn bad. It’s the way things work. We shouldn’t mention that “things” in this case are decisions made by human beings, normally those with the money or who control the money, and those decisions are too often stupid. And by the way, others of this persuasion say or think, you can always find a job and if you don’t you are lazy.
Others, take Niccolo Machiavelli for example, thought Fortune to be a woman and a not very kind woman at that. Fortune favored some and disfavored others. Little you could do about it either way. We call it luck. Some are lucky. Some are not.
There is a third point of view. It says most people want to work. They are eager, if not desperate, to have [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: America, brave, economics, recession, war
Posted in Government and public policies | |
Suppose a family is in debt, as many American families are. Suppose most of the family’s spending is necessary: mortgage payments, health insurance, gasoline, food, home repairs, and so forth. Suppose the family sits down with pen and paper and works out that it will still be in debt even if all other spending, call it discretionary (as opposed to necessary), is eliminated. Either something necessary must be cut or everyone has to get a second (or third) job. Problem is, jobs are not available.
There is a lack of integrity in the national budgeting process. Neither party will say specifically what it thinks should be cut to balance the national budget. Some, particularly Democrats, will argue that public spending is necessary to prime the pump, to employ the unemployed so that they in turn can spend money and stimulate both economic expansion and revenues (taxes).
By and large Republicans like tax cuts for [...] Continue Reading…
Tags: balanced budget, democrats, federal budget deficit, recession, republicans
Posted in Government and public policies | |
