On the Contrary

The Driveway and My Trusty Friend Sophie On our Way to Get the Newspaper

It is my birthday today so I am giving myself a present by allowing myself to rant illogically much like the Republicans in California and in our Congress seem to do every day.  Usually, although unbeknownst by many readers, I try to be reasonable in my writing, but today I cast caution to the wind.  So here are my favorite hot button issues:

• A 2/3 majority for anything (60 votes in the case of the filibuster) except Constitutional amendments is patently stupid and puts the minority wing-nuts in the drivers seat.  It means change only happens when it is too late.
• Chris Mathews  (who drives me crazy because he can’t let a guest finish an answer) spouted a conventional wisdom the other day that may be totally wrong.  He said that if the stimulus package works the Democrats win and if it fails, the Republicans win and will be back in 2010.  For him it is black and white, but I don’t think so.  If the economy has not recovered in 2010 there is a third possibility:  The voters will know that the Democrats are trying something new and they have been hamstrung every step of the way by the Republicans trying to reinvent the wonderful Bush years.  They will finally give the Democrats the majorities to get something done.
• It amazes me that the ditto heads on the cable news outlets continue to echo the Republican talking points instead of bringing in real economists to have a debate about our policy direction.  Only MSNBC seems to have recognized the absolute hypocrisy of many of the Republican statements and is starting to point them out.  It might just be healthy for the country if the news media gave up on their attempt to be unbiased by allowing ridiculous statements to stand and just started laughing at them as David Schuster did the other day.  Perspective is the heart of finding truth.
• Eric Holder is going to visit Guantanamo to get a first hand view of the conditions down there.  Raise your hand if you think he is going to get the real story.  Back in my Viet Nam days I remember the dog and pony shows that were prepared for visiting dignitaries so they would cause us as little trouble as possible.  I guess he has to say he has been there, but anybody think a planned visit and briefing by those who have an agenda to keep it open is going to get at the truth is smoking weed.
• This one I am really going to get in trouble for.  Most of you have probably read about the Muslim man who beheaded his wife in their TV studio in Orchard Park, New York, after she had presented him with divorce papers.  This is doubly ironic because they had established their TV station so show how modern Islam could be and many think this was an honor killing (by the way this is what Pakistan legitimized when it allowed the Sharia Law to be implemented in Swat Valley).  But I can’t help thinking that this reflects on all men in more primitive societies (read religions here because women are usually subservient to men) and sometimes (actually a lot) reflects on them in our own modern society.  That is that many men are really very insecure little people with big egos.  In this world women must be owned because we don’t have the courage to let them make their own choices.  Women are hated because they can reject you and hurt you deeply, therefore must be controlled at all times.   I guess being loved or not loved for who you are is just too risky a proposition for many.
• Forget bipartisanship when the other side just has it wrong.  It is truly amazing that after eight years of failed policies (deregulate and cut taxes) we even consider these arguments anymore.  President Obama has it right.  Learn to be polite, conciliatory, and tough.  Don’t let the attempt to compromise with failed ideas obstruct the path forward, but don’t ever loose your civility.
• Does anybody recognize what is happening in this country?  We have a President who can think and talk and is out there trying to find solutions to our problems.  After eight years of mental constipation enabled by the Republicans in the Senate (who define the word mental constipation), we actually have a President who is trying to do something besides waiting for the invisible hand of the market place to solve all our woes.
• Did you ever notice that public employees are usually the first to suffer in a budget crisis?  Those much-maligned public servants are the first to subsidize budget shortfalls by furloughs and lay offs.  If public workers are asked to give up 10% of their pay to solve a budget crisis, isn’t it fair to ask private citizens to join the fray with a 10% tax increase?  Aren’t we all in this together?
• Local control of curriculums in our schools is stupid and has led to the dumbing down of our kids by religious zealots.  We need a national curriculum and national standards.  When religious dogma conflicts with scientific findings we need to understand they are not the same.  One is based on rational thought, checking and testing, and open debate through a formal process, the other is magic based upon beliefs that do not stand the test of examination and inquiry.
• Finally get over it.  The bankruptcy courts should be able to adjust mortgage rates.  Sometimes the good of the country is more important than the good of investors.
• One last thought.  Some of you may have seen my pictures of the beautiful place where I live.  But there are a few drawbacks.  For the last week it has been snowing continuously and if I want to stay connected to the world, every 30 minutes or so I have to go out and spray off my internet and television dishes with the hose, not to mention plowing the drive way (1/4 mile long) every six hours or so to stay ahead of the snow.  San Diego is starting to look really attractive.  Andy, you will let me bunk with you won’t you and you have room for my surf board?  I can party hardy until at least 8:30 PM or so.

Okay I feel better. Tomorrow I will try to be more rational.  Or maybe I will just take the day off.  I plan to spend the day in San Francisco and go out to dinner.  As my good friend Mike Ward, who is fighting cancer, likes to say, it is a good day to be alive.  Yes it is.

President Obama promised to be out of Iraq in 16 months and he said we probably need to shift our emphasis to Afghanistan.  In the interim he is listening to the generals and today redirected about 12,000 troops headed for Iraq to Afghanistan.  On the question of Iraq, Tom Ricks, author of The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, wrote in Sunday’s Washington Post that his view is that the war isn’t anywhere near over, the civil war is still waiting to happen, and we will probably need to stay there another six or seven years.  “The war in Iraq isn’t over. The main events may not even have happened yet.”  It was an honest assessment without the political baggage. Washington Post

In Afghanistan, recent studies have found the government totally corrupt, nation building failed, the violence rising, with some Afghans saying the Russians were better occupiers than we were, some, like women’s groups begging us to stay, and others wishing we would just go away.  Needless to say that the rising Taliban influence deep in the heart of Kabul accentuates the need for more troops to quell the situation.  Many have wondered if Afghanistan will be President Obama’s Viet Nam and are we setting ourselves up to be bogged down their for many years to come?

So we have two very different countries and one has to ask not only what we should do, but what can we afford to do.  I am somewhat concerned if President Obama is listening too much to the generals.  They are good Americans, but sometimes the short term situation becomes their focus over the long term outcome.  So that raises the obvious question, just what is possible in those two countries and are those outcomes worth spending the small national treasury we have left.

My starting point for evaluating what should be done is some sage advise given by Edwin O. Reischauer, I think in his book, Beyond Vietnam: The United States and Asia, which I was reading on a flight to Thailand and the Vietnam War.  His advice on foreign wars is to never get involved in a country’s internal affairs/wars and help them militarily unless they could win the war without us.  I think this applies today.  In Iraq who are we fighting?  Mostly Iraqis.  So if the government can’t stand on its own, why not?  Is the civil war inevitable and if so what are we doing there?  Many analysts actually think that the real threat is Iran and once we are out of the area, the thorn in all Muslim’s sides just might be removed.  So exactly what are we doing in Iraq?  I think that the answer here is set the date certain and 16 months seems reasonable and then they are on their own.  If in that time they cannot internally generate enough common ground to prevent a war, so be it.  We can’t go on being their policeman forever and they have to shoulder their own destiny.  If it gets messy we will work with the region to resolve it.

We have been in Afghanistan for almost eight years.  Before us, with much larger forces were the Russians.  So what are we thinking?  Do we think a basically tribal society is going to ever come together as a unified nation?  Again we are fighting the Taliban, who by definition are Afghans.  Why, if the Taliban is so bad, can’t the Afghans build a force sufficient to provide their own security?  What the hell has gone on for the last eight years?  Well there are complex answers to all these questions, but as in the Iraqi case, sooner or later, it is their destiny to work out.  The critical question for President Obama is how much longer do we want to prop up a failed government before we force the Afghans, like the Iraqis, to sort out their own problems.  My guess would be two years at the most.  But for now I don’t see any plan except to commit more troops, but what is the end game?  In my mind the term from economics keeps popping up — moral hazard.  In both Iraq and Afghanistan, if they think we are going to save them, they will leave the heavy lifting to us.

It is time to quit kicking the can down the road on these two failed beachheads of democracy.  We have invested much time, effort, cash, and blood, and we have nothing to show for it.  Give each an endpoint, provide them with as much support and help as possible, but when it’s over, its over.  We have other priorities.  Its radical, its tough, and we have never tried it except in Viet Nam and it took time, but is working.  Maybe it is about time we do the same in the Middle East.  Otherwise we are going to be there forever.

I have met a few amazing women in my short life and I have known of many more.  I have been the father of two daughters and all I wanted for them was that they could pursue their dreams.  Pakistan just made a deal with the Taliban to allow Shariah law in the Northern Territories.  They have condemned many women to living hell and certainly they have deprived the world of some great minds.

Pakistan in their attempt to reduce tensions and violence with the Taliban made a deal that would allow the Shariah law to exist in those regions.  The Taliban believe that women should not be educated, be kept at home, and fully covered.  It is a life of enslavement, darkness, while living under a blanket and owned by men.  Their excuse is that they could not establish proper law and order there and this will keep the peace.

It is a deal made with the devil.  Would we tolerate a society (in the South but then again could be in Idaho) that tolerates slavery?  It is against everything we stand for.  Once again some short-term goal of less terrorism will be their eventual downfall.  The last time Pakistan made a deal with these guys, they rearmed and expanded their power.

I guess some misguided soul will argue that we should not judge other societies or other religions.  I would say that to make that argument rejects our common humanity.  Our own Declaration of Independence sets the standard for all mankind and that is that were are all create equal with certain inalienable rights.  In the Shariah it is clear that we are not all equal and that tells you all you need to know about that belief system.  To accept that some people are less equal than others opens the door to every kind of atrocity there is.  And in this case it is the kidnapping of women and girls and the robbery of their minds.

So how should we react to this deal with the devil?  We should soundly reject it.  It violates the very principles that we live by.  Pakistan needs to decide who they are.  Are they a country in the 21st century or are they a 5th century country wearing coats and ties like the Iranians, and the Saudis?  Pakistan needs to understand that you can’t sell the dignity and freedom of their women for a temporary truce with the truly radical religious Muslims.  Sadly I see no real outcry in the media.  To me this a tragedy of profound proportions and shows the depth of the bankruptcy of our own values.

Of course we have our own religious zealots who steal minds.  Those would the majority of Americans who don’t believe in evolution.  I wonder what they do when they pick up a paper to read about new findings by archeologists like the giant snake or a 300 million year old brain.  Do they ever look up into the sky and marvel at infinity and time that goes on forever?  Their belief system does not allow them to accept these facts or the wonder and logic of nature.  But that whole discussion is for another day.  Even they might understand that treating women as property is wrong.  At least some of them would.

I have been watching the Republicans complain about the stimulus bill and it became clear that they are loosing their grip on reality, if they ever had it.  My favorite is John Boehner giving a speech in the House claiming this was not a stimulus bill to create jobs, but a spending bill. “A bill that was supposed to be about jobs, jobs, jobs has turned into a bill about spending, spending, spending.”   Uh, Mr. Boehner?  Just what do you think a stimulus bill is?  It is spending to put money into the system to stimulate jobs.  What would your jobs bill look like and why didn’t you propose it?  Would that be your tax cut bill?  Is not tax cuts spending since you are reducing your revenues to put money in people’s pockets?  Oh but it gets better.

One the floor during the debate the Republicans were making some pretty wild claims.  Apparently they are getting their stuff from the right wing blogosphere and not doing any fact checking.  That is the most disturbing part of this episode because it is now apparent that many in Congress believe their own propaganda and cannot separate out wild accusations from real facts.  Maybe all we have left in Congress of the Republican party are the right wing fruitcakes and conspiracy theory wing nuts.  Here are a few examples:

• They made the claim that there were millions in the bill for a mouse protection program in the bay area (a Pelosi earmark).  There was money for wetland restoration, but not in her district.  By the way, wetland restoration is spending that employs people and improves our environment, but that would be wasteful spending in a Republican’s mind.
• There was a provision they claimed in the medical stimulus that would let the government dictate what medical procedures could be used.  Actually it simply was money to provide doctors with data on how effective different treatments were so they could make a rational choice, but with these guys, the black helicopters are just behind the next ridge.
• Food stamps and unemployment payments are not stimulus.  Oh really?  Both are money that is immediately spent in the economy.  It keeps people from living on the street and provides the income so necessary to other businesses to stay in business.  John McCain’s own economic advisor for his campaign estimated that for every dollar spent you get $1.6 dollars of impact on the economy.  You guys want it to be more stimulative then double the amount.
• The bill is full of pork.  I think that means anything that isn’t a tax cut.  Was spending on a high-speed rail pork?  Of course they think so.  But doesn’t it improve our transportation infrastructure while providing good jobs?  I think their point is that once again unless the money benefits corporations directly through tax cuts, it is pork. Note that once again most economist say that for every $1 tax cut, the effect on the economy is a paltry $0.80.  Wow, that is stimulus.  From their point of view, giving people good health insurance is pork if the government is involved.
• Government spending is not stimulus.  I love this one.  It is like the whole 1930’s didn’t exist.  Does anybody ask these guys who is going to spend if the private sector is shrinking and government shrinks also?  Did anybody ask them why most businesses, most of their own Republican governors, and the Chamber of Commerce supported this bill?  They have truly lost their marbles and are becoming ideological flacks.  Welcome to the California legislature.

What should really worry you is that recent studies of the debate showed that the guests on most cable and network media news shows were 2 to 1 Republican as they hammered their talking points (Media Matters).  Even more troubling when looking at all the guests the media invited to talk about the plan, only 5% were economists.  Talk about failing to do your job of informing the people (Huffington Post).

But the part I liked best was the claims by John McCain and John Boehner.  McCain, still not remembering he lost the election because most Americans figured out he did not have a clue about what to do about the economy other than cut taxes, claimed that this bill is stealing from our children.  Oh really?  You Republicans did not blink an eye to approve the same money for Iraq and then you proposed a tax cut that if enacted would increase the deficit by more than $3 trillion.  I guess if it is big enough it is not stealing from our kids any more.

Then John Boehner claimed that this was so partisan that they weren’t even given time to read the final bill, all 1100 pages.  Let’s see, you have been debating it for several weeks so does that mean you did not read it then?  The final bill was a markup with your Republican colleagues approval from the Senate, so couldn’t you have reviewed the markup?  Oh, and I forgot, none of you guys voted for it last time so we want to give you extra time to make up more fantasies about this one?

The amazing thing is that even with all this misinformation and misdirection the stimulus package is still popular out here where real people live and are losing their dreams.  Maybe the echo chamber of the Washington news media and Republican false talking points are finally losing out to reality.  I can only hope.

Vine: This is just a short note to tell you that Vine/Wine Friday will soon return, but as evidenced by the photo taken this morning, it is way too early to prune.  I have done a few minor chores in the vineyard when the whether was a little nicer, spraying out the rows (2’ wide strip directly under the vines) and some gopher patrol.  But the season really kicks off with pruning and that is still about a month and half away when the buds just start to break.  So until the weather starts too look like spring, I will continue my political ranting.

Wine: I have so many good wines that I have forgotten some of them.  Next week (my birthday) we will be spending it in San Francisco and I will give you a blow by blow of the wine and food experience. I am going to try to get into SPQR, but they don’t take reservations.

I did want to comment on the reported lower grape production throughout California last year.  To make a long story short, production across the state was down about 6% total and about 10% for reds.  That is exactly what I found in my own vineyard.  There are heated arguments about the cause including that being a second year of draught and cooler spring temperatures.  I do know this:  The quality was outstanding.  Everyone I talked to up here in El Dorado agreed.  I have not been out to the other vineyards in the rest of the state, but it is on my agenda.  Somebody has to do it.  Carpe  Diem.

If you take an honest look at the stimulus package, one has to say that the Democrats really did try to compromise to get a bill.  So where were the Republicans?  Out beating the drum of partisanship.  Lindsey Graham and John McCain were the major players in claiming the lack of cooperation from the Democrats.  Oh really?  They could have been in the room with Specter, Collins, and Snow trying to craft a deal.  They choose not to and instead lead a charge for an alternate bill for 100% tax cuts.  This is their definition of bipartisanship? I think that a critical element of working together is to assume that maybe you don’t have the one true fix on our problems.  Even with their failures in the last eight years, they are still not ready to question their conservative economic faith.

So what are the lessons for President Obama and the Democrats?  Was President Obama wrong in trying to change the tone?  I don’t believe so.  I think the major problem came from some false assumptions about the Republicans learning anything from the last election.  I can only assume this because they have offered an alternative bill that is 100% tax cuts.  That says to me that something is making them reject not only the lessons of the last eight years, but the economic guidance and combined wisdom gained over the last 100 years.  What one sees as we watch the debate in the House over the bill is an ideological purity check from the Republicans with no real plan to deal with a problem that recognizes that the private sector can no longer generate the demand necessary to restart our economy.  Apparently they don’t accept this.  I am afraid it will take the total shutdown of our economy before they see the light if even then.  They will find some way to blame Bill Clinton for the failure of their ideas.

I think there are two important lessons here.  The Republicans are never going to negotiate in good faith until they have suffered a humiliating defeat that finally makes them realize that they must compromise to survive.  They are being emboldened right now by the failure of the Democrats to stand firm and instead, in good faith, tried to accommodate them.  The fight right now is about ideology, and the Republicans still think they can resurrect their failed ideas.  If they are successful, America is in real trouble.

The second lesson is that what Republicans really are fighting is spending on things they don’t think government should be involved in.  What they called pork in many cases was simply spending by the government and our media simply repeated the pork claim until President Obama pointed out the obvious stimulative effect.  It is really once again a clash of ideology in what is the appropriate role of government.  This is really another part of the taxes only argument.  That is, they see government as the problem that only the private sector can solve.  Most of us thought that the failure of the Bush administration to invest in government and made it incompetent had taught us the lesson that this approach doesn’t work.  The Republicans think their only sin was to loose their way while allowing deficit spending.  They simply are not now, or as near as I can tell, ever going to do an honest re-examination of the proper role of government in our society.  Note that there is this great hypocrisy in this belief when it comes to government involvement in our security.

So what do I recommend for President Obama.  Take a page from the Republicans.  Talk in conciliatory and nice tones and play hardball like it has never been played before.  It is clear from both the Gregg withdrawal and the zero votes in the House for the final bill, that there is nothing to gain by trying to bring them along.  They are going to play very partisan politics as they did in the stimulus bill debate.  In fact there is everything to lose if the compromises make the Democrats and their agenda less effective.  In this time of crisis we cannot afford half measures.  So try to accommodate where it makes sense, invite them to the table, but slam them down every time they propose more failed policies.

It is time for a new direction and Democrats must bring the first team to this argument and take control of the debate.  In the last several weeks, the debate was taken over by the Republicans who made everything sound like wasteful spending.  Where was the first team reacting to these obvious misrepresentations?  Learn to understand the media and how it reacts to these simplified arguments and take them on directly.  When they parrot the talking points of the Republicans, ask them if they have done their homework or talked to a respected economist?  Do not be afraid to challenge journalists if they have not done any independent research on an issue and are simply the echo chamber of the right.

I think the public is waiting to be led in a new direction.  The question is are the Democrats going to step to the plate or are they going to let Republicans once again fill the airways unchallenged with their failed policies?  I hope so because if not, we are in for a long and painful depression.

As noted in my last post, I have found the media discussion on tax cuts versus stimulative spending  troubling.  This discussion in the media has been dominated by either political operatives or talking heads from their business shows who are really political operatives for the Republican Party.  Nowhere have I seen a truly intellectual look at which would work better.  But this ought to tell you something:  Tax cuts proposed by the Republicans is a one fix solution that promises to fix everything and you ought to be suspect.  It requires no sacrifice from our citizens and seems to solve every problem except the deficit, which just makes tax increases later a sure thing.  Actually Republicans have a fix for this in their belief in supply side economics, but a look at the growth of the deficit over the last 30 years will tell you all you need to know about how well this works.  Of course tax cuts  really don’t solve many of the problems facing us as the Republicans claim.  It can be effective, but it depends upon the economic environment it is deployed in.  This has been totally missing from this push to focus on tax cuts.

I noted in my last post that Jeffery Sachs, an economist at Columbia University doesn’t think they are very simulative and did not work last time.  Now comes an argument by  the New York Fed’s Gauti Eggertsson which argues that the risk of deflation should tilt the balance to government spending.  A discussion of his ideas are explained by Justin Wolfers in the New York Times Opinion blog Freakanomics.  Basically with the interest rate at almost 0%, tax cuts could actually cause interest rates to rise, further deepening the recession.  The big problem is that tax cuts have never been tried when the interest rates have been so low so nobody really knows.  My thought here is why find out?  Go with the spending and not take the chance.

What really tells me that tax cuts won’t work is simply the fact that there is no free ride out of this debt bubble we have created.  The other thing is that it is being pushed by Republicans who have no intellectual basis for their belief other than it is their only answer.  Keep reminding yourself that the guys who are promising you a free ride are the ones who have profited from the nation’s demise.

There is one other obvious fact that ought to give each and ever one of you pause.  All those stock brokers, bankers, and Masters of the Universe you are learning to love to hate are not card carrying Democrats.  Maybe it is time to let the Democrats try something different.

I was out in the garage lifting weights and listening to CNN and what masquerades as news when Wolfe Blitzer announced that we would have a special report on whether tax cuts were effective stimulus.  I was excited.  Finally a rational discussion about this important topic.  What did we get?  The political reporter.  You can guess from this alone that this would be worthless.  I guess it was too hard to talk to economists.  Basically she said some (she didn’t say who except political flacks) say yes and some say no.  And this passes for news or information?  I almost hurt myself throwing my curl bar across the garage.  I will repair the hole in the sheet rock tomorrow.

Dr. Jeffery Sachs of Columbia University, and a respected economist, was on Rachel Maddow this evening and he pointed out that tax cuts are very ineffective in this kind of economy as the money is likely to be saved and these tax cuts were driven by our moderate Republicans in lieu of real stimulus spending.  He also noted that this package was way too small, but was reasonably sized if we don’t want to spend 10 years digging our way out of a deficit hole.  But then he noted that the spending needed to be focused on real stimulus and the “gang of three” had greatly reduce its effectiveness.  I stand by my earlier blog.

It would be really interesting if some of these political hacks who are spouting tax cut for everything would actually have to face grilling by a  panel of economists.  But then the truth would be out and where would the fun be in that Wolfe?  It is much more fun to continue the misinformation while the country burns.

There have been dire warnings that the worst thing you can do with a stimulus package is to be too timid.  They have come from both sides of the political spectrum.  Any historian/economist will tell you that both the Japanese lost decade and the Depression suffered from relapses or failed recoveries because the stimulus was too small.  The warning is to err on the side of stimulus.  The fear card played by the Republicans to limit the deficit they have already made almost intolerable, will be small potatoes if we really do slip into a lost decade.  So what did we get from compromise, bipartisanship, and fiscal responsibility?  The answer is a watered down bill very likely to fail.  Actually it played right into the Republican’s hands.

We have the great majority of Republicans wanting to do nothing or just rely on tax cuts.  If you don’t care about the country, this would have been a great way to go to finally prove the bankruptcy of these ideas.  But with a stimulus bill that has been emasculated (sorry Alice), they have set the Democrats up to fail and then claim they were right, and for the gullible (swing voters/red staters), the Republicans will get their votes in the next election.  The only up side to this is that the final crash will be later when they finally can put all their failed ideas back in play and then it will be patently obvious this stuff is nonsense.  Of course this outcome means we all suffer in the meantime and for a long time.

Who was in the driver’s seat on this bill?  Three “moderate” Republicans or the gang of three.  In other words after an election the Democrats won handily, we are still at the mercy of Republican ideology and it will be the death of us.  They cut out aid to states that would directly save jobs, health care to the poor, and aid to education.  What the hell were they thinking?  This is our future and they want to give people a tax cut so they can buy Ipods and other imported goods?  Actually they also included the $70B cost of eliminating the alternate minimum tax which is really a $70B cut on stimulus because Congress would have approved this in another bill.  I think most people have yet to understand that we are at the edge of a great depression and they are not ready to really do this right.

When I listen to the pundits and other various fools, what I hear is that bipartisanship is good and so is compromise. So maybe this bill is just right.  No, it isn’t if one side is patently wrong and that has been demonstrated over the last eight (40?) years.  Incorporating failed ideas into your plan for the sake of compromise is shirking your responsibility to the American people.  We are standing at the edge of the precipice and so we should sorta-kinda not lean too far out?  We should be withdrawing from the edge with all available speed.  We progressives have been led by people who are too timid and are afraid to lead.  And their fear will be used against us by the Republicans.  It has been the Achilles’ heel of the Democrats for the last eight years and it will be their downfall if they don’t grow a spine and draw a line in the sand.

This bill is a compromise to nowhere and things will get worse.  It will only muddy the argument of what is the right policy.  Sure it will save some jobs and do some good, but in the end it is not big enough or bold enough to move our economy in the right direction and it will continue its decline.  If I were in charge, I would have crafted the bill that I thought would be best structured to save our economy (loose the majority of the tax cuts and increase infrastructure spending) and then I would have jammed it down their throats.  If we are stymied in the Senate by the filibuster so be it.  The right way or no way, but not the wrong way.  There is just too much in the balance to not go full bore.  It is time to call the Republican’s bluff.  Let them be held responsible for the destruction of the country.  The longer you wait to finally draw the line in the sand, the harder it is going to be and the worse our situation will be.  By the way Harry Reid is no leader.  It is obvious that he tried to steamroll the House Democrats.  I hope the Democrats in the House vote it down.

Stay tuned because this bill was too small and timid, and within six months there will be a new stimulus package because the first one wasn’t enough.  The costs will be greater because we didn’t do it right the first time and it will take a bigger jolt.  Trouble is, because the Democrats lacked the courage to challenge the Republicans this time, they will be emboldened to throw up more road blocks.  Baby steps to nowhere are a journey to oblivion.

There was a breath of fresh air in the attitude toward government workers when Barack Obama was elected President.  This attitude that government service is for flunkies and the indolent  got its start in the Reagan era (Government is the problem) and has been a mainstay of the Republican philosophy ever since.  Monday, Michelle Obama went to the Interior Department to thank many of its employees for their service.  She noted that some of the people on the stage with her had started work for the Interior Department before she was born.  It is the beginning of the recognition that government service by competent civil servants is critical to our way forward.  These are not some losers who couldn’t make it in the private sector, but people dedicated to public service whose motives are not primarily financial.

This conservative attitude toward government and government workers is at the heart of many of our failures today.  In many ways the Katrina fiasco and the financial collapse we are suffering today are the direct result of the actions of the conservatives toward government.  They have underfunded government for its assigned tasks making it basically ineffective; put political operatives into government positions to facilitate ideological and business goals at the expense of the general public; and have privatized the moral mission of government.

Let’s take each one of those actions.  First they underfunded the government for its mission.  The conservatives have railed against illegal immigration, but until recently would not fund Homeland Security for the task.  The same can be said for the FDA, FAA, No Child Left Behind, FEMA, Energy Department, I could go on forever.  The point here is not fiscal responsibility, but the Republicans basic belief that government is a hindrance to business and under funding it is a way to make it ineffective.  They have succeeded and we see problems in our country across the board from food inspection, import inspection to drug approval and broken down and ancient air traffic control equipment.  If things are important to do, they are important to do right which requires the appropriate resources both in people and money.

On the second issue of putting political operatives in government positions to facilitate ideological goals and business interests we saw what happened when political operatives in EPA and NOAA tried to stifle scientific findings about global warming and the impact of carbon emissions on our environment.  We saw in the Justice Department how political operatives misused the department to go after Democratic candidates and set up an ideological test for hiring.  We saw how the FDA and other oversight organizations were so tight with industry as to be guided by what that industry wanted instead of considering the public good first.  You cannot forget President Cheney’s energy task force made up entirely of business executives that threw out environmentalists to come up with an energy policy that met the industries requirements but left us even more dependent on oil.  Probably the best description of this merging of government and business was summed up in Dr. James Galbraith’s book, The Predator State, in what he called predation:

“The systematic abuse of public institutions for private profit, or, equivalently, the systematic undermining of public protections for the benefit of private clients.”

Finally there is the privatization of the moral mission of government or as Professor Galbraith called it, “undermining of public protections for the benefit of private clients.”  The most obvious example of this is the failure of SEC to regulate our economy or to even detect the obvious criminality of Bernie Madoff.  The organization became a revolving door for industry whose primary client was the industry it rated.  You might also want to know how private firms got into the business of providing credit ratings for the industry that paid for those ratings.  It wasn’t just the SEC that failed, but it was a failure throughout government to regulate the financial industry.

My point here is that as George Lakoff said in his book The Political Mind;

“What progressives see as government protection (moral), conservatives see as government interference (immoral) that imposes restrictions on making profits.”

We have seen what deregulation and privatization do:  They “do not eliminate government; they make it unaccountable and take away its moral mission.”  This is a direct result of the conservative attitude toward government and government service.

I spent 31 years serving in federal service, 11 in the military (which they don’t disparage) and 20 in civil service (which they take every opportunity to disparage).  I worked with some wonderful people who cared about our nation, our environment, our security, and were driven not by the profit motive, but by being able to further the good works of our government.  It is time to change our attitude about these people and recognize that without them we are screwed.  It is true that business is the engine of our economy, but government is the backbone of our society that keeps business focused in the right direction.   It is time we recognized that.