"Who, day and night, must scramble for a living,
Feed a wife and children, say his daily prayers?
And who has the right, as master of the house,
To have the final word at home?"
-Fiddler On The Roof
Ok, admittedly it may be a bit too patriarchal for modern times, but as I was reading the story today about Obama firming up his transition budget on the HuffPo , for some reason the tune "Tradition" popped into my head.
Traditionally , the transition period between administrations can be one area where lobbyists can really insert themselves in the process and set the tone as to how much influence they will have going forward while the new president is distracted with finding his footing. Not this time. Obama brings with him the strictest ethics rules on transition in the history of the country:
• Federal Lobbyists cannot contribute financially to the transition
• Federal lobbyists are prohibited from any lobbying during their work with the transition.
• If someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied.
• If someone becomes a lobbyist after working on the transition, they are prohibited from lobbying the Administration for 12 months on matters on which they worked.
• A gift ban that is aggressive in reducing the influence of special interests.
As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. So are the changes we need .
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Paulson's Patriot Act?
According to an article in today's Washington Post, while the financial system was in meltdown, the Treasury secretary " ...in the midst of this late-September drama, ... issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention..."
"Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin..."
"...The change to Section 382 of the tax code -- a provision that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers -- came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists."
Ahh the tried and true method of getting things done in the Bush administration: hold a gun to the head of Congress.
Let the economy meltdown so we can get the changes we have tried unsuccessfully to achieve for two decades. Almost gives credence to the conspiracy theorists who feel that Bush , by ignoring Intelligence warnings about Al Qaeda , was willing to tolerate an attack on our soil in order to pass what he felt were much needed changes to our domestic surveillance system.
I cannot even put into words my disbelief at Congress' continued willingness to trust this administration. Have they learned nothing from the last eight years of deception and disillusion?
Incredible.
"Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin..."
"...The change to Section 382 of the tax code -- a provision that limited a kind of tax shelter arising in corporate mergers -- came after a two-decade effort by conservative economists and Republican administration officials to eliminate or overhaul the law, which is so little-known that even influential tax experts sometimes draw a blank at its mention. Until the financial meltdown, its opponents thought it would be nearly impossible to revamp the section because this would look like a corporate giveaway, according to lobbyists."
Ahh the tried and true method of getting things done in the Bush administration: hold a gun to the head of Congress.
Let the economy meltdown so we can get the changes we have tried unsuccessfully to achieve for two decades. Almost gives credence to the conspiracy theorists who feel that Bush , by ignoring Intelligence warnings about Al Qaeda , was willing to tolerate an attack on our soil in order to pass what he felt were much needed changes to our domestic surveillance system.
I cannot even put into words my disbelief at Congress' continued willingness to trust this administration. Have they learned nothing from the last eight years of deception and disillusion?
Incredible.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Right Wing Media Post-Election Anger
Also known as "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot". (Or "Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them")
Hats off to A. F. for so succinctly putting it.
Rush's name could be subbed for that of Michael Savage. Or Michael Graham. Or Laura Ingram. Or Howie Carr. Or Jay Severin. I do not have the time to type all the possible names right now. But we know who they are. ( I can always add them when the time permits.)
I think the majority of the country, when faced with the seriousness of real life, realize that the lies, hate and bile that these blowhards spew from their self-appointed soapboxes have really become a caricature of reality. They have been Palinized!
Hats off to A. F. for so succinctly putting it.
Rush's name could be subbed for that of Michael Savage. Or Michael Graham. Or Laura Ingram. Or Howie Carr. Or Jay Severin. I do not have the time to type all the possible names right now. But we know who they are. ( I can always add them when the time permits.)
I think the majority of the country, when faced with the seriousness of real life, realize that the lies, hate and bile that these blowhards spew from their self-appointed soapboxes have really become a caricature of reality. They have been Palinized!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Yes We Can!
Last night when the race was called everyone else in my house had long since fallen asleep . As I did during the 2007 Red Sox World Series victory, I savored what was a surprisingly emotional moment in the quiet solitude of a slumbering household.
As I sit here muddling through the work day coping with my post-election euphoria-hangover ( I was up well after 1AM watching the saturated coverage of the moment) what happened yesterday is starting to sink in.
It has been a long time since a presidential election did not feel either fixed, stolen or tempered by the apathy of a disaffected electorate. The current (P)resident (with a silent P)in my opinion was never elected to his first term by the people, thereby rendering illegitimate this current mess of a "Presidency" , if we could go so far as to call it that. Under his "leadership" our government has been akin to a taxpayer-funded ATM, and the "friends of W" have the P.I.N. Bush was simply the door man that held the door open so they could get all their loot out as quickly, and conveniently as possible. His leadership skills were more or less nonexistent, he never was inspirational, and most importantly he stopped being Presidential a long , long,time ago.
Of course it is a massive understatement to say that this is a new chapter in the history of this country. In point of fact it may mark several new chapters unfolding concurrently.
The first African-American elected president is an entire book in and of itself. But the rejection of the politics of fear and hate are almost an equal story . We witnessed one of, if not, THE most hate-filled campaigns in history as Obama was repeatedly targeted with one unfounded slur after another by the right wing race-baiting Republicans. Hate was put first. Not Country.
They tried one meanspirited lie after another. Ayers. Wright. Khalidi. Rezko. He's an Arab. He's a Muslim. Socialism. Terrorism. Pro-America vs. Anti-America. Real America vs. Fake America. And certainly not the last but one of the most reprehensible: Barack wants to teach Sex Education to Kindergarten students. All of these were either out right lies or serious manipulation and factual misrepresentation. None of it worked! So many times in elections past, the GOP has tried to find just the right slander or slime that would completely cover and suffocate the Democratic nominee leaving them fumbling for a response. In the targeted Democrat's indecision on how to respond, they inevitably seemed to fall into an embarassing photo op a la Dukakis in the tank- looking like Snoopy (why did they think that was a good idea). But this time it failed. Finally! Maybe for once we have finally seen a watershed event. While it remains to be see whether or not the Right learned anything from this(serious doubts there) , at least for now, by and large the Rovian campaign tactics of hatred, divide and polarize, were rejected en masse by enough of the electorate on both sides to make a difference. "Not this time!" the voters screamed. "There is too much at stake!" All Americans should take pride in that.
I wonder if the irony of how this all played out is lost on John McCain. During the debates he repeatedly derided Obama's talent at the microphone as merely eloquence without substance. Obama also was disparaged and mocked at the RNC for his abilities to orate,to inspire millions of passionate followers across the country, in addition to his work as an organizer. Yet these very talents that were dismissed as inconsequential in determining his presidential qualifications, are the very reason McCain will be heading back to the Senate and not Pennsylvania Avenue. I think most of the campaign McCain had a serious case of sour grapes that interfered with his decision-making abilities. It is quite sad that in the final months the only eloquence we saw from a once respected and revered statesman was his final campaign speech conceding defeat.
That Obama is a great orator is without question. One only needs to watch portions of any major speech he has delivered to realize that this man has very high GRPW(Goosebump Ratio per Word). Certainly one should look at more than the words. There is more at work here than just a talent to eloquently string inspiring phrases together. When you listen to this man speak, what you are feeling , what has been so absent from the occupant of the Oval Office for so long , is more than just Hope. It is more than Inspiration. It is Leadership. For eight long years we have suffered through a White House resident who has done nothing but talk at us, awkwardly trying to explain policy and events as if we all possessed the same intellectually-limited "you're either with us or agin' us" brain as his. Now we have someone who has both the intelligence , passion, and integrity to not only speak WITH us, but FOR us. He GETS us. ALL of us.
Something that really struck a chord with me in Obama's acceptance speech was the impact that this event will have on the future of the children not only in this country , but the entire world. Like so many verities of the Obama era we now find ourselves in, it presents a far reaching and lasting shift in our society's interpretation of "The American Dream". The first thing my 8 year old son said to me this morning was " Did Barack win Daddy?" . "Yes he did " , I answered with a smile and a high five. Great societal paradigm shifts often happen with great drama , struggle and pain, but they also can happen with the subtlety of a child's question. In that little moment I feel an enormous paradigm shift in our world has occurred. In the next four to eight years millions of children in this country and around the world will become politically aware . In so doing they will learn about the history of the United States, it's freedoms, it's struggles at home and abroad and underlying vision of the Founding Fathers in terms of what The Constitution and The Declaration of Independence have historically meant to this country and the world. The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States lends a veracity to the words "We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal...." that for far too long has been preached, but not practiced; grasped at, but not attained.
Until now.
Goosebumps can't even begin to describe it.
As I sit here muddling through the work day coping with my post-election euphoria-hangover ( I was up well after 1AM watching the saturated coverage of the moment) what happened yesterday is starting to sink in.
It has been a long time since a presidential election did not feel either fixed, stolen or tempered by the apathy of a disaffected electorate. The current (P)resident (with a silent P)in my opinion was never elected to his first term by the people, thereby rendering illegitimate this current mess of a "Presidency" , if we could go so far as to call it that. Under his "leadership" our government has been akin to a taxpayer-funded ATM, and the "friends of W" have the P.I.N. Bush was simply the door man that held the door open so they could get all their loot out as quickly, and conveniently as possible. His leadership skills were more or less nonexistent, he never was inspirational, and most importantly he stopped being Presidential a long , long,time ago.
Of course it is a massive understatement to say that this is a new chapter in the history of this country. In point of fact it may mark several new chapters unfolding concurrently.
The first African-American elected president is an entire book in and of itself. But the rejection of the politics of fear and hate are almost an equal story . We witnessed one of, if not, THE most hate-filled campaigns in history as Obama was repeatedly targeted with one unfounded slur after another by the right wing race-baiting Republicans. Hate was put first. Not Country.
They tried one meanspirited lie after another. Ayers. Wright. Khalidi. Rezko. He's an Arab. He's a Muslim. Socialism. Terrorism. Pro-America vs. Anti-America. Real America vs. Fake America. And certainly not the last but one of the most reprehensible: Barack wants to teach Sex Education to Kindergarten students. All of these were either out right lies or serious manipulation and factual misrepresentation. None of it worked! So many times in elections past, the GOP has tried to find just the right slander or slime that would completely cover and suffocate the Democratic nominee leaving them fumbling for a response. In the targeted Democrat's indecision on how to respond, they inevitably seemed to fall into an embarassing photo op a la Dukakis in the tank- looking like Snoopy (why did they think that was a good idea). But this time it failed. Finally! Maybe for once we have finally seen a watershed event. While it remains to be see whether or not the Right learned anything from this(serious doubts there) , at least for now, by and large the Rovian campaign tactics of hatred, divide and polarize, were rejected en masse by enough of the electorate on both sides to make a difference. "Not this time!" the voters screamed. "There is too much at stake!" All Americans should take pride in that.
I wonder if the irony of how this all played out is lost on John McCain. During the debates he repeatedly derided Obama's talent at the microphone as merely eloquence without substance. Obama also was disparaged and mocked at the RNC for his abilities to orate,to inspire millions of passionate followers across the country, in addition to his work as an organizer. Yet these very talents that were dismissed as inconsequential in determining his presidential qualifications, are the very reason McCain will be heading back to the Senate and not Pennsylvania Avenue. I think most of the campaign McCain had a serious case of sour grapes that interfered with his decision-making abilities. It is quite sad that in the final months the only eloquence we saw from a once respected and revered statesman was his final campaign speech conceding defeat.
That Obama is a great orator is without question. One only needs to watch portions of any major speech he has delivered to realize that this man has very high GRPW(Goosebump Ratio per Word). Certainly one should look at more than the words. There is more at work here than just a talent to eloquently string inspiring phrases together. When you listen to this man speak, what you are feeling , what has been so absent from the occupant of the Oval Office for so long , is more than just Hope. It is more than Inspiration. It is Leadership. For eight long years we have suffered through a White House resident who has done nothing but talk at us, awkwardly trying to explain policy and events as if we all possessed the same intellectually-limited "you're either with us or agin' us" brain as his. Now we have someone who has both the intelligence , passion, and integrity to not only speak WITH us, but FOR us. He GETS us. ALL of us.
Something that really struck a chord with me in Obama's acceptance speech was the impact that this event will have on the future of the children not only in this country , but the entire world. Like so many verities of the Obama era we now find ourselves in, it presents a far reaching and lasting shift in our society's interpretation of "The American Dream". The first thing my 8 year old son said to me this morning was " Did Barack win Daddy?" . "Yes he did " , I answered with a smile and a high five. Great societal paradigm shifts often happen with great drama , struggle and pain, but they also can happen with the subtlety of a child's question. In that little moment I feel an enormous paradigm shift in our world has occurred. In the next four to eight years millions of children in this country and around the world will become politically aware . In so doing they will learn about the history of the United States, it's freedoms, it's struggles at home and abroad and underlying vision of the Founding Fathers in terms of what The Constitution and The Declaration of Independence have historically meant to this country and the world. The election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States lends a veracity to the words "We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal...." that for far too long has been preached, but not practiced; grasped at, but not attained.
Until now.
Goosebumps can't even begin to describe it.
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