Past the time to change course
By Patrick Kelley (Contact)
Originally published 02:17 p.m., June 19, 2008
Updated 02:17 p.m., June 19, 2008
Before you read this, read Ann McFeatters’ column.
Frightening, isn’t it? It is also right on target.
The United States and the great majority of its population are beginning to suffer the consequences of setting sail in a changing world without the most basic navigational and safety gear.
What is missing from the nation’s sea bag? Among other things:
• A national energy policy that does more than guarantee profits for oil and coal companies. The policy must encourage conservation and innovation while ensuring that affordable energy is available for transportation, home use and industry. That energy must be provided without poisoning the earth or radically altering the climate.
• Fiscal and economic policies and regulations that protect the powerless as much as the powerful and that value the work of the many as the basis for national prosperity.
• Social policies that treat adequate food and shelter, decent health care and a good education as basic human rights.
Each one of those goals should be achievable, but each one has kept Washington, D.C., tangled in knots for at least three decades, with little or no progress. In some cases, the nation has slipped backward.
And no progress at all can be expected under this president, with this Congress.
The United States has, without any great agony, mandated a national conversion to high-definition television — an expensive change of questionable need or value that will affect almost every home in the nation. But the nation has so far proven incapable of mandating reasonable fuel-economy and emissions standards on cars and trucks, or any effective policy to limit and reduce the production of greenhouse gases.
The United States can spend billions of dollars and thousands of lives trying to wrap up its ill-advised war in Iraq, but the nation cannot find the will to pay the cost of a meaningful victory in the justified war in Afghanistan. It can give billions more in tax breaks to healthy businesses, but it cannot afford to guarantee the availability of preschool, kindergarten and health care to every American child.
Is it any wonder people are beginning to fear that the country is in a downward spiral and that drastic action is necessary to fix what is wrong?
Fundamental change is necessary — and soon.
Both of the candidates for president are promising change, but neither has produced enough specifics.
John McCain’s definition of “change” seems to be “Business as usual, with perhaps a little tweaking.”
For Barack Obama, the definition is “Whatever my administration decides to do once we get into office.”
Neither is an acceptable definition this year.
Before November, voters will expect to hear specific proposals for change from both candidates — not party cant, but reasoned proposals for changes that will reverse the national slide.
Comments
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Posted by bdprotheroe (anonymous) on June 19, 2008 at 5:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How interesting it is just to sit back and think what would happen if every member of the U.S. House of Representatives was replaced during an election. Every elected official, a fresh face in DC. Indeed, that would mean Emporians would trade in Jim Moran for a Democrat, while here in San Francisco we would trade Nancy Pelosi for a Republican.
One benefit? New ideas. Another benefit? Those new faces would most likely be classified as "moderates." One must admit, a Republican from San Francisco will have much more in common with a Democrat from Kansas' Big 1st District than our current elected officials have common. Perhaps we would see more productivity coming out of DC. Obviously, we wouldn't agree with 100% of their decisions (give and take), but the less partisanship the better.
Obviously, this is wishful thinking. But, it's an optimistic idea.
Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on June 19, 2008 at 8:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, at least our congressmen are getting much better mortgage rates than the rest of us, so they don't have to worry about that....... :(
I would LOVE to see every---single---member of congress replaced. People like to point out Bush's 27% approval rating, while they seem to downplay congress's 18% rating. By my math, Bush has a 50% higher approval rating than Congress. (But that's not saying much - just putting it into perspective).
I don't know if it would do much good to have a complete housecleaning, I can only hope. Since I don't think it could get much worse. I'm just tired of our elected officials sitting in office for decades while they do nothing but feather their own nest, once they make a name for themselves it seems re-election is a lock, regardless of what they do. I'm especially tired of judges constantly overstepping their powers and legistating from the bench. Heck, I'm just tired of the whole darn shebang. Well, they say the average life of a democracy is roughly 200 years, it looks like we're pretty much on schedule...... I know, I'm all gloom and doom these days, but hey, the doc says its good to vent now and then.... LOL
Posted by alfalfa (anonymous) on June 20, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I would be for cleaning house. I have wondered about the digital TV thing, why was it necessary to mandate that? Seems to me that the officials often occupy themselves with things like digital TV and do nothing about the big stuff.
Mr Kelley tends to be a little too liberal for my liking,but I agree that our leaders priorities seem very strange, I would like for him to admit that is the case on both sides of the aisle.
Ultimately, we ourselves have to take a portion of the blame, because lots of Americans don't bother to vote, or get involved to the point where they can even tell you who their Senator is. We don't demand change, even at a local level, or all we think about is change when just a few things are wrong. Until the majority of Americans get fed up and get involved, ask questions and make candidates and elected officials toe the mark, nothing will really change. With $4 gas, I am wondering if the majority is just about ready to get tough, lets hope so.
Posted by edorsey (anonymous) on June 24, 2008 at 3:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The digital TV transition actually will change relatively very few peoples lives. The only people who will feel the change are the ones that don't have satellite or cable, its the people with the over-the-air antennas on the tops of the houses.
This transition opens up a very valuable part of the RF spectrum that can be used much more efficiently than by sending our television signals that can be put on almost any part of the spectrum. Applications like wireless cellphone systems and wireless internet are able to take advantage of this spectrum because it allows their signals to transmit more efficiently. In the recent auction that sold the currently used 700Mhz spectrum the FCC included a clause that will require that a certain piece of these airwaves would be able to be used by Emergency Services for communications when other forms of communication would not do.
The FCC regulates how much power organizations can put behind their broadcasts, television stations, because they only send (and don't receive) can have a lot more power and carry further no matter which part of the spectrum they are on. The new allocations of the old Analog TV spectrum will help the U.S. catch up to countries like Japan in the broadband internet arena. Those same people that have to buy a $20 box to watch television will now have access to high speed Internet which can provide many times more content, much more targeted content than the five channels they receive from that TV antenna. In a time when everything seems to be moving towards Internet delivery this is a very important move, especially for people in rural areas.
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