America Holds Breath as BP Attempts to Plug Leak

Given that the BP oil spill has already, by and large, been declared the worst environmental disaster in American history, and that the area in question is larger than the tri-state area/the state of Hawaii, let's hope that BP will plug the hole once and for all so that we can begin the process of cleaning up the mess. Then we can add tougher regulations to the oil industry so that a mess of this size doesn't occur again.

There have already been at least two major setbacks, but we'll all find out within the next 48 hours if the "top kill" procedure has, in fact, worked.

Countering Legitimate Points Against Health Reform

Whether the recently passed health reform bill will create positive results on the national economy and premiums has yet to be determined. But a few things that won’t happen are all the catastrophic predictions from the right about death panels, socialism, government takeovers and generally the argument that our freedom is being taken away.  

Or how about that its passage is unconstitutional—that states have the right to repeal it, as a number of them have? These claims run contrary to the actual constitution, specifically the supremacy clause that gives the federal government ultimate authority over states. Article 1, Section 8 also cites that the government can "regulate Commerce...among the several States."

In other words, good luck getting that repealed.

Beyond the exaggerated claims, those opposed to the bill have largely attacked it based on legislative process, not what the bill actually does. These are arguments against the political system, not of policy.

One legitimate point about the process is all the hoops Democrats had to jump through to get the bill passed. But there is a clear distinction between a problem with our politics and a bill's policies. Our politics need reforming too, but that is another matter entirely. After the bill passed, New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman called for the rise of the radical center to finally have a chance at governing the country.

This would prevent problems that exist in the two-party political system we currently have; for example, when one party would rather distort the truth and thwart political progress than work on the problems our country faces—or when another party is clearly divided on just how much change should happen that they either never compromise for a vote or run for the hills entirely. A political transformation that enables a voice for the average American would help curb the extremely polar partisanship this country has seen as of late.

Another legitimate point against reform is that it burdens us with more debt and changes too much in an already challenging time.

While passing reform involves several degrees of uncertainties and risks, not passing it also faces the risks of the status quo—projections of which foresee an unsustainable drag on the economy and premiums. Think passing reform means less freedom? How about the fewer choices that come with bankrupting premiums?  The choice that Washington has made is that the risk of not passing the bill is greater than the risk of reforming the status quo.

Surely, there are issues that need working out; take, for example, the higher taxes on those earning more than $200,000 a year ($250,000 for couples). The government seems to be categorizing those who earn this figure as well off, and while this may be an accurate assessment for those that live in certain suburbs, $200,000 a year would hardly be considered wealthy in urban cities with a high cost of living.

That's just it, though. By passing health reform, at least we are headed in a direction that attempts to reign in on a national problem. There's no doubt that the kinks need to be figured out. But at least we're at a point where it’s the course of national discussion.

Health Care Reform: Dual Hypocrisies

It's worth pointing out dual hypocrisies on both sides of the health care debate. I will start with the most obvious example.

Republicans

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Their stance: The current health reform bills do not lower premiums. In fact, they raise premiums.

Proposed solution: Let's start over and commit to half measures instead. That will surely lower premiums.

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If February's health care summit revealed anything about the Republican party's misguided stance on reform, it is this.  Even if you ignore the facts in the Congressional Budget Office report that both the Senate and House bills would reduce the federal deficit by a considerable amount while lowering premiums for most Americans, their rebuke fails to note just how much the legislation would prevent costs from rising. 

This simply reveals the Republican strategy for reform: delay, delay, delay until it goes away.

Democrats

More subtle, but equally puzzling, is the lack of Democratic leadership for full-fledged reform; namely, one that includes a public option as a competitor to insurance companies that will drive down premiums.

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Their stance, before reconciliation talks: We support the public option but lack the 60 vote majority to include it.

Now that only 50 votes are needed to pass reform: Public option? What public option?

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Now that reconciliation seems inevitable, where did the public option go? The White House has very subtly left it behind months ago. But even as President Obama calls for forging ahead without bipartisan support, there is hardly a rallying cry by Democrats for the public option.

All this talk of Republicans abusing the filibuster may just have been an excuse for their lack of follow through. At best, it highlights the glaring hole in Washington's Democratic leadership; at worst, that they are intentionally deceiving the public into thinking Republicans are the only ones in the way of reform.

Week in Review

Taliban Leaders Captured in Afghanistan

After nine years, I finally feel like we are going after the extremists responsible for 9/11. I think there are a lot of people who still believe, mistakenly, that Saddam Hussein is linked to the attacks. While he certainly didn't shun away those who were responsible, The Iraq War is rightfully labeled as a war of choice—not of necessity. Maybe in the end we will look back and realize it was the right thing to do, even if it was based on false intelligence (we still haven't found any weapons of mass destruction). But I feel like we let our eye off the ball and are paying for it now with an economic crisis at home.

Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban’s Top Commander

Two More Senior Taliban Leaders Are Arrested

Google Buzz Backlash

Google got off on the wrong foot with their answer to Facebook: a social network linked to their Gmail web client called Google Buzz. They wanted to go a step beyond other networks by automatically adding people to your follow list that you already e-mail. It sounds great at first, except they didn’t consider that people joining were unknowingly opting in for their e-mail address book to be viewable by fellow Buzz users.

Read about the lawsuit filed against Google by a Harvard law student.

Evan Bayh To Leave Senate

What’s most telling about Bayh's decision is how our government is in a frozen lock. Bayh is widely believed to have been easily reelected for the Senate this fall (unlike in Massachusetts). But he chooses to not run because of the political environment and systemic gridlocks that prevents our country from being governable.

His OP-ED to The New York Times explains his decision and how we need to reform the Senate, namely how filibusters are abused to block needed legislation. You can find that here.

This week, Time printed a cover story on the need to reform our government's legislation process.

Brown Senate Victory: A Rash Backlash?

Scott Brown's Mass. Senate victory marks a stark change in the political climate since Obama was sworn in exactly one year ago today. It's clear now, as Ted Kennedy's Senate seat turns Republican for the first time since 1962, that an inevitable liberal backlash is well underway while the Senate midterm elections in November rapidly approach.
Truth be told, the Obama administration certainly deserves the criticism thrown at them in recent months. The failed Christmas bombing attempt revealed an overwhelming lack of competency for a post 9/11 government. The massive health care bill is being pushed through the legislative process, without the promised transparency Obama campaigned on. National debt is at an all-time high. Not to mention, job creation seems to have disappeared from a loaded list of top priorities while unemployment hovers around 10%.
And yet, that same criticism displays a lack of true patriotic constructiveness from a party whose defining characteristic is "country first." Republicans have time and time again proven themselves to be obstructionists more than anything, defined simply by what they are opposed to without proposing helpful alternative solutions themselves.

Worse, an angered Tea Party is rallying against what they call socialism—the bailing out of Wall Street, major banks and the auto industry in an imploding economy—without specifically mentioning the even grimmer alternative: bankruptcy and crashes on a similar scale with the Great Depression in the 1930's. If that happened, wouldn't everyone be pointing fingers wondering why the government didn't step in?

Misdirection and fear-mongering is rampant. And that is really the sad story being played out—that even while the Obama administration has paved new roads to reach Americans to dispel myths born of fear through its website, blog, newsletters, social networking, weekly addresses, town hall meetings...you name it, not a single Republican Senator will vote for what this country desperately needs: health care reform.

Surely, a populist backlash can be healthy for the country as a whole. It's precisely what got Democrats in power to begin with. Short memories aren't reminded that the economic crisis brewed and erupted on Bush's watch.

But this has tipped the scales of power in the Senate, enough to block the nearing passage of the health care bill (59-41). President Obama has already stated in a CBS interview that the implications of last night's G.O.P. victory will most likely force a revised, bipartisan Senate bill.

Which begs a serious concern: Will the backlash prove rash enough that we realize, five years down the road, health care reform, among other legislation, should have been much stronger?

Cellphone Texting Aids Haiti Earthquake Victims

Within just three days following the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, The American Red Cross has raised $8 million in aid through text donations via cellphones. Simply texting "Haiti" to 90999 will send a donation of $10 to the relief effort that is billed to your cellphone bill.

By far, this is the most convenient way to send a small donation that can go a long way. Simple math reveals that already, 800,000 individual donations have been collected this way.

There is no charge for text messages sent and received, and according to redcross.org, every penny of the donated $10 goes to The American Red Cross to help those in need.

It's just another example of successfully reaching a wider audience through the use of technology (Apple's iPhone and Twitter are notable examples).

Phone donations are limited to $20-$30 per phone. To donate more, visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS.

Full-time Status in 2010

This past Wednesday, I gave a two weeks notice to Borders, my part-time position. For the first time, I will be working exclusively in my field as a full-time employee starting Jan. 13th at Image Marketing Group. Doing so will end about a year and a half of working two jobs in order to receive health insurance. Thanks to COBRA, I'm allowed to retain my existing part-time coverage for 18 months after quitting Borders for the same rate.

Even though I've mostly worked 32 hours a week in my field in the past year and a half, part-time status was holding me back. Going full-time allows me to earn more per hour at a job that means exponentially more in terms of resume experience and self-fulfillment. Instead of splitting 50+ hours a week between two jobs, I'll be working 40 while earning roughly the same amount of money.

Commuting to Borders meant driving an hour each way twice a week (4 hours total), whereas Image Marketing is less than a mile away. That means less wear on my car and less frequent gas/oil change expenses.

I also get Sundays back, which enables me the time to post again.

While Borders was mostly a positive experience, imparting solid communication and customer service skills, I think it's high time to finally say  "good riddance" as I move on to the next stage of my career as a Copywriter / Web Consultant.

I look forward to it, as well as contributing more to The Cultivator in the new year.