Ruminations, September 13, 2009

Obama’s Republican friends

“Afghanistan,” said President Barack Obama, “is a war of necessity.” His statement means that not only is it crucial to this country that we fight the war in Afghanistan, it is crucial that we win the war. And to win the war, it takes commitment from the country.

Naturally, in a country of 300 million, we will have more than one opinion, some opinions will be politicized and there will be some disagreement. What’s surprising is where the politicization is taking place and the source of the disagreement.

According to the latest poll, 73 percent of Democrats oppose their own president’s position — and the opposition numbers seem to be rising.

It puts the President in a precarious position. His congressional allies on Afghanistan may be the Republicans with some 70 percent supporting him. Unless, of course, for political reasons, the Republicans abandon him, too. It could be the basis for some very interesting political deals.

But wait a minute; there’s more. While there has been NATO support of the war in Afghanistan that support is dwindling. A July poll in Germany showed 69 percent of the German public opposed to the war and in France, 64 percent oppose the war. And in Great Britain, the public is opposed to the war by 47 percent to 46 percent. Can the European leaders long continue to support a war if their public opposes it? Not likely.

Germany, France and Britain have called for a conference this year to discuss the war. Different from the famous World War II conferences in Casablanca, Yalta and Potsdam that mapped out victory, the purpose of this conference will be to discuss withdrawal.

In dealing with the “war of necessity” in Afghanistan, Republicans may be the only friends Obama has left.

Lies and myths on health care

Both Republicans and Democrats have made conflicting claims on the health care proposals wending their way through Congress. Last week, President Obama weighed in during an address to the nation. Obama made some claims as to the lies and myths on health care. Was he accurate or is he just contributing to the innuendos on the subject. Here are the lies and myths:

• Death panels. There is nothing in the proposals going through Congress that are called “death panels.” However, there had been a provision in a Senate bill that could have been interpreted as such. President Obama, addressing the fact that 80 percent of health costs are attributable to the chronically ill, said “I think that there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place. It is very difficult to imagine the country making those decisions just through the normal political channels. And that's part of why you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance. It's not determinative, but I think has to be able to give you some guidance. And that's part of what I suspect you'll see emerging out of the various health care conversations that are taking place on the Hill right now.” It may have been hyperbole to call the original proposal a “death panel” but, nonetheless, there was legitimate concern that something of that nature was favored by Senate Democrats and the President.
• Government takeover of the health care system. The “public option,” where the government will eventually takeover as a single payer is, according to Obama, a myth. And yet, in 2003, Obama said, “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program. …But … we may not get there immediately.” According to Congressman Barney Frank (D, MA), New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and others, the public option is the first step in moving toward a single payer system. If you are concerned about a government takeover of the health care system, this is a legitimate issue?
• Illegal aliens will not be part of the system. When David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to President Obama, issued a statement on the subject, he stated that the Obama health care proposal would cover 45 million people who did not have insurance. Of that 45 million, an estimated 15 million are illegal aliens. That sounds as if Obama’s Senior Advisor says that illegal aliens will be covered. Obama, in his address last week, changed the number to 30 million—presumably removing illegals from the mix. However, there is no requirement for seekers of health care to provide proof of citizenship. Furthermore, members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference are pushing to have everyone, including illegal aliens, covered. Who do you believe?
• President Obama said, “I will not sign [a health care bill] if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period.” The Congressional Budget Office says that the health care proposals working their way through Congress will add on the order of a trillion and a half to the deficit. Who do you believe?

It seems that there are a lot of lies and myths about health care proposals. But it also seems that there are a lot of lies and myths about the lies and myths. Who do you believe?

Dipping dollars

China, the country that holds most of our debt, has, according to reports, taken to buying gold and avoiding more dollar deficits.

The dollar continues to slide in relation to other currencies. This is in part because other countries are recovering from the recession and there is no need for investors to stay in the safe harbor of the U.S. dollar. In part, it is also because the U.S has continued to amass huge deficits that could portend inflation.

Perhaps the time has come to move toward fiscal restraint. Of course, fiscal restraint implies a conscientious and responsible government in Washington.