It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to read people who I thought were pretty smart and then watch them get dumb. Krugman, in the Times June 30th ’08, is asking whether Obama can outdo Ronald Reagan as a President of change? He sets up what my research professor called a “banana onion comparison” and, guess what, it didn’t compute. That is exactly what Krugman is doing in comparing what Reagan or Clinton had to confront on becoming the President with what Obama will be looking at.
Both Clinton and Reagan had a waltz compared to what Obama will face if elected. Clinton was preoccupied with “moving to the center.” Reagan was concerned with introducing the “new conservatism.” Okay, so in case you forgot what the next President will be confronted with, let me start with my list. All readers are invited, no encouraged, to add their favorites to what might be called “the list from hell.”
The Iraq war and how to bring our troops home
The Iran nuclear weapons crisis (Bush, Cheney, and Israel cooking up a “bomb’em” solution.)
The mortgage crisis and how to stabilize the housing market
The energy crisis, including the $5.00 a gallon gasoline and home heating oil
The Medicare prescription crisis that is doubling and tripling in yearly costs
The Social Security crisis with millions of Baby Boomers about to retire (The SS trust fund has been raped in order to pay for the billion dollar a day Iraq war.)
The economic downturn as a result of the loss of consumer spending (That was Bush’s idea of how to support the war effort. Now you got to admit that was original. This will also start to effect the various State Pension Plans which, guess what, are underfunded by millions of dollars?
The three trillion dollar national debt that President Bush will leave his successor
Our crumbling infrastructure like bridges, roads, levees, fire problems, subways, sewers, just to name a few.
These problems are exactly the type of socio-economic issues that can lead to massive social unrest. So honestly Paul Krugman, what are you talking about? The last President to face this kind of general crisis was FDR; not Reagan, Clinton, Carter or Nixon.
I want to remind my readers to add to “THE NEXT PRESIDENT’S CRISIS LIST.” Click “Comments” at the end of this blog. Type your comments in the “Leave you comment” box. If you have trouble with Google sign in, put your name in “Leave your comment” box (if you want) and hit “Anonymous” under the “Choose your Identity column. Then hit “PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT”. Or just send us an email and let us know if you would like us to put it on the blog for you.
Thank you Kate. N.H.W.Y.
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5 comments:
I'll add two more to the list from hell:
Global climate change
Structure, funding and delivery of universal health care
And I agree with you, Bob, that the apt comparison is with FDR's "to do" list.
Thank you Grandpa Bob!
I'm generally a huge fan of Krugman's columns, but I've been a little mystified by his seeming distaste for Obama. He's been such an astute critic of the Bush administration, so yes, for him to make the Reagan/Clinton comparison in that recent column, seems a little biased. I'm not sure what it's about, but I think something else may be clouding his thinking where Obama is concerned. I'm not sure what it is and I fully admit that I'm biased toward Obama, but I'd like to see him keep McCain in check a bit more. There's no way he wants another Republican administration, that I'm sure of. Happy 4th to you and Kate!
What is Afghanistan - chopped liver?
Harold
I'll add - food crisis, stemming in part from population growth, energy crisis and climate change.
I'll add - food crisis, stemming in part from population growth, energy crisis and climate change.
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