Once again, the State of the Union Address is upon us. Our annual national pep rally and political red carpet rides this evening and gives our freshly re-elected leader a chance to lay out his plans for the next four years. There are some obvious issues that we all expect to hear about – Immigration Reform, Gun control, and Climate Change. And after years of lip-service, the good news is, we as a country finally seem primed to accept real progress on all of these crucial issues. It’s almost as if there has been a political sea change that is no longer going to tolerate the old, broken paradigms and is hungry for a new horizon. So in tonight’s address, wouldn’t it be great to see our President lay out a bold new plan to take us forward? A kind of Newer Deal to restore our infrastructure, grow the economy, and reflect the changing face of our nation?
Muskets At The Ready!
He could start with assault-weapons control. We love our guns in this country, but no one wants craziness like we saw in Newton, CT or Taft County, CA last month. Whatever rights we think we need to be happy, if our kids are senselessly shot dead, that pretty much ruins our overall quality of life. And clearly, the Chris Dorner situation shows us the kind of havoc a disgruntled public servant with access to weapons of war can create. But we don’t need a protacted debate with the N.R.A. & their shills, just do it executively, like Mayor Bloomberg did with cigarettes in New York. Simply go ahead and do it, and then let the politicians try to undo it if they really want to. Sea changes happen, and people will adapt. Many in New York freaked out about civil liberties when Bloomberg banned cigarettes indoors. But now, just 10 years later, the very idea of someone smoking in a restaurant next to your table seems almost ludicrous. And we’re all healthier and better off for it. It’s almost hard to believe people once smoked on airplanes. Can you even imagine being trapped for 5 hours in that small cabin full of smoke? But 20 years ago, if you asked the guy in 35E to put out his stogie too aggressively, the lovely PanAm flight attendants would tersely ask you to “please keep it down, Sir.”
Holy-See Ya!
Ok, this is such big news, he’s probably gotta at least mention it, but other than to wish him “all the best”, it’s probably best to just leave the whole Pope-thing alone. Part of the Hitler-youth as a teen, he served as a curious counterpart and advisor to the beloved Polish-born John Paul II. And whatever his other deeds, his reputation is forever tarnished by his failure to properly address the rampant child abuse scandals under his watch first as Cardinal assigned to oversee the issue, and then as Pope. That his decision to be the first Pope in 600 years to resign was the result of extensive prayer should remind us that “infallible” is, like many religious words, a symbolic honorific not meant to be taken quite literally. Of course, there’s no need for the President to skewer the man as he steps away, we in the private sector can definitely handle that one. Besides, revisiting the reformation of the church started by John Paul II will be a task for the next Pope, and for Catholics worldwide, who need to take back their churches, one by one, with at least the same zeal that they invest in controlling their homeowner’s associations.
The Newer Deal
Of course, the main thing we all want to know about is the economy. What’s the plan, and are we finally going to get this country working again? Everyone knows we need to create more jobs. Plus, our infrastructure is in dire need of upgrades across the board. Practically every state has issues with roads, bridges, waterways, power, and coastal areas that will cause untold problems if left unattended. Problem is, those interests seem at odds with fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget that ensures long-term financial stability. So how do we cut costs and improve our infrastructure? Well, we could start with reducing our spending on defense.
In 2012, we spent roughly $750 billion on our public defense budget – more than basically all the other civilized nations combined, and 10 times what future boogeyman China, who btw, just last year finally learned how to land a plane on a boat, spends. Then, add to that another 150 billion or so for Homeland Security, State Department, and that favorite of all oxymorons, military intelligence, and you’re just a couple no-bid contracts away from a cool Trillion per annum to keep us “safe”. That’s already more than 25% of our total budget, if you can believe it, and doesn’t even count “discretionary spending” and secret contracts that can run up to another half trillion or more. Think about that for a second. At least one in every four dollars we have is being spent to protect us from…what? Splinter-cells of wanna-be martyrs? The Chinese? They wouldn’t attack us, we’re their best customer. Worst they’ll ever do is foreclose on us. The Russians? Oooh. Son of Jong wants to play with explosives? Won’t take trillions, just gimme a teenager with an Xbox linked to a drone & we can find out what the next guy in line is like. We should and will always be the world’s strongest military power, but really, we don’t need to be so afraid that we tank our economy. Just ask any Russian what overspending on defense can do to a country.
Besides, no one wants to cut military jobs, just the money we’re spending for more killing machines that we’re never going to need. And really, it doesn’t even need to be about cuts so much as re-apportioning. Truly, now is the time to beat our swords into plowshares. Instead of $100 billion for tanks that we already have too many of, how about using that money for coastal levees, or to modernize our power grids to handle flooding better? And instead of keeping hundreds of thousands troops stationed around the world, away from their families, in places like Germany and Japan, where the wars have been over for almost 70 years, let’s bring at least 10% of those patriotic soldiers home to be with their loved ones. And don’t discharge them, these folks are honest and hard-working – transfer them to the Army Corps of Engineers, where they can help with one of the many “Newer Deal” infrastructure projects needed in each and every state of the union. Our country will be better, our people happier, and our economy will improve by not only the investments that private industry will make around all of these projects, but by the money our troops will be spending locally, rather than abroad.
You’re the Decider
Ambitious, for sure, but the time is right for big change. Mr. President, you taught Constitutional law for over a decade at one of our country’s preeminent law schools. Among other things, the Constitution outlines exactly what each branch of government’s powers are. Well, almost exactly. It actually gives a framework for what the President and Congress and the Courts can and cannot do. A framework that has been pulled and stretched by presidents since the founding of our Republic. And while modern presidents have powers regarding finance, privacy and life itself that would likely shock our nation’s fathers, they pale next to what future presidents will do, if past is indeed prelude. So go ahead and stretch it some more. Get a little drunk with the power, even. It’s ok, we need the correction. Better than just about any other prominent figure in politics, you know the Constitution, so exactly who on the other side could possibly argue with you in a way you couldn’t easily handle? You don’t even need to seek anyone’s advice on the subject. You’re the expert, all the rest of those guys are just hacks.
Look, it’s time to undo the excesses of the last administration. We understand you had to hold back the first term so you could be reelected, but now its time to take the gloves off. And after this, you’ll never have to run for anything again, so don’t even worry about what anyone says. And listen, you gotta know already, some people you’re never going to win over, no matter what the heck you do. But those kinds are fading away, and the country has changed. You’ve got your mandate, so go do your thing. You’re a newly elected, most powerful man in the world with absolutely nothing to lose. And whosoever is fool enough to cross you, it’s time to start just taking ‘em out. Look, I’m not sayin’ you need to break out the Anthrax or shoot anyone in the face; I mean, we’re not barbarians…anymore. But you are Commander-in-Chief, so … maybe one day… a small, low-flying drone might gently alight in…I dunno…John Boehner’s backyard. And it doesn’t even have to be armed with anything more than a little note, “thinking of you…Hugs, Barry”. You know, something subtle like that. He’ll get the point.
A good example is the Justice Department’s case vs. Standard & Poor’s. Turns out, S & P, which justified lowering the U.S.’s credit rating (still seems preposterous to even type) a couple years back by treating debt-ceiling haggling as a real threat, also assigned sub-prime mortgage securities AAA-ratings, which led to all sorts of problems in 2008 once the market saw they were anything but. Now, the very name “sub-prime” makes indisputably clear that these loans were anything but blue-chip investments. And it doesn’t take a Harvard MBA to know that these were high-risk loans to low-income borrowers with shaky credit. In short, they were the junkbonds of mortgage paper. The only problem with the Justice Department’s case against S & P is that the $5 billion they’ve sued for isn’t nearly enough. See, what Standard & Poor’s did to the country is essentially the same thing they did to AIG and Lehman Brothers in 2008, which set in motion the financial crisis that easily cost our country (not to mention the entire world) 100, if not 1000 times that $5 billion. For S & P to then threaten the recovery from that crisis by questioning the performance of U.S. Treasury Notes and 30-year bonds backed by the full faith of the United-freakin-States was just ludicrous. Standard & Poor’s should be burnt to the ground for their sins, and there will be lots of people cheering when it happens.
Really though, it’s definitely time to let ‘er rip. And just in case you forgot, those last guys before you went WAY too far. And really screwed everything up, in some really bad ways. In his last State of the Union Address in 2000, President Clinton said “the State of our Union is the strongest it has ever been.” And whatever you thought of the man, no one could argue with that statement. Eight years later, we faced a very different reality. Your hands were tied in the first term – we get it. But now, it’s time to finally get us back on the path to peace and prosperity. No one’s asking you to go as far as the last guys, just maybe go a little bit too far. Just to finally correct the damage done. But whatever you do, Mr. President, just please don’t not go far enough. Again.
K. Steven Zimmerman is a human rights advocate who knows the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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