Challenges Facing the Next President

[iamshack]

Not sure if many of you caught it or not last night, but CNN had a great show (Anderson Cooper 360) addressing all the main issues facing our next President. The two "experts" were former Clinton Advisor David Gergen and Newsweek Editor Fareed Zakarai, and they discussed several of the most pertinent issues facing the next President, including Iraq and the "war on terror," the healthcare crisis, the growing economic crisis, and global warming. I'm not a frequent viewer of the show, but I enjoyed it because of the great discussion by the two panelists and Anderson Cooper, including the fact that it was edited and the two panelists worked off of one another's comments rather than simply arguing with one another.

 

I found both of their comments to be extremely enlightening, and at the same time somewhat frightening because of the enormous and urgent nature of the issues.

 

Watching the show, I think it only supplemented my opinion more on who I believe must be our next President (I don't want to necessarily turn this into a thread on who should be our next President), and what a tremendous task he/she has ahead of him/her.

 

Anyone else catch this program?

[HuskyCaucasian]

I saw this a couple of days ago. It was outstanding. Thanks to this lovely administration we have in charge now, a LOT of critical issues have been ignored for 7+ years while they distracted us with Iraq. So, many issues that could have been worked on have been pushed off to the next guy. And the next guy may not be very popular because of the decisions that need to made. It wont be easy or fun. But it NEEDS to be done.

 

My own political view is Obama can influence people to do "hard things", but people will look at Clinton ans say "screw you".

[Controlled Chaos]

I saw this a couple of days ago. It was outstanding. Thanks to this lovely administration we have in charge now, a LOT of critical issues have been ignored for 7+ years while they distracted us with Iraq. So, many issues that could have been worked on have been pushed off to the next guy. And the next guy may not be very popular because of the decisions that need to made. It wont be easy or fun. But it NEEDS to be done.

 

My own political view is Obama can influence people to do "hard things", but people will look at Clinton ans say "screw you".

Dam this administration for flying planes into the World Trade Center.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Dam this administration for flying planes into the World Trade Center.

Afghanistan was one thing. IRAQ is a whole other. They invaded a country saying they were supporting terrorists, only to find out later there were no links. Over the last 3+ years we have been fighting over when and how to get them out. Investigations into corruption within the administration, and other wrong doing. All the time Bush suppresses government reports on global warming. Gives the Kyoto accords the middle finger. Let's oil companies money rape American citizens, healthcare companies charge record prices, America ranks 24th in the world in broadband penetration, a national debt that is ballooning out of control, ignored all these "sub-prime" and intrest only loans that even I know were bad ideas and I didnt go to Yale.

Edited February 13, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[Controlled Chaos]

Afghanistan was one thing. IRAQ is a whole other. They invaded a country saying they were supporting terrorists, only to find out later there were no links. Over the oast 3+ years we have been fighting over when and how to get them out. Investigations into corruption within the administration, and other wrong doing. All the time Bush suppresses government reports on global warming. Gives the Kyoto accords the middle finger. Let's oil companies money rape American citizens, healthcare companies charge record prices, America ranks 24th in the world in broadband penetration, a national debt that is ballooning out of control, ignored all these "sub-prime" and intrest only loans that even I know were bad ideas and I didnt go to Yale.

Blah Blah Blah...we get it Bush is the devil...everyone else's opinions are wrong. Go post about it in the Dem thread. You know this isn't what iamshacks intention was with this thread, but you couldn't hold back.

[Harry Chappas]

Afghanistan was one thing. IRAQ is a whole other. They invaded a country saying they were supporting terrorists, only to find out later there were no links. Over the last 3+ years we have been fighting over when and how to get them out. Investigations into corruption within the administration, and other wrong doing. All the time Bush suppresses government reports on global warming. Gives the Kyoto accords the middle finger. Let's oil companies money rape American citizens, healthcare companies charge record prices, America ranks 24th in the world in broadband penetration, a national debt that is ballooning out of control, ignored all these "sub-prime" and intrest only loans that even I know were bad ideas and I didnt go to Yale.

 

The mergers of large oil companies and telecom while XM/Sirius can not merge is all you need to know about the last 8 years, I am only being a tad smug.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Blah Blah Blah...we get it Bush is the devil...everyone else's opinions are wrong. Go post about it in the Dem thread. You know this isn't what iamshacks intention was with this thread, but you couldn't hold back.

I am pointing out that these are major issues that have been ignored. The next president has a crap load of stuff to deal with and only 4 years to deal with it. Heck, less than that before reelection.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I have to say. I thought the show was very fair and balanced. They would say something has to be done, but say the MAJOR hurtles that need to be over come.

Specifically when they talked about global warming and how to convince countries like China and India to stop burning coal. They basically said the only way to stop them is to give them subsidies to change, but good luck trying to sell that to an auto worker "yea, we need to tax you and give that money to India. hope you don't mind".

[southsideirish71]

Afghanistan was one thing. IRAQ is a whole other. They invaded a country saying they were supporting terrorists, only to find out later there were no links. Over the last 3+ years we have been fighting over when and how to get them out. Investigations into corruption within the administration, and other wrong doing. All the time Bush suppresses government reports on global warming. Gives the Kyoto accords the middle finger. Let's oil companies money rape American citizens, healthcare companies charge record prices, America ranks 24th in the world in broadband penetration, a national debt that is ballooning out of control, ignored all these "sub-prime" and intrest only loans that even I know were bad ideas and I didnt go to Yale.

 

You know what will do wonders for the economy, forcing US companies to comply with the Kyoto accord. That should kill the economy with one quick and violent blow.

 

Do you know why the US ranks 24th in broadband penetration. Because there are so many telephone/cable companies who have local access, and dont want to cooperate with upstream vendors who will be using their network. Over in other countries there is one local carrier who supplies both local access and upstream access and can VAT the living crap out of any carrier that uses their network. But dont worry, this will change when the WiMax and more of the Cellular based broadband takes foothold. That will help with penetration. Becky and Jimmy homeowner want broadband, but they dont want Verizon digging up their yard to drop fiber as well. In other countries you dont have a choice. Here we have referendums and environmental studies of how the fiber optics will affect the indigenous swamp fly population.

 

The subprime loans are the fault of morons who took them. If you sign a contract that has your house as collateral I suggest you take the few minutes and gloss over the wording. The rate, and term of any mortgage is pretty much spelled out for you. I blame the banks as well, for giving credit out to those who dont deserve it and giving too much of a ratio for what a person can afford over what they should afford.

But in the end, the moron who signed the contract is the one to blame. No one forced that person to sign it. We are adults. You are responsible as an adult to pay your bills, and for your financial stability. If you make foolish decisions and dont read contracts you sign then you are asking for a world of trouble.

Edited February 13, 2008 by southsideirish71

[HuskyCaucasian]

You know what will do wonders for the economy, forcing US companies to comply with the Kyoto accord. That should kill the economy with one quick and violent blow.

I understand that completely. but like i said, he gave them the metaphorical middle finger. at least SEEM like you care. You cant make unilateral changes over night. But you can work in that direction. It takes time. Just dont ignore it, then in the last year of your presidency as you are literally getting kicked out the door go "oh crap, there's a problem. we gotta fix it".

[HuskyCaucasian]

Do you know why the US ranks 24th in broadband penetration. Because there are so many telephone/cable companies who have local access, and dont want to cooperate with upstream vendors who will be using their network. Over in other countries there is one local carrier who supplies both local access and upstream access and can VAT the living crap out of any carrier that uses their network.

I cant speak to the intricacies of how other countries work. But I saw in an interesting note the other day. Congress just passed a $150 billion stimulus package. $150 billion would pay to run fiber to EVERY home (and i think business) in the entire country! I am not saying we should run fiber instead of give people money, but it's an interesting comparison. If instead of spending $275 million per day in Iraq we turned that money around and ran fiber... we could have fiber to every home in America within 2 years.

[southsideirish71]

I understand that completely. but like i said, he gave them the metaphorical middle finger. at least SEEM like you care. You cant make unilateral changes over night. But you can work in that direction. It takes time. Just dont ignore it, then in the last year of your presidency as you are literally getting kicked out the door go "oh crap, there's a problem. we gotta fix it".

 

How praytell do you think this is going to get done. Do you think that companies are going to voluntarily make changes that will affect their bottom line and their shareholders. No. Do you think that with politicians on both sides of the aisle so knee deep in PACs that they will make this happen. No. So the only way this will happen is either by financial incentives for running clean which they dont want to do because it affects a revenue stream for the government. Or signing the Kyoto accord and putting a stranglehold on the economy. Do you know what will happen if the Kyoto accord is signed here. The chinese factory workers are going to have a lot more job opportunities as companies left and right move operations overseas.

 

I cant speak to the intricacies of how other countries work. But I saw in an interesting note the other day. Congress just passed a $150 billion stimulus package. $150 billion would pay to run fiber to EVERY home (and i think business) in the entire country! I am not saying we should run fiber instead of give people money, but it's an interesting comparison. If instead of spending $275 million per day in Iraq we turned that money around and ran fiber... we could have fiber to every home in America within 2 years.

 

Becky and Jimmy dont want you ripping up their prize garden because of the fiber you want to run there. Plus those little green poles you have in your backyard from AT&T are nothing like the 6 foot cabinets that will be required on every block to support the fiber plants you speak of. By I dont want a 6 foot large green cabinet sitting in my yard in the utility area. That comment about running fiber to every business is rubbish. My fiber cost nickles to get to the premises and then 60k in the encapsulated pipe because of some requirement by the electrical union here. Every turn required a turnbox. I would rather wait for DOCIS 3.0 and the 100mbs connection, or WiMax than have fiber run to my house.

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2008 by southsideirish71

[HuskyCaucasian]

How praytell do you think this is going to get done. Do you think that companies are going to voluntarily make changes that will affect their bottom line and their shareholders. No. Do you think that with politicians on both sides of the aisle so knee deep in PACs that they will make this happen. No. So the only way this will happen is either by financial incentives for running clean which they dont want to do because it affects a revenue stream for the government. Or signing the Kyoto accord and putting a stranglehold on the economy. Do you know what will happen if the Kyoto accord is signed here. The chinese factory workers are going to have a lot more job opportunities as companies left and right move operations overseas.

so either we ignore this problem and run the planet into the ground, or we give companies that make BILLIONS of dollars money from the government? I'm moving to Canada. At least once the world gets warmer, winters there wont be too bad.

[KipWellsFan]

Add Afghanistan to the list of challenges. The other NATO countries are getting fed-up with the mission there and I imagine the Americans will have to take a much larger role there in the years to come.

Edited February 13, 2008 by KipWellsFan

[iamshack]

How praytell do you think this is going to get done. Do you think that companies are going to voluntarily make changes that will affect their bottom line and their shareholders. No. Do you think that with politicians on both sides of the aisle so knee deep in PACs that they will make this happen. No. So the only way this will happen is either by financial incentives for running clean which they dont want to do because it affects a revenue stream for the government. Or signing the Kyoto accord and putting a stranglehold on the economy. Do you know what will happen if the Kyoto accord is signed here. The chinese factory workers are going to have a lot more job opportunities as companies left and right move operations overseas.

Becky and Jimmy dont want you ripping up their prize garden because of the fiber you want to run there. Plus those little green poles you have in your backyard from AT&T are nothing like the 6 foot cabinets that will be required on every block to support the fiber plants you speak of. By I dont want a 6 foot large green cabinet sitting in my yard in the utility area. That comment about running fiber to every business is rubbish. My fiber cost nickles to get to the premises and then 60k in the encapsulated pipe because of some requirement by the electrical union here. Every turn required a turnbox. I would rather wait for DOCIS 3.0 and the 100mbs connection, or WiMax than have fiber run to my house.

 

I don't, and never did believe, that the Kyoto Protocol was the best idea we could come up with. Rather than dumping money into trying to comply with artificial restrictions assigned by the Protocol, or purchasing GHG emission reductions elsewhere (which accomplishes absolutely nothing), I believe the best solution still involves pouring that money into federal and state subsidies to give private corporations the opportunities to further develop and perfect green technologies. Let capitalism work for us here, because it isn't exactly working for us in some other areas.

 

The second thing we must do, in my humble opinion, is begin placing very large tariffs on goods coming in from China, and any other countries that are blatantly violating human rights principles- I'm tired of allowing them to participate in our free market but not playing by the rules everyone else has to play by. We must make it more of a decision for not only corporations based elsewhere, but American companies, to manufacture in nations where the citizenry and the workforce is abused or taken advantage of. There's no way we can ever compete for those jobs otherwise. And yes, the prices at Wal-Mart will get much higher.

 

Finally, we've got to attract any high-tech industries to the United States that we can. We need to get over some of he moral hesitancies we have regarding stem-cell research as well as other bio-industries that are either on the cusp now or in the near future. These are the industries we can best attract through our combination of infrastructure, facilities, and education.

[southsideirish71]

I don't, and never did believe, that the Kyoto Protocol was the best idea we could come up with. Rather than dumping money into trying to comply with artificial restrictions assigned by the Protocol, or purchasing GHG emission reductions elsewhere (which accomplishes absolutely nothing), I believe the best solution still involves pouring that money into federal and state subsidies to give private corporations the opportunities to further develop and perfect green technologies. Let capitalism work for us here, because it isn't exactly working for us in some other areas.

 

The second thing we must do, in my humble opinion, is begin placing very large tariffs on goods coming in from China, and any other countries that are blatantly violating human rights principles- I'm tired of allowing them to participate in our free market but not playing by the rules everyone else has to play by. We must make it more of a decision for not only corporations based elsewhere, but American companies, to manufacture in nations where the citizenry and the workforce is abused or taken advantage of. There's no way we can ever compete for those jobs otherwise. And yes, the prices at Wal-Mart will get much higher.

 

Finally, we've got to attract any high-tech industries to the United States that we can. We need to get over some of he moral hesitancies we have regarding stem-cell research as well as other bio-industries that are either on the cusp now or in the near future. These are the industries we can best attract through our combination of infrastructure, facilities, and education.

 

Remember your average citizen isnt going to give 2 s***s if the price of their items are going to double because of tariffs you passed onto the supplier who in turn will put them back on the consumer. They go to walmart because of the prices, not because of politics.

 

 

[iamshack]

Remember your average citizen isnt going to give 2 s***s if the price of their items are going to double because of tariffs you passed onto the supplier who in turn will put them back on the consumer. They go to walmart because of the prices, not because of politics.

 

Yeah, that was the point of the comment about Wal-Mart.

 

And I am not making these suggestions stating they will be easy.

 

But we are not the lone, or part of a handful, of countries manipulating the world anymore. This is a global economy now where everyone is playing the game. And I am sick and tired of the US having all this open trade with other nations that don't have to play by the rules as we do. I know we all want cheaper goods, but when the trade deficit with China reaches 250 billion per year (and continually rising) because they are manufacturing all our goods (that we send them the raw materials for, often times) due to their gross violations of human rights and intentional devaluing of the currency, we can no longer allow them to participate in our free market economy.

 

The average consumer may not want to pay double for the goods they buy at Wal-Mart, but if we don't do something, they're going to be paying worse than that due to the value of the dollar, the nation's credit rating, and massive inflation.

 

There is no way to avoid the sacrifices that must be made. Talk all you want about what the average consumer wants- but we've been playing that game for far too long- that's what gets us into these messes. It's time for Americans to start making sacrifices like the rest of the world.

Edited February 13, 2008 by iamshack

[Cknolls]

You know what will do wonders for the economy, forcing US companies to comply with the Kyoto accord. That should kill the economy with one quick and violent blow.

 

Do you know why the US ranks 24th in broadband penetration. Because there are so many telephone/cable companies who have local access, and dont want to cooperate with upstream vendors who will be using their network. Over in other countries there is one local carrier who supplies both local access and upstream access and can VAT the living crap out of any carrier that uses their network. But dont worry, this will change when the WiMax and more of the Cellular based broadband takes foothold. That will help with penetration. Becky and Jimmy homeowner want broadband, but they dont want Verizon digging up their yard to drop fiber as well. In other countries you dont have a choice. Here we have referendums and environmental studies of how the fiber optics will affect the indigenous swamp fly population.

 

The subprime loans are the fault of morons who took them. If you sign a contract that has your house as collateral I suggest you take the few minutes and gloss over the wording. The rate, and term of any mortgage is pretty much spelled out for you. I blame the banks as well, for giving credit out to those who dont deserve it and giving too much of a ratio for what a person can afford over what they should afford.

But in the end, the moron who signed the contract is the one to blame. No one forced that person to sign it. We are adults. You are responsible as an adult to pay your bills, and for your financial stability. If you make foolish decisions and dont read contracts you sign then you are asking for a world of trouble.

 

 

^^^^^^^^^^^ AMEN!^^^^^^^^^

[bmags]

we need James k. Polk to come in office, take care of business, then leave.

[HuskyCaucasian]

There is no way to avoid the sacrifices that must be made. Talk all you want about what the average consumer wants- but we've been playing that game for far too long- that's what gets us into these messes. It's time for Americans to start making sacrifices like the rest of the world.

but but but... what about my 52" HDTV I want to buy!? I cant sacrifice that! And my nice new car.. i need it!

[Cknolls]

I don't, and never did believe, that the Kyoto Protocol was the best idea we could come up with. Rather than dumping money into trying to comply with artificial restrictions assigned by the Protocol, or purchasing GHG emission reductions elsewhere (which accomplishes absolutely nothing), I believe the best solution still involves pouring that money into federal and state subsidies to give private corporations the opportunities to further develop and perfect green technologies. Let capitalism work for us here, because it isn't exactly working for us in some other areas.

 

The second thing we must do, in my humble opinion, is begin placing very large tariffs on goods coming in from China, and any other countries that are blatantly violating human rights principles- I'm tired of allowing them to participate in our free market but not playing by the rules everyone else has to play by. We must make it more of a decision for not only corporations based elsewhere, but American companies, to manufacture in nations where the citizenry and the workforce is abused or taken advantage of. There's no way we can ever compete for those jobs otherwise. And yes, the prices at Wal-Mart will get much higher.

 

Finally, we've got to attract any high-tech industries to the United States that we can. We need to get over some of he moral hesitancies we have regarding stem-cell research as well as other bio-industries that are either on the cusp now or in the near future. These are the industries we can best attract through our combination of infrastructure, facilities, and education.

 

 

Lower the business tax rates and you will attract a boatload of business to this country, and you will find multi-nationals re-patriating earnings from overseas.

[Balta1701]

There is no way to avoid the sacrifices that must be made. Talk all you want about what the average consumer wants- but we've been playing that game for far too long- that's what gets us into these messes. It's time for Americans to start making sacrifices like the rest of the world.

You could say the same thing about the whole mortgage market mess. Yes, it's as much the fault of the people who took out those loans as anyone. But the fact is, having a trillion or so dollars vanish because people did stupid things might be the logical thing to do to punish the people who did the stupid things and the banks that took out those stupid loans, but but if you try to pretend that it won't be a disaster for the rest of us as well, then you're just kidding yourself. Which is why the mortgage mess is a challenge to deal with.

[Balta1701]

Lower the business tax rates and you will attract a boatload of business to this country, and you will find multi-nationals re-patriating earnings from overseas.

Haven't we done that enough the last 8 years?

[HuskyCaucasian]

Haven't we done that enough the last 8 years?

and what happened? Companies went over seas... pay stayed stagnant... CEO pay went up.

[HuskyCaucasian]

The subprime loans are the fault of morons who took them. If you sign a contract that has your house as collateral I suggest you take the few minutes and gloss over the wording. The rate, and term of any mortgage is pretty much spelled out for you. I blame the banks as well, for giving credit out to those who dont deserve it and giving too much of a ratio for what a person can afford over what they should afford.

But in the end, the moron who signed the contract is the one to blame. No one forced that person to sign it. We are adults. You are responsible as an adult to pay your bills, and for your financial stability. If you make foolish decisions and dont read contracts you sign then you are asking for a world of trouble.

The MESS as a whole is the fault of both sides. The companies hooked people into loans they think they can afford then jack up the prices later on. These companies KNEW the prices would go up, and I am more than sure they KNEW they would foreclose on some of them. I call it bulk lending. Make up for the potential foreclosures by giving out more loans to compensate.

It is also the fault of the consumer. two and a half years ago I almost bought a town home. It would have been tight on the budget, but we could afford it. The other option to save money would have been to do a interest only or ARM. Well, i thought those sounded a little too risky. I understood these companies are out to make money, not help me get my dream. i decided against it. It's a good thing. My rate would have gone up and my home would be worthless. I have been a happy renter since August 2005.

 

Corporate Greed + Consumer Ignorance = DISASTER