Monday, January 27, 2003

State of Whose Union? Normally, I don't watch Presidential addresses on T.V. I find them predictable, boring, disingenuous. I just wait for the analysis on NPR the next morning and then I read the transcript in the paper. I have found that stripping the speech of its pomp and applause makes it easier to judge. But not this year. I'm going to watch this State of the Union address. It is going to be very interesting to see how the President's writing team can rhetorically dress the sow's ear as a silk purse. How will the President's refusal to deal with the economy be hidden? It took President Bush more than two years to devise a plan that even the White House won't call a stimulus. Or what about the lapses that lead to the attacks of Sept. 11? Sen. John McCain was quoted on Morning Edition, said that in the 16 months following the attacks, not one person has been fired their failures. Another congressman pointed out that the federal government spent more money to study casinos than it is spending to examine the mistakes that allowed Al-qaida to strike without warning. Health insurance price increases are eating into meagre cost of living raises, nothing is done. Retirement plans are wiped out by gross misconduct of corporate officers with fiduciary duties to shareholders, and nothing is done. Employment falls, and nothing is done. As deficits rise, billions are given to the wealthiest, while most get scraps. Millions have no health insurance, and malpractice damage awards are capped. State are forced to cut services to the poor, and billions in taxable dollars are taken off of the table. Israel is kindling waiting for a spark, North Korea smolders, and South America becomes more precarious by the day, but the President struggles to sell a war that he can't even explain. Americans want good jobs, clean air, decent schools, and Osama bin Laden's head on a spike. But we have to stand in line behind the large campaign donors. Power companies can loot California, Oil companies can loot Alaska and mining companies can savage West Virginia. Drug companies subsidies are untouched, CAFE standards are unchanged. Workplace safety standards are weakened and pension protections are undermined. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the State of the Union address. 8:50:21 PM    comment []trackback []

My father's funeral was this morning. It was fortunate that there was snow on Sunday. In the winter, Toledo can be depressingly brown, but a covering of snow perks the town up quite a bit. Today the ground had just enough snow to hide the grass and mud, each tree branch had a ridge of white along its length and the sharp starkness of the granite and marble monuments was softened. The cemetary my father choose is one of the oldest in the city. As we drove in, we passed markers bearing some of the most famous family names in Toledo: Flower, Spitzer, Stickney, Willys (as in Jeep). My father's site is above a creek, and in the summer it will have a thick canopy of leaves overhead. My father loved ducks, and, while I didn't see them today, most of the year there is a large number of them on the creekbanks below. I have often seen two large swans nearby as well. It's the same creek that ran through our neighborhood where I grew up and where my father and I often walked. The cemetary is close to my house as well, just a short walk away. Gabe loves to watch animals, so this summer he'll enjoy trips there to watch the ducks. 5:12:35 PM    comment []trackback []

Gailbraith He Ain't From this morning's Wall Street Journal: Speaking privately to a group of senators Thursday, Mr. Greenspan said the U.S. economy is recovering without additional fiscal stimulus. In any case, he said Mr. Bush's proposed $670 billion of tax cuts would provide the economy with little near-term effect, according to people familiar with the meeting, which was set up by Sen. John Breaux (D., La.) to hear Mr. Greenspan's views on the economy and government fiscal policy. Members of the bipartisan group said they concluded from the session that the central-bank chairman wants Congress to pass a much smaller stimulus package, or none at al l 8:04:35 AM    comment []trackback []