Saturday, July 23, 2011

TIME Magazine's Refreshing and Ecletic Issue

I know many, perhaps most, of the readers of this blog seldom if ever have an occasion to read TIME Magazine. But this weeks issue had three outstanding articles that I think are worth discussing.
The first was an article by John Sununu reminding us all that we are a nation " on the dole." Sununu points out that 47 % of Americans receive at least one Federal benefit. If you add in tax preferences, like mortgage interest deductions, the number rises to 75 %. We are all, as Sununu puts it " Welfare Queens ."
This article illustrates the not so simple problem of balancing the budget and capping the debt. It also segues into the next article " Bringing Our Foreign Policy Home" by Richard Haass. Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations. He argues forcefully for a policy of domestic Restoration.....nation building where we focus on rebuilding America. Haass judges the world to be " Relatively" non threatening and seeks to develop a doctrine which rebalances resources to focus on domestic challenges rather than international challenges. It is a policy aimed at restoring America's economic, human and physical resources. We would have far fewer "wars of choice" like Vietnam, the second Iraq war and the current Libyan intervention as well as post surge Afghanistan. Drawing down Afghanistan would redirect $ 100 billion dollars to rebuilding the American domestic infrastructure. Haass believes the deficit could , and should be reduced by $ 300 billion annually until it is in balance.
The last article is , in many ways, the best. It is a discussion with Alan Simpson about the debt and features many accurate and wicked Simpson aphorisms and comments:
" Could the U.S become the next Greece ? " Simpson is asked.
" We're the healthiest horse in the glue factory", he answers.
" There is enough fat in the Defense Department to send a truck of potato chips to the obese."
Medicare ? " Doesn't matter if it's called ObamaCare or Elvis Presley Care or I don't Care Care, it cannot sustain itself as it is.
Would you run for office now ? " Hell no. Instead of figuring what you can do for your country, you sit figuring bout how to screw the other side."

All, in all, three excellent reads that I recommend to all
CraigS

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