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Feedback ForumWhat do you think are the most pressing priorities for President-elect Obama?Submissions for this question are no longer being accepted. Previously submitted comments appear below. Comments may have been edited for content or space. Poster: dallas Comment: has human activity caused the world's climate to change in the past 100 years? Poster: Dr. Doris Derby and Dr. David Smith Comment: PRESSING PRIORITIES FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA - Solutions focused on Government Bailouts for Corporations: Executive Compensation The CEOs and their Senior Executive Staffs should not be paid higher salaries than the average salary for a major public university president. This is not a temporary solution - it should be standard, because it will take many years to get these companies back on a stable financial track. It is the public's money that is being loaned out to rescue various companies in a variety of industries. Concerning the $1 a year CEO salary for the automotive industry, the duration should be for the extent of the loan pay-back period. Other compensation allocations for the executive staffs of these companies should be examined and factored into the decision to loan public money to them and would have an impact on the terms of the loan. If the CEOs are not happy with the above requirements, we are sure that there will be many other great candidates (including former successful presidents of major public universities) that would be willing to replace them and accept the challenge of managing these companies through a time of crisis. Poster: Irene Martin Comment: Rising unemployment, uncounted and without benefit checks... If, as you've reported, 30% of working Americans were freelancers at the start of this recession, then I suspect the 7% unemployment figure is greatly underestimated. Non payroll positions are the first cut. Ask the freelancers' union. Also, if formal unemployment was 25% in 1932 (Great Depression),that was about 12 million people in a workforce of less than 50 million peak for the previous period. Unemployment of 7% for our peak 140 million workforce is about 10 million people. Our workforce now is larger than the entire population back then. So you see, there are about the same number of people out of work as in 1932. These people are farther removed from subsistence activity (farming, scavenging, self-employed services or home manufacturing) than those of the Great Depression. I would think the present misery is already greater now than then, and it is rapidly increasing. 25% unemployment in 2009 would amount to almost 40 million Americans, and this in an era of the 2 income household. I am alarmed and appalled! I expect to be among the next wave of layoffs. Poster: Gary Christiansen Comment: Hello and thank you for this opportunity. I think one of the many huge challenges for President Elect Obama is to address something that never gets addressed squarely and that is the system of spending in our government. each department whether at the state level, national level or even on a military level, each department has to spend/waste money to recieve more money. This is insane and irresponsible and has gone on for decades with really no one ever confronting this action. I have never heard a politician address this openly nor have I ever seen any intent to make changes to this draining system. This cannot be done in the real world. I shake my head in amazement how our lovely, fearless leaders just think that they can keep on spending freely. Gee, maybe that's why we are on the brink of the greatest depression. Now we have big corporations following suit wanting a handout. What I think the citizens of this country should demand is a reciept of where their tax dollars goes to, and I mean every single cent. That is a start to having to show why they need to for instance, to spend $50,000.00 on a fish tank for the lobby. We need to some OLD Fashioned Common Sense going on here LEADERS. It's time to really wake up!!!!!! Thank You. Poster: Laird Davis Comment: The greatest commonality we share is ethical misconduct of the middle/core bureaucracy [ethical misconduct is costing this country more than 9/11]. By history; during periods moral decay increases at various rates. Corporate (& institutions) are encouraged by governmental behavior. Nevada and other states have a history of ignoring & exploiting court crimes, especially benefiting people associated with public trust. Ex. Over the 7 years of state guardianship for my father; Court officers make blunders (intentional & otherwise), lawyers cover it up or do things called milking the job. There are indications the judge had a fiduciary relation with the guardians. That is the probable reason the judge eventually recused himself. Who needs Al-Qaida, look at what we got. This cause the victims have to pursue justice against bureaucratic largess & those whom stole Poster: Warren Doi Comment: A REAL AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC STIMULUS? The key to unlock the financial crisis is to provide investor confidence.?Government spending can provide a short-term stimulus by handing out rebates, but it will be a one-time event without a sustainable benefit.?New Deal infrastructure investments in roads, bridges, and education can create jobs and produce long-term benefits, but the economic impact will not happen right away.?None of the current proposals create a meaningful impact to restore investor confidence. The economic prosperity that was realized during the Clinton Administration can be directly attributed to the computer and technology boom.?American innovation led the development of new business models and investments in a new age of real and sustainable benefits.?The Venture Capital (VC) community funded these innovations primarily because they had some certainty in an EXIT through an IPO system.?The NASDAQ was an important component; however, in the current environment, there is no confidence that the system will finance even basic growth (e.g., 7X trailing EBITDA, 3X revenue). Innovation from entrepreneurship requires investment, and throughout American history entrepreneurs have fueled the economy, created jobs, and established the basic engine of capitalism. Unfortunately, today the lack of confidence in the financial markets has created an uncertain environment that has locked the wheels of innovation because investors have little or no certainty that an investment will produce an EXIT. Instead of merely spending money to stimulate demand, the government should restore confidence in the investment community.?This objective can be realized by creating reasonable and predictable financial metrics for a successful EXIT. Typically, this would be done by the investment banking community, but the financial engine that drove the major developments of the 1990's has been ripped apart by the current financial crisis. There is a reasonable effort to stimulate Green investments, alternative energy solutions, and energy independence.?However the government should not be in the business of evaluating business ideas or picking specific winners and losers.?Politics would inevitably taint a pure objective.?VC's are in the business of evaluating ideas, but their business model is based on an EXIT strategy that cannot be predicted in this uncertain environment.?If the government could establish a sense of certainty, then the investments analysis would be more clear (i.e., if investors knew what the rules were for an EXIT, then they could play by them). By simply reinforcing what had been in place through a functioning investment banking operation, the government could provide the confidence that reasonable financing would be in place. In other words, a new investment made in 2009 in an alternative energy solution could count on financing to be available after establishing the business with a 2-year earning history at 5-to-7 times EBITDA. The government could simply provide a backstop that for all intents and purposes should be more conservative than what is traditionally used in a functioning market; however, this policy would provide some support to the shore up a weakened system and it could simulate investments in a service economy focused on alternative energy initiatives. Unlike the computer technology boom, however, many of these cleaner energy solutions come from service businesses that create an incremental revenue stream. The computer and internet opened the door for many types of investments from the venture community. Through patented technologies, packaged software, specific devices, and unique domain areas, ideas could be funded based on intellectual capital protection. An investment in the development of a new technology made sense if it could produce future revenue with a competitive advantage. With many alternative energy ideas, however, the solution includes a service to utilize a cleaner energy approach that includes a savings or a revenue steam based on a service. The American economy has indeed progressed toward a more service sector, but unfortunately, these services do not fit the traditional VC model because the solution may be a more labor intensive service than a technology-enabled product. Millions of Green jobs could be created by stimulating this area of revenue generating alternative energy solutions. EXAMPLE:?a new business model creates revenue streams through a Green initiative. That idea is funded through a VC fund (that fund could possibly contain some of the $150B that the President-Elect has committed to Green initiatives, but it could also come from existing private capital).?The business executes the idea -- creates good jobs, makes an impact toward energy independence, and produces revenue.?The stream of cash flows could be monetized into an approved structure (audited by approved accounting firms, FASB compliant, etc.).?Those rules create an EXIT plan for the VCs, and it creates certainty in the market for new investments. This financing would provide a much needed injection of exit capital into smaller service businesses that are not currently IPO-able. This structure creates an entire ECO-system to encourage innovation, restore investor confidence, create good jobs, and truly stimulate an economic system rather than simply handing out checks.?This GREEN ECO-system could be the next Computer/Technology boom that produces real and sustainable progress. There are hundreds of thousands of Green businesses that do not have a financial system to support growth and fund innovative projects. These small businesses would provide an immediate stimulus to the economy as well as a sustainable benefit for society. The investment ECO-system would fund Green service businesses, and the EXIT would provide a strong incentive for investors who could rely on a reasonable return on their investment. The EXIT financing capital would be used to payback the original investors and allow the business to continue operation. The continued operation would distribute future earnings similar to interest payments or distributions to stockholders. Specifically, (1) use some of the $150B in an investment fund that is co-invested (one-to-one) with separate Green VC funds (e.g., Kleiner Perkins, SJF Ventures, Khosla Ventures), (2) set a policy to provide certainty in the market 2 years out for new investments in alternative energy initiatives -- no tax-payer money would be at risk for two years and only if the financial system was not functioning (i.e., a backstop for confidence in this sector), (3) create 20-year tax-friendly bonds to stimulate a service economy focused on Green initiatives (i.e., service companies currently under-served by the investment community). As a nation, we face tough choices in the current environment. Yes, we need to work through old problems, but let's not forget about a new and future economic engine. Some companies are seen as too big to fail; on the other hand, there are many new innovative ideas that are too good to fail. Poster: Larry Durkos Comment: President Elect The problems are clear what is not clear are solutions. I suggest you be bold, creative, unbounded reach beyond tradition find solutions for the people that live on This Earth Our Fragile Island Home. Larry Durkos Poster: Carl Comment: I've been hugely impressed by Barack Obama for more than four years now. I voted for him, and I hope that he and his administration will be able to achieve im-portant things! Of course, President Obama will decide for himself what to tackle immediately, and how he will do it; I feel trust that he will do what is right for the times, for the moment, for the American people as a whole, and on a whole range of complicated issues. My hope is that President Obama will quickly expand the access to and funding for promising stem cell research, and quickly take action to forcefully confront the climate change reality. Mr. Obama will have to help a sick economy right away, but I'm hopeful he will quickly begin to bring a responsible end to the Iraq War, and take the necessary actions to appropriately deal with the worsening Afghan situation. It's a full plate, but, as skillfully as Mr. Obama conducted his campaign to be president, and now selected his appeal-ing national security team...I have faith. Poster: michael mac millan Comment: For the economy he should raise the minimum wage and create a single nationwide workers union. There should then be subsidized manufacturing for exported goods. For healthcare he should create a three separate medical organizations that physicians are compelled to be a part of. These organizations would run the hospitals and sell health insurance. Physician's salaries would be one part reimbursement for care, one part hospital profits, and one part profit from their health insurance company's profit. For the energy and the environment all mass transit should be integrated into one system with the critical component being an urban continuous ski lift that transports commuters from outer loop parking facilities to the working zones. Electricity needs to be made from nuclear power not from coal. all these changes need to be done as soon as possible Poster: Brooklyn Comment: i think the MAIN priority for Mr.Obama is to speed up the economy......the gas prices have lowered and all but it's still hard for people to find jobs. I think this war is just rediculous and it's been going on for way too long now, hopefully with Obama as president we can set aside (or work out better yet) the problems that we have and end this nonsense. World peace is something this country is destined for. Health care issues also need to be worked out! But this all just takes time, so I just hope and pray that things work themselves out and that this country gets what it needs most! Sorry for writing so much! ¢¾Brooklyn 12/1/08 Poster: Anthony Ricciuto Comment: I think the top priority would be to start a public program to build the energy grid utility companies claim we need to bring alternative power to market. By starting it now, we can immediately begin to reduce unemployment by hiring blue collar collar workers to construct the grid and white collar workers to manage it. It makes no sense waiting to construct it until we generate the power. We should be ahead of the curve and have it in place as the alternative sources are developed. AND, we the public, should own the new grid that feeds into the privately owned grid and charge them for using our lines to bring the power to their grid in the same way they charge customers to bring power into their homes over private lines. Poster: Bob Haiducek, Bob the Health and Health Care Advocate Comment: 1. Implement non-profit national health insurance to shift roughly $400 million from complex, inefficient bureaucratic, excessive waste to taking care of citizens' health care. 2. Implement #1 to improve health and save lives, thus improving America's reputation in the world, as the other countries are perplexed as to why every other industrialized country has health care for all except the U.S. 3. Implement #1 to make U.S. businesses more globally competitive, thus recovering businesses and jobs, thus stablizing our economy. Poster: Bob Haiducek, Bob the Health and Health Care Advocate Comment: 1. Implement non-profit national health insurance to shift roughly $400 million from complex, inefficient bureaucratic, excessive waste to taking care of citizens' health care. 2. Implement #1 to improve health and save lives, thus improving America's reputation in the world, as the other countries are perplexed as to why every other industrialized country has health care for all except the U.S. 3. Implement #1 to make U.S. businesses more globally competitive, thus recovering businesses and jobs, thus stablizing our economy. Poster: ELVIA Comment: AS A SINGLE MOTHER THERE HAS BEEN ALOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT BAILING WALL STREET OUT OF THE FINANCIAL DILEMAS IN OBAMAS ECONOMIC PACKAGE IS THERE ANY PLANS TO GIVE TAXPAYERS ANOTHER ECONOMIC STIMULUS CHECK? Poster: Larry Powell Comment: I agree with Kuttner. The economy needs massive stimulus and re-regulation. Robert Rubin and his kind should not have their advice accepted by Obama. They, along with people like Bill Clinton,were directly responsible for the massive sub-prime mess due to de-regulation and GREED. Time for Keynes in a big way. Poster: Michael Roberts Comment: Stimulate growth of affordable family Residential Housing by: Identifying the reasons that excessive house price inflation has made housing unaffordable for many and develop remedial policies and controls. Potential practice changes that may have contributed to hyper housing inflation are: Fannie May and Freddie Mac financing mansions instead of supporting first home buyers. Tax incentives for the purchase of second homes. Residential home valuations inflated by RE professionals with no independant authorative valuation. City planning for residential housing that is being monopolised by developers with a short term profit motive. Poster: Dan Foster Comment: As to national health care; Limit federal involvement to major medical and well child care. Everyone should pay for their own health insurance to a ceiling deductible of let's say $20,000. *No cradle to grave fully funded health care. *All medical expenses for non-cosmetic care should be direct deductions from taxes. A $10,000 to $20,000 medical bill is tough, but could be handled within the working person's budget if low interest government guaranteed financing is available. Once the medical debt reaches $20,000 most people are going to experience much larger financial losses due to their inability to work. After $20,000 of medical debt we need direct minimum government funded participation in health care. Anything over the guaranteed minimum should be covered by private insurance. If they don't pay their government insured debt cut of their future government subsidized medical benefits or take it out of future tax overpayments. Poster: Vic Ward Comment: Kuttner's interview is the first interview that shows just how unstable the economy is. I get the impression that Obama acknowledges this when he says he may get the economy turned around by the end of his 1st term. Kuttner has given us and Obama a description of the scale of intervention needed to stabilize the economy. Obama needs to act quickly, as Reagan did during his first 100 days, when he gave us this mess. This is not just another financial crisis with no impact on national security or on ordinary people's jobs, homes and welfare. Business as usual won't solve this problem. peace Poster: George Graham Comment: Barack Obama has demonstrated that he knows what he has to do and how to do it. I hope he also knows how to get the people of America to buy into the changes that must be made. It will take all of his communication skills to explain what he and his team are doing and why. Every step must be completely transparent, and every dollar spent in the process must be justified. Poster: Doris Lafferty Comment: 1. (Many wonderful comments here.) Sometime in the next two years, make an effort for valid honest elections in our precious country....and not just Federal elections.....all elections. Poster: John Baird Comment: It seems that achieving energy independence should be on top of the list of important issues that must be dealt with by President Obama. The list all those mentioned in the submittals posted. The reason is that if we do not develop alternative energy/fuel sources to oil, all other threats or issues become of no concern. Oil is a depleting world resource, world oil production has peaked at about 85 million barrels per day and while world oil demand was 86 million barrels per day the price was about $150 per barrel. Now there is world recession and the demand is about 78 million barrels per day. With world economic recovery demand will increase as production peak declines; with supply interruption or prices above $300 per barrel there will be severe economic problems making the present problem seem easily manageable and food production and distribution will become marginal. Getting the US away from oil as a fuel is essential now. Now should educate the American populace regarding the declining world oil production rate and declining world oil resource. Poster: Brian Whitlock Comment: Get the economy moving. Focus spending initiatives on constuction sector (a public works inititive not seen since the 1930's is necessary) Construction jobs will create opportunities for skilled and unskilled laborers; the income and social security taxes that those works generate will shore up social security and medicare. The construction should focus on improving urban infastructure: sewers, bridges, and roads; building new schools and public buildings, expanding public transportation and transportation alternatives such as high speed rail. The inititive should be financed in part by raising the excise tax on gasoline over a 4-6 year period in 25 cent increments per gallon every six to months. When gasoline was over $4 per gallon people adjusted their use. If people see higher gasoline prices as inevitable they will demand and support electric and alternative energy vehicles and we will reduce our dependence on anti-American regimes that supply oil and hold our country hostage. Poster: framingtheissues Comment: President-elect Obama's most pressing priorities should be to: 1. Propose legislation to Congress to completely restore Habeas Corpus. 2. Propose legislation to Congress that limits executive power. This should include legal restrictions on signing statements and state secrets. 3. Use the majority of the proposed infrastructure funds to build low cost housing for the poor. 4. Take the lead in a nationwide discussion about checks and balances in government. Poster: Samuel Tan Comment: I like to see the list to support and encourage a small to medium the exporter. This will definately nerrow the deficit and bring surplus to our economy Poster: John Gelles Comment: 1. Robert Kuttner on NOW offers common sense imperatives to promote government spending to acquire vital national needs AND to try to make up for the immediate loss of the wealth effect on individual spending so as to prevent ruinous deflation already hitting our chances of rapid recovery. 2. These Keynesian actions asked for Kuttner deserve more prominence on the current PBS website. 3. Direct foreclosure prevention by federal moratorium and acquisition of properties at market value, under rules to be as fair as possible to residents, communities and lenders, would provide maximum eventual protection of the values of residential real estate, our US dollar, our families under stress, and the economic future of every American and their foreign friends. 4. Obama must campaign NOW to drastically reduce taxes on every individual and business that cannot well afford them. He must assure his re-election or all else will go for naught. As Kuttner points out, we can afford a very high ratio of federal debt to national income--our only concern in this regard is protection of the dollar from hyperinflation. Indexed savings, subsidized production, and wartime economics while we are in war, can all be used to protect us as taxes are removed from the voters we need to avoid a return of market fundamentalism and likely failure. Poster: Jim Lawn Comment: I would like to see reform with social security disablity and the amount of time it takes to review appeals and lighter standards on what is a disability in penna. Iv'e been waiting for a year now and still no word in sight about my appeal. I have degenerative disc disease and copd among other things and I was denied because I used to work behind a desk earlier in my life and they feel that I can do that work again. On my appeal process I tried to explain that i'm not able to sit at a desk for long periods.phyisical labor in this rural area is what these jobs are in this area when there are jobs. 2nd while the wait for my case to be heard I have been on welfare's cash and foodstamps. while the foodstamps are manageable the cash is so low that it's very hard manage the bills. honestly how can one manage $174.00 a month, on top of that I have to pay it back when or If my case is settled in my favor. Poster: Luke K Comment: Crisis = Opportunity but as always some established interests will block reform Must Have 1. Get the economy back on track via stimulus package 2. Institute information technology healthcare standards to create market and speed adoption of IT technologies to lower administrative costs (ie: GSM standard in Europe, see also Veterans Affairs infotech system) 3. Close Gitmo, withdraw from Iraq, redeploy in Afghanistan (create jobs so men won't be tempted to fight - country badly in need of infrastructure: build in a very labor intensive way) 4. Potential 'grand bargain' with Detroit with strict conditions on fuel economy, resolution of health care and pension obligations Could Use 1. Address shortcomings of No Child Left Behind: teacher training, school funding, national standards on tests, etc. Allow further experimentation at state and local level with vouchers, charter schools et al. 2. Reduce farm and export subsidies on agricultural products: reduce government expenditures, less distortion to global market, higher chance of Doha trade talk success, possibly healthier food for Americans 3. Look to Britain for financial regulatory model, tax financial products (<1%) to build up financial system stabilization fund Would Be Nice 1. Create a carbon/BTU/energy tax that slowly increases (thus sending a long term market signal) while closing tax loopholes, eliminating tax credits, etc. The business and income tax rates can then be lowered in a manner tied with revenue production from the aforementioned new tax. This would gradually but inexorably reduce general taxation, while reorienting economic incentives toward energy independence, change geopolitical realities by eliminating power of petro-states (Russia, Iran, Venezuela) and address climate change in a manner not deleterious to the economy. 2. Universal Healthcare - establish health care as a 'human right' on pulpit. Introduce universal childcare, incentivize preemptive care....a little pie in the sky and not my area of expertise but you get the picture Poster: Monte Tope Comment: The Top To Dos for the President Elect. If I may be so bold as to add to the thousands of good ideas on the table, I would like to respectively submit these suggestions. 1. The Economy/Transportation/National Trans. Plan. Perhaps mandating that all personal vehicles mfd in this country have a max speed of 48MPH out of the factory (thus eliminating almost all fatalities). Reregulating commercial traffic, reduce number of hours a driver can drive, and eliminate long dist trucking unless purchase a very expensive permit,(Allow regional only). Large trucks and small autos should not share the same roads. (however you could for the price of a small toll.) Heavy trucks can also begin transition to natural gas. These things could conceivably eliminate our dependence on foreign oil much sooner than anything on the table currently. The majority of freight should move by train, we need to grow capacity). Also remove all other stds for personal vehicles, allowing all of those other alternative auto manufactures across the country to get on with development (their are many in other states besides Mich). With this reduced speed imposed on all developers most of these standards would become irrelevant. 48MPH speed would have a negligible effect on the economy. At the end of the day you have lost approx. 30 min. and you aren't exhausted. Along with all of this we need to engineer a national hi-speed rail system (120-140MPH) similar to the Interstate system linking all of the continuous states, encouraging the states to take off with their own development linking up with the national system. This could drive competition between the states. This would drive the economy from the bottom-up many decades into future. 2. Taxes. Work with economists, leaders, university's across the country, and come up with a base standard of living relative to health-care, housing, education, savings, vacations, and family. Small business should be rewarded for creating jobs that are favorable, and beneficial for their families, friends,and neighbors, and providing health care is not one of those things that small business can, or should have to deal with. Liability Ins. for small business needs to be reduced, as well as the damage settlements. Insurance, by definition, is a losing proposition because of the profit motive. Ins. net profit, limited to the rate of inflation could be viable. We should remove as much of this as possible from the system, and handle thru arbritration. Rewrite the tax code. The anti-trust measures need to be tightened, and enforced. 3. Economy/Job training/National Security. Put in place a national service corps, and or Peace Corps, that address's all forms of disaster, as well as job training for skills needed both military, and civilian, and make this mandatory for all Americans at birth. Integrate it into our educational system. Most would never be called upon unless their is a regional, or national disaster. Assign a number and apply it to our social security system and add one or two entries on IRS forms to keep updated when filing taxes. This Country would no longer be so divided.. 4. Terrorism. Do whatever is necassary to develop a CIA that can infiltrate, and monitor the pulse of terrorism around the world, And mandate through Congress that this country will never invade another country to occupy. other than police action in self defense. And to develop the alliances, laws, and tools necassary to make it extremely painful for terrorists to act against their fellow mankind. We should make it clear to our allies, and the rest of the world that we are about expanding the human experience, not limiting, or exploiting, and that violence will come to roost where it came. 5.Energy. Unleash a national call to develop any new alternative, and offer tax encentives to individuals. And solicit the U.S. Patent office to research the huge number of old patents applied for, and offer assistance to anyone thru university's, and by region. Poster: Susanne Barkan Comment: the agriculture in this country is a farce. It certainly has an impact on global warming and the environment. I think if President Elect Obama appoints the right person for the job it will certainly help. Hopefully he will get Robert Kennedy Jr.for the environment,after all isn't Kennedy an environmental lawyer and advocate. who better? And do something about the lobbyist's for big corporate interests. Get rid of them. Poster: Scott Baker Comment: The president-elect needs to change the tax code so that wages and capital (the REAL capital - factories, buildings, tractors, not that funny stuff they move around on spreadsheets on Wall Street) are not taxed. These are the fruits of productivity, and we want to encourage those. On the other hand, we need to tax all the natural resources which are not created by people, which are finite, and which by natural right belong to all of us. This includes land, water, air, oil etc. These ideas are not new, they go back to 19th century economist and political activist Henry George. Modern day Georgists like Mason Gaffney point out how these booms and busts like the one we are currently going through are NOT inevitable, even though they have occured with depressing (in both sense of the word) regularity for 800 years in 18 year cycles. See: http://www.masongaffney.org/ Poster: Scott Baker Comment: The president-elect must assume FDR-like powers. The first thing he should do is to declare all derivatives placed outside of legally regulated markets (90%) null and void. These bets - worth $180 trillion according the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in America alone, and over half a Quadrillion dollars worldwide - could not have been made in traditionally regulated markets, because the players did not have sufficient collateral. Because for every buyer there is a seller, the amounts lost would zero out and no one would gain an advantage. We would just get to reset the clock. This is as fair as things can be made given where we are. Right now, this enormous sum is only good for driving companies into bankruptcy and tying up the courts for years while the winners of these bets squabble over the crumbs of the bankrupt companies. This is already happening with creditors fighting over the last crumbs of Lehman Brothers. This is a pointless and destructive squabble and the administration or the next one, if we can wait that long - must act to prevent years more of these. If the parties object to the elimination of their derivative bets, they should be reminded of the penalty for fraud. What's causing the panic in the markets right now is the realization that the losers have insufficient money to pay the winners. The domino effect of multiple collapses cannot be stemmed by any government, even by running the printing press overtime. The only solution is to wipe them off the books and ensure these bets are never made again by sending those who make them in the future to jail. The problem not only won't go away, it is continuing to grow, up to $600 trillion in the latest estimate. Furthermore, the underlying subprime crisis is not abating either. As a recent cover story makes clear, the same subprime lenders are at it again, loaning money to the same people, under similar terms, only backed, this time, by the FHA instead of Freddie Mace and Fannie Mae. Already, the default rates on these renegotiated loans are hitting 50%. There is not a moment to lose to reregulate the financial industry. Poster: Scott Johnson Comment: The marine fishery is in steep decline or even collapse. As the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) re-licensing process goes on it is mandatory for human survival that the damage caused by the federal government policy's, to anadromous fish populations and their habitat be mitigated. The first step is for the federal government to admit being responsible in large part for the crisis in declining fish populations. Water pollution, barriers to fish passage, allowing destruction of habitat, and water allocation away from spawning streams are all problems that the federal government has a hand in controlling and mitigating in the re-licensing process. Using the piece meal excuse is not acceptable. Projects being re-licensed by FERC have overlapping effects and also effects downstream from the licensee’s operations. The totality of the watershed and ecosystem must be considered when granting a 50 year operating license. Poster: Scott Baker Comment: As Bush prods NATO into a renewed attack on the embedded Taliban - a surge which has already cost scores of innocent Afghan lives as well as those of our own troops - it's worth asking if there is not another way. Another way to curb the Taliban influence that does not involve shooting people. History is helpful here. In the 1970s, Turkey was the largest supplier of Heroin in the world. Then, the United States got smart and just started buying the poppy crop - we still do. The government sold the crop to U.S. pharmaceutical firms to make legitimate drugs and even made a profit - after all, there are no bad plants, only bad uses for plants. The drug cartel lost control of Turkey and today Turkey is one of our staunchest allies in the Middle East. A similar story exists for India around the same time period. Facts from the CIA world fact site etc: The GDP of Afghanistan in 2006 was something under $40 billion. 60% of Taliban monies come directly from poppy production. Growing food staples is either uneconomic for the average afghan farmer, or is outright forbidden by the Taliban militia who control the rural regions. We should buy the crop - all of it - from the Afghan farmers. This would: A. End 60% of Taliban income immediately. B. Put us on the side of the Afghan farmer instead of us making war upon him. He would defend himself and his neighbors against the Taliban if he knew his crop could bring a higher price. And we could finally capture hearts and minds. C. Put a serious dent in the Heroin trade - a concern for Russia and Europe as well as us, and they blame us for the current drug problem. D. Allow us to influence the Afghanistan people by becoming their respectful partner instead of their bullying enemy (there is something extremely unseemly about a country of our size, might, and moral stature going around burning the fields of subsistence farmers in a desperately poor country). Eventually, we need to encourage Afghans to grow food instead of Poppy plants. We could pay a premium for that too and build a market economy form the ground up. By supporting a middle class of farmers, shopkeepers, we would cut the Taliban off at the knees. As Obama has recognized, an economy is built from a strong middle class, not from trickle-down largess provided by the powerful. Bush's answer to foreign difficulties seems to be to either go to war or threaten to. There are other answers (many of them, in fact) IF people are willing to examine history and to be creative. We need to play to OUR strengths, not to the Taliban’s. Otherwise, we’ll be playing this cat and mouse game with violent Islamists forever. And in a game of attrition, they will win, not us. Take a look at recent issues of Peace magazine for more on this dollars for crops idea. It can be done. All we need is the will to change. Poster: Scott Baker Comment: The big three auto makers are currently begging for money in Washington. Personally, I would rather give them $25 billion to save 3 million blue collar middle class jobs - directly or indirectly - than the hundreds of billions (with no end in sight) we are giving Wall Street, where no one has made so much as a brake light (maybe if they did, they'd have known how to STOP.) I propose we begin with a national health insurance plan to relieve the auto companies of that very large burden. This is better than a bailout, because the benefits would go directly to the workers, and be transferable, in case, as now seems inevitable, the workers are laid-off. It would even make workers more flexible and mobile so they could look for other jobs - secure in the knowledge their health insurance would remain for them and their families. It would also remove one of the main obstacles to making our domestic automakers competitive with foreign auto makers - whose governments all cover their employees at home. It's been said that GM is an HMO that happens to make cars. Here's how to change that and how to start to move towards a single-payer system for all of America. Once this proves itself, we can talk realistically about covering everyone with a single-payer system that is both cheaper and more effective than what we have now. Poster: K. McKee Comment: I beleive that Obama should make it a priority to give the little people a chance to get out from under the heavy burden of taxes at this time by implementing a mortgage moratorium for those making under $50,000 annually rather than to continue to load the giants with millions that will never filter down to the common person. It won't cost as much in the end result and these are the people who will get the economy moving again. Poster: Darryl G. Carter Comment: For clean air, for energy independence, and for jobs creation (win, win win): 1. commence construction of a state-of the-art transmission grid, priority targeted to first expedite electricity production via wind and solar 2. commence construction of a high-speed passenger rail network, at least to the standards of the second-generation now deployed in France (and possibly, mag-lev, ala Shanghai's airport line). Upon completion, ban flights of fewer than 600 miles. 3. commence construction of a state-of-the-art air traffic control system, to enable all flights to follow shortest-distance routes. 4. Harry Reid notwithstanding, get Yucca Mountain operating and recycling (again, ala France), and commence construction of new nuclear plants. 5. Stop ALL bailouts SIMULTANEOUS with retraining of displaced workers. Hank's hyperventilating has succeeded mostly in perpetuating fundamentally flawed institutions, and rewarding the fiscal treason of those who designed and ran them. Poster: Charlotte Thorp Comment: CLEAN UP OUR FOOD SUPPLY AND ENCOURAGE HEALTHY EATING. Eliminate (or adjust radically) farm subsidies, and encourage local small, organic farms. Outlaw feedlots. Forbid the use of antibiotics and hormones in animal feed; encourage grass-feeding Appoint Michael Pollan Secretary of Agriculture. Poster: Jack L aVelle Comment: Stop subsidizing big farmers. Decrease the taxes for 95% of the people. Eliminate the taxes for senior citizens. Take the troops out of Irac. Poster: Sal LoManto Comment: I want him to keep his promise and clean OUT the lobbyist from buying politicians and there vote, it is the single most important issue on the table. A democracy can only be a democracy if the people's voice truly matters. Poster: Raychel Skeen Comment: 1. Stabilize the economy by funding a. help for struggling home owners; b. infrasturcture projects through government agencies for water, power, transportation, schools, and hospitals; c. R&D programs to address clean power, global warming, clean waste disposal, improve education system, revamp tax requirements, restructure oversight of wallstreet, methodology to boost social security, and create a health care system for all. All of which will create jobs that should be paid living wage with benefits. 2. Get out of Iraq, and develop trained/skilled corps of diplomats to repair relations with other countries, and network about solutions to build a global international system to resolve conflicts. (I recommend Jimmy Carter to lead this corps!) 3. Implement health care system for all, a fair system that would not leave individuals to bargain with insurance companies for accepable care, because citizens will only be raped further. Also, impower government agency oversight over drug companies for testing, safety and pricing. 4. Implement restructured education system (iliminating no-child left behind)with options and opportunity for all to achieve higher education. Reinstate teaching civics and social responsibility in k-12, including local community service programs. 5. Implement restructured tax system so wealthier individuals and corporations pay taxes for the benefits gained of having access to the American economic system and consumers. And reinstate a modern version of the Glass/Steigal Act. 6. Implement resturctured social security system so it continues to successfully provide benefits for future generations. 7. Revise election process by eliminating the electoral college system to a direct vote system. Outlaw campaign finance completely, and mandate all owners/users of public media to donate equal time/space for all party candidates prior to elections for presentations and debate on issues. Continue updating ballot/polling stations to accurately report and record voting process and follow up reporting of results and analysis of election data post elections. 8. Consider restricting foriegn ownership of American land/property. Poster: Lewis N. Villegas Comment: We are staring at the edge of the knife this business that there are trillions that is being thrown at the economy... to see if like spaghetti on tile, it will stick. The depth of the American wealth is not about the price of everything and the value of nothing. It is the ability to buy into good farming practice (call it organic), or good building (call it urban revitalization), or good engineering (call it a revolution in auto-making when everybody will say once again, 'I want an American car'), or good eduction (call it excellence), or good healthcare (call it Canadian). Whether it is Obama or something else, the fate we face is a choice between bleeding or plumbing the depth of the well. Poster: Philip Gower Comment: I am told auto makers currently are not allowed to sell the more fuel efficient,less polluting cars built to California standards outside of 6 States; that they are actually fined $27,000 if they do so ! If true, this needs to be changed by Obama on Day 1 of his Administration. Also the use of water4gas systems that produce Hydrogen on demand should become factory installed, rather than the current semi-underground retro-fitting individuals are doing to their own cars.It is currently in use in more than 30,000 vehicles and produces cleaner burning engines that run smoothly, with more pep, and no tailpipe emissions except water !! The IRS should have a form that makes it easy for users with such systems installed to claim a credit on their income tax for the cost of installation. Poster: Michael Sarabia Comment: To keep current salaries and bette compete with other nations, we must increase productivity. To be able to do this, Labor Unions must participate from the start. The need for quick job increases is to make low interest loans or grants to construct new sites for new robotic assembly lines for the components and the final assembly of hybrid cars, bikes, hybrid busses, hybrid trains, airplanes, etc. I saw none in the new staff with the proper technical credetials, I suggest a Technical Advisory Commission partially filled by consultants and volunteers with a site like this General Participation. Poster: Barb Rodgers Comment: Create jobs yes to road and bridge building and prisons:Overhaul the crimminal justice system, create products to offset the cost; do products that are too labor intense for the private sector. Get cross state photo and linking software going realize career crimminals are better organized, networked, and funded than law enforcement. Crooks contribute nothing and steal millions of dollars, distroy property, and pay no taxes and they are a large drain on our economy and they have discovered a growing vulnerable population in aging seniors and brain injured and returning military persons. Crime is a large reason for our major economic problems as little is done about all of the white collar crime and is at the highest levels of business; how dare an executive cream off the top millions in bonus $ and self enrichments and not pay for those stolen dollars and not be charged for the stealing? AIG and all those loophole marginally morals folks need to see the intent of the law. Outsource our prison population could save money and let them be house in say Mexico. We need to realize some marginally moral persons do not fit in normal society. Employ teachers, guards, inspectors, investigators, revamp the credit industry -- make it crimminal proof; bring all the customer service jobs back the the USA. Outsourcing to India our government program customer service is unacceptable. Make English the only language (that gets folks learning or leaving). More teachers for adults. More training and superison of all government programs. There is too much waste and fraud. Poster: elb Comment: Re. Obama's Challenge. I was dismayed that in your interview with Robert Kuttner when the subject of raising taxes on the wealthy came up, you blithely passed it off as undoable until the economy improves. I don't understand your reasoning (which you didn't bother to give), or why you didn't let Kuttner (who likely knows more than you in such matters) answer this question? When Governor Patterson was asked about the same subject in reference to dealing with NYS's critical budget deficit, he also matter-of-factly rejected it, saying the wealthy would just pick up and leave the state. I don't buy that either. I'm beginning to feel the fix is in to publicly undermine the patent benefits, not to mention fairness, of reversing Bush's tax cuts as soon as possible. Is the con this time to be trickle down deficit reduction economics? Poster: Richard Burnworth Comment: Everyone knows the issues effecting our nation. President-elect Obama, must prioritize a rank and file action list (I am certain he has)and finish one at a time. This not to say hold the press but only minimize his resources to their ranking. If a president can resolve one issue at a time in this complex global world, it would be a once in a lifetime event. The issues are subjective and what effects my world may not fit a standard. This is a very important time and the United States must regain respect as a can-do nation. Our sneeze gives everyone else a cold. Our actions should radiate energy and exemplify what a Democracy is. Poster: Christopher Maxwell Comment: This is what I submitted at www.change.gov ... that Obama would pass a simple Executive Order stating: 1) All buildings sold must have a full H.E.R.S. (Home Energy Rating System) Energy Audit as part of its Sale Inspection. (Fully Informed buyers will means real savings when people see that its not just the house payment, its the mortgage PLUS utilities that make a house affordable! And that should include the commute costs.) Like an Energy Star label ... but attached to the house purchase inspection! 2) All roads should have a shoulder with these removable cones that separate the bike lane on the side from the main traffic. If you need to pullover, you can ... at slow speed, the cones just fold over. Hit those cones at 40mph and they take out your headlights! Buildings with more than 3 people in them shall provide a place to lock up a bicycle. 3) All vehicles at all sizes used by the government shall be Multi-Fuel (propane, or Waste Vegetable Oils etc.) Clean Diesel technology (already exists in larger truck diesels and VW diesels at 140+ hp!) AND BE HYBRID with an electric battery set and electric 15hp motor to get you up to 40mph for 12 miles. Thus an in-town trip never starts the engine at all ! These batteries shall be recharged from noncoal and non-nuclear power. These vehicles will have a feature that enables you to run a construction site, government camp or your house from a socket in the side of the engine compartment. Its a hybrid, that means it has a generator in it. Voila! Instant mobile energy security for natural and other disasters where the power went out. 4) Some way must be found to re-enable common stock holders to vote *effectively* for the slate of Board of Directors of Corporations so we don't continue with the same Good Ol' Boy networks that hires overpaid Dr. FeelGood executives that obviously don't know what the hell they are doing! We also need impeachment when a CEO is found to be a turkey. From the stockholder level. 5) You can sell ANY good and service to US citizens *IF* that product or service met or exceeded the regulatory standards it would have faced IF it had been made in one of the 50 US states. 6) CEOs that worked for a corporation should have a web based exit interview with their workers that follows them to their next employer. This way duds will not keep snowing boards of directors with a great chameleon pitch in a private room. Full Disclosure equals, good guys get the Jobs! Folks GOOD AT the job and not just at selling the sizzle. 7) Our health care crisis is destroying small business. Small business is where innovators go. So our lack of decently affordable health care is killing GM and Ford ... and the small business owners (literally killing) America's future innovators. Obama should issue an executive order that owners and employees of small businesses with less than say, 5 employees shall qualify for Medicaid. That way it won't matter if they are contractors because those contractors qualify as a sole proprietorship and thus qualify for Medicaid. Also, this same shall apply to the President and the Senate, Judiciary and Congresscritters. I want them to experience the same boat! Or they could help pay my way to move to India to get a computer job. Sincerely, Christopher Maxwell Founder: VCU Recycling Program Founder: http://www.WRIR.org Poster: Richard Morgan Comment: Thanks for putting the truth out. I see all this happening and poeple think I'm crazy for my points of view. They are swayed by public media and don't know the whole story. I only wish all people had to watch you instead of NBC, ABC, CBS, even CNN and Headline news don't get it right all the time. Never-the-less Fox! They are way off their rockers. You do the best. Keep it up. I'm disabled and can't afford to send money for programming. The gov't won't let me make any money or they'll take away my benefits. Poster: Mitch Smith Comment: I am a public utility protective relay technician with 25 years experience in power generation. I am appalled by the utter lack of public works project vision that I have seen in the last 40 years. Obama needs a public works project that will have multiple benefits. The western US needs more water to develop. The Eastern US needs a better electrical distribution system and supply. An ability to remove significant volumes of water from the Mississippi might also aid in flood control. I propose that we build a system of Trans-America tunnels to move water westward from the Missippi river to Kansas/Oklahoma/North Texas/New Mexico/Arizona. A pair of 30' diameter steel-reinforced concrete tunnels would be needed, constructed approximately 30' feet below grade. Parallel tunnels provide for repair redundancy and allow for higher flows if needed for floodwater control. On top of the tunnel corridor would be sited a HVDC High Voltage Direct Current transmission line, the best system for moving power long distances. Many of these lines are already in use. An example would be the 1200 mile line from Los Angeles, California to Washington state. This HVDC power corridor would provide a small footprint power source eastward from the West. Pumping would be provided by electrical generating stations sited approximately every 50 miles along the tunnels. These would be gas & coal thermal stations primarily, but could include thermal solar, photovoltaic, wind. Thermal cycle power generating stations normally use very large circulating water pumps to move the required volumes of cooling water through their steam condensing sections. These cooling water flows are on the order of 20,000 CFM or more, equivalent to a small river. No seperate costs would be incurred to move the water cross country; circ pumps are a normal parasite load component and consume perhaps 2% of plant output. Generation output from the plants feeds the local grid and the HVDC long distance power transport line. The 50 mile intervals between power plants provide for earth cooling of the tunnel water. A side effect of this heat load would be extended farming opportunities for the property above the tunnels. Cost of a similar tunnel has already been estimated by the Bureau of Reclamation at $10 Billion per 100 miles. This was for a project for water exchange to reclaim California's Salton Sea by exchanging water with the Sea of Cortez in Baja California. A 1000 mile tunnel system would by Very Rough extrapolation cost $100 Billion dollars. Not so much compared to the $7 TRILLION worth of proposed financial bailout monies. If the materials, tools, and labor were all sourced from within the US, the money would then be recirculating within the US as wages and sales income. Which should be the intent of any public works project. The water in the West would be used for irrigation and aquafer replentishment. The Ogalala in Oklahoma needs it badly, as I know do many aquafers in Arizona. A new irrigation source would also automatically reduce demand for local groundwater and limited western river water. Anyhow, here is an idea I have been thinking over for a few years now. It would add value by literally creating a new river in the West. It would employ many tens of thousands of folks for 10-15 years. It utilizes normal power generating plant parasite power loads to achieve dual functions of cooling and water transport. It is entirely achievable with standard hardware: all of the pumps, gates, tunneling machinery, HVDC hardware already exist. The warm soil conditions created above the tunnel would extend the growing seasons of the farmland above it. And one last thing: the earth removed from this excavation might be MOST WELCOME along the USWA's Southern Coastline... Poster: Mitch Smith Comment: On top of the tunnel corridor would be sited a HVDC High Voltage Direct Current transmission line, the best system for moving power long distances. Many of these lines are already in use. An example would be the 1200 mile line from Los Angeles, California to Washington state. This HVDC power corridor would provide a small footprint power source eastward from the West. Poster: Mitch Smith Comment: I am a public utility protective relay technician with 25 years experience in power generation. I am appalled by the utter lack of public works project vision that I have seen in the last 40 years. Obama needs a public works project that will have multiple benefits. The western US needs more water to develop. The Eastern US needs a better electrical distribution system and supply. An ability to remove significant volumes of water from the Mississippi might also aid in flood control. I propose that we build a system of Trans-America tunnels to move water westward from the Missippi river to Kansas/Oklahoma/North Texas/New Mexico/Arizona. A pair of 30' diameter steel-reinforced concrete tunnels would be needed, constructed approximately 30' feet below grade. Parallel tunnels provide for repair redundancy and allow for higher flows if needed for floodwater control. Poster: Michael Boynton Comment: 1. Cancel and rescind all executive orders, Presidential findings, and other decisions by Bush, then reinstate those that are in accordance with the Constitution, preserve and protect national security, and preserve and protect the environment. 2. Review the Bush bailout packages for financiers then make the process transparent and accountable, make the terms and conditions in favor of U.S. taxpayers, and hold those who lost money or broke the law accountable. 3. Propose and get put into a law a stimulus package which focuses on building a comprehensive, efficient, and effective energy grid; repairing or replacing hazardous bridges; repairing and improving railways; repairing and improving roads; and repairing and improving airports and harbors. 4. Close Guantanamo Bay and try suspected terrorists in U.S. courts or in military courts in accordance with the Constitution and U.S. laws. 5. Review troop deployments then implement a plan of action to reduce costs, improve national security, make Iraqi security and stability the responsibility of the Iraqi government, make Afghani security and stability the responsibility of the Afghan government, and improve morale. 6. Restore the U.S. military to defending the USA which would mean that it no longer builds nations, conducts economic or social or political development, etc. 7. Fight terrorism by pursuing law enforcement, restoring the U.S. to its role as an example of the rule of law, respect for human rights, and respect for freedom of speech, religion, and assembly. Poster: john gornall Comment: oby should send a message loud and clear to all the ceo,s likes of who killed the electric car,no hand out untill they are out,gone ,fired and replaced with the likes of those who invented the electic car,people with vison. Poster: Dora Holen Comment: President Obama should put an immediate stop to American missionaries doing missionary work anywhere outside the USA. India doesn't like them, Turkey doesn't like them, Afghanistan doesn't like them, Pakitstan doesn't like them, Africa doesn't like them, in fact they infuriate these people, and plenty of Americans don't want them around either. HOW WOULD WE LIKE IT IF WE HAD THAT SAME NUMBER OF MUSLIM EXTREMISTS IN OUR MIDST? Poster: Michael Smith Comment: Understand that our basic infrastructure is the soil. When we kill the living soil with chemicals we destroy its ability to maintain our immune system. Heal the soil and heal our nation. One inch of living soil can absorb one inch of rain. Health care and flood control in one simple plan. A source of info is Plowman's Folly from the University of Oklahoma Press. Poster: Norma Saltz Comment: Priorities for Obama: 1. Stabilize the economy and create jobs by revitalizing our infrastructure. 2.Close Guantanamo. Establish firmly, with no exceptions, that America does not torture. 3.Restore our constitutional rights by repealing all legislation that infringes on them. 4.Create a strong Department of Health, Education and Welfare to deal with the health care situation, with Hillary Clinton as its Secretary. She has deep knowledge and experience in this field, and would be far more effective than as Secretary of State, a post where she has much less expertise. Poster: P. Wilson Comment: Stop the bailouts. 1. Sub-prime Loan Holders. 2. The Banks and Insurance Companies. 3. The Auto Companies Poster: Ken Mann Comment: Hold up on Health Care until you get the economy on the right track with measurable progress. Dig deeply into Agriculture, move school lunch to Education, help change our diet by eliminating subsidies and fostering buy local. Reforming Agriculture will HELP you solve energy, greenhouse gases, dependence on fossil fuels, cut medical costs due to poor diets from items like high fructose corn syrup. Use 5 acres of the south White House lawn to grow organic foods. Send a powerful signal to not use pesticides, grow or buy local, eat more veggies and fruits for better health. I like the emphasis on personal responsiblity on all levels - stay with it. Add fiscal responsibility courses to public school curriculums. That's it for now - you have a full plate - I have confidence you can pull it off. Sincerely: Ken Mann Poster: David Boye Comment: 3 points I would like to have answered 1) Just who will filling the jobs improving the infrastructure will create? Will these new jobs be union or will south of the border workers be employed? 2) Why not get moving on the 'Fair Tax'? The literature indicates that upon passing, the home industries will get around a 27% reduction in cost, and the multinationals will locate plants in this country to take advantage of this tax break. This sounds like a business and job creator. 3) I hope we all got smart and will not get stampeded into another 'ethanol stampede'. It also seems to me that a two prong attack on the energy situation would be advantageous. first, develope the alternatives (wind, solar, nuclear, bio=energy, etc). Secondly develope our oil capability so that we can cash in on the higher prices to come - or - to force the price of oil down while selling our new technology. Poster: Deborah Magin Comment: President Obama needs to bring back The Fairness Doctrine if he expects to ommunicate his message of change to the majority of Americans. NOt everyone has acesstothe internets. And, come Feb.2, 2009, not every American will be able to afford to upgrade their TVs'. IMHO: Radio will be more important than ever. AS it stands now, the RW message is the only message heard on Talk Radio..for the most part. Why should a guy like Bill O'Reilly get to have his say unchallenged when he iterated at least two times that Americans slaughtered Germans at Marmedy? He gotto lie..he got to distort history and his listeners think he told them the truth. To me, that ain't right. Poster: Ginger Hobbs Comment: 1. Create jobs, meaningful jobs that pay a living wage 2. Moratorium on foreclosures while a package of refinancing is organized 3. Massive infusion of funding to help those increasing numbers who are in poverty 4. Universal health care 5. Tax corporations and high income people proportionately 6. Increase the limit on payment into social security 7. Stop all torture 8. Negotiate peace in Middle East, recognizing right of other nations to determine how they shoud live Overall make the appointments that will support the change Obama promised in his campaign. Poster: Pam Niedermayer Comment: Contrary to Kuttner's opinion as stated on the show tonight, I think health care reform is a slam dunk and absolutely necessary immediately. He's got to keep faith with the people who elected him, and we expect it right now. We're all hurting financially, and to know that we'd have health care without selling our houses (those of us who still have them) and/or declaring bankruptcy would remove a huge stressful concern. Now it doesn't have to be the final solution; but something relatively simple like lowering the age requirement for buying Medicare would be an excellent start. What better place to spend some of these trillions? Health care along with infrastructure improvements would be the best place to spend the money. Poster: Pam Niedermayer Comment: Contrary to Kuttner's opinion as stated on the show tonight, I think health care reform is a slam dunk and absolutely necessary immediately. He's got to keep faith with the people who elected him, and we expect it right now. We're all hurting financially, and to know that we'd have health care without selling our houses (those of us who still have them) and/or declaring bankruptcy would remove a huge stressful concern. Now it doesn't have to be the final solution; but something relatively simple like lowering the age requirement for buying Medicare would be an excellent start. What better place to spend some of these trillions? Health care along with infrastructure improvements would be the best place to spend the money. Poster: siena browne Comment: End bush's war in Iraq so we can focus on the getting Osama and those who DID attack the US, and SAVE 22 billion a month. Hold the bush administration accountable for sqwandering the 230 billion dollar surplus left by the Clinton/Gore administration. Apply fines if possible. Restore confidence that our government really does respect the our Constitution, of, by and for the people. Create jobs through energy independance which will provide jobs and industry to export. Poster: Debbie Lackowitz Comment: Read Paul Krugman's column in the NY Times today and would like to put forth his view of prioritizing. Without first actually doing reform in the industry, all the money we throw at it is just basically going to be wasted. The question, why didn't we see this coming came up at a conference he attended. His answer: the indicators were there, but because previous bubbles burst and everything went back to normal, they were ignored. This one can't be. Poster: Chuck Arasim Comment: Reduce the Pentagon's budget by $3trillon dollars, the amount that has gone unaccounted for, and return those tax dollars to every American taxpayer. Poster: Carol Marshall Comment: Restore honor and sense to American endeavors by returning to science-based and fact-based decision-making in all fields -- foreign affairs, justice, finance. Close Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba; and Get out of Iraq; (this, done quickly, will begin to restore our reputation internationally) and Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Stabilize the economy by: Helping homeowners who are in trouble; and Getting the economy moving by creating jobs to fix America's infrastructure; while Stopping the giveaways to corporate incompetents by capping executive pay for corporations that are receiving public funds; and Reforming the tax code so that corporations and the wealthy carry their fare share of the tax burden. Achieve energy independence and address global warming and other environmental issues by: Reversing Bush's anti-conservation regulations; Funding clean energy initiatives and efficiencies; and Funding green building, efficiency and development initiatives, energy independence being crucial now to both our reputation and the pursuit of peaceful relationships with other nations. Thanks to the following posters for their comments: Billie Baucher 4. Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jerome Heartdale 1. ... Cap executive pay for corporations that are receiving public funds. Help homeowners who are in trouble ... 2. Reform the tax code so that corporations and the wealthy carry their fare share of the tax burden. 3. Fund clean energy initiatives. 4. Get out of Iraq. ... Veronica Ferari 1. Close Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. 2. Get economy moving by creating jobs to fix America's infrastructure. 3. Energy independence. You guys do great work. Now, from your website to President Obama's ear. Anybody know what can be done to speed the Inauguration? Poster: David Ashford Comment: 1. Restore Domestic Law & Civil Liberties: Full restoration of Constitutional citizen's rights, privacy, and checks & balances in government, ensure legal accountability on every level by ratifying the World Court jurisdiction in the US. Repeal fascist policies embedded throughout the Patriot Act and other legislation pushed through during Bush's tenure. 2. Rebuild Economy: Re-regulation of banks and business, close tax loopholes favoring the rich and big business, repeal Bush's unconscionable tax cuts, jump-start green energy initiatives. Repeal NAFTA - bring US jobs back to the US. 3. Restore America's Reputation and Good Standing: Close Guantanamo, ban torture, re-examine Federal response to 9/11, Katrina, predatory lending early warnings, contractor abuse and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan. Investigate war crimes of the Bush Administration in a clearly credible manner. Poster: William Dungan, Jr. Comment: America's top priority is a major paradigm shift in thinking. Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. Albert Einstein A serious disconnect exists between off the shelf solutions and today's problems. Problems get sidetracked by ideologies into ill conceived solutions with wasteful implementations that fail to address the underlying problems. America is suffering from industrial age attitudes. War, mass transit, factory style schools, etc. are technical solutions to social problems, and symptomatic of a systemic malady. Living in an information vacuum expecting government to provide technical solutions to social problems is wishful thinking. As a remedy, America needs to embrace information age paradigms, which require community organization, dissemination of information to appropriate levels, personal involvement and ownership, and frequent reality checks. Poster: C. Elliott Comment: I would very much like to see more things being manufactured in this country. Also there needs to be more cooperation in Congress for all of the people and not just narrow interest. Poster: raymond dominick Comment: Domestically, 1.immediately provide transparency and publicity on the terms under which the billions are being supplied to financial giants (e.g. limits on executive pay, public ownership stakes, etc.) 2. shift the focus of bailout efforts from financial corporations to public needs, especially for jobs and protection against foreclosure Internationally, move away from war-making as the basis of US policy and implement his self-proclaimed willingness to talk by promoting his personal involvement in negotiations in Afghanistan (bringing in appropriate elements of the Taliban), in Iran, and working as a bridge between Israelis and Palestinians. Poster: May Dorn Comment: We need to bring back, strengthen and enforce the Delaney Clause and stop Carcinogens and harnful chemicals in products and processes. They cause vast exprnse, suffering, encironmental damage and nore trouble. Please help - Thank you verry much. Poster: Marge Wood Comment: Get out of Iraq and close Guantanamo. Restore the Bill of Rights. Use the advantages of renewable energy and energy conservation and efficiency to not only help keep the air and water clean but also to make jobs for Americans here at home as well as marketable products. Improve education in a variety of ways. Use schools as a way of teaching not only reading, writing, math and science but also practical things such as technology, gardening, animal husbandry. Help people realize that words have power and television educates children in ways we don't want them to be educated. Encourage people to love their neighbors. Poster: Brooke Millington Comment: No more war. None. Poster: John Dade Comment: First decide to get out of the empire business and concentrate on developing North America and the industrious site of the world, Get rid of Git Mo concentration camp. It has been a complete failure. Follow Eisenhowers advice and get rid of the military- industrial complex facility. Spend money on heath and spread the knowlege of it all over the world. Increase the standard of education to such a degree that it is respected. When any conflict is involved make sure that there will be no profit in it. Management at a dollar a year. Put every one on a wartime pay as soldiers are expected to do/ Get rid of mercenaries in the persuit of war Tax the mega buck holdings or debit funds from the excess wealthy holdings to serve the needs of the community In other words take the profit out of criminal activities of war. There is enormass wealth in the country it is just nit being handles properly for the benifit of the country/ Poster: Peter Stutz Comment: I think we need regulators with power that make sure the financial people keep their hands out of the candy jar. We need some programs to upgrade our infra structure. It is getting pretty bad when our bridges are falling down. I thought it was absurd when I read that we are rebuilding the railways in Iraq. When are we going to fix our railway tracks? Why can't we have our freight moved by trains like Europe and Japan? Every time we have avalanches here in Washington State thousands of trucks get stuck. Stick the damn freight on trains, they don't need rest every eight hours like the trucks. What is going on with the fuel prices? A short while ago we paid almost $5 per gallon. Now we are down to about $2 per gallon. What happened with all the money being collected when it was up at almost $5 per gallon? Why aren't the gas companies being hit with extra fees for the excess prices they charged. I am sure once Obama is sworn in our prices will go back up. What about updating the Medicare Drug Presciption Coverage? Why can't Congress negotiate with the Drug Companies for lower rates like the Canadian Governmant does. I have to take Insulin, and I am now in the proverbial donut hole of the coverage when I have to pay for 100% of my medication. Every time I get another batch, it costs me almost $350. When is Congress starting to represent the regular people instead of the lobbyists and the drug companies. One thing that makes me mad are the drug commercials on TV. The regular people now have to tell the doctors what to prescribe to us? Those commercials should disappear like the liquor commercials did. I was born in Europe. I had to jump over all kinds of hurdles to get permission to come to the US. If I had been a barber, I never would have made it. I think the rule that anybody born in the US becomes automatically a US citizen is not fair. Besides in a few more years we have more US born with mostly illegal foreign parents that live off our welfare system. Maybe if we get enough foreign born in CA AZ NM, they can split those states from the US and hook back up with Mexico. I hope this is enough ammunition to include in your NOW program. Poster: Marc Batko Comment: Alternative economics emphasizes reducing working hours and investment in the the infrastructure, schools, health care and affordable housing. After the neoconservative capital counter revolution and Reagan's reduction of corporate taxes and corporate responsibility, the domestic economy and the weak purchasing power must be priorities. Community centers have multiplier effects; they can be places of counseling and schooling, reviving the sense of interconnection. Community centers in Vancouver B.C. cushion people from the wrath of predatory capitalism. The mosaic encourages a society where people listen and respect one another and diversity is truly a strength, not a threat. Poster: fred Comment: President Obama, at an early date, must recognize war crimes may have been committed during the past 8 years and such allegations will be investigated in due time. Poster: Norman Morrow Comment: 1. Single payer universal health care; 2. Get us out of the empire business; 3. Infrastructure; 4. Education. Poster: David Roach Comment: The new president should continue to make it clear that important decisions are best made by openly seeking out the best analytical talent available. We have seen the results of so-called compassionate conservatism and faith, and will suffer the consequences for decades. Poster: Adam Eran Comment: Insure public radio and television are fully funded -- so no begging is required from either the public or ADM, or Exxon/Mobil. This would mean that at last we can get real news and investigative reporting, not regurgitated talking points. Make sure public schools start teaching -- again -- the importance of public policy. You're taking over from people who literally would say: Government gives me nothing! My answer: You don't drive on roads? You treat your own water and sewage, and vet your own medication? You enforce your contracts and catch criminals yourself? You mint your own money?....etc.) Stop appointing the Clinton-era architects of the current financial crisis to his cabinet. Reassure Iran we won't attack them. Why else do they want the nukes? After all, the U.S. already overthrew their democracy and installed a tyrant once (in 1953). If we're going to re-do America's transportation infrastructure, provide some reassurance that it won't be just another way to enrich those already rich. Land use planning (zoning / development) already happens this way often enough. If it didn't, the U.S. would have well-funded cities rather than real estate moguls like Alex Spanos, etc. (See Raise capital gains tax and the upper income tax brackets. Tax anything made more valuable by infrastructure improvements that come from the public (e.g. roads, bridges, rail right-of-way, etc.). Anything else exacerbates the income disparity between the really rich and ordinary citizens. Bust the trusts. Start actually enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust act, again. Make Medicare-for-all federal policy. Currently, the U.S. health care system is the most costly in the world. It costs roughly twice as much as single-payer systems around the world, but only delivers health care outcomes ranked 37th in the world. It's as though we get the outcomes of Costa Rica, but pay six times more for the privilege. Revise FNMA / FHLMC underwriting guidelines to stop funding sprawl. Any new development would have to be pedestrian-friendly, mixed use before it would be eligible for mortgages from these entities. Mass transit is impossible otherwise -- sprawl forces people to drive. We're addicted to petroleum, remember? Revise agricultural policy so farmers are not, in effect, laundering money for Cargill and ADM as they are with current agricultural policy. Currently, 40% of agricultural income is subsidy, and that subsidy encourages the very worst, least healthy, most environmentally unfriendly kind of farming. We need farmers who rely on the sun, not petroleum-based fertilizer (there's a 15-mile dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi because of this), pesticides, and transportation (the average meal travels 1,000 miles to reach the dinner table). Local small farms, not high-fructose corn syrup, are what needs subsidy help. Cargill and ADM are rich enough now. Remember, farmers are second only to transportation in consuming petroleum. And raising livestock, which emit the 23-times-more-powerful-as-a-greenhouse-gas-than-CO2 methane, is responsible for more global warming than all human transportation combined. (See Poster: Mark Johnson Comment: 1. Develop a economic plan that structures around Made in the USA from cars to Green energy. Give these companies a tax break for the purchase of new machinery and the hiring of new employees. 2. Withdrawal from Iraq 3. Communicate to the country not only stimulus packages but on the elimination of pork barreled projects. Transparency like no other admin is the change I believe in this new president Poster: Martin Dodge Comment: For too long, and especially for the past 28 years, this nation has made its decisions based on conventional wisdom -- which amounts to solving problems without the benefit of thought, research, evidence, or creativity while leaning heavily on prejudices, well worn platitudes, and not-so-hidden agendas. Franklin D. Roosevelt was no intellect (though his wife was), but he had the foresight to bring in intellects, thinkers, and skeptics of conventional wisdom to attack the problems that culminated in the Great Depression. Obama IS an intellect. He is not Roosevelt and this is not 1933, but when we throw into the mix such problems as terrorism, global warming, the need for clean energy, nuclear threats, and crumbling social supports and infrastructure -- all this in addition to our economic woes, the situation may actually be more dire than it was 75 years ago. I hope Barrack has the capacity, like FDR, to surround himself with smart people prepared and equipped to bring effective answers to the problems that now plague us, people who are not constrained by conventional wisdom. The right people can solve any surmountable problem. My hope is that Obama can recognize these people, hire them, and then get their ideas past a Congress also mired for too long in conventional wisdom. Poster: Stephen Madsen Comment: Truly abnormal behavior has become normal in Washington. In addition to the obvious, I hope that eliminating the influence of special interest groups would be kept near the top of president-elect Obama's todo list (in indelible ink!) The world has counted on (and benefited from) a strong America for decades - now that strength is fading - and there are those who will try to exploit that weakness. America can't be strong for other less developed nations unless we are strong at home first. Poster: Stephen Madsen Comment: Truly abnormal behavior has become normal in Washington. In addition to the obvious, I hope that eliminating the influence of special interest groups would be kept near the top of president-elect Obama's todo list (in indelible ink!) The world has counted on (and benefited from) a strong America for decades - now that strength is fading - and there are those who will try to exploit that weakness. America can't be strong for other less developed nations unless we are strong at home first. Poster: Andrea Kampette Comment: Assemble a bi-partisan cabinet and advisors (he's started this...) and demontrate that he wants to work toward the best solution for our issues, not ones that satisfy any one party agenda Overhaul goverment to reduce all the wasteful spending Focus on the economy...and determine what safeguards are needed to ensure the reckless, greedy behavior that got us in this mess can't continue Poster: Glenna Summerton Comment: We need to brin stability back to the economy first and foremost. Then I think we need to focus on winning the war in Afghanistan to keep terrorism at bay. I am also concerned about the state of healthcare in America. We can not go on like this. Poster: Luc Franken Comment: I think Obama's first priority should be to make every effort to stabilize our economy. The next item that is very important to me is that he focus in on healthcare. It's not enough to have the best most sophisticated medical equipment and talented doctors if it is not affordable. I'd like to see a national healthcare system. Poster: Billie Baucher Comment: 1. Improve America's reputation in the world 2. Get economy back on track 3. Withdraw from Iraq 4. Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Poster: Jerome Heartdale Comment: 1. First, take some time to gain perspective on the current economic crisis and then act to fix it. Ensure that bailout funds aren't just a handout to big business that allow them (once again) to fleece the American public. Cap executive pay for corporations that are receiving public funds. Help homeowners who are in trouble without penalizing those who don't have (bad) mortgages. 2. Reform the tax code so that corporations and the wealthy carry their fare share of the tax burden. 3. Fund clean energy initiatives and increase tax breaks to people/business that pursue clean energy alternatives. 4. Get out of Iraq. Stop wasting U.S. prestige, money, and lives there. 5. Get a dog (preferably one that doesn't bite). Poster: Veronica Ferari Comment: The Top To Dos for Obama: 1. Close Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. 2. Get economy moving by creating jobs to fix America's infrastructure. 3. Energy independence. |
Who's Helping Our Wounded Vets?
Elizabeth Warren on the Economy
Nurses Needed
Electric Car Dreams
PBS Special Report: Health Care Reform
