Uncooperative Crickets

Why I am not happy with President Obama

So I am thrilled that Barack Obama is president, but I don't like a good chunk of what he is doing right now. First, Afghanistan. Do we really need more troops there? When was the last time someone successfully did anything militarily in Afghanistan? What would we hope to accomplish? There doesn't seem to be a lot of national unity, since everyone in the news says that Afghanistan is very "tribal." Would this make it a difficult country to unite?

Also, isn't this the time to start withdrawing troops? Politically, there would be no better time than now. We have a severe economic crisis, and we could use the money.

Speaking of economic crises, isn't President Obama's plan basically the same as President Bush's? Aren't both basically "give a lot of money to big banks?" Perhaps there is no other game in town, and it is the right thing to do (as with Afghanistan - I don't claim to be right about these items. They are merely opinions). However, it seems like there could be something better to do with all of the money than to give it to the banks (and cut taxes - I'm not crazy about your ideas, either, Republicans). How about: we fund projects directly? A little WPA for MMX? How about: we nationalize the banks? It would require a lot of man power, and a lot of people would lose a lot of money (honestly, I don't know if I have stocks in banks right now. I probably do, since I favor, for now, index funds). How about: we use the money to restructure health care, creating a nationalize health care program? We could simultaneously create a much, much more efficient health care system while cutting future costs (basically - this would give us a chance to reconsider the Medicare/Medicaid entitlements).

posted by Dirk Awesome @ 6:07 PM