Monday, June 15, 2009

Fierce Urgency of Now

Back in the days of the Bush Administration there was a panic rush to pass a financial bailout bill before some sort of firestorm burned the house down, and it was widely recognized after the fact that Congress got it all wrong because they were forced to move too fast, to pass something right away without being given the time to get it right.

Then came Barack Obama with his passion for a stimulus bill which had to be done right away. There was simply no time to give this any thoughtful consideration, the house was burning down around our ears, and this bill had to be passed at once. And so we have increased unemployment benefits that raise a family above the food stamp cutoff, so that they are making $21 more per week in unemployment and have therefor lost $150 per week in food stamp benefits.

And now we are working on health care reform, with Obama touring the country berating us about how “The time is now” and how this has to be done before the August recess of Congress. Again the house is burning down around our ears and we must hurriedly pass some sort of botched up mess and label it “reform” instead of considering all of the alternatives and maybe getting it right.

The “fierce urgency of now” is starting to sound like a railroad job.

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