BobJacobson's Comments (88)

“Permit me to baldly state, forgo the public option and you doom any motion toward a single-payer plan for the rest of our lifetimes. Given the the current proposed laws wouldn't cut in for four years in any case, long enough for them to be burnt to the ground by a hostile Administration, I'd rather put off a vote on Mr. Dorn's substandard insurance bills and try again next year or in the next Administration. The law he supports would do precious little for anyone save the insurance companies, believe me. The upside he offers is minimal and the downside immense.”

“The Rangers were formed to hunt down and kill Mexicans who might be transgressing on the Republic of Texas' sovereign territory (thus the first illegal immigrants). It's ironically fitting that they should be called upon now to deal with Mexican drug cartels whom, unfortunately, they will find a lot tougher hombres than wandering ranchistos or Indios.

How did we get in yet another such pickle, another endless war -- this time, on and within our borders? Why isn't this a matter for federal attention as important as lavishing billions in aid on Iraq or ultimately thousands of lives in Afghanistan?

Perhaps because were we to engage, we would discover the vanity of relying on foreign aid bribes or military supremacy to sustain American hegemony, especially as we as a stressed out, drug-consuming society and the oppressive Mexican social elite are the causes in large part for the rise of the drugocracy in Mexico.”

“I'm a progressive Democrat. At first I was offended by Wilson's outburst. Now I wonder, wouldn't be grand for our legislators to be able to question our executive? And vice versa? Instead what we get are set pieces with no real explication of competing points of view. Sorry, it might be a great speech -- I thought it merely a good speech -- but I'm no clearer on what it will take to win this effort or what I or anyone can do to make it happen. it's like Obama's was trying to address three audiences -- the public, the Democrats in Congress, and the Republicans in Congress -- and not really connecting with the public. Sorry.”

“The House of Commons gets to the point more often and more quickly than the House. The Senate's still sleeping. Perhaps formal speeches aren't an occasion for scoffing, but there should be regular Q&A's whereby Congress and the President can roast each other. That would be more in keeping with the Founders'' intentions.”

“Most wealthy countries have universal healthcare that's government regulated if not outright provided. No lawyers are necessary to rectify malfeasance when the state assumes responsibility.”

“The speech was delivered with clarity and purpose, rather as a skilled CEO would do.

But it lacked passion. It didn't make me believe Obama wants an effective reform of healthcare in America as that he doesn't want anyone monkeying with his process. The implication is, if the process is enabled and sustained, a good bill will emerge.

But that hasn't happened yet. The process has been addled. The product's are confused.

I note that Obama stumbled twice when he had to confront the rudeness and boorishness of the Republican minority -- who really looked tiny as a group, playground bullies as individuals -- and that is a concern. He has to be resolute, confident, and passionate in addressing the opposition.

Until he's securely in charge of the situation -- which strong reforms, easily understood, would make much easier than the current hodge-podge -- he will remain vulnerable. I'm worried for climate change legistaion unless Obama can totally vanquish his opponents now, and that means finding fire in his belly.”

“In a company, the CEO defends his team. He falls on his sword for them if he has to, at least in public. Then he takes them aside and says, is this bad or is this good -- and he believes first and foremost in the team member, not outside accusers. Just like in the Constitution: you're innocent until you've been proven to have committed a crime. Jones committed no crime, yet the Beck maniac's call for justice gets taken seriously. Would YOU want to be working in the White House these days? Will there be a Night of the Long Knives to follow? I'm sick with what's taking place. The last one out turn off the the lights. This is panic.”

“Thanks, holier than thou.”

“I think he means building a green industry. Or getting people out of the ghettos. Or whatever does he mean? These clowns couldn't spot a genuine radical idea if Mao was staring them in the eyes.”

“Ultra-radical? These guys wouldn't even rate membership in the conservative parties anywhere else in the world, they're so button down. You betray your limited understanding of the world in which you live. America is retreating to the Stone Age. Lead the way, little nihilist.”

“Too bad most of us don't have as much to defend. Van was mature, but he also had feelings that he didn't let false etiquette obscure. He tells it as he sees it. I much prefer that to secret mendacity.”

“You get to do that once. After that, no one trusts you.”

“So?”

“The way not to lose the battle is to retreat from it and take it up again when the trends identified become evident to everyone -- and unfortunately, when more individuals, including many of the naysayers and scoffers, lose their coverage or discover how inadequate it is.

Such object lessons will pave the way for passage of a law that means something AND that doesn't preclude more complete reforms in the future.

It's not a fault to retreat from a battle lost because of insurmountable if irrational odds. It's the halfway assault that costs the most in terms of resources spent and wasted. President Obama, take it back and wait until the calls for reform become overwhelming as is inevitable.”

“Economists are essentially commentators who try to shade things to favor their clients and/or constituents. They are not scientists in the usual sense of the term -- that is, individuals who propose hypotheses that can be tested.

While some are very good at describing what is taking place (before everyone's eyes to see), none is particularly good at forecasting the future, the magic for which they are ritually prepared and for which they are paid high sums, essentially to validate the decisions by those who pay them.

Economics, ever since it was deliberately separated from politics, as in its precursor "political economics," thus giving economics the appearance that it is a science, is a fraud. There are those in the "profession" -- which it isn't either, since it has no canons or enforceable ethics -- who are more perceptive than others and who, confessing to sharing our common bewilderment, still manage to help us to see more clearly. Paul Krugman is one of these. George Stiglitz is another. There probably are equally conscientious women economists, though the field is probably more sexist than ... I can' think of another practice even close in its bias.

It's time to realize as Jane notes that these mini-Wizards of Oz are all smoke and mirrors. Help the economic recovery: put economists to work doing something useful (other than empowering through incantations the already powerful), like building roads.”

“An "Open Approach" to Information Policymaking, by Robert Jacobson (Ablex 1989), with relevance for policymaking on any highly contested issue (and which on the President's plate aren't?).

Australian Telecom Commission, TELECOM 2000 (ATC, 1976) for lessons in how its done.

Trust in the people, not the Congress, not the media, not lobbyists. Educate, ask, listen, and you shall receive.”

“These are not street fighters. Street fighters would have had THEIR crowds out on the streets at the get-go. The much vaunted Obama organization, the hundreds of thousand Obama for Americans -- where are they now? They were forgotten as soon as the elections ended.”

“"The winner" might clue the rest of us in on this fight plan. So far, it's only in your imagination.”

“Here's a hint, Robert: they're all game players addicted to the game. Fanatic opponents unable to see that their obsession with "winning" -- as defined in the Beltway -- has terrible real-world consequences for the rest of us.

It's not bipartisanship. It's unipartisanship, and one wing just trounced the other.”

“Liberal/Co­nservative dichotomies clearly don't mean very much these days. Everyone calls themselves whatever works.

Dean's a fighter. That's without a doubt.”

“Bipartisanship works if you're dealing with a real party, not a collection of wealth-worshippers, political circus geeks, and churls. To be bipartisan with that mess, you have to lower yourself to their level. And then they bite your ears and nose off.

How about being value-driven instead of politics-driven? Politics follows values.

(Besides, with Baucus and Conrad as the playmakers, you don't even have to reach outside the party to find Republicans with whom to negotiate. They're right there!)”

“Right. All those bland Democratic Party members who thought they were being so reasonable by laughing at Dr. Dean in 2004 and then standing by while the party leaders booted him this year as DNC Chairman -- after his 50-state strategy won! -- should look in the mirror and be ashamed. A Party of Milquetoasts is never going to overcome the Party of Barbarians. Let's get some backbones going here, folks. Let's put aside the soccer games and the wine tastings and the sighing over friends' and families' jobs lost and get out on the streets, organizing, making some noise. It's no longer good enough to post outrage online and then expect some bought-for Democratic Senator to take your position. It's time to get angry, very angry. We need a leader. Dr. Dean. You have my support.”

“The Jesuits who organized the Inquisition were Good Men, too.

Intellectually problematic but morally, utterly self-confident, they saved Southern Europe for the period's imperial Catholicism.

It's always the brightest thinkers who preserve outdated orthodoxies.”

“Keep hope alive.”

“Squandering his populist appeal and appearing to abandon progressive ideals in pursuit of financial pragmatics, Obama could find himself with an odd, asymmetrical, trimodal base -- the very rich, the ever-hopeful, and fractions for whom his non-finance-related policies produce immediate results (e.g., national park protections for wilderness advocates).

Seeing the President having an audience with bankers to which few other Americans can aspire, let alone obtain, will make other Americans increasingly cynical and non-partisan, damning both big parties, joining smaller ones, or most likely, abandoning electoral politics entirely for political solutions much less manageable.

It's a huge risk for Obama to take, this fracturing and eroding of his once dominant base, for a few pats on the back from the bankers. The bank CEOs' collegial handshakes on leaving the meeting, captured in press photos, signals "Job well done." But the only job they've done well so far has been to avoid serious regulation, continue the bailouts, and retain their positions and bonuses. They sure haven't done anything for the rest of us. Do they deserve the President's time and attention? Really?”