Politics.
The Democrats have to win - they better win - the presidential elections this coming fall. If Obama is able to gather the political support and also continues to have the political will to deliver his promises effectively - which I am naturally skeptical of because of common sense - he can be a great president. There is some hope in him.March 18 2008: A More Perfect Union.
He addressed the issue pretty well - I hope he will live up to what he says!
I am tired of 'winning the war against terrorism'. Indeed people are dumb enough to think that the 'war' against terrorism can actually be won. How do you define the war - and winning the war? Catching Osama bin Laden alive? Kill all radical religion fundamentalists?
To 'win' the 'war' probably means 'no more terrorist attacks and no more fear for terrorists' - but if you have a freaking 'war' mentality against this problem, you are NEVER going to win it. Yes if you fight it like a war, you will NEVER win it - all you can do is lengthen it forever and ever. Unless you nuke the whole Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and don't forget to put a shield over Israel first. Singapore probably will need to develop our own shield.
And an open market for medical insurance?! I don't know for sure but I think economics laws say that that should decrease cost but does that solve the problem? I won't think it would decrease cost at all but probably more gidgets will be added to the policies to 'value-add' them, given the vast amounts of treatment options there are available in the US - in an open market do the insurance companies have any incentive to extend their policy coverage to those people who cannot afford them at all now?
So the kid living on Bond/Chase will still not get medicine to control his asthma, and his mild attacks will be neglected, and he will need to be sent to our hospital for emergency care when he has a major attack, which is very expensive, and his parents cannot afford to pay the bill, which somehow the government or the hospital waives it in part, and the extra cost bourned by the hospital is transferred into a higher bill for the patient with insurance, insurance company pays more, and the consumer pays more for insurance, more people cannot afford it...
The Republican way of solving this problem is, according to Dr. William Brody, scary. Though he also said that no one will have a solution to this problem - it is virtually unsolvable - but it has to start somewhere, I believe he will agree. If not, ask the British to come and burn Washington down again so that they can start afresh?
The Democrats hope to end the Iraq war - which means the money can be used elsewhere. They are going to tax the rich people and companies more (are the Republicans afraid of losing investments? or is it some other stuff?), which means the money can be used elsewhere too. In our standpoint as foreigners potentially working in America, the Democrats might not make our lives easy - but anyhow I still want them to win!
Ma Ying-jeou has won Taiwan - East Asia will be peaceful. If Obama wins, there will be a new hope - change, as he campaigned - and hopefully he can really make the world a better place.
Labels: Policy and Politics
