Entries for July 2009
Small Lessons of Life
This afternoon a group of five year olds were discussing what they will be doing, when they will be twenty. One wise one said they will, still have their names and still be friends. How simple some worlds are.
Janitorial Presidents
I a have strange feeling that Democratic presidents are elected to become janitors, to clean the mess created by the previous Republican administrations.
FDR despite what revisionists might say had a lot of work to do after President Hoover left. President Carter was programmed to fail after so much of mess he inherited, he coulsn't really succeed as an janitor president.
President Clinton despite not having same party congress most of his term, overcome the fiscal mess left behind by Presidents Reagen and H W Bush, was on track to leave a surplus.
Preisent W Bush blew the surplus went to war with borrowed money, and generally slept at the wheel when economy went down hill.
Now we have another janitor president who has assumed full responsibility for the mess left behind by the previous administration. There is huge group which sits in an elevated position far from the problem shouting whatever he does is wrong, probably they don't want to be near to a place where a janitor is working, what is surprising is that group that is making noise now is the same one which created the current mess.
I think republican strategy is create mess lose office, make fun of the janitor presidents and then come back to office.
Energy Act and Appalachia
Recently House passed a bill called H. R. 2454, a.k.a Clean Energy Act. The intentions of the bill are good because one day we have to learn to live without fossil fuels, no amount of "drill baby drill" will help us in postponing the inevitable.
I was looking at the coal statistics for USA this morning, what struck me was that 25% of the coal is produced in Appalachian. It can be argued that Applachian economy is not coal dependent but its impact on economy can be never understated. To understand the poverty in Appalachia and how it moved Presidents Kennedy and Johnson see here .
Have things changed after all these years, I don't think so, this ABC report Diane Sawyer report says that, look at all the clips and especially one where an Indian doctor says that poverty in one of the coal producing areas is more compared to the place comes from in India.
You can also see this Frontline Country Boys documentary if you have six hours to spent,it shows the struggle of two boys in coal producing region to make something out of their life.
I am faced with a lot of questions, when a government mandate will impoverish an already impoverished region. I am not acting like a Luddite, is war on poverty is inconquerable in certain parts of the country?, despite best efforts. Lot of these people worked in industrial mid west before moving back after the industrial collapse, so the arguement these people are lazy doesn't stick.
As I travel through the region I can see people living in decrepit trailers and having miserable existence, as energy act rolls out I only pray something is done for rehabilitation of these people.