Guest Editorials

Like a menu from a greasy diner, the Boehner, Bachmann, Blunt budget offers a gut-busting bill of fare. Here’s what they’re wanting to dish up to Americans hungry for change and economic recovery. The GOP “Red-Plate Special” looks like this:

• Frozen Discretionary Spending, half-baked and served atop a Bubbling Recession
• Chopped Medicaid, diced and fricasseed; served in small portions
• Tax-Cut Soufflé, a puffy, mouthwatering treat for the wealthiest only
• Deficits Jubilee, a generous serving every day through 2080

The Boehner, Bachmann, Blunt budget “menu” is so unappetizing that even many of the GOP members in the House have gagged over it. Clearly, the American people have no stomach for such a cruel serving of leftovers even when garnished with a sprig of mugwort.

As I lifted weights at the gym recently, I noticed that my upper arms made a flapping motion like that of an ancient pterodactyl taking flight. I turned to my trainer and said, "I've been weightlifting for two decades, so why don't my upper arms look like Michelle Obama's? My triceps are flabby while hers are fabulous."

She smiled. She is gentle with us septuagenarians who are engaged in a tug of war with aging.

"Michelle's well-sculpted arms come from her being trim and toned all over," she said. “For the Obama’s, achieving ‘arms control’ is not just a foreign policy goal. Michelle works at looking that good by getting to the gym several days a week for a 90-minute workout.”

The First Lady is apparently disciplined when it comes to diet, too. I read that some recent White House guests have been critical of the smaller portions now being served at state dinners.

Undoubtedly, the combination of nutrition and exercise has kept the 44-year-old First Lady in the peak of fitness and she’s showing it off. When she was featured on the cover of Vogue and People magazines, she chose to bare her shapely arms. She went sleeveless at the joint session of Congress, the Inaugural Ball, and for her official portrait. Despite the comments of a few prudes, 85% of Americans have no problem with the exposure. In fact, women suffering from jiggling triceps are flocking to fitness centers to see what dumbbells can do for them between now and the onset of summer. If Michelle’s tony triceps display strength and self-disciple, that's not a bad image to convey in times like these.

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh dropped a bomb shell this week during a panel discussion at the University of Minnesota.  He reviled the Bush Administration and Dick Cheney in particular, for domestic spying by the CIA and for running a covert military operation that included an "executive assassination ring."

The Pulitzer prize winning journalist, who promises to reveal all in an upcoming book, said, "Under President Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving.  That's been going on, in the name of all of us."

As you may remember, it was Hersh who exposed the My Lai Massacre and reported extensively on the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.  He described the Bush era as a time when "eight or nine neoconservatives took over our country. …They ran a government within the government. . . . It's really amazing to me that we manage to get such bad leadership, so consistently," he said, and blamed both public and press for tolerating poor governance.

If these assertions have any merit, it is all the more reason we need the Truth Commission espoused by Senator Patrick Leahy.  Hersh should offer more than just tantalizing tidbits; he needs to be forthcoming with the facts.

President Obama brought an end to a Lost Decade this week, when he lifted the eight-year ban on federally-funded stem cell research. The widened search for life-giving cures brings hope to millions who suffer with diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, and spinal cord injuries.

The president is wasting no time getting new research underway. In signing the executive order, he directed the National Institute of Health to come up with guidelines, including appropriate restrictions, within 120 days.

“Ultimately, I cannot guarantee that we will find the treatments and cures we seek. No president can promise that,” Obama said. “But I can promise that we will seek them—actively—responsibly, and with the urgency required to make up for lost ground.”

During the Bush era, scientists were unable to use cells discarded from fertility clinics or even cells taken from embryos that remained intact. Research into medical cures, as well as environmental and climate problems, were subject to tests of political correctness that stunted progress. But no more.

The president spoke of the importance of “free and open inquiry,” saying research “is about letting scientists….do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us even when it’s inconvenient—especially when it’s inconvenient.”

As usual, critics are reviling those who don't share their views, though you might recall that two thousand years ago, Jesus and his disciples were also denounced for daring to bring cures to the hurting and helpless. Some things never change.

Some years ago Art Linkletter, now 96, wrote a book entitled, "Kids Say the Darndest Things." We all laughed at the cute comments of those adorable little urchins. I’m thinking we need a sequel to the book entitled, “Republicans Say the Craziest Things with the Straightest Faces.” It would be a volume of great heft and humor. The current stimulus debate has provided several choice entries, amazing in their similarity.

Mel Martinez (R-FL), for instance, thinks it is “troubling to have government telling shareholders how much they can pay the executives.” Actually, companies can pay their executives with stock exceeding the proposed $500,000 cap, but the executive cannot cash in the stock until federal bailout funds have been repaid. That makes sense to most people, but not to the GOPers who have made trickledown economics the cornerstone of governance.

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) chimed in saying that when we cap executive salaries, “You run the risk of having a brain drain at the bank of their top talent.” Well, Bob, if that’s their top talent we’ve been seeing recently, it might be good to send in the second team.

More book-fodder craziness comes from Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) who acknowledged that “very bad things” are happening like the "government telling a company what it can pay its employees. That’s not a good thing in America.” Well, Senator, what’s even worse for America is unemployment standing at 7.6% and people losing their homes and life savings.

On the way to FDR's inauguration in 1932, outgoing President Hoover never spoke to his Democratic replacement. Fortunately, other Republicans were more helpful in reaching out to help the new president during the harsh economic times they all shared.

This week when D­ick Cheney was asked about the Bush administration's handling of the economy, ­he responded, “We worried about it . . . to some extent.” I was expecting him to continue with, “What did you expect of us? We wiretapped, we tortured, we chased imaginary WMDs. Hell, we couldn’t do every little thing.

Thank heavens, the economy is finally at the top of the White House to-do-list. Now that House Republicans are having to face up to their party’s mistakes, they are channeling their idol of laissez-faire government, Herbert Hoover. During the midst of the Great Depression, he clung to his belief that the economy would eventually right itself; it was not the purpose of government to intervene. Besides, Hoover declared, government assistance harms one’s character and encourages idleness. (Let’s hope tha­t’s not the case today when big corporations are the recipients of federal bailouts, else they may need moral assistance as well­ as monetary aid.)

We Believe:

. . . that next to love, a good education is the best gift we can provide our children.

. . . that government is not “them,” but “us.”

. . . that the Greatest Generation deserves more than recognition on special holidays, but the daily honor of a secure and caring society.

. . . that politics is not about power, and perks, and privilege—but about improving people’s lives.

. . . that Social Security is not just another investment scheme, but a solemn promise.

. . . that the Good Book says how we treat the poor, the hurting, and the helpless is a measure of how we treat Him.

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