Let's start counting the ways that Washington, D.C. is either sleepwalking through history or running the clock back on progress or simply existing in slow motion:
(A) The British parliament is currently appropriately investigating the crimes leading up to Tony Blair's insistence that the UK must make war on Iraq in 2003. Tony Blair is having to answer for all the world to see. Why isn't this being done in the USA?
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/01/sir_michael_woo_1.html
(B) Meanwhile, despite overspending, bad spending, and horrible military management of resources over the last decade[s], Barack Obama has announced in his most recent State of the Union Address that the DOD is still America's sacred cow, i.e. no foreseeable burden-sharing by the military budget managers over the next 5 years in paying off the huge debt that American banks and wars have caused over the past presidential and senatorial terms. Why is this sacred cow to remain untouched?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2295693/questions_raised_on_continuing_war.html?cat=9
(C) In his recent State of the Union Address, Obama also stated that the US would build many more coal and nuclear powered plants at a time when he is supposedly committed to oversee Americans reducing their production of greenhouse producing gases. The Germans, South Koreans, and even the Chinese will surpass America's development of alternative energy-related technologies if the USA does not stop turning the clock back on progress. Germany's clean technological focus has already made that part of its economy a great "economic weapon". Many East Asian nations are going to copy and follow Germany's every moves. Why isn't the USA out front in developing and using this "economic weapon"? Why build nuclear power plants when we can build and produce safer and cleaner energy technologies already cheaper than the Germans due to our weak dollar?
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5006007,00.html
(D) In that same State of the Union Address, Obama said that along with building and developing new rail systems and technologies for mass transit and transport nationwide, he wanted to rebuild the highway system in the USA. Woah!! Let's only build more roads if the trains can't get there. Build the train system first. I dream of a train system that loads American cars on and off in two minutes. Such a system makes sense for the greatest portions of America where dense populations can be served by trains and less densely populated corners could load and unload cars, trucks and trailers in minutes. Why not focus instead of wasting too much money on more roads?
http://trains4america.wordpress.com/
(E) What a waste of time we have seen in the health care system over the last two years! America needs universal coverage. Washington (1) has no reason not to allow portability of health care coverage indefinitely and (2) certainly has complete support from the American public to allow for no preexisting conditions in all health care contracts. WHY THE DELAY? Both the executive branch and Congress have the ability to pass those two changes as of YESTERDAY. Once we get this ball rolling, what can stop the movement?
(F) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â America needs several major Amendments to the US Constitution. The Supreme Court guaranteed that need ten days ago when it unexpectedly allowed unlimited contributions by the wealthiest people and corporations around the globe. Why do not Senators and Congressmen meet TODAY and get the Amendment passed to stop unlimited campaign spending etc. in 2010 and send the Amendment off to states for the approval it needs ASAP. (Why not support the bill that Rep. Donna Edwards has already suggested?)
http://donnaedwards.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=24§iontree=23,24&itemid=256
In all these cases, Washington, D.C., the official seat of power in America, has started 2010 behind the curve. There are so many more areas that we need to have legislatures and American activists work on now and in the coming decade.
American citizens need to take over.
What are your suggestions for things that the executive and legislative branches need to be getting done in 2010?
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