Replies to post #91757 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[wbmw]

1. Jobs creation
2. Stabilization of the economy
3. Banking reform
4. Deficit reduction strategy
6. Trade improvements, fairness with China
The solution for all of the above will be much more clear after
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
10. Federal Reserve investigations

Hogsgeteaten, thanks for prioritizing the list. It gives me much greater clarity into your point of view. In terms of your comment above, however, I am confused how solving the Federal Reserve boogieman will solve the issues above. Can you help me with that?

5. Health care, bending medical cost curves, insurance reform, consumer protections, etc.
7. New energy policies

The two above could then be solved by the private sector

But how do we give the private sector the motivation to fix these issues, when they seem motivated today to maintain the status quo? The hope has been to add legislation that will change things, because most people believe that the status quo is not maintainable, and a recipe to further harm the economy (in the case of the former), and lose our national technological leadership to other countries going forward (in the case of the latter).

9. Coping with the thrash from Mid-term elections =
Just wait till the next election and see if we can get the kind of BiPartisan Government back that worked well during the Reagan and Clinton Administrations.

Can reshuffling the chairs on the Titanic really save the sinking ship? Seems like the hyper-partisanship that is deadlocking Congress goes deeper than what can be solved by voting in new politicians. There's a fundamental difference in opinion and ideology that would only result in more deadlocks if, for example, more of the Democrats get replaced by more Republicans.

When neither side wants to talk, it's hard to solve that, unless voters feel like giving one side the super-majority, and allowing them to push the legislation through. Personally, I believe the Democratic caucus is capable of fulfilling Obama's vision. If voters feel the same way in November, we'd get a lot accomplished.

Problem is, I think the Republicans have done a good job at pointing the finger at the Democrats, and making them a good scapegoat for the current hardships. It's more likely that Republicans win more seats, in which case Obama will still have to work with both sides and bridge the gap.