Business Failure

My Top 3

If Barack Obama is looking for an overall umbrella under which his campaign pledges to voters could fit, I would suggest he lay out the case for why the Bush Administration has been a business failure and simply ask the question why John McCain would be any different.  It would be helpful, of course, if Obama laid out his reason for being different but I don’t think that would be too hard.

1. The unnecessary invasion and occupation of Iraq has been a costly affair that will keep on giving (actually taking is probably more accurate) for years to come.  Whenever the US finally extracts itself from Iraq or significantly lowers it presence (and its Siamese twin, the contractors), the cost will come down.  What won’t come down is the damage already done to our Military’s preparedness.  What is also not done costing is the enormous IOU’s written or implied to our GIs.  Veterins benefits and medical care will be huge and totally unnecessary.  Current estimates range from $ 1 trillion already spent to $3-5 trillion in other costs to come.

2. The greed filled Bush years have left the Banking and Investment sectors severly damaged (and deservedly so) but in the process it has left the American economy also damaged.  Repair seems possible but again at the cost of billions of government funds and slow economic growth for the next several years.

3. The national debt has doubled and now stands over $ 9 trillion, and is zooming in on $ 10 trillion!  What has this “conservative” Administration been doing?  You might think that this was premeditated so that the cost of the Iraq invasion and occupation was borne by the middle class and poor rather than the rich.

4. The good name of the Justice Department has been allowed to be dragged through the mud through weak appointments of Attorney Generals and the open politicization of what has traditionally been an apolitical department.

5. The brand “United States of America” has been weakened additionally with the profound ignorance of the Bush Administration’s denial of the connection between global warming and man.  While it is true that some controls are needed for large developing countries like India and China, there has been no progress for 8 years.  The implied risk is huge but the image of the USA denying scientific findings sends the wrong message to the rest of the world.

So the past 8 years have been a profound business failure in addition to what ever else you may feel about their moral authority.  In the next Administration, we do not need blue over red, progressive over conservative, pro-choice over pro-life, or Republican over Democrat, we need competent leadership with an eye to the “American Business”.  If not, our children and theirs will live in a land owned by others.