Follow the Money

I am an armchair political strategist. I look at the current campaigns,
and I don’t understand why Obama (it would be harder for McCain, as you
will see in a minute) doesn’t base his campaign around the following
simple talking points:

1. We are rebuilding Iraq while America falls apart. I recently read
that the Iraqi government has a $79 billion surplus this year, because
of rising oil prices. The Iraqis should be rebuilding Iraq, and we
should be redirecting our military budget internally, to fix bridges,
roads, water lines, and our air transportation system.

2.The same small savings that carry us through recessions and help us
balance our household budgets (inflating our tires to get better gas
mileage, re-using grocery bags, growing our own food, eating out less,
handing down clothes, recycling in general) help in the war against
climate change. If we drive less, consume less, and pollute less, we can
both save money and be green. Green may be the color of money, but it is
also the color of environmental stewardship.

3. When gas prices go down, we should not be misled and lulled into
inactivity on alternative energy plans. We already did that once in my
lifetime, and thirty years later we are back where we started — oil
shortages, lines at the pump, and a move to smaller cars. Let’s stay
there for once.

4. Health care is a basic human right, but living forever is not.
Spending our health dollars on the beginning of life, and on preventing
illness, is a better use of those funds than giving liver transplants to
aging alcoholics. We do those high tech things because we can, but they
are very costly. Getting people to adopt good living habits that don’t
make them sick in the first place saves fortunes.

5. Because our education system is outdated, America is no longer the
land of opportunity. Again, education was what made America great. We
may have to blow up the old system (most radical idea is to do away with
school buildings entirely, which would save many dollars) to prepare
kids for this century

6.If we’re going to win the global competitive race, the whole country
has to row simultaneously in the same direction. Global competitiveness
is a team sport.

Everyone can understand those. And although they gore a lot of
established oxen, it’s either the oxen or ourselves. Think outside the
box. Do something inexpensive and innovative. And do it together.