Did you know?

This week we witnessed a historic event. President Obama was innagurated as the first African American President of the United States.

WARNING: The following entry is pretty political, the fun family stuff is below.

I haven't waxed political on this blog, but here are a few observations under the Heading "You have to dig to figure this out":

1) The Constitution works. We had a peaceful transition from the end of the Bush Administration to the beginning of the Obama Administration. Ask yourself how many people dream that political transitions in their countries occur in relative peace.

2) Government is not designed to act quickly. Even with clear and decisive majorities in both Houses of Congress, there is not unanimity on how policies will go forward (or even which policies will go forward). President Obama wanted a stimulus package on his desk Jan 21. Didn't happen. I have read lots of reports on the stimulus bill, and I am not convinced it is all bad.

First let me say that I don't really consider myself a Keynesian. I think JMK's principles work in the short-term (building roads and bridges will employ people, and require lots of freight rail!!), but can hide fundamental problems with the economic and fiscal policies that will impede long-term growth. For example, high tax rates needed to support (or partially offset) significant deficit spending can impair firms' ability to earn an adequate return on capital invested. This means that further deficit spending is necessary, ultimately crating a system that only works by offering returns based on new tax revenues, not profits at or above the cost of capital. If you haven't been watching the news lately, you might not see a clear parallel between the Keynsian Model and one Mr. Bernard Madoff.

There are good results from a short-term stimulus that likely cannot come from tax breaks alone. However, there are aspects of... OK, I am getting too in depth for a family blog. If you want to talk economics and poly sci, give me a call.

3) Seemingly insignificant omissions and inclusions are used to sway opinion. Let me preface this by disclosing that I am currently reading "The Irregulars", a historical documentary about how the British Intelligence Service used their connections in government, the press, Hollywood, and the US Intelligence community to sway US popular opinion and get Roosevelt to join Churchill in the war in Europe.

One of President Obama's first acts was to reverse several of President Bush's Executive Orders. One that has recieved lots of press is that the US will now fund International Aid Agencies that perform abortions or counsel regardign abortions (President Reagan stopped the practice, Bush 41 continued it and Clinton reversed the policy. Bush 43 re-instituted it, and I suspect this will continue to see-saw for as long as there are two parties.) Other Executive Orders included closing Gitmo (Guantanamo, Cuba. I wonder if Félix Cortez from Clancy's Clear and Present Danger is still there--book version, in the movie he died), ending certain coerced interregation practices deemed torture, and another reversal of policy regarding stem cell research.

Having listened to President Obama during the campaign and in the months since the election, I can understand why he made these decisions. They are in line with his party's platform, and were part of the agenda he promised to carry out.

In the past few days I have read literally scores of articles that laud President Obama's decision to "end the Bush Administration's ban on stem cell research." Here's the rub. There was no ban on stem cell research. Never has been. Acknowledging that some Americans consider the destruction of an embryo a murderous act, Bush 43 enacted a policy that federal tax funds would not be used to fund further research on stem cells with the exception of existing strains. Given that this is such an emotionally heated subject, and fearing that expanded funding by the government would lead to more embryos being created explicitly for research (hence explicitly to be destroyed), I think he struck a fair compromise. Enter President Obama's executive order. Federal funding is the ban he has lifted (along with the expansion of strains to include all newly discovered strains), however, only in remote corners is there clarity of what was banned. It is diffucult to concede that this isn't a planned attack on President Bush as a small minded religious bigot/zealot who doesn't care about others. Wow. In a time when we all need to tighten our belts, is it really the best time to introduce new avenues for federal funds to flow from Washington?