Well a lot happened last week -- besides CPAC!
(sorry Joe T P -- your 15 Minutes are SO Over Dude!)
Much more Noteworthy:
The President gave an excellent [Non-] State of the Union speech.
The President's Administration [specifically the OMB] outlined a very ambitious and encouraging set of goals and priorities -- especially if you're one of the hundreds of millions, mired in the Middle Class.
So I was curious, if there were any new "Talking Points" for the Middle Class, in all this Hopeful Messaging of the last week -- any consistent new Frames and Memes, that would be worth learning about, and perhaps even (gasp!) repeating ...
So I did some homework this morning, -- and here are some of my "take away points" for Progressive-minded Patriots, from this very important week ...
Office of Management and Budget
A New Era of Responsibility -- The 2010 Budget (pdf) -- from the Link: "Read the full budget"
and now My "Cliff Notes", of that 135-page Doc:
(Emphasis added, for skim-readers.)
A New Era of Responsibility
Renewing America’s Promise
Office of Management and Budget
www.budget.gov
pg 1
Barack Obama:
This crisis is neither the result of a normal turn of the business cycle nor an accident of history. We arrived at this point as a result of an era of profound irresponsibility that engulfed both private and public institutions ... For decades, too many on Wall Street threw caution to the wind, chased profits with blind optimism and little regard for serious risks--and with even less regard for the public good. ... they forgot that markets work best when there is transparency and accountability and when the rules of the road are both fair and vigorously enforced. For years, a lack of transparency created a situation in which serious economic dangers were visible to all too few.
This irresponsibility precipitated the interlocking housing and financial crises that triggered this recession. But the roots of the problems we face run deeper. Government has failed to fully confront the deep, systemic problems that year after year have only become a larger and larger drag on our economy. From the rising costs of health care to the state of our schools, from the need to revolutionize how we power our economy to our crumbling infrastructure, policymakers in Washington have chosen temporary fixes over lasting solutions.
...
pg 2
This moment is one of great paradox and promise: while there are millions of Americans trying to find work, there is also so much work to be done. That’s why the recovery Act and our Budget will make long overdue investments in priorities--like clean energy, education, health care, and a new infrastructure--that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st Century.
To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will make the investments in the next three years to double our Nation’s renewable energy capacity. We will modernize Federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of millions of American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well--jobs installing solar panels and wind turbines; constructing energy efficient buildings; manufacturing fuel efficient vehicles; and developing the new energy technologies
...
To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost, we will make the immediate investments needed to computerize all of America’s medical records within five years while protecting the privacy of patients.
...
To give our children a fair shot to thrive in a global, information-age economy, we will equip thousands of schools, community colleges, and universities with 21st Century classrooms, labs, and libraries.
...
To create a platform for our entrepreneurs and workers to build an economy that can lead this future, we will begin to rebuild America for the demands of the 21st Century. We will repair crumbling roads, bridges, and schools as well as expand broadband lines across America, so that a small business in a rural town can connect and compete with its counterparts anywhere in the world. And we will invest in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries.
...
pg 3
For these initiatives to lay a foundation for long-term economic growth, it’s important that we not only change what Washington invests in, but how Washington does business. We must usher in a new era of responsibility in which we empower citizens with the information they need to hold their elected representatives accountable for the decisions they make. We need to put tired ideologies aside, and ask not whether our Government is too big or too small, or whether it is the problem or the solution, but whether it is working for the American people. Where it does not, we will stop spending taxpayer dollars; where it has proven to be effective, we will invest.
...
The Budget also begins to restore a basic sense of fairness to the tax code, eliminating incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas and giving a generous package of tax cuts to 95 percent of working families.
...
Our problems are rooted in past mistakes, not our capacity for future greatness. We should never forget that our workers are more innovative and industrious than any on earth. Our universities are still the envy of the world. We are still home to the most brilliant minds, the most creative entrepreneurs, and the most advanced technology and innovation that history has ever known.
Barack Obama
The White House,
February 26, 2009.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB):
pg 5
Inheriting a Legacy of Misplaced Priorities
While middle-class families have been playing by the rules, living up to their responsibilities as neighbors and citizens, those at the commanding heights of our economy have not. They have taken risks and piled on debts that while seemingly profitable in the short-term, have now proven to be dangerous not only for their individual firms but for the economy as a whole. With loosened oversight and weak enforcement from Washington, too many cut corners as they racked up record profits and paid themselves millions of dollars in compensation and bonuses. There’s nothing wrong with making money, but there is something wrong when we allow the playing field to be tilted so far in the favor of so few.
pg 6
Every sector of our economy has been affected by this recession.
...
Figure 3
Manufacturing as a whole has been hard hit with employment falling to a 60-year low (see Figure 4, Manufacturing Employment).
Figure 4
Unsurprisingly, consumer confidence too is at an all time low (see Figure 6, Consumer Confidence).
Figure 6
Americans who, when offered the chance to own their own home, were advised to throw caution to the wind. Through sophisticated financial engineering, bad loans made on Main Street made their way onto the books of some of the largest firms on Wall Street, and then were sold to pension funds and individual investors around the world.
pg 7
Uncertainty about how far and wide the contagion has spread has brought our financial system to a near standstill.
The injection of unprecedented amounts of funds by the Federal reserve and through the Troubled Asset relief Program (TARP) attempted to restore confidence in the financial markets to get capital flowing once more and has slowed or perhaps halted the meltdown--but it has not been enough to fully restore confidence and the smooth operation of credit markets. A lack of trust still pervades markets.
pg 8
For millions of Americans, the recovery from 2001 through 2007 was hardly one at all. Measured by job gains, the economic recovery in the 2000s was the weakest one in a generation.
Figure 7
Between 2000 and 2007, median income among households headed by those under 65 fell by $1,951. To keep up, more and more Americans have turned to credit and debt: by 2007, household debt as a percentage of disposable personal income was 133.7 percent. And some Americans have not been able to keep up, falling out of the middle class and into poverty. From 2000 to 2007, the number of Americans living in poverty increased by nearly 5.7 million, and 1.7 more children lived in poverty in 2007 than in 2000.
Figure 8
pg 9
Growing Imbalance: Accumulating Wealth and Closing Doors to the Middle Class
For the better part of three decades, a disproportionate share of the Nation’s wealth has been accumulated by the very wealthy. Technological advances and growing global competition, while transforming whole industries--and birthing new ones--has accentuated the trend toward rising inequality. yet, instead of using the tax code to lessen these increasing wage disparities, changes in the tax code over the past eight years exacerbated them.
According to the Internal revenue Service, the Nation’s top 400 taxpayers made more than $263 million on average in 2006, but paid income taxes at the lowest rate in the 15 years in which these data have been reported. In constant dollars, the average income of the top 400 taxpayers nearly quadrupled since 1992.
It’s no surprise, then, that wealth began to be ever more concentrated at the top. By 2004, the wealthiest 10 percent of households held 70 percent of total wealth, and the combined net worth of the top 1 percent of families was larger than that of the bottom 90 percent.
Figure 9
There is nothing wrong with people succeeding and making money. But there is something wrong when the opportunity for all Americans to get ahead, to enter the middle class, and to create a better life for their children becomes more and more elusive. That is what has been happening: The ladder into the middle class and beyond has become harder and harder to climb. The American dream has slowly slipped beyond the grasp of millions as we have deliberately ignored the very investments in our people that strengthen the middle class and neglected the drivers of economic growth that will sustain our economy for the long run.
[Here's a summary of some of those "Drivers of Economic Growth", as addressed by the Budget Plan:]
- Education
- Health Care
- Infrastructure
- Clean Energy
- Fiscal Ir Responsibility
- Erosion of Market Oversight
- An Un Responsive Government
pg 43
Conclusion
At this moment of economic crisis and uncertainty, our country is being tested. We can continue the irresponsible ways of the past and pretend that our problems are not there. We can put off for tomorrow what must be done today. And we can just concern ourselves with ourselves-- pursuing profits without any regard for principles. Or we can take a new path, usher in a new era of responsibility, and renew America’s promise. We can jumpstart our economy and create or save millions of jobs.
...
Once again, we face such a moment, and it is up to each of us to roll up our sleeves and show, once again, that we are equal to the task at hand; that we are committed to the hard work of getting America moving again.
This Budget lays out a plan for our Nation to get back on its feet and restore our competitiveness in this new century. It details how we are going to steer the United States out of this deep recession, and begins laying the groundwork for long-term growth.
...
This Budget also reflects the belief that Americans deserve a government that is open, honest, and accountable. New transparency and program integrity initiatives will be started that will open the doors of the Government to the public and help make sure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and carefully.
...
Overcoming the problems we have inherited will not be completed in one budget, in one month, or in one year. It will take months and years of ingenuity and innovation, courage and commitment. It will take all Americans, including those in Washington and beyond living up to the responsibilities we have to each other as neighbors and citizens. But if we come together and pull together, there is little doubt that America will be growing, innovating, and creating jobs for generations to come.
A New Era of Responsibility -- The 2010 Budget (pdf)
=======
Well how about that!
Finally, a President who confronts America's Problems --
instead of denying them.
(Who Knew?)
Maybe there is Hope for the "American Dream", afterall?
Perhaps America's "Best Days" are still ahead of us ...
Let's hope so -- and Let's get busy -- building OUR Future!