The four crises the USA faces today

The Devilstower post about the Second Hundred Hours started me thinking about what the priorities of this Congress should be.  The first hundred hours can be considered going after the low-hanging fruit: easy wins that have been disrupted by Republicans but that are vastly popular with the public.  But the reality is that after these first hundred hours, we really need to prioritize and focus on the things that are most important.  Although one can argue that there are plenty of things that need to be fixed, there are four in my mind that have the potential to destroy our country.  The four crises of our times are:

1.  Constitutional

2.  Geopolitical

3.  Health Care

4.  Environmental

Each of these four crises have the possibility of upsetting the very fabric of our society.  Every year they become worse.  And it will take political courage on the part of our representatives to fix them.  Unfortunately, none have an easy fix.  They all will demand sacrifice on the part of the public at large, which does not do well to generate votes.  But without them, we may, or perhaps will, fail.  

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

Most people on this board understand that the executive branch has performed a power grab like none before.  But I believe that the issue is even worse than is generally accepted.  At this point in time, the executive branch has taken virtually unlimited power.  It wields this power through the word "interpret".  Ironically, while attempting to fill federal courts with persons of like-minded ideology under the guise of "strict constructionism", the executive branch is interpreting existing laws, new laws, and treaties to convey new meanings to those laws.  This is always interpreted in the favor of moving more power to the executive branch, to the point where the legislature is no longer relevant.  The most egregious example of this is the presidential signing statement.  Laws passed by congress are modified and/or ignored at the time of their signing by virtue of a statement that was never identified to be part of the constitutional process of lawmaking.    Even worse, at least one member of the U.S. Supreme Court has made a public statement supporting the signing statement as a factor in the interpretation of laws by that body.  Nowhere in the Constitution is there mention of a signing statement.  This single issue is enough to be of concern.  But this administration goes much further.  Whether it be interpreting the Geneva Conventions to define torture, to ignore existing law through interpretation of presidential powers, to ignore the requirement of a declaration of war to engage in war.  All of these things lead to a constitutional crisis the likes of which have not been since the Civil War, possibly since the founding of our country.  This alone can destroy all that our founders built.

GEOPOLITICAL CRISIS

While the war in Iraq is certainly a concern, I believe it is the larger geopolitical issues that have the greatest potential to destroy our country.  Having the most powerful military capability in the world automatically creates both alliances and enemies, and we will probably have both for the foreseeable future.  But the neoconservatives, by ignoring international law and by invading Iraq, have completely changed the dynamic of international relations.  In some sense, they have helped the spread of democracy by showing that power can come from within a population versus imposed on it by a dictatorial regime.  But this has given rise to a more theocratic foundation, and has simultaneously diminished the moral authority of the US as a model for other nations.  We have promoted torture over interrogation, revenge over justice, and self-interest over global interests.  In doing so, we have lost the support of our allies and, more importantly, the population of our allies.  We have created enemies where we had none.  And we have emboldened those that wish to destroy us.

And while all of this is certainly bad, we have in fact done much worse.  By invading and occupying Iraq, forgetting Bin Laden, and ignoring the Palestinian issue, we have completely changed the political structure of the Middle East.  Over the course of the next ten years, this region could become part of a major catastrophe that has ripple effects throughout history.  I do fear that if there is not some type of turnaround in the Middle East in the next five years, that we could very easily enter into a real World War III.

HEALTH CARE CRISIS

Back on the domestic front, Health Care continues to create havoc.  This issue has an impact on both individuals (those without health insurance) and the greater public, as the U.S. health care expenditures continue to grow from Medicare, Medicaid, etc.  

On the individual front, nothing can have as devastating effect on a family as a health crisis.  The laws in this country keep the health care industry as part of a free market, the supposed benefit of which is better innovation and better care.  However, the net result creates part of the John Edwards "two Americas".  There are two Americas right now: those with health insurance, and those without.  If you are lucky enough to work for a company that provides good insurance, you do not have to worry much.  If you are one of the millions that does not have this option, then you are risking a major financial crisis, either by your insurance company not covering what you thought they would, or by not having any insurance at all.  And with the changes to the bankruptcy laws, a single medical crisis in the family could ruin that family for the rest of their lives.  All of this power is controlled by a few companies, which focus on profitability over people.  

This leads to the second issue: the skyrocketing costs of medical care.  As the baby boomers move into retirement, there will be such a strain on the medical system that the government finances simply will not be able to handle it.  This is very predictable: we know when the population is retiring, we know the impact.  To reference the Old Testament: we know that seven years of famine are coming, but instead of preparing for it, we are giving away all our food in the form of tax cuts.  If we even attempt to maintain zero deficit spending, we could see tax rates as high as 50% simply to be able to sustain the amount of public spending on health care for the baby boomers.  Our entire monetary system could be threatened.  This is something that is preventable, but not unless action is taken now.

ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

Not much more needs to be said about the crisis to the environment than has been said by Al Gore.  As I relax in 75 degree weather in January, enjoying the beautiful day when before we would have snow, I cannot help but wonder how the Republicans get away with their deceptions.  The public is finally starting to wake up to the impact of global warming, but we are doing very little about it.  I still see Hummers on the road.  I still see waste everywhere, and I still see congress ignoring the situation.  At some point, we need to stop defending the oil companies and start looking out for ourselves.  Not much more to be said here.

In Summary...

While I'm pleased with the legislation for the first 100 hours, there are issues that impact the very fabric of our society, and our very survival.  If we do not address these, we could destroy ourselves.  If our newly elected Congress can fix these four things, then we have a chance.  If not...