Obama's Administration and The Middle Class

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Who's more effective than Ted Kennedy in the Senate to push forward the next administration's Healthcare agenda?  Before we tackle the healthcare issue, let's review the discussion we've been having lately around building the Obama's administration.

 

Considering the current financial crisis, we all know the economy is the No. 1 issue and, it will remain so until we see some signs of recovery in the US and around the world. It'll be long before that happens. Just early today, we heard that Japan was also in recession** after Europe (UK, Germany, Italy) already experienced theirs.

 

**Recession is defined as at least two consecutives quarters or six months of a negative economic growth which is measured by GDP (Gross Domestic Product) or total of products and services produced by a country over a specified period, usually a year)

 

Japan's economy, the second largest in the world, imports about $63 billion from the US. No need to tell you the impact on the US economy.  This situation only emphasizes the importance of issue No. 1 on President-elect Obama's agenda.  Also if you remember at the end of the campaign, when CNN Wolf Plizter asked Obama "which would be his top priority among health care reform, energy independence, tax cuts for the middle class, education spending or immigration reform, Obama answered:

"Top priorities may not be any of those five. It may be continuing to stabilize the financial system. We don't know yet what's going to happen in January. And none of this can be accomplished if we continue to see a potential meltdown in the banking system or the financial system. So that's priority number one, making sure that the plumbing works in our capitalist system.

"Priority number two of the list have put forward I think has to be energy independence. We have to seize this moment because it is not just an energy independence issue, it is also a national security issue and it is a jobs issue. And we can create 5 million new green energy jobs with a serious program.

"Priority number three would be health care reform. I think the time is right to do it. Priority number four is making sure that we have tax cuts for the middle class and part of a broader tax reform effort. Priority number five I think would be making sure that we have an education system that works for our children." 

When it comes to the next administration, so far the names mentioned are diverse (rivals, bipartisans) in the following posts:

Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel as we already know

Attorney General: Eric Holder

EPA Head: Robert F. Kennedy?

Treasury Secretary

Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton? 

Defense Secretary: Robert Gates?

Secretary of Energy

Secretary of Education: Caroline Kennedy

Secretary of Agriculture

White House Counsel

 

These posts are not necessarily in the sequence of issues and priorities as highlighted above.  Rather I believe priorities will NOT be as defined during that CNN interview because of the continuous challenges we're facing, particularly when the daily economic problem becomes a moving target not only domestically but also globally.  Just as we can't continue unilateral politics and we need NATO allied to fight terrorism and win war in Afghanistan; same goes with the Economy.  In a global economy, like in any integrated financial system, we can't fix the banking or credit system in the US without considering the impact on other modules of that system. Whether the module is called G7, G8 or G20 it must part of the Market whether we want it or not. Otherwise, we end up paying the price as we are today.

 

That being said about the economy, what about healthcare reform?

 

Can we afford to push back the agenda or make healthcare less important?  How can Ted Kennedy help push forward Obama's healthcare agenda?  To me, human capital is essential part of the economic system.  We need a healthy population for a healthy economy.  Now it's a matter of finding a system that doen't put too much burden on Taxpayers nor continue to only benefit corporate companies, doctors or hospitals.

 

The last few days we talked about Howard Dean, someone I believe is the best contender to Department of Health.  I'd say the same for Hillary Clinton too, if Secretary of State post was to be given to Bill Richardson (and I hope so but I trust President-Elect Obama to take the right decision).  Dean would still have the option of be being the FDA Commissioner in Obama's Presidency.

Now Uncle Teddy is back, let's see what he has to say. Most importantly I'm happy to see the Camelot closer to US administration or OBAMELOT.  I believe more than before the Obama's administration will have the Kennedy very much involved with Bobby Junior (EPA) Caroline Kennedy (Education) and, on the other hand Uncle Ted Kennedy energetic as ever to pushing Healthcare agenda forward.

I think the focus should remain a US well educated and  highly productive Middle class in any case if we want to boost economy and compete globally.  Keeping that in mind, which priority would you define to help President-Elect turn this economy around? Would it be FDR approach as during the great depression or the Obama's new way considering the current financial crisis? or would it be something in between?

Authors Bio:
I believe in "the unknown gives one the opportunity to grow" and, that "Attitude determines Altitude". There is no limitation but in one's own mind. My hero's leaders are Abraham Lincoln (the most influential American to my opinion), John F. Kennedy (JFK), Martin L. King Jr. (MLK, himself influenced by Gandhi Non Violence approach), and Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), Nelson Mandela just to name a few. MLK had a great dream for all of us here in the United States and around the world and, this was made possible thanks to the spirit of this great nation called the United States of America where everyone can achieve anything if they work hard at it; which isn't necessarily true in many other countries I traveled to or lived in.