It's War in Mexico, Mr. President

Sir, Mr President;


It is a new day. Mexico is at WAR! And we must reassess our National Security Objectives and Operational Plans. We need to Reassess our Defense Plans and where we are spending our Homeland Resources.

I have to add this to my National Security Objectives below to the #4 Priority. If you saw the New york Times today, then you are also reflecting that we haven't had a War on our border for like 80 years (Mexican Civil War 1910-1928?). Clearly our country is now at an increased DEFCON (Defense Condition) as a Result of the War in Mexico with itself. Likely we would call it an insurgent war by drug gangs, rather than a Civil War. But why doesn't the media realize this is an immanent threat?

Mexico is tearing it self apart because government institution are afraid of the "Drug Gang Violence".

Of course some Americans have been waiting for a reason to pull US Troops back to our borders. And some will be thinking that Tom Clancy anticipated that Islamic Terrorists befriending Drug Dealers to draw the war back from Iraq to Mexico or the USA.

Clearly if we can strengthen our borders, it will meet National Security Goals by repelling "Foreign" drug gangs and drug trafficking. "Let us not spend a fortune overseas on foreign adventures" against stateless insurgents. We NOW have insurgents on our border!

Dear President Obama

President Obama;


The Budget being a central piece to the US Economic and National Security Strategy, I wanted to present a Template for viewing some of our possible Expenses:

1) Scratch any Action for Occupying Force Overseas of 200,000 or more Troops (It is not part of the Quadrennial Defense Review or any Military Plan anyway.
2) Scratch any Planning for Large Police Action overseas involving 100,000 troops or more. In the Long Term is not sustainable and we know the Logistics Tail with Civilians and Contractors is a Trillion Dollar Enterprise (an unthinkable Expense at this time when we need budget dollars in infrastructure).
3) Scratch any Planning for Medium Sized Police Action overseas involving 50,000 to 100,000 troops. We know that in the Long Term this is not sustainable past a few years, since this also involves huge Expense of half a Trillion Dollars and a long Logistics Tail with Civilians and Contractors.
4) Small Sized Police Actions Overseas are sustainable over the Long Term, because we are looking at 20,000 Troops with some support from the Navy and a modest Logistic System which repairs equipment in the USA where US Wages are paid. The army LOGCAP contracts for Base Support would be affordable in the Millions of Dollars. A clear objective would be mandatory to any Small Police Action and would be key to any exit strategy. Also these small military actions can be run simultaneously.
5) Clearly the world expects us to use the State Department and Embassy Resources in the next decade to avoid new conflicts. State Department budget is pretty much a sunk overhead cost of running a government. So there is no real Additional Expense.

National Security Agenda:

1) Economic Stability for the USA and for the World. Clear threats are Financial Transactions and Instruments as well as popular unrest from loss of livelihood and savings.
2) Energy Stability
3) The presence of Freedom and Individual Rights in North America and Central America. Freedom is derived from Social Education, Social Medicine, and a healthy Economy.
4) Global Drug Lords will grow in power as they are able to hold on to distribution networks and make retail sales in the USA and Europe. We need a new approach here as we can not measure any real or lasting success. Perhaps if we can not seal the borders (drug shipments) then we must consider legalizing Marijuana to cut off some of the funds of the Drug lords/Gangs.
5) Big Business and Lobbyist pull on Washington DC does not seem to produce any measurable "Good". Clearly we agree that money is a persuader and a corrupter, but it doesn't write good laws. And how can we tolerate lobbies from foreign countries - When the common man doesn't have access to a like minded Representative in DC.
6) The SEC Staffing is very low. I remember a few years back hearing that the SEC had only 200 working manyears (active employee).
7) Credit Card Interest Rates above 18%.

------Pasted----from my first Essay-----Clearly President Obama should distance himself from Republicans and move away from Bipartisanship. The present system is very confused by the old status quo.

1) you have the wasteful meetings and speeches from the Republican side who just want to push back, fight, and make the democrats lose the next election. Well also I think they want to continue all of the old policies of free markets with no Regulation by the FED, they want to enjoy the fruits of lobbying, they want to continue to be in bed with big business (no matter the cost in taxes or civil rights), just so that they can be part of the big deals and feel like they have power. (okay the Dems must be feeling this too at times- power corrupts!).
2) Lobbyists from all over the globe want to right the next set of rules and sway both the President and Congress/Senate.
3) When was the last time you saw change in the Republican Party? Some guy was on CNN again saying that the Republican Party was re-crafting it image or "Core Values" If you are like me what comes to mind is the McCarthy Doctrine (McCarthy Purges?), or the Bush Doctrine, or the Paul Wolfowics Doctrine.
4) It is the Budget Stupid! We have created a Prison Industry and Defense Industry that are both making people millionaires and Billionaires at a cost of Trillions of US Tax Payer Dollars.
5) The Defense Department is the gift that keeps "Taking". After a Trillion dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan there is no end in sight. And by a strange convenience no one is talking about the Trillion of Dollars it will take to bring back the Armed Forces and over the next 7 Years bring all the equipment back to Peacetime state of readiness.
6) Now lets go back to the "War on Drugs" which can not show any success measured by our American Youths or by our Prison Enrollment. We have spent at least a Trillion Dollars in the war on drugs...we should include US State Department freebies in terms of Grants, and Loans to Mexico and South America.

Summary: We should have the right metrics in mind when we look at Government Program SUCCESS. We can't continue American Status Quo...in politics...in Lobbying, in Body Count, in having the best Military force deployed to far a way lands...and in terms of Arrests and Imprisonments. We have to measure success in terms of moving from the status quo of interference with Federal Government (Lobby & Political Quagmire).

President Obama - Implement - Implement - Implement

Obama must "Restore Trust" in the FED Gov: Word On The Street

Word On The Street maybe very bad news: Obama must "Restore Trust" in the FED Gov.

People are not happy to see TRAP/Bail-Out money go to banks to pay debts and create new mergers. Many people were feeling disenfranchised through the Bush years and especially with all the corruption and scandals both in politics and in the Financial Industry. So, the "Talking Heads" on TV have made a good point that the first order of the Obama Administration will be to establish trust, so that the first 100 Days agenda can get passed in both the House and Senate.

Without trust reflected in National Polls and with constituents of congressmen, the next bailout bill will suffer and languish. Pork and Earmarks are ways we will suffer for the passage.

Diaglog Universal Healthcare: forget partisanship, Let's talk

Dialog on Universal Health care, let's talk: forget partisanship.

Jim;

You are a business administrator for the US DOD and have 25 plus years in service. How is it you never learned to debate or use logic. And how could you send those emails that make you look like a nitwit schmuck.

Hey you are a nice guy and I know your values make you the nice guy that you are. So maybe this is something we can learn together - about how to lay out convincing logic instead of Slander, innuendo, and mystical fabrications.

Now back to Health care. I really want to know how Americans are supposed to have Thrived when HMOs and Health Insurance Agencies have incentives in place to deny payments to enrol lees. I'm not even talking about denials of policies to people with previous diabetes, heart attacks, strokes that constitute a risk and Loss payments to Insurance companies. You probably know someone denied treatment. Remember when Cataract Surgery came out, but no one could get approval? I remember bone marrow transplant as being not authorized and considered experimental.

You can't deny that people die and are refused service when they have an HMO or health insurance. But you family could be at risk of losing all you savings. It is a case where you are the person we are talking about in Universal Health care.

Jim, what you heard about the reality or cost of Universal Coverage is just not true. Paulson has thrown around more money than it would take to start this program (as I remember stated by the Medicare President).

Jim; Foreigners are afraid to visit the US without a health policy because the costs in our hospitals are through the roof. A series of simple operations can bankrupt any of us without adequate coverage. You might find yourself on early retirement planning to assault someone with a gun at the HMO or Hospital for refusal of service. You could therefore go to jail by a stretch of the imagination.

We have Socialized Police, Fire, DHS, DOD, schooling K-12, roadwork, Social Security, Medicare for retirement, ...there are tons of current government functions we could name.

There are many reasonable and successful systems overseas ...the same ones that politicians continually lie about.

Jim, The number one reason that we don't have Universal Health care is that insurance companies don't want to lose the profit margins. Insurance Companies have the highest profits of any industry and we would be lucky to work for them. Dedicated individuals and universities would carry on advancements and discoveries more efficiently that behemoth industrial giants. American scientist want to succeed and want to make a name for themselves and we must have one of the biggest workforces in the world to continue after universal health care.

Correct me here; Hillary failed to create new health care reform because insurance companies spent $100 Million or Billion lobbying. Then we have to throw on the Pharmacies Lobbying.

Lobbying is the tip of the "Follow the Money Iceberg"

There is a lot of money at stake for industry. Don't listen to any politicians on this issue, Jim. It is a war for the Money of the Middle Class.

Please respond with your logical comments.

Federal Lobbying Creates Recession

We the People Own this country and this Government.

Does it get any clearer? Sure, "Big Business" built the Railroads sparking commerce, industries build new cities, and represent progress. But the people have had to fight for Safety Regulations, Pollution Regulations, the health of ourselves and our kids, and for fair trade to prevent monopolies and price setting that held people back from success. "Big Business" is an entity that grows and competes to succeed big against any and all opposition. We can't allow "Big Business" to persuade our Government and write our laws...and don't even get me started about limits on "Foriegn Lobbying".

Federal Lobbying Creates Recession is my twist on the problem of Middle Class Lobby that doesn't exist for the most part. I know we have lobbies for "Retirees" and "Unions", but big business and the rich just have more resources.

• Oversight is the management of US Industries by Federal Agencies as part of their mandate.
• Oversight is completed at various levels of government by collecting data, regulations, and through interface with government through Federal Application Processes.
• Oversight is performed by Congress, Senate, the Federal Reserve Chairman, SEC, and many others at lower levels of Government including State and County Government.

Obviously with the Corporate Scandals and Lobbying Scandals every couple of years, no one has worked the problem with any sincerity at the Federal Level. But we the people own this country and this Federal Government.

• When are we going to demand that Government Work for us Middle Class and Poor.

Obama's Inheritance and Agency Implementation

The Deeper You Dig, The bigger the Problems facing the USA.

The Follow up on Federal Spending and Legislative Implementation is "Poor" in the USA. We overspend and agencies don't perform what we think they should i.e. the SEC, the Federal Chairman and the Secretary of Treasury. Federal Contractors know how the system works and know how to expand and become important Contractors with bigger roles/missions in our country. U.S. agencies and Congressmen know how to do this too. In fact it is a law of nature that men and women will seek security and larger pieces of the pie for which they compete. The SEC should have been expanded decades ago, but we trusted the banking sector to regulate themselves...In a sense we "Out-Sourced" the banking sector.

Question: Don't you think we could have spent Federal Trap/Bailout money to stand by home mortgages to reassure investors holding mortgage paper. That would have made the people all over the world feel safer with the investment derivatives.

Clearly, the state of the union needs to be examined with a focus on realism that George W. did not provide. Many of our National U.S. problems are really National Security issues now. I'm not talking about torture or phone taps just yet...I am talking about Energy Policy, Pursuit of Alternative Energy, Foreign Policy, First Strike War Policy, Use of the State Department and U.S. Embassies, Federal Regulation of U.S. Industries that did not regulate themselves such as Insurance, banking, and Financial Brokerages, Foreign Trade Deficit Policy, Federal subsidies to all industries, Federal Budget Accounts with Deficits such as Medicare and Social Security, the Federal Tax System, Iraq War, and on and on and on.

The more you look to the new President's Administration for reforms you realize that the U.S. Congress and Senate don't provide oversight of the implementation and administration of legislation and budget dollars. When you find yourself fed up with big federal systems like our tax code you should realize big complex systems should be eliminated to save administrative costs and no value added to our economy. Big Federal Systems exist everywhere.

Obama's Inheritance beyond the Iraq War is an ineffective if not bloated Federal Government. There is plenty for the Federal Government to focus on without telling individual Americans how to live their lives or without telling Federal Agencies what to spend their budget money on. Delegate and then hold Agencies responsible for implementation or requesting guidance. Then demand the three branches of Federal Government immediately respond with guidance or interpretation of Federal Law.

Clearly the early Vision of the Obama Presidency must include pristine ethics, Constitutional Rights for all People, and a "Jaundiced Eye" on the Economy, Subsidies, Imports, Big Business, Budget Spending, Banking Reform, Efficiency of Federal Budget, Accountability, and Federal Lobby Reform.

Old Question: Is the US Voter uninformed or ignorant of issues and candidates

Old Question from studies in 1950, 1960, 1976, 1996: Is the US Voter uninformed or ignorant of issues and candidates. How does the American Voter select his vote for US President?

The premise discussed is can the electorate select the right candidate even when individuals can be uninformed in so many ways...whether the incumbent has power over troubles in an individuals life, whether the good works of an incumbent early in the presidency will be remembered, ability to see more than the here and now that troubles the individual, ability to see beyond past party affiliations or alliances, ability to see beyond campaign messages on TV or slams at campaign opponents.

what I get out of this article is that individuals can't really pick the right candidate for themselves and their own values or interests. However, it is not likely that a coin toss will produce better results. In the case of US Presidential Elections money spent in the final weeks of the campaign for TV ads will sway many voters. And many voters will decide their vote on stereotypes, or by campaign ads. The studies performed seem to point to enduring voter ignorance.

Article Sited "How smart is the American voter?
The electorate as a whole may be wiser and more rational than any individual."

By Larry M. Bartels November 3, 2008
Larry M. Bartels directs the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. A longer version of this article appears in the current Wilson Quarterly.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-bartels3-2008nov03,0,2565169.story