Posts Tagged ‘friedman’

“I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.”

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Thomas L. Friedman uses that quote from Oliver Wendell Holms in his collumn today, “Palin’s Kind of Patriotism,” in which he points out how selfish and wrong-headed her quote abotu paying taxs was during her ‘debate’ with Joe Biden. It is, to me, so infuriating to see her take such an attitude with serious issues. Does she really think a smile, a wink, or a cute phrase is helpful?

Here’s another quote from his column

I only wish she had been asked: “Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed? If it isn’t from tax revenues, there are only two ways to pay for those big projects — printing more money or borrowing more money. Do you think borrowing money from China is more patriotic than raising it in taxes from Americans?” That is not putting America first. That is selling America first.

 

The column closes with

At least the king of Saudi Arabia, in advocating “drill baby drill,” is serving his country’s interests — by prolonging America’s dependence on oil. My problem with Palin is that she is also serving his country’s interests — by prolonging America’s dependence on oil. That’s not patriotic. Patriotic is offering a plan to build our economy — not by tax cuts or punching more holes in the ground, but by empowering more Americans to work in productive and innovative jobs. If Palin has that kind of a plan, I haven’t heard it.

 

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U.S. Confirmed Deaths 
Reported Deaths: 4180 
Confirmed Deaths: 4179 
Pending Confirmation: 1 
DoD Confirmation List

Source: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

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Friedman’s Column - Making America Stupid

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Tom Friedman’s column of September 13 “Making America Stupid” points out the weaknesses and faults of McCain’s campaign and the Republican policies. You’ve got to read it. He counters the the Republican mantra “Dill,baby, drill!” with

Why would Republicans, the party of business, want to focus our country on breathing life into a 19th-century technology — fossil fuels — rather than giving birth to a 21st-century technology — renewable energy? As I have argued before, it reminds me of someone who, on the eve of the I.T. revolution — on the eve of PCs and the Internet — is pounding the table for America to make more I.B.M. typewriters and carbon paper. “Typewriters, baby, typewriters.”

He also addresses the false-issue culture-war  raised by the Republicans 

I don’t know how much steel is in Obama’s belly, but I do know that the issues he is focusing on in this campaign — improving education and health care, dealing with the deficit and forging a real energy policy based on building a whole new energy infrastructure — are the only way we can put steel back into America’s spine. McCain, alas, has abandoned those issues for the culture-war strategy.

An concludes brilliantly:

Sorry, but there is no sustainable political/military power without economic power, and talking about one without the other is nonsense. Unless we make America the country most able to innovate, compete and win in the age of globalization, our leverage in the world will continue to slowly erode. Those are the issues this election needs to be about, because that is what the next four years need to be about.

There is no strong leader without a strong country. And posing as one, to use the current vernacular, is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig.

And now for the funnies

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