Change is in the wind. As promised in his campaign President
Barack Obama is all about change, and it is long overdue. Our
country has withstood the divisive and mean spirited attacks on the
Constitution by the George W. Bush Administration over the last
eight years, which actually set the stage for real change now. The
only thing worse and harder than big change is more of the insanity
of the last eight years.
By John Quick
Change is in the wind. As promised in his campaign President Barack Obama is all about change, and it is long overdue. Our country has withstood the divisive and mean spirited attacks on the Constitution by the George W. Bush Administration over the last eight years, which actually set the stage for real change now. The only thing worse and harder than big change is more of the insanity of the last eight years.
And that change is sweeping.
We are giving close to $1 billion directly to the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority. The Administration is demanding increased accountability for bailout funds given to financial institutions. The health care industry has been put on notice that a serious move to universal health care is underway. Torturing prisoners has been declared to no longer be official U.S. policy. Guantanamo is closing down. The end of the Iraq war is being scheduled. The military is going to refocus on Afghanistan in an attempt to actually finish the righteous war.
Real information, instead of fabricated falsehoods, is being released about WMD in the Middle East (Iran is NOT close to having nuclear weapons). We are actually trying to talk to regimes we have disagreements with (Russia, Iran). Openness is being declared and applied as the new Washington approach to communication with the people of this country.
A re-redistribution of wealth appears to be underway. In the past eight years, the Bush gang did everything it could to successfully redistribute wealth to the very rich. Many of those people are now very angry that a more progressive tax structure is being reinstituted – in keeping with Obama’s campaign promises.
Those who have NET income of more than $250,000 will be taxed at a higher rate – consistent with the way they were taxed under previous administrations. If you make less than $250,000 net income you will either be taxed the same or LESS than you were under Bush. This is called restoring an appropriate and fair tax structure.
The lies and abuse of the Constitution perpetrated by the Bush Administration are under full-scale attack. Hopefully, Homeland Security will come under some degree of control and supervision. Unauthorized wiretapping of U.S. citizens, torture of prisoners by U.S. security forces, the mixing of church and State in the form of funding faith derived social welfare programs, obstruction of funding for advanced genetic research and faith-based limits being placed on international aid funds for population control are all things we can expect to see disappear.
The new budget proposed by the Obama Administration tells the truth about the real cost of the two wars we are paying for instead of keeping major portions of this cost hidden and off the budget line.
The extreme right has declared war on Obama and his response is that he is ready for the fight. It is time for liberals to stand up and be counted. Real compassion and fairness are real American values.
The desperation of the extreme right was demonstrated by the entertainment demagogue Rush Limbaugh recently in his speech to his cult-like followers. In a typical distortion of the truth, Limbaugh quoted the Declaration of Independence claiming he was quoting the preamble to the Constitution.
His ignorance is only exceeded by his greed. This blatant disregard for truth and realism typifies those who listen to Limbaugh and like his message. They are also able to ignore that this man who wanted to put all drug addicts in jail for life is himself a junkie.
Their version of truth is “adjustable” to suit their needs. In other words, the end justifies the means for them. This has been the theme of the Bush Administration for the last eight years. We now have a president and an administration who seem to trust us to make good judgments based on accurate information.
The biggest change we will have to adapt to with President Obama is being respected as part of the decision making process and being expected to produce the work of democracy. Obama is not saying he can fix it all without our help.
As citizens we must actively participate in democratic decision making. This starts at the local level. Become informed about what is happening in the local government and the local economy. Make informed, intelligent decisions. Get involved and actively work to make local government and your local economy successful and resilient.
There is also a great Web site for changing California State government to make it more responsive. It is www.caforward.org.
Read, learn and act with your new knowledge. Participate in the changes that will restore our economy and democracy.
Dr. John Quick has owned and operated the Animal Care Center in Morgan Hill for 28 years. He is a founder of W.E.R.C. and Furry Friends Foundation and was Morgan Hill Male Citizen of the Year in 2003.
