Interesting series of questions

[TitanTiger 20,708]

A blogger, that normally is fairly apolitical, put forth this post and questions that I thought would be interesting to discuss if we can do so seriously instead of parsing it to the nth degree looking for ways to either defend or assail Obama. Here goes:

Take Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last week at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, for example. One sentence demanded my attention, stood out as the real crux of the speech, and has had me pondering. It’s gone unmentioned in the news coverage I’ve read and seen since.

”Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems,” Senator Obama said.

Then he continued, ”but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves.”

I took that sentence to mean that Barack Obama believes there are things American citizens can do for themselves and things they can’t. His government, I understand Senator Obama to have said, will do some of the things which the citizens cannot do for themselves - he implied that this is a limitation his government will be subject to.

I then read the paragraphs that followed carefully as Senator Obama listed those things for us - again, the things government will do because we cannot do them for ourselves. Here they are in order and in his words when possible.

Protect us from harm
Provide every child a decent education
Keep our water clean
Keep our toys safe
Invest in new schools
Invest in new roads
Invest in new science and technology
Ensure a job opportunity for every American willing to work
Provide a tax code that rewards workers and small businesses
Provide tax breaks for businesses that create good jobs in America and not overseas
Eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups
Cut taxes for 95% of working families
End dependence on oil from the Middle East
Recruit teachers, pay them higher salaries
Provide affordable college education to everyone who serves their community or country
Provide affordable health care to every citizen
Prevent insurance companies from discriminating against the sick
Ensure more sick days and better family leave for workers
Change bankruptcy laws to protect pensions
Ensure equal pay for men and women
Eliminate government programs that don’t work
Make government programs that do work more efficient

Then Senator Obama specified three things we individual Americans must do because government cannot do them for us.

Make our homes and businesses more efficient (when it comes to energy use)
Turn the television off and make our children do their homework
Fathers must love and guide their children

Instead of debating economic strategy and oil policy and budgets and blah blah blah, I’d rather focus more narrowly and think about three foundational questions Obama’s speech raises for me.

1) What is it government must do because we cannot do it for ourselves?

2) Which things on Senator Obama’s list belong and which don’t?

3) Which things would you add to Obama’s list?

Answering these leads me to three more questiosn we’ll call “bonus.”

1) Is everything we aren’t doing for ourselves stuff we can’t and shouldn’t do for ourselves?

2) Should government do the things we aren’t doing but should be doing or stick to the things we truly can’t do?

3) Is the only alternative to our individual ability the government’s collective ability? Are my only choices me and them?

You don't have to answer every question, but look at the list culled from Obama's speech and run it against the internal list you have in your head and take a swing at a couple of these or more.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

No guarantees, but if you kick it off, maybe more folks will jump in.

A blogger, that normally is fairly apolitical, put forth this post and questions that I thought would be interesting to discuss if we can do so seriously instead of parsing it to the nth degree looking for ways to either defend or assail Obama. Here goes:

Take Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last week at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, for example. One sentence demanded my attention, stood out as the real crux of the speech, and has had me pondering. It’s gone unmentioned in the news coverage I’ve read and seen since.

”Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems,” Senator Obama said.

Then he continued, ”but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves.”

I took that sentence to mean that Barack Obama believes there are things American citizens can do for themselves and things they can’t. His government, I understand Senator Obama to have said, will do some of the things which the citizens cannot do for themselves - he implied that this is a limitation his government will be subject to.

I then read the paragraphs that followed carefully as Senator Obama listed those things for us - again, the things government will do because we cannot do them for ourselves. Here they are in order and in his words when possible.

Protect us from harm
Provide every child a decent education
Keep our water clean
Keep our toys safe
Invest in new schools
Invest in new roads
Invest in new science and technology
Ensure a job opportunity for every American willing to work
Provide a tax code that rewards workers and small businesses
Provide tax breaks for businesses that create good jobs in America and not overseas
Eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups
Cut taxes for 95% of working families
End dependence on oil from the Middle East
Recruit teachers, pay them higher salaries
Provide affordable college education to everyone who serves their community or country
Provide affordable health care to every citizen
Prevent insurance companies from discriminating against the sick
Ensure more sick days and better family leave for workers
Change bankruptcy laws to protect pensions
Ensure equal pay for men and women
Eliminate government programs that don’t work
Make government programs that do work more efficient

Then Senator Obama specified three things we individual Americans must do because government cannot do them for us.

Make our homes and businesses more efficient (when it comes to energy use)
Turn the television off and make our children do their homework
Fathers must love and guide their children

Instead of debating economic strategy and oil policy and budgets and blah blah blah, I’d rather focus more narrowly and think about three foundational questions Obama’s speech raises for me.

1) What is it government must do because we cannot do it for ourselves?

2) Which things on Senator Obama’s list belong and which don’t?

3) Which things would you add to Obama’s list?

Answering these leads me to three more questiosn we’ll call “bonus.”

1) Is everything we aren’t doing for ourselves stuff we can’t and shouldn’t do for ourselves?

2) Should government do the things we aren’t doing but should be doing or stick to the things we truly can’t do?

3) Is the only alternative to our individual ability the government’s collective ability? Are my only choices me and them?

You don't have to answer every question, but look at the list culled from Obama's speech and run it against the internal list you have in your head and take a swing at a couple of these or more.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Yeah, I was still ruminating on it but didn't want to wait until my thoughts had formed to post it up here. It's late now. I'll try to get something up tomorrow morning.