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• Rosa sat...

  ...so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran so our children can fly. I have no crystal ball, but I feel strongly that we are about to witness an historic evening -- an evening that, even here in the United States of Amnesia, will remain an indelible memory for all of us for the rest of our lives. Many Democrats I know will be satisfied with nothing less than a sweeping rebuke of the 28 years of conservative ascendancy. They want, and expect, not only a 10-point Obama win, but also 60 seats in the new Senate. Neither is likley to happen. At the same time, most Republicans would be ecstatic with even the narrowest margin in a McCain win. Either way, tomorrow, we will... Posted Nov 04 2008, 02:38 PM by KTrapani with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: civil rights, education, public policy, economy, Dr. King, Obama, McCain

• A Failure to Frame

  The great unwinding of our governmental competence is finally complete. Having mis-managed the FDA, FEMA, the SEC, the war on terrorism, the Justice Department, and US-Russia realtions, just to name a few areas, this week we failed to respond to the global economic meltdown. We failed on many fronts -- we didn't see it coming, we exacerbated a bad situation by giving the financial markets more, rather than less, freedom -- but I never expected this administration (the one that invented the term "death tax" and presented the proposal to strip away meaningful environmental protections as "The Clear Skies Initiative") to lose a battle because they framed it wrong. Really... Posted Oct 02 2008, 08:21 AM by KTrapani with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: the media, public policy, economy, consumer debt, recession, Bailout

• Hail McCain, the great uniter!

  "The global economic crisis was barely averted today by the courageous efforts of US Presidential candidate, John McCain, who selflessly set aside his campaign -- putting country first, while rival Barack Obama practiced for a debate -- to work around the clock with a breakaway group of maverick House Republicans to get them to back the $700 billion troubled assets purchase plan first offerred over the weekend by the genius, Henry Paulson, Treaury Secretary. Senator McCain, as he has done so often in his long and storied career of public service, used his experience to reach across the aisle and single-handedly negotiate the most important piece of legislation ever acted upon by the US government... Posted Sep 26 2008, 07:44 AM by KTrapani with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: the media, public policy, economy, consumer debt, recession, Obama, McCain, Bailout

• You and I now underwrite mortgage-backed securities...

  Our current economic model -- implemented all across the globe as the partner platform to advancing "democracy" in developing nations -- is not sustainable. The time has come for us to recognize that any model that is dependent on over-consumption and easy credit and that disproportionately rewards the rich at the expense of services for the rest cannot work over any long period of time. Capitalism alone is not the saviour of society. Since last August, the Federal Reserve Board Chair, Ben Bernanke, has told us that the "weakness" in the economy has been "contained". First, it was "contained" within the sub-prime mortgage industry. Then, in December, it... Posted Mar 12 2008, 09:48 AM by KTrapani with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: values, public policy, economy, consumer debt, recession, postponing gratification