LA Mayor Supports Clinton

Raising Democratic Star, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa threw his support behind Senator Hillary Clinton last week. It’s the latest in a series of endorsements that have come for the front runner.

This news means we should get used to Villaraigosa, The Guardian story points out that he is a popular Latino politician in a state with an increasingly Latino electorate. Combine that with his intimate relationship with party elites and state or national office seems to be in his future.

Obama Lays Out Health Plan

Obama promises to create universal health care by the end of his first term. Every American would have “affordable, comprehensive, and portable” coverage. His plan (Overview Here, Full Plan Here) focuses on reforming the current system to make it more efficient while investing in prevention and management treatment to reduce the costs of catastrophic health issues. The savings from streamlining the health care delivery system will provide some of the funds needed to expand coverage universally. Additionally employers will be required to contribute to their employees’ health costs, either by providing insurance directly, or by paying for public coverage.

The plan provides a multitude of ways to cuts costs, but doesn’t offer any kind of assurance that these alone will pay for the program. Surely it is impossible to know exactly how the cost-saving measure will pan out and even harder to know what kind of employer contributions he could get through congress, but despite this he makes no mention of any use of public funds. No corresponding cuts in the national budget, or increases in taxes. Obviously this is a very early version of the plan, but it seems to me that national health care might require more than just increased efficiency to reduce patients’ costs so dramatically. I for one think this will end up requiring either a tax increase (maybe by repealing the Bush tax cuts and/or repealing the Reagan tax cuts), or shifting funding from another area of the federal budget (perhaps military spending).

Giuliani v. Paul

While watching highlights of the Fox News Debate that was held yesterday in South Carolina, I found a particular exchange very telling.

In the video Ron Paul, who voted against giving Bush authorization to invade Iraq, argues that the 9-11 attacks were “blowback” from interventional foreign policy. He says that we’ve had our noses in the Middle East for fifty years causing rampant hatred and anti-Americanism. Giuliani, responded the only way he knows how, by calling names. He didn’t argue the merit of the statement, he didn’t explain why he disagreed, he simply called it absurd and demanded Rep. Paul retract his comment.

Giuliani showed a lack of maturity and understanding regarding international relations. Like it or not, there are international consequences for American foreign policy. It is the nature of hegemony. Our actions affect the rest of the world and sometimes, even if motivated by irrationality and executed with supreme violence, our actions incur costs. Certainly America didn’t ask for 9-11, but we just as certainly didn’t demand that our foreign policy be benign or friendly. Giuliani is ignoring our part in our world’s problems, and using fear of continued attack, and hatred for our enemies as a catapult into demagogic power. We need a President who understand the complexity of international relations and the simplicity of revenge, not one who assumes the world to be our sandbox and its inhabitants our toys.

UPDATE: Fox News Viewers agree with me for once, Ron Paul beat out Giuliani by 6 points in a Fox News poll that asked, "who won the debate". Paul came in second to Romney, by 4 points.

Obama Lays Out Automotive Strategy, Reinforces Health Care Hints

In a speech to the Economic Club of Detroit, Obama rated American Automakers as deficient in creating energy efficient vehicles. He said Japanese Automakers have done more to advance efficient technologies and to curb the industry's thirst for oil. Obama criticized the automobile lobbies for impeding efforts to make cars more efficient.

“For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars, and whenever an attempt was made to raise our fuel efficiency standards, the auto companies would lobby furiously against it, spending millions to prevent the very reform that could’ve saved their industry."

As part of his plan, Obama proposed high fuel economy standards, increased tax credits for buying green cars, and government subsidies so automakers can pay health care expenses.

His health proposals are in line with previous comments regarding his soon to be proposed health care plan. So far he has said that his plan would utilize federal subsidies for uninsured Americans, like autoworkers, and provide universal health care by 2012.

Target Obama?

According to CNN Presidential candidate Barack Obama has been put under secret service protection. The Obama Campaign says that there was no credible, specific threat, but that greater security was necessary given his increased campaign schedule. However the Washington Post's coverage on the same story mentions "some racist chatter on white supremacist Web sites" as a possible motive for the increased protection.

This brings up an interesting issue for Obama, is this campaign survivable? Obviously some portion of the American electorate is not ready for a Black president like Obama. The question is, does that portion contain elements that would seek to end his candidacy with a bullet? It is really a test of our nation, can a serious black presidential candidate get through a campaign? Previous black candidates have received credible death threats, however, they were never considered serious contenders for the nomination. Obama's popularity sets him alone in history. He has a serious chance at the White House, but the question is, does that popularity bring with it attention from rednecks and racists who don't have any qualms about using violence to enforce their political beliefs? I would like to think America is past that.