Saturday, April 3, 2010

It is Vatican again

As long Vatican requires its priests to be celibate, there will remain a high likelihood of sex scandals. The Catholic Church should join the 21st Century. The Church should allow its priests to marry and lead a normal life so that they can focus on delivering Jesus message.

Vatican’s response to the latest sex scandal is just shameless and sickening. The Pope should apologize, punish and turn over the culprits to law agencies and make restitution to the victims.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Bravo Google!

Google's decision to stand up to Chinese dictators is bold and deserves the support of free world. In a clever move, Google has moved their uncensored search engine to Hong Kong and has started directing the traffic from its China web site to its Hong Kong web site. Google is thus complying with the Chinese as well as the Hong Kong laws. The Chinese censors reacted by blocking access to politically sensitive information from Google’s Hong Kong site. However this will eventually back fire as the Chinese web surfers who are educated and younger will eventually start resenting Chinese government’s censorship. This may start a mass movement against the Chinese dictators. If that happens, Google might have inadvertently put the first nail in the coffin of the Communist & Fascist regime of China.

All freedom loving people of the world should support Google’s fight for internet freedom by boycotting the products made by Communist China.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

House passes the Health Care Reform Bill

It is not a perfect bill but it is a good start. Hopefully improvements can be done in future with bi-partisan support. After all, no body can dare take Medicare away from seniors now.

One concern is whether it will survive the constitutional challenge based on states rights. We will find it out in due time.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mr. Obama’s Predicament

Recently there have been concerns that President Obama still seems to be in the campaign mode. President Obama election was a historic event and he is elected at a time when the United States as well as the World faces great adversities. It is important that he succeeds in his effort to steer all of us through this challenging period. However, after the initial euphoria, troubling signs are emerging in Obama’s Presidency which is of concerns.

The earlier red flag was the stimulus package. Instead of proposing, designing, directing and leading the effort on the stimulus plan, Mr. Obama deferred its design to the House and the Left wing of the Democratic Party. The final package which came out has not been effective in reviving the economy or improving the unemployment situation. A similar situation seems to exist with the Health Care Reform. What is missing is the leadership within the Administration to come up with plans to meet Mr. Obama’s goals and agenda and to coordinate with the Congress to get the required bills passed. While, Mr. Obama’s lack of Executive experience in dealing with the Legislature was known, it was expected that he will fill this gap by appointing competent advisors who have such experience. Unfortunately this is not being done effectively.

This kind of approach in foreign affairs can be risky. It is true that Mr. Obama inherited Iraq, Afghanistan and the financial crisis. No matter whose faults were these, Mr. Obama knew the cards being dealt to the new President and as the new President, he owns them now. Fortunately, with adversities come the opportunities. After all his heroes President Lincoln and later on President Roosevelt faced bigger challenges during their Presidencies and are now revered as Great Presidents.

Mr. Obama has a similar opportunity to reach greatness; the question is whether he can rise up to the challenges. I believe he can if he transcends to the next level and start acting as a President instead of the Candidate. Initially it will be tough as Mr. Obama’s natural aptitude is to be a preacher and a campaigner who wants to be loved by every one. He is also very good at it as his opponents found out during the election. His predicament and challenge is to overcome and control these natural impulses which may impact his Presidency adversely.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

China must listen!

In a recent speech the Chinese Premier has criticized America and has claimed that Chinese currency, yuan, is not too low while around same time, The New York Times exposed how China was using rules of global trade to its advantage. It is time for American and European leaders to realize that China only understands and respects power play. Thus America’s earlier weapon sale to Taiwan was a move in the right direction and despite all the whining by China, its message was well understood by the Chinese dictators.

America and the West must force China to float its currency at the market rate. It is ridiculous that despite a $2 trillion dollars of foreign currency reserve, Chinese currency is still allowed to be pegged to US dollar at an artificially low rate determined by China. There will a lot of support for this action in the world as by keeping its currency artificially low, China is hurting the economies of many other countries.

America should stop worrying that China may retaliate by liquidating its dollar assets. China is smart enough to know that any large scale withdrawal from American bond market will cause a run on dollar and will significantly reduce the value of their dollar assets. After all they are also in a quandary as they have sold real products to America for American paper money.

If China refuses to cooperate and does not agree to float its currency at the market rate, there should be a world wide boycott of products made in China.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

All that glitters is not Gold

The last 10 years have been traumatic period for America and the world. It is time to take stoc of the reasons which have caused these problems. No matter how the partisan crowd wings it the fact that the seed of many problems we face today were sowed during the Clinton Administration. To cite a few examples,

Al Qaeda had attacked USA three times during the Clinton Administration, and Clinton’s only response was to throw a few cruise missiles on Taliban. Also most of 9/11 attack preparation was done during Clinton’s time. The Clinton administration was sleeping.

Further the seed of the current financial crisis were also sowed during the Clinton including the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act which had separated commercial & investment banking and was proven effective for decades. Further the Commodity Futures Modernization Act signed by Bill Clinton had exempted all derivatives, including the credit-default swaps, from federal regulation.

Bottom Line is that Bill Clinton’s Presidency was a disaster for America.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Health Care Reform, the Home Stretch

Although I have criticized President Obama in the past for his tendency to try to do too many things at the same time and his administration’s lack of prioritizing, I do agree that the passage of the Health Care reform is crucial for the effectiveness of the remainder of Obama’s Presidency. What he has to do is to rise up above petty partisanship, include all good ideas which were suggested during the Health Care Summit including the ones suggested by the Republicans and move with the passage of a Health Care Reform bill with or without Republican Party’s support. Hopefully, this will give a fresh start to his Presidency and will allow him to focus on other serious issues related to the economy, job creation, financial reforms and foreign affairs.

Obama and the Democratic Party have spent most of their political capital on Health Care Reform and need to cross the finish line. We do need the Health Care Reform.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Health Care Reform Legislation

After the Summit on the Health Care Reforms, it looks like that Obama and the Democrats are determined to pass a major Health Care Reform bill using the reconciliation process. The Republicans have obviously denounced this approach. However America is spending 17.3% of its GDP on health care and still does not have universal health care. There is no question that America needs Health Care Reform and it is the time to do so.

For the Health Care Reform to be meaningful it is of utmost importance that effective cost control measures are built in the bill including limiting liabilities on the medical profession. The following sensible ideas were suggested by the Republican participants in the Summit.

1. Measures to search for and eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse by Medicare and Medicaid providers.

2. Health courts as an alternative to jury trials in medical malpractice cases using an expert judge to review the evidence and give a final judgment.

Alternately a cap can be put limiting the liabilities of medical profession for malpractice cases. California and a couple of other states already have such a law in place.

3. Health savings accounts for individuals and small business to purchase coverage.

4. Increased reimbursements to Medicaid providers

In addtion to the above, the anti trust exemption for the health care insurers should also be repealed.

Limiting the liabilities of medical profession will face strong opposition from the Trial Lawyers who provide significant funding to Democratic Party. However if Obama and the Democrats are serious about meaningful Health Care Reforms, they need to provide effective cost control measures in the Health Care reform bill.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Financial Reforms

The seed of the financial crisis were sowed during the Clinton administration with the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act which had separated commercial & investment banking and was proven effective for decades. Further the Commodity Futures Modernization Act signed by Bill Clinton had exempted all derivatives, including the credit-default swaps, from federal regulation. Alan Greenspan added fuel to fire by keeping interest rates artificially low thus creating the real estate bubble.

If we want to bring the sanity back, start with the re-imposition of Glass-Steagall Act and bring all derivatives under federal regulations.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Health Care Reform Summit

As was expected, the Health Care Reform Summit was a flop. The reforms are needed as was discussed in an earlier post on this subject. However, a televised debate like this Summit is not the right forum to reach agreement as it only forces the participants to stick to their own positions as they impress their base.

It looks like that the Summit’s purpose was to convince the public that Obama did try to get a bipartisan agreement and since it did not happen, he can move on by bypassing the filibuster. This will set a bad precedent. Obama and the Democrats should understand that public is not dumb and that these short cuts will come back and haunt them when the Republicans take control of the Congress and the White House which may happen as soon as 2012.

It is time to take a deep breadth on Health Care Reform and focus on the economy and job creation.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

In Pursuit of Happiness

A recent article in New York Times discusses that the young adults seem to become more spiritual however are not necessarily following the organized religions. Young people are turned off by the organized religions as most of them have become corrupt over the period of time. The baby boomers rebelled against religious Puritanism and Generation X carried on this further becoming agnostic and atheist. However, that did not result happiness either. No wonder, the pendulum seems to be swinging back towards spirituality among the young adults belonging to Generation Y or the Millennial. This generation is more open to new ideas and will be less orthodox in its views. It is a warning to the organized religions. The choice for them is either to become more open, tolerant and willing to change or decay.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Health Care Reforms in America

America is spending 17.3% of its GDP on health care and still does not have universal health care. There is no question that America needs Health Care Reform. However meaningful health care reforms are not possible without addressing controlling the spiraling health care costs. This requires

1. Tort reforms to limit the liabilities of medical profession

2. Immigration reforms to collect taxes from illegals as they do use related
services.

3. Efficiency i.e. single payer system vs. current system.

The approach taken by Obama and Democrats thus far does not address cost issues as Trial Lawyers are one of the biggest donors to the Democratic Party and the Democrats have no guts to stand up to the unions. On the other hand, the Republicans must realize that the current system has not worked and should look at a single payer system with supplemental benefits being provided by the private sector.

Further Obama's mistake of giving health care reform number one priority during a deep recession has caused loss of public support for health care reforms making it difficult to pass any related bill. What Obama and Democrats need to focus first on is economy and job creation. The health care reform should be handled later in a bipartisan manner.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Dealing with Taliban

It will be surprising if Pakistan Military and specially its secret service ISI do not know the whereabouts Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Omar or Al Qaeda’s Bin Laden and al-Zawahari. Taliban are after all were the created by ISI after Soviet’s exit from Afghanistan in late eighties. The capture of Mullah Baradar is not that significant. It is likely that it was done by ISI to win US confidence and to get more US aid. Taliban is a very puritan and conservative Wahabi type sect and agreement they will reach would be for short term advantage to serve their interest. Don’t expect long term solutions dealing with them.

The key to success in dealing with Taliban is to have dialogue with Afghanistan’s large Pashtun population and to facilitate their active participation in the political process. However, their leaders need US protection and security from Taliban attacks to move ahead with a political solution.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy conservation, renewable energy and mass transit are great ideas and should be pursued aggressively. However carbon based energy sources can not be eliminated in the short run. There need to be a long term plan to bring in clean technology. The oil exporting countries can high five each other for now, however in due course of time they will be running out of oil. The strategy should be for clean and renewable energy sources to increasingly supplement as oil gets depleted.

China needs to invest on environment any way as it is already one of the biggest polluters in the world.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Dealing with China

A recent article in New York Times complains that the US has only limited leverage on China. It is true and it is happening because the West and the US are incapable of playing hard ball. It is time for American and Western leaders to realize that China only understands and respects power play. Thus America’s weapon sale to Taiwan was a move in the right direction and despite all the whining by China, its message is understood by the Chinese dictators.

America and the West must also force China to float its currency at the market rate. It is ridiculous that despite a $2 trillion dollars of foreign currency reserve, Chinese currency is still allowed to be pegged to US dollar at an artificially low rate determined by China. There will a lot of support for this action in the world as by keeping its currency artificially low, China is hurting the economies of many other countries. If China refuses to do so, there should be a world wide boycott of products made in China.

Don’t worry about China overplaying its. China knows that militarily it is not as strong as America right now. Unless America and West wake up now, in another ten year their hands will be a lot weaker in confronting a militarily equally strong China. The time to tame this Dragon is now.
It is ridiculous that despite a $2 trillion dollars of foreign currency reserve, Chinese currency is still allowed to be pegged to US dollar at an artificially low rate determined by China. America and the West should stand up and force China to float it’s currency at the market rate and if China refuses to do so, there should be a world wide boycott of products made in China.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Missing the Action.....

As expected President Obama’s State of Union address was an eloquent speech. However, we know now that great speeches by themselves do not produce results. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to know that during a deep recession, economy and job creation have to be the number one priority. That emphasis was missing during the first year of Obama Administration. We need action not words. Let us see whether this will happen now.

Clueless in Washington....

President Obama, Democrats and the Left are in panic after Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts and are coming with gimmicks like the meaning less spending freeze as it applies to only a small portion of total budget. Instead, it is time think calmly and evaluate the available options to kick start the economy. For example it is reported that as of January 15 only $259 billion dollars of the $800 billon dollars stimulus package has been spent. Why more money has not been spent? What are the bottlenecks? First we should find ways to spend the stimulus money faster before we talk about printing more dollars.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Message from Massachusetts....

It is interesting that the spin on the Massachusetts special election for US Senate on January 19, has already started. In its editorial, the leftist New York Times stated that “The Democrats had an exceptionally weak candidate in Massachusetts”. The fact is that Republican Candidate Scott Brown is a first time Massachusetts State Senator while the Democratic Candidate Martha Coakley is currently Massachusetts Attorney General. The Senate seat in question was held by Democrats for 47 years and was considered super safe for the Democratic Party. Actually Scott Brown won the Republican primary as no credible Republican wanted to go for it. All the big shots from Democratic Party including President Obama campaigned hard for Martha Coakley. However, The New York times continues its spin by stating that the election result was “ not remotely a verdict on Mr. Obama’s presidency, nor does it amount to a national referendum on health care reform”

As I have stated in this blog on October 5, and subsequently on November 8, last year that Obama’s problem is trying to do too many things at the same time and his administration’s lack of prioritizing. The economy and job creation should have been his first priority while the health care reforms could have been handled the second year. It is beyond belief that despite the fact that the Democrats have huge majorities in Congress and also control the White House, they have nothing to show for last one year. All they have is a watered down health care reform bill which still does not cover 18 million Americans, will cost a trillion dollars and has no meaningful provisions for cost control. This bill belongs to a trash can.

No wonder people are mad and want to have their voice heard. People want results on issues affecting their lives. They don’t care how popular President Obama is abroad. Hopefully Democrats are learning their lesson. However it is equally important for the Republicans not to become cocky and draw the right message from the vote in Massachusetts.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Is Communist China Softening?

It is interesting that any act of softness by China’s communist leaders is considered a change in direction towards democracy and tolerance by China. Thus communists are being praised for preserving a site commemorating the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution victims. It is a good act but is hardly indicative of the fact that Communist China has changed. The communists have realized that they do have to make accommodation to keep public anger against Mao’s tyrant rule in check. That is why they have come up with a 70/30 Mao i.e. 70% of the time he was a great ruler while the 30% account for his mistakes. While the Buddhist temples are being destroyed, Buddha is currently treated as a good man until the current Buddhism believing generation passes away.

The China is and will remain a communist and fascist dictatorship unless the Chinese people throw the communists out of power. The Chinese people need the support and help of all freedom loving people in the world to achieve this.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Standing up to the Dragon

Google’s threat to walk out of China is a bold decision and should be supported by all freedom loving people in the world. What is painful is that the naive and stupid Western Leaders in general and Americans in particular opened our markets to the Communist China without demanding democracy and respect for human rights or any conditions. This allowed China’s double digit economic growth for last 30 years. The West is only feeling China's swagger right now. Unless the West and America wake up in time, this Dragon will swallow the West and rest of the world in another twenty years.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

We are Back!

I was on vacation in India for last one month and have just come back to USA. I was hoping that I will be able to write while I was travelling in India. However my schedule was very tight and I was just having a lot fun visiting a number of places and meeting a lot of people a few of whom I met after decades.

I hope every one enjoyed the holiday season and had a great start for a Prosperous New Year. I am looking forward to continue to share my experience, thoughts and musings through this blog. Please stay tuned.