Re. Syria

Obama is right on not getting directly involved in Syria. America should learn from its lessons in Iraq and stay out of all foreign wars unless America’s vital interests are at stake or such an action is sanctioned by the United Nations. America has enough nation building to do in America. This is also tre for other nations.

Copyright© 2013 Krishna Chandra, all rights reserved

Fighting the Drug War

First step is to legalize the drugs, which was the case in early part of 20 th Century. We should learn from our experience from the prohibition days in 1919 through 1933. Next step is to use the tax dollars so collected to educate and treat people.

Copyright© 2013 Krishna Chandra, all rights reserved

George W. Bush Legacy

G.W. Bush best vindication is that President Obama while bashing him in public has quietly followed most of his policies at home and abroad. Bush tax cuts were extended through Obama’s first term and most of them have been made permanent for upper middle class and lower, GITMO is still open, and concept of the Iraq Surge was used in Afghanistan. His help saved hundreds of thousands of live from AIDS in Africa. The seeds of the 2008 economic meltdown were sowed by earlier Administrations and Greenspan, Bush did try to save the banks and domestic auto industry.

Bush immigration reforms ideas are being talked about and Republicans are trying to figure out how he got 35-40% of Hispanic votes.

While Bush deserves criticism of his debatable decision to invade Iraq and poor handling of the Iraq war, his critics are too biased to give him due credit for his contributions.

Copyright© 2013 Krishna Chandra, all rights reserved

KEEP IT SIMPLE LAKERS!

The Lakers fired Mike Brown as Head Coach on Friday, November 9, 2012. According to the press reports, it appears that Mike Brown was a good coach. However, it apparently did not work out. I had concern about his coaching during the last season’s play offs and had expressed this concern in my earlier article below:

voices.yahoo.com/the-lakers-coach-needs-strategic-thinking-11258086.html?cat=14 … … … … … …

My major concern with Mike Brown was about the strategic thinking which is required to win a Championship.  To be fair to Mike Brown, he was filling a large void left behind by Phil Jackson who in his remarkable two stints with Lakers had won five Championships.  Add these to the six Championships he won at Chicago, it is an unbelievable record of a total eleven Championships. No wonder it is a lot of pressure and stress for any new Lakers Coach. Phil Jackson did not have any such pressure when he became Head Coach at Chicago or when he came to Lakers.

As I stated in my earlier article, Mike Brown has a reputation of being an ardent Basketball lover and a highly qualified X-O type of coach. However, some times, this can also become a problem while coaching highly talented and well paid NBA players where skills in players’ ego management are equally important.  These players need a Head Coach who acts more like a Manager and is a strategic thinker who understands his players, can manage their egos constructively to inspire them to put their selfish interests aside and motivate them to play as a team. He has to have fast thinking so that in actual game situation, he can evaluate his team’s momentum and energy level to come up with right substitutions, and also study the opponents’ strategies to design the right plays to counter them. While strategies like “Princeton offense” or “Triangle” have merits they are not a requirement to win Championships.  Many coaches who have won multiple Championships by using simple pick & roll type of plays, good defense and by training their players to execute them well and by molding them into well knit teams. I am not saying that basic training in fundamentals and plays is not important but they can be handled by the qualified Assistant Coaches at the practices. Phil Jackson, though technically an average coach, is a master of managing top players’ ego and could get the best out of super stars like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to win eleven championships.

According to the news reports, it looks like that after firing Mike Brown, Lakers were talking to Phil Jackson to take over the head coaching assignment again and then with a drama more befitting a Hollywood thriller ended up signing Mike D'Antoni late last Sunday night on November 11. All this happened in a matter of just three days and after Phil Jackson’s first stint with the Lakers, this is the third time that Lakers have hired an outside person to coach this great team. I wonder why this important decision was in such a hurry. Based on his past record at Phoenix & New York, Mike D'Antoni does not appear to be much of an improvement over Mike Brown and if he does not win a Championship this season there will be panic in Lakers land all over again.

In my opinion the long term solution lies in giving an opportunity to someone with experience within the Lakers Organization. It did work marvelously when the Lakers picked up Pat Riley within the organization after the forced exit of another Coach during the “Show Time” years of the eighties. It may work again. Instead of taking a decision in such a hurry, Lakers should have given an opportunity to either Kurt Rambis or Brian Shaw for an Interim Coaching position this year. They both are familiar with the Lakers organization and the players and deserved a chance and if it had not worked out, Lakers would have plenty of time to look for another outside Coach. However, the die is cast and I wish Mike D'Antoni all the best. Hopefully he has learned from his past experience and he will complement his excellent offensive talent by hiring a good defense minded assistant coach to prepare the Lakers for a successful season this year. Keep it simple Lakers!

Copyright©2012 Krishna Chandra, all rights reserved

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.