What We're Reading

What We're Reading
American Family Voices
2/8/2005
Here's a quick look at some of the best articles we've come across lately. We hope you find them as enjoyable and/or enlightening as we did.
"Privatizing Social Security: 'Me' Over 'We"'

Benjamin Barber, author of "Jihad vs. McWorld," expounds on the real dangers of President Bush's plan to dismantle Social Security in this Los Angeles Times piece. Barber notes that the true cost of such a shift cannot be measured in dollars alone – it also weakens our collective social fabric by privatizing a public system.
"Let's Not Make the Same Mistakes in Iran"David Kay, former head of the Iraq Survey Group that led the hunt for WMD, cautions that the current events surrounding Iran offer "an eerie similarity to the events preceding the Iraq war." Kay warns that we must first remember and analyze what went wrong with the WMD predictions in Iraq, because that mystery still lingers. He concludes: "What is in doubt is the ability of the US government to honestly assess Iran's nuclear status and to craft a set of measures that will cope with that threat short of military action by the United States or Israel."

"Noble Ideals, Nasty Actions," and "Flip-Flopping on Social Security Linguistics" A two-fer from Molly Ivins, who keeps up her record of pulling no punches when it comes to this administration.
"Why Iraq is Still a Debacle"Arianna Huffington provides a sober reminder that the recent election in Iraq, while promising, does not offer an instant panacea. A successful vote doesn't cure the lack of progress in the reconstruction of Iraq, nor does it automatically provide the Bush administration with the exit strategy that they have been incapable of offering.
"Budget Shenanigans"Boston Globe columnist Thomas Oliphant tackles President Bush's backwards budget in this piece. He writes: "Even a quick peek at the astonishingly dishonest federal budget the administration released yesterday shows that President Bush and his veep plan on leaving ticking time bombs behind when they get out of town four years hence."
"Race Bait and Switch"E.J. Dionne Jr.'s latest column in the Washington Post, in which he upbraids leading conservatives for so willfully and gutlessly playing the race card when it comes to confirming arch-conservative minority nominees.
"Spearing the Beast"Paul Krugman continues his assault on the Bush administration's Social Security overhaul in his latest offering. Krugman asserts that Bush's goal is ideological in nature: the conservative movement won't rest until government welfare programs have been fully gutted, and Social Security is the first step.

"Mr. President, Don't Forget Healthcare"Derrick Jackson reminds us that the American public has demonstrated its preference for supporting health care, even as this administration continues to ignore the problem and offer things like tax cuts for millionaires instead. President Bush virtually ignored the issue in his recent State of the Union address, and offered only a few vague proposals. Meanwhile, 45 million Americans are without health insurance. Talk about a crisis.