Can we keep government out of our lives?

I have politics on my mind in the wake of the stunning results form the Massachusetts election. There are many reasons why Dems lost that election but I have serious doubts that there will be any serious introspection to analyze the causes among the career politicians. That is a topic for another day but today after getting an earful about the reason being public support for free-market economy and anger against socialism, I feel compelled to point out that whether we like it not government policy shapes our lives much more deeply than we realize. Let us examine some basic human necessities.

Food: Americans currently consume a heavily corn-based diet, not because they love it, or beacause it has been their staple diet for centuries or because they are aware of its health benefits or lack thereof. Corn is directly and indirectly in lot of our foods because corn is cheap, and corn is cheap not because market forces make it so but because of direct government subsidies.

Health: The present American health care system is as far from free-market system as could be. Even more socialist countries than the US have much more consumer-based health care systems. Let us examine the roots of this system. Most people in America afford their health-care because of insurance provided by their employers. The employer-funded health insurance system came about because in 1954 Congress passed a law making employer contributions to employee health plans tax-deductible without making the resulting benefits taxable to employees. In case of both Medicare and employer-based health insurance it is the government, that is directly or indirectly subsidizing health insurance, note that it is the insurance, not the care that is getting subsidized. However, this is also the reason why health care costs are getting out of control - the consumer is not directly exposed to the cost of the product they use, meaning that the health care system is not at all controlled by free-market forces. I encourage you to read this enlightening article if you want more.

Housing: It is the government tax subsidies, and the government's creation of entities such a Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that enable the dream of home ownership for most Americans. These entities also assumed all the risk of the downside of these mortgages and thus turned mortgage-based bonds essentially into US Government backed bonds, which then Wall Street traded with impunity. Free market forces came into play and exploited a market that was skewed by the government.
Another facet of housing is the design of our towns and cities. Urban planning or lack thereof is caused by the fact that we can drive everywhere for cheap. If gasoline was expensive, we would have dense cities with public transit systems in a heartbeat. However, price of gasoline is not determined by free-market forces. Gasoline is kept cheap by the government.

I very much like individual accountability and responsibility but I do believe government plays a central role in the shaping the future, but career politicians intent on saving their jobs cannot look past the next election. Partisan hacks on one side will blame Coakley for losing and mock the idiots who voted for pickup-truck-driving-cosmo-centerfold, or on the other side heave a sigh of relief that now government will be kept out of health-care and Medicare will be saved!

I think we need drastic measures. A viable third party? Term limits in house & senate? Any ideas?

Historic day, historic moment

New York Times said today "An American with the name Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man he barely knew, raised by his grandparents far outside the stream of American power and wealth, has been elected the 44th president of the United States."

Not just that, but a decent intelligent man, who ran with a simple idea that he believes in. A man who reached the highest office in the country, purely on his own merit, and by sticking to his beliefs without bending with the political winds. His opponents may say that I give him too much credit, and of course, time will only tell, but I truly believe that this is the first time in my life I am seeing a leader who has principles that he believes in and who will stand by those principles. Before this election season, I used to think that John McCain was that person but he proved us wrong.

Today, I can tell my daughters with conviction that, indeed, there is no limits to what you can achieve in this country. As any immigrant I keep tallying pro and cons of continuing to live in the US . Today, the pro column got many many points!

Lies in politics

I have been debating whether to discuss the American presidential election here as I meant to write about parenting issue. I have decided to go ahead because that is what is on my mind these days, and the politics does affect my children's future.

I know politicians lie, and exaggerate and mislead people to make themselves look good. I am however very surprised that they can get away with such white lies in America. There is a whole army of internet vigilante digging up facts, there are multiple cable news channels and newspapers who one thinks can focus on the issues and really dig deep. It doesn't seem to be happening, however. Is this because most news organizations are for-profit companies and fear losing their audience if they got too controversial. It is surprising that the toughest questions in this election are being asked by comedians such as Jon Stewart and Joy Behar? Why is it that when a candidate has clearly lied, a news anchor doesn't just say to them "Why did you lie about this?" instead they say "Some people believe that you are not being completely correct when you say such and such."

It completely amazes me that the party supporting a man born into a career naval family, who got into the naval academy on that merit, married to a heiress who owns eight houses can happily paint another man raised in middle-class environment by a single mother, who went to Harvard on his own merit, as an elite and not only get away with it but have people believe them. When I mentioned this to some people, they said this is because Americans do not want a college educated liberal running the country. And that is why they elected a guy from a wealthy family, who needed help to get into Yale as their president, twice, just because he appears "folksy"? Reality does not matter, only appearances do? Isn't this ironic that the party that claims to be fiscally responsible chooses as its VP candidate who was very incompetent in running the state she was the governor of?

I thought living in a developed country, with transparency in government, meant living among informed enlightened people who didn't get swayed by such fluff. Having grown up in a "developing" country, I have seen completely uneducated politicians get elected but I have never seen this level of distrust of education as I see in America. It is very strange and hard to fathom.

What explains American politics

I have been hear all these years an still cannot fathom American politics. Why is abortion such a big issue in choosing a president? I swear I have seen more relevant issues being discussed more intelligently in the political environs of so-called developing countries. Why is "Creationism" even brought up in the world's most developed country? Only in America, will people actually vote against somebody because he appears to be smart, thoughtful and articulate.

The only explanation I find is a quote I have mentioned on this blog before. "An immigrant's values stay frozen in the era they left their home country". America was founded by immigrants, poor religious people, who wanted to get away from the elite of their home countries and practice the conservative form of their religion. They are still stuck with their anti-elite, "our religion is under attack" and "a man has to be judged by the size of his balls" values that they came with.