The E.U.'s Dire Political Problem Obscured by the Banking Crisis

In December, 2010, E.U. leaders agreed to propose an amendment wherein the financial emergency rescue fund would be replaced with a permanent crisis-finance program. The amendment would permit the States having the euro as currency to establish a "mechanism" if it is "indispensible" for the health of the euro.  Interestingly, all of the 27 State legislatures would have to ratify the amendment, though no referenda would be required on account of the amendment being of insufficient scope to trigger them.

The full essay is at "Essays on the E.U. Political Economy," available at Amazon.

The Republican Congress and Health Insurance Companies: The Real Agenda

According to Wendell Potter, a former health-insurance company lobbyist, “the new law props up the employer-based system that insurers and large corporations benefit from so greatly. It also guarantees that private insurers will get billions of dollars in new revenue.”[1]  It is no accident that Obama’s health-insurance law works out this way. Potter points out that Republicans will back off from repealing the mandate, but will push for other changes. The reason is that the mandate is in the health-insurers’ interest whereas some other features of the law are not. Private insurance companies would like to keep the mandate that will guarantee them more customers.  At the same time, the insurers would like to go back to refusing to cover kids with preexisting conditions, canceling policyholders’ coverage when they get sick, and setting annual and lifetime limits on how much the insurers have to pay for medical care. Also, the insurance companies do not like having to spend eighty percent of their revenue from premiums on medical care, and the insurers would like to get more from the US government for private medicare plans.

The full essay is at "Congress and Health Insurance Companies."

1. Wendell Potter, “Repeal and Replace?” Newsweek, November 15, 2010, pp. 42-43; see also Jay Newton-Small, “What Does She Want?” Newsweek, December 20, 2010, pp. 38-47

The Affordable Care Act Running Up Against Federalism

According to Newsweek, "Conservatives have been quick to declare that "ObamaCare is on life support" in the wake of federal district court Judge Henry E. Hudson's ruling in Virginia that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) requirement to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. But in truth Virginia’s attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, won only a partial victory. He sought to have the entire law overturned, but instead only the section creating an individual mandate was." This is perplexing to me, as the law contains a clause indicating that if any part is deemed to be unconstitutional, the entire act would fall. Clearly, the health insurance industry didn't want to be forced to pay out without being guaranteed the expanded customer base by the U.S. Government.  

The full essay is at "Obamacare and Federalism."

Military Sacred Cows: A Matter of Contrived Camulflage

"The most significant threat to our national security is our debt."

Micheal Mullen, Jount Chiefs of Staff Chairman, August, 2010.

The defense budget in 2010--$664 billion (not counting the Iraq and Afghanistan wars)--equalled that of the rest of the world combined.  One dollar of every five spent by the U.S. Government was for defense. The amount spent represents 80% growth since 2000. Why?  One reason: the big weapon systems oriented to fighting other empires (e.g., Russia and China). For example, $600 million for the littoral combat ship and $13 billion for amphibious landing vehicles (whose purpose has even been questioned by Sec. of Defense William Gates).  It would seem that the military contractors--the military industrial complex, moreover--are firmly entrenched and in control. That is to say, the defense spending is indicative of the influence of big business over government in the United States.  That this influence goes unhampered may tell us something about the leanings of our societal norms.

The full essay is at "Military Sacred Cows."

Obama Caving to Plutocracy

I contend that Obama caved on his campaign pledge (or promise) not to extend the bush tax cuts for the rich.  The added growth expected in 2011 from ALL of the cuts is just a half of a percent of GNP growth.  I have read that the rich save their tax cuts rather than use them in ways that stimuate the economy.  As for savings, banks have enough capital to lend (this isn't why they are still skittish in 2010).  That the vacuous argument that tax cuts for the rich will somehow create lots of jobs and save the economy from another recession has had any weight or credance really discourages me about American political discourse.  That Obama didn't "just say no" is also discouraging. 

The full essay is at "Obama Caving to Plutocracy."

The American Republican Party: For More Federalism or Less Government?

The stance of Sen. Jim DeMint (SC-R) in 2010 is emblematic of the ambiguity in the hierarchy of goals in the Republican party. DeMint can be taken as being primarily oriented to restoring the balance of federalism by having the federal government do less and the State governments more, at least in terms of domestic policy. This could bring the General Government back to its enumerated powers. Accordingly, Time magazine maintains that DeMint’s real target in 2010 was “a radical downsizing of the federal government.”[1] This downsizing includes “turning education policy over to the states and gradually dismantling safety-net programs like Social Security and Medicare.”[2]

The full essay is at "The American Republican Party."

1. Michael Crowley and Jay Newton-Small, “Leading the Rebel Brigade,” Time, November 29, 2010, pp. 34-37.

2. Ibid.

The Corporate Apology

In classical literature, an apology can mean a defense, such as Plato’s Apology. In modern parlance, an apology is known as an expression of genuine sorrow and an acceptance of responsibility for having caused harm to another person. Consumers should be on guard lest a company use the semblance of an apology for marketing purposes. Robert Bacal advises that an apology be used as a strategy to use “along with other techniques."[1] According to Bacal, “perfunctory or insincere apologies are worse than saying nothing at all.”[2] Accordingly, he advises that a “sincere apology can help calm a customer, particularly when you or your company has made an error. You can apologize on behalf of your company.”[3] However, how can an apology be both sincere and geared to manipulating a customer? I contend that giving a "perfunctory or insincere" apology is unethical because it is essentially a lie spun under the subterfuge of compassion. 

The full essay has been incorporated into On the Arrogance of False Entitlement: A Nietzschean Critique of Business Ethics and Management, available at Amazon.

1. Robert Bacal, Perfect Phrases for Customer Service, 2nd Ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2010), p. 19. Italics added.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

An Industry Undoing European Federalism: The Case of Cookies

In 2010, the EU Parliament passed a law to protect internet users from invasive “cookies,” which track computer usage at the expense of privacy. The 27 E.U. states had to implement the directive, but as this involved discretion, the business sector feared at the time that the states “might interpret the law differently, creating a nightmare of conflicting standards.” In other words, business can be intolerant toward federalism.

The full essay is at "Essays on the E.U. Political Economy," available at Amazon. 

1. Paul Sonne and John W. Miller, “EU Chews onWeb Cookies,” The Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2010, pp. B1-2.

President Obama Absent at the EU-US Summit of 2010

I submit that most Americans are unaware that the EU has a Supreme Court, a Parliament and a Council/Senate.   Few Europeans are wont to admit that these institutions constitute a government, so perhaps we can’t be blamed here in America for not taking greater notice of the relatively new government across the pond.  So it is no surprise to read that President Obama decided to skip the 2010 EU-US summit in Europe.  The American president missed an opportunity to educate the American people not only on contemporary political Europe, but also on a potentially fecund new basis of comparison, from which both the U.S. and E.U. could benefit. 


The full essay is at "Essays on the E.U. Political Economy," available at Amazon.

Midterm Elections, 2010: Lessons Unlearned

The Republican surge that gave that party control of the US House of Representatives reflected a shift of some moderate independents, even as Republican leaders portrayed the election as “the American people” having repudiated the policies of the sitting U.S. President, Barak Obama. In other words, that 54% vote for a given Republican and 46% vote for the Democratic opponent does not mean that the 54% constitute “the American People.”

The full essay is at "U.S. Midterm Election."

Democracy and Capitalism: On Managing Equality and Inequality

Both capitalism and democracy claim to maximize individuals’ freedom—capitalism in the economy and democracy in politics.  In spite of this superficial commonality, Henry Brands points out that democracy “depends on equality, capitalism on inequality. Citizens in a democracy come to the public square with one vote each; participants in a capitalist economy arrive at the marketplace with unequal talents and resources and leave the marketplace with unequal rewards.” [1] In fact, a capitalist economy cannot operate without inequality. According to Brands, “The differing talents and resources of individuals are recruited and sorted by the differential rewards, which reinforce the original differences.”[2]

The full essay is at "Democracy and Capitalism."

Corporate Analogies: Money-Making as War-Games as a Sign of Boredom

What to do when analogies go over the top. As an aspiring writer, I was chastised by more than one writing tutor for mixing analogies. The device can add color to otherwise drab prose to be sure, but too many colors at once can be daunting to even a captivated reader. Consider, for example, the following passage from Larry McDonald about the management at Lehman Brothers:

“In a way, Lehman was run by a junta of platoon officers . . . I think of them as battle-hardened, iron-souled regulars”[1] (p. 89). Richard Fuld, Lehman Brothers’ former CEO, was “our spiritual leader and battlefield commander . . . surrounded by a close coterie of cronies, with almost no contact with anyone else. . . . I suppose that was fine so long as the place was chugging along without civil war or mutiny breaking out, and continuing to coin money, which is after all the prime objective of the merchant bank.”[2] Fuld “worked within a tight palace guard, protected from the lower ranks, communicating only through his handpicked lieutenants.”[3] 

The full essay has been incorporated into On the Arrogance of False Entitlement: A Nietzschean Critique of Business Ethics and Management, which is available in print and as an ebook at Amazon. 

1. Lawrence McDonald, A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Colapse of Lehman Brothers (2010), p. 89.

2. Ibid., p. 90.

3. Ibid.

On the Nineteenth-Century Eclipse of Democratic Governance by Capitalism

I contend that a trajectory wherein capitalism came to eclipse or capture democratic governance occurred in the nineteenth century in the United States. President Andrew Jackson’s actions in the early 1830s can be viewed as a benchmark wherein government officials were still willing to relegate the interests of capitalists for the good of the whole. 

The full essay is at "The Nineteenth-Century Eclipse of Democracy."

On the Politics of Hate Speech: Wilders in the Netherlands

Geert Wilders, head of the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands, went on trial on October 4, 2010, in the Netherlands on charges of inciting hatred, less than a week after entering parliament as a linchpin in the coalition government. The far right political leader faced five charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims and people of non-Western immigrant origin, particularly Moroccans. “He divides, he creates hate, he creates conflicts between people,” said Mohammed Rabbae of the National Council for Moroccans. Wilders told the court he was being persecuted for “stating my opinion in the context of public debate,” adding: “I can assure you, I will continue proclaiming it.” In an opinion piece in a Dutch daily, he compared Islam to fascism and the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf.”[1] Wilders also made the film “Fitna” in 2008 which portrayed the Koran as inciting violence and mixed images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book.

The full essay is at "Wilders on Trial."

1. Natalia Dannenberg and Gabriel Borrud, "Racial Hatred," DW., October 4, 2010.

Is States' Rights in the E.U. Racist?

Thousands of Romania’s Roma people (also known as Gypsies) headed for the wealthier Western E.U. states, setting off a clash within the European Union over just how open its “open borders” really are. Migration within the 27 states of the E.U. became a combustible issue during the economic downturn. The Union’s expansion that brought in the relatively poor states of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 renewed concern that the poor, traveling far from home in search of work, would become a burden on the state governments of the wealthier states. The migration of the Roma also raised questions about the obligations of Romania and Bulgaria to fulfill promises their governments had made when they joined the Union. Romania, for instance, mapped out a strategy for helping the Roma, but financed little of it.

The full essay is at "States' Rights in the E.U."