The book covers many separate issues, including our current political system, the Constitution, race, and general American values. Reading the book gives you a good insight into Obama's thought process. He is a very intelligent man. He has a deep understanding of the issues, whether it is poverty, opportunity, health care, etc. What gives his understanding more credit than others is his ability to logically present both sides of the issue and give due respect to the other side and to those with whom he disagrees.
His proposed solutions generally come across as do-able, and also worth trying if certain conditions are met. Compared to George W. Bush and John McCain, Obama is a fiscal conservative. Like Bill Clinton, he believes in having a pay-as-you-go system that makes sure that additional spending does not increase our debt. Bush has basically taken a cash advance on our future with Iraq.
Just like his speech on race, there aren't many quotations to pull from the book, it needs to be read in full to appreciate it. I've also seen "scare quotes" floating around the internet, purporting that between the covers of this book, Obama talks about black power, or holding Muslims above Christians, or strengthening outdated models of affirmative action.
He does none of that.
The solutions that he proposes are mostly common sense, and if he can really get us out of this war and save us a few trillion dollars, I don't see too much harm in letting him attempt certain solutions, such as giving healthcare to the poor, job re-training to laid off workers, and other somewhat social programs that could pay dividends in the future. I am confident that if Obama was able to get most of his programs passed, it would represent far less spending that the bloat of the Bush years. And when you take a look at it, its almost a given that politicians will spend money. I'd rather it be spent here than in Iraq and I'm sure most would agree.
The central theme to the book is that we as Americans need to come together with sensible solutions to our problems if we want to keep up with powerhouses of India and China. The "old politics" of back-room deals, no-bid contracts, pork-barreling, and a culture of non-transparency are hopefully on the way out. I don't think many will miss them.
1 comment:
I've heard otherwise about his book that his election is about race and that he has admitted he's a Muslim who converted to a Christian. Remember, this is what I heard. Another thing you mentioned was he wants healthcare for the poor. If he starts that, then he could form Universal Health Care, which would hurt the country a lot. This is what I believe.
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