Obama will be totally screwed for the presidential elections in November 2012 (which might be the least of our worries).

What follows is my editing of Obama’s answers:

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LEHRER: Gentlemen, at this very moment tonight, where do you stand on the financial recovery plan?

OBAMA: Well, thank you very much, Jim, and thanks to the commission and the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss, for hosting us tonight. I can’t think of a more important time for us to talk about the future of the country.

You know, we are at a defining moment in our history. Our nation is involved in two wars, and we are going through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

And although we’ve heard a lot about Wall Street, those of you on Main Street I think have been struggling for a while, and you recognize that this could have an impact on all sectors of the economy.

And you’re wondering, how’s it going to affect me? How’s it going to affect my job? How’s it going to affect my house? How’s it going to affect my retirement savings or my ability to send my children to college?

So we have to move swiftly, and we have to move wisely. And I’ve put forward a series of proposals that make sure that we protect taxpayers as we engage in this important rescue effort.

Number one, we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got oversight over this whole process; $700 billion potentially, is a lot of money.

Number two, we’ve got to make sure that taxpayers, when they are putting their money at risk, have the possibility of getting that money back and gains, if the market — and when the market returns.

Number three, we’ve got to make sure that none of that money is going to pad CEO bank accounts or to promote golden parachutes.

And, number four, we’ve got to make sure that we’re helping homeowners, because the root problem here has to do with the foreclosures that are taking place all across the country.

Now, we also have to recognize that this is a final verdict on [What happens today is due to] eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain. a theory that basically says that we can shred regulations and consumer protections and give more and more to the most, and somehow prosperity will trickle down.

It hasn’t worked. And I think that the fundamentals of the economy have to be measured by whether or not the middle class is getting a fair shake. That’s why I’m running for president, and that’s what I hope we’re going to be talking about tonight.

[...]

LEHRER: All right, let’s go back to my question. How do you all stand on the recovery plan? And talk to each other about it. We’ve got five minutes. We can negotiate a deal right here.

But, I mean, are you — do you favor this plan, Senator Obama, and you, Senator McCain? Do you — are you in favor of this plan?

OBAMA: We haven’t seen the language yet. And I do think that there’s constructive work being done out there. So, for the viewers who are watching, I am optimistic about the capacity of us to come together with a plan.

The question I think, that we have to ask ourselves is, how did we get into this situation in the first place?

Two years ago, I warned that, because of the subprime lending mess, because of the lax regulation, that we were potentially going to have a problem and tried to stop some of the abuses in mortgages that were taking place at the time.

Last year, I wrote to the secretary of the Treasury to make sure that he understood the magnitude of this problem and to call on him to bring all the stakeholders together to try to deal with it.

So — so the question I think, that we’ve got to ask ourselves is yes, we’ve got to solve this problem short term. And we are going to have to intervene; there’s no doubt about that.

But we’re also going to have to look at, how is it that we shredded so many regulations? We did not set up a 21st-century regulatory framework to deal with these problems. And that in part has to do with an [the] economic philosophy [of George Bush and John McCain] that says that regulation is always bad.

[...]

LEHRER: Do you have something directly to say, Senator Obama, to Senator McCain about what he just said?

OBAMA: Well, I think Senator McCain’s absolutely right that we need more responsibility, but we need it not just when there’s a crisis. I mean, we’ve had years in which the reigning economic ideology has been what’s good for Wall Street, but not what’s good for Main Street.

And there are folks out there who’ve been struggling before this crisis took place. And that’s why it’s so important, as we solve this short-term problem, that we look at some of the underlying issues that have led to wages and incomes for ordinary Americans to go down, the — a health care system that is broken, energy policies that are not working, because, you know, 10 days ago, John said that the fundamentals of the economy are sound.

LEHRER: Say it directly to him.

OBAMA: I do not think that they are.

LEHRER: Say it directly to him.

OBAMA: Well, the – John, 10 days ago, you said that the fundamentals of the economy are sound. And… [Why?]

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This is too much fun… I may do the whole debate later. Only Obama though – don’t want to help McCain.

And then, when voting next time for a Republican President, just tell me – what are your reasons other than:

1. the right to own a military grade machine gun at home to compensate for a small d-k,
2. caring more for future children than for those already living because the yet unborn do not need health care and good education – like NOW,
3. having a President who will act like a “father” to you – because you want to be a “child” forever… or may be because your dad was not there when you needed him (he had to work two full time jobs to make ends meet, remember – correlate with the stats above),
4. having a President who will need a “Higher Father” to make his decisions – so that he doesn’t have to take full responsibility for them (you like your President to be like you, don’t you?),
5. having a President who will share your own negative opinions about those other 50% of Americans… those who are NOT real Americans or good people altogether according to your strong beliefs.

Update:

Read a more dispassionate and much more educated discussion on WHAT MAKES PEOPLE VOTE REPUBLICAN? by Jonathan Haidt (found via Jean Russell).

However, at this stage of the political fight for the White House, understanding Republican voters (while absolutely necessary) is not enough. We’ve had enough of analysing why Republicans dominate the political landscape for quite some time already. We need more people to confront them. This country is our country too! Society is not “as it is”… it is what we make of it.

And here is one big thought he produced:

“But at a fundamental level, studying complex behavioral and genetic networks in animals is not so different from understanding human social networks.”

Oh yeah… on a fundamental level… we’re all animals. So heartbreakingly true.

But here is the scary part:

“So to some extent, when it comes to explaining social software to military policymakers – I’m the perfect guy for the job.”

Read more… 

There was a joke back then… in the Soviet times… about a Russian boy… from the 21st century… asking his father: “Dad… who’s Brejnev?”… and the father: “Hmmm… I think he was a politician from Solzhenitsyn’s time.” Not a joke anymore.

This reminds me of two older NYT articles (both by David Brooks) which I commented in two older posts – one about “Relationship Blend” vs. “Productive, Rational Behavior” and another about Progressive Realism.

Politically, I identify with the “ecologists” (contextualists) and Robert Wright’s “progressive realism”…

Now, here is the thing (by David Brooks) I am referring to in the title of this post:

“Most politicians are ecologists who turn into engineers once in office.”

Running a Hospital (blog)
by Paul Levy, President and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston

Repairing the Healthcare System (blog found via Brad)
by Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE

The Health Insurance Mafia
(article in today’s Wall Street Journal found via Stanley Feld)

“Wall Street’s five biggest firms together paid a record $39 billion in bonuses [for 2007], even though three of them suffered the worst quarterly losses in their history and shareholders lost more than $80 billion.

Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Bear Stearns together paid $65.6 billion in compensation and benefits last year to their 186,000 employees. Year-end bonuses usually account for 60 percent of the total, meaning bonuses exceeded the $36 billion distributed in 2006 when the industry reported all-time high profits.

The bonuses are larger than the gross domestic products of Sri Lanka, Lebanon or Bulgaria.”

See full article…