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any concern for the long-term consequences, for a whole lot of years. Innumerous policies that may cost a little more in the short-term but provide for long-term infrastructure health (economic, industrial, etc.) have been shucked aside.
Aside from the ill-conceived war, nothing encapsulates the thinking that has been rammed down our throats and translated into horrendous policy than the exchange between Bush and Cheney as Bush is being pushed to announce the second round of huge tax cuts - ala then Secretary ONiell (via Ron Suskind's book with ONiell), Bush asks Cheney if the first rounds of tax cuts weren't enough, and Cheney says no - and that deficits "Don't Matter, we learned that with Reagan".
Or giveaways to favored industries that do little for the public good - a great example of this was in the final form of the medicare-prescription drugs bill - there had been a provision to give tax breaks to companies that continue to provide this insurance to their retirees (thus saving the taxpayers/fed govt money) and in the final version, after reportedly the dems were locked out of conference committee, and the GOP congress folks were workin madly to rewrite with the help (and at times authorship) of corporate lobbyists, the tax break stayed in - but the provision to receive it based on continuing coverage for retirees through existing plan was stripped. More money flowing out to deficits with no public good attached to it.
Per the oil prices, of course a major contributing factor is the instability in the Gulf region created and fueled by our war policies, and the leveraging power we once had with OPEC is drying up. Yet for years there has been resistance to serious R&D funds into alternative fuel technologies (spending pennies per the dollars needed) and focusing for years instead on opening up Anwar as if a limited amount of oil, that would take nearly a decade to bring to the market - would provide relief now, or much relief in the future. If we had kept investing in alt energy as we were under Carter (cutback and ended under Reagan, and most efforts of the Clinton admin were rebuffed by the republican held congress) - imagine how different the scenario today would likely be. Again that was long-term thinking in response to the last major energy crisis.
Thank you for your post, although I have digressed, your post highlights how precarious the current situation is for the shipping/freight industry and with no relief in sight - it boggles the mind to try to comprehend how this will effect so many related industries.
And yes, it does feel like Rome is burning.
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