Screw the Pooch

NASA

Monday morning I was all set.  I had the “big” TV on the NASA channel, ready to watch the Artemis space vehicle launch from Cape Canaveral.  It’s the most powerful rocket ever, destined to orbit the Moon.  This was the first test, un-manned, in preparation for America’s return to space exploration. I can’t help it – “to boldly go where no human has gone before”.  Well, we have been to the Moon, but it’s the first step back into space, and onto Mars. 

While I was all ready to go, the Artemis was not.  It has four massive engines, fueled by super-cooled liquid hydrogen.  One engine wasn’t cooling enough.  The NASA managers determined that their best idea was to “scrub” the launch, and fix the problem.  I’m sure there was a lot of pressure to “light the candle”, and see what happens.  But there is an old NASA saying, “Don’t screw the pooch”.  It’s simple – don’t make a huge, dramatic, public mistake.   And the folks at NASA knew that it was better to figure the problem out, than chance blowing up billions of dollars of space vehicle, on the launch pad, on national TV.  They’ll try again on Saturday afternoon.  I’ll be watching.

Checked Boxes

It was just a month ago that I wrote an essay about the Democrats called “Check the Boxes”.  That was the day after Senate Majority Leader Schumer and West Virginia Senator Manchin announced a deal on a portion of the former “Build Back Better” plan.  It was re-configured as “The Inflation Reduction Act”, based mostly on a $300 billion paydown of the National Debt.  That debt is over $30 trillion, so while $300 billion is a big sum, it’s still a drop in the bucket, exactly one percent.  

But what the now enacted Inflation Reduction Act did do was address a variety of concerns.  It was the biggest environmental expenditure in United States history, $369 billion, paid for by requiring big corporations to pay a minimum of 15% on income.  It reduced Medicare costs by allowing Medicare to do what every other health insurer does:  negotiate for drug prices.  And it guaranteed that Medicare recipients will pay no more than $2000 in drug costs annually.  

And last week, the President announced $10,000 of student loan debt would be forgiven, $20,000 for those who were income-eligible for Pell Grants.   It was a controversial decision.  Many declaimed it as “unfair”:  what about those who paid their way, or paid their  loans, or didn’t go to college?  It will cost $24 billion a year.  In a nation that forgave $900 billion in PPP loans to businesses in the past two years, $24 billion doesn’t seem to be that big a deal. And one-third of all student loan borrowers will be completely cleared of their obligation, thirteen million Americans.  

Labor Day

It’s the first day of September.  This weekend is Labor Day, the traditional “kick-off” for political campaigns (though in this era that doesn’t seem to ever stop).  And Democrats, with the two glaring exceptions of voting and police reforms, have “checked the legislative boxes”.  The political party that seems to spend so much time trying to “eat itself”, managed to unite long enough to do a fundamental function of American leadership: they governed.

And now Democrats are on the offensive.  The Trump Supreme Court overruled Roe v Wade, and many states are making abortions virtually illegal.  That battle line there is very clear:  Republicans want to control what women do with their own bodies, Democrats want women to have a choice.  It is a simple as that.

Flip the Script

President Biden tried to flip the script on Republicans when it comes to “support the Blue”.  Republicans have for decades, been the Party of “law and order”.  They still are running racially tinged ads about “lawlessness” in “Democrat cities”.  But Biden put it bluntly.  You can’t be for law and order and support the Insurrection of January 6^th.  You can’t be for law and order  and want to “defund” the FBI for searching Mar-A-Lago.  Biden proposed greater support for local policing.

And Biden has made it plain.  A vote for Democrats is a vote to uphold democracy.  A vote for Republicans is a vote for insurrectionists, a vote against American traditions.  

Democrats go into “opening day” of the 2022 elections with a good head of steam.  Last night, Alaska sent a Democrat to Congress for the first time in state history.  Last week, a Democrat won a “bell-weather” district in New York state.   

November 7th

It’s a long way to November 7^th.  There are many critical elections, for the House of Representatives, for the Senate, and for statewide offices.  But back in a time – long, long ago in June; Democrats didn’t have a chance.  Today, by getting things done in the Congress, the over-reaching of a Republican Supreme Court and Republican state legislatures, and the constant shadow of a former President dominating the Republican Party:  Democrats actually have a shot to gain in the mid-terms.

We are Democrats.  Historically we’ve shown – we can mess things up.  But maybe, just maybe, America will see the clear choice that the President presents.  Maybe we will move towards democracy.

Maybe we won’t “screw the pooch”.