(Akiit.com) President Barack Obama must immediately undertake four priorities if he is going to fulfill his promise of changing this nation from the downward economic and social spiral which Bush administration policies, Wall Street greed and neo-conservative war mongering set in motion.
Priority #1 – End the unnecessary, immoral and illegal (under-international-law) war in Iraq. Within the next year, take the more than $10 billion a month being spent on that disastrous war and return it to America to be used for the benefit of struggling American citizens, especially those currently faced with the prospect of losing their homes.
Priority #2 – Use some of the Iraq war funds to launch a 10-year, $50 billion per year economic development program designed to revitalize inner city America. The inner cities can only be saved with a massive infusion of capital which builds businesses (especially minority owned), creates descent-paying manufacturing jobs and rewards promising teachers and students for academic success.
Priority #3 – Repeal President Bush’s tax cuts for the rich and re-direct that money to provide tax relief to the middle classes. Poverty increased during virtually every year of the Bush administration and the income/wealth gaps between the rich and the middle classes also increased. According to a United Nations report released last month, America has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the world. This must end.
Supply-side economic policies which say make the rich richer and maybe some of that wealth will “trickle down†to the rest of us must be abandoned.
Priority #4 -Avoid any more unnecessary wars. Resist all pressure to go war with Iran. We are told Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. Even if we are being told the truth by the same people who lied about weapons of mass destruction being in Iraq, so what?
The United States has an estimated 5,000 nuclear warheads. According to former President Jimmy Carter, Israel has 300 nuclear weapons. But we are told if Iran gets just one nuclear weapon within the next 5 to 10 years, it is a threat to Israel and we may have to go to war with Iran in order to protect Israel. This argument is absolutely ridiculous. Israel is actually a greater threat to Iran than Iran is to Israel. No more wars!
If Barack Obama wants to bring about meaningful change to this country, these priorities must immediately be undertaken: End or do not start unnecessary, immoral wars; Launch a $50 billion a year economic revitalization program for inner city Black America and end government economic and tax polices which favor the rich by re-directing those programs to the benefit of the middle class.
If you are talking change in America, you are talking money. And the above priorities are the way to bring that change about. Neither the Black middle class nor the Black poor needs tough love speeches, symbolic gestures or just a feeing of pride. We need money.
Written By Robert N. Taylor