The New American Story | Bill Bradley | A "new " story which affirms "old" values

The New American Story | Bill Bradley | Heartfelt analysis

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The New American S...

	The New American Story Bill Bradley Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A "new " story which affirms "old" values

Others have their own reasons for admiring Bill Bradley and, more specifically, this book. Here are three of mine. First, with all due respect to his credentials (e.g. All-American, All-Pro, and Hall of Fame basketball player, Rhodes Scholar, and U.S. Senator), what has most impressed me about him over the years is that he has what John McPhee once characterized (in 1965) as a "sense of where you are." That was and continues to be true of Bradley as, in this volume, he shares his thoughts about a wide range of subjects which include the challenges of public service and what he learned from his own involvement, his concern about unmet social needs and wasted opportunities to respond effectively to them, and yet his remarkably durable faith in what can yet be accomplished if (huge "if") enough people can agree to work together despite their ethnic, economic, political, and religious differences.

Bradley candidly acknowledges regret about his own errors of both omission and commission throughout his years of public service even as he offers forceful, indeed eloquent reassurances that "the new American story" can be written only by reaffirming certain traditional ("old") values which are too often compromised by political expediency. In this book, he reveals a strong sense of where the American society is now and an even stronger strong sense of where it can - and should -- be.

For decades, I have been concerned about political labels such as "liberal" and "conservative" and, more recently, about catch phrases such as "social liberal" and "fiscal conservative." In this book, Bradley calls upon us to focus on the most important issues and then make decisions about them that are guided and informed by the core principles in the Declaration of Independence, in the Constitution, and (especially) in the Bill of Rights. Bradley offers a convincing and eloquent explanation of why a commitment to these principles in public policies and in personal conduct seems more imperative now than at any previous time in U.S. history.

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Heartfelt analysis

Bill Bradley's earnestness has always been appealing. This book is another expression of his earnest concern about the United States. He begins by noting that (page xiii): "I call this book `The New American Story' because I believe we've been told a story about American that simply isn't true. . .It's a story of no possibility--of too few resources and no political will; of fear and lack of compassion; of individual consumerist values at home and `America only' policies abroad."

He begins by writing of what he sees as a dreary story continually sold to the American people (very briefly summarized in the previous quotation; for more detail, see pages 8-13). Bradley goes back to Thomas Jefferson for the fountainhead of his "New American History." Chapters 3-8 explore what a new vision might look at, in policy arenas such as America's role in the world, the economy, oil and the environment, pensions, health care (where he sort of waffles between a couple different positions), and education. It would be too tedious to run through these various proposals. However, the reader can get a punchy summary of his proposals and--perhaps as important--how to pay for these in a summary, running from pages 179-183. he calculates that the policies he would like to see enacted (e.g., increasing research investment, protecting pensions [including Social Security], establishing a federal institute to determine cost-effectiveness of medical advances, to increase teachers' salaries in areas which are hard-pressed to deliver top quality education, and so on). How to pay for these initiatives (which Bradley calculates to cost $540 billion to $740 billion, depending on which health care option is selected [with single-payer as one of those]? Some suggestions: extend Social Security taxes higher income levels of the wealthy than is currently the case; cut farm subsidies for the wealthiest farmers; raise income tax progressively, which also reforming the tax code; create a tax on carbon/gasoline. He calculates that such measures as he suggests would raise $807 to $907 billion in additional revenue, thereby paying for his new proposals.

One key aspect of his argument in this book is the importance and value of politics, including the importance of discussion and compromise. He begins to close with an interesting brace of chapters--one on why Republicans cannot produce a new story for the future. More poignantly, given his long record as a Democrat, he contends that Democrats "don't" produce a viable and coherent alternative (e.g., Democrats are terrified of being labeled soft on defense; Democrats are too secular and find it hard to take religious Americans seriously--especially evangelicals and fundamentalists; being too wedded to certain interest groups).

Nonetheless, in the end, he remains optimistic that a new story can reenergize American politics. Will readers be convinced? That will have to be addressed reader by reader. But this is an interesting book by an earnest political figure.

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The New American Story

As we head into the 2008 elections, this book is a must read. Senator Bradley's insight into today's social and political problems are very enlightening. Although the Senator is known as a liberal Democrat, this book is well worth reading by independents and moderate Rebublicans as well.

Outstanding

"The New American Story" begins with: 1)an excellent summary of generally accepted wisdom on foreign policy (we rule the world but are not bound by rules), economics, global warming, terrorism, health care, pensions, taxes, etc. - overall reflecting hyper-individualism overcoming various resource limitations. 2)Cultural issues (eg. gay rights, legalized abortions) are important to some, while good jobs, pensions, health care, education are important to all - we need to focus on the latter. 3)International cooperation is required to address terrorism, trade, global warming, spread of pandemics, arms trade limitations, and ameliorate poverty. 5)The U.S. has allowed relations between Japan-China to deteriorate, as well as those between the U.S. and much of Latin America (starting with an effort to overthrow Chavez in Venezuela), the U.S. and the Muslim world (via our actions in Iraq and failure to rein in Israel vs. Palestine.

Bradley then goes on to point out detailed problems and recommend alternatives in energy + global warming, health care (including addressing waste due to quality and unwarranted care issues), and education (including the capital deficiency/redunancy problem that dooms vouchers), along with the means to readily pay for them. He also chastises the media for giving equal time to positions that are patent nonsense.

Some of "The New American Story's" most interesting material involves describing Republican factions - subsidists, corporatists, realists (actions based on data and logic), messianist fundamentalists intent on spreading democracy, anti-terrorists (the new anti-communists), crime-busters, supply-siders, and Main-Streeters (common sense applied to government actions). Unifying this hodge-podge is now accomplished via 9/11; given Bush's emphasis on ideology, their is little perceived need for competence - instead cronyism and incompetence rules. Further, his lack of interest in planning (vs. reacting) tends to posit issues into simple black and white, while encouraging slanted research, data, and intelligence.

Democrats, on the other hand, suffer from a number of Bradley-identified curses: 1)Fear of thinking big (big, inspiring ideas such as tax reform, Social Security, Medicare). 2)Capitulation to the Republican charge of being soft on defense. 3)Inability to counter accusations that it wastes peoples' hard-earned monies - at best trying to counter with micro-managing rules instead of outcome audits. 4)Wealth-bashing. 5)Special friends - eg. teachers, trial lawyers (eg. resisting simple but important malpractice reform).

The "bad news" about Bradley's book is that it does not address two major problems: 1)Outsourcing American jobs (the trade deficit), and 2)Illegal immigration (a more local form of outsourcing American jobs). In addition, while Bradley recognizes there are serious problems within American education, he fails to put the impetus for improvement on parents and pupils

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A must to read, thought-provoking

Author's background and his matter-of-fact account of politics make reading this book a must for any one who tries to comprehend the workings of government.

His aspiration is to develop a coherent governing philosophy. Can this be done with an undeniably partisan approach which, paradoxically, is also a consequence of the author's impressive background?

Some of his policy suggestions appear to be both revolutionary and inarguable at the same time. Free merit-based college education is an example. On the other hand, some of his suggestions are just assorted pieces of a patchwork (e.g., those associated with taxation, social security and pensions), and some are simply an exercise in trivialities (e.g., the one of trans fats). Arguable is a suggestion of the reduction of the Pentagon budget, which is already at a historically-low level in relation to the GDP. More importantly, it is arguable in light of the intensifying global tensions.

Author is concerned with rebuilding the Democratic party, which is understandably worthwhile for the life-long practitioner of government. It is doubtful, however, that this process of rebuilding would lead to an all-encompassing revision of the existing ways of governance. Such a revision and a design of a better organization of governance are overdue in view of the accelerating environmental deterioration and growing terrorist threats.

A Better Organization: Facing Threats to Our Country

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5

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