We Can All Do Better

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We Can All Do Better Page 18

by Bill Bradley


  American dream, 11, 80, 103

  American Idol (television show), 127

  American Independent Party, 147

  American Revolution, 42, 43

  American Voices (radio show), 64–71

  Americans Elect, 148–152

  Americans with Disabilities Act, 13, 66–67

  Anderson, John, 147, 151

  Angola, 112

  Aristotle, 41

  Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, 73, 89

  Australia, 124, 127

  Austria, 106

  Automobile companies, 26, 80, 81, 82

  Baby boomers, 118

  Baker, James, 99, 100

  Bangladesh, 124

  Bankrupt: Entitlements and the Federal Budget (Tanner), 31–32

  Bankruptcies, 33, 34

  Banks, 136

  and bailouts, 18, 47

  and derivatives, 56–57

  and Dodd–Frank, 59

  and Glass–Steagall, 54–55, 95

  and Great Depression, 91, 94, 95

  and housing, 19, 21, 23, 57, 58, 78

  and lending, 17, 18, 19

  and major crises, 20

  and subprime mortgages, 57

  and taxes, 37

  Barker, Molly, 67–68

  Bay of Pigs, 112

  Benkler, Yochai, 72

  Berger, Suzanne, 83

  Bin Laden, Osama, 114

  Birth rates, 118, 119

  Black, Hugo, 50

  Bosnia, 65

  Boston Consulting Group, 82

  BP, 61

  Bradley, Bill

  and American Voices, 64–71

  and budget balancing exercise of former U.S. senators, 40–41

  and constituents, ix–xi

  grandfather of, 160

  parents of, xi

  as presidential candidate, 16, 64

  and September 11 attacks, 70

  as U.S. senator, 13, 35, 37–38, 47, 54, 139–140, 141, 143

  Brazil, 5, 29, 115, 121, 123

  Bremner, Linda, 68–69

  Brenner, Joel, 130

  Bretton Woods, 29

  Brittany (girl), 67–68

  Bronner, Ethan, 11

  Brown vs. Board of Education, 50

  Buckley vs. Valeo, 49, 50, 60

  Buffett, Warren, 58

  Bull Moose Party, 147

  Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S., 83

  Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S., 88

  Burma, 124

  Burton, Harold, 50

  Bush, George H. W.

  and government, 99

  and Iraq, 113

  and 1992 election, 147

  as vice president, 98

  and Washington knives and press, 13

  Bush, George W., 149

  and Albania, 114

  and government, 100

  and leverage, 58

  and September 11 attacks, 114

  and transportation bill, 26

  and 2000 election, 147

  Caesar, Julius, 42, 43, 45

  Campaign finance and spending, 141

  and corporations, 49, 51, 60–62

  and financial industry, 54

  and hedging bets and compromising beliefs, 157

  increase in, 47–48

  laws, 146, 151

  and lobbyists, 48

  and Obama, 147–148

  and reform, 48, 50, 59–62, 156

  and Supreme Court, 49–51, 60

  and third parties, 146

  and Unity08 and Americans Elect, 148–149, 150, 151

  Canada, 6, 39, 152

  CareerBuilder, 76

  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 26

  Carranza, Venustiano, 109

  Carter, Jimmy, 113

  Catholic Church, 3

  CBS Sunday Morning (television show), 15

  CDOs, 56–57

  CDSs, 57

  Census Bureau, 76

  Center for Responsive Politics, 49

  Central America, 113

  Childcare, 85, 87

  Chile, 112

  China

  as ally, 128

  and currency, 27, 28, 29, 126

  and defense, 121–122

  and economic competition with United States, 121, 122

  and economic power of, 121, 126, 127, 131

  economy of, 24, 28, 121, 122, 123, 125, 126

  and espionage, 129–130

  and euro bailout, 126

  and global economy, 126

  and high-speed rail, 122–123, 125

  and international rules, 128–129

  investment in the United States, 82–83

  and joint ventures and foreign companies, 125

  and lawlessness and corruption, 128

  and long-term economic aspirations, 124–127

  and manufacturing, 81–83

  and minorities, 119

  and natural resources, 122, 123, 124, 127

  rise of, 5

  and stimulus, 18, 125

  strategic thinking of, 122–129

  and Taiwan, 122, 130

  talent pool in, 117

  and Tibet, 129

  and transportation routes and ports for trade, 123–124

  and U.S. debt, 27–28

  and U.S. decline, 155

  and U.S. economic growth, 28–29

  and U.S. foreign interventions, 115

  and U.S. pressure on, 128–131

  and water and energy, 123, 125

  and Wilson, 109, 110

  and workers, 19, 79, 124–125

  CIA, 101, 104, 112

  Citigroup, 57–58

  Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, 49–51, 60

  Civil War, xii, 8, 92, 136

  Civilian Conservation Corps, 24–25, 95

  Clay, Henry, 106–107

  Clean-air legislation, 13

  Climate change, 128, 157

  Clinton, Bill, 13, 57, 99–100, 113, 144, 147

  Clinton, Hillary, 14, 148

  Cold War, 13, 40, 41, 112, 116, 122, 132

  Collateral damage, 115

  Colombia, 123

  Compromise, 14, 34, 36, 41, 50, 99, 139, 141, 142, 143

  Congress

  and appropriations, 36–37

  approval ratings and disgust with, 12, 151

  and campaign finance, 49, 51, 60, 61, 156

  and China, 129, 130

  and collegiality, 139–141, 142

  and corruption in U.S. history, 136–137

  and derivatives, 56

  and districts, 142, 156

  and economic crisis, 44

  and economy, 18

  and foreign policy, 108, 110

  and Glass–Steagall, 54

  and government reporting requirements, oversight, and reform, 103, 104

  and Great Depression, 94, 95

  and indirect and direct election, 136–138, 151

  and later employment as lobbyists, 156

  millionaires in, 49

  and Nixon, 97

  and party duopoly, 146

  and presidential appointments, 52

  and Social Security, 35

  and taxes, 18

  and third party, 152–153

  and 2014 elections, 151, 152

  and 2010 elections, 159

  Constitution, U.S., 49, 51, 96, 116, 135, 141–142, 153

  Cook, Tim, 20

  Corporations and companies

  assets of, 23

  and campaign finance, 49, 51, 60–62

  and Chinese espionage, 129

  and crisis management, 4–5

  and financial reform, 60

  and health care, 87–88, 158

  and innovation, 7

  and international trade, 24

  and lobbying, 54

  and manufacturing, 80–84

  and new technologies, 83

  and pensions, 79

  reducing costs of, 87–89

  and short term, 2

  and taxes, 32, 37,
39, 87, 88–89

  and turnarounds, 30

  and unselfishness, team play, and ethics, 72–74

  and vocational education, 84–85, 158

  and workers and jobs, 4, 21–22, 23–24, 39, 72–74, 79–80

  Corzine, Jon, 47

  Council of Europe, 114

  Courts, 33

  Credit, 19, 20, 24, 58, 59, 60, 78, 90, 94

  Credit cards, 33, 60

  Cuba, 112

  Culture, 2, 3, 119, 155

  Currency

  and American Revolution, 43

  and dollar, 6, 27, 28, 29, 30

  and Great Depression, 94

  and other countries, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30

  and U.S. debt, 27, 28

  wars, 19

  Cyberwar, 132

  The Cycles of American History (Schlesinger), 105

  Daley, Richard M., 117

  Danforth, Jack, 40

  Debs, Eugene V., 147

  Debt (federal), 2

  financing, 27–30

  and historical lessons, 41–44

  and interest, 31, 32

  limit, 36, 159

  and major banking crises, 20

  and taxes, 25

  Debt (personal), 20, 21, 23, 33, 77

  Declaration of Independence, 108

  Deepwater Horizon, 61

  Defense industry, 4, 47

  Defense spending, 32, 40, 41, 98, 121–122, 132, 133

  Deficit, 90

  and China, 28

  cyclical, 17, 31

  financing, 29

  and interest rates, 31

  and investors, 141

  long-term structural, 17, 31, 156

  and mortgage refinancing, 23

  projections, 30–31

  and Reagan, 99

  and taxes, 17, 18, 31, 37

  and 2012 election, 160

  and unemployment, 21–22

  and Washington money culture, 47

  Deficit reduction, 156

  and budget balancing exercise of former U.S. senators, 40–41

  and Clinton, 99

  and costs on businesses, 87

  and entitlement programs, 32

  and George H. W. Bush, 13

  and Grand Bargain, 44

  and interest rates, 31

  and taxes, 30, 32, 38–39

  and Washington club’s smugness, 14

  Democracy, 21, 96, 133

  and Americans Elect, 151

  and campaign finance, 50, 60–62

  and citizen responsibility and action, xi, xii, 1, 158–159, 161

  and compromise, 142

  and Congress, 151

  and debt, 41–42

  defined, 116

  and ethics of caring and personal responsibility, 145

  indirect and direct, 136–138

  and leadership, 8

  and narrow interests, 51–52

  need for more, 146

  and Obama speech, 10, 11

  parliamentary, 152

  pluralistic, 116, 133

  and problems in U.S. history, 135, 136, 138

  remaking, 8

  as sacred mystery, ix, 109

  and skepticism, 141, 142

  and standoffs, xii

  and U.S. foreign interventions, 113, 114, 115, 126, 127, 133

  and World War I, 110

  See also Wilson, Woodrow: and democracy

  Democratic Leadership Council, 99

  Democratic Party, x

  and charismatic leaders, 144

  and Clinton and Democratic Leadership Council, 99, 100

  and congressional districts, 142

  and economic crisis, 34

  and ethic of caring, 145

  and policy language, 144

  and self-identification, 143

  and third parties, 146

  Deng Xiaoping, 126–127, 131

  Denmark, 39

  Derivatives, 56–57

  Dirksen, Everett, 139, 141

  Disabilities, 13, 66–67, 89

  Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, 59

  Downes, Lawrence, 11

  Drayton, Bill, 73, 89

  Economic crisis, xii, 17–45

  Economic insecurity, 76–80

  Economy (U.S.), x, xii, xiii, 161

  and company turnaround analogy, 30

  and consumption, 39

  and deficits, 31

  and downsizing, 79

  and everyday lives, 20

  and financial reform, 60

  and government, 95, 97, 101

  growing and uplifting, 116–117, 118

  and improvement in future, 158

  and inequality and mobility, 76

  and inflation, 24

  and infrastructure, 28

  and leverage, 58

  in nineteenth century, 107

  and Obama, 12, 18, 48

  and reserve currency status, 30

  and seas, 132

  and spending, 24

  and stimulus, 17–18, 19–20

  and strengths, 7

  and structural changes, 89

  and taxes, 18

  and team play, 72

  and the unemployed, 88

  and U.S. debt, 27

  as world’s dominant, 27

  Economy (world), 19, 20, 24, 58

  Education, x, 117, 141

  and adaptability and empathy, 86

  and college completion rate, 84

  and college’s unaffordability, 77, 79

  and debt, 77

  and ethics of caring and personal responsibility, 145

  failing schools, 69

  good public, 80

  lifetime and vocational, 84–87, 156, 158

  and Lincoln, 96

  and No Child Left Behind, 100

  and science and math, 117–118

  and strengths, 7

  and taxes, 52

  and teachers, 86

  Egypt, 27

  Eisenhower, Dwight

  and defense spending, 133

  and foreign policy, 111

  and government, 97, 98, 99

  and Suez Canal, 27

  wisdom of, 7

  El Salvador, 112

  Elections, 135–138, 146–153

  Energy, 48, 52, 89, 101, 123, 125

  England, 4, 121, 152

  Entitlement spending, 17, 24, 32

  Environment, x, xii, 69, 101, 141, 157, 158

  Europe, 124

  and America, 6, 105, 107, 108, 109

  and debt and banking, 24

  Eastern, 108, 117, 119

  and economic growth, 122

  and euro bailout, 126

  and immigration, 119–120

  and Normandy and World War II, 11, 97

  Fannie Mae, 22, 57–58

  FBI, 101, 104

  Fears, J. Rufus, 41

  Federal Election Commission (FEC), 146, 148, 149

  Federal Reserve

  and company assets, 23

  and financial collapse, 17, 58–59

  and inflation, 24, 31

  Fifteenth Amendment, 135

  Financial crash and crisis, 6

  destructive ramifications of, 102

  and economic mismanagement, 10

  and government response, 17–18, 39, 60

  and greed and bad government policy, 54–59

  Financial industry, 2, 52, 54–60, 80, 156, 161

  Financial reform, 52, 59, 95

  Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 128

  Ford, John, 90

  Foreclosures, 23, 33, 54, 92

  Foreign policy, x, xii, xiii

  and China, 121–131

  and control of seas, 132

  and coups, 112

  and ideals and human rights, 107–109, 111, 113, 114, 128

  and imperialism, 115

  and Kennan and containment, 111, 112–113, 115

  and Kennedy, 111–112

  and leading by example, 116–117, 156

  and mass media
, 3

  and militarism, 116, 122, 156

  and modernized, adaptable forces, 132

  need for another path in, 115–116, 133, 152, 156, 160

  in nineteenth century, 105–107

  and objectives and policymaking, 133

  and post-Vietnam interventions, 112, 113–115

  and voting, 144

  and Wilson, 109–111

  Fox News, 3

  France, 42–43, 110, 119, 120

  Franklin, Benjamin, 43

  Freddie Mac, 22, 57–58

  French Revolution, 42, 44

  Gallatin, Albert, 106

  Garner, John Nance, 91

  Gasoline, 26, 38, 39, 40, 41, 89

  General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 111

  Germany, 81, 110, 119, 121, 125, 152, 160

  Get America Working!, 73, 89

  Gingrich, Newt, 141

  Girls on the Run, 67–68

  Glass–Steagall Act, 54–55, 95, 102

  Global warming, 100, 124, 161

  Goldwater, Barry, 98

  Gore, Al, 147

  Government, x–xi

  as alleged problem, 95, 98, 99, 100, 157, 159

  animosity toward and disgust with, 12, 141–142

  and bureaucracy, 103–104

  and compromise, 142

  and costs on businesses, 87–88

  and economy, 95, 97, 101

  effectiveness and reform, 103–104

  employees, 101–102, 103

  and general welfare, 95–104

  and Great Depression, 94, 95

  ineffectiveness, 52

  and job creation, 21–22, 25, 89

  lack of confidence in, 18, 21, 80

  and selflessness, 67, 69–70

  trust in, 62

  and vocational education, 84–85

  Grant, Ulysses S., 107

  The Grapes of Wrath, 90

  Great Britain, 27, 29, 109, 110, 119, 120

  Great Depression, 19, 24–25, 91–95, 102, 118, 155

  Greenspan, Alan, 58–59

  Greenstein, Scott, 63–64

  Grenada, 113

  Grey, Zane, 160

  Guatemala, 112

  Gulf Cooperation Council, 29

  Gulf War, 13

  Guzmán, Jacobo Árbenz, 112

  Hamilton, Alexander, 7, 43–44, 141

  Hanna, Mark, 49

  Hart, Gary, 40, 41, 144

  Health care, x, xii, 64, 77

  and access, 117

  and China, 128

  and companies, 87–88, 158

  and deficit reduction, 32

  and elderly, 87, 99

  and ethics of caring and personal responsibility, 145

  and insurance, 79, 90, 97, 99, 158

  and lobbying, 52

  and reform, 14, 48, 52, 158

  spending, 40, 41

  and state and local governments, 2, 33, 34

  and taxes, 52

  Hearst, William Randolph, 137

  Helms, Jesse, 139–140

  Helms, Mrs. Jesse, 140

  Helsinki Accords, 114

  High-tech, 85–87, 125, 129

  Hill, Ed, 92

  Hockett, Robert, 19

  Holland, 43

  Holocaust, 117

  Homelessness, 69

  Homestead Act, 96

  Hoover, Herbert, 91, 92

  Housing, 24

  bubble, 58, 78

 

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