Customer Reviews

The Plan: Big Ideas for America

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The Plan was a true disappointment, just another extremely partisan book. I was really hoping to read a logical, fact based book to understand the direction the authors' wanted to take the country in addition to the reasons why. Unfortunately, The Plan only offers more political rhetoric with a tremendous amount of Bush bashing and Democratic feel-good commentary designed to stir your emotions rather than lay a foundation for real change. Mr. Emanuel and Mr. Reed twist and skew information to lead the reader toward their partisan agenda. It doesn't appear that these gentlemen are interested in getting to the root of the problem. They only want to blame the other party and push their big ideas on America.

Rahm Emanuel is an important figure in American politics, now head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) which carries great weight in the selection of Congressional House candidates. In that role Emanuel has spent considerable time and effort knocking out peace candidates, replacing them with prowar candidates as when he pushed out Christine Cegelis in Illinois in favor of Tammy Duckworth in the Democratic primary. Duckworth is for staying the course.
So how does Emanuel view issues of war, peace and foreign policy? Emanuel has just supplied the answer in the form of a book co-authored with Bruce Reed, modestly entitled: The Plan: Big Ideas for America. The authors obligingly boil each of the eight parts of "The Plan" down to a single paragraph. The section which embraces all of foreign policy is entitled "A New Strategy to End the War on Terror," a heading revealing in itself since "war on terror" is the way the neocons and the Israeli Lobby currently like to frame the discussion of foreign policy. Here is the book's summary paragraph with my comments in parentheses:

"A New Strategy to Win the War on Terror"
("War on Terror," as George Soros points out, is a false metaphor used by those who would drag us into military adventures not in our interest or that of humanity.)
"We need to use all the roots of American power to make our country safe. (He begins by playing on fear.) America must lead the world's fight against the spread of evil and totalitarianism, but we must stop trying to win that battle on our own. (Messianic imperialism.) We should reform and strengthen multilateral institutions for the twenty-first century, not walk away from them. We need to fortify the military's "thin green line" around the world by adding to the U.S. Special Forces and the Marines, and by expanding the U.S. army by 100,000 more troops. (An even bigger military for the world's most powerful armed forces, a very militaristic view of the way to handle the conflicts among nations. What uses does Emanuel have in mind for those troops?) We should give our troops a new GI Bill to come home to. (More material incentives to induce the financially strapped to sign up as cannon fodder.) Finally we must protect our homeland and civil liberties by creating a new domestic counterterrorism force like Britain's MI5. (A new spy domestic spying operation is an obvious threat to our civil liberties; MI5 holds secret files on one in 160 adults in Britain along with files on 53,000 organizations.)"

There it is, straight from the horse's mouth.

How does Emanuel, the man who has screened and chosen the 2006 Democratic candidates for Congress, feel specifically about the war on Iraq, the number one issue on voters' minds. Emanuel and Reed do not so much as mention Iraq in their book except in terms of the "war on terror." Nor does Emanuel mention Iraq on his web site as among the important issues facing us, quite amazing omission and one shared by Chuck Schumer who is his equivalent of the Senate side, chairing the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee). However a very recent profile in Fortune (9/25/2006), "Rahm Emanuel, Pitbull Politician," by Washington Bureau chief Nina Easton notes: "On Iraq, Emanuel has steered clear of the withdraw-now crowd, preferring to criticize Bush for military failures since the 2003 invasion. `The war never had to turn out this way,' he told me at one of his campaign stops. In January 2005, when asked by Meet the Press's Tim Russert whether he would have voted to authorize the war-`knowing that there are no weapons of mass destruction'-Emanuel answered yes. (He didn't take office until after the vote.) 'I still believe that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do, okay?' he added."(3)

When Jack Murtha made his proposal for withdrawal from Iraq, Emanuel quickly declared that "Jack Murtha went out and spoke for Jack Murtha." As for Iraq policy, Emanuel added: "At the right time, we will have a position." That was November, 2005. In June, 2006, it was obviously time, and Emanuel finally revealed his policy in a statement on the floor of the House during debate over Iraq, thus: "The debate today is about whether the American people want to stay the course with an administration and a Congress that has walked away from its obligations or pursue a real strategy for success in the war on terror. ...We cannot achieve the end of victory and continue to sit and watch, stand pat, stay put, status quo and that is the Republican policy. ...Democrats are determined to take the fight to the enemy." The refrain is familiar; more troops are the means and victory in Iraq is the goal.

The booklet is mercifully short although quite repetitious and very poorly written, a real MEGO experience. In addition to the section on "the war on terror," there are seven other parts of the book which are full of old Democratic nostrums - universal health care, but only for kids, not for all; no extension of social security but adding 401k plans; etc. But the militarism and even statism are what stand out most. The book is a clear indication why the Democratic party is not a genuine opposition party. Why not? That is another story.

The reviewer can be contacted at john.endwar@gmail.com

The two authors are Clinton democrats who wrote their book as part of the 2006 campaign to elect democrats to the Congress. They suggest eight big ideas,namely, universal citizen service in a non-military organization, universal college access, universal retirement savings, universal children's health care, fiscal responsibility and an end to corporate welfare, tax reform to help those who aren't wealthy to build wealth, a new strategy to win the war on terror, and a hybrid economy that cuts America's gasoline use in half. Their proposals deserve objective, non-partisan Congressional debate.
In light of the major economic crisis that has since occurred, their new book, scheduled for release on January 5, 2009, probably includes and expands upon the content of this earlier one. It will be interesting to see the extent to which they are willing to reverse the policies that not only caused the crisis, but will also make it impossible for their big ideas to succeed. Both books must be read, if their ideas are to be intelligently evaluated. For a short statement of the policies I refer to, read Congressman Ron Paul's address to the House of Representatives on Novembrer 20, 2008, which is titled on the internet as "The Austrians Were Right." For a broader presentation of the policies, I recommend Addison Wiggin's "the demise of the dollar." The battle is on! Wake up America.

This guy made $320,000 for 14 months of little work with Freddie Mac. He helped Leland (CEO at Freddie Mac) come up with a scheme to cook the books in order to get a bigger bonus. In the 3 years after Clinton, this man made over $16 million dollars in banking. This guy was deeply involved in the problems we are now facing. Source for this is the Chicago Tribune. Take this into account when you read his book. My boys are not going to their camps! And I will not be involved in their so called 'volunteer corps'.

I bought this book because Rahm Emanuel was Obama's chief of staff and I wanted to see what his "Plan" was, since he was in the position to make it happen. One thing that I found quite interesting was his advocacy for mandatory community service (mandatory volunteerism) for all young people between certain ages. I didn't care for the idea because it sounds like servitude to me. He also lays out his plan for national healthcare for all.

I guess the main thing that I didn't like about this book was that it seems to be written like a campaign platform. It is kind of like a list of things to do, rather than a more timeless addressing of issues. Now that Emanuel is no longer Obama's chief of staff, and Obama's healthcare initiative has already become law, I think this book has greatly-decreased significance. I'm glad I bought it when I did, but now I wouldn't waste my time or money.

Rham Emanuel's "The Plan" is a wonderful and insightful book. It shows step by step the master plan being put forth by the Chicago Liberal Collectivsts now in power who will be transforming America into a Socialist state. It is one of the few clear cut glimpses of what "Change you can Believe In" really means. You will not have it covered by the main stream media as it happens under the cloak of darkness. These steps to change happen in the "night and fog" of congressional sesions. An example of these steps to change is the recently and quietly passed legislation in congress, House Bill HR1388, the GIVE ACT (Call your Congressperson for futher details...). The GIVE ACT components are discussed in "The Plan" by Emanuel.

The intripid Rahm Emanuel may be a man small in stature (like myself) but he is big on ideas. This book shows what he and the other master politician, President Barack Obama have in store for all of us. These men are the two most important Social Revolutionary Cadre Operatives (eh, excuse me I ment to say "Community Organizers") since the 1917 Bolshevik and 1948 Red Chinese Revolutions. These men are conducting this new revolution without a single shot being fired! I also highly recommend the brilliant Saul Alinsky's 1971 classic "Rules for Radicals" (the community organizers bible), and Vladimir Lenin's "Essential Works of Lenin: WHAT IS TO BE DONE? and Other Writings". Both of these excellent books are available from our "Capitalist Pig" friends here at Amazon.com!

Update on 21 March 2010: Late on a Sunday Night just moments ago, the Progressive Collectivists have just passed an important first step in our conversion to the socialist utopia they have long dreamed about! If you think this is great, just look what the Romney Care is doing to the budget in my native "Peoples Republik of Massachusetts". Now that is just 6.5 million folks. Govenor Deval Patrick (and President Obama's buddy) was saddled with this nightmare and it is reeking havoc on the state deficit. This is gotten so bad that most think Govenor Patrick, although considered a decent man by most, will most not be reelected. Now imagine Obamacare for 300 million people and the national budget. When President Obama signs the National Health Care Reform Act, he will be making himself a one-term president. So much for the "The Plan"...

The only thing I needed to read in the Plan was Emanuel's misquotation of "freedom isn't free" which we know means that to maintain our freedoms, we need to fight to keep them. In The Plan, Rahm Emanuel, when discussing that the Republicans would undoubtedly object to requiring young adults to serve in a civilian service force, misstates "freedom isn't free" as "freedom isn't BEING free". WHAT THE HECK??!!

Of course, Mr. Emanuel, FREEDOM IS EXACTLY BEING FREE. Unfortunately for all of us, those who believed Obama would have to "govern from the center" have been proven wrong these last 2 months since he took office. The socialists who have taken over the Democrat Party apparently don't hold our liberties in much regard. It's going to be a long 4 years.

This guy is now Obama's Chief of Staff. The two together want to implement a "Civilian Defense Force" that's "just as big, just as powerful, and just as well funded as the US military." Hello, America. This is the land where individual liberty is cherished and safeguarded by the Constitution...a land where we purposely limited the powers of the federal government. Communists/socialists have fellowship on collectivism and elevating the worker to icon status...Americans have fellowship on their liberty and defending themselves from tyrrany...which is just what they are proposing, tyrrany

I like a lot of what the Reed/Emanuel book has to say...and I'm not necessarily referring to the details of The Plan itself or its relentless dissecting of the Bush (43) Administration. Rather, what I like most about it are two thoughts that ought to resonate across the spectrum: that "none of [these] ideas will turn the country around unless America decides to bring back an old idea: responsibility" (the authors call for a "new social contract" to foster that idea); and that it's not enough (as a political party) to simply be against a series of things - you have to be for something. Though the writers are ardently pro-Democrat (they refer with a holy trinity-like reverence to the accomplishments of FDR, JFK and Clinton), it's their party they take to task for falling into the trap of defining themselves as being against Republican ideas. The authors urge their party to be for something. They then go on to stake out their proposed 'somethings.'

The other thing worth noting is the accessibility of the book. The text runs 185 pages well-organized, cleanly-spaced pages. That might sound trite. It's not. The authors' challenge and triumph was to present these ideas in an approachable, inviting fashion. Editor David Patterson and PublicAffairs books are to be commended for their roles in this success.

This book further advances my belief that both parties are one in the same. America is Empire, and both parties plan to maintain that empire. "The Plan" is absolutely enraging and if you have any shred of education of the American Constitution or the beliefs of our founders- you will be fighting your hands to keep this book open long enough to complete. My hands had plans of their own, burn this book, throw it against the wall, use it for toilet paper, etc. I had to take "sanity" breaks by reading my James Madison book and this book in intervals.

First, you must know the biography of Rahm Emanuel for the full effect. Second, you must keep in mind how ironic it is to read an entire chapter on tax reform that is written by a tax cheat. If you want to see where America is heading- this is a must read considering Emanuel is now the Chief of Staff. It is mob rule, it is collectivism, it is Big Brother.

There are plans for your children in maintaining our Empire. Though, Rahm doesn't approve a "draft" per se, if his plans for our nation were to come to fruition- a draft must be imposed. His approach to healthcare is atrocious, uneducated, and unfounded. His nepotism shown as he discussed his own brother's brilliant plan for healthcare reform. If you're suffering from bradycardia- this book will be your cure. Progressives are inimical to Liberty.