A thumb-nail assessment of the fiscal cliff bill: Much sound. Some fury. Simplifying nothing. Nonetheless, those members of Congress who worked together in a bi-partisan fashion to construct and pass the "cliff deal" are to be commended. The major presenting short-term problem of the expiration of "middle class" tax cuts was addressed. Significantly and appropriately, tax rates for the "wealthy" were increased. In addition, the alternative minimum tax was corrected, expiring jobless benefits … [Read more...]
Articles
Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
Frank’s most recent blogs are highlighted on this page. To read other blogs or articles by Frank, click on the categories or publications links on the left.
Save Our Children: A Christmas Wish and Prayer
This is not the time to take Christ out of Christmas but to put the child into Christmas -- not for presents but for prescience. Let us do that by celebrating the innocence of those who will not celebrate Christmas this year because of the Connecticut schoolhouse shootings. Let us do that by learning from this tragedy and dedicating ourselves to making this country a safer place for all of our children. Let us do that by praying to God, no matter what our religious persuasion, for peace and … [Read more...]
The Republicans’ League of Their Own: Reasons, Responses, Recommendations
If the national elections had been contested in the Republican's political version of a fantasy football league, Barack Obama would have received 47-plus percent of the vote. And, they would have picked up five seats in the Senate and eight seats in the House. Just the opposite occurred. This stunned many Republicans whose parallel universe view had them convinced that they would not only win but dominate in the presidential and congressional election battles. Why and how did they get this so … [Read more...]
Attention Deficit Disorder
The Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform ended its work not with a bang or a whimper, but, as Co-Chair Alan Simpson put it, by taking a "big banana and throwing it into the gorilla cage." Let's hope the gorilla doesn't slip on the peel and knock himself out before he can eat it. Seriously, the Commission and many other groups and individuals have brought much needed attention to the nation's budget deficit and debt. They have paid little or no attention, however, to a more important … [Read more...]
The Island States of America: A Threat to Our Representative Democracy
The secessionists have garnered a lot of attention lately with their petitions to leave the union after Barack Obama won the national election. While their appeals may be headline-grabbing and fabulous fodder for talk radio and cable TV, they are substantively and politically unimportant and impotent. The issues of true significance for the future of our representative democracy are (1) the structure of our federal congressional districts and the Senate and House districts within the states; … [Read more...]
Fiscal Cliff or Bunny Slope?
Superstorm Sandy was a disaster brought to us by Mother Nature. The fiscal cliff is being brought to us by human nature. Which will be worse? Time will tell. What we can tell right now is that Sandy was unavoidable. The cliff, on the other hand, was and is completely avoidable. We should not go over it, fall off of it, or even slip at all while working our way down it. If we do, the only reason will be the perversity and illogic of human nature. The only way the worst case scenario can occur … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving Thoughts on Freedom and America
Most of us are probably familiar with Norman Rockwell's famous Thanksgiving painting of a family at home around the dining room table with "mom" putting the platter of turkey on the table with a beaming "dad" standing behind her. Many of us probably don't know that this painting is titled "Freedom from Want." Few, we believe, realize that this "Freedom" painting --which was one of Rockwell's Four Freedom paintings created during WW II -- traces its inspiration to an address that President … [Read more...]
The Real Winner: American Exceptionalism Defeats Extremism
ne of the things that makes America exceptional is the genius, common sense and level-headedness of its people. They proved their mettle once again on this Election Day. Immediately after the election, much of the media characterized the results as an indication that the country was divided and as a vote for the status quo. For example, The Washington Post observed in a November 7 editorial, “The nation was starkly divided before, and it remains starkly divided today.” George Will, in his … [Read more...]
Getting to Maybe: The Critical Need for Compromise in Congress
Saying no has been the modus operandi of the 112th Congress. For too many of our elected representatives, it has been either my way or no highway. Progress for the American economy and Americans has been compromised because there have been few attempts at compromise. Now that the country has a newly elected Congress, we hope those congresspersons and senators who will take part in the lame duck session and who will take office after the first of the year will realize that they are in … [Read more...]
US Presidential Election: Up to 35% of overall votes are expected to be cast before the polling day
The election to choose America's next president is still days away, but as of Tuesday, October 30 as many as 18 million Americans had already made their choices. In fact, up to 35 percent of the overall votes will likely be cast before November 6, the polling day. Because of the extremely close nature of the race, both the campaigns of President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney have made aggressive efforts to drive up early voting, especially in the swing states where the polls are very … [Read more...]