Kicking the Can Read Online Free Page A
nations…Those were his exact words. He proceeded to describe the consequences if we ignore his warning. China could sell off its US treasuries, which could induce other foreign investors to sell, destabilizing the US economy by collapsing the dollar relative to other currencies, causing inflation and interest rates to spike. None of these talking points came as a surprise,” Sebastian said. “I acknowledged his statements and thanked him for communicating their concerns. I reminded him China’s economic growth is dependent upon a stable US economy.” Sebastian finished his salad.
“I asked Hongwei what the Chinese are doing about their real estate bubble. He said they’re working toward expanding investment opportunities for Chinese citizens overseas, but it’s been slow to develop because of interagency conflicts. The Chinese have health care challenges too. The country recently extended basic health insurance to ninety-five percent of the population, causing serious strains on their delivery system.
“We agreed to open communications between the two countries. I scored the diplomatic jousting, China one, USA one.”
10
P resident Cannon looked at his wristwatch: 1:10 a.m., Tuesday, no Wednesday morning. He flexed his muscles, extending his legs underneath the wooden table, pushing his arms high overhead to stretch, the action necessary to reconnect his body and brain after having been dormant, like a computer in sleep mode, for several hours. For two nights in a row, he had held vigil in the White House library searching for the answer to his question—
does democracy work in a crisis situation?
The founding fathers put Americans first, Whigs and Tories second. A polarized Washington was placing the country in jeopardy. Cannon needed a game plan. His quest began with a simple idea—what clues taken from historical periods of urgent national need could past presidents offer Cannon to solve the crisis now faced by the United States?
The first words he scribbled on his yellow legal pad had been from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address of 1863: “
and government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth
.” Cannon circled each three-word set—of the people—by the people—and for the people. Circling the words allowed him to visually dissect the statement into three concepts. In the process, Cannonconfirmed his greatest fear was not that the United States would fail to uncover a solution to the health care crisis, but that the mechanics of the process, “a government by the people,” were inherently political.
Cannon’s second data point came ninety-eight years later when he underlined a copy of the transcript President John F. Kennedy delivered in a special message to Congress on urgent national needs. JFK, facing escalating threats of a Soviet confrontation, successfully promoted his decision to go to the moon by framing it as a technological and intellectual challenge to Americans.
The final data point came an hour ago, when he read a blurb in the archives regarding the Wolfson Economic Prize, a contest to elicit proposals of how best to dismantle the Eurozone. The contest was initiated and administered by a prominent British businessman. A panel of university professors picked the winner. He was intrigued by the idea of an intellectual contest. Cannon learned Nobel Prizes were awarded annually in peace, medicine, literature, and economics; and a lesser known Nobel Memorial Prize was awarded in economic sciences. His idea solidified: if Cannon could bypass Congress and go directly to the people, challenging them to an intellectual contest to fix health care, he might be able to usurp the partisanship of the legislative process and impose the will of the people on Congress. What wasn’t clear—who would administer the contest.
11
H ouse Speaker Bennett and Representative Haines stood. President Cannon was the last to enter the Roosevelt Room. They retook their seats
“I asked Hongwei what the Chinese are doing about their real estate bubble. He said they’re working toward expanding investment opportunities for Chinese citizens overseas, but it’s been slow to develop because of interagency conflicts. The Chinese have health care challenges too. The country recently extended basic health insurance to ninety-five percent of the population, causing serious strains on their delivery system.
“We agreed to open communications between the two countries. I scored the diplomatic jousting, China one, USA one.”
10
P resident Cannon looked at his wristwatch: 1:10 a.m., Tuesday, no Wednesday morning. He flexed his muscles, extending his legs underneath the wooden table, pushing his arms high overhead to stretch, the action necessary to reconnect his body and brain after having been dormant, like a computer in sleep mode, for several hours. For two nights in a row, he had held vigil in the White House library searching for the answer to his question—
does democracy work in a crisis situation?
The founding fathers put Americans first, Whigs and Tories second. A polarized Washington was placing the country in jeopardy. Cannon needed a game plan. His quest began with a simple idea—what clues taken from historical periods of urgent national need could past presidents offer Cannon to solve the crisis now faced by the United States?
The first words he scribbled on his yellow legal pad had been from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address of 1863: “
and government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth
.” Cannon circled each three-word set—of the people—by the people—and for the people. Circling the words allowed him to visually dissect the statement into three concepts. In the process, Cannonconfirmed his greatest fear was not that the United States would fail to uncover a solution to the health care crisis, but that the mechanics of the process, “a government by the people,” were inherently political.
Cannon’s second data point came ninety-eight years later when he underlined a copy of the transcript President John F. Kennedy delivered in a special message to Congress on urgent national needs. JFK, facing escalating threats of a Soviet confrontation, successfully promoted his decision to go to the moon by framing it as a technological and intellectual challenge to Americans.
The final data point came an hour ago, when he read a blurb in the archives regarding the Wolfson Economic Prize, a contest to elicit proposals of how best to dismantle the Eurozone. The contest was initiated and administered by a prominent British businessman. A panel of university professors picked the winner. He was intrigued by the idea of an intellectual contest. Cannon learned Nobel Prizes were awarded annually in peace, medicine, literature, and economics; and a lesser known Nobel Memorial Prize was awarded in economic sciences. His idea solidified: if Cannon could bypass Congress and go directly to the people, challenging them to an intellectual contest to fix health care, he might be able to usurp the partisanship of the legislative process and impose the will of the people on Congress. What wasn’t clear—who would administer the contest.
11
H ouse Speaker Bennett and Representative Haines stood. President Cannon was the last to enter the Roosevelt Room. They retook their seats
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