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He was speaking at a synagogue near my house, so I bought a ticket and went tonight to hear him speak. At first, I was kind of upset over where I was sitting (the far right side of the sanctuary), but then he walked down the aisle right next to me and I got to shake his hand.
His speech was, in a word, inspiring. The bulk of his speech was about the new global community we live in, and how the U.S. can improve the lives of the billions who live in poverty, while improving our own lives. A lot of it was pretty neoliberal, which wouldn't be too popular among the DU crowd, but for a moderate fellow like myself, it was right on the mark. He said that a combination of gobalization and increased aid to poor countries (that part was right out of Jeffery Sachs' book) will boost people out of poverty and make them part of the global marketplace. He said that we shouldn't fear this new world, and that we should not try to close our borders or ignore the problems facing the world. He then said the U.S. should do four things domestically to improve our stake in the world. They were:
-Change our energy policy to be more environmentally sound and provide motivation for young people to go into engineering by investing in alternative fuels.
-Make health care available to all Americans, take the costs away from the employers (he mentioned GM) and make it so doctors don't have to practice defensive medecine.
-Make education affordable for everyone through college.
-Balance the budget.
He ended by mentioning the young people in the audience, and saying that he wished he was 18 (my age) because he thinks the next 15 years
are going to be very exciting. I thought that line was really cool.
All in all, a very good talk.
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