Welcome to The Pub

A pub is a place to gather with friends, meet new people and share thoughts and stories. While we can’t draw a pint of Guinness for you, this virtual pub can be a place for conversation. So come on in, pull up a chair, introduce yourself and share what you are thinking.

The rules of conversation are simple: state your opinions, but be civil and don’t attack other people in The Pub. Write your thoughts in the box at the bottom of this page and click the “submit” button, or send them to me via email I look forward to meeting you in The Pub.

The Pub’s “D” Quiz

Try your hand at the “D” quiz, and then send me some questions with your tongue-in-cheek multiple-choice answers for the next Pub exam.

Q: How many times does a lie need to be told before it is accepted as truth?

Examples of such lies include:

• The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) has a provision for death panels;
• The stimulus was a failure;
• The President is not an American citizen;
• The President is a Muslim;
• The departments of commerce, education, energy and the EPA had budget increases of 130%  in the last two years;
• Medicare monthly premiums will rise by more that $100 in 2012 and nearly $250 in 2014 because of mandates in Obamacare.

a. If you are a Republican, once;
b. If you get your information from FOX, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh, once;
c. If you are a discerning person who uses your brain, never;
d. All of the above.

Q: New regulations on financial institutions after their unregulated greed caused a complete financial meltdown in the United States are:

a. Destroying the American economy;
b. A cause of unemployment;
c. A step toward socialism;
d. None of the above

Q:  The right to carry assault rifles into public forums is:

a. An absurd interpretation of the second amendment by far-right judges;
b. A reflection of the Republican mindset;
c. A threat to public safety;
d. All of the above

Q: Do Republican budget proposals:

a. Increase the divide between the rich and everyone else;
b. Use distortion, obfuscation and fuzzy math to sell an ideological agenda;
c. Are a danger to the fiscal health of America;
d. All of the above

Q: Do Republicans dismiss the Occupy Wall Street movement as a mob pitting Americans against one another because:

a. They don’t have a clue about the plight of average Americans;
b. They fear any political movement that attracts attention by challenging their world view;
c. Anyone who is not part of their power elite is not relevant to them;
d. All of the above.

Q: Revenue (tax) increases are:

a. Job killing;
b. A movement toward big government socialism;
c. Unfair to the hardworking wealthy;
d. None of the above.

Q: Revenue (tax) increases will:

a. Help restore fiscal health;
b. Pay down the debt while stimulating the economy by creating/protecting jobs in education, public safety, and infrastructure construction projects;
c. Move towards a fair balance in America’s tax system;
d. All of the above

Q:  Conservatives are fanatical believers in the concept of American Exceptionalism. This is because, when measured against her peers:

a. The USA is the happiest nation in the world;
b. The USA is the healthiest nation in the world;
c. The USA has the best education system in the world:
d. None of the above

Q: Among the 31 nations participating in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States ranks in:

a. The bottom five for measurement of child poverty;
b. The bottom five in income inequality;
c. The bottom five in pre-primary education;
d. All of the above.

Q: Healthcare in the United States:

a. Costs more per person than in Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Austria, France, Sweden, Britain, Italy, Spain and New Zealand;
b. Ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives;
c. Costs $4,000 more per person than in Denmark, yet 95% of Danes approve of their system, and less than 50% of Americans think healthcare in their country is good or excellent;
d. All of the above.

Is America Truly Exceptional?

My fondest desire for this project is that it opens a channel of critical, creative and collaborative conversation about the pressing needs of the USA at home and in relation to our neighbors around the world.

I need your help…

What are the questions on your mind regarding U.S. policies and practices at home and abroad? What do you think the pressing issues are for the USA? What do you think are the bedrock principles that this nation was built on, and how do you think we the people and our elected representatives are measuring up to them?

Please join the conversation by posting your thoughts, comments and questions below.   I look forward to hearing from you and having you engage in this important 21st-century conversation.