*Rep. Moran talked about his recent trip to the Middle East with Tom Davis to study sovereign wealth funds.
*Moran commented that there's a massive shift of wealth underway from oil consumers to oil producers. Within a decade, sovereign wealth funds could hold $20 trillion in assets.
*Moran asserted that many countries want to reinvest in the United States, but incidents like the 2006 Dubai Ports World controversy don't help matters. Moran voted for the deal, but it was defeated in committee by a 62-2 vote. According to Moran, the rejection of this deal was in part a result of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias. If sovereign wealth funds don't invest here, they'll just invest in China, India, Iran, etc. Increasingly, the Arabs are turning towards Europe and Asia and away from the United States.
*Turning to politics, Moran said that he believes we are on the verge of a "new progressive era" in this country, following the "worst in American history" Bush-Cheney administration. Today, we are the worst in terms of income inequality since 1928.
*Moran said that he is "fed up with" the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and has moved towards the left. With regard to the DLC, Moran said that they still support the war, their perspective of the world is very different from mine. This is the end of the era for the "Lieberman Democrats," according to Rep. Moran.
*Moran believes that the traditional media is not informing people as well as the blogosphere, which is "where the best ideas are." These ideas have helped make Moran more progressive.
*Conservatives have proven themselves wrong about government being the problem and never the solution.
*Asked about future options for dealing with our huge debt while raising the revenues needed to invest in America, Moran mentioned increasing the retirement age, means testing, increasing the income level at which the payroll tax is applied, investing more aggressively (e.g., in equities), even devaluing the dollar.
*On Iraq, Moran said that it was "spun from the git-go" and that there was nothing that justified going to war. Unlike the Bush 41 team, this Bush administration was almost completely ignorant. Moran postulated that Bush 43 had a psychological need to do the exact opposite of his father and not listen to him, but instead to rely on the "crazies in the attic" whose advice his father had wisely rejected. The result? The "worst foreign policy fiasco in American history."
*On the 2009 Virginia governor's race, Rep. Moran said that he's proud of his brother Brian, but that Brian has "done this on his own." Creigh's a good guy, but the key to this race is going to be in northern Virginia, where Brian is strong.
*Regarding the prospective Virginia Republican 2009 ticket (and also the selection of Jeff Frederick and the strong performance of Bob Marshall this past weekend), Rep. Moran ripped into them as "extreme right wing" and said that there's "no place for Tom Davis in the Republican Party anymore." People like McDonnell, Bolling, and Frederick are living in the "first half of the 20th century" -- or maybe the 19th century. The question isn't so much "WHAT are they thinking?" as "ARE they thinking?" Jeff Frederick is "way out there," a "young ideologue." Jim Gilmore "bankrupted our state."
*Moran mentioned the possibility of Hillary Clinton for Supreme Court. Interesting...
*Moran doesn't believe that the Democrats, under President Obama, will "overreach" to the left. Of course, Obama's going to have to say "no" to a lot of people to balance the budget. Also, "we've got to trade." "The vanguard may be disappointed."
*Moran believes that young people today have generally moved beyond racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia.
*Moran believes we need a universal service requirement.
*Finally, commenting on Jim Webb's GI Bill, Moran said that if Bush vetoes it, that's just "one more nail" in the Republicans' "political coffin."
P.S. I almost forgot, Rep. Moran strongly recommends the book Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA" by Tim Weiner.
Translation No matter how bad things are, I'm never ever going to say the phrases "income tax" or "estate tax", unless there's lots of bipartisan cover.
But more generally, I wonder how this country can be governed if our political leadership is only willing to tackle difficult issues when there is no upcoming election. At some point, someone has to talk turkey to the people. It seems like there are only relatively brief windows of opportunity to get something done in the off years, before they all hunker down for the next election. Realistically, is that enough? I don't think so.