Those of you who know me well, from both extremes of the political spectrum, have  become either frustrated or bored with my political opinions.  You already understand that I espouse  certain positions such as 2nd amendment rights to keep and bare arms, and the international rights of a nation to defend itself from enemies, either foreign or domestic, when that enemy is bent on its annihilation. These positions may sometimes make you crazy. I also believe in nation building. It is not a cliche to say  that it is of paramount importance to think globally but to act locally.  This is not an introduction to some crazy extremist screed about school boards. It is not a manifesto about hunting for our own food. Nor is what I am about to say socialistic, left wing wacko, vegan eating, Volvo driving, (though I think they are fine cars,) pinot grigio sipping (also a fine product) liberal Napa Vally bullshit.

I have personally been involved in nation building for many years.  I am talking about my years working in the Head Start program.  This work is nation building in its truest sense, and it is the most important work I have ever done.

In those emotional days in the fall of 2001, after the Supreme Court appointed W, after the Tech Bubble burst, and after I watched the World Trade center bombing on a TV set outside the Health Care Quality Improvement conference I was attending with my colleague Lorna, I had no way of knowing that I would be making a career change in the immediate future.

Fast forward about four months to the morning Renee Hunter in the personnel office at Contra Costa County Community Services Department had me sign a loyalty oath, to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. (I kid you, not. I had mistrusted anyone who had to ask me for my loyalty since I was 5 years old and I watched the McCarthy hearings on that old RCA black and white TV with bunny ear antennae.)  I took that oath with mixed emotions.  I was about to become...a public employee.

Taking that oath gave me the opportunity to do some amazing work at the country's finest Head Start agency.  I witnessed first hand the struggles that low income people, (especially homeless families with young children,) fight every day in this land of stunning abundance.  Right there on the eastern shore of San Pablo Bay with a multi-million dollar view of San Francisco, Treasure Island, Angel Island, and in the shadow of San Quentin, are the mean streets of Richmond. Pound for pound this is the most dangerous turf in the country.  Now pretend for a moment that you are 3 years old, cold, hungry, and exposed to domestic violence.  Now pretend for a moment that you get two meals every day, some basic dental work, your shots, a loving teacher that really cares about you.  Pretend for a moment you are lucky enough to have Simone B. at the George Miller III Child Development Center as your teacher.  Not only will you learn your ABC's and your colors and shapes, but you and your family will benefit from, parent education, mental health care, screening for physical disabilities, nutritional screening, indeed a panoply of comprehensive services.  Your parents may get a shot at job training through a Community Service Block Grant, and best of all, you get the hope that San Quentin will only be some slumbering hulk across the bay.

My friends who are more conservative than I say its too expensive.  And its not cheap to provide this type of experience to a child. Its probably north of $10,000 a year.  But if the idea of government spending causes you dyspepsia you should be insisting that your tax dollars be spent on this kind of nation building.  This kind of nation building returns 7 dollars for every dollar spent in reduced costs for social services.  I'm not making this stuff up.  It's well documented in the literature.  Read David Kirp's The Sandbox Investment: The Preschool Movement and Kids-First Politics and Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: Higher Education Goes to Market.

So, it is with relief that I read today, that Obama will not be throwing Head Start under the bus. Check it out. Check it out.

But this is certainly no time to take a deep breath.  Yes we need to rein in expenses.  Let's start with Rep. Michelle Bachmann's  (R-MN) farm subsidy.  Talk about some low hanging fruit.