Bradley's New American Story a roadmap to change

Books now read in ’07: 42
Title: The New American Story
Author: Bill Bradley
Genre: Non-Fiction
Date Completed: 5-11
Pages: 343

Former NBA basketball player, U.S. Senator and presidential candidate, Bill Bradley has fashioned a game plan to revive America in The New American Story. Bradley examines our foreign policy, economy, dependence on foreign oil, the environment, pensions, health care and education. His conclusion: that bipartisan solutions are within reach if we only have the courage and the will to seek genuine consensus and change.

“For a reasonable amount of money we can make sure that every child in America has a great education, that all Americans have health insurance, and that all our workers have secure pensions. With a reorientation of our tax system we can do what we can to do on education, health, and pensions as well as reduce our dependence on foreign oil, clean up the environment, increase national savings, encourage employment, and allow Americans to keep more of each additional dollar they earn.”

Especially interesting are Bradley’s chapters on the Republican and Democratic parties. The chapter titles provide some sense of the content: Why Republicans Can’t and Why Democrats Don’t. Bradley takes both parties to task for their failures of omission and commission.

This is a thoughtful book that could well serve as a primer for change, a roadmap to solutions, not for a few, but for the many.