Anger is the only thing to put off till tomorrow.
Slovakian proverb
Obama and the Laborfest Speech: Final Commentary
That's why, today, I am announcing a new plan for rebuilding and modernizing America's roads, rails and runways for the long-term. Over the next six years, we are going to rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads - enough to circle the world six times. We're going to lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways - enough to stretch coast-to-coast. We're going to restore 150 miles of runways and advance a next generation air-traffic control system to reduce travel time and delays for American travelers - something I think folks across the political spectrum could agree on. This is a plan that will be fully paid for and will not add to the deficit over time - we're going to work with Congress to see to that. It sets up an Infrastructure Bank to leverage federal dollars and focus on the smartest investments. It will continue our strategy to build a national high-speed rail network that reduces congestion, travel times, and harmful emissions. It will cut waste and bureaucracy by consolidating and collapsing more than 100 different, often uplicative programs. And it will change the way Washington spends your tax dollars; reforming the haphazard and patchwork way we fund and maintain our infrastructure to focus less on wasteful earmarks and outdated formulas, and more on competition and innovation that gives us the best bang for the buck.Over a year ago, I published a post strongly in favor of infrastructure investment; I published a link to a relevant ASCE website. Note I'm not necessarily endorsing or agreeing with everything; in fact, there was a dubious attempt to providing a link of a House Democrat (specifically not identified as such in the article, which is intellectually dishonest) Earl Blumenauer, whom (surprise, surprise) endorsed Obama's Laborfest announcement. The subsequent comments included one honest person whom rightly criticized the lack of balance; he, of course, was immediately flamed by the progressive wolfpack, with the false, predictable charge that Republicans are the party of "no" (in fact, conservatives have routinely seen their proposals shot down by party-line votes, but in the hypocritical progressive world view, when majoritarian Democrats do it, they aren't the "party of no"), tax policies, and the like.
Let me a beacon of light to clueless progressives: conservatives would have agreed with a much smaller stimulus package, including cuts in payroll taxes, accelerated business depreciation and other tax and regulatory relief, certain infrastructure projects, and relief spending. But not a penny in state welfare and gimmick politics like cash for clunkers, mortgage assistance programs, green energy boondoggles, etc.
Here's my take: I like the focus on infrastructure and a long-term commitment, and any faithful reader to this blog knows I've been arguing about streamlining government. I definitely do not like some of Obama's priorities here; I've written several times against high-speed rail, and I don't see the need for government involvement in upscaling the Internet. I don't want the President using infrastructure funds to bail out state and local governments whom are more interested in paying unsustainable pensions to retired civil servants rather than paying for crumbling water pipes, roads, and other priorities. I want independent scoring of infrastructure priorities (e.g., a good starting point would be ASCE's report card of D or worse).
Unlike Obama, I do NOT sell infrastructure spending as economic miracle-grow, inflated estimates of jobs "created", etc. Why do you think we had 9/11? Clinton and the Congress had underinvested in homeland security; we know today how penny-wise, pound-foolish that was. So, getting back to Kool-Aid drinking progressives, we pro-business conservatives are FOR infrastructure investment. Why? Simple. We win or lose business based on how responsive we are to our customers. We are paying for employees sitting in traffic during work hours, for vehicles damaged by potholes, for offices and factories affected by brownouts, etc.
Will be "fully paid for and not add to the deficit over time"? PLEASE. Does anyone seriously believe that? It's disingenuous political spin; there's no such thing as a free lunch. After ineffectually frittering away nearly $860B in the last 18 months (I should note not all the $860B has been spent), Obama has zero credibility.
When it comes to just about everything we've done to strengthen the middle class and rebuild our economy, almost every Republican in Congress said no. Even where we usually agree, they say no. They think it's better to score political points before an election than actually solve problems. So they said no to help for small businesses. No to middle-class tax cuts. No to unemployment insurance. No to clean energy jobs. No to making college affordable. No to reforming Wall Street. Even as we speak, these guys are saying no to cutting more taxes for small business owners. I mean, come on! Remember when our campaign slogan was "Yes We Can?" These guys are running on "No, We Can't," and proud of it. Really inspiring, huh?Your tone is disrespectful and unprofessional, Mr. President. Now I realize when you're conducting a political rally, you are going to play fast and loose with the facts. As for tax cuts, conservatives were the ones for the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, three-quarters of which went to the middle-class. Conservatives don't need lectures from Obama on small businesses; we are the ones trying to keep the government off their backs, we want them to be able to join together to negotiate health care insurance terms across state lines, and we attempted to keep the Democrats from assigning a penalty for not offering health insurance. "No to making college affordable?" No--we are opposed to the government nationalizing an industry, particularly one in which it has no competence. "No to unemployment insurance?" Two years of unemployment benefits? In fact, the issue was more about where the money was coming from; the Republicans wanted it to come from leftover stimulus money, not fresh federal debt. "No to reforming Wall Street?" Actually, the opposition to this progressive power grab focused on the very opaqueness of a 2000-page convoluted bill and the fact it did not deal with the issue of regulatory failure or the GSE's which were implicitly backed by the American taxpayer.
Well, that (alleged GOP) philosophy didn't work out so well for working folks. It didn't work out so well for our country. All it did was rack up record deficits and result in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.I am not here to defend the Republicans, but it takes sheer nerve to talk about deficits when Barack Obama for two fiscal years running more than tripled the previous record--also set by the DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS under Bush. In fact, the GOP achieved a surplus or within a few billion of a surplus for nearly half the years they were in control of the House, while the Democrats in control of the House have not achieved a surplus in decades. What makes it more disingenuous is the fact that Obama and his legislative colleagues pushed for MORE spending, not less spending while Bush was in office. As for the "worst economic crisis"--that's debatable. A 21% interest rate that Reagan inherited resulted in a harsh recession. What about the oil embargoes? And as I mentioned, George Bush inherited both a housing market and a stock market bubble from Bill Clinton and had to deal with 9/11.
But what really annoys me about Obama here is that he really isn't just attacking some straw man GOP--he's really criticizing the free enterprise system which the GOP supports.
Do you want to give them the keys back? Me neither. And do you know why? Because they don't know how to drive! At a time when we're just getting out of the ditch, they'd pop it in reverse, let the special interests ride shotgun, and hit the gas, careening right back into that ditch.This Democratic Congress over the past 2 fiscal years has added more to the national debt than over half the total national debt through the Clinton Administration; by conservative estimates, we are seeing trillion dollar deficits through the near future. And through it all, Obama has only one means of austerity--higher-income Americans. So, Mr. Obama, that car with the spinning wheels? It's being driven by a Democratic-led government and it's sliding down the slippery slope towards the economic malaise of European-style socialism with high unemployment and low growth.
The Uncivil Allies of Koran Burning: Thumbs DOWN!
When I published Tuesday's post, first discussing the infamous Westboro Baptist church before Terry Jones' ugly threats to burn Korans tomorrow on the anniversary of 9/11, I really wasn't trying to be prescient, but am I really surprised that these fanatics have promised to burn Korans--again--if Terry Jones wimps out, from their point of view? Not really.
And just for the record, I'm not interested in hearing again how Islamic radicals in Gaza burned Bibles and crosses in Christian churches about 3 years back. We need to focus on our religious principles, not on anger.
Political Humor
"President Obama is trying to back the Republicans into a corner by paying for tax cuts for small businesses with tax hikes on big business. It's like that old trick when you take two balls and throw one in the air to distract your opponent and throw the other one right at his chest. That's right, I can explain abstract fiscal policy using analogies about balls. Tomorrow night we will discuss trickle-down economics." –Craig Ferguson
[Barack "Robin Hood" Obama, bringing zero-sum progressive politics to the world of business. Or perhaps divide-and-conquer. Let's go with the ball theme, Craig. Obama throws a ball into left field and tells small business owners to go fetch. As soon as their backs are turned (say, 50 or so employees) he hits them with a fastball in the back with Sarbanes-Oxley and/or other business/job-crushing reporting requirements and regulations.]
"President Obama has introduced a $50 billion plan to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. Now, let's think back, remember the first $187 billion stimulus package, wasn't that what that was supposed to do? Remember when we were told about what were called shovel-ready jobs? Whenever Washington talks about shovel-ready jobs, get your shovel ready." –Jay Leno
[Well, Jay, now you know why Michelle Obama's vegetable garden is so green...]
Musical Interlude: The American Songbook Series
The Andrew Sisters*, "Lullaby of Broadway"
(* Not the artist in my collection, but I hope the reader appreciates this interpretation.)
