An ember?

And so the President's spending (I refuse to call it a stimulus any more) bill passed the House today. Yet in the midst of defeat, I see a spark - an ember - maybe. House Republicans held firm. To a person, they all voted against this bill, and in that vote, I see hope - maybe. Could it be that the Republicans saw the light? Could it be that they started to grow a spine? Could it be that they decided to stand on the principles that got them elected instead of just jumping onto the Obama bandwagon? Could it be that they've realized that being "Democrat light" doesn't work and that they need to go back to being the party that stands for fiscal responsibility? Could it be?

Maybe.

It's a good start, but this is just the first of a long road that we'll have to travel as we wait the remaining 650 days until the midterm elections, and I'll be watching to see what happens as we head down that road, but I have hope. Remember, it was a Clinton budget bill that was rammed through Congress with no Republican support that helped to set up the Contract with America. Could this be the ember that starts a bonfire like that?

Maybe.

See the vote total and how your Represntative voted.

A quick question

I listened on the radio this morning as President Obama appeared with a number of CEO's and business owners, trying to make a case for his stimulus package. These were people who, in the President's own words, "make things and hire people."

I'd be willing to bet my next six paychecks that most, if not all, of these people make over $250,000. So, my question is if these are the folks who make things and hire people, why do you want to raise their taxes and take away more of the money that they would use to make things and hire people?

Looking for cover

I just read an article saying that Obama is meeting with members of the GOP and telling them to keep politics to a minimum and quickly pass the stimulus bill. Proving once again that his definition of bipartisan is "everyone thinking like me."

The question here is why is he even bothering with the GOP. As he has already told them, he won in November so he trumps them. Obama and his Democrat buddies have all the votes they need for the stimulus bill without getting a single Republican vote. So why not just push it through? Then, if it's as good for the economy as he claims it's going to be, he can use the fact that the GOP didn't support it to drive the final nail in their coffin.

Could it be that this pork-laden mess isn't going to stimulate the economy and he knows it? We saw this during the Clinton administration when the Democrats had congress. They pushed budget measures through and when they fell flat, the Contract With America was born.

This is why he's looking for GOP support. When this $825 Billion barrel of pork fails to bring back jobs and in some cases, potentially puts more people out of work, he wants to be able to point at the GOP and say, "They voted for it, blame them."

Take a look at the bill and you can easily see my point on its potential for stimulating the economy...



According to the Congressional Budget Office, only $26 billion — just over 3 percent — will be spent this year. Another $110 billion — or 13 percent — will be spent next year. By the time President Obama's term is halfway through, only 16 percent of the money will have been spent, and if you read deeper into it, you come to realize that, assuming Obama wins in 2012, some of the money still won't be spent when his second term is over.

Then, look at the infrastructure projects that Obama touts as being the key to new jobs. A total of $90 Billion is slated for infrastructure - that's about 10 percent. Only a third of that is tagged for transportation projects like roads and bridges (he touted the rebuilding of roads and bridges through the campaign). Of that $30 Billion, only $5 Billion is due to be spent in 2009-10. That's a nationwide figure, which works out to $100 Million per state. Which means that you will maybe see an improvement on one road or bridge per state in 09-10.

That's just a quick look. Then add on the fact that there are all kinds of other spending such as $20 million for sod in Washington, another $20 billion for the program formerly known as food stamps, $1.0 billion for programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
$11.1 billion for housing assistance programs administered by HUD... the list goes on and on.

Finally, as a result of this stimulus package, the country's interest payments will increase by nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars this year and over 2009-2019 the interest cost will be $347 billion. Also, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1 would increase budget deficits by $526 billion over the 2009-2010 period (about 19 months) and by a total of $816 billion over the 2009-2019 period.

The Representative for my district is Marcy Kaptur. On her website, she says that we don't need a fast stimulus, we need the right stimulus. This is neither of those. I contacted her office who told me that they are not authorized to tell her constituents her positions until after she votes, but I'm pretty sure she'll fall right in line behind Obama.

Hopefully, the GOP will continue to stand strong against this pork-laden non-stimulus, and not give the Democrats cover for when it blows up.

Inauspicious start

So, the first week of the Obama administration has ended and I have to say he's off to a pretty inauspicious start.

He began the week with a public signing of executive orders which made him look like he has no idea what's going on, referring to the White House Council for explanation on everything except how to spell his name. I'll be the first to admit that a President can't know every detail all the time - the job is just too big. He has to depend on his people to keep track of things for him. However, one would expect that he would be better prepped for a public event like this.

Included in the executive orders was the order to close Gitmo. An act that, according to the latest Gallup poll, 45 percent of people think shouldn't be done, 35 percent think should, and the remaining 20 percent don't care. Even though the closure is ordered, there is no mention of what is to be done with the occupants, and indications are that we're finding people released from Gitmo on the battlefield. In fact, a couple of them have even made videos to that effect.

Then, there was the trip down to the White House Pressroom "for a visit." It played out almost like a scene in MASH where a general said, "This is a press conference, the last thing I want to do is answer a bunch of questions!"

I listened to the audio of the exchange, and, by his own words, President Obama walked into the pressroom just for a friendly visit. He was then upset because the reporters started asking him questions. I would hope that someone who is smart enough to be President of the United States would be smart enough to realize that when the leader of the free world walks into a room full of reporters, whether it's to visit or to have a press conference, he's going to get asked questions.

Then there is the appointment of Timothy Geithner. I suppose the theory is that if you're going to have someone whose job includes being in charge of the IRS, he should know what tax evasion looks like.

Let's not forget his meeting with Republicans where he spent the time reminding them that he won in November and he'll be trumping them on their proposals. Apparently, he has the standard Democratic view of bipartisanship. "Everyone cave and come over to my point of view."

Then, we round out the week with the "stimulus package," which is anything but that. According to the Congressional Business office, the government is going to spend $26 billion of the $825 billion this year, $110 billion of it the next year and $103 billion will be spent in 2011, $53 billion will be spent in 2012 and $63 billion between 2013 and 2019. If this crisis is so great that we must do something right now, this minute, why is it that the majority of the money won't be spent for years?

Then of course, there are the specific places where the money is going. Space and time don't allow for listing it all here. You can read it all for yourself here. I'll just leave it that it appears this "stimulus" has more pork than my last barbecue.

All in all, a pretty unimpressive start.

Continuing the double standard

This morning, AP has a story about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's statement that the media and the bloggers need to leave her kids alone. In it, they say that political observers say she can't have it both ways, bringing them out to showcase her family values and then saying that they're off limits. Once again, the liberal media and bloggers illustrate the double standard that they hold for liberals and conservatives.
They come at conservative candidates from any direction possible. Even if it means making up stories. Palin's son Trigg is the perfect example. During the campaign, the bloggers decided that he was not actually her son, but rather Bristol's son from a secret pregnancy. So much of the media bought into that story, citing that the blogosphere reported this in a number of stories. It's not true, but that doesn't seem to matter. They go at Bristol Palin for her pregnancy.
In their defense, they cite Palin's family values platform, and say that if she takes her family on the campaign trail, they are fair game.
Obama and Biden both took family members on the campaign trail, and in one speech that I am aware of, the children having a sleepover together was cited by Biden in order to make themselves look more middle class. Then, as observations were made about Obama's wife and some of the things that she was saying on behalf of the campaign while on the trail, the message came down, "Back off my family."
Did the media and the bloggers note that the family is in play because they were out on the campaign trail and, in the case of Michelle making statements on behalf of the campaign? No, they simply fell in line and stopped with the stories.
When Chelsea Clinton was making independent campaign appearances and speeches on behalf of her mother and less than flattering things were said about her in the media, Hillary sent out the word, "Back off my daughter." If ever there was a time to say that a family member was in play, this was the one, and yet the message came back, "Yes, ma'am."
When Joe the Plumber asked Obama a question that caused him to cite his socialist tendencies out loud, the media went after Joe with a vengeance that the most stringent of IRS audits wouldn't have been able to achieve. Child support was investigated, the fact that he didn't have a plumbing license was checked, his tax records were pulled, the list goes on and on. Yet, when stories started to surface about the tax records of the head of Obama's economic advisers, that was deemed off limits.
In an interview recently, Brokaw said that we don't really know who Barack Obama is, we don't really know the universe of his beliefs. That's because such things as his associations over the years with people like Wright and Ayers have been declared off limits. We now have a President who has entire sections of his life and the structure of his beliefs off limits - the the media honor that. However, when Sarah Palin tries to declare her children off limits, the media say she can't have it both ways. Seems that they want it both ways. Why shouldn't Palin?

Hate

I keep getting this feeling today that I'm angry. I don't want to be angry, but I keep feeling that way.

We live in the greatest country on earth. This is a great day. It's absolutely fabulous that every four years we install a new leader without a coup. It's absolutely fabulous that Barack Obama has managed to rise to the point of moving into the White House - a building built by slaves. For this reason, I don't want to be angry today, but somehow I feel that way.

I feel angry because today former President Bush was booed when he arrived at the inauguration. He was booed when he left Washington and people were chanting, "Na na na na hey hey hey goodbye."

I'm angry because I'm told that Obama is our President, that he's everyone's President and that I should give him a chance and that his election would change things. Yet, here we are with the same vitriol coming from the same people who were chanting, "Not my President," some eight years ago. The same people who called Bush a Nazi. The same people who called him a crook.

I'm angry because the same people who vowed never to give Bush the first chance are telling me that I need to give Obama a chance.

I'm angry because I have to be the bigger person. I have to be the adult. I'm angry because I can't be the guy who says, "He's not my President."

It just makes me wonder what the last eight years would have been like if back then, those people would have been the people that they say the conservatives need to be now.

And the thing is, I'm going to be the bigger person. I'm going to give this guy a chance. I'm going to wait and see what he does. I want him to be successful because I want my country to succeed. In short, I'm going to be the grownup. I'm going to stand behind President Obama because he is my President. He's everyone's President.

And, four years from now, should another person be elected, I won't be booing Obama out of Washington. Let's see if those people who booed Bush out of Washington today can take a lesson from the right in how to act like a grownup.

First impressions

The time is here. The deed is done. The One is President.
I watched today as he took his oath of office and then listened to his speech and I have to say, given all the buildup, I was largely underwhelmed. As good of a speechmaker as he was during the campaign, I just expected more. One of the things that I am still looking for is some specifics. I keep hearing these broad generalizations, but I haven't heard much in the way of specifics.

The initial polling data is also quite telling. Obama enjoys a 79 percent positive rating, yet people still don't seem to know what he's going to do, other than bring change and fix the United States. One of the articles I read on the polls said that Bush only had a 60 percent positive rating when he first took office. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I wonder how things would have gone over the last 8 years had anyone from the left given Bush even the slightest of chances before they started in with the demonization. In this time of strife, Obama should count himself lucky that the majority of the people on the right are willing to be the bigger people and give him a chance. As I have said, I'm not happy with his election, and his policies worry me, but I'm willing to see what happens over the next few months. I'll be watching closely.

I did like some of the things he said. When he talked about people being responsible for themselves and doing for themselves, I was very impressed, and I hope he'll follow through on that. However, I did notice that it got almost no reaction at all from the crowd. I have others, but I want to read the text of the speech and parse a little before I go there.

So, it begins. Obama is our President. Now that his words must become actions I'll be interested to see how long he holds onto that 79 percent.

The last last

Today is the day that Barack Obama will step into history as the first black President of the United States. It is also the day that President Bush will complete his tour of lasts and step out of the White House. I know that I have not agreed with everything that President Bush has done, but I do believe that he is an honorable man who had the country's best interest at heart. I would have to agree with what he said over the past week, that there have been mistakes. Certainly more attention could have been paid to the economy. Certainly this whole bailout thing could have been handled better. I believe he made the right decision to go to war, but it could have been prosecuted better. Having said that, I have to thank Mr. Bush for his good work on keeping us safe. After 9/11, I like many other people, was sure that there would be more attacks inside the U.S. Yet, in spite of that, we have had none since that day. For that alone, I say, Mr. President, on this last day of your administration, I thank you and I salute you. Job well done, sir.

Enjoy the final week...

I listened to a part of an interview with Senator Christopher Dodd last night. He was talking about the fact that in spite of receiving bailout money, the banks aren't lending. He said that it was all because of mismanagement and lack of oversight on the part of the Bush Administration.
Lest we forget, the legislation calling for the bailout money and the application thereof was written by Congress, and from what I can see of the situation, there was as much oversight as was called for in the legislation.
I have a pretty good feeling, Mr. Dodd, that had there been any kind of oversight mandated by the legislation that called for the bailout, that's what would have happened.
I hope Dodd and his friends are enjoying this final week of the Bush Presidency as next Tuesday, there will be an entirely different climate for them.
For the past few years, there has been an easy mantra. Pass whatever legislation you can and if it goes wrong, blame Bush. The media bought the idea that everything was Bush's fault, so the Democrats had plenty of backup.
Now, to apply a slight change to a phrase that Nixon used, "You won't have George W. Bush to kick around any more."
Come Tuesday, the blame game is over. If things don't go right, Mr. Dodd et. al., you have nobody to blame but yourselves. You have control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.
The Republicans had that same situation a few years back and it didn't work out so well for them. Now, it's the Democrats' turn. They have two years to make this work, or we'll see a very red congress; and if it doesn't, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves.
Given the past success record of this 9 percent approval Congress, my guess is that they'll be facing problems fairly soon, and they won't be able to point at Obama and blame him.
I figure that there will be a certain amount of blame Bush that will carry over, but that won't last forever, and I don't think the media will put up with saying it was Obama's fault. So Dodd and his friends should enjoy the next few days of their whipping boy, because it's going to get tough from here.