Even though Democrats have controlled Congress for nearly three years and the mortgage crisis can be traced back to policies started under the Clinton administration, 62 percent of Americans blame the current economic mess on Republicans, according to Rasmussen Reports.
The reason? We have allowed the Democrats to define the issues, shape the message and control the dialogue. If we want to reclaim any congressional seats next year, or even take a stab at the presidency in 2012, we must do a better job of telling our side of the story.
We are not going to do it by complaining about the president taking his wife to a Broadway play in New York. Every president is entitled to time off -- and away -- from the Beltway. And, yes, wherever they go, whatever they do, we have to pay for the security detail. It goes with the office.
On the other hand, we should be taking aim at a radio-phone-email campaign the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched against six House Republicans for their votes against President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package. This campaign, which started today, targets Rep. Brian Bilbray of California's 50th congressional district; Rep. Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district; Rep. Peter King, New York's 3rd congressional district; Rep. Thad McCotter, Michigan's 11th congressional district; Rep. Tom Rooney, Florida's 16th congressional district, and Alaska's Rep. Don Young. (Hey, haven't the Dems done enough damage to Alaska?)
The campaign is based on half-truths. For instance, the phone script being used in Michigan says, "Congressman McCotter even voted against the economic recovery plan, which is at work now to create or save over 109,000 Michigan jobs."
Yes, it is true that McCotter voted against the stimulus bill, which was passed in early February. But it is not true that the stimulus is doing anything for Michigan -- even though it was supposed to create jobs immediately. According to Michigan labor statistics, the state lost 38,000 jobs in April alone. If I lived in Michigan, I'd be asking the Democrats for my money back!
These are the facts we need to get out there -- along with real-world solutions. Only then will we be able to get our nation back on track.
Showing posts with label stimulus package. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stimulus package. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Put the Money Where the Need Is
Getting to and from work today was an exercise in patience and grace -- two virtues I often run short on when I'm stuck in wall-to-wall traffic on Interstate-66. The highway, notorious even at its best as being more of a parking lot than a throughway, was at its worst this morning. It took us an hour to travel nine miles, and that was with the advantage of being in the HOV (express) lane.
What made 66 the poster child today for the need for mass transit was D.C.'s ailing mass transit system. A Metro train had derailed, crippling one of the major train lines linking northern Virginia to the government center of D.C. After snarling commuter and highway traffic for morning drive time, the disabled train finally was removed from the track and the system got back on schedule. Until it was time to go home tonight, that is. Another train derailed on the same line, again snarling commuter and highway traffic just in time for the evening drive.
On the best of days, getting around the D.C. area takes major effort as the designers of the Metro system and the designers of the highways didn't talk to each other when they laid the two out years ago, and neither did a great job of planning for the future. So today, the Metro ends far short of where most commuters can afford to live, and the highways beyond the infamous "beltway" just can't handle the resulting traffic.
You'd think this would be the perfect target for stimulus money -- especially as so many government workers rely on the Metro for their commute and D.C. is so full of people giving lip service to the need to go green. But investing money in existing infrastructure is something conservatives do. It's not so popular with the people currently spending our money in Washington.
The stimulus package, which is supposed to be filled with projects that can generate jobs over the next two years, calls for spending more than $8 billion on high-speed rail. According to a White House news release, "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes an unprecedented investment in ... innovative high-speed rail initiatives to bring new, efficient transportation alternatives to millions of Americans across the country and finally start breaking the grip of foreign oil on our nation’s economy." (See http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Recovery_Act_Infrastructure_2-17.pdf, and yes, I know the grammar in that sentence is awful. But, hey, I'm just quoting from "greater minds than mine.")
The $8 billion far surpasses anything before attempted in this country — and more is coming, according to Minnesota's twincities.com. "Administration officials told Politico that when Obama outlines his 2010 budget next week, it will ask for $1 billion more for high-speed rail in each of the next five years," the paper reported today. (http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_11722742)
While some people are praising this initiative, others are groaning about the expense. But what few are discussing is the fact that there's no way a fast rail system will move from drawing board to rail lines in the two years required by the rationale for a stimulus package. There are too many environmental impact statements that will have to be researched, too many public hearings that will be have to be held, too many endangered species to look out for, too many state and federal agencies that will have to be consulted. Maybe that's what will generate all the jobs!
Other infrastructure needs mostly overlooked by our overzealous overspenders are those that still bear the mark of Hurricane Katrina. The Democrats rallied around the banner of "FEMA's failures" after Katrina and raised the specter of Katrina victims whenever it made for a good sound bite. But last week when they were tossing a few billion here and a few billion there, they all but ignored the needs of the towns and cities still struggling to regain their footing after being wiped out by the hurricane. And when it comes to creating jobs, the White House estimates that the stimulus package will create about 50,000 jobs in Louisiana and 30,000 jobs in Mississippi, both "red states" that are still trying to recover from Katrina. Compare that with the nearly 400,000 jobs that are expected to be created in Nancy Pelosi's blue state of California. So much for bipartisanship.
What made 66 the poster child today for the need for mass transit was D.C.'s ailing mass transit system. A Metro train had derailed, crippling one of the major train lines linking northern Virginia to the government center of D.C. After snarling commuter and highway traffic for morning drive time, the disabled train finally was removed from the track and the system got back on schedule. Until it was time to go home tonight, that is. Another train derailed on the same line, again snarling commuter and highway traffic just in time for the evening drive.
On the best of days, getting around the D.C. area takes major effort as the designers of the Metro system and the designers of the highways didn't talk to each other when they laid the two out years ago, and neither did a great job of planning for the future. So today, the Metro ends far short of where most commuters can afford to live, and the highways beyond the infamous "beltway" just can't handle the resulting traffic.
You'd think this would be the perfect target for stimulus money -- especially as so many government workers rely on the Metro for their commute and D.C. is so full of people giving lip service to the need to go green. But investing money in existing infrastructure is something conservatives do. It's not so popular with the people currently spending our money in Washington.
The stimulus package, which is supposed to be filled with projects that can generate jobs over the next two years, calls for spending more than $8 billion on high-speed rail. According to a White House news release, "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes an unprecedented investment in ... innovative high-speed rail initiatives to bring new, efficient transportation alternatives to millions of Americans across the country and finally start breaking the grip of foreign oil on our nation’s economy." (See http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Recovery_Act_Infrastructure_2-17.pdf, and yes, I know the grammar in that sentence is awful. But, hey, I'm just quoting from "greater minds than mine.")
The $8 billion far surpasses anything before attempted in this country — and more is coming, according to Minnesota's twincities.com. "Administration officials told Politico that when Obama outlines his 2010 budget next week, it will ask for $1 billion more for high-speed rail in each of the next five years," the paper reported today. (http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_11722742)
While some people are praising this initiative, others are groaning about the expense. But what few are discussing is the fact that there's no way a fast rail system will move from drawing board to rail lines in the two years required by the rationale for a stimulus package. There are too many environmental impact statements that will have to be researched, too many public hearings that will be have to be held, too many endangered species to look out for, too many state and federal agencies that will have to be consulted. Maybe that's what will generate all the jobs!
Other infrastructure needs mostly overlooked by our overzealous overspenders are those that still bear the mark of Hurricane Katrina. The Democrats rallied around the banner of "FEMA's failures" after Katrina and raised the specter of Katrina victims whenever it made for a good sound bite. But last week when they were tossing a few billion here and a few billion there, they all but ignored the needs of the towns and cities still struggling to regain their footing after being wiped out by the hurricane. And when it comes to creating jobs, the White House estimates that the stimulus package will create about 50,000 jobs in Louisiana and 30,000 jobs in Mississippi, both "red states" that are still trying to recover from Katrina. Compare that with the nearly 400,000 jobs that are expected to be created in Nancy Pelosi's blue state of California. So much for bipartisanship.
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