Infrastructure Spending

Is Ezra Klein Correct That We Are Witnessing The Worst Congress Ever? YES, By A Landslide!

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The 111th Congress (2009-2010) has been seen by many observers as the most productive Congress since the 89th Congress (1965-1966).

But now, the 112th Congress (2011-2012) has been declared by Ezra Klein, the brilliant commentator of the Washington Post and MSNBC, as the WORST Congress EVER!

Is Ezra Klein correct in his assessment? ABSOLUTELY!

The 112th Congress, as Klein says, has failed to deal with the problems facing the country, and has had as its major agenda the defeat of President Obama for a second term, and in the process, holding Americans hostage in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression!

Klein points out the following:

No Congress, with records back to the 80th Congress of 1947-1948, has produced such little passage of legislation, with the smallest being the 104th Congress (1995-1996), with 333 laws passed, and Democrat Bill Clinton being relected President in 1996 as a result.

Congress has only a ten percent approval rating, an all time low, with the Internal Revenue Service being at a popularity rate of 40 percent; Lawyers at 29 percent; President Richard Nixon during Watergate at 24 percent; Banks at 23 percent; the British Petroleum Oil Spill at 16 percent; and Paris Hilton at 15 percent, as examples!

The 112th Congress is the most polarized Congress since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s, and we all know what came after–the GILDED AGE period of corporate dominance, not well looked upon by historians, and reminding us that we are now, in so many respects, in a new GILDED AGE, personified not only by the GOP control in the House of Representatives and in many state governments, but by the wealthiest Presidential nominee in American history, Mitt Romney, worth twice the assets of the last eight Presidents from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush combined!

The Republican majority in the House and Republican opposition in the Senate set back economic recovery in 2011 and right up to this moment in 2012, by any measure! And this Congress caused the loss of America’s credit rating, and seem ready to do it again!

Voting unsuccessfully to repeal the Affordable Care Act THIRTY THREE times is an exercise in futility, and the House of Representatives has wasted approximately EIGHTY hours in doing nothing, two work weeks when they could have been working on job creation legislation!

This Congress has NOT passed any appropriations bills by the deadline of October 1 in 2011, and will not by October 1, 2012, as things stand!

The failure to provide for the future of our infrastructure–roads, bridges, subway systems, and airports– is a major problem for the long term.

Two Congressional experts, Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, have written a book condemning the paralysis of the 112th Congress, saying it is the worst performance they have witnessed in 40 years of covering Congress!

In sum, the 112th Congress is an embarrassment, and there is no sign of any improvement in the future, particularly if the split Congress continues into the future!

Barack Obama’s State Of The Union Address: Powerful, Inspirational, Visionary!

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President Barack Obama reminded us tonight of how he inspired us when he ran for President in 2008.

His speech was powerful, inspirational, and visionary, and he made it clear that he was willing to fight for what he believed in, if the Congress continued to stand in the way of progress and change. He would take action in areas where there is stalemate, by use of his Presidential powers.

He pointed out how the economy is improving; how we are more respected around the world; how we have greatly lessened the danger of terrorism; and the work that must be done, regarding education, infrastructure spending, and other initiatives to continue the expansion of the American economy.

He gave tribute to Americans who have sacrificed for our country, particularly in the military, and called for “fairness” when it comes to tax rates and to share in the responsibilities of being American citizens. And he called for opportunities for young immigrant children who only want the chance to prove their commitment to the only country they remember, by getting a university education or serving in the military,and thereby gaining the chance for citizenship.

He called for a sense of renewed commitment, and a shared one, in the future of our nation, which he said can never be regarded as having passed its peak, but still has greatness in its future if we all do our part in advancing America.

The speech made one proud that Barack Obama has been our President for the past three years, and it marks the inception, more formally than before, of the Presidential Election campaign of 2012!

Republican Call For Infrastructure Investment In Libya, But Not In America!

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As a result of the death of Moammar Gaddafi in Libya, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, among others, are calling for infrastructure spending to rebuild Libya.

While it is certainly honorable to wish to help other nations recover from revolution and civil war, how can these and other neoconservatives say this with a straight face while America’s own infrastructure is crumbling, and Republicans and conservatives refuse to support spending on our roads, schools, bridges, airports, etc, if it means one penny more of taxes on the wealthy?

How short sighted can Republicans be about the future of our own nation, and yet see the significance of involvement overseas? This is beyond all common sense!

Infrastructure, Innovation And Education: The ONLY Way To Economic Recovery!

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It is clear that the ONLY way to economic recovery is promoting infrastructure, innovation and education as the goals for our future!

It is estimated that $2.2 trillion in investments is needed in infrastructure in rebuilding of our rail systems, roads, highways, bridges and river systems over the next ten years, and this can be done by bond issues that will repay the costs over 30-50 years, with only a small investment of billions of dollars to get it started. Our national security and economic future demand such an investment!

At the same time, innovation in energy is essential for our future as well, so that we can wean ourselves off of oil, which has led us to military involvement in the Middle and Near East to preserve oil supplies. Solar and wind energy have to be part of our long term future, and we need to have imagination and vision if we are to have a prosperous and secure future!

Finally, education is essential on a much wider scale, providing opportunity for advancement in all fields of knowledge, and allowing college students the ability to have a future not burdened by excessive debts that prevent investment in homes, automobiles and other economic needs. So the move for cancelling the debt by having the government pay it, much like they did for banks and corporations and insurance companies, would be a great boost to the long term economy and cause an immediate economic revival!

Without vision in these three areas, no matter which party controls the White House and Congress, there will be no advancement of economic growth and national security for the short run and the long run!

Barack Obama’s Jobs Speech: Aggressive, Blunt, Forceful, Extremely Effective!

Ronald 1 Comment

Barack Obama gave a fantastic speech before a joint session of Congress this evening, and he called upon the Republicans to be bipartisan, but warned that he will fight for his jobs agenda across the country if there is no action!

This is the kind of speech that his supporters have been wishing for over a long time period! Be a strong advocate, offer cooperation, but make it clear that he will not tolerate lack of action by Congress without a clear cut reaction, on the level of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman!

Calling for dealing with education by rehiring of thousands of teachers, infrastructure spending, tax cuts for small businesses and the middle class, and aid to the long term unemployed through further extension of unemployment compensation, Obama called for a fairer tax system as well, to revive the American economy!

Basically, he declared a war on the economy, and seemed to gain some GOP support, based on early reactions by Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. But if they follow the lead of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, pledging opposition to any Obama programs, then the Democrats will fight in every congressional district to get the message across, and put Republicans on the spot with their constituents!

The speech was inspiring, and is the opening salvo in the 2012 Presidential election, with and without GOP support! This is the time for all who believe that President Obama is doing the best for this nation to rally around the administration and its programs to deal with the economy!

The Urgent Needs For The Jobs Speech Of President Obama

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President Obama will be delivering a Jobs speech to a joint session of Congress this Thursday, with skepticism and even disrespect already evident, with Congressmen Joe Wilson of South Carolina and Joe Walsh of Illinois already stating they would not be present.

The Republicans are unwilling to do anything to create jobs, and seem ready to refuse the Obama plan to continue the payroll tax holiday, which cut the Social Security tax on employers and employees, giving taxpayers approximately a thousand dollars extra to spend, helping middle and lower income taxpayers, and helping to stimulate the economy. After all they did under George W. Bush to increase the deficit, now the Republicans put the deficit ahead of helping the average American, while not considering any tax increases to be borne by those who have received the bulk of the tax cuts in the past decade, the extremely wealthy! It is this reckless fiscal policy under George W. Bush which has led to this economic crisis we now face!

Unemployment compensation, which has been extended up to 99 weeks in some states, needs to be extended since we have more people with long term unemployment than ever before since World War II. Money coming from unemployment compensation is immediately spent, which would help the economy in a major way.

Infrastructure spending is urgent, not only in creation of jobs, but also the dire need to rebuild and extend our roads, bridges, rail and mass transit, which are in poor shape across the country.

Refinancing of mortgages is urgent to give struggling homeowners the opportunity to keep their homes, as the more homes in foreclosure, the worse the whole housing situation will be for the long run.

Unfortunately, the likelihood is that close to nothing that Obama will promote will make it through Congress, setting up the political debate for the 2012 Presidential Election. The sad part is the great human suffering which will ensue, and the danger that it could lead to violence and turmoil in America!

Is Unemployment The Priority Of The 112th Congress? Apparently Not!

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Considering that we have more unemployed people, over 15 million now, greater than ever in American history, one would think that the 112th Congress would be doing something about it.

However, any such thoughts have been shown to be just that, thoughts, as the Republican House of Representatives, led by Speaker John Boehner, is clearly unwilling to address the issue, certainly not with more spending to create public service jobs, even though there is clearly a need for infrastructure building and rebuilding.

If anything, the goal is to cut government spending, and to stop interference in state government budget crises, as President Obama attempted to do in the first two years of his administration, with a Democratic Congress.

The effects of the state budget crises all over America is to cause growing unemployment in public jobs, and the rhetoric is more toward ignoring the plight of millions of Americans, who are discovering that the GOP majority they created in the House of Representatives, plus the takeover of many Governorships by Republicans, is showing utter disregard of the unemployed and unfortunate among us.

It is likely that this 112th Congress will go down as the least productive since the time of Herbert Hoover, in regards to the reality that unemployed people are desperate, and the “99ers” are left without any income, in an economy that offers no hope of any change for many years, and for some of them, probably never!

Since the GOP controls the budget matters before it gets to the US Senate, any chance of Democrats or President Obama doing anything substantive for the unemployed, seems unlikely.

The only hope is that the nation will see how the Republicans simply don’t care about those less fortunate, and that these unemployed, plus many people fortunate to have a job, will react by throwing the Republicans out of control of the lower chamber in 2012!