A Spoonful of Sugar
It makes the medicine go down. Of course, sugar in Washington takes on a very different meaning. There they use set-asides and earmarks and go with shovels instead of spoons. That goes for all sides. The one bit of agreement between sides remains their willingness to spend our money and tell us how to live our lives.
The State of the Union brought a slightly more humble President to the hall. He was again singing his late campaign mantra of can't we all now just get along. The congress sat like the Korean flag – displaying yin and yang in stark black and white. The kid was trying to sound like Reagan and not getting his dance card filled.
So we get to the recent events of his invite to the Republican caucus. The press covered the speech. They didn't show the lunch or the grounds but you couldn't mistake it for a $7.95 buffet spot. Anyway, the kid proceeded to lecture. He was give ‘em hell Harry reincarnate. Regan was gone and Barak was back doing his I’m smarter than you but I’m a nice guy routine.
He sounded anything but conciliatory. He was Professor Obama explaining his liberal plan to a bunch of Austrian economics wannabes. The lead balloon didn’t float. The apologies didn’t happen. His ego could not overcome that collective ego. In a city of massive egos, his speech was about as dumb an approach as it gets.
He’d lost his momentum on health care and the process sent his stock on a downswing. His massive spending on jobs still look to the future instead of results. He’s acting like Joltin’ Joe on a heater instead of guy that can’t get a hit. It didn’t go over.
I had a bit of hope from what I saw of his SotU speech. He talked the talk for a bit but walking the walk just isn’t in him as his Maryland speech proved.
Thing are looking grim.
ADDENDUM:
We’re getting our bit of stimulus. 2.6 billion is coming to just begin a high speed rail connection between St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit. The final cost will make that starter fund look like chump change. We’ve another such project for Indiana – which they want to keep colored in on the map as they hope. It is a high speed commuter line. We have a current urban rail setup that requires constant government subsidy. Now they want to put makeup on the pig.
Look at the interurban. It connects city center to city center. Stops along the way must be limited to keep it from being a high speed milk train. So, the consumer must somehow get downtown. I guess he could drag his bags to public transportation and operate like a coolie; grab a seat and travel and arrive with the same luggage and then rent a car or hoof it around.
Or he can jump in his car, spend an extra two hours and drive about once he arrives. He’s moving from one difficult to navigate or control costs location in to another without his own transportation. Or he can just spend two extra hours and drive – saving money overall with his known comfort. It is hard to make anyone think green with that scenario.
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