Welcome Back, Carter?

Heckuva Job, Obammy!

Can we finally now say that Obama MAY be something less than a political genius? Hilary Clinton certainly is and doesn't have the temperament to be a secretary of state. Of course, Warren Christopher didn't have the personality to be much of anything but a bean-counter, but that's history. But at LEAST Bill Clinton could have fired Christopher, whereas Obama is given the impossible task of deciding when to fire HC. She called North Korea a "hermit kingdom." That's pithy but sub par for her role. Meanwhile Bubba is on TV saying that Obama needs to smile more. What will the president do once HC cuts a real stinker? May I suggest grin and bear it?

But Bubba gave Obammy the thumbs up just a couple of days ago, declaring (Ah duh-CLARE!) that the prez was off to a crackin' good start. REEALLY? How's that? Did he not fail to say (words are cheap -- free, in fact) that he wanted to see Israelis draw down from Gaza, and that two states is the only solution? Did he not fail to get real government oversight baked into the stimulus package? Did he not fail to communicate convincingly how his and Geithner's plan was going to fix things, while succeeding to look like he was waffling and dithering and lost at sea? Er, oh yeah, he actually did that last one. Has he not failed to get his cabinet appointments properly vetted before they waltz out in front of God and everybody? Or do no good Democrats pay their frigging taxes?

I hope, unlike Blush Lameballs, that Obama can pull out of his early nosedive. Let's imagine it as a very steep learning curve. Otherwise he will look like that other brainy president we had who decided to get all casual and talk stupidly about the "moral equivalent of war." Wearing a cardigan is equivalent to declaring war on Brooks Brothers. That's a good thing, right? Right?! Anybody there? Well, it turned out that Carter was right about our need to conserve energy. We should've had a Prius in 1979. But Carter didn't know how to pick his words. A crisis, to Americans, is not something that is coming but something that is already here. And moral equivalents are a little more abstract than most of us are willing to get or are capable of getting, for that matter.

In short, Obama better learn WHAT to say. He has no trouble with words. The trouble is WHICH words. I'm sure Obama is much smarter than me, but I don't trust his judgment. That's too bad since I really like his ideals.

My Bad

After checking some facts, light rail doesn't look all that great. It is rather inefficient, expensive to put in and unweildy. Buses aren't as sexy but they have much more flexible routs and actually make money for private companies even as we speak. When I lived in Detroit I rode buses frequently. They aren't convenient but they are reliable and would only be better if the government got involved with existing companies. Another thing that could be done is the government could order thousands of Priuses. These could be given to taxi companies in major cities at a reduced rate paid for over time. Let's consider how environmentally welcome these cars would be in Manhattan and LA. Hell, the government could raffle them off. The only catch is that Japan would have to build these in new plants in America. A last idea for those government billions Nancy Pelosi is going to fritter away: dedicated heavy rail lines could be set up for highspeed service between major hubs. Europe and Japan have this, we need it too. This would have all the benefits of employing thousands of Americans, improving infrastructure, and being cleaner than domestic airflight. I would ride one of these speedy things at least once a year. That is saying something since I don't fly ANYWHERE nearly that often. How could I afford it -- It's not like I work for the White House.
TL

Obama Fix

Obama can fix this economy (to some degree) by executive order. He needs to get federal money to build light rail lines in as many of the one hundred cities across the country that are currently looking into projects or already have plans laid out. The only thing missing from the equation is cash. This would accomplish too things relatively quickly. The first is that it would put many Americans back to work. We need to find jobs for about four million people right now. Light rail would not do all of that over the long term. Most of the work would be in construction. Maintenance and operation would employ far fewer people but if we could employ some for two or three years it would be great. And it would help get other people to work more economically once the lines are up and running than is possible now. Plus we should not underestimate how much this would do for the environment.

These people as they work would have the cash to buy cars. With some help from the federal government the Big Three could be propped up to stave off an economic crash in this country and around the world. The American auto industry is also going to have to restructure itself to be leaner and more efficient, more competitive.

Obama will probably not even flirt with such a big idea because of his own personality. Incrementalism has been bred into every cell of his body. He has hand-picked all these Clintonians because to his core he believes in the third way, triangulation-strangulation. In short, getting nothing done through being neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. I spew you out. If we want to change the world we are going to have to take SOME risks. I would love to be wrong about Obama but so far he has shown himself to be the guy who is not going to do anything foolish. That's too bad. I'm glad he isn't going to do any of the foolish stuff Bush did (it was ALL foolish, unless you happen to be a Kurd) but it would be cool if he would do some of the foolish things that FDR and TR did. Hell, I'd be cheered if he would try a couple of big foolish things. Instead we are going to get his kind eyes and firm handshake, his good heart and a heavy dose of Clintonian sticking to our knitting, which worked great in the Gay Nineties when we rode one bubble after another.

TL