WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama this morning rebuked governors who complain that his stimulus package would force costly expansion of state unemployment benefits, urging them to quit playing politics and focus on the billions in federal aid that doesn’t come with such mandates. Right! First we rebuke the mayors, then the governors. Playing politics, Mr. President? I wasn't aware you did anything else, so who are you to be accusing others?
The president didn’t single out Texas Gov. Rick Perry or the other Southern Republicans who resist that element of the $787 billion plan. Did he need to?
But he was clearly trying to reclaim control of the debate over the spending and tax-cut package, using a White House meeting with governors to announce that Vice President Joe Biden will oversee recovery spending and to take on critics of the plan. Joe Biden to oversee the recovery spending? Now that gives me a real feeling of security /sarcasm
“There has been some healthy debate over the last few weeks, last few days, about this stimulus package,” Obama said. “I just want to make sure that we're having an honest debate.” There has been no debate, healthy or otherwise.
For instance, he said, “there are some very legitimate concerns” about the potential expansion of unemployment coverage to part-time workers. But that accounts for only $7 billion of a $787 billion program – a “fraction of the overall stimulus package” why worry about a piddlin' sum like 7 billion dollars - there's plenty more where that came from and not even the biggest potential expansion of unemployment insurance. Oh, oh, More money needed stat!!
“If we agree on 90 percent of this stuff, and we're spending all our time on television arguing about 1, 2, 3 percent of the spending in this thing … that starts sounding more like politics,” Obama said, adding: “There's going to be ample time for campaigns down the road.” Campaigning is all I've seen you do.
The White House also announced that it will begin distributing $15 billion to states by Wednesday under the stimulus plan, to defray costs of Medicaid health coverage for the poor. Medicaid is one of the most corrupt programs to ever be implemented, and his "stimulus" bill just made it worse! And let's not forget we will be rewarding states that add to their welfare rolls.
Obama also issued a stern warning to the governors that waste and fraud will not be tolerated – echoing a message he offered mayors from around the nation on Friday, including Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Houston’s Bill White. Waste and fraud are subjects our current President's cabinet knows all about.
And he named Earl Devaney, a former Secret Service agent who has exposed corruption at the Interior Department as that department’s inspector general, to lead the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board, which will oversee spending under the stimulus plan. What happened to Biden? Lose his job already?
“We are addressing the greatest economic crisis there's that word again! we have seen in decades by investing unprecedented amounts of the American people's hard-earned money. Without asking us if we wanted our "hard-earned" money taken away from us and given to irresponsible people who don't deserve it And with that comes an unprecedented obligation to do so wisely, free from politics and personal agendas,” Obama told the governors today. “On this, I will not compromise or tolerate shortcuts.” You won't tolerate???
Nearly all of the state chief executives were at the White House, with the notable exceptions of GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin of Alaska and New Mexico Democrat Bill Richardson, whose nomination to lead the Commerce Department crumbled last month. Oooops, Bill was probably busy conferring with his lawyers and Sarah was probably working.
Obama didn’t single out by name any of his critics in the room, most notably Republican Govs. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Perry. It seems you took care of that for him But he did go out of his way to praise Republican governors who helped him pitch the stimulus package and get it through Congress quickly, among them California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Let's all praise Gov. Schwarzenegger and Gov. Crist who ran their states into a financial hole as big as the Grand Canyon. Do you think they pushed the bill through so the rest of the country could bail them out? Why not let Hollywood, those "commie, homo-loving sons of guns", to quote Sean Penn, bail them out.
“Because of what we did together, this plan will save or create at least 3.5 million jobs in every state across the country,” while minimizing cuts among police, firefighters and teachers, Obama said. Number one - we "didn't do it together", Number two, how in heck do you quantify a "saved job'? That's ranks up there with proving a negative. Number three - when the Federal money runs out, all those firemen and police will be fired. The teachers, protected by the powerful and corrupt NEA, will just keep puttering along.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I am sick and tired of the word "crisis", being "rebuked", having our current President point his finger in my face, and being called a racist and a coward. I object to my money, and the money of other hard working people of this country, being used to bail out corrupt companies and irresponsible people.
