The Grass Won't be Greener
The family planning funds were not the only monies Obama asked the House to strike from the stimulus bill on the heels of GOP carping; the $200 million National Mall revitalization fund was also removed.
During the election the Obama campaign always prided itself on leaving every venue he visited better off than how they found it. Such moves helped foster local appreciation and (hopefully) votes. Inauguration was like the final, and largest, campaign event and much of this money would have help undo the damage 1.8 million people trampling across the Mall caused and restore the mall to its original glory. I liked to think of the National Mall revitalization fund as Obama leaving this last campaign setting better than he found it, though, maybe spending nearly a third as much as Obama raised during the entire campaign is a bit excessive. But the Mall is rather bigger than all of his other venues and in more need of repair.
Anyone who has been to DC has seen the sandy paths ringing the reflecting pool and the Japanese cherry trees. Park staff is cognizant that people like to walk along the water and between the famed trees, but they have not had the funds to put in actual paved paths. Softball games on the Ellipse often turn into mini dust storms as the sad, balding grass provides little cover for the fields. I'm sure that there are much more deserving economic stimuli that are in the package, but I do hope that Congress will one day appropriate the money to restore the Mall. For better or worse it is one of the most visited places in the country and one of the more neglected. In the meantime if anyone wants to help, there's a private group raising money to restore the Mall.
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1
Only communists take pride in the appearance of our nation's capital.
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2
I was in D.C. for the inauguration, and was stunned by the sheer amount of trash and destruction left behind by the revelers. Amid my joy at waving goodbye to Bush's helicopter, I was ashamed that we left the Mall in such bad shape (though I picked up my own trash and a few extra pieces!). To me, the Mall and the museums and monuments in D.C. are a testament to the best of our nation, and I certainly wouldn't object to investing money to make them as lovely as they should be. Hopefully, that money will be forthcoming, even if it isn't allocated in this particular bill.
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3
Should I change my username to Pinko in MD?
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4
I'm sure that there are much more deserving economic stimuli that are in the package...
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But that's the problem with ANY spending project. There will always be people who benefit more than other people, and those other people will ALWAYS be easy to convince that the money's being wasted.
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Add to that the sneaking suspicion in heavily Republican parts of the Country that the people who benefit are undeserving minorities who aren't hard working Patriots like their neighbors and you have all sorts of worthwhile ideas being $#itcanned before they're even considered. -
5
Should I change my username to Pinko in MD?
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Get out of my country. -
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Suzie, I was pretty shocked as well. But with that many people in one place it was probably bound to happen.
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As for JNS' point, hard to see what is not stimulative in restoring the Mall. Supplies would be purchased, and people would work at landscaping. Spending and labor. So what if it is relatively short term? -
7
(Also please realize I'm being snarky, I'm just trying to emulate a Red State-er.)
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8
Cliff, Suzie spent Christmas in Sweden, that hotbed of socialism. Probably a danger to our country now.
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What say you Suzie? -
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wvng,
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Well, what else can I say except...¡Viva la revolución!
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P.S. Also, and more appropriately for my travels: Jag älskar socialiserade medicin. -
10
Could someone please explain why Republicans feel so strongly that sprucing up the National Mall is a terrible waste of money? You would think they of all people would want the nation's capitol to look it's best. And it does seem like a project that would immediately put people to work. I don't understand the opposition to this. Anyone?
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11
Never underestimate President Obama. He has the best understanding of Political Parlor Games since FDR. His simple Oracle is win/win. ..............
http://thefiresidepost.com/2009/01/28/political-parlor-games-and-obamas-oracle/
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12
"I don't understand the opposition to this. Anyone?"
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Don't you listen to our media? The only acceptable form of stimulus is tax cuts for the wealthy or corporations that've been hiding their money overseas. Joe,Karen or JNS did a poll at a cocktail party and found that 100% of respondents didn't need shovel ready work...so that would totally be a waste. There's a report out that shows 91.7% of the media believes Wal-Mart is a store for wall stuff. -
13
cincy, my local weekly paper did a on-line poll asking if Obama's stimulus package would help average Americans. The winner (38%) was: No, economic recover must start with more private investment, not government intervention.
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As if the problem isn't that private investment has dried up.
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Aaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh! -
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queencersei, the Republicans are doing a spot-on imitation of Monty Python's Argument Clinic.
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"An argument's not the same as contradiction.
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Well,can be." -
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Thanks for the link Deggjr, my co-worker and I had a good laugh!
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16
And it does seem like a project that would immediately put people to work
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Yes, but those people are in the wrong tax bracket. -
17
How come supposed pork like the re-sodding or family planning - only they were conservative pet projects - always got through with GOP support when they controlled the Hill?
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18
Apparently covering 57% of the $350 million National Mall maintenance and repair project backlog was just too much to ask. That said, if anyone asks for shovel ready projects to create jobs, I'm sure the National Park Service has a few with that $6 billion backlog for all national parks.
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19
wvng, you live in W Virginia right? Am I an @sshole for pointing out that they might be a bit behind the times there and that maybe they've been thoroughly trained by their conservative overlords to respond in just such a manner? I say thing because the national polling seems to say the opposite.
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20
On MSNBC just now: Here we are with this huge bill and all we've been talking about for the last couple days is birth control, how did that happen?(paraphrased). Our media is stupid beyond belief.
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21
The stimulus bill is necessary, the GOP has backed itself into a corner by opposing it even after it's been modified to include more tax cuts. They will continue to look like the "party of no" at a time of need by opposing this, and they have positioned themselves to look like fools in 2010 when the stimulus bill and other action being taken do their inevitable good.
That being said...the House Democrats made themselves easy targets by including a potpourri of "causes" in the bill that honestly don't have much to do with putting people back to work or reviving the economy. The argument that some of the spending is intended to help the states deal with their own budget crises is valid...but some of the legislation should have been proposed (and voted up or down) on its own merits.
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22
See Republican think that all of the national parks should be turned over to mining and ranching interests. Apparently they don't see tourism as part of our economy -- off shore drilling in Florida!
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23
I think the Mall money was needed for this.
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http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/28/dhs-chertoff-book-speeches/ -
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cincy asks: Am I an @sshole for pointing out that they might be a bit behind the times there and that maybe they've been thoroughly trained by their conservative overlords to respond in just such a manner?
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No.
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That is another edition of simple answers . . . . -
25
Our local newspaper op-ed curmudgeon is also arguing about "torture" today, and seems to believe that "24" ticking time-bomb scenarios are real. This guy - http://tinyurl.com/ce4gmx - suggests not.
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/migraine.
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We seem to be surrounded by a tidal wave of teh RW stoopid since the inauguration. The msm must be in hog heaven, as noted by cincy #20.
- jnsmall @Marty2634 in 140 characters or less- that's a tall order...! - 2 hours ago
- jnsmall @tgriff7 ha! I didn't know you're real first name is William! oh, Willy, aren't you proud that whales are free? ;-) - 2 hours ago
- jnsmall @mikemadden landmark in terns of the statue of libery or yucca mtn? Me thinks it might be closer it the latter... - 3 hours ago
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