“What we need, then, is a smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century,” he said, “a system that reduces travel times and increases mobility, a system that reduces congestion and boosts productivity, a system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs.”

And he added, “There’s no reason why we can’t do this.”

Mr. Obama said the $8 billion included for high-speed rail projects in his stimulus package — to be spent over two years — and an additional $1 billion a year being budgeted over the next five years, would provide a “jump start” toward achieving that vision.

The transportation department has already identified 10 corridors that would benefit from high-speed rail projects.  From the article:

They are: a northern New England line; an Empire line running east to west in New York State; a Keystone corridor running laterally through Pennsylvania; a southeast network connecting the District of Columbia to Florida and the Gulf Coast; a Gulf Coast line extending from eastern Texas to western Alabama; a corridor in central and southern Florida; a Texas-to-Oklahoma line; a California corridor where voters have already approved a line that will allow travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two and a half hours; and a corridor in the Pacific Northwest.

Each of these projects would inject much-needed infrastructure investment into the local and national economy, create jobs, and be generally beneficial to the environment.

The United States used to be the leading railroad nation, but over the last 60 years, that lead was eroded and surpassed by European nations and Japan.  Heck, even China is doing major investments in high-speed rail projects.

Just imagine hopping on a train in San Francisco and being in Los Angeles a short time later, without the hassles of getting to the airport, passing through “security,” and sitting in comfort and being able to actually enjoy the scenery.  Personally, I enjoy taking the train to Sacramento on the Capitol Corridor when I go to visit family and friends there.  It’s much better than driving.

The problem with these so-called Tea Parties is that they are fundamentally wrong on their issues. There isn’t a tax increase for 90 percent of the people, and the increase for the richest Americans is still lower than it was under Reagan.

Clearly, the Republican Party is in a state of disarray, and you would be, too, if you had just lost two major election cycles. But their same tired, xenophobic, anti-labor, anti-tax, drown-the-government-in-a-bathtub rhetoric just doesn’t resonate with the average American anymore. We have seen what Republicans in power do, and it’s ugly and hateful and works against the best interests of the country as a whole.

There’s a reason why people trust President Obama in such high numbers: he clearly thinks about the issues before he says any random thing to pop into his head.

The Republican Party released their minority party counter-budget this week. At least, that’s what they are calling it; 19 pages of budget “principles,” but not a single detail. House Minority Leader John Boehner promises the details of the plan next week, on April 1st.

Is this some sort of April Fools joke? It sure seems like it – here are their proposals:

• a HUGE tax break for the wealthy.
• Drill, baby, drill.

That’s pretty much it.  No ideas that we haven’t already heard, and rejected.  The mockery going on about this empty piece of propaganda is nearly universal.   I’m pretty amazed that they would release such a steaming load.  And apparently, the GOP is in such disarray that they are fighting amongst themselves in ways that only the Democratic Party used to do!  What a strange and wonderful reversal of fortunes.

“In his egocentric rush to get on camera, Mike Pence threw the rest of the Conference under the bus, specifically Paul Ryan, whose staff has been working night and day for weeks to develop a substantive budget plan,” said a GOP aide heavily involved in budget strategy.

“I hope his camera time was gratifying enough to justify erasing the weeks of hard work by dozens of Republicans to put forth serious ideas,” the person added.

“It’s categorically untrue,” said Pence spokesman Matt Lloyd. “Cantor as well as Ryan and the rest of the leadership have been part of this process for weeks. They not only signed off on it, but their staffs helped edit it.”

Ryan told POLITICO that he didn’t feel thrown under any buses and downplayed the disagreement.

“The problem is that somewhere along the line, someone got the mistaken impression that we were going to roll out a budget alternative today,” he said. “What we all signed off on was a preview—the real [alternative] is coming next week.”

I kind of feel sorry for them.  April Fools!

“Gov. Jindal should know better than anyone that funding for studying and monitoring natural disasters is vital to public safety, ” Louisiana Democratic Party spokesman Scott Jordan said.

Others noted that only a fraction of the $140 million Jindal mentioned was actually being spent on volcano monitoring. The rest was going to other projects, including upgrades to the U.S. Geological Survey stream gauges in Louisiana and other states that will provide emergency planners with better real-time information about storm surge heights as hurricanes hit the coast.

Hasquet said only $7.5 million of the $140 million going to the Geological Survey will be spent on upgrading the equipment used to monitor Mount Redoubt and 32 other active volcanoes in Alaska.

So, yeah, a good chunk of that money is going to help Louisiana monitor water levels in the event of flooding and storm surges from hurricanes.

But wait, it gets better.  Jinda’s spokeman, Kyle Plotkin, tried to defend the governor’s comments in an email.

“Governor Jindal referenced the money spent on volcano monitoring to highlight the fact that a bill that was supposed to be about creating jobs ended up being a package that seemed to spend just for the sake of spending, ” Plotkin said in an e-mail response to questions.

Except that that’s not what he said in his address last month:

“While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes … $140 million for something called “volcano monitoring.” Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.”

The governor and his people seem to forget that we can look up exactly what he said and when he said it.   Keep on truckin’, Bobby!  Someday you might actually say something that makes sense!

The plan:

1. Makes a $634 billion down payment on fixing health care that will go a long way toward paying for a more efficient, more affordable health care system that covers every single American.³
2. Reduces taxes for 95% of working Americans. And if your family makes less than $250,000, your taxes won’t go up one dime.⁴
3. Invests more than $100 billion in clean energy technology, creating millions of green jobs that can never be outsourced.⁵
4. Brings our troops home from Iraq on a firm timetable, finally bringing the war to a close—and freeing up almost ten billion dollars a month for domestic priorities.⁶
5. Reverses growing income inequality. The plan lets the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire and focuses on strengthening the middle class.⁷
6. Closes multi-billion-dollar tax loopholes for big oil companies. ⁸
7. Increases grants to help families pay for college—the largest increase ever.⁹
8. Halves the deficit by 2013. President Obama inherited a legacy of huge deficits and an economy in shambles, but his plan brings the deficit under control as soon as the economy begins to recover.¹⁰
9. Dramatically increases funding for the SEC and the CFTC—the agencies that police Wall Street.¹¹
10. Tells it straight. For years, budgets have used accounting tricks to hide the real costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts, and too many other programs. Obama’s budget gets rid of the smokescreens and lays out what America’s priorities are, what they cost, and how we’re going to pay for them.¹²

This is the change we voted for. President Obama has done his part, now we need to do ours.

Can you pass this on to your personal network and then click here to let us know how many people you told, so we can track our impact together:

http://pol.moveon.org/budget10/?id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=1

Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Tanya, Peter, Justin and the rest of the team

P.S. Turns out there are way more than 10 amazing things in Obama’s budget and we couldn’t resist sharing just a few more.

1. Stops unnecessary government subsidies to big banks, health insurance companies and big agribusinesses.^13,14,15
2. Expands access to early childhood education and improves schools by investing in programs that make sure every child has a qualified, strong teacher.¹⁶
3. Negotiates for better prescription drug prices using Medicaid’s tremendous bargaining power.¹⁷
4. Expands access to family planning for low-income women.¹⁸
5. Caps the pollution that causes global warming, and makes polluters pay to support clean energy innovation.¹⁹

Sources:

1. “Climate of Change,” The New York Times, February 27, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?em

2. “Obama Calls His Budget Sweeping, Needed Change,” The New York Times, February 28, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51201&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=2

3. “Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=3

4. “Obama Expects Fight Over $3.55 Trillion Budget Plan,” Bloomberg News, February 28, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51203&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=4

5. “Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness,” Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=5

6. “The Economic Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan,” The New York Times, March 1, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/weekinreview/01glanz.html

7. “Tax Cuts,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-tax.html

8. “Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness,” Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=6

9. “Student Loans,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html

10. “Obama unveils budget blueprint,” CNN, February 26, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/budget/

11. “Obama budget would boost SEC, CFTC, FBI,” Reuters, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51205&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=7

12. “Obama’s budget,” Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51206&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=8

13. “Student Loans,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html

14. “Health Insurance Stocks Dive on Medicare Advantage Cuts,” The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51207&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=9

15. “Agriculture,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-agri.html

16. “Investing Wisely in Our Children,” Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51208&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=10

17. “Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=11

18. “Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=12

19. “Setting ‘Green’ Goals,” The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51209&id=15687-495491-ShbEoZx&t=13

After President Obama’s Address to Congress, the Republican Party’s response was delivered from Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal.  I am loving that Sarah Palin, Michael Steele and Bobby Jindal are the new faces of the Republicans – they are the new Three Stooges!

I wonder if he even bothered to watch the President’s speech? I wonder what planet he’s living on? He’s got an interesting personal story, but his ideas? Just more of the same failed Republican policies that got us into this ridiculous mess to begin with – tax cuts for the rich, abandoning public education. Really, Bobby Jindal? Is that the best the Republicans can do in this time of economic crisis?

Tax cuts will increase the debt but not have an appreciable effect on the economy, except to encourage more borrowing – people will pay off old debts but not buy new stuff. Recent history has shown this to be the case. And while paying off debt is good, it won’t create any jobs right now, which we need.

And charter schools and vouchers? There’s plenty of indication that charter schools do not improve education over traditional public schools – they are essentially a wash.

And getting rid of corruption and increase transparency in Washington, DC?  No one has seen the text of the stimulus package?  I guess he hasn’t seen http://recovery.gov/ yet,  or the other websites the Obama Administration has published to enable the public to see how the money is being spent.

It’s no wonder that the Republican Party is becoming more and more irrelevant, and no longer a national party, but a regional party of the South.  If this is the best they can do, then I say let them fade more and more into obscurity.

But what I want to know is which of the Three Stooges is Jindal?  Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Curly Joe?

Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc shares plummeted for a sixth straight day on Friday, hammered by fears that the U.S. government could nationalize the banks, wiping out shareholders.

Bank of America shares were down 19 percent to $3.20 in early trading, their lowest level since 1984, while Citigroup shares fell 20 percent to $2, their lowest price since the early 1990s.

Both stocks have lost more than 90 percent of their value in the last year.

“It’s a clear sign that the markets are expecting a high probability of them being nationalized,” said Mike Holland, founder of Holland & Co. “The clear expectation is that shareholders would effectively be wiped out.”

The KBW Financial index was down 6.8 percent to 20.42, with Wells Fargo Co shares down 11.6 percent to $10.60, and J.P.Morgan Chase & Co shares down 6 percent to $19.39.

I’m not really sure what I think about this. On the one hand, temporarily nationalizing the banks might not be such a bad idea, but on the other hand, are there really any companies that are “too big to fail?”  Not suggesting that these particular companies are about to fail, of course, but this article did bring that question to mind.

Spending on infrastructure will create jobs here in the United States for Americans. Tax cuts are only going to deepen the debt and not provide the needed stimulus – with demand down (not enough employment), people are more likely to hoard any tax credit or refund, or pay off existing debt. What we need are jobs, jobs, jobs.

Not that I don’t think that race or other defining characteristic isn’t important,  but rather that Dr. King’s dream will have finally been acheived, and the content of the character will trump the color of the skin.  And yes, I do think to a certain degree that happened here with President Obama.  But the second African-American President shouldn’t be a big deal, y’know?

What else?

Hmm… President Obama is already off to a very good start with the executive orders he has already signed to close the prison at Guantanamo and elsewhere, to prohibit the use of torture, to re-fund reproductive planning that includes a comprehensive group of tools including abstinence and abortion, ethics rules, presidential records.

But the economic recovery plan has way too many tax cuts, and not enough in infrastructure building.  If President Obama did tell Republicans “I Won,” at that meeting on Thursday, then what the hell is he doing with all these ridiculous tax cuts?  As we know, tax cuts don’t work, especially during a serious recession.  People are not guaranteed to spend the tax money, and people in the lowest tax brackets don’t pay taxes anyway, so a tax cut to people who don’t already pay taxes is kind of useless.  Not only that, but we are burdening future generations with debt to pay back for these tax cuts.

Infrastructure, on the other hand, is investment in our future.  Roads, bridges, public transit, schools, colleges, and other public works are real things that benefit real people.  If we have to take on more debt, then let us take on more debt that actually helps improve the economy and the efficiency and safety of our current infrastructure.  We don’t need tax cuts right now – we need jobs and building stuff.

Take Action

Contact your representative and senators and tell them you want more infrastructure investment and fewer tax cuts in this recovery stimulus package.