A link to listing of States can give access to projects that have been submitted. .......................................... Athens-Clarke County has a long list of Georgia projects- $ 82,741,690 total! I see no projects for upgrading GA 316 or better commuter rail- projects that could benefit more Georgians. It reminds me of the Sixties when Athens-Clarke was getting all kinds of Federal money for urban renewal, public housing etc. …..

AVOC

.

February 11, 2009

.

Obama, Bail-outs, Celebrity and Concerns

.

By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc

.

Barack Obama was not my choice for President.   I am not a fan of John McCain but I felt Obama was too inexperienced (had he served in the military or owned a small business, I could have felt better).  However, Obama won and is my President.   As President, I pray for him daily.

.

Some say it is too early.  I have wanted to give Obama the benefit of the doubt.   However, he seems to be in a sprint to do things.   I am really bothered by Obama’s rush to spend almost a Trillion Dollars in less than a month.      The more I have learned about the “Stimulus Bill”, the more concerns I have.

.

Obama is in a hurry

.

The $ 800 Billion bill being rushed through Congress is massive in scope and in spending.   As we learn more and more about what is in it, it causes concern about some social legislating in the guise of Economic Stimulus.   Much has been written about some projects that seem ill-advised, at least to me.   A link to listing of States can give access to projects that have been submitted.  

.

Athens-Clarke County has a long list of Georgia projects- $ 82,741,690 total!   I see no projects for upgrading GA 316 or better commuter rail- projects that could benefit more Georgians.  It reminds me of the Sixties when Athens-Clarke was getting all kinds of Federal money for urban renewal, public housing etc.  Over the years, I have come to see that those grants may have not been the best for the long haul.

.

Obama said he wanted to be Post-Partisan; yet his statements and warnings have sounded like the same-o- same-o.   Obama ran against “Politics of Fear” but has done a good job of playing that game himself in recent days.    I think we are in serious financial difficulties, world-wide, but I have not bought into the claim of the coming of the second Great Depression.

.

For all his faults, I do not remember President George W. Bush criticizing and blaming predecessors for his problems.   Obama is quick to say, “I inherited this mess”; and to disparage the “Last eight years”.   Never did I hear George Bush say, “I won”.    The national media is ridiculously biased in its reporting.   The Democrats controlled Congress for the last two years and had much participation in the housing crisis.

.

Obama is popular and has a lot of glitz and glamour.   However, some of us more jaded citizens are wondering how long the glamour will last for many voters.    Talk is inspiring but it takes action and real leadership and less whining and finger-pointing.

.

It behooves all of us, including the President, to work together to get through our economic difficulties.   When the crisis is past, and the dust settles, historians and citizens can sort out the blame and fault – and credit.

Obama.Stimulus.Project.List.2.9.09

http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_state

.

Projects in Athens, Georgia

Below are the "shovel-ready" projects for which this city has requested federal stimulus funding. You can click on a project to read (and add to) its description. You can also discuss the project and vote on whether you believe it is critical or not.

.

The total cost of all the projects submitted by Athens is $
2,741,690……………………….

2-11-09 Obama has created unrealistic expectations (HOPE)

.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/02/11/atlanta_job_fair.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

.

Federal job fair gets huge turnout

.

By CHANDLER BROWN

.

……………..

……….more than 1,000 people who snaked around the Sam Nunn Federal Center in downtown Atlanta. They were all in line for a job fair at which about two dozen federal agencies offered information and fliers.

THE STIMULUS IS A STEP TOWARDS A SOVIET AMERICA

http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/3505/87

.

by Senator Tom Coburn   Tuesday, 10 February 2009

.

2-10-09 Obama having it both ways on pork

.

MyWay.Com

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090209/D968BMTO0.html

.

February 9, 2009

.

FACT CHECK: Obama has it both ways on pork

.

By CALVIN WOODWARD

.

President Barack Obama had it both ways Monday when he promoted his stimulus plan in Indiana. He bragged about getting Congress to produce a package with no pork, yet boasted it will do good things for a Hoosier highway and a downtown overpass, just the kind of local projects lawmakers lard into big spending bills.

.

Obama's sales pitch on the enormous package he wants Congress to make law has sizzle as well as steak. He's projecting job creation numbers that may be impossible to verify and glossing over some ethical problems that bedeviled his team. ……………..

2-11-09 Money by the barrel full coming out of Washington - gnashing of teeth and dark prophecies of doom

.

Salon.Com

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/02/11/stimulus/

.

February 11, 2009

.

A rocky first few weeks

Obama sputters out of the gate -- but don't fear yet

.

By Camille Paglia

.

Feb. 11, 2009 | Money by the barrelful, by the truckload. Mountains of money, heaped like gassy pyramids in the national dump. Scrounging packs of politicos, snapping, snarling and sending green bills flying sky-high as they root through the tangled mass with ragged claws. The stale hot air filled with cries of rage, the gnashing of teeth and dark prophecies of doom.

.

Yes, this grotesque scene, like a claustrophobic circle in Dante's "Inferno," was what the U.S. government has looked like for the past two weeks as it fights on over Barack Obama's stimulus package -- a mammoth, chaotic grab bag of treasures, toys and gimcracks. Could popular opinion of our feckless Congress sink any lower? You betcha!

.

Why in the cosmos would the new administration, smoothly sailing out of Obama's classy inauguration, repeat the embarrassing blunders of Bill Clinton's first term? By foolishly promising a complete overhaul of healthcare within 100 days (and by putting his secretive, ill-prepared wife in charge of it), Clinton made himself look naive and incompetent and set healthcare reform back for more than 15 years…………………

Questions about some Obama Cabinet Choices 1.15.09

.

CBS Political HOTSHEET

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/01/15/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4724898.shtml

.

January 15, 2009

.

Questions Surround Some Obama Cabinet Picks

.

Posted by Brian Montopoli

.

With five days until President-elect Barack Obama's swearing in, the vast majority of his Cabinet picks have now faced relatively smooth confirmation hearings……….

1-29-09 Time to Beam Down to Earth, President Obama

.

NRO Online

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Njk1ZTI0NWYzZDc2Y2FhOGE5OGZjYzJmYWE0ZTdjNTM=

.

January 29, 2009

.

Time to Beam Down to Earth, President Obama
Bad and worse choices of governance

.

By Victor Davis Hanson

.

Last week the United States got lucky again and took out several suspected terrorists by Predator drone attacks over Pakistan. Anti-war critics prior to Jan. 20 used to decry “collateral damage” from such controversial strikes. But there was a weird silence here about the Obama administration’s successful first attack—despite the usual complaints from abroad that several civilians perished.

.

President Barack Obama just announced, to great applause, that he wants to close Guantanamo right away—sort of. But in the meantime he rightly worried over the immediate consequences. So, instead, in circumspect fashion, he appointed a “task force” to prepare for such closure within a year……….

2-2-09 Ethics are not better in new administration

.

NRO

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjExMzA4NWRjODYxNmVkNTlkZjA0MWY1YjkwNmQ2NzY=&w=MA==

.

February 2, 2009

.

President Hamlet
It’s ‘to Be or Not to Be’ Time for Obama.
.

By Victor Davis Hanson

.

For all the promises of a revolution in ethics, President Obama has created a new syndrome: The well-off can be made to stop evading their taxes by nominating them for cabinet posts. In any case, compare Bush’s cabinet picks with Daschle, Geithner, Holder, Lynn, and Richardson—and discover that there is no empirical evidence of any higher ethical standard for public office in the Obama era.
.
George Bush called for unity, passed some bipartisan legislation on prescription drugs and education, and appointed a few Democrats to his administration. Barack Obama appointed a few Republicans to his administration, but so far has not mapped out areas for bipartisan lawmaking. Despite his legendary cool and gravitas, he has scoffed “I won” (in the manner of Bush’s “I’m the decider”). The uniter went after Rush Limbaugh in a way that Bush never quite took on Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews…………………….

2-6-09 In Stimulus Debate, Obama Drifts Into Campaign Mode

.

FOX NEWS

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/06/stimulus-debate-obama-drifts-campaign-mode/

.

February 6, 2009

.

In Stimulus Debate, Obama Drifts Into Campaign Mode

President Obama faces criticism about the style of leadership he's taking in his defense of the contentious and costly economic stimulus bill. 

.

President Obama is facing growing questions about his tone and the effectiveness of his leadership after he spent Thursday night mocking his political rivals and accusing them of playing games with the economic stimulus. 

.

In an off-the-cuff moment during his speech to House Democrats at a retreat in Virginia, the president ribbed Republicans, including former rival John McCain, who call the recovery package a "spending bill." 

.

"So then you get the argument, 'well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill.' What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point," Obama said to laughter. 

.

Conservatives are complaining that while Obama held a set of good-faith bipartisan meetings with congressional leaders in January, now he's reverted to campaign mode in a bid to muscle the more than $ 900 billion package through Congress. Obama said Friday it is "inexcusable and irresponsible" to delay passage of the recovery plan…………………..

2-5-09 Obama ‘warns’ Congress that things will get worse – Is this ‘Fear Mongering”

.

Yahoo!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_go_pr_wh/congress_stimulus_126

.

February 5, 2009

.

Obama warns of need for stimulus bill right away

.

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama warned on Thursday that failure to act on an economic recovery package could plunge the nation into a long-lasting recession that might prove irreversible, a fresh call to a recalcitrant Congress to move quickly.

.

In an op-ed piece in The Washington Post, the president argued that each day without his stimulus package, Americans lose more jobs, savings and homes. His message came as congressional leaders struggle to control the huge stimulus bill that's been growing larger by the day in the Senate. The addition of a new tax break for homebuyers Wednesday evening sent the price tag well past $ 900 billion.

…………………….

2-3-09 Daschle withdraws as nominee for HHS secretary

.

BREITBART

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9648BP81&show_article=1

.

February 3, 2009

.

Daschle withdraws as nominee for HHS secretary

.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary. ………………………..