Bombastic 'Mo

Obama’s Stimulus Package: Spending Money to Make Money

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about our economy lately.  It’s kind of inevitable, considering the straits we’re in.

Obama is working really hard to get Republicans in line behind his recent stimulus package.   And it’s a hard fight to win.  I’ve heard talk around the water cooler that they’re not too into spending.

To his credit, Obama and his think tank have clearly put a lot of thought into the measure.  The 13 page summary of the stimulus package clearly lays out where Obama wants to spend this money, and the reasoning behind each and every expenditure.   Although the immediate purpose of the package is to increase spending to create jobs, it appears that the long term investments will save money and generate income.

Below are the seven core goals of the stimulus package, as well as a few highlights of each.

• Modernize our Energy Systems. $11 billion to create a more efficient energy grid, $6.2 billion to help weatherize low-income homes, and $8 billion to create new sources of renewable energy.
• Fund needed improvements to Science and Technology.  $6 billion will be invested in expanding access to broadband Internet, of which the stimulus package claims “for every dollar invested in broadband the economy sees a ten-fold return on that investment”
• Improve and Create Better Transit Options.  Obama wants to spend $30 billion on highway and bridge construction projects, and a measly $10 billion on mass-transit options.  Of course, I live in the city where mass transit is viable.  The majority of this country is not a city.
• Reemphasizing Education.  $20 billion dedicated to technology and energy upgrades in schools, and another $1 billion in computer and science labs, as well as trainings for teachers who don’t understand 1337 speak.  $16 billion will be dedicated to student loans, to assist those who have gone back to school after failing to find employment.
• Lower Health Care Costs.  $20 billion to create electronic medical records, $3 billion to promote preventative care, $1.5 billion to expand Community Health Centers to provide care to the uninsured, and $600 million to train new doctors to “prepare our country for universal healthcare“.
• Provide Relief to the Unemployed.   $27 billion to extend unemployment benefits, $30.3 billion to extend COBRA to those losing their work-sponsored insurance, and $4.2 billion to help low-income communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed properties.
• Save Public Employees.  $120 billion to school districts to prevent tax increases on the middle class without laying off teachers.

After reading through the entire package, I’m impressed.  There’s not a single line I’d disagree with, although even I’m a little nervous about the price.  I’ve always maintained a strange fanaticism with mathematics, but I can’t even begin to imagine what $550,000,000,000 dollars would look like.

If you’re making Washington’s minimum wage of $8.55, it would take you 64.3 billion hours to make this money.  If that number’s too big to picture, how about 7.3 million years.  Better hope Starbucks offers overtime….

Ok, those numbers are scary.  Perhaps it’ll help to put it in perspective with our population of 305,697,065.  If each of us footed an equal share, it’d be a one time payment of $1,799.  Shit, that’s a months mortgage.  I’d gladly pay up.

Dude’s Been Busy

It’s Friday.  Barack Obama was sworn in on Tuesday.  In the past three days, Obama has accomplished the following:

• Told Military Leaders to End the War in Iraq.
• Limited the Ability of Ex-Presidents to Hide their Secrets.
• Started the Close of Guantanamo.
• Created Alternatives to Bush’s Military Commissions Act.
• Lifted the Ban on Foreign Aid to Groups that Provide Abortions or Family Planning.
• Put Pay Freezes in place for White House Staff Earning more than $100,000.
• Set Ethics Rules Clearly Separating Lobbyists and the Executive Branch.
• Require New Hires to Sign Statements indicating they were not hired for Political Ties or Campaign Contributions.
• Banned Lobbyists from Giving Gifts to Executive Employees.
• Adopted Strict Laws against the use of Torture and Mandated Adherence to the Geneva Conventions.

And so much more.  I just wanna kiss him on the mouth!

Obama’s First Successful Act

He’s keeping his Blackberry!

For those of you who have been following the story, as Obama transitions into office, he’s been told time and again that day 1, he’d have to hand over his coveted device.

Barack Obama has already proven to the electorate that he is the most tech savvy president to date.  His campaign used innovative new methods of communication to get out the vote, solicit donations, and keep his constituents apprised of his actions and thoughts.

Obama used MySpace, Facebook, and even Xbox live in-game ads to inspire voters to get out of their house November 4th.  He announced Biden via text message.  His online addresses have been viewed more than 5 million times.  103,512 people submitted 76,031 questions to his Open for “Questions” section of Changes.gov.

A poll on Wired.com (which granted, targets technophiles), indicated that 76% of readers thought that Obama should have the right to maintain his Blackberry, while only 11% thought it would compromise national security.

But the transition hasn’t been easy, and it was unclear he’d get his way.  According to the Washington Post, Obama’s aides arrived at the White House to find themselves impeded by the federal bureaucracy of disconnected computers, non-working phones, and PCs still running Windows XP.  Eugh.  (Obama’s campaign used Macs).

“It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton told the Washington Post.

So when I woke up today, I did what I do most mornings: grab my iPhone and load up the most recent Associated Press feeds.  Before my cup of coffee, my morning shower and even before I put on my glasses, I read through the news of the day.  And the tops news today was “Spokesman says Obama is keeping his BlackBerry”.

After a drawn-out battle of wills, Obama has reached a compromise allowing him to use the device to stay in touch with his close senior staff and personal friends.   Security will be amped up on the device to protect national security, and the e-mails will likely be subject to the Presidential Records act, meaning he’d better be careful which forwards he receives.  But he’s staying keyed in.

P.S. he also closed Guantanamo.  :)

He’s as great as they say

http://barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com/

Rachel Maddow and Rev. Gene Robinson

I found this copy of their interview from 5 days ago. Got to love our famous queers.

Some of my favorite moments:
Rachel Maddow was eloquent but straight to the point when referencing the Gay’s disappointment in Clinton e.g. “The Clinton administration threw the Gay and Lesbian people under the bus.” She also asked some good questions about Obama’s 1996 flip-flop on Gay Marriage.

And of course, perhaps a slight faux-paus, but I giggled like a school girl when Robinson said “No one had a bigger tent than Jesus.”

Come on. Gay men should know better….

My Three Preachers? Four? Do street preachers count?

Fair is fair.  If we’re going to give free speech rights to bigoted Rick Warren or sodomite Gene Robinson, we’ve got to give everyone a soap box.

The Washington Post has an interesting (if awkwardly written) story on a number of very angry “street preachers”, aka those guys who think that everyone is going to hell, even you, Sport Nut.

Equipped with bullhorns and vitriol, these preachers wanted to make sure everyone heard their messages.

“Obama, he’s only a human,” said one of the unnamed preachers from the Washington Post article. “Don’t make a human being your lord and master. Your messiah. It’s very simple. You return to the Bible or you return to the jungle.”

Another called out those damned “Baby Killing Women, Porno Freaks, Sport Nuts, Drunks, Homos, Jesus Mockers, Mormons.”

Guess the father’s of all the abo’d babies get off scot-free.  Unless of course they’re a little too into the Mariners.

But all this frivolity doesn’t get us past the reality:

“A 17-year-old walked up to one of the preachers but was unable to speak. He wore an Obama button and a rainbow cuff. He was trembling. His name was Victor Eilering and he was a high school exchange student from the Netherlands. ‘What is the problem?’ he finally asked the preacher, quietly. ‘We did nothing to you.’”

Shit’s hurtful.  Jeese.

Obama for Gay Marriage…no really…just not now

The Windy City Times has finally published the article which has already made its way around the entire Internet.

In 1996, President-Elect Barack Obama filled out a questionnaire for the then Outlines newspaper (since merged with Windy City).  In a signed document, he announced he supported same-sex marriage.

Even better, in 2004 Obama conducted an interview with the Windy City Times while preparing for his successful run for Senate.   In it, Obama explicitly described his new vigor for civil-unions instead of same-sex marriage as a purely strategic decision.

“WCT: Do you have a position on marriage vs. civil unions?

Obama: I am a fierce supporter of domestic-partnership and civil-union laws. I am not a supporter of gay marriage as it has been thrown about, primarily just as a strategic issue. I think that marriage, in the minds of a lot of voters, has a religious connotation. I know that’s true in the African-American community, for example. And if you asked people, ‘should gay and lesbian people have the same rights to transfer property, and visit hospitals, and et cetera,’ they would say, ‘absolutely.’ And then if you talk about, ‘should they get married?’, then suddenly …

WCT: There are more than 1,000 federal benefits that come with marriage. Looking back in the 1960s and inter-racial marriage, the polls showed people against that as well.

Obama: Since I’m a product of an interracial marriage, I’m very keenly aware of …

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