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June 02, 2010

The Wednesday Update

June 2, 2010  Volume 4, Number 22  IN THIS ISSUE: Obama's Katrina, Barney's New House

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. June 2, 2010   Volume 4, Number 22 In This Issue: 1) Obama's Katrina 2) Barney's New House 3) Truth In Transit     Obama's Katrina Early on, the efforts of a few Republican strategists to portray the BP oil spill as “Obama’s Katrina” seemed strained, an unbecoming stretch to wring something extra out of behavior that already spoke for itself. But things have changed. It still isn’t exactly “Obama’s Katrina.” In some ways it’s worse. Oil washing ashore hasn’t killed anyone and the hurricane’s destruction took an incredibly long time to clean up.  But for all the incompetent preparation and chaotic response, post-Katrina Louisiana had what it needed to rebuild and recover.  The Obama administration’s ineptitude could leave the state with a severely diminished foundation for recovery. Louisiana Democrat James Carville has accused the administration of “political stupidity” and labeled its actions “lackadaisical.” Democratic Congressman Charles Melancon said Louisiana’s Gulf Coast economy depends on the fishing and oil industries and is on course to be left with neither one.   President Obama’s response is invariable when something goes wrong: blame the Bush administration. In his first press conference in almost a year, Obama further sought to distance himself from the mess by professing ignorance as to whether the director of the Minerals Management Service—an agency he had trashed—resigned or was fired.   On Sunday, the New York Times said the administration had “scrambled to respond” to the continuing failures, but Bloomberg News seemed to leave little doubt it was the administration that had been telling BP what to do.   The Times quoted Obama’s climate change and energy advisor Carol Browner claiming “it’s important for people to understand that from the beginning, the government has been in charge.”  Perhaps a vain attempt to show they’re on top of things, perhaps an inopportune moment of candor; either way, Browner’s statement, like the situation, speaks for itself.     Barney's New House? The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) has some new radio ads and on personal experience we strongly recommend if you haven’t already heard them, keep the  car radio turned off when you’re driving in heavy traffic.   WHEDA is button-popping proud of its new “Advantage Home Loan,” a partnership with Fannie Mae which allows first-time buyers to obtain a mortgage with no down-payment whatsoever.   “Coming up with a down payment prevents a lot of renters from becoming homeowners,” the ad explains.  News flash to WHEDA: Being a renter is sometimes the more advantageous, not to mention responsible, choice.  Bowing to the left-wing social agenda of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd— bullying lenders into putting unqualified borrowers into houses they couldn’t possibly pay for—is how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caused the housing market to first inflate and then implode a couple of years ago.   WHEDA’s web site encourages probably unqualified buyers to use a no-money-down mortgage and snap up “a foreclosed and vacant single-family home,” as if the agency had no idea why so many of those are available.        Truth in Transit State and local elected Democrats—the governor, the mayors of Milwaukee and Madison, the Dane County executive—have been frantic to get Wisconsin deeply committed to passenger-rail boondoggles, hoping that even if Republicans are in charge a year from now, they’ll throw up their hands and manage the mess as best they can.   Rail-obsessed Democrats might acquaint themselves with the thoughts of Peter Rogoff, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. On May 18, Mr. Rogoff addressed a national mass transit summit at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  Oddly enough, his remarks weren’t widely reported.     In Mr. Rogoff’s own words:   “Yes, transit riders often want to go by rail. But it turns out you can entice even diehard rail riders onto a bus, if you call it a “special” bus and just paint it a different color than the rest of the fleet.   “Once you’ve got special buses, it turns out that busways are cheap. Take that paint can and paint a designated bus lane on the street system. Throw in signal preemption, and you can move a lot of people at very little cost compared to rail… “Communities deciding between bus and rail investments need to stare those numbers in the face. Some communities might be tempted to pay the cost for shiny new rails now. But they need to be mindful of the costs they are teeing up for future generations… “At times like these, it’s more important than ever to have the courage to ask a hard question. If you can’t afford to operate the system you have, why does it make sense for [the federal government] to partner in your expansion…Are we at risk of just helping communities dig a deeper hole for our children and grandchildren?”   Mr. Rogoff sounds fiscally prudent compared with Jim Doyle and Tom Barrett and Dave Cieslewicz and Kathleen Falk, a sobering thought, considering he works for the Obama administration.       You are a subscriber to Wisconsin Club for Growth from a website subscription. Visit http://wicfg.org for more information. Unsubscribe << Test Email Address >> from this list. Our mailing address is: Wisconsin Club for Growth Inc 1223 West Main Street, #304 Sun Prairie, Wisconsin 53590 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2010 Wisconsin Club for Growth Inc All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend and Update your profile