Obama urges spending on U.S. infrastructure BY ANDREW VANACORE
[email protected]November 08, 2013
President Barack Obama used the Port of New Orleans as a backdrop to go on the offensive Friday, urging Republicans in Congress to boost spending on the country’s aging infrastructure and joking that his opponents will have to coin a new term to replace “Obamacare” when the new health care law starts working as planned.
(Failure; see that wasn't very hard.)Fresh from a show of contrition in a TV interview over the Americans who will lose their existing insurance plans because of the Affordable Care Act, the president offered no apologies on Friday, instead criticizing congressional Republicans for failing to pass a farm bill or immigration reform.
And with Gov. Bobby Jindal seated just a few paces away, Obama continued to press Republican governors to expand Medicaid in their states as originally envisioned by the new health care law— a step Jindal and others have resisted.
“I know health care is controversial, so there’s only going to be so much support we get on a bipartisan basis — until it’s working really well and then they’re going to stop calling it Obamacare,” he quipped. “They’re going to call it something else.”
(Heatlthcare isn't controversial. But, a highly partisan bill passed on lies certianily is.)Then he pivoted to Medicaid, pointing out that about 265,000 more people in Louisiana would be eligible for the federal insurance program for low-income individuals if Jindal would agree to the expansion. When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of the health law in 2012, the justices gave states the ability to opt of expanding Medicaid — a flexibility most Republican governors have embraced.
(So he has a problem with govenor's resisting his un-funded mandate?)“Let’s at least go ahead and make sure the folks who don’t have insurance right now and can get it through an expanded Medicaid, let’s make sure we do that,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
(But, they do have access to quality healthcare. Hospital waiting rooms accross America have un-insured waiting for treatment. In fact, all of the major hospitals in this area have "fast-track" services to address the needs of seasonal sicknesses that do not require advanced life support and diagnostics.)Obama made his remarks in front of an audience of local politicians and other notables, surrounded by enormous cranes and shipping containers meant to drive home the president’s argument for new spending on transportation and communications infrastructure.
(If the government, us, will pay $400 for a hammer, imagine what we will pay for a parking lot.)Before his speech, the president spent a few minutes touring port facilities with Jindal, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
Billed by the White House in advance as a speech about how boosting exports can improve the jobs market, Obama’s talk stayed mostly clear of trade agreements or currency rates. He also did not mention his goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015, an ambition that now appears out of reach.
(Now that he has completely f'd up his health care initiative he believes it time to put his stamp of approval on the export sector.)Instead, the president focused on domestic measures he said Congress could enact now that would spur trade and create jobs.
“No. 1,” Obama said, would be passing a farm bill, a $500 billion piece of legislation that subsidizes farmers and provides food stamps for low-income people. “For some reason, now Congress can’t even get that done.”
(Would he be referring to the same folks who abused their SNAP cards at Walmart, who have boxes full of free cell phones or the sex workers who report no taxes, but are scheduled to see tax credits to pay for Obamacare?)Another step, the president said, would be to “fix our broken immigration system,” an effort he said would prompt $1.4 trillion in economic growth over two decades.
(Would it be safe to say that those who calculated the "savings" ordinary families would see with Obamacare are the same voodoo queens who will be using their cauldrons to cook these numbers? )“This should not be a partisan issue,” he said. “President (George W.) Bush proposed the broad outlines of common-sense immigration reform almost a decade ago.”
And finally, the president urged Congress to come up with a budget that includes what he described as long-overdue investments in the type of infrastructure that supports businesses.
(Isn't he supposed to submit a budget to Congress?)“In today’s global economy, businesses are going to take root and grow wherever there’s the fastest, most reliable transportation and communications networks,” Obama said. “So China is investing a lot in infrastructure. Europe is investing a whole lot in infrastructure. And Brazil is investing a whole lot in infrastructure. What are we doing?”
(How about trying to figure out how to tread water and stay afloat now that he has doubled the national debt since he took office?)He said the country should be dredging waterways to accommodate new “supertankers” that will be coming through an enlarged Panama Canal, building new bridges and replacing an “antiquated” air traffic control system.
So he is against the Keystone pipeline for environmental reasons, yet he wants to send supertankers up the Mississippi?These steps would cost money, he acknowledged, but he argued Americans are already taking a hit when shippers reroute cargo around dangerous bridges and congested airports, passing along the added cost to consumers.
“Directly or indirectly, we’re paying for it,” he said. “And the longer we delay, the more we’ll pay.”
If we can delay it for three more years, I'm happy. I'm guessing we can't get worse than him.If all of this got a warm reception in New Orleans — at one point an audience member shouted “Tell it!” — there seemed little chance that the president’s remarks would win him more votes in Congress or spur Jindal to reverse course on health care.
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a Jefferson Parish Republican who has been at the forefront of congressional efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, panned Obama’s speech almost before it was over.
“Speeches don’t create jobs,” he said in a prepared statement, “And broken promises won’t rejuvenate our stagnant economy.”
Jindal went on Fox News shortly after the speech and reiterated his opposition to expanding Medicaid.
“Nobody is going to bully Louisiana into expanding Medicaid or joining part of Obamacare,” he said.
One point where Obama might find bipartisan support — at least in Louisiana — is deepening the Mississippi River to accommodate larger ships. The House has yet to act on a bill that would cover the cost of maintaining a 50-foot draft in the river, five feet deeper than exists now, but the Senate has already given its OK, with support from U.S. Sen. David Vitter, the Louisiana Republican.
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I'm going out on a limb and guessing that only a handful of people have any faith in him. It seems like everyday another Democrat looks to distance himself from the king.
