Bridge to nowhere?
I think I share in much of the country's anxiety towards the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (a.k.a. the gargantuan Obama stimulus package). It seems that we are at another point in our history in which we are being told that we are in a so-called crisis; in the midst of our panic and anxiety, the government swindles us with some sort of extreme and costly set of measures whose effectiveness comes into question. Hmmmmmmm... that kinda reminds me of what Bush did to convince Congress and the American people to enter Iraq.
When I voted for Obama, I voted for someone who would refuse to be rushed by haste away from good decision-making. But, it seems that this perceived crisis has spurred the same sort of impatience and stubbornness that characterized the Bush administration. Though Obama has put on a more convincing mask of bipartisanship, I question the real outcome of bipartisan problem-solving in Washington.
What scares me about this stimulus package isn't ncessarily the President's blind tenacity in pushing it through Congress. Nor is it necessarily the large sums of money being directed by the federal government. It is the lack of focus that this plan has. It seems like we've prompted ourselves to spend first, justify later. What we haven't done is to lay out a clear goal of what this money is meant to do. Sure, it will create jobs and stimulate the economy. But, this should be the means to a more ambitious end.
The President could have stood in front of the American people and outlined a solid goal for us. Healthcare for all. A 21st-Century mass transportation system that enables Americans to get from one city to another without being tied down to a car. An economy fueled by clean energy. While Obama should certainly be applauded for directing money towards these noble missions, I feel like these goals were developed, secondary only to the President's desire to spend taxpayer money. If we had some sort of clear and unified goal defining where this money was to go, there would probably be far less pork-barrel spending that found its way entrenched into this bill.
What we need from President Obama is a clear vision for our country. We need the blueprint before we buy the building blocks. Not buy the building blocks first and then figure out something decent to build from them.