Obama's October Offensive--is it to little and to late?

I saw something a couple of days ago that shows how really lax Obama is and how much he hates to do battle for his Democratic base and American workers.

He announced on Wednesday that he would NOT go after the Chinese on the trade issue. What is really remarkable is that this is the very issue that is killing the Democrats running for election in states where millions of jobs have been lost (or sent overseas by GW Bush and the GOP). I went to Ohio recently into the former industrial heart of America. It is sad. Around Youngstown over 500,000 jobs have moved offshore and lost. Obama is not to blame--blame goes to the policies of GW Bush and Bill Clinton. 

But Obama has decided to "play nice" on the trade issue. This is an almost predictable side of his character. The same day he made this announcement, the new numbers came out for our trade deficit with China--it was a record and hundreds of billions of dollars.  What a pansy!!!! One would think that Obama get tough on the one way trade  of the Chinese and put our workers back to work. But this move on the currency imbalance signals that the White House has decided not to confront the Chinese for artificially keeping their currency undervalued. There are thousands of products that we make that the Chinese refuse to allow us to sell there--this would be a okay if peoples livelihoods, jobs, and homes didn't matter. With this final move Obama has signaled that he will not be pushing for more US jobs in the coming months. This is a tragic message to send to voters and to Democrats in general.

Word on the blogs is that Obama is still secure in his cocoon and thinks that after the Republicans take control of Congress they will then play nice to him for the good of the country. He is dangerously NAIVE. His mastery of politics is just a bad as that of  GW Bush. Except that Democrats beginning in 2006 did play nice with Bush and ignored calls from many for his impeachment.  I do not think that Obama appreciates what the Republicans have planned for the balance of his term. These are not the live/let live Democrats who were gracious to Bush and overlooked his illegal invasion of Iraq and his lying to Congress. The Republicans basically are racist and they say this is a chance to put Obama in his place. I am convinced that they plan a January surprise for Obama. I also think that he is ignoring signs that the GOP leaders are going to go after him. If the GOP has the House they will immediately setup a team to start impeach Obama just as they did to Clinton in the 1990's. For Obama as it was for Clinton, this is going to be a terrible distraction. It will cost him any political momentum he can build, he will be deserted / isolated in the White House by the Democrats because he basically failed to give them any substantial help during the election. The most help he has given any Democrat running is a few lame stump speeches in scattered places.  I think his complacency about the Republicans intentions to go after him is really going to cost him greatly. Unlike Clinton, Obama has a habit of backing off before things even get testy.  Clinton got into the same mess with a hostile GOP Congress lead by Newt Gingrich and Ken Starr but he is a combative person. Obama will find that he be  looking at up to $20 to $25 million in lawyers fees to defend himself. No matter how big his ego is and how much he thinks he can talk his way out of the situation, I believe he is in for a very rough ride for the next two years or until he is impeached.

musings: Prop 1 in Houston: How to Tick Off Your Supporters...

musings: Prop 1 in Houston: How to Tick Off Your Supporters...: "I thought it was pretty bad that the Prop 1 folks didn't make it clear that schools would have to pay the flood and drainage fee, thereby gi..."

I am inclined to share many people of Houston's apprehension about Proposition 1. To date it is a very vague  proposal (it should certainly be more specific) which could ultimately cost property owners millions of dollars of their money. With billions of dollars on the line with this fee proposal one must wonder where are the specifics as to where the money is to go and under what conditions it will be spent. I moved to Houston shortly after the Metro law was passed in 1977. It also has involved billions of dollars over the last 33 years but in most cases there was great debate about how the money would be spent. However, in the end we have gotten some results -- modern buses and the start on the rail system. On the contrary the drainage proposal is very open ended. Many of the people I talk to are negative about it. They fear that it will create a large bloated but highly paid bureaucracy. They think that the money can be used on expensive projects which do not yield in a reduction in flooding. Some are skeptical that there will not be overlap problems with Harris County Flood Control, etc.

One only has to look to New Orleans where billions of dollars were spent on flood control levees for over 50 years but which failed because they were poorly engineered/constructed using "Boudreaux Engineering" methods i.e. corrupt and unaccountable contractors, lawyers, and politicians got huge taxpayer funded payments for steel, concrete, and labor which was never put into place for the infrastructure that was originally proposed. Prop 1 l is currently vaguely worded, is not transparent as to oversight, and was enacted with few restrictions as to quality, as to quantity, and as to where any flood control projects would occur or even if they would be done once the new bureaucracy has moved into its shiny new headquarters with their highly paid staffers, their well connected consultants, and their legions of lawyers/law firms. Houston voters deserve more information and accountability on this before blindly committing billions of our dollars.