Taxing to 'deshabby' America

This weekend the University of Virginia held a debate on the question of infrastructure with two "experts" as well as Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif.
The facts laid out in the debate were astounding. There is just not enough money in the stimulus program to make the difference in America that we need. In previous columns, I have written about the need to "deshabby" America and that every penny in the stimulus program needs to go toward that goal. The pesky little problem here is that the American Society of Civil Engineers says we will need $2.2 trillion to "deshabby" America. The package signed by President Obama last Tuesday barely puts 10 percent of the money that is needed into basic infrastructure.

The "debate" this weekend brought up some sobering notions about how things take place in America. One is the permitting process and the courts. We have a very slow democracy. I have experienced it recently in attempting to build a public swimming pool and community center in Mississippi. The permit process can take forever. If someone is jealous because it was not their idea or doesn't like it in "their backyard," all the money and power in the world is not going to make it happen sooner. Gov. Schwarzenegger pointed out that is has taken up to 15 years to get through the permit process for some projects.

Another sobering issue addressed in this debate is the way our federal budget operates. President Obama will give his speech to Congress on Tuesday evening where he will outline his planned budget priorities. Miller Center Director former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles pointed out that not one of the president's budget plans gets to the root of the problem – which is how we budget. Colleges, hospitals and businesses have an operating budget and capital budget. Money is planned years in advance for renovations, infrastructure and building. But the United States government operates year to year with the political process getting in the way of real long-term planning. No wonder we have bridges falling apart. No one wants to really take responsibility for that long-term planning.

Congress is about to embark on another transportation bill that was laden with pork last time around. It had everything from scenic paths to boardwalks in places that did not need them for transportation. But the real fight, according to JayEtta Hecker, was about returning gas taxes to the states where they were collected. He said the gas tax debate had nothing to do with the poor performance of the system and the tough choices that need to be made to get America's infrastructure working again.
The great hope at this "debate" was that the American people are way beyond the politicians. The polls have indicated that the American people are in favor of real investments for rails and the roads. Gone are the arguments against Amtrak. People understand that with the volatility of gas prices and the strained economy, the only real solution is to have a viable public transportation system. You don't have to be an economic analyst to see this, either. The New York to Washington, D.C., air shuttles have cut down hours of operation as well as the type of equipment. Instead of big planes, they often use smaller regional jets. Amtrak's route in the New York-D.C. corridor is often filled to capacity. People have voted with their feet, and they want a transportation system that works and is affordable. They want to know when they cross a bridge in Minnesota that it has been maintained and that it is certified to carry the cars on it.

The people of America are smart. They are smarter than politicians. Gov. Rendell said a recent poll by the National Governor's Association showed that 81 percent of the people who responded said they would pay 1 percent more on their federal taxes if they could revitalize the nation's infrastructure.
Paying more taxes voluntarily? That is quite an offer. President Obama and Congress should jump at the chance, make sure there is no pork in the transportation bill and come up with solutions that make it easy for Americans to move from place to place. Now, that would be a real revolution.

Is America becoming Afghanistan?

Last July I wrote an article titled "Is America Cleveland?" I went to my hometown and described how the stores were empty, the infrastructure was falling apart and how there needed to be a massive investment in America if the rest of the country was not going to look like downtown Cleveland. Cleveland was once a busy and wealthy city, filled with shoppers, hope and promise. No more. "Halas," as they say in Arabic, it is finished. Well, not quite. I still have hope that it will recapture part of its former glory.

Now, I am beginning to wonder if America is becoming Afghanistan. Richard Miller, our military correspondent, spent some time with the U.S. military last year in Afghanistan. He saw the work of our troops close up and made a minor investment in the local economy by bringing some gifts home for his family and our staff. No antiques, nothing special, just things bought at the local market. What happened next is what is extraordinary. It cost him about $250 in U.S. dollars to get out of the country by paying "fees" to individuals at the airport. As Americans we expect to go to the airport, perhaps pay a baggage fee or even in some countries a visa fee and that is the end of it. No graft, no corruption, only transparency and a feeling that we live our lives with laws and rules.

Some recent revelations, however, begin to beg the question as to who is really invested in how America runs and operates. Four events this week are enough to make you wonder if America is going the way of some poorly run third-world country. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice resolved a criminal complaint with KBR, Inc., a subsidiary of Halliburton. It pled guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by making improper payments to government officials in Nigeria to do big business. How much do they have to pay into the federal kitty for this? Approximately $402 million in criminal fines was paid back to taxpayers. That's a lot of admitted corruption.

On Friday, the Department of Justice was able to collect another $26.3 million to resolve fraud allegations for inflated shipping costs to military in Iraq and Afghanistan. What did they do to bilk the taxpayer? They inflated invoices billing above the contractual rate and also billed for non-reimbursable services.

Sunday's New York Times ran with a front-page story on the $125 billion for rebuilding Iraq. No, this wasn't the money that somehow got lost with the Iraqi locals; this money allegedly found its way into the pockets of our military leaders. Two United States colonels! The New York Times says this possible graft was worthy of a crime novel with "tens of thousands of dollars being stuffed into pizza boxes."

Also, heading up this week's news is the Treasury Department's inspector general who opened an audit of the first $350 billion of TARP funds to bail out the banking industry. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is one of the politicians screaming the loudest about what might be lobbying and influence peddling. There are people in Washington in wonderment as to how banks that did not ask for money under the Bush administered bailout got it. But no one knows who got all the money and how much. Also, this week there were seven-hour hearings about how several of the banks were using more than $40 billion dollars in TARP
money. The hearings were fascinating, and a blogger for the Wall Street Journal said they were "like a Saturday Night Live skit."

We discovered all this information in the last seven days – behind-the-scenes deals, payoffs to foreign government officials, possible payoffs to members of our military and overbilling.

It doesn't sound like the America we teach our children about. It doesn't sound like the America that makes me proud; it sounds like Afghanistan, and I don't like it.

Interview with Obama

Tonight at 8 p.m., President Obama will hold his first major press conference as president of the United States. No duck and cover or dodge 'em – he's going prime time in front of the American people. It's not unprecedented, but it is impressive. It's not partisan to observe that Obama has inherited a global mess not of his making, one that currently presses on the American people at the going rate of more than 500,000 lost jobs per month. FDR used prime time and the technology of his day to host the "Fireside Chats" with the people. It's fair to say that President Obama is about to do the same.

But what will he chat about what? By Monday night he will have been in office only 20 days. The problems he – and we – faces were years in the making and will take just as long to solve. What I thought I would do here is pose several questions reporters are likely to ask. At the same time, I'll answer in ways I hope President Obama will answer.

Q: Mr. President, your critics have said that the stimulus bill is pork laden, and government program driven and doesn't do enough to create jobs. How do you respond?

A: We're in a worldwide economic crisis right now that has no precedent. I don't think that the word for what it is has been invented yet. It has certain features of a recession, and certain features of a depression. Anyone – my supporters or my critics –who think they have all the answers here are misleading the people. The fact is, we're going to have to pick our way through this, even making up the rules as we go along. As Abraham Lincoln
once said, "As our case is new, so must we think anew and act anew." Is this stimulus bill perfect? I doubt it. But what constitutes perfection in this crisis is something that may not be known for a generation. Democrats, Republicans and independents are just going to have to keep working together until we get his right. We don't have any choice.

Q: Mr. President, someone joked the other day that your administration is desperately searching for nominees with a record for paying their taxes. What do you have to say about this?

A: We've certainly made mistakes – too many – in vetting our nominees for federal office. Just last week, I acknowledged, as Harry Truman once said that, "The buck stops here." And it does – I do take – and will continue to take – responsibility for what this administration does, both its mistakes and its successes. We can do better. We will do better. I gladly make this pledge, but won't make any excuses.

Q: Mr. President, what are you going to do about Iran's nuclear ambitions?

A: We certainly know what we can't do about them. Previous attempts have been made to bluster, threaten and even send fleets into the Persian Gulf. We've tried negotiations through various third parties, especially the Europeans. And none of it – repeat, none of these things – have managed to slow down the Iranian nuclear program one iota. There's only one thing that we haven't tried: a direct face-to-face negotiation with the Iranian leadership. I think it's worth a try. And if it doesn't work, we'll deal with those consequences at that time.

Q: Mr. President, some critics have suggested that you were far too deferential to Congress in allowing the Democrat-controlled House leadership to craft the first version of the stimulus bill. How would you respond to those who feel the White House should be more independent of Congress?

A: You know, you can't have things both ways. Since 2006 the American people have voted in ways that make it very clear that they're not interested in divided government, in partisan bickering, in "old style" politics where partisan interest trumps the national interest. All bills are compromises – none are perfect. But here's the truth: As I've already said, we're in a crisis. And a bill is better than no bill. And what the Senate will pass and the House and Senate will negotiate on, is a bill. That's action, not paralysis.

Jobless in shabby America

It's been a lousy week for America. As I write this on Super Bowl Sunday, it occurs to me that on just one of those days, we lost more jobs than the number of people it takes to fill a football stadium – and then some.

At this rate of job loss, we're careening right towards the bread lines, soup kitchens, and maybe worse. These days my e-mail inbox is full, not with complaints but from desperate people looking for work. And behind every one of those requests is a story – retirements deferred, marriages in trouble, kids starting out in life who are suddenly sidetracked, aged parents without living arrangements, looming bankruptcy and important health care decisions deferred.

The stimulus bill, HR1, was supposed to get us working again; it was supposed to save or create more than 4 million jobs. It was supposed to fix some of those stories crowding my inbox, supposed to restore dreams, avert bankruptcies and put paychecks in the pockets of Americans.
Does it? I'm not so sure. First, the bill as passed by the House doesn't create the kinds of jobs that average Americans need – it seems more geared for bureaucrats and government program managers – and many of the programs themselves have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. According to reliably reported estimates, it will take President Obama 18 months to spend 75 percent of the money! Try telling that to the millions of Americans standing in unemployment lines. Cold comfort.

The only thing goods in this bill are the jobs to rebuild infrastructure. I've noted in this space before that we live in a "shabby" America. Take a train or drive the streets in my home town of Cleveland, Ohio, and crumbling is all around you: Broken windows, once beautiful buildings that look like bombed-out ruins, and even monuments to our greatest war heroes are unclean, black from air pollution and neglect.
Congress ought to know one thing: The American people will not understand. Instead, we need to take that huge pot of gold and put a pickax and a paintbrush in the hands of our unemployed. Let's get some pride back in out cities, railways, airports and transportation hubs. Let's make Main Street sparkle. The game is simple, and FDR understood it well: Every dime for infrastructure. Added to this should be creating jobs around renewable energy, fiber and cable networking, and high-speed public transportation.
We also need another version of CETA – the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. This was enacted in 1973 and extended well into the Carter era. It was designed to train workers for public service. I was running an outpatient treatment center at the time and we had three CETA slots. Some of the people are still at the center 30 years later as paid and productive employees. CETA also put low-income students to work in the summer and it allowed nonprofits to be creative without the long hand of government running the show.

What needs to happen now is some combination of infrastructure jobs, and CETA-type jobs that don't line the pockets of mega corporations and mega government. It should allow the small, green companies, local companies and nonprofits to get a piece of the stimulus pie.
Nonprofits are hurting, their donor base is shrinking and some lost millions in the Madoff scheme. HR 1 makes some great strides, but it needs to be fixed. It needs to be more targeted, and it needs to make sure that money gets out faster than 18 months.
The slide we are seeing in the economy is gaining speed. And unless we do something to slow or stop it, sooner or later, all of us will dwell in a dumpster –figuratively or literally.

Obama: The 1st 100 hours

Pundits have a problem writing about Barack Obama and his administration: There's both plenty to say, and it's just too soon to say anything. Most reporters are dwelling upon minutia, so I'd dwell on the few certainties we have after the first 100 hours. Most of these relate to the fantastic, paranoid pre-election perceptions about President Obama that kept the country on edge of its collective seat for months. Conservatives and liberals together have some tough challenges in the months ahead, so it's worth revisiting some once commonly held views about the president.

First, he didn't take the oath of office on the Quran, unless there was something about Abraham Lincoln we didn't know. He used Lincoln's Bible, and the only odd thing about the swearing in was that it was fumbled by otherwise smart conservative Chief Justice John Roberts.
Next, President Obama isn't a closet socialist or communist, unless there's something about Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner – arch-capitalist and former chief of New York's Federal Reserve Bank – that we don't know. In fact, the only thing we didn't know about him was that made that most upper class American error: He screwed up on his nanny taxes.

President Obama's administration of American foreign policy is not being turned over to al-Qaida. It is being given to Hillary Clinton, who, you may remember, was the conservative alternative to the "radical" candidate Obama during the Democratic primary. Despite election talk craziness, don't expect to see Osama bin Laden, Hamas or Iran's president invited to any White House receptions. In fact, some foreign policy experts think Iran's president may actually have been weakened by Obama's election – the mullahs want better relations with the U.S., and the former is now seen as an obstacle.

The U.S. military will not be replaced by groups of "community organizers." It will be managed by highly regarded Bush Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. And, while Obama has asked his defense team for a slow drawdown of troops from Iraq, he's just ordered thousands more Marines to Afghanistan. So much for holding hands and singing Kumbaya.
I could go on, but I think you get the point – this administration is about as middle of the road, inside the envelope, and mainstream as any ever elected. No, Obama is not a Republican, and he has already made some changes long dear to the Democratic Party: liberalizing abortion money for overseas groups (which Bill Clinton also did on his day one) or asking that the public relations disaster of Gitmo be closed in a year (which many in the Bush administration had also recommended.) And yes, given the chance, he'll probably appoint some liberals to the Supreme Court. But so far, he hasn't taken anyone's guns away.

So when Rush Limbaugh declares that he wants Obama "to fail," he's not talking about Hamas, Iran's president or bin Laden. He's talking about a president who enjoys a 75 percent approval rating and with good reason: Obama is us – all of us – thinks like us, acts like us, liberal here, conservative there, unsure somewhere else – indeed, no crazier than your boss or significant other. And much to the dismay of lefty culture warriors, he even smokes cigarettes!
So, Rush, my friend, join the public and even some of your listeners: Settle down, and give the man a chance.