I was - still am, a huge Obama supporter -
I campaigned for him - went to his inauguration.

But he lied to U.S.
Ethics - what ethics?
Is it really ethical to stand by these tax cheats?
What kind of example is that?
If his children voted for someone for class president if that person
were caught cheating would he really approve -
Would that person even run.

And now he is ducking reporters questions after the Gregg nomination - just like Bush.
Will he admit the obvious - that it was a mistake to stand by these people -
Or does he not make mistakes like Bush.

I am dumbfounded that he is sticking by these people.
Even after a totally broken vetting process is revealed -
I give up.
I will not defend him to my republican friends.
He is no change at all - same old shit.

And now his performance secretary of all people resigns because of her tax crap -
Is he sad to see her go also -
It's a performance all right
Makes one wonder how many senators and congressmen
and state assembly politicians don't pay their taxes.

I wish someone could start a website clearing house for every
single one of them where their public records (public payroll after all?)
Could be investigated and updated locally and nationally.
Nannies, cars, income, etc. etc. etc.

I am so disappointed in Obama.
His behavior is verging on arrogant - not confident.

And an aside -
This cutesy Matt Lauer stuff is so stupid.
What are we high school girls?
How about a prime time address from the oval office before we slip into a depression -
Both figuratively and literally.
Time for games is over.

The wealthy don't use mass ground transportation. It is what it implies; for the unwashed masses.

If the stated purpose of this bill is to spend at least 75% of the money in the next 18 months (I think 75% is too low, but that's an argument for another time), then how do you justify including money for a project that won't start for up to 3 years?

Bond: Long-Term Mass Transit Investment "Not Stimulative".

And this coming from a member of the flat-earth society? I really find it hard to believe that anybody with half a brain believes the garbage that these people spew. At least 50% of republicans don't even believe it. They are talking themselves into political oblivion. Let them talk and dig that grave. Somebody should send all the republican senators an elementary school level book on the history of the whig party. Maybe that will wake them up, but I doubt it.

Oh, and I forgot. Bond said that mass-transit investment isn't stimulative! Oh no! Obama is losing it. His administration is doomed from the start because of what bond said. It's all over. We can shut the books on the obama administration and look forward to 2012. What a disaster! What were people thinking when they voted for him? Total nightmare. Doomed, doomed I tell you.

Gee, and my friendly local heavy-rail agency just got more new locomotives, built in Boise, Idaho, so they can run longer trains and take the time to actually maintain the stuff they have. (The new passenger cars are taking longer to arrive, but that's probably because they're built in pieces overseas and assembled in the US.)

Why do the Republicans hate Americans?

these kind of repug arguments are all just so much la-de-da to keep us distracted from actually passing a stimulus bill. quibble and distract, that's about all they can do with the numbers they have in congress. surprisingly, it's working as the media, democrats, and us here are all buying into it and debating every last point with them.

they still control the dialogue in this country

Bush kept us safe all these years by not getting all caught up in this stuff.
Now look where we are -
talking about trains under the Dem. Christmas tree.
Come 2010 Americans will remember that Bush kept us safe - AND ALL OBAMA COULD DO WAS TRY TO FIND A DEMOCRAT WHO HAS ACTUALLY PAID THIER TAXES.
You libs always find a way to screw it up.

Bond needs to lay off the sauce a bit. It's not good to be that drunk and sprouting off crap that early in the morning.

Just like any large scale meeting, it's often the loudest people in the room who are heard, which also often mean its the dumbest in the room who are heard. I just call it Republicanism...okay, sorry, modern Republicanism

Really though, this is classic Republican political strategy. They've perfected the ability to create a discourse, and then insist that the rules of this self-created discourse are followed according to their defined terms. They then proceed to demonstrate unwavering solidarity on the issue, because they view their political existence and hence the existence of their power, as a collective. They'll get behind whoever has the loudest voice, regardless of what the underlying point of their message is, because that's who has the most power in the present moment. Constant ad hoc badgering, and the media who crave constant and ever-changing political narratives will echo their calls without an ounce of reasonable reflection.

I think there is something to be said for speeding up projects in the "stimulus" bill. But I wouldn't cut mass transit. I would add a rider to the bill that any project selected: a) must complete more than 50% of construction by the end of 2010; b) is exempt from all state, local and federal permitting requirements; and c) any legal challenges, state or federal, are channeled into a designated federal court in DC. Back in the 1930s, you could build subways in a year or two. Now it takes five years to add a light rail extension system onto existing tracks (see, e.g., Boston's Green Line extension). This isn't because construction has grown less efficient; it's a political failure to insure we Build Absolultely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.

Bond is one of the biggest political assholes of all time. He is doing a favor for his contractor buddies and also thinks that black people might benefit if the money goes to transit and we wouldn't want that would we?

It seems to me that a good way to get around the Republicans' opposition to transit projects would be to specify nice-sized chunks of the funds for mass transit projects in the biggest cities in their states. This would have several effects:
1. You're essentially bribing the senators to vote for the bill. If it works that way, fine. If not, Bond et al. have to explain to their economically depressed constituents that they saved them from the "moral hazard" of having both jobs and better mass transit.
2. If you've always had to drive to work, a convenient, reliable mass transit system is a revelation--and with any luck people will remember which party wanted their twice-a-day, every-weekday commute to be an hour stuck in traffic, burning gasoline at christ-knows-what a gallon, and trying not to get killed, and which one wanted them to spend that time listening to iPods, reading the paper and watching the scenery go by.

Republicans will tend to shepherd the money to their pals. That's fine--as long as our guys do the planning and the very stringent, well-toothed specs. (You have to plan around the Rs' proclivity to treat public contracts as a license to steal.)

Incredible gall. Right here in St. Louis, the largest city in his home state, our transit agency is preparing to drastically cut service and lay off some 600 people. Keeping those people in work isn't "stimulative"?