JOBS PLAN: Obama's Golden Opportunity Could Spark a New Era of FDR-style American Greatness

A giant freighter passes through the Maeslantkering sea gate in the Netherlands.
The Dutch can literally turn off the sea when their homeland is threatened by oceanic flooding.  

...But only with a bold vision of greatness, beginning in New Orleans.

President Barack Obama will make what could be the most important speech of his presidency next Thursday.  Next Thursday falls within the sixth anniversary of the castration of American greatness that was the response to Hurricane Katrina.  Pictured Above is what the Dutch do when the Netherlands is threatened by flooding from the sea:  Since they built the Maeslantkering sea gate, Holland can protect itself by simply TURNING OFF THE SEA!  

The American solution for New Orleans:  And it's already leaking.  

During the Bush administration, the American solution to "preventing" another Katrina was to rebuild and increase the height of a stack of rocks, dirt and mortar; and, in some cases with a cement wall.  


In RoLA's opinion, the the president's opportunity to reset the U.S. standing as a nation of greatness and  innovation couldn't be more obvious:  begin work on what could be called the "Great Gulf Coast Sea Gate," or "Great Gulf Gate."  Or, because we love abbreviations in this country, the shorthand for the multi-thousand job project could be (drum roll) "G3."  


Not only would this be good for the economy, our image abroad (not to mention our own self-image), such a bold move would reassert Obama's "Yes We Can" mantra--you know; the one that got him elected as the nation's first African American president.  The Great Gulf Gate, however, should not, in our opinion be the only project in Obama's plan.  Projects of similar significance, with equally bold vision, should populate the his new jobs program.  But, please Mr. President; make New Orleans the center point--the foundation--of your plan

Tax Day? Tea Time!

Anti-Obama, Anti-Medicare, Anti-Tax, Pro-Ryan, Tea Partying Angelenos' Day in the Sun?

What they lacked in numbers during tax season 2011, they made up for in zealousness

By Thom Senzee

WOODLAND HILLS (RoLA)--Patti Hutchens (far left, w/flag) came out in the late afternoon sun Saturday to a park in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of the City of L.A. and did something she's done every April 15 since 2009--wave the red-white-&-blue at passing cars to express her passion for what she believes America needs most: lower taxes.

"I like the Paul Ryan plan," Hutchens, 56 of Canoga Park, said.

Asked whether the part of Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Minn.) plan to end Medicare as we know it today in favor of a system that would give seniors a voucher and marching orders to fend for themselves in the private health-insurance market bothered her or not, the self-proclaimed former liberal aanswered in with a definite "no."

"I don't think [ending Medicare] is a problem," she said. "They can just go to Kaiser."

Hutchens and many of her fellow Tea partiers seem to believe seniors will find few if any barriers to obtaining health care from a largely for-profit private system, despite the fact that politicians and business leaders from both parties have long decried as dysfunctional and inaccessable to at least 40 million people in this country.

But on one defining aspect of the Ryan plan, Hutchens seemed confused. Republic Of L.A. asked her if she really believed an 80- or 90-year-old with pre-existing conditions (is there such a thing as a 90-year-old without pre-existing conditions?) would be able to find coverage with an $8,000 government voucher. That amount that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would be the average value of a voucher for a person aged 65.

"I think it's $12,000," she said. "I think Kaiser would insure someone like that for $12,000."

In fact, according to the non-partisan CBO, the cost for coverage of the kind now enjoyed by all seniors who receive medicare would cost, at minimum, $16,000 on the open market. The Paul Ryan voucher system would allow the average 65-year-old $8,000. The individual would have to come up with the other $8,000 on her own--assuming she could find an company that would accept her (keeping in mind that Republican plans also include repealing Pres. Obama's Affordable Care Act, and returning the nation to a system that allows for denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions).

Yet Tea Party "patriots" such as Hutchens, are confident that not only will insurance companies welcome 65-year-olds with pre-exisint conditions, they'll also roll out the red carpet for 85- and 95-year-olds too.

Obama Channels 'W.' on Daily Show

HECK OF A JOB SUMMY?

click here for clip

Giving props to top economic advisor and Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, Pres. Barack Obama, appearing on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with John Stewart" conjured memories of George W. Bush, whose comments on camera during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina included a pat on the back for then FEMA director, Michael D. Brown followed by the now-notorious compliment: "You're doin' a heck of a job, Brownie."

That, of course, led to a nickname that will stick with Mr. Brown for the rest of his life. From Nantucket, to Nome, he's still referred to as Heck-of-a-job-Brownie--the tragic irony being that he was waxing conceitedly about his telegenic looks while elderly women died in the streets of New Orleans.

Shall we now call Larry Summers, Heck-of-a-job-Summy?

Obama, McCaine: More F22s Unneeded (Cuts to Thousands of Jobs in California)

Say Goodbye, L.A., to a Big Jobs Program...and a Really Bad-Ass Airplane

Sorry, I guess even a gay leftie still has an inner ten-year-old who loves cool jet fighters. Just look at it! I want one. Well, between the Air Force and the Navy, the U.S. military is getting 187 of them anyway. Truth be told, many experts believe the F-22 Raptor is a weapon in search of a mission, as it was designed to combat a never-built, advanced Soviet fighter.

The local angle is jobs. In California, contractors--the lead of which is Lockheed-Martin--claim 19,500 jobs will be lost as a result of the recent vote to ix-nay the ane-play. About 6,500 of those are workers working directly on the contract to supply the military with the ultra-fast, ultra-stealthy war birds. Another 13,000 in supporting jobs will be lost, they say. The job losses will begin to materialize this year, as the program winds down, with the bulk of pink slips to be issued next year when it ends altogether.


Award-winning blogger and former L.A. Times columnist Robert Scheer calls Obama and McCaine brave for not supporting the military-industrial complex's biggest pet project, noting that while some in congress were ready to allocate hundreds of billions of dollars to keep the F-22 Raptor contract flying, there was no one on earth who could find $50 million to keep L.A.'s summer school sessions alive.

First Gay Supreme Court Justice?

Will Prof. Kathleen Sullivan (pictured, center; photo courtesy Georgetown Law School), who teaches law at Stanford University be the first openly gay nominee for the highest court in the land? Politico.com is reporting a push by some prominent gay and lesbian advocacy groups are pushing for the president to make up for his failure to appoint any (openly) gay men or women to his cabinet by doing so to the bench of the United States Supreme Court.

If he does, it may be the most controversial thing the new president has done to date. There is a potential corollary to Bill Clinton's effort to end discrimination of gays and lesbians in the military at a time that was later deemed too early, and in a manner that was too visible. The end result was one of history's worst "compromises:" the policy known as (and still in effect) Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell.

However, there is no way to time a Supreme Court opening and no way to fill a vacancy on the high court in a discrete manner. It will be interesting to how Obama acts. If he makes a bold move, such as nominating Prof. Sullivan, who is a lesbian, or fellow Stanford law professor, Pam Karlan, who is also a gay woman, it will put this president down in the history books for one more first...and why not; it's beginning to feel like the 21st Century has finally arrived.