Obama announces $50 billion economic recovery plan

President Obama officially kicked off the fall election season by visiting the friendly confines of the Laborfest celebration at Maier Festival Park. He stumped for Tom Barrett’s bid for governor and told us pretty much the same thing he has on his previous two visits to the state in the past three months.

Then he shook things up by announcing his latest plan to get the economy back on its feet.

With the unemployment rate continuing to push the 10 percent mark, Obama plans to sink another $50 billion over the next six years into roadways, trains and runways that he says will provide instant jobs and long-term growth.

But don’t call it a stimulus.

Obama and his fellow Democrats in Washington have learned that the public has soured on the stimulus — most feel that it didn’t work and they won’t stand for the government spending more money on a failed program. Call it a jobs program, an infrastructure improvement plan, Obama’s Amazing Plan to Spend More Money  – just don’t call it a stimulus.

Obama wants to invest this latest chunk of change (thanks for the loan, China) to build 150,000 miles of roadways, 4,000 miles of high-speed railroads, 150 miles of runways and bring the nation’s air traffic control system in to the 21^st century.

“This is not a Republican or Democrat idea,” Obama told the cheering crowd, “We all want to get where we want to go.”

He promised that the $50 billion will be fully paid for and not add to the deficit by making cuts to government waste, bureaucracy, and duplication. He would also like to set up an “Infrastructure Bank” that would leverage federal dollars and make smart investments for these types of projects. Obama and the administration plan to flesh out the plan during an appearance in Cincinnati later this week.

“This will not only create jobs immediately, it’s also going to make our economy hum,” he said. “It’s a plan that history tells us can and should attract bipartisan support. It’s a plan that says even in the aftermath of the worst recession in our lifetimes, America can still shape our own destiny. We can still leave our children something better.”

After his big economic recovery announcement, Obama went back to the place he loves best – the campaign stump. While the union faithful chanted “yes we can” in the background, Obama tore into the Republicans, calling them obstructionist and the “Party of No.”

“They’ve been treating me like a dog,” Obama said. “The folks in Washington see things differently than I, even on things we should agree on. If I say the sky is blue, they say no! If I say fish live in the sea, they say no!”

He added that the GOP has said no to to middle class tax cuts, no to energy and no to a plan to help small businesses.

“I thought they were the party of business,” Obama said jokingly, as the crowd continued the “yes we can” mantra.

He wrapped up his message with a call to action like a pastor in his pulpit. Comparing the last 10 years of economic policy to that of a car stuck in a ditch he warned the voters to not give the keys back to the Republicans.

He described the last 1 ½ years as hard work, pushing and shoving the car out the ditch all while facing the ridicule of the GOP asking “how come you’re not pushing harder, how come you’re not pushing faster?”

“And then when we finally got the car up – and it’s got a few dings and a few dents, it’s got some mud on it – they point to everybody and say, ‘look what these guys did to your car.’ And then they got the nerve to ask for the keys back! I don’t want to give them the keys back. They don’t know how to drive.”

He wrapped up his analogy with one rhetorical question – “When you want to go forward in your car, what do you do? You put it in D.”

So a third trip to the area gets us $50 billion in stimulus … er, I mean infrastructure spending,  and a message to put our future in the hands of Democrats.

Is this really the help that you need, Mr. Barrett?