Obama, is he or isn’t he … real?

by: Divorced one like Bush

As we watch the “team” Obama is putting together and the discussions regarding how reflective of progressive ideas they are vs same old, same old, I thought I would add to the hunt for Obama’s true identity. These are comments from his policy positions regarding development of our living environment and the economic relationship. I was keyed to these via a notice I receive from the Smart Growth movement.

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Over the longer term, we know that the amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land use decisions and development patterns, much of which have been organized around the principle of cheap gasoline. Barack Obama believes that we must move beyond our simple fixation of investing so many of our transportation dollars in serving drivers and that we must make more investments that make it easier for us to walk, bicycle and access transportation alternatives.
Level Employer Incentives for Driving and Public Transit: The federal tax code rewards driving to work by allowing employers to provide parking benefits of $205 per month tax free to their employees. The tax code provides employers with commuting benefits for transit, carpooling or vanpooling capped at $105 per month. This gives drivers a nearly 2:1 advantage over transit users. Obama will reform the tax code to make benefits for driving and public transit or ridesharing equal.

The top 100 metro areas generate two-thirds of our jobs, nearly 80% of patents, and handle 75% of all seaport tonnage. In fact, 42 of our metro areas now rank among the world’s 100 largest economies. “To seize the possibility of this moment, we need to promote strong cities as the backbone of regional growth. And yet, Washington remains trapped in an earlier era, wedded to an outdated ‘urban’ agenda that focuses exclusively on the problems in our cities, and ignores our growing metro areas. Strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America….that is the new metropolitan reality and we need a new strategy that reflects it . . .

Obama furthers his argument that type of transportation is important in the overall picture of our living arrangements which relates to the overall quality of our economy.
Responding to Transportation for America’s petition:

We need our next president to lead an initiative to invest in public transit, high-speed trains, places to bike and walk, and green innovation. We need a president with a plan that can put millions to work in jobs that can’t be outsourced, bring down the costs of travel, and create a sustainable infrastructure that will keep America on the cutting edge.

Obama answers:

And I think you’ve identified an important part of the answer as well. Our economy is slowing down, we need to stimulate it. Jobs are disappearing; we need to create new ones. At the same time, our infrastructure is crumbling and we need to rebuild it.
I had already proposed creating a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank, funded with $60 billion over 10 years, to expand and enhance, not replace, existing federal transportation investments.
I will invest $150 billion over the next decade in renewable sources of energy to create five million new, green jobs – jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced; jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and fuel- efficient cars;…
I support Amtrak funding and the development of high-speed freight and passenger rail networks across the country.
As you know, all of these measures will have significant environmental and metropolitan planning advantages and help diversify our nation’s transportation infrastructure. Everyone benefits if we canleave our cars, walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. I agree that we can stop wasteful spending and save Americans money, and as president, I will re- evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account.

So, he talked the lingo of progressive minded people. Do these statements suggest that the ideology behind his pragmatism is progressive?

If the change we wanted was not to be bull shitted anymore, and the one I’m listening to is talking “change” using lingo, presenting policy plans of what I want, was I wrong to think they were talking no more bull shit? Are those talking like Glen Greenwald correct in that people should not be surprised with Obama’s appointments? Maybe, but then based on the above Obama words, that would mean we (you and I) just plain have to approach our relationship with governing as suspect until proven otherwise. Unfortunately, that means we will always be a day late and a dollar short having never known at the time of the decision if we made the correct one because you can not go by what is said.

Hey, I posted about Goolsbee and even asked if bringing in Jason Furman was a concession to the Clinton/blue dogs, did it mean the DLC kept control of the money issues. Does this mean that the non blog savy voter can not rely on what Obama said? Do you understand what the answer of “yes” means? Are those informing us that we should have known better, also saying that knowing the talk of “change” by Mc Cain et al was bull shit were not real in our understanding of what Obama was saying?

Come-on already! This is like blamming people for the down economy because of their consuming in an economy that is 75% consumption. We’re progressives, for christ sake… We Trust.

Do you know what happens to a person when they can never get a straight, no hidden agenda answer from one they count on? They go nuts.