Obama adopts the failed policies of Granholm in Michigan
Image via WikipediaFormer Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has yet to start teaching her new Cal-Berkeley course on "clean energy jobs and diversifying the economy" - but she already has a devoted student in the White House.There is much more.
President Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday night was remarkably similar to the failed economic vision of Michigan's ex-governor - complete with Granholm's rhetorical ruse substituting "investments" for "spending" - that she laid out in her State of the State address exactly five years ago. "If the states are the laboratories of democracy," Granholm wrote in the Huffington Post last December, "Washington can take a lesson from what is happening in Michigan."
...
Granholm envisioned a transformation of Michigan from Rust Belt to "Green Belt" with massive, European-like, public investments in infrastructure and alternative energy. "In five years, you'll be blown away," she predicted in what would become her signature line.
Ironically, thousands of state jobs were blown away as Granholm's vision diverted pols' attention from much-needed reforms to the state's budget and business climate. Since her speech in 2006, the state's unemployment rate has exploded from 7.4 percent to 11.4.
Now Obama wants to take the Granholm model national.
Indeed, he already has. Obamanomics since 2009 have mirrored Granholmnomics - and complimented it with a huge infusion of federal dollars. While Democratic organs like The New York Times have swallowed White House spin that this is a new, pro-business Obama vision, it is in fact more of the same ol', same ol'.
Obama diverted one-sixth of the federal stimulus bill - a staggering $130 billion - to politically-connected corporations in the green sector. Obamanomics - and Granholmnomics - have always been "pro-business' in the sense that they reward crony capitalists. Korea's LG Chem, A123 Systems, Dow and others have receive millions in state and federal subsidies to build batteries and other visions of Granobama utopia.
...
Michigan was the laboratory for a failed experiment which Obama is trying to duplicate. The Republicans should pull the plug on this failed policy. We need to stop strangling domestic production of energy and let the energy industry create thousands of jobs and increase badly needed revenue in the form of royalties. There is a trillion dollars there for the government and Obama is instead squandering money on inefficient energy boondoggles.
Comments
Post a Comment