Monday, January 19, 2009

Change You Can Believe In

Estimates for tomorrow's inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama run as high as $150 million. That price tag equals one year's allotment for TEMPORARY INCREASE IN BENEFITS UNDER THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 found on page 42 of 334. In other words we could feed the children for a year on what is spent in a day.

As reported on Politics in Northeast Pennsylvania an Independent Advisory Panel is to be appointed by the President. The allocation for the panel of five is pegged at $14,000,000. It is hard to imagine that $3,000,000 is needed for each person.

The first time solar energy is mentioned lands a person on page 180. It is part of the 21ST CENTURY GREEN HIGH-PERFORMING PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES. One will find the word solar used two times in the entire document. In the same appropriation the word wind is used exactly two times. Only $14 billion-page 171 about Section 9301 funding- out of the document's $850 billion proposal is dedicated to this effort. That is a resounding 1.6% of the entire appropriation. There is no provision for private industry or homeowner aid to get a greener life.

There is no help for private industries to get on board with alternate power.

Obama's words from a speech delivered in 2006- "Why can't we make energy security one of the great American projects of the 21st century?" I guess he feels 1.6% is a serious committment.

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