-
Farewell to the Spectator
December 16, 2011 | 8 comments
-
Tentative Praise for Ryan’s New Bipartisan Medicare Plan
December 15, 2011 | 3 comments
-
The Day Ahead: Thursday, December 15
December 15, 2011 | 0 comments
-
Examiner for Romney, National Review Against Gingrich
December 14, 2011 | 39 comments
-
Paul Ryan to Introduce New Medicare Plan with Democrat Ron Wyden
December 14, 2011 | 4 comments
The Spectacle Blog
If President Obama wants to lift metaphors from Thomas Friedman, then it’s only fair that Matt Welch rips his Afghanistan troop withdrawal speech to shreds. The offending metaphor? That instead of nation-building in Afghanistan, it “is time to focus on nation building here at home.”
Welch also notes that Obama’s been selling infrastructure repairs for a long time now:
If the rebuild-our-infrastructure vow sounds familiar, that’s because Barack Obama has been demanding we do precisely that since campaigning for president, being elected president, pushing through a $787 billion stimulus package in early 2009, announcing a $50 billion infrastructure-building plan in September 2010, making his 2011 State of the Union address, and on and on. Why, it’s almost as if his repeated promises to stimulate the economy by rebuilding infrastructure results in precisely neither of those things happening!
View all comments (13) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/24/nation-building-at-home
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
JP| 6.24.11 @ 7:21PM
Of course if we had a press corps that wasn't in the Dems' pocket perhaps a few reporters would corner the President on this. If one includes the 2005-06 Transportation Bill and all of the domestic spending since then, we have spent well over $1.5 trillion on "infrastructure" (highways, bridges, airports, telecom, education, harbors, community centers, etc...).
Japan and Germany have spent as much as we have on infrastructure and all they have to show for it is high unemployment, weak real GDP growth, and mountng public liabilities.
Outside of Asia, no one really knows how to create wealth anymore.
Frank| 6.24.11 @ 9:02PM
Easing environmental reviews and regulations and doing away with Davis-Bacon Act requirements would 1) speed things along and, 2) make the money spent, go farther.
Mike| 6.24.11 @ 9:22PM
In the Colburn v. Norquist debate, Colburn is right,
Norquist is an idiot, at best. If he were a foreigner, I would declare war on the bastard.
Handy| 6.25.11 @ 7:13AM
This nation built itself without a lot of federal income taxes or federal spending.
Starve the pig. Shoot a tax collector.
Timothy L. Pennell| 6.25.11 @ 7:53AM
You're not understanding what he's saying.
He wants to "Nation Build", here. He wants to "Fundamentally Transform this Country".
JP brings up Germany and Japan. We Nation Built, in these two Countries. We Fundamentally Transformed them. How did we do this?
We DESTROYED what was already there, first.
Get the picture?
Handy| 6.25.11 @ 9:30AM
His goal is to destroy capitalism and install socialism.
But, we have been socialists for a long time already.
MarkJ| 6.25.11 @ 2:29PM
"is time to focus on nation building here at home."
This begs the obvious question to Obama: "Umm, okay, so what the h*** have you been focusing on for the past 2 1/2 years?"
Skippy| 6.26.11 @ 3:05PM
He is focused like a laser beam.
He has made it his number one priority.
He will not rest.
He...is out playing golf.
Again.