President Obama declares “Peace in our time!” O wait...

That was British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain when he got back from talking with the Germans, just before the Germans went to war with England. Chamberlain believed he was negotiating with reasonable people. 

President Obama is just way too much like Neville Chamberlain to negotiate with Republicans. He needs to tap Richard Trumka as his primary negotiator. Richard Trumka knows what Republicans are made of. I like this ad:

"This fight is not going to be won by the president taking a step towards Boehner, Boehner taking a step toward the president, the president taking a step toward Boehner, Boehner taking a step toward the president and so forth until they meet in the middle," Damon Silvers, policy director at the AFL-CIO, told Ezra. "That hasn't worked before. Boehner doesn't take the steps. It will be won by the president clearly siding with the American people on tax fairness and preserving the safety net from benefit cuts."

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A shift in posture, a sense of 'weakness'

High speed Rail

We have no high speed rail in the United States of America. We have a few fast trains.

• Our air traffic control is not up to 21 Century standards.

• Our truck freight system is not very safe.

• Our rail freight system is not all it can be.

• Our manufacturing has been moved to other countries and an economy that was once based on manufacturing is now based on consumers buying stuff, mostly made in China.

• Our financial system is based on buying imported manufactured items, USA consumers buying them and China and other countries buying our Treasury bonds. USA manufacturing is all but dead.

There is a common thread that binds all those together:
Unions and the anti-union mission of the Republican Party; unions mostly support the Democratic Party. Among other things the Rush-publicans have rejected any transportation form that may involve unions and has driven out USA manufacturing. It is very clear to me that they did this for purely political reasons.


The Obama Administration has a bold new plan to bring high speed rail to the United States of America.

President Obama's initiative will fund high-speed and intercity passenger rail programs. It includes $8 billion in stimulus money and $5 billion more over the next five years.

"The money represents the first major step toward establishing a genuine high-speed train network in the United States and has sparked a stampede among states, advocacy groups and lobbyists who are not accustomed to this level of funding." Washington Post

“High-Speed Rail Drives Obama's Transportation Agenda
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 8, 2009;
A01
The Northern Lights Express is little more than an idea –

a proposal for a 110-mph passenger train between Minneapolis and Duluth, Minn., that has crept along in fits and starts for years. But the slow ride may soon be over. The project is one of dozens nationwide that are likely to benefit from President Obama's initiative to fund high-speed and intercity passenger rail programs, including $8 billion in stimulus money and $5 billion more over the next five years in the administration's proposed transportation budget.”
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/07/AR2009030701794.html?nav=hcmodule