Blog Update

I’m not much inspired to write these days, so I thought I’d add a blog reading list to my blog, as many of the bloggers on my list have on theirs. I’ve accepted the default arrangement of most recent post first, so the order will be updated as new posts appear.

The blogs listed are most of my Google Reader subscriptions. If you like this blog, be sure to have a read of these others, as well.

Shaking My Head (Part 2)

This was in front of the new fire station as it was being
built at one corner of the road in question.

Not even two weeks ago, the county road leading to our housing area was resurfaced. It took nearly a whole week, as the part of the road that was resurfaced is about 3 miles long. When it was finished, it was really nice; all the largish holes, dips, and bumps were gone.

Today as I left for work, there were flagman signs, and a work crew was busily drilling a hole in the new surface. Well, one guy was busily drilling a hole; four or five others were apparently supervising and standing ready to offer first aid should anything go wrong.

When I came home tonight, there was (thankfully) a sign warning drivers to the presence of “STEEL PLATES IN ROADWAY”. Sure enough, there were at least four spots in the brand new surface that had been removed and covered with metal plates, about 6'x8'.

Now why would a company be paid to do a resurfacing job, then either that same company or another one be paid to tear it up?

I want to scream. SMH

UPDATE: After a couple of days, the steel plates were gone and the road filled in. But now nearly all my old familiar holes that I'd learned to avoid are back. Winter will only make them worse.

It Worked, All Right

The Washington Examiner yesterday published a piece telling us about a campaign fundraising speech that Barack Obama gave in Oakland, CA Monday night.

Notice the jump in 2009†

In that speech, he contrasted George W. Bush’s policies of slower growth of federal spending and bureaucracy to his own. Of Bush’s policies–which he claims Romney would continue–he said, “We tried that and it didn’t work.” He went on to say that “…we tried our plan–and it worked.”

Spending vs. Growth†

The tone of the Examiner article seems to be one of incredulity, of belief that this shows how out of touch the MOOP* and his speechwriters and advisers are. Nearly all the tweets and blog posts I’ve seen referencing this story share this attitude.

The best laid plans…

I think there’s another way to look at this, and the only post I found even hinting at it begins a forum thread at Above Top Secret. It may be that “their plan” (to use the MOOP’s words) has indeed worked.

It may be that the plan that has been followed unfailingly by the Obama administration was intended to stifle the opportunity for individuals to create their own wealth, and encourage more and more Americans to become dependent on the federal bureaucracy for their every need. In that case, the Obama administration’s plan has worked on a scale not seen since the Great Depression.

*Man Occupying the Office of President
†These graphs are from a Mercatus Center white paper.