Obama, Biden Inoculate Against "Washingtonitis"

Obama, Biden Inoculate Against "Washingtonitis"

Strickland, Govs Ask for Help

OhioNewsBureau

with John Michael Spinelli

Columbus, Ohio: With nearly a month passing since the 2008 Democratic ticket was elected to bring change to the White House and still another six weeks to go until they are sworn in as President and Vice President, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice-President-elect JoeBiden told a national meeting of governors in Philadelphia, PA, today that fresh thinking and ideas that work will both have their ears and inoculate their administration from the kind of ideological group-think that leads to an insularity of thinking they dubbed "Washingtonitis."

Noting that 41 states face budget shortfalls, made more egregious by constitutions that mandate a balanced budget, Obama said Washington under his leadership will act swiftly to pass an economic recovery plan that will help Wall Street and Main Street pull out of the economic dire straights bearing down on the nation.

Reiterating again what he so often said on the campaign trail, Obama said his recovery plan will include needed middle-class tax cuts along with "down payments on critical investments" like infrastructure projects that can sustain long-term growth and "pull us out of our current economic slump."

He said change needs to come not just from Washington, but from everyone, including members of the loyal opposition, who he extended a hand of friendship to and said would have his ear if their ideas are good and workable.

"Show me what works and you'll have my ear," he told the assembled governors, most of whom are fighting imploding budgets, job losses, home foreclosures and a general malaise that has sapped spirits as they watch their stocks and retirement funds erase gains made over the last decade. He said he and his running mate would not be "hampered by ideology" as they seek a plan for recovery.

He told the governors that he not only expects them to implement programs emanating from Washington, but to "help draft and shape them" too, then spend funds well.

Obama said there will be "hard choices about how to invest tax dollars" that may not always be popular, but everyone working together, a strategy he said had been important and effective in his own career, would prevent him and his administration from being infected with "Washingtonitis" or the inability to see the world from a perspective other than from within a small group of advisers.

Noting who his audience was, Obama quoted Supreme Court Judge Brandeis, saying that states can be laboratories to test out what works and what doesn't so Washington can observe and act accordingly.

Among the governors in Philadelphia today was Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who yesterday said state finances are worsening and told Ohioans that more budget cuts are coming, which could mean reduced funding or program services for his constituents.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden, a long-standing rider of the rails, said America needs to up its investment in infrastructure, now a dismal 1 percent of GDP, to levels approaching those of China, where levels of 7 percent of GDP are common.

Joe the rail passenger pointed to the China Olympics as an example of the value of funding infrastructure, making special note of theMagLev rail line that whisks passengers along at speeds of 200-miles-per-hour or more.

In his letter to the two future leaders of the nation, Ohio Gov. Strickland asked for a financial package composed of state block grants and help for needy families among other concerns.

For purely political reasons, Strickland has refused to mouth the words "increased taxes" for fear Republicans will use it to defeat him in 2010 as just another liberal, tax and spend Democrat who says one thing and does another. By refusing so far to consider tax increases, Strickland has neutered Republicans who desperately want to tag him as a tax raiser.

When Republicans controlled state government from the governor's mansion to both chambers of the legislature for nearly 16 years, they passed a five-year tax reduction program in 2005 that has reduced revenue to state coffers at a time when those revenues are needed. Republican leaders at the time said Ohio's tax plan would be the envy of the nation.

John Michael Spinelli is a former Ohio Statehouse government and political reporter and business columnist. To send a tip of comment, email ohionewsbureau@gmail.com