The President's Jobs Plan: Deja Vu All Over Again; A Few Comments About 9/11

President Obama's approval rating is very low, but, then again, his disapproval rating is very high, so there's a silver lining---Kimmel.

• Regarding the president's jobs plan, I think USA Today's editorial headline said it best: "Jobs Plan deja vu." USA Today started out with this: "Americans who watched President Obama's call for a new jobs bill Thursday night might have wondered whether they were stuck in a time warp. A proposal to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to put people to work. Is this 2009 all over again..?"
• Nothing he said last night was really new. But before I fall victim to any knee-jerk reactions typical of my criticisms of this administration, I have to admit some of the proposals should be considered. Almost any tax breaks for individuals and businesses is good. I think a rework of our trade agreements would also be good. I believe there is some help for out-of-work veterans in the plan too. That would be very good.
• But let's get to the heart of this jobs plan: 1-it's another spending plan and won't stand a chance of passing if it impacts the deficit, and 2-like the original stimulus, it almost exclusively helps labor unions (remember, the bogus "shovel ready" jobs promise that even Obama himself mocked just several months ago? And Slo Joe's "summer of recovery" in 2010?). In other words, most of this plan helps the folks who poured millions into his campaign and will continue to do so. In addition, there was no mention of lowering corporate tax rates to get the $2 trillion sitting overseas back into our country.
• And there is something else that's bothering me. Last night, he repeated the urgency of getting this plan passed---so why did he wait so long to propose one?
• And finally, if almost $1 trillion didn't work last time, why does anyone think another $400 billion would work now?
• And if I hear Warren Buffet's name again, I'm gonna smash the TV set (and it's not even mine). He failed to mention Buffet's company owes over $1 billion in back taxes.
• By the way, modernizing schools is not the feds job. That should be left up to local municipalities. After all, many tax payers continue to be ripped off with those insane property taxes already. Let them learn how to manage the billions they now get already.

Regarding the events surrounding 9/11 this weekend, I'd like to make a recommendation. Watch 9/11: Ten Years Later on Sunday evening at 8 pm. I don't know what network. But it's the same crew that made the first outstanding film on 9/11 that was the only one that showed the first plane hitting the WTC. In addition, the only shots from within the WTC that day were shot by this crew, two brothers. They just happened to be filming a documentary about a "probie" firefighter, and they were also caught up in the events of that day. No other film crews were able to obtain the work they shot that day. Linda Stasi of the NY Post calls this film a "masterpiece." If it even remotely is as good as the first film, it's a must see.

My impression of 9/11 ten years later? It was one of the worst days of humanity. But we also witnessed the best of humanity on that day. And while we lost almost 3000 (and continue to lose many to this day, especially First-Responders due to illnesses), those certifiable heroes--- firefighters, police officers, First-Responders and just plain folk---saved about 20,000 people that day. That's what I remember---incredible bravery in the face of almost certain death.

And that's what Americans are all about. That's what we've always been about.  And that's what we will always be about.