"That's just not acceptable. It's inexcusable."
Every time I watch a foreign movie -- and particularly when its locations include places where I've lived overseas -- I get more depressed about America. To tell the truth, there are a lot of reasons to get depressed about America now, but one of the most visible is how far behind we are in basics. Like airports. Like the striking evidence of real poverty beyond our cities and into rural America. Like our roads and our antediluvian transportation services.
So when Obama talks about "unexcusable," I'm thinking, "Finally someone has noticed!"
In this case the president is talking about jobs and poverty -- the poverty Republicans want to expand throughout America simply in order to destroy a presidency. To bring down Obama, they will backstop job creation for thousands of people who have been out of work since Bush's financial crisis toppled our economy. Now there's more evidence of political chicanery in the name of "deficit cutting."
Warning of dire consequences for the nation's workers, President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged Congress to extend a federal highway bill that he said would protect a million jobs. ...The president said 4,000 workers would be immediately furloughed without pay if the bill is not extended, and a significant delay could lead to 1 million workers losing their jobs over the next year.
"All of them will be out of a job just because of politics in Washington," Obama said. "That's just not acceptable. It's inexcusable." ...NYT/AP
