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Obama's Visit Raises Questions

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By TOM JACKSON

tjackson@tampatrib.com

Published: February 11, 2009

Determined to "do something," President Barack Obama barnstormed Fort Myers on Tuesday on behalf of Nancy Pelosi's spendapalooza but found what restless locals have in mind is, um, something else.

Obama urged listeners to grasp the noble work of avoiding a second Great Depression. How? Through massive, overdue "investments."

In clean energy. In digitized medical records. In modern schools. Smart grids. Broadband. In bridges, highways and alternative transportation. In teachers and firefighters; in police and nurses.

Wow. History may disparage government spending as the cast for a fractured economy, but the new guy is determined not to squander a perfectly good crisis. His shopping list is breathtaking, even spellbinding.

Then, whoops: Fisting microphones, what Obama's fellow Americans asked for resonated with victimology: enhanced benefits for low-skilled service workers; unemployment payments to match lost paychecks; a car and domiciling.

Soaring? Not so much.

Federalize This

Worse was the Bonita Springs pol who erected a straw man - "If we ran out of oil today" - only to reject an obvious rebuttal - no drilling in the Gulf, thank you - in an attempt to shift Southwest Florida's transportation pains onto Obama's back. Said the councilwoman: "We need commuter rail."

Maybe. But paid for by Idahoans?

Obama's team picked Fort Myers for the region's economic tumble, but if the level of citizen-generated reverb coming out of that auditorium measures what the president seeks in terms of feedback, This Space urges consideration of Pasco County when next he extends his carbon footprint into the heart of discontent.

Oh, the questions we could ask.

Mr. President, we've hoped to dredge a certain channel since before you took up community organizing. Once complete, not only will it help local businesses, think of the boost to sales of large pleasure craft. Is it too late to put dredging money in Speaker Pelosi's stimulus?

What Would Abe Lincoln Do?

Mr. President, we have a little festival on the east side of the county celebrating the annual harvest of tiny citrus. The Ladies of the Kumquat Blossom Association have brought their trademark creme pie in your honor. Would you mind letting us take a picture while you try a forkful?

Hey, thanks for this opportunity, Mr. President. The sheriff in this county - one of those Republicans you're having so much trouble with right now - fired me last month, called me a slacker. I'm trying to get my job back through the courts, but that could take awhile. I was wondering whether you had any openings for a displaced government worker, you know, that maybe had flexible hours, extended lunch breaks, minimal paperwork and only a little responsibility but offers security and makes good money? I'm willing to relocate.

Mr. President, I'm a county commissioner here, the only Democrat, but we're trying to change that, but, anyway, I have a plan to spend some tourist tax dollars on a complex of downsized - oooh, bad word there - make that miniaturized replica ball fields, but choosing a site is tough because of land costs. If there were some stimulus money for our plan, we could probably get you the naming rights. How's the "Obama-Pasco National Ballpark Complex" sound? Might help you carry Pasco in '12.

Oh, we've got questions, all right. And we haven't even gotten to the concerns of the clothing-optional yet.

Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219.

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