Presidents Day May Never Have Been So Important

Today is Presidents Day and although it's not the birthday of any president that I know of, President Barack Obama (born Aug. 4, 1961) certainly received a nice present from Congress.

Lawmakers late Friday night tied the bow on a $787 billion, 1,071-page stimulus bill that was supported by no Republican House members and only 3 GOP senators.

Maybe they were wary in the wake of the $350 billion bank bailout pushed through in the final days of the Bush administration. That money has apparently evaporated without leaving so much as a drop on the troubled mortgage-holders it was designed to help.

In any case it was a big win for the neophyte Obama presidency and represents a pretty big risk for the minority party. If the bill works as Democrats say, it will save or create 3.5 million jobs and restart the stalled economy. That would leave minority leader John Boehner and the GOP looking like petulant obstructionists.

But if the bill turns out to be good money after bad and the slide continues or, heaven forbid, worsens, Republicans will go into mid-term elections in 2010 with the political life raft they need to rescue their flagging fortunes.

That's the political reality of Washington -- even when they all agree that something needs to be done they can't seem to separate themselves from partisan posturing. That goes for both parties.

According to Sen. Patrick Leahy's office, Vermont will receive:

$130 million for infrastructure repair;

$60 million in education funding;

more than $100 million to preserve public safety, education and other government programs;

$250 million over two years to help address the Medicaid shortfall;

$190 million in operating loans to farmers;

Page=002 Column=002 OK,0003.00 more than $34 million in food stamp services;

$56 million for environmental safety and weatherization programs;

$11 million for law enforcement and more.

Is this what Vermont needs to ease the crisis of mounting job losses? Or will it simply defer tough budget-cutting choices for the Vermont Legislature?

I certainly hope the Republicans are wrong and this is not another pork-packed, business-as-usual Capitol Hill exercise in self-interest. Your job, my job and your neighbors' jobs are riding on the success of this historic measure.

by Tom Brown for the Burlington Free Press

President Lincoln’s 200th Birthday

In February we celebrate President’s Day, honoring the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. As it’s a federal holiday, most of us have always had the day off from school and work. In elementary school we learned about the presidents – as in, George Washington cannot tell a lie and Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin. And in high school our history lessons taught us additional information about the presidents. But, once you don’t have to think about it anymore, do you ever remember that Lincoln’s birthday is today, February 12, and Washington’s in February 22?

In fact, Abraham Lincoln was born 200 years ago today – February 12, 1809. Ceremonies across the country are honoring the Lincoln Bicentennial, and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site (of the National Park Service) has a weeklong Lincoln celebration. Since it is located in Springfield, Illinois, most of us probably will not make the trip today. However, you can take the virtual house tour and see the virtual exhibits of furniture, personal belongings, newspaper articles, historic photographs, Mary Todd and children, and learn about Lincoln as a lawyer. It is a wonderful, eye-appealing site and you can choose what you view. Visit Lincoln’s home today – it’s worth a few minutes of your time. And at the bottom of the website, you can click on links to other historic sites related to Abraham Lincoln.

Another site to visit is President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldier’s Home in Washington, D.C. where Abraham Lincoln resided during the Civil War. It is a National Trust property. As you may know, the National Trust recently completed a $15 million restoration project.

Browse through the Lincoln History and Culture Center to read quotations and essays. Following quote from here . . .

December 1, 1862: Closing Paragraph in Message to Congress

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We - even we here - hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.

Happy Birthday, former President Lincoln.

original post by Preservation in Pink