Obama: the stimulus bill will save lives! (road construction)

Earlier today, Barack Obama and Joe Biden made a historic joint appearance at the Department of Transportation. Video is here, transcript of Obama's remarks is here.

He said that the stimulus plan won't just create (or save) jobs, but will also save lives. His statement is a lesson not just in demagoguery, but in how to craft statements with lawyerly care:

Over the next few weeks, we will launch more then 200 construction projects across this country, fueling growth in an industry that's been hard hit by our economic crisis... All together, this investment in highways will create or save 150,000 jobs by the end of next year, most of them in the private sector... And just to give you a sense of perspective, that's more jobs being created or saved in one year than G.M., Ford and Chrysler have lost in manufacturing over the past three years combined. And the jobs that we're creating are good jobs, that pay more than average, jobs grinding asphalt and paving roads, filling potholes, making street signs, repairing stoplights, replacing guardrails... But what makes this investment so important is not simply that we will jump-start job creation or reduce the congestion that costs us nearly $80 billion a year, or rebuild the aging roads that cost drivers billions more a year in upkeep... What makes is so important is that by investing in roads that have earned a grade of D-minus by America's leading civil engineers, roads that should have been rebuilt long ago, we can save some 14,000 men and women who lose their lives each year due to bad roads and driving conditions... Like a broken levee or a bridge with a shaky foundation, poor roads are a public hazard, and we have a responsibility to fix them.

In addition to in effect saying that those who oppose the stimulus don't really care about people dying, there was also this:

Now, we have another responsibility. Having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit that we're working to cut in half, we also need to ensure that tax dollars aren't wasted on projects that don't deliver results. And that's why, as part of his duty, Joe will keep an eye on how precious tax dollars are being spent... It's an investment being made at an unprecedented pace, thanks in large part to Joe Biden, who's leading the effort to get the money out the door quickly.

Comments

Looks like many third world aliens will have jobs soon , didn't obama say whites need not apply.