Liberal Eleanor Clift on Obama and Change

See "Halfhearted Soul-Searching at the White House" by Eleanor Clift, Newsweek Nov 21, 2010
at http://www.newsweek.com/2010/11/19/the-problem-with-the-cult-of-obama.html

It includes:
"Obama is an undefined figure to much of the country, and to his fellow Democrats. Though he’s portrayed as a liberal, it’s not clear what he’ll fight for, and he keeps that deliberately vague, perhaps hoping to deliver on the post-partisan promise his election represented. The fight over whether to extend Bush-era tax cuts is a perfect example. The White House needs to settle on a strategy and then execute it, whatever it is. Hope is not a strategy, and the extent to which Obama seems to weigh the political considerations of whatever decision he makes reinforces the voters’ disillusionment that rather than leading, he has instead become part of the government—an implicit admission of his failure to bring about the change he ran on."

Democratic 2010 Off Year Election Effort

"This was about the volunteer effort, not the election result," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse. "The party made 86 million voter contacts, we had staff or volunteers in 435 congressional districts, we raised and spent more money than ever in a midterm, we had the lergest midterm field effort ever, we ran or staffed virtually all the coordinated campaigns in all the key states."

From ABC News Jake Tapper, Nov 19, 2010 "Huh? President Obama Tells Volunteers That In Midterms "You Guys Turned 'Yes We Can' Into 'Yes We Did'"

See http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/11/huh-president-obama-tells-volunteers-that-in-midterms-you-guys-turned-yes-we-can-into-yes-we-did.html

Irvine Bowl Park Needs Signs

Regarding the Friday, November 19, 2010 articles "FOA Facelift in the Works" by Rita Robinson in the Laguna Beach Independent and "Festival's façade redesign in the works" by Barbara Diamond in the Coastline Pilot, I hope new signage will include "Irvine Bowl Park". The Festival of the Arts ground uses the City of Laguna Beach's "Irvine Bowl Park" and the park should be properly identified.

While most people do not realize that it actually is a public park, ironically, the Irvine Bowl Park is the largest municipal park in the City of Laguna Beach. Unfortunately, if you stop by on most any day, you will likely find the area where exhibitors stalls are used during the summer deserted and unused.

From "History Of Laguna Canyon" written by Laguna Beach Historical Society President Emeritus Belinda Blacketer May 2001:
"The site of the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters was to be a community park, which was chosen in 1938. In April 1940, the citizen’s of Laguna Beach passed a 'Park, Music and Advertising Tax' of 10 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation to purchase and develop the Irvine property.
The area that is now the festival grounds was shown on a map of the proposed park site as the 'play area', the canyon where the police firing range is now was to be used for 'rustic trails' and the Amphitheater the Festival wanted to build was to use a very small portion of the park land.
The original deed stated that the City 'shall use said real property for the following purposes only, and for no others, to wit: for the construction, enlargement, improvement, maintenance and operation of the outdoor amphitheater now situated thereon and known as Irvine Bowl, for the production and holding of public concerts, theatrical performances, festivals, exhibits and any all forms of public entertainment and recreation'."
"In 1947, after James Irvine’s death, the park was donated to the City of Laguna Beach by the Irvine family. The community planned a community center, a children's playground, and community kitchen along with many other civic uses. These facilities do not exist today. In the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s the park was used for the community Easter Egg Hunt, carnivals, the Orange County Goat Show, the Scottish Festival, and various other community group events. The park served as the only real community park for the City of Laguna Beach for many years. In the 1950’s a restaurant was built on the former playground terrace."

Obama Copies Japan's Economic Mistakes

See "How to avoid Japan's economic mistakes" By Robert J. Samuelson
Monday, November 15, 2010 Washington Post
See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/15/learning_from_japans_mistakes_107948.html

■ "Japan's mistakes that resulted in a 'lost decade' of economic growth."
■ "There is no substitute for vigorous private-sector job creation and investment"
■ "Despite massive stimulus, rapid growth hasn't resumed two decades later."
■ " government debt soared from 63 % of the economy (gross domestic product)…now around 200 percent."

Green Energy Transmission Costs

See " The Great Transmission Heist" Wall Street Journal Editorial Monday, November 7, 2010
The latest scheme to subsidize solar and wind power to the detriment of rate payers.
See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304772804575558400606672006.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop
■ "Transmission lines … long-standing user-pays policy would be replaced with a policy of everyone pays under FERC's plan."
■ "wind and solar projects that tend to be in remote areas, like the desert or offshore. In many cases, thousands of miles of new transmission lines would have to be built to get the power to the end user."
■ "Wind and solar proponents insist that renewable energy standards can only be reached if transmission costs are shared by everybody. This sounds like an admission that these energy sources are inefficient sources of power that can't compete in the marketplace without subsidies."
■ "renewable energy projects already receive tens of billions of dollars of loans, grants, tax credits, earmarks, renewable energy mandates, stimulus money, and on and on. According to a 2007 U.S. Department of Energy study, wind and solar already receive subsidies that are more than 20 times greater per kilowatt of electricity than conventional power sources. But as with ethanol, even these subsidies are never enough."