Yes you read that correctly, President-elect Barack Obama has added some new changes to his economic agenda today.With this he is planning new investments in the roads and bridges, revamping of education, energy, and healthy care. What is he doing exactly? Jobs in a nice little box, very similar to FDR's New Deal. 

Barack Obama stated he will “launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms,”

My question is where is all of this money coming from? How does he expect to pay for all of this? I think he feels like money grows on trees. Oh wait, he knows where this money is coming from, you. He is going to bankrupt us all to make us better off, sounds like a plan to me. Alright, maybe bankrupt us all is taking it to the extreme but you get the idea.

His new key points: 

ENERGY: “[W]e will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.”

ROADS AND BRIDGES: “[W]e will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.”

SCHOOLS: “[M]y economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools.”

BROADBAND: “As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m president – because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world.”

(Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had talked about expanding broadband access, but this is the first time the transition has formally proposed it.)

ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS: “In addition to connecting our libraries and schools to the Internet, we must also ensure that our hospitals are connected to each other through the Internet. That is why the economic recovery plan I’m proposing will help modernize our health care system – and that won’t just save jobs, it will save lives. We will make sure that every doctor’s office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year.”

Sounds expensive, now do not get me wrong these things are good things to do. You just have to be able to pay for it without raising taxes so high you burden the American people. We need to be responsible with the tax dollars, we have so many obligations as it is.

Though I have noticed a pattern, he does stand for change. He changes his mind and plans a lot, an awful lot actually.

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