Ready to hit the ground running

This is why I don't understand the complaints that Obama isn't doing enough to fill the void of leadership while Bush fiddles away his last weeks in office. He's been putting himself out there on an unprecendented level to spell out his plans.

Mr. Obama and his team are working with Congressional leaders to fashion a spending package that could invest hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy. A big part of that would be infrastructure projects such as building or repairing roads, bridges, schools, sewer systems and other public utilities. Democrats hope the new Congress that takes office in early January could pass such a measure in time for Mr. Obama to sign almost instantly after taking office Jan. 20.

The president-elect in his Saturday address offered some general ideas of what he wants to see in the package. Besides public works construction, he promised to make government buildings more energy efficient, modernize school classrooms and libraries with computers, expand access to broadband Internet service and upgrade information technology in hospitals and doctors’ offices.

The big ticket will be the public works spending. “We 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,” Mr. Obama said.

Much as I would have preferred he would have been able to start with ending the occupation of Iraq, prosecuting the Bush administration for its many crimes, restoring the rule of law and pushing through a single payer health insurance system, none of that will mean a thing if the economy completely falls apart. Sounds to me like he's got his priorities straight. Creating jobs and repairing our too long neglected infrastructure will probably serve the common good the most in the short and the long run.

[More posts daily at The Newshoggers and The Detroit News.]