Obama says will attack waste, fraud, abuse

Not a ding on Obama, whom I hope succeeds in this effort, but per his pledge, haven't we heard this all before? From Reagan, and other GOPers, with "welfare fraud" and "Medicaid fraud" (try looking at private health insurance fraud, perhaps?) to the Clinton/Gore "reinventing government" pledge.

That said, not all the $1 trillion or m ore in annual deficit projections for the next couple of years is Obama's fault.

Part of this, beyond general economic mismanagement and incompetence by his administration, is Bush's fault. Things such as TARP and the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac prop-up, which the Bush Administration labeled as "investments," are counted as part of this $1 trillion by the Congressional Budget Office, and rightfully so.

Bonded debt for federal government makes great sense

Michael Lind makes a good argument for a reform Obama needs to push — giving the federal government to do bond-based, long-term structural improvement programs, like states do with things such as highways — rather than a pay-go system.

Lind notes that Chris Dodd and others are pushing a national investment bank to be the funding agency for such bonds.

This does seem indeed like a “good government” no brainer.

Side benefit? It would investors seeking a relatively safe investment harbor a new port.