Obama has promised to change the country

McCain wanted to change the government. There's a difference, you know. I've always considered McCain left of center, and I think most conservatives do. But that was our ticket, and he was certainly way to the right of Obama! As was Hillary. It's simple. Obama doesn't like us. How do I know? Have you ever had a friend/spouse/boss who said, "You're great, I love you, but you need to change who you are, and do everything I say, or else?"

So the election is history; what will Ohio bloggers do next? For your city and county, I suggest you look at the web site of the Ohio Department of Development. The CHIP, Community Housing Improvement Program, in my opinion is a tiny piece of the current meltdown facilitated by the CRA, banks and Congress. No, it's not exactly putting working class families in suburban bi-levels and ranches with balloon mortgages, it's more like rehabing houses for the poor and then putting them in mortgages (with a government funded down payment) they can't afford in struggling, older neighborhoods.

It has about $25 million (the 2008 awards come to over $30 million, so I don't know why the numbers don't match the web page). Ottawa Co. where we have a second home, got over $500,000 for Port Clinton. I can't figure out which pot Franklin County uses, because it's not on that list. Seems to have its own list. But with amounts this large, going to every state, snarled and tangled in obfuscating names, not only of the agencies, but the non-profits, it could be a life-time hobby or research project to sort it all out.

It's really slippery, the acronyms endless--HDAP, OHFA, ODD, OHTF, OHCP plus all the codes, RRS, IPMC, RCO, NEC, OPC, OMC, IECCC, IFGC . We have an alphabet soup of federal money and housing codes here. I think we really need to take a look at the whole "faith based initiatives" and other non-profits (like ACORN) the government is using to cover up some of these wasteful, ill conceived and failed programs. They are sprinkled everywhere--some housing programs are through USDA. You find pockets of housing money buried in almost every agency, from employment to health, because government is no longer about governing, but about changing lives through nutrition, housing, technology, medicine, etc. If a roof that doesn't leak or a window not broken or no trash in the yard were enough to stop crime, reduce obesity, or get junior to finish school, we'd never have someone from Worthington or Shaker Heights who was in jail, or fat, or taking a GED.

So Obama's a little late to the starting gate, it's been going on since FDR's day. But because the Republicans were so big on "faith-based" I think the churches have actually been weakened. They're flabby, singing happy praise songs and talking about being spirit filled while Obama has promised he will remove our right to evangelize or speak out from the pulpit (many don't do it any way). Rather than dismantle their programs and lay off their staff, many of whom are poor, they'll cave. I know churches. Every peace and justice verse will be brought out to trump life changing salvation.

So take a look around your neighborhood. The problem may be closer to home than Barney Frank. Yesterday I went from the New Deal to the CRA to my collapsing 403-b in just a few paragraphs. Check it out.