The joke is on us

No boom-mic gaffe, this. This was right out there for the American public's, uh, general consumption so jump in and chow down, people.

President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness met today in Durham, NC at Cree Inc., a company that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting. One of the Council's recommendations to President Obama was to streamline the federal permit process for construction and infrastructure projects. It was explained to Obama that the permitting process can delay projects for "months to years ... and in many cases even cause projects to be abandoned ... I'm sure that when you implemented the Recovery Act your staff briefed you on many of these challenges." At this point, Obama smiled and interjected, "Shovel-ready was not as ... uh .. shovel-ready as we expected." The Council, led by GE's Jeffrey Immelt, erupted in laughter.

Now, how did that taste?


We're fond of saying that the only statist solution for failed statist policies is more statism. Inspired by the President's quick-witted humour, we may have to amend that: The only statist solution for failed statist policies is... jokes!

You see, friends, since the President doesn't seem interested in getting outside the federal pump-priming, porkulus, Keynesian box for which we are all paying the price, laughter really is the best medicine.


Oh, and that light bulb manufacturing plant at which the President was speaking? Cree which received $39 million in tax credits and $6 million in grants from the Department of Energy looks to be moving much of its operations overseas to China.

And that's no joke.