President Obama’s Wish To “Remake America” Coming True
It is no secret that President Obama marches to the beat of his own drum, but one might wonder if the “CHANGE” he and his besties were hoping for was really about throwing American history to the wind.
Like most, I am a proud American, and I truly believe it is important for generations of Americans to be able to enjoy and visit historical sites. If you recall, in 2011, President Obama cut funding for Save America’s Treasures (SAT). SAT was a United States federal government initiative to preserve and protect historic buildings, arts, and published works, implemented by the Clinton Administration. It was such a compelling effort, in 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama gushed about how important it was to invest “all over the country to rescue and restore this priceless heritage, and ensure that future generations continue to learn from the voices, ideas, events and people represented by these projects.” The First Lady was absolutely right, in its decade of existence, the Save America’s Treasures program allocated about $220 million, which generated about $330 million from other sources and resulted in the preservation of about 900 historic structures and the creation of about 16,000 jobs.
These numbers may seem pretty transparent to many, but they were extraordinarily confusing for the President to comprehend. On January 30, 2010, President Barack Obama in his “Tough Choices” FY 2011 Budget proposed eliminating the Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America grant programs, stating that “both programs lack rigorous performance metrics and evaluation efforts so the benefits are unclear.” Seriously?
From the Battlefield Protection Act Amendment to the Native American Graves Protection Act grants, and Heritage Area funds for the National Park Service, clearly preservation is not on the President’s priority list. Today, Native Americans are peeved with an NFL team being called the Redskins, so I highly doubt they will care if a Wal-Mart is erected over a few of their ancestors.
Besides, how could you not trust the judgment of a President that proposed an original budget plan for fiscal year 2012 to cut funding for a CDC public health emergency preparedness program by $72 million.
Ebola, anyone?
