Washington Crumbles – Another Excuse for Obama?

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[illustration by Rob Green]

While President Obama vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard following an exhaustive tour of a part of the Midwest, using two $1.1 million dollar buses reportedly built in Canada (so much for making U.S. jobs a priority) a rare earthquake struck the east coast of the U.S. on Tuesday. News reports are that it was centered about 80 miles from Washington and was felt from Georgia to Michigan and even into Canada.

Critics of the Obama administration have pointed out that in his Midwest tour Obama was laying the blame for our tough economic times on world and domestic events. The record setting snow in the Midwest and the east coast, earthquakes and tsunami’s in Japan, the uprisings in the Middle East, the Libya engagement, the rash of devastating tornados in the eastern half of the U.S., and also the heavy spring floods on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries, some of which are still above flood stage. He listed them all, and then some; apparently trying to communicate that these events could not have been anticipated and are the reasons for a slow economic recovery.

Tuesday’s earthquake on the east coast caused some damage in D.C. Some spires on the top of the National Cathedral were toppled. Tuesday night the media reported that the top of the Washington Monument had a crack in it and a structural assessment would be undertaken to determine if there is a safety issue. Another report said that some plaster came down from the top of the capitol dome.

It is likely the federal government will be expected to repair the quake damage to our national treasures. Whether that cost will be relatively minor, or additional damage to our myriad federal buildings and monuments will be discovered, pushing the costs upward is yet to be determined.

Of course, we all know our government is broke – there is no money for unanticipated costs. Will this repair cost be added to our deficit? We don’t know if this will occur, but you can bet the quake and repair costs will be added to Obama’s list of the excuses for why our economic recovery is barely happening, if at all.