There is one thing I like about Chavez's spending and subsidizing.

Apparently gasoline is subsided in Venezuela and costs about five cents per liter there. That is less than twenty-five cents per gallon. My car habit, which includes several old gas guzzling musclecars, would be quite happy with that sort of subsidy. :-)

Chavez does seem to have the people's best interests at heart. You can tell it by the passion in Chavez's speeches. Chavez does spend quite a bit on things to directly help the common folk.

Chavez lost that recent vote on changing the constitution, but it was very close. But, any single vote on sixty-some-odd changes to the constitution would fail, even here in the US. One at a time would work better, and it looks like Chavez has learned that. That is why the Alo presidente road Show is so important to Chavez now.