Amazing, absolutely amazing. I knew, but still dreaded what was an eventual outcome this past sunday as the Democrates snuck in healthcare. I hoped for another Scott Brown like moment that would delay or finally derail this damn thing, but knew there was little to no hope as the Dems made their intentions clear for the previous month.
After thinking about it for a bit, the first thing that comes to my mind is the incredible amount of arrogance and disconnect with America it took for Obama, Pelosi, and Reid to continue to push for this bill. Obama ran his presidential campaign on a policy of being open with the American people and responding to their needs as he believed he was elected to do. Coming into office one of Obama's first priorities was to take advantage of his mega majorities in Congress and to pass national healthcare reform. He was convinced with his popularity coming into office that he could push for this change and gain the support of the American people. When the expected outcries of conservatives and the Republicans came about he was confident that he and the house democrates could neutralize it enough to force the Republicans into an awkward situation of voting in mass against a policy that presumably the American public would support only... of only President zero explained how important it was.
This did not work for a few reasons. First being the failure of the stimulus that Obama pushed Congress to pass in January 2009. Obama stressed that without the stimulus that unemployment could go above 8% and so it must be passed right away. After it was passed unemployment not only went past 8%, but then 10%. Later Obama displeased the public by weighing in on . This along with other incidents such as Sotomayor's nomination to the supremem court and the rediculous "beer summit" and of course a President that seems to prefer constant campaigning to actual governing has soured a public and so his message on healthcare increasingly viewed in a negative light.
Still though, even with the public increasingly against this and tea party rallies increasing across the country Obama and the democrates knew they had the numbers in Congress and through a side show production could easily pass what they wanted in healthcare reform by Christmas 2009. Enter Scott Brown. His election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat made amending the Senate bill in the house untennable because the Republicans now could and certainly would fillibuster the process. No worries thinks Obama and Pelosi, we can pass the Senate bill and tell others that we can change it afterwards. All this done again while taking the case to the American people who again and again tell them, we hear you and we don't want this.
What kind of ignorance and arrogance it must take to fail on all these levels to sell your policy to the opposition and to the American people and yet pass it under assumption that "they'll take us later." Even after signing the bill into law the President has stated he will hit the road again to tell us how great it is. For having such a great education this guy is about as clueless as Mr. Magoo. He's campaigned over and over and over and over on this same damn thing and now thinks somehow doing the same thing will change it? When he sees an angry public he will simply pat himself on the back and tell himself that "this is the way it must be, but give it time they will agree with me." November can't come soon enough. Every single one of this fucking dems needs to get tossed out on their ass where they will be forced to sit and watch as we repair or attempt to repair this unprecedented damage that has been done to our country.
Eh, kind of a bad write up, but dawg gone it I'm ticked about this and needed to type something.
-Zach
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Deem and pass? Absolute lunacy
So the latest scuttlebut from DC was an idea floated from Dem leadership in Congress, or Nancy Pelosi that house dems could attempt to pass healthcare reform through a process called "deem and pass." Basically the way this rule works is that the house deems the bill sufficient or the same as a bill previously passed and sent to the Senate and with this rule they could conceivably send the bill to President Obama's desk without the need for another vote on it.
Frankly there is no other world for such a procedure than sheer madness on the Dems part should they try it. This bill has been hyped and has been in front of the public for over a year now and to pass it in a way clearly due to it's unpopularity and the fact that they can't pass it with the votes would kill the dems more than a thousand gay sex scandals in the polls this upcoming novemeber. Frankly, I doubt that even they would be so bold as to go that far and recent news may make it so that they don't have to take such an undesirable route.
The CBO came out with their projections on Obamacare and for the dems the news was very encouraging. According to the non-partisan CBO they estimate that the healthcare reform bill would cost the country 940 Billion dollars over ten years and would save the country some cash by bringing down or controling healthcare costs more than our current system allows. The problem with these estimates though is that they are exactly that, estimates. In almost every other government system the estimates have been woefully lower than what was found to later be the ultimate cost of the bill. In Medicare the costs versus what the estimates were were so far off that Medicare ended up costing nine times more and as of now is still in need of massive government funding to keep from going bankrupt. Add on to that a system in which seeks to subsidize or take over a fifth of the US economy from the private sector and we still have a recipe for a system that could massivly baloon in cost.
Alas, with this score it will or may give some wavering Dems enough cover to vote yes on the bill and force through this bill as soon as this Sunday. From there it would then go to the Senate were the game plan for the Dems will likely be to pass it without any changes so it may go to Obama's desk for signature into law.
Sigh, I can now only hope that my own views on this bill and it's impact on our country are wrong, much the same way that I have hoped that my opinion of Obama was wrong during his campaign and how he would govern in office. Sorry to say, more often than not I have been right, but this time let's hope if this passes it does help our country.
-Zach
Frankly there is no other world for such a procedure than sheer madness on the Dems part should they try it. This bill has been hyped and has been in front of the public for over a year now and to pass it in a way clearly due to it's unpopularity and the fact that they can't pass it with the votes would kill the dems more than a thousand gay sex scandals in the polls this upcoming novemeber. Frankly, I doubt that even they would be so bold as to go that far and recent news may make it so that they don't have to take such an undesirable route.
The CBO came out with their projections on Obamacare and for the dems the news was very encouraging. According to the non-partisan CBO they estimate that the healthcare reform bill would cost the country 940 Billion dollars over ten years and would save the country some cash by bringing down or controling healthcare costs more than our current system allows. The problem with these estimates though is that they are exactly that, estimates. In almost every other government system the estimates have been woefully lower than what was found to later be the ultimate cost of the bill. In Medicare the costs versus what the estimates were were so far off that Medicare ended up costing nine times more and as of now is still in need of massive government funding to keep from going bankrupt. Add on to that a system in which seeks to subsidize or take over a fifth of the US economy from the private sector and we still have a recipe for a system that could massivly baloon in cost.
Alas, with this score it will or may give some wavering Dems enough cover to vote yes on the bill and force through this bill as soon as this Sunday. From there it would then go to the Senate were the game plan for the Dems will likely be to pass it without any changes so it may go to Obama's desk for signature into law.
Sigh, I can now only hope that my own views on this bill and it's impact on our country are wrong, much the same way that I have hoped that my opinion of Obama was wrong during his campaign and how he would govern in office. Sorry to say, more often than not I have been right, but this time let's hope if this passes it does help our country.
-Zach
Friday, March 5, 2010
The National Debt and the Obama administrations first year in office
I came across this from another conservative commentator and thought I'd repost it in it's entirety here for those interested. I will also follow it with some brief comments of my own to keep this thing from being completely plagerized.
"How many times have we heard Obama say that he "inherited" the problems we now have? And one of those problems is our national debt. So it is time to take a good look at that debt, and how we got where we are:At the end of 2000, our national debt was $5.6278 trillion. During the first six years of the Bush administration, and under a Republican held Congress and Senate, our debt increased to $8.4514 trillion (at the end of 2006, the year the Democrats took control of both Houses). An increase of $470.45 billion a year ($2.8227 trillion in six years). Remember that number; $470.45 billion/year.Within two years (at the end of 2008) of Democratic control, our nation debt had increased to $9.985 trillion, an annual average of $767.2 billion, almost $300 billion a year more than under Republicans.In the 8 years of the Bush administration, our national debt increased by $4.2988 trillion.At the end of 2009, the first year of the Obama administration, our national debt had risen to $12.3114 trillion, an increase in one year $2.3265 TRILLION. ONE YEAR, only $500 billion less than the entire first six years of George Bush.Our projected national debt at the end of this year is over $14 trillion. That means that in just two years, Obama, and the Democratically held Congress will have increased our debt by more than Bush did the whole 8 years he held office.I don't want to read one more person on the left complain about the debt that was created under Bush or the Republicans. Not one."
The numbers there are pretty solid and while they again show us that congressional Republicans and President Bush were not fiscally conservative as many of us expected, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have increased spending at an incredible pace. Some might wonder where this massive spending increase has come from and to me, the first thing that comes to mind is the 780 billion dollar "stimulus" package that Obama pushed Congress to pass in January 2009 with the expectation that it would keep unemployment under 8%, today it is at 9.7%. Think that's bad? Well keep in mind that even though a large portion of that approved stimulus as yet to be spent the Obama administration is starting to push for yet another stimulus package. Perhaps the slogan on that one should read, "third times the charm."
Back to the topic of the national debt. Keep in mind that those numbers don't even take into effect the costs that will take effect should Congress pass the healthcare legislation. So far according to a WSJ editorial written by Congressman Paul Ryan the costs in deficit for this program over the next ten years would add 460-1.4 trillion bucks. That's all for one program and that's the best case scenario we can hope for. The more likely scenario would have this program ballooning in costs as Medicare has done and as the state provided medical care in Mass. has done. Either way you slice it we are spending at unprecedented levels and it will be much better for us to become fiscally responsible as a country by our own choice before we are forced into it.
-Zach
"How many times have we heard Obama say that he "inherited" the problems we now have? And one of those problems is our national debt. So it is time to take a good look at that debt, and how we got where we are:At the end of 2000, our national debt was $5.6278 trillion. During the first six years of the Bush administration, and under a Republican held Congress and Senate, our debt increased to $8.4514 trillion (at the end of 2006, the year the Democrats took control of both Houses). An increase of $470.45 billion a year ($2.8227 trillion in six years). Remember that number; $470.45 billion/year.Within two years (at the end of 2008) of Democratic control, our nation debt had increased to $9.985 trillion, an annual average of $767.2 billion, almost $300 billion a year more than under Republicans.In the 8 years of the Bush administration, our national debt increased by $4.2988 trillion.At the end of 2009, the first year of the Obama administration, our national debt had risen to $12.3114 trillion, an increase in one year $2.3265 TRILLION. ONE YEAR, only $500 billion less than the entire first six years of George Bush.Our projected national debt at the end of this year is over $14 trillion. That means that in just two years, Obama, and the Democratically held Congress will have increased our debt by more than Bush did the whole 8 years he held office.I don't want to read one more person on the left complain about the debt that was created under Bush or the Republicans. Not one."
The numbers there are pretty solid and while they again show us that congressional Republicans and President Bush were not fiscally conservative as many of us expected, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have increased spending at an incredible pace. Some might wonder where this massive spending increase has come from and to me, the first thing that comes to mind is the 780 billion dollar "stimulus" package that Obama pushed Congress to pass in January 2009 with the expectation that it would keep unemployment under 8%, today it is at 9.7%. Think that's bad? Well keep in mind that even though a large portion of that approved stimulus as yet to be spent the Obama administration is starting to push for yet another stimulus package. Perhaps the slogan on that one should read, "third times the charm."
Back to the topic of the national debt. Keep in mind that those numbers don't even take into effect the costs that will take effect should Congress pass the healthcare legislation. So far according to a WSJ editorial written by Congressman Paul Ryan the costs in deficit for this program over the next ten years would add 460-1.4 trillion bucks. That's all for one program and that's the best case scenario we can hope for. The more likely scenario would have this program ballooning in costs as Medicare has done and as the state provided medical care in Mass. has done. Either way you slice it we are spending at unprecedented levels and it will be much better for us to become fiscally responsible as a country by our own choice before we are forced into it.
-Zach
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The week in review
Well it's been sometime since I posted something here so let me type something out for the sake of keeping my blog somewhat current.
In the last week we had the oh so important health care summit in which President Obama brought together congressional leaders from both parties in what was supposed to be a last attempt to find compromise on the unpopular bill. In reality what it was to those who follow politics was nothing more than a stage play in which both sides essentially stuck to their talking points and which showed that compromise on this bill would not be coming. The purpose of such an event is that the President wanted another media event in which he could appear to be reaching across the aisle and seeking compromise and he when nothing was reached that pubic perception would be turned by some degree against Republicans and lessen any backlash Democrats will receive should they pass this bill.
So far that i can see though, the President's event did not have the effect that he hoped it would. Republicans showed up prepared and Congressman Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and Senate leaders John McCain and Lamar Alexander all showed excellent reasons exactly why Republicans oppose this bill and why compromise on this rather than starting fresh is so unappealing. Numerous polls conducted with voters who watched the event came away with a positive view of the Republicans as this event allowed them to see where the Republicans stood on this bill and surprise surprise, they oppose it on principle as this bill would allow the government take over of 20% of the US economy, would still see a rise in health care costs, would dramatically raise the debt, and would likely cause small business owners who do provide insurance to dump their current coverage for the bare government minimum in order to offset increased taxes on their business. Lamar Alexander himself brought up one part of the bill that will likely draw enough Dem detractors away from the bill to endanger it's passing, and that is that this bill would for the first time in 35 years pave the way for government funding of abortions. In short this bill is a big sloppy soup sandwich and if real reform and bipartisanship is to be achieved it should be shelved in order to start fresh with reforms that will work.
Last word on this, after the summit talking heads who support Democrats have continued to push for the passage of this bill despite it's unpopularity all with the logic that if they walk away with nothing that it will hurt them MORE at the polls than if they allow it to die. Sadly this again is where partisan politics works against the American people when we have representatives hoping to help their party rather than represent the best interests of their voters as they were voted in to do.
In other news the Marines, NATO, and Afghan forces have been on a offensive in Afghanistan in the southern province of Helmland. This is part of the new offensive against the Taliban and to date the combined forces have gotten the Taliban out of Marjah and have raised the Afghan flag over the town. This is all well and good but the thing that pissed me off recently was a story in which Afghan President Karzai appeared in his Parliament holding a picture of a young child killed in the offensive and denouncing NATO for not doing more to lower civilian deaths. This is not the way to win a war, Karzai, while he maybe making his statements to broaden his appeal to all Afghans is effectively legitimizing Taliban's narrative of the war as one in which NATO forces kill civilians. Simply put, you don't win a damn war by making statements that your enemy is right and more just than your own forces. General McCrystal and our NATO allies need to have a sit down with this moron and remind him how many civilians have been killed by the Taliban and how many of them have been used as human shields by this people. That is the narrative you need to have from out of Kabul. You need to deligitimize the Taliban so that after we kick their ass out of the battlefield the winning of hearts and minds becomes easier and keeps the Taliban from coming back.
I think that is enough for now. Till next time.
-Zach
In the last week we had the oh so important health care summit in which President Obama brought together congressional leaders from both parties in what was supposed to be a last attempt to find compromise on the unpopular bill. In reality what it was to those who follow politics was nothing more than a stage play in which both sides essentially stuck to their talking points and which showed that compromise on this bill would not be coming. The purpose of such an event is that the President wanted another media event in which he could appear to be reaching across the aisle and seeking compromise and he when nothing was reached that pubic perception would be turned by some degree against Republicans and lessen any backlash Democrats will receive should they pass this bill.
So far that i can see though, the President's event did not have the effect that he hoped it would. Republicans showed up prepared and Congressman Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor and Senate leaders John McCain and Lamar Alexander all showed excellent reasons exactly why Republicans oppose this bill and why compromise on this rather than starting fresh is so unappealing. Numerous polls conducted with voters who watched the event came away with a positive view of the Republicans as this event allowed them to see where the Republicans stood on this bill and surprise surprise, they oppose it on principle as this bill would allow the government take over of 20% of the US economy, would still see a rise in health care costs, would dramatically raise the debt, and would likely cause small business owners who do provide insurance to dump their current coverage for the bare government minimum in order to offset increased taxes on their business. Lamar Alexander himself brought up one part of the bill that will likely draw enough Dem detractors away from the bill to endanger it's passing, and that is that this bill would for the first time in 35 years pave the way for government funding of abortions. In short this bill is a big sloppy soup sandwich and if real reform and bipartisanship is to be achieved it should be shelved in order to start fresh with reforms that will work.
Last word on this, after the summit talking heads who support Democrats have continued to push for the passage of this bill despite it's unpopularity all with the logic that if they walk away with nothing that it will hurt them MORE at the polls than if they allow it to die. Sadly this again is where partisan politics works against the American people when we have representatives hoping to help their party rather than represent the best interests of their voters as they were voted in to do.
In other news the Marines, NATO, and Afghan forces have been on a offensive in Afghanistan in the southern province of Helmland. This is part of the new offensive against the Taliban and to date the combined forces have gotten the Taliban out of Marjah and have raised the Afghan flag over the town. This is all well and good but the thing that pissed me off recently was a story in which Afghan President Karzai appeared in his Parliament holding a picture of a young child killed in the offensive and denouncing NATO for not doing more to lower civilian deaths. This is not the way to win a war, Karzai, while he maybe making his statements to broaden his appeal to all Afghans is effectively legitimizing Taliban's narrative of the war as one in which NATO forces kill civilians. Simply put, you don't win a damn war by making statements that your enemy is right and more just than your own forces. General McCrystal and our NATO allies need to have a sit down with this moron and remind him how many civilians have been killed by the Taliban and how many of them have been used as human shields by this people. That is the narrative you need to have from out of Kabul. You need to deligitimize the Taliban so that after we kick their ass out of the battlefield the winning of hearts and minds becomes easier and keeps the Taliban from coming back.
I think that is enough for now. Till next time.
-Zach
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A caution to Republicans counting victories 10 months early
I am more and more amazed as I listen to folks like Sean Hannity and other conservatives who seem absolutely certain in a massive conservative, read Republican, victory in the November elections later this year. Those elections are ten months away, so much in the political landscape can change from now to than that is seems the definition of foolishness to me to talk of victory as a forgone conclustion.
I also tend to think that it's a turn off for average Americans to hear Republicans talk of this gives me and others the impression that they are more interested in exploiting Democrates political weakness rather than attempt to govern and represent as they were elected to do. It isn't hard for me to imagine that the Dem label of the Republican party as the "party of no" starting to stick with time for the political pendulum to swing back in their direction. Now is the time to rather take advantage of a public who will be much more receptive to hearing Republican alternatives. It is time for Republicans to take a part in healthcare reform and bring down the cost of the bill while enacting free market reforms that will actually have an impact in lowering healthcare costs such as tort reform and expanind health insurance coverage across state lines. It is time to start our other narritive and let it stand because it is that, more than anything, that will bring Republicans and a Republican form of government back to where it should be.
A short post, but it's been a somewhat dull week in politics.
-Zach
I also tend to think that it's a turn off for average Americans to hear Republicans talk of this gives me and others the impression that they are more interested in exploiting Democrates political weakness rather than attempt to govern and represent as they were elected to do. It isn't hard for me to imagine that the Dem label of the Republican party as the "party of no" starting to stick with time for the political pendulum to swing back in their direction. Now is the time to rather take advantage of a public who will be much more receptive to hearing Republican alternatives. It is time for Republicans to take a part in healthcare reform and bring down the cost of the bill while enacting free market reforms that will actually have an impact in lowering healthcare costs such as tort reform and expanind health insurance coverage across state lines. It is time to start our other narritive and let it stand because it is that, more than anything, that will bring Republicans and a Republican form of government back to where it should be.
A short post, but it's been a somewhat dull week in politics.
-Zach
Friday, January 29, 2010
Obama cannot take any criticism at all
One thing I think that conservatives and political moderates may remember from the Presidential campaigns is Obama's unusual attention to Foxnews and to Sean Hannity in particular. At the time Obama received light treatment from the mainstream media and never really faced tough questions his affiliations with radical leftists. One of the few consistent voices against the then Senator was Sean Hannity, who was one of the first to report on Obama's relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and later will leftist radical and Chicagoan Bill Ayers. Hannity constantly hammered these relations while the media ignored it.
To most politicians this would be enough for them to look past it and keep on with their campaign, you never really saw President Bush rail against the leftist media for attacks against him, he certainly never called anyone out by name, and he carried on with the business of governing and campaigning when the time was right. With Obama though, during his campaign he mentioned Sean Hannity by name numerous times, about five, in which he would denigrate the man or call on others to stop listening to the man. One man criticising him and it bugged him so much that he had to fit it into his campaigns at the time.
After the election he found himself in an environment where he was elected President comfortably and his party has also won dominating control of both houses of Congress. No other politician could realistically want to be in a better position to enact policy and yet when he found himself in interviews where a reporter would remind him of the favorable coverage he typically received he was only too clear to mention "well there is one station in particular that seems to always have a problem with my administration" "you mean Foxnews" "yes." The more and more I saw this man the more and more that it came to me that he for whatever reason must be a very insecure man to have so much, to have been riding so much of a high politically and yet still not find solace because it was not absolute adoration. Such a thing is a figurative unicorn in politics.
I would have hoped that a year into office and more experience on the national stage would have gotten Obama past this stage in his life, but recent events have highlighted this trait even more. Following the election of Scott Brown and poll numbers that show that the President and his party have currently alienated a large sector of the American public Obama has lashed out again at those that disagree with him. Rather than attempt to deescalate the situation through an invitation of dialogue on such things as healthcare, he has escalated it through language that frankly will only inflame the partisan divide in this country. Case in point would be the recent state of the union address. I did not catch this address myself, and perhaps thankfully so, but from the highlights to things stuck out to me, the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" which i support, but think that this change should come from the military brass, not politician suits who want to score political points playing social experiments with an instrument designed to protect this nation.
The other thing is his calling out of the Supreme Court on their recent decision to allow cooperation's to fund political campaigns. A decision that I currently feel is a bad one, but Obama mischaracterized this decision in stating that it would allow foreign entities or companies to donate to American politicians. It does not and there is still a law in place against this. A day after having this pointed out the Obama White House still could not admit the error, but that is beside the point. The point would be the unprecedented nature of a President openly chiding the Supreme Court during a event that is supposed to be about proposals for the agenda in the next year. It was partisan politics as has never been seen before and one that should concern Americans IMHO.
Now if that wasn't enough the President today accepted an invitation to speak with House Republicans at a retreat in Baltimore, why the hell would anyone go to B-more to relax? Anyway while there the President once again went on the attack accusing Republicans of painting falsehoods against his administration and in portraying healthcare as "'Bolshevik plot' and telling their constituents that he’s 'doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America.'" Both very false, Republicans opposed healthcare because of the massive cost and the way that it would make for an easy government takeover of healthcare down the road. They opposed it because it would make the quality of healthcare in America go down while not reducing the costs and fining individuals who did not buy health insurance. They opposed it because there are better ways to reform healthcare, ones that Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has gone to great deals to highlight, only to be ignored by Dems and the white house. They opposed it because it was bad legislation Mr. President, not because they don't like you.
Folks, As I stated earlier Obama is ratcheting up this rhetoric at a time when he has already been in office for one year, one year in which he could have gone to great lengths to bring the real change he promised. His lashing out at others for his failures is concerning to me as I consider that the man has three more years, years in which he will more than likely have less control that he previously had. If he continues to lash out like this than the divide in this country will only become worse as he alienates those that only have marginal dislikes of the man, and encourages those on the far left who seek to impose their agenda no matter what the support for such measures maybe. This is the wrong path and the wrong tact to take and I can only hope that he see's his errors and corrects himself in the future.
To most politicians this would be enough for them to look past it and keep on with their campaign, you never really saw President Bush rail against the leftist media for attacks against him, he certainly never called anyone out by name, and he carried on with the business of governing and campaigning when the time was right. With Obama though, during his campaign he mentioned Sean Hannity by name numerous times, about five, in which he would denigrate the man or call on others to stop listening to the man. One man criticising him and it bugged him so much that he had to fit it into his campaigns at the time.
After the election he found himself in an environment where he was elected President comfortably and his party has also won dominating control of both houses of Congress. No other politician could realistically want to be in a better position to enact policy and yet when he found himself in interviews where a reporter would remind him of the favorable coverage he typically received he was only too clear to mention "well there is one station in particular that seems to always have a problem with my administration" "you mean Foxnews" "yes." The more and more I saw this man the more and more that it came to me that he for whatever reason must be a very insecure man to have so much, to have been riding so much of a high politically and yet still not find solace because it was not absolute adoration. Such a thing is a figurative unicorn in politics.
I would have hoped that a year into office and more experience on the national stage would have gotten Obama past this stage in his life, but recent events have highlighted this trait even more. Following the election of Scott Brown and poll numbers that show that the President and his party have currently alienated a large sector of the American public Obama has lashed out again at those that disagree with him. Rather than attempt to deescalate the situation through an invitation of dialogue on such things as healthcare, he has escalated it through language that frankly will only inflame the partisan divide in this country. Case in point would be the recent state of the union address. I did not catch this address myself, and perhaps thankfully so, but from the highlights to things stuck out to me, the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" which i support, but think that this change should come from the military brass, not politician suits who want to score political points playing social experiments with an instrument designed to protect this nation.
The other thing is his calling out of the Supreme Court on their recent decision to allow cooperation's to fund political campaigns. A decision that I currently feel is a bad one, but Obama mischaracterized this decision in stating that it would allow foreign entities or companies to donate to American politicians. It does not and there is still a law in place against this. A day after having this pointed out the Obama White House still could not admit the error, but that is beside the point. The point would be the unprecedented nature of a President openly chiding the Supreme Court during a event that is supposed to be about proposals for the agenda in the next year. It was partisan politics as has never been seen before and one that should concern Americans IMHO.
Now if that wasn't enough the President today accepted an invitation to speak with House Republicans at a retreat in Baltimore, why the hell would anyone go to B-more to relax? Anyway while there the President once again went on the attack accusing Republicans of painting falsehoods against his administration and in portraying healthcare as "'Bolshevik plot' and telling their constituents that he’s 'doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America.'" Both very false, Republicans opposed healthcare because of the massive cost and the way that it would make for an easy government takeover of healthcare down the road. They opposed it because it would make the quality of healthcare in America go down while not reducing the costs and fining individuals who did not buy health insurance. They opposed it because there are better ways to reform healthcare, ones that Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has gone to great deals to highlight, only to be ignored by Dems and the white house. They opposed it because it was bad legislation Mr. President, not because they don't like you.
Folks, As I stated earlier Obama is ratcheting up this rhetoric at a time when he has already been in office for one year, one year in which he could have gone to great lengths to bring the real change he promised. His lashing out at others for his failures is concerning to me as I consider that the man has three more years, years in which he will more than likely have less control that he previously had. If he continues to lash out like this than the divide in this country will only become worse as he alienates those that only have marginal dislikes of the man, and encourages those on the far left who seek to impose their agenda no matter what the support for such measures maybe. This is the wrong path and the wrong tact to take and I can only hope that he see's his errors and corrects himself in the future.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
2010, the year President Bush is vindicated?
Just a little over one year ago President Obama was sworn into office. I remember having to get up extra early that morning and catch the metro across the river into DC to get to work. I got to the station near my apartment around 5 in the morning and traffic was already backed up noticably in both directions as folks hoped to get a good spot on the mall for the show. There was a definite buzz for those that expected big things from the President and with this kind of atmosphere it was even predicted that Republicans would be in a political wilderness for a generation. One year and some piss poor governing later the polticial pendulum has swung so far so quickly that we recently saw the election of Scott Brown from Mass. to the Senate.
To put that into contex, Mass. has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, and not since 1966 has a Republcan won in an open election. In this past year we saw an second stimulus forced on this nation with the promise from the white house being that unemployment wouldn't go above 8%. It reached 10%. We saw our President go on a apology tour as he went to multiple european nations and seemingly humbled himself and our nation apologizing for many things that frankly, Americans were not sorry for, or felt that with that apology Obama should have also reminded those leaders of the immense positive impact that America has had on the world. We have seen our President dither, yes dither, for three months about what to do with Afghanistan after his hand picked General sent his advice to him. His answer was to take the most politically expediant solution by sending 30,000 troops to Aghanistan, 10,000 short of what McCrystal asked for and already setting an 18 month deadline for our beginning withdrawl from Afghanistan. In chosing this solutioin he has put our military behind the 8 ball in a war that is critical for us to win in the global war on terrorism.
And of course we come to healthcare. Here again the President sought to have Congress give him something, anything they could use by the end of the year. Sadly for him and for America what we got was a bill that mandated health coverage for all and penalized those that did not get insurance. It gave breaks to Obama supporters while leving heavier taxes against those that don't. It skipped tort reform and didn't allow for health insurance companies to work across state lines. More and more Americans turned against this bill again and again all the while a seemingly tone deaf Congress worked on passage of this bill. Only this Tuesday with a GOP win in the bluest state in the country has seemed to finally jar them awake to the massive opposition to this bill. Even than though, some dems have pledged "full steam ahead." Luckily some Senators like Jim Webb and Even Bayh have more common sense and this bill will be revised or ultimatley shelved.
All this in one year has left us with little doubt that Obama's first year in office has been a failure. 2010 is a chance to regroup and redeem himself, but starting out it kindly looks like it will actually be a year that vindicates many things that libs criticised President Bush for. Take GITMO for example, Obama and leftist know nothings thought they could close it in a year. For whatever reason they figured this would be easy because afterall, Bush only kept them there because he doesn't beleive in fairness to terrorists. One year later only about 40 prisoners have either been released or transfered leaving 200 detainees in the prison. The Obama administration has learned, gasp, that their are dangerous people there and that GITMO, while not ideal is exactly what the Bush admin described as the "best of a lot of bad options." As it stands it appears that it will take another year to close GITMO. Perhaps they should just consider keeping it open.
Lastly we come to the economy. The Obama admin is always quick to note how bad it was when they got there and that all the ills should be placed on Bush's doorstep and that all the gains are the workings of Obama, praise be to his name. It is a refocus on this that the Dems first hope to regain some momentum this year, but they sure are doing it in an odd way by very openly talking about EXTENDING BUSH'S TAX CUTS. While just talks right now if that move was taken it would certainly seem to be an admision that tax cuts help spur an economy's recovery, and of course, vindicate Bush's economic policies. That, along with GITMO, also seems to vindicate two policies that the left commonly derided Bush and Republicans in general. Let us hope that they take this tact and that our economy recovers and that those unemployed will find work. Given the current circumstances though, the Dems could go in any such direction.
Whew, shitty write up i know, but hopefully y'all cut me a break on this one.
-Zach
To put that into contex, Mass. has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972, and not since 1966 has a Republcan won in an open election. In this past year we saw an second stimulus forced on this nation with the promise from the white house being that unemployment wouldn't go above 8%. It reached 10%. We saw our President go on a apology tour as he went to multiple european nations and seemingly humbled himself and our nation apologizing for many things that frankly, Americans were not sorry for, or felt that with that apology Obama should have also reminded those leaders of the immense positive impact that America has had on the world. We have seen our President dither, yes dither, for three months about what to do with Afghanistan after his hand picked General sent his advice to him. His answer was to take the most politically expediant solution by sending 30,000 troops to Aghanistan, 10,000 short of what McCrystal asked for and already setting an 18 month deadline for our beginning withdrawl from Afghanistan. In chosing this solutioin he has put our military behind the 8 ball in a war that is critical for us to win in the global war on terrorism.
And of course we come to healthcare. Here again the President sought to have Congress give him something, anything they could use by the end of the year. Sadly for him and for America what we got was a bill that mandated health coverage for all and penalized those that did not get insurance. It gave breaks to Obama supporters while leving heavier taxes against those that don't. It skipped tort reform and didn't allow for health insurance companies to work across state lines. More and more Americans turned against this bill again and again all the while a seemingly tone deaf Congress worked on passage of this bill. Only this Tuesday with a GOP win in the bluest state in the country has seemed to finally jar them awake to the massive opposition to this bill. Even than though, some dems have pledged "full steam ahead." Luckily some Senators like Jim Webb and Even Bayh have more common sense and this bill will be revised or ultimatley shelved.
All this in one year has left us with little doubt that Obama's first year in office has been a failure. 2010 is a chance to regroup and redeem himself, but starting out it kindly looks like it will actually be a year that vindicates many things that libs criticised President Bush for. Take GITMO for example, Obama and leftist know nothings thought they could close it in a year. For whatever reason they figured this would be easy because afterall, Bush only kept them there because he doesn't beleive in fairness to terrorists. One year later only about 40 prisoners have either been released or transfered leaving 200 detainees in the prison. The Obama administration has learned, gasp, that their are dangerous people there and that GITMO, while not ideal is exactly what the Bush admin described as the "best of a lot of bad options." As it stands it appears that it will take another year to close GITMO. Perhaps they should just consider keeping it open.
Lastly we come to the economy. The Obama admin is always quick to note how bad it was when they got there and that all the ills should be placed on Bush's doorstep and that all the gains are the workings of Obama, praise be to his name. It is a refocus on this that the Dems first hope to regain some momentum this year, but they sure are doing it in an odd way by very openly talking about EXTENDING BUSH'S TAX CUTS. While just talks right now if that move was taken it would certainly seem to be an admision that tax cuts help spur an economy's recovery, and of course, vindicate Bush's economic policies. That, along with GITMO, also seems to vindicate two policies that the left commonly derided Bush and Republicans in general. Let us hope that they take this tact and that our economy recovers and that those unemployed will find work. Given the current circumstances though, the Dems could go in any such direction.
Whew, shitty write up i know, but hopefully y'all cut me a break on this one.
-Zach
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