Address to Congress

If you needed some hope in these hard times maybe you got it. Tonight President Obama came before congress to address them on his plans for the future.

“Now is the time to jump-start job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down. That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that is what I'd like to talk to you about tonight.” When the president says lending does he mean people taking out loans to buy houses, like houses they can’t afford?

“Over -- over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs.” Well which is it? If you save 3.5 million jobs good for you, only downside is there are still millions without jobs.

“And Americans -- and Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits and continued health care coverage to help them weather this storm.” So I won’t have to go everyday looking for work because my neighbor has my back? I mean who’s paying for these extended benefits?

“I know there are some in this chamber and watching at home who are skeptical of whether this plan will work, and I understand that skepticism. Here in Washington, we've all seen how quickly good intentions can turn into broken promises and wasteful spending. And with a plan of this scale comes enormous responsibility to get it right. And that's why I've asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort, because nobody messes with Joe.” Well I feel better. Very-Positive (VP) Joe is in charge so everything is going to be alright?

“I have told each of my cabinet…that they will be held accountable by me and the American people for every dollar they spend.” Well that’s good, but I’d also like some of them pay their taxes first.

“When there's no lending, families can't afford to buy homes or cars, so businesses are forced to make layoffs. Our economy suffers even more, and credit dries up even further.” Yet I feel a certain someone is still no getting it.

“…we have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages.” Hello I’m we’re Mr. and Mrs. Responsible, is that good enough for ya?

“History reminds us that, at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas.” Yeah and one of them prolonged the Depression.

Hopefully you were able to listen closely to the president’s words and weren’t distracted by Speaker of the House Nancy “Tigger” Pelosi. Now if you are feeling reassured I hope you aren’t doing it blindly. Here’s what I mean; if you start questioning the actions of President Obama and his administration but he gives you a positive talk, do your problem really go away? Or are you simply allowing yourself to go along with his agenda simply because he’s supposed to be this great agent of change and he isn’t George W. Bush? You need to realize that this is your future and your children’s futures we’re talking about here. While I wish this president success I have the right to voice my opinion. This is my country too – government of the people, by the people, for the people. And if people have a problem they can have their own little address to congress.

Big Enough to Take Away Everything You Have - Part 2

As of January 15, the stimulus package was $825 billion in total. So how do you gain support for such a high priced package? First if you’re in the media you paint the candidate of your choice to be a Godsend, they did that; second, you paint the opposing side as the guilty party responsible for your problems, and help get your candidate elected. Now if you are a member of the elected party you tell the people what they want to hear and ask them to bear with you during these hard times. Once you have hypnotized the people into fear and gotten them to believe your way is the only way, the blank check handed to the government becomes a sacrifice that just has to be made, and big government suddenly becomes a good thing.

President Obama said, “…you get the argument, "Well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill." What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point.  Don't come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis.” “Same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create the crisis,” said the Democratic president. Does President Obama recall that the head of the Federal Reserve in 1979 (you know when the groundwork for our problems started) contributed to the significant recession the U.S. economy experienced in the early 1980s, which included the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression? Paul Volcker is that man, and he is also the reason for the strongest political attacks and most wide-spread protests in the history of the Federal Reserve. Today Paul Volcker has been appointed by President Obama and named chairman of the newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Republican governors say this deal is needed, as Florida Gov. Charlie Crist told MSNBC, “It comes at a time when we need it. People need jobs. It's about jobs, jobs, jobs.” But of course governors want it, it means money for their state because they don’t have any or just want more to add to what they’re not using.

NBC’s Brian Williams says if it saves jobs let’s do it, but does it really? The President talks a lot about rebuilding highways, bridges, schools, hospitals, as well as creating new ones. But as RNC Chairman Michael Steele pointed out on ABC’s This Week, “this administration is talking about…making work. It is creating work…it's not a job. A job is something that a business owner creates. It's going to be long term.  If you got a government contract…there's no guarantee that there's going to be more work when you're done with that job.”

Sen. John McCain said a similar thing, “We've got to stimulate the economy and jobs. We're losing sight of what the stimulus is all about, and that is job creation. If it doesn't create jobs, then it's just another spending project.”

No matter what Democrats our Republicans say, the package does not ensure a permanent job; it’s not a career, its paid work that is temporary. Now at least being paid might sound good to someone who is unemployed, but it would only be a matter of time before you were out looking for work again. And if all the roads have been repaved, all the bridges repaired, and all the new hospitals and schools created or rebuilt, what work is there? So what is the government going to do when Americans find themselves out of work again? And on top of all of this you have to first believe that you will even receive work to do, not to mention that just because this package is signed into motion doesn’t means you will suddenly have a job tomorrow.

In its current form the plan gives $43 billion for increased unemployment benefits and job training. Well what good is improving job training when businesses can’t afford to hire? The government would be spending billions to prepare you for a job you can’t get.

In 1993 unemployment was around the same rate as today, but President Bill Clinton’s stimulus plan only cost $16 billion in spending. So say $16-30 billion could help this country, and you take $16-30 billion out of at least $825 billion, you would have $809 billion or less left. And whatever isn’t going to “job creation” or helping the unemployed is going to fulfill the wish list Democrats have been putting together for quite some time. The spending the Democrats want to do could indeed help this country but shouldn’t be on the list right now - there is no money for it!

To sound less selfish or sneaky, Democrats say tax cuts. And tax cuts are a good thing, because than Americans keep more of their hard earned money and can spend. Tax cuts to small or big businesses mean they have more money and they build up and can even take on more workers. But tax cuts are not a good thing when you’re government adds a an extra trillion to the national debt, the same government that criticized the last one for the huge deficit – hypocrites. The government needs money and they’re going to come to you.

President Obama says he wants to help give money back to the American taxpayers. Well right now this bill will cost each and every household $6,700+ in additional debt, paid for by our children and grandchildren. So any money given now would have to be taken out in taxes, because the government just signed an $800+ billion into law. And if businesses can’t afford to hire, and people can’t find work, and the government increases unemployment benefits, we will eventually find ourselves in a hole that we can not get out of. This is the only shovel ready project that is ready to go and it’s not one of the good ones.

The current form(s) of this bill pleases the majority of only one party. We can not spend our way out of this one. This bill does nothing that puts more money into the pockets of Americans. They may tell us it does, but first they have to believe that Americans aren’t going to put that money aside and save it.

If anything this recovery package makes us more dependent on the government, because the government will be giving us money they don’t have. And how can we pay off our debt when we have to borrow more than a trillion dollars?

During the election season Barack Obama said he wanted to reduce the deficit, and last October it was reported that the deficit would reach $455 billion. Obama has certainly not reduced it. And to top it all off during the final presidential debate he said, “I don’t mind paying a little more (taxes).” That’s easy to say when you’re running for president, how can he expect more out of us when we have a hard enough time paying them ourselves? Maybe he should first get the members of his own administration to pay theirs’.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel said on NBC’s Meet the Press, “…we have got to…get banks again lending to both consumers and businesses.” Again, its money we don’t have, not to mention that fact that lending to people who shouldn’t be taking out loans from banks, who are receiving money from a government in debt, is not a good thing. And it is what got us into this mess in the first place.

So, can we accept this deal? Unemployment would increase, businesses would continue to fail, and future generations would be stuck paying off our debt.  So far the only change from this adminstration is the change in Americans' pockets and accounts going to the government. President Thomas Jefferson said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.” 

Big Enough to Take Away Everything You Have - Part 1

It is no secret that we are in a recession; that the economy is in bad shape. Businesses and corporations are closing; Mrs. Fields and Circuit City are gone. Others are suffering, and people are losing their jobs. There’s a problem, and the Democratic rule in Washington tell us they have the answer, but what their plan does is take one crisis and set it up as the starting point for another. The current Stimulus package won’t help in the way it’s being showcased; it will not help the American people.

But first, when did our current economic crisis begin? Scott Powell of Barron’s Magazine, an American financial magazine, writes on this very issue in an editorial entitled The Culprit Is All of Us. Powell writes how it was during the Carter administration that our crisis began with the “passage of the Community Reinvestment Act to stem bank redlining and liberalize lending in order to extend home ownership in lower-income communities.” Then in the 1990s, “the Department of Housing and Urban Development took a fateful step by getting the GSEs to accept subprime mortgages.”

Contrary to what the media has made you believe, Powell points out the Bush administration “made many mistakes, but deregulation was not one of them,” in fact the Bush administration and a Republican Congress “approved the most sweeping financial-market regulations in decades.” During the first three months of their first term, the Bush administration warned that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac posed a potential problem, and even after those scandals were made aware “regulators sent Fannie and Freddie back into the market to continue buying subprime loans, lending and borrowing with implied taxpayer backing”. The poor and middle class were encouraged to buy houses they couldn't afford, and as Powell adds, “speculators were lured into excessive risk-taking; banks were rewarded for lowering their loan standards; and Wall Street found new windfall profits from securitizing and reselling bad loans in bulk.”

Freddie and Fannie didn’t fail eight years ago; they didn’t fail four years ago. Freddie and Fannie failed in the late summer of 2008 with a Democratic congress. So what did the government do? They took control of Freddie and Fannie. Just a short time later Wall Street crashed. What did the government do then? They gave the surviving banks a bailout, which was a failure. Later there was a similar act when GM, Ford, and Chrysler began to fail.

NBC’s David Gregory of Meet the Press broke the government bailouts and stimulus packages down. “The first stimulus, $168 billion; the money allocated for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, 200 billion, only about 14 billion of that has been drawn down by Freddie Mac; the bailout of AIG…122.8 billion; the bailout money known as the TARP, you've now got the second half of that authorized, that's $700 billion, some of that for the auto, Bank of America, Citigroup; the proposed stimulus--or recovery plan, as you put it, $825 billion.  That is $2 trillion from February of '08 and, if it's passed in the middle of February, to February of '09.”

So we have one bailout that was a failure to failed banks, another went to failing auto corporations, and President Obama is pushing for a package that he says would save the economy and the American people, because something has to be done now! No good news has come from any of these bailouts, all you have is the receivers asking for more money, but apparently this pattern isn’t enough to get Washington to reconsider this form of the package.

Strike One for Joe

So Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. put the word “faithfully” in the wrong place when swearing in now President Obama. It could’ve been nerves, and/or it could have been because he was saying it by memory. Whatever the case it was a little slip up and Barack Obama was indeed already president at noon.

Well during a swearing in for White House senior staff, Vice-President Joe Biden made the remark, “My memory is not as good as Chief Justice Roberts'." President Obama can be clearly seen placing his hand on Biden’s arm as if to say, “That’s enough Joe,” or, “Don’t go there Joe.”

Now Biden has apologized, whether it came from the heart or President Obama we don’t know. But I think the new VP should now more than ever be careful about what he says. Remember when he said, “The presidency does not lend itself to on the job training,” or how there would be a great international disaster within the first six months of the Obama presidency. I think VP should stand for Very Positive, because Biden needs to be positive and not keep putting his foot in his mouth, and worrying or offending others.

In any case, strike one for Joe.

President Barack Obama

Barack Obama became America’s 44th president today, while also becoming the first Black President. The next four years are in his hands, as well as those of the Senate and Congress. Back in November the majority of American citizens voted these officials into office, believing they are the best for the job. But America is watching, for behind this historic even lie the great challenges.

Said President Obama, “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

This part “the challenges…will not be met easily or in a short span of time” is something to remember. There is no doubt that much is expected of Barack Obama, but this country has to be careful, for they have placed him on a very high pedestal. For there to be success Americans have to bear with President Obama. Such cooperation was lost or came too late with President Bush, but now this country must seriously open its eyes to the problems before us, for now they want to come together.

So let your voice be heard, and if it isn’t you can express your feelings in November of 2012. But for now, let us pray for the best. And for now we look to President Barack Obama.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

“In citizens like these, we see the best of our country - resilient and hopeful, caring and strong. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America. We have faced danger and trial, and there's more ahead. But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great nation will never tire, never falter, and never fail.

It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country, and uplifted by the goodness of our people.”

These words were of course spoken by the current President of the United States, the man who has led our nation for the past eight years. Those years are now yesterday, and the volume in American History begins tomorrow with Barack Obama.

You might remember that it was these past eight years that really helped the president-elect during his campaign - throw in a corrupt media as well. We’ll never know what the past eight years would’ve been if it hadn’t been for that tragic day in 2001.

The current administration has faced many challenges since that day, with Bush’s number one priority being the safety of American people. But of course to achieve such action you have to do things that some may not agree with, but doesn’t every presidency face moments like that? I mean have you ever stopped to think that when you or someone else is trashing the current president there is someone fighting for your freedom, your freedom of speech that allows you to say such terrible things. Now I when I say your freedom I mean this, if we hadn’t gone to war how safe would this country be today?

***

Back at the 2004 Democratic Convention for Sen. John Kerry, Barack Obama stated how there is no conservative or liberal America, only the United States of America. You hear a similar thing today when it’s said how the country is coming together and getting behind the next president due to “nightmare” of the past several years.  So why is it that this country is only willing to come together with President-elect Obama? Such unity has not been seen since the days and year following 9/11. President Bush has stated mistakes have been made, and we’ve been told we can expect to follow the same rough path in the days and years ahead. So if the time comes where Barack Obama comes before the country and says mistakes have been made but bear with us, will we because Obama asks? Why couldn’t we come together four years ago?

It’s said we’ve come so far, I don’t know, I think there’s something we’re still not getting. But anyway, this is an important time for America, some sort of change is coming, the Bush legacy has yet to be finalized, and Barack Obama will be our president. But now is the time where we welcome the next commander-in-chief, we learn from past mistakes, and we look to the future. There is indeed something to learn from yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Farewell from President Bush

Tonight for the final time, President Bush spoke to the American people from the White House. He leaves the office in a much different manner than he ever expected before the unfortunate events of 9/11. If you were watching the address live tonight I’m sure network anchors, like NBC’s, reminded you of how the president is exiting with low approval ratings. So maybe the president isn’t leaving on a high note tonight, perhaps the years to come will paint a better picture for the 43^rd commander-in-chief. But for now it’s farewell from President Bush.

Bush's Final Press Conference

How will history see our 43rd President? Will the people who throw shoes, or hold up signs calling for the arrest of George Bush being proven wrong tomorrow (not that what they are doing is right)?

Said Bush, “It's not the first time, however, in history that people have expressed themselves in sometimes undignified ways. I've been reading, you know, a lot about Abraham Lincoln during my presidency and there's some pretty harsh discord when it came to the 16th president, just like there's been harsh discord for the 43rd president.”

Things can look one way today, but different tomorrow. Opinions and views change, and so can the way we look at President Bush today. No doubt mistakes were made, but I don’t feel Bush was the worst president this country has ever had. I blame thoughts like that on a bias media.

Some believe that because the majority say Bush is the worst president it's true, but how many even know why they don't like Bush? Probably not many. Maybe this will make more sense, millions of tween girls think the Jonas Brothers are great...have you heard them sing?

When asked about America's  image overseas the president said, "I disagree with this assessment that, you know, that people view America in a dim light," he said. "It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom."

I could spend a lot more time blogging about the past eight years, I could tell you what I think, you’d tell me yours, but really it’s to soon to tell. I think history will paint a different picture then the one today of Mr. Bush. But whatever is said years from now I’ve posted below a video of Bush’s final press conference.

Applause to Speaker Pelosi

With the economy so bad off, the President-elect asks Congress to act fast. But get this; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is promising to cancel Congress’s first vacation of the year if there isn’t an economic recovery package on Obama’s desk by Feb. 16.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

Quick somebody grab a defibrillator!

Clear!

ZAP

My word, 2009 is a year of change. I mean…Pelosi will cancel a vacation, it only took the economy to get this bad off for her to get serious. Remember when gas prices were way high and Pelosi and a good number of her fellow Democrats went out on holiday? Nice to know she finally understands how important this matter is. Nothing can go wrong, unless there’s a Jewish holiday coming up in which case there went that.

Let’s give a round of applause to Speaker Pelosi. 

Change in 2008

Change, the most popular word of 2008, made famous by President-elect Barack Obama.

Change is the symbolization for the transition in power - from current President Bush to the next. Change is what this country is apparently looking for. And change is what this country will indeed have. The only question this blogger continues to ask is what kind of change it will be?

Because I may or may not disagree with the actions of the current administration does that mean I just accept the ones of the next? Do we give the 44^th president a free pass because he represents change, because he isn’t Bush? No.

Change isn’t a word created in 2007 or 2008. It’s always come from every political party, with each candidate being an agent of change. But again, what kind of change is it? Will it be for better, or for worse? A new chapter is starting in America’s history and it started with change in 2008.

Chambliss is Still the Man for the Job

To the Democratic Party, a good number of Georgia voters had one thing to say, “Whoa there not so fast!” On Dec. 2 Georgia voters helped keep Sen. Saxby Chambliss hold his seat in U.S. senate, thwarting Democrats' hopes of winning a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority.

The run-off election comes after neither Chambliss nor his Democratic opponent Jim Martin was able to take the seat in the General Election. While Barack Obama went on to win the presidency, Martin wasn’t able to get Obama voters in large enough numbers to overcome the Republican advantage. As Fox News put it Conservatives, who had been upset with Chambliss, were “fearful of unchecked Democratic dominance”.

But with every politician who gets a second term, we can only pray that Chambliss is still the man for the job.

Change with Paul Volcker

Today President-elect Obama announced Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker as head of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, while the board's top staff official will be Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist. And guess what! Goolsbee has never been in Washington! However, Volcker has.

In this morning’s news conference, Obama tried to reassure Americans that "help is on the way" for the economy. Apparently this help comes in the form of Paul Volcker, who was appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve in August 1979 by President Jimmy Carter and reappointed in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. Volcker helped tame inflation by raising interest rates, despite intense opposition by some in Congress. However, Volcker’s Fed contributed to the significant recession the U.S. economy experienced in the early 1980s, which included the highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression. Volcker's Fed also elicited the strongest political attacks and most wide-spread protests in the history of the Federal Reserve.

The President-elect also stated, again, how the “old ways of thinking just won’t do”. I guess by old ways he means anything from the last “horrific” eight years, anyone from the CARTER or Clinton administration is fine. I’m sorry but if help is on the way, why would you (Reagan and Obama) appoint a guy who’s Fed contributed to a recession and included the highest unemployment levels of its time? Plus I thought recession was a bad thing. And we all have heard the rising numbers in job employment, and Obama’s answer is to bring Volcker? It’s like you’re in a building on fire and Volcker’s the fireman who makes the fire spread. Am I missing something here?

But don’t worry America you’ll get your change, or least pray that your wallets will still have change with Paul Volcker.

Experience for the Country

Though having been defeated on Nov. 4, the media has seemed to still hold an interest in Gov. Sarah Palin, such as her place in the future of the Republican Party. What, suddenly they want her in the picture? Whatever the future holds for Gov. Palin, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric offered the Alaskan governor some advice. In an interview with New York Post Couric said, “I think she should keep her head down, work really hard and learn about governing. But I'm not anyone to give advice to anyone about anything.” Learn…

WE INTERUPT THIS POST TO BRING YOU THIS POLITICAL UPDATE.

This just in, today (Sunday) marks the day when President-elect Barack Obama resigns from his four year term in the senate. I know what you’re thinking, he was in the senate?

WE NOW RETURN YOU TO OUT POST ALREADY IN PROGRESS.

…about governing? Katie, “GOVENOR” Palin will have been Alaska’s governor for two years on Dec. 4^th of this year. Now true, that hasn’t been a long time, but she was mayor for six years (1996-2002) of Wasilla. She was also was elected twice to the city council in 1992 and 1995, though she did not complete her second term due to her campaign for mayor. So either the people of Alaska are really dumb or a good portion of the people see a real leader in Sarah Palin – I’m going to go with them seeing a real leader.

Apparently having such executive experience still isn’t enough, because she was only mayor of Wasilla, and governor of Alaska, we all know that hardly qualifies, right? Wrong. People with the mindset of Matt Damon and Diddy (-dumb), seem to think of Palin and Alaska as some sort of breeding ground for low intelligence. It also seems that some Americans tend to not see Alaska as one of the United States, if I were a citizen of Alaska the Alaskan Independence Party would certainly be looking good right about now.

Palin may be a Washington outsider, but she isn’t an idiot. She may have gone to a few different colleges, but that doesn’t mean she some sort of party-girl bimbo. She hunts, who cares, lots of presidential and vice-presidental candidates have hunted, that doesn’t make her some sort of whacked out hillbilly. Oh and by the way Katie, Gov. Palin has Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, she could do your job. It can’t be that hard to pull bias garbage out of your…anyway, enough with the trash on the eight-year executive experienced and qualified governor of Alaska. Let’s instead focus on what Illinois’ former “four-year” state senator will do his experience for the country.

America's 44th President

Come January 20, 2009 Americans will watch as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America.

And now the tasks of fixing the country, with apparently so many problems that we forget we’re so much better off, now lies with President-elect Obama. Mr. Obama will have to keep true to his voice of change, and how this election year change is indeed more than just a slogan, even if other presidents have said the say thing before. He has to prove he can deliver change for the better and not change that means we don’t have a Republican in the Oval Office. The Voice of Hope was heard all across this country and we as a country have to pray that it’s not just hype or encouraging words.

President-elect Obama now has a huge burden to carry, as well as his fellow party members who are gaining seats. They are now responsible for a good portion of America’s choices and future, and they won’t be able to utter the words “failed Republican policies”. This is the time in our country where once again we know what politicians are made of. Do they really care? Do they really get it? Did I vote for the candidate who will speak for me, or did I just elect the next American Idol?

But also think of this, the candidate of change, Democrat or Republican, can promise you a brighter tomorrow, but something can come along that throws a curveball in their agenda. The American president is one person, one person being advised, one person who has to make hard decisions. So perhaps you should try pretending you were in their shoes. Jimmy Carter said many things that sound like what Mr. Obama said, but you don’t hear anyone talking about the glory days of the Carter administration. Many have labeled President Bush a failure, why don’t we wait a few years before we call that one. Also, and this is a little of topic, but while Mr. Bush’s approval ratings are low, Congress’ are even lower. So look up who makes the majority of congress for these past two years and explain that one to me, it seems a little weird about the American mindset.
But anyway, this is certainly an exciting time in American history, and there’s nothing wrong with supporting Mr. Obama even if you didn’t vote for him. Because if this country is devided, it’s time we get back together, something I hope we all could’ve done even if Sen. McCain had been elected America’s 44th President.

“I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.” - Sen. John McCain

“This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we cant, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.” – President-elect Barack Obama

Go Vote!

So here we find ourselves on Election Eve of 2008. Hopefully, when casting your vote you voted, or will vote, because you care about the issues. Voting can’t be about political parties, race, or personality. And you shouldn’t vote based on talking points. You’ve had plenty of time to research, to watch the candidates and find out who they are and what they really stand for, and hopefully, the kept to their beliefs.

I’ve blogged about flip-flopping before, and like I said then, flip-flopping is only a problem when it becomes a change for the worse. If a candidate supports something they didn’t support long ago, don’t vote based on the past. And speaking of the past, if the past years have been so terrible do you really know why?

When it comes to change, change can come from either side. If the past 8 years have been bad, than it is possible to learn from our mistakes and fix them. It's that very message McCain and Palin are trying to get across, while it's easier for Obama. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin promote themselves as mavericks, they should instead be promoting themselves as MacGyver. Oh and remember, every political candidate is an agent of change, and agents like that have been around for a long time.

So come Wednesday, I hope America will have chosen the best person for the job, and not because they're considered a maverick or the face of hope- and this is assuming the election doesn’t go 2000 on us. So do what’s right for the country, and don't elect your American Idol. Now go vote!

Trust, But Verify - a.k.a. The Presidents' Conversation

Imagine if you will a small room, a sort of meeting hall. There are windows running down the length of both sides of the room, in the center of the room a rectangular conference table. There are eleven chairs, five on each side, with one at the head of the table. The doors open behind the head chair and in walk eleven men, figures of American history. Each take their assigned seats, and quietly converse. The men are eleven of America’s presidents.

Private conversations go on for some time until Thomas Jefferson begins to speak. Folding his issue of today’s newspaper he says, “My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” Nodding his head, Gerald Ford states, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” “The people are the government, administering it by their agents; they are the government, the sovereign power,” says Andrew Jackson. “Man is not free unless government is limited,” adds Ronald Reagan. From the end of the right side of the table, Abraham Lincoln speaks. “The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them,” he then adds, “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.” Turning from Lincoln, Andrew Jackson faces the rest of the presidents and says, “Fear not, the people may be deluded for a moment, but cannot be corrupted.”

The topic shifts to the state of the government and the economy. “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little,” states Franklin Roosevelt. Lincoln turns to FDR and says, “You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” “A wise and frugal government, shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government,” says Thomas Jefferson. “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery,” adds Calvin Coolidge. “Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States,” says Ronald Reagan. Andrew Jackson faces his successors and predecessor, “The planter, the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer... form the great body of the people of the United States, they are the bone and sinew of the country men who love liberty and desire nothing but equal rights and equal laws.” “The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life,” states Teddy Roosevelt. With a small smile coming across his face Ronald Reagan says, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.” A few more smiles appear amongst the presidents as Reagan adds, “Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

Some more time passes, the issues are discussed, and final statements just two days before the 2008 election are stated. Not resisting Teddy states, “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.” Gerald Ford smiles as he closes saying, “Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together.” From the head of the table the current President states, “Our nation must come together to unite.” Kennedy raises his hand, “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future,” he then adds, “…ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Shaking his head Lincoln says, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” “No man will ever carry out of the Presidency with the reputation which carried him into it,” says Jefferson. Ronald Reagan turns to Jefferson, “Trust, but verify.”

The Lyin', the Watch, and the Wardrobe

Dear Sarah is how the one of the latest anti-Gov. Palin videos circling the web starts off. A bunch of teenage girls, including younger girls, all basically stating that what Gov. Palin stands for will somehow ruin their lives. One little girl tells Sarah not to tell her what books she can’t read. One says that Sarah wants God to let the soldiers to die in Iraq, while another thinks that Sarah’s beliefs have to be hers. Another girl states how more women are raped in Alaska, but adds that Gov. Palin did nothing. Bottom line, these girls all “think” that Gov. Sarah Palin will undo all that women fought for. Well if a ten-year-old said it, it must be true. No. Now it is true that rape numbers are higher in Alaska, but it’s a lie that Gov. Palin did nothing.

Of course another “concern” for the McCain-Palin campaign the polls numbers, well, somewhat. Turn on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Obama leads by 7-11 points. But watch carefully now, because usually the network name is followed by a joint partner in polling, like an ABC News-Washington Post poll. How trustworthy can a poll like that be when the Washington Post has endorsed Obama? So watch carefully, and don’t be fooled.

And lastly, what do you think of Gov. Palin’s clothes? To be honest, who cares? Well sadly the media does. For all last week it was the big concern involving the $150,000 spent on Gov. Palin’s clothes by the RNC. Palin doesn’t get to keep the clothes, and SHE DIDN’T BUT THEM. Hey what about John McCain’s $500+ shoes or Barack Obama’s $1,500+ specially made suits? At least Palin's clothes will be auctioned off with the proceeds to go to charity.

It’s no secret that the campaign trail is rough for McCain and Palin. And it’s no secret their under a greater microscope than Sen. Obama. I’m just wondering if people are even focusing to the issues, I mean really focusing and listening. Obama has pointed out how McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said about this election not being about the issues. And at times it seems like that with what the media tends to report. It seems the media is more interested in reporting the lyin’, the watch (poll numbers and other flaws), and the wardrobe.

Crisis for Obama is Biden

By now you’ve probably heard about that old guy who says negative things about Barack Obama, no it’s not McCain, its Joe Biden. Yes, Obama’s running mate has looked into his crystal ball and has seen that within six months of Obama’s presidency, there will be an international crisis. “Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking,” said Biden. Alright so the world will test him, but did he have to add, “Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.” Apparently he did. “He’s gonna have to make some really tough - I don’t know what the decision’s gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it’s gonna happen.”

Thank you Carnac.

Obama responded to the comments saying that Biden’s core point was that the next administration is going to be tested regardless of who it is. Well that’s one way to look at it, but Biden said, “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama.” Sen. Obama went on to add that the question “…is will the next president meet that test by moving America in a new direction by sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that we are no longer about bluster and unilateralism and ideology, but we’re about creating partnerships around the world to solve practical problems?”

Did this give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? If there is an Obama administration let’s hope the only crisis for Obama is Biden.

Sen. Robin Hood’s Strategy

How do you create more jobs if you’re going to tax the businesses that create the jobs? The answer…you can’t, or at least not many jobs.

When Barack Obama came down the street of one Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher a.k.a. Joe the Plumber, Joe had this to say, “I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes about $250,000 … $270-$280,000 a year. Your new tax plan's gonna tax me more, isn't it?” Now if Joe, who has been working for fifteen years, buys another truck and adds something else to it and builds the company, he’ll be getting taxed more and more while “fulfilling the American Dream”.

Said Sen. Obama in response, “So, over the last 15 years, when you weren't making $250,000, you would have been getting a tax cut from me. So you'd actually have more money, which means you would have saved more, which means that you would have gotten to the point where you could build your small business quicker than under the current tax code. So there are two ways of looking at it. I mean, one way of looking at it is, now that you've become more successful through hard work, you don't want to be taxed as much.”

And…

“…I'm going to cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need, and for the 5 percent of the folks who are doing very well, even though they've been working hard … and I understand that; I appreciate that … I just want to make sure that they're paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts. Now, I respect your disagreement, but I just want you to be clear. It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance at success, too.”

So he’s going to tax the well off, or the rich, so that everyone has a chance at success. But what happens if Joe gets beyond the $250,000 mark? He may not be able to provide healthcare to his employees, or hire; he may have to lay some if his workers off. Odds are he’d have to charge more, but what if his customers aren’t willing to pay more? Say good-bye to Joe’s plumbing business. But on the bright side, someone was getting the money from Joe’s taxes, and they get the chance to succeed, assuming they even start a business. And if they do, what are the odds they’ll end up like Joe?

This is what Obama calls “spreading the wealth around”. Says Obama, “…my attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. If you've got a plumbing business, you're gonna be better off if you've got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you.” But like I said, what if they can’t afford to hire Joe because Joe has to charge more because of higher taxes? And we’re not just talking small business but major corporations. When taxes are low, businesses can afford to take on more workers, you know, provide jobs – help the middle class. But hey, the media is more concerned about non-licensed Joe asking Obama a question and going Big Brother on him. Heaven forbid we really question Sen. Robin Hood’s strategy.

The Final Debate

In this point we're not going to worry about who won, or what's true and what isn't. Instead I'll encourage you to study the candidates on the issues and use common sense. Anyway, here are some highlights from the final debate.

John McCain:

• Americans are hurting right now and they’re angry.
• They want this country to go in a new direction.
• Homeowners first.
• Help Joe buy that business which he can’t afford due to Obama’s tax increases.
• Take Joe’s money give it to Sen. Obama and let him spread the wealth around.
• McCain wants small businesses/& owners to keep their money.
• Nobody likes taxes; let’s not raise anybody’s taxes.
• Cut people’s taxes, and create jobs.
• Stop saving $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us.
• Cut Back:
  Spending
  Marketing assistance programs
  Subsidies for ethanol
  Eliminate the tax on sugar cane based ethanol
• Can you balance the budget: Yes
• "Sen. Obama I am not President Bush, if you wanted to run against President Bush you should’ve run four years ago."
• Obama voted for the energy bill that was full of goodies.
• I have fought against spending, reform, etc.
• Obama has spent more money on negative ads than any other campaign in history.
• Sarah Palin is a reformer.
• Given money back to tax payers
• Joe Biden has been wrong on foreign policy issues which are supposed to be his strength.
• We can offshore drill now, we have to now.

Barack Obama:

• Rescue package for the middle class.
• Focus on jobs.
• End jobs overseas.
• Let’s help families right away.
• Fix healthcare and education.
• Homeowners renegotiate mortgages.
• McCain’s plan is a giveaway to banks.
• We both want to cut taxes.
• McCain wants to add $200 billion add. tax cuts to corporate America.
• 95% of working families will get a tax cut.
• 100% percent of McCain’s ads are negative.
• Special needs will require additional spending.
• In 10 years we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
  We can’t drill our way out of the problem.