This post is sure to piss some people off. But, I don't really care. I don't really even know what I'm talking about anyways.
Today documents the 44th changing of the guard. That's right. There's a black man finally in the White House. Yay for African Americans everywhere...well, Halfricans really. So with a new face in the Oval Office, I'm expecting to see some of these promises come to life. Get ready for some CHANGE, America.
1) Stimulus Package
The Obamanator has proposed a new stimulus package of $188 billion over two years. I'm hoping that it's gonna go down like a Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes. I expect a knock on the door with cameras and balloons and an over-sized check made out to Cash for $188 billion. That should cover rent for the next couple years, I think.
2) Flood protection
So maybe I won't get a check for the whole $188 billion. It's rumored that part of the stimulus package will go toward infrastructure improvements. So what does this mean? Obama's gonna build a 500 foot wall around New Orleans?
3) ObamaCare
I can't wait for this one-size-fits-all health care program. It'll be like Red Box. I'll drive up to McDonald's, swipe my credit card, and out will pop a baby! And for this convenience, it's only gonna cost about $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
4) Redistribution of Wealth
While Obama promises to cut taxes for the middle class, he's essentially promising to raise taxes paid by higher earners. He claims that he's just trying to spread the wealth around. Here's a brief outline of his plan:
- Increase the top individual income tax rate by 13% and the second individual income tax rate by 10%.
- Increase the capital gains tax rate by 33%.
- Increase the tax rate on dividends by 33%.
- Raise the top payroll tax rate by between 16%-32%.
- Implement protectionist trade policies and higher tariff taxes.
5) Return of the troops
The Congressional Budget Office estimates a savings of $90 billion if the soldiers were pulled out of Iraq. When referring to the these savings, Obama promises new roads, more teachers, more scholarships, and new schools. Pretty much, whatever group of people he's addressing, Obama promises them that money. I wonder what else that $90 billion can buy; rebuilding the military ($7 billion/yr); education initiative ($18 billion/yr); and energy initiative ($15 billion/yr). Of course, that's on top of the $188 billion stimulus package and the $1.2 trillion he needs for healthcare. So again, the savings from bringing the troops back with cover all that, right?
I hope most of you are excited about Barak being in office as I am. Break out your American flag tee's and Qu'rans. In Obama we trust.
11 comments:
Sorry Cali, you were probably looking to rile some feathers with this post. More than being riled up, I’m disappointed. Regardless of the context, ‘Halfrican’ is pretty inappropriate, and I’m not sure what you meant by your reference to the “Qu’ran” [sic], so I’ll stop at being a little taken aback by your offensive language.
I’m not a crazy, die-hard supporter of Obama. I appreciate his rational approach to politics at a grassroots level and I voted for him, but he’s off in many places too. His skin color and Tuesday’s ridiculous celebratory waste of money aside, I am excited for a fresh attitude in Washington. Let’s be honest, he’s not going to single handedly fix everything (or even most things), and he’ll probably break a bunch of stuff too. Let us also not forget what youthful political zeal can accomplish with a side of inexperience (Vietnam anyone?). But can you really say that you aren’t somewhat relieved to be rid of the Bush administration’s blundering idiocy; or maybe the fact that his administration did more damage to the balance of power between the branches of government than any before it; perhaps if only because of his total disregard for very fabric of human rights that forms the foundation of the Constitution? It’s time to move on from the Cold War hegemonic attitudes of throwing our money and bombs at problems hoping they go away, those policies worked… on the Soviet Union.
Finally, partisan politics aside, isn’t it great to live in a country where power can switch between extremes in a peaceful way? Why don’t we relax and make fun of Kyle for ending his prayers in the name of Obama?
(Oh, and by the way, the great depression started in 1929 in a freer market than has existed since, during which time the financial industry was relatively unregulated, which was largely a product of President Coolidge’s laissez-faire Republican policies; leaving the similarities to our time aside for later discussion, let’s not forget the details and try to blame everything on President Hoover.)
I vote Claire for President!!! Proclaim you'll fix everything, dress like Jackie Kennedy, and make sure to use plenty of rhyming words and you'll have the whole country behind you! (Did no one really proof the good reverand's benediction prior to Tuesday's circus?)
"Halfrican".....good one!!!! Lest he not forgot his lighter side. Re:The Great Depression of 1929 or 1931 - you say Tomatoes, I say Tomatoes Jimmy!! Whatever - our recent downturn seemed to occur right around the same time the democrats became the majority or did no one notice????
Yeah I'm way excited about Red Box Medical. I wonder if they will dispense Do-It-Yourself Tumor Removal Kits? Your brothers and sister could really use one. Maybe they will after a 5 year waiting period when the little medical clerk says "Sure why not let 'em have one."
I heard they were putting Obama's picture on the flag.
haha well I am confused....I think it's cause I don't involve myself in the politics!
I'm nervous about a lot of this money monkey business. Too much fakey fake moolah out there. But as long as they are packaging stimulus and printing money to do it, I'm all for the publisher's clearing house type deal. Nice to have your perspective!
Now, now, is that fair to use statistics, history, and logic to prove a political point?
I really worry. This is a dangerous slippery slope we are on. With Nancy Pelosi, Dirty Harry Reid and Barry Obama having all the power, we could be in for a tough 2-4 years. It figures we go into a Socialistic type of nation right as the Socialist Europen experiment is crumbling. I'm hopeful our fellow states can make right in two years and Obama will be lame ducked like Bill Clinton was in '94.
We are America, and as long as people aren't afraid to raise an opposing voice to wrongs and injustices, we can't be kept down.
Great post though.
"...right as the Socialist Europen [sic] experiment is crumbling"? For starters, our system is much more socialistic than most conservatives would concede. It turns out that humankind is not so good off in a completely free market (although you might prefer it if you have a bigger gun than your neighbors or come from a long line of privilege). The US is not a free market; it is heavily regulated capitalism. You can refer back to Thomas Hobbes a few hundred years ago for clarification if you’re confused about free markets.
If there were any vestige of a free market system left after the New Deal era and the great depression, it is rapidly dying now. How can you not look at the past year as evidence of the non-viability of the free market? To the comment earlier about the economy crashing when liberals took the helm. Your observation is akin to buying a used car, driving it off the lot, immediately having the transmission fail, and then having a third party blame you for it rather than the previous owner or salesperson. You have ignored, or are ignorant of, many precipitous factors. Most analysts agree that the problems in the economy today have come, at least in part, from a lot of deregulation in the financial sector that began some 20 years ago and continued during Bush’s tenure. The growing consumer debt problems were compounded by the huge run up of the national debt over the course of the Bush administration. Finally, last year, foreign markets decided that the US dollar was not worth what it once was (which is true) and unpinned their currency from ours. The subsequent adjustment plummeted the value of our currency and caused massive reverberations throughout the global economy (including the European Social experiment states you referred to). These problems combined to turn into the worst financial downturn on record since the crash of 1929-30.
Conservatives will point, as did Tutu, to the fact that the major bailout and the collapse occurred under the watch of a democratic congress, but the collapse was not a result of their work, it began long before they stepped up to bat. The bailout was only the reaction to something that began years ago (which Bush sponsored, by the way).
Despite what you might think, I don’t pretend that our situation is solely the result of republicans or democrats (or even the US, for that matter), but if you think we still live in a free market, you are drunk on someone’s Kool-Aid. The federal government owns significant portions of the financial sector now and soon the automotive industry. Free market ideals would have left millions without jobs. Clearly, the conservative policies of the Bush administration and his cooperating congress failed. We cannot stay on the course he started. Why must everyone be so quick to assume that Obama is evil and will take our country to hell? Let’s judge his administration by their actions after more than a week, we’ll compare him to Bush then and see where we would rather be.
Plus, we haven’t even begun to talk about civil rights and the Constitution, which ironically conservatives claim to so revere. Look up “habeas corpus” then come back and we’ll discuss the character of a man who has supported its demise.
INTERESTING COMMENTARY FROM A FEMALE AIR FORCE
VETERAN WHO IS NOW A TALK SHOW HOST.
My Predictions for the New Obama "Presidency"
Now that America has shown us all that affirmative action even works in
politics, I've compiled a list of things that you can probably expect to
happen. These predictions are 80% gleaned from information all of us
have access to, and 15% gut instinct based on many years of research,
historical study, and being glued to current affairs. The other 5% is
just anger at my countrymen's stupidity--I admit it.
Websites and mass emails offering "free grants," courtesy of the
government and "Obama's wealth redistribution." Actually, this one's a
freebie, because I have an email with a date and timestamp of literally
minutes after Obama was declared the winner, offering exactly that.
- Israel will understand this election was the end of any type of
assistance, military or otherwise, from the U.S. , and will stop holding
back their defense at the request of the American administration. Look
for a first strike on Iran soon, as well as increased activity by the
Israeli military in general. Israel is on her own now, and God help us
all because of it.
- Look for Iranian retaliation--against American targets. That goes
double for other terrorist organizations. We just elected a man with
the full endorsement of every major terrorist group in the world as
leader of the free world. It's the political equivalent of hiring a
child molester to baby-sit your kids while you leave for the weekend.
Not only is HE going to have fun with your child, but he'll probably sit
and watch while his friends come over and do it too.
- Look for far-left justices appointed to the Supreme Court,
effectively tying up the entire government in a trifecta of liberal
humanism, the buzzwords of which remain empty platitudes like "hope and
change," and the ultimate goal of which is socialism--and soon, Sharya
law.
- Military cases of troops being tried and convicted for killing the
enemy in combat will continue to rise--and the conviction/plea-bargain
rate will stay at nearly 100%, as the government seeks to use the best
men and women this country has to offer as sacrificial lambs on the
altar of global appeasement. Those brave and honorable men who
currently reside in prison cells across the country, stripped of their
rank, their careers, families, and their good name, will not taste free
air again for many years. Their sacrifices and their stories will be
forgotten by the general public, remembered only by those of us who
continue to fight for them.
- Look for the slow but steady erosion of rights you have enjoyed for
your entire lives--all the while being told it's "for your own good."
Restrictions on gun ownership, home schooling, encouraged dependence on
the ever-growing federal government. More nanny-state provisions will
be put into place to protect the "disadvantaged" and the "poor,"
(read: lazy, uneducated, unwilling to better themselves) even while
groups like the unborn, the mentally handicapped, elderly, and
terminally ill are slowly pushed toward euthanasia. Of course, this
will be done with feel-good phrases like "death with dignity," "not
wanting to be a burden,"
and "merciful release from suffering," all of which ignore the basic
fact that we are killing people without their consent for the "good of
the people." Before you tell me I'm crazy, let's just remember that
Barack Obama was the ONLY senator in the Illinois state senate to vote
against providing medical care for babies who were inconsiderate enough
to survive an abortion. Also, look for taxes to go up. Yes, they'll go
up.
- You think the economy is bad now? Just wait. You'll have the
most expensive "free" health care ever. Bread lines aren't just for
Russians anymore.
We have traded experience for color, freedom for slavery--and the irony
is that the average American sheepishly thinks their vote somehow
righted an ancient wrong, somehow ENDED the specter of slavery and
ushered in some beautiful era of liberty. In reality, we are about to
be less free than you ever thought possible.
I watched the faces of those crowded into the mob (excuse the pun) in
Chicago . They stared at Obama like he was a god, an idol, a panacea to
their every want and need. We have truly failed as a nation if we are
at the point where we feel we must look to one man to take care of us
all, to be our father figure and our sugar daddy . We have lost not only
the "can-do" attitude of past generations, but the "MUST-do"
attitude of our forefathers. We have allowed ourselves to become
reduced from Patrick Henry's proud cry of "liberty or death" to the
sniveling, whining idea that we are owed something. We have gone from
being the honorable defenders of freedom, to being told we are the
problem.
The eyes of Obama and McCain were also telling. McCain acted with class
and grace in his concession speech , offering the most honorable
response I've seen yet. I don 't agree with all of McCain's positions,
but it cannot be denied that the man has served his nation--at permanent
and severe detriment to himself--for half a century.
His eyes were clear and sincere, honest. His speech underlined the very
reasons why, of the two men offered, he was hands down the best choice.
On the other hand, Obama's eyes were cold, calculating. His manner was
smug and still carried the arrogance he has always had. His facial
expression was one of barely disguised disdain for everything people
like me believe in. His body language was smooth, polished--
too much so. He talked of patriotism as though it is a value he is
familiar with--and yet, his horrifying attitude toward the country he
now leads is as well-documented as his friendships with those who seek
its demise. He is charismatic to those who don't know what to look for,
and he is inspiring to those who cannot or will not think for
themselves. However, too many who voted for him are guilty of the most
dangerous kind of hypocrisy. You see, we are told daily that we must
not see color, just mankind. (We are all family, you know--or so we're
told.) And yet Barack Obama was handed the White House on a silver
platter by a fawning media, a bevy of foreign donors (who, to this day
and in violation of U.S. election laws, remain nameless and
unaccounted for), and a populace who voted based on color instead of
right and wrong--even in the face of the most damning evidence against a
Presidential candidate in many years , perhaps ever.
It is said that the people receive the government they deserve. Sadly,
I fear that's correct. We have become complacent, unwilling to see the
writing on the wall, content to frolic in the warm water without
bothering to notice that it's been getting hotter by the minute. We are
two seconds from a rolling boil--and perhaps it is already too late.
So, liberals, enjoy your victory. Jump around. Have a party, file for
your free grants. Scream "Game my handout!" and make fun of those of us
who fought to make sure your "messiah" didn't get access to the most
powerful position in the world. Just remember when it all comes
crashing down: You own the White House, the Congress, and soon the
Supreme Court. You have no one to blame but yourselves for the mess you
just created.
As for me, I'm buying my handguns this week so I have an answer for
those who will come try to take them.
Roy and Cali, I’m sorry to turn your blog into a forum for such an exchange. My biggest regret is that too many people in this country rely on talk show hosts, political commentators, and other people in general to determine their political views for them. I began the comments on this post to address what I perceived as the perpetuation of some clear false ideas about the new administration and partisan politics in general.
The last post illustrates my point clearly. Rather than analyzing the situation personally based upon reason, facts, and faith (if you are of a religious inclination), too many people cut and paste (both literally, as here, and figuratively speaking) other people’s opinions, using their analysis rather than placing effort into attaining their own. One problem is that these people are paid to be controversial and to stir up our hearts over the differences between the parties rather than promoting working together to accomplish common goals. Too many are willing to criticize, but too few are actually willing to work out alternative proposals or act in any way. We have enough criticism, if you don’t like the way things are, don’t complain, do something about it. How many political commentators do community service of their own volition, how many write their congress representatives, how many volunteer or do anything besides create propaganda and perpetuate dogma?
These people are often even confused about the topics they argue. How does it make sense to follow the inclinations of someone who doesn’t understand the topic they are forming opinions about? The author of this letter does not know that Sharya is a town in Russia and that Sharia is Islamic religious law. Nor do they understand that religious law is an extremity of conservatism, not liberalism. The real fear in this administration should be that liberals will superimpose a secular non-religion over our religious values, not that Pres. Obama will allow Sharia to be put in place here. Further, do you know what Sharia even is? The funny part is that we (assuming many in people reading this blog are also LDS) have religious law too! The word of wisdom, tithing, the law of chastity . . . these are our equivalents to Sharia.
I won’t waste anymore of your blog by refuting the ridiculous post above that conforms more closely with the views of Elisabeth Hasselbeck than it does a reasoned analysis. The problem is that people identify with one or two things and then eat the thing whole, so to speak.
If anyone would like a step by step rebut of why that post was asinine from the beginning, let me know, I would be happy to provide it. My inclination, however, is that few really care to do any thought, but want someone else to conform to their preconceived notions.
. . . just because someone doesn’t agree with you does not mean that they are out to undermine the fabric of the country.
That copy and paste got just the reaction expected. So fun (and ridiculously easy) to push the buttons of those that know everything . . .
Again, I’m afraid Anonymous has illustrated my point. He or She is more interested in pushing buttons than engaging in meaningful discourse. I assert that I do not claim to know everything, or even a small portion of things. I claim merely that I have reasoned through the issues I wish to discuss (historically, doctrinally, and logically). Rather than trying to bait me in the future, shouldn’t we discuss issues with a common goal of both coming to a better understanding of the truth, admitting that our own views are often skewed more by bias than by reason? If the views as stated are solid, what reason do you have for not engaging in such discourse? My guess is, as I have stated previously, that you are unwilling to do so; it is much more difficult than copying and pasting, after all.
OOhh! Touche! While I obviously don't share your love for Obama or enthusiasm for educated debate...well played, Jimmy!
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