Politics
I believe in low taxes and small government so that may imply that I am a republican. At the same time, I am against idiots in office so that may make me a non-republican.
The reality is that I am a registered republican that votes independent or, lately, democrat.
This is a dated rant that I intend to use to voice my opinion as time goes by. I will review it just before I cast my vote in November. At that time I will make a decision.
June 19, 2008
McCain and I went to the same college. One of the foundations there is honesty. I truly believe that he is as honest as he could be given that he has been ‘bent’ by a career in politics. He looks and acts too old to be in charge for the next 4 years. I get the feeling he is out of touch. For example, a few months ago he made immigration one of his main issues. At that time, unemployment was at 4.5%. It felt like he just grabbed a popular issue even though it had no value. His economics are awful. A gas-tax holiday is seen as a ridiculous idea by EVERY economist. I think he is pandering to the uneducated…the same people that respond to internet scams looking to get something for nothing.
Obama says stuff like ‘windfall’ tax. He wants me to believe that he has a secret plan that will allow us to tax the oil companies and somehow have it not occur to them to pass the cost on to me. He can’t believe that is true…so it makes me feel that he is ‘vote getting’ as opposed to problem solving. Right now, I like him the best. He is basically a good person that wants to do good things and I like that in a president.
June 20th, 2008
Obama has opted out of the federal funds for campaigning. He gives up 81 million dollars of tax payer money...pretty noble...right? Wrong. First of all, he has already said he would not opt out. He has tons of money so by nobly giving up on the 81 million he is now free to spend the 250 million he already has. Had he not opted out...he would have been limited to the 81 million no matter how much was in his war chest.
So now, he plans to out spend McCain...translation...He plans to buy the election.
July 8th
Seems strange to me that two political candidates can sit down with some speech writers and come up with a solution to our country's economical woes. It's all just so much talk. I can tell you what I would do:
1) Flat Tax
2) Nuclear Power
3) Education and R&D
4) No pork spending
5) Put convicts to work in pink jump suits. No more TV and playtime.
6) Take all profit out of medical care
7) Let Social Security grow with the economy, not with inflation
8) No more wars...simple policy...see a terrorist...shoot a terrorist...don't talk about it and ask for permission.
9) Scrape the department of Homeland Security. They do nothing other than spend their time putting lipstick on pigs.
10) Create a national energy policy
11) Create a national manufacturing policy
12) A fence between here an Mexico? You have got to be kidding me. It would be cheaper to place an armed guard every hundred meters and pay full wages and benefits that it would be to build a fence (not that I am in favor of that).
13) Give automakers a year to come up with electric cars. A man built one in his spare time that can go 100 mph and 200 miles between charges. This guy is a mechanic with no degree. I am sure the big 3 can come up with something.
14) Make sure all union leaders have business degrees
15) Create a list of all characteristics that make up George W. Bush and never, ever allow any president to have those same traits.
July 10th.
Is it just me or does McCain seem a little out of touch. To me, it feels like he is flailing. I cannot put my finger on it but I am losing faith in his ability to make good, command level decisions. I can feel the age in him. I am certain he is a good person, a war hero and wants to do what is best....I just think the ability to clearly look at a situation and choose wisely.....well, that ability has aged along with the rest of him.
I am not sure about the Obama message on learning Spanish. I think he was trying to say the world is a smaller place and we need to be able to communicate and that everyone should be looking to learn another language. I am thinking of taking up Mandrin.
By the way...I am a fan of John Stewart.
July 11th,
Speaking of John Stewart...he had on one of those judges that was forced out a few months ago...the thing that shook up the justice department. This judge...A JUDGE stated that he was forced out because he refused to pursue a case with political implications because there was no evidence. He simply did his job.....
Which brings me to Rove. He claims some sort of immunity that every (ALL) news stations say is bogus. He should go to jail.....or maybe a waterboard (aka Cheneysize him). McCain and Obama aside, this administration is not only incompetent...It's criminally so...
July 16
First of all, I watched Bush on TV yesterday. He is such an idiot. He said he can't fix the gas issue because "it took us a long time to get here and it will take a long time to fix." He has been president for 7 years and we still have no energy policy! This guy has done more to bring about the downfall of the USA than any army in the history of our country.
Obama made a good speech on foreign policy. At this point, I like any fresh ideas. However, he has this plan to bail out homeowners in trouble. He wants to give them tax cuts and will allow a judge to lower the principle. The bottom line is that he wants me to pay for someone else to own a house. I feel sorry for the people that made bad choices or allowed themselves to be conned. I am not one of them. I have a family to support. I don't need to support people that essentially treated home buying like a weekend in Vegas.
July 21
Obama goes overseas and McCain panics. That is how I see it. McCain makes statements like "How could he make policy before he goes over there?" as if no information is available about Iraq unless it it delivered in person by the commander on the ground in Iraq..a ludicrous proposition.
With regards to lifting oil drilling bans...I am in favor of it. Before you get mad, let me explain.
I think we are better able to drill cleanly than any other country in the world. I think that not having a source of oil at home puts pressure on us to meddle in places where we should let the local make their own decisions. So long as we depend on OPEC, they control us. We don't really need to drill and pump....just drill. Get the oil to the spigot and then look around and make some decisions. It takes so long to get it to the spigot that we cannot react quickly to world event.
I heard Al Gore say we should go completely electric within 10 years...or something to that effect. I like that idea. Put some urgency into it. Otherwise, we will continue to drag our feet like we have done for so many decades.
For this month's Short Shot competition, I am writing a story about the impact of drilling on a Momma Bear/Baby Bear pair. I am afraid to write the ending....it will not go well for the bears I am afraid.
July 25th
The headlines yesteday had Obama in Germany and McCain at a German Restaurant in Ohio or someplace like that.
Obama gave a speech speaking as "a citizen of the world." I thought it was great. There were no political promises or jabs. It was more of a pep talk to Germany and the rest of the world. We should get along and work together to make the planet a better place.
McCain called it a premature victory lap. He criticizes Obama for not going to Europe and the Middle East and then he criticizes him when he does. I bet if Obama allowed McCain to set his overseas schedule and write all of his words...McCain would still criticize him.
Such is the world of politics.
My impression is that the speech is exactly the type of leadership role the US should be taking in the world. We should be encouraging...not dictating. I cannot imagine it even occurring to Bush to give a speech like that.
July 29
Obama is back and McCain continues to base his campaign on criticizing his opponent. I can see John's morning meetings "What did Obama do yesterday and how can we spin it against him?" I want McCain to stand for something! His current campaign is hurting him more than Obama is. The latest example is to criticize Obama for not visiting injured troops in Iraq. Obama visited injured troops elsewhere and skipped Iraq because the military didn't want it to be a photo op. Obama agreed. McCain would have criticized it had Obama chose to do the opposite.
As of right now, I am leaning towards Obama.
July 30
I watched A Daily Show last night and Nancy Pelosi was on it. She was asked "Why don't the democrates want to open up drilling?" Her response was basically, we don't want Bush to push us around. So, she is saying that she agrees with the drilling...she agrees that it is good for the economy....and the one reason she gave for not doing it was to flex her own political muscle in Washington....She put her own personal ego ahead of all else. If I had my button handy, I would have pushed it on the spot and dropped her through a trap door into my super secret alligator pit.
August 1
McCain has gone negative in a big way. I have never been a fan of someone that tries to create the illusion of rising to the top by pulling others down.
August 1
I just read and article while at an airport and so I may have my facts wrong here...but it seems Obama wants to tax the oil companies with a windfall tax and then give everyone a $1,000 check to pay their bills. A couple of things about this. First of all, if this were to pass, oil will jump up to who knows where as the oil companies scramble to pay for this. Secondly, it is so fundamentally wrong economic thinking it is an insult. He offers it up simply because it sounds good. There is no such thing as free money. Even the rebate checks earlier this year have to be paid back with taxes collected next year...plus interest. This tax the rich position of the democrates makes me sick. If the republicans weren't such crooks, I wouldn't even be thinking about Democrats. Tax the rich means stiffling the money that fuels the economy. Take someone that makes $50,000 a year. His tax break will not make him build a factory or create jobs...Tax a Venture Capitalist and they move their wealth elsewhere...build factories in Mexico.
August 5th
McCain has a tax cut proposal across the board...typical Republican and I am neither against or in favor of it having not read the details. Now, Obama has calaculated what this broad generic tax cut means to oil companies and then taken the largest possible benefit and touts McCains tax cut as "Now Senator McCain wants to give the oil companies a tax break." as if that were the thrust of the proposal. This type of thing aggrivates me. They know its bull shit but they say it for the impact it carries. No one has a forum to stand up and say "You are knowingly trying to mislead the American people." By the way...both candidates do this.
August 12th.
Is it just me or have we (George Bush) lost the right to complain about other country's aggressions? I am referring to Russia and Georgia. I know absolutely nothing about the conflict other than we are critical of it. So my question...in the eyes of the world...and ourselves...are we so different...do we qualify to cast the first stone?
Nancy Pelosi is not allowing a vote on offshore oil drilling in order to further her own political agenda. I am not saying to drill or not...its just that she won't allow the vote...in spite of the 70% that want drilling. She is now flip-flopping but a little too late as she is on vacation with the rest of congress.
August 13th
My take on Georgia. Russia was provoked by Georgia with help from the USA and then the Russians over-retaliated...then McCain apparently got excited about the idea of starting a new cold war as Obama tries to look decisive in a field he has virtually no experience in. Meanwhile, several highly visible news people and others that are critical of Bush or the Department of Homeland Defense find themselves on the terrorist watch list...the FBI conveniently says they can give not details as the Dept of Homeland incompetence blames the TSA and the airlines who point the finger right back at the administration. This cannot be allowed to stand. This feels like 1984.
August 25
I think Obama made a good choice with Biden. Hillary was definitely out. I could have considered either of them but would not have voted for a Hillary/Obama ticket. McCain continues his negative campaigning. Does anyone out there teach their kids that they will look better by tearing down the other kids in class? No? Then where did McCain learn to do this?
August 25
I just watched Pelosi speak at the Democrat's convention ... I cannot imagine a less impressive performance. She talked about their great accomplishments all the while knowing that America has given them a lower rating than Bush and they have come to be known as the "do nothing" congress. When she listed their accomplishments, she went through a litany of of spending bills and then, in the next breath, blamed the Republicans for the huge debt. No one disagrees with the importance of all the things these bills are for; education, vets etc, but how is all of that spending not related to the national debt. She took credit for getting ready to create jobs ... but where have all of the jobs gone since the democrats took over? She said nothing and promised everything...all a lot of hot air. I can't believe we have people like this running things. If she were in the private sector, she would be working the night shift packaging potatoes given her skill set.
September 6
Well, both of the conventions are done and I have to say, I like both VP choices. This has become a race of personalities as much as platforms. Not a bad thing because it takes a personality to build a platform. So, where do I stand right now.
On the one hand, I like Obama because he is as far away from Bush as one can get. He has a strong VP to help offset his lack of experience. However, he is big on taxes and government spending. He seems to say a lot of things that can only happen if he has a magic wand that works for free. His biggest liability is Pelosi who is a bully...sort of Bush in a dress.
On the other hand, McCain clearly hears the people, while he is old school, he is not like Bush who hears and then ignores. Palin is very interesting but I would not want McCain to get even a head cold for the next for years.
I could go either way.
September 11
Obama says "lipstick on a pig" in a clear reference to McCain's economic policy and McCain claims it is a disgraceful reference to his running mate. Obama calls this fake outrage and I think he is right. McCain's outrage is shameful.
I watched Obama interviewed by Bill OReilly and I have to say Bill is what is wrong with the press today. Bill throws up an outrageous comment that he "heard" and as soon as Obama starts to clarify, Bill interrupts and redirects and then throws out another comment, equally false. By the end, Bill summarizes by innocently saying there must be something to this but probably not. What he has really done is taken the opportunity to throw tons of falsehoods into the airwaves knowing that the overall appearance is one of Obama being defensive. Is this really what news is about?
Not only do candidates tell falsehoods about each other, the news media is doing it as well. They are even bickering amongst themselves. It is getting to the point where NBC should just say "We are a commercial for Obama." and Fox should say "We are a commercial for McCain." None of them appear neutral although all of them claim to be.
I am ready to see some head to head debates with a moderator that is truely neutral and keeps both men on the topic, not allowing them to wonder into their pet projects and slogans.
September 11
Lipstickgate seems like something that we should not be bothering with ... on the surface. However, if you watch the Obama portion in full context and then watch the McCain ad, there can be no doubt that McCain has knowingly portrayed the situation as something other than it was for his own benefit. I cannot vote for this guy. I am no longer on the fence over this.
September 16th
There is certainly a lot to write about today with all of the economic turmoil. One statement stands out. Nancy Peloci, using 20-20 hindsight vision says "I want to know why the president didn't do something earlier to keep us from getting to this point." She says this as if she had a plan, as if she was not in charge of the Do Nothing congress, as if her congress doesn't have the lowest rating ever, as if the president actually does have a magic wand that can fix economies. She says this with such scorn, if she were a man, her balls would be giant. She is the single biggest reason to not vote for Obama. No one has mentioned that a win by him essentially makes her the most powerful woman in the world.
Nancy Pelosi finally allowed the house to vote on a drilling bill which passed easily. This simply demonstrates that she knowingly stalled a vote on a bill the majority wanted. Her stated rationale behind this tactic was "to let the president know he can't bully us around." In the end, the bill they passed allows drilling off of the coast as long as it is at least 50 miles out. It also shares no revenue with the adjacent state, thereby taking away the states willingness to cooperate. So she has finally passed a bill to drill where there is no oil (actually 12% of the offshore oil is that far out) and not state will support it. This is another ruse by the do-nothing congress. They can say they passed a drilling bill but in reality, it is as effective as passing a bill allowing the harvesting of fissionable material from the sun.
