Obama’s Message to GOP….

So on The Hill’s website, I come across a posting that’s entitled:  “Obama to GOP:  ‘Stop Trying to Frighten the American People.’  You’ve got to be kidding me right?  This notice coming from the President?  He thinks the GOP is frightening us?  That very well may be true, but let’s not throw stones at glass houses Mr. President.  As recently as Monday, Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada, had these wonderful remarks:

 

So let me get this straight, Harry, you want to lump together those who were opposed to banning slavery, opposed to granting women suffrage, and those opposed to the Civil Rights Act, to those who oppose health care reform?  I truly believe this is an unfair comparison.  This language could create a feeling of guilt by association in order to pass a bill that a great number of people in this country are against, in its current form.  Way to go Harry!  Way to try to scare moderate members of the GOP, and from your own caucus into voting for your 2,000 page + brick of legislation.

Let’s continue with another example of how democrats are trying to scare those who oppose either the President or the health care reform package.  Remember this video from this past September?  Here’s Speaker Pelosi:

So Speaker Pelosi was concerned about the tone of the rhetoric and making a veiled reference to the Harvey Milk assassination.  Gotta love how the Speaker just goes ahead and tries to intimidate those who speak loudly against health care reform and linking them to violence….  Hmmm……..

And how about this nugget from former President Jimmy Carter:

So according to President Carter a lot of the opposition is due to his race, and that is a concept that isn’t without merit.  You so much as mention racism, it gets people’s attention, and no one wants to be labeled accordingly.  If people are going to be called racist for opposing the President and/or his policies, it would put some fear into people from speaking up.

Essentially, I believe that both parties shouldn’t be in the business of fear mongering us into silence because we may oppose the majority party in their policies.  Let’s have a healthy debate because that’s part of what makes our system work so well.  When one party or another instills fear into the populace for voicing opposition, or debate, our republic will suffer as a result.

Congratulations to President Obama!

What a historic day!  Even though I do not agree with most of President Obama’s political leanings, I can definitely recognize the historic importance of today’s inauguration.  I will make an additional post about the President’s inaugural address, but overall, I felt it was very centrist in nature, which was definitely a good thing.  It was definitely good to see the throngs of people on television, places I typically pass on my daily commute into Washington.  I have not seen the National Mall that packed before ever, even during the first inauguration of President G.W. Bush, which I attended, in 2001.

Today should definitely serve as an example to the rest of the world, that here in the United States of America, we can peacefully elect, and transition power from one administration to another.

I hope the Obama family and administration enjoys the day, because tomorrow, I expect the new Administration to start working.

Beltwaybandit’s Top Five Moments of 2008 Part 4

Here we go, my fourth best moment of 2008.

November 4, 2008

Even though I definitely don’t agree with most of Barack Obama’s policies and politics, I can’t help but choose election day this year as one of my top five moments of 2008.  I couldn’t believe the turnout this election cycle.  Never before had I ever had to wait in line for more than an hour to cast my ballot. 

What was even more impressive to me was that for the first time in our history, we elected an African-American as president.  I knew we would eventually do so, it just didn’t dawn on me that it would happen this year.  As I mentioned previously, even though I don’t agree with Barack Obama’s politics, I definitely see and understand the historical significance of this momentous event.  This is an event that I will never forget.

Change You Can Believe In?

I’ve been monitoring the news over the course of the last several days, and I can’t help but notice that President-elect Obama is appointing more and more Clinton staffers to his transition staff and in some advisory roles.  Now, over the weekend, I see that Hillary Clinton may be Barack Obama’s choice for Secretary of State.

First, let me discuss this idea of appointing former Clinton staffers to Obama’s staff.  Barack Obama promised to bring change to Washington.  How does hiring former Clinton staffers indicate change?  To me these appointments seem like we’re going back to the past.  Is this an attempt to recapture magic in the bottle?  To me these appointments do not indicate change, it indicates more of the same.

I completely understand, given the state of the economy today, why some would choose to recapture the “magic” of the Clinton administration; however, that will be difficult given the climate of today’s America.  Plus, going back to the past will not help us solve today’s problems.  Who says yesterday’s solutions apply to today’s complex problems?  We’re in a completely different world than we were during the Clinton administration, so we need to be weary of adopting, verbatim, policies from yester-year.

Secondly, about the speculation of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State.  How does the saying go, and this axiom definitely applies to politics, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.  However, that is not my reasoning for discussing this potential choice.  My rationale is, how is she qualified to be America’s top diplomat?  What foreign policy experience does she have?  Sure, for eight years in the 90s she’s traveled with her husband to foreign countries, but foreign policy experience that is not.  Heck, I’ve traveled the world a lot growing up but that does not make me qualified to be secretary of state.

Also, Bill Clinton, as has been the case since she ran for president, will cause her additional difficulties during the vetting process.  It is no secret how much money President Clinton has raked in for his presidential library and through his other endeavors.  He has accepted contributions from the Chinese, a lot of middle eastern royal families, in particular the Saudis and the other emirates in the Arabian Peninsula.  Is this the type of controversy that Barack Obama wants to bring with him to Washington?  He would be much better off choosing NM Governor Bill Richardson.  At least he has experience with foreign leaders due to his work as our ambassador to the United Nations.  That in itself makes him more qualified to be secretary of state than Hillary Clinton.

I hope that Barack Obama will bring in an ideologically varied administration, like Lincoln did in 1861; however, I see more of the same from Barack Obama in the early going, and I’m not sure that’s the change he campaigned on.

Obama Resigns!

So Barack Obama’s last day as a United States Senator will be this Sunday after he announced his resignation.  Elected in 2004, that means about 46 months as a senator, 21 of which he was, for the most part absent.  I can tell you what would happen to me if I was absent from my job for that long of a time period, and let’s just say, I wouldn’t have any income.

I truly feel that if you are going to run for an office, like president of the United States, you should be required to quit/resign your current political position to run for it.  This policy would apply to both Democrats and Republicans, because I know Senator McCain has spent almost an equal amount of time away from the Senate during this recently completed election cycle.

To me, it seems quite a tragedy that while these public servants are representing their states, they are galloping around state to state campaigning for a better job.  I feel it’s a real tragedy that with these senators campaigning for president are not representing their constituents.  That’s why I admired Bob Dole so much during the 1996 presidential campaign.  After the GOP convention in 1996, Dole resigned his senate seat and took a huge risk, and even though he lost to Bill Clinton, he did not second guess his decision, publicly, at least, anyway.  I truly believe more politicians should follow Dole’s lead.

Can We Now Ask Serious Questions?

First off, and I didn’t get a chance to post about this yesterday, congratulations to Barack Obama for being “hired” as our 44th president.  I completely understand the historical significance of the election of an African American for the first time to the highest nation in the land.  For those that did not vote for him, myself included, he has a lot of work to do to convince me that he will govern from the center and not cater to his far left liberal friends.

But now, that we finally had some closure, it is my hope that we can finally ask President-elect Obama some serious questions, and that maybe the media will stop treating him like a saint.  And hopefully, there will not be any media blackouts like in the aftermath of the Biden tv interview with a station in Orlando, FL.

We have some serious issues that need to be resolved, and nobody, NOBODY, should receive a free pass when we’re trying to solve some serious problems.  So I am cautiously optimistic, that when Obama makes some mistakes, the media will not gloss it over as if it is nothing.  I expect similar treatment from the media as they have shown to President Bush.  But for now, with the election season over, let’s see about concentrating on transitioning the government and solving these problems that we have, in a common sense centrist way.

Tomorrow Is The Day!

Finally!  We’re on the cusp of yet another national election day.  I hope everyone does their civic duty tomorrow and votes!  I’ll be one of the few who will be in line bright and early in the morning.  As I’ve mentioned in a couple of my previous votes, I’m glad we’re at election day.  To cap this post all off, I’ve been reading an article on ABC news’ website regarding the final day of campaigning, and that can be seen here.

What I find interesting about this article is the fact that Senator Obama, after three debates, is finally saying that he may not be able to accomplish everything he would like in his first term, due to the economic downturn.  Can’t say I’m overly surprised by this revelation.  Obama has said quote:

changing the tax code, investing in clean energy, controlling health care costs and improving the education system remain his “core commitments.”  We will have progress on all front by the end of my first term.

Hmmm….  Interesting.  All of those “core commitments” may be more difficult to accomplish than he, and his democratic allies may think.  Obama has recently stated that he will bankrupt coal companies.  That’s definitely a good way to invest in clean energy.

Senator McCain, of course, is touting his underdog status and how much he relishes it.  His campaign’s own internal polling shows races tightening up in “key” battleground states.  After seeing poll after poll, I’m not so sure we can count on the accuracy of any polls going into tomorrow.  Who knows what people are going to do once they’re behind the curtain tomorrow.

One thing I do know for sure is that we are in for an excellent turnout and we are in for a historic election tomorrow no matter who wins.  And I, for one, am glad to be able to participate in such a historic election

2 Days and Counting…

So we now have two days until we all go out and vote.  I’m very happy that we’re just about ready for election day.  Between the daily polls that are released on the morning news and the predictions, we’ll finally have a decided winner.  This election is historic for many reasons, but the reason I would like to touch upon today, is the fact, that for the first time since JFK was elected in 1960, we will be electing a sitting senator to be president of the United States.

This fact got me to thinking about what type of relationship, no matter who wins, that either Senators McCain or Obama would have with Congress, in particular, with the Senate.  There’s a great article in today’s Washington Times about this very topic and it can be viewed here.

Since the Senate is made of only 100 members, there is more of a club feeling than you might find in the House.  If either were elected, I don’t foresee their former colleagues being overly cordial toward either a President McCain or Obama.

If Obama were to lose on Tuesday, I’m confident he’ll return to the Senate and be a strong presence in opposing any McCain administration policies and proposals.  He could ride this tide of opposition to a renewed White House bid in 2012.

However, if McCain were to lose, I’m not so sure he would return to the Senate, and if he were to return, what type of role would he play?  Would he be like Senator Kerry and just fade into the background for the remaining two years of his term, and quietly retire?  I don’t know for sure about that.

If Obama wins, will his Senate colleagues continue their cordial behavior toward him?  I question, beyond the election on Tuesday, just how united the Democratic party truly is.  True, Obama is one of the most liberal members of the Senate, but once he’s elected, will he become more centrist in order to generate more appeal toward the masses?  Plus, I already know that members of his own party are far more radical and liberal than Senator Obama is.  For example, Barney Frank in the House is in favor of decreasing military spending by 25%, before our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are completed!

True, you would figure that since it appears the Democrats are in store for a huge landslide victory on Tuesday, will unified government automatically mean progress?  I think an Obama presidency may be weakened simply due to internal party division, and because Obama will be so beholden to his massive donors and their particular policy stances.  I wouldn’t count on too many serious policy shattering changes during a unified democratic government.

If McCain were to win, I think we will see massive gridlock, and the continuance of gotcha politics that we’ve seen since 2006.  If the democrats gain as much as they’re projected in the house, and reach 60 in the senate, the democrats could, potentially, override any McCain vetoes and get their agenda passed regardless.

Either way, I think whoever is elected, I think we very well may be in store for a do nothing presidency simply because congress won’t be as cordial to either candidate, whoever wins.

Could America Be Facing A Far Left Liberal Triumverate?

Something that the GOP has been talking about in recent days is a unified democratic government.  Can you imagine how liberal of an agenda could be passed with Barack Obama as President and with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, and Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader?  I don’t want to even begin to imagine the far left agenda that we’ll be looking at potentially this time next week.  Let’s briefly go down the list of possibilities:

• Higher Taxes, check
• Government subsided universal health care, check
• Democrats guaranteeing retirement, possible check
• Increased national debt, check
• Bigger government, check

This list only names 5 items of a laundry list that the Dems are hoping to ram down our throats.  In my opinion, the problem with where the Democratic party has gone today, is that they have become extreme believers in an entitlement society, and that big federal government, in Washington, is more capable of taking care of our everyday needs than ourselves.  I feel they have lost all faith in Americans to figure it out on their own.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big fan of an overly conservative agenda either.  I see what 6 years of unified government under Republicans has gotten us, and I’m definitely not a very big fan.  Unified government presents just as many cons, as it does benefits.  This time around; however, I think, overall, we have gotten royally hosed.  With the exception of the midterm elections of 2006, generally speaking, you should be able to see work across the aisle.  These past two years, we have seen anything but that.  We have seen one of my biggest pet peeves ever, gotcha politics.  I can’t stand gotcha politics.  But that’s a topic for another post.

Given the fact that we could be facing a far left liberal triumverate, I have located a pretty funny video that the Republican National Committee has released.  Take a look, pretty funny stuff!

What’s the Number, Barack? $250,000 or $200,000

So I just saw another Barack Obama campaign ad and it was about his tax plan.  In this ad, and unfortunately, I cannot find it on youtube, or anywhere else for that matter, he indicates that any family making LESS THAN $200,000 per year will not see their taxes increase.  Well, gee, and I wrote about this very issue the other day, according to Barack Obama’s website, his plan, which can be seen here, is as follows:

• Middle class families will see their taxes cut – and no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase.
• Families making more than $250,000 will pay either the same or lower tax rates than they paid in the 1990s.
• Obama’s plan will cut taxes overall, reducing revenues to below levels that prevailed under Ronald Reagan.

So, Senator, which number is it?  I also raise this question again tonight, because I was reading on The Politico, Ben Smith’s blog, about how New Mexico’s governor, Bill Richardson, has defined the middle class as people making less than $120,000 per year.  Here’s a video of it:

I personally am concerned with how the number is decreasing as we’re moving forward.  I say, let’s set a number and stick to it, Senator.  Stop confusing us voters which number it really is.  I, for one, already believe that the number is going to be significantly lower than the $250,000 that you indicate on YOUR website.  Barack, let’s have some straight talk about this issue, and nail down this number!