Like millions of other Americans, I watched Barack Obama's speech last night. I am grateful that a speaker at the convention finally explained what the democrats are going to do and how they will do some of those items. That had been something that was missing from every other speaker. All they were doing was complaining about everything that is happening, including what they voted for.
I am thankful that I have lived during the time when Martin Luther King's dream has come to fruition and anyone, regardless of the color of their skin, can run for any office. It was nice to hear from John McCain saying the exact same thing. It certainly is a good day for our country.
I noticed a re-occurring theme through the entire convention. The democrats are excited to be able to finally defeat George Bush. I wonder why they kept mentioning that until I realized that they failed to beat him twice and so they think that the third time is the charm. However they do not seem to realize that because of the 22nd amendment, George Bush is 1 of only 2 living people who are now unable to ever be President again. Regardless of if you love or hate Bush, he must leave office and never return. But the democrats do not want him to leave until they have defeated him in at least 1 election. So they are pretending that they are running against George Bush. But they are not, they are running against a total different person who felt that he was different enough from Bush that he ran against him 8 years ago. So stop trying to defeat your past opponent and focus on your current one. But I have the feeling that the democrats cannot do that and that most Americans will fall for the illusion that Bush is running for president again.
It was nice to actually hear some of the plans that Obama has for his presidency. I agreed with some of them. But I soundly disagree with his desire to redefine marriage, increase the government's role in all of our lives and his desire to increase all our taxes through the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, his increase of taxes to corporations which will be passed along to consumers and his not mentioning one word about getting rid of our deficit and paying off the debt. For these reasons and a few others, I will not be voting for Obama.
I fear any government created program that is designed for and paid for by all Americans. Those government programs have proven to be terrible and far more in-effective than any comparable program offered through the free market. Social security & medicare are just 2 examples. Each year I get a statement about my social security benefits and each one mentions that by 2041 social security will no longer have enough funds to meet all it obligations. I am afraid to see how a health care program would end up. I don't want my government to compete with the free market, I want my government to help lower the prices in the free market.
Well, today we should learn who the GOP vice-president candidate will be and then we will hear from the GOP convention next week. I'm sure we will see more finger pointing, but hopefully some of them will say what they will do if they are elected.
3 comments:
Okay Phil, settle down. Again you are getting all excited and need to be corrected. No one is under the illusion that Bush is running again. However there are many of us that beleive that McCain while different fro Bush as a person is very much alike politically and in many of his beleifs. Now Obama does not want to increase government in our lives but add opportunities for success supported by the government. You point to social security and medicare as bad examples however they are the opposite. These programs take care of many that otherwise would have no support. Go tell your local seniors that these programs are a mistake. Also the social security funding issues were caused by congress borrowing against the social security trust fund witout paying interest on these loans. If these funds were left in treasury bonds to support balamce growth, albeit minimal, there would not be the problem of funding that we are facing today.
Obama has stated that 95% of American would receive a tax cut under his plan so your statement about increasing all of our taxes is plainly false. Those at the top of our income distribution that have benefitted so much more than others from being an American should pay more taxes. If I were in that category I would be happy to pay more to support my country and its people. While there is some truth to the potential for pass-through inflation from increased corporate taxes you must remember that we have a market system which encourages corporations to remain as competetive as possible thus mitigating any undue price increases.
Stacy, you are a good guy and a smart one at that so I would hope that you might reconsider your position toward Obama.
Neils, I wanted to thank you for the stimulating political debate. I am thankful to be in America where both of our differing opiions are not only tolerated but appreciated and respected. I am so grateful that those with differing opinions are not castigated, hated and looked down upon. God Bless America!
Rob
Wow! You sure are quick in your response. First off, I am also thankful that you and I can have discussions like these and not be a risk of losing each other's friendship or ending up in prison. Freedom of speech is a wonderful right.
Ok, here is the rebuttal to your comments. If it is fair to call McCain Bush, then would it be fair to call Obama Grant, Harding, Carter or the Reverend Wright? They have very similar ideas but truth be told; they still have differences that make them their own unique person. However when you label McCain as Bush, you seek to suppress any possibilities of the differences they have. This seems deceitful to me and is trying to tie an un-popular president to a person who was not a member of his administration and had not ability to change the actions of his administration alone. I would point out that McCain lead the charge of criticism against Bush about Iraq and his mis management of it until the surge was implemented. But labeling McCain as Bush seeks to hide this fact and mis label McCain into something he is not.
I do not deny that social security has benefited many deserving people. But by your own admission in your comments, the program has been mis-managed. It has also been abused and does not allow the recipients the option of moving to a different managed program and taking their money with them. Recipients are stuck with whatever social security offers them, even if their benefits are decreased or their claims denied. This is the difference with a private program with competition. If one program or company fails to meet your expectations, you go to another. But with any government program like this, you cannot and this is why I do not want more. I do not call for the removal of social security. But I do not want more government programs that I must finance and therefore must rely on for support.
So he will cut taxes for 95% of us and collect more from the 5%. How much more taxes will the 5% pay that will enable the revenue to run programs to benefit 100% of Americans? Will that amount of taxes cause the 5% to stop buying things in our economy and could that negatively affect our struggling economy? As Obama himself said, higher taxes are not good in a struggling economy.
You mentioned that the 5% are benefiting from being Americans. Aren't we all? All of us are benefiting from our citizenship but not all of us are super rich. So what is the difference between these Americans? Is it possible some people have performed hard work that benefited them financial and put them into this 5%. Should we punish hard work with higher taxes?
You had no rebuttal to Obama's stance on the re-definition of marriage. I guess you are either for it or against it. I am against it and cannot vote for a candidate that is for it.
If anyone has read this entire post, comments and rebuttal and not fallen asleep. You deserve a medal.
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