Diagnosing Obama

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2008
Diagnosing Obama
14
Sun, 10-12-2008 - 5:57am

These are my responses to what I believe are the most pertinent parts of the Obama plan as downloaded from his website.

THE PROBLEM
Lobbyists Write National Policies
For example, Vice President Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force of oil and gas lobbyists met secretly to
develop national energy policy.

The problem with Barack Obama: He has 47 known lobbyists on his campaign staff. Pluck the board out of your own eye first, Obama, before removing the speck from your brother's eye.

OBAMA’S RECORD
Federal Ethics Reform
Obama and Senator Feingold (D-WI) took on both parties and proposed ethics legislation that was
described as the “gold standard” for reform. It was because of their leadership that ending subsidized
corporate jet travel, mandating disclosure of lobbyists’ bundling of contributions, and enacting strong new
restrictions of lobbyist-sponsored trips became part of the final ethics bill that was signed into law. The
Washington Post wrote in an editorial, “The final package is the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from
Congress yet.”

Obama on ethics reform: Obama had very little to do with federal ethics reform. His name was rubber stamped onto the bill. The bill itself doesn't go far enough. It's essentially a bunch of smoke and mirrors the Democrats hoped to use as a campaign issue against Republicans. If this bill is truly ethics reform, why does Obama need to reform ethics any further? This is status quo for the Democrat party. Pretend to fix something while leaving enough wiggle room so it is necessary to keep electing Democrats to fix the problem over and over again.

BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN
Shine Light on Washington Lobbying
Centralize Ethics and Lobbying Information for Voters: Obama will create a centralized Internet database
of lobbying reports, ethics records, and campaign finance filings in a searchable, sortable and downloadable
format.
Require Independent Monitoring of Lobbying Laws and Ethics Rules: Obama will use the power of the
presidency to fight for an independent watchdog agency to oversee the investigation of congressional ethics
violations so that the public can be assured that ethics complaints will be investigated.
Support Campaign Finance Reform: Obama supports public financing of campaigns combined with free
television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests. Obama introduced
public financing legislation in the Illinois State Senate, and is the only 2008 candidate to have sponsored
Senator Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) tough bill to reform the presidential public financing system.

The problem with Obama's plan: This plan will do nothing more than expand government, and further burden taxpayers with another (yawn) government bureaucracy which can be used as a tool against political enemies. But isn't that what the Democrats want? It's just another way of silencing political opposition while creating more jobs for elitists.

BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN
Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All
(1) Obama’s Plan to Cover Uninsured
Obama will make available a new national health plan so all Americans, including the self-employed and
small businesses, can buy affordable health coverage that is similar to the plan available to members of
Congress.

Diagnosing Obama's plan: Why not just give us the health care plan Congress has, Mr. Obama? Not one similar to it, but one the same as it. Everyone knows Congress has the best health care plan in the world. Aren't the American people worthy of the best health care money can buy? Why does Barry want to overburden the public with another government bureaucracy that will control one seventh of America's national economy when all he has to do is expand Congress' health care plan to include the general public? There would be no need for another bureaucracy, and no need for government regulation of the health care industry. The Obama plan is about government regulation, and intrusion.

BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN
Restore Fiscal Discipline to Washington
Reinstate PAYGO Rules: Obama believes that a critical step in restoring fiscal discipline is enforcing pay-asyou-
go (PAYGO) budgeting rules which require new spending commitments or tax changes to be paid for by
cuts to other programs or new revenue.

Diagnosing Obama: Obama wants to return to paygo while growing government, and creating more government programs. Obama will not be able to do this without raising taxes across the board. Bill Clinton also promised middle class tax cuts during his presidential campaign. Instead, the American people got an empty speech about how hard he tried to cut taxes, but couldn't do it. Obama is nothing but smoke and mirrors on tax cuts and paygo.

THE PROBLEM
Poverty Rising
There are nearly 37 million poor Americans. Most Americans living in poverty work, but still cannot afford
to make ends meet.
Minimum Wage is Not Enough
Even when a parent works full-time earning minimum wage and EITC and food stamps are factored into
their income, families are still $1,550 below the federal poverty line because of the flat-lined minimum wage.

Diagnosing Obama: The minimum wage is not the problem. The minimum wage is an entry level wage given to those who are inexperienced who are entering the job market for the first time. Raising the minimum wage actually increases the poverty level, raises the cost of goods and services, and causes people to lose their jobs. The real problem lies in Democrat policy toward the poor. Their policies actually give the poor reasons to stay poor and dependent on government. The Great Western Society was supposed to end poverty, as was the War on Poverty. Neither program has done anything to end poverty in our time. Obama will tow the line and keep the same old status quo intact. The Democrat party reasoning behind this is "keep the poor poor and dependent on government, and they'll vote Democrat every time." The EITC is nothing more than a government handout designed to do just that.

-- Barack Obama, Speech in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, December 5, 2007
BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN FOR UNIVERSAL
VOLUNTARY PUBLIC SERVICE
AT A GLANCE
Ask All Americans to Work Together to Meet Our Common Challenges
Obama will expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots and double the Peace Corps and dedicate these positions
to addressing America’s common challenges. He also will provide new service opportunities for working
Americans and retirees.

Diagnosing Obama: We all know what this means, an expansion of Obama's public service program, Public Allies. Public Allies is nothing more than a re-education boot camp that will churn out politically correct, brainwashed children and adults. The program is primarily aimed at children. Obama intends to make Public Allies mandatory for all American youth.

RENEWING AMERICAN dIPLOMACY
The Problem
The United States is trapped by the Bush-Cheney approach to diplomacy that refuses to talk to leaders we
don’t like. Not talking doesn’t make us look tough – it makes us look arrogant, it denies us opportunities
to make progress, and it makes it harder for America to rally international support for our leadership. On
challenges ranging from terrorism to disease, nuclear weapons to climate change, we cannot make progress
unless we can draw on strong international support.

Diagnosing Obama: Obama wants to weaken us by having our allies say what we can or can't do when it comes to our own national security. When he talks about the Bush-Cheney approach to diplomacy, it is code for the war on terror. Obama and the Democrats don't believe al Qaeda and terrorism is a national security issue. They believe it is a problem for law enforcement. Obama and the Democrats want us to think of terrorism as a crime similar to illegal gambling, prostitution, or drug dealing. They want you to think of Osama bin Laden dressed as a hooker while sporting a deck of playing cards and a crack pipe. That's the Obama diplomacy in a nutshell.

Barack Obama is the same recycled John Kerry smoke and mirrors in a different package. There is nothing new to his approach on any issue. Obama 2008 is John Kerry 2004 and Jimmy Carter 2 wrapped in David Axelrod's slick package. Obama is a Liberal scammer of the worst kind. His tax and spend policies will send us into a depression, and will finish bankrupting us as a nation.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2008
Sun, 10-12-2008 - 8:11pm
I wrote that post on a site called IMVU. What's it to you? Do you have a problem with that? Can't people belong to different sites? Or do they have to live up to your golden standards?
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2007
Sun, 10-12-2008 - 10:05pm

<<Obama is worthless.>>


That's funny, you feel the same way about Obama as I do about your opinion.


Chrissy
mom to Aidan 8/21/03
Grayson Blaine 12/30/07

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2008
Sun, 10-12-2008 - 10:09pm
Please calm down! You are really skirting tos.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2005
Sun, 10-12-2008 - 10:30pm

I love when someone thinks so highly of something they wrote, they post it in multiple places for others to comment on. Are you looking for a devoted following? I wonder how many places this ridiculous piece has been posted to?

The only 1 I will bother to comment on...

"Obama and the Democrats don't believe al Qaeda and terrorism is a national security issue. They believe it is a problem for law enforcement. Obama and the Democrats want us to think of terrorism as a crime similar to illegal gambling, prostitution, or drug dealing. They want you to think of Osama bin Laden dressed as a hooker while sporting a deck of playing cards and a crack pipe. That's the Obama diplomacy in a nutshell."

Not true. Nothing Obama or any other dem has said is even close to this nonsense. Obama supports the war in Afghanistan - you know, the place Al Qaeda actually is. He does not support that war in Iraq, where there was a dictator, but no Al Qaeda terrorists until after we got there.

The reality is that the "war on terror" is very different from a true war, with a front line, and land to be won or lost. Failing to realize that is part of the Bush administration's problem. You can't stop terrorists with conventional war strategies. There are too many and they are too spread out. Most of the 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia - I dont see us bombing them. Intelligence (not the kind Bush lacks, the kind the CIA/FBI gather) is the secret to stopping terrorism. And more efforts on that front, and fewer in Iraq, IMO (and Barack Obama's) gives us a much better chance to keep us safe.

I hate when people oversimplefy positions to try to prove their point. It proves nothing. Just because many dems are against the war in Iraq does not mean they are against fighting terrorism. It means they disagree on the METHOD Bush has chosen for fighting terrorism. So we can either sling mud at each other and accomplish nothing, or we can debate IDEAS and have a true conversation about the best way to lead the country.

If you cant get past seeing a motive for everything Obama wants to accomplish, if you think he wants to be president to destroy the American way of life, there is no point debating you. Just because I disagree with McCain's views on Iraq, doesnt mean think he's a warmonger who just wants to kill Arabs. A thinking person can disagree with someone's ideas and not HATE the person.

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