On Obama

For those that know me, you know that I am not the biggest fan of the Democratic nominee for president. I would like to list my main reasons here, with the caveat that I do so not because I hate the man or because I think he would destroy the country- I think he is a nice, generally good natured person, who just has some really dumb ideas about how the country works and what to do to "fix" things. I am not a racist, I don't think that he is secretly a Muslim terrorist, and I believe that even if he is elected, our country will continue on down its merry capitalist path relatively unencumbered.

First and foremost- Obama is pro-choice. And radically so. In Illinois, he voted against a measure that would protect the life of a baby of a botched abortion. Did you catch that? He voted against a bill that would protect a baby- a living, breathing baby just like any other you might see in the nusery ward of a hospital- if they had tried to be aborted but came out of it alive. How sick is that? Obviously, I believe abortions to be wrong in and of themselves- but partial-birth abortions, such as those that Obama supports, seem ludicrous to me. Voting against a bill that would protect an innocent life such as this is unconscionable.

Second, he is a tax-and-spend liberal. He proposes a trillion dollars in new spending over the next ten years. All taxes would go up for anyone making $30,000 or more (though, granted, the bulk of it would be levied against the rich). And he would increase the capital gains taxes, again aimed at the rich, but affecting millions of people like me who have investments in 401(k) plans and soon-to-be stocks and bonds of my own. Now, the main democrat talking point is that those that make more should pay more- the rich should pay more taxes in order to distribute the wealth more evenly. That's socialism at its heart. But there is a major flaw in their rationale- that policy, far from making everyone "rich" like they want to think it does, make everyone poor. It's a well documented fact that whatever you tax, you get less of. If you tax the people that are producing jobs and paying wages, you get less jobs and less wages. A poor man never gave anyone a job. Taxing the people that produce the most in our economy only encourages them to look for other places to hire, look for other ways of cutting costs (by cutting jobs, or decreasing benefits), or packing up shop altogether. Well, then we just make laws that make it so they can't fire people or take away benefits! Then you end up with a stagnant economy like the French (who are repealing laws that do just that in order to make themselves better able to compete in the global marketplace). Obama's plan would only further exacerbate the economy's problem. A pro-growth, lower taxes proposal such that McCain has is the only way to go.

As a caveat- I am extremely disappointed with the Republican leadership, especially Bush, in this area. Though I applaud Bush for keeping us safe from any terrorist attacks at home for the last 7 years, which I believe is largely due to his extra measures for security, I am seriously pissed at the way he and his Republican controlled congress acted for the 6+ years they held all power in the government. Our party is a party of limited spending, limited government involvement, and limited intervention in the market. The Republicans did the exact opposite when given the reigns. Shame on them, and shame on Bush for letting it happen. If Obama wins the presidency (and though obviously he has the upper hand, I don't believe for one minute that it's a done deal), it will be largely because the Republicans lost their base, not because Obama garnered so much support.

Anyway, and this unfortunately applies to both candidates- I hate how beholden they are to the environmental lobby. There was a time when it was necessary- to curb pollution practices by large corporations, to make the country as a whole more aware of what we need to do to take care of our little corner of the planet. That's all great, and important for us all. But now, they are advocates for destroying our economy and socializing our industries (oil and gas, to start), they are for population controls and anti-pro-choice measures, and they base it all on pseudo-science designed to scare the public into either accepting their beliefs or not ever questioning them. Obama and McCain would both implement an economy-wrecking cap and trade system (which, incidentally, has been tried in Europe with disastrous consequences for the economy and absolutely no effect on CO2 emmisions).

And yes, his voting record in the senate does hold some distaste for me (especially how many time he voted "present" on important issues... like he doesn't want his stances on them to be vetted). And his associations (Wright, Ayers, Resko, etc) do give me some pause, though not as much as his stances on key issues for me. And as for Wright- I thought it was actually really funny how Obama tried to downplay his virulently racist and anti-American speechs as mere snippets from speeches taken out of context, only to have Wright give a public appearance and reiterate everything the loony pastor has been saying for the past 20 years (including that AIDS was invented and spread by the government to kill blacks). Awesome stuff. Also, his flops on public financing are telling I believe- touting it was the end-all-be-all end to corruption, he threw it under the bus as soon as it became a political millstone. Which, in the end, is what I believe Obama is- he is a politician, through and through. He has mastered the art of painting himself to be above politics, to be the savior and champion that will defeat partisanship and bring about the millenial reign of peace and happniess. Guess what? He never, not ONCE, worked with Republicans on a bill in the Senate. And he voted 97% down the partisan line. And he is going to be non-partisan? I don't think so. At least call him what he is, folks- a liberal. And a far-left-liberal at that. If that is what you believe in and want, by all means go ahead and vote for him- but don't think he will be anything different then Jimmy Carter.