President Obama's Second Term - The Devil Is In The Details

Political Realities ^ | 10/15/12 | LD Jackson

[LD Jackson]

How many times in the past few weeks have we heard this line of questioning from the Obama campaign? Whenever Mitt Romney is asked what his plans are for America, his opponent usually asks for details. When stating he wants to reform the tax code by lowering the rates and eliminating deductions, the Obama campaign wants to know how he will pay for that tax cut. They want to know which deductions he plans to eliminate. Details, details, details. Their new favorite line of attack is that Romney needs to be more specific about the details of his plan. It doesn't seem to matter that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have said they plan to work out the specific deductions that will be eliminated with Congress. In case President Obama has forgotten, that's called bipartisanship. You know, both parties working together. But no, that isn't good enough. They want more details.

How's this for details? What is President Obama's plan for a second term? He's made it clear, he wants to spend more money and to finish implementing Obamacare. If he can manage to push it through Congress, he would prefer to eliminate the Bush tax cuts and raise taxes on the rich. What will be the result of these details? A higher tax burden for small businesses and corporations, which will be passed down to their customers. Many of these businesses may have to cut employees, just to be able to afford to pay their portion of the fees required by Obamacare. Did I mention he wants to continue his free spending ways?

Speaking of details, what are the results of the policies put into place by the Obama administration, Version I? Is unemployment going down in America? No, not the rate they released last week. I'm talking the real rate of unemployment, after factoring back in all the people the government has factored out. There are very few jobs available, or at least very few that pay a decent wage. Most businesses are not hiring. Could that possibly be the result of the regulatory climate put into place by Obama and his first administration?

What are some of the promises Barack Obama is making along the road to what I hope is his defeat on November 6? Here is a short list, found at CNN.

Manufacturing:

• Create one million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016
• Double exports by the end of 2014

Energy

• Cut net oil imports in half by 2020
• Support 600,000 natural gas jobs by the end of the decade

Education

• Cut the growth of college tuition in half over the next 10 years
• Recruit 100,000 math and science teachers over the next 10 years
• Train two million workers for real jobs at community colleges

Deficit

• Reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade

At the risk of sounding completely facetious, I would like President Obama to give us some specifics. Given that manufacturing companies don't seem to be hiring, how does he plan to persuade said companies to kick off a hiring spree? I'll give him a hint. Continuing to grow the number of regulations put on many of these companies isn't likely to do the trick. Neither is raising their taxes or requiring them to pay a fine, if they can't afford to provide health insurance for their employees.

What about those net oil imports? What are the details of Obama's plan to do that? Does he think continuing to restrict the drilling activity of oil companies is going to help them produce enough oil to reduce our dependency on foreign sources of oil? I really want to see the details of how he thinks this should work.

Skipping over education, let's take a quick look at the deficit we are running in 2012. Yes, it is high and yes, some of it is Bush's fault. The same applies to the national debt, which I believe currently stands at a little over $16 trillion, give or take a billion or two. It also belongs to Obama's predecessor, but not nearly as much of it as Obama would like to claim. Given his propensity to spend first and ask questions later, after he raises taxes on those who are obviously not paying their fair share, I would like to hear how exactly how he plans to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years. Another hint, continuing his current spending patterns isn't going to help matters. In fact, it will make it impossible to cut the deficit in any meaningful way.

I would ask President Obama why should we believe Version II of his administration will be any different from Version I? The devil really is in the details and the American people deserve to know more about your plans. Perhaps he will be kind enough to share some of those details during tomorrow night's debate with Mitt Romney? Just so you know, I'll not be holding my breath for that to happen.

[Diogenesis]

[agincourt1415]

Obamacare and stupid green energy, and raising taxes will kill our economy further.

[Terry Mross]

obama said he would “save” jobs. I guess he was talking about GM.

I ask Freepers, the smartest people on the internet, to give me some predictions of what will happen within the first year if he is re-elected.

[OrioleFan]

the Obama campaign wants to know how he will pay for that tax cut

Questioning how do you pay for a tax cut implies the money belongs to the government and the earners in this country are withholding it from the government. Only when we have a government that respects the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness will we achieve true freedom. The tyrants in Washington and their lapdogs in the media are destroying the American dream.

[Tom Bombadil]

Any missing Romney details pale in comparison to what is missing in Obama’s “wait until after the election” statement to the Russians.

Fill us in please Mr. Obama.

[Secret Agent Man]

more accurate:

obama’s second term: the devil’s in the white house