Welcome to a parallel dimension!
A dimension where Senator McCain actually seeks a more
modest approach to health care policy, makes fiscal and
social conservatism a priority, backs tax cuts and emphasizes gun rights.
Posted on 09/06/2010 12:37:58 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
It is hard to recall another president who so aggressively pursued the policies he campaigned on only to see his popularity plummet as a result. But such is the case with President Barack Obama.
It is understandable why those who voted for Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona would be so disenchanted with the Obama administration. Sen. McCain, after all, sought a far different, more modest approach to health care policy. The Arizona senator made fiscal and social conservatism a priority, talked of tax cuts and emphasized gun rights. As expected, the president has followed a much different agenda.
Harder to understand are the many who voted for Mr. Obama, only to now abandon him. This quick change of heart is most apparent among the growing ranks of unaffiliated voters who tend to float back and forth each election cycle, fingers to the wind. Their disenchantment with the president and his Democratic Party will likely mean big losses for the Democrats in the congressional elections.
As Americans prepared for their Labor Day weekend, the Rasmussen presidential tracking poll showed only 27 percent strongly approving of the president's performance, 43 percent strongly disapproving.
No one, certainly, should have been surprised that President Obama sought a dramatic overhaul of the health care system, with an increased government role to play. It was a centerpiece of the Obama campaign, a regular in his stump speech. Did those backing Mr. Obama not expect it to be expensive, complex and result in a bitter political fight? Democratic leaders going back to President Truman had attempted health care reform and failed.
The prize for President Obama achieving it was lowered approval ratings for him and his party.
As for the war in Iraq, the president achieved his goal of ending combat operations. How things play out from here, as the U.S. military transitions to a support and advisory role, remains to be seen. But the president seemingly scored no political points on an issue that once dominated the national debate, but now is an afterthought for voters.
In fiscal matters, candidate Obama made ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans a priority and is pushing forward with that plan, which no longer appears very popular. He also promised to put the cost of two wars back in the budget, knowing it would make the fiscal situation look far worse. It has.
He did not campaign on bailing out auto industries, or launching a nearly $1 billion stimulus program, but the severity of the economic crisis demanded drastic action. The auto industry was saved and the stimulus mitigated the seriousness of the recession.
President Obama has not ended wasteful government spending or improved efficiency, as he advertised, but will get the chance when dealing with a next Congress in which Republicans will likely hold a stronger hand.
Cap-and-trade to reduce carbon emissions, a financial carrot to encourage education reforms, tougher regulation of Wall Street, were all policies the president campaigned on.
Perhaps many who voted for Mr. Obama never supported these policies. Maybe they just wanted change after eight years of the Bush administration and didn't read the fine print. Certainly the lack of a vigorous recovery from the Great Recession is dragging down the president's popularity, but no economist predicted a rapid rebound.
In many ways, he's exactly who he said he'd be, and many of those who voted for him apparently don't like it.
Huh? What dimension did that occur in?
No... the average RAT voter is too stupid to comprehend as much. All the heard was Hope and Change...
They thought all of the conservative screaming and yelling that Obama was a socialist were crazy and now that all we were saying and predicting has come to pass, they have finally awoke, but its too late...
They never wanted what he was pedaling, all they wanted was Hope and Change, even though they could not tell you what Hope and Change was or is...
Just how many times does the average RAT voter need to be duped or proven to be an idiot unable to even operate a simple ballot or voting machine before?
A billion here, a trillion there...
Welcome to a parallel dimension!
A dimension where Senator McCain actually seeks a more
modest approach to health care policy, makes fiscal and
social conservatism a priority, backs tax cuts and emphasizes gun rights.
Good catch.
No. 286: Secure the borders
No. 331: Re-establish the National Aeronautics and Space Council
No. 491: Provide an annual report on “state of our energy future”
Change Washington
Ban registered lobbyists from working in the administration on areas in which they have lobbied over the previous two years and bar officials who leave the administration from lobbying the executive branch for the duration of Obama’s presidency.
End the practice of writing legislation behind closed doors and close special-interest corporate loopholes.
Reform government spending by slashing earmarks and conducting a line-by-line review of the federal budget.
Create or save 1 million jobs with a $25 billion investment in infrastructure projects.
Implement a permanent tax cut of $500 for individuals and $1,000 for families.
Improve education by making math and science a priority, reforming “No Child Left Behind” and streamlining the financial aid process.
Ensure 10 percent of U.S. electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012 and 25 percent by 2025. Establish a low national carbon-fuel standard.
Ban torture and close Guantanamo.
Engage in tough, direct diplomacy with Iran without preconditions. Offer incentives if Iranian leaders abandon the country’s nuclear program and support for terrorism; step up economic pressure and political isolation if they continue troubling behavior.
Make a sustained push to support Israel and achieve the goal of two states — a Jewish state in Israel and a Palestinian state.
Secure all loose nuclear materials in the world within four years.
The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama’s promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.
Obama said in the campaign that Americans could have both—a broad boost in affordable health insurance for the nation without raising taxes on anyone but the rich.
“I will cut taxes—cut taxes—for 95 percent of all working families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.”
‘Sunlight Before Signing’
When Obama campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in Manchester, N.H., on June 22, 2007, he announced his “Sunlight Before Signing” promise.
“When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as the president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what’s in it before I sign it,” he said.
Obama signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, on Jan. 20 – only two days after its passage.
He signed a second bill expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program just three hours after Congress passed it.
Again, on Feb. 17, Obama signed his 1,000-page $787 billion stimulus aimed at jolting the declining U.S. economy. He did so only one business day after it passed through Congress – without allowing for five days of public comment.
New American jobs tax credit
During his transition, Obama’s promised to provide a $3,000 refundable tax credit to existing businesses for every additional full-time U.S. employee hired in 2009 and 2010.
“If a company that currently has 10 U.S. employees increases its domestic full time employment to 20 employees, this company would get a $30,000 tax credit – enough to offset the entire added payroll tax costs to the company for the first $50,000 of income for the new employees,” the transition website stated. “The tax credit will benefit all companies creating net new jobs, even those struggling to make a profit.”
Obama’s promise was never included in the stimulus package.
Hiatus on 401(k) penalties
Many unemployed and financially strapped Americans have considered early withdrawals on 401(k) and retirement accounts to survive the current recession. However, the IRS imposes strict penalties of up to 10 percent plus federal, state and local income taxes on such advances.
Workers who have taken $10,000 in early withdrawals from retirement plans have lost as much as 40 percent to taxes and penalties, depending upon tax brackets.
In October 2008, Obama released his “Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class” in which he promised to allow financially distressed Americans to withdraw up to $10,000 from their 401(k) accounts and retirement savings without having to pay penalties. They would only pay income taxes on the amount.
“Since so many Americans will be struggling to pay the bills over the next year, I propose that we allow every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009,” Obama said. “This will help families get through this crisis without being forced to make painful choices like selling their homes or not sending their kids to college.”
However, Obama’s promise was never included in his recent stimulus package.
‘No jobs for lobbyists’
Obama promised America he would loosen the grip of lobbyists on Washington.
In his Nov. 10, 2007, speech in Des Moines, Iowa, Obama declared:
I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.
During his campaign, Obama also said, “I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race. I don’t take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won’t find a job in my White House.”
However, USA Today reported Obama’s campaign fundraising team included 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million in 2007 to lobby the federal government.
“Those lawyers, including 10 former federal lobbyists, have pledged to raise at least $3.5 million” for Obama’s campaign, the report states. “Employees of their firms have given Obama’s campaign $2.26 million.”
Earmark reform
As WND reports, at the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., Obama declared, “[W]e need earmark reform. And when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.”
However, in February, Obama passed his $787 billion stimulus aimed at jolting the declining U.S. economy. Before a joint session of Congress, Obama declared: “Now, I’m proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks.”
Some chuckled in amusement when he claimed the bill contained no pork.
“There was just a roar of laughter – because there were earmarks,” Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., told CNN.
U.S. News & World Report found at least eight earmarks in his stimulus bill.
Obama also signed a $410 billion omnibus bill for 2009. More than 9,000 earmarks in the spending bill total an estimated $7.7 billion.
$4,000 college credit
Obama pledged to make college “affordable for all Americans” when he announced his American Opportunity Tax Credit.
His campaign promise read: “This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Recipients of the credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of community service.”
While the American Opportunity Tax Credit was included in the recent stimulus bill, it offers a credit of only $2,500 for up to two years and requires no commitment to community service.
Transparency
On the White House website, the Obama administration claims it will be “the most open and transparent in history.
The administration released a memo on Jan. 21, stating:
My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.
Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. …
However, Congress and the administration hurried the $787 billion, 1,027-page American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to a vote after allowing lawmakers just a few hours to read the bill. It was also available online in a form that could not be keyword searched.
"In many ways"? Even the writer isn't convinced by his own topic.
A good example of, "you better watch out what you wish for".
To the lazy, selfish, and ignorant, socialism looks good on paper.
All anyone needed to do was to look at his friends, his pastor and ACORN..He was a student of Saul Alinsky’s book, RULES FOR RADICALS, and probably a stauch believer in the “Cloward and Piven” plan to collapse the economy of the US in order to permanently take over our free government. It seems to be way beyond the ability of some Americans, to pay attention to more than a pretty face, but, in this case, life and limb and the possibility of a future worth living depends on some common sense. The scales are now falling off the eyes but, is it too little too late?
“Kids, I promised you a trip to the beach and here we are. Just ignore that Category 4 hurricane. It will blow over.”
If campaign promises don’t give way to reality, it is incompetent governing. We elect people to use their common sense to government, not to plow ahead regardless of circumstances. Obama has been mailing in the presidential work of governing during his entire administration and a scorecard of promised accomplishments is a poor indicator of competence. How would the media have reacted had Bush Jr. plowed ahead of his agenda by ignoring 9/11?
In simple terms, Obama voters mostly supported him to be diverse (or because they were dead and had no choice). Only a minority of his votes came from living people who actually wanted socialism. Now that the diversity voters find out Obama really meant it when he campaigned on extreme socialism, they are angry, both because Obama is stealing from those who work (them) and because they are embarrassed that they allowed themselves to be fooled.
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