Showing posts with label President Clinton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Clinton. Show all posts
The Incredibly Shrinking Obama
Diposkan oleh Zainal Arifain
By Alan Caruba
If ever a president looked impotent and helpless, it was during the press conference hastily called to secure a former president’s aid to pass the extension of the Bush era tax rates.
It was the image of a former “community organizer” unable to organize even the support of his own political party.
We are witnessing the shrinking presidency of Barack Obama.
When Obama excused himself to attend a family Christmas party, leaving the podium to Bill Clinton, he demonstrated the futility of his efforts to divide Americans along class lines of rich and poor.
Obama has never understood that the American dream is that anyone can get rich thanks to hard work and the opportunities provided by capitalism. Over the past two years it has become obvious to everyone he has been engaged in an effort to destroy the nation through an obscene increase in its debt and the deprivation of its own sources of energy.
The bill to extend the tax rates, in place now for a decade, has been encumbered by the usual “earmarks” that have turned it into a Christmas tree of pet projects by the same Congress whose two previous stimulus bills failed to increase employment and which continues to spend the nation into bankruptcy.
The best thing now is to let the bill die and to wait until a new Republican-controlled House of Representatives can extend the tax rates and rid the present bill off even more deficit spending. Congress has not demonstrated the ability to do the best thing or even the most sensible thing.
The most articulate advocate of rejecting this “compromise” bill has been Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), chairman of the Senate Conservatives Fund, a political action committee dedicated to electing true conservatives to the U.S. Senate.
In a statement by Sen. DeMint, he reflected the expectations and wishes of all taxpayers having been fighting for years to extend the tax rates. “It’s the people’s money and we should not raise taxes on hardworking American families.”
The compromise that the Republican leadership in Congress agreed to was dismissed by President Obama even as he grudgingly tried to get his own party to support it. It has not been the GOP that has held Americans “hostage” as they waited for action on the tax rates, but the White House and the Democrat Party.
Sen. DeMint noted that “it includes approximately $200 billion in new deficit spending and stimulus gimmicks. That’s a lot of money that will have to be borrowed from China and repaid by our children and grandchildren.”
“If we are going to increase spending on new programs, we must reduce other spending to pay for it.”
Perhaps the worst aspect of the bill is that it extends rates for only two years. “We don’t have a temporary economy so we shouldn’t have temporary tax rates.” As this is written, trillions are sitting idle in American corporations and businesses because they are unable to plan ahead to make new investments and hire new employees. A two year extension is futile because businesses must make long-range plans and investments.
Another noxious aspect of the bill is its failure to extend all of the tax rates. “It actually increases the death tax from the current rate of zero percent all the way up to 36 percent. One economic study shows that this tax increase alone will kill over 800,000 jobs over the next ten years.”
It will also destroy the ability of countless small farmers to pass on their legacy of hard work to their families who will, in many cases, have to sell their farms whose wealth is measured in the land they own, not the money they possess.
“I appreciate the efforts made by my party’s leaders to negotiate this deal, but I believe Americans deserve much better.”
The November elections that demonstrated the greatest transfer of power in the House and to some degree the Senate since the late 1940s are ample proof that Americans want and expect better results.
Starting on January 2, 2011 a new Congress could attend to the proper and sensible extension of the Bush era tax rates. Those who know how the Congress functions, however, warn that it would take three to six months to achieve this. The further stagnation of the economy would continue during that time.
© Alan Caruba, 2010
Just Because You're Paranoid
Diposkan oleh Zainal Arifain
By Alan Caruba
“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone isn’t watching you,” goes the adage and in America where there’s a television camera just about everywhere, as well as folks with phones that can record live action and transmit the video, it’s probably more true today than ever.
My paranoia tends to focus on politicians and, in particular, those of the liberal stripe. The reason for this is simple enough. They promise not to raise taxes and then they raise taxes.
They promise to reduce the national debt and then increase it by $3 trillion in under two years.
They promise to “reform” Medicare and then they destroy it.
They promise to create and “save” jobs, and the unemployment rate just keeps climbing.
The lies are endless and highly destructive of my beloved nation.
My levels of paranoia have been off the meter since Obama was elected and on their way to the Moon ever since he took the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Even though Obama briefly taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, he does not give much evidence of liking the Constitution. In an early interview he said that the Constitution “is a charter of negative liberties. (It) says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your account.”
Well, the government, for example, can’t search your home or office without a warrant, must provide a speedy trail, and importantly cannot restrain your right to free speech, deny a free press, or the right to peacefully assemble to protest. It cannot “establish” a national religion, but it cannot forbid the practice of religion even though cities and towns across America are afflicted with demented people who would deny you the right to celebrate Christmas in any fashion.
No where in the Constitution is there a provision for the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Human Services, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and much of the rest of the alphabet zoo that comprises our present government.
It surely does not say you have to buy something you don’t want!
The whole object of the Constitution is to limit the size of government, make the process of passing legislation difficult, and to distribute political power via its “checks and balances” to ensure no one branch can do too much damage.
As we close in on the November 2nd midterm elections, I am again impressed with the way the Founding Fathers created a document that allows Americans to engage in corrective measures by ridding themselves of truly bad politicians and replacing them with those who promise to do a better job.
We do this every two and four years, weeding out Senators, Representatives, and Presidents who are too stupid or criminal to be allowed the power we grant them.
If it were not for paranoia the Tea Party movement would not exist. The power of the Constitution has permitted this leaderless movement to coalesce around the single idea of ridding the Republic of people whom we deem dangerous to its future.
The current U.S. President is rapidly approaching levels of disapproval not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter.
It’s hard not to feel paranoid about a President who wrote to the Secretary of State asking that 80,000 more Muslim “refugees” be allowed into the United States where we have already witnessed 9/11, the Fort Hood murder spree by U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, and the trial of Faisal Shashad, a Pakistani granted citizenship who demonstrated his appreciation by trying to kill Americans in Times Square.
Do we really need 80,000 more potential jihadists? And why does Obama want to encourage this?
In the interest of brevity, let me add a distinct sense of paranoia about Bill Clinton traveling all over to endorse Democrat candidates. It is testimony to the short attention span of Democrats that they do not recall Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Hillary’s abortive healthcare reforms, Monica Lewinsky, his lies under oath, his impeachment trial, nor that the things he gets credit for occurred after Republicans gained control of Congress.
I am just paranoid enough to think that Bill is collecting political favors Hillary may use if she decides to run for president. One President Clinton was more than enough. One President Obama is one too many.
© Alan Caruba, 2010
More about → Just Because You're Paranoid
“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone isn’t watching you,” goes the adage and in America where there’s a television camera just about everywhere, as well as folks with phones that can record live action and transmit the video, it’s probably more true today than ever.
My paranoia tends to focus on politicians and, in particular, those of the liberal stripe. The reason for this is simple enough. They promise not to raise taxes and then they raise taxes.
They promise to reduce the national debt and then increase it by $3 trillion in under two years.
They promise to “reform” Medicare and then they destroy it.
They promise to create and “save” jobs, and the unemployment rate just keeps climbing.
The lies are endless and highly destructive of my beloved nation.
My levels of paranoia have been off the meter since Obama was elected and on their way to the Moon ever since he took the oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Even though Obama briefly taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, he does not give much evidence of liking the Constitution. In an early interview he said that the Constitution “is a charter of negative liberties. (It) says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your account.”
Well, the government, for example, can’t search your home or office without a warrant, must provide a speedy trail, and importantly cannot restrain your right to free speech, deny a free press, or the right to peacefully assemble to protest. It cannot “establish” a national religion, but it cannot forbid the practice of religion even though cities and towns across America are afflicted with demented people who would deny you the right to celebrate Christmas in any fashion.
No where in the Constitution is there a provision for the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Human Services, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and much of the rest of the alphabet zoo that comprises our present government.
It surely does not say you have to buy something you don’t want!
The whole object of the Constitution is to limit the size of government, make the process of passing legislation difficult, and to distribute political power via its “checks and balances” to ensure no one branch can do too much damage.
As we close in on the November 2nd midterm elections, I am again impressed with the way the Founding Fathers created a document that allows Americans to engage in corrective measures by ridding themselves of truly bad politicians and replacing them with those who promise to do a better job.
We do this every two and four years, weeding out Senators, Representatives, and Presidents who are too stupid or criminal to be allowed the power we grant them.
If it were not for paranoia the Tea Party movement would not exist. The power of the Constitution has permitted this leaderless movement to coalesce around the single idea of ridding the Republic of people whom we deem dangerous to its future.
The current U.S. President is rapidly approaching levels of disapproval not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter.
It’s hard not to feel paranoid about a President who wrote to the Secretary of State asking that 80,000 more Muslim “refugees” be allowed into the United States where we have already witnessed 9/11, the Fort Hood murder spree by U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, and the trial of Faisal Shashad, a Pakistani granted citizenship who demonstrated his appreciation by trying to kill Americans in Times Square.
Do we really need 80,000 more potential jihadists? And why does Obama want to encourage this?
In the interest of brevity, let me add a distinct sense of paranoia about Bill Clinton traveling all over to endorse Democrat candidates. It is testimony to the short attention span of Democrats that they do not recall Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Hillary’s abortive healthcare reforms, Monica Lewinsky, his lies under oath, his impeachment trial, nor that the things he gets credit for occurred after Republicans gained control of Congress.
I am just paranoid enough to think that Bill is collecting political favors Hillary may use if she decides to run for president. One President Clinton was more than enough. One President Obama is one too many.
© Alan Caruba, 2010