How Insulting

Am I the only one who thinks this is quite telling about the man we are about to elect our next president?

You know, I remember being taught a valuable lesson by my grandfather back when I was six or seven years old. The two of us stood there in his garage one sunny day (which is now my garage), and he impressed upon me the importance of respecting the flag of the United States of America. I remember him explaining to me the importance of never allowing that flag to touch the ground - for that was a sign of disrespect for all who had fought on our behalf. He even taught me how to properly dispose of a worn U.S. flag, which of course is to burn it with dignity.

Back in 1986, my dad took me to my first Red Sox game at Fenway Park. The Sox played the Milwaukee Brewers that Sunday afternoon. Being that this was my first experience in a large crowd, I was stuck by the fact that before the umpire uttered the words "Play Ball", 35,000 people stood in unison to salute the flag, and our national anthem. Of course, my pops had to physically take the hat off my head, and show me how to hold it in my hand, over my heart. This was patriotism, and because of these two men and others who impacted me at a young age, I understood it's significance.

I wonder - who was it that impacted Obama during his childhood? Who taught him that it was ever acceptable not to hold your hand over your heart during our national anthem? Is this a minor detail in the grand scheme of all that we face as a nation? I suppose. But for me, this photo says more than 1,000 words about the man, Barack Obama.

For those who might say that this was just a snapshot - I have attached the entire video of this event's national anthem. Warning: The audio is rough. This is certainly not Whitney Houston singing the national anthem.

What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?

All this talk about "sharing the wealth" and "socialism" caused me to wonder - What would the Father of our Democracy, Thomas Jefferson say about all of this?

Well, it turns out that Mr. Jefferson actually commented on socialistic principles during his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1801:

"Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, ye tall of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter--with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities."

Mr. Jefferson, the man perhaps most instrumental in building our democracy, urges our government "not to take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned". He says "this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities" - in other words, to secure our happiness as a free people.

Mr. Obama appears to believe the inverse of Thomas Jefferson - to me, that should say it all.

A "Button" Has Popped

This afternoon Wendy Button, a former Obama speechwriter, endorsed John McCain. She did so for many reasons, all outlined in a column published today on The Daily Beast. Here's is a little of what Ms. Button had to say about why she's leaving the Democratic Party (her words in bold):

The final straw came the other week when Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (a.k.a Joe the Plumber) asked a question about higher taxes for small businesses. Instead of celebrating his aspirations, they were mocked. He wasn’t “a real plumber,” and “They’re fighting for Joe the Hedge-Fund manager,” and the patronizing, “I’ve got nothing but love for Joe the Plumber.”

The party I believed in wouldn’t look down on working people under any circumstance. And Joe the Plumber is right. This is the absolutely worst time to raise taxes on anyone: the rich, the middle class, the poor, small businesses and corporations.

Our economy is in the tank for many complicated reasons, especially because people don’t have enough money. So let them keep it. Let businesses keep it so they can create jobs and stay here and weather this storm. And yet, the Democratic ideology remains the same. Our approach to problems—big government solutions paid for by taxing the rich and big and smaller companies—is just as tired and out of date as trickle down economics. How about a novel approach that simply finds a sane way to stop the bleeding?

That’s not exactly the philosophy of a Democrat. Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates. At first, certain Democrats and the press called Senator Clinton “dishonest.” They went after her cleavage. They said her experience as First Lady consisted of having tea parties. There was no outrage over “Bros before Hoes” or “Iron My Shirt.” Did Senator Clinton make mistakes? Of course. She’s human.

Her thoughts on Governor Sarah Palin...

Governor Palin and I don’t agree on a lot of things, mostly social issues. But I have grown to appreciate the Governor. I was one of those initial skeptics and would laugh at the pictures. Not anymore. When someone takes on a corrupt political machine and a sitting governor, that is not done by someone with a low I.Q. or a moral core made of tissue paper. When someone fights her way to get scholarships and work her way through college even in a jagged line, that shows determination and humility you can’t learn from reading Reinhold Niebuhr. When a mother brings her son with special needs onto the national stage with love, honesty, and pride, that gives hope to families like mine as my older brother lives with a mental disability. And when someone can sit on a stage during the Sarah Palin rap on Saturday Night Live, put her hands in the air and watch someone in a moose costume get shot—that’s a sign of both humor and humanity.

And a bit on the hypocrisy of the media...

Has she made mistakes? Of course, she’s human too. But the attention paid to her mistakes has been unprecedented compared to Senator Obama’s “57 states” remarks or Senator Biden using a version of the Samuel Johnson quote, “There’s nothing like a hanging in the morning to focus a man’s thoughts.”

Her thoughts on Obama's "plan" for Iraq...

We can talk about the wardrobe and make-up even though most people don’t understand the details about Senator Obama’s plan with Iraq. When he says, “all combat troops,” he’s not talking about all troops—it leaves a residual force of as large as 55,000 indefinitely. That’s not ending the war; that’s half a war.
I was dead wrong about the surge and thought it would be a disaster. Senator John McCain led when many of us were ready to quit. Yet we march on as if nothing has changed, wedded to an old plan, and that too is a long way from the Democratic Party.

Finally, Ms. Button's thoughts on the 2008 version of the Democratic Party...

I can no longer justify what this party has done and can’t dismiss the treatment of women and working people as just part of the new kind of politics. It’s wrong and someone has to say that. And also say that the Democratic Party’s talking points—that Senator John McCain is just four more years of the same and that he’s President Bush—are now just hooker lines that fit a very effective and perhaps wave-winning political argument…doesn’t mean they’re true. After all, he is the only one who’s worked in a bipartisan way on big challenges.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-28/so-long-obama/1/

Our Constitution is Flawed? Really, Barack?

There's a "new" old recording of Barack Obama making the rounds today. In 2001, Obama was recorded while giving a radio interview on Chicago Public Radio. In this now controversial interview, Obama talks about deficiencies in our Constitution.

You'll hear Obama pontificating on "injustices" inherent within the Constitution, including in his own words how "generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties...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 behalf". So much for "Ask not what your country can do for you - Ask what you can do for your country".

In the first minute of the audio, Barack Obama spends some time hailing the many accomplishments of the civil rights era (as we all should!). Segregation and slavery are the darkest and most regretful periods in our nation's history, and Barack pays proper homage to the civil rights movement. However, he takes it much further - even beyond the suggestion of reparations. Obama makes the assertion that during that period, the Supreme Court fell short in it's efforts, because they "never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth".

Please take a listen to the audio of Barack Obama in 2001:

Finally!

Well, it's about time someone in the media asks a few tough questions! You know, other than asking Sarah Palin which publications she reads on a daily basis.

Take a look at the video below. Barbara West, of WFTV 9 in Orlando, had the opportunity recently to ask Joe Biden a few tough questions. A few of the things they talked about were Obama's spreading the wealth comment, Biden's comment about Obama being tested by a "worldwide crisis within his first six months", and a few other gems. This one gets a little contentious!

You'll notice Biden fails to mention the $800,000 that the Obama campaign has given to ACORN subsidiary Citizens Services, Inc., to help with voter registration efforts (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14492.html).

The fallout from this video has been interesting. The Obama campaign has now all but blacklisted this TV station from having any contact with their campaign. Jill Biden was set for an interview with Ms. West, but the Obama campaign has cancelled that appearance.

Boy, Obama wants to sit down with world dictators without preconditions - yet his campaign won't even sit down with a news reporter if she's not willing to throw softballs! Take a look for yourself:

Bottom's Up!

So I know nothing about blogging, but here's my finest effort. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a conservative who will cast a vote in two weeks for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Barack Obama has recently said that he believes that this economy has to be built from the "Bottom Up". One would have to be intoxicated to believe that this economic strategy of "spreading the wealth" will lead to anything other than shared misery.

In a campaign filled with mistruths, Obama's most damning may well be his assertion that under his tax plan, "95% of Americans will receive a tax cut". All the while, his running mate Joe Biden is telling us that it is "patriotic" to pay taxes. So which is it? Lets take a closer look at the Obama tax plan, but before we do that, a few facts:

The top 1% of wage earners in this country pay 40% of all income taxes.
The top 50% of wage earners in this country pay 97% of all income taxes.
The bottom 50% of all wage earners in this country pay only 3% of all income taxes.

Now, we can get into the merits of a "Flat Tax" another day. But for now, this progressive tax system is what we have to work with.

Obama thinks the "wealthy" should pay more. Understand, Obama categorizes "The Wealthy" as anybody making more than $250,000 annually. I ask, how do you give a "Tax Cut" to many folks who don't pay any taxes to begin with (see statistics above, verifiable on the IRS website)? Isn't that in fact, just another form of welfare? Don't we already PAY TAXES to fund welfare?

Getting back to Mr. Obama's tax proposals...He has said that he will raise the capital gains tax. Capital gains taxes are those taxes one would pay on the difference between what one paid for an investment, and what one gained on that investment when sold. These taxes are levied on the sales of mutual funds, bonds, stocks, real estate, precious metals, etc. In this market, is it really wise to discourage investment by raising the tax rate on profits made on such investments? We need people who are financially capable, to continue investing in our markets. Discouraging investment by raising taxes would be catastrophic to an already suffering economy. By the way, John McCain has recently suggested cutting the capital gains tax in half, to 7.5%, for the next two years.

Let's talk a minute about corporate taxes. What was the last corporation you knew that actually PAID taxes? That's right - not a one. That's because as their taxes increase, they pass that little gift from the government on to you and I (Like the toaster oven in "Old School" - the gift that keeps on giving!). Your Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks suddenly goes from $3.89 to $4.05. Or, they may also be forced to lay people off in order to offset their suddenly higher costs of doing business. I cannot stress enough - corporations do not pay taxes...we pay their taxes for them. Barack Obama will raise taxes on all businesses making more than $250,000. There are approximately 25 million small businesses in the U.S., accounting for 99% of all employers, and employing more than 50% of the private work force (http://www.eeoc.gov/ada/adahandbook.html).

I received a call from a local democratic volunteer last week. He seemed like a very nice guy, and we had a good conversation. After a few minutes, the conversation transitioned from local to national politics. He was making his points about raising corporate taxes and how that would be good for everybody (again, the fairness theme)...I asked him, "what would keep those businesses from either laying people off or moving operations to a more "tax friendly" country?". His response was startling..."Well, I think there are certainly carrots that we can throw out there to keep companies here...And you understand, MEN AND WOMEN make the laws...So there's legislation we can put in place to keep them here". What?!?!? You're going to raise their taxes, then implement laws that will require that they stay, or face even stiffer penalties? Is this the United States of America, or the old Soviet Union?

For those who have read to the bottom, I thank you and hope I haven't offended anyone too much. I live in Connecticut, a state where Mickey Mouse would have no trouble getting elected if he were the democratic candidate. So, this is a forum that allows me to say the things I'd like to say, without shoving my thoughts down anyone's throat.

The last point I will make on this initial entry...Barack Obama loves to compare himself to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Somebody should remind Mr. Obama that it was none other than John Kennedy who said:

"Lower rates of taxation will stimulate economic activity and so raise the levels of personal and corporate income as to yield within a few years an increased – not a reduced – flow of revenues to the federal government." - John F. Kennedy, January 1963

Put in a more concise manner, President Kennedy was saying that the only way to increase revenues to the federal government, is to decrease taxation.

This economy cannot be built from the bottom up, and there is no such thing as "fairness" in life.