Tag Archive: politics


President Obama struggling with blue collar Democrats

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April 27, 2012

Obama's constant vacationing during our economic meltdown has left many Democrats wondering where their president's heart truly is.

Out of touch.

These are the words that blue collar Democrat voters are using to describe President Obama, and these are the words that will spell doom for the president come November. Thanks to his “do as I say, not as I do” mentality about taxpayer dollars, President Obama is falling far short with blue collar voters.

These voters are very resentful of Mr. Obama because he is so disconnected from their respective plights. Long, costly vacations to Spain, Hawaii, and Martha’s Vineyard on the taxpayer dime have certainly raised eyebrows in this crucial voting block, as most blue collar workers are not in a financial position to take long vacations or even to enjoy some time off from work. As Obama vacations, many of these voters reason, the rest of the country suffers, and this disconnect is deeply unsettling.

President Obama is facing some serious difficulties with his image. Republicans have successfully portrayed him as an obstruction to economic improvement, and anemic economic growth has continued to back this portrayal. However, Obama’s greatest strength has always been his personal image, not his political one. During the 2008 election, Mr. Obama was warm, charismatic, forceful, and articulate. Today, with an election looming, the president will need to at least maintain this image if he is to have any hopes of being competitive in November. Unfortunately for the president, however, his vacations and other forms of extravagance during an economic downturn will do little to preserve his image, as they will work against it. Extravagance in the face of catastrophe is viewed by the American people as cold, hypocritical, and just plainly insensitive. Such a mentality about President Obama, especially when held by members of his base, will be lethal for President Obama’s reelection chances.

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Are you better off?

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April 24, 2012

Romney will need to remind Americans of the problems that President Obama has created and/or has failed to solve. Pictured: Romney speaking to a crowd.

In recent weeks, Mitt Romney has emerged as the Republican candidate to take on President Obama in November. Tonight, Romney will be giving a speech to debut his official general election message, and based on some early excerpts of the speech released by the Romney campaign, it seems that Romney is framing the next election perfectly.

Mitt Romney has been running with several general themes throughout the primary season. He has talked about the need to roll back regulation, simplify the American tax code, and to grow the American economy. However, Romney spent little time on semantics and delivery of his message during the primary season, and thus, the kind of striking slogans and mottoes that characterized Barack Obama’s successful run back in 2008 have largely eluded Mr. Romney…until now. Romney plans to focus voters’ attention upon one crucial question: are you better off than you were four years ago?

The wave of enthusiasm that propelled President Obama into the White House has since vanished, and Obama is floundering in his attempts to convince voters that he has bettered their lives. Unemployment has refused to duck below pre-recession levels, even with massive numbers of Americans leaving the labor force and artificially lowering the unemployment rate. Companies are moving jobs overseas as fast as they can, domestic energy costs have skyrocketed, and the national debt has ballooned to near-catastrophic levels. Amid all these problems, Obama is still claiming success with every piece of good economic news, and of course, taking no credit for economic failures.

Romney posing this profound question to voters is an extremely intelligent move on his part. When voters go to the polls this coming November, they will not listen to either Mitt Romney or his opponent to determine whether or not President Obama deserves another four years in office. Instead, a voter will look back and think about how the incumbent has improved or decreased his quality of life. And based on our current economic situation, with new doomsday news emerging everyday, it seems fairly obvious to me that the vast majority of voters will find President Obama’s work over the past few years to be utterly unsatisfactory.

To get an idea of how damaging Mr. Romney’s speech tonight will be for the Obama campaign, only take a look at the media coverage it is (or rather, isn’t) receiving. NBC News and CBS are refusing to interrupt their normal broadcasting to cover Mr. Romney’s speech, and according to BuzzFeed, ABC News has not yet commented but – in my view – is unlikely to cover Mr. Romney either. Try to catch Romney’s speech on Fox News or CNN tonight, and comment on this article or on our Facebook page to tell me what you think about it! Is it effective?

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French elections show what’s to come in November

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April 22, 2012

By simply being in power during the Euro debt crisis and during the global economic downturn, Sarkozy is experiencing great difficulty selling his ideas to French voters, who don't see beyond France's current economic woes.

High unemployment. Illegal immigration. Jobs moving overseas. Sound familiar?

These are just a few of the main problems that the US is currently experiencing as a part of its deep economic downturn. Many political pundits have predicted that these problems will have a major impact upon the presidential race here in November, and looking to France, I think these pundits are dead right.

France is currently holding elections, and incumbent president Nicholas Sarkozy has been in power throughout both the global recession and the Euro debt crisis. France’s economy is beleaguered, with businesses fleeing the country in droves and illegal immigrants flooding into the already fragile job market. Tied to failing European countries such as Greece and Italy by the euro currency, France is in serious trouble. Dealing with the debt of other nations is quite exasperating for the French, who have been fairly responsible with their cash, and thus a debate has emerged over whether or not France should drop out of the euro or mitigate its losses through the creation of a more tightly centralized regional governing body to force Greece and other indebted nations to become fiscally responsible. Clearly, serious issues are in play in France.

But how will this affect the election? Mr. Sarkozy, the incumbent, pulled a tight second in the first round of voting. Although this second-place finish allows Sarkozy to move on to the second round to compete against the first-round victor (as the first round is a runoff round), such a finish does not bode well for Sarkozy, who – barring a last-minute surge – will not be able to retain his hold on the presidency.

French voters are skeptical about Sarkozy for the same reason that American voters are skeptical about Obama here in the US. Sarkozy has been at the helm during a deep economic recession, and his mere presence has convinced voters that the economic woes experienced by their country are his responsibility. Even if Sarkozy is a good steward of the French economy as he proclaims, he will not be able to win over the French people without producing definable facts detailing his success. Similarly, President Obama will suffer in the election this November if he is unable to produce a viable record of success that can survive the harsh inspection of the American voter.

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More sad stories of dependency

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April 19, 2012

Obama's expansion of government was supposed to get people back on their feet and back to work. In reality, however, it has caused people to become dependent upon government for money, food, and more.

Presidential contender Newt Gingrich was right when he called President Obama the “food stamp president.” As of last year, food stamp rolls have skyrocketed a whopping seventy percent higher since 2007.

Amid the passage of rapid, poorly devised stimulus spending programs and new entitlements such as Obamacare, America is beginning to look like a government-dependent nation. With over 40 million people on the food stamp rolls and millions more on unemployment benefits, the strain upon our government to protect and provide for everyone is growing to dangerous proportions. Furthermore, the conditioning of the American people to immediately turn to government for assistance is demolishing the work ethic and desire for personal success that propelled America to superpower status back in the 20th century.

The food stamp program is certainly not the worst entitlement program out there, but it serves as an excellent indicator of how government as a whole is influencing the people it governs. Smaller food stamp rolls indicate a government that is cutting spending and encouraging job growth with smart tax policies and deregulation. Large rolls show that the government is doing the exact opposite, increasing spending as well as hitting businesses with tough tax policy and intrusive regulations. Clearly, a 70% increase in food stamp rolls is certainly not a step in the right direction for America’s struggling economy. Below is a graph of the number of people in the food stamp program over the past two decades, and to show the aforementioned trends, I have provided some color-coded annotations! Read the graph carefully.

The beautiful graph itself, annotated by yours truly!

Another sad story of dependency comes out of the payroll tax cut package that President Obama and the Republicans hastily threw together back in February. Unbeknownst to myself and probably to many Republicans, this bill included a provision to give states the option of accepting government money in order to make a certain change to their unemployment programs. This change is the expansion of unemployment benefits to those who have been able to find temporary jobs. So essentially, unemployment is not just for the unemployed anymore, and even though I am all for reforming unemployment benefits, this kind of option encourages and allows people to simply look for temporary jobs constantly in order to continue receiving unemployment benefits from the government. Exploitation of entitlements is a major problem, and this policy simply adds to the already difficult situation regarding fraud and manipulation of the system.

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The real Romney

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April 17, 2012

The mainstream media has attempted to portray Mitt Romney as a heartless tycoon, but the countless stories of Romney's warmth and modesty are beginning to come to the surface.

The Obama campaign, in cooperation with the mainstream media, has attempted to portray Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney in a poor light. According to these groups, Romney’s wealth makes it difficult for him to relate with the average American, and Romney himself is a greedy man who has somehow raided the pockets of every self-respecting citizen of the United States to earn his staggering fortune.

However, a closer look at Mitt Romney reveals a man who focuses a great deal of time and energy upon helping others and keeping himself grounded in spite of his wealth. A new book by Jeff Benedict entitled The Mormon Way of Doing Business features interviews with some of Romney’s acquaintances who benefited in a dramatic fashion from his good will. On one occasion back in 2007, one of Romney’s sons called fellow Mormon Reed Fisher to ask him how he could help him get back on his feet after a fire swept through and nearly destroyed Mr. Fisher’s house. Fisher noted that there was a large burnt stump in his yard that he needed to be cleared. And sure enough, Mitt Romney was one of four volunteers working hard to get the stump off the man’s property. Keep in mind that this event occurred in the midst of an intense primary battle between Mr. Romney and John McCain, and that the many hours that Mr. Romney spent at Mr. Fisher’s house were hours that could have been spent on the campaign trail collecting votes.

Another powerful story about Mr. Romney goes all the way back to 1996. When the daughter of one of Romney’s associates at Bain Capital went missing after a party, Romney immediately shut down Bain’s Boston office and mobilized a massive conglomeration of media and people to search for the girl. After Romney established a command center in New York and launched a massive advertising venture to find the girl, she was found alive and returned to her parents. She had been kidnapped, and without Romney’s help, she might have been seriously hurt or even killed by her captors.

The fact that we have heard nothing about these stories provides an insight into the media’s unwillingness to emphasize Romney’s positive traits and into Romney’s modesty. Mitt could have easily flaunted his good works as evidence of his humanity and his ability to connect with voters, but he has refused to do so thus far because he is very modest about his good will and kindness. As more information begins to emerge about Romney’s kindness and virtue, the mainstream media will be held accountable for their false portrayal of Mitt Romney as a soulless millionaire who cares little for the needs of poor and middle-class Americans.

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The point of the Second Amendment

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April 14, 2012

Banning guns will deprive law-abiding citizens of weapons and will make the black market for firearms far more accessible to criminals. Pictured: A semi-automatic pistol.

On July 4th, 1776, the United States declared its independence and sovereignty from the rule of Great Britain, sparking a revolution that irrevocably changed the history of the world.

Over the past twenty years, liberals have slowly limited the Second Amendment rights of Americans. Here in California, one of the most liberal states of the Union, there are multiple laws banning various types of so-called “assault” weapons. Liberals in California and elsewhere claim that these laws will protect Americans from criminal activity and mass murderers, but often this is not the case. A 2004 California gun law banning the “proliferation and use” of .50 caliber rifles was passed on the premise that .50 caliber rifles presented a terrorist threat to the citizens of California. Ironically, no .50 caliber rifle has ever been used to commit a murder in the entire United States, but in spite of this, the legislature still felt the need to ban these rifles. Why is this?

The broader issue with encroaching gun control legislation is that it ignores the intention of the Second Amendment. With the Revolutionary War, a battle for freedom and self-rule, fresh in the minds of the Founding Fathers, the inclusion of the Second Amendment in the Constitution represented a basic concession on the part of the American government to ensure that it would be held accountable to the people it serves. If a government exceeds its authority and attempts to violently suppress the rights of the people it is sanctioned to protect, reasoned the Founders, the ability of the people to rise up and defend their own rights should be preserved as an essential right to the existence of a free society.

Although I believe the right to rebel against an oppressive government should be protected, I am not approving of the sovereign citizens movement. Refusing to obey the laws that are passed in the country is, quite frankly, an ignorant route to take when there are so many options to pursue democratic solutions. However, as in the thirteen colonies back in the 18th century, when democratic representation disappears and an oppressive government takes away rights essential to liberty, rebellion will be the only remaining option. Allowing Americans to maintain possession of their firearms will protect this right to rebel and will preserve the freedom and liberty that has characterized the United States throughout its existence.

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Justice? Zimmerman arrested, charged with murder

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April 11, 2012

This photo, posted on a liberal blog, clearly exemplifies how the left has rushed to judgment on the Trayvon Martin case. Instead of presuming Zimmerman to be innocent until he can be proven guilty, leftist organizations have destroyed the man's credibility and have successfully convicted him in the court of public opinion.

Innocent until proven guilty. This phrase has defined American law for more than two hundred years. However, it seems that in the Trayvon Martin case, this basic legal doctrine has not held true. Thanks to the vitriol and racism of the left, George Zimmerman has been condemned in the court of public opinion and has no hopes of winning over a jury soaked in liberal presumptions and a vicious distortion of the facts.

In a previous post about the Trayvon Martin case, I called upon the mainstream media to report the Trayvon Martin case without such bias. My concern was that the displays of bias by the mainstream media – the calculated portrayal of George Zimmerman as a racist and of Trayvon Martin as a innocent, unimposing teenage boy – would convict Zimmerman in the court of public opinion before a trial could even begin. Sadly, this has occurred, and Zimmerman’s arrest makes prison time a near certainty for him if he faces a grand jury when he is tried.

I know just as much about the Martin case as you do, and at this point, I am undecided as to whether or not I believe that Zimmerman deserves jail time. However, the vicious spin presented by the mainstream media has essentially revoked his right to a fair trial by jury, as most (if not all) of the members of the jury will have made the decision to condemn Zimmerman based on the misleading, often false information presented by the media. Thus, the decision to condemn Zimmerman will already have been made as the jury files into the courtroom for the first time to hear Mr. Zimmerman’s defense. Clearly, this is a vile defamation of the bedrock principle of American justice: innocent until proven guilty.

The best move for Florida authorities would be to put off Zimmerman’s trial for a considerable length of time, say a year or two. The news cycle will rotate away from the Trayvon Martin case, and the unbridled anger of many Floridians over this case will slowly seep away. Zimmerman needs to have a chance to be heard, and allowing an emotionally-clouded jury to decide his fate would certainly defeat this end.

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Voter ID isn’t discrimination; it’s common sense

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April 9, 2012

“Republicans across the country have engaged in a full-scale attack on the right to vote, seeking ways to restrict or limit voters’ ability to cast their ballots for their own partisan advantage.”

“[Voter ID laws are] designed to rig an election when Republicans can’t win on the merits.”

The preceding quotes are both from Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz regarding the recent Republican push for voter ID laws, which require voters to present a valid photo ID before they can vote in an election. Democrats like Ms. Wasserman-Schultz have argued that such laws will disenfranchise minorities and will unfairly cripple the Democrat’s ability to compete in the electoral process as a result. Other Democrats, like Attorney General Eric Holder, have said that voter ID laws are entirely unnecessary because cheating is not a widespread problem in American elections. However, both Ms. Wasserman-Schultz and beloved Mr. Holder are completely wrong, as the above video shows not only that voter fraud is easy to commit, but that pretty much anyone can be a victim of it.

In the video, a young man walks into a Washington DC polling place on the day of the GOP primary there and asks for a ballot. The man identifies himself as Attorney General Eric Holder and, after providing Holder’s address, is given a ballot to vote. Of course, Washington DC does not have a voter ID law, and thus this man – who looks nothing like Mr. Holder – is able to cast a vote with the US Attorney General’s ballot. Clearly, voter fraud is not only possible but is also extremely easy to do in states that do not have voter ID laws.

Onto Ms. Wasserman-Schultz’s point. She argues that minorities and poor segments of the population, which tend to vote Democrat, will be negatively impacted by voter ID laws due to the expense that they incur and the trouble it takes to get an ID. However, a cursory web search on my part found that Wisconsin, a state that currently has a voter ID law, provides free voter IDs to those over 18 who wish to vote in the election. I have provided a screenshot of that webpage below. If the problem is that minorities and the poor will not be able to cope with the costs of attaining a voter ID, then states should take it upon themselves to provide free voter IDs to every of-age US citizen that requests one.

Voter ID laws will protect the integrity of our nation’s elections, and this integrity will become especially important as November nears. Whoever comes out of November with the victory should win it fair and square, and voter ID laws will ensure that there is not rampant fraud on either side of the aisle.

Free voter IDs simply reduce fraud. They do not disenfranchise minorities or the poor, as there are no prohibitive fees attached to these IDs.

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The Korean spring?

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April 7, 2012

It is somewhat ironic that a nation that calls itself the “Democratic People’s Republic” is willing to deny food to its starving citizens to launch a missile for a murderer.

With the recent death of Kim Jong-Il, the desperate people of North Korea have a shining opportunity to revolt against their oppressive government. Pictured: The poverty and devastation in N. Korea is visible in this nighttime satellite photo of the Korean peninsula.

But sadly, this is exactly what is occurring right now in North Korea. In direct defiance of the United States and the global community, the North Koreans have decided to launch a missile to honor the late Kim Jong-Il. Why such a man deserves to be honored is beyond my imagination, especially if North Korea calls itself a democratic republic. Kim Jong-Il has imprisoned hundreds of thousands, if not millions of his people in labor camps for criticizing his regime and even for their religious beliefs. He was a man who felt no empathy for his people whatsoever and who willingly sacrificed millions of his people to serve his own political ends.

And it seems, sadly, that Kim Jong-Un, Il’s successor, is similarly disinterested in the needs of the North Korean people. Part of the North Korean bargain with the global community regarding weapons testing involves a simple trade: if North Korea does not test weapons or fire missiles, the United States and other developed nations will step in and provide food for the North Korean people. However, since Kim Jong-Un is set to fire a potentially illegal missile in honor of his late father, the global community is unable to provide food for the North Korean people.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for North Korea. Kim Jong-Il’s death has, without a doubt, emboldened many of the North Korean people to at least consider the possibility of rebellion against their totalitarian government. Human beings have a hunger for liberty, and this hunger inevitably overcomes any forces that may be suppressing its manifestation into reality. Yes, the spirit of the North Korean people has been battered, bruised, and nearly shattered by the outrageous cruelty of their government. But a cursory glance at human history reveals that atrocities by government inspire a momentous fury and an insatiable appetite for justice and equality in every single abused citizen. Somehow or another, this hidden desire for justice will manifest itself, and the North Korean people will be free.

However, the freedom of the North Korean people is highly dependent upon the willingness of developed nations both to thwart China’s attempts to aid the totalitarian North Korean regime and to provide the people of North Korea with the means to overthrow their government and regain control over their lives. If Syria is any indication of this willingness, the North Koreans are in trouble. It is important to remember, though, that the South Koreans hold a great deal of influence with the United States. As witnesses to the crimes of the North Korean government, the South Korean people feel sympathetic towards the people of the north and, as beneficiaries of freedom themselves, likely feel an obligation to aid their northern compatriots in attaining their independence. This desire could put a great deal of pressure upon the US to act to aid its S. Korean ally if S. Korea decides to aid a North Korean rebellion.

Freedom for North Korea may come at a cost, but it is surely worth it. Future generations of North Koreans should not be subjected to the horrific cruelty of an oppressive government. They deserve to enjoy the beauty of freedom.

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Obama and the Supreme Court

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April 5, 2012

Because the Supreme Court is obligated to follow the Constitution, striking down Obamacare would be an extremely radical move on the part of the Court.

“Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress. And I’d just remind conservative commentators that for years what we’ve heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint — that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.”

Much of the hubbub in the non-mainstream media over the past week has been about this questionable quotation from our very own President Obama regarding his much beloved (not) health care law. Some conservatives have argued that his comments convey a desire to abandon our country’s checks and balances system, while still others have called it a purely political calculation to attempt to turn Americans against the supposedly evil, unelected Supreme Court. However, I identify myself with neither position, as I believe President Obama’s comments simply reveal his complete and total disconnect with the reality of his much-maligned health care law.

I believe that President Obama firmly holds that his health care law is in fact constitutional. However, even a cursory glance at the law reveals that this is simply not the case. Obamacare forces all Americans to purchase a commodity – in this case, health care – and punishes those who refuse with a hefty fine. Ask yourselves: how could our Founding Fathers, the writers of our nation’s Constitution, support such a bill? Our Founders were forced by the British Empire to purchase British goods and items prior to the Revolutionary War. In fact, one could argue that the reason America even exists is the overly controlling commercial policies of the British. Clearly, President Obama is out of touch with the reality of his own law as an unconstitutional, unprecedented overstep of his authority as the head of the US government.

President Obama is also out of touch with what Americans really think of their lawmakers. President Obama cites the “strong majority” of the “democratically elected” Congress as an indicator of the validity of his law and, henceforth, the constitutionality of it. However, according to RealClearPolitics, most Americans are utterly unsatisfied with their congressional representatives, with only 12% of respondents approving of the job Congress is doing. Putting aside Congress, Obamacare itself has little, if any, approval around the country. Recent national polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that a significant minority of respondents (34%) have a favorable view of President Obama’s health care law. Even so, American approval of Obamacare should have no bearing on the law’s constitutionality, and clearly, the law shatters the personal freedoms that the Constitution protects for Americans each and every day.

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