Obama and the Facts of the Matter

Barack Hussein Obama campaigned and was elected President of the United States of America on the theme of “change”. He was going to be different from the presidents of our memories in recent decades. He was going to be someone that would unite the country in a post-partisan, post-racial, healing of our nation. He was going to heal the economy and then the earth itself. Consequently, he arrogantly gave himself “a good solid B+” grade for his herculean efforts after his first year in office, but does reality match what President Obama claimed he would do, or more importantly what he claims to have accomplished? Let’s take a closer look at his statements and the actual facts.

POST-PARTISANSHIP
President Obama campaigned as the man that could unite the country’s deep partisan divide that was inflamed under the Bush presidency, and indeed millions of Americans of all political persuasions seemed willing to have that audacity of hope and voted for him accordingly. They supported him despite some very unsettling evidence during the campaign that Obama was every bit the partisan politician, as can be seen in this one quotation he made:

“I think that the Democratic Party and progressives generally have gotten confused in getting trapped in this debate about are you liberal or are you centrist? I'm not interested in being a centrist or rushing to the middle, in the sense of just splitting the difference with a radically ideological Bush administration. And that’s how I think we got into trouble in many instances, was we just kept on splitting the difference until you find out you don't stand for anything, you just keep on compromising.” – Barack Obama

“It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. “ - Barack Obama

Since his election, it became commonplace for anyone that disagreed with President Obama’s policies, especially if they were a conservative, to be branded as a racist in the hope of squelching partisan debate. The result has been to further widen the partisan gulf to a degree that far surpasses what was present during even the previous administration.


POST-RACISM
Again, Obama was going to unite the races, and point of fact his very election to office showed that a majority of Americans enthusiastically embraced a President of color to lead America. This too, despite so unsettling statement made by Obama prior to his election and indeed afterwards.

“The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, you know, there's a reaction that's been bred in our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that's just the nature of race in our society." – Barack Obama regarding his white grandmother

"That’s just how white folks will do you." – Barack Obama

The Cambridge police acted stupidly." — Barack Obama commenting on a white police officer's arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., at a news conference, July 22, 2009, before he had all of the facts of the case. It would seem that Obama acted reflexively with his response, even though the officer involved acted appropriately and was by all accounts an excellent law man that had even taught other officers diversity classes.


TAXES
“You will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime.” -Barack Obama

“I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” – Barack Obama

“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. “ – Barack Obama

The truth is that Obama’s policies are set to explode the tax burden on the American people. First, it appears that Obama has no intention of re-signing the Bush tax cuts which are set to expire. This alone will increase the tax burden on nearly all Americans by way more than a “single dime”. Second, the passage of the un-constitutional health care act with its onerous mandate that ALL Americans must purchase health insurance whether they wish it or not is the exact same as a government-mandated tax hike. (Not to mention the increase in health care costs that this “law” creates which will be passed on to the consumers as a “tax” for them doing business.

The myriads of spending programs that have thus far been passed and funded with borrowed money will eventually have to be paid for by the American tax payer. This will create an astronomical financial tax burden that will further kill jobs and put an onerous cost on the average tax payer. Finally, if cap and trade legislation is ever passed, as per Obama’s wishes, this will unarguably cause the cost of gasoline, heating fuel, electricity and myriads of consumer goods to rise significantly in price.  Even the Obama administration has admitted this fact.


TRANSPARENCY
"Going forward, anytime the American people want to know something that I or a former president wants to withhold, we will have to consult with the Attorney General and the White House counsel, whose business it is to ensure compliance with the rule of law. Information will not be withheld just because I say so; it will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well-grounded in the Constitution. Let me say it as simply as I can: transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency,” – Barack Obama

The reality is that this presidency has been the least transparent of perhaps all administrations. Obama promised that healthcare would consist of an open debate televised on C-Span and that the bill would be posted on the internet for Americans to peruse prior to its passage. Neither was done. And now, with the passage of the egregious financial reform bill, it would appear one of the components of the law is that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is no longer bound by the Freedom of Information Act.

In other words, any public request to the SEC on its oversight of companies, etc no longer have to be answered. Further, if the SEC deems your business as potentially being harmful to the nation through financial weakness or whatever justification they see fit to make, they can seize your companies records and documents and you would NOT have the right to even make the fact of this seizure public knowledge. Transparency indeed!


LOBBYISTS
“I don't take a dime of their [lobbyist] money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House.” –Barack Obama

And yet, Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was the most frequent “outside” visitor to the White House in the first six months of the Obama administration and was instrumental in forming health care legislation as per Bloomberg Business Week. While technically, Mr. Stern was not employed by the White House, his unprecedented access and “assistance” in the drafting of the most expensive and government expansive piece of legislation in generations sure goes against that spirit of Obama’s promise.


HEALING THE PLANET
"I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." – Barack Obama

Aside from the outright arrogance of the statement, Obama has shown more of an interest in the environment as a vehicle to raise government revenue (cap & trade legislation) and expand its power (i.e. the EPA mandating that CO2 is a pollutant and they thus have the authority to regulate its emission). Further, when the horrific BP oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, it became readily apparent that President Obama was more concerned with his union supporters as he refused to waive the Jones Act by executive order so that foreign ships could assist with the containment and clean up of the oil spill. Far better to have the damage to the environment than to upset American union sailors by allowing foreign sailors to help quell the problem.


GUANTANAMO BAY
“So the record is clear: rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That is why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign. And that is why I ordered it closed within one year.” – Barack Obama

A year later, Gitmo is still open and operational with no date for its ultimate closing released.


AMERICA AS A SUPERPOWER
“As a nuclear power - as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon - the United States has a moral responsibility to act.” – Barack Obama

His anti-American implied rhetoric notwithstanding, Obama has failed to apply any meaningful actions against the rogue terrorist nation of Iran as they continue to get ever closer to fruition in their developing a nuclear weapon.  Further there was virtually no response by the Obama administration when earlier this year, a North Korean sub sank a South Korean Vessel.  So much for standing up and protecting our allies!


CAPITALISM/FREE MARKET
“Contrary to the claims of some of my critics and some of the editorial pages, I am an ardent believer in the free market.” – Barack Obama

“I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.” – Barack Obama

“This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. “ – Barack Obama

"Businesses will hire if they can get loans to cover payroll" – Barack Obama (Note to president; If you have to get a loan to meet payroll, your business is not long for the world. Further, if you find a bank that will give you a loan simply to meet payroll, then you can pretty much count on it needing a tax payer bail out very soon too.)

Seems like the first quotation flies in the face of the succeeding ones….


GOVERNMENT AND THE ECONOMY
“It's time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent. “ – Barack Obama

“What is more important is to find means by which we can redistribute our economic gains to the benefit of all. That is the government’s obligation.” – Barack Obama

It would seem that the responsibility of government for every dollar spent was immediately rejected upon Obama’s taking office. The role of government then became not transparency and responsible spending of the tax payers money but the “obligation” of redistribution.


SECURITY
“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” – Barack Obama

This comment scares the heck out of me! What/who is the threat in President Obama’s mind that would make the need for this massive domestic security force necessary? Further, can you imagine the left's outcry had President Bush even hinted at such a thing, and rightfully so I might add!


EARMARKS
“We need earmark reform, and when I'm President, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” – Barack Obama

Uh…yeah…in the words of my youngest daughter, this was an “Epic Fail!”  Just scroll through the "stimulus package" to see the unwise money being spent of ridiculous earmarks.



So all in all, it would seem that despite the hints available at the time, we Americans ignored our own common sense and voted in a man that was an inexperienced socialist that had no idea how to run a fortune 500 company, let alone the world’s lone superpower. He has shown disdain for the country he purports to lead and has said what has been politically expedient while seldom backing it up. His radical policies and philosophies have exacerbated this recession and weakened our nation in the face of our enemies. I sincerely hope that the good people of America will soon rectify this starting this November and then fully so in November of 2012.

Barack Obama himself said when he was a newly-elected senator that he was not experienced enough to run for and be elected President of the United States. That was one time where he was indeed correct. Too bad that he didn’t follow his own common sense and allowed his sizable ego to prevail in that case. The nation would have been far better off today, had he done so.