Lest we forget

 A lot of this is old, but I like to keep it to remind and keep track of what has happened over time.

The prospect of the government shutting down is supposed to sound scary, but these days it actually seems like it'd be a nice reprieve. Obama is heading out of town as the budget deadline looms (of course) but demanded grown up discussions take place - that's chuckle worthy coming from the guy who spends like a teenage girl with Daddy's credit card.

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I am proposing that which conservatives have been proposing for a very long time. Close the tax-avoidance loop-holes for the rich.

There are too many investment accounts that allow for tax avoidance. Sinking thousands of dollars per year into an annuity-based life insurance policy is a great way to stash more than a million dollars over a working lifetime, in return for a multi-million dollar benefit for the family to live on tax free.

A person can invest $3,000 per year into an IRA, which is piffle to a rich person. That same rich person can setup an increasing benefit money market account to establish retirement with $200 per month just out of high school and continually increase the amount, paying $5,000 per month into the account if s/he is rich enough at 35 resulting in an account of approximately 1.94 million dollars at retirement, before interest. This person can live the high life for several years and still have the majority paid back in a death benefit, with full interest, tax free. It's pre-tax going in, and tax free coming out.

The way to start balancing the budget is:
1. Presidential and Governatorial line-item veto,
2. Make it illegal for lobbyists to be paid out of taxpayer's money,
3. Shut off all bailouts. All companies work or fail on their own merits,
4. Shut down Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Allow banks to buy the loans for percentage on the dollar to lower the mortgage crisis,
5. Lower taxes. Create incentives for private spending,
6. Increase incentives for small businesses. Low interest loans, tax benefits, etc.
7. Eliminate quota hiring,
8. Shut down all labor unions. All jobs should be by contract or at will, not through third party. Maybe some of our companies would come back from overseas,
9. Get government out of private business,
10. Get government out of private lives,
11. Either eliminate or completely restructure public schools. Transfer public school authority back to the states,
12. Strip and rewrite the tax code. Better yee, pass the flat-tax,
13. Stop stripping the military. Allow it to be the honor it should be to serve in the military,
14. Unseat all life-term judges. Make judges take proficiency exams in order to keep their jobs, monitor their performance, and disbar any who legislate from the bench,
15. Re-establish the teaching of civil ethics and the process of the Republic into the schools,
16. Stop closing business just to buy from overseas companies,
Etc.

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"Obama was not only a passionate Marxist, but a Marxist-Leninist, devoted to the revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist system in America." - Dr. John C. Drew.

During his stint as a University of Chicago adjunct professor, Obama “was basically promoting the socialist revolution, saying that our Constitution promotes negative liberties but not the positive liberties of a society that advocates wealth distribution.” - Dr. John C. Drew.

“America was definitely the enemy, and American elites were the enemy, and whatever America was doing was definitely wrong and bad. He thought that perhaps the Soviet Union was misunderstood, and it was doing a better job for its people than most people realized.” - Obama

Quotes from Obama's Autobiography, “Dreams From My Father” (paperback, ISBN 978-1-4000-8277-3)

[Black]Nationalism provided that history, an unambiguous morality tale that was easily communicated and easily grasped. A steady attack on the white race, the constant recitation of black people’s brutal experience in this country, served as the ballast that could prevent the ideas of personal and communal responsibility from tipping into an ocean of despair. Yes, the nationalist would say, whites are responsible for your sorry state, not any inherent flaws in you. In fact, whites are so heartless and devious that we can no longer expect anything from them. The self-loathing you feel, what keeps you drinking or thieving, is planted by them. Rid them from your mind and find your true power liberated. Rise up, ye mighty race! - page 1

“There are white folks, and then there are ignorant m***rf****rs like you,” I had finally told the coach before walking off the court that day -Ray assured me that we would never talk about whites as whites in front of whites without knowing exactly what we were doing. Without knowing that there might be a price to pay. page 62

That’s just how white folks will do you. It wasn’t merely the cruelty involved; I was learning that black people could be mean and then some. It was a particular brand of arrogance, an obtuseness in otherwise sane people that brought forth our bitter laughter. It was as if whites didn’t know they were being cruel in the first place. Or at least thought you deserving of their scorn. page 62

Our rage at the white world needed no object, he seemed to be telling me, no independent confirmation; it could be switched on and off at our pleasure. page 62

I would occasionally pick up the paper [Louis Farrakhan's "The Final Call"] from these unfailingly polite men, in part out of sympathy to their heavy suits in the summer, their thin coats in winter; or sometimes because my attention was caught by the sensational, tabloid-style headlines (CAUCASIAN WOMAN ADMITS: WHITES ARE THE DEVIL). Inside the front cover, one found reprints of the minister’s [Farrakhan's] speeches, as well as stories that could have been picked straight off the AP news wire were it not for certain editorial embelleshments (”Jewish Senator Metzenbaum announced today…”). page 62

The minority assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around. Only white culture could be neutral and objective. Only white culture could be nonracial, willing to adopt the occasional exotic into its ranks. Only white culture had individuals.  And we, the half-breeds and the college-degreed, take a survey of the situation and think to ourselves, Why should we get lumped in with the losers if we don’t have to?
…but because we’re wearing a Brooks Brothers suit and speak impeccable English and yet have somehow been mistaken for an ordinary ni**er. page 75

The emotions between the races could never be pure; even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart. page 92

That was the problem with people like Joyce. They talked about the richness of their multicultural heritage and it sounced real good, until you noticed that they avoided black people. …The truth was that I understood [Joyce], her and all the other black kids who felt the way she did. In their mannerisms, their speech, their mixed-up hearts, I kept recognizing pieces of myself. And that’s exactly what scared me. Their confusion made me question my own racial credentials all over again. To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets. page 99-100

But this strategy alone couldn’t provide the distance I wanted, from Joyce or my past. After all, there were thousands of so-called campus radicals, most of them white and tenured and happily tolerated. No, it remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names. page 101

Ever since the first time I’d picked up Malcolm X’s autobiography, I had tried to untangle the twin strands of black nationalism, arguing that nationalism’s affirming message-of solidarity and self-reliance, discipline and communal responsibility-need not depend on hatred of whites any more than it depended on white munificence. We could tell this country where it was wrong, I would tell myself and any black friends who would listen, without ceasing to believe in its capacity for change. page 141

I saw that the black men I knew-Frank  or Ray or Will or Rafiq-fell short of such lofty standards; if I had learned to respect these men for the struggles they went through, recognizing them as my own-my father’s voice had nevertheless remained untainted, inspiring, rebuking, granting or withholding approval. You do not work hard enough, Barry. You must help in your people’s struggle. Wake up, black man! page 157 {He was 1 year old when his father left. How could he know this? He was raised by his grandparents.}

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and for many blacks, times are chronically desperate. If nationalism could create a strong and effective insularity, deliver on its promise of self-respect, then the hurt it might cause well-meaning whites, or the inner turmoil it caused people like me, would be of little consequence.If [black] nationalism could deliver. As it turned out, questions of effectiveness, and not sentiment, caused most of my quarrels with Rafiq. page 199-200

I ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of twelve or thirteen, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites. page 201

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I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students, the foreign students, the Chicanos, the Marxist professors and structural feminists, and punk rock performance pullets. -Obama "Dreams of My Father."

Obama's calls for violence.
Obama: “They Bring a Knife…We Bring a Gun"
Obama to His Followers: “Get in Their Faces!"
Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!"
Obama to His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard"
Obama on the private sector: “We talk to these folks… so I know whose a22 to kick.“
Obama to voters: Republican victory would mean “hand to hand combat"
Obama to lib supporters: “It’s time to Fight for it."
Obama to Latino supporters: “Punish your enemies."
Obama to democrats: “I’m itching for a fight."

The Warren Court interpreted it in the same way that 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.

Yes, it does. The Constitution says that the federal government must Establish Justice, Insure domestic Tranquility, Provide for the common defence, Promote the general Welfare, and Secure the Blessings of Liberty.

It is a charter of negative liberties, from the government's point of view. That's the way it's supposed to be. The Constitution is a charter that limits government as much as possible. It specifies that only the mentioned powers are available to the government, but anything not restricted are available to the people.

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Obama's issues
Status
Barack Obama will provide a tax cut for working families.
Failed. Taxes have gone up.
Obama and Biden will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 95 percent of working Americans the tax relief they need. They will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family.
Failed
Provide tax relief for small businesses and startups.
Failed. Not only did he not provide tax relief, he made it very hard to even get small business loans.
Obama and Biden will eliminate all capital gains taxes on startup and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation.
Failed. Capital gains taxes have been reratified, unemployment has hit 13.7% just in new filings.
Fight for fair trade
Failed. He has used the unions as tools to leverage the increase of the GAT and NAFTA alliances.
Obama and Biden will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. They will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world.
Failed. The only trade policy he has made in foreign markets is to transfer American industry overseas.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

Obama promised to hold the $700B Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac "Bailout" and would not contribute to the bailout or demise of American business. (GM, Chrysler, Investment Banking, Banks...)
Lie. Stimulus and bailouts have cost America well in excess of $13Trillion.

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Obama's belief in Christian belief.

1. His own beliefs came from his Muslim Grandfather, Judaism, and Methodism. (His grandmother was Methodist. His grandfather was Baptist. They later joined the Universalist Church.) Under his mother's influence, they were "Easter Christians." "I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived."

2. Presently, in his political positioning, he is an Emerging Church fan who still is an "Easter Christian." He still believes that all paths lead to God, and that collective salvation trumps individual salvation. I am a follower, as well, of our civic religion. I am a big believer in the separation of church and state. In my own public policy, I'm very suspicious of religious certainty expressing itself in politics. (Mirrors quotes by Lenin.)

3. "[His mother] remarried an Indonesian who wasn't particularly, he wasn't a practicing Muslim. I went to a Catholic school in a Muslim country. So I was studying the Bible and catechisms by day, and at night you'd hear the prayer call." He went to Catholic school, but in Indonesia, every student must be Muslim in order to register for school. He once said that the evening prayer call was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

4. "So that, one of the churches I met, or one of the churches that I became involved in was Trinity United Church of Christ. And the pastor there, Jeremiah Wright, became a good friend. So I joined that church and committed myself to Christ in that church." During the campaign he was criticized for being active in that church. His answer was that he didn't adhere to that church. But he stated that he answered an altar call, became a member, dedicated himself all to that one church, which he has said has shaped his faith, calling Jeremiah Wright "a good friend." But he said he's not that connected to that church. I still go. Every week. 11 oclock service.
Ever been there? Good service. My pastor [Jeremiah Wright] is certainly someone who I have an enormous amount of respect for.

5. Prayer: I think throughout the day, I'm constantly asking myself questions about what I'm doing, why am I doing it.

6. He does not believe in sin, Heaven, or Hell.

Religion at it's best comes with a big dose of doubt.
There are many paths to the same place.
I actually wrote a book called Dreams from My Father, it's kind of a meditation on race. There's a whole chapter on the church in that, and my first visits to Trinity. What were his father's dreams?
Jesus is an historical figure, and he's also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher. And he's also a wonderful teacher. I think it's important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history. (This is also the Muslim view.)
I think there is an enormous danger on the part of public figures to rationalize or justify their actions by claiming God's mandate. - But he's a great believer in Manifest Destiny.

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Dear Mr. President,

When you campaigned for president, you promised change.
You have appointed administrators, whose powers subvert congress.
You also promised improvement. You also promised to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution.
Redistribution of wealth is not in the Constitution. In fact, it is contrary to the Constitution.
You have been talking about immigrant reform for 18 months, but you refuse to do anything about it, including supporting the enforcement of standing law.
You have appointed 2 Supreme Court Justices who share your anti-constitutional beliefs.
Where is your racial neutrality? You have none.
Before anyone ever mentioned race, you accused your critics of being racists. You used the race card, no one else.
You have appointed the majority of your cabinet, and federal appointees, based upon race.
You appointed an Attorney General who fired a prosecutor when that prosecutor won a case against the New Black Panthers.
By your own admission you learned your political, and social values from Black Militants, Marxists, and Communist Revolutionaries.
You seem to share the opinion of Richard Nixon, in that, "If the president does something, it's not against the law." This is not the change you were entrusted with, nor is it an improvement, nor is it allowed in the Constitution.

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In his weekly radio/video address, recorded before leaving town, President Obama slammed his opponents Saturday for spreading what he called “willful misrepresentations and outright distortions” over his plans for comprehensive reform of the healthcare system.

Rep. Tom Price (R) of Georgia, in the GOP reply, slammed what he called “the Democrats’ government-run health plan.” His line of argument was buttressed on the ground around the country on Saturday, as the antitax “tea party” movement held anti-“Obamacare” rallies.

Obama devoted his radio remarks to “debunking some of the most outrageous myths” circulating about what the Democratic reforms would do:

• That illegal immigrants will get health insurance under reform. “That idea has never even been on the table,” Obama said. It's in the bill. PG 50 Section 152

• That reform will produce a government takeover of healthcare. He attributed this accusation to confusion over the so-called “public option,” a proposal for a government-run health insurance plan that would compete with private plans. “It would just be an option; those who prefer their private insurer would be under no obligation to shift to a public plan,” Obama said. Nonparticipation results in civil fines. Pg 167 Lines 18-23

• That coverage for abortion would be mandated under reform. That is false, although Obama did not venture into the territory of whether women receive federally subsidized insurance could sign onto a health plan that covers abortion.

• That “death panels” will be formed to decide who receives treatment. Obama called this “an offensive notion to me and the American people.” Yet they are in the bill. PG 425 Lines 4-12; PG 429 Lines 10-12; PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3; PG 427 Lines 15-24; Pg 429 Lines 1-9; PG 429 Lines 10-12; Pg 429 Lines 13-25; PG 430 Lines 11-15

Obama also talked about what reform would do, such as provide affordable insurance to those who don’t have it, ban “unfair practices” by insurers, such as denying coverage for preexisting conditions, and place more emphasis on routine and preventive care.

Representative Price, who was a practicing physician before entering Congress, disputed the notion that Republicans are fighting to preserve the status quo.

He called the nation’s current healthcare system “clearly unacceptable.” The challenge, he said, “is providing Americans more accessible and affordable care without impairing the quality, innovation, and choices that define American medicine.”

“And this is simply impossible with the one-size-fits-all approach taken by the president and Democrats in charge of Congress,” he said.

Price added that Republicans “have plans to increase coverage and lower costs without putting a bureaucrat between you and your doctor,” but he did not provide details. Instead, he focused on aspects of Obama’s message on health reform that he says aren’t true.

“On the stump, the President regularly tells Americans that ‘if you like your plan, you can keep your plan.’ But if you read the bill, that just isn’t so,” Price said. “For starters, within five years, every healthcare plan will have to meet a new federal definition for coverage — one that your current plan might not match, even if you like it.”

Price continued: “What’s more, experts agree that under the House bill, millions of Americans will be forced off their personal, private coverage and shuffled onto the government plan.”

It is becoming increasingly apparent that President Obama’s drive for a bipartisan healthcare bill is, in fact, as much about his own party as it is Republicans.

With a wide majority in the House and a filibuster-proof 60 seats in the Senate, congressional Democrats should be able to do whatever they want. On Sunday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York said they would do just that to ensure a government-run public healthcare option is a part of any final bill.

“Even if every Republican says that they will not be for a public option,… we will get 60 Democratic votes for it,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Yet on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, that calculus was challenged.

“It is very clear that in the United States Senate the public option does not have the votes,” said Kent Conrad (D) of North Dakota. “If we have to get to 60 votes we cannot get there with the public option.”

Mr. Obama has sought to cast the opponents of reform as political opportunists seeking to make healthcare reform his “Waterloo.” Yet the far greater problem remains conservatives within his own party. If he cannot sway them to vote for healthcare reform, he has virtually no chance of winning any Republican votes.

The president’s insistence on a bipartisan bill, then, is more than just a promise to play nice with the folks on the other side of the aisle. It is an attempt to woo doubting, conservative Democrats with a more palatable bill.

The alternative is reconciliation, a Senate procedure designed to circumvent filibusters on contentious bills that could reduce the deficit – allowing them to pass with a simple majority. Despite Obama’s projections, Republicans – and some Democrats – would be skeptical of any effort to cast healthcare reform with a public option as an effort to reduce the deficit.

Moreover, if Democrats were to use reconciliation, the healthcare bill would need to be broken into smaller parts, each of which would have to have some deficit-cutting aspect to it – an immensely complicated prospect, and one that would have to pass the Senate’s stringent rules. On top of this, any bill passed by reconciliation would have to be reauthorized after five years.

It is hardly ideal means to pass legislation – and intentionally so. But both parties have threatened to use reconciliation to overcome gridlock on controversial bills in the past, and Senator Schumer kept the door open Sunday.

“We are considering alternatives [to a bipartisan bill]…. They include looking at reconciliation.”

According to Senator Conrad’s math, however, Democrats would be using reconciliation to overcome Democratic as well as Republican opposition to a public option – not something Obama would be eager to do, no matter how great his desire for a public option.