Obama Disappoints -By The Reluctant Republican
I’m disappointed with President Obama. I know, I know, most of you think I’m just another right wing nut job who never gave him a chance in the first place. In regards to his policies, you’d probably be right. But I’m not talking about policies. I’m talking about the man. I have many friends who voted for Obama. I have many friends who didn’t. One thing that both sets of people had in common, including me, is that they both held out hope that Obama might turn out, at the very least, to be an honorable man. He seemed to be a man who had the best of intentions and who placed a high priority on the dignity and honor of the office. He seemed to be a man who wasn’t going to allow himself or his staff (including his Vice President) to make unnecessary and disparaging remarks about the opposition party, or engage in "partisan politics". He seemed to be a man who was genuinely interested in bringing change and a new tone to Washington. Sadly, that has not turned out to be the case.
President Obama has taken "playing politics", and "talking out of both sides of his mouth" to a new level. He has the audacity to push through a "stimulus" bill that, including interest, will top $1 trillion (that included billions of dollars in pet projects like $4.2 billion for "neighborhood stabilization activities", monies that Acorn qualifies for, I might add, $34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters, the list goes on and on) and then deliver a prime time speech in which he said "we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks" and tout his "fiscal responsibility". Perhaps the stimulus bill lacked items that meet the "official" definition of an "earmark", but it is completely disingenuous to imply that it contained no wasteful spending. Just read the list. He went on to say:
"I have told each of my Cabinet, as well as mayors and governors across the country, that they will be held accountable by me and the American people for every dollar they spend.
I’ve appointed a proven and aggressive inspector general to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud."
Yet days later, he agreed to sign the $410 billion "omnibus spending bill" that by most estimates contained well over 9000 earmarks.
He promised new levels of transparency and pledged not to sign any legislation that the American public didn’t have at least five days to read and comment on; promise broken.
He’s emphatically stated that his budget "lowers taxes on 95 percent of Americans". Meanwhile, his own aides concede that that same budget will increase the cost of living one way or another (either directly through taxes or increased energy costs or other indirect cost increases) for all Americans, regardless of income. What’s more, they concede that that same budget calls for tax increases beginning in 2011.
He’s also been fond of either stating outright or otherwise implying that his progress has been stifled by Republicans. As far as just flout out distortions are concerned, this one burns me the most. The U.S. House of Representatives currently consists of 178 Republicans and 255 Democrats (there are currently 2 vacant seats). The U.S. Senate currently consists of 41 Republicans, 2 Independents, and 56 Democrats (there is currently 1 vacant seat). Let me be as clear as possible about this. President Obama does not require 1 single Republican vote to advance his agenda or any legislation in either the House or the Senate. As a matter of fact, the Republicans couldn’t stop him if they tried. They simply don’t have the votes. It seems to me that, if anything, what has been standing in Obama’s way has been some more level headed Democrats.
I no longer hold out hope that President Obama will bring a new tone and a new era of transparency to Washington, even if I disagree with his policies. It is becoming more and more clear that he is simply honing his skills at telling the American people one thing, all the while doing something completely different. Many of you will probably never believe me when I tell you that I had truly hoped that President Obama would be the type of man who’s character I could admire even if I disagreed vehemently with his policies. Today, in addition to continuing to be a reluctant Republican, I am indeed a disappointed American.
Conservatism Lives!
