Put Your Money Where Your Politics Are

My comment from my Colleague's article from Behind the Flag: Political Traffic

I definitely agree with you. The tax dollars are definitely being spent frivolously on things that are more about face time that addressing the real issues. While I do agree that it was good for President Obama to make a speech that would resonate well with his audience (UT students); I doubt how much of it was "political fluff" and how much was actually a sound promise. I mean, how many candidates promise to lower taxes and revive the economy?! Almost all... and when it comes time to make good on their word they are met with anxiousness because such tasks are hard to make good on, and if they can... it takes a lot of time to fix large national problems.

I think that it is time for President Obama to stop talking pretty words about education, making scholarship promises and put our tax money toward actually accomplishing those goals rather then spending thousands and thousands on visiting and telling us what he's going to do. The traffic is definitely annoying from all the precautions taken for his safety but I am much more annoyed by all the things not being done. The US has problems specifically between the Congress and the President. So instead of taking a pricey trip to Texas, I would suggest to President Obama to walk out him front door to Congress and mend some seriously broken bridges and get something accomplished to fulfill his promises.

A Brief Victory... But Quite a Fight Ahead!

In San Francisco, Wednesday morning after the California's voters had voted with 52% in favor of "Proposition 8" (deciding that marriage was to be defined between a man and woman only) one man's word changed the outcome completely. Around 7 million California residents had voted for this ban of gay marriage, however Federal Judge Vaughn Walker changed the outcome with one motion of his own.

He overturned the decision on the grounds that the Proposition, is based only on moral and opinion, not on what is lawfully right. Walker states in his lengthy 136-page opinion explaining the ruling that: "Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license... Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples."

Many Gay and Lesbian supporters are thrilled, others who voted for Proposition 8 are angry, but the biggest issue is that a boundary has been crossed. The people voted for what they wanted; and Judge Walker has basically thrown it back at them saying that he knows better. Whether or not he is right or not, he may have won quite a bit of popularity from those supporting gay marriage, but he will face the bitter majority who he over-ruled.

While many gay and lesbian marriage supporters are parading, celebrating and crying "Victory!" right now, there is still more to this ruling, it is already being fought and being sent to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and then potentially the Supreme Court. The case is sure to be one for the history books, whether or not they win favor, there are 45 other states banning gay marriage, and this kind of a landmark may be the spark that sets off change in the rights of gays regarding marriage.

Whatever the decision, people like Walker need to be careful not to overstep their bounds, trying to protect from the dangers of the majority is very subjective. In his mind he may feel that he has done the right thing, and many gay and lesbians supporters show him thanks. But the fact is the people spoke, and he replied with an "I know better" reaction.

Ignoring the rest of the picture

My comment from my Colleague's article from Filibuster of the Summer: Bridge to Nowhere...

I agree with your points about the bridge to nowhere, and other similar public projects that use up large amounts of money without much use, or without even their completion. The government should probably more carefully decide on which public transportation projects are truly needed, and which will be used.

I agree that wars we have engaged in have been costly in money and resources however unlike the "bridges to nowhere" I don't consider them to be a waste or fiscally irresponsible. We do often jump at the chance to aid other nations, but I can confidently say that our involvement has prevented situations from further worsening overseas, and has helped others find the road that would help them find liberty as well.

I feel that you have completely overlooked one of the largest contributors to our national debt; entitlement programs. In fiscal year 2009 alone, around 1.4 trillion was spent on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security alone. Which makes the transportation, foreign/domestic military defense and all other things associated with defense budget look like spare change in comparison. Not to mention the new Obama-care will be taking a nice cut out of the budget as it is implemented over the next few years.

Overall I do agree that the government's debt has gotten way out of hand, that smarter spending over a long period of time is the solution. In the meantime we do need to stop spending money that isn't there, and stop building up the debt if we are going to deplete this growing amount. There is no "quick fix" to eliminate such an out of hand problem.

Hey Congress! Getting nervous yet?

With only months left until the elections of the 37 senate seats this November, the pressure is now on, and the count down has begun for those in Senate Class 3. Previously the majority in the Senate has been the Democrats with a 59 (including 2 independents)-41 lead on the GOP. However, in general history, the party of the president, typically loses seats in the midterm Senate election. This is because his "honeymoon period" with the country has worn off.

That being said, a slight decrease of Democratic seats was expected; however the Democratic Party is facing quite a battle with the GOP this election, more than they probably expected. In the past two years a lot of people have made fun, and joked about the "Tea-Party Movement" calling its followers radicals, and not expecting them to gain much ground. But ironically enough, even Senate House Majority Leader: Harry Reid only has a slight lead on his GOP opponent who indeed supports the anti-tax group. It probably doesn't help his case much either that his home state of Nevada has the highest jobless rate in America, when he was such a large component in the Stimulus Bill.

The Tea-Party movement can be called a lot of things, as it has. But it no longer can be called ineffective, it's grabbing the attention of the voters, and it has become a valid threat to the Democrat's votes this year. The key here is that it's an even playing ground, the voters are frustrated and are looking for whoever shows the most promise to help them in a tough time. Both the GOP and Democrats would do well to stop "mudslinging" and to focus on positive campaigning that will help soothe a discontented public.

Obama's Grip on the Youth Slipping?

In Michelle Malkin's commentary: Young Voters Slowly Abandoming Hope & Change; she addresses the decline of support from young voters (specifically ranging from ages 18-34) for Obama's campaign. She proclaims that those who in November of 2008 were screaming "Yes We Can" and other similar Obama slogans are now a little less fanatical about the matter. She suggests that a large contributer to the loss of support from this group is the fact that this age group is now realizing that all this "free" healthcare, bills, and support laws are all coming out of their pockets.

Her insert from Molly Andolina also attempts to unveil the condescending nature of her statement, Molly refers to the young voting group as easily disillusioned However Malkin states that this is simply the politically correct way of calling us young voters "suckers".

While she does make this claim she warns that the decline in "Obama-ites" does not mean that a sudden surge of GOP support will result. Rather she challenges that if the GOP wants to pick up this slack of Obama's they should present a worthy opponent to face him off in this coming election. The intended audience seems to be Americans in general, however her statement about the GOP opponent does offer a challenge to the conservatives.

To back up her claims that Obama is indeed at a loss of support, she has a link to one of The President's own videos. In this video (included below) President Obama attempts to justify why change is taking so long; and while he does have a point that big changes take time, there does seems to be a hint of reassurance, and desperation in the message. Mid-video a MSNBC reporter interrupts with a list of all the "wonderful change" that HAS occurred this year and cleverly points out that "The last time any president did this much in office; booze was illegal."

Mrs. Malkin may be a conservative blogger, but she does offer good advice to both parties; To the GOP: time to step up and find a challenger that will really stand out to this age group, and to the Democrats: Give them some changes that they can see.

Giving Too Much Credit Where it is Not Due?

In a recent commentary: The Wall Street Journal: Obama's Economic Fish Stories , by Mr Michael Boskin: (Professor of Economics at Stanford, and held a position in the Council of Economic Advisers under George H. W. Bush) he criticizes not just President Obama's Stimulus and it's effects, but is rather more upset that the President has exaggerated and over-credited his policies.

Obviously seeing that Mr. Boskin served under President Bush he would favor more of his policies as opposed to President Obama's however his commentary focuses only half on the failure of the Stimulus Bill and the other half on how the President's public statements are not matching up to the real facts. Some of these facts that contradict his statements are made by his own economic advisors. Mr Boskin argues two things: the first being that President Obama needs to be a little more careful about making statements claiming the all-around success of his Bill and boasting it far beyond it's abilities. Suggesting that if he does not he will take his place among some of the infamous lines that Presidents have said regarding economics that have severely discredited them such as Carter and Nixon.

Secondly towards the end of his argument he suggests that the president ought to further Bush's tax cuts if he issues a second Stimulus Bill and that he should alter where is his spending is aimed. Mr, Boskin does not limit his evidence to his own judgement but rather cites President Obama's own words and compares them to his economic advisor, and other advisors to find the faults within them.

While this is a commentary and is aimed at readers to better inform them and sway them in his direction of politics, he makes suggestions about what President Obama should do in hopes that the people will be convinced of his argument and demand it from him too. Rather than simply criticizing the President he has offered an alternative as to how to help save his credibility and turn the economy around even more successfully.

The National Government's Continuous Over-reach

In FOX New's story: "As Finance Bill Passes, GOP Calls for Repeal" on July 16th, the GOP had already begun to see the repeal of the bill even before the voting had concluded. The 60-39 vote broke the filibuster allowing the passage of the new Bank Bill to crack down on the industries rather than ease regulations. The Democrats and President Obama most certainly will call this a victory but one can't help but worry that the government is really overstepping their bounds. Republican senators have referred to the bill as a "legislative monster" and many refer to it's impact as massive... most certainly not in a good way. The problem reaches far beyond just the liberal vs. conservative differences. The government in general has overstepped what it was originally designed to do, and now that it has created more problems it's been forced to draft more legislation to try and fix the mess that keeps getting worse.

Fox News: Senate Clears Sweeping Bank Bill for Final Passage