11 February 2009

Bi-Partisanship???

Ok, ok...I know I am terrible for not keeping up with my blog and I know you, my loyal readers are dying to hear what tantrum I will throw next, so here it is. I just read a very close friend of mine's blog post about the "Obama-bots" and I felt that I just had to say something. It is my humble opinion that my dear friend, Iron Horse Cowboy, is right to a large extent.

Now I know there are some of my fellow Dems out there who will wonder exactly whose side I'm on so let me say that I am a moderate in every sense of the word. I support gun rights, the death penalty, reproductive rights and gay rights. I do not blame Bush entirely for the economic mess we are currently in although I do believe he played a starring role. I never expected Obama to ride in on a white horse and turn everything around in 100 days or less. There are those of you out there that did expect that and do blame Bush and all I can say to you is give it a rest.

The facts are there; for instance, in 2000 when Clinton was leaving the Presidency, our economy was booming and there was a huge surplus in the Federal Budget. When Bush took office, one of the first things he proposed was a tax break because, in his mind, the government is not supposed to have a surplus...and I agree with this. Mistake #1 for Bush was the proportion of tax rebates across the board. For instance we got a check for $600 back then but when I looked around and asked some questions I discovered that his cronies in Texas (aka uber-rich) received around $6 million...got that? Mistake #2 was the notion that he could make those tax breaks permanent...even AFTER 9/11 and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Looks to me like Obama is going down this same road and I am dismayed...simple economics teaches that one cannot reduce income, increase spending and expect to remain solvent for very long. Mistake #3 for Bush was the entire invasion and subsequent insurgency war in Iraq...now I know the story about how he did it using intelligence he didn't know was faulty...I aint buyin it. The intelligence was there that Saddam Hussein never tried to buy yellow-cake uranium and did not have nuclear (not nucular, Mr. Bush) weapons. As for chemical weapons, the only thing found was 20 year old missile heads that had remnants of nerve gas. Mistake #4 for Bush was deregulating Wall Street and the banks further than Reagan did in the 80's. Unmitigated greed on Wall Street where profits took precedence over corporate solvency contributed greatly to this mess.

On to Obama, mistake #1 was nominating Tom Daschle to be Health and Human Services Secretary (not reporting income or paying taxes!), mistake #2 was nominating Eric Holder for Attorney General (remember those dubious pardons in 1999?) mistake #3 was nominating Leon Panetta for Director of the CIA (absolutely no experience in the intelligence community...maybe he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express?), mistake #4 was nominating Tim Geithner to be Treasury Secretary ($30,000 in taxes not paid!) At least Daschle did the right thing and withdrew from nomination...are you listening Tim, Eric, Leon??? Big mistakes made in the first days and weeks of a Presidency that was supposed to be committed to change. The stimulus package Obama is proposing is a necessary evil but the plan passed the House without a single Republican vote...this is bi-partisanship? Republican Senators crowing they will never support the plan unless they get what they want..and STILL calling the plan pork? Ya, bi-partisanship is a fantasy...get over it, you aint in Camelot, just get the damn job done.

1 comment:

  1. I agree, everyone in the big stinkhole between Maryland and Virginia that's known as Washington, DC needs to stop bitching about "I inherited this!" and "You did this, so you need to support this bill!" and "You need to be more bi-partisan!" just need to STFU and get the damned job done before the nation goes bankrupt!

    As for Obama's gaffs in picking his staff...WTF was he thinking? Did his people NOT do some kind of vetting procedures on them? If they did and he nominated them anyway, his lack of experience is showing.

    So far, I don't see any "change" in DC or the way things are being run.

    This is only the top of the 1st inning; the game still has a long way to go.

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