Thursday, January 21, 2010

Obama's Report Card

After the first year of his Presidency it is definitely true that the populace has begun to turn against him. And I for one disagree with almost all of his policies. However this is not how we should rate a President. The President of the United States should be judged on his effectiveness, his ability to make his policies popular. In that regard I give Obama a C. I think that he is an average President, he has not, while in office, rallied the public behind health care, he was able to get the stimulus package through, which many Americans liked when he supported it and many are now running from it. We have had some economic recovery, but as a recent AP story reported the difference between districts and areas receiving government aid and those that did not was statistically in significant. And when you look at it Obama has not done much as President thus far. But overall he has been ineffective in conveying why is policies are the way to go.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Walk the walk

The political atmosphere is changing again. With a horrible first year in the Obama administration it is easy to say that trends simply favor the party out of power. However something else is happening in the Unites States, and something that many of us have not seen before. We are seeing for the first time in my life a true revolt against the government. The energy is not with any one political party but with an idea. An idea the JEFFERSON HAD IT RIGHT. We see a huge surge going back to a limited government, a small government that worked for the people, a movement to lower taxes, a movement with the 'get off my back' mentality. Essentially the mood in the country is becoming much more libertarian. Furthermore, we are seeing a conservatism such that we have never been accustomed to not since before Teddy Roosevelt.

And now what it seems to be in the political realm, is not a fight between who spends more money and who is for or not for abortions, we are seeing real debates are real concerns about the role of the federal government. This is the kind of substantive debate that is necessary for this country. For the 20 years of my life I have seen in every presidency an expansion of the government. And most Americans are not saying, Democrat and Republican alike, 'we want the government out of our lives.' This is becoming more and more evident, when people see what is going on on capitol hill. In recent years the government spent about 300 billion dollars in tax refunds to boost a recessed economy, then TARP, then the 800 Billion dollar stimulus plan to create job, then the debate on cap and trade, followed by a HUGE health care debate where in the midst of the feverish debate the congress passed an overhaul of the student loan business being controlled completely by the federal government. All of this has been done, in front of the American people, and the American people are now seeing that the left leaning authoritarian government that we have been seeing it taking too much control of our lives.

Americans are turning away in droves from the administration's and this congress' agenda. And they are turning to the individuals that are promoting the idea of basic conservative ideologies. That is limited government, lower taxes, no earmarks, strong national defense. But what is even more impressive is that people are turning against our political leaders, and they are truly understanding what it is to be American. The American people are waking up and realizing that in the formation this great republic offers 3 rights that no government have ever promised. As Edmund Burke writes America promises the right to "choose our own government" "cashier them for misconduct" and "to frame government for our selves."

However most leaders have not took to heart the words of the American people. And those leaders are now in control of congress and sitting uncomfortably in the White House. And just to fair Bush in his later years was no better, and most Republicans fell right in line. But as we see the Republicans, as the conservative party (compared to the Democrats) are attracting the Jeffersonian vision of government. And we see this EVERYWHERE, from an 11 point turn around in a years time from +9 favorable rating of congressional Democrats to not a +2 favorable rating for congressional Republicans, to the off year and special elections. The Gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia showed the more conservative candidates win, but what was more impressive is that in a year's time we see the independents in these races turn in Tsunami force waves away from liberal agendas. We saw in NY-23, a Republican turned Conservative loose only by 4 points, and he would have won had there been a proper primary and not some politburo choosing the liberal Republican; Scosofatass has no business in that race and Republicans should be ashamed for her being the party pick. And now we are going to see it again in the special election for 'the peoples seat' in Massachusetts.

Scott Brown I predict will win by 5-10 points in the special election, and it is not because Coakly ran a bad campaign, it will be because the voters are choosing basic conservative values over the liberal agenda of Washington; all of the polls are showing a Brown victory. However, I have a warning for all of the Republicans:

The call the lead is coming to your ears. The American people are turning to you because they believe that you are the ones who will take the difficult conservative approach to governance. They are calling for you to do what is right, to truly be conservative and not just appear to be. It is time for all Republicans to walk the walk. Do not stray and do not dither. Be the party that emboldens all Americans to do what is right and not the party that gets elected and then sits there spends and does nothing...