Obama Clause

How is he to pay for this?

jc


Obama Claus

October 30, 2008 11:00 PM

Once you get past the soaring oratory, to experience a speech by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is to be hit with an astoundingly lengthy list of promises.

"I don't know how any reasonable person" could think he'd really be able to accomplish everything he's pledging to do, said the mother-in-law of a colleague, a Missouri woman who intends to vote for Obama.

Just today in Sarasota, Fla., the Democratic presidential nominee said that he'd:

  • "give a tax break to 95 percent of Americans who work every day and get taxes taken out of their paycheck every week";
  • "eliminate income taxes on Social Security for seniors making under $50,000";
  • "give homeowners and working parents additional tax breaks";
  • not increase taxes on anyone if they "make under $250,000; you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime –- not your income taxes, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax";
  • "end those breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas";
  • "give tax breaks to companies that invest right here in the United States";
  • "eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-up companies that are the engine of job creation in this country";
  • "create two million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, and bridges, and schools -- by laying broadband lines to reach every corner of the country";
  • "invest $15 billion a year in renewable sources of energy to create five million new energy jobs over the next decade";
  • "reopen old factories, old plants, to build solar panels, and wind turbines";
  • build "a new electricity grid";
  • "build the fuel efficient cars of tomorrow";
  • "eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in 10 years";
  • "lower premiums" for those who already have health insurance;
  • "if you don't have health insurance, you'll be able to get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress give themselves";
  • "end discrimination by insurance companies to the sick and those who need care the most";
  • "invest in early childhood education";
  • "recruit an army of new teachers";
  • "pay our teachers higher salaries, give them more support. But ... also demand higher standards and more accountability";
  • "make a deal with every young person who's here and every young person in America: If you are willing to commit yourself to national service, whether it's serving in our military or in the Peace Corps, working in a veterans home or a homeless shelter, then we will guarantee that you can afford to go to college no ifs ands or buts";
  • "stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq whole the Iraqis have a huge surplus";
  • "end this war in Iraq";
  • "finish the fight and snuff out al Qaeda and bin Laden";
  • "increase our ground troops and our investments in the finest fighting force in the world";
  • "invest in 21st century technologies so that our men and women have the best training and equipment when they deploy into combat and the care and benefits they have earned when they come home";
  • "No more homeless veterans"; and
  • "no more fighting for disability payments."

This on top of his 30-minute infomercial last night, and the myriad other pledges and promises he's made throughout the last 21 months.

It's quite a list!

He does call for some sacrifices, though nothing that would equal the cost of these measures.

  • "Washington is going to have to tighten its belt. It's going to have to put off spending on things we don't need. As president, I'm gonna go through the federal budget, line-by-line, and we're going to end programs that we don't need. We're gonna have to make the ones we do need work better and cost less."
  • Of course, he'll soon be "asking folks who are making more than a quarter million dollars a year to go back to the tax rate they were paying in the 1990s before the Bush tax cuts."
  • And in a way of attempting to head off at the pass any criticisms that there's no way the U.S. can afford all this, he says supporters should tell skeptics that ending the war will save the U.S. $10 billion a month.

The AP's Calvin Woodward took a look at Obama's assertion that he's "offered spending cuts above and beyond" what he's pledging to spend, and he concluded that's "accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by 'eliminating programs that don't work' masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are -- beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq."

Even accepting the savings Obama pledges to bring, the bi-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says Obama will add a net $428 billion to the deficit over the course of his term.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., too is making unrealistic promises. As the Tax Policy Center says of both candidates, "Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years, according to a newly updated analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Neither candidate's plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified."

-- Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller

More talk about shrugging Atlas

Great video, quite insightful.

The gist is: why work your rear off if it is just going to be redistributed to some one else? $150,000 isn't that much, if the wife and I had our old jobs, we would be well over that. We would actually save money quitting a job.

What is my incentive to pursue a good job? Why would I want to start a new business, just to be working for taxes?

Count me out.

jc

The LA Times secret tape.

The Los Angeles Times has a secret tape that could be damaging to the Obama campaign. Release it? No. Could be too controversial. Have they done this in the past? Yes. Why the change of heart?

They don't want to be racist.

Am I wrong? Put it out there LA Times, take the heat.

Here is a quote from someone who has seen it:

Reason we can't release it is because statements Obama said to rile audience up during toast. He congratulates Khalidi for his work saying "Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine" plus there's been "genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis."

October ANTI-surprise?

jc

(don't forget to click on the blue, underlined words)

Cartoon of the Day


Can you deny it?

jc

Went to Disneyland yesterday!


Scared the shit out of the Mouse and anyone else passing by!

When in a crowd, I need to wear the mask. When out in the sun, I need to wear the hat. I should have dressed like a goth, it would have been less conspicuous.

jc

...And it continues

Never dare to question THE ONE. Joe the plumber, Barbra West, who is next?

The left is happy calling the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. "BusHitler", but they are turning out to be the true fascists.

jc

New National Anthem?

Give it time, someone will think it's a good idea.



Just a bit of pre-election humor.

jc

By the way, I am getting better...

... and more feisty.

Had a doctor's appointment on Thursday at the City of Hope, and all went well. Blood test came back OK, and I am chugging along. My energy is up (can you tell from my rants?) and my naps are becoming more infrequent.

My brain still doesn't function properly, but at least I remember my name...

jc

From the pen of someone MUCH smarter than I...

Victor Davis Hanson is a person with a big brain. Mine: shrived and feeble, Jim just pawn in game of life. Excellent, hard hitting information. I will quote it in it's entirety, or you can just click the link. His point about hoping that Obama is not serious about "x" is enlightening... how can Obama NOT be serious about those subjects?

Collin Powell? Just another Washington insider keeping his social options open. He has NEVER been a conservative. He was a republican only because that is where the power was at the time, he just as well have been Clinton's Secretary of State.

Obama plays dirty, as dirty as Chicago politics can be. Rope a dope McCain (the first time I have mentioned him in this blog!) wants to play fair, clean, and by Senate and Marquess of Queensberry rules. That is why he is getting his butt kicked.

By the way, why has Obama NOT gotten over 50% in any poll? His GD commercials are all over the place, he is inevitable, he has more money than God. Why the poor showing?

jc

Questions Still Not Answered

Why didn’t Colin Powell and Co. jump ship in, say, June or July, and endorse Obama after many months of campaigning when his positions were already well known? That is, why wait until late October when, after the financial meltdown, Obama surged in the polls? Had Powell come out even in the first week of September, he could have demonstrated that although Obama was down by three points, he was willing to stick his neck out with a principled endorsement that may well have made him persona non grata in a McCain-administration Washington.

Why didn’t the media or McCain just ask Obama a few of the following questions: Why did you keep emailing and phoning Bill Ayers for three years after 9/11, when the country was gripped by fear of terror, and Ayers, like bin Laden, said that he had not done enough bombing, and had no regrets about the terrorism he had committed?

Why did Obama say in 2004 to the Chicago Sun-Times that he went to Trinity Church every Sunday at 11AM, and then later claim he had not been there that regularly once Rev. Wright’s venom was disseminated to the general public? Is Obama for, or not for, a simple yes or no, missile defense, nuclear power, off-shore drilling, and coal-powered electrical generation? There might be legitimate answers, but surely the public could profit by them, rather than worry over the Palin pregnancies, wardrobe, or Tasergate.

Why did the greatest furor against Palin originate with women, both liberals like a Gail Collins, Maureen Dowd, or Sally Quinn, or conservatives such as a Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker?

So far, none of them has adduced the necessary arguments that would justify their venom against Palin: they have not demonstrated that Vice Presidential nominee Palin has less government or executive experience than does Presidential nominee Obama; they have not shown that she has said anything in two months as disturbing as what Joe Biden says almost any day, and, in that vein, they have written few columns about Biden’s lunatic assertions, such as FDR addressing the nation on television as President in 1929, or that our nation’s enemies will test Barack Obama, and his reaction will so disappoint the American people that his polls will immediately sink; they have not shown that Palin’s ideas about shrinking government and keeping taxes low are less sound than Obama’s in time of economic downturn to raise aggregate taxes and expand government. So whence the vitriol, especially the frequent invective about Palin’s family, education, accent, or mannerisms, or the rather sexist suggestions that her looks bewitched either McCain or others?

Why do so many conservatives think that an Obama-elect might be prove a centrist, and so why do they use phrases like “I pray” or “I hope” that Obama might turn out, well, not to be Obama?

Jimmy Carter did exactly what he promised: raised taxes, grew the government, told the world he had no inordinate fear of communism, trashed our allies as retrograde right-wing authoritarians—and we got the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iranian hostage-taking (have we forgotten that the “Great Satan” originated as a slur against Nobel laureate Carter?), communism in Central America, the Cambodian Holocaust, and spikes of 12% inflation, 18% interest, and 7% unemployment.

For his first two years (until 1994 Gingrich’s ‘Contract with America’ revolution, and Dick Morris’s ‘triangulation’), Bill Clinton, as promised, raised taxes, raised spending, tried to ram through socialized medicine, and by fiat wanted to force the military to accept those openly gay.

So why would any conservative think that Obama—friend of Ayers, Khalidi, Meeks, Pfleger, and Wright, veteran of mysterious campaigns in which rivals in 1996 and 2004 simply dropped out or were forced out, erstwhile advocate of repealing NAFTA, controlling guns, stopping new drilling and nuclear plants, zealot for bringing all troops home by March 2008, advocate of a trillion dollars in new spending, and raising the tax burden on the 5% who now pay 60% of the aggregate income taxes, supporter of more oppression studies and racial reparations—would not likewise try to govern as he has lived the last 20 years?

Why would anyone think that an Obama would not wish to enact the visions of those who first backed him—the Moveon.org crowd, ACORN, The Huffington Post, Sen. Reid, Rep. Pelosi, a Chris Dodd or Barney Frank—rather than the late pilers-on like Colin Powell or Scott McClellan? We should remember that, unlike the cases of Carter and Clinton, Obama would have both houses of Congress, and a (Republican) precedent of the federal government intervening into the free market, in the manner of 1932.

The Fox Ambush

I don’t like dry-gulching journalism, but there was a strange scene when the Fox reporter caught up to Bill Ayers and stuck a microphone in his face as he went up the sidewalk of his rather impressive home: Ayers, with a bright red star on his T-shirt, shoos away the reporter with the apparent mumble “this is private property” before the police arrive. How strange that an advocate for communalism and an erstwhile attacker of police stations reverts to the notion of property rights and police to protect him from an intrusive reporter. Right out of Thucydides Book III and the strife on Corfu, when the historian warns that those who destroy the protocols of civilization may well one day wish to rely on them.

What Was Conservatism?

Few seem to know anymore. The decline in the fortune of the Republican Party has prompted some conservatives to claim they were abandoned, and now must seek refuge of all places in the agenda of Barack Obama—as if growing government, larger entitlements, and higher taxes are the proper antidotes to the unhappiness of the last eight years. One is unhappy with the excessive spending of the Bush administration and the former Republican Congress so he favors the greater spending of the new administration and congress to come?

The tragedy of the Bush administration was largely fiscal. There were, of course, two costly wars, the economic downturn after September 11, Katrina, and the unregulated Fannie and Freddie fiasco that proved the catalyst to the Wall Street subprime speculation.

But that said, by spending beyond the rate of inflation, running up large annual deficits, adding to the national debt, and voting in more entitlements that could not be funded with existing revenues, conservatives committed two suicidal acts. One, they discredited tax cuts, which under George Bush clearly brought in more aggregate revenue and primed the economy. Had we balanced budgets by spending restraint, no politicians would now dare to suggest the answers for our present budget woes were to be found in higher taxes.

Second, conservatives grew the size of the government. Perhaps No Child Left Behind or the Medicare Prescription Drug supplement was felt to be necessary to ensure bipartisan congressional support for the unpopular Iraq War, perhaps not. But when a conservative grows the size of government, he not only suffers the wage of hypocrisy, but he wins the additional charge of encouraging all others to do the same. The inattentive water master who opens the flood gates of the dam can hardly complain that torrents cascade out.

Yet Conservatism is pretty simple, and is based on just a few principles. Human nature remains constant, and thus is predictable across time and space. There is a certain humility that comes with conservatism, since the ways of the world, despite the technological chaos, are constant. We know, 1000 years past or right now, that the more we tax something the less we get of it, while the more we subsidize, the more we obtain—given that people will slack when they can, and won’t when they can’t.

Sometimes this conservative take on human nature can get a little depressing, when we know that punishments really do deter crime, or silly things like high walls keep or fines on employers really do keep out illegal immigrants, or strong nations ready for war are not attacked while weak ones eager for peace are. So here we are on the even of a great experiment, akin to the European socialist model that contradicts human nature–one that its creators over there are now fleeing from as we apparently, a day late, a dollar short, seek to emulate it.

... And so it begins

Just as I predicted, the hate crimes have started.

UPDATE: THIS ONE IS FAKE. NOT THE REST.
A 20-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield was also maimed by her attacker, apparently because of her political views, police said.
...
Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the robber took $60 from Todd, then
became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim's car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to scratch the letter "B" into her face, Richard said.


Will this hate crime be noted by Olby or on MSNBC, or even CNN? Doubtful. What if it were a hate crime against an Obama backer? Wall to wall -- with the headline "REPUBLICAN HATE CRIME SPREADS ACROSS AMERICA".


Yet there is more, a house shot up in Florida...

The home of a Central Florida Republican headquarters manager was shot up and damaged over his support of Sen. John McCain, the man told police.
...
The Republican manager said he is convinced he was targeted because of new McCain signs he added around his home.
And let us throw in some religious bigotry and intimidation to boot:

WASHINGTON — A church-state watchdog group has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether the Roman Catholic bishop of Paterson, N.J., violated tax laws by denouncing Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.
Would this happen to Trinity Baptist Church in Chicago? No.

Don't get in the way of the believers of the One. Just a cautionary note.

jc

Beer, is there anything it can't cure?


Mmmmm, beer.

Rice University (isn't rice part of Budweiser beer's recipe?) has developed a cancer curing beer.

Can I get it at Heroes?

A group of college students at Rice University are taking their favorite pastime and turning it into a research project. Their passion? Beer. Their project? Inventing a brew that contains resveratrol, a chemical present in wine that lowers the risk of heart disease and cancer.


Go Rice!

jc

Comic of the day


Points against Obama

(When reading this, the underlined blue items are links to articles to back up my points-- footnotes if you will. Feel free to disagree with me, but put it in the comments section and back up your points with facts. jc)

This article has many points against Obama. I know that he is a poor choice for leading this country in the near future.


These are just a few of my concerns. When Obama looses (yes, there is a good chance of it), it will ignite a backlash among the believers that may be irreparable. The hate that Bush endured will be amplified, making the country ungovernable.

Is this a reason to vote Obama?

NO.

Some things need to be purged, and this may be a start.

Me? I am about to shrug Atlas, and go fishing (if the docs let me).

jc

PS. Yes, this is purposely provocative. Don't get mad, comment. Obamaniacs won't be able to face the facts... just watch.

Another great video

Home sweet home

Well, I am at home, functioning well.

I have zero energy. Zero. I actually went to Costco Wednesday, and it wiped me out all Thursday. Disneyland will have to wait a while.

Daily routine: Wake up, eat, sleep. Repeat.

Sounds like fun, but it kinda stinks. I am restricted from gardening, woodworking, going to public places, eating out, eating in (certain foods), and pets. The girls are ok, and I am allowed to watch TV. Not a recipe for a long happy life.

I should get some of my gumption back within a month or so.

I'm beat, goodnight.

jc

Final post from the City of Hope...

I am on track to be released some time tomorrow. They can't release me today, the person that does the paperwork works Monday through Friday.

What a way to run things.

The extra day will give me more platelets and white blood cells produced in a sterile environment.

I am down to one bag of juice being pumped into me, one catheter line not being used. I have had up to 7 or 8 bags of liquid being pumped into me at one time.

I pushed the doctor to get the damn Hickman Catheter pulled out of my chest. That is done by a surgeon under local anesthesia. This will push my check out time to after 2:00 or so.

The conditions of my parole require that I take it fairly easy for at least a month. Total recovery will take a full year.

It's late, more tomorrow.

jc

Good news

My white blood cell count is 6.6 today. That's good enough to talk discharge from the City of Hope.

The Doctor said that Monday they will start the discharge process on me. That also means that I will get this damn Hickman Catheter out of my chest. No more Heparin flushing! Regular showers! Sleep on my belly! Wrestle with the girls fearlessly!

After discharge, I will have a few limitations, but not as bad as I thought. Stay away from fast food for a while (I should do that anyways), large crowds, and folks with the flu. I need to be careful about food handling, and keeping things clean. No eating or playing in the dirt.

I am amazed that I bounced back so quickly, and with relatively few complications. I must admit, they have this down cold.

Call me if you want more information...


jc

Today's update

Well, they stomped out whatever was giving me a fever. Their big concern now is my mouth... mouth soars are an ugly complication of this procedure.

The treatment for the mouth soars involves several concoctions swished in the mouth and spit out. This afternoon, the first concoction gave me the dry heaves, thus ending the treatments. Now I am quite horse, just barely able to speak. Kristin may like that, but I sure don't.

Good news: my white blood cell count went from .1 to .3, still not fully functional -- but definitely moving in the right direction.

The physical therapy guy came in, I did some simple exercises, and got VERY tired. At this point I have no energy reserves. This will change over time, but it doesn't take much to wipe me out.

Getting better, feeling better.

jc

jc

Last Night


Well, the fever didn't go away by itself, so they iced me down (bags of ice in the armpits and a cold towel on my head), made me breathe steroids, and washed my mouth out with several foul concoctions. I do feel better today. I wish I could tell you what my temp was, but they do it in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. I took a picture of all this, and boy do I look silly.

jc

Rough day

Today started off a bit rough. A tickle in my throat started a cough spazam, that led to dry haves. It was sufficient to wreak my vocal chords, and 12 hours later, I am still throat soar and horse.

They gave me some medicine for some early mouth soars, I don't have anything to fight off the soars. So that I could eat without pain, they shot me up with morphine. My throat still hurt.

I also spiked a fever, so more blood drawn (catheter and old time needle), and of course, more bags of anti-biotics.

Needless to say, I slept most of the day.

Kristin came up today, but I am not blaming any of this on her...

jc

Day 7 & 8

Yesterday went well. Up until the Angels lost.

Today I slept. And slept. I received platelets (because I have none) and blood (super anemic). Uneventful, but challenging. Absolutely zero energy or stamina. Best for me to stay in bed. Took me all day just to read my online articles.

Even this short post wore me out. 'Night.

jc

Day 6

Today was nice and easy, no major strains.

My blood count is below 1, so I am officially in the danger zone. I am trapped in the room, all visitors gloved and masked. I can't venture out, either.

We seem to have my stomach under control, so I actually ate a whole quesadilla for dinner. That's it, just one. Almost too much.

Mom and Dad came by for a while, just to check up on me. Brought 3 days of papers, I will probably read them tomorrow. Depends, if I start to read too much, I get sick (weird, I know).

Well, the Angels are about to loose everything, tied, bottom of the 11th. Sheesh.

jc

Day +5

Well, today was a bit more under control than last. Only one puke, early in the day.

The other end, however, is a bit tender...

This is normal, things get wiped out, and they need to rebuild. I just wish they could knock me out for a week (beer does that!) and let it run it's course. They gave me a sea sick patch, and that seems to help.

They also started Nupigen again, so the bone pain may return. So far, all this treatment has been pain free.

Had a fantastic visit from Gary, which wore me out (I took an hour nap). Calls from Pauline and Bob up north and the girls helped break up the day too.

All in all, it seems to be going as scheduled... I just wish It would hurry. Although, I am in a quiet room watching the Myth busters Marathon, no screaming, no switching to HGTV, just Myth busting! This can work!

Gotta go, they are blowing crap up...

jc

What Realy Happened

What happened?




If I could be out there with pitchfork in hand, I would...

jc

Day + 4 (Friday)

OK, yesterday was yucky. Bungalow spins, puking, sleeping, not moving, and just trying not to do worse.

Today, less worse. Still some puke, but much less. I actually am working on keeping some juice down, 90 minutes so far! That;s a record.

Nothing but kudos for the staff here, I puke, they are here with meds and clean up ASAP. The biggest problem is the parade of "helpers" like physical therapists and nutritionists coming in to help... sometimes you just want to be left alone. They won't allow that here... you are an active patient.

Feel a nap attack coming, c-ya

jc