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| Yes | 60% | 218 votes | Total: 361 votes | |
| No | 40% | 143 votes |
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Add to FavoritesIn replacing GW Bush as President, Barack Obama has, by default, improved the United States. Regardless of what the new president does from here on out, unless he defies his own intelligent and inclusive nature, our country and the world will be a much better place to live than it has been since the Republicans took control of Congress in 1994.
Led by Newt Gingrich and inspired by their "Contract With America," the Republican Revolution launched a divisive war against the American people. "Divide and conquer" was an operating motto that was applied to race, class, gender, and political and religious leanings. If you weren't straight, white, conservative, Christian and registered Republican, you would not be included except to make donations.
During Bill Clinton's besieged presidency, the Republican led Congress rigidified the already existent split between the left and right in the US. The moderate, middle ground was pulled far right and out of the morass emerged the church of unregulated capitalism. In an environment where anything goes, money solidified its position as the God of gods and the world's decent began a quicker slide into darkness. Republicans took the leash off of mega-capitalism and terrorism was the armed response.
The culmination of the Republican grab for power, led by a revitalized neo-conservative ideology, opened the door for a leader with few leadership skills and absolutely no sense of America's place in the world or its history. A self-professed non-reader, the public witnessed its leader sit through a three-hour meeting with his staff discussing the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina without asking a single pertinent question. When advised of the attacks on the World Trade Center, he froze.
The final gift from Bush and the Republican dismantling of restraints on capitalism is the current (2009) world economic crisis. Even before his inaugeration, Obama did more to stem the tide than Bush was doing doling out tax dollars to poorly managed banks without requiring any accountability. The greatest heist of all time continued right on through the last day of Bush's second and final term. And those who gleaned the most from Bush and company's liberation of the common people's treasury - the top one tenth of one percent of the American population - have tax protection allowing them to horde their winnings.
During Bush's reign, a $128 billion Clinton-captained budget surplus became a $490 billion Bush deficit with nothing to show. In eight years, six of them with a solid Republican Congressional majority, the national debt grew from just under $6 trillion when Clinton left office to nearly $10 trillion dollars, much of it owned by China. China, the largest nation on the planet and in the midst of rapid military modernization, has some serious disagreements with US foreign policy.
Suffice to say that mismanagement (or outright malice against the less fortunate?) by the Bush-led (sic) Republicans left the US and the world in a tattered moral morass. The playing field has been tipped severely in favor of the richest of rich at the expense of the poorest and those once cultivating the American Dream in the middle.
Obama had barely walked through the White House door and was already beginning to reverse much of the damage perpetrated by Bush, Cheney and their Republican friends. The Republican wars on the Middle Class and the planet are over. A new era has begun.
And that is because Mr. Bush and his party are out of power.
As President, Obama brings leadership qualities that have been absent since Bush's inaugeration. He is a smart man with illustrious intellectual credentials that brings hope where there was frustration and despair. He may not be able to accomplish all or even much of what he intends, but he has and will continue to restore American credibility and stature just by trying. He understands what is at stake and he is wasting no time making positive change his most important business.
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No
Define improve. If one is on the side of American liberty and justice, the Natural Rights of Humanity, property ownership and the US Constitution, then no. He will destroy everything upon which our country was founded. If one is on the side of socialism and its march toward communism, then you have your ace in the hole. Congratulations commies. Taking over the USA would be quite a feather in your caps.
Definition of Communism. n. 1. a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. 2. a political doctrine or movement based on Marxism and developed by Lenin and others, seeking a violent overthrow of capitalism and the creation of a classless society. 3. a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating party. [1835-45]
Definition of Socialism. n. 1. a theory or system of social organization in which the means of production and distribution of goods are owned and controlled collectively by the government. 2. (in Marxist theory) the state following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles. [1830-40]
Europe and Canada may be thrilled to have socialized medicine, enough to tempt Americans to want it too. But here I'll illustrate the issue that no Keynesian economist is willing to tell you. Remember that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Let's say a pharmaceutical manufacturer makes medi-widgets, and the cost of production is $35 per unit. A generally acceptable mark-up is 100% (to $70 retail). This covers overhead and hopefully leaves a 10% margin ($7 of the marked up price) for profit. The company would like to remain competitive for the following year.
Let's say the socialist European Union governments fix the price that they'll pay for the medi-widgets at $30. They'll pay no more. The pharmaceutical company is operating in Europe at a $5 loss for every unit sold. The European patients are thrilled. It seems free. But there is no such thing as a free lunch.
The pharmaceutical company will simply make up the difference in the freest markets available - like the USA. We are paying so damn much for our health care because of onerous regulations, bureacratic insurance companies, high taxes AND we are subsidizing the socialist countries. Are you SURE you want the US government to buy everything and set the prices for everything here?
Do not be fooled. A socialist regime is not your buddy, not your protector, not your savior.
Capitalism may be very easy to corrupt. This is precisely why capitalism is not also a system of government; it's separate. Free market capitalism requires a regulatory environment that provides equal protection of the law to all parties. Fraud, misrepresentation, theft, etc. are illegal across the board. Regulations cannot (at least should not) be relaxed or manipulated to the point that one party's rights are infringed upon by another party (see Bill of Rights Amendment IX). This happens often and capitalism gets blamed. For heaven's sake! There is a world of difference between capitalism and fascism and biased favortism. Like I mentioned, capitalism is easy to corrupt. That's why the law must be impartial, particularly the courts where the laws are interpreted. But socialism and communism cannot exist without corruption and overwhelming force.
Not sure that free market economics and capitalism are your path to wealth? Socialism will not lead you anywhere but complete impoverishment. Please read Orwell's "1984", with particular attention to the book within the novel. Want more academic evidence? Take a gander at Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson".
People are not all the same. This one basic truth that everyone seems to know escapes people once money comes up. No, a street sweeper should NOT earn the same as a neurosurgeon. That makes sense to everyone including neurosurgeons and street sweepers. As human beings, each is equally valuable. As contributors to society's needs, each is compensated differently. That is free market economy. But don't tell Obama. He doesn't like income gaps. Personally, I don't like astronomical income gaps either. It's a signal that something is grossly wrong. He doesn't like any. $250,000 is quite enough for anyone to be satisfied. Above that, you'll be taxed to subsidize who-knows-who who-knows-where.
How do you forget the atrocities of Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Hitler, Franco, Mao and vote for socialized medicine? What do you think is coming? Prosperity and health? A government that is willing to temper its own use of power? Yeah, good luck.
Vote yourself free and rich - vote Libertarian - vote Constitution Party - vote Boston Tea Party - vote American Patriot. Anything but same-old! The truth has been hidden for too long.
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