11 posts tagged “barak obama”
I've avoided Obamicon until now. I can't see how. A great way to kill 15 minutes at the end of my day.
On January 20th, 2009 Barak Obama will be sworn in as the President of the United States of America, the 43rd such man to hold the office.
Perhaps more significantly, it ends the tenure of George W. Bush, a conservative Republican who promised lower taxes and smaller government. So much for the concept of small government.
The result of deficit spending is debt. When President Bush took office, the national debt was $5.7 trillion. Now it is $10.6 trillion--and Congress voted in October to raise the debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion, the seventh such hike since President Bush took office and the second since last July. If, as is quite likely, we reach the new ceiling by January 20, the outgoing president will have managed to amass more debt than all of his predecessors combined.
And even that number may be too small. When the federal government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it also assumed their $5.4 trillion debt. The accounting procedures used by the International Monetary Fund,
and endorsed by the [Congressional Budget Office], normally require that such debt also be taken into account...
- Harper's, January 2009, pp. 33
History will not be kind.
It's less than a month now before Barak Obama's inauguration, and the pieces are beginning to fall into place. The New York Times offers up some thoughts today in an article titled Obama Reshapes White House for Domestic Focus
For years U.S. politics has been dominated by foreign policy not domestic. Americans voted for Republican presidents bent on securing "America's place in the world" all the while ignoring the needs of Americans living in America.
Typically a Democratic vote reflects a local vote: a concern for home, rather than afar. The Clinton presidency was more focused on domestic policy than either of the Bush presidency's that preceded or followed it (though many conveniently forget that under Clinton the U.S. bombed Iraq pretty much every day.)
An Obama presidency focusing on domestic policy should be a good thin for the world at large, and Canada specifically. A stronger U.S. economy is a goal the entire world should share, provided a protectionist instinct doesn't take over.
With much of the world in an official recession, it I'm hopeful that doesn't happen, but only time will tell I suppose.
I suspect that Gun Snatcher isn't the worst name that will be used to describe Barak Obama. In my mind, it's kind of a compliment actually.
I hope there's finally a chance for reasonable gun control laws in the United States, but I suspect enough Democrats support the NRA that it won't happen.
On Concerns Over Gun Control, Gun Sales Are Up
Michael Stravato for The New York Times
By KIRK JOHNSON
Published: November 6, 2008DENVER -- Sales of handguns, rifles and ammunition have surged in the last week, according to gun store owners around the nation who describe a wave of buyers concerned that an Obama administration will curtail their right to bear arms.
"He's a gun-snatcher," said Jim Pruett, owner of Jim Pruett's Guns and Ammo in northwest Houston, which was packed with shoppers on Thursday.
"He wants to take our guns from us and create a socialist society policed by his own police force," added Mr. Pruett, a former radio personality, of President-elect Barack Obama.
A lot is going to be written about this day, for many years to come. Barak Obama has, of course, proven that he is more than capable of speaking for himself.
"I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my two precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible."
- Barak Obama, July 27, 2004, Democratic National Convention
It's a trueism of campaigning, that a high turnout at advance polls is a sign of impending change. Vancouver's early voting set a record when voters roundly turfed Philip Owen from office in favour of that political maverick now known as Senator Larry Campbell.
The logic is simple: if people are happy with the status quo, they are complacent about voting and don't rush out to do it before they are reminded by every media outlet they can find.
It makes me happy, therefore, to read this article in the New York Times:
The Decided Go in Droves to Vote Early
...
Among some of the 32 states that allow their residents to vote early without an excuse, either by mail or in person, the verdict is already in from a full quarter of registered voters -- well into the millions. In some counties across the nation, the percentages are far higher. The early voting will continue for several days in most of the states, but in Louisiana it is already closed, and it will end on Friday or Saturday elsewhere to give time to update the books to prevent people from voting twice.
...
Change, in this case, would indicate electoral success for Barak Obama and that seems to be a good thing.
I never cease to be amazed at how easy it is to find a commentator ignorant enough to say something stupid like this:
Mr. Schuetz said he voted for Mr. McCain, a Republican, with enthusiasm. His wife, Linda, called the choice the "lesser of two evils."
The article, of course, doesn't go on to outline the ways in which an Obama administration could be evil. You can use your own imagination.
Barak Obama just won November's election (as if the debates weren't pushing it in that direction already.)
Alaska Inquiry Concludes Palin Abused Powers
By SERGE F. KOVALESKI
Published: October 10, 2008
Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, a investigation by the Alaska Legislature has concluded.
You know, I always said Chrysler would be the first to go. Not that it was a hard call: they're the smallest American car maker, after being dumped by Daimler. Either way...this is not a merger, this is a takeover. GM is large, Chrysler is small.
G.M. and Chrysler Explore Merger
By BILL VLASIC and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Published: October 10, 2008
DETROIT -- General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, a deal that could drastically remake the landscape of the auto industry by reducing the Big Three of Detroit automakers to the Big Two.The talks between G.M. and Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler, began more than a month ago, and the negotiations are not certain to produce a deal. Two people close to the process said the chances of a merger were "50-50" as of Friday and would most likely still take weeks to work out.
Sigh. Another reminder of how much I miss Jim Henson and the Muppets.
but it was also idealistic in the best way. Maureen Dowd is possessed of a sharp wit and a sharp pen, and whether she actually talked to Aaron Sorkin or not, she's written a pretty funny article called Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet
One of my favourite excerpts:
OBAMA I didn't expect you to answer the door yourself.
BARTLET I didn't expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks "The Flintstones" was based on a true story, so let's call it even.
and another (I've added the emphasis):
BARTLET Well ... let me think. ...We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family's less safe than it was eight years ago, we've lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know ... I'm a little angry.
OBAMA What would you do?
BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that's what they are. Sarah Palin didn't say "thanks but no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said "Thanks." You were raised by a single mother on food stamps -- where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I'd ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you're at it, I want the word "patriot" back.
The article drops a sly reference to 30 Rock as well. I swear that didn't influence my opinion.
