Friday, September 19, 2008

Hatred, Political Apathy and Government Corruption; How Can You Make an Informed Vote

I don't understand the hate people have for others who believe differently than they do, especially in politics. It's crazy. When people are so filled with hate, freedoms are taken away, or worse. If those like current far left liberals/social progressives in hollywood, in congress and elsewhere ever totally controlled government it would be just as bad as far right conservatives taking away religious and other freedoms. We would also be a socialist type country, which means they would have to change, ignore and/or amend the constitution. Changing the constitution would be one of the worst things that could happen to this country. That is why politicians, like Barack Obama, that think the constitution is a fluid document, open to interpretation really scare me. I may think Obama could seriously damage this country and the middle class and below, but I do not hate him, I do not want his freedoms taken away nor do I want to force him to believe the way I do.

I am a skeptic when it comes to politics. That is why I study economics, taxes, history, countries, states and cities and what party is running them, etc. Then I can choose a candidate based on economic and other facts. Knowing these facts and having at least a basic understanding of economics will help keep you from being misled. There is so much misinformation everywhere you turn; it is just so easy to be misled these days. Politician’s records, their voting records, the people they surround themselves with and listening to what they say well before the final days of an election are all important in making an informed decision.

One reason for the lack of enthusiasm for either presidential candidate is that they both are members of congress. Historically Americans favor candidates that are governors or vice presidents. I agree with this. I am usually more enthusiastic about and would rather vote for candidates that are governors. They have more experience, because they are the executive officer of a state. They have to lead, make executive decisions and run the state. This more closely matches the duties of the president. They may not have foreign policy experience, but history is full of presidents that were governors, including the last two. Also, three of the candidates are members of what may be the worst congress in history. Because Barack Obama has been in congress for only one term and has only been there 160 days out of the 4 years he’s served, he has the least experience. His lack of experience shows when you hear him speak. I could go as far as say that Sarah Palin has the most experience just because she is a governor. I am also not a fan of candidates who are lawyers. Both candidates on the democrat ticket are lawyers. It seems that a lot of democrat candidates seem to be lawyers these days. The president of the United States and any politician should be an example to everyone, so moral decisions and behavior are a factor in my decision.

I don't know if you can make an informed decision based on major network news anymore. They seem to bias and ignore things to support who they think you should vote for, whether it is Obama over Hillary Clinton or Obama over John McCain. This is becoming a serious obstacle keeping Americans from making an informed decision. The media is at risk of becoming propaganda. The American public does not like to be told by the media or other countries around the world who they should vote for. The 30 lawyers for Obama scouring Alaska for anything bad they can find on Sarah Palin is one thing, but why are so many media journalists in Alaska trying to do the same thing as well? Why are they only going after one candidate, what about the others? There are so many questions that need to be asked about Obama and Biden and the media is ignoring them. Where are all the fluff pieces on McCain and Palin and their families, like the ones we saw earlier on Obama and his family? Why are they going along with the off limit lists of topics that Obama and his wife bring to interviews? That is not typical media behavior. The presidential race is too important to selectively give any one candidate a pass on serious questions.

Why is the media ignoring the success the surge has had in Iraq? You can’t blame it on the old standard “the media only reports the negative” answer. If that were true, you would hear a lot more negative news about the Obama/Biden presidential campaign, instead of the consistently positive news.

Democrats have been calling for our troops to be withdrawn from Iraq, saying the surge was destined to fail. Now that the surge is working they have been forced to acknowledge it. And yet many still ignore it and some even still say it is not working. Why are they misleading the American people? What does this say about their foreign policy experience? How can they make good decisions and lead America if they ignore facts? A good leader can only make the right decisions if they base their decisions on all the facts, both positive and negative, regardless of their political bias.

It is rather remarkable that the US economy came out of the recession that began toward the end of the Clinton administration and has been growing for the past 8 years, despite high gas prices, the weak dollar, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq war, the worst congress ever, the housing market bubble bursting bringing to light the housing and financial scandals and the media and politicians only reporting negative information about the economy. Only reporting negative economic information affects consumer confidence, which is an important factor that affects our economic growth. It is also dishonest to imply that the country is in a recession. A recession is negative growth for two full quarters. The growing economy can be attributed to President Bush’s tax cuts over the last eight years. There is actually quite a bit of positive stats and info that can give hope to those in states and areas that are hard hit and/or in a recession. The positive should not be ignored. It is necessary to take into account the negative and positive in order to see our countries' true economic health and it is necessary to know this in making an informed decision. Growth was back up last quarter after slowing a bit. The median household income rose recently. Consumer confidence has been unexpectedly up and it has been up so far this month. First-time owner house sales are up in California. Unemployment rates have been close to their lowest levels, they have recently gone up a bit. There is more positive and negative data as well. If Bush and congress would have cut spending instead of increasing it, the deficit would be lower and we would be in better shape. Of course lower taxes would help even more. The only way to minimize the threat of corrupt government is to keep it as small as possible. It is time for us to learn from history and our mistakes.

If a state or city is suffering it is usually because their state and local leaders are letting them down (high taxes, etc.) and/or an industry in the state is suffering. This is because the US economy and many state economies are growing. Take Michigan for example, it has been in a recession since 2001. The unemployment rate just went up to 8.9%. Part of this is because of the automakers financial problems and part of it is Democrat governor Grandholm and other state and local leaders. Despite the bad economy Grandholm and the state legislature keep raising taxes. The new service tax has really hit some businesses hard. Some saw their tax burden suddenly jump by $10,000.00. They also raised the minimum wage several times, which caused an unemployment rate spike. The cost of doing business has continued to increase but since the economy is slow businesses are at the point where they can’t increase the cost of goods and services to the consumer anymore. Now there is no money left to make unskilled jobs available at the semi-skilled labor rate. So they can’t afford to offer these types of unskilled jobs anymore. A minimum wage hike when an economy is in recession can also raise the cost of living while salaries stay the same. Cost of energy has skyrocketed exponentially as well. Some businesses are paying over $1000.00 more per month than they did just months ago. To make things worse Grandholm is about to sign an energy bill that will raise the cost of energy for households and businesses alike, within a few months. Renewable energy is a good thing but get the economy going first. There are people in this state that can’t afford to pay their energy bills now. Enough is enough. Why should they lose everything because inept politicians put energy above lower income citizens and those that have lost jobs, some with debt that they can no longer afford because they had to take lower paying jobs? For the past six years companies have been moving out of Michigan, the latest being Phizer and Comerica Bank. Michigan is ranked third, behind California and New York as the worst state to do business in. Businesses are now leaving because of a direct result of Grandholm’s policies. The solution is painfully obvious. She raises taxes, the economy gets worse. Their total lack of economic understanding and inability to learn from their mistakes just boggles the mind. It is inexcusable. If you want to know what an Obama presidency will look like just look at Michigan, except it will be several times worse, especially if democrats have a majority in congress. Just look at all the states and cities with economic problems, most have high tax rates and many are run by democrats.

Because government is so corrupt and no one is willing to fix it; it, its programs and involvement need to be as small as possible. It's sad but in reality, I don't have a whole lot of faith in any party to fix problems, so I vote for the person who is most likely to keep government small and taxes low, because at least corruption will be minimized somewhat and the economy can still grow. The freedoms our constitution affords we the people, just makes the giant corrupt government that much worse, even more than any big corrupt business. If people stood up for what is right, instead of looking the other way, corruption in business could be prosecuted and/or fined based on current laws. But who will protect us from big government?

[1] Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts

Obama Says Constitution Deep Flaw Continues Today


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