Do you Hate Obama?

For those of you who have been reading my articles (and thank you for doing so), you will notice that although I talk about theologically controversial subjects, and issues like Creation vs. Evolution, etc., I have not yet written something politically charged.  Well, some recent occurrences within our U.S. government have caused me some great unrest, and I am compelled to speak out; to speak the truth; that is what I do.  So I apologize in advance to Obama supporters, you will not enjoy this.  But I ask all of you, Obama supporters or not, to please read this, think about it, and start exercising some common sense.

In the title of this blog, I started with “the new energy bill”, and I will get to that topic as this article unfolds, but there are a few things about Mr. Obama and his administration that I would like to address.  Is that okay?  I still retain my right to free speech, correct?  The way this government is headed, I wasn’t sure, so needed to double check.

First of all, I am so sick of ABC, CBS, MSNBC, not reporting the truth.  Or let me rephrase; they focus on other issues that have very little significance as compared to other MAJOR decisions taking place in our ever-increasing socialist government.  I will, however, make a big plug for FOX news…thank you guys for reporting the truth and then letting “we the people” interpret that news however we see fit.  And thank you, Mr. Glenn Beck, for speaking out and telling the truth; we need more people like you to stand up for what is right.

Inspector General Walpin.  “Who?”, most of you are probably thinking, which would once again confirm my distaste with the left-winged only news stations…ah, I digress.  Inspector Walpin was fired by Obama a few weeks ago.  Any individual with the slightest hint of intellect would immediately ask him/herself: “why?”  From what I have read and researched, Walpin (at the prompting of Americorp) began an investigation on Sacramento mayor (and long-time friend of Barak Obama) for his misuse of tax payer dollars.  Apparently, Kevin Johnson (mayor of Sacramento) was using stimulus money for personal purchases having nothing to do with his “business”, and Mr. Walpin and his staff uncovered the truth.  So what happens?  A few weeks ago, Mr. Walpin receives a call from the White House giving him ONE HOUR to either resign or be fired.  One hour, folks.  By law, (which Obama helped to pass when he was a senator, by the way) the President is required to give a 30-day notice AND a specific reason when letting go of a government official.  Mr. Walpin was given none of those.  Understandably,  Walpin refused to resign, and then the next day he was offically told that he was fired.  The White House released a statement about a week later that Mr. Walpin was incompetent, disoriented and confused.  Basically, they’re saying he’s senial.  I watched Glenn Beck interview this man about three times on his show, and believe you me Mr. Walpin is not in the least bit senile.  He’s probably more intellectually stable and sound than the vast majority of our government representatives!  Does any of this story sound a bit shady to you?  Did your eyebrow raise in bewilderment as you read through it…?  Mine sure did.  Since Obama’s induction as President of the U.S., he has been weeding out any and everyone who might oppose him.  He fires anyone who might stand up for truth and speak out against the corruption.  Mr. Walpin was just doing his job which he was asked to do, and now the White House has dishonored and disrespected him by calling him, basically, a senile old man.  I am just mortified.

Additionally, Obama is proposing another future stimulus package!?!?!  As if the last one didn’t put us into even more debt as a nation, let’s just go ahead and make the hole deeper!  Does this sound right to you?  I know in my present financial situation because of our economy’s current state, I have had to make adjustments.  My money (what little I have!)  has to be organized and managed correctly.  Now, this same principal should be applied to our government.  If we are in a huge amount of debt, if our economy is in a major recession and/or depression as it is right now, shouldn’t we cut back on the spending??  Hmm…just a “common sense” thought there.  One example of this (which I just found out, by the way) is that Obama approved a 3.45 million dollar project to build tunnels for the turtles in the great state of Florida (where I am a resident).  Tunnels for turtles so they can safely cross the road.  Call me crazy, but when our unemployment rate is rapidly increasing and people all across this great country are losing their homes, cars, and livelihoods…and we’re spending almost $3.5 million to build turtle tunnels…?  Something is terribly wrong with this picture.

And last but not least…this new energy bill.  Oh, where do I begin?  This bill is about 1200 pages in length.  It was given to the house members ONE day before they were scheduled to vote on it.  Umm…how can someone read and truly understand/comprehend a 1200 page document in only one day? Unless they’re all speed readers like the guy that Obama hired to speed read some of the bills before he passed them into law, I doubt they got through it.  At the voting, a Republican member asked for a copy of the bill, and he was told that there weren’t any copies available!  WHAT?!?!  How do you not bring a copy of the bill to the voting meeting?  So what is this energy bill anyway?  Glad you asked!  In short, it is masked as an environmentally friendly bill which would appeal to most Americans, I think…oh but it is far from just that.  This bill seeks to control the green house gas emissions, and increase the average American’s energy bill by about $1300 per year.  In other words, if this bill is passed in the Senate, your electric bill will probably increase by about $100 per month!  Is that okay with you?  Can you afford that?  Can our already struggling economy afford to make such a decision?  Does Obama and the Czars of Washington, D.C. really have your best interest at heart?  No, folks.  They are money and power hungry and are only out to better themselves; they care nothing for you and your problems. I looked at a voting poll on msnbc.com just a bit ago, and according to their website, over 81% of American voters think that this energy bill should not be passed because it will only further hurt our economy.   Hmm…81%…and you think that Obama and his administration is really representing the majority?

 Might I just point out that Mr. Al Gore makes about $200,000 per global warming scare tactic speech, and that he has fairly large investments in some of the energy companies (GE is one) and when/if this bill passes in the Senate, he (along with a few others on Obama’s forefront of energy bill supporters like Pelosi for example) will cash in big time!  What?  You mean they’re in this for the money?  They just want to get richer and raise our taxes to help them do that?  YES!!!!  HELLO!!!!  Wake up, America!  Our government is corrupt.  I have absolutely no faith in them at all.  I put my faith in Christ; He is my Savior, not Obama and his current administration.

So what do we do about this?  Is there anything we can do?  Yes, there absolutely is.  You may be like me and not have the resources to launch a big campaign against this entrusion on our freedoms, but we can let our voices be heard.  If you live in Florida, and you think that this energy bill is going to hurt our economy even more while fattening the wallets of the government elite, then call 202-224-5274 to leave a message, or speak with someone in the office of Bill Nelson, democrat Senator of Florida, and call 202-224-3041 to do the same with Mel Martinez, republican Senator of Florida.  When I called, their voice mailboxes were full, but I google searched their names, and there are websites where you can go and send an email to their respective offices.  So whether you call or write to them, let your voice be heard!  Evil increases when good people sit by and do nothing about it.  This government is expanding and increasing its power over us as citizens, but they must remember that we have the ultimate say; we have the ultimate authority; we the people.

John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  These are simple yet powerful words. He understood that a country’s strength lies in the strength of its people – individual citizens each working to better themselves, their families, and their communities; citizens who are responsible and live their lives according to principles of hard work, integrity, and accountability. When the constitution was first written, its authors wrote it for the purpose of giving power to the people to ensure that the individual citizen would never be controlled by the dictates of an oppressive government. With that in mind, I find the growing mentality that “big government” is the solution to our problems – a very puzzling one. Let me expound.

For instance, I’ll be the first to say that the healthcare industry in this country has got to change. However, nationalizing the industry and handing over more tax dollars to the same government that bankrupted social security and put this country trillions of dollars in debt sounds like sheer lunacy to me. Would you give your friend, Bob – the same friend who has blown a dozen loans from you already – another thousand bucks? Of course not! No one is that thick! I hate to say it, but the government has the same terrible track record. Giving them more money to nationalize any industry is just as stupid. Don’t get me wrong – government has its place. It is absolutely essential to maintain order and safety in a nation. But let me ask you this. What can government do better than private industry? Competition, in any industry, drives down prices and increases product/service quality. When we nationalize something such as healthcare, that means our tax dollars go up and the quality of our healthcare goes down. Anyone who has spent a good amount of time in Canada or England (and has been very ill or in need of a specialized surgery) will testify of this fact – I know because I lived in England for over a year. (And just for the record, I have watched the documentary “Sicko”. Michael Moore obviously had an agenda. Surprise, surprise!)  When I lived in England, I heard more on the subject of healthcare than I would have liked to. I recall a conversation I had with an older woman who was in need of a major surgery. The problem was they were three years out from being able to get her in for the needed operation and there was nothing she could do about except bide her time -  very uncomfortably I might add. She considered traveling to the U.S. to have the procedure done, but the trip in addition to the cost of the surgery was too expensive.  Again, I repeat – I’m a huge proponent of changing the healthcare system here in the U.S., but putting that money in the slippery hands of big government is not the solution.

Big government could also be defined as a “socialist” government – an old and evidently flawed method of governing that has recently been paraded as a novel idea under the banner of change. In theory, it is a good idea and in a perfect world, socialism would work. The problem is, we don’t live in a perfect world. In order for socialism to succeed, the vast majority of the people have to be highly responsible, have a strong work ethic, and unwavering determintation to contribute to their communities. Otherwise, you get a minority of  hard working citizens trying to provide for a lazy majority which obviously doesn’t work because remember – government is not a self-sustaining entity. Where does the government get its money? From the taxpayers – or in other words – from you! There is no such thing as free anything from the government.

The success of socialism also requires that the government always have the country and its citizens best interest at heart. Reality is that you’ll never be able to remove personal agenda from politics. Every politician has his own agenda and dozens of lobbyists at his feet ready to pay him off so he’ll buy into their agenda. So next time you hear someone say the word “redistribute” or “nationalize”, run away as fast as your feet will carry you because that’s just another term for “socialize”.

Finally, the idea of big government suggests that you and I are fundamentally incapable of taking care of ourselves; that the only way we can succeed is by relying on them – the omniscient politicians. I don’t know about you, but I find that insulting. I’ve lived long enough to know that if you treat people like idiots – regardless of how capable they may be – they’ll eventually follow suit and act like idiots. My suggestion is, don’t follow suit. You’re not an idiot! You are absolutely capable of making sound judgments and living a pro-active, productive life without “big brother” looking over your shoulder. Don’t allow the government to take away your opportunity to choose what is best for you and your family by nationalizing everything under the sun.

To conclude, consider that no person, group, or society ever achieved greatness by shirking responsibility and relying on the merits of someone or something else. Greatness and success are the fruits of personal independece, responsibility, and accountability. With that said, I challenge you to stop looking elsewhere for solutions and start seeing YOURSELF as the primary force for GOOD ( I emphasize “good” because change isn’t always necessarily positive) change in your life and in this country because you are, as a wise man once said, the master of your destiny.

On 20th of January, 2009, when Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of United States of America, delivering one of the most outstanding speeches ever, many would have thought it to be a tokenism, as reversing the economic fortune of the current order is easier said than done. Only time would perhaps prove how much he would succeed eventually. But if one has to go by the precedence being set on each passing day, Obama is perhaps not just on the right track, but is also indicating why he is the only person who deserved to be there in these times. By announcing his intentions in clear cut terms of curbing the salaries of top executives of companies to a ‘maximum’ of $500,000, which have been seeking bailout packages from the US government to remain afloat (under the Troubled Asset Relief Program), Obama has made it clear that the much needed change of fortune of the US would not happen unless the highly skewed income disparity is arrested and the culture of carrying on with obscene extravaganza by a select few executives, even in the worst of times, is kept under leash.

And certainly, this decision is not protocol driven but one which is driven by a vision to put the house in order, which has been completely ruined by his predecessor. It is a fact that a certain George Bush, brought up in relative opulence, could never really realise these trivial details; but an Obama would know how it feels to have responsibilities of a family, car loan, housing loan, children’s education and every other liability, when one loses a job. That’s the difference in thought that emanates from a grassroots leader. For the past six months or so, the saga of the average American losing jobs – like the falling of ninepins – has become synonymous with business news. And the real culprits responsible for all of it are none others than the highest paid executives in some of the most overhyped corporations of the US. With their rubbishing aside of every economic and business theory in their unending stupid acts in the name of innovation and market expansion, these US companies not only put to risk the American fortune, but also each and every country having an economy worth talking about. Today, when an average lower-middle-class Indian suddenly loses his job for no fault of his or his own performance, his loss of job has much to do with the irresponsible acts of some high profile, highly educated, jet setting and techno-savvy executives in US. And yet, when the whole world is suffering because of such irresponsible acts, when – after having burnt fingers with stupid experiments related to market expansions without proper studies – they are surviving on tenterhooks with the taxpayers’ money given to them as lifeline, it is nothing less than blasphemy if even now they continue to draw millions of dollars as salaries, in addition to the innumerable perks and freebies. For the uninitiated, this is how the situation is: In the last quarter, the loss of Merrill Lynch was $9.8 billion; but its CEO was rewarded perhaps for this incredible performance with an annual compensation of a whopping $83 million! The compensation of John Mack of Morgan Stanley for 2008 was $41 million. This, at a time when Morgan Stanley had to write-off losses and loans to the extent of $3.6 billion and $9.8 billion respectively.

Things like this are not unique to US alone. Not to the extent of billions of dollars, but in India too this tradition continues whereby it is difficult to find a bankrupt promoter even when the companies have filed for bankruptcy. But then, unlike in the US, in India it is difficult to even imagine of a statesman of the stature of Obama to bring in a policy like that. No wonder, as a President, Obama has been receiving considerable amounts of flak from the media for his socialist mindset; but then, it is no secret that such a mindset is the need of the hour if the American economy has to be restored to normalcy. What is worth learning here is the assertion with which Obama is putting a more socialistic outlook to practice, particularly with respect to corporations which need the Federal bailout. Contrast this with any Indian Prime Minister, who would at best make a similar feeble request in some obscure forum, wherein nothing actionable would happen other than a few nodding of heads. Take the case of Indian PSUs, a classic example of the Indian version of ‘actionable socialism’! Not only are many of them loss-making even now, even those who are making profits have – some or the other time in the past – been bailed out by the government with taxpayers’ money and without any strings attached!! Yet, many of those PSUs are still run like personal fiefdoms of Ministers; and their top executives are treated like demigods with freebies being doled out in a manner as if each of them has been making it to the Fortune 500 list since decades!! At a time when most of the steel companies across the world are reeling under recession, when the future is looking bleak in many a respect, thanks to Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan – with his eyes firmly on the ensuing elections – SAIL is doling out gold coins to its employees, a move which would cost the company a huge Rs.140 crores, even when the profitability of the company has come down by a massive 56% in the last quarter! But thanks to the kind of socialism that India still wears, such acts would be considered benevolent deeds.

One can safely presume that many of those who presumptively thought that the recovery act of Obama would either be glib talking or a cake walk for the rich Americans, are now realizing that even the rich and the mighty, who have made it a habit of passing off the buck to the salaried employees in terms of cost-cutting, would have to face the hard points. Today, President Obama has made it clear that no one can take tax payers’ money for granted! Like it or hate it, it is the only recourse for the United States of America!! And this could very well be the recourse for the rest of the world as well!!