Change We Can Really Believe In
By John TarletonFrom the November 17, 2008 issue | Posted in National | Email this article
Barack Obama has inspired millions to believe that change is possible. But, what kind of change? And to whose benefit? Our country and our world are in crisis, and the tepid, incremental reforms Obama has been peddling aren’t going to cut it. It’s time to think outside the box.
HEALTH CARE
OBAMA’S PLAN: Provide subsidies and tax credits so people can afford insurance from the private sector or from a new public plan. The government, like some employers do now, would pay a portion of the premium. Obama wants to fund it by repealing the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 annually. Large employers that don’t offer “meaningful” coverage to employees would be penalized, with the funds going to subsidize individual insurance policies. The plan would require insurance companies to accept everyone, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions. Additionally, Obma’s plan would try to reduce administrative costs and establish mandatory universal children’s healthcare.
PITFALLS: Even with subsidies, many people will be unable to afford healthcare coverage. “Meaningful” coverage is poorly defined, and insurance companies would fiercely resist requirements to accept all customers because it would cut into their profits. Obama is trying to reduce costs without confronting the forprofit model, which is the primary factor in spiraling healthcare costs.
WHAT WE NEED: Medicare for all! Established in the 1960s, this single-payer program provides affordable medical coverage for all of the United States’ 40 million senior citizens and has far less overhead than private insurance programs. Taxes would have to be increased to bring everyone into Medicare, but most people’s healthcare costs would go down while the quality of care would increase. Complex schemes, such as Obama’s, are engineered to allow insurance and pharmaceutical companies to keep sucking up vast profits.
TAKING ACTION: Healthcare Now!, a coalition of dozens of progressive groups with chapters in over 300 cities, is the main force behind H.R. 676, which would establish a universal, single payer healthcare system. H.R. 676 currently has 90 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. For more, go to healthcare-now.org
IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN WARS
OBAMA’S PLAN: Obama has called for a phased withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades in the first 16 months of his administration – if conditions are deemed favorable. However, Obama would still maintain a “residual force” in Iraq to engage in “counterterrorism” efforts against insurgents, protect U.S. diplomatic and civilian personnel, and train and support Iraqi security forces. He has been silent about withdrawing the 140,000 mercenaries that support the occupation. Author and Indypendent contributor Jeremy Scahill argues that Obama’s withdrawal plan could leave as many as 60,000 U.S. troops in Iraq alongside a similar number of mercenaries.
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and much of Iraq’s infrastructure remains in shambles. Also, the United States has pursued a divide-and-rule strategy that has pitted Iraq’s various ethnic and religious communities against each other.
Under Obama’s plan, Afghanistan would become the “central front in the war on terror” and combat troops freed up from Iraq would be re-deployed there. The Afghanistan war has spread into Pakistan, however, pitting Pakistani troops against a homegrown guerrilla force sometimes called the Pakistani Taliban. Obama has indicated he would continue the Bush administration tactics of unilateral U.S. attacks within Pakistan, which are further destabilizing the region.
WHAT WE NEED: Instead of rebranding the occupation, Obama should pursue a rapid and complete withdrawal from Iraq. In its negotiations with the Bush administration on a Status of Forces agreement, Iraq’s government has insisted that all U.S. troops should leave the country by the end of 2011, but it is likely to leave loopholes so forces can continue past that date. Why wait for the door to bump us on the ass?
Let the Iraqis take charge of their country and oil reserves, and let them address the sectarian schisms, which have been stoked by the United States. If we want to help, we can do so by paying reparations for launching an illegal and immoral war.
In Afghanistan, the U.S.-led reconstruction is in ruins after seven years and the insurgency has intensified as the number of international troops has grown from 40,000 to 70,000 over the past two years. Obama should convene multi-party peace talks that include the Taliban as the first step toward a full U.S. withdrawal. To address the root causes of the conflict, the United States should fund the development of locally oriented economies, instead of pushing export-based industries as a solution.
Finally, cut all military, security and intelligence spending by at least 25 percent by the end of first term.
TAKING ACTION: Iraq Veterans Against the War has emerged as the moral center of the antiwar movement. To find out how you can help support them, see ivaw.org … Look for groups like Code Pink to raise a ruckus in the spring when Congress prepares to sign off on another $150 billion or so to finance the two wars for another year.
THE ECONOMY
OBAMA’S PLAN: Obama supports an estimated $100 billion economic stimulus package that would provide more spending on public works, unemployment insurance and food stamps, and he vows to restore top marginal tax rates from 35 to 39 percent. As for Obama’s promised $1,000 middle class tax cut, it appears he is planning to defer that initiative in the face of spiraling budget deficits.
As for the bailout, Obama supports it and appears likely to appoint Timothy Geithner, President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, as Secretary of the Treasury. Geithner brokered JP Morgan Chase’s takeover of Bear Stearns last March in which the Fed ended up mainly getting worthless subprime mortgage securities in return as collateral for the nearly $30 billion it put up.
WHAT WE NEED: Restructuring not reform. Any attempts at re-regulation will be watered down by intensive lobbying from the financial sector, and any legislation that passes will find its enforcement hindered by the same forces. Instead, nationalize the commercial banking sector. If any bank or insurance company is too big to fail, take them over. Same goes with any corporation seeking a bailout, such as the auto sector. If they are failing, are too important to let die and need public funds, then the public should own them. Top executives of these firms should be fired and replaced with managers charged to work in the public interest.
Abolish the Federal Reserve and create a central bank that is open, transparent and accountable to the public, not the current one, which is a secret club for private banks. Ban all trading in derivatives, which are financial products based on an underlying asset. (They are like a side bet on a baseball game, such as gambling on how many strikeouts a pitcher will record.)
Only allow futures trading for producers and consumers of commodities, such as farmers that grow grains or airlines that use fuel. Use progressive taxation to redistribute income to the poor and middle classes. To deal with the economic crisis, address the stagnant wages of the last 35 years by raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and making the organizing climate easier for unions, all of which will lead to rising incomes.
TAKING ACTION: For grassroots organizing and strategizing, go to bailoutmainstreet.com.
GREEN DEAL/RENEWABLE ENERGY
OBAMA’s PLAN: He has vowed to create 5 million new jobs by pursuing a “Green Deal,” such as by investing $150 billion over 10 years in alternative energy. He’s also promised to have 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015 and to have 25 percent of U.S. electricity come from renewable sources by 2025.
WHAT WE NEED: Obama’s call to ramp up investment in wind and solar is a start, and the money saved by winding down two wars and cutting military spending will go a long way toward funding such initiatives. However, scrap plans for subsidizing “clean coal”, biofuels and a new generation of nuclear power plants. Viable carbon sequestration technologies don’t exist. Using food for fuel exacerbates rising food prices and world hunger. Nuclear power is neither safe nor cost-effective.
Eighty percent of Americans live in metropolitan areas and a wide array of urban sustainability initiatives should be launched from funding more mass transit and bicycling to promoting urban farming and more public green space and reversing sprawl in favor of shifting people into cities, which can be much less resource intensive than suburbs or rural areas. Carbon emissions should be heavily taxed as a step towards mitigating global warming. Ditch cap-and-trade schemes, which are rife with fraud and may turn into the next speculative bubble as financial firms have already opened up carbon-trading desks in anticipation of the huge profits that can be made.
TAKING ACTION: For more on efforts to develop a “Green Deal”, go to apolloalliance.org, bluegreenalliance.org or greenforall.org. For more radical environmental activism see risingtidenorthamerica.org or earthfirst.org. To learn more about the struggle against “clean coal”, go to mountainjusticesummer.org.
IMMIGRATION
OBAMA’S PLAN: Obama supports Republican- led efforts to spend billions on stepped up border enforcement. He also supported the 2006 immigration reform plan that featured a guest worker program and a burdensome path to citizenship which would have discouraged most undocumented immigrants from coming out of the shadows to legalize their residency. More enforcement-driven immigration means politically-connected private prison companies like Correction Corporations of America will continue to reap enormous profits from warehousing detainees.
WHAT WE NEED: Stop workplace raids and mass deportations by the Department of Homeland Security that are terrorizing whole immigrant communities. Guarantee immigrant workers the same rights as citizens. It’s the only way to prevent employers from pitting one group of workers against another and to the detriment of all. A guest worker program would create a two-tier labor system. End support for unjust trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that have driven more than a million small farmers off their lands and sent them migrating north. In the face of widespread immigrant bashing, what we may need first is for President Obama to lead a national discussion about how immigrants make the United States a more dynamic, culturally diverse and prosperous society.
TAKING ACTION: Local groups on the forefront of immigrants rights struggles in New York include Families for Freedom and New Immigrant Community Empowerment. Nationally, two groups to check out are the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the National Immigration Law Center.
GET INVOLVED
Feeling inspired by the election but not sure what to do next? You can change the world right here in your own city. Go to The Indypendent’s community activism page at www.indypendent.org/resources and check out scores of grassroots groups working on a wide array of issues. If you have a group for us to add, call 212-221-0521 or email contact@indypendent.org.
Arun Gupta, Jacob Scheier and Sarah Secunda contributed to this article.
18 Responses to “Change We Can Really Believe In”
November 18th, 2008 at 11:23 am
wow, you mean a news source that gets to the heart of the problem?! revolutionary… What we NEED is more of this… independent, honest, no-strings-attached journalism telling it like it is. Thanks, i’ll be a regular reader now.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
The Indypendent is bang on the money with this one. Obama’s catch phrases “hope”, “change” and “yes we can” have echoed all around the world, but it’s not quite clear what these phrases mean in practice. What is sure is that they have led to sky-high expectations of “change” all over the world.
What fundamentally prevents Obama from fulfilling expectations of “change” at home and abroad is that the Democratic party is not in essence a left-wing party that believes in radical change. Democrats do not fundamentally oppose the death penalty or the second amendment. This is far removed from left-wing philosophy around the globe, whether it be in Europe or in Latin America. It should not be expected that Obama close down Guantánamo, and it certainly should not be expected that he proceed with the timely withdrawal of troops from Iraq. But that’s where a lot of the expectations have been leading.
For more: http://www.ilpodesta.org/2008/11/after-euphoria.html
November 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Well written, Aashe. Your first couple of lines of text is the exact reason I didn’t vote for Obama nor McCain. I’m sick and tired of only “Republican or Democrat” as options. Therefore, I voted third party for President for the first time since ‘92…Seeing sure is believing…So, Mr. Obama, please please PLEASE put your ‘change’ in to practice, and please, help us ALL out…In Christ, In America—KT
November 19th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Goldman Sachs and the Wall Street barons paid $ 600 million bucks to get Barack Obama elected - and you can guarantee that they WILL get their money’s worth out of him!
“Change you can believe in” my ass!!!!
November 19th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
This is awesome, indyfolks!
You all rock.
Fat chance for Obama to take heed to any of this. He’s the same fucker as any other politician.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I like the way you set the article up. I’d just like to add that Medicare also covers disabled individuals.
November 27th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
WE HAVE MORE TO DO:
Democrat Jim Martin is in a runoff against Bush Republican Saxby Chambliss for the Senate seat from Georgia. Bush’s Saxby Chambliss voted against spending a few measly dollars to provide health care coverage for Georgia, and Americas needy children. But he supported wasting hundreds of billions of your dollars, and the life BLOOD of Americas finest on an unnecessary war in Iraq.
At a time when 47 million of you have no health insurance coverage, and over 100 million of you with insurance are just one major illness away from complete financial destruction. Bush and Saxby Chambliss voted to make the heart break of bankruptcy relief even harder for all of you to use.
You see, Bush and Saxby Chambliss, and his family don’t have to worry about their health care coverage. They have the finest health care coverage your tax money can buy for them. Courtesy of you. The American Tax payer. In fact, no one but the super rich can afford the health care coverage you the tax payer provide for Saxby Chambliss, and his family for FREE! with your tax dollars.
He supposedly works for you. But he doesn’t think you and your family should have access to the type of taxpayer supported FREE health care that you provide for him, and his loved ones for FREE!. Doesn’t that just make you BURRING MAD!
Vote for JIM MARTIN for US senator from Georgia. Vote for JIM Martin who will be on your side. Vote for JIM MARTIN who will work with President Obama and a majority congress for you. Vote for JIM MARTIN most of all for your-self, your family’s, friends, and loved ones. Vote for JIM MARTIN for a better America, and a better World.
Don’t let Saxby Chambliss make a chump out of you by tricking you into voting against your own best interest. Saxby chambliss is NOT! on your side. He’s not one of you. He is on George Bush’s side. And we all know what a catastrophe the Bush Chambliss administration has been the past 8 years.
Contact all your family and friends and do every thing you can to see to it that JIM MARTIN and GEORGIANS! take that senate seat back for Georgia, and America. No matter where you live in America. This is important to you. President Obama will need all the help, and power you can give him to try and fix this catastrophic mess that the Corrupt Bush Chambliss administration has created.
As I said before you will have to vote in overwhelming numbers to overcome the Bush Chambliss “Let Them Eat Cake” vote fraud machine. Vote early if you can. Then help everyone you can get to the polls and vote for JIM MARTIN. You and your loved ones don’t have to be Saxby Chambliss’s victims anymore.
I know you will get it done. Just like you did for President Obama.
God bless all of you
jacksmith - WORKING CLASS… :-)
November 30th, 2008 at 2:53 am
This is a genuine attempt to start a real dialogue, great.
Further resources, great.
Lets keep it up and remember sometimes you get a chance to fight like hell.
This is the best chance we’ve had in years.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I’ve already said it several times in other posts. But again: I voted 3rd party for president for the first time since ‘92. I don’t believe in Obama nor McCain. Voting Republican or Democrat is purely playing political tennis- back and forth, back and forth, etc. OMG, people! We get 12 finalists for American Idol, and out of a nation of 310 million people–we get these two guys as finalist for President? And now—it’s Obama?!!??!?!
I’ll believe in Obama’s ‘change’ when I see it…and oh by the way…
EVERY ONE PLEASE THESE READ THIS ARTICLE…
A CALL TO ARMS
Former Deputy Attorney General Philip Berg filed a lawsuit addressing the citizenship status of Barack Obama before the Democratic National Convention and copied Democratic Chairman Howard Dean. It should have alerted them that there was a possible problem before they selected their nominee. But that problem was ignored. Other lawsuits filed before Nov. 4 were also ignored, placing us in what could be a constitutional crisis. The good news is the real election hasn’t taken place yet. The Electoral College doesn’t meet until Dec. 15. That gives us less than a month to find the answers to the looming questions regarding whether Barack Obama meets the constitutional requirements for the office of president. The courts don’t seem to be in any hurry to take up their responsibility as guardians of the Constitution, so now Congress must step in. You see, members of Congress are sworn to uphold the Constitution, and when they vote in January to confirm (or reject) the vote of the Electoral College, they can’t very well do that unless they know for certain that the basic constitutional requirements for office have been met. An ad running this week in the Washington Times Weekly asks three questions America needs to know: “Was Barack Obama really born in Kenya ?” “Is he really a citizen of Indonesia ?” And, “Does the Constitution still matter?” As I wrote about last week, there are many reasons to doubt whether Barack Obama meets the requirements for the office of president. First, there’s that pesky tape from Sarah Obama, Barack’s grandmother, where she says, “I was in the delivery room in (Mombosa) Kenya when he was born Aug. 4, 1961 .” Secondly, there’s the matter of U.S. law. If only one parent was an American citizen, as in Obama’s case, the law at the time of Obama’s birth required one parent to have been an American citizen for at least 10 years – five of which had to have happened after the age of 14. Since Obama’s mother was only 18 at the time of Obama’s birth, he would not qualify as an American citizen if his grandmother is right about him being born abroad. Thirdly, there’s no original birth certificate – just a “certification of live birth” posted on a website experts say is forged and altered. Fourthly, there’s the issue of Indonesian citizenship, which is a prerequisite to attending school there. Add to that the fact that Obama’s stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, is listed as his father on his Indonesian school records. If he had U.S. citizenship, according to Indonesian law, he would have lost it when he attended school there or if he was adopted by his stepfather as his records indicate. As the ad proclaims, “The Constitution matters” and is still worth defending. All we are asking is that Congress takes their oath to defend it seriously. If Obama can prove he meets the basic but essential constitutional requirements, fine, he’ll serve legally. But if he cannot provide simple proof, then he cannot. We’re not asking for the world here, just the original birth certificate that each of us delivers when getting a passport, driver’s license or Social Security card. If we can’t tell the clerk at the post office to check out the digital photo of a certificate posted online, neither should the guy running for president. Members of Congress: If you have taken an oath to defend the Constitution, now’s the time to keep it. But I know the reasons for your hesitancy. I’ve faced them myself and have come to the conclusion that if one of our founders, Patrick Henry, could proclaim, “Give me liberty or give me death,” we can face our fears and stand for the document they penned that outlines our God-given rights to freedom. What if we asked our Founding Fathers, many of whom lost everything in the battle for our nation, if they think the Constitution is still worth defending? They already answered that question with their lives. But what about the objections? “Obama won the popular election.” So did Al Gore. But George W. Bush is still president. That’s because the Electoral College decides – and in this case, it hasn’t yet. In fact, the electors can’t fulfill their solemn oath to uphold the Constitution unless they know the candidates meet the basic constitutional requirements for office. “This should have happened long before now.” That’s true, but the cases filed before Nov. 4 were ignored by the courts, and the answers to these basic questions were never answered. There is still time for those answers since the real election has not yet happened. “They’ll be riots in the streets.” This objection is much like the reaction of Kenya to Obama’s candidate of choice, Raila Odinga, who incited violence and the burning of hundreds of churches (not a single mosque) when he lost the race. Obama raised a million dollars for this upstanding guy and assigned a Senate staffer to help him. To bring the violence to an end, the Kenyan government put Odinga – the guy who lost the election – in office to keep him from burning more churches. They failed the first rule of the playground: Confront the bully; don’t appease him. Threats of violence must be met with fierce resistance, not appeasement.
“I better not be public on this because I’ll become a target.” News flash: If you believe in life, liberty and the family, you already are a target. The henchmen are selected; the gallows for our freedoms are already being built. And the only candidate in history to never move an inch to the center during the campaign has no intentions of changing his agenda of outlawing our viewpoint with the “unfairness doctrine,” “thought crimes,” “The Employment Non Discrimination Act” the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and all the rest. As I wrote about in my book, “The Criminalization of Christianity” (which will surely come true if we don’t act now), “Never fail to do the right thing for fear that the opposition will attack you in response. The other side can and will attack you anyway, at a time of their own choosing rather than yours, regardless of whether you act.” “We’ll just beat him in four years.” In four years, we won’t be able to recognize what’s left of our country. And if you think taking on this issue right now is hard, try doing it when our radio airwaves are shut down and our freedoms are stripped from us, as he has promised to do. And with Obama’s promise to pass the so-called Freedom of Choice Act as “the first thing” he does, you can say goodbye to the notion of protecting unborn children again – and goodbye to every law in all 50 states that notifies parents, keeps our tax dollars from footing the abortion bill and prevents even a single partial-birth abortion. “They’ll say I’m a ‘racist’ and call it ’sour grapes.’” Our Founding Fathers faced death, we face name-calling. Right now our U.S. soldiers are being shot at for the freedoms guaranteed in our Constitution. If the Constitution isn’t worth undergoing some name calling, then the oath taken to defend it means nothing. “Somebody else will do it.” They haven’t. And time is running out. “It’s not my responsibility.” The lower court in Philadelphia threw out Phil Berg’s case (which is now before the U.S. Supreme Court) based not on the merits, but on the issue of “standing,” and pointed to the need for Congress to act. If the questions of constitutionality are not met before Congress is called upon to uphold the vote of the Electoral College, they cannot fulfill their oath and duty to uphold and defend the Constitution. If we are willing to ignore the constitutional requirements for the highest office in our land, what else are we willing to forgo? That part about free speech? Freedom of the press? Freedom of religion? “We deserve what we got.” That’s true, so did the people of Nineveh who asked, “Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?” If you’re unfamiliar with the story recorded in Jonah, God didn’t give the Ninevites what they deserved; and even though the judgment was pronounced against them, when they fasted, prayed, sought God and turned from their wicked ways, God had mercy and spared them from judgment. “It’s impossible.” With God, all things are possible. Eight years ago the election was called for Al Gore, and he never took office. If God is the same today as He was yesterday, He can still split the sea, raise the dead, stop the sun and reverse the results of the popular vote if the basic requirements of the Constitution are not met in the candidate. “He’s constitutionally qualified.” Great. Then it won’t be hard to prove it. The Electoral College votes on Dec. 15 – we now have less than 30 days of freedom left. How will you spend it? Will you “safely” keep quiet about our nation’s most important document, or will you step forward to defend it? There’s a replica of William Wallace’s sword hanging on my wall. It reminds me of his words captured in the movie “Braveheart”: William Wallace: I am William Wallace. And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You’ve come to fight as freemen, and freemen you are. What will you do without freedom? Will you fight? Man: No … we will run … and we will live. William Wallace: Aye. Fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live – at least a while. And, dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies, that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!
Congress, you were elected for such a time as this. Don’t miss your moment in history to defend the Constitution you were sworn to uphold. Not extreme. Not fringe. Just constitutional. A thorough investigation must be conducted to ensure the basic constitutional requirements for the office of president have been met. It is not just your right – it is your duty. And you have less than 30 days to act. You have the freedom right now that you will never have again. You can fight to defend the Constitution of the United States , or you can run. As William Wallace asked, the question is: Will you fight?
Call your representative in Congress at 202-224-3121 and ask them to hold immediate congressional hearings to investigate and ensure the basic constitutional requirements for the office of president have been met.
Fast and pray.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=81307
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–In Christ, In America –KT–
November 30th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
“WHAT WE NEED: Instead of rebranding the occupation, Obama should pursue a rapid and complete withdrawal from Iraq”
This is absolutely crazy. We cannot just withdrawal from Iraq. Why are people having such a hard time understanding this? If we withdrawal completely and rapidly, we are putting ourselves in a crap-load of danger for retaliation against the United States of America. If you want to die in the next 5 years, be my guest… but those aren’t in my plans. Obama is a smart man… but we definitely do not want to “withdrawal rapidly.”
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 pm
In response to K.T.’s article, I am quite appauled by the writer, Janet Porter. She has no sense of reality and merely tries to mold the laws of the land to fit her agenda and her radical interpretation of what she thinks God would want. First of all, her basic argument is that Congress is to uphold the Constitution. Uhhhhh… I thought Congress made laws and the Judicial branch decided on constituionality? That’s what my 4th grade teacher told me anyway. If Congress is the great dictator of the Constitution they sure have let a lot of unconstitutional things slide in history; slavery for 90 years, not allowing blacks or women to vote, segregation, and the list goes on and on.
On the subject of Obama’s citizenship, she may not be “asking for the world” but she is definitely asking that he is not elected President, in this case I believe that is the world she is wanting. First of all even if he was born in Kenya, he is still a citizen. I’m not sure why an 18 year old Kansan(newly Hawaiian) would have traveled to her husband’s home country just to give birth.Porter mentions that a parent has to have 5 years of citizenship after they are 14. I thought this sounded fishy so I researched it and found that atleast 5 have to be before she(Obama’s mama) was 14 and a minimum of two of the other 5 after she was 14. So she technically could have lived in the U.S. from the ages of 8 to 16 and her son is still an American citizen even when he was born just short of her 19th birthday. Talk about selective screening! She completely only comprehended the words of the law that supported her position.
Now onto the Indonesia issue. I find this situation as being more questionable than the Kenyan one. As a 6 year old he should have completely protested moving to Indonesia so he didn’t lose his eligibility to become President! This is absurd! Why does it mater where an American born child lived from the ages of 6 to 10? It obviously was not his choice to lose citizenship(if he actually did). In fact, he even chose at the ripe old age age of 10 to live in Hawaii as an American with his grandparents instead of going back to Indonesia. It is kind of odd he can’t produce a birth certificate, but I think he can easily prove citizenship by these examples.
Here’s the funny part though……..guess who was not eligible to be President until 8 months before the election? Give up? John McCain! He was born in the Panama Canal Zone and a special bill was proposed(by Democrats) to relieve any questioning of his eligibilty. It was even cosponsored by Barack Obama…life’s a bitch for Miss Porter isn’t it? If McCain can have an exception made for him, I believe we can skip this investigation of Obama.
I can’t believe she has the audacity(oh no that’s one of those Obama words) to say that it was an act of God that got Bush elected instead of Gore and there should be another one to unelect Obama. That’s how the electoral college works! You can get more votes and not win the election, just ask Samuel Tilden. She also said we won’t be able to recognize our country in four years and Obama promised to strip freedoms from us. I need to stop talking about her, I could argue her points for ever! That is something I would fight for. I guess the only conclusion I can come up with about her is that they only get Fox news on her daddy’s plantation.
My opinion about qualifying as President:
I don’t care if you are born in Mombosa or Mars(or the Panama Canal), if you can get 53%(67 million people) of all American voters to believe you are the best person to become President, then you deserve to be elected. We need to embrace whomever is President and do OUR part to change(make better) the world we live in(doing something, not just bloging about it) so that we wouldn’t have a presidential winner based purely on the ideological platform of “change”.
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Garrett: Points well taken on a lot of issues. Wouldn’t you agree, though, if what you say about McCain is true, that if HE were elected ,the Dems AND the media would be screaming the same thing!?!?!?! The reason why you don’t hear about the birth issue on Obama is the fact that he’s a Dem and the media won’t cover it. Period. Also, so what you’re sayin’ is that since Congress makes the laws that they don’t have to play by their own rules? I never thought I’d live to see the dy a left-winger utter those remarks. Thirdly, you further write that since Obama garnered 67 mil. votes, regardless of the law, he deserves to be President? Wow. At least I very strongly agree w/ you on your last two points in your last three lines. I can’t wait to hear other chime in and to see this thread keep going! In Christ, In America–K.T.–
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
K.T.: I’m not sure the media would question his eligibility. He was born in a U.S. territory at a Naval base, he just happened to fall into a category of ineligibility until that bill was passed. I definitely don’t think this should have stopped him. If your father is a high ranking Naval officer then you probably should qualify as an American citizen.
What I meant on the Congress issue is that I believe they should make laws in a pragmatic manner in order to do what’s best for the nation as a whole. All laws they pass are deemed constitutional(even if they really aren’t) until the judicial branch voids them if the enacted law contasts with the Constitution.
On the issue of Presidential eligibility I disagree with the current law but of course I wouldn’t go as far as saying it would be alright to break it(I hope Obama isn’t). I do think it needs to be changed though. I know why the founding fathers made this rule; I’m assuming so that there wasn’t an “invasion” of foreigners (if you will) to elect a President with anti-American motives. I believe this is an out of date law that can be ammended to allow a foreign born citizen the right to become President without leaving America’s well-being in the balance. There are two reasons why I suppport this law, no I’m not a foreign born Ameican(born in MO), the reason is that I think it is pointless to allow foreigners to become a citizen then let them be a Governor, Senator, or other high office positions but not President. We’ve even had two foreign born Sec. of States(Kissinger and Albright). The other reason is that I think it contrasts with the idea of the “American Dream”. Why can a foreigner hold all positions but President? Wouldn’t this open up the flood gates of the true American Dream and also unify Americans? We wouldn’t have U.S. nationals, or naturalized citizens, or dual citizens, we’d just have one class - Americans.
I do like you’re idea of having more ligitimate candidates - American Idol style. I must admit I did vote for Obama but if you were to have put the top 6 candidates of both parties on the ticket he might have been my 4th or 5th favorite of the lot, even behind a Republcan or two. But, when you just get down to Obama and McCain, I think Obama’s “style” is better suited for our economic situation. I do have one concern with that system though. You would likely see a winner with much less than 50% of the vote. I think we should have a run-off until you get down to two viable candidates so a majority of the people decide the election. I know many foreign countries do this, I think Brazil is one of them. Something similar to how Georigia is deciding their Senate seat would be appropriate. We need more viable parties to make your proposition work though, I don’t think this means voting for Nader or any of the other third parties(what have they done?) it needs to be a rallying of different groups of Americans with similar ideas to create parties; The Farmer Party, The Gay and Pro-Choice Party, The Christian Party, etc. etc. …Just a thought….. - GT
December 4th, 2008 at 10:53 am
GT-
In regards to your post:…..’What I meant on the Congress issue is that I believe they should make laws in a pragmatic manner in order to do what’s best for the nation as a whole.’ I do agree with this-absolutely, wholeheartedly. But in reality, do they do this? No way. (We all would be a lot better off if they would.)
You response: ‘There are two reasons why I suppport this law, no I’m not a foreign born American(born in MO), the reason is that I think it is pointless to allow foreigners to become a citizen then let them be a Governor, Senator, or other high office positions but not President. We’ve even had two foreign born Sec. of States(Kissinger and Albright). The other reason is that I think it contrasts with the idea of the “American Dream”. Why can a foreigner hold all positions but President? Wouldn’t this open up the flood gates of the true American Dream and also unify Americans? We wouldn’t have U.S. nationals, or naturalized citizens, or dual citizens, we’d just have one class - Americans.’
I think you meant to say it is pointless NOT to allow…I won’t lie to you; I’m open on a lot of issues; and old-fashioned on others…I have to stand my ground on this one. There is no way I’d ever want a President foreign born from a number of reasons. I don’t care how ‘Americanized’ they are. Security issues for one. A President is so unundated w/ all kinds of information. If one were to have ties, especially close family ties to another nation (even if it is a close ally,) this has got trouble all over it. Then there’s the whole leniency issue to that particular nation, and a President could possibly be in a position to NOT keep his country’s best interest at hand, etc. You made a good point about Albright and Kissinger. But the fact that they ARE foreign born, for me, does concern me. How much do we REALLY know what has went on behind closed doors that involved relations w/ Germany and Israel? Kissinger was German. This could both be an asset or a liabilty if he had anything to do with German/U.S. relations under his tenure- and even more so with Albright (I don’t know her nationality of birth, I just know she barely escaped Europe and made it in to America because she was Jewish.) Do you really think that she wouldn’t harbor any anomosity toward Germany, etc., because of what she has went through? Being born of this nation, she would not have had to deal with any of that. I know this sounds petty, but it’s a real concern to me. National security of the highest office needs not to be tampered with, altered, amended, etc. just so we can keep up ‘with the times,’ and ‘goes against the ideal of the American dream.’
Your last two lines: I agree with, but is truely idealistic. I don’t think that in our life time, we’ll ever NOT hear the issue of race come up. We desperately need to move on, America. It’s only a problem because we still talk about it, and therefore, we’re still ‘too aware’ of it. Yes. I’ll say it. In a sense, you DO ‘need to sweep it under the rug and it’ll go away.’ If parents and grandparents, both young and old, would never bring up racial issues, (Yes, it’s important to teach your children about unique racial identity, but I mean those issues with negative connotations. The N-word, ‘whitey’, you name it; you know what I mean…) then by the time those children became adults, they would not have/harbor any ill-will to another race, or at least be ignorant of negative racial connotations. I know–that sounds idealistic, too–but it’s the truth.
Lastly, I lived in MO for several years…I just moved from there in fact…Where we you from, Garrett? I lived of KC. I’m hoping to hear back from you and others…Take care—In Christ, In America–K.T.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
KT: Okay, I can see your point on the foreign born President issue. I guess I’m caught in a trap of having voted for Obama while knowing there was the faint possibility he might have been born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I guess I feel he passes the “test”. There’s no denying that he owes everything he has to the U.S., not Kenya or Indonesia. My opinion is that people like Kissinger, Albright, and Obama are people who are true American role models despite where they were(or might have been) born at. If you are an unpstanding American, in public office I might add, you should have the rights of anyone born here which is to become President.
On the issue of race; I whole-heartedly agree with you. I couldn’t have said it better. I know you said this is idealistic, but I’m kind of wondering if this phase hasn’t already started, because I feel I’m young enough(i’m 20) to even have been blessed by that “ignorance” of racial tension you mentioned. Sure, I heard racial slurs on many visits to grandparents’ houses, but I didn’t see the reason to let it sink in. I don’t understand the concept of white and black water fountains or swimming pools, or any of the other seperate-but-equal stuff, I think I’m too young/naive to see the purpose. I think that allowing racial tensions to “sink in” is the ONLY reason anyone my age would harbor bad feelings for another race….Well said on your part……we finally agreed on something, KT! :)
You caught me! I admit I do have a tendency to be quite an idealist even to a fault. I just wish more people(our elected officials especially) would work towards an ideal goal instead of letting America just “get by”.
…..To answer your question; I was born in Joplin, MO. However, I grew up in KS and go to college in eastern KS. One of my brothers still lives in the Joplin area and my other brother used to live close to Warrensburg for several years. He and I have similar discussions to the ones we’ve had on here and we disagree about everything too(probably due to our age difference). However, I can’t imagine there being a better role model for a younger brother. Thanks for taking the time to keep this post going KT, hopefuly we can get more people involved! - (T)GT
December 31st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
The “Change” is what people wanted to hear but what was being said was “Chains”.
The chains of a new world order will entangle the freest of men. It is up to the people alone to manifest the chnage they want.
But hear this,
” Hope can NOT manifest with out accountability”.
The hope for the very idea of democracy is nil, today. for a country that can’t and won’t promote and support true freedoms in it’s own country have no business telling others how to acheive the same.
When a nations government drive it’s people into a false belief based of propaganda and lies like the United States has done, the illusion of protecting the country from outside forces that would do harm to us is the very harm that has been instilled from by it’s own government.
The simple right to have a home, education, health care and an sanctuary during ones live is not hard. Except that a corrupt economic model that drives the nation insane trying to acheive these simple things supports only indentured servitude to an elite few that literally works against the freedom to accomplish this during ones working life. All well leaving one to fear all during their later years how they will be able to afford to maintain a comfortable life. That doesn’t mean a life of grandieos life style either.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:46 am
You seem like very brilliant minds. Why don’t the authors of these articles attempt to join goverment so that you can initiate positive change. Instead of always being critiques. I understand you are also social activists which is a good thing. But remember what Obama said just by electing him it is not the real change that people want. There needs to be a serious effort by the electorate to demand and make sure that serious change actually happens.