Can you remember…
With less than 6 months to go until the 2010 mid-term elections every politician is ramping up their campaigns. Every politician that is looking to get voted back to Congress or elected office is coming up with a plan. In essence they are all saying the following:
I was responsible for X
X is great because of …
You should re-elect me so I can do more things like X
Now let’s look at some of the items that fill in for X. Since Democrats are the Party in power, the buck stops with them and so will the focus of this exercise. But similar subsititutes can be found for Republicans too.
The Obama Stimulus -
Priced at $787 billion, it was stated by the President and Democrats that the Stimulus would
1) Keep unemployment capped at 8.5% in 2009 and drop it to 7.5% in 2010
2) Create or save 3.5 million jobs
3) Create at least 60% of the jobs in the private sector
Reality -
The cost of the Stimulus has been raised to $862 billion as it went over costs by $75 billion in the first year. Expectations are that 2010 will cost more than expected as well.
Unemplyment has been as high as 10%, and remains above 9.5% across the nation with many States and counties far higher
So far 600,000 jobs have been created/saved. That number is under great debate as many newspapers have proved that raises count as a saved job, money was given to districts that don’t exist, many of the “saved” jobs were created via a Government formula instead of an actual job.
In multiple areas the jobs created/saved have been temporary and in the Government sector. Some areas, with Democrat officials, have received disproportionate amounts of money. Overall the equation has averaged that each created/saved job cost $150,000+, but pays only $30,000.
The Health Care Reform (Obamacare) -
Priced at $938 billion, it was stated by President Obama and Democrats that it would
1) Provide healthcare for the 40 million people without helathcare
2) Save $110 billion in healthcare costs over 10 years
3) Stimulate the economy, as corporations would not have to worry about healthcare costs and individuals would have reduced costs
Reality -
The cost of the Obamacare has now been priced by the CBO at $1.05 trillion, based on the latest analysis which may increase further in the future.
The total coverage of the Obamacare will be 20 million people, leaving some 20 million without healthcare.
The CBO has stated that an extra $115 billion over 10 years was missed due to rushing to provide estimates for Congress and passage of the Bill. Thus there is no savings.
1 in 4 people making under $250,000 will have their taxes increased to pay for Obamacare.
Already dozens of major corporations have announced measures to cut costs that directly relate to increases from Obamacare, thus not stimulating the economy.
The budget for the IRS will nearly double (increasing by $10 billion a year) as it enforces the Obamacare, forcing people to buy insurance or face fines and potentially jail.
While payment for Obamacare starts now, coverage will not start until 2014.
ACORN -
A community organization that backed Democrats and Democrat Party programs, that was shown to have multiple offices across America that engaged in apparent fraud against the Government. Based on videotape of these actions, and multiple court cases on voter registration fraud, funding was denied.
Reality -
Several elected officials up for re-election that were endorsed by ACORN voted to continue funding the organization (like Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York).
ACORN sued alleging that ending funding was illegal.
ACORN renamed itself and all of its local organizations, regaining all the funding that was denied the organization named ACORN.
ACORN sued the investigator that provided the videotape evidence of fraud in the organization.
State of the Union Address –
President Obama stated in 2009 and 2010 that the economy and jobs were the primary focus of his Administration.
Reality -
After the Obama Stimulus was passed in 2009, the Obama Administration focused on Health Care Reform.
After passing Obamacare, the Obama Administration and Congress focused on immigration reform, Cap & Trade, and Wall Street reform.
Wall Street Reform –
Multiple Bills stated to ensure that another economic crisis would not happen in the future, and the public would not have a further burden.
Reality –
65% of banks have paid back all TARP funds, with interest. 50 of the largest banks will be charged a tax for being so large and having taken TARP funds.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the 2 most critical components of the collapse, continue to lose money and receive automatic funding from the Government.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be the target of a congressional study. Democrats opposed any other action against these insititutions.
The increased taxes are estimated to be passed onto the public in new and higher fees.
Cap & Trade -
Proposed to reduce the effects of global warming, thus saving the planet and encouraging green energy jobs.
Reality –
President Obama stated in 2007 that energy prices would “skyrocket”. Estimates are that Cap & Trade will increase energy costs by 150% or more.
Global warming has been found to be based on faulty data collection, improper scientific models, and the restriction of opposing scientific view.
Green energy continues to be 7 – 15 years away from mass usage in the best case estimates.
Carbon credits are considered to be ineffective in curbing carbon dioxide emmisions by many green energy proponents.
Iran -
President Obama offered to speak directly with the leader of this nation in efforts to stabilize the Middle East. Many Democrats supported this view.
Reality –
Iran has defied all requests to stop nuclear weapons development.
Iran has enhanced it’s ability to delive long-range missiles.
Iran has stated, repeatedly, that America should be destroyed/removed.
Iran continues to fund Islamic extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Terrorism/National defense –
New regulations and direct communication with the world will encourage a new view of America. Widely supported among Democrats. Terrorist were renamed, and the Government was instructed to look for internal threats – based on extreme right-wing, religious, and military basis.
Reality -
Christmas 2009, a terrorist tried to blow up a plane in American airspace. That terrorist was put under arrest, given miranda rights, and did not provide timely information about training or other plans until after making a deal with his lawyer.
A terrorist tried to car bomb Times Square. The attempt failed, due to failure on the part of the terrorist.
Americans, expressing their right to criticize the Government, in the Tea Party movement are labeled extremists, radicals, violent, and stupid (all without proof).
The Obama Administration authorized a kill order on American citizen (and Al Quaeda member) Anwar al-Awlaki.
In Fort Hood, an Army officer in contact with Al Quaeda, commited terrorism.
The means of stripping citizenship is under debate currently.
The list can go on.
While many politicians will cite all of the above, most will not note the reality. Television commercials, internet communications, radio ads, print media and more will be used to shrink the above issues into a soundbite. That soundbite will offer few facts and lots of emotion. When faced with that soundbite and dirth of information, refer to the above. Then consider if the politician involved is worthy of re-election.
