Well, folks. I don’t know what to say. After watching Obama’s speech last night (I guess it was two nights ago now), I have to say that I understand why people adore him so much. Hell, I may even vote for him myself. The laundry list of things he’s willing to ‘give me’ is just about everything I need and it’s hard to argue with that.
In all seriousness, his speech was the most eloquent, well-delivered, gigantic piece of fireworks-fueled liberal bull crap I’ve ever seen! For those that didn’t watch it –here’s a rundown of the main points I gathered from the speech. Just click on the title of this post above to view. Obama comments are in bold and mine are in italic.
I've taken the liberty if shifting the order of some things around to make it easier to stay on topic. If you want to read the speech as it was given, please the the post directly below this one.
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To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past.
This is a good time to look at just how long Obama has been campaigning. He took office on January 3rd, 2005 and began running for President (officially) on February 10, 2007. He formed his exploratory committee on January 16, 2007.
Since declaring his candidacy, Obama has missed 226 of the 398 votes (57%) and has only bothered to show up to vote on 35 days in the last 20 months. Nice work if you can get it. I wonder if he got paid his full Senate salary during that time.
All in all, he was elected to the U.S. Senate 1334 days ago. He has spent 124 of those days actually at the Senate, voting on various measures. He has spent 591 days campaigning for President while raising a half a BILLION dollars in the process.
We meet at one of those defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
In other words, George W. Bush sucks and America is in the toilet
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
George W. Bush still sucks and America is still in the toilet
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.
George W. Bush sucks even and America is in lower the toilet
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
America is the toilet
We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.
I can’t use the language I would really like to use right now, there might be children watching. Suffice it to say that, in my book, this last comment automatically disqualifies Obama from being President.
But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time?
I think it says that McCain is right more often than he’s wrong.
And when one of his chief advisors – the man who wrote his economic plan – was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners." A nation of whiners?
Yes, Barack, a nation of whiners. Phil Gramm was right to say it then and he’s still right. Just because you want to pander for votes doesn’t mean the truth shouldn’t be spoken. We’re not all victims.
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.
In other words: Rich, out of touch old coot
For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy – give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is – you're on your own.
In other words: Rich, out of touch old coot
Well it's time for them to own their failure.
Pardon me while I bash Republicans
We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President – when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.
Pardon me while I bash Republicans. Never mind that this statement is patently false.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves – protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.
Funny, I always thought that education, water treatment, new schools, science and technology were handled by state government, local government and private enterprise. What business does the federal government have in any of this stuff and who says we can’t do it for ourselves?
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
No class warfare taking place here…
That's the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves…
Unless you don’t want to be responsible for yourself, then the government should take of you.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them.
Biden’s been there for all 30 of them – plus 5 years before that – what his excuse?
Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.
People already have family leave for this. What Obama is talking about is PAID family leave. A great concept until you try to put it into practice. Who do you think is going to pay for it? Just like ALL liberal fallacies – you!
And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work.
This again?? For the last time – it is ALREADY ILLEGAL to discriminate in pay, or any other aspect of business based upon race, sex, creed, etc.
For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war.
From the friendly confines of the Illinois State Legislature
John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.
Yet another one of those moments when you just want to bust this guy in the chops. Talk about “audacity”. To actually have the balls to say this about John McCain is incomprehensible.
And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration
One minor detail Obama seems to forget. He was calling for troop withdrawal in 2003 because he believed we couldn’t win and this was a waste of American lives, money an time. He called for troop withdrawal because the surge would not work.
The Iraqi government and the Bush administration are now talking about because we’ve won! – something that would have never happened if Barack Obama and Joe Biden had gotten their way. Once again, it takes mega-balls to make a claim like this and keep a straight face.
John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.
If that’s the case, Senator Obama, then return to the Senate next week and introduce a resolution calling for immediate withdrawal of our troops. The vote should be 99-1, right?? I dare you.
You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq.
I’m confused, we were supposed to focus only on Afghanistan and bin Laden so that we don’t take our eye off the ball and THAT is supposed to defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries. A truly idiotic statement if I ever heard one.
You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances.
Someone please name me one country that is longer an ally of ours because of the liberation of Iraq. Come on, I’m waiting…
I will end this war in Iraq responsibly
By now declaring victory when I said earlier that victory was not possible.
And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.
I guess we’re back to George W. Bush sucks and America is in the toilet
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook.
Now that I’ve finished bashing John McCain, George W. Bush and the Republican – I call “no punchbacks!!”
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.
Why? If there’s nothing wrong with abortion and a woman can do whatever she chooses with her body, who am I to tell her she shouldn’t get pregnant in the first place? After all, it’s her body.
The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47’s out of the hands of criminals.
I’m pretty sure it’s already illegal for criminals to own AK-47’s. Just what are you proposing?
I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.
There isn’t a single legal benefit of marriage that can’t be arranged through currently legal means (health care proxies, powers of attorney, guardianship, joint-tenancy, etc) with the exception of the unlimited marital inheritance – and if you Democrats would allow President Bush to get rid of the death tax, once and for all, you wouldn’t have to worry about that either.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree…
Oh no you di’nt (didn’t)!!
Now the fun part. I’ve collected all the promised Obama made to see just how much he is going to “give” everyone if they will only make him President.
I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95% of all working families.
That’s a lot to promise, Barack. Although you never said how much of a tax cut. It can’t be much. You’ve got a lot of programs to pay for.
I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
Goals are nice. Clear plans on how to do that would be better.
I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power.
Uh…Barack…Where do you think the natural gas is?? I have a hint for you. It’s right next to the oil in ANWR. And what, exactly, is unsafe about the nuclear power facilities we have today? If they are unsafe, shouldn’t you be leading the cause to shut them down??
I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.
How will you help? Oh yeah, tax incentives. Wait a minute. Tax incentives? To “Big Auto”??? How will you pay for this?
I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.
Once again, how? More tax incentives?
I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy – wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.
5 million jobs in energy alone? Sign me up! Explain to me how it is that these jobs can’t EVER be outsourced.
I'll invest in early childhood education.
More money for programs that should be left to the states.
I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support.
Funny, I didn’t realize that the federal government hired teachers and paid their salaries.
And we will keep our promise to every young American – if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.
How exactly will you do that? Why not just follow the states that pay for college for students that work hard enough in school?
If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves.
So let me get this right, you’re going to lower my health insurance premiums? Does CIGNA know about this?? I think I’ll go with the congressional plan – free!
I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less…
That would be nice but I’m pretty sure that the Supreme Court declared the line-item veto unconstitutional a few years back. Perhaps you missed that part?
I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts.
How much will that cost and what, pray tell, do we need for future conflicts?? According to your philosophy, we won’t have any because good diplomacy always works.
I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease.
Other than “climate change”, which is still disputable as a ‘threat’, all of these 21st century threats existed in the 20th century. Trillions of dollars and decades of UN incompetence later, we still have world-wide terrorism, poverty, genocide and disease. Exactly what will you do to change this? You might start by standing up against what’s going on in Darfur. Your buddy Clinton stood by and watched Rwanda happen and you are doing the same thing now. Why?
Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime – by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow.
Try as I might, looking on Obama’s web site, I could not find a dollar-for-dollar breakdown of how much all of this would cost versus how much we could gain by closing the corporate loopholes Obama refers to.
My own guesstimates put the cost of his initiative at well over a TRILLION dollars. In contrast, the entire amount of corporate taxes taken in by the federal government each year is roughly $400 billion. Just how big does Obama think these ‘loopholes’ are. And when they are ‘closed’ – who do you think is going to end up paying the difference – you guessed it – you!
Let’s try a quick experiment: If you add up all of the profits from “Big Oil” and consider them ALL ‘windfall profits’ – you would need to take EVERY PENNY of profit from them for 12 YEARS in order to pay for $1 trillion dollars worth of programs.
Unfair you say? Ok, let’s spread it out a bit. If you took ALL of the profits from all of the Fortune 500 companies – you would need to do that for almost 2 full years to cover the same cost. And Obama thinks he can pay for all this by closing some corporate ‘loopholes’?
Can me cynical but I’d like to see that math on that one.
If he’s so sure that there’s that much money being left out there – why doesn’t he go after it and just balance the budget? Simple really. There isn’t that much to be made by closing ‘loopholes’ and if you don’t make promises – you don’t get votes.
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