Argument against Obama Debunked

Originally appeared on The American Complaint Department October 15, 2012

     Obama’s the worst President ever!  No, I don’t believe that.  That’s what I hear from everyone who is opposed to him in this election.  When I ask them what makes him the worst President in history, they only have a handful of answers.  Most of the answers center on how much money he has spent.  These people are in a panic about the debt of $16 trillion.  I don’t remember any of these people panicking about the $10 trillion debt that our country had when Bush left office.  Most of the other attacks are nonsense such as he is socialist, communist (because these people don’t know the difference), Muslim, and hasn’t done anything good for our country.  The last argument is the one that really gets me fired up. 
       There are two problems with that argument.  First, these people seem to forget that congressional Republicans have spent the last two years fighting every initiative that President Obama has supported.  This has led to very little progress (which was evidenced by the fact that this congress passed fewer bills into law than any congress in history), but the responsibility lies with congressional Republicans, not with the President.  If he were to issue executive orders to get these measures passed, they would be accusing him of abusing his authority. 
       The other problem I have is that, despite the best efforts of Republicans, President Obama has accomplished quite a bit during his term.  Here’s a short list of some of those accomplishments:
       • His economic policies have pulled us from a recession that was heading towards a depression.  The U.S. GDP has grown from 14.07 trillion when President Obama took office to 15.83 trillion in July of this year.  Unemployment was 8.3 percent when the President took office in 2009.  Shortly after he was inaugurated, this number topped out at 10 percent.  Even though he had initiatives such as the Bringing Jobs Home bill blocked by Republicans, he has brought unemployment down to 7.8 percent.
       • He worked to pass the Affordable Care Act, bringing the health care reform that people have been wanting for years.  Today, millions of Americans are now insured due to this bill.  Studies have indicated that this reform will decrease health care spending in the long run as well.
       • Reformed Wall Street with the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act which
       • After 9 years of war, the United States has finally pulled out of Iraq.
        • Under President Obama’s direction, the United States military found and eliminated Osama Bin Laden.
       •Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed for our military bringing more equality to our armed forces.
       • Benefits were extended to same-sex partners of federal employees.
      • Advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
       • Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, furthering equal rights for women.
       • Ended the Bush-era practices of “enhanced interrogation,” which is a nice way to say torture.
       • Signed the Iran Sanctions Act, furthering the sanctions against Iran in an effort to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
       • He began the process of training Afghan troops to replace American troops so that the U.S. could begin withdrawing its troops.
        •Established a “Credit Card Bill of Rights” meant to protect consumers.
       • Increased funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs
       • Increased student financial aid.
       • Reformed the student loan program so that students could refinance their education at a lower rate.
       • Created the Race to the Top program, encouraging school reforms.
       • Furthered the opportunities for higher education by expanding the Federal Pell Grant program.
       • Worked with Michelle Obama to pass the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act to improve nutrition in schools and improve children’s health.
​
       There are hundreds more examples that I can give of the accomplishments that President Obama has made during his term in office.  In fact, there are websites out there like whattheheckhasobamadonesofar.com that do just that.
       I don’t mind if someone doesn’t agree with the President’s policies.  The ability to have different perspectives and beliefs is a fundamental right of our nation.  However, ignoring the accomplishments of the President simply because members of the opposing political party have said that he has done nothing of value is pure mindless conformity.  Do not simply allow these people to ignore evidence and misconstrue the facts to gain power.  They are counting on your blind acceptance of their propaganda to put themselves in a position to improve their own lives at the expense of those who President Obama has spent the last four years protecting – the middle class.  We live in the age of information.  Don’t accept the lies and propaganda that Republicans have been using as their platform in this election.  Look at the facts and make an informed decision in November.  I believe that, if you do, you will cast your vote to re-elect President Obama.

The Need for Healthcare Reform Hits Home

I've spent a lot of time arguing with people about the Affordable Care Act.  Many times these people have told me how they shouldn't be forced to carry insurance because they don't get sick and need medical care.  I've often asked them what happens if they have an accident that causes them to need the care and they aren't covered.  They always tell me that they are responsible and will pay off the bill for their care.  Today, my family had to deal with the problem of having unaffordable medical care without insurance. 

My little sister, who is only nine years old (10 in 12 days!  Happy early birthday!), had an accident and broke the growth plate in her wrist.  She needs surgery to repair the break or she may be in danger of having her arm deformed for the rest of her life.  My father, who works as a preacher, does not have employer-provided insurance.  So this leaves my family with the burden of paying full price for the surgery.  Because the injury is not life-threatening, it is not something that the doctors are obligated to perform.  Of course, being a preacher, my father doesn't make a lot of money.  The high cost of the surgery is way too high for my father to afford.  As of the time I'm writing this post, he is still searching for a way to pay for the surgery. 

Many people will say that he should look for assistance, but he makes too much money.  Of course, while he makes too much to qualify for assistance, he doesn't make enough to be able to afford medical care.  This is exactly why we need the ACA.  The only academic study of the effects of the act showed that the results of this kind of universal healthcare will be that medical costs are driven down.  Lower medical costs and competition in insurance exchanges will drive the price of insurance low enough for people like my father to afford.  The evidence of this was given in the article Lessons for coverage expansion: a Virginia primary care program for the uninsured reduced utilization and cut costs that appeared in the journal Health Affairs in February of this year. 

So as people like Mitt Romney continue to condemn healthcare reform, I ask them to put their money where their mouths are.  Write a check to cover my little sister's surgery or shut your mouth about healthcare reform when you've never had to face a situation like this.  The same goes for anyone who supports this moron's bid for the presidency...if you think that this reform isn't needed, then I invite you to drop a line to my 9-year-old little sister and try to explain to her why she could be forced to live with a deformed wrist for the rest of her life.  But at least you weren't forced by the government to be responsible and cover your own healthcare costs...and that's worth causing a little girl to live with the pain, right?

Get better soon little sister...I'm sure Dad will figure it out.  I love you.

Update:

Through the grace of God and the assistance of family and friends, it looks like my sister will be able to have her surgery.  Thank you to everyone who helped make it possible and those who prayed for her.  

Romneyfish Flips Again

In another episode of "Romney's Full of Crap," we have Mitt saying that emergency rooms are a viable option for people who have no health insurance. 

"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance.  If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care."

This was an attempt to justify his goal of repealing the Affordable Health Care Act if he was to win the election.  There are so many problems with this...let's get started.

First, let's look at the problems with repealing the individual mandate, but keeping other provisions of the law such as the increased age limit on parents' coverage and elimination of denial for pre-existing conditions.  If we expand the number of people insurance companies are forced to cover, and don't require everyone to have insurance, the cost of insurance will skyrocket.  The point of requiring everyone to maintain coverage is that healthcare providers won't have to write off medical bills for uninsured persons and pass the amount owed on to the rest of the people who have insurance.  This is a major factor in the increasing cost of medical care.  If this problem still exists, and we expand coverage, we will only see rising costs of healthcare and insurance rates.  It won't work. 

The other problem is that Mitt is entirely full of crap.  He knows very well that emergency rooms aren't an option for healthcare.  Let's take a look at some previous quotes from Romney on emergency rooms as healthcare for the uninsured:

"Look, it doesn't make a lot of sense for us to have millions and millions of people who have no health insurance and yet who can go to the emergency room and get entirely free care for which they have no responsibility, particularly if they are people who have sufficient means to pay their own way."

 "When they show up at the hospital, they get care. They get free care paid for by you and me. If that's not a form of socialism, I don't know what is.  So my plan did something quite different. It said, you know what? If people can afford to buy insurance ... or if they can pay their own way, then they either buy that insurance or pay their own way, but they no longer look to government to hand out free care. And that, in my opinion, is ultimate conservativism."

So Mitt's plan was that people could choose to either have insurance, pay in cash when services are rendered, or be denied healthcare.  So...according to his plan, if you don't have insurance or you can't pay cash in advance of any services rendered, you just get denied and sent home to either get better or die.  Okay, I don't agree with letting people just die because they can't afford the same care as rich people, but if that's what you want, then I think he needs to stand up and tell the country that this is what he believes.  And he would also have to make a law that allows healthcare providers the option of turning away patients who are dying if they don't have insurance or the money to pay in advance. 

See where the problem lies here?  We either have to let people die, watch healthcare costs continue to skyrocket, or mandate that everyone take personal responsibility and stay insured. 

But the most entertaining piece of this story is the fact that Mitt showed us once again that he is willing to lie and tell people what he thinks they want to hear in order to win the election.  He flip flops like a fish out of water.  He really makes me wonder if the Republican party chose him in an effort to lose this election.  What other explanation is there for putting a candidate out there who does nothing but lie, offend people, and reverse his position on issues every other day?  I don't know...maybe some liberals infiltrated the GOP and worked their way to the top so that they could destroy the Republican party from within.  Or is that just the wishful thinking of a dreamer?

The Pot and the Kettle

It’s kind of funny.  As I’m writing this, I realize that, this blog didn’t start out as a conservative-bashing forum.  I also didn’t previously identify myself as a Democrat or liberal.  While I still won’t declare myself as a Democrat, I do now proudly proclaim myself liberal.  I have backed into this position over the last few years of listening to Republicans and conservatives spout nonsense that they say is in my best interest.  The scary thing is that I live in the “heartland of America.”  This is code for conservative hell.  I am basically behind enemy lines.  Maybe I should change the name of this blog…just a thought.  This post is a discussion of some of the hypocrisies that have driven me to this point.

I’ll start with the thing we are all so very sick of hearing about:  healthcare reform.  I’m not talking about whether it’s good or not, I’m more concerned with the outrage that all of the conservatives have about it.  You may have heard in passing that Republicans were the first group to suggest many of the reforms that the current law has implemented.  This is a fact that conservatives have glossed over every time I have heard it mentioned.  What everyone is talking about is the Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993 (HEART Act).  This bill looks very similar to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  In fact, a look at the areas covered in the two bills leave only a handful of differences.  The most notable differences include the fact that the PPACA included the expansion of Medicaid, eliminated lifetime limits on coverage, and extended coverage for children up to the age of 26.  What is did include was an individual mandate.  What I find most interesting is that the HEART Act was sponsored by a Republican, Senator John H. Chafee.  I’ll go one step further – it had 20 co-sponsors.  Of those 20, 18 were Republicans!  Notable names on the list include Arlen Specter (when he was Republican), Orrin Hatch, Dick Lugar, and Bob Dole.  So this party, which is screaming that the United States as we know it has ended because of the PPACA, is actually responsible for the first proposal of the majority of the PPACA’s provisions.  Did you know this?  I mean really understand.  Think about it before you cast that vote in November.  The same people telling you that they will “protect your freedoms” are actually the ones to originally propose the very legislation about which you are complaining.

So we move on the economy.  If I never hear the words spending or deficit again I could die a happy man.  I keep hearing conservatives (which I use interchangeably with Republicans for the purpose of this post) talk about how spending is out of control and we can’t keep running these kinds of deficits.  My response is usually related to the fact that our country runs on Keynesian economics.  For those of you who don’t know what this means, here is an overly basic run-down:  run deficits during a recession and surpluses during a boom.  What I don’t usually get into is the hypocrisy that exists when Republicans are in power versus the times that they are not in power.  While I’m sure I can go into multiple examples of this…I’ll stick with words from the elephant’s mouth.  In a meeting with the Secretary of the Treasury in 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney was warned that the extreme budget deficits of that time were threatening the economy.  According to former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, Cheney told him that “Reagan proved deficits don't matter.”  He continued by saying, “We won the midterms [congressional elections]. This is our due.”  Sooooo, they matter now?  Just not during the Reagan and Bush administrations?  Oh, I forgot, they earned that right by convincing the voters that they would actually work to improve their lives.  It’s their “due.”  

The last issue is the one something I have been hearing constantly since the Ron Paul bandwagon started to roll - The Constitution.  According to most of the conservatives I know, everything Obama has done since he took office has been unconstitutional…including the fact that he took office!  Try getting into a debate with a conservative about the merits of Obama’s term without his ethnic background or religion being questioned.  But, I digress…we will talk about the Constitutionality of Obama’s actions.  The healthcare debate doesn’t take much discussion.  It’s been before the Supreme Court, and the PPACA has been found Constitutional.  Unless anyone has the training and experience to refute the opinions of the five justices who determined that this was Constitutional (Including Justice Roberts – shocking), then all of your arguments are immediately moot. 

So let’s look at some other issues.  We’ll start with the mild uproar over the action in Libya.  People claimed that Obama’s decision to strike Libya without Congressional approval was unconstitutional.   This is a slightly more complicated matter.  First, the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the military.  Congress is granted sole authority to declare war.  How many conflicts have we been in that weren’t actually declared a war?  So they were pissed because he did it without their permission.  Get over it.  Complicating this further is the fact that we never sent troops into Libya.  The surgical strikes used in the action managed to rid the world of a tyrant without the cost of American soldiers.  Dare I mention – John McCain is even quoted as saying, “I think the administration deserves great credit…Obviously, I had different ideas on the tactical side, but the world is a better place.”

On the other side of the coin, we have the Patriot Act.  This legislation was passed in 2001 and signed into law by President Bush a month and a half after the 9/11 attacks.  Basically, it reduces the requirements necessary for law enforcement to gather intelligence on people in the United States.  Here are some scary provisions:

Ø  A search can be executed without a warrant if an FBI agent provides a National Security Letter – and a gag order is instituted on the ISP’s, banks, credit card companies, and phone companies who must turn over the information!

Ø  Section 215 of the act allows the government to obtain records by simply showing “relevance” to a terrorism of espionage investigation.  Notice that I didn’t say “probable cause” as is defined in the Fourth Amendment.

Ø  “John Doe” roving wiretaps can be issued which do not name a target, place, or facility to be monitored.  (Senator Rand Paul’s Letter of Opposition to the Patriot Act)

So do the people that are so worried about the constitutionality of the PPACA have anything to say?  I see days of uproar over a tax and healthcare issue, but the government can get a blank ticket to spy on anyone they want without a warrant?  However, we’re not hearing about this right now because it was championed by a conservative.  You had better believe that, if Obama had introduced this legislation, we would be hearing about how he was turning the U.S. into a police state where no one would have any freedom. 

This list could go on forever…conservatives want a smaller government, but they want to enforce their religious beliefs on the rest of us, etc.  But I’d like to get this posted so I’ll end with a thought.  One of our greatest founding fathers, George Washington, warned us to “guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism,” in his farewell address.  What would you consider an imposture?  A group pretending to be morally outraged by legislation that they proposed themselves originally?  The same group crying out that we can’t handle the deficits that two of their own administrations ran?  The very same group that claims that the President has been acting unconstitutionally while they have passed a law that defies the people their constitutional rights?  All of this is being done in an effort to convince the people that they are the true patriots of our country.  While we seem to have forgotten most of what Washington warned us about, I implore you to heed his advice. 

Ignorance is Bliss...

Since the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, I have spent a lot of time debating the issue with some conservatives.  This isn’t another attempt to do that.  This is a discussion of the problems I have with debating these people. 

I have a fairly simple request when I debate people…support your arguments.  It’s not a difficult thing to do if you are using sound, reasoned arguments.  That’s the problem.  While I did have a couple of people actually use sources, the majority of these people just posted the same recycled arguments that they have heard on television, radio, or read on their conservative websites.  After using articles from peer-reviewed journals and trusted sources that included facts and figures, I was met with people who just chose to turn a blind eye.  First, they would try to dispute the validity of the facts and figures.  Unless there is a valid reason to dispute them, such as them coming from an untrustworthy source, they are valid.  For statistics like the population of the United States, the commonly accepted trusted source is the Census Department.  (Yes, I used this and it was questioned.)  Then they would attack the journal articles.  Now, I’m not saying everyone has to agree, but don’t tell me an article from a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal is invalid if you haven’t even read the research and have a real point of opposition.  Because you don’t like the fact that it totally invalidates most of your argument is not justification for the conclusions being valid.  These kinds of articles are the standard for academic discussion.  Finally, in a last, desperate attempt to have an argument, my citations were completely ignored.  I was first told that I didn’t use any, and when I proved it, I was told all of my information was refuted.  Well, that’s pretty impossible since I know that not one person I was debating can refute the Census Department or a journal article for which they only have access to read the abstract. 

Retrieved from http://www.politicalruminations.com/2010/09/cartoon-of-the-week.html

Now, I have some friends who might read this and say, “Wait a minute!  I don’t do that.”  I do have some conservative friends who can give me a very challenging and worthy debate.  I have even lost debates with a couple of them (I’m looking at you, Josh.)  Not because I think my position was wrong, just because I wasn’t prepared enough to provide reasonable responses.  Obviously, this is not directed at those people.  In fact, none of those people even attempted to debate the issue.  (I wonder why?) 

After two days of repeating myself over and over for two days and having people stare at the face of my arguments and ignore reason, I have grown tired.  I usually enjoy these kinds of debates.  I like proving people wrong.  It’s even easy in most cases.  But, when the only response you get is nonsense, it stops being fun.  I have fully embraced the fact that I am truly a full-blooded liberal at heart.  I don’t apologize for it, and I don’t apologize for the fact that I think conservative philosophy is nonsense founded in stupidity.  All I’m asking is, please, for the love of Pete, have at least some standards when you debate me.  While I love stomping on conservative ideas, it’s becoming too easy.  It’s almost not even fun anymore.  Almost.

© Keith Tucker

 

 

 

Ubuntu!

This blog is stepping away from the political realm for a minute (for the most part).  I wanted to discuss a concept many people don’t even know exists.  It is called “ubuntu.”  There have been many champions of the ubuntu philosophy.  One of the most respected people who discussed this issue is Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  Archbishop Tutu explained that -

“Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”

I discovered this phrase when my father asked me to prepare a musical slideshow for a sermon.  I do this periodically for him.  In this case, he wanted the content to be centered on this idea of ubuntu.  I had never heard of it, so I did some research.  I watched some video of Archbishop Tutu’s explanation.  I really fell in love with the idea that ubuntu expressed.

It starts with humans being interconnected.  A man named Maslow once created a hierarchy of needs.  Based on his work, Alderfer’s Hierarchy of Motivational Needs was created.  This theory lists three basic categories of needs.  The primary level, existence, has the highest priority.  This is followed by relatedness and finally growth needs.  One organization of Alderfer’s Hierarchy describes existence as including the basic emotional needs and includes connectedness.  I believe that ubuntu describes this very concept.  We have a basic, primal need to for our connection with others.  

As I have been studying this, I have been driving people crazy saying the word ubuntu.  Archbishop Tutu had fun with this word in one of the videos that I watched during my research.  This video probably has, what I consider, the definitive explanation of ubuntu. 

“There is no such thing as a solitary individual.  We say, ‘a person is a person through other persons.’  That we belong in the bundle of life.  And I want you to be all you can be, because that’s the only way I can be all I can be.  I need you, I need you, to be you, so that I can be me.  And that’s why, you see, when you dehumanize another - whether you like it or not – inexorably, you are yourself dehumanized.”

 I see the concept as having two big implications.  First, the personal implication.  I need to be the very best that I can be…so that the world around me continues to improve and be the very best it can be.  This concept can be applied to so many fronts.  The individual front is just the beginning.  Apply the concept to the business front and you can explain the need for corporate social responsibility.  Do we wonder why we get so upset when we see corporations act greedy and under perform?  It is because they are not living up to their potential and it is affecting the world with which they are connected.

The next implication is the connection with others.  To ensure that I can be the best that I can be, I need everyone else to be the best that they can be.  I have a responsibility to myself to support others.  By holding them down, or dehumanizing them, I am actually holding myself back and dehumanizing myself.  What a novel concept.  We must uphold others to ensure that we can continue to stand up ourselves.

Now, what you can’t forget is that these others may not be what you think they should be.  It is not your job to make them into what you want them to be, but to provide them support when they need it.  If you attempt to hold back who they are, you are holding yourself back by extension. 

So, you can see where I’m going with this.  There have been many issues lately that have torn the people of the U.S. apart.  They are fighting about immigration, spending, health care, and even the religion of the President.  In most cases, I believe that the fight comes from the intent to make things better.  The problem is that people are beating each other down to make their point.  Holding with the idea of ubuntu, they are also beating themselves down.  Think about it…have you ever heard anyone say something like, “Obama is a Muslim,” or anything to that effect?  Aside from the fact that he’s not, the question remains – why would it matter?  If he were a Muslim, why would we not hold him up and support him to be the best President and Muslim that he could be?  In turn, that would help us be the very best citizens that we could be.  That’s not saying that you have to agree with everything he says and does, but why not be supportive and constructive?  It can only make you better.

So, back away from the political ideas, I’ll touch on the religious implication of ubuntu.  I can’t write anything better than what Archbishop Tutu said in his sermon:

 

“Jesus did not say, ‘I, if I be lifted up, will draw some.  Jesus said, ‘I, if I be lifted up, will draw all.’  All.  All.  All. All.  Black, white, yellow, rich, poor, clever, not-so-clever, beautiful, not-so-beautiful.  It’s, it’s one of the most radical things.  All!  All.  All belong.  Gay, lesbian, so-called straight.  All, all are meant to be held in this incredible embrace that will not let us go.”

 

This is truly an inspired vision.  I post this simply as a way to play my part in ubuntu.  Think about this for a bit.  Watch some of the videos of Archbishop Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and many others who speak of ubuntu.  Think about how it can apply to your life, and how you view others.  And, most importantly, pass it on. 

Healthcare Reform Defined for the Conservative Mind

For all of my conservative friends – here’s a way for you to think about the health care reform without being too upset.



First, just assume that the government just levied a 1% tax on everyone. That’s obviously within their power. Now, you don’t have to like it, but there’s nothing unconstitutional about it.


Next, in an effort to help out Americans, they have given us a way to exempt ourselves from the tax. All you have to do it carry health insurance. Since the majority of Americans either already have insurance, are on Medicare or Medicaid, or are under economic hardship and income thresholds that exempt them, they will be exempt from the tax.


With all of this…we get to insure that healthcare costs remain reasonable for the foreseeable future! It doesn’t look so bad when you see it from this perspective does it? I know…you conservatives can’t approve of anything sensible if it is passed by a liberal. Oh well. You can lead a conservative to affordable healthcare, but you can’t make him think.

Copyright © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate
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