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.
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       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.

Buzzwords

Earmarks! Conservative! Liberal! Amnesty! Illegals! Taxes! Spending! Obamacare! Jobs! Debt! Job Creators!

Heard enough? Are you ready to walk into the polls and cast your vote for me? No? Why not? Most likely, you will walk into the polls and vote for a candidate this November with little more than a list of buzzwords you heard from their commercials or from some political analyst. I’ve seen a trend in the recent elections that has been disturbing me. Many political ads and commercials have been using buzzwords to entice voters lately. Now I have no problem with the use of buzzwords. I know a little bit about marketing and I know that buzzwords are a part of marketing that is used every day in advertising. This isn’t about the use of buzzwords along with clever marketing…it’s about people voting simply on buzzwords.

Oh, you don’t do that? Well, let’s test that statement. Have you said, “The government can’t just keep spending” anytime recently? Or maybe you’ve talked about how the country is going so far into debt? I doubt that very many can honestly say that they haven’t uttered something along these lines in the last few years. So the next question is, what do you really know about these topics? What is the country’s debt? What was it before the incumbents took office? How does the government spend money? What is the debt ceiling? What does Keynesian economics mean? Does our government practice this? If you can answer these questions accurately, then this post doesn’t apply to you. If not, you may have fallen into the buzzwords trap along with the majority of the country.

Seriously, what do they really tell you when you listen to an analyst or watch a commercial? Let’s take a look at a typical commercial from the recent primaries. This commercial was for Richard Mourdock, a candidate running against 35 year Senator Dick Lugar. This commercial has absolutely nothing to say. There are some checklists though…they have Dick Lugar with the words “Bailouts,” “Tax Hikes,” and “Obama Justices.” Then they have one with Mourdock with the words “Opposes Bailouts,” “Fights Obamacare,” “Balanced Budget,” and “Less Debt.” There is literally no substantial information or justification for voting for this guy except for the fact that he knows how to use buzzwords. Ask yourself…what is his record? What are his qualifications? Don’t know? Maybe because they don’t want to tell you anything if they know they can get the votes by using a few key terms with no real meaning. Here’s the scary thing…he won the primary. A 35-year incumbent lost his seat to buzz words. Now, I’m not saying that I would want Lugar in office. I had a problem with him that had nothing to do with any of the buzzwords. I think that some people had the same problem concerning his residency, which cost him dearly. Regardless…he still lost to a man who campaigned with buzzwords.

This brings me to the use of social hot topics to scare people into voting. While I’m vehemently against political parties (a topic for a later blog), I do recognize that the chances of them going away any time soon is insanely slim to none. Unfortunately, what I have seen many politicians doing lately is using social issues as selling points to scare people away from voting for the other party. Both sides use gay marriage to scare people – immigration has become an issue – and if I hear one more thing about the President’s nationality or religion, I might just snap. First, unless you are gay, why in the hell does it matter to you if marriage between two homosexuals is legally recognized in the U.S.? If you believe marriage is a legal contract, then the government has no right to refuse marriage based on a religious belief. If you believe that it is a religious institution then THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO REGULATE IT BASED ON A RELIGIOUS BELIEF. Here’s the bottom line…it comes up before elections because one side says that if you vote for the other party gays will be able to marry and we’ll all go to hell, turn gay ourselves, or your marriage will mean nothing and your spouse will leave you. This is to scare you into voting how they want you to vote. The other side presents the issue hoping to look like the defenders of the weak riding in on their stallions to defeat the evil oppressors. While I must say that I do support gay marriage, I would really love to see something actually done about the issue so that the political pandering would all just go away.

Immigration – good grief. Everyone is blaming everyone else for the immigration problem. Here’s the fix…build a big ass wall. It will put a crap load of people to work and reduce the amount of illegal immigration. But, wait! Don’t forget that it has to be paid for…so your taxes will have to go up. You can’t have everything you want. To fix this immigration problem the government will have to spend money. Deal with it and stop letting the politicians scare you into thinking that we will lose our sovereignty and become Mexico, Jr. if you don’t vote for them.

The last one that I will briefly address is the nationality and religion of the President. Here’s the thing…stop questioning it. It’s old and boring. The man will not be removed from office. His credentials have been checked, verified, and re-verified so many times that he is probably the most confirmed citizen in United States history. Every court case that has been lost trying to prove he’s not is just adding to the mountain of evidence that there is no justification for this garbage. Oh, and I do believe that this has everything to do with the man’s race. Don’t like being called a racist? Deal with it. If you are still questioning this after this amount of time and all of the evidence that has been put forth, you are doing it for reasons of race. If you say otherwise, you are a liar, sir.

Now his religion. Oh my gosh…he’s a MUSLIM! Well, he’s not…but that’s a great way to scare the hell out of the ignorant rednecks in the U.S. After 9/11, the words Muslim and Islam have almost become profanity. Who gives a crap if the man is a Muslim? Since when did that have any bearing on his Presidency? Oh, I forgot…it’s because bigotry against Muslims is accepted now that a few extremists who called themselves Muslims (which I take issue with) attacked and killed a bunch of Americans. As I have written before…these kinds of views are the most unpatriotic and offensive views that I can imagine coming from citizens of this great country. A few weeks ago, my cousin was interred in Arlington National Cemetery after he was killed in action serving as a Marine. Do me a favor and don’t spit on his grave, the graves of those like him, and the face of those who have served and still serve to protect our freedoms by spreading your hate and fear. This is a nation of acceptance and tolerance. If you are afraid of a Muslim in office then you belong elsewhere. And if you allow this kind of garbage to sway your vote, then you are as bad as those who spew this filth in the first place.

These people think that you are dumb. They think that they can throw a bunch of words with no substance at you and you will run right out and cast your vote for them. The question is: are you going to prove them right? Are you going to vote for buzzwords, or for a representative?