Conservatives, Please Stop Calling Yourselves "Constitutionalists"

At first, I hoped it was a fluke.  Maybe a few rogue conservatives that started calling themselves "constitutionalists."  Maybe Sarah Palin loyalists?  Unfortunately, I keep hearing this absurd claim from conservatives.  They really think that they are constitutional loyalists! 

It drives me crazy to hear this, and it doesn't even take a lot to discredit them.  A few simple questions will dispel this ridiculous attempt to make them feel that they are no longer a party of backwards, anti-equality, anti-progress religious fanatics. 

• Do you support the implied right to privacy in our Constitution that has been recognized by our Supreme Court...including the right to choose abortion?
• Do you support the equal protection (14th Amendment) of all people within the boundaries of a state?  Including illegal immigrants?  Including homosexuals who choose to enter into the contract of marriage?
• Do you believe in the freedom of, and from religion, that is provided in the First Amendment?  Including not allowing the government to write any laws respecting the establishment of religion?  (This means no anti-abortion laws.)

There are more questions that I could ask to disqualify any conservative as a "constitutionalist."  However, I've never had to ask more than this.  If they can truthfully answer yes to the above questions, you should probably follow up with something like, "are you aware that you are actually a liberal?"

I do understand that conservatives recognize that there is a bad connotation with the term "conservative."  It tells people that you are against progress.  That you want to go back to the way things used to be and don't want our society to progress...at least not at a reasonable rate.  Don't be mad, conservatives...you've done this to yourselves.  This makes them want to find a new term for themselves that sounds a little more positive.  Unfortunately, the closest term I could find for conservative ideology is "constitutionalists of convenience."  I use this term to mean that they passionately believe in the Constitution when it fits neatly into their ideology.  However, they believe that anything that falls outside of those ideals, like gay marriage and abortion, should not be protected by the Constitution because it offends their religious and moral beliefs.  This means they are willing to ignore the Constitution when it is not convenient for them.

Conservatives, whatever you choose to call yourselves...and I can think of a few more terms if you would like.  Please...I beg you...stop calling yourselves "constitutionalists."  You're just making yourselves look worse.

Fixing Our Broken Welfare System

One thing that drives me absolutely crazy is hearing people complain about the welfare system in our country.  It's not that I don't think the system needs repair.  I know it is greatly ineffective.  My problem is that almost all of the people like to complain about it without offering any idea of how they would fix it.  Making matters worse, many people complain about redistribution of wealth constantly.  Just yesterday, I got into a discussion about this subject based on a person's complaint about us handing out "cash, food stamps and housing allowances to people who chose the life they have."  The absurdity of this claim is only topped by the fact that the same people debating the issue with me wondered why I think many conservatives don't want to help those in poverty.  Maybe because all we hear is constant complaining about doing it?  We'll get back to that.

More importantly, I mentioned during that discussion that I learned a lesson years ago.  I was taught that you will never really be taken seriously if you bring someone a problem.  You should always bring a solution.  Even if its not the right one, or the one that ends up correcting the issue, you always want to give the person a way to fix the problem.  That's exactly what I feel should be done with the welfare discussion.  Here's my solution.  

The solution to our welfare problem begins with access to education.  Education in our country is a joke at all levels.  Particularly the educational system in poverty stricken areas.  It needs a complete overhaul.  I'm pretty sure that is a concept on which we all agree.  Our children should all have equal access to quality education at no additional cost.  Conservatives may want to sit down for this...it's going to cost a lot of money!  That money will have to come from somewhere.  Increased taxes.  Decreased spending in areas like defense.  I'm not really going to tackle the funding issue, but this will cost.  

Of course, even access to great education won't solve the poverty problem.  There will always be a need for assistance.  It's how we give people that assistance that is important.  Here are some aspects of our system that must be in place for this to work:

• Assistance must provide for the needs of the individuals, including the nutritional needs, without the ability to transfer the assistance to another party or use it for unnecessary items (things like take out pizza - I'm looking at you Papa Murphy's).  
• Contraception must be available at no cost to individuals on welfare.  
• People should be approved for an amount of assistance and it should remain at that level, regardless of whether or not they have any children after they are approved (women who are pregnant should be approved including the anticipated child).  
• Drug tests should be mandatory and each recipient should be tested every time they pick up their assistance.
• Vocational training or higher education (not beyond a bachelor's degree) should be mandatory and provided at no cost.  Missed training (excluding illness) should constitute reduced or denial of assistance.  (There's that spending again conservatives.  Try to stay calm.)
• Companies that don't pay a living wage and have employees working full time while collecting benefits should be charged a penalty.  We do not subsidize the workforce of private companies...I'm looking at you Wal-mart. 
• None of these reforms should reduce the amount of assistance provided.  If savings are realized from the reforms or additional revenue is brought in (thank you, Wal-mart), the money should be used to stabilize the assistance programs during periods of recession and/or expand coverage. 

Now I'm sure that there are plenty more specific changes that I would make if I knew the welfare program well enough.  The point is that I'm not going to sit here and complain about the government taking my money and helping people who need assistance.  I would much rather have my taxes pay for assistance to the impoverished than wars around the world in which we have no business being involved.  I would much rather have some people taking advantage of the welfare system than have rich defense contractors getting even richer lining the pockets of decision-makers to get million and billion dollar contracts.  We spend as much on our defense as the next 13 countries below us on the list of top spenders combined...with room to spare!  I'm pretty sure we can lower the budgets for defense and reallocate a large portion of that money to making sure that we can feed and shelter our people. 

The point is that we are all sick of hearing about it.  Conservatives are in the minority when it comes to what they try to condemn as "entitlement" programs.  The reason our country is seeing a fundamental shift in the way that people are voting is because we don't want to see the rich getting richer while complaining about assistance programs.  And don't tell me how generous conservatives really are.  Generous people don't complain about the fact that their money is being redistributed to the poor.  We want to help the people of the United States.  We see no reason that anyone should go hungry or homeless in the richest, most powerful nation in the world.  Do something about it or deal with it.  Just stop complaining.

A Liberal in Conservative Clothing

Be careful, conservatives.  You might actually be a liberal fighting to convince yourself that you are a conservative.  Oh, the horror!

I know this because I actually talked to one this weekend.  I was in a hotel having dinner, and I began a conversation with a conservative about some hot topics.  As I expected, we made absolutely no headway with the abortion (contraceptives) debate.  There is no winning in a debate about that.  The debates I really enjoyed were about "entitlement" programs and gay marriage.

In these discussions, I simply used a sequence of logical questions to get the poor closet liberal to admit that they didn't really align with conservatives in the way they thought.  We began discussing the law being free from religion.  This conservative played the "Constitution was written on Christian beliefs" card.  Well, that was an easy one.  I simply got the person's agreement that the Constitution was written to protect freedom of religion, and freedom from religion.  Once that was established, I asked if they believed that the government should be forcing some Christians' beliefs on others?  Of course, it was hard to admit, but I got the "no" I was looking for.

Then it was time for the self-proclaimed conservative to play the "but marriage is a gift from God" card.  Another simple one (that seems to be a trend with conservative arguments).  The easy argument here is that, while it is fine for a church to refuse to marry people because of their beliefs, marriage as far as the government is concerned, is purely secular.  It is a contract that has specific rights and responsibilities included.  If religion is taken out of the argument, then we're only left with a contract (called marriage) that the government has no reason to deny to a gay couple.

At this point, I got an agreement that, even though the conservative didn't agree with homosexuality, there was no reason that the government should be denying gay marriage.  This person did attempt to say that they would have to vote against approving gay marriage if it came up because they didn't agree with it personally.  Well, the discussion immediately became about forcing the person's beliefs on others versus allowing others to make decisions on their own.  No matter what logic was used, this was the last hiding place for this faux conservative.  There was not going to be an admission that, even though they said the government should not be writing any religion's beliefs into law and there was no reason that the government should be denying gay marriage, this person actually believed as many liberals do and would vote to see progress in freedom and civil rights.  I warned this person to be careful because they might actually be a liberal in conservative clothes.

At some point, we transitioned to a discussion about "entitlement" programs.  We agreed that Social Security, being a system that is paid into by workers, is not what many people refer to as an "entitlement" program.  (We had a discussion about the word "entitlement" before we started in which we decided that we would use the word to basically "charity" as many conservatives use the term.  We agreed that, by the true definition of the term "entitlement," social security was one.  I'm pretty sure the sentence, "I've paid into that my whole career, you're damn right I'm entitled to it" was uttered.)

Then we agreed that there should be some reform to the programs.  We agreed that people on welfare should be subjected to drug testing.  The surprising part was that, while the conservative thought Medicaid should be destroyed, we agreed that everyone in a country as rich as ours deserved to have basic necessities like food, shelter, and healthcare.  This conservative told me that they believed we should move to a single-payer healthcare system.  Stop.  Re-read that last sentence.  Now realize that this conservative works in the healthcare industry...and has for over 25 years.  At this point, there was no denying the obvious.  I had to tell this person who proclaims to be conservative that they are actually a liberal.  Yes.  This anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, self-proclaim Christian conservative is actually a liberal who is refusing to see the truth.  If you believe in the freedom to live one's life, if you believe that the fundamental rights outlined in the Constitution apply to all of us, if you are a true Christian...then you should be very careful with whom you align yourself politically.  You may actually be a liberal in conservatives clothing.  

The Fall of Conservative Ideals Protects America's Future

In the last month, we have witnessed a political party that has been shaken to its foundations.  Immediately after the American people sent a message to Republicans that we will not accept their extreme and harmful beliefs, the fighting began within the party.  The loss was blamed on everyone from urban voters to Governor Christie, Mitt Romney, and Rush Limbaugh. 

Conservative business people have punished Americans for our choice in the election by laying off workers.  Others have threatened to reduce hours for employees to avoid paying for health care.  Many of those companies have backtracked on their threats after their sales dropped. 

The decay of the party continued with the announcement that Tea Party Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) would be resigning.  While his replacement may not be any better, at least we've gotten rid of this guy and have a chance to replace him with someone less extreme.  On the reverse side, Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren, the bain of Wall Street, will join the Senate Banking Committee which has oversight of the rules and regulations under which banks operate. 

Approval of gay marriage has grown and new states are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples today. 

Some conservatives are working to have Boehner replaced as Speaker of the House because he removed because of his decision to remove some far-right conservatives from committees.  The extremists and Tea Party element in the Republican party are panicking because they feel their power slipping away.

Republicans are experiencing backlash from their refusal to ratify a United Nations treaty that protects the rights of disabled people.  The treaty makes the Americans with Disabilities Act a non-binding international standard and would not have changed any U.S. laws.  It's been signed by President Bush in 2006 and again by President Obama in 2009.  Former Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole (R) and a small contingent of current Republican Senators (John McCain, Dick Lugar, and John Barrasso) also supported the treaty. 

In what has to be one of the most devastating aspects of the Republican implosion, multiple business executives have come out to discredit the notion that tax hikes on wealthy Americans will hurt jobs.  Executives such as Warren Buffet and Fed Ex CEO Fred Smith, among others at companies like Goldman Sachs and AT&T, have stated that they would support an increase in the tax rates for the wealthy.  Smith described the idea of those increases killing jobs as "mythology." 

Of course conservatives are panicking and fighting through all of this.  They are watching their ideology fall apart.  The people of the United States, even many of the wealthy, are seeing that we can't continue to operate under conservative theories and maintain our position as the greatest country in the world.  We have to support each other, we have to provide for our people, we have to maintain a strong middle class.  The greatest nation in the world can not be an aristocracy.  The greatest nation in the world cannot have the best health care, but refuse to provide coverage for all of its citizens.  The greatest nation in the world cannot allow discrimination of any kind.  The greatest nation in the world cannot claim to be founded on the idea of freedom of religion, and freedom from religion, while writing religious beliefs into laws and limiting people's rights based on those beliefs.  The greatest nation in the world cannot support conservative ideals and remain great.  In my eyes, the United States is truly the greatest nation in the world.  This is why we are seeing the walls of conservative rhetoric fall before our very eyes.  The people of the United States have stood up and said, "We will not allow elitism and discrimination to run our lives!  We will live our lives supporting the ideas of fairness and equality, concepts that our people have fought and died for over hundreds of years!  We are all in this together!"  And I'm loving every minute of it.

Conservatives Request to Secede...A Vision of the Future

The stupidity over the election is getting much worse.  There are now multiple petitions from at least a dozen states to withdraw from the United States.  Before we begin to panic (because I'm sure we are all starting to worry), we have to stop and remember that these petitions are the result of complete stupidity - from the petitioners and the media.

First, the media is reporting this story with headlines like, Divided States Of America: 20 States Petition To Secede After Re-Election Of President Obama.  This gives people the impression that the states have sent the requests instead of a handful of nutjobs.  Not one of the petitions has originated in any state government office.  The states aren't asking for anything...it's the crazies who are signing these petitions.  Unfortunately for them, the White House won't even consider any petition until it reaches 25,000 signatures - which they must collect within 30 days.  The only one that is reasonably close is the petition for Texas.  

While there is zero chance that any petition would succeed, let's have some fun.  Let's assume that the government is tired of Texas pretending to be more important than it really is and grants their request.  There would be a mass exodus of citizens from Texas.  I'm sure there would be some more geniuses that would choose to enter Texas to be a part of their new country.  Either way, this would have devastating effects on the economy of Texas.  

With the laws of the United States no longer being in place, there would be a period of near anarchy while representatives were chosen and a constitution was developed.  The wild west would be alive and well while Texans were killing each other.  of course, the import and export agreements that the United States would no longer be in place, so these agreements would have to be negotiated for Texas.  I imagine they wouldn't get very favorable terms from the U.S. in these agreements.  Not to mention the fact that they would have a very limited amount of exports since most large companies would pull their production out of Texas to remain in the United States.  Limited resources and high import costs would cause the cost of goods to skyrocket in the new Texas.  This would add to the escalating crime rate, particularly because there would be no regulation of firearms while they developed a legal system.  

While many businesses would pull out, there is one business that would see the anarchy as a great opportunity.  The drug industry would move in with full force.  As drug cartels set up shop, they would bring the full force of their arsenals.  With very little in the way of peace keeping force, Texans would be at the mercy of these cartels.  They would quickly seize power.  By the time a government was established including peacekeeping forces, they would be facing a long and bloody war with the cartels.  Of course, they wouldn't have any military equipment because the U.S.Government would have pulled all of this out before we withdrew.  This means that any army or police force would be incredibly outgunned and the cartels would likely control Texas.  

I'm sure that the U.S. and Mexico would be willing to provide a limited amount of firepower for Texas with some major discounts on oil.  This would mean that Texas would not realize the full value of their oil exports for the foreseeable future.  

Let's assume some time passes and order is eventually restored.  The economy in Texas would be in shambles.  The vast majority of the wealth would be in the hands of a precious few individuals.  The remaining population would be living in poverty.  Drugs, violence, and other crimes would be rampant.  I'm sure the U.S. would be willing to offer amnesty to many of the people looking to leave their beloved new Texas for the safety, security, and opportunity that they used to enjoy in the United States.  

The remaining population would begin to grow increasingly angry at the aristocracy of Texas (don't think they won't exist).  Eventually the nobles would have a hard time convincing the starving population that the wealth would trickle down.  They wouldn't be able to convince them that they were better off starving because abortion and gay marriage was illegal.  The poor workers would finally begin to rise up against their masters.  The very loose firearms laws in Texas would mean that the armies of the nobles would be vastly outgunned.  

A brief and bloody civil war would ensue.  Even more people would abandon Texas for the safety and security of the United States border.  Many of these people, due to concern for their families, wouldn't want to wait for proper immigration procedures and would probably cross the border illegally.  That would be part of the wonder irony that would result from this situation.  

Finally, the people would seize power and begin negotiations with the United States to re-enter the Union.  They would be allowed back into the United States, but with strict oversight by the federal government for a time.  While many of these conservatives were gone, an overwhelming majority of the United States would have elected liberal leaders to run our country.  

Social issues like gay marriage would have been resolved.  We would be prospering and enjoying a society well on its way to pure equality between all groups.  Our economy would be prospering with a very strong middle class.  The upper class would be prospering, but the disparity between the classes would be much smaller due to the share of tax burden that they would be paying.  This would greatly increase the money coming in to the federal government.

We would be much better able to care for those who were struggling.  While poverty would still exist, it would be at a much lower rate.  Starvation and homelessness would have been virtually eliminated when we realized that there was no reason our country should allow these horrible conditions to exist.  Some would be paying a higher percentage of taxes, but the higher revenues would be able to pay off our debts and provide the infrastructure we need to build a strong economy.  With everyone's health care covered, the cost of medical care would have dropped significantly.  The amount of bad debt write-off at hospitals would be effectively zero.  This debt wouldn't have to be passed on to the rest of the population so costs would plummet.  

After a while, these conservatives would adjust to our new society.  They would realize that none of the fears that they had were justified.  They would be free to practice their respective religions free from interference as long as they didn't try to enforce their beliefs on others.  While the wealthy conservatives would be paying higher tax rates, they would realize that many of the services they were paying for would be much less expensive so that they could enjoy the fruits of their labor to a greater extent.  The people they previously put down for living under "entitlement programs" would be productive members of society, increasing the workforce and growing the economy.  A sense of great pride and patriotism would exist in the citizens of the United States that would be admired by our allies around the world, including many Islamic nations.  We would be a very happy, productive country in which we all would be proud. 

This is what would come from a bunch of conservatives leaving the Union and allowing us to move forward.  Regardless of what they tell you, progress is not a bad thing.  We must move forward on issue like equal rights.  We spend way too much time debating and fighting over these issues.  It doesn't matter what your religious or personal beliefs are.  What matters is that we respect the rights of others, even if they believe differently.  Instead of focusing on how we can do this, we are dealing with a bunch of children who don't want to play with us anymore because things didn't go their way.  It's time for them to grow up and act like adults.  While they can't have any of our states as a new country to spread their bigotry and stupidity, they are free to leave any time.  This doesn't just include the people signing these petitions.  It includes the members of Congress who need to put aside their personal beliefs and get down to work.  The people have spoken.  We have said that we don't want their trickle down economics and theocratic laws.  Do your jobs or get out so we can find someone who will. 

Jon Husted...Secretary of Suppression

It seems that every day I am hearing some new regulation that has been put in place by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.  Pretty much all of them are attempts to suppress votes in Ohio.  His attempts to suppress votes have gone as far as the Supreme Court, which refused to allow him to end early voting this weekend.  He has reduced the hours for early voting, sent absentee ballots to every voter in Ohio with incorrect dates, and tried to write misleading language into the ballot.  Interestingly enough, the unethical moves by Husted are all to benefit his own political party. 

I expect the Secretary of State to make some minor changes that benefit his or her own party, but this guy is getting ridiculous.  He has done everything except attempt to ban Democrats from voting in the election.  My question would be, how many unethical changes does a Secretary of State have to make before he is found guilty of abusing the powers of his office and get removed?  I don't know what the line is, but I'm sure that he has crossed it. 

It is insane that his antics are being allowed, particularly in a state that is as important in an election as Ohio.  In my opinion he should be charged with abuse of office and removed.  He now ranks up there with morons like Rush Limbaugh as one of the biggest douchebags in American politics. 

Conservative Cowards and Voter Intimidation

It's a growing issue with this election.  Voter intimidation and suppression.  We've seen it in telephone calls being placed to voters urging them to vote by phone so they don't have to go to the polls on election day.  We've seen billboards placed in minority neighborhoods warning that voter fraud is a felony.  We've seen employers threatening layoffs if President Obama wins another term.  We've seen the development of "poll challengers" who are intended to discourage people from voting under the guise of protecting the integrity of the election.  And we've seen numerous laws and proposals requiring unreasonable voter identification and changing voting regulations right before the election.  Fortunately most of these have been struck down or delayed by the courts. 

We live in a country that was founded on the idea that we can get up on election day and cast our vote for the people that we want to represent us in government.  This is a basic principle of our nation, yet we have groups that are working very hard to ensure that some people are misinformed, discouraged, intimidated, or disqualified from exercising that right. 

I try not to deal in absolutes.  I know that this kind of behavior can occur in any group.  However, it seems that the overwhelming majority of these problems are coming from Republicans.  These are generally the people passing the restrictive laws (smaller government, right?).  These are the people threatening employees (see my article about the American Aristocracy for more on that).  These are the workers who were caught giving false information to volunteer poll monitors that would specifically target minority voters. 

As with all of the other idiotic and bigoted behavior that these conservatives display, Republicans dismiss these as isolated incidents.  Well how many isolated incidents does it take to become a pattern?  I'm not talking about one or two...I'm talking about dozens. 

It's pretty obvious that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote.  The question we have to ask is, why?  The only reasonable answer is that they are afraid of the aftermath if people were allowed to vote freely without many votes being discouraged or changed due to intimidation and misinformation.  If these cowards can't face everyone in the nation and win an election, then they have no place in our government. 

It's our job to block out all of the noise from these outside groups.  If you want true voter information, contact your state's Secretary of State or election division.  Don't take the word of any activist group.  If anyone outside a polling location is trying to intimidate you or give you information don't listen.  The only accurate source of information is the polling location volunteers.  No one can stop you from voting if you are legally registered to vote and meet the requirements in your state.  If you see anyone trying to intimidate voters, including yourself, there are people in place to help you.  If you see this behavior contact The Election Protection Coalition at 866-OUR-VOTE or 888-VE-Y-VOTA or tweet the information to @866ourvote. Include a hashtag, your zip code, and a brief description of the issue. 

Even though we have the duty to stand up to these people, it is time that our government got involved to ensure that no person who wants to cast a vote is denied.  Regardless of the Citizens United Ruling that allows employers to directly express their political beliefs to employee, threatening the jobs of your employers based on their vote is unlawful and should be prosecuted.  We can't allow these people to control our elections.  We can't allow cowards to run our country.

Jesus was a Socialist

Conservative Christians.  That's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one.  I know that conservatives like to think of themselves as the "Christian right," but they couldn't be further from the truth.  Aside from the fact that they like to focus on the condemnation of homosexuality in the Bible (while conveniently ignoring all of the accompanying verse), they seem to have no understanding of the instructions that Jesus left for Christians.  With that in mind, I thought I would point out a few of the verses that they have forgotten in their attempts to blend their religion into their politics. 

Let's start with the condemnation of taxes.  Many conservatives think that taxes are terrible.  What they fail to remember is that the Bible respects the collection of taxes:

Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Romans 13:7)

Jesus also instructs people to pay the taxes that the government has declared they owe:

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Matthew 22:15-21)

All of the screaming that conservatives do about taxes being too high seems to go against the instructions that are laid out in the Bible.  Of course, their next argument is that they will pay the taxes, but the taxes shouldn't be so high.  They call the President socialist and talk about how he is "evil" and even the "anti-Christ."  Again, there are some verses that they seem to have forgotten about the people chosen to lead our country:

¹⁷ “The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people." (Daniel 4:17)

In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.  (Proverbs 21:1)

⁶ This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. (Romans 13:6)

¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. ¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.  (1 Peter 2:13-15)

Obviously the Bible is telling us that we need to respect our political leaders.  If this is true then I say that the disrespect that conservatives have been showing President Obama during his term and the election is contrary to the commands given to Christians in the Bible.

Now the part that you have all been waiting for...the constant complaints that President Obama is a socialist.  While I don't believe that, there is another famous leader who could be considered a socialist.  In fact, I believe with all of my heart that, if he had lived today, his words would be condemned by the very conservatives who claim to live by his teachings.  Yes...Jesus would be considered a socialist.

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”  (Luke 3:10-11)

³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40)

⁴⁴ And all who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵ And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶ And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,  (Acts: 2:44-46)

³² Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold ³⁵ and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:32-35)

When conservatives condemn "redistribution of wealth," they are actually condemning the teachings of the one man whom they pretend to revere among all men.  The one they say they are supporting when they throw the first stone at homosexuals and people of different faiths and backgrounds.  They forget that the teachings of Jesus were radical and progressive in his time. 

I am a liberal Christian.  There are many of us.  We do what we can to follow the teachings of Christ...all of them.  We don't pick a verse and use it to take away the rights and equality of a group that we fear and hate.  We don't teach our children that it's okay to submit to greed as long as you earned the money.  We believe in what the Bible tells us about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.  We are here to give our neighbor, whether he is poor, of a different religion, of a different race, or of a different sexual orientation, a hand up in the world.  We are the Christian left and we will not stand for ignorance, hate, and greed being justified by our faith. 

Debunking Conservative Arguments is Fun

I came across this post through a friend.  He is actually one of the people who is honestly looking for the truth about the candidates in this election.  That is why things like this upset me so much.  Using lies and misleading information to win over voters should not be a way to win a campaign.  As I enjoy doing in the many debates in which I find myself engaged, I have debunked much of what this post claims to be true.  I have included the entire post (as it was shared by my friend) with my responses below each section (original post in red, my comments in blue).

AS PROMISED - Something that REALLY struck me the other night, and caused me to really start researching the "facts" that we are being fed by our President, and his campaign.

This train of thought has been percolating in my head for a few days. I started thinking about it after I watched the first Presidential debate, it came more into focus after hearing the remark made by Paul Ryan about how Romney helped a family that had been the victim of a serious car accident, and really started to crystallize after listening to Charles Krauthammer.

The Obama camp has painted Romney as a person that the working class should despise.... Someone who doesn't care about anyone but himself. An "Evil rich person". Someone who will
"Raise taxes on the middle class, and give millionaires a 250k tax break." (That claim has been exposed as pure crap. The economist that the Obama camp used to come up with that has completely contradicted that. It is a LIE, plain and simple.)

Well, the numbers used here are inaccurate.  The truth is that an independent organization, The Tax Policy Center, did an analysis of Romney’s goals in his tax plan.  They admitted that they could not do any exact analysis because, as many of us have been saying for months, the man has not presented a true plan with facts and figures.  However, using his goals and the few numbers that his campaign has supplied, the Tax Policy Center came to the conclusion that it was impossible to remain revenue neutral and meet the goals.  They concluded that, given the information provided by Romney’s campaign, there would be an $86 billion shortfall of revenue.  To make up for this shortfall, taxes on the middle and lower income population must be raised.  So the answer to this is, yes Romney is rich.  Yes, his plan will raise taxes on the middle class.  And yes, his plan will give people making more than $200,000 per year a tax break that will add up to approximately $86 billion per year.  http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/1001631-FAQ-Romney-plan.pdf

They painted him as a corporate raider, as someone who shipped jobs overseas, and even as someone who KILLED SOMEONE'S WIFE. (That disgusting commercial was also proved to be a complete
load of crap.)

Let’s be clear on this.  The commercial was blaming Romney for the loss of a guy’s job and health care benefits which were supposedly the reason his wife’s cancer was not found earlier.  While the problems of GST Steel, the plant that laid off this worker, can be traced back to Romney, the ad went too far.  But please note that this ad was not put out by the Obama campaign.  It was created and run by the Priorities USA Action Super PAC.  Just as there are many conservative Super PAC’s that support Romney and don’t get his approval on their commercials, this organization did the same. 

“If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.” (Sen. Barack Obama, “Remarks,” Denver, CO 8/28/08)

Why has the Obama camp done this?? Because of the quote above. The Obama administration has been in control for almost 4 years, and has managed to do almost nothing.

We’re going to dissect this blatant lie piece by piece.  We’ll start with things that Obama has done during his administration.  Here are some links to hundreds of things that have been accomplished.

http://well-played-sir.blogspot.com/2012/10/argument-against-obama-debunked.html

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

And here is the reason that the Republican congress is responsible for much that hasn’t been done during his term.

http://well-played-sir.blogspot.com/2012/07/real-republican-economic-plan.html

Unemployment is horrible, economic growth is at a standstill, and most people are worse off than they were 4 years ago.

Not true.  Despite the ridiculous claims of conspiracy, the unemployment rate is lower than it was when President Obama took office.  This is even more impressive when you consider the fact that the President shouldn’t be credited with many of the job losses.  See this ling for further explanation. 

http://well-played-sir.blogspot.com/2012/08/election-2012-jobs.html

The Middle East is LESS stable, the Iranians are much closer to having a nuclear weapon, the Russians are pushing us around, and Al Qaeda is still killing our people.

Well...the Middle East has always been unstable.  It’s simply a matter of degree at this point.  Of course Iran is closer to having a nuclear weapon...more time has passed.  Should we just send our troops into every corner of the world and wage war on every sovereign nation that does something we don’t like?  It seems that is the answer for Republicans, but we’re not everyone’s parent.  We can’t police the world.

The magical health plan that was supposed to save families 2,500.00 per year has ended up RAISING health care costs by about 2,500.00 per family. Many employers are getting ready to dump employee health care. And....it was passed before anyone really knew what was in it.
First, the ACA has not cost anyone more.  The insurance companies have raised prices.  Many of the provisions of the ACA have not yet taken effect.  An academic study of the effects of the ACA determined that the results of the changes will be lower health care costs.  The idea of companies dumping health care is a ludicrous scare tactic.  Finally, this is the age of information.  Congressional bills are available online during the entire process.  No one needs to hold this writer’s hand.  He needs to get online and look up the information.  If his representative didn’t do that then he needs to bring it up with the representative...it was available. 

http://www.cms.gov/apps/files/ACA-savings-report-2012.pdf

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/all

The average family has lost lost a median amount of 4,000.00 per year in income. Gas prices have skyrocketed, as have grocery prices. Our national debt is RIDICULOUS.
WE ARE WORSE OFF THAN WE WERE FOUR YEARS AGO. FAR WORSE.
Okay...the median income based on reports by Sentier Research is down about $4,000.  However, this is due to the recession.  As the President has a limited amount of control over the economic forces in play, one cannot blame him for this.  Gas prices!  This argument drives me crazy.  I will repeat this one more time for all of the conservatives out there.  THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT CONTROL GAS PRICES!  These prices are controlled by supply, demand, and Wall Street.  The supply is controlled by organizations like OPEC.  The President does not control these organizations.  The only factor that he controls is the federal tax on gas, which hasn’t changed since the late 90’s.  Finally, grocery prices.  There are two factors that have caused the rise in grocery prices.  First is the aforementioned rise in gas prices and recession, neither of which were caused by President Obama.  Another factor is the droughts that we have gone through at the end of last year and throughout this summer.  They have caused a reduction in supply which has led to higher prices.  Unless the President can be blamed for the drought there can be no blame for grocery prices. 

Now, alot of people buy into the "Obama inherited a mess" routine. WRONG. He VOLUNTEERED for this, he did not "inherit" anything. He told us that he could fix this mess, that he would get unemployment UNDER 6% by spending a ton of money (That our kids will have to pay off.), he told us that he could handle the Iranians by negotiating, he told us that he
would lower our health insurance costs. He told us that he would repair the economy.
He has FAILED. Pure and simple.
Yes, he volunteered for the job.  But he took the job as our country was spiraling towards a depression and managed to pull us out of this spiral and into a period of recovery.  And, regardless of the fact that conservatives don’t want to hear that Bush caused this mess, it is true.  And the fact that Romney plans to take our country back to the policies and practices of the Bush administration are terrifying because they will lead to the same disaster that we just experienced.  The President has done what he can to improve all of these areas, but his plans are long-term fixes.  They are not something that can be achieved overnight. 

The Obama camp has also done this because of Obama's hatred for Romney on a personal level. Why does Obama despise Romney? Because Romney embodies everything that Obama seems to sneer at. He is an example of Someone "Who built that". An example of someone who has succeeded without government making things "fair". He has shown that private enterprise does a BETTER job than government. He is everything that Barak Obama has despised, and fought against. Romney represents the American Free Enterprise system. He represents capitalism, and how well it works.
Everything in this paragraph is just ridiculous.

After watching the debate and realizing "Hey, Romney isn't the insensitive tool that the commercials say he is.", I decided to do some of my own research (PLEASE....IF you want to make an informed decision, do your OWN research.) What I found was rather astonishing. It completely contradicts everything that the Obama camp has been spouting. Remember, Romney is supposed to be an uncaring profiteer who will take advantage of people, the guy who will put "rich" people ahead of everyone, who will insure the wealthy profit at the expense of the "common man".....Here are a few things that most people do not know:

- Romney donated over 30 percent of his income (BEFORE taxes) to charity.

Easy to do when you are making millions of dollars each year.  And don’t forget, these donations are tax deductible.
- He refused to TAKE A SALARY as Governor of Massachusetts, and even paid for his own travel expenses. (That's right, he worked for free.)

I would turn down a small six figure salary if I made millions of dollars in other investments and could use it as a political tool too.

- When the Olympics were in trouble, he left Bain Capital, and made them a success. And, he worked for free there, too.

See previous comment.
- As Governor, he got rid of a 1.5 billion dollar deficit, through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and the closure of corporate tax loopholes.(Not quite the corporate stooge he is presented to be, Huh?)

That’s funny...the plans that he has presented show that he will be responsible for adding $86 million to the deficit if he wins the presidency.  That or he has to increase middle class taxes.
- He presided over a state government whose schools are number one in the nation. The best.

I’m sure that this had much more to do with the school systems and staff then anything Romney did, but I’ll give him this one.
- He worked with a legislature that was 87 percent Democrat, and successfully got things done.

Mostly because the legislature was 87 percent Democrat.  The only option he would have would be to veto the bills and that could be overridden by the legislature.  In fact, Romney had approximately 844 budget line-item vetoes and over 700 of them were overridden.  It’s easy to work with the man when you can just ignore his protests. If you want a truly telling measure of his home state, look at the polls.  Obama is expected to win Romney’s home state by almost 20 points!  These are the people that have lived with his governance already. 
- When a Bain Capital employee's daughter went missing in 1996, he shut down the entire office, brought all of the employees to New York.....and made sure that she was located.

Good for him.  There’s something good.
- When his father died, and he inherited his father's money, he donated ALL of it to charity.

He was already super rich.  Who cares?  And again...tax deduction.
- He owner financed a house for a "less than wealthy" family in Texas.

So he has hundreds of millions of dollars and he financed a house for them?  How about just give them a house?  Will.I.Am gave over $350,000 of his own money to help two families that were facing foreclosure pay off their homes.  This makes Romney’s owner financing look pretty insignificant. 
- He paid for the college tuition for children of a family that had been devastated in a car accident.

Another good thing.  But it seems in contrast to his platform on student debt.  Not only does he not plan to increase the grants available to students, his running mate created a budget that sent student loans back to private lending institutions.  This reverts the recent change in student loans originated by the government and would cost the government a fortune in subsidies to the lending institutions.  Just another way to get money into the hands of private organizations at the expense of the rest of the country.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2012/09/20/romney-ryan-on-student-loans-crony-capitalism/

- He helped subsidize the food for a veteran's homeless shelter for years....and didn't tell them.

Tax deduction.
- When fire destroyed numerous homes in a neighborhood in San Francisco, Romney and his son showed up and helped people clean out their homes...for hours.

Good.  I hope it was better than the work Ryan did at the soup kitchen recently. 
- He helped build a playground (Not writing a check, physically helped build it) to honor a boy who died of Cystic Fibrosis.
Good.  See my last comment.

Have I made my point? He really doesn't look like a rich, greedy corporate raider, now does he?? Cold and unfeeling bastard who is responsible for the death of someone else's wife?
Nope....You've been lied to. Repeatedly.
This paragraph at least has some truth to it.  You have been lied to.  Repeatedly.  By both the writer of this and the Romney campaign. 

Now, let's look at his life as a businessman. Ever heard of companies like: Staples, Sports Authority, Dominoes Pizza, Bright Horizons, Steel Dynamics, Sealy Mattresses, Brookstone?
Romney either funded, rescued, or helped start those companies. OVER 100,000 jobs created.
The jobs outsourced under Romney’s tenure as Bain’s CEO is debatable.  Mostly because the date he actually let go of his role is in question.  He says one thing, but legal filings show something different.  Either way, he created the company and instilled the principles on which the company runs.  This means he is ultimately responsible for the actions of the company, including the outsourcing of jobs that is still going on today. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57472228/what-was-romneys-role-at-bain-during-outsourcing-/

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/10/18/1041171/employees-protest-bain-romney-as-their-jobs-are-outsourced-to-china/

After doing all of this research, I have to say that I am pretty pissed. Obama has managed to lie to America, and paint a very decent man as a villain.....simply because Obama has accomplished virtually nothing.

My thinking is this.....We have about 3 weeks until we vote. We can vote for a decent man, who does good things; who has accomplished alot both in private industry, and in government .....or vote for someone who has completely lied to us, manipulated us, twisted the truth.....but, above all....has been a FAILURE. Someone who has left us WORSE off, and will continue to do so.

Your choice - Success versus failure, Decent and generous versus dishonest and misleading. Up to you.

Like I said before.  This poster is full of lies and misleading statements.  Starting with the lie that Obama has accomplished nothing.  Do I think Romney is evil?  No.  I think he is a corporate puppet in this election that is meant to take office and improve the lives of corporations and the rich at the expense of the middle class.  I think he will further an agenda of hate with homosexuals and women by writing his religious beliefs into law.  I also think he is an opportunist who will take every advantage available including placing his money in off shore banks to avoid tax liability and hide his returns to keep us from finding out the truth about his unethical, though likely legal, practices.  Speaking of manipulation, this post is very full of exactly that. I find it interesting that I rarely hear liberals call Romney evil, but I routinely hear conservatives talk about President Obama as the anti-Christ and call his supporters cult members and similar derogatory terms.  How could we possibly elect a man to run our country who has only lies and misleading statements to defend his position?  How can anyone attempt to defend policies that have been proven impossible and harmful to our country?  Fortunately, it is up to us, and we can choose to vote for President Obama and forget that Romney ever had a chance.