What Matters Between Now And November

Whether or not President Obama was eligible to be the president doesn’t matter as much as what kind of person and president he is.

It really doesn’t matter what his grades were or where he went to school. What his income is or how much he pays in taxes. Lincoln was poor and mostly self-educated.

But Lincoln didn’t try to hide the facts.

These issues have become important because of Obama’s actions. We generally believe that hiding something means there is something to hide.

It bothers me that we let these things get in the way of educated voting.

The people demanding Romney’s and Ryan’s tax returns are the same people who don’t see a problem in President Obama not releasing any information about his childhood and education. And vice-versa.

What matters is what their vision is for our country. In 2007 and 2008, Obama spoke of Hope and Change and promised that he would support the lower classes if they voted him in. He was going to cut the deficit in half and make sure that healthcare was available to all at a price that everyone could afford. He would work with all Americans to create unity. When asked for details, he would say that they were looking into it.

He had so many mesmerized by his looks and his oratory prowess that many didn’t listen to the words. He has had so many names that he may not even know who he really is *Barack Hussein Obama, Barry Obama, Barry Soetoro, etc.) He also never embraced his Black, African-American heritage until it became convenient for him.

His mother and grandmother did not raise him in a religious atmosphere, but he did attend a school during his formative years, where he was taught and lived as a Muslim. He went through school on scholarships and was President of the Harvard Law Review. (This was used as much for Harvard’s benefit as they could roll him out and prove that they were not exclusively the rich, white university.)

It was similar when he was running for President. The big thing was that he could be the First African-American elected to the highest office in the country. During these times, no mention was made of the fact that he was half-white and raised primarily by white people. That part of his history was conducive to his electability.

He was fawned over, idolized, worshiped, and generally treated as royalty of the far past. He was canonized more than JFK.

McCain was vilified for being a war hero and POW. After all, war is bad, and anyone who serves in the military is by association bad. If he or Palin misspoke, they were called idiots; when Obama misspoke, or misspeaks, his supporters chuckle or ignore. The McCain campaign made a mistake with Palin, not with choosing her but with not letting her be herself. She is a strong woman but was hobbled by the handlers who didn’t want her to be too conservative.

Now we have a second chance to listen to the words and research the plans. Romneycare may have worked for Massachusetts as a state, but it was also bastardized by the Democrat-run Congress to create Obamacare. With all the additions and unrelated inclusions and exclusions, it will cost more for everyone except the Obama base, the low income citizens. They won’t be any better off; they will still have basically the same coverage. It’s the middle-class that will see the greatest increase in their costs as they won’t be able to choose what coverage they need. They won’t be able to self-insure or choose to pay their bills themselves.

The debt has gone up more in Obama’s 3 ½ years than it did during the 8 years of Bush. Even the CBO has a forecast that shows the deficit going higher than it did even during the Great Depression. World War II helped enormously in the recovery, but I don’t think that any American in their right mind wants to try to recover by having World War III.

For years, many people believed that Obama was going to be good for America. He was an unknown, and as the American Spirit usually does, we gave him a chance to succeed. But he failed. The only Americans I know of who are better off today than they were 3 years ago are the Obamas. His salary has increased, he and his family are living rent-free in a much bigger house with an enormous staff at their beck and call, and all their wishes are granted. Hopefully, they won’t get the wish for four more years.

When Romney was the CEO of Bain, he owned and worked for that company and it’s shareholders. They bought businesses, tried to resuscitate them, and then sell them for a profit. Much like a real estate investor who buys fixers and turns them. The company directors and owners who sold to Bain got paid a fair price; they weren’t cheated or forced to take the deal. The same goes for the companies who bought from Bain. We aren’t talking about a speak-easy owner forced by criminals to buy booze from them or sell out; we’re talking about educated men and women with CPAs and attorneys going over the books and making and accepting offers.

Romney was not my first choice, far from it; but Obama is no choice at all.

Photo credit: Cain and Todd Benson (Creative Commons)