In this presidential election year, our choice is clear, the issues serious and the outcome important. Emotions will be high and it is likely the debate acrimonious. One wishes the opposite would be true; an important election especially should be held with a serious debate based on issues.
In hindsight, the debates in 2008 should have been more meaningful and the choice clearer. That they were not was due to the controversy over the war in Iraq, an inept Republican organization and a Democratic campaign based on vague promises of "hope and change".
After more than three years of the Obama presidency, we now know what "hope and change" really means and where the President wants to lead the country. In this year of 2012, the choice before us is very clear. Are we to have a society headed by a large and powerful central government or are we to have a smaller, limited government with enumerative powers and a meaningful federal system as the Founding Fathers intended?
For make no mistake, the reelection of Barack Obama will put us further down the road to a larger, more powerful national government to the detriment of the Constitution, our liberty and our very future.
In hindsight, the debates in 2008 should have been more meaningful and the choice clearer. That they were not was due to the controversy over the war in Iraq, an inept Republican organization and a Democratic campaign based on vague promises of "hope and change".
After more than three years of the Obama presidency, we now know what "hope and change" really means and where the President wants to lead the country. In this year of 2012, the choice before us is very clear. Are we to have a society headed by a large and powerful central government or are we to have a smaller, limited government with enumerative powers and a meaningful federal system as the Founding Fathers intended?
For make no mistake, the reelection of Barack Obama will put us further down the road to a larger, more powerful national government to the detriment of the Constitution, our liberty and our very future.
It is my hope that emotional blinders come off, and that Americans study the issues from all points of view. A knowledgable electorate that takes the time to see the seriousness of this election is essential at this time. Our country is at a major crossroads and this election will put us firmly on one road of the other.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I see is that this election will not offer the electorate the stark contrast in paths forward it needs to see debated. As any attempted reelection battle would be, this campaign will be about Obama's 'failures', not Romney's plans. With the social conservatives frustrated to miss out on Santorum and the true fiscal conservatives missing out on Paul, all that is left is the most vanilla of candidates. it will be hard to him to stand up to Obama on healthcare and he has yet to offer any plan to turn the economy around. As I think I have said before, the only thing I see coming between Obama and reelection is a 20-30% drop in the stock market leading up to the election. Maybe I watch the wrong news channels, but the past 3 years have painted the Republican establishment as obstructionists, bereft of iideas. Maybe being a Republican governor who was elected in a highly Democratic state lends Romney some credibility, but I just dont seem anyone getting excited about him. He will have to hope this election is solely about people wanting Obama out, not him in.
ReplyDeleteRyan
DeleteMy hope is that the election campaign for president will cover the following two major themes: the first is the economy and the second is the proper role of the federal government in our society. Each of these themes has a number of issues that need to be and should be discussed.
Under the "economy", for instance, the issues of unemployment and underemployment, gasoline prices and resource development, the loss of our manufacturing base, how are we to compete in a world wide economy, the impact of a large debt on our economic health, government spending and tax reform.
Under the "proper role of government", I would include the effect of the health care law on the government's authority over individual citizens and organizations, especially religious organizations, secondly, the threat of increased government power on individual liberty and the proper role of the states in a federal system and lastly, the innumerable functions and expense of a large federal bureaucracy and how that impacts our free enterprise system and individual initiative. I would also add under this heading what each candidate thinks the proper role of the Constitution is in today's modern society.
In regard to your commentary, I do not agree with some of your points. It is true that a stock market downturn would hurt Obama but it wouldn't be the determining factor as there are many other issues, taken as a whole, which will decide the election.
I don't know which news media you watch, listen to etc. But to say that Republicans have been "obstructionists, bereft of ideas" during Obama's presidency is not based on the facts. First of all, it was the Democrats who controlled both Houses of Congress until Jan., 2011. That was the session when the health care law was passed. Since Jan.,2011, the Republicans have controlled the House but not the Senate. The House under the Republicans has passed several bills, including a federal budget, which have languished in the Senate (the government is now operating without an official budget and it is the Senate Democrats who have refused to bring it up for a vote).
In summary, given the state of our politics and our sensationalist news media, I am not optimistic that the campaign will not degenerate into accusations and counter accusations. All of this will not help the electorate make a sound judgement in the Fall. I hope for the sake of our country that it doesn't happen.
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ReplyDeleteIt is my belief that the candidates should also talk about the need for accountability in spending in each government department. Right now there is little accountability (as seen in the latest scandals) and the habit of using our money as if it were government employees is widespread.
ReplyDeleteI believe each department should start over with zero base budgeting, accounting publicly for all expenditures over a set amount. The idea of the Secret Service, for example, being giving ethics classes at our expense if beyond ludicrous. Soon we will be paying people for being honest. This is important because as someone once said, count the millions and pretty soon you are talking real money. I consider this as important as redoing the tax code. Duplicate spending, contradictory rules and bills and again, the old engrained habits need attention and soon....the waste ,use be ended.
I searched Google to find who Heironynous was and the closest I could find was several persons by the name of Heironymus who lived as early as as the second century BC to as late as the 18th century. They ranged in occupation from a tyrant (of Syracuse, Sicily) to a painter, storyteller, a saint and a bishop. So the name has an interesting background.
DeleteAnyway, our current day Heironynous raises a good point in pointing out the wasteful spending at the Federal level. The scandals we have recently seen at the GSA and the Secret Service are only a small indication of a bigger problem. That is that the national government is too big, spends too much, borrows too much and is out of control.
Who is taking the lead in taming this beast? Not Obama. His answer is not to cut spending but to raise taxes. Some may say that he wants to raise taxes for only the very rich but that alone won't solve the deficit problem. Unless spending is cut, the increase in taxes will ultimately filter down to the not so rich, even you and me.