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| Update:
November 4, 2008 |
Why I still
distrust Barack Obama |
Measure the results. |
| The election
of Barack Obama as president-elect has quickly been greeted with euphoria
among his many supporters - and by the first indications from Russia within
hours that they are going to want to test him by making several new threats
already. Senator McCain was very gracious in his
concession speech, and promised to try to work in a bi-partisan way to
achieve progress together. Senator Obama was also gracious and as
eloquent as usual in his victory celebration speech.
Now that the election is over, and the celebrations will
soon have past, it remains to be seen whether the Democratic Party will
continue to live up to my very low expectations through their actions while
in power. They can no longer blame Republicans for everything.
The remainder of this page is the original editorial. |
This country
has been served by both good and bad presidents over the last two centuries.
The country has made great progress despite hardships at times. No
matter how much one may disagree with the policies of Barack Obama and the
new Reid-Pelosi Congress, this too shall pass. The voters will have
their say again. Many who voted for Obama now are
not old enough to remember how enthusiastically Jimmy Carter was greeted as
President-elect in 1975 when he took advantage of the post-Vietnam and
post-Nixon environment to rise quickly to power as an "outsider" who would
bring change to Washington. Indeed, he brought change - making a bad
situation much worse.
One can only hope that Obama will do better. There
is nothing in his track record to justify confidence in it. He is
already talking about the limits on what he can deliver in his "first term",
despite having a supportive Congress in hand. I remain very skeptical. |
Remember in the years ahead to use the "Wayback
Machine" at www.archive.org to look
back at the campaign websites and all the promises of Barack Obama and
others in Congress, and compare that to their actions.
He could hide behind vague rhetoric and
many promises in the election. We'll see what he does. |
| Editorial:
Why I support McCain-Palin |
Why should
you care? |
Featured Links |
| October 2,
2008 - by
Bruce
Donnelly The world has changed dramatically over
the last few decades, but it remains a very dangerous place.
The global economy has made remarkable progress as most
countries have abandoned failed socialist and authoritarian models of
economic development in which government intervenes with few constraints on
power to seek political rather than market outcomes.
This remains a difficult transition period for many
countries. It is not a time for the United States to embrace the sort
of failed social policies which others are finally replacing.
This election is not about the war in Iraq, nor a referendum
on the policies of President Bush. It is about the future prosperity
of the USA in a far more competitive world than has existed in our history.
We the people need to remind everyone in Congress that they
are held accountable for their performance. They can't just blame each
other endlessly. |
There's a lot
of talk in the media about the economy now, and the unchallenged premise that economic
problems will favor Democratic candidates.
This defies the fact that states with Democratic governors
don't have a very good track record at economic development despite all the
money which they have spent on various liberal social programs.
Regardless of good intentions, high taxes and government
spending hurt the economy because we live in a very competitive world.
Capital flows across local, state, and national borders. We can't live
beyond our means. We have to make choices.
Government intervention has unintended bad consequences. Individuals
are far more creative, motivated, and agile at seizing new opportunities
than the government bureaucrats are at manipulating markets for self-serving
social goals. Government intervention spreads
corruption on a scale which could not be sustained in a competitive market.
The debacle at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is just the latest example of this
problem. |
McCain-Palin campaign
Republican National Committee
www.rnc.org
|
| "It's the
economy, stupid" No, it's not! The
role of government is not to try to manipulate the national economy through
social programs to promote "fairness" to all "classes", or to favor the
"middle class" or the "poor".
It wasn't created to tax the "wealthy" more than others,
or to "punish Wall Street greed and corruption" while praising handouts on
Main Street and to partisan interest groups to curry favor.
The role of taxes is to fund the essential functions of
government at all levels, which should be performed as cost-efficiently and
effectively as possible to limit that economic burden on productive workers
and those who employ them in such work.
The government isn't there to control the outcome of the
economy, or to use taxes to favor any one group over others. It helps
to create and sustain a globally competitive social infrastructure so that
individuals are free to choose how to improve their own lives and are highly
motivated to achieve sustainable progress. |
Foreign
policy judgment matters Senator Obama has
demonstrated almost no foreign policy judgment during his brief tenure. He has just tried to position himself for this
election by saying whatever seemed popular at the time.
Senator Biden has repeatedly demonstrated very poor
judgment for decades. He has been quite capable as the front man for
partisan arguments against any Republican policies, but he hasn't done much
more than assert his very liberal views. He doesn't seem to have
learned very much from his mistakes. He seems to be in denial of them.
Senator McCain has actually challenged the judgment of
Republican presidents when he thought they were wrong, and has helped to
build consensus on better choices. He has listened to others.
Diplomacy isn't about willingness to meet with any leaders
of other countries, or becoming more popular among our friends. It's
about finding ways to achieve lasting progress on issues of mutual
importance. |
US Senate
www.senate.gov
US House of Representatives
www.house.gov
The White House
www.whitehouse.gov
US Department of State
www.state.gov
US Department of Treasury
www.treasury.gov
US Department of Commerce
www.commerce.gov
|
| Why is the
economy in trouble today? Look at the history -
dating back to the Carter years - of Democratic policies which turned Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac into a channel for unfunded mandates by government to
extend low-cost mortgages to those who traditionally could not have
qualified for them, and to then leverage the debt of these institutions
beyond all reasonable limits.
That's not to say that there isn't enough blame to go
around in both parties. There is. The point is simply that the
Democratic attempts to use these quasi governmental organizations and bank
regulations to promote their social agenda backfired very badly.
Everybody now has to pay to clean up the mess. |
Why do I care?
I served as a US Foreign Service Officer (State Department) from 1980-1985,
from the end of the Carter administration through the first term of
President Reagan. That included voluntary service related to the
hostage crisis at the US Embassy in Iran, service in Pakistan during the
Afghan war with the Soviets, and in Germany before reunification, when many
liberals thought President Reagan was crazy and a direct threat to peace and
prosperity.
Mine was a minor role as a junior officer, but it provided
a lasting perspective on such issues, as did my career related to global
business investments. |
Search: US Election
Our custom search tool for 2008 US presidential election
candidates and political party websites
US
Governors directory Website links,
election years, incumbent, and political party |
| Will the
"Paulson Plan" reward Wall Street? Why should we
care whether CEOs earn a lot of money as they fix the problems we are all
facing? They just shouldn't be rewarded for continued failure.
Did we care when the executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac earned millions while running those entities into the ground and paying
off their political friends to keep this house of cards from falling?
The question is whether the plan will work to reward
America and the world with a better economy so that we can work our way out
of the financial mess which has been created by liberal government programs. |
Senator
Obama shouldn't even be a Senator He represents
Illinois - my state. He promised voters, during his election, that he
would not seek the nomination for President in his first term.
He had hardly been elected to the Senate, however, when he
started running for President. What has he actually accomplished on
behalf of Illinois voters? How much time has he really spent on his
job?
What did he accomplish in the Illinois legislature?
What did he accomplish while in Chicago? Not much. He has just
been campaigning all along for his next office. He doesn't deserve to
be a Senator. |
Search: Americas
Search over 2000 state, city, and county economic
development and chamber websites.
USA, Canada, Mexico |
| What about
affordable healthcare? Do we all have a right to
affordable healthcare, or to health insurance, just by living in this
country? Isn't this similar to the twisted liberal
version of the "American dream" as everyone being able to afford their own
home through government sponsored housing programs and low interest
mortgages, with few constraints on who qualifies for such credit?
In short, is it really a proper role of our government to decide what
healthcare everybody will get? Is this liberal cure-all worse than the
disease again? Is it really the role of government
to guarantee the health of everybody, regardless of cost? Or to make
the choices about who gets care, and who doesn't? |
We can't
afford another Carter President Carter was as
ambitious and clever a politician as Obama - aiming for Governor and then
President by doing whatever it took to get elected.
He was a disaster as President, however. We can't
afford to make that mistake again, especially while facing complex and
dangerous foreign threats today. People who think
that world leaders don't respect President Bush today should go back and
look at the Carter era, when allies genuinely feared that America could not
be trusted as a reliable friend, and our enemies perceived us as weak and
naive. That is the change we can believe in from
Obama - to put domestic political expediency above all else. |
 |
| Life,
Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness It is not
the role of the federal government to provide for the general health,
welfare, and happiness of everybody who is physically present in this country.
We have to compete with countries which provide very few
social benefits for their residents. We have to make tough choices
about what we can afford to do, and set priorities. We are free to
choose that we will not allow our government to mandate how we live.
We limit the intrusion of government power.
It is not the responsibility of government to make us all
happy. It is our responsibility to regulate our government - and not
vice versa as in liberalism.
We the people are the ones with the power to solve our own
problems if we limit the role of government, instead of acting as though "we
the government" must have a master plan and a "progressive" social solution for every
perceived need in the world.
The problem isn't "corruption", or the influence of
lobbyists and the obscure "earmarks" they favor to avoid having to defend
dubious spending decisions. The problem is simply
that the role of the federal government has expanded into providing
something for everybody, with no real accountability for limiting
government. Each election cycle brings even more promises and programs
which may seem to be a good idea at the time, but which we cannot afford.
It's like impulse buying at the voter booth checkout. Sooner or later,
we the people have to exercise our control over government spending, rather
than expect lots of social benefits at somebody else's expense. |
It's not
enough to be an amiable public speaker The chief
executive of the most powerful nation on this planet needs to have the
experience, core values, and judgment to confront tough decisions about
unpredictable events every day.
Neither the President nor Vice President are expected to
know everything they will ever need to know for this extraordinary job from
day one.
They assemble a team of many talented advisors - but that requires the
willingness to listen to those who disagree with their own views, and then
try to make good choices even though nobody will be right all of the time.
Senator McCain has those executive leadership qualities.
Governor Palin seems to share them - from local and state experience in
government..
Senator Obama doesn't seem to have ever been responsible
for much more than preparing for his next election campaign through partisan
politics.
This isn't about McCain being a "maverick" or a "reformer"
or not.
It's about taking responsibility as a real leader while never losing the humility
of the commitment to faithfully serve other Americans for a cause greater than personal or party
interests. We are not electing a political party
leader. We elect the President to uphold the Constitution as the
leader of all Americans - not just those who share a partisan political
view. This is not a parliamentary system with a Prime Minister chosen
by the winning party or coalition, while all others are pushed aside to
gripe in opposition on the back bench of history. |
Charity Navigator is a
useful research tool which provides information about many charities, and
how their administrative overheads relate to donations. This is not a
performance metric in terms of the outcomes they achieve, however.
We maintain our own selective
Humanitarian, Charitable, and Philanthropic Community Services directory
for convenient reference.
This is not an endorsement by us of their work, or vice
versa. It is just a tool for sharing information about many useful
resources. |
| Online
research suggestion Try the "Wayback
Machine" to research past images of websites, such as "http://mccain.senate.gov"
to see the content of the official website for the office of Senator John
McCain back to 1999. |
Why the
above "conservative" website links? This
business serves a global audience, not just a US one. The definition
of "conservative" in other countries is not always the same as in the USA.
In any case, visitors may not be aware of such resources, and may find them
to be interesting. |
| Do you
disagree with the above? Too bad. This is
a private business, with no political affiliation or any government funding.
Exercise your own First Amendment rights elsewhere. Support the party
of your choice, and vote your conscience. Don't waste your time or
mine arguing with me. |
Is it
racist to be against Senator Obama? No. I
was even more opposed to Senator Biden as a candidate, before he got the few
votes he deserved in the primaries. This is about fundamental values,
experience, and leadership judgment. I would never vote for him,
regardless of color, because of his views. |
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