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"A Play for Power"
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The loss of checks and balances: the real danger of an Obama presidency
Presidential politics in 2008 is meaner, more divisive and more unsettling than any I've witnessed before. This campaign and the election that will follow are like no others in recent memory. The outcome will bring about earth shaking changes in modern-day America. Changes that will be seen and felt both at home and abroad; changes so far reaching that they threaten to change American politics and the American way of life forever.
If McCain's bid is successful, at age 72, he will be the first elderly citizen to be elected president. If Obama wins, he will be the first African-American to hold the highest office in the land. So what can we expect from each of these presidential candidates when one of them takes the oath of office in January?
McCain is a Republican with liberal-leaning views on social issues. Obama is a democrat that also leans to the left while following the party line hook, line and sinker.
If Obama wins and remains true to his word, there will be a major foreign policy shift. He has said he will end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home in sixteen months. He is also said to be considering the redeployment of more forces to Afghanistan. (Last week, the prime minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, surprised everyone by saying he agreed with Barack's plan ... until later, through his staff, he said he didn't. Interesting, eh?)
With Obama, we can also expect a shift toward multilateralism, multiculturalism and appeasement. More focus on international issues and the UN's "one world" agenda - especially in the area of global warming and human rights. Obama himself has promised a foreign policy that basically says, "Can't we all just be friends?"
If Senator McCain wins, our military presence in Iraq will continue until we can claim victory and bring the troops home with honor and dignity. Post-war, McCain will be the tougher negotiator as he argues for a continued U.S. presence in the region. His military service, his patriotism, his bravery during captivity and his Senatorial experience assure us that as president, he would not be pushed around by two-bit dictators.
At home, either candidate will have to deal with a plate full of issues. The economy and the energy crisis. Job creation and putting people back to work. Taxation and the need to repair infrastructures and to contain the melt down of the real estate and home loan sectors.
Among other things, McCain's program for revitalization promises to keep the Bush tax cuts in place and make them permanent. The fact that tax cuts - not tax increases - grow the economy is legendary. In addition, he's promised steep cuts in government spending and a revamp of the regulations controlling private health insurance.
Senator Obama, on the other hand, has promised to provide government funding for health care, education and public works. He says his administration will focus on middle class issues and concerns while raising taxes on those that have more than they need. In what sounds to me like a slight of hand, he promises to cut taxes for the middle class by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, then raise the taxes on those making over $200,000 a year. In so doing he will place an additional burden on the operators of small businesses, many of whom employ the self-same middle class workers Obama proposes to champion and help!
Why? Consider this: most small businesses are Sub "S" Corporations. That means they list their income and file their taxes based on the joint earnings of both the owner and the business. The aggregate of the two virtually assures that all small business owners will pay more income taxes under Obama's plan, thus they will have less money left over to hire folks, give raises and operate their businesses.
Obama has also said he will raise the capital gains tax from 15% to 28% or possibly higher. He is also said to be considering lifting the cap on earnings subject to Social Security taxes. He's promised a Windfall Profits Tax on the oil companies ... even a Windfall Profits Tax on retirement incomes! It's obvious that the young man from Illinois has never met a tax he didn't like. Also that he sees more government and more government control over our lives as the answer to all our ills!
While there's no doubt that more money will have to be spent by the next administration regardless of who occupies the White House - whether more of it comes from the supply-side or from the demand side through increased taxes; whether more of it goes for guns or butter, will all depend on which political party and which candidate emerges as the victor. Either way, the incoming president will have to juggle the complex issues of reducing the national deficit with programs needed to stimulate the economy and manage the economic effects of globalization.
Yep, when the dust settles, Election 2008 will be considered one of the most significant in US history. For no matter how it ends; no matter who becomes the next president, it is clear that this is an election like no other in recent history and that America's future hangs in the balance.
It's about more than campaign adjectives like hope, aspiration, experience, change and straight talk. It's about more than race, gender and human rights. It's about history in the making and what promises to be a transforming moment for this country.
I have a good friend who in his disgust and anger with Republicans has become a real Obamaphile. If I bring up Obama's thin resume, his reply is "there's nothing like OJT." If I question his associations, he says "you learn from your enemies." If I point out his lack of accomplishments, he points to Bush's failures. If I question Obama's lack of leadership and experience, he talks about his superior intellect. If I carp on his plan to socialize America, he says none of it will ever get through Congress. In the end, the quality he likes best about Obama turns out to be his campaign slogan, "Change we can believe in" and that's the one I fear most.
Regardless of how one feels about Senator Obama or Senator McCain; regardless of which candidate you think is the smartest, the prettiest or talks the smoothest. Regardless of which candidate you like best and plan to vote for, the election of Senator Barack Obama will set up the perfect governmental storm. One that constitutes the real danger of an Obama presidency.
Why? If Obama is elected president in November, we might as well toss out the Constitution because our government will have lost all of the checks and balances our forefathers so wisely and meticulously put into place.
Why? Nancy Pelosi (D) California is Speaker of the House and Harry Reid (D) Nevada is the Majority leader in the Senate. Regardless of the outcome in the presidential race, since the Republican brand is so sullied, after November, the Democrats will no doubt control both houses of Congress. That places all of the social programs Obama and the rest of the left have ever dreamed of on a fast track to becoming law. Whatever Obama wants, Congress will rubber stamp and vice versa.
Imagine the ease which presidential appointments will sail through Congress. Imagine the ease with which a President Obama will seat a couple of justices on the Supreme Court. Consider if you will, that the ones chosen by Obama, Nancy and Harry and approved by a Democratic Congress will make Justice Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter and Stevens, all appear to be slightly to the right of Attila the Hun!
Until November, let us enjoy all the fireworks, the debates and the political spectacle. After that, when it comes to Constitutional government and individual freedoms, unless folks wise up and consider the consequences of voting for president the same as they would for a contestant on American Idol, it may all be over but the shouting.
If you ask me, that's pretty scary.