Saturday, July 25, 2009

DID HE OR DIDN'T HE?

Just for the record, let's answer a few questions.

Did President BO, or did he not make certain campaign promises and take certain ideological stances that spurred people on to vote for him, believing that the first black president would surely keep his word and do the things for them they expected him to on the very basis of those promises?

Let's see.

Did he, or did he not pledge to deliver a net cut in government spending?

Has he, or has he not overseen a net gain in government spending?

Did he, or did he not pledge that the American people would be able to read new bills before he signed them? Were or were not his words: "I will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days."

Did he, or did he not promise the most transparent administration in history?

Did he, or did he not deny that he associated with America haters, Jeremiah Wright and William Aires?

Did he, or did he not promise to deliver us a world that stands as one?

Did he, or did he not state that we (his administration) had already identified $2 trillion in deficit reductions that would cut our deficit in half by the end of his first term?

Has he, or has he not at least quadrupled the "Bush deficit?"

Did he, or did he not list as some of those reductions as the result of NOT to continuing the surge in Iraq for ten more years, even though Bush ended the surge before President BO took office?

Did he, or did he not promise that the unemployment rate would not rise above 8.5% and would be brought down to below 8.5% very quickly?

Is the unemployment rate at, lower than, or higher than 8.5%?

Did he, or did he not state that he was not in favor of "big government," as so many had accused him of being?

Has he or has he not proposed a massive energy tax that would affect everybody, even those making less than his promised $250,000.00 per year?

Did he, or did he not promise to create a tax credit of $500 for workers equal 6.2 percent of up to $8,100 of earnings?

Did he, or did he not promise: "No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."

Did he, or did he not promise that his administration: "Will reinvigorate antitrust enforcement...?"

Did he, or did he not promise to eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year?

Did he, or did he not promise: "During 2009 and 2010, existing businesses will receive a $3,000 refundable tax credit for each additional full-time employee hired?"

Did he, or did he not promise legislation that would allow withdrawals of 15% up to $10,000 from retirement accounts without penalty?

Did he or did he not promise: "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies?"

I seem to remember a president who was not re-elected on the basis of a SINGLE broken campaign promise: "Read my lips! NO NEW TAXES!" (George H. W. Bush)

So, what might be the appropriate action to take regarding someone who breaks a dozen or more direct, emphatic campaign promises?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

He's a liar, alright....but if he's a liar, he's Clinton lite.

Mark said...

He's gone in 2012. I just hope it's not too late.

I think his rush to push legislation through so quickly is an upside to his Presidency. It will give the country time to see what a mess he's made long before the next election.

Joe said...

bluepitbull: He's Clinton lite in terms of lies about his personal actions, but in terms of campaign promises, he's right up there.

mark: I really, really hope you're right.

Bryan said...

"So, what might be the appropriate action to take regarding someone who breaks a dozen or more direct, emphatic campaign promises?"

How about an immediate removal from office along with all those that support him? :0)

Lone Ranger said...

I wouldn't call him the first black president. He's the LAST black president. His performance will be used to judge every black person who ever runs for president again. Unfortunate.