Education
Obama wants to close failing charter schools and award succeeding schools. This looks simple and innocent enough, but has many problems. One, Obama is using doublespeak. His website states Obama and Biden want to "improve NCLB's accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them." Yet they close failing schools? Are those the same schools that need improvement?
Another problem I have with Obama's plans for Education is how he wants to focus on math and science using "math and science degree graduates." Don't see the problem with that? I do as an Education student. One, most people with those degrees don't want to teach, they have other goals in mind. Making them teach will put them in a position they don't want to be in. Educational Psychology 101, unenthusiastic teachers means unmotivated students. I doubt someone in a field they don't want to be in will do well in that field.
Obama also has some plans to attain teachers. Plans like "rewards," dished out by school districts. I see problems here too. Private schools have their own board, so what is explained excludes private school teachers. That's not very fair. Also, Obama claims this will be "developed with teachers, not imposed on them." This is a lie if the district has control. Not all school board members are teachers or even former teachers. Also, it seems that a bigger set of rewards will go to inner cities, rather than small town schools.
Also, Obama want to get rid of the FASFA, which is bad news for students like me, going to college without the support of family. Obama's campaign clearly states that families will be able to check off a box on their taxes to have that information used. I am not a family, nor am I able to have high enough income to support myself without aid while I am in college. It is not said if people in my situation (going to college sans parental support) will be able to check off the same box. This is doubtful, and would see many people unable to go to college. Much of the aid system would have to be overhauled to accommodate students like me, but what will we do in the meantime?
Further, Obama's "American Opportunity Tax Credit" is a sham. He claims it will cover "two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students." This sound great, if you don't know basic math. Hark back to your elementary school days. Remember mean, median, and mode? Mean was that one that gave averages. You take all the numbers you have, add them together, then divide by the number of items you had. Let's say you have 15 numbers, then you'd add them up and divide by 15. The problem with this? The average typically comes to about the center of the numbers present, if there are no extremes. In college tuition, there are extremes. Public colleges include community colleges, which most people can only get an associate's degree. The draw of these colleges is that they are very cheap. Cheaper than most colleges in fact, especially those that offer bachelor's or even master's degrees. Therefore $4,000 might help, but won't make college free for anyone going past an associate's.
Economy
First off, I don't plan on ever being rich. The most I want is to be able to provide for my family. Obama seems dead set on destroying that dream for many Americans (either simply providing, or becoming rich). Obama wants to redistribute wealth. There are many problems with that. One, our economy will not survive a Socialistic change. We are Capitalists, get over it. Obama can't admit that a lower Capital Gains Tax generates more revenue. He wants to increase it to an amount that simply doubles it. Yet by lowering it, both Clinton and Bush found more revenue was generated. Historically we know this works. So why break what works? Obama's plans need money just like any one else's, so why take that away?
Obama's tax plans amount to "throw money at the economy and hope it works again." He wants to give money to people (Socialistic any one?), provide massive tax breaks, and create jobs. I know, this sounds great. The reality is not so good. Creating new jobs, that's a problem in this case. We have just given away lots of money, and then we make new jobs that cost more money. How does that make any sense? We have less money, so we give it away, and then we spend the money we already don't have to make jobs that cost more of that same money we don't have. I'm not the best at math. I will admit that. Yet I'm no idiot. If we have less money (which we do, the economy is in recession), then how does spending more money help anything? Where does that money come from?
The chief way the government gets its money is through taxation. If we cut taxes, the money lessens. The less money, the less we can do financially. This is basic logic people! So for these plans to work, taxes have to raise somewhere. If we tax business, they in turn have to rise the prices of goods so they can pay for higher taxes. Those increases cause people to have to spend more money to get less, therefore they have less money. This continues too long and businesses start losing ground. They have to start firing people to make ends meet, especially if they have to compete with off-shore competition. Unemployment naturally increases, which in turn lessens the money in the economy which repeats the firing and unemployment cycle. The unemployed have to rely on the welfare programs, but the money is slowly running out. When it does, the welfare system crashes. Meanwhile, businesses are closing and no one can afford anything. Final result, the economy crashes. An extreme example, yes, but even a small part of this would be bad.
I do not support a Socialistic economy. If I happen to one day make a lot of money, I don't want the government to take that from me. I should be allowed to pay my taxes, and then do with the rest as I choose. If I give money to those who need it on my own, that's better than the government telling me to do it. If we "redistribute the wealth" like Obama wants, then what happens to the American Dream? We dream of being able to work hard an reap the benefits of our work, yet Obama wants to take that away. Why won't you let America Dream Mr. Obama?
Health Care
Universal Heath Care. Canadians wait weeks to months to get a MRI, while people in Spain sit in run down hospitals. Both countries offer universal health care, but at what cost? The quality suffers. What's Obama stake in all this? His plan will create a quasi-universal health care plan that will further damage our economy. Somehow, Obama will lower health care with credits (which takes even more money out of the system).
Also, he plans on making "employer contributions more fair by requiring large employers that do not offer coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of their employees health care." Okay, a percentage of payroll? That's where your wages come from. If part of the pie is already gone before you get to it, there's less pie to go around, therefore lower wages. If lower wages are denied, employees would have to be fired to cover costs. This harks back to that bad cycle I was talking about earlier. If employers increase payroll, goods and services must become more expensive to cover it. This goes back to the idea of money not going as far. The cycle still continues.
What's meaningful any way? Obama will make companies that don't make a "meaningful contribution" pay, but never says what's "meaningful." Also, what's "large" by Obama's standards? Why doesn't Obama spell this out more? What about companies that are "large" but can't afford "meaningful contributions?" I guess they just have to tank. No matter how you slice it, this health care plan comes out of the pockets of the very people Obama claims to be helping. If companies do make "meaningful contributions," the money has to come from somewhere. If it all comes from the "rich," then the "rich" will either die or take more from the "poor." If they die, who's left to run this economy? If they take more, how long until we fall?
Let us not forget the controversy of a universal health care plan. Obama's site states there are two extremes, government run (universal), or rampant insurance control (no rules on insurance companies). Just so we're clear, the United States does not employ either system. The Obama-Biden campaign says that both extremes are wrong. Okay, so why would they then state that they want to establish a "National Health Insurance Exchange" that allows private options and "a new public plan." Public means government run. So you have two options, go with your private insurance (your company's or your own), or the public system. The public system which you have to pay for, one way or another. Yet this is supposed to help the middle class Americans? It's yet another "hidden fee" that the Obama campaign won't tell you about.
This one is my favorite, "increasing the use of generic drugs." Obama wants us to use generic drugs more. Do you know what that is Mr. Obama? Tylenol, Advil, Benedril, and other medicines like these fall under the category of "generic." How do I know this? I am a regular sufferer of headaches and migraines. I can't afford to go to the doctor and find out medically why this is, so I have to use over the counter medication. I have done my homework on what I take. I could tell you more about what pills you pop for a headache than a lot of other people. I can also tell you many people, myself included, can't regularly use these "generic drugs." They have little to no effect. I'll take something for my headache simply hoping something might happen. Normally I feel no change, no effect. If I have a mild migraine (mild for me that is), taking anything I can get over the counter is worthless. My headaches are getting worse, anyone who has known me for a while can tell you. I'm in more pain than I used to be, and the pills I take aren't helping. So what good is a generic drug to people like me who need something stronger. Now, let's see the next hidden fee.
Generic drugs are used more under the Obama plan, meaning stronger drugs are less used, and therefore more expensive, drug companies have families to feed too. Now, people like me, who need stronger medication can't afford it unless we have health care (which I don't, nor can I afford it). If they can afford it, they pay "out the nose," as the expression goes, for something that used to be cheaper. Given that they must have a prescription to take that, they cannot give it to them, because it is illegal. So only the "rich" can afford stronger medication, yet we're undermining the rich. The cycle continues.
Then, on top of this, Obama wants "hospitals to collect and report health care cost and quality data." That takes man power, which costs money, because health care professionals don't have all this time to jot down this data, especially when saving lives. So a new job is created. The hospital has to pay for the new position, because no one will do this for free. The hospital needs money from somewhere, and grants only pay for so much. So they have to hike costs somewhere. Naturally this goes back to people who use the hospital, or doctor wages are cut. Either way, money disappears from one hand into another. People still have less money, and the cycle rolls on.
Energy
Obama wants to create more jobs here too and make more of us drive hybrids. You know, those expensive cars you have to take a loan out just to buy? Guess what, this costs even more money in an ever shrinking pool. Lower taxes means less government money which mean less money for programs. Sure people "have more money," until you break down the other plans and see how they work.
Misc.
What worries me is how Obama seems to think he can create millions of new jobs and not have any money to support them. I don't understand how he can rationalize cutting off the government's resources and yet spending more money and throwing around tax credits at everything. The funds have to come from somewhere. If we won't tax the middle class, then he'll tax the upper class, who will in turn take what they need from the lower classes. If he taxes businesses, same rule applies. If he doesn't tax any one, then he has to borrow money or spend on the Deficit. How any of that helps the economy baffles me.
Also, the sheer fandom that seems to be sweeping around this man is insane. When parents have their children sing songs that say things like "Obama is Hope," without them understanding it, you have to realize something is wrong. When people are willing to ignore facts and call people "racist" over this man, there is something wrong.
Obama has openly admitted to having Socialist policies. He attended a separatist church that not only condemned America, but clearly had extreme racist views. While Obama is not the church he attended, he clearly made no effort to stop or change what had been going on, and he made the choice attend that church. And to those who claim, "That's just how they talk in black churches," I've been to many black churches and not one of them spoke that way.
It also bothers me that Obama refuses to let people see his actual birth certificate. If he has nothing to hide, then why do we only have images off the Internet? Why won't he just release his information when Philip J. Berg accused him in the first place? Why wouldn't he let the courts see the document in question? He's bidding to be President, so every aspect of his life is up for examination. That's how it goes.
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What this is not is a Pro-McCain message. If you don't want to vote for McCain, fine, vote third party. What this is is an Anti-Obama message. We can't afford having this man in power, he is not right for the Presidency. Whatever you do, don't elect Barack Hussein Obama Jr. He is not the change we need.
