Politivity

Barack Obama has been enjoying a nice ride on a political magic carpet ride, but it’s time to start getting real about his agenda.

First, let’s look at why Obama appeals to voters. He promises voters that he will:

• Tax the rich and give breaks to the middle class and poor
• Give people government healthcare
• Give kids $4,000 a year for college (they have to volunteer in return)
• Get the troops out of Iraq
• Balance the budget
• Undo security measures in the name of “civil liberties”
• Enact universal pre-school
• Expand funding for a variety of existing education programs
• Increase Teacher Pay
• Force employers to offer pension plans
• Will spend $1 billion dollars to create new jobs

But there is one major question that no one is asking Barack Obama: HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?

• Tax the rich and give breaks to the middle class and poor - The rich already have the highest tax rate on income. When you hear rich people like Warren Buffett say they pay fewer taxes than their secretaries, they’re being disingenuous. They’re either using accountants to find loopholes to lower their income, taking low salaries because of their investments (many CEOs make $1 annual salaries, for example) or lying. The rich always pay more in taxes:
  • If you make $1 million, you pay $329,074 in federal taxes, which is 32.9% of your income.
    
  • If you make $100,000, you pay $22,111 in federal taxes, which is 22.11% of your income.
    
  • If you make $30,000, you pay $4109 in federal taxes, which is 13.69% of your income.
  • If you make $15,000, you pay $1859 in federal taxes, which is 12.3% of your income.
• Give people government healthcare - Countries with government healthcare have long waiting lists for treatments such as cancer. Think about long lines just to renew a driver’s license at the DMV. Have you ever tried to call Social Security? It’s a mind-numbingly long process. Government programs are never efficient. Do we really want to risk our health with government mandates? And who’s going to pay for all of this? You will. Your taxes will pay for this. Obama will not be able to pay for this without taxing you.
• Give kids $4,000 a year for college (they have to volunteer in return)- Again, who will pay for this?
• Get the troops out of Iraq - This will throw the door wide open for Al Quaeda to return. Currently, Al Quaeda has suffered massive defeats in Iraq. They have retreated. Pulling troops will increase greatly our chances for a terrorist attack. Pulling out of the war will have a temporary monetary benefit, but the ongoing costs of his programs will eat up that money in a heartbeat.
• Balance the budget - This will be hard to do with all of these new government programs - unless taxes are raised.
• Undo security measures in the name of “civil liberties” - This will also increase the likelihood of a terrorist attack. Civil liberties are not being abused the way Obama and the Democrats would have you believe. Conversations are not being listened to and eavesdropped upon by humans. Instead, computers monitor communications for specific, targeted words and phrases. It looks for anomalies. And they have to be very significant in order for someone to be arrested. Are you still so sure that people are innocently being held? Or would you rather the federal government reveal national security secrets just to shut the Democrats up?
• Enact universal pre-school - How much will this cost again?
  
• Expand funding for a variety of existing education programs - Obama talks about how awful the public schools are. His answer is to send more money to the schools. Money has to go to the RIGHT programs. Schools are woefully behind in technology and innovation. More money to current programs would keep them behind. Public schools do not perform well because they don’t have to. McDonald’s has to perform well or else they’ll have to close. Business will go elsewhere. If public schools don’t perform well, they can exist and get funding. And Obama’s plan will help them get more for doing nothing.
• Increase Teacher Pay - How will we pay for this?
• Force employers to offer pension plans - Employers will pass this cost along to their employees and customers. There also may be fewer jobs as a result.
• Will spend $1 billion dollars to create new jobs - By taxing corporations and rich people more, he’ll be guaranteeing a decrease in jobs. The best way to create jobs is to let people, small businesses, and corporations keep more of their money. This enables them to grow and invest, which is the foundation of job creation.

Obama is appealing because of his ideals. But taxing the rich to give to the poor has been the goal of communism. And communism fails every time it’s tried. Even China is thriving due to capitalism. Cuba isn’t exactly taking care of its people, are they?

Capitalism, freedom, and conservatism require careful thought and reflection on the facts and tough economic theory. But they work every single time. Do not be deceived about where the country is headed should Obama be elected.

The Writer’s Guild of America has been on strike for about two months now. Could they be to blame for the country’s economic woes?

• Most of the major network shows have shut down production or are about to.
• Many of the writers probably couldn’t afford to strike, and therefore can’t stimulate the economy when they’re not being paid. Some of them could possibly be foreclosing on homes.
• Writers may be going after different types of writing gigs (copywriting, ghostwriting, etc), creating increased competition for existing writers in those fields.
• Many behinds the scenes workers are hit hard, including carpenters, grips, gaffers, production managers and the like - again possible foreclosing on homes and not having dollars to spend (aka not contributing to the economy)
• Without new episodes of favorite TV shows, fewer Americans are watching TV - including commercials which might result in  sales.
• With lower viewer numbers, the networks can’t bring in as much advertising dollars.
• Production companies and studios can only work with existing scripts, which means they cannot generate as much investment money
• According to FilmLA, the strike costs the LA economy $21 million a day.