Buckeye RINO

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7.

One Oar in the Water has the scoop on Part 8.  You can view the video here.  Obama has attempted to portray himself as the champion of the middle class, but the windfall profits taxes and the high-bracket income tax increases proposed by Obama will backfire in the form of rising unemployment as the government dampens earning power, not just of individuals, but of employers as well.  While Obama demagogues about disparities between classes, it should be noted that people have availed themselves of the ladder of upward mobility.  The middle class might be shrinking slightly, but the lower class has shrunk considerably as America is still a land of opportunity for those that reach for it.

Tom Blumer at Bizzy Blog added this audio clip to his coverage of Part 8.  It is a 2001 radio interview with Barack Obama expressing sentiments that the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Warren during the Civil Rights era wasn’t radical enough while lamenting that redistribution of wealth couldn’t be effectively pursued through the courts.

From the Buckeye Rino perspective:

The audio clip is the smoking gun clearly showing that Obama shares radical Marxist viewpoints with Ayers, as I surmised in Part 7.  As I noted when the bailout bill passed, welcome to the U.S.S.S.A.  The question of whether we are socialists or capitalists has apparently been answered.  This election is our last chance to step away from the madness for at least the next couple of years.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

Mark at Weapons of Mass Discussion has the scoop on Part 7.  The accompanying video is here.  The political career of Barack Obama was launched in the home of Bill Ayers.  As noted in HOPE ON Part 6, Obama is being elusive about defining his ideology, and, as noted in HOPE ON Part 4, when we look at his votes in the U.S. Senate, he occupies the far left endpoint of the political spectrum among his colleagues in the U.S. Senate.  While Barack Obama states that Bill Ayers is just a guy in the neighborhood, and while Obama states that he doesn’t condone the violence carried out, when Obama was 8 years old, by the Weather Underground, which Ayers belonged to, the few cryptic remarks and actions of Obama that help bring a fuzzy picture of his ideology into sharper focus may very well indicate a convergence of opinion with that of Bill Ayers.  What does Ayers believe, and has Obama ever denounced such beliefs, or, instead, has Obama endorsed such beliefs?  Obama has only denounced the terrorist violence conducted by Ayers.  That’s the full scope of Obama denunciation of Ayers.  Otherwise, Obama lauds Ayers as a well-respected professor of education.  What does Ayers advocate for in the realm of education?  Well, he’s been using non-profit organizations to engage in frequent power struggles over who controls the Chicago schools.  His education reforms are not aimed at academic goals at all.  His education reforms are aimed at control over the schools, and then aimed at social engineering by way of adopting a radical agenda, which would probably reflect his political views on government overthrow, anarchy, Marxism, disdain for religion, decriminalization of drugs, gutting the juvenile justice system, breaking ties to Israel, and abandoning all strategic interests in the Middle East (but not before establishing a Palestinian state).  Ayers has a patronizing view of African-Americans.  I’m not sure if Ayers wants to be the patron saint of African-Americans, or if Ayers wants to be their honorary leader, or mentor, or what, but I think all Americans can do just fine without Ayers at the helm.  Ayers has never let go of his ambitions to topple government and seize power for his elite alliance.  Ayers ties to the Woods Foundation go back a generation to his father.  The Woods Foundation created the grant that the Developing Communities Project used to hire 24-year-old Barack Obama as a community organizer back in 1985.  The orbits of Obama and Ayers were not so remote from each other 23 years ago.  With Obama being trusted by Ayers to distribute the funds for Ayers’ radical education reforms, one must wonder whether Obama is an Ayers apprentice.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

John McCain is someone I trust.  He has been transparent even when he’s been wrong.  He’s followed his own inner compass of putting his country first ever since his days as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, a conflict that saw Ayers supporting a communist victory.  In all of Obama’s utterances and legislative votes about education, economics, and the criminal justice system, I hear echoes of Ayers.  That doesn’t inspire my trust.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

Thurber’s Thoughts has the scoop on Part 6.  To access the accompanying video for Part 6 (and other videos accompanying the other installments of HOPE ON),  you can visit www.neverfindout.org.  If you scroll down the neverfindout page, you’ll see a video titled “Chicken Button” that is the one accompanying Part 6.  During Senator Obama’s stint in the Illinois State Senate, he could push one of three buttons on his desk to record his votes.  One button was red, to vote no.  One button was green, to vote yes.  One button was yellow, to vote . . . “present.”  That yellow button is the “chicken” button, and Obama used it 129 times when he could have taken a definitive yes or no stand instead.  Thurber notes that the “chicken” button was used on some of the most sensitive issues before the Illinois Senate, issues that other Illinois State Senators were happy to weigh in on with a yes or no vote, issues that would have more clearly defined Obama’s ideology.  Thurber concludes with these thoughts:

Obama and his campaign defend the ‘present’ votes as being due to concerns about certain provisions of the bill or questions about constitutionality. But a ‘no’ vote would have worked just as well – except it wouldn’t have given him political cover.

In the White House, there isn’t a yellow button, but there is something similar. A president can decide to do nothing, but that’s not leadership and such lack of decisiveness can result in disastrous consequences. This is not something I want to risk, so let’s never find out.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

I loved Rudy Giuliani’s speech at the Republican National Convention when he spoke of Obama’s chicken-button votes.

From his days as an adjunct law professor at the University of Chicago, students and faculty recall that while Obama would lead vigorous discussions of issues from many perspectives, Obama was always tight-lipped about his own personally held views on the topics at hand.  At the Saddleback Church forum, when asked which of the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court he would not have supported for appointment, he singled out Justices Thomas and Scalia, saying that he differed with their interpretations of the Constitution, but his answer was vague as he never elaborated on his own view of the Constitution.  That’s scary in and of itself to hear that two of the Justices who most strictly adhere to the Constitution and exercise the most judicial restraint are the two that Obama doesn’t want on the court, while shedding no light on what Obama’s real agenda is.  It almost sounds like Obama plans to run afoul of the Constitution.

I’ve written quite a bit about the MSM being in the tank for Obama.  The MSM has failed to pin down Obama and has persecuted Obama’s detractors, whether they be Sarah Palin, Pat Buchanan, Fox News Channel, or Joe the Plumber.  Obama has scoffed at the notion he’s the most liberal U.S. Senator, but where’s the proof to the contrary?  When the economy is the number one issue, why are some voters still concerned about Ayers, Rezko, and other radical and shadowy figures in Chicago machine politics?  It’s because Obama has made a conscious decision to remain an enigma as demonstrated by his vague, ever-shifting, and often contradictory rhetoric.  Obama distributed the money from the grants that were allocated to Bill Ayers’ education projects.  Ayers’ project had more to do with social engineering in the realm of education than it did with meeting academic goals.  What does that portend for education policy in an Obama administration?  I’d like to know, but Obama is not planning to elaborate during his current stealth campaign.  Obama has shifted his positions on how to achieve energy independence so much that it’s impossible to determine what he REALLY stands for.  On the most talked about foreign policy issue, that of meeting with leaders of enemy nations at the presidential level with no preconditions, he was very clear on the issue during the primaries, but lately he’s deliberately trying to distort his own message on that front and it angers me.

John McCain has clearly defined himself even when he took positions that were unpopular (positions that remain unpopular, I might add) with his own base.  At Saddleback Church, America saw the decisive John McCain, and that’s what’s kept McCain competitive through the remaining weeks of the election season.  I think late-deciders in this election are going to rightfully feel some anxiety about pulling the lever for a nebulous Obama and feel much more confident about pulling the lever for a transparent McCain.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Here are my recaps of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Porkopolis has the video with the scoop on Part 5.  The tally for less than 4 years of Obama in the U.S. Senate: about 100 earmarks totaling about $740 million.  The tally for 26 years of McCain in the U.S. Senate: 0 earmarks totalling $0.  Obama conveniently stopped requesting earmarks during this presidential bid.  Michelle Obama’s employer received $1 million of those earmarks, and until 2006, Michelle Obama’s employer was Barack Obama’s biggest campaign contributor.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

There are several reasons why my detractors call me a RINO.  Among the chief reasons is that I have publicly criticized prominent Republican officeholders in the past, particularly in Ohio’s General Assembly.  Pay-to-play politics leads to marketplace inefficiencies and distortions as legislators, more focused on re-election than they are on fundamental fairness, angle for legislation that will garner campaign donors.  Barack Obama fits the pay-to-play political profile.  So does Joe Biden.  The pay-to-play brand of politics must stop.  It’s what has led to our current financial meltdown.

John McCain’s message of reform is exactly the change that needs to be sought.  During the debates, Obama has scoffed at McCain’s pledge to eliminate the earmark process by saying that complete elimination of earmarks would save just $18 billion, a drop in the bucket compared with the total federal budget.  However, this sort of reform goes to the very heart of what is wrong with Washington, where, as Obama himself said, “It also means that investment goes to the companies that are best connected instead of the ones that are most productive.”  Washington has interfered for years upon years with the marketplace, and the best connected are the ones that have benefited from the interference.  Barack Obama doesn’t practice what he preaches.  John McCain does, and his passionate push for reform is what ignited his campaign as the Republican National Convention drew to a close.

If I were to begin to compare Biden with Palin, there really is no comparison.  Biden has been entrenched in the U.S. Senate for 29 years, and has ridden the gravy train throughout.  I’ve written several blog entries about Palin that touched upon the topic of earmarks and reform here, here, here, here, here, and most recently, here and here.

When it comes to reforming Washington, John McCain has identified the correct starting point.  Obama’s scoffing at it in favor of the status quo means that the reforms Washington needs will not be undertaken during an Obama presidency.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

My recaps of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Matt Hurley of Weapons of Mass Discussion has produced HOPE ON Part 4, complete with video.  The video points out that when our U.S. Senators are gauged along the political spectrum, the one occupying the very far left end point along that spectrum is none other than Senator Obama.  Senator Biden ranks as number 3 on the leftward end.  For some perspective, Matt Hurley points out that Senator Bernie Sanders is an avowed socialist, and he ranks as number 4 on the leftward end.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

Obama has publicly stated that there is no Red America, no Blue America, only the United States of America.  Are we all supposed to flock to the left-most point along the political spectrum in order to be united?  How, exactly, is Barack Obama reaching to the other side of the aisle when he votes 97% of the time with the majority of his own party?  Half the time that he doesn’t vote with the majority of the party, it’s because he took a stance even farther to the left, like he does on the abortion issue.  So only one-point-five-percent of the time he votes to the right of the majority of his party?  And even when he votes to the right, he’s likely to do so on an issue where both the Republicans and the Democrats are wrong, like a totally screwed-up system of getting warrants to wiretap.  I want my 4th Amendment rights preserved, for Pete’s sake.  From an ideological standpoint, Obama can’t even reach me.  How are we supposed to believe him when he says he can reach across the aisle to provide leadership that can unite our country?  He has a difficult enough time even appearing on Fox News or talking to ordinary reasonable people like Joe the Plumber.  For crying out loud, when I was a Republican state rep candidate in a heavily Democrat district, I’d appear at any forum, talk with any of the media, and, especially, go door-to-door and talk to voters of any political persuasion.  I made every attempt to connect, but Obama does not.  If a Joe the Plumber comes along, his character has to be assassinated.  If an anchor on Fox News wants an interview, forgetaboutit.  Obama cannot unify with the rest of the country, which is why the country cannot unify with Obama.  You can’t get there from here.

I’ve got news for Senator Obama.  I know where Blue America is, and it’s not exactly crazy about guaranteeing my First Amendment rights.  Judging by the Obama camp’s Orwellian communication tactics, I’m not optimistic that my more conservative voice will be heard during an Obama presidency.

McCain and I don’t agree on a number of issues, but there are some on which we do agree.  McCain appears before all media, in any venue, and addresses ordinary people from across the political spectrum with respect.  McCain is reaching out.  He’s even reached out as far to the left as Obama is, on occasion (the socialistic bailout bill, for example).  So, if there’s somebody that stands a chance of reaching everybody, it’s McCain, from the middle of the spectrum, not Obama, from the left end of the spectrum who has a hard time even reaching the middle (and expresses disdain while doing so), let alone those who are to the right of center, like me.

By the way, check out the additional commentary at BizzyBlog concerning what Obama might decree in the way of Executive Orders if he were President.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

My recap of Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.

Jay Anderson has the scoop on HOPE ON Part 3 at his blog, Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate.  At issue is this Obama quote: “I’ve got two daughters. If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”  The video link is here.  You’ve heard the Republican claims that Barack Obama is the most liberal member of the United States Senate.  His views on abortion are as leftward as they come.  Anderson posts links to several sources, but this one and this one, both from Princeton University professor Robert George, are the most definitive.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

Abortion is an issue that matters a LOT to me.  I’m the oldest of 10 siblings, so I don’t understand what’s wrong with having babies.  I haven’t devoted blog space picking apart Obama’s stance on abortion because it’s so obvious that he’s not even close to being on the same wavelength I am.  In the run-up to the Republican VP selection, though, I did stipulate that my support of the McCain ticket would at least require a pro-life running mate even though McCain himself had a pro-life record.  McCain had assured us that he would.  The pick of Sarah Palin definitely helped solidify the base.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

My recap of Part 1 is here.

Dave Stacy at NixGuy has the scoop on Part 2, chock full of videos.  McCain has taken an all-of-the-above approach to achieving energy independence.  Obama has been forced to cave in from the energy stance he took during the primaries, because the public sided with McCain on this issue.  If Obama is dragged kicking and screaming to the issue of drilling for oil, is he really committed to doing it?  Check out Part 2 at NixGuy, and decide for yourself.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

While I didn’t devote blog space to comparing Obama and McCain on energy, I did compare Ohio’s 13th Congressional Representative Betty Sutton with her challenger Dave Potter on energy and the economy.  Betty Sutton’s efforts on the energy front have been LAME!  Dave Potter takes an all-of-the-above approach and he took a principled stand against the bailout demonstrating his superior knowledge of the economy, so I’ve endorsed Dave Potter for Congress.

The State of Ohio Blogger Alliance has undertaken the task of highlighting criticisms of the Obama ticket that the in-the-tank MSM works hard to downplay or outright ignore.  The effort has been titled “Help Ohio Prevent Electing Obama Now” (HOPE ON), and, in all, 13 installments will be rolled out for blog readers to peruse and reflect upon.

Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog has unveiled the first installment of HOPE ON.  It includes this video, which points out that, more than two years ago, John McCain called for reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Barack Obama benefited from the status quo at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, therefore, he’s part of the problem.  Blumer includes his own commentary that connects the dots for you.

From the Buckeye RINO perspective:

On this blog, I linked to a video showing Obama’s Democrat allies defending the status quo at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the Franklin Raines era.  I’ve already opined on this blog that the McCain ticket portends more change we can believe in than the Obama ticket does.  Of course, I advocated against the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The final presidential candidates’ debate between Barack Obama and John McCain has concluded.  The final question of the night was about education.  Having taught in both American and South Korean classrooms, I know something about why America doesn’t fare well in academics even though America pays the most money per pupil on education in the world.

The answer?  Other countries allocate their resources toward academic achievement.  America allocates its resources toward social engineering.  Want a prime example?  Bill Ayers.  Bill Ayers received grant money that Barack Obama distributed that was for social engineering purposes, not for academic achievement.  But not just private grant money gets diverted for tangential purposes, so does tax money.  Liberals use our schools as labs for social experimentation.  They are more interested in promoting group think and producing a society that isn’t stratified than they are about producing scholars that have a facile command of math, language, the arts, and the sciences, and that are able to think for themselves.

John McCain missed a clear opportunity to tie Obama to Ayers on the very important campaign issue of education.

In South Korea, parents and teachers just want their kids to master the subject material.  There isn’t any additional agenda competing for resources.  That’s the secret of their success.

The MSM is reporting that a probe by Alaska’s state legislature has ruled that Palin abused the power of her office.  What did she do to abuse power?  She didn’t rein in the First Dude when he phoned various personnel in state government to talk about Trooper Wooten, an ex-brother-in-law who’d run afoul of workplace rules in the past.

It is a spot on Palin’s record.

Having said that, I wish that’s the worst that could be said about many of our current crop of politicians.  I realize people are human and prone to error, but there are so many politicians, some still in office, that are guilty of much more egregious behavior that I think should have been given the heave-ho a long time ago.

Also, the First Dude’s efforts were geared toward greater integrity among state troopers.  It still fits within Palin’s framework of putting government on the side of the people, even when the government is doing what it can to resist it.

Let’s not forget that Palin bucked the system to get to where she is, not riding anyone’s coattails, and taking on dirty politicians within her own party, let alone taking on those outside the party.  That kind of track record is bound to make enemies among the political elites.  These political elites that have been spurned by Palin are hoping that they’ve opened a window that will allow them to regain ground that they lost to Palin.

Personally, I wish we had a bunch of politicians in Ohio that had Palin’s attitude about putting government on the side of the people, and not letting entrenched interests stand in the way of that.

The MSM has been floating reports that there’s been at least one voice raised at McCain rallies saying “Kill him,” referring to Obama as the target.  The audio is garbled, so I’m not sure if it really happened, but if it did, someone needs a personal visit from a cadre of Secret Service agents pronto.  If I ever heard someone raise that cry, I’d do my best to lead the Secret Service straight to the perp.  I don’t know if any readers have had the privilege of attending a McCain rally, but I certainly hope that you’d help single out such a perp, too.

[UPDATE] This Times-Leader report says that the Secret Service can find no one who can corroborate the allegations of a solitary journalist that someone shouted “Kill him” at a McCain rally.  There is a phone number, though, if a witness wants to call in.

The Plain Dealer editorializes that because the Secretary of the Treasury has become so much more powerful (I referred to the prospect as making Hank Paulson head of the Communist Party) as a result of the passage of the bailout bill, that Barack Obama and John McCain should name their choices for Secretary of the Treasury in advance of the November election.

I should point out to the Plain Dealer that, by the time the bailout bill was passed, large-scale early voting in Ohio had already begun.  Whoops!  Those early votes are already locked in, no matter who is named. Read the rest of this entry »

Not everyone has a firm grasp of fundamental economic principles.  We can see that reflected in the way Ohio’s Congressional delegation voted on the bailout bill, or “rescue plan,” or whatever you want to call it.

We saw a group of legislators who understood economic principles well enough that they comfortably stood by their convictions, voted “NO” on the bailout bill, and even put forward their own proposals to fix Wall Street’s mess without bailing out Wall Street using taxpayers’ money.

We also saw a group of legislators who knew a little bit about economics, saw the same crisis looming that the above-mentioned group saw, but who were only capable of “inside-the-box” thinking in coming up with a plan that will stave off a few symptoms of the malaise, “for the good of the country,” but will not eradicate the pathogens that have sickened our economy, thus the economic crisis has not been averted.  These representatives to Congress voted “YES” on the bailout bill because they only knew enough of economics to offer temporary relief from the symptoms, not enough to treat the syndrome, and figured it was better to act on the little bit of knowledge that they had than do nothing.

Then there were three legislators, Pat Tiberi, Jean Schmidt, and Betty Sutton, who are so clueless about economics that they don’t know what or who to believe.  They took their cue from others (check out this video clip of Betty Sutton from the Openers section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer), because they lacked their own knowledge and inward convictions. They voted NO on Monday but changed their vote to YES on Friday.

If the economy is issue number one in this election, then how are these three supposed to be of any help?

Of course, one must look at who they are running against to see if their challengers offer any advantages over the incumbents.  Read the rest of this entry »

I am very disappointed with our U.S. Senators, not just George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown, but many, many others.  In the House, they voted on a bailout bill that was a little over 100 pages long.  Tonight, the Senate voted on a bailout bill that was about 450 pages long.  While some good measures were added in to better the bill, there were also some bad measures added in that worsen the bill.  The fundamentals, though, remain just as bad as they were.

Some of the Senators who spoke with the MSM afterward said that they had received support from small businesses in their state to pass the bailout bill.  The thought that crossed my mind is that ordinary Americans have very little access to their Senators.  The Senators live in a bubble.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate Majority Leader, pointed out that Congress will adjourn later this week, but will reconvene in late November for organizational meetings.  How naive is it for me to hope that committee assignments in the new Congress, specifically banking and finance committee assignments, will trend toward legislators that do NOT receive campaign contributions from the industries they should oversee?