First, the president, although he suggests policy, is not single-handedly responsible for the legislation. Congress is. President Obama suggested healthcare, suggested the bailout, suggested the incentives for first-time homebuyers and "Cash for Clunkers." Congress enacted them. Please stop blaming President Obama if you are unhappy with your life. It isn't his fault. The people we have sent to Congress are the ones who have passed this legislation. He only signs it into law. He could veto it, but then there is a chance the Congress could override the veto. There is a reason the president doesn't have the power to enact legislation. The founding fathers had just rebelled against a dictatorial king. They were smart enough to not put all the power in the hands of one person. Yes, he is the easiest to blame. Yes, he is the leader of the Democratic party. No, he is not directly responsible for the laws that have been passed. Start laying the blame where it belongs and stop bashing people who don't deserve it.
Second, the government can only raise money by imposing taxes. Taxes are not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you are dependent on the government for anything, like an army to protect you from terrorists or a highway on which to drive your SUV. People do not like paying taxes. No one ever has. But if you ask anything from your government, taxes are a necessary evil. The problem we are currently facing, as I see it, isn't that we should or shouldn't raise taxes. It is to start using the money the government raises more economically. Every congressman has supported a project that was near and dear to someone's heart. That person helped raised money to get the congressman elected; that congressman supported the project financially. Perhaps some were necessary. I am guessing many weren't. I also don't understand why government money supports research on fruit flies and not more on cleaner energy. I am tired of hearing people say that they are still waiting for money after Hurricane Katrina but do not want their taxes raised. And if one more person says that it is unfair for someone making a kajillion dollars to not pay tax because it is going to harm small business, I am going to scream. The logic of that sentence alone makes no sense. The truth of the matter is the middle class shoulders a disproportionate burden of the taxes. Those who make a lot of money (Congressmen, cough, cough) can afford to pay a little more, and we all would be better off.
Finally, for now, the stimulus measures are difficult to take but are probably better than the alternative. I do not like that my government has passed on a deficit to my children's generation that is more than most small countries have ever had in a year. I do not like the way that large banks got bailed out and their officers made lots of money. But I have heard enough to know that, if we had done nothing, this great country would be a lot worse off than we are right now. So it had to be. What we need to do now is make sure that we never allow our corporations and our banks to get back to the place where they need to be bailed out again. But many oppose that because they have enjoyed a close relationship with those businesses. Therefore they are willing to rewrite history, package a bunch of lies, sell it to the public hoping that we have short memories and then convince us that doing nothing is a better path to take. And I for one get disgusted every time I hear the lies come over the air...
Which is why I have been banned from listening to the radio or watching t.v. Thank you for listening. I feel better to have gotten this off my chest.
