My take on Obama’s acceptance speech

I took the time to watch Barack Obama’s acceptance speech earlier this week.  Barack Obama gives good prepared speeches.  I am rarely impressed with acceptance speeches at conventions by either Republicans or Democrats because they are overly partisan and are designed to “rile the base” rather then illustrate specific policies.

The positive items included:

  1. He supported expanding nuclear power in a responsible way.
  2. He talked about a program that would allow people to perform community service in return for college tuition.
  3. He talked about going through the Federal budget “line by line” to remove wasteful spending.

The negative portions of his speech included:

  1. He started his speech by telling a blatant lie about McCains Tax Plan.  McCain’s tax plan actually cuts taxes for EVERYONE and further subsidizes the poor.
  2. He is against taxing employee health care plans.  This is actually one of President Bush’s best ideas to reign in health care costs.
  3. He stated that the last eight years have been based on a society that is “on your own” and this is another blatant lie.  Federal spending is up across the board and the Federal and State governments are spending far more on programs to help the poor and needy then the Federal government has ever spent in the past.
  4. He misstated the effects of his tax plans.  He said that he would cut taxes on 95% of Americans and increase taxes on the other 5%.  This is a factually incorrect statement his campaign has been putting out for some time.  Approximately 42% of those who file individual tax returns are either: subsidized by the Federal Government, in other words they are paid back more money then they paid in during the year or they pay zero in taxes.  Barack Obama should understand that you CANNOT cut taxes on those people who pay no taxes or more likely are subsidized by the Federal government via the income tax.  What Barack should say is that his plan:  Ensures that the 42% of Americans who pay no Federal income tax or are more likely paid a subsidy directly from other tax payers will get even larger subsidies from the Federal government, cuts taxes on 53% of Americans, and increases taxes on 5% of American households.
  5. He said that America would no longer be dependent on Mideast oil within ten years; this is a “pipe dream” and no reasonable person should believe this claim.
  6. He wants to help the auto industry “retool.”  In other words, he wants to bail out the auto industry at taxpayer expense.
  7. He wants to help Americans afford new cars.  He was not specific on how he wanted to accomplish this; however, it is not the Federal Governments job to help Americans purchase new cars.
  8. He wants to pay teachers more money.  Teachers already make a very good wage and tend to have great benefits.  I think teachers should make a good wage; however, they are not underpaid and it is not the Federal governments job to pay teachers more money.
  9. He spoke in favor of Universal Healthcare which a majority of Americans (including me) oppose.
  10. He spoke in favor of better family leave and more paid sick pay.  The FMLA already allows employees to take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for a large variety of reasons.  It is not the Federal Governments job to expand this program or heaven forbid force employers to pay for a specified number of sick days.

Items I am unsure about:

  1. He talked about changing the tax code and said some things that make sense and others that do not.  I will have to analyze his plans for the tax code at a later date.
  2. He talked about changing the bankruptcy laws.  I would need to know more about what he wants to change.
  3. He wants to protect social security, I need to know more.  The system is in financial crisis since we only have enough money to pay out 75% of the projected benefits from 2041 on. 

Mike Sylvester

The Face Of Hypocrisy

Karl Rove says Tim Kaine isn’t qualified to be VP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-jrk2e0MMs

but Sarah Palin is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9I_5F3qXYo

Comical. Oh, and I hate to break this to Rove and Fox News but Wasilla is not the 2nd largest city in Alaska…

Palin is a great pick for VP

I want to start this post by reminding you all that I switched to the Republican Party earlier this year from the Libertarian Party.  I am a Republican who is sick and tired of Republicans who vote for larger government and more regulations.

I also want to remind you that in many posts I have said that I will likely vote for Libertarian Bob Barr for President in November.

McCain’s choice of Palin has made me reconsider; I am not longer sure whether I will vote Republican or Libertarian for President in November.

Palin is a great choice for VP for many reasons:

1.  She will energize the Republican base because she is a strong social conservative.  I think this will ensure the Republican base votes in November and it will help McCain’s fundraising as well.

2.  She has more Executive experience then Obama, McCain, and Biden combined.  She was the Mayor of a small town in Alaska and has been the Governor of Alaska for as long as Obama has been a US Senator.

3.  She is the only person who is truly from the middle class on either ticket.  Her dad was a school teacher and her mother was a school secretary.

4.  She has never served in Washington DC and I think that will help her with voters.  I think many people are sick and tired of Washington DC insiders screwing things up for all of us.

5.  She has a captivating personal history.

6.  She has a strong reputation for fighting corruption in Alaska.  She has gone after Republicans including their corrupt Republican Senator and  Republican Representative.

7.  She is against earmarks and told Washington that Alaska did not need Washington DC to build the infamous “bridge to nowhere.” 

8.  She is not a lawyer.  Both members of the Democratic ticket are lawyers and I think that will hurt the Democrats in November.

There are many more reasons; however, these are some of the first ones that struck me.

Palin is the kind of candidate that Obama should have chose rather then a man who has served in the senate for 36 years.

Mike Sylvester

What were they thinking?

In a few minutes I will put up a post explaining why I think Palin was a good choice for McCain.

Before I get to that I want to talk about campaign themes and how BOTH Obama’s campaign and McCain’s campaign chose VP’s that are not in line with their overall campaign themes.

First Obama chose Biden.  Obama’s campaign theme has been that Washington is broken and that we need “change.”  “Change” is a message that has resonated for Obama.  Obama then decided to choose a man who has served in the United States senate for the last 36 years. A man who has created the environment that Obama continually says he wants to change.  The pick of Biden did not match Obama’s message of “change” at all.

Then McCain chose Palin.  McCain has run on a theme of “experience.”  He has portrayed Obama as too inexperienced to be President of the United States.  So he chose a women who has some exectuive experience; but, no foreign policy experience at all.  The pick of Palin did not match McCain’s message of “experience” at all.

As far as theme’s go Obama and Palin are a much better fit for a theme of “change” and McCain and Biden are a much better fit for a theme of “experience.”

Mike Sylvester

Is McCain Serious?

The guy is 72-years old and running his entire campaign on the mantra of experience. So he picks a candidate, Sarah Palin, with absolutely ZERO foreign policy experience - let alone experience with anything else. Not to mention she’s under investigation in her own state for ethical violations.

I’m sure the country will feel completely comfortable with Palin becoming president if something were to happen to McCain - especially considering 99% of the American people have never heard of her until today. I wonder if she’s related to Dan Quayle?

Two years ago she was the mayor of a town the size of Columbia City but now she’s ready to step in and lead the country - possibly become the President? Give me a break. Why not select Mayor Henry?

I still wish it would’ve been Lieberman - that would’ve been even more hilarious…

ACS Management Threatens Employees Who Visit FWP?

Got a tip today that ACS management was outraged over the chatter in a related post here at FWP and warned all employees that they would be monitoring and/or blocking traffic to this site.

Just to reiterate a point to city and county employees and contractors. I will never out anyone who sends a tip or posts anonymously on this blog. Protection for whistle-blowers is vital to discourage corruption and improve the return on our taxpayers’ investment.

The citizens rely on a free press to inform them about the inner workings of their government and that info comes from first-person accounts - not press releases. In my experience those attempting to stem the free flow of information always have the most to hide…

Obama Lays Out Platform

I kept hearing all week that he was going to use part of his nomination acceptance speech to lay out his platform for America. I was actually quite surprised that he discussed as many items as he did. In case you missed it or want to watch it again - here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBfiNLKtZ4M

Harrison Square condo sales floundering

Everyone reading this blog knows that I ardently opposed Harrison Square.  I spoke at public hearings, City Council meetings, and wrote several editorials for the local newspapers concerning Harrison Square not to mention blog posts concerning the project.

In the last few months I have not said much about the project.  I have just sat on the “sidelines” and watched it falter.

Up until a couple of weeks ago we were told that everything was on schedule and that ”The Harrison” would be completed by June 1st, 2009 as agreed upon in writing by the City and the Developer.

Recently Greg Leatherman was quoted in the Journal Gazette as saying that it is now likely that “The Harrison” will not be completed as agreed upon.  In other words, it will not be in service for opening day as was repeatedly promised by the Developer and various City officials.

According the the media there is one reason and one reason only that construction on “The Harrison” has not begun and that is that the Developer has not been able to secure financing.

Late last year Councilman Don Schmidt asked the Mayor’s office for financial statements showing the financial capacity of those involved with the project.  This was discussed with the Mayor’s Administration at a City Council meeting and they told Councilman Schmidt that he would not be allowed to see financial statements for those involved.  Councilman Pape got involved and argued against the need for City Council to see any financial statements.  I watched this exchange in person and I was quite irritated that Councilman Schmidt (At the time President of the City Council) was rebuffed.  

Now ”The Harrison” will likely not be completed on time because the Developer cannot secure financing…

If the Developer had a large amount of money they were willing to invest into “The Harrison” financing would be easy to obtain; however, they seem to want to incur a lot of debt and not invest a lot of their own capital.  This would have been good to know late last year when Councilman Schmidt tried to determine their financial capacity.

In my opinion there are several reasons why the financing for “The Harrison” is not in place:

Read more

Pat Buchanan Gushes Over Obama’s Speech

First I saw nutjob neoconservative Bill Kristol heap praise on Obama’s speech and then Pat Buchanan followed suit. I didn’t get Kristol’s comments on video but I was able to record Buchanan’s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Fru4dZLGA

From Denver…

Our national delegate Karen Goldner chimes in from Denver in the moments leading up to Barack Obama’s speech. And just to make some of us even more jealous she informed us that she has great seats - the 3rd row!

We couldn’t leave the floor because the access point was mobbed with folks trying to get in. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced - a political rally & rock concert. The emotion is overwhelming

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