Monday, 25. February 2008, 15:35:19
I have been away and very busy for quite some time now and have been meaning to write a few posts on topical events that seem to dominate the media because normally I go against the grain. Unfortunately the majority of the citizens of the US tend to be a short attention span breed and get their news and information from 15 second sound bites and never question it. I always believe nothing of what I am told and then research it as much as possible then form my own conclusion and opinions. This post will focus on the democratic primary Hillary Vs Obama.
For the 19 years I have been eligible to vote I have indeed voted, and my leaning is more on the conservative side. I consider myself a libertarian, but unfortunately for the most part we are in a 2 party system and I vote for who is closest to my views and that has been the Republican party (although I did vote for Perot when he ran). Up until this year I have never voted for a democratic candidate for one major reason: Their assertion that a minority lower middle class person can not survive with out them. I like to earn my keep and I work my butt off to support my wife and 3 kids. The last thing I want to be told on a daily basis is that I can not make it on my own. I have too much pride to agree with that argument.
Now my newest frustration with the democratic party comes from the embellishments of the Clinton campaign and their mantra that she is experienced and is the only democratic candidate who will be ready day one. I have a huge issue with both of those assertions.
Mrs. Clinton has been an elected official since 2001 – 7 years, and has spent 1 full year campaigning so her total “experience” as an elected official is 6 years. In the six years that she has represented the State of New York she has managed to pass a total of 20 laws/resolutions; most of which are trivial and insignificant:
1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.
2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.
3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall.
5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson.
6. Name post office after Jonn A. O'Shea.
7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death.
10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship.
12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program.
13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.
14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death.
15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty.
Only five of Clinton's bills are, more substantive.
16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11
18. Assist landmine victims in other countries.
19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.
20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system.
The one time she attempted to take over a nationwide issue was when she was a non-elected official and she refused to answer or work with congress and kept all the discussion private, utilizing cronies who had no idea whatsoever about the healthcare industry let alone policy setting. Obviously this was a
complete failure. The healthcare disaster of 1993 hurt her husbands presidency and to some extent changed the political climate of the US. During the mid term elections in1994 for the first time in decades the Republicans took control of both the House and Senate.
Mr. Obama has been an elected official since 1997 – 11 years of experience, 3 of which are at the federal level. Taking away the 1 year for campaigning on the presidential run this gives 10 years experience 3 more than Mrs. Clinton. But what is amazing is that in the 2 years at the federal level he has had more significant bills passed than Mrs. Clinton:
1. Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006
2. Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act,
3. Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate,
4. 2007 Government Ethics Bill.
5. Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, In committee.
Mrs. Clinton keeps counting her husbands achievements and administration as if they were her own and that is unacceptable to me. By using her experience by proxy guidelines I have discovered that I am an accomplished classical violinist and my wife is more than capable of designing datacenter infrastructures for financial institutions.
Also, given that she is currently 0-11 in the last 11 primaries why has she not dropped her candidacy and allowed the Obama camp to start focusing on defeating the Republican Nominee? Is it because she is close and hopes the superdelegates will vote for her and giver her the nomination?
Wasn't the DNC in a complete uproar back in 2000 when the the electoral votes decided Bush would be president as opposed to Gore who had the popular vote? Well the popular vote has spoken Obama and in my opinion will continue to do so for one reason: Mrs. Clinton felt she should have been the anointed candidate from day one and her sense of privilege and arrogance is finally showing through to the average person.
You can do a lot of searching on the internet for her actual past experience, and I have, and to me it seems like the american people are the last thing on her mind. Power and control are foremost (anyone remember travelgate?) - So far I've written about her 7 years in Senate and 8 years as the first lady. Prior to that she was a corporate lawyer with some dubious ties/track record and was a Walmart Board member for 6 years.
I'm so disgusted that the american people have even let her get this far. GOBama '08!
WIDGETIZE