There is much blame to go around for the current mortgage crisis, but a large portion of it falls at the feet of Congressmen who enabled inane laws that encouraged Fannie and Freddie and the like to create and take on "toxic" loans. I hear Republicans today clamoring about the evils of Fannie and Freddie and rightfully so. But why then did they do nothing about them when they had 6 years to fix things? They appear to now be sobered up from their drunken spending spree in the first half of this decade, but it sure rings hollow to me. Just yet another reason why I consider myself a conservative, not a republican.
Next, let's talk Obama.
- First let's discuss his executive orders. There appears to be a significant delay between when he signs an order and when it appears on the White House website. Either way, his most recent order allots $20.3 million to bring Palestinians to the US. The order hides behind the guise of bringing refugees out from the war torn areas in Gaza and the West Bank. Here's the problem, over 50% of the Palestinians support Hamas (a terrorist organization) and the suicide bombing of Americans. Countries like Syria, Jordan, and Egypt wouldn't even take these "refugees", yet we open our doors.
- His other two major executive orders were to close down Guantanamo Bay and all interragation centers around the world. I understand that makes everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but it doesn't make us safer. I'm all for treating people humanely, but the second you lob grenades and then duck behind women and children, you lose your "rights" to due process.
- George Bush may not be able to say nuclear, but apparently Obama can't speak without being told what to say.
Maybe you remember hearing about the civil disobedience that "Dr" James Hansen was promoting in Washington this past weekend as part of a global warming rally. You know, the one that got snowed out. Well, as part of that rally the zealots tried shutting down the coal-fired power plant in Washington that powers the Capital. Here again we having a shining example of liberal Democrat hypocrisy. Obama, his Energy Secretary, and even his Treasury Secretary are going after oil and coal because they believe it is responsible for global warming. He is trying to institute a cap-and-trade policy that will jack the prices of "dirty" energy through the roof. So you would think that a coal fired power plant in DC would be a no-no. Well, apparently its been too costly to make the plant green, so they are giving up. Kind of reminds of the Biblical proverb to "remove the plank from your own eye before you try and remove it from your neighbors eye."
2 comments:
Here's the other side if you're interested. Obama's order spending $20.3 million (not billion as you say) to help refugees in Gaza says nothing about bringing them to the U.S. This is not new. All the administrations, including Bush and Reagan have spent money on humanitarian aid in Palestine. The idea is that if we don't help, we push them even further into the hands of radicals. With respect to closing Guantanamo, everyone except for a few right wing nuts, including the Bush Administration and including John McCain, agreed that Guantanamo needs to be closed. The issue isn't really whether people who lob grenades and duck behind women and children should get due process. The issue is that a lot of people have been locked up in Guantanamo with no evidence that they engaged in any terrorist activities. Most people who believe that freedom and democracy should triumph over totalitarianism are not in favor of a system where anyone can be accused and locked up without any kind of due process rights without proof that they did something illegal. As for whether Obama and Chu are going after coal and gas, it's interesting that Chu just yesterday confirmed that the Obama administration is going to go ahead with FutureGen, a new coal-fired generating plant that will emit zero carbon dioxide because the carbon dioxide will be pumped deep underground. The Bush Administration had killed the plant after the consortium of power companies announced they were going to build the plant in Illinois instead of Texas. You're right about one thing -- (well, almost) you should remove the plank from your own eye before taking the splinter (not plank) from your neighbor's eye. Hate to be picky.
Thank you Crockhead for being Amish and Right's unofficial ombudsman. You are correct on the amount of the executive order. The link I posted has it correct, and I've updated the post accordingly.
As for Guantanamo, you make it sound like everyone there is innocent. That is far from the case. I agree that we shouldn't be locking up people for no apparent reason, but we are then faced with an interesting dilemna. What do you do with known and suspected terrorists? I'm willing to hear some ideas, but trying them in American courts is asinine. Our justice system has nothing to do with justice anymore and everything to do with who can afford the best lawyer. The reality is the vast majority of Guantanamo detainees are not innocent. I've even blogged in the past about the one's who have been released only to go back and attack our troops.
And FutureGen. There are two main problems I have with this. First, Obama's word is hardly trustworthy these days. In the stimulus bill alone he broke 7 campaign promises. Heck, even today he again promised to curb earmarks, but of course, this omnibus bill he was talking about was filled with them. And besides, he's already said he's going to break the backs of coal burning power plants (see the video link in this post). Second, look at the staggering amount of tax payer money going into this project. If this was a cost-effective and viable solution, why aren't private energy producers doing it? Because its a losing game, the only way to recoup the costs of such an endeavor would be to pass it on to the consumer who will be unlikely to pay the astronomical price for such power. Obama's rhetoric sounds nice and fluffy, but he rarely means what he says, his track record for the past 2 months proves that.
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