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Posts Tagged ‘economic crisis’

By Kellene Bishop

barack-obama

I have been biting my tongue on this topic for a long time now, not wanting to appear like I’m not giving him a chance. But today was the last straw.

Barack Obama has absolutely no Presidential class or dignity.

I was shocked when he was making his “presidential” speech, after he’d already won the election, and saw fit to take pot shots at President Bush. I know I was raised by good parents, but I would think that any parent who’s raising a future president of the United States would raise them with an awareness of dignity and civility. I expect to hear that kind of anti-Bush rhetoric during the politicking leading up to the election, but not afterwards, and frankly I don’t think it’s been done in recent history either. Why? Because it lacks class! It’s petty. This was supposed to be his first day of presidential regality and he sees fit to use it to promote his “nanny nanny noo noo” nonsense against President Bush.

Adding insult to injury, he crippled Washington D.C. financially by bankrupting them with the most lavish inaugural address in history, outspending Bush by over 4 to 1!

Our country is in MOURNING. Millions have lost their retirement, their jobs, their hope for a future, and he decides that elaborate excess is in the country’s best interest? During such an economic crisis, there are several U.S. Presidents that certainly would have firmly believed this to be undignified (Wilson, Roosevelt, Washington, Adams, etc.)

BushSince Obama has taken the reins of the Presidency, he continues to shift blame to what is going on in our nation to the previous President and the Republican party. Mr. President, be a man, not a martyr! Own up and fix it if you think it’s so bad! Don’t misunderstand. I’m not happy with how Bush performed his duties. And I feel that my convictions and beliefs have been betrayed in many aspects by the Republicans. However, Obama cannot continue to be believable in any way shape or form if he intends to put the blame of our country’s woes on the backs of any particular party or president.  After all, Obama has stains on his hands for the mortgage mess we’re in as he was a part of insisting that government made economically questionable home loans. Obama screws up while taking the Oath of Office and sees fit to blame it on a Supreme Court justice? This is not behavior fitting of the president of our nation. Surely his mother raised him better than that! (How about the simple rule of “respect your elders?”)

How in the world does Obama think he’s promoting bi-partisanship when every time he speaks he sees fit to remind the American people that either a) They made a mistake in electing Bush in the first place (ouch…salt in the wound) or b) Our votes didn’t matter over the last 8 years because Obama is going to undo everything Bush ever did, or c) those who still do promote and believe in the Republican way of life are conquered human beings.

stem-cell-research-ny-timesHe continues to forget that the voters of this nation, to whom he is addressing, put Bush in office for two consecutive terms! And yet he sees fit to degrade that administration at every turn and to nullify ANYTHING that that administration did previously that Obama and the Democratic Party disagrees with. What good is the right to vote if your votes can merely be negated the next time someone comes along who doesn’t agree with them? To me that’s not a republic, that’s a monarchy. That kind of behavior is not indicative of a president of a free country, it’s indicative of a tyrant. And how does this behavior reinforce in any way his so-called goals of bi-partisan cooperation. I’m starting to wonder seriously if we haven’t just been taken over by a King and his “King’s men.” In light of Obama’s complete disregard for the will of this nation’s people, he’s allowed for federal monies to be spent on stem cell research. Many people supported President Bush’s actions on stem-cell research. I, for one, certainly did, out of my devotion to the freedoms of the Constitution and my firmly held religious beliefs. It is immoral to take of the wealth from one people to give to another. And that’s exactly what he’s doing with this allocation. It is in violation of the religious beliefs of millions of Americans in our country as well. This isn’t even HIS money to allocate to such a cause. It is for the function of the government whose primary purpose is to protect the rights and freedoms of the people of this nation! Perhaps if we weren’t taxed so high, then private enterprise would still have money to fund such research themselves and not burden the American taxpayer with a process so repugnant to the senses of many.

I wonder how many other presidential policies he will attempt to reverse? Perhaps he’d like to teach George Washington a thing or two and decide to reverse his policy on the right to keep and bear arms… oh wait, Obama’s already trying to do that.

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government”
— Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good”
— George Washington

“The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
— Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188

sedition-actOr perhaps he’d like to reinstitute the Sedition Act which Thomas Jefferson specifically abolished. Perhaps he’d like to reinstate the errors of other presidents while he’s at it such as the internment camps which violated the rights of hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Perhaps he’d like to get rid of the Declaration of Independence altogether so as not to be inconvenience with any conflict of conscience.

I don’t believe that the majority of our government-elected officials are serving the people any longer. They are serving themselves to get power and gain, and we apathetic sheep are allowing it. While Obama’s not even able to keep his campaign promises for an entire week, he’s sabotaging more of our country’s freedoms. Why doesn’t he show some dignity and put to rest the accusations of his heritage, to prove once and for all that he is legally able to be elected President of our nation instead of sending his dogs to the courthouse to use every convoluted and perverted law of privacy to protect that information from ever being released? If he has nothing to hide then why won’t he show this information instead of bullying his citizens in court, now at the cost to American taxpayers?

declaration-of-independence-2Here’s a warning “Mr. President.” If you are not able to even create a façade of class and decorum when you are in front of the cameras for all the world to see, then I suspect you are doing much worse behind our backs. Remember, the Declaration of Independence reads “…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” I, for one, will not consent or stand idly by while you insult this great nation with your representation of us, nor will I allow you to strip us of any more of our liberties. You are truly the last straw—of the indignity of liberties lost. I will use all of my influence to right the real wrongs of our past leaders.

I suppose that if nothing else, I appreciate you for waking me up from my nap of stupor. Had it not been for your blatant and bold uncivilized behavior, I might still be sleeping.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.  

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job-loss-3

 

Statistically, small business owners provide the largest percentage of jobs in the U.S. — yes an even larger percentage of jobs than all of those bail-out “worthy” industries. In spite of all of the bail out monies that were supposed to loosen up the purse strings of banks in order to strengthen small businesses in extremely tough times, small businesses have become ignored and have nothing to show for any of the so-called efforts on their behalf. In fact, even without the economic crisis that is truly upon us, historically small businesses get very, very little considerations, tax breaks, or other incentives to operate their businesses.  As a result, the economic drain our nation is experiencing is merely a manifestation of a long time attitude apathy towards what really makes this country healthy.  Is it any wonder that the job loss in the last 12 months has been the worst it’s been since the World War II era?  Over 250,000,000 jobs were lost in 2008 and that doesn’t take into account the millions of individuals who were forced from full-time employment to part-time, nor does it take into account the self-employed individuals who have had to hang up their dreams and stand in the unemployment line with millions of others.  In my opinion, the economic crisis could have been averted long ago, and even the Wall Street and mortgage disaster impact lessened had national and state leaders paid more attention to the needs of small business owners.

 

When a CEO runs a company into the ground, it’s an innocuous entity.  The CEO is merely losing his regular pay check and other corporate perks. But when a true small business is run into the ground, chances are high that the life savings of the business owner, customers they’ve become friends with, and long-time employees they’ve connected with personally suffer through the carnage of such an event.  By the time the doors are finally shut on a small business, great sacrifices have already been for its survival.  Great personal financial risks such as mortgaging personal homes to the hilt, stripping it of all available equity only to find the value dropping far below the lien amount months later, and cashing in retirement and savings accounts just to last as long as possible in hopes that a life preserver will come their way.  And yet for all of this sweat, tears and sacrifice, small business owners can’t lay claim to appropriate health insurance tax deductions, can’t get access to the same affordable health care packages that large corporations enjoy, and are inundated with paper work requirements while their larger counterparts have enormous legal and accounting teams to deceive their shareholders. 

 

When a small business owner sees fit to terminate an employee who steals from them or conducts themselves inappropriately, the state still requires them to pay unemployment benefits unless such an infraction is specifically outlined in some kind of written form that the employee has manifested the receipt of. 

 

Large corporations have money and staff to handle these items. Many such monies derived by secret government contract negotiations, unfair labor practices, political connections, and international outsource savings. In contract, small business owners are beat up every which way they turn.  They pay sales taxes when they purchase items to make their businesses run better, or make their jobs easier, and then they are assessed additional taxes by their cities on those same items merely because they possess them. 

 

Long ignored is the fact that small businesses historically pay better average wages than big corporations, and discounted is the fact that employees are typically more satisfied working for a smaller business.  There is absolutely nothing done to throw a rope for small businesses in spite of their obvious strength to the economy which has been historically present for over a century! 

 

We’ve heard the saying “money talks.”  The current economic crisis is not as a result of Wall Street collapsing, a residential mortgage scandal, or the ineptness of the Federal Reserve. It’s an inevitable manifestation of ignoring the goose the lays the golden eggs. I wonder how much worse things have to get before the REAL talking money gets listened to.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.  

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