Why Would You Vote for This Guy? Volume 2

Dear Friends,

I just finished reading the text of President Obama's speech today on his plan for cutting the deficit.  As I have often said he is a great speaker and even just reading the text I found myself hearing what I wanted to hear but then I would come back to the real world.  I read and listen to President Obama's statements with my eyes open now that I know his words and promises seldom match his actions and that he says things in a way that you can kind of think he is a liberal.

I must conclude after reading the speech that President Obama has no intention of pursuing a liberal agenda.  His adoption of the Republican narrative that we must cut the deficit now even though our economy (especially the part where people have jobs that have a living wage and benefits) is still very weak and fragile, was done not as a political maneuver but I am afraid he actually believes it.  He actually tells liberals that they are wrong, that we need to cut the deficit now despite all economic precedence to the contrary.  He once again praises himself for slashing benefits for the poor in the last round of draconian cuts that he agreed to. 

In my view President Obama gives away his true beliefs when he speaks about whether or not we as a country can afford something.  After talking tangentially about the common good and taking care of those in need (although he did so without reference to the poor), he says, "Now, for much of the last century, our nation found a way to afford these investments and priorities with the taxes paid by its citizens."  The implication of this reference to "being able to afford" and other references to living within our means is that we will give up on what I consider a core and moral value that we will always care for those among us who are in need.  Virtually every religion in the world calls its members to care for the poor and those on the fringes of society, and you do not need to be religious to understand that it is immoral for the richest nation on earth to ever say that it cannot afford to take care of those in need.

Once President Obama adopts into the Republican narrative that we no longer have to care for the poor if we cannot afford it, he has revealed that he is not a liberal or even a traditional American moderate.

While he makes one reference to the fact that the incomes of the rich have increased and those of most Americans have not, he ignores the real problem.  There has been a huge transfer of wealth to the richest Americans at the expense of all the rest of us.  The gap between the wealth of the richest Americans and everybody else particularly the poor is obscene and certainly based on history is not sustainable.  History tells us that if that gap is not reduced, our society will fall apart.

I urge you to read the speech, but do not read it as a starry eyed supporter of a candidate whose campaign was based on hope and change.  Read the speech in an unemotional attempt to discern what he is really saying and what that tells you about what he really believes.


Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal