President Obama says ...

Words of Wisdom for 1/28/2009 #3

It's time for America to lead, because this moment of peril must be turned into one of progress. If we take action, we can create new industries and revive old ones; we can open new factories and power new farms; we can lower costs and revive our economy. We can do that, and we must do that. There's much work to be done. There is much further for us to go.

But I want to be clear from the beginning of this administration that we have made our choice. America will not be held hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes, and a warming planet. We will not be put off from action because action is hard. Now is the time to make the tough choices. Now is the time to meet the challenge at this crossroad of history by choosing a future that is safer for our country, prosperous for our planet, and sustainable.

- President Obama from "From peril to progress"

Hmmm ...

8 Random Items for 11/21/2008 #6

So what do you do when you are a lame duck President and the electorate, for two straight cycles, has rejected everything you stand for and they believe you to be an incompetent boob and they have given you the worst approval rating for a sitting President in the history of polling?

Destroy the environment! Why? To help increase domestic energy production! You see, the Bush administration does not trust an Obama administration to place us on the path to energy independence. How do they intend to accomplish energy independence? Well, in the words of one deeply stupid person, "Drill, baby, drill."

Of course, this fire sale of public lands ignores the fact that the oil companies already have leases on millions upon millions of acres on which they are not drilling at all. It ignores that even if we drilled everywhere that could possible be drilled in the US, we could still only replace a fraction of the oil that we import. It ignores the impact to our natural resources, both land and animal. Worst of all, it ignores the fact that all oil drilled here would still be placed on the world market! This is a give away to the oil companies. Nothing less. Nothing more.

Americans have known for quiet some time about the need for energy independence. They had a chance on November 4th to choose the ignorant "Drill, Baby, Drill" strategy. The voters rejected it. The Bush administration is committed to damaging this country, every single day until January 20th. The inauguration cannot possible get here soon enough.

Source, Source, Source

The Other Issues

8 Thoughts on the Issues #8

Here are some short thoughts from what passes for my brain on a few of the other issues in the campaign.

• Energy Independence and the Environment - It's clear that our reliance on foreign oil is endangering both our security and our economy. Increased drilling of our own oil will do nothing to alleviate the pain at the pump. It will do nothing to ween us off foreign oil. Solid investment is needed in proven, environmentally safe technologies such as wind and solar. The government should finance research into clean coal and safer nuclear technologies. This investment will lead to an increase in jobs and will keep us from damaging entanglements in the volatile Middle East.
• Civil Rights - We cannot continue to pretend that our national battle against bigotry is over. It is to our shame that the current campaign has shown us that racism is alive and thriving in our country. It is obvious in the characterization of Obama as a monkey by McCain supporters. It is obvious in the race baiting of the Latinos by the anti-immigration crowd. (I'm looking at you Lou Dobbs.) We need a President who can heal this racial divide. Of course, racism is only one element of bigotry prevalent today. Bigotry against homosexuals is condoned and endorsed by states across the Union. The time has come to put a stop to all bigotry.
• Ethics - The influence of money in Washington has been destructive to the needs of the common people. The public should have ready access to who is doing the lobbying in Washington, and which politicians are being lobbied. We need greater oversight over the lobbying that takes place. We need rules that prevent government employees cashing in on their public service by joining lobbying groups immediately after leaving the government. We need stiffer penalties for the violation of ethics rules and laws. Who will provide this? The candidate whose campaign is run by lobbyists or the candidate who refuses to accept lobbyist money?
• Poverty - With the exception of John Edwards in the primaries, no candidate pays enough attention to the issue of poverty in our country. Our security and our survival as a nation depends upon the reduction of poverty. We must provide more jobs across all sectors of our economy. More of these jobs must pay a living wage. We must increase the supply of affordable housing. We must strengthen our educational system to give our young citizens the ability to achieve. We must restore hope.