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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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February 17th, 2009 BARACK OBAMA'S SHADOW GOVERNMENT Happy President’s Day! The traditional usage of the term “shadow government” applies to a parallel clandestine government operating in conjunction with the current, transparent one that operates the nation. The term became new and fresh again in the days after 9/11 when President Bush confirmed that a shadow government was fully functional and ready to assume control of the nation should a second horrendous attack occur that would have crippled the hierarchy of our national leadership. Shadow governments in America such as this have existed since George Washington. I, however, have always chosen to use the term differently. Think of it as a second definition of the term in Webster’s dictionary. For me, a shadow government defines all of the laws, bills, executive orders and policies that presidents enact not quite secretly, but pretty damn quietly. The laws that no one pays attention to, very few know about, and are rarely publicized until long after their enactment and affect. They are the things we wake up to one day and go “when and how in the hell did this happen?” One of the most glaring recent examples was the 1996 vote that mandated Ethanol usage in America, an attempt by the federal government to control the fuel market. 10 years later, more than 250 ethanol plants made a ton of Iowans rich, no one uses ethanol, and Mexico is on the brink of civil war and a total collapse as a nation as a result of corn prices tripling in direct correlation to that ethanol vote of 1996. Don’t get me wrong. Most of these changes are not brought to the fore in an evil fashion. In fact, often times, they are simply things presidents promised or eluded to doing during their campaign. The issue is that they are most often pandering changes designed to appease their harshest, most ardent and most extreme supporters. Thus, most administrations don’t really want the rest of the country talking about them (Imagine, for example, if Bill Clinton had publicly proclaimed that he was going to mandate that the nation’s corn crops be diverted to experimental fuel ideas, thus tripling the price of corn and creating shortages of other needed crops…no one would have supported such a plan). Presidents recognize that they have to “pay back” the extreme fringe groups that helped get them elected, but they also realize that advertising some of the changes they have to make is not in their best interest. Thus, they pass and change laws and policies literally in the middle of the night and as quietly as possible, so that by the time a lot of people are aware of them, it is far too late. Sorry, Mexico. The most glaring and topical example of all of this is the Fair Housing Act, a law passed by Jimmy Carter under the guise of making home ownership “easier for everyone.” Sounds great, doesn’t it? The truth, of course, is that it did nothing of the kind; it handed homes to Americans with no ability or intention of actually being able to afford them. The administration didn’t advertise that at the time, our ignorant, apathetic population asked no questions, and 30 years later we have a national economic meltdown as a direct result of it. All presidents do this; thus Obama will be no different. This is even more clear in light of the recent passage of the economic stimulus passage, which will do nothing to stimulate anything, along clear party lines. Obama has no desire or intention of “bi-partisanship,” and he has now publicly confirmed it. Many things will occur over the next four years that will make us all wake up eventually and go “when and how in the hell did this happen?” Here are some to watch for (or not watch for since they’ll be hard to find): Driver’s Licenses for illegal immigrants: Obama believes in this idea and knows that Americans don’t. He also knows that there are a ton of votes to be had by pandering to the immigration (both legal and illegal) crowd. Obama will sign a federal order that will not force, but will pave the way, for states to begin this practice. Cap and Trade: This is an economic policy way over most Americans’ heads. Look it up if you are so inclined. It will be sold as a pro-environmental policy, which will cause everyone to say, “we like the Earth,” and stop asking questions. Five years later, the American coal industry will be bankrupt and hundreds of thousands of people from generations of mining families in America will be out of careers, all in the name of pandering to the extreme environmental whackos on the left. Restrictions on Gun rights: This will be harder to accomplish secretly since so many people are expecting it and watching for it. When the Supreme Court correctly declared Washington D.C.’s ban on private gun ownership unconstitutional last fall, Obama said he disagreed with but would abide by the decision. Ludicrous. Obama will have to find very quiet ways to sneak arms restrictions into middle of the night laws, and believe me, he will try. Fortunately, there are more than 100 million legal gun owners in America, many of them Democrats who will do everything they can to curtail such attempts. The Felon Vote: We discussed this during the campaign; Obama wants to give felons the right to vote; this could be the most devastating yet easy law to slide by the American public by slipping it into a larger bill sold as “an improvement on voting rights for all Americans.” In the fall of 2008, we cited a survey that showed this was the most opposed of all of Obama’s policies by the greatest majority of Americans once they were told of it. He really wants to do it though as a way to increase the voting rolls of his party and pay back so many powerful people who helped him get elected and will still need voters long after he’s done in office. Count on this one, if he can do it, he will. Allow gays to serve openly in the military: This isn’t really part of the “shadow government, since Obama has all but confirmed that this will happen, just not right away. The sales pitch is that America has grown up and this is an issue of civil rights. I agree with the sentiment, but the evidence doesn’t support it; if California, America’s most liberal state, can defeat gay marriage while voting 2 to 1 for Obama, the nation has a long way to go before fully accepting gays. The reaction to this could surprise Obama. Access to abortions and the ongoing support of such: This has already occurred, although it was stunning to see how quietly Obama did this; a decade ago, a Democratic president would have proudly shouted from the highest mountaintop press conference that he was rolling back restrictions on abortions anywhere. Today, with the country evenly divided over the practice, Obama chose to change America’s policy at midnight on a Friday; literally. Again, don’t get me wrong; he has every right to do this and please his constituents; doing it so secretly makes me wince. Educate terrorists: Obama wants to (and will) establish a $2 billion Global Education Fund which will hand millions to Middle East dictators to create schools that are supposed to teach tolerance. Fat chance. This is more of the type of stupidity that this nation continues to participate in; handing money to extremist, desperate governments in a mis-guided hope that they will use the money for pro-American causes. This is a done deal, and most Americans will never know about it. Or sadly, care. It’s another one of those policies that sounds so good in rhetoric and is so stupid in actual practice. There are a few other things Obama would like to do but will be a lot harder, based on both the times and the spotlight on him: Fairness Doctrine: It’s hard to believe that the alternative media, ranging from Fox News to Rush Limbaugh and their enormous audiences would allow this to go through. 80% of Americans oppose the idea of forcing media outlets to provide equal time to dissenting views and the right wingers are on high-alert to beat this thing back. Ban Offshore Oil Drilling: Boy, does Obama want to do this! He is getting a ton of pressure from left wing environmental organizations and coastal democrats to do this now. But Obama knows that $5 per gallon gas will be here soon…and if the American public wakes up to discover that he has banned offshore drilling while they are suffering at the pump, they will make him pay. It’s too risky and Obama knows it…I think. Close Guantanamo: The left wing, anti-war, America hating fringe is demanding that Obama shut down our holding facility in Cuba. Obama will, and has already openly signed the order to do so in one year; but he’ll probably take his time and lie about what specifically will happen to the detainees. Obama cannot allow one single terrorist to go free from Guantanamo who then turns around and kills an American soldier or leads an attack on the American Homeland; Obama and the democratic party would be finished politically if that happened. So, he’ll find a way to “close Guantanamo,” but still detain all of the bad guys. At least he’d better. A Tax Increase: Here’s why this will be difficult; it’s all about timing and circumstances. Obama desperately wants to raise taxes dramatically, but he has backed himself into a bunch of corners. For starters, he keeps saying that we shouldn’t raise taxes in our current economic crisis because it’s bad for the economy. He says this to stifle his supporters who want to see the rich and successful in this nation suffer. The problem is that every time he says it, someone intelligent responds by saying, “if it’s bad to raise taxes in one circumstance, how is not bad to raise them in all circumstances?” Additionally, Obama’s silly and impossible claim to cut taxes on 95% of all Americans has raised expectations to an unexplainable level. One more problem; there’s no way the American economy will be booming before the end of 2010 (if we’re lucky, it will be recovering slowly then). There is no way Obama is going to sign a tax increase anywhere near the fall of 2012, when he has to run for re-election. The only way Obama pulls this off is by allowing the current Bush tax to expire in 2011 and finding a way to make America not blame him for it. A tough job, but he has the skills to do it and he knows his base will love him for it and rally to his side for the 2012 election.
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