Big Dogs Weblog

Obama Sounds Like George Bush

by Big Dog on May 4, 2008 at 23:21 Political

Barack Obama has made a lot of noise about his opposition to the Iraq war and he has chided Hillary Clinton for her vote on the matter. He has also told America that Clinton (and John McCain for that matter) are part of the old politics in DC and that he was the candidate of change. Obama touts himself as a DC outsider who will do things differently. Today he stated that Hillary Clinton sounded a lot like George Bush because of a statement she made last month.

Hillary Clinton was asked what she would do, as president, if Iran attacked Israel. Clinton stated that the US would attack Iran in retaliation and she stated that they should know we would obliterate them. At the time Iran claimed that her words were a violation of UN charter. Seems that when Iran threatens to wipe Israel off the map that is not a violation but when we threaten to do the same it is. Typical Muslim thinking.

Obama also took a shot at Clinton for her proposal to suspend the gasoline tax for the Summer (it was actually McCain’s proposal with which Hillary agrees). Obama said that this was a classic Washington gimmick that would only save people $28.

Now I understand Mr. “I was always against the war” and his platform of non aggression. It took him 20 years to realize his pastor was an aggressive man who hated white people so I can understand how he is slow to recognize threats. However, Obama said that Clinton sounded like George Bush with her statement about obliterating Iran because, of course, it involves aggression.

But if Clinton sounds like George Bush for her statement then who does Obama sound like with this statement?

Obama said if elected in November 2008 he would be willing to attack inside Pakistan with or without approval from the Pakistani government, a move that would likely cause anxiety in the already troubled region.

“If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will,” Obama said. al Reuters [emphasis mine]

Here is Obama saying that if we have actionable intelligence he would attack inside another nation with or without permission. Sounds a bit like what he accuses the Bush administration of doing in Iraq. Also sounds like what he chastised Clinton for. I would think Iran attacking Israel is “actionable intelligence” and that attacking Iran in that instance is certainly more appropriate than just invading Pakistan.

Therefore, Obama advocates the same policies that he has castigated since he decided to run for office. Using his own standards, Obama sounds just like George Bush.

As for the gimmick of gas taxes. I agree that a suspension of them will hardly make a dent in anything especially since the states will still tax and most tax at a higher rate than the feds. I see that Obama though, has taken issue with his opponents and mentioned that they are engaging in a clasic Washington gimmick. So where was Obama when Nancy Pelosi sponsored the Economic Relief Package that redistributed income in America?

This is the bill that sends out $600 checks to people up to certain incomes in order to stimulate the economy. This is the bill where people who paid absolutely no income taxes whatsoever will get money from the government while those above certain incomes will not get one red cent. This is a typical Washington gimmick. It is an election year and politicians fell all over themselves to send money to people in hopes that it will curry favor at the polls in November. This package will do nothing for the economy.

The economy is not as bad as people are saying it is and many economists said that it would be improving by the time the checks even went out. The only thing that this bill did was get Democrats to admit that it is better if you are allowed to keep your own money and that they tax too much. They were conceding that taking your money amounts to forcing you to work for free for part of the year and that is true. While they were having this epiphany, they seemed to miss the fact that the money will not stimulate the economy. The market should be allowed to run the economy free of government interference. Government is the reason things get broken in the first place.

If they would learn to keep their work confined to running government and let businesses run themselves free of encumbering regulation things would be a hell of a lot better. Cheesy gimmicks like tax rebates will not help the economy any more than a gas tax holiday will (though they could repeal the gas tax all together and I would be happy).

Oh, and how did Obama see the rebate issue? He, like Hillary Clinton, did not vote on it. Both are listed as “not voting.” They were probably posturing to play gotcha. However, given Obama’s avoidance of controversial votes, he probably just avoided it to keep safe. That is not true leadership.

This guy is a lightweight. The funny thing is he keeps saying he is an outsider but he acts like the rest of them. He, like Clinton, will say anything to get elected. He also seems to ignore his own actions while criticizing others for doing the exact same thing.

Perhaps he should leave the glass house before throwing any more stones?

Sources:
My Way News

Tags: Bush, Clinton, gas tax, holiday, Iran, Israel, mcccain, Obama