Ponderstorm My Brainstorm on Life & Politics

What follows is kind of a “stream of consciousness” rant based on my reactions from Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech last night during the Democratic National Convention.

After Obama’s speech last night I was very disappointed in him. Honestly, I saw the night as historic and wanted to enjoy the moment 45 years after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I expected to hear an uplifting speech that talked about the greatness of America. In spite of my reservations regarding Obama’s vision and viewpoints on many issues, I was prepared to take pride in the process and a nation that could overcome slavery and racial prejudice to consider a minority for the highest office in the land. However, in spite of my best intentions, Obama turned me off and actually made me angry.

For starters, you can’t give 95% of families a tax cut when a huge percentage of them pay nothing in taxes. He simply lied since it’s impossible. How can you cut somebody’s taxes who doesn’t pay taxes? Obama likes to criticize George W. Bush but at least Bush told the truth when he said everybody who paid taxes would get a tax cut. If elected, Obama will have to cut taxes on “the rich” to even partially keep that 95% pledge. (See here for a chart breaking down who pays taxes — note the bottom 50% of income earners pay less than 3% of federal income taxes and the top 1% pay almost 40%!)

You can’t tax the rich enough to pay for and Read More…

Posted under Barack Obama, Politics