Friday, November 14, 2008
A Checklist Of Obama's Many Promises
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Few presidential candidates have made more specific promises to American voters than Barack Obama. They came so fast and furious in the latter part of the campaign, you'd be excused for not keeping up. So as a public service, we've put together a handy checklist of some of the biggest Obama promises — culled from his "Blueprint for Change," his campaign speeches and advertisements. Clip it. Save it. And see how he did in four years.
Taxes
• Give a tax break to 95% of Americans.
• Restore Clinton-era tax rates on top income earners.
• "If you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime. Not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes. Nothing."
• Dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes.
• Give American businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every job they create in the U.S.
• Eliminate capital gains taxes for small business and startup companies.
• Eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000.
• Expand the child and dependent care tax credit.
• Expand the earned income tax credit.
• Create a universal mortgage credit.
• Create a small business health tax credit.
• Provide a $500 "make work pay" tax credit to small businesses.
• Provide a $1,000 emergency energy rebate to families.
Energy
• Spend $15 billion a year on renewable sources of energy.
• Eliminate oil imports from the Middle East in 10 years.
• Increase fuel economy standards by 4% a year.
• Weatherize 1 million homes annually.
• Ensure that 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012.
Environment
• Create 5 million green jobs.
• Implement a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Get 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015.
Labor
• Sign a fair pay restoration act, which would overturn the Supreme Court's pay discrimination ruling.
• Sign into law an employee free choice act — aka card check — to make it easier for unions to organize.
• Make employers offer seven paid sick days per year.
• Increase the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2009.
National security
• Remove troops from Iraq by the summer of 2010.
• Cut spending on unproven missile defense systems.
• No more homeless veterans.
• Stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq.
• Finish the fight against Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorists.
Social Security
• Work in a "bipartisan way to preserve Social Security for future generations."
• Impose a Social Security payroll tax on incomes above $250,000.
• Match 50% of retirement savings up to $1,000 for families earning less than $75,000.
Education
• Demand higher standards and more accountability from our teachers.
Spending
• Go through the budget, line by line, ending programs we don't need and making the ones we do need work better and cost less.
• Slash earmarks.
Health care
• Lower health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year.
• Let the uninsured get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress get.
• Stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
• Spend $10 billion over five years on health care information technology.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Post Election Thoughts
An Open Letter To America's Mainstream Media:
Dear NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and National Print Media:
Congratulations, you did it! Through your persistence and diligence, you facilitated the election of the 44th president of the United States of America. He might have been elected on his own, but neither he nor we will ever know. According to research by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, your coverage was so biased, that no one from the other side could have overcome it.
So, there you go! You feel like you know what plan is best for us, and you clearly have enough power to effect it. We wait with bated breath, as you direct the next chapter in our nation’s history.
Will it include weakening of our military and our strength as a world leader? Will you promote a shift toward the socialistic policies of the European countries you wish us to emulate? Will we lose our entrepreneurial spirit as we see our free market system disappear? And what about our trade policies, will we enter an era of isolation and protectionism? Will our medical system become a National Health Care system? Will new carbon policies bankrupt every energy company? What about tax policy?
Just what are your plans for the New Age America? I hope you have carefully thought out your strategies for our country, because, for now, the cookie is in your hand. For goodness sake, please don’t break it!
Sincerely,
Ken Maness
Kingsport, TN
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