Specter the Defector

What an amazing turn of events on this the 100th day of President Barack Obama's first term. In keeping his promise to try and reach across the "aisle" and work with republicans, he happened to pull back with him one of the most respected Senators in America. Senator Arlen Specter has been elected to the Senate as a republican for a Pennsylvania record of five terms. Today he announced he was defecting to the democratic party, giving Pres. Obama the majority he needs to pass any bill he submits if everybody votes along party lines.

But wait! Senator Specter has said his move is totally political and for self preservation. he said he realizes that the republican party is in trouble and he is worried that if he remains a republican he will not win re-election to his seat. He has also said that just because he is now a democrat doesn't mean he will always vote with them.

Okay, I have no problem with you switching parties, happens all the time when you disagree with the policies of your current party. I have no problem with a politician not voting with his party if he doesn't believe in that issue or policy. But to change parties just because you feel you won't get re-elected? I have a problem with that because basically you are an independent that is playing the field. If you flipflop your parties because of popularity rather than issues, you are not an honest person. You should just claim independence and vote with the issues you support rather than mislead the people who vote strictly along party lines. It will be interesting to see how the people of Pennsylvania react to this move. Will they continue to vote for Specter or will they vote for his democratic opponent? I'm sure he won't run unopposed.

Obama's First 100 Days

Today marks President Obama's first 100 days in office. I can never remember a president getting so much scrutiny in the past, maybe it has something to do with him being the first Black president. After all, all Black people go through this process when they are the first ones to hold a position of authority in their field of work. You can best compare this to the historical reaction to allowing Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball. Jackie was chosen because Branch Rickey felt that among all off the Black players in the Negro Leagues, he not only had the talent, but would have the disposition to withstand all of the racial taunts that would come from fans, opponents, and even teammates.

Some have compared the scrutiny of Pres. Obama to house arrest with an ankle bracelet. Every move is followed, recorded, scrutinized, and reported by the media. CNN is dedicating a whole day to this "event" by asking the public to grade his performance so far. It will be interesting to see how they handle this. Will he just be graded on what he has done? Will he be graded compared to what all others have done? Do people still remember that he is cleaning up a mountain of Bushshit left behind by the last tenants of the White House? Well here is my opinion.

Pres. Obama is doing an excellent job. He set his agenda during the campaign, and unlike any president in the past, he has addressed every major issue he spoke on. Most presidents have tackled the main problems first and put other campaign promises on the back burner, never to be heard from again. George Bush for example. took office and immediately gave people money back and called it a tax rebate, had the people all giddy and thinking he was great, and proceeded with his campaign promise to keep the military busy. And that's all he did for the next eight years, promote his war as something good for America, that the American people wanted. Honestly, I have to thank you for that because I never thought I would see a Black president in my lifetime.

As I stated in an earlier article, President Obama has to run his administration like a corporation, by setting up divisions and appointing heads of those divisions. He has tried to do this, but some of the people he had in mind proved unworthy, and instead of just appointing anyone, he has kept the people that held those positions in charge until he can find his own replacements. Why replace someone who is doing an adequate job with someone you know nothing about? It's too early to see how effective his efforts have been on the economy, but it is definitely better than what the republicans had to offer. They are still trying to criticize without offering an alternative.

Their little tea party tax demonstration was a complete failure as no one cares about the rich crying about getting taxed more when 95% of the country will receive a tax break. Hell, how can they complain, have they seen the President's tax payment? He paid over $800,ooo in taxes, nearly a third of what he made from the sale of his books, leaving him with over $1.5 million to live off of for the year. The average American family of four can live comfortably off of $50,000 a year. That would provide them with $12,000 worth of housing, $8,000 for two cars, and leave them with $30,000 to take care of food, clothing, schooling, and medical care. These are your essential everyday needs to survive in America.

He also has kept his promise to try to reach across the "aisle" to the republicans, and Republican Senator Arlen Specter has decided that if you can't beat them with our old, outdated, policies, it's best to join them. You see, Specter has been elected to the senate for five terms as a republican, a record for any Pennsylvania senator, but today decided to defect to the democrats, a move that has the good old boys of the republican party quite upset.

So in summation, Pres. Obama has done the a pretty good job of getting tthings back in order. The republicans didn't have a clue as to what to do with the failing economy other than to try to critixize this president for taking action. They can tell you it won't work with out giving a solution. Of course they don't have a solution because they don't know how they screwed it up. As any business person knows, in order for your business to survive, it is best to have some sort of written business plan to use as a road map. If you are traveling into territory that you are unfamiliar with, a map is your best guide in case you get off course. The only way you can ever be successful is to be able to rectify mistakes and strengthen weaknesses.

It is too early to judge the overall progress that he has made because he barely has had time to get policies and personnel in place. The best way to judge him is by where we were at this time last year. Consider the fact that gas was already over three dollars a gallon and they were promising us it would be at least five dollars by summer, a promise the Bush administration kept. Look at how far and fast it went down when Obama was elected, and you know that the past administration was fleecing the American public. Do you really think we would have been better off with McCain and Palin? Do you remember their solution to rising gas prices? I think it was something like "Drill Baby, Drill."

Swine Flu and Illegal Immigrants

On this his 100th day in office, President Obama now faces another tough task. With the spread of swine flu being attributed to visits to and citizens of Mexico, what do you do about illegal aliens? Are we going to see a repeat of the Cuban boat lift where they sent some of their most violent prisoners to America on boats? Will there be a mass exodus into the United States? What will the President do to stop the flow of illegals, now possibly carrying the disease? I suspect there will be increased bloodshed as Americans try to keep them from coming across the border. If you are already restricting legal travel into the country, what do you think they will do to illegal traffic, especially with the drug problem down there on the border also?

Barack Obama Terrible on American TV Culture

OK Mr. President, It's time for you to quit using television show analogies to get your point across. I cringed when you used Sanford and Son to describe how people felt about possibly losing their Social Security benefits, and I'm surprised the Black Media gave you a pass on this. Fred Sanford was coming to join Elizabeth, not George Jefferson's wife "Weezy". This was totally unacceptable to me and quite embarrassing, but we let it slide. But your recent comments about cleaning up the situation on the Mexican border like Eliot Ness of "The Untouchables" wiped out organized crime was quite humorous, although I can understand your reference.

You see Mr. President, Eliot Ness was a real person that was used to bring down the organization of Al Capone. But even though he caused a great deal of grief for Capone, it was the tax evasion charge that put him in jail, and the mob, like any great organization, just plugged in a new leader and continued to operate and is still a major force in this country today. So please Mr. President, quit making these statements that make TV enthusiasts like myself and fans of yours shudder with pain. To use an old term, you're losing "cool points."

Credit Card Boycott

It has become quite obvious that the credit industry doesn't give a damn about it's customers. I recently posted a blog about them cutting credit limits on people with perfect credit, now they are increasing interest rates to ridiculous numbers. This is all a plot to undermine President Obama's administration in it's attempt to right the economy. As I stated in an earlier blog, Pres. Obama has to take the blame for the AIG bailout bonuses that were paid according to AIG's contractual agreement with it's employees. To his credit he did, and he acted swiftly to rectify the situation and said it will never happen again. More and more people are falling in line to my idea of giving the people bailout money to pay off their creditors rather than giving it to big business so they can continue to rip the American people off, and if you don't think it's my idea, just go back through my blog history to read my post on Dec. 2,2008. I told you this would happen.

The only way to fight these companies is to put them out of business. They are trying to make you go bankrupt by using these tactics when they are the ones who should have gone bankrupt for the tactics they were using prior to the bailout. It is time we showed these companies that we deserve to be treated better. It is time for a nationwide boycott against the credit industry. It not only will make these companies wake up, but it will let our government know that we will not accept them helping these companies abuse the American people. The retail industry is already feeling the effect of people not having money to spend and prices are starting to fall to reasonable numbers. The gas companies felt the crunch of raising prices up to over $4 a gallon under Bush's orders, people quit driving and prices fell, although that could also be attributed to the republicans getting run out of office. So now it is the credit and banking industries turn

Imagine the panic that would ensue if Americans didn't pay any credit card bills for two months straight. Imagine the panic if the threat were to continue until these companies and banks change their attitude toward the consumer. When you signed that credit agreement you said you would agree to pay them back at a certain rate, and if you didn't keep up your part of the agreement, they could raise your interest rates. What you probably didn't realize is that they have the right to change these terms as they feel fit, even if you are a good paying customer and held up your end of the bargain. Well we've held up our end of the bargain and you are trying to screw us. I think it's time we change the terms on you.

I am sick off having to pay over limit fees when I don't go over my limit, just because you add interest. If I didn't go over the limit you gave me, I shouldn't have to pay over limit fees because your interest rate puts me over as long as I bring my limit down before the next billing period. Modern technology is making it so we will have to pay all bills online in the future because if you call in to make a payment you get charged between $10-20 processing fee. If you go to a place that you can pay your bill like Ace Check Cashing, they charge you a minimum of $10 to process your payment. So not only are they raising your rates, they are making it harder and costlier to pay your bills on time. Did you know some banks charge you for going in and dealing with a teller?

Consider the fact that these institutions rarely lose money on any loan because they charge so much interest that by the time you actually default, you have usually paid off more than what you borrowed in the first place. That's why they can sell your account to collection agencies who are willing to settle your account for much less than you owe. So boycotting and not paying your bill can actually lead to you paying less than they are asking for. I'm sure most of you don't feel as I do, but I've got nothing to lose. I can't get any more credit from companies that I have paid faithfully to for years, never missing a payment or being late, even when I brought my balance to zero and had a credit score over 750. So if I can't get credit with those numbers, I may as well max out all of my cards and file bankruptcy. What's the difference? I wipe out all my debt and get a fresh credit start. Think about it.

Tea Parties

Give me a break. We've got the richest 5% of the nation crying about having to pay more taxes, like the other 95% of the population is supposed to care. We finally got a president that is going to make you greedy rich bastards pay your fair share of taxes. Do you really think I care that you have to pay more in taxes than I can make in a lifetime? Are you really trying to provoke us poor people into going Robin Hood on all your asses. It is obvious you rich bastards can't do math. 95% is greater than 5%. Maybe you can understand that. Pres. Obama told the American people this was going to happen, that's why he got elected. Once again, let's do some math, Obama 53% to McCain 46%. The real American people have spoken and we ain't listening to you crybabies. You need to be in front of G.W. Bush's home because he is the one who put you in this position.