30 March 2009

Not Exactly, President.

Here's a snippet from Obama's speech about taking over GM (h/t: Drudge):
Only then can we ask American taxpayers who have already put up so much of their hard-earned money to once more invest in a revitalized auto industry.
No, WE TAXPAYERS have NOT put up our hard-earned money.

You, working with a corrupt Congress, IGNORED OUR CALLS AND LETTERS OF PROTEST and put it up FOR US. And for our children. And for their children.

Against our wishes.

Quit making this sound like consensual nationalization, Mr. President. It isn't.

11 comments:

Ann said...

SO true. We haven't been ASKED. It's been taken.

Carissa said...

No doubt. They "asked", we said NO!

Debbie Murdock said...

Funny how they seem to miss the other side of the coin! There are so many people up in arms about all this C-R-A-P!

Unknown said...

I would love to hear what you would recommend to fix this mess the previous administration got all of us into without our permission as well. I hope first on your list would be to get rid of every Congress member that has been in office for more than two terms. I think Congress is much to blame due to them making careers out of being Congressmen/women instead of serving the best interest of the country.

Unknown said...

It's Just Me -

Good to see you back!

First, I can't tell you how high my BP went when I read your phrase, "the previous administration." Seriously, the talking point tactic blaming every wrong move of Obama on a wrong move of W is getting very, VERY old, and it's only been 60-some days. At some point, he's going to have to grow up and take real accountability for what he's doing to deepen the hole.

That said, I'm not an apologist for the previous administration. (At least I don't believe I am; if you see that I'm doing that, please let me know.) I was against "his" (and Congress's) first major socialist bailout, and I called his later actions fascist, as well.

As for my ideas on how to fix it, I typed them here, but they were longer than my original post, and probably belong in their own, actually, so I'll do that...

*upcoming post!*

Unknown said...

Hi Kannie,

Sorry to run your BP up but just playing devil's advocate here. I think W has forced us and our children's children into matters that we did not ask for or vote for. President Obama may be doing the same thing but I think something has to be done and right now I'm just sitting back reading the mail and waiting to see what happens before I jump in full force.

Both Presidents are making or have made decisions that are not traditional in our country but I have to point the blame where it lies and that's We the People for the People by the People.

Our Congress has forgotten everything traditional, valuable and moral about this country and our people. They do it for votes or for the better interest of certain groups and not the whole of the country. And why? So they can be re-elected again and again. Congress was not supposed to be an elite class of people. It was supposed to be a represenative of the people and of everybody.

I blame Congress for a lot of this mess because they continue to allow it to happen. And yet, I have to blame us as well because we allow it to happen over and over each election cycle without doing anything about the things that go on in Washington.

Unknown said...

It's Just Me -

You have such an excellent point about Congress!!! It's so easy to make an action out to be something of an "administration" (and something terribly recent, when it's been happening for a century); when in reality, if it were only a President with an agenda, and Congress were standing up to him instead of trying to implement their grand global vision, it'd be a whole lot more obvious, and it would be a whole lot more likely to be stopped.

The legislative branch of government could actually function the way it's supposed to; and since it works in concert with the executive to appoint judges, that branch would be saner, too.

*sigh*

Anyway, thanks for your contributions!

Carissa said...

Congress is complicit. For example, the Iraq Resolution of 2002:

President Bush: Hey Congress, could you do me a huge favor and sign this legislation which would allow me to start a war with Iraq if I determine it to be necessary and appropriate? I mean, I know the constitution says that's YOUR job alone, but as long as you say it's okay no one can have grounds to complain.

Congress: Oh sure, we'll hand that power over to you. I mean, that way, if the people disapprove we're not accountable. It will be your fault alone if this is a bad political move. Good luck Buddy!

Here were Congressman Paul's wise words on the subject:

"This resolution is not a declaration of war, however, and that is an important point: this resolution transfers the Constitutionally-mandated Congressional authority to declare wars to the executive branch. This resolution tells the president that he alone has the authority to determine when, where, why, and how war will be declared. It merely asks the president to pay us a courtesy call a couple of days after the bombing starts to let us know what is going on. This is exactly what our Founding Fathers cautioned against when crafting our form of government: most had just left behind a monarchy where the power to declare war rested in one individual. It is this they most wished to avoid.

As James Madison wrote in 1798, "The Constitution supposes what the history of all governments demonstrates, that the executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has, accordingly, with studied care, vested the question of war in the legislature."

Some- even some in this body- have claimed that this Constitutional requirement is an anachronism, and that those who insist on following the founding legal document of this country are just being frivolous. I could not disagree more."

Unknown said...

Carissa - thanks for that info! I wasn't paying such close attention "back then," and I didn't realize that Congress had actually transferred their power. WOW. Bad move... WOW. Thanks again for pointing that out!

Happy Thought, Indeed! said...

All good points--nothing really for me to add, but I can't help saying that for Obama to criticize Bush's spending, and then to outspend Bush's ENTIRE 8 YEARS in less than two months is a TAD bit hypocritical. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Kirk said...

It is quite interesting to watch "people" (media, elected officials with a camera and microphone pointed at them, and general mud-throwers) place blame on whom they wish. Two thoughts to ponder come to mind. One, there is no better expert than Monday-morning quarterbacks, and they rarely recognize or admit their nature as such. Second, criticizing the previous president's actions and decisions, although a popular sport and not without some cause, should really be considered carefully. Laws are made and passed by Congress, and for the second half of those 8 years Congress was in control of his opposing party, the party in control now. Although the administrative branch can make some far-reaching rules and regs, much is in reality controlled by the legislative branch. It is sadly amusing to watch so many of them mis-aim criticism of actions taken, or not taken, when they themselves were the majority power in charge. Were they asleep for the last four years and now suddenly awakened? One branch can never take all the blame; that's why we have three. At least while our current constitution stands....