An interesting thing happened on the way to President Barack Obama's strategy to paint commentator Rush Limbaugh as the face of the GOP--assumedly because Limbaugh's positions are quite extreme sometimes, and Obama thought he would be a wonderful straw man to set up as the national GOP tries to coalesce behind a leader (whether or not it will be new RNC Chairman Michael Steele remains to be seen).
Rush fought back.
Leaving aside the fact that Obama has done more for Rush's career than Rush himself could ever hope to, Rush has called out Obama and challenged him to a debate. Fox News reports:
"I am offering President Obama to come on this program -- without staffers, without a TelePrompTer, without note cards -- to debate me on the issues. Let's talk about free markets versus government control. Let's talk about nationalizing health care and raising taxes on small business...
"Let's talk about the New Deal versus Reaganomics,'' Limbaugh said today. "Let's talk about closing Guantanamo Bay, and let's talk about sending $900 million to Hamas. Let's talk about illegal immigration and the lawlessness on the borders. Let's talk about massive deficits and the destroying of opportunities of future generations...
" The president yesterday suggested "we're getting to the point where profits and earnings ratios are approaching that point where you want to invest." Uh, Mr. President? There is no "profits and earnings" ratio. It's "price and earnings" ratio. He's the president of the United States. He doesn't know anything about the stock market. He's admitted it before. Let's talk about it anyway.
"Just come on this program,'' Limbaugh says to Obama. "Let's have a little debate..."
Ow.
Also- people are starting to wake up to the fact that Obama's "soak the rich" plan is going to hit a lot of charitable organizations that rely on the generous donations of the wealthy to do a lot of good stuff. Oh, but don't worry, says Team Obama- improving the economy by redistributing wealth to the poor will eventually help charities. It is just me, or does this sound like trickle-down economics for charities???
Being a boater myself, I remember what happened when the "luxury tax" idea made in into tax policy. Oh, yeah, go get those rich folks!!! Great idea!!! The only problem was, the successful individuals who bought all those boats stopped buying them, putting the middle class people who made the boats out of work.
Sound familiar? Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it...
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6 comments:
Steele has to lead nationally and Rush can echo his message and Mark has to lead locally and this blog can get the good word out. That's my feeling.
Obama is a disaster and my hope is that his liberal urban politics will make those of us who live in suburbia and have to bear the cost for say $2.4 million so that an ivy league school can study grapes, remember why this was once GOP turf.
Obama is playing the exact same game he accused Bush and Republicans of playing.
He plays on fear. Only difference is that Obama also plays on class resentment.
This nation once admired those who made their fortunes and were considered "success stories." Now under Obama we are to resent them.
Wall Street feels the resentment. Nice going Mr. President!
Louis G. Atsaves
And now I hear that the guy in Oval Office is "rethinking" that drop to 28% from 35% for charitable giving for those who he deems the wealthy. Even those in his own party are telling him that it's not a great idea. Some of the major philanthropies are already feeling the brunt of this nutty idea and are gearing up for the worst. Listening to his press secretary, Gibbs, talk about the pork-inflated Omnibus Bill as last year's news made me want to jump up and throw something at the TV screen. What part of truthfulness don't they get?
We're in for a rough go these next few years. The Stock Market keeps showing us what they think about some of these genius ideas. Do you think they'll get the picture that when a business is taxed beyond all reason, the owner either has to sock it to the guy who comes into that business or, worse case, go out of business. Have you noticed how many local stores are closing? Major Malls in the area are hard pressed to find shoppers.
This IS the change we knew we'd get from this kind of thinking. HELP!
First, TA-
Obama & Co really did pick the right enemy. No matter how much this blog and others like it love Rush Limbaugh, it's only the deep base of the Republicans who like him. I don't have any numbers off-hand, but I've seen enough to know I'm right about this one. His "wanting the President to fail," no matter how it gets explained away, just isn't a popular sentiment, and by elevating him, Democrats now have the opportunity to bring it up in campaigns (see VA-Gov, McAuliffe to McDonnell letter, and DailyKos on NY-20). Limbaugh's been around for 20 years, he's not gonna get more popular. And no matter how far he gets elevated, Rush is gonna have to run for President if he wants to debate Barack Obama.
As for the taxes/charities thing, I have to disagree as well. Charity donations have a much stronger relationship with the general state of the economy than it does tax rates. Exhibit A would be the 1990's, where both tax rates and charity donations were fairly high. Of course donation numbers are down, look at our economy. Using that to push against Obama's tax-cut rollbacks is pretty intellectually dishonest.
Louis-
Here's the difference between Bush and Obama on fear. Obama says that we should use our already-existing focus on the economy in order to try to solve some of our biggest public policy problems. Bush used fear as a distractor from those same problems. Also, Obama's willing to have an open discussion on his solutions. Bush and his first term cabinet, on the other hand, would use sweeping ad hominem attacks against any who would disagree. Barack Obama has never questioned anyone's patriotism because they disagreed with him.
Also, just because no one's tossed it out yet...looks like Bill Daley's gonna make a run for the Senate seat. Should be a rough primary.
The problem with this party right now has nothing to do with Rush or Bill Daley, it has to do with us, and our failure to find leaders that will articulate a vision of where we want them to take us. While we think of Mark as our guy, the reality is that he isn't an endangered species in America, he and by extension, our politics are extinct. Our politics and moderate mainstream vision for this country are extinct because we don't have policies and serious things we want government to do.
Elections are decided with politics but they are won with ideas, and merely talking about cutting taxes, cutting spending and national security isn't going to do it anymore.
We need to spend more time on the issues and less time on the distractions like Rush. The White House can talk trash about Rush because for them it's politics to advance their policies. We don't have any coherent policies and haven't for a LONG time which is why we are complaining on this blog about the democrats rather than urging our talented leaders on to implement their great new visions.
eamus catuli.
FOKLAES
"If we don't do something right now, anything, we will be faced with the greatest economic downturn since the great depression."
Comfort words of Obama or fear tactics?
Do we need to use a bloated stimulus package to "solve" social problems at the same time? How many jobs will be saved by spending $30 million to purchase an area for a field mouse sanctuary in Nancy Pelosi's district? How many will be created? None would be the logical answer. So much for Obama, the anti-earmark President! 9,000 earmarks and he just shrugs his shoulders in a display of "leadership."
As to the "open discussion" argument, that myth continues to be perpetrated by the Obamaholics. That is why when the "final bill" was presented it was rammed through without giving any of those voting for or against it the opportunity to read it and to debate it and discuss it. The earlier promise of delaying a vote for 48 hours so that it could be digested and debated was tossed out the window. Pelosi had a trip scheduled to Rome which she was not about to cancel, so it got rammed through.
Now each day since its passage brings another expensive oddity that creates no jobs and stimulates nothing that got snuck into the bill.
The stock market keeps dropping with every Obama statement against "greedy investors." The White House handling of Wall Street has been amateurish beyond belief. How much longer will he explain the plunge on Bush when each Obama act and statement causes the plunge to accelerate?
And if you want to discuss "distractions" the Obama administration broadside against what they now call "the Leader of the Republican Party Rush Limbaugh" is a classic one. Now that Limbaugh is calling out our President for a debate, will Obama show up and feed the publicity machine he created for Rush? Or will he duck and be called a coward? If Rush can tie him up in knots like that, I can't wait for Putin and other foreign leaders to tie him up!
Obama is using Bush's tactics and taking up an additional notch or two. This after campaigning against those very same tactics. Obama the thin skinned hypocrite is emerging daily. The disgusting part is his free use of class resentment and resentment of the have nots against the haves.
Can this nation survive four years of this or will Obama and Rhambo see the light and change course yet again?
Louis G. Atsaves
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