Step Aside, President Obama

The time is ripe for a strong Republican leader to just start making “State of the Union” type speeches laying out a path forward for America. The leaders around the world are rushing to fill the void left by Obama’s lack of leadership and it is time for a republican in this country to do the same.

A speech like this would be a good start:

The time is now for the country to start planning to restore the integrity, fiscal responsibility, and military might of the United States of America.  We must be ready to act the day after President Obama steps down from office.  There will be no time to waste.

First, to counter the leverage Vladimir Putin has over Europe due of their reliance on Russian oil supplied by pipelines through the Ukraine, we should lift restrictions on drilling for oil on public lands.  Waivers of onerous fracking regulations should be granted.  If building the Keystone pipeline has not been started and is still an option, approval should be granted immediately.  This would also weaken the bad actors in the Middle East.

We need to get our fiscal house in order.  To that end Baseline Budgeting should be eliminated.  I would ask Paul Ryan to work with members of Congress to prepare budgets that balance the federal budget in 10 years.  These budgets should be written and ready for approval on day one of the new administration.  The elimination of redundant or ineffective programs should be considered a high priority.

Obamacare should be repealed and replaced.  To that end, I will work with Dr. Ben Carson and the Save Our Healthcare Project to consult with congress to devise a new healthcare plan that is patient-centered and will allow every American access to the best, most affordable care in the world.

A bill instituting a fair or flat tax system should be prepared.  The new tax system should eliminate all loopholes used by the rich and corporations to avoid paying taxes.  In conjunction with these changes the corporate tax rate should be lowered.

We should increase the size and strength of the US military.  “Peace through Strength” should once again be our goal.  Government investments in “shovel-ready jobs” should be geared toward ensuring an overwhelming technologically-advanced military.  Federal job training programs should be coordinated through the branches of our military. 

Our whole foreign policy should be “reset”.  I would ask John Bolton to help devise a policy that would rebuild our relationships with our true allies.  Foreign aid to nations that openly counter American interests should be reevaluated.  Our level of involvement with the U.N. should also be reevaluated.  Relationships with allies like Israel and Eastern Europe should be rebuilt starting with exporting ballistic missile defense systems to these countries. The United States of America should once again be an ally's best friend and an enemy’s worst nightmare.

Republicans currently hold only one house of congress.  This should not preclude them from readying bills for passage even if they do not get voted on in the Senate.  If republicans gain control of the Senate in 2014, these bills should be approved in the Senate even if they face a certain veto by Obama.  Getting them passed now is not the goal.  Getting bills ready for a Republican president in 2016 to sign on his first day in office is the goal.  With President Obama willfully presiding over the decline of American until 2016, swift and certain action will be needed to reverse this trend.

America's best days lay ahead if we are willing to act now.

God Bless America.

The World Burns...

Sochi Bear

Obama at the Sochi Winter Olympics

The I-word

Republicans in congress seem averse to considering impeaching the president. I think they believe there would be a political backlash based on the public’s reaction to the impeachment of Clinton. If that is true, they should be more concerned about performing their role in the checks and balances our founding fathers intended when they created the co-equal branches of government, than backlash.

Impeaching a president because he lied about having sex with an intern is in no way comparable to impeaching a president who refuses to do what he is constitutionally obligated to do.

Article II, Section 4 of the constitution stipulates in that a president “shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”. Treason and bribery are easily understood. But what are “high crimes and misdemeanors” as it relates to impeachment.

The constitutional convention adopted the phrase from English Common Law with which they were all familiar. The English parliament had used “high crimes and misdemeanors” as one of the reasons to impeach officials of the crown. “High”, in this case, does not mean “serious” but offenses perpetrated by those in high office. These “crimes and misdemeanors” do not have to be illegal, just a demonstration of a serious abuse of power or an abuse of the public trust.

The president takes an oath to” faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”. Article II, Section 3, of the constitution contains what is known as the Take Care Clause. This clause states the President must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed” even if he disagrees with the purpose of the law. Obama has clearly demonstrated that he will enforce only the laws, or portions of the laws he likes. He openly admits he thinks he does not need Congress to do what he wants to do and will act unilaterally. Examples of this include:

• Obama ordered all U.S. attorneys to stop charging nonviolent, non-gang-related drug defendants involved with crimes that carry mandatory sentences instead of persuading Congress to change mandatory drug sentences.
• Obama directed the immigration service to cease proceedings against young illegal immigrants brought here as children when Congress refused to pass the Dream Act.
• Obama illegally waived the work requirements from the established law called the Welfare Reform Act.

The breach of his oath alone should qualify as an abuse of power and abuse of the public trust and should qualify him for impeachment.

But wait, there’s more!

Obama sicced the departments of the executive branch on his political opponents to further his political agenda or to punish his perceived enemies. Examples include:

• The IRS suppressed conservative groups from raising money to oppose Obama’s candidacy
• Obama accused a U.S. citizen of causing the uprising in Libya which cost the lives of four Americans so he wouldn’t look bad prior to the last presidential election. This citizen was thrown in jail on unrelated charges even though recent facts in the case clearly indicate that the actions of that U.S. citizen had nothing to attack in Benghazi and the administration knew it at the time of the attack.
• The NSA was caught monitoring AP reporters and a Fox News reporter
• The Obama Justice department indicted a filmmaker, who made a film critical of Obama, for improper campaign contributions
• The Obama Justice department is suing Standard & Poor’s for its involvement in the financial crises in 2008. Although Moody’s and Fitch were also involved, only S&P is included in the lawsuit. It also happens that only S&P downgraded the credit rating of the U.S. in 2011 at which time Obama’s Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, told S&P chairman Harold McGraw that S&P’s decision would be “looked at very carefully” and would prompt “a response from the government”.

Senator Obama was very critical of the power President George W. Bush wielded as demonstrated in the video below.

But the taste of power changes everything.

Obama is out of control. If this president does not deserved to be impeached, what would it take: driving women off a bridge and leaving her to die?

Future presidents will know Congress is unwilling to stop presidential abuses of power if Obama is not held accountable for his behavior. This should make even liberals worry. He won’t be president forever. We may even have an evil Republican president. It will be too late by then to claim the president is shredding the constitution or restricting our liberties.

It is the job of Congress to check the power of the president. If Congress doesn't do their jobs, they should be removed from office at the very next election.

Whistling Dixie

Doesn’t anyone else notice how Obama whistles when he talks! It drives me crazy yet no one else mentions it!

The Fourth Estate takes the Fifth

The media has a critical role in the protection of our liberties from an obtrusive central government. In trying to protect Obama from any criticism, the press has abdicated its responsibility as watch dog for the people. It will be harder and harder to rein in future presidents the more the media allow Obama to abuse the power of his office.
 

I argue that Snowden would have leaked the information he obtained to the US press in anonymity if he thought they would use the information to hold this administration accountable. Instead he felt he needed to go to Russia and China. Why do you think he took the course of action he did?

The media was all too willing to release classified information they obtained from informants, protect their sources, and collect their Pulitzers when George Bush was in office. But this president isn’t a Republican. I fear it will be worse if Hillary is elected. The media is already paving the way for her election with articles that white-wash the Benghazi scandal.

There is a long list of people responsible for this devastating period in our country’s history: from Socialist Democrats to weak-kneed Republicans. Included in the list has to be the media. But don’t expect to hear this addressed by reporters, they’re taking the fifth.

P.S. Make no mistake: I am not making excuses for Snowden. He is a traitor and should be treated as such.