1) Foreign policy
The Radical Left claims that Barack Obama betrayed them by sending more troops to Afghanistan!
Weren't these people paying attention during his presidential campaign?
Obama said during his presidential campaign that he was going to reduce the amount of troops in Iraq, and increase them in Afghanistan.
He kept his promise!
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The goal of the US war in Afghanistan is to find remaining Al Qaida members there, and keep that nation from hosting that terrorist group again!
But that comes with a price. Now, many Al Qaida members are hiding in other unstable nations like Pakistan and Yemen!
We're definitely not going to send troops into Pakistan, since that nation got nuclear weapons. But it seems that country's military is taking it's war with Islamic fanatics more seriously. In fact, the military was more structured to defending itself from India. Come to find out that the Islamic fanatics hiding in its mountains are even more dangerous and more crazy than India could ever be!
As for Yemen, that country is so divided amongst its different tribes that the government is having a hard time keeping things stable. So it's an easy place for Al Qaida to hide, and a new training spots for terrorist wanabees!
Will Obama send troops there? Is the US ready to fight another war? Has the military been too strained?
Only time will tell!
2) Health Reform
In this past year, Obama's #1 priority was health care reform!
Look, I'm all for helping the less fortunate with health-related charity!
But, Obama missed the main issue behind all this trouble : increased unemployment! That should've been his main focus last year.
Wouldn't it be better if more people are employed so that less people are reliant on government for help with health care?
Obama kept saying during the campaign, "if you like your insurance policy, you can keep it?" So why is he putting excessive regulations on health insurance, if he promised to "let people keep their insurance policy if they like it"
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The protests against health-care reform caught Obama and his liberal allies by surprise!
First, the pro-Democrat pundits played the race card against Obama's opponents!
But they ignore the fact that even some African-American editorial writers like Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, Walter Williams and Star Parker have criticized Obama's health care plans!
And there's probably more African-Americans that would like to publicly criticize Obama's health care plans, but fear being called "Uncle Toms". And some are probably reluctant to attend those protests fearing that other protesters would stereotype them as "Obama supporters".
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The Radical Left need to get over the fact that not everyone buys their hype surrounding slogans like "single payer health care", "free health care" or "universal health care"!
A lot of people already been exposed to the realities of this so-called "single payer health care", whether through John Stossell's specials on ABC (he since switched to Fox), Wall Street Journal or talk radio!
"Single payer health care" is just another term for "Government Health Care Monopoly!" Meaning, if you don't like your government clinic, you have NO alternate routes! That is the reality in Canada and the UK, and that is what many people don't want to see in the U.S.
From Robert Tracinski
http://jewishworldreview.com/0709/tracinski.php3
Anyone can have a family doctor who makes a wrong diagnosis — but in America, you're not stuck with him. I'm a fan of the TV show "Mystery Diagnosis," which tells the real stories of people with very rare medical conditions who spend years trying to get a proper diagnosis and treatment. One of the things these patients talk about is how you have to "be your own advocate," and most of the cases are solved when the patient himself searches for information on the Internet and finds a specialist who is an expert in his disease.
But how can you be your own advocate under socialized medicine? It is outlawed, because you are no longer in control of your own health care. You have no freedom to choose a physician, or to seek out a specialist on your own, or to decide what medical tests you will pay for.
(To those who buy the hype of "single-payer health care", READ THAT PARAGRAPH AGAIN!)
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People are irritated by the fact that the health-care bill is 1,000 pages long! I mean, who the hell is going to read that? You can hide anything in there, and no one is going to know about it until it's too late!
Why can't laws have a maximum of (let's say 20 pages) 12-font, written in words an average high school graduate can understand!
That way, the general public can understand what laws we live under, and that lawmakers stop trying to confuse the general public!
--------One possible way to reduce health care costs is tort reform. Tort Reform limits the amount of $$$ paid out in lawsuits. Lawsuits, while sometimes necessary, can cause health care costs to increase, to the point where less people can afford them!
But lawyers don't like Tort Reform because that will reduce their profits! And many trial lawyers give $$$ to Democrats.
Is Obama going to defy his own party on this one?
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Another health issue not covered lately is medical marijuana.
While marijuana does have its side effects, some say that smoking it has reduced pain & nausea!
Obviously, marijuana shouldn't be sold to minors! But can't adults be allowed to risk the side effects if they believe it can reduce pain & nausea?
While Obama has banned the DEA from raiding medical marijuana sellers in states that legalized it, he needs to go further. He needs to take a political risk and let adults chose whether they want to risk the side effects of medical marijuana!
And let's face it, alcohol is worse than marijuana.
Let's hear it from a drug rehab physician, Dr. David A Nathan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703414504575001192775584982.html
In most of my substance-abuse patients, I am far more concerned about their consumption of booze than pot. Alcohol frequently induces violent or dangerous behavior and often-irreversible physiological dependence; marijuana does neither. Chronic use of cannabis raises the risk of lung cancer, weight gain, and lingering cognitive changes—but chronic use of alcohol can cause pancreatitis, cirrhosis and permanent dementia. In healthy but reckless teens and young adults, it is frighteningly easy to consume a lethal dose of alcohol, but it is almost impossible to do so with marijuana. Further, compared with cannabis, alcohol can cause severe impairment of judgment, which results in greater concurrent use of hard drugs.
3) Economics
While Obama is proposing more federal $$$ to reduce unemployment, that's not enough!
After all, most jobs are in the private sector!
While Obama mentions about tax cuts, there needs to be more!
During the debates, John McCain said that US tax on corporations is HIGHER than many European nations (allegedly more socialist than the US) and that this tax is causing investors to invest in countries other than the US.
So while the people were in no mood to listen to a Republican at the time, I still think McCain made a strong point!
So while it's good that Obama is proposing tax cuts for 95% of the US, he needs to go further and cut taxes on corporations!
You can't tax your way out of a recession, you can't stimulus your way out of a recession!
Corporations need to be able to hire more people, in order to get unemployment down!
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4) Naming stuff after Obama
Now, I'm done on giving critiques on Obama's job performance!
But here in Hawaii, there has been a movement to rename things after Obama!
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hanneman wants to re-name Magic Island (not really an island) beach park to Obama Beach Park!
And state legislator, Gil Keith-Agaran, wants to rename 2 schools after Obama! One of those schools is my alma mater, McKinley High School!
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100102/NEWS01/1020332/Hawaii-considering-new-holidays--parks-to-honor-Obama
Keith-Agaran also wants Hawai'i schoolchildren to know that it's true that anyone in the Islands can dare to dream to grow up to be president of the United States.
"That sends the message to Hawai'i kids that it's true," Keith-Agaran said. "It's nice to know that as we're growing up in America, everyone has the opportunity to be as successful as possible."
Yeah, but why re-name McKinley?
I know why?
Hawaiian sovereignty activists wanted McKinley High School to change its name for a very long time. William McKinley was the US president when Hawaii became a US territory.
Yet, King Kamehameha conquered Oahu with violent force, yet there's schools, highways and shopping centers named after him!
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I'm tired of name changes.
If they want to name stuff after Obama, why not give the name to a place that hasn't been built yet, instead of a school built decades before he was born.
Plus, Obama graduated from Punahou!
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As for my fellow McKinley graduates, not a single one on my facebook friend's list support the name change!
I'm sure most of them voted for Obama, since Hawaii gave the highest percentage of votes to Obama of any state!
But people are tired of this name changing business!
