Another Political Rant

This started out as a Facebook post about the national debt, then I kinda got fired up.

#####, both parties are plenty responsible for the national debt, but here are some facts. During the Clinton Administration's eight years, budgets were balanced, revenues increased, spending decreased, with budget surpluses the end result, and the national debt declined. Then came the eight years of Bush 43. Spending went through the roof, while revenues declined. On top of that, the economic bubble caused by a combination of thirty years of lax regulation and enforcement of those regulations still in effect on Wall Street finally burst, wrecking the global economy. Only at the very end of Bush 43's second term is when anyone started doing anything to fix the problems, something the Obama Administration has continued.

Now, BHO's tenure so far has seen the American auto industry saved , Wall Street reined in somewhat, and the economy has been slowly recovering since 2009 thanks to the stimulus, while by comparison most of Europe continues to suffer economically by choosing the path of austerity over stimulus. Could we have done better? Sure, if both parties were actively involved in getting things done. Congressional Republicans have refused to budge on anything, and have admitted that their stance over the last three-plus years is about one thing and one thing only: making Obama fail. Does the country matter? No, he must fail. Do jobs matter? No, he must fail. Do people's lives matter? No, he must fail. In the last three-plus years, the Republican party has shown that they simply don't care about anything other than removing one man from office by any means necessary. And the irony is that BHO has tried to engage Republicans every step of the way. What was their response?

Anyone remember "You lie!" from Rep. Joe Wilson (Asshole-SC)? That pretty much sums up the collective Republican response to BHO's attempts to reach across the aisle and find compromise. He must fail - nothing else matters. And now that all the Republicans' cards are on the table, that there must be more spending, less taxes, less regulations on business and more on people's private lives, it's clear where things stand now. It is no longer a choice between Left and Right - it is a choice between right and wrong, good and evil.

The Party of Lincoln is now a shambling zombie of phony hyperpatriotism and Xtianity (the fake Christianity that slavishly quotes the Bible at every turn while utterly failing to actually live up to those words - humility replaced by hubris, charity replaced with profligacy, love replaced with hate), devouring all in its path without any regards for consequence. All that matters to today's Republicans is the acquisition and maintenance of wealth and power for themselves and their backers, regardless of the cost to others. Because of them, we are now on the brink of a second Gilded Age, where far too much of the nation's wealth is in the hands of far too few people.

The choice is simple enough now - those who would make America better, or those who would make themselves better. I choose America. I choose Barack Hussein Obama.