Who really is Barack Obama?
Writing by abuhatem on Tuesday, 1 of April , 2008 at 11:24 am
There are a lot of cliches these days. People echo the oft-repeated mantra to “get out the vote,” and to vote, even for something bad, is better than not voting at all. Setting aside that this skewed view of the world truly lacks reason, it is sufficient to note that one of the greatest political philosophers Edmund Burke regarded high levels of voter participation as something sickly in democracy because of over politicizing culture and creating fragmentation, division and sedition. And when you are voting just to vote it is especially sickly especially because you could be the direct cause of evil later on. If you are going to vote, then vote with purpose, lesser of two evils (negative utilitarianism) or a third-party candidate that truly shares your ideology on spreading the good. And if you are not going to vote, then no problem, just don’t vote with purpose - to not support any bad candidates. Many people consciously and morally do not vote for this reason.
But anyhow, the lesser evil from where I see it at the current moment is Barack Obama - of all the mainstream candidates at least. Who wants to go back to the dishonest, lying, cheating Clintons? To top off their warmongering, they are big-government tax-hikers. Then we have McCain an uber-warmongering liberal Republican. I can’t say I am a fan of either. Barack Obama seems more honest and more sincere, and is a warmonger but less-so than McCain and the Clintons. And the biggest of all big government programs is war, something that is the first priority to stop. I am all for small and limited government, so many of Obama’s positions are anathema to me, but the priority is ending the war in any way possible (which Barack still won’t, but at least he may not start new ones). Many anti-war conservatives feel the same way, such as Andrew Bajaveich and others, who have made “the conservative case for Obama.”
An Obama presidency would probably be much like the Reagan one - changing the trajectory of America through charismatic leadership. This could potentially move the country to the European socialized left, however Obama could simply be another Bill Clinton who moves his party to the center. It is anyone’s guess, but a McCain presidency will move the Republican party to the left into the abyss of social liberalism and big government. Remember that every President since Reagan has been in his shadow, a fact that political scientists specializing in presidential elections such as James Caesar have noted.
I did some research on Senator Obama and here is what I found. In his last year as Illinois State Senator, Obama sponsored the following bills:
- An extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit - a markedly conservative proposal.
- A bill requiring audio recording of suspects arrested and interrogated by police.
- A price-control on drugs purchased through Medicare - a markedly liberal proposal.
- An extension of the socialized medicine state-SCHIP program for poor children in Illinois who earned over 200% of the federal poverty level instead of 185%. (A very liberal proposal).
- Many ethics regulations requiring several disclosures by hospitals or other businesses to the state government. Obama also worked on ethics legislation in the U.S. Senate.
- A bioterrorism protection act which provides for emergency protocol in the case of an attack.
- An act requiring restroom being installed on commuter trains.
- An act prohibiting the Illinois EPA from loosening certain environmental restrictions.
- A public finance bill regarding Supreme Court races.
It was surprising to see that the majority of Obama’s record, although generally Democratic and liberal, was in the mainstream. Obama seemed to have concentrated mostly on ethics reform bills during his last year in office. This is not really something negative, although I disagree with many of his other positions.
Obama, while in the Illinois legislature, was a board member of both Woods Fund of Chicago and the Joyce Foundation, both inner city organizing groups. He is also less wealthy than the Clintons and McCain. However, he is an ivy league graduate which makes him outside of the world of the average Joe.
In his U.S. Senate career, Obama has sponsored the following bills, obviously not all passed:
- A joint resolution clarifying that the use of force against Iran is not authorized by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq, any resolution previously adopted, or any other provision of law.
- A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.
- More ethics legislation including A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections.
- A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuel sold in the United States.
- A bill to authorize State and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies with investments of $20,000,000 or more in Iran’s energy sector, and for other purposes.
Obama’s sponsored bills include a lot of ethics legislation again. However, his bill preventing investing in Iran is reckless and anti-peace. Obama obviously sponsored this to be seen as tough on defense.
Obama’s general voting record is the democratic line. The National Journal, a non-partisan institute, found him as the most liberal member of the United States Senate - surpassing independent socialist (literally, he’s a socialist, yuck!) Bernie Sanders. He has voted with his party 96.7% of the time according to the Washington Post. Hillary Clinton has voted with her party 97.2% of the time, a little bit higher.
Obama voted against his party on vote 181 funding the Iraq war, to remove 100 million dollars of funding for the Democratic and Republican conventions, in establishing a Senate office of “public integrity,” in voting for the Oman free-trade act (a pleasant surprise!), and on confirming a conservative Republican-backed circuit court judge.
It seems that Obama is not as liberal as they make him out to be, at least not outside of the Democratic mainstream. He has in many instances voted with Republicans against his party, yet these also are truly a drop in the bucket compared to his overall voting record. The emphasis on ethics is impressive, yet Obama’s far-reaching liberal programs such as support of SCHIP, universal health care, tax hikes, and bailouts are scary. Obama’s rhetoric on the campaign trail is much more liberal than his overall record which is still left of center.
Some key votes that Obama voted on were a vote against the FISA domestic spying act, a vote for the SCHIP program, a vote for the McCain-Kennedy amnesty law for illegal immigrants, the wall on the border of Mexico, and stem cell research. Obama voted against a Free-Trade Zone in the Americas however and banning partial birth abortion. He has a 100% rating by the pro-choice lobby NAARL and 0% by the National Right to Life Council.
For more of Barack, on the issues, then go here.
Overall, he honestly is the same old tired Democrat (or Republican) that we are all used to. Yet he truly is the lesser evil of the candidates. But these are some pretty bad candidates, so that is not saying much.
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