Anthony Dolpies  

The Problem with building a house of cards is that regardless of how wide the base a stiff breeze or a slamming door will bring the whole thing tumbling down. The republicans in congress would do well follow the conservative lead and realize that Barack Obama’s doors and windows are wide open. Although the Presidents personal numbers are still very good, his overall agenda is growing more and more unpopular among Voters. If republicans are smart, they will begin their all out assault to connect President Obama to his policies and present a clear conservative alternative.

Democrats, under direction from the Obama administration, tried to wrap a multibillion dollar international bailout in a war funding bill. This bill, which was originally meant to fund troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately democrats loaded the bill up with so much pork it had to be pulled for lack of support from both democrats and republicans alike. Aside from the unrestricted loan to the IMF which would put billions of tax payer dollars up for grabs to countries such as Iran & Venezuela, some might remember that Obama promised 100 billion to the IMF while in Europe a few weeks ago. The bill also includes what amounts to another auto bailout, in the form of $4500 vouchers payable to consumers who trade in their current vehicle for one more fuel efficient. $4 billion was earmarked for swine flu, 1.2 billion for Pakistan and 3.1 billion which was secured by none other then the king of pork John Murtha for military transport planes which the Pentagon did not ask for. This is a very tangible issue that Republicans can grab on to, Americans are fed up with bailouts as it is let and would be twice as livid to know that Barack Obama is attempting to borrow billions of dollars from china, then turn around and lend that money to an international organization, using it to prop up despotic regimes that have anything but U.S. interest at heart. Republicans should be screaming from the roof tops and shining light on the democrat attempt to wrap this wreck less spending in patriotism.

Republicans should look to connect Obama’s desire to bailout the IMF with his naive approval seeking 3^rd grade conflict resolution style of foreign policy. This is evidenced by Obama’s failed attempt to reach out to the so called "Muslim world." President Obama, right before kicking off his latest mid east trip made the outrageous and statistically false claim that the United States is one of the world’s largest Muslim countries. While speaking in Turkey, Obama made the declaration that the United States was no longer a Christian nation. While cozying up to radical Islamists, Obama has taken a confrontational stance with our long time Allie Israel. What has this new stance actually gotten us? Nothing. The Iranians are still seeking nuclear weapons, and the genocidal rhetoric from the enemies of Israel has only grown bolder. The President also seems dumbfounded by North Korea. The Norks have recently sentenced two young American journalists to 12 years in a labor camp, as well as test detonating a nuke, and making outright threats toward rest of the world. Conservative leaders would be wise to offer up practical solutions to this issue, like initiating a parallel multilateral effort to augment the U.N.

President Obama’s domestic agenda is also losing steam on key fronts, namely health care. Health care reform has slipped a great deal among voter priorities taking a far backseat to issues such as the national debt and deficit spending. The fact is most Americans are satisfied with their health insurance plans and are not eager to pay higher taxes to support a government run system. Obama’s plan loses support as details leak out, voters don’t like the idea of penalizing people who do not enroll in some sort of health plan. They realize mandates are not choices regardless of how the government pitches the plan. Obama care will also saddle employers with extra cost by mandating that employers provide health care coverage or raising taxes overall, Either way the additional cost will only lead to a reduction in the workforce. It is also important to highlight that rationing is inevitable, without it there is no cost control, I don’t care how many preventive check ups you mandate. All socialized healthcare systems in the world ration care to some extent, It is disingenuous to advance the notion that it would be different here.

The Obama administration has presided over a three point increase in unemployment, nearly two million of the jobs lost have been since his highly touted stimulus was signed into law. As it stands right now, the stimulus will have to create 5.5 million jobs just to live up to expectations not to mention Obama’s promise that 90% of these jobs would be created in the private sector. Many Americans now feel the stimulus was completely ineffective and possibly harmful, They may be right, The buy American provision in the stimulus has angered many of our trading partners like Canada who has retaliated with protectionist legislation of their own. Many states are complaining about the bureaucratic maze involved in green lighting the simplest projects and even the casual observer is starting to wonder where all that money went, what’s worse not many people in the Obama administration seem to know. Also it is time someone called Obama on this notion of "creating or saving jobs," members of Obama’s own administration have admitted that there is no real way to measure "saved jobs." By this rational if the economy really tanks and there are only 3.5 million jobs left, Obama’s stimulus will have been a success.

If there was ever an issue that would make John Gotti green it would be cap & trade, and I mean green with envy. This is a debate that republicans desperately need to bring into the light of day. The Idea that transferring our wealth to developing countries with politicians reaping the monetary benefits by playing the middle man is the biggest steaming pile ever shoveled on the American people. This legislation if passed will only serve to raise the cost of production for everything. These additional costs will then be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices on everything from airline tickets to utility bills to a gallon of milk. It will also hog tie our economy and make us less competitive in the world, especially since emerging economic giants like China and India have made it clear that they will not sacrifice economic growth for environmental concerns.

The time is right for republicans to rediscover their conservative roots, these intrusive big government policies only serve to crush small business and promote corruption. The fact is that only the largest companies will have the means to either grease the palms of politicians for exemptions or have enough room in their profit margins to whether the coming storm of regulation and taxation. It is imperative that voters know the truth and that truth is that Obama and the democrats are not leveling the playing field for the everyday entrepreneur, but bulldozing a path so that only the wealthiest corporations and special interest can survive.

Anthony D Dolpies
conservativerepublic.org