Comments on: Get Over It: 10 Challenges President Elect Obama Faces Going Forward

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:34:37 +0000

#nancy → If only government worked like that. The problems come in with the confiscatory nature of taxes and the imposition of one person's will on another.

By: nancy (aka money coach)

nancy (aka money coach) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:32:35 +0000

Can I ask something that I’ve never quite understood, as a “left coast” Canadian? When I think ‘government’, esp ‘good government’, what comes to my mind is something like “working together as a society towards common good”. Civility. Acknowledgment of our interdependence and our need, again, to “work together” as a group.

But I often get the sense that in the States, “government” is a kinda dirty word. And it seems to be associated with a fear that civil rights will be impinged upon, whereas to me – maybe even ‘us’ in Canada – it’s associated with protecting civil rights (well, Albertans might not agree).

Am I off base here? Don’t mean to change the trajectory of the comments, just questions arising from some of what I read.

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:12:47 +0000

#FFB→ Don't get me wrong, I agree that both parties are very different from how they started out. Democrats in particular aren't the same group they were when Kennedy was in office! I just don't agree with the statement that one party has a particular problem more than the other when it comes to divisive issues such as racism. Democrats have just as big a problem as Republicans on that issue and to try to pin it on one party is uninformed and inaccurate at best, intentionally deceiving at worst.

By: FFB

FFB — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:27:05 +0000

Obama has one year to make an impact. Right now Senate and the House are a democratic majority. He has a year to use this to his advantage. I voted for Obama because I do believe we need some sort of change. But interestingly I wonder whether he would have had the support he now has if say Gore were elected in 2000? Anyway I think many people hope that things change. Of course a big part of this is looking to ourselves to change. Hope only goes so far. As for taxes, it would be nice if mine weren’t raised but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did go higher. I think it will be tough for Obama, as it would be for McCain as well, to not raise taxes with all that is going on in the economy. Even if Federal taxes aren’t raised many will probably state and local taxes raised.

And your comments about Republicans freeing slave and such…Look both parties are very different from what they were when they started out. What really is a Democrat or Republican nowadays? It seems there are so many different factions within each party. There’s such a black and white view of each party but really they aren’t black and white; there’s a lot of gray in between.

By: Ron

Ron — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:08:41 +0000

#Jenni→
Just a couple of things. First, Obama had MUCH less experience dealing with Congress than McCain and volumes less in bi-partisanship than McCain. Obama doesn’t need his father to help, he has all the Clinton cronies already there, ready to lend a hand. I still don’t understand the constant references to Bush…who wasn’t running.

As far as racism goes, it was the Republican Party that freed the slaves. It was Republicans that put a black man, then a black woman as secretary of state. Democrats stood in the schoolhouse door to prevent blacks from registering.

And you haven’t lost your Constitutional rights. If you’ll check, you’ll see that the Congress voted FOR the war and voted to fund it. Democrats and Republicans. You’ll also note that the “domestic spying” campaign decried by the media and Democrats was to listen in on known terrorists receiving calls from known sponsors of terrorism. Don’t you wish we had done that sooner, say September 10th?

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