American Citizens News Network

June 14, 2008

The Facts

The TPC (Tax Policy Center) has made a study of the tax plans recently released by Barack Obama and John McCain. They have also released a brief look at the core of the two plans. TPC says in the study that McCain has been mischaracterizing [added] Obama’s plan in that it would “raise taxes for all”. They say Obama’s plan would actually cut middle-class taxes by $1000 in 2009 while McCain’s plan would cut middle-class taxes by just $300. In McCain’s plan, the top 20% of taxpayers would get a 3% reduction, while the lowest earning 60% would get less than 1%. They also report that taxpayers making more than $2.9 million would get almost $300,000 in tax breaks.

According to the report, Obama’s tax plan would raise the debt $3.3 trillion over the next ten years and McCain’s plan would raise the debt by $4.5 trillion over the next ten years. However, there are several who dispute those numbers.

On more than one occasion, McCain has said Obama’s tax plan would raise taxes on “Americans of every background” and that it would be “the largest single tax increase since WWII”. But a New York Times article says “Economists of various ideological persuasions, however, view Mr. McCain’s assessment as inaccurate or exaggerated. Some question whether Mr. Obama’s tax plan can even be characterized as an increase. Some also argue that contrary to Mr. McCain’s assertions, the Democrat’s proposals, if enacted, would actually reduce taxes for the middle class.”

My View

Just so you know, most all of the groups that study the economy and tax laws say they regard the TPC’s assessment as highly reliable based on their past. It must also be noted that people on both sides of the political fence put much value in the TPC’s past reports. So it will be interesting to see how the spin misters handle this one. They will probably stay with their standard strategies; embrace it if it supports their agenda, and spin the hell out of it if it doesn’t.

Another thing must be pointed out here; when Bush proposed the tax cuts in 2001 & 2003, McCain called it a “give-a-way to the rich”. But now that he’s running for President, he seems to have become a true Republican, in that “only the wealthy deserve the governments help”.

May 9, 2008

The Facts

Steven Ybarra, Democrat super delegate from Sacramento, California wants to sell his vote for $20 million. The sale would go to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Ybarra claims he wants to use the money for educating Mexican-American voters.

My View

At my senior age I can remember a time when even the thought that someone would be caught selling their vote was enough to make them think again. However, in today’s world it’s not only thought about, not only put into action, but flaunted in the publics face. “To hell with democracy if the price is high enough” is the attitude today. These anti-Americans are trying to sell the very freedom that allows them to do such things. I suggest this “American” give up his American citizenship and go to Mexico where this kind of corruption is an accepted norm. Did I say “accepted norm” in reference to Mexico and not America? How stupid can I be? It’s obviously the accepted norm right here in the good ol’ USA. Our political leaders and elected officials are accepting this every day, further documented here. And it’s not just our political officials; you should read what many ordinary voters are saying. So why should we, the small minority who care, be surprised that our democracy has failed.

Besides being un-American, here’s the bigger problem; Mexican-Americans want everything for themselves, black Americans want everything for themselves, white Americans want everything for themselves, Asian-Americans want everything for themselves, Muslim-Americans want everything for themselves, all of our elected officials and political figures want everything for themselves, etc., etc., etc. Nobody cares about the other or what America needs.

Now if you are one of those who are crying out “those damn Democrats”, you better think again. It’s that kind of polarized thinking that allows our political officials to get away with this kind destructive manner. Both political parties are guilty of the exact same thing. I have said this many times, but I will say it again; we the people have become polarized that we can not come together for the better cause, which is America. It’s not about which political party is in power.

According to this article, Ybarra has a strong dislike for Clinton, but “nothing that $20 million won’t help him forget”. And I’m absolutely convinced that Ybarra would not keep a single dime for himself, right?

April 18, 2008

The Facts

Andrew C. McCarthy was on the Lou Dobbs show last night to talk about Barack Obama. McCarthy’s latest book is “Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad”. He was a United States Attorney, but has gained fame through his investigation into Islam and the books he has written about it. On the Lou Dobbs show he talked about Islam and Barack Obama. After pointing out the so-called haters of American that Obama has been associated with over the years, McCarthy said that “he’s comfortable with people who hate this country”.

My View

That statement is a very powerful statement. So the first thing that you may say is that McCarthy is supporting the Republicans. But in fact, McCarthy was appointed as a US Attorney by Bill Clinton. So you might say he is supporting Hillary Clinton, but he served as an attorney for Rudy Giuliani. And there are a lot of other facts about him that indicate McCarthy is not biased to either political party in his interviews and his books.

Obama has caught an awful lot of flack because he refuses to wear an American flag lapel pin. You would think that he would have put one on the very first time the issue came up, but he didn’t. And he has caught a lot of flack about not placing his hand over his heart when the National Anthem was playing. Both of these have probably cost him a lot of votes. When continually questioned about all this he just seems to make excuses’ every time of why he didn’t (and doesn’t) do that, and why it’s no big deal. One can only come to one of two conclusions for this; either he really does have a problem with wearing the flag pin and displaying allegiance to the American flag or he is just so arrogant that he’s not about to let people tell him what to do. Neither one is a very good quality for a President. Complying with these two things would not only be about as simple as anything he could do, but would alleviate being questioned about it, something he is clearly uncomfortable with. Come on, now; he’s running for President of the United States and I’ve never heard of a candidate that wouldn’t comply with such a simple thing as this to make voters happy during a campaign. Have you?

I realize that I am not being Politically Correct here, and I don’t intend to. However, I am not trying to read anything into any of this that isn’t there either; Obama may very well be one of the most dedicate Americans to ever live in this country. But I feel he needs to do more to show us that he is.

April 15, 2008

The Facts

Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), says that Barack Obama would not be the Democratic Party leading candidate if he was white, and in saying so, defends Geraldine Ferraro in what she said about Obama. Johnson is quoted as saying “What I believe Ferraro meant is that if you take a freshman senator from Illinois called ‘Jerry Smith’ and he says I’m going to run for president, would he start off with 90 percent of the black vote? And the answer is, probably not… Geraldine Ferraro said it right. The problem is, Geraldine Ferraro is white. This campaign has such a hair-trigger on anything racial … it is almost impossible for anybody to say anything.”

My View

Point one – this is just another of hundreds of examples I could use to support my contention that voters do not vote for the person they think can best serve the country; they vote their biases every time. However, my ‘point two’ is the more important point; Bob Johnson could easily go down in history as the instrument that really begins the elimination of racism.

Racism is a two-sided coin; both sides can equally be blamed for it, and neither can deny that fact while being honest with themselves and others. My belief is that there will always be some racism on both sides, although the reasons for racism will change; but if we will all take what Bob Johnson is saying as what it is, the truth, then the process of eradicating most racism can begin.

April 4, 2008

The Facts

The Clinton’s released their tax records today for the years 2000 through 2006. It shows that for the past eight years they paid $33.7 million in federal taxes, nearly one-third of the $109 million adjusted gross income. By releasing these tax records, the Clinton’s have made public more tax records than any other candidate, and more than most public people have ever released.

My View

I don’t know about you, but when I do my taxes each year, my total federal taxes are usually less than 12%, and I have nothing to deduct except the standard deductions. I wonder how many other people who earn $14 million or more per year pay 31% of their income in federal taxes. I venture to say not many, if any at all.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not a radical Clinton defender, but maybe this will shut some mouths up. All I have heard from the Democratic bashers over the past several months is that Hillary Clinton must have something to hide since she has refused to release her tax records. Now I challenge them to release their records and see if they can compare.

See one report here.

March 21, 2008  

The Facts  

Early this week, Barack Obama made his speech addressing the Reverend Wrights racist comments that have been aired again and again. In that speech he referred to his mother, a white woman, as a “typical white woman” in reference to white people being scared at times of a black person. Since his speech he has been trying to defend and explain away that statement.  

My View 

Obama is doing a very poor job of doing either. In fact, he is digging the hole deeper if his intent is to explain it away. Continuing to use words like “stereotypes” instead is not helping; it only goes to further reveal his own inner true feelings.  

So if he is right about being “typically white” when a white person finds themselves in a situation where there are black people around, how does he explain the fact that Jesse Jackson once said that he has crossed the street when he found that he was about to be encounter by certain black people? Is Jackson being “typically black”? I think Obama, and his wife, need to get a grip on what they are beginning to say out in public, and what they may be thinking in private. The first thing he needs to do, if he is truly serious about erasing racism, is address why he thinks it’s ok for black people to say certain things regarding racism but it is not ok for whites to say those same things regarding racism. Reverse racism is not the way of fixing racism against black people. Obama keeps saying we have to get this out in the open and talk about it before racism can be fixed. Pardon me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this what most whites & many blacks have been saying for a long time now? But until the personal benefits of using racism is eradicated, for both blacks and whites, talking about it will do no good.

March 18, 2008  

The Facts 

If you paid any attention to today’s news, you know that Barack Obama gave a speech today aimed strictly at the past comments made by Reverend Wright, retired pastor of Obama’s church. We are told that Obama wrote the entire 37 minute speech himself, leaving out the speech writers.  

My View 

I watch the entire speech live, and, as usual with Obama’s speeches, I was impressed. I have no doubt that almost everyone who watched his speech was surprised and a bit taken back by the way handled it. I don’t believe he missed very much about the truth where racism is concerned. For most part, I was very satisfied with what he said and how he said it.  

Obama had a touch of black and a touch of white in his speech; he had a touch of politics and a touch of “Citizen” Obama; and he had a touch of Hispanic, Asian, Middle Easterner, and Jewish. He seems to have had a touch of everything. So what are we suppose to do; believe him or not believe him? That will be left up to each and everyone of us.  

The only thing that raised my eyebrows was when he quoted something he had written in the book he published, “Dreams From My Father”. The quote was in reference to his first experience at Trinity church. The following is a quote of what he said.  

“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note — hope! — I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones.  

“Those stories — of survival, and freedom, and hope — became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world.

“Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish — and with which we could start to rebuild.” 

Not to try to make anything out of this, but I would have thought he would have remembered his first experience at Trinity as being taught about the “love of God and Jesus” for all people, including black people. Gods love for all is what most people get from attending church, or at least that is what church services is suppose to be about. But Obama seems to be saying that on his very first day at Trinity he learned to compare the plight of the black people in America to the plight of different groups of people in the Bible. But either way, I have not changed my personal view of Obama. I think he will make a good President if he goes into office without any biases.  

You can read the transcript of his speech or watch the video, and draw your own conclusions about his speech.

March 14, 2008  

The Facts 

Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of Barack Obama’s church and Obama mentor for 20 years, now says that black people should not sing “God Bless American” but should sing “God damn America”. In echoing declared enemies of the United States, he is now saying that America is to be blamed for what happened on 911. He went on to crucify America for doing what we had to do to win World War II and save American lives.  

My View 

I have lost count of how many non-blacks has been ‘damned and sent to hell’ over the past few months just because they quoted some innocent facts about Barack Obama that some black people did not like. So the latter attached the word “racism” to it and the whole country stood up in arms. Now we have a black man unequivocally preaching reverse racism, and most everybody, white and black alike, is not only not mentioning racism, but defending him. And Barack Obama, unlike his past comments on the others, is just making small talk and trying to pretend there’s nothing to it.  

The very thing I said I would not allow myself to do, or allow anyone else drag me in to, was consider his color when Obama announced his candidacy for President,. And I have done a very good job of that up until now. Obama can not be held responsible for what other people say or do. But when it is the pastor of the church that he has so proudly referred to on so many occasions when other people would bring up his Muslim name, he should not have waited five seconds before calling a press conference and totally denouncing Jeremiah Wright. However, Obama has not only chosen not to do that, he is just shrugging it off. Every single person in America, regardless of their color, know that had the color situation been reversed, we would be having a full scale media race war going on right now.  

I have been reading a lot of other blogs today on this matter, and there are hardly any comments in support of what Wright said, but a fair amount of criticism for Obama not denouncing Wright. There are some pretty rough comments in many of the blogs. One suggested that Jeremiah Wright is welcome to pick up and go to any country he would like, and renounce his American citizenship in the process. Another comment was that he would probably be welcome in Liberia, the country created by freed American slaves. Pretty extreme suggestions I’d say, but this is an example of how furious Wright is making people, and Obama had better take notice.  

If Barack Obama does not eventually come out with sever criticism of Jeremiah Wright, I am going to be forced to question his sincerity about not harboring any racist feeling. I don’t expect Obama to react to every person’s similar comments, but when it is someone that he himself has said played a big roll in his life, he can not ignore it, then expect people to trust him.  

Read one of the many articles on what Wright said here.

March 13, 2008  

The Facts 

Wednesday night Hillary Clinton spent a considerable amount of time apologizing to a group of members of a newspaper association. The members repersented black community newspapers from all around the country. Of those she apologized for was her husband Bill when he drew a comparison with Barack Obama winning South Carolina in 2008 to Jesse Jackson winning the vote in South Carolina in 1984 & 1988. Bill Clinton was responding to a question at the time about why he thought Obama won South Carolina. He was saying that it was not unexpected that Obama, as a black man, had won there. Hillary had won a lot of women votes simply because she, Hillary, is a woman, and there is nothing racist about that.  

My View 

All right! If the voters of our country are ready for a black president we’d better get use to the idea that there are going to be a lot of things said about him that someone doesn’t like; it goes with the territory. And the last thing the majority of our citizens are going to put up with for very long is tying everything to racism. Not every thing that is said about a person who just so happens to be black is racism, and vice-versa. I realize that particular mentality has been the accepted norm in our country for quite a while now, but we are moving into a new era. And it is time to accept the truth as the truth, not the truth as a lie. That means it’s time to quite reading racism into something someone says when we know darn well that racism is not at play. Yes, when someone screams “racism” they get a lot of attention and we know that is what many want. But time as come to put that aside, and to be honest & fair with ourselves and others.  

We say much about the news media putting “spin” on a lot of things, and they do. But they are not the only ones who do that; many of us do the same thing day in and day out. If we hear something we don’t like or don’t want to be true, we spin on it by calling it something it is not. We often hear someone trying to correct something that has been spun, but we seldom accept that. And that’s because the person trying to bring us back to reality is using phrases like “it was taken out of context”, or “listen to the entire speech”, etc, but we don’t care. We have become so biased that we are not listening. We prefer to believe what is convenient to believe and not be bothered with the facts.  

Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying here, or put spin on what I am saying; I wholly agree that there is plenty of racism left in our country. But if we sincerely want to erase real racism, we simply cannot succeed if we call things racism that we blame well know is not racism. And each of us need to make up our own mind of what is and is not racism instead of listening to people on both sides of the color barrier who profit from racism, which, in many cases, includes the news media. We need to get that chip off our shoulder.  

Read more on the Hillary Clinton article here.

March 12, 2008  

The Facts 

The AFL-CIO has just invested $53 million in a campaign to force John McCain to address the plight of the American working people. They intend to have members follow him around in at least 23 states demanding that he address the economic issue. 

My View 

Well, to begin with, John McCain has addressed the economic issue, but I don’t think it is in the way the AFL-CIO wants. When he does address our economic problems, McCain just points out that lowering taxes and removing restrictions on businesses is the answer. Hell, that’s what Bush and Cheney has been preaching and doing for over seven years, but our economy has not improved. In fact, it has gotten worse under that trickle down policy; almost to historically proportions.  

Ok, this post is not to agree or disagree with either side; it’s to point out one outrageous comment by a Republican National Committee spokesman. He is calling on Obama and Clinton to “denounce the AFL-CIO’s campaign because they are so against special interest groups”. Can you believe the insulting audacity; a Republican calling millions of American workers a “special interest group”? I thought their definition of special interest was a company or a person that is only interested in blotting their own pocketbooks without caring anything about what it cost the American workers. Now they’ve gone and proven me wrong.  

Read the entire article here.

March 12, 2008  

The Facts 

In response to a question yesterday, Geraldine Ferraro said that Barack Obama would not be where he is today in the Democratic nomination if he were white or a woman. Now she is being crucified for her comments. But she also added that she would not have been picked as the Vice-Presidential nominee in 1984 if she were a man. However, the public and news media did not picked up and run on that part.

My View

If you are familiar with my sites and my favorite slogan then you already know my definition of “Politically Correct”. But just in case you are not, let me repeat my definition here; “the truth is a lie and a lie is the truth if I want it to be”. And this does not apply only to ethnicity.  

In practically every single Democratic primary election, the news media has reported that Barack Obama is getting a very large majority of the black vote. It has also been reported that many black Republicans are crossing over to vote for him. In Mississippi yesterday he got 80% of the black vote. And without those majorities, he would not be where he is today in the race for the Democratic nomination. These are the facts, and you can apply all the “politically correctness” to this you want, but it is still the facts; truth is truth, lies are lies. But now, because of political correctness, Ferraro is not allowed to speak the truth.  

The public demands for politically correctness has caused a lot of pain and suffering to our country and citizens. Politically correctness was first coined to get people use to the idea that we should not discriminate against a particular race of people just because of their color or appearance. As I have said on many occasions, this was a great idea and it worked for a while. But as usual, when something good comes along, people are going to start abusing and misusing it to the point that it not only becomes meaningless but becomes a tool for persecution. 

Read one of the hundreds of articles on the Ferraro report here, which also has a tone of insisting on politically correctness.

March 10, 2008  

The Facts 

Al Sharpton is getting his ducks in a row to sue the State of Florida if the decision is made for their delegates to be counted in the Democratic Presidential Primary.  

My View 

The Democratic Party made the decision long ago to discount the delegate vote for any state that held their primary ahead of their regularly scheduled date. This is a party rule that was made in advance and it should stand. You can not change the rules of the game after the game is over, and all the states were aware of the rules. But Florida and Michigan chose to ignore them. HOWEVER!  

There have been literally thousands of people of all races that have chosen to make the Democratic Party nomination about ethnic race, and Al Sharpton is one of them. As a matter of fact, Sharpton makes everything about race, whether it is or not. That is his life’s blood. He wouldn’t have a job if racism suddenly went away, so he’s not about to let racism die whether it exist or not. Therefore, I seriously doubt he would be on his way to Florida to stop the count if Barack Obama had won in Florida. It will be very interesting to see his reaction if Florida does decide to have an official revote, which is not ban under the rules of the Democratic Party. I’m sure there will be a ruling in the future, but since we now live in a society that says ‘I can do what ever I want as long as there is no written rule against it’, it will be acceptable.  

Read the article here.

March 5, 2008  

The Facts 

CNBC talked to Kay Bailey Hutchison on one of their programs this morning. She was primarily being asked about her being on the short list for Vice-President with John McCain. She neither confirmed nor denied her commitment on the matter.  

My View 

This is not brand new news; she has been talked about as a possible candidate for Vice-President for several weeks. However, her being considered as a Vice-Presidential candidate is not what I want to talk about here; it is about a statement she made during the interview.  

Being a “good” Republican, Hutchison seized upon this opportunity to make a couple of political comments. The one that concerned me was when she said that if a Democrat was elected to the White House the country would be faced with more spending and a bigger government. Hold her Newt! Let’s take a brief look at the Republican White House for the past seven years.  

Under the Bush/Chaney White House, discretionary spending has increased by 30% compared to the eight years of Bill Clinton (discretionary spending does not take into account war cost or mandatory spending). This White House has even out spent both Reagan and Nixon, even with inflation accounted for. And government has grown in size by more than one million employees since Bush came into office. So for Kay Bailey Hutchison to get on national television and say that only Democrats spend more money and grow the government is being just a little bit hypocritical. But, then of course, being hypocritical is what partisan politics is all about, so none of us should be surprised.

March 4, 2008  

The Facts 

Rush Limbaugh wants Republicans to cross over and vote for Hillary Clinton in the Primaries on March 4. He first says that the infighting between Clinton and Obama will help the Republican Party, and then he says he wants Clinton to stay in because it is too good of a soap opera.  

My View 

Look, lets just face the real truth here; Limbaugh, along with his other four cohorts in crime, are more interested in a political environment that that will keep their names in the news than they are in what is good for the country.  To them this is just a game, and they are all acting like two-year old children seeing who can out do the other. Truth be known, they get jealous of each other when one is getting more press than the other, so they continue in their lunacy of trying to “one-up” the last idiotic statement.  

If there is a country left for anyone to write our history and the truth is written, Rush Limbaugh will rank very high on the list of those who were a major contributor to the final destruction of our country. I am so in hopes that the public is not letting the trees blind them to the forest here. Our problems are so much bigger than Limbaugh tries to point out and he wouldn’t recognize or admit the truth to our political problems if he was hit in the face with a California red wood.  

I have written several posts to this point, but I am compelled to mention it again; to him and the others, the end justifies the means. I am continually reminded of Joe McCarthy every time I hear the name of Rush Limbaugh.  

Read Limbaugh’s ranting and raving here.

February 22, 2008 

The Facts 

Michelle Obama has gotten a lot of bad press for her comment that for the first time in her life she is proud of America. The situation got worse in that she waited several days before addressing the criticism, and even worse in the way she defended herself when she finally did address the issue. All together, it has left a lot of people wondering about her inter beliefs.  

My View 

Like anyone else who is not looking for the worst in her, I do not know what she was really thinking when she made the statement. However, I would have felt a lot better about her if she would have just come out and said that she made a mistake in her wording, then produced a simple statement as to what she really meant.  

This unwanted attention that she is getting from this has caused a lot of people to start digging into her past. And things that are being found are not helping her case about not having some sort of deep feelings about race. One report goes back to her collage days at Princeton. She seemed to be focused on race back then.  

So Michelle Obama will have a lot of convincing to do in order to erase the current stigma she has brought upon herself. Hopefully she will recognize this and will make a special effort to put people’s mind at ease, because I have no doubt that she is going to be the next first lady of the United States.  

Read more on the report of her collage days here.