30 reasons Obama is a terrible President

Obama is a bad President. Don’t believe me? I’ll back it up with a short list for you.

Reasons Obama is a terrible President:

1. Promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, then had the DOJ defend the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court. Source

2. Signed NDAA into law authorizing indefinite detentions of US citizens in Guantanamo Bay Source

3. Obama administration contracted Blackwater for quarter of a million worth of work. Source

4. More than half of Obama’s largest contributors (500k or more) were given an administration job. Hello patronage and nepotism. Source

5. Loaned Solyndra over half a billion taxpayer money when it was already known the company was planning layoffs and later would go bankrupt. Source

6. Extended Patriot Act largely unchanged Source, Source

7. Obama has expanded into over 75 countries secret forces operations, including secret prisons and drone attacks. Source

8. Obama has intensified proxy war in Somalia Source

9. Expanded use of Drone attacks in Pakistan; including targeting a funeral for a person suspected of murder and targeting first aid responders. Source, Source

10. Assassinated three American citizens Source

11. Met secretly with health care executives for assistance in formulating Obamacare Source

12. Appointed Eric Holder to Attorney General, registered lobbyist until 2004 Source

13. Appointed Vilsack to Secretary of Agriculture, lobbyist for NEA (Public School Union) as late as 2008 Source

14. Appointed William Lynn to Defense Secretary, Raytheon lobbyist Source

15. Geithner’s chief of staff is a Goldman Sachs lobbyist Source

16. Obama appointed Geithner Secretary of the Treasury, he is former President of NY Fed Source

17. Political Affairs Director Gaspard was lobbyist for SEIU (Union). Source

18. Appointed Michael Taylor to be Deputy Commissioner of FDA, former Monsanto executive Source

19. Signed executive order to allow CIA to continue renditions. Source

20. Obama has secretive government, denying more FOIA requests than Bush Source

21. 30 companies, including McDonalds, exempted from healthcare reform. Source

22. Obama opposed allowing importation of cheap drugs from other countries to appease health care executives. Source

23. Current Chief of Staff, Jacob Lew, was the former COO of Citigroup’s alternative investments division (he invested in derivatives market). Source

24. Former Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, was Vice Chairman at J.P. Morgan Source

25. Wasted billions on Cash for Clunkers, subsidizing car market and driving up prices of used vehicle market. Source, Source

26. Obama failed to get a budget passed for over 2 years. Source

27. Made recess appointments to the NLRB when Congress was not on recess. Source

28. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) cost $900 billion and did not lower unemployment. (below is Obama Administration projections vs. reality)

29. Obama extended federally funded unemployment benefits 73 weeks, bringing the total to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. Source

30. Obama bailed out auto industry, represents moral hazard and corporatism Source

DISCLAIMER:

• I realize some of these are more important than others, obviously passing the NDAA and allowing the indefinite detention of American citizens is exponentially worse than appointing lobbyist Holder.
• Do not assume I agree with Bush or another politician because I disagree with Obama.
• I am opposed to corruption, corporatism, interventionist wars, secrecy, and policies destroying our liberties. 

Santorum Checklist

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f93_1329777755

Santorum Checklist of policies, voting record, and quotes

1. Proposed Amendment to No Child Left Behind which would require schools to teach creationism. Whether you agree with creationism or not, the federal government should not be mandating all schools to teach it.
2. Voted for the "bridge to nowhere."
3. Voted to raise debt ceiling 5 times
4. No friend of limited government, "One of the criticisms I make is to what I refer to as more of a Libertarianish right... They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn't get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn't get involved in cultural issues. That is not how traditional conservatives view the world...."
5. Voted 6 times to increase minimum wage
6. Voted against National Right to Work Act (Right to Work law does not allow union to mandate union dues from employees who do not want to pay dues) 
7. Voted to make it illegal to sell firearm without safety device or secure storage
8. Voted twice for congressional pay raise
9. Voted twice for internet taxes
10. Voted to increase taxes by 2.3 billion to pay for Amtrak trust fund
11. Sponsored Bill to increase Amtrak funds by $550 million
12. Voted to give $25 million to North Korea in Aid
13. Voted for Constitutional ban of same sex marriage
14. In 2002, rated 25% by ACLU for record in protecting liberties
15. Voted to increase penalties for drug use in 1999

Politicians incentive to spend more and more

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul, can always count on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw

Why we have a big government. Why politicians do not cut spending.

SOPA/PIPA Blackout: The Numbers and Consequences

In case you live under a rock in Switzerland, then you probably heard about the SOPA blackout on Jan.18. 75,000 websites blacked out their services on that day to protest congress' push to pass SOPA/PIPA, which would allow corporations to file a court order and close and censor websites which violate copyrights. The problem, something as small as a link to a website can be enough to shut down the site. This would essentially give the pandering corporatists the power to control the internet, the last bastion of true freedom. Wikipedia, Google, and numerous other websites all oppose the bill, and acted to defy it; they shut down.

The Numbers:

Wikipedia:

• 162 million viewed SOPA message
• 8 million contacted their congressperson through their portal
• 12k posted to their blog defying SOPA

Google:

• 4.5 million signed Google petition opposed to SOPA
• 350k emails sent to representatives through SOPAStrike.com and other websites

Twitter:

• There were more than 2.4 million tweets on Jan. 18th about SOPA

Whitehouse:

• received 103,785 signed petitions to oppose SOPA so far
• 24 US Senators changed their minds and now oppose the bill
• Several former co-sponsors, including Marco Rubio, now oppose the bill

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57361906-501465/sopa-and-pipa-internet-blackout-aftermath-staggering-numbers/

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The CEO and Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Chris Dodd lambasted the SOPA blackout. He calls it a publicity stunt and an abuse of power. Before I get into these extraordinary and self-destructive criticisms of the movement, let us take a brief look at Dodd. Dodd is the former CT Senator who served as the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, a position I am sure you know he served faithfully and for the benefit of the country... haha, no just kidding.

Dodd passed a bill to support sub-prime mortgages after the housing bubble collapse and then it was discovered he got a "special" mortgage deal from Countrywide Financial which he did not disclose. Dodd continuously stated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were financially strong and were not a problem, and was a supporter of the sub-prime mortgage loaning, all this before their collapse. His biggest financial contributors were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Also when AIG was bailed out by the government, there was a provision of the deal limiting executive bonuses, however Geithner and other contacted Dodd asking him to eliminate that provision, and he did in the 11th hour, so the AIG execs could still get massive bonuses. Dodd is a man who stands by his principles, until you pay him to stand for yours.

So, Dodd, exuding his normal levels of integrity, came out opposing the SOPA blackout, stating "It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on [these sites] for information and use their services, ...It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today." Let me re-write that last part...

"It is an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today."

The corporations and the government view internet companies free use of the internet, free dispersion of information, and free reign to do as they see fit fairly free of regulation and control, not as a right, not as a backbone of capitalist society and of American tenets, but as a "privilege." Not only do they view it as a privilege which they are lucky to have and be able to use, but in using their freedom to oppose what the legislature want and what the media corporations want, it is seen as an "abuse" of that privilege. If SOPA is passed, these corporations and the congress which panders to them, will act under the direction of Dodd in punishing companies for exerting their privilege to use the internet wrongly, they will punish them by censoring them and shutting them down. Goodbye free internet, hello governmental control.

The government can now indefinitely detain American citizens in Guantanamo Bay without a trial or attorney (NDAA). Are we now going to give them the internet. No, no we are not. We are witnessing the end of the United States as the bastion of freedom and opportunity, and the beginning of 1984 and the police state. Let us hope that the amazing grassroots support and push by Wikipedia and others forces politicians to accept the American will. Let us hope this SOPA bill is not passed under the radar like the NDAA (passed right before New Years). Let us hope that Obama does not give us another bullshit statement like "I will not wrongly use this power, do not worry." Let us do more than hope, let us act and speak and petition.


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Update:

On Thursday, Dodd stated the following on Fox News:
"Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake."

This is a good example of open cronyism. Pass a law to benefit my industry or lose campaign money. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, the American people be damned.

Top contributors of 2012 up to and including third quarter of 2011

OpenSecrets.org viewed on 1.18.12 for the 2012 race so far:

Ron Paul:
Top Three Contributors:

1. U.S. Army
2. U.S. Air Force
3. U.S. Navy

Small Individual Contributions: 48%

Obama:

Top Three Contributors:

1. Microsoft
2. Comcast
3. University of California

Small Individual Contributions: 48%

Romney:

Top Three Contributors:

1. Goldman Sachs
2. Credit Suisse Group
3. Morgan Stanley

Small Individual Contributions: 10%