Obama's Many Promises

Apparently the Investor's Business Daily tracked some of Obama's many campaign promisses and printed the list. I was emailed this list. Perhaps one of you will feel the urge to track if he lives up to his promises or not. Here is the email I received:

A Checklist Of Obama's Many Promises
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, November 10, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Few presidential candidates have made more specific promises to American voters than Barack Obama. They came so fast and furious in the latter part of the campaign, you'd be excused for not keeping up. So as a public service, we've put together a handy checklist of some of the biggest Obama promises — culled from his "Blueprint for Change," his campaign speeches and advertisements. Clip it. Save it. And see how he did in four years.

---

Taxes
• Give a tax break to 95% of Americans.
• Restore Clinton-era tax rates on top income earners.
• "If you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime. Not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes. Nothing."
• Dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes.
• Give American businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every job they create in the U.S.
• Eliminate capital gains taxes for small business and startup companies.
• Eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000.
• Expand the child and dependent care tax credit.
• Expand the earned income tax credit.
• Create a universal mortgage credit.
• Create a small business health tax credit.
• Provide a $500 "make work pay" tax credit to small businesses.
• Provide a $1,000 emergency energy rebate to families.
Energy
• Spend $15 billion a year on renewable sources of energy.
• Eliminate oil imports from the Middle East in 10 years.
• Increase fuel economy standards by 4% a year.
• Weatherize 1 million homes annually.
• Ensure that 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012.
Environment
• Create 5 million green jobs.
• Implement a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Get 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015.
Labor
• Sign a fair pay restoration act, which would overturn the Supreme Court's pay discrimination ruling.
• Sign into law an employee free choice act — aka card check — to make it easier for unions to organize.
• Make employers offer seven paid sick days per year.
• Increase the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2009.
National security
• Remove troops from Iraq by the summer of 2010.
• Cut spending on unproven missile defense systems.
• No more homeless veterans.
• Stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq.
• Finish the fight against Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorists.
Social Security
• Work in a "bipartisan way to preserve Social Security for future generations."
• Impose a Social Security payroll tax on incomes above $250,000.
• Match 50% of retirement savings up to $1,000 for families earning less than $75,000.
Education
• Demand higher standards and more accountability from our teachers.
Spending
• Go through the budget, line by line, ending programs we don't need and making the ones we do need work better and cost less.
• Slash earmarks.
Health care
• Lower health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year.
• Let the uninsured get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress get.
• Stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
• Spend $10 billion over five years on health care information technology

Gregoire Supporters in Deep Doo-Doo

A friend of mine has had a large 4x8 Dino Rossi sign for a few months. He has been plagued by one of Gregoire's supporters; they keep knocking his sign down. He has done something about it. Here is his email to me:

This is the Dino sign on my property.  Every time it gets put up, it gets knocked down.  In an effort to impede the casual efforts of those that think that I am not entitled to my right to freedom of speech, I have  bolted the sign to 4 x 4's in concrete and dumped 10 yards of steer manure around it.

If they want to knock it down, it will take more horsepower and they can step through some of the same BS that they like to dish out.

As I drive around Olympia, I see numerous Dino signs knocked to the ground.  I never see Christine signs knocked over.  Come to think of it, I don't see any large Christine signs at all.

It seems that Christine's supporters aren't able to engage in persuasive conversation supporting their candidate.  They can only attempt to silence those of us that can.

Standing in front of the sign is my friend Adolfo.  Adolfo left Cuba after Castro when to power.  He wanted to come to a place where freedom was a right.  Where freedom of speech was for all people.  I guess for Christine's helpers, freedom of speech is only afforded to those that they agree with. When only one opinion can be allowed, isn't that fascism?

Thanks,

J R

Olympian Endorses Gregoire

The Olympian Editorial Board endorses Christine Gregoire for Governor. It's not surprise, the Olympian is still working to advance their Liberal agenda. I've encluded the link if you are interested in reading the complete article.

One of the interesting things I've heard recently is that she needs 4 more years to prove her plan is working. I think Rossi will need a few decades to fix all the problems she has caused. Let's give real change a chance and vote Rossi.

Inflating Tire Pressure is Not a Viable Energy Solution

I agree that it is a good idea for everyone to try to live in a way that is more energy efficient, but come on, inflating your tires is not a national energy plan, or a national economic plan. I wonder after a few fillups where Bill's tire pressure is now?

In late July I pulled my 4-cylinder, '96 Toyota 4Runner with about 130,000 miles into the local tire retailer and asked for their recommendation. They suggested increasing the pressure in the fairly new 6-ply tires from 27 psi to 40 psi. I did it.

As an obsessive analyzer, I just checked the results — comparing gas consumption for the four fill-ups before increasing the tire pressure to the four fill-ups after. Before and after mileage both represented slightly over 1,100 miles driven on a mixture of forest roads, city streets and highways.

Gas mileage increased from 21.7 to 23.7 mpg, an increase of 8.9 percent. For every 1,000 miles that's a savings of 3.75 gallons and, at $4 per gallon, $15. Although I drive only 10,000 miles a year, this represents a yearly savings of over 37 gallons and $150. And the air pressure was free.

Imagine what those savings could mean nationally for family budgets, climate change and energy independence. I'll be contributing that $150 to the Obama campaign.

Bill Yake, Olympia

From the Olympian letters to the editor October 11, 2008.

Keep it Simple

McCain 'The One' Advertisement

McCain camp lobs their second volley at Obama. The celeb ad and the one ad are asking the question, "Is he ready to lead?"

McCain Celeb Ad

The first real volley of hardball politics was lobbed by McCain today. It was a television ad positioning Obama as a celebrity not a leader. It's the first McCain has taken the offensive and began to define his candidate as lacking experience. If Obama had to answer the question of experience, what would he say? How important is experience for the President? Post your comments below.