Obama’s Speech

I watched the entire thing, and I came away with one impression.  The “message” of the Democratic party has failed completely to win the hearts and minds of the American voter, which is why last night I felt like I was watching the Republican National Convention.  Don’t believe me?  These are actual, unedited excerpts from his speech.

On taxes:

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the startups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95 percent of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.

On the military:

As commander in chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm’s way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

…I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts.

On the 2nd Amendment:

The — the reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.

I should note that when he said the above, I immediately blurted out “that shit’s already illegal”, but then he moved on, and so did I.

Ultimately though, I was really struck by one thought – he kept talking about making government smaller, reducing taxes, strengthening the military, taking care of veterans, and generally promising all the things that you’d normally hear from the Republican candidate.  What’s crazy is that I sat there thinking to myself “self, if he actually did all of this stuff and didn’t jam pack the Supreme Court full of liberal activist judges looking to overturn Heller, he’d be the best president ever”.

But that I suppose is the difference between an Obama voter and me – I don’t actually believe he’s going to do any of that.  I don’t believe he’s going to cut my taxes, or strengthen the military, or protect my right to keep and bear arms.  I’m not drinking the kool-aide.

I think it’s hilarious that we’ve gotten to a point in our country where the messages of both major parties are almost indistinguishable from one another.  The fact that the message of the Democrats has failed so hard that they need to appeal to traditionally “conservative” values cracks me up; they know that saying “we’re going to take away your guns” is a failing tactic so they appeal to gun owners, to military veterans, and to middle class families with the same message that the Republicans do.

It’d be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

5 Comments

  1. I’d laugh if traditionally conservative values weren’t strikingly liberal in the wake of Bush.

  2. Most of his tax cuts are by raising the minimum income you have to make to pay taxes. This is actually incredibly dangerous because a) it creates a new constituency living almost exclusively on the taxes on wealthier people and b) it removes any incentive for them to pay attention to these issues and call for broader tax cuts for everyone.

    The tax hikes on the people who actually, you know, hire people, would be extraordinary. I know you really know this, but still, it outrages me. 🙂

  3. Yeah, it’s almost funny how I’m sitting there listening to him say “cut taxes” and what he really means is “fuck over people who make more than 100k per year”.

  4. It is the income taxes that are burdensome, not the capital gains taxes. Most companies make their money as income, not by selling assets (capital) at a profit. More nice rhetoric with little logic or actions to back them up. For a true tax shakeup, look at Fairtax.org. It doesn’t have all the answers, is not perfect, but sure would be a way to make taxes more fair and give incentives to create wealth, not evade taxes through useless expenditures.

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