Barack Obama - My thoughts so far

I know he hasn't even begun his presidency yet, but I have to say I am impressed with a few things...which is really hard for me to type being that I am pretty adamently opposed to him in general.

First off, I am extremely impressed how quickly he has taken to filling his cabinet. He seems to take the exact opposite stand that Clinton took, and is making this a serious priority (as it should be).

Secondly, I appreicate the fact that his cabinet is not completely made up of left wing extremist. As a whole, it is pretty cut and dry moderate...which makes me happy.

On the flip side, I can't help but feel that he (Obama) looks a bit like a scared teenager after realizing they just got pregnant. Sure, the ride to the top was fun, but now the daddy pants have to be put on. I do, however, take comfort in the aforementioned points. I just hope this new presidency doesn't take us into a realm that we have yet to venture, later to bite us in the @ss. Socialism isn't for me.

Wii-sixty

Yesterday Microsoft unrolled the new "Xbox 360" experience. While I haven't completely made up my mind about it, I will let you in on my thoughts so far.

First off, I guess it's true what they say; imitation is the truest form of flattery. The "dashboard" (which is a conglomerate of pregame menus) has been reformatted to look almost exactly like the Wii. You first select an avatar (exactly like the Wii), which you then customize to look like yourself. Once you have done this, you are then let into the dashboard to explore.

Each submenu is setup similar to what Vista looks like. You have a series of floating windows lined up in a row that you can easily cycle through. There is a menu at the top of the page that allows you to to cycle to different content areas.

One thing I love is the added functionality they have built into the big middle "X" button. You can access the marketplace and other user friendly tools that were a bit combersome to get to previously.

As I mentioned, I have yet to make up my mind about the new look and feel. It seems as though Microsoft tried to dumb things down for those who weren't comfortable with technology, while trying to make things seem "hip" by churching up the interface. We'll see what happens.

Obama - What you might not know.

Here is some research about Obama, primarily his voting record and how it reflects on the ideas of hope and change (taken from the book "The Case Against Barack Obama"). Now, there is a lot to read here, but just take a look at it all before you decide.

Education is a big part of Obama's platform. The thing is, he hasn't done much to reform the broken system that still sits in his congressional district. He has ties to educational unions that are paying teacher (straight out of college) $43,702 plus $3,059 in employer pension contributions the first year. Most tenured teachers in Chicago are making $100,000/yr+. Now to understand the weight of this, you have to understand the problems that exist in Chicago. These districts with their union ties have had to cut the length of the average school day (in some cases to less than five hours per day) because of budget constraints. What? Really? What about the teachers topping out at $100,000+? When I become a teacher next year, I will start out at less than $30,000 and will hopefully top out at about $60,000...if I'm lucky. But guess what...all of our students go a full day. Now where does obama's voting record come in to play. I'll tell you: Senate colleague Steve Rauschenberger reflects on how obama notes how politicians have failed inner city schools, saying "we still haven't fixed them." Rauschenberger states, "What set me off personally, was to see him tell us that we've failed urban school kids. Sure we have, but it wasn't without his help. He was a defender of the status quo in the city of Chicago for eight years. And as a national rock star, he could be turning his guns back at the educational system in chicago. He doesn't."

Obama notes in The Audacity of Hope that he worries about our image amongst the rest of the world in regard to trade relations. We demand that, "developing countries eliminate trade barriers that protect them from competition, even as we steadfastly protect our own constituencies from exports that could help lift poor countries out of poverty." All of this while later voting for a farm bill that protects our own constituencies from exports that could help lift poor countries out of poverty. This led to an increase in subsidies for American crops with most of the money going to larger commercial farms worth at least $2 million. He voted to keep the tariffs that are already in place active which limits imports of crops from developing countries like Brazil and the Caribbean nations. This bill even bars the US from providing food aid by purchasing crops from the developing countries we try to feed. The Bush admin vetoed the bill and asked that at least change the last part (which I just mentioned). Obama voted to override the veto.

Obama has voted again and again for the use of ethanol, even to the extent of outlawing cars that can't run a high blend ethanol fuel (which includes most cars sold today). Ethanol has helped in the rise of food prices and has caused food riots in the developing world. It has exhausted water supplies, drove up gasoline prices, and exacerbated smog. Environmentalists pretty universally oppose ethanol because it drives up emissions from coal. Best of all, ethanol does nothing for our energy independence. Here's why:
*a gallon of ethanol=75,700 British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy
*a gallon of gasoline=115,000 BTUs of energy
*6.5 billion gallons of ethanol were produced in 2007
*(here's the kicker) production of 5 gallons of ethanol from corn requires spending the energy equivalent of roughly four gallons of ethanol for farming, shipping, and processing. This gives a one gallon yield, or 25%. This equates to 2.2 days worth of American gasoline consumption. Hardly worth it.

How about earmarks?
Obama voted six times in 2007 regarding ear marks. He missed nine such votes. Of the six, he voted twice against wasteful earmarks...one of which was a unanimous vote when the senate was under a lot of political pressure to cut a spinach subsidy out of an emergency spending bill.

Obama co-sponsored a bill with Republican Senator Tom Coburn which was coined "Google for Government." The goal was to help expose the practice of earmarking (bridges to nowhere and things that have no national importance). This bipartisan bill was approved. "After Hurrican Katrina, Coburn twice proposed measure that would have pulled money from legislators' pet projects-for example, a baseball stadium in Montana and a visitor's center in Morgan City, LA-in order to redirect the cash toward shoring up levees in New Orleans and rebuilding the city. Obama voted against the reform position on both of those occasions, and in favor of the pet projects." Coburn later proposed the moving of funds from the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" to rebuild the Twin Spans bridge in New Orleans. He even has support from three prominent senators (one being our own Evan Bayh). This was a HUGE deal - it violates the ol' boys club rule of stripping a colleague's earmark. Obama voted with 81% of his senate colleagues against the rebuilding and in favor of the Bridge to Nowhere. He voted AGAIN in 2005 to preserve the Bridge to Nowhere.

John McCain proposed a two anti-earmark bills that would have done away with several agricultural special-interest spending, including sugar in Hawaii. Obama voted against it.

"According to an earmark database built by Taxpayers for Common Sense, he was the sole Senate sponsor of 29 earmarks in spending bills for fiscal year 2008, amounting to $10.7 million. The Seattle Times noted that Obama's pork recipients on the 2008 defense appropriations bill returned the favor with $16,000 in campaign contributions." Oh, and don't forget about all the earmarks ($1 million+) he logged for the University of Chicago Medical center after his wife became the vice president...her income went up nearly $200,000. He later commented that it was "probably something that we should have passed on to [Illinois Senior Senator Dick] Durbin." So the solution would have been to have someone else fulfill your agenda and line your wife's pocket?

Again, I know there is a lot here, but I have done the homework for you. All you have to do is read it and decide.