LA JOLLA, California–I have never missed a vote in my 45 years in the US. As an independent, I have never voted for a party but for a candidate who happened to be Democrat or Republican. I made my choice based on a few criteria including the candidates’ past performance and experience, their credibility on future promises, the political influences that have shaped their world outlook, and above all, their character and leadership qualities. And I have never been so sure, and totally free of any doubt, in my choice, because this time, the incumbent has failed lamentably on all these counts.
It is easier to decide when one of the candidates is the incumbent who carries with him a “record” of four years of accomplishments and failures. These elections are , in fact, ” a referendum on the incumbent,” leading to the question, made famous by Ronald Reagan, “Are you [Is the country] better off now than four years ago?” And the answer is a resounding NO.
THE ECONOMY:
From his own writings, his public pronouncements, his mentors, his associates, and the choice of his
staff and cabinet members, Barack Obama is clearly in the extreme left of his party, not a mainstream Democrat . He believes in the supremacy of a “provident” government that provides for the needs of the people “from the cradle to the grave.” ( “Du berceau jusqu’au tombeau” say the French, who coined this rhyming expression,) In Europe, they called it “dirigism” — everything “directed” by the government, which was often mocked as “rigidism.”
In the now-defunct Soviet Union, they called it “the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.” Whatever its appellation, this system failed lamentably.
This is also “socialism” and ,in its extreme manifestation, “communism” as actively professed by Obama’s mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, who was a card-carrying member of the Communist party.
Obama himself wrote that, in his youth, his sympathies lay with the Marxist Black militants. This also explains his “Obamacare” that will cost 2.4 trillion dollars, his “income redistribution” policy, and his now famous “you didn’t build it; other people made it happen”
His record: At the end of his 4-year term, we have 23 million Americans unemployed; an annual deficit of more that a trillion dollars (43 % of the current budget is borrowed money); an accumulated national debt of more than 16 trillion, the last six added on Obama’s watch; 16% of the people living in poverty; 47 million Americans receiving foodstamps. Maybe these numbers are difficult to figure out, but the
following two items are very palpable to every citizen, especially the poor and the middle-class : the price of gasoline has more than doubled in the four years (a fill-up that cost 40 dollars in 2008 now costs 85); and the average household expenditures have increased by 4,300 dollars a year because of the price hike of the bare necessities of life.
NATIONAL SECURITY:
From Cairo to Benghazi, the Obama doctrine on foreign policy and national security was a sharp departure from the Democratic mainstream as shaped by previous presidents, Republicans and Democrats. On June 4, 2009, only four months in office, President Obama addressed the Muslim and Arab world in a speech at Cairo university . He praised their “tolerance,” and their ” values;” and reminded them that he had “many Muslims in his family.” He apologized for America and blamed its “arrogance” and the West’s colonialism, and he made demands from Israel not different from the PLO propaganda he used to hear from Edward Said, and later from Rashid Khalidi, his friends and mentors. He repeated the same narrative in other venues in the world.
This attempt at appeasing America’s enemies which led, later, to embracing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, did not endear him to the leaders and the masses in the Muslim world where his favorability has dropped abruptly and hatred of America has jumped ominously, culminating in the recent massacre of four Americans, including a U.S. ambassador in the American consulate in Benghazi.
This late horror has displayed Obama’s and his government’s incompetence, aggravated with lies and coverups as it was reported widely.
Obama’s policy toward Israel is stunning: his declaration that he “wants to put daylight between America and Israel,” the only real friend and ally in the Mid-East; his refusal to meet with Israel’s Prime Minister,preferring late-night comedians; his previous rude attitude toward him; his insistence on “return to the [indefensible] 1967 borders,” all these only empowered the Palestinians to refuse to negotiate with Israel, making peace impossible.
I fear a re-elected Obama, no more in need of the “Jewish power and influence” and notwithstanding a strongly pro-Israel Congress and people, will force Israel , with threats if necessary, to make concessions that will endanger its existence, already menaced by its neighbors and by America’s vowed enemy, Iran, the sponsor of terrorism , racing to produce a nuclear weapon.
No president has been re-elected with this dismal record on the economy, and on foreign policy and national security.
Romney is a moderate in his party, and brings with him a wide executive experience as governor of a state, manager and savior of the Olympics, and a very successful career in business, 25 years of innovation and problem-solving , and above all, the proven capacity to work with both sides of the aisle “and get things done” as he did in Massachusetts with the legislature that was 85% Democrat. All these qualities are absolutely essential to the redressing of the situation as detailed above.
He believes in small government, free enterprise,job creation, low taxes especially to small business that creates 62 % of the jobs. He will encourage entrepreneurship, invention, innovation by reducing red tape and regulations, reforming the tax code, aiming at a balanced budget and tackling the national debt .Nobody expects him to achieve everything since he needs to compromise with the Democrats as he has done in Massachusetts, but at least he is in the right direction to bring bipartisan solutions to America’s ills. (Obama has not even admitted failure and moved to the Center where the American people is traditionally (right of center), as Bill Clinton did in 1994 . So we may extrapolate a continuation of his policies that will produce even more disastrous results.)
I believe Romney will “not apologize” for America and will not try to appease the enemies at the expense of friends and allies. With a strong economy, his optimism, his belief in American exceptionalism as a noble nation, as an agent of good in the world, of freedom and prosperity, he will cure America of the malaise of the last four years.
He is a staunch friend of Israel because we share the same values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, free enterprise, and peace, and because Israel is the only real friend in the troubled Middle-East.
In 2008, people voted for Obama because they believed in “hope and change.”But four years have shown a reality of incompetence and wrong ideology and policies. Now they know the truth. Nobody wants to be “fooled twice.”
On November 6, 2012, I will proudly vote for Romney, and I urge you to do the same.
I live in Florida so I am not a regular reader of the San Diego Jewish World. I have, however, gone back and read several of your previously published columns. I sincerely believe that you are speaking from your heart regarding your view of the situation in the Middle East and the policies that should be implemented by both Israel and the United States. Though I disagree with your view I respect it and let’s just agree to disagree.
The problem that I have with your article are your discussions of both President Obama and Governor Romney. The discussions sound like they were copied word for word from quotes, writings and/or advertisements of Sheldon Adelson, Karl Rove, Fox News, the neocon led Republican Jewish Coalition, etc. Your opinion is your opinion and I respect that. It is your alleged “facts” that I take serious issue with. Though I have not personally confirmed the record of President Obama as stated above in the response by Oppie, the items listed are very consistent with what I have previously researched. For more information about President Obama’s record, and a completely contrary factually documented view of Governor Romney, I cordially invite you to check out my Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/brglassman/.
Cordially yours,
Bruce
OPPIE
I FELT DR. YETIV’S ARTICLE WAS COMPLETELY ONE-SIDED AND CHERRY PICKED HIS ARGUMENTS.
ROMNEY’S HATCHET MEN COULDNT HAVE DONE BETTER.
A LIST OF PRES OBAMA’S ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT CAN’T BE REBUTTED FOLLOWS:
(Just a couple of) the Obama Administration’s accomplishments:
1. The first bill President Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to help women fight back when they don’t get equal pay for equal work.
2. His Recovery Act supported millions of jobs and helped to stave off a second Great Depression.
3. He pushed for and won middle-class tax cuts that benefitted every American worker, and saved the typical family $3,600 in taxes over the last four years.
4. President Obama rescued the auto industry, and now GM and Chrysler are healthier than they’ve ever been. The American auto industry has added nearly a quarter of a million jobs since June 2009 — and they most likely wouldn’t exist right now without President Obama’s leadership.
5. He doubled funding for Pell Grants, helping to make college more affordable for nearly 10 million families.
6. His student loan reform ended billions in subsidies to banks serving as middlemen and reinvested those savings directly into students.
7. The President established the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth up to $10,000 over four years of college.
8. His Race to the Top Initiative helped spur nearly every state to raise academic standards.
9. His tax cuts, social-welfare programs, and economic policies lifted nearly 7 million Americans above the federal poverty line in 2010.
10. President Obama has signed 18 tax cuts for small businesses since taking office.
11. We’ve seen 5.2 million new private-sector jobs over the last 31 months.
12. The unemployment rate is at the lowest level since President Obama took office.
13. Health care reform — passed after decades of failed attempts by every previous President — provides affordable health coverage to every American and will lower premiums by an average of $2,000 per family by 2019.
14. Obamacare expanded access to lifesaving preventive care such as cancer screenings and immunizations with no out-of-pocket costs for 54 million Americans.
15. Obamacare ends insurance discrimination against the 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.
16. Because of Obamacare, over 3 million more young adults have health insurance today than would if the new law hadn’t passed.
17. The parents of over 17 million children with pre-existing conditions no longer have to worry that their children will be denied coverage.
18. President Obama has ordered the overhaul of federal government regulations to make them smarter, practical, and more efficient. Just a fraction of these commonsense initiatives will help save businesses $10 billion in the next five years alone.
19. His historic investments in clean energy have helped more than double the amount of electricity we obtain from wind and solar sources and helped increase biofuel production to its highest level in history.
20. President Obama is doubling fuel efficiency standards, which will save drivers more than $8,000 at the gas pump, not to mention lessen the impact of automobiles on our environment.
21. President Obama has taken unprecedented action to address climate change, reaching historic international agreements to curb carbon emissions, and taking action here at home to reduce carbon pollution from our vehicles and promote clean energy production.
22. He has taken historic action to protect our environment — signing one of the largest expansions of protected wilderness in a generation and putting in place standards to reduce toxic air pollution that will save thousands of lives.
23. President Obama fought for and won landmark Wall Street reform that reins in the abuses that led to the financial crisis and ends the era of taxpayer bailouts and “too big to fail.”
24. Wall Street reform created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the nation’s first federal agency focused solely on consumer financial protection — and the Bureau is already protecting families from unfair and abusive financial practices from Wall Street banks and shadowy corners of the financial industry.
25. As part of President Obama’s commitment to transparency, the White House has posted its visitor records online for the first time ever.
26. President Obama’s all-of-the-above approach to energy has helped cut the United States’ dependence on foreign oil to its lowest level in 20 years.
27. President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq.
28. He announced a plan to end the war in Afghanistan and transition security responsibility to the Afghan people.
29. President Obama sent the largest security assistance package to Israel in history and funded the Iron Dome system, which is protecting Israeli homes and schools from rocket attacks.
30. President Obama rallied the international community to implement the toughest sanctions on Iran in history.
31. Through the President’s historic increases in Veterans Affairs funding, he has expanded and improved healthcare and job training access for our returning veterans.
32. President Obama negotiated the New START Treaty with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in both countries. At the same time, he also secured commitments from dozens of other countries to lock down nuclear materials.
33. His administration naturalized 11,146 military service members as U.S. citizens in 2010; more than in any year since 1955.
34. President Obama set a bold new plan for the future of NASA space exploration, using the skill and ability of the private sector for short trips to the International Space Station, while building a new vehicle for exploration of distant space, and doing everything in his power to support the economy on Florida’s Space Coast.
35. President Obama recognizes that tourism is one of America’s largest economic engines; he’s worked to encourage international visitors to come here, maintaining our security while keeping millions of Americans in good, paying jobs.
36. He has affirmed his personal support of marriage equality, directed the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA in federal courts, and took the practical and compassionate step of extending hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners.
37. He fought for and won the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, allowing gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly for the first time in history.
38. When Congress failed to fix our broken immigration system, his administration did everything in its power to improve it, streamlining the legal immigration process and announcing a policy that lifts the shadow of deportation from hard working young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
39. Oh, and he gave the order to send troops in after Osama Bin Laden — and has decimated al-Qaeda’s senior leadership.
Dear Dr. Yetiv:
I live in Florida so I am not a regular reader of the San Diego Jewish World. I have, however, gone back and read several of your previously published columns. I sincerely believe that you are speaking from your heart regarding your view of the situation in the Middle East and the policies that should be implemented by both Israel and the United States. Though I disagree with your view I respect it and let’s just agree to disagree.
The problem that I have with your article are your discussions of both President Obama and Governor Romney. The discussions sound like they were copied word for word from quotes, writings and/or advertisements of Sheldon Adelson, Karl Rove, Fox News, the neocon led Republican Jewish Coalition, etc. Your opinion is your opinion and I respect that. It is your alleged “facts” that I take serious issue with. Though I have not personally confirmed the record of President Obama as stated above in the response by Oppie, the items listed are very consistent with what I have previously researched. For more information about President Obama’s record, and a completely contrary factually documented view of Governor Romney, I cordially invite you to check out my Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/brglassman/.
Cordially yours,
Bruce
I FELT DR. YETIV’S ARTICLE WAS COMPLETELY ONE-SIDED AND CHERRY PICKED HIS ARGUMENTS.
ROMNEY’S HATCHET MEN COULDNT HAVE DONE BETTER.
A LIST OF PRES OBAMA’S ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT CAN’T BE REBUTTED FOLLOWS:
(Just a couple of) the Obama Administration’s accomplishments:
1. The first bill President Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to help women fight back when they don’t get equal pay for equal work.
2. His Recovery Act supported millions of jobs and helped to stave off a second Great Depression.
3. He pushed for and won middle-class tax cuts that benefitted every American worker, and saved the typical family $3,600 in taxes over the last four years.
4. President Obama rescued the auto industry, and now GM and Chrysler are healthier than they’ve ever been. The American auto industry has added nearly a quarter of a million jobs since June 2009 — and they most likely wouldn’t exist right now without President Obama’s leadership.
5. He doubled funding for Pell Grants, helping to make college more affordable for nearly 10 million families.
6. His student loan reform ended billions in subsidies to banks serving as middlemen and reinvested those savings directly into students.
7. The President established the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth up to $10,000 over four years of college.
8. His Race to the Top Initiative helped spur nearly every state to raise academic standards.
9. His tax cuts, social-welfare programs, and economic policies lifted nearly 7 million Americans above the federal poverty line in 2010.
10. President Obama has signed 18 tax cuts for small businesses since taking office.
11. We’ve seen 5.2 million new private-sector jobs over the last 31 months.
12. The unemployment rate is at the lowest level since President Obama took office.
13. Health care reform — passed after decades of failed attempts by every previous President — provides affordable health coverage to every American and will lower premiums by an average of $2,000 per family by 2019.
14. Obamacare expanded access to lifesaving preventive care such as cancer screenings and immunizations with no out-of-pocket costs for 54 million Americans.
15. Obamacare ends insurance discrimination against the 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.
16. Because of Obamacare, over 3 million more young adults have health insurance today than would if the new law hadn’t passed.
17. The parents of over 17 million children with pre-existing conditions no longer have to worry that their children will be denied coverage.
18. President Obama has ordered the overhaul of federal government regulations to make them smarter, practical, and more efficient. Just a fraction of these commonsense initiatives will help save businesses $10 billion in the next five years alone.
19. His historic investments in clean energy have helped more than double the amount of electricity we obtain from wind and solar sources and helped increase biofuel production to its highest level in history.
20. President Obama is doubling fuel efficiency standards, which will save drivers more than $8,000 at the gas pump, not to mention lessen the impact of automobiles on our environment.
21. President Obama has taken unprecedented action to address climate change, reaching historic international agreements to curb carbon emissions, and taking action here at home to reduce carbon pollution from our vehicles and promote clean energy production.
22. He has taken historic action to protect our environment — signing one of the largest expansions of protected wilderness in a generation and putting in place standards to reduce toxic air pollution that will save thousands of lives.
23. President Obama fought for and won landmark Wall Street reform that reins in the abuses that led to the financial crisis and ends the era of taxpayer bailouts and “too big to fail.”
24. Wall Street reform created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the nation’s first federal agency focused solely on consumer financial protection — and the Bureau is already protecting families from unfair and abusive financial practices from Wall Street banks and shadowy corners of the financial industry.
25. As part of President Obama’s commitment to transparency, the White House has posted its visitor records online for the first time ever.
26. President Obama’s all-of-the-above approach to energy has helped cut the United States’ dependence on foreign oil to its lowest level in 20 years.
27. President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq.
28. He announced a plan to end the war in Afghanistan and transition security responsibility to the Afghan people.
29. President Obama sent the largest security assistance package to Israel in history and funded the Iron Dome system, which is protecting Israeli homes and schools from rocket attacks.
30. President Obama rallied the international community to implement the toughest sanctions on Iran in history.
31. Through the President’s historic increases in Veterans Affairs funding, he has expanded and improved healthcare and job training access for our returning veterans.
32. President Obama negotiated the New START Treaty with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in both countries. At the same time, he also secured commitments from dozens of other countries to lock down nuclear materials.
33. His administration naturalized 11,146 military service members as U.S. citizens in 2010; more than in any year since 1955.
34. President Obama set a bold new plan for the future of NASA space exploration, using the skill and ability of the private sector for short trips to the International Space Station, while building a new vehicle for exploration of distant space, and doing everything in his power to support the economy on Florida’s Space Coast.
35. President Obama recognizes that tourism is one of America’s largest economic engines; he’s worked to encourage international visitors to come here, maintaining our security while keeping millions of Americans in good, paying jobs.
36. He has affirmed his personal support of marriage equality, directed the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA in federal courts, and took the practical and compassionate step of extending hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners.
37. He fought for and won the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, allowing gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly for the first time in history.
38. When Congress failed to fix our broken immigration system, his administration did everything in its power to improve it, streamlining the legal immigration process and announcing a policy that lifts the shadow of deportation from hard working young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
39. Oh, and he gave the order to send troops in after Osama Bin Laden — and has decimated al-Qaeda’s senior leadership.
An excellent and accurate article!