WHAT HOPE, CHANGE, AND TRANSPARENCY?

Like millions of my fellow Americans I watched the U.S. Senate vote on the debt relief legislation and was pleasantly surprised to see the proposal pass with substantially favorable support, roughly 75 vs. 25 votes. The American economy simply cannot and should not fall into default, and the people spoke. Shortly after the passage of the legislation President Obama stepped into the Rose Garden at the White House to announce to the American people that it is time for every American to chip in and sacrifice for the good of the country.

These words are a paraphrase, but I am very close to what he actually said. When he made that remark I almost fell out of my Lazy-Boy chair. Just when and where did he “chip in,” and what has he and his family done to sacrifice for the good of the country?

For Obama, who claims that his top priority is jobs, he has certainly set a very poor example. All the president has proven to be effective at is adding expense to the function of our government, and “living large” at the expense of the American taxpayer since he took office. How about his wife and daughter’s recent very expensive journey to South Africa, or last year’s Spain sojourn with the youngest daughter?

No sooner had the debt relief bill been signed, Obama flew off for a very expensive trip to Chicago to celebrate his 50th birthday, and a series of fund raisers; one of which reportedly will cost the attendee’s over $30,000 per person. Apparently re-election has priority over the creation of jobs. Think Obamacare and what it is going to cost the taxpayers.

What sacrifice has the President and his family made during these times of severe economic stress. How about reducing the size of Obama’s staff of un-necessary Czar’s who duplicate the work of the Secretaries of each department in the Executive Branch. How about a reduction in the size of the staff attending to the whims and wishes of the First Lady?

Obama and the entire Congress should spend the month of August doing the work they were sent to Washington to perform. I don’t recall reading anything in The Constitution that requires the nation’s government to take the entire month of August off for vacation. By the way, The Constitution did not give the rest of us that luxury either.

Another part of the Rose Garden speech that caused my heart to skip a beat were his remarks recommending the need to tax the rich even before he signed an agreement. He knew he had to sign the agreement, and spoke out of two sides of his mouth; a situation he explores each passing day.

If Obama was really interested in jobs, he could quickly start solving the problem with two simple phone calls; one to the Secretary of Energy, and the other to the Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Obama could order drilling for oil in the Gulf, off-shore, on-shore, and in Alaska immediately under strict guidelines. He could tell the NLRB to permit Boeing to open their plant in South Carolina and both actions would immediately add thousands of domestic American jobs, which would greatly add employment and tax revenue. Instead, Obama goes off on another vacation and thousands of Americans linger on the unemployment roles at great expense to all American taxpayers.

Tragically for the interests of this great country, President Obama was elected on a platform of HOPE, CHANGE, and TRANSPARENCY. He has not delivered so much as one of those promises. He clearly had only one real motivation from the beginning and that was to be re-elected at any cost to the American taxpayer. It is becoming more and more obvious to a growing number of people that we just cannot afford Barack Hussein Obama to be president any longer. It is injurious to my financial health and to the financial health of Americans.

Our president does not understand regular American life today. But why should he…his upbringing, education, and time as a “community organizer” has only taught him about the exaggerated role of entitlements in this country.

COMMANDER GRANGER