Our Platform for Outlining Colorado’s Future

For the interest of this blog, this includes people who oppose Obama because of his race. This can be people who do it consciously, hard core racist, and subconscious. Also, in terms of advancing the best policy from a color-blind policy argument standpoint, it is also less confusing when side issues such as race come into the picture. For instance you might tell people to vote independent of race and background, encouraging even minorities to to support people based on their policy not their race. However, it might not be as big of a deal with minorities because by definition minorities are less likely to monopolize policy in a republic, unless everyone thinks of themselves as a minority, and each minority group is not interested in the general advancement, but only their minority group's advancement. See Racism and Liberal guilt as motivations on each side. Racism is alive and ugly. It is often silent, and even unconscious. It would lead to people opposing Obama even when they mi...

If they are a democrat, defending a fellow democrat. Or if they share other characteristics with Obama (race, career, home town, home state, religion, background, etc) they would identify with these (to the degree you agree with every single thing in your parties political platform, this is acceptable, but to the degree that it is a mindless rooting for the home team, party affiliation is a motivation that will not help us make better decisions.

The desire to promote more positive role models for our youth (60%). This is understandable but will result in the government making more bad decisions. Sure, you want people with inspiring life stories to have success, however, if everyone allowed themselves to make decisions on whether or not to support or oppose Obama based on this motivations, Obama would gain more support for his unwise policy decisions than they would be able to gain, in a battlefield of ideas that were less impervious to motivation not related to the issue being discussed. You can still want Obama to succeed overall but fight with him on specific issues. The desire to promote more positive role models for our youth is a bad reason, by itself, to agree with Obama on specific policy decisions.

Self Interest (of those who are not Rich, 90%). These people believe they will “get more” from Obama (90%). Obama openly promised that he would raise taxes on the very rich and give more to the “middle class”. This is a bad motivation, because if everyone only acted on self interest, bad things would happen.

Reasons  to agree: I had political beliefs before Obama came along. I will have them even when we have a new president. My dislike for Obama's policy has nothing to do with him, but my preference for libraterial and republican beliefs (mostly). I like Obama. I think he will be good for our country and an inspiration for millions. I focus on him because he is the most visual proponent of democratic agenda. I could just post what I believe, but people wouldn't care, and so I post what I believe with respect to why I think Obama is right or wrong. Anyways I just want to say that I believe Obama is an inspiration. 

http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/04/20/williams_obama_dc/ As I watch Washington politics, I am not easily given to rage. Washington politics is a game; selfishness, out-sized egos, and corruption are predictable. But over the last week, I find myself in a fury. The cause of my upset is watching the key civil rights issue of this generation — improving big city public school education — get tossed overboard by political gamesmanship (Romney has said, "Some kids, particularly certain minority populations, are falling behind. Horace Mann said that education was the great equalizer. But in too many of our schools today, that is not being achieved. I believe that the failure of education in urban schools is the civil rights issue of our generation." –Source: 2006 State of the State Address, January 2006 ). Suppose one goal deserves to be held above the day-to-day partisanship and pettiness of ordinary politics. In that case,  it is the effort to end the scandalous poor leve...

Reasons  to agree: In a speech given in Lansing, Michigan, Senator Obama called for the completion of the Alaska natural gas pipeline, stating, “Over the next five years, we should also lease more of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil and gas production. And we should also tap more of our substantial natural gas reserves and work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska natural gas pipeline, delivering clean natural gas and creating good jobs in the process.“  Natural Gas is cleaner than coal. Probable interest  (or motive) of those who agree: Republican Party Affiliation  (40%) They agree with the argument, outside of any interest or alterior motivation (30%) Racism  (5%) Political laziness & issue crossover . Money  for those living in Alaska, or in the Energy market. The desire for lower cost natural gas (more supply) Probable interest  (or motive)  of those who disagree: They agree with the argument, outside of any interest or alterior motivation (...

A LITTLE GUN HISTORY   In 1929, the  Soviet Union  established gun control. >From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.      -------------------------- ----     In 1911,  Turkey  established gun control.. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.      -------------------------- ----     Germany  established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.      -------------------------- ----     China  established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated      -------------------------- ----     Guatemala  established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.      ---- -...

In 1929, the  Soviet Union  established gun control. >From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.      -------------------------- ----     In 1911,  Turkey  established gun control.. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.      -------------------------- ----     Germany  established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.      -------------------------- ----     China  established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated      -------------------------- ----     Guatemala  established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.      ---- ------------- -------------     ...

The following is a blog post that links to this site: http://ffgop.canalblog.com/archives/2009/04/08/13308145.html For those of you don't speak French, Google can help: Just copy and paste it into this site, http://translate.google.com ...and this is what you get Constructive criticism is one thing that the Democrats (and the Left in general) cannot do. Right, we seek to improve things, to solve problems. On this same site and with the media, we do not hesitate to support the U.S. President when he's right, even if it is democratic. Supporters of Mitt Romney released a website with this in mind. The idea is to use the quotes and actions of Barack Obama, and explain how its actions are positive, negative or otherwise. Visit! http://r2aadwo.blogspot.com/ Thanks for linking to this blog!

Reasons to agree: Obams says how great public schools are, however he sent his own kids to private schools while he was in Chicago and DC, but he opposes vouchers that would allow us to choose were to send our kids, like he did. Obama said that Rich people didn't pay enough taxes when Bush was president, but he is a millionare, and he didn't pay extra money to the government because he thought it was right. Infact he hardly gave any money to charity. From 2000 to 2006 he gave 1, .5, .4, 1.4, 1.2, 4.7, and then finnaly 6.1%. For 4 years in a row he gave less than 2%. Most average republicans give more than that, and most republicans that had as much as he had gave way more than him. Yet he goes on and on about great he was to work as a community organizer, when that was just a job to get him into politics.

Reasons to agree: Obama was asked: Q: Do you send your kids to public school or private school? Obama said: “A: My kids have gone to the University of Chicago Lab School, a private school, because I taught there, and it was five minutes from our house. So it was the best option for our kids. But the fact is that there are some terrific public schools in Chicago that they could be going to (notice latter why he brings this up). The problem is, is that we don’t have good schools, public schools, for all kids. A US senator can get his kid into a terrific public school (if this is true, why did he send his kids to a private school? He says that it was close, but you would think that if he doesn’t support vouchers, that he only wants us to send out kids to public schools, that he would go to the extra effort). That’s not the question (yes it is. The question you were asked is if you send your kids to public or private schools). The question is whether or not ordinary parents, who can’t w...

Reasons  to agree: People on both sides of the isle, say that he is very respectful, to those with whome he disagrees. During his two year tenure on the D.C. Circuit, Roberts authored 49 opinions, eliciting only two dissents from other judges, and authoring only three dissents of his own. This shows that Roberts works well with others, and builds consensus. Roberts is one of twelve Catholic justices — out of 110 justices total — in the history of the Supreme Court. [ 37 ] His wife is an attorney and a trustee (along with  Clarence Thomas ) at her alma mater, the  College of the Holy Cross  in  Worcester, Massachusetts . He must be pretty cool to have got a smart girl like that to marry him. Roberts graduated graduating with an A.B. in history summa cum laude in three years from Harvard. Before attending  Harvard Law School , was the managing editor of the  Harvard Law Review , [ 3 ]  and graduated with his J.D. magna cum laude. [ 5 ...

Reasons  to agree: People hate smart kids. Americans are way over-fascinated with calling smart people nerds, and geeks. This is not done so much in other cultures. Background: “I try to avoid an either/or approach to solving the problems of this country. There are questions of individual responsibility and questions of societal responsibility to be dealt with. The best example is an education. I’m going to insist that we’ve got decent funding, enough teachers, and computers in the classroom, but unless you turn off the television set and get over a certain anti-intellectualism that I think pervades some low-income communities, our children are not going to achieve .” ~ Meet The Press, NBC News Jul 25, 2004

  Q: If one of your daughters asked you, “Daddy, did God really create the world in 6 days?” What would you say? A: What I believe is that God created the universe, and that the 6 days in the Bible may not be 6 days as we understand it. My belief is that the story that the Bible tells about God creating this magnificent Earth, that is fundamentally true. Now whether it happened exactly as we might understand it reading the text of the Bible, that I don’t presume to know. But one last point--I do believe in evolution. I don’t think that is incompatible with Christian faith. Just as I don’t think science generally is incompatible with Christian faith. There are those who suggest that if you have a scientific bent of mind, then somehow you should reject religion. And I fundamentally disagree with that. In fact, the more I learn about the world, the more I know about science, the more I’m amazed about the mystery of this planet and this universe. And it strengthens my faith as opposed ...

Reasons  to agree: We should reward good behavior and punish bad behavior .  “ Teachers are extraordinarily frustrated about how their performance is assessed. And not just their own performance, but the school’s performance generally. So they’re teaching to the tests all the time. What I have said is that we should be able to get buy-in from teachers in terms of how to measure progress. Every teacher I think wants to succeed. And if we give them a pathway to professional development, where we’re creating master teachers, they are helping with apprenticeships for young new teachers, they are involved in a variety of other activities, that are really adding value to the schools, then we should be able to give them more money for it. But we should only do it if the teachers themselves have some buy-in in terms of how they’re measured. They can’t be judged simply on standardized tests that don’t take into account whether children are prepared before they get to school or not.” ~ ...

Reasons  to agree: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We have spent more and more money per student in public schools over the past 30 years, and our performance has only gotten worse. Background: “We’ll make sure that every child in this country gets a world-class education from the day they’re born until the day they graduate from college. What McCain is offering amounts to little more than the same tired rhetoric about vouchers. We need to move beyond the same debate we’ve been having for the past 30 years when we haven’t gotten anything done. We need to fix & improve our public schools, not throw our hands up and walk away from them. We need to uphold the ideal of public education, but we also need reform. That’s why I’ve introduced a comprehensive strategy to recruit an army of new quality teachers to our communities--and to pay them more & give them more support. We’ll invest in early childhood education programs so t...

Reasons  to agree: Those students in Education departments across the country have had worse ACT, and SAT grades than other college departments. They even have worse grades than Criminal Justice departments (cops). It is sad that cops can know math, geography, history, and science, better than those that we put in charge of teaching our children. We need higher standards for teachers, if we are going to pay them more. I'm not saying every teacher is stupid. If you are a teacher, and you are offended, than you prove my point. You are stupid. The facts are the facts, and if you get mad because of the facts, than you are stupid. I'm from Idaho. I'm not offended when you say bad things about people from Idaho, in general, because I know that you are not talking about me specifically. Of course their are a lot of very smart people who are teachers. I thought about going into teaching. My father, whom I love and respect very much is a teacher. My mother in law is also a very good...

Reasons  to agree: "In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity--it is a prerequisite. And yet, we have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation. And half of the students who begin college never finish. This is a prescription for economic decline.   So tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country. That's why we will provide the support necessary for all young Americans to complete college and meet a new goal: By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the ...

Reasons  to agree: Obama said, "I got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind.” People do things for a lot of reasons. To say that he used drugs for one reason, because he was having problems with his racial identity, seems to be playing the melodramatic race card. I'm not saying that it might have been part of the reason that he used drugs, but to fully blame all his drug use with racial identity problems, like he did in his book, seems a little melodramatic. Melodrama involves an oversimplified hero. Obama seems to see himself as a hero, in a very simplistic way. He wrote two or three autobiographies about himself, before he was even un unaccomplished senator. Now that he is president, he can write a few autobiogaphies, but he has already written two or three.

Reasons  to agree: When Obama said,  “Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack though" ( Dreams from My Father), he thought he would reach those who had used drugs and convence them to go straight. However he will have reached more straight kids and convinced them to use drugs, by making it sound cool, showing that he was able to beat it, and using their street names, as though he is still trying to have "street cred".  Reasons  to agree: Obama is right that selling 15 tablets of Ecstasy should not be in the same class of felony as raping a woman at knifepoint .

Reasons  to agree:  The person who is buying the ecstasy wants to buy it. Reasons  to disagree:

Reasons  to agree with Obama: If you get killed because you made someone mad, or they want to steal your car, or because you were in the wrong place in the wrong time, that is one thing. But gangs are specifically targetting cops. We need them to be un-afraid of going into dangerous places. If they are not safe, than none of us are safe. It should be worse to kill cops, because they stand in the place of all of us in keeping our society together, and all that thin-blue-line stuff. Background: Q: On mandatory death sentences for gang members who kill cops you voted no. Would you explain? OBAMA: [The proposed legislation] was entirely unnecessary and unconstitutional. It suggested that I could kill a police officer but because I’m not a gang member, I would be treated differently. I think both cases should be death penalty eligible. KEYES: Senator Obama does not think it superfluous to have hate crimes legislation that adds a special animus to certain acts of violence already penaliz...