Obama is wrong on racial affirmative action

Obama writes in his most recent book, The Audacity of Hope: "Affirmative action programs, when properly structured, can open up opportunities otherwise closed to qualified minorities without diminishing opportunities for white students."

Reasons to agree:

1. It not that big of a deal, and Obama may be correct, that it is fair to give advantages to groups that were held back. However what he says is not logically sound. You can't give advantages to one group, without taking those advantages from another group. I'm not saying that I think affirmative action is wrong, I'm just saying that you shouldn't lie to us about it. If you think that minorities have been held back, and that they need help, just tell us that, but don't lie to the majority and tell them that their "opportunies" will not be "diminishe[ed]".

Interest of those who agree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Republican Party by attacking a democrat.
   
2. Racism (critisizing a minority because he is a minority)

Interest of those who disagree (that Obama is right):

1. Promoting the Democratic Party by defending a democrat.
   
2. Liberal guilt (defending a minority because he is a minority)

Obama was wrong to support giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants

Interest of those who agree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Republican Party by attacking a democrat.
   
2. Racism (critisizing a minority because he is a minority)

Interest of those who disagree (that Obama is wrong):

1. Promoting the Democratic Party by defending a democrat.
   
2. Liberal guilt (defending a minority because he is a minority)

Obama was wrong to vote YES on funding for social services for noncitizens

Reasons to agree:

1. It is feels "nice" to let illegal aliens to receive social services, but you have to be smart, and fair also. Why don't we give social services to South Americans, Europeans, or Chinese? Because they are not US citizens. Just because someone breaks into our country illegally, and hangs out here long enough to make friends, doesn't mean that we should give them social security. It might be nice (and democrats want SOOOO much for everyone to think that they are nice) but it is stupid to give non citizens benefits of citizenship, unless you are willing to say there is no such things as borders, no such thing as laws, no such thing as rules, and the government is just going to give everything to anybody who wants anything.

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Immigration.htm

Obama was wrong to vote YES on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security

Reasons to agree:

1. It is nice to let illegal aliens participate in social security, but you have to be smart, and fair also. Why don't we give social security to South Americans, Europeans, or Chinese? Because they are not US citizens. Just because someone breaks into our country illegally, and hangs out here long enough to make friends, doesn't mean that we should give them social security. It might be nice (and democrats want SOOOO much for everyone to think that they are nice) but it is stupid to give non citizens benefits of citizenship, unless you are willing to say there is no such things as borders, no such thing as laws, no such thing as rules, and the government is just going to give everything to anybody who wants anything.
   

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Immigration.htm

Obama was wrong to vote NO on declaring English as the official language of the US government

Reasons to agree:

1. When the Germans, Dutch, Italian, immigrants came to America, they all learned English, so that they could fully participate in a new country.
2. E pluribus unum, Latin for "Out of Many, One"
   

Background

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Immigration.htm

Obama was wrong to flip-flop on public financing of his campaign.

Reasons to agree:

1. On January 24, 2007, in reference to his stated plan to take public financing should he procure the nomination, he said, "I think that for a time, the presidential public financing system works." On November 27, he said, "I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election," and on February 28, 2008, he wrote that he planned to "aggressively pursue" a publicly financed campaign, later promising to sit down with John McCain to ensure "a public system" of campaign financing is preserved.^[75] However, on June 19, 2008, he opted out of public campaign financing. John McCain kept his promise. Obama did not.
   

Obama is right to support PAYGO.

 "We can restore a law that was in place during the Clinton presidency--called Paygo--that prohibits money from leaving the treasury without some way of compensating for the lost revenue".

Source: The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.187-189 Oct 1, 2006Reasons to agree:

1. Everyone else has to pay for things they want. So should the government.