Savage Hippy

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Finally, I am beginning to come down off the week-long high following the election of Barack Obama.  Man, that genuine happiness thing is some gooood stuff – had me all flighty and giddy for days.  Takes me back to the time I first tried Pixy Stix.  Good times. Read the rest of this entry »

I haven’t cried this much since the first time I saw Steel Magnolias.

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Tonight’s the night, the one I’ve been waiting for since 2000 when I voted for Gore and watched the election get stolen from him.  The past 8 years have been more than my stomach can handle in a president – ruined foreign relations, unnecessary and expensives wars, abuse of executive power – and my nerves have had it. Read the rest of this entry »

As election day draws near, and as talking about politics becomes more and more like chewing on broken glass, I must remind myself, out of duty to truth and honesty, to examine our candidates in full.  After all, when you vote for a candidate, you vote for everything he believes in, and that’s a scary decision when it can mean backing fraud and corruption.  So when I received this comment, I was compelled to respond:

“Here are some questions I would want answered before voting for Obama:

1) Who are “Good Will” and “Doodad Pro”?

2) Why has Obama’s story about his relationship with Bill Ayers consistently morphed and changed over time?

3) What is the nature of Obama’s relationship Khalid Rashidi?

4) Why did Michelle Obama give up her law license 4 years after getting it?

5) What are the chances that the tax increase to 54% for people making $250,000 or more becomes tax increases for those making $100,000 a year or more, and then so on and so on?

6) What are Obama’s plans for the estate tax?

7) Why am I the only one asking these questions?”

After too long googling news (google newsing?) here are the answers I came up with:

1.  Good Will and Doodad Pro:  According to Newsweek, “Good Will” and “Doodad Pro” are the names used for individuals making donations to the Obama campaign totalling $11,000 and $17,130, respectively, sums well above the $2,300 federal limit.  After some trail sniffing, the Obama campaign could not figure out who gave them the money and returned it to the credit card numbers from which they were received.

2.  Morphing Bill Ayers Story: I hadn’t really paid much attention to this; most stories morph over time.  Nevertheless, I got the gist of the inquiry here.  Honestly, that’s all I really found, but I am not surprised if the story changed over time.  Unfortunately, they often do.  But I am still not convinced that his knowing Bill Ayers in any context makes him a terrorist.  I really have to be a servant of logic on this one (guilt by association is a fallacy), especially without some substantial evidence of conspiracy or anything else concrete.

3.  Khalid Rashidi: Before I answer, I have to note that nothing came up under a Google search for Obama Khalid Rashidi except for this, which I could not access without a subscription.  I understand there’s an argument for the over-reliance on search engines like Google in creating bias in sources, but I find it unlikely there’s a story here if the press haven’t already sucked it dry.  So, that’s a great question.  I wonder, like you, why no one else is answering it.

4.  Michelle Obama law degree: People have a lot of reasons to give things up.  I don’t know why she did, but I don’t see any reason why it would be of any reason other than life.  Like with #3, when I say “I don’t see,” I mean I don’t get any responses on our collective other brain, Google.  I really don’t think there’s much to this at all.

5. Tax increases $100K: I do not have the specifics numbers to answer that question (that would take some serious statistics) but I do not think it likely, at least not in the next few years.  The problem is that the wealthy have continued to gain while the middle class has not.  To return spending to where it was, people need to have money, particularly people in the middle.  So, I definitely don’t know the answer on the number side, but conceptually it doesn’t seem likely.  If it does happen, it’s not a smart move.  To follow up, I recommend checking out this article at FactCheck.org.

6.  Death Tax: I had heard of the estate tax but never looked into it, so I am especially grateful for this question.  The Estate Tax is imposed on transfers on entire sets of belongings, usually at death.  According to CNN Money, in rare instances can actually be detrimental - as in cases where businesses have “enough assets to qualify for the tax but not enough to pay for it.”  Obama is not likely to repeal the tax (which brings in about $522 billion a year) but both McCain and Obama agree it could use some simplification and portability.

7. Just me?: You are not the only one asking these questions, and only yesterday I heard a piece on NPR about illegal donations to both parties.  I’m glad you ask them, though, because I never would have thought to look into them otherwise.  The answers don’t change who I’m voting for, but if you have any compelling, mind-changing info, feel free to send it my way.