Webs’ Random Ideas

An explanation of what happened on Tuesday and how Obama got to where he is.

Apparently they agree, Detroit automakers are morons and are desearving of what they are getting…

1. Cajun: “Try Us!“

Mr. Fields will never know, because he and his table full of yes-men have decided for us that we don’t get the chance to show them. Once again Americans will have to go Japanese to get the cars they want.

Hybrids? Honda and Toyota hybridize cars that start out economically sized. When Detroit does hybrids, they hybridize a behemoth. And nothing else. And then they wonder…

2. Greg Laden: “Found On Road Dead: A rant about vehicular attitudes“

But where I have had some influence, I’ve always encouraged the purchase of a good car, the best car for the circumstances that one can afford. Since most American cars totally suck, this usually means a foreign model.

And that, my friends, is the American way. That, my friends, is not being a socialist. That, my friends, is not giving big corporations welfare. That, my friends, is allowing market forces to optimize the economy.

So many of my readers may not know how big of a deal this is, but Cajun is very conservative (maybe border line “neo”) in his ways. And Greg Laden is very Liberal in his ways. Both I consider to be very intelligent and usually a good read.

So the fact they both agree on an issue is nice to see because it shows deep down that despite our differences we can work together if we agree there needs to be middle ground on issues. It’s when we look for differences and think “my way” is the only way, that our differences come out, we butt heads, and get nothing accomplished but wasted energy.

5 years ago when people asked me who I was politically I responded quite certainly, “A Liberal!!” Now when people ask me I think about it for a second or two and usually respond with something like, “a socialist, libertarian, conservative…” It usually makes the person think for a minute and then they usually smile and say, “Oh you are one of those middle road people?” I say, “No.” “It depends on the issue.” Then I leave it up to them to prod more if they desire.

I know there isn’t a one size shoe fits all political ideology and I am fine with that. If the policy makes sense I tend to accept it. If the acceptance of that policy makes me a liberal than fine, if it makes me conservative that’s fine too. We need to accept the fact it takes a mix to make a healthy nation by accepting we may be wrong in our thinking by listening to the other side. Then work will actually get done.

I keep hearing the word redistribution every time I hear anyone republican talk about Obama’s tax plan. So I decided to look into where this comes from. Basically it works like this (so say republican sources), Obama is going to tax the rich at a higher rate, and give tax cuts to those not paying anything in taxes already. Thus redistribution of the wealth of the rich.

Well I thought this still sounded strange to me so I looked and did some simple Google searching to find some information. Here’s one source I found that is old, but still does a great job of explaining Obama’s plan which hasn’t changed since he started running for president.

His plan means billions in breaks by nixing income taxes for the 7 million senior citizens making less than $50,000 a year, establishing a universal credit for the 10 million homeowners who do not itemize their deductions — most of whom make less than $50,000 annually — and providing 150 million Americans with tax cuts of up to $1,000.

“I’d reward work by providing an income tax cut of up to $500 per person — or $1,000 for each working family — to offset the payroll tax that they’re already paying,” he said.

Did you catch that? You should of, I highlighted it for you… Each Bush election we heard how his tax plan was to cut taxes for the lower class so they wouldn’t pay a dime. But what Bush failed to mention was those are income taxes he is cutting (which for a family making under $50,000 already was very low) not payroll taxes (which at the same election time either 00 or 04 were higher than the payroll).

So while it sounds like Obama is a “redistributionist”, he is really just trying to help people offset their payroll taxes with a greater tax cut. And this cut is going to families that work, not those that sit on their ass and collect welfare.

But what about those taxes on the rich…

Obama also said he would repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

“At a time when Americans are working harder than ever, we are taxing income from work at nearly twice the level that we’re taxing gains for investors,” Obama said. “We’ve lost the balance between work and wealth.”

We are taxing income from work at nearly twice the level that we’re taxing gains from investors. Seems to me like that is a balance out of wack. Why? Because few people in lower and middle classes prosper from the current model.

Obama proposes funding the tax cuts by closing corporate loopholes, cracking down on international tax havens and increasing the dividend-and-capital-gains tax for the wealthy, he said.

He called his proposal a “fair” alternative to the present tax code and said it was necessary because hard times on Main Street translate to hard times on Wall Street.

“When the changes in our economy are leaving too many people behind, the competitiveness of our country risks falling behind,” he said. “When that dream of opportunity is denied to too many Americans, then ultimately that pain has a way of trickling up.”

If you want to see what Obama himself says about his plan: Obama’s official claim on his website.

… it was for Barack. Some of my readers won’t be surprised (okay most all).

Well I have a few gripes. There were two people handing out sheets we had to print and sign. Why these weren’t on a table with a bunch of pens so we could take care of this mundane task ahead of time is beyond me? Then our sheets were given to one person looking us up in a computer system.

Then once we were looked up our sheet was given to a group of 5 people where one person handed us the voting sheet. Why the 5 people? The line will only move as fast as the one computer guy.

Anyways, I don’t want to dwell on this too much. Tonight is a historic night as Barack was just announced the 44th President and McCain conceeded. But it won’t stop there, come 2009 the history continues and we will get to see what Barack can do to unite this country and world to work together once again.

It was depressing to see McCain supporters get antsy and start to boo as McCain talked about who Barack was as a person and how we they need to unite under him. But for right now I have a hard time being too depressed. Those at McCain’s speech are a small minority and for now I am celebrating.

As well as Ohio and Florida. I realize these are all early projections, but if true I fail to see how McCain still can win. All pretty big news.

There are a number of things wrong with Dole’s ad in my opinion. First, the obvious lie. We see it every campaign and tons of us are not only pissed off about the lies but many of us denounce them. Yet the honest politicians get a bad rap for saying what people don’t want to hear. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard friends and popular bloggers say how Obama screwed himself out of presidency for the things he has said.

In this election though things might start swinging a bit because unlike truth telling politicians in the past, Obama seems to be getting the votes. I just wish people would put other priorities out in front of their ideologies.

Found via Greg Laden.

Sent to me by email via my Dad…

Was flipping channels this morning and saw Powell on CNN. He was discussing his endorsement of Obama! You read correctly there…

Powell caught a lot of flak for lying to the United Nations. I think he got a quick lesson in how following one’s ideologies can burn you really quick.

Found via DOF.