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My name is Garrett and I am studying the big political question today, is Obama a Socialist. I chose this topic because I feel that many people are uneducated in what makes someone Socialist or not. I am Republican and I might not agree with Obama, but I think a lot of people are jumping on the "Obama is Socialist" bandwagon without thinking much about it. So thats why I chose my topic.

The best parts of my blog, I think, is my five short sources. I chose from an array of sources to broaden my knowledge. I would be hypocritical if I didn't want to look at both sides, so I tried my best to do so. I also used my small sources to teach the reader of the purpose of government, the different types, and what we are answering to now.

I began this project thinking that Obama was socialist. This project showed me how to detect a Socialist and what to look for in government. In my opinion, Obama is not a Socialist, just not the greatest president. He has helped and hurt just like other presidents, which is why i have now wanted Federalism beliefs to be implemented. This project has showed me more about Federalism and its the government I want to see more of.

All I can say I want to do differently is that I want to speak with an actual elected official. I didn't get to this time because of procrastination on my part. Talking to an elected official would help me so much, or someone such as Glenn Beck or Mark Levin. It would be exciting andf cooler to talk about.

Republicans and Democrats need to work together.

Rob Bishop, in his article "The Case for Federalism", fights for the implement of Federalism by both parties. He states what Federalism is, he says, "its government closer to the people." (Bishop) So its not less government, just more power is given to the people. This allows local government to shrink and grow according to the wants of its people. He goes on to say that this process of transition is a long one and has to be well thought out. He firmly believes that "it (Federalism) is the only constitutionally based, effective, and theoretically consistent means to bring about the systemic change of government that people want." (Bishop) Bishop believes we need to work towards this belief and away from Conservatism and Liberalism.

I agree with Bishop. Mainly because I also think that Federalism was the type of government the founding fathers were aiming for when they wrote the Constitution. Federalism allows "We the people" to play a role in government. I think that, lately, we have been picking the lesser of two evils, when in reality we need to change things up. It is said that if you do the same thing over and over expecting to see different results, then you are crazy. So to see the results we want, we must stand for what we believe and make sure our voice is heard. When the lesser of the two evils fails , we just switch to the other. This, to me, is not going to make the nation stronger. This is why i think we need to implement Federalism.

Bishop, Rob. "The Case for Federalism." NRO. NRO, 6 May 2010. Web. 13 May 2010.
federalism/rep-rob-bishop?page=2>.

Views from a Socialist Himself

When John Blake, from CNN, asked Billy Wharton (the co-chair of the Socialist Party USA) if Obama was a socialist, he replied saying that “Obama isn't a socialist. He's not even a liberal” (Blake). In this article, Billy says that’s Obama is trying to protect the richest five percent of America. To Wharton, socialism means that “to the workers and consumers affected by economic institutions should own or control them” (Blake). Blake also says that, according to Van Gosse, America already has socialistic institutions such as: Pell Grants, public education, unemployment benefits, and social security. Conrad Quagliaroli has an argument for all of this. His argument is that Obama made a promise to “spread the wealth” and his associations with radicals make him a socialist.

I agree with Quagliaroli when he says that socialism breeds mediocrity and capitalism breeds excellence. This is one of socialism main fault. To have representatives of socialist parties deny some one of being socialist is a big deal. They carry a very strong argument, saying that most of what Obama is being blamed for came from before him and that he is, in actuality, trying to protect the wealthy five percent. They (the socialist in the article) say that socialist want to instill democratic features to reduce inequality. To me, the fact that he has passed a bill ensuring everyone health care seems to be an attempt to diminish inequality. Both sides are hard to argue though.

Blake, John. "Ask the card-carrying socialists: Is Obama one of them?."CNN Politics. CNN, 15 Apr 2010. Web. 13 May 2010. .

What political party am I?

The survey asked a total of ten questions. They ranged in topics from "should there be higher tariffs?" to "what do you think of the Patriot Act?" (renegaderay) The quiz was noticeably split up. it wasn't hard to decipher between the answer to see which one was which party. It also wanted to know your opinion on affirmative action and on gay marriages.

Taking this quiz, I was well aware of how unprofessional it was. I am not saying any of this is the greatest way to see what political party you are, but it is a very quick guesstimate. It said i was Republican which I partially agree on. I also know that there are more topics that should be considered that are not on the quiz.

I learned that I do lean more to the right, which you probably would have guessed from all my posts. I also learned that its hard to make an fair quiz that would be accurate enough, but take less than ten or twenty minutes. To meet these requirements, it would take hours.

Mark Levin

Liberty and Tyranny

Liberty and Tyranny, by Mark Levin, is a Conservative manifesto. In it, Mark explains what makes a Conservative a Conservative, and why it should be followed precisely as described. Mark believes the Constitution should be followed exactly as it was written by the founding fathers. He says that Conservatives don’t despise government, just tyranny; that’s why he believes the government should go straight off the Constitution. He goes on to explain the views of the Statist and why they are destructive to the country. He also shows when Statist will try and infiltrate the offices and win over the American public. He says they wait until the economy is at it’s lows, and then they offer plans to give money back to the people. When this starts to work, they ask for more power to pass “better” plans to give money back; this is when they are most destructive according to Mark.

I agree with Mark on many levels. One is that I think the founding fathers where not wasting there time making the Constitution, therefore we should follow its guidelines. The founding fathers mapped out a process that will protect free market and private property if followed correctly. “Statist do not protect these, but rather take them” according to Mark (Levin).This is why I believe the U.S. needs to follow Mark Levin’s Conservative.

The other reason is that Mark explains how Statist work and how to notice their ways. He shows examples of how to spot one, even if they claim to be something else. Also he shows what they will do to win over the public. By reading this book I now have the knowledge I find necessary to have to vote for what I believe in. he has taught me how to recognize fakes and weed out the ones who don’t feel the same

Levin, Mark. Liberty And Tyranny. New York: Threshold Editions, 2009. Print.

Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck has a program called The Glenn Beck Program. On this program he states that “seventy percent of Americans get more money in benefits from the government than they pay in.” Glenn says that there should be some deep budget cuts implemented to bring the U.S. out of the recession. He says, also, that when this this happens, friends will be lost. He brings up Obama’s plan to pay unemployed for ninety nine weeks. This is keeping the time of unemployment still ticking. No one is going to work if they can get paid for not working. Glenn is pointing out that handouts from the government will not help and just increase the deficit in which we are in.

"99 weeks on govt. dime." The Glenn Beck Program. Web. 15 Apr 2010. .

I agree with Glenn. Primarily when he says, “whose going to hire you after ninety nine weeks of unemployment.” If business owners were to think the same way, then the unemployment rate would never decrease. To give out more than seventy percent than paid in is to pay out more than you have. If you know anything about percentages, then you know that will increase our deficits. These policies and plans will hurt America and encourage workers to accept checks from the government. According to the Lawrence video I’ve commented on, more than half of America is for Obama. Could this be the same ones getting the handouts?

Lawrence O'Donnell

Keith Olbermann’s show ,Countdown with Keith Olbermann, tends to lean to Obama’s side. In the episode embedded along this post Lawrence O’Donnell (who is filling in for Keith) says that the people at these tea parties are confused. He says that “they are older, they are whiter than America, and they earn more money and are better educated.” He also states that “ thirty-nine percent of the real America correctly blame Bush for most of the deficit.” He also goes on to say that the tea partiers are arguing for the wrong point. He states tea partiers are fighting the passing of the health care income tax on people who make over two hundred thousand a year. Lawrence uses many figures and percentages to back up his statements.

"Tea party is confused." Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Web. 15 Apr 2010. .

What Lawrence is not taking into consideration is the fact that the “fancy” degrees, as he states, that most of the tea partiers hold are what allows them to earn more than average. He sounds as if he is trying belittle their success, which they put in effort and time into achieving. We live in a country that allows someone to have a dream and achieve it however they like. Lawrence is making people with dreams and success sound like a terrible people. What he needs to realize is, these people were born with freedom and rights. If they choose to go to school for four plus years and graduate with a degree so they can make more money, than more power to them. Someone who did not do the same or succeed at it should not put those people down or better yet tax them for it. By taxing those who succeed and putting that money into health care for the other Americans is just a variation of "spreading the wealth". I think Lawrence is the one confused. He used a bunch of percentages, but they never seemed to help him. I think they is a happy medium to the issues at hand, but Lawrence is not it and people should not turn to him for politics.

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