A Suggested Presidential Speech

Fellow Americans,

You can't have tax cuts during wartime. That was a fundamental mistake we are still paying for. We should have removed the tax cuts long ago, to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the party in power then wanted to believe that the wars would somehow pay for themselves, and that tax cuts would somehow stimulate economic growth that would pay for everything.

But the real world doesn't work that way. If what they said was true, we would have no recession now. But we do. Unfortunately, the party that believed in wars with tax cuts still believes in wars with tax cuts. Despite the reality of the recession that confronts us, they believe in continuing the policies that brought us to this crisis. Even now they threaten our international standing for the sake of continuing these failed policies.

Yes, we need to confront the deficits created by past administrations. But we don't have to do that by eliminating the supports to our own elderly, disabled, orphaned, jobless and impoverished. What we need to do is end the tax cuts, loopholes, subsidies and supports which have not helped us and will not help us. We can do this, and we must do this, for the sake of our great nation.

We must also address unemployment. Our nation once faced a Great Depression, and we worked our way out of that. Instead of continuing failed policies, let us follow the policies which have been successful before. It is unconscionable that our nation would both withhold unemployment support and withhold jobs that would provide support. I pledge to you that a top priority of my Administration will be to counter unemployment with all legal means available to me.

I ask you to join with me now, by insisting that Congress stop playing politics and start working with me on real-world solutions to the problems that face us.

Thank you, and may God bless America.

America Held Hostage: Day 10 Update

The news from Washington, D.C., includes a report that former President Bill Clinton joined President Obama in the White House today, to support the plan to pay the Tax Cut Ransom to the rich Republican pirates in exchange for their release of humanitarian aid to America's long-term unemployed.

This reminds me: if I had wanted another Clinton in the White House, I would have voted for Hillary in the primary. I voted for Obama, instead. I thought Obama would be "change I could believe in," not a reprise of the Clinton years.

Alex Budarin

America Held Hostage: Day 10

The rich Republican pirates continue to hold unemployed Americans hostage. The suffering of long-term unemployed Americans means nothing to them. In fact, the Republican pirates mock the unemployed, and sneer at them for being unemployed -- in the worst economy since the 1930's!

If they have no bread, let them eat cake! If their well-being means so much to you, you must give us tax cuts as ransom! Then and only then will we release them to your mercy!

The President has suggested that we must give these rich pirates what they want, because they truly are that callous and cutthroat. But I favor the response of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. To paraphrase:

Not one cent for tribute!

Thank you, Nancy

[photo is from her official website]

America Held Hostage: Day 9

For nine days now, jobless Americans have been held hostage by wealthy Republican Pirates in Congress. The unemployment benefits for the jobless Americans have run out. And the wealthy Republican Pirates will let them starve -- unless they are given a ransom: tax cuts to make them even richer, and estate tax cuts to make their children richer still.

The President tells us that we must give the wealthy Republican pirates what they want, because they just might be willing to let jobless Americans starve.

Somehow this does not seem to me to be an effective way of dealing with pirates and extortionists.