Obama Must Be Defeated

 Published January 13, 2012 in the Lynchburg Ledger

The lawlessness of President Barack Obama continues to amaze. Commenting on Obama’s latest outrage were former U.S. attorney general Edwin Meese and Todd Gaziano, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal & Judicial Studies.  Writing together in a Washington Post Op Ed article on January 5th, they said, “President Obama’s attempt to unilaterally appoint three people to seats on the National Labor Relations Board and Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (after the Senate blocked action on his nomination) is more than an unconstitutional attempt to circumvent the Senate’s advise-and-consent role. It is a breathtaking violation of the separation of powers and the duty of comity that the executive owes to Congress.”

Presidents can only make recess appointments when Congress is in recess, and the Congress was not when he made the appointments.  Time will tell if the Senate Republicans have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to Obama.

If George W. Bush ever attempted such an unlawful act, the liberal media would be screaming for his impeachment.

It is the same liberal media, which continues to run interference for Obama.  In 1992, the liberal media convinced Americans we were in a recession when indeed we were not.  Now, they are trying to convince the same Americans we are not in a recession when indeed we are.

The latest jobless numbers released by the Labor Department of 8.5 percent are a total sham.  What they are neglecting to report is that many of the unemployed have simply given up, and they are no longer counted as unemployed.  They also don’t report that the total number of available jobs have shrunk by about 2 million since Obama took office.  Any fifth-grader can tell you that when you reduce the denominator in a fraction, the result is a lower percentage.

The number reported is what is known as the U-3 number, being defined as the “total unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor force.”

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) suggests that a better measure of the real jobless rate, the U-6, which is defined as the “total unemployed plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part-time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force.”  The U-6 number stands at 15.6 percent.  This includes those individuals who would like a job and have been looking for employment for the last twelve months and not just the last four weeks. AEI believes the number of Americans hurt by the bad economy is almost twice what the official number would suggest.

Although there are some areas of the economy showing some improvement, there are many others that are not.  For example, Banker Steel of Lynchburg recently announced a number of lucrative contracts, which will provide additional local jobs. 

At about the same time, Sears/K-Mart announced they would be closing approximately 120 stores nationally. 80 closures have already been announced.  In Virginia, a Sears in Norfolk and a K-Mart in Midlothian will close.  No word yet about Lynchburg’s Sears and K-Mart.

For the economy to stand any chance of improving, Barack Obama and the liberal media must be defeated this November.  Obama will have in excess of $1 billion in his campaign war chest, and the liberal media will contribute millions in kind by their biased reporting and attacks on the Republican candidate.

Therefore, we must have the strongest Republican candidate we can field.

Currently, Mitt Romney seems to be leading in popularity, but he has difficult time polling above 25 percent nationally.  He received 39 percent in the New Hampshire primary.  He was expected to do well as Romney is the candidate of the “Republican establishment,” as was John McCain and Bob Dole before him.  I simply don’t believe Romney is the conservative we need.

It was a shame to see Herman Cain have to withdraw after being viciously attacked by the media.  The liberals simply cannot afford to have a conservative black man succeed.

Ron Paul scares me. He came in a strong second in New Hampshire with 23 percent.  He is what I would term a constitutional legalist.  He looks at the Constitution with myopic tunnel vision.  Some of what he says has an element of truth in it, but his solutions are totally unworkable. 

His view on foreign policy and national security is scary and naive.  He does not understand that fundamentalist Muslims hate us because we are Americans, and as such, want to kill us, along with every Jew in the world. Even though many Americans deny it, the fundamentalist Muslims know America was founded by Christians on Biblical principles.

America has become guardian of freedom and liberty for the world.  It is not that we sought the position, it is one we obtained by default.  What Ron Paul doesn’t seem to understand is that one nation is going be the world’s dominant power.  If not us, who? 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was gaining some traction until he was attacked by Mitt Romney in Iowa.  I like Gingrich, and I think he would be a great candidate but he tied Santorum for 4^th place in New Hampshire with 9 percent.

Some conservatives are concerned about his personal past.  He has admitted his mistakes and asked for forgiveness.  Christians sometimes seem overanxious to shoot their own wounded.  Gingrich has been endorsed by Don Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association.

Another candidate I like is Rick Santorum, a solid conservative with great foreign policy experience.  He surged in Iowa but not as much in New Hampshire.  He and Gingrich share the same voter base.

Unfortunately, Rick Perry seemed to have fizzled out, and I suspect will be out of the race after the Florida primary.

Jon Huntsman has never been a factor as far as I am concerned.  He bet the farm on New Hampshire and came in a weak third with 17 percent.  Look for him to drop out soon.

Unfortunately, here in Virginia, we don’t get much of a say with only Romney and Paul on the March Republican primary ballot.  I am disappointed that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli gave up so easily in correcting this injustice.  He cited fairness to the Romney and Paul campaigns, but his loyalty should be to the voters of Virginia. 

A law suit has been filed so there is a possibility more may be on the ballot.  The least they can do is abolish the stupid loyalty oath and give us a write-in vote capability.