Good Questions for Obama

[Grumpy]

THE LAST WORD by George F. Will

Questions for Sen. Obama

May 5, 2008 Issue

Senator, concerning the criteria by which you will nominate judges, you said: "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old." Such sensitivities might serve an admirable legislator, but what have they to do with judging? Should a judge side with whichever party in a controversy stirs his or her empathy? Is such personalization of the judicial function inimical to the rule of law?

Voting against the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts, you said: Deciding "truly difficult cases" should involve "one's deepest values, one's core concerns, one's broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one's empathy." Is that not essentially how Chief Justice Roger Taney decided the Dred Scott case? Should other factors, say, the language of the constitutional or statutory provision at issue, matter?

You say, "The insurance companies, the drug companies, they're not going to give up their profits easily when it comes to health care." Why should they? Who will profit from making those industries unprofitable? When pharmaceutical companies have given up their profits, who will fund pharmaceutical innovations, without which there will be much preventable suffering and death? What other industries should "give up their profits"?

Exxon Mobil's 2007 profit of $40.6 billion annoys you. Do you know that its profit, relative to its revenue, was smaller than Microsoft's and many other corporations'? And that reducing ExxonMobil's profits will injure people who participate in mutual funds, index funds and pension funds that own 52 percent of the company?

You say John McCain is content to "watch [Americans'] home prices decline." So, government should prop up housing prices generally? How? Why? Were prices ideal before the bubble popped? How does a senator know ideal prices? Have you explained to young couples straining to buy their first house that declining prices are a misfortune?

Telling young people "don't go into corporate America ," your wife, Michelle, urged them to become social workers or others in "the helping industry," not "the moneymaking industry." Given that the moneymakers pay for 100 percent of American jobs, in both public and private sectors, is i t not helpful?

Michelle, who was born in 1964, says that most Americans' lives have "gotten progressively worse since I was a little girl." Since 1960, real per capita income has increased 143 percent, life expectancy has increased by seven years, infant mortality has declined 74 percent, deaths from heart disease have been halved, childhood leukemia has stopped being a death sentence, depression has become a treatable disease, air and water pollution have been drastically reduced, the number of women earning a bachelor's degree has more than doubled, the rate of homeownership has increased 10.2 percent, the size of the average American home has doubled, the percentage of homes with air conditioning has risen from 12 to 77, the portion of Americans who own shares of stock has quintupled. Has your wife perhaps missed some pertinent developments in this country that she calls "just downright mean"?

You favor raising the capital gains tax rate to "20 percent or 25 percent." You say this will not "distort" economic decision making. Your tax returns on your 2007 income of $4.2 million show that you and Michelle own few stocks. Are you sure you understand how investors make decisions?

During the ABC debate, you acknowledged that when the capital gains rate was dropped first to 20 percent, then to 15 percent, government revenues from the tax increased and they declined in the 1980s when it was increased to 28 percent. Nevertheless, you said you would consider raising the rate "for purposes of fairness." How does decreasing the government's financial resources and punishing investors promote fairness? Are you aware that 20 percent of taxpayers reporting capital gains in 2006 had incomes of less than $50,000?

You favor eliminating the cap on earnings subject to the 12.4 percent Social Security tax, which now covers only the first $102,000. A Chicago police officer married to a Chicago public-school teacher, each with 20 years on the job, have a household income of $147,501, so you would take another $5,642 from them. Are they undertaxed? Are they rich?

This November, electorates in four states will vote on essentially this language: "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting." Three states; California , Washington and Michigan have enacted such language. You made a radio ad opposing the Michigan initiative. Why? Are those states' voters racists?

You denounce President Bush for arrogance toward other nations. Yet, you vow to use a metaphoric al "hammer" to force revisions of trade agreements unless certain weaker nations adjust their labor, environmental and other domestic policies to suit you. Can you define cognitive dissonance?

You want "to reduce money in politics." In February and March you raised $95 million. See prior question.

[Moose1am]

When are you going to run for President Grumpy?

[zx150]

You got my vote.

[Grumpy]

When are you going to run for President Grumpy?

Moose, I am enjoyng retirement too much to go back to work. Besides, the job doesn't pay enough for all that a President has to do and put up with. And I am definately not RICH enough to run for any public office, much less President. I am just HONESTLY greatful that there are people dedicatedd enoguth (for lack of better words) to run for public office, especially the Presidency and Congress.

There is something drastically wrong with a country and its citizens that only pays its President $400.00 per year and its Legislators $187,000.00 (and then complains that they are overpaid) wile it pays college basketball coaches millions of dollars per year. AND, we wonder why this country is in trouble? I think someone once said something about "You get what you pay for!!" And before anyone says anything about the current administrations and/or congress, we have gotten the same from both parites!!

Grumpy

[DJD]

Grumpy,
I have read alot of that before but pushed it aside, now I'm scared all over again! I hope people try and understand what any politician(especially Barry) in office will do to them before they cast their vote. This man and his slick talk should scare everyone.

[BPenrod]

If Grumpy thinks anything George Will he would be fine president. I would vote for him.

[Grumpy]

DJD, yeah, I have read and heard a lot of that stuff before and it bothered me then but, I agree, its is really scary when someone puts it all together in one place and asks the questions that George Will did!!

PBenrod, I do and Thanks.

Grumpy

[Grumpy]

You got my vote.

Thanks,

Grumpy

[zx150]

I agree they pay coaches millions and teachers near nothing and they wonder why we are starting to fall behind other countries in education. Pay teachers better and get better teachers to educate the children. Ryan.

[Grumpy]

P.S. In my post above, I meant to say that the President was only paid $400,000.00 a year, not $400.00.

zx150, I agree that the pay scales in many arieas are lobsided and another indication why this country is swiftly sliding into oblivian. The comparisons between the USA and "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" are amazing.

[stratosjoe]

"There is something drastically wrong with a country and its citizens that only pays its President $400.00 per year and its Legislators $187,000.00 (and then complains that they are overpaid) wile it pays college basketball coaches millions of dollars per year. AND, we wonder why this country is in trouble? I think someone once said something about "You get what you pay for!!"

Grumpy
Would you not concede that
"And that reducing ExxonMobil's profits will injure people who participate in mutual funds, index funds and pension funds that own 52 percent of the company"Cause if these coaches don't coach the kids won't go to that college and the trickle down will cause teachers/janitors to get laid off and they won't be buying anything at the local walmarts which will cause them to make less money which wil etc etc. etc

[Grumpy]

stratosjoes, first off, I didn't say that they should stop paying the couches the millions, I meant that the President and Leglislators should be paid more. The intent of my statement was that the values of this country are totally screwed up when we put a higher value on people that are teaching a game than we value our President and Legislators.

I won't even bother addressing the rest of your fallacious statement, except to say that if you are correct and our whole economy rests on whether college kids can play basketball, its just another sign of how totally screw up this country is.

Grumpy