A Great Day for Americans; A Dangerous Day for America
Part 2
November 6, 2008

In Part 1, we celebrated the positive things that can come from an our recent historic election. Now, it’s time to turn our attention toward the dangers we may face from the next presidential term.

President Elect Obama appears to be the most liberal candidate ever elected to be the leader of the free world. Though we can’t be sure how he will govern until it happens, he has given us some clues about his ideology that have many fearing a “Euro-socialist” or even “Marxist” bent.

In the past, when a President’s party also controlled Congress, the legislature was made up largely of moderates – but not this time. This is the first time since the 60s that liberal, not moderate, Democrats are dominant.

So, other than a blanket caveat of “bigger government” or “higher taxes”, what are some specific perils we should watch out for during the Obama Presidency? Here are a few:

Weakened National Defense
President Elect Obama said he “will cut … missile defense systems”, “not weaponize space”, “slow our development of future combat systems”, “not develop any new nuclear weapons”, and “achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenal.” vid Barny Frank is already calling for a 25% reduction of military spending, saying, “We don't need all these fancy new weapons.” Yes, you read that right, a 25% reduction while we’re fighting two wars. So much for being able to negotiate from a position of strength. Consider the words of President Reagan: “Every lesson of history tells us that appeasement does not lead to peace. It invites an aggressor to test the will of a nation unprepared to meet that test. And tragically, those who seemingly want peace the most, our young people, pay the heaviest price for our failure to maintain our strength.”  article

Weakened Constitution - A Sharp Left-Turn for the Supreme Court
I believe this is the biggest danger from an Obama presidency.
President Elect Obama has promised to appoint very liberal (and specifically “pro-abortion”) Supreme Court Justices in order to guide constitutional interpretation. Many on the far left want such agenda-driven jurists to change national policy by simply reinterpreting the constitution and essentially legislating from the bench. The founding fathers never intended the judicial branch to legislate and they certainly never intended the constitution to be reinterpreted to suit current ideology or agendas. There is a proper way to change the Constitution when it needs to be changed.
President Elect Obama may have as many as three Justices to appoint during his four-year term. Their influence would weigh on our nation for decades to come.

Foreign Policy Faux Pas
There is a very real danger that our new President will be seen by our allies and adversaries as being week on foreign policy. Already Russia, Iran, Cuba, Israel, and Venezuela have each issued challenges to him in various ways. Of course, there is also always the possibility that he might act or react inappropriately. Remember the stern caveat that V.P. elect Biden gave: that this young President will be challenged and that it would not be immediately obvious that he reacted correctly.

Censorship
In an effort to silence the opposition, several Dem. leaders are proposing something they dubiously call “The Fairness Doctrine” that would require talk-radio stations to schedule the same amount air time for both liberal and conservative pundits. It should be called “The Censorship Doctrine” as its aim is to diminish the success that conservatives have on broadcast radio, the only medium they dominate. Liberal radio shows have largely failed. Even in the largest metropolitan markets, they don’t exactly thrive, but, merely survive. Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, and Al Gore are among the proponents of the censorship. Predictably, they don’t think it should be applied to newspapers or other media where liberals dominate.
Other legislation they are kicking around involves mandating more local content and less syndicated content on radio stations (whether the market wants it or not).
article, article

Weakened Industry from unfair Union Influence
There is no doubt that we are going to see several initiatives intended to favor unions and make organizing against employers easier than it has ever been. One initiative proposed by President Elect Obama and his cohorts in Congress would get rid of private ballots which are meant to shield employees from pressure and retribution from coworkers, union organizers and employers. The diminished productivity that comes from rewarding tenure over performance would increase operation costs which would result in a mass exodus of US companies. It would effectively cripple our country’s economy long-term.

Redistribution of Wealth
Even if the taxes are only increased for the wealthiest 5%, it will still impact all Americans. Think for a minute about what will happen when Walmart’s taxes are raised. Will the owners and stockholders just absorb the decrease in profitability? Of course not! Like every other business, they will pass it on to their customers. Corporations don’t pay taxes; their customers do, since business costs are passed along to customers.

Nationalized Banks, Healthcare, and Utilities
Karl Marx taught these steps to usher in socialism.
We’re seeing the first (nationalized central banks) happen before our eyes and hearing promises of the second (nationalized healthcare). Could the third be far behind?

Price Controls
This can sound like a good idea until you really think it through. I’ll leave the long explanation for another post, but suffice it to say that there can be a very large price to pay for the use of price controls. To be sustainable, price controls must be accompanied by rationing and subsidizing (if not outright nationalizing) of the controlled commodity.

Rationing
Surely the free citizens of the USA couldn’t be required to ration our food and necessities. Could we? On May 16 (and a few times since) Obama said, "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.” article It reminds me of when Michelle Obama said, “The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.” All this talk of rationing, eating less, and, well, pie makes me hungry… and a little scared.

Extreme Abortion Policies
As one of the most extreme proponents of abortion in the Senate, President Elect Obama supported late-term and partial-birth abortions and voted against providing care for infants that survived the abortion. Look for him to lift a ban on using foreign aid to fund abortions and eliminate requirements for abstinence education on his very first day on the job using executive orders.

Compulsory Service
President Elect Obama said on July 2, 2008 that he wants to institute a Civilian National Security Force that rivals the military in power and scope. vid Rham Emanuel, his Chief of Staff, described it as “universal civil defense training” where every young American would be compelled to complete a number of months of military type training. vid  If you want to research this further, check out Israel’s compulsory service.

Stopping Domestic Drilling
Expect the new President to reinstate all restrictions on domestic drilling that were recently loosened in response to public outcry.

As these or any other dangers begin to materialize, we all need to be ready to enter the debate and voice our opinions to lawmakers.

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Dan Young is a citizen-turned-online-journalist who is fed up with the media's blatant bias, the Democrats' double-speak, and the Republicans' fiscal recklessness.