How Conservative Is Barack Obama?

  I rated our current POTUS on the Conscious Conservative Scale (see previous posts) to determine how conservative Barack Obama rates.  You can see the conservative principles on the right of this page.  I am including notes so that people can see how I use the scale.  I plan to rate the GOP candidates in upcoming posts.

1.  PRIVATE PROPERTY:  Obama wrote in his book Audacity of Hope, "Our Constitution places the ownership of private property at the very heart of our system of liberty..."  I think he really believes in property rights, but is ignorant to how his tax, monetary and economic policies undermine those rights.  I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.  10 points 

2.  INCOME TAX:  President Obama has affirmed his belief in the Income Tax on many occasions.  He has advocated increasing it for certain groups.   0 points

3.  INHERITANCE:  In a statement on 12/06/10, the President said, "Republicans have asked for a more generous treatment of the estate tax than I think is warranted."
0 points

4. EMINENT DOMAIN:  Barack Obama put forth what has been called the "largest expansion of federally protected wilderness."  0 points

5.  CENTRAL BANKING:  "President Obama may talk a good populist game and even kick some corporate butt when he goes on the attack against Wall Street “fat cats.” Yet he still enjoys the company of bankers..." from the Moyers and Company episode Crony Capitalism.  0 points


6.  FREEDOM OF SPEECH, ASSEMBLY, TRAVEL:  He signed an extension of the Patriot Act and signed the National Defense Authorization Act.  Need I say more.  0 points


7.  FREE ENTERPRISE:  According to the Bloomberg News Service, "Obama's White House approved 613 federal rules during the first 33 months of his term.."  To his credit, he regulated business less than either Bush the Elder or Bush the Younger had by the same point in their term of office.
5 points


8.  LABOR RIGHTS:  Barack Obama supported the Employee Free Choice Act,which in standard Washington, D.C. fashion meant just the opposite,  He has also went on record as wanting to outlaw contract labor and raise the minimum wage.  0 points


9.  FREE MARKET HOUSING:  Obama keeps supporting policies that pervert the housing market and get in the way of a recovery (rental assistance, tax breaks, mortgage assistance).  He does at least say he wants to get rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  For that he gets-- 5 points


10.  EDUCATION:  As part of his Hope and Change agenda, Barack Obama said the he wants to spend federal money for "Early Childhood Education for every child in America."     0 points  


OVERALL SCORE-- 20 points  (Out of 100)


It appears that President Obama scores pretty liberal.  I don't think he would be surprised by that.

  

Conservative Book List

A Couple of Books About the Central Intelligence Agency

This is former CIA Director George Tenet's memoir of his time leading the CIA.  He discusses his views on the 9/11 attacks,War in Iraq and Afghanistan and the War on Terror.  Although he doesn't answer it,he asks the biggest question of all.

Was war with Iraq inevitable from the moment Bush the Younger became president?

There is a section towards the end  of this book that I find especially interesting.  It refers to the CIA as a type of "Yale Men's Club" and discusses heavy recruiting of personnel from that institution and a culture of Yale superiority.  Given the number of people who have recently been either the POTUS or runner-up for that position that come from Yale and it's Ivy League cohorts, Harvard and Columbia, I must wonder.  Is there some type of psyops operation?  Maybe certain elements within the CIA operate a little closer to home than we may like?

Why The Post Office Struggles -- A Conscious Conservative View

I wanted to mail a package this week but I had a slight problem.  I was going to be in an unfamiliar part of the city and didn't know where to find a Post Office.  I did what I thought was the most logical thing.  I went to the United States Postal Service web site to find a location in that neighborhood.

What I thought would be simple was not.  I clicked on the "find locations" button and entered the Zip Code where I was going to be that day.  I expected to find the Post Office that services that Zip Code.  I did not.  Instead, the Post Office displayed every place that sold stamps in that area.  Being that I was in a large city,  just about every place sold stamps.  The list had restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, banks and office supply stores.  I was no closer to finding a Post Office.

I refined my search to find only "Automated Postal Centers®."  Eureka!  I found a Post Office that I thought was near to where I was going.  I clicked on the map and found something was wrong.  The map showed that the Post Office was on the other side of town.  I was familiar with the neighborhood on the map and knew there was not a Post Office near that location.  It appears that the United States Postal Service cannot tell me where its own offices are located. Every business makes mistakes, but if the Post Office cannot give you an address, who can?  Doesn't the Postal Service assign everybody's address?

I finally went to a private source; Google Maps.  I was able to find the local Post Office.  Not only that, but I could see the Post Office on satellite, see what businesses were nearby and get driving directions to the Post Office.  I mailed my package later that day and was happy.

I find this to be a microcosm of private vs. government efficiency.  The private source delivers not only what the customer wants, but offers extras, quickly and efficiently.  The government source can't even tell you where they are located.

Conservative Book List --- What's Howard Reading?

This week.  I just finished this book by Larry Schweikert:

I also am getting some laughs from this book by David Brenner: