Posted by
Brandon O'Neal Wright on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 1:04:08 PM
We will begin this discussion with the definition of fraud. Fraud is defined as intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. I ask you to keep that definition in mind as we delve into the Obama administration's campaign promises and the actions that the administration has taken since the election. Barack Obama mesmerized the voters in the 2008 presidential campaign. He promised us "change," although we never asked him to explain what he meant. We listened to his promises of a better government and believed him when he made the following promises.
First, Barack Obama promised us that he would allow the American public an opportunity to read any non-emergency bill via the internet for five days before he signed the bill into law. On the surface, this seemed like a great idea. What a better way to make the government more transparent and accountable to the American people. We believed Barack Obama when he made this promise to us. Barack was quoted as saying, "When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as the president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it." I guess that on January twentieth, President Obama no longer felt like being so transparent. It was on that date that Barack Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. At the time of the signing, the bill had been on the president's desk for two days and not the five days that we were promised. Deception? You better believe it was! Again, on February seventeenth, Obama signed into law the $787 billion dollar stimulus package one day after it passed through Congress. Five days Mr. President? I think not! Deception? Check!
Secondly, we were promised ear mark reform. Mr. Obama was quoted as saying, "We need earmark reform. And when I am president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely." That promise was made well before the president signed into law the $410 billion omnibus bill of 2009. How many earmarks did that bill contain? Only 9,000 earmarks totaling $7.7 billion. Was Mr. Obama honest when he made his earmark reform promise on the campaign trail? The nays have it!
Thirdly, we were told that under an Obama administration, we would "remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within sixteen months." That promise was made on Barack's campaign website during his presidential campaign. However, on February twenty-seventh, Obama changed course. His new stance was "Let me say this as plainly as I can. By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end." To his credit, Mr. Obama only misled the American voters by nine months. Honest campaign promise? Nope!
Another broken promise was made when candidate Obama criticized President Bush for issuing signing statements, which add interpretation and instructions on how to carry out the newly signed law. Obama was quoted as saying, "That's not part of the presidents power." He went further on March ninth by issuing a memorandum negating Bush's signing statements. However, two days later, President Obama attached his first signing statement to the aforementioned $410 billion omnibus bill. But Mr. Obama, I thought during the campaign you told us that signing statements were not part of the president's power.
The point here is this. We were made alot of promises by candidate Obama during the campaign. For the most part, the American people believed these promises that were made to them. The problem was, candidate Obama didn't believe the promises that he was making. Nonetheless, promises kept pouring out the administration nearly every day. Were the promises made in good faith, or were they made to get candidate Obama elected? I hope, by now, you know the answer to that question. Many people call Obama a socialist or unpatriotic or even a liar. I however, like to refer to official definitions whenever possible. Intentional deception (campaign promises) made for personal gain (being elected president of the United States). America, we have been duped. The current administration, by definition, is a fraud!