Organizing for America | Edward Riffone's Blog: The 2008 Presidential Election

The 2008 Presidential Election

By Edward Riffone Jr. - Oct 8th, 2008 at 4:17 am EDT

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After two Presidential Debates, one Vice-Presidential Debate, weeks of campaigning, news interviews, and non-stop media coverage...we are now with-in FOUR WEEKS of electing the next President of the United States of America. While having formed an early opinion and favorite in this race, I have maintained an open ear to both candidates. I have tried to rationalize both Senators' positions by applying them to the real-world scenarios facing whomever is elected. It has become very clear, more-so in just recent days, that there is only one among these candidates who is ready to get the work done for the American people...and that is Senator Barack Obama.

Senator Obama, along with running mate Senator Joe Biden, has laid out a detailed plan for this country. It involves all major issues including:

Our nation's foreign policies in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia;

Energy; including but not limited to the issues of foreign imports and our dependency on them, the search and development of alternative fuel sources, the U.S.'s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the cost of fuel to the American consumer vs. the record profits that oil companies are making at the cost of the consumer.

The Economy; including but not limited to the issues of our national debt, the cost of the War in Iraq and the War on Terror, the cost of oil and our dependency on foreign imports, which, positions us to finance many countries which do not currently favor us or worse, pork-barrel spending throughout our government, the current crisis on Wall Street...which is set to ruin the retirement funds and investments of MILLIONS of Americans, funding social security and assuring it will be funded in the future, tax reform, raising the minimum-wage, a reversal on the policies of trickle-down economics, out-sourcing, and the de-regulation of Wall Street and Corporate America.

These are perhaps the most crucial issues facing our nation. They are the topics of discussion around dinner tables, break rooms, and Starbucks' across America. From top to bottom, I would like to explain this plan and how it will benefit everyone in our country, not only the wealthy, not excluding the poor and those struggling day-to-day to make ends meet, EVERYONE.

The Middle East: The United States must reverse it's policy of being the police force of the Middle East. Currently, our military is engaged in the countries of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. We are the world's leader in protecting Israel which lights a fire under such nation's as Iran, Syria, The Gaza Strip, and a slew of other countries who publicly stand by the United States but denounce us behind closed-doors. Our nation was brought into the Iraq Theatre under the FALSE PRETENSE that Saddam Hussein was producing and ready to deploy WMD's, which we later found to be completely un-true. Later, the Bush Administration added on the charge of Crimes Against Humanity...for the murders of hundreds of thousands of Kurds in the 1980's. While these charges deserved to be brought forward, they should have been brought forth years ago after the crimes occurred, not when it was convenient for the Bush Administration to finally use them as a support for the war machine al-la Vice-President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Iraqi Government has for months requested the U.S, begin withdrawing from their country. We did our job, it's time to let Iraq take over and become it's own country. Our government currently funds at great expense the security and peace-keeping forces in the nation, however the Iraqi economy is in surplus. Their government needs to become it's own entity and provide for itself. Based on it's oil exports alone, Iraq is fully capable of standing on it's own two feet. This issue ties greatly into the economic issues facing our nation. Ending our mission in Iraq will eliminate the BILLIONS we spend DAILY on the war and allow that money to enter our own economy and aid in the rebuilding process of the economy. It will also allow us to focus our resources where they should have stayed focused after September 11th, 2001, and that is in the tribal regions of Pakistan along the Afghan border where it is strongly believed Osama bin Laden has been in hiding since fleeing the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan where he was at one point cornered shortly after the start of the war. Al-Qaeda has been rebuilding and is positioning itself to strike America again. Just this week the Dept. of Homeland Security along with the FBI and CIA issued warnings on a new terror threat, citing no specifics, but strongly hinting a strike may be imminent. When our government moves in this direction it will immediately move public opinion of our nation back towards where we want it to be. This is a global perception I speak of. Watch any foreign news network, (i.e. The BBC), and you may find that many other nation's see the U.S. as an Empire setting out to do it's will around the world regardless of cost of life, freedom, and law. While this is not what America is about, it is the way we come off, and just like in the election...perception is everything. We need to win back the support of those countries which previously saw America as the world leader across the board. We need to be more diplomatic and not ready to start a war at every single move in the world we see as "un-American". This is important not only to win back the favor of the world community, this will also allow us, when needed, to be able to stand firm and use the threat of force. Iran may become one of these scenarios. With it's persistence in developing weapon's-grade nuclear power and denouncement of Israel, Iran may very well be our next war. An Obama Administration would be open to dialogue with the Iranian government, and while this may seem absurd to many, it is important that we explore all peaceful means of negotiation before engaging in a conflict with Iran. The stakes in Iran are much higher then Iraq. We are talking about a nuclear war, most likely beginning with the elimination of Israel, then the entrance of Russia and China, which ties directly into the next two talking points, Europe and Asia.

Europe: Even here, we have lost favor among many former steadfast allies. While England remains at our side, we have seen a weakening in relations with countries like Spain, France, Germany, and Russia. The United States, at one time, could always count on it's friends throughout Europe to support and aid us. However, with a sharp decline in favorability of the United States Government among it's citizens, European countries have had to tip-toe the line of standing by the U.S. vs. public opinion at home. We need to earn back the trust of the world community, and lead by example instead of leading by force. Russia is slowly slipping backwards toward the Soviet Era. With Vladimir Putin in charge, a former operative of the KGB, it is plausible we could be facing a new Cold War. Align this with a war in Iran, North Korea, and the emergence of China as an economic super-power, and the United States could find itself backed into a corner. The Bush administration spread our military to thin and is trying to tackle everything at once. An Obama administration would recall our forces, reload, take care of business at home while exploring diplomatic remedies with countries such as Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, etc. If these remedies fail, then our forces will be well rested and ready to deploy, our economy will be in better shape to fund a war, and perhaps the most key-component to any war...public opinion...will be strong in support of our government and troops because we will have sought all other forms of negotiation before moving forward with military action, and, a sound economy and strong domestic policy will keep main street happy. When main street is happy, they back the government, the belief being if the government is taking care of it's own at home, it's doing the right thing abroad. Our troops and government will have the support of it's people, and the benefit of favorable public opinion around the world. This is the direction an Obama administration will lead us toward.

Asia: North Korea simply must not be allowed to further develop a nuclear program with the intentions of producing WMD's that it would use to strike any one of a dozen targets. Kim Jong Il is perhaps one of the most unstable leaders in the world today. There is no telling who, when, or where he may strike. He is ready to align himself with any other major world power who shares his position against the United States. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Castro in Cuba, China, Iran, even Russia...all possible allies of North Korea if it comes down to World War III. We must also look to southeast Asia, where a growing number of radical groups, muslim included, are growing in numbers and threaten to make the War on Terror more difficult to fight. An Obama administration will focus on eliminating those threats by allocating the resources needed to fight these groups and end their hold on the freedoms of those they try to oppress. At the same time, as in the middle east, we need to understand why these groups are fighting us, and ensure we do not add fuel to the fire and globalize the situation. The United States must stand it's ground, but not at the expense of destabilizing the world court of public opinion.

Energy: Bottom line: The United States MUST eliminate it's dependency on foreign oil.We have the resources to supply ourselves, it is time to locate and tap-in to our own sources of oil. This however, is not the answer to this issue. We must use this measure as a transition phase to move to powering our homes, vehicles, and cities with alternative fuels. Solar, wind, hydro-electric, hybrids using ethanol, carbon, natural gas, etc. eventually must replace oil/gasoline powered machines. This will address both economic and ecological issues. Supplying our own oil will greatly reduce the cost of fuel to the American consumer, while generating billions of dollars into the economy. The national deficit would instantly begin to shrink due to an enormous surplus in the federal budget. More funds would be available to address health care, education, homeland security, and a crumbling housing market and credit/mortgage crisis. American dollars would no longer strengthen the economies of countries who either support terror organizations or who publicly are adversaries this country. While all of this is happening, we need to significantly enhance the size of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In the event of a global crisis, either man-made or natural, the United States must be able to supply adequate amounts of oil/fuel to Americans without it dramatically affecting our economic stability. One major strike by a hurricane disrupting the production of fuel should not send prices sky-rocketing over night. Supplies should be readily available in times of crisis without any perceived disruption of output. Having such a surplus of fuel will eliminate the need for oil companies to raise prices for the consumer. While oil companies will argue they do not control the cost of oil, this is determined by OPEC, OPEC will tell you on it's website that it does not cause the variable prices of oil...that it is controlled by the taxation of importing countries. Oil companies can not justify record profits over the past 8 years while seeing prices soar to their highest levels ever. Every time a hurricane hits the United States Coast, going back to 2004, you have seen gas prices soar on speculation of output disruption, damage to the infrastructure of our refineries, and perhaps most damaging...the FEAR injected into every citizen within 1000 miles of a strike that prices will rise...so you better buy now...before it's all gone...and you can't get anymore. The result, prices increase every fifteen minutes, supplies deminish, and along with a brief disruption in supply...gas stations are lined with cars out of gas, waiting for more to come. It's a monopoly around the throat of every American. An Obama administration will work to release this grasp the oil industry has on us allowing the American consumer to purchase reasonably affordable gasoline while cleaning up the environment and eliminating billions of dollars in needless spending on imported oil.

The Economy: The past two weeks have been some of the worst days, economically, in our history. A whole new approach on stabilizing our economy must be drawn up. After a $700 Billion "rescue plan" or "bail-out", however you choose to label it, passed into law, we must recognize this is only the first step in ending this economic downfall. Credit was too easy to come by, large amounts of credit in fact. Amounts beyond the means of many who sought to buy lavish homes, cars, and other novelties. We were told the economy would keep growing, the value of our homes would continue to increase, interest rates would stay low, and even with a slight decline in income, you could maintain your mortgage payment. What they didn't prepare for was people lying about their incomes when applying for loans...resulting in excessive credit lines being issued. They didn't count on the housing market collapse, a rapid decline in our economy which not only affected main street, it crippled Wall Street. They didn't count on consumers being "raped" of their hard-earned incomes from multiple directions...including the government, oil companies, CEO's of some of the largest banks, businesses, and industries in the world. Now after the dust clears, they wanted us to spend now over $850 Billion to bail'em out...and the sad part is we had to do it. But what follows is more important. There must be strict oversight on the proportioning of that bail-out check. CEO's should be held accountable for mis-operating their businesses, losing their pensions, 401 K's, bonuses...all forms of the "golden parachutes" you hear about in the media. An Obama Administration...which is supported by Warren Buffet, perhaps one of the greatest businessman/investors/economic geniuses of our time, would eliminate the policy of the last eight years...which essentially applied the policy of "trickle-down economics". This policy essentially states that you allow the free-market system to work on it's own, with little regulation, with tax-breaks for the wealthy so that they in turn have even MORE money to create a few more jobs with average wages for a small portion of our citizens...while, due to even more tax breaks, they will out-source, at great cost-reduction, many of the jobs they should make available right here at home. The result, the top 5% of citizens in this country will make even more money while paying less taxes. Main street will once again be hit with the tax burden, and the economy remains stagnant. It does so because you must generate wealth to see an economy grow. If 95% of our country is left out of the loop in regards to attaining wealth...assests...savings....then the U.S. will be faced with the same economic issues until ultimately it collapses. An Obama Administration will give tax breaks to main street, 95% of Americans will see anywhere from a $1500-$5000 tax break, while the wealthy will be asked to do the patriotic thing...as main street has in this current crisis by giving the elite $700 Billion, by paying more in taxes then they are currently. And while it may be a significant increase to 5% of this country, the focus is elevating the lower and middle classes so they can generate more savings which will allow them to spend more...driving the economy forward. In-and-of-itself, this also tackles the credit crisis. Americans are currently using record credit limits to pay for everyday items, dining out, gasoline, etc. Putting more cash in the consumers pocket will allow them to spend cash, not credit...further stabilizing one major broken aspect of our economy in it's current state. As we stabilize this crisis and pay off our debt, we will begin to see areas we can tap to continue paying out social security.. We must tackle this issue soon before it blows up in our face and makes the current crdeit/mortgage crisis seem like a walk in the park.

These are the issues facing you America, and I have in short detail given you just a few of the ways Barack Obama plans on picking up the pieces of the last eight years and getting America back on the right track. There is hope for mainstreet, and..."yes, we can" as citizens take back our country and put it in the hands of the one candidate who will get the job done. God bless our country, and most important, make sure this November 4th...you VOTE Barack Obama for President of the United States of America!!!

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