The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 12)

p>Hillary would have been irritating and I don't like McCain any more than the next guy, but Obama will be a disaster for this country. He's the worst kind of politician: the kind who believes his own press. br> -- Andrew J. Macfadyen, M.D. br> Omaha, Nebraska /p>

So let me see if I've got even a hint of what Philip Klein has said. Other than the tax disaster and government controlling our health via a national healthcare system Obama would create, other than weakening our country's security, other than these things, things might not be so bad with Obama?

BTW: Klein may think it's "another good sign" that "Obama has reversed his progressive stances on public financing, trade, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and gun control, among others..."

But, respectively, if Klein and others actually believe anything that issues from Obama's mouth that's anywhere right of his extremist leftist positions is anything but politically expedient hot air, then I suggest they've either got a serious blind spot in their discernment and/or they're kidding themselves.

p>Given how Obama's lunged right recently and how he's changed positions so quickly and frequently that not even his advisers can agree on what's what, how can anyone believe anything he says? br> -- C. Kenna Amos br> Princeton, West Virginia /p>

With the possibility of an Obama Administration becoming more likely, I think Philip Klein's article is timely. And while it may an exercise in futility to attempt to predict what an Obama presidency would actually do, I think it is worthwhile to at least look at the economic ramifications. I know many Democrats and "moderates" will not be swayed by predictions of disaster, as they can point to 8 years of Bill Clinton (through rose colored glasses, of course) and the post 1995 growth and the subsequent internet revolution. However, the economic scene is totally different in 2008 than 1992, and demographics may finally pose the biggest challenge no matter who is president.

Philip Klein does point out the dangers that an Obama presidency may pose in terms of enacting Universal Coverage, and allowing the Bush Tax Cuts to expire. The obvious combination of a massive tax hike (which is what the expiration means) and the incremental addition of hundreds of billions in new government liabilities make such a scenario unlikely from a political point of view. As Klein pointed out, Obama is much more sensitive to the political middle than his detractors realize. Wall St, contrary to many people's perceptions, is filled with Democrats. The memory of the 1993 Clinton increase (passed by the Senate by one vote) is still vivid, and in my opinion set the stage for the Gingrich Revolution more than did Hillary's foray into Health Care. Back then as now the Democrats had working majorities in both Houses; the taxpayers punished the Democrats a year later. The Democrats on Wall St wish for an Obama presidency to succeed, not fail. The combination of large tax increases (one also cannot forget the creep of the AMT on the middle class) and additional spending at a time when the economy is on the cusp of a recession is not only foolish but political suicide.

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