Afghan War, Debt Impasse and Obamacare Loophole

Dear Mark: I'm torn about the Afghanistan War and the president's decision to begin the troop pullout. I am war weary, as are many other Americans, but I also want a victory over the Taliban and al-Qaida. What should we do? — Weary Woman in Wichita

Dear Weary: Win is what we should do. The problem is that Present Obama voted "present" on the Afghan War and is fighting it with half measures in order to please both sides of the political spectrum. Last year, Obama tried to look like a "hawk" by approving the surge but also tried looking like a "dove" by giving the generals 10,000 fewer troops than were actually needed to do the job right.

The administration claims it would always look at the situation on the ground before making a decision, so President Obama's announcement did not surprise me. Unfortunately the "situation" he was looking at involved his re-election campaign and some new polling data that showed a majority of Americans were ready to get out of Afghanistan. Sensing a chance to score some political points, President Obama headed to the East Room of the White House to address the nation.

President Obama sounded like a decisive wartime leader when he read, I mean said, "We have put al-Qaida on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until the job is done." That statement could have inspired Gen. Patton, except for the fact that Obama contradicted himself by putting a random deadline on the war effort whether the job was done or not.

Far be it for me to sound cynical, but I believe Obama listened to his campaign advisors over his military advisors. Silly me, but it also appears coincidentally that the troop withdrawal announcement came at a time when negative economic news is pouring out faster than oily skin on Miami Beach.

Dear Mark: You always accuse the president of being gutless. Well, what have you got to say for Republican Congressman Eric Cantor and other Republican negotiators who walked out on budget talks in Washington? Our country has a serious debt problem, and now is not the time for grandstanding. Republicans need to quit whining about new taxes and get back to work. — Wanna Be Debt Free in Tennessee

Dear Wanna: I also do not like grandstanding from either party, but it looks like more of an impasse than a walkout. According to Cantor, "It is up to the president to come in and talk to the speaker." Apparently, the major obstacle to a debt reduction agreement is the insistence by Democrats that tax increases be part of the package.

Republicans are not "whining" about tax increases, as you put it. Washington does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. The best way for the government to get out of debt is to broaden the tax base through economic growth. Democrats would like to increase the taxes on the very people who produce the jobs that can get us out of this mess. That darn class envy ruins everybody's fun.

Dear Mark: With all the other issues making headlines, a glitch in Obamacare is getting little notice. Seems that 3 million middle-class Americans could inexplicably end up on Medicaid, costing us billions, due to a loophole in Obamacare. What gives? — Knew It in Newton

Dear Knew It: When you have a 2,700 page monstrosity that no representative actually read, what do you expect?

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