Obama: A Grade-A Socialist

Dear Joe Conservative: I am outraged by the executives at insurance giant AIG for accepting $165 million in bonuses. Aren't you? Those folks ran that company into the ground and are being rewarded with our money. — Bailout Bonus Burnout in Borger

Dear Burnout: The AIG bonuses at the least are unseemly, but they are a very easy whipping boy and a public relations opportunity for the Obama administration, which would make the likes of Bill Clinton extremely proud. I am outraged by the feigned outrage of Congress and President Obama, who voted for and signed the very stimulus legislation that contained the AIG bonus exemption.

Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd and Tim Geithner are all either disingenuous liars for appearing angry or incompetent nincompoops for not reading the legislation before approving it. All Americans should be outraged because both choices are unacceptable for our great country, and we deserve better leadership. Pardon me, Mr. President, but when exactly is that "change" going to occur?

Dear Joe Conservative: Everybody is grading the Obama administration based on his first 50 days in office. What grade does the all-knowing and ever-opinionated Joe Con give our president? — Pushing the Red Pencil in Purcell

Dear Pencil: As far as I'm concerned, grades are for school kids, eggs and beef. But since a bunch of school kids are running the country these days, I'll give the president a "C-".

Don't be alarmed; there are two ways of grading our new president. One can hand out grades based on what Obama's programs are doing for the country, or one can grade Obama on remaining true to who he really is, a radical liberal.

Let's look at what his proposals are doing — or, in this case, not doing — for the country. The stock market and consumer confidence have not responded positively to his plans. Candidate Obama claimed the economy was the No. 1 issue facing our country, yet the Treasury Department is still not fully staffed and its plan that was promised weeks ago to stabilize the financial sector remains a mystery.

Unemployment continues to increase, while Obama's poll numbers among Republicans and independents who voted for him have begun to decrease.

Do I even need to mention what a fiasco all of the bailouts have become? Granted, it will take time for the country to get out of this recession, but so far Obama's plans have not given our economy even a faint heartbeat of "hope." Grade "F."

On the flip side, before becoming president, Obama was rated the most liberal senator in Washington, and his proposals and executive orders have not surprised those of us who did not drink his "hope and change" Kool-Aid. His radical views and associations that were glossed over by the media are coming to fruition, culminating in the form of the most anti-capitalism, pro-abortion, tax-and-spend administration we've ever seen. Grade "A." The average of his "A" and "F" makes his overall grade a "C-".

Dear Joe Conservative: Has our governor lost his ever-loving mind — turning down $555 million from the federal government for "enhanced unemployment benefits"? I agree with the Democrats down in Austin that now is not the time to play politics with money that is being sent to Texas. Am I wrong to feel this way? — Anxious About Economy in Abilene

Dear Anxious: You are not wrong about your feelings, just misinformed. Who wouldn't want a big chunk of free money? The trouble is that nothing from Washington is free. Money coming from the federal government not only has strings attached, it has ropes, cables and chains that will cripple a state's budget, leaving it even more dependent on Washington.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and the other Republican governors who are refusing this portion of the stimulus money have legitimate concerns as to what happens when the federal money, a.k.a. our tax dollars, runs out. Be careful what you wish for — this is a Trojan horse not a gift horse. I like Perry's attitude, and to paraphrase a line from Alamo hero Davy Crockett, "You all in Washington may go to hell; I will go to Texas."

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