I recently had a conversation with a good friend of mine about Barack Obama. When he told me that Obama represents “change” and a break with the past, I agreed. I said that Hillary Clinton has been around forever and people are tired of the Clintononian will to power. Many Democrats are embarrassed by their racial comments and attempts to divide minority groups against each other for their own political purposes.
But if Barack Obama is going to change things, shouldn’t we talk about the direction he will take the country if elected? Too many of his enthusiastic, young supporters have no clue what he has voted for or against during his years as a state senator in Illinois or as a United States Senator.

One of the most comprehensive websites for such voting records is OnTheIssues.org

A quick glance at this website shows us that Obama voted against banning partial birth abortion, a most gruesome procedure that is akin to infanticide. He also opposed a bill that would require parental notification for minors that get abortions across state lines.

Obama has voted YES on banning exploration for oil in Alaska. So when he talks about weaning us from our dependence on foreign oil, how serious can he be? If he doesn’t support increasing the domestic supply of oil and gas, how does he expect us to use less foreign energy and keep our own prices down?

Obama has recently been part of a growing Democrat cacophony of free trade bashing, along with Hillary Clinton. He voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and has indicated he would amend the North American Free Trade Agreement. Never missing an opportunity to reward the unions, he supports doing away with secret ballots for union organizing, which would only allow more union intimidation of workers.
Obama voted YES on giving illegal aliens Social Security benefits. He also supports raising taxes on legal residents to pay for the Social Security shortfall. At the same time, he voted against stopping the raid on the Social Security Trust Fund! This means that Obama would rather raise taxes on the rest of us than make sure that the money meant for Social Security is applied to those entitled to legal Social Security benefits.

Obama has secured millions in pork barrel projects, including $3 million for Chicago Parks and $1 million to the GoGirlGO! Chicago Initiative. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. He has directed taxpayer dollars to pay for projectors at a planetarium and renovating entire buildings in his district.
Obama voted against repealing the death tax, against repealing the alternative minimum tax, supports repealing capital gains taxes, voted NO on extending the capital gains and dividend tax cuts and is rated a 100% liberal by the left-wing Citizens for Tax Justice.

I will continue to post information on Obama’s votes and public statements in the quixotic hope that at least some of his emotionally charged supporters will begin to think about what his presidency will mean for their pocketbooks, the economy as a whole, our foreign policy and our culture.

The Washington Times reports today that many military leaders are concerned about the potential election of Barack Obama as president. Here is a quote from General John Keane, who was an architect of “the surge” in U.S. forces in Iraq.

“Anyone who is advocating a precipitous pullout of U.S. forces, believing this will be a catalyst for political progress, does not understand the realities of Iraq and the minds of the key political leaders,” Gen. Keane told The Washington Times. “The U.S. military presence is the glue that is holding things together in Iraq and is the fundamental reason for the recent political progress. If you remove this presence, the political leaders in Iraq will believe they are on their own and will fall prey to their own fears and paranoia. … They will bunker down and the political progress will come to a dead stop.”

Obama’s inexperience, lack of military service and tired liberal rhetoric on Iraq does not bode well in a matchup against Senator McCain. I have been reading Obama’s article in Foreign Affairs where he lays out his foreign policy views, and I must say that I am not impressed. His plan for combating al Qaeda and other Islamists? World socialism. He wants to pour billions and billions of dollars into more foreign aid for education, health care and jobs in the Arab/Muslim world. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of Islamist terrorism and I think the American people will find this to be a ridiculous position.