Letter to the President

Dear President Obama,

I am greatly disappointed, hurt and betrayed by you. When I cast my vote for you as the next president of the United States, I legitimately thought I was making the right choice. After following your campaign for almost a year, and even neglecting my girl Hillary, I was confident that you were the only person capable of moving our country in a new direction that would take us out of the dark hole we were in for eight years.

However, it is with great sorrow that I must say that you proved me wrong. Out of all the campaign promises you made, there was one that stuck out to me more than the rest. You said that once you were elected you would acknowledge the atrocities committed upon the Armenian people during the beginning of the 20th century as an act of genocide.

When I heard this statement, I thought I was finally going to have a president who would have my people’s best interest at heart. Unfortunately, on the day of the 94th anniversary of the genocide you disappointed me in a way I never thought you would.

As a first generation Armenian American, I was raised with stories from the genocide and photographic documentation that will stay with me forever. During my 13 years at a private Armenian school, the motivation was fostered in me to always keep fighting so the United States and Turkish governments would one day recognize the horrible acts committed on my people.

It has been 94 years since the beginning of the atrocities and Armenians, myself included, are still carrying on the fight for recognition. As a small nation, more prominent in the Diaspora, it is up to the young generation to make sure our ancestor’s deaths receive the recognition they deserve.

As I am writing this letter to you Mr. President I cannot help but shed a tear. You weren’t just any presidential candidate to me. I felt there was something special about you and that you didn’t possess the characteristics of the heartless politicians that have come through Washington in the past.

It pains me to say this, but I was wrong. When your politically correct statement about the Armenian Genocide was released on Friday, Armenians all over the world were remembering the 1.5 million massacred. Instead of finding the word genocide next to the word Armenian, as you vowed during your campaign, what we found was a broken promise.

Mr. President, you should be ashamed of yourself. You were praised by the people of this country during your campaign as the ultimate agent for hope and on the night of Nov. 4 you were given the opportunity to make good on the promises you made. But ever since you took office in January you haven’t been the president I hoped you would be.

Mr. President, you failed the people of this country by not sticking to your word and acknowledging the actions committed by the Ottoman Empire as genocide. You failed Armenian Americans and Armenians all over the world. Particularly, you failed me. Now you’re just another politician among the rest of the corrupt people in Washington that can’t keep their promises.

Sincerely,
Eileen Mansoorian,
Opinion Editor

Obama lied, Freedom died

"In another example of Barrack Obama’s hypocrisy, he has decided that keeping secrets is a good idea. This of course is in direct contradiction to his campaign rhetoric.

"Promises, Promises: Obama keeps some Bush (sic Government) Secrets — funny how it’s 'Bush' secrets and not 'Government' secrets. Well not really, but you can’t really expect the AP to get over their Bush derangement syndrome this soon. I am surprised they even wrote about this.

President Barack Obama’s Justice Department quietly told a federal court in Washington last week that it would not second-guess the previous administration’s decisions to withhold some information about the bureau’s Investigative Data Warehouse.

"Remember that the next time you hear that the Obama Admin wants to 'help' you. They only want to control you, and these databases will help.

'In light of all the fanfare at the highest levels of the administration about a new transparency policy, it’s remarkable that not one word of additional material has been released as a result of that new policy,' said David Sobel, the foundation’s lawyer in the case.

"The only people surprised by this are those that actually thought the Obama was telling the truth to begin with."

Obama's Latest Speech Dodges Campaign Promise to Small Businesses

"PETALUMA, Calif., April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Yesterday, President Barack Obama gave a 60-minute speech to the nation regarding the state of the economy. His speech discussed the Obama Administration's five pillars for addressing the economy, however President Obama's plans for helping America's biggest job creators, its small businesses, were conspicuously absent.

"During the campaign, President Obama said he would create millions of jobs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 98 percent of all U.S. firms have less than 100 employees, and those firms are responsible for over 98 percent of all new jobs in America. (www.asbl.com)

"To date, President Obama has given 100 percent of the stimulus funds to the top 1 percent of American firms. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, those large firms have not created one net new job since 1977.

"In his March 22, 2009 column in the New York Times, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman wrote about President Obama's plan to save the economy and stated, 'This is more than disappointing. In fact, it fills me with a sense of despair.' In March, Krugman also stated that Obama's economic policies are almost certain to fail. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/opinion/23krugman.html?_r=1)

"Since 2003, over 15 federal investigations have found that hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 corporations and thousands of other large businesses in the United States and Europe. (http://www.asbl.com/documentlibrary.html)

"Groups like the American Small Business League (ASBL) are angry with President Obama because of his refusal to make good on a February 2008 campaign promise in which he stated, 'It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.'(http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)

"Small business owners around the country are angered and disappointed that President Obama has refused to make good on his campaign promise, and has allowed an estimated $2 billion a week in federal small business contracts to be diverted to some of the largest corporations in the world, including Fortune 500 firms.

"'You don't have to be a Nobel Prize winning economist to figure this out. Small businesses create 98 percent of all new jobs. So far, not only has President Obama not given those companies a dime of the stimulus funding, but he is refusing to end blatant, widespread fraud and abuse in existing government economic stimulus programs for small businesses,' ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said."

SOURCE American Small Business League

Obama Falling Short of Promised Online Openness; Does it Matter?

"When he came into office Barack Obama made sweeping changes in favor of transparency in general and openness on the web in particular. One important promise the administration made has not been kept, however, according to a study released this week."

What was that promise? Click the link above.

Obama administration seems to share the Bush administration's love of secrecy.

"When I said that I hoped, with all of my heart, that it would only be small things that I disagreed with. Perhaps a cabinet position, or the language used in a speech, or the kind of dog the Obama's got for their kids.

"But sadly I am finding the very same things that I despised within the Bush administration occurring in this new, more 'liberal' administration.

"Defending wiretapping? Expanding the power of the government to keep it from being sued by the people whose civil rights have been trampled on? This not the change I voted for.

"I have listened to Howard Fineman's explanation twice now but it simply does not hold water for me. I voted my heart out so that these policies would be changed, that we our rights would be protected, and that those who disrespected them would be brought to justice.

"Clearly that is not going to happen.

"These are not small disappointments in the eyes of the people who voted for Barack Obama.

"Defending the claim of 'state secrets' is like a slap in the face to all of us who worked so hard to put this administration into place. Promises were made, and now they are being broken.

That is not 'change we can believe in'. That is the same old broken politic promises that we have all been subjected to time and time again."

“Is Obama Breaking His Vow Of Transparency?”

"The White House claims that President Obama’s administration will be 'the most open and transparent in history,' and announced on Friday it will convene a conference on March 12 to ensure 'transparency' in the way money from last month’s massive spending bill is distributed.

"This would be a change from the secretive way that bill rocketed into law. As a candidate for office, Mr. Obama promised he would 'not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.'

"That didn’t happen. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus bill, was approved by the Senate on a Thursday. Mr. Obama signed it on a Monday, just three days later.

"Mr. Obama also signed the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization) bill and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act without waiting the promised five days.

"Were those all 'emergency' bills? Probably not. Even the Democrat-controlled Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 8 percent of the “stimulus” spending comes in budget year 2009. If setting government spending levels in 2010, 2011, and 2012 qualifies as an emergency, it’s hard to imagine what doesn’t.

"This came after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders rushed the 1,027-page stimulus conference report to a vote and gave their colleagues only hours to read it. (A few days earlier, the House had unanimously approved a non-binding, pro-transparency measure that assured members they would have 48 hours to read the bill.)

"Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) told CNSNews.com that none of his Senate colleagues would 'have the chance' to read the final version before the vote. A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted at the time found that only 24 percent of respondents believed Congress will understand what they’re voting on.

"For an administration that promised to be the most 'transparent in history,' and for a House speaker who promised the 'most open' Congress in history, this may not be the most auspicious beginning."

When “Transparency” Means “Opacity”

"Ever get the feeling that President Obama made that 'transparency in government' promise on Opposite Day?

"Since the inauguration,

• The promise of five days of public review for bills before they become laws has conveniently become one day or less.
• Unread legislation has signed into law.
• Closed door, partisan meetings are the venue for crafting said legislation."

Earmarks: Another One Of Obama’s Broken Promises

“I will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000.

• The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama’s promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.
• This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich. Obama signed a law raising the tobacco tax nearly 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes, to $1.01. Other tobacco products saw similarly steep increases.
• Now, maybe you think that Mr. Obama only meant income taxes. Not so, in his own words: “I can make a firm pledge,” he said in Dover, N.H., on Sept. 12. “Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”
• Just for the record, I actually support cigarette taxes. But not because they produce revenue; actually studies have shown that overall they don’t. But they do reduce use of cigarettes, and as a doctor I am fully in support of that.
  

“I will allow 5 days of comment on any bill before signing it.”

• Obama broke this pledge within the first few days of his presidency. In fact, he has broken this promise on virtually EVERY BILL HE HAS SIGNED.

“No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration.”

• Great idea in concept, except it has a loophole.
• There is a waiver clause that allows former lobbyists to serve. That waiver clause has been used at least three times, and in some cases, the administration allows former lobbyists to serve without a waiver.
• And in actuality they may have to use this waiver more, because they are having trouble filling their posts with the current restrictions, especially in the Treasury Department.

“During 2009 and 2010, existing businesses will receive a $3,000 refundable tax credit for each additional full-time employee hired.”

• Died a quick death during the Stimulus negotiations with Congress.

More missing bills

"Another pair of bills have managed to garner President Obama’s signature without that fact being published on the White House website or announced to the press."

I thought we all were going to get transparency and honesty. I wonder what the media would have done if Bush, who I never voted for, acted this way.

PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama tax pledge up in smoke

"WASHINGTON (AP) - One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday.

"The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.

"This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich.

"To be sure, Obama's tax promises in last year's campaign were most often made in the context of income taxes. Not always."

Obama Contradicts Campaign Promises – Again

"With the Dow at 7,486 and unemployment at 8.1%, Mr. Obama says the economy is fundamentally sound. Does he suppose the nation won’t recall him attacking John McCain last September for saying the same thing — when the Dow was at 11,000 and unemployment at 6.2%?"

comment:
"obama’s making me ill..somebody please find a remedy"

Obama Racks Up List of Broken Promises

"The White House declined to respond to WND’s request for comment on Obama’s promises."

Obama's Confidence Game

"I don´t care what excuses Capitol Hill throws out there to deflect attention away from the President on this one. Do you mean to tell me that Obama could not take a stand and send that bill back for some trimming? At least make a show of living up to his campaign promises? Of course he could! So why won´t he? Politics as usual, knowing that one hand washes the other. I do this for you this time, and you owe me a solid next time."

False Promises: Obama Won’t Veto Pork Spending

"FROM HILLARYIS44.COM…

'The worthless Obama promise to stop earmarks will soon be broken …True to Chicago style, Obama will break his no-earmarks pledge and sign the $409.6 billion earmark laden omnibus…Obama can’t be trusted….'"

I love their sidebar:

"WHERE'S the CHANGE?

"Over 4 Months since Obama elected... has anything changed besides the date?"

'What is Obama ashamed of?'

America's third largest party asked Wednesday why President Obama enacted the $490 billion FY09 omnibus spending and its over 8,500 earmarks behind closed doors, and despite campaign promises to end earmark abuse.

"President Obama's decision to hide from the media while signing this bill isn't just a violation of his promise of transparency, it's an attempt to avoid questions about breaking another promise to end earmark abuse," said Libertarian National Committee Communications Director Donny Ferguson.

"He promised to end earmarks. He promised transparency. He promised fiscal responsibility. He didn't mean a word of it. More and more Americans realize his crippling taxes and crushing debt are prescriptions for prolonged economic suffering. Now he has to hide behind closed doors to sign his pork-stuffed plan to explode wasteful spending," said Ferguson.

Libertarians support an economic renewal plan centered on tax and regulatory relief for employers, preserving the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that blunted previous recessions and greatly simplifying the tax code for employers and taxpayers. Polls such as Rasmussen show voters prefer the Libertarian approach over the Republican and Democrat plans to increase government spending.

Commentary: Obama breaks promise on campaign finance

"One year ago, he made a promise. He pledged to accept public financing and to work with the Republican nominee to ensure that they both operated within those limits.

"Then it became clear to Sen. Obama and his campaign that he was going to be able to raise on his own far more cash than he would get with public financing. So Obama went back on his word.

"He broke his promise and he explained it by arguing that the system is broken and that Republicans know how to work the system to their advantage. He argued he would need all that cash to fight the ruthless attacks of 527s, those independent groups like the Swift Boat Veterans. It's funny though, those attacks never really materialized."

Mo' money, mo' money.

"The courageous among Obama's own supporters concede this decision was really made for one reason, simply because it was to Obama's financial advantage.

"On this issue today, former Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, an Obama supporter, writes in The New York Post, 'a hypocrite is a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue -- who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. And that, it seems to me, is what we are doing now.'

"For this last week, Sen. Obama will be rolling in dough. His commercials, his get-out-the-vote effort will, as the pundits have said, dwarf the McCain campaign's final push. But in fairness, you have to admit, he is getting there in part on a broken promise."