Conservation.

Teddy Roosevelt advocated conservation over 100 years ago. Isn't it about time that another American president do it? While the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues unabated, no one has suggested that we conserve and use less oil so that drilling would be less necessary. Not President Obama, not the governor of Louisiana, not the governor of Mississippi, not a mayor of one of those pathetic little places which rely on the fishing industry. NO ONE! Instead of politicians who have nothing in common with NASCAR nation aficionados sucking up to them for their votes, how about SOMEBODY in a responsible position pointing out how absurd it is for the United States to embrace a culture of reckless speeding, needless oil consumption, pollution and weakening our national security through continued dependence on terrorist nations for essential energy sources?

Barack Bush and/or George W. Obama

During the 2008 presidential campaign I wrote that with Democrats like Obama who needs Republicans? Maybe we should search for Obama's birth certificate so that we can compare it to that of Bush the younger to make sure that they are not the same person. Maybe do a DNA analysis to determine whether Obama is an illegitimate son of Bush the elder. There must be some explanation for why Obama's policies are those that I would have expected from Bush the younger had he not been precluded from serving a third term by a constitutional term limit. Consider:


Economy:
- bailout of the auto industry
- bailout of the financial industry
- financial leaders allowed to receive HUGE amounts of money for their incompetence and possible criminality
- high unemployment
Obama's Treasury Secretary may not have been as much of a Goldman Sachs creature as Bush's Paulson or Clinton's Rubin but Geithner could not have protected Goldman Sachs more without being investigated. OK, Obama's justice department is looking into criminal charges against the financial crooks. Bush the younger would never have considered that.


Foreign policy:
- large numbers of troops kept in Iraq with no substantial improvement
- large numbers of troops kept in Afghanistan with no substantial improvement.


Environment:
- "drill, baby, drill" re-affirmed even after the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
- "mine, baby, mine" re-affirmed even after the recent coal mine disaster that killed 29 workers.


You may think that the one major divergence was on health care. Obama's convoluted legislation ensures that the insurance industry will receive government mandated revenue. Bush the younger would embrace that. This is not change that we can believe in. It is not even change.