The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

I browsed this book of lies and half-truths from the man with the messiah complex. Barry O. has no clue as to what makes America great. His election would destroy our economy. With higher taxes and more government regulation on the horizon, what business would want to invest in the future (except maybe trial lawyers). Barry O. would hurt our education system with more political correctness and less true learning.
Barry O. would weaken our military and support every anti-American thug and communist around the world. Our country would be left wide open to unrestricted illegal immigration. This guy is a true empty suit who would be the most liberal President ever. If you have any intelligence at all, you will never follow B. Hussein Obama. Obama is a disaster waiting to happen.

Wow. This is one smart and insightful guy. I understand that he does his own writing (which is unusual for anyone in Washington). He really has a beautiful vision of America. One where we welcome diversity of opinion an are no longer polarized. I can't imagine anyone not voting for him after reading this one book.

The book immediately held me with a beautiful description of the Senate chamber, followed by an analysis of how it operates. Mr. Obama writes in a warm, distinctive tone that instantly takes you into its confidence. In contrast to political books that sound like they were written by a campaign strategist, there is an authentic voice here. (Note to politicians: it helps if you actually write your own books!)

In Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama tells us what he thinks about the two party system, the economy, the military, the constitution, the American family, diplomacy/foreign policy, race relations, and faith. Each chapter begins with a revealing personal account, then ties his life to the greater American experience, and finally gives specific policy solutions.

"Opportunity" is Obama's chapter on economic matters. It begins with a visit he paid to Google headquarters. Obama has a novelist's eye for detail, making me feel like I was there with him, although the policy discussions can at times get a little dry. He also describes a visit he paid to billionare Warren Buffet, who asks why "Washington continued to cut taxes for people in his income bracket when the country was broke." Buffet tells him, "I did a calculation the other day. I've never used tax shelters [yet] I'll pay a lower effective tax rate this year than my recpetionist. I pay a lower rate than the average American." Moreover, "Between 1971 and 2001, while the median wage and salary income of the average worker showed no gain, the income of the top hundredth of a percent went up almost 500 percent." Obama vows to change this. He begins his policy discussion by posing a crucial question: What is the role of government in a free market? He answers this by looking back at American history and noting a) how has government traditionally dealt with the economy and b) which of these policies have worked, and which haven't? He agrees with "Hamilton's and Lincoln's basic insight that the resources and power of the national government can fascilitate, rather than supplant, a vibrant free market." He criticizes the economic policies of the last few years (Reaganomics). The Bush Administration and Republican-controlled Congress "have pushed successive rounds of tax cuts, but have refused to make tough choices to control spending." The result is a govrnment severely in the red. Obama promotes pay-as-you-go policies. (The need for this becomes obvious when we consider that the Republicans didn't pay for a single cent of the Iraq War, but charged it to the national credit card. Who is going to pay for the war?) Here's a sampling of some of Mr. Obama's policy views: "America can't compete simply by erecting trade barriers and raising the minimum wage." (However, he also says that wages need to keep pace with inflation.) "An experienced, highly qualified, effective teacher should earn $100,000 at the peak of his or her career...those willing to teach in the toughest urban schools should be paid even more. [But] teachers need to become more accountable for their performance--and school districts need to have greater ability to get rid of ineffective teachers." He justifies this pay raise for teachers by noting that the best thing we can do for students is have the best minds teaching them. "Bankruptcy laws should be amended to move pension beneficiaries to the front of the creditor line so that companies can't just file for Chapter 11 to stiff workers." "Health insurance can't just run through employers anymore. It needs to be portable." "We can only compete if our government [invests in the American people]." "Once your drapes cost more than the average American's yearly salary, then you can afford to pay a bit more in taxes." We must stop running "up the national credit card" for the benefit of multinational corporations, especially when it's the average American who gets stuck with the bill. We must "close loopholes that let corporations get away without paying taxes."

His chapter on foreign policy begins with a vivid account of the years he spent in Indonesia, where his mom taught English at the U.S. embassy. He recounts how insurgencies that were funded and supported by the U.S. led to a military dictatorship that slaughtered "between 500,000 and one million people, with 750,000 others imprisoned or forced into exile." He recounts how the new U.S.-backed government led to prosperity, but also to a host of other problems, eventual instability, and the rise of radical Islam in Indonesia. He relates this to our foreign policy in the Middle East. Mr. Obama writes, "Osama bin Laden understands that he cannot incapacitate the U.S. in a conventional war. What he and his allies can do is inflict enough pain to provoke a reaction of the sort we've seen in Iraq--a botched, ill-advised U.S. military incursion into a Muslim country." This chapter helped me understand why Barack rufuses to praise the surge. He knows that many of the ill effects fester out of sight and effect consequences years later, despite what may look good in the short-term. Barack's foreign policy mission is to "incapacitate terrorist networks AND win the global battle of ideas" among our allies. He argues that the U.S. has the "unilateral right to defend itself against attack." He even argues that "we have the right to take unilateral military action to eliminate an IMMINENT threat." But he argues that Saddam was not an imminent threat to the U.S. or its allies; therefore, a unilateral preemptive war was not justified.

I wish I had room to go into more detail. Mr. Obama gets very specific about policy. He also gets personal. Of course, people have the right to disagree with Mr. Obama's positions, but to claim that he takes no positions is nothing but politically motivated nonsense. I read George W. Bush's book (which actually was ghost written by Karen Hughes), and Obama's is many times more personal and specific.

I listened twice and I am still not certain about the real message.

Had I read this knowing nothing about Obama I would probably give it a higher rating because he can indeed write. But knowing it is supposed to be nonfiction and that he blatantly lies about his past and omits much of the thuth...that he is no reformer but the dirtiest of Chicago politicians...I must give him a failing grade. Should he take up fiction...which is actually what he is trying to sell...he will do quite well. As I said he is a smooth writer and you will doubtless enjoy the narrative. Just do not believe it. Glad I borrowed my copy.