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Barack Obama's Entrepreneurial Campaign Contradicts His Bureaucratic Policies

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My parents were born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, and I grew up near Scranton. Jack's comment is spot on. Congressmen lard up the area (Dan Flood and Joe McDade come to mind) and the area becomes a Federal dependency.
My standard reply to people who query my humble beginnings is that I am from NE PA and it's a good place to be from.

Don H of WA 8:05AM November 13, 2008

"...that the Democrats tend to produce better political entrepreneurs while Republican politicians tend to be stodgily bureaucratic..."
In my opinion, that observation is ubsiqeqown and packwarqs. The Republicans are well noted for the entrepreneurial, no government involvement, self made man of politics status quo for many years. It was the Reagan years that provided the prosperity of anti-stodgy, but dignified, freedom from the bureaucratic meddling weight the Democrats are known for.
Now, when it comes to party time without personal responsibility, the Dems are past masters and I think that is where the idea of stodgy Republicans originates.
For The Assuming Traitor of XX: 'treacherous assumption' is sort of like 'diabolical coincidence' 'cept different.

mart of KS 2:32AM November 13, 2008

Did you really say, in a public forum, that journalists beat up on Palin because they "wanted" her to abort her child? Did you say that? If so, can you please name names? Or is that just a trashy piece of demagoguery?

Keith Kennedy of VT 2:10PM November 12, 2008

Phil Berg / Andy Martin Updates
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November 10 - We The People Foundation will release an Ad in the USA Today regarding this very topic and in support of Phil J. Berg, the man behind Berg v Obama. It will actually run the entire week of November 10th.
November 17th - Phil Berg & Robert L. Schulz (Founder & Chairman of WTP) will hold a press briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
November 18th - Andy Martin’s case: Martin v Obama will be heard on this date in Honolulu, Hawaii.
December 1st - Barack Obama has until this day to release his original long birth certificate from “vault” (located in Honolulu, Hawaii) to the court.
If or when this occurs, Phil Berg will then have to submit a response.
December 15th (or perhaps 13th), the Electoral College meets to vote for the next President of the United States.
January 6th, 2009 - The new Congress will be sworn in. The Democrats obviously have a comfortable majority, but it will not be available to have a say about this birth certificate drama.
In the meantime, SHOULD the SCOTUS find that Barack Obama isn’t eligible—those who knew this fraud will deserve punishment and the Democrats will pay a heavy price.

of IL 6:51PM November 11, 2008

I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but it has to be either ignorance or malice that leads you to ignore the fact that it has not been the Democrats, but rather the Republicans that have been the big spenders, responsible for the vast bulk of the national debt.

David 12:35PM November 11, 2008

"treacherwous assumption" means that you are so close to the truth, he has to start calling you names. Whiner,dummy, scardy cat, bad predictor of the future. The closer you get the worse the labels. Greedy, bigot, racist, etc.

gw of NJ 11:35AM November 11, 2008

The number of ever increasing symbolic candidates is alarming. If these people had to acutally create a resume of accomplishments, they would be laughed out of the private sector.
Upstate NY's private sector is heavily dependent on Small Business which will be decimated by the incumbants and his cronies policies.
With NYC on the brink of colapse and NY not far behind, the Empire state will be doomed to servitude and working for public sector empires which are not self-sustaining with no products to market except unionism and mediocraty.
Our days as the Empire State are numbered.

Chris of NY 9:27AM November 11, 2008

what the heck is a 'treacherous assumption'?

The Assuming Traitor 12:45AM November 11, 2008

Michael Barone, like many aggrieved conservative whiners, assumes full comprehension of Obama's proposals. Since Obama is not yet inaugurated, these are treacherous assumptions. Why not wait until proposals are actually sent to Congress, instead of frightening yourselves with phantoms?
If Conservatives are so good at predicting the future, how come they screwed up so badly in the election?

PanSkeptic of NY 9:59PM November 10, 2008

This is an interesting analysis. Many of the smaller cities in central and western PA seem trapped in a similar cycle - the private sector was purged by onerous labor and regulatory costs, which lead to compensatory public investment, which shifted the distribution of employment opportunities and incentives, leading to demographic changes resulting in a local population dependent on public funds and without the skills necessary to attract private sector employers.
Scranton and Wilkes Barre are good examples. Scranton has the urban infrastructure and commercial capacity of a city with a much larger population. But the local economy is almost entirely dependent on state and local government, or government financed entities. Young people who remain in the area aspire to secure public sector jobs, because the alternative is often insecure low paying retail or service work. These facts are especially striking when you recognize that the city is situated near a major commercial transport hub, and a stones throw from NYC and affluent regions of northern NJ. But it's not hip enough to attract young professionals from these regions. And the local political and labor establishments seem unwilling to make accommodations to attract private investment, unless it's bundled with public financing or some form of public sponsorship.

Jack from PA of PA 8:52PM November 10, 2008