Disillusion

Remember how Obama was going to save us all? He inspired everyone, provided hope, gave us a reason to believe that change in Washington, D.C. was a real possibility, not a pipe dream. Well, he hasn't been in office very long, though oddly it seems like an eternity. But, his accomplishments -- I mean REAL accomplishments -- have been few and far between.

Yes, he's been nagged by a bad economy, the remnants of George W. Bush's endless stream of bad policies. But Obama also has failed to do the one thing that a President needs to do: LEAD. Instead of driving the bus, he's riding on it, and too often he's sitting in the back. Health care reform was needed, and although the law that was passed was an improvement, it didn't go far enough. It also contains so many loopholes that most people aren't going to notice it.

The same goes for tax cuts for the middle class. Yep, he lowered taxes for many people, but it was a minor reduction, piddled out in nickels and dimes from one paycheck to the next. He did that by design so people would spend the money and help lift the economy. But taxes need to be LOWER for the middle class and HIGHER for the rich.

I know all you Tea Partiers think that no one should pay anything. Or have some misguided belief thanks the shit that spews from Glenn Beck's mouth, that taxes have gone up for everyone. They haven't. Glenn Beck would also have you believe that our founding fathers were against taxation of all people. This, too, is untrue. He was in favor of taxing the rich, asking them to support the poor as a means of making our country stronger.

To quote Thomas Jefferson:

"The rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the General Government are levied. ... Our revenues liberated by the discharge of the public debt, and its surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings."

Glenn Beck and the Tea Party folks are driving this country to ruin. Obama needs to take a stand and correct their skewed view of history. He needs to push his agenda forward and start making a case for why his ideas will work rather thank shrinking from the politics and allowing the right to drive the debate. He needs to do it quickly, too, before we our hearts are filled with disillusion and we once again believe that voting doesn't matter.