Friday, April 20, 2012

Compare and Contrast, II - Class Warfare

IS THIS BLOG ON?

“I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Michelle wasn’t, either,” the president said to a crowd of 400 students at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio. “But somebody gave us a chance. Just like these folks up here are looking for a chance.”
Of course, the Obama fortune is estimated to be around $11 million dollars, and his children were born -practically – with silver spoons intheir mouths. They’ve grown up with privileged and excess of which most of us can only dream.
Obama was given “a chance”? Obama had some sort of golden path laid out for him; one that lead to spectacular achievement from very little accomplishment.
Obama insinuates that Romney doesn’t understand the struggles that most Americans face, but he – of course – does. This feeds the fantasy story he’s created of some hard-luck life that he didn’t live. He grew up rather privileged, to be honest, and attended an elite prep school paid for by his well-off grandparents. After that, he was able to attend schools that pretty much guaranteed future success.
Having graduated Punahao, Obama went to Occidental -not cheap by any means- , then on to Columbia, and then Harvard. None of these schools are attended by average or middle class Americans. The income distribution for all three is skewed towards the top 10 % percent of the social ladder.
As a couple,  the Obama’s didn’t exactly live the life of your typical struggling young family, living in a Hyde Park before they moved to their mansion in Kenwood. His daughters attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (tuition -starting at $23,526 per year) , and now attend Sidwell Friends (starting at $31,960 per year).
But, no silver spoon, remember?
The problem with Obama’s class warfare argument is that it’s based on a lie. His redistributive policies don’t work, and he – personally – has NO idea what it’s like to struggle. What it’s like to attend a horrible school that won’t open any doors for you later. What it’s like to wonder if you’re going to be able to afford those braces your kids need, or worry about the rising price of beef.
He doesn’t know what it’s like to have to tell this kids “No, we can’t go on vacation this year. ” :
“The fact of the matter is, I think if you look at my track record, I’m raising a family here. When we travel, we got to travel through Secret Service, and Air Force One, that’s not my choice. I think most folks understand how hard I work and how hard this administration is working on behalf of the American people,” Obama told KMOV of St Louis.
Yea, buddy. I’m raising a family here too.
Via Mare – this rant:
You weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth but you sure as hell have one now… bought and paid for with the money of the American people. You have plenty of silver spoons today but it is hard to see where you ever in your life had a productive job.
*****

No, you may not have been born with a silver spoon in your mouth but you have had the entire world handed to you on a silver platter. You may not been born with silver but you have gamed the system to, without producing a goddamned thing, create a lifetime supply of silver, gold and power.
Your little girls sure as hell have silver spoons in their mouths. Are you going to begrudge them that? Are they to be held in contempt for it? Or is the contempt for others “born with silver spoons” hypocritical? The American people want to know.
Now, just because I’m pissed off, here’s your “Compare and Contrast” for the day.
– Spring Break 2012, Malia Obama in Mexico with 25 Secret Service agents.- added as update
– President’s Day 2012, Michelle and the first daughters in Aspen, Colorado to ski.
– Christmas 2011, the first family in Hawaii for an extended vacation.
– Summer 2011, in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., for the annual beach break.
– June 2011, the first lady, her mother and daughters traveled to South Africa and Botswana.
– President’s Day 2011, the first lady and first daughters travel to Vail to ski.
– Christmas 2010, in Hawaii.
– August 2010, the first family traveled to Panama City Beach, Fla., for some sun and fun at the beach.
– August 2010, Obama spent the weekend alone in Chicago for his 49th birthday bash.
– August 2010, the first lady and daughter Sasha traveled to Spain for a mother-daughter vacation.
– August 2010, summer vacation again at Martha’s Vineyard.
– July 2010, the first family went to Mount Desert Island, Maine.
– May 2010, the first family had a four-day trip to Chicago.
– March 2010, first lady and daughter spend Spring Break in New York City.
– Christmas 2009, Hawaii again for the annual break.
– August 2009, at Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon for a short vacation.
– August 2009, their first summer vacation as first family at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
The O’Brien family Vacation:
- Two separate one-week camping trips to Pennsylvania (2009 and 2011)
- grand total of 8 weekends (over the course of three years) skiing in Michigan (done as inexpensively as possible)
- One long weekend away to a Bed and Breakfast in Michigan (2011)
The cost for some of the Obama vacations can be found here – hey, he’s just raising a family folks.
This entry was posted on April 19, 2012 at 9:08 am

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Bee's Note:
The "O'Brien's family vacation" sounds similar to my married son's vacations with his family.  As a matter of fact, for the past two years, he's down to one week camping with his younger children, while his two oldest sons no longer can afford the camping trips (which they loved!), as they will be working to help pay college expenses.  This year, he found a camp ground closer to home, as the price of gas is so expensive, he is cutting down on travel time.
I have a feeling that between the costs of everything, including gas, food, etc., there will be fewer families able to take a vacation this summer.  
It never bothered me to hear about vacations my Presidents were able to take; but when you consider President Bush's idea of a vacation was spending time on his ranch in Texas for a few weeks and compare that to what the Obama family is spending, as they go whipping around the world every few months, ... not even spending their money in the USA, it does make me think of that old expression: "Let them eat cake".