Hi Everyone! I'm just trying my hand at a website--hoping to promote the idea that we not only have to support Obama, but give him a Congress.

Obama has been able to do a lot for the country, but he could have done much more if he had a sympathetic Congress to work with.

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Art's Door-to-Door Election Flyer

Hi. Haven't had much time for this website. I put most of my electioneering time into voter registration--until October 16th, the last day of registration for the coming election in New Jersey. Then I began working on a flyer and going door-to-door in my election district; I'm the district's municipal/county committeeman. (My wife is the committeewoman.)

And the storm is taking it's toll. We're staying with the in-laws, since we have no electricity. I'm driving back to my district each day to finish knocking on doors--and I'll have to knock, since all the electric doorbells are not functioning.

(Yes, I did manage to take the sukkah down before the storm.)

But the point of this post is to share the flyer. I'm still revising it, but the following is what I have now:

Some of Obama's Accomplishments

Prevented a Depression.

Stimulated the economy (as much as possible in the face of an obstructive Congress).

Affordable healthcare.

Kept student loan interest rates low.

Troops out of Iraq & bin Laden out of business.

Most advanced technologies to Israel (Iron Dome, etc.) to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge, while actively encouraging Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement.

Transportation/infrastructure bill passed. (More jobs.)

Immigration reform--a path for "child illegals."

LGBT civil rights.

Some Reaction to First Debate

Ineffective economic path?

Romney complained about the ineffectiveness of the economic path we are on.
Sure, the economy is not in great shape. But, that's because the Republican Congress did all it could to prevent Obama from stimulating the economy. He managed some, but with a supportive Congress, we'd be in much better shape.

Should not increase taxes on big business?

Big business already has plenty of money. But it will not invest and hire more, unless the rest of us have enough money to buy things from it. That means we have to follow the ideas of John Maynard Keynes--when the economy is down, the government spends money (and properly, if necessary, goes into deficit) to get money into the pockets of the general consumer, so that they can make demands on business--which will then respond with more hiring to meet the demand.

Once the economy is roaring ahead, then the government can begin to cut deficits--and to control inflation. The U.S. Republicans and the German government in Europe have got it wrong--demanding less government spending and deficit reduction now. In Europe, that has sent the economies into a tailspin. Obama has managed to keep our economy healthier than that, but it's hard, given that the Republicans are standing in the way of further remedial action.

An illustration: Is it really better for teachers, police and fire fighters to remain unemployed--eking out a temporary living on unemployment insurance, instead of doing their jobs of educating our children and protecting us from crime and fire--and spending money to stimulate the economy as well?

Bypassing state creativity with domineering federal controls?

Does not the Affordable Healthcare Act allow the states to shape their own healthcare insurance exchanges?

Obama is not bipartisan enough?

Come on! His Affordable Healthcare Act is based on Republican Mitt Romney's Massachusetts plan.

From the beginning of his presidency, Obama has tried to work with the Republicans. But, from the beginning of his presidency, the Republicans have explicitly said they would not cooperate with him, doing everything to make sure he fails, so that he will not be reelected for a second term.

The Republicans had two choices:

1. To oppose Obama at every turn, even if his policies were good for the country, so that the country would vote for them in the next election, or

2. Work with Obama. If so, sure, he'd have a better shot at being reelected. But the Republicans could also run a positive campaign against him--saying that his success was due to their cooperation and ideas. And, of course, with this second option the country would be better off.

Romney as Etch-A-Sketch

Hard not to notice that all-of-a-sudden, Romney was all over himself caring about the 47% of Americans that he had earlier written off. There's a lot of political science literature on this kind of candidate. Play to the extreme primary voters to get the nomination and then turn over a new leaf for the more moderate voters who only come out for the general election.

Will be back for more

Thanks everyone for reading what I've so far put up on this website. I'm really new at this. Like I tried real hard to import a document from the outside, but couldn't make it happen. Still learning.

Have to run and reinforce my sukkah before sundown. I’m afraid of a wind blowing it away. It’s sort of built exactly like a box kite.