Nov 2, 2008

The Sneed Blog Presidential Endorsement

Someone famously observed that if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you got. However, knowing what to do isn't the same as 'doing' what to do. The first question when things go wrong should be what can I do differently? When I worked at the middle school, the guidance counselors, many of the teachers and some of the administrators, had the slogan plastered on their doors, bulletin boards, etc. Regretfully, they were unable to see that their actions caused their mediocrity. We have grown up in a country that operated on the principle that hard effort brings its own reward. Work hard and you will be rewarded. To a large extent this is still true, but slowly, that notion is being reshaped. It is as if Adam Smith's invisible hand has many of our citizens by the throat. It seems to me that more and more the people at the top have shifted from the idea that everyone can share in prosperity, to the attitude that prosperity means getting as much as you can, in any way you can. The examples of this notion are everywhere around us. Whirlpool Corporation which just announced the layoff of 5000 workers and the closure of plants in Tennessee and Oklahoma, paid its CEO Jeff Fettig, $12.94m in 2007. He will make that much again this year. Can anyone serious argue that you can get a better CEO for $13m, that you can for say, a million or two? Where is the shared pain for the guy at the top? And Jeff Fettig is one of the good guys in the CEO world. At the other end of the spectrum is Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo. This character was paid $22M and sold $121m worth of stock while the industry was melting down. His blatant wealth grab is an obscenity. Thousands of little people working in the mortgage industry had their lives savaged while Mozilo collected his riches, aided by friends in government. And this plunder extends far beyond the mortgage industry. Yesterday, one of the cashiers at work told me that her husband had been laid off from his job as a mechanic for a small car lot. She says that they have enough money to pay their rent on Monday, but after that, she doesn't know what they will do. The sellers of high priced items like cars, rely on credit to smooth out their cash flow needs. When credit dries up, payrolls cannot be met. People like this are relegated to dead end retail work, because blue collar jobs have been slashed for the last 25 years, in order to drive up profitability. Since the 1980s American industry has improved the lives of workers everywhere but in America. American CEOs and other high-level folks have grown rich, while the working class has been left to fend for itself. Government has let us down, industry has let us down and it's time for a change. Barack Obama's opponents trumpet that he is a Socialist, that he has unsavory connections, that he lacks experience or that he is a *allegation goes here*. It simply is past the time where any of that matters. People want change and he's the guy who was smart enough to figure that out first. John McCain is a centrist, running in a party that has become dominated by the far right. He is a decent man, dedicated public servant and an American hero. But challenging times demand new ideas. So, when people go to the polls on Tuesday, I think they will vote to change what we are doing, in order to change what we are getting. In normal times Barack Obama would not be my cup of tea. He is a bit too inexperienced and a bit too far to the left to suit me. These are not normal times, so I am supporting Barack Obama for President. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky

13 comments:

tut-tut said...

Good for you; so much of my job's components are now "offshore," "outsourced," and the like that my colleagues are moving downward. I have been for Obama since the primaries, but I hope change is coming.

Terri@SteelMagnolia said...

I personally don't like either candidate ... I don't like them

A LOT!

but I had to ask myself...

would I rather shoot myself in the head or the stomach?

I picked McCain/Palin.

But my husband and I agree that the Republicans did it to themselves and they deserve the spanking that their getting. The blew it w/ big spending.

We were stunned that McCain was the pick for the Republicans...
and we were going to sit out this election....


I am NOT for MORE entitlement programs, bigger government, and higher taxes.

I believe in giving to charities and that's what my husband and I do ... we give to a variety of charities, the ones WE choose to give to ... if they are deserving of it.

All I want... is for our government to do what they are supposed to do and that's protect us from enemies and let me do with MY hard earned money, what I want to do with it.

Only time will tell what will happen.

Megan said...

Excellent post, sir. You took the words right out of my mouth...

Kurt said...

I'm for McCain/Palin because of their plan to cleanse our nation of undesirables and eliminate dissent.

Coffee Messiah said...

What I don't understand, and maybe some are too young to realize, is that the distance between people making a wage that they can only survive on, and those who seem to make well over $100,000.00 for instance, is greater than it ever has.

Since wages have gone down, prices for everything have gone up, well, you don't have to be too smart to see what's going on.

I'd rather have no labels and have more of a choice, especially in which money is not the motivator in getting elected.

But for heavens sake, to follow the republicans, after the road of debt we are now own, and saving the money lenders without their taking responsibility, well, is simply stupid and degrading to those who work so hard to simply get by.

We need Perot with his graphs. Maybe if some of the people saw the disparity in taxes being paid by us on the lower level and those on the upper, maybe then people would understand just what's going on.

Or not.....

Reya Mellicker said...

Merle Sneed I worship at the altar of your sensible mind and groundedness. And so appreciate your point of view.

Reading about the obscenely overpaid CEO's, thinking about the woman who only has enough $ to pay the rent makes me think of how gardens are overtaken by "invasive" plants.

Also brought to mind the Vikings, burning, pillaging and destroying so that they then were the CEOs of ... burned, empty landscapes. Hmmm. Pillage BEFORE you burn.

I was a Hillary supporter until I started reading the text of Obama's speeches. I believe this is his destiny (whether he loses or wins) and I think he's channeling a whole lot of Lincoln, a whole lot of FDR.

Holding my breath till tomorrow. Thanks again!

Jams said...

"American industry has improved the lives of workers everywhere but in America. American CEOs and other high-level folks have grown rich, while the working class has been left to fend for itself."

That's it - IN A NUTSHELL!

May commonsense reign.

david kramer said...

I admit I lean heavily to the left no matter what, but McCain has made so many changes in his beliefs this time around just to get elected that it is hard not to be cynical. And the pick of Palen was entirely cynical and showed his desperation and lack of conviction.
DK

Steve Reed said...

Merle, you articulated all of this so well and in so much detail that I have nothing left to add -- except BRAVO! See you at the polls. :)

Flawed And Disorderly said...

So are you saying I should take the McCain/Palin sign out of my yard? ;D

I have a really bad feeling about Obama. I think my children will have a safer world with McCain as Commander in Chief. I think money in our wallets is a definite end result we all want, but I still think ethical behavior matters which is why McCain got my vote. I want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Plus, I think Obama's a liar. Actually, that's a proven fact. He talks out of both sides of his mouth...which side do I listen to?

Anonymous said...

Money in our pocket?

Remember the Keating Five, you betcha.

a. said...

Don't even bring up Angelo Mozilo. Oh, the things I could say about that man.
I even went to Homecoming in the same "group" as his son, but thankfully my date was a different boy.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

I hope your endorsement swayed a couple fence sitters! brilliant endorsement!

as for all the recent spell of calling obama a socialist or even a communist....the 'champions of the right' had to resort to the big gun name-calling and hoping that these would stick!

today is the day.....