Henry Kelley
Florida Voices

In 2008, “Hope and Change” ran against the “George Bush Record.”

And this year, President Obama’s campaign says “we don’t want to go back to the policies that got us in trouble in the first place.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Like me, fellow tea partiers showed their disdain for President Bush’s policies by letting Democrats take the House in 2006, and total control of the federal government in 2008.

Now to all the principled protestors who railed on Bush’s policies, I pose a simple question: How can you possibly consider voting for President Obama again, given that he has implemented Bush’s policies -- on steroids?

We the people are the board of directors, so let’s take a look at the record and decide whether President Obama should be fired.

Troops killed in action: 1,400 under Obama. 630 under Bush. Do the math. Fired.

Debt, the real problem in America: Do you remember when then-Sen. Obama called raising the debt ceiling a “leadership failure?” Of course not. The media is adept at hero worship, not unbiased reporting. Six trillion dollars later, we have a new definition of “leadership failure” and there’s a simple solution. Fired.

Executive orders: Remember the gnashing of teeth about President Bush having signed 291 executive orders?  So far in the Obama Administration, we’re at 139 and counting. You should be angry at both presidents. Fired.

World respect: Remember the claim that Obama would restore our respect on the world stage? Look at the protests in the Middle East and the murder of our ambassador to Libya. We are being attacked around the globe, partly because our president so cavalierly takes credit for killing Osama bin Laden. The recent protests were not about a video, but a targeted assault that coincided with 9/11. It’s called terrorism. Fired.

Orwellisms:  Changing the term from “war on terror” to “overseas contingency operations” works for brainwashed liberals and the doting media, but the rest of America is not fooled. And when a gunman shouts “Allah Akbar” and kills 14 fellow soldiers, it’s terrorism, not “workplace violence,” as the Defense Department tried to classify the Fort Hood massacre. Fired.

Transparency: Remember the promise to post all legislation online so it could be read before the vote? That lasted right up until “we have to pass it to read what’s in it,” a hat tip to Nancy Pelosi. And now we know what’s in it: taxes, taxes and more taxes, including more taxes on those making less than $250,000 to help fund Obamacare. Fired.

Bush-era tax cuts: You’d have thought that with all the rhetoric about the Bush tax cuts making the rich richer, President Fair Shares would never, ever, extend them in 2010, especially with Democratic super-majorities in the House and Senate. You’d be wrong. Fired.

Health care: “Obama got it done,” liberals say. Yes, he did. He followed right along with Bush in destroying our health care system by making the government our caregiver. You’ve forgotten the unfunded disaster known as Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit, haven’t you? Conservatives hated that as well. Again, no real difference with Bush. Fired.

I could go on and on, and until Election Day, I will. We didn’t even discuss education policy, energy or gas prices. If you can actually point to any significant policy difference with Bush, please, let me know.

Because given this president’s record, this board member votes to “Fire, immediately.”  

Henry Kelley, a Fort Walton Beach business owner, is a leader of the Florida tea party movement.