Dahlia Lithwick, a Slate senior editor, is newly miffed at the constant Obama fundraising emails she's received. Oh, she didn't mind them as the campaign was going on, she says, but now that Big "O" is fairly elected, Lithwick is tired of them. One gets the feeling, of course, that this has been building in her for some time -- a sneaking dread mounting with each demand for cash. She even ends her Slate piece telling Obama that as far as she is concerned he should consider himself "cutoff" from her wallet.
Too bad she seems completely clueless that his constant grubbing for donations have moved from the voluntary stage to the mandatory stage now that she has helped elect him. She even mentions that she wants to get back to "panicking about her 401(k)" which is also amusing since the party she supports is now saying that they want to take possession of her 401(k)! Does she even know this?
Lithwick's Slate posting seems to say a lot about a media that really never did get to truly see Barack past his glitzy exterior. It was all hope-n-change. Only the "change" ends up being that every last penny in her pocket AND her 401(k) is going to go to her email buddy, Barack.
Oh, Lithwick was suitably flip with a light-touch on her short Slate piece and we are probably supposed to come away with the feeling that she is only half kidding that she's was excited to be Obama's email buddy. Admittedly, there is a bit of pique in her piece that every single Obamessage she got over the last several years each came with a donate now message featured.
It is easy to see that Lithwick is cynical of all the constant fundraising, certainly. It must have been tiring for millions of Obmabots to see the ever present poor-mouthing the Obama campaign gave them. And she was particularly piercing with her penultimate paragraph.
But imagine my dismay yesterday when I opened my inbox to discover an e-mail entitled "Your Victory T-Shirt." Instead of a free victory T-shirt, I was being offered the chance to send yet another $100 to the DNC (in exchange for which I would, in all fairness, receive a free "victory T-shirt"). It's hard to explain why it's so galling to be asked to donate yet more money to a campaign after the election has been decided. It's sort of like being asked to keep planting the victory garden, years after Armistice Day. Even having achieved the presidency, Barack Obama is still counting on little old me for financial help? What's next? Dear Dahlia, Joe Biden and I have a bunch of great ideas for fixing government. And with your $100 donation, we can ensure that the S-Chip is fully funded and that the spotted owl remains on the endangered-species list. Please watch this video and consider a contribution.
As I mentioned above, Lithwick has warned The One that he should consider himself "cutoff."
But it's high time for us voters to get back to panicking about our 401(k)s. So please stop e-mailing to ask for money. You're president-elect now, Barack. Consider yourself cut-off.
Oh, Ms. Lithwick, you shouldn't worry yourself over much. Obama won't be so worried about those "donate now" buttons anymore. After all, he's coming for your 401(k), he's coming for your salary, he's coming for your pensions, he's coming for the profits of your company... he won't need your donations anymore, he'll find many ways to get your money.
You did elect him to do this ya know?
It's a little late now to whine that Obama's a bit money hungry.
(Photo credit: Newsweek.com)



















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Imagine her indignation when her taxes go up.
November 12, 2008 - 08:32 ET by c5thenImagine her articles about how Obama is not even asking for donations anymore but simply taking the money with higher taxes? I wonder what she will write if the democrats in Congress pass the law that takes all 401k accounts and places them under absolute control of the Social Security Administration where they will be used to pay out the current obligations and earn IOUs worth 2% interest? What will she say about the out of controll inflation that will soon hit us because of the sudden printing of over $1.5 Trillion dollars for the "bail-out"?
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
Alan Keyes / Sarah Palin - 2012
Nah, what she's got now.....
November 12, 2008 - 08:35 ET by sshuffield70....is no hope and very little change......in her pocket.
She even mentions that she
November 12, 2008 - 09:08 ET by motherbeltShe even mentions that she wants to get back to "panicking about her
401(k)" which is also amusing since the party she supports is now saying that they want to take possession of her 401(k)! Does she even know this?
Probably not. Or if she does, she is probably thinking that having them take it over will be good, and she is worrying if they will do it fast enough to "save" it for her.
Updated to add:
It's a bit OT but related: the linked article says:
[the committee] are looking at
redirecting those tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts
to which all workers would be obliged to contribute. (emphasis mine)
You know, kind of like Social Security.
And while they object to letting people invest their own money instead of putting it into SS, (too risky) they say in the new plan the government would invest the money!!
Just another huge government entitlement program with a "required" contribution and a "guaranteed" payout.
How long do you think it would be before the payout was not "guaranteed" but "projected"?
Electioneering
November 12, 2008 - 08:48 ET by Copperhead RidgeWhen I went to vote I stood in line behind a young lady who was an Obamunist. She was very nice and eager to tell me about her support for The One. I politely smiled and tried to divert the conversation because I believe in a private ballot and not campaigning near polling places, which is illegal in my state.
While we stood in line, which was about an hour, she received three different messages on her PDA from the Obama campaign reminding her to vote for Hopey McChangey.
It's sort of high tech electioneering. I neither think it is illegal nor do I think it should be regulated. It's interesting to me, though. It's how the Obama campaign showed a lot of savvy in this election.
The young lady knew little about Obama and less about this nation's principles. Standing in line and talking about The One was her "Hey! Look at me!" moment. Neal Boortz calls it the "American Idol Election," and I believe he is right.
I think that alot of people
November 12, 2008 - 09:00 ET by SeashellI think that alot of people are going to start having these "enough is enough" moments as Obama's policies are implemented. They will realize they "got on board" for the wrong reasons and are going to pay a price for it.
I disagree
November 12, 2008 - 09:22 ET by ahusserI am sure many will willingly part with their worldly goods because the guru said so. How many times have you seen documentaries or stories on cults where the members give all their worldly possessions to be with their "chosen one" and he drives around in gold plated Rolls Royce.
"...no civilization, no matter how rich, no matter how refined, can long survive once it loses the power to meet force with equal or superior force." - Bernard Knox
Discontinuing 401ks would
November 12, 2008 - 09:52 ET by dscottDiscontinuing 401ks would be like kicking the legs out from under the chair. What do these idiots think really drove the economy for so many years???? Government spending? Consumer Spending??? NOT! None of these things are possible without investment capital!!!!!!!
The Dems fail to account for these points:
1. siphon off investment capital from the economy,
2. $80 billion annual deferred taxation, they are going to be getting back anyhow shortly when the babyboomers start retiring in droves,
3. All the jobs that were created and tangential tax revenue on those jobs as a result of the some $5 Trillion invested in the economy almost 30 years (started in 1980),
4. $2 Trillion was not lost as the article claims, it's only lost IF you are forced to cash out in a down market, the market will be back up when the economic downturn is over and
5. Ending the individual retirement accounts to prop up Social Security is a cover up of Congress's embezzlement of SS Trust funds which they were supposed to invest in the first place, that's why you only get 1% return on SS. What do you think happened to the $3.5 Trillion SS collected all these years??? They were spent on social investments. How's the return on that going?
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
Its the Democrat's War on
November 12, 2008 - 17:05 ET by katainkentIts the Democrat's War on Capital
member of the Conservative Independant Witness Protection Program since Nov. 5, 2008
The Libs
November 12, 2008 - 17:47 ET by NorthCoasterThe Libs will fall one by one, as they realize that they have been played for fools.
Obama's Job Plan
November 12, 2008 - 21:42 ET by Lee BoggsPolish your resume Dahlia.
The only
November 13, 2008 - 00:10 ET by Warner Todd HustonThere is only one phrase one need learn to be in the class that will avoid Obama's confiscatory tax plan:
"Do you want fries with that?"
Any other job is screwed.
Finally
November 18, 2008 - 19:10 ET by comsense08So, the "great one" is going to tick off his constituents one by one. It will be really fun to watch, and I hope we all get the chance to rub their little "oh isn't he so great" faces in it! I know I sure will. There will be a day these folks will long to have Bush back! We just have to stay fired up, and keep a wall of truth around the little drug taking wanna-be president until enough folks wake up from the cool-aid and realize what they have done! I see a day coming of impeachment.
His oath of office will be to "uphold and protect the constitution". So the first time he trys to undermine that we go after him and his buddies with everything we have! Whether he realizes it yet or not, he still answers to us!!!!!
Media or no media, we can make him regret the day he got nominated!
Just remember: 137 million possible voters. 64.1% (87,817,000)of these voted. Obama got only 52% (45,664,840) of those 64.1%. So that's no referendum by any stretch. 45.6 million against 137 million? That's a minority. So he's president elect of what?