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September 18, 2008
Why Obama, by Jamie Kaye (Hearts of Palm UK)
Why Obama is a series of guest essays by musicians and authors, where they share their support for Democratic United States presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and offer arguments why he needs to be elected president of the United States.
Jamie Kaye is a member of Hearts of Palm UK. The band's debut album, For Life, is released October 14th.
In her own words, here is Jamie Kaye's Why Obama essay:
I just spent the last hour scrolling through a list of Barack Obama pins online. My favorite was 'Breakfast for Obama.' How could one not want to sport a button with a picture of Obama sitting at a table eating his morning eggs with his glass of orange juice in front of him? One could scratch his or her head for hours on this one. Are the eggs and orange juice "for Obama?" What about the fact that he is eating them? Do they not mind? Maybe it is merely the action of eating breakfast that is for Obama…but then the pin would have to say "Eating Breakfast for Obama." Right? God forbid my dyslexia sets in and I interpret it 'Eating Obama for Breakfast' (which I am sure is a pin McCain would like to sport). In reality the message MUST be: Breakfast for Obama…if you eat breakfast, and if you are for Obama – we have the perfect pin for you!
My intention here is not to talk about my love for breakfast (which don't get me wrong…I do love), but my love and support for Obama. Based on my family history, I am supposed to be Republican. My family reminds me of this all the time. I come from two parents (Republicans) who never demonstrated any sort of political involvement when I was growing up. It wasn't until much later that I grew to realize that they must be Republicans based on one important issue: lower taxes. Although I know there are other factors that contribute to their party loyalty, none compare to the foreboding annual specter of Uncle Sam coming to swallow their hard earned dollars. On some level I understand this. Our country's history of untrustworthy politicians and frivolous spending has made it hard for Americans to gain trust in our government. But do we throw away the hopes of bettering these institutions? It is hard for me to fathom the idea of cutting taxes at a time like this. After a fiscally careless Bush administration where all of our money was dumped into the Iraq war, our country is poor. What can we do? We can raise the taxes on the people who can afford it with the hopes of prosperity for a country as a whole. Or, keep borrowing money from other countries, such as China, to the point where we are grow increasingly dependent on them.
The biggest argument of wealthy Republicans I know is: "how is it fair that I pay more than someone else who isn't as successful?" My rebuttal, as Warren Buffet said best, is, "it just makes sense that those of us who have benefited most from the market should pay a bigger share." I am not trying to paint all Republicans as greedy. I come from a very charitable family who would prefer to give their money to charities of their own choosing. However, this is not the case with everybody. America needs to reinvest it's resources into important things such as education, science, technology and renewable energy resources in order to stay competitive in this global economy.
We cannot walk around with the mentality that our government is out to take advantage of us. We need a leader who understands the issues at hand. Someone we can trust is out to improve the lives of Americans. Someone who can reclaim the American dream. That someone is Barack Obama.
Obama sees the necessity that every child should be presented with the same opportunity for a good education. That everyone should be able to attend college, regardless of financial background. He believes that all Americans should be entitled to good health care, that the sick that need care the most are not denied it. He recognizes our dependency on oil and realizes that drilling in Alaska is only a band-aid to the real problem. He believes we must invest in the development of renewable energy. He believes we must keep jobs in America instead of giving tax breaks to companies that create them overseas. He believes we can rebuild America after the destruction of the current administration. He believes in the future. I believe in him.
Hearts of Palm UK links:
Hearts of Palm UK website
Hearts of Palm UK MySpace page
Barack Obama link:
Barack Obama presidential campaign website
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Why Obama essays
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
tags: politics music obama barackobama indie heartsofpalmuk
