Obama is a Liberal

I would like to include some definitions that my opponent has forgotten. I understand I now have the burden to not only negate my opponents arguments but to provide proof that Obama is not a liberal. My argument is that Barack Obama is in fact a moderate conservative. ============= Definitions: Policy- a plan of action adopted by an individual usually based on the individual's beliefs or ideology. Conservative - a person of conservative principals or views in politics or religion. Conservatism - a political ideology supporting tradition and traditional values Moderate - In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who holds an intermediate position between two viewpoints, neither to be extreme or radical by those applying the term. The word "moderate" can also be used as an adjective describing such a position. ============== Arguments made by Pro: 1) The Stimulus Package is a liberal policy. 2) His opinion on health care reform is liberal. 3) The views he has on Christianity are liberal. =============== Rebuttals: 1) Stimulative programs are not liberal, in fact they have been enacted in present time and in the past by conservative leaders. Two prime examples of these are Canada's 11th Prime Minister Richard B. Bennett, and the 22nd and current Prime Minister Stephen Harper, both of them are conservatives. Now when Richard Bennett became Prime Minister it was 1930 and the country was in he midst of the Great Depression, and in response to the dismal economic environment he created a stimulative package that was very similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" http://en.wikipedia.org.... Now fast-forward to the 2009, current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has recently enacted a $22.7 billion dollar stimulus package which focuses on the creation of infrastructure projects all across Canada http://www.cbc.ca.... These two examples prove that stimulus is an acceptable economic policy in the eyes of some conservatives. 2) Due to the fact that this is one of the centers of my counter argument it would be pointless for me to respond to this twice. 3) I would like to ask my opponent to provide a citation of this information in his next argument before I even attempt to negate it. ============= Counter Argument: The policy which is enacted by a President is almost by definition the conversion of their political ideology into action, with each policy President Obama enacts the further to the right he appears . During the general election and the democratic primary "candidate" Obama seemed much further to the left than "President" Obama, allow me to explain: As the debate about health care reform continues in the United States it seems President Obama has continuously back away from liberal ideas on health care such as enacting a single payer health care system http://www.correntewire.com... and his attitude towards a public health care option seems to be shaky too for example, his Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently stated that a public health care option is "not the essential element" of comprehensive health care reformhttp://firstread.msnbc.msn.com..., many people view these as signs that the President is taking a moderate conservative stand on health care. The second reason that has lead people to believe that Barack Obama is a moderate conservative is on stance on the military policy towards gay soldiers "Don't Ask Don't Tell", now referring to the definitions provided, a liberal (a person who is favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs) would want the policy repealed to be replaced with a policy more accepting towards the gay community, a hard conservative (a person who supports tradition and traditional values) would want it repealed to be replaced by the former policy, and a moderate would probably like to keep it the same and this is the stance Obama has taken on "Don't Ask Don't Tell", he hasn't done anything. I would like to thank the readers and my Opponent at this point in the debate. Your move Pro.