More and more Americans are uneasy about the whole health care imbroglio. They are probably sick of the Republicans warning them about what it will mean for their medical care and their pocket book. But they are increasingly suspicious of what it is that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have up their sleeve. They hear about those gargantuan bills that are dropped on Congress in the dead of night: no one could possibly read them in the time allotted. They hear that we are about to extend insurance coverage to 30 million more people without adding to the health care budget or cutting medicare: how, they wonder in their innocence, is this prodigy to be accomplished? Has Obama, in addition to healing the earth and halting the the rise of the oceans, suspended the laws of mathematics? According to that higher mathematics: $100 billion plus $100 billion now equals $100 billion?
These are not new questions. But the immense wave of static coming out of Washington makes it difficult to keep these questions alive. Everyone on every side of the debate knows they are pressing questions. Team Obama has made it almost impossible to entertain those questions with anything like the gravity they deserve. The breathtaking contempt shown to Congress, and that Congress in turn has shown us, somehow never comes into focus. Imagine someone presenting you with a two-thousand-page document whose provisions would drastically affect your family’s future and then imagine that they demanded you vote on the document within 48 hours. In the normal course of events you would tell them to get lost. That is what Congress ought to have told the Obama-Pelosi-Reid triumvirate. It is also what we the people ought to say to Congress.
Congress lacked the backbone to stand up for us. Well we lack the backbone to stand up for ourselves? The Senate may very well hand us a bit of breathing space. Breathing space is another chance: for the more one scrutinizes Obama’s plans for this country, the more alarming they seem. Delay is Obama’s enemy, for delay means revelation of what his socialistic machine really wants to do to this country. As of this writing, it looks as though you are going to get one of the best Christmas presents you will every receive: the chance to prevent a monstrous, and monstrously expensive, government takeover of medical care. Don’t look this gift horse in the mouth.
Have you no backbone, woman, Congresswoman Giffords? AZ-8. Do my emails and phone calls fall on blind eyes and deaf ears? My postcards to your office? dismissed???
Have you not felt the heat of my contempt for your votes to enslave Americans?
I call you out — here; let every one of us talk loudly, frequently, and openly of the disdain for our freedoms and the constitution that petty despots like GIFFORDS exhibit in their votes to cancel out our birthright.
GIFFORDS HAS TO GO 2010. Design a t-shirt, despots have to go, and name them — wear it everywhere.
If we don’t use every legal means at our disposal, these usurpers will be facing armed resistance. Mark my words.
Rich, here’s what I don’t understand: How do people go through their daily lives with so little recognition of what is going on in Congress. Deception, trickery, and dishonesty are not values of 99.9% of the American population, and yet our politicians hold these principles dear to their hearts and America votes them into office. The the pols exhibit their true beliefs through their behaviors …. spinning, hiding, manipulating – it’s all there for all of us to see. As an author of books on personal accountability (QBQ!) I am confounded and astounded as I travel the country speaking that people who voted the Dems in are surprised at what they are now getting back. Where was the insight and foresight in Nov 2008 that people now seem to be gaining. Hopefully, it is not too late.
Why, after participating and watching the fiasco that has unfolded over the last 12 months, (Mr. & Mrs, America why or how can you for the foreseeable future trust any democrat of the current or previous generation with a statewide or national office? These democrats are not those of the thirties and forties.
My modest proposal and words will not reach the folks in Philadelphia, or other downtrodden cities filled with zip-codes where the democrat machine has bestowed upon those citizens their largesse with its associated no end in site to improvement of infrastructure, education, crime etc.
No!, look at the zip codes where the democrats have ruled for a protracted period and you see an American population and city decaying, that has not, for the most part been able to grow, culturally or spiritually, been able to pull themselves up, gain in stature, achieve a more robust educational program for their children. But sir they do have major league sports teams- wowsers!
What you do see, gang violence, abandon babies in dumpsters, full unemployment rolls, essentially no job creation, businesses that eek out an existence under burdensome regulations, “Stagnation of our fellow citizens hopes, dreams aspirations. I, you, we have seen this since the Johnson administration, billions have been poured into these areas without much to show. You see in these cities that are controlled for the most part by a party interested in perpetuating the status quo a combination of political benign neglect (I got mine!) and union cronyism, (we got ours!) you? well who knows
About you?
Look at Philly, Pittsburg, Detroit, L.A., Chicago you can almost see a patronage system of local politicians and union bosses who look upon the favored members and for the most part ignore any opportunity to assist, help, provide relief; (except at the holidays) for their fellow citizens. In these places Chicago, Philly, New York, L.A., Pittsburg, Detroit, and to be sure in some others also the corruption of the local politicians aligned with unions, with or without the “Goon” factor runs a long, deep and disturbing history.
For those politicians, union folks and the aforementioned undereducated folks stuck forever in those zip codes its about them and they have an ally in the president because its also about him! “Obama”
If you have been paying attention these last 12 months you obviously have determined it’s definitely not about us. Not we citizens, or our wishes for our health care, or our soldiers or our economy or our liberty! Or our memories of 911. The arrogance of a large segment of the political class is just mind boggling.
So why Mr. & Mrs. America would you seeing and witnessing what you have seen and witnessed these last 12 months ever stay home from the polls ever again ye sons and daughters of liberty. Liberty that word which means in this “Republic” you are the “Sovereign,” not the chief executive, not the senator or congressmen or women you help elect with your vote, you the individual citizen, the smallest and yet most important link in the chain that has brought this “Republic” from a colony to the preeminent power for good this small planet has ever seen. Along the journey the America of Washington, Boon, Lincoln, Crocket, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Regan, and the citizens of those times renewed and imbued the American journey with integrity or purpose, honorable deeds, equitable policies toward other countries, a sense of fair play, a desire to compete and to achieve a determination to provide opportunities for every individual to develop and achieve and bring their “Best Game “ to every endeavor. Yes we had our problems, some pretty big! But those who today pull the racism card, they are the racists not we. The America I grew up in was an America where the Attitude of Mind was set free in a climate of Liberty to go as far as you can go.
Lets get back there folks, in a hurry before we chance to walk further into the dark wood of National Socialism, remember it did not serve the Germans well.
Redball 6
“Escape from what? From a government takeover of American health care. From an ruinously expensive bureaucratic boondoggle that will reduce choice, impede medical innovation, and drastically expand the role of government regulation in your life.”
An insurance company lobbyist couldn’t have said it better.
“As an author of books on personal accountability … “
Why would you think that anything less than a significant majority of the people in this country think that they have to suffer the consequences of their own actions? The majority think that someone or something is supposed to come along and make it all work out for them.
”Where was the insight and foresight in Nov 2008 that people now seem to be gaining.”
Do you have any idea how many people have lived on the ability to refinance their home every few years for several decades now? People wanted someone socialist enough to bail out their investment in real estate but not socialist on other things. Besides, it feels good to vote for a black guy and prove you’re not racist. Huge numbers of people vote to make themselves feel good, not to put the best qualified person in office. It doesn’t take a lot of insight to make yourself feel good, and the less foresight the better is often the case when doing something to make yourself feel good.
”Hopefully, it is not too late.”
Just like huge numbers of people vote to make themselves feel good, large numbers stay home from the polls and don’t vote to make themselves feel better. Whether it’s too late or not depends more on whether those that feel good by staying home learned anything or not more than on whether those voting to make themselves feel good learned anything. Time will tell.
Regards
It’s actually makes my blood boil to see what these politicians are doing to this country. But it’s even more sad to realize that American population have given them this tight to do this.
Anonymous wrote: “An insurance company lobbyist couldn’t have said it better.”
Who pays you, “anonymous,” to troll this site? Big PhARMA? Soros? ACORN? The Democratic National Committee?
It’s interesting that the liberals who troll this site never seem to be able to rationally respond to the issues. It’s always snark or ad hominem.
Anon …
I thought the insurance companies were working with Obama on this ? Thats right they are … so who are you trying to point your finger at ? Who is the evil one in your story now ?
You or whomever pays for your roof and internet connection most likely works for a corporation so tell us again about the evils of corporate America …
Does indentured servant have meaning any longer? Well it should. Anyone US citizen born after this time will be in servitude to this is congress’ laws even though those congress persons be long gone.
Once it goes down in flames (please) governors like Daniels should enact real reforms in their state and lead the way. Remove mandates, for one. Let the free market reign.
I don’t think any of us should breathe easy. If the Gang of Three can’t get health care passed, Obama may just use one of his many czars to do an end-run around the American people’s wishes, like he did with the EPA and that ruinous regulation of CO2. This administration is determined to get permanent control over the people by any means possible.
How anyone who has ever been to the post office, or had anything to do with Medicare, or any other federal program, can think Obamacare is a good thing is beyond me.
If you like to see your tax dollars fill the coffers of thieves and scam artists, Obamacare is right for you.
If the insurance companies are doing anything illegal, or even unethical, let’s pass a ten-page (or under) reform bill — or better yet, a series of one-page reform bills..
I’d be a lot more fired up about this if I felt that the Republican party were going to be deserving to get back in control. I’d like to see them go on a small government, low tax, muscular foreign policy, route of governance. Sure “heath care reform” will be beaten back short term. But then we will get Mark Foley/Larry Craig/whomever 2.0 ethical and sometime criminal scandals (Cunningham) soon after the “R”s are back in business.
Bottom line, both political parties are terrible. I’d like to go the tea-party route, but is there enough cohesion to change the Washington DC culture?
As a general rule, the number of pages in a bill reflects the percentage of garbage contained therein. 1 page = 1% garbage, 99% that does what the bill is intended to do. 50 pages = half garbage, half intention.
2000 pages is 20x concentrated garbage.