Congress Reaches New Lows in Legislative Substance and Form

Substance
Ah, where to begin? The Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill is a new low in just about every way it could be. It’s high-taxing, job-killing, industry-destroying atrocity that will not achieve its stated objectives and yet will cost trillions of dollars.

As many people have pointed out, the “climate change” issue is a phony one anyway, and other countries are beginning to pull back on their efforts to deal with it. Australia, for example.

But not only does the bill take a convoluted, fraud-inviting and unfair route to dealing with carbon emissions, it also contains numerous very intrusive, unconstitutional and destructive measures, many unrelated to the climate question, or so micro-managing as to constitute not a climate help but simply a costly, freedom-destroying annoyance. For instance, the bill mandates that government experts have to sign off on a house’s environmental efficiency and necessary upgrades must be made before a house can be sold. This is blatantly unconstitutional, but who reads the Constitution any more? Certainly not our leftist government. And the federal code for houses is just one little item tacked on somewhere in that famous 300-page amendment. Has anyone ever heard of the Tenth Amendment?

Republican House Leader John Boehner (R-OH) read from the bill for an hour in the House of Representatives, saying the American people have a right to know what’s in the bill. And some strange and surprising things are in it (see video).

Form
How could all this legislative junk be approved? Well, probably not by normal means. It took some very sneaky and clever activity to do it.

There was no bill available for House members to read before they voted. That in itself is a breach of not only common sense, but the Constitution. I seem to recall a promise from the Democrats some time back that the text of proposed legislation, especially important items, would be posted on the internet for two weeks for public view. This one wasn’t even available for Congress members’ view. If there really is a House Ethics Committee, maybe they should check this out.

There was delivery of the aforementioned 300-page amendment around 3 AM. I’m sure most of the House members studied it carefully before voting.

I predict that the same types of tactics will be used when the healthcare “reform” (i.e., takeover) legislation is presented. But we’ll see.

Conclusion
The Waxman-Markey bill itself and the sneaky manner in which it was handled are so egregious that every Representative who voted for it should be voted out of office in 2010. It’s that bad. They should have known better. But Obama is happy and can now proceed with his plan in the Senate. Maybe they’ll be just embarrassed enough to reject the cap and trade bill. But don’t bet on it.

Affirming America's Spiritual Heritage - II

“These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.” — G. K. Chesterton [1]

This quotation is exemplified by Barack Obama (assuming he is a Christian), who said the U.S. no longer considers itself a Christian nation.

Since its founding, the United States has always had people of various or no religious affiliation, but the nation as a whole has considered itself Christian. This does not mean that people aren’t free to practice whatever beliefs they wish or that they are forced to observe Christian teachings. On the other hand, our laws and founding documents have been written with Biblical principles in mind.

When Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) introduced his spiritual heritage resolution, he drew criticism, as evidenced by comments in a Virginia newspaper web site suggesting that he is trying to force his religion on everyone and is a dangerous man who ought to keep silent, or at least be attacked. Any mention of God or Christ or Christian faith in the halls of government is an act of courage these days, it seems.

An article by David Barton at WallBuilders.com shows that Presidents Adams, Wilson, Hoover, Truman, Nixon and others referred to America as a Christian nation. Thomas Jefferson helped establish and attended weekly Sunday worship services in the U.S. Capitol. Chief Justice Earl Warren, hardly a right-wing conservative, said (as Attorney General of California), “I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.”[2]

The organized and busy effort to drive religion out of the public square has sprung up in America mainly in the last half century. Some of its attention-getting efforts have focused on nativity displays, school prayer cases, and displays of the Ten Commandments. All these items have come under fire, yet they represent no threat to anyone’s freedom and have traditionally been around with little or no complaint. David Barton, quoted by Gary DeMar, wrote, “In fact, the Ten Commandments are more easily found in America’s government buildings than in her religious buildings, thus demonstrating the understanding by generations of Americans from coast to coast that the Ten Commandments formed the basis of America’s civil laws.”[3]

Space does not permit the listing of many other examples showing that Christianity is a vital part of the fabric of our nation. Christian and Biblical references abound in our official documents. Historical revisionists try to show that religion played no more than a minor role in our nation’s founding, and that the founders were not as Christian as we might think. The facts do not support this. True, not all were orthodox Christians. They represented various denominations. But almost all recognized the value of faith and Biblical morality. And they recognized the value of religious liberty.

In his introduction to his film The Ten Commandments (1956), seen on video and DVD editions, Cecil B. DeMille stated, “The theme of this picture is whether men ought to be ruled by God’s laws or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator like Rameses. Are men the property of the State or are they free souls under God? This same battle continues throughout the world today.”[4]

Notes:
[1] The Illustrated London News 08/11/1928, quoted at http://chesterton.org/acs/quotes.htm
[2] David Barton, “Is President Obama Correct: Is America No Longer a Christian Nation?,” April 2009, at http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=23909.
[3]Gary DeMar, America's Christian Heritage, Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003, page 74.
[4]Ibid., page 69.

Let's Sunset This Toxic Cap and Trade Bill

"Cap and trade bills are nothing short of a government re-engineering of the American economy. And S. 2191, with its aggressive targets to reduce emissions from fossil fuel use, would put the nation on a path of serious economic harm not justified by any benefits.” – Ben Lieberman [1]

Cap and Trade is supposed to be the answer to “climate change” and is supposed to create “green jobs.” Waxman-Markey is the pride and joy of its sponsors and of all the leftist environmentalists, except some few who may not consider it radical enough. Why do we need this type of bill? Answer: Emphatically, we don’t!

How working people, let alone corporations, could support this is truly beyond me. It can easily be understood as another piece of Obama’s fascist plan that represents an even bigger take-over of the private sector than the GM, Chrysler, and bank takeovers. Apparently nothing is off limits to this Administration and Democrat Congress, which can be thought of as a great octopus with tentacles out everywhere, grabbing as much as possible. There is no possibility that this can help the climate, the economy, our energy situation or much of anything else except Obama’s voracious appetite for power.

A few simple facts:
1. As pointed out by the Heritage Foundation, the vaunted Kyoto protocol, if followed, would only reduce earth’s temperature by such a miniscule amount it could not be measured. [1]

2. The signers of Kyoto are substantially above the carbon targets, and are doing worse than before the treaty. [1]

3. The “climate change” issue is a hoax anyway. The climate naturally changes, probably due to the sun, which we can’t affect, and there is nothing effective that can be done. It is extremely doubtful that human activity has any significant effect. The main function of “climate change” is not climate-related, but simply to provide an excuse for greatly increased government power and intervention.

4. Carbon dioxide, regardless of what the Supreme Court (climate experts, right?) says, is not a pollutant and there is absolutely no need to regulate it.

5. The cap and trade policy is nothing other than an amazingly large and complex tax which will require every user of fossil fuel or electricity to pay greatly increased prices, and will cause businesses that use a lot of fossil fuels to be greatly harmed, pushed to the edge of failure, or go under. The smart ones who are able to will relocate overseas. This gives the lie to Obama’s concern about “shipping jobs overseas.” He is going to “ship” entire industries overseas.

6. The phoniness and complexity of “carbon credits” assures massive fraud, waste and abuse. Milton Friedman said, “I say thank God for government waste. If government is doing bad things, it's only the waste that prevents the harm from being greater.” That is true, but not overly comforting when the government is doing VERY bad things again and again with no letup in sight.

I suppose everyone is supposed to be studying how much carbon dioxide will be put into the atmosphere with and without Waxman-Markey. My position is: Who cares? The real question is: How much overbearing activism from the government, over nothing, are we going to be willing to put up with?

The enviro-fascists say, “The debate is over,” to which I reply, There is no real issue to debate. It is a fictitious “problem.” However, massive job losses, back-breaking regulations, unbelievable taxes, great loss of liberty and property rights, budget-busting expense for utilities (and, of course, many other things) are real problems for everyone.

Another drawback to all this is that it would discourage actual helpful things like increasing domestic energy production and nuclear power.

Has Obama’s personal charm actually blinded people to the extent that we’ll accept this kind of government control over everything? Obama is not stupid. HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE ECONOMY except how it might affect his popularity rating, which his teleprompter can help him with. If Obama’s plans, particularly health insurance and cap and trade, take effect, there truly is going to be a financial collapse because the free market will be effectively just about gone. Obama is not stupid, but too many people are misled and grievously ill-informed. The cap and trade proponents make this issue look complicated, but it is really quite simple.

I don’t really want to overdose anyone on videos, but this time it’s going to be a double feature, which I hope you’ll find helpful. First, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on April 23, 2009, then Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), on May 19, 2009:





Note:
[1] See Ben Lieberman, “Beware of Cap and Trade Climate Bills,” December 6, 2007 at
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/upload/wm_1723.pdf.

The Coming Healthcare Insurance Showdown

Since my last post, I’ve considered renaming my blog “The Alarmist,” but I suppose that would be counterproductive. Barack Obama is strenuously pushing his agenda along, with ’way too much cooperation and indulgence from the public, many of whom still think Barack will help them get free health insurance, get back at those bad guys who’ve been cheating them, make their mortgage payments, etc. Will it be only after some of his major programs are implemented that the truth will be apparent?

The hot topic right now is health insurance. Obama denies that what he is suggesting is a Trojan horse for socialized medicine. He’s right. It is socialized medicine. How can the U.S. be in favor of any of the proposed plans? Consider:


SOME FACTS ABOUT THE CURRENT SITUATION:
1. Most Americans are content with their current healthcare. According to the CBS News-New York Times poll of June 20, 77% are satisfied with the quality of their own health care, and 50% are satisfied with the cost. [1]

2. About 15% of the 47 million uninsured in America are illegal immigrants. This would be about 7 million people. [2] They would be included in Obama's plan.

3. According to a June 20 CBS News-New York Times poll, a majority of Americans say they would be willing to pay higher taxes in order for everyone to have healthcare coverage, but when it gets to specifics, say, $500 more in taxes, or higher premiums for themselves, the numbers drop off to a minority. Most are concerned that their own health care quality could get worse with government involvement, and that access to care will be limited. So there are serious concerns, yet most people want everyone to be covered, as long as they themselves don’t have to pay too much. Throughout the poll, Republicans are much less desirous of having government participation than are Democrats. [1]

Many people could provide their own health insurance but choose not to. Also, emergency care is available whether a person can afford it or not.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:
1. Obama presents this as a “crisis.” The healthcare system is “broken.” This must be accomplished now, before the Congressional recess. In fact, it is far from being a crisis, but implementing any of the proposed Democrat plans will bring it to a crisis.

2. Democratic sponsors were startled by the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the cost: About $1 trillion over 10 years, while providing health insurance to only 16 million (not 47 million) additional people. This cost would supposedly be covered by new taxes on sugary beverages, income for people earning above $200K, employer-provided benefits, and Lord knows what else. Add this to the already endless debt on things already in motion. It can never be paid – not in this lifetime!

3. In the above-cited poll, a majority thought Government could do a better job of “holding costs down,” by which they must have meant costs to the new recipients of coverage, and not costs as a whole. Obama has the nerve to say this will somehow help reduce healthcare costs when in fact it will place a very heavy burden on taxpayers present and future and provide comparatively little in return.

4. The government, if a public plan is implemented, will “hold down” costs by rationing care. The result will be long delays, denials of treatment, greatly diminished healthcare quality.

ARE OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS BEING TRUTHFUL?
Check the following video from YouTube. It was posted on The Heritage Foundation’s website.:



This healthcare deception is so obvious it strains common sense not to understand it as another step in the great fascist program of Obama. Once the Federal Government takes charge of healthcare, we are into full-blown socialism. It’s just a matter of a few details, which may take a little time, as Obama said.

Government insurance will not “compete” fairly with private insurers, it will put them out of business. When you have a government service with unlimited demand and no need to post a profit, you have endless cost for a program that will turn out to be severe rationing. And government control of a very important aspect of our lives.

FURTHER IMPLICATIONS
And healthcare is just the beginning. Once we are on that road, it will be very hard to change course. We trust them with our healthcare? We trust them to take over more and more of the private sector? We trust them to regulate every aspect of daily life? They’re already at work, pushing individuality and private enterprise to the margins and replacing them with government plans with mandatory participation and no end to the cost. Are we ready for that? I’m not!

I’ve said before that this is the defining issue for Republicans. If they fail to solidly oppose this and filibuster it if possible, then I might have to concede that a third party is not unthinkable. But we have some good people in the GOP. God help them.

Notes:
[1] “Poll: Most Back Public Health Care Option,” CBS News.com, 06/20/2008, at
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/opinion/polls/main500160.shtml

[2] Richard Wolf, “Rising health care costs put focus on illegal immigrants,” USA Today, 01/22/2008, at http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm

Sound the Alarm?

This is a joke I read several years ago.
Instructions in an Elevator:
In Case of Emergency
1. Do not be alarmed.
2. Press ALARM button.

That is something like the attitude I have about the Obama Administration and the Democrats in Congress. We have a government situation today which to me seems very alarming, but I don’t want to be an alarmist. It seems that if anyone calls attention to the scary and unconstitutional things going on, they’re accused of overreacting or just following some right-wing leader and not thinking for themselves.

I think the “right-wing leaders” are being very kind and patient toward Obama, much more so than he deserves. A right-wing leader as the term is used here refers to any non-socialist commentator who happens to be in the public eye. Based on Obama’s DHS report, I would probably qualify, certainly not as a “leader,” but as a right-wing extremist, though I certainly don’t consider myself extreme. But I have to consider the Obama government extreme compared to anything we’ve seen since Woodrow Wilson. Even FDR wasn’t as much of a fascist and anti-traditionalist as Obama. In a recent post, I listed 17 things that Obama has done/is doing to America that are destructive and cast doubt on our future. All of these things are still in play and I have noticed no improvement. In fact, a few more have come up, and there are one or two I forgot to list.

1. “We are no longer a Christian nation,” said Barack. All evidence suggests we are a mostly Christian nation. We are not yet anywhere near being an Islamic nation or an atheistic nation. To pander to his Islamic audience, Obama is ready to dump some important American traditions and customs, and compound the error with criticisms and apologies. See the preceding post for some information refuting Obama’s claim.

2. Obama wants “comprehensive immigration reform,” in effect an amnesty for illegal immigrants, and of course they must be provided with all welfare benefits, education, medical care. etc. This type plan was firmly rejected over George W. Bush’s advocacy. This time around, we’ll see. Like many of the Obama proposals, this one would be costly and practically irreversible. And irresponsible. Eventually this would lead to many more millions of immigrants and probably a “come one, come all” policy toward Mexico.

3. The Administration (through the FDA) is taking over the tobacco industry. Another Obama power grab. See The Silent Majority blog (link elsewhere on this page) for an excellent article about this (“Another Industry Up in Smoke”).

4. Obama wants to study ways to bulldoze parts of 50 U.S. cities. The cleared land would be “returned to nature.” This may sound good to some who are concerned about urban blight, but it is one of the most truly alarming ideas yet proposed. Where does Obama get the authority to do this? Whatever happened to the Tenth Amendment? the Fifth Amendment? This kind of thing is the business of dictators and despots.

5. They’re coming after our pocket knives. An attempt is being made by Customs to classify many common and legal pocket knives as “switchblades,” to prohibit them from being sold or imported or, presumably, possessed. This is a serious breach of Second Amendment rights. I wonder what their thinking is on pea-shooters. Read about this at http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=49527

6. The Supreme Court, according to Obama, should use “empathy” in making decisions. But actually, they should go by the law. This reminds me of something that happened to one of my relatives recently. She had an ongoing dispute with her electricity provider over the fact that they went months without sending a bill, then finally sent a huge one – after numerous phone calls and letters over those months agreeing to get it straightened out, which they wouldn’t follow through on. Finally she was told, “We don’t go by what’s written down, we go by what we told you.” To which she could have said, “I’ll check with my lawyer and see what he would go by.”

Judge Sotamayor, like other liberal judges, would go by “empathy” rather than the letter of the law. Judges, especially at the Supreme Court level should focus on the law and not the persons involved in the case. They should not twist the law in order to get their desired outcome. The facts of their cases have already been decided at the trial level. The Supreme Court’s concern is the law.

Alarming?
Not all these items qualify as “alarming.” Some are simply objectionable. But when we take Obama’s program thus far as a whole, it is truly frightening. Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, objecting to Obama’s stiffing of secured creditors, including Indiana state pension funds and construction funds, in the GM takeover said it well: It’s “shock-and-awe statism.” Most of Obama’s agenda is based on “crisis” situations that supposedly need to be resolved very quickly so as not to allow much discussion or analysis.

My conclusion is that Obama is concerned with the economy mainly as a PR issue and it is entirely subordinate to the business of wrecking America’s political and social structure and free market private sector and replacing it with his fascist ideal. We’ll be working for the state’s great program and not for our own interests, thereby surrendering our freedom, property rights, and economic opportunities. In other words, it is slavery. God help us to somehow defeat this before it’s too late. It’s time to sound the alarm!

Affirming America's Spiritual Heritage

U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes (R.-Va) has introduced a resolution designating the first week of May as “America’s Spiritual Heritage Week.” The resolution affirms the Judeo-Christian character of the United States, contrary to Barack Obama's claim that we are no longer a Christian nation, and details examples of America being considered a Judeo-Christian nation. See CNS News article at http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=49484

More on the topic of America’s Christian heritage is detailed in Gary DeMar’s ebook Historical Revisionism: An Attempt to Rewrite America’s Christian History, offered at americanvision.org.

In these sources and numerous other places, the left’s attempt to make “separation of church and state” mean that no one can talk about God in a government setting, such as public schools, etc., and to present the Founding Fathers as not attempting to encourage Christianity, is convincingly debunked.

For example, in a 2005 case cited by DeMar, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said that while “the ACLU makes repeated reference to ‘the separation of church and state,’ [t]his extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome,” rejecting that claim (page 17). In the ebook, many examples of early Christian influence in America, and official recognition of our Judeo-Christian heritage through the years are given.

I, and just about everyone who recognizes that America is historically a nation of Judeo-Christian heritage, advocate freedom of religion. The First Amendment does not say what citizens can’t do, but what Congress can’t do. Our Founding Documents state that our rights come from our Creator. All evidence indicates the historical belief that our Creator is the God of the Bible and no other.

(More on this the week of June 22)

Red Flags and a Line in the Sand on Socialized Healthcare

“Free” healthcare coverage! Doesn’t that sound great? But, as Milton Friedman said, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Even people who wouldn’t have to pay directly for government healthcare coverage would pay in many ways.

There are many things to dislike about the Obama Administration’s healthcare proposal. First and foremost, government would eventually take control of virtually every aspect of healthcare and this would greatly diminish individual freedom and the doctor-patient relationship. And the cost would be in trillions of dollars we don’t have. So Republicans ought to oppose this to the maximum extent possible and filibuster it to the end.

But in addition to the unacceptable concepts this proposal represents, there are some obvious signs that this is an attempt to put something very serious over on the American people. Consider:

1. Obama is determined to take a very strong role in this himself, not trusting the Congress or anyone else to do it “right.” Many of his campaign statements, such as the people who have health insurance won’t see a change except that they’ll pay less, and the government won’t tax employer-provided health insurance benefits as that villain John McCain was going to do, will be out the window and forgotten.

2. This item will be on a fast track to minimize scrutiny and thoughtful consideration, being presented as a “crisis” which must be dealt with immediately. Probably, it will be voted upon without having been read, like the “stimulus” bill.

3. Democrats will largely leave Republicans out of the discussions about it, since Republicans will oppose all aspects of it. At least, they should.

4. If approved, this program would put us squarely in the middle of socialism and it would be very difficult to extricate ourselves from it.

The final form is not yet clear. What is wanted by Obama is universal single-payer healthcare coverage. This would greatly damage the hated (by Obama) pharmaceutical and insurance industries. He could then say, “Look, we’re getting even with these guys who are ripping you off!” But of course the people would be no better off. Proper healthcare would quickly begin to disappear. Waiting lists would proliferate. If someone needs an MRI, for instance, it is not too difficult to get one scheduled for just about anyone, anywhere in the U.S. Under socialized coverage, there will soon be long delays in getting any procedures involving sophisticated technology, and in many cases it won’t be available – too costly.

We must distinguish between health insurance and actual health care, but once government takes over the insurance market, they will dictate what kind of care is to be provided, and most likely eventually become the provider as well.

Today, health care is rationed by the market. It is readily available to the point that over 80% of Americans do not want any change to their present coverage. Yet it’s a “crisis” which “only the government” can fix. When the government takes over, many new agencies will be needed, new drugs on the market will be fewer and further between, and healthcare will be rationed by bureaucrats, meaning that arbitrary rules and decisions will prevail over sound medical judgment. Bureaucratic rationing will mean that medical decisions will be made by people who (1) don’t know the actual cases involved and (2) have little or no expertise in things medical. Their main equipment will be a spreadsheet and a calculator to see what fits into some little formula.

Older people will likely be excluded from any treatments deemed too costly (which they can readily get today under Medicare, if needed). AARP ought to be up in arms over this whole business. Eugenics will eventually raise its ugly head under the guise of cost-effectiveness.

Republican leaders have been expressing opposition to the idea of government insurance. They are saying many of the right things: that it will lead to government insurance for everyone, unfairly compete in the insurance market, etc. They seem to be focusing on the “public plan,” i.e. socialist issue the most, which is good. They need to reject this entire proposal in total, not try to negotiate details around the edges. Then there’s the little matter of how (or whether) it can be paid for. Democrats want to tax everything from soft drinks to employer benefits and it still wouldn’t be enough. They’ve proposed penalties on people who don’t participate by buying insurance. Maybe they’ll do what the unions want to do with reluctant workers under the card check program: persuade them through “home visits.”

If the Republicans ever are going to take a firm, united stand against anything Obama is doing, this healthcare proposal is where they should do it. Like it or not, this is going to be their moment of truth. Either they stand and fight this truly freedom-destroying, bankrupting orgy of socialism or we can question their credibility as being anywhere near conservative, and we would have to question their courage. I hope they are up to the challenge. Happy filibustering!

And Another Thing . . .

Obama and his economists have complained that the economy they “inherited” was much worse than they thought, so their prediction that unemployment would top out at 8% was proved wrong and it’s now 9.4%. Worse than they thought! Well, either they’re mis-speaking, and they knew what the situation was and simply made too-optimistic predictions, or they didn’t do their homework.

Plenty of information on the current condition of the economy is always readily available. I learned this in Economics 101. Just go on line or to the public library and you can get every statistic you might want about budgets, employment, prices, money, trends, or whatever. As for “accounting gimmicks,” these “experts” should already know what they are and be able to readily decode them.

Bill Clinton used the same excuse for not providing a middle-class tax cut soon after he took office. It’s a bogus excuse that no one should accept. If what they said somehow is true, my advice to Barack Obama would be: Get better economists.

Is Obama Creating and Saving Jobs?

Obama’s stimulus is supposed to create and “save” jobs. All this bailout business started before Obama was elected. Obama was on board with it and added greatly to the spending. Senator Cornyn (R-TX) reports that the projected budget deficit for 2009 is almost as much as the Federal budget of 2001. Obama’s proposed spending is more than the combined spending of all previous administrations. And yet …

For January through March of 2009, over two million jobs had been lost in the U.S., including 663,000 in March. In April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported job losses of 539,000 (later revised upward), and in May the figure was reported by sources as 532,000. So, it’s well over three million so far in 2009. Of course we don’t know how many jobs have been “saved,” if any.

This past week it was reported that the unemployment rate nationwide is 9.4%, the highest level in 25 years. Of course, the mainstream media sees this as a sign that unemployment is bottoming out since some people thought the rate would be even higher. Several states have unemployment rates in double figures. But there are still many more job losses yet to come, with events such as the auto plant closings, related supplier cutbacks, etc. When large companies close down facilities, many outside the companies are affected, of course: suppliers, dealers, municipalities, property owners, and so on and on. The bottom is evidently not quite in sight yet.

But don’t worry, our leaders are on the job. Their answer to all this is more and more spending, in amounts approaching the unimaginable. Trillions of dollars more than ever before! Fifty billion at GM alone for the government’s stake. Apparently Obama can simply pour billions in public funds into whatever company he wants, and claim ownership, rewarding the unions or other constituencies with shares, while stiffing stockholders and creditors, then criticizing them if they dare complain. We must “sacrifice” for the benefit of future generations, who will be born debt-ridden (provided they escape the abortionists). Meanwhile, the dollar will soon become worth much less than it is now as inflation takes over. We’ve only begun to see the “sacrifice” on the altar of Obama’s fascism.

The main growth sector in our economy will be government, which will balloon in size in order to try in vain to keep up with all the spending and pork projects.

While this is fiscal insanity, it must seem like the appropriate steps to Obama and his allies, because it is leading to more and more chaos which, of course, “only the government” is equipped to deal with. As long as possible, they will blame Bush, but actually Obama now owns this situation, and people are beginning to see that. If the government had stayed out of the entire financial and auto industry meltdowns and let the markets run their course, there would still have been much pain, but the self-correcting mechanisms of the market would be in place instead of government meddling and manipulation. And we would be to a much lesser degree on the road to socialism, fascism, and loss of liberty.

Republicans need to get over the idea that we need bipartisanship, and get to the business of defeating liberalism and socialism wherever it is found. The GOP does no good for itself by trying to “work with” Democrats when that requires rolling over and accepting what they are offering. Pray for conservative leaders. Contact your elected representatives about the out-of-control spending and government takeovers. There is still time to avert much of this political and economic catastrophe.

Operation Overlord -- D-Day, June 6, 1944

June 6, 1944 – Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day – sixty-five years ago today – the Allied invasion of the Normandy coast, the largest amphibious military operation in history, dealt a devastating blow to the Nazis. At Omaha Beach alone, over 2,000 Americans were killed. At great price, members of the “Greatest Generation” were helping secure the victory. If not for the courage and sacrifice of these and other brave fighting forces, we would not be enjoying the liberty, security, and comfort we have today. Let’s keep alive the memory of these events. There are still some of the participants around although most are gone. They all deserve our gratitude. Let us learn from their example.


The pictures below and others can be found at 1900shistory.about.com. Good information about D-Day is available at americandday.org.

Destruction in His Wake

If this post reads like the ranting of some conspiracy-theory zealot or hyperactive critic, please check the news articles and commentary available at the respected conservative websites and publications. On a single issue, the situation may not seem quite as dreadful, but the whole picture is enough to make one gasp and be amazed at where we seem to be heading.

Barack Obama is attempting to systematically destroy the U.S. economy. It’s either that, or if he’s really trying to help the economy, he and his fellow Democrats are total idiots. And they are not idiots, for the most part. He’s not only destroying the economy (or trying to), but also what remains of American individualism and individual liberty. We’ve been seeing the steady growth of nanny-state policies, over-reaching regulation, and anti-family, anti-life policies for decades. But not on this great scale. It’s not a matter of hoping Obama fails. In terms of everything traditionally American, he is the most colossal failure in our history. Of course, from his standpoint, he is succeeding.

We knew he was a liberal. We were prepared for that. We were prepared to see debate and criticism over various policies and overspending on this or that. But Obama has put the entire matter of public policy onto an entirely different level. With breath-taking speed, our government is destroying the economy and our freedom to the extent that the massive, unheard-of levels of public debt and budget deficits, endangering every aspect of American life, is just another item on the list of Obama activities. As days go by, evidence mounts of the economic and social destruction being wrought.

Obama now owns and operates General Motors. His appointee, 31-year-old Brian Deese, who has no experience in the auto industry, apparently will be the czar in charge of dismantling and rebuilding GM. The government will not run GM? The fact is that the government is running and will run GM except for the mundane daily tasks. “Management” will do nothing significant without Obama people directing or at least signing off on it.

Obama is helping the economy, or even trying to? Biden says they created or “saved” 150,000 jobs, but millions of jobs have been lost, with many more to yet to be lost. The worst of all this (for General Motors) could have been avoided if the government had not “bailed out” GM. What they did was not a bailout, but a waste of billions with the situation getting much worse. A normal bankruptcy would have saved the “bailout” money and brought GM to some kind of manageable path to recovery. But that wouldn’t have suited Obama since the company would have remained in private hands and his cohorts the unions would not have been rewarded with a nice piece of it. Now they’re going bankrupt under Obama’s supervision, with him deciding the outcome. Anyone for buying GM stock?

Rush Limbaugh spent two hours today describing this and showing the character of it. There is plenty of information out about it. See Wall Street Journal and Drudge, and many other places. Just another dot connected on Obama’s chart. Just another massive abuse of power from Barack. Just another set of lies about his intentions.

We thought Bill Clinton was a liberal who had trouble with the truth. Obama makes him look like George Washington. Obama wants to be compared to Abe Lincoln or JFK. I think either of them would view his administration with shocked disbelief.

If anyone still believes that Obama has the best interests of the American people at heart, they should soon see their mistake (except for die-hard cult followers). For all his talk about helping the middle class, after a few more years of this, there will be no middle class. If the Republicans even hope to be around after the next two election cycles, they had better get it together soon and try to stop this monstrous, runaway mess. Or get ready for years of socialist-fascist rule.