By William L. Garvin
"We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people” are free. Ronald Reagan
At this stage of the end game, it doesn’t matter where President Obama was born. It doesn’t matter whether he is a Muslim or a Christian. It doesn’t matter whether or not the Ground Zero Mosque is built. It doesn’t matter whether or not Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel are convicted on their ethics charges. What does matter is how much more damage the Obama-Reid-Pelosi machine can do to our country before they are voted out of power.
Bill Clinton danced into presidential power to the tune of a one note samba “it’s the economy, stupid!” Our current gaffe a minute Vice President said this Administration would “focus like a laser” on that “three letter word…jobs!” Despite his blinding grasp of the obvious (and obvious gift for malapropisms), our current economy is in a shambles under the inflexible rule of this Administration. What started out as a regressive approach to our free market economy quickly became punitive and has now become destructive.
Housing sales just dove off the cliff with a 27% drop which is the worst on record. New home sales are also among the worst. True to form, the Administration saw it as “unexpected.” They never seem to see bad news coming but what would you expect once the government handouts ended? The same thing happened to new car sales once the “cash for clunkers” fiasco ended. The same thing will happen to the states once the $26 billion bribe for teacher votes ends next year.
They either never saw or didn’t care about the thousands of unemployed oil workers in the Gulf when they imposed the sweeping and arbitrary drilling moratorium. One would deem it prudent for the workers’ sake to implement an immediate emergency inspection program so those rigs that are worthy could resume production. It hasn’t happened. Due to their inordinate bureaucratic delays, two of the deep water rigs have packed up and sailed off to foreign shores. Don’t expect them to come back any time soon but do expect other rigs to follow their lead.
VP Biden is off on his flop of a “Summer of Recovery” tour touting the millions of jobs “created or saved” and now “lives touched” because of the Stimulus Bill. Those are newly invented yardsticks designed to deceive and judging by the President’s poll numbers, “we the people” aren’t buying it. Of course he can’t explain how he is going to insure 20 million new people at no additional cost. Of course he can’t explain why 48 of 50 states have LOST jobs since the bill was passed if their policies are working the way it was intended. Of course, he can’t explain why we can’t get below 9.5% unemployment. Of course, he can’t explain why their economic policies resulted in initial jobless claims rising to 500,000 just last week. Of course, he can’t explain why there are 4.75 million workers receiving Emergency Unemployment Compensation because their benefits have expired. Of course, he can’t even explain to his own Democrat Senator Michael Bennett who pointed out “We have acquired $13 trillion dollars of debt” and ”in my view we have nothing to show for it.”
Will this spending insanity ever end? Not if the President can help it. Representative Tom Price introduced a resolution to prevent further destruction to our economy and our American way of life in Congress’s “lame duck session.” It was defeated by Democrats 236-163 along party lines. In other words, our current representatives in Washington, aka the “Ruling Class”, intend to ignore the will of the people in November and cram even more destructive and unpopular policies down the throat of “We the People”! We should be very afraid of the “Revenge of the Losers”!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sense and Sensitivity
By William L. Garvin
“The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working underground to undermine our Constitution from a coordinate of a general and special government to a general supreme one alone. This will lay all things at their feet. … I will say, that ‘against this every man should raise his voice,” and, more, should uplift his arm …’”: Thomas Jefferson
Mayor Bloomberg says it’s “un-American” to question the funding and financing for the Ground Zero Mosque even though Hamas and Iran would both like to contribute. Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is demanding an investigation into the funding of those who are opposing the building of a mosque so close to the impact site of 9/11.!
Now she could have been concerned about Russia providing the nuclear fuel rods to help Iran bring its first nuclear power plant online. She could have been concerned that military strategists now opine that it is tactically impossible to bomb the plant since it is now activated for fear of contaminating all the open water in the area. Or she could have expressed concern that the very next day, Iran announced its newest unmanned bomber called the “Ambassador of Death.” But no, not our Nancy. Instead, in an unabashed attempt to quell free speech by concerned citizens, she demands an investigation into the financing of those who are “ginning up the controversy.” Let’s hope she starts with Senators Harry Reid and Charles Schumer, who are finally on record as opposing the mosque at its present location.
Our President then weighed in on Muslims in general, having the right to practice their religion and the Imam Rauf in specific, having the right to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan. Now it is questionable as to which informed Americans didn’t know this was a constitutional right but his Ramadan dinner speech was also broadcast to the Arab countries. The next day when he was questioned about the wisdom of building the mosque, he said he would not comment. So, when the going got tough, the President…went on vacation, his sixth of the year.
Many legitimate questions about this mosque remain unanswered not the least of which is how will this particular project bring about “healing”? It is obvious from the controversy that many of the friends and families of the 3,000 victims still bear raw emotional scars. How will this imposing structure bind up and heal those wounds? Will the call to prayer ricocheting off the buildings in the area five times a day and echoing over Ground Zero bring about understanding? Will non-Muslims be allowed to enter the mosque and pray in an ecumenical outreach? The history of the religion says no.
Speaking of history, why was the project originally named the “Cordoba House”, then renamed the “Cordoba Initiative” and now the “Park 51 Project”? Any casual student of history knows that the Cordoba Mosque in Spain was built on the site of a Christian cathedral. It came about after the Muslim armies decimated the countryside and the surviving population fled to the hills. If “Cordoba” does not suggest conquest, it certainly accompanied it.
What are the Imam’s responsibilities to be sensitive to the seventy percent of New Yorkers and the sixty plus percent of Americans who ask that he not build the mosque on that site? You may have also noted the increasing number of union workers who are adamantly opposed to and will refuse to construct this building. In an economy where unemployment continues to run rampant, this is no insignificant statement.
In contemporary and analogous news, the court has ruled that it is permissible for the Westboro Baptist Church (sic) to continue to disrupt private military funerals with their reprehensible hate speech. Apparently, the non-specified but judicially acclaimed “right to privacy” does not extend to the families of our military personnel to bury their loved ones, who have made the ultimate sacrifice, in a dignified and reverential manner. The court has also ruled that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional. According to the Ninth Circuit, it is legally permissible to lie about having been awarded military medals and citations, including the Medal of Honor. Even though you have the right to do it, it will never be the sensible or sensitive thing to do!
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“The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working underground to undermine our Constitution from a coordinate of a general and special government to a general supreme one alone. This will lay all things at their feet. … I will say, that ‘against this every man should raise his voice,” and, more, should uplift his arm …’”: Thomas Jefferson
Mayor Bloomberg says it’s “un-American” to question the funding and financing for the Ground Zero Mosque even though Hamas and Iran would both like to contribute. Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is demanding an investigation into the funding of those who are opposing the building of a mosque so close to the impact site of 9/11.!
Now she could have been concerned about Russia providing the nuclear fuel rods to help Iran bring its first nuclear power plant online. She could have been concerned that military strategists now opine that it is tactically impossible to bomb the plant since it is now activated for fear of contaminating all the open water in the area. Or she could have expressed concern that the very next day, Iran announced its newest unmanned bomber called the “Ambassador of Death.” But no, not our Nancy. Instead, in an unabashed attempt to quell free speech by concerned citizens, she demands an investigation into the financing of those who are “ginning up the controversy.” Let’s hope she starts with Senators Harry Reid and Charles Schumer, who are finally on record as opposing the mosque at its present location.
Our President then weighed in on Muslims in general, having the right to practice their religion and the Imam Rauf in specific, having the right to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan. Now it is questionable as to which informed Americans didn’t know this was a constitutional right but his Ramadan dinner speech was also broadcast to the Arab countries. The next day when he was questioned about the wisdom of building the mosque, he said he would not comment. So, when the going got tough, the President…went on vacation, his sixth of the year.
Many legitimate questions about this mosque remain unanswered not the least of which is how will this particular project bring about “healing”? It is obvious from the controversy that many of the friends and families of the 3,000 victims still bear raw emotional scars. How will this imposing structure bind up and heal those wounds? Will the call to prayer ricocheting off the buildings in the area five times a day and echoing over Ground Zero bring about understanding? Will non-Muslims be allowed to enter the mosque and pray in an ecumenical outreach? The history of the religion says no.
Speaking of history, why was the project originally named the “Cordoba House”, then renamed the “Cordoba Initiative” and now the “Park 51 Project”? Any casual student of history knows that the Cordoba Mosque in Spain was built on the site of a Christian cathedral. It came about after the Muslim armies decimated the countryside and the surviving population fled to the hills. If “Cordoba” does not suggest conquest, it certainly accompanied it.
What are the Imam’s responsibilities to be sensitive to the seventy percent of New Yorkers and the sixty plus percent of Americans who ask that he not build the mosque on that site? You may have also noted the increasing number of union workers who are adamantly opposed to and will refuse to construct this building. In an economy where unemployment continues to run rampant, this is no insignificant statement.
In contemporary and analogous news, the court has ruled that it is permissible for the Westboro Baptist Church (sic) to continue to disrupt private military funerals with their reprehensible hate speech. Apparently, the non-specified but judicially acclaimed “right to privacy” does not extend to the families of our military personnel to bury their loved ones, who have made the ultimate sacrifice, in a dignified and reverential manner. The court has also ruled that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional. According to the Ninth Circuit, it is legally permissible to lie about having been awarded military medals and citations, including the Medal of Honor. Even though you have the right to do it, it will never be the sensible or sensitive thing to do!
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.
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Monday, August 16, 2010
Here Comes the Judge!
By William L. Garvin
“Oh what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Shakespeare
The radical left in this country have little respect for the Constitution or the wisdom of the founding fathers. They love to find and exalt any ruling by an activist judge that will lead to the destruction of traditional definitions of marriage and simultaneously continue their assault on religion. In their atheistic world view, the Constitution should not read “freedom of religion” but “freedom from religion.” Some would even outlaw the Bible as “hate speech” and jail pastors and preachers for quoting it from the pulpit! One should also keep in mind that judges are nothing more than lawyers in robes.
Thomas Jefferson warned of the inherent danger of an unaccountable judiciary in 1823: "At the establishment of our Constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions nevertheless become law by precedent, sapping by little and little the foundations of the Constitution and working its change by construction before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life if secured against all liability to account."
Now we see that the court has again declared itself superior to the will of and unaccountable to the people. Simultaneously, in another exercise of raw judicial power, the court has accepted the moral hazard of redefining marriage. It will be interesting to see where this carousel stops. If the “equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment is crystal clear about discrimination,” and the voters’ will is irrelevant, why should marriage now be restricted to only one man and one woman, or two women, or two men? What about the woman who wants to have one husband for each day of the week or the man who wants to have one wife for each month of the year? Isn’t the number “two” rather arbitrary? After all, those who prefer a polygamous lifestyle certainly deserve equal protection and no discrimination.
How now do we tell a brother he can’t marry his sister or a father his daughter or a mother her son plus all the new same sex possibilities? And let’s not forget the North American Man Boy Love Association and all the “discrimination” they have had to endure all these years. There is probably no interpretation so bizarre or practice so perverse that some pointy-headed progressive somewhere would not condone and rationalize it!
It will also be interesting to see not only where the societal line is drawn but also whether or not the appeal actually addresses the legal arguments of the Prop 8 supporters rather than expressing a single judge’s personal preferences. Proponents reject the application of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses on three primary grounds:
• While marital status confers numerous benefits and privileges, there are no actual "protections" inherent and exclusive to marital status, nor are there any penalties solely based on marital status.
• The Fourteenth Amendment does not demand equal treatment under the law in instances where there is no threat to the life, liberty, and/or property of the citizens.
• Constitutional protections pertain to individuals, not couples, since there are no parameters for what constitutes a "couple" in matters of constitutional law.
It was also recently reported that the 14th Amendment “…clearly assigns U.S. border security and immigration control to the Federal government.” Neither border security nor immigration control is found therein. Nor does it clearly grant birthright citizenship to children of illegal aliens because they are not “…subject to the jurisdiction thereof” i.e., the United States. How that changed is yet another example of raw judicial power.
It will also be interesting to learn exactly what the “new” immigration policy is that the Arizona law supposedly created that the judge found so intolerable. Leftists love open borders and raw judicial power…when it goes their way. By the way, Arizona is still waiting for the meager reinforcements that the President promised. Pay close attention to what he does, not what he says.
“Oh what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Shakespeare
The radical left in this country have little respect for the Constitution or the wisdom of the founding fathers. They love to find and exalt any ruling by an activist judge that will lead to the destruction of traditional definitions of marriage and simultaneously continue their assault on religion. In their atheistic world view, the Constitution should not read “freedom of religion” but “freedom from religion.” Some would even outlaw the Bible as “hate speech” and jail pastors and preachers for quoting it from the pulpit! One should also keep in mind that judges are nothing more than lawyers in robes.
Thomas Jefferson warned of the inherent danger of an unaccountable judiciary in 1823: "At the establishment of our Constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions nevertheless become law by precedent, sapping by little and little the foundations of the Constitution and working its change by construction before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life if secured against all liability to account."
Now we see that the court has again declared itself superior to the will of and unaccountable to the people. Simultaneously, in another exercise of raw judicial power, the court has accepted the moral hazard of redefining marriage. It will be interesting to see where this carousel stops. If the “equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment is crystal clear about discrimination,” and the voters’ will is irrelevant, why should marriage now be restricted to only one man and one woman, or two women, or two men? What about the woman who wants to have one husband for each day of the week or the man who wants to have one wife for each month of the year? Isn’t the number “two” rather arbitrary? After all, those who prefer a polygamous lifestyle certainly deserve equal protection and no discrimination.
How now do we tell a brother he can’t marry his sister or a father his daughter or a mother her son plus all the new same sex possibilities? And let’s not forget the North American Man Boy Love Association and all the “discrimination” they have had to endure all these years. There is probably no interpretation so bizarre or practice so perverse that some pointy-headed progressive somewhere would not condone and rationalize it!
It will also be interesting to see not only where the societal line is drawn but also whether or not the appeal actually addresses the legal arguments of the Prop 8 supporters rather than expressing a single judge’s personal preferences. Proponents reject the application of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses on three primary grounds:
• While marital status confers numerous benefits and privileges, there are no actual "protections" inherent and exclusive to marital status, nor are there any penalties solely based on marital status.
• The Fourteenth Amendment does not demand equal treatment under the law in instances where there is no threat to the life, liberty, and/or property of the citizens.
• Constitutional protections pertain to individuals, not couples, since there are no parameters for what constitutes a "couple" in matters of constitutional law.
It was also recently reported that the 14th Amendment “…clearly assigns U.S. border security and immigration control to the Federal government.” Neither border security nor immigration control is found therein. Nor does it clearly grant birthright citizenship to children of illegal aliens because they are not “…subject to the jurisdiction thereof” i.e., the United States. How that changed is yet another example of raw judicial power.
It will also be interesting to learn exactly what the “new” immigration policy is that the Arizona law supposedly created that the judge found so intolerable. Leftists love open borders and raw judicial power…when it goes their way. By the way, Arizona is still waiting for the meager reinforcements that the President promised. Pay close attention to what he does, not what he says.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Smoke and Mirrors
By William L. Garvin
Unemployment continues to hover just below 10% with no indication that the Stimulus Bill has even a remote chance of working. Another 131,000 jobs were lost last month (revisions will soon show it was more) and private sector employers aren’t going to hire with tax hikes coming their way in January. Who knows what turmoil will be coming from the financial reform regulations that have yet to be written and which Congress can’t explain. Don’t forget all the rules and regulations to be promulgated by the 183 boards and commissions established by health care “reform.”
Speaking of health care, the voters in Missouri turned out in enormous numbers (for a midterm election) and an overwhelming 71% said they do not want ObamaCare! Many did not even vote in their Congressional primaries; they just wanted to reject the President’s “signature” achievement. “Show Me” definitely showed “The One”! Making matters worse, a district judge in Virginia noted the unprecedented expansion of the welfare clause and gave the Commonwealth the go ahead in their lawsuit against the Administration and rejected all four of the Administration’s claims. It looks like another thirty states are likely to also sue the Administration.
In addition, the economic “Summer of Recovery” tour has failed. Facts are such stubborn things. In January 2007, when Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took control of Congress, the unemployment rate was 4.6% and the national debt was $8.6 trillion. Today, unemployment is 9.5% and the national debt is $13 trillion. Given this record of failure, the Administration needs “smoke and mirrors” in the worst possible way. That’s exactly what they are getting with the ethics charges against Democrat House members Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters. Speaker Pelosi has yet to live up to her lofty proclamations…the swamp is not drained and the culture of corruption is now headed by a braying, hypocritical donkey. What’s that about glass houses and throwing stones?
Regular as clockwork, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are back for yet more bailouts. Isn’t it interesting that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd failed to address their inadequacies in the Financial Reform Bill? Only a cynic would say it was because they had oversight of those institutions and any meaningful investigation would expose their dereliction of duty and significant contributions to the financial fiasco by creating a huge amount of “toxic assets.”
Since those aren’t working, let’s try more “smoke and mirrors” by castigating interest in immigration reform and the inappropriately named “anchor babies.” Reexamining birthright citizenship for illegal aliens isn’t exactly repealing the 14th Amendment but accuracy has never been the hallmark of the Democrat propaganda machine.
For perspective, only 33 of 196 nations have a national policy of birthright citizenship. The majority of those who do are Caribbean and Latin American countries with populations of less than fifty million. The United States is the only nation of more than 200 million that currently employs the concept. No European nation has birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The United States government currently recognizes any person born on American soil as a "natural born" citizen and ignores the Constitutional requirement that one must also be "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States in order to automatically gain citizenship. The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on whether or not children born to illegal alien parents, or to parents visiting the United States with temporary visas, are entitled to birthright citizenship.
As a result, the scope of our problem is staggering. In 2003, 70 percent of the 2,300 babies born in San Joaquin General Hospital in Stockton were children of illegal immigrants. In 2008, an article cited Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas as the “second busiest maternity ward in the United States.” Again, 70 percent of the women giving birth were illegal aliens. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michal Antonovich received much criticism just for releasing the numbers for June, 2009. According to Department of Social Services, LA County spent $26 million in food stamps and $22 million in welfare in that single month just for children of illegal aliens. That amounts to nearly $600 million each year in one county in California. It is not sustainable.
Any immigration reform should closely examine birthright citizenship and its impact on our country without the usual demagoguery. But first things first…President Obama should stop blowing smoke. Let private sector employers fix the economy and he should secure the border.
Unemployment continues to hover just below 10% with no indication that the Stimulus Bill has even a remote chance of working. Another 131,000 jobs were lost last month (revisions will soon show it was more) and private sector employers aren’t going to hire with tax hikes coming their way in January. Who knows what turmoil will be coming from the financial reform regulations that have yet to be written and which Congress can’t explain. Don’t forget all the rules and regulations to be promulgated by the 183 boards and commissions established by health care “reform.”
Speaking of health care, the voters in Missouri turned out in enormous numbers (for a midterm election) and an overwhelming 71% said they do not want ObamaCare! Many did not even vote in their Congressional primaries; they just wanted to reject the President’s “signature” achievement. “Show Me” definitely showed “The One”! Making matters worse, a district judge in Virginia noted the unprecedented expansion of the welfare clause and gave the Commonwealth the go ahead in their lawsuit against the Administration and rejected all four of the Administration’s claims. It looks like another thirty states are likely to also sue the Administration.
In addition, the economic “Summer of Recovery” tour has failed. Facts are such stubborn things. In January 2007, when Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took control of Congress, the unemployment rate was 4.6% and the national debt was $8.6 trillion. Today, unemployment is 9.5% and the national debt is $13 trillion. Given this record of failure, the Administration needs “smoke and mirrors” in the worst possible way. That’s exactly what they are getting with the ethics charges against Democrat House members Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters. Speaker Pelosi has yet to live up to her lofty proclamations…the swamp is not drained and the culture of corruption is now headed by a braying, hypocritical donkey. What’s that about glass houses and throwing stones?
Regular as clockwork, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are back for yet more bailouts. Isn’t it interesting that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd failed to address their inadequacies in the Financial Reform Bill? Only a cynic would say it was because they had oversight of those institutions and any meaningful investigation would expose their dereliction of duty and significant contributions to the financial fiasco by creating a huge amount of “toxic assets.”
Since those aren’t working, let’s try more “smoke and mirrors” by castigating interest in immigration reform and the inappropriately named “anchor babies.” Reexamining birthright citizenship for illegal aliens isn’t exactly repealing the 14th Amendment but accuracy has never been the hallmark of the Democrat propaganda machine.
For perspective, only 33 of 196 nations have a national policy of birthright citizenship. The majority of those who do are Caribbean and Latin American countries with populations of less than fifty million. The United States is the only nation of more than 200 million that currently employs the concept. No European nation has birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The United States government currently recognizes any person born on American soil as a "natural born" citizen and ignores the Constitutional requirement that one must also be "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States in order to automatically gain citizenship. The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on whether or not children born to illegal alien parents, or to parents visiting the United States with temporary visas, are entitled to birthright citizenship.
As a result, the scope of our problem is staggering. In 2003, 70 percent of the 2,300 babies born in San Joaquin General Hospital in Stockton were children of illegal immigrants. In 2008, an article cited Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas as the “second busiest maternity ward in the United States.” Again, 70 percent of the women giving birth were illegal aliens. Los Angeles County Supervisor Michal Antonovich received much criticism just for releasing the numbers for June, 2009. According to Department of Social Services, LA County spent $26 million in food stamps and $22 million in welfare in that single month just for children of illegal aliens. That amounts to nearly $600 million each year in one county in California. It is not sustainable.
Any immigration reform should closely examine birthright citizenship and its impact on our country without the usual demagoguery. But first things first…President Obama should stop blowing smoke. Let private sector employers fix the economy and he should secure the border.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Scared Straight…By The Ruling Class!
By William L. Garvin
So let me get this straight…Congress has a miserable 11% approval rating but votes itself a pay raise. Social security recipients who worked and paid taxes all their lives don’t even get a cost of living increase this year or next year but their Medicare costs are going up!
So let me get this straight…Democrats have been in charge of Congress since January, 2007. Since then: the American public opposed the TARP Bailout but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposed the Stimulus Bill but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposed Obamacare but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposed the Financial Reform Bill but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposes the expiration of the Bush tax cuts but Congress….
Furthermore, the Department of Justice decides to sue the State of Arizona for enacting a statute supported by 70% of Arizonans that helps enforce federal immigration laws. The DOJ says it needs “consistency.” However, the DOJ ignores all the “sanctuary cities” throughout the country, with all their inconsistencies, that not only violate federal law but interfere with the enforcement of federal law.
In addition, Congress ignores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were the primary catalysts for the housing bubble and the housing bust which precipitated the need for TARP. In another of their two thousand plus page bills (which nobody has read), Congress somehow missed dealing with the cause of our country’s economic malaise and keeps taxpayers on the hook for their continuing bailout.
How did our government “of the people, by the people, for the people” become such a non-representative entity? How did they become so out of touch with our history and what has made “American exceptionalism” a magnet of hope and opportunity throughout the world? Why do they feel entitled to force feed us what we do not want? Who died and made them Omnipotent?
A clue is found in the brilliant piece America’s Ruling Class—And the Perils of Revolution written by Angelo M. Codevilla, Professor Emeritus at Boston University. He argues that the differences between the Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are a matter of degree not kind and they are all part of a “ruling class.” There is very little diversity in the “upper crust” that speaks the same “in” language, goes to the “right” schools, and has “the tastes, habits, and tools of bureaucrats.” They understand the mechanics of an expanding government and their careers and fortunes are dependent upon it.
The attitude of this bipartisan Ruling Class is that they are in essence, born to rule, because they are the best and brightest “while the rest of Americans are retrograde, racist, and dysfunctional unless properly constrained.” Hence, we have Franklin D. Roosevelt and his “brain trust” creating the New Deal “independent” agencies that have controlled more and more of America. Progressives morphed into powerful bureaucrats. They grasp the truths that common, inferior Americans, who cling bitterly to their guns and religions, cannot. Maybe that’s why Congress exempted themselves from the health care mandates they imposed upon everyone else.
Codevilla argues that while the Ruling Class agenda is stated in “intellectual-moral pretense”, the true goal is power and money for themselves. The bills are two and three thousand pages long so they can tilt the playing field towards those they favor and disadvantaging those they do not. Bear Stearns wins; Lehman Brothers loses. Alternative energy wins; fossils fuels lose. AMA wins; doctors lose. Unions win; small businesses lose. Government now picks the winners and losers in more and more sectors of our society. Ruling Class wins; Country Class loses.
There’s one huge problem for the Ruling Class: central planning has never worked! Despite numerous attempts throughout the world, social engineering, social justice or the redistribution of wealth, top down wealth creation doesn’t work. The Ruling Class thinks it’s only because the “wrong” people were doing the planning. They ignore the fact that America spread more wealth across greater strata of its citizenry than any economic system anywhere. Despite the fact that most of them have never even run a small business or had to make payroll, they still think they know better. Unfortunately, they will never learn that the practical, successful experience of countless millions in the Country Class will trump the untested, theoretical brilliance of the Ruling Class. It will be a difficult and revolutionary struggle to dismantle the oligarchy given the trend of the last one hundred years.
So let me get this straight…Congress has a miserable 11% approval rating but votes itself a pay raise. Social security recipients who worked and paid taxes all their lives don’t even get a cost of living increase this year or next year but their Medicare costs are going up!
So let me get this straight…Democrats have been in charge of Congress since January, 2007. Since then: the American public opposed the TARP Bailout but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposed the Stimulus Bill but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposed Obamacare but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposed the Financial Reform Bill but Congress enacted it anyway; the American public opposes the expiration of the Bush tax cuts but Congress….
Furthermore, the Department of Justice decides to sue the State of Arizona for enacting a statute supported by 70% of Arizonans that helps enforce federal immigration laws. The DOJ says it needs “consistency.” However, the DOJ ignores all the “sanctuary cities” throughout the country, with all their inconsistencies, that not only violate federal law but interfere with the enforcement of federal law.
In addition, Congress ignores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were the primary catalysts for the housing bubble and the housing bust which precipitated the need for TARP. In another of their two thousand plus page bills (which nobody has read), Congress somehow missed dealing with the cause of our country’s economic malaise and keeps taxpayers on the hook for their continuing bailout.
How did our government “of the people, by the people, for the people” become such a non-representative entity? How did they become so out of touch with our history and what has made “American exceptionalism” a magnet of hope and opportunity throughout the world? Why do they feel entitled to force feed us what we do not want? Who died and made them Omnipotent?
A clue is found in the brilliant piece America’s Ruling Class—And the Perils of Revolution written by Angelo M. Codevilla, Professor Emeritus at Boston University. He argues that the differences between the Bushes, Clintons, and Obamas are a matter of degree not kind and they are all part of a “ruling class.” There is very little diversity in the “upper crust” that speaks the same “in” language, goes to the “right” schools, and has “the tastes, habits, and tools of bureaucrats.” They understand the mechanics of an expanding government and their careers and fortunes are dependent upon it.
The attitude of this bipartisan Ruling Class is that they are in essence, born to rule, because they are the best and brightest “while the rest of Americans are retrograde, racist, and dysfunctional unless properly constrained.” Hence, we have Franklin D. Roosevelt and his “brain trust” creating the New Deal “independent” agencies that have controlled more and more of America. Progressives morphed into powerful bureaucrats. They grasp the truths that common, inferior Americans, who cling bitterly to their guns and religions, cannot. Maybe that’s why Congress exempted themselves from the health care mandates they imposed upon everyone else.
Codevilla argues that while the Ruling Class agenda is stated in “intellectual-moral pretense”, the true goal is power and money for themselves. The bills are two and three thousand pages long so they can tilt the playing field towards those they favor and disadvantaging those they do not. Bear Stearns wins; Lehman Brothers loses. Alternative energy wins; fossils fuels lose. AMA wins; doctors lose. Unions win; small businesses lose. Government now picks the winners and losers in more and more sectors of our society. Ruling Class wins; Country Class loses.
There’s one huge problem for the Ruling Class: central planning has never worked! Despite numerous attempts throughout the world, social engineering, social justice or the redistribution of wealth, top down wealth creation doesn’t work. The Ruling Class thinks it’s only because the “wrong” people were doing the planning. They ignore the fact that America spread more wealth across greater strata of its citizenry than any economic system anywhere. Despite the fact that most of them have never even run a small business or had to make payroll, they still think they know better. Unfortunately, they will never learn that the practical, successful experience of countless millions in the Country Class will trump the untested, theoretical brilliance of the Ruling Class. It will be a difficult and revolutionary struggle to dismantle the oligarchy given the trend of the last one hundred years.
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