Lionize or Demonize?

 

By William L. Garvin

 

Political pundits lionize or demonize along party lines.  The mainstream media lionizes or demonizes according to progressive ideological protocols.  It appears as if they no longer even want to pretend to be objective in their analysis of happenings in the world.

 

Take the comparative coverage of Wendy Davis and Ted Cruz as an object lesson.  To the leftist press, Wonderful Wendy and her legion of supporters were “courageous,” “brave,” “remarkable,” “heroic” and channeling the “anger of millions.”  Little coverage was given to the chants of “hail Satan” and “F---the church.”  Even the Church of Satan repudiated their “irreverent” chants!  Sparse coverage was devoted to Wendy followers who carried jars of urine, feces, paint and sported tampons as jewelry.  Did you even hear of the death threats being made to Texas officials or the voodoo dolls being made of the Texas governor?  As for her “tilting at windmill” cause, Ms. Davis wanted no restrictions on abortions after 20 weeks even though the pro-life bill was overwhelmingly supported by the Texas legislature, the governor, and Texans in general.  As an aside, did you notice that throughout the American fascination with William and Kate’s pregnancy there was only a “Royal Baby”; there was never a “Royal Fetus”?

 

Maybe if Ted Cruz would have worn pink tennis shoes, he would have been shown a little more liberal love in the media.  He spoke for 21 hours compared to Wendy’s eleven but his efforts were a “big waste of time” according to Harry Reid.  Of course, Harry was the one who released the Senate for a 5-week vacation on August 1 even though the federal budget was due October 1.  Talk about wasting time!  In any event, Cruz was characterized as “an arrogant jerk”, “whacky”, “narcissistic”, “all about him”, and “bizarre.”  Little was shown of his actual explanations of his objections to the government takeover of one-sixth of the economy.  His key point of the Affordable Care Act doing little to improve actual medical care but merely redistributing premiums throughout the age and economic spectrum garnered virtually no coverage.  If a modicum of truth in advertising laws applied, Obamacare would have to be renamed the Affordable Insurance Act because getting insurance may be easier than actually getting medical care.  In any event, Wendy’s the lion and Ted’s the demon.

 

Then there’s Nancy “pass the bill to find out what’s in it” Pelosi.  Now she’s doing her best Mother Hubbard impersonation and declaring the cupboard is bare.  If so, exactly how did government come up with the $320 million to bailout the fraud, corruption, and incompetence in Detroit?  What’s the matter, San Bernardino and Stockton, weren’t you corrupt enough to get federal aid?  What about the half million dollars that the Veterans Affairs Department just spent on artwork?  Or the Agriculture Department spending $140,000 on “toner cartridges” in one day!  Then there are the National Science Foundation grants to a new website (SiteJabber.com) to rate the “trustworthiness” of other websites.  Maybe they should start with the cute little animals on the Adorable Health Care website waste of taxpayer money.  Nancy, did you not know about the NSF grant that pays for “meditation and self-reflection” for math, science, and engineering majors?  There are lots more in Tom Coburn’s letters to the Senate.  Don’t forget to check out the YouTube video on how to properly handle a watermelon, another taxpayer funded undertaking.

 

Should someone who calls their opponents “legislative arsonists,” “anarchists,” “bombs strapped to their chests,” and guilty of “political terrorism” be lecturing others on civility?  Yet this is what senior Democrat leaders do repeatedly in demonizing dissent.  Somehow though, real terrorists such as Nidal Hassan are reduced to “disgruntled employees” acting out in “workplace violence.”  What should be demonized is the economic violence from the drop in median income of $2,627 since President Obama took office.  “Political terrorism” is when 27% of Blacks are in poverty and 25.6% of Hispanics have joined them.  “Legislative arson” is when the debt reaches $17 trillion this month, is projected to reach $23 trillion by 2017, and unfunded liabilities are estimated at $84 TRILLION!  THAT deserves demonization.  Equally unsettling is negotiating with terrorists (Iran) and leaving our men behind on the battlefield (Benghazi).  But that is what you get when you vote for the “fundamental transformation of America.”   Now you are finding out what that means.  Now who should be demonized? 

 

Running Out of Options

By William L. Garvin

 

“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”  Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5

 

Long before the Syrian quagmire, Alexander Pope wrote that “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” His advice still stands strikingly on point as there appear to be no good options in dealing with this looming crisis.  Obviously the situation has been exacerbated by President Obama unilaterally delineating a “red line” after “leading from behind” for five years.  This is in direct opposition to his statement in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in December, 2009:  “In a world in which threats are more diffuse and missions more complex, America cannot act alone.  America alone cannot secure the peace.”

 

Long before the Bush-Bash Brothers (Barack Obama and John Kerry) “evolved” from Democrat Doves to war drum beating Chicken Hawks, he also said:  “Iran and Syria would start changing their behavior if they started seeing that they had some incentives to do so, but right now the only incentive that exists is our president suggesting that if you do what we tell you, we may not blow you up.  My belief about the regional powers in the Middle East is that they don’t respond well to that kind of bluster.  They haven’t in the past, there’s no reason to think they will in the future.”  What’s next…Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon performing on USO tours with Bill Maher?

 

Speaking of Hollywood and the anti-war movement that was so omnipresent and stridently vocal when George Bush was president, where are you?  Of course, President Bush only had thirty nations in his coalition, congressional approval, United Nations support and seventy percent of the nation behind him.  Ed Asner made it perfectly clear when he said:  “A lot of people don’t want to feel anti-black by being opposed to Obama.”  As usual in liberal lexicon, if you oppose President Obama’s policies, you’re a racist.  Yawn.

 

The problem with President Obama’s red line manifesto for Syria is manifold.  First of all, he doesn’t have a playbook.  Second of all, he doesn’t have a team.  Thirdly, his credibility is actually not on the line because after Benghazi, NSA, Fast and Furious, and the IRS, he has none!  A year after Benghazi, the only thing that this administration has accomplished is a “sealed indictment.”  I’ll bet al Qaeda is shaking in its boots.

 

As for Syria, if Assad actually used poison gas, he’s not only a war criminal, he’s an irrational war criminal.  Don’t expect rational strategies to alter irrational behavior.  On the other side, the Free Syrian Army rebel force has been greatly diminished and al Qaeda forces gaining in strength.  Who’s to say that al Qaeda affiliates didn’t gas the Free Syrian Army?  The administration says it has “high confidence” that Assad used these WMD but that is the same intelligence apparatus that repeatedly blamed Benghazi on a video!

 

As for the Syrian opposition, we see rebel leaders summarily executing Assad’s soldiers while the prisoners are face down on the ground with their hands bound.  Another commandant cuts open a fallen soldier’s chest and pulls out and eats his heart and liver.  The jihadists are also destroying Christian churches and terrorizing Christians similar to what’s happening in Egypt.  There is no telling what sort of rule these barbarians might enact if they are successful in seizing power.

 

Anti-war activist, now Secretary of State John Kerry, (who was undoubtedly against it before he was for it) now wants “limited” and “proportional” strikes that are not “war in the classical sense.”  If the military kicking Morsi out of power in Egypt is not a coup, then why not redefine these terms of language as well?  If Canada or Mexico lobbed a few missiles across the border or bombed a few of our airports, would the United States see that as “limited and proportional” or an “act of war” even if they promised “no boots on the ground”?

 

Who is to say that a “limited and proportional” strike or series of strikes will be the end game?  One can surmise that there will be many visuals of innocent women and children killed in the strikes.  What if someone uses WMD several times, a la Saddam Hussein?  Given that Iran and Russia are still supporting Assad, what if they decide to retaliate?  What if Hezbollah decides to attack Israel?  What if the world erupts, not with a whimper but a bang?  Forget the limited, proportional sound and fury; it signifies nothing.       

Evolution or Devolution?

By William L. Garvin

When Secretary of State John Kerry referred to the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a “moral obscenity,” it was nice to hear him criticizing someone other than our own military personnel.  It would also have been appropriate to hear him express similar outrage when Saddam Hussein was using similar weapons against the Iranians and against the Kurdish people in his own country but that didn’t happen.  Of course, Kerry is right—it is an atrocity but it just the latest example of cultural devolution.

What do you make of a world when mothers will strap explosives to their children and then send them off to public places to be detonated?  What do you make of a world where entire villages will be hacked to death with machetes?  What do you make of a cause that severs the head of a journalist and then posts their grisly murder on YouTube?  What do you make of the millions of lives aborted each year?  What do you make of a group of teenagers that murder an innocent jogger because they were bored?  What do you make of teenagers who beat an 88-year old veteran to death with flashlights?  What do you make of teenagers who shoot a 13-month old baby to death in front of his mother?  What do you make of young boys and girls who beat someone up and then post the video of their assault?

What do you make of the beating, rape, and murder of the 85-year old woman in Tulsa and the murder of her 90-year old husband?  What about the rape of the 90-year old woman in Chicago, the 80-year old in Richmond, or the 90-year old in Detroit?  Have we created a sub-species of the human race that has neither a moral compass nor the least reservation about preying on the weakest among us?  This evidence suggests a process of “becoming physically, morally, or mentally worse,” i.e., devolution.

In her book, THE NARCISSISM EPIDEMIC, Dr. Jean Twenge notes that narcissism “is a significant risk factor for aggressive and violent behavior.”    She goes on to note that “…narcissists are aggressive exactly because they love themselves so much and believe that their needs take precedence.  They lack empathy for other people’s pain and often slash out when they feel they aren’t getting the respect they deserve—and they feel they deserve a lot, because they are, of course, better than everyone else…Their narcissism allowed them to disregard the most basic rights of others.” 

A byproduct to the self-esteem on steroids culture is a concomitant loss of a sense of shame or embarrassment.  Shock value in entertainment takes precedence over talent.  Spectacle supersedes significance.  Narcissistic self worth is determined by the number of “retweets” or the “likes” on their “selfie.”  If a sex tape can make you famous, why not?  After all, everybody’s doing it!  Politicians cheat, actors and athletes hop musical beds, and unwed mothers and deadbeat dads abound.

Our judicial system seems to aid and abet the devolution by the frequent lack of consequences.  Hasan the mass-murdering terrorist gets the death penalty but the military hasn’t executed anyone since 1961.  Three large teenagers beat, kick, stomp and maul a diminutive 13-year old and get probation, anger management, and community service.  A schoolteacher rapes a teenager who subsequently commits suicide and is given a 30-day jail sentence.  Politicians lie directly to the American people and get a pass.  If they lie under oath, they claim to have “misspoke.”  They never steal but they do “misappropriate.”  They are not a crook, they didn’t have sexual relations with that woman, and it takes nearly twenty sexual harassment claims before a mayor will resign.  Congress passes law after law after law that they and their cronies will not have to follow.  If you’re not connected, you’ll be subjected!

Adding insult to injury, the defense for the accused will frequently resort to blaming the victim.  Rumors and innuendoes boil over.  The 88-year old veteran was a drug dealer; the thirteen-year old was a snitch; the mother of the murdered 13-month old actually did it for the insurance money; the fourteen-year old girl was “older than her years.”  The adversarial system is not a search for truth but a win at any cost legal brawl with no holds barred.  Individual responsibility and societal accountability are becoming such old fashioned concepts that the light at the end of the tunnel is the oncoming devolutionary train!  

A Topsy Turvy World

By William L. Garvin

“No shirt, no shoes, no service”

“We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.”  Congress doesn’t have to represent their constituencies even though 61% of America oppose Obamacare’s individual mandate.  Lawyers don’t have to represent a prospective client.  Theaters don’t have to show films they don’t like.  Companies don’t have to introduce a new product.  Businesses have the ability to succeed or fail based on what they offer and who they seek as a customer base.  When I was denied entrance to a restaurant because I wasn’t wearing a coat and tie, I went to another restaurant.  When I was denied entrance to a night club because my date was wearing jeans, we went to another club.  That’s no longer the way of the world.

 

We see the trickledown effect of the federal government forcing employers, including religious institutions, to provide insurance that pays for abortion and contraception, even though it violates the owners’ religious beliefs or conscience.  In Washington, the state sued a florist who did not wish to provide flowers for a homosexual marriage.  In Oregon, the State Bureau of Labor and Industries is investigating a baker who did not wish to provide a cake for a lesbian wedding.  In Colorado, another homosexual couple sued another bakery for not providing them service.  In New Mexico, a photographer was sued for not wanting to shoot a lesbian commitment ceremony.  The couple secured another photographer and that should have ended the story.  It didn’t.  The couple took the matter to the New Mexico Human Rights Council and now the New Mexico Supreme Court has found a violation of the New Mexico “Human Rights Act.”   The photographer had to cough up nearly $7,000 in attorney fees for the plaintiff.  Will churches and pastors be the next targets?  This same New Mexico Supreme Court has also ruled that people who cannot speak English should be seated on juries and provided translators.  It’s a good thing that nothing will be lost in translation.

 

In similar fashion in California, the legislature has already passed bills that are sitting on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.   They will allow non-citizens to sit on juries and act as poll watchers.  Earlier this month, the Governor signed a bill that affected the 6.2 million students in the California K-12 educational system.  The transgender student bill is a clarification of the Education Code and was passed along Democrat party lines.  Henceforth, all California public schools will now permit biological boys in girls’ restrooms, showers, clubs, and on girls’ sports teams and biological girls in boys’ restrooms, showers, clubs, and sports teams.”  It will be the student’s choice as to which gender he or she identifies with.  Early analysis shows no requirements for parental notification or prior counseling.  Again, it’s good that nothing will be lost in gender translation.

 

In 2009, South Africa’s Caster Semenya won the world title in the women’s 800 meters.  The 18-year-old was kept out of competition for 11 months while track and field’s governing body investigated her gender.  Such concerns will now be passé in California.  Are all the girl’s records now ready to be broken or will they simply be asterisked?  There are already prohibitions against human growth hormone and other performance enhancing drugs but how will girls compete with transgender boys who already boast the additional amounts of testosterone naturally?  Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Finally, now that “Soldier of Allah” Nidal Hasan has been convicted of thirteen premeditated murders and thirty-two attempted murders in the Fort Hood massacre, isn’t it time to clear up something else that has been lost in the translation.  It was never “workplace violence”; it was always a terrorist attack!  It is a stain on the United States Army, the Department of Defense, the Commander in Chief, and the United States of America that the survivors would have to file a lawsuit to get the medical benefits to which they feel entitled.  All those in the chain of command, the NSA and the FBI were derelict in their duties for not identifying this obvious extremist with his terrorist connections and for not protecting our service men and women from this monstrous zealot.  In your convoluted thinking, you have even denied them an award of a Purple Heart for the suffering they endured.  Mr. President, it’s time to do the right thing and turn this situation right side up.     

 

How Low Can You Go?

By William L. Garvin

 

In the Sixties, a Trinidad dance craze briefly captured an American audience.  In it, a bar was progressively lowered to see who could navigate beneath it without the use of hands.  Chubby Checker, who popularized “The Twist,” also popularized the limbo catch phrase “How low can you go?”  Today’s political activists are plumbing depths that would make limbo enthusiasts walk away shaking their heads.

 For instance, how low can American foreign policy sink?  Russia thumbs their nose at us; China goes their own international power base building way; North Korea rattles their nuclear saber in our face; and Iran pursues their nuclear ambitions with no U.S. speed bump in its path.  In 2011, Iraq forced our troops out with the willing compliance of the Obama administration.  However, in July of this year, more than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in terror-related attacks, the “deadliest month since 2008.”  Now they are begging for our assistance.

 The Obama administration orchestrated the ousting of Libya’s Muammar Qadaffi and what do we have to show for it?  A year ago, our ambassador and three other Americans were killed in Benghazi and our embassy was bombed again just last weekend.  In Syria, the Obama administration decrees that President Bassar al-Assad must go and is providing “humanitarian relief” to the rebels.  Apparently, they are also providing small arms assistance to the rebels, many of whom are al Qaeda affiliates.  In Egypt, Mubarak had to go so the Muslim Brotherhood came in.  The Egyptian military kicked Morsi and the Brotherhood out but the administration denies that it was a coup and continues to provide aid.  The Muslim Brotherhood and the military are engaged in much violence and many people are dying so this administration is now “deeply concerned.”  The “Arab Spring” turns out to be “1001 Arabian Nightmares.”

 On the home front, the “defend Islam at all costs and hate America” crowd beats their perpetual persecution drum in spite of the facts.  Where would you rather be?  If you’re homosexual in Lebanon, it’s a year in prison.  In Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Yemen or Oman, it’s life in prison if you’re not given the death penalty.  In Kuwait, it’s okay to be a lesbian but it’s illegal to be a male homosexual.  In Nigeria and other parts of Africa, you can have your hands and maybe your feet cut off if you steal a goat or a television set.  That’s better than South Africa where you can be shot on the spot for stealing a diamond.  In Afghanistan, rape victims are often jailed for adultery!  You face the death penalty in Iran just for being a Christian!  Would you rather be a Christian pastor in Iran or a Muslim Imam in America?

 Another low in civility was set by the pro-abortion protestors in Texas who chanted “Hail Satan” and wore tampon earrings, carried Maxi-pads, jars of urine and feces to advance their cause.  This is all because the Texas legislature placed restrictions on abortions after 20 weeks.  If only we were more enlightened…like Europe.  In Portugal, the “no fault” abortion right ends at 10 weeks.  In Greece, Norway, France and Germany, it’s 12 weeks; in Italy, it’s 13; in Spain it’s 14.  Only England (24 weeks) exceeds the Texas legislation.  In several European countries, abortion beyond the designated limits may only be considered if there is an immediate medical threat to the woman’s health or there will be serious or lethal fetal anomalies.   In Norway, her request must go to a committee!

But the winner in the “How Low Can You Go” category has to be the Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  “It’s been obvious that they’re doing everything they can to make him (Obama) fail.  And I hope, I hope — and I say this seriously — I hope that’s based on substance and not the fact that he’s African-American.”  Keep in mind that only 35% of Americans approve of how the president is handling the economy and his overall rating is down to 44%.  Is Harry insinuating that the 62% of Americans who disapprove of the Obama economy and the 55% who disapprove of his overall performance are ignorant of his policies and therefore, de facto racists?  Could it just as easily have been said “I hope, I hope—and I say this seriously—I hope that those who support the President do so on the basis of substance and not the fact that he’s African-American.”  Until Democrats of Harry Reid’s ilk stop dealing the race card from the bottom of a marked, media deck, there is no lower low on their side of the aisle.

 

Knight of the Living Debt

By William L. Garvin

In 1968, a spate of zombie horror films was spawned by “Night of the Living Dead.”  Given all the sequels, there are some things you just can’t kill.  Given the unlimited state of technology today, there are some memories that you just can’t erase.  This is especially horrifying when politicians don’t remember what they used to say and what they used to stand for.  It is infinitely easier for bloggers and citizen journalists to research and debunk the errors and untruths that our representatives utter.

The internet should be an option for our voting populace to be knowledgeable about critical issues facing our country, but in the world of the low information voter, this option for knowledge is not exercised with any degree of regularity.  For instance, “I can see Russia from my house” and “strategerie” were inventions of Tina Fey and Will Ferrell, not Sarah Palin or George Bush.  But then, what could be expected from those who will sign petitions to authorize abortions in the fourth trimester, euthanasia for old people, banning pressure cookers as weapons of mass destruction, or immediately authorizing the government to confiscate all guns?  These videos are easily viewable on YouTube or any late night comedy show.

It’s easy to find President Obama’s claiming to have already visited 57 states, butchering Gulf Coast geography, saying the Constitution is 20 centuries old, noting that Ho Chi Minh was inspired by our founding fathers, referring to  Austrian as a language, putting summer events into the winter Olympics, etc., etc. Naturally, you’ll only find these on conservative websites and blogs because liberal media find conservative gaffes to be much more newsworthy.  AP will even try to hide liberal gaffes.  The media will go ballistic over a stupid statement by a conservative office seeker, but won’t even mention that the serial groper of a mayor in San Diego is a Democrat!  Liberal media lets liberal icons “evolve” but stigmatizes conservative foes as “flip floppers.”  But that’s all silliness in the one-sided world of gotcha journalism. 

However, here’s a serious example of “evolution.”  In March, 2006, Senator Barack H. Obama said “Over the past 5 years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is “trillion” with a “T.” That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And over the next 5 years, between now and 2011, the President’s budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion…Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in America’s priorities. Instead, interest payments are a significant tax on all Americans—a debt tax that Washington doesn’t want to talk about. If Washington were serious about honest tax relief in this country, we would see an effort to reduce our national debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies…Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘‘the buck stops here.’’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.  I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit.”

Senator Obama was right on target.  Unfortunately, President Obama doesn’t know how to walk the talk.  For the Senator, $3.5 trillion over five years constituted a “failure of leadership.”  In less than five years under his leadership, he has increased the debt by $6.3 trillion to $16.9 trillion.  He is on course to more than double the national debt incurred by all the presidents before him!  He appears intent on continuing the “irrational exuberant” spending that characterized his first term.  He will continue the same tax and spend economic policies that characterize his administration’s economic failures.


President Obama also proclaimed that “Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”  Another promise broken.  In President Bush’s final budget year, Freedom of Information Act requests were denied 47,395 times.  His secrecy was roundly criticized by Candidate Obama.  In the first year of the Obama administration, FOIA denials occurred 70,779 times, nearly a 50% increase.  So we now have more spending, more debt, more secrecy, more IRS harassment, more NSA surveillance, more drones, more food stamps, more centralized planning.  We have less trust, fewer jobs, higher costs, an undecipherable foreign policy, more scandals and cover-ups.  Until we have a government that honors the Constitution, this suicidal death spiral will continue.  The living debt is about to turn this nation into the living dead. 

Obamacare - Unworkable, Unaffordable, and Unloved

By William L. Garvin

In the pantheon of pathetic, political pontification, the Pelosi pronouncement "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" is prominent.  It was entirely predictable that a government health care leviathan, cobbled together in the dark of night behind closed doors, would turn out to be an incorrigible Frankenstein monster.  Remember all the broken presidential promises?  It was supposed to be "cost neutral" at $898 billion.  Latest estimates are that it will cost $2.6 TRILLION over the next decade!  On top of that, President Obama dictates an unconstitutional delay of the employer mandate that will cost an additional $12 billion next year alone.

Remember how the health care debate was supposed to be covered by CSPAN?  It wasn't.  Remember how the bill was supposed to be posted online for five days before signing?  It wasn't.  Remember how your family was supposed to save $2,500 in health insurance premiums?  You didn't.  In fact, you saw double and sometimes triple digit percentage increases.  Wait until the young folks get off their parents' insurance plans and try to purchase coverage on their own.  Talk about sticker shock!

Republicans and conservatives have tried to warn you for years.  Democrats are late to the party but they have finally arrived.  Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), one of the authors of the legislation says "I just see a huge train wreck coming down."  Then there are the congressional staffers who make between $70-100,000 per year.  They had to have a special exemption in order to avoid a "brain drain."  Apparently, at their near poverty salaries, they absolutely must have the taxpayer kicking in 75% of their premiums or gasp...be forced into the exchanges!

Proving the "Law of Unintended Consequences," James Hoffa, Teamster union president notes that Obamacare will "destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class."  The National Treasury Employees Union, representing IRS workers who will enforce 47 separate aspects of Obamacare, opposes being forced into the health insurance exchanges.  Even the IRS chief Danny Werfel has testified that he would rather keep his current policy.  Furthermore, the Obamacare call center in California is hiring part-time workers and they won't be provided healthcare!

Over half the general public is opposed to Obamacare.  In order to increase its popularity, the Obama administration is about to spend $684 million in advertising costs.   "I am greatly disappointed - beyond upset - that the administration chose to help pay for the Affordable Care Act in fiscal year 2013 by raiding the Public Health and Prevention Fund," said Senator Tom Harkin, (D-Iowa).  Still, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 30 million Americans will remain uninsured.  So exactly what will this law accomplish in the long run other than giving the government more control over one-sixth of the economy?  Remember, health insurance does not improve health care.  With more and more physicians refusing to accept any more Medicare or Medicaid patients, this law does nothing to promote the access to and availability of medical professionals.

Nothing more dramatically demonstrates the Democrat reversal of field than the recent statement by Dr. Howard Dean, former Democrat presidential contender:  "One major problem with Obamacare is the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board.  The IPAB is essentially a health-care rationing body.  By setting doctor reimbursement rates for Medicare and determining which procedures and drugs will be covered and at what price, the IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them."

Back in 2009, in her famous "death panel" post, Sarah Palin said "The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost.  And who will suffer the most when they ration care?  The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course."  Back then, liberals, leftists, progressives, and Democrats mocked, ridiculed, insulted, cursed and vilified Governor Palin for her comments.  Politifact (sic-oxymoron!) labeled her comment "Lie of the Year."  So what now, Politifact?  Either apologize to Governor Palin for her prescience or take Howard Dean to task for his derivative thinking.  Or...you might actually investigate the roles and responsibilities of the 15-member appointed IPAB bureaucrats who might well be determining who lives and who dies in the name of "cost savings."  Yes, Virginia, there is a death panel!