The Results Of Barack Obama's Success

     The deafening roar of silence from the main stream media and other Leftist sources in our culture on the new survey information from their government that shows the Obama "recovery" as the first one in recorded economic history to feature a precipitous drop in personal income, is not surprising. It is also not surprising that these same sycophants of Barack Obama have ignored the largest chasm ever between the rich and the poor, that is also part of the same report. After all, this is the same media, et al, that tried to convince the American public that the economic sky was falling during most of the George W. Bush administration when unemployment was under five percent and Gross Domestic Product growth was well over three percent.
     It is no stretch of the nation's collective imagination to say that Barack Obama's fiscal policies have been an abject failure, if one defines success as strong economic growth, a higher work force participation rate companioned with a low unemployment rate, and an increase in the wealth and prosperity of the nation. It would take a deliberately obtuse American to deny that President Obama's strategy to date has been to manage the economic and foreign policy decline of the United States. His statement shortly after taking office that he sought to "even out" the economy and the markets so there would not be highs or lows, is evidence enough. But his recent comments to the markets that the partial shutdown of the federal government was going to be long and protracted, and that the markets should not expect a resolution any time soon, sounded as though it was purposely meant to have a deleterious effect on those markets.
     During every other government shutdown in recent history, whomever was President has worked with the opposition party on a daily basis to tamp down the flames of partisan rhetoric and find a resolution. President Obama appears to be needling his opposition as he refuses to meet with them, adding fuel to an already destructive inferno. All to protect his disastrous signature legislation, ObamaCare. If the President was being honest about wanting to lower unemployment and make the middle class more prosperous, he would pay heed to the realities of outcomes associated with his government take-over of the health care industry. Even the Congressional Budget Office has predicted a loss of jobs and a skyrocketing of premiums for Americans and, at last accounting, a tripling of the original cost to taxpayers than was estimated when the beast was passed into law three and a half years ago.
     I think it is time for those Americans who still support this President, or are inclined to believe that he is just incompetent, to face the truth about Barack Obama that many of us have known for at least five years, i.e., he has deliberate intent to redistribute America's wealth and influence and manage her decline. Those on the Left and the Right who savaged Rush Limbaugh shortly after Barack Obama was elected for saying that he hoped the new President would fail, are now seeing the results of Obama success. It is a future of chronically high unemployment, economic growth suffocated by the growth of government, a lawless executive that chooses which laws are obeyed and which are not, and worst of all, liberty in chains waling at the gates of tyranny begging to be released from her servitude to the usurper of constitutional freedom.
    
    
    

The Loss Of U.S. Influence-The Real Obama Legacy

     The partial shutdown of the federal government which commenced last week and will last until President Obama and congressional Democrats decide it is no longer to their political advantage to continue, has unfortunately distracted the American attention and focus away from potentially devastating world events. And while the petulance of Barack Obama is unfortunately the driving force that animates this administration and therefore governs this country, it has also created abandoned global allies and embolden world enemies.
     A glaring case in point is Israel, our only real ally in the Middle East, and one of the United States' best friends in the world. This island of democracy and decency is surrounded by those who wish to destroy her and banish her to the ash heap of history. The reprobate theocracy of Iran, which was facilitated into existence by Jimmy Carter in 1979, has now sprouted and grown into a full-fledged world menace, and an especially dangerous menace to Israel, who Iran has vowed to "wipe off the face of the map." This menace to the moral ethicacy of the human condition has been legitimized, not only by the United Nations, which one would expect, but by the current United States president, Barack Hussein Obama.
     At the recent United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, gave warning to Iran that Israel will act to prevent their possession of nuclear weapons, and gave notice to the United States that he did not trust the current leadership to do the right thing in Iran specifically and the Middle East in general. This lack of confidence in America from a friend and ally like Israel is not just a difference of opinion between the leaders of these two great nations, but a divergence of the moral ethos which guides all decent nations of the world. It is also a signal that the United States, at least under the leadership of President Obama, has relegated its authority to be a force for good in the world, to meaningless and impotent words of the increasingly liberty-challenged United Nations.
     I have every confidence that Israel, under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu, will be victorious in foiling the profane plans and schemes of Iran. I am not as confident that the United States will be an active participant in that victory, choosing instead under the current leadership to huddle in the comfort of their rabble-rousing domestic community organizing. This loss of ability to influence world events for the good is not only a great loss to the United States, but to the future history of real peace, real justice and real liberty for all the peoples of the world.

Do You Want Some Cheese With That Whine ?

     Of all the drama that played out this week amidst the partial shutdown of the federal government, the thing that stuck in my crawl the most was not related to the politicians in Washington. It was not the fact that Senator Harry Reid placed furloughed federal workers in his state above children with cancer. Nor was it President Obama calling Congressional leaders to the White House, not to engage in a good faith effort to end the stalemate, but to reinforce his public statements that he will get his way or else. The troublesome thing about this week was not even that President Obama sent seven armed guards to the World War II memorial to keep out veterans of that war, two more than he sent to Benghazi to protect our ambassador and embassy personnel, as Rand Paul so aptly pointed out. And even the fact that House Republicants have tried to fund various aspects of the federal government, but have been ignored by Harry Reid and the Democrat-controlled Senate, did not bother me as much as a five second sound byte I heard on my local news.
     The sound byte in question has a furloughed federal worker lamenting the fact that after only two days without his salary, his mortgage is at risk of not being paid. I was incredulous that after only 48 hours without pay this federal worker, who on average receives twice the salary that his counterparts in the private sector receive, would not be able to meet his financial obligations. This gentleman's statement is illustrative of the government and union mentality that they are entitled to their salary and benefits simply for breathing. And that compensation should never stop no matter how hard the taxpayers in the private sector have to work to fund them. Apparently these federal workers never heard the old adage, "save for a rainy day." Well once again the rain has come for someone of privilege who works for the government and they expect someone else to foot the bill or have sympathy for them.
     This unwillingness of many Americans to forgo the independent spirit which built this country and made it great, has lead us to the brink of the tyranny of government dependence. It is the main reason, I believe, that Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States twice. The desire to be taken care of is exemplified by government and union workers, but it has spread throughout the general population like a highly communicable disease. The disease overtakes the common sense that financial planners talk themselves blue in the face trying to impart to financially irresponsible Americans. Common sense that says one should save a percentage of each paycheck at least until they have two years expenses in the bank. There is no reason that most workers in this country  should be at risk of not paying their mortgage after only two days without pay, or even two months without pay.
     The furloughed federal worker I heard on the radio is endemic of a larger problem in our society, and what has lead to the government take-over of health care and the growth of the welfare state in general, the unwillingness of people to help themselves by engaging in good decision-making. This furloughed worker's mortgage is at risk after only two days without pay, not because of the partial shutdown of the federal government, but because of his decision not to save. And the only thing worse than listening to people whine about the negative results of their own choices, is their insistence that they be provided with some cheese to compliment their whine. Because, of course, that cheese will most likely be government cheese provided by the hard work of the tax payers of this great country.

The Second Sacrament Of The Modern Left

     The first sacrament of the modern Left is abortion, they would sooner sell Ronald Reagan posters at a Republicant convention than allow facts to enter the abortion debate that may lead to a hardening of opposition to it. The second sacrament of the modern Left is health care, the government-run kind being the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Leftists since the modern era of progressivism began a hundred years ago. The religiosity that the Left has injected into the commodity of health care which has transformed it into a human right, has also made religious zealots of many Democrats and the President.
     This religious zeal has been on full display lately as Mr. Obama and his flock have tried to rhetorically stone anyone who suggests that the law should be re-worked, or at least slowed down. But to these zealots, Congress' Constitutional authority to amend ObamaCare has been subjugated to the only authority they deem worthy enough to do so, the high priest of health care, Barack Hussein Obama. The watered down compromise by House Republicants to delay ObamaCare implementation took its lead from what President Obama had already done with his proclamation that the employer mandate would be delayed and that 2500 of his closest supporter and donor businesses and organizations would receive a waver from the destructive law that bears his name. He also summarily deemed that the United States Congress would not be subject to the full wrath of the law.
     The slavishly religious devotion to his ideology over politics and governance makes President Obama unique among other Presidents. Every other president, whether they were Republicant or Democrat, has always at least paid lip service to negotiating in good faith with congressional opposition on policy and budgetary issues. Mr. Obama is the first president to publicly state that he refused to negotiate, and even further, said he did not have to offer anything to Republicants in exchange for their cooperation in steamrolling the American public with his oppressive policies.
     The Democrats keep telling Republicants that ObamaCare is the law of the land and they have to accept it. Well thank God that the people of 19th century America did not feel that way about the Dredd Scott decision, or we may still have slavery in our midst. The founders placed specific mechanisms in the Constitution to amend bad laws and repeal even worse ones if they were beyond the bounds of what is constitutionally acceptable. But not even the greatest document ever conceived by the minds of men, the United States Constitution, has any sway over the wild-eyed health care zealots that occupy positions of power in the Democrat party and the federal government. And this fact is to the detriment of that constitution, the great people of the United States of America, and to the very cause of liberty itself.    

Good Strategy, Bad Execution

     The strategy of House Republicants during this partial shutdown of the federal government of passing individual funding measures, each addressing whichever federal department or program the Democrats are demagoguing that day, is a good one. It has, however, illustrated two character flaws, one on the Left and one on the Right. If this partial shutdown of the federal government can achieve anything at all, shedding a light on the folly that is Leftist ideology and the child-like thinking of Republicants, would be two outcomes that would go a long way to improving, not only the federal government, but the voters' perception of it.
     The House Democrats, in rejecting the funding of Veterans Affairs and National Parks, said that it was unfair for Republicants to make them choose between federal programs to be funded. This statement is illustrative of one of the greatest tyrannies of Leftism, the spending of other peoples' money to fund programs that perpetuate and augment the authority of those in the ruling class. It does not even occur to these Democrats that every responsible individual, family, business, community, state and yes, even country, has to make financial choices based on priority. Most entities following a budget do not have the luxury of unlimited funds to indulge every one of their child-like whims and fantasies. The Democrats' statement exemplifies how they look at the federal government as a big ATM machine that is forcibly funded with tax payers' money which is then used to pay off their political supporters and donors.
     The House Republicants' weakness was best illustrated by Congressman Mick Mulvaney in an interview I heard Wednesday morning. He said, in answer to a question about Republicants' messaging being flaccid and weak, that when you are doing the right thing, people will find out. This has been a problem with the Republicant party for as many years as I can remember. They think that right makes might, but the Democrats political might springs from the essence of what Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said, "Lie big and lie often."
     This inability or unwillingness of Republicants to market their ideas to the public causes their good strategies, like the current one of passing individual funding bills, to be nullified by poor execution. Another example of this Republicant weakness is when ObamaCare was passed into law using the legal but inappropriately unconstitutional process of reconciliation. A process used only for budgetary measures that have bi-partisan support. But the Republicants allowed Democrats to violate the very spirit of the Constitution instead of educating the public with a marketing campaign that pointed out that a major piece of legislation like ObamaCare, which allows the federal government to commandeer 17% of the private economy, was unconstitutionally made law with one-party support in violation of the rules of good and decent lawmaking.
     No one quite knows how and when the current standoff is going to end. But one thing is clear, Democrats will continue to lead the country on a death march towards the Leftist cliff of an ever increasing tyranny because Republicants, while well intentioned, are all the same incapable of making the case for liberty to the American people.
    
    

The Born Again Republic

     Now that we have traversed day one of a partial shutdown of the federal government, with the United States Congress having seen fit to fund the essential functions of that government, the true nature of a representative and constitutional government is abundantly illuminated. That nature is defined and completed by the term "essential," because after all, those are the only functions the founders saw for the central government, whose power they severely limited in favor of giving that authority to the people and the states in which they resided. So this is not so much a government shutdown as it is a born again republic.
      I would like to see the 800,000 federal workers who were furloughed as a result of this born again republic, be permanently furloughed. Now before you accuse me of being heartless to the plight of those people losing their jobs, let me explain. The so-called "non-essential" functions of the federal government are those things which the government does that either restricts private sector growth or gives large swaths of power to unelected union bosses and bureaucrats. With the federal government restricted by a lack of funding, they would no longer be able to stick their greedy little fingers in every aspect of our lives, communities and businesses. Those 800,000 federal workers would have no problem finding work in the burgeoning private sector economy that would result.
     It may take some time for those federal workers and others to heal from their unhealthy dependence on big government and unbridled union influence, but in the long run, they and the nation would be healthier for it. They would have to learn to fend for themselves like the rest of us, e.g., pay for their own health care insurance, their own retirement accounts and work some holidays that they currently get paid for not working. And without those federal bureaucracies and their multi-billion dollar budgets, politicians would have to learn to live with much less control over the lives of individuals, businesses and the country as a whole. The crony capitalists would also have to conduct their business without favors from government largess created by the politicians who hand it out in exchange for campaign donations.
     Yesterday's spectacular failure of the online registration system for ObamaCare was illustrative of what results from government straying outside the bounds of the essential functions that the founders outlined for it almost 240 years ago. Even the national parks, which have become more and more off-limits to the very tax payers who support them, could be maintained and preserved by private sector organizations and donations. The born again republic, which is glimpsed by this partial shutdown of the federal government, would make the founders smile and the rest of us enjoy the kind of liberty that they intended for this great nation.

To Delay Or Not To Delay?

     The Republicant majority in the House of Representatives may not have to concern themselves with whether or not they should allow John Boehner to continue as Speaker of the House. The voters in next November's mid-term election may remove him by virtue of placing the Democrats in the majority of the House, thus we may see Nancy Pelosi as speaker again. The current continuing resolution fight and its corollary issue of what to do about ObamaCare, is scarily reminiscent of the 2011 debt limit increase fight, where Democrats stood back and watched as John Boehner and House Republicants negotiated with themselves until they had a deal that weakened them politically and left the Democrats and President Obama holding all the cards. Some have suggested that watering down the legislative opposition to ObamaCare with the delay tactic is analogous to getting half a loaf. But for Republicants and the nation, delay is not half a loaf, it is barely the crumbs from one slice of the loaf.
     The current contest between Republicants has had them in a race to comprise their principles so quickly, it resulted in going from repeal and replace to de-fund and disarm to delay and distribute, in a matter of months. Now that they have watered down their demands along with their principles, they are going to engage Democrats in negotiations, which may result in even less being achieved for the national good. But even if the Democrats have to settle for a delay, it could actually work out just as well, if not better, for them politically. The President and the Democrats may resist the deal to show how bi-partisan they are when they finally accept it. Make no mistake, they have orchestrated this beautifully. I could be wrong, and Republicants may cave after just a few hours or a few days of a government shutdown, and capitulate to the demands of the President and Senate Democrats, eliminating the need for delay. But it just appears to me that President Obama's rigid opposition to compromise will make him seem all the more magnanimous if and when he does.
     The myriad problems with ObamaCare have been well chronicled for the three and half years since it became law. The mountains of new regulations that have forced insurance companies out of the health care insurance business and doctors and other health care professionals away from practicing medicine, have already had a deleterious effect on Americans' health care. And now with employers being given a pass by the President on providing their employees with health insurance, more companies will find it necessary to kick their workers off the company plan that, because of ObamaCare, would bankrupt many of those companies if they kept them. Additionally, many companies have kept or reduced their payrolls under the fifty employee limit to avoid the law as well as converted full-time employees to part-time. The cost of health insurance premiums have skyrocketed in many markets as a direct result of ObamaCare and the medical device tax in the law has already caused a slow down in medical device innovation that will have an ever increasing negative effect on all our health care in the next twenty years.
     But all of these problems being blamed on the law are a moot point if it gets delayed. The problems will still be there, and probably will become much worse, but the President and the Democrats can and will make the case that the disasters in health care are the fault of Republicants and the free market. They will say it can not be the fault of the law, since those evil Republicants orchestrated its delay. This strategy will setup the Democrats nicely to take back control of the House and increase their margin in the Senate. And because the problems in health care will have grown exponentially because of the new law, which will not have been implemented, the American people will be screaming for relief and see the Democrats with their unimplemented health care law as a saving grace. In the final analysis, delay will only increase the need and likelihood for implementation not eliminate it.