The 4th of July...
It's coming to that time again. We celebrate the birth of our Nation and our Freedom from British rule. We fought against a Government that no longer cared against it's constituents and cared more for it's "Special Interests". We fought for no Taxation without Representation. We fought for our unalienable Rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Where did we go wrong?
When did our Government become the same thing we fought against in 1776? We now have a Government that no longer cares about the people who voted them in, they just care about their next Election. TARP, Bailouts, Omnibus spending bills...all of these had low approval ratings among the populous...many people on the Left and the Right called their Congressman to vote no on it...but it still passed. Waxman-Markey? One Republican Representative was quoted as saying, "well, if I didn't vote yes to this, the EPA would have done something far worse." We vote these people into Office to represent us...at least in theory. But for many years now, they haven't been. Both sides have been lying to us. When the Republicans got into Power in '94, the promised us Ethical reform and spending reform...and for a while, they did. But, Power corrupts. In a few short years, they were no better than the Democrats that they were supposedly taking to task. In '06, when the Democrats promised us Ethical reform and spending reform, well...it's taken less time for them to break that promise. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely.
Earlier this year, there were Tea Parties across the country. People in the Main Stream Media completely got the message wrong. They thought it was about Right versus Left. Republican versus Democrat. Or, at the worst, White versus Black. I could not go to the Tea Party in DC because I worked that day. I wanted to. They weren't about Right or Left, Republican or Democrat, White or Black (for those who know me, I'm neither white nor black). It's about Right versus Wrong. Whether you believe in Supply Side Economics or Kensyian Economics, that's a matter of choice. We have that Freedom. We should not have passed TARP. We should not have passed the Stimulus Bill. We should not have passed the Omnibus Spending Bill. Printing more money to pay off our own debt is morally questionable, in my opinion. Putting this debt onto future generations is morally reprehensible, in my opinion. I know I'm not the only one who believes this. When we passed these Bills, we didn't have the money to support these Bills. We sold more of our debt overseas. Now, we've passed Waxman-Markey in the House (hopefully it fails in the Senate) and now we're looking at "Free" Health Care for everybody? These Bills are going to cost money...where is that going to come from? Who is going to pay for that?
Openess and transparency. Whatever happened to that? Where are those Bills that he promised to post five days before he signed? Why was the Stimulus Bill signed before the American People could read it? Where was the Omnibus Spending Bill posted before it was signed? Waxman-Markey...why do we have a Bill getting a 300 page Amendment being added the night before it goes to vote and when a Representative asks to READ the Amendment, he's told they don't have a copy of it? Why does the Waxman-Markey Bill come in at more pages than the Bible (about a guy who actually MAKES the weather) or Ayn Rand's, "Atlas Shrugged"?
A side note on the Openess and Transparency...a LOT of Conservative Newsers are talking about the Helen Thomas spat with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. They're saying that this is the end of the "Honeymoon" between the Mainstream Media and the Obama Administration. Andrew Breitbart had a different take on it. He likened it to the Mainstream Media catching the Obama Administration cheating with the Blog Media and having a Lover's quarrel. They, the Mainstream Media, are still going to give the Obama Administration glowing reviews...they just have hurt feelings right now. But Helen Thomas brought up a good point. Can we stop calling these, "Town Hall Meetings, " if the questions are pre-screened! They're not off-the-cuff, they're not from Joe-Average. They're planted questions that the President already has pre-planned answers for. It's bullshit and it's not Open and it's NOT Transparent.
Freedom. The Land of the Free. We used to be. I don't feel that way anymore. More and more Freedoms are being taken away for the "Greater good." Smoking, Trans-fats, junk food, fast food, etc etc etc. All of these things are now being told are "bad" for us and have to be banned for the greater good. Now, smoking in public? This one is a lot of politcal posturing and a lot of lies. It depends on who you want to believe. The UN's WHO had suppressed a report that stated that second hand smoke had absolutely NO direct link to Lung Cancer, Heart Disease or other Respiratory problems. The AMA also suppressed a similar report and the FDA lowered it's testing standards in order to show a link between second hand smoke and Respiratory problems. I'm not denying that smoking is bad for a person. But it's my choice. I'm a fatalist. I'm going to die anyways. Back in the 80's, one of the reasons that they passed all of these anti-smoking laws was to cut Health Care costs. Respiratory problems, Heart Disease, etc would be down because people wouldn't be exposed to so much second hand smoke. Oops. I've yet to see any study show that Health Care costs have been lowered since the 80's. As a matter of fact, I believe they've gone up. Trans-fats, junk food, fast food, etc. They're using that same logic here. Save Health Care costs because people won't have those problems. Now...here's where I'm going to test how naïve you are. The FDA has allowed how much food and many drugs onto the markets? And in JUST the past 3 years, how many food or drug related problems have we had? Let's see...there's the Lead in the Milk from China, there's the Salmonila in Peanut Butter, there's problems with Bayer, problems with Tylenol, Cherioos being reclassified as a Drug, HOW many Pain Meds causing serious problems (like DEATH), etc? Isn't it the Food and Drug Administration's JOB to make sure the Food we eat and the Drugs we take are...hmmm...I don't know...SAFE. There's a story in Texas where the ATF is going door to door to make sure that guns that are LEGALLY purchased were, in fact, legally purchased. This is, mind you, in the same state that a State Trooper cannot ask someone if they're a Legal US Citizen if they do not speak English, do not have a Valid US Driving License and have been pulled over for a traffic violation. Last I checked, those people broke no Laws buying those guns, why are they being harassed by the Law? Why is the person who broke the Law, and potentially not in the Country legally, not allowed to be questioned about it?
I can only think the answer is summed up by our current President, "I won..." - President Barack H. Obama
Where did we go wrong?
When did our Government become the same thing we fought against in 1776? We now have a Government that no longer cares about the people who voted them in, they just care about their next Election. TARP, Bailouts, Omnibus spending bills...all of these had low approval ratings among the populous...many people on the Left and the Right called their Congressman to vote no on it...but it still passed. Waxman-Markey? One Republican Representative was quoted as saying, "well, if I didn't vote yes to this, the EPA would have done something far worse." We vote these people into Office to represent us...at least in theory. But for many years now, they haven't been. Both sides have been lying to us. When the Republicans got into Power in '94, the promised us Ethical reform and spending reform...and for a while, they did. But, Power corrupts. In a few short years, they were no better than the Democrats that they were supposedly taking to task. In '06, when the Democrats promised us Ethical reform and spending reform, well...it's taken less time for them to break that promise. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely.
Earlier this year, there were Tea Parties across the country. People in the Main Stream Media completely got the message wrong. They thought it was about Right versus Left. Republican versus Democrat. Or, at the worst, White versus Black. I could not go to the Tea Party in DC because I worked that day. I wanted to. They weren't about Right or Left, Republican or Democrat, White or Black (for those who know me, I'm neither white nor black). It's about Right versus Wrong. Whether you believe in Supply Side Economics or Kensyian Economics, that's a matter of choice. We have that Freedom. We should not have passed TARP. We should not have passed the Stimulus Bill. We should not have passed the Omnibus Spending Bill. Printing more money to pay off our own debt is morally questionable, in my opinion. Putting this debt onto future generations is morally reprehensible, in my opinion. I know I'm not the only one who believes this. When we passed these Bills, we didn't have the money to support these Bills. We sold more of our debt overseas. Now, we've passed Waxman-Markey in the House (hopefully it fails in the Senate) and now we're looking at "Free" Health Care for everybody? These Bills are going to cost money...where is that going to come from? Who is going to pay for that?
Openess and transparency. Whatever happened to that? Where are those Bills that he promised to post five days before he signed? Why was the Stimulus Bill signed before the American People could read it? Where was the Omnibus Spending Bill posted before it was signed? Waxman-Markey...why do we have a Bill getting a 300 page Amendment being added the night before it goes to vote and when a Representative asks to READ the Amendment, he's told they don't have a copy of it? Why does the Waxman-Markey Bill come in at more pages than the Bible (about a guy who actually MAKES the weather) or Ayn Rand's, "Atlas Shrugged"?
A side note on the Openess and Transparency...a LOT of Conservative Newsers are talking about the Helen Thomas spat with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. They're saying that this is the end of the "Honeymoon" between the Mainstream Media and the Obama Administration. Andrew Breitbart had a different take on it. He likened it to the Mainstream Media catching the Obama Administration cheating with the Blog Media and having a Lover's quarrel. They, the Mainstream Media, are still going to give the Obama Administration glowing reviews...they just have hurt feelings right now. But Helen Thomas brought up a good point. Can we stop calling these, "Town Hall Meetings, " if the questions are pre-screened! They're not off-the-cuff, they're not from Joe-Average. They're planted questions that the President already has pre-planned answers for. It's bullshit and it's not Open and it's NOT Transparent.
Freedom. The Land of the Free. We used to be. I don't feel that way anymore. More and more Freedoms are being taken away for the "Greater good." Smoking, Trans-fats, junk food, fast food, etc etc etc. All of these things are now being told are "bad" for us and have to be banned for the greater good. Now, smoking in public? This one is a lot of politcal posturing and a lot of lies. It depends on who you want to believe. The UN's WHO had suppressed a report that stated that second hand smoke had absolutely NO direct link to Lung Cancer, Heart Disease or other Respiratory problems. The AMA also suppressed a similar report and the FDA lowered it's testing standards in order to show a link between second hand smoke and Respiratory problems. I'm not denying that smoking is bad for a person. But it's my choice. I'm a fatalist. I'm going to die anyways. Back in the 80's, one of the reasons that they passed all of these anti-smoking laws was to cut Health Care costs. Respiratory problems, Heart Disease, etc would be down because people wouldn't be exposed to so much second hand smoke. Oops. I've yet to see any study show that Health Care costs have been lowered since the 80's. As a matter of fact, I believe they've gone up. Trans-fats, junk food, fast food, etc. They're using that same logic here. Save Health Care costs because people won't have those problems. Now...here's where I'm going to test how naïve you are. The FDA has allowed how much food and many drugs onto the markets? And in JUST the past 3 years, how many food or drug related problems have we had? Let's see...there's the Lead in the Milk from China, there's the Salmonila in Peanut Butter, there's problems with Bayer, problems with Tylenol, Cherioos being reclassified as a Drug, HOW many Pain Meds causing serious problems (like DEATH), etc? Isn't it the Food and Drug Administration's JOB to make sure the Food we eat and the Drugs we take are...hmmm...I don't know...SAFE. There's a story in Texas where the ATF is going door to door to make sure that guns that are LEGALLY purchased were, in fact, legally purchased. This is, mind you, in the same state that a State Trooper cannot ask someone if they're a Legal US Citizen if they do not speak English, do not have a Valid US Driving License and have been pulled over for a traffic violation. Last I checked, those people broke no Laws buying those guns, why are they being harassed by the Law? Why is the person who broke the Law, and potentially not in the Country legally, not allowed to be questioned about it?
I can only think the answer is summed up by our current President, "I won..." - President Barack H. Obama