I have remained somewhat silent on events since January 20. The rate with which President Obama and the Congressional leadership have changed the face of America has been breath-taking and frightening. They have, in my view, by-passed all the checks and balances of our system and altered the structure of our government with a pace that, while impressive, is dangerous to the future of the Republic.
The response to the economic “crisis” has been a rush to enact a dream list of every liberal program that has been on the shelf for a couple of generations. Rather than stimulate the economic engine, these folks have grabbed for power and have tossed in a few make work projects that will provide temporary employment for a few people (preferably union members).
- The largest spending bill in the history of the world has been enacted by a congress without debate or even being read by a single member of Congress or provided to the media or the people prior to the vote.
- They have seriously suggested that military veterans with service related injuries pay for their own healthcare – despite the fact that nobody in this country pays for employment related injuries, workman compensation laws being nearly universal. I don’t know whether to be more shocked that anyone in the administration would even come up with the idea or that the President is receiving such bad political advice that the idea should ever have seen the public light of day in the media.
- The President seriously suggests that the tax deduction for charitable contributions be reduced ? See the previous paragraph.
And the revelations just keep coming.
I knew something of Mr Obama’s urban background and liberal voting record prior to the election. I hoped that he (like President Clinton) would move toward the center once he was in office and could examine the full range of options available to the government. I am disappointed. I knew how his personal agenda would trump proper decision making as I recalled his reaction to the $4.00 fuel prices last summer (saying that the prices went high faster than he wanted). It was clear that he would willingly cause unlimited national and economic pain to the people to stop their use of oil and move the country to alternative sources of energy – even if the alternative sources were not market ready.
But I did not fully understand the President’s hatred for success. I admired his capacity to remove race from the equation – but did not fully understand his loathing for class distinction of any kind and his need to bring down the upper classes in order to promote the middle classes. It is appalling to me that a man of President Obama’s intellect and education seems to have learned so little from history. The logical result of the policies being promoted on a daily basis may be a society much like those promoted by Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Mao Tse Tung.
In my view, the business of America is business. The standard of living which I have enjoyed for these many years is the result of the economic engine of the United States – not its government. I have objected to corporate management feathering their own nest rather than leading the corporation for the benefit of the shareholders for forty years. The excesses of Enron were not new. So I do not oppose reasonable regulation of public companies or the financial institutions. But where are our foundations of life, liberty and property when the Secretary of the Treasury asks Congress for virtually unfettered power to seize the assets of public and private companies that may not be following government guidelines.
President Obama was elected to bring about unspecified change in our society. But I will not be convinced that the voting majority had anything like this in mind. I do not believe that the will or the interests of the people are being served by this President and the Congressional Leadership. I believe that this bizarre collections of ideological characatures is well on their way to obliterating America’s place in history.
The mixed signals coming from the government will drive our economy further away from recovery. Confiscatory taxes, bills of attainder and ex post facto legislation followed by requests for private investors to assist in purchase of troubled banking assets are merely this week’s unbelievable script for this theater of the absurd. The legislation is pouring out of the Capitol with such force and volume that necessary details are not being addressed. The roles of the Congress and the Executive are becoming blurred to an extent that the Constitutional guarantees of Separation of Powers are being violated, in my view.
And this morning we the people through our elected President are firing the CEO of General Motors. This is not the proper role of government and our current situation will become more lost and desperate as we permit what used to be our government to pursue the courses of action which have been undertaken in our name without public debate or proper notice.
Buckle up ! Its going to be a bumpy ride.
