America's Newest Addiction

America is about to take her first “hit” of a very dangerous, addictive, opiate drug called “socialized medicine”.   Our President and the liberal left Democrat majority have started this nation on a pathway to addiction and Obamacare is the gateway drug.  We are no longer “unique” as a nation.  Tomorrow, when President Obama signs the Health Insurance Reform legislation into law, we will join the likes of other addict nations such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, and Russia.  Instead of being a unique nation in world – a nation “Of the People, by the People, and for the People” -  we will join the ranks of the “governed nations”; a nation of lemmings looking to our government for answers that it simply cannot supply. 

We have been told time and time again by Pres. Obama,  Sen. Reid, and Speaker Pelosi that this legislation is about insuring the 30-40 million uninsured Americans.  But, is that what this legislation is truly about?  To quote House Minority Leader John Boehner, “HELL NO!”   Really people, stop and think about it.  We could have done exactly that for a heck of a lot less than what this legislation is costing us and the generations to come.  Instead, we have legislation that, by this administration’s own estimates, will be just $60 billion short of $1 Trillion dollars; and that is with collecting taxes for 10 years but paying benefits for only 6 years.  Heck, we could have deposited $1 million dollars in a medical savings account for each of these 30-40 million so-called uninsured Americans at a total cost of $40 million dollars and saved ourselves $900 billion dollars as a result! (Of course I’m not advocating that, but I think you get my point)  So, how can anyone claim this is about insuring the uninsured? 

Well, you ask, if it’s not about insuring the uninsured then exactly what is this legislation all about?  Look no further than other countries with socialized medicine to find that out.  Socialized medicine has never delivered the health care utopia its proponents claim.  What it does deliver is an entire nation of people that are dependent on the government to meet their needs.  Once a government has its citizens dependent on it to deliver their basic needs, then the party that promises more and more benefits will get more and more power – no matter what the cost in terms of tax dollars or individual freedoms for future generations. 

No, this is not about the health care needs of the American people.  This is about the political power needs of this President and his Democrat party.  This legislation is the opiate that will lead to an addiction by the common citizen –  like that of a child born to a cocaine addicted mother; not addicted by choice, but addicted nonetheless.

However, it is not just the people that will be addicted.  The politicians will be addicted as well.  To stay in power they will have to give the appearance of giving more and more to the people.  Like an addict, they will know that what they are doing is destructive to the body of America.  But they will not be able to stop.  They will occasionally make an effort to curtail their addiction, they will make impassioned promises, they will plead for trust, and they may even kick-the-habit for a time.  But it won’t be long before they are back on the “stuff” again.

Some of you are reading this with disbelief – you are thinking to yourself that I must be wrong.  Well, I’m not wrong… and I can prove it.

I hold up to you as proof our Medicare system – the proverbial “third rail” of the federal political system.  Everyone knows it’s bankrupt.  Everyone knows the money is simply not there to sustain it.  Everyone knows… the people who currently receive its benefits, those who will one day receive its benefits, and the government that administrates it benefits.  Yet no one is willing to change it.  Why – because the beneficiaries NEED it and the politicians NEED it.  Is this not the behavior of an addict?   We can say same the same for Social Security.

This is not an American phenomenon either.  My wife and I had visitors from Canada this summer.  It was a great opportunity for me to ask them how they liked their socialized medicine.  I was particularly interested in speaking with them because I knew the wife needed gallbladder surgery, a routine surgery that is normally performed here on an outpatient basis and usually within a week of having a diagnosis.  As for her, she waited in agony for well over a year before the surgery was performed. 

So I asked her and her husband, “How do you like your Canadian Socialized Medicine.”   Their response stunned me, “We love it – we would not want to do without it.” 

So I dug deeper asking the woman, “Didn’t you have to wait a very long time for your gallbladder surgery?”  Her response, “Well, not so long really.”  Now, I know through family members that she waited nearly 18 months to have her operation and that she was in agony during that time. 

I pressed on, “What about doctors and nurses.  Are there enough to go around or are they leaving the field?”  Their reply, “More and more are leaving the field of medicine.  There is a real shortage of doctors and nurses in Canada.”

I could not believe it.  These were seemingly rational people giving me completely irrational responses:

• I had to wait 18 months for surgery to stop my pain and agony – but that was not too long
• There are not enough trained people in the field of medicine – and more and more doctors and nurses are leaving the profession
• I love the system and could not do without it.

This lines up with the psychology of a drug addict:

• I know I’m in physical, psychological, and spiritual agony and I know this drug is causing it
• I know the cost of this drug is preventing me from caring properly for myself and my family
• I love this drug and could not do without it.

We look with compassion on the drug addict and try to find them help – and many do get help and learn to live a “clean” life.  But, where is the Twelve Step Program for a nation state?  Where is the Twelve Step Program for a people so addicted to their government entitlement programs that they are willing to say, “Oh, I only had to wait in pain and agony for 18 months before I got the surgery I needed, but that’s alright”?   Where’s the Twelve Step Program for the political party willing to sacrifice the future of our children for their “power fix” today.

America is about to takes her first “hit” of a very dangerous, addictive, opiate called “socialized medicine” – and the drug pushers reside in the Executive and Legislative Branches of our government.

Get ready for the Senate Healthcare Reform bill to become LAW!.  That’s right.  Regardless of what Pres. Obama and Speaker Pelosi and her minions, and the pendants in the main-stream media try to say, if the House passes the Slaughter Solution rule on Sunday the Senate Bill becomes law.  It will have become law without the House actually voting on it – a matter that will undoubtedly face constitutional challenges.  This graph is the reality and it is the truth!

Any member of the House of Representatives who votes for the Slaughter Solution is:

• Voting to ignore the will of the American people as pole after pole has demonstrated.
• Voting to ignore both the letter and the spirit of Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution of the United States.
• Voting to pass the Senate Bill that simply would not have passed on a straight up/down vote by the House.
• Voting to implement a totally new entitlement program at the expense of Medicare.
• Voting to usurp the rights and authority reserved for the States by Amendment 10 of the Constitution of the United States.
• Voting for “back-room deal” after “back-room deal” struck to buy votes in both the Senate and the House with our tax dollars.  By default, a vote to pass the Slaughter Bill is a vote to validate corruption.
• Voting for the eventual collapse of Medicare, Medicaid, and private medical insurance systems through cuts, overwhelming & underfunding, and placing mandates respectively; forcing single-payer, government-run healthcare on all of us.
• Voting for incentives for your employer to drop your health insurance coverage
• Voting for incentives for your doctor to quit practicing medicine.
• Voting for the reduction of specialists that make the U.S. healthcare system the finest in the world.
• Voting for Federally funded abortions
• Voting for ANOTHER doubling of the Federal deficit
• Voting for the eventual rationing of healthcare because there IS NO cost containment in this legislation and rationing will be the only way to manage costs going forward.
• Voting for an eventual government take-over of 1/6 of the U.S. Economy

I’m tired of the argument that the U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that does not have socialized medicine.  NO KIDDING!  Did you ever stop to think that this IS the reason why we have the best medical care of any country in world, why leaders and others form countries with socialized medicine come here for medical treatment. 

I’m tired of the argument that those who can’t afford coverage are not getting coverage – those who truly can’t afford coverage can get coverage by Medicaid and SCHIP.  There are those who choose to spend their money on things other than healthcare insurance – but that is their choice; just like it is their choice to live outside their means. 

I’m tired of hearing about a healthcare crisis in the United States.  There is no healthcare crisis.  What we have is a lack of personal responsibility crisis and a victimization crisis.  Who the hell ever said this country owes you a living, a guarantee to a home mortgage, or insurance of any kind?

I’m tired of the Democrats parading “victim” after “victim” in front of us.  We all would like everyone to have access to good medical care… What we have issue with is how.  A vast majority of the American people know that government run health insurance is not the answer; we know that this legislation will lead to exactly that.  We are not stupid Mr. President!

So go ahead Democrats, place your yes vote.  Go ahead; poke the bear with a stick.  You are about to experience the wrath of the American voter in a way that you never dreamed possible.  Not only will you face Constitutional challenges by at least 34 state Attorney Generals, but this November - you will face unemployment.

• The American people have overwhelming rejected this legislation
• Speaker Palosi does not have the votes to pass the Senate version of Health Insurance Reform legislation.  If she did, there would have been a vote
• All the arm twisting, fist pounding, and cajoling have failed to turn a sufficient number of Democrat members of the House to vote against the will of their constituents

The handwriting is on the wall… with overwhelming majorities in the House and the Senate, as well as the Office of the President, the Democrats have failed to deliver on their far-left version of health insurance reform.  The people do not want, nor can we afford, another massive entitlement program.  This overwhelming failure has implications far beyond the 2010 elections – and they know it.

In my opinion, the question now facing this President and the Democrat leadership is:  Is it possible that there could be a scapegoat somewhere to pin this loss on?  It’s damage control time.

First, they tried to blame the Republicans saying they were the “Party of No”, but that didn’t fly did it?  After all, they had super-majorities in the House and Senate for the better part of a year and they could not get it done.

Next, they tried to paint the Republicans mean spirited, uninformed, insurance company champions at the Healthcare Sumit in Feb. 2010.  But that backfired as Republicans demonstrated time after time their commanding knowledge of the issues and why the Democrat version of the legislation would both fail to meet the goals of true reform and result in an explosion of the national debt.

Let’s see… is there someone else, besides the Republicans, has angered this President and the liberals in both the House and the Senate and could be a potential target of opportunity?  Hmmm…

One needs to look no further then the evening of January 27^th, 2010.  Who was it during the State of the Union Address President Obama chided and the Democrats rose to their feet hooting and hollering in approval of his chastisement?  Could it be that the U.S. Supreme Court is the ideal scapegoat for the abysmal failure of this President and Congress to pass their version of health insurance reform?

In my opinion, I think that is exactly what the so called “Slaughter Solution” is all about.  Under this rule, the House would vote on a “Rule Change”.  This rule change would contain a list proposed amendments to the Health Insurance Reform bill passed by the Senate.  Additionally, the Rule Change would stipulate that if the House passes the list of desired amendments, then it deems that the House has also passed the Senate bill itself.  In other words, the House can pass the Senate bill without ever having to vote specifically on it.

Already, constitutional law scholars from both the left and the right are lining up in opposition to such a tactic ^[1] saying that is violates Article 1 Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution; which states in part:

 Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States

So, why do it?  Why take an approach which seems to be doomed from the onset to be ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts.  In my view, it’s quite simple and quite cynical.  The President and the rest of the Democrats get to blame the U.S. Supreme Court, which would undoubtedly be the final arbiter on the constitutionality of such a tactic.  Look at the potential benefits:

• Senator Reid can say, “The Senate did its job and passed a bill”
• Speaker Palosi can say, “The House did its job and passed a bill”
• President Obama can say, “I did my job, I signed the bill into law”
• And they call all point to a conservative court and say in unison, “The Supreme Court has usurped the power of the Executive and Legislative branches of government and has imposed its will on the American people by legislating from the bench.  They did what the Republicans could not do.”

As an additional bonus, they can use such a ruling as campaign fodder in the 2010 mid-term elections as well as the 2012 Presidential election as a reason why a less conservative court is needed and the only way to insure that is to elect Democrats.  Furthermore, it would not be the first time in recent history that the Democrats have intentionally pulled the U.S. Supreme Court in to cover the loss – anyone remember the 2000 Presidential Election when Al Gore tried to use the courts to circumvent the results of the election.  Heck, they got 8 years of political cannon fodder out of that one.

It’s perfect cover for this President and the Democrats in both the House and the Senate.  If the Slaughter Solution is used and a constitutional challenge fails, they win.  If a constitutional challenge succeeds, they win.  Either way they win – and the American People loose.

[1]  ‘Slaughter Solution’ could face legal challenge, Fred Barbash, 3/16/2010 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34508.html

What is the Republican “Nuclear Option”?  That’s simple, – the “unlimited amendment” provision of the Reconciliation Process.  Use it to turn the Obamacare Bill into a real Budget Bill – you know, the kind of bill Reconciliation was really meant to be used for.  Let’s help them by turning this Health Care Bill into a true budget bill and take the opportunity to dismantle the tax-and-spend programs of this administration.  Put every aspect of current spending on display as an individual amendment – use the Cloward-Piven strategy against them.  Overwhelm the process and use this opportunity to expose this administration’s out-of-control spending for what it is.

What an opportunity for Republicans!   Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to not only force the Democrats to “own” this massive new entitlement, but we can force them to “own” every single aspect of this administrations liberal agenda by fileing an individual amendment for every earmark currently in the budget and require an up-or-down vote on each and every one.  Attach an individual amendment for every single unspent provision of Stimulus and TARP and require an up-or-down vote on that as well.  Attack the funding of every Czar and require an up-or-down vote.  Put Speaker Pelosi’s federally funded family travel plan on display and require an up-or-down vote on that.  Make individual amendments regarding the funding of every expenditure of the National Endowment of the Arts.  Go through the entire budget of the EPA and require up-or-down votes on them.  Go after all the funding for ACORN and their affiliates as well as Planned Parenthood and their affiliates.   Let there be no “sacred cows” - go after it all, but do it with small, clearly worded, amendments – each requiring an up-or-down vote.  Attach so many budgetary amendments to this bill that it would be physically impossible to finish the debate and vote on them before the end of the decade.

Why wait for reconciliation, I’d start to put the list of amendments together now and put them up on a web site.  Let the Dems know  now that there is no way a Reconciliation process is gong to “fix” the Senate Bill they are about to accept on the pretense it will all be fixed with a Reconciliation process.  Show them we really want to help them make this a bipartisan budgetary bill worthy of the Reconcilliation Process and that no stone will be left unturned in making that a reality.  If the President wants to lead his party over a cliff on this, I say we help him out.

You seem Mr. President, we know how to read Saul Alinsky as well.  Let’s get it on!

I came across this site today, the Kaiser Family Foundation site,  that has couple of really nice tools to help a taxpayer consider the various health care reform bills currently working their way through both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.

One tool is the cost calculator and the other is a side-by-side health reform comparison tool. 

On the cost calculator, select the “No” option for the question “Is Employer Coverage Available?”  This will show you what the selected legislation will cost those individuals or families who will be required by law to purchase health care insurance.  It will also show you how much you will have to pay if/when your employer drops your health care insurance coverage as a result of this legislation. 

I compared the results from the calculator with an analysis from Heritage Foundation of the Baucus bill and found the results to be consistent.

Think your employer paid health care is safe… think again.  For example:  Why is it that unions throughout all sectors of the economy are supportive of this health care reform?  The answer to that is simple and self-serving.  For over a decade now, wages have pretty much been stagnant with many increases being at or below the cost of living.  One reason is that it is difficult, if not impossible, to negotiate higher wages as the cost of providing health care insurance has risen sharply.  Unions would like nothing more than to see health insurance be taken over by the Federal Government and dropped by employers.  This way, they can improve their bargaining position for higher wages.  Higher wages for union employees equals higher dues for the unions.  Of course, the employee then has to pick up the cost of health care insurance.  This may or may not be off-set by higher wages and, depending on your level of income, some government subsidies.  But at the end of the day, the union employee will pay higher dues, higher taxes, more out-of-pocket health care costs, etc.  This is not a win-win scenario for the union and the union employee.

In a perfect world, the employment rate would be high enough where employers would have to be highly competitive in the wages and benefit packages they offer in order to attract the most qualified employees.  But, the current economic climate is such where employers are not having to compete for the best talent.  And with higher deficits, higher taxes, and higher costs due to more regulation and mandates (cap-and-trade for example) it does not appear that we are in for an economic climate improvement anytime soon.  Employers looking to cut costs to survive would be crazy not to look at dropping health care insurance coverage.

I would encourage you to consider the “what could this cost me” scenario if your employer was to drop the employer based health care insurance coverage to determine not only what this will cost you today, but what it could cost you tomorrow.  Then, formulate your opinion based on the realities of your family budget and contact your Senator and Representative to let them know your position.

This health care insurance reform is a massive new federal entitlement, with massive subsidies that are funded by massive tax increases and the gutting of Medicare.  By all measures, this is a bad idea that will have both long and short-term implications.  I firmly believe that people want to do the compassionate thing here, but it is not prudent to allow our desire to be compassionate to blur our vision of reality and blind us to unintended consequences.

In his book “Money, Greed and God – Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem”, author Jay W. Richards points out that for much of U.S. history, “the federal government cost every citizen about twendy dollars a year” – and that is in “today’s” dollars.  He goes on to say, “Now it costs every one of us, on average, about then thousand dollars.”  You would think that with the trillions of dollars we have spent on the war on poverty through entitlement programs, we would have something to show for it.  Well, we do – according to Richards, studies have shown:

• Welfare benefits have resulted in reduced work hours (9% less for husbands, 20% less for wives, and 43% less for single males)
• One study shows that for every dollar spent on subsidised income results in 80 cents reduction in labor earnings.
• Another study shows that 10% increase in welfare benefits resulted in a 12% increase in out-of-wedlock births.
• Yet another study showed that a 50% increase in AFDC and food stamps led to a 43% increase in out-of-wedlock births. 

The single leading indicator for children being raised in poverty is children that are born out-of-wedlock. 

These studies reveal the unintended consequences of “government mandated compassion” – the term itself is an oxymoron.  Compassion implies we suffer alongside – massive federal programs do not suffer alongside.  Instead, they replace people closest to the concern with bureaucratic programs that can not consider the individual need – instead they paint with a broad paintbrush grouping people into ”classes” based on certain criteria.  The further we remove compassionate efforts to lend a helping-hand from the individual and individual responsibility, the more likely it is that there will be unintended consequences.  Aristotle put it this way – “If you want to encourage something, reward it.  If you want to discourage it, punish it.”

To limit the unintended consequences, it is best that assistance come through those that have the best understanding of actual, real needs of an individual or family.  This means that the first line of help is the individual in need (what are they doing to help themselves), followed by the family, then by local charities/churches, then the larger communities of city, county, state, federal, and international organizations.  The further you get from the individual, the effectiveness of assistance drops because the understanding of individual needs also drops.  When effectiveness and understanding of needs drop, the likelyhood of unintended consequences will increase.  This is one reason I financially support organizations – like World Vision – that put people in the community to help those in need.  They don’t simply throw money at a problem, they put boots on the ground, build community, and work to raise the standard of living through real compassion – suffering alongside for the purpose of lifting up.

Here in Detroit, the Federal Government dropped a $15.2 million of federal tax dollars through the T.A.R.P. legislation for the purpose of helping those who were about to lose their homes.  Over a couple of days, some 65,000 people lined up outside Cobo Hall to apply for a grant – ultimately only about 3,500 are expected to receive one.  Ken Rogulski of WJR Radio in Detroit interviewed a number of applicants.  One such applicant responded to his questions this way:

ROGULSKI: “Why are you here?”
WOMAN #1: “To get some money.”
ROGULSKI: “What kind of money?”
WOMAN #1: “Obama money.”
ROGULSKI: “Where’s it coming from?”
WOMAN #1: “Obama.”
ROGULSKI: “And where did Obama get it?”
WOMAN #1: “I don’t know, his stash. I don’t know. (laughter) I don’t know where he got it from, but he givin’ it to us, to help us.”
WOMAN #2: “And we love him.”
WOMAN #1: “We love him. That’s why we voted for him!”
WOMEN: (chanting) “Obama! Obama! Obama!”

Now, I realize that in that crowd of 65,000 people there are many who need and deserve assistance.  At the same time, one can not ignore the reality either.  This program does little or nothing to attack the real problems facing those in line.  Essentially, the Federal Government borrowed $15.2 million dollars from foreign governments (that we and our children will have to pay back) to drop into this program where only a handful of people will receive any assistance.  Of that hand-full, there is no real chance of the Federal Government truly understands the individual needs of the family they are trying to help.  Perhaps that real help is not throwing thousands of dollars at a housing problem.  Perhaps the real problem is the need for real accountability on a drug addiction, or a real need for job training, or a real need for medical assistance.  My point is that this is not compassion at all.  Instead this is a cold-hearted bureaucratic process assuming it knows best how to meet the needs of a hand-full of individuals.

Massive federal entitlement programs are the least effective way of addressing real need.  They take billions and billions of dollars out of the hands of taxpayers to fund these programs.  These dollars are filtered through layers and layers of bureaucracy – each one syphoning off more and more funds to pay for the bureaucracy itself.  In turn, the taxpayer now has less of the money they earned, money they could have used to help family members or to fund local charities that are closer to the people and therefore closer to the problem.  Money that could be applied directly where the rubber hits the road.

They were accused by the Speaker of the House “carrying swastikas and symbols like that”. (2)

They were accused by members of the media and far left Hollywood liberals of being racists (3).

They were marginalized by the mainstream media (4)

But Saturday, they could not be ignored.  Saturday, September 12th some 60,000 to 70,000 Americans descended on Liberty Park in Washington for a march on the Capital building(5).

They went to Washington to be heard.  Many of us wanted to be there, but were unable to make the trip.  But we stand with them.  We are not in opposition to Health Care Reform as the President claimed in his address to the Joint Session of Congress, but we are in opposition to how the President and the Democratic leaders of both the House and the Senate insist it must be done.  We are in oppostion to fundamentaling changing the relationship between the Federal Government and the people of this great nation.  We are in opposition to the destruction of the finest health care system in the world.  We are in opposition to the Federal Government asserting its massive power into the health care decisions of the individual, leaving the citizen with no choice but to accept government mandates as the final arbiter over what may be life and death decisions.  We are in opposition to the financial destruction of our children’s and grandchildren’s future through more and more deficit spending – a problem not exclusive to this Administration, but which has reached unheard of levels in the past 8 months (11).  We are in opposition to the nationalization of fully one sixth of the U.S. economy.

There were 70,000 voices in Washington on Saturday, once again saying NO to socialized medicine. 

The people said “No!”to socialized medicine under the Truman administration in 1945 (6).

The people  said “No!” to Congressman Ferrand and Congressman King in the 1960s when they too attempted the same “crisis of millions of Americans without health insurance” ploy with the Ferrand Bill(7).

The people said “No!” to the Clinton adminstration in 1994 (8).

And the people are saying “No!” to the current administration today. (9) (10)

Can we make improvements to our health insurance system?  Yes, we can. 

Can we help those who are not covered my Medicare or Medicaid, can’t afford coverage, and are unable to provide for themselves a way to get private health care insurance?  Yes, we can.

Can we make sure that people are treated fairly by insurance companies?  Yes, we can.

We believe this can be accomplished:

• By removing the barriers to purchasing health insurance across state lines. 
• By standardizing the regulation of health insurance nationally with sensible mandates on required coverage.
• By making health insurance premiums completely tax deductible.
• By making tax credits vouchers available for those in financial need.
• By allowing individuals to join groups such as credit unions and community groups to purchase group coverage and group rates.
• By implementing real tort law reforms so doctors can stop practicing defensive medicine.
• By encouraging medical savings accounts.
• By helping those who qualify for Medicare and Medicaid get enrolled in those programs.

 We are not in opposition to the key goals for Health Care Reform set forth by Pres. Obama in his address to Congress… we are however in opposition to his proposed means of achieving those goals.  This does not make us liars.  This does not make us lunatics.  This does not make us Nazis or racists.  What it does make us is Americans with a voice… and we will be heard!

We strongly believe that we don’t work for the government, but that the government works for us… and we are determined to keep it that way.

Footnotes:

(1)    ABC News:  Political Punch,  by Jake Tapper.  August 5th, 2009

(2)    Newsmax.com:  Media Ingnore Pelosi Nazi Comparison by Newsmax Staff, August 7th, 2009

(3)    Newsmax.com:  Garofalo Sticks to Calling Tea Parties ‘Racist’ by Dan Weil, May 13, 2009

(4)    WorldNetDaily.com:  Did Anybody Notic? by Hal Lindsey, April 17, 2009

(5)   ABC News: Tea Party Protesters March on Washington by Russel Goldman, Sept. 12, 2009

(6)    The Truman Library & Museum, This Day in Truman History, November 19, 1945

(7)    Chicago Tribune: Ronald Reagan on Medicare, circa 1961 by Eric Zoran, Sept. 2nd, 2009

(8)    TimesOnline: Ugly corpse of ‘HillaryCare’ haunts Obama by tony Allen-Mills, Sept. 13, 2009

(9)  Rasmussen Reports:  The Government-Insurance Option is Dead by Lawrence Kudlow, Sept. 11, 2009

(10) Rasmussen Reports: Following Speech, Suppot for Health Care Reform Up to 46%.  Sept. 11, 2009 

(11) Heritage Foundation – The Foundry: Bussh Deficit vs. Obama Deficitin Pictures by Con Carrol, March 24th, 2009

When it comes to federal spending, the system is Broke² :

• Broke:  No longer functioning correctly
• Broke:  Out of money

As a family, we have been through tough times financially.  We have learned that in order to get the family budget under control you have to ruthlessly control those things you can control such as discretionary spending, borrowing, luxuries, etc. 

As a country, we will never get our financial house in order as long as earmarks are allowed in the legislative process.  You would think that our elected officials would be tightening the federal government’s belt just like our families are doing.  But that is far from reality.  Here are some examples for the latest list of earmarks for the 2010 budget:

• $12 million to monitor sea turtles and monk seals.
• $5 million for a supercomputer to help study planets and fruit flies.
• $8 million for a cultural exchange between villages that once made a living killing whales.
• $24 million for the East West Center, a private think tank even President Obama wants to cut.
• $500,000 for music enrichment programs for Native Hawaiian children — part of $59 million for health and education programs targeted to Native Alaskans or Hawaiians.
• $201 million to his alma mater, the University of Mississippi, including $10 million for programs at the Thad Cochran Research Center (the Senator who earmarked the funds).
• $750,000 Mississippi Biotechnology Association building — an organization that has no members and doesn’t exist, and that got $450,000 last year.
• $4.4 million to build fire stations, $14 million to improve drinking water in local communities (responsibilities typically left to the states).
• $1.6 million for a mobile music lab.
• $650,000 to a private Christian school (Piney Woods) on 2,000 wooded acres where student tuition is $31,400.
• $400,000 to pay overtime for the Jackson Police Department to combat drug use.
• $950,000 for the local Audubon Society, despite national Audubon assets topping $18 million.
• $1 million for a trolley museum.

     (Source:  Fox News )

These are just a handful of earmarks from a three senators; Inouye D-Hawaii, Cochran R-Mississippi, and Murtha D-Pennsylvania.

I find that this kind of “back-door-budget” process violates the trust of the American people.  It demonstrates the kind of aristocratic thinking that led to the American Revolution.  The attitude in Washington is that it’s their money to spend as they like.  If they need more, well they will just come and take it from you and me.

Of course today politicians know that raising taxes on the middle-class is tantamount to political suicide.  So instead they say they are going to tax corporations and other businesses.  Former Fed. Reserve Chairmen Allen Greenspan said it best, “Corporations don’t pay taxes; people pay taxes.”  Some have misunderstood that statement to mean that corporations used loop-holes to get out of paying taxes.  But that is not what he meant.  What he meant was simply this:  Raise a tax on a corporation and the corporation has no choice but to pass that increased cost onto you and me – the consumer – in the form of increased prices.  These cost increases are known as “Hidden Taxes” and they cost you and me plenty every year. 

Tonight, President Obama is going to use the “bully-pulpit” of his office to try to convince us that the Federal Government can do the best job in providing healthcare insurance.  Frankly, I don’t see how that is possible when our elected officials cannot control themselves when it comes to spending our money and our children’s money.

Take a positive step Mr. President and demand a Federal Law that will put an end to earmark spending once and for all.  You claim that you are for transparency – well, let’s get transparent in the budget process before you try to re-engineer our society any further.