Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Congressman Brian Baird

Great clip from town hall meeting. It is only 2:19 minutes. Definately worth a watch.

Obama, Chicago and ideology

I’m in Chicago right now on vacation. This is the first time I’ve ever been here. Beautiful city. Without thinking about it, though, I have walked right into Obama-land. I took a double-decker bus tour yesterday and the two themes of the tour were – how Chicago is Gotham City (from the Batman movies) and Obama hot-spots. I saw the field where Obama gave his acceptance speech on election night. I saw where he and Michelle had dinner that night. I saw the office where he worked with his transition team prior to going to Washington, and so on.

I’ve been reflecting on ideologies recently. With Senator Kennedy’s passing, he is getting heralded as a bi-partisan, but Kennedy had a very distinct ideology – liberal. The other night I watched MSNBC (I was curious how the other-half thinks) and found myself to be the butt of most of the jokes and commentary. They are Democrat the way the Fox is Republican – only that’s not what they would tell you.

The reason that health care is such a strongly-debated subject and the reason that we see such strong feelings by the American people is because this topic pulls at the very basis of our ideology differences in this country.

For Democrats – its about finding a way to pay for things for people that they can’t pay for themselves. There are some that think that Democrats are power-hungry and simply want as much control as humanly possible – which means give increased power to the government. I think some may feel that way, but I also think that many Democrats just see a problem (uninsured Americans) and think that the only way to “fix” it is to have the government pay for it.

For Republicans – this gets to our core belief-system that any solution that is not led by the government is better than any solution handled by the government. Any type of program that could lead to rationing our health care, or using tax dollars to do something that by any stretch of the imagination could be done in the private sector, or having the government make choices that previously were made by individuals and private business, is wrong – just wrong. No matter what the problem is, we believe that there has to be solution that does not involve so much government.

But, Democrats, for everything that they say, truly don’t believe this. They see a current problem and want to go after it without regard to the means. And Republicans would say, the ends do not justify the means. I would say, further government involvement in our health-care system not only is not the ‘means’ but would not produce the ‘ends’ that are being promised right now.

One very valid point to make here is that the Republicans did have a great opportunity to go after this problem during the Bush Administration. I wish we had. I think it lowers our credibility that we cannot point to our own attempt to solve this problem. So now, as Democrats say, we are the Party of No. We could have come up with a constructive solution and let them be the Party of No (as I’m sure they would have been) during times of Republican-majority. However, that is a lost opportunity. So, unfortunately, this debate is being led by a very liberal President and a very liberal Majority leader.

So, while in Chicago, I pay homage to our President for the good that he wants to do, even though his methods and his means are misguided. Let’s hope that the unfortunate passing of Senator Kennedy does not lead to sympathy votes for his version of reform.

Obama's strategy to push his liberal agenda

So, for my one or two readers out there, I take you back to what I've been saying - Obama has been trying to get too much done too quickly, and all the wrong direction: http://americaisconservative.blogspot.com/2009/06/obama-slow-down.html

This has clearly been a very deliberate strategy to take advantage of the public anxiety over the economy to push through an extremely liberal agenda. And now Politico is reporting that this strategy could backfire. Let's hope it does.

Here's some of the article:

Barack Obama’s Big Bang is beginning to backfire, as his plans for rapid, once-in-a-generation overhauls of energy, financial regulation and health care are running into stiff resistance, both in Washington and around the country.

The Obama theory was simple, though always freighted with risk: Use a season of economic anxiety to enact sweeping changes the public likely wouldn’t stomach in ordinary times. But the abrupt swing in the public’s mood, from optimism about Obama’s possibility to concern he may overreaching, has thrown the White House off its strategy and forced the president to curtail his ambitions.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26341.html#ixzz0Owdcv5Xa

Socialist health care funds abortions, takes away choice

Obama hates it when people call his health plan a socialist one, so I offer a definition from an objective source - dictionary.reference.com:

Socialism –
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

A massive government takeover of private industry is absolutely socialism.

I find something new to hate about it every time I think about it, and today, I find myself outraged that I could be forced to pay for something that I detest and fundamentally find to be morally repugnant - abortion. You may be thinking, "But, it won't fund abortion. The bill as it stands now prohibits funds being used for abortions." Well, first, I challenge you to read this article: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/08/13/us-catholic-bishops-healthcare-bill-funds-abortion.html My money and your money absolutely would be used to fund abortions.

However, the point here is that the bill, once passed, will put these types of decisions in the hands of the government. With socialism, we the people lose freedoms - we lose choice. Our values no longer matter - our decisions are not ours.

Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats are trying to scare everyone into believing that we 'need' this. They want us to believing there is no other way. So, they will push and push and folks will believe that they have 'saved' us. I'm reminded of the line in Attack of the Clones (Star Wars) where Queen Amidala says, "So this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause."

But the truth is that this bill, if passed, would represent a fundamental shift towards socialism and away from everything that this country has been founded on and that so many people in so many wars have died over - freedom.

Great column - "The Whining Class"

From the article on Politico:

As a former member of Congress, I have read with some disappointment the indignant wailing of predominantly Democratic members of the House and Senate as voters, unhappy with the actions of the 111th Congress, have shown up at town hall meetings to express their displeasure with the state of national affairs, particularly the reworking of the nation’s health care system...

What the Democrats are missing here is the level of national unrest felt by people of all points of view and party affiliations over the accumulation of massive national debt in only six months of Democratic Party and Obama administration leadership. There is something unsettling to the national psyche, with overnight takeovers of car companies, banking interests and private health care, and an un-stimulating stimulus programs costing hundreds of billions being passed in a flash, all in the name of good government.

Citizens are particularly unhappy that these measures sometimes reach 1,000 pages and are admittedly unread by their elected representatives. Insult is added to injury when President Barack Obama dismisses legitimate grass-roots concerns about his health care plan as “Astroturf.” It’s certainly not helpful for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to call such questioning “un-American.” ...

The best advice to those serving in office today? Quit whining. It is your job to know about the measures you pass into law and expect the rest of us to live by. It was especially stunning that few, if any, members would agree to be bound by the “government-option” health care program being pushed by Mr. Obama and Democratic members. When Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) says he doesn’t feel bound to read the health care bill, the public is rightfully perturbed and disgusted.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26024_Page2.html#ixzz0O1yEp6Q3

Congress on break - Republicans need to keep fighting

Congress is on their summer break. While we pause before the battle starts up again in the fall, I find myself feeling discouraged at the political events of this past year. We wait for the fall where there is a likelihood that socialized health-care will be passed, the highly tax-ridden energy bill will pass the Senate, and Obama will finally realize that you can’t keep spending and spending without taxing the Middle Class.

I’m feeling reflective of how we got here and I was reminded to my past love/hate relationship with politics. As a kid, I really loved politics. I thought that Washington DC was the most amazing city, with such a noble history. My dad grew up there and so my family went to DC to visit his family when I was younger, and I always got so excited to visit the capital building and the White House. I had a belief that there were trust-worthy, honorable men and women making historic decisions and working honestly with the best interests of the U.S. citizens at heart. I wanted to grow up to be one of them, or at least work for one of them, to have at least some small part of the process.

Then, the 90s hit. I was in high school when President Clinton took office. And, I realized how naive I had been. Clinton took politics to a new level. The lowest point in his presidency was the Monika Lewinsky affair and the scandal that followed. I could not believe that a US President would behave this way. But, even more, I couldn’t believe how quickly the people of the U.S. were to defend him. Needless to say, at this point, the Washington that I revered and respected became a city of sleaze and disillusionment. I remember visiting Washington in the late 1990s and feeling like the magic was gone.

So, I tell this story because I think that I learned a very valuable lesson about politics. As much as I wished that Americans were picking those that are the best in our society and sending them to Washington, that his not the case. Those representing us in Washington are no better than we are. Their values are no better than those represented in our society. They are flawed, often inexperienced and riddled with self-interest.

But, knowing that is half of the battle. We should never put our elected leaders on a pedestal.
We should keep questioning them, sending them our opinions, and holding them accountable. Unfortunately, Obama is on a pedestal with the people of this country. That is the worst place that we could be. It means that Americans are not looking at him objectively. While his approval ratings are lower than they used to be, the country still loves him, and in the end, supports him.

That is why Republicans need to work hard, re-establish our party, and make our case to the American people again. We need to keep questioning things that don’t sound right. We need to keep speaking out. The worst thing that could happen is that we lose faith, stop speaking up, and lose our freedoms and our income (via taxes) to the government – and this is NOT an exaggeration. This is where Obama is taking us.

Middle-class tax hikes on their way

Geithner tells Stephanopoulos today that the Obama administration will not rule out middle-class tax hikes. Of course, this comes as no suprise. At some point, spending has to be offset with actual dollars.

From Stephanopoulos's article:
Geithner was clear that he believes a key component of economic recovery is deficit reduction. When I gave him several opportunities to rule out a middle class tax hike, he wouldn’t do it.
“We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically,” Geithner told me. “And that’s going to require some very hard choices.”

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/08/geithner-wont-rule-out-new-taxes-for-middle-class.html