As I pondered the horror of President Obama continuing his march of destruction through American principles and our economy, I struggle to understand how he can possibly continue despite the evidence that his agenda has been rejected by the American people.  This is one possible (absurd) answer that I so wish were true.

Date:  Sunday, November 7, 2010

Location:  Camp David

Senator Mitch McConnell and Congressman John Boehner step off the Marine Helicopter at the Camp David landing pad and see President Barack Obama waiting to greet them.  Both men were somewhat surprised to be summoned in secret to meet with the President alone without their Democrat counterparts but given the election results from the previous Tuesday anything is now possible.  With Republicans winning an astonishing 270 seats in the House, Congress Boehner was two months away from becoming the next Speaker of the House.  Even more astonishing with 52 Senate Republicans, Senator McConnell would soon be the Senate Majority Leader.  Both could only assume the President was going to be grasping for some strategy to salvage his presidency.

President Obama was in surprisingly good spirits welcoming the men with a broad smile and warm greetings.  He escorted them to a comfortable den with a roaring fire exchanging pleasantries about the upcoming holidays.  President Obama opened up the conversation by talking about what an interesting election cycle.  He asked, “What would you gentleman say if I told you that I am quite pleased with the election results?”   Neither could even respond.  “Would you be agree that I have done a good job of destroying the Democrat party?”   Congressman Boehner could only smile and responded ” I assume you want us to keep that question to ourselves.”   Obama’s response was ” only for the moment.”

At this point, President Obama asked that the men prepare themselves for an interesting story.   “When this is done you will understand that my campaign promise to fundamentally transform America is one I intend to complete.   However the transformation is quite a bit different than most people assumed.   Most of the stories you have heard about my youth are true.  I was raised by very leftist parents and grandparents and my formative years were immersed in the message of the radical left.   By the time I attended college, I really had not seen any other message and of course my college experience only reinforced my belief that the US was fundamentally flawed and capitalism was the primary cause of the perceived injustices of American life.”

“In 1985 I arrived in Chicago with the optimism and conviction of a 24 year old man determined to right the wrongs of the world.   I honestly did not have political ambitions at that moment but believed the righteousness of my beliefs meant I would be able to improve the lives of those I wanted to help.  As a community organizer, I was in the heart of the left and in position to be introduced to the political machine in Chicago.   Those first two years in Chicago were a shattering experience for me.   My desires to improve the lives of inner city Chicago residents were not actually shared by the political leaders.   Every initiative and effort was simply measured in the prism of enhanced political power and ability to enrich “insiders” in the system.”

Obama paused to allow comment from his visitors.   Neither man could speak and almost had a look as if there were hidden cameras and they were on a prank show.  Obama continued, “this experience gave me a crisis of confidence.  I was not sure how to contrast the idealism of my upbringing and education with the reality of corruption I was facing.   Of course this was happening during the administration of President Reagan which had produced an amazing economic turnaround.   I never had heard one positive comment from anyone in my circles about Reagan.   I found it curious that the only message within the liberal left was that Reagan and his followers were evil and must be destroyed without explaining why they were successful.  It occurred to me that I had been agreeing that he and conservatives were evil and wrong without ever once studying or understanding why.”

“Given my disillusionment with experiences with the left, I decided I should at least prove the liberal agenda was superior.”  For most of 1987, I privately began researching and studying the history of our country, our founding fathers and political and economic systems throughout history.  The more I studied the more confused I became.   Much of what I had been taught and fervently believed had no basis in fact.  Over time I became angry at the delusions the left had been advocating.  My entire life and belief system has been one big lie!  I realized that the progressive movement had no desire to help people but an overriding belief that their superior intelligence demands they obtain and retain permanent power over the lives of others.    Facts and results were  immaterial to the objectives of power and control.  Economic classes and ethnic groups were to be divided and demonized in order to secure control.”

“My limited time inside the Chicago machine had given me enough exposure to know this movement was vast, entrenched and relentless.   Anyone attempting to moderate or deviate from progressive goals results in an assault and destruction of the individual.   It was at this point I became committed to the complete destruction of the progressive movement and reestablish freedom and liberty as the cause of a lifetime.   I knew this could only be accomplished from within.   History has proven that  progressive and statist policies are doomed to fail yet these people are relentless in their pursuit of power.    The unfortunate reality is that the ultimate failure is either a painful collapse of a country and economy or a descent into a totalitarian state.   Believe me, many on the left are so convinced their ideas are correct they would endorse a totalitarian state to eliminate any opposition.  They know they will never gain popular majority support for their beliefs so deception and subterfuge becomes a second nature in the movement.”

“I dedicated my life to rising as high as I could in the movement … including reaching the office of the Presidency”.   Soon to be former Senator Harry Reid was exactly right about the capability of a light skinned black man who could speak well having extraordinary opportunities.    My entire trajectory from that moment was surprisingly easy as I just made sure to say the right things and make the right connections.    The hardest part was living my life for more than 20 years as a complete lie.   I could never deviate from progressive orthodoxy and it was painful to advocate positions and policies that I knew were destructive to liberty and prosperity.   I have a few key allies in my advisers but most of he people that I have had to associate with have sickened me.  Even my wife has no idea of my true beliefs, while I do love and respect Michelle her insider connections to the Chicago machine were essential to my objectives.  When my new agenda is unveiled, I expect it is 50/50 you will see the first divorce of a President in office…. she might stay because the likes the perks of the White House.

I also had to participate in the cesspool of corruption that exists inside the entire Democrat/Union/Government machine.  The American people are funding their own demise as billions are funneled to organizations dedicated to the demise of the American system.   The corruption and graft tied to the “system” are just an accepted part of political life by this movement … they do not even question if this is wrong because they believe the cause is right.”

“I never anticipated being President this soon.   I could not imagine the American people electing an extremely inexperienced Senator as their President.   However, I also knew that sometimes opportunities do not come twice.   Political and economic circumstances were aligning for a political wave in the country.   The identity politics so ingrained inside the Progressive movement were convinced the time for a black man to be President was now.   The support for me was so enthusiastic because the most ardent progressives felt I would never deviate from the agenda as President Clinton did.  I was guaranteed the funds were be available for me and that economic events would be supportive of my victory.   Did you ever wonder why we had an economic collapse two months before the election?  I will tell you now that when I expose the events behind my election, I will be pardoning myself in advance.   If impeachment is the net result, that is fine once our objectives are met.   McCain was an easy target as he was a fellow progressive and would not point out the obvious flaws in our approach.   Sarah Palin sent us into a momentary panic as we knew that she spoke the truth and if she could be heard we might be in trouble.  Fortunately we were able to mobilize our allies in the press to destroy her personally before her message could resonate.   I owe her a big apology and someday hope she replaces me in this office.”

President Obama smiled as he made the next statement.   “I broke out laughing when Rahm Emmanuel stated that we should never let a good crisis go to waste.  I knew that driving a stake in the heart of the Progressive movement was going to be easier than even I expected.   All I needed to do is turn Pelosi and Reid lose to follow their inner desires.   I made sure to appoint the heroes of the Progressive movement to as many positions as possible.    Van Jones was a so over the top communist that I worried it would scare off some Democrats.  Glenn Beck did a great job exposing him so I could cut him lose quickly without losing support from the loony left.   My one concern was to not allow the security of the country to be at risk while this story unfolded.  Keeping Secretary Gates in his role has kept the radicals from tinkering with defense too much.   Eric Holder is an idiot but it was necessary to put someone like him in charge to expose the absurdity of his beliefs.  Behind the scenes I have kept the Bush security measures in place while giving the left as much rope as needed to hang themselves publicly.

“My goal for these first two years was to expose how destructive and dangerous progressive policies are to the future of our country.  Only when they have full reign to expose themselves they can be stopped. I have had to advocate some very destructive policies that I must reverse and mitigate as quickly as possible.  I am glad only progressive judges retired from the Supreme Court … while my appointments are regrettable, the balance on the court remains unchanged.  I regret that part of my legacy will be those two lunatics I appointed.

At this point President Obama paused for reaction.   Senator McConnell was the first to speak.  “Mr. President, unless you have a radically different plan for the future, I don’t believe this.”   The President responded, ” I have a plan and let me tell you in advance that you and your caucus will be on board with this or I will destroy the Republican party as quickly as I did the Democrat party.   Let me introduce a couple of people who will be supporting my plans.   To their astonishment, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck walked into the room.   Obama said, ” these two men have done more to educate America on the evils of the liberal and progressive movement than anyone and I intend to see that they do not let up on supporting the transformation we will embark upon.”   They will help me run over the mainstream media until the leftists in those organizations retire or surrender.

Obama chuckled as he said ” I wish I could have seen Glenn Beck’s face when his red phone finally rang with me inviting him to Camp David.”   Limbaugh laughed ” I have retracted my opinion that I hope President Obama fails, when you hear what he has planned, I intend to support his addition to Mouth Rushmore.”  Obama smiled and said ” Limbaugh and I have a golf date scheduled near his home in Florida next month … that should have some heads exploding.”

President Obama sat forward and look at the two members of Congress.  “Gentleman, starting in January 2011 we together are going to make history.   We are going to transform the role and function of the Government back to the Principles established by our founder fathers.   In the next two years, I intend to strip 100 years of progressive destruction from our federal government.    We are going to remove the political calculations of our decision making and do what is right for the American people.   We are going to restore the states role in governing themselves and remove the narcotic of federal spending they have been grown to accept.   With $14 trillion of national debt we do not have much time.   I intend to balance the federal budget in two years.    I do not want to take a scalpel or hatchet to the Federal government, I want to use a chainsaw.  Agriculture, Education, Commerce, Energy and many others are to be eliminated and consolidated.   I expect to eliminate 30 to 50% of federal employees and federal unions are going to be eliminated.  We can longer afford to pick winners and losers in our economy and the federal government is going to get out of the marketplace whether it be agricultural subsidies, green energy boondoggles or corporate subsidies disguised as spending.   The bloat in our defense spending will be eliminated while preserving our strong ability to defend ourselves.   The military budget will no longer be a jobs programs for unneeded bases or useless defense projects.”

“Needless to say I expect to sign a repeal of the Health Care bill in the first week of the new Congress followed by a market based health reform bill that returns consumer decision making to that market.   Essentially every reform passed by the previous Congress should be repealed in January and the government ownership in the auto, housing, student loan markets and others are to be reversed.

“You will be getting a new three year budget from me … the third year will show a balanced balanced budget AND a 3% repayment on the national debt.  I want us on a path to be a debt free country in 20 years.    Reforming our tax system is going to be your first agenda item.   We must fund the rightful responsibilities of the federal government but it is time to stop picking winners and losers with tax policy and punishing success and subsidizing failure.    If we remove the ability for Congress to pass favors with taxes and spending, we remove the incentive for government growth.   Senator McConnell, I am warning you now that if you try to revert to you old ways of talking conservative but supporting growth in government or protecting special interests, I will crush you.    If you follow the lead of Senator Rand Paul you will do fine.”  You can be assured that the soon to be announced retirements of Democrat Senators from States with new Republican Governors will give you a filibuster proof majority to work with … I literally know where the ‘bodies’ are buried so these Senators are going to be happy to fade into the sunset.

“The Bush tax cuts are to be immediately implemented for 2011. Within 60 days, I want a revised tax code passed to take effect January 1, 2012 based on either the fair tax or the flat tax.    These are to be NO special interest exceptions for housing, farmers, agribusiness,… no one!   The only progressive nature of either tax is to exempt the first $30,000 of family income from tax.    Corporate income taxes, estate taxes and capital gains taxes are to be eliminated.  I want to eliminate the ability of elected officials to hand out tax code favors to outstretched hands.”

“The net effect of removing the burden of tax policy from our economy is going to be tremendous economic growth … within five years the booming economic engine of the United States should make the pain of the last three years a distant memory.    You will also notice that we will no longer spend more than 18% of GDP.   My longer term goal is 15%.    We have commitments made to the elderly with Social Security and Medicare and those will be honored.  The enhanced tax revenue from our expanded economy will help us fund these but overall we have to be honest with the American people about what we can promise.   We must transform our health and retirement programs to market based private systems that reduces our citizens reliance on government.”

“I intend to fire most of my cabinet members and staff.  I will be bringing citizens from across the political spectrum and private sector into my government … all with the same commitment to reversing the stranglehold the left has on our government.   For example, I have asked Mark Levine to accept the position of Attorney General … I am allowing him to keep his radio show which he has agreed to do without pay while in office.  He has a better grasp of the insidious nature of the statists in our government and the proper constitutional role of our federal government.  His primary charge is to expose, prosecute and eliminate the corruption that has become endemic to our system.  Fifteen hours of a week of him detailing the lawlessness and corruption in the system should make his program destination listening. We will expose, prosecute and marginalize the entire leftist movement using our constitution and laws to to destroy them.   No one will be exempt, including members of the Republican party but I may use the power of Presidential pardon for those who confess and work to expose the system fully.”

The dead weight that the EPA has placed on our economy will be lifted.  I have asked Governor Palin to assume this cabinet post.   Given her experience she understands what is important to protect our environment while maximizing the use of our God given resources to expand our economy.   You will see many more surprise appointments such as this in the coming weeks.

“In either this Congress or the next, we are going to pass constitutional amendments that establish without ambiguity the original meaning of our constitution.  The commerce and general welfare clauses will no longer be the open ended justification for ever expanding government and the tenth amendment is now going to be meaningful.  Every law going forward must be based on constitutional power.  I realize this will be contradicted by some establish laws and precedent but in due time we can bring all into balance.”

“The next two years … or six years if needed … of my term promises to be the most transformation event since the founding of our country.  I hope I can count on you gentlemen to do your patriotic duty to see that we restore the greatness of the ‘shining city on the hill’ for future generations to enjoy.  God bless us all in this effort.”

As I watch the ever growing mountain of evidence that our government spending is reaching an unsustainable level, I struggle with a solution on how we stop the spending before the inevitable economic collapses arrives.   Increasing our national debt from $6 trillion to $12 trillion in a mere seven years is a figure so shocking and outrageous, it defies belief.   Short of a political revolution that replaces 80% of our current Congress, we will still be left with a solid core of politicians who believe spending on their priorities still matters most and government still must “solve” our society’s challenges.

The system is self perpetuating: donations from favor seekers to influence policy and spending with both parties; bureaucracies seeking to gain power by ever increasing baseline budgets rewarding increased spending with more spending; an army of lobbyists and other leeches siphoning money from anyone with a budget.    No individual or President can gain the power sufficient to overcome this built in spending avalanche.

Ultimately those in Congress authorizing the budgets and spending don’t write the actual checks.  Thousands and  thousands of career civil service employees wield the power of check writing for trillions of dollars.   Careers are furthered only by ever greater spending and larger government … saving taxpayer funds benefits no one except the taxpayer.  Evidence of this lack of institutional desire to cut spending was the charade of President Obama demanding $100 million of budget cuts from a $3.5 trillion budget and the absurdity of the responses.    I wonder if anyone has considered checking if any of the proposed budget cuts were implemented?   Has it been confirmed that nothing but double side printed documents are now coming out of the Justice department.  I expect that $100 million in budget cuts has been measured about as accurately as the stimulus jobs.

The solution I came up with is distasteful but necessary.  We must make tens of thousands of federal bureaucrats fabulously rich. We need to establish compensation mechanisms for those with budget management and spending responsibility to earn a small commission on the annual actual dollar savings they can show in their spending from one fiscal year to the next. The promise of significant personal wealth without having to resort to corruption would change behavior overnight.

For simplicity sake lets reward 1% of the annual savings to the individual or individuals responsible for a certain measured savings.   $1 million in savings generates a bonus of $10,000.    $100 million in savings generates a bonus of $1 million.  For the person who implements a $1 billion reduction in spending … lottery level riches await as they get a check for $10,000,000.    Bonuses can be spread across work teams so entire divisions of bureaucracy share in their new found bounty.

I predict that this program would unleash an entrepreneurial spirit in the federal government that would overwhelm every liberal effort to retain their grip on the state.    Government programs that were deemed indispensable are suddenly proven to add no value and the grants suddenly are no longer available.    The Department of Defense discovers their $500 hammers are cheaper at Home Depot.   Retired Generals find the “consulting” opportunities for post career wealth are vastly reduced.  Lobbyists find their influence reduced to insignificance.  Nancy Pelosi finds her personal air fleet rarely available for use.  ACORN and its counterparts are confirmed as criminal organizations.  Will Medicare bureaucrats continue to pay $60 billion annually in fraudulent claims if they realize that $600 million of bonus money is theirs for the taking?

Congressmen would scream that their earmark must be spent for the company in their district as promised … the response would be to advise the elected official they have found a vendor who can supply the same product for 25% of the earmark.  They would be happy to discuss this with the Congressman and the Washington Post at his convenience.  Suddenly a career in elected office is not nearly as personally lucrative.

Wealthy government employees would be taking early retirement as their replacements eagerly wait their shot at the big bucks.   You could even mandate retirement when an earnings limit is reached.  Of course, their would be no new hires as this added salary and expense reduces that year’s bonuses.   Unions would become pariahs as it is quickly understood their only purpose is to add cost and inefficiency to government service.   Qualification for government welfare benefits would quickly become a much more rigid process … an application and breathing as the primary qualifications for a government check would no longer be enough.

Baseline budgeting becomes defined as how much you spent last year versus how much less you can spend this year… no inflation adjustments.  Budget increases passed by Congress prove meaningless as the only budget that matters is the bonus achievable by September 30 of each fiscal year.  As the economy adjusts to a less intrusive, less expensive and less oppressive government, our economic growth explodes generating even more taxes to pay down our debt and fund the entitlement commitments that must be kept.

As an added side benefit, a new found appreciation of lower marginal tax rates for high earners is guaranteed to develop.  Imagine the policy papers suddenly pouring out of government offices showing the economic damage our current tax system does to our country

We spent $3 billion on Cash for Clunkers to generate 125,000 in incremental car sales.   How much smaller government could $3 billion have bought us?     I would happily trade $10 billion in increased federal compensation for $1 trillion in permanently reduced spending.    There are some obvious details that still need to be worked out but if I sense this is being put in place, I just might have to go get me a gubmint job!

Senator, McConnell,  You have been my US Senator most of my adult life.   I remember speaking with you as a college senior at the University of Kentucky as you ran your inaugural Senate campaign in 1984.   Having lived under Democrat Senators and Congressmen my entire life, the possibility of having a Republican in the Senate from Kentucky seemed remote.   Not only did your bloodhounds chase Dee Huddleston into retirement, you ushered in a Republican renaissance in Kentucky that at one point captured the entire congressional delegation.   This is an accomplishment that deserves our gratitude.

Your mastery of the Senate has taken you to the leadership position you have today.   Having voted to reelect you repeatedly, I spend much of recent terms frustrated at your efforts to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.    You and fellow Republicans presided over a massive expansion of the Federal Government while our party controlled all three branches of government.   My blood pressure rises every time I see you brag in the local papers about the federal money you bring back to Kentucky when conservatives are screaming to STOP SPENDING.

It took our country 236 years to accumulate $6 trillion of debt.   You managed to double this to over $12 trillion in just seven more years!    (Please note conservatives are intellectually honest enough to not pretend we can blame this solely on “the other guy”.)     Current forecasts have another $7 trillion in debt coming in the next 7 years.

You managed to take a 55 seat Senate Majority to a 40 seat filibuster proof minority in only 4 years and yet you cling to same political philosophy that took us to this point.

Anyone in private business with this record would be resigning in shame but somehow politicians are never at fault and continue on without once ever thinking they were wrong.

And now we have the leftists’ ultimate vision of socializing health care and taking over 1/6th of the US economy within their grasp.   It really does not matter what they pass, they know any bill will let them reach their goal.  They are not reforming anything, they are trying to wreck health care and the economy to increase their power.   Yet time after time the collegiality of the Senate remains your guiding principle.   Your fellow Democrat senators are the enemy of liberty and capitalism and should be treated as such.

Where is your outrage?  Why have you not screamed from the floor of the Senate every day that the Democrats are trying to destroy America?   Why are you not on every cable network preaching nightly the evil intentions of the statists in power?   Why are you acting as if this a just another political debate that requires you to “work the process”?    Why did you not demand censure of Senator Reid when he compared Republican opposition to the support of slavery?  Why have you not used every single parliamentary tactic to bring the health care debate to a crawl?  Why are you not making every democrat Senator tremble in fear as you put them on record voting over and over again that their intention is the destruction of the American way of life?    Why are you not calling out the media by name when they refuse to cover the outrages and fraud happening right in front of their eyes?

I know you and your staff monitor Redstate and I know that you saw Erick’s masterful fight post “Fight” from yesterday.  Do you realize how angry the conservative base is?   Why are you not responding?  Why are you letting us carry the fight?   Why do Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, and Senator DeMint have to deliver the message that you should be leading?

I have written, called, and emailed your office constantly over the years with little satisfaction so now I must write you publicly.   YOU are the Republican leader in the Senate!   You are the highest elected Republican in the country for now.   YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE OUR LEADER NOW!   You have worked your entire life for this moment and the time for you to rise to the challenge has come.   Put aside your cautions.  Put aside your collegiality.  Put aside your bipartisanship.  Stand up for America and for the future of our country.

Let history record that in 2009, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell fought the political battle that saved our future.  Don’t let us down anymore.

Are you listening?

This is not on the front page calendar but Bart Gordon, one of the four blue dog traitors that sprung Obama Care from committee, is having a town hall on health care tonight.    I wonder if this a last minute meeting with a friendly audience.  I hope Red State devotees in the district are going.

I will give him credit for not hiding as he is allowing live streaming of the meeting.

Bart’s Town Hall Meeting in Murfreesboro

When: Monday, August 24 from 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Where: MTSU’s Tucker Theatre, located inside the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building (click here for a map and driving directions).

Ticket Information: Tucker Theatre has 900 seats, and you must have a ticket to be admitted to Bart’s Town Hall Meeting in Murfreesboro. Tickets will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis at the theatre, starting at 6:00 p.m.

Additional Information: The meeting will be 90 minutes long and moderated by Andrew Oppmann, President and Publisher of the Daily News Journal. Oppmann will sit on stage with Bart and call for questions from three microphones to be stationed in the theatre.

Meeting-goers are asked not to bring signs into the theatre that would obstruct aisles or block the view of others.

http://gordon.house.gov/contact/murfreesboroth.shtml

Blue Dog Ben Chandler (Kentucky 6th District) is hiding from his constituents in Lexington, Kentucky this month.  He is another one of those talk conservative/vote liberal professional politicians that believes he is invincible.  Given Chandler’s history and pedigree he likely does not have a conservative principle left.  Grandson of a former Governor and a former state Attorney General, he flamed out in his run for Governor in 2003, giving Kentucky its first Republican Governor in 36 years.   He immediately ran for the special election for the seat his opponent Ernie Fletcher vacated but surely is biding his time for another statewide run.

I heard an anecdote that Chandler tried to impress some of the local Dem VIP’s during a visit recently by scheduling time with Rahmbo.  The net effect was just to make them nervous by being told that Obama was going to take care of Chandler.  Kentucky Democrats are conservative by nature and are not necessarily impressed by rubbing shoulders with raging leftists.  John McCain carried this district with 55% percent of the vote while Chandler carried 65% with little opposition in 2008.   Chandler was a reliable vote for “Cap and Tax” (amazing in a coal producing state) and will likely betray his constituents on health care.

Chandler now has an opponent in Matt Lockett … a local citizen who wants to bring conservative leadership to the district.   I do not know Matt but hope to learn more as he builds his campaign.  I am pleased to see that he is running a town hall on health care since Chandler is missing in action and hope to see Matt in person this weekend.  It would be great to see Chandler have an early political career retirement in November 2010.

Once again we have another enlightened liberal reporter bemoaning the inherent unfairness of the US Constitution in preventing the Obama agenda from passing.   It is so terribly unfair that small population states have equal power to the large population states resulting in unequal distribution of tax revenue and agenda control. Check out this sad lament:

And then there’s the Senate’s age-old distortion of distributive politics, in which goodies are doled out on anything but a per-capita basis. California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey are among the 10 states that get the least back per tax dollar sent to Washington; Alaska, the Dakotas and West Virginia are among those that get the most.

Never once did it occur to this author that if Washington DC would not demand the ever growing federal tax dollars, the money could remain in the states for those governments to prioritize as the FOUNDERS INTENDED!  I will never understand how a supposedly educated person can have no sense of the history about the magnificence of the US Constitution that created our REPUBLIC.   In the history of man, no document has ever allowed a nation to prosper and protect it’s citizens from tyranny as has ours.  Only protection from the majority rule allows us to survive with the liberty our founders secured for us.

Dear Congressional Republicans:

The American people are doing what you cannot … we are beating back the takeover of health care by the Socialists.  Thousands of Americans are letting the elites know that we will not let a lie be rammed down our throats.  We are delivering the message you could or would not.

September is time for you to join our cause.   The left will be scheming and plotting on how to repackage the same goal.  Look for a manufactured crisis (distraction) that will give them time to regroup and bring health care in through the back door.   It is time for you to go on offense.   Don’t even think about letting those Maine Senators give cover to a compromise … kick them out of the caucus if they dare.  It is time for you to loudly and without apology demand the we bring capitalism back to Health Care.

I know that you claim Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will not let your voices be heard.  Quit playing small ball defense.  If you have to stand on the steps with ever Republican member of Congress every day with signs and make speeches …. you will be heard.   You are no different than us … if we can shout down the oppressors, so can you!   It is not demeaning to defend liberty by whatever means you can. We will be behind you ever step of the way.

• Demand every Democrat explain to their constituents why they are opposed to Tort Reform.  Embarrass the Democrats about being in the back pockets of the trial bar.  Show the faces of the the lawyers they make rich while taking their political contributions.  Make them defend bankrupting an OBY GYN just so John Edwards can own a 25,000 square foot home.   Establish loser pays.   End the lawsuit lottery scam forever.
• Demand that Americans get the same tax treatment for buying individual insurance as companies do.  Make the Democrats the protector of big corporate tax breaks … hoist them on their sword.
• Demand that they free the insurance market and let Americans buy the coverage they need from whoever they choose anywhere in the country.    Set the rules for a national insurance market and get out of they way!   Educate Americans that catastrophic insurance is the only real insurance they need… everything else is just prepaid health care they may not use.   Tell Americans they are a free people responsible for the own health care and they should not expect a government nanny to take care of them.  Force Health Care providers to start competing for customers and not just negotiate with their insurance masters.   Let consumer groups of all kinds pool their insurance purchases.  Make insurance portable for life … if you have paid premiums you can’t be re-rated only when a health issue develops.    Loudly and proudly claim that you want COMPETITION and freedom in the Health Care market.

Set your goal that Barack Obama has to sign a health insurance reform bill that puts American on a path to REMOVE government from Health Care, not expand it.  Imagine the feeling of watching him claim credit for a success that will make him want to kick Bo the White House dog all over the lawn.  Imagine the feeling of watching the progressive caucus realizing their dreams of socialism are lost forever.

I want to see Mitch McConnell and John Boehner as vocal and mad as the rest of America.  Get as mad as we are or get out of the way. Quit making  polite speeches in the capital rotunda.   Quit worrying about the decorum of Congress… your opponents never do.  They punch you below the belt every day and you just keep taking it.  Never let up … be loud and rock the Democrats back on their heels.  Make them debate on your terms … their beliefs cannot stand being in the light.   The more you fight back, the bigger their mistakes will become.

We are with you.  JOIN OUR FIGHT.

This past Saturday, my wife celebrated her second birthday without her mother … a sad day still after a year and half of her passing.   The debate over the end of life discussions has me reflecting on her death experience.

My mother-in-law was a tough lady … double by-pass at age 50 and two more at age 58.  She managed to live 32 years with diabetes and chronic heart disease.    As a small business owner she faithfully paid for her individual health insurance and her Medicare Gap insurance her entire life.  The miracle this is modern medicine allowed her to see all her children grow up and start lives of their own and bask in the love of her five grandchildren.   The daughter of Lebanese immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, she was the essence of the American experience.  Sitti (Arabic for grandmother) was adored by her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and siblings.   She had 32 wonderful “Quality Adjusted Life Years” because of the US medical system.

At least a half dozen times in the 25 years I knew her, she was at death’s door yet she defied her doctors by rallying back.  Twice when we lived in Hong Kong earlier this decade, my wife had to fly back believing her mother would have passed by the time she landed.  Instead we had the privilege of her living with us for many months on our return to the US … she was my morning coffee buddy.

During the 2007 Thanksgiving holiday she had her entire family together only to be faced with another medical crisis.   Despite doctors advising that she would not recover, she surprised all again and was back in her home by the new year.  There was something different this time.  She asked her nephew attorney to revise her living will and left very clear instructions that the time had come to not pursue artificial methods to extend her life.   She did not want to die in ICU surrounding by machines and strangers.  Within a few weeks, her mental condition deteriorated and she was back to living with us.   With the support of local hospice services, we honored her wishes.   She refused to take her medicine and asked us to quit bothering with her diabetes care.  After another bad evening (and one son begging to have her hospitalized), the end was near.  She woke up on a Wednesday morning in good spirits, ate breakfast and then told my wife she felt like she was leaving.   Shortly after, she was unconscious and sleeping peacefully.   Her only care was morphine for comfort and the love of her family around her.

At 3 am on March 1, 2008, I checked on her.  Patricia Haddad Van Buren had peacefully passed in her sleep in our house only five minutes earlier at the age of 82.  This is the cycle of life and I can only wish we could all pass with such peace.   While there was sadness at her passing, there was joy at a life well lived.

There is a lot of debate about the end of life counseling in the Democrat’s health care reform bill.  I know absolutely this is code for denial of life saving treatment for those they believe do not deserve further care.  Counseling will quickly become mandates.   My mother-in-law is proof that the greatest medical system in the world can add valuable years of life.   Never do I want anyone to feel the pressure or guilt of a government bureaucrat suggesting that some has a duty to die.

However as conservatives, let us also remember that we all should have these discussions with our family, friends and physicians.  Let us not demonize the importance of facing end of life decisions.   Death is something none of us escape and in the end we must consider the option of embracing how we die as much as how we live.

I attended Congressman Steve Driehaus’ health care forum last night sponsored by a Democrat Womens’ club.  It was a capacity crowd with an overflow room and still 50 people left outside … 300 to 400 total.

The moderator started the night with an insulting, condescending lecture that the event was for people “concerned about health care” and she would not tolerate an organized mob designed to disrupt the event in order to tape embarrassing statements by the Congressman.  She was able to begin the night with a round of boos as she had just insulted the audience.

The crowd was 90% opposed to the Congressman’s six month voting record and I could not find one person bussed there by the insurance lobby.   Oddly enough we all had cars and drove to the event.

He tried to control the event by only taking written questions but that lasted about 15 minutes before he was forced to address the audience directly.  Every time he tried one of the Democrat talking points, he was met with boos and laughter.  He actually used a quote from a pediatrician that the “US Health Care system was immoral”.   He was stunned that his audience found the statement insulting.  Finally he  was left with either providing non-answers or an answer that would appear that he would not be supporting the details of the Health Care bill.  If he would only vote as he talks, we would not have a problem with him.  However as he betrayed his district on the stimulus, the 2010 Budget, and Cap and Tax, he is likely to continue the betrayal.

At the conclusion, the audience wide chant of “vote for Steve Chabot” was a perfect ending.  Steve Chabot is the multi-term Congressman from the 1st District of Ohio that Driehaus narrowly defeated in 2008.  By January 2011, we should be referring to former Congressman Dreiehaus.

Just wait until the next chapter of the Cash for Clunkers is released.  Someday we will see the details of the actual cars bought under Cash for Clunkers be released?  The irony will be the vast number of small Toyota’s, Mazda’s and Kia’s that will be bought.   My neighbors traded in their ten year old minivan to buy a Mazda 3 for their teenage son.  They had been shopping for a used car but decided they might as well buy a new one since the government would fund 1/3 of the cost!

I expect it will take FOIA requests to pry these details out of the Obama Administration so we have another Friday document dump to look forward too.  It will be so amusing to see how little market share Obama Motors and Chrysler Government Cars Inc. secured.

In 1993, President Clinton nearly destroyed his presidency by tying his legacy to Hillarycare.  In 1995, he rode the banner of small government and welfare reform to easy reelection.  Despite his personal failings, Clinton was at least smart enough to not let ideology trump success.

President Obama’s attempt to nationalize health care is going down in flames.  He is even more closely linked to health care reform for his presidency than Clinton.  Republicans and moderate Democrats are not going to allow him to socialize our health care system.  Right now liberal Democrats are blustering and frothing about not giving up their visions of a government takeover of another 1/6th of the economy.  However they also don’t want to give up their current majority power and will surrender soon.

The August recess will allow time for the reality to set in that Obamacare is dead and buried but the risk that he failed with nothing to show is ever greater for his presidency.   Is Obama smart enough to recover?  My immediate belief is no.  He is too much an ideologue to pull victory from defeat but the path is there for him to take.

The number one issue for health care is not the uninsured or even the high cost of insurance.   The overwhelming anxiety for the vast majority of responsible Americans is:

Will a health status change, job change or an arbitrary insurance company decision at some point prevent me from obtaining catastrophic coverage that could save the life or me or a family member?  Most Americans do not want free health care but they want the anxiety to end that they someday cannot protect themselves even if they play by the rules all their life.

There are many proposals that could eliminate this anxiety without another dollar of government investment.  Government can play it’s rightful role of setting the proper (and limited) rules for a deregulated market but then get out of the way.  This includes the continued privatizing of Medicare and Medicaid and stop subsidizing routine medical expenses.  My favorite analogy is auto insurance does not pay for oil changes or brake repairs, why should health insurance pay for a flu shot or the doctor’s visit for the flu?  Individual choice and free market competition will “bend the cost curve” while improving access and quality of care.  I dream of the day I get junk mail from doctors competing for my patronage.

A smart politician would adopt this as HIS plan, pass health insurance reform with bipartisan support and bask in the praise and success of his effort.  President Obama is unfortunately not a smart politician.  He is an ideologue politician and his pride will never let him accept defeat of his dream of a socialist paradise.

If the liberals are already propping up Jimmy Carter’s malaise speech, the panic must be setting in.   These opening paragraph alone shows how they are trying to redefine the definition of a failed president in advance of failed President Obama.

What few recall is the speech’s actual content — which still resonates strongly in the current economic crisis— or the fact that it was actually well-received by the public at the time.

“It was an incredibly successful speech, until he fired the Cabinet, which changed the whole tenor of things,” said Patrick Caddell, who was the president’s pollster and a chief architect of the speech.

“It got a great reception. I’ve never felt more that American political journalism bordered on Soviet history-making than on that speech,” he said. “From the misnaming of it, to the trying to say later that it was unpopular — the historical revisionism. The speech itself was an extraordinary success.”

As the liberals in Congress are on crusade to raise marginal tax rates on the “rich”, I realized there is a simple solution to stop this.   Have you noticed that calls for taxing the “rich” always are above the amount of current congressional salaries?   As distasteful as this sounds, we need to raise salaries of elected representatives to at least $500,000 per year.   If we get their salaries high enough, there are not enough wage earners above them to raise significant revenue with tax increases.   They can also no longer pontificate about the “evil rich” when they are now one of them.

Many of those in Congress are not qualified for jobs paying $100,000 in the private sector so I know this seems ridiculous.  However, as soon as they get a taste of these higher salaries, the requirement to give 50% to 60 % of it back to the government would drop dramatically.   They might even discover a sudden justification for a flat tax.   Perhaps if we pay them enough their desire to risk taking graft from federal payouts (a.k.a John Murtha) could be diminished eliminating some pork projects.  Hopefully the higher salary would also encourage better qualified people to run knowing they would not have to take a pay cut.

As I am the parent of two teenage drivers, I have had the experience of replacing the mirrors on my three Chrysler vehicles four times.    Mirror number five was a casualty yesterday.

Six months ago the last repair at the Chrysler dealer was $283.

TODAY THE SAME REPAIR IS $560.

Our government at its best!

This recent article  Americans Largely Silent as Their Nation is Systematically Destroyed shows that the Canadians are even worried about us.

Incompetent Evil in Charge

The same people responsible for the many disasters now surrounding every American household, were elected in 2006 and 2008 to fix what they broke. Instead of reversing course and placing their faith in the principles of freedom, they are installing more of the same failed entitlement policies that created the problem and they are doing so at a fever pace.

Read the full article as this writer seems even more apocalyptic that most conservatives at this point.  I suppose when you live in a Socialist State and you see your lifeboat to the south drilling holes in the bottom of the boat, a sense of despair does takes hold.  I agree with the writer … let’s hope we can wake America up by November 2010.

I continued to be stunned by the audacity of the “destroy our economy” movement… more commonly  known as Cap and Trade proponents.  It occurred me that we all assume that the energy producers of our country must just roll over and accept whatever new tax schemes the Government imposes on them.   We assume the coal trains will continue to roll and the natural gas pipelines will continue to flow.

Why does this has to happen?   Our coal is provided by private mining companies.   Our natural gas is provided by private energy exploration companies.    Suppose one or more of these companies announces a change in production and distribution strategies.  Until the Congress of the United States decides to quit penalizing them and the American consumer they are going to choose who to do business with.  Shipments will be halted for energy products for any state whose congressional delegations supports these punitive taxes.   Those states will be encouraged to find alternatives supplies of energy.  Since they are such ardent proponents of green energy that this will give them a chance to live that dream … perhaps some strong wind will be in the forecast.

Of course, some short term revenue opportunity will be lost but it will buy much more long term freedom.  This would generate a outcry from the statist’s about companies not having the right to do this … last time I checked we still allow (for now) private companies to operate as they choose.   Immediate calls to nationalize these companies would be made … further exposing their true colors.  We have allowed ourselves to accept the false premise that the federal government has all authority and control to tell us how to run our lives and businesses.  Maybe this a way to announce that we don’t have to always march to that tune.

As the lights go out on the east and west coasts, let them all enjoy their CO2 free environments while flyover country will continue to enjoy refrigerated food.  Those residents living by candlelight might want to call their Congressional representative … oops, their cell phone batteries are not charged.

For 25 years both political parties continue to foist the mythical “trust fund” for Medicare and Social Security on the unsuspecting public.    Every year we get updates like this.

“Specifically, the trustees’ report predicts that the trust fund from which Social Security payments are made will be unable to pay retirees full benefits by 2037, four years earlier than forecast a year ago. In particular, the trustees single out the financial weakness of the part of the program that subsidizes disabled Americans, saying that fund will run out of money in 2020.”

and this…

“Medicare’s financial health, the report shows, deteriorated less sharply in the past year than Social Security’s, but it remains the more urgent problem. The trust fund that pays for hospital care under Medicare is now predicted to run out of money in 2017, two years earlier than forecast a year ago. That fund does not involve the parts of Medicare that cover doctor’s visits or coverage for prescription drugs.”

Anyone with the slightest amount of intellectual honesty will admit the “trust funds” are only IOU’s from the Government to the Government that must be paid with new taxes or borrowed money to replace the previous taxes that have already been spent! Any private business executive who ran accounting of this nature would be charged with fraud and imprisoned, yet politicians for my entire adult life continue to discuss this accounting fraud as if it is real.   Every vote I have cast in my life as been for elected leaders who have perpetuated the biggest Ponzi scheme in history … Bernie Madoff must be their role model!

Is there any chance that the Republican party will require it’s elected representatives to attest to the reality of this fraud (including their apology) and refuse to perpetuate the myths one day longer?   If the message is uniform from the entire party the media will be forced to admit the truth of the message and then perhaps we can quit kicking the can down the road until the final day of reckoning arrives.

As conservatives, why are we expected to continue supporting candidates that will not attest to this truth?

This is an interesting blog editorial about Senator Mitch McConnell and his Kentucky political maneuvering.  It has been 25 years since McConnell brought Kentucky Republicans out of the wilderness with the first statewide victory since 1963.   Since this point, Kentucky has become a predominately Republican voting state even with a majority Democrat registration.   This gives “Emperor Mitch” a lot of leeway in controlling Republican politics in this state.   Every six years I have dutifully joined other Kentuckians in returning McConnell to Washington and spending the next six years in varying degrees of exasperation as he is always political and rarely principled.    This gets even more frustrating when you read about his shenanigans such as in this link.  As conservatives nationwide are calling for the end to politics as usual, the leading Republican in the country is unfortunately the poster child for that behavior.

Like many conservatives on Redstate and other sites, I am motivated by the calls and enthusiasm for the return to conservative principles.   The little voice in my head wonders if conservatives are ready for hard choices and positions this will require.   Regardless of the election cycle, we will always have Republicans repeating the mantra of calling for fiscal responsibility, low taxes and limited government.  Every stump speech will repeat these “red meat” lines to the cheering adulation of their like minded audience.   But no politician wants to be honest with the electorate about what this means.  The one thing that will almost always be missing is the specific agenda that this message requires.   The professional consultants and pollsters will express the dire consequences to their clients that will come from being specific.   Are we ready for candidates who will spell out the conservative approach with specifics like these?

Agricultural policy: Government has no business picking winners and loser in our agricultural sector.  Our absurdly expensive price support and subsidy programs not only waste American’s tax dollars but cost American’s at the grocery store with inflated food prices.   Our Congress has allowed an alliance of farm state agricultural subsidies with inner city low income food stamp subsidies … both interest groups insure an unstoppable force for permanent growing spending.   If elected, (insert candidate) will pursue a program of de-linking Agricultural subsidies with low income food subsidies with the ultimate goal of eliminating federal government distortion in our farm economy.

Education: The government monopoly of education has failed our children.   The teachers unions are motivated by their own interest of securing ever greater tax dollars while at the same time ensuring they are never faced with competition.  It is time to stop accepting the false premise that education is underfunded … increased funding only begets more funding with poorer results.    If elected (insert candidate) will never falter in pursuing private competition at the local level and reducing the influence of federal mandates and funding and returning education policy to its rightful place as a state and local responsibility.

Health Care: Our country has the greatest health care system in the world.  However citizens are separated from decision making on the costs their health care requires.  As we have approached government spending of 50% of health care costs, the current system is rapidly becoming unsustainable.   The desire for a nationalized single payer system may be unstoppable if we do not return health care to the marketplace and this system will ultimately result in degraded and rationed care. There is no such thing as free health care.    The federal government has a role in establishing a regulatory structure that provides access to indigent care and private catastrophic insurance coverage but it is time that individuals understand that neither the government nor your employer is going to be able to pay for every cost.   Just as choices are made on spending for housing and food, those same choices must be brought to American’s health care.   If elected (insert candidate) I will work toward bring competition to the health care market for the choices YOU will have to make.

Social Security: Sadly our Social Security system in simply the largest Ponzi scheme in human history.  Generations of elected representatives have perpetuated fraudulent accounting with the Social Security trust fund.  There is no money to fund future benefits as the trust fund has been spent.  Any redemption of the trust fund must be met with new borrowing or higher taxes.   Any candidate promising anything different is lying to you.   For future recipients Social Security the hard truth, this will require reform including retirement age adjustments, benefit calculation changes and yes a private investment account component.  If elected (insert candidate) one thing I will not support is another fictitious attempt to raise taxes and further perpetuating the trust fund myth.

Taxes: It is easy for any politician to claim support for lower taxes.  The sad fact is our tax system is broken.  Its very design is structured so that interest groups can lobby for special privileges as the expense of other individuals.  Furthermore any tax system that expects 2% of its citizens to provide 62% of the funding is morally unjust and unsustainable.  If elected (insert candidate) I will pursue a complete restructuring of our tax system by either implementing a flat income tax or replacing the income tax with a national sales tax.  We must have a tax system that stops picking the winners and losers in our economy and is simply focused on funding the necessary funding of federal government.  For example, this means long standing preferences for mortgage interest or charitable contributions must be eliminated.   If Congress can no longer grant favors with taxes, the power and influence of Washington DC will be vastly reduced.

I could continue with many other examples on issues such as energy, environment, state rights and abortion and I may do so in future diary.   Are we conservatives ready to be honest about what our beliefs require and is the American electorate ready to hear this truth from politicians?  Can we really expect national support for our message if we don’t tell our supporters what we want to do?

I keep reading these quotes over and over and wonder how it is possible we have reached this point.  We have the President of the United States trying to strong arm private investors exercising their contractual rights to recover their assets.   How did we reach the point in such a short time that this is not an outrage?  Imagine six months ago, if Republicans had charged that as President, Barack Obama would be attempting to run US companies and would actually be the one announcing the bankruptcy plans for a major US corporation … a bankruptcy that will leave two countries and the United Auto Workers as the majority owners.  We would have been called lunatic, wingnuts who don’t live in reality.

“A group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout,” Obama said, flanked by his economic, energy and environmental teams. “They were hoping that everybody else would make sacrifices, and they would have to make none. Some demanded twice the return that other lenders were getting. I don’t stand with them.”

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said at the daily briefing that the hedge funds and investment firms were playing games.

“They tried to, in a sense, play chicken with the government for a better deal, and nobody blinked,” Gibb said. Later, Gibbs said the hedge funds and investment firms were within their rights to reject the deal, but that didn’t diminish Obama’s frustration or anger.

“I’m not sure the president’s problem with them is based on their rights,” Gibbs said. “I think the president’s problem with them is based on the notion that, as he said, and as many members of the team have said, and as many members involved in this agreement have done, which is make sacrifices in order for a company to move forward.”

You have to give Obama credit here … not only has he surpassed Europe in audacity in nationalizing our companies, he actually on his way to challenge China on state control of the economy.