Healthcare: The Aftermath

Now that Obamacare is the law of the land, one would think the debate ended however; it has now really begun to heat up. The Democrats are travelling the land attempting to convince the electorate that this new federal program is just what the doctor ordered. The Republicans are promising to repeal the law if elected in large enough numbers to take over the House and or, the Senate. Meanwhile, amidst all of the tumult, the approval rating of Congress hovers in the low teens. The citizenry is left to shake their heads in disbelief as they observe the seemingly limitless buffoonery emanating from Washington D.C. Not too long ago, many of us viewed George W. Bush as a divisive figure however, when he is placed alongside President Obama, former President Bush seems more like a minor league ball player. President Obama's centralized policies have torn the land apart and left personal liberty asunder.

The ensuing months leading up to the elections of November 2010 should prove to be politically vicious. The Left and the Right have drawn lines in the sand and are now entrenched behind their political parapets and content on launching political invectives at one another. The rest of us are left to suffer the consequences of their inability to work together. That said, how long will we stand silent while personal liberty is crushed beneath the jackboot of seemingly endless federal usurpation of power? Not too long ago, the Left cried foul over the intrusion into personal liberty that they believed the Patriot Act guilty of and yet; they now clap their hands in glee as the federal government slowly gains control over more and more of their lives. Could it be that the Left is no more open minded than the Right? I think so.

The vast majority of us in this great nation lie trapped square in the middle of the conflict between the Right and the Left. Common sense tells us that a pendulum drift too far to either side of center is not good for the country. Each side of the political spectrum have aspects of their belief system which are good for the nation. The conundrum lies in finding the circuitous path through all of the hyperbole and picking and choosing those items which make us a more vibrant Republic. The inability of our Congress to detect and follow this path is why so many of us outside the Beltway are annoyed.

During the Antebellum Period, Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, Senator John Calhoun of South Carolina, and Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts formed the Great Triumvirate. These three great statesmen with opposing interests, held our nation together through tumultuous times. The roaring fires of political diatribe threatened to overwhelm them on numerous occasions yet, they somehow always found a way to meet in the middle for the common good of all. The politicians of today would do well to study congressional history and show some personal bravery by stepping out from behind their parapet and actually sit down and talk instead of posturing. Where are the great statesmen of our time?

In closing, I must be totally honest. Since Obamacare passed on a strict party line vote and I wholeheartedly disagree with federalized control of health care, I hope that the Democrats pay for their actions in the upcoming election. As a conservative, I cannot support the objectives of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, or Majority Leader Reid. My only wish is that somebody from either side of the aisle would rise above the stench of mediocrity and represent those of us who lie in the center.

De Oppresso Liber

President Obama: Military Pay Raise FY2011& Individual Responsibility

President Obama's administration recently released its proposed military pay increase for fiscal year 2011. They have proposed an increase of 1.4% which, according to www.military.com, will be the lowest annual pay increase since 1973. If approved by Congress, civilian federal employees can expect an increase of 1.5%. This proposed pay increase is a slap in the face to our military. Less than 1% of our nation's populace has borne the brunt of our country's battle against Al-Quaida and Islamic fundamentalism and yet, they are now expected to endure slipping even further behind their civilian counterparts financial recompense. We all know that our land is traveling through troubled economic waters however; why should members of our military still work for income levels well below that of their peers in the civilian world? In my opinion, this pay raise proposal reflects our President's disdain for our military.

By now, an individual would have to be either deaf or blind for he or she to not realize that our President loves to spend a buck on those that he views as disenfranchised. It seems to me that his world view is ever hesitant to affix any responsibility for individual effort. Why does he refuse to demand that people take charge of their own lives? The word "disenfranchise" alleviates any sense of personal responsibility for a person's position in life. Whatever happened to our nation's ethos that the government provides all of us an equality of opportunity, and not equality of circumstance? The government will forever be unable to correct a person's plight. It can enforce laws protecting the equality of opportunity as guaranteed by our Constitution but, at the end of the day, it is the individual who will provide the energy to rise or fall in their personal endeavors.

The bizarre adventure of federal health care reform plods along and somehow, they are going to spend a fortune to "rescue" a small percentage of our nation's population from any personal responsibility to provide for their own basic human needs. When I juxtapose the proposed federal spending on health care reform to the 2011 military pay raise proposal, I come away with yet another confirmation of my opinion that this President and his cohorts in Congress are disconnected from our nation's heritage and seem intent on redesigning our country based on Europe's failed experiments in social democracy during the last three decades of the 1900s.

All is not lost. I am an optimist and I believe that contrary to what one may think, the people of this great land are paying attention to the feeble political vacillations emanating from Washington D.C. and are growing ever more irritated by the day and November 2010 will send shock waves from the Atlantic coastline to Hawaii. All of us just need to remain focused, and observe what is done and not done by our representatives and senators. Just as all of us are solely responsible for our actions, so must we expect nothing less from our politicians. All of us must live within our means, including our government and; the era of federal freebies is over!

De Oppresso Liber