Posted by
EARL THINKS... on Thursday, August 27, 2009 11:33:07 AM
It appears that the "People" are being ignored. The "People" were against TARP during the sunset of the Bush administration. The "People" were against the bailout of the banking industries. The "People" were against the bailout of the auto industry. The "People" were against the Stimulus bill. Now, the "People" are standing against the House Health Care Reform bill. To be fair, the "People" really don't know who to believe or what in the content and structure being proposed, be it the "official" bill that has been voted on and passed in the House, or the myriad of "sketches" being bantered about in the Senate. The one thing that "is" clear is the "reform" doesn't address elements that certainly need to be addressed in the existing system. Yet, the focus is being directed at the evils of the private insurance companies and not some of the effects of the existing policies in the federal program that have triggered the rise in health care costs. Restrictions on the range and reach of the private insurance by relegating them to state borders and malpractice insurance required by doctors have great impact on the cost of health care and the protections need by doctors to deliver are not even on the stove, let alone the back burner.
All of this reveals an even greater threat to this proposition known as The United States of America; Government take over. Health Care and the reform "should" be the item that alerts us all to just what the "Hope and Change" mantra of Barak Obama truly means. For whatever reasons; anger with the Bush administration, failing economy, collapse of the real estate market, rise in oil prices, whatever. "Hope and Change" had a positive ring to it that warmed the ears enough so that we didn't all hear the underlying intentions of effecting it. People didn't hear that underlying intent of "taking America in a new direction". People never heard the concerns President Obama has had over the years as a "Constitutional Scholar" that The Constitution was restrictive to government and what it can do. Not enough "People" evaluated the carefully crafted speeches that revealed the deeper objectives of an Obama administration. Not enough "People" reflected back to something their parents might have told them about being judged by "the company they keep". "Hope and Change" attached to the face of a Black man on center stage, symbolizing some form of "redemption" for past sins of the country was given greater value than questioning just "how" he was going to fulfill the promise of "Hope and Change". But seven months into this administration the actions are beginning to reveal to more and more each day is that the "Hope and Change" promise and the "taking America in a new direction" is taking it in the direction of rule and government that people came here to get away from.
We need not apologize for our greatness. The United States of America and its founding was the first of its kind in the history of mankind. Government "by the People, for the People and of the People". With a Constitution as a guideline, the "People" decided just "what" and "how" the nation would be run. The "People" elected representatives for 3 aspects of carrying out those guidelines in the Constitution, the President, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Those elected officials had in place, by virtue of that Constitution, elements within such that neither one has absolute control or power. And a judicial branch in place to see that the "guidelines" were kept. Even freedoms that were overlooked and proved to be unjust were accounted for in the Constitution such that they can be legally addressed. We now have in power a group of people who are renouncing that Constitution in a blatant and brazen way.They have united in a way that they now, as evidenced by their
scoff at the "will of the people", are driven to insert personal and collective agendas without approval of the "People" let alone substantive support for their insertions. Actually, there is no debate. Instead,they are in the process of regulating and regulating the cornerstone of this unique proposition we call the United States of America. FREE SPEECH.
I once feared the parameters of free speech would reach the height of being able to yell, "FIRE!!" in a crowded theatre. I fear even more that free speech will be punishable by law should it be against that which those in government "do" or "want to do". I fear now that even being able to express my concerns "here" in the "Town Hall Blog" would put me on a list of descendents to the intrusion of government in our lives and fundamental freedoms, and by doing so, I would be running the risk of being charged with the very thing that "I" see is being done by circumventing and redefining the guideline of this proposition we have known as The United States of America; The Constitution, with treason.
Just a thought.....