"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." ~(1948) Norman Thomas, Six-time Socialist Cadidate for US Presidency
Q. Is the United States, in your opinion, becoming a socialist country?
A. Not quite. The U.S. has been pretty center-left since the days of FDR, and definitely in terms of entitlement spending (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SSI, Welfare, Section 8, Food Stamps, Lord know what else). Since nearly half of the country doesn’t even pay any taxes to fund it we’ve got the whole nanny state thing covered.
What has kept us center left, ironically, is capitalism itself. It’s cyclical in nature, so we’re assured boom and bust periods every few years. You may notice that during the bust periods, businesses and people have no problem running to the government to be succored and taken care of. That’s usually when we end up with some massive new entitlement, and once we have them, they’re politically untouchable despite the calamitous economic consequences of maintaining them.
What has kept us from drifting further left, fortunately, is the independence of our states. So while one can move to California and conceivably live off the dole for a lifetime, they wouldn’t be able to pull off the same feat in say, Texas, where the culture is different, government is small and there are virtually no taxes, services, or handouts.
Americans also love innovation, choice, and speed, so likely wouldn’t tolerate a government responsible for running all of our industries, and deciding the output and delivery of our goods and services. Most of us panic when we don’t have enough options available on our iPhones for Pete’s sake, so I doubt we’d ever want to rely on Uncle Sam for our clothes, TVs, remotes, video games, cars, laptops, etc. It would be way too inconvenient. Women may be divided on an issue such as abortion, for example, but they’ll unite if you mess with their department stores. Inhibit their ability to customize their kitchens and there may be be rioting in the streets.
Q. What do you think was the turning point with The President’s poll numbers?
A. I might be reaching here, but I’d have to say “Gates-gate”. That event will live on in infamy as the day when Obama spoiled the vision of himself as a transformative, post racial, unifying President. Keep in mind many white moderates and independents made the good faith assumption that he would be the cure for what ills this country racially, and he’d be what we needed to assuage white guilt. Not so fast.
In rushing to judgment against the Cambridge police, without having the facts of the matter at hand, and siding with Gates while inserting race into the narrative, he exposed himself as just another huckster…the “angry elitist black man” who sees racism even where it isn’t, and opts to pretentiously ram his sermonizing on the subject down our throats.
He got off easy with the Reverend Wright situation, as well as the “Guns and Religion” comment. He even managed to escape scot-free after calling his own grandmother a “typical white person”. But now that he IS the United States, there are no more free passes for remarks like that, and I don’t think he’ll ever be able to regain the trust of those independents again. When discussing the event with a disappointed white liberal friend of mine, he uttered the words that sum up how much Obama tarnished his image: “I never thought I’d see a U.S. President ever pull the race card.” Ouch.
Q. What has gone wrong for the Democrats in the health care debate?
A. There’s an old saying in the legal profession: When you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. When you have the law on your side, pound the law. When you have neither, pound the table.
Give you one guess what our friends on the Left have been pounding?
Here are some of their biggest blunders:
They’ve tried to demonize concerned Americans practicing their right to protest as Nazis, racists, KKK members, astroturfers, corporate stooges, and terrorists. Considering that many of the people at those town halls look like they have 4 pm bedtimes and probably spent WWII fighting fascism, the left’s claims are a little hard to believe. That they represent the majority of this country (the 75% who aren’t liberals) will prove fatal to the Democrat party.
Obama has been exposed numerous times for not knowing what’s in either of the bills he has floating around Congress. That doesn’t do much for his credibility when he’s out there guaranteeing everyone everything.
There are numerous Youtube videos of the President floating around where he describes his wish for single payer, and outlines his plans to gradually sneak insert it into our system. That he is all of a sudden against it when the entire left wing of his party is pushing for it, is suspicious and lends credence to the public option being a Trojan horse.
Congress (and the President) have exempted themselves from this supposedly “wonderful” plan.
Spamgate. Not so much the incident itself but the White House’s attempts at covering it up.
Obama has been caught telling some whoppers. Claiming an AARP endorsement? Doctors are reimbursed $50,000 for amputations? They push tonsillectomies on people for fees? Guaranteeing we’ll keep our plans? No rationing? All are foolish declarations.
The CBO has blown apart all of Obama’s assertions about “bending the cost curve” and bringing costs down. Some say even their estimates are still too low. Yet he won’t let go of savings as a talking point.
Obama cut a deal with Big Pharma on the side, one of the same “special interests” he purports to be fighting on our behalf.
He used the Post office as the standard for Government run health care.
The left wing Democrats (Pelosi and co.) have written all of the legislation and are responsible for some of the more bizarre proposals within the overhaul, placing the moderates and conservatives in their party, many hailing from red states, in a tenuous position. That this Administration failed to realize the effect of such a strategy is either indicative of their supreme incompetence or their willingness to send the lambs to slaughter in order to accomplish their goal. It may very well be both. The lambs, however, are not so keen on being unemployed, certainly not in this economy, and are hitting the brakes right at the edge of the cliff before they fall into the vast pit known as the American center. Left wingers don’t usually make it out of there alive, disappearing into the depths of nefarious political history alongside Jimmy Carter, George McGovern, Mondale, John Kerry, and soon, Dodd/Reid/Frank/Pelosi. But you know who it’s REALLY waiting for, though…
I can go on, but I think I’ve made a pretty good case.
Americans DO want reform, of course, but only the kind that aids the 5% of us who fall through the cracks when it comes to coverage and offers us protection during periods of unemployment, at a lower overall cost. That’s it. Until our President gets that a government takeover is out of the question he can look forward to more declining poll numbers.
Not that it matters anymore. The revised deficit numbers released this past weekend should be the final nail in Obamacare’s coffin, or at least what places it on life support. Call them a death panel. We’re now (officially) looking at a trillion dollar deficit each year through the next DECADE, folks.
I hope the Bammer gets plenty of rest on his vacation.
Q. What do you think of the Democrats using reconciliation to push Obamacare through?
A. They should probably start updating their resumes.
Q. What can Republicans do to get a larger share of the black vote?
A. Stop assuming that it isn’t theirs for the taking right out of the gate. Mike Huckabee, who managed to pull 45% of the black vote in Arkansas, said all he needed to do was ask for it.
Case in point: I was invited to speak at a conference on party identification and voting at a University earlier this year to a group of minority underclassmen. My liberal counterpart made the mistake of doing the thinking for them, and assumed there was nothing to discuss beyond the same usual talking points. I had other plans, and made mincemeat out of her (in a polite way, of course).
Once I was done, I was approached by about 7 or 8 of the students, and each one told me they’d either be registering Republican, voting Republican, or were leaning Republican and wanted to talk to me some more and ask questions. A few others wanted me to recommend the reading materials that shaped my own ideas.
8 students out of 30 or so, at a liberal institution, in New York, with a black Democrat President in office. That’s 25%. I didn’t need any cheap slogans, PR people, teleprompters, or a multimillion dollar campaign to sway them either.
Here’s a secret: Black people, and by extension all minorities, want the same thing everyone else wants- freedom of opportunity, safety, an education, better lives for their children, etc…. Don’t treat us like aliens that need to be studied and dissected. We’re not a group incapable of independent thought. We are reasonable human beings! Sure we’ve got our liberals, but we also have many moderates and conservatives who simply vote Democrat because it’s all they know. The same probably goes for Latinos and every other group out there. Go after everybody without using condescending tactics, let them examine your ideas and principles, and you’ll get results.
Q. The Republicans still haven’t been able to distinguish themselves or make any gains amidst all of the turmoil. They’re the party of “No”. Shouldn’t they be out there making alternative proposals to the people in order to be taken seriously?
A. When has a minority party ever been able to take the lead on agenda setting? Nothing Republicans propose will ever make it out of Committee in this Congress. I’m actually happy they’re sitting the sideline, because it’s galvanizing Americans, regardless of party, to take up the fight. Partisan politics are good for sport, but this is real life, and those labels mean nothing here.
Sorry, but the Dems own the stimulus, they own the porkulus, they own the quadrupling of the Bush deficits, they own the doubling of the national debt, they own the auto bailouts, they own the unemployment rate, they own any pending tax increases, they own cap and trade, and they will own Obamacare.
Why should Republicans get involved? I’d stay as far away as possible. When your opponents are busy burning down their house, it’s better to save some water for your own.
Their main focus now should be developing candidates, leaders, and a message to help navigate us through the rough years ahead and better defend the interests of their constituents.
Better to be the party of “no” then the party of “can’t”.
Q. Was Cash for Clunkers a good idea?
A. Not for car dealers, who’ve yet to be paid. Certainly not for the government’s reputation for managing programs. Or poor Americans who typically can only afford clunkers. Or even for consumer spending, which declined in July.
So I’d say no.
Auto union workers might probably disagree, but they also thought auto bailouts were a good idea, so who cares?
The following letter is rapidly circulating around the country. Americans everywhere identify with this 53-year-old woman. She has given us a voice. Once you read this, you may want to forward it to your friends…
I’m a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?
Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I’m not a racist. This isn’t to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don’t you start there..
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don’t trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person.. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why — what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we’ll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let’s have it. Let’s say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try — please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now. Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let’s just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I’m busy. I’m busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don’t want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we’re morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we’re so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn’t ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off.. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don’t care.. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.
There is a great gang of people who gather each Saturday for 1 – 3 p.m. at the corner of Oakland Park Boulevard and Federal Highway. Such comraderie there is with these Patriots. I had not been in a while, but they have faithfully been waving their signs every week.
Dottie said this week was different, though. There was a much more positive response from the passers-by than in the past. I can only hope that this means taxpayers are finally waking up to the destruction that is at our doorstep…
According to Joan Murray of CBS 4 Miami, ” ‘dozens’ of protesters came here to Ft. Lauderdale…”
The event was acheduled to run until 2 pm. I saw no media whatsoever until we were leaving at 1:40. Thunderstorms were rolling in, and ABC Local 10 was JUST ARRIVING. I think it is great that ”dozens” where still there when Joan Murray of CBS 4 Miami reported…after all, if she was reporting “LIVE” at 6 pm, the official party had been over for FOUR HOURS!
To be sure, I was there from 10:30 to about 1:40, and though the turnout was not as high as 4/15 there were more than “dozens” of Tea Partiers. My guess would be 1,000 – 1,300 after all was said and done.
Joan Murray of CBS 4 Miami also said “this rally is part of ‘dozens’ happening nationwide…” By all accounts from online alternative news operations, there were at least 800 going on around the nation on July 3rd, 4th and even the 5th. Some even reported upwards of 2,000.
The only thing Joan Murray of CBS 4 Miami got right is when she said: “Protestors say this really isn’t about a Democratic or Republican principle, instead it’s a non-partisan way to have their voices heard…it wasn’t the first Tea Party and it won’t be the last..” (emphasis mine)
Over to the South Florida Sun Sentinel:
Apparently their writers and editors did not watch the coverage by Joan Murray of CBS 4 Miami, otherwise they would not have printed this caption for a picture accompanying an article by Georgia East in the South Florida Sun Sentinel online article dated 5:47 PM EDT, July 4th, 2009: “This was one of many Republican-led protests against taxes, modeled after the Boston Tea Party (in spirit, anyway; there are no ships of tea to unload) demonstration against taxes keyed to the holiday.” (emphasis mine)
Really…I don’t know where these people went to journalism school, but they should demand a refund, because their money was wasted.
Have you run across similar articles/evidence of incompetence? Make sure to comment here!
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Update: “JustNews.com” WPLG channel 10 states: “About 200 people gathered in Fort Lauderdale to rally against higher taxes, big government spending, and universal health care.” http://www.justnews.com/news/19950609/detail.html
The President and our Congress will bevoting on “Cap & Trade” legislation which will make someone rich, but it will not be the citizens of the United States of America.
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A. Not quite. The U.S. has been pretty center-left since the days of FDR, and definitely in terms of entitlement spending (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SSI, Welfare, Section 8, Food Stamps, Lord know what else). Since nearly half of the country doesn’t even pay any taxes to fund it we’ve got the whole nanny state thing covered.
