| |
On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, the American people witnessed the death of American
democracy. On that day, President Barack Obama signed into law the massive health-care reform bill. If unchanged,
the consequences of the reform will be felt by the nation and its people for decades, if not centuries to come.
The reform’s pros and cons will continue to be debated and argued for years to come.
Most Americans have indicated their opposition to the health-care reform bill and
the adverse effect it will have on the nation, their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren.
However, the adverse consequences of the reform will pale in comparison to the damages done to the American system
of democratic government, the American people’s loss of faith in and respect for their elected officials, and the
ability of Democratic, Republican and other politicians to work cooperatively in governing this nation.
According to recent polls:
(Ref. 1)
- Forty-two percent (42%) of voters nationally favor the health care plan working its way through Congress,
while 53% oppose it.
- Just 21% believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed.
The American people overwhelmingly indicated their opposition to the health-care
bill. Still, the President and the Democratic leadership rammed the massive $1 trillion bill through the House
and Senate. Obama, Pelosi, and Reid forced through an agenda that was clearly rejected by the majority of the
American people. In spite of clear messages from their constituents, the Lemming followers of the Democratic
leadership dutifully toed the party line and spat in the faces of the electorate. The American people have a
right to feel like the starving French peasants before the French Revolution when they were told to “eat cake”
if they could not find or afford bread. The American people have a right to feel disenfranchised. They spoke
and their elected representatives wouldn’t listen. They have a right to feel that the American system of Democracy
has been destroyed – they can no longer trust their elected officials to act on their behalf. Obama, Pelosi and
Reid have undermined the democratic process and blatantly disregarded the will of the American people.
The processes employed to pass the health-care reform has brought Many Americans
to the conclusion that the current administration has subverted the basic tenets of the American democratic and
capitalistic form of government and is bent upon replacing it with a European style form of socialism.
The American people have witnessed politics at its worst and they are appalled.
We have witnessed a mad scramble to scratch together enough votes to squeeze the health care bill through Congress.
While wheeling and dealing, Democratic members of Congress wrote the final bill behind closed doors in an
unconscionable abuse of power. Partly as a result thereof, our politicians, and Democratic politicians in
particular, are today among the least respected classes in the United States.
Recent polls show: (Ref. 1)
- Three-out-of-four voters (75%) are angry at the policies of the federal government.
- Last month, voter unhappiness with Congress as a whole reached its highest level ever, with 71% saying the
legislature is doing a poor job.
- Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now think it would be better for the country if most incumbents in
Congress were defeated this November.
The American people have witnessed and been repulsed by a flood of falsehoods,
misrepresentations and out-and-out lies. Does anyone with half a brain actually believe that adding 32 million
people to the health care rolls will reduce the deficit? The American public has been presented with a “Teetering
tower of unkept promises.” (Ref. 2) The facts and plain common sense
are simply at variance with Democratic Party claims, promises and rhetoric with respect to the health care
bill.
The public has been sickened by the “Cornhusker Kickback”, the “Louisiana Purchase”,
the “Gator Aid”, and all the other special deals that were promised to a handful of senators as a way of securing
their votes. But as ugly as all this was -- as distasteful as all these deals have been -- they were child's play
compared to the scheme that Democrats cooked up to get this bill over to the White House for a signature. Americans
have witnessed corrupt backroom deals to buy votes, parliamentary end-arounds, accounting legerdemain, and finally
an obscure parliamentary gimmick worthy of Niccolo Machiavelli that has allowed members of the House to approve the
Senate version of the health care bill without actually voting on it – “deem and pass” the ultimate
backroom deal!
President Obama promised the American people an open and transparent process and a
bipartisan approach to developing a health care reform. The American people have received
neither. Instead, they have seen the Democrats develop their health care monstrosity behind closed
doors in a go-it-alone partisan process and then ram it through in spite of the opposition of the American people.
Obama, Pelosi and Reid have shown their disdain for the American electorate. They have polarized the nation and
disenfranchised the voters. The outraged citizenry of this country were labled by Presudent Obama as "radicals"
and "extremists" who can't think for themselves but "do what they're told." There is obviously a serious disconnect
between the ordinary people in America and the elected arrogant elite in their ivory towers of power.
When President Obama signed the health-care reform bill, it signaled the death of
American democracy as we have come to know and revere it. The government showed that it had lost touch with the
American people. Washington wheeling and dealing had reached a new nadir. For a long time to come, any hope of
bipartisan action to benefit the American people is dead and buried. The founders of this republic, who staked
their fortunes and their lives on establishing a free and democratic nation on this continent must be turning
over in their graves. This is not what signers of the Declaration of Independence had in mind and neither is it
what the framers of the Constitution of the United States intended. The Declaration of Independence states
that, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed."
When the American people elected Barack Obama to be their president, both those who
voted for him and those who did not, expected that he and his Democratic Party leadership would govern according to
the consent of the governed. By ignoring the will of the majority, they have violated the trust of the American
people.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
- Favorability Ratings: Negatives for Pelosi, Reid, Boehner Hit Record Highs,
Rasmussen Reports; http://www.freerepublic.com, 13 March 2010.
- Plagued by dependency, George F. Will, Boston Herald, Page 15, 23 March 2010.
| |
