Charlie's Chatter

This near-constant obsession in Congress with passing some form of health care “reform” legislation is driving me crazy. Almost no Representative or Senator wants to pass no such legislation. In fact, as I write this, the only differences among all these “Honorable” men and women are the details of such legislation – one version, another version, amendments, proposed amendments, word changes, etc. etc. The list goes on and on. To me it seems nearly certain that something will be passed and then signed into law by Obama. After that comes the rest – legislation to “address climate change” such as a cap-and-trade bill; legislation to “better” regulate financial systems; legislation to “better address” the “housing problem”. The list goes on and on.
    Hasn’t anyone heard of the United States Constitution? As Mark Tapscott writes in this article:

Nowhere does the Constitution grant Congress authority to require every American to buy a particular private service or product on pain of forfeiture of a significant portion of their wealth. Yet, every version of Obamacare currently being discussed in Congress requires just that. Forcing all of us to buy officially approved health insurance is essential to a functioning government-run system. As Obama told Congress, “many of insurance reforms we seek – especially requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions – cannot be achieved” without the individual mandate.

But of course Obama has heard of the Constitution. As he said in a speech:

I’ve studied the Constitution as a student, I’ve taught it as a teacher, I’ve been bound by it as a lawyer and a legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never, ever, turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.

Obama’s words above are just another of many examples in which things that he says are belied by his actions. By the way, back in 2001 he had quite different things to say about the Constitution. He described the U.S. Constitution as having “deep flaws” during a September 2001 Chicago public radio program, adding that the country’s Founding Fathers had “an enormous blind spot” when they wrote it. Obama also remarked that the Constitution “reflected the fundamental flaw of this country that continues to this day.”   Well now, how about that? (By the way, I have heard a few people write and/or say that every American has a “right” to health care. Gosh, I did not know that! Is that in our Constitution? Is that in the Bill of Rights?)
    The infamous president FDR became extremely upset when the US Supreme Court declared unconstitutional some legislation for which FDR was responsible. His first response was an attempt to “pack the Court” by adding more members. That became impossible to do, but eventually some Justices retired and FDR was able to replace them with Justices more to his liking. What amazes me about the current situation is that to my knowledge no one in authority, and no large group or corporation that I am aware of, have said anything of import about violation of the Constitution when it comes to various proposed healh care “reform” legislation. I have only heard some commentators and pundits express reservations as far as Constitutional issues are concerned. I’m afraid that more and more in our political processes the US Constitution is becoming more and more irrelevant in actual fact. Few if any politicians will actually say that of course, but that is what I see happening. (Medicare has been around for over 40 years but to my knowledge its constitutionality has never been questioned in the Courts.)
    Too often I hear comments which say that the Constitution is not “appropriate” for these modern times, or that it is “outdated”, or, as Obama said, it is “flawed”. Well, the fact is that our government has always had a procedure to rectify the Constitution, assuming that it needed “rectification”. That procedure is called, quite simply, amending the Constitution, and that has in fact been done several times in the past. So why not do it today? Well, amending the Constitution is long and laborious; furthermore, an attempt to amend it will be an open acknowledgement that some legislation is probably unconstitutional. Our current politicians who want to pass legislation quickly can not wait for the long and laborious Constitutional amendment process. But perhaps most of all, they do not want to openly acknowledge that “their” legislation is unconstitutional in the first place, therefore there is no need for an amendment.
    Prepare yourself for the deluge !

Don’t you think it is wonderful that Obama and his adminstration are finally attempting to do what previous administrations have not? That is, they are attempting to regulate a good part of our lives in order to accomplish what are said to be necessary objectives, such as improving health care, reducing global warming and making many sound investments with our taxpayer money.
    Thank goodness the Energy Secretary Steven Chu understands this, and he is taking steps to improve things. Unlike Van Jones, who was only a minor advisor to Obama at best, the Energy Secretary is in a position where he has some real power. And he is using it wisely. As proof, he recently gave a speech in which it was reported that “Energy Secretary Steven Chu sees Americans as unruly teenagers and the Administration as the parent that will have to teach them a few lessons”. It was also reported that he didn’t think average folks had the know-how or will to to change their behavior enough to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Some of Steven Chu’s own words were:

The American public…just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act. The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is.

The “issue” in question here is that of greenhouse-gas emissions. Thank goodness Dr. Steven Chu understands how important it is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and he will apparently do everything in his power as Energy Secretary to reduce these emissions, even if legislation is required. I hope this will include support of cap and trade legislation. Obama certainly wants a cap and trade system. As Obama said during his campaign for president, “Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers.”
    Oops !   I made a mistake in the title of my article which says “You Americans are ignorant!”. Not all Americans are ignorant. Only those who are not liberals and who do not support Obama and his adminstration are ignorant.

If you already know the meaning of the word “hubris“, then you need not read the rest of this post unless you want an example of the word’s use.
    Some dictionaries define “hubris” as overbearing pride and self-confidence, even a feeling of superiority. Well, as Linda Chavez said, hubris is the word that comes to mind when she listens to president Obama. She says that he has big ambitions and an even bigger ego. She also writes that she is not suggesting that president Obama is a communist, but he is a utopian — and that’s the danger. She continues by saying, « He wants to create a perfect society in which the state takes care of everyone in need. It sounds wonderful — but the road to economic ruin and loss of liberty is paved by well-meaning men with good intentions ».
    The referenced article by Linda Chavez was written only a few weeks after he became president. Since then I have continued to be astounded by the hubris of this man – his numerous and continuing public speeches, many broadcast on television; his continuing attempts to draw attention to our “broken systems” and our “problems”, and that he and his administration plan to “fix” them. Our “health care system” is broken. Our “immigration system” is broken. Our “education system” is broken. Our “housing system” is broken. “We” must do something about global warming and climate change. “We” must promote “green” energy. Yesterday morning, Sunday, Obama appeared on five talk shows in order to promote his agenda to the public. Today an article from the Associated Press says that Obama will be in Troy, N.Y. today “to discuss his already-in-place programs that he says help spur innovation and transform the U.S. economy”. He will then go to New York City, where he will become the first sitting U.S. president to appear on David Letterman’s “Late Show” couch, another example of Obama’s plan to appear in front of as many cameras as possible in order to sell his message to the American people. My God, what is it with this man?   He is behaving not as an American President, but rather like a potentate, a king, a powerful person who wants to “transform” America, to bring about huge changes in the United States, changes that he considers correct, important and even necessary. Of course these changes will be carried out under force of law. Get this man off of television !   (Yes, I myself use the remote, but many people do not.)   I thought Bush was bad; Obama is a disaster.
    I do not expect any legislation to be passed by Congress, and signed by Obama, which will conform exactly to Obama’s dictates. Unfortunately, in an attempt to appease Obama and his still numerous and adoring followers, I’m afraid that some legislation will be passed which will damage our country. This legislation will not be exactly what Obama wants, and it may not even come close, but it will still be “close enough” for Obama to approve it and thus tell the American people that “HE” is taking care of them. Yeh, right. I am not at all a religious person, but I just can not avoid saying, “God help us !” Obama can not help us. He will only cause damage.

I have not heard too much about president Obama’s wife since his inauguration other than the usual chit-chat about the First Lady, which has been common for all First Ladies since I became an adult. No problem; I could care less. (Hillary Clinton was an exception.) However, it now appears that the current First Lady, Michelle Obama, is getting into the “social engineering” act, possibly in order to support her husband. Yesterday I read in the news that Michelle Obama went on a food shopping trip to a “farmers market” that was only a block or so from the White House. Apparently she did this in order to demonstrate to other women how to shop for good and nutritious food. After all, there is really no need for the First Lady to shop for food since almost everything she and her family could want would be provided for them in the White House. Anyway, in order to go on this shopping trip, the Secret Service and the D.C. police brought in three dozen vehicles, shut down some streets in downtown Washington and an entrance to a Metro station. They swept the shopping area with bomb-sniffing dogs and installed magnetometers in the middle of the street, put up barricades to keep pedestrians out, and took positions with binoculars atop trucks. The first lady hopped into her armored limousine and pulled into the farmers market amid the wail of sirens. At least so it was reported by Dana Milbank. Dana Milbank also wrote:

The first lady said the market would particularly appeal to federal employees in nearby buildings to “pick up some good stuff for dinner”. Yet even they might think twice about spending $3 for a pint of potatoes when potatoes are on sale for 40 cents a pound at Giant. They could get nearly five dozen eggs at Giant for the $5 Obama spent for her dozen eggs.

Yes, Ms. Obama publicly demonstrated how to carefully purchase good and nutritious food, much of it “organic”. Never mind that it was expensive; after all, the First Lady did say that people who pay with food stamps would get double the coupon value at that market. What bullcrap. As Dana Milbank wrote, “The promotion of organic and locally grown food, though an admirable cause, is a risky one for the Obamas, because there’s a fine line between promoting healthful eating and sounding like a snob“. Well, if Michelle Obama is not a snob, she is certainly one of the “elite”. After all, she did get degrees from both Princeton and Harvard. (Sorry Jerry, she apparently did not go to Yale.)
    Well, at least she is now supporting her husband in his efforts to get “health care reform” legislation. She recently gave a speech in which it was reported that she said that women are being “crushed by the current structure of our health care’“, and that the current system is “unacceptable“. Yep, that’s what we need. Strong, emotional and powerful words such as “crushed” and “unacceptable” in order to push for “health care reform”. But I should not complain. After all, according to this article, Michelle Obama has actual experience in the medical care field. She has worked in an executive position at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The referenced article writes, « While working at that Medical Center, she helped engineer a plan to offload low-income patients with non-urgent health needs. Under the Orwellian banner of an “Urban Health Initiative,” Mrs. Obama sold the scheme to outsource low-income care to other facilities as a way to “dramatically improve health care for thousands of South Side residents.” The program guaranteed “free” shuttle rides to and from the outside clinics ». According to that referenced article, a young boy in need of good emergency medical care did not get it at that Medical Center because of the plan Michelle Obama helped to engineer, and he supposedly suffered as a result. But heck, that young boy is just one person, and no plan is perfect. There will always be occasional mistakes. Furthermore, that referenced article was written by Michelle Malkin, a known right-wing nut. (Yeh, right. I don’t always agree with Michelle Malkin’s opinions, but I do agree with most of them.)

Today I read that Obama gave a speech Wednesday evening to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. In that speech he reportedly said, “Even though I do not believe we can extend coverage to those who are here illegally, I also don’t simply believe we can simply ignore the fact that our immigration system is broken”. . . “If anything, this debate underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all.”   Oh no !
    I did not know that our “immigration system” was broken! I thought it was only our “health care system” that was broken! Gosh, it is a good thing that we have a president who is finally aware of all of these broken things, and that he and his administration will make serious attempts to “fix” them.
    I am sick and tired of, (and frightened by), Obama’s “smooth” rhetoric. Note that Obama once referred to 12 million illegal aliens as “12 miilion undocumented people”. This opinion piece written by Charles Krauthammer hits the nail on the head when it describes Obama’s rhetoric. I especially like the ending paragraphs which say, “Obama doesn’t lie. He implies, he misdirects, he misleads — so fluidly and incessantly that he risks transmuting eloquence into mere slickness. Slickness wasn’t fatal to “Slick Willie” Clinton because he possessed a winning, nearly irresistible charm. Obama’s persona is more cool, distant, imperial. The charming scoundrel can get away with endless deception; the righteous redeemer cannot”. (My emphases.)

I just read in the news that Nancy Pelosi is very, very upset over the millions of people who are said to be “angry” about one or more apects of various health reform legislation. Their “anger” often includes worry over the large increases in the federal deficit that such legislation will produce. I must say, however, that some of her comments about these “angry” people are way off base. She reportedly said things such as the following:

I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw this myself in the late ’70s in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening. I saw the city as going kind of downhill. I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made. Some of the people hearing the message are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume. Our country is great because people can say what they think and they believe. But I also think that they have to take responsibility for any incitement that they may cause.

Good grief !   What is it with this woman? Tell me Ms. Pelosi, will you take responsibility for the damage that health care reform legislation will do to our country and to the health care sector? The increases in taxes? The increase in the federal deficit? No, you certainly will not. You are too set in your ways, too full of yourself.