Posted by Mr. Wilson, Contributing Author
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The promise was one of clarification and even enlightenment. One prominent White House representative made the statement during a pre-speech interview that after the president’s address to Congress all questions would be answered, doubt would be gone and there would be “a chicken in every pot”. Wait… sorry I got carried away by the momentous occasion. The hype was amazing! The pre-show antics were much more exciting than the speech itself. I have to tell you, I listened to the speech and all my questions were NOT answered. There is more than enough doubt still remaining in the minds of Americans regarding the feasibility of this massive spending proposal that has borne a multitude of names. If you don’t know what to call it how can you expect America to approve of it? My doubt STILL remains and I certainly don’t have that warm, fuzzy feeling I was expecting after hearing the assurances regarding this monumental oratory.

The question that STILL plagues me is: How are we to pay for this money devouring beast of government expansion and bureaucracy? We heard the president promise yet again, that he will not sign a bill that adds one dime to the budget deficit. If the final bill comes to his desk with more than that one dime added to the budget deficit, does that make it ok since there truly wouldn’t be just ONE dime, there would be trillions of dimes heaped onto an already over taxed, over burdened, struggling citizenry? I guess it’s all a matter of what you deem to be the truth. (More on that later.) When you look at adding to the budget deficit, you have to realize that Government bookkeeping has been one of the wonders of the world for as long as there have been groups who called themselves “The Government”. This malady is not exclusive to any one party and may even be the reason why the phrase “cooking the books” was coined. It’s why people instantly get stomach cramps and become nauseous when they hear the words Ronald Reagan spoke when he said that the most feared words in the English Language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” We have all heard the phrases to which I refer. “There will be no tax increases.” “There will be no cuts in any existing assistance programs.” “We do not want to expand government.” All of which usually have results exactly the opposite of the promise made. Again, no one party is more guilty than another. Yet we as the American public are expected to accept the lies and quietly submit or we are labeled as extremists, terrorists, un-American and worse.

The president also restated a talking point we have committed to memory simply because it has been presented so often. He PROMISED that the majority of this bill will be paid for by the savings realized from reducing “waste and fraud” in Medicare and Medicaid. In another part of his speech, however, he likened the highly touted “Public Option” to the Medicare, Medicaid and VA health programs saying it will be run just like they are. Somehow that just presents a twisted line of reasoning. If the current programs are riddled with fraud and waste and over spending, to the point where we can realize billions in savings just by reducing the mishandling of funds, why would we want or even consider creating another system just like them? More importantly, what is it that would lead him to believe that his beloved “Public Option” would not suffer the same outcome? Could it be that he believes it will have a different result simply because it is HIS program? That HE alone has the ability to ensure THIS program will not suffer this horrendous fate because, after all, it is HE, the one and only, who will appoint yet another Czar to watch over it? I have a hard time believing that someone elected to the office of President of the United States of America could be so naïve, or could it be that he is so bold as to believe that WE are. It is either that, or Mr. Obama is beginning to believe his own press.

Continuing in this line of thought, Mr. Obama also restated his promise that the benefits of Medicare will not be reduced. Yet in the current version of HR 3200 now circulating, there are over $600 BILLION in cuts to the program. I am not an economics guru, but it seems pretty plain to me that if you cut funding to a program, something has to be eliminated. You may reply by saying, “But Mr. Wilson that is simply the waste and fraud being eliminated” to which I would reply, BULL! The cuts are not designed to reduce waste, they are not aimed at eliminating fraud, they do nothing to cut the fat, they stop services plain and simple. Yet the rhetoric has continued to be that Medicare and Medicaid will not be touched. Perhaps someone should pass that along to the authors of the bill. I am sure they would like to know before it becomes a public embarrassment… to someone.

I noticed at several times during the address, President Obama made some veiled comments, backhanded threats and even accused “prominent politicians” of lying. He let everyone know that he was not happy about the dissent he is getting from the Congress, Senate and even the lowly American citizen. He stated that the time for bickering is over. Are we to deduce that what was once termed as healthy debate is now seen as bickering or is this just another tactic attempting to shame us into silence? I also have trouble with his statements “… the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” and “…under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.” In practically every version of the Obama-care, Health Care Reform, Insurance Reform or whatever name you have for it, illegal immigrants will be covered to some extent. Money is allotted for reproductive remedies or some other veiled nomenclature that is expressly set aside for abortions. So while what he perceives as lying is not acceptable to the President, he is not above using it as a tactic to achieve his goals. Somehow or other, I don’t believe that you got away with that one, Mr. President. There is an old saying where I come from that says “You can fool the fans, but you can’t fool the players”. The American public has become much more educated and active in politics in recent years. They question, probe, research and dissent, yes dissent, sometimes loudly, sometimes quietly with something as innocuous as a single vote. If that sounds like something that can be disregarded, remember, the single votes, when added to every other single vote of the dissidents, the rabble rousers, right – wing extremist terrorists elect presidents, congressmen and women and senators.

Quite frankly all I saw was the same dog and pony show – with a bit more spit and polish – that has been paraded in front of the American public until it is now a tired and pathetic rerun of a show that never worked. The only difference in the show last night, and it was most definitely a show, was the audience. They were much more inclined to show acceptance and agreement than the participants of the REAL town hall meetings across America. This group is so sickeningly compliant that they had to be issued napkins to wipe the slobber from their mouths. Nancy Pelosi, the renowned Speaker of the House, the scourge of un-American dissenters, was up and down more times than me when I am on my water diet. It was not only unnecessary, it was very distracting. Granted, there were some who did not follow the program. Most notably was the esteemed Congressman from South Carolina, Joe Wilson, who, after hearing yet another untruth, could not contain himself and let fly with “You LIE”. Certainly not appropriate in the setting, but definitely what many of us were thinking, I guarantee it. I myself yelled the very same words at the TV several times during the speech.

The only thing missing from the whole production was Teddy Kennedy. Of course his wife, children and other members of the family were there. And of course Mr. Obama tried to play the guilt card as he made reference to the letter he received from Ted when he learned that his illness was terminal. He quoted several passages in the letter, one of which was “What we face is, above all, a moral issue…” I agree. The moral issue is this. Can you justify the debt that our future generations will inherit as a direct result of this bill simply to satisfy “the great unfinished business of our society”? Personally, I believe that we have already mortgaged their future to the point where, if we continue on this track, the Great Depression will be referred to as the good old days.

No more, Mr. President. For the sake of our children. No more.