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Why this when we want that?

By Dr. Robert Owens
web posted March 8, 2010

Now that the Health Care Summit is over could we have a Jobs Summit or an Economy Summit?  And what a Health Summit it was.  When Mitch McConnell the leader of the Senate Republicans pointed out a two for one disparity between the time given to the Democrats and the Republicans Mr. Obama explained, "I don't count my time because I'm the President."  Senator McCain criticized the current democrat bills for backroom pay-offs and unsavory deals.  President Obama quipped this was no time for campaigning since "The elections over."   Representative Cantor, the Republican Whip complained of the excessive length of the health care bills.  The President told him displaying the massive bills was merely using them as a prop.  Such dismissive mockery doesn't build agreement.

With the health care process finally out of the backrooms and on TV what did we see?  Were we treated to hours of soaring oratory hype proclaims the best in a generation or were we bored to tears?  After a few minutes of the President's lengthy introduction it was painfully obvious that off his teleprompter the Moderator-in-Chief has a hard time framing a complete sentence or expressing a thought.  There were more ums and ahs then in a freshman speech class.

Our Professor-in-Chief lectures us daily proving he and his teleprompter may be the greatest orator since Reagan but he's a poor communicator.  How can anyone give hundreds of speeches over a year and then say the reason no one supports his program is because he hasn't made it clear enough for us to understand.  Either he's saying he can't communicate or he's saying we're too dumb.  Maybe instead of thousand page bills he could give us an outline or a PowerPoint?  Perhaps it's time the professor hears what the people are singing, "Hey Teacher, leave those kids alone!"

The vast majority of people want to keep the insurance coverage they have.  Sure it would be great to provide insurance for those who don't have any but if that's the goal for much less than any of the trillion dollar projections for the nationalization of our health care system we could buy Cadillac plans for every person who needs it.  So what's the point?  Why wreck what 84.6% of the people have to insure the other  15.4%?  Buy them the insurance.  Leave the rest of us alone!

The State of the Union Speech told us our esteemed leader was pivoting away from the health care paradox to focus on reviving our flagging economy.  Instead we see the President compulsively fixed on taking-over America's health care system.  The question is why?  Once the Feds take over health care besides directly controlling up to 18% of the economy it will also give the vast new army of wellness bureaucrats who will follow the power to interfere in the most intimate and personal aspects of our lives.  What we eat, how we exercise, how we drive, what light bulbs we use and where we can smoke all will become health care issues as America slithers towards totalitarianism, which is the total control of a population by their government.

People bought into the vision of "I'm Not Bush" standing between Styrofoam pillars spouting platitudes and avoiding specifics in the midst of an economic meltdown caused by lobbyist advanced cronies and casino capitalism.   George II's answer to his pals sinking the economy with government forced bad loans and toxic derivatives was bail out the perpetrators with tax money from the victims.  And what does Hope and Change do?  Double down with a pork-filled stimulus boondoggle that's essentially a slush fund to re-elect Democrats in 2010.  Now as an anemic recovery lurches towards a double-dip instead of doing anything anyone believes would actually help he's banging the health care drum like a political rain man reciting what the weather was like on November 8, 2008.

Is it credible to believe that a team of political operatives who cut their teeth in the swamps of Chicago, who had the finesse to sell an empty suit with smoke and mirrors can't hear hundreds of millions of Americans shouting, "We don't want this we want that!"  This makes no sense.  How do political savants turn into tone-deaf conductors, colorblind painters and tangle-foot dancers overnight?  Mistakes of this magnitude do not occur innocently.  Almost every political pundit in the nation is endlessly chattering that the Democrats are following the President like lemmings off a midterm cliff and yet the White House organization is focused like a laser on nationalizing health care.   Leave it alone!  Move on.  Allow freedom to fix economy before unsustainable debt sinks the ship of state.

Americans want the economy fixed.  This isn't rocket science.  Economic geniuses such as Hayek and Friedman and political leaders such as Coolidge and Reagan charted the course years ago.  Fixing the economy is simple: cut taxes, cut the strangulation of regulation and get out of the way.  Europe is sinking under the weight of its version of socialism and if we make America the haven of freedom capital and talent will flock to our shores.  If we don't all that capital and talent may well flock to the rising colossus of the East.  Forget the health care take over, the photo-ops and endless speeches we don't want this we want that. ESR

Dr. Robert Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net

 

 

 

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