2009-09-14
The time has come for me to publicly thank Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Obama for doing something in America that hasn't been done since the Revolutionary War. These three amigos have fired up the American people – so much so that they are finally getting involved with their country and government.
It took the most radically left Senate, Congress and White House to inspire Americans to make their voices heard in town halls, online chats and a march on Washington. According to a Daily Mail report, there may have been as many as 2 million people who took to the streets of the nation's capital to say, "no more."
The people have had enough with wasteful deficit spending. They will not sit back and allow the monster of federal government to grow and consume every ounce of the labor and resources 300 million citizens produce. Their message was loud and clear: Enough is enough, and it has to stop now!
It started back during the Bush administration when huge deficits were created. Then 71 percent of Americans said "no" to the $700 billion TARP bailout of banks and financial institutions. Americans understood that bad business practices should be punished with failure. Yet the bureaucrats ignored the people and the bailout money flowed like water saving Goldman Sachs and others.
Then came the $787 billion "stimulus" bill. Again, 72 percent of Americans said "no." Yet, Mr. Obama, with Pelosi and Reid by his side, proudly signed a bill that most Americans did not want. The will of the people be damned by the radicals running Washington. I remember Mr. Obama smiling like a Cheshire Cat at the signing ceremony.
These two political moves alone piled nearly $1.5 trillion of additional debt onto the backs of overtaxed, hard-working Americans. Make no mistake about it, those expenditures were about politics, not economics. Good economics would dictate less government, less taxes and more incentive for growth – not more deficit spending.
So this summer the American people had had enough of the lies and distortions from both sides of the aisle – especially once they heard the radicals in Washington were going to "cram" a health-care bill through the Senate even if it meant using "reconciliation."
That lit the fuse of what soon will be looked at as a modern-day revolution. Not one fought with guns and cannons but with engaged voters who will send "representatives" back to the private sector who do not represent the people. The safety of incumbency is going to be shaken dramatically if our elected representatives ignore us again.
Most Americans no longer trust their government, and rightly so. They have been lied to over and over again. The anger of that abuse revealed itself in the joint meeting of Congress in the form of two seemingly simple words. They were words heard around the world.
"You lie."
While I don't like disrespect aimed at the office of the president, I think Rep. Joe Wilson said what most believe. It is time for truth and transparency to return to the process. Mr. Obama and Ms. Pelosi both promised that on the campaign trail. If it is not delivered, then they reinforce Mr. Wilson's irreverent, yet accurate, outburst. It is time for Nancy to "drain the swamp."
No one really believes we can add 47 million new patients to a system already stretched thin and not see rationing, do they? Is there anyone with a basic understanding of third-grade arithmetic who can see this bill as deficit neutral? If a health-care provider can't ask for ID, how can we avoid providing government-sponsored care to 13 million illegal aliens?
We all know the answers.
There are many changes we can make to the health-care system in America: eliminating fraud and abuse, offering tax breaks on premiums, allowing insurers to sell over state lines, pursuing tort reform, improving medical records and so much more. But to turn the changes over to a Congress and White House that remain deaf to the voice of the people is unacceptable. Americans have made that very clear.
This is not about winning and losing, taking down the president or swaying the 2010 elections. This is about doing what is right for all 300 million citizens. Our seniors deserve it, we are demanding it and our children are owed it. We cannot continue to sell the country that will be inherited by our children into the debt abyss of trillions of dollars.
It is sad that it took the level of radical thinking we are getting from current leadership to truly engage Americans in the process. Yet, at the same time, I am grateful and excited it has. I think the outcome will be positive for the country.
So Reid, Pelosi and Obama: Thank you! Thank you for reminding us that there are some things worth fighting for. There are issues that will draw people to the streets speaking truth to power. I hope you are listening. If not, you do so at your own political peril.
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