Riding Out The Storm
Kevin Bryant
I sit here knowing that the House of Representatives will vote in 48 hours to either pass or kill the healthcare bill. My gut tells me they are going to pass it by way of reconciliation and send it back to the Senate.
What I do not understand is why someone elected to office would - a.) Willingly go against the will of the people, - b.) Purposely vote for something that is most likely going to be deemed as against the constitution & - c.) Commit political suicide.
37 states have either passed legislation or in the process of passing legislation that would nullify this bill in their states in accordance with article 10 of the constitution in the event that the healthcare bill in its current form, manages to get past both houses. Several state Attorney Generals are researching and drafting their defense in the event that this bill passes and they have top take their case to the Supreme Court. You know - that same court Obama criticized in his state of the union address.
Almost every member of congress as well as the president has stated that people no longer trust their government. This is a prime example of why we do not trust government. They no longer serve our best interest. They put their own political careers ahead of what is good for the country. Here with healthcare and coming soon, cap & trade, they are putting the president’s agenda ahead of their own political futures as well as what is good for the country. Are they clinging to the hope that the American people will forgive and forget their deeds between now and the mid-term elections? Does the president think he is going to be able to save them by passing his agenda or perhaps he is convinced that he can still govern in spite of the fact that it is highly likely he will lose one or both houses during the mid-terms?
What are those on congress thinking? Do they honestly believe this Obama is going to be re-elected? Last poll showed that he has slipped from an approval rating in the 60’s during the beginning months of his presidency to a rating on the mid 40’s in less than a year and a half. Pelosi has the lowest approval rating of any Speaker of the House in the history of polls taken. Congress in general is only a couple of points away from the lowest ratings ever. They aren’t listening to the people yet they continue to tell us to trust them. Why should we?
There is no rational coming out of congress. Moderate democrats are not willing to take a hard stand in force against even what they see as a very progressive liberal agenda. During congress’s one joint meeting over healthcare, the republicans should have stuck to one principal: Kill this bill and start again from scratch. Those should have been the only words coming out of their mouths, but they didn’t do that. Perhaps they will learn this lesson before the senate takes up cap & trade which Obama wants to happen before the mid-terms.
Despite what the vote is this weekend, this congress and this administration has managed to split this country more than it has been in the past 140 years. The only difference between the divisions now and those of the Civil War era is the fact that this to date has been a peaceful division. This country is more divided now than during the Civil Rights era and the Vietnam War era.
If the vote this weekend fails, this country is still going to be divided until the day Obama is forced out of the White House. If the vote this weekend continues this healthcare fiasco on a path to becoming a law, the rifts between conservatives and liberal as well as the rift between the people and government will continue to grow with no end in site before 2012.
It is my opinion that the only way to heal a majority of this country is if democrats lose the house and senate, republicans bring ethics charges up on both Harry Reid (provided he wins re-election) and Nancy Pelosi over strong arm tactics, congressional bribery and failure to uphold the oath of office. Also bring impeachment proceedings against President Obama on failure to uphold the oath of office, bribing members of congress and acting outside the limitations of the constitution.
