Tuesday
OBAMACARE IS ENACTED!
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SOMETIMES WHAT WE HAVE SAID BEFORE still makes
sense. So many expressed agreement with the comment we cited
in the introduction to last week's issue, that it seems appropriate to
repeat that same paragraph.
"We are experiencing some difficult and dangerous times, both
for America and the world, and if ever there were a time when
Christians should stand together and make our voices heard --
that time is now. This quote from columnist Bill Haymin sums it
up well: 'America is a dead man walking around, waiting to
fall down. The fault of America's failure falls squarely on
the shoulders of American Christians (past and present).'"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
THE SAME QUESTION WE HAVE
BEEN ASKING EVERY WEEK TAKES
ON FRIGHTENING NEW MEANING
AS OBAMACARE IS ENACTED
But first, these three quotes from the past are remarkably
applicable to the state of affairs we are experiencing today . . .
"Authority intoxicates, and makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain, and makes men giddy,
The fumes of it invade the brain, and makes men giddy,
proud and vain." -- Samuel Butler, 1882
"The function of the true state is to impose the minimum
restrictions and safeguard the maximum liberties of the
people, and it never regards the person as a thing."
-- Immanuel Kant, 1788
-- Immanuel Kant, 1788
"The great masses of the people ... will more easily fall
victims to a big lie than to a small one."
-- Adolf Hitler, 1933
And now to the subject of today's headline . . . For the past three
issues of this commentary we have opened our discussion with
this same question: "Why does Obama continue to ignore the
opinions of most Americans on health care reform?"
Please take a moment to look at the actual poll numbers on
Saturday, the day before the unusual Sunday vote on the bill:
-- 54% of American voters oppose the plan; 41% favor it.
-- 57% believe it will hurt the nation's economy.
-- 56% object to drastic cuts in Medicare to help pay for it.
-- 59% say Members of Congress do not understand it.
-- 64% say Congress is doing a poor job.
And looking ahead to the Nov. 2 elections, on a "generic"
ballot, Republicans vs. Democrats, nationally Republicans
lead Democrats by 10 points, a lead they have held for
quite some time. And 50% of voters say they are unlikely
to re-elect any present Member of Congress who voted for
the health care bill. On a personal basis, Nancy Pelosi's
negative opinion reached its highest point ever at 64%, with
Harry Reid not far behind at 56%. A CBS poll this week
reported Nancy Pelosi's performance rated favorable by
just 11% of respondees, with Harry Reid approved by even
a smaller number at 8%. Meantime, President Obama's
performance rating index remains still stuck in the double-
digit negative range, even touching its lowest level reached
during his first term in office at -21.
On the Opinion-of-the-American-People issue, Conservative
activist Bobby Eberle summed it up extremely well: "There
was not a poll in the country, whether it was CNN, Fox
News, Rasmussen, or Gallup that showed Americans in
favor of the Democrats' plan. Yet they pushed forward.
Why? Because they could. As the American people were
making their voices heard by saying, 'Don't pass this bill,'
the Democrats were chanting, 'Yes we can.'"
Those are the facts. It is absolutely clear that the Democrat
leadership cabal of Obama, Pelosi and Reid have not only
ignored, but have acted in opposition to the expressed opinions
of the majority of American voters. And they got by with just a
4 vote margin. They needed 216 votes; they got 219, but with
212 against. Think about it: Obama's great victory was won by
only 4 votes. It must be sort of embarrassing to know that your
presidency was preserved by just 4 Members of the House.
And for the "frightening" aspect we mentioned -- consider
this: since Obama and the Liberal Democrats have proved that
they can by-pass the expressed will of the American people and
enact into law this controversial bill -- what is to prevent them
from passing a law which changes (that word expressed "His"
major promise, remember) the very foundational concept of our
nation? Has not the precedent been established that the US
Constitution can be altered or revised by a simple majority vote
of both Houses of Congress, and with no consideration of the
will of the American people?
Face it: this so-called "health care reform" bill and the way it
was passed is much more than just a revision of the way health
care is administered in this country . It is a repudiation of those
memorable words from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address that this
is a "government of the people and by the people and for
the people." The Obama administration did not act by, for
or according to the will of, the American people.
And in the method of the bill's passing, there is also this
by Walter Williams: "If there is anything good to say about
Democrat control of the White House, Senate and House
of Representatives, it's that their extraordinarily brazen,
heavy-handed acts have aroused a level of constitutional
interest among the American people that has been
dormant for far too long." Acting on the assumption that
the dormancy is over, this Commentary (ANC) renews its
from-the-beginning pledge to do every thing possible to help
take back America to the historic Judeo-Christian principles
upon which this nation was founded, and to refute once and
for always the boast of Barack Obama that this is no longer
a Christian nation.
AND NOW WHAT? DO WE GIVE UP AND QUIT?
The protestors who marched on Washington over the past
weekend -- there were thousands of them . . . some of the
estimates were as high as 200,000 -- didn't immediately
go home after the vote. They were still there on Monday,
and by then they were repeating again and again a new
slogan: "In November, we will remember."
That Nov. 2 date which we have been mentioning every
week for a long time (it’s now just 223 days away) will
be our first opportunity to make our voices heard and to
make our votes count in rescuing our nation from the anti-
Christian, Socialistic pit into which Obama is dragging us.
The most recent polls show that 50% of the American
voters say they are not likely to re-elect those Members
of Congress who voted for the Obamacare plan. Here is
a very rough "rule of thumb" as a possible start to your
thinking about how to cast your vote in the Nov. 2 election
as you elect the Members of Congress who will take over
next year. (Remember: every Member is up for re-election
in November, and about one-third of the Senators.) On
Sunday night not one Republican Member of Congress
voted for the bill. It probably makes sense to re-elect them.
And 34 Democrats also voted against it. That took some
courage, or what is referred to as "intestinal fortitude."
You might want to re-elect them. But for those 219
Democrats who blindly obeyed Nancy Pelosi's orders
in voting for the bill -- you might not want them to be
misrepresenting you any more. It is within your power
to vote them out, and vote into office some candidates
with a sense of conscience, a sense of responding to the
opinions of the American people who elected them. Our
thousands of readers are located all across the country,
in every state and district. They know who represents
them in Congress, and how they voted on this issue.
This is not to say, or even hint, that Republicans are
significantly less corrupt than Democrats. The last
Republican controlled Congress was no model of
integrity in government. But compared with what we
have experienced from the Democrats under Nancy
Pelosi and Harry Reid -- they were almost saintly in
their attitude, behavior and political goals.
We have previously pointed out the uncomfortable
and very disturbing fact that in the 2008 presidential
election, 25% of the Evangelical vote went for Barack
Obama. And there is another even more disturbing
estimate that perhaps as many as 50% of the nation's
Evangelicals didn't vote and aren't even registered to
vote. There are enough of us to change this country --
really change it for the better. But to do that, we have
to vote on Nov. 2 . . . and to do that, we have to be
registered to vote.
And one other responsibility for Christians to accept:
Obey the Scriptural injunction to pray for our leaders
(I Tim. 2:1-5) Pray for them to be given wisdom in
discharging their duties, and pray for their salvation.
One of our key consultants and advisors made this
comment after Sunday's vote: "This is discouraging.
But, we must remember that it isn’t over yet!!!
The LORD is still in control! And if He doesn’t
step in and shock everyone suddenly, I will 'content'
myself in knowing that He wills everything the way
it’s going – not because His character has slipped,
but because His Word has told us that 'evil people
will wax worse and worse.'”
Amid the problems faced by the Obama presidency,
at least one touch of humor surfaced this week. The
codename chosen for a secret policing operation to protect
President Obama during his visit to Australia sounds
innocuous enough. But calling it Operation Blue Gum, after
Australia's famous native trees, could have caused an
international embarrassment. In America, a "bluegum" is
offensive slang for a lazy African-American who refuses
to work.
As the "Health Care Reform" issue enters a new phase,
with its constitutionality under attack from attorneys general
of many states and Conservative legal associations, the major
political issue to be addressed is one of the founding principles
of our nation: our liberty and personal freedom. It requires
no great effort of memory to recall those words of one of
our nation's Founding Fathers, Patrick Henry, in 1775: "Is
life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the
price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I
know not what course others may take, but as for me,
give me liberty or give me death!"
It is not likely that any one of us will be forced to make that
same choice, but it will become evident that the enactment of
Obamacare did constitute a severe blow to the liberty and
personal freedom of all Americans. This will be a major subject
of concern for Christian Conservatives in the coming days, and
will certainly be addressed at length by this Commentary. In the
words of the Center for Individual Freedom, "We Lost This
Battle, But the Fight for Freedom Continues."
Some Conservative commentators are already speaking to this
problem. For example, David Limbaugh: "The Democrats'
passage of socialized medicine Sunday night will spell
either the beginning of the end of this great nation or the
beginning of the rebirth of its freedom. The choice is still
in the hands of Americans."
You should really know "What Others Are Saying" -- you
probably won't find these comments in the main line media:
Dr. Laurie Roth (The Roth Show): "Here we go again. Forget
American Idol and the fancy new TV shows. The actions of
congress and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are
beyond horrifying and unconstitutional, they are entertaining
in their absurdity!"
Christopher G. Adamo: "Those platitudes of 'hope and
change' are gone, and in their place a thoroughly regretful
American populace now witnesses, to its horror, the total
desecration of this once triumphal constitutional republic."
Senator Charles Grassley (R, IA): "I recently heard him
say if this bill didn’t pass it would ruin his presidency. Well,
if he’s worried about his presidency more than the country,
you can understand why there would be so much pressure
to get the votes to pass this bill.”
Senator Dick Durbin, (D, IL): "Anyone who would stand
before you and say ‘well, if you pass health care reform,
next year’s health care premiums are going down,’ I don’t
think is telling the truth. I think it is likely they would go up.
Editorial (Washington Times): "The Obama administration
is poised to ban offshore oil drilling on the outer continental
shelf until 2012 or beyond. Meanwhile, Russia is making a
bold strategic leap to begin drilling for oil in the Gulf of
Mexico. While the United States attempts to shift gears to
alternative fuels to battle the purported evils of carbon
emissions, Russia will erect oil derricks off the Cuban coast."
And here are a few more of the "One Liners," which we
keep being told are greatly enjoyed; we found these this week:
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and
government to gain ground." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1788
"Ignore the feds. Empower the states." -- Brian Roberts
"The American public overwhelmingly voted for socialism
when they elected President Obama." -- Rev. Al Sharpton
"It will force millions to buy coverage or be fined ...So
much for freedom and liberty." -- Mark Spinks
Some Random Afterthoughts . . .
"The only maxim of a free government ought to be to
trust no man living with power to endanger the public
liberty." -- John Adams, 1772
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