The Failed Two Party System

This quote by Bill Clinton's hero, Professor Carroll Quigley, author of Tragedy & Hope, says it all:

"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy. Then it should be possible to replace it, every four years if necessary, by the other partym, which will be none of these things but will still pursue, with new vigor, approximately the same basic policies."

Couple that quote with the acclaimed article in The American Spectator, America's Ruling Class -- And the Perils of Revolution, and you will get a better sense of what is wrong with the American system.

• It is run by power-hungry politicians who gerrymander themselves into lifetime appointments.


• The general public is complacent at best, apathetic at worst.

Is it time for a Constitutional Amendment for TERM LIMITS? There is no way to institutionalize the injection of new blood and new ideas into Washington. The Founding Fathers thought the electorate would kick the bums out but that certainly is not happening.

Who is up for a Constitutional Amendment? Wouldn't you love to hear the arguments against it and see who is making them??

Game Over or Silver Lining?

Is it over America? Did the bad guys win while you stood by and let it happen? Or is their a silver lining at the end of the disaster known as The Obama Administration?

In case you have not awaken from your Apathy Coma, Obama has delivered on his promise to, "FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORM AMERICA". He said he was going to do it and he has! And over 50%+ of you voted for him! I will grant you that the alternative was lackluster but the evidence that the bill of goods you were sold was rotten is/was overwhelming.

Admit it, you fell for the "Hope and Change" bullshit because you had just spent eight years listening to the lamestream media beat the hell out of Bush. Now you know that same media that you relied on for your news has less creditability than the person currently residing in the White House. Do you feel stupid or what? You refused to listen to people like Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Levine and Ingraham because the no-creditability media successfully painted them into the "right-wing extremist" or "racist" corner. AND YOU FELL FOR IT!

Let's review the countless campaign promises that have been broken in the first nineteen months of this regime:

• No new taxes for "folks making $250,000 or less". I guess it depends on what your definition of "taxes" is (sound familiar?).
  
  
• All Bills will be on the Internet for several days before any vote.
  
  
• Guantanamo Bay would be closed within one year of the inaugaration.
  
  
• Get out of Iraq.
  
  
• Unemployment will be held at 8% if the non-stimulus bill was passed.
  
  
• No federal funds used for abortions.
  
  
• The most transparent administration in history.
  
  
• Extinguish the Patriot Act

On top of that, we have been force-fed multiple, 2,000+ page bills full of thousands of new regulations and government agencies. And NEVER FORGET how the Democrats mocked the idea of actually reading the bills before voting on them because they were so long.

• Non-Stimulus Bill - Coming on the heals of Bush's TARP, who could argue? Remember the world was going to end and "They are too big to fail!". It's easy to get away with shit like this when only a handful of people in Congress have the guts to stand up to spending insanity (Bush or Obama). Nonetheless, this was just the First Act.



• Universal Healthcare - I don't care what experts are trotted out on behalf of the administration, this system will end in rationing of care. You simply cannot dump a twenty to fifty million new people into a system without increasing the number of doctors and expect rationing NOT to occur. Not to mention the fact that it gets the government's tentacles on your most private issue - YOUR HEALTH.
  
  Just understand that the model we are trying to emulate (Europe and Canada are collapsing under their own weight). The New York Times reported this weekend on England's plan to decentralize their healthcare system. Talk about ironic! There's just nothing like trying to copy a failed policy to instill confidence. Not sure why you would jump on a sinking ship but, then again, I don't understand socialism and communism either.
  
  Don't forget Pelosi's statement that, "we have to pass the bill so you can see what is in it."
  


• Financial Regulations - Who the hell knows what is in this bill! Not one Congressman has read it. From what I see it will impose fees on banks and other businesses who, in turn, will pass the costs on to the consumers essentially levving another tax on "the little guy" while, again, increasing the reach of government's tentacles.

ARE YOU SEEING THE PATTERN?

So what is next from the Congress with an 11% approval rating and a President currently sitting on his lowest ratings? Watch the lame-duck Congressional session because they are just getting started:

• Card-check.


• Budget-balancing through tax increases.
  


• Cap-and-Tax. Better known as climate-change legislation with taxes on exhailing and substantial regulation to boot.
  


• News outlet regulation (FoxNews and conservative bloggers must be reined in).
  


• Internet regulations (probably in the form of another tax and regulations). Remember, the President said, "there is too much information" out there.
  


• Control over talk radio. After all, we need to balance the rhetoric! Even though every liberal attempt at a radio outlet in the history of mankind has gone bankrupt (except NPR which, of course, is supported by tax dollars).


• Immigration Reform.


• Expansion of IRS tentacles.

The Silver Lining

The only silver lining I see to this unmitigated disaster known as Barak Obama-Nancy Pelosi-Harry Reid-Barney Frank-Chris Dodd-Maxine Waters-Joe Biden-Al Gore-Chuck Schumer-Henry Waxman- et al is that the hapless Republicans will take back Congress and spend the next ten years unwinding the damage done by The Obama Train Wreck.

Don't get me wrong, I would be perfectly happy with a Congress that spent a decade doing no further damage to the country. It does bother me tremendously how easily my fellow countrymen were duped by Obama's empty campaign when we had so much evidence right in front of us. I am still blown away that a man with no work experience outside community organizing and a quasi-professorship could be elected President of this country. Apparently our new national motto is "Ignorance, Apathy and Complacency is Bliss". Sad!

It is all about POWER and CONTROL!

Do not let the lamestream media off the hook. They unabashedly ignore stories that negatively impact the Obama Administration.

Have I lost faith?

• In God? No!


• In the ability of the American people to wake up from their APATHY COMA? Probably.

I will have a better idea after November 2, 2010 and November 2, 2012. Until then, we have no choice but to eat the shit sandwich being fed to us by this despicable Congress and administration.

Most Productive Congress Since Johnson

Interesting quote in a LA Times story about how Obama has worn out his welcome in Congress (even within his own Party). After all, they have supported his transformational agenda despite the support of their constituencies. As a result, many of them will lose their job in November; at least those who have not already quit.

This quote caught my attention:

"Obama has led what historians have called the most productive Congress since President Lyndon Johnson."

Two questions:

#1 - Are they referring to the same progressive historians who have been writing our textbooks for the last 60 years who make heroes out of people like Wilson, Sanger and Byrd while skipping over the details of the country's founding, the roll that God plays and vilifying the American military?

#2 - What the hell does "most productive" mean? Ramming legislation down the throats of a country largely opposed to it? Passing legislation that has not been read? Writing 2,000 page laws and telling us that it must be passed before we can see what is in it? Legislating against the wishes of the majority of Americans?

If answers to both questions are "Yes", then I understand. Otherwise, the LA Times is just showing why it, along with every other major liberal fish wrap, has become irrelevant.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-war-congress-20100709,0,1045259.story

Lame Duck Congress

Do you find it interesting that 40%+ of Americans describe themselves as "conservative" and only 15-18% describe themselves as "liberal" with the balance falling somewhere in between? This country is being run by a minority. And their agenda will bankrupt the country.

ARE YOU AWAKE YET?

What do you do when you legislate against the wishes of your constituency? You ram everything down their throat before they can kick you out of office.

It started with the "non-Stimulus" bill, followed up by the healthcare transformation bill, then we had the moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf, then they decided not to pass a federal budget (just deem and pass it), then we had financial transformation bill and the lawsuit against Arizona. Next up - Card Check, environmental regulations, more pork barrel spending and several items to usurp states' rights.

I recommend that you read this op-ed from the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704293604575343262629361470.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

Notice how the Democrats characterize their intentions:

• "I've got lots of things I want to do" in a lame duck, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W. Va.) told reporters in mid June.
• North Dakota's Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, wants a lame-duck session to act on the recommendations of President Obama's deficit commission. "It could be a huge deal," he told Roll Call last month. "We could get the country on a sound long-term fiscal path." [by raising taxes on the few people who still have a job and redistributing it as the federal government sees fit]
• Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters last month that for bills like "card check"—"the lame duck would be the last chance, quite honestly, for the foreseeable future."
• Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chair of the Senate committee overseeing labor issues, told the Bill Press radio show in June that "we're still trying to maneuver" a way to pass some parts of the [card check] bill before the next Congress is sworn in.
• A Senate aide told me that "some of the biggest porkers on both sides of the aisle are leaving office this year, and a lame-duck session would be their last hurrah for spending."

Open Letter to Liberal Family Member

The following is my response to a self-proclaimed left-of-center family member who refused to finish watching one of Glenn Beck's Founders Friday episodes (at my request) because, "I didn't get a whole lot out of it other than Beck is accusing progressive liberals of not giving African Americans their due in History books by suppressing the truth about who really help found America". Ironic, huh? Since that was one of the points proven in the episode.


This particular family member also took the usual swipes at Rush Limbaugh because he, "blames liberal Democrats [for everything]" and explained that they do NOT read my DoseofTruth blog posts because they do not like the rhetoric.

See below:
-----------------------------------------------------------

Two final comments:

#1 - You said you did not agree with the "rhetoric" [of my blog posts]. Are my arguments valid or not? Are they based on evidence or innuendo? What does the rhetoric have to do with the point being made? I realize the tone and rhetoric may be inflammatory but we all need to evaluate the argument/message/policy by its merit not by its delivery.

Too many people are infatuated or turned off by rhetoric. That is one of the reasons why we are now "blessed" with our current President. He spoke really well and McCain was old, boring and stiff (kind of like Bob Dole), yet Obama was, hands down, the least qualified person to run for President in the history of this country from one of the two major parties. He has proved me right time and time again in these long 18 months of his dictatorship (just stealing a line from Keith Olbermann describing Bush). . . . Is that inflammatory rhetoric or is my argument valid? For the record, McCain is/was not qualified to be President either. I don't believe Senators are qualified to run anything except their mouth. Give me the governor of any state from either Party over any Senator any day of the week. Is that inflammatory rhetoric or is my argument valid? I hope you see my point on the "rhetoric" comment.

#2 - I don't look at politics as Left and Right anymore. It is total government on one end of the spectrum (fascists and communists) and anarchy on the other. The Founding Fathers placed the country much closer to anarchy than toward total government. Throughout the years we have moved up and down that spectrum. So, in my mind, there is a very simple argument that must be waged, do you want more or less government and where do you draw the line.

Bringing this back to liberals versus conservatives, clearly the majority of the country leans conservative. Americans are by nature independent. However, what we see now is a power grab of biblical portions because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. That is why 2,000 page bills are being passed on a regular basis loaded with all kinds of new government decrees and controls despite the fact that the majority of the country opposes the bills.

Let's not forget the fact that Senator Dodd and Congresswoman Pelosi both actually said the following about their respective bills, "We need to pass them so you can see what is in them" (Dodd on the financial reform bill and Pelosi on the Healthcare bill).

Now, I don't give a shit where you stand politically but a true American would have a problem with any elected official making such asinine and "fuck-the-voters" statements. That is a travesty and bodes poorly for our country in the long run as our kids get saddled with deficits bearing so many zeros that we need to make up a new numbering system. According to the Democrats, the standard by which we pass legislation is (in order of importance):

#1 - Write it
#2 - Pass it
#3 - Read it

I am begging you to make a lucid argument why that makes sense? "Ass backwards" doesn't begin to describe it, however, "corrupt" does! I am not talking about extortion-corruption, I am talking about moral and ethical corruption. If you flip the bird to the majority of the country in order to push a radical agenda, you are morally and ethically corrupt. Is that argument rhetorically inflammatory? If so, please explain?

Through all of this insanity, where is the media? Nowhere to be found! Weren't they called the fourth branch of government?

I believe people like you and me could sit down and compromise on how much government should be involved in the lives of the average citizens. I would get more than I want and you would get less than you want but both of us could walk away from the conversation feeling good about what was accomplished.

Instead, the country is being run by a minority of radicals (inflammatory rhetoric or true?) and there is no compromise. There is no discussion. The Republicans have been shut out from Day 1 (that is a fact, not rhetoric!).

Believe me, I have no compassion for the Republicans. I am changing my Party affiliation to Independent. The game was over the minute GW Bush called himself a "compassionate conservative" implying other conservatives are uncompassionate. At the same time, the liberal press spent eight years unfairly crucifying him and he never defended himself. Hell, Dan Rather threw away a four decade career in order to fabricate a story about Bush. Tell me The Left in this country are honest purveyors of the news!

That same Press completely ignores Democrats' incompetency and misbehavior - Katrina vs. Oil Spill; Packwood and Foley vs. Edwards, Gore, Clinton and Kennedy; Bork, Alito, Roberts vs. Kagan and Sotomayor; multiple tax cheats nominated to cabinet positions; bills being passed without being read; bills being passed despite 60%+ opposition by the population; an American President being chastised for too much spending by European leaders; do I need to go on?

So, there you have it, the last political conversation I will ever initiate with you.

Take it for what it is but I would hope you will ask more questions and never take anyone's word for it no matter where you get your news (including me). And please search out and listen to the other sides of every argument (watch Beck, listen to Rush, Neil Boortz, Jason Lewis with an open mind), ignore the "rhetoric" and evaluate the arguments being made, call bullshit when you see it but be able to back up your call, challenge both sides and make them explain why they are doing what they are doing.

Consider yourself removed from my blog mailing list.