They Finally Did It...

Well they finally did it. Nearly 100 years after the Godfather of Progressive Socialism, Theodore Roosevelt, made socialized medicine part of his Progressive Party campaign, the Democrats achieved another milestone in their relentless march towards Marxist medicine. The Senate voted for cloture in the early hours of Christmas Eve along strictly Party lines, sending the measure to the house by a vote of 60 to 39. Not one Republican voted for the bill which is not a surprise since the bill is the antithesis of Republican and Conservative ideology.

In fact, the bill as written violates the sensibilities of even moderate Democrats who certainly would have voted against it if it weren’t for the threats issued behind closed doors by the reigning Chicago “Thugocracy” in the White House. When the votes of moderates could not be bought through the usual corrupt process of sweetening the pot with pork, the goons came out of the shadows and threatened everything from military base closures to personal attacks on the spouses of the offending Congressmen.

Americans are angry, not only because we oppose this bill by a ratio of nearly two to one and the majority party of Congress doesn’t seem to care, but since Liberal Democrats have seized control of their Party, both houses of Congress and the White House, the legislative process has become a dishonest, corrupt and dangerous game of political dominance as well. The only winners in that game are the special interests that are advancing their agenda; the special interests that have paid enormous sums of money to the political campaigns of the people that are now making their dreams come true.

SEIU for example, directed tens of millions of dollars from their membership to the Obama campaign and God only knows what their contributions have been to other Progressive Democrats. Recently released records show that Andy Stern, President of the SEIU has been the most frequent visitor to the White House, having been there nearly two dozen times since Obama’s inauguration. Of course if the White House had its way, we’d have never known about those visits; it was only after a public outcry for transparency and threats of Freedom of Information law suits that the White House capitulated and released the visitors list.

Andy Stern huh? Considering Andy recently revived the rally cry “Workers of the world, unite!” I doubt he’s been visiting Obama for a series of “beer summits” or to help the President with his bowling score. “Workers of the world unite” is taken directly from the pages of the Communist Manifesto and Andy boy says it is no longer a slogan, but the way that the SEIU and other labor unions must do their work. They are seeking to internationalize the labor movement and complete the dream of a global network of socialist nations under a central controlling body. Historically, the one roadblock to communist expansion had been the United States and what better way to eliminate that roadblock than to convince them to consume themselves.

Since the days of FDR, the United States has been creeping towards the goal of a Socialist United States through the efforts of what Lenin called “useful idiots”. Useful idiots are those that have not become out and out socialists but instead, have been nudged into accepting little doses of Socialist policies with the intention of doing good. Of course the recipients of these new policies become mesmerized by the prospect of getting something for nothing which serves to accelerate the process. What the “idiots” did not realize is that their introduction into that very thought process was part of a carefully orchestrated indoctrination policy founded and funded by the Communist brain trust.

Why fight when you can fudge? Why shoot when you can sway? Why bleed when you can bully? In the end, the United States would keep sliding further and further into the Socialist abyss until one day she would wake to find that the Constitution had become so diluted with legislative exclusions to the constraints the founding fathers had placed on the Federal government, that the government was no longer the servant, but the master. The current healthcare plan is a “starter set”. It is a Trojan horse that requires only a few more strokes of the legislative pen to transform it into a universal socialized medical system very much like the disasters that have been bankrupting Europe for decades.

Not many people believe that the government would enact legislation intentionally designed to destroy the national economy and I agree, but let’s not forget that these are “useful idiots” and while they are under the ether of playing “Robin Hood”, most cannot see where this will eventually lead. Oh the old hardliners of the former Soviet Union know where it is going, mostly because they drafted the plan to corrupt and demoralize the United States. I’m sure Vladimir Putin is rubbing his sweaty little hands together in anticipation. If you remember, Vlad was once the head of the KGB before Russia dissolved Communism and attempted to democratize. He would love nothing more than to return Russia to her former glory without the costly impediment of a strong and prosperous America to contend with.

Other “useful idiots” like Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Pivens had succumbed to the illusion of the utopian society sought after by American communists. They had constructed their strategy for social justice around the need to collapse the financial strength of America so that a new and just socialist government could be put in place. In fact, their strategy had been tested and proved incredibly successful by George Wiley and eventually, Wade Rathke. Their concerted effort to overwhelm the entitlement structure in New York City thrust the city, and nearly the entire State, into bankruptcy.

This healthcare plan is nothing more than a small part of a much larger, revised version of Cloward and Pivens strategy. It does none of what it is advertised to do and if the Federal government were actually bound to obey the same advertising laws that American businesses are bound by, the President and most of the Democratic Party would already have been prosecuted for their misrepresentation of the product they are trying to sell us.

The comical part of this is that Democrats have called this a Christmas present for America. Uh, sure. A present just like when Uncle Bill give’s your kids a puppy for Christmas; except instead of a puppy, this is a cute little baby gorilla. Uncle Bill won’t be around to clean up the mess it makes and he’s certainly not worried about what it will cost you to feed it. Uncle Bill won’t be there when it grows up and takes over your life either because everyone knows a 600 lb gorilla get’s pretty much what ever it wants. No, Christmas gifts are thoughtful and benign. The perfect gifts make no demands on you and they fit your lifestyle instead of demanding change from you to accommodate them. The most important difference is that a gift really isn’t a gift when it’s purchased with money that has been stolen from your wallet.

I know this blog has been mentioned in several places where members of Congress have been but I don’t know if they actually read it and considering the content, I honestly wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t. But just on the outside chance that some of them may see this…..Guys….skip the gorilla and stick with the tie or the slippers….really.

Paul

Congress and Christmas

It isn’t as though we needed a reminder of the iconoclastic nature of Congressional Democrats but just to make sure we haven’t forgotten what they represent, they have scheduled the final Senate vote on healthcare reform for Christmas Eve.

Isn’t ironic that they chose the day that many of us will spend preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus to move this legislation forward? For Christians, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise, the messiah that was to free the world from suffering and the lamb that would eventually be offered for the forgiveness of all sins. The founding fathers recognized that man’s rights descended from God and that all mankind was born free through the grace of God.

The unalienable rights so carefully described by these extraordinary men were not accorded by the act of a beneficent King or through the acts of an enlightened government; they are divine, eternal and inexorable. Jesus represents God’s promise that man should not be slave to man and that our rights, both enumerated and implied in the Constitution, are an affirmation of that liberty. Curiously, the healthcare bill places many of those rights in jeopardy as the roughly seventy new agencies and administrative boards formed under this legislation will for the first time, allow government to determine how we live our lives.

We will find ourselves under government mandate to live healthier lives based on a government agency’s definition of healthy. The bill already contains a special tax on beverages containing sugar and on tanning salons since the current heath advisory panels have already determined these are unhealthy. As the left gain more control the extremists will have more to say about your life than you will.

Animal rights activists have tried to advance their agenda by promoting the health benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle for decades. Studies conducted with the same unscrupulous manipulation of data corrupting the Climate Change argument have already suggested that consuming meat presents a hazard to one’s health. Cass Sunstein, Obama’s regulatory Czar, has already weighed in on the subject in previous writings and would be more than happy to “nudge” people into a meat-free lifestyle using the regulatory authority of the government and the weight of punitive “sin” taxes to achieve that goal.

Gun control, animal rights, leisure activities, hunting and a whole host of other things that we take for granted now, can all be reigned in given the broad brush healthcare officials will be given to paint with. This bill is not centered on healthcare but on preventative care which would give the administration an incredible amount of new power where basic lifestyle choices are concerned.

Worse of all, the sanctity of life itself will be jeopardized by this bill. The new agencies and health panels will mete out care based on your current health, age and their actuarial assessment of how many years of “quality” life you have remaining. As Dad approaches 80, the usual course of medical intervention for prostate cancer may be limited to a regimen of less effective treatment only because it is less costly. For the first time in American history, choices will be made by authoritative government boards that will determine how resources will be allocated based on the need to contain the overall cost of healthcare and not on the need of the patient or the desired outcome of treatment. Grandma may get a prescription for pain medication and a wheelchair instead of the hip replacement she would receive now.

This legislation enacts new taxes and the cuts in Medicare reimbursements immediately even though the benefits of the bill are not fully realized for four years; a little accounting trick to show “budget neutrality” over a ten year period simply to gain passage of the bill. The truth is that the cuts are not going to reduce the cost of the program but to fund a host of entirely new entitlement programs, including subsidies for the low income purchase of insurance through the exchange. Without the promised cuts going to reduce the cost of the overall program, the program must go into financial difficulty in year five through fifteen, forcing cuts in services and draconian rationing of healthcare to anyone that does not fall under the government definition of a “contributing” member of society.

No? Well that was one of the prescribed ideas of Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel, architect of the Healthcare Bill and brother of White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel. Dr. Emmanuel believes in redefining the doctors Hippocratic Oath to allow assisted suicide and euthanasia. He also believes in the rationing of care based on an assessment of the patient’s ability to contribute to society and that only government can possess the impartiality required to make those assessments.

In order to pass this legislation, the government has had to manipulate the definition of commerce just to claim the authority for government to intervene in healthcare. They are using the Commerce Clause in the Constitution to find that authority, similar to what FDR did in the 1930’s. Even though you are seeking local medical care from a local doctor and purchasing your medicine from a local pharmacy, the government makes the leap that even this activity has a broad effect on the interstate relationship of the entire healthcare industry. That is a sham and they know it.

The fact is, and the general admission from Congressman James Clyburn is that most of what Congress does is not authorized in the Constitution. It is only the complacency of the American public that has allowed this to continue for as long as it has. Progressives have created an entire segment of the population that not only pays no taxes at all, but actually receives payments from the government for being good little dependents. With only 53% of the population actually paying taxes, we are fast approaching the tipping point where an election based on issues instead of preserving a government entitlement will no longer be possible.

The American people have been lied to since the debate on healthcare began. The truth now, is as it always was, is that the government’s lust for healthcare reform is that they must reduce the costs of their own failed and corrupt programs of Medicare and Medicaid. These programs were in trouble a mere three years after their inception and the short term cure in 1968 was to raid the Social Security trust fund and use that money to prop up Medicare/Medicaid, leaving Social Security as a hollow promise that they would deal with later. Well, later is now and thanks to the Federal government, all three programs are bankrupt and threatening the solvency of the United States. Without an enormous infusion of money, the government will have to admit their gross mismanagement and close the books on the Federal entitlement system or close the doors of the Federal government. The easiest way to achieve that was to channel the American healthcare system through the Federal entitlement machine. Dumping one sixth of our economy into the wide end of that funnel and regulating what drips out of the small end through cuts in benefits and services will allow them to keep the illusion of success alive, but for how long?

In the end, best estimates are saying that the current healthcare bill will only extend the life of Medicare and Medicare through 2019. Beyond that, it will have to collapse because there is little left they can take from us to keep it going. Not to worry, the loss of freedoms guaranteed by this bill will allow our benevolent government to make even more of those hard decisions on our behalf and euthanasia may even become a mandate based on who and what you are. If we let our rights dissolve now, how can we stop it then?

Don’t forget the government already has a free hand to do what the rest of us are still prohibited from doing. Government is still the only place in America where it is allowable to use race in the execution of policy. Government is still the only place where prejudice is allowable e.g.: rich vs. poor in the tax system, right vs. left in public broadcasting and let’s not forget government vs. religion in nearly every expression of faith. The government’s National Endowment for the Arts is prohibited from using public funds for religious art so it will not support the creation of a devotional scene involving a crucifix but it will find art where a crucifix is submerged in a beaker of urine.

As we near Christmas all Americans must ask themselves what they believe. What are our rights? Where do those rights come from? Most importantly, will we heed the call of duty Thomas Jefferson charged us with and fulfill our obligation to defend those rights for our progeny?

Paul

Healthcare Reform and the Constitution

About the only thing that the Democrats and the President have said about the Healthcare Bill that isn’t an outright lie is that it is comprehensive. In fact, that is probably understated since this will give our Federal government unprecedented control over every facet of health, including some very personal decisions.

The bill contains a tax on sugary beverages since sugary beverages have been deemed bad for you. Anything bad for you will raise healthcare costs and this bill gives the government the authority to regulate anything that will affect your health. When government began its crusade to steer behavior under what is widely known know as a “sin” tax on cigarettes, I warned that this was only the beginning. No one argues that cigarettes are bad for one’s health but the same argument can be made for nearly the entire fast food industry. As cigarette taxes climb and people quit smoking, the number of cigarette related illnesses will also decline. When illness related to obesity ranks as the number one cause of death in the United States, the same argument will be used to regulate that behavior too.

We all know the number play in Washington. We saw it all through the debate as some figures were issued in real numbers and some were issued as percentages, whichever made the case for healthcare reform stronger. The industry profits for healthcare insurance were given in real dollars since the amount appeared staggering. Even though the industry-wide profits were stated in the hundreds of billions of dollars, the fact is it represented an industry profit of only two percent. See how that works? Two percent wouldn’t make the people paying high insurance premiums angry but hundreds of billions of dollars would.

Choosing the right set of numbers, the Liberal think tanks can now establish a cause to intervene in our lives. The hundreds of billions of dollars that cheeseburger and fries sap from the health insurance industry is certainly enough to warrant government regulation and that regulation will come in the form of an additional tax. Part of the healthcare bill also requires restaurants to list the caloric content of their meal items. How convenient! That would give us an easy factor by which we can calculate a “progressive” tax on foods that cause obesity. Of course, like any tax it will probably start with some thing barely noticeable as in the sugary beverage tax which was to be one penny per ounce, the last time I looked. But as the paradigm shifts and obesity overtakes cigarettes as the number one killer in the US, they will just have to raise unhealthy food taxes in order to save lives.

Why there are all sorts of things that contribute to skyrocketing healthcare costs; things that progressives would love to eliminate but that the Constitution has prevented until now. Several cities have an incredible amount of healthcare money devoted to treating the victims of weapons related crimes. Using the EPA’s recent announcement that they will being regulating CO2 emissions without Congressional approval using the existing Clean Air Act as a guide, is it really beyond the scope of possibility that our Second Amendment Rights could vanish as a regulatory casualty of controlling healthcare costs? Of course the number crunchers would site the dollar and cents cost for that care as the justification and just ignore the facts that gun related crime is the highest in cities that already possess the harshest gun laws in the nation or that crimes committed with lawfully obtained and owned weapons is less than one half of one percent of all weapons related crimes.

What other rights could be swept away by this bill? Well, we didn’t have to wait for the passage of the bill for our right to free speech to be assaulted. Humana advised its customers about the potential loss of Medicare Advantage under the Healthcare Bill and the White House immediately attacked, threatening legal action even though Medicare advantage was indeed, on the chopping block. Where Humana is concerned, the White House acted with total disregard to the Supreme Court ruling that Corporations are considered individuals where Constitutional protections, including the First Amendment right to Free Speech is concerned. If that wasn't enough, the White House went as far as to establish an Orwellian e-mail account so individuals could report anyone that was spreading lies (opposing information) about the healthcare bill. The apparent message was that Big Brother is indeed watching. Of course that site was dismantled when there was an outcry over this clear abuse of power and the danger it represented.

How about our right to privacy? The administration claims that medical records will be specially secured and kept from prying eyes; really? When Social Security was enacted opponents railed against the loss of privacy and again, the government issued assurances that our privacy would be protected. Social Security numbers were never supposed to be used as a means of identification and the original cards were issued with the statement “For Social Security Purposes, Not for Identification” printed on the face of the card to allay those fears.

So what do we have now? Our Social Security number became our primary form of identification and is needed to secure employment, pay taxes and even to open a bank account. It is the only piece of identity needed in conjunction with your name to get a comprehensive credit report containing all of your financial dealings and as such, has become the primary instrument used by thieves to steal your identity and do irreparable harm to your credit and good name. Considering that the Federal government, with all of the technology and computerization available to them today, could not accurately track the stimulus expenditures with even a modest degree of accuracy, how could we believe that they can secure our medical records any better than they did our Social Security information?

The privacy issue may be further impinged if the final bill contains the same provisions for community based services that were in the House Bill. Under that, community base health providers would come to your home to offer solutions and advice on everything from child rearing to care for the elderly. We already know from past experience that once the government gets a toe in the door, it isn’t long before the whole proverbial 600 lb gorilla is in the living room.

Progressives may be for the most part, a Godless bunch while some Democrats like Ben Nelson are comfortable with placing their religious beliefs and morals on the same auction block with their votes; but American’s are a faithful people with 85% professing belief in one religion or another. The use of public funds for abortion, for many of these people, places them at odds with their faith. Intellectually, there is no difference in using their taxes to pay for abortion as it would be for them to pay for it themselves and that is something their conscience will not allow. Even soldiers have the ability to opt out of fighting in a war if they have a strong and historically verifiable religious objection. Those that object to abortion on religious grounds have no such “opt-out” provision available to them where taxes are concerned. Since tax money all goes into the same pot, if abortion is funded by any provision of the bill no one can offer a reasonable assurance that their money will not eventually end up funding abortion.

Let’s not forget that this is the first time the Federal government has levied a tax on us just because we are alive. The mandate that we purchase health care insurance or else, is as unconstitutional as it gets. There are those that say it’s no different than the mandate to have car insurance, but that mandate only applies if you choose to drive a car. Those that do not own a car are not required to have auto insurance to drive the costs down for those that do. Also, this healthcare bill is not actually insurance, but rather a whole life, cradle to grave intrusion on your life and liberty. It is pre-paid medical care and that is where the outrageous expense comes from. Do you file an insurance claim at every oil change or fill up? Does your auto insurance cover consumable items like brake pads and wiper blades? Does auto insurance cover pre-existent conditions or allow high risk drivers to purchase a low cost policy? No, the comparison to auto insurance is idiotic at best and only confirms the irrational lengths at which these people will go to sell you on this miserable idea.

Paul

The Senate Brothel

Senator Ben Nelson is the latest member of Congress to sign on to Harry Reid’s suicide pact on healthcare and the final vote needed to achieve a vote on cloture. Nelson’s constituents are opposed to the current healthcare bill by a factor of two to one and in a recent poll, 61% said that they would vote against Ben Nelson in the 2012 election if he voted for the healthcare bill.

Ben Nelson had made many eloquent speeches that he could not support a bill that did not have iron clad protections against the use of public funds for abortion. He argued that the Hyde Amendment did not offer enough protection because it would not prevent federal subsidies from being used to purchase healthcare policies that included coverage for abortion. I am not even sure why abortion has become an issue; even pro-choice advocates should be able to admit that abortion is not a bona fide healthcare issue unless there are specific circumstances. In fact, if pre-choice advocates had an ounce of integrity, they should argue that real choice begins with prevention and focus on that. We must realize that abortion is an issue where compromise is impossible but I would gamble to say that the members of Congress that oppose abortion on moral grounds would have no problem including funds and coverage to prevent contraception to avoid the quagmire of publically funded abortion.

Abortions in the case of rape or to preserve the life of the mother are not in question and have never been excluded. While abortion is a medical procedure, just the title “pro-choice” says it is an elective procedure so unless pro-choice advocates are saying that hair weaves, breast implants and plastic surgery should be covered in a healthcare policy as well, they should drop the issue and let those that “choose” to have an abortion find a way to pay for it the same way those that “choose” these other elective procedures do.

Unfortunately, for those that supported Ben Nelson’s stance on abortion, Ben Nelson, the man-whore, belongs to the same Senate brothel that his colleague Mary Landrieu does (Hi Mary). Even Bernie Sanders, the self proclaimed socialist Senator from Vermont, gave up his demand for a single payer system in exchange for $10 billion dollars for community based health centers that will be written into the bill. Since Sanders is such a dawdling old fool I don’t think we can actually charge him with prostitution. In his case, I am guessing he just wanted to end the negotiations so he could slip into a fresh diaper. Nelson, on the other hand, prostituted himself as shamelessly as Mary Landrieu did; perhaps worse. After all, Mary Landrieu’s opposition to the bill was economic while Nelson claimed moral superiority on the issue of abortion and in the end; no one respects anyone that would place their morality up for sale.

Ignoring the demands of his fellow Nebraskans, Ben Nelson announced Saturday that he would support the current Senate healthcare bill after achieving major concessions from Sentate Pimp, Harry Reid, that would exempt Nebraska from the rise in the state share of Medicaid costs. These costs are expected to increase dramatically after 2016 as a result of healthcare reform. Louisiana’s exclusion from those increases will expire within a few years but Nelson’s deal has the Federal government picking up the tab for Nebraska’s share of the costs in perpetuity. All other states will see their Medicaid burden increase beginning in 2016 as a direct result of the passage of this bill and while they may still pass this monstrosity now, don’t think for a moment that Senators from each state will not demand similar relief as the timeline for the implementation marches forward.

Senator Tom Harkin not only intimated that Iowa would in fact, seek the same deal as 2016 draws near but in a bid to keep progressives on board after the loss of the public option, Harkin pleaded for patience saying this is a work in progress. He cautioned that the bill may not be a mansion, but is rather a starter home with plenty of room for future expansion. Harkin’s statement exposes the lie in the President’s assurances that this bill is not a Trojan Horse that will lead to a single payer European style healthcare system when in fact, that is exactly what Progressive Democrats are planning.

The other big lie is on the issue of budget neutrality. The bill is only budget neutral to the Federal government as much of the real costs of care are shifted to the States, deepening their budget issues. Think about it…the deal Mary Landrieu received for her vote only provides a relief from those increases for a few years yet she claims the benefit for her state is a whopping $300 million dollars. If a small state like Louisiana can save $100 million a year in this deal, what will the cost be to more populace states? Better still, where will they get the money from? There will be state tax increases on everyone to cover the gap and that is a guarantee. So; as long as we are talking about lies, here is a good question. If the President’s policies intentionally shift major costs to the states, forcing them to cut services and raise taxes for everyone, is that not an Obama middle class tax increase by proxy?

The CBO estimated price tag for this mess kept going down every time it was scored; even as Reid promised billions upon billions to gain the votes he needed for passage. The only way that could happen is if they are shifting these concessions out of the healthcare bill and plan to hide the expenses as earmarks in other pieces of legislation. I hate to be so blunt, but five pounds of crap is still five pounds of crap even if you put it in ten different bags.

Any fool can see that this entire process has been corrupt from the start and has gotten worse with each passing day. The promises Obama made during his campaign that the debates on healthcare would be viewed on C-Span have vanished as the process disappeared behind closed doors. At first it was only the Republicans that were barred from negotiation sessions then curiously, all but a handful of Democrats were barred from the discussions as well. In the end, Harry Reid, his staff and White House personnel have been writing the bill and although the final vote is still expected before the Christmas break, the people that will vote on it have no idea what changes have been made or when they will even see the completed bill.

What we do know is that when outright bribery could not buy the needed support, the evil emperor resorted to extortion and intimidation. As Senator Lieberman wavered in his support for the bill, he suddenly found his wife Hadassah under attack as the liberal machine set their sights on her. Jane Hamsher, liberal pit bull and founder of Firedoglake.blog, demanded that she be fired from her work to support breast cancer research as the Ambassador to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation claiming she has troublesome ties to the healthcare industry. Of course everyone denies that the attacks have anything to do with forcing Joe Lieberman’s hand but isn’t it curious that the assault began the same day that Joe said he couldn’t support a bill that contains a public option?

Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) knows firsthand how DC politics have taken a Chicago twist. “Don’t think we’re not keeping score, brother,” Obama told DeFazio during a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus, according to other members. About the only thing missing from that exchange was Luca Brazzi sporting a roll of piano wire. DeFazio maybe a progressive Democrat but for DeFazio, it is still a matter of beliefs. He will not support issues that are not consistent with his ideology regardless of the pressure brought to bear. When they yell, he simply yells back.

Before Ben Nelson caved on healthcare, the White House reportedly threatened to place an Air Force base in Nebraska on the closure list if he didn’t play ball. The base they threatened was not just any base, it was Offutt Air Force Base, a major asset in the strategic command network and vital to American national security. This was the base that secured President Bush during the brief period when the origin and scope of the 9-11 attacks were still unknown. If this is true, it represents a mindset so misguided that it would place politics ahead of national security. Is a victory on healthcare so important to the President that all other consideration are secondary, even the ability to defend our country?

Nelson was also told, as I am sure others were, if he voted against the Senate Healthcare Bill he would never get another piece of legislation through that body. What is going on here? This is no longer a Republic; at least not in the true sense of the word. I have often charged that “Progressive” is actually a code word for American Marxism. If you look at their ideology and litany of issues, it is a summary of Karl Marx’s writings. The only difference between Progressive Democrats and true Marxists is that the Marxists prefer radical change through revolution where the Progressives believe they can bring about the same changes through manipulation of the legislative process. Apparently they are right because each successive year brings us closer to the final plunge into the socialist abyss.

I warn you, my friends; if we do not return to the Constitution as it was written and contain the monster that the Federal government has become, there will be no Constitution to return to. Progressives have been writing legislation outside of their Constitutional authority for over a hundred years and it will not be long before they introduce legislation that will alter the definition of the Constitution so that our protections against their lust for power will be forever lost in the translation.

Paul

The Real Conference in Copenhagen

Copenhagen looks like it may end up being “Nopenhagen” by the time the negotiations are concluded. China has been targeted as the nation that has brought the process to a halt; that is unless you speak to representatives of Socialist nations in which case it is the fault of America and her Capitalist stooges. Oh if that were only true!

In the latest round of negotiations, China said they would enter a non-binding agreement to reduce their CO2 emissions but has abjectly refused to allow access for international verification of that reduction. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said the United States would enter into a climate treaty and would contribute to a $100 billion dollar per year fund to assist developing nations in creating environmentally sound industry and infrastructure provided that the agreement among developed nations was binding and the emission reductions were verifiable.

While some called Hillary’s comments about the prerequisite of a binding and verifiable treaty before the U.S. would participate, an overt jab at China, I have a different take on that. I believe that was the first indication that the administration is beginning to realize that there is no public support for a climate treaty and that the legislation required to meet the President’s optimistic goals of greenhouse gas reduction would be impossible to pass with our current economic challenges.

The world held it’s breath as our fearless leader arrived in Copenhagen last night. No, they really didn’t but since Obama loves to hear stuff like that I figured I would throw it in anyway. Intent on achieving something after spending so much taxpayer money to get there, the big “O” changed his schedule to attend an emergency meeting to try to broker a last minute deal. This time it was China’s turn to take a jab at us by sending the Vice Foreign Minister to the meeting instead of a senior official. Vice Foreign Minister Yafei’s power within the Chinese government is equivalent to that of a Lieutenant Colonel in the Salvation Army. While Yafie can speak about his government’s position in matters of State, he cannot negotiate nor agree to treaties on China’s behalf. Clearly, China does not have the same awe for Obama that SEIU, ACORN or dozens of other American parasites do, and they have no problem showing it.

The so-called, developing nations really don’t give a damn about the harsh criticism that global warming is now under and could care less about the trickery and slight of hand used to create the science behind it; they want our money. In fact, the principal spokesmen for the developing nations stated quite firmly that $100 billion a year isn’t enough and they want $200 billion; which is the U.N. equivalent of “That’s a nice planet you got there pal…It would be a shame if something was to happen to it.” I haven’t seen this kind of outright criminal extortion since they read the transcripts of John Gotti’s conversations during his racketeering trial.

These “developing” nations, for the most part, have no industry but war with each other. Many are dictatorships that already use charitable food programs to cultivate their own power so why would anyone believe a windfall from climate agreements would go to anything besides the numbered bank accounts of the potentates that have already emptied their own treasuries? It seems to me that denying them this slush fund would go a lot further at keeping those nations green than giving them the funds to buy more military equipment and golden toilets.

On a far more serious note, the true nature and depth of the climate debate is slowly being uncovered in Copenhagen for all to see. Let’s start with the obvious hypocrisy of the leaders of the member nations. The coverage of the arriving delegates included some details that would not be unusual if this were not a conference on reducing the global emission of greenhouse gas; but it is. There were hundreds of private jets and thousands of limousines just to bring the delegates to the conference; culminating with Obama arriving at the last minute on his Boeing 747.

In fact, Copenhagen did not have enough limousines to transport the delegates so they had to bring in hundreds more from bordering countries. If they absolutely had to attend, why couldn’t they “green” the conference and share a bus from the airport to the conference center? Could it be that Copenhagen, the host city of the Climate Conference, has more limousines than buses? I know Paul Miller at Arizona Bus Sales has a great inventory of buses that should be part of any real climate conference…call him and park the limos; at least make it appear that you are environmentally savvy. Imagine the contribution that using one bus instead of fifty limousines would make towards the goal of greenhouse gas reduction. Why it might even lend some legitimacy to the conference!

In sheer irony, the average American would probably have to live more than a thousand years to equal the “carbon footprint” produced by just transporting the delegates to the climate conference. Isn’t funny how the people that are most involved with leading the charge on global warming love to use private planes and limousines; arguably the most inefficient and ecologically harmful way to travel? Al Gore refused to comment on that observation as he boarded his private jet, giving us the appearance that we are not worthy of an answer and adding the charge of elitist to hypocrite.

Of course, if the member nations were serious about reducing CO2 emissions, they would have teleconferenced instead but then they would miss all of the opulence and splendor that comes with being a visiting head of state; it appears they are more interested in the conference parties than being a part of the conference. Despite the best effort of Copenhagen’s mayor prior to the conference, I’m sure there was an appreciable increase in CO2 emissions from the “red light district” too, as delegates produced billowing clouds of heavy breathing far from the critics at home. To add insult to injury, I’m sure they got there by limousine too.

The most disturbing revelation of the conference came from the speech that Hugo Chavez made and the standing ovation he received for spouting out more anti-capitalist / pro-Marxist rhetoric. Mr. Chavez took the podium and said:

“One could say, Mr. President, that a ghost is haunting Copenhagen, to paraphrase Karl Marx, the great Karl Marx, a ghost is haunting the streets of Copenhagen, and I think that ghost walks silently through this room, walking around among us, through the halls, out below, it rises, this ghost is a terrible ghost almost nobody wants to mention it: Capitalism is the ghost, almost nobody wants to mention it. It’s capitalism, the people roar, out there, hear them.

Socialism, the other ghost Karl Marx spoke about, which walks here too, rather it is like a counter-ghost. Socialism, this is the direction, this is the path to save the planet, I don’t have the least doubt.”
Hugo Chavez

Thank You Mr. Chavez, for making my point. Global warming is not about warming at all, but about the global spread of Marxism. Climate change is not about the climate, it is about a forced change in political ideology. The only reason why our government is playing along with this now is that Democrats control the Congress, Progressive Marxists control the Democrats and the current President is, after all, a former Democratic Congressman and a Progressive Marxist. Some of Obama’s advisors like Carol Browner, belonged to Socialist International, a group dedicated to the creation of a global government under Marxist ideals. Van Jones, Obama’s former green jobs Czar was a self proclaimed and admitted Communist. Cass Sunstein promotes the use of climate legislation to redistribute American wealth and industry to other nations and John Holdren believes we should take drastic steps including forced sterilization and abortion to reduce earth’s population. Everyone in the Obama administration speaks of the world first and America second, exemplifying their real agenda.

In short, the inmates are running the asylum and the Marxist globalists smell blood in the water. They believe that with Obama’s help, the Capitalist pillars that support America will crumble and then we can enter a new era, complete with a single world government that will spread earth’s resources and man’s wealth in an equal, but very thin blanket. Of course our jet setting Copenhagen delegates will be exempt from that marginalized existence just as they are now. The elite will never suffer, especially if a day comes when they have control of everything you used to own.

Paul

Newsweek's Curious Adoration of Al Gore

Barack Obama is an unqualified disaster so rather than accept fact, Newsweek (or is it News-Weak?) is taking a trip down memory lane so they can play “What if Gore won the 2000 election?” In what may be the most idiotic article to ever to stain the pages of that Liberal rag-sheet, News-weak has decided to imagine a fantasy timeline to give us a glimpse of what a Gore Presidency would look like.

We know Liberals are all about fantasy. After all, in a Liberal’s world, hard work and research just can’t yield the concrete results that wearing ribbons do. If they could only convince all Americans to wear the appropriate ribbon of awareness, think how much human suffering would vanish overnight. In fact, the ribbons possess so much power; Liberal’s would rather wear those than waste their money on funding established research or support centers. That is unless they are one of those filthy rich liberals. In that case, they use their money to create foundations; accepting donations to raise awareness among the massive population of insensitive people that do not wear ribbons.

The other thing Liberals love to do is dream about the utopian society they could create if last remnants of capitalism were finally swept away and the progressive (Marxist) agenda were realized in totality. Since Obama clearly can’t deliver on that, they did the next best thing and created a dream world where Bush was defeated and Gore took his rightful place as the 43rd President of the United States.

In David Rakoff's dream world, 9-11 never happened because Gore took the appropriate steps to prevent it and Gore’s attention to the environment, particularly the restoration of wetlands and erosion prevention on the gulf coast, mitigated the severity of Katrina and the swift response of the Federal government under Gore, prevented countless deaths and needless devastation. Obama maybe a weak and ineffectual Liberal but he is still a Liberal so they just couldn’t ignore him. In Rakoff's world, Gore would eventually name Obama as a Supreme Court Justice.

The piece begins by eluding all sense of Constitutional law as the United States, under Gore, finally becomes party to the Kyoto Protocol and passes a comprehensive energy bill. Somehow, the mystical powers of Al Gore can even circumvent the Constitutional requirement that the Senate ratify our treaties with a 2/3 majority, something that could not happen with Kyoto and would not happen even if Copenhagen managed to cobble an agreement together within the next few days. The comprehensive energy agreement is also a work of fiction since that was proclaimed dead on arrival with democrats in control of both houses of Congress and a President that is willing to sign it. But this is a work of fantasy so to hell with logic and law….let’s dream on

At the ceremony to mark the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, President Gore announces ground breaking for high speed maglev rail along the Eastern Seaboard. Old rail cars would be sunk offshore to create artificial reefs and by September 2009, the system is opened, offering high speed rail service from Portland, Maine to Jacksonville, Florida. Of course, since Al Gore is the patron saint of the religion of Climatology, he would have no problem at all persuading the eco-fascists that the rail line is an important step in the “greening” of America….or would he?

Environmental activists have fought every major project, green or otherwise, under the banner of protecting the diversity of species and to restore the natural beauty of a planet untouched by human activity. If the project was to replace an existing system rail by rail and tie by tie, I am sure they would find some foul species of hairless mouse that has called the existing rail line home. Even if none were found, they would still sue to force us to do another one of those endless environmental impact studies before the basic route survey could even begin. Damn! Those little details keep ruining the plot.

The story continues with Gore’s superior intellect being able to decipher a disjointed and seemingly meaningless string of information (which is all that was left of our intelligence gathering capabilities after Clinton-Gore gutted the system) whereby he discovers a plot crafted by Osama Bin Laden to attack the United States. Despite his historical disdain for the military and his repeated assertions that war is an option only needed by those that fail at diplomacy, Gore races to the nearest phone booth and dons his “Commander in Chief” Underoos before ordering preemptive strategic bombing strikes on Al Qaida training camps in Afghanistan near the Pakistani border, averting the disaster of 9-11 altogether.

Just to imply the petty hardships that a victorious Al Gore would have to contend with as President, Rakoff adds that President Gore signs the Patriot Act to provide an additional measure of security for the country but since he is not George Bush, the Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional. He also says that a Gore administration would be ridiculed and denigrated at every turn which I take as more of a slap at Obama than a commentary on Gore. In Mr. Rakoff’s world, Gore is unaffected by his critics; making the hard decisions that he apparently feels Mr. Obama is incapable of.

To further show his fierce determination and Gore’s iron will, when Vice President Joe Lieberman speaks out against healthcare reform, Gore demands, and gets, his resignation which only proves the adolescence of the author. When this article was written, Lieberman was still holding out on healthcare so he apparently felt compelled to throw a few literary rocks at him. After all, since Lieberman is obviously not part of the collective mind, he must be eliminated, even in a fantasy administration. Of course, Hillary Clinton is named as Lieberman’s replacement. Colin Powell steps down as Secretary of State and Bill Clinton assumes that position.

Just to prove that this is indeed, OZ and not a work of fact driven speculation; Gore supposedly signs a bill providing tax cuts equaling $1.35 trillion dollars over ten years to America’s wealthiest citizens, drawing harsh criticism from both the left and the right. He also faces the nation during his 2002 State of the Union address and singles out Iran, Iraq and North Korea as having goals similar to the Axis powers of World War II.

Fear not…all ends well with King Al Gore the first. He is eventually recognized for his bold actions and foresight in preventing not only an imminent attack on the US by fundamentalist terrorists but in preventing catastrophe through his environmental restoration of the Gulf of Mexico coast line, which saved thousands of lives and billions in property damage. The number of Gore’s successes are eventually criticized in the Senate because the sheer amount of time they have to spend commending this President’s actions are seen as distracting the Senate from their primary purpose.

Of course no story in News-Weak would be complete if it didn’t trash Bush too. Now that Gore has completed his two terms, it is finally Hillary Clinton’s turn. The Democratic ticket for 2008 is Hillary Clinton with her mate and running mate, Bill. Just as strange is the notion that George Bush throws his hat in the ring in a bid to finally capture his second term with brother Jeb as his running mate. Rakoff suggests that George Bush’s fortunes begin to turn after a televised and tearful interview about his alcoholism with Dr. Drew Pinsky; a condition that Bush supposedly falls pray to after his 2000 loss to Gore.

Really? Apparently Mr. Rakoff is under the delusion that Al Gore would have been able to have see what dozens of experts could not, where Islamic terror is concerned. Much like the followers of Nostradamus, the snippets of information about Bin Laden’s activities could only have been reasonably connected after the attack when the names and countries of origin of the perpetrators were known. Similarly, Rakoff assumes that Gore would have found a stomach for military action if the need arose and that he would even care about the environment if he were not in a position to personally accrue millions of dollars by exploiting the fears of the Eco-weirdoes on a national level.

No, Gore is a lack-luster and unpolished imitation of a politician frustrated by his failed bid for the Presidency. His lack of substance and personality is why he was not elected in spite of every felonious act of voter fraud committed by the left.

Now that climate-gate has proven the fraud of environmental extremism and may even be the largest hoax of the century, perhaps Gore will finally find some other kind of snake oil to peddle. Maybe he can retire to a local park and sell snow cones this summer to help in the fight against seasonal global warming?

Paul

Copenhagen Unwittingly Exposes Climate Fraud

The climate conference in Copenhagen is becoming a running commentary on everything I told you it would be. Ironically, thousands of arriving delegates had to stand outside in freezing rain, snow and bitterly cold temperatures while conference personnel sorted out their registration difficulties. Apparently the body of nations that wants to impose international rule over the evils of industrial societies do not possess the required brain power to realize that you cannot fit the invited 45,000 delegates in a building designed for a maximum occupancy of 12,000 people. How encouraging.

There were more headlines Monday as a contingent of poorer nations stormed out of the negotiations because their demands for money were not being adequately addressed. In somewhat of an eco-reparations scheme, they contend that since industrial nations have already produced nearly two centuries of greenhouse gas, we should pay them (handsomely) because they haven’t. While it’s true that pre-industrial and developing nations emit very little greenhouse gas, this is not proof of their ecological prowess; it is a commentary on their corrupt governance.

Many of these nations have failed to develop because their war-lord leaders steal as much as possible from their own people and that has stalled any growth of their economy or industry. Pre-conference estimates said the climate accords could eventually result in a massive redistribution of wealth from prosperous nations to the poorer nations of as much as $145 Trillion dollars. Even if that were true, it is doubtful that this money would be used to develop environment friendly infrastructure in those countries as advertised. Instead, I envision massive retrofits of the palatial dwellings of hundreds of war-lords and totalitarian leaders while the people of those nations continue to live in squalor; cooking their meager meals on fires of dried ox dung.

The talks were not quite as lucrative for those poor nations as they had expected and the commitment for that kind of transfer of wealth was just not fleshing out. I don’t blame them for being upset. I am a regular Power Ball player so I understand their disappointment. I was checking numbers on a recent ticket I had purchased and had the first three in a row. I had envisioned all the ways I was going to spend my fortune before realizing that those were the only three numbers I was going to get and my fortune would be a mere seven dollars. Of course the delegates’ walkout only lasted a couple of hours since global warming hasn’t quite reached Copenhagen and the temperatures were below freezing outside of the conference hall.

There were also massive demonstrations all around the conference area demanding immediate action to “save the planet”. Curiously, the angry mobs were carrying flags adorned with the Communist Hammer and Sickle which may have shocked Danish police, but really shouldn’t surprise anyone that regularly reads this blog. Marxists have long recognized that the climate movement is the best possible vehicles to have capitalist nations commit suicide, eventually forcing their people in to socialism to survive. Apparently, climate-gate had the same catastrophic result for die hard communist intentions that the fall of the Berlin Wall had. You see, not everyone cheered at the collapse of the Soviet Union. For these throw-backs to the days of Stalin, hysteria over global warming was supposed to mean a resurgence of Marxism while us silly westerners cut our own financial throats to save the planet.

The President plans to attend the last day of the conference and rumors say that he will offer guarantees that the United States will commit to a 17% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020; a guarantee he has no authority to make unless he plans to scrap the Constitution and negate its requirement that international treaties must be ratified by a 2/3 majority of the Senate. Apparently that is the plan, at least in spirit. According to Robert Creamer’s book, “Stand up Straight, How Progressives Can Win”, one of his strategies to advance progressive agendas is to create a crisis and then offer the people the lesser of two evils as a solution. You remember Robert Creamer, the husband of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)? He wrote this book while serving a prison sentence for attempting to defraud banks of $2.3 million to keep his insolvent progressive activist group afloat.

The lessons in his book have not fallen on deaf ears. Obama’s chief political advisor, David Axelrod, calls the book a “blueprint” for progressive victory. Well I suppose it’s comforting that the White House understands the concept of victory even if they have no intention of applying the discipline to foreign affairs. Now that Cap and Trade had been called dead on arrival, the President’s appointed hit man (or should I say hit person), Lisa Jackson of the EPA is issuing her ultimatum to Congress. Without Cap and Trade, warns Ms. Jackson, the EPA will exercise its authority under the Clean Air Act and begin the process of regulating CO2 production as a function of “command and control”. The threat is a clear assault by this administration against the authority of Congress and the most blatant misuse of government power to date.

The “deal” Lisa Jackson offered is that the EPA can enact regulatory control over the production of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses without the market based initiatives that would allow the trade of carbon credits, effectively shutting down all industry in the United States (The evil plan) or Congress can pass Cap and Trade that promises to damage business, raise energy costs for everyone, raise taxes and put millions out of work (the lesser of the two evils plan). How about door number three? If Congress can find the will (and the courage) to face this President and his radical advisors, they can pass a single page bill excluding CO2 from the Clean Air Act. Sure, that would result in law suits between environmentalists, the EPA and the Federal government but at least we could focus on getting millions of people off unemployment and putting them back to work while they sort the logistics out in the courts for the next forty years. If Congress fails to restrain the EPA, millions more will be out of work and our financial system will finally collapse.

Don’t forget the premise of Cap and Trade was meant to reduce global warming and have the added benefit of bringing America into a 21st century “green” economy. We now know through leaked e-mails and documents that “global warming” is the largest hoax ever perpetrated against the people of the world and that the latest verifiable data shows the earth is actually cooling. Besides the mitigation of global warming, we are being promised that if Cap and Trade passes that another main goal is to eliminate our dependency on foreign oil as we shift to renewable and non-polluting energy sources such as solar and wind power. Do you really think that can happen on a national level when environmental groups are filing one law suit after another effectively ceasing all major wind and solar projects now?

A recent project to install wind generating facilities in one of this nation’s desert regions, was brought to a screeching halt be one such law suit. The suit maintains that the installation would destroy the desert environment, ruin the natural beauty and affect a multitude of endangered species. It seems the only species that environmentalist are not concerned with are humans so even renewable, clean energy projects are being fought because that would allow us to continue to thrive. Desert lizards are far more deserving than we are and according to the most radical environmentalists, the loss of billions of humans would only begin to restore balance to the planet.

The reality of the situation has not deterred the White House and according to them, we are going to reduce CO2 production no matter how bad it is for the nation and how phony the science of global warming is found to be. The EPA declared its endangerment finding based on the reports issued by the IPCC. The IPCC reports were constructed using the data prepared by the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia; data that was proven to be manipulated and manufactured by those damaging e-mails that were released by an unknown whistle blower. Even though there is now concrete evidence that opposing scientific views were not only ignored but the scientists that brought them to the table were intentionally discredited; even thought there is concrete evidence that the work of the CRU and the IPCC was a calculated lie designed to provide proof of global warming by rigging the data to hide historical fluctuations in climate prior to industrial pollution, the push for climate legislation and EPA regulation continues.

It will not stop there. As if taking over the banking industry, the auto industry, the healthcare industry and now the regulation of CO2 was not enough to prove this administration is seeking to cultivate incredible power in violation of the Constitution; the Congress is now discussing amending the Clean Water Restoration Act. The CWRA currently gives the Federal government regulatory control over all navigable waters in and around the United States. The proposed amendment would expand that regulatory authority to ALL waters in and around the United States. Wetlands, streams, lakes, farm ponds, wells, aquifers; even dry washes that only carry water once every ten years would then be subject to Federal regulation.

What is going on here? The Constitution is being trashed before our eyes and the government is actively seizing control of food, water, jobs and healthcare….everything that would make it possible for the citizens to mount a successful opposition to the dismantling of our way of life. After all, how far would a citizen revolt get without money, food or water? None of this is by chance and if there were any doubts, we now know with certainty what Obama meant when he declared before Election Day, that we were “five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America”. I see a lot that is being transformed and if they are successful, the Constitution will be relegated to the dust bin of history and replaced with a new document that will bring all of us to our knees. If we let them do that, what will you tell your children and grandchildren when they ask you why?

Paul