Posted by
Patrick Henry on Monday, August 02, 2010 4:49:28 PM
At a recent Democratic fundraiser, President Barack Obama said that "Republicans
have not come up with one single new idea" to help the nation out of recession and
toward fiscal stability. When a sheltered person misstates facts out of ignorance, we
call it a mistake. When a politician embellishes his/her accomplishments or offers
different interpretations of statistics, we call that "spinning." But when a person who
surely knows better purposely utters deceptive claims for personal or political gain,
we call that exactly what it is: LYING.
Looking back on Congressman Joe Wilson's admonishment in the well of the House
for shouting, "you lie," at Obama, it is difficult to do anything but smile. Wilson had
Obama pegged right all along. But how do we know he was actually lying in this
most recent case? Well, the facts are quite public, and are nationally known.
Republican Governor Chris Christie is fiscally revamping the state of New Jersey to
live within its means. Certainly that has meant furloughing state employees, tearing
up fat-cat union contracts and getting rid of marginal and worthless programs. But
he has done it, and he has done it WITHOUT raising taxes.
Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) has proposed a "Roadmap for America's Future"
that includes a flat tax, reduced government and fiscal restraint. Congressional
Democrats have passed it off as too austere or unrealistic, and Obama has never even
acknowledged it. But it's there, it's a new idea, and Ryan is decidedly a Republican.
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his Republican senate colleagues have blocked bill
after spendthrift bill from passage simply because Democrats wish to continue adding
to the deficit. Republicans believe that it is impossible to boost the economy by growing
the deficit and imposing new taxes on businesses. They are saying "no," and instead
of being credited with keeping their small finger in the dike to stop the flood of
Democrat irresponsibility they are attacked by Obama and the Democratic National
Committee for being the "party of no." But given congressional habits of the last decade,
not spending money the country doesn't have most certainly qualifies as a novel (and
sensible) idea.
When Obama challenged Republicans to come to a healthcare summit, they showed
up, ideas in hand. Those ideas were fairly presented by House Speaker John Boehner
(R-Ohio), Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Ryan. Most commentators agreed
that the GOPers had held up their end of that debate very well, but in the end Obama
incorporated almost none of their suggestions, instead bribing and armtwisting his own
majority to pass a bill 60% of Americans didn't want without a single Republican vote.
And that brings us to the real problem. Republicans have plenty of alternative ideas,
but they're not ideas Obama and the Democrats want to hear. They don't propagate
infinite government growth and regulation, unabated taxation and limits on spending.
They don't provide a way for Obama and his party to get what they want: an
entitlement state with duly redistributed wealth. Repeatedly Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
and Harry Reid (D-NV) have kept Republican bills and amendments fron even
coming to the floor of their houses for a vote. They have attempted to outshout and
gag Republicans in every debate, and offered no meaningful concessions. In other
words, Republicans have plenty of ideas about how to right the nation's ship, but
they'll never be acknowledged by Obama or even see the light of day so long as
Democrats have an iron grip on both houses of congress.
But let's be clear. Saying Republicans don't have any ideas I like, is simply stating
a preference or opinion. Saying Republicans don't have one single idea to help the
nation through recession and fiscal danger is a prevarication, a knowing, intentional
lie. That's who this man we elected president is, and it's what he does.
Now, one would think that a man whose White House is, in fact, a house of glass,
would be a bit careful about hucking rocks at others. This is the man who touts the
"successes" of an $862B "stimulus" which if passed, he promised, would hold
unemployment at 8%. However, unemployment has hovered near 10% for over a
year now (not even counting those who have given up looking for work) and a
majority of Americans (62%) have adjudged the program a failure. This comes in
spite of endless presidential and vic-presidential barnstorming tours to tout "saved
jobs" and new infrastructure projects, along with millions of dollars worth of road
signs telling how great the program is. You lie, Mr. President!
Or take the much ballyhooed passage of Obamacare which, he said, would result
in lower costs fo medical care and insurance, no one losing his/her physician or
insurance, no one on Medicare losing benefits and universal medical coverage for
all. Then contrast that with the reality.Congress' own budget office says insuarnce
will cost more, short-term costs for treatment will go up and not everyone will be
covered. Seniors have already lost coverage and many have lost their physcians
either because their doctors retired rather than living under the restrictions of
Obamacare or simply ceased taking Medicare patients because they could no longer
afford to do so. Employees are losing their coverage because it is simply cheaper
for their employers to pay the federal fine than to provide it. Oh, they will be
eligible to get replacement coverage through the "exchanges," but the fact is that
they've lost the policy they had and liked. You've done it again, Mr. President.
You've lied in order to advance your political agenda.
Repeatedly Obama has asked for "a little help from Republicans," and has yearned
for more bipartisanship. The reality, as Doug Giles so eloquently stated it in his
recent TH post entitled To Compromise Or To Clash, the middle to which Democrats
invite Republicans is "the big fat center of their eurosocialist, freedom-strangling,
debt-addled. national security deficient, secularist crap pie." Republicans are saying
"no thanks," and so, according to the polls, are a majority of Americans.
Democrats are to use a favorite Je Biden phrase, "shovel ready." Obama has dug
the hole with lies, broken promises, socialist excesses, bloated budgets and foreign
misadventures. Congressional Democrats, led by Pelosi and Reid, have willingly
jumped in by rubber-stamping it all. And on November 2, voters are poised shovel-
in-hand to bury them. Republicans aren't going to negotiate with Obama for the
same reason he won't debate Ahmadinejad. You can't trust a liar!