Posted by
Patrick Henry on Saturday, May 22, 2010 9:12:54 AM
It has taken only a year for Barack Obama to fall prey to the bane of elected
officers: the broken promise. An old co-worker of mine used to warn of those
whose "mouths overloaded their butts," and the pith clearly applies to those who
promise everything to get elected and deliver, for many reasons, nothing or even
the opposite of what they promised.
Apart from the seemingly accepted maxim that "politicians lie," there are a
number of reaons why so many glittering guarantees end up on the scrap heap
of reality. One of these is the penchant for offering the impossible, i.e., a "free
lunch." Obama promised universal healthcare that would cut costs, provide better
care, reduce the deficit and cause no one to lose coverage. Only those who were
drinking too much believed it. Now, even at the new law's inception, it is apparent
that there are no cost savings, those on Medicare Advantage face loss of benefits
and, in some cases, complete loss of coverage, not all will be covered, doctors are
already closing up shop or refusing Medicare patients in record numbers and there
is a bill before congress which, if enacted, will wipe out the deficit reduction savings
of the original legislation. This was never realistic and either Obama was too naive
to know it or too dumb to admit it.
Another reason why politicians break promises is their own misrepresentations of
their true position on issue during campaigns. Obama promised that immigration reform
would be among his top priorities. Yet he has done nothing to create new laws or enforce
existing ones, forcing states to take matters into their own hands and create a legal
civil war with the federal government. What voters understood him to be promising
was a sensible solution to deal with the 12-20 million illegal aliens already in the country
and closure of our leaking borders. What he intended, but did not specify, was a
blanket amnesty to create millions of new Democratic voters and perpetual open
borders. If congress passed such a measure, which it won't, there would be an open
rebellion of the populace, huge majorities of which favor the new Arizona law that
mirrors the unenforced federal one and do not believe it right to simply give people
something they've already stolen. Since Obama can't get the reform he wants, he just
breaks his promise and does nothing while states are awash in red ink from dealing
with the black hole of illegal immigrant costs.
Some political promises are broken because they were an overreach in the first
place. Obama promised that if people got on board with the eight billion dollar
stimulus package, unemployment would not pass 8%. Today it is nearly 10% and
has been so for many months. While there is some economic recovery it is none-
theless a jobless recovery, and 73% of polled business economists adjudged the
stimulus a dismal failure. What happened? Obama's mouth overloaded his butt.
There was absolutely no way he could have known what he claimed to know,
i.e., that if congress passed the stimulus unemployment would remain at or under
8%. He made a promise that was entirely beyond his ability to keep, and party
sycophants and other silly Americans followed this pied piper of prevarication
right down the primrose path.
Promises often get broken when they depend upon the cooperation of others.
Obama assured Americans that if we approached the world with contrition for
our alleged sins and held out the open hand of diplomacy surely other nations
would respond in kind. Of course we now know that Iran, North Korea, Russia
and Venezuela have done the very opposite, discrediting his belief. When one
makes ridiculous guarantees not based in reason, history or reality, and badly
miscalculates the intent and capacity of peer nations, all that can happen is
failure.
Finally, promises get broken when they mask hidden agendas. In Obama's
case the smiling face of hope and change quickly morphed into the snarling
invasiveness of socialism. Everyone knows what hope and change are. They
aren't government takeovers of banks, automakers, insurance companies,
healthcare, the internet and student loans. They don't spring from suppression
of dissent, or disregard for individual liberties guaranteed by the constitution.
Go out on the street today and ask ten people if they are hopeful about the
changes instituted by Barack Obama. Or, just look at the polls. If he had
been blatantly honest about his agenda he would not, of course, have been
elected. Instead, he simply said what people wanted to hear, intending all the
while to go his own way. Now the piper has to be paid.
While understanding the reasons why politicians break promises, the way
back from the precipice for America depends on our willingness to start demanding
honesty in government, to reject the premise that politicians just have to lie and
to raise our voices to question unrealistic, ambiguous, undeliverable promises no
matter who makes them. When you buy your house you sign a mortgage note
which is a promise to pay. When you don't pay, you lose your house. That's
an easy principle to understand, even when the House is White.