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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (78553)	3/23/2010 8:39:57 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 90947

Abuses Stir A Constitutional Awakening By WALTER WILLIAMS IBD Editorials Posted 03/22/2010 06:53 PM ET If there is anything good to say about Democrat control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, it's that their extraordinarily brazen, heavy-handed acts have aroused a level of constitutional interest among the American people that has been dormant for far too long. Part of this heightened interest is seen in the strength of the Tea Party movement around the nation. Another is the angry reception that many congressmen received at their district town hall meetings. Yet another is seen by the exchanges on the nation's most popular radio talk shows such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and others. Then there's the rising popularity of conservative/libertarian television shows such as Glenn Beck, John Stossel and Fox News. Cost Of Office While the odds-on favorite is that the Republicans will do well in the fall elections, Americans who want constitutional government should not see Republican control as a solution to what our founders would have called "a long train of abuses and usurpations." Solutions to our nation's problems require correct diagnostics and answers to questions like: Why did 2008 presidential and congressional candidates spend over $5 billion campaigning for office? Why did special interests pay Washington lobbyists over $3 billion that same year? What are reasons why corporations, unions and other interest groups fork over these billions of dollars to lobbyists and into the campaign coffers of politicians? Don't Believe It One might say that these groups are simply extraordinarily civic-minded Americans who have a deep and abiding interest in elected officials living up to their oath of office to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution. Another response is that these politicians, and the people who spend billions of dollars on them, just love participating in the political process. If you believe either of these explanations, you're probably a candidate for some medicine, a straitjacket and a padded cell. A far better explanation for the billions going to the campaign coffers of Washington politicians and lobbyists lies in the awesome government power and control over business, property, employment and other areas of our lives. Having such power, Washington politicians are in the position to grant favors and commit acts that if committed by a private person would land him in jail. Here's one among thousands of examples: Incandescent light bulbs are far more convenient and less expensive than the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) that General Electric now produces. So how can General Electric sell its costly CFLs? They know that Congress has the power to outlaw incandescent light bulbs. General Electric was the prominent lobbyist for outlawing incandescent light bulbs and in 2008 had a $20 million lobbying budget. Also, it should come as no surprise that General Electric is a contributor to global warmers who helped convince Congress that incandescent bulbs were destroying the planet. The greater Congress' ability to grant favors and take one American's earnings to give to another American, the greater the value of influencing congressional decision-making. There's no better influence than money. The generic favor sought is to get Congress, under one ruse or another, to grant a privilege or right to one group of Americans that will be denied another group of Americans. On The Edge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, covering up for a corrupt Ways and Means Committee chairman, Charles Rangel, said that his behavior was "a violation of the rules of the House" but it "was not something that jeopardized our country in any way." Pelosi is right in minimizing Rangel's corruption. It pales in comparison, in terms of harm to our nation, to the legalized corruption that's a part of Washington's daily dealing. Hopefully, our nation's constitutional reawakening will begin to deliver us from the precipice. There is no constitutional authority for two-thirds to three-quarters of what Congress does. Our Constitution's father, James Madison, explained: "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined ... (to be) exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce." .

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (78553)	3/26/2010 9:32:33 PM
From: Sully-	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Biden: People are skeptical of what we’re doing because of … Bush by Allahpundit Hot Air March 26, 2010 Sure, pal. Whatever you need to tell yourself. <<< VPOTUS blamed the George W. Bush administration for any unpopularity the current administration has suffered. “We inherited a cynical republic, and I can’t blame them,” he said. “Eight years of collapse, eight years of being misled about wars.” He cast the Republican political strategy since last January as irresponsible cynicism., and boasted that the recent passage of health care reform might dispel it. “They [Republicans] still believe cynicism will prevail, that the government can’t do anything, that we’re a bunch of socialists – all these things you hear. I think the healthcare debate put a big stake in the heart of that argument.” >>> Have a look at The One’s job approval dating back to inauguration day. 68/12 to start, as I read it, which was no doubt due in part to the huge relief many people felt at having Bush finally out of office. The new golden age of competence and clean government was about to be born, remember? If anything, the public cynicism inspired by Dubya made the idiotic rainbows-and-unicorns utopian message of Hopenchange that much easier to sell during the campaign. But then, via Innocent Bystanders, a funny thing happened. And then, with unemployment still skyrocketing, we embarked on our long national nightmare of adding a giant new entitlement to our already unsustainable basket of federal benefits. And we did it with backroom deals and arcane parliamentary procedures and pandering to special interests and lots and lots and lots of lying about cost — essentially, the precise opposite of rainbows and unicorns. And we were asked to pretend that everything we know about health-care reform is wrong: And then, to cap it all off, a nice steamy dump was taken in the Senate on the foundational message of “post-partisanship” upon which Hopenchange was built. So, that’s my wild guess as to where the cynicism really comes from, but I’m open to persuasion on the point. Any takers? .