First, the Disclaimer. I have been an Obama fan since he appeared on the scene. At first, it was just a matter of, ‘anyone but George Bush’. Then, I became entranced by his charisma, his enthusiasm and what I perceived to be his guileless manner. He certainly appeared, to me anyway, to be an ‘all cards on the table’ kind of guy. His presidency seems very transparent and open to public scrutiny. I found it refreshing.
With full acknowledgement that it was Bush who began the Bailout debacle, one has to wonder why Obama continues to chase his tail on this. I think it has become more than clear that the bailout methodology is a failure. How deep into debt must we dig ourselves before we realize that we are not curing the problem? I say ‘we’, but there is very little ‘we’ involved here. Our government continues to write checks, expecting us to cover them.
Then there is the health insurance reform. I am told that this is an 11 pound document. It is inconceivable that a group of lawmakers will be able to argue and agree on each article. I would question whether many of them have even been able to read through it. The potential for abuse here is mind-boggling. Every day, bills are passed that carry unrelated and unwelcome addendums. Can anyone out there venture a guess at the number of potential landmines that might be disguised in the pages of an 11 pound document?
People who do not support Obama are starting to panic and the propaganda is beginning to spread. I have heard it suggested that this bill is being used to broaden the scope of the abortion law. The proposed change, I am told, will allow aborting a child up to two years after birth if they are physically or mentally impaired. It is an insane concept which should make one laugh, but do we really know? With so much out of our control, can any one of us say with conviction that this is an impossibility? It has also been alleged that the bill includes provisions for senior patients to visit with their doctors, on a regular basis, to discuss continued life choices. WHAT! Has the law prohibiting euthanasia been revised when I wasn’t looking? If it hasn’t, what is there to discuss?
Then there are the other disturbing rumors. The ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program seems to be a big success. So much so that it had to be refunded. I’m all for it – in theory. But, there are two major flaws. The first is that there has been no pressure put on the auto makers to provide cars that are more fuel efficient. The best we can do is 28 miles per gallon, and there are only a handful of those models available. So, we are flooding the roads with vehicles that are only marginally better than their predecessors. Which leads to the second problem; where are all of these clunkers going? One would assume, since this is environmental reform, that these vehicles are being recycled. But, there is no evidence of that. It seems inconceivable that we will just be cramming our landfills with these vehicles, but I see no evidence that this is not the case. So what is this really? On the face of it, maybe we are looking at just another way to bolster up the floundering automobile industry. As my grandmother used to say – ‘if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…’ If this is the case, shame on Obama. I, for one, expected better.
Other rumors abound: bailout money being used to bolster the pornography industry, Michelle Obama using taxpayer money for their trip to Paris and that Obama is simply unpatriotic. It has even been suggested that he is manipulating himself into a dictatorial position. As far fetched as some of this sounds, the proponents are adamant and I cannot completely refute it because there is just not enough information. I have not read the health care bill and until I see it in black and white, I refuse to believe that our president is advocating the murder of our elderly and infirm, BUT…Help us out here Mr. President. Please give us something besides hope and logic to base our arguments on and don’t expect sanity to come out of 11 pounds of legalese. Let’s have some laws and language that are forward looking yet intelligible to the common man. A good plan does not mean a convoluted plan. Obama can truly make this one of the most open and progressive presidencies we have seen in recent years, but is going to take more than legal jargon and subterfuge.
To Be Released in August 2009
Marchbooks' Blog 