Ah, it’s that bi-annual time of the year again, when our airwaves are bombarded with dark, prophetic messages played over ominous music, when the dog walkers and friendly neighbors on our daily routes are replaced with yard signs and bumper stickers.
The time when the political ax-men and cavalry come out of the woodwork to inform ignorant voters of “the truth about (senator/governor/rep/mayor) X” and reveal his or her secret agenda. That’s right. It’s mid-term election season once again.
Now, all political rhetoric aside, let’s look at the importance of these midterm elections. This November 2nd, 37 Senate seats and all 435 House of Representatives seats are up for contention. This means big changes could be in place next Tuesday for the House and Senate, where the Democrats have enjoyed huge majorities since riding the Barrack Obama Express in 2008.
However, the gravy train appears to be running out of steam along with the president’s job approval ratings (45% as of October 26), and American voters seem to be chomping at the bit for change they can believe in. So, with a chance to let the 111th Session of Congress know how Americans feel about the Obama agenda, we the American people have a unique opportunity to offer a referendum on big government politics. Let’s cut through the political squabble and observe the past two years of our progressive Congress.
Regardless of how much our liberal congressmen try to distance themselves from the unpopular president, almost every liberal benefited from the Obama effect in 2008: in a year-long campaign heavy with rhetoric, candidate Obama drew huge voter turn outs in all 50 states. These voters tended to vote straight Democrat, bringing us the liberal Congress we evaluate next Tuesday. The Democrats up for re-election this time around owe their seats to the President and his sweeping promises. Furthermore, these Congressmen overwhelmingly voted with their party on pivotal legislation such as the health care reform bill, the stimulus, and a sweeping omnibus bill. For better or for worse, this Congress is inseparably tied to President Obama.
These overarching government plans, wrapped in secrecy, have served to mortgage our future for the President’s agenda. The universal health care bill, passed by Obama’s Congressional cavalry, seems about as easy to understand as the tax code. The bill spends taxpayer dollars on, among other things, a $100 million buyout of Democrat hold out Sen. Mary Landrieu through an ill-defined “major disaster area” fund, a $40 million payoff to Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson to cover all Medicaid expenses in his home state of Nebraska, and a $600 million buyout of Vermont’s Medicare penalties to secure the vote of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D). Plan on reading the bill line by line? Then you better take off a couple months from work or school: according to the Library of Congress, the bill clocks in at 1,990 pages, approximately twice the size of the New American Bible. One thing is certain about this bill, however: it spends money.
The Congressional Budget Office conservatively estimates that this bill will place 1.3 trillion dollars of debt on the American people, debt that will cripple the nation for years to come. This bill met the criteria of a whopping 98.2% of Democrat Congressmen and was debated and passed in a combined 21 days by the two houses before landing on the President’s desk. The Democrat sponsors of this bill, including Rep. Henry Waxman, Rep. Charles Rangel, and Sen. Harry Reid, have admitted that they have not read the entire bill, a bill that will cripple their constituents for decades to come.
The American voters stand at an important crossroad this election: will they condone the wasteful government spending that threatens our nation’s future, or will common sense politics prevail? Even if the American people cannot reclaim the House and Senate, they can at least throw enough of the bums out to impede the Obama agenda that threatens the American way of life. At this pivotal point of our nation’s history, we the people can reclaim our government and make sure that our shining city upon a hill can prosper for the rest of our lives. The future of the free world is in our hands. Let’s make sure it survives the dark Obama night.
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/2010/
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2009/06/22/090622taco_talk_hertzberg
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204335,00.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions
http://www.communityinvestmentnetwork.org/nc/single-news-item-states/article/stimulus-bill-summary-american-recovery-reinvestment-act-of-2009/?tx_ttnews[backPid]=1684
http://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/heath-care-reform-bill-vs-constitution/
http://www.redstate.com/susananne/2010/03/05/the-house-vote-on-the-senate-healthcare-bill-is-the-final-vote-obama-will-sign-it-into-law/
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gop_blasts_kickback_health_fix_dAelgwc0jXXhMD6fwB05IK
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/11/the-100-million-health-care-vote.html
http://www.originofnations.org/books,%20papers/quotes%20etc/Reagan_The%20Shining%20City%20Upon%20A%20Hill%20speech.htm
