One terrible bill. Lott and Yeatman vs. Pelosi. Obama’s Persian adventure. Plus more.
PUT A CAP ON IT
Re: Peter Ferrara’s
Cap and Trade Dementia:
How can we expect Obama to admit he’s wrong about Global Warming?
If he did, he wouldn’t get billions of tax payer dollars for his
ambitious social programs.
— Gamaliel Isaac
Highland Park, New Jersey
Calling Waxman-Markey a “power grab” is like calling Mount
Everest a hill. The bill is not a tax bill. It’s not an energy
bill, and it’s not a jobs bill.
So, what is the bill if it’s not a tax bill, an energy bill, or a jobs bill, and why is it so upsetting to our people?
This bill is a comprehensive structure of tyranny, that’s what is is. That’s why most Congressional Democrats (but, note to the file, not all) and a few Congressional Republicans are for it. They’re for it because they are baby tyrants who dream of imposing a comprehensive structure of regulation from Washington which will govern and regulate the most minute aspects of our private lives, and impose tight central control over our families and our property.
That’s what’s wrong with this bill, that’s why it should be opposed, and most importantly, that’s the issue — the only issue — which can rally a majority to depose these wannabe dictators and restore Liberty for ourselves and our Posterity.
The other side may have a temporary majority on taxes. They may have a temporary majority on energy issues. They may have a temporary majority on jobs. Now, you and I know that these temporary majorities have been herded together by fear, by propaganda, and by misfeasance. No matter. We are governed by people who know that a crisis should never be allowed to go to waste.
But there is not a temporary majority for tyranny. There is not, and there never has been. When the People, Democrats and Republicans and others, got even a whiff of what these evildoers were up to in 1993-94, they threw the bums out in a massive landslide. Yes, the majority was wasted, yes, Newt was reckless and vain, but, by God, the People were made to speak with one voice on one issue, and the one issue is this:
“Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her. — Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.”
The issue is not abortion. The issue is not taxes. The issue is not capitalism, in fact, the issue has nothing to do with economic relations directly. The issue is not adultery, nor Christianity. It’s not jobs, or medicine, or resource exploitation.
THE ISSUE IS FREEDOM. This bill, were it properly explained and publicized, claims the right and declares the intent “to bind us in all cases whatsoever,” and “if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then there is not such a thing as slavery upon earth.”
The American people are being sold on the fictitious ends of this legislation (energy, jobs, “investments”) but they do not and will not subscribe to the means, especially when they are made to understand that the means in fact describe the true ends.
These are the times that try men’s souls. Let’s stand forth. Let’s call tyranny by it’s proper name. This bill is not “big government,” it’s a structure for tyranny.
Let’s vote on tyranny vs. Liberty next time.
— James T. Noble
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
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Old Texican| 7.3.09 @ 1:23PM
James Noble
Thank you. That was the most succinct, and thoughtful post I have read today.
You stepped back from the pointless grumbling and took it to the conclusion.
brrrrr...chill bumps!
billy| 7.4.09 @ 5:34AM
I say again.
Our elected officials need a history lesson.
Why did we tell the king of England (one of the most powerful men in the world) to take a hike 233 years ago today?
DoS_Conservative| 7.4.09 @ 10:32AM
"I don't usually read The American Spectator any more, though I do return occasionally to gloat. "
--Paul Dorell
I think Mr. Dorell needs to go back on hiatus because his letter is absolutely nonsense. He makes some hysterical claims how totalitarianism is great. It takes a liberal to praise totalitarianism. He has a great role model in the White House.
First, his claim that government controlled healthcare systems are more economical and effective than our current system of private insurance. Economical? Not to the tax payers who fund it. Perhaps to the government since they constantly deny treatment; therefore, they are not paying for it. As a Foreign Service Officer in the Department of State, I have lived overseas many years and have experienced government run healthcare first hand. I would not trade our current system for it. It is not great. Besides my problems dealing with that system, I have had two friends diagnosed with cancer while in Europe. The government run health care in Europe told them they had to wait 6 weeks just to talk about possible treatment options for their cancer. Then would have to wait just to get on the treatment program afterwards. They came back to the US and were immediately on treatment within days of returning to the US. If they waited in the European system, they would probably not be cured today. Also, those with money all pay for higher medical care at special hospitals for the well to do. They all know if you want quality healthcare, you pay for it out of pocket.
Second, his claim that the Chinese are on the right track in trying to control fertility rates when over population is a global crisis is just insane. If they are on the right track since they instituted their one child policy, then why is it that their population continues to increase? As someone who has lived in China for a couple of years, I can tell you. Because when the Chinese have girls, they continue to either kill them (infanticide), or abandon them in an orphanage so they can continue to try for a boy. Also, those Chinese with money can just pay the government to be an exception to the one child policy. Or perhaps I misread Mr. Dorell's point. Perhaps he was praising the Chinese population control mechanism of executing criminals for petty crimes as pickpocketing. Or massacring minority populations that don't agree with the Politburo. I guess the Chinese are on the right track. As a liberal, Mr. Dorell probably thinks this is a wonderful way to quell dissent.
Finally, Mr. Dorell blames the current financial crisis on too little regulation. He acts as if no regulation existed and caused this crisis. The truth is that if Congress (the overseers of the regulators) actually did their job and enforced the regulation already on the books, instead of catering to their special interest groups, we probably wouldn't be in the mess we are in today.
I think Mr. Dorell needs to continue to not read the Spectator and go back to his Huffington Post and Daily KOS blogs with the other brain washed sheeple who believe this nonsense.
Paul Dorell| 7.6.09 @ 11:44AM
DoS_Conservative,
You can rest assured that I don't intend to become a regular on this site. It was always fun stir the pot during Bush's second term, but that's old hat now. However, I will respond to some of your comments.
Studies have shown that the total per capita cost to the citizens of France for health care is about half of that of Americans, and that on balance the results in terms of infant mortality and other measures are better. I'm not saying that this applies to the poorer countries of Europe. I realize that there are waiting periods in some countries, and that treatment isn't always immediately available. As an individual, that would be undesirable, but for the country as a whole, it would be beneficial. One of the reasons why our health care system is the most expensive in the world per capita is that people are over-treated. In my opinion, it is appropriate in many instances to allow people to die rather than spend hundreds of thousand of taxpayer dollars to extend their lives by a few months. That is the norm here, and the current system has no internal mechanism to correct it. If immediate treatment is what particularly irks you, with any system that we're likely to legislate, you will still be able to get it - at the right price out of your own pocket. I do not commend Congress for their conduct over the last few years, but at least they're trying to move in the right direction now.
Regarding China, I was not applauding their human rights violations. Nor was I applauding the effectiveness of their attempt to control their population growth. I was applauding the fact that the government is attempting to prevent a disaster to their country that would also spill over and affect every corner of the globe. What I'm saying is that in principle, there is nothing wrong with the government regulation of the number of offspring that a couple my bear.
Regarding the financial crisis, if you had read my letter carefully, you would have noticed that I mentioned lack of enforcement as one of the causes.
Regarding my choices of reading, I do not read the Huffington Post or Daily Kos, though I usually agree with Paul Krugman, who has perhaps got a bit of a big head from his Nobel prize in economics.
As far as Obama is concerned, I'm happy with the job he's done so far and shudder to think what would have happened to this country with McCain-Palin in office. Obama is on track to become one of the greatest presidents in American history. The readers of The American Spectator now make up one of the wackiest fringes in American politics, but I don't imagine it will die any time soon, as it's still well funded.