Americans disillusioned by the massive expansion of government under President Obama’s administration, and those with short-term memory loss who are pinning their hopes and dreams on a landslide of Republicans taking back Congress after this fall’s elections take note, its still just more CHANGE you cannot believe in.
Indeed, establishment Republicans have released their to-do list and unless you relish suffering from cognitive dissonance while chanting “end big government” at tea party rallies you will be mightily disappointed. Further buttressing claims that there is little philosophical difference between the two parties save for the route in which they take to achieve their statist machinations, Republicans are seeking to repeal "ObamaCare", only so they might offer their version of massive government intervention into the health care sector, or for those with an affinity for sound bite kitsch, “BoehnerCare”.
Boehner and Co. have released a document that tips their hand and tells you where they’re headed and should instruct you that there is no party, none, zero, no political party that stands for limited government, individual liberty and freedom, and the Constitution. They talk a good game, but they’re fakes. They’re liars. They’re hacks. So, ladies and gentlemen, if you will stop what you’re doing right now, let us have a moment of silence for the Republican Party, RIP.
And there’s your moment of silence. That’s it. The party, literally, is over. How did this happen? You have to read this. It’s not enough that the preamble to this thing is an insult to all of your founding father intelligence. If you’re going to quote Thomas Jefferson, then quote him. You don’t expropriate Jefferson for your own singular political purposes. I mean, this is embarrassing. But I can’t wait to hear the hackery out there, “Oh, this is a bold plan. Oh, they’re going to trim a hundred billion dollars out of spending next year. You just wait and see, Chris, a hundred dollars makes a big difference. You wait and see. We’re on the right course. What are we supposed to do?” The empire, as they call it, is striking back [“Star Wars” theme music]. I’d like to see John Boehner in a Darth Vader costume. I’d like to see Eric Cantor in one of those Death Star General get-ups.
I asked Marsha Blackburn, repeal and replace, or repeal and repeal? And I wondered, why couldn’t she just say repeal, repeal the damn ObamaCare? Because what we got was a, I don’t know, a twisted answer. Now, Senator Jim DeMint said Repeal and Repeal, because I asked him about it. Here was Congresswoman Blackburn’s answer:
We are for repealing the healthcare bill, and we are for giving power back to individuals to make those healthcare decisions. And smart women are the drivers on healthcare decisions in their families. What they want is less government interference, less hassle from insurance companies, more accountability with insurance companies. They want to see tort reform take place. And they want to be able to make decisions for their families about their healthcare with the family physician, not with a bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. And that is what I am for.
Okay. Did you get that? I’m not going to answer the question because we’ve got this Pledge for America coming out, and we’re for Repeal and Replace. So now you’re going to have ObamaCare replaced, with a couple of internal engine or internal combustion parts, with BoehnerCare or BlackburnCare or CantorCare or WhoeverCare. This is just disgraceful here. Now, either you’re for the repeal of the damn thing, and you’re for the repeal on principle, which should say that the reason that much of the malady and inefficiency that exist in the delivery of medical services today and the expense of it is because, number one, people don’t pay for it. Why don’t they pay for it? Number two, because the federal government subsidizes it; number three, because every man, woman, and child that works in that industry is regulated by the federal government, and that is the root of all medical evil.
So what do we get instead, ladies and gentlemen? Here, I’ll read it to you. Because apparently you people are just not believing this. I didn’t want to believe it, either. Oh, and by the way, we will also get into the massive, massive $100 billion entitlement cut, I mean, $100 billion in discretionary spending they’re going to cut. That will trim Obama’s budget deficit for next year from $1.5 trillion down to 1.4. It’s a sunny day. It is morning in America again; is it not? Here it is, “A Plan to Repeal and Replace the Government Takeover of Health Care.” This is from the document, “A Pledge to America.”
Can we now all end, can we now end the pretensions that human nature is not easily readable, and that you don’t have to be a fortune teller, and you don’t have to be a soothsayer, and you don’t have to have some kind of lofty premonition or lofty ESP to figure out what human nature says that crooked, criminal, political hack politicians are going to do in any given circumstance. That’s how I am able to predict these things to you. I wish I would have been wrong on this one. I was hoping I was going to be wrong. So right here from “A Pledge to America,” here’s what it says, “A Plan to Repeal and Replace the Government Takeover of Health Care.” There it is, big, giant, bold print, 18 points across the top of the page, unmistakable.
Maybe if the self-dubbed “Young Guns” were focused on leading by virtue of the power given them in the Constitution rather than self promotion, they would realize that words are not enough.....
The Pledge to America outlines how with Republicans in charge by golly, the federal government will get down to the business of creating jobs, in a more “conservative” albeit still inefficient manner.
Pressed by reporters exactly which programs Republicans would cut in order to achieve the much touted spending reductions, Minority Leader Boehner quickly pointed his finger to the sky and began citing well-established catchy Republican talking-points ad nauseam so as to avoid the question while still sounding tough on spending.
As the press continued in vain to pry greater detail regarding how cutting 100 billion dollars annually over the next decade provided any hope whatsoever of avoiding an economic catastrophe for a federal deficit now past 13 trillion, Minority Leader Boehner opted instead to put the onus back onto the American people. He answered their inquiry by stating that the people must be willing to have a grown-up conversation with politicians in Washington if the nation is to avoid a financial disaster. Minority Leader Boehner made no mention whether or not indoor voices will be required should such a meeting ever actually come to fruition.
This is exactly what’s going to happen with what Obama has done, that once the size of the federal leviathan has grown, the nitwits, the DeceptiCons, the fake, phony frauds that call themselves conservatives, that reside in what used to be known as the Republican Party – it’s just a party full of hacks now, with the exception of a few notable exceptions there – that they will claim that, why, we can’t roll all this back. We have responsibilities.
I read you now from the agenda, “A Pledge to America,” the Republican “Pledge to America.” I want you to listen to this. Now, today is either Liberation Day or Mourning Day. Either you’re mourning the death of the Republican Party and have now come fully to grips with what I’ve been telling you for three years now, that there is no hope to save Mordor on the Potomac, it’s over. Let’s bring Bill Paxton in here. You want to hear Bill Paxton??
[“Aliens” clip] Bill Paxton [as Private Hudson]: That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over. What are we gonna to do now? What are we gonna do?
[“Aliens” clip] Bill Paxton [as Private Hudson]: Maybe you haven’t been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal.
[Laughing] So it’s over. There is no opposition party to ObamaCare. They’ve thrown the towel in on that. But I want to read this to you. Now, keep the ratchet effect in mind. Now, your Republican Party is supposed to be the party of limited smaller government. Remember this. Now, I predicted to you, and again, I’m going to say this again for you people that hate my guts or can’t stand the fact that I’m correct on this, that I do not enjoy this. This is not an enjoyable thing for me to say that I was right. I wish, wish wish wish that I was wrong. I’m not, this is not – I’m not happy about this. I would much rather be wrong and live in a limited government constitutional federal republic than I would be proven correct time and time again. I feel it’s beyond my duty as your blog host to play citizen from time to time, and to tell you exactly what I think and where we stand.
We’re screwed. The federal game is over. Your opposition party has mailed it in. We will now be stuck with, just as Higgs predicts and just as I have been informing you, with the size of the government that Nazi Pelosi gave us. These clowns, these Republicans act as if we don’t know that they presided over the largest increase in the size and scope of the federal government in the history of Earth, from 2000 to 2006. And then when Nazi Pelosi took over she just went [mimicking Speaker Pelosi], “Oh, look what they did. We could do more.” And then she took over, and she grew the federal government, and she grew its size and its scope and its powers. And now, just as Higgs has predicted and I have informed you of, the ratchet effect is in effect. You have Republicans now putting in writing that the Pelosi era, the Pelosi-size government will be your government for the rest of your natural-born life. Get used to it.
I don’t believe I’m reading this, seriously. Here’s the headline. I’m reading from their document. “Cut Government Spending to Pre-Stimulus, Pre-Bailout Levels.” Who was running the show during the bailout? It was Pelosi. This was after two years of Pelosi. “With common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, and our troops” – oh, yes, keep the military industrial complex fully funded and expanding, the empire must grow, after all, don’t you know – “we will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us at least” – wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen, wait for it, wait for it – “saving us at least” – at least how much? [“Austin Powers” fanfare] “$100 billion.” Gee, Dr. Evil, thanks. A hundred billion [laughing hysterically]. That’s a joke; right? That’s a big joke. You’re a funny guy. That’s a joke; right? Well, it’ll save us a hundred billion “...in the first year alone and putting us on a path to begin paying down the debt, balancing the budget, and ending the spending spree in Washington that threatens our children’s future.” These people are traitors. Paring it down a hundred billion dollars, after it grew by a trillion? Don’t insult my intelligence. So you’re toast. I’m toast. Our kids are toast. Game over. Just as Bill Paxton said. Game freaking over.
[“Aliens” clip] Bill Paxton [as Private Hudson]: That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over. What are we gonna to do now? What are we gonna do?
So now it’s not just Democrats to play the game to eat out our sustenance. As Patrick Henry said, to send battalions of bureaucrats hither and yon like a swarm over the countryside to eat out our sustenance. They’re all in on it now. I’d love to get Robert Higgs take on this. The book is “Crisis and Leviathan,” and Higgs has been proven correct time and time again. Now, let’s get reaction here. Here is DeceptiCon fake, phony fraud hacks on Fox News this morning, whoa, this plan, the people are finally back in charge, you’re going to hear one hack Republican say. So in order, here’s who we have. We have Michele Bachmann, Shelley Moore, and then Spence Bacchus touting this new agenda, this new Pledge to America.
[Clip] Rep. Bachmann: The GOP has done a good job in listening to the heartbeat of the people right now, which is stop, turn the corner, and focus on job creation. [Mike: Oh, my God, oh, help us.]
[Clip] Rep. Capito: From what I’ve seen, I haven’t seen the whole product yet, but I think it encompasses a broad-based feeling of the loss of jobs, the economy. And we’ve stuck to the issues, I believe, that are most important to people in America trying to put food on their tables.
[Clip] Rep. Bacchus: America became the greatest economy on the face of the Earth, three times bigger than the next largest economy, not by government control, not by the government making decisions, but by the power of the people. This is putting the people back in charge of Washington.
Now[Laughing hysterically] That guy’s funny. So Pelosi and Co. spent 3.7 trillion this year, and we’re putting the people back in charge, and we’re only going to spend 3.6 trillion next year, if we get the House back. Oh, that’s putting the people in charge. My, my. Gee. How many hours did you guys stay up, burning midnight oil, to think of that one? Wait a minute, Michele Bachmann is the woman that created the Tea Party Caucus in Congress. The first cut you had, oh, the Republicans have done a good job out there, they’ve got their ear out there listening to the American people out there. So this is what the Tea Party Caucus has always wanted. Just as Gov. Palin said the other day, yes, yes, yes, we don’t want to really – we really don’t want to cut the size and the scope of the federal government. No, no, no. We just want Republicans spending the money and appropriating it.
These people are frauds, ladies and gentlemen. They should be sued and prosecuted for being frauds. How many of your neighbors are going to buy this crap hook, line, and sinker? This is absolutely inexcusable. It is wrong. And I tell you this, now, and you heard Senator DeMint on Sunday say, “Well, I really fear, if we get back in the majority, and we don’t do what we say we’re going to do, that that’s going to be the end of the Republican Party.” The Republican Party is over. It’s dead. Stick a fork in it. It’s dead. Now, they may have the apparatus to help some people like Rand Paul or like Joe Miller and a couple other select individuals win federal office. But fixing this thing from the inside out, let’s just be honest, the Constitution is dead. It was a nice run while we had it. It’s over.
At a time when America needs a bold, simple, fresh plan for putting America on the path to fiscal and constitutional sanity - we get instead an almost 8000 word term paper of inside-the-beltway regurgitation that lacks the one thing the American people seem to be dying to have… actual leadership. Harsh? Hardly.
1. The Pledge fails to address the single greatest threat to our nation’s long term fiscal health - the fact that we have precisely $0 set aside for the more than $106 trillion in unfunded liabilities staring us in the face for social security, medicare and medicaid. Instead, we get more of the same political rhetoric about seniors standing to lose Medicare because of Obamacare. MEDICARE IS BANKRUPT. SOCIAL SECURITY IS BANKRUPT. FOR GOODNESS SAKE, MAN UP AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
2. The Pledge blatantly fails to even mention earmarks, much less calling for a ban on them. The issue here isn’t about how much money we will save. The issue is about Congressional arrogance - and their naked addiction to using your tax dollars to try to buy off your votes back home.
3. The Pledge offers no significant, concrete plan to reduce spending such as a Balanced Budget Amendment or a Spending Limit Amendment, relying instead on gimmicks like weekly votes on spending cuts and hiring freezes, as well as nebulous promises to cap spending.
4. And perhaps most troubling of all, the Pledge adopts the nonsensical “repeal and replace” mantra for Obamacare - offering as replacement yet more federal government mandates regarding pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps on benefits, which begs the question: which mandates are unconstitutional and which ones are not, GOP? And, STOP WITH THE MANDATES. STOP IT. MANDATING THAT INSURERS COVER PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS IS JUST AS BAD AS THE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE ON ITS FACE - BUT WORSE, YOU IDIOTS, IT WILL LEAD TO AN INDIVIDUAL MANDATE BECAUSE YOU CANNOT COVER THE ALREADY SICK WITHOUT MANDATING THAT THE HEALTHY PARTICIPATE. JUST STOP IT!
The overall reocurring theme since the release of the GOP pledge is that Statism is only bad when Democrats are in charge, which of course is a fundamentally flawed philosophy and is a belief system that is the complete and total antithesis of their evolution.
[“Aliens” clip] Bill Paxton [as Private Hudson]: That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over. What are we gonna to do now? What are we gonna do?
To restore and uphold the sovereignty and rights of the individual States as guaranteed by the tenth amendment of the United States Constitution, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
