Mr. President, This is What the Critics Really Say

The Constitution was written specifically to restrain the kind of power this President is trying to claim.

Scott, well said. Keep writing and speaking--you are SPOT ON.

.....BHO's adverse reaction to Honduran rule of law.

You're on a roll today, Scott!

Are these the same critics who accused President Bush of spending money that we didn't have?

Are these the same critics who accused President Bush of doing the wrong things by authorizing illegal invasions and immoral torture?

Are these the same critics who criticized President Bush of allowing almost 1/4 of Americans to be either uninsured or underinsured?

Are these the same critics who criticized President Bush who fostered a petroleum industry that shipped money out of this country and is devastating the environment?

Are these the same critics who criticized President Bush for mocking the pay-go spending agreement between the President and Congress that reduced the deficit?

Finally, 13 colonies did become free because they understood that the government's job was to " protect the minority of the opulent against the majority" according to James Madison.

Of course, you wanted to talk about someone who suggested real change you would talk about Martin Luther King who proposed replacing our capitalistic system with a socialist democracy, guaranteeing every adult an income so they could be provided for, and reducing the military budget and adventurism so that we could pay for what is needed at home.

As alternative, you suggesting keeping the lower class in economic slavery while agreeing with those who think that the question "Am I my brother's keeper" not be asked at all.

I saw a sign that said "233 years of freedom." 233 year of freedom for whom? Not the Indians. Not Blacks though they fare much better now. And not for the poor who have no say in their gov't because those who run appeal for votes from the middle class on up.

Every time you offer your opinion, it shows your lack of a proper upbringing and an eternal immaturity and selfish nature.

Anyone who had been raised to respect hard work, self reliance, personal freedoms, the value of money rightfully earned, and respect for your fellow humans would not have anything like the whining, spoiled, ungreatful, elitist, America hating attitude you do.

Shame on your parents for not giving a damn, and shame on you for never becoming your own person.

Glenn

scott...as always, your sarcasm cuts to the quick

David
http://www.redletterbelievers.com

Let me see which statement shows a lack of upbringing

Was it concern for Bush's immoral foreign actions?

Was it concern for nearly 1/4 of Americans who do not have adequate health insurance?

Was it concern for the favoritism that corporations receive from our gov't?

Was it concern for the economic condition of our country?

The problem I see is that when one is too much a part of a group, they too easily see the sins of other but not of themselves.

Finally, I never talked down hard work, self-reliance, and personal freedom. Those issues were not addressed. However I do not think that the first two implies that any Americans should be thrown out on the street because the necessary financial opportunities are not available for people. That is nothing but social darwinsim. And you will find that our existence is due to more than self-reliance and hard work, it is due to a combination of factors all of which strongly indicate that we live in a interdependent society. And we find that in this country, personal freedom is strongly correlated to economic freedom. That leaves many Americans without adequate freedom.

So I suggest that instead of blanket accusations, try showing a relationship between specific statements and specific accusations that you wish to make.

Nice editorial, one of my first posts online ever, this motivated me to sign on..nice clarifications on what i believe to be factual comparisons, lets see some resonable resolutions to our country's issues, not pie in the sky promises of the glorious thought of one man. We the people helped create our nightmare, lets band together and help ourselves to a better state of the nation. buy local, spend thrifty, demand quality, and most important, give it your all, be a productive force in whatever you do, God Bless

i posted this on facebook- i have nothing to add- very eloquently stated.
thank you!

Obama has already said that he wants to remake the USA in his image. He sees himself as THE new founding father.

When you make claims regarding illegality, immorality, etc, logic dictates that you provide premises that logically procede to your conclusions, rather than merely spout your conclusions as fact. The invasion of Iraq is an issue about which people disagree, but your bald, unsupported opinions degrade the public discourse.

Secondly, as to torture, you're going to have to define torture before you can even make the claim. The U.S. legal definition reads something to the effect of, "inflicting severe physical or mental pain". (The preceding is a paraphrase, but the lack of a comma comes straight from the legal definition). That lack of a comma is very important: waterboarding no doubt causes mental pain, but to say it is "severe" is a bridge too far. This is an activity inflicted on American troops in advanced survival, evasion, and interrogation resistance. No long term mental pain is inflicted, and the fear of death (from those who allegedly "love death") can hardly be considered "severe...mental pain".

As to open hand slaps and the like...that does not even bear rebuttal.

End: your opinions do not equal facts.

It is not the function of government to ensure that people have health insurance.

You interpret your ideology as gospel and ignore contrary beliefs.

Inasmuch as the federal government is neither competent, nor is it Constitutionally empowered, to guarantee health coverage for all Americans, your position holds no value for someone who disagrees.

Article I section VIII of the United States Constitution clearly states those limited powers that the federal government is to exercise: national security, national defense, and ensuring inter-State co-operation. Health insurance can nowhere be interpreted to fall upon your list.

As to competence, greater than half of all revenues generated by the U.S. income tax system are consumed in the administration of that system. Everywhere else in the system there is overhead. Then you get into the bureaucracies, which introduce new and exciting inefficiencies.

That is merely a cliff's notes fiscal argument. Then there is the VA argument: a government run health care system will run, at best, like the VA (only with 30 times as many patients). I might be getting my post-re-deployment health assessment done in August--if they can fit me in--and I returned from Iraq in January. My little sister once received a letter from the VA telling her to pay back several months of VA benefits because she was dead; it took her months to convince the bureaucracy that she was not really dead.

If one assumes there are roughly 10 million veterans, that makes us 1/30th of the population. Multiple the inefficiencies and pathologies of the VA by 30 to have a basic view of our national health care system, as envisioned by the Democratic party.

Lastly, we arrive at your environmental extremism. Define "fostered". Define "devastated".

There are more polar bears now than there were 30 years ago. North America is more thickly forested than it was before the first European ever set foot on what is now North America. Caribou thrive under the Alaskan pipeline.

Species have gone extinct with and without human intervention for millenia, such is the nature of our planet. Creatures adapt and survive, or perish. It is the ultimate arrogance to claim that we matter that much to the planet, that we can influence the climate.

Nitrogen makes up roughly 79% of the earth's atmosphere. Oxygen makes up another roughly 21%. CO2, CO, AR, O3, etc make up the remaining less than 1%. It is in to that last 1% where our greenhouse gases lie. And by far the dominant greenhouse gas: water vapor.

So, less than half of less than 1% are pollutants. Which is even more pathetic when one considers that the eruption of Krakatoa did more in one day than humanity can do in years.

Climate (like the economy) is cyclical. This rock on which we live will be here after we're dead and gone. Get over yourself caday5.

The welfare of the people is the concern of the Constitution and thus if health care determines the welfare of the people, it is the concern of the Constitution and the gov't.

The private sector has left nearly 1/4 of Americans with either no or inadequate health insurance. As a result, 30% of Americans delay getting medical attention because of costs. Of those 30%, 60% do so for serious conditions. And health care is a one of the top reasons why families go bankrupt.

Now, you can either hide behind the fact that health care was not literally mentioned in the Constitution. It is like a person I knew who thought it was Biblical to listen to rock music because Jesus never said it was a sin. Or you and America can join the rest of the 1st world and see how we can provide good health care for all Americans--that is unless you think giving all Americans health care with infringe on you seeing your doctor.

You never bother to actually address the inefficiencies and pathologies of a publically funded health care system. Well played, sir.

Rather, you point out problems, as though publically funded health care is obviously the answer. As the pathologies make clear, publically funded health care will exacerbate the problems of our health care system: By forcing out the private sector, innovation will be limited; By controlling costs, infrastructure will suffer, health care worker salaries will shrink, quality of care will suffer, and delays in care will be built into the system, rather than a function of free will.

As to the Constitution: the Constitution is the founding document of our government, and as such, it says what the federal government can and can not do. If you think the government should do more than what the Constitution says, then Article V is the way to go, not judicial diktats that we do not get to vote on.

While your appeal to pathos and use of irrelevant statistics is interesting, they merely demonstrate the fact that you have never taken a course in logic, where you would learn that your arguments are fallacious.

Caday5 sees no exceptionalism in America except our constitutional right to freedom of speech, it figures. He sees no merit to being a patriotic American, and sees America as the source of most of the violence and poverty in the world because of its failure to fight for EVERYONE'S RIGHTS, globally. Yet he criticizes what the US has done toward those ends.

Don't take my word for it, read his post on his own blog dated July 7, 2009, and titled...

"A Post July 4th Thought: Is Being An American That Important?"


http://extrememoderate.blogtownhall.com/2009/07/07/a_post_j uly_4th_thought_is_being_an_american_that_important.thtml


Being an American isn't that important to Curt Day, obviously.

Glenn Flowers

I have always said that there are tradeoffs regardless of which path you choose in health care. And since there are a number of single-payer systems being used, I thought it was beyond the scope of the notes here to address the negative sides of the different single-payer systems. But I did add that to pay for such a system, military spending would have to be cut.

So there is no play. There is the concern that close to 1/4 of all Americans are either uninsured or underinsured. And there is the concern that 30% of all Americans delay seeking health care because of costs and 60% of them are suffering from serious conditions. And that paying for health care is a leading cause for personal bankruptcy for Americans.

Seeing that I didn't see that information in your notes, I have to say "well played"

Being an American is not as important as being a person. ANd I don't see why I should care for one person more than another because one is an American and another is not even though both are made in the image of God. If you disagree, then you disagree.