You Can Say That Again, Mr. President!

December 23, 2009

By Rev Nev

BO is at his double speak again. This time, the President declares we cannot act “as if the hard earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like monopoly money” as he urges Congress to pass yet another bloated trillion dollar bill (Video is here.) That’s the most disingenuous comment by a politician since Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) said he was pro-life. Maybe it depends on what your definition of money is.

There has been lots to cover in politics the last two weeks that I have not been able to get to.

Things got ugly for the White House last week. It was so bad that even the way out there liberals were calling for the health care bill to meet its demise. Peggy Noonan thinks this helps the POTUS as it makes him look more moderate. Perhaps she’s right. If BO looks unwilling to please the wackos while still taking giant leaps toward the socialist agenda for this country, maybe he doesn’t look as ideological as he really is. Noonan also comments on the “affection gap” people feel for the President. No one really loves the guy, anymore.
Senator Nelson became just the latest senator to get paid off for his support of the monstrous bill. It only took some concessions on federal funding for Medicare for him to get on board. Sen. Chris Dodd at least got $100 million for a hospital for his vote. Was his support ever even in question? Sen. Landrieu’s price was $300 million. Just like that the Dems got to 60. The corruption is staggering for a group elected by promising to end the culture of corruption.
While the Dems reached the magic number some conservatives were fretting. The situation certainly seems dire. There is hope, however. The bill is still far from certain to pass. The House and Senate bills are drastically different. For instance, the House bill included both the public option and a restriction on federal funding of abortion. The Senate has neither. Those differences will not be easy to hash out between the die-hards on both sides.
The most frustrating part of the entire debate is how intent Democrat leaders are in pushing this thing ahead without regard for the people’s view. One congressman even called anti-Obamacare people the “lunatic fringe” despite the fact they outnumber Obamacare supporters 2-1. People are getting involved trying to get Congress to listen. The consequences of this cannot be good for the Dems. Come 2010, if the base stays fired up and there is no reason to doubt they will, and if Republican leaders can lead the debate and recruit good candidates (a less certain proposition) then we will be celebrating conservative majorities this time next year.
Meanwhile, some Evangelical and Catholic leaders supported the Casey language on abortion in the Senate version of the bill. I think it doesn’t go far enough. Stupak’s amendment is vital. Christians everywhere should be praying for wisdom to prevail here.
Finally, in an unrelated piece, there is a new book about Christian’s “monopoly” in the sports world. Some interesting tidbits about how expressions of faith became commonplace in sports. Something to think about as the NFL playoffs are almost here.