The politics of fear

A doctor was eating at a fancy restaurant one night when, during his meal, a wealthy man sitting at the table next to him began to choke. The doctor sprang into action and dislodged a shard of bone from the dying man's throat. Relieved, the man gasped, "You saved my life! How can I ever repay you? I'll tell you what, let me buy your dinner!" The doctor thought for a second and replied, "Better yet, give me half of what you'd be willing to pay if that shard of bone were still lodged in your throat."

Barack Obama campaigned on a series of promises. Remember? He was bringing CHANGE to Washington.

And HOPE.

And what he's giving us, barely one month into office, is fear.

Yesterday, Obama played on the nation's sense of fear by telling us that "the time for talk is over; the time for action is now" on this record-shattering, pork-laden bill erroneously dubbed a "stimulus" package.

If we don't get this thing passed, NOW, he warned, we'll be plunged into an irreversible recession.

He's got Nancy Pelosi out there repeatedly saying that we're "losing 500 million jobs every month" that this doesn't get done.

I'm happy to note that at least one mainstream media reporter cited the fact that there are only about 300 million people living in the United States.

My point is, the willingness and extent to which one will agree to something lies in direct proportion to one's need. Obama knows this. He also knows there is a great deal of fear in this country about the economy. This, subsequently, is the optimal time to strike.

The only "hope" that can be attached to any of this was the Democrats' hope that they'd be able to shove this gargantuan turd through without anyone seeing it for what it was.

Doubt me? There's a reason why the House passed this bill so quickly. As the Democrats have done since taking control in 2006, the bill was written in committee ... a committee comprised entirely of Democrats ... then rushed to a floor vote without giving anyone time to read it or debate it.

As this 600-plus page piece of legislation moved to the Senate, more and more people began looking beyond Page 2. And they began seeing page after page after page after page of spending, spending, spending and more spending on every Democrat special interest that ever was.

Short of several hundred thousand construction and engineering jobs for "green" initiatives and roads and bridges, there isn't anything that will stimulate jobs. In fact, when one looks at the jobs that ARE being lost every week, the new jobs that will be created (years down the road, by the way) will be outnumbered in mere weeks because of what this bill WON'T stimulate.

The billions in tax cuts and incentives that could actually stimulate anything? Instead of real tax incentives that would breathe life into the economy and grow business and create jobs, we have tax rebates for people who don't pay taxes in the first place, including illegal aliens, and incentives for people who buy cars and houses.

While that might "stimulate" the housing market and help automakers in less volatile times, I'm not sure that while we're hemorrhaging jobs in the tens of thousands per week, people are rushing out to make major purchases.

That's like telling a man with no legs, "Buy this suit, and we'll give you a pair of shoes for half price!"

So the more scrutiny this bill got, the less anyone liked it. In the span on one week, public sentiment plunged to approval numbers in the 30s. The San Francisco Examiner... IN LIBERAL MECCA, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! ... ran an editorial denouncing the bill for what it was.

Which is why Obama and the Democrats want this thing passed NOW.

We were told back in late summer/early fall that we desperately needed a $750 billion bailout bill for banks and financial institutions. So that got shoved through without anyone explaining exactly HOW it would work. And voila! It hasn't.

Now they want $900 billion MORE?

The funny thing is, Democrats have control of both houses of Congress and the White House. They could pass this thing entirely on their own, as they did in the House, where not one Republican voted for it.

Why in the Senate, where Democrats have the clear majority, won't they just put the thing to a vote? So what if a handful of moderate Democrats say no? They still have numbers.

It's because they want ONE Republican signature. That way, they can absolve themselves of future blame by saying it was a "bipartisan" bill when, a year or two from now, we see that it did nothing but plunge the country into deeper debt, which in turn will drag up inflation and make money ... and jobs ... even more scarce.

There's an undercurrent of moderate Republican ... the RINO faction ... trimming going on. They're attempting to cut a hundred billion or two. So what? A 700-pound bag of cow manure being dumped on your head is better than having it be 900 pounds?

The real change to this bill that would make it more effective won't happen. Why? Because, as Obama says, he won the election. He gets to do what he wants, when he wants.

So much for the Great Uniter and A New Tone In Washington crapola that he also campaigned on, huh?

Well, I say let him have it his way. But let it be completely, 100 percent a Democrat undertaking. I urge everyone and anyone who has five minutes to email or call Republican senators, especially the Olympia Snow and Susan Collins types, and say NO to this massive slab of pork in ANY form.

It's easy and not very time-consuming. And it's critical. Here's a link that will provide everything you need:

If the Democrats want this so much, let it be on their heads and their heads alone.

(Imported from Feb. 6, 2009)