http://www.familysecuritymatters.org...php?id=1011715
Editor Note: If you think your congressional representatives have been burning the midnight oil on your behalf, you need to read this piercing new commentary by FSM Contributing Editor J.R. Dieckmann who exposes the frivolous nature of this Congress. Hint - they are not making America safer.
The Democrat Majority 110th Congress is a Failure
By J.R. Dieckmann
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are praising themselves on the accomplishments of their Congress after the first 5 months in charge. The fact is that the only significant legislation they have accomplished is the Emergency War Funding Bill that had to be amended 5 times before it passed and the President signed it.
So what are all these accomplishments they are talking about? Well, they followed the inspirational leadership of Mrs. Clinton and renamed a park and some buildings. Then they renewed some older legislation that was due to expire, and not much else. I wonder if they will be as diligent in renewing the Bush tax cuts when they come due for expiration. The complete list of the stunning accomplishments of this 110th Congress appears at the end of this article. Brace yourself!
Our country is in a tug of war. Liberals are pulling harder to the left while conservatives are simply trying to hold their American ground. The two sides are so far apart now that congressional compromises between the left and the right will no longer satisfy anyone. Both sides feel cheated and betrayed by Congress.
Conservatives have a perfect right to feel betrayed because every compromise with the liberals is a move to the left for the country and away from Conservative American values. On the other hand, for the liberals every compromise is a gain and a move closer to their goals of socialism and destruction of American values as we have known them for over 200 years. Frankly, conservatives don't think it's a good idea to make America more like Europe and Russia with all of their problems.
Do Americans want socialism and a government-controlled society where everyone is the same and equal? Or do we want capitalism and free enterprise with minimal government interference where people are free to be all they can be? Do Americans want to live with the freedoms guaranteed by Constitution, or discard them by rewriting and misinterpreting our basic laws to provide a society ruled by lawmakers solely for "the common good"?
These are the questions that Democrats really need to think about and consider when choosing their party leaders. When they realize that what the electorate wants is really irrelevant to whom the party bosses select, then it may be time to abandon that party. The same thing applies to the Republican Party electorate, which is clearly unhappy with the current candidates being promoted as "top tier." Since the McCain/Feingold 2002 Campaign Reform Act was passed, "top tier" candidates are chosen based on wealth, not principle. The White House is sold to the highest bidder.
Our Constitution guarantees our rights to capitalism and our freedom to create, develop, and reap the rewards of our efforts as individuals. Nowhere in the Constitution does it guarantee a right of anyone to receive entitlements from the taxpayers, or the federal government to redistribute the wealth. Nor does it authorize the federal government to dictate social policy or interfere with normal societal development of the people. The job of our government is to represent the people, not dictate to them. The Democrat leadership wants just the opposite.
Why do Democrats keep claiming that they represent the middle class, when everything they campaign on is aimed at minorities, illegal aliens, the ignorant, and the poor? What have they done for middle class Americans other than to raise their taxes, lower their self-esteem, and attempt to destroy their national pride? What have they done for the country other than to divide it, criticize it, regulate it and tax it?
The socialists running Congress today claim to represent the American people, but do they? How would they even know as long as they are living in a box with two left sides? Winning the last congressional election does not translate into the American people supporting the views of the liberal left. Democrats didn't win the last election on their liberal ideology and negative campaigning against the President. Republicans lost it by failing to show leadership in supporting the conservative ideology of their voter base.
The President is not "defying the will of the American people," as Democrats like to say, by continuing the war against terrorism in Iraq. He is defying the will of the antiwar liberals on the left and those who use it as a political wedge. The majority of the American people do not support the Democrats' surrender position on the war in Iraq. They want us out through achieving a successful mission, which the Democrats in Congress are making more difficult and deadly everyday with their pessimism.
If you want to talk about the President "defying the will of the American people," then let's get real and talk about immigration reform. The President is "defying the will of the American people" on immigration reform and with full approval of the Democrats, but I don't hear them mentioning that little issue.
In fact, I don't hear them talking much about it at all. They would rather just sneak the bill through with back room deals made with labor unions and La Raza, and hope that nobody sees it. Not so fast! There are enough real Republicans in Congress to prevent this betrayal of the country and the American people, from ever becoming law.
The President is not being "given a blank check" for the war, as Pelosi and Reid like to assert. He requested $100 billion to conduct operations of national defense, which Democrats continue to oppose and complain about, and that is the amount on the check - plus $17 billion in Democrat pork bribes just to get it. A supplemental appropriation with a fixed amount is not a "blank check." If Democrats are so against issuing a "blank check" for national defense, then why do they keep doing it? When Dems say, "we support the troops," just remember what it took to get that minimal amount of support from them.
Another cliché the Democrats are fond of using is "bipartisanship". Again, this is intended to give the impression that they have a two party consensus and a mandate from the American People. All they need is one Republican to join the Democrat block vote to call any legislation "bipartisan". When you hear Democrats say, "This bill has bipartisan support," or "this was the result of a bipartisan effort," it usually isn't. It just means that a few RINOS are grazing in the Dems' pasture.
The Democrat Party is split between American Democrats and socialist/Marxist Democrats. It is just not possible to please both sides anymore when liberals and conservatives produce legislation compromising principle and American values. This has become a major problem for Dem candidates and puts them in the position of having to pretend to be in support of both sides of every issue. Some will take a firm stand on one side and hope that side wins the majority, while others like Mrs. Clinton say one thing one day and just the opposite the next. Or they say nothing at all until they see the results of their media polling before deciding which side to support.
The Founding Fathers of this country never intended for Congress to be a full time job because they never intended for government to become as big as it has. Now we have 500 people holding full time careers doing nothing but occupying their time by making up new laws and finding ways of spending our money. Every law they pass represents just one more restriction on our freedom. Is it any wonder that we feel over-regulated, over-controlled, and over-taxed by the government? Isn't it time for the Federal Government to be cut back to what the Constitution authorizes it to be, and those excess powers be returned to the states and the people? Or are we one day going to have to take it back by force?
The bottom line is: this 110 Congress is a failure.
Most everything they do is strictly for show and political pandering. But the fact is, as seen in the legislation above, that most of the work being done by Congress is being done on our TV screens, and not on the floor of Congress. The greatest product they have produced over the past 5 months is not legislation, but daily anti-American propaganda. It seems that politicians today want to be TV stars and TV stars want to be politicians. Before long, I think most people will agree that we have little use for either of them.
For your amusement and justifiable ridicule, here is a list of all 26 great accomplishments of which this Democrat-majority-controlled Congress is so proud:
The Democrat Majority 110th Congress is a Failure by J.R. Dieckmann
Linear Mode
