Washington – A Broken City
Thirteen months into the Obama presidency, members of the current administration, the media, and even the president himself, continue to blame the problems of the nation on a handful of items, none of which includes themselves. In some cases they point to circumstances beyond their control like the latest actions of rogue nations such as Iran, North Korea, Yemen, and others. Also there is the ongoing threat of terrorism signified by the likes of the Christmas Day underwear bomber, the shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas, and the terrorist shooting in Arkansas in 2009. In other cases they claim not enough time has passed, such as is the case of the massive stimulus package which was passed early in 2009 which has yet to do anything at all, much less work the miracle which was promised. In fact, unemployment has continued to climb since the bill became law. Still yet cooperate executives are receiving gigantic bonuses. The “cash for clunkers” program incentivized many who could not afford new vehicles to purchase new vehicles, for the good of the President, his administration, the battered U.S. auto industry, lending banks, and perhaps slightly the economy at large, but not really the American consumer who now, in many cases, have automobiles they cannot afford. For the most part, if you could not afford a new car before the incentive, you probably could not afford it with the incentive! Not to mention, in all of this, that the vehicles people traded in, many of which were perfectly fine vehicles, were destroyed by pouring a silicone solution into the oil which destroyed the engine. The vehicles were then smashed in a car smasher. Not good stewardship at all by my estimation. Is it just me, or did the “cash for clunkers” program and the incentives look a lot like the housing incentives for first time buyers, championed by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, which was a major contributor to the housing crisis and subsequent financial meltdown in our economy?
For some strange reason, both the Obama and Bush administration have proliferated the idea that we can somehow “spend” our way out of the recession and “spend” ourselves toward prosperity. I believe President Bush did an overall great job as President, however I do disagree with some of his financial policies. Although his social policy was solidly conservative, some of his fiscal policy was much too liberal.
We have come to live with massive debt as a part of life. In 1992, then again in 1996, Ross Perot ran for president with his hallmark issue being irresponsible spending and the rising national debt. Even Perot could not hardly have imagined that a decade and a half later the national debt would be in excess of 10 trillion dollars and rising quickly. Mr. Obama has, for show, announced a cut in discretionary spending which amounts to very little, but still insists how important his highly unpopular health care bill is really a bargain even though it would add a few more trillion dollars to the national deficit! The health care bill is little more than a massive entitlement program. I saw a bumper sticker recently which said: Government Run Health Care – The efficiency of the D.M.V. combined with the compassion of the I.R.S. That says it well!
Classic liberals, when you boil it all down, have traditionally supported “big” government, high taxes, heavy spending, and many entitlement programs. The basic philosophy is that individuals “need” government to run their lives. There are, of course, varying degrees of this but the more you move to the right of this position the more you move toward conservatism and the more you move to the left of this position, the more you move toward socialism where the government essentially controls everything. In the past year, we have seen government in America grow by leaps and bounds in unprecedented fashion. This out of control spending, growth of government, and gridlock in Washington has led to the birth of the “Tea Party” movement. At this point, the Tea Parties are more “anti” than “pro” anything. They are mainly against the aforementioned problems of irresponsible spending, the growth and intrusion of government, and the “brokenness” of Washington.
Both the Republican and Democratic parties have come to look at virtually everything through the prism of political expedience rather than principle and moral or ethical conviction. Prime examples are easy to identify. Just consider the recent health care debate. Not one Republican voted for it and they were even excluded from the process of negotiation. The debate was not on C-Span as repeatedly promised by the president, in the end the hold-outs were given unheard of incentives which was nothing short of their votes being bought by the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. The “Louisiana Purchase” and “Cornhusker Kickback” have become household words. While Harry Reid maintained a position that this was all a part of “legislation,” Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma aptly pointed out that what we had actually witnessed was “corruption.”
To make matters worse for President Obama, is his reliance on people like Rahm Emanuel who recently was chastised for referencing people who essentially did not agree with him as “f*****g retards,” just the kind of guy you want advising the president, right? And of course there is Attorney General, Eric Holder who genuinely believes that the 911 hijackers should be tried in civilian courts in New York City at the taxpayers expense. Even though he maintains they will receive a fair trial, he “guarantees” they will be convicted. Go figure that! The Islamic extremists responsible for 911 want nothing more than a highly publicized platform to spread their message of hate against the West. A trial like this is a dream come true for them. I am sure that they believe “Allah” has answered their prayer concerning the matter. Only in America, a liberal America, would we actually pay our own money to try war criminals in civilian courts when military tribunals were designed just for heinous thugs like these!
Recent elections have shown people’s disenchantment with the administration, most notable the election of Scot Brown to fill Ted Kennedy’s long-held Senate seat in Massachusetts to the chagrin of liberals everywhere. Amazingly though President Obama’s public statements on the matter have tried to link Brown’s election with his own election 14 months earlier, yet again bashing the Bush administration. Bashing Bush by the liberals went a long way toward getting them into office in the 2008 elections but now that they are in, they seem unable to govern. They keep going back to an old and tired tag line which once worked but has long since lost it’s punch!
Instead of governing from the center, in a nation which is and remains right of center, the President is insistent on governing from the left. After losing his few Republican friends, and virtually all independents, his support even among his own party is deteriorating rapidly. He is now frantically trying to throw a few bones to them by such things as reversing the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military.
Americans continue to show in polls that they like Obama personally but staunching disagree with his socialistically leaning policies. Turning away from him and the democratically controlled congress does not necessarily spell victory for the Republicans in the fall elections. People are largely disenchanted with both parties and their wrangling, back-door deals, broken promises, and adherence to political ideologies rather than moral convictions and principles. Too many have campaigned on a platform of changing Washington, yet almost overnight they have let Washington change and corrupt them. People are tired of it. Neither the House nor the Senate are “principled” bodies anymore. Long gone are those men of honor who once served in those chambers. Their descendents are bickering party loyalists who have to ask their party leadership how to vote on even which way the wind is blowing! People are fed up!
The bottom line is that all human institutions fall short and are the products of sinful individuals possessing power. Man seeks his own, no matter what he may claim. Washington D.C. is what it is. It is sinful individuals coming together and trying to frame their own political careers while their public statements on the matter gloat of how they are looking out for you. Putting your faith or your trust in any political party, movement, or candidate is foolish. To vote is something we should do as good citizens and as believers, however there is a difference between voting for someone and placing your faith in them. Our faith, our trust, our hope must be in God and God alone as we await for His glorious return for His church.
In Christ,
Pastor Allen Raynor