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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Legislator, Executive, Judge

Legislator, Executive, Judge
President Obama has chosen a judge from the 2nd Federal District, Sonia Sotomayor, as his nominee for the United States Supreme Court.  It’s both a political choice and an ideological choice.  The political reason for choosing Judge Sotomayor is that she is a woman and she is Hispanic.  The ideological reason is that Sonia Sotomayor is a far left ideologue that is in tune with the President and the far left wing agenda of the Democratic Party.

Barack Obama is President and he can choose whomever he wants.  Before the current political age in which we now live, virtually all Presidential appointees were approved by the Senate unless they were found to have engaged in criminal behavior, were of bad character, or simply unfit for office.  We have had, as a historical note, judges on the US Supreme Court who were not attorneys.

The problem with Judge Sotomayor is that she does not envision her role as a judge to be limited to ruling exclusively on the basis of the US Constitution.  Before a group of Duke University Law School students, she confided that “sometimes we make policy.”

The role of a legislator is to make laws that are consistent with the Constitution—the highest law of the land.  The role of the Chief Executive, the President, is to execute those laws and to comply with the Constitution.  The role of a judge is to rule on matters before it and to determine which side of the case is consistent with the US Constitution. 

The legislators’ role is not to execute or judge.  The Chief Executive’s role is not to legislate or judge.  The judges’ role is not to legislate or execute.

It’s pretty simple and straightforward.

A good judge is one who is knowledgeable in regard to the US Constitution and is cognizant of previous rulings on similar matters; however, the Constitution of the United States is to take precedence over all.

A judge is not to read something into the law that was not put there by a legislator or the writers of the Constitution.  He or she may not (under the oath with which they were sworn in) rely on their own opinions or any other source (such as foreign law).

In theory, it shouldn’t make any difference whether you are a liberal or a conservative.  All you need is knowledge, a keen intellect, good research, and integrity.  The result should be the same.  Sadly, and dangerously, our judicial system has been seriously corrupted by individuals who do not take their oath to uphold the US Constitution seriously, nor do they limit themselves to understanding what the intent of the legislator or writers of the Constitution intended. 

Their role is not to decide if laws are just, fair, or result in good or bad consequences.  Justice is to be as blind as the Lady of Justice that holds the scales in her hands.  They are not to favor rich over poor, the weak over the powerful, or even the good over the bad.  Their role is solely to rule on the basis of the law and the US Constitution.

Any judge, liberal, conservative, or moderate should be rejected if they do not accept this role and limit themselves to following these simple Constitutional guidelines. 

A judge’s role is no different than an umpire at a baseball game.  He must make the players, the managers and the coaches follow the rules.  Yes, sometimes judges and umpires make honest mistakes, but any umpire who intentionally “throws” a game is banished from baseball and lives out the rest of his life in shame.  Any judge who knowingly strays from the law because he is sympathetic with one party’s plight over another should similarly be banished in shame from public view.

If freedom is to survive, legislators need to legislate, the Chief Executive needs to execute, and our judges need to judge solely on the basis of the US Constitution.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Obamacare

Obamacare
Why in the world would you and I want to ditch the best health care system in the world for one that is surely destined to be a disaster?  No, it’s not a perfect system.  It could be improved by curbing lawsuit abuse which continues to escalate medical services.  But implementing Socialized Medicine like in England and Canada?

People in England die waiting for a diagnosis.  If you are elderly, you don’t qualify for dialysis if you have kidney disease.  There is a shortage of doctors and of nurses because no one wants to become a bureaucrat in the English health system.

Canada is no better.  Clinics in Seattle, Detroit, and Buffalo are filled with Canadians because they can’t get an MRI when they need one due to a great shortage.  There are no new drugs from Canada because the government won’t spend the money for R&D.  At one time (I don’t know if it is still true), there were more MRI machines in Fairfax County, Virginia than there were in the entire nation of Canada!

Socialized Medicine (and that’s exactly what we are headed for) is a disaster everywhere in the world.  There is not one exception.  Not one!

     Socialized medicine means:

  1. A shortage of doctors
  2. A shortage of nurses
  3. A shortage of hospital beds
  4. Waiting for a diagnosis
  5. Waiting longer for a treatment
  6. Limitations on medical care for the elderly because their usefulness to society is limited
  7. Mediocre medical care, at best
  8. Few, if any, new drugs
  9. More government control over your life:     
    • Choice of physician
       
    • Limitations on care
       
    • New regulations governing what you can eat. (Yes, if government’s goal is to save money, then they will impose wellness goals on you and me.)  They will want to control your diet, what you can purchase at the store and in restaurants.  Not at first, of course, but when politicians become doctors, your freedom will shrink.
One of the first actions of the new Obama Administration was to issue an order to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) instructing them to disallow approval of any new drug that is not a clear improvement on an existing drug.

The result was Merck stopping research on a drug for which they had already spent over $1 million.  Why?  Because this government interference in the marketplace had now raised the risk factor for drug companies exponentially.  How does a drug company know in advance if the drug they are endeavoring to create will be clearly better than an existing drug?  Besides, as my wife who has MS will tell you, while some drugs work for some people, they don’t work for others, and vice versa.

But what about the “crisis” in medical care?  The truth is that there is no medical crisis in America.  As my doctor said to me, “If you were on welfare, I’d send you to have an MRI, but your insurance won’t allow it.”  Everyone gets quality medical care in the US today—even illegal aliens.  If you don’t believe me, just go to the Emergency waiting room of your local hospital.  By law, hospitals cannot refuse medical care.  That’s why the Emergency rooms are so crowded.  Every American receives quality medical care.  That does not happen and never will happen under Socialized Medicine.

When I was in the UK recently, the television news was filled with horror stories of people who were left to die in the hallways, received shoddy treatment, or weren’t treated at all.  That’s the essence of Socialized Medicine—shortages and rationing.  Just ask an Englishman or a Canadian.

In effect, Socialize Medicine is the equivalent of asking the Post Office to handle your medical care.  Is that what you really want?

Everything I have predicted above won’t happen overnight.  But it will surely happen, as it has happened under every socialist system.  Socialized Medicine is not about medicine or medical care.  It’s about government expanding its tentacles around your life and limiting your freedom.  It’s about making you a ward of the state so that the politicians in power can get your vote.  They want you and me and all citizens to be dependent upon them.

Socialized Medicine in any form means rationing medical services to cut costs.  But the irony is that the costs will skyrocket.  If you doubt that, look at Social Security, or Medicare and Medicaid.  Social Security benefits are already being taxed, and all three are on the verge of bankruptcy.

This is a contrived crisis to gain more power over your life by the government.  You and I (and our children and grandchildren) have much to lose.  Don’t sit on the sidelines!  Get into the battle.  Write to your Congressman and say no to Socialized Medicine.  Once Obamacare is passed, there will be no turning back.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Apologist in Chief

Apologist in Chief
Here I thought we elected a President who was to serve as Commander in Chief.  Little did I know that he is also our Apologist in Chief.

President Obama, I know you may be well-intentioned, but you are ill-informed.  No wonder your wife, Michelle, our First Lady, said she had never before been proud of her nation.  I know you are both young, but it’s hard to imagine that you are completely unaware of the history of the United States, except in regard to slavery.

Human slavery is a horrible, detestable, loathsome, human condition.  It was and is inflicted by humans who are the ultimate “me centered” individuals.  It’s imposed by powerful individuals who believe that “it’s all about me and you’re serving me.”  That was the Devil’s original sin.  Satan, one of the most beautiful and powerful angels, didn’t want to be with God or serve God, he wanted to be God.  That’s what Adam and Eve were seduced by, the lure of being like God.  And that’s the seductive lure of all powerful government—being able to create a utopia by imposing one’s will on the lives of others.  It’s a lie.  Human slavery is the curse and the result of wanting to be like God.

We can thank tens of thousands of men who died in the American Civil War for putting their lives on the line and making the ultimate sacrifice so that human slavery was ended in this nation more than 140 years ago.  These men had nothing to gain for themselves.  They gave their lives so that others might be free.

Yes, the freedom granted was imperfect and second class.  And yes, it took another 100+ years to grant full citizenship to the children of former slaves.  In spite of this, while the United States is an imperfect nation, it is still the most compassionate nation in the history of the world.

When the Keiser threatened to defeat and impose his will over France and the rest of Europe, it was the Americans who pulled their chestnuts out of the fire.  So don’t apologize to France.

When Hitler set about to eliminate the Jewish people and impose his dictatorship over Britain and the rest of the world, it was good old Uncle Sam who saved the day.  So don’t apologize to England or any European nation.

It was American blood that was spent on the battlefields of Europe in both World War I and World War II in defense of others.  We did it because we cared.  We did it because we were compassionate.

And after the war, when the US was the only nation in the world with an atomic bomb, we didn’t use it to create a worldwide dictatorship or to threaten world peace.  No, we used our power in the defense of freedom.  Not always wisely and not always well, but our goal never was and never has been to enslave other people.

When General MacArthur left Japan, the Japanese people wept because they knew they had been treated compassionately and justly.  We didn’t enslave the Japanese people like the Communists enslaved millions of Chinese.

And after the war when the Soviet Union enslaved millions of Poles, Ukrainians, Czechoslovakians, and Germans, we not only opposed those actions, but also created a Marshall Plan that gave millions of dollars in aid to rebuild the nations of our former enemies.  And through free enterprise, the “German Miracle” occurred.  We didn’t occupy.  We didn’t enslave.

It was America who stood up to the Soviet Union and won the Cold War and thus liberated Eastern Europe through the leadership of Ronald Reagan so that others might live in freedom.

But it wasn’t just the American government that was compassionate—it was the American people.  The American people responded with unheard of generosity in every disaster through churches, relief organizations, and other groups, not just at home, but around the globe.  This is true compassion, not sham compassion that is exercised when a lawmaker votes to spend someone else’s money for some perceived need.  This money came straight from the wallets and pocket books and hearts of a compassionate people.  It went to Africans, to Europeans, to South Americans, to Asians.  It didn’t matter what country it was, what language the people spoke, or what the color of their skin was.  Americans have responded time and time again to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, famines, hurricanes and typhoons with personal generosity that was previously unknown in the history of the world.

Yes, Mr. President, you’re right, the United States is not a perfect nation.  There are no perfect nations.  How can sinful, imperfect humans create perfect nations?  Those who seek utopia are inevitably the authors of human slavery.  Their names are Stalin and Hitler and Mao Zedong and Castro and Chavez.

We need leadership, Mr. President, not an Apologist in Chief.  We need someone who uplifts and encourages, not hangs his head and is embarrassed to be an American.  We need someone who loves his nation and is proud of America’s heritage of freedom, sacrifice, and compassion. 

Mr. President, your election is a living example of the greatness of our nation.  Your life is the ultimate American success story.  With all our flaws and failings, we are a great people because we fear God and we seek achievement and success for all, regardless of their nation of origin or the color of their skin. 

And if you ever doubt the goodness or greatness of our nation, please go down to the border with our neighbor, Mexico.  Take a good look at which way people are crossing the border.  They aren’t leaving the United States.  They are anxious to come to the United States because they know what you seem unable to understand—this is the best nation on the face of the earth.

It’s not our natural resources.  South America and other regions around the globe have natural resources in greater abundance than does America.  We aren’t just lucky.  God has blessed our nation.  We have freedom.  Freedom to succeed.  Freedom to fail.  Freedom to worship God.  Freedom to live our lives without interference from any person or from government, as long as we do not harm others.  Freedom is the one thing that sets America apart from all the rest.

The United States of America is not a perfect nation and it never will be, because its citizens are imperfect.  But so long as we cling to the values of our Founding Fathers that are inspired by our Judeo-Christian heritage, we will remain the greatest, most freedom loving, and most compassionate nation in the history of the world.

Come on, Mr. President, quit apologizing.  Get out of the campaign mode.  You are my President, the President of all Americans.  It’s time to lead.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Jack Kemp

Jack Kemp
I was saddened when I heard the news of Jack Kemp’s death.  I knew it was coming.  Jack had cancer and I knew that it was only a matter of time.  At age 73, Jack Kemp had done more and accomplished more than most people ever think of.

He was a very successful football player who did it the hard way.  Although chosen in the 17th round of the NFL draft, he was dropped by three teams before going to the Canadian Football League, and then to the AFL where he led the Buffalo Bills to the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championships.

I didn’t know Jack Kemp when he was a football player and really didn’t follow his career.  However, when he came to the U.S. Congress in 1971, after serving in California Governor Ronald Reagan’s administration in Sacramento, I took note of his ability to clearly apply free market economics to helping all citizens achieve the American Dream.

In Congress, he worked hard and studied economics under free market economists like Professor Arthur Laffer (of the Laffer Curve fame), Paul Craig Roberts, and the late Bob Bartley (former Editor of The Wall Street Journal), among others.  My first connect with Jack was reading his book, An American Renaissance, a positive, uplifting book which explained how free markets benefit everyone, especially those at the bottom of the economic ladder.  Once the book was in paperback, my client, the College Republicans, distributed more than 500,000 copies of this book which helped to expand understanding of the power of free markets, especially within the Republican Party.

An early supporter of Ronald Reagan for President in 1980, Jack Kemp became the leading advocate within the Republican Party for what became known as “supply side” economics.  That’s when our paths crossed.

In early 1980, I became involved in a movement to draft Jack Kemp as Ronald Reagan’s running mate.  I thought then that he was and still believe he would have been the right running mate for Ronald Reagan.  That movement eventually evolved into an active committee that I had the privilege to co-chair with Jim Roberts, another long time Kemp fan.  Jack later credited that effort with propelling him into the ranks of leadership of the GOP.  While the effort on behalf of Jack Kemp in 1980 failed (as did his 1988 run for President), it gave me an opportunity to know Jack well.  I was never an insider and the committee was completely independent of Jack, but my contacts before and after the convention effort led me to know a kind, caring, very smart man who cared deeply about others, especially minorities, and loved his country before everything but his family and his God.

After Ronald Reagan was elected, Jack Kemp became the leading advocate of the tax rate reduction bill known as Kemp-Roth, which cut tax rates across the board by 30% over a three year period.  This bill is rightly credited with ending the stagflation days of Jimmy Carter and ushering in the longest period of economic growth in the history of the United States.  It certainly would not have happened without Jack Kemp.  And it is exactly what our nation needs today.

Ronald Reagan was a great President, but unfortunately he had a number of liberal Republican advisors who occasionally caught his ear and gave him bad advice.  I remember the button popular with conservatives that said, “Let Reagan be Reagan,” and then more humorously, “Let Kemp be Reagan.”  Jack was an untiring advocate of a low tax, powerful, and free economy.

Politically speaking, more than anything else, Jack Kemp embodied the new conservative movement and the new Republican Party—committed to freedom at every level, strongly pro-American, and colorblind when it came to race relations.  Not a bad legacy for a great American.

But politics was not an end all and be all for Jack Kemp.  He was very involved with and spent lots of time with his wife, his four children, and his 17 grandchildren.  They are his most important legacy.

Jack Kemp was imperfect like everyone else.  But at his core, he was a man of faith.  He had a faith that sustained him in good times and bad.  Most important of all, Jack knew that he was a sinner and that’s why he trusted in Jesus for his salvation. 

Jack, you are missed by many—rest in peace.