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Real Answers™
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Copyright: © 2010 Gary Hardaway
685 words

CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS DESERVE A TASTE OF ITS OWN "MEDICINE"

By:  Gary Hardaway

Is there any conscience, any capacity for shame left in those souls driving the “health care” blitz? First there were all the bribes and kickbacks. “Just business as usual,” we were told, the “way things get done on the hill.”

Though there’s a modicum of truth in this claim, it’s 98% jive. That’s because this particular bill radically expands the scope and invasive power of government, seizes control of 1/6th of the economy, and intrudes in the private lives of every person in the nation. Never in our history has a government ordered all its citizens to buy a product (or be punished for non-compliance). There’s nothing “usual” about this kind of “business.”

But, despite the payoffs and special favors, the bill stalled. Strong opposition continued to mount, asking “What’s in this bill? We want to read it, study it, analyze it.” It became clear that there was no bill.

Meanwhile, clandestine discussions were going on. Every effort was made to keep the public in the dark. We were assured that “Once it’s passed, the American people will really like what’s in it.” We could not be trusted with any specific information. But we were to trust blindly in the awesome benevolence and intelligence of our betters, as they cut more deals. We were to wait, like children, for our government masters to unveil their prescriptions for our care.

The program’s warriors hit the campaign trail. We were told the bill would “reduce the deficit.” How does a $900+ billion program reduce the deficit? We were simply told that it would. We needn’t trouble ourselves about the details.

But still the proposal remained stalled. We were soon introduced to the strategy of “reconciliation.” This legislative process is often useful, if utilized in the right spirit as a good faith effort to settle differences between the houses of Congress. This particular “reconciliation” aimed at the exact opposite: excluding all dissenters and carefully avoiding any move that would trigger a floor vote again. The task was to ram the bill through by preventing an actual vote. We now beheld a Congress stricken by an allergy to voting.

But, in case “reconciliation” hit a snag, another bright idea emerged: “The Slaughter Solution.” Here we run into the problem of explaining the unexplainable and incoherent. It goes something like this (but I can’t guarantee it will make sense).

The House convenes to discuss a rule. The rule will enable a bill to be “passed” not by actual vote but by approving this so-called “rule.” If the House affirms this “rule” 1) the Senate version of “health care” will be “deemed” to have “passed,” and 2) the House can now make changes to this “passed” bill, so that 3) all kinds of Constitutional checks and balances are bypassed – junked.

After this alleged legislative event, no one can yet know the provisions of the mystical document because it contains huge blank spaces. These will be filled in by these very operatives who have strived so hard to prevent any objection, or even discussion, of its contents.

Back to the original question: Is there any conscience, any capacity for shame left in these conspirators? This is not a partisan question, though it may appear so. It is a moral question. Can one imagine a more bizarre, more insulting sequence of government abuse of our people and our American principles? I cannot remember anything remotely similar. .

As always, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. And though efforts are being made to shred it, the Constitution remains in effect, bolstered by our Judeo-Christian heritage that provides its foundational principles.

Finally, there is a higher court for situations like this: the Most High Judge of the earth. We may file this petition: “Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work. Repay them for what their hands have done and bring back upon them what they deserve.”  (Psalm 28:4 NIV)

We pray no harm, but only that their efforts en