Is Sarah Palin a modern day Paul Revere when she warns the citizens of this country, the Democrats are coming and that they would have “unchecked power” as she did in this ABC news article? I am still shaking my head in utter disbelief as she gallops on her horse. My hopes are that the citizens of this country will simply close their doors as she shrieks this alarm.
Sarah Palin should go back to the 2000 presidential election where the Supreme Court imposed its will on this republic in selecting George W. Bush as our president. To aid this new president was a Republican majority within both houses of congress. Talk about unchecked powers.
She stated in part, "it leads to government moving into the role of taking care of you" My guess is that people do need a little relief coming from their government especially when the Republican majority took care of corporations during their reign of power. The corporations got the wheat, we the citizens got the chaff.
I would like to know what countries she refers to when she said, "Now they do this in other countries where the people are not free. Government as part of the family, taking care of us, making decisions for us. I don’t know what to think of having in my family Uncle Barney Frank or others to make decisions for me,”
If she is talking about healthcare in other countries such as Canada and the UK where they do have 'socialized' medicine for all of their citizens? At least their governments are looking out for the best interests of their citizens. I would say that most Americans who do not have health insurance are not free within this country and some have gone into bankruptcy as their medical bills mount. Let me take a leap of faith here that 47 million Americans who are still without health insurance would not mind a little help from their government. Oops, I said the ‘s’ word which the Republicans have been using to put the fear of God into all of us. Dare I say that most retirees depend upon Medicare and Social Security which are two of the biggest socialized programs seniors depend upon in order to live day-to-day?
When Palin screamed, "See, under a big government agenda, what you thought was yours, your income your property, your inventory, your investments, really would belong to somebody else, to everybody else,” Oh just stop it, Palin. During the Republican majority, what was taken from ordinary Americans was given away to folks such as Halliburton, Kellogg Brown and Root, Bechtel and other nefarious corporations. These corporations reaped the benefits as we the people suffered.
As one looks at the federal deficit which now stands at over $500 billion dollars and borrowing billions upon billions from China to fund the war in Iraq, her statement, "Big government spenders, too, if you think about it, who would control the House, the Senate, the White House,” is laughable at best. As Americans are being foreclosed upon: What would they say to an American embassy built in Baghdad that cost all of us over $500 million dollars? This increased spending occurred during a Republican majority.
I would agree with Palin when she said, “The power there, the monopoly of power is something that we need to be discussing in these last 10 days of this campaign.” During the first six years of the Bush administration, there was a monopoly of power and unchecked power where basically both houses of congress acted like a rubber stamp to President Bush. As he snapped his fingers, they jumped to the detriment of this republic. They acted like his trained puppies.
Now this is what made me laugh especially since John McCain was part of the Keating Five scandal as the government had to bailout the Lincoln Savings and Loan, "You can count on John McCain and I to know that we will be there to defend you and protect you and your savings and your investments and your families" Tell that to those who lost their savings in that bailout.
What has not been brought up during this presidential campaign is Enron and my, my, my one only has to read, McCain Defends 'Enron Loophole'. According to this article, McCain’s chief economic advisor, Phil Gramm “received more than $34,000 in campaign contributions from Enron and served as one of the company’s key legislative allies in Washington, including his help in 2000 removing federal oversight from energy trades on electronic platforms.”
But, this is the best part as one reads, "Now, the Gramm family’s anti-regulatory agenda is returning via McCain’s presidential campaign." The lesson this Wall Street crisis has taught all of us is that regulation is not such a bad thing. By de-regulating the markets that is a socialism where the rich got richer and we the Americans are played for suckers. How is that, Palin for straight-talk?
If you are a Californian who is still smarting from the price gouging that took place within your state, read this, "Then, over the next year, Enron – with Gramm’s wife Wendy serving on its board of directors – worked to create false electricity shortages in California, bilking consumers out of an estimated $40 billion." This was Robin Hood in reverse.
As both Barack Obama and John McCain fight over such states as Ohio and Florida, you have got to read this story, Retirement Security: Lessons from Enron and pay close attention to this, “Florida’s state pension fund suffered most, losing over $300 million. Washington, New York, Ohio and other states also incurred big losses.”
I do not know about you, but perhaps what America does need is a Democratic majority. One only has to revisit the first six years of the Bush administration with a complicit Republican majority in both houses of congress to see how ill-served we all were. A ballooning deficit and the war in Iraq supported all too eagerly by John McCain. I know I am ready to change the page of our history.
The very definition of insanity is to do the same thing expecting different results. I want some sanity restored within our government. So, if you do see Sarah Palin acting like Paul Revere, just close your doors and tell her you are not buying her message of fear. It seems that fear is all they have to give us.
Author’s email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net
