Executive Powers & A Socialist Agenda

Those ol Greeks were a smart bunch. Concerned that a single concentration of power would result in tyranny, they developed a system of democracy around the concept of a constitutionally mandated “separation of powers.” By dividing governmental roles between the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches, they insured that no one group would become too powerful. The system of government that they developed became the basis for governments great and good throughout history, including our own.

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Those of you old enough to remember when Civics was taught in school will remember that the Executive Branch, headed up by a duly elected President, has two main roles. The first primary role is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. The second role is to faithfully execute the laws of the United States.

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Each President, as he takes the Oath of Office pledges to fulfil the roles of the Executive Branch. Obama, despite flubbing the Oath, was no exception. However, over the past year it has become evident that as long as Obama was awash in the warm glow of popularity, confident that all would bow to his will, he preached transparency and biapartisian unity. As soon as the soft glow turned to a harsh spotlight, the transparency disappeared and the door on the GOP and dissenting Democrats was slammed shut.

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Obama is now posed to use the powers inherent in his position in ways that they were not intended. Last week, he threatened to use his “Executive Powers” to force the Senate to approve dozens of controversial nominees. Clearly the reason that appointments must be approved by the Senate is to insure that a President doesn’t exercise a power grab by placing loyalists in positions of authority.

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Then White House announced that Obama intends on using his “Executive Powers” to ram through unpopular initiatives and funnel money to discredited projects. All but dead ObamaCare, next round stimulus funds, and a jobs bill unpopular with Democrats and Republicans alike are rumoured to be top of Obama’s agenda. However, controversial energy and climate programs, already mired in scandal are also scheduled to bypass political or public scrutiny prior to implementation.

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An optimist might find Obama’s plan to force his agenda as simply an overly enthusiastic and naive response to the power of his position. However, this would negate the fact that Obama dedicated his pre-political career to the study of the Constitution. Well versed in the limitations and loop-holes in the Constitution, Obama’s power grab takes on a much more sinister and frightening significance.

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Isn’t it about time that Obama stops pressing his personal agenda and starts embracing the position of Constitutional champion for which he campaigned and was elected? He certainly isn’t my choice as leader of this country, but at a minimum, his job to protect and preserve the Constitution should keep this country on a relatively even keel. The checks and balances system, designed by the Greeks and emulated by the Founding Fathers is designed to protect us against the very “Presidential Bum Rush” that Obama is threatening.

Obama Budget Taxes Middle Class Hard

In an effort to regain some of the class-warfare (anti-wealth) momentum employed in his Presidential campaign, the Obama administration proposed publicly to increase taxes on those earning $250,000 or more a year, to offset the $1 trillion deficit and fund the Obama Care behemoth.

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While these "high-earner" taxes would generate less than 1% of the country's unprecedented debt, Obama stands to gain billions through backdoor tax increases that raise rates by at least 3% on those who earn over$33,750, pushing most Middle Class earners into a higher tax bracket.

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Rather than overtly adding new taxes, the Obama administration is playing a game of semantics,proposed to either let tax breaks expire or eliminate tax benefits, thereby generating billions of dollars in tax revenue from the very people who can least afford the increase.

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While Obama's proposal effectively increases taxes on an estimated 25 million people, the biggest burden is carried by working class families who will see an additional 5% increase in capital gains taxes, lose some property tax deductions, and lose college tuition and educational expenses deductions.
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Those hardest hit however are Middle class individuals and families who had previously received some relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax. Failure to adjust the exemptions and for rates of inflation effectively terminate deductions for medical expenses, state and local tax itemization, net operating losses, investment expenses, and mortgage interest on home equity debt.

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The self employed and those who incur costs related to employment also lose the ability to gain relief through itemization, as both accelerated depreciation and supplies and tool tax credits are scraped.
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Under Obama's budget proposal, the unemployed would find themselves both without a job and liable for taxes on the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits.

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The writing is on the wall for working/middle class families. Obama seeks a border free America, where we are liable for the medical, educational, and welfare expenses of potentially millions MORE illegals. He wishes to saddle us with a health care bill that will bankrupt the already fragile economies of many states and criminalize employers and employees alike who cant afford the increased heath care costs.

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How many families will be forced into bankruptcy or foreclosure thanks to these "back-door" tax increases? How many working class families will be unable to send their children to college?
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Obama is creating a socialized America, not through revolution, but through relegation. States unable to pay their mandated bills will fall under the control of the federal government.

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Employers unable to pay the increased health care costs will be compelled to relegate control to the federal government. Banks, mortgage companies, energy supplies, ranchers, farmers, manufacturers, and medical providers are all being forced to accept government takeovers or draconian mandates designed to usurp control.

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Now the Middle Class is compelled to dig deeper into already thread bare pockets or fall to the growing ranks of welfare recipients who make-up Obama's socialist Army by proxy.

Obama Wants MORE Media Coverage

Despite nearly 150,000 column inches of coverage on the front page of the New York Times, 4 dozen magazine interviews, and a whopping 80 televised interviews during his Presidency, Barack Obama wants MORE media coverage. After failing to fulfill campaign promises of transparency, Obama has replaced his pledge of open, bipartisan dialog with what has amounted to an almost endless Infomercial. In the latest slap to bipartisan co-operation, the White House shut down hope of a televised question and answer forum with Republican lawmakers.

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Bill Burton, a White House Deputy Press Secretary was quick to assure both liberal and Conservative political pundits and consultants who had been pushing for televised debates in the style of "Question Time," that refusal wasn't a matter of avoiding televised debate, explaining "The President is going to look for more opportunities to do things on camera and have open discussions on important issues." Of course, the unscripted and teleprompter free vision of debate will never occur and any "open discussions" are only with Democrat "fans" and moon-eyed media.

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Obama's desire for more media coverage comes on the heals of his advice to Democrats in the Senate, "turn off your CNN, turn off you FOX..." Thankfully California's Barbara Boxer shouted out "and MSNBC," otherwise it might appear that the President was targeting right leaning media. Sarcasm aside, history is full of leaders who directed the media, monopolized the airwaves, and vilified opposition voices. In the entire history of mankind, none of these leaders left the country in better shape than when they ascended to power and often by the time they were ousted, there was no country left at all.

RINO Collins is "a little confused" About Obama

Susan Collins, RINO pariah from Maine who vocally supports a liberal agenda, admitted to being “a little confused” at Obama’s State of the Union address. No longer feeling the necessity to pretend that he has any interest in fulfilling his campaign promises of transparency, open debates about health care, and of course true bipartisanship, Obama pledged to fight on to get his colossal, socialistic, medical revamp shoved through Congress by any means necessary.

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Personally, I can’t think of a reason why anyone would be “surprised” at Obama’s failure to court bipartisanship. Since the moment that he flubbed the oath of office, Obama has made no attempt to include Republicans in any of his efforts. To be fair, Sue shouldn’t be the only one who is “a little confused.” Everyone who voted for Obama should be scratching their heads, especially concerning Obama Care.

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What happened to his pledge “to do our work openly,” to have health care debates on C-Span so voters “can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents?” Where has he posted the health care legislation? He promised to have it posted online for at least five days before votes so that the American people (and presumably those who are supposed to be voting on our behalf) have a chance to review. Is it possible that Obama said anything that he need to say in order to get elected and….shock of shocks…didn’t actually mean any of it?

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Like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, Collins continues to preach “that it is still possible for Democrats and Republicans to reach a deal on a bipartisan health care bill.” I have to wonder, where does Collins believe that common ground actually lay? Dozens of states have taken legal steps to prevent Obama Care from being thrust onto their citizens. States who can’t afford the millions in unfunded mandates and don’t want to become beacons for the illegals entitled to free care. While Obama supporters claim that there is no provision to cover illegals, the bill is worded to provide free healthcare to ALL non-citizens (no matter what their legal status) who show up for treatment.

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Perhaps Collins believes that Republicans and Democrats can find common ground concerning the tax grab (2.5% of your income) if you don’t have a plan that the government supports or the health care rationing, by which a government official determines your medical needs and if you “deserve” treatment. In fact, the only thing that I can see Republicans and hopefully Democrats agreeing upon is that the entire proposal needs to be scraped.

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No one is suggesting that our health care system is perfect. Between anchor babies being used to provide citizenship to hundreds of thousands of illegals, legitimately poor being forced to use emergency rooms as doctors offices, and those who are have been preyed upon by insurance companies seeking any means available to deny claims and terminate services, there does need to be some fundamental changes made. But these changes should be ones of preventing those who are not entitled from abusing the system at the expense of Americans with genuine need. These changes should be about protecting those who are vulnerable and providing people with greater care options.

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I have long thought Collins was simply a typical RINO, who had two-faced her way into a position from which the GOP is loath to extract her. I am beginning to think however that she is either incompetent or a “true believer.” I’m not sure which is more dangerous.

Steele Continues To Get It Wrong

RNC member James Bopp (Indiana) proposed a resolution that would grant financial support only to candidates who support the GOP platform, at the RNC winter meeting in Hawaii last week. Shockingly, this proposal, which would cut the financial legs out from under RINO pariahs like Snow and Collins, withholding GOP financial support from those who didn’t officially support at least ten party positions, was FORCEFULLY REJECTED by Michael Steele.

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The lukewarm alternative which was enacted provides MORE flexibility to the GOP powerbrokers to determine who gets money and who may be too far left to support. Of course, these are the same people who approved millions in support for Specter, Scozzafava, Collins, Snow, etc. etc. etc. If Scozzafava et al aren’t too far left for financial support; it’s hard to imagine anyone who wouldn’t get GOP funding. Instead, RNC member Bill Crocker (Texas) threw the responsibility for poor candidates back to the local and state levels urging the regional Republican Party’s to “carefully screen” the positions of candidates.

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Crocker is correct; we need to be much more vigilant on a local and state level. However, Obama’s path to power and in fact much of the success of liberals recently has been down to strong party efforts to fill seats on a local level. The GOP still doesn’t embrace the entire political candidate process, instead focusing only on those to rise to the top. Unfortunately, this has created a system by which politicians can rise through the ranks, paying lip service to any Conservative platform with the knowledge that once they get to the “big show,” the GOP will reward them with cash and prizes beyond their wildest dreams, no matter how they vote.

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The best way forward is a bottom up AND a top down system (as outlined in “Rules For Republican Radicals”) which monitors and weeds out those who are clearly NOT conservatives on a local and state level, but insures that there is no payoff for those duplicitous and sneaky enough to lie their way into positions of power. The GOP has made it clear that they will support anyone who runs on the Republican ticket at a national level. That has to change. Sadly, Steele had the ability to end the rise of the “wolves in Republican clothing” but rejected that notion.

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The philosopher Aristotle, lecturing on the subject of politics said “Everyone thinks chiefly of his own, hardly ever of the public interest.” This is clearly as true today as it was in 350BC. Therefore, we must make it the self interest of the politician to be honest and transparent in their deeds and to serve the interests of the Republican Party. The only way to insure that the politician votes the party platform is to insure that failure to do so will equal failure to keep a Republican seat. Clearly, Michael Steele continues to think of his own position and self interest and those of his cronies rather than the future of this country and the best interest of the conservatives and Republicans he is supposed to represent.