Why do you think Congress seems to be inattentive to our concerns? Maybe it is that rarified air we hear so much about up on the hill. There is a wave of discontent sweeping across this Nation like a virus, a chronic condition called the anti-incumbent disorder, common name being, “voter revenge.”
This season of discontent has arrived very early and will affect everyone well into next year. We saw the first viral signs of it in New York State this week when Congressman Weiner’s congressional seat was taken by Republican Bob Turner, a retired media executive. This Democratic district which includes parts of Queens and Brooklyn had never sent a Republican to the House, until now. Turner stressed his concerns about Obama’s policies toward Israel and challenged his opponent for his support of the proposed Islamic center and mosque near the World Trade Center site, in lower Manhattan.
When I was younger and got sick I was put on a diet of “starve the cold and feed the fever” menu, which included, chicken noodle soup, dry toast and tea, until the fever went down. Unfortunately this Congress does not recognize the virus coming at them and continues on their consumption of pork, or this addiction to spending.
Case in point, H.R. 2887, Surface and Air Transportation Programs extension Act of 2011. This bill extended transportation construction programs at funding levels above the House-passed budget. This six month spending bill (Oct. 1, 2011 to Mar. 31, 2012) didn’t even have a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and they passed it without a recorded vote. You read this correctly, not one of our elected Representatives wanted their votes recorded as to who voted for or against it. This spending bill is for only six months and is for $10 billion.
These transportation bills are representative of the irresponsible Washington spending addiction. When the House passed a budget in the spring, they lowered the transportation funding, representing a curb on Washington’s spending binge. Today, the House of misrepresentation turned its back on this spending discipline and their promise to those of us who put them in office with our vote. Anyone of our Representatives could have asked for a recorded vote on this bill, but none did.
This viral addiction to spending money has spread all the way to the White House. The solar company, Solyndra, received half a billion dollars in a Loan guarantee and is one of hundreds of examples of the addiction habits of our Congress and this administration. Emails released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee reveals that a well known credit committee decided not to continue discussions with “Solyndra” in the final days of the Bush administration. After the change in administrations, officials restarted the loan review process again for Solyndra. A half a billion dollars that was not supported in January 2009, under the Bush administration was conditionally, recommended in March 2009 by the Obama Administration. These emails show that budget analysts felt rushed by the White House to review the loan guarantee. Solyndra has filed for bankruptcy this week. This addiction to spending is pervasive not only in the White House but down through Congress. An addiction is a compulsive habit that leads to dependence, need that borders on obsession and craving. This addiction is draining this Great Nation and the citizens who support it.
The People of this country, recognizing the destructive abuse of this addictive habit and in the 2010 elections went to the polls and began the long and arduous process of detoxification. There is only one clinic here in The United States that has administered this detox program and it is Cold Turkey. The citizens of this Great Nation have an optimistic outlook and we hope to return to the foundation our Founders created for us over 235 years ago, which was built on 28 sound principles of a free market economy, that property rights are essential to liberty, separation of powers, government by law not by man, the importance of our written constitution, checks and balances, limiting and defining the powers of government, that man has unalienable rights given to us by our creator and is based on Natural Law, sovereignty of the People, and avoiding the burden of debt to mention just a few.
The next steps of this detoxification program will begin with the 2012 elections. If our Congress does not follow the wishes of the People, the penalty will be harsh. You see what Congress and this administration fails to realize is that the citizens of this country are an enlightened well educated electorate. We are patient and we watch the progress. This is why they probably think we are slow to catch on and a bit witless. What they don’t seem to grasp or understand is that we are looking for virtuous and moral leaders. We want to return to a moral compass, we want that exceptionalism back. We want to return to the Founders’ sense of Manifest Destiny.
Jane Boyce
