Respected US Senators have accused the President of the United States and the Senate Majority Leader of the federal crimes of vote-buying and the bribery of public officials. This is no political stunt. It is deadly serious and involves billions of dollars of public money used to purchase the votes of US Senators in favor of the Senate's health care reform bill.
Today I watched in sadness as respected US Senators accused the President of the United States and the Senate Majority Leader of the federal crimes of vote-buying and the bribery of public officials. This was no political stunt. It was deadly serious. And it did not involve a relatively minor amount of money, such as the $90,000 cash discovered by the FBI in Louisiana Democrat Congressman William Jeffersons freezer. This involved billions of dollars of public money used to purchase the votes of US Senators in favor of the Senates health care reform bill.
As I write this, it is just a few days before Christmas. Normally I would be writing something much more fitting for the season. If you are looking for a Christmas article from me, please see my Christmas 2008 article, Wheres The Peace?, or my 2007 offering, The Christmas Spirit. I would much rather be writing in that vein today. But unfortunately we are faced with a serious national emergency. We have a president and a very liberal majority in the Congress who are willing to do anything (including breaking the law) to pass what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls, This 2,100 page monstrosity.
You may well ask, If they are breaking the law, why havent they been arrested? Well, considering that Obama controls the Justice Department and both Houses of Congress, the two logical options to deal with his criminal behavior and Reids (impeachment and/or criminal action) are both futile. But I will lay the facts out for you, and let you decide if they are guilty of bribery or not.
I could easily give you a dozen examples, but lets just look at the three most glaring cases. The infuriating thing about all three is the pure arrogance displayed by these crooked politicians. They are just like a crooked cop shaking down the people he is supposed to protect. When he is challenged, the cop replies, Ive got a badge and a gun; whos going to stop me?
First, Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont pretended that he was going to vote against the bill because it didnt force every American into a European-style government-run health insurance plan. I say pretended because he knew (as all the Liberals do) that this was not going to happen this time around. Democrat Senator Harkin recently intoned, To my Progressive friends, were not building a mansion; were building a starter home. Im sure Stalin reassured his followers with similar thoughts at the beginning of his reign of terror. At any rate, Bernie was able to string Harry Reid out long enough to get $10 Billion extra padded into the bill for his tiny state.
Second, Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu got $300 Million for her vote in what was immediately called by the media The New Louisiana Purchase. And Landrieu made no bones about the fact that her vote had been bought. She said she was proud that she had gotten extra Medicaid funds for her state. But (and heres where the dumb blonde stereotypes come from), she claimed in the same statement that: (1) Her payoff wouldnt add to the cost of the bill; and (2) Accepting the $300 Million didnt mean that she was necessarily going to vote for the bill. Huh? I know its hard to believe, so see the LINK below (Mary Landrieu - $300 Million and Shes Yours) and hear her utter her stupid words herself.
Third (the worst case) is Democrat Senator Bill Nelson of Nebraska, the amount of whose bribe cannot be calculated because it goes on forever. In exchange for his vote, the federal government will forever pick up 100% of his states tab for the bills huge expansion of Medicaid. What the bill fails to mention is that this is a huge federal Ponzi scheme, because the federal government is the other 49 states which will have to pay Nebraskas share of Medicaid, which will amount to Billions of dollars over the years. Bernie Madoff got 150 years for his Ponzi scheme, which was puny by comparison. Obama & Reid should get 1,000 years each at hard labor.
Bill DeMint is fast becoming my hero for being one of the few Republicans who is not afraid to talk straight these days. He stated on Saturday that for the last three weeks Reid has had Republicans debating a fake bill until he introduced the so-called Reid Amendment that contained the real bill. Reid is forcing a vote on this in two days.
This means that the Senate will be voting on a bill that only Reid and a handful of co-conspirators have read. The vote will be called in the middle of the night on a weekend during Christmas week, when Obama and Reid hope that most Americans wont notice.
But Americans arent as stupid as these corrupt politicians believe. Were watching, and theyre going to pay the price at the polls next year. Over sixty percent of Americans are dead-set against the Democrats so-called healthcare reform bill, which does nothing to reform health care.
If Democrats really wanted to reform health care they would go after Medicare and Medicaid fraud, which eats up a huge percentage of the total cost of these programs. But doing that would put too many politicians in jail. Or they could limit the monstrous, ridiculous fees (one-third or more) that trial lawyers charge in medical malpractice cases. But that wouldnt work trial lawyers are the biggest contributors to Democrat campaigns year after year.
Congress has passed health care bills in the past, with bi-partisan majorities of up to 80 votes. So why are Obama and Reid rushing to pass this Trillion dollar-plus outrage in the dark of the night? Why have they threatened and bribed their own Party members to vote for it, when they know it will mean some of them will be defeated in the next elections as a result of voting for it?
Its clear that this bill really has nothing to do with health care, and has everything to do with control. This bill will impact one sixth of our economy. It will put big government in charge of our lives in ways few of us can imagine. And, just in case you havent discerned this by now, Obama lusts after control more than anything in the world.
And this is why I have devoted my last issue of the year, what should have been my Christmas article, to this subject. If by some chance the Loyal Opposition is able to hold off the planned 1:00 AM vote on Monday, please take the time to call your Senator. If he (or she) is a patriot and plans to vote against this, thank him. If he is a traitor, assure him that you will do everything in your power to see that he never sets foot in the Senate again.
Dr. Tom Barrett has been an ordained minister for 30 years. He has written for local and national publications for most of his life, and has authored several non-fiction books. He has been interviewed on many TV and radio programs, and speaks at seminars nationwide. Tom is the editor and publisher of Conservative Truth, an email newsletter read by over fifty thousand weekly which focuses on moral and political issues from a Biblical viewpoint.