by Dr. Alan Bates, MD
July 4, 1776---what does it mean to our younger generations? Is it just another holiday? July 4 is Independence Day. Independence from whom? 236 years later we are witnessing the radical Left destroy our hard won independence, freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and defended by patriots who sacrificed their blood and their very lives! So what are we celebrating for as the radical Left seeks to nullify by executive fiat the very Constitution on which our freedom exists? We are quick to blame the current gang of criminals in the Obama Administration for systematically trampling our Constitution and violating the rule of law. But how did they get there? They were elected by brainless idiots disconnected from reality with no knowledge of American history or appreciation for the freedoms they have inherited from prior generations. This is how the Left has been empowered to lead America over the economic and cultural cliff to tyranny.
Let me first digress to clarify the dynamics of the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare. The Obamacare individual mandate was found to be UNCONSTITUTIONAL under the Commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, and that should have been the end of the ruling. Unbelievably, Chief Justice Roberts in a political move apparently intended to give the impression that the Court was not beholden to conservatives (after intense pressure from the Left on another recent ruling) decided to CHANGE the basis of the law forced through Congress and rammed down our collective throats rather than to INTERPRET that law. Roberts spiked the ball for the liberal minority of four justices by defining the penalty for those who do not buy healthcare insurance a tax, which supposedly would justify a basis for upholding the individual mandate and thus the core of this terrible law. Roberts ignored the fact that imposing a tax in this manner is unconstitutional on its face because under Article 1 Section 8 of our Constitution the Congress is not given power to tax unless it is ‘apportioned’ amongst the People. How the Court could call a penalty a tax is incomprehensible. More importantly, the Court ignored the fact that healthcare is not amongst the enumerated powers of the Federal government listed in the Constitution. The ruling has unintended consequences besides allowing a government takeover and destruction of the nation’s private healthcare system and our national economy (which is a separate subject not discussed here). It opens the door to Congress imposing additional heretofore unconstitutional taxes on the People. The ‘tax’ (penalty if one does not buy insurance) under Obamacare and the tax increases at state level to fund a massive expansion of Medicaid under this law will primarily affect the middle class (another broken promise by Obama). The only solution to ridding ourselves of this unaffordable tyrannical takeover of our healthcare system is to either repeal it by electing a Republican Senate majority and president, or by states individually refusing to create healthcare exchanges (some including Florida have already made that decision) which would by necessity require a dramatic expansion of state Medicaid programs at huge taxpayer expense. States which refuse to participate will lose federal Medicaid funds, but that pales in comparison to the huge tax increases (in Florida about $1.7 billion dollars of additional taxes) required under Obamacare. Nullification is another avenue for states to opt out of this destructive government takeover of healthcare.
Main topic: why are so many Americans willing to give up their liberties under our Constitution, initially won and since defended through often bloody sacrifice of patriots, in exchange for socialism, Marxism or worse? Short of fraud (which is occurring as I write this message), the Left’s propaganda machine has brainwashed at least half of our youth through their public ‘education’ initiatives over the past several decades, which deny our kids a traditional education competitive with other industrialized nations in exchange for ‘feel good’ courses which are designed to indoctrinate our children in Marxist principles [“A lie told often enough becomes the truth”---Lenin].
On top of that, many parents today provide little mentoring of their children regarding American exceptionalism.
Fact: In 2010, only 12% of twelfth graders were proficient in U.S. history.
A knowledge of history is a prerequisite to understanding the past struggles of this nation and its singular success in achieving what no other nation on Earth has achieved----individual freedom unencroached by tyrannical government. No government-run economic model has ever brought prosperity to most of its citizens---and that includes Europe where we see nations on the brink of financial and cultural collapse. Freedom breeds pride and success for those who take advantage of their God-given talents. Contrast that to socialism in which tyrannical government steals the wealth of productive citizens to line the pockets of bureaucrats while a few morsels are tossed to the serfs who are dependent upon government for their survival. Incentives to produce are lost. The younger generation seems to be oblivious to these facts.
While America ranks near the top in per capita education spending, our kids rank 25th in math, 14th in reading, and 17th in science amongst 34 civilized nations! Something is dreadfully wrong when we spend triple on education since 1970 (2 trillion dollars in public funds between 1965 and 2009) and have nothing to show for it! Why is this? Teachers certainly are not overpaid. Students are paying more tuition than ever and leave school with massive debt heretofore not seen. Answer: the money is going to teachers’ unions---not their members---but to their leftwing political machines and the compensation of tenured union professors and teachers whose objective to brainwash our children with their socialist personal views is protected by the radical Left’s infiltration of our government. No wonder recent surveys of those in the 18-29 age range show an even split between those who are ‘positive’ towards socialism and those who are ‘positive’ towards capitalism (free enterprise). Many of our children have not lived through nor have they been taught about Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and Communist China. Instead, they have been indoctrinated with anti-captitalist views by their liberal socialist professors and groomed to look to Fedzilla for their needs. Importantly, past generations of students were taught to think for themselves with a healthy dose of parental input which appears to be declining. Such is the downfall of America’s future strength in liberty. Parents must reverse this fatal trend by getting more involved in elections and with their local schools. The education of our children must be taken away from those with destructive political and cultural agendas and turned back over to parents and capable teachers who can teach a traditional curriculum necessary to regain our national competitiveness and ultimate security. I close this discussion of our leftwing government-hijacked education system with this recent survey conducted by an economics professor at Valencia College in Florida of his 180 sophomore students. He asked them to write an essay defining what the American Dream meant to them. Over 80 percent thought the Dream meant a job, a house, retirement funds, vacations, and other material things. So far so good. But an alarming 80 percent thought government should provide ‘free’ healthcare, college tuition, down payment on a house, and a job---all funded by taxing ‘the wealthy’. These are kids have been indoctrinated by the Left and it is they who will go on to teach their kids the same socialist values which are a contradiction to those taught to prior generations of kids who understood the gift of freedom and sacrificed their blood to preserve it. Shame on all of us for not paying attention!
As for Obamacare and other Fedzillacrat-imposed laws, perhaps most importantly the ‘Patriot Act’ passed and still perpetuated by Congress after ‘911’, note the following pertinent quotes:
*British politican William Pitt in 1783: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tryants; it is the creed of slaves.”
*Famous economist Milton Friedman: “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” *Ben Franklin: “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
While ‘911’ brought temporary destruction, the real legacy of Osama Bin Laden, as stated so well in Glenn Beck’s book Cowards, is destruction of our Constitutional freedoms which may last forever (DHS and TSA are good examples). Ironically, the external threat of Bin Laden is trumped by our current liberal Left-dominated education system which is destroying America from within. As Beck states in his book: “Today’s slave masters are the professors and unions and bureaucrats in Washington who run our education system.” I leave you with two warnings, the first from President Ronald Reagan: “perhaps you and I have lived with this miracle (the result of capitalism) too long to be properly appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.” The second warning is from Patrick Henry who said: “Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.”
Copyright July 1, 2012 by Gulf1
