Super Committee Redux

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Back in August of this year (2011) I wrote an article declaring that the so-called Super Committee was a farce.  Time has proven the little ole “Swamp Pundit” (Yours Truly) has the ability to predict the oh, so obvious!   Had I been truly adventurous, I would have also said it was a “hoax.”   It has become clear the Super Committee was intended to fail so our less than esteemed President could campaign against what he will, no doubt, refer to as a “do nothing Congress.” 

November 23^rd is upon us -- and the “ship is about to hit the sand.”  There will be much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth -- and it will all be for SHOW! 

So, what’s going to happen?  Not much.  Look for the Congress to legislate around those 1.2 trillion dollar “automatic” cuts.  So the Super Committee and Congress will have labored mightily and brought forth – NOTHING.  But, hey, this was the intended goal from the beginning.

Below is the article from last August.  If you missed it, somehow, you might want to read it for a clearer understanding of the Kabuki Theatre we have been witnessing in Washington for the past few months. 

Have a great Thanksgiving!

J. D. Longstreet

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The so-called Super Committee is a FARCE. It is doomed to failure. 

Can anyone reasonably believe there is even the smallest chance that a 12-member committee made up of party loyalist from each side can, somehow, be miraculously overcome by celestial waves of bipartanship?  Come on now.  Really?  Seriously?  Naah.  Ain’t gonna happen.

This committee has to develop a plan that features both spending cuts and tax increases.  Seven members of the 12-member committee must approve any debt-reduction plan before it comes up for a Congressional vote.

Now here’s the “kicker”:  If the committee fails to recommend up to $1.5 trillion in savings by Thanksgiving, as much as $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts will be enacted, including up to 2 percent cuts in Medicare payments to healthcare providers.

OK.  Lets look at who, exactly, is on that committee. On the GOP side, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have chosen Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio)..

On the Democratic side, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has appointed Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.).  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi chose Reps. James Clyburn (D-SC), Xavier Becerra (D-Ca), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md).

This Super Committee (The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.) it seems to me, has been set up to fail.  I simply do not see any way a deadlock can be avoided.  In my opinion, the committee should be dissolved immediately and the Congress should suck it up -- and do their darn jobs!

The “poor excuse for a committee” committee is somehow expected to do what the Congress, as a whole, could not do -- and even the President and the Speaker of the House could not do it. 

OK.  So what IS this so-called “Trigger Mechanism, anyway?”  Well, it works like this:  The trigger mechanism is the product of months of unsuccessful negotiations among congressional Republicans, Democrats and the White House to strike a broader deal to rein in entitlement programs like Medicare and to overhaul the tax code. It would split spending reductions equally between U.S. defense and domestic programs.

Understand:  This would be a HUGE cut back in funding for the Military.  At a time when America is fighting three wars, if the trigger mechanism kicks in defense spending would be cut by 9.1 percent over a decade and non-defense programs would be cut 7.9 percent.  If this is allowed to happen, we are looking at a hollowed-out military right when America is sitting square in the middle of our enemies collective bulls eye.

Medicare would be cut by 2 percent.  But that cut would be aimed at the healthcare providers – doctors who care for Medicare patients.

Already, a huge number of doctors are refusing to see Medicare patients.  If their reimbursement is further cut, expect even more doctors to refuse taking Medicare patients.  This will impact America’s seniors tremendously.

The legislation that created this super committee calls for the committee to find savings through spending reductions and tax increases.  REALLY?

Look.  The Democrats will not agree to spending cuts and the Republicans will not agree to raise taxes.  Can you say:  “Deadlock?”

The more I investigate this super committee, the more I am convinced it was set up from the outset for failure. 

And consider this:  If the panel does just happen to agree on a plan, Congress has until Dec. 23 to hold an up-or- down vote on the plan or the trigger will be pulled, setting off $1.2 trillion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts over nine years.  Of course, this avalanche of spending cuts will not begin until after the presidential election in 2012.  No, the cuts aren’t even scheduled to begin until sometime in 2013.  Heaven forbid the politicians should rile the electorate just before the election!

Now, here’s the thing:  Even if the trigger mechanism goes into effect, the Congress can get around it. They can delay the cuts or even override the cuts if they choose.  (Who said the cuts were “automatic,” anyway?) 

Even if the spending cuts were to actually go into effect, the Congress has the power to turn around and INCREASE the spending by way of so-called “emergency funding,” which, by the way, falls outside the super committee’s caps.  Some have suggested it would not be outside the realm of possibility for Congress to do exactly that.  I mean, they DO have a history of getting, shall we say – “creative,” when it comes to finding ways to spend our money.

There is no way to prevent a congress in, say, 2014, from simply reducing the amounts of the spending cut(s) or just overturning the super committee’s so-called automatic spending cuts.  It would be as if the super committee never existed in the first place.

Yep.  I’m convinced the super committee is a farce. It is just more “slight of hand” by our national leaders to placate irate voters who would like to see America saved from pending destruction.

Prepare for a humongous fight between now and Christmas over spending and raising taxes. 

How do we get past this and get America back on a financially firm footing?  We will do it by replacing Obama in the White House with a fiscally conservative President and with conservative control of both houses of the Congress.  It is only going to get progressively worse until we do.

J. D. Longstreet 

The Failed Presidency of B. H. Obama

The Failed Presidency of B. H. Obama
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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A conservative friend, early on in the presidential campaign of Obama, informed me that the man was an empty suit. There was no "THERE" there, my friend insisted. I was assured Obama was, and is, running a con game on the American people.

Now that I, along with all of America and the world, have had a chance to observe the man in action (actually, that should be "INACTION"... about the only action we have seen from him is his mouth moving during those hundreds of speeches he made over the past year) I have to admit there was more than a little truth to what my friend said. So far as getting anything done, well, what did he DO?

There can be no question Obama's presidency is a failure. In my opinion Obama is a phony. He ain't that smart and he ain't that articulate. Take away the TelePrompTer and the man is clueless.

I have been a public speaker practically all my life and I must tell you, speaking with notes is quite different than speaking extemporaneously, without notes, off the top of your head, so to speak. (No pun intended.) The use of a TelePrompTer basically requires that you show up for the event and that is about all there is to it.

A well-written speech can make anyone look exceptional. The President, all presidents, have a battery of speechwriters to do just that. One of the best, in my humble opinion, is Peggy Noonan. The lady has a way with a phrase, any phrase. If I learned that Ms. Noonan had written a speech -- I wanted to hear it. She is THAT good!

The American Thinker, in a piece by Geoffrey P. Hunt entitled: "Another Failed Presidency" said the following: "... It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing about economics, is historically illiterate, and woefully small minded for the size of the task-- all contributory of course. It's that he's not one of us. And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper. Moreover, he doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense. His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience.
In the meantime, while we've been struggling to take a measurement of this man, he's dissed just about every one of us--financiers, energy producers, banks, insurance executives, police officers, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, post office workers, and anybody else who has a non-green job. ...” You can read the entire article, and we encourage you to do just that, HERE.

It is a shame there is no constitutional mechanism by which Obama can be removed from office before he does even more harm to the country. Alas, there isn't.

But what of there was? Back in August of 2007 Robert Dallek wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post entitled "Ouster By the People." He proposed a constitutional amendment which would allow a national referendum to decide whether to remove a President and Vice-President by voting "Yes" or "No".

In the article Mr. Dallek said the following: "Such an amendment would need to set a high bar for removal and include a process that would be the greatest possible expression of the popular will. This could best be achieved through a recall procedure beginning in the House and the Senate, where a 60 percent vote would be required in both chambers to initiate a national referendum that would be open to all citizens eligible to vote in state elections. The ballot would simply ask voters to say yes or no to removing the president and vice president from office immediately. Should a majority vote to recall both incumbents, the speaker of the House would succeed to the presidency and, under the provisions of the 25th Amendment, would choose a vice president, who would need to be confirmed by majorities in the House and the Senate." Mr. Dallek concluded by saying: "The nation should be able to remove by an orderly constitutional process any president with an unyielding commitment to failed policies and an inability to renew the country's hope."

Mr. Dallek was lamenting the "failed presidency of George W. Bush" at the time. What is truly frightening about such a "law" is the current Speaker of the House of Representatives is... Nancy Pelosi! I'd vote "NO!" Yes, I admit it! I'd vote to keep Obama rather than place the country in the hands of Madam Speaker. You may read the entire article HERE.

(By the way, there are eighteen states that allow recall elections for removing a sitting governor.)
Obama has made it clear to Americans that the office of President has become far too powerful. His appointing "Czars" to by-pass Congress, and carry out his wishes, smacks of abuse of power. I am still not comfortable assuming Obama's Czars are constitutional. I have been waiting for someone to challenge the Czars in court, but I know of no such litigation.

Obama has shown disdain for the constitution, he has embarrassed a huge portion of the country by bowing to foreign leaders, and making that world-wide “Apology Tour” in which he spoke ill of America while on foreign soil. That was unforgivable.

By delaying a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan, in my opinion, he was directly culpable in the deaths of American servicemen during the months he delayed those reinforcements. Those were wasted American lives.

Obama has placed America in unbelievable debt. America is so deeply in debt that our grandkids and great grandkids will be stuck with the bill. It will take generations to pay it off.

The Obama Regime knows that if it expects to get anything done he must do it now -- before the Mid-Term Election in November. The handwriting is on the wall. Consider what happened in Massachusetts. It was a referendum on the Obama Regime and it is the bellwether of things to come for the Democratic Party.

Obama has secured his place in the history books. America's first black President. Other than that, well, there's not much to tell, really.

J. D. Longstreet

America’s Atmosphere of Fear, Guilt, and Restraint

America’s Atmosphere of Fear, Guilt, and Restraint
A commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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I am absolutely convinced that had America had the government we have today back in oh, say, the late seventeen hundreds and eighteen hundreds we would never have grown into the world power we became and, in fact, were - up until last year.

Never in my nearly 7 decades on this earth, as an American, have I seen the people of America so morose, so depressed, so completely whipped, as I see today. The ‘spirit” has almost gone out of the average American. In biblical terms: our “countenance has fallen.” In other words, our self-esteem has fallen through the floor - and then some.

The average American has watched as his job has fled from him, his home has been foreclosed upon, his car has been repossessed, his president is traveling around the world apologizing for doing all the things that made America great, making the average American look and feel like a fool. Yes, Americans have a right to feel let down.

If I were a young man and had fewer responsibilities, I’d pack-up and move to Australia. I am hearing more and more young American men uttering those words today than I have since the 1960’s, when a number of middle aged Americans took their families and fled to Australia.

But, you see, this is what socialism does to a people. This is what socialism does to a country. It guts it. It eviscerates a country and that country’s people. It smothers their motivation.

America, today, is still reeling from the current recession, which is all but over, and trying desperately to prepare for the next huge recession/depression, which is just around the corner. There is little reason to feel any of that HOPE Obama preached about during his campaign for the presidency. Oh, we got the “change” all right. Yep! Everything changed for the worst. But, there simply is NO HOPE. Even if there was, the average American is without the energy to grasp even the proverbial straw.

Just a few short months ago America had limitless horizons. Today the American horizon lies just in front of the toes of his shoes. Americans find themselves beaten down by a relentless government grown so big it sucks the air out of any project it touches. Once ObamaCare is passed into law, the US government will have, indeed, touched everything in America.

The average American’s nerves are strained so they are virtually vibrating as we are hit with a continuous parade of one crisis after another, many man-made and formulated, in my opinion, in the offices of the West Wing. For the first time in the history of the United States, Americans speak of their government in hushed voices and in guarded tones for fear that someone friendly to the Obama Regime may overhear and report them to whomever one reports such things. There is genuine fear of our government in America these days and, unfortunately, those in power have found they like it when Americans fear them.

Those of us accustomed to speaking out with our honest opinions about our government and what our government is doing have now found that we must weigh our words even more carefully, especially when the words we speak and scribble are not complimentary of the Obama Regime.

Unused to this fearful atmosphere many Americans are confused and disoriented and unable to combat the all out attack of socialism on our democracy. The use of “thugocracy” to defeat democracy in America is an altogether new experience for most Americans, especially those of us who live outside the urban areas where the practice of strong-arm politics has been known for a hundred years.

Here in the hinterlands the aforementioned “atmosphere of fear” will last only so long. There WILL be a backlash. Fear will turn to anger. Americans will demand the return of their birthright of freedom and liberty, and they will not be denied.

Already Americans in the so-called “fly-over” country are well ahead of their brothers and sisters in metropolitan America in making the transition from fear to anger. Unwilling to live under the yoke of slavery lain across their shoulders by the politburo of Obama’s socialist Central Committee, they will not quietly accept the desecration of their constitutional rights.

There are among us many who believe America may not survive. I think she will. But – America will never, I repeat, America will NEVER be the same as she was prior to the Obama Regime. The doubt, the guilt liberals carry around like lead weights on their souls has now been draped onto the shoulders of this country. It will drag us down. Much as an athlete running the hundred-yard dash with weights tied to each leg, America will find she cannot distance herself from the pack as she has in her meteoric past. Now she is a part of the pack and there is no real future for a nation as an “also ran.”

America was a leader. No longer. That distinction has been stripped from us by the political left whose feelings of guilt for being superlative strangles the desire to excel. Limits on America’s potential are imposed by those among us who preach “fairness” in all things. Fairness may provide a warm feeling but it throttles the ability to excel in those whom God has endowed with special abilities exceeding those of their fellow Americans. America was a special place because she dared to be special. Americans today are restrained by their government and by their fellow Americans by laws, the purpose of which, we are told, is to save the earth. Creativity and innovation, formerly the hallmark of American society will be, in fact already are, restraining the country from meeting standards of excellence that come naturally to a free people. And therein lies the key.

In the paragraph above I mentioned “a free people.” People must be free to accomplish the truly marvelous things America has accomplished in her brief history. By voluntarily giving up that freedom, that liberty, (in 2008) America began her meteoric crash into the dustbin of history and relegated herself to the bone yard of once great nations.

J. D. Longstreet

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Socialism+Depression+Guilt+Restraint+Failure

Is the Christian Church in America Being Forced Underground?

Is the Christian Church in America Being Forced Underground?
By: J. D. Longstreet
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“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” - First Amendment to the US Constitution,

My old Pappy used to say that the persecution of the early Christian Church was the greatest thing to happen to the church since the Resurrection. It forced the church to spread through out the modern world of that era. In doing so, it spread the Gospel, the “Good News” of the newly formed Christian church and sank its roots deep into what had, until that time, been pagan soil.

Judging from the news coming out of San Diego, California, it’s a mighty good thing they don’t have coliseums and lions there. For if they did, - well, you get the picture.

Wait a minute! You DON’T get the picture! Haven’t you heard of the strident measures the government is taking there to squelch religion taught in the home? Apparently, many of you have not.

Well, now. It would behoove us to fill you in so you can have a solid foundation upon which to build your opinion of what is going on in this particular part of California.

To get a good grasp of the situation you need to go HERE. The piece is titled: “Home: No place for Bible study.” Drew Zahn wrote it.

It seems a San Diego Pastor and his wife were questioned by officials from the county and told they would be fined if they continued to hold bible study courses in their home. Yep, that’s what I said: “Their H O M E!”

The incident dates back to (the) Good Friday before Easter when a county government employee paid them a visit. According to the couple they were asked a number of questions about the bible study they were conducting. Among them were questions about whether or not there was hymn singing and the verbal expressions: “Amen” and even “Praise the Lord ” spoken aloud.

It seems the county has this permit they refer to as the Major Use Permit, or the MUP. The Pastor’s wife says she was informed that she and her husband MUST have an MUP before they continue to hold those services in their home. Now, a MUP oft-times involves lots of money. Depending upon the activity, they may require a traffic study, and/or an environmental study. Plus, the applicant for a MUP must comply with parking and sidewalk regulations, as well. We’re told that the costs for all this often exceeds ten thousand dollars could exceed that several times.
We have warned a number of times about the complete disregard for the US Constitution and the shredding of it by others. It seems to us, this is a good example of simply ignoring the law of the land and making up law on the fly.

Of most concern, though, is the obvious ignoring of the US Constitution - the First Amendment that makes up the Bill of Rights, no less.

While some may argue that the First Amendment only applies to laws made by the Congress of the United States, the Supreme Court has interpreted it as applying to the executive and judicial branches of the US government, as well. And – during the last century - the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the limitations of the First Amendment to each state, including any local government within a state.

Now, as if that is not enough, along comes something called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. This one is SO bad it prompted A Texas pastor to write an open letter to the US Senate asking ANY Senator to filibuster the bill! The Pastor, Rick Scarborough, pastor of Harvest Point Church in Nacogdoches, Texas, and founder of “Vision America” refers to the recent Congressional actions as a "maddening march to the destruction of our First Amendment right to freely practice our religion."

In the outside event that you don’t know - this bill would provide special protections to homosexual people while leaving Christian ministers open to prosecution – if - their teachings were to be linked to any subsequent offense, by anyone, against a homosexual person.

Now, to understand the import of this bill to a Christian church, one must understand that the Christian faith teaches that homosexuality is a sin, one of the gravest of sins. As the vast majority of Christian churches teaches that the Bible is the “infallible” Word of God or, at the least, the “inspired” Word of God, then a Christian pastor is bound by his/her faith to teach the same and, from time to time, he/she will be “lead” to preach against homosexuality as the sin that he truly believes that it is.

Under this law, as I understand it, a pastor preaching such, from a pulpit, will be liable (would be in violation of the law) and subject to imprisonment, a fine, or whatever the court and the law decree, should one of his parishioners, or simply a listener, go out and commit a “hate crime” against a homosexual, especially if that perpetrator should mention that he did the crime after hearing one of the good pastor’s sermons.

The act has already been approved in the US House of Representatives as HR 1913 and is sitting in the queue and waiting in the Senate as S. 909.

In his letter, Pastor Scarborough says: “The legislation pending before you will make me an 'inducer' to hate crimes if I preach Romans 1:18-32 and someone who hears me then commits a criminal act against a protected class. It is clear that this bill will criminalize biblical preaching and will prevent me and thousands of other clergymen from practicing our faith without threat of penalty from our own federal government." (You REALLY NEED to read Romans 1:18 - 32 in order to understand the Christian church’s take on homosexuality.)

To get more on this story, including the text of the Pastor’s letter to the Senate, go HERE.

To answer the question posed in the title to this commentary - yes, I believe, eventually, the Christian Church will be driven underground in America as it has been in other nations around the globe. Otherwise, it will cease to exist in this land many firmly believe was founded by Christians.

As I scribble these few words it could not be any clearer that this bill is a violation of the First Amendment. Will it pass the Congress and be signed into law by the President? Yes, I believe it will. Why? The answer is quite simple: because America is no longer a Christian nation. At least, America’s government no longer governs based on the Judeo-Christian code of laws and beliefs. And very soon now, the Supreme Court of the land will be in the hands of socialists, as well, and that will be the end of the failed experiment called “America” a nation which was to have been governed only by the voice of it’s people and their God.

J.D. Longstreet
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