ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
October 17, 2013
This is a letter to our friends –
The way I see it
I have been listening to commentators since the Continuing Resolution (CR) and Debt Ceiling issues were sent to the President for his signature. Some views were as expected. Some were surprising. I do not want the responsibility of persuading you to agree with me – then we could both be wrong and I would be responsible!
Rather – I encourage everyone to use the God-given gift of reason and liberty to decide for yourself. There are lots of guys “out there” who are way smarter than me, –but – in the end, I am answerable for my opinions and actions – so are you.
Obamacare – It is argued, “This is the law, passed by the legislature and “constitutional” according to the Supreme Court.
Just because a jurist (or even 9 jurists) say a law is “Constitutional” does not make it so! The Constitution speaks for itself and every American Citizen “We the people” is individually protected from over reaching national government by the words of that document.
The Constitution rightly put the purse strings into the hands of the department closest to the people (House of Representatives). Every spending bill MUST originate in the House. I started reading the CR that originated in the House, was amended by the Senate and returned to the House and approved. Unless I was reading the wrong bill, the Senate amendment began, “Delete everything after the first word and substitute …”. We may soon be hearing about payoffs that were inserted into that CR.
Many readers will say, “A plague on all of you”, and withdraw into a cocoon of ignorance and cynicism. Friend, please listen to the cries of those who have lived under oppression you have never experienced. Accept my challenge and pay attention!
A while back, under a previous House of Representatives, Obamacare was manipulated through passage under questionable means, against the overwhelming wishes of Americans. The current Republican members of the House were largely elected on their pledge to stop implementation of Obamacare. The Constitution gives the House the authority to fund or defund anything!
Republicans have a majority in the House. Mr. Boehner, the Republican Speaker (leader) in the House did not want to withhold Obamacare funding. He reasoned, “It is a fight we can’t win, so why do it?” That is a losing philosophy!
The GOP House members forced him to pass a CR that funded everything government is doing now EXCEPT Obamacare. The Democrat majority in the Senate refused to accept the CR unless it funded Obamacare. Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and a few other Senators attempted a maneuver that would raise the Senate approval from 51 to 60 votes, which would require some Republican votes.
The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and most Republicans worked against Cruz’ efforts. He failed. The Senate with 51+ Democrats put Obamacare back into the CR and sent it back to the House generating the 14 days of “slim down” government we just finished.
Had Republican Senators, led by Mitch McConnell, followed Cruz, Obamacare funding might have been delayed or even killed. Rather, with 50+ Democrat votes, the CR was amended and every Republican Senator could go home and say, “Sorry, I voted against funding Obamacare – but it passed anyway!”
Go to Mitch McConnell’s Senate web site and read his words about opposing Obamacare from the beginning. McConnell even appeared on Huckabee’s TV show, the day after allowing the 50 vote CR to go back to the House, and looked straight into the camera saying how he opposes Obamacare!
This column is growing too long. Perhaps I’ll write the way I see the “Raising the debt limit”. Issue another time.