We have become a “whatever” society

MinnTwnHall(hqdefalut.jpg)

Minnesota Town Hall (hqdefault.jpg)

Did you see the news clip of the town hall held in Minnesota last week?  As three Democrats, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Tim Walz and Rep. Collin Peterson were responding to constituent questions during an Agriculture Symposium, someone had the courage to ask a pointed non-Ag question.

“I thought the Affordable Care Act would save $2,500 per family,” a local resident asked, “what happened?”

Before Peterson could grab the microphone to pass it to Klobuchar, those in attendance broke out in uproarious laughter as Peterson said, “I voted ‘no’ so I’ll let these guys handle that.”

Walz tried to recover with feeble excuses for the troubles being encountered with ObamaCare, but made the mistake of commenting on health insurance in this country before ObamaCare saying, “Don’t pretend there was some type of safe harbor before this where everything was just peachy keen.”  How uniformed.

Pelosi (youtube.com)

Nancy Pelosi (YouTube.com)

In a letter to the editor I wrote to The Boerne (TX) Star in 2010, I cited a 2009 Gallup poll in which 87 percent expressed satisfaction with their health care and 81 percent were satisfied with the cost. There was no need for a comprehensive health insurance bill.

But, back to the uproarious laughter of the town hall crowd, because that’s the reason for this posting.  When are we going to stop treating everything happening to this country as a laughing matter?  Where’s the outrage?

It isn’t easy, however, to keep a straight face when we hear the likes of Nancy Pelosi say, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”  And remember this one?  “Every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs.”

Sebelius(medcitynews.com)

Kathleen Sebelius (medcitynews.com photo)

The president’s promise that “you can keep your doctor” became PolitiFacts lie of the year, and it’s just more fodder for the “whatever” crowd.

When Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was questioned about who was responsible for the ill-advised implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MO) asked if the ultimate responsibility did not belong to the president.  A flustered Sebelius even threw up her hands and said, “whatever.”

ShovelReady(N.C. AP photo)

Not shovel ready (N.C.AP photo)

The president, too, has elicited laughs on many occasions.  Perhaps one of the best known surfaced during his appearance with his Jobs Council in North Carolina in June of 2011.  After listening to concerns about stimulus project delays caused by bureaucratic red tape, he smiled and said, “Shovel-ready jobs was not as shovel-ready as we expected.”

General Electric CEO Jeffery Immelt, the Jobs Council chairman, also had to chuckle as he sat beside the president.    A failed $830 billion stimulus plan with concocted achievements called “saved or created” jobs, was not a laughing matter.  Speaker John Boehner promptly responded, “I don’t think it’s a joke to the millions of Americans who find themselves unemployed.”

President Obama as The Lying King. Cartoon by Michael Ramirez (danieljmitchell.wordpress.com)

President Obama as The Lying King. Cartoon by Michel Ramirez (danieljmitchell.word press.com)

In the past few weeks we have seen an uptick in the actions of the president as he ignores the Constitution and goes around Congress.  Some publications have published effective cartoons.  Two of my favorites are Michael Ramirez, whose cartoons are carried regularly by Investor’s Business Daily and IBD Editorials on line, and Bruce Tinsley, who is the creator of the cartoon strip Mallard Fillmore, which is published in nearly 400 newspapers.  Some magazines have included photo-shopped pictures of the president as a king, resplendent in a crown and ermine cape with stories about the “imperial presidency.”  And we all laugh hesitatingly; many of us realizing that he is taking us down the road to ruin.

ObamaCare and the president, who would be king, have been the butt of a lot of humor, but again, it’s not a laughing matter.

We have an administration that tells us that the economy and jobs top their agenda, but as we continue to struggle through the worst economic recovery in history, the president’s answer is to raise the minimum wage and push more job training.

Ivanpah

Ivanpah Solar Site, NV (Solarpowerworld.com photo)

Drilling on federal land, approving the Keystone XL pipeline and clean coal are missing from the president’s “all of the above” energy program.  Meanwhile, his electric energy “investments” have gone bankrupt and thousands of birds; including Golden Eagles are either getting fried by the mirrors on the Nevada desert or chopped up by whirling windmill blades.  And the power produced has been minimal.

Then there’s the president’s latest announcement that he will introduce fuel efficiency guidelines for delivery trucks by March of 2016.  When is the American public going to say, enough!  Since Café standards were introduced nearly four decades ago we have seen lighter, less safe automobiles produced, adding thousands of dollars to the cost, all while only achieving minimal fuel efficiency across all models.

The administration has overreached on domestic spying by the NSA; the IRS targeting of conservative groups; and infringing on freedom of the press by investigating the Associated Press and Fox’s James Rosen.

Why hasn’t the president reversed the Fort Hood and Little Rock shootings from workplace violence to terrorism?  Surely he has “the pen” to do that, but instead, the Pentagon has been given six-months to define “an enemy of the United States.”

Judging from the lack of outrage from Mr. and Mrs. Whatever, the president is getting a pass on international matters too, seemingly ignoring the fact that the president is the laughing stock of the rest of the world over his handling of Syria, Iran, North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.  And his stonewalling on Benghazi continues.

Whatever(premium.wpmmudev.org)

It’s time to remove this name tag and show some outrage.(premium.wpmmudev.org)

Someone once said, “Laughter is the best medicine,” however, I would add, “but it’s not the cure.”   It’s time to take matters seriously.  Show some outrage.  Let your elected Congressmen know how you feel.