Silver Linings on the CR and DC Debacles

Silver Linings on the CR and DC Debacles

First, this is the BIG one.

Obama, the consummate narcissist, having even embraced the name "ObamaCare," will himself, along with every member of the House and Senate with a "D" after their name, suffer a significant reversal of political fortune after ObamaCare is implemented. And this will continue as long as ObamaCare exists.

Why?

Because from October 1 forward, with increasing frequency, Americans of every political stripe who have any issue with health care, whether a hangnail or heart transplant, a delay in a doctor's office or in critical care for a loved one, will tie blame for their discontent like a noose around the necks of Obama and his Democrats, who were solely responsible for forcing this abomination upon the American people. (And that was the basis for the derailed Republican strategy to force Democrat House and Senate votes on the "defund" and "delay" measures!)

Additionally, dealing with government clerical minions in this new bloated bureaucracy will be no different than dealing with any other huge government bureaucracy -- endless and infuriating. No matter how Fab-Tastic ObamaCare may be for some Demo constituencies, Democrats are going to be the target of every health care complaint -- and that includes Hillary Clinton. Of course, there will be other pitfalls -- like the centralization of health and tax records within massive data hubs, many of which will inevitably be compromised and used for fraudulent purposes. Just wait until medical and tax records are accessible to 20,000 additional government clerks in the Obamacare bureaucracy.

Within the "Terms and Conditions" source code of the ObamaCare web site, at least when it's working, is this disclaimer: "You have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system. At any time, and for any lawful Government purpose, the government may monitor, intercept, and search and seize any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system. Any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system may be disclosed or used for any lawful Government purpose."

And state exchanges have equally troubling "privacy policies," like Maryland's, which notes that it will "share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities." And now there are warnings about impostor Obamacare sites collecting private information -- for resale or identity theft. It's all downhill from here!

"What is going to happen," Barack Obama recently crowed, "is when it's working and everybody is really happy with it, Republicans are going to stop calling it 'ObamaCare.'" That's wishful thinking. Beginning this week, Obama's dream of socialized medicine will become an ever more terrifying nightmare. Actually, as the ObamaCare promises and propaganda fade to black, as I have previously suggested, we should refer to this behemoth as "DemoCare."

If Republicans successfully herd the inevitable health care consumer dissatisfaction and anger in the direction of Democrats, the electoral rewards will be substantial in 2014, 2016 and beyond. Of course, given the Republican performance in the last month, that's a big "if."

Second, the consequences of the "Republican Sequester,"

as Obama dishonestly frames it, and the current partial government shutdown, have had far less impact than trumped up by the Democrats, despite their "make them suffer" strategy of shutting down high-profile operations such as national parks. The consequence is that a lot of Americans have now learned firsthand that the nation doesn't fall apart when more than 1/6th of "non-essential" government clerks and bureaucrats are not on the job. (Who would've guessed!)

Today, most Americans know someone who is a federal government employee (not including uniformed military personnel or postal workers). That fact, in and of itself, should be alarming.

There are tens of thousands of good civilians working in government, but millions more are now the "walking dead," many of whom came into their job with a good work ethic but lost it to oppressive bureaucratic erosion. On the other hand, many enter government service because they know that little is required. The result is a costly, bloated and spirit-sapping bureaucracy rife with waste and poorly utilized personnel.

This gross bureaucratic inflation was made plain in a recent GAO report, "Actions Needed to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication," and echoed in countless analytical reports such as the Wall Street Journal's "Billions in Beltway Bloat." Last week, Time magazine featured an analytical piece titled "Most of Government is 'Non-Essential'."

Of course, eliminating "non-essential" government jobs is next to impossible because those who hold them are shielded from discipline or termination by their public sector unions. I have to tip my hat to them because they have a much higher threshold for dealing with non-essential bureaucrats who are indifferent, incompetent, unmotivated, overpaid and underworked -- and who outnumber them 10-to-1! Indeed, a universal truth pertaining to bureaucracies is this: As size increases, accountability decreases.

So, this question is now embedded in the minds of voters across the nation: Is it possible that only half the current government "workers" could accomplish everything that the full contingent accomplish now, under the right management? Or, metaphysically speaking: If a government shuts down and no one notices, did it really need to be so big?

Third silver lining?

There is the opportunity to gain some discernment about political process, and to understand that building up toward common goals, rather than tearing down over disagreements, is the only way to continue adding conservatives at every level of government. Democrats have held the House for the better part of the last seven decades, and the Senate for many of those years. It will take more than a few election cycles for the modern conservative movement to restore the integrity of our Constitution.

Indeed, there is clear evidence of a conservative shift in public opinion as noted in a recent Washington Post guest editorial by Cornell political scientist Peter Enns. This shift is nationwide -- but keeping that momentum going will require some serious soul searching, and coalitions based on common objectives.

Finally, did I mention that the returns on these silver linings will be significantly diminished unless there is a cease-fire in the foolish and fatalistic "Tea v. GOP infighting"? Yes, I think I did.

As always fellow Patriots, keep your eyes set upon the ultimate prize, Liberty! In the words of John Hancock at the dawn of our Republic, "We must be unanimous; there must be no pulling different ways; we must hang together