As I scroll through a plethora of news websites, I really do not even know where to begin with another blog post after being absent from my site since January 25th. During the past three months, I have traveled to Belgium, New Orleans, San Diego, and registered for college classes; each event has even further solidified my belief that America is the most exceptional nation on the face of this Earth. School, also, has kept me from writing, but with the looming shut down of our national government, I felt compelled to get back to blogging. I have a lot to say and I hope you will share my site with as many of your friends as possible, regardless of their political views.
If Congress cannot agree on a budget by midnight tonight, the United States government will be shut down. Granted, operations such as the Post Office, TSA, and Social Security will still be operating and in effect; however hundreds of thousands of government employees will be without work and, sickeningly, the pay for our men and women in uniform will freeze. Directly from the Constitution, Article 1, Clause 9, Section 7: “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.” Redstate.com describes the process clearly, also: “The government only shuts down if the President vetoes the congressional appropriation bills. It is this presidential veto, which effectuates the government shutdown, not Congress. The President shuts down the government, not Congress.”
Literally thousands of families will be affected if this occurs. The Republicans and Democrats have butted heads constantly, trying and failing to come to a consensus on a budget for our nation, one that will cut spending in attempt to salvage what is left of our broken economy. The left shrieked in disgust over Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” budget plan to cut federal spending by $5.8 billion over the next ten years, though I have yet to see any real solutions to the problem from their side of the aisle. In seeing the events of the past few weeks regarding this, I have been waiting for a real leader to emerge from the White House, and predictably it has not happened.
The farce that is Barack Obama’s presidency has been revealed even further, though. Be it his self-proclaimed superiority showing through when he insisted that lawmakers need to “act like grown ups” or yet another planned “weekend getaway” while the entire country is in shambles (is anyone keeping a vacation count?) there has been nothing but frivolous talk and no action coming from the White House. Further, in budget discussions with Senator Harry Reid and Speaker of the House John Boehner, he and Reid have refused to cut nearly $300 million in funds for Planned Parenthood. Reid and Nancy Pelosi have already used the line that the Republicans are waging a “war against women” and the goal is to “prevent women from getting cancer screenings”. Really? I don’t buy it. Any defense for this organization I see as absolutely sick. Planned Parenthood is a federally funded organization that time and time again has been found to have covered up cases of rape, sexual abuse, and sex trafficking in girls/women of all ages. http://biggovernment.com/lrose/2011/02/01/shock-investigation-planned-parenthood-advises-pimp-on-underage-sex-trafficking-secret-abortions-for-minors/ Aside from the fact that this group is absolutely sickening in general, does the President and his cohorts realize that the United States is fighting THREE wars? Has he SEEN the National Debt Clock? http://www.usdebtclock.org/ At the time of this writing, the debt per citizen was at $45,899. I know I don’t have that much money, do you?
A primary ramification of the government shutdown is the fact that soldiers will have a freeze on their paychecks. Besides having a loved one overseas for a number of months to a year, military families will have to deal with the effects limited funds. Soldiers who are half a world away from their families, too, will have to worry about how bills will be paid back home. President Obama showed his disregard for those who serve by denouncing a bill that proposed to fund the Department of Defense through the end of the year. It’s unbelievably obvious that Obama ignores the fact that he was elected to represent the American people rather than adhere to his own agenda and that of his party.
WHEN in the history of American has the Commander in Chief blatantly turned his back on those who have volunteered to serve their nation? Obama’s concern for an organization known for covering up heinous crimes receives priority over the greatest fighting force in the entire world, the military he swore to command. Glenn Beck was ridiculed on Good Morning America just a few days ago for saying that “we are in deep and treacherous waters” but the man could not be more right.
Americans who are still complacently living in their own utopian worlds, wake up before you are rudely awakened from your ignorant slumber. Look at that debt clock again. Our nation is now involved in three wars in the Middle East. Unemployment is at 9.2%. The dollar is constantly dropping in value. The Middle East is literally on fire, and Japan is physically devastated. The entire world is in deep and treacherous waters and the tide is rising fast. And all the leader of the free world can do is battle for funding for a sick and twisted organization that functions harmfully and distrustfully in the name of women’s health, and blatantly disregard military families.
In the words of Thomas Paine:
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
Whether the government shuts down tonight or not, we are still amidst trying times that require real leadership, something we are not seeing in the White House. Paine’s words still apply over 200 years later—though he and his fellow founders are discredited by elitists more and more every single day. Are we sunshine patriots, only flying our flags when it is the popular thing to do? Or will we continue to stand by our country in times of strife and turmoil, when the unpopular—but right—thing to do is to seek the truth from our leaders, from each other? Do we still hold our America dear, and do we still value the truth? But more importantly, do our leaders?
http://www.redstate.com/timelyrenewed/2011/02/25/the-constitution-and-obamas-threat-to-shut-down-the-government/
http://www.newsmax.com/Murdock/paul-ryan/2011/04/08/id/392277
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-gop-budget-20110408,0,617540.story?track=rss
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52593.html
http://www.vagazette.com/articles/2011/04/07/news//doc4d9da89df0225539456348.txt
http://www.salon.com/news/budget_showdown/?story=/tech/htww/2011/04/08/planned_parenthood_budget_shutdown
