Germany's Conservative Merkel secures big win in liberal Europe

Sunday's result in the German Election is a huge boon for not only the Federal Republic of Germany, but also for the world community. In a time when the American President is actively peddling his plans for a second great society of expanded government and increased taxation, the German people seem to moving in the opposite direction.

Of course, we shouldn't get to carried away by describing Angela Merkel as a conservative in the American sense (she still favors VAT taxes, socialized medicine and is a huge advocate of the Global Warming theory), but for a European politician, she may yet be one of the most conservative minded on the European continent. Merkel has long been a strong ally of American foreign policy - supporting American initiatives in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Merkel, despite Islamic fundamentalist threats, continues to be an advocate to resist Islamic cultural incursions into Germany and Europe, and has deployed at least 4,000 German troops abroad in the cause of liberty. This is of course a difficult line to walk, given both internal and external reminders that Germany that it has had its own history of military ambitions at one time and the ghosts of those days are still fresh to some. That aside, Merkel has managed to win support from right, left, and center.

American conservatives can view this victory with a sense of irony. Just a few years ago, the United States under President George Bush saw a period of thawing of German-US relations as then-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was vastly opposed to supporting American action in the Middle East referring to them as mere "adventures" instead of recognizing the jihadist threats as legitimate. When Frau Merkel came to power, US-German relations turned positive almost over night and cooperation improved to levels not seen since the Kohl years. Sadly, since the election of Barack Obama, relations have once again soured. And perhaps the beginning in a change in relationship between the two countries may have occurred when Obama decided to use the Brandenburg Gate as a backdrop during the Presidential campaign tour. Little did we know that such bad judgement was a sign of things to come.

But what's clear is that this change in the winds is not just due to political philosophy. Obama, a foreign policy novice, appears to have ruffled feathers in Berlin, London, and Paris - a trifecta. This is historic in its own right as even as Gordon Brown, who is closer to Obama in his politics, was snubbed by Obama who, last week, refused to make five minutes for him. While Obama thought this attitude acceptable, the foreign press recognized the insult without hesitation. Hardly the way to treat America's greatest ally in world politics.

What American Conservatives (and European, as well) can take most delight in from this moment is the fact that the Obama phenomena doesn't have legs. There isn't some global move to the left, which sometime follows a shift when Americans make drastic political change. Conservatives won outright this time around. It may even be said that Obama's policies which have so negatively impacted the US economy may have actually helped the Christian Democrats win this election. The example of a downward trending economy caused by irresponsible spending and anti-business policies have shown to be a fair warning to all that such backwards policies are damaging to one's own national interest.

Merkels win is also historic in that her party managed to kick the Social Democrats down eleven percent from the last election, and moved the Social Democrats down to the lowest total vote count since the fall of Weimar Republic in 1933. We may have a new Iron Lady at last.

According to Bloomberg analysis, the Merkel government was successful in that it "delivered the lowest jobless rate in six years and the highest tax surplus since 1949. Germany's economic expansion is radiating across Europe, leading to a European Commission prediction of 2.6 percent growth this year in the 13 nations that share the euro, outpacing the U.S. for the first time in six years."

So perhaps it wasn't luck. And it certainly wasn't media manipulation. It was more likely reward for reform and success even at a time when the Global Market has suffered from fraudulent bank loans, and bad economic practices. Merkel campaigned on tax cuts, and deregulation which is nearly the opposite of the rhetoric heard by President Obama and his cabinet. Yet the results are in. And Frau Merkel and her ministers are leading the way, maybe its time that America follow their lead for a change.

Barack Obama and The Coming Race War

This essay is going to be hard for some to swallow. And some people may even become upset with me, and my choice of words here. But there are some things that must be said, plain and simple.

There is no use denying it.

The Obama administration is clearly hell-bent on expanding government over our lives, business, and culture to an extent never before seen. In their minds, they feel justified in doing this based on a false premise that last year Barack Obama won convincingly over John McCain, and that Americans understood that this didn't mean reinventing government but rather remaking America. Further, they have falsely created the notion that Obama's victory was one based on political ideology and therefore he has carte blanche to do as he pleases even if it means uprooting our belief system. Obama and his followers have come to this archaic belief that somehow that Americans have embraced his brand of socialism and asked him to replace our capitalist model with a new form of totalitarian rule.

The reality couldn't be farther from the truth.

The fact is that John McCain ran a poor campaign. He said little in his own defense or in the defense of current policies. He and his ragtag campaign staff laid down as the Obama army walked (if not waltzed) over him all the way to victory. Obama promised Hope, Change, and a list of other generalized upbeat approaches to government. He didn't say what those changes were - he never said he was going to spend like a madman, or dismantle the healthcare system. No, he didn't say that because had he said it, he would have lost - even to a man as somber and uncreative as John McCain.

Over the past few months under Obama-rule, the people are waking up; we've began to see a stir of emotion but not from Conservatives like myself, who are usually up in arms about taxation and spending, and our normal key hot button issues. But for the first time in a long time, I'm beginning to see an outrage from people that for years and years have been nothing more than the walking dead; zombiing their way through the newspaper, eyes a-glaze, or nodding at the daily televised newscast. People, who normally hate politics or steer away from political discussions are the ones that are doing the talking it up at cocktail parties, and in the workplace. And hell, they are even getting on buses traveling to D.C. to be heard! In a lot of ways, its surreal.

And they are going to "tea parties", and town hall meetings, and making calls to people out of recognition of what Obama represents and what he's trying to do. I see old people, and young people, and working class blue collar people involved, all fighting back against the Obama tide. And I'm scratching my head since these constituencies only months ago, were doing all the flag waving and crying for Obama to be our Savior.

So there is a real backlash out there. People are frustrated and confused - not by what Obama claims is the peddling of false rumors about his healthcare plan, but by the facts about his plan as they exist. And they are outraged by the never ending Obama propaganda machine that is selling bits and pieces of a plan that are hardly intelligible. Of course the snitch on your neighbor plan didn't appeal to people either. People also fear this rush to pass this something, a something without details describing what they are proposing, how they are going to pay for it, or how it would be administered.

OK, so far?

So as the protests grow, we see a lot of -- and this where I'm turning up the heat -- white folk out on the Mall holding signs. I see a lot of white folk making calls, and showing up at Town Halls expressing outrage, but what I don't see, except for the rare exception, are black folks stepping up to confront the dangers of an overzealous government. And that my friends is a very unfortunate matter. That is an area of concern that few people are willing to shine a light upon.

Generally speaking policy making rarely becomes race related. There are exceptions where black folks get upset - most notably when it comes to police arrests and judicial sentencing, because there is a claim that due to imagined racial profiling that black people are more likely to get arrested, or land in jail. Of course, rarely is this a reasonable argument unless one only draws attention to the number of minorities in jail which is solely the result of them committing crimes and being caught by police. These statistics are quickly overlooked by black activists.

But when it comes to this President, it clearly seems that the Obama team has deemed that race has become the overall reason for outspoken disagreement against the President's plan. In perfectly time collusion, over the last several weeks, the media has spent a lot of time playing the race card. Over this last weekend, on cue, The New York Times ran an irresponsible column by left-wing apologist Maureen Down alluding to racism for the reason of Joe Wilson's outburst on the House floor. Can someone legitimately make such a case? Simply try to destroy a man for his disagreeing with the President? Of course not, but that doesn't stop Democrats and their media friends from using this sure fire, stop gap measure to stop the advance of the President's critics.

Democrats do this because they know that making this claim automatically stops sensible debate and shines a different light on the antagonists at hand. It's akin to using a paralysis drug on the central nervous system. People sweat, tear up, and freeze. They begin to second guess what they've been saying and go into a defensive mode that makes them forget what they were saying and spew idiotic things like, "I'm not a racist, I like black people, some of my best friends are black." And thus it snowballs out of control. And before you know it, your fifty miles away from the real issue at hand.

This lowbrow approach is dangerous for Democrats and the left because calling someone a racist is just another tactic. It's an antibiotic that the general public has gotten used to. In similar cases, the left often claims that Obama is compared to Adolf Hitler (which I've actually never heard used in an argument by the way by conservative, although I distinctly remember seeing a lot of left wing propaganda depicting Bush as Hilter, etc), and so the endless argument that Obama is no Hitler merely serves as a distraction from the real issues at hand. Yet eyes are glazing over. And only Hitler's ghost and reputation seem to benefit from the dumbing down of Hitler's atrocities.

So then we have Obama's interference in the police arrest of his friend Professor Gates, and then we have an appointment and dismissal of black militant Van Jones. And we see that reaction in the black community is hardly in keeping with what might have been expected by whites if a neo-nazi were appointed by a white president. The irony is amazing.

Moreover, polls show that black folks favor the President's approach (Gallop poll: 93% last week) and give him a high approval rating when people from other races find themselves split (with a slightly higher margin opposed to his policies).

The Obama administration isn't the only one playing the race card. California Representative Diane Watson went out of her way last month to play the race card saying, "So remember they [meaning opponents] are spreading fear and trying to see that the first president who looks like me, fails; don’t misunderstand what is at the bottom line [suggesting racism]". I see. Or perhaps we all see, all too well.

From the looks of things, if black folks remain in lock step with whatever Obama proposes, then it will be hard not to imagine charges of racism coming from both camps creeping into the oncoming debate. And with the media fanning the flames as they did with the Gates story, it hardly unimaginable that thing could degrade to a very uncomfortable level, and even to the point where violence is possible.

What's next? Will polices for Government run healthcare be seen as "pro-black" and the private sector option seen as "pro-white" or "anti-black"? Will the Congressional Black Caucus continue to push in lockstep as a unified group for Government run healthcare despite that all Americans are against this notion? Will Jesse Jackson show up on the scene to make a connection to between "his poor children on the streets" and the greed of Ronald Reagan's white society?

Will the debate get uglier? Will Obama's failure been summed up as merely whites not allowing a black man to succeed? Will phony arguments about race take center stage over clear economic rationale?

I hate to say it, but stage one of the race war has begun. And the win-at-all-cost White House won't hesitate to go in any direction that gets them a win. I see the atmosphere of the OJ Simpson era reemerging.

I hope the President and his attack dogs know what pain they are unleashing on America.

The average persons guide to Obama-Care and the ongoing debate

If you came away more confused after last evening's Barack Obama HealthCare sales pitch, well - you are not alone. Barack Obama spent most of America's valuable time attacking Republicans and talk show hosts over what he deemed the "spreading of misinformation". This in itself is a propaganda tactic that even Joseph Goebbels would be proud of - since most of the anarchy and confusion about Obama's plan seems to be a result of his constant change in position as he floats new trial balloons every day. The real facts about Obama-Care, or socialized medicine are readily available since the failed models that currently exist in Canada and Europe are readily available for analysis.
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Let's go through some basic Q&A:
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Q: Obama says, we won't lose our doctor if we go with his new plan. What about this?
A: We don't know if that's true whatsoever. But what we do know is that doctors participate in plans based on providers offered through your company's benefit plans, and if Obama's plan passes, many companies will no longer offer the planned health insurance benefits for which your doctor is aligned with.
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Q: Why would companies no longer offer health insurance benefits to employees if Obama's plan passes?
A: It's going to be considerably cheaper for companies to pay an 8% tax or penalty to the Government run bureaucracy instead of offering you the costly benefit of health insurance. It gets the monkey off your company's back and the taxpayer is stuck with the bill. Think of how happy your company would be if didn't have to get involved in benefit administration, enrollment, etc. Nevermind, the cost savings.
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Q: Obama says that only premium plans will be affected and there won't be any loss of benefits, is this true?
A: Obama is being disingenuous about this because he's using a very basic health insurance plan that have few options as a benchmark. Most Americans have good health insurance plans through their employers - dental, pharmacy, basic medical, and preventive care. Calling a plan a premium plan is puzzling rhetoric. I will bet anyone that the Government run plan won't be as generous as the private sector choice that you get through your company. Today, people actually choose to work for companies sometimes based on the Health Insurance options. This competition makes companies more competitive or attractive to candidates. That would disappear overnight if Obama's plan passes.
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Q: What about Obama's claim about 78 million uninsured?
A: First of all, the numbers Obama uses change weekly. The numbers are all over the place and are being used to insight fear and trepidation. There are a lot of reasons why some people are uninsured. Many are students (but covered by parents), many are unemployed or between jobs, and many are simply not interested in paying for health insurance - these are mainly recent high school and college kids, that Obama's people are figuring in as "uninsured". Hell, I didn't want health insurance when I started my first job either. I wanted the cash. So the numbers game is a shell game at best. Let's not forget the illegal immigrants that are thrown in to create this figure.
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Q: What about emergencies? If these people don't have health care are they turned away?
A: The United States mandates that no one can be turned away by a hospital for critical care. The taxpayers fit the bill for the uninsured, and that isn't likely to change. Of course, there is tremendous abuse in the system. Walk into any ER and you can see it first hand. I did when I worked at a hospital, and when I worked as an EMT.
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Q: Why is Obama hell-bent on socialized medicine?
A: The answer goes much deeper into political philosophy understanding how Obama thinks.
Barack Obama is a die hard liberal who believes in the widespread expansion of Government on all levels. And he doesn't think much of capitalism. The driving force behind our economy is profit margins, competition, capitalism, etc, basic Adam Smith economics. Obama and his allies are no friends of the free market. By their own admission, their goal is to remake America, and since 1/6 of our economy is insurance related, that is a good place to start making changes to expand government. And its only the beginning.
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Q: Wouldn't health insurance be more more efficient if the government ran it?
A: No. It wouldn't. Take for example, the Postal Service. Over the course of time, the Government has so mismanaged the postal service that it is now over 60 cents to send a basic letter. Just twenty years ago, it was half that cost. The letter still travels the same route, in the same bag, in the same vehicles, using the same envelopes, which use the same zip codes. Yet over twenty years, there is less efficiency at twice the cost.
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Now think about any other Government run agency, from the Internal Revenue Service to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Happy with that service? Well most people aren't. Recently, cash for clunkers was a massive failure that cost the taxpayers millions.
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Now take it a step further. Do you think getting an appointment with your primary care physician is hard now? What would happen if EVERYONE suddenly flooded the system because they "can". People dive on free stuff (and of course its not free, but that's another topic) and the lines will be like they are in other countries that have socialized medicine. Study England and Canada's healthcare system and talk to their residents before thinking how great an idea this is. Few fly to Canada for medical operations these days, do they?
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Q: Didn't Obama say healthcare is a right?
A: Healthcare is NOT a right. Neither is food, property, transportation, beer, or anything else that is a commodity. Generally, rights are reserved for things like freedom of speech, press, assembly, etc. There is no right of material goods or services drawn up in the US Constitution. And thank God for that.
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Q: Who would decide who gets what benefits in the case of aged or terminal care.
A: That would be someone who sits atop of the Government payroll in one of the new 56 bureaucracies. That is sort of a scary thought, isn't it?
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Q: Obama says he's going to cut medicare but make up the costs through making efficiencies and cutting government waste and abuse.
A: No economist buys into this nonsense. Even people on the left turn and laugh into their sleeves. The fact is that if this were possible, it would have ordered back years ago. There is not 500 million is savings anywhere to be found anyway.
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Q: Obama's plan is so great that even Congressman will give up their healthcare plans to be part of it, right?
A: No, this is such a great plan that Congress made themselves EXEMPT from having to participate in it. That alone speaks volumes.
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Q: Where are the details of the plan?
A: Great question. The answer is that there are no specific details of the plan, nor has Congress worked out a way to cover the costs of the "plan". Yet there is a huge rush to pass "something" right away in order to show that we are "moving forward". Fooling with 1/6 of our economy like this without details is incredibly irresponsible way of doing business. Obama is interested in passing something right away because the more people learn everyday about socialized medicine, the fewer people support it.
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Q: Don't you think something should be done? Premiums are up, costs are up, healthcare costs have skyrocketed? Isn't it ridiculous?
A: Absolutely, something should be done. But we are in a frantic state right now. Obama and his cohorts are yelling all or nothing. Conservatives are mounting a defense against socialism. The time for negotiation and reason or solving issues in a bipartisan matter has probably passed. When people attack each other with such vigor, its impossible for them to be rationale. Anger stories, tear-jerking stories, screaming from a podium, and putting stakes in the ground are just not helpful. Those taking advantage of our medical and legal system are praying nothing changes at all. Some make a killing on the misery of others. But little can be done when the battleground is laid out for Capitalism v Socialism. Pockets of agreements can't be found and no one will budge an inch. Perhaps too much is at state to budge an inch.
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Q: Do you think something will pass?
A: It's hard to tell. I think the Democrats will probably get something passed but it won't address everything they want, but it will be enough for Republicans to use to campaign against. It's unlikely that the whole deal of socialized medicine would pass, the fragile economy cannot handle this kind of change quickly, and Democrats would be voted out in a landslide if they ever tried to ram through socialized medicine. The backlash would be tremendous. As it is, many of these Congresspeople will not be returning in the following term based on the anger of their constituents.
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Q: What about the sad stories about people who can't get healthcare. Stories like the one's CBS runs every night in their end segment. Don't you care about them?
A: You know there will always be poor, homeless, sick, lame, and terminal people in the world. The Utopian concept that Government can solve all issues is false one. Trying isn't always best when the majority suffer to assist a minority population. If you care about your world, do your best to be YOUR best. This administration is miles for JFK's "As not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country." Now its about what can the Government can do for you. This is a huge shift in thinking. Oh and by the way, the media outlets like CBS to a tremendous disservice to the debate by tugging at American's heart strings every night by pushing for Obama's healthcare plan through fear mongering and sympathy. It's simple bias. They way you can tell is that there are never stories about people who like things they way they are, and their current healthcare choices. The media only presents one side, and that is the liberal side.
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Q: How do we stop Obama and the Democrats from making a rash decision and voting something in just to vote something in?
A: Call your Congressman's office and tell them if they vote for socialized medicine that the opposition party (regardless of which one it is) will get your vote. Send letters, and attend Town Hall meetings. And tell your friends to do the same. Then have the courage to follow through if they fail you - meaning, vote them out.
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Q: Why is Obama so forceful on this healthcare matter?
A: His reputation and legacy are on the line. Since he's become President nothing has gone right: he's increased the deficit, jobs have been lost and we are near double digit unemployment, spending has increased an unprecedented rate, and his stimulus plans have failed outright. The economy, the war, just about everything is a mess. Obama needs a win. If he loses this battle, he's pretty much done. He'll be a lame duck for the rest of his term.