Evening Update – August 13

Good afternoon to all.

Things move fast on the key issue of the day, even if Congress is not officially in session.  Maybe having Congress be forced to go back home and see/talk to their constituents is not a bad thing, eh?

First, let’s check the fact that Obama’s poll numbers continue to slide. Rasmussen, which is the only outfit that samples registered voters and pulls out only likely voters out of that, shows his approval at 47%.  It has been sinking at about 1 point every 7 days or so over the last month.  As his ratings sink further, it has several effects

1. People begin to wonder whether he has the political capital to evangelize his programs so that Congress feels motivated to pass them
2. Bipartisanship is easier for a president that the opposing party feels has the support of the public behind him.  So, Republicans may continue opposing him if they feel he isn’t bringing the public along.
3. His ability to bring together the various factions of the Democratic party also begins to falter.

For point 3 above, here is an article you might find interesting on how seniors are jumping off the bandwagon in terms of support for healthcare.. If this key pillar of the Democratic coalition falls by the wayside, it is bad news for Obama.

Meantime, if you really want to see the underpinnings of the healthcare bill, here is some more material.

• How to connect the dots on the provisions in the bill and its effects.
• Here is a set of the amendments in the bill which no one is talking about.

Now, comes late word of a poll that shows many people expect taxes to go up. Could that be because we see the debt rising?  Latest numbers from the government show the deficit will hit $1.8 Trillion this fiscal year, which is 4 times what it was last year.

Previous readers to this space will remember I said interest rates will go up?  Well, that is also in the cards.  Long-term Treasury bills show no sign of their rates stablizing.  Each time the government auctions off the debt, it has to pay more interest to the holders of the debt.

Now, having dispensed with the news, let me turn to something else.

We’ve been told for several days now by the lemmings in the mainstream media that liberals believe that dissenters at the town hall meetings are UNAMERICAN.

Well, consult Thomas Jefferson.

I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.

So, the rebellion should continue.  I don’t favor it becoming violent, but passionate? Yes.  vociferous? Yes.

I am going to write about this in more detail tomorrow.  I’ll tell you exactly why I think Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and many people on the far left are being completely disingenuous.  They want to quash any debate on the healthcare issue, but they said several years ago that it was appropriate to question the Bush administration.

Tomorrow, I will also write about why I think some liberals have lost it completely.  Meaning they no longer understand (or care to understand) what is the “organic river of feeling” that runs through most Americans for whom the words country, freedom, liberty, and self-determination actually mean something.

I leave you with the entreaty… NEVER EVER FORGET those words:  freedom, liberty, self-determination and country.  These words should evoke emotions and make you proud to be an American.  That feeling, in turn, makes you want to defend what America is so it does not become something you don’t recognize.

It is up to all of us…