The Declaration
“We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” – The Declaration of Independence
“If God doesn’t exist, if God is somehow cut out of the “rights” process, you get all of your rights from government. That is in essence what our founders fought against: government bestowing rights. What the government giveth, the government taketh away.” – Glenn Beck
Good point, Glenn.
“… the consent of the governed” and “endowed by their Creator.”
Let’s talk about the health care bill.
No one told God that there was no He
Congress has successfully eliminated God (“the Creator”) from the proceedings by declaring themselves both the creator and decider of rights (many people and politicians actually believe health care is a right as opposed to it being a privilege - like a driver’s license). This means someone has to decide what the exact rights are, who will get the rights, how they’ll be doled out, and under what circumstances a person might be entitled or might not be entitled to exercise those rights. That someone will have to be some kind of government official or panel or council, right? This means a new office or department will have to be established.
For example, in order to implement and manage the new health care bill, Health and Human Services will have to expand. They’ll have to hire case workers, office assistants, managers, social workers, directors, administrators, and mail room clerks.
The current incarnation of the health care bill states 1,600 times that the Secretary of HHS shall have the “authority to create, determine or define” items in the bill itself. The HHS is mentioned 2,500 times in the bill. This adds up to over one mention per page. Thank you Glenn Beck for providing these statistics during your show today.
Pay up, or else
Furthermore, it has now been “discovered” that the IRS’s authority will expand along with the HHS’s authority and scope. Buried in the minutia of this bill is the provision that the IRS will be empowered to enforce the new law requiring each person to have some form of health insurance. One will have to prove compliance with this governmental mandate by declaring it on income tax return forms when the law is implemented. If the reportee doesn’t have the required insurance program in place, they will be penalized by the IRS. Gosh, as if they don’t already have enough power over us!
So, while the government grows in size and authority, our liberty shrinks in quantity, quality and empowerment.
Huh. And this is what the progressives call “hope” and “change” and “fairness.” By the way, dear Congress and Mr. President, I’ll consider it fair when I am receiving your wages and health insurance plan, or you’re receiving my wages and health insurance plan. How’s that for fairness?
The unfortunate unintended consequence of the actions of our Olympian Congress is that the fibers of freedom and independence that have been the cloth upon which America was woven, are coming unraveled, thread by thread. Just like an old sock: you pull one thread, then another comes out, and another, and before you know it, you are pulling on one long thread, and soon the entire sock is a pile of wrinkled threads on the floor – useless as anything but a memory of what it was. So goes our rights – if we let them get away with it.
Hyperbolic Girl
Sure, the above sounds like a lot of hyperbole, but hey: I’m a hyperbolic girl living in a hyperbolic world.
I’m a relatively lazy person. I don’t relish hard work or extended efforts in an attempt to be successful. But I do relish the idea that it’s my choice to either be lazy or productive. I kind of like the idea that I am what I determine I shall be – not that I am whatever the government grants I shall be. And I really like the idea that I can be whatever God has designed me to be – not that my design and the rights I enjoy have been determined by other equally flawed human beings.
One of The Wine Blogger's Ancestors
Who are these people who continue to applaud the collective, hive-mind decisions of our Congress? Who are these Americans who think we would be better off under the European idea of governmental control? Are they serfs reincarnated? I don’t think my ancestors came over here for a repeat of what they were getting in their homelands. If I’m not mistaken – and I rarely am – I believe they came over here for opportunity and the “idea” that was America: do as you please, within the law, and succeed or fail on your own merit. A serf has no opportunity, no option to make his station in life any better than what the monarch determines it shall be. You are either one of the elite or you are one of the serfs.
As I have said before: if you don’t like our Constitution, go live under the rule of some other country’s constitution. Stop trying to change ours.
If you take away the right to succeed or fail, you take away the spirit and the will of the people. What is left but nihilism, apathy, and mediocrity?
There are some of us who prefer toiling up the face of the mountain, under our own steam, than being pulled along at the will and whim of the river.
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The Wine Blogs
And now, for an explanation about “The Wine Blog.” I had a dandy little blog on Myspace awhile ago. I called it The Wine Blog because it became apparent that a moderate infusion of fermented grape brings out the muse in me.
Tonight’s ramblings are attributed to the Viognier wine muse. Pajamas Media has The Vodka Pundit.
I am The Wine Blogger. I write what I feel, rather than writing about the facts and details that one can obtain from many of the other superior talents on the internet. I don’t always have data to back up my intuition. All I have is discernment. Sometimes, that’s quite enough to know when one is being bamboozled and flimflammed, or when one is hearing the objective truth of the matter.
