Boggs says things that other people ought to be saying, ought to be screaming, and ought to draw battle lines regarding.
Boggs column this week is such a column. He says things that others know, he says things that many people want to close their ears to and put their hands over their eyes to because, to hear what is going on and to see what is going on in our nation would force us to react, even if that reaction is non-action. Remember, non-action is an act, in itself, when it is the result of realizing there is a wrong that needs a remedy and yet, because we lead busy lives or don't want to alienate our friends, or don't want to be interrupted in our current pastime, we choose to ignore the problem.
This week, Boggs tells America we are a nation of blind people being led by blind leaders. I think more and more people are opening their ears and uncovering their eyes to the fact that our Country is being blindly run into a ditch but, it's still happening. The ditch gets closer and closer and the wheels of our wagon are getting squeakier and squeakier as they get all the more wobbly.
Boggs pointed out several specific cases of the deaf and blind leadership of our nation:
"President Obama is pressuring Congress to pass health care legislation before it recesses in August. Representatives admit that when it comes time to vote they likely will not understand all the bill entails and how much it will cost. And yet they still plan to vote on it....
The House of Representatives passed legislation known as cap and trade which was drafted to address environmental issues and "global warming." The original bill was in the neighborhood of 1,500 pages. However, at 3 a.m. the day of the vote, Democrats added an additional 300 pages. Though representatives had no clue what was in the bill or how much it would cost, they passed it.
...a similar scenario occurred in reference to the so-called stimulus package. The same was also true for the bank bail-out bill passed at the end of 2008. In each case, Congress approved legislation with little or no knowledge of contents or cost."
Boggs also touched on the media, "Rather than asking congressional leaders or the president tough questions concerning the reality of recent legislation, the media -- with rare exception -- has acted like a mere spectator simply repeating the congressional or administrative spin," Boggs wrote. "When they are not accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative of proposed legislation, most media outlets are trumpeting the trivial."
So, today, I've done my part to take action. Since what I do is report and write about things, I feel it is fair to report and write about this "thing" as my form of action.
It is not acceptable that our elected legislators are passing critical legislation before they have even read or studied what the long term effects of the legislation they are passing will be. In some cases, there are rare reports from experts about how far reaching and damaging some of this legislation will be to the future of our country but, those reports fall on deaf ears. Those reports cannot capture the attention of the populace of these United States. We truly are a nation of the blind leading the blind and because no one wants to open their ears and uncover their eyes to do something about it someday, someday not in the so distant future, there is going to be a majority of our American population who will be apologizing to their children, apologizing to their grandchildren, for not doing their due diligence to protect our nation.
These are the sad facts. How will you react?
One of the questions I asked of the Council candidates before the April election this year was, will you read the bills that are presented to you for approval or denial before you vote on them? I asked that question because I recognized the importance of our elected officials reading and understanding (and asking questions about) what is placed before them for approval. An incorrect answer would surely have ruled out any candidate I might be considering. If such reading and understanding of legislation is important in our City, how much more so, in our federal government?
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3 comments:
It cannot be impressed enough that the sheeple need to get up and look for themselves the truth, and ultimately separate the wood from the trees, That is the only true and honest hope
When I read the post you entered at your own blog today, I could see that we were converging in thought in some ways. I always think that's interesting when that happens between local bloggers.
Your topic was different but, the underlying thought was pretty much the same.
One of the few legislators I knew who read every word of every bill was Senator Emory Melton (R), Cassville.
I really liked him.
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