This week's best example of Obama's big government/nanny state objectives (and how far down the path he has taken us) comes from North Carolina .
A four year old pre-school student's lunch, packed by her mother, was inspected by a federal agent to ensure it met federal nutritional guidelines. The lunch was declared deficient, the little girl was given chicken nuggets to replace the lunch packed by her "derelict" mother…and the mother was told she could receive a bill to cover the government's cost of replacing the child's insufficient lunch.
The deficit lunch? A cheese and turkey sandwich, a banana, chips and apple juice.
Big Brother knows best…my guess is the mother is now on a government watch list and if her box lunches continue to fail inspection, Child Services will be at her door threatening to place her child in foster care if she doesn't start putting carrots or broccoli in her lunch. One question…who'll make the child eat the vegetables? The government's lunch room warden???
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Enjoy "A Few Thoughts" from this past week
OBAMANOMICS
Have you been following the very public fight between the President and the Catholic Church over contraception?
The president's unacceptable "fix" to the problem is very revealing about his understanding of free markets. He may believe that by edict he can declare some goods and services free…but that doesn't change the eternal principle that there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Every insurance company impacted by his naïve pronouncement, will simply factor the cost into their formula for setting premiums and pass the charge through to their policy holders.
And, since the abortion inducing "morning after" pill is included in the free coverage, every pro-life citizen will be forced to subsidize abortions with their health insurance premiums.
The idiotic idea that government mandates are free because the president declares them so is peppered throughout the president's economic policies…and the result is a $16T national debt and numerous nearly bankrupt state budgets.
Even though he thinks he speaks for God…someone should tell Obama he cannot change fundamental economic principles.
OBAMA'S TRUTH TEAMS
What do you think of the president recruiting "truth teams" to set the record straight anytime someone misrepresents the president's record?
The Obama campaign will educate (their word) teams of Obamanoid Kool-Aid drinkers to counter any untruths encountered related to the president's record.
"Educate" sounds a little like what happened in Viet Nam when the communists, took over…the first things they did to stabilize their control was to send people to what they called "re-education camps" to be taught the truth so they could become reliable citizens of the communist state.
It seems to me that putting Obama people in charge of certifying the truth about the Obama record is a lot like asking Rev Wright to explain the 9-11 attacks or asking President Clinton about his extracurricular affairs.
For some reason, when considering the Obama Truth team strategy, the word "propaganda" keeps coming to mind. And there is no truth to the rumor that he doesn't show up for work until 9:00…it is actually more like 9:30.
THE NEW AUSTERITY PLAN
Were you surprised to see how seriously President Obama is taking the National debt and deficit crisis in his new budget?
The president really sharpened his pencil and worked hard to submit a lean, slimmed down federal budget designed to really attack our spending problems and get our ballooning deficits under control. His new budget comes in at $3.8T and is only…now get this…only $1.3T out of balance.
You talk about an austerity program…if this were Greece; they'd be rioting in the streets at the draconian cuts in the president's budget. Why, he is recommending that only 25% of every dollar earned in America be spent by the federal government (the historical average is less than 20%).
Of course he is going to stick it to the evil rich people…and their tax increases will pay for a full 6% of the new spending the president is proposing.
Bush's biggest deficit was $450B and Obama called that unpatriotic…foolish us…we thought he meant the Bush deficit was too big.
CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?
Is compromise a dirty word?
It seems as if a significant number of voters hold the opinion that all the partisan bickering that passes for news in Washington DC is creating a stalemate and preventing the Congress from doing "the people's business"
But perhaps a more important question is: Does the partisanship represent principled division or is it simply an effort to win political advantage.
It seems to me that more than any other time in my lifetime, the divide between the two parties is clearly principled. The Democrats governing philosophy supports a bigger more powerful central government while the Republicans strongly believe in a smaller less intrusive government.
One side believes that huge deficit spending is necessary to stimulate the economy the other that the deficits are strangling private sector growth.
Given the fundamentally different governing philosophies of the two parties, is it any wonder the partisan divide exists? Senator DeMint has said, "The two parties are irreconcilable." Voters must choose which side will prevail in November.
NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
Do you believe America should be sovereign or would our nation be better off relinquishing sovereignty to international bodies?
In the 2008 presidential campaign, then candidate Obama declared himself, "A citizen of the world."
Many in the current administration believe that America should be willing to ratify several existing international treaties that would limit U.S. sovereignty and supersede the Constitution.
Under debate right now are treaties concerning small arms control, laws of the seas, international criminal court authority, a global minimum tax, outer space code of conduct and children's rights…all of which have been endorsed by the Obama administration and, if ratified by the Senate, would cede U.S. sovereignty to the U.N. and other international bodies.
The current struggles in the European Union are a reminder of the impact of international treaties on the welfare of the individual sovereign states. This, coupled with the demonstrable anti-American sentiment of the U.N. should warn against ratification of any treaty which would limit U.S. sovereignty.
November can't get here too soon…as Senator Jim DeMint is quoted above, "The two parties are irreconcilable." You must stay engaged to ensure the American Dream is alive and well after the November election results are tabulated!
Capt Jim Kinney USN (ret)
