Inside Washington, fear permeates a political class uncomfortable with growing citizen awareness and broad rejection of Washington insiders’ self-serving public policies. Outside Washington, fear can be found, too — fear that the American Dream is being strangled to death by our leaders. The elections were the barometer telling us that new public pressure is just beginning.
The other emotion driving so many Tea Parties, the Fair Tax movement and the defeat of “safe” incumbents is anger — broad and deep. It is anger that our fortunes have been so badly mismanaged by political insiders who are unapologetically contemptuous of ordinary Americans.
Yes, we want our country back — back from those who have ignored us, taken us for granted and pitted us against each other while buying elections and re-elections with our public treasury. They have loaded more than a half million dollars of debt on every American household — not to advance our pursuit of happiness but to help themselves advance and live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. They have played fast and loose with our money, our future and majority rule itself.
Exhibit number one is Obamacare, enacted over the objections of the majority of Americans because … well, because the political class knows what is good for us better than we do. The record tells us something very different. The fact that seniors will see Medicare coverage shredded, that healthcare inflation will explode because promised cost controls don’t actually exist, or that our insurance premiums and taxes will certainly rise at the same time the national debt skyrockets are all truths that Washington can overlook — why can’t we?
Sweetheart deals with Wall Street friends of government insiders (paid for out of our pockets), the government takeover of large segments of our economy, and a tax system so complex that only tax lobbyists, congressmen and accountants profit from it are the bitter gifts that we, the people, are supposed to overlook or just say, “Thank you, sir. May I have another?”
No more. The populist wave sweeping the nation has changed the face of Congress and will change it again if those elected to represent our best interests continue to so commonly vote their own selfish interests. We threw off the rule of aristocrats and a distant and arrogant government when we founded this nation and we’ll do it again.
A shiny new fleet of luxury jets for congressional junkets, an all but open border, a tax system that is crippling the American economy while tax lobbyists dine out, a Social Security system that has seen trillions of dollars of our wealth siphoned off and a national healthcare law enacted over the legitimate objections of the American people are now the fuel that is transforming American politics. The American Dream has been callously damaged and cannot recover until the voice of the average citizen is again heard — and heeded.
State attorneys general will challenge as unconstitutional Mr. Obama’s vision for the confiscation and redistribution of our wealth. We won’t be waiting for the judgment of the judiciary branch, however. The first step to returning the country to majority rule — regardless of which party controls the White House and the House and Senate — is to repeal the healthcare act. It’s about true representation of the will of the American people.
Incumbents be warned — it has happened before with repeal of the Catastrophic Care Act in 1989 and it will now happen again. Then, senior citizens rose up and rolled over the White House and both houses of Congress, along with AARP and many others co-opted by the power of an unchecked central government. It is about to happen again.
Ken Hoagland is chairman of a new grassroots advocacy organization — “Restore America’s Voice.” He authored “The FairTax Solution” and led the campaign to repeal the Catastrophic Care Act in 1989. His new organization to repeal ObamaCare can be found at RepealHealthCareAct.org