Chicago Politics Comes To Washington

President Obama gained his political experience in Chicago–a town known for hardball politics (and a powerful political machine).  He learned his lessons well.

Michael Barone posted an article at the Washington Examiner on Tuesday about the rule of law and the Obama administration.  The two don’t seem to be very well acquainted.

Mr. Barone begins by citing the waivers from Obamacare.  Thus far there have been 1,372 waivers given to businesses, local governments, unions and insurers, covering 3,095,593 individuals or families.  Of those 3,095,593 people impacted by those waivers, more than half are in plans run by labor unions.  Union members make up only 12 percent of the populations, yet they have received more than 50.3 percent of the waivers on Obamacare.  I thought the unions were strong supporters of Obamacare.  Have they changed their minds?  If they have changed their minds, will they help the rest of us overturn it?  Can the rest of us get waivers?  You get the point.

The Health of Human Services website says that the waiver process will be transparent, but it does not list the people who requested waivers that were turned down.  Hmmm.

Mr. Barone points out in his article that one of the basic principles of a democracy is the rule of law–which includes the principle that everyone is equal under the law.  That principle has been violated with Obamacare waivers–some of us are more equal than others.

The second principle of the rule of law is that you can’t make up the rules as you go along.  This principle is currently being violated by the Obama Administration in two areas–the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) attack on Boeing aircraft and the move by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to levy a gift tax on certain 501(c)(4) organizations that have spent money to elect Republicans.

The NLRB has decided that Boeing does not have the right to assembly its 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina instead of Washington because South Carolina is a right-to-work state.  Regardless of how that case is eventually settled in court, the expenses Boeing will incur in defending its right to do business wherever it chooses will have a chilling effect on businesses in America.  As a result of this dust-up, we can expect more companies to look into moving their operations overseas–adding to America’s unemployment problems.

The looming gift tax is a new idea–previously gift taxes have only been levied on money parents give to heirs or other family members in order to avoid estate taxes.  This change in the application of gift taxes may have a chilling effect of political donations to Republicans.

It is a shame that America has come to this.  However, the solution is relatively simple.  If you don’t like what you see politicians in Washington doing, vote them out.  The American people have to take some responsibility for what is currently going on.  If we don’t like it, we need to change it.  If gangster government and crony capitalism are ok with you, just keep voting for the people you have been voting for.  It’s up to you to share what you know and vote according to what you think is good for the country.