2012: THE REPUBLIC'S BELLWETHER YEAR

By Attorney Jonathan Emord
Author of "The Rise of Tyranny" and, "Global Censorship of Health Information"
January 24, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

November 6, 2012 is not only the date when Americans can remove the present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it is also the year when they can remove 23 Senators who now stand in the way of repealing Obamacare and making substantial cuts in federal government spending and jurisdiction. That date will be one of the most significant in American history, determining whether our nation will reject or embrace the politics of ever increasing government control. If the mid-term 2010 elections are indicative of a fundamental realignment of the electorate, and I think they are, the American people will reassert their rights to life, liberty, and property, and will reject the politics of government control in favor of individual freedom. Republicans need only gain 4 Senate seats to take control of the Senate. The odds are, they will gain control of that chamber, even if President Obama is re-elected.

If Obama loses, Republican majorities in both houses will likely achieve repeal of most, if not all, of Obamacare; will move to cut government spending and programs; and will hold the line on taxes (if not reduce them). If Obama wins, then a supermajority will be needed to override his almost certain vetoes of those same measures. Therefore, Republican control of the White House and Senate is essential to the movement for individual sovereignty and for restoration of government as a servant, rather than a master, of the people.

On January 20, the Republican House acted boldly to prove its willingness to follow the electorate’s lead. Sure, politics as usual still reigns with duplicity as common now as it ever was.

The difference, however, is that members fear the electorate (as they should), and the electorate demands elimination of the health care reform law and dramatic cuts in government’s size, scope, and cost. Heeding those demands, the Republican majority voted unanimously, 245 to 189, to repeal Obamacare. Senator Harry Reid, the unanticipated victor in his own hotly contested Senate re-election campaign, has announced that he will block moves to bring the bill to a vote in the Senate and, even if a vote is had, will assure that the Democratic majority prevents passage of the bill.

On January 20, the Republican House went beyond its move to repeal of Obamacare, announcing plans to cut government spending by $2.5 trillion over the next ten years: not enough by a long shot, but clearly a move in the right direction. The cuts were meaningful, offering to eliminate Amtrak subsidies and to cut funding for the Legal Services Corporation and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others. Bills offering deeper spending cuts have also been introduced by Republicans, including members of the Republican Study Committee. While those bills also do not go far enough, they are moves in the right direction.

On January 18, two hundred of the nation’s leading economists who have served in Republican and Democratic administrations alike sent a letter to House Speaker Boehner, House Minority Leader Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, and Senate Minority Leader McConnell, demanding repeal of Obamacare. They declared it “a threat to U.S. businessesâ€