Author Archives: Robert Sewell, MD

About Robert Sewell, MD

Dr. Robert Sewell is an Advanced Laparoscopic and Minimally Invasive Surgeon specializing in bariatric and anti-reflux surgery. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is the President of the American Society of General Surgeons. Dr. Sewell is also the Delegate to the AMA from the ASGS and is a staunch conservative political activist.

Sequester – Another Word For Withdrawal

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Washington Insiders, on both sides of the aisle, are quite simply addicted to spending money. That is ALL they do. And whose money are they spending? OURS! First they appropriate funds for some pet project proposed by some Representative or Senator that rarely ever falls within the Constitutional obligations of the Federal Government. Everyone knows there isn’t any money in the public coffers to pay for it, but for political back-scratching purposes, they get their buddies on board to pass it hopefully without being to obvious. Many support it because they have a pork-filled project of their own coming up next month and need to be seen as a “team player.” All this is designed to make sure they get re-elected every time.

Once the appropriations bill has been passed, THEN and ONLY THEN do they have to decide how to actually pay for it. Oh they can talk about paying for it through savings from other programs or because there is now a lower than expected rate of forecast increase in some other program, but that is only a Washington shell game. More recently they have simply lied to the public telling them that it is already paid for and won’t add to the deficit “not one dime.” But we all know there are really only two options – Raise Taxes or Borrow the money, typically from anybody who will purchase Treasury Notes, be they American citizens or other (Chinese being the major non-American buyers). This type of deficit spending doesn’t hurt them politically because you don’t have to raise taxes and suffer the immediate fall-out. But, now that the national debt (money owed to those who actually bought the treasury notes) is more than $16,500,000,000,000.00 the interest owed on the money has become another big cost (like interest on your credit card debt). So now they are actually borrowing money just to pay the interest on previously borrowed money. This is insane.

A year and a half ago the President ask for an increase on the rather arbitrary “debt limit” until after the 2012 election, presumably so he could continue running the government. He proposed a compromise that included more than a Trillion dollars cut to the budget over the next 10 years. Remember “Medicare, Obamacare and the Super Committee“? Well that deal was never fulfilled. Instead the cuts were postponed until March 1, 2013 (just 2 days from now). If the Congress couldn’t agree on what to cut there would be an automatic, across the board cut; 1/2 from entitlement spending (Medicare) and 1/2 from the Defense Department, presumably because these are the two largest parts of the Federal budget. But in reality  the Federal Government has not even had a budget for the last four years because the Senate has not passed a budget for that long, despite being Constitutionally required to do so annually. Arguing over the sequester, a name this automatic cut is known by, has become the latest tool the Political Spendaholics are using to scare the public into agreeing that we don’t have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem.

Obviously the addicts in Washington are convinced the American people are dumb enough to continue sending them even MORE money to allow them to satisfy their spending addiction so they can buy another election.  Well, here is my solution. NO !!! No more! Let the Sequester go through and follow it with another and another and another until the childlike behavior of spending money we don’t have stops. Obviously this isn’t going to happen because there isn’t any way the political insiders will be willing to risk hearing from one of their “constituents” who’s government check was a little less this month. So, since they won’t do it for us, we will have to do it TO THEM! We must vote out every single elected official during the next election, regardless of party. They shouldn’t really mind since they’ll get a full pension for doing nothing, instead of getting paid for ruining our economy and our country. If you agree with me please share this with others. If you don’t then just go ahead and send them all your money, because that is what it will take to satisfy their insatiable addiction.

 

 

The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of any organization or group. please feel free to review other posts on www.spiritofhealthcare.com and check out my clinical site at www.robertsewellmd.com

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Practice Happiness

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Most physicians, by our very nature, are not inclined to make waves, especially when it comes to politics. Those that are interested in getting involved may actually run for office, or, like me, resort to writing a blog in an effort to make their opinions heard. Others get caught up in professional organizations such as state medical societies, specialty associations or other national organizations. For the more ambitious, making periodic trips to Washington, DC, to lobby their representatives gives them a sense of active participation in “the system.” I know, I’ve done all these things myself (except running for office) with little to show for the effort.

The fact is, as individual doctors we have very little power to change anything that happens in the political arena. And, while it is true that as a collective we could have significant influence, it doesn’t appear likely that physicians will ever unite behind any single idea, philosophy or action plan. We are indeed a dysfunctional group of cats, and will not be herded no matter how desperate our circumstances become.

This past weekend I heard Andrew Schlafly, Esq., the General Counsel for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons give a talk on what he referred to as “A War on Doctors.” He accurately described the coordinated efforts by hospitals, third party payers and the government, all designed to control physicians through employment, intimidation, regulation and economic coercion. None of the strategies or tactics he described came as any new revelation to the audience comprised almost exclusively of doctors, but it did serve to focus the discussions that occurred for the duration of the meeting.

Our current healthcare payment system is at the heart of this war on American Medicine. It is an unchallenged fact that healthcare related costs have escalated to the point where they threaten our national financial security. But if you look at where the money actually goes, it isn’t into the pockets of doctors. Estimates place the percentage of total healthcare spending that goes to pay physicians at between 10% and 12% of the healthcare budget. The bulk of the payments go to hospitals, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, insurance companies, and a myriad of secondary and tertiary “providers” of various health related goods and services. It would then seem reasonable to ask, why wage war on the docs? Simple, we are the easiest targets.

The general lack of organization among physicians makes it possible to manipulate us using the strategies and tactics mentioned above. Similar efforts don’t work well against massive hospital groups and industrial giants, each of whom maintain multi-million dollar lobbies designed specifically to improve their relative position in the system, or at the very least, maintain their status quo. The arguments are also easily made that physicians are responsible for ordering all those expensive tests… and doctors prescribe all those useless drugs… and they are the ones who perform those unnecessary procedures… and they keep people in hospitals for no apparent reason other than money… So, it only follows that doctors must be brought to heel or appropriately punished. Besides, all doctors are rich, right?

I do not wish to imply that America’s doctors are the victims here. In large part we have unwittingly brought this war upon ourselves. For more than 30 years now, the vast majority of doctors have been systematically lured into participating in what has become a corrupt third party payment system. They have passively, and in a some cases actively, participated in “contract medicine” where the payers have subtly and systematically seized control over medical decision making. Problems arise whenever the absolute loyalty and commitment of physicians to their patients becomes an inconvenient obstacle to either the political or economic gain of the payer. Their answer is to attack the physician’s core principles contained in the Code of Medical Ethics. Their weapons include complex economic incentive programs shrouded in innocent sounding names names like “quality improvement”, “gain sharing”, “pay for performance”, and the latest effort, which is tucked neatly inside Obamacare, “Accountable Care Organizations”. Failure to comply with these efforts results in harsh penalties, including both financial penalties and professional sanctions. The strategy is clear, offer small carrots followed by a very large set of sticks.

By all appearances this war is not likely to end well for the doctors. We have limited ammunition, no coordinated strategy or battle plan, and few if any allies. Many physicians have already given up on the idea of independence. It is for this reason that I, and many like me, have chosen a path less traveled. One that can only be referred to as individual, passive non-participation. For the last 12 years I have not participated in any third party contract-based payment schemes, and as of January 2013, I have opted out of the Medicare program. For me, this was a difficult decision, but it was the only option I could see that would allow me to be a truly independent physician.

Some will undoubtedly criticize my stance as being contrary to their interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath. Others may consider me to be selfish and uncaring. To them I would simply offer my signed “Independent Physician’s Rights and Obligations Pledge” as proof of my intent. I’m not sure if any of my colleagues will assume a similar strategy since, as I said, we are all a bunch of cats, and it is not my intent to suggest this is the only course of action. However, I believe that as an American, I have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, including the joy of practicing my life’s work for the benefit of those who seek my help without pressure or interference from the government or any other controlling entity.

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The Independent Physician’s Rights and Obligations Pledge

As an independent practicing physician, I hereby acknowledge my role is central to ensuring quality care for all patients. I further recognize the potentially disruptive nature of outside influences on the patient-physician relationship, including various methods of payment. Through this pledge I hereby reaffirm my unconditional commitment to my patients, my colleagues and my profession, and to maintaining my SPIRIT as a physician.

I pledge, to provide personal healthcare to all those who I am privileged to treat, in accordance with my training and experience with a spirit of personal Service.

I pledge, to uphold, defend and perpetuate the time-honored ethics of the medical Profession.

I pledge, to conduct my practice with openness, honesty, fairness and personal Integrity.

I pledge, to keep the time-honored patient-physician relationship based on mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual Responsibility.

I pledge, to establish just and appropriate fees for the services I provide, treating all patients fairly and with compassion, free from any third party attempts to influence my professional judgment or Independence.

I pledge, to work within the community of physicians to ensure the medical profession remains self-regulating and self-governing with respect to education, training, quality assurance and peer review, according to our time-honored Tradition.

Now, before all who are my witness, I accept and embrace these fundamental rights and obligations freely and without reservation, and declare my willingness to abide by them to the best of my ability.

Robert Sewell, MD

 

The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of any organization or group. please feel free to review other posts on www.spiritofhealthcare.com and check out my clinical site at www.robertsewellmd.com

The Medical Profession In The Brave New World Of Healthcare

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The difference between a job and a profession is a matter of ownership. Anyone who is applying for employment understands that the job they seek actually belongs to someone else. It is typically offered by an individual or a corporation who defines the job and determines who is qualified to perform it. If the job holder is unable or unwilling to do the work, the owner takes the job back and finds someone else to fill the position.

By contrast, a professional owns their own job, having obtained the requisite knowledge and skills through very specific education, training and subsequent experience. Each professional is also charged with being a steward of the profession they have dedicated their life’s efforts to achieving. This stewardship requires the establishment and maintenance of an accepted set of core principles, and it is those core principles that define the profession to the rest of the world.

As a physician, my profession’s core principles have been in existence for about 2,500 years. They have been modified somewhat over the centuries, but by and large they have remained relatively constant since they were first outlined by Hippocrates. His rules for the profession were relatively simple; first do no harm, always do what is best for the patient, consider the patient before self, create no mischief and keep confidential what you see and hear. There is nothing specific in the Hippocratic Oath about charges or payments for physician’s services, but it concludes with the statement, “if you keep this oath, it will be granted to you to enjoy life and the practice of this art, respected by all men in all times.”

Through the ages patients have relied on the physician’s adherence to this basic Code of Medical Ethics as the fundamental basis for the social contract, commonly referred to as the patient/physician relationship. However, in recent years we have witnessed a steady erosion of that relationship as the practice of medicine has centered more on payments than patients. When America’s physicians allowed the camel’s nose of third party payers under their tent, they invited an assault on their time-honored ethics. For decades the patient/physician relationship has been under siege by a variety of forces associated with our convoluted payment system. Does your doctor do what he or she believes is best for you, or follow some “best practice guidelines” offered by a public or private bureaucrat who is holding the purse strings?

For a century and a half the American Medical Association has been the standard bearer for the Code of Medical Ethics in this country, and at one time nearly every physician was a member of that organization. But, since the mid 1960‘s AMA membership has declined steadily until today more than 80 percent of America’s doctors are not members. The reason for the mass exodus from the AMA is simple. Most physicians believe that it is no longer representative of the core values of their profession. As a delegate to the AMA House of Delegates for the last 4 years, I witnessed for myself how the “Business of the House” focuses far more on the finances, politics and social engineering efforts surrounding healthcare than it does in preserving and improving the art, science and ethics of medicine.

At the Interim Meeting of the AMA HOD I was reminded of just how far our professional leadership has drifted away from its core values. The AMA President, Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, gave a speech during the opening session. He called on America’s physicians, “To move from divisiveness to diplomacy, from conflict to collaboration, from the narrow self interest of personal gain to the national interest of mutual goals.” He went on to say, “We need to have a difficult but necessary conversation with the public and our leaders about the tough choices ahead. In June, the AMA passed ethics policy that calls on physicians to be stewards of the resources society entrusts to us. To follow policies on issues such as: Cost versus Value. End of Life Care. The responsibility of patients to own their own health. The need for more public health investment. The very unsustainability of the system itself – absent fundamental change.”

Dr. Lazarus was presenting the AMA’s new strategic plan that promises to discard those core principles which are centered on the individual patient, and replaces them with a new ethical code that shifts the profession’s priorities to meeting the collective good. In his remarks he accused physicians of being selfish, suggesting that we should “… listen to our heart and be driven by science – and not the latest fad or the biggest pile of cash. Knowing in our heart that a medical school diploma is not a treasure map.” Perhaps the new AMA strategy was best summed up when Dr. Lazarus said, “It seems to me the stars have aligned in such a way that our loftiest aspirations are exactly what’s needed now to transform our health care system. And to embrace a new set of core values – ones better suited to integrated care… It once made sense for physicians to value autonomy, independence, and self-sufficiency. But the game has changed.”

This new AMA plan and strategy are merely a continuation of the organizations trend over the last 50 years, which clearly runs contrary to the traditional Code of Medical Ethics. So, it comes as no surprise that the next step will be to make the needed alterations to that pesky code. The Speaker of the House, Dr. Andrew Gurman, spoke to this issue shortly after Dr. Lazarus. He told the delegates that over the next few sessions there was much work to be done on a number of important issues. At the top of the list was the need to “revise” the AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics to be more relevant given the changing healthcare environment. The objective seems obvious. The ethics of Hippocrates simply won’t allow physicians to participate in such things as Accountable Care Organizations, Pay-for-Performance Initiatives, Gain Sharing, Resource Stewardship, Cost versus Value, End of Life Care and other similar euphemisms, each of which translate into rationed care orchestrated by the physician.

The “Brave New World of Healthcare” has become one in which payers exert more and more pressure on physicians to manage costs, and professional organizations abandon their core principles for political expediency. Not surprisingly, many physicians are overwhelmed by this changing environment and feel compelled to seek the safety of employment by a hospital or large integrated system. But when they do, their commitment to individual patients becomes subordinate to the rules of their employer, and their profession with its defining code of ethics is lost forever in favor of job security.

Robert Sewell, MD, FACS

 

 

The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of any organization or group. please feel free to review other posts on www.spiritofhealthcare.com and check out my clinical site at www.robertsewellmd.com

Observations on Politics, Profiteering “Incentives”, and the Struggle for a Profession’s Soul

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Robert W Geist, MD

The new 2010 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) attempts to control society’s rising cost of care, but does so by expanding on an ethically questionable payment system. The system increases the control of managed care “payers”, HMO corporations and government agencies, by paying physicians monetary incentives for reducing the amount of care they provide. The specific objective is to encourage all healthcare providers to limit patient use of private health insurance premiums as well as tax dollars.

The law calls for the creation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) consisting of hospitals and staff physicians, merged into risk-bearing, gate-keeper insurance corporations with fixed global budgets. The amount of money allocated to each ACO is determined based on auctions of populations of insured lives to be serviced, on a per capita basis. When payers contract only with risk bearing ACO corporations, clinicians are effectively forced into gate-keeping contracts, since unaligned and independent clinics or individuals would be totally excluded from this type of payment program.

To implement these market controls, ObamaCare creates a powerful public-private cartel system. In the new system merged ACO-HMO insurance corporations are shielded by virtue of the sovereignty of the federal government from legal challenge for any activities that limit competition and/or fix prices. These shields were established through the 2011 waivers of federal anti-trust, anti self-referral, and anti fee-splitting patient protection laws.

Demand for healthcare services will naturally increase as a byproduct of this politically motivated and tax-subsidized system. Clinicians at the bedside will continue to be powerless to reverse this demand inflation unless coerced into the role of gate-keepers denying services. Likewise, there will be a continuation of the kind of quality distortions, which have resulted from decades of government price-fixing and previous failed managed care rationing methods. One can predict that these economic “fatal flaws” of this legally insulated, gate-keeping system will lead to a progressive deterioration in overall access to quality healthcare in America.

The pretext of ObamaCare as a “social good” to control cost and improved quality, has been used to justify highly questionable means, including patient auctions and monetary incentives, which reward rationed care. Under this system, patients can, and very likely will, lose the protection of law, as this law now legalizes corporate-government profiteering for rationing access. This is also how the medical profession and individual physicians can be coerced into losing their professional soul—the ancient covenant of loyalty to each patient.

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

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The terms Left wing and Right wing get thrown around constantly these days with little explanation as to what they mean. Therefore, its time for a brief lesson in government/history/civics. I don’t think most young people have ever even considered the theories behind the various forms of government, or what is referred to as American Exceptionalism. It appears they aren’t being taught such things in school.

The Left has many names; Communist, Socialist, Marxist, Leninist, Maoist, Nazi, STATIST, etc. Each of these describes a big central government controlled by a dictator or small group of Elites who make all the “rules” but live by none of them. Actually Monarchies and Oligarchies fall into the same basic category. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Individual. The Right holds to the principle that the individual’s rights trump those of the State. However, when carried to the extreme, individualism leads to Anarchy, the total absence of a government.

The brilliance of our Founding Fathers vision for this country was the creation of a central government that was, by design, limited by a Constitution, the supreme law of the land. It is based on establishing a central government which has very specific limited powers while at the same time sustains the rights of the individual. This individual freedom and personal liberty to achieve one’s own dreams is what has drawn millions to this unique country from all around the world. But, since the day it was written and adopted our Constitution has been under attack, ALWAYS from the Left.

Those who oppose a limited form of Constitutional government are now described as “Progressives” because they have had to be satisfied with a gradual erosion of that document, through interpretation and Amendment, with their goal continuing to be a bigger and bigger central government. This is what Jefferson meant when he said, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground.” Thus the need for those on the Right, who support individual freedom and liberty, to continue the fight against those who would usurp those rights.

Leftist, Elitists, Marxists, whatever you want to call them, continue their efforts to control every individual based on the myth that a utopian state can be achieved once every individual becomes totally subordinate to the collective good. Obviously, this theory is contrary to basic human nature and is therefore pure folly. The intellectual elite know this as well, but they are not deterred. Their quest for power and control leads them to use the “suffering” of the masses to lure the working class toward what can only be described as a “counter revolution”, which is in reality waged against themselves.

Today we find ourselves fighting this ill-conceived and self-destructive counter revolution, orchestrated from the Left. I, for one, remain firmly to the Right of center because that is where American Exceptionalism resides.

Class dismissed, but please be aware there will be a final exam on Tuesday, November 6th. If you don’t show up that day you will fail. If you show up with the Wrong (Left) answer, we all fail.

Why Obamacare Must Be Repealed

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Over the last two years I have made a number of efforts to outline the problems with what we affectionately call Obamacare. It is unclear whether those efforts have been effective or not, but these have been my best efforts. However, I just watched a video called “The Determinators Movie” which far exceeds any effort I could ever summon. Please watch it now, and forward it to everyone you know, because sooner or later we will all be patients.

Next – We Indict the Media

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My friend and fellow advocate of Repealing Obamacare, Adrian Murray, posted the following on Facebook and with his permission I am re-posting it here. In the wake of last night’s Presidential debate in Denver it should be crystal clear to everyone that the Mainstream Media has an agenda that includes doing whatever it takes to keep the current President in office. Their blatant partisanship under the guise of reporting the news has become a modern day “Yellow Journalism” and borders on the criminal.

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NEXT – WE INDICT THE MEDIA

It was clear to anybody paying even the remotest attention four years ago that the media was selling the American public a fraudulent bill of goods called Barack Obama. The man clearly hadn’t the slightest qualification to be President of the United States and yet the mainstream media refused to properly vet him, refused to explore his past, ignored any relevant criticism and generally acted like preteen schoolgirls at a Justin Bieber concert. Talent schmalant. He’s just so dreamy.

That’s not meant to be a knock on the President. No one will deny his oratory skills and his unique ability to stir passions in his followers with thrilling platitudes about nothing. That a significant portion of the American public is so alarmingly naïve and simplistic is not Barack Obama’s fault. Ambitious men seize upon opportunities and if the media was intent upon creating a wedge formation to allow Obama to waltz into the end zone, we cannot fault him for taking the ball and running with it.

What we saw last night was the bare exposition of the media lie. For weeks we have been assured by both print and broadcast that the Romney campaign was all but over, that he had imploded and his campaign has fizzled. “It’s over,” we were told. “Disarray” was the buzzword most often heard. Ask yourself: who was in disarray last night, Mitt Romney or Barack Obama?

It’s often been said that the media elected Barack Obama in 2008, acting as little more than cheerleaders and adeptly playing defense for the man. But Obama was not so much elected by the media as he was inflicted by the media, a consortium of liberal and leftist feel-gooders so awash in white guilt they never even once considered that absolving themselves of their self-induced guilt by abetting the election to the presidency of the United States a man not remotely qualified for the position might, just might, not be a good thing for the citizens of this country.

Oh, how the American people have suffered these last four years. Twenty-four million unable to find a job. Think of that for a second. We bandy about numbers and percentages so much that we often forget those are real people, maybe your neighbor, maybe a relative. Imagine every man, woman and child in Texas out of work, living on food stamps and government handouts, without homes or hope. That’s what Obama’s presidency has inflicted on the American people. That is a direct result of the media’s malpractice and they should be made to pay the price.

Many viewers last night were presented with facts that the media has carefully hidden. Did you know that the big tax breaks oil companies (not much more than depreciation) is just $2.9 billion while Obama’s gifts to the wind and solar industries (i.e., Obama donors) amounts to $90 billion? Neither did I. The utter, complete and devastating failure of the Obama presidency was on full display last night and along with it the media conspiracy to cover it up.

It is often said that the cover up is worse than the crime. That is certainly the case with the media’s protective fawning of Barack Obama. They can almost be forgiven for 2008. At the time many Americans were suffering from Bush-fatigue and, let’s face it, McCain was an uninspiring candidate. Maybe the media’s wet dream would have a happy ending. Most of us woke up the day after the election and hoped that would be the case.

But the disaster that has ensued is blindingly clear to all but the blind. The American people have suffered enough. Too many homes have been lost. Too many suffer without work. Too many are made to shed their dignity for government handouts. Too many face an uncertain future and live in fear of what tomorrow may bring. The media must be called to account. The curtain was pulled back last night and the emperor had no clothes, his empty suit carelessly draped over an empty chair.

Democracy cannot exist in a vacuum and that is exactly what the mainstream media has dutifully created to cover up their 2008 crime.

Off with their heads.

Americans Deserve Better

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I admit I haven’t read Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” and I probably never will, but I know I speak for many of my fellow Americans when I say that after witnessing the actions of President Obama over the last few years it is easy to understand the basic tactics of the radical left. Some of them are pretty obvious, such as consistently dividing people into groups and then pitting the groups against each other. This has been most frequently accomplished by using charges of racism or homophobia or gender bias or whatever makes a great headline for a complicit media. The more outrageous the claims the more of an emotional reaction it generates, which is their real goal. Whether its a video showing grandma in a wheelchair being thrown off a cliff or simply an outrageous statement telling small business owners that they didn’t really build their businesses, the objective is to generate the maximum visceral response. Once the stage has been set with a backdrop of anger, class envy or fear, the opportunity exists to offer a magnanimous government solution. Clearly this is precisely the same technique used by mobsters back in the 1920’s to convince the people of Chicago they needed “protection”, and it is precisely the mechanism that was used to ram healthcare reform down the throats of the American people.

Sinister is the word that comes to mind when assessing these efforts of radical leftists. They “never let a crisis go to waste”, but more importantly their modus operandi is to actually create one crisis after another in the minds of an increasingly gullible public through reckless and divisive rhetoric. Perhaps the most subtle technique of all can best be described as reciprocal deception. Accuse anyone who opposes you of the very techniques you are using against them. I offer the following statement as a clear example of this process.

The Quote of the Decade:  “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, “the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.” ~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006.

I would simply say YES Mr. President, we do deserve better, and we are aware of your persistent attempts to deceive us with your predictable radical style. We are fully cognizant of your back room deals designed to usurp our basic, God-given human rights. We have been awakened by your all too transparent lies and your constant efforts to deflect blame for our failing economy. We have seen how intentionally weak and inept you appear to be in dealing with both our friends and our adversaries around the world. We understand that you believe you are above the Constitution, the Congress and the Supreme Court. We acknowledge that through your hollow rhetoric and shallow charm, you have been successful at convincing many trusting souls that you are indeed “the answer.” But, you should be advised that the rest of America is now fully aroused and we are on our collective feet.

So, on November 6, 2012, “We The People of the United States of America” hereby promise to soundly defeat you and your agenda in the most historic election of our time. There is nothing you can do or say at this point to stop us from turning out in record numbers, despite any Chicago-style efforts you or your minions may use to intimidate or suppress the vote, or fraudulently attempt to steal this election. As Clint Eastwood said, “We Own This Country” and it is well passed the time for you to vacate our White House.

Mr. President, for once you are absolutely correct; we not only deserve better, we will have better, so help us God!

 

The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of any organization or group. please feel free to review other posts on www.spiritofhealthcare.com 

Forestalling the Demise of Freedom

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I am attaching an e-mail letter I received recently without specific permission, but, you will see at the end there is a request to forward it to everyone, thus the inclusion in this blog. I actually thought about trying to rewrite this in my own words, but I’m not sure there is any way I could deliver this message any more clearly than this author has.

Obama’s Second Term Transformation Plans

The 2012 election has often been described as the most pivotal since 1860. This statement is not hyperbole. If Barack Obama is re-elected the United States will never be the same, nor will it be able to re-capture its once lofty status as the most dominant nation in the history of mankind.

The overwhelming majority of Americans do not understand that Obama’s first term was dedicated to putting in place executive power to enable him and the administration to fulfill the campaign promise of “transforming America ” in his second term regardless of which political party controls Congress. That is why his re-election team is virtually ignoring the plight of incumbent or prospective Democratic Party office holders.

The most significant accomplishment of Obama’s first term is to make Congress irrelevant. Under the myopic and blindly loyal leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats have succeeded in creating an imperial and, in a second term, a potential dictatorial presidency.

During the first two years of the Obama administration when the Democrats overwhelmingly controlled both Houses of Congress and the media was in an Obama worshipping stupor, a myriad of laws were passed and actions taken which transferred virtually unlimited power to the executive branch.

The birth of multi-thousand page laws was not an aberration. This tactic was adopted so the bureaucracy controlled by Obama appointees would have sole discretion in interpreting vaguely written laws and enforcing thousands of pages of regulations they, and not Congress, would subsequently write.

For example, in the 2,700 pages of ObamaCare there are more than 2,500 references to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are more than 700 instances when he or she is instructed that they “shall” do something, and more than 200 times when they “may” take at their sole discretion some form of regulatory action. On 139 occasions, the law mentions that the “Secretary determines.” In essence one person, appointed by and reporting to the president, will be in charge of the health care of 310 million Americans once ObamaCare is fully operational in 2014.

The same is true in the 2,319 pages of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act. which confers nearly unlimited power on various agencies to control by fiat the nation’s financial, banking and investment sectors. The bill also creates new agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, not subject to any oversight by Congress. This overall process was repeated numerous times with other legislation all with the intent of granting unfettered power to the executive branch controlled by Barack Obama and his radical associates.

Additionally, the Obama administration has, through its unilaterally determined rule making and regulatory powers, created laws out of whole cloth. The Environmental Protection Agency on a near daily basis issues new regulations clearly out of their purview in order to modify and change environmental laws previously passed, and to impose a radical green agenda never approved by Congress. The same is true of the Energy and Interior Departments among many others.

None of these extra-constitutional actions have been challenged by Congress. The left in America knows this usurpation of power is nearly impossible to reverse unless stopped in its early stages.

It is clearly the mindset of this administration and its appointees that Congress is merely a nuisance, and can be ignored after they were able to take full advantage of the useful idiots in the Democrat controlled House and Senate in 2009-2010, and the Democrat Senate in the current Congress.

Additionally, Barack Obama knows after his re-election a Republican controlled House and Senate will not be able to enact any legislation to roll back the power previously granted to the Executive Branch, or usurped by them. His veto will not be overridden as there will always be at least 145 Democratic members of the House or 34 in the Senate in agreement with or intimidated by an administration more than willing to use Chicago style political tactics.

The stalemate between the Executive and Legislative Branches will inure to the benefit of Barack Obama and his fellow leftists.

The most significant power Congress has is the control of the purse-strings as all spending must be approved by them. However, once re-elected, Barack Obama, as confirmed by his willingness to do or say anything and his unscrupulous re-election tactics, would not only threaten government shutdowns but would deliberately withhold payments to those dependent on government support as a means of intimidating and forcing a Republican controlled Congress to surrender to his demands, thus neutering their ability to control the administration through spending constraints.

Further, this administration has shown contempt for the courts by ignoring various court orders, e.g. the Gulf of Mexico oil drilling moratorium, as well as stonewalling subpoenas and requests issued by Congress. The Eric Holder Justice Department has become the epitome of corruption as part of the most dishonest and deceitful administration in American history. In a second term the arrogance of Barack Obama and his minions will become more blatant as he will not have to be concerned with re-election.

Who will be there to enforce the rule of law, a Supreme Court ruling or the Constitution? No one. Barack Obama and his fellow-travelers will be unchallenged as they run roughshod over the American people.

Many Republicans and conservatives dissatisfied with the prospect of Mitt Romney as the nominee for president are instead focused on re-taking the House and Senate. That goal, while worthy and necessary, is meaningless unless Barack Obama is defeated. The nation is not dealing with a person of character and integrity but someone of single-minded purpose and overwhelming narcissism. Judging by his actions, words and deeds during his first term, he does not intend to work with Congress either Republican or Democrat in his second term but rather to force his radical agenda on the American people through the power he has usurped or been granted.

The governmental structure of the United States was set up by the founders in the hope that over the years only those people of high moral character and integrity would assume the reins of power. However, knowing that was not always possible, they dispersed power over three distinct and independent branches as a check on each other.

What they could not imagine is the surrender and abdication of its constitutional duty by the preeminent governmental branch, the Congress, to a chief executive devoid of any character or integrity coupled with a judiciary essentially powerless to enforce the law when the chief executive ignores them . Americans must come to grips with this moment in time and their historical role in denying Barack Obama and his minions their ultimate goal. All resources must be directed at that end-game and not merely controlling Congress and the various committee chairmanships.

Steve McCann, May 12, 2012

Please forward this to all you can, maybe together we can save America for ourselves and those who will follow after us

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I would only add, if we (the American public) accidentally overheard this President telling Russian President Putin that he would have a lot more flexibility after the election, how many other “deals” has Obama made with those who would seek to destroy our freedoms and the American way of life? Now is a time for choosing. “We The People” of this great nation must stand against the tyranny that Abraham Lincoln warned us about 150 years ago. He said  “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”