If you would like to add a comment to any of the threads here on AADB, registration with blogspot.com is not required. Simply click on the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of an essay, and either enter a nickname under ‘choose an identity’ or post your comment anonymously. Serious comments are always welcome.



REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

1/31/2010

Maybe Cliff Does Know a Thing or Two After All ...


This isn’t the Democratic party of our fathers and grandfathers. This is the party of Woodstock hippies. I was at Woodstock – I built the stage. And when everything fell apart, and people were fighting for peanut-butter sandwiches, it was the National Guard who came in and saved the same people who were protesting them. So when Hillary Clinton a few years ago wanted to build a Woodstock memorial, I said it should be a statue of a National Guardsman feeding a crying hippie ... actor John Ratzenberger

1/25/2010

Never Waste a Good Crisis


The devious tenets contained in Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals' have once again made an appearance in the strategies of the Obama administration. The administration has sunk to a new low -- a depth to which even I had not envisioned them capable of falling.

Early last week, after seeing the First Lady on television asking us all to donate to Haiti relief, I logged onto the White House website to investigate how the administration is handling fundraising for the earthquake victims.

In the upper righthand portion of the site is a big red-and-white 'Help for Haiti -- Learn What You Can Do' icon. You can't miss it. I followed the link and decided to make a small donation, not because I wanted to do so through the White House (we already made an early donation through the Salvation Army), but because I wanted to see whether there would be 'political (e-mail) ramifications' as a result of doing so. Would even this administration really be so crass as to take political advantage of the unprecedented tragedy in Haiti?

I received my answer this morning, less than a week after I made my donation to Haiti relief.
___________________________


Rick and Joan --

On Wednesday evening, President Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address. It comes at a critical moment.

We must regroup, refocus, and re-engage on the vital work ahead. So let's watch it together at a State of the Union Watch Party in your neighborhood.


We've hit some serious bumps in the road recently in our march toward change. We always knew it would be difficult, but this past week has definitely been a hard one, for all of us.

But this movement didn't come so far without making it through some challenging times. It's at moments like these when we need you most. People are hurting. Our country is at a crossroads, and in communities like yours all across America we must all fight for the progress our families and businesses need to thrive.

The President's resolve has never been stronger to keep fighting for health insurance reform, for lasting job creation, and to rein in the big banks and fight the undue influence of lobbyists. Wednesday's speech will be a pivotal moment for us all to get on the same page and continue the fight together.

In just two days, OFA supporters like you will be gathering at State of the Union Watch Parties in living rooms and community centers across the country. You can share ideas and experiences -- and I'll be joining on the phone for a special strategy huddle before the speech.

Find and RSVP for a State of the Union Watch Party near you:

http://my.barackobama.com/AttendSOTU

I hope you can join us,

David Plouffe

P.S. -- Volunteers have set up hundreds of Watch Parties over the last few days. But if there isn't one yet near you, just sign up to host one yourself. It's easy and fun, local OFA organizers will help you with any questions you have, and it's an incredibly important way to let supporters near you be part of the action:

http://my.barackobama.com/HostSOTUM

~ joanie

1/19/2010

Dare We Hope That Massachusetts
Will Inspire Us Again?


Today, January 19, 2010, has the potential to be a watershed event in the history of our republic. The Massachusetts senate seat that has been occupied, with an iron-fisted grip, by ultra-leftist Ted Kennedy for nearly a half century is now presenting the very real possibility of being occupied by a Republican. And the government-controlled healthcare system for which Ted Kennedy crusaded for decades is in real danger of extinction as a result.

Don’t allow the mainstream media pundits to tell you that this election is anything short of a national referendum, in mocrocosm, on the first 365 days of the Obama administration – and the concept of nationalized healthcare, in particular.

Despite the voter fraud and corruption surely being perpetrated in the Bay State today by the likes of ACORN et al, if Scott Brown succeeds in winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, we all need to prepare for unconstitutional machinations the likes of which we have not yet witnessed. And, considering the recent manner in which the Consitution has been declared increasingly irrelevant (even a nuisance), that’s saying a lot.

Perhaps Brown’s certification of election will be delayed until a vote on ‘healthcare reform’ can be streamrolled through the Senate. Perhaps his swearing in will be delayed on a technicality. Perhaps a bill in which the House and Senate versions of the bill are successfully merged will be deemed unnecessary, and a vote on one or the other will be declared urgent and of immediate importance. Whatever the corrupt machinations involved, the push for immediate government healthcare will not die.

Should Brown lose this election, we all need to ask ourselves whether voter fraud was the cause of his loss. Should he win, we need to buckle our seat belts. The Marxists who are seeking to exercise tyrannical power over 1/6 of our nation’s GDP, and who want to declare meaningless the most personal individual liberites guaranteed us by our Founders -- choices regarding how we determine our health and wellness, and life and death -- will not allow Scott Brown’s crucial vote to make a difference in their evil march toward the destruction of the finest healthcare system in the history of mankind.

They have not finished villifying American physicans and healthcare/insurance providers. They have not finished demonizing the free market nature of America’s healthcare system. They have not finished their attempts to pit one American against another. They have not finished pandering to the special interest groups that promise to keep them in power until the next millennium. They have not finished portraying themselves as super-human humanitarians whose agenda seeks only to make life better for us all, and whose intellect and altruism destines them to make our decisions for us, for our own betterment. They have not finished designing the gargantuan, irrevocable bureaucracy that will render all of our freedoms null and void. And they will not rest until they do. Roadblocks will not be tolerated.

Below is a brief synopsis of the most egregious portions of the original House healthcare bill (HR 3200). It is all but impossible to analyze the House and Senate bills that have emerged since, because they have been both authored and ‘debated’ (loose use of the term) behind closed doors. But rest assured: Most of what was in HR 3200 is either still intact, or there exists sufficient wiggle room in the more recent bills to allow the re-insertion of what may have been (temporarily) deleted.

If you believe that some or most of the conclusions drawn below, in the excerpts from HR 3200, are a stretch, then simply consider this:

Our Founders spent an enormous amount of their precious time drafting the most magnificent blueprint for governance ever devised by the mind of man. They sought, above all else, to dot every i and cross every t, and to envision any future circumstance that would misinterpret, or mis-use, their words in order to erode their original intent – the most crucial of which was to limit the power of government, and thus maximize the individual freedom of every American citizen to live life as he sees fit.

Yet, despite our Founders’ unprecedented brilliance and foresight, the U.S. Constitution has been blatantly violated, time and again, over the past 365 days (not to mention during previous administrations, although to a lesser concentrated degree), through the government takeover of the auto industry, the banking industry, etc. ... and generalized government intrusion into American business, the free-market system, and virtually every individual liberty that the American citizen has been ensured by our founding documents.

When original-intent aspects of the Constitution (such as the much-maligned and deformed general welfare and commerce clauses) can be re-shaped so as to use them as an unwitting tool in a blatantly corrupt effort to increase government power, how much more will this ‘healthcare reform’ legislation open the door to such unconstitutional abuse of power? The contents of the most recent House and Senate bills have been kept under wraps. And the wording of the original bill (summarized in part below) is so vague as to allow for countless interpretations. To call the passage of anything resembling what now passes for a ‘healthcare reform’ bill a Pandora’s box would be the understatement of the century.

Below is a brief re-visit to some of the contents of HR 3200 (thanks to our friend, 'Barry Up The Road', for the steer to the video). Should Congress succeed in passing any form of ‘healthcare reform’, we can count on most, or all, of this eventually becoming law. The left will settle for nothing less.

Government will audit the books of all employers who self insure. (p.22)

We can only receive so much ‘care’ per year: $5,000 per individual, $10,000 per family. (p. 29, lines 4-16)

A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits we receive. (p. 30, sec. 123)

The Healthcare Commissioner will choose our healthcare benefits for us. (p. 42)

Healthcare will be provided to all non-U.S. citizens, illegal or otherwise. (p.50, sec. 152)

Government will have real-time access to our finances, and a National Health I.D. card will be issued. (p. 58)

Government will have direct access to our bank accounts for elective funds transfers. (p. 59, lines 21-24)

There is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions and community organizations such as ACORN. (p. 65, sec. 164)

Government will create a healthcare exchange to bring private healthcare plans under government control. (p. 72, lines 8-14)

Government will mandate all benefits packages for private healthcare plans in the exchange. (p. 84, sec. 203)

Government will mandate linguistic appropriate services – translations for illegal aliens. (p. 91, lines 4-7)

Government will use groups, such as ACORN and Americorps, to sign up individuals for government healthcare plan. (p. 95, lines 8-18)

Medicaid eligible individuals will automatically be enrolled in Medicaid. We will have no choice. (p. 102, lines 12-18)

No company will be able to sue the government for price fixing, and there will be no judicial review against a government healthcare monopoly. (p. 124, lines 24-25)

Employers must pay for healthcare for part time employees and their families. (p. 126, lines 22-25)

Government will tell doctors and the AMA how much money physicians can make. (p. 127, lines 1-16)

All employers must automatically enroll all new employees into the government plan. (p. 145, lines 15-17)

An employer with a payroll of $400,000 and above who does not provide the government option will pay an 8% tax on all payroll. (p. 149, lines 16-24)

An employer with a payroll of $250,000 to $400,000 who does not provide the government option will pay a 2% to 6% tax on all payroll. (p. 150, lines 9-13)

Any individual who does not have acceptable healthcare coverage, as defined by the government, will be taxed 2.5%. (p. 167)

The abovementioned tax will not be levied on non-resident aliens. (p. 170, lines 1-3)

Officers and employees of the Government Healthcare Administration will have access to all Americans’ personal and financial records. (p. 195)

This section reads ‘The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as a tax.’ (p. 203, lines 14-15)

Government will reduce physician services for Medicaid. (p. 239, lines 14-24)

All doctors, no matter what specialty, will be paid the same. (p. 241, lines 6-8)

Government will set the value of doctors’ time and professional judgments. (p. 253, lines 10-18)

Government will mandate and control productivity for private healthcare industries. (p. 265, sec 1131)

Government will regulate rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs. (p. 268, sec 1141)

This section regards treatment of certain cancer hospitals, and would result in cancer treatment rationing. (p. 272, sec. 1145)

Government will penalize hospitals for what it deems ‘preventable re-admissions’. (p. 280, sec. 1151)

Government will tell doctors what and how much they can own. (p. 317, lines 13-20)

Government will mandate whether hospitals can or cannot expand. (p. 317-318, lines 21-25, 1-3)

Hospitals will have the opportunity to apply for an exception to the above, but community input is required. (p. 321, lines 2-13)

Government will mandate establishment of ‘outcome-based’ measures. (p. 335, lines 15-25; and p. 336-339)

Government will have the authority to disqualify medical plans, HMOs, etc., forcing all into the government plan. (p. 341, lines 3-9)

Government will restrict enrollment of ‘special needs’ individuals. (p. 354, sec. 1177)

Mandates the creation of a government Tele-Health Advisory Committee. (p. 379, sec. 1191)

Government will mandate ‘advanced care planning consultation’. Seniors will be interviewed every year and decisions will be made as to what care they can and cannot receive. (p. 425, lines 4-12)

Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills and durable powers of attorney. This instruction and consultation will be mandatory. (p. 425, lines 17-19)

Government will provide an approved list of ‘end-of-life resources’. (p. 425, lines 22-25; and p. 426, lines 1-3)

Government will mandate orders for end of life, giving the government a say in how your life ends. (p. 427, lines 15-24)

An ‘advanced care planning consultation’ will be used frequently as a patient’s health deteriorates. (p. 429, lines 1-9)

‘Advanced care consultation’ may include an order for end-of-life plans. (p. 429, lines 10-12)

Government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. (p. 429, lines 13-25)

Government will decide what level of treatment we will have at end-of-life. (p. 430, lines 11-15)

There will be community-based home medical services, run by organizations such as ACORN. (p. 469)

There will be one monthly payment to such community-based organizations. (p. 472, lines 14-17)

Government will cover marriage and family therapy. (p. 489, section 1308)

Government will cover mental health services including defining, creating and rationing those services. (p. 494-498)

God bless Scott Brown. May he win a decisive victory in today's Massachusetts senate race. And may the days that lie ahead prove to be a turning point in America’s sad journey toward complete government tyranny, and her inevitable tragic devolution into a third-world status. Should Scott Brown not be victorious, may his defeat have occurred fairly, and may his opponent's victory be a genuine reflection of the will of the voters of Massachusetts.

~ joanie