Not a matter of Reform anymore, but a matter of trust…

Senator Claire McCaskill found out the hard way the other day in her Town hall meeting in Hillsboro Missouri on the 11th… In the midst of her lecture to the crowd, she asked, point blank, “You don’t trust me?”… They chanted back an enthusiastic “NO! NO! NO!”…

As I watch this entire “Healthcare Reform Train-wreck” occur in slow motion, something very very apparent, but very subtle begins to gel… This isn’t about healthcare anymore…

When the Obama Administration and this Congress had “Evil Wall St.” Corporate CEO’s, Investment Banks and Corporate Insurance companies in their sights, that was all well and good… These were, after all, Faceless, Greedy Corporate Entities. No soul, no heart, no mercy, dividing up ill gotten gains amongst a “Privileged and Chosen few”…

But now the Target parameters have changed… Instead of Derivative traders, this time it’s Health Insurance Providers, and through the phenomenon called “Collateral Damage”, 85% or more of the Public at Large… The “Public at Large” consists of People with Families, not some protoplasmic entity called a “Board of Directors”… It no longer affects Goldman and Sachs, but Uncle Sal and Gene from down the Street…

I’ve watched as the “Camps” have separated and set up their perimeters… The Independent, Centrist, Moderate, and Libertarian support for this plan has evaporated, not surprisingly, at about the same time as the campaign promises like “ Bills will be posted online for 72 hours before they’re voted on so that the public can read them” and “Healthcare Negotiations will be broadcast on C-Span in the interest of Transparency”… We’re still, and will for quite a long time, finding out how bad it was when Congress said “It’s utterly CRUCIAL that we pass this Stimulus Bill THIS WEEK! But we’ll work out the details later”…


It evaporated when, after 4 years of kvetching, complaining and lawsuits over Bush and Cheneys refusal to release their “Visitors Log” of meetings with Energy Company High Muckety Mucks, Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden participate in the same collusions on quite nearly a daily basis with Insurance executives, Union leaders and Pharma Execs… As a Senator (A Junior one at that), Mr Obama complained that GWB issued “signing statements” to negate the will of Congress and only abide by the portions of law passed by Congress that didn’t conflict with his agenda and promised to limit his use of them, yet signing statements have been issued at least 5 times in the last 6 months… For all the Rhetoric, we seem to be knee deep in “GWB-II, the Sequel”, complete with the behind the scenes villain, David AxelRove, uhhhmmm, I mean “Axelrod”… We went from a Texas Contingent in the Whitehouse, to it becoming the 51st Ward of Chicago Politics…


The Sheeple camps have built their fortifications, and the 7 point “Mandate” from the general election, the Moderates, have packed their Kit and are hiking over the Horizon… The uncomfortable realization that nothing has changed but the National debt, has set in… The Poll numbers show it…

The Bamsters Job approval rating has dropped 10 points in 6 weeks (kinda early in an infant Presidency for that huh?) to 53.1%, The Congressional Job approval rating is now 60.0% negative-30.3 percent positive… Only 1 out of 3 people think that Congress is Trustworthy and effective, and there’s a 1 point spread between Democrats and Republicans in the generic approval numbers… ONE Point…( all numbers from the RCP AVERAGE BTW)… After all the bashing the Republicans inflicted on themselves (and were the Brunt of) for 6 of the last 9 years, wouldn’t you expect at least a double digit lead for the Left?

Unless of course, even in the midst of the cries of “… Inherited this Mess”, the Public is beginning to do the math and realize that the Left has held Congress for the last 3 years, and they hold the Purse Strings… Mr Obama Inherited this mess from a 2 year Incumbent Democratic Congress, so what it now boils down to is “Change we can believe in, once we verify your facts”... As Reagan said, "Trust, but verify."…

I’m highly disappointed in both the left and the right, but I’m buoyed by the fact that there truly is a mobilized Independent Movement, that since the “Bases” have coalesced into their nearly 50/50 division, will actually LEAD the Country in the next two Election cycles…

It’s a matter of trust now, and not one among you can look me in the eye and tell me you “Trust Government to do the right thing”, that you think the phrase “ I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help you” is a good thing to hear, no matter what your Political affiliation… And if you can, I’ll leave you with this parting thought…

Always remember that when you chase the “End of the Rainbow” in search of your Pot-O-Gold, your feet are going to get reeeaaaaaally muddy… You are, after all, running through a downpour to find it…


“On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

Barack Obama, Inaugural address, Jan 20, 2009…


I’m still waiting Mr. President…