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March 29
1928 - Little dam victim, thought unidentified & buried in SCV, actually ID'd & buried in Chatsworth [story]
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The Real Side | Commentary by Joe Messina
| Wednesday, Oct 9, 2013

joemessinamugThe fine line between politics and reality has become so blurred that the truth couldn’t be found in Washington if it were written on the Goodyear blimp and highlighted with fireworks.

I refer to this as “Democrat doublespeak,” also known as talking out both sides of your mouth, or just plain gibberish. And all of this coming from our elected leaders; such is our sad state of affairs.

Let’s look at this from the middle of the aisle. The U.S. Senate, run by whomever, has not passed a budget in the last five years. This is against the law. A Continuing Resolution (CR) has been summited again, because – did I mention? – the Senate has not passed a budget in five years. And did I also mention that it was against the law not to pass a budget?

The CR submitted by Congress originally had a clause to de-fund Obamacare – but it was changed at the last minute to delay the individual mandate by one year, just as it has been delayed for all of the president’s friends: the unions, certain businesses and other special folks.

The Senate, without discussion, voted it down. So Congress tried it again, sending it back to the Senate with a simple change to close the loophole in Obamacare by allowing Congress and senators to “opt out.” Once again, without discussion, the Senate voted against it.

Wait a minute. Isn’t it already in the U.S. Constitution that Congress shall make no law that it doesn’t have to follow, or which doesn’t apply to them? Why would the Senate vote to allow our U.S. representatives to “opt-out”? They voted against a constitutional law. Do they think the law doesn’t apply to them? Apparently so.

Then there is the president. He’s said nothing about the illegal actions of the Senate, run by his team, but the way he is beating on the Republicans makes it seem like he is running for a third term. Instead of spreading lies like, “This has never happened to any other president,” perhaps the president should check with his staff before making those statements – or maybe just fire them because lately they have been getting many of the stats wrong. In actuality, this has happened 17 times since the 1970s, twelve of which were under the control of Democrats.

Some say it was only for a day or two or three in the past. That may be true, but in those days they knew how to negotiate. They knew they were Americans, and they had to act in the best interests of the country, not their party.

The president says he has negotiated and acted in good faith. I disagree. He has dictated and done so with an iron fist. If he were really a good negotiator, he would have asked for more than he wanted and given up a little, making for a win-win on both sides.

But dictators see no reason to give. They are all-knowing, all-powerful, and answer to no one. Sound familiar?

The Senate has received four more CR’s from Congress and voted against all of them without discussion. Why would they do that? Why would they not pass a budget for five years and then continue to deny discussion on the CR’s as they come up for vote? This is nothing but party politics. Yes, Republicans share in the blame here, but not as much as the Senate as a whole.

How is it the American people have let them get away with this for five years? How is it the American people have allowed the jobless rate to climb? The real unemployment number is around 14 percent, according to the government, not the “reported” number.

The Democrats have gotten really good at the shell game. You remember that game. You have to guess which cup the nut is under – three cups represented by the president, Senate and Congress. Who’s to blame? The Democrats keep you thinking the problem is all from Republicans, but who really has control? Look again.

The president can’t get his facts straight. No other president has had to go through what he has, so he gets a pass? The Senate doesn’t pass a budget in five years, and they get a pass? The Republicans ask that the Congress follow the Constitution and be subjected to Obamacare like every other American, and they are called obstructionists and anarchists.

The Bible says there will come a time when right will be wrong and wrong will be right. I think we are there.

 

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also the current president of the Hart School Board. His commentary normally publishes Mondays.

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2 Comments

  1. ©Dave ℗ Rickmers® says:

    Are you trying to sew seeds of discontent by referring to our President as “the dictator”? If the radical right had a brain they’d be dangerous. How’s that make you feel?

  2. Marla says:

    I suggest you stop blaming the Democrats and look to the Republicans who don’t care one whit about the American public and who are acting like a bunch of school yard bullies.

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