Is the U.S. going the Way of Rome?

I guess we haven't learned much in 2,065 years.

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."


- Cicero - 55 BC

Double Standard - No Obama Care for Obama and other Elites

Can you believe this Crap! How much more corruption are the American people going to take? From Prison Planet, 24 March 2010.

Loophole Exempts Washington Insiders From Obamacare Mandate

No Obamacare for Obama, his family, his staff, the vice president, the vice president’s staff, the rest of the administration, Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s staff, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Reid’s staff, all other House and Senate leaders and their staff, all committee members and their staff.....

While declaring that rank-and-file House and Senate staff will no longer benefit from the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) and must purchase their cover from restricted federal health insurance pools, along with the rest of the surfs, the Washington elite have ensured they will not have to participate.

“Because they were more familiar with the contents of the law than anyone in the country, it says a lot that they carved out their own special loophole.” a Washington Times editorial states.

Of course, it goes without saying that the president, vice president, cabinet members and top White House staff are also exempted from the mandate to buy coverage through the exchanges.

Republican Senators Coburn and Grassley, who both twice filed amendments last year to close the loophole, have accused the Senate leadership Democrats of purposely exempting upper-level staffers from the overhaul.

“The American people will be appalled to learn the health care bill exempts leadership and committee staff. This special deal for unelected staff underscores everything the public detests about the arrogance of power in Washington ,” Coburn said. “I tried to fix this inequity along with Senators Grassley, Burr and Vitter, but Majority Leader [Harry] Reid obstructed our effort.”

Senator Grassley reiterated the sentiments in his own statement, declaring “The new health care law creates two double standards. The congressional staff who wrote the new law exempted themselves from the new health care system, while other staff will be in it.”

“And, President Obama himself will not live under Obama health care. The message to grassroots America is that it’s good enough for you, but not for us.” the Senator added.

Texas Republican Statement on Obama Care

REPUBLICAN PARTY OF TEXAS CHAIRMAN STATEMENT ON THE PASSAGE OF THE DEMOCRATS’ 2.5 TRILLION DOLLAR GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE EXPERIMENT

WASHINGTON – Republican Party of Texas Chairman Cathie Adams released the following statement Sunday night after the Health Care Bill was passed by a slim margin of, what, 7 votes? Not one Republican voting yes for the bill.

“This evening, following a series of backroom deals and arm twisting, President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi convinced their members to support a $2.5 trillion dollar government-run health care bill that increases taxes, raises premiums, slashes Medicare and does nothing to control the cost of healthcare. This bill does nothing to help Texans struggling with rising insurance premiums, but instead is loaded with sweetheart deals and kickbacks for special interests, which seems to be just business as usual in Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic Congress."

This bill saddles Texans with over $24 billion in new spending over the next ten years, spending which the Democrats in Washington are mandating but will not cover and which Texas cannot afford. This bill creates a new army of over 16,000 IRS agents to enforce its onerous new taxes and Democrat-imposed mandates. This bill is not reform." Note: I don't believe there was a measure in the Bill to hire new IRS agents, other wise that cost would have to be considered in the CBO cost estimate for this Health Care program, which was woefully short in it's estimate.

“Unfortunately for all Texans, our Democratic representatives in Congress ignored the consistent pleas of their constituents, asking them not to vote for such a reckless piece of legislation, and instead chose to stand with their party bosses in Washington. Make no doubt about it, come November the people of Texas will come to the ballot box in droves to vote for Republican candidates who will listen to them and focus on creating an environment that promotes jobs in the Lone Star State – not a government takeover of their healthcare."

"To those Obama-Reid-Pelosi Democrats in Texas, today we send a message: In November, Texans will remember. It's time to fire Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, and the surest way to do that is to vote Republican in November.”