Observation Point

When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it solves a lot of anxiety.  A.W. Tozer


Today is an anxiety-producing day and I would do well to heed the above advice. The above passage does not mean that God causes things to happen to make us more Christlike, but that He will use them for that purpose if we allow Him to do so. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28. So with that in mind, it's time to unclench my fist at the disaster of the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision and let God begin working out the good that it is abundantly clear only He can work. 

A Colossal Fraud; A Colossal Failure

You probably know by now that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Obamacare as constitutional on a 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts. Obamacare was always sold as grounded in the Commerce Clause (Art. I, Sec. 8) of the Constitution. When this argument got into trouble in the courts, the DOJ added the argument that it could be justified under the taxing power of Congress. Of course the problem with this argument was that throughout the legislative process the Obama Administration and its Congressional allies had gone to great lengths to deny that this was a tax. Now, it has been upheld on just that basis.


The simple word for all this is "FRAUD." There has to be some level of trust between the government and its citizens and here we have the biggest piece of legislation in decades that is nothing more than the world's biggest con job. An ordinary citizen would go to jail over what was done here. The bill was created behind closed doors and rushed to a vote. No member of Congress even read the whole bill. As Nancy Pelosi famously reminded us, "We have to pass it to see what is in it." Then it was the Court's turn.


The Supreme Court is uniquely supposed to deal with justice, but when this gargantuan con job came along, it too fumbled its mission.  The Court did declare the Commerce Clause as an unconstitutional authority for the legislation, but then upheld it under Congress' taxing authority. Essentially, by giving credence to the taxing clause as the basis for Obamacare, the Court became a party to the fraud. It could easily have said that nowhere was the taxing clause ever cited as the basis for the legislation and therefore the Court was not going to recognize this argument. It could have, but it didn't, and so we now have a colossal fraud on the American people perpetrated by all three branches of government. It is a sad, sad day in American history that such a thing could happen. Total system failure.

I'll Have a Clark Bar

It was a little slow at the office today and we began talking about extinct soda brands and candies. Anybody remember TruAde? Great stuff and it was non-carbonated. Clark Bars fall into the same category.

Originally created by David Clark in 1917, I loved them as a kid but hadn't seen them for years. A quick Google search revealed that the New England Confectionery Company (Necco Wafers anyone?) bought the line in 1999 and has been producing them ever since. You can buy them directly from Necco in 24-count boxes; $24. Question: will a box fit into my Christmas stocking?

www.neccostore.com/all-natural-milk-chocolate-clark-bar.pd

Here's One I Hadn't Thought About

A new poll finds that a majority of the public believes that Obama would better handle a visit by aliens than Romney. How did I miss that one?! Well then, I guess I'm going to have to switch my vote.

www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77881.html

Half a Loaf

Yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court decision gave a half a loaf to each side. Arizona had the key provision of SB 1070 affirmed as constitutional, which was a reversal of the 9th Circuit. Basically, Arizona police officers can check on immigration status if they have made a stop based on probable cause. The Feds and President Obama got their half loaf because the Court ruled that only the Feds can decide what to do with a person who is an illegal. Therein lies the rub.

The President has ordered that we are going to do nothing with most illegals. He had been deporting them wholesale, but that is bad for his re-election, so now everybody stays. Further, there's not much enforcement on the southern border to keep folks out. "Illegals" are a discrete voting block for the Dems, just like "Dead People," "Multiple Voters" and many other creative categories.

What we need is a President who will enforce the law and Obama has shown that he is not that person. A discussion needs to be had in Congress about what the law should be, but "Y'all come!" is not in the long term best interests of the United States.  November 6 is 133 days away.

Go Big!

On April 12 I posted a piece that Romney now had the nomination sewn up but he had to resist the conventional political wisdom to go safe with his campaign. Thus far I have been pleasantly surprised. He is clearly growing as a campaigner and his media/social media team is first rate at quickly countering Democrat bilge. Over the last several weeks The Dems have rolled out their usual assortment of horse pucky against Romney and nothing has stuck because Team Romney has been so good and so quick at counterattacking. Now there is the issue of VP and this is no time to resort to old - and bad - habits.

Numerous reports are floating around that Ohio Senator Rob Portman is top dog at the moment in the VP Sweepstakes. Nice guy; bad choice. These are not normal times and if Obama is reelected, the fact that we are not in Kansas anymore will become apparent to even the dullest knives in the drawer. It is time for Republicans to go BIG or go home. Marco Rubio is the candidate.

Team Obama would love Sen. Portman - he would fit in perfectly with their media campaign against Romney of Out of Touch White Guys (OTWG).  Rubio, on the other hand, must terrify them: young, smart, tough, Hispanic, and most of all, articulate. I would pay to watch the VP debate between Rubio and Biden. Rubio knows where he stands and why and he can talk to crowds of all kinds and the camera about what it is going to take to get the U.S. back on track. And then he can do it in Spanish. The Dems will not be able to pigeonhole and because of his formidable skills, they will not be able to contain his message - this is an exceptional country and it is time to  get back to basics! So Mitt, if you want to go through the motions on a VP, fine. But when it's time to make the pick - don't hesitate, go BIG; go Rubio.

Market Discipline

I don't always agree with Warren Buffett, as you may know, but his canning of the CEO of Benjamin Moore Paint for a lavish company-paid vacation for its execs is something I wholeheartedly applaud. The company went into the dumper when the housing industry tanked and the company made necessary layoffs, furloughs, and generally did whatever it took to survive.  Recently the company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, turned in its first profit since 2007. A lot of people no doubt worked very hard to get there. For many companies, shareholders are a minor nuisance for top executives and they get away with all sorts of executive perks and compensation that boggle the mind, often times whether the company is performing well or not. Buffett showed that there are some shareholders out there who still think that shareholder return and overall team compensation is more important than executives doing a Marie Antoinette. My applause, sir.

www.nypost.com/p/news/business/tint_of_scandal_yKBZbWNaIfkRvlzWSXXwuJ