Imagine...



Imagine…On this anniversary of the greatest band in history (the Beatles), it is perhaps appropriate to use one of John’s songs as a basis for a blog.  Just imagine that there’s no Obamacare; just imagine.   I have alluded many times to the lost opportunities of the Obama administrations.  It cannot be overstated that these opportunities were without a doubt historic in scope and proportion.  In my time, there will very likely never be another President who comes into office with more good will or promise. 

What if the One had chosen to focus all of that good will in other directions and on other issues?  What if he had not succumbed to the temptation of seizing power and riding it for all it was worth?  What if he had recognized the fact that no matter how high his certitude of righteousness, it makes no sense to force policy that is not supported by a majority of the citizenry and requires extraordinary legislative means?  How different would this country look today had that initial decision been made differently early on in the Obama presidency?  I submit to you that it is absolutely shocking to consider the possibilities.

Take the ACA out of the equation and what is left?  There are no legislative accomplishments of note; no foreign policy victories; no domestic policy benchmarks.  But had Obama chosen to exercise his significant political capital early on in the area of  tax reform, we could today possibly be looking at a shrinking national debt, a manageable deficit heading in the right direction, and an economy that is healthy and creating jobs for those who want one.  Instead of wasting precious legislative energy on immigration reform, it could be a fact instead of a notion and we could be well on the way towards a new and improved immigration environment in this country.  How many of the executive and administrative abuses of power that this administration has perpetrated were a direct result of the original ACA conflict with Republicans?   If that conflict had never arisen, would the partisan divide we see in WDC be quite as deep and poisonous as it is today?  In the absence of the Obamacare acrimony, would Obama’s foreign policy misadventures bear quite the scrutiny and criticism that they currently bear?   My suspicion is that we would be seeing a much better country in many ways if Obamacare had never happened.  All of the government warts would not be excised, but many open wounds would be eliminated altogether or be well on the way to healing. 

One of life’s most difficult truths is that we sleep in the bed we make.  Obama took the easy way out and gave into hubris and arrogance.  He believed his own bullshit.  He started out with troubled waters indeed; but rather than seeking to calm them, he poured venom and bile into them.  We now see him running around this country in a pathetic fashion for a president with three years left in office.  Waving his “pen and phone” and shouting out belligerence, he is the lamest of ducks.  His defiance of Congress is seeping down through his administration.  Holder, Sebelius and others rule their little fiefdoms through executive fiat; they are rogue ideologues without restraint.  Obama has given them free reign and is fiddling while democratic principles burn.  Their apparent disregard for any type of explanation or accountability flows from them into their agency heads and the legions of partisan appointees in every federal branch of government.  It is a cancer that has three years left to spread, it will do a good deal of irreparable damage to our government, and it will take generations to rectify.  It is a tragic turn of events.  It is lost promise.  It is the seizure of conflict from the promises of diplomacy.  Imagine…there’s no Obamacare……