What have they done?
On this July 4th holiday, the signers of the Declaration of Independence might be asking this question as they look at Americans’ relationship to their government 237 years later.
In 1776 they wrote:
“. . . all men . . . are endowed . . . with certain unalienable rights . . . among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness . . . Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . .”
A Pew Research poll found that 53 percent think that the federal government threatens their own personal rights and freedoms. In other words, it could be argued that our “Big Brother” government is more of a King George III and does not care too much about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” of its citizens.
As I said in my last column, “people are not stupid.”
They are sick and tired of watching high governmental officials lie and thumb their noses at Congress with impunity; IRS officials leaking confidential documents to targeted taxpayers’ political enemies with no consequences; and the extent to which the NSA is spying and collecting data on Americans.
The members of the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration on July 4, 1776 would be shocked to learn that today Congress’ approval rating is 10 percent, the lowest level of confidence the Gallup poll has found for any institution on record.
They might ask how did this happen?
Instead of governing with the “consent of the governed,” Congress, in most cases, acts in a “hush, hush, rush, rush” manner based on the orders of party “leadership” as opposed to their constituents’ best interests.
The approximately 2000-page Obamacare law and the Senate’s approximately 1200-page immigration bill are good examples.
It appears that few lawmakers knew neither what they were voting for nor the impact on their constituents — at least not on all of their constituents.
Obamacare was based on a foundation of lies and deception — You can keep your insurance. You can keep your doctor. You won’t pay more. And, employers of 50 or more people will have to provide insurance to employees in 2014.
Americans are learning that their government lied to them:
- They may not be able to keep their doctor or insurance.
- Healthy consumers could see insurance rates double or even triple when they look for individual coverage,
- The Obama Administration is delaying implementation of the employer mandate until 2015.
Then there is the Senate Immigration bill rushed through at the last minute and filled with enough pork to feed a dozen Continental Armies.
Its goal is to provide a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million mostly Hispanic undocumented residents and secure the border.
Opponents who question whether the $46 billion in border security price tag will really protect our borders have been called “racist xenophobes.”
That would include Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, himself of Hispanic ancestry, who said of the bill:
“. . . It is reminiscent of Obamacare, yet another bill that we were told we've got to pass it to find out what's in it . . . it grants amnesty first; it won’t secure the border; and it doesn’t fix our broken legal immigration system.”
That doesn’t sound racist to me.
There is no doubt that the political, business, labor and media establishments are looking out for the life, liberty pursuit of happiness and pathway to citizenship of 11 million undocumented residents.
The question is: who is looking out for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” of the over 20 million unemployed Americans including the 14 percent black and 9 percent Hispanic unemployed?
Certainly not the Congressional Black Caucus whose spokesperson is quoted as saying that immigration reform "will be one of our top three priorities . . .”
Many Caucus members’ districts are becoming increasingly Hispanic and they need to cater to the growing Hispanic political clout — never mind the impact of amnesty on the job prospects of their black constituents.
While Obama, Democrats, most Republicans, and the black leadership are throwing blacks under the immigration bus for political purposes, others are not.
On July 15, the Black American Leadership Alliance (BALA), a bipartisan coalition, is having a march and rally for jobs in Washington, D.C. to “stop immigration reform now!” and “Protect American Jobs for American Workers.”
According to the organization's website, speakers from around the nation include Cruz., former Congressman Allen West, R-Fla., Rev. O’Neal Dozier, Kevin Jackson, and many others from diversified groups and organizations.
Leah Durant, BALSA Founder and executive director said:
“We will be marching for jobs and highlighting the plight of the Americans at a time when Congress is considering flooding the work force with cheap labor, which in the end will devastate blacks and other minority workers, who have come to depend more than ever on entry level and low wage jobs in the wake of the great recession.”
Durant echoes the comments of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who said the bill would hurt the “poorest among us” and called it “the biggest setback" for poor and middle-class Americans of any legislation Congress has considered in decades.
As Sarah Palin told the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference “. . . you do not marginalize, you do not discredit and dismiss everyday average hard-working Americans . . .”
I am sure the signers of the Declaration would agree.
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political and media relations consulting firm in Florida. He held several positions in the Reagan administration as well as the Reagan presidential campaigns and has appeared on many national and local media outlets. Read more reports from Clarence V. McKee — Click Here Now.
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