A Rogue Congress

By Alan Caruba

I give you two quotes from earlier times about Congress:

“In my many years I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.” -- John Adams, 2nd President of the United States (1735-1826)

“Congress consists of one third, more or less, scoundrels; two thirds, more or less, idiots; and three thirds, more or less, poltroons.” -- H.L. Mencken, journalist (1880-1956)

It is cold comfort to know that right from the beginning of our republic the members of Congress were largely held in contempt.

This can never be more true than now when it is abundantly clear to everyone that these morons and their counterparts in the White House have absolutely no clue what to do about saving the economy even though the history of the Great Depression clearly demonstrates what not to do.

Worse, while trying to lay off all the blame on bankers and investment houses for taking advantage of a mortgage loan debacle of their own making, Congress refuses to even share the blame. A September 30, 1999 article in The New York Times was headlined “Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending.”

Presciently, reporter Steven A. Holmes noted that “the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980s.” The operative word here is “government.” Blaming Bush won’t work either. He didn’t take office until 2001.

And, of course, Congress is repeating every mistake made during the 1930s, the purpose of which was not to save the economy, but to expand the power and influence of the Democrat Party led by Franklin D. Roosevelt. The latter purpose worked because the Democrats literally owned Congress for decades until 1994 when the Republicans gained control.

Bit by bit the Democrat Party introduced socialism to America. There was Social Security, Medicare, and a raft of social programs that included the utter destruction of the housing market with creations such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Not to be outdone, Republicans gave the federal government control of the nation’s educational system with No Child Left Behind.

Now, with the most evil piece of regulation known to man or God, the Environmental Protection Agency, introduced by Richard M. Nixon, the Obama administration will attempt to regulate the second most vital gas for all life on Earth, carbon dioxide. They are claiming it is a “pollutant” and a danger to our health, even though we all exhale about two pounds of it every day.

The only extension of power left for these liars is to claim that oxygen needs regulating as well.

This Congress, which the Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution designed to act with some measure of deliberation, dividing political decisions between the House of Representatives and the Senate, has signed a massive spending bill without any of them ever having read it.

This is criminal. It is malfeasance; misconduct by public officials.

This is what happens when a national or mid-term election becomes the equivalent of “American Idol.”

This is what happens when a candidate, Barack Hussein Obama, spends two years actually telling people what he's going to do and no one considers the consequences. He was a socialist. He is a socialist. Why are people surprised?

This is what happens when the new President’s judgment is so flawed that he cannot fill his cabinet due to the selection of people who are tax cheats and ethically challenged.

This is what happens when Chicago-style politics comes to the White House.

Congress and the White House are destroying the nation’s economy, borrowing money on top of an obscene national deficit that already exists, and reneging on all its promises of hope and change.

We have, in effect, a rogue White House and Congress, indifferent to the welfare of Americans.