It must be in their genes

By Henry Lamb

There must be some yet-undiscovered gene in the DNA of people who feel the need to control others. Kings, Mullahs, tyrants, despots, dictators, and Democrats are all afflicted with this malady. Not since Franklin Roosevelt has evidence of this disorder been so rampant in Washington.

The Obama regime is restructuring and empowering government to ensure that all people everywhere are subject to its control.

First, understand the strategy: (1) identify problem(s); (2) devise action plan; (3) authorize plan in law; (4) implement plan;

Urgent problems the Obama regime has identified include: the economy; global warming; and health care. Further down the priority list are Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Russia, education, national security, national sovereignty, and, at the very bottom of the list are the concerns of people who are not infected with the "control" gene.

At the heart of Obama's action plan to deal with every problem is the principle of government control over individual action. Consider the first problem: the economy. Obama's first action was to infuse failing financial institutions with borrowed money, with government strings attached. In exchange for the money, government gained veto power over the management of private corporations.

Had the people in power not been infected with the "control" gene, financial institutions that had made bad business decisions would have paid the consequences, and the self-correcting free-market financial system would, ultimately, have been stronger. But alas, the poisoned tentacles of government now permeate the financial system.

The auto industry, an important part of the economy, experienced the same kind of intrusion, with direct government control over the naming of CEOs, directors, budgets, and operating plans.

Consider the second problem: global warming. The immediate plan of action was for government to take control over private industries that emit carbon dioxide — that is every business that uses fossil fuel. The plan, euphemistically labeled "cap and trade," would arbitrarily limit the quantity of carbon emissions that could be produced by every business. Government control would be exercised in the form of a tax levied against every business that exceeds the government-dictated emission limit. Government's power to tax behavior it does not want, and to reward with tax rebates and incentives the behavior it does want, allows government to virtually control the behavior of the people. The "cash-for-clunkers" program, for example, gives $4,500 of your tax dollars to individuals who behave the way governments wants.

Ultimately, the cost of Obama's global warming action plan will cost individuals thousands of dollars each year, and will be passed on to everyone who uses energy. It doesn't matter to the people who are infected with the "control" gene that the global warming action plan will not affect global climate in any detectible way.

Now consider health care. Obama's plan of action is what he calls a "public option." This is a government-run insurance program financed with your tax dollars. Representative Barney Frank correctly identifies this program as the first step toward a single-payer health care system. A single-payer (read: government payer) system puts the entire health care system under the direct control of the government. Consequently, every individual who needs health care would be subject to the whims of a government bureaucrat or the winds of political favor.

These are the problems, and a brief description of the plans of action. Now take a look at the process by which the plans are given the authority of law. The Obama regime relies heavily on the Cloward-Piven strategy for forcing change through orchestrated crisis. This is the strategy that informed Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, and ACORN community organizer, Barack Obama. This strategy says to overwhelm the system with evidence of the problem in order to effect a predetermined solution.

To wit: a thousand-page, $787 billion so-called stimulus bill was rushed through Congress in less than 24 hours after the bill had been printed. Not one Congressman could have possibly read the bill. In similar fashion, the massive "American Clean Energy and Security Act" was rushed through the House of Representatives on June 26 with only a two-vote margin.

Obama launched an all-out publicity blitz, demanding that his health care plan be approved before the August Congressional recess. The rush, of course, was to avoid scrutiny and debate. The idea is to convince Congress, and the public, that the problem is so severe that immediate action must be taken. Sound familiar? Does this sound like the Cloward-Piven strategy? The blitz didn't work. This plan is still awaiting legislative authority. And vacationing Congressmen are getting an earful of reasons why it should not become law.

Next comes the implementation phase. Remember how taxes on tobacco products drove the price of cigarettes from $15 per carton to as much as $50 per carton in just a few years? This "sin tax" remedy will be applied to all behaviors the government doesn't like. News reports such as this are paving the way for a new batch of "sin taxes" to force people to behave the way government wants them to behave.

This is just a preview of the many ways the "control" gene compels Democrats to use the power of government to satisfy their insatiable obsession to control others. Stay tuned.

© Henry Lamb