Who is your watcher?

One of my favorite quotes comes from the ancient Roman poet, Juvenal, around the turn of the second century.  One of his Satires had the famous line, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”.  Translated from Latin, the question means “Who will guard the guards themselves?”  This line is appropriate in today’s world where corruption at the highest levels of governments have been rampant since the dawn of time.  Today, the United States’ government has two major scandals plaguing it (The IRS investigating certain groups of citizens and the DOJ snooping on news reporters), and who knows how many more scandals loom under the surface.  It appears no one is able to act as the leaders of this nation’s conscious to prevent politicians (both Republican and Democratic) from making major miscalculations.  The people in charge over the last 40 years have thought they can do no wrong.  They are mistaken.

Now, you might think you can avoid the trap of corruption and that you would never put yourself into a situation where your can be corrupted because of your views.  But ask yourself a question:  “Who is your watcher?”  I’m not necessarily talking about your spouse or a parent; I’m talking about someone whom you trust and who is not afraid to be a political critic about everything that goes on.  They may be right on certain things, wrong on a few things, and occasionally off-base on others.  But you can always count on them to keep you honest.

My watcher goes back many years, and though I don’t often agree with his views, I respect the fact that he is not afraid to speak his mind.  He is an intellectual equal who took a different path than I did.  He sees the world in an idealistic perspective, and that is a good thing.  This South Gwinnett alum will criticize liberal and conservative alike when they are violating the rights of the people.  To challenge him in a debate is difficult under the best of circumstances, and impossible if you have no knowledge of the debate subject.  He is the reason I have developed a counterexample strategy in debates.  If I don’t see reasonable counterexamples in a potential debate, then I don’t challenge someone to their views. 

I may not always agree with my watcher, but I always hear his views.  And as someone who believes in freedom, I believe all views should be heard, even if it is not the popular view.  (Some of my Valparaiso friends would be well-advised to take that piece of advice to heart.)  It is what makes this country great.  It does mean, however, that when you believe your views are absolute, you better be ready for a challenge if I sense your views are off-base.  I have learned from the best. 

Because of what I do, I realize I walk a fine line, and I need people on both the left and right to keep me from going off the reservation.  My watcher and other South Gwinnett friends have kept me honest through the years, and I am grateful for them, even when I don’t always agree with them.

So… Who watches you?

Why the Democrats are going after the IRS…

With the recent IRS scandal targeting Tea Party and Conservatives group for extra scrutiny in setting up 501 (c) (4) tax exempt entities, it’s interesting to note that Democrats are almost as angry about the scandal as Republicans are.  After all, the Tea Party is antagonistic to Democrats and vice versa.  In fact, many Democrats asked the IRS to investigate Tea Party Groups over the last few years.  So why would Democrats in Congress now chastise the IRS over things which the same Democrats asked them to do?

Could it be that Democrats realize how bad this looks for them and that this scandal could damage them long-term?  Possibly, but even though the scandal itself would usually be a concern, there are far more damaging concerns to be worried about.

Could it be that Democrats understand that if a Republican regains control of the White House, turnabout would be fair play?  Maybe, but that scenario has already happened in the Bush administration when the IRS looked at the NAACP’s tax exempt status.  (And please, anyone who thinks the NAACP is non-partisan is stupid.  They stopped being non-partisan when former Democratic legislatures began to lead their organization.  Let me know when J.C. Watts or Alan West leads the organization to balance out the Julian Bonds or Kweisi Mfumes that have led in recent years.)

So why would the Democrats go after the IRS?  The answer is simple.  They need a boogeyman to go after.  After what?  Would you believe Obamacare?  Really?  It’s possible.  Consider Democratic leaders in the Senate have publicly stated that Obamacare’s implementation will cause problems.  Finance chairman (and retiring Montana Senator), Max Baucus, has stated as much, as has Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.  Even allies, such as labor unions, are now beginning to see that the health care reform may not be in their best interest.

And they are right for a simple reason:  No matter how much change may be for the better, NOTHING ever works completely right the first time you try something new.  There is ALWAYS some trial and error, even when you are following instructions.  Look at when I try to put furniture together as an example.  And that assumes everyone agrees change is for the better.  Many conservatives believe Obamacare is going to cause major problems and will be expensive to implement.  Obamacare’s implementation has no chance to work perfectly from the get go. 

And that’s why the Democrats need a health care boogeyman.  If Obamacare has initial failures (and they will), everyone except the most partisan of American people will look towards the Democrats as the ones to blame messing up healthcare.  Only 1 Congressional Republican even supported the measure and he was defeated in the next election by a Democrat.  And Chief Justice Roberts can’t be blamed, either, because all he did was tell Congress and the President that it’s on you to decide how to resolve this.  And the Democrats were too busy trying to pass the legislation without first looking at it, as Nancy Pelosi famously said.  So the Democrats would be on the hook—UNLESS they can find someone else to blame.  And that someone could be the IRS.  Why?  Because the IRS will be in charge of determining who gets subsidized for health care.  That’s why the IRS is hiring new agents.  And wouldn’t you know that the person in charge of the Cincinnati field office at the time of the Tea Party controversy now is in charge of implementing the health care reform for the IRS.  How… convenient.

If health care reform fails, watch the Democrats and their allies say “We had a good idea, but the corrupt IRS failed to execute it properly.  And it’s so messed up, we are the only ones who can fix it.  Besides, the Republicans won’t help with reform.  They are too obstructionist to do what is right.  Elect us to finish the job the right way.”  And some people will buy it, maybe enough to give the Democrats control of everything again.

Of course, the Republicans aren’t going to try and help the Democrats out of this mess.  They want the health care reform to be implemented as is.  Oh sure, they vote to repeal health care in the House, but they don’t defund the health care.  Why?  They have their own ideas of health care and if the Democrat’s proposal goes bad, they might find it easier to implement their “reforms’, especially if Obamacare ultimately drives the Democrats out of Congress and the White House.

So right now, don’t believe anyone is Congress is doing the right thing for the American people.  Everyone in Washington has their own agendas at work and will stop at nothing to obtain ultimate power.