Deconstructing the language of the left

Here is an 7/31/09 excerpt from a Joe Klein op-ed in Time magazine, the same magazine that has only put President Obama on its cover 12 times in the past year. This one paragraph is loaded with premises which are peddled by the left and for far too long have been accepted by shallow-thinkers. They are entilted to their opinion but there is only one truth.

"There are only two sorts of legislation that seem to pass these days: things that have to pass, like budgets - and cotton-candy giveaways, like tax cuts or the wildly irresponsible, unfunded Medicare drug bill that George W. Bush enacted. Occasionally, responsible actions take place in the budget process. Bill Clinton spent most of his political capital on deficit reduction, which helped fuel the economic boom of the 1990s. Obama has just managed to kill the F-22, an anachronistic fighter jet. Very, very occasionally a special interest will take it on the chin - as the teachers' unions did when Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act, which mandated a testing regimen the teachers didn't like. But the passage of landmark legislation like the health-industry reforms that Obama is seeking has become about as common as politicians who refuse to run television ads. It just doesn't seem to happen anymore."

1. Cotton-candy giveaways - Since when is letting the people, yes even the rich, keep more of their own money (i.e. property) called a giveaway? The left assumes that the government is giving us something that belongs to them first and foremost. No. A tax cut is simply the government taking less money from us.

2. Wildly irresponsible and unfunded Medicare drug bill - Why is it wildly irresponsible? Aren't we supposed to take care of our nation's elderly? Isn't that what a compassionate society does? Wasn't the drug bill just an extension of the 35 year old Medicare program which was the hallmark of the Great Society programs of the Democrat-controlled Congress and White House? Maybe it's because GWB enacted it and the GOP is not supposed to be compassionate. And why is it unfunded? Is the Medicare trust fund depleted? No, but it's on its way with over $36 trillion in unfunded liabilities. Are senior citizens not paying their premiums, or are we workers not paying our +/-1% Medicare withholdings? Not unless we want to go to jail. Since someone else is perceived to be paying the bill, seniors won't look for the best deals and costs will rise.

3. 1990's deficit reduction - Who was responsible for deficit reduction? Would Clinton have even had a balanced budget if the GOP-controlled House not given him one to sign? And did it really lead to an economic boom? Despite Clinton presiding over a tax increase early in his first term, taxes were still much lower than they were before one of the greatest executives, Ronald Reagan, promoted and presided over the largest tax cuts ever seen since income taxes became constitutional.

4. No Child Left Behind - So what if teachers' union "took it on the chin". The name of the bill was "No Child Left Behind" not "No Teacher Union Left Behind". Aren't our great public schools in place for the benefit of our children? I certainly agree that teachers need to be compensated for their work as long as it's commensurate with their students' better or improved test scores, reading and math levels, etc.

5. Landmark legislation - Why lament the slow to no passage of landmark legislation? Why lament the process of debate within each chamber of Congress and out here in the heartland? I for one do not want fast passage of landmark legislation especially on something as big, far-reaching and personal as health care reform. Our system of government was established for just such slow to no passage of legislation.

As we question the news, so we must also question their opinions which sometimes look the same.