Lincolnian Health Care

By Al Benson Jr.

“…and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19b). Contrary to what some wishy-washy church leaders would tell us about the recently enacted “health care reform” bill in the Senate, this partial quote from Jesus pretty much describes what went on in the Senate only a few days ago regarding our new “health care” package. In spite of the media hoopla about what a grand, historic event the passage of this draconian legislation was, I  have to wonder, if it was such a “victory” for the great American unwashed, why did they have to wait until 1 a.m. on Christmas eve day to get it passed? Couldn’t they have managed to vote on it in broad daylight--or was the Senate leadership too buy during the daylight hours cajoling, threatening, and bribing the various senators whose votes they needed to pass this thing? Common criminals such as the Dalton or Capone gangs would have lined up outside the Senate office building, waiting to take lessons from the Senate leadership on how to “convince” people to do what they wanted them to do had they only been aware of the tactics of the current leadership in their time.

Where, you might ask, did the Senate leadership (and that of the House as well) come up with the idea that they should dictate to the American public whether they should have to purchase health insurance or not?

Artist and columnist David S. Reif recently had an article posted on the Perennis blogspot in which he noted: “The recent Healthcare debate has its roots in American history and the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln. Simply put, the political philosophy of Abraham Lincoln is that the central government is the final authority regarding policy for everyone in the country. At the end of the day, the various States, therefore, are subordinate to the control of the central government (centralism). All policy disputes will ultimately be settled by the central government. The political software of the United States is Lincolnism. Both parties are ruled by the principles that evolved from the outcome of the American Civil War. The doctrines of Mr. Lincoln increasingly became the only framework in which policy is discussed.”

Mr.Reif also informs us that: “Lincoln’s centralism was greatly admired by Karl Marx. Mr. Marx had been advocating similar policies as a way of promoting national and international socialism. In fact, the ideas of Marx and Lincoln regarding the subject of centralism are remarkably similar.” In other words, Lincoln and Marx were “kissin’ cousins” in the political realm. They acted alike, thought alike, and participated in what Mr. Reif refers to as “…a broad cross-pollination  of ideas between American centralists and Marxists before, during and after the War Between the States…”

Mr. Reif has observed that Obama/Sotero has “embraced Lincoln as the icon of his administration…” And he notes that, such being the case, it is little wonder that Obama/Sotero has sought to “fix” the health care problem with the use of the central government. After all, those of the Lincoln-Marx-Obama stripe recognize the central government as the only solution to all the  problems of man or beast, male or female, slave or free! They feel government should dictate to everyone how they educate their kids, what sort of food they should eat, and which handkerchief they should wipe their nose with next Tuesday. And there are many in the Republican Party that feel exactly the same way. The former president and his vice-president among them.

The solution for all these people, the would-be dictators in both major parties,  and those behind the scenes that tell them what to do, is always more and more regulatory and intrusive government. That’s interesting, because according to a report on http://www.rasmussenreports.com for December 17th: “Sixty-six (66%) of U.S. voters prefer a smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes over a more active government with more services and higher taxes…In August at the height of the congressional town hall controversies over the health care plan, 70% felt that way.”

According to Rasmussen, they found that, during a telephone survey, just 22% prefer a government that provides more services and, therefore, has a higher tax rate…Sixty-two (62%)  of voters feel that tax cuts are a better way to create jobs as opposed to more government spending. Overwhelmingly, voters seem to believe that politicians are unwilling to control government spending and, therefore, their only out is to continue to raise taxes.

However, the socialist/Marxist clique that now controls Washington is not about to listen to the voters. They’ve made that abundantly clear since last August. They are not about to surrender power, rather they seem to think they are now able to replace God--in fact, years ago, author David Chilton, in his book Productive Christians in an age of Guilt Manipulation noted on page 156 that: “Socialism is a religious faith…Socialism is the religion of man. It is the  product of humanism. It is nothing but state-worship, seeing the state as Lord and Savior. Rejecting God’s Word, it thus rejects reason as well…Socialism is a power theory.” That’s exactly where Obama/Sotero and his socialist/Marxist cohorts in Washington are at. That’s why their solution to whatever health care problems we have is a government-controlled program. Their solution to everything is government control. Lincoln and Stalin would both have loved them. In fact, had we not had Lincoln and his War of Northern Aggression we probably would not have Obama/Sotero and his draconian health care plan.

Those who vote these programs into effect during the dark hours of the night may be telling us something about themselves they would rather we did not know.