A Voter’s Guide to Voting in the Nov 2012 US Elections

You would think that after the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA), these Republican repeal shenanigans would stop. Think again!
For the 33rd time on Wednesday, July 7, the Republican led House of Representatives voted to repeal the law. And for the 33rd time, it will die in the Democratic-led Senate. But even in the unlikely scenario that it passes the Senate, it will never pass the veto power of the President.
Why, then, must these people waste time, money and efforts voting repeatedly on a bill that leads to nowhere? The answer is political grandstanding. And it’s grandstanding to the tune of $48 million of taxpayers’ money!
According to CBS’ Nancy Cordes, the Republicans’ many fruitless attempts at repealing the Affordable Care Act have taken up at least 80 hours of time on the House floor since 2010, amounting to two full work weeks. As the House, according to the Congressional Research Service, costs taxpayers $24 million a week to operate, those two weeks amounted to a total cost of approximately $48 million.
Politicians, either from the Right or from the Left, are sure to do some grandstanding every now and then. It’s the nature of the beast, so to speak. They each have to advance their own party’s political agenda and they do so every chance they get. People do not begrudge them when they do but only to the extent that such action doesn’t affect their lives in a big and negative way.
Wasting $48 million of people’s money for any reason but more so for purely political stance is selfish, immoral and unforgivable. This repeal of Obamacare as Republicans labeled it, show these politicians’ brazen disregard of their sworn duties and responsibilities to their constituents.
Yet, these same Republican lawmakers continue to vilify the President and his party for spending on infrastructures, education, job creation and social programs that aim to help the people cope with the challenges of living below poverty line, losing a job, losing their homes, being sick and unable to work and other conditions quite beyond their control.
Holding Congressional hearings for weeks and weeks on end to find US Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt over withholding some documents on Fast and Furious took the US Atty. General’s time away from his job and wasted more taxpayers’ money on a politically motivated ploy rather than taking up urgent congressional business like the transportation and jobs bill and much needed government reforms.
Could you imagine President Obama on his first few months in office giving in to the pressure of investigating Bush’s Iraq war after the latter left office? There were more legitimate reasons to prosecute Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and some Pentagon top brass and only few would question the legitimacy of such probe. But President Obama, much unlike the Republican leaders today, chose to put behind the Bush administration and its mistakes in the past and moved on to passing important legislations that will benefit his people more.
In contrast, the Republican-led House of Representatives today has passed no such laws. They have wasted so much time and money blocking every program and legislation identified with the President they hate with a passion, regardless of the good it could do for the country and the people. From the time this President took office, these Republican leaders have vowed to make it their one and only agenda to see to it that President Barack Obama becomes a one-term president.
Actions speak much louder than words. The grandstanding and rhetoric you see day in and day out are quite transparent. Don’t be like the emperor and his underlings who allowed their false pride cloud their sense of truth but be like the child who innocently yet rightly spoke, “The emperor has no clothes!”
Vote the “Emperor” and these “Swindlers” out of office this November!