Chuck Thompson » Massachusetts http://chuck-thompson.com a voice in the wilderness... Sat, 19 May 2012 10:56:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 the fallacy of campaign promises http://chuck-thompson.com/2009/09/the-fallacy-of-campaign-promises/ http://chuck-thompson.com/2009/09/the-fallacy-of-campaign-promises/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:33:53 +0000 Chuck http://chuck-thompson.com/?p=367 We all fall into the trap of believing politicians when they make promises they either have no intention of keeping or are outside the realm of their ability to keep them.  It’s because we believe what we want to believe, without questioning the promise.  A little like the “til death do us part” promise in the marriage ceremony.  We don’t ask our partner, do you really mean that?  There is  absolutely no behavior on my part which would cause you to leave me?  Well, that’s pretty silly.  Of course there is behavior which would make me leave.  So the promise is a qualified promise.  The giver of the  promise may not have thought through the possibilities or may be lying – or saying what must be said in order to accomplish a goal of marriage.  The receiver of the promise should have examined the promise more carefully if it was really important to them that it be kept.  But we don’t.  We believe because we want to believe.

Reuters examines one example of the problem with believing campaign promises

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Friday urged a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit by gay married couples from Massachusetts who say they were unlawfully denied federal marriage benefits.

Well, that sounds like a broken promise to me.  And to members of the gay community.  But the reality is he had no choice.

But the gay community has been angered by the Obama administration’s defense of the law in court proceedings. Justice Department officials say they are obligated to defend federal statutes when they are challenged.

“In making this filing, the department is bound by the only precedent that exists, which is that no court has found such a right to federal benefits based upon marital status to be constitutionally required,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler.

The Government is required to defend Federal Statutes.  Was President Obama lying when he made the promise?  We don’t have any way to know that.  We do know one thing though.  President Obama should have known his administration would have to defend Federal Statutes.  He is, after all, a constitutional expert.

Most politicians promise whatever they think they need to in order to get elected.  The lesson to be learned here is that the politician not promising what you demand might be the most honest politician.   And maybe voting on a single-issue basis isn’t the best idea.  A better idea might be to elect honest, learned, wise representatives who faithfully represent the best interests of their constituency even if they don’t seem to agree with you on your favorite issue.  At least then you have some hope of persuading someone like that to consider your point of view instead of believing the promises of someone who will say anything to get elected.

]]> http://chuck-thompson.com/2009/09/the-fallacy-of-campaign-promises/feed/ 1 obamacare just took a major hit http://chuck-thompson.com/2009/08/obamacare-just-took-a-major-hit/ http://chuck-thompson.com/2009/08/obamacare-just-took-a-major-hit/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:25:21 +0000 Chuck http://chuck-thompson.com/?p=111 With the death of Senator Kennedy it is my view prediction that obamacare is dead at least until next year for the following reasons:

  • Current Massachusetts law prohibits the governor from appointing a replacement. Ironically it was Kennedy himself who instigated the change while Mitt Romney was governor in order to prevent Romney from appointing a replacement in the event that Kerry won the 2008 Presidential Nomination. Kennedy recently sent a letter urging a change back so that Deval Patrick, the current governor, would be able to appoint Kennedy’s replacement if he died in office. Pretty hypocritical, but that’s politics.
  • This issue is very hot and one vote really counts. So much so that the senate is considering the very slippery manuever of reconciliation in order to get around the possibility that the peoples elected Republican Senators and a few “blue dog” democrats might be successful in defeating it.
  • The summer recess has demonstrated clearly that an awful lot of vociferous voters are adamantly opposed to obamacare and self-serving politicians want nothing more than to keep there seats and stay in positions of power, influence and free lunches from lobbyists.
  • Senator Kennedy was a champion for national healthcare. In fact, you could say he was the face of healthcare. Without his indefatigable support and tremendous political influence some senators who might otherwise have reluctantly been on board with it may waiver in their support.

Logically, to me anyway, the above factors put an end (for now) to obamacare. Lets watch and see if I’m correct.

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