On the Marriage Platform, It's Us against Dem
July 31, 2012 - Tuesday
This wedding season, Democrats are planning a proposal of their own: an endorsement of same-sex "marriage" in the official party platform. During this week's meetings, DNC delegates agreed to the change, which would--for the first time in history--bind a political party to the push to redefine marriage. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), one of a handful of Democrats drafting this year's platform, insists the plank will be included when the full committee meets in August.
Even he must recognize that it's a huge gamble for the party, which is still loaded with leaders who disagree with the President on the subject. At the very least, it puts the Democrats in an extremely awkward position back home. In 32 of 32 states, voters have upheld the definition of marriage as the union of a man and woman--and the DNC is putting its party at odds with all of them.
Promoting same-sex "marriage" may be seen as politically correct for Democrats at the national level, but it's a powder keg for office-holders down the ticket who live in mainstream communities. They understand, as we do, that this growing support for same-sex "marriage" is just a media mirage, aimed at deflating the opposition. According to new polling, just released today, people's views of same-sex "marriage" are virtually unchanged since April, before the President's "evolution." Apparently, Barack Obama isn't having much influence among rank and file Democrats if a third of his party is still staunchly opposed to same-sex "marriage."
One community that could deliver the ultimate wake-up call to party leadership is the black community. Since the President's announcement in May, African American pastors have struggled to make sense of the decision. Some feel betrayed. Others are so outraged that they've formed a coalition to urge black voters to "withdraw their support" of President Obama. "We will see [to it] that the black community is informed that the President is taking them for granted while pandering to the gay community," said Rev. William Owens, who is heading up the new Coalition of African American pastors.
Independents are equally turned off. In three separate surveys, swing voters in North Carolina, Michigan, and Florida said they were more likely to vote against President Obama now that he's abandoned the majority of Americans on the issue. And the Chick-fil-A controversy won't help matters. Sometime soon, liberals will realize what a fundamental error they made in savaging CEO Dan Cathy for his beliefs. In their eagerness to crush the opposition, the mask of "marriage equality" slipped. For once, Americans witnessed the real face of "tolerance" and the punishment awaiting anyone who disagrees. Now, people who otherwise may not have waded into the marriage debate are packing out Cathy's restaurants to support free speech. What was once a target is now a rallying cry.
Of course, the media would have us believe that the DNC--not Chick-fil-A--is on the "right side of history." But viewing the defense of marriage as a lost or antiquated cause is a mistake, Robert George writes, "one that sexual liberals have every reason to encourage their opponents to make." Remember, "This is what we were told about a 'woman's right' to abortion in the mid-1970s. But it didn't turn out that way. A greater percentage of Americans are pro-life today than in the 1970s... As the Marxists learned the hard way, the reality of human freedom is the permanent foiler of 'inevitability' theses. Same-sex marriage and the assaults on liberty and equality that follow in its wake are 'inevitable' only if defenders of marriage make their adversaries' prophecies self-fulfilling ones, by buying into them."
Doc Gone It! Physicians at an All-Time Low
Getting into medical school may not be as difficult as it used to be! If the latest reports are any indication, America will be absolutely desperate for doctors by 2015, when it's expected that the country will have 62,900 fewer physicians that it needs. In a jaw-dropping story in today's New York Times, the Association of American Medical Colleges warns that ObamaCare is squeezing doctors out of practice--just in time for the swell in Baby Boomer patients. In 2025, the shortfall of doctors will balloon to more than 100,000 physicians--leaving many Americans without the care the President promised to deliver. And there seems to be little anyone, including the government, can do to remedy the situation.
Meanwhile, the doctors who do practice may have lesser equipment to work with. Thanks to ObamaCare's tax spike for medical device manufacturers, some companies--like Indiana's Cook Medical Inc.--are canceling plans to expand, because the 2.3% in new taxes will take a $20-30 million bite out of their bottom line. The House voted to repeal the tax last month, but like so many things, it died in the legislative abyss that is the U.S. Senate. If you like your health care, the President says you can keep it. Just don't expect any doctors to be around to deliver it!
** Remember, don't cook tomorrow! Join us in celebrating Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day by visiting a store near you!
*** Also, check out Jeanne Monahan's latest op-ed on the battle over pro-life laws in "Abortion Proponents Advocate (Again) for Dangerously Low Clinic Regs" for the Richmond-Times Dispatch.