Constitutional or banana republic?

Mitt Romney is not charismatic; the closest he comes is "charming"—sometimes. On the other hand President Obama is eloquent, charismatic, glib, and erudite; no one comes close in either political party, not Joe Biden, Harry Reid, or Nancy Pelosi.

Former president Bill Clinton was slick and often straight forward with a few notable exceptions, one regarding the meaning of the word "is."

But is charisma the quality we value most in a president? Doesn’t there have to be substance behind the words? Americans as a whole value honesty, leadership, decisiveness, compassion, and effectiveness, qualities the current administration has been lacking the past three and one half years.

Take honesty for example, a component of which is often described as "transparency." Health care reform legislation was woefully lacking here. We were told we had to "pass the bill to find out what’s in it," a comment that speaks volumes about the leadership of the Democratic Party.

We were assured by the president and his minions that there were no taxes in the bill. The Supreme Court found otherwise, thus setting up an "ex post facto" law. So why is it a big deal? It turns out that Sections 9 and 10 of Article One of the Constitution prohibit ex post facto law in federal and state law. Sections 7 and 8 give exclusive power to tax to the Congress. Since this law was passed by Congress on a strictly partisan vote it is the duty of Congress to correct its mistake. Attempting to do this through the courts would be futile.

Many of our representatives who voted for the laws would not have done so in its present condition. Many of them did not return to Congress in the 2010 elections because of voter outrage. Some loyal Democrats have drifted into the liberal/progressive wing for party unity and many realize that this is not the party of Bill Clinton or John Kennedy. With an eye toward independence they might want to consider a wake-up call.

Democrats who find themselves backed into a corner trying to defend the Obama administration with its failed policies, its overreaching, overspending, and underperforming actions, it’s time to change political affiliation.

If you can’t stomach Republicans or conservatives, become an independent; then you can objectively look at where the Obama progressives would lead this country.

It’s not a pretty picture, if you have any sense of what our Constitution has meant and still does for the future of good government, make the right choice in 2012.

Health care reform was forced through Congress under false pretenses, now its legitimacy must be rectified by the Congress. Many of our representatives who voted in favor of the law would not have under its new definition.

All parties to this legislation should be anxious to clean up the mess. Democrats, in order to prove that they have not perpetrated a fraud on the government, Republicans in order to move health care reform ahead, and the American people who are anxious to move ahead have had enough of squabbling over the issue.

This is not the time for the president to be concerned with his "legacy" of reforming health care; it is a time to do what is right for the American people and adhere to the Constitution. The judicial branch has made a decision that has no other effect than to require that the present law be repealed or replaced.

Congress must act on this law; failure to do so brings into question whether ours is a constitutional republic or a "banana" republic. Only a "banana republic" would allow laws to be meaningless and not representative of their words; to have no resemblance to the declarations contained in a law. The seriousness of defects in this law cannot be overstated and cannot go unchallenged.

Some governments are republics in name only, countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea. Their leaders are dictators whether declared or de-facto. Their "representatives are elected to do the will of the leader — their constitutions are mere window dressing; the country is ruled by executive decree.

The path to being a third world country is littered with the "slippery peels" of executive orders, ex post facto laws, and an apathetic, disengaged electorate. The cure for this malaise is a strong dose of "constitutionality," we can start by curing health care reform. Let your congressperson know that a new Congress and president in 2012 must fix health care reform, the right way, the constitutional way.