The Rule Of Law

No Government member shall be above those laws they create for the people whose care has been entrusted to them.

There comes once in a while a bright moment in life when one looks for the umpteenth time at familiar words, and finally sees the meaning they have… a meaning often hidden in plain sight, as it were.

The rule of law has been bandied about for several centuries now. Perhaps as far back as the times of the Roman Empire. Yet, one of our own, John Adams, also talked about it and what he said, can be summarized in 4 basic points:

• Everyone must follow the law;
• Leaders must obey the law;
• Government must obey the law;
• No one is above the law.

What he also said was that we must have a “government of laws and not of men”.

Perhaps it takes one who has lived under what is considered to be a government of men and not of laws, to understand the meaning of this small, yet powerful sentence. When someone in government assumes that his/her position allows the deliberate ignorance of the law, they should be put out to pasture; they are no longer fit to care for the people who trusted them. No one is above the law; no one has the right to enjoy legal privileges that I, as a private and common citizen may not be able to enjoy.

I do not refer to those privileges afforded to them who have more available spending money than I have. Those are of a different ilk and, in most cases, are an earned right. I refer to privileges which allow someone to have, for example, fiscal advantages I do not have; like a fully funded pension plan which is outside the tax laws… I don’t have that luxury.

Even in the relative meagerness of a forced social security plan, which gives me less than a fifth in earnings than what a private pension plan might have given me with the same investment, I am forced to pay taxes because I have to continue to work to supplement it. And this is after 45 years of contributions from my earnings. We have lawmakers who after one or two sessions in the House or one session in the Senate retire with a life pension, tax free. That is not fair.

And now we have the (In)famous “Obamacare” bill. Do we need a revamping of the health regulations? We sure do. However, do we need a revamping which in the not so long run may prove to be fiscally fatal to the system? We sure don’t. And if “We, The People” have to go under this care, then so must those who created it. One of the most interesting parts of this bill is that, on signing it, the House members also passed a resolution exempting themselves and the administrative branch (read: President) from this supposedly fantastic care package.

Even before the bill has gone into effect, Medicare is already feeling the brunt of fiscal (mis)management. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find doctors who willingly will take on new Medicare patients unless these are willing to increase the amount of co-pay or have insurance that does so. Why? Procedural payments are being quietly reduced and stretched out. It may now take as long as three months for an office to get paid for a service. After all… a doctor’s office is a business with the attending costs which have to be met regularly.

The Rule of Law… maybe it should be required reading as part of every opening session in Congress, and placed on a central wall, for all to see.

Especially that part that reads: “No one is above the law”

Be Well … Be Back!!!

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