April 7, 2010
By Louis Avallone
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BIDEN’S BIG DEAL
Expletive Was More Polite Than The Alternatives
Theodore Roosevelt had the “Square Deal,” a phrase that came to represent his administration’s ideas for the conservation of natural resources, increasing competitiveness in the marketplace, and improving consumer protection. FDR had the “New Deal,” which introduced banking reform laws and the seemingly permanent and persistent expansion of government, through work relief programs, union protection, and the Social Security Act. Then, Harry Truman had the “Fair Deal,” which was his administration’s policy initiatives, rooted in the notion that the federal government should guarantee economic opportunity and social stability.
And now, apparently, Barrack Obama has the “Big Effing Deal,” the healthcare reform law that is estimated to reduce the number of uninsured U.S. residents, from current levels, by 32 million people, after the law’s provisions have all taken effect in 2019.
That’s right. In case you didn’t know already, it was right after Obama signed this self-styled, historic, and largest peacetime expansion of the federal government ever, that Vice-President Biden leaned into Obama at the bill’s signing ceremony and proclaimed that this was all a “big [eff]ing deal” (expletive omitted). Those were Jefferson’s exact words after watching Washington sign the Constitution, I think.
But in all fairness, and deference to Biden, there are some who say that Biden’s remark, into a live microphone, may not have been entirely clear, or intelligible. So, with all due respect, and in an effort to innocently explain to my seven year old daughter the missing letters (“****ING”) in the headlines reporting on Biden’s celebration of the “Big [Eff]ing Deal”, here are some other, similar sounding words that Biden may have said to Obama (in case Sasha and Malia Obama are around):
F***TICAL: Biden may have said that this was “a big fanatical deal.” Fanatical is defined as surpassing what is normal or accepted in enthusiasm regarding a matter, or otherwise excessively or unusually dedicated or devoted. “Fanatical” is plausible, when describing the Democrats’ obsession with a single payer system, or universal healthcare coverage, even though this would result in the elimination of the private insurers altogether (eventually). “Fanatical” is right on point. After all, just last week Cuban dictator Fidel Castro had praised the passage of healthcare reform in the U.S. and admiringly characterizes Obama as “a fanatical believer in the imperialist capitalist system.” You have to be fanatical about governing this way when, according to a Rasmussen report last week, 54% of the nation’s likely voters still favor repealing this new healthcare reform law.
F***ING: Biden may have also meant to say this was “a big fibbing deal.” After all, fibbing is defined as being deliberately unclear. And there is some fibbing going on here, for sure, according to the Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”). After ten years of implementation, the cost of Obamacare will reach $2.5 trillion, at least, not $1 trillion as advertised by the White House.
Another example of fibbing is that, for the first 10 years of revenue, from the taxes and fees required by this new law, there is only enough funding for six years of spending. And with Social Security paying out $29 billion more than it takes in this year, the CBO predicts that the federal deficit will actually grow by $562 billion, not shrink.
F***KISH: Well, maybe Biden said that this was “a big freakish deal.” The dictionary defines “freakish” as markedly strange or abnormal. Come to think of it, this is the first time Democrats have controlled both Congress and the Presidency since Jimmy Carter, in the late 1970s (and we all know how well that turned out).
F***NG: Finally, he could have said this was “a big filing deal.” The new healthcare reform law is over 2,000 pages. To keep up with enforcing the mandates, throughout this seemingly complex entitlement program, the federal government is hiring 18,000 more IRS agents and creating an estimated 111 more bureaucracies, largely to keep up with all of the paper. So, there will be lots of paper filing, Mr. Vice-President.
Now, Biden is not the first politician to publicly use an “effing” expletive while in office. Most notably, in 2004, Dick Cheney used it in a verbal exchange, on the Senate floor, with Senator Pat Leahy. It was inappropriate then, as it still is now. Media reporting, back then, was fairly critical of Cheney for departing from proper decorum on the Senate floor. When Joe Biden uses an “effing” expletive, however, the media seemingly slaps him on the back and offers to get him another beer (even though Biden doesn’t drink).
In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.” This is especially important now, considering the current fanaticism that governs against the will of the people, a growing federal government that is distrusted by the electorate, absolute power corrupting absolutely through a growing central government, and the dilution of American independence from the unconscionable and perpetually increasing national debt.
But a mere expletive is the least of our nation’ concerns. It is least injurious to the preservation of our Constitution, and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Even though his “effing” expletive during the bill signing ceremony may not have been intelligible to all, Biden could have easily been heard to say “fanatical” or “fibbing” or “freakish,” or “filing,” in place of his “effing” expletive. They all would have been an appropriate fit. Ironically, though, Biden’s “effing” expletive may simply have been the most polite choice at the time.