Sunday, October 20, 2013

IS A PROMISE A CONTRACT?

When a candidate for public office makes claims about what he will do if elected, they are statements which have no authority to back them up and therefore are simply goals.  That is, when he makes the claim, he can't fulfill them unless and until he is elected.  When an elected official declares certain results will be guaranteed if we allow him to take a particular action, that is a verbal contract, one with millions of witnesses.

When Obama was trying to convince us that his Affordable Care Act would not change anything for those who did not want change ("keep your plan, keep your doctor"), he was, in effect, making a verbal contract with the people.  That means that the terms set when the agreement was made cannot be altered in any way unless both parties agree.  He is bound by law to produce those results or the contract is broken.  We don't have to buy the Ford when we bargained and agreed to the Cadillac.

Unless we hold elected officials accountable for the promises they make, they will continue to lie to us and tell us what they know will persuade us to allow them to do something TO/FOR US.  Any agreement may have conditions attached but in this case, Obama specified NO conditions, "period!". and made a definite promise.  That is a breach of a verbal contract and we should not be required to fulfill any but the specified requirements under the conditions of "keep your plan, keep your doctor".

Why isn't contract law applicable here?

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