The best defense against being brainwashed by “brilliant” politicians is to learn from history. If a candidate’s views contradict these historical facts they should be rejected.
History proves that too many candidates promise tax cuts but raise them instead. We now have a candidate who is actually promising tax credits on some and higher taxes on others. If someone is promising to raise taxes on some that is even more of a reason to expect higher taxes for all. History would have to be ignored to believe higher taxes on those that create jobs would actually benefit those that have jobs and wish to someday create jobs.
Labels can be put on others, but the label is not important. It is what they do, have done and plan on doing in relation to historical data that determines if they are a bad choice to be the leader of the free world.
Those of you that study history realize the failed policies that are in use around the world by countries with weaker economies, poorer citizens, oppressive governments, less freedoms, less charitable giving by citizens are slowly creeping into our government. As these policies are implemented things get worse, we are slowly inheriting these attributes. Do the proponents of these policies seek to make our great country more like these other countries? Do they realize that they are weakening our country? Do they seek to make us less powerful? Do they realize that some countries support candidates because they will weaken our country? The leaders of some of these countries are beginning to realize why we are the great country we are and they are trying to change. Ironic that they choose our best attributes, while we may be choosing their worst.
Our founding fathers may be the first to ever learn from history and thus conceived the constitution, our form of government and economic structure. Our constitution and capitalism take human nature, self-interest and the human spirit and put it to work for the good of everyone. It and a free people are two of the reasons the United States has become one of the most successful and powerful countries today, the center of the financial world, the dollar being the standard of currency, the most charitable country, etc. History proves time and again and is still proving this everywhere you look.
We must be ever vigilant against the attacks of those that would destroy our nation from within, sometimes by seemingly harmless and incremental steps; by those that would use the fear and uncertainty brought on by financial crisis against us, to call for change, a change that will ultimately allow the few wealthy ruling elite to oppress us all. The great depression and its aftermath, which continues to this day, seem to be a history lesson few of us are willing to learn.
Obama’s economic tax plan and his promised massive spending increases combined with the additional bailout and other massive spending plans of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and many other democrats in congress will actually do what H. Hoover and F.D. Roosevelt did to cause and prolong the great depression. It is unbelievable that these politicians are willing to ignore history and possibly destroy the lives of millions of Americans.
Open your eyes and minds America, before it is too late. Ask the oppressed around the world, they will tell you. The stories of those silenced and killed by tyranny, despotism and hatred. You are still a great nation, don’t throw it all away.
Economics Lesson: Socialism will never work...
Tax Increases Mean Less Revenue: Your Common Sense Guide
Obama's Plan For A Debt-Ridden Future
The Founding Fathers On Redistribution
Most Presidents Ignore the Constitution
I Vote No Confidence In Congress
A Liberal Supermajority
FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 yrs
Get Ready for the New New Deal
Almost Everyone Would Do Better Under the McCain Health Plan
Eyeing Your Pension
The Election Choice: Taxes
Socking It To Small Business
An Obamanomics Preview
Obama's Plan for a Second-Class Economy
Obama's 95% Illusion
'Senator Government'
Obama Talks Nonsense on Tax Cuts
Pages
- Home
- My Previous Posts
- Recommended Reading
- Real Health Care Reform
- Misc. Video, Articles
- Financial Crisis
- Education
- Economics - Freedom
- Climate - Energy
- Fraud, Corruption (Fast & Furious etc.)
- Taxes
- Unemployment
- High Gas Prices
- CPAC 2016 - 2015 Video
- CPAC 2012 Video
- Tactics, Hypocritical etc.
- Andrew Breitbart (1969-2012)
Economics 101 - The Principles of Free Market Economics
History 102: American Heritage - History 101: Western Heritage Constitution 201: The Progressive Rejection of the Founding and the - Constitution 101: The Meaning & History of the U.S. Constitution
...and many more Free Online Courses from Hillsdale College
PragerUThese short Online Courses are Great!
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time
USADebtClock.com
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Is It Wrong To Learn From History?
Monday, November 3, 2008
Balancing Emotions and Politics
Emotions and feelings not issues are reasons many give to vote for Obama. These are not the important reasons to choose a leader. If we base our choice on these alone we are destined to choose someone who will lead us into poverty.
We should not vote on emotions alone i.e. looks good, feels good, cool, a good speaker. Vote on historical truth.
Are emotions blinding us if we are not willing to find out why our economy is the way it is today? We are at risk of being misled into going along with what we have been told instead of finding out for ourselves.
It is a sad day in American politics when emotions like hate determine the choice for many voters, when a candidate uses hatred, fear, class envy and other divisive tactics to stir up and agitate others to vote for them.
If we really want to help others, if we really want to help the middle-class and below, if we really believe everyone should have a fair chance, if we’re really honest with ourselves, than we will at least study history. If we study and understand history and we want all these things is Obama the right choice? If we still wish to ignore history than how can we say we want these things for our fellow citizens? We owe it to ourselves and our fellow citizens to use our minds and find out the truth so we can make an informed vote, not an uninformed vote based on anecdotal, feel-good, one-liners, on theories that have been proven false over and over again. We are Americans, we are blessed and we can all make a difference.
Exposing Radical Influence
If nothing good comes from this election hopefully the exposure of Bill Ayers and the many like him to parents around the country will. The fact that he is radicalizing and teaching our children lies and teaching teachers to do so may be worse than what he did before he retired from terrorism. Our schools and universities are full of teachers and professors that migrated from various radical groups from the ’60s and ‘70s. Not only are they trying to undermine our society, they are destroying the minds and lives of our children as well. This indoctrination is even practiced in our grade schools. They are taking the focus off of reading, writing, math, science and history. They are taking away the right of our youth to choose what they believe. They are imposing their will on our youth. Whether this was a planned strategy or not, it is a good one and it is working.
I come across more and more people; a lot of them with college degrees, that have been taught this stuff. You can’t even have a discussion with them. They have been radicalized. Rather than discuss issues they just demean and spew hatred.
Perhaps we should require everyone to live and make a living, starting with nothing, in a socialist/communist and/or pseudo-socialist country for awhile. Maybe we would all appreciate and understand the freedoms even the least of us have. Maybe they would not be so quick to throw out our freedoms for the failed social systems practiced around the world.
Unfortunately, many civil rights leaders, preachers, teachers and community organizers are teaching and radicalizing many communities that they don’t have the same chances to make it as the rest of the country. They are teaching hatred and racism. They are destroying their own communities and the lives of millions of people.
I know many refugees from other countries that come here with absolutely nothing, families from Sudan that live here in one room apartments. They still see the United States as a beacon of hope and many still believe that if they could just make it here they will succeed despite the negative propaganda from politicians, professors and hollywood. Because they have not been taught the lies that many of our citizens have been taught, they succeed. They get jobs, work hard, graduate college, have successful careers and give back to others. They know there are no limits to their success. This hope and opportunity for all is in danger.
The aforementioned is the reason the country is split and radical hatred type behavior is so common and getting worse. But that is the radical strategy, the strategy of the current Democrat party and based on Obama and his campaigns’ behavior, it is his as well. Community agitation and division as spelled out by the deceiver, Saul Alinsky in his book, “rules for radicals”. Bill and Hillary Clinton, Pelosi and others use this book as their rule book. He was Hillary’s mentor and she wrote her college thesis about him.
The book starts with this tribute, “From all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer."
This book is incredibly dangerous. It and those that follow it will destroy our country. Our only hope is educating parents and finding and firing the professors and teachers that are destroying our children’s lives.
Alinsky's rules include:
• "Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat."
• "Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."
• "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage."
• "The threat is generally more terrifying than the thing itself."
• "In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt."
• "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it." (Think Gingrich, Lott and the success of name-calling used by the likes of Bill Clinton, Paul Begala, James Carville, Maxine Waters and others against conservatives and Republicans. Think of how Clinton "enemies" like Paula Jones or Linda Tripp were treated.)
• "One of the criteria for picking the target is the target's vulnerability ... the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract."
• "The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength." For instance, Democrats imply conservatives are racists or that Republicans want to kill senior citizens by limiting the growth of the Medicare system, they imply Republicans want to deny kids lunch money without offering real proof. These red-herring tactics work.
I have noticed many Democrats in power use these divisive tactics, many pundits on TV as well. It allows them to bypass rules and even the constitution. Nothing matters but the end result, so far it seems to be working. This is a serious threat to our constitution, freedom and nation.
Take a look at the way everyday Americans like “Joe the Plumber”, journalists and their spouses, Gov. Palin and others are treated by Obama, his campaign and the media. Obama’s statements about Pennsylvanians indeed many Americans, this latest “selfish” comment, the various spread the wealth around comments and many more statements from his past; the people he has surrounded himself with in the past, some of them follow the Alinsky rules; he is also the most secretive, think about how little we know about him, things he has not released that other candidates have, all these things should make everyone nervous and take a second look at Obama.
Obama says he is a unifier, a non-partisan. His tactics and actions say otherwise. He seems to be one of the most partisan and divisive politicians I have seen, whilst being smooth and cool at the same time. Unification by forced conformity?
If you only watch main-stream media you would think republicans in leadership positions aren’t as intelligent as democrats. The media seem to go out of their way to report only things that make them look bad. Democrats and republicans that have talked with and/or interviewed McCain, Palin and Obama all say they are smart, intelligent people. They say Palin is sharp, quick and very personable. It seems only those that base their opinion of Palin from the media, haven’t met her or haven’t heard her speak at rallies think she is not smart and is bad for the McCain campaign. Don’t believe them. Sarah Palin is intelligent, knowledgeable, a quick study and likable. She continues to energize many across the country. She has had several great policy speeches that the media has not shown. I bet if the media were biased towards republicans most people would like G W Bush. Their perception of the economy and the war would be more positive. Well, until the financial crisis anyway. Congress’ approval ratings would still be deservedly dismal.
This would also explain why main-stream media is quickly becoming propaganda and they don’t care. They are losing viewers and money and they still don’t care. That is why democrats in congress will renew their efforts to make the “Fairness Doctrine” legislation. It is the first step. If you only watched one news network and did not have access to another network, you would have no way of knowing you were being misled. If all news networks were misleading, you would have no chance of finding out the truth or knowing they were biased.
The various legislation Pelosi, Reid, Frank and the democrats in congress are discussing in preparation for Obama’s win should be a great motivation to vote for McCain and Republicans for congress. The threat of a democrat super-majority is yet another reason. If they are following the Alinsky rules then we can expect opposition to be quieted and our freedoms to disappear. Usually they are divided, so that is hopeful.
This also explains why democrats in office get away with so many things, things that republicans cannot. Many see it as a double standard. They seize the opportunities corrupt republicans give them to destroy and gain power in congress, just another tactic from Saul Alinsky. If republicans adopt this strategy and some probably have out of exasperation. The destruction of our country will be even faster.
Those that follow these rules accuse others of the very same practices they themselves do. Those that ignore history, mislead and raise taxes to increase their own power and wealth are blatantly practicing selfishness.
A lot of the chaff can be sifted out by determining those that are filled with hate and follow these rules. These rules that guide them can be used to determine if someone is using these tactics, if so, you know they are not truthful and you shouldn’t waste your time with them.
Was Boy in K.C. Fire Attack a Victim of His School's Racist Teaching
Race and class warfare indoctrination in American schools. A disgrace. The destruction of American lives starting from childhood.
How California's Colleges Indoctrinate Students
Pacific Educational Group: Radicalism for Kids, on the Taxpayers' Dime
Illinois Mom: PEG Trained Teachers on 'Institutional Racism'
The Vetting: Bell's Critical Race Theory Promoted in Public Schools
Critical Race Theory Explained
Critical Race Theory: Of the Racists, By the Racists, and For the Racists
What Newcomers Know About Thanksgiving
Rules for conservative radicals
Obama, Alinsky, & Scapegoats
Saul Alinsky Takes the White House
Fear Factor: White House Edition
The Coming Obama Thugocracy
Alinski's Rules: Must Reading In Obama Era
The Alinsky Administration
Obama, the Quintessential Liberal Fascist
Obama Campaign Is Modeled On Alinsky
Stossel's "Stupid in America" documentary special
Institutionalized Corruption
Our tax system is already redistributive and we do have a lot of problems. But that is not a good reason to vote for someone who will be even worse than the last president, someone who will make the tax system even more redistributive, a tax system that will encourage greed and selfishness rather than use that greed and selfishness to benefit others, a tax system that will move all the wealth to the government elite, giving the few the power to oppress all those who voted for change and those that didn’t.
It is not a good reason to vote for a party whose congressional leaders are even more selfish, corrupt and greedy than the republicans could ever dream to be. Most democrats in America today have no representation in government, at least not with the current leaders of the democrat party. Not all congressional democrats are this way but a large and growing number are. Corruption by anyone in government should not be tolerated. Major reform throughout all government is needed.
There is regulation in government, a whole lot of it. It is a myth that Bush and republicans want to do away with all regulation. They just want to take away or reform the regulation that is actually causing problems. Some of it is a major contributor to the housing/financial crisis. It is ironic that the democrats in congress are on record covering up the corruption and ignoring the oversight recommendations. The problem is not that there is no regulation or that there is not enough. The problem is that it is corrupt. Adding even more corrupt regulation to already corrupt regulation will make everything worse. The idea is to have regulation and oversight that works and doesn’t cause more problems than it solves.
Everyone knows there is incredible wasteful spending in Washington. They could run the government and all its programs with a little over half the amount of money they use now. If you cut out wasteful spending, end programs that are not needed, streamline other programs and cut out fraud and corruption you could save even more. There is no need to ever raise taxes on anyone. They should actually be lower.
The only reason our economy is able to withstand our massive and corrupt government is because of capitalism and freedom. Centrally planned programs have crept into government, taking away the built in accountability, encouraging corruption. The bigger the organization the more corrupt it is. The more money they take from citizens the more corrupt they become. The more redistributive our tax system gets, the higher our taxes get, the more nationalized type programs creep into government and the closer we get to a socialist type centrally planned system our economy will be less and less able to withstand the increased size and corruption of government. We will eventually be crushed by the top-heavy, corrupt and massive government.
How can you expect the corrupt to clean up corruption? Since no one seems to want to fix these things. The only thing left to do is make government smaller and lower taxes, to elect those that say they want to reform government, cut spending and taxes. We could stop electing known corrupt politicians as well. We need to reject those that want to increase spending and taxes of any kind.
Historical Economics
Every time taxes are lowered the economy grows. When taxes are raised the economy slows. Economies are not static they are dynamic. Most of the tax plan graphs show static statistics, they are misleading. You have to look at a dynamic graph for the real truth. But you don’t need to look at graphs and charts. All you have to do is look at history. Global history proves this time and again.
The best way to lower a deficit and balance a budget is to cut spending and lower taxes to increase economic growth and create jobs. If this is done the government actually gets more tax revenue than if they raise taxes. Doesn’t it make you wonder why so many politicians’ first reaction is to raise taxes? That will only slow the economy and actual tax revenue will decrease. History proves this over and over.
Obama’s economic tax plan raises many other rates on earners including dividends, capital gains, corporate, etc. This has been proven to slow the economy and cause the middle-class to make less and lose jobs. The tax cut he is giving is not enough to offset the negative slowing effect of the higher taxes on earners. This slowing effect is even more pronounced if instituted during a recession. History proves this time and again.
The more government takes and decides who and how much to give, because of their greed there will be nothing to give those that need. And sadly those that currently give on their own will have nothing to give either. History proves this time and again.
Government is corrupt. If its size increases it will be more corrupt. If it has more power and money it will be even more corrupt. The more money they take the less we get in return, and the more oppressive the government will be. Government is full of elected and appointed democrats and republicans. Corruption is non-partisan. Government is the ultimate monopoly. Global history proves this time and again.
The gulf between the poor and rich will widen even more under Obama’s tax plan. Only a handful of people will be rich and the rest will be poor. In this system it only pays to be the person in power. The only way to narrow the gap is to lower taxes and shrink government. History proves this time and again.
Centrally planned economies/wealth redistribution does not work. The more aggressive the redistribution scheme the more freedoms are lost, the more oppressive the government and the more disparity between rich and poor. This is what happens everywhere redistribution is tried, in most European countries, the Soviet Union, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and on and on. History proves this time and again.
Economics is a complex system, if we open and allow our minds to learn and study it we will understand the cause and effects and the unintended consequences that any seemingly small change will do. We may have to be willing to unlearn some of the misinformation we were taught in school as well. Some of the class warfare indoctrination will have to be excised. We are all equal after all, it does not matter what "class" society has put us in. We are all in this economy together.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Taxes: Election 2008 & Beyond
It is widely known that you never raise taxes when the economy is in crisis. That will cause a recession to last for years, or even go into a depression. Economists also agree that raising taxes caused the great depression to last as long as it did. It also caused the long period of stagflation during the ‘70s. More and more economists from a wide political spectrum are starting to realize that Senator Barack Obama’s plan would raise taxes on the very people that will get this economy going. The very people Obama thinks he is helping will make less and lose jobs. They will be worse off. The unemployment rate will skyrocket. There would be no incentive for the economy to grow, for jobs to be created. Economists also say that Obama’s tax and spending plan as it is now could cost 1 to 2 trillion dollars and his higher taxes come far short of paying for it all. We are all in danger of oppressive tax hikes.
Balancing a budget is done on paper. It is a forecast, just like determining if you have a surplus or a deficit during the year. When politicians see a deficit, their first reaction is to raise taxes. The economy slows so there is less revenue from taxes, lower taxes and the economy grows, there is more tax revenue. There is no formula for putting these results into the budget or applying it to the deficit. If a budget falls short and they decide to raise taxes to get $750,000 to balance the budget, they don’t realize they won’t get $750,000. The economy will slow, so there will be less income to base the tax increase on. So the government will get less than $750,000. So the next fiscal year there will still be a deficit, probably worse than the year before. If they had lowered taxes, there might even be a surplus. That is if they didn’t spend too much
The left has done a good job at misleading America into believing that business is separate from workers. They work together. If you hurt one you hurt the other. If there is no business, who is going to hire the worker? Jobs can’t be created by over-taxing and hurting business and those that create jobs. Entrepreneurs and achievers create jobs and do the investments that are in 401ks. You can’t make the poor rich by making the rich poor. Both groups will be worse off. Those that have their taxes increased are hit twice. First, they make less when their taxes are raised. Second, they make less when the economy slows. Socialism and redistribution schemes just push everyone down to the “lower-class”. We would all be equal at zero or close to zero, except the ruling elite and the “super rich”, empowering them to oppress the “lower-class”.
Listen to “Joe the Plumber” the man Obama talked with. Obama’s plan does sound like socialism. It is redistribution of wealth and class warfare. We are all in this together. It appears that we are being taught to resent and even hate those that work hard to achieve what they have; rather we should see it as an example that "I too can succeed". We cannot drag some down to pull others up. We will end up dragging everyone down. It will ensure the "middle-class" and below have lower incomes, lose jobs and push many into poverty. They will lose the opportunities they had to better themselves. Why should the government decide what to do with your hard earned money? You worked for it, you deserve it. Does the American dream end at $250,000? Where’s the incentive for the plumber to realize his dream to buy and then grow his business and create more jobs, when he knows he is going to be punished for it. The more you succeed the more you are a target. The 33% tax rate will go up to 36% and it begins to hit this year at incomes of $164,550 for an individual and $200,300 for joint filers. If you're an individual with taxable income of $164,550, you will pay more taxes.
Many small businesses file taxes as individuals and 70% of the larger more productive ones, those that have more than 10 employees, make over $200,000. The tax credits that Obama has for some businesses that file in the $200,000 bracket are not enough to offset their tax increase. In one recent year small businesses created 100% of the new jobs while big business was cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs. A lot of the larger small businesses will cut workers pay, cut jobs or even go out of business under Obama’s plan. “Middle-class” workers work for someone. They will be hurt, not helped by Obama’s plan. Small business hiring will be a critical part of bringing our economy out of the crisis we are in today.
The other part of Obama’s tax plan, raising capital gains and dividends taxes will cause investors to invest overseas instead of in America. At a time when many have lost money in the stock market now is not the time to raise taxes and make them lose even more. This will also encourage people to take their money out of the stock market causing it to crash even more. Lower taxes will encourage investment in the stock market creating more tax revenue. Higher taxes will keep businesses from raising capital to grow and create jobs. If you raise corporate tax on business they will pass the cost on to the consumer. If they feel that is not possible, they may cut jobs or even move jobs out of the US to other countries. You are actually hurting the individual. This will also put more of the tax burden on those that make over $250,000.
When someone says the Bush tax cuts were only on the rich, they are misleading you. About 10 million people in the lower tax brackets don’t pay income taxes now. Even “middle-class” families received a tax cut. In 2010 these tax cuts will expire. Will that mean even higher taxes for everyone? The latest IRS statistics confirm that the “rich” already carry more of the tax burden than ever before.
Obama is cleverly misleading us when he says that 95% of Americans will get a tax cut. Obama’s plan is a complicated tax credit mess. Around 40% of Americans do not pay income taxes, so they would get what could be classified as "welfare". Our tax code is a mess because politicians like to use it as a way to get votes.
The $3000 tax credit to employers for up to two years for each worker they hire is a slap in the face. When the economy is slow and businesses have to cut back to stay afloat, they don’t have the money and there isn’t enough business to hire. $3000 is not enough to offset say a $40,000 a year salary. They would go out of business.
Raising the cap on the social security payroll tax would be one of the largest tax increases ever. Millions of “middle-class” workers would receive a direct tax increase, up to $2000 or $3000. The hardest hit would be small business owners and the self-employed. The self-employed would be hit twice as hard because they have to pay both sides of the payroll tax. The wealthy would receive more benefits as well. It would destroy economic growth and job creation. This could be one of the worse things that could ever be done, especially during a recession.
One more thing that would devastate small business and take away workers’ and employers’ freedom of choice is the Free Choice Employee Act. It would take away secret-ballot elections that protect workers from union and employer harassment and intimidation. It would allow unions to be invoked by a card-check majority, doing away with an election. It could force contract arbitration forcing employers into contracts that could cause them to go out of business. This legislation would allow corruption to enter the system by taking away the checks and balances that are built in. Democrats in congress are set to impose this on America. This is just more legislation from congress that makes it easier for corruption to enter our society.
At a time when our economy is expected to enter a recession that could last a while, when businesses are already laying off workers, Obama’s tax plan would take even more from them and slow the economy causing businesses to lay off even more workers and even causing many to close. How does it help the “middle-class” and below by causing them to make less, lose benefits and jobs? What good is a tax cut if you lose your job and there are no jobs to replace it with? His tax plans would cause a perpetual recession or depression. We need to do what history proves works every time that is lowering taxes to create economic growth and job creation.
Now Senator Obama, Senator Biden and the media are insulting and trying to discredit Joe Wurzelbacher, a “middle-class” voter. The very people they claim they want to help. Why? Is it because he asked a question that caused Obama to answer in a way that exposed his true view, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody,” a view many Americans don’t agree with? Is it because this one “middle-class” American managed to expose Barack Obama in a way the McCain campaign has not been able to? Is it because this “middle-class” American resonates with millions of Americans? How can they expect to win over the average American by insulting them? Is this how everyday Americans will be treated under an Obama administration?
[1] The Election Choice: Taxes
[2] The Election Choice: Unions
[3] The Obama and McCain Tax Plans: How Do They Compare?
[4] Statistics About Business Size From the U.S. Census Bureau
[5] Obama Tax Cut 'Refunds' Those Who Don't Pay
[6] Raising the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap Does Not Fix Social Security
[7] Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts
[8] How the Employee Free Choice Act Takes Away Workers' Rights
Tax Increases Mean Less Revenue: Your Common Sense Guide
Obama's Plan For A Debt-Ridden Future
The Progressive Tax Rate Myth
Obama's '$4 Billion for Exxon' Myth
Socking It To Small Business
An Obamanomics Preview
Obama's Plan for a Second-Class Economy
Obama's 95% Illusion
'Senator Government'
Obama Talks Nonsense on Tax Cuts
The Founding Fathers On Redistribution
Obama Redistribution of Wealth Video
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Financial Crisis: Is Anyone Telling Us the Truth?
There is plenty of blame to go around for this latest financial crisis, but how can we fix this problem and keep it from happening again, if we don’t find out how it happened?
Republicans can be blamed for not pushing enough, for not having enough leadership, but if we do not find out and/or we ignore what caused this problem, it will happen again.
Many people blame President Bush and republicans because they were in power, even though the policies of past administrations started this, even though congress has been democrat controlled for the past two years, even though Bush, McCain and republicans warned and tried many times to fix this and legislation was proposed, even though the congressional oversight committee, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and fellow democrats blocked them and said everything was alright, even though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were corrupted and turned into political fundraising machines for these and other politicians. B. Frank, Chris Dodd and many other democrats are on record and caught on video going against the regulatory commission’s findings that there was a problem.
Past administrations, congress, the policy of "affordable housing for all" and others, the mark-to-market ruling and others and various regulations caused this problem, not the free market. Past administrations, congress, the congressional oversight committee and groups like ACORN encouraged and strong-armed mortgage institutions to give loans to people who can never pay back the loans. The pseudo government firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did the same thing. They bought up the bad loans and bundled them into mortgage-backed securities, making it easier for mortgage firms to give out more loans because they knew the government was backing the loans.
They took away the accountability that is built in, allowing corruption to enter the system. Do you think these financial institutions would give mortgages to people who are not able to pay them back? To give loans to people when their loan payments would be 40 to 50% of their gross income? Of course not, that would cause the companies to go bankrupt. When housing values started to decline, corrupt CEOs of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Countrywide and other firms covered it up with deceitful accounting practices. The CEOs ran these companies into the ground while taking millions.
There are more contributors to this crisis including Alan Greenspan and others. A lot of factors came together to create this crisis
Why aren’t democrats calling for an investigation of republicans? If republicans were to blame democrats would be all over this, it is all we would be hearing about. In fact, it seems the republicans are the ones calling for an investigation, which will happen later in November after the election of course. Why is the media not telling us about these corrupt democrats and the impending investigation?
There was oversight, it was just corrupt. Do you really think even more oversight will be any better? The more oversight and government bureaucracy there is the more corruption there is. We need reform, not more oversight. We need to stop enforcing moral hazard. It is far better to have accountability built into the whole system. We have various government regulatory bodies in place already. We just have to figure out how to keep them from becoming corrupt and causing these problems in the future. We can start by electing public servants who have some type of moral fiber and stop electing public servants who already have known scandals. If politicians don’t care about their families, do you think they are going to care about their constituents?
Many democrats in congress still don't understand the problem. They are even calling others racist for trying to fix this problem. They don't understand that the very people they were trying to help, they hurt. Now it is hurting every American and many people around the world. How can we expect those that caused this crisis to fix it? We need to have a congress that understands that when the economy is growing again any remedy that was implemented that caused any nationalization of the financial markets needs to be undone.
If you give free houses to hundreds of thousands of people, what do you expect will happen? If you really want to help those that can't afford to own their own home, you have to get the economy going, to give them the resources they need to better themselves.
The more the government announces and tries different solutions to this crisis and the solutions don’t have immediate results, may be causing the stock market to drop. Government can’t spend our way out of this crisis. They are just raising the national deficit. They may be causing other problems, hopefully not making it worse. It may be time to step back, implement the bailout plan and let the markets bounce back. Too many bailouts made arbitrarily may be enforcing moral hazard as well. The markets like clarity.
It's time we take our heads out of the sand and stop being misled. The American people need to know the truth so we will never let this happen again.
If the media does not tell us the truth about this crisis, they are complicit in this cover-up, in causing many Americans to lose everything, in causing a problem that could bring our country close to the situation of the great depression and in possibly tearing up the constitution of this great country.
If the people of America knew the truth, McCain would probably win by a land-slide, many politicians would be voted out of congress and the American people would demand an independent investigation of congress and the unelected entrenched bureaucracy.
If you want to understand the financial crisis, you must see this FNC Special Investigation: Saving Our Economy - What'$ Next? (Hulu.com)
Shocking YouTube Video showing Housing Scandal Cover-up That Led to our Economic Crisis
Ticking Time Bomb
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
ARC's Response To the Financial Crisis
Stop Blaming Capitalism for Government Failures
Barney's Rubble
The Real Culprits In This Meltdown
Another 'Deregulation' Myth
How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis
Wake Up, America
Blame Fannie Mae and Congress for the Credit Mess
Should Congress Be "Perp-Walked"?
Friday, September 19, 2008
Hatred, Political Apathy and Government Corruption; How Can You Make an Informed Vote
I don't understand the hate people have for others who believe differently than they do, especially in politics. It's crazy. When people are so filled with hate, freedoms are taken away, or worse. If those like current far left liberals/social progressives in hollywood, in congress and elsewhere ever totally controlled government it would be just as bad as far right conservatives taking away religious and other freedoms. We would also be a socialist type country, which means they would have to change, ignore and/or amend the constitution. Changing the constitution would be one of the worst things that could happen to this country. That is why politicians, like Barack Obama, that think the constitution is a fluid document, open to interpretation really scare me. I may think Obama could seriously damage this country and the middle class and below, but I do not hate him, I do not want his freedoms taken away nor do I want to force him to believe the way I do.
I am a skeptic when it comes to politics. That is why I study economics, taxes, history, countries, states and cities and what party is running them, etc. Then I can choose a candidate based on economic and other facts. Knowing these facts and having at least a basic understanding of economics will help keep you from being misled. There is so much misinformation everywhere you turn; it is just so easy to be misled these days. Politician’s records, their voting records, the people they surround themselves with and listening to what they say well before the final days of an election are all important in making an informed decision.
One reason for the lack of enthusiasm for either presidential candidate is that they both are members of congress. Historically Americans favor candidates that are governors or vice presidents. I agree with this. I am usually more enthusiastic about and would rather vote for candidates that are governors. They have more experience, because they are the executive officer of a state. They have to lead, make executive decisions and run the state. This more closely matches the duties of the president. They may not have foreign policy experience, but history is full of presidents that were governors, including the last two. Also, three of the candidates are members of what may be the worst congress in history. Because Barack Obama has been in congress for only one term and has only been there 160 days out of the 4 years he’s served, he has the least experience. His lack of experience shows when you hear him speak. I could go as far as say that Sarah Palin has the most experience just because she is a governor. I am also not a fan of candidates who are lawyers. Both candidates on the democrat ticket are lawyers. It seems that a lot of democrat candidates seem to be lawyers these days. The president of the United States and any politician should be an example to everyone, so moral decisions and behavior are a factor in my decision.
I don't know if you can make an informed decision based on major network news anymore. They seem to bias and ignore things to support who they think you should vote for, whether it is Obama over Hillary Clinton or Obama over John McCain. This is becoming a serious obstacle keeping Americans from making an informed decision. The media is at risk of becoming propaganda. The American public does not like to be told by the media or other countries around the world who they should vote for. The 30 lawyers for Obama scouring Alaska for anything bad they can find on Sarah Palin is one thing, but why are so many media journalists in Alaska trying to do the same thing as well? Why are they only going after one candidate, what about the others? There are so many questions that need to be asked about Obama and Biden and the media is ignoring them. Where are all the fluff pieces on McCain and Palin and their families, like the ones we saw earlier on Obama and his family? Why are they going along with the off limit lists of topics that Obama and his wife bring to interviews? That is not typical media behavior. The presidential race is too important to selectively give any one candidate a pass on serious questions.
Why is the media ignoring the success the surge has had in Iraq? You can’t blame it on the old standard “the media only reports the negative” answer. If that were true, you would hear a lot more negative news about the Obama/Biden presidential campaign, instead of the consistently positive news.
Democrats have been calling for our troops to be withdrawn from Iraq, saying the surge was destined to fail. Now that the surge is working they have been forced to acknowledge it. And yet many still ignore it and some even still say it is not working. Why are they misleading the American people? What does this say about their foreign policy experience? How can they make good decisions and lead America if they ignore facts? A good leader can only make the right decisions if they base their decisions on all the facts, both positive and negative, regardless of their political bias.
It is rather remarkable that the US economy came out of the recession that began toward the end of the Clinton administration and has been growing for the past 8 years, despite high gas prices, the weak dollar, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq war, the worst congress ever, the housing market bubble bursting bringing to light the housing and financial scandals and the media and politicians only reporting negative information about the economy. Only reporting negative economic information affects consumer confidence, which is an important factor that affects our economic growth. It is also dishonest to imply that the country is in a recession. A recession is negative growth for two full quarters. The growing economy can be attributed to President Bush’s tax cuts over the last eight years. There is actually quite a bit of positive stats and info that can give hope to those in states and areas that are hard hit and/or in a recession. The positive should not be ignored. It is necessary to take into account the negative and positive in order to see our countries' true economic health and it is necessary to know this in making an informed decision. Growth was back up last quarter after slowing a bit. The median household income rose recently. Consumer confidence has been unexpectedly up and it has been up so far this month. First-time owner house sales are up in California. Unemployment rates have been close to their lowest levels, they have recently gone up a bit. There is more positive and negative data as well. If Bush and congress would have cut spending instead of increasing it, the deficit would be lower and we would be in better shape. Of course lower taxes would help even more. The only way to minimize the threat of corrupt government is to keep it as small as possible. It is time for us to learn from history and our mistakes.
If a state or city is suffering it is usually because their state and local leaders are letting them down (high taxes, etc.) and/or an industry in the state is suffering. This is because the US economy and many state economies are growing. Take Michigan for example, it has been in a recession since 2001. The unemployment rate just went up to 8.9%. Part of this is because of the automakers financial problems and part of it is Democrat governor Grandholm and other state and local leaders. Despite the bad economy Grandholm and the state legislature keep raising taxes. The new service tax has really hit some businesses hard. Some saw their tax burden suddenly jump by $10,000.00. They also raised the minimum wage several times, which caused an unemployment rate spike. The cost of doing business has continued to increase but since the economy is slow businesses are at the point where they can’t increase the cost of goods and services to the consumer anymore. Now there is no money left to make unskilled jobs available at the semi-skilled labor rate. So they can’t afford to offer these types of unskilled jobs anymore. A minimum wage hike when an economy is in recession can also raise the cost of living while salaries stay the same. Cost of energy has skyrocketed exponentially as well. Some businesses are paying over $1000.00 more per month than they did just months ago. To make things worse Grandholm is about to sign an energy bill that will raise the cost of energy for households and businesses alike, within a few months. Renewable energy is a good thing but get the economy going first. There are people in this state that can’t afford to pay their energy bills now. Enough is enough. Why should they lose everything because inept politicians put energy above lower income citizens and those that have lost jobs, some with debt that they can no longer afford because they had to take lower paying jobs? For the past six years companies have been moving out of Michigan, the latest being Phizer and Comerica Bank. Michigan is ranked third, behind California and New York as the worst state to do business in. Businesses are now leaving because of a direct result of Grandholm’s policies. The solution is painfully obvious. She raises taxes, the economy gets worse. Their total lack of economic understanding and inability to learn from their mistakes just boggles the mind. It is inexcusable. If you want to know what an Obama presidency will look like just look at Michigan, except it will be several times worse, especially if democrats have a majority in congress. Just look at all the states and cities with economic problems, most have high tax rates and many are run by democrats.
Because government is so corrupt and no one is willing to fix it; it, its programs and involvement need to be as small as possible. It's sad but in reality, I don't have a whole lot of faith in any party to fix problems, so I vote for the person who is most likely to keep government small and taxes low, because at least corruption will be minimized somewhat and the economy can still grow. The freedoms our constitution affords we the people, just makes the giant corrupt government that much worse, even more than any big corrupt business. If people stood up for what is right, instead of looking the other way, corruption in business could be prosecuted and/or fined based on current laws. But who will protect us from big government?
[1] Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts
Obama Says Constitution Deep Flaw Continues Today
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Effects of Human Nature on Global Social Systems
There are several economic facts that are ignored and not even taught in many of our schools.
First, when taxes are raised the economy slows; when taxes are lowered the economy grows. When the economy grows the government’s tax revenue increases.
Second, as long as there are greedy and/or corrupt people, any centrally planned economy, whether it is socialism, nationalized redistributive programs, etc., will never work.
Our founding fathers were brilliant when they wrote our constitution. It and capitalism take human nature; greed, corruption and the human spirit and put it to work for the good of everyone. It and a free people are two of the reasons the United States has become one of the most successful and powerful countries today, the center of the financial world, the dollar being the standard of currency, the most charitable country, etc. Socialist type systems work against human nature, dampen the human spirit and encourage corruption, which makes their failure inevitable. It takes away the human desire to be a productive member of society. History shows that some of the first settlers that came over from Europe learned this lesson the hard way. Socialist type governments have to take away freedoms and oppress their citizens in order to prolong their demise. Basically, socialism and redistribution schemes push everyone down to the “lower class”. We would all be equal at zero or close to zero, except the ruling elite and the “super rich”, empowering them to oppress the “lower class”. This can be learned by studying history, our mistakes, governments, nations, states and communities around the world. Examples of oppressive and slowing socialist type economies are everywhere. The state of Vermont is an example right here in the United States. One example of an economy growing after lowering taxes would be Ireland. They recently lowered their corporate tax rate to 12.5% and businesses are growing and flowing there from all over. The US corporate tax rate is 35%, one of the highest. This is just one of many examples.
A lot of people in this country look to Europe as the example they want to emulate. But why would you want 50% and higher taxes, 17-20 % unemployment, redundant government bureaucratic waste, no common sense in government, governments that are literally almost bankrupt, governments that do all they can to keep businesses from surviving, lower charitable giving and loss of freedoms?
The bigger the organization the more corrupt it is. Governments, unions, school systems, nationalized programs, etc., are all perfect examples, our government, particularly the current democrat run congress, being the worst in history. Our judicial system is catching up with the corrupt congress. Many judges go against the will of the people by favoring the convicted offender instead of the victim or they make unconstitutional rulings. Since no one wants to do anything about it, the only thing left to do is keep government small. Everyone is eager to go after big business but they are willing to ignore the even more corrupt federal government and many state and local governments. They are the largest single factor in slowing our economy. The more they take, the less we get in return and the more corrupt they become. The government spends twice as much money to do the same thing that can be done in the private sector. Another way to put it, as soon as the government has your money half of it disappears. Everyone makes less and many lose jobs.
The latest example is the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac financial scandal. These were pseudo government entities that were rife with corruption. Basically congress caused this melt-down and then has the audacity to blame it on the free market. During the ‘90s the government encouraged mortgage lending to people who could not afford it, under the guise of affordable housing for all. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought all these bad loans, loans that would never be paid back, from banks and mortgage companies. This is one of many examples of what happens when government gets involved instead of letting the free market regulate itself. In reality, there are laws and regulations already on the books that if enforced would provide sufficient regulation. If the government was not involved these bad loans would never have been made. There was no accountability because the federal government was backing and encouraging these bad loans. The fall-out was inevitable. Many republicans in congress including John McCain warned many times of this outcome. They and the president tried several times to pass legislation to change oversight, but it was always blocked and filibustered by Chris Dodd, who is the head of the congressional finance oversight committee, Barney Frank and many other democrats. If you follow the money you will find that many democrats and liberal organizations received the bulk of the many generous contributions doled out by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These companies were turned into political fund-raising machines for politicians. Chris Dodd is at the top of the list receiving the most contributions; Barack Obama received the second highest amount for his political campaign. Frank Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae and a Clinton appointee, stepped down because of an ethical accounting scandal. He left after running the company into the ground while taking multi-millions of dollars from the company. Now he and another Fannie Mae executive, Jim Johnson, have advised Senator Obama on economic matters in his campaign for the presidency. This is probably the largest government scandal in history yet no one is demanding an investigation. While Obama and fellow democrats are blaming the free market and republicans for this scandal, democrats in congress are not crying for an investigation the way they usually do. A lot of democrats, some republicans and many companies would be implicated if they did. The very people these bad loans were supposed to help are even worse off now. Many have lost everything. This is the classic example of big government helping its citizens. While it was necessary for the federal government to step in and take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to avoid a run on the banks and a major collapse, the very people who caused this problem are now directly in control. Even after all this, many of the corrupt executives of these companies are still receiving multi-million dollar severance packages. This will happen again unless they split up the companies and completely privatize them. Why is it that we need oversight committees to oversee the congressional oversight committees that oversee these government programs? The American people should demand that these members of congress resign and that an investigation be done. If they don’t resign they should be voted out of office. This is major news; the media should be demanding this as well. These scandals and crisis will happen more and more as socialism and its nationalized programs creep into government. The collapse of the Social Security and Medicare systems is inevitable as well, unless we fix or end them. It’s just a matter of when. How can we expect government to “fix” health care when they refuse to fix or end social security, especially in light of the recent financial scandal. If they nationalize health care, they would just be creating another time bomb for future generations. England is now trying to privatize their nationalized health care system after years of failure.
These are complex systems so solutions have to be well thought out. There are so many things that affect each other. It’s just too easy and common for a solution to have unintended consequences. Linear thinking is all too common in every single aspect of society, which would explain why so many “solutions” today have the opposite effect and actually make things worse. Instead of learning from these mistakes we blame everything and everyone else but the “solution”. The same “solutions” are tried over and over and because people are being misled by the proponents of the “solution”, things continually get worse.
Politicians, the media and professors today make big government and nationalized redistributive type programs that spread the wealth around sound good, this is even taught in our schools and universities, but they have the opposite effect than what is intended. They hurt those they profess to help. Socialism and nationalized programs like welfare, health care and social security bring out the worst in society. High taxes, high unemployment, people make less, the economy slows into a recession with generations of people saddled with hopelessness. In extreme cases there is only a rich, ruling elite and their corrupt friends in various industries. Everyone else has nothing.
These centrally planned economies seem to make sense in theory, but in practice they do not work. They have been and are tried over and over again and they do not work. Global evidence proves this. How many times will we ignore history and destroy peoples’ lives.
Our constitution with its bill of rights ensures our individual liberty, freedom and prosperity while protecting us from the corrupting effects of government. These socialist type programs circumvent these protections giving government too much oppressive power. Individuals crushed by the weight of government. Our government is already too big and corrupt now. Do we really want to give them even more power while at the same time removing the mechanism that protects our individual freedoms? There are those that believe the constitution is a fluid document open to interpretation. There are those in congress that seek to add a second bill of rights. There are those that wish to use judges and the Supreme Court to circumvent our constitution. We must recognize those that wish to do this and stand up to them. Education and the privilege to vote is the best way to keep them from taking away our freedoms and destroying our great country.
People from around the world still see the United States as a beacon of hope and many still believe that if they could just make it here they will succeed despite the negative propaganda from politicians and hollywood. In fact, many from other countries come here with nothing at all, some who are forced to flee their own countries. They know there are no limits to their success. This hope and opportunity for all is in danger.
If we keep government small, cut spending and cut taxes then the economy will boom, everyone will make more, more people will have jobs and unemployment will be even lower than it is now. Then we will be able to help those that really need help. Citizens will be free to give even more money to charities than they do now. When citizens have liberty and freedom of every kind including economic and the human spirit is allowed to soar, people can achieve extraordinary things which translates into a strong, robust economy.
Government is not there to give us a handout it is there to ensure that each and every citizen is free and has every opportunity to be all they can be.
Economics Lesson: Socialism will never work...
The Founding Fathers On Redistribution
Most Presidents Ignore the Constitution
Obama's Plan For A Debt-Ridden Future
Tax Increases Mean Less Revenue: Your Common Sense Guide
Milton Friedman educates Donahue on Capitalism & Greed - Video (Excellent!)
Obama Says Constitution Deep Flaw Continues Today Video
Obama Redistribution of Wealth Video
Taxes, Taxes, Scandals and The American Dream?
What happens if the “rich” are taxed 50% or more and their charitable loopholes are eliminated? The $95.5 billion or 79% of US foreign aid US citizens give to charities around the world would be a lot less. The world would be a very different place after that. That amount does not include domestic charities. So the total amount is even higher. The US is by far the most generous country in private donations given. That is just one of the many things to consider when taxing the American dream.
That $95.5 billion also includes corporations and foundations. So the same loss of giving applies if you eliminate some corporate loopholes as well. If you raise taxes and think you can compensate with government aid. Think again. The government spends twice as much money to do the same thing that can be done in the private sector. Another way to put it, as soon as the government has your money half of it disappears. It is more efficient to give incentives for private giving than to let the government do it. This is by the way one of several reasons not to tax oil companies profit “windfalls”, but rather give them an incentive to invest some of their profit directly in renewable energy. This is also one of many reasons to stay away from nationalized programs or any centrally planned program.
If a politician talks about raising taxes, even if they say it is only on the “rich”. You better be prepared for tax hikes for everyone. Another thing to remember, many Americans are living beyond their means, they have too much debt. So if taxes are raised on the rich and it starts at the $100 to $250K income level, you may be hurting those with a high debt-to-income ratio.
A fair tax is good, as well as eliminating many loopholes for individual and business. Just be thoughtful when doing it or there will be unintended negative consequences. If taxes are raised the economy slows, if taxes are lowered the economy grows. When the economy grows the government’s tax revenue increases, which can help lower the deficit. If we keep government small, cut spending and cut taxes then the economy will boom, everyone will make more, more people will have jobs and unemployment will be even lower than it is now. Then we will be able to help those that really need help. Citizens will be free to give even more money to charities than they do now. When citizens have liberty and freedom of every kind including economic and the human spirit is allowed to soar, people can achieve extraordinary things which translates into a strong, robust economy. Government is not there to give us a handout it is there to ensure that each and every citizen is free and has every opportunity to be all they can be.
It is rather remarkable that the US economy came out of the recession after the last administration and has been growing unexpectedly for the past 8 years, despite high gas prices, the weak dollar, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq war, the worst congress ever, the housing market bubble bursting bringing to light the housing and financial scandals and the media and politicians reporting mostly negative information about the economy. Only reporting negative economic information affects consumer confidence, which is an important factor that affects our economic growth. It is also dishonest to imply that the country is in a recession. A recession is negative growth for two full quarters. The growing economy can be attributed to President Bush’s tax cuts over the last eight years. There is actually quite a bit of positive stats and info that can give hope to those in states and areas that are hard hit and/or in a recession. The positive should not be ignored. It is necessary to take into account the negative and positive in order to see our countries' true economic health. Growth was back up last quarter after slowing a bit. The median household income rose recently. Consumer confidence has been unexpectedly up and it has been up so far this month. Unemployment rates have been close to their lowest levels, they have gone up a bit recently. There is more positive and negative data as well. If Bush and congress would have cut spending instead of increasing it, the deficit would be lower and we would be in better shape. Of course, lower taxes would help even more. The latest IRS Stats came out in August. They show there is already significant tax redistribution. Some say the top 10% pay more of the tax burden than ever before and the top 40% carry most of the tax burden.
The groundwork was actually laid for the housing market scandal during the late ‘90s when the government encouraged mortgage lending to people who could not afford it, under the guise of affordable housing for all. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were pseudo government entities that were rife with corruption. Basically congress caused this melt-down and then has the audacity to blame it on the free market. This is one of many examples of what happens when government gets involved instead of letting the free market regulate itself. In reality, there are laws and regulations already on the books that if enforced would provide sufficient regulation. If the government was not involved these bad loans would never have been made. There was no accountability because the federal government was backing and encouraging these bad loans, loans that would never be paid back. The fall-out was inevitable. Many republicans in congress including John McCain warned of this outcome. They and the president tried several times to pass legislation to reform oversight, but it was always blocked and filibustered by Chris Dodd, who is the head of the congressional finance oversight committee, Barney Frank and many other democrats. If you follow the money you will find that many democrats and liberal organizations received the bulk of the many generous contributions doled out by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These companies were turned into political fundraising machines for politicians. Chris Dodd is at the top of the list receiving the most contributions; Barack Obama received the second highest amount for his political campaign. Frank Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae and a Clinton appointee, stepped down because of an ethical accounting scandal. He left after running the company into the ground while taking multi-millions of dollars from the company. This is probably the largest government scandal in history yet no one is demanding an investigation. While Obama and fellow democrats are blaming the free market and republicans for this scandal, democrats in congress are not crying for an investigation the way they usually do. A lot of democrats, republicans and many companies would be implicated if they did. The very people these bad loans were supposed to help are even worse off now. This is the classic example of big government helping its citizens. While it was necessary for the federal government to step in and take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to avoid a run on the banks and a major collapse, the very people who caused this problem are now directly in control. Even after all this, many of the corrupt executives of these companies are still receiving multi-million dollar severance packages. This will happen again unless they split up the companies and completely privatize them. Why is it that we need oversight committees to oversee the congressional oversight committees that oversee these government programs? The American people should demand that these members of congress resign and that an investigation be done. If they don’t resign they should be voted out of office. This is major news; the media should be demanding this as well. These scandals and crisis will happen more and more as socialism and its nationalized programs creep into government. The collapse of the Social Security and Medicare systems is inevitable as well, unless we fix them. It’s just a matter of when. How can we expect government to “fix” healthcare when they refuse to fix social security, especially in light of the recent financial scandal. If they nationalize healthcare, they would just be creating another time bomb for future generations. The only way to minimize the threat of corrupt government is to keep it as small as possible. It is time for us to wakeup and learn from history and our mistakes.
[1] Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts
Obama's Plan For A Debt-Ridden Future
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Social Decline of Our Society
In our quest to do anything we want, to live how we want, to put self first, we ignore facts and the consequences of our actions. This behavior is everywhere, from politics, education, to our economy. So many aspects of our society bring everything down to the lowest common denominator. Most of the problems in society are part of complex systems so solutions have to be well thought out. There are so many things that affect each other. It’s just too easy and common for a solution to have unintended consequences. Linear thinking is all too common in every single aspect of society, which would explain why so many “solutions” today have the opposite effect and actually make things worse. Instead of learning from these mistakes we blame everything and everyone else but the “solution”. The same “solutions” are tried over and over and because people are being misled by the proponents of the “solution”, things continually get worse. Another aggravating factor is that the bigger the organization the more corrupt it is. The problem is compounded if the organization is centrally planned.
Many of our public school systems are too big and corrupt. The billions and billions of dollars from the federal government and elsewhere being poured into them year after year seems to have no effect in improving them. Supervisors at the top make millions and waste the money and it never gets to the children who need it. Teachers unions are full of corruption and look out for themselves even if it harms students. Teachers are grossly underpaid. No one is looking out for kids. Teachers don’t get the support they need from parents. Many parents look out for themselves instead of their children. How can we solve this problem if parents don’t even care? This is just another vicious cycle. The more bad parents we have in society the more children grow up to be selfish, corrupt people that make up these corrupt organizations. Music, TV and other media compound the problems parents face when raising their children. Children see and are told every day, sex, drugs, it’s all ok, I can do anything I want without having to face the consequences of my actions, and on and on. We as a society and as individuals owe it to our youth to let them know all the facts and consequences so they can make informed decisions. This has to be balanced by a parent’s right to raise their children and decide when their child is ready for any exposure. Under the guise of free speech and the belief that children should have access to everything in society, the very people that set the standards for our public school system are allowing children access to media and information, including pornography, that has a negative impact on children and can cause abnormal behavior. Some districts bring in people that give talks to our children telling them to go ahead and experiment with drugs, sex and unprotected sex. Parents’ rights to raise their children should be safeguarded. It is so bad in the corrupt democrat run city of Chicago that school children are demonstrating and striking in an effort to be noticed and given the tools they need to be all they can be. It seems the public school system and society have forgotten about many of our children. If no one is willing to do anything but throw money at the problem, how can we ever expect to clean up a system as corrupt as this? When you think about it this way, the No Child Left Behind initiative makes sense. How do you fix a system that is corrupt from the top down and no one is willing to fix it. Many people, including many in congress, are even standing in the way. The only thing left to do is take money away from the greedy miscreants, based on performance. Then they have to do something to fix the problem or they lose their cash cow. If they don’t improve, it exposes the problem for all to see. The parents and those willing to do the right thing can bring the corrupt people to light, the media gets hold of the story, there is a public outcry and someone is forced to step in and remove the corrupt people. There is a better solution, but until everyone is willing to change, this may be the next best thing.
The media brings everything to our children at such young ages. The music, movies and video games of today are also a bad influence on children. There is also a growing lack of role models for them to look up to.
The welfare system encouraged families and single women to have more children just to be eligible for more money. There was no incentive to find work. Some of these children did not have parents that cared for them, creating a vicious cycle of despair. This contributed to the inner city poverty we have today thus creating generations of people without hope. Now civil rights leaders, preachers, teachers, community organizers and many in the democrat party are teaching and radicalizing many that they don’t have the same chances to make it as other Americans have, that they are being held back by other Americans. Those teaching this are destroying their own communities and the lives of millions of people. Why do so many from other countries come here with nothing at all, some whom are forced to flee their own countries, succeed? They have not been taught and they know that there are no limits to their success.
Has anyone noticed that the industries with the most problems are the ones with the largest, most powerful labor unions, the auto and airline industries and the public school system?
Labor unions may have a purpose, but many are too big and corrupt. Some have people at the top that make millions while their workers get stuck paying dues that are too high for what they get. The whole system seems to be setup to bring down the quality of work, to encourage bad working habits. The union mentality of making workers and companies’ enemies, instead of working together is bad for the economy. A company and its employees should work together for the good of each other. One cannot exist without the other. They are a team. When employees are doing the best they can do and the company is doing all it can for its employees, they both benefit and profit from it. It is a cycle that should not be disrupted. The practice of giving promotions based on seniority and making it costly and difficult to fire people is another factor in bringing the performance of all the workers down to a lower level. Promotions should be based on job performance first and seniority second. Hard work and constant improvement should be encouraged. Many times a hard worker comes in and is passed over time and again by people who have seniority but are slackers or should be fired. After awhile they will become discouraged and realize there is no point in working hard so they will be like everyone else. This also affects morale, which in turn affects job performance. They may become angry and disruptive as well. There are documented cases of hard workers being asked not to work as hard because they are making everyone look bad. How can we compete in the global economy if we encourage and promote bad working habits?
Steve Malanga writes about what Alexis de Tocqueville & Max Weber would think of America today.
Like A Virgin: The Press Take on Teenage Sex
5 Character Flaws That Are Destroying America's Future
What No Government Program Can Do
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Women In Politics
Why do some women in America think Governor Sarah Palin should just stay home and raise her children? We hear some women from various women’s rights groups, in politics, in hollywood and in the media voicing their strong opinions on this matter. Some of the remarks could be labeled as sexist, many are profane ignorant comments filled with hate. Where is all this hatred coming from? Is it because she is a republican, a conservative? Should all women be free to be all they can be, to choose what they believe in or does this only apply if you are a liberal or a democrat? Men are free to choose to live their lives the way they see fit; they are free to choose to be liberal or conservative, democrat or republican. Women should be allowed the same freedoms. They should not have to conform to the ideals of one group in order to succeed. Do these women’s rights groups seek conformity instead of freedom for all women? Do the liberal women in politics and in the media seek conformity instead of freedom? Are they advocating rights and freedoms only for liberal women? What about the millions in this country who have the same views as Palin? Are they hated just as much because of their views? What happens when people filled with this much hatred of any kind are in control of government? They oppress and take away the freedoms of those with different views. Hatred of someone different than you whether it is because of political views, moral views, skin color or nationality is one of the causes of oppression, wars and loss of freedoms around the world.
Is it because she has a pregnant, unmarried teenage daughter? Then should all mothers with pregnant teenage daughters quit their jobs and stay home to raise their kids? If so, the American workplace will soon be a very different demographic.
Is it because she is a successful woman who has achieved so much in such a short time and yet is not a liberal or democrat? Her record as governor of Alaska is there for everyone to see. You can choose to ignore it, but it speaks for itself. She has the highest approval rating of any governor. While the state has no sales or individual income tax and each citizen receives a yearly dividend from their share in the state’s oil profits, she pushed through the legislature an additional $1200.00 check for each citizen to pay for heating bills this year. The state now has a budget surplus; she has the surplus funds making money in some type of savings fund. She pushed through and signed an ethics reform bill in 2007.
What if she had chosen to be a stay at home mom instead of pursue a political career, would she be less successful?
Conservative Snobs Are Wrong Aboug Palin
Stickin' With the Hockey Mom
To Know Her Is To Respect Her
Palin Shows How To Transcend the Culture Wars
Palin Rally in Tampa, FL