Showing posts with label National Debt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Debt. Show all posts
Friday, July 9, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Culture Crisis or Health Care Crisis?
Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.
While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.
And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".
Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.
Respectfully,
STARNER JONES, MD
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.
While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.
And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".
Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.
Respectfully,
STARNER JONES, MD
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
545 vs 300,000,000
EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.
Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist pr! omises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..
If the Army &Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... Is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so darned true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom...'
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Ser vice FeeTax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge=2 0Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
And I still have to 'press 1' for English!?
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!
GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN!!! Copy it to your email service and send it to everyone in your address book.
Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.
545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist pr! omises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..
If the Army &Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... Is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so darned true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom...'
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Ser vice FeeTax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge=2 0Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
And I still have to 'press 1' for English!?
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!
GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN!!! Copy it to your email service and send it to everyone in your address book.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The Obama Presidency
Living through the first months of the Obama presidency feels a lot like:
The dizzying feeling that you can't get a grasp on what's going on because there's just too much coming at you from all sides;
Feeling overwhelmed watching Obama spend billions and trillions of dollars, more dazzling than even those bright stage lights;
The frustration of not being allowed to actually "read the book," (Remember the 1100 page stimulus bill that Obama gave no one time to read?)
The pressure put on you to hurry up, and let them move along with their program;
And the sinking realization that the power is all theirs, so that you really have no choice but to give in to the stage direction and go along for the ride.
A Master of Sleight of Hand
After 4 months of "Shock and Awe" policy making and power grabs, I've come to see Obama as a sleight of hand master, one skilled in the art of doing something while not letting on how it is done and in fact pretending to do something else.
I've learned to discount what he offers in his right hand, and look for the cards he's holding in his left. Here are just a few examples:
In his right hand: "I am not a socialist and don't want to run businesses." In his left hand: He runs the banks, owns car companies, hires and fires CEO's, strong-arms creditors to give up their contractual rights, sets executive compensation, and closes car dealerships.
In his right hand: The promise to look forward and not dwell on the past. In his left hand: His recent speech on terror criticizing Bush 27 times.
In his right hand: The promise to cut spending and cut the deficit "by half." In his left hand: His spending spree, which will triple the national debt in 10 years.
In his right hand: His decrying a "government-run health care" system as "extreme." In his left hand: His advocating a plan that will leave us with just that.
In his right hand: A debate about "empathy" as a criterion for a Supreme Court jurist. In his left hand: The real criteria are judicial activism and policy-making.
Who is this guy and what does he have up his sleeves?
Obama came to the presidency with little experience and as pretty much an unknown quantity. Even his many admirers in the media remarked to each other post-election that "We don't really know who Barack Obama is."
So we have a president whom we didn't know well to begin with, and who now is always saying one thing but doing another, who appears hell-bent on taking us tomorrow to some uncharted territory that is known to his mind alone.
Yogi Berra's famous advice comes to mind: "If you don't know where you're going, you just might end up someplace else." So I think a responsible citizen must ask the question: Who then is this guy, and what is he trying to do with our country?
With all his flip-flops, it's hard to detect any true core beliefs in this man. Everything seems to be negotiable and/or expendable, including many items on the far-left's agenda, which has made them understandably disappointed and angry over issues like gay rights, abortion and the wars.
In fact I can find only two principles of action (as opposed to core beliefs) on Obama's part:
Ensure reelection in 2012:
(To this end, he has been very busy rewarding those who elected him, especially the unions, and demonizing his opponents); and,
Seize as much power as possible to redistribute wealth before everyone catches on to what is being done to America. (Which is why he's moving with such great speed.)
In examining Obama and his actions, I always consider the writings of Obama's old mentor, Saul Alinsky, whose 1971 book, "Rules for Radicals" was Obama's guidebook through his years as a community organizer. (Alinsky referred to "radicals" interchangeably with "community organizers." See more on Obama and Alinsky in my previous posts of April 19 and May 3.)
Alinsky called his book "a revolutionary handbook" with the stated goal of advising radicals (organizers) who want to take wealth away from those he called the "Haves" and give it to the "Have-Nots" for a "more equitable distribution of the means of life." ("R4R," pp. 3- 10.)
His book advised a "pragmatic" approach to changing the world, one in which radicals would infiltrate "the system" and, from places of power within government, set about not to reform it, but to attack it:
"…we are concerned with how to create mass organizations to seize power and give it to the people…a mass power organization which will change the world…This means revolution." ("R4R," pp. 3-5, Emphasis added.)
Alinsky's "revolution" was no violent overthrow, nor was it specifically communist. Rather it was to be a new form of government, the exact shape of which radicals (organizers) would have to figure out along their way.
For Alinsky, the only ideology was change itself, directed to the general welfare, and he urged disciples to avoid "dogma," (core beliefs), in favor of political relativism:
"An organizer… is in an ideological dilemma. To begin with, he does not have a fixed truth-truth to him is relative and changing…
…the organizer is loose, resilient, fluid, and on the move…To the extent that he is free from the shackles of dogma, he can respond to the realities of widely different situations…In the end he has one conviction-a belief that if people have the power to act, in the long run they will, most of the time, reach the right decisions."(R4R, pp. 10-11, Emphasis added.)
What Alinsky advises is what Obama appears to be doing: free from the shackles of core beliefs, he is focused on seizing power. Confident in his arrogance, and buoyed by his popularity, Obama doesn't have a plan so much as a belief that he will know the right way toward the general welfare when he sees it.
If I'm right, and Obama is still taking Alinsky's direction, then he is "winging it" to a far greater degree than most have feared.
Are we to believe that this inexperienced, arrogant, core-belief-free man has a better idea for our form of government than the one established more than 230 years ago on the combined wisdom of our founding fathers?
The stage is set for a grand finale trick to be played on America. We must not be fooled. In his right hand he holds out "hope" and "change," but in his left is "revolution."
The dizzying feeling that you can't get a grasp on what's going on because there's just too much coming at you from all sides;
Feeling overwhelmed watching Obama spend billions and trillions of dollars, more dazzling than even those bright stage lights;
The frustration of not being allowed to actually "read the book," (Remember the 1100 page stimulus bill that Obama gave no one time to read?)
The pressure put on you to hurry up, and let them move along with their program;
And the sinking realization that the power is all theirs, so that you really have no choice but to give in to the stage direction and go along for the ride.
A Master of Sleight of Hand
After 4 months of "Shock and Awe" policy making and power grabs, I've come to see Obama as a sleight of hand master, one skilled in the art of doing something while not letting on how it is done and in fact pretending to do something else.
I've learned to discount what he offers in his right hand, and look for the cards he's holding in his left. Here are just a few examples:
In his right hand: "I am not a socialist and don't want to run businesses." In his left hand: He runs the banks, owns car companies, hires and fires CEO's, strong-arms creditors to give up their contractual rights, sets executive compensation, and closes car dealerships.
In his right hand: The promise to look forward and not dwell on the past. In his left hand: His recent speech on terror criticizing Bush 27 times.
In his right hand: The promise to cut spending and cut the deficit "by half." In his left hand: His spending spree, which will triple the national debt in 10 years.
In his right hand: His decrying a "government-run health care" system as "extreme." In his left hand: His advocating a plan that will leave us with just that.
In his right hand: A debate about "empathy" as a criterion for a Supreme Court jurist. In his left hand: The real criteria are judicial activism and policy-making.
Who is this guy and what does he have up his sleeves?
Obama came to the presidency with little experience and as pretty much an unknown quantity. Even his many admirers in the media remarked to each other post-election that "We don't really know who Barack Obama is."
So we have a president whom we didn't know well to begin with, and who now is always saying one thing but doing another, who appears hell-bent on taking us tomorrow to some uncharted territory that is known to his mind alone.
Yogi Berra's famous advice comes to mind: "If you don't know where you're going, you just might end up someplace else." So I think a responsible citizen must ask the question: Who then is this guy, and what is he trying to do with our country?
With all his flip-flops, it's hard to detect any true core beliefs in this man. Everything seems to be negotiable and/or expendable, including many items on the far-left's agenda, which has made them understandably disappointed and angry over issues like gay rights, abortion and the wars.
In fact I can find only two principles of action (as opposed to core beliefs) on Obama's part:
Ensure reelection in 2012:
(To this end, he has been very busy rewarding those who elected him, especially the unions, and demonizing his opponents); and,
Seize as much power as possible to redistribute wealth before everyone catches on to what is being done to America. (Which is why he's moving with such great speed.)
In examining Obama and his actions, I always consider the writings of Obama's old mentor, Saul Alinsky, whose 1971 book, "Rules for Radicals" was Obama's guidebook through his years as a community organizer. (Alinsky referred to "radicals" interchangeably with "community organizers." See more on Obama and Alinsky in my previous posts of April 19 and May 3.)
Alinsky called his book "a revolutionary handbook" with the stated goal of advising radicals (organizers) who want to take wealth away from those he called the "Haves" and give it to the "Have-Nots" for a "more equitable distribution of the means of life." ("R4R," pp. 3- 10.)
His book advised a "pragmatic" approach to changing the world, one in which radicals would infiltrate "the system" and, from places of power within government, set about not to reform it, but to attack it:
"…we are concerned with how to create mass organizations to seize power and give it to the people…a mass power organization which will change the world…This means revolution." ("R4R," pp. 3-5, Emphasis added.)
Alinsky's "revolution" was no violent overthrow, nor was it specifically communist. Rather it was to be a new form of government, the exact shape of which radicals (organizers) would have to figure out along their way.
For Alinsky, the only ideology was change itself, directed to the general welfare, and he urged disciples to avoid "dogma," (core beliefs), in favor of political relativism:
"An organizer… is in an ideological dilemma. To begin with, he does not have a fixed truth-truth to him is relative and changing…
…the organizer is loose, resilient, fluid, and on the move…To the extent that he is free from the shackles of dogma, he can respond to the realities of widely different situations…In the end he has one conviction-a belief that if people have the power to act, in the long run they will, most of the time, reach the right decisions."(R4R, pp. 10-11, Emphasis added.)
What Alinsky advises is what Obama appears to be doing: free from the shackles of core beliefs, he is focused on seizing power. Confident in his arrogance, and buoyed by his popularity, Obama doesn't have a plan so much as a belief that he will know the right way toward the general welfare when he sees it.
If I'm right, and Obama is still taking Alinsky's direction, then he is "winging it" to a far greater degree than most have feared.
Are we to believe that this inexperienced, arrogant, core-belief-free man has a better idea for our form of government than the one established more than 230 years ago on the combined wisdom of our founding fathers?
The stage is set for a grand finale trick to be played on America. We must not be fooled. In his right hand he holds out "hope" and "change," but in his left is "revolution."
Monday, April 6, 2009
Something of historic proportion is happening
Wake up people!!!
By Pam Geller
I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes, these exist but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus. Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it.
Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about 10 - 15 years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two. We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people whom we know can never pay back. Why? We learn just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700B we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of “We the People,“ who lent our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.
We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why as a country we are exceptional, and why our country is worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, and school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why? We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Duh! Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into that of a banana republic. To what purpose?
Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, and Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.) The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially the year 1929 x 10.
And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. [They beat or stone young girls for being seen with a man other than their husband.]
And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.)
[Mr. Obama’s campaign and subsequent actions is patterned precisely according the prescription of radical Saul Alinsky.] Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why?
I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. And that is only the beginning.
I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930's. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully them into submission. And then he was duly elected to office, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think.
How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - Did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and..... change. And the people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930's while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though.
Don't forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe. It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years - a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency - it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them. As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong, close my eyes, have another latte and ignore what is transpiring around me. Some people scoff at me; others laugh or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe - and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am.
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb." -Benjamin Franklin
Pamela "Atlas" Geller began her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took over operation of The New York Observer as Associate Publisher. She left The Observer after the birth of her fourth child but remained involved in various projects including American Associates, Ben Gurion University and being Senior Vice-President Strategic Planning and Performance Evaluation at The Brandeis School. After 9/11, Atlas had the veil of oblivion violently lifted from her consciousness and immersed herself in the education and understanding of geopolitics, Islam, terror, foreign affairs and imminent threats the mainstream media and the government wouldn't cover or discuss.
Her website, www.AtlasShrugged.com click here, winner of the "Best New Blog" 2005 Jewish and Israeli Blog Award and finalist in the 2005 Weblog Awards, is a counter terrorism site fighting the great fight, changing the world one word at a time. Leading authorities are regularly interviewed. She routinely confers with leading scholars on the Middle East, Islam, Eurabia, China and Russia. The objective of her website is to cover related but little reported events of great import.She provides an unblinking, glaring examination of global affairs and is a member of Pajamas Media.
By Pam Geller
I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes, these exist but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus. Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it.
Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about 10 - 15 years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two. We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people whom we know can never pay back. Why? We learn just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700B we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of “We the People,“ who lent our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.
We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why as a country we are exceptional, and why our country is worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, and school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why? We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Duh! Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into that of a banana republic. To what purpose?
Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, and Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.) The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially the year 1929 x 10.
And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. [They beat or stone young girls for being seen with a man other than their husband.]
And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important.)
[Mr. Obama’s campaign and subsequent actions is patterned precisely according the prescription of radical Saul Alinsky.] Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why?
I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. And that is only the beginning.
I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930's. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully them into submission. And then he was duly elected to office, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think.
How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - Did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and..... change. And the people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930's while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though.
Don't forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe. It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years - a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency - it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them. As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong, close my eyes, have another latte and ignore what is transpiring around me. Some people scoff at me; others laugh or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe - and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am.
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb." -Benjamin Franklin
Pamela "Atlas" Geller began her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took over operation of The New York Observer as Associate Publisher. She left The Observer after the birth of her fourth child but remained involved in various projects including American Associates, Ben Gurion University and being Senior Vice-President Strategic Planning and Performance Evaluation at The Brandeis School. After 9/11, Atlas had the veil of oblivion violently lifted from her consciousness and immersed herself in the education and understanding of geopolitics, Islam, terror, foreign affairs and imminent threats the mainstream media and the government wouldn't cover or discuss.
Her website, www.AtlasShrugged.com click here, winner of the "Best New Blog" 2005 Jewish and Israeli Blog Award and finalist in the 2005 Weblog Awards, is a counter terrorism site fighting the great fight, changing the world one word at a time. Leading authorities are regularly interviewed. She routinely confers with leading scholars on the Middle East, Islam, Eurabia, China and Russia. The objective of her website is to cover related but little reported events of great import.She provides an unblinking, glaring examination of global affairs and is a member of Pajamas Media.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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