Founding Fathers

Americans can trace their heritage and history with a certain amount of pride, overcoming pretty long odds to become the most prosperous nation of all time. We can all look back to Washington, Jefferson and Madison with a certain amazement at what they risked in order to gain our independence and create a new nation. Regardless of our opinions of the Founding Fathers and their motivations, religious convictions and social opinions, we can all agree that our respect for those men begets a high honor.
I wonder if our Founding Fathers will continue to be remembered through the ages, for we may be on the cusp of history that will redefine our "Founders" from a different time, and this time is rapidly approaching. I am most proud of our nation being able to put aside race and electing the first African American President, but at the same time I have a sense of foreboding that our new direction is borne of a calculated and precise plan to re-create the United States of America in a very different image.
Use a little investigative work on the web, and it seems painfully true that most of the people in power in the US today have a common background, and it is not one in support of democracy or our republic. There is a calculated effort in play right now to overwhelm capitalism in America, and replace this system with a new order that can be traced to a single source. Take some time to Google up Saul Alinski, a man who hated liberals during his lifetime not because they were not on the right track, but because they were too soft and not willing to employ militant tactics to achieve their ends.
Alinski wrote several books, among them Rules for Radicals, and traces his personal history back to a time when the Communist Party in America was just beginning, in Chicago of all places...If you keep looking, you will find that he proposed a tactical system of subversion that used community organizing to lead a powerful call for change, then overwhelms government systems with required services that cannot possibly be provided, and then allows a new system to prevail after rebellion that places a select few in power. There are two key adherents to this theory, who studied under this man and perfected this system, and those two people are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Now, before you get mad and call me names, do the research yourself, find the associations and draw your own conclusions. I am open to reasonable discussion, but the facts seem uncontrovertable, and we all should question whether or not this could be true and get it out in the open.
If this is true, then several things should start happening according to this plan. First, government programs will be funded with huge amounts of money, eventually becoming overwhelmed and unable to provide the level of service that has been promised. Community Service programs will equate to brainwashing our young people that America is a terrible country, full of evil and keeping the people of our world under our heavy handed thumbs. Community activism and reform groups will continue to grow with huge funding from our very own government, and the message that our Republican form of government does not serve their needs will be the primary focus. The opposing party will become the "party of no." Taxation will increase until the burden is so great on the working minority of the population that they will do anything to get out from under the burden.
What is the result of all this? A change of government form in the US, whether it be a Constitutional change or based only on reality, that we are transferring power from our Republican form of government to that of an oligarchy (rule by a few powerful people). If you step back and look, this epic shift has already begun, the situation is in place and the select few in control of our future oligarchy are completing the steps one by one. Perhaps I am a cynic, perhaps looking for a magic bullet and there really is no conspiracy, but as we see private meetings and controlled use of the media we should be thinking about the real story. Unfortunately, I feel that in just the past few months we have been unwittingly manipulated into letting this happen, not without protest to be sure, but without any real power to stop the onslaught that is coming. We may well be into a cycle that will indeed lead to rebellion, but I hope that it is a rebellion based on the Tea Party model that puts power back in the hands of the people and takes it out of the hands of government. The Constitution is the key, if we draw the line there we may have a chance, where power not given to the federal government must reside with the states and the people, and limited government is advocated so that this document may prevail and protect the people from the government as it was designed.
Do your research, make your own decisions, but do it quickly before we find the Constitution re-written and statues of Saul Alinski replacing those of George Washington.

Thank You Fargo, North Dakota!

I want to make sure we recognize the people of Fargo, North Dakota in their battle against flood waters from the Red River. If you didn't notice, people lined up in 9 degree weather to fill sandbags to raise the level of their protective dikes when record rising water threatened the city and surrounding neighborhoods. The reason you might not have noticed is that this really wasn't a news event, other than a human interest story it did not get that much press, which is a shame.
What struck me is that these people did not complain about lack of government help, or why the dikes were a few feet short of the projected record flood levels, they just all got together as a community and solved the problem the best way they knew how. I was particularly struck by the neighbors that got together in small groups to work together and sandbag their homes in a protective circle, even the ones emptied by fleeing neighbors that didn't participate in the work. That is the true meaning of community and responsibility to our neighbor. How much easier would it have been to stand up on national TV and tell the world that their local officials had screwed the deal up by not having the dikes built high enough to anticipate a 112 year flood level, or why the federal government had not prepared for this disaster and supplied their every need? Much easier, but that is not what happened. They took care of the problem and each other in a very personal and responsible way, quite at odds with the practice of being a professional "victim." I certainly don't discount there are victims of many disasters, but want to highlight the different response from Fargo.
I dare say that if the Red River does spill over its banks and demolish Fargo, it will be rebuilt and we won't hear much about it, because the local community will take care of it as a dedicated group of hard working and responsible people. I would also bet there won't be blame assigned, crooked contractors salivating over government rebuilding contracts, or public officials using this disaster for personal gain. Perhaps the residents of New Orleans can learn a lesson from the people of North Dakota, hardy souls to be certain and a vanishing shadow of the American dream.

Financial "In"stability

OK, so I am just as irritated as you are that 165 Million dollars ended up being paid as bonuses out of "our" money to AIG executives. After thinking about it over the weekend, I have to admit that I am more irritated that 170 Billion was spent in the first place, and now our Congress is reacting in a very terrifying manner in an attempt to keep the public's eye on AIG and not themselves. Looking back, this whole issue has ceded impressive new powers to our government's ability to tax, and we the people are the dummies clamoring for it...another reason to enjoy our Founder's wisdom at creating a Republic rather than a democracy, other than the small fact that the leaders of our Republic are actually the ones leading the masses into quick, reactive and punitive decisions instead of protecting us from that type of "mob rule."
One of the reasons I prefer limited government as the Constitution mandates, is that under this arrangement I can expect my stuff to be safe from arbitrary government action. When I see local governments declare property condemned with no other designs other than confiscation, I feel threatened that my property might be next. Now we have the nation's Congress applying a targeted confiscatory tax on a special group of taxpayers. Regardless of our feelings on the subject, whether we can associate with the overwhelming percentage of Americans who see this as an opportunity to "stick it to the man" that has stuck it to them with the gift of recession, or with the group that was contractually promised a certain income much as a waiter/waitress or salesperson would be compensated, the reality and long term implication of this action is we have implicitly given our Congress the right to tax specific groups of people at will.
Add to this frightening new development the role that the government intervention has played in normal business activities. Leaders of financial institutions are afraid to commit to normal business activities, out of fear of being the focus of the next public outrage. In a personal example, a large bank was recently in negotiations with a company I am involved with, the object of the "partnership" was to entertain selected high value clients in a special environment where those clients might be convinced to begin investing or increase an investment in the bank. With the recent developments and instability that our government has created by issuing funds and later disagreeing with the way those funds were used, this project was completely shut down before it ever got started. People are out of a job, and not business executives; caterers, hotel staff, organizers, mechanics, etc are all looking for work or have their job in jeopardy because of this situation. Whatever the intent of stabilizing the financial system, we can now clearly see the reality that any time the government gets involved in a uniform instead of a striped shirt the whole game gets confused, and people lose their jobs.
I will give President Obama one kudo, in the racing industry you hire the biggest cheater as the Chief Technical person. When he hired Tim Geithner he did the same thing, now we can expect the IRS to be fully capable of recognizing the tax cheats out there and getting every last penny out of them, after all, he has the best experience to know how to catch the rest of the cheaters. Its too bad that the real villains are the ones that refused to regulate companies like AIG, instead preferring to pander to their "constituents" at the expense of people that did the right thing and lived within their means. Now those same people in Congress are pointing distracting fingers at the greed of Wall Street, and in many cases rightfully so, but if those pointing fingers expect even the slightest credibility there needs to be some self examination at the same time, and some accountability for throwing money around like drunken sailors while using the AIG execs as their scape goats. It is the whole lot of 535 people in Congress that needs to be fired, well before we ask for the money to be repaid by the banks, so when and if we do get it back it can be spent in a prudent and reasonable fashion to repay the mountain of debt we are creating.

Top American Cities with Poverty-a Lesson?

A friend set this to me, I haven't verified this information and thought someone might have a few comments. If its true then it speaks to a culture of dependence and oppression we have to stop empowering.
Cole

TOP 10 POVERTY CITIES



This has got to be one of the greatest American tragedies. What do the top 10 cities with the highest poverty rate all have in common?



Detroit, MI (1st on the poverty rate list)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961;



Buffalo, NY (2nd)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1954;



Cincinnati, OH (3rd)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1984;



Cleveland, OH (4th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1989;



Miami, FL (5th)...has never had a Republican mayor;



St. Louis, MO (6th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1949;



El Paso, TX (7th)...has never had a Republican mayor;



Milwaukee, WI (8th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1908;



Philadelphia, PA (9th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1952;



Newark, NJ (10th)...hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1907.



Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'



It is the disadvantaged who habitually elect Democrats --- yet are still disadvantaged.



The disadvantaged remain disadvantaged because they are looking for a Liberal Democratic Government to give them something, when all they have to do is work for it.



(How can a person be 5th generation & disadvantaged in this country?)



"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.

It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free".

The Greatest Socialist of All Time

I was very happy to see the President return to the "Hope" and "Change" mantra that earned him the White House last night. Regardless of your opinion of the man and the direction he is taking our country, we all benefit when the tone is a positive one. This change of approach from words like "catastrophe" to "sputtering along" when referring to our present economy is a step in the right direction, sure to help stabilize markets and start some positive energy.

I don't know where this all takes us in the future, I fear a return to oppressive interest rates and the tax of runaway inflation due to our manipulation of the money supply, which I am not convinced is needed. I am not an economist, just a concerned citizen that sees a course of huge spending increases causing pain for future generations that could be avoided. The natural business cycle may prove to be the most powerful tool toward turning the economy around, and I am sure plenty of people will be lining up to take credit for it in a few years. I admit there are different points of view on the subject that can, and should, be argued in civil discussions, but I don't think anyone would refute the idea that we are headed for a period of increased government growth. Whether that growth proves to be a good thing or a bad thing is open to debate, and how the future will be told.

One area I am concerned about is the creep toward socialism. I am not sure exactly what the definition of a socialist nation is, I believe an economist would tell you when spending on social programs reaches about half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) then you are classed as a socialist nation. The US is headed toward 40%. What that means in reality is a nation where the people prefer their government to be in control of taking care of its citizens. The care of individuals will be more in the hands of government run programs than in the hands of family, friends and community than ever before, but what does that really mean and why should we worry?

From my perspective, in simple terms, that means a government that wants to replace God as our caretaker. Providing for every need is the intent, so that we are all happy, productive and settled contributors for the common good. There are a few elements missing from this idea, however, first and foremost is that even if our physical needs are met we will all still hunger for something more. Over 90% of Americans profess a faith in God, whatever the religion doesn't matter to make this point, we mostly believe there is something else out there that is more than we can comprehend. Our understanding of this fact, and how we react to it, is just as important (I would argue more so) as our physical care and well being. We need to be allowed to wrestle with out current condition, struggling together to find our way out and learning about our inner selves at the same time.

The best care for any individual is to consider ALL of their needs, just not the physical ones. Government can swallow our corporate financial resources to provide for some important items, but in reality we are still left wanting more, and more, until the nation is bankrupted (see previous post on stages of democracy). The greatest socialist of all time was none other than Jesus Christ, he wept, healed, provided for and loved so much that he is regarded as one of the most important figures of our time. He truly understood people's needs, not just the physical ones, but the spiritual ones, and put himself in a position of relationship where those needs could be called out and filled. We would do well to learn a lesson from that example, we cannot provide for needs without relationship. Allowing people to fill out a form, stand in a line or Google up a webpage to collect some of our national resources for themselves is not providing, it is creating dependence. We are giving fish instead of teaching to fish, replacing relationship with bureaucracy, administering medicine for our bodies while our souls are withering. 

Jesus Christ put modern socialists to shame. Not only did he provide food, health and well being, he provided relationship that went even further to heal the complete needs of the people. And he did it with no money. Now, I can't walk on water, or expect to fix problems without financial resources, but what I am able to do is help people by building relationships first and having faith toward positive resolution. Who better to understand financial issues than our families, communities and friends who are living with the same concerns? What better situation to push people together and help each other solve problems, instead of pulling them apart to rely on the ease of the government dole that requires no personal commitment? Modern socialists would do well to consider their own imposed references to separation of church and state. True need is a matter for the church, which does not require government to succeed, but partial need is a matter for the state, which must have a moral and upright society for the republic to function. Washington stated this reality in his farewell address, yet we are still trying to prove him wrong.

So while we are throwing money at a problem that might reach part of the physical need that is out there and protect us from struggling together, it still falls to those of us that respect personal responsibility to seek out and help those in need. It falls to us to build relationships, understand the problem, and attempt to help the best that we can, albeit with fewer resources since more and more will be going to DC to pay for a partial solution. It is easy to complain, but our responsibility remains, a responsibility not to our nation and its programs but to the citizens that make it up. The gift of Christ is part of that responsibility for those that believe Him as the only path to the Father, and if you want to give someone real "Hope" then that is the best path you can take.

The New Economy

Should have been a Dead Donkey...

Young Chuck in Montana bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed
to deliver the horse the next day.

The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad
news... the horse died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, "What ya going to do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can, watch me.  I just won't tell anybody he's
dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened with
that dead horse?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off.  I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece
and made a profit of $998."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars
back."

Chuck grew up and now works for the government.  He's the one who figured
out how this "bail-out" is going to work.