Where Are We Headed

Over the last year or more we have seen the immergence of various groups touting a myriad of political, social and economical views. We are blaming our President for being a socialist and moving us towards a socialist society. We have seen the immergence of the Tea Party which follows a more Libertarian path, and we are seeing the reemergence of Anarchists and Progressives. The common political phrases and parties we are used to just don’t seem to have the same meanings anymore and the word Capitalism has become a four letter word. It used to be you were a Republican or a Democrat with either more conservative, liberal or even centrist leanings. Now those terms are all mixed together, there are conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. Neither of these are the parties of our Grandparents, or even our parents. So just where are we headed and why.

How many people in America really know what’s going on? With all these different movements and parties coming forward and getting on their soap boxes the majority of the American populace will naturally follow what is the perceived to be the most stable and safest path, the one the Government is taking us down. The problem is that the majority of the populace does not even know what path that is, they are the sheep being led to the slaughter.

The ultimate result of the path we are currently on is Totalitarianism. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines this as a political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority. Some believe that true Communism is a political and economical plan that means a completely classless society with no Government and everyone owns everything. If that were true then it would be called Anarchy. Communism as defined by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary is a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production It goes on to say that it is the final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably. This could lead one to believe that the end is Utopia, the perfect society, the impossible society for social growth. The Elite will never relinquish their power or position, we can never be a Utopian society nor do we ever want to be a Utopian society in the world we now live in. Totalitarianism is Communism. We are now opening our arms out of ignorance to the very thing we have fought against in other countries, right or wrong, in the past. Many confuse Socialism with Communism; Socialism is just a stepping stone to Communism. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Socialism as;
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.

Capitalism is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. To date the Government has allowed Capitalism and free trade to continue only because it was in the best interest of the Government. We have been a socialist country for years. We want to reward no work with welfare, we have controlled production through the use of farm subsidies to not farm certain crops in order to control the market, and we have proven that the Government does not believe in private property by the use of imminent domain in the name of progress. Sure in imminent domain you are paid for your property but you have no recourse to keep your property, you either accept the offer the Government gives you or they will take what ever measures they can to get it.

Socialism is just an economic system while Communism is an economic and political system. The website wisegeek.com states it well when they say that Socialists “see capitalism as a possible part of the ideal state and believe that socialism can exist in a capitalist society. In fact, one of the ideas of socialism is that everyone within the society will benefit from capitalism as much as possible as long as the capitalism is controlled somehow by a centralized planning system” while Communists “assert that both capitalism and private ownership of the means of production must be done away with as soon as possible in order to make sure a classless society”.

There have been other programs that have been passed in history that are socialistic plans, namely, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, we just never looked at it that way since the evolution to Socialism has been a slow and steady progression. In recent months we have seen even more proof that we are headed towards not only a Socialistic society but progressing even closer to a Communist society. The Government bailouts and subsequent control of auto manufacturers and home mortgage companies, the Health Care bill passing which will allow the Government to control every aspect of our lives in order to receive health care, and the more recent signing of the bill to make the Government the sole provider of student loans. Other steps are being taken to assert even more control over our lives with the Cap and Trade bill which will control how we are to use energy, something that came from the free thinking of individuals, not from a Government. The current administration believes it is now time for change and capitalism and free trade are no longer necessary for the Government to accomplish its desired goal, the closet door has been opened and all the skeletons that have been hidden for decades are coming out to haunt us and to try and change the country to what they want it to be. This is the transparency they promised us.

Much of today’s society agrees with the Socialist plan, but do they really know why? When accepting handouts from the Government they care not where it comes from, only that they get it. The now all too famous quote out of Detroit “Obamas’ stash” is indicative of how many people think. They believe the Government has an endless supply of money to provide them with all the benefits they believe they are entitled to. There is no endless stash; there are only the backs of those that are willing to work. If we continue down the path to a Communist society there will be fewer and fewer free will workers, we will become a society of slave labor. In the current society we have there are fewer incentives for entrepreneurs to open businesses and create jobs for the masses. As we lose the American entrepreneurial spirit the Government will seize control of businesses, once again exerting more control over our lives. Once the number of recipients to the Government entitlements exceeds the ability of the workers to provide what will happen to the recipients? Will the Government just forget them? Will there be rationing of health care, food, housing and all the other things the recipients have come accustomed to? Or will the recipient become a slave to the State? If the recipient becomes a slave to the State what is to keep the State from making all workers slaves? To determine for each of us what job we will perform, where we will perform it and exactly how much compensation we will receive for our work, including what type and size of home we may live in, how much food we may have and what kind of vehicle we may have if any at all. This may sound crazy but is it? There are better choices, but none of them are perfect, there is no Utopia.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a Libertarian is one who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state and one who believes in free will. This type of Government, the type that the framers of the Constitution imagined they were giving to us, believes that the people have the power and the Government is just there to protect the people from criminals foreign and domestic. A Government of this type is called a Republic. The only way a Republic can survive is if the citizens of the Republic are willing to get involved and stay involved. Citizen involvement is the only way to prevent the growth of a Tyrannical Government, a Government that believes it’s power is without boundaries.

Another social system worth mentioning at this point is Anarchism. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary Anarchism is defined as a political theory holding all forms of governmental authority to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocating a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups. In an Anarchist system there are no laws and no Government, therefore order within the communities is up to the citizens and the citizens alone, sounds like what some call Communism.

The best recent examples of Anarchical systems were towns in the Old West. Many towns were established before the territories became States and even in some cases before the territories were even under the control of the United States Government. As the communities grew they would differ to a man that showed himself to be a natural leader. In some cases this system worked, in others it lead to greed and lawlessness. This is the major difference between an Anarchical system and a Libertarian system, some law, some form of Government is needed.

Unfortunately in both of these systems the downfall will always trace its roots back to human nature, at least human nature as I see it. Human nature is different in all men; in some men it means strong morals, strong work ethics and a strong belief in what is right and wrong. In others it can be a distorted view on rights and wrongs with morals that are questionable. This can lead to the belief that only the strong should survive, a belief that they can take what they want without a concern for others rights to property, a belief that they do not have to work for what they have, they only have to take. In the Anarchical system this leads only to the total ruin of the system, in the Libertarian system the same ruin will occur but not as quickly, it will be a slower lose of freedoms and rights, only tempered by the presence of a Government. In the Libertarian system the people can prevent the lose of their rights and freedoms by staying involved, staying informed and not allowing the Government to grow out of control, like it has done. At the end of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 when asked whether we had a Republic or a Monarchy Benjamin Franklin replied “A Republic if you can keep it”, the facts say we have lost it. With the current status of the United States it’s easy to understand why there is an increase in the Anarchists movement.

The American people fell asleep long ago and they are just now starting to wake up. Unfortunately it may to too late and too few. The American people trusted the Government to do what the right thing for far too long. Americans were blind to the changes that were occurring, blind to the slow but steady growth of the Government, not only in size but in power. The American people as a whole became lazy and comfortable with the success and progress the country made, we were happy to let the Government take care of all problems without bothering the citizenry. The American people even welcomed the assistance of the Government while never once asking where this assistance actually came from, never realizing that what they were accepting was the permission to take their liberties away, the very liberties men fought for and the Constitution was written to protect. The people of the United States allowed the Government to run unchecked for far to long, allowed career politicians to become the norm replacing the Statesman. One only needs to read the Declaration of Independence to see what we are headed for, or what we have even surpassed already, the very Government America declared independence from.

Yes a form of Government is needed, it should be there to protect the borders and protect the citizens from wrongs against their rights. Not a Government that controls peoples rights. To have this type of Government every citizen must be involved, must be informed.

IF I WAS IN CONGRESS

Over the last year or so I have become painfully aware of the problems that our Nation is facing. I know these are serious problems that affect a large percentage of the American public, if not all of us. Watching our politicians work and listening to the speeches and press conferences they are giving I don’t believe out politicians are as serious about doing the right thing as they are about furthering their political careers.

Washington is spending America right out of existence while breaking the spirit of the American people. Taxation is out of control, budgets are written that are only increasing the deficit instead of reducing it which in turn means the National debt will never be paid off. Laws continue to be written that are not within the powers enumerated in the Constitution but take more and more control over the lives of the American public. If we stay on this path the America we will pass down to future generations is not the America I wanted to pass down, not the legacy I would want to be remembered for.

I realize I don’t know much about politics but there are a few things I would do if I were in Congress.

• The Federal budget needs to be balanced, not to just reduce the deficit but to make the deficit zero so we can start reducing the National Debt. The States are supposed to have there own sovereignty so the states should not be receiving money for pet projects that do not benefit the Nation as a whole. No more federally funded bike paths, hiking paths, memorials or beautification projects. If the states want to have these projects funded they should have to find the funds within their own states, if the citizens of a state want something they will figure out how to raise the funds. Federal funds should only be used in accordance with the Constitution. Legislation should be able to stand on there own merits, it should not take bribery in the form of earmarks to get passed.
• Stop subsidizing failing institutions with taxpayer dollars. The Federal Government has been pouring money into Amtrak and the USPS without any hope of either one becoming profitable. There are many federally funded agencies and institutions that are no more then bottomless pits. If these services are allowed to operate on their own without federal funding or interference they will either succeed or fail or their own. If they are truly a needed service let an entrepreneur step in and provide that service.
• Stop the spending that was passed with the Stimulus Bill. A large portion of this spending has been used on programs that are not putting Americans back to work. Spending is not the way to create jobs, cutting taxes and getting out of the way of both large and small business owners is the way to create jobs.
• Elected officials are public servants yet they act like they are royalty. Members of Congress do not need to travel in private jets with large staffs and fleets of Limos. These elected officials are elected by individual states to represent the States in Washington, not to fly all over the globe on boondoggles and retreats paid for by tax dollars. Congress should be using the technological advances that are now available to minimize unnecessary and costly travel.
• Pay for all federal employees that are already well above the average for the private sector should be frozen; this includes members of Congress and their staffs. Serving your State and Country is a privilege and a duty, not a get rich scheme.

These are just a few of the things that could be done immediately to reduce the deficit and in turn start reducing the National debt. There are many areas that can be addressed on a long term plan. The country needs to get back to the basics of the Constitution. The Constitution clearly spells out what functions the Federal Government is responsible for, all others are to be retained by the States and the citizens. Most of the government programs we have come to blindly accept are not authorized by the Constitution except by the fact that we as States and citizens have allowed them the power. The States need to take back that power. All federally funded aid programs should be shifted to the States, this would include, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, and Housing. As sovereign entities the States have the right to either fund these programs or to not fund them per the wishes of the citizens of the individual States. These types of changes would affect a large portion of the population all across the Nation so it would require a plan that would allow for a gradual shift of power and responsibility.

· Stop required contributions to SSI, Medicare and Medicaid. Immediately make these volunteer programs. For those that are already dependent on these programs and those that are close enough to retirement age that they would not be able to recover from the loss of this type of retirement program the funding would remain. Allow a 2 year period in which participation in the program is voluntary while the responsibility is shifted to the States. During this period the program would be run like any other retirement plan, the funds would be invested and not used to fund other programs. The States would then be responsible for determining if they want to continue the programs based on the desires of the citizens. There should be some provision for individuals that elect to continue in the program but their State decides to not offer the program, exactly what I don’t know. For the States that continue the program the funds that have been contributed to the federal fund would be shifted to the accountability of the Contributors State.

· All recipients of welfare would be evaluated to determine the continued need for assistance. Federal funding for welfare would then stop and the States would have the responsibility of funding the program. If a State determines it does not want to fund a welfare program that is the choice of the State. There should be intense investigations into any reports of welfare fraud.

· A Fair Tax program should be put into place for federal funds. Having a fair tax puts the responsibility of running the country on all citizens. All tax plans can be abused but at least with a fair tax program each individual has the power to control how much they contribute based on their spending habits. If you have rich tastes you will pay more, if you are frugal you will pay less. If an individual wants to live at a higher standard then they currently are they can through hard work. This will also put money back into the hands of the workers who will then spend more which in turn will stimulate our economy.

· Control of education should be with the States. Local control of the educational standards will force more involvement by parents. If parents want to see their children go on to college they will become active in increasing the teaching standards and ensuring the schools have properly qualified and motivated educators.

· Energy production should be either a private industry or a State industry. Unfortunately energy is an industry that is of the nature that competition is hard to have, only so many power lines can be strung. It is an industry that can be controlled at a State level. If a State wants only hydro, or nuclear, or coal burning then they should be able to control it. This does bring into question the environmental impact of some of these choices which does affect the entire nation since you can’t control the wind. In this case the States should be concerned with cleaning up our environment and placing regulations on not only power companies but all areas of industry to minimize the environmental impact.

· There should also be term limits on members of Congress. Career politicians stop caring about the welfare of the Nation and just look at how to save their careers. You would think that would mean keeping constituents happy nut what it really means it keeping special interest groups that just want federal funds happy. It also means they will cut deals that benefit the powerbase that is supporting them and will make them rich. We need Statesmen, not career politicians. I also feel the 17^th Amendment should be repealed, put the power of who goes to Washington to represent the State back in the States hands.

One area that is within the enumerated powers of the Federal Government is National Security. Our borders need to be closed. Immigration is a good thing for this country, if it is done legally. Illegal immigration is not only a drain on tax payer dollars it is a threat to the security of the Nation. Our country is a country of laws, supporting illegal immigration and even the consideration of amnesty is a blatant disregard for the law, it is also an insult to the immigrants that have entered the country legally and assimilated into society.

Our Founding Fathers also believed in trade with other countries. This trade should not only be free trade, but fair trade. If a country wants to only import products into our country there should be tariffs on those products to encourage equal exports. Fair trade would mean no tariffs, one sided trade, tariffs. In order to have products to export we have to allow the free market to operate. This Nation has the greatest diversity of products and skills to be found on the planet. We must have an environment that encourages businesses to keep the factories and jobs in the United States. The best way to accomplish this is to get the Government out of the way.

Our Founding Fathers also believed we should stay politically neutral with other Nations. Britain’s philosophy used to be to make the world British. Men shed blood and died during the Revolutionary War to escape that. Why are we now trying to do the same thing? I understand the argument about preventing genocide, helping starving people all across the globe, and protecting people from dictators. What is forgotten is that these issues have been going on across the world since long before the United States was ever a Nation. We have a few of those problems right here in our own country. I not advocating isolationism but we should not be attempting to spread democracy through Nation building across the globe while we are losing our own country.

I know changes such as I have mentioned would take time and would adversely affect a large number of people. Sacrifices were made to form this country; it’s going to take sacrifice to keep this country. Many Americans are uneducated on where their tax dollars go or where the funding for the special programs they are taking advantage of come from. The liability for the funding of this country should be on the shoulders of all Americans, not just a few. Historically Americans have been very free thinking independent individuals. The politicians today are trying to tie us all up in one nice neat little package and create a cradle to grave nanny state where you will have no say in what direction your life or your career will go. As I once heard a comedian say, Wake Up America!

Unfortunately I’m not in Congress and I never will be. The system has made nearly impossible for the average citizen to get into public office. Starting out at a local level is a good way to try and get there but even that is tough. The working class that makes up a large majority of individuals adversely affected by the direction the country is headed is too busy working trying to make ends meet and keep their families together. Getting into any level of Government requires money and connections, even more so at a federal level. It should only require desire, the desire to do the right thing, the desire to uphold the Constitution, not destroy it, the desire to pass on a greater Nation then we started with.

Thank you Mr. President

President Obama,

I’m writing to thank you for all that you have done for me. As recently as two years ago I had only a rudimentary knowledge of the US Constitution and the other documents that were instrumental in the formation of our country, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. When you started making speeches on the campaign trail some the things both you and your opponent, Senator McCain, were saying just were not ringing true to me. At that point I started to educate myself on the documents that formed our country and our government. I don’t have a degree in Constitutional Law much less any type of law so I have to take the words as they are written, not to interpret them as I saw fit or as some Professor saw fit. I also had to do my own research into what the framers of the documents intended for the words to mean. Thank you for teaching me to think for myself.

You have also taught me more about politicians and politics then I ever cared to know. As part of my upbringing I was taught to say what I mean and mean what I say, I was also taught that it’s easier to tell the truth then to lie; you don’t have to remember as much. As I have become more interested in politics, politicians and the direction our country is headed I have come to realize that politics does not adhere to any of those things. Politicians will say whatever they want in order to gain power and contributions from the powerful elite. It’s been a real education on how politics works when listening to all the various polls stating what the American people want and then seeing what our Government is doing, I guess in the Governments opinion we are not educated enough to think for ourselves and know what we really want.

You have also taught me that what the officers I served with in the Navy, to lead by example, was all wrong. I read the legislation that is being written in Congress and listen to the powerful people that are pushing for the legislation telling me it’s the right thing to do for the people of America or for the planet but I don’t see them leading by example. If going green and reducing green house gases was such an important issue wouldn’t you expect to see the lawmakers and lobbyists pushing for it going green themselves? I don’t mean buying credits allowing them to clear their conscious while continuing to emit green house gases, I mean selling the SUV’s and Limos, selling the mansions, stop traveling by private jets and start using go to meeting. I’m also curious as to how good the proposed health care plans are for the American people when they have to make special deals, bribe and threaten in order to get the votes to pass the bills, guess I just don’t understand politics, but I’m sure if I keep watching you and your administration I will learn.

You have also taught me how to influence people. During the campaign you and your staff convinced people that a Governor for one of our largest states had no experience in politics all while you had little to no experience yourself, yet no one questioned that. I have never seen someone as skilled as you at influencing people. Since becoming President you have convinced people that everything you are doing is the greatest thing they will ever see when in truth what you are doing will go down as one the greatest atrocities to the United States and her citizens that will ever be recorded in history. Of course history will remember only that you were one hell of a salesman from that country that used to be known as the United States of America. To go with this you have also taught me have to shirk responsibility. When I accepted a new assignment in the Navy I accepted all the problems that went with the job. I did not matter whether my predecessor created them or not. My seniors would not accept me passing the blame off on someone else; all they accepted was what I was doing about them and why they weren’t fixed.

You have also taught me about the diversity within our country. I don’t mean the diversity of race, creed, color and culture, I mean in ideologies. I used to believe there were only two major political parties and they were firm in their values, now I know different. The two major political parties are so intermingled and splintered at the same time that it keeps the American public confused about what they are getting when they vote. Then there are all the different groups throughout America that want to tear the country apart for one reason or another. They use the very foundation of this country to protect them and to allow them to protest against this country. In truth if they were to try and exercise the same rights in the countries they want us to emulate they would be persecuted and prosecuted.

You have also taught me to look back in history which has caused me to realize that what I thought I knew about past Presidents is not necessarily true. I now realize that there have been quite a few Presidents that have tried to create the country you are well on the way to create. In you defense I have to thank you for being so straight forward about it. You have plainly stated that you were going to fundamentally change America. To me that means you want to change the very fundamental that created America and that is exactly what you are trying to do. You have come right out and stated that you want to redistribute wealth within America. I also thought that in America we were free to be the best we could be and to be free of persecution just because we were hard working and successful. You have also come right out and stated that you are a Progressive, something that many of your predecessors have been but were not brave enough to come right out and state it. I didn’t know what a Progressive was at first, it sounded good but now I know exactly what it is.

You have also taught me that I know nothing about how to handle a budget or how to get through tough times. I’ve never owned my own business but I have been in positions that required to work within budget constraints and to look for ways to reduce the budget to ensure the success of the company. I now know that I was going about it all wrong, I should have been requesting larger budgets with large deficits that would just add to the debt of the company without any possibility of paying it off. Instead of looking at areas where spending could be cut I should have been looking at creating more departments that would add to the debt and deficit instead of reducing them. It’s been a great lesson in economics.

Lastly I want to thank you for showing me that I had the wrong idea about what the American Dream was. I always thought the American Dream was the same dream that the original founders had, the dream that the soldiers of the revolution had, the dream that all the early immigrants had when they came here. The dream that they could come here and try to make a life for themselves based on their skills and desires. The dream that they could be free from a tyrannical Government. The dream that they could build businesses and farms and not have all their hard earned money taken by the Government like the serfs from the “Old Country”. You have shown me that I was wrong once again. You have shown me that the American Dream is really just that, only a dream. We can only dream about the choices we thought we were free to make for ourselves and our families. According to you we are not smart enough to make our own decisions so you and the Government will make all the decisions for us.

There is one lesson that you haven’t taught me that I wish you would. I wish you would teach me what a President and the elected officials of our Government are suppose to do. I wish you would teach me how Washington is suppose to “Support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic”, the oath that all elected officials are required to take when they are sworn in, the same oath the every man and woman that serves in the military takes. Teach me what that oath really means, not how it’s interpreted by the extreme left or right. If you could teach me and the American people that lesson then maybe we could revive the American Dream and get it back on the right track.

Respectfully,

Steven K. Avery

MMC(SS/SW) USN Retired

Redistribution

In peacetime the mission of the United States Navy is peacetime engagement, deterrence and conflict prevention. To meet this directive Navy vessels must be at sea and battle ready at a moments notice. On a nuclear powered submarine there are various departments and divisions made up of volunteers to ensure this goal is met.

When a submarine is at sea the entire crew works long hours, standing watch, maintaining equipment, training on equipment and running drills for damage control proficiency. In port the schedule is different depending on what division a sailor is assigned to. The Radio Division for example stands in-port watches required for the security of the submarine, performs routine maintenance the radio equipment and assists vendor technicians performing upgrades on the equipment. Barring a major catastrophe with the equipment this normally means they have normal work days and ample time off to spend with family and friends. The Machinery division on the other hand, just by the nature of machinery, has to put in long hours while in-port standing watches, operating required equipment, performing routine preventive maintenance and performing required repairs. Both divisions are vital to the overall operation of the submarine and its ability to meet its assigned missions on time. One other consideration is that in most cases it costs more money to have a nuclear powered ship in port then to have it operating at sea due to the port services required.

If the Navy were to apply the idea of redistribution to the working hours of these two divisions one of the following would occur.

- If the work load was distributed evenly between the two divisions there would be unqualified and untrained personnel being loaned to the Machinery Division to work. This would result in equipment either not being repaired and maintained in a timely manner or being repaired and maintained incorrectly. End result: the submarine would not meet its mission goals.

- If the Machinery Division were to alter its work day to meet the same hours as the Radio Division routine maintenance and repairs would take longer then the prescribed time and cost more money in the long run. End result: the submarine would not meet its mission goals.

- If the Radio Division were to alter its work day to meet the same hours as the Machinery Division there would be a waste of assets in the form of Radio personnel sitting around with no work to perform. End result: the submarine would meet its mission goals but not for long. The Navy would end up with disgruntled sailors that would not reenlist for extended service, end result: the Navy would not meet its mission goals due to loss of experienced personnel.

The idea of redistribution of wealth within the United States works the same. If the Government takes from those that work and give to those that don’t the same results will happen, the United States will not meet its mission goals. In America individuals have the opportunity to better themselves through hard work, the opportunity to be the best they can be according to their abilities and desires. When the reasons to succeed are taken away the desires to succeed will go away. Sooner or later the working class will tire of seeing their effort, sacrifice and sweat going to those that are unwilling to put in the effort. This will create a nation of welfare. The Government does not produce a product or service it can sell to obtain the funds required to support a welfare nation. End result: The United States will fail.

On one particular nuclear powered submarine the Leading Chief Petty Officer of the Radio Division and the Leading Chief Petty Officer of the Machinery Division lived in the same neighborhood. They spent time together at cookouts and watching their children play little league baseball. On one occasion when the Leading Chief Petty Officer of the Machinery Division had to put in long hours the wife of the Leading Chief Petty Officer of the Radio Division remarked how unfair it was that one had to work and miss out on family time while her husband was able to be home. The Leading Chief Petty Officer of the Radio Division responded to her that they both had chosen their career paths, both had volunteered willingly and knowingly of what they were doing, he was right. In America, at least for the time being, Americans are free to choose, free to choose their career paths, free to choose how successful they will be. Redistribution may not actually take away this choice, but it will take away the desire, it will take away the spirit of the American people. Redistribution could eventually lead to a redistribution of land and careers, the Government could determine for you what career path you will take based on what is needed in the Governments opinion, not yours. Redistribution will not affect those that have political power, the elite. They will not give up their power and wealth, they will be the rulers over the American people. Is this the America you want to live in? The America you want to pass on to future generations?

Presidents Address to Joint Session of Congress 9-9-09

This is the link to the official transcript of the Presidents address 9-9-09. I am posting it so anyone can go to it to see what I'm writing about in the Presidents words, not mine.

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-Health-Insurance-Reform/

The Week In Politics 9-13-09

This has been an interesting week in the political world. It started with the resignation of Van Jones at midnight on 9-5-09, Saturday night. Seems like a strange time to resign but it works well if you want to delay attention to it. Of course this was on Labor Day weekend just before the President was due to address the AFL-CIO picnic in Cincinnati, OH, so it was best to keep the news low key before that event I’m sure.

Some ACORN workers are caught trying to help a prostitute and her pimp boyfriend (a pair of young budding journalist undercover) trying to buy a house and legitimize prostitution, this includes how to make it look legal on taxes and what write-offs they can take, oh yea, also how to stay out of trouble when they bring under aged illegal immigrants in to work the business. This happened at two different ACORN offices. Of course ACORN officials are denying all of this and saying it’s just a smear campaign, if so then why have they fired the workers that were caught on tape at these two offices? The real twist to this is that the state of Maryland may be trying to go after the young filmmaker for illegally taping the conversations, and where is the corruption in all this? These events led to the Census Bureau severing its ties with ACORN, at least some good has happened.

Cass Sustein was confirmed by the Senate this week, I can only hope that he will actually do his job and not use the position to push his radical agenda, although there isn’t a lot of hope that it will be that way.

And then there is the President, before I start commenting on his week I want everyone to understand that I in no way want to see the President fail, any President, I want to see America succeed, if that means going against what the current President wants then so be it. The President is an elected official, as I heard one talk show host state, he is the executor of the American peoples will (as in desires, not last will and testament), he is not the King of America. On that note here’s what he had in store for us this week, as already mentioned he spoke at the AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, OH where he gave great support to the Unions, this is the President that says we should not be listening to special interest groups, at least not if they go against his agenda. He also stated at that event that if it weren’t for Unions we would not be where we are today, well that could very well be true, just not in the context he meant. I’ve never been in a Union and probably never will be, to me they are one more organization that may have started out with good intentions but have succumbed to money and power and are using the backs of American workers to gain political and financial power, they have outlived their usefulness. The President also gave a speech to a joint session of the House, something that is normally reserved for emergency or critical situations, maybe in his opinion this was, but it looks more like a last ditch effort to get his health care reform back on track. I will give my take on the speech below. And then we have the 9-12 rally in Washington DC, which I wish I could have been a part of, but I guess the President didn’t want to be since he went to Minnesota to pitch his Health Care Plan. How many times do you have to waste taxpayer dollars flying all across the nation to pitch the same thing we watch on TV or hear on the radio which we can’t even vote on? Congress will vote on the bill and the President will sign it or not, regardless of what we the American people say about it, that is evident by the form letters we get back from our Congressional members and the phone calls that go unanswered when we try to call them, so this trip was either just another waste of taxpayer dollars or a dodge from the events going on in Washington.

Evaluation of the Presidents address to the joint session of the House

Due to length I will not post the entire transcript of the Presidents speech here, I will post the link to it separately so anyone can look at it.

The first thing that struck me was the statement that he is not the first President to take up this cause. That is very true; Roosevelt first started trying to reform Health Care in the 40’s, that is also when we started really seeing the Progressive movement begin in politics. Progressives want to take your rights and make them privileges doled out by the Government as they see fit, to redistribute wealth as the key phrase goes now. There is a reason the bill first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943 continues to be re-introduced every session by his son without getting passed, the American people don’t want it.

Next the President stated: “We are the only democracy -- the only advanced democracy on Earth”. We are not a democracy, we are a Republic. In 1905 an organization called the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS) started in New York. This organizations goal was to bring socialism to America. Later they changed their name to the League for Industrial Democracy. Due to the efforts of this group and others around the globe to bring about Democratic Socialism the word Democracy became a euphemism for socialism. Call it a pet peeve or nit picking but the President of the United States of America should know that America is a Republic and should use the correct word to describe the country, unless he is trying to send a different message. Most people do not know the difference, yes we are a Democratic Republic, both words are there, but we are not a democracy, they are completely different things.

The President went on to talk about the rising cost of health care in America. It’s true, health care costs are rising on nearly a daily basis and it’s out of control. There are good reasons for it. Doctors are paying more and more in malpractice insurance due to more and more medical law suits. Sure there are plenty of these, probably the majority of them are reasonable law suits, where the Doctor should loss his or her license and payment should be due to the victims of improper or in-correct care, but there are many out there that are plain and simple scams by law suit happy people just looking for ways to make a buck and ambulance chasing lawyers. We need mal-practice reform but we won’t see anything serious in this area because of the number of lawyers in Congress. We also have rising costs from covering people that do not have insurance either by choice or because they can not afford it and still go to the Doctor or emergency room for every little hang nail. Not everyone abuses this type of care but many do, not everyone taking advantage of this is an illegal alien either but many are and that is wrong. If you want to lower costs there just require proof of citizen ship before any care and put into place some type of plan that will cover those that need it, but it should be only the most basic of care, we don’t want people to stay on a plan like that, we want them to better themselves, (not the Government better them) and work their way up to where they can afford better health care. Now don’t get me wrong, if an illegal came in needing care I would give it to them at the basic level and then they would be on a plane, train, bus or horse cart back to whatever country they came from. Along these same lines he went on to say that health care is our deficit problem, really, what about TARP (yes a Bush 43 problem), what about the stimulus, what about Cash for Clunkers, what about Federal employee pay being out of control? There are plenty of causes for our deficit and national debt being out of control, why don’t we start there and freeze all the out of control spending from Washington and then look at solving the problems of health care.

Later the President states that what he has seen so far in the attempts to reform health care have been the same partisan tactics and scare tactics instead of honest debate and compromise. I try to listen to both sides as much as I can stand and I have heard plenty of ideas coming from both sides that if they worked on they could come out with some plan that might actually work. The President stated it was time for the bickering to stop and the scare tactics to stop, later in the speech the President used his own form of scare tactics and Chicago style thug politics. He stated that if we don’t do something more people will lose their health care and die, what is this a bedtime story or a scare tactic? He also stated toward the end that he would call out those that misrepresent the plan, well I do agree, it should not be misrepresented by anyone, including the President, but the way the President stated it this was an out an out threat. Misrepresentation is coming at us from all sides on this issue, death panels or just an offer for end of life choices, cover abortion or is it just not stated as being excluded, cover illegal aliens or is it just not stated as a requirement to prove citizenship, so where is the misrepresentation coming from and just what do you mean by calling you out? Who is using scare tactics now?

Now the plan the President laid out is basically three plans. Now here are the details every American needs to know, hey those are the Presidents words, not mine. As for those words he tends to use them a lot and it tends to tell me he only wants us to know some things but not everything, like the small print that is read really quick during the commercials. Back to the health care plan.

The first part of the plan says you can keep the insurance you have if you are happy with it, which is a good thing. It also places controls on the Insurance Companies, controls that will cap out of pocket expenses, removes caps for catastrophic expenses, remove pre-existing condition clauses and requirements to cover you without loss of coverage for illnesses and for routine preventive care. All of this is good, for the patient, what is bad about it and is not talked about is that in order to do this the Insurance Companies will either raise premiums or lower benefits in order to cover the added risks and expenses they will have to keep their investors happy. To go along with this after the President addressed the other parts of the plan he addressed those that can afford health insurance but choose not to buy it and those companies that can afford to provide coverage for their employees but choose not to. They will be required, his words again, to purchase health care, or in the case of a company, provide health care or pay a fee to help reduce the cost of health care for all, every person will bear responsibility for health care. He likened it to the requirement by many states that you have to purchase auto insurance. Bad analogy, if you want to drive you have to buy auto insurance, full coverage if you have a load to cover the risk of the bank or liability to cover anyone you may injure or damage you may do with your vehicle, the catch is, you are not required to drive, you can walk. We are already living and our actions with respect to health is not going to cause injury or damage of property to another person, he is requiring us to buy something without having a choice to, as his analogy was used, walk.

The second part of his plan was to provide a means of affordable insurance to those that are working and making decent money but still not enough to purchase health insurance. This is the bi-partisan compromise co-op only it’s renamed to an insurance exchange. This was the bone thrown to the republicans in this case. There wasn’t a lot of information on the exchange, just that Insurance Companies could become a part of this exchange and it would provide a choice of plans at lower more affordable costs to the individual. If I am interpreting this right the exchange itself will be like a group policy only available to individuals. It’s not a bad idea, I really wonder why the insurance agency didn’t come up with this on their own, but the down fall would be that there would then be no reason for companies to buy into group plans for their employees so all insurance could potentially fall into this exchange, hmmmmm, wonder if that is the plan behind the curtain. Now comes the kicker, to keep the insurance companies that participate in the exchange honest the Government will establish a “not-for-profit public option”. Yes the public option is still alive and well. This public option will have to self sustaining through the premiums it collects and it will not have the overhead of a private insurance company. The Congressional Budget Office estimates only 5% of Americans will sign up for this public option. Let’s think about this. Less overhead so the premiums can be much lower then private companies so that will be the best option for those that are already tight on money. Those that currently choose not to purchase insurance but can afford it are doing so because they want to spend their money in other places so this would be the best choice for them to. Companies will be given the choice of either providing coverage or paying a fee so this fee will more then likely be less then providing coverage so which direction do you think they will go. Sounds to me like this is a back door method to get everyone onto the public option, which if run by the Government will be a single payer option, that is only my opinion and not stated anywhere.

The third part of the plan is for those that just can not afford insurance even at the reduced rates of the exchange. There will be tax credits to help them be able to buy insurance. There is a good portion of Americans whose income is low enough that they aren’t paying taxes as it is, what kind of tax credit will you give them. Where is the money for these tax credits going to come from? I know a rhetorical question. No where in the plan did the President address the problem of the Americans that are trying to support a family on minimum wage, or the ones that are out of work and every bit of savings they have is or un-employment insurance income is going to keeping their home and food on the table. That is where the current problem with health care is, these are the people that need the help and are probably in the worst health of any other group as a whole in America, these are the ones we should be trying to come up with some kind of plan for.

The President went on to state that under his plan illegal immigrants and abortion would not be covered under his plan. Under HR 3200 it was not stated that illegal immigrants and abortion was covered, it was also not stated that they weren’t covered, which is a back door method of covering them since there is no provision to not cover them. Congressman Wilson from SC yelled out “you lie” which is not really true, although I completely support the Congressman’s sentiment, all he did is state what the plan says, not what it can do, you know political speak strikes again.

Finally we need to remember that this is a crisis, that’s why we need to get this bill that is to long for anyone to read passed right now. If that is true, why are the parts of this bill that will provide coverage going in place in 2013 while the fees and penalties will go into place immediately? In the Presidents defense he did state that for those with pre-existing conditions that have lost their insurance, a plan for low cost insurance will be put into place immediately, that part I can agree with, but will it include the pre-existing condition of low wages or out of work?

The Presidents plan is a back door, let’s make every one think we are looking out for them as we take away their rights, their freedoms and their personal lives plan. This is the way to get the Government Health Care passed while we sit back and think we are being given a good deal. If the Government wants to do something right they should deal with the out of control spending and fraud throughout the Government so that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (plans that never should have been passed in the first place) are still there for those that have been paying into it, not be insolvent by 2017 for Medicare and Medicaid by the most recent reports and 2037 for Social Security. With control of spending and a balanced budget without a deficit we could pay down our debt while providing basic health care for the truly needy but at a level that would encourage them to better themselves to be able to afford better health care, part of that would have to be deportation of illegal immigrants to get them off our health care, off our education, and off our social services budgets. I know that sounds cruel and inhuman and racist, it’s not, it’s reality, they broke the law to get here send them home. Before you start blathering about their potential American citizen kids, would you think twice about sending me to jail if I broke the law, even if I was the sole bread winner in my family, not a chance, why should they be different? Every day we take kids away for Americans because they broke the law and would not be there to take care of them, if the kids can’t go back to where ever their parents came from then so be it. Better border controls would be less expensive but we are too nice to possibly offend our neighbors with stricter controls or a fence.

I fear this plan will pass and when it does it will open to door to taking away all our rights. Even though he states his plan will be deficit neutral that may not last. Once passed it will be as easy as a stroke of a pen to increase taxes to cover the health care bill without calling it and without the American public even realizing it. My greatest fear is that it is now out of our hands and up to our politicians in Washington, especially the Democratic party, hopefully there are enough good people left in the Democratic party to stop this.

What is really going on?

I'm not an educated person politically but I'm trying to watch, listen and read any thing I can to learn. One thing that I am picking up on is that our Government, the one we have had in place for over 200 years, is changing rapidly. I'm not talking about the collision course we have been on with Socialism for the last few decades, this is something more. There has been an alarming increase in actual and attempted power shifts into the White House. There has been the drastic increase in the number of Czar's, or Special Presidential Advisers that have been named, that alone with the backgrounds of some of these Czars should be enough to set off bells. We have had an Inspector General fired illegally for doing his job. He was investigating possible abuse of funds to Americorp, one of the branches of ACORN. Next thing we hear is that the President wants to bring the IG office under control of the White House, they are independent so they can do their job, this move will castrate them. Next we hear that the White House wants to take away the job of interrogation of potential terrorists from the CIA and have a special White House team do that job. At about the same time the White House was making a play to pull the vetting process into it's clutches, isn't the vetting process suppose to be the job of Congress? All these moves are going to render the Congress powerless and they are playing right into the hands of the White House. The current administration is trying to take over our health care, our energy, our banks, and our mortgages. When will the power grab stop? When will we as Americans that believe in the Constitution stand up and stop the power grab? The Progressives in Congress think this is the greatest administration ever, will they think the same when they find themselves out of a job? Will they think that way when they wake up and the America they knew is gone? There are no other new worlds to discover, no uninhabited lands where a new country can be started. Somehow we have to save what we have, save the America we all know and put it back on the right track.