When I was a young child, I heard about the crazy crap happening in the world by watching my folks watching the news and listening to the commentary. It was relatively mild stuff compared to now...gas shortages and inflation, tax rates, crappy domestic cars, Japan was taking over the world...but compare that to now, and it seems like the days we long for. Maybe it was all going on back then, but I never heard too much about crooked senators, tax evading economic advisors to the President, unapproved wars, gun running to Mexican cartels, TSA maulings at the airport, Solyndra/Sun Power crony capitalism, Gibson Guitar Wood controversy, Union bailouts, Election fraud/Acorn, tsars for every aspect of our lives...etc. I'm not sure if I am more outraged at all these things, or if what really grates my gonads is the acceptance we have of these things, while focussed on the unwashed idiots and paid homeless who camp out pretending to be outraged at businesses who are jumping through hoops to avoid taxes in our ridiculous tax code. Where is Susan Powter to yell "STOP THE INSANITY"?
Have we ever had a society so brainwashed into thinking that communism is the answer? It seems like 50% of the people I speak with have no problem saying things like, "I don't mind if some billionaire gets taxed more if I can get out of paying my ..." but when I say, "would you be ok if the company owned by the billionaire fires you to pay for the increased taxes?" all of a sudden, there's a different tune being sung. But these homeless and jobless morons being organized by ACORN in NY don't have to worry about being fired, they don't care about working. They come from a sad part of America that said it was ok during the 60's and 70's to live the free love lifestyle, and someone else would watch out for them. Just look at Obama's speeches. "Stay on your parents insurance until you are 26" "Just because you made an agreement with a bank to pay off your education doesn't mean that you should have to sacrifice your creature comforts to pay those evil banks back"...who the hell is going to cover those bad debts? oh, the federal gov't guarantees them...cool...so...shit, that means I WILL. DAMN YOU BUMS, if you wanna grow your hair out, dye it green and put all sorts of crap in your ears, nose, eyes and cheeks, fine...but when you can't get a job because you look like a crayon drawing done by a blind retarded 6 year old, then have the decency to starve quietly in some alleyway somewhere. "Stupid should have consequences". idiots.
I'd really like to know why our houses of congress can impeach a guy for lying about a hummer in the oval office, but this guy in office now has done more to violate 5 U.S.C. 7311, and should be shot by a firing squad or hung for treason. Now...I'm not saying we should do a predator drone strike against him, that's not legal to do against a US citizen without due process...or...is it now? hmmm. Unfortunately, 18 U.S.C. 1918 says the most we can do to him is fine and imprisonment up to 366 days. I say we bring him up on charges ASAP, and if congress/House are too chickenshit to do anything about it, maybe we need some civil disobedience of our own...like thousands of emails and calls and sitins and letters and shouting and picketing our members of congress and the house. There is a reason for the previously mentioned laws...it is to guarantee that if there are 50% idiots in this country, they can't force the other half to pay for all their free goodies. In effect, it is a way to make sure we don't turn into Greece. Well, if the laws aren't enforced...what's to stop us from being trillions of dollars in debt with no fortitude to get out of debt. The times, they are a changin...and unless there is a revolution in Nov of 2012, there will be a bigger one after that.
At least we have one saving grace, this super committee that has less than a month to find 1.2t dollars...as long as SS and medicare isn't touched. WHAT? OK, if there are 70 year olds out there living on SS, I have to ask you, WHY DIDN'T YOU PLAN TO RETIRE WITH PRIVATE SAVINGS ALSO????? Oh...you shouldn't have to...SS was designed to sustain you...ahhhh...then answer me this, "Why in the name of all that is holy are you asking ME to find a way to pay you're debt, and save privately for my own retirement?" How about we force you, the 70 year olds, to pay the piper. YOU voted for these criminal senators to rob the SS funds. You have kicked the can down the road for the past 30 years, assuming your kids and grandkids will solve this problem...Fine, we will solve it. All union pension plans that have any money in them at all go to the SS fund immediately. Union bosses who are collecting all sorts of money from pensions, including fraudulent 200,000 /yr scams that most are doing...all gets put into the SS fund, and the union bosses and members get put on the SS dole at reduced levels. That should be a shot in the arm. How's that for a start...a little skin in the game...or is it "peas" on your plate. I'm done being in the 53% of fed tax payers...if you make 35K/year, get ready to pay YOUR fair share...
Gas, Grass, or Ass, nobody rides for free. Hows that for a 70's reference?
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Feb 18, 1981. A leader leads...
New (1981) Ideas for Economic Stability
This is the second installment of 30 year old leadership principles that are forgotten or ignored by current policymakers in the USA. I think they ring true, and if a politician quotes Reagan…make sure it’s not just one line to justify their idea…Reagan was consistent, concise, and direct. Here is what he said after a few WEEKS in office. Not THREE YEARS like Obama. Actions speak louder than words.
“Each Executive Dept and Agency cut travel by 15% from amounts available for the remainder of the Fiscal Year. (This also includes Michelle Obamas trips all over the world with her two Senior Executive Policy Advisers…ie her children)
Cut obligations for consulting, management and professional services, and special contract studies and analyses by 5% from the amounts shown in the budget (is there a budget?)
Stop procurement of furniture, office machines and other equipment except military equipment and equipment needed to protect human life and property.
Members of the Cabinet and other appointees set an example by avoiding unnecessary expenditures in setting up their personal offices. Appointees are not to redecorate their offices.
Now, I know that exaggerated and inaccurate stories about these cuts have disturbed many people, particularly those dependent on grant and benefit programs for their basic needs. Some of you have heard from constituents, I know, afraid that social security checks, for example, were going to be taken away from them. Well, I regret the fear that these unfounded stories have caused, and I welcome this opportunity to set things straight.
All in all, nearly $216 billion worth of programs providing help for tens of millions of Americans will be fully funded. But government will not continue to subsidize individuals or particular business interests where real need cannot be demonstrated. And while we will reduce some subsidies to regional and local governments, we will at the same time convert a number of categorical grant programs into block grants to reduce wasteful administrative overhead and to give local governments and States more flexibility and control. We call for an end in duplication to Federal programs and reform of those which are not cost-effective.
Now, already some have protested that there must be no reduction in aid to schools. Well, let me point out that Federal aid to education amounts to only 8 percent of the total educational funding, and for this 8 percent, the Federal Government has insisted on tremendously disproportionate share of control over our schools. Whatever reductions we've proposed in that 8 percent will amount to very little in the total cost of education. They will, however, restore more authority to States and local school districts.
There are a number of subsidies to business and industry that I believe are unnecessary, not because the activities being subsidized aren't of value, but because the marketplace contains incentives enough to warrant continuing these activities without a government subsidy. One such subsidy is the Department of Energy's synthetic fuels program. We will continue support of research leading to development of new technologies and more independence from foreign oil, but we can save at least $3.2 billion by leaving to private industry the building of plants to make liquid or gas fuels from coal.
This brings me to a number of other lending programs in which government makes low-interest loans, some of them at an interest rate as low as 2 percent. What has not been very well understood is that the Treasury Department has no money of its own to lend; it has to go into the private capital market and borrow the money. So, in this time of excessive interest rates, the government finds itself borrowing at an interest rate several times as high as the interest it gets back from those it lends the money to. And this difference, of course, is paid by your constituents -- the taxpayers. They get hit again if they try to borrow, because government borrowing contributes to raising all interest rates.
By terminating the Economic Development Administration, we can save hundreds of millions of dollars in 1982 and billions more over the next few years. There's a lack of consistent and convincing evidence that EDA and its Regional Commissions have been effective in creating new jobs. They have been effective in creating an array of planners, grantsmen, and professional middlemen. We believe we can do better just by the expansion of the economy and the job creation which will come from our economic program.
The Food Stamp program will be restored to its original purpose, to assist those without resources to purchase sufficient nutritional food. We will, however, save $1.8 billion in fiscal year 1982 by removing from eligibility those who are not in real need or who are abusing the program. But even with this reduction, the program will be budgeted for more than $10 billion.
We will tighten welfare and give more attention to outside sources of income when determining the amount of welfare that an individual is allowed. This, plus strong and effective work requirements, will save $520 million in the next year.
I stated a moment ago our intention to keep the school breakfast and lunch programs for those in true need. But by cutting back on meals for children of families who can afford to pay, the savings will be $1.6 billion in the fiscal year 1982.
Earlier I made mention of changing categorical grants to States and local governments into block grants. Now, we know of course that the categorical grant programs burden local and State governments with a mass of Federal regulations and Federal paperwork. Ineffective targeting, wasteful administrative overhead -- all can be eliminated by shifting the resources and decisionmaking authority to local and State government. This will also consolidate programs which are scattered throughout the Federal bureaucracy, bringing government closer to the people and saving $23.9 billion over the next 5 years.
Our program for economic renewal deals with a number of programs which at present are not cost-effective. An example is Medicaid. Right now Washington provides the States with unlimited matching payments for their expenditures; at the same time, we here in Washington pretty much dictate how the States are going to manage those programs. We want to put a cap on how much the Federal Government will contribute, but at the same time allow the States much more flexibility in managing and structuring the programs. I know from our experience in California that such flexibility could have led to far more cost-effective reforms. Now, this will bring a savings of $1 billion next year.
Now, coming down from space to the mailbox, the Postal Service has been consistently unable to live within its operating budget. It is still dependent on large Federal subsidies. We propose reducing those subsidies by $632 million in 1982 to press the Postal Service into becoming more effective, and in subsequent years the savings will continue to add up.
Now, let me say a word here about the general problem of waste and fraud in the Federal Government. One government estimate indicated that fraud alone may account for anywhere from 1 to 10 percent -- as much as $25 billion of Federal expenditures for social programs. If the tax dollars that are wasted or mismanaged are added to this fraud total, the staggering dimensions of this problem begin to emerge.
The Office of Management and Budget is now putting together an interagency task force to attack waste and fraud. We're also planning to appoint as Inspectors General highly trained professionals who will spare no effort to do this job. No administration can promise to immediately stop a trend that has grown in recent years as quickly as government expenditures themselves, but let me say this: Waste and fraud in the Federal Government is exactly what I've called it before -- an unrelenting national scandal, a scandal we're bound and determined to do something about.
Marching in lockstep with the whole program of reductions in spending is the equally important program of reduced tax rates. Both are essential if we're to have economic recovery. It's time to create new jobs, to build and rebuild industry, and to give the American people room to do what they do best. And that can only be done with a tax program which provides incentive to increase productivity for both workers and industry.
Our proposal is for a 10-percent across-the-board cut every year for 3 years in the tax rates for all individual income taxpayers, making a total cut in the tax-cut rates of 30 percent. This 3-year reduction will also apply to the tax on unearned income, leading toward an eventual elimination of the present differential between the tax on earned and unearned income.
American society experienced a virtual explosion in government regulation during the past decade. Between 1970 and 1979, expenditures for the major regulatory agencies quadrupled. The number of pages published annually in the Federal Register nearly tripled, and the number of pages in the Code of Federal Regulations increased by nearly two-thirds. The result has been higher prices, higher unemployment, and lower productivity growth. Overregulation causes small and independent business men and women, as well as large businesses to defer or terminate plans for expansion. And since they're responsible for most of the new jobs, those new jobs just aren't created.
Now, we have no intention of dismantling the regulatory agencies, especially those necessary to protect environment and assure the public health and safety. However, we must come to grips with inefficient and burdensome regulations, eliminate those we can and reform the others.
I have asked Vice President Bush to head a Cabinet-level Task Force on Regulatory Relief. Second, I asked each member of my Cabinet to postpone the effective dates of the hundreds of new regulations which have not yet been implemented. Third, in coordination with the Task Force, many of the agency heads have already taken prompt action to review and rescind existing burdensome regulations. And finally, just yesterday I signed an Executive order that for the first time provides for effective and coordinated management of the regulatory process.
Well, together we can embark on this road, not to make things easy, but to make things better. Our social, political, and cultural, as well as our economic institutions, can no longer absorb the repeated shocks that have been dealt them over the past decades. Can we do the job? The answer is yes. But we must begin now.
We're in control here. There's nothing wrong with America that together we can't fix. I'm sure there'll be some who raise the old familiar cry, ``Don't touch my program; cut somewhere else.'' I hope I've made it plain that our approach has been evenhanded, that only the programs for the truly deserving needy remain untouched. The question is, are we simply going to go down the same path we've gone down before, carving out one special program here, another special program there? I don't think that's what the American people expect of us. More important, I don't think that's what they want. They're ready to return to the source of our strength.
The substance and prosperity of our nation is built by wages brought home from the factories and the mills, the farms, and the shops. They are the services provided in 10,000 corners of America; the interest on the thrift of our people and the returns for their risk-taking. The production of America is the possession of those who build, serve, create, and produce.
The taxing power of government must be used to provide revenues for legitimate government purposes. It must not be used to regulate the economy or bring about social change. We've tried that, and surely we must be able to see it doesn't work.
Spending by government must be limited to those functions which are the proper province of government. We can no longer afford things simply because we think of them. Next year we can reduce the budget by $41.4 billion, without harm to government's legitimate purposes or to our responsibility to all who need our benevolence. This, plus the reduction in tax rates, will help bring an end to inflation.
In the health and social services area alone, the plan we're proposing will substantially reduce the need for 465 pages of law, 1,400 pages of regulations, 5,000 Federal employees who presently administer 7,600 separate grants in about 25,000 separate locations. Over 7 million man and woman hours of work by State and local officials are required to fill out government forms.
I would direct a question to those who have indicated already an unwillingness to accept such a plan: Have they an alternative which offers a greater chance of balancing the budget, reducing and eliminating inflation, stimulating the creation of jobs, and reducing the tax burden? And, if they haven't, are they suggesting we can continue on the present course without coming to a day of reckoning? If we don't do this, inflation and the growing tax burden will put an end to everything we believe in and our dreams for the future.”
If you are too young to remember Reagan, that’s a shame. He was a guiding light of decency in the world. He was courteous, polite, strong, and dedicated. A true gentleman. If we only had ONE more like him in the world that could unite and get order back into the USA.
An open letter to the Republican/Independent Candidates (Obama might learn something from this as well?)
The last time our Nation was tested with economic calamity of this magnitude was 1980. Iran was militant, gas was in short supply, inflation was in double digits for 2 years…and America was at a crossroads. Not dissimilar to what we are engaged in now. Let’s examine what a “leader” did then, vs what we are doing now.
“I'm speaking to you tonight to give you a report on the state of our Nation's economy. I regret to say that we're in the worst economic mess since the Great Depression. The Federal budget is out of control, and we face runaway deficits of almost $80 billion for this budget year that ends September 30th. That deficit is larger than the entire Federal budget in 1957, and so is the almost $80 billion we will pay in interest this year on the national debt.
Twenty years ago, in 1960, our Federal Government payroll was less than $13 billion. Today it is 75 billion. During these 20 years our population has only increased by 23.3 percent. The Federal budget has gone up 528 percent. And finally there are 7 million Americans caught up in the personal indignity and human tragedy of unemployment. If they stood in a line, allowing 3 feet for each person, the line would reach from the coast of Maine to California.
Regulations adopted by government with the best of intentions have added $666 to the cost of an automobile. It is estimated that altogether regulations of every kind, on shopkeepers, farmers, and major industries, add $100 billion or more to the cost of the goods and services we buy. And then another 20 billion is spent by government handling the paperwork created by those regulations.
I'm sure you're getting the idea that the audit presented to me found government policies of the last few decades responsible for our economic troubles. We forgot or just overlooked the fact that government -- any government -- has a built-in tendency to grow. Now, we all had a hand in looking to government for benefits as if government had some source of revenue other than our earnings. Many if not most of the things we thought of or that government offered to us seemed attractive.” (Please note Reagan isn’t blaming Carter…the previous administration is not a scapegoat. Leaders solve problems, they don’t pass the buck or look for others to blame)
“We know now that inflation results from all that deficit spending. Government has only two ways of getting money other than raising taxes. It can go into the money market and borrow, competing with its own citizens and driving up interest rates, which it has done, or it can print money, and it's done that. Both methods are inflationary.
We're victims of language. The very word ``inflation'' leads us to think of it as just high prices. Then, of course, we resent the person who puts on the price tags, forgetting that he or she is also a victim of inflation. Inflation is not just high prices; it's a reduction in the value of our money. When the money supply is increased but the goods and services available for buying are not, we have too much money chasing too few goods. Wars are usually accompanied by inflation. Everyone is working or fighting, but production is of weapons and munitions, not things we can buy and use.
Now, one way out would be to raise taxes so that government need not borrow or print money. But in all these years of government growth, we've reached, indeed surpassed, the limit of our people's tolerance or ability to bear an increase in the tax burden. Prior to World War II, taxes were such that on the average we only had to work just a little over 1 month each year to pay our total Federal, State, and local tax bill. Today we have to work 4 months to pay that bill.
Some say shift the tax burden to business and industry, but business doesn't pay taxes. Oh, don't get the wrong idea. Business is being taxed, so much so that we're being priced out of the world market. But business must pass its costs of operations -- and that includes taxes -- on to the customer in the price of the product. Only people pay taxes, all the taxes. Government just uses business in a kind of sneaky way to help collect the taxes. They're hidden in the price; we aren't aware of how much tax we actually pay.
We invented the assembly line and mass production, but punitive tax policies and excessive and unnecessary regulations plus government borrowing have stifled our ability to update plant and equipment. When capital investment is made, it's too often for some unproductive alterations demanded by government to meet various of its regulations. Excessive taxation of individuals has robbed us of incentive and made overtime unprofitable.
Over the past decades we've talked of curtailing government spending so that we can then lower the tax burden. Sometimes we've even taken a run at doing that. But there were always those who told us that taxes couldn't be cut until spending was reduced. Well, you know, we can lecture our children about extravagance until we run out of voice and breath. Or we can cure their extravagance by simply reducing their allowance.
It's time to recognize that we've come to a turning point. We're threatened with an economic calamity of tremendous proportions, and the old business-as-usual treatment can't save us. Together, we must chart a different course.
We must increase productivity. That means making it possible for industry to modernize and make use of the technology which we ourselves invented. That means putting Americans back to work. And that means above all bringing government spending back within government revenues, which is the only way, together with increased productivity, that we can reduce and, yes, eliminate inflation.
In the past we've tried to fight inflation one year and then, with unemployment increased, turn the next year to fighting unemployment with more deficit spending as a pump primer. So, again, up goes inflation. It hasn't worked. We don't have to choose between inflation and unemployment -- they go hand in hand. It's time to try something different, and that's what we're going to do.
I've already placed a freeze on hiring replacements for those who retire or leave government service. I've ordered a cut in government travel, the number of consultants to the government, and the buying of office equipment and other items. I've put a freeze on pending regulations and set up a task force under Vice President Bush to review regulations with an eye toward getting rid of as many as possible. I have decontrolled oil, which should result in more domestic production and less dependence on foreign oil. And I'm eliminating that ineffective Council on Wage and Price Stability.
But it will take more, much more. And we must realize there is no quick fix. At the same time, however, we cannot delay in implementing an economic program aimed at both reducing tax rates to stimulate productivity and reducing the growth in government spending to reduce unemployment and inflation.
On February 18th, I will present in detail an economic program to Congress embodying the features I've just stated. It will propose budget cuts in virtually every department of government. It is my belief that these actual budget cuts will only be part of the savings. As our Cabinet Secretaries take charge of their departments, they will search out areas of waste, extravagance, and costly overhead which could yield additional and substantial reductions.
Now, at the same time we're doing this, we must go forward with a tax relief package. I shall ask for a 10-percent reduction across the board in personal income tax rates for each of the next 3 years. Proposals will also be submitted for accelerated depreciation allowances for business to provide necessary capital so as to create jobs.
Our spending cuts will not be at the expense of the truly needy. We will, however, seek to eliminate benefits to those who are not really qualified by reason of need. Our basic system is sound. We can, with compassion, continue to meet our responsibility to those who, through no fault of their own, need our help. We can meet fully the other legitimate responsibilities of government. We cannot continue any longer our wasteful ways at the expense of the workers of this land or of our children.
To the Congress of the United States, I extend my hand in cooperation, and I believe we can go forward in a bipartisan manner. I've found a real willingness to cooperate on the part of Democrats and members of my own party. (??? So that’s what leadership is about…someone needs to take a note)
We can create the incentives which take advantage of the genius of our economic system -- a system, as Walter Lippmann observed more than 40 years ago, which for the first time in history gave men ``a way of producing wealth in which the good fortune of others multiplied their own.''
Our aim is to increase our national wealth so all will have more, not just redistribute what we already have which is just a sharing of scarcity. We can begin to reward hard work and risk-taking, by forcing this Government to live within its means. (Can this ever be stressed enough?)
We can leave our children with an unrepayable massive debt and a shattered economy, or we can leave them liberty in a land where every individual has the opportunity to be whatever God intended us to be. All it takes is a little common sense and recognition of our own ability. Together we can forge a new beginning for America.” (He’s dead, and still gives me goosebumps when I hear his words.)
Many of you, including Barrack Obama, have used the words, images or ideals of Ronald Reagan in your adds, speeches and when trying to make a zinger against an opponent you are running against. I beseech you to stop acting like a fool. If you want to learn from, emulate, or call on the wisdom of our greatest President of these United States, then do so in a complete manner, respecting his ideas and vision for the future. Don’t just use this great leader as a punch line. None of you are acting like a leader, and if you read this speech of Reagan’s above, you should be ashamed to call yourselves Republicans…or Democrats for that matter. This is the first installment of Reagan’s speeches, edited for content (do you want to read matters like Iranian hostages or the Space program?)… In short, Reagan was a leader who transcended political bickering for the good of the country…is your President, Senator or Representative able to say the same thing? If so, then hold them accountable.
REV
Feb. 05, 1981 Address to the Nation on the Economy by President Ronald Reagan.
“I'm speaking to you tonight to give you a report on the state of our Nation's economy. I regret to say that we're in the worst economic mess since the Great Depression. The Federal budget is out of control, and we face runaway deficits of almost $80 billion for this budget year that ends September 30th. That deficit is larger than the entire Federal budget in 1957, and so is the almost $80 billion we will pay in interest this year on the national debt.
Twenty years ago, in 1960, our Federal Government payroll was less than $13 billion. Today it is 75 billion. During these 20 years our population has only increased by 23.3 percent. The Federal budget has gone up 528 percent. And finally there are 7 million Americans caught up in the personal indignity and human tragedy of unemployment. If they stood in a line, allowing 3 feet for each person, the line would reach from the coast of Maine to California.
Regulations adopted by government with the best of intentions have added $666 to the cost of an automobile. It is estimated that altogether regulations of every kind, on shopkeepers, farmers, and major industries, add $100 billion or more to the cost of the goods and services we buy. And then another 20 billion is spent by government handling the paperwork created by those regulations.
I'm sure you're getting the idea that the audit presented to me found government policies of the last few decades responsible for our economic troubles. We forgot or just overlooked the fact that government -- any government -- has a built-in tendency to grow. Now, we all had a hand in looking to government for benefits as if government had some source of revenue other than our earnings. Many if not most of the things we thought of or that government offered to us seemed attractive.” (Please note Reagan isn’t blaming Carter…the previous administration is not a scapegoat. Leaders solve problems, they don’t pass the buck or look for others to blame)
“We know now that inflation results from all that deficit spending. Government has only two ways of getting money other than raising taxes. It can go into the money market and borrow, competing with its own citizens and driving up interest rates, which it has done, or it can print money, and it's done that. Both methods are inflationary.
We're victims of language. The very word ``inflation'' leads us to think of it as just high prices. Then, of course, we resent the person who puts on the price tags, forgetting that he or she is also a victim of inflation. Inflation is not just high prices; it's a reduction in the value of our money. When the money supply is increased but the goods and services available for buying are not, we have too much money chasing too few goods. Wars are usually accompanied by inflation. Everyone is working or fighting, but production is of weapons and munitions, not things we can buy and use.
Now, one way out would be to raise taxes so that government need not borrow or print money. But in all these years of government growth, we've reached, indeed surpassed, the limit of our people's tolerance or ability to bear an increase in the tax burden. Prior to World War II, taxes were such that on the average we only had to work just a little over 1 month each year to pay our total Federal, State, and local tax bill. Today we have to work 4 months to pay that bill.
Some say shift the tax burden to business and industry, but business doesn't pay taxes. Oh, don't get the wrong idea. Business is being taxed, so much so that we're being priced out of the world market. But business must pass its costs of operations -- and that includes taxes -- on to the customer in the price of the product. Only people pay taxes, all the taxes. Government just uses business in a kind of sneaky way to help collect the taxes. They're hidden in the price; we aren't aware of how much tax we actually pay.
We invented the assembly line and mass production, but punitive tax policies and excessive and unnecessary regulations plus government borrowing have stifled our ability to update plant and equipment. When capital investment is made, it's too often for some unproductive alterations demanded by government to meet various of its regulations. Excessive taxation of individuals has robbed us of incentive and made overtime unprofitable.
Over the past decades we've talked of curtailing government spending so that we can then lower the tax burden. Sometimes we've even taken a run at doing that. But there were always those who told us that taxes couldn't be cut until spending was reduced. Well, you know, we can lecture our children about extravagance until we run out of voice and breath. Or we can cure their extravagance by simply reducing their allowance.
It's time to recognize that we've come to a turning point. We're threatened with an economic calamity of tremendous proportions, and the old business-as-usual treatment can't save us. Together, we must chart a different course.
We must increase productivity. That means making it possible for industry to modernize and make use of the technology which we ourselves invented. That means putting Americans back to work. And that means above all bringing government spending back within government revenues, which is the only way, together with increased productivity, that we can reduce and, yes, eliminate inflation.
In the past we've tried to fight inflation one year and then, with unemployment increased, turn the next year to fighting unemployment with more deficit spending as a pump primer. So, again, up goes inflation. It hasn't worked. We don't have to choose between inflation and unemployment -- they go hand in hand. It's time to try something different, and that's what we're going to do.
I've already placed a freeze on hiring replacements for those who retire or leave government service. I've ordered a cut in government travel, the number of consultants to the government, and the buying of office equipment and other items. I've put a freeze on pending regulations and set up a task force under Vice President Bush to review regulations with an eye toward getting rid of as many as possible. I have decontrolled oil, which should result in more domestic production and less dependence on foreign oil. And I'm eliminating that ineffective Council on Wage and Price Stability.
But it will take more, much more. And we must realize there is no quick fix. At the same time, however, we cannot delay in implementing an economic program aimed at both reducing tax rates to stimulate productivity and reducing the growth in government spending to reduce unemployment and inflation.
On February 18th, I will present in detail an economic program to Congress embodying the features I've just stated. It will propose budget cuts in virtually every department of government. It is my belief that these actual budget cuts will only be part of the savings. As our Cabinet Secretaries take charge of their departments, they will search out areas of waste, extravagance, and costly overhead which could yield additional and substantial reductions.
Now, at the same time we're doing this, we must go forward with a tax relief package. I shall ask for a 10-percent reduction across the board in personal income tax rates for each of the next 3 years. Proposals will also be submitted for accelerated depreciation allowances for business to provide necessary capital so as to create jobs.
Our spending cuts will not be at the expense of the truly needy. We will, however, seek to eliminate benefits to those who are not really qualified by reason of need. Our basic system is sound. We can, with compassion, continue to meet our responsibility to those who, through no fault of their own, need our help. We can meet fully the other legitimate responsibilities of government. We cannot continue any longer our wasteful ways at the expense of the workers of this land or of our children.
To the Congress of the United States, I extend my hand in cooperation, and I believe we can go forward in a bipartisan manner. I've found a real willingness to cooperate on the part of Democrats and members of my own party. (??? So that’s what leadership is about…someone needs to take a note)
We can create the incentives which take advantage of the genius of our economic system -- a system, as Walter Lippmann observed more than 40 years ago, which for the first time in history gave men ``a way of producing wealth in which the good fortune of others multiplied their own.''
Our aim is to increase our national wealth so all will have more, not just redistribute what we already have which is just a sharing of scarcity. We can begin to reward hard work and risk-taking, by forcing this Government to live within its means. (Can this ever be stressed enough?)
We can leave our children with an unrepayable massive debt and a shattered economy, or we can leave them liberty in a land where every individual has the opportunity to be whatever God intended us to be. All it takes is a little common sense and recognition of our own ability. Together we can forge a new beginning for America.” (He’s dead, and still gives me goosebumps when I hear his words.)
Many of you, including Barrack Obama, have used the words, images or ideals of Ronald Reagan in your adds, speeches and when trying to make a zinger against an opponent you are running against. I beseech you to stop acting like a fool. If you want to learn from, emulate, or call on the wisdom of our greatest President of these United States, then do so in a complete manner, respecting his ideas and vision for the future. Don’t just use this great leader as a punch line. None of you are acting like a leader, and if you read this speech of Reagan’s above, you should be ashamed to call yourselves Republicans…or Democrats for that matter. This is the first installment of Reagan’s speeches, edited for content (do you want to read matters like Iranian hostages or the Space program?)… In short, Reagan was a leader who transcended political bickering for the good of the country…is your President, Senator or Representative able to say the same thing? If so, then hold them accountable.
REV
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Evil Side to Progressive Politics…Unintended Consequences. Who Is Responsible?
The really awful thing about being a two faced hypocrite in the 21st century is that you’re probably on video saying something you can’t back up with facts…so you’re forced to utter stupidities that will haunt you. One such utterance was made famous when Secretary Clinton was trying to show off how she was empathetic and caring, by saying “It takes a village to raise a child”, an African proverb she borrowed to say that it’s ok to be a single mother, because your community/government is obligated to help you raise your child. Well, let’s see how that’s working out. Flash mobs involving dozens to hundreds of black youths robbing businesses with impunity…where are their parents? Fourteen year old black girls beating students, pedestrians and anyone else they can find in a McDonalds at night…where are their parents? Schools in America failing to educate because they are committed first to forcing social fairness policies and blaming society’s ills on those who choose to be productive, while showing the next generation of welfare bums how to fill out government forms for welfare, food stamps and housing vouchers…where are the parents? It looks to me that the fabric of American historical hegemonic culture is unraveling and the American Dream in the inner cities is dead; replaced with a general acceptance of an infinite cycle of poverty and imaginary repression. This is the direct result of Progressive Politics, endorsed by the media, politicians and worst of all, the supposed leaders of the minority community who live lavish lifestyles including bling, hookers and drugs…the new American dream for inner city youth being raised by a village of idiots. It isn’t surprising though, as we are in our 5th decade on the war on poverty…with nothing to show for it but the graft and waste that comes with every government program ever tried. Perhaps a new path is needed…
George Will wrote in 2005 that there are three rules to escape poverty. Graduate High School, don’t have children before marriage, and don’t get married in your teens. Let us look at this in terms of the war on poverty. In 2005, 68.2% of black children born in the US were born to single moms. What “War on Poverty” law is addressing this? More welfare for more children? For all of those Progressives who think that government action is needed to combat poverty, would you demand sterilization programs for black women and men? No…instead you help Planned Parenthood set up abortion on demand in low income neighborhoods. That’s just as good, and since the rest of the country pays for it in taxes, it isn’t a burden on the already poor. The US spends roughly $1 TRILLION a year on poverty, which according to census numbers means that every poor person should get $27,000. A family of three would clear $81,000. Solved, no more poor. Right? Looks like the more money we throw at the problem, the more it costs the next year for the same failed results.
What George Will and others didn’t know in 2005 was that in just 4 short years, we would have our first black president in the USA and he would be the guiding light, the shining example for poor people everywhere to get themselves on a path to prosperity. Only that isn’t happening. Black unemployment is the highest in the US, and there are parks all over the country full of people who think corporate greed is bad…they even blog about it from their IPhones. Why is this happening? What is the reason that the great Obama hasn’t inspired “his people”? After all, he’s constantly ranting about staying in school, not having children out of wedlock…etc. Isn’t he? If eating lobster and vacationing and playing more golf than Tiger Woods is the new American Dream, why aren’t inner city kids emulating Obama? Maybe everyone is too focused on his NCAA basketball picks, or his disappointment at the NBA season delays…or maybe…just maybe…Obama knows that to be successful takes more than filing an unemployment claim, or suing for discrimination when you don’t get what you want. He knows it takes powerful executives in many industries getting sweetheart government contracts and loans in order to get ahead. He knows that having a stooge as Attorney General means that you won’t get investigated. He knows that no matter how much he wants to solve poverty, it can’t be done from the President’s desk. It takes drive, determination and hard work…who exemplifies that?
Enter Herman Cain. Black, conservative and unashamedly successful through many years of hard work, determination and discipline. Clarence Thomas…black conservative and successful through many years of hard work, study and shunning handouts. JC Watts, Walter Williams and others have become successful as well by their habitual work ethic and dedication to NOT being on welfare…thankfully the Media and Liberal elitists embrace them for their courage and their willingness to be good examples for blacks throughout the country. Are you kidding me…these guys are called Uncle Toms, Political Coons, and every possible bigoted name in the book…because they believe in self reliance, not government reliance. It’s the same hypocrisy that allows these buffoons like Maddow, Olberman and Wallace to spout things like the Tea Party is racist because it wants to stop welfare and handouts. I contend that it is those same mental midgets on the left who are the racists. If there was a Hitleresque plan devised in secret to keep the poor in their lot…it could not be more successful than what we are doing now. Somewhere there is a Neo-Nazi white supremacist applauding the liberal big government ideology of treating blacks like they aren’t good enough to work hard and progress.
This same theory of government intervention has been tried on poverty, drug abuse, health care, education, energy…and so on. Have they solved ANYTHING???? Please name one gov’t policy that has led to the eradication of the said problem. Even if it helps in the short term…what ends up happening is long term corruption and graft seeps into the programs to make the whole program more of a waste of taxpayer money, and then the taxpayer is called a pejorative when they suggest we get rid of the failing overspending program. Who is more at fault? The politician who doesn’t react quick enough to stave off criticism from self important blowhard rappers like Kanye West’s “Bush doesn’t like black people.”…or the politician who repeatedly secures money for pork projects worth hundreds of millions in New Orleans…but NEVER fixes their levee system that many said was not up to code? If New Orleans is indeed a “Chocolate city”…then the leadership in it is about as realistic as the Easter Bunny. But we can’t blame the Easter Bunny for poverty, so let’s blame those who aren’t poor…they had to have cheated the people while playing within the rules the government set up. Let’s equate success in America with cheating and greed, then when the frothy rabid mouths of the hungry and poor are ready to riot…let’s draw them a map to the rich people’s homes so they can use scare tactics and mob mentality to show how the people are fed up with being poor and need more government help to succeed…and the cycle begins again. The only problem with this method is that the rulemakers and the rule following bankers are on the same side of the problem, in fact one of the largest donators to the political parties in power are the same people vilified for their greed. What about not voting for the candidate that raises the most money? What about having all these unwashed messes organizing on the lawn of the White House instead of Wall Street? What about spending the afternoon looking for a job instead of camping out bitching about how your education at a university hasn’t prepared you for work in the real world? How about marching up and down the street of the university deans and teachers? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you…that would be like biting the hand that taught you that you can’t survive without them. Now that’s progressive.
REV
History...and doomed to repeat it...
In 1991 I was told by many in my college dorm that fighting the system (political system of Dems and Repubs) was honorable, and they even applauded my idealism to liberty, however, each of them was equally excited about the prospect of voting for their respective parties nominees (GHW Bush or Clinton). The only people voting for this outsider Perot were malcontents and myopic political bomb throwers...not levelheaded individuals who were sick and tired of the same old politics as usual. After the election, many of the Repubs were upset at Perot supporters because as they say it, "Perot cost Bush the election"...well, policies as well as elections, have consequences...NO NEW TAXES was a promise Bush broke...and it is a lesson not soon forgotten in the halls of Republicanville.
Fast forward twenty years...it is 2011, and Republican establishment insiders are repeating (over and over and over) that Romney is the front-runner...and anyone else in the field is just a flavor of the week...not to be taken seriously. OK, how about this. Romney is the nominee, and every TeaPartier, Independant, and conservative Republican all abandon the party to make a statement to the "Establishment" that their idea of pushing this over hyped egomaniacal executive-level powermonger as an alternative to the most over-hyped egomaniac who has ever held office is NOT OK. Until the R party understands that we are not going along for the proverbial ride any longer, and real change comes from a really different candidate...which means that Dole, Perry, Romney, McCain, McConnel, Boehner, et al are NOT acceptable. Long live King Obama, at least we aren't surprised to see the stupid shit he does...as apposed to waking up one morning in 2014 to find our Republican Establishment Candidate has expanded the Federal Gov't role, issued executive orders, expanded wars in new nations, compromised with Pelosi/Reid to expand gov't services to lazy "collectivists"...etc.
If ever there was a time to throw out all the bums, it is now. Rove and Fox are planning for the Romney Obama fight...which should be pretty easy, as most of Obama's policies are extensions of what Romney thought at one time...until he changed his mind to try to get elected. If this leopard's spots aren't showing through, I don't know what is needed to convince the public anymore. There are three people in this debate that are not establishment cronies...Newt Gingrich who lived in the belly of the political beast and knows how the games are played, but can't stand the games as they led to his demise in politics; Herman Cain who has no political experience, but has an economic plan (unlike most candidates, including the sitting president), and Ron Paul, who is called every name from unelectable (forgetting he has been elected to office for the past 30 years) and a crackpot (because he is against more wars and graft for countries who do not share our ideals, values and desire for peace, or because he blames an unaccountable entity that prints money without oversight which lead to our damaged view of economic stability in this country). It is true, that none of these guys looks as presidential as Romney, and it is also clear that none of these guys would listen to or fall in line with party politics...but at the end of the day, don't you think we need someone with a backbone instead of a hole in their ass that is used to snugly fit a hand in to move their lips?
Fast forward twenty years...it is 2011, and Republican establishment insiders are repeating (over and over and over) that Romney is the front-runner...and anyone else in the field is just a flavor of the week...not to be taken seriously. OK, how about this. Romney is the nominee, and every TeaPartier, Independant, and conservative Republican all abandon the party to make a statement to the "Establishment" that their idea of pushing this over hyped egomaniacal executive-level powermonger as an alternative to the most over-hyped egomaniac who has ever held office is NOT OK. Until the R party understands that we are not going along for the proverbial ride any longer, and real change comes from a really different candidate...which means that Dole, Perry, Romney, McCain, McConnel, Boehner, et al are NOT acceptable. Long live King Obama, at least we aren't surprised to see the stupid shit he does...as apposed to waking up one morning in 2014 to find our Republican Establishment Candidate has expanded the Federal Gov't role, issued executive orders, expanded wars in new nations, compromised with Pelosi/Reid to expand gov't services to lazy "collectivists"...etc.
If ever there was a time to throw out all the bums, it is now. Rove and Fox are planning for the Romney Obama fight...which should be pretty easy, as most of Obama's policies are extensions of what Romney thought at one time...until he changed his mind to try to get elected. If this leopard's spots aren't showing through, I don't know what is needed to convince the public anymore. There are three people in this debate that are not establishment cronies...Newt Gingrich who lived in the belly of the political beast and knows how the games are played, but can't stand the games as they led to his demise in politics; Herman Cain who has no political experience, but has an economic plan (unlike most candidates, including the sitting president), and Ron Paul, who is called every name from unelectable (forgetting he has been elected to office for the past 30 years) and a crackpot (because he is against more wars and graft for countries who do not share our ideals, values and desire for peace, or because he blames an unaccountable entity that prints money without oversight which lead to our damaged view of economic stability in this country). It is true, that none of these guys looks as presidential as Romney, and it is also clear that none of these guys would listen to or fall in line with party politics...but at the end of the day, don't you think we need someone with a backbone instead of a hole in their ass that is used to snugly fit a hand in to move their lips?
Friday, October 7, 2011
Here's a napkin, you've got stupid all over your mouth.
I finished up my day, and wandered into Steiner's for a pint and my Pork Charsu Bowl, because it's Thursday, and that's what I do. I sit down, put my $20 into the poker machine (I love Vegas), and order my "Diet Coors". A news blip on the TV gets a comment out of the lady at the bar, a 20 something female...about the "Occupy ___" movement. The comment was sympathetic to the movement, but no specifics on why. For the sake of argument, we'll call her "Libby". :)
I opine to her that I think the movement is just another excuse for uneducated, unwashed and unorganized unemployed to bitch about their lives. I shut it down after that, because it's a pub...and I get enough political discussions elsewhere. Then...this happens. "You're just lucky you still have a job, those poor people are just mad at corporate greed." And so the dogs of war are released.
NOTHING sets me off more than someone telling me that my success in life is due to fate, luck or the stars. If that were so, I surely wasted so much of my youth getting up at 4AM to go to fish markets in downtown LA, then spend the better part of the sunny Southern California days delivering meat and seafood to restaurants...before finishing the day/night at college. Luck? I made my luck, by being prepared for the opportunities that presented themselves. Fate? If I didn't know about my trade at 20 years old, I wouldn't have GOTTEN my opportunities. I went to college, wrote my economic thesis on 1860's Ireland, and still managed to work 50 hours a week. So don't tell me about luck. I sold dead fish for years out of a van and I never smelled as bad as these no-talent ass-clowns that are bitching about $5 surcharges on their accounts. Corporate greed is what gave us the Ford Assembly line, the Oil companies of the early 20th century, the IPAD, and yes...the housing bubble, the bailouts and the economic malaise we currently are in. You want someone to blame...blame whoever wrote the rulebooks that these banks have been following. After all, it's not the banks fault that Chris Dodd and Barney Frank told them they had to charge less for merchants to use their services...so the consumer got the price passed on to them. That's what happens when the government interferes with commerce. It's the law of unintended consequences, and it's rearing its head now.
Well, we agreed to disagree, and went back to watching baseball, and watching my 4 Aces not come up on the screen yet again. As far as the unlucky congregation who has the funds for weed, alcohol, camping gear and taking their time off from looking for work to sit in the streets...I want to ask them, what have they done in their lives to prepare for success? How many of these hobo/hippie/bums think that they are deserving of help or welfare. My father would sooner starve than ask the government for help, let alone complain about his lot in life if all he did all day was sit in his own filth and wait for luck to strike. America, we are at a crossroads between the haves and the have-nots...and those that have not, have nothing to blame but themselves. I have personally witnessed poor families from blue collar roots inspire their kids to study, be creative, and if they couldn't find a job, they CREATED one. People going door to door looking for yard-work, handyman work, or better yet, networking to become the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. It doesn't have to be computers, just because it's 2011. It can be a trade, such as seafood, automotive parts, pet grooming...you don't need Harvard for success. You need a work ethic, and that doesn't come from protesting companies that are trying to make a profit while playing within the rules our government sets up. You want change...I'll give you change. Change your underwear, change your attitude, and change your religious-like zealotry for the same two parties that have us treading water in our current situations. It's going to take local activists doing hard work to get the word out that R and D are for businesses, but L is for liberty, life and sure...luck.
Rev
I opine to her that I think the movement is just another excuse for uneducated, unwashed and unorganized unemployed to bitch about their lives. I shut it down after that, because it's a pub...and I get enough political discussions elsewhere. Then...this happens. "You're just lucky you still have a job, those poor people are just mad at corporate greed." And so the dogs of war are released.
NOTHING sets me off more than someone telling me that my success in life is due to fate, luck or the stars. If that were so, I surely wasted so much of my youth getting up at 4AM to go to fish markets in downtown LA, then spend the better part of the sunny Southern California days delivering meat and seafood to restaurants...before finishing the day/night at college. Luck? I made my luck, by being prepared for the opportunities that presented themselves. Fate? If I didn't know about my trade at 20 years old, I wouldn't have GOTTEN my opportunities. I went to college, wrote my economic thesis on 1860's Ireland, and still managed to work 50 hours a week. So don't tell me about luck. I sold dead fish for years out of a van and I never smelled as bad as these no-talent ass-clowns that are bitching about $5 surcharges on their accounts. Corporate greed is what gave us the Ford Assembly line, the Oil companies of the early 20th century, the IPAD, and yes...the housing bubble, the bailouts and the economic malaise we currently are in. You want someone to blame...blame whoever wrote the rulebooks that these banks have been following. After all, it's not the banks fault that Chris Dodd and Barney Frank told them they had to charge less for merchants to use their services...so the consumer got the price passed on to them. That's what happens when the government interferes with commerce. It's the law of unintended consequences, and it's rearing its head now.
Well, we agreed to disagree, and went back to watching baseball, and watching my 4 Aces not come up on the screen yet again. As far as the unlucky congregation who has the funds for weed, alcohol, camping gear and taking their time off from looking for work to sit in the streets...I want to ask them, what have they done in their lives to prepare for success? How many of these hobo/hippie/bums think that they are deserving of help or welfare. My father would sooner starve than ask the government for help, let alone complain about his lot in life if all he did all day was sit in his own filth and wait for luck to strike. America, we are at a crossroads between the haves and the have-nots...and those that have not, have nothing to blame but themselves. I have personally witnessed poor families from blue collar roots inspire their kids to study, be creative, and if they couldn't find a job, they CREATED one. People going door to door looking for yard-work, handyman work, or better yet, networking to become the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. It doesn't have to be computers, just because it's 2011. It can be a trade, such as seafood, automotive parts, pet grooming...you don't need Harvard for success. You need a work ethic, and that doesn't come from protesting companies that are trying to make a profit while playing within the rules our government sets up. You want change...I'll give you change. Change your underwear, change your attitude, and change your religious-like zealotry for the same two parties that have us treading water in our current situations. It's going to take local activists doing hard work to get the word out that R and D are for businesses, but L is for liberty, life and sure...luck.
Rev
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Really. Really? Really!!!
"I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," Holder testified. (Fox News Oct. 04)
When documents came to light showing Mr. Holder getting briefings in 2010...and now...he simply misunderstood Rep. Issa's question. Rep. Jason Chaffetz asks the same question later in the congressional hearing...for clarification...to which Holder responds the same way. OK. now what? Do we have to define what "is" is? The last thing I heard from my friends on the left was, "I don't think Mr. Holder was under oath when he said that,"...OH.. I didn't know that. In that case, he can't be expected to not lie...he's the ATTORNEY GENERAL of the USA. Good thing he's black, I hear that this administration's DOJ won't be prosecuting anyone who isn't white. Will someone please let the family of our fallen agents know that our Attorney General didn't understand the direct question twice...then, wasn't sure if it was ok to lie if not under oath. If only Oliver North got this kind of pass by the media/DOJ.
Sheesh.
REV
Monday, October 3, 2011
Defining Political Speech.
Eat your Peas, Fair Share, Equality, Shared Sacrifice, Class Warfare, Change, Hope.
This political season has already established talking points and canned responses which takes valid arguments and points of view and dumps them into two categories…Left and Right. How can I rise above the kneejerk reactions to really get to heart of the issues, in order to best determine which of the two parties candidates will fail me the next time we vote? That’s the best we can do, right? I want a political party that takes a stand, instead of leaning left or right. I don’t want to leave it up to a party hack to tell me which way to think. I will determine if I want something…based on my values, which are nestled nice and neat in what I call “logic”. Hell, I’ll even use a dictionary if I have to.
“Eat your Peas” was Obama’s way of saying we have to do the hard things. Nice thought…but a lot of this administration is based on sayings that don’t have credence. For instance, if weare to really eat our peas, why are we still bailing out failed tech/green companies? Why do bailed out banks get interest free loans from the Fed, then instead of loaning the money, they buy Treasuries and get tax payer paid interest…without paying interest on the loaned money? Why is Sammy Haggar still making music? Why are we paying for Cowboy Poetry in Nevada when we have people camping out on city streets in tents? Not logical. Serious problems need serious solutions…and it looks like this administration just passed the peas.
“Fair” share. Dictionary.com defines fair as “free from bias, injustice and dishonesty”, “proper under the rules”. If millionaires are being targeted…is it because they pay less than the rest? How can we have fair taxes when the millionaires have teams of lawyers and CPA’s to find loopholes to get out of paying certain taxes….WAIT…”Proper under the Rules”…they are playing by the rules set up by congress and their lobbyists. So, it may not be the same…but it is fair…right? Don’t hate the player, hate the game? How about hate the rulemakers?
“Equality” Dictionary.com defines as “Same” “Like or alike in quantity, degree, value” “Balanced, proportioned” “Uniform in operation”. If two people are in a room, and one pays income taxes and the other doesn’t…is that equality? Again, the rules of the IRS skews the game table, making equality impossible. Does it not make sense to change the rules instead of blame the players? Is it really evil for someone to not want to pay MORE money in taxes without representation for those taxes? Especially when the government spending the money has no interest in saving or being frugal?
“Shared Sacrifice”…AKA Skin in the game. Dictionary didn’t help here, but doesn’t this point to fair and equal? Perhaps there is a lack of incentive to the lower income to accept a higher tax of some form because they are EQUALLY against the very notion that their extra dollar will be spent by this government responsibly. They probably know people bilking the system that is set up to support them. Who wants to pay more into a system that is broken? Social Security…anyone? Maybe more money isn’t the “hard answer”?
“Class Warfare” this one on Dictionary.com pointed right to “See Marx”…hahaha, that’s telling. “Conflict between different classes in a community resulting from different social or economic positions and reflecting opposed interests.” “Struggle for political and economic power carried on between capitalists and workers” There is only one way class warfare can be used…and that is to have someone on the outside sowing the seeds of inequality. Warren Buffet is better than John Smith because he has a yacht. Hate the rich, because they have what you don’t. If a billionaire would only forgo his golden toilet the rest of us would have enough food. These are all easy arguments to insert into a desperate and frustrated people…but is it true? If we took all of Buffets money, and all of Roseanne Barrs, and all of Bill Gates cash…and gave it to the gov’t…would we be done? Our total income from Fed Income taxes is roughly 1 Trillion. Social Security brings in another $Trillion. So would the 100 Billion from the richest actually do anything, besides make a few more people poor…as I’m sure their companies aren’t going to succeed if all incentive to work is taken away. There is no equality with this tax structure.
“Change”…this one is the most fun and scary. Dictionary.com states, “to make future coarse different”, “To transform, convert” . I want to point out a glaring problem I have with this administration. If they thought that promising change…true change we can believe in, was possible…they were either naïve and incompetent, or outright lying to us. Neither is acceptable. The myopic outlook is more painful to accept, because we all want to believe that change is possible. I don’t recall hearing Obama’s speech where he said, “I need 8 years to fix Bush’s fault”…he said he could make changes NOW. Change was not predicated on the House, Japan’s weather, Muslim uprising, or unicorns…it was a bold statement backed up by what can only be called “the same”. Donors getting paid back with tax money, businesses strongarmed by gov’t departments, wars in countries that we will never make allies, Senators and their relatives getting rich...off of tax money…which they now are calling for more of. How is this change?
“Hope” Dictionary.com states, “feeling that what is wanted can be had, or events will turn out for the best”, “looking forward with desire and reasonable confidence”…the problem with Hope is that anyone can hope. There are no rules for hope. I hope my electric bill goes down…even though I don’t use less energy. I hope I get a raise, even though I don’t want to put in more hours at work. I hope my lawn comes back greener than ever…even though I didn’t plant seeds or water it. “ I hope we can change what’s broken with the system…but I don’t want to consider altering my position on ___ fill in the blank.” Can anyone point to someone on this list who is honestly different? Romney, Perry, Obama, McCain, Gore, Kerry, Bush… this is what we get to choose from? I’ll just sit at home and wait for my lawn to grow itself. Who knows, maybe it’ll work if I hope enough.
Where did this huge pile of ….peas come from?
Rev
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