Wake up, America! Reject the Progressive Left!

Those who continue to use every tragedy they can to drive home their point should stop and reflect. These people continue to ignore the two most important facts. First, the guns are simply the murder weapon, in the absence of guns crazy people will find another weapon to do their evil. It is an old adage but it still true; “Guns don’t kill people, People kill people.” Second, another old adage “Outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns.”

A few weeks ago when a Kansas City Chiefs player killed himself and his girlfriend, Bob Costas took the opportunity to editorialize on the Sunday Night Football that this was just another reason to step up gun control efforts. I thought at the time, “Really, this was a sick and mentally troubled person. If he didn’t have a gun he could have used any number of other ways to commit this horrible act.” People kill each other all around the world every day without guns. In fact the same day the Connecticut shootings occurred another crazy in China stabbed 22 people at a school.

Guns are not the problem, people are. If we want to slow down this increase in violence maybe we should be looking at our culture as a whole. Violent video games, movies, T.V. shows and music that glorifies violence, murder, rape and criminal behavior probably does more to negatively influence those that feel disenfranchised. This stimulus probably leads these individuals further down the path of destruction then access to a gun. The gun is just a tool to accomplish their objective and in its absence they would find something else.

In the end responsible gun owners should not have our second amendment rights taken away or reduced because of the reckless and deadly acts of a minute minority of the population. The government can not fix what happened in Connecticut with regulations. We need to address the root cause. This will take families, churches and people working to improve the moral fiber of our communities. In the end the problem is people, a gun is just a tool easily replaced with a knife, a club, poison, rope or any number of common items that can be made deadly in the wrong hands.

I will end with; my heart goes out to all those affected by this tragedy. It is an unthinkable crime committed against the most vulnerable among us by a clearly sick individual. Now is not the time for debate, now is the time for healing and reflection.

America is a republic. Our republic is an attempt as evidenced by our founders to take the best of a variety of government models and merge them into one. We have elements of democracy and libertarianism that have been incorporated into our republic. The three branches of government combined with the Constitution were designed to protect our civil liberties. As we all know our republic and the civil liberties that Americans used to enjoy have been hijacked. Too much freedom in the eyes of most modern day politicians is bad because it takes away their control. 

So now for the answer to the question; why Libertarians should vote for Romney?  If you believe in all you espouse; you have to vote for Romney. 

 Here’s why – we need to buy time. Surely you do not believe that Romney is the militant that Obama is where it comes to government regulation or government control. He is also not a progressive socialist. It’s true that he (Romney) may turn out to be another new world order guy like the Bushes but he loves the country enough to not sell us out to Putin once he has “more flexibility”. 

Here are a few other things to consider: 

There will likely be one or two Supreme Court appointments in the next four years. Do you really want Obama making any of these appointments? Here is a scary thought – Eric Holder or Tony West as a nominee. 

Obama will push for further reduction of our nuclear capabilities to level the field and reduce our power internationally. I am pretty sure Romney won’t. 

Obama will sign us on to more U.N. treaties that will continue to erode our national sovereignty. Think – L.O.S.T. Treaty and the U.N. Small Arms Treaty for starters not to mention some form of international income tax. 

Romney will help us slow down, maybe even help us avoid economic collapse. Obama is intent on redistribution and economic destruction of individual wealth. At least we know that he is a capitalist. 

To quote Minnesotan Mitch Berg, “All the principle in the world does you no good if you are standing in soup line, if the government has confiscated your guns and branded you a terrorist for stockpiling food with the blessing of the Supreme Court. The vast majority of the people will sell the Rights of Man down the river for a pack of cigarettes, a bottle of booze or a bowl of gruel.” 

I like most people, I am tired of holding my nose and voting; but what choice do we have? The question remains when are we going to do something about the real problem? We can’t wait to get worked up once every 4 years and bitch about the choices. We need to change things at the local and state level starting Nov. 7th and work every day for the next 4 years to change our course.  It is time for all high minded, philosophical Libertarians to get involved on a daily basis and work for the change you desire. We must start taking our country and our liberty back from self-interested politicians. But first we have to buy time. Don’t waste your vote on a meaningless statement we need to slow down the progressives now. 

“The saddest epitaph which can be carved in memory of a vanished liberty is that it was lost because its possessors failed to stretch forth a saving hand while yet there was time.” Justice George Sutherland, Constitutional Defender 1938 

Wake Up, America! Restore the Republic by Rejecting Socialism and the Progressive Agenda!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/02/unemployment-rate-rises-to-7-percent-economy-add-171000-jobs/

A few thoughts that will make you question the government jobs spin:

First the stats on 11/02/08:
Officially unemployed = 10,563,275 Actual unemployed* = 13,558,658
Food Stamps Recipients = 32,659,311

Wake Up, America! 4 more years of this type of fundamental change and you will no longer recognize your country.

Restore the Republic! Reject Socialism while there is still time.

The Economy, Jobs & Taxes:

America’s Rank in Global Business Competitiveness: Before BO #1 Currently #7 (Source: US News & World Report)

Current National Debt - $16.2 Trillion   (Source: US Treasury)

New Debt Added Since Obama was elected - $5.5 Trillion  (Source: US Treasury)

Your share of the National Debt – $51,419 (Source: US Treasury)

Increase in your share since Obama took office - $17,554 (Source: US Treasury)

Federal Budget Deficits - 2 highest in history: 2009 – $1.416 Trillion & 2011 – $1.298 Trillion respectively (Source: CBO)

Proposed Tax Increases in Obama’s Proposed Budget - $1.9 Trillion (Source: OMB)

New Taxes Hidden in Obamacare - $810 Billion (Source: CBO)

Medicare cuts in Obamacare: $716 Billion (Source: CBO)

# of people Officially Unemployed: 12.014 Million (Source: US Labor Dept.)

# of people Unemployed, Underemployed or have given up - 22.728 Million (Source: US Labor Dept.)

The real Unemployment Rate: 14.7% (Source: US Labor Dept.)

# of people Unemployed More than 27 weeks: 5.0 Million (Source: US Labor Dept.)

Consecutive Months of Unemployment over 8% - 43 (Source: US Labor Dept.)

Pages of new Federal Regulations since Obama took office: 11,327 (Source: Federal Register)

Healthcare, Food, Gas & Education:

Avg. Increase in the cost of a family health plan since Obama took office: $3,065 or 24.2%  (Source: The Kaiser Foundation)

# of people on Food Stamps: 47,025,030 (Source: US Dept. of Agriculture)

Avg. increase in cost of Groceries for a family of 4: 5.15%  (Source: US Dept. of Agriculture)

Increase in the price of gas: 106%  up from $1.89 to $3.89 per gallon (Source: US Dept. of Transportation)

Avg. Increase for In-State Tuition since Obama took office: 25% (Source: The college Board)

So there you have it. The numbers speak for themselves. We can’t afford to keep spending at these levels and increasing taxes stunts growth while killing jobs. We saw the same trends during the Carter Administration. Reagan corrected the problem by managing down the size of government and cutting taxes to stimulate growth. We rode that wave all the way through the Clinton Administration. We can do it again but not with a president that is more interested in “redistribution” than growth and creating opportunity.

Wake up, America! Reject Socialism and Restore the Republic!

“If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy” – Thomas Jefferson

I decided to watch this movie On Demand this morning because I was in the mood for a little politics and could not bear watching the usual Sunday morning talking heads. I must admit I had low expectations going in and no idea exactly what to expect. I was very surprised for two reasons. First, I was surprised at how balanced the approach was – no hysteria or over the top attacks or accusations. Second, the movie took a methodical approach to laying out the facts around what shaped Obama’s beliefs and how his personal story may have forged his philosophy. In short it does not appear to be a hatchet job.

From the movie’s website here is a brief description:

“2016 Obama’s America takes audiences on a gripping visual journey into the heart of the world’s most powerful office to reveal the struggle of whether one man’s past will redefine America over the next four years. The film examines the question, “If Obama wins a second term, where will we be in 2016?”

Across the globe and in America, people in 2008 hungered for a leader who would unite and lift us from economic turmoil and war. True to America’s ideals, they invested their hope in a new kind of president, Barack Obama. What they didn’t know is that Obama is a man with a past, and in powerful ways that past defines him–who he is, how he thinks, and where he intends to take America and the world.

Immersed in exotic locales across four continents, best selling author Dinesh D’Souza races against time to find answers to Obama’s past and reveal where America will be in 2016. During this journey he discovers how Hope and Change became radically misunderstood, and identifies new flashpoints for hot wars in mankind’s greatest struggle. The journey moves quickly over the arc of the old colonial empires, into America’s empire of liberty, and we see the unfolding realignment of nations and the shape of the global future.”

Obama: Love him or hate him, you don’t know him.

Creative forces behind the film

Dinesh D’Souza – Author of the New York Times Bestseller The Roots of Obama’s Rage which serves in part as the basis for this film. D’Souza wasborn in Mumbai, India and has truly lived the American Dream. He moved to the United States to attend Dartmouth College. Upon graduation he went to work in the Reagan White House as a policy analyst. He has been a fellow of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University and the American Enterprise Institute. His other book titles include the popular What’s So Great About Christianity, Letters to a Young Conservative, and The End of Racism.

Gerald R. Molen – produced many of the most memorable films in the last three decades including blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Twister, Days of Thunder, Hook and Minority Report. He was a producer for the Academy Award winning film Schindler’s List and co-producer for Rain Man which won the Oscar for Best Picture.

For more info visit the website at: http://2016themovie.com/

After watching this film, a lot of the things that I instinctively believed seem to have been confirmed. Using Obama’s own words from speeches and his book “Dreams from my Father” it’s hard to deny that there is a well guarded side of the president that if fully revealed would change the opinion of many. The movie lays out a credible case for a personal agenda that does not align with traditional American values. The president has said many times that his election would begin a fundamental change of America. This film definitely creates a glimpse of not only what will shape this change but also who is influencing the direction and what it might ultimately look like.

If you love the America of our grandparents, believe in the American Dream and the Constitution created by our founders – you owe it to yourself and your country to watch this film and decide if this is the Change you want.

Wake up, America!

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground” – Thomas Jefferson

“The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves” – George Washington

Truer words have never been spoken. Why is this so hard for politicians to understand? Probably because they are politicians not businessmen. It is time for America to look itself in the mirror and decide what kind of country we want to have – a government run “nanny state” where individual freedom and success is “sacrificed” for the “greater good” or an America that allows individual success to be rewarded and a government that follows its’ constitutional role?

The ongoing debate between the Republicans and Democrats has become exhausting. The never ending media coverage of the bickering is enough to disenfranchise most Americans but what is worse is the out of touch tone of the debate. Republicans want to reduce taxes and cut spending. The Democrats want to keep spending and raise taxes on the “rich”.

Also let’s not forget those “Patriotic Millionaires” they want their taxes raised – I guess they feel guilty about their success. But why do we need to raise their taxes? They can give as much as they want – just add a check box to the tax form for anyone who wants to pay more just like we have for the presidential campaign fund.

Here is the real bottom line – everyone is missing the real opportunity. Before we even start worrying about what programs to change, eliminate or whose benefits to cut, let’s first focus on the waste from inefficiency and fraud that we know exists at every level of the federal government. Too simple? Maybe but remember there probably hasn’t been a serious attempt at operational efficiency or cost control in Washington in the last 100 years. In business this is part of a never ending cycle to stay competitive or perish. However, the government has no competition so there is no imperative to be financially prudent. We have all heard the stories of agencies spending their full budget every year to avoid having it reduced.

Is there anyone out there that doubts that in a bureaucracy the size of the federal government there is not significant waste that could be reduced WITHOUT cutting into the core entitlements and services currently being offered? But do you hear politicians or bureaucrats talking about this – of course not!

So let’s try a little math. Let’s assume an annual federal budget of $3.7 trillion and for sake of argument, let’s say we could find 15% waste due to operating inefficiency, sloppy procurement practices and fraud. This hardly seems like a reach but the result would be a spending reduction of $555 billion off the original $3.7 trillion. The President could make such a demand of all government agencies by simply telling his cabinet that he is holding them responsible for the performance of their departments. After all aren’t government employees supposed to be professionals in their various fields of employment? Shouldn’t they be held accountable to a standard of performance similar to that of employees in private industry? If these workers would like to change the stereotype of government employees, one would think that they would embrace this challenge! Also this should become an annual challenge just like in private business, every year we build additional cost reduction and efficiency gains into our operating budgets, why shouldn’t the government do the same?

“Government does not have a revenue problem; government has a spending problem. Government does not have a revenue problem; government has a priority problem. It is time that we begin to fine tune our focus and decide what the priority of government ought to be.” – Marsha Blackburn

Unfortunately, part of the problem with this is it would result in a reduction of the federal workforce. This would be fought tooth and nail by the various unions that represent government employees. It would take courage and leadership for our senior leaders (both Democrats and Republicans) to go after these savings because there would be negative political consequences. But the truth is they are not in office to protect government jobs. By the way these jobs are a drag on the federal budget not a revenue generator so our leaders should be driving efficient operations to free up money for meeting our national needs. This approach doesn’t even begin to address other opportunities such as consolidation of redundant services, elimination of programs that are no longer valid or reform of entitlement programs and the tax code.

“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!” – Ronald Reagan

So before we start talking about which programs to eliminate, whose benefits to reduce or whose taxes to raise, let’s start with the most basic of fiscal responsibilities; let’s manage the beast that is the federal budget just like a successful private company would. Let’s focus on operating efficiency, good procurement practices and reducing fraud. After all, this seems like a $555 billion opportunity that all sides should be able to agree on.

Wake up, America! We are being scammed by the politicians. It is time to hold them accountable. They must eliminate waste, inefficiency and fraud before they cut benefits or raise taxes. Let’s change the conversation – contact your representatives and let them know we are on to them. We want accountable action and we want it now.

Restore the Republic, Reject politics as usual!

“Governments don’t reduce deficits by raising taxes on the people; governments reduce deficits by controlling spending and stimulating new wealth.” – Ronald Reagan

To see more specifics on ways to attack the deficit, see my earlier blog – How to Balance the Federal Budget, http://wp.me/pv8jP-mQ

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/25764282/index.html

Yet through this entire economic mess the least affected group has been unionized government workers. For example, the average union government employee pays less than 10% of their annual health insurance cost while in the private sector the average is over 25%. Nationally, union workers in both state and local government jobs earn approximately 45% more in total compensation than workers in the private sector.

It is estimated that the tab for the unfunded liabilities created by these government union contracts now exceed $3 trillion.

In the private sector during this time we have seen massive lay-offs, wage and benefit reductions or freezes. While in the public sector contractual wage and benefit increases hum along even though the economic conditions no longer support them.

The problem with the public unions at the state and local levels is simple to understand. The unions help elect the politicians that ultimately become their “bosses”. They make large campaign contributions and use their influence to rally union members to vote for candidates that they can count on to cooperate with them in future negotiations. The Center for Responsive Politics estimated that in the recent elections, public sector unions contributed over $20 million to candidates as well as another $90 million to the political parties. Over 90% of that has gone to the Democrats.

Meanwhile back in Wisconsin, the average teacher earns $77,857 per year (including benefits). Compare that to the median household income in Wisconsin which is only $50,000 and many households have more than one wage earner.

Over the past three years government employees have not experienced the erosion in their standard of living that rest of the workforce has had to endure. Public sector employees must come to grips with the fact that their real employers, the taxpayers, will not continue to fund a lifestyle that indemnifies them from the national economic reality.

As states and local governments try to cut costs in a tough economy, the unions are facing a rising backlash against their pay, benefits and pensions.

Wisconsin is not alone in looking at aggressive changes to their relationship with unionized government workers. Other states (MI, IN, OH, TN, NY, NJ, ID, IA) are also looking at a variety of strategies to try to control union labor costs.

Some examples are:

Limiting their collective bargaining to base pay excluding benefits and some work rules

Aligning maximum raises to the Consumer Price Index

Requiring higher levels of contributions toward pensions

Requiring higher levels of contributions toward healthcare

Eliminating excessive fringe benefits (such as Viagra coverage)

These measures are not designed to eliminate the unions but rather to level the playing field. It gives the taxpayers and elected officials ability to negotiate in a more equitable manner with unions that control essential services. It seems we are tired of having a gun to our head.

What has developed is a death match between the old guard of the Democrats, organized labor and the new guard of the Republicans, small government, fiscal conservatives. In the end Americans want fairness, equity and fiscal responsibility from their government. The resentment toward public sector unions has been building for some time now. Taxpayers are fed up their taxes being squandered on union contracts for public employees that do not reflect the reality of the private sector job market. It isn’t like most people associate government employees with service and performance excellence as a whole.

It is time to end the excessive influence and continue appeasement of these unions over state and local governments. This influence for years has been the fuel for backroom deals, corruption. The result is economic crisis at the state and local government level across the nation with dozens of states teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

Wake up, America! It’s time to face reality and make the changes necessary to save our country. We must end the circular relationship between unionized government employees and the politicians they help to elect!

To read more, check out these articles:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704509704575019552907349936.html

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/18/the-first-blow-against-public-employees/hitting-the-unions-where-it-hurts