Citizen Tom

December 13, 2009

WHY OUR NATION IS SLOWLY GROWING MORE AND MORE ALARMED

Filed under: Democratic Party, unraveling — Citizen Tom @ 9:15 pm

I got the following in an email from someone I regard as serious and level-headed.  I think it well illustrates why people are slowly growing exceedingly nervous about President Obama, particularly with the support he is getting from the socialist Democrats in Congress.   In addition to the fact what President Obama and the Democrats are doing to our country is extreme, the corporate news media does such a lousy job it is hard to separate fact from fiction. 

“It just doesn’t matter…”

When Obama wrote a book and said he was mentored as a youth by Frank, (Frank Marshall Davis) an avowed Communist, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When it was discovered that his grandparents were strong Socialists & sent Obama’s mother to a Socialist school, introduced Frank Marshall Davis to a young Obama, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When people found out that he was enrolled as a Muslim child in school and his father and step father were both Muslims, people said “It just doesn’t matter…” .

When he wrote in another book he authored “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction” regarding the Palestinian issue, people said “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he admittedly, in his book, said he chose Marxist friends and professors in college, people said “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he traveled to Pakistan after college on an unknown national passport, people said “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he sought the endorsement of the Marxist Party in 1996 as he ran for the Illinois Senate, people said “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he sat in a Chicago Church for twenty years and listened to a preacher spew hatred for America and preach Black Liberation Theology, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When an independent Washington organization, that tracks senate voting records, gave him the distinctive title as the “most liberal senator”, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When Palestinians in Gaza set up a fundraising telethon to raise money for his election campaign, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When his voting record supported gun control, people said it didn’t matter. When he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Muammar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When it was pointed out that he was a total, newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When his voting record in the Illinois senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he refused to wear a flag, lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said, “It just doesn’t matter…”

When he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn’t matter.

When he surrounded himself in the White house with advisors who were pro gun control, pro abortion, pro homosexual marriage, anti-capitalism, anti-free markets, pro-government control over everything and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn’t matter.

When he aired his views on abortion, homosexuality and a host of other issues, people said it didn’t matter.

When he said he favors sex education in Kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn’t matter.

When his background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn’t matter.

When his first act as President, literally within 5 minutes of taking office, he signed executive order #13489 that sealed his own records, people said it didn’t matter.

When the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, and continues to spend millions in court to keep the material sealed, people said it didn’t matter.

When he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezko, a man of questionable character, who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home, people said it didn’t matter.

When it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn’t matter.

When he started appointing czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxists and Communists, people said it didn’t matter.

When he stood before the nation and told us that his intentions were to “fundamentally transform this nation” into something else, people said it didn’t matter.

When it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn’t matter. When he appointed a cabinet members and several advisors who were tax cheats and Socialist, people said it didn’t matter.

When he appointed a science czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn’t matter.

When he appointed Cass Sunstein as regulatory czar and he believes in “Explicit Consent”, harvesting human organs without family consent, and to allow animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn’t matter.

When he appointed Kevin Jennings, an overt homosexual, and organizer of a group called gay, lesbian, straight, education network, as safe school czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn’t matter.

When he appointed Mark Lloyd as diversity czar and he believed in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth and admires Hugo Chavez, people said it didn’t matter.

When Valerie Jarrett was selected as Obama’s senior White House advisor and she’s an avowed Socialist, people said it didn’t matter.

When Anita Dunn, White House Communications director said Mao Tse-Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn’t matter.

When he appointed Carol Browner as global warming czar, and she is a well known socialist working on ‘Cap and Trade’ as the nation’s largest tax hike in history, people said it doesn’t matter.

When he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as green energy czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn’t matter.

When Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for health and human services secretary could not be confirmed, because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn’t matter. When as president of the United States, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn’t matter.

When he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn’t matter.

When his actions concerning the middle-east seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time friend, people said it doesn’t matter.

When he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States , people said it doesn’t matter.

When he upset our European allies by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it doesn’t matter.

When he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops the Field Commanders said we had to have to win, people said it didn’t matter. When he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn’t matter.

When he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn’t matter.

When he forced the takeover of insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc, people said it didn’t matter.

When he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn’t matter.

When he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn’t matter.

When he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy resources in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn’t matter.

When he announced he was returning the masterminds of 9/11 to New York City to stand trial as ordinary criminals — not war criminals — and thus allow them the benefits from our system of jurisprudence, the mainstream media loved it and the people said it didn’t matter.

(Oh really? Go ask an FDNY FF, NYPD Cop, NY EMS, NY Port Authority Cop or Transit Worker, or a 9/11 Families member who was at the World Trade Center 9/11/2001 and see if it matters!!!)

When he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State, people finally woke up, but it was too late as Obama is determined to make America over into a Marxist/Socialist society.

All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily.

If you are an Obama Supporter, please recognize that you have elected a president who is a ’socialist’. There is simply no debate about these facts..

We all must pull together or watch the demise of a society that we all love and cherish. If you are a religious person, pray for our nation.

Never before in the history of America have we been confronted with problems so huge that the very existence of our country is in jeopardy.

Please, find the truth, it will set you free. Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia or Iran; no, our biggest enemy is the current contingent of politicians in Washington DC led by the Progressive Left Liberals who support the previously mentioned things.

Wake Up America! There’s still time in 2010 to take back America and send a message LOUD and CLEAR to those who think , “It just doesn’t matter…”

I happen to think “it does matter.”

This website, The Fundamental Transformation of America, is apparently the original source for the diatribe above.  How did the author’s name get separated from his article.  I do not know.

Is every assertion in this email or Matt Bruce’s article true?  No.  The issue over the birth certificate, for example, appears to be a farce (see here).  So is the tripe about Obama standing with Muslims (see here).   Nonetheless, I know quite a few of the charges are true enough.   During the last presidential election, I did this post, PRESIDENTIAL PROS AND CONS: BARACK OBAMA — Updated 26 Oct 2008.  Admittedly, I have not maintained the links, and some news articles I referenced, for example, have disappeared.  Just the same, I found out quite a few things about Barack Obama that scared me. 

After the election, I stopped looking for more skeletons in Obama’ closet.  What is the point?  Isn’t what Obama wants to do bad enough?  That is why I concentrated my efforts on opposing Obama and the hate America first crowd that supports him.   However, if that is what it takes to convince someone that Obama is dangerous to our nation, I will happily investigate specific challenges to the list above.  It won’t be particularly difficult, and I have nothing to lose.   I would be mildly relieved I cannot verify at least some of the charges above. 

There are, of course, other lists.  This one, A List of Things About Obama That Are Not Rumor, provides references.  Like my own post, it makes it quite clear some of the charges are true. 

So what is the point?  What Conservatives need to remember is that we need to be conservative.  Before we repeat accusations, we need to verify the source and make certain it is credible.  We cannot assume a chain email, even if it sounds true, is true.

How are the Liberal Democrats responding?  Are they trying to verify the charges?  No.  When confronted with such charges, Liberal Democrats mostly whine about the meanness of the people who supposedly hate Obama and make stuff up.  Here are a couple of examples.

December 11, 2009

MORAL IMAGINATION

Filed under: unraveling — Citizen Tom @ 10:20 pm

 

Delegate Scott Lingamfelter has been puzzled, not quite certain what to make of Barack Obama’s empty rhetoric.  How, he wondered, could the man say so many words and still say so little?  During Obama’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he heard the words that gave him a clue.  What did he learn?  Here is an excerpt from Lingamfelter’s December 11th email to his supporters. 

Obama Code: “The Continued Expansion of Our Moral Imagination”

It’s been hard to put my finger on it. During his campaign for the presidency, I was struck by the volume of empty rhetoric (now) President Barack Hussein Obama got away with without media scrutiny or press investigation. It really bothered me because the man clearly lacked a moral center on any number of issues. He would speak long lines of meaningless paddle while people and press alike marveled at the guy. I can’t honestly tell you how many folks I spoke to would say after hearing him speak “what did he just say?”

Now comes what I have been looking for; some indication, some glimpse inside why Obama thinks and says so much signifying so very little. Obama loves to talk about President John F. Kennedy’s unfilled work. He uses this device frequently to suggest he—Barack Obama— has arrived on the scene to finish Kennedy’s work.

So—once again— after invoking the Kennedy legacy during his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize on December 10th, 2009, Obama, said of the unfinished Kennedy years: “I do not believe that we will have the will, or the staying power, to complete this work without something more – and that is the continued expansion of our moral imagination”.

Bingo! That’s it; “the continued expansion of our moral imagination”. In one moment Obama told us why so much of what he says has so little meaning. Simply put, he thinks morals are something you imagine and expand.

Morals are not something you “imagine”. Morals are rooted in precepts like the Ten Commandments, the Code of Hammurabi, and the teachings of Jesus. Indeed, morality is based on code of conduct, a set of beliefs that distinguish between right and wrong. And morals are not “expanded”, they are embraced, unless of course, you prefer to be unencumbered by those very rules, maybe setting for a “designer” set more suited to your individual purposes.

In fact what is horribly wrong with America and the world today is that people have rejected morals to “imagine” whatever they will to justify whatever they want. Dictators routinely engage in “moral imagination” to justify and “expand” tyranny. Criminal enterprises employ “moral imagination” to justify their lawlessness and “expand” their influence over innocent people. And deceitful liberal politicians in Washington use “moral imagination” to justify spending our nation and our grand children into a legacy of life-long debt and “expanding” government dependence that will lead to the socialist state they idealize and we reject.

And really, should we be surprised that Obama has such an ill-defined concept of moral development. After all, he doesn’t subscribe to the view that America is exceptional. To do so would be to acknowledge that this nation was founded on Christian principles—which he has publically rejected— and that those Christian principles have led to unparalleled tolerance for other faiths, respect for the dignity of mankind, and a commitment to freedom and justice for all. On the contrary, Obama spends most of his time abroad apologizing for us, possibly as he ponders “new morals” that would be better for us than the ones that have governed right actions since Moses received the Ten Commandments. But then again, maybe Obama has plans to take up mountain climbing. Think about it. If he can get the Nobel Peace Prize for simply showing up, who says he can’t create a new moral order? Pardon me while I’ll stick with the original version.

Does Lingamfelter have the right of it?  You can and should judge that for yourself.  Here is the text of Obama speech.   Below is an excerpt from the speech that puts Obama’s strange phrase in its full context.

Agreements among nations. Strong institutions. Support for human rights. Investments in development. All these are vital ingredients in bringing about the evolution that President Kennedy spoke about. And yet, I do not believe that we will have the will, the determination, the staying power, to complete this work without something more — and that’s the continued expansion of our moral imagination; an insistence that there’s something irreducible that we all share.

 As the world grows smaller, you might think it would be easier for human beings to recognize how similar we are; to understand that we’re all basically seeking the same things; that we all hope for the chance to live out our lives with some measure of happiness and fulfillment for ourselves and our families.

Because he is our leader, President Obama’s entire speech is worth reading.  In his speech, Obama tells us much about how he envisions peace, and we can learn just how naive he is.  Obama speaks of peace as freedom from fear and freedom from want.  Liberty is something we maintain by evolving powerful institutions.   Unfortunately, Obama’s vision confuses a successful tyranny with peace.

Because we divide ourselves into interest groups, the world has always been divided in factions, us versus them.  As Obama says, war is old as humanity and peace difficult to achieve.  Obama understands the problem of peace.   Nonetheless, it is in the midst of declaring his awareness of the problem that Obama reveals his naivete.  Rather than calling upon our nation’s Christian traditions as Lingamfelter would prefer, Obama asks us to call upon our imaginations.  Obama believes our relative differences small.  With a little imagination we should be able to achieve a common understanding with our foes.  Because we share a common humanity, each side should be able to see the advantages of peace. 

Obama thinks of humanity as rational and capable of self perfection.   Lingamfelter, on the other hand, sees Christianity as fundamental to peace. 

What a man believes makes a difference in that man.  Obama knows that much.  Look at his policies.  What has his administration and the Democratic Party majority in Congress set about doing?  Have they not set about remolding the United States into an image of their own liking?  Isn’t their immediate goal readily apparent?  Do they not want to bring every aspect of our lives under the power of government.  Hasn’t the Democratic Party made huge efforts to dominate our mass media and educational institutions.  Isn’t their apparent objective to make all Americans believe the same truths?

It is with his own example and the example of the Democratic Party that Obama undermines peace.   These are men and women who arrogantly believe they know the truth and have the right to impose this truth upon others.   Obama speaks of freedom and liberty, but his administration’s policies reek of the need to control.  Sadly, what Obama fails to appreciate is that such an undisciplined need is what leads to war.  Has not every warlike tribe and nation always believed that it alone had a monopoly on “truth”?  

Christianity taught something new, and it is Christian belief that helped the United States achieve peace with itself and other nations.  What is this truth?  Christianity promotes freedom of religious belief.   Christians understand that it is from God,  not another man, that we learn the true path to salvation.   What early American colonists well appreciated is that men could achieve peace only when they were willing to let each other live in peace. 

Live and let live.  Unfortunately, freedom of belief is anathema to the modern Democratic Party.  How can we be so sure?  Consider that Democrats are socialists and how socialism works.  If we were allowed to refuse, how could socialists impose their vision of Utopia upon the rest of us?   Yet Democrats would control every aspect of our lives.  Who then will not want to refuse at least some aspect of the Democratic Party program for governing our lives.  In that refusal lies the seeds of future conflict.

December 7, 2009

SOMETIMES THE DRAGON WINS

Filed under: Environment, unraveling — Citizen Tom @ 10:55 pm

Here is another example of why elections matter — why good citizens cannot choose to sit on their hands.

The Obama administration today cleared away the last legal obstacle to regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency by issuing a formal declaration that they pose a threat to human health and the environment.

The gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride, are emitted by the tailpipes of motor vehicles, coal-burning power plants and a wide variety of other industrial facilities.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that EPA is obligated under the federal Clean Air Act to classify carbon dioxide as a potentially dangerous air pollutant. Carbon dioxide is the most common of several greenhouse gases that are contributing to the warming of Earth’s atmosphere.  (continued here)

Carbon dioxide is not a toxin.  We exhale the stuff.  Carbon dioxide pervades our world.   Methane we fart (see here). What is at issue is whether or not we can burn enough coal and oil to affect the world’s climate.  Nobody knows the answer.  The science is not settled.  In fact, politics has corrupted the science, and our biased corporate news media refuses to talk about it.  See THE STRANGE BUSINESS OF “CLIMATEGATE”.

Even if we have a right to be concerned about carbon dioxide, we do not need the EPA to regulate it as a toxin.  If burning fossil fuels is a problem, we can tax it, and people will naturally look for alternatives.  No new government agency or special powers are required.   Unfortunately, ambitious busybodies see global warming as an excuse to run every detail of our lives.  On every front, the environment, health care, education, welfare, …these people lust for and grab for power.  For the sake of raw power and inflated egos, these people will wreak havoc upon our economy and make us their serfs.

Frankly, I would rather go down fighting.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, “Peace! Peace!” — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!   — Patrick Henry (from here)

THE RIGHT OF FREE ASSOCIATION

Filed under: Alexis De Tocqueville, Constitution, unraveling — Citizen Tom @ 7:00 am

The First Amendment of our Constitution lists about six rights.  

Article [I.] (See Note 13)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

One right that gets relatively short shrift is the right of the people peaceably to assemble.  What does this right involve?  Why did the Founders consider this right so important that they included it in the first amendment?  I think Alexis De Tocqueville one person who had a good answer to that question.  In his classic work, Democracy in America, Tocqueville wrote about the different types of associations Americans formed. 

What follows is a portion of the contents of Chapter V, Section 2 Volume 2 (of 2).  In this excerpt, Tocqueville explained the importance of Public Associations In Civil Life.

I do not propose to speak of those political associations—by the aid of which men endeavor to defend themselves against the despotic influence of a majority—or against the aggressions of regal power. That subject I have already treated. If each citizen did not learn, in proportion as he individually becomes more feeble, and consequently more incapable of preserving his freedom single-handed, to combine with his fellow-citizens for the purpose of defending it, it is clear that tyranny would unavoidably increase together with equality.

Those associations only which are formed in civil life, without reference to political objects, are here adverted to. The political associations which exist in the United States are only a single feature in the midst of the immense assemblage of associations in that country. Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions, constantly form associations. They have not only commercial and manufacturing companies, in which all take part, but associations of a thousand other kinds—religious, moral, serious, futile, extensive, or restricted, enormous or diminutive. The Americans make associations to give entertainments, to found establishments for education, to build inns, to construct churches, to diffuse books, to send missionaries to the antipodes; and in this manner they found hospitals, prisons, and schools. If it be proposed to advance some truth, or to foster some feeling by the encouragement of a great example, they form a society. Wherever, at the head of some new undertaking, you see the government in France, or a man of rank in England, in the United States you will be sure to find an association. I met with several kinds of associations in America, of which I confess I had no previous notion; and I have often admired the extreme skill with which the inhabitants of the United States succeed in proposing a common object to the exertions of a great many men, and in getting them voluntarily to pursue it. I have since travelled over England, whence the Americans have taken some of their laws and many of their customs; and it seemed to me that the principle of association was by no means so constantly or so adroitly used in that country. The English often perform great things singly; whereas the Americans form associations for the smallest undertakings. It is evident that the former people consider association as a powerful means of action, but the latter seem to regard it as the only means they have of acting.

Thus the most democratic country on the face of the earth is that in which men have in our time carried to the highest perfection the art of pursuing in common the object of their common desires, and have applied this new science to the greatest number of purposes. Is this the result of accident? or is there in reality any necessary connection between the principle of association and that of equality? Aristocratic communities always contain, amongst a multitude of persons who by themselves are powerless, a small number of powerful and wealthy citizens, each of whom can achieve great undertakings single-handed. In aristocratic societies men do not need to combine in order to act, because they are strongly held together. Every wealthy and powerful citizen constitutes the head of a permanent and compulsory association, composed of all those who are dependent upon him, or whom he makes subservient to the execution of his designs. Amongst democratic nations, on the contrary, all the citizens are independent and feeble; they can do hardly anything by themselves, and none of them can oblige his fellow-men to lend him their assistance. They all, therefore, fall into a state of incapacity, if they do not learn voluntarily to help each other. If men living in democratic countries had no right and no inclination to associate for political purposes, their independence would be in great jeopardy; but they might long preserve their wealth and their cultivation: whereas if they never acquired the habit of forming associations in ordinary life, civilization itself would be endangered. A people amongst which individuals should lose the power of achieving great things single-handed, without acquiring the means of producing them by united exertions, would soon relapse into barbarism.

Unhappily, the same social condition which renders associations so necessary to democratic nations, renders their formation more difficult amongst those nations than amongst all others. When several members of an aristocracy agree to combine, they easily succeed in doing so; as each of them brings great strength to the partnership, the number of its members may be very limited; and when the members of an association are limited in number, they may easily become mutually acquainted, understand each other, and establish fixed regulations. The same opportunities do not occur amongst democratic nations, where the associated members must always be very numerous for their association to have any power.

I am aware that many of my countrymen are not in the least embarrassed by this difficulty. They contend that the more enfeebled and incompetent the citizens become, the more able and active the government ought to be rendered, in order that society at large may execute what individuals can no longer accomplish. They believe this answers the whole difficulty, but I think they are mistaken. A government might perform the part of some of the largest American companies; and several States, members of the Union, have already attempted it; but what political power could ever carry on the vast multitude of lesser undertakings which the American citizens perform every day, with the assistance of the principle of association? It is easy to foresee that the time is drawing near when man will be less and less able to produce, of himself alone, the commonest necessaries of life. The task of the governing power will therefore perpetually increase, and its very efforts will extend it every day. The more it stands in the place of associations, the more will individuals, losing the notion of combining together, require its assistance: these are causes and effects which unceasingly engender each other. Will the administration of the country ultimately assume the management of all the manufacturers, which no single citizen is able to carry on? And if a time at length arrives, when, in consequence of the extreme subdivision of landed property, the soil is split into an infinite number of parcels, so that it can only be cultivated by companies of husbandmen, will it be necessary that the head of the government should leave the helm of state to follow the plough? The morals and the intelligence of a democratic people would be as much endangered as its business and manufactures, if the government ever wholly usurped the place of private companies.

In 1830’s America, citizens knew how to organize and form voluntary associations.  They look at their own resources, and understanding how limited those resources were, willingly joined forces with their neighbors.   In willing cooperation, they leverage each other’s labor and materials.    Since that time, unfortunately, we have allowed the power of government to grow.  We have stupidly listened to the glorious promises of politicians, and every year our leaders have promised us more than they did the last.  Every year they have delivered less.  Yet even though we can see before us their failures, we have let politicians greedily seize  more power and control.  They tax us to support programs and causes we do not support, and we docilely submit.  Is it because we were not taught what else to do?  Who is responsible for that?  Who runs our schools?  Why don’t we exhibit the same good understanding of civics that so impressed Tocqueville?

Under the messianic leadership of President Barack Obama, the problem of excessive government has never been more apparent.  This gives each of us a choice; we can freeze in terror or act. We must learn what the Founders well understood.   We must join in free associations with our neighbors. 

We can no long luxuriate lazily before the boob tube; we cannot count upon a Great Leader to speak and wisely command us.  We must each take the initiative.  We must each do our part to leave a better land for our children.  We must demand that politicians not be such busybodies.  We must substitute their ineptitude with our own hard work.  We must each find our cause.  We must participate in a political party, volunteer for a charity, work for our churches, tutor children….or we must learn to submit to the poverty and strangulation of serfdom.

November 20, 2009

HYPERINFLATION

Filed under: economy, unraveling — Citizen Tom @ 10:07 pm

We live in frightening times.   I grew up during the Cold War.  We then had good reason to fear the possibility of nuclear warfare.  Nonetheless, few thought we would self-destruct.  Yet that seems to be what I think we are seeing, and I am not the only one.

I got the following from a relative.  He is a business major, and he is not wont to distrust our country or its institutions.  Nonetheless, he asked me what I thought about it.

If u r recieving this email it is cause u r important to me. I wanted to share with u something that caught my attention. As a student of finance, I have recently learned of the possibility of the US heading into hyperinflation. In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or “out of control”, a condition in which prices increase rapidly as a currency loses its value. This is what happended in post World War I Germany. $ had such little value, people used it as wallpaper. It took carts of $ just to buy a loaf of bread in Weimar Germany.

A woman using $ as fuel.

Hyperinflation is also currently taking place in Zimbabwe…

A vendor sells sweets and snacks with an average price of 15 million Zimbabwean dollars each, on the streets of Highfileds in Harare, Tuesday, May, 20, 2008. As Zimbabwe’s inflation soared to more than a million percent according to independent analysts the country faces a bleak future ahead of a run off election set for June 27. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) Read more at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/21/zimbabwe-inflation-now-ov_n_102899.html

The effect of increasing the monetary supply leads to inflation. Our Fed has produced trillions of dollars, that are currently being stored up in our banks. Remember the bank bailouts? When the banks start lending money again, our markets will become flooded with an excess of currency. The value of our currency drops when this happens. Which causes inflation.The prices of our goods n services will increase, which will cause the govt to print more money so it’s consumers can afford to buy the products being produced, which will cause another increase in the price of consumer gds n service and so on and so on. Argentina is a recent example of this increase in the money supply as well. Here is an excerpt from an article taken from

http://academic.reed.edu/economics/course_pages/201_f06/Cases/money_and_inflation_in_arg.htm

For most of the last fifty years, Argentina has vied with other South American countries and a few countries in other parts of the world for the dubious honor of having the highest inflation rate in the world. As is always the case with rapid inflation, the price increase in Argentina was fueled by rapid expansion of the money supply. The seigniorage earned from monetary expansion served the needs of the government as a method of taxation that was difficult to avoid and politically easy to enact.

…sound familiar?

While I try to be objective when hearing sensationalistic news, I think this is worthy information to take into consideration. My philosophy is prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Plus as Christians, I think it is a great witness to be informed, prepared and able to help in such unwelcome times.

Here is a link to a 3 part video on hyperinflation in our nation. It showcases some prominent economists and investors. One man, Peter Schiff, actually forecasted our current recession. He was publically ridiculed by his peers, including Ben Stein, on national television. He is now trying to raise awareness of the “real” state of our economy, the reality we don’t hear from most of our governing officials and economic pundits. This is all speculation, but if it is true, it is too important to ignore.

youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzmYI_4XCbM

Here are some good ideas on how to get prepared in the case of hyperinflation

http://www.ehow.com/how_4545539_survive-hyperinflation.html

We may see hyperinflation.  I don’t honestly know, but I know the problem is serious (see the US National Debt Clock).  I am certain we will see significant inflation.  However, if a bunch of people lose their jobs, that inflation may be preceded by a period of deflation.  Even if the currency drops in value (inflation), if there no buyers, prices will drop (net deflation).  High employment, unfortunately, will not improve the situation.

What I find somewhat confusing is why we are doing this?  Why is the current administration behaving so insanely?  Why did we elect these people?

I don’t know if our leaders are deliberately wrecking the economy or just insane ideologues.  I don’t know whether the Democrats are insanely power hungry or just stupid.  My guess is both, but why wreck the country just so you can be in charge of the ruins?  Do people hate their own country that much?  I fear they do.

When I consider our current crop of leaders, they make me think of something I read in high school.

Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce

To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:

Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n.

– So Satan spoke in Paradise Lost by John Milton.

What should we do?  What can we do?  Note how that one article said the citizens of Argentina fixed their inflation problem.

In 1990, the government began to completely overhaul the organization of the Argentine economy. It included (a) comprehensive liberalization of foreign trade and capital movements, (b) the privatization of public enterprises and the deregulation of the economy, (c) reduction of the bureaucratic apparatus of the public sector and the reconstruction of the tax system, and (d) the creation of a new monetary system.

Government expenditure fell drastically from 35.6 percent of GDP in 1989 to 29.8 percent in 1990, and continued to fall to 27 percent of GDP by 1995. The fiscal deficit also decreased sharply from 7.6 percent of GDP in 1989 to 2.3 percent in 1990, and from 1991 onward, it fluctuated around 0 percent, accompanying the economic cycle.  (from here)

The citizens of Argentina reduced the government’s role in their economy.  We, on the other hand, have leaders who want to do the exact opposite.  Unfortunately, the citizens of Argentina did not stick to their guns either.  During the period of 2001-2002, Argentina found itself heavily in debt and unable to pay the bill (see here and here).

November 1, 2009

HUH! IS THIS FOR REAL? SEXUAL RIGHTS: AN IPPF DECLARATION

Filed under: unraveling — Citizen Tom @ 7:51 pm

We live in an age of glossy advertisements, when any silly, stupid, and even suicidal notion can be made to look attractive.  Nonetheless, we live in a rich country.  Most of us live in a stable communities.  So it is easy to ignore the degree to which our world is unraveling.

It is unpleasant to be reminded.  Thus, when I saw this blog post, Speaking Of Planned Parenthood, It’s Worse Than Anyone Thinks, I did not want to believe it.

The post provides a five-minute video that explains the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s (IPPF) definition of sexual rights.  Skeptical, I looked up this organization.  Sure enough, there is such an organization, and they really do have a declaration of sexual rights, SEXUAL RIGHTS:  AN IPPF DECLARATION.  In addition, this outfit has a Strategic Framework: 2005-2015.   So the video was starting to look factual.  Yipes!

Then I began to wonder.  Is there really a connection between Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the IPPF.   The answer is yes.  Consider this question/response.

Q. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, The Family Planning Association of Maine — What’s the difference?

A.  Think of us as a family tree with different branches and leaves – some serving different purposes and some doing similar things in different places. What we share is that we are all working for the reproductive and sexual health and rights of women, men, and teens.Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) is one of 97 independent Planned Parenthood affiliates in the United States that operate under the Planned Parenthood name. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is the national umbrella organization, providing technical assistance, national advocacy, and leadership to our movement.

PPFA is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and is part of a worldwide network of Planned Parenthoods.

Each of these Planned Parenthood organizations raises funds separately from the other.

In Maine, the Family Planning Association of Maine (Maine FPA) provides technical assistance, statewide lobbying, performs grants management functions, trains physicians to provide abortions, and provides family planning services in Augusta.

The key difference between PPNNE, PPFA, IPPF, and Maine FPA is that PPNNE provides direct medical, educational, and advocacy services in Vermont, New Hampshire, and southern Maine.

We are all separate organizations and must raise funds independently, which is why you may receive mailings and phone calls from all of us.  (from here)

Why does our government give money to organizations such as this?  How do abortion doctor live with themselves?  It seems people adjust to such things in small steps.  For example, there is only a short step between demanding abortion as a right and demanding that others pay for it.  Once we imagine we have the right to murder, is it that hard to imagine we have the right to steal other people’s money with which to kill?  So it is that in Virginia we pay tax dollars for abortions, Breaking: Joint Statement By Family Foundation And Virginia Catholic Conference On Absence Of Pro-Life Safeguards By Budget Conferees.

There will always be people and organizations such as IPPF and PPFA that relentlessly push us to take steps in the wrong direction.  If we want the right to raise our children to be good Christians, we have to push back even more forcefully.  There is an election on Tuesday.  Make certain you vote.

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