Irrelevant Old Geezer

Presidential election -2012

2011-12-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hi

I was going to name this post "What direction do we want our nation to take?" The name I settled on is easier to remember.

The presidential election of 2012 is a most important one for the nation. The future depends on how the voters speak. On one hand we have President Obama, who has acted and even lately said he wants a socialistic nation. On the other side we have most republican candidates advocating a return to a capitalistic society. Where to go.

In his recent speech in the Midwest Obama said that capitalism doesn't work, hey, I got news for him. Look at history, socialism doesn't work. To support my position I cite examples such as Henry Ford, the guy developed the assembly line and auto companies thrived. He got no government stimulus funds. Thomas Edison created General Electric (Look at how that has been redefined). Edison was a conservative who believed that ingenuity and hard work made success, not government funds. The president should have learned that his policies have failed and that they are doomed to continue failing. That is why I say this election cycle is most important and we should vote out all those who put politics, personal power and prestige ahead of country. This applies to those in both parties. Remember, you get the government you deserve.

Please pray for our troops.
GOD Bless

Herman Cain = Part II

2011-12-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

Hi

In an earlier blog I said I liked Herman Cain as a candidate. Since then every thing has gone "to hell in a hand basket". Here is my take on the situation.

Almost all of the charges are allegations, he said, she said. Do we want to condemn a person for this kind of goings on? Or should we condemn? The media is biased against conservatives as it is, add to the mix the fact that Cain is a man of color, what chance did he have. I think playing the race card is a very foolish method of defense, but in this case, is it warranted? Let's compare similar situations.

First is Bill Clinton and his bimbo harem. We had credible allegations of a forced rape but the media largely ignored it, we had admitted affairs while he was governor of Arkansas, we had Ms Wiley, and of course we had Monica Lewinsky. If factual did anything Cain allegedly do come up to what Clinton did? NO. The media ignored Clinton but went after Cain. I feel that Cain should get the same coverage as Clinton.

Next we need to look at how the campaign of Edwards was covered. The media did not cover the story until the "checkout counter rag" the Enquirer broke it. I mean we all know that the media was forced to print the story because it had already been printed by the Enquirer. Here is the race card again, Clinton and Edwards are white, Cain is colored. Coincidence, I don't think so. In his writings Thomas Jefferson said that in order for there to be a free democracy, there must be a free (unbiased) press. Don't we deserve that much.

Remember to pray for our soldiers and their loved ones.
GOD Bless

What is going on in DC

2011-12-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

Hi

As you can see by the title of this blog I wonder what is going on with our elected and appointed officials. Let me start by trying to determine which officials are doing the worst job.

First there is Chu, Department of Energy. The so called green loans are a complete travesty of democratic ideals. The stimulus package is doled out to White House cronies and we taxpayers get stuck holding the bag. The secretary gives a loan to a solar panel company when private capital is not available. Mr Chu, "Why do you think private capital is not available? Could it be that the idea of a solar panel company is not viable? Your primary function is to work within the law and protect taxpayers money. After an asinine decision to loan the taxpayer money you then compound the situation. The statute which authorizes the loan places some restrictions on the loan. One of these restrictions is that the government can not hold a second position (lien) on the borrower. Mr Chu, you admitted in your testimony before congress that you disregarded this restriction in order to induce borrowers to invest. You assert that it was needed to raise the additional monies needed. Does the law mean anything to you? You should be ashamed of your action and if I had the power I would have dismissed you during the hearings. The American taxpayer deserves some one who upholds the law, not break it. If you read this Mr Chu please atone. Make things better by resigning.

Even in the face of all the nonsense going on in Washington there are some good, honest and dedicated individuals. I am referring to our brave service people. Please keep them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Time to clean out DC

2011-11-29T18:59:00.000-08:00

Hi

Like many American taxpayers I am fed up with the way our government is being e need change.

One of the major problems we have is what I call the "mushroom politicians". Now you ask what that means, well, a mushroom grows in decaying ground and requires no roots. I think you can see where I am heading. Today we got some good news, Congressman Barney Frank, D-MA, announced his retirement. He has been in office too long, some thing like 17 two year terms. Mr Frank should have been retired years ago.

Because of the way the congress works committee membership is on a seniority method of selection. Under this type of committee appointments go to any one who hangs around too long. Being committee chair gives one power, as in the power to select which bills come up for discussion. To my way of looking at it, seniority is a disaster looking for a place to erupt. We saw how it leads to earmarks which finally have been cleared up, now let's go after seniority. Of course the easiest way is for the citizenry to vote the bums out. More to come so please stay tuned.

I hope all had a good thanksgiving and that we took time to remember our brave service men and women who are away from family defending our great nation. Remember them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Thanksgiving Greetings

2011-11-23T14:06:00.000-08:00

Hi

Today I would like to take the time to wish you all a healthy and safe Thanksgiving Day. May your day be filled with company of loved ones, plenty of good food and good football.

Just remember those who serve and spend the holidays away from home. Please remember them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Good government vs bad government

2011-11-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

Hi

Today I am venting my anger at what passes as our federal government. We see so much bad government that it is now reached the proportions of an epidemic.

Recent revelations have pointed out that congress is exempt from laws governing "Insider trading". Will some please tell me how this exemption helps pass legislation? Nancy Pelosi has made money on using inside information about Visa. Former speaker Hastert used knowledge of a federally funded highway construction sight to buy abutting land and turned a profit. If an ordinary citizen did either of these that citizen would face criminal charges.

Either directly or through other indirect means we the taxpayers pay for these perks. This is no longer a light issue to pass over but it goes to the core of the make up of our elected officials.

The Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party movements should join in a drive to oust all incumbent politicians, liberal or conservative, republican or democrat. Restore sanity to our nation. Vote them out

Please keep in your prayers for well wished and safety for our troops.
GOD Bless

Republican candidates - Herman Cain

2011-11-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

Hi

The "lamestream" media is at it again. Just as it was with the Justice Clarence Thomas hearings we are seeing a lynching in the media.

I for one get really disgusted with the media for the covering of these kinds of stories. Just compare the manner in which the following stories have been covered, first let's label them. On one hand we have President Bill Clinton, Congressman Weiner. On the other side we have Cain and Justice Thomas.

In the Clinton/Weiner instances we heard all kinds of cover ups, they are still capable of doing their jobs, it is only sex, boys will be boys, etc. In the Cain/Thomas situation we see quite a change. According to the media Justice Thomas should never have been confirmed, Cain should resign from his running for President. I still hope that some one in the so called main media would answer my blog and explain tome how this kind of bias should be considered news.

One other point I would like to make is the silence of these so called "civil rights, black advocates, champions of the people" like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Fellas,the silence is deafening.

I always recall the words of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson said that a fair press is necessary to preserve democracy. Does any one think that todays media is fair?

Keep our brve service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Obama and his lack of business acumen

2011-11-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hi

The president acts through his appointed cabinet members, staff and aides. Mr Obama has picked some real stinkers. The major problem is the spending of the stimulus.

First, there is half a billion given to a solar power company which goes bankrupt about a year after getting the money. The rationale was that the stimulus was given to save or create jobs. With the bankruptcy 1100 jobs were lost. A waste of our money.

Next we learn about a car company that manufactures electric cars. Another half billion dollars. As soon as the company got the money the company made plans and is now slated to open a plant in Finland. Finland gets the jobs, the US (we) get the shaft.

Another example of where our money goes is the truck stop in Virginia. Diesel trucks are manufactured so that it is more economical to run the engine all night rather than shut off the engine. This company had an idea whereby the diesel engines could be shut off and started easily in the morning. The company could not get the system to work and now the property where the truck stop was planned is now for sale.

This is a pattern, too many bad decisions by our bureaucrats. There decisions should not be forced upon the taxpayer by these bumbling oafs,but rather the decision should be made using good common sense, business sense and practical usages.

Why we seem to feel that when a person gets elected to congress or appointed to an administrative bureaucracy that person acquires business acumen. These examples show this is not the case. We need to root these people out of government.

Please remember to pray for our ervice people.
GOD Bless

Education reform - higher education

2011-11-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

Hi

Higher education is what makes the country run. We need the best quality education in order to maintain our freedoms. However, there is room for reform.

The cost of college education is skyrocketing. The primary thing to control is costs for tuition and board. Most students end up paying for tuition by parental savings,student loans and part time work. If a household has two siblings attending college at the same time most families cannot afford the cost of college, so we should address what is left -student loans.

Under our current system most colleges have advisers who help students get financial help. If help is not enough the next resort is student loans. The federal government backs up the loan, in effect, the taxpayers are cosigners. My opinion is that the federal government should get some thing in return. I refer you to my earlier posts concerning Compulsory Military Service. The approval of the government sponsored loan should be conditioned on a full term service in the military plan. Under my service plan a person gives one year time in the military in exchange for a guaranty of a student loan. I feel that this would be the first step in controlling college costs.

Please pray for our brave service people
GOD Bless

How do we reform education?

2011-10-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hi

This is a follow up on earlier writings about education. For purpose of blogging I will split my thoughts between higher (college and above) and Grade school through high school. The first issue is how to fax the non college portion.

As the law now stands we have a weird hodgepodge of rules and regulations. Who needs them? The vast bureaucracy called the Department of Education is nothing more than a monitor. The Tenth Amendment to our Constitution reserves the right to regulate education to the states, not the federal government. I know that education will improve if the control is in the local school boards as opposed to Washington. To get the federal government out of education is simple, repeal all federal laws regulating education. It makes sense to me that if a school needs a new building as opposed to teacher raises the school should make that decision.

How to get federal aid to education to the states, I am opposed. If the majority choose to keep funding schools then we need a sensible plan. With modern technology it is easy for schools to do a clerical job of creating a census of school attendance. This census should contain the social security number of the student. Today most people obtain a social security number at birth so that part is already in existence. The federal government can compile a national listing of VALID attendees based on the social security number. The next step is simple, add the total student census for the country and divide into the funds allotted for education and determine a per capita amount of subsidy. This amount is block granted to the state, no strings or other conditions attached.

I see two improvements which will come of this system, first being that only students validly in the United States will count. Bogus social security numbers will be weeded out. If the local school board wishes to continue educating "illegals" then it must do so at local taxpayer expense. The second plus is that the bureaucracy of the Department of Education will be cut and the costs will be saved. Win - win.

I hope that our politicians in Washington will fix the problem. We need it.

Pray for our troops.
GOD Bless

Tax plan of Governor Perry

2011-10-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hi

I am uplifted by the news today that Governor Perry has unveiled a tax plan. Since the plan is new I have not had a chance to go over the details but one thing that I really like is the fact that the candidates are talking tax reform. President Obama,when he was a candidate said he would bring change but as far as change in taxation goes, it is trite and useless. The president sings the same song, "Tax the rich, raise taxes on those who can afford it and cut deficit spending." Even if we were to tax the rich at the rate of 100% we would not have a balanced budget unless we cut spending. Since almost all republican proposed tax reform includes the lowering of taxes and the critical element - cut spending. The mindset of the Republican candidates is to cut spending and I feel that a cut in spending,coupled with a tax cut would create jobs. The jobs created would generate taxes which would stir the economy. Win, win for the American people.

Since I have not fully read all about this tax cut plan I will withhold judgment on which tax cut proposal is best. More to come.

Pray for the safety of our troops.
GOD Bless

Stimu;us spending

2011-10-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hi

Maybe I look at things in a crazy way but I cannot understand the way the Obama administration is giving away our money. I am referring to the so called "green spending". If we develop alternate fuel and energy I am 100% for that but wait a minute, what are we doing? We have multiple examples of stupid spending, the solar panel company, the car company who took a HALF BILLION DOLLARS and built a plant in Finland, and now we have the failed truck stop loan. Just when does it stop, we have a government spending like there is no limit on money, hey guys (and gals) stop, it's our money.

Could you imagine what the so called main stream media would have to say about this foolishness? I know the media would have a feeding frenzy with this if a republican president did it. Come on media, where is your fairness. How come only Fox News will cover this type of story.

While I am on this subject I would like to call out Michael Moore, the documentary movie maker. Michael, remember Roger and Me? You stalked the head of GM for closing a Michigan plant, now be a man and go after Kinsler like you went after GM. Kinsler is the name of the company that got the half billion and went to Finland. Michael I know you are out there, or are you too busy counting your money which is offshore? Be an American Michael, it is a nice feeling.

Keep tuned in as the stories unfold. Mean while keep our service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Cain and the 9-9-9 tax proposal

2011-10-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hi

As a a follow up to my last blog I would like to expand on why I like the Cain proposal.

First, there is a removal of the motivation for special interests and lobby groups. Many so called special interests look for the tax code to supply special favors. With the enactment of the triple nine this is greatly diminished or even completely nullified. Lobby groups would lose incentive to continue lobbying congress and even campaign contributions would be lowered. This has a a secondary effect on congress, no campaign money, no reelection bids. Just think of it, politicians would self impose term limits. Isn't it about time.

One thing that would have to be done is to amend our Constitution and eliminate the amendment which enables the Internal Revenue Code and service. This plan would replace the IRS with a smaller more taxpayer friendly atmosphere in which to do business. Read, More jobs, less trepidation because the fear of a tax audit is all but gone. What a beautiful way to run a business.

We should look at the candidates and examine the picture that they paint for our future. Cain is one of the few who expresses a hopeful message. I say give him a chance.

Continue to pray for our service peope.
GOD Bless

Cain and the 9-9-9- plan

2011-10-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hi

If you read my earlier blogs you know I am a Cain fan. I like the idea of a non-politician who has novel ideas about how to run a government. I am especially favorable to his tax plan. When the media and other pundits start to be critical of the plan you know it must be good. The media is on a path of destroying the United States as we know it, and this plan will help restore power to the people.

Most of the media coverage is negative but a full explanation of the plan shows how simple and effective 9-9-9- really is. The plan has 3 parts, each with a tax rate of 9%.(Hence, 9-9-9)

Part one is a flat 9% tax on corporate income, no deductions, just a flat tax. All corporations pay this tax. Just stop to think how this will effect corporations (think GE) who ship jobs and revenue overseas. All pay so all will have a participation in government.

Part two is a flat tax on personal income, also 9%. All pay so all people will be concerned how the government spends our money, it leads to a democratic process which will empower the people to make government work for us, not special interests.

Part three is a national sales tax of 9%. This is the equalizer between "rich vs poor". The rich spend far more(they buy Cadillacs instead of Chevys). Since the tax is on spending the rich will pay more than the poor, so maybe we can now put the disgraceful practice of politicians to ply the class envy card. I don't know about you but I am sick and tired of hearing about this so called tax inequality and would welcome the idea of class envy being buried. RIP.

We should learn more about this idea and I feel certain we would enjoy a clean breeze blowing all the pollution out of Washington.

Please continue to pray for our brave troops.
GOD Bless

Should Holder resign

2011-10-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hi

I will start my writing with a reminder that the Attorney General (AG) is the lawyer for the American people. He (she) represents the US government in all legal matters. Now having said that we must look into the record of Eric Holder.

Before becoming AG Holder was a lawyer for some government agency. In that capacity he brokered the deal for the pardon of the biggest tax fraud defendant in American history, one Marc Rich. This was done outside of regular channels and raised eyebrows when it was done. To me it showed that Holder is not my favorite person to hold elected or appointed office. Obama gets elected and with the rubber stamp of a very partisan senate Holder gets approved and becomes our AG.

Once in the office of AG Holder puts in procedures on how to run the office. We learn that one procedure is that in voter rights matters the AG will only uphold complaints when the party complaining is non white. Aren't we all Americans? Wasn't it Dr King who wanted a color blind society? So much for moral judgments.

Now comes the so called sting covering the sale of guns to Mexican drug cartels. The guns are sold with the intent of tracing them to the "warlords". Being a government operation something goes wrong- what else in new? Congress, which has oversight over these matters now starts an investigation. The AG office sends blacked out documents, redacted for security reasons. Congress says the AG is stonewalling. We get testimony that the AG knew nothing about the sting operation. The American people can see through this cover up. Mr Holder, come clean. Tell us the truth. We the American people pay your salary as our attorney, we deserve honesty.

This is an example of what is wrong with our government. We have allowed ourselves to be governed by career politicians and their minions. It is time we take our country back. The ballot box is the legal recourse we have. Vote the bums out.

Please continue to pray for our service people. They protects us and our freedoms.
GOD Bless

Obama and open government

2011-10-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hi

The president is hijacking our Constitution. What is going on.

We have had Obamacare foisted upon us, massive spending on failed programs, a virtual takeover of the domestic auto business, scandalous giveaways to politically connected "green firms", an attorney general who seems to be selective in which laws are enforced, various federal agencies trying to direct where factories are built and a government which is being run with the sole objective the reelection of Obama. For us to prosper as a nation this must stop.

Congress must try to pull the purse strings from the president, adopt sane fiscal constraints and curtail the usurping of power. We the American people must hold the career politicians responsible and we must do it in the 2012 election. We need honest and knowing people who will do what is right. The truth is that these people can be either conservative or liberal, but they must be honest and forthright. We lack those qualities in our current government.

One area where we are blessed is our military where we have honest, decent and patriotic people serving. This is why I continue to ask you to remember these people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

We need a "clean broom"

2011-10-04T13:39:00.001-07:00

Hi

There is an old adage that states that a new broom sweeps clean. Right now we need one in Washington, DC. I cannot understand what is going on with our government.

Example, the Department of Energy gives a loan of over 500 Million dollars to a solar paneled company. There were all kind of warnings signals about the solvency of the company, ignored. When trouble brews, the company is reeling into bankruptcy, the Department of Energy restructures the loan to benefit creditors other than the United States. Does anyone at Energy know or care about what is going on? The American taxpayer is getting screwed and no body seems to care.

Another example, The Department of Justice runs a sting operation to trace the sale of guns to drug cartels. Being a government "plan" it fails (what else). Now as congress is trying to resolve what went wrong nobody knows what was going on. By nobody I mean to include the president and the attorney general. More of the same, screw the American taxpayer.

This country cannot afford to keep raising the debt ceiling in order to spend money. When the spending is compounded by these idiotic brainstorms the American people MUST speak out at the voting booths. Throw the bums out.

Your prayers for our troops is appreciated.
GOD Bless

Mr Cain - now this is a real candidate

2011-09-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hi

Pardon me if I gush but listening to Cain speak on the campaign trail I can only hope that the American electorate feel as I do. I am not referring to any "glib" talk but rather his talk on the issues. Cain offers a fresh point of view, fueled by a belief in his convictions and a certain confidence that he can serve well as our next president.

Specifically, I like his tax approach. Mr Cain has offered to scrap the Internal Revenue code as we know it and replace it with a 9-9-9 tax. This plan is a combination of 9% flat tax on personal income, 9% on corporate income and a national sales tax of 9%. Before you get excited about any effect on inflation remember that his plan replaces our current tax code as it effects income. social security, medicare, capital gains and inheritance taxes. Right on. Just think of how the American public can now view the income tax department as no threat.

By bringing forward a good workable plan Mr Cain has posed a solution for many of our problems. A uniform tax plan will help even out the cost of government, eliminate the constant whining of liberals about the rich not paying their fair share, ( I quote Rush, "Did you ever get a job from a poor person?") Other areas which will be benefited by this plan are the unemployment problem, the balance of payments problem and the plan would even diminish the power of the lobby groups. Isn't this what we need.

Mr Cain, keep up the good work and give us the leadership which we need.

Please pray for our brave troops.
GOD Bless

Did I read this correctly?

2011-09-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hi

Every so often I read or hear of some hair brained idea, this morning was such an occasion. I am referring to a blog I read which quoted North Carolina Democratic Governor Bev Perdue. Apparently Ms Perdue made a speech to a civic group and in the speech the governor called for the suspension of elections for our federal congress. The reason given is that because of our national economic crisis, if we suspend elections for congress, the members of said body could devote the time to fix our broken economy.

My first reaction is to ask the governor if she ever heard of the United States Constitution? We are a constitutional republic and our governing constitution clearly defines how we elect officials. We should not take this lightly. It begs the question. "In the future how do we define a crisis?" Activist judges, congress itself, or perhaps the executive branch by fiat. I don't give a damn which party is in control, I do not want that kind of government. The way to fix our economic woes is by reining in government.

Another question which I would pose to Governor Perdue, "Congress had a major part in causing the ruination of our economy, do you really believe that giving the SAME PEOPLE more power can be helpful? I would hope that the voters of North Carolina elected a governor with more common sense that what Ms Perdue has espoused.

The cure is simple, vote out all the self serving politicians who have made a seat in congress a lifetime appointment. That is the answer, not some mushy hair brained scheme which does nothing. Governor Perdue I call on you, in your position of governor, to call for our politicians of both parties to act like grown ups. Solve the problem or quit congress. We used to say, "Fish or cut bait." That adage still applies.

Please continue to pray for the safety of our serving members of the armed forces.
GOD Bless

Why is the president in the campaign mode

2011-09-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hi

It strikes me ironic that the president is going around the country campaigning for reelection. I know, all politicians do, but in his third year of his first term? Obama must feel the pulse of the people and he probably realizes that there is a great deal of anger directed towards his administration. Hence the politician takes over, but let us ask why.

If Obama had passed good legislation, what the people wanted he would not have this problem. It is not good leadership to try to rule by imposing your agenda on the populace. This is exactly what Obama is doing. Here are some specifics:

Obamacare, every poll shows that the vast majority do not want this. It has helped fuel unemployment and yet the president clings to this misguided ideal. Mr President, we cannot afford this failed policy.

Why did he, through administrative agencies, pull the plug on off shore drilling for oil? We created the energy department to wean our nation from imported oil but since the inception of this department we have seen oil dependency increase. Shouldn't we change this policy, another failure?

The so called green jobs give away. We break the law by structuring loans so that the taxpayer cedes our protected position as a lender to give loans to companies that take the money and run. Interestingly these companies are also big Obama political donors. Quote Hamlet. "I smell a rat."

Unless and until we the American people hold our politicians to some higher degree of honesty we will have this kind of nonsense going on. Please remember this when you vote.

Pray for our brave warriors.
GOD Bless

Sum up of what we need to do to empower the people

2011-09-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hi

In my lasts several posts I have written about the various things that seem to be going wrong in Washington. Here is a recap of what I would like to see. I hope that our elected officials get the message.

The first and most important item is that we the American people must clean Washington of the entrenched bureaucrats, politicians and lobbyists. Without that nothing can succeed. This can and should be accomplished by the ballot box. It is incumbent on us the voting public to carry this out.

The next thing needed is that we must hold politicians responsible. This responsibility should be extended to cover federal agencies, bureaus and cabinet departments. Unless and until this is done we will only have a repeat of what is going on now, only different faces. The American taxpayer deserves this change.

In future writings I will continue to espouse policies which favor limited government and more freedom.

We need our brave military so please kep these warriors in mind the next time you pray.
GOD Bless

Ponzi vs. Social security

2011-09-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hi

In my last 2 blogs I attempted to spell out what a Ponzi scheme is and then I gave an explanation of how social security works. Now comes the political tying of the comparison knot.

In a Ponzi scheme there is no investment of funds, only a clear intent to defraud. The person running the scheme has no other motive than to scam his victims. When you look into the funding of social security you can see similarities between both. Congress when they voted to move the social security funds into the general budget thus converting a trust into an unfunded mandate, one which would be paid for in future funds. By doing this the government actually converted the social security system into a "Ponzi-like" scheme. The continued growth of the taxpayer base has proven to be a myth, circumvented by the political desire to spend funds on pork barrel like legislation. Congress bit off more than it could chew. We now face the payback, and, to use an old phrase, "The payback is a bitch." There are detractors on both side of the issue who will try to say otherwise but facts are facts, no pundit can alter that.

Now we are faced with coming up with a solution. Here everybody goes wild, we hear-You can't take from the senior citizens, they've paid in and deserve to collect...increase the amount of wages subject to social security...increase the rate of tax on social security subject wages...use a means test to lower payments to those who collect and are affluent...push back the retirement age...etc. The list of cures goes on endlessly. Here I want you to take a good look at the so called cures, each is a scheme to punish the American taxpayer for complying with the law. Do we really need that?

My biggest complaint is with our elected officials, past, current and future (hopefully not). Why haven't they done something about the problem. Leadership includes the ability to define a problem. come up with workable solutions and then selling these solutions to the taxpayer. The American taxpayer has had no leadership on this matter for too long. The time to act is NOW. We, the American tax paying public can express our view at the ballot box. Remember when you vote in 2012. I will be writing about my ideas for a solution in future blogs.

Please pray for our troops.
GOD Bless

Social security and medicare

2011-09-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hi

In keeping with my comparison of Social Security and "A Ponzi scheme" this blog is how the social security system works. I will use examples to illustrate my points.

In my example let us say that Business Corp hires Fred for ten hours a week, a part time worker. The rate of pay is to be $10./hour. Fred works his first week and now he gets his paycheck, 10 hours at $10 per hour. This figures to be $100. dollars. But when Fred gets his check it is less. What happened?

Fred looks at his pay stub and he sees an item "FICA". what is this? FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) is the legal name for social security. There is another deduction for Medicare. Upon asking Fred finds out that these are mandatory deductions. Now let's trace what happened to the money deducted. Business Corp. does not keep the money, but instead it must pay this over to the federal government. The corporation must deposit these funds from employee deductions into an account of the US Treasury. Before making such deposit the corporation must make a calculation and pay a different, larger sum. The corporation must match the deductions made by employees for social security and medical insurance. Just as a side note there is also a payment due on state and federal unemployment. This is an example of the regulation of a business that is imposed by the tax code. More on that in a later blog.

When social security was originally set up the funds collected were meant to be kept in a "lock box" account, which was that congress would not have the power to use these funds. This was changed by congress when LBJ was president and now we the American taxpayers are paying. This is a brief explanation of social security, medicare works similarly and for comparison either plan can be used.

In my next blog I will compare the Ponzi scheme to social security.

Pray for our troops
GOD Bless

What is a Ponzi scheme?

2011-09-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hi

In the past days I have digressed from my theme of financial responsibility to one of exploring current events. Today I hope to try to explain what a "Ponzi scheme" is. Texas Governor Perry has likened he Social Security to such a scheme so I hope this blog sheds some light. The Ponzi scheme is named after a man who used such a scheme to enrich himself at investors expense.

Let me try to illustrate the idea by using an example. Mr. Pinzo decides that he wants to make money, legally or illegally. He now devises this scheme. The first thing Pinzo dose is to enlist investors, which he does by promoting an investment which will pay a high return on the investment. He does so by interesting Andy to invest. For purposes of the illustration Andy puts in $1000. Pinzo doesn't invest it because there is no investment vehicle. Pinzo s faced with the dilemma of paying Andy a dividend or return on his investment, so Pinzo sells Bill on the idea. Bill invests $1000 which is used to pay Andy's return or yield and the balance goes into Pinzos pocket. The idea then becomes a self growing one, as Pinzo now enlists investments from Chuck, Dave, Eddie, etc. The more the merrier because it means more money for Pinzo. Alas, one day the investors call for the return of their principal investment, it is not there. By this time Pinzo is somewhere on a tropical island sipping cocktails on the beach.

Of course the entire scheme is illegal. Try to catch Pinzo becomes the name of the game.

What I will try to explain in my next blog is if this idea ties or links into Social Security. Come back next time.

I ask that you set aside a moment to pray for the safety of our brave service people who are defending our freedoms.
GOD Bless

President Obama's Work Program

2011-09-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hi

Just a few days age the president gave a speech before a joint session of congress. My thoughts on the matter are as follows:

First: The plan calls for a huge outlay of money ( which we don't have ) and to pay for this outlay his plan calls for future spending cuts. Isn't the role of the super committee formed by congress to come up with spending cuts. This is a bait and switch idea. We spend the money now and then we claim that it is paid for by cuts already in the pipeline. I hope that the congress does not fall for this sham.

Second: The proposed spending is in reality a stimulus spending plan. We have already been down that road before, government make work programs do not work. I repeat - Government make work plans are not effective. Why try to use an idea when we know it will not work. This is insanity.

Third: When the deficit and United States debt do not shrink the answer to liberals is obvious - raise taxes. Raising taxes only increases unemployment. Reducing taxes increases revenue. This has been proven by cuts made by John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and believe it or not Bill Clinton. I include Clinton because during his administration he was forced to cut capital gains taxes. When this was done the economy soared.

In order to fix this unemployment dilemma we must use sound logical reasoning. The first and most important order of business should be to reign in administrative bodies. These unelected bureaucrats carry out the wishes of the president. The president could do this with one sweep of his pen. Look at the job killing decisions made by Obama during his presidency- the stopping of off shore drilling for oil ( only by United States ). We should be aggressively drilling in all of our sources. High fuel or energy prices are one of the job killers that should be addressed. Another bureaucratic policy is the intervention into the plan by Boeing Aircraft to build a plant in South Carolina. By what constitutional authority does the federal government but in? Stay out and let the private sector do what it does better, create jobs.

It is only when we get some clear thinking from our government that we can grow ourselves out of this economic hole.

I close for now, please keep praying for our armed services.
GOD Bless

Obama speech

2011-09-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hi

This evening President Obama addressed a session of Congress. The speech was hyped as a "job creation speech". My thoughts on the speech.

The delivery was excellent, rousing, animated and called for Congress to pass the proposed legislation. What was missing was the details, what gives? We got Obamacare without any discussion, do we need another "pig in a pole?" I hope that the congress is smart enough to really weigh the provisions of this or any bill before passing such bill. My take is that the congress should be an equal partner with the president and bills should be fully aired, discussed and the effects of such legislation should be carefully thought through. Only then will we have a good piece of legislation.

There was some talk of tweaking the tax code, great, we should dump the present code in favor of a flat or fair tax. I noticed that Mr Immelt, head of GE was sitting by Hillary Clinton. Mr Immelt, the head of GE, the company that pays no federal income taxes and has just exported jobs to China. Mr Obama you denied listening to Reverend Wright, you claim you did not hear Jimmy Hoffa use a derogatory expression to describe the political opposition, can we infer that you are unaware of the fact that GE pays no taxes? Please tell us what yo do know.

Another aspect of this so called "jobs creation bill" is that I did not hear any mention of reducing bureaucratic oversight. This is the real job crusher. If the president would reign in his lackeys who run the various agencies we would not be having this ind of problem creating jobs. Layers of control only lead to higher unemployment so I say let's get rid of the bureaucracy and watch economic growth. The American people deserve this. Point- Boeing wants to erect a pant in South Carolina, bureaucrats are stopping this and trying to force Boeing into North Carolina. What is the difference where the jobs are created, Mr Obama wake up and smell the roses.

On a positive note I ask that you continue to pray for our troops.
GOD Bless

Foreign aid

2011-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hi

Another area where the government can cut spending is the foreign aid programs. I realize some foreign aid is necessary but we certainly can look into which programs are worth while keeping. We give subsidies to places like Egypt and for what reason. Why should taxpayers subsidize another nation? This is just a beginning, there are others. We give taxpayer money for no reason and now when we are in an economical slump it pays to examine these aid programs. Taxpayer funds go to Israel and to the Palestinians, what are we doing, burning two ends of the candle. Some one in DC should wake up and get a realistic approach to this. The time is now.

I hope that I am conveying a pattern of budget cuts, cut waste and useless programs. We the American taxpayer deserve better.

Please keep on praying for our brave defenders of liberty.
GOD Bless

Who is leading this country???

2011-09-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hi

In this blog I will digress from my series on budget cuts and instead write about a real sorrowful situation.
First and foremost let me state that the government employees, including and especially congress, work for us, the American taxpayer. During the last several days comments by congress people have really got me annoyed.
Specifically I am talking about Congresswoman Waters and Congressman Gordon. The talk from these two is utterly disgusting in that both resort to hate speech. Ms Waters says that the Tea Party people can all go to H***, is that the way we want our leaders to talk and think. Ms Waters should not condemn any group for a political point of view. Instead Ms Waters, who claims to be for the minority people should look at who is "economically enslaving" these minorities. I charge that it is the liberal policies of the democratic party that suppresses the minorities. All programs are aimed at making the poor permanently poor. As Rush Limbaugh often says, "Liberals measure compassion by how many people they put on welfare, conservatives measure compassion by how many people they take off welfare." Right on.
Now as to Mr Gordon, he alleges that Tea Party people want to hang Negroes from trees. He even attributes this feeling to members of congress who are Tea Party favorites. I would like Mr Gordon to read this blog and answer one question-"Do you have any original thoughts or ideas other than to play the race card when you run out of political rhetoric? What claptrap. We the American taxpayer deserve better. Let's see the Congressional Black Caucus do some thing about these two characters. We can only hope and pray that the right thing is done.

Some thing positive we all can do is to pray for our service people.
GOD Bless

Budget cuts keep coming

2011-09-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hi

As you can see from the titles of the blog I am especially interested in budget cuts. My hope is that it will rub off on our elected leaders. For too long every one in DC, presidents, congress people, and members of both political parties have ignored the harsh reality, our government costs too much. Every so often they appease the voters by announcing some sort of budget cut. In order to explain what Washington means by a budget cut I will give a hypothetical example. For sake of this example let us assume there is a department which has an annual budget of $100,000. The department submits a proposed budget for the subsequent year of $110.000. a 10% increase. After review the congress approves only a $6,000 raise to a total new budget of $106,000. The way Washington looks at it they cut $4,000 off the proposed budget which is a 4% cut. In actuality the new budget is a 6% increase. f we did math like that in grade school we would have received a failing grade. Let's give these characters a failing grade at the ballot box.

Remember to keep our service members in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Federal budget cuts - travel

2011-08-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hi

This wee there was an article in one of the Supermarket tabloids about Michelle Obama and her travel expenditures. A perfect lead in to my take on federal travel, does any one audit these expenditures? It would seem as if this is not done. A good accounting system would require an independent audit of such expenditures and I hope we taxpayers are getting one.
Travel, and the use of cars by the elected officials must be reined in. A while back congress woman had her chauffeured car take her to work. Her office is just around the corner from her office. When Ms Pelosi was speaker of the house she got to use a large jet. I know she is from California and needs some leeway, but, should she have such a plane available for her personal use. Taxpayers pick up the tab, they should have a voice in how to spend the money.
It must be a given that the media either does not uncover these abuses or they choose to omit these stories from news coverage. Either way the taxpayer loses.

These are some of the ways we can save money, I know it, let's hope the panel selected to suggest changes recognizes the situation.

Please pray for our service people.
GOD Bless

The budget cuts keep coming

2011-08-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hi

One of my favorite areas to cut spending is education. Not on education but rather on the Department of Education. Another vast federal department that has gotten out of hand.

The education in this country can be demonstrated by explaining how the Department of Education works. There are 3 classes of people who work in education, the educators, (teachers, aides,etc), the administrators, (principals, school board members etc), and the service people, (janitors, lunchroom monitors and school crossing guards,etc). All are needed but the more we pay for the 2 classes of non teaching roles the less money becomes available for the teachers.
Enter the federal government, The Department of Education. Rules for what to teach, schools being graded, and excessive paperwork to secure federal aid. Why, do we really need this bureaucracy?
At this point there is a question about Tenth Amendment rights. The Tenth Amendment limits the role of the federal government and education is not a function of the federal government. For the sake of this blog I will assume we want to subsidize education.

Currently the states must file a report of several thousand pages to get federal funding. What if we were to substitute this with a simple census report prepared by the schools. After the census report is prepared the state can collect and collate the school district reports. Then file with a slimmed down Department of Education, and allot funds in a per capita basis. The local schools know what they need, new schools, renovation, teacher salaries, etc. The control is now shifted to the local school away from the bureaucrats in DC. This can also be a monitor in the control of illegal aliens bleeding our school districts.

If we go the route of cutting the Department of Education then a portion of the savings can be included in the grants to the schools. The portion not sent to the states can be eliminated from our budget. A win-win situation.

Our troops need our support and prayers, please remember them.
GOD Bless

Still more budget cuts

2011-08-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hi

After reading this post I hope you can understand why I dedicated this blog to President Carter - the really irrelevant old geezer.

My subject is the Department of Energy. A typically liberal project, good idea, accomplish nothing but we felt good doing it. I for one am tired of paying taxes for this "feel good: policy of liberals. I want results and I suppose you want the same.

President Carter established the Department of Energy to do several missions:
First to wean America from dependence on foreign oil, second was to develop new alternative fuels, and third was to keep oil prices stable.

Today we depend more on foreign oil than when the department was formed. We are at the mercy of OPEC. Our national security is threatened because we must commit troops to protect these sources particularly in the Middle East. Ask yourselves, "DO we really need to spend our young peoples lives because we depend on an incompetent bureaucracy? This is a great tragedy and should stop.

Now look at the second part of the mission. The only new fuel developed is ethanol, and that is questionable. It has driven food prices up because the corn normally used in food processing is now used in ethanol manufacturing. To compound the stupidity, off shore oil mining in the Gulf of Mexico is virtually at a standstill. Yet, President Obama hands over a large sum of taxpayer money to an operation controlled by that "needy" individual, George Soros. A company controlled by Soros is subsidized so they may drill for oil off the coast of Brazil but our local companies are regulated by a policy which refuses drilling permits. Doesn't this government understand that we have exported jobs out of the country this way? Maybe they couldn't care.

Lastly the department was to stabilize fuel prices. Hasn't happened. Frankly without some common sense I don't see how the government could stabilize prices without expanded drilling of our own crude oil. More evidence that someone in Washington doesn't care.

With a perfect record, nothing for three, it is time to get rid of the Department of Energy. How much money have we wasted since the presidency of Carter? Stop it now, eliminate the Department of Energy.

I ask that you please remember our brave heroes who defend our liberties and remember them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

2011-08-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hi

This is about one area where spending cuts must be made. Not just cuts but eliminate the program(s) altogether.
As a brief explanation how this program works, they are mortgage holding, insuring and guaranteeing entities. Both were created by the person this blog is named after, President Jimmy Carter. When an individual goes to purchase a house he(she) negotiates a selling price. In almost every instance the buyer must borrow money to pay the price, hence a mortgage. The correct legal term is a Bond and Mortgage, the Bond is actually an IOU, and the Mortgage is an instrument which describes the collateral for the loan. This is filed with the keeper of records and serves as notice for the world that a lien exists on the property. The mortgage contains both the names of the lender and borrower. In order for the bank t make more money and more mortgage loans the Bond and Mortgage is then sold to a third party. Enter Fannie and Freddie, they buy the paper. this is not recorded because the bank who sold the paper to Freddie or Fannie agrees to service the loan for a fee. The borrower never knows that the paper is sold.
Here is where the problem comes in. Freddie and Fannie use the power of the government guaranty to force the bank to make what are referred to as sub-par loans. This means loans to people who probably can never pay them off. The theory was that low income people can achieve the American dream of home ownership. The whole scheme is based on a constant inflation in the value of real estate. The bubble burst, real estate did not appreciate and now people are in a financial bind. The borrower owns a house, subject to a loan, but the loan is worth more than the house. He walks away or the bank forecloses. Either way the government(read U S taxpayer) foots the bill. This is akin to a Ponzi scheme in that it must inevitably fail. Only now the taxpayer gets the bill.
Both Freddie and Fannie are operating at a loss and require more taxpayer money to keep the program working. I say, enough. Eliminate the program and cut all funds to both Freddie and Fannie. Cut taxpayer losses and privatize both. Taxpayers have had enough of this federal government butting in and trying to direct our lives. Can anyone show me where entities like Freddie and Fannie are authorized in our Constitution? This is a program which must be cut and both political parties must get serious and do what is good for America. If not, vote the bums out.

We do have good federal employees, our brave military men and women. Please remember them in your pryers.
GOD Bless

Next area of spending cuts

2011-08-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hi

In keeping up with my thoughts on budget spending cuts I offer another area where we should make cuts.

We currently subsidize several "quasi governmental agencies". AMTRAK, The Postal Service, Arts and Humanities endowments. The question is - Why?

As you listen to the media discuss our budget problems the discussion should turn to these programs. Many are outdated and are actually a failed policy. The problem is that these programs will always operate at a loss if the federal government is allowed to keep them. Sell them off and let private sector experts run them. The motivation is there for the private sector, profit. I am not "Politically Correct" so the word "profit" is not some thing bad. Let investors turn around these programs and we will see a complete change to an efficient operation. The Congress cannot even manage their own cafeteria, why should we expect that they can manage a business. More cuts to come, stay tuned.

Remember our brave service people who are defending our liberties, pray for them.
GOD Bless

More on spending cuts

2011-08-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi

Ti understand the scope of necessary spending cuts we must look at all programs and weed out those which are either too costly or do not work.

The new Republican House has proposed cuts in specific programs, the first is Public Broadcasting. Why do we taxpayers subsidize public broadcasting? I love to watch opera on TV but I should pay for it, not every other (or at least the 50% who pay income taxes) citizen. The estimated savings would be $445 million. The irony of the situation is that the liberal democrats wanted to pass a "Fairness" doctrine to balance conservative leaning talk radio. Where in our Constitution is Congress empowered to regulate speech? We must make sure we elect common sense people to run our government. Remember on election day.

In my nest blog I will enumerate additional cuts which could be made.

Meanwhile, pray for our defenders.
GOD Bless

Spending cuts

2011-08-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hi

We as a nation face a massive decision - What direction do we want our country to go?. A panel of congress people has been selected to recommend budget cuts and the question facing us is where do we cut, and by how much.

Defining a problem is only apart of solving a problem, it is necessary to come up with a workable solution. My opinion is that this panel should start by agreeing not to let these meetings evolve into name calling and blame placing. The time for that is past, now we must go on.

My thinking is that I don't hold out much hope for this panel. It would be difficult for congress to appoint a panel that would do the wishes of the people. Washington must get the mind set of spend, tax and regulate out of their collective minds. Once, (and if) that s done then we can have a panel that makes sense. Let's pray that this panel works out.

Pray for our service people,
GOD Bless

My return

2011-08-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hi

Just writing to let you know why I have been absent for a while. I did have some medical problems but they are under control. If you missed me I will try to blog on a regular basis, and, as usual my blogs will be about the direction of our country and my opinion as to what should be done.

Thank you for your understanding.

Pray for our protectors.

Another spending cut we must make

2011-02-13T17:58:00.000-08:00

Hi

I just read a report today about some rather unusual spending by the department of education. I could hardly believe my eyes but now I want to share this with you.

Here in Texas the daily papers are full of stories about cities like Austin, the State Capitol, having to shut schools for lack of money. The today I read that the US Department of Education is giving over a million dollar grant to a school district in northern Texas. The reason for the grant is to establish a program to study Arabic (Islam).Is this necessary when we have trillions of dollars of debt. I think that the Washington establishment (government) has lost it. Where does it end?

Please bear this in mind when you go to the polls to vote. Your vote does count.

Please keep praying for our armed forces, we certainly need them in these times.
GOD Bless

Department of Education

2011-02-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Hi

In my previous posts I have said I would eliminate the Department of Justice. Here are my reasons and thoughts.

To begin we should examine the make up of education and schooling. In the United States we have three types of people who work in education. These are the teachers, administrators and service people. Each performs a needed service. Here comes the caveat, it is not the positions which have to be cut but the staffing for these positions.

Administrators:
DOJ is made up of bureaucrats, the only function is to shuffle paper work for federal funding. When we look at this way we can easily see that this serves no useful purpose other than to grow federal government. No DOJ person can show you where the federal government is empowered to act in education by our constitution. Why, because it is not there. Solution, cut or eliminate the bureaucratic waste by cutting the DOJ.

Teachers:
These are the first line educators, the teachers and aides who actually sit in the classrooms and teach. I would allow each school district in the nation to set its own standards for education including class size, hours, and how to teach. Washington does not know any more than the local people.

Service people:
Here we look into the use and function of people like crossing guards, maintenance people and cafeteria workers. Most of these jobs are required but I would look very deep into programs like school meals. Family should feed children, not the public. When the population starts to realize that dependence on government subsidies is wrong they will rethink priorities.

These are just a few of the cuts we must implement to restore sanity to our federal government.

Remember to pray for our brave defenders.
GOD Bless

Budget cuts and debt reduction

2011-02-02T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hi

Ever since the "Tea Party" and the midterm elections we have been subject to liberal pundits demanding to know where we can cut spending. Well, here is my take.

We should start by repealing the big government takeover of the medical field called Obamacare. This slows down or stops future additions to spending.

The next area is to declare a stop to the"War on Poverty". I always hear pundits railing against the Iraq and Afghan wars, how about this one. It's been longer and costlier than the other two wars combined and it has not produced results. We still have government defined poverty.

For the next project we should streamline government agencies and or departments. We could privatize the post office, Amtrak, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. All losers and they could be turned into profitable entities with proper PRIVATE control.

Then we should eliminate and or streamline some government agencies. Department of Energy, has accomplished nothing and has caused burdens on our economy. We still have no energy policy after how many years. Education is next, it takes a report of some 2000 pages for states to get federal aid, do we need bureaucrats at both the federal and state level to do paper work?

Funding for certain social programs should be eliminated. Planned Parenthood, NEA and National Public Radio are examples of what should be unfunded by taxpayers. Let them raise money to operate like any other private sector entity.

The other area of spending we can fix is government payrolls. Put Congress and all federal employees on social security and medicare. You would see how quickly the projected deficits would be addressed. We definitely need to adjust the pension coverage and medical benefits given congress. Let them have a 401(k) plan just like the rest of us. A good example of the mindset of congress is the action they took to pay the widow of the late Senator Byrd. His widow was given a years salary, does she need it? Get real. It's our money they are spending.

I plan on future writings to point out foolish and unnecessary spending. The congress needs to be held accountable and only we the people can do that.

It seems that theses cuts would not be draconian but would serve as a start to reclaiming our tax dollar spending.

In closing I ask that you remember our brave service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Media hatred

2011-01-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

Hi

This month a blogging site tried to promote "friendship" as a theme. Today I cannot follow that theme.

My blood is boiling over the hated shown by the liberal left, in the media, the blogs and the pundits. My particular scorn is aimed at a peace officer who should know better. Of course I am referring to the tragic shooting in Arizona. The cause of this anger is because the left sees that their game is over,they lost. Due to their overinflated egos about how they are elitists, they cannot accept the will of the people. The thinking process is corrupted even when it concerns a tragic cost of lives. What nerve on these liberal elitists. They are the ones who run with the idea that conservatives causes all the evil in the world, but in their hearts, they are the ones who foster a feeling of evil. I wish they would pause, think about what the consequences of their rhetoric causes and then come to their senses. Discuss ideas, not insinuations about supposedly wrong doings by conservatives and we can have a real discourse. I only hope and pray that these people on the left will come to their senses. Heaven help us.

Remember to pray for the real heroes of today, our first responders and our military.
GOD Bless

Tragic Arizona weekend shooting

2011-01-10T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hi

This weekend marked a very serious problem facing the American pop culture, the shooting in Tuscon, Arizona. The main stream media has hyped it as an assault on Congresswoman Giffords. Yes, it is a great tragedy, but, there were other people killed in this event. I cerainly do not mean to diminish Ms Giffords shooting, but doesn't this tend to show how a story can be slanted? The media should not just refer to this as if there were only 1 person shot, the lives of the others are just as valuable. One of the other victims was a federal judge, his name is barely mentioned. I think we all, politicians, media, family and concerned citizens, must pause and ask ourselves "Why?" Here we must pray for guidance.

Please pray for the victims and also pray for the brave people who serve to protect us.
GOD Bless

"Unfriendly friends"

2011-01-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hi

In keeping up with the theme of friendship I am going to post about "unfriendly friends". This group includes people who should be your friend but always seems to act against your best interests.

The biggest bloc of these characters is the United States Congress(before the midterm election). Some of the most unfriendly acts are being pointed out.

First, there was the passing of Obamacare. Rammed through congress, never explained to the American people, votes bought with bribes and the unbelievable explanation of Ms Pelosi -"We'll find out what's in the bill after we pass it." Ask yourself, did she have the friendship of the American people in mind when she passed the bill? Thank heaven she is no longer speaker.

There are other unfriendly actions taken by Senator Reid(D-NV). This guy is completely the most unfriendly character in congress. Does he ever smile?

The new congress should keep the American electorate in mind every time new legislation is proposed. Let them be friendly to the people and then see how the people will certainly reward them. Let's hope we got a good bunch to run the country when we voted in the midterm elections.

Meanwhile keep our service people in mind and keep praying for them.
GOD Bless

Friends

2011-01-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hi

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and I wish you the best for the New Year.

The title of this post is unusual but it stems from the monthly topic designated by a blogging site. It is my intent to show "friends" in many lights, including, but not limited to politics, American culture and to the manner in which we perceive those around us.

It is said that the best way to insure that we are all on the same page is to make sure that we all are speaking the same language. To me a friend is some one who knows all about you and still likes you. In order to make a friend one must first be a friend. These are givens.

Friendship begins when we give "love" to one another. One of the most difficult thing to do is to befriend one who annoys us. We all know some of those people (Remember some of us also annoy others). In future posts I will keep defining what I consider those things which make us friends. Keep tuned in.

Pray for those who are protecting us all over the world.
GOD Bless

What do we have in congress?

2010-12-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

Hi

The lame duck session of congress produced some major laws, my question is why were these laws enacted after the mid-term elections?

Majority leader Harry Reid showed his true core belief, politics before country. There was no budget passed, the reason - the budget proposed contained too many ear marks. It is my understanding that Obama promised no ear marks and then just last year he said that he meant for the policy to start in this fiscal year. Rediculous. We deserve better. Our hope lies with the new congress. Maybe the new people will start to put the welfare of the population over their own special political ambitions, let's hope.

It is Christmas and we can hope that the spirit of good will engendered by the season will sway the attitude of the new members and the people of America will benefit.

At this Christmas time let us remember those who are serving to protect us and are in far distant lands. Remember them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

We need a Congress that is responsible

2010-12-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

Hi

My blood is boiling. I cannot listen to the news on TV because I feel like the American taxpayer is getting "screwed" by Congress.

Congress waited until the lame duck session to try to pass meaningful legislation, do we really need this? The blame rests on the shoulders of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. These two are about the worst leaders I have ever encountered, not just in congress but in any walk of life. Thank God that at least after the first of the year Pelosi will not be house speaker. Too bad Reid got reelected, now we have him for six more years. Thank God that the United States is strong enough to survive this disaster.

The bad effect is compounded by the Democratic pundits. They are all over the TV still blaming Bush for every thing. These characters should get a new line, the "blame Bush" one is trite. Cone on guys and gals, invent some new talking points.

My hope is that the current congress does not pass any major legislation that will impact our nation. Give it a break, go home and enjoy Christmas (I am not politically correct but that is on purpose).

I wish congress would go home and I am reminded of those who choose not to be at home for the Christmas holiday, our brave and unselfish warriors. Remember them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Who we should elect

2010-12-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

Hi

Today I was wondering what to write about when it dawned on me. We have a lame duck session of congress rushing to pass bills which should have been discussed and voted upon earlier in the congressional term, but because of politics, we are in a quandary. Why hasn't our congress acted as they should have? We should get answers and then put these galoots out of office.

Here is the part that hit me as a great idea. In professional sports the NY Giants are playing the Minnesota Vikings, the pregame talk is about the consecutive streak of Bret Favre being broken. Hey, why not elect people like Favre? This guy has gone to work (as a professional football player ) for years and always did his job diligently. Mr Favre, we need you. Bret Favre would be a perfect person to represent the people. he has shown he believes in hard work, preparation and loyalty. Cone on Bret, run for office.

Now I am going to go and enjoy the game, but, I will also remember our brave service people who are away protecting us, I will remember them in my prayers, please remember them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

When are we going to get a sensible immigration policy?

2010-12-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

Hi

As I post our congress is acting like a bunch of spoiled children. They are trying to pass so much in a lame duck session when they could have done this during the earlier part of their tenure.

This has a negative effect on the country and now I'd like to point out how it effects immigration policy.

The illegal immigration flow must first be stopped. We need to control our borders and who comes and who stays. N either political party has been willing to confront the problem so as a result the problem has grown into a major disaster. We must act both quickly and wisely to fix the situation.

All proposals to correct the problem will fail unless we write in a policy of enforcement against the employers who hire these illegals. This is a first step. At the same time we must control the flow of people at the borders. In my past posts I have spelled out my theory on how to fix the problem, this is only one of several ideas which should work. Please members of congress, do your job.

Please remember our service men and women and pray for them.
GOD Bless

Let us remember

2010-12-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hi

Today is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. We must a;ways remember the horrible devastation reigned upon our service people. Today my post is short and simple, Make a conscious effort to do something positive for one of our service people who are serving us now. Thank them and remember those at Pearl Harbor in your prayers.

GOD Bless

A look at Social Security

2010-12-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hi

Let's get it straight, Social Security is not an entitlement, it has been paid for by our money. Senior citizens have been paying since the 1930's, it is not our fault that the politicians have let the system rot.

The question is how do we fix it, and at what cost. Most people are aware of the fact that we pay this "tax" as we earn. If you are employed your employer must match your contribution. If you are self employed, you pay a partial add on which is meant to offset the portion which the employer would have paid. Under President LBJ the government decided to put the social security funds into the general revenue funds. This proved to be a bad move. The politicians got their hands on the money and did what politicians always do, they spent it.

The water has been spilled from the bucket, now we must try to fix the problem.

The first step is a partial privatization of the system. This can be accomplished by allowing younger participants to opt to handle their own account. A partial amount of the social security payment together with the employers share would be put aside into a non spendable account. This account would be tax deferred. The way this helps is as follows:

The system would have fewer payouts when the newer people retire. These individuals would have paid less into the trust fund and would receive a lower monthly payment from the trust. The lower amount would be offset by the use of the closed account. The funds in this closed account would be invested and the return would be greater than the return on social security.

As an added bonus the retiree could pass any balance in this so called closed account to his/her heirs. Statistics show that the fund balance woud more than offset the lower monthly social security payout.

In theory every body wins, so why hasn't congress acted to pass such legislation? Simple, congress wants the money to spend and grow government. Where is the greed? Wall Street or congress. When you vote please consider the reason why candidates choose to run. Who are they looking out for, the people or themselves?

There are those that are not greedy or se;f serving, I am talking about our brave military. Please remember them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Summary of immigration

2010-12-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hi

To recap my thoughts on how to fix illegal immigration here are the key points:

First, clamp down on abuse of student visas,
Next, tighten and secure our borders,
Next, pass legislation at the federal level to discourage illegal entry, i.e.-increase the act of entering the US illegally to a felony.
Next, set up a method of LEGAL immigration which is controlled by the United States,
Next, establish and enforce laws governing the hiring of illegal immigrants.

If these are adhered to the illegal aspect of immigration would disappear. Let's hope Congress has the integrity to act.

Keep our brave service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Illegal immigration - continued

2010-11-30T11:26:00.000-08:00

Hi

This post is going to be about the steps that can be taken to fix the illegal alien problem.

Under current law it is a misdemeanor to enter the United States illegally. This should be corrected by making it into a felony. By doing so the United States would send a message to other nations, "We are serious."

I am a firm believer in the use of what is referred to as the "tag up" system. It is a use of a term from baseball and it means that any one here already must go back to his )her) original country and reenter legally. By doing so we would alleviate the pressure on our border security and as a side effect there would be less stress on aliens who comply with the law. The tag up system would have to factor in some tweeks, i.e. - China, Cuba. These nations would not be open to having their citizens immigrate to America, so we would have to build in some protection. Congress should be able to work that out.

Another step that should be taken is to have immediate deportation of criminals. Let them serve their time in prison and then immediate deportation back to their native country.

If we were to implement these changes we would get the benefits of control over our borders and in addition there would be a serious dent in the illegal drugs crossing our borders. These are common sense fixes so the question is "Why haven't these fixes been done before?" Get politics out of our border security and let our government do some thing for the safety of us citizens. We deserve this.

Please continue to pray for our service men and women.
GOD Bless

Illegal immigration

2010-11-29T11:58:00.000-08:00

Hi

This post will be an extension of my posts about illegal immigration. I must point out that I am not against immigration, the contrary, we need immigrants to sustain our nation. We also need "controlled" immigration. Controller immigration means that the government has dominion and control over who and when immigrants are allowed to stay in the United States.

In my last post I wrote that we should start by controlling student visa over stays. That would be a starting point.

The big problem facing our nation is the overflow of illegals from Mexico and Central America. Here is how I would deal with this problem:

The first priority is to close the borders. This would stop the flow of new immigrants into the United States. The simplest way is to take all the proposed new hires that the Obama administration has labeled for the IRS to monitor Obamacare and instead hire these people for the border patrol. Sounds too easy, that's why congress probably will not do it. With the leaks stopped on the border we can concentrate on the other aspects of illegal immigration.

Keep tuned as I will write more on the subject.

Pray for our service people.
GOD Bless

A solution to illegal immigration

2010-11-26T12:15:00.000-08:00

Hi

One of the biggest problems facing the national security of the United States is the problem of illegal immigration. This problem is intensified because neither political party seems willing to come to any type of acceptable solution. At this point I would like to chip in my two cents worth.

The problem is multifaceted because it involves people physically in the country who come from all over the world. In order to solve a problem one must first identify the problem and then deal with it.

In order to deal with the illegal immigration problem the main thrust should be adequate law enforcement.

The easiest task is fixing students over staying education visas. Here we can mandate the colleges and universities help by reporting any student who enrolls on a visa and then forgoes going to class. The college reports to the Immigration Service and the person is picked up and summarily deported. Like all the solutions that I will offer this one relies on prompt, cooperative and competent enforcement of the law. The colleges must be made to cooperate.

For the next few posts I will address other aspects of the illegal immigration issue. Please bear with me. Thank you.

One other request which I have is that you pray for our service people.
GOD Bless

Holiday greetings

2010-11-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

Hi

During the year I post about my take on politics and how it alters our American lifestyle. This post is different.

I would like to take this time to give thanks to our creator for all of HIS blessings. We in the United States have many and we should be especially thankful.

My thanks go to all those brave heroes, our service people, especially those who cannot be with loved ones this holiday. Thank you.

Please pray for those serving ur nation.
GOD Bless

Open letter to Senator Rockefellor

2010-11-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

Hi

This is an open letter to the West Virginia democrat.

Senator I saw a TV blurb wherein you said you wanted to muzzle both Fox News and CNBC. You expressed concerns about how biased they were. I'll give you credit for this, you picked on a "perceived" liberal and conservative station. My complaint is with your general precept. Senator, have you ever heard of the United States Constitution? You should read it sometimes, it contains a clause which guarantees every American freedom of speech. The comments which you made were beneath the dignity of a US Senator. I hope that upon reflection you realized how your TV blurb is against the Constitution. Senator, it may be difficult to understand but our elected officials should set an example of obeying our Constitution. The kind of talk and attitude expressed by you is exactly why we have Tea Parties. Please get your thinking straight or if you cannot, then please resign your senate seat and give the American people a break. We deserve better.

I continue to sk that you readers pray for our brave military.
GOD Bless

Political leaders

2010-11-19T13:45:00.000-08:00

Hi

Today I am going to give my take on the type of people we have in politics. Some are positive and others are not.

I feel that honesty, integrity and altruism should be driving factors in running for office, unfortunately, too many of those in power do not act with these in mind. Perhaps even more unfortunate is the fact that both major political parties share the blame.

If you run down the list of politicians you can find the following:
Barbara Boxes, D-CA: She was one of the biggest check bouncing people in the House scandal years age, how is she treated- she gets elected to the Senate. HUH
Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; when she ran for the senate the last cycle she was opposed by a conservative candidate in the primary. Ms M contacted an open conservative member of the senate and had him travel to Alaska to try to convince the opposing candidate to quit the race. This election cycle she loses the republican primary, what does she do. you guessed it. she runs as a write-in candidate. Hypocrisy
Charles Rangle, D-NY; here we have a tax cheat who serves on the tax writing committee, nuf said.

The list is too long. We, the American people deserve better. Please consider the factors of character when yu pull the ballot lever.

Now please pray for our men and women in harm's way.
GOD Bless

Type of leaders we don't need

2010-11-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hi

In a follow up to my last post I am now writing about the type of people we don't need as leaders.

Today the Ethics charges against Congressman Charles Rangle,,(D-NY) were announced. The committee votes to refer to the House with a charges of censorship. Considering the facts of the case this seems to the observer too lenient. This is what prompted me to write on the subject of leaders we do not need.

We have seen people who run for office (usualy in a safe seat) who seem to feel the purpose of an elected official is to grab what he can for himself and get pork barrel legislation to help his cronies. Do we really want this type of attitude? This kind of thinking causes the voters to form tea parties. Congressman Rangle is just a symptom of the system. We have seen people going to jail for this type of conduct. It is imperative that we,,the electorate, be alert and keep these people out of our government. At the expense of sounding trite, Freedom is not free.

In addition to being alert please pry for our brve troops.
GOD Bless

Who we need to run our nation

2010-11-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

Hi

Every so often we should look t the type of person that we pick as our political leaders. This writing is my opinion of some of the people we need. It is my opinion so feel free to add, delete of comment on my choices.

From the entertainment profession we should have people like Chuck Norris, Gary Sinisi, Denzel Washington and Bo Derek.
Sports figures would be Bret Favre, Nolan Ryan, Derek Jeter and boxing analyst Teddy Atlas.
In the other areas we could hope for the likes of retired General Tommy Franks, author Tom Clancy and news reporter Sheppard Smith.

hy these individuals? Mainly because they are learned, thoughtful and experienced in dealing with other people. I don't know the political leaning of these people but I do know that they all exude a sense of confidence. That coupled with common sense makes for a good leader. More so that political ideology. To me this is the most important aspect of leadership.

Another plus is that these people would tend to stay in politics for shorter periods, giving us de facto term limits. Let's draft them.

I ask that you continue to pray forour brve service people.
GOD Bless

Veterans Day

2010-11-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hi

Today we celebrate both a happy day and a sad day. The object of our admiration and respect is our veterans who have served our nation. These people earned this admiration and respect with great sacrifice, all gave some, some gave all.

The least we can do is to set aside a few minutes on this special day and pay our respects for these individuals. Please pray for them.

Please pray for those who are currenty serving and ask for their safety.
GOD Bless

Open letter to Bill O'Reilly - Fox News

2010-11-09T19:21:00.000-08:00

Hi

This is my answer to a segment which aired yesterday on the O'Reilly factor.

The main theme of the segment was that Bill O'Reilly could not place where President Obama fit on the political spectrum. I am adding my opinion hoping it gives readers an idea of how some of us see our president.

When considering how to find a niche for an individual we must look at all of the known factors. If we start with the fact that there has been no full disclosure of school records,factor in no writings while in school and no previous work experience we must rely on the actions of the president since he ran for office.

During the campaign Obama was speaking to "Joe, the plumber", and the question of wealth redistribution arose. Obama admitted that he did intend to use the power of government to take money from one class and redistribute it to another. This should have been our first clue into what type of economic system Obama favored.

Upn assuming office,the president then used the power of government to usurp the private sector. We saw the takeover of the auto industry, the financial markets, the housing and mortgage industry. All of these are socialistic in nature.

The energy sector was threatened with the so called "Cap and Trade" control. It would not have passed through congress so the president is now using administrative agencies aa his tool for socialization.

We see that the president is appointing czars to oversee sectors of the economy, make rules and dictate policy. This also is socialism.

When we look into all these moves we cannot draw any conclusion other than that our president is a socialist. His actions clearly indicate this. Of course the White House wil blame prior administrations but that is stale and trite. The American people deserve better.

In summary, Mr O'Reilly, any clear thinking individual would have to come to the conclusion that Obama is a socialist. Actions speak louder than words.

Please keep praying for our service people.
GOD Bless

We need a flat tax

2010-11-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

Hi

With the result of the recent elections behind us time time to change has come. Here are what I think congress must do:

First: Enact a fair or flat tax. I say this with great hopes for reform. We need to fix it so that if liberals get control again they cannot mess up our economy with excess taxes. We would have to repeal the Contitutional amendment that authorizes the income tax and replace it with a simpler and more equitable taxing system. Prior to the election cycle a couple of ideas were floated. One, favored by Pelosi, would have been a one time tax on all pension accounts of either 15 or 35%. The second idea, favored by Rep DeFazio, is a tax on all bank transactions. This tax would charge 1% on all bank transactions, deposits and withdrawals. The liberal establishment revelsin tax hikes, (wealth redistribution), we must permanently take this power away from them.

Second: Because a fair tax would require much less intrusion by the federal government, we can either use the savings to reduce the national debt or to swing the jobs from IRS to Border Patrol.

Most of what should be done is nothing more than common sense, we must demand that from our elected officials. Stay alert.

Now I ask that you remember our brave and dedicated service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Post election syndrome

2010-11-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hi

As you can tell I have been on a "political hiatus" for several weeks. The reason for this is that the American public is already getting too much political talk already, I didn't want to add to the overload. Now the discussion will taper down and I feel that I can join the dialogue, so here goes.

Regardless of how you feel about the results of the election I thin that we should all get serious as to the direction that our leaders take our nation. I consider myself to be a "political libertarian/conservative". I do try to look at all sides of issues and hopefully I have achieved some balance.

The next congress must deal with the Obama administration and the liberal agenda. The most important thing for the new congress people must do is to keep the dignity of their political views in tact. They were voted into office for the reason and to compromise their views would be a betrayal of the American people. In my opinion the Tea Party movement was not a republican vote but an anti establishment vote. Republicans would do well to remember this. Now we have to see where the government takes us, freedo or more of the same failed liberal policies of the past. Pray for a good outcome.

We should all stand behind our brave heroes who are defending our nation, please say a prayer for the safety of these heroes. Thank you.
GO D Bless

Makeup of our economy

2010-09-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hi

In my last post I wrote about the economy and I started to go into what makes up this phenomenon, with this writing I wil explain further.

Basically the economy is the result of the work and investment ability of a people. In the United States we have a capitalistic economy which is one driven by private ownership of business. A pure capitalistic system would not be very functional because owners could create monopolies, create cabals which would control prices and basically have too much power. To control this we adapt a system where the government has a limited role. The problem is just how much of a limited role and how do you keep the government from overdoing control.

When a government exerts an excess of power over business the business people lose incentive and production slows and the economy tanks. under the Obama presidency we have just that going on. We have seen an unconstitutional grab of our medical care system, undue control of the auto manufacturing industry and an attempt at control of our energy sector by the use of control over off shore drilling for crude oil. None of these have worked and one can only surmise that it is a planned take over with the idea of socializing the United States. This great nation was not formed by socialists but by the rugged individual spirit in its people. In order to survive we the people must regain control over our own fates and not rely on the Washington bureaucrats. Our greatest weapon is the ballot box, so if you care - vote.

More to come.

Continue to remember our brave heroes in your prayers.
GOD Bless

What is our economy?

2010-09-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

Hi

As a retired professional I feel that in order to get good government we must learn the mechanics of how government works. In keeping with this theme I will try to explain how our system works.

To start there is a vast difference in the workings of the various economic systems. In the United States we have a capitalistic system. I shall concentrate on this system to make it more understandable.

Under capitalism the entrepreneur owns the business,he(she) keeps the profits and is responsible for the day to day management of the business. If it were only that simple. Enter the government, both federal and state, and they carry luggage. This luggage is in the form of taxes, regulations and decrees which infringe on the owners ability to manage. Some of this is necessary hence the ongoing argument over how much government intervention is enough. As I develop a plan I will address the issues of management control, tax, etc. This is only an introduction so please stay in touch. Thank you.

Keep our brave military in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Department of Education

2010-08-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hi

First let me make the point, "I am not against education." I have an advanced degree and that has helped me climb the economic ladder. Of course being born in the United States made it possible.

My problem is how we go about educating (or not educating) our future generations. We spend money but it seems that the more we spend the more the education system fails. We must ask ourselves why. The obvious answer, money does not translate into a good education system. What does?

The most important factor in educating our children is the attitude of the parents. Any teacher will tell you that where schools involve the parents the quality of education rises. Maybe we should have mandatory classes for parents. Not very practical. So what do we do? Alternative methods are many and will vary with each family so one size does not fit all. The educators must be creative in this area.

The next area is the intervention of the federal government. This method of educating presupposes that all students fit into a formula. Not so. Washington bureaucrats should not meddle, they only cause distractions and false results. How many actual teachers work for the Department of Education? Answer, NONE. All the budget for the department could be funneled into class rooms. If the federal government must meddle, let them block grant funds to the state where it could be managed more efficiently. To solve the problem of what to do with the Department of Education employees, retrain them and use them as border security. Solves two problems and at no cost to the taxpayer. What a novel thought.

The real problem is getting Washington to agree. Don't hold your breath. More to come.

Keep our heroic service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Education

2010-08-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hi

Today I read some very interesting things about the status of education in the United States. I'll show how ironic the situation is by showing two different angles.

As most of you know Senator Harry Reid is in a close election for his senate seat. On the TV news there was a clip where Senator Reid tried to knock down his opponent by saying she favors elimination of the Department of Education. Keep that in mind as we move to New Jersey.

The federal program to aid states for education entails a request which is quite large, I understand that the application is about one thousand (1,000) pages. New Jersey made a clerical error on the form and the federal aid was rejected. In compiling statistics the wrong year(s) were used. To further complicate the matter the teachers union in New Jersey added that had the union been asked to help the form would not have been rejected.

Now let's tie the two together. The Department of Education mandates that a state complete a thousand page report in order to get state aid, and bureaucrats in Washington,D.C. are too engrossed in their own "fiefdom" to help a state correct what should be non fatal errors. Had the teachers union been consulted maybe the bureaucrats would have reached a different conclusion. Is this looking out for the education of our children or is it another case of caving and yielding to special interests? You decide.

Back to Senator Reid, I have two questions:

1. Could you please show me where the United States Constitution authorizes the Department of Education?
2. Doesn't the type of bureaucracy at the Department of Education warrant closing this monstrous department?

Senator Reid, the American people reserve legitimate answers, not empty rhetoric. Get with the program. Your opponent has it right.

Disclaimer: Much of the information contained in this blog is taken from the Heritage Foundation website. A great read. Thanks to them.

Please find it in your heart to pray for our brave heroes defending our great nation.
GOD Bless

My take on the mosque

2010-08-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hi

The news is full of stories about the NYC mosque, the one near ground zero. Here is how I see the situation.

For starters President Obama should NOT have commented. This is a local New York City zoning matter, not a federal case. In my opinion the president showed his lack of leadership, judgment and tact by making this into a media circus issue. Where was the need to make a comment. Should we expect the president to speak if the Catholic Church decides to erect a church in Oshkosh, I hope not. Some things are best left to the people who handle them and this certainly falls into that category. By opining the president has made this into a "us versus them" situation. For a man who ran on the platform of being one who unites the president has failed. This failure just adds to the proof that Obama is incompetent to be chief executive. (Biden and Hillary were correct when they said as much during the election campaign) We can only start to undo what a mess Obama has created by throwing the rubber stamp members of congress out of office.

Mean while remember to vote in the November mid term election.

Please pray for our heroic service people.
GOD Bless

Fair tax - why we need it

2010-08-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hi

In this writing I will try to lead you to an organization which is working to get a fair tax adopted. Here is the address:

www.fairtax.org

They are located in Houston, Texas and they have a lot of useful information about how the tax works.

This is the last of this subject but by no means should it be the end of discussion. Please do yourself a favor and learn about this concept, America needs your help.

Please go on praying for our brave heroes in the military. Thank you.
GOD Bless

Flat/ fair tax

2010-08-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Hi

Perhaps we should discuss what is exactly a flat tax. Legally speaking there is a difference between the two but for our purposes we can consider them similar. I may use the terms interchangeably so please bear with me.

Under a flat tax system there is a very simplistic method of computing the tax. One rate and no deductions.

Take an example of a person who works for $20 per hour and works for 8 hours. He/she would get 8 times $20 or $160 dollars pay. Under our current system of taxes we deduct FICA, Medicare and Federal withholding. The result is that the net check is less than the $160 earned. The taxpayer is ahead, but wait - who pays for NEEDED government services. When our person buys a product or service he pays an addition sum, the flat tax. The manner of computing this tax is to multiply the tax rate times the purchase price of what was bought. At first reading it appears that the tax is a burden because it raises the cost of goods, but here is the solution. Because the employer, the distributor and the manufacturer do not pay all the add on (FICA, Medicare, etc) the cost of the goods are lowered. The party collecting the tax also saves on hiring overhead people such as bookkeepers and accountants who are needed under our current system. He passes this savings on in the form of lower prices. Every body wins.

In future writings I will go into more advantages so please keep reading. Thank you.

Continue to pray for our heroes.
GOD Bless

What a flat tax will do

2010-08-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hi

Today I am writing about a flat tax, sometimes called a fair tax. I believe that there are two reasons we do not have one already. The first is that most people don't understand what this tax could do. The other is "politician fear of the tax".

People have not gotten the info on the tax because the politicians do not want the facts known. The reason will become evident as I go along.

The tax is passed to replace income taxes. We would need a Constitutional Amendment repealing the enabling amendment which allows congress to tax income. Taxes are a necessity , without taxes we could not fund our government. But having said that I add that taxes should be fair, even handed and balanced. Currently we tax success and subsidize ineptness. Hardly the formula for a continued growth in our economy. The fair tax would fix that problem.

One of the biggest fears we as a people have is that dreaded letter from the IRS. A flat tax would virtually eliminate the IRS, thus giving us the opportunity to replace revenue agents and substitute border patrol agents. Doesn't it make sense that federal agents should be patrolling foreign nationals trying to crash our borders rather than patrolling our own citizens who are good at making a living?

As I go along I will try to help people understand the concept of flat or fair taxation. Stay tuned.

Continue to hold our military in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Military draft

2010-08-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hi

In this writing I will try to conclude my ideas for a military draft. As a veteran I can say that my service did make me a better citizen.I learned a lot, some of it, unfortunately, not useful in civilian life. Perhaps that is why I emphasize a combination military and civilian learning. Despite the possibility of sounding redundant I stress no deferments. Every body goes.

The reason we have a so called elite class today is that too many of our young people have been handed a lot and at an early age. When you are given things and there is no cost,it is human nature to value these things less. If we earn them we appreciate them. Freedom, liberty and self government are in this category. Those who earn the right to be free will certainly appreciate this right. The nation would see a greater participation in the election process, greater knowledge of how government functions and why we must be vigilant to keep ourselves free. There is an old adage, "Freedom is not free". We as Americans would be a more prosperous nation and all would benefit.

I will continue to voice my opinion about subjects in the future. I hope you accompany me on my mission. Thank you.

Please remember our brave service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Universal military service - II

2010-08-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hi

This is a follow up on my previous post about universal military service. Here are the specific measures that I feel should be implemented.

We should have a true universal draft, no exceptions for college, family, etc. That method proved a failure from the Viet Nam era to date. I would have the training include gun safety, civics and government, military courtesy and military demeanor. All would be required to serve. Service would be limited to the US and our territories. This military force could be utilized as a back up for civilian defense and national disasters. Disciplined people could help in situations like the BP spill and Katrina.

Service would begin upon graduation from high school or if the person drops out, upon reaching 18 years old. t would be truly universal and include all, even illegal aliens if they become legalized by the Obama administration. For illegals teach them English so they can mesh into society.

As you can see this is not a simple solution but a solution far greater than what we have now. If people don't participate in democracy they don't appreciate it. (Nor do they deserve it)

My next post should wrap up this subject. Thanks for your undertanding.

Keep on praying for our brave armed forces.
GOD Bless

Should we have universal military training

2010-08-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hi

This is a topic which has been pushed to the back burner by events such as the BP spill, high unemployment and the generally poor economy.

This seems like a good time to address this question. I do so with the expectation that this topic will resurface and I want to be ahead of the curve.

Mandatory universal military training is a good thing. There is so much for the people of the United States to gain that I am somewhat surprised that it hasn't been tried already. Under the plan that I advocate every one MUST serve fr a given period. I favor one year but that is a detail which can be worked out. There would be no deferrals because of school, family status or any other non life threatening situation. One can sense the benefit of having some of our more famous entertainment figures serving with a person from one of our inner cities or from a farm in a real rural area. This service would apply to all, women and men. Of course they would serve in separate barracks, designed after the military as it now stands. I am going to cover this at a greater length in my next writing. Details to come.

Meanwhile continue to pray for our brave service people.
GOD Bless

I'm Back

2010-08-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

I'm back and hopefully here to stay. I had some personal issues I wanted to resolve so I can write with a clear head.

There is so much to write about with this bunch we have running the country that I almost don't know where to start. I decided that a fixed schedule is the best route to go, so I am adopting such a schedule. I am trying for three posts per week.

This post is short because I want it to reflect my return, from here I will be posting about specific topics. Stay tuned.

Pray for our brave service people.
GOD Bless

Ms Pelosi

2010-05-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hi

I will give you my take on Ms Pelosi and what kind of job she is doing as the Speaker of the House.

A reminder of her back round , she purports to be a Roman Catholic, but let's look at her record. As with too many Catholic politicians the issue of abortion is relegated to second fiddle to the issue of how to get votes. Ms Pelosi is an excellent example of this type of nonsense.

The latest comment Ms Pelosi made is the one about her advice to the Catholic Bishops of America. The liberals are the ones who are always moaning about separation of church and state, where are they now? How come they are not screaming at her? I forgot, a liberal supersedes being a Catholic. Really great leadership.

When I heard of her latest advice to the Bishops, I went to my Catholic version of the Bible. I looked all over, guess what? There was no gospel according to Pelosi. Did I miss some thing? Do I need to take up a collection to buy a newer version of the Bible?

Stay tuned for more.

Continue to pray for our uniformed military.
GOD Bless

Tea party (Tax payer) continued

2010-05-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hi

As I write this piece the election results for various state primary votes are about ready to unfold. There are some very important selections about to be made. The "lamestream" media does not want to disclose how they feel. The reason for this is simply, VOX POPULI or the voice of the people. Isn't it ironic, the media who have their profession guaranteed by our Constitution are the ones who are trying to hide the freedom of speech of the American populace. Go figure. I hope and pray that the people will speak and show up the media, the professional politicians and the rest of the crowd in Washington.

If the election of today goes as hoped I will be counting the days until the midterm election. I am getting anxious already.

Please keep on praying for our brave service people.
GOD Bless

More on Tea Party

2010-05-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

Hi

I am continuing my discussion of the "Tea Party Movement". I refer to it in my writing as tp. Note that those initials may also stand for tax payer.

Today is the eve of several important primary elections and this will show how much influence the tp movement has. My personal opinion is that the tp movement will have a huge impact on midterm elections.

The liberals now serving in congress have only one way to counter the movement, namely, to try to discredit the tp people. I don't think that that kind of policy will work. What we have is a true ground up movement and the people are speaking. There are too many critical issues facing our great nation and congress is failing to deal with these issues. I refer to unemployment, bailouts, illegal immigration and now what kind of person are we getting on the US Supreme Court. To the members of congress (and others who agree with them) face reality, Give the American people what they want. Stop trying to intrude into our lives and let us be. Have faith in the American people, we will do the right thing.

As a method of reinforcement I refer to the adage that points out that every time a law is passed, some one loses some rights. I know that there is a debate if that is all bad but that is a subject for the future.

Please stay tuned to what is going on in politics.

Pray for all our heroes in uniform.
GOD Bless

Tea party

2010-05-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hi

I want to give my take on what the tea party is and isn't.

For starters, the tea party (tp) is not a political party like the republican or democratic party. Instead it is more of a movement. To use it as a political party would be a complete disaster. Third parties have always been destructive to the very core beliefs they supposedly espouse. A recent example is the run of Ross Perot for president. The only thing he accomplished was the defeat of George Bush, the elder. The so called third party only served to upset the election. We do not need this any more.

What should the tp do? It should run as a movement and support candidates in either party who run on a platform similar to the tp movement. This would give the tp much more clout and it would send a message through the minds of politicians, "Do as the people want."

While watching TV I heard such pundits as Bill O'Reilly and Al Sharpton criticsise the tp movement. The point of view they urge the tp is to get leadership, run candidates and pass a platform. I say "No way." Follow the pattern I mentioned in the previous paragraph and really exert people power. Let's hope that the tpers do that.

Do your share, read about the tp and if you want to be part of the movement get active. Democracy and the United Staes needs to reclaim our freedoms from sleazy politicians. Stay active.

Please start by acknowledging the sacrifices made by our brave service people, pray for them.
GOD Bless

Explanation of absense

2010-05-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hi

In case any one out there was wondering I didn't fall off the earth. Between a case of writers block and some personal matters I found myself with little or no time to write. I will be writing now at a rate equal or better than I was previously writing. Please stay tuned and stick with me. Thanks

Here I can ask you to remember our brave service people and keep them in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Ethics in American politics

2010-03-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

Hi

It seems that the democratic party is going crazy. There is no leadership and now the democrats are fighting amongst themselves.

Case in point - In order to get an additional vote for Obamacare, Congressman Massa of New York is being thrown under the bus. The liberal leaning pundits are all spinning the "tale" that it is because of a sex scandal. Rot. If sex scandals were any criteria why isn't Barney Frank being pushed out? The liberals can spin all they want but facts deny any baloney about the real reason for a witch hunt on Massa. I just love it when the liberals try to put this nonsense in a positive light, it shows them for what they are, hypocrites.

Another example is the recent remarks by our old friend Dan Rather. You remember him, the guy who wore sweaters on TV and then ran with a phony story about George Bush. Now Dan is making remarks on TV and saying Obama could not sell watermelons. I wish some liberal (or anyone else) could explain to me why that remark doesn't get Rev Sharpton out with his bullhorn. More hypocrisy. Don't you just love it when these self proclaimed "smart people" get themselves into such Catch 22 situations. I know I would appreciate a good honest answer from some liberal pundit. I an not holding my breath until that happens.

Meanwhile keep up your prayers for our service people.
GOD Bless

Lack of leadership in DC

2010-03-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hi

It is disheartening to follow what is going on in Washington. It is depressing enough about health care reform, the debate over global warming and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but now we have a new concern.

The question of ethical people running our government concerns me. House Speaker Pelosi condones the actions of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Wrangle, former congressman Jefferson is in jail and the late Congressman John Murtha has had his name connected to various nefarious doings. I wish some one could explain to me what this does to the promise by Speaker Pelosi that we will have an open and honest government. Do you think that she understands that when she gives Wrangle a pass on his ethics violations she is in effect assuming the blame for these tactics? I wonder if she does.

The good news is that tomorrow is primary day here in Texas and we can start the ball rolling to oust some of these characters. Please remember this when you cast your ballot.

There are good and ethical people who work for our government, our military. Please pray that they are protected.
GOD Bless

Morality of our politicians

2010-02-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hi

There is a terrible attitude in Washington, DC. It appears as if the elected officials,both parties, have a sense of entitlement to the spoils of our labors. Ain't so.

It is distressing to read that someone like Congressman Wrangle (D-NY) adopts an air of, "I am above the people of the nation". This man has tax problems, questions of his
reporting wealth and now an ethics allegation. He answers the allegation by denying his aides statements that they informed him of certain trips being illegal. He never got the message. Cone on, Congressman, you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, admit it,take the responsibility and atone. The way to atone is to resign your post as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. We don't need some one with a clouded sense of ethics writing our tax laws. Of course a resignation would show you have morals and I wonder if you do have morals. Actions speak louder than words.

While we di8scuss this let us remember the words of Speaker Pelosi and the candidate Obama, we were promised a clean, open and honest administration. If you want to be what you promised get this character off the committee. Is this too much to expect. I await your decision.

Mean while we can continue to pray for our honorable and brave warriors. Please remember them.
GOD Bless

Bipartisan politics and health care

2010-02-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hi

Thursday the President will conduct a so called bipartisan health care summit. I wish him luck but I don't expect mush to be accomplished. In reality it seems like a feeble attempt to get republicans to agree to a bad piece of legislation. The only bipartisanship to come from this is the distrust from the American people. The voter anger will be aimed at both major political parties, and the American people will be the ones to suffer. This is the time for partisan politics, the republicans should stand for what the voters want, no Obamacare, and the republicans should not sign on to any legislation which gives us Obamacare.

The tea parties were held in order to let the politicians what the American people want, the republicans must respect that feeling or else be doomed. Let's hope that we get some fortitude from the republicans. If not, keep in mind those who caved and remember their names when the 2010 elections come around.

Keep saying those prayers for our service people.
GOD Bless

Obama Health Care

2010-02-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

Hi

The president is at it again. We are seeing another effort to pass unwanted health care reform down our collective throats. When will this end? I know I speak for many people when I say that the government no longer is doing the best thing for the people.

On TV we see liberal pundits still try to justify the attempt to pass this health care legislation but no one addresses the fact that the public doesn't want Obamacare. It has been mentioned often that the people want some reform but things like tort reform and allowing insurance carriers write policies across the state lines. The democrats will not even discuss this, solely because the trial lawyers want it and the lawyers contribute t democratic candidates. The democrats are playing to their donors even though it creates a hardship on the general public. We have one big weapon, vote the bums out in midterm elections and then vote the president out in 2012. Save the country. Please look at what any candidate stands for before making your decision on election day. This past election which was primarily an anti Bush vote showed how dangerous a vote can be if the electorate do not consider the stand and policies of the candidates.

Continue t pray for our troops.
GOD Bless

Where dowe go from here

2010-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

Hi

The title of this blog does not give a clue as to the content, this was done with a purpose in mind. The blog is about the direction we should try to steer our country. Let us start with the 2010 mid term election.

We need a new government, not just the people but the complete mindset. resident Obama promised this when he ran for office but so far all we have gotten is more of the same. We need real change.

In the 2010 elections we should elect out of office any politician who supports the unpopular positions being put forth by the liberal left. The people do not want a government run health care system, why is congress trying to push one off on us? We don't want a blanket amnesty for illegal aliens, again, why is the government trying to push this on us? This writing could go on and on about things that the liberal elite in DC feel we should have. I say let's teach them a lesson and throw them out. In the next presidential election we should look at what the president has done and if we don't like, then throw him out. We the people need to take back our government.

I have tried to give my take on ways to better our government and I will continue to do so. I hope you will read the blogs.

Please remember to pray for our heroes.
GOD Bless

Tea Party and Town Hall meetings

2010-02-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

Hi

It has become a hot topic on the news programs, "What do you make of the Tea Party?" What amazes me is how the pundits see so differently from the way I see it. Many, if not most, of the pundits see this as a new insurgent political party. I see it as a grass roots movement which is angry at both political parties. The cause of this misunderstanding is that those elected officials in Washington, DC just do not understand the American voters. The pundits go along with the Washington establishment primarily because of the culture of the city. DC eats up personalities and numbs the thinking process of the insiders. They huddle together and socialize with each other so they tend to get a very narrow point of view. Since most of these people seem to be liberal the prevailing thought is liberal.

We see it in the main stream media,papers like the New York Times do not report the cause,effect nor the make up of the tea parties. To the editorial staff any one who supports a tea party concept is just a radical right wing nut. Why don't they get it. The American public is tired of politics as usual,mutual backscratching by politicians of both parties and what seems like an unending stream of self serving legislation. We pay and we are pi**** off, listen Washington. The American people want and need a change of the way things have been running. I usually do not give ultimatums but in this case I must make an exception. If the elected officials don't share up by the November electionm, it will be "sayonara". 'Nuff said.

Meanwhile please continue to support our troops and keep praying for their safety.
GOD Bless

Biden and religion

2010-02-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

Hi

Am I the only one who noticed Vice President Joe Biden on Ash Wednesday? He was on TV and standing there on a platform with some other people, and there was the traditional ashes on his forehead. It is great that the vice president follows his religion, but I have some questions.

Mr Biden, do you follow your religion when it comes down to voting on the abortion issue? Every one except House Speaker Pelosi knows that the Catholic Church opposes abortion. Mr Vice President, Don't you think it is a bit hypocritical to display your religion on TV and then continue to espouse the principle of abortion on demand? I saw a bumper sticker which sums it all up, the sticker read. "You cannot be a Catholic and favor abortion."

It may seem hypocritical on my part to pass judgment but I feel that those who can have some effect on the issue of abortion and profess to be Catholic should follow the teaching of the Church. For the benefit of any non-catholic reading this the church opposes abortion because it deems that life begins at conception, not when the child passes through the birth canal. If you follow the Catholic rule there can be no other definition of abortion but that it is the taking of a life. I repeat,Mr Biden, do you really believe in the teachings of the Catholic church or are you putting on a show when you wear ashes? Please let us know.

Here I will ask you to be religious and pray for our brave service people.
GOD Bless

Tea Party

2010-02-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

Hi

Sometimes I wonder if people understand the Tea Party movement. The reason I say this is that I was watching the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News and I came away with the impression that Bill O'Reilly missed the point. Here is my take on it.

There is no such thing as a Tea Party, not in the way we ave come to understand the Republican and Democratic Parties. The group should be best thought of as a grass roots movement. Because it is a movement and not a political party there should be no leader or spokesperson. No agenda except for the common desire for a more responsible government. If the Tea Party were to run candidates then I feel the aim of the movement is lost. To really be effective the Tea Party should only support candidates of the two major parties if those candidates pledge to champion the causes of the Tea Party.

It would seem like a path to destruction if the party were to run candidates and act like a regular party. Our history is full of examples of what happened to third party movements,they all have failed. Not only have third parties failed but because they dray voters away from one of the major political party they generally mess up elections. It is well known that third parties usually draw from the candidate most closest to their way of thinking,this splits the vote and almost insures that the candidate they hope to defeat gets elected. Not a good way to achieve results.

The Tea Party should stay away from a structured existence and just operate as a place to marshal voters and accumulate support for the desired candidate. The party would get better results. More to come.

Continue to pray for our brave heroes.
GOD Bless

Unemployment and illegal aliens

2010-02-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

Hi

It makes sense that one can tie the subjects of unemployment and illegal immigration so here we go. It also makes common sense that if you allow an unchecked flow of illegal immigration into the country there will be a great effect on unemployment. How come I can see this but our elected officials cannot?

We hear the argument that illegals fill the positions that American workers don't want, but I say that premise is false. It is difficult to believe that some one who wants to work would not be willing to accept a job outside his chosen profession. Remember the old adage, "Bread is required on the table."

The solution is simple, rein in illegal immigration. We cannot just deport all the illegals, it would be impracticable and costly. We need a different solution. In previous blogs I have written about the so called tag-up rule. Under this concept all illegals must return to their native country, get clearance from the police that they are not wanted felons and they must also get a medical statement stating that they have no serious communicable disease. Armed with these documents the illegals then apply for entry into the United States. We control the number. If there is a need for labor we can increase the entry number for illegals (who would now be here legally) and we could even direct them to where the work force is needed. Every body wins. Both sides of the political aisle bear blame for the crazy situation we now have, maybe both sides should now get together and correct the situation.

Please remember our brave service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Unemployment solution

2010-02-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

Hi

The unemployment rate in the United States is hovering about the 10 per cent level. That is the figure given by the White House and the mass media. For our purposes we can use that number.

The current administration does not seem to have a clue about how to go about fixing unemployment. I wish some one in DC would read this and consider these suggestions.

The so called stimulus bill did not help the rate of jobless but in actuality it increased the number of out of work people. Obviously that is not the answer. The way to get out of this mess is simple and time proven. Before we do any thing else we must cut taxes. Better yet, enact a flat or fair tax. Tax reductions give the people more spending power and that translates into more jobs. People spend the extra money which causes retail and manufacturers to produce more. It is a self serving solution. Former presidents have reduced taxes, ( Kennedy, Reagan and Bush ) and we got an increase in revenue in all cases. Coupled with the tax cut there must be fiscal restraint by the government. Spending must be reined in. This combination of tax cuts and curbed spendingwill work. The liberal left would have you believe that only the rich benefit, but, let me ask this question. What do you think the rich do with the extra money? Answer, they invest it and create jobs. Real jobs, unlike the government which only creates make work programs which produce nothing. Just ask yourself which alternative is better.

The economists use the term "laissez-faire" to describe this approach. Translated from the French it means "leave us alone". I trust the American people and know how far more than I trust the congress and the president.

Another step would be to remove the many regulations which make it difficult to operate a business. The president and most members of congress never had to balance a checkbook, live within a budget or meet a payroll. How can they possible be entrusted with the fate of our future. Our economy would be better off is these characters left us alone. American ingenuity will triumph.

In the future I will talk about other ways to improve our way of life. I hope you stay tuned in.

Keep on praying for our brave heroes.
GOD Bless

Energy policy - recap

2010-02-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

Hi

Today I will tie together all the things we should do to get an effective energy policy. I have already discussed domestic and off shore drilling and the development of alternative sources of energy. This should be done immediately, and it can be done simultaneously.

One of the most knowledgeable people in the area of energy is mister T, Boone Pickins. He has several ideas on solving the energy crunch but unfortunately our elected politicians do not listen. Pickins has suggested converting our fleet of semis, the 18 wheelers, to natural gas vehicles. This would be a great first step, and the cost per Mr Pickins would be about $60M per vehicle. With the amount of gasoline these vehicles use how long before we can recover the investment? Certainly within a reasonable time. Go for it. We may have to subsidize the conversion to natural gas but that could be done by repayable loans. It would benefit both the truckers and the nation.

Other methods of getting energy are more efficient drilling technology, drilling off shore, the licensing of new nuclear plants and the use of cleaner burning coal. All of these could be explored and used. To repeat myself these steps would help our economy, create jobs and wean us from dependence on foreign oil. That's what we need.

We can hope that the Tea Parties and the Town Hall meetings have goaded our elected officials into some action.

Keep praying for our service people who are protecting us.
GOD Bless

Energy policy - Part III

2010-02-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hi

This is another suggestion that should alleviate our energy problem. For far too long we have held up the drilling for crude in Alaska. It was once described to me that the area designated for drilling is a minuscule part of the pristine countryside. The way it was described to me was as follows - If you take a quarter coin and place it on the corner of an average sized living room rug, the ratio of the quarter to the rug would be in line with the area sought to be drilled. This begs the question, "Is this going to cause any real and lasting harm to the Alaska landscape?" Common sense says we should have been drilling for years and the discussion should have been done, over and closed. Unfortunately our politicians do not think this way. We do have a solution. In November vote out the members of congress who vote against the federal government allowing the drilling.

I will close for now but I will continue to write about what I think we as a nation need to do. Stay with me.

Keep on praying for our brave service people.
GOD Bless

Energy policy - Prt II

2010-02-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

Hi

This is a continuation on my thoughts on our energy policy. I find it hard to understand why neither political party has addressed this issue previously. The apparent divide is environmental activists on one side and commerce seeking cheaper energy on the other side of the issue.

Our elected officials MUST come to grips with this problem. It is about time that Washington makes a decision either way. Come on guys and gals, get with it. The American people need some kind of action.

In my last blog I discussed drilling within the United States. There is another aspect to this thinking, namely national defense and security. How long can we be dependent on foreign crude and still be able to protect ourselves? The answer is clearly evident, not for long. Our domestic supply of oil is large enough to maintain our energy needs for a long time. It makes no sense to me not use our domestic supply. Mind you not waste it but use it in connection with alternative means of energy. I see that the Obama administration seems to be heading for an approval of a new nuclear plant in Georgia, good. We need to use all our brainpower to solve our energy needs. This is an example of what I mean when I say drill and at the same time develop alternate energy sources. We should have been doing this all along.

The solution is not quick but if we do not start somewhere we never will rid ourselves of dependence on foreign sources for our energy needs. Maybe DC is waking up, I sure hope so.

Please continue to pray for the safety of our armed forces.
GOD Bless

Why aren't we drilling

2010-02-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hi

This is a blog about the problems caused by the direction concerning our "energy policy". Maybe I should say "lack of energy policy".

We are dependent on foreign crude oil. We currently import too much from various nations and this is a severe problem. In the next few blogs I will spell out what the problems are and how we can correct them.

As a starter the US now imports crude from many sources. If these sources are cut off we face severe economic disaster. It is incumbent upon us to wean ourselves from this foreign dependence. We can accomplish this by several methods, but the first is by drilling within our own borders. For too long the politicians on both sides of the aisle have caved to the tree hugging environmental movement, it is time to stop. Our national security depends on us being forceful. One argument we hear from the environmentalists is that we will endanger the planet. They fret over spills, damage to the air quality and other fears. The Heritage Foundation has an interesting piece about the oil fields off the coast of California. Every year the beach gets some oil spill and damage is caused. The oil spill is caused by an overflow of the underwater oil fields. If we tap these oil wells we will ease and even relieve the pressure,thus we would solve the problem of oil spills. It would be a win-win situation, we prevent spills and we get extra crude. I wish some one in DC would listen to common sense.

Another argument is that we in the US lack capacity to refine more crude. A solution -build more refineries. It will take some time but it will also start us in the right direction. Jobs would be created by the building of the refineries, the economy benefits. Another win-win situation.

If we feel that using new technology to drill off shore is too costly we would be cheating our future. The mere thought that an abundant supply of oil will flow is enough to reduce prices. It is cheaper to drill than to import. In future blogs I will give my take on the effect on national defense. Let's start to drill as soon as possible. A person more knowledgeable than than I is T. Boone Pickens. He has stated that even if we start to develop other sources of energy we should start drilling as soon as possible. His opinion is certainly more learned than that of the fanatic environmentalists, let's listen to Mr Pickens. I trust him more. The next few writings will continue to address the energy problem.

Pray for our brave soldiers and service people.
GOD Bless

More on health care

2010-02-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hi

I would like to advance another idea on reforming health care coverage. In the past I mentioned tort reform and I will expand on that subject. This post is about Class Action lawsuits.

A CLS (Class Action Lawsuit) is a legal action wherein plaintiffs with a similar complaint are lumped together in one lawsuit. The reason for this is it makes it easier to try similar cases without many witnesses, court time, different lawyers, etc. As a rule CLS does serve a purpose because it eases the burden on our court system and it does not present any undue hardship on plaintiffs. My remarks are aimed at CLS in medical malpractice cases.

When I was younger and still practicing law the states (NY) passed a law which in effect ruled that when all attorneys in a state charge the same for a legal matter it amounts to price fixing, which is a no-no. At that time the question was the fee for handling a house closing. Now the fee varies and basically is determined by market forces. CLS should be governed the same way. It is no different than other legal matters and the change would put the fee charged on a competitive basis. We all know what happens when competition is introduced. The fee usually goes down. It would be a simple thing, make all CLS suits federal cases. Because the legal costs would be reduced the cost of insurance, and accordingly, health care would be reduced. The people would be the beneficiaries of this reform.

I cannot understand why our president and congress have not made these changes already. (Well, yes I can - catering to special interests). We should demand this change from our government. If they donot respond vote the rascals out in November.

Keep praying for our service people.
GOD Bless

Health care reform - Part II

2010-02-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hi

Just a reminder that yesterday I wrote about one step which should be taken in order to "fix" health care. This blog will address reform two. Creating an environment of competition is a good way to lower costs of existing health care policies. In order to create the environment of competition we must pass some effective legislation to clear obstacles.

Currently health care insurers must comply with state regulations. These regulations vary from state to state. I am not a big believer in federal intervention but in this instance a "LIMITED" intervention is needed. Because federal law supersedes state law the federal government should enact legislation that would allow health care insurers to write policies in all states. The effect of this would be that the doors of competition would be open. Insurers could cross state lines to write their insurance policies. The people would be given less costly insurance because of the element of competition. However there is one potential pitfall, government take over of the insurance. To protect against this the legislation should be drafted so that the federal government has only a say in setting up private insurers and will never have any regulatory powers. The insurer would have to comply with the laws of the state in which the insurance company writes the policy.

As a side effect there would be less wiggle room for an insurer to claim a "preexisting" condition. When a person moves he can carry his insurance with him. It would alleviate the problem with paper work. I don't see any down side for this.

There is some resistance to this idea. It comes from lobby groups like AARP, Trial Lawyers associations and similarly situated groups who would see their gravy train disappear. What a shame. The American public benefits. Still more to come.

Continue to pray for the protection of our brave service people.
GOD Bless

Health care reform

2010-02-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

Hi

Now that I have tackled the flat or fair tax issue I am going to express myself on health care reform.

We have to look at health care reform in 2 different ways.

The first is to reform the health care system which is already in existence. Those of us who have adequate health care don't want our politicians meddling with the system. Heaven knows they cannot get many things right. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Unfortunately too many politicians think they know better than every body else. (The liberal bible says so). We must keep reminding these people that just because they have a few letter after their name they are not necessarily the smartest person in the room. With existing health care we must bring down the cost. This is done by enacting a form of tort regulation and further enacting a federal law which allows insurers to write policies across state lines.

A tort is a civil wrong. A malpractice suit is a typical tort. Under existing law the plaintiff is allowed what is called punitive damages. In most states this is an amount 3 times the amount of actual damages. The purpose is to punish the wrong doer, in this case the medical provider. The medical provider guards and protects himself by purchasing malpractice insurance. We all know that the cost of this malpractice insurance finds its way into our medical bills. If we were to eliminate the punitive element but keep the remaining tort legislation the plaintiff would still get his compensation. Since a large portion of the award for punitive damages goes into the hands of the trial lawyers. This is paid for by malpractice insurance, so it follows if we eliminate the punitive damage awards, we lower the insurance costs. This is then passed on to the medical care recipient. The cost of existing medical care would be lowered for all without any significant loss to the patient.

In my next blog I will cover the second scenario, "Does the government (we the people) have an obligation to provide free health care for every one?" Stay tuned.

Continue to pray for our brave service people.
GOD Bless

Revamped government

2010-02-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

Hi

If you have followed my posts you know I am a great advocate of a flat or fail tax. Now I will try to spell out some other changes which would be beneficial. Please remember that I want nothing except the best for our country and its people.

Term limits is often mentioned and I think that it is now time for term limits for Congress. Too many members get elected, stay forever and take root in Congress. This leads to a misguided concept that the congressional seat belongs to the congress person. The recent Senatorial election in Massachusetts where a republican took the seat that was held by democrat Ted Kennedy illustrates why we need term limits.

During that campaign the democratic candidate acted and believed that she was the heir to the senate seat. The republican kept reminding the populace that it was the peoples seat. You know what happened, a republican won the seat held by a democrat for 50 years. The people spoke. The voters said the seat is ours, not a politician who claims a right of passage. Hooray for democracy.

We need to keep the attitude of the voters in Massachusetts. Congress works for us, just keep reminding yourself of that fact. And even more importantly, at election time remind the politicians that we own the congress. We pay the salary and therefore we have earned the right to tell congress what we want.

I will continue to write about what I feel are changes we noeed to keep our government strong,,so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, please continue to pray for our service people.
GOD Bless

Flat tax - continued

2010-02-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

Hi

If you have been following my blogs you are aware of the fact that I have been writing about the advantages of a flat or fair tax. I would like to refute the argument made by some (see-article by Douglas Dunn referred to earlier).

The main thrust seems to be that the tax will fall on the poor and middle class while benefiting the high income earners. An objection to this theory is that it does not really face the facts as we know them to be true. While the income tax is paid overwhelmingly by the upper earners, other taxes like social security, medicare, unemployment insurance (paid indirectly through your employer) are all paid primarily by the middle class. The objection that is raised does not hold sway. Very little, a negligible amount, is shifted. The problem is that the liberal left in this country always play the class warfare game. This is another example of such false thinking. We should look at what is good for the majority of us and not give in to class warfare. Who needs it. When measured against the many benefits derived from the flat or fair tax we can only come to one conclusion, pass the flat or fair tax. We deserve the control over what we pay. Please consider that many of the tea party and town hall protesters are inline with this flat or fair tax. In November vote out any politician who refuses to follow the wishes of the people.

Please continue to pray for our brave military.
GOD Bless