Truths spoken by Obama

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Judgement, or lack thereof

The proposition 8 controversy in California is a perfect example of the future of America as we loose control of our government. Gay marriage was illegal in California (as it is in most states and countries around the world) but a Judge took it upon himself to declare his will and legislate from the bench that it was legal. Whether his action was illegal or unconstitutional is not the point of this mention, but the action the people of California took to correct his action is. Proposition 8 passed by a majority of the California population and those who opposed it are asking the California Supreme Court to overturn this legislation. Once again, it is not within the authority of a Judge to create or destroy a LAW, they are simply bound to APPLY the laws passed by the legislature.

Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America wrote, “the President may slip without the state suffering” and “Congress may slip without the Union perishing.” also, “if ever the Supreme Court came to be composed of rash and corrupt men, the confederation would be threatened by anarchy and civil war.” A new President and a new Congress can be elected, but judges have life tenure and if there is no rule of law, how then shall we govern? By the rash emotions of judges? By the corrupt discrimination of judges against different classes of people?

It seems that when those in government exercise "judgement", its not in the interest of the people.

Fools with plans

This letter to the Wall Street Journal raises and interesting fact about economies vs. corporations. Donald's final comment is worth memorializing...

Crusading for a national "energy plan" and upset that WSJ columnist Holman Jenkins isn't on board, T. Boone Pickens asks rhetorically: "My father used to tell me that a fool with a plan is better than a genius with no plan. So I ask, what's Mr. Jenkins's plan?" (Letters, Sept. 2).

Contrary to Mr. Pickens's assumption, an economy is not simply a gigantic business firm. An economy is both incomprehensibly more complex than is even the largest multinational corporation, and it has no specific, overriding purpose comparable to a firm's goal of maximizing profits - a purpose by which the performance of each employee and each investment decision is relatively easy to evaluate. So while plans and some measure of central direction make sense for firms, comparable plans and direction for an economy are poison. They prevent the on-going decentralized, competitive experimentation from which spring not only progress that is unplanned, but progress whose details could not have been foreseen before they actually materialize.

The Soviet Union famously had plans for its economy; the United States did not. Which country was the fool?

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux

I also found it interesting that the WSJ is not on board with T-Boone's plan. Since converting wind and light to usable energy (electricity) is the least efficient source of power we currently have, I would have to agree that his plan has some major flaws. There is little probability that either of these source of energy will be able to produce more than 1% of the world demand.

Wise men hesitate where fools rush in.

What time is armageddon ?

One of my republican friends was recently lamenting the coming of the socialist agenda from our inbound president elect (he wishes to remain anonymous as he is embarrassed to be a republican at the moment). I had to ask him where he had been for the past 60 years or so?... Apparently he (and I'm afraid more people than I would like to believe) are oblivious to the fact that we have gradually eroded the principles of our constitution and replaced them with socialist ones (under the disguised code word of liberalism of course).

Norman Thomas, a candidate for President of the U.S. Socialist Party in every election from 1928 to 1948 once said that, “The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism’, they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation.”

I fear he has been proven correct.

The US constitution has been under constant attack since WWII, and it's protections from governmental corruptions, protection of free speech, the right to bear arms, and the freedom of the individual have become nearly moot. Power specifically designated to the local levels to protect us from the corruption that thrives in an all powerful government have gradually been aggregated to the central politburo.

• The schools are now in complete control of Washington thanks to no child left behind and the teacher's unions.
• The fed is borrowing over a billion dollars a day just to keep the lights on and service the national debt.
• There are over 20 states who have spent their way into a level of bankruptcy that will keep them paying off the accrued debt beyond the next generation.
• The Federal register of regulations is over 76,000 pages long.
• The IRS tax code is so large they were unable to produce a page count total this year.
  
• We are seating a comedian in the senate.
• We may seat a woman in the senate without a resume, any government experience, or even a desire to vote (but she is from a well known family).

And the coups de gras... We are about to swear in a president who;

• could not obtain a security clearance based on his associations
• has a questionable birth certificate that has been locked away by the governor of HI to ensure the courts can not examine it, (a challenge, which if proven correct, could prove he is not even eligible to be the US president)
  
• had family members in the country illegally, living in government sponsored housing while he served in the senate
• has written a book seriously criticizing the United States, capitalism, and our society

But what is more disturbing is what will fill the power vacuum when America dives headlong into the abyss? The lists above are indicative and representative of bad fiscal and moral behavior on our leaders part, but are in no way to be perceived as comprehensive. The stated intentions of the incoming administration will weaken us militarily, financially, and morally and bring about the destruction of our economy if allowed to become law. That weakness will have a global impact beyond our shores that will most likely resemble the "woes" foretold in the revelation.

Alas, Empires do not last forever...

The Socialization of America

I am fascinated by the perspective of many of my more conservative peers on the "bailouts" of Wall Street and others as "stealing money from other constructive governmental uses", and those of the more liberal that these are not bailouts but "our duty". The sad irony is, it is neither the governments responsibility or duty to bail out a failing industry, and it is most definitely not their role to borrow from the treasury to do so. My generation, who spoke out (and protested) in the '60s for individual freedom, reduction (or elimination) of the government, and self actualization are now clamoring (on both sides of the issue) for the same government to save us, against whom we railed as young men and women.

The other prevailing perspective that quite honestly baffles me is that socialism is the new threat from the left. The conservatives bemoan the socialist beliefs of PEBO (President Elect Barack Obama), and how he will drive our country into the socialist quagmire that has proven a failure in every other attempt throughout history. While this may be quite true, they should study history a bit closer before blaming the socializing of America solely on PEBO. While you find some socialist ideas in nearly every presidents policies and initiatives since the middle of the 20th century (obviously much more so on the democrat side), you have to go back to the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing attempts at economic recovery to find the true root cause.

Most historians and economists attribute the "socializing" of America to FDR. His "New Deal" instituted many government funded (or should I say working people funded) work programs, and led our country boldly into a financial abyss flags waving. The New Deal represented a significant shift in political and domestic policy in the U.S., with its more lasting changes being increased federal government control over the economy and money supply, intervention to control prices and agricultural production. This was the beginning of complex social programs and wider acceptance of trade unions. The effects of the New Deal still remain a source of controversy and debate among economists and historians to this day. For all accounts, these programs were a disastrous failure, and would have led us into fiscal insolvency had it not been for an unlikely savior : Hitler. I know, WWII historians will say that Japan drug us into the war by attacking Pearl Harbor, but if you examine world affairs of the time, Hitler had given FDR more than enough reason to enter the war in the Atlantic by that time by sinking many liberty ships destined for Great Britain, but the American public opinion at the time was still very isolationist, this now gave him an attack on our soil, and the people supported joining the war.

A subtle but significant point was the wider acceptance of trade unions. Probably the two most detrimental influences on our society and economy of the past century have been the United Auto Workers and the Teachers Unions. Because of the very nature of the mechanics of collective bargaining, over time it transfers control from the employer to the employed, or more accurately to the union who controls the employed. In the case of the UAW, every 4 years the contracts must be re-negotiated, and for every change that the employer seeks, the union makes sure they get something in return. This has led over time to the unions ability to prevent the US auto makers from closing older inefficient plants, implementing automation to reduce costs and remain competitive, and reducing staff levels when demand diminished. Their non-union competitors were not held hostage to these agreements, and now enjoy a significant competitive advantage in the market place. The distinction between union activity and racketeering is so difficult that legislation had to be passed to exempt unions from prosecution under racketeering laws. The overall impact is largely economic, and can be compared to a parasite that eventually draws so much of the blood of it's host, that it dies with the host it kills.

The case of the Teachers Unions is an exact parallel to the UAW, but with far more devastating consequences. While the UAW transferred control from a corporation, with a negative impact to our economy, Teachers Unions have wrested control from society itself. Our educators, like our politicians, are not compensated based on performance. Once a teacher is tenured, they must commit the most heinous acts to be removed (of course, in the case of politicians, even that seems insufficient for dismissal). Privatization of the educational systems seems to be a good idea. Pay and promote based on performance, not based on the number of days one has been receiving a paycheck. Teachers in our public schools should be managed like college and professional football coaches. After all, they educate and lead, and the product of their labor is how well their students compete in the workplace and society. Unfortunately, our teachers are not held to the standards of our coaches, the end of season sacking of those who didn't perform is a good example.

But unlike the UAW, the problem with this parasite is the host that it will eventually kill is society itself.

Follow up to my last post on the sleeping giant

I took this quote from Niel's page, There is nothing I could add to it that could enhance it, so I'll let it stand on it's own.

And No, he wasn't writing about the United States. This quote is well over one hundred years old.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."

Alexander Tyler writing about the fall of the Athenian Republic.

The sleeping giant

The 2008 US presidential election has brought out a bright light and shone it on our political system, culture, and most frightening our media. The media bias in favor of B. Hussein Obama is so blatant even the media pundits are concerned, fearing a backlash from the American people in general (if they ever awake and notice it, that is). I'd cite examples, but there are so many it's unnecessary, anyone who has a sliver of intelligence and independent thought realizes the sad truth of it. This should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans, regardless of of your belief in B.O. being the "anointed one". Not for what it may mean in terms of the election, but for what it means to our society and freedom of speech.

While the media leaders and figure heads are practically gushing with glee as they report on every "positive" aspect of Obama, they are purposefully negative toward everything John McCain says or does, and they are systematically burying all negative information about Barack. Without their help, Hillary would most likely be the nominee, not Barack. What is most frightening about this is that it is beginning to appear planned. How could all of the mainstream media outlets (ABC, CBS, NBS, NYTimes, etc.) seemingly agree on all of the various issues so suddenly? There has been no time in my life that I can recall such "oneness" among the mainstream media.

So who is orchestrating the mainstream media's message? The reporters obviously are not "reporting it as they see it". They seem to be acting in concert to a predefined "script" with a predetermined outcome planned in advance. The removal of embedded reporters from Iraq as soon as the surge was working was not an act by a few reporters, it was uniform across all of the reporting agencies. When the GNP rose to 1.8% in the 2nd quarter (the highest growth seen in a long time), Katie Curic opened the evening news with "the financial picture is grave with the GNP showing less than 2% growth". What could the motivation be behind twisting positive financial news to sound negative when it could have encouraged the American people?

When gas hit $4.00 a gallon, all of the media (and congress) blamed the oil companies because they had "record profits", but no one reported that the largest benefactor was the federal and state governments whose tax collections exceeded the oil companies profits by almost four times! In some states it is even higher. Don't let the politicians fool you, they want gas to go as high as possible. Barack even proposes additional taxes on gas... B.O., that would help lower gas prices how??? But I can't give credit to him for the media control, so who is behind the B.S.ing of America? Who has the motivation to keep the people in the dark, what is their agenda?

Stalin said the genius of Hitler and the 3rd Reich was realizing that controlling the media would control the population. Even though the majority of the German population would never have supported the extreme tactics the Nazis used against the Jews (and anyone else they didn't approve of), they supported the regime because they were deceived by the media. The propaganda machines in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and communist China held (and Russia and China still hold, and perhaps soon the US) complete control over what the people could be told, and consequently would believe. But this deception requires a supportive culture, in order to be led, you must "buy in" to the direction. Without our continuing slide toward liberalism, which is founded on cultural relativism, we could not be led like the proverbial sheep that I fear our nation has become. The values and morals that were the foundation of our country are fading into the abyss, and those of us who still hold that truth, good and evil are absolutes are become few and far between.

Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. Cultural relativism is closely related to ethical relativism, which views truth as variable and not absolute. What constitutes right and wrong is determined solely by the individual or by society. Since truth is not objective, there can be no objective standard which applies to all cultures.

The current movement to “understand” radical Islam—rather than to fight it—is a sign that relativism is making gains. The cultural relativist believes Westerners should not impose their ideas on the Islamic world, including the idea that the suicide bombing of civilians is evil. Islamic belief in the necessity of jihad is just as valid as any belief in Western civilization, the relativists assert, and America is as much to blame for the attacks of 9/11 as are the terrorists.

If we allow this slide to cultural relativism to continue while the majority of our population remains asleep in their ignorance, and whoever is actually pulling the strings of the media puppets is allowed to continue unabated, we will have given our way of life away without a fight. Our country became the greatest civilization on earth (so far) believing in the freedom of the individual, a healthy fear of government, free speech, the right to bear arms, and the liberty to choose the path your life would take, succeeding or failing, but responsible for yourself.