The Money Tree Runneth Dry – Welcome to Reality

Burdensome entitlements, big government guarantees and a crippling debt. This is the current and unsustainable path that our government is on.

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again. Our Declaration declares that we are, “. . . endowed by their [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This unalienable right to pursue happiness is a gift given to us from our Creator to individually attain honorably, not a guaranteed right provided by an overbearing government.

Our Constitution – a document that is restrictive in its nature toward government – opens by proclaiming that:

"We the people of the Unites States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Unites States of America."

These basic services in which our Union provides its citizenry gives no guarantees of financial stability, no assurances of a big government safety net through bailouts and no promises of healthcare bankrolled through onerous taxes. It only declares that we have the right to live peacefully, secure in the knowledge that our Union will maintain a robust infrastructure and strong national defense.

The social programs which have amassed over the past and current century are accelerating toward a breaking point. Reformers like Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin are demonized by the nannie state supporters and big union thugs for making hard and needed choices. Why? Because like a smoker in need of a fix, free money can be intoxicating, but over time, that fix becomes a debilitating disease that cripples the people receiving it.

These generous handouts are subsidized by the tax payer, and our ranks are much larger than any labor union demanding a free ride. Our redistributed dollars can only go so far. And at the cost of roads, border security and national defense, our guaranteed entitlements are ruining those proclaimed “Blessings of Liberty” while increasing and accommodating the desires of people in need of a fix through the transfer of wealth.

Knowing this, I think we can all agree that painful cuts and reforms need to be made. We need to step back and look at the reality of the situation. After all, money doesn’t grow on trees.

ER

Middle East Turmoil Map

With more and more mid-east countries joining in on anti-government protests, it's becoming more difficult to keep track of what's going on over there. The Washington Post has put together a graph and timeline of the current turmoil.

- Washington Post: Middle East Turmoil
- FoxNews : Crude on the way up

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The Disgrace that is NPR

NPR (National Public Radio), a supposed forum of free speech, tires “to create a more informed public - one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures.”


That is, until you waiver from its extreme, liberal ideology.


Juan Williams, a left-leaning NPR host and Fox News contributor was fired for voicing his first amendment rights during this appearance on The O’Reilly Factor:






NPR, who has a history of being ultra liberal, showed its true colors in taking this action late Wednesday evening.


Juan Williams, an individual who is highly respected and who is also an acclaimed civil rights author was merely stating his opinion on a very controversial topic: Muslims vs. Muslim Extremists. By making that distinction, is that not a challenge to a deeper understanding of the greater Islamic culture? Presumably not. Instead, an individual gets canned (mission statement be damned) for stating a truth that already exists.


Juan spoke a hard reality that is still a very real fear in a lot of American’s minds. Rather than opening and examining this post 9/11 reality, NPR and like-minded organizations would rather turn and look the other way in the name of political correctness.


What is NPR trying to say to its audience by making this move? What are they trying to convey? Are they really trying to examine “a deeper understanding and appreciation of events” that shape our lives, or would they rather promote some elite, liberal agenda?


Overall, the core of this entire debate should not be whether NPR is ultra liberal (duh – it is) or if it should continue to be publicly funded, but rather is NPR really the open forum in which it is supposed to represent?


It seems that it is not. If a subject is uncomfortable or controversial in any way, discussion must be discarded and stifled quickly.


Juan said it best on The O'Reilly Factor by saying, “Political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.”


Or should that say "afraid" to address reality?


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• JUAN WILLIAMS: I Was Fired for Telling the Truth

Gov. Perry's Letter

For those that are interested, the link below is a PDF of the letter given to President Obama by Gov. Perry during their brief meeting on the tarmac at Bergstrom International Airport in Austin. The letter highlights the need (again) for greater federal involvement along our southern border, more specifically, Texas.

Remember this statistic: “Since 2006, this [drug] war has taken 28,000 lives.”

• Gov. Perry's Letter (PDF)

Also, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott going On the Record with Greta Van Susteren:

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A Hell of a Mess

If you look at the US, Mexico border today, you see a political drama playing out that is somewhat reminiscent of Tom Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger.


Brutal drug cartel car bombs detonating in Ciudad Juarez. Gun battles in Nuevo Laredo. Cartel lookout posts on mountain tops – in US territory. Etc . . .


The issue which is the southern border of the United States can be described simply as this: one hell of a mess.


Washington seems to be turning a blind eye to the national security implications, or should I say, doesn’t care and even obstructs in the security of our southern border.


What was the federal response to Arizona’s time of need? File suit in federal court (with a ruling expected this Thursday) to block the right of a sovereign state to defend itself. Compound this with federal law enforcement agencies (ICE) blatantly threatening to turn away any request of federal resources is a frightening bluff (or is it) that shows the serious disconnect of D.C. and the rest of America. Oh, and by the way, maybe we should ask the Department of Justice to file suit against “sanctuary cities” like San Francisco for harboring illegal immigrants.


Raise your hand if you think that will ever happen.


And let’s not forget about the non-profit organization that is the ACLU. It is taking up the mantle of preserving the human rights of those illegally crossing our border. In the ACLU’s Immigrant Rights Project, it states that, “The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every "person" and are not limited to citizens.”


Realizing that the ACLU is one of the most influential non-profit organizations in Washington D.C., let the statement previously declared above sink in for a moment.


While you contemplate the ramifications of that, let me offer this in reply: The United States Constitution is not some new world order, all encompassing government document. It is uniquely American and applies to its citizens, not the citizens of a foreign country.


Back in May, Peggy Noonan wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal making the case of securing the border first before dealing with any other issue. Logically speaking, how can you argue against that? For the sake of our sovereign identity, shouldn’t that be the first step to comprehensive reform?


Politics aside and whatever voter base the left or the right try to appease, do what is right for a change, Washington. Do what is right for America and realize that US citizens thousands of miles away need you to do your job.


Secure the border first; the rest will fall into place.


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The Simple Truth

This health care “reform” passed by an unruly House on Sunday is not reform at all. When the president signs this bill into law today, it will do nothing to promote ingenuity in the health care industry, nor does it make health care better. What it does do is make entitlements more addicting, which in turn, raises the expectations of those chronically addicted to the drug of free government handouts.


Mandating insurance to a people whose only requirement is to be an American is something which infringes on our rights granted to us in the Constitution.


What have we become and where do we go from here? Enter socialism.


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The Boston Tea Party . . .

• Scott Brown (GOP) - 52%
• Martha Coakley (Dem) - 47%

The Boston Glob: Election Results
AP: Epic Upset
Fox Nation: Dems Running from ObamaCare

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Question:

If this health care reform bill is so great for the American people, why are so many representatives, groups and states getting bought off in order to secure its passage?

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In One Ear . . .

Does anyone in Washington listen?


What good is a Republic if our representatives don’t listen to a majority of the populous? Isn’t this a majority rule society? We elected them to speak for us, yes? To push policy which is out of touch with the constituency it represents, D.C. exudes the feel of a forum for elitist ideology rather than rational practicality of the common man.


The most recent examples:

• Healthcare Reform
• A Majority Favor Racial, Ethnic Profiling (National Security)
• The Use of Full Body Scanners
  

For the GOP:

• Legislators out of Touch

For the current Majority in D.C.:

• We are a Center-Right Country

Overall Approval:

• Congressional Performance

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America, Exit Left

We all know that over the past year, one of the President’s major objectives dating back to his campaign was an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. An all inclusive, government run system was preached as the answer to all of our problems for the insured and uninsured alike (which is unfortunately coming to fruition). According to Obama, our healthcare “crisis” will come to an end when Washington dictates how people should be given care (because government knows best, right?).


Against the wishes of a majority of the American people, a vote was finally brought to the Senate floor this morning, passing the Reid version of Obamacare down party lines.


Now, the big hurdle for healthcare “reform” is about to begin.


The leadership in both chambers will begin to merge two very different bills that a majority of people haven’t even read and a majority of Republicans have been left in the dark about.


Many Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Partiers, conservatives and independent thinkers have said all along that if you really want to reform the healthcare industry, work on making insurance companies more competitive. Capitalism is a good thing and competition breeds lower costs. It’s a Laissez-faire model that our country was made to emulate. Making a government umbrella to guarantee coverage for most Americans takes the U.S. one step closer to a socialist banana republic, granting citizens social services countries can’t afford. However, if we keep government away from private industry (healthcare, banking, car industry . . .), the markets will always take care and correct themselves. It’s the nature of Capitalism.


This government spends too much, period. Over the decades, it has slowly been going down a path of expansion and intrusion. It was and is the catalyst that inspired the grassroots movement of today’s Tea Party. Even though this new incarnation of the original movement isn’t based on the ideals of the first, it is of the same principle and spirit. In a representative’s eyes on Capitol Hill, it’s easy to spend money when it’s not theirs. And what happens when they spend too much? They make up for these deficiencies in spending by auctioning off bonds to communist countries so our treasury can continue to fund government expansion and entitlement programs with foreign-backed debt.


When we start to depend on our government for handouts, we lose the ability to take initiative for ourselves. Socializing medicine and allowing the federal government to take more control of our lives will do nothing but encourage dependency.


All what is happening now in Washington may be the easy way out of a problem that without question needs to be addressed, but in my experience, taking the easy road is never the right road.


Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not a guarantee in any venture, healthcare included.


ER

Rhetoric vs. Reality

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• Charles Krauthammer: Decline is a Choice

Beck: The One Thing - 07/28

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The Influence of 1773

After posting my 4th of July blog, I wanted to write a follow-up, or an epilogue of sorts, to explain my thought process in writing it.


Believe it or not, the first words written for that entry started over a year ago in Florida. After watching the Dow begin its brutal freefall, taxes being placed on items such as soda in New York and Hurricane Katrina victims still living in FEMA run trailers, I felt that the mind set of this country had started to go down a path that contradicted everything we should believe as Americans.


After writing down the general ideas I wanted to convey, I sat on the outline for some time, waiting on the right moment to post a blog such as that. As a matter of fact, I never really looked at it again and almost forgot about it until the tea parties (TEA - Taxed Enough Already) of this past April.


Unlike the original Boston Tea Party, the protesters of this past April weren’t railing against taxation, but more about the taxing and oppressive nature of a government that is on the verge of running our lives. In the spirit of the original act, today’s tea parties showed a motivating sprit in the original fight for freedom.


While in my hotel room on vacation this past April 15th, I watched and was inspired to finish the original blog I started last year. The tea parties embodied what I wanted to share and pushed me to complete a blog on an emotional high. Seeing Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals protesting against not only taxes, but big government intrusion was inspiring. To me, it showed a grass-roots spirit that is hopefully only beginning.


In turn, I naturally held on to ‘What We Fought For’ till the 4th of July. It only seemed fitting to post a blog about our original fight for freedom on the anniversary of our day of Declaration.


If nothing else, I’m hopeful that we will eventually enter an era of common sense. With big government healthcare and other ultra-liberal projects around the corner, our government has the feel of a power hungry control freak rather than an instrument of promoting liberty.


After all, in Common Sense by Thomas Paine, he said, “Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”


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What We Fought For

In a speech to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, then representative John Adams said, “While I live, let me have a country - a free country.”


Our founding fathers gave us a vision and a gift that has stood for over two centuries. Born from the chains of an oppressive British crown, the republic that our founders helped create is one that has allowed people to live free and pursue happiness through their own means. This novel idea is not only granted to us by the providence of God, but by a constitution many believe to be the crowning achievement of a free society.


Two hundred and thirty-three years later, what would those same founders say if they saw the District of Colombia today?


Today, we live in a United States that taxes almost everything we buy or create. Our government asks CEO’s of private businesses to resign. It thinks you should eat a soy burger rather than a hamburger. They spend our money as if it were their own. We have representatives that don’t listen to their constituency, but rather push through an agenda that benefits them.


Today, we have a president who relishes in the thought of spending billions in taxpayer dollars to achieve a “21st century healthcare system” that looks more like France and Canada than the United States; where workers can unite under one banner of socialistic hope and be catered to with government handouts and other various entitlements. The previous president signed earmark-laced spending bills into law like they were autographed baseballs from his Texas Rangers days. We have a Speaker of the House who values the life habits of a field mouse in California rather than the people she represents.


The oppressive and cavalier nature of our government has not reached an apogee yet, but if we do not stay vigilant in the cause of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, we only have ourselves to blame. An elected government can easily restrict one’s rights, but as a free people, we are charged as the stewards of that government which will achieve greater power only if we let it.


Slogans from the 1770’s are returning with renewed cause. “Join or Die” and “Don’t Tread on Me” represent the fervor and ideas of a revolution that resonates today. From the tea parties of that century to the tea parties of this past April, people are beginning to speak out in the cause of what we originally fought for.


But what was it that we fought for? A free country? A representative democracy? A government free from an oppressive monarchy?


What we fought for was - and still is - an idea that is one of the most noble and idealistic in all of humanity. To think that a free and open democracy with people of varying backgrounds, religions and beliefs could stand for two hundred and thirty-three years is at the very least an amazing feat. To think that this Union has withstood a civil war, two world wars, and a devastating depression is inspiring. And to think that these United States have achieved unimagined marvels that include flight, the internet and a walk by man on the moon is at the very least a testament to the innovation that springs forth in a free country.


What we fought for was not just for the birth of a country, but for the birth of an idea that has manifested into that “shining city on a hill” as Reagan so eloquently described us.


Today, we are charged with preserving that city and to hold true on the original ideas of that fight for freedom waged many years ago. We must spread and keep the values of our fathers and grandfathers by working hard and relying on our own achievements, not advancing in the graces of Uncle Sam. We must remind our representatives that they are in Washington, D.C. for us, not for their own personal gain. We must remind the executives in the White House that we are a republic founded on freedoms that encompass all aspects of life, including separation of “business and state” and “healthcare and state”.


The innovation and free-thinking that got us to where we are today will carry us into the 21st century, not government. As a people, we American’s have always aspired to be more than the sum or our parts. Without freedom, those dreams are nothing more than a thought lost in time.


On this 4th of July, honor the revolution that gave birth to a nation of freedom-loving people. Stand tall when you see the flag while cooking out. When reading an op-ed, give thanks that you can actually read it. And when enjoying the relative tranquility of these United States, realize that maintaining our cherished peace and freedom is the responsibility of we, the people.


On this 4th of July, remember what we fought for.


ER

Stewart on Pelosi

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O'Reilly: How Dumb are we Americans?

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Show Me the Money

Cartoon by Steve Sack

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Mortgage Crisis Warning

Back in September of last year, Fox News aired a time line of the financial crisis on Special Report with Brit Hume. After it aired, I tried searching for the video, but it was no where to be found. But, thanks to an avid reader of this blog, that video has been found.


I don't know about all of you, but I've always thought that Barney Frank and Chuckie Schumer are idiots.


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• Washington Post: AIG Mess Damages Obama's Political Capital
• Wire: American Legion Strongly Opposed to Obama's Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment

'We Surround Them' Event

If you haven't been keeping up with Glenn Beck's '9 Principles' and '12 Values', feel free to catch up on Beck's website. The culmination of the 'We Surround Them' event will be presented on his show today on FoxNews at 4 p.m. CDT.


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• WSJ: Obama's Poll Numbers are Falling to Earth
• Houston Chron: Perry Says No to Some Stimulus

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

O'Reilly on 'Glenn Beck'

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