The Voice of Reason: Could These Be the Last Days of America?

The statistics are sobering.

More than 23 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have simply given up looking for work. The number of Americans on food stamps has increased by more than 14 million since President Barack Obama first took office, and the number on social security disability has increased 10 percent in that same time period.

Since President Obama was inaugurated, the amount of money the federal government gives to households has increased by a third, to the point that nearly one-half of all households in the country now receive a check of some kind from the government.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/16-statistics-which-show-that-the-number-of-americans-dependent-on-the-government-is-at-an-all-time-high

Our debt is now over $16 trillion, increasing by more than 50% since our current President took the reins.

 

And yet, the latest polls show President Obama with a slight lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney.  Given the economic condition of our country, which has been made precipitously worse by our current President, how can this be? 

 

I believe that this nearly 200-year-old quote from French historian Alexis de Tocqueville can perhaps provide the best explanation:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”

What Tocqueville predicted nearly two full centuries ago appears to have a good chance of coming true.  With a near-majority of Americans receiving assistance from the government, will they vote for the candidate promising the most benefits, President Obama, or will they vote for Romney, a candidate who promises to control spending in order to save America from financial insolvency? 

If what Tocqueville predicts comes true, our nation will collapse financially and then become a dictatorship.

Interestingly, President Obama has not proposed any plan whatsoever to rein in entitlement programs or to slow the growth of our debt that threatens to implode this country financially.  He hasn't proposed anything in four years as President, and he certainly didn't propose any plan in his convention speech. 

Without a change of direction, our country is racing towards a financial collapse. And yet, nearly one-half of Americans indicate that they will vote for President Obama on November 6?

With all of the campaigning during the past several months, few noticed that our President issued an executive order that directs border control agents to ignore immigration laws passed by Congress and signed by a former President.  More noticed when he passed health care legislation to take over one-sixth of our economy, but very few paid attention when Health and Human Services directed Catholic institutions to provide free birth control, stomping on the religious rights of Americans.  Even fewer paid attention when the New York Times reported that President Obama has a "kill list" that includes American citizens as primary targets without any judicial or Congressional review.  President Obama alone decides who lives and who dies.  Are these the actions of a President in a democracy or a dictator?

Tocqueville predicted that a dictatorship follows the financial collapse. Based on our current President's actions, we're already halfway there.

As I wrote in an earlier blog, this election will be the second most important one in our nation's history.  The most important election was the first, when our country elected a leader, George Washington, who established the model for sharing power among the three branches of government, instead of grabbing the near-unlimited power that could have been his.

I fervently believe that this election will determine if America continues being a democracy or if it  transforms into a socialist nation or worse, a dictatorship; if America will regain financial stability or drown in its debt; and if America will continue to be the land of opportunity or a country where the government determines how successful one will become.

In short, this election will determine if these will be the last days of the shining beacon of freedom. Will we become the nation they once called America, or the nation that continues to beckon those yearning to be free?

It will be up to us on November 6.



 

 

The Voice of Reason: Election of 2012 Will Be Our Second Most Important

The Presidential Election of 2012 will undoubtedly be viewed by historians in 100 years as the second most important election in American history.

The first election, of course, was the most important election in our country's history.  A young nation was willing to award king-like power to our first President.  Fortunately, the leader of the Revolutionary War, George Washington, won the election and became the model for future Presidents.  Instead of grabbing for the almost-unlimited power available to him, Washington cautiously navigated the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution, realizing that the fledgling nation needed to move toward the democratic vision of our founding fathers, instead of the monarchy model found in England.

Just as the outcome of the first election determined whether or not America would resemble a democracy or monarchy, this year's election will determine whether America moves  towards a European-style democracy that borders (or crosses into) socialism or will return to being the country our founding fathers envisioned when writing the Constitution.

To those who believe strongly in the Constitution, the choice should be crystal clear.  But for those who are the beneficiaries of a strong federal government and its numerous social programs that support them, the choice may be more difficult.

Currently about half of the country benefits from big government programs, while the other 50% pay for them.  While a little more than 50% of Americans pay income taxes, nearly 50% do not.  President Barack Obama's policies to "redistribute the wealth" have only encouraged more Americans to apply for unemployment, disability, welfare, food stamps and numerous other government programs.  For many, the monetary compensation and benefits they receive for not working is close to the compensation and benefits they would receive for working. Why would anyone work if they could stay at home and live nearly as well, especially when the horrific Obama economy has limited their opportunities for a decent income?

The sad part is that many Americans have simply given up trying to improve their lots in life.  Many have found it easier to maintain a minimal standard of living -- and the Obama Administration has encourged this through the expansion of numerous social programs. The result is that more and more Americans are living on less than they were before President Obama was elected.  A recent report recently revealed that the median household income for Americans of all ages was 4.8% lower in June 2012 than it was when the recovery technically started three years earlier, in June 2009.
http://www.startribune.com/nation/167272875.html?refer=y 

America is quickly becoming a country that encourages mediocrity instead of exceptionalism. In fact, in a recent speech, President Obama downplayed the importance of intelligence and hard work in determining one's success. His views about how government -- not intelligence and hard work --determine the success of Americans provide an excuse for any American who is not successful:  They simply haven't received enough support from government to succeed.

President Obama's policies, attitudes and actions have strongly communicated that America is no longer the place where an individual can save money, build a business and become an overwhelming success.  To the President, if someone is successful, it is because the federal government, not the individual, made it happen.  To President Obama, the American dream is dead, unless the government gives you that dream. 

Very early in a second Obama term, more Americans will be supported by the government than those who are supporting the government through taxes. President Obama has made it very clear he wants the most successful Americans to pay even higher taxes, which will provide them with a financial disincentive to suceeed.  More American businesses and high net worth individuals will move offshore, avoiding America's regressive tax policies, which will create even more unemployment.  As a result, more Americans will determine that it's easier to stay at home and receive a check than to head out to work every day. Those lucrative benefits offered by the government will eventually have to be cut dramatically, or taxes will have to be increased on more Americans to pay for them. The middle class, dwindling because of the loss of American jobs, will not be spared from the dramatic tax increases. In order to pay for these programs, even with higher taxes, America will plunge more deeply in debt, creating a Greece-like financial disastor in our country within the next four years and eroding the standard of living for all Americans. The interest alone on the national debt will soon consume the majority of the federal budget, so much so that other countries will no longer loan us funds to continue our spending spree.

President Obama is a proponent of big government, more social programs, government takeovers of business (i.e., GM and the healthcare system) and the government, not the free market, picking winners and losers (i.e., trying his best to kill the coal industry through EPA regulations, while supporting alternative energy companies like Solyndra).  In other words, he believes in a European-style of democracy that is more like socialism than a capitalistic, democratic society.

The antidote for this imminent disastor is for America to grow its economy, get people off their couches and back to work, provide incentives for Americans to succeed and build businesses, get its federal budget under control, and slow the growth of entitlement and social programs so that they don't bankrupt the country and are available for future generations of Americans. In other words, America needs to become America again, allowing the principles of capitalism to determine winners in the marketplace, while limiting the powers of the federal government.

The Obama Administration has shown no indication whatsoever that it's willing to promote pro-growth, pro-business policies; provide incentives for Americans to grow businesses; or to slow the growth of entitlement programs.  In fact, President Obama appears to be diametrically opposed to making any of the difficult choices necessary to prevent the impending financial disastor.

In contrast, Republican nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, are proposing pro-growth, pro-business policies; incentives for people to grow businesses; and a revamping of entitlement programs for those 54 and younger so that these programs are available to future generations of Americans.

While many Americans see the choice in November between Democrats and Republicans, others see this election as a pivotal decision point in American history.  The fact is that if America continues down its current path in a second Obama term, it will never return to a free-market system of capitalism with limited federal government.  

Americans voted wisely in 1789 and set our country on a course that would allow it to dominate economically and militarily for over 200 years.  Are Americans just as wise today, or will they succumb to the appeal of government programs that allow them to have a mediocre standard of living while doing nothing?

We will find out on November 6.




 





  

The Voice of Reason: Obama Administration Opens Our Borders

While driving home from work yesterday, I heard a disturbing interview with border control agents on a local radio station.  What I heard should make every American mad as hell.

According to the agents interviewed on the radio talk show, the Obama Administration has told border control agents tolak low any illegal alien to go free who says that he or she has graduated from high school or has received a GED.  The other disturbing part of the interview is that one of the agents shared a story of an agent being attacked and injured by an illegal alien, but then being told by higher ups to let the person go because he said he had a high school diploma.

My first thought was that there is no way that our federal government has essentially opened our borders to any and all, as long as they say they have graduated from high school or have a GED, with no proof required.  But then I did a little research using the internet, and I found these articles, among many, many others:

http://www.examiner.com/article/border-patrol-and-ice-representatives-sound-off-on-lenient-immigration-policy

http://www.local2544.org/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/jul/27/picket-video-border-agents-say-dhs-tells-them-rele/

The more I read, the angrier I become.  How in the world can our federal government essentially open our borders, using the words, "I have a high school diploma," instead of requiring documentation and verification, to allow someone to stay in this country legally?

President Obama's executive order allowing illegal immigrants to stay in this country legally under certain conditions is a farce.  There is no verification required.  Documentation isn't even required.   Even those who have committed crimes here in this country, or have assulted border control agents, are allowed to stay in America, as long as they say they have graduated from high school or have earned a GED.

Immigration laws passed by our Congress and signed by a previous President are being ignored by our current President.   If this President can completely ignore this law, he can ignore any law.  I am flabbergasted, disillusioned, angry and disappointed, all at the same time.   It's one thing for a President to decide on which parts of a law to focus enforcement, another to declare that certain people will be exempt from that enforcement, and yet another to essentially ignore the law altogether by giving anyone and all illegal immigrants a "get out of jail free" card by saying a few simple words. 

I am even more convinced that this President must be voted out of office in November, if we have any chance of saving this country and our Democracy.