Friday, December 31, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

 
    To all my friends and  fellow bloggers.

   May this year be the best year ever. 

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Is Any One Surprised?

Chuck , friend and fellow blogger at Chuck Thinks Right posted this recently:

And So It Begins...

White House Plans to Push Global Warming Policy, GOP Vows Fight

His article goes along with what I posted back in December of 07. Take time to read them both. 

Did anyone really expect any different from "The One"?


It  did not take a prophet to make this prediction or prophesy. It only took someone with eyes and ears and the ability to think clearly to know that this is the way Obama would pass his agenda. No vote in Congress, no opposition from We The People, just ram it through the back door. If lawsuits are filed then the law will be forced upon everyone by judicial diktat. If all else fails, presidential order will follow.


Monday, December 7, 2009  *** Additions in Red are updates

EPA says Greenhouse Gases Endanger Human Health



WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step Monday toward regulating greenhouse gases, concluding that climate changing pollution threatens the public health and the environment.
The announcement came as the Obama administration looked to boost its arguments at an international climate conference that the United States is aggressively taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation. The conference opened Monday in Copenhagen.
The EPA said that the scientific evidence surrounding climate change clearly shows that greenhouse gases "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people" and that the pollutants — mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels — should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
"These long-overdue findings cement 2009's place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at news conference.

Just in time for the arrival of "the ONE" at the Climate Change Circus in Copenhagen, the EPA makes their sudden revelation. Do you think it was coincidental, or was it to make "the ONE" look good in front of the gathering of clowns in Copenhagen? Of course now there has been a further gathering of clowns in Cancun and it failed as well. Certainly it strokes his ego and causes him to "diddy-bop" even more as he takes the platform. The other clowns are thinking, “Why, certainly ... the new king of the world.” And from all indications that is the post the Chief Clown has been campaigning for since day one.

I wrote on another blog some months ago that "the ONE" would use the EPA Regulations already in place (and now new laws put into place since his new marching orders to these unelected misfits and socialist followers )in order to get all the attention at the CCC and to bypass any debate in Congress on how much money it would cost to perform this unnecessary task or how much taxes you and I and industry would be paying in the future.

It's called taxation without representation and that folks is not Constitutional. We fought a much-needed war over that issue at one time and it appears that we may need to have another one to stop this spread of European Marxism.

Using the EPA sure beats the fight "the ONE" would have in passing "cap and trade," or as it is better known crap and tax.

I heard a small business owner speak today that he is now paying over $10K a month for cooling his business, and that, given the rough estimates so far, he would be paying at least $20K or more when the ridiculous EPA regulations are set into play. His final remark was, “Yes, unfortunately, the cost will be passed on to my customers.”

Not only can EPA regulations control what type of heating and cooling you will use, but they can also tell you what your thermostat will be set on. Can you imagine working in a place with the thermostat set on 85 degrees (F) instead of 75 degrees?
I can only hope those who voted for the "Chief Clown" will be happy with paying out the wazoo for heat, cooling, lights, and all other energy they consume. I am sure that this is not part of the "Change" they hoped for. I may suffer, but I will suffer less knowing that I voted for the other guy.

How Sweet It Is!

                             Some things are just hard to understand!





While a large part of the country digs out of a winter storm, unemployment waiting to hit above 10% in January and the economy continuing it's downward plunge despite reports of the Lame Stream Media to the contrary, the "Vacationer in Chief" enjoys shaved ice in Hawaii on the taxpayer dime.  

Now ain't that sweet?

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Tax cuts work better than public stimulus

Outstanding article in The Australian which also addresses the fallacy of the New Deal and how it actually did nothing but prolong the Depression (which I have argued for years) much as Obama's Stimulus as continued and deepened the Recession. (which I have also pointed out since day one)
Anne Henderson 
From: The Australian  
December 29, 2010 12:00


BARACK Obama recently forced through congress an extension of the Bush tax cuts for another two years, in spite of heated opposition from many Democrats.


The tax cuts repudiate the President's economic policy and signal a shift from government stimulus to tax relief as a means of pushing US economic recovery. Significant sections of the Democratic Party are far from happy, seeing the move as a betrayal.


US unemployment is now 9.8 per cent. With numbers of long-term unemployed multiplying, journalists such as Catherine Rampell of The New York Times report that economists still believe public works projects and direct employment programs are the fastest way of getting the long-term unemployed back into jobs. Many are calling for a new New Deal.


But is this really the answer? Or might tax relief in fact do better? There are many who argue that uncertainty for business around taxation and regulation with the Obama administration has forced investment to wait and see. In these times of government stimulus, as political strategist Joe Trippi puts it, there's still uncertainty that prices have not bottomed, leaving investors waiting.
Bloomberg columnist and widely read analyst Amity Shlaes published The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression in 2007. Risking derision for taking on America's economic sacred cow, Shlaes has argued the New Deal was a tragic mistake in social engineering.


She argues that presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt should have allowed the market to recover rather than spend billions on government schemes. FDR's New Deal was the prime offender. Throughout the 1930s, the US stayed deep in economic depression. By 1937 it had developed a depression within a depression.


The New Deal is foreign territory to most Australians. Its experimentation, largesse of government spending, indifference to global partners or agreements and the, at times, autocratic stance by the president in decisions about finance is unimaginable in any successful Australian leader.


For Roosevelt, there seemed few limits. Such was the power and financial might of the US, allies such as France and Britain bent before him
.
But prices continued to stagnate. Shlaes writes that what FDR was doing was like "pouring glasses of water into the ocean in the hope of raising the sea level". Buyers also determine prices. Even as the US government was offering low interest loans to farmers at the rate of $US1m a day, it was also paying farmers not to farm. As gold hit a new high, Roosevelt put the US back on the gold standard. The depression remained, with unemployment at 23 per cent.


Roosevelt began massive projects under the Tennessee Valley Authority, constructing dams for hydro-electricity. Power to the people, literally, in a nation where private companies owned the utilities. Farmers and locals were resettled at great cost and much protest, and private utilities companies pursued until they could be bought up by the federal government.


The New Deal in the US during the 30s was America's flirtation with a command economy. It failed, and was saved only by the industrial expansion of war in the early 40s.
What became known as Keynesian economics is seen as the theory behind the New Deal. However, as the US unemployment figures remained stuck in the teens by 1937, Keynes wrote to Roosevelt saying he should abandon his war against private utilities companies: "It is a mistake to think businessmen are more immoral than politicians."
The New Deal forced income taxes on high earners to 79 per cent, introduced death duties and lowered tax-rate thresholds. It even delivered an undistributed profit tax as capital retreated in the face of unfair competition from government monopolies and over-regulated markets.


By 1937, taxing the "middleman" had become an FDR sport while new laws to tighten rules around monetary policy forced banks to keep more cash and cut back on loans. Business became expensive. Wages were forced up - in the first six months of 1936 by 11 per cent. August 1937 witnessed the greatest drop in industrial production ever recorded.


In stark contrast, Australia and Britain took a very different path. The British government continued debt reduction. Keynes's biographer Robert Skidelsky, in Interests and Obsessions, writes: "What is striking in retrospect is the shallowness of the British depression and the need for recovery from it in the absence of any deliberate fiscal stimulus. British unemployment, 2.9 million at its peak in 1932, was half Germany's and a sixth of America's at the same date."


In Australia, more damaged by heavy debt by the mid-20s, the story was also far better than in the US. By the time the Scullin government fell in 1931, opposition leader Joe Lyons had mounted a rallying cry that only he and the United Australia Party could be trusted to deliver "sound money". In government from 1932, Lyons fought the depression with modest relief works and government economies to bring budgets back into the black.
From 1934, figures showed that Australia had turned the depression around.



Unemployment had gone from 29 per cent in 1931 to 16 per cent by 1935.
Australians' belief in labour market flexibility and sound money should never be ignored and their distrust of utopias and social engineering has a lot going for it.


Anne Henderson is deputy director of The Sydney Institute

Sunday, December 19, 2010

A Social Network Christmas




Received this from Burt Rich. a very dear friend of mine. His Dad was Pastor of the church I grew up in. So thank you Burt! 
 
It is indeed a new perspective of the Christmas Story as perhaps it would be told today.  Take time to enjoy this.  I certainly did for regardless of how the story is told, it is the same Good News.  

 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Friday, December 17, 2010

The Christmas Story as you may not have heard it.



Each year as the Christmas season draws closer I look for different ways to present the story of the Good News, the Glad Tidings of great joy. Many of us only look at the story of the birth of Jesus as being the entire story which is really only the beginning as I hope you will see.

Matthew27:35-54:  35He then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
  

 
As I was reading this passage thinking of Jesus coming into his Father’s vineyard 2000 years ago on that first Christmas, one phrase jumped off the page at me. It was the father’s statement – surely, if I send my son, “They will respect my son.”
  

It made me think of our celebration of Christmas in this country. You see what has occurred is political correctness has taken over and just like in the parable, we don’t respect the Son.

Of course we know the
Christmas as presented in the Four Gospels and they tell that beautiful story so well. Indeed it is the “Good News” that we read in each account and yes we indeed celebrate that “Good News”. But the “Good News” goes on beyond the manger, the Shepard's, the Wise Men. It surpasses the Heavenly Angels announcing the birth of our Lord.  You see that was just the beginning!

Refresh yourself and rejoice in the reading of the account of His birth:






Luke 2:1-20: 1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

We know this child, Jesus, grew into manhood, and people were drawn to Him by His Spirit and His compelling message. Many who heard him teach and saw the miracles that he performed followed Him. This displeased those who were in power, especially the Jewish leaders.  And that dear readers is what lead me to the story in the introduction.  Indeed He was sent , not to collect from the tenants in the manner some may see but to collect the “hearts” of those  who would hear and accept His message .
The story of the one who goes to the vineyards is little different . The result was the same for indeed He was rejected, beaten, and then killed (crucified).


And so we come to the Cross:  





Matthew27:35-54:  35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “ They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” 36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. 37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38 Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. 39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42 “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up  His spirit.
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!

I have attempted to take you on a journey of celebration, a celebration not only for this season but for every day of the year. I have taken you from the manger to the cross, but I must continue for the story is not complete, and the reason for real celebration is not finished.

We know from the accounts in the Gospels that Jesus was taken from the Cross and buried in a borrowed tomb, but then, on the third day, He arose from the grave, triumphant over death and the grave. And that, dear friends, is a wonderful reason for celebration.

There is yet another reason to celebrate but not all will do so because like the workers in the vineyard they will reject “The Son” and their story will have no glorious end. But for those who chose to claim Him as their Lord and Savior the story has no end. For we read in the Scripture that He indeed will come again, this time as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and all those He calls his own will reign with him Forever and Ever.
 

Now that is a reason for celebration!


You can make it a reason for celebration but the choice is yours.  It is as simple as ABC.  
Admit that you are a sinner, the one He came to earth to die for.
Believe that He indeed died for you sins on Calvary's cross.  

Confess that Jesus is (your) Lord.


The scripture says:
 Romans 10:10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

And that my friends is the real message of the Christmas Story.



I wish each of you a Blessed Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year.   


Ticker

Monday, December 13, 2010

He's Disrespected?

John Boehner thinks President Barack Obama is "engaging" and "smart" — but the speaker-elect is also still smarting over the president's claim that he took taxpayers hostage to secure a tax break for the rich.

In an interview with Leslie Stahl of “60 Minutes” for broadcast Sunday night on CBS, Boehner said Obama showed him “disrespect” by calling him a hostage-taker.

“Excuse me, Mr. President I thought the election was over,” Boehner said, according to a transcript obtained by POLITICO. “You know, you get a lot of that heated rhetoric during an election. But now it's time to govern.”

And this person calls himself the leader of the Republicans in the House?   Is all the outrage he can muster all about HIMSELF and being disrespected?  A real leader would have jumped on that phrase in Obama’s rant after he compromised with the "chief compromiser" of the Republican party and ran with it, never letting up until the election was over in 2012 but again “Bonehead “fails to show one shred of leadership. And he secretly wants to be POTUS?  Just what kind of leadership could he possibly have in this country, facing as we do, multiple problems, when the focus is “all about him”. 


It’s time for the new conservatives to stand up to “Bonehead” and not allow him to just walk in and take the gavel in the House. Someone must stand up and “just say no” or at least “just a minute” and show at least as much spine as Rep. Heath Shueler(NC) did against Pelosi. With the leftist Dems in his home district he committed suicide and they will  never vote for him again, at least according to the Letters to the Editor in the Asheville Citizen Times. Fortunately or unfortunately there are enough moderates and conservative Democrats in that part of the state to vote for him again and along with the independents and Republicans that  were tired of cousin Charlie Taylor’s shenanigans elected him in the first place. He might not be much as I pointed out to one “yellow dog” democrat but he’s what ya got. At least he was against OBAMANOCARE.


With such great leadership (sarcasm on full blast) the Republicans and “Bonehead” in particular along with all the other compromisers the conservatives have little to look for except packing their bags and going home at the end of two years because Obama will evoke Chicago style politics and Alinskey’s rules and great will be the bloodbath once again.  The GOP will have no one to blame , not the newbies in Congress for surely that is where they will point the finger and say “if only we hadn’t had all these new conservatives(GOP key word for Tea Partiers) who don’t know how it is in Washington we’d still be in power.” (sarcasm off)

Of course they will never admit that they failed once again to listen to “We the People”.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth much as we have seen by the Democrats in DC since the  elections of 2011.   The problems is, there will be no lame duck president, only a lame duck congress who could have made the difference but compromised , failed to have a leader other than Boehner(Bonehead) and failed to take control of the conversation which all goes back to my first lines about “Bonehead”.  I’ll repeat my summation of this jackass. Remember it was he that was “disrespected, not we the people, who were certainly not held hostage but it’s all about him folks , not you, not me, not  the folks who got him to the dance to begin with, just him. He should do well to remember about “dancin with the one whut brung you”.  But no, he’s like the girl in that story who got some attention from the “right  boys” and danced with them all night only to find that at the end of the night, she was standing all alone with no way home. The end to that story is that the boy "whut brung her" finally had a dance with the "wallflower," and took her home. Eventually they got married and lived happily ever after. His story won't have such a happy ending and neither will ours.  

Some of the readers seem to think that I have turned "traitor to the cause" by coming down on John “Bonehead” Boehner but that is the not true by any means.  I have never trusted the man and the more I listen to him and watch him the less trust I have in him. There are times when he reminds me of Obama with his arrogance and swagger.  Maybe he needs to lay off the hooch after work it appears to be killing what few live brain cells that he may have had at one time.  He has shown himself to be a poor leader because he has no idea of how to take one simple phrase such as Obama and others have used and run with it like a third string running back that has just been given the ball with a fourth and ten situation and time running  out on the clock. 


 I am no political genius but I am smart enough to know how to take what the opponent gives you and use it well. I didn’t get to be known as “the Ticker” for nothing you know. 

So if you expect me to lighten up anytime soon on him, McConnell or the rest of the compromisers don’t hold your breath. I intend to be on them like a dog on bone or a “Bonehead” until I have reason to do otherwise. So far I ain’t seen nuthin.

Friday, December 10, 2010

What Deal?

I  taking a break from the “funnies” because I see a more important issue evolving that needs to be addressed .

The headlines and the LSM have touted the fact that Obama has brokered a deal with Republicans which of course is totally incorrect. He did nothing to broker the deal, he gave in because he had little choice if he planned to consider a run for re-election even with a Democrat majority until January.  There were just too many Democrats who will be up for re-election in 2012 and they saw what happened to the so called “blue dogs” in  this past election and were defecting from Obama’s socialist agenda faster than fleas on a dog soaked in lye soap. So factually Obama gave in but he did so unwillingly but he also did so with 2012 in mind.  He may be stupid about a lot of things but when it comes to politics ala Alinsky and Rules for Radicals he is a genius.  He is following Rule 13 as will be pointed out shortly.


Rule 13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.  In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the target and 'frozen.'...

"...any target can always say, 'Why do you center on me when there are others to blame as well?' When your 'freeze the target,' you disregard these [rational but distracting] arguments.... Then, as you zero in and freeze your target and carry out your attack, all the 'others' come out of the woodwork very soon. They become visible by their support of the target...

And that is exactly what he is doing.   Though Obama did accept the deal with the GOP, he proved to be a rather disagreeable compromiser, calling Republicans "hostage takers" and the American people the "hostages." Obama thus not only reneged on an oft-repeated campaign promise to repeal the Bush-era tax cuts "for the rich," he also proved utterly ungracious to those lawmakers with whom he had just struck a deal. "[B]ecause of this agreement, middle-class Americans won't see their taxes go up on January 1st, which is what I promised," he said. "[But] I'm as opposed to the high-end tax cuts today as I've been for years. In the long run, we simply can't afford them. And when they expire in two years, I will fight to end them."


Obama will use this line from now until 2012 and use it as a club to beat the GOP over the head even though there is not a shred of truth in what he has said. The myth of “tax cuts for the rich” has about worn thin except with the rabid leftist and Obama of course who will drag it out when it suits him . You can expect to hear  this line as well:  "I've said before that I felt that the middle-class tax cuts were being held hostage to the high-end tax cuts. I think it's tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. Then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. In this case, the hostage was the American people, and I was not willing to see them get harmed." --Barack Obama

As usual the Lame Stream Media and the leftist have picked up on this and are running it for everything it is worth, day after day ,after day, ad nausem.  It will not go away as you will see in the coming months and through out 2011 in preparation for what the leftist hope to be the  re-coronation of their King and messiah.

Of course he had some help in the supplying of this club from the so-called GOP leadership , which I find a bit of a misnomer since I have yet to see any real leadership in the GOP.  Of course the self-appointed Speaker John”Bonehead”Boehner is all smiles as he attempts to con the voters into thinking that “we showed him”  when all he did was to arm Obama with the very weapon that he will use at ever opportunity to beat the GOP over the head. Had “Bonehead” stood the ground that the American voter demanded in this last election Obama would have been shown to be a total loser in this battle and the conservatives coming out the winners thus taking away the weapon handed to him by “Boneheads” compromise.

Obama, his fellow Democrats and their acolytes in the media continue to frame the debate in terms of tax "cuts" versus the budget deficit -- as if tax rates before 2001 were the natural order of things and to keep rates where they are is a "cut" that will increase the deficit. On the contrary, without the deal, everyone's taxes will rise by hundreds or even thousands of dollars next year. With the deal, no one's income taxes will be cut. In fact, some taxes will skyrocket. The estate (death) tax will be resurrected at 35 percent with a $5 million exemption -- up from 0 percent this year, but down from the previous 55 percent. The only new cut would be a temporary payroll tax reduction of two percentage points.

The facts, however, don't stop the Left from their dishonest characterization. "The far-reaching package ... would add more than $900 billion to the deficit over the next two years..."

“Bonehead” will continue his braying like the jackass he is and when Obama pulls out the club the Congressman will bray even the louder that “we did all we could”. No “Bonehead” you didn’t do all you could for the American people , you did all you could to make yourself look good to guarantee you continuation in power and for a more than likely run for POTUS in 2012.

This was but the first test. The next will come with Obama's deficit commission headed by former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson.
The co-chairmen are having trouble finding 14 votes out of 18 members, given that six members are relatively conservative Republicans. Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) oppose the final report, and for good reason.Should this be adopted and sent to the House for a vote and I have no doubt that it will make it, then “Bonehead” will have to take a stand or compromise as he has already said that he would consider. If he compromises then the gains that were made by conservatives in the last election will have been for naught.  While it makes many necessary cuts, it doesn't go nearly far enough (and Congress is likely to avoid going even as far as the report does especially given “Boneheads” propensity to compromise in order to “look good”), and it calls for massive tax increases totaling $1.13 trillion. For every $1 in cuts there are $2 in tax increases.  “Bonehead” and the rest of the compromisers will find out that "Sorry we spent too much, but now we're going to need you to pay up" probably won't be a winning message with voters.  Unfortunately that will set Obama up for a second term for indeed he will have by that time cudgeled the GOP to a bloody pulp with his very words when the first “compromise” was reached.

Boehner has not yet been officially made Speaker of  the House and I have contacted my representative and other members of the House with who I am aquatinted and am urging them to find someone who is more interested in what the voters had to say this past election than in marinating power for personal gain. I have the same feeling toward Mitch McConnell in the Senate and fortunately or unfortunately we don’t have to deal with his being the Senate Leader at this point even though he has taken it upon himself to be the self-proclaimed “spokesperson” for the GOP in the Senate.  Someone needs to tell him to either do the will of the people of sit down and shut up.  It’s that simple and even more simple to use the most effective “term limit” tool, the ballot box, to end his power hungry reign. Unfortunately those in the state of Kentucky are too ignorant to remove him because he brings “home the bakon” as one recently said.

Unfortunately for people like “Bonehead” and Mac, bringing “home the bakon” was not what the people ordered this past election.  The voter is tired of LARD on every bill and said so.

Back in the mountains of East Tennessee , where I was raised, we use to kill hogs about the first good cold snap and a “blue snow” which usually came in mid to late November. Fattening up the hog is actually not a fact.  When you are killing hogs for ham and bacon you don’t  want fat or in political terms, PORK LARD.  You want large, but LEAN hogs for they provide the meat one will need to feed their families. Lard don’t cut it folks except to fry up stuff with or to put into biscuits(we used lard before the days we could afford Crisco or before the days of Crisco). Unfortunately our politicians know little about killing hogs and bringing “home the bakon”  It’s time they learned, don’t ya think?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A PC Christmas

I could not resist this goodie on a Politically Correct Christmas. This should thrill the leftist progressives who insist on Christmas(opps can't say that) Winter Holiday being politically correct.

I discovered this at ahajokes.com and must give credit where credit is due.








The politically correct Christmas

 

 On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my Significant Other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to me:

Christmas Santa
TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,


ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract even though they will not be asked to play a note),

TEN melanin deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping,

NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression,

EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from enslaved Bovine-Americans,

SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands,

SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products,

FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration,

(NOTE: after members of the Animal Liberation Front threatened to throw red paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens and partridge have been reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid further Animal-American enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised.)

FOUR hours of recorded whale songs

THREE deconstructionist poets

TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses and...

ONE Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.

Merry Christmas Happy Chanukah. Good Kwanzaa. Blessed Yule. Happy Holidays! (unless otherwise prohibited by law)*

*Unless, of course, you are suffering from Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD). If this be the case, please substitute this gratuitous call for celebration with suggestion that you have a thoroughly adequate day.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Here Comes Santa...


I know this should bring on some comments!  

Monday, December 6, 2010

Hits Th Nite Afore Chrismus in Poggy USA


 It is the time of the year when relatives seem to come out of the woodwork and this year is no different. It was late this afternoon when a pile of junk that one could barely call a truck came pulling into my driveway. Lord, I thought they might be filming a new series of the Beverly Hillbillys and somehow got lost. 
The door bell rang and I opened the door to find one of my country cousins standing on the poach. I recognized him from the pictures that another cousin had sent some time ago of a reunion she had attended in Poga, Tn. Anyhow it seems that cousin has taken "a hankerin" as he put it to "blog" but doesn't own a computer back in the hills where he is from. He begged and pleaded and said he wanted to do something special for all the kin folks back home and he hoped that it would make him famous in "blogsphere".  I mean what are you going to do?  So folks here is cousins effort and I'll leave the comments up to you.

Reckin aint many uv you folk a been hearin bout Poggy. Well hit ere a place back in th sticks en Eas Tennasee. Hit so fer bac that th Sadurday Barn Danc don com on til Twesdie afernoon bout three aclock. Sum gubermint folk call hit Poga but ain rite spellin accordin to folks frum aron here.
Anywho sense all youin citified folk got yer verzun uv th nite afore Chrismus I dun asided to writ wun myself, Poggy style. I hopin you take a likin to hit. 
Writ by:
Tickers 3rd cuzzin twiste remuved on hisuns uncles side




Hits Th Nite Afore Chrismus in Poggy USA


It twar th nite afore Chrismus an all thru th house
Nary a critter wuz stirin , nope knot even no mose.
The moses dun moved ore to the nex hollar
Cause we to poor to have a mose in th house.

Warnt no sockins hung on th cemney wif care
Cause one par are dirty and I warin th uders.

Didn figre no use seeun as how 
Sant Nic probly ain comin dis yar no how.

Ain no youngens cause they done growd
While th only vizon they got is moving in my home.
Momma wuz in her ragged old gown
an me in my long red draws wif th fas relese bac door
had jus clum in bed fer anuder cold nite er sleep.

A suddun thar war a noize in frunt of th house
I fel plum outta bed, gotta see whut’s th matter.
Th dawgs war a howlin an raizin sum kain,
youd a thunk by dang a coon they done treed.
I run to th winder, stub my dang toe an I bout peed.

Thar warnt muc moon but what thar war
Showed off th junk bured under th snow.
All a sudden  to my blurry eyes whut did appeer
But some kina contrapshun pulled by sum deers.

There war a sawed off runt actin so slick
I thunk hit mus be my dum bruther Dick.
He came a runnin lack a bat oudda heck(can’t said th nuther wurd cauz this here are fer yungens)
But he was a cussin an hollorin, jus lak my bruther Dick.

Them poor dang critters, so mangy an poor
Warnt much more than bones with sum skin throd in.
They bucked an them stroned but fer not muc avile
Cause gittin that mess up to th wall
thar ain no way in well(heck youins no)

Any waysz ,sum how on th rouf he done got
An it warn’t  two long til I heard him squall,
Dang that ere hot!


Twarnt long I rekon afore he got smart
cause twarnt I afore I heard him on th porch.
He wigled an jigled the door right smart
but hit don tak a bunch to open hit up.

I grab my shotgun an hided behin th brok down couch
Meanwhilst a watchin to see what he wuld steal
Wit his big sac he culd cary off th house
But then that wuldnt be no big a deal.

He tuke out sum stuff and comeninced a lookin aroun
Guess he was a figern on sum swapin to be adoin.
I heard him a mudderin sumptin bout sum sockins
Then he plunked down a box then set down an agin a rockin.

He piced up my jug of frech corn squzins
An a big ole swallar he did took
He gaspd fer som aire and his eyes wuz a buggin
Hit tuk him a spell but he took him anutherin

He set fer a spell an then he got up
My thum was on th hammer in case he wuz drunk
He lit fer th door when th dawg agin growlin
An in that contrapshun he dun jumped wif a thunk.

Th dawgs wuz snapin an a growlin and sum wuz a howlin
So he scremed an a hollared an swore at them poor critters
To fly away an jump up fly over th wall.
I knowed rat then that them squizins gots him drunk.
Cauze ain no critter gonna fly over no wall.

He cussed an he swore as he drove oudda site
I gotta git home cause ma ain goona by
that I been out all nite a deliverin
When lak this I git home a smellin.
As he drove thru th barn a scarein th cow

I heard him yell Hit’s Merry Chrismus in Poggy,
now whar’s that dang still. Hehe hehe hehaw

Twas The Night Before Christmas – The Technical Version!

As promised I am attempting to find funny Christmas stories for your enjoyment. Here is one
for all you Techonocrats and wordsmiths.
 Twas The Night Before Christmas – The Technical Version!
Story posted by Chris Cade | Short Christmas Stories

 
‘Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual Yuletide celebration, and throughout our place of residence, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including that species of domestic rodent known as Mus musculus. Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the wood burning caloric apparatus, pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an imminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific title of St. Nicholas.

The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in their respective accommodations of repose, were experiencing subconscious visual hallucinations of variegated fruit confections moving rhythmically through their cerebrums. My conjugal partner and I, attired in our nocturnal head coverings, were about to take slumberous advantage of the hibernal darkness when upon the avenaceous exterior portion of the grounds there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt compelled to arise with alacrity from my place of repose for the purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof.

Hastening to the casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing this fenestration, noting thereupon that the lunar brilliance without, reflected as it was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be said to rival that of the solar meridian itself – thus permitting my incredulous optical sensory organs to behold a miniature airborne runnered conveyance drawn by eight diminutive specimens of the genus Rangifer, piloted by a minuscule, aged chauffeur so ebullient and nimble that it became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated caller. With his ungulate motive power travelling at what may possibly have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predators, he vociferated loudly, expelled breath musically through contracted labia, and addressed each of the octet by his or her respective cognomen – “Now Dasher, now Dancer…” et al. – guiding them to the uppermost exterior level of our abode, through which structure I could readily distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal extremities.

As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was performing a 180-degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved – with utmost celerity and via a downward leap – entry by way of the smoke passage. He was clad entirely in animal pelts soiled by the ebony residue from oxidations of carboniferous
fuels which had accumulated on the walls thereof. His resemblance to a street vendor I attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he bore dorsally in a commodious cloth receptacle.

His orbs were scintillant with reflected luminosity, while his submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging amiability. The capillaries of his malar regions and nasal appurtenance were engorged with blood which suffused the subcutaneous layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion’s floral emblem, the latter that of the Prunus avium, or sweet cherry. His amusing sub- and supralabials resembled nothing so much as a common loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like small, tabular and columnar crystals of frozen water.

Clenched firmly between his incisors was a smoking piece whose grey fumes, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of a decorative seasonal circlet of holly. His visage was wider than it was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal region undulated in the manner of impectinated fruit syrup in a hemispherical container. He was, in short, neither more nor less than an obese, jocund, multigenarian gnome, the optical perception of whom rendered me visibly frolicsome despite every effort to refrain from so being. By rapidly lowering and then elevating one eyelid and rotating his head slightly to one side, he indicated that trepidation on my part was groundless.

Without utterance and with dispatch
, he commenced filling the aforementioned appended hosiery with various of the aforementioned articles of merchandise extracted from his aforementioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle. Upon completion of this task, he executed an abrupt about-face, placed a single manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ, inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave-taking, and forthwith effected his egress by renegotiating (in reverse) the smoke passage. He then propelled himself in a short vector onto his conveyance, directed a musical  expulsion of air through his contracted oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds of burden, and proceeded to soar aloft in a movement hitherto observable chiefly among the seed-bearing portions of a common- But I overheard his parting exclamation, audible immediately prior to his vehiculation beyond the limits of visibility: “Ecstatic Yuletide to the planetary constituency, and to that self same assemblage, my sincerest wishes for a salubriously beneficial and gratifyingly pleasurable period between sunset and dawn.”

Author Unknown

Friday, December 3, 2010

Becky Kelley - Where's the Line to See Jesus - OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Good friend of mine sent this via e-mail today.  It certainly does raise a good question.  What might your answer be?



Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A Christmas Story

We are fast approaching Christmas, the day we celebrate as the birthday of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Of course many do not share these beliefs and there are many who do not understand the true meaning of this special season.

As for me, I have always been intrigued with children's versions of Christmas and wish to share one such that I recently read in the Rock Springs Church bulletin.

A little boy came home from Sunday School and was all excited about learning about the Wise Men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus.  He couldn’t wait to tell his Mother.  “Momma, guess what I learned in Sunday School today about the first Christmas?  There wasn’t a Santa Claus way back then so these three fellows on camels had to deliver all the toys. And ‘Rudolph  the Red Nosed Reindeer with his nose so bright’  wasn’t there so they had to have this big spotlight in the sky to find their way around.  Wow, ain’t that something Momma?”

I hope you have enjoyed this version of a child's view of Christmas.  If you have any such stories please feel free to share them with all the readers. I am sure they will enjoy them as much as I will.

Until then, keep shopping but don’t forget the real reason for the season.  I’ll have more on that subject closer to Christmas day.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Has Capitalism Come To An End In America. Part V



The Death of Capitalism:


In this final segment we will explore the authors ideas describing the death of capitalism as he outlines in his book The Fallen Eagle .   As the author used the description of Babylon and of  the Babylonian spirit to describe the ideology which he sees as coming out of modern day capitalism  and how it contributes to the death of Capitalism we will continue with his description for clarity.   The authors quotes are highlighted as in previous article post.


It is indeed my wish that each of  you who have read this series have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed presenting it.
 
We are indeed seeing some of the things which have been presented in this series of  writings. Do they spell the end of Capitalism?  If they do not, then they certainly show that this country is riding on a very slippery slope and everything possible should be done to insure that there are brakes to apply and that the brakes are indeed strong enough to stop this country from crashing into they abyss.  Have we come too far or is there yet hope?  That is the question that I leave with each of you. Please feel free to leave your comments on the subject.



“...the merchants of  the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no may buyeth their merchandise any more...” )Revelation 18”11)  “For in one hour so great riches is come to naught...” (Revelation 18:17) What but a financial collapse like that of 1929 could trigger the sudden loss of great riches and of merchants wherewithal to accumulate more? (Note: Even if we have reached the wrong conclusion that Babylon is capitalism, it seems ovvious that capitalism will fall in the near future.)

The author points out that for the time being Babylon sits peacefully atop the Beast. Capitalism and socialism coexist today in a fascist style marriage of convenience but in the end the Beast will devour the Harlot (Babylon) system. Socialism will totally envelope capitalism. The entire process began in the early 1900’s and will end with a final coup de grâce.

Just as the hatred between the Harlot and the Beast so is the hatred of  the socialist toward capitalism and are determined that it must end. They are not content with the mixture.  In order to carry out their goal of remedying the worlds ills they must destroy capitalism in order to complete the redistribution of the world’s wealth.  To them nothing short of total destruction will correct the mammoth inequities in today’s economic structures.  We see this in the constant call by the UN for elimination of “world poverty” and the only way that body can achieve such is by total redistribution of wealth, taking from the countries that produce and giving to the non-producers which has proven to be a wrongheaded task each time it has been attempted. We hear and see this constantly in this country from the administration currently seated in Washington and from the so called “progressives” who while losing nothing themselves are more than anxious to redistribute the wealth of others, once again taking from the producers and giving to non-producers.

The setting of the stage for the final clash between the world two economic forces is near completion. Capitalism is slowly being strangled to death given the myriad of taxes, regulations and litigation forces of government’s domination by socialist. Capitalism is being kept alive for now in order to provide for the production capabilities and resources to fuel socialism's worldwide redistribution rampage.


The Humanist see capitalism as an obstacle to human progress. To them, capitalism functions as a religion because it sacrifices individuals on the alter of utopian promises. To them , commercialization is a debasing force. To them, individuals are ground won by the weight of capitalism and must be rescued by the state. To them, when the cyclical economic bubbles burst ( as the recent housing debacle demonstrated, they always blame cait6alism and use the crisis (as did FDR) to pass massive redistribution legislation.  
With such hatred, ideological fervor and overwhelming political clout, socialism(humanism) is bound to with the struggle... The ten kings of John’s prophesy (Revelation 17) need but finalize a socialist takeover that was first introduced in the United States seventy five years ago but that today is hopelessly engrained in the moral fiber of a materialist , security conscious people.

William Bowen, a noted authority on humanism and globalism, said,  “The complete takeover will dome through an economic catastrophe. Most likely , it will be the result of a bankruptcy of the United States government. That will trigger a devaluation of money and lead to a stock market crash. This will bring on a world depression—and a global government which will be thought necessary to solve of all our problems.” 

 
We have recently witnessed several summits in which these very issues have been discussed or at least brought to the attention of those who claim to be in the leadership of this country and yet the continuation of printing of more money which is claimed to be necessary to keep the government from collapsing.  We are watching the devaluation of our currency even though there is little mention of it in the media which of course is under the influence of the current leadership in Washington whose goal is retribution of wealth not only within this country but world wide.  We are witnessing the borrowing of huge amounts of money from such countries as China who are rejoicing at the failure of their nemesis, the model of capitalism, the United States. Is there much room for doubt in Mr. Bowen’s prophesy? Is there much room for doubt that we are hearing the death knell of capitalism? 


What say you?

 

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Has Capitalism Come To An End In America. Part IV

What’s Wrong With Capitalism?:

In this segment we will explore the authors ideas describing what he sees as wrong with capitalism as he outlines in his book The Fallen Eagle.  The author uses the description of Babylonian spirit to describe the ideology which he sees as coming out of modern day capitalism. In order to make for a better understanding of the terminology and descriptions taken from the Bible Scripture perhaps a look at Babylon and who or what Babylon is would be in order.  The authors quotes are highlighted as in previous article post.

Babylon is described throughout the Scripture both in natural terms and supernatural terminology.   We know from history that Babylon was a city sitting on a main trade route in what we know as Iraq.  It was indeed a prosperous city but it also was an evil city containing every perverseness  known to man.

John the Revelator saw Babylon as a lavishly dressed Harlot riding on the back of a seven headed beast and described her as such:


I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, haviing seven heads and then horns.

And this woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthness of her fornicatin”

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABONMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelation 13:3-5)

Babylon’s association with the seven-headed, ten horned beast makes her a prominent historical and end time figure, for the beast upon which the Harlot rides represents earthly kingdoms.  The ten horns symbolizes ten end time kings who: ...shall give their power and strenght unto the beast” (Revelation 17:13).

Babylon's influence is worldwide--”...all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her...” (Revelation 18:3)

Some equate the Babylon influence to a false religion which perhaps impacts peoples and governments however the Scriptures seem to lean more toward referring to Babylon and other cities like her as great trade cities or centers and liken their business transactions to adulterous behavior.  The Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke of another large trade city, Tyre, in this manner: “...she shall turn to her hire and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world ...”(Isaiah 23:17). John, in his Revelation also emphasizes Babylon’s commercial activity rather than religious affairs: ...”thy merchants were the great men of the earth...” Revelation 18:23)  We know that today, business leaders fro the free world hold unprecedented power and command respect worldwide. No political system, not even Communism, hinders their movement around the world. Hardly a nation escapes their.  warlike quest for larger markets, cheaper labor and scarcer natural resources. John again alludes to Babylon as an economically based process in which “...the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (Revelation 18:3). The merchants grew rich because they had the freedom to employ their skills and possessions to accumulate more wealth “...that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships at sea...” (Revelation 18:19)

That description of Babylon is a very good description of the freedom , flexibility and opportunity allowed under modern capitalism.  And now, what is wrong with capitalism?

Marx was wrong since not all privately-owned enterprises are capitalistic in nature , not do all corporations harbor the Babylon sprit. Neither is the concept of private enterprise inherently evil, for God has always advocated man[‘s economic freedom and individual responsibility. This must  certainly include his rights to own property, to enter into voluntary exchange with whomever he chooses, to select the vocation of his choice, to provide goods and services in order to make enough money to provide for his family, to help the needy , and to put enough aside for a rainy day.  The writer (and this writer) is a firm believer in free enterprise and the concept behind pure capitalism but something with in the capitalist system—the misuse of its freedoms—must defy God’s laws relative to making money. These abuses of privileges distinguish mere private ownership from capitalism.  The introduction of these abuses into an individually owned business signals the departure of God’s sanction and the entrance of the Babylon spirit to administer its economic affairs.

So from this point forward, when we use the word” capitalism” we do not mean the free enterprise system per se but the willful perversion of those freedoms into a competitive, ever expanding monster, incapable of expressing even the slightest measure of human compassion.  By capitalism we mean the merger of equipment and human labor into a profit producing machine  incapable of looking beyond its own voracious appetite for larger markets, cheaper labor, and scarcer natural resources. By capitalism, we mean an attitude or spirit, with an  economic system that lends itself to the old man’s natural desire for fun, fame and fortune, that focuses on selfish desires as they seek gratification through the things of the world , that forsakes the right of others and perverts the love of God into a Laodicean** craze for pleasure, possessions and prestige.

Any business , regardless of size can,  according to the author be possessed by the Babylon spirit. Void of feelings other than greed especially a lack of feeling toward people it simply operates to make more and  more money.

Capitalism gives birth to our latent impulses to covet “things” and exalt ourselves because the foundational principles upon which it operates are geared toward accumulation and self emulation.  the use of it’s freedoms to reap gain, often at another expense , makes capitalism just as obnoxious to God as atheistic Communisms.

At the heart of capitalism, dominating its every precept and principle is a competitive drive for higher profits.  A business filled with the Babylon spirit is not content to merely cover cost and make a reasonable profit. It exist solely for making more money.

When bottom line looms as the driving force behind nearly every management decision , those decision eventually and inevitably lead to expansion. Marx right concluded that capitalism had no stopping place but was relentless driven by greed to innovate and increase output.

This dangerous concentration takes a deadly toll on small businessmen, but the loss of human compassion and understanding is far more devastating.

Central to capitalism , equality is nothing more than equal opportunity of all to compete freely for economic advantage.  With advantage must come disadvantage; invariably weak suffer most in a fully competitive environment...  In such a system there is little compassion for losers but boast proudly of their affluent winners.

However innocently, capitalism does create a noticeable poverty, and an increasing price structure perpetuates the economic distinction between the upper (and middle )classes and the poor.  Capitalism did not necessarily produce poverty by taking the poor man’s money (although this is true to an extent in the price he must pay for necessities), but it did  create a chasm which few will cross.

To solve the poverty problem advocates of capitalism feel that rather than subdivide the pie into smaller and smaller parts, there ought to be a bigger pie.
Of course we know that the socialist in our government would not only subdivide the pie into smaller pieces but also create a larger pie by extracting profits from the very entity that created it, be it right or wrongly created.

As long as the competitive system survives, and in spite of social programs, government handouts, and foreign aid, the poor will remain, and the rich will get richer.


Capitalism will fail, but not because everyone in America suddenly adopts Christian values and applies them to their business life.  Sadly , most Americans, including Christians, are determined to preserve or improve their current lifestyles and the economic system that ensures its preservation. Accordingly , the Babylon spirit will continue to spell bind and enslave all who abuse their economic freedoms and do so with little regard for the rights or feelings of others.That is, until the end.


Next the final segment: The Death of Capitalism


** Laodiciean spirit is described as this in Revalation  3:17-18 "Because you say, 'I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;' and don't know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see"  .
The words attributed to the Laodiceans obviously mark an ironic over-confidence in regard to spiritual wealth. They are unable to recognize their bankruptcy. However the image may also be drawing on the perceived worldly wealth of the city and in the content of the article on Capitalism this is the authors intent.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Has Capitalism Come To An End In America. Part III

In Part III of this series on the end of Capitalism in America we take a look at how arch enemies have been united despite their struggle to overcome the other.

The highlighted segments are excerpts from a book by Thomas G. Reed,  The Fallen Eagle 



The Enemies Unite But Not By Choice:

One only need look at our Western European friends to see a perfect portrait of Marx’s state controlled economics.  After years of infiltration, most of Europe is now dominated by socialist polices and governments. I might add that in recent months and weeks we have seen the peeling of the paint from the portrait of  the Utopian promises brought about when one falls for the idea that one can use “cheap  watered down paint” instead of good oil paint for a long lasting portrait.

Europe has fallen but America has not yet experienced a total conversion to socialism not withstanding the decades of relentless socialist attacks.  Nevertheless through our democratic processes she has adopted enough of Marx’s theories that countless demands have been placed on her once-free economic process, Social Security taxes, minimum wage standards, unemployment compensation, employee quotas and other benefit packages have helped convert private enterprise into an unwilling sponsor of socialism.  The socialist have legislated, with great success, their arch rival into a rather effective ally. Our recent election of such Marxist inspired leaders have greatly accelerated the process.
 
Along with the legislation has come the taxation. By taxing producers and donating the proceeds to non-producers, the state, as an errand boy for socialism, redistributes huge chunks of this country’s corporate (and personal) wealth. In just four decades, the government’s war on poverty has cost American taxpayers trillions.

Honest Americans realize the outrageous cost of these government social programs and are sickened by them. These same Americans were disheartened and disgusted for the most part, by the reluctance and ineptitude of elected officials to make changes even though it has been proven time and again through studies that these pet projects of politicians are wasteful, ineffective(even harmful to the participants) or destined for bankruptcy.  Perhaps our recent Congressional elections have shown these entrenched politicians, living on the power as if some kind of drug, that the American people are finally tired of this spending and it can either be reigned in, cut, or their supply of  “power drug” can be taken away at the ballot box. One can only hope that it is not too late. 


One of the most recognized of these programs, and a seemingly untouchable one, is the social security system, which when conceived was a commendable idea, but nonetheless an expensive pyramid scheme.

When it’s fraudulent nature appears , and that is fast occurring, the system will collapse and the latecomers will lose. Before that happens, payroll deductions will continue to escalate as the ration of workers to recipients steadily declines. And, as the number of retirees (and with them, cost) goes up, rivalry between the generations will increase, creating further social divisiveness.

Another such program and an example  of misguided government intervention is minimum wage laws.

Those on the left screamed that such laws were necessary to protect the “downtrodden” from the likes of the “Big Mac” cookeries, the evil Wal-Mart's, and other such “big box” stores who hired the unfortunate and then oppressed them through low wages and long hours. In other words the left attempted to paint a portrait of the 19th century sweat shops using cheap watered down paint and now the paint is peeling and the portrait is proving to be nothing more than a canvases with muddled patches of untruths spoken in order to gain another foothold in a group of uninformed individuals for the purpose of producing votes for their agenda. In all the program has done nothing but have a negative effect on those workers at the lower end of the marketable skill level. The program has resulted in cost increases wen employers raise prices, increase productivity levels and often fire or refuse to hire workers in the minimum wage category. In addition, minimum wage laws decreased competition that higher skilled workers face from the lower-skilled, creating a situation of unfair advantage to the skilled worker. The unskilled remain unemployed and the skilled grow steadily more affluent.  Yet those who demand such programs continue to decry the results and demand increased wages despite that facts prove their agenda to be wrongheaded... Ahhh but it buys votes.

There are more such programs that have done little to nothing to aid those for which they were intended such as the food stamp program, assistance for medical treatment (and we have seen the introduction of the biggest of these doomed for failure programs introduced as Obamacare within the last two years), housing projects, which have become nothing more than “welfare havens” for non-producers and baby factories for illegitimate children produced by unmarried women who find it more economically rewarding to remain unmarried than to marry. All such are supported by Welfare which has done more to keep people in poverty than any other known program produced by the government. But yet the cycle continues uninterrupted because of the thirst for power by greedy politicians who in fact could care less about the people that their programs adversely effect. Those on the left will never allow the “plug” to be pulled on such programs for it will sound the death knell for their control and power.  As the Communist use the proletariat, political poverty pimps use the poor as a devise to assume and retain power.

The capitalist system capitalized on the socialist redistribution efforts. The economy grew , the people had more money to spend and spent it, wisely and unwisely. The law of supply and demand drove prices up and business prospered. Prices climbed after trade unions extracted increased wage and benefit packages from reluctant profit[conscious corporations. The never-ending spiral of increased costs followed by higher prices generally favored the corporation. In essence, capitalism has shared enough of its bounty with the working class to buy them off while it rebounded from near collapse in the most prosperous haven of private enterprise ever.


Sadly to say, the die is cast and until the end, American economics is destined an unholy mixture of philosophies espousing material blessings on the one hand and altruistic welfare on the other. 



In the next segment I will present a look at What’s Wrong With Capitalism from the author of  The Fallen Eagle  perspective which uses both political and biblical outlooks to as a basis for his outlook.