Why the Income Gap is a Red Herring

Just say the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and you will find yourself surrounded by liberal and leftists salivating to tell you how bad capitalism is as an economic system. They trace the increase in this gap back to the Reagan years. There is no doubt that the income gap exists but what does it mean, and what are the causes?

If we look at the greatest expansion of wealth in this country for the most Americans ever, you find that expansion during the Reagan years. More people than ever were able to participate in the growing economy because of the massive job growth. This opportunity added to people being able to fund 401K’s, buy homes, drive multiple cars, and in general build individual wealth. Family incomes increased and people were living the American Dream.

During this same period and beyond, many industrious Americans were building companies that created enormous wealth for many individuals. Many became the 1%’s; so often targeted for envy by the left. You see, when wealth creation happens some people do better than others. They are rewarded for their ideas through the market and can accumulate massive wealth which they can then use to create or invest in other economic opportunities. The people that also benefited from this wealth creation were the people that worked at all of these businesses that were created. As employees often do, they saw increases in their pay and may have bought a home and made some investments in their future. Many increased their possessions and chose to spend instead of save. That’s what freedom means, the ability to do what you want with your private property.

So the 1%’s saw huge expansion of their wealth as they chose to continue to invest in the economy. Some won and some lost. You see, the 1%’s are not the same set of people that were there in the 80’s or 90’s. The 1%’s change just like people in the 50% go up and down in income level based on their choices and circumstances.

The income gap is measured by “household income.” So if your household has two working members you are likely to have a higher income. If you are a single parent household, your income level is likely to be less.

The chart in this article shows a reduction in households in the income ranges of $35K - $99K. The lower and upper ranges have grown. So there are more rich and more poor which increases the “gap.” But what it doesn’t show is who is moving where and why.

The income gap can be the result of so many factors but moving to the lower income levels has nothing to do with people moving to the upper income levels. There are simply more people in this country that have not become rich (yet), and the people at the high income level are a very small group of people and not the same people at any given time.

The left wants you to infer that the rich are rich because they are keeping the rest of the people in the lower income category. They have gotten to where they are as a result of screwing other people. There are some of those but they are the people using political power to get and maintain wealth. They are the exception not the rule. This is the left’s attempt to use envy as their weapon to destroy even more wealth.

The income gap proves nothing but the fact that some people have been better at creating wealth in the marketplace. The people moving into the lower income levels have many stories but they also have the opportunity to get back out of that group if the government would stay the heck out of the economy.

What the left wants to do to “fix” the gap is to reduce everyone’s ability to succeed. They want to regulate wages, business opportunity, tax the rich, re-distribute according to the left’s definition of fair. A “fair” that punishes success and rewards poor choices and the invisible hand of the market place.

Taking from the rich, increasing taxes, stealing people’s hard earned retirement, and creating envy among people is evil and needs to be rejected by every American that still believes in the American Dream. There is the greatest gap in incomes where there is the most freedom. The people that are determined to succeed become wealthy. Some people are driven more than others and depending on choices some may be left behind by not creating any personal wealth. This is why freedom is so great and why so many on the left hate it! They hate it because it rewards based on merit. A free market does not care who you vote for, what color your skin is, what heritage you come from, it only cares if you have something everyone else wants. A true free market can’t be manipulated by politics and that’s what the left hates…

Why Do We Give Thanks on Veteran’s Day?

This is the day we honor our veterans for their service to our country. It is a day that all political spectrums come together in thanks for the people that have served this greatest nation on earth. It is the greatest nation in a large part due to the strong desire there is in this country for freedom. We hold freedom as the most fundamental principle and right of every human being.

Every one of the founders of this nation was prepared to die for the cause; throwing off government control and creating the concept of self-rule. Up until that point it was the norm that government controlled people’s lives, and that birth right was the way it would always be. If you were born of royalty, someday you would rule the kingdom. The founders turned that concept upside down and created the miracle we call the United States of America, and its founding principles the US Constitution.

The founders knew freedom wasn’t free, and that it could only survive if the citizens were willing to fight, defend, and die for the cause. The founders expected a lot from the citizens and believed that once individuals were given freedom they would certainly be willing to defend that God given right. The founders believed in God and that certain rights were beyond the realm of man. They believed the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were precious and worth dying for.

The founders also knew that history was a great indicator of the future, and that human behavior had to be harnessed to protect those most basic rights. They harnessed them in limiting government and expanding individual freedom to the outer limits. They knew individuals could only prosper if they were allowed to freely create their path without government intervention. It worked for a hundred years. The last hundred years have been a return to the past that the founders were so intent on protecting us against.

Since FDR, we have seen a drift back to some utopian vision that the collective is more important than the individual. We have seen an expansion of government and a reduction in individual freedom as we have drifted away from the individual to a more powerful centralized government. If we look today it is such a stark contrast to our founding. A founding that took many lives in a revolution that changed the world. George Washington and his small band of troops set the example of how a powerful cause, freedom, could defeat the most powerful military in the world. He proved how individuals with a cause were the most powerful weapon in the fight for freedom. The spirit and hearts of the soldiers were more powerful than any mechanical weapon or fancy uniform.

Our military men and women have always answered the call to protect freedom. They have done miraculous things around the world and have been responsible for more freedom than any other entity in the world. These men and women are a shining beacon to others that when the cause is just, and the nation calls, they are willing to risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. They leave friends and family behind in the cause of freedom and defense.

While this small minority of military veterans has sacrificed so much in the defense of freedom, we need to ask - have we done our part to honor that sacrifice? Have we protected those freedoms by electing people that honor our constitution and the cause of freedom? Have we been diligent in monitoring the policies that have given us such prosperity and opportunity for future generations? Would George Washington be proud to have sacrificed so many in the cause of freedom he so honorably gave to us?

We honor our military veterans today because they believe in the cause of freedom. They believe our freedoms are worth fighting and dying for. If we look at how intrusive and over reaching our central government has become we must ask – have we been staunch defenders of freedom as the citizens of this great nation?

I know our veterans have held up their part in the role of self-rule. We honor them today and thank them. But what I wish and believe honors our veterans the most is to do our part and protect our freedoms by engaging in the political process with the intensity our veterans have pursued theirs.

God Bless our veterans and their families!

Building the Economy “from the middle out”?

If you are confused by the title of this post, don’t feel bad, you should be. It is the most recent statement on economic policy by President Obama. A President that has next to nil experience in the private economy of the United States, not even a lemonade stand. He is an agitator, and a very good one. He agitates many Americans with statements like this.

Let’s look at and analyze the suggestion of “building the economy from the middle out, not the top down.” If you look at this statement from a purely political perspective, he is attempting to divide Americans by class and agitate people to blame the “top.” The top being the “rich”, the rich being the people that create the jobs. This president has no problem with the rich that donate to his campaign, and the rich people he gives our tax dollars to for businesses he supports, like solar companies, but the rest of the “rich” he despises. The people that actually create jobs from the “top down.”

“Top down” job creation is actually not top down; it is from “nothing to something” job creation. It is people that take an idea and put it into action which attracts customers to purchase that idea, and then it grows, and the person that started from nothing has something that they need help to keep growing. Whew! Did you follow that? That is where the person that took “nothing to something” now hires people and like magic you have job creation. These people are to be celebrated, not demonized or ignored as the president wants to do in his newest transformation as a job creator from “the middle out.” Creating jobs from the middle out?

How do you create a job from the middle out? In the real world the only way that happens is that a worker leaves the current company they work at and start their own company. If the person from the “middle class” steps from that job to take the risk of opening a business, they have now become the “top down.” They are the owner, entrepreneur, CEO, sole proprietor, etc…, and no longer are in the middle. Starting a business puts you at the top. That’s how I see it and how any sound business person would interpret the President’s message of “middle out”. But we would be wrong!

What the president is suggesting is that we need to grow the “middle” without the “middle” stepping out and creating new companies. He is saying that the government must “invest” (tax dollar confiscation from the “top”) to add people in the “middle” without the “top” creating new jobs. The only way you can do that is to transfer wealth from some other source. There are two choices: the taxpayer and the “top.” Both of these choices creates nothing new and destroys the wealth creation you already have. The pie doesn’t grow it just gets sliced up in a different configuration. The pie actually gets smaller because the “top” leaves and finds a better country to do business or just stops doing business because they are punished for their success.

This is economics 101 and a class the President obviously failed or skipped to hang out with his fellow agitators at Harvard. Actually it is part of the left, liberal, social democratic plan to destroy the wealth of this nation and put government in control of a failing economy. It is all about power, envy, and contempt for our capitalist, constitutional republic. It is because the left despises freedom, free markets, and limited government intrusion in our lives.

This President is an economic genius for the political philosophy he embraces. He is a failure to the people that love and believe in this country. His term can’t end fast enough. I just hope our economy can absorb another three years of this president’s attempt to destroy it…

Failing our Posterity

Our youth is not being educated to appreciate this country and its undeniable role in making the world a better place for tens of millions of individuals. The critic’s knee jerk reaction to this opening sentence goes like this, “if you were a slave or Indian you may think differently about that.” I am being generous to the left here because they are usually more emotional and profane because that is easier than actual thought and analysis.

The reality is that the world was brutal, full of dictatorships, cast systems, slavery, monarchial kingdoms, regimes that had little respect for anything but their own power and survival. Along comes America and all of that changes. Do our kids get the real story or do they learn some dates about points of history? The reality is that our education system has failed, and worse, they are delinquent in teaching the American story in context of the world.

When talking about slavery it is rarely discussed that America was a catalyst for the ending of world slavery because of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The fact that the founding of this Nation was focused on individual liberty is glazed over, and the focus is on the evil of America owning slaves. To put this into context, we will see a similar fate with the abortion “issue” one day. Abortion kills a potential human being and it has been an “accepted” practice but that is changing. Just as the practice of slavery had no moral justification, the abortion issue is similar. How can you justify killing a potential life with no justification? Time, understanding, technology, and knowledge will make future generations question our moral character on abortion. They will look back at us just like we look back at slave owners and wonder how we could have allowed it. How could the people of the world morally justify the enslavement of another human being? How could the world have allowed the killing of a potential human being?

Freedom and free markets have produced the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth. That is the result of the American experiment. The wealth prior to America was stolen by the government. Although we are moving back to that model in some ways, if our youth understood capitalism and our history, they would be supporting free markets and clamoring for smaller government. Instead they fret over recycling and worry about global warming.

This country is not perfect or is any country perfect. We are human beings after all is said and done. We are imperfect but we have been blessed with the genius of freedom and self-rule. That genius and self-rule is the current law of the land. It is embodied in the Constitution. It is embedded in a document that is currently being ignored and is no longer taught effectively in our classrooms.

We are failing our posterity and squandering their ability to have a productive and free future. And the sad thing is that so many of them don’t even know it…

July 4th 2013

It has been 237 years since the initial Declaration of Independence. It is a miracle we are still free from tyranny but that has only happened because a few good men and woman make it their mission to protect our liberty.

The natural human condition has always been to be ruled by a handful of kings, tyrants, and despots. It seems like a long time ago but it really isn’t. The declaration our founders made was not only an act of courage, it was an act that had not occurred anywhere throughout history in an effort to pronounce individual liberty as the natural state of the human condition. Up until 1776, the individual was seen as a ward of the state, subject of a kingdom, the cog in a society to be used as needed for the good of the ruling class.

Even today, England still holds on to a class structure that assigns future hopes to the status of which you are born; heredity. Even today, the opportunity to move through classes is limited and not likely to happen. The world is still full of places that do not live by the rights we hold to be self-evident. It is where our concept of “exceptionalism” comes from, and rightfully so.

Unfortunately our current President doesn’t understand why the United States is exceptional. We are exceptional because we value the individual over the government, we believe that are rights come from God, and we never turn our backs on people that want to be free. We have spilled more blood and treasure on behalf of others than any other nation. That is why we are exceptional. Not because we are rich in treasure, but because we are rich in spirit, honor, and faith in God. We do not worship man, we are skeptical of the will of man. That is why the US Constitution that evolved out of the Declaration of Independence and our founding fathers is relished by so many and considered a miracle.

Our country was founded by a small group of visionary leaders that succeeded in convincing a majority of people that the individual believing in faith and God was the key to a prosperous and meaningful future. At times they must have felt isolated as so many of us do now. But they persevered over the most difficult odds. They knew what they were offering was worth their lives and sacred honor.

On July 4^th 2013 we must remember that the US Constitution was a miracle and can only endure if we continue to respect and defend it. We must defend it with all the gusto our founders defended her with. It is the least we can do to protect the last best hope on earth…

God Bless America.

Is Social Media Undermining the Right to Privacy?

Too many people post too much stuff about their comings and goings, where they are eating, what they are buying or feeling at every hour of the day. I am not going to comment on the way people choose to share their lives because I engage in social media sites as well, but my concern is the message it sends to kids.

The right to privacy is a constitutional, God, given right that we should cherish. We should be able to live our lives without interference from anyone including and especially government agencies and bureaucrats. The right to privacy is as important as the right to free speech which is greatly improved with the advent of social media. Social media has given a voice to so many more Americans, and it has broken the “log jam” of newspaper editors that used to control the flow of information. But what about protecting our privacy?

In Utah, as we speak, a new DOD data center that is being built in the name of security is going to be capable of watching and spying on every American citizen without their knowledge. In the name of keeping people safe, the federal government is preparing to make our lives less safe and endangering our right to privacy. We will be less safe from the prospect of an over reaching and controlling government. I want to allow the government to track terrorists but at what cost? What information will we allow them to gather on us? And from where we will allow them to gather information on law abiding citizens?

So here is my fear. As kids spew their lives on every social network without an ounce of consideration, how likely will they be willing to protect the rights of privacy and our other constitutional rights? Their willingness to share their information may cloud their judgment on constitutional limits. It will be easier for the younger generation to shrug off as unimportant the ability and reality of government agencies tracking our every move. They are so accustomed to being tracked by friends, why not the government? And not only government, corporations and advocacy groups as well.

Between the lack of civics and history in the public school curriculum, the acceptance of information dumping on social networks, and the ability of federal government to track our every move, what will become of privacy? What will become of our nation? What will become of our Constitution? What will become of our liberty?

It’s Time To Call Stupid, Stupid!

The economy has been stagnant for the last 3 years and the excuse continues to be that we are still digging out of an economic collapse rivaling the great depression. We believe that excuse? The reality is the economic collapse was caused by government interference. The government forced lenders to reduce or remove income requirements that people actually have the means to pay back the mortgages they agreed to. In order to convince the private sector to go along with this scheme to increase home ownership at any cost, the federal government guaranteed these loans so that there was no risk to the private institutions. The federal government is the root cause of this market meltdown.

The domino effect of these federal mandates to loan money to anyone and everyone impacted the overall economy, and sent the fragile auto industry into crisis. The economic crisis was compounding the fact that the auto industry had embarked on union contracts that were unsustainable. Add to that the years of regulations that have added costs to the production of cars by the federal government, and you have a cost model to produce a product that was sure to collapse. Instead of letting the companies go through bankruptcy, which has always proven to be the best method of restructuring, the federal government stepped in to take over GM and Chrysler. The federal government took tax payer dollars, saved the unions, and fired nonunion workers. Even though they say this was a “success”, it has hampered the auto industries comeback. Ford who refused the bailout is actually the healthiest car company today. The taxpayers are going to lose billions of dollars once the final tally is counted.

Obamacare is mandating insurance coverage, forcing doctors to take ridiculously low fees to see government funded patients (Medicare), increasing taxes on medical devices and innovative companies trying to make the industry more productive, forcing patients to tell the IRS about their personal healthcare matters, and people are surprised that the cost of healthcare is rising and the quality is going to be impacted as well. What do stupid people think will happen?

The EPA and the president stop the energy production of fossil fuels including the Keystone pipeline, put tax payer money into sustainable energy companies whose business models are unsustainable, and people wonder why gas prices average $3.50 a gallon. What do stupid people think about this?

The intrusion of the federal government into our markets and lives is destroying the wealth and health of this country and we applaud this president for “caring” about the “common guy.” Tax the rich because they make so much anyway!! It doesn’t matter that the people that are wealthy have created most of the jobs in this country, or the fact that rewards improve the likelihood people will risk their money to start a business, but we are too stupid to figure this out. Stupid people want to punish the people that create jobs as companies announce layoffs. What did the stupid people expect?

The federal government has not presented the country with a budget for 3 years. We accept it and chalk it up to politics. Chalk it up to people too stupid to hold their government accountable.

If we don’t take back our educational institutions from the incompetent people in charge, we are doomed forever. Our kids are not taught about our founding, constitution, the power of capitalism and free markets or how to think analytically, and we wonder why people are stupid enough to vote for more of this policy chaos?

  Stupid is what stupid does…

Mayor Bloomberg: Shut Up! Please...

I personally don’t care what the Mayor of NYC my hometown has to say about guns or any other matter as a matter of fact. The ego on this man is typical of every dictator of the past. Mayor Bloomberg seems to think he knows best.

The beauty of this great republic is if you don’t like what the Mayor does in his city you can move to a state or another city that you do agree with the Mayor. The credibility of the Mayor of NY is limited in the arena of gun control. Bloomberg’s city is like most inner cities that have the strictest gun control laws but still have the highest rates of crime according to every statistic available. Gun laws take guns from the law abiding citizens yielding them helpless against criminals and limited to waiting for 911 to respond.

If you look at Bloomberg’s record here is what you find: the highest poverty rates, lowest scores on aptitude tests, highest crime rates, and many undesirable neighborhoods. All this and he wants to play on the national stage? He believes more control over the people’s lives is the answer to everything. The problem is he is the problem.

If the Mayor wants to control his city then he can propose what he wants and let the people of the city of NY decide what they are willing to accept. As far as the rest of us are concerned all I can say is shut up. I would never move to NYC if I had all of the money in the world. I believe in freedom and our constitution. Something Bloomberg has no respect for as exemplified by his never ending meddling in the affairs of - we the people…

Freedom’s Line in the Sand

We often make political arguments way too complex. The latest assault on religious institutions is just a symptom of the bigger problem of an unconstitutional president in the White House. He passed Obamacare for a couple of fundamental reasons; expand federal government; control the behavior of Americans; and to limit our freedom.

We need to look at every change this administration is making as an assault on every American’s liberty. We are in a fight to save this country and Obamacare is the foundation of our enemies attack. By using healthcare as a foundation to intrude in our lives, this administration positions every argument to steal our freedom as a benefit to our lives. The government now has an argument to get involved anywhere they choose based on the argument it is good for our health.

In the fight against obesity, the federal government can say since they are paying for healthcare they have a say in what we eat. In the fight against cancer, the federal government can outlaw foods, manufacturing processes, technology etc… in order to prevent cancer. In the fight to protect drivers from accidents, the federal government can outlaw any behavior in a car that distracts drivers and may cause accidents. The intentions are all noble in their mind. But where has freedom gone in the argument?

This country is built on individual liberty. If we had these asinine laws at the founding of our country we would never have survived or have been born as a nation. We are free to choose and we must accept the consequences. We can’t prevent every ill in society. We must be free to determine our lives pursuits without the intervention of faceless bureaucrats. If someone dies because they jump off a 10 story building the answer isn’t to stop building 10 story buildings. If someone dies because they have drank themselves to death, the answer isn’t to ban alcohol from everyone because of one individual.

We have allowed these liberal doo gooders’ noses under the tent of freedom and you see what we get. They can’t help themselves to continually look for ways to “help” us. NO THANK YOU! The founders knew this and it is why we have a constitution whose sole purpose is to LIMIT the federal government. The purpose was not to protect us from ourselves but to protect us from these do gooder liberals and tyrants. Often the same ilk. We don’t need a nanny watching over us. Take some damn responsibility people. They are stealing our freedom.

So I applaud the Catholic Bishops in standing up against this assault on religious liberty but it is even bigger than that. It is the essence of America we are fighting for. Liberty in all aspects of our lives not just religious liberty. We have already given up too much ground. The line in the sand has been drawn with Obamacare and it must be repealed in total. Otherwise we will be fighting against the Obamas of the world for the rest of our lives. We can’t allow this to stand. For God’s sake man do it for the children!

Can We Agree on Freedom?

Democrats and Republicans are more polarized than ever. I sometimes think it is simply, if I say black, you say white. We are no longer thinking through the results of who we elect. I have a question for all Americans of every political stripe: Is freedom still important to you?

If the answer is yes as I expect, we have our first point of agreement.

Individual freedom requires individual accountability, and the willingness to allow for failure as well as success. Can we agree that people are better off when they are accountable for their own actions including getting and education that results in a job? Can we agree that if an individual chooses not to work that the result should be they are not rewarded for not working? Can we agree that if an individual succeeds that we should celebrate that success and not punish them by limiting their ability to create even more success?

Freedom includes the opportunity for individuals to conduct business between each other with limited action by the government. The government action is in the law. The law is the guideline but should definitely play only one role: make the playing field level. Not the outcomes but the opportunity. Can we agree that when business invests in people and capital that they should be able to decide who they hire and how much they pay them? Can we agree that it is in businesses best interest to pay people the wage that gets them the best people? Can we agree that the market is the best mechanism to control businesses behavior? If a business is polluting or pillaging the consumer, the consumer will punish the business by going to a competitor. The more government inflicts its “solutions” the less free a market becomes? Can we agree that when businesses thrive and hire people it is good for everyone even if the owner (s) get rich?

Can we agree that when individuals go to work every day, the paycheck they earn is theirs? Can we agree that no American has a right to someone else’s private property? Can we agree that private property is a good thing that supports individual freedom?

Can we agree that politicians work for the people? Can we agree that free speech and religious freedom are fundamental to our individual freedom and we need politicians that support and defend the constitution? Can we agree freedom is protected by having a military that is ready to defend it from foreign enemies?

Can we agree that churches and private charities should be free to take care of the poor and that they are much better at it than the government? Can we agree that giving people a choice of where they go to school is a choice that will result in more freedom of opportunity?

Can we agree that the bigger the government gets the less freedom we have as individuals?

Capitalism is Compassionate…

The most compassionate nation in the world is the United States of America. We are not compassionate because we have special DNA or are some special form of human species, we are compassionate because of capitalism. Capitalism has given us the gift of excess goods, services, and resources that we share with the rest of the world.

At the heart of capitalism is the ability of individuals to produce and create wealth for their own personal use and their family. As human beings, we first must take care of ourselves by producing food, clothes, and shelter. It is the nature of survival that is first and foremost in the human condition. In most economies prior to the capitalist system of the United States, goods and services were assumed to be owned by some ruling class. Production was stifled because the people producing wealth for others is much harder to manage than a system that allows for individuals to keep what they produce for themselves.

Capitalism rewards the hard work of individuals and is destroyed by the policies of taxation or confiscation without due compensation. It is a simple premise that is rooted in human nature. As we create our own wealth beyond the basic survival needs, we create additional wealth that allows us to become more compassionate. Whether that is on the personal scale of donating food to the local food pantry or the on the corporate scale of creating foundations that help other nations climb out of poverty, it can only happen when we create excess wealth. Excess wealth only happens in a capitalist economic system.

There are people and companies that abuse the system but on the whole most people and companies in the United States are a great example of how capitalism is the only system that works is a free society. As the government tries to regulate business and the capitalist system they impede freedom, freedom of individuals, and freedom of markets to conduct business. This limits wealth, reduces freedom, and smothers compassion.

So as you listen to all of the political posturing in 2012, remember capitalism is the most compassionate economic system in the world. It produces both winners and losers. The losers often come back into the market to become winners. But that can only happen when the government keeps its hands out of the arena. Any business or business person breaking the law should be punished. But any business or business person that fails in the market must be allowed to fail and not bailed out by the government.

If the government continues to distort the market capitalism is dead. Once capitalism is dead so is wealth and compassion. It’s that simple…

Honoring the Chinese Dictator Hu?

Does anyone really believe we should honor anything about the brutal communist dictatorship called China? The Chinese people are brutally subdued into compliance with government laws that deny free speech, free markets, and basic liberty. To treat as an honored dignitary, the leader of the Chinese communist party is a slap in the face to everything we stand for as a people.


The Chinese economy is a house of cards because it is built on deceit and lies. The only thing propping it up are greedy corporations looking for cheap labor to exploit. Corporate officers turn their heads on the atrocities but their heads should truly be bowed in shame. By investing in China without human rights reform is to reward evil. The Chinese government is evil.

Free market economists argue by investing in a country’s economy we lift up the lives in those economies. For some of the lucky few that may be correct, and there is probably an argument that you plant the seeds of freedom, but how long do you allow complete oppression of a people before demanding reform from that government?

It does not surprise me that Obama is the first president to hold a State Dinner for the Chinese. I would speculate that he is envious of the Chinese leader’s ability to avoid the messy process of a representative republic governed by a constitution. How easy it would be if one man or administration could decide what was best for all. How much more we could do if we would all just work together for the good of the collective state. If we could just shut up the critics at will, our problems could be solved. The government is so much more effective at determining what is good for its citizens. That is the left in a nutshell.

Obama is honoring Hu because he envies Hu. The left would much rather live in a world they control than all of this “We the People…” stuff. The food we eat, the cars we drive, the amount of electricity we use, the size of our house, the education we receive, the medical care we have access to, would all be so much better if we had an all empowered government to watch over us. We wouldn’t have to worry about climbing the corporate ladder or providing for our future. All of that would be handed to us and decided by government officials. The paradise we are depriving ourselves is only a constitution away.

There isn’t an American citizen stupid enough to want to trade their US citizenship to become a Chinese citizen. The Chinese are using capitalism to fund a power structure so they can expand their communism when necessary in the future. We are funding their plans to one day dominate the global economy. We are funding the communist government’s destruction of human decency and freedom. We are funding the most polluting country in the world. We are funding child labor and labor camps. We are funding our greatest enemy both physically and philosophically. The Chinese people deserve better from the United States of America. The Chinese people deserve an ally in the fight for freedom not an adversary that is funding their greatest oppressor.

Shame on us and shame on Obama…

Live or Let Die?

Deciding what to do at the end of one’s life is not the decision of any government bureaucracy. It is an individual choice that is a painful and difficult decision for both the individual facing that decision and the family members of that individual that must live with the loss.

The fact is we are all going to die. Some of us will die unexpectedly, others will die naturally, and for some the end of life becomes so painful and agonizing decisions on how much longer they will live can be the catalyst for ethical and moral clashes. Some people that have been fighting cancer or other debilitating diseases are often in circumstances that become unbearable for that individual. Quietly they choose to move on to the next life and concede the battle. It is generally a peaceful process that is comforted with some of the wonderful drugs that have enabled us to ease the pain of our loved ones.

In some cases family members struggle to accept the inevitable process of dying and interject their own desire and selfishness to keep their loved one around through extra ordinary measures. Even when individual patients have DNR orders (Do Not Resuscitate) it is not unusual for family members to intercede and frantically request their love one be “saved”. This is not for the benefit of the patient but rather a guilt or unresolved issue with the family member. It is a very personal experience and every family works it out every day across this country. Rarely is the decision made based on money, it is usually the reality that the family member has made their peace with the world.

Healthcare and dying are personal. The dignity of patients and their families is paramount. There is no place in this decision for a federal government bureaucrat. But that is what is happening. Through the use of “incentives” for doctors to either be financially efficient or utilize specific programs that reduce the cost of maintaining the elderly, the federal government has worked their way into that very personal relationship between a patient, doctor, and family. The efforts of the federal government to influence a doctor’s decision on care, especially end of life care is not only unconstitutional it is morally appalling.

Healthcare has been hijacked by the government and insurance companies by creating a false marketplace that has no built in mechanisms to control itself. Just as it is a personal decision as to whether or not I purchase health insurance, it is a personal choice, and my individual right to liberty how I decide to manage the end of my life. I am not talking about promoting assisted suicide; I am promoting individual freedom and liberty. I don’t need the morality police or the federal bureaucrat deciding any aspect of my private care. I can choose to fight cancer with all of my power and resources or I can choose to save my resources and allow the natural outcome of my decision. Every individual should have that right. It may be uncomfortable for some but freedom is a very uncomfortable but undeniable right.

That is why I am vehemently against government in the healthcare industry. We need more private market incentives in the basics of healthcare allowing for a better market to develop for end of life care. We are all going to die whether we want to face it or not. But the federal government should not be impacting that aspect of our lives in any way. It is not only unconstitutional - it will end up being a criminal enterprise if allowed to continue. You mark my words…

Without the “Rich” Who Pays?

This endless assault on the rich is pure ignorance. The rich aren’t selfish or greedy or taking anything from you; most rich are paying their share and more. Most of the people that complain about the rich are frustrated under-achievers that think the world would be better off if we all suffered the same together in poverty.

Most rich people get that way because of a brilliant idea, the willingness to risk, and a lot of sweat and tears. Rich people create the jobs most Americans usually work at. Name me a person that has created a job by sitting around and complaining about the rich? Bill gates created tens of thousands of jobs as well as countless millionaires that toiled in the beginning in humble surroundings for very little pay. Sam Walton created tens of thousands of jobs and countless millionaires by changing the way retail works. And despite the BS you hear about Wal-Mart putting small business out of work, the evidence is exactly the opposite. Wal-Mart puts lousy monopolistic businesses out of business that only survived because there was no competition. Today thousands of businesses flock to shopping centers where Wal-Mart is the anchor.

The money that pays for the government programs comes from the very people under assault. Maybe we should be thanking the rich instead? What a novel concept; gratitude! The definition of rich for the loudest complainers is “anyone making more than THEY think should be ENOUGH to live on”. I have news for them; it’s their money to keep, not the governments. If you want more go and work more. Come up with an idea people are willing to pay for. Risk everything to start your own business and then decide if you are rich after you have invested the time, energy, and resources to succeed.

Gimme, gimme, gimme; instead maybe it’s time to return to the concept of earning your own keep. Maybe the critics can find an idea rather than criticizing the people that make their lives more comfortable. Maybe it’s time to return to the principles outlined in our constitution; life, liberty, and the freedom to PURSUE happiness…

The bureaucrats will end up reducing personal debt but is it worth it?

Nice article by Star Parker over at Town Hall Magazine on financial regulation…

The federal government in its continual unconstitutional efforts to protect us, may end up “fixing” the over burdened credit card debt consumers have been struggling to pay. But is it worth it? The credit card industry is being limited to what it can do to protect itself from people that fail to pay back the money they have borrowed. They have introduced laws that limit credit card company’s fees, interest rates, and have generally positioned the credit companies as predators.

The fees that can be charged for credit have been capped and will eventually be reduced. Therefore, the credit available to consumers has been reduced. The fees that can be charged for cash advances have been reduced. Therefore, cash advances are being limited because it costs money to run those convenient ATM machines. It has become harder for credit companies to get their money back from bad debtors. Therefore, credit limits are being reduced and lower income customers are being denied credit.

So in the end, consumers will no longer be able to get the cards or cash they need due to the additional regulations. Free market credit dries up and cash becomes king, again. I guess that is good when you are wealthy and have a lot of cash. Instead of increasing competition in the financial sector, over-regulation is crushing our ability to get credit. No credit, no purchases without cash, and no expansion of small businesses that thrive on credit. Small business gets caught in the tangled web of regulation designed to “protect” the consumer. It is that law of unintended consequences.

So what we are getting is a stagnated economy, less choice and options for the average consumer to get credit, and the result is reduced personal debt. So the regulation does in the end protect the consumer by making credit unavailable and ending the consumers ability to get into debt. It comes with a price tag. That price tag is the loss of freedom and access to credit. But it seems that our government knows better how to manage our finances than we do. Just like healthcare, educating our children, planning for retirement, food intake, smoking, drinking, you name it, the government is much better at making those decisions for us.

The bureaucrats are reducing our personal debt and much more. The question is; is it worth it?

Total Incompetence…

The incompetence of our federal government is exactly why the constitution is focused on protecting individual rights and liberties. The founders knew that big, centralized, collective, communal groups would undermine the ability for our states and citizens to be prosperous. It is a lesson history taught our founders well, but we seemed to have forgotten.

As we watch our debt accumulate, our free markets assaulted with regulation and forced crisis, our schools failing our kids, and government programs stifling incentive, rewarding failure, and creating entitlement, we see the wisdom of our founder’s solid reasoning to promote individuals over groups.

The federal government is incompetent with the best leaders never mind a group that has nothing but academic experience at the helm. If we reduce the federal government by 50% no one will notice a bit of difference except for a reduction of incompetence. Not because of an increase in competence but simply less for the federal government to screw up…

We’re Talking; They’re Doing; So Who is Winning?

I listen to outraged radio and television talk show hosts, clearly arguing against what is happening with the out of control federal government, sometimes getting heated to the point of obvious frustration, meanwhile Obama and the enemy within are passing legislation and borrowing more money than we can ever pay back. The left and their leader Obama are willingly bringing on an economic crisis of enormous proportion, trying to destroy capitalism, free markets, freedom, and our American Dream, and we are waiting until November to counter?

You need to read “Samuel Adams, A-Life” by Ira Stoll, to understand how this type of battle would have been handled by one of our most underappreciated founders. Sam Adams was the ultimate agitator for liberty, and if he was here today would have riled up the masses to frenzy, and stormed the house and sent every one of our representative’s home by any means necessary to do so. Our founders understood the cost of freedom:

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards.” Sam Adams

“As long as the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.” Sam Adams

“Every generation needs a new revolution.” Thomas Jefferson

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms (of government) those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny” Thomas Jefferson

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” Thomas Jefferson

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" -- Patrick Henry

"Our properties within our own territories [should not] be taxed or regulated by any power on earth but our own." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1774

"The hour is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding Country depend. Remember officers and Soldiers, that you are free men, fighting for the blessings of Liberty -- that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men." -- George Washington, 1776

What is our promise to our posterity? Will we wait to take action until it is too late?

We can see what is happening and know where we are heading so why do we think we can wait? Last night Greta Van Susteren was arguing we had to bail out Greece. Why? She suggested the domino effect because we are all linked globally especially through the economy. Greece is the size of the City of Los Angeles. If you can justify a bailout for Greece where does it end? When do we cut the cord?

Our constitution protects Americans and only Americans. This is truly the end if we have to bail out every lazy, corrupt, two bit dictator, kingdom, or democracy around the world.

When will we be willing to protect our posterity? We can talk about it, but the enemies of the American Dream are doing something about it…

Fidel Castro hails Obama…

Fidel Castro hailed Obama on finally passing healthcare reform. He released a statement which included this comment, “It is really incredible that 234 years after the Declaration of Independence ... the government of that country has approved medical attention for the majority of its citizens, something that Cuba was able to do half a century ago."

My thought is: Let’s compare the success and the wealth of Americans compared to Cubans. Here’s the choice; you can move to Cuba or stay in America; enough said. This socialist dictator has created the grandest squalor for a people that had such great opportunity until his revolution 51 years ago. We are the greatest nation in this world because of our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

The scary thing is our current president wants to do what Castro has done to Cuba. When Castro applauds we must take notice. Think about it…

Healthcare today, dictatorship tomorrow…

“Control the People”; not in Colorado…

The evidence is mounting to validate the claims many of us have known about Obama and his administration that this is a war against American values, the American Dream, America’s economic system of capitalism, the individual American citizen, and our constitution. That is why the 2010 elections of not only our federal representatives are critical; every race for Governor in 2010 is an opportunity to build a constitutional wall against this assault on our values.

Today we have the video of Democratic Representative Dingell stating this healthcare bill is designed to “Control the people”, and we have Secretary Sebelius of HHS saying, they are going to reduce the profits of drug companies by statute which has always been “part of the strategy” of the healthcare bill. We have the administration as part of the HCR Bill taking away the private market availability to get a student loan, which few people are talking about, as part of the strategy to nationalize our economy away from the private sector.

Anyone that believes that limiting profit or profit motive, nationalizing industry, and controlling the people is the right direction, is about to realize how Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Columbia, Russia, and Chinese governments treat their people. We are treading dangerously on realizing a government not of the people but a government thrust on the people.

I know people don’t want to think this can happen in America but it is; right under your nose. The stink you smell are rotten politicians stealing your freedom while they feed you crap about taking care of you.

The 2010 campaign for Governor of Colorado isn’t simply about conservative and liberal ideas, free market VS. Government’s role & responsibilities, public VS. Private education; it is about stopping the federal takeover of our lives. We need to reinforce the battle field by utilizing the Tenth Amendment and standing up against this unconstitutional federal government.

We can no longer stand by and complain about unfunded mandates and dictates, and regulation, and high taxation, we must stop it. Governor Ritter is not supporting our AG Suthers constitutional lawsuit against the federal healthcare takeover. It is a good thing for Colorado that he has chosen to not run again. We need to support the AG in his effort to stand up for our sovereignty as a state.

As Governor I will be the Obama administrations worst nightmare; a man of the people that understands the constitution, willing to use the constitution to stop the federal government, and will continually drum beat the need to reset the roles of government with the will of the people. Don’t listen to the people that discount the power of the constitution. The constitution with an energized constituency is the exact remedy for taking back our country, our dreams, our economic system, our state and individual rights…

Can we reset our federal government and start over?

I am talking about more than just healthcare when I say we need a “reset”. I am thinking more in the vein of; if we had to start from scratch, what government services would we need to support liberty and the free market system? We have the founding documents, and I would suggest as a country we read and debate what the enumerated powers of the federal government are, and implement them accordingly. The congress, the courts, and the executive would all get the go ahead. The Federal Reserve would be a debate we would need to have again because we have seen what happens when too much power is with too few people, trying to regulate and manipulate a free market. We would quickly come to the conclusion the military was an enumerated power, and from there most other issues become debatable.

The states would become the power players in this debate because after reviewing the constitution, I believe the biggest ah! Ha! moment to come out of a review of the constitution by the people would be the intention and power of the Tenth Amendment. People would again realize why so many of us support the Tenth Amendment, and why it keeps the federal government in check when adhered to by the state’s legislatures and governors.

Would we recreate a welfare state as implemented by FDR? Would we recreate a department of agriculture, education, commerce, and health and human services? Would we rehire the two million federal employees? Would we be able to conduct our lives without the USDA, FCC, FDA, AMTRACK, FHA, FCIC, FDIC, FERC, FICE, FLRA, FMC, FMS, FSIS, FAS, FS, DHS, BEA, BIA, BLM, BPD, BTS, CDC, CISB, USCERT, CBO, CPSC, CPB, and could we consolidate some of the DOD agencies like, DARPA, DCAA, DTRA, DSS, and the, DOE, DED, HHS, HUD, DOL, DOT, DNI, DEPO, EPA, EEOC, FAA, FEMA, GSA, USGS, GAO, GPO, IRS, IBB, ITA,NIST, NIH, OSHA, OMB, ONDCP, OSTI, OC, PWBA, PDR, PDPA, RFERL, RSA, RISC, SSA, SEC, SBA, USPS, VOA, to name just a few of the agencies “managed” by the current federal government. Basically would we reduce the current federal jobs program?

The light bulbs will go off in so many American’s heads when they start considering what they’re paying for and what they’re receiving. With a realization that the Tenth Amendment places the accountability and responsibility with the states, people will not be willing to recreate this bureaucracy all over again. By adhering to the Tenth Amendment and add in a Twenty Eighth Amendment to read; all federal legislation must be justified by referencing the enumerated power in the constitution that gives the federal government the right to create it. If the State’s are not satisfied with the reference, nullification of federal law would be the remedy to force a challenge of the law.

The closer government is to the people the more control the people have, the better our states and nation will be. The debate would be healthy if we rallied around our constitution as Americans. We need a rallying cry because we are being divided by the activities of both political parties. Right now in the healthcare debate the republicans are standing tall because the proposal is so radical. But don’t be fooled, if this was a more “moderate” proposal the republicans would be negotiating away our constitutional rights. There is no power in the constitution that can be referenced to have federal bureaucrats anywhere near our healthcare.

Let’s make the rallying cry a reset of our principles to the founding documents that have made this country so great; The Declaration of Independence and The U.S. Constitution…