Dinner With the President

The kerfuffle over AIG and banking bonuses has been labelled bad Kabuki Theater by many. Not only did these AIG employees have an agreement with AIG, AIG had an agreement with the government. Chris Dodd, lead arsonist in the mortgage meltdown and now the Senate fire chief, Secretary of the Treasury (SOT) Geithner and the White House added language to the proculus, non-stimulus bill which guaranteed these bonuses. So how about some perspective? These bonuses are one time payouts which are budget dust when compared to the Obama stimulus package and budget bill. AIG bonuses are 1/18,500th of the proposed $3.1 trillion budget. The bonuses are 1/4000^th of the total porculus package and they were put in that bill by Democratic Leadership.

These bonuses were no secret to anyone in the Dem Leadership, the Treasury or the White House. We should all be very afraid if government believes it has the authority to retroactively tax monies from anyone, but especially when targeting specific individuals. If we don't speak now who will speak when they come for us. Niemoller is always relevant.

Now Dodd and Geithner are doing the two step describing what they knew and when they knew it about these bonuses. Sadly the President and Dem leadership, abandoning election vows of transparency, allowed no time for anyone in Congress to read the 1000 page compendium of liberal dream spending. Time was of the essence, however. We surely didn't want any patriotic Americans or congressman nosing around that bill and figuring out exactly what the administration was trying to pull off.

Dodd and others benefited royally from AIG contributions over the years and this may have been payback. This is the likely explanation. It may also have been done in the name of trying to keep some halfway qualified individuals at the wheel at AIG. There may be a third possibility, though it may be too clever by half to have been conceived by the keystone cops running the White House. What about the possibility that AIG was set up as a convenient strawman for populist rage? Knowing that the President's sprint left through his Fulda Gap would rouse the opposition; a number of diversions would be needed to keep the eyes of the public and opposition party off, or uncertain of, the real mission. Innumerable distractions would be needed to create the chaotic environment necessary to gain the acquiescence of citizens to solutions which mandated toleration of the horror of building trillion dollar deficits in the first weeks of office. While some adult Democrats, like Ben Nelson are just beginning to question the budget math behind this socialist agenda, 85 Republican House jesters including Minority Whip Cantor, joined in this Kabuki for the absurd production.

Team Obama continues to stagger to the end zone of an American socialist state. There appears to be no Republican on the field capable of stopping them. It seems the screaming fans are left only with the hope that some Republican upstart will leap from the bench and knock the legs out from under the ungainly President. The crocodile tears and forced “outrage” from grifters like Dodd, Frank, Schumer, Pelosi, Waters, Obama and the rest are part of the game plan and serves one purpose. It is to advance the mantra that chaos reigns in the financial world and we need even more government control! As Rahm Emmanuel says, "never waste a good crisis."

The President is delivering on the promises he made to the American people during the never ending campaign. The apathy and mindlessness of hopey-changey Americans led them to strike a deal with the devil. The promise of hope and change was the promise of a government committed to taking care of everyone’s needs. The President’s message, at times subtle and at times obvious, has always been a massive consolidation of power centrally. It seems only a handful understood this was socialism. Many still do not appreciate the socialist net being dropped on them. Who can forget the memorable words of Peggy Joseph, choking back tears, “I won’t have to work to put gas in my car…”

Years of indoctrination by socialists at the public school and University level have negated the evidence which demonstrates the abject failure of socialism and have made it impossible for a large number of Americans to thoughtfully analyze the lessons of history.

We are getting change. There just doesn't seem to be a seat reserved for hope at the table the President has set.

The Feds now own banking, housing, and the auto industry.

The Department of Education, the National Education Association and other teacher union associated organizations have big plans. All hands prepare for a Crazy Ivan turn portside.

If you like the selection of appetizers, next on the menu at the table of hope is resting control of the energy sector from private industry. For those who couldn’t hear above the din of “hope and change” in the week before the election, Candidate Obama told us, in comments that were recorded by the San Francisco Chronicle nearly a year earlier but which were only released a few days before the election, that we should expect electricity and other energy bills to rise.

"Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket...because I'm capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, natural gas -- you name it, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money they will pass that money on to consumers." Cap and trade, if it passes, will hamstring current energy industries, , make them unaffordable for Americans, bankrupt those industries and leave state run alternative energy options as the only option. The smart meters the President told us about last week are less about assisting you in optimizing energy use in your home and more about the government being able to optimize how best you use energy in your home.

Health care is a favorite on the Obama prix fixe menu. Democratic leaders are committed to a national health plan which will follow the course of all other such national systems. All points lead to rationing, restriction, and limitation under the watchful of eye of the same Congressional specialists that brought us the mortgage crisis. Those European nations that have not been successful in fully sanitizing the citizenry's free market memory are scrambling to re-introduce private enterprise solutions in efforts to resuscitate their failing health care systems. The costs of rationing are not merely inconvenience. Utilitarian methods will be part of the armamentarium employed to assist in rationing health care costs. This is standard operating procedure in the Netherlands, where adolescents may request euthanasia and infanticide is employed to kill infants determined to be doomed to a "poor quality of life and suffering." The methods to be used are well practiced and include limitation of care at the ends of the age spectrum (abortion, infanticide and euthanasia) and, for a number of conditions, palliative care (a good idea which has become perverted by some into a tool for actively ending life).

The culmination to this meal, the piece de resistance of this governmental orgy, is wresting control of other business sectors like manufacturing, farming and retail through an overhaul of immigration policy, elimination of current immigration restrictions and aggressive unionization.

What we are witnessing is nothing less than the march of a socialist blitzkrieg host whose only orders are to take no quarter and advance.

The government, including some sellout and cowardly Republicans, is absolutely responsible for the mess we now find ourselves in. First the Community Reinvestment Act which provided the opening to loosen lending strings and laid the groundwork for the mortgage crisis. Then the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 which began cutting the strings of sound banking practice. Finally, the corrupt growth of Fannie and Freddie provided the perceived financial backstop lenders would need in disregarding common sense reasonable lending practice. Fannie and Freddie had full support and backing, and received all the authorization necessary to become the base for this unsustainable Ponzi scheme, from Congress. The leaders of the charge for massive government intrusion into the housing market in Congress were none other than Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.

Politicians, mainly Democrats, in the early 1990s, determined that home ownership was the latest inherent human right overlooked by the Founders, joining amongst others the "right to reproductive freedom" and the "right to redefine marriage." Trumpeting home ownership became the battle cry of Andrew Cuomo (then at HUD, now the AG of NY chasing down all the evil AIG bonus recipients) and Bill Clinton in the 90's, supported by the watchful eye of bank inspectors, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Janet Reno.

Banks and financial houses profited from this mess, yes. Some eagerly jumped on the mortgage party bandwagon, abused it, and deserve prison time. Countrywide is a great example of just such an organization. Countrywide was run by Angelo Mozilo. Some may remember who Angelo numbered among his friends and preferred clients? Yes, the senior architect of the subprime crisis, Senator Chris Dodd! Dodd received a $75,000 reduction in mortgage payments through the "Friends of Angelo" program at Countrywide. Dodd still refuses to release all records related to that transaction and Dodd still sanctimoniously calls for the hides of banking executives.

These banks and institutions, against the better judgment of many, were told to make these loans or else face scrutiny and suits from DOJ, bank inspectors and a variety of "community organization" groups. They were told not to worry about the loans defaulting, Freddie and Fannie were the backstop. The chronology is well documented at American Thinker. The bubble continuously expanded, burst and the rest is history; lots of people in homes they never should have purchased, bad loan paper everywhere, and financial mayhem.

The government has failed the nation miserably as it inserted itself into the housing market over the last 20 years. Yet the same leaders who got us into this mess are not only not held accountable, they are supervising the resuscitation of the patient and all they can prescribe is the same snake oil they have fed the citizenry for 20 years. More government intervention. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

As America burns, the citizenry blithely ignore the malevolent and criminal behavior of many in Congress who have led the assault on the principles which have previously guided our nation. Benjamin Franklin cautioned, when asked what type of government the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention had given the new nation, "A republic, if you can keep it." These words today fall on many ignorant or deaf ears.

We are all on the fast track to become wards of the state. In the next budget year it is likely that a minority of citizens will be paying taxes. So we ask why would we willingly allow this to happen? Why would we allow ourselves to go from the most productive nation on earth, and the greatest guarantor of freedom around the world, to a junior partner in the collapsing nations of the Western world socialist union club?

Europe has become torpid and apathetic, content to wallow in mediocrity in the name of increased state custodial care. Alexander Bernard writes eloquently on this topic in National Review. Europeans pay enormous taxes, work little as it only incurs greater taxation, produce less (from industry through the art world), are incapable of mounting even a decent military parade to celebrate European Union day, and don't have any interest in having children to contribute to a failing tax base which desperately needs more workers. Europe, from an indigenous European population viewpoint, is dying. A nation with households that average 1.1 children cannot sustain population growth. Those unfamiliar with the catastrophic demography facing Europe should read America Alone. With all due respect, we should acknowledge that given the utilitarian view of socialists, most in Europe see their own destruction as perhaps one of their greatest achievements.

Freedom is not free and while not lost yet, it is ours to lose. The greatest challenge is awakening an increasingly disinterested, self-absorbed populace with an attention span measured in seconds. We are witnessing the greatest transfer of wealth from the private sector to the government in the history of man. The President wrote in the Chicago Tribune last week, “I also know that we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people.” Mark Steyn replies, "Really? For the moment, it’s a 'false choice' mainly in the sense that he’s not offering it: 'a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism' is not on the menu, which leaves 'an oppressive government-run economy' as pretty much the only game in town. How oppressive is yet to be determined." Those who that say we have all already been victims of unforgiving capitalism review the previous synopsis of Fannie, Freddie and the unindicted arsonists Frank, Dodd and others.

From GK Chesterton, "The chief feature of our time is the meekness of the mob and the madness of government." So where to from here? D-Day is Election Day 2010, but those of us who are concerned with the survival of liberty have our work cut out for us. Conservative citizens should consider five actions:

1. Innumerable issues are under consideration now which will enormously impact the direction of our country. Conservative voices need to be heard by political leaders at the local, state and federal level. For those who have never called or visited a legislator's office, get to it. Email is convenient, but means little. We are still in the main guaranteed free speech, unless you work in a government agency or on a university campus, so use it.

2. Consider making campaign contributions, $10 or $25, to individual candidates committed to personal liberty and American exceptionalism. Do not contribute to general Republican Committees (the RNC, or the National Republican Senatorial Committee for example) until they hold phony Republicans accountable. Never forget that three Republican Senators, Collins (Me) Spector (Pa), and Snowe (Me), are responsible for the passage of the porculus "stimulus" package which we desperately needed, but waited five days for the President's signature in a staged Denver venue.

Candidates worthy of your support may not be in your district. You are free to support them, however. Examples include LTC Allen West running for Congress in Florida and Pat Toomey, who will declare as a candidate for Arlen Spector's Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Pray for the identification of strong Republican candidates in Connecticut for Chris Dodd's Senate seat, in Pennsylvania for opposition to the treasonous John Murtha, and in New Jersey for the Governor's seat in that great people's republic.

As conservatives it is our responsibility to be informed and understand where Republicans in name only serve and support conservative Republican challengers. The list of so called Republicans who need to either be defeated, or join the party which best represents their views, is lengthy. Identifying these individuals and other key political races local and nationally is labor intensive work. Mainstream media will not give any attention to such candidates and has become an organ of the Democratic political machine. The good news is that others in the new media of the blogosphere are committed to this purpose. Blogs such as Hugh Hewitt's and Michelle Malkin's are some of the increasing number of conservative political sites providing insights on candidates for key political seats at all levels.

3. Regarding voting, do it.Voting is a privilege shared by few other citizens of the world.We all need to exercise our right to vote.In addition consider volunteering as a poll watcher and support get out the vote efforts

4. References to supporting the Republican Party may not be well received by many who have given up hope on the GOP, but it is our current best chance to loyally oppose the Democratic Party's reckless lurch to socialism. Consider this time as an opportunity to remake the Republican Party. We have established that a nuanced, Republican lite non-ideology does not work. Ask Senator McCain. The Libertarian route has repeatedly proven to be a non-starter and recipe for, more often than not, Democratic success.

A return to traditional conservative principles of individual responsibility, limited but effective government, reduced taxation, strong national defense, energy independence and the stimulus of a new energy industry (oil drilling, nuclear power plant construction, clean coal and continued pursuit of alternative energy sources), appreciation of the right to life (for the unborn, for the aged), a responsible immigration policy, and a willingness to tolerate the Judeo-Christian Enlightenment tradition which has been the source of this nation's prosperity.

Many Republican Party organizations will need our assistance in the quest to rediscover their role as a party of loyal opposition committed to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This includes not only supporting proper candidates but reviewing current primary voting procedures which may have allowed, in many states and perhaps nationally, Democrats to have a greater influence on Republican nominees than Republicans.

5. If conservativism is to survive, concerned parents have to take a very active role in what is being taught to their children, wherever they may be schooling. Understand that there is an agenda at state schools which will likely only become more radicalized over the next several years. This may seem like the rhetorical comments of a knuckle dragging, narrow-minded ignorant conservative unable to appreciate the enlightenment offered by state education. It is the duty of thoughtful citizens to regularly re-evaluate their positions. On the matter of public education I take seriously the words of President Obama's good friend Bill Ayers. Ayers, in addition to being an unrepentant terrorist who bombed the nation's capitol, is also an internationally recognized Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently elected vice president for curriculum of the 25,000-member American Educational Research Association (AERA), the nation’s largest organization of education-school professors and researchers. This board writes the curriculum agenda for public schools across America. Ayers terrorist history is reprehensible but worries me far less than the indoctrination he envisions for children in public schools. From the WSJ, "Mr. Ayers is the founder of the 'small schools' movement in which individual schools built around specific political themes push students to 'confront issues of inequity, war, and violence.' He believes teacher education programs should serve as 'sites of resistance to an oppressive system.' The point, says Mr. Ayers in his Teaching Toward Freedom is to 'teach against oppression, against America's history of evil and racism, thereby forcing social transformation.'"

Will we awaken from our self induced slumber and realize that the dream of individual liberty may have been just that, a short lived romp through a mesmerizing garden that required maintenance and upkeep we were unwilling to support? It seems we have beome a nation of Chance the Gardeners. Are we capable of recognizing that we are beginning a long day's journey into night? This journey is being expedited and its path obscured by the daily reaffirmation from leaders that chaos reigns and government must act now to save our nation. Our government retains all the superficial trappings of the vital republic it once was, but the advance of tyranny in premeditated fashion destroys the vital core that has made our nation great.

The words of the great American patriots, unknown to many Americans today, ring as true today as in 1776. From Thomas Paine, "These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph."

Quaere verum

Are You Paying Attention?

Back when the possibility of Barak Obama becoming President was a strong possibility I noticed a change occurring among the friends and people I associate with on a regular basis. There has always been a strong commitment with my friends towards God, family, patriotism, freedom, personal reliance and the belief that our forefathers new what they were doing when they founded the greatest country in the world.

But I found that many were "getting back to their roots". Now, an outsider looking at these families may say they were already checked out of normal society. They would see families of 6, 7, 8 or more kids, they would see parents homeschooling their children, stay at home mom's, a high proportion of business owners, a commitment to their church and a lack of material items. But I sensed something more than that was going on around me. Then Barak Obama became President Obama and he immediately began tearing down fibers that I believe hold this Country together; funding for worldwide abortion, rescinding the ban on stem cell research, government control of banks and financial institutions and the banning of guns just to mention a few.

It just happened that I was invited to several men's functions all in a short period of time, poker evenings, cigar get together and a dad's night out and I discovered these men are all on the move. They were either in the process of planning or some stage of completing things like, growing their own garden, moving their family out to more land or stocking up on guns. These are not a bunch of fanatics, these are smart men with great families. A group of guys I was honored to be associated with, whose opinions I trust and give much thought to and they were voicing concerns about issues happening in this country and how to handle them.

My family is moving forward with many of the suggestions I heard during these get together's and one of them was getting firearms. Something I haven't had around the house since my first child was born but something I felt was needed now more than before. I went to a gun show to get reacquainted with the industry and the products available. The entire time I was there I felt welcomed and among people with similar concerns, ideas and values, these were my people. Just regular dad's, some with their sons and a few with their entire family. I also noticed it was packed, wall to wall people. This wasn't a surprise since I have read how gun permits were up 40%, gun producers are up to 8 months behind on orders and some types of ammunition are jumping off the shelf. So my wife and I decided to buy some guns and start a program to get our whole family to learn to hunt, and protect oneself.

While at a local gun store I ran into the same quality of persons I did at the gun show. One of them who was a retired police officer from the great state of Texas. I began telling him my story of why I am now purchasing a hand gun and the reason why I feel my family needs this protection. He then retold a story of where he was involved in trying to bring order to the Hurricane Katrina area. He reminded me of how easy it was for some people once they became hungry to turn to violence. That if you did not poses a firearm at that time you were at a high risk of a home invasion, being robbed or even raped. He said that even though people knew they were being rescued at some point still resorted to violence. He told me that under duress there will always be some sizable portion of people who would turn to violence for their own survival.

This was my wake up call. Our Country is in economic duress, certainly not by any measure as bad as the great Depression but you wouldn't know it listening to our President. President Obama is and continues to feed the message that we are in for a whole lot more hurting. What if he's right? What if more people start having a harder time feeding their families? What if people who don't have any skills to provide for themselves or moral character decide they will just take it from me? My family isn't going to wait for that time to come before we are prepared and neither should you.

Taxing AIG

The United States Congress is furious that employees of AIG are receiving personal compensation that the legislators have deemed excessive and unwarranted. AIG has responded with something similar to “…it’s in the employees contract, we have to pay them…” Well the leaders of the free world, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are not going to get duped by that excuse, they have something in their back pocket, and it’s called taxation. The House of Representatives (and soon the Senate) have passed a bill imposing a 90% tax on AIG employee bonuses and in some cases taxing 100% leaving the worker with nothing. "I look forward to receiving a final product that will serve as a strong signal to the executives who run these firms that such compensation will not be tolerated," the president said in a statement.
I am not outraged as so many American’s are about executives of a U.S. bailed out company receiving a “Bonus”. But I am very scared that our citizens don’t recognize what has really happened. Let’s just review a few things. First, this is a United States Company and those receiving monies are U.S. Citizens. This is crucial in realizing that what is happening to them can happen to us. Second, the employees have a written contract to receive these funds. In our Country a contract is honored by the law. Third, the word “Bonus” is nothing more than deferred compensation. Lastly, the US Congress has passed a law targeted towards taxing a specific company.

The people receiving the “bonuses” are just like you and me, well several live a lot larger life styles than me but I am happy for them not jealous. These citizens made a deal, a contract with a company on what their job is and what they would take in compensation for doing it. None of us have read their contracts and have no idea whether they completed the tasks necessary to receive the compensation. But I am sure that under the duress AIG is currently under the employees must have fulfilled their tasks in order to get paid. This is no different than the contract I have with my kid’s orthodontist. I will pay him in full when he completes the task of making their teeth straight. He didn’t give me any guarantees that when he’s finished that my kids smile will provide them a better paying job or more dates. I may have hoped for that outcome but that wasn’t the deal.

You may say, “Fine, but they received tax payer money to keep the company afloat and without it these people wouldn’t have a job and therefore wouldn’t be getting a bonus”. Perhaps, but the company didn’t go under, they didn’t go into bankruptcy, they continued on running the business. Our representatives made the decision to spend our money to keep that business from going into bankruptcy. Our government made the decision to spend billions of dollars to make sure that these people who are now receiving bonuses stayed in action. You can’t have it both ways. The deal made by Obama, Pelosi and Reid was we need AIG not to fail, so here’s the money. Senator Dodd from Connecticut even had added into the deal that the bonuses were protected. That was the deal, the contract, the agreement.

So now we have an outraged public and every politician is deflecting this anger onto AIG as greedy people, with no conscience and self-serving one Senator even calling for them to commit suicide. To address the grumblings of its people our leaders have decided they have the authority to specifically tax a particular company or person in any manner they choose. Think about this, what is stopping them from coming after you? Do you think you’re safe because you “don’t make enough money”? Ask yourself, how much is not enough? Do you think your business is safe because “I’m just a small business owner?” Really, how small is too small? Perhaps you have said “well I’m not taking government money”. Is socialized health care, Medicare, social security, food stamps, mortgage assistance, or State colleges government assistance?

We all need to peel back the onion and see how we are losing freedoms and liberties at an alarming rate.

What Are the Rich Thinking About?

When I ask the question, what are the rich thinking about, I am only referring to riches involving money and I consider the well-to-do to be the top 4% of wage earners in this Country, those making over $100,000/year. The easiest way to spot the affluent is to see if they bought a home over $500,000 because those are the only ones who could afford it.

I have several friends who are loaded but every single one of them doesn’t consider themselves rich. Some own well over a $1,000,000 in real estate, have expensive cars, kids who go to private schools and who travel the world. Yet they all want to complain about President Obama taxing them and how hard it will be on their family and how it will plunge our economy even further into recession. Now I agree with their conclusions on the results of over taxation but come on, their rich. A strange thing though, they all want to be included in my sphere of people, the people without all the toys, struggling to make ends meet, face losing a job or perhaps own a small business under pressure. OK I’m a big tent type of person so I am willing to welcome them in joining the cause in helping us over throw this oppressive leaning government. I say how we must stop the pro-abortion groups, save our rights to own a gun, stop the government’s attempt to silence free speech and rise up against the invasion of illegal aliens so I ask them, are you with me? Are you with me?

Well, not so much. You see, the rich care about their money, that’s probably why they have so much of it. But the problem the well off don’t recognize is that people like me, those who apparently give higher value to morals and the principles on which this Country was founded on than to the mere existence of money are the ones fighting to save the rich their money. If I was only interested in my family’s immediate needs I would be an Obama supporter. My family stands to benefit from a majority of the Presidents social programs from health care to lower taxes. So if the wealthy only represent 4% of our Country and need the support of the conservative middle class to help them why would they shrug off our concerns? If the rich don’t want the conservative majority to abandon them then I suggest that the wealthy start picking up the causes of their friends as well as their own.