The Country's Divide

If you watch television, listen to radio or read a newspaper you quickly understand that there are two polar opposite views of the direction this country is taking. It could be argued that this has been brewing since the 60's when as a country we decided that what was more important then the family is the individual. And actually that would be the individual that agreed with liberal view points and not the old fashioned non-progressive standard bearing person. I think that once the courts said a baby in the womb can have its skull punctured at the whim of the mother our nations nucleus began to fall apart.

Abortion is another topic but its interesting to look at today's problems and ask questions like what people are in jail and why? Why are our children's education behind other country's? Why are so many people in debt beyond reasonable? Why do 50% of American not pay taxes? I believe the answer lies in the family. Once we diminished the importance of a two parent mother and father family, blurring each ones roles and taking away the parents right to parent along with the self centered mandates handed down by legislatures we began the fast track to self destruction.
So where are we right now? I see two completely different teams that are currently choosing up sides. One I will call the revolutionists. The strategy for this team is to get back to basics such as downsizing homes, purchasing guns, growing gardens, homeschooling, anything that will make them less dependent on the government and more self sufficient.

The other team I will name the progressives. Their game plan is of an aggressive nature, to isolate each player of the opposing team by demonizing them either as greedy companies, religious extremists, or red necked mountain people who cling to their guns. Their intent is to make the other team provide for all their desires.

Each team will not allow for moderation. You cannot be a member of the revolutionists or the progressives without being fully committed to how the game will be played. And don't think you can sit this game out. Oh no, one thing each team can agree on is if you don't want to play ball your the first one who gets his ass kicked.

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.