Our government has developed an elite progressive data collection program sure to warm the bleeding heart of every liberal and chill the bones of every true conservative. The metadata store overshadows the concern over the growth of our national debt, which is considerable. Its sudden revelation gives low-information Americans another reason to question our leaders’ credibility, which was already miniscule. Orwell’s Big Brother has come to fruition. Government has the ability and wherewithal to seize and store each and every telephone call, every computer communication, and every website visit. No need for a court order. After-the-fact approval by the overseer FISA Court is nearly automatic and absolute. All in the name of security. Read more…
It’s Independence Day, July 4, 2012.
This day we usually celebrate our freedom. Somehow, I don’t feel much like celebrating. We have no freedom. Oh, some perceive that we do, because that’s what we’ve always had, for the better part of 236 years, and most of us don’t know any different, having been taught that it doesn’t really matter, and our government is all good and able to take care of any situation. For now, we can still write about and express our thoughts and beliefs, so long as those expressions do not offend anyone. We can still go to the church of our choice, so long as we don’t display our faith in the public square, and so long as we don’t expect our government to respect our faiths in its social programs.
If we are to celebrate our independence today, please tell me, of whom or from what are we independent? Today, 46 million Americans are dependent on food stamps under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), up 8% from last year. 56 Million people can celebrate their dependence on the US Social Security Program. The US government lets out $500B a year on private contracts. How many are dependent on that little ball of wax? How many of us, such as this writer, are dependent upon advising private citizens about their compliance and financial matters as a result of tax returns, regulatory filings, and other such things, brought about solely because of government rules. How many of us are dependent on jobs that include advising people in the last category, keeping them up to date on constantly changing government laws and regulations? I could go on, but it’s too depressing.
And then, there’re the unemployed. In January, 2012, 12.8 million ready, willing, and able Americans were out of work. 43% of those people have been out of work for 6 months or more. 5 Million people have given up looking. Our laws now allow for unemployment benefits to extend for 99 weeks. Not much incentive to go out and get a job, if you ask me.
With so many of us dependent on the government’s power and present willingness to re-distribute the limited resources of this country from the earners to the takers, our government is addicted to using its power of taxation and regulation to spend much more than what’s being taken in. The rest is got by borrowing and printing money (affectionately known as “quantitative easing.”) No one knows what the national debt really is, but the official count is in the neighborhood of $16 trillion!
After the horrendous Supreme Court ruling last week on the Affordable Health Care Act, there are no limits on what government is allowed to do or on its ability to place chains around the people. Now, they’ve got our health, and it’s not good. The private sector coughs up another 60% of itself in tribute to all-powerful government.
So, no, I can’t celebrate today. Go out there and shoot off your firecrackers for whatever reason; but freedom and independence should not be among them.
James A. Skeldon
Watertown, New York
“We’re in a depression, with millions and millions out of work…” states V.P. Joe Biden. Joe, for once, I agree with you. I’ve been intending to detail the decline in the collective’s general attitude for a while now, having increasingly seen it in the lives of friends and acquaintances. I didn’t want to be first, or to draw attention to it. Depression is contagious and as such counter-productive. As an occasional depression sufferer who takes medicine for it, I often can tell when it’s coming on; I fight it, deny it, and pretend for a while everything’s okay; then, that word will come up; it’s like a trigger, firing it, setting it off, and sending me solidly into the city limits of “Depressionville”. At that point, the condition can move about at will, and infect others with whom the sufferer comes into contact. It can be fought, but it is a formidable opponent and often wins.
So I held off approaching the subject, waiting for someone else to pull the trigger, and let the cat out of the bag. Reliable Joe Biden did so this week. So here I sit, broken hearted for the misery bestowed on the people, not by Biden (a simple messenger) but by his and our boss, President Barack Obama, and the henchmen and women of the Progressive Democrats who currently occupy the White House, and other Progressives from both parties who dominate Congress, the Senate, the Courts, and the Press. How have they done this? Let me count the ways: excessive spending, excessive borrowing, excessive regulation, policies that divide the people, attacks on freedom of religion, attacks on the Second Amendment and other liberties, the programmed transformation of a once free republic into a banana republic dictatorship, making their own laws, refusing to follow other laws that do not fit their agenda, just to name a few. Read more…
Today is May 1st. The traditional day Communists around the world have celebrated their States and paraded their weaponry. The OWS people chose today to make another one of their Statements about life’s unfairness. We’ve already heard about how five of them wanted to blow up the Cleveland Bridge today, under the banner of “Anarchists.” And, it wasn’t clear whether they only wanted to use the bridge as a diversion while they attacked banks in other sectors of Cleveland, as if there was any money there. Either way, their interests were to create chaos. Nice. Doesn’t it make you want to join up?
I’ll be back later with more news about today’s events. It’s only 3:19 PM. Lots of time left to be left.
Okay, I’m back, it’s 6:41 PM. Still haven’t heard any more about whether they blocked the Golden Gate Bridge yet.
One thing I did learn today, was this: Arianna Huffington has actually criticized Pres. Obama for suggesting Romney would not have given the bin Laden order. I’m totally blown away by this. Here’s the link:
Folks, James Fudd saw a lot of wabbits in his garden today. He is going to get loaded up and he’s goin’ out and see if they’re still there. Maybe there’ll even be some ‘seagils’ carousing about the place. He’ll be right back with what’s left of the carcasses.
Okay! Got one!
Venturing into the volatile political climate known affectionately as “Main Street USA” was an experience I won’t soon forget. We who are wont to perform such deeds as carrying a petition in behalf of a candidate go into the political arena armed with determination, the voter rolls, a clipboard, and a pen. We seek named individuals, and anyone else whose signature on the petition could withstand an opponent’s challenge. After finding the right house on the right street, there are a few other considerations, especially when the petition you carry belongs to a largely unknown political candidate who the local media will not vett or even report about on any regular basis until the day before the vote.
The liberals took God out of the school for a reason, and right on schedule. They knew if they could get the populace to shy away from their religious convictions, they could attack the Constitution and the relevancy of the Founders. They could then deny the influence of God on the minds of the Founders when they drafted, debated, and authorized the founding documents. The Constitution details the things the government cannot do, rather, as the leftist is wont, the things it can do with impunity. This drives the liberal crazy, and gives sanctuary to the conservative.
April 12, 2012
A National Nightmare
Can’t we fix our healthcare system without trampling the Constitution? or making people more subservient to the government? and preserve the religious freedoms envisioned by the Founders?
We have been living a 3-year long political and economic nightmare. Any day, I expect to awaken, greatly relieved, and exclaim to Mrs. Fudd:
“What an intense dream! A guy with a strong dislike for America was President, and ruled against our will. He regulated businesses to death, and had the government take over our health. Our beliefs didn’t matter so we had to fund abortions (contraception, he called it.) If we didn’t have health insurance, we were fined. Whatever we did, he apologized for to the rest of the world. He wouldn’t issue permits to use natural resources, and gas went to $4, $5 a gallon, and more. He made this tiny car that cost $40,000 and ran on one volt , but only could go 40 miles on a charge and you couldn’t fit your family in it. He spent the treasury, borrowed $4 trillion more, and never said how we would ever pay it all back!”
bygeorgewashington
James Fudd 