Pages


Thursday, December 8, 2011

He Said What's Not Fair ?


Recently President Obama made a speech in Kansas that highlighted two ideas that I agree with him on. The first idea is that America needs to be the place that is fair for everyone. Fairness was the hot topic of this speech, in fact, he went on to mention it in some way or another 14 more times. I think everyone can agree that we do need a country and an economic system that is fair to all, but the problem is the President doesn’t give detail to what he thinks fairness looks like. The second point I agree with him on is that this issue is a key idea that anchors people to their respective ideology (Conservatism or Liberalism). The president gave this particular speech from Osawatomie, Kansas to channel President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, to show that 100 years ago Republicans and Democrats shared the same ideas. Well I am sure he fooled some with this tactic, but Roosevelt was actually a new kind of Republican at the time, and actually went on to start the Progressive Party. So his comparison is misguiding, but it is important to mention this history because what Obama is doing is laying out his ideology and message for his campaign that will match the emotions of his base but look like a moderate for the independents. Let us not be fooled, AGAIN! The upcoming 2012 presidential election will be a critical one that will lay out the path of our country during some future crucial domestic and international times. So let us dissect this idea of fairness and draw a line in sand. Where do you stand and what do you consider fair?
           
Let me first present to you a fictional narration of unfairness through the eyes of a Liberal/Progressive:
America is a great country that has overcome many difficult times, BUT there are many issues that still face us today. America was founded on a document that broke us from the chains of a European ruler, BUT there are new issues facing our country today that that document does not settle. Today, the fairness in this country has been biased to a certain portion of Americans. Income disparity has grown to an all time high, where 1% holds all of the wealth, while the other 99% struggle. Our economy is unfair to too many people letting the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Our system is holding down minorities, while the rich white men play in a league of their own with their own set of rules. The millionaires and billionaires are manipulating the system to benefit themselves while the burden falls on the backs of small businesses, working middle class families, and the poor. Republicans only want to go back to the same old ways of the Bush administration which would keep giving taxes breaks to the rich, loopholes to corporations, and subsidies to Big Oil. We need a fair level playing field. We need everyone to pay their fair share so we can all advance together as one America. (Enter Barack Obama stage right and cue the music) I will be the one to make this a fair country, I will create a fair playing field, and I will (fill in the blank). Vote for me in 2012, Barack Obama the Creator of Fairness.


Now I know you might be thinking that that sounded like a message we can all get behind, and its exactly what all the Occupy protests are fighting for. Of course it sounds good to the ear, that's why most of the statements above are usually found on signs, bumper stickers, and Obama’s teleprompter. What you are not asking yourself is HOW do you create fair!!! To the far-left it doesn't matter. See they believe what Saul Alinski says,(a Marxist Chicago community organizer who wrote Rules for Radicals), that the ends justify the means. Meaning it doesn't matter how we get there, as long as we get there. That can be a disturbing and dangerous path, and it is actually what you are seeing develop through the chaos of the Occupy protest.
Obama and most Progressives believe fairness should be created by a higher power, no not God, but Obama himself as President (I know for some there is no difference). Liberals will always use Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, and Gay rights as an example of inequality and how the government can create a more just society. Yes this is true, but Civil rights were being demanded by The People, and then the government responded, and the same goes for Gay Rights currently. Also, those were rights dealing with humanity and how society viewed a certain type of person, then resulting in laws that brought groups of people up in society to be equals at a higher level. I believe economic inequality is being fought to do the exact opposite.
Right now President Obama is shaping a dialogue that is creating envy through the prism of unfairness. Liberals want you to see a rich person and ask why do they need all of that money (well unless they are a part of Hollywood, then that money is acceptable because it contributes to their campaigns). Liberals have the mindset that the rich should give up some of their wealth to the poor to create equality. Like Obama told Joe the Plummer, "I think if you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody." Would that be fair? This is why we have a PROGRESSIVE income tax. The more you make the more you pay in taxes. Not just as a total amount due to a flat and equal percentage for all, but you must pay a higher percentage as well. Is that fair? They believe income disparity exists because the 1% hoards all the wealth. So they want more welfare programs to help the poor, which will be paid for by an increase in taxes on millionaires and billionaires that will never need them. Is that fair? They believe poor families are born into poor families, while rich kids like Paris Hilton are born into wealth. So they support a death tax (estate tax) that currently takes 35% of the total value of all assets over $1 million after death, in 2013 it increases to 55%. Is that fair? They claim the rich are not paying their fair share, yet 47% of the country pays NO federal income tax while the top 1% pays 36% of the total federal income tax, the top 5% pays 59%, and the top 10% pay 70%. Is that fair enough? Progressives want to create fairness through tax law and legislation, but stealing from one person to give to another is not true fairness. And, unlike civil rights, creating economic equality does not raise a person’s status, it only bring down the higher classes to seem more equal overall. The democrats will use this illusion of fairness to help the president because he cannot run on his presidential record.  He will speak in a bumper sticker fashion that will appeal to a majority of the country because a majority of the country is not rich. Class warfare is all he has left, and he is naming the rich as the enemy. Will you be fooled and persuaded to believe that our country is so unfair? I believe most people are smarter than the president thinks. I believe that a majority will side with the Conservative Mindset.

Conservatives believe that we are all created equal with unalienable rights from God, and we have the right to pursue happiness. However, from birth on we must lay in the bed that we make. Now that bed might not be as nice as your friend’s bed to start, but who is really the one to blame for that. This country does not have a fairness problem, it has an accountability problem. Did you take your school work seriously when you were younger, and if not did your parents hound you for it. Accountability starts with the individual, followed by the family, and then if and only if you do not find the problem there can you begin to point fingers to others. You see, we may not all start life in the same class and we will not all end life in the same class. The government should only be concerned with protecting equal rights at birth and making sure it is possible to climb to the highest social status possible. Sure there are instances of unfairness as we climb to the top, but that is life, and if they are unjust or illegal, then we have laws to handle that. It is not fair to get a job or into a school because the government sets quotas to be met based on sex, race or religion. The government cannot manipulate the free market to artificially create fairness because it disincentives hard working honest people, and that’s truly unfair. The government should not pick winners and losers by shaping tax code and creating exemption for companies based on special interests (That goes for both parties). That is unfair. But it is not unfair to be denied a job because you are unqualified, or to receive a salary that doesn’t cover the expenses of your complex family situation, or that you are not given a job right out of college, or that your neighbor has three speed boats and you have none. Figure out how to get three speed boats, and if it is too late for you then make sure you teach your children so they continue your family’s climb to the top. It is not the rich 1% holding the other 99% down. Taxing the rich is nice sound bite, but you cannot get around the fact that you are take from one person to give to another because you think they have "enough" already. The rich do not stuff their money under their mattress, they invest it, that's why they are rich in the first place. Investment is what starts businesses, create jobs, a triggers new innovation. No matter what way you look at it, nobody works for a person poorer than them. Your boss is always richer than you, if he wasn't then he couldn't hire you. So we must have economic hierarchy, and there must be competition to the top.The president wants you to direct your anger at the rich man, I say be angry at yourself for not finding a way to earn the rich man’s job. Be angry at yourself for not taking your teachers serious, and be angry at your family for not pushing you to be better off than them.

It is time to stopping buying into the idea that democrats are here to help and make everything ok. They dangle entitlement checks in front of the vulnerable, not so they build wealth, but to guarantee a vote.  Notice how Obama’s big solution is to tax the rich in order to solve all problems. How much does taxing the rich actually give you? He is not talking about creating wealth for you, he just wants to look like the guy that is there to help you get by. And don’t worry, when that money runs out, as long as you keep voting democrat the checks will keep coming. Welfare, food stamps, and public housing does not create an incentive to climb higher in society because it is too hard to give up free stuff. It creates a mindset of mediocrity and resentment. The idea of free stuff is then what gets past down to the kids along with the idea that the rich man is keeping them there. Kids grow up without seeing what it means to live inside your means and to balance a checkbook. Now this doesn’t apply to allow families on assistance, but more and more kids are being born into this environment of "free stuff". It creates an entitled society that is doomed for failure. The ones that are fooled the most are minorities. Like Herman Cain says, “it’s time for the black community to get off the Democratic Plantation.” And to really throw a wrench into the minority melting pot, Asian-Americans are the greatest minority of all, yet they have the lowest unemployment rate of all. In fact, they have consistently held a lower rate since 2000, and it is currently at 6.5%. I wonder if that has anything to do with their attitude towards education and the opportunities they take advantage of in our country, or their reliance on entitlements? 
It is ironic how liberals are true believers of Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection and Evolution, but they refuse to make the connection between survival of the fittest and our economy. Despite what you have been told, conservatives do not want the poor and minorities to starve on the streets while they regret their mistakes. We just believe that the idea of poor and unfair has been inflated. For instance, you are not poor if you have a car, a cell phone, a computer with internet, and a TV. No matter how lame that cell phone is, or how slow the internet, that does not equal poor and it certainly is not unfair. You shouldn't  request food assistance, renter’s assistance, or utility assistance because it helps offset the prior luxuries mentioned. It seems people these days do not know what it means to be poor. There use to be a time when if you wanted a house you would save up the money, buy some property, and then build your family a house. Now you file paperwork for section eight. Americans are the most generous fair people in the world, but we are getting to a point where we don’t feel like our money is going to those in need. We need to start thinking about who is really being greedy.
In the next eleven months you are going to see democrats pin the lower and middle class against the rich. They will claim the GOP nominee is against the middle class, while they promise to deliver prosperity either through entitlement programs for the poor or public union pensions for the working class. In the end neither promise will ever pay off because they both use money that belongs to other people. Call it Marxism or Socialism it doesn’t matter, the same holds true, eventually you run out of other people’s money. A utopian society cannot be built by redistributing the wealth. Eventually, and a lot sooner than later, our entitlement society will run out of money to support it. When that happens Occupy Wall Street will look like a peace rally compared to what will be in the streets.  Remember this election is crucial and will test what you believe. Until then, be smart and question what you are being told to believe. Make sure you understand what you stand for, and more importantly be knowledgeable about what you stand against. It is easy for sound clips to be played to make conservatives sound harsh and cruel, but remember we want everyone to use their freedom to earn wealth and move their family upward in society, not to be tethered to Uncle Sam’s wallet. Work hard, educate yourself, and be charitable, and if that eventually puts you in place with three speed boats one day, then good for you. That's true fairness. That's the American Dream. 


                                          Milton Friedman: Fairness vs. Freedom



Spread the Conservative Mindset with:

0 comments
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

My Tea Party Response to America



Hello America, we are The Tea Party. While most of you understand who we really are, unfortunately the rest of American has been blindfolded from our true identity. As of now, we have been labeled as the freshman class of Congress that is stubborn in its ways, and will not budge to compromise against our constituents' wishes. We thank you for the compliment. In 2008 Liberal America fooled the rest of the country into electing a president that promised to change how Washington worked, and to drain the swamp in Congress; but unfortunately those were two promises of many that landed far too short. We on the other hand are sticking to our pledge to come to Washington as people who are unfamiliar to politics as usual, and refuse to become part of the problem. We have arrived to tell these career politicians that America has decided that it is time that you run our country from Washington the way we run our families from our kitchen table. The Liberals in Washington, and their media counterparts, are astonished and aggravated by our loyalty; and wonder if we even understand the crisis at hand. In fact, we understand the crisis better than anyone because we have been looking at this problem from the outside for far too long. Republicans were guilty under Bush, and now under Obama the problem has tripled in size. Thanks to the American People, in November they sent us in to do their dirty work. We are the Tea Party and we have arrived to say, Washington you have a spending problem.  

If you listen to what President Obama is actually telling you, then you are to believe that his predecessor is to blame for the deficits, and his own deficits are only a result of trying to fix the destruction that has been caused. He blames Bush for two unfunded wars, but he has changed nothing expect to increase troop levels by 33,000, and get us involved in Libya's civil war. Also, he blames Bush’s unfunded tax cuts for the “rich”, but he has extended them two more years because he said raising taxes in a recession is a bad idea. Finally, he points to Bush’s unfunded Medicare Part D that helps seniors buy their prescription drugs, but he has blown that unfunded plan out of the water with his own Obama-care. We do not point this out to support or defend President Bush, but to show that President Obama talks a good game, but he lacks any real policy ideas that change Washington for the better. President Obama came into office with the idea that he can use his Democratic Super Majority at the time to spend our way out of a recession. This blank check approach is called Keynesian economics, and it has allowed our unemployment rate to go 28% higher than he promised, while putting our country in an additional debt of $4.9 trillion by 2016. President Obama put all his eggs in this basket because spending is all he knows. Well, the basket is about to break and those eggs are about to make a huge mess. On normal terms the President would spend more money we don’t have to try and stimulate the economy, but the Tea Party phenomena has now prevented that. Without this blank check our President is out of ideas. He talks about big cuts, balanced with tax increases on the rich, in exchange for the debt ceiling to be raised. But we know our history, and it tells us that this gimmick results in immediate tax increases, with spending cuts spread over years to come, but they will never come. This "plan" would leave Washington in the same mess with higher taxes and another blank check. Basically, it's a lot of Hope, with no Change. 

Despite what President Obama has said, the crisis we are in is not about raising the debt ceiling. This is just a small bump in the road towards a major debt crisis. If we don’t raise our debt ceiling then we are restricted to the amount of revenue that comes in by taxes, meaning no more borrowing. The problem is our government only has 60 cents of every dollar we spend, and borrows the other 40 cents.  Meaning, our tax revenue will pay for 60% of what we usually spend money on. The fact is, that our country will not default after Aug. 2nd because the cost of our mandatory payments, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, student loans, the troops, and our veterans, plus interest on the debt, can be paid for with this 60%, with a little left over. The problem is we cannot afford the other 40% of our spending, we never could. This number of 40% is a true indicator that our government lives outsides of its means, and that too many people/companies are dependent on Washington. The President knows if the debt ceiling is not raised then he must use his discretion to prioritize the spending, which is way too much responsibility for his level of experience. Instead he tells the country that the vulnerable Medicare recipients, and those mentioned above, will suffer. But really they will only suffer if he puts them at the lower end of his priorities.  He is afraid to set the priorities because of his re-election, and he understands that a citizen dependent on the government is a vote in his column. So he uses scare tactics to get you on his side. He redirects your attention to the wealthy because he claims that they do not pay their fair share. He wants you to believe if they give up their wealth then we can afford the other 40%. With 47% of the country not paying federal income tax, the President is being dishonest to make such a claim regarding fairness. He is desperate to place the fiscal responsibilities of this country in the hands of everyone but himself. His party has not passed a budget for our country since April 2009. In January he issued a debt commission to make decisions for him, and then ignored every recommendation they offered. He proposed a budget that cut government spending by only $400 billion to $1 trillion, while adding $2.7 trillion to the debt over ten years. His budget didn’t receive a single vote from either party, the only recent bipartisan effort. This President is in way over his head, and he lacks any sign of true leadership, but what are we to expect from a President that has no experience that makes him qualified for this job.

Despite a lack of political experience, and having a small caucus of representation in Congress, the Tea Party has influenced the passing of a budget that will solve our debt crisis, and a Cap Cut and Balance bill that will end our debt ceiling debate. We have put true plans in writing that have successfully passed with bipartisan support, and they now sit on the table awaiting Senate and Presidential action. The Tea Party has shown more initiative and leadership than any other political entity in Washington, while staying true to our word at the same time. The President has done nothing but gives speeches, and he refuses to show the People his plan, instead he throws around generic numbers. The Tea Party has a plan, Cut Cap and Balance, that will pay for the mandatory spending with our available revenues, make immediate cuts ($111 billion) to the 2012 deficit, raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion, and cap our overall spending to 19.9% of GDP by 2021. We then want to pass an Amendment to the Constitution that says Washington must pass a balanced budget every year, just like the States and the families across the country. This plan will force Washington to live within its means, eliminate false economic promises, and have an adult conversation about what we are spending money on. Most of all, this plan will put our country back on a path to fiscal responsibility, and will create a sound environment for economic growth. This is a solution, not a deal.

The Tea Party is not extreme, we are being honest with Americans by talking to them like adults in the sense that we can no longer afford everything we claim to be able to provide. It is true what they say. We do not want to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, only because we do not want to raise taxes for any Americans. That includes millionaires, billionaires, middle class, small businesses, and even the 47% of Americans that pay ZERO federal income taxes. We say if you want to cut loopholes for wealthy Americans and take more of their earnings, then let’s have a true balanced approach and cut loopholes that allow welfare recipients to use other people's earnings to buy prime rib and crab legs, things that most middle class Americans can't afford. In the past, America has put in place a welfare society with the notion that since we are the wealthiest country on the planet, we can afford to help our citizens in unfortunate situations. This has grown from a sincere idea, to a way of life that America can no longer afford. We must reanalyze who is truly incapable and in dire need. We must restructure our safety nets so they are no longer collapsing the poles that hold them up. Many have painted a picture that shows the Tea Party as mean spirited and destructive, but the only destruction that will occur is an economic collapse due to our debt. When this happens we all will be entangled in a safety net being propped up by foreign countries. 

We understand that this debt ceiling crisis puts Obama’s future at risk, but our national debt crisis puts the American people’s future at risk. We are tired of hearing promises from the President’s pulpit that hides their spending addiction, and allows it to resurface down the road. That road is running out, and the future generations that will suffer have arrived. We the Tea Party will continue to stand strong and hold our principles up with pride because they are principles that benefit us all. No longer will we allow the poor, elderly, teachers, police, and firefighters to be used as props to scare people from taking action. We have plans to protect all of these services, and we are prepared to take our case to the American people. We are prepared to lead with honesty regarding our nation’s situation, and return the voice of government to its true owner, the People. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis.” We understand that the attacks against us are desperate acts to keep the people from seeing the truth about what we really represent. We understand our message threatens a certain agenda to grow government in exchange for power, so our views will be distorted and exaggerated by our opponents. However, we know our message will always prevail because Liberty and Freedom are addictive, not because they are new ideas to the ear, but because they are instilled in us the moment we take our first breath.

Recently, President Obama ironically quoted a champion of our principles, Ronald Reagan. He did this to make the Tea Party seem extreme and radical, so I too shall share with you an ironic quote:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
-Senator Barack Obama, 2006, when he voted against raising the debt ceiling-
Remember, it is not enough to read something that shares your views while you nod your head in agreement. You must be proud of your principles and learn to speak out in a civil and respectable manner. Liberals are always quick to make their political comments because they believe their views are in the majority, but really it is your silence that makes you feel in the minority. If you begin sharing your principles to family and friends, you will be amazed by the number of people already in your corner. You can start now by sharing this Tea Party Response to America with the people that need it the most, not necessarily with the people that agree the most. Everyday your principles are being defined for you and distorted beyond recognition, and if you choose to remain silent then one day you will find your principles truly are in the minority. 


Spread the Conservative Mindset with:

1 comments
Labels:

Monday, July 18, 2011

Entitled to Happiness???



 
What are we to expect from a country that is so dependent on the government and a generation that no longer knows personal responsibility and individual achievement through hard work and dedication. A society that expects hand outs because they are "entitled" to them. We have developed a complex that permits government to take from us, and then redistribute it back to who it deems eligible. It occurs in every aspect of society. These people sprinting for money could easily be superintendents running for grant money from the Department of Education or farmers running for subsidies from the Department of Agriculture. It is hard for people to turn away handouts because everyone is struggling for more of something in their own way. However, we are approaching a tipping point in America where the people who are receiving the handouts hold the majority compared to the people contributing. Right now, 47% of Americans pay ZERO federal income taxes. Sooner or later a big enough majority of this country will be so dependent on the government to survive that we will not be able to sustain these promised entitlements. We will keep redistributing the wealth from the wealthy to the poor, trying to create an equal living status based on Marxist and Socialist principles, until, as Margret Thatcher once said " ...eventually you run out of other people's money."

This is not a radical right-wing Tea Party principle, this is an American principle. If you work hard and earn a dollar, then you deserve to keep as much of that dollar as possible. It is your freedom to spend it where you deem fit. We all agree that taxes are necessary to pay for our protection, our roads, bridges, etc. , but there is a line that should not be crossed. The Progressive idea that we as citizens have a RIGHT to a home, a job, a car, healthcare, and happiness is completely flawed. This is the biggest assault on our country's liberties. Our Constitution and Declaration of Independence give us only the RIGHT to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our Founding Fathers promised us that our government would not interfere with our NATURAL UNALIENABLE RIGHTS from GOD. We are only guaranteed an equal playing field in which to start our life, and it is the government's job to ensure that to us. It is not the government's job to make us finish our lives as equals. We need to be held accountable for our own personal decisions in life. We need to be allowed to fail as individuals and as businesses to fairly be able to succeed. This "Great Society" that promises false liberties and a "Second Bill of Rights" does nothing but take rights from one citizen and hand it to another. A government powerful enough to create rights is also powerful enough to take them away. We must understand that the larger the government becomes, the more money it will dangle in front of all of us, and of course that money is attached to strings. Once that money is put in your pocket that string becomes attached to you, connecting you to regulations and stipulations from the government. When the money runs out there will be more, you may need to vote a certain way to ensure it, but in some way or another the money will be there. This process will repeat until one day you are so dependent on that money that you don't know any other way, and you too will find yourself sprinting in a stampede to get your money. When presented, this way of life is hard to avoid, and when accepted it is even harder to remove. Obama-care is the best example of this government power grab in today's generation. It was presented as a way to fulfill everybody's RIGHT to healthcare, but over time government will over reach it's hand. It will destroy the private healthcare system, and we all will be left racing to get whatever is being handed out by our single payer government healthcare system. This country has progressed to a point where the idea of a safety net for our country's needy has done nothing but lulled people to sleep. It has stolen the will from a class of people who have the ability to achieve their goals but only needed a small helping hand in order to do so. When they were looking for help they received a politician with money in one hand, while looking for a vote with the other. When looking for help they were given a mediocre way of life in exchange for their American Dream. When looking for help they looked to the government, when instead they should have looked to their family, their neighbor, their church, or their community. It is time we replace the safety net that is destroying our country, and replace it with a trampoline that will break our fall and bounce us back to our feet. 

This Conservative Mindset was championed by The Great Communicator himself, Ronald Reagan. Hear what he had to say about Socialism, Redistribution of wealth, and the American Dream.

Spread the Conservative Mindset with:

0 comments
Labels: , ,

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Truth About Grandma's Future



Medicare is an entitlement program signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson as an amendment to the original Social Security Act. President Kennedy said “such a program was chiefly needed to protect, not the poor, but people who had worked for years and suddenly found all their savings gone because of a costly health problem.”  It was sold to the public as a policy that everyone pays into throughout their working life in order to receive medical insurance once they retire (age 65) and health issues are likely to become more prudent. On the surface it sounds like a just cause, especially since we will ALL be in that situation one day. It is actually one of the few government programs whose existence is agreed upon by both parties. However, there is also another aspect of it that is agreed upon. Once you peel back the cover you discover that it is yet another inefficient bloated government program that has outgrown its financial stability and is heading towards bankruptcy. Medicare started as a single program, but like most government programs, the original was just a foot in the door. Currently there now exists Medicare Parts A,B,C, and D. Currently Medicare costs are rising at a rate of 7.2% every year, which is twice the rate of our economy’s growth.  If a trailing car is traveling at twice the speed of the car in front of it, then it will eventually pass that car up. The same holds true regarding the rate of costs. Continuing on the same path will result in Medicare costing more than our economy can pay for. As reported by The Wallstreet Journal, and many other news outlets, the hospital services covered by Medicare Part A will be DEPLETED in 2017. That is two years sooner than what was predicted last year. In fact, last year was the first year that Medicare paid out more in benefits than the payroll taxes of The United States citizens brought in. This will only get worse. Once the baby-boomer generation retires, the system will become flooded with roughly 70 million new consumers. As reported by the Heritage Foundation, in 2035 Medicare is predicted to see a 90% increase in cost. There is no way around this crisis, and in order to SAVE this program a major reform is needed.

There have been several actions taken recently that have affected Medicare. The first being President Obama's reduction in payroll taxes as a direct result from the recession. This was good for the economy because it kept money in everyone’s pocket, but it took funding away from Medicare. Since Medicare is an entitlement program it’s considered to be on autopilot when it comes to funding it in the budget. Meaning this program is one of the first programs that is funded and Congress cannot touch it unless new legislation is enacted. So once the payroll tax cuts took funding away, the government was forced to find revenues else where, meaning they borrow it, which plays back into the debt ceiling debate.

Secondly, under law the Medicare Trustees must issue a Medicare funding report every year to make sure Medicare can pay for at least 45% of total costs. This low threshold was passed this year, and by law the President must act to fix it. So far nothing. Why? Well, because usually the answer would be to borrow more money, but now with the debt ceiling crisis he does not have that option. Also, this law has a trigger that is built in to help improve funding. It doesn’t raise taxes, but it does decrease the cost of Medicare. How? It decreases the percentage of the fee that doctors are reimbursed for their services. According to the American Medical Association (AMA) the Medicare Trustees have enacted a 30% (some claim a 21%) decrease in what doctors will get reimbursed for the services they give to their Medicare patients in 2012. See the way Medicare works is the government sets a percentage of the total cost it will reimburse to the doctors, and the doctors will absorb the rest. Since the government has no economic sense or market value cues it does not see or understand the cause and effect, but the doctors and patients will feel every bit of it. One result of this is that doctors raise their prices above their true overhead cost for ALL patients to make up for it. This doesn’t directly hurt the patient since they are not paying for it directly. No harm, no foul. However, the cost of Medicare and healthcare for everyone increases. The other option for the doctor is that they stop seeing Medicare patients all together. This is not good for grandma, but eventually a doctor can only take so much financial loss to keep their practice in business.

Thirdly, with the passage of Obama-care, funding was stripped again. In order to pay for this new massive entitlement program, they assume that $500 billion in “waste” will be taken from Medicare to pay for it. Since this funding source was sold as "waste", realistically it should not affect the quality of Medicare benefits. Who gets to decide what is waste though?  In enters the death-panels. Ok, maybe "death panels" are an exaggeration, but it gets the people’s attention, and it really isn’t off by that much. Obama-care gives an enormous amount of power to the Health and Human Service Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. You don’t remember electing her? Oh wait, that would be because she is appointed. She not only gets to decide which insurance companies are deemed fit under Obama-care and which policies are appropriate, but she and her cost-cutting panel, the Independent Patient Advisory Board (IPAB), will decide which services and medications should be cut (rationed) to keep cost low. This panel is not voted on by you and it is not even approved by Congress, meaning they cannot be held accountable. Now that is one huge,size 15 government foot in the door of your examination room. The IPAB is put in place as a trojan horse that Obama will point to one day, once Obama-care is failing, to act as a bipartisan and independent board that will recommend moving away from private insurance options and to a single payer system.

So as of now we have a huge Medicare system that is quickly approaching bankruptcy, a government that controls the prices that doctors receive, a freely appointed advisory board that will “recommend” “cost-cutting” measures, a President that has no plan but to create a new healthcare entitlement that will include the remaining people who weren't already relying on a government program, and you have NO CHOICE but to shut up and take what the doctor orders once you're over 65. And they call you crazy to make a connection to Socialism? Come on, now let’s see what a Conservative is all about.

My man is Rep. Paul Ryan. I have been a fan of his for awhile now, and with his new PLAN to fix our debt crisis, I commend him even more. Unlike President Obama, or any other Liberal Democrat, Ryan has put together a bold idea to change Medicare (and all other entitlements) as we know it. Be prepared though, as with any other Conservative mind, the Left needs to scare you in order for you to ignore him, write him off, and be embarrassed to support him. There is one problem, Ryan is too smart for anyone to actually sit down with him and contest him on his plan. He knows his economics, he’s the new chairman of the House budget committee, and he has a Path to Prosperity for America. His plan covers all budget problems, but let’s focus simply on Medicare. You are being told that Ryan wants to kill Medicare and “throw grandma off a cliff”, but once you get past the commercials and attack adds you will see that he wants to SAVE Medicare for our seniors and divert everyone else to a better option.

His plan, The Path to Prosperity, calls for any savings found in Medicare to go to keeping the promises to the current Medicare benefits for seniors, and those who will be seniors in the next 10 years (55 or older). For anyone right now that is 55 or older, they will not see any change to their current Medicare plan. It also does away with the IPAB cost-cutting board.

 It also reforms the payout on lawsuits against doctors and hospitals. This is called tort-reform. Most people don’t realize how much doctors pay every year just for a policy to protect them against frivolous lawsuits. This will not prevent patients from suing or getting a fair compensation, but will index it to the patient’s needs and not the lawyer who is trying to get rich off of them. This is a huge factor in healthcare cost at all levels, and it is the reason why doctors send you to get every test under the sun even if you had it done by another doctor already. They need to cover their ass from being sued for another doctor’s misread test. It will also reformulate the way doctors are compensated for seeing Medicare patients, and will provide incentives if they increase quality and efficiency.

For those now under 55 or starting in 2022, Medicare recipients will be given the option of CHOOSING their own medical policy from a list just like members of Congress. No longer will there be a one size fits all approach to medical coverage. Providers will not be allowed to pick and choose who they accept depending on their needs. If they want to compete for new enrollees, then they need to put together a plan that attracts them, meaning quality benefits and low prices. That is how the free market works. No longer will doctors receive a fee-for-service from the government. The policy premiums will be paid with help from the government by using a premium-support model. Basically, each enrollee would receive a premium contribution equal to the average premium of Medicare recipients. This contribution would increase as consumer prices increase, and as the recipient’s age increases.  The contribution will also increase if a recipient has a more specific greater medical need, or is more economically burdened.  The bottom 92% of earners receiving Medicare will receive 100% of the compensation, with low-income recipients receiving an extra $7,800. The top 2% will receive 30% of the compensation, and the top 6% will receive 50%.  This is similar to the system setup for Medicare Advantage (Part C) and Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D). And just to be fair, those 55 and older may opt out of the old Medicare program and join the new one. Choice, what a great idea.

Rep. Paul Ryan explains his plan for Medicare:


Don't bother looking for a plan from the Democrats, it doesn't exist. Their only plan is to resort to the Liberal media, Liberal talking points, and Liberal attack strategies to convince you that the man you just listened to above wants to kill old people. Do not be fooled, and do not allow Liberals to convince you that Medicare as we know it is just fine, and then kick the can down the road. Lying to our seniors about the solvency of their future medical benefits to avoid political damage is the crime of our century. 



Spread the Conservative Mindset with:

0 comments
Labels: , ,

Friday, July 8, 2011

A True Man-made Disaster



     For those of you who have a charge card understand that your card has a credit limit in which you cannot go over. Once you reach that limit you need to either  pay the balance down, or you borrow money (open up another charge card) to pay for your already borrowed money. When it comes to our country the same scenario applies, but only on a much larger scale.  Our credit limit is called our debt ceiling which is put in place by Congress to control spending, and since 1962 the debt ceiling has been raised 72 times! Therefore instead of paying off the debt that has been piled up, Congress votes to increase it. TADA!! More “money” to spend! This reckless behavior would not work in your home or personal budget, so why do we allow it by our government? Maybe you have tried it before, but imagine opening another credit card every time you needed to pay another off. You might convince yourself that you will actually use the new card responsibly, but chances are your spending habits will not change with the occurrence of the new spending abilities…it turns into quicksand. Sooner or later you are buried in debt and your credit is shot. However, there is one big difference. Your credit card spending and bills are your responsibility and primarily affect you. Congress acts as if the money they spend belongs to them, but in fact it is your money, and more importantly, your debt. People don’t understand that our nation’s public debt is $14.358 TRILLION and that breaks down to $176,283 per citizen. Yes, you are responsible for this debt whether you spent it or not. The problem is that we cannot keep this behavior up. Both Republicans and Democrats have spent us into a debt crisis. The debt ceiling was reached in May, and we have until August 2 to make a decision on our next step. If we do not make appropriate actions then we could default on our loans, which would increase our interest rates and snowball us into an economic catastrophe. Do we raise the debt ceiling or do we keep it where it is and make the appropriate changes to our spending? This is to question that is haunting our country right now. We have Obama’s Administration teamed up with the Liberal members of Congress fighting the Republicans in Congress who are teamed up with the freshman Tea Party Conservatives. What are the two sides, and which do you really favor?
        Liberals, and some Republicans, are usually the ones that are quick to spend money that they don’t have, but they understand the country is fed up with the reckless spending. Believe me though, if the Tea Party did not send a message this past November, then it is likely we would have raised the debt ceiling 3 months ago and would have already spent well past it. So now the argument is where do we cut spending and how do we manage the revenue coming in? The basic two sided compromise is Conservatives want massive spending cuts to be on the table, and Liberals want to raise revenue.
       Liberals feel that if you raise the revenues that come in, then you have more money to pay down the debt. Now if you applied that to your household or personal budget you would raise revenues by picking up another job. Congress on the other hand, takes more money off of its citizens with taxes. So let’s be clear, Liberals on TV or in Congress will talk about raising revenues, but understand that means increasing taxes. Listen and watch carefully how they will proudly support increasing revenues. Do you feel that more money should come out of your paycheck to pay the debt Congress accrued? In fact, do you actually think the money they get from higher taxes will go to paying down the debt? Now that President Obama has finally jumped into the decision making, you would think that a great leader that once prided himself on being a President that would bring the country together would lead and mediate this crisis. HELL NO! The President put on an embarrassing press conference where he not only attacked Republicans, but started a class warfare by going after the "evil rich.”  I guess Barack the campaigner is back. Their strategy is to convince you that we are in debt because “rich” people in America are not paying their fair share. Oil companies are not paying taxes because of loopholes while receiving subsidies, tax breaks are increasing the deficit, and they even singled out people that ride private jets. These are typical Liberal talking points. Will you allow Liberals to divert your concerns about our debt away from Congress and onto a certain class of society? Are the rich the problem? Should we target their wealth to increase revenue? I ask you to think about these questions and put them up against the Conservative mindset. Do the answers you’re told to believe match up to your morals and to the principles of our country? What do you really believe?
      Allow me to give my opinion of the Conservative mindset regarding the issue of our debt and Obama’s class warfare. First, a conservative believes that we do not have a revenue crisis, rather we have a spending crisis. The U.S. Treasury brings in approximately $2.5 trillion dollars a year. Our interest payments are $254 billion, that is plenty of money to pay our current interest payments on the debt, therefore there is no need to default on our loans  if we do not raise the debt ceiling. We need to reprioritize our spending to become more efficient and re-examine what we should be spending money on (which is a debate for another blog post). Also, our economy is struggling because investors aren't confident that the U.S. is not heading in the same direction as Greece and other European countries. Spending from both parties is increasing our debt to a higher percentage of our GDP (market value of all goods created in our country). So if we eventually owe more money than we create, then we collapse like Greece.  Raising the debt ceiling allows us to get closer to that scenario. We should stop that possibility now and ensure our nation’s economic outlook or else our economy will never succeed like it has in the past.
      Taxes. More taxes on any economic class is never the answer. A huge Liberal idea is that tax breaks increase the deficit. That is why they claim the “Bush tax breaks for the rich” caused our current deficit. In a way this is true, only because Liberals think that if they lose revenue coming in, then they have to borrow money to make up for. If Congress would live within its means, the way a common household is expected to do, then they would not spend it if they didn’t have it. Conservatives believe that cutting taxes will spur businesses to invest their kept income, hire new people, and in result trigger economic growth. That is why deficit reduction is two-fold; you have to cut spending when you cut taxes, something Reagan even failed to do. I’m really lost for words when Liberals even think higher taxes will improve the economy, even if you limit it to only the “rich”. I have been putting rich in quotations because Obama and Liberals label the rich as anyone making more than $250,000 a year.  That might sound like a lot, but the problem is that that tax bracket includes many people that work extremely hard for their money, so why single them out even more than our tax laws already do. The fact that they went to college and earned a degree which allows them to make a great living should be rewarded and incentivized, not punished and stolen away for those who chose otherwise. Also, that tax bracket includes small businesses. Small businesses are the foundation of our economy. The Office of Advocacy funded data and research showing that small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all firms, they create more than half of the private non-farm gross domestic product, and they create 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs. If we tax them more, especially now when we are begging for them to employ more people, it will have the reverse effect and unemployment will essentially increase.  As for the evil rich private jet owners, the same principle applies. Ask yourself, how many poor people have signed your paycheck? Also, the corporate rich are the ones that take risks to invest in new businesses and create new markets. The private jets, yachts, fancy restaurants and hotels that we are told to despise the rich for, are all built and serviced by middle class workers. I’m sure they are thankful for the use of their services and products. Attacking the rich for this lifestyle punishes the very class of people that are being told to do the attacking.  If we gave into Liberals and taxed all 403 billionaires in the US at a 100% tax rate we would get an additional $1.3 Trillion in revenues. This would not be enough to pay this year’s deficit. This is obviously not the solution to our problem. It is just a side show that our inexperienced leaderless President puts on to avoid making real decisions. The liberal mindset of class warfare to chop down the upper class to make us all equal equates to the mindset of Marxism. 
            Big Oil, oh that evil and dirty Big Oil. Why the attack on oil? Probably the easiest answer yet. Liberals know that our US economy is driven by the use of oil, but they think oil has had it too easy and is making too much of a profit. How many times have you heard Exxon Mobile’s yearly earnings reported and then followed up with a reason to increase the taxes on them because they can afford it.  Liberals want you to hate their large profits. They want you to despise the fact that they have profits in the billions while you pay outrageous prices at the pumps, and they are subsidized! Do not fall into that trap! First off, oil companies get ABSOLUTELY ZERO subsidies. They get tax breaks, and there is a difference. A subsidy means that money is actually given to them out of the US Treasury. Oil companies get a tax break which means they get to keep more of their own earned money when they file taxes. The reason for this tax break is because all businesses and manufactures get the same tax breaks. Money spent on finances for the business or manufacturing costs can be “written off”. Oil companies just spend a lot of money to produce their product. In fact, after research and development, drilling for oil, refining the oil, transporting the oil (sometimes across the world), they still are able to get you a gallon of gas on average for $3.58. But a gallon of milk from our own country on average is $3.50. But you are told to hate Big Oil. The “loopholes” for oil companies that Obama and Liberals want to do away with would bring in an additional $4 billion in revenue, that is 0.028% of our national debt. Again this is not the answer to our problem, just another bone thrown to liberals for the upcoming election. If you want to be mad at anything regarding oil be mad that we rely of foreign oil that harbors terrorists and set the prices, instead of drilling for our own in our own country. Be mad that gas was $1.84 last January and now it’s $3.60. Be mad that the Brazilian oil company Petrabras got a true subsidy of $2 billion dollars from the US.
            Liberals hate oil because of profits and the idea of global warming (again a debate for another post). Despite both of those reasons, we cannot allow our government to pick and choose winners and losers. That is not a true free market. Many Liberals hate capitalism because of the crookedness and cheating, well that kind of capitalism is not wanted by Conservatives either. The more government involvement and regulations that are enforced upon the market, the more corruption exists (i.e. Prohibition). We want a free market where businesses win and lose on their own. Do you agree that the government can pick oil companies to be excluded from tax breaks while all other businesses continue to receive them? Especially when you take money from oil companies and give it to a competing industry that Liberals love such as renewable green energy. It is simply Socialism for the government to dictate which companies will succeed and which ones will fail. It is Socialism to redistribute the wealth and profits of one company to another company through taxes. If this is allowed, then which company is next? Should we take from Ford to help out GM? Should we punish the hotels to help out the cruise lines? Should we tax comedies to help promote dramas? Should we take from the private sector workers to pay for the public sector worker’s benefits and pensions? Who makes these decisions and for what reasons? The Conservative Mindset says the consumers decide who succeeds and who fails in the free market. Socialism gives that privilege to your government, and if history tells us anything, that can be a very slippery slope.

            The debt ceiling crisis should be taken very serious, but for our President to use it to demagogue his opposing party because of his upcoming election is pathetic. We need someone with the courage to put together a budget and plan that confronts the problems at hand, not divert them into class warfare for their own political gains. This compromise of cutting spending and raising taxes is nothing new. When the deal goes through they will claim a bipartisan effort with "X" amount of dollars of spending cuts for every "Y" amount of new or raised taxes, but if we learned anything from Reagan and Bush Sr., the taxes will go through but the spending cuts will get lost in the rhetoric. We need someone to force Congress to stop its reckless spending by holding the debt ceiling in place. We as Conservatives say tax us fairly and then spend our money responsibly.



***Reminder***
Don't forget to use the share buttons below! And don't forget to sign up for automatic updates through Facebook, Twitter, or Email using the buttons at the top right of the website. If you choose to use email, remember you have to activate your subscription through the confirmation email you will receive from feedburner. If you choose Facebook, just Like the page you are redirected to.        

Spread the Conservative Mindset with:

0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Monday, June 27, 2011

...one Nation under God...


     Think back to your earliest memories in grade school, most likely you can recall standing up every morning as a class, placing your hand over your heart, and saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  In grade school it seemed like the Pledge of Allegiance was something to be honored and cherished. Maybe because we were young, but even so, it felt like a national tradition that our inexperienced lives just weren’t able to understand yet. Who would’ve guessed that by the time we reached high school it would be nothing more than a voice through a loud speaker. There was no longer any Allegiance; it was just a Pledge that maybe half the class stood up for, with only a few students brave enough to still place their hand over their heart. It seems like as we progress through our years of schooling and into our adult lives, we are no longer reinforced to believe in this tradition. In fact, if you understand the history of the Pledge you know it is not exactly an American tradition like we were always led to believe. You could argue about how and why the words in the Pledge of Allegiance have changed over time, how it didn’t start out as a Pledge to America, why God didn’t make an appearance until 1954, and about the Supreme Court ruling that it is unconstitutional to make it mandatory to recite; but you cannot argue that it has become an American legacy that a vast majority in this country cherish and still believe in. Maybe the Pledge of Allegiance did not start out with the intentions to be used like it is used today, but looking at each word in present time I think you can say our country used it properly as a guiding motto to live up to. However, not everyone feels comfortable agreeing with that, do you? Is the Pledge of Allegiance even appropriate? Should we take it away all together or at least remove those “highly controversial” words of one nation under God? If you are laughing at those questions stop, because there many people out there that would answer differently than you.  
                Last Sunday NBC took a risk and decided to test the waters to see if the Liberal idea, that God is a thing of the past, is beginning to take hold. If this video fires you up, then good for you (don’t forget to ‘Like/Share’ at the bottom). If this video doesn’t do it for you, then I better go on.  To “liberals” that are open to seeing the other side, you must understand that there is an agenda set on the left that isn’t being honest with you. While you may think it is all about tolerance and compassion, there is an attempt to gradually change this country fundamentally by progressing our society forward. Progressives will try to fool you into thinking that they want to progress your lifestyle forward with electric cars, high speed trains, and renewable green energy.  Sounds great to me! But what they've failed to mention is that their true agenda cannot be fulfilled until they convince this country that the Constitution is a living document that has progressed and outgrown the time period in which it was written. They believe that those old white men wrote a document that was not prepared to handle modern ideas like Wall Street, "too big to fail" banks, same sex marriage, race-equality, Scientology, and Facebook. They believe that the Constitution is irrelevant and that we need a big government to handle and regulate all of these new ideas, not an old piece of paper. This does not apply to just the Constitution, but to any patriotic symbol that reminds us of how our country was created, including the Pledge of Allegiance. So let’s be clear, NBC did not make a mistake when they cut out one nation under God and it was not a coincident that it was a classroom of small children who were saying it, they just over estimated the progress Liberals have made. Now I can't fixate all the blame towards NBC because this attack on God and our founding principles is everywhere. Just this month, a San Antonio judge banned a valedictorian from leading her graduation ceremony in prayer, a principle in Vermont made their valedictorian cut out the part in his speech where he thanked God for influencing his life, and a group of atheists in NY are trying to get a newly named street changed because it mentions the word Heaven (7 in Heaven Way runs in front of a fire station and is dedicated to seven firefighters that died on 9/11).  Those are just three examples from the past 2 weeks, and believe me there more to come with the GOP Presidential Primaries getting started. Most of the Conservative candidates are priding themselves on their faith, and certain media outlets are licking their chocks waiting to attack. The Rolling Stone magazine is already at it with their portrayal of Michele Bachman as “a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of divine visions and paranoid delusions…batshit crazy…rare breed of political psychopath, equal parts crazed Divine Wind kamikaze-for-Jesus and calculating, six-faced Machiavellian prevaricator.”  It will only get worse.                                                
      I write this because I don’t believe that half the people that identify themselves as Liberal would agree with this. In fact, they might not even believe me that liberals are the ones that are against God. After all, liberals are supposed be the compassionate ones with toleration for all views. Actually, they will even try to convince you that they are upholding the Constitution because we are suppose to have a separation from church and state, and for way too long the state has been supporting one religion. It’s a complete distortion. It’s important that Liberals understand what an extreme wing of their ideology is up to. It’s also important to understand that when liberals strive for toleration and equality for most views, their strategy is to cut down the majority to even out the scales rather than holding up the minority. This is showcased the most with religion.
       I believe that if you had to choose, that you would choose the Conservative mindset. We view this country as being founded on the single understanding that God gives us our freedom, not any man, or government. Without that acknowledgement, there is no America. We were created equal because God made us equal, not because a government law makes us equal. It is important that we acknowledge the importance of God as our foundation because that is what makes us such a unique country with more freedom than ever imagined. In 1942, one year before the Supreme Court made its ruling; Congress passed legislation, under President Eisenhower, to add the words one nation under God in order to strengthen our founding principles. Many will argue that this was a case of McCarthyism (a pledge against a Communist takeover in America), and there may be some truth behind that, but was that wrong? Eisenhower was inspired by a Reverend who said, “apart from the mention of the phrase 'the United States of America,' it could be the pledge of any republic. In fact, I could hear little Muscovites repeat a similar pledge to their hammer-and-sickle flag in Moscow.” This is true; the Pledge needed something that made it unique to America, something that if the name of the country was interchanged it would not carry the same meaning. Our country’s tie to God was, and is, the most unique thing in the world. President Eisenhower said, “in this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war.”
                Also, don’t be tricked into believing that our Constitution says that there is a separation between church and state, because it is not in there. The first amendment states that no law shall establish a religion.  The words separation between church and state appear in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists where he writes “...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State." The wall between the two is not there to protect government from religious persuasion, but to protect religion from the government. Meaning a judge should not be able to tell someone that they cannot mention God at a public graduation, or be written in a personal speech to express their gratitude, or even be displayed on a street sign outside of a firehouse to avoid offending someone. This country was established by people from a melting pot of different backgrounds, and none of us are close to being equal when measured by any test or compared to any social norm. However, since we were created by God, and our country was established in a result of the freedoms given to us from God, we all have the opportunity to reach an equal place in life. There are many instances throughout our country where equal opportunity was not always recognized and granted, and many are quick to point those out to Conservatives, but we must respect the changes that were made, that they were allowed to be made, and most importantly how they were made. Yes laws were drafted to create equalities, but it is our freedom from God that permits us to grow and mature as a nation, and at our own pace, to become a more perfect union. It is important to point out that the laws that give us equality were mostly created because the People saw an injustice and acted, and it is God that gives up the ability to see those injustices and the courage to act. So I leave you with this, only in America do protests create laws, but we must resist becoming a country where laws create protests.

Spread the Conservative Mindset with:

2 comments
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)