April 29, 2011

Solutions: Education

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every American citizen understands the importance of education. That is not to say that we all agree on the type of education that should be promoted, i.e. college preparation versus the 'Three R's' approach and even vocational training. I propose that all are important at some level. But then I shouldn't have a say in the child being educated in Chicago for instance. That is for the community to decide. They may feel that vocational skills which can be useful in preparing for manufacturing jobs or small business management would be beneficial to the majority of their kids. And likewise, it is not for them to tell folks in rural midwest towns how they should educate their children. They may feel that Agricultural programs are the most beneficial. One community might find the team skills, discipline and competitive spirit of sports programs worthy skills for children to learn, while others may feel that's a waste of time and strict academic regimens are necessary to prepare for the professional degrees available. While still others may determine that all of this is good and should be available at some level. But what level? Who should decide? The community? Or, a bureaucrat in an office in Washington D.C. sipping latte and reading statistical charts? Reasonable people understand that local communities are the best equipped to decide what is best for their children.

Does that mean that the federal government has no role whatsoever in education? Well, yea. That's exactly what it means. You see my fellow Americans there is nothing written in the U.S. Constitution which gives the federal government any power at all to manipulate education. In fact a 1973 SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) ruling verified that there is no federal constitutional right to education (pg 2- 1. b). This was left to the States. Once again, the Founding Fathers were very deliberative in the powers given to central government. They understood that something as vital as education could not possibly be trusted to corrupt politicians who have no qualms about using our childrens future as a tool for their own personal wealth and power, witness teacher unions and their donations to the democrat party. It is the responsibility of the states to educate their people.

Okay, so now we know that the Department of Education is entirely unconstitutional. What now? Well, you should insist that every politician who wants your vote should vow to abolish the D of E. If they don't do so, vote them out in the next primary. Again and again. You see, this Liberty stuff is hard! We have to be vigilant and tenacious. You cannot ever give in...the socialists never do. They are like a virus constantly mutating to defeat the immunity system of our nation. They have become airborne folks via the education system and if we do not innoculate our children with the antibodies of the truth of our founding and the importance of Liberty and Free Market Capitalism, this nation will fall; make no mistake about it.

Now, what type of education should we demand for our children? I submit that the best education is one in which our children are not taught 'what to think' but are taught 'how to think'. Any testing should not be based on certain information found in textbooks, it should be based on the idea that given a certain set of facts, what conclusion can be reached? Scientific theory of experimentation should be rigorously used to show how anyone can gather facts and experiment with unknowns and come to a logical conclusion based upon what is known. We should teach our nations history and the liberation of understanding that Rights come from God or the enslavement of believing they are gifts from Man. We should be teaching kids to question the facts and force proof of same. Above all, teach them to accept facts once proven regardless of personal wants or opinions. These principles and techniques allow us to filter the world around us through a prism of logic where reason and truth shines. In this way, when some idiot 9/11 truther says that steel doesn't melt in fire, a reasonable educated kid will immediately recognize that melting steel is exactly how it's made. Furthermore, said child will understand that steel doesn't have to completely melt to undermine structural integrity. Why they might even understand that the structure of the World Trade Center was unlike any other at the time and had an 'exoskeleton' design whereby except for the stair core, there were no columns but those at the perimeter of the building in the form of the unique frame which gave the building it's window shapes and distinctive look. A child so educated might understand that the federal government is abrogating it's duty under the Constitution to protect a state against invasion if asked to do so by the Governor of said state under Article VI section 4. And therefore, when Arizona passes a law to protect itself from said invasion, our children might not be inspired by communist teachers to go out and protest against the protectors of American rights and might instead go out and protest against a federal government which does not live up to it's constitutional mandate. But I dream do I not? Heh heh. We can't have an educated populace like that now can we? Can we? I mean come on, how would a democrat ever get elected in that type of intellectually prejudiced environment?

by: Keith D. Rodebush

further reading: Constitutional Requirements Governing American Education - Federal Constitutional Requirements, State Constitutional Issues, Conclusion

April 18, 2011

Solutions: Taxes


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello all. We are going to embark on a series of articles here to try and bring the scope of problems facing America today into perspective. This is an open ended series which I don't expect to go beyond five articles.

The politicos of our day would have you believe that our problems are so deep and convoluted that it is nigh impossible for mortal Man to figure them out. This is lie number one always extant in modern political discourse. The purpose of said lie is to convince you the 'customer' that the politicians 'job' is so hard and complicated that you have no idea the extent to which their brilliance and intellect is challenged daily just to keep the wheels from falling off of this magnanimous and ever difficult thing we call government. The truth of course is that any God-fearing person with a basic understanding of our founding and an eighth grade reading level can discern the Constitutional mandates for federal government. In fact, most politicians are at best petty crooks and at worst radical idealogues that threaten our entire system. The second reason for the lie is to explain why nothing ever really gets done to change any of it. We will dispell that myth in the course of these next few blog posts, you and I. I doing basic research, applying common sense and principles of Liberty; You, reading, researching, confirming and finally agreeing with passion that if not exactly my conclusion; a simple conclusion can be had to every one of these issues so daunting to the supposed 'smartest guys in the room' today. The first article I submit to you is on Taxes. The ruse our politicians enslave us with is that this is a very complex issue requiring thousands of pages of federal regulations, an entire arm of government instilled with the power of confiscation of property, threat to citizens Liberty and even imprisonment or death if you dare to dispute their power over you and your finances. I submit to you, my fellow Americans, that it is not nearly that complicated.

TAXES:

The powers that be would have you believe that it's just impossible for the government to live on the tax receipts from hard working Americans income. Now commonplace in every legislative cycle is an attempt to extract more and more of Americans hard earned dollars to feed the veracious appetite of an all encompassing totalitarian government. To be sure, to try and deconstruct this Communist Goliath of socialist structure will not be easy. What I propose here is simply an intellectual exercise to prove beyond any doubt that major changes can be made, with dramatic positive consequences. All that is required is the will and fortitude to weather the maelstrom of negativity that will befall the unfortunate politician who dares to truly care about his country, his progeny, the Constitution, Freedom and his constituents.

The total income for the United States of America according to the presidents recent budget is approximately $13 trillion dollars (13,000,000,000,000.00). This number is low because the very tyrannical nature of today's government entices otherwise good Americans to hide cash transactions, perform accounting tricks and otherwise attempt to diminish the confiscation of personal property in modern day America. Now let us suppose that we levied a simple percentage tax on this amount. No deductions, no waivers, no excuses, no redistribution and no political favors. If you make a dollar, you pay the percentage. If you make 10 billion dollars, you pay the percentage. Let us further assume that if 10% is good enough for God, it should also be good enough for ungodly government. That of course would be the maximum and allowing for unforeseen circumstance we should provide a buffer. Therefore, I propose a 7% flat tax on all income, not to exceed 10%. All efforts to raise said tax must be approved by a two thirds majority of both houses of Congress. At 7% this would give the U.S. government 910,000,000,000.00 or $910 Billion. The following is a line item budget as gleaned from the presidents latest budget proposal. The first number is the 2010 actual budget amount and the second column is the proposed 2011 budget.



The bright ones amongst you have already noticed the glaring omission; Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Why? Because these are unconstitutional programs that have no business in the federal budget. They have worked exactly as intended and have become a 'toy manufacturer' for every politicians' consituency toy box. 'See the nice new toy that Daddy is going to give you? All you have to do is let me steal just a little more Liberty and it is yours.' Americans unfortunately have become addicted to the toy of the year and many polls show they don't want to give up these programs. Fine. Pay for them. These programs should be taken off of the books, run independently and more important funded independently. If Americans want their toys, they will have to pay for them. This alone will let them see the bright shiny toy they are buying for the kid who doesn't play with the rest of us or do his chores. All the while we are stuck doing our chores and playing with the old stick horse.

This leaves the above outlined budget for federal spending; again notice that my flat tax does not include any SS or Medicare/Medicaid taxes, just a simple flat tax for running the basics of federal government. As stated above, the first line is the actual 2010 budget and the second is the presidents proposed 2011 budget. Let us first determine that in the dire economy in which we now exist we should revert to the 2010 budget and, as opposed to raising it, we should tighten our belts like any normal business entity would do under the circumstances. I propose a 5% across the board cut. Everyone gets cut, no exceptions. Any department head that says they cannot possibly cut 5% from their budget in lean times is either incompetent, a liar or both. Next since we have separated Social Security and Health programs from the government we don't need the Department of Social Security or the Department of Health and Human Services; that saves $93.7 Billion. Again these will have to be run and funded independently and will therefore need to be revenue neutral. If you want it, pay for it. Is there any more abysmal failure than the Department of Education? A Jimmy Carter legacy. Education should be controlled by states and local authority. That is the only way we can educate our kids the way WE see fit. Therefore, axe the Department of Education. That saves $64.3 Billion. No one can convince me that the Environmental Protection Agency has done anything but stifle business and given a home to the Van Jones, "Let's give human rights to Mother Earth" types of the world. Therefore, we don't need that in a federal agency. They can raise their own money and save the snails all by their lonesome. That saves $10.3 Billion. Everyone who has an ounce of common sense knows that the Department of Energy, another Jimmy Carter fiasco created to 'lessen our dependence on foreign oil' is an abject failure and in fact stifles production of energy hurting our economy. That's gone. There's another $16.6 Billion. By the way, please note that this is the part that excludes the National Nuclear Security Administration, we can keep that part. One of the few government programs that actually does something. How efficient is another story. Okay, Housing and Urban development, responsible for most of the slums in America today, partially responsible for the housing bubble and subsequent economic meltdown of 2008. If urban areas want to develop, then let them. Don't do it on my dime though. I'm attempting my own development. Gone. That saves another $42.8 Billion. State and International Programs; I think they can get by with $40 Billion baseline, that saves $9.8 Billion.

Well the results are in: Out of a baseline budget of $1.0844 Trillion dollars we have managed to slash $237.5 Billion. That leaves a baseline of $846.9 Billion. Now personally, I think we are not as appreciative of our veterans as we should be. Therefore, I propose we double their budget, we'll round it out to $100 Billion (adds $46.9 B). That gets us to $893.8 Billion. Now we slice off our 5% austerity measure and that puts us at $849.11 Billion. As you can see, this fits nicely into our 7% flat tax revenue of $910 Billion with $60.89 Billion left. There you go, budget balanced. Now we must of course pay the interest on the debt as well as pay down the debt itself. And that is the beauty of it. If the federal government balanced it's budget, took entitlements off the books and made them balance themselves, and taxes were simplified and only took 10% or less of anyones pay, our economy would soar like you have never even imagined. Freeze spending or minimize it to very small increases and the additional revenue goes to the debt. Additionally, a temporary 2% tax could be implemented by 2/3 vote of Congress and all of that put to the debt. That alone would bring in a minimum of $260 Billion a year. Add that to our $60.89 Billion surplus and that gives us $320.89 Billion a year that could be put to the interest and the debt. Again with rapid growth in the economy this number would grow exponentially.

So there it is. With a little homework and some down to earth sensible thinking, this government could have this problem licked in a weekend. But they won't do it will they? Why? If someone could cure our country's financial problems but refuse to, are they your friend or your enemy? You see, the tax code is how they subjugate you, give power to themselves, hold business hostage, empower lobbyist who in turn empower politicians. It is all one big rat's nest of corruption, selfish greed and idealogical social experimentation. Now that you know this can be done, will you vote for any politician who won't do it? I know, I know one man alone in the wilderness cannot possibly turn around this monstrous machine, blah blah blah. I'm sick and tired of hearing excuses how about you? Not a single politician who isn't working tirelessly to change the tax code and change the spending habits and devolving power from Washington D.C. deserves to set foot in our beloved capitol building. We must put up primary challenges to all of these snakes slithering around infecting our nation and stealing our childrens heritage. They are despicable swine and deserve nothing but your contempt and close scrutiny. The one or two who may indeed be working tirelessly for our Liberty deserve our help and respect regardless of which district they live in. We can no longer afford to marginalize ourselves to our districts. What each and every one of these crooks does affects us all. We must watch them all, network with each other to inform, notify and support opposition against every career politician who is unserious about turning this nation back to the Constitutional Republic we have been charged by history to protect for future generations of Americans.

by: Keith D. Rodebush

Sources:
Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Deparment of Commerce. News Release BEA 11-14 dated March 28, 2011 - "Personal Income and Outlays: February 2011"

"Fiscal Year 2011 Budget of the United States Government" dated February 1, 2010

Further information concerning health care and the government can be found in previous blog posts written in August of 2009. "A Case Against Government Health Care" and "Health Care Solutions for America"

April 10, 2011

Let's Compromise on Your Life, Okay?

..................................

Imagine if you will, you make $50k a year. Let us suppose further that your wife spends about $80k a year. You are of course $30k in debt for the year. Now, suppose that your wife has been doing that for a while now and that your total debt is around $400k. Let that sink in, 400,000 dollars in debt, adding 30,000 in new debt this year and it rises every year, and you make 50,000. Okay, so you go to the bank and ask for a loan because you need to spend the 80,000 this year but you don’t have it all. The banker says, okay I’ll float you one more time, but listen you have to cut your spending so I believe that your serious about getting this spending binge under control. Your answer as a staunch democrat is; Yes sir. I’ll cut $300 from my wife’s budget this year! Aren’t you proud of me! Now write the check you mean, extreme banker who wants to kill my wife!

Is there a sane person in the world who believes that this is a realistic approach to finances? In the world? Anyone who went to a banker with that situation and proposition would be laughed out of the bank or dragged out by security if not the white coats. And yet this is the ‘great deal’ that our fearless leader Speaker John Boehner just secured from The President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm! Ostensibly the most important man in the world. Hopefully at least marginally smart. Sanguinely loyal to our nation. Expectantly having our children’s interest first and foremost. And this is what our president gives us? This is what our great Revolutionary leader, John Boehner gives us? This is the great compromise of the 2011 budget. And therein lies the lesson. Compromise, widely seen as a good thing amongst the population, is completely misunderstood as relates to politics in America in the 21st century.

If you are engaging in a business deal with someone and they want 10% of the profits and you want them to receive 8% of said profits. You can negotiate and reach an agreement at 9% of the profits for your business partner. That is compromise. That is a good thing. Why? Because it all involves profit. Because both entities are reaching towards a similar goal that is beneficial to all. Imagine for a minute that instead of wanting 10% of the profits, your business partner wanted to gain all of the profits and additionally have you lose 10% on your investment?!? Are you going to accept a 5% loss on your investment and call that compromise? Is that negotiation? Is that a good deal for all parties? Of course not! Indeed it is in fact a crime! This is the state of political discourse in this country today.

We have an entire party whose philosophy of governing this nation is antithetical to the Constitution of the United States of America; whose world view is polar opposite of that of our Founding Fathers. The democrat party is led by communists who hate capitalism, hate freedom, believe that they are smarter than everyone else, believe that the elite must lead the masses, believe there are no limits to power in Washington D.C. and are willing to sacrifice citizens’ dignity, freedom and future for their own personal assumption of power and money. It is the most disgusting display of hateful, shameful, corrupt and cynical elitism seen on this scale in the history of the world. How do you compromise with that? The president has been all around the world genuflecting in front of tyrants and apologizing for America. How do you compromise with that? Okay, Mr. President, only bow a quarter way down, not a full bow. And only apologize for half of America. There, don’t you feel better? Aren’t you such a good person since you ‘compromised’? It is comparable to someone wanting to kill you and you compromise and let them just wound you instead! “Okay, just shoot me in the leg and I’ll agree.” Compromising with enemies of the state is not compromise at all. It is in fact, capitulation to tyranny!

When one is being attacked by a mortal enemy who wants to destroy you and your children’s future you do not compromise, you do not give in, you do not falter and you must not fail! YOU FIGHT! YOU FIGHT! Then you fight harder; you scratch and claw and bite and pound and beat and kick and do everything within your power to defeat wholly and completely your enemy. You destroy them before they destroy you. This is politics in America today. The unions and the communists understand this. That’s what they’ve been doing for a century. It is high time the Patriots who love this nation understand that we must do the same. We must destroy the communists on the battlefield of ideas. We must constantly reinforce our troops with the truth of our founding, with Liberty, with capitalism, with prosperity and with virtue. We must sound the horn of Freedom at dawn, at noon, at dusk and through the night. We must call our neighbors; “To Arms, To Arms! The enemy is at the gate!” If we fail to do so, this nation will be lost. This government ‘Of the People, For the People and By the People’ will fall. This ‘Great Experiment’, that posits the notion that Men do not have to be led by elitists or oppressed by tyrants will end. The dream that we can indeed take responsibility for our own lives, our own future and our own prosperity; that we deserve the fruits of our own labor; that we own our thoughts and our deeds will be forever banished from the face of the earth. All that has been gained with the death, blood and treasure of generations of Americans before us will be subverted by the political musings of a worthless theorist (Karl Marx) who watched his own children starve while he pontificated. Are you willing to compromise on the Declaration of Independence? Are you willing to compromise on the Constitution of the United States of America? Are you willing to compromise on your children’s Liberty? If so, you are not my countryman; go quietly from us now and kiss your chains in the darkness of subjugation.

by: Keith D. Rodebush

April 9, 2011

GOP Deals With Devil

========================

The Grand Ole Party is doomed. They are cowards who ran away when the fight for our nation's soul was at hand. It didn't take them 3 months to show the lie that the 'Pledge to America' was. They promised to cut $100 billion in the first year. They promised to defund Obamacare. They continue to promise to defend the Godly innocence of the unborn child. They failed. They failed. They failed. When the fight was at hand. When the Democrat Socialists predictably began their hysterical assault and despicable accusations of the GOP wanting to kill children and old people (this from the Abortion mill supporters), the Republican party tucked their tail and ran like the cowards they are. This is the hope of the republic? This is what the Patriots of this great nation have to tie the future of our grandchildren to? These are the warriors of freedom? What a disgrace! They don't deserve to walk beneath the painting of our Founding Fathers. They deserve nothing but the contempt and indignation of a permanently disappointed electorate. The people of this nation instituted a Revolution. We did so in the manner prescribed by our founding, through the ballot box. The House of Representatives holds 100% of the budget strings of the United States of America. Any politician who claims that they couldn't do any more because they only hold one house of Congress are lying to your face. They control the money. They had all the cards, all the power. They squandered it away for a pittance. $38.5 Billion out of a $3.7 TRILLION budget. What a joke. With no more seriousness to our nations fiscal plight than this we can safely say that nothing substantial will change. That means endless debt. That means endless Socialists programs. That means success for Democrats whose entire political future is tied to endless spending on social programs for votes. That means this economy will not recover. That means printing more money. That means the dollar will eventually fall. That means the end of the republic. That means the end of Liberty for future generations already saddled with unfathomable debt. This generation is responsible for the end of the promise of American freedom. Our children and grandchildren are doomed to be slaves to government programs. The jobs will not be there for them. Everyone must take care of their family and when there is no place in the free market to do that, one must grudgingly reach out to the state for the handout. This is exactly the plan the communist Democrat party has been implementing for over 100 years. The citizens of this nation have allowed the chains to be lightly clasped to their limbs. Now the last breath of hope being squandered in it's infancy, they are left only to ease the pain of their chains with the salve of handouts from the very wretched whores who have destroyed this, the once greatest nation in the history of the world. May they burn in Hell for destroying this country and dooming the world to chaos and tyranny.

by: Keith D. Rodebush, once proud American

April 5, 2011

School Bored Epiphany

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have so much to say tonight, I hope you stay with me. It will be somewhat disjointed but I promise to bring it together at the end. As the teenage boy might say on prom night, "Trust me."

I was summoned by a good friend to a school board meeting locally. Much as every niche of the country, we have a financial crisis looming and cuts must be made. At the last minute, word went out that some citizens were intending to ask the board to raise taxes to stop cuts in school programs or staff. Shocked, a bit frustrated, yet resolved I took off of work early, got my honey-do's finished and went to the board meeting. My initial impression was, "Why do I have to spend my evening telling my fellow citizens the obvious?" We are in a financial crisis in this country and my neighbors want to raise my taxes so they don't have to suffer as all of the rest of the community has. 'It's for the children, Keith.' Right. It's about your job, your pay, your benefits and your health insurance. So I set off expecting some whining teachers. It was worse than I thought.

The school district administrator had been charged by the board to come up with cuts in the school budget to resolve an expected 8% cut by the state in the school districts funds. At this time the exact number is not known. To their credit they are trying to get ahead of the game. He did his review of the budget and came up with several small cuts and innovative changes to programs and policies. However, he came up short by a substantial amount. In the end he decided that by cutting the FFA (agriculture program) he could meet the target. Needless to say that the kids in this program were devastated. Understand, this is a small town in the Hill Country of Texas, this type of program is popular and important. Before I go further, let me say, I don't necessarily agree with this cut. It could have been football. Bottom line, it isn't one of the three R's so it was on the chopping block. So here's where it gets interesting. I arrive a few minutes late in time to hear a well-dressed, well spoken man of obvious means and education wrapping up his statement which included the claim that he too was a fiscal conservative. He then went on to say, that even though he understood that cuts needed to be made, his daughter was in this program, she had done very well, anticipated an agricultural related career, and that he didn't know what she would do if this program was cut. Then he proposed that the district raise property taxes to negate the need for cuts. Raise taxes in one of the worst recessions in history. This was followed by teen after teen, all program participants, all girls, all with the same basic message. 'This is important to me. I don't understand why you are cutting it. I don't know what I'll do without this program.' I'm paraphrasing of course but this was the mantra. Now, this is complicated so please bear with me. Several people offered other areas that could be cut. Basically, cut that person's program, not mine. Some teacher even suggested they could take out their own trash. In other words, cut the janitor, not me. Several suggested simply raise taxes, these programs and our kids are too important. There are many reasons why raising taxes wouldn't even solve the problem which I can't go into here. Texas school funding is a mess. Google 'Texas' and 'Robin Hood' and you should get the picture. Basically in many cases if you raise more money the state simply takes it away. Again, it's complicated; I understand that these kids and their parents don't want their program cut. They are utilizing their constitutional free speech rights to petition the government for redress. I get that and I respect it. However, here are my thoughts on what was happening:

  • No one seemed to fully understand that this nation is in a financial crisis from this school district all the way to Washington D. C.

  • No one appeared to be willing to compromise, only to perpetuate the 'us against them' mentality. (one speaker even asked supporters to rise, giving a strong visual to the room who was friend and who was foe)

  • No one was offering anything of their own to sacrifice, only offering others that could be sacrificed in their place, thereby allowing them to keep all.

  • Every kid that spoke relayed a sense that their future relied not on their talent, their tenacity or their labor, but that it lay in a program or funding or a teacher.

  • No one realized that we had a chance here to teach these kids responsibility, frugality, common sense, sacrifice and most importantly, that their future did not lie within the comforting arms of a government official, but in their own individual effort, passion and creativity.

  • No one offered (except me; see below) that if everyone offered to sacrifice their own pay and benefits at a percentage, then no program would have to be cut, only scaled back.

  • After I stood and proposed that all should sacrifice a little so that no entire program would have to be cut the superintendent relayed that across the board cuts were impossible. WHY? Because it's against the law! That's right. Wages for public employees are settled in contracts which once entered into must be honored. While a private company can renegotiate contracts, government entities cannot. The only way for it to happen is if every person in the whole district volunteered en masse. If just one person refused, none could agree to cuts in pay and benefits.

  • The chasm that divides the private sector from the public sector was on full display for all to see who cared to. Any private business that tried to operate on this principle would be bankrupt in short order. Imagine an architecture firm, who face with financial difficulties decided to cut the entire production department in order to save the design department? How long would that firm stay in business? But in the public sector? 'And the band played on...'

So...what is one to take away from all of this? This is where ol' Keith has to do something he didn't learn in school. He didn't learn from a teacher. He didn't glean from a government brochure. No, my friends, this is where I have to apply something that I learned from my grandfather and my father. Common sense and historical knowledge. That's right, no government employees were injured in arriving at this conclusion!


Let me first aver; I have no animosity against any of these people, my neighbors, doing what they've been trained to do. They all seemed like nice folks who cared deeply for their children, their teachers and their school.


What we have here is a microcosm of what has gone tragically wrong with this nation. A nation which was envisioned by Providence, founded on Freedom, established with blood and treasure, formed perfectly from historical precedent, preserved through civil conflict, confirmed through emancipation, defended with massive sacrifice in World War and prospered as no other civilization before. This 'Great Experiment' was a huge success for +/- 200 years. Success and prosperity unknown to this planet. Diseases cured. Science exponentially progressed. Poverty redefined. Food produced on scales unfathomable just centuries before. Why Physics itself in the case of gravity conquered. The atom split, shackled and exploited. Despotism on a world wide scale defeated. This is the product of this nation, the United States of America. This is the true nature of this nation. This is the legacy with which we are charged to protect, defend and pass on to future generations worldwide. And yet, we stand on the precipice of the destruction of this greatest of all nations in human history. Why?


Only by rejecting the principles on which it is founded can such a nation perish. Those principles are undeniably; Liberty, individual responsibility, virtue, faith in God, freedom from oppressive government and free market capitalism. Rejecting such righteous principles does not happen save by incrementalism. The people of this nation have been slowly seduced into the concept of government as the problem solver. Imagine a business who, attempting to prosper in the free market finds his competition consistently beats him in the market place. So at some point, he goes to the local official and complains. The official, always ready to help a constituent then proposes legislation that hampers said market opponent. The aforementioned business then benefits. The ground is therefore laid. If you can't win in the free market, get government assistance and you can defeat your free market opponents. Imagine an individual who despite his best labors finds himself less successful than his neighbor. So he petitions the government. Again, always willing to help and gain favor amongst voters the government responds and 'levels' the playing field by tilting it. Again, the complainer wins, the true victor in the free market system loses. Thus a precedent is set. There is no more powerful friend than a government which is not bound by economic realities or even ethics. Again and again this scenario plays out until we find ourselves where we are today. If you have a problem, it can't be your fault, it must be some nefarious activity. If you can get government to intervene, then your chances of success are exponentially greater. Generations then succumb to the conventional wisdom; government is there to help you. All of this of course, ignores that government can do nothing FOR you without doing something AGAINST someone else. Thus, the ME generation is produced. Take from them and give to me. After all it's only fair. This is how great nations fall. This is how the masses are enslaved. This is communism, collectivism, socialism; whatever 'ism pleases you.


In and of itself this would be a sad end for such a great country. But...what if, just what if, it didn't happen innocently? What if it was a plan? What if a small minority of our countrymen have perpetuated this evil destruction of the greatest nation known to man?


It is for you to decide my friend. All I ask you to do is to read their own words. Read what union leaders say. Read what 'progressives' say. Read what communists say, then compare it to what 'progressives'/'liberals' say. Listen to what the candidate says to his core constituents when he/she thinks you aren't watching. I'm sorry. There is no other conclusion for a reasonable thinking mind to come to. There is, and has been for at least a century, a small vocal minority of our own neighbors who have openly advocated the destruction of this nation as we know it. Like the sirens song they have hypnotized a lazy electorate into believing that success lies in the favor of governmental intervention, not in individual labor and talent. The destruction that they have wrought is now on display for all to see.


The only hope for this nation to survive is to reject unequivocably the concept of government as a solution to any problem other than equal access to opportunity. We have a right to try, to fail, to succeed or to be average. That and nothing else. Any individual, politician or scholar who tells you otherwise is an enemy of the United States of America as conceived.


by: Keith D. Rodebush