The Obama Nation
85
OBAMA NATION
President Obama seems like a nice fellow. He is surely an historic and accomplished figure. He is a good family man. I have not written about him until now. As I know his supporters are very sensitive to any criticism of his beliefs or actions, I decided to wait and see what paths he would pursue to create this Obama Nation of hope and change. I must confess I am troubled by much I have learned about his associates and his agenda for America. Particularly disturbing is his self-stated goal to "fundamentally transform America."
"The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society." "One of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change." Barack Obama 2001
What does this mean? Redistribution of Wealth means the seizure of property, wealth and income from individuals who have earned it, so it may be transferred to others who have not. Classical Liberalism regards this as theft by the government. Who could be in favor of such a scheme? "If you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always count on the support of Paul." George Barnard Shaw
TIDES FOUNDATION
In the quote from Barack Obama above, who would this "coalition of powers" include? We can start with the Tides Foundation, a group founded to funnel money to radical causes without a perceptible trail to its donors. Among its stated aims are the "banning of firearms ownership; access to government-funded abortion-on-demand; and radical gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender advocacy."
GEORGE SOROS
A major contributor is George Soros and his Open Society Institute, which portrays America as a nation rife with racism and economic injustice; seeks to radicalize minority youth; encourages acts of rebellion against America's alleged injustices; provides legal assistance to state and local governments seeking to restrict individual property rights.
ACORN
One beneficiary of these funds is ACORN, a group notorious for voter fraud that lately has been caught supporting teenage prostitution, tax fraud and bank fraud. This group is "Opposed to the profit motive and capitalism in general; pushes for more government control over citizens and the economy; supports a government monopoly in healthcare; and an open door immigration policy."
Ironically, ACORN and its affiliates, all reliable cheerleaders for higher taxes, are longtime tax deadbeats. A search of public records found more than 200 federal, state, and local tax liens adding up to more than $3.7 million.
A 2003 study of ACORN by the Employment Policies Institute found the group paid a wage of $5.67 per hour, which was 'less than half the level demanded by many proposed living-wage ordinances that ACORN supports.' Although it demands all workers be allowed to organize unions, ACORN doesn't like it when its own workers try to organize. It has tried to block its own employees from signing up with unions, and in 2003 the National Labor Relations Board determined it had unlawfully blocked its workers from organizing.
ACORN and its affiliates have engaged in massive campaigns of voter-registration fraud. Untold numbers of the registration forms that ACORN has submitted to election boards across the United States were fraudulent. The organization's get-out-the-vote activists have been implicated in schemes involving the falsification and destruction of registration forms, the forging of signatures, the registration of dead or non-existent people, and the registration of the same individuals multiple times.
ACORN was a key player in the chain of events and policies that led to the housing and banking crash of 2008. That crisis had its roots in the 1977 passage of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a federal law that outlawed "redlining" (the refusal of banks to lend money to borrowers located in areas known for their high default rates on loans). The CRA required banks to extend credit to undercapitalized, high-risk borrowers in low-income, mostly-minority areas. In the early 1990s ACORN, thus empowered by the CRA, demanded that banks demonstrate their commitment to minority lending by drastically lowering their standards regarding down-payments and underwriting, and by making loans-- especially nonwhite minorities -- with bad credit histories.
Wade Rathke stepped down from his position as ACORN's chief organizer in 2008. Shortly thereafter, ACORN publicly acknowledged that Dale Rathke -- Wade's brother -- had embezzled nearly $5 million from ACORN and its affiliated groups in 1999 and 2000. ACORN further admitted that for eight years its executives had kept this information secret from almost all of their organization's board members and from law-enforcement authorities, while Dale remained on ACORN's payroll.
Barack Obama told an audience of ACORN workers and supporters last year: "I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues that you care about my entire career."
SEIU
ACORN is closely linked to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which gives millions of dollars to Democratic lawmakers and politicians who promote government expansion and higher taxes. SEIU wishes to radically transform an American society that it deems rife with inequity, SEIU's mission "to improve the lives of workers and their families and create a more just and humane society." Classifying women and minorities as the most aggrieved victims of discrimination and maltreatment, SEIU notes that 56 percent of its members are women and 40 percent are "people of color." The Union has a vested interest in helping to elect Democratic leftists who will press to make government ever-larger, so that it can produce an ever-increasing number of union-dues-paying jobs for welfare workers, socialized medicine healthcare workers, Medicare nursing home workers and the like. SEIU advocates a taxpayer-funded, government-run program of socialized medicine. SEIU seeks to secure amnesty for illegal aliens, and favors policy reforms that will diminish or eliminate future restrictions on immigration. SEIU views such immigrants as a potentially plentiful source of future SEIU dues-paying members.
APOLLO ALLIANCE
All of these groups are involved with the Apollo Alliance, which helped craft President Obama's $787B Stimulus Package; and all of them receive taxpayer funds toward its activities. All are patterned after Saul Alinsky's activist tactics. Often those tactics were subtle, featuring the quiet infiltration of political, educational, and financial infrastructures.
Then there is the New Black Panther Party, a group dedicated to black supremacy that President Obama's Attorney General has refused to prosecute after it intimidated voters in the last election. This organization is decidedly anti-Semitic and anti-capitalist.
BLACK LIBERATION THEOLOGY
I can add to this equation the White House moves to involve the National Endowment of the Arts in producing propaganda with taxpayer monies; the call by President Obama for mandatory community service for American students—which begins with indoctrination into Leftists value systems; Obama's Black Liberation Theology, which is Marxist in nature and boasts it will make "white men will tremble, curse, and go mad, because they will be drenched with the filth of their evil"; and Obama's statement "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
SAUL ALINSKY
And then there is the disturbing fact that President Obama learned from—and taught— the ideology of Saul Alinsky. Here are some quotes from Alinsky: "True revolutionaries do not flaunt their radicalism. They cut their hair, put on suits and infiltrate the system from within." "Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history, the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom—Lucifer." "We are concerned with how to create mass organizations to seize power" "A Marxist begins with his prime truth that all evils are caused by the exploitation of the proletariat by the capitalists. From this he logically proceeds to the revolution to end capitalism, then into the third stage of reorganization into a new social order of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and finally the last stage -- the political paradise of communism." "The third rule of ethics of means and ends is that in war the end justifies almost any means." "Do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments." "Is this manipulation? Certainly!" "An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontent." "Nothing is sacred"; the organizer "detests dogma, defies any finite definition of morality." "The organizer's first job is to create the issues or problems." "The organizer 'must first rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people."
I have previously published Hubs about:
How the Mortgage Crisis Caused the Worldwide Financial Meltdown
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
Was it not once said that the "Greatest trick of all was for The Devil to convince people that he did not exist"?
While I certainly don't equate Obama with The Devil, one of Alinsky's primary strategies mirrors exactly that - appear to be invisible, in a sense.
I suspect that, in many ways, President Obama has done exactly that, becoming instead a blank slate upon which so many project their own expectations, hopes and dreams - not to mention agendas.
Wow. I had been following a lot of this on the news, but to see it all together puts it into persepective. I read his book "The Audacity of Hope", and I actually bought what he was selling there. Hope and Change are really synonyms for Smoke and Mirrors. I would post more thoughts and feelings here, but I dont think it would be right to get on my soapbox here on your hub. Thanks James for another wonderful history lesson!!
James, I really make an effort but I don't follow you. What is it precisely that you are accusing the President of? I mean, could you make it brief, precise, and for every statement against him, give some type of proof?
I'm telling you this in good faith, because I can feel that you truly are anguished for your country, but sometimes some descriptions you give of "the enemies" give the impression that you are like them. I mean, in the use of tactics of propagating whatever seems even vaguely to fit your objective to arise repulsion or grief against this or that.
I am not saying that you are like whoever the enemies you feel this nation has, I'm saying that you sound like your own description of them.
Anyway, I would like to give my own impression about the President. I think he is a tremendous leader and that he has the best of intentions and an obvious destiny for being what he is. But reality is more complex, so much more complex than any well intentioned individual's desires. And the forces of the golden calf seem to rise against him in force. I truly wish him success in attaining his best intentions but power is situated in places other than that solitary chair inside a White House.
SirDent— Congratulations! You are my first visitor! I agree that there is an undue sympathy because Obama is black—though in fact his mother was white. Odd. Control of the people is what this is all about, brother. Thank you for your fine comments.
ArchDynamics— I am so pleased to hear from you, my friend. You have hit on the precise problem: It is an ideology based on lies upon lies. And the sheeple say, "Baaa!!"
dave272727— You are surely welcome, my friend. You may post any thoughts you have here without impunity. Thank you for reading and chiming in. I appreciate you.
King James:
Thank you for the kind words, as always.
After my last statement, "...not to mention their agendas.", I should have added "all the while quietly pursuing his OWN agendas while offloading the 'dirty work' to his carefully-selected cabinet and House/Senate, allowing him to maintain his 'nice-guy' veneer of deniability.
Thank you for a very interesting hub, even though I don't know how true all your information is. thank you for sharing it.Godspeed. creativeone59
James, the scary part is people are buying everything Obama, like they are hypnotized by him. I don't know if you noticed my FB posting about the Vatican disagreeing with the Nobel prize awarded to Mr Obama, and it got someone really upset with me. They are totally blind to his questionable connections with Soros, Acorn, Tides Foundation, and so many others. I'm glad you wrote this hub.
rosariomontenegro— I did not write this piece to make accusations per se. I wrote it to say I am troubled by some of the President's statements and more so by his associates. I presented facts I have learned and await my readers to tell me what they think it all means.
I hope he will go down in history as the greatest American President ever. I wish the same for all of my Presidents.
My visceral feeling is that he is a Marxist deep in his heart and that he views this as his chance to give "reparations" to black Americans. But I would prefer to let the facts I have presented above to speak for themselves and let you draw your own conclusions.
I do appreciate you for reading and commenting. Your feelings about him are certainly legitimate. :)
ArchDynamics— To impose a totalitarian regime one must have underlings—dirty work thugs. :D
Thank you for your wise insights.
creativeone59— Thank you for reading and leaving your gracious comments about this very sensitive topic. I have purposefully left the information open to interpretation and will add that all of my facts are easily accessible through Google.
IslandVoice— The sheeple are hypnotized. It reminds of the old Fleetwood Mac song. A great tune, I might add. :)
I did see your FB post. The American Mind has certainly closed quickly. With our last President, everything was questioned.
Thank you so much for tuning in and leaving your insights.
Scary stuff James, I think though Americans need to stop pointing a finger at the government and pointing a few at themselves. 25 Years at least of indifference and quiet compliance have brought us where we are today. Sure there have been those in opposition and complained loudly as government grew but that's all they've done was complain. I would argue that if the economy were great and money was rolling in Obama and all the other parties in Washington could get away with just about anything. Funny how it takes a hit in the wallet for Americans to actually start giving a damn about the day to day operation of government. Got bad news though we gave too much away and surrendered too many rights and responsibilities. Nobody complained when it was going on under the guise of protecting us from terrorist. I don't support Obama, but I have an interesting question, when he's gone and nothing changes who will we blame then?
James - I think you must allow that many people own disproportionate amounts of land and property that they in no way earned, unless you consider inheritance a form of earning? Also, redistribution of opportunity is not the same as redistribution of wealth. Does every child born in US receive equal education? Equal access to nutritious food? Equal access to safe and stimulating play areas and equipment? These inequalities should be the concern of all responsible people. Working to level these playing fields is more sensible than labelling people according to the old failed left/right divide.
I think and thought President Obama is the best thing we can have at the moment. To me black or white doesn't mean a thing. I judge people by their manners and their deads. Mr Bush definitely didn't come up to that standard. I was suprised about these characters and I haven't got a clue about politics to that extent and can't comment. But whenever we have a good person, no matter which country, the wolves will try to get to him. I hope not with Mr Obama. Thank you for a very interesting and eye opening hub.
King James (redux #2):
Not to turn this into a 'thread' as it were (and my apologies for the appearance of same), but, as you know, I am from Chicago and was quite involved in our 'unique' Chicago-style brand of politics.
Without being overly-specific, my Ex's sister was married to Congressman John Fary's right-hand man (U.S. Representative Illinois' 5th District). As such (and working hand-in-hand with our local Precinct Captain), I saw first-hand how that particular system worked.
That being said, as a frame of reference, we have to give Mr. Obama his due. He not only ran a brilliant campaign, but, in staffing his inner circle, did a superb job in bringing in just the right people to do what needed to be done - vis-a-vis Rahm Emmanuel, et al.
Trust me on this one - Mr. Obama has meticulously and quite intelligently orchestrated the 'Perfect Storm' of Chicago-Style and Old Washingtonian political zeitgest.
And, alas - we may not like it, but the reality is that here is a man who is not just a step or two ahead of the competition, but quite likely three or four.
Kudos to him and shame on those of us of a more Conservative bent for not seeing the writing on the wall long before it was writ.
Hopefully we won't see another term and have the rare luxury of time to undo the present (and pending) damage.
My best to the lovely and talented Ms. Nancy.
James, this hub lists all these outside organizations that have had such a great influence on current events. Seeing them listed in a group is disturbing, although I've read about each one individually. Congress really fooled us with the funding to Acorn cut off (we thought), but only until the end of October. Corruption and meticulous planning continue to move Obama along this dangerous socialist path.
Hi James..Thank you for this informative Hub. We here in Canada do follow the US Politics and are somewhat influenced by decisions which are made to our South as we share the same border.
Its interesting during all the debates etc prior to the elections there was a "Red Flag" that appeared almost each time I heard the man speak. Maybe it was the far to smooth with all the right answers flag but in any case I do see a spearate adgenda and that is "One World". Feeding those who bring in the votes is a common practice, just legal enough to be called a creditable and yet equaling illegal and just above the law, whould I be so bold as to say "Fence Sitters" that would swing the vote either way depending on who is feeding them.
Poutine is the same style of leader, one adgenda that is realy undefined and "Red Flagged" as well. Sooth and all the right answers man with his own adgenda. Just stay out of his way.
I do think that Oboma is a strong leader but whom does he really represent. More importantly where does God fit into all of this.
Our prayers are not only with you in the South but with all Nations. Continue Hubbing my friend, your research in invaluable to all that read.
Many Blessings
Good stuff, James. Facts & quotes put out without hyperbole or rhetoric. Thank you for putting this together & connecting the dots.
James my frind and brother you have spelled out all the signs. Only a fool cannot read the future based on the spelling of thos signs. I think by now the agenda is very clear just read Alinski's "Rules For Radicals".
Scott.Life— Thank you for coming by to read my article. I appreciate your keen insights. I agree with you that the American populace has been apathetic and uninformed. We have surely had our freedoms eroded as the government leviathan has grabbed more and more power. We are now in a mess. The powers that be have created a people who are dependent on their government for benefits and therefore under its thumb. All that said, I do see something new about the people in power now. This is a decidedly radical bunch. But Obama's fans continue to claim he is a centrist. That I find truly amazing.
Yikes. Yikes. and Yikes again. Although I watch Fox news there is alot of information here I did not know about. I especially like the George Barnard Shaws quote "If you rob from Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul." Living in Michigan I get the Detroit paper and that is exactly the mentality. It is sad and scary and makes me want to PRAY a whole lot more than I do for this still-great-at-the-moment nation.
I wasn't really moved by either candidate, but I did vote for McCain, and so did most of the people I know.
Paraglider— I am concerned with inequality. The government does has the job of keeping its citizens safe. Who is it that is making it dangerous? I am all for equal opportunity. But attempts to ensure equal outcomes is entirely a different affair. There is more movement of rich to poor and poor to rich in America than any nation on Earth. I do believe in inheritance. The right to leave my heirs the wealth I have created has a long history. It is one of the prime motivations of the human race to be able to leave something to one's children when we die. The capitalist system is a supreme motivator of mankind. The success of the United States, and other nations, should have proved this by now. Even the "poor" here would not be considered poor in much of the world.
Thank you for reading and I do appreciate your sharp mind.
Hello, hello,— Black or white means less to me than it does to radical liberal groups. They are fixated on race. You are wise to judge based on deeds and character. Obama may well be a fine person. That doesn't mean I have to agree with his goals to "radically" transform America, however. Thank you for sharing your views and you are welcome.
ArchDynamics— Threads are good. I am also from near Chicago and well acquainted with "Chicago-style" politics. I agree with your description of the "perfect storm." It is hard to undo things in Washington. Government programs take on a life of their own after awhile. They are self-perpetuating. Those in power today are certainly very sharp. They have learned their lessons well about how to manipulate the levers of power. My complaint is the deconstruction of a great nation to remake it into the Soviet Union—a failed experiment. Thanks for swinging by to share your wisdom with us, Scott.
The King James Version
Pamela99— I have these organizations listed together because they are interconnected. They exchange funding and sit on each others boards. You are right that Congress fooled us when they "defunded" ACORN. The fact that our President wanted ACORN to conduct the upcoming census should give any thinking person pause. I am afraid hundreds of billions are dollars are being pilfered from the taxpayers as we speak. I appreciate your comments. Thank you for reading.
"Quill"— Hello. You are welcome. I agree with you that there were plenty of red flags during the presidential campaign. You may be right about the "one world" agenda. The only way this could be accomplished would be to bring America down. "Feeding those who vote" is a great line and so apropos. I'm not sure where God fits into all of this. I was disturbed when our President bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia after slapping the Queen of England on the back. I appreciate your prayers, brother. I think we need them. And thank you so much for leaving your comments here.
Ken R. Abell— Hey Ken! It's nice to "see" you again. I did not include much in the way of commentary. I figured the facts can speak for themselves. Thank you for your comments and you are welcome, too.
Tom Whitworth— Thank you for reading and leaving your wise words here. The signs do look obvious to me. Americans have to decide what is more important: the government feeding trough or freedom. The two are opposite. Anyone who wants to understand what is going on should acquaint themselves with "Rules for Radicals."
UP Star— Greetings to the UP! I am a Michigan native myself, from St. Joseph originally. The Shaw quote is one of my favorites—and he was a socialist. So, he wasn't saying it in negative way—which is how I read it—but as advice on how to manipulate the populace. I agree with you: we had better pray hard for our nation. Thank you for coming by and sharing your thoughts.
advisor4qb— I also voted for McCain but he was not an attractive choice. Most of the people I know voted for McCain but I also know quite a few who were true believers in Obama's message—what they understood of it—and were intrigued by the idea of healing the nation by electing a black man, any black man. Thanks for visiting.
James this is a great follow up to the three articles I wrote in which if you follow the money it goes right back to Soros and Stern. It's not a surprise then that with this new guest list it shows that Soros has visit the White house to visit with the National Security Advisor, and that Andrew Stern is a regular guest, with over 15 visits. Obama was quite transparent during the campaign, we were just not listening. Great as usual!
James, I like to check facts before I believe anything and there are plenty of false facts being thrown around to the general public. here is a link to politifact.com, a site that checks the facts on everything Obama.
News Flash:- Billionaire George Soros said on Saturday that he would invest $1 billion in clean energy technology as part of an effort to combat climate change.
The Hungarian-born U.S. investor also announced he would form and fund a new climate policy initiative with $10 million a year for 10 years.
I will link your hub Thanks.
jiberish— Yes, your articles were great. I had been collecting little post it notes on this stuff for a couple months and finally decided I needed to clean up my office a bit. I still have my notes on individuals involved with this administration, so I'll do something with them soon. Actually I just saw on the news this morning that Stern has been the most frequent visitor to the White House this year. Thank you for reading and the compliment. :)
Funny calling Liberals or Democrats "Sheeple" when in fact they are usually the ones who think outside the box and are criticized for not just following along...I have been calling this country a bunch of dumb cattle for a long time but I am all inclusive. I think it pertains to anyone who doesn't take the time to educate themselves and look at situations from all sides. IS that how you think of it?
I agree with Rosario. I was wondering about the point myself. Just to stir up more negativity, Republicans are far superior at that then we are (and we only dream of spinning with the ease and speed to which you guys can).
I am finding the more people I talk too from all walks of life, that the ones who are so fervently against government involvement are the ones who "don't need it", at least not yet. Therefore they do not want to participate in paying for it. We have after all become a country of "I gots mine" and thats all that matters so I suppose it makes sense. I find it disturbing.
Hundreds and thousands pilfered our of pockets right now James? I am sure, but how is that even remotely "New"?
If this administration knows how to "manipulate the levers of power", I assure you it was through the magnificent teachings of his predecessor.
Your followers who always back you up make me laugh out loud, talk about sheeple....
rebekahELLE— That is an interesting site. I bookmarked it. Thanks for the tip. Do you see anything false on this page?
jiberish— Would you like to provide the links to your Hubs here in the comments box? You are welcome to. Yours are very in depth as I recall. It seems to me the Earth is cooling off now. I think this global warming thing is a big moneymaking machine and a way to bring down the United States. I thank you for your astute observations.
James, check out HCAN, this will lead you to why the rush on the health plan. I did extensive research on them and they are the driving factor with hundred of affiliations.
Thank you James, I will post this one:
Moonchild60— Yes, I agree with you that there are "sheeple" of all stripes. My point is that the views expressed by Alinsky and his acolytes are subversive and anti-American. I am sure there are many selfish people, but Americans are easily the most generous people on Earth—without question. I happen to think there is a big difference in a private citizen giving to causes they personally believe in, or to people they want to help, versus the government taking our money for causes we may not agree with. It opens up a huge window for graft and corruption as well. What do you think about the quotes from Saul Alinsky, good or bad?
jiberish— I bookmarked that web site. I don't understand all the animosity toward insurance companies. That industry posted a profit of about 5% last year while many industries do much better. 10% is considered a reasonable profit for any corporation—it has to pay better than simply investing in gold or CDs or why would anyone do it? Thank you for the link to your Hub. I will read it shortly.
othing here that surprises me James . I had sincerely hoped that Obama had not been tainted by the sleazy system that Is politics on Capitol Hill , however I think we are now seeing the obvious answer to that one. Not to mention the people he has surrounded himself with . A green jobs czar who was an avowed communist . An Atty General who thinks we as Americans are cowards . And Indeciciveness on a war he wanted to ramp up and now Is hesitant on , even though he was told nearly 3 months ago he needed more manpower .Oh and by the way Rev Wright was at the little party they had for the healthcare bill too ! To many bad assocites here not to be concerned . Fine stuff again James .
The is the HCAN's playbook to insure the health plan will pass, it's a scary read directly from their memo:
Ron Paul is the only good guy out there.
Brie on that one you are right !
Very interesting presentation James as usual. I believe your concerns are the concerns of many and rightfully so, at least according to my limited understanding. I am not politically inclined, but will state that I think Obama brings a welcomed "difference" to the political table. Many of our Presidents performed according to what they and their cabinet may have felt to be right for the country that did not feel so right to us. I suspect this administration will be no different. Great hub!
Too many comments to comment on, but when it comes to what
some refer to as 'sheepie' may I point out without being called racist that it has been said 85 to 90 percent of all black people vote for Democrats!! Would you call that 'sheepie'? The worst part of all that is those folks don't seem to be aware of what the Democrat leaders actually are doing for them.. After 50 years of living under Democrat leadership, do they ever ask, "am I any better off today than I was 50 years ago?",, so much for 'SHEEPIE'!
BTW,, James, great Hub..
Was the neat pun in the title intended?
Good stuff Jim!
The arrival of Obama, like the Trojan Horse in Virgil's "The Aeneid", appeared a superb gift.
His ARRIVAL seemed wonderful (to most) and was embraced for all the good things it would bring. As it now seems, this arrival has turned out to be very dangerous to us all. Once inside Troy, the enemies emerged under cover of darkness. Currently the extremists are right in our face in broad daylight, trying to force their ideas on us as if they're just what we need. I'd feel silly if I'd voted for him.
James,
I commend you for bringing up and writing beautifully about this topic.
I also enjoyed reading everyone else's comments and your answers to them, so thank you.
The other night, related to a different topic I remembered one of the phrases in "The Ten Commandments" the movie, when
Pharaoh refused to reneg with Moses, after all that he had already withnessed!
The line was "but God hardened Pharaoh's heart"
As we can not see the bigger picture in all of this, we simply rest in the faith that everything that is happening is part of a grander design.
James,
I was wondering when we would get here. As one of your favorite sheeple I will gladly follow where the mind of a liberty, free enterprise, and an equal opportunity person will lead. The trouble is people today want to cry foul instead of produce the effort required to achieve what ever level of sucess they desire. There are inequalities all of the world for a variety of reasons, but still people overcome and become. What would be the point of life if everything were handed to you, if you were garunteed sunshine, rain, snow or whatever else you need or want?
It boggles the mind how Obama supporters fall back to race when any critism falls his way. I too hoped he would bring real change like term limits, tort reform, the elimination of lobbyists and special interests. Instead it is the same old politics we have seen for too many years. Those that support what the current agenda appears to be should just move to North Korea or perhaps Venezuela where equality and redistribution will make them all rich.
A lot of intelligent people weighing in, I like it!
tony0724— The President is surrounded by a troubling cast of characters. I intend to write more about that in a few days. I had been avoiding politics lately in my Hubs but I think it is time to reenter the fray for a bit. It is always a pleasure to hear from you, Tony. Thanks for coming by and leaving your comments.
jiberish— I just read page one of the document you provided a link to and it describes those who attend Tea Parties as tea-baggers, a gay slur, and says they are recruited by paid organizers, etc. etc. This is another lie. I attended the Orlando Tea Party (and I wrote a Hub with that title) and nobody recruited me or even invited me. I just heard about it on the street.
Brie Hoffman— You know, when I first heard about Ron Paul and checked him out he struck me as kind of a nut. I must admit, he looks better all the time and makes more sense to me, though he is saying the same things. Thank you for reading and commenting. It's nice to see you here.
Another extremely good Hub, James.
I find Mr Obama a personable and likeable man - at least from a distance, but I am not convinced either way as to whether he a naive man in the grip of those with a more sinister agenda or a consummate politician who has pulled the wool over millions of eyes. Maybe it's a bit of both. Jesus said it this way, in Luke 6:26:
"Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For so their fathers did to the false prophets."
The fact is Obama has followed the road of the Politician, when a President is supposed to be a Statesman. How this pans out is that he tries to be all things to all men and makes too many promises he knowns he can't keep.
I suspect he himself is a pawn in a larger game of which has little awareness, because in moving towards the Left, he is moving America towards taking on the political complexion of Europe, which is heading towards a centrally controlled superstate with one currency, one law and one police force. The Euro is just the first stage in a bigger move towards the Mondo, and I believe Obama is being used to bring the Dollar on board.
It's classic Hegelian Dialectic in action: Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis, which boils down to this: 'If you want to change a society you need to create a tension'.
So, what do we see? Economic disarray, racial conflict, social discontent...etc.
When Lance Lambert asked German Christians why they had voted for Hitler, they replied something like this: You have to understand, our nation had collapsed and was ashamed of itself, the Mark had disappeared and unemployement was soaring, when along came Hitler promising to restore Germany's national pride, repair our economy and unite our people again.
I suspect that things will get a lot worse than they are, after a short spell of illusory recovery, because those who want to overthrow the system must inject even more tension.
tony0724— Ron Paul has educated me about a few things in the past year.
RevLady— Thank you for the compliment. I enjoyed your comments. You are sensible and discerning. I appreciate the visitation.
greatAmerican— What a pleasure to hear from you, my friend. I don't understand the overwhelming numbers by which blacks vote for Democrats considering many of them are conservative by nature. I don't know if it is just a habit or what. Thank you reading and leaving your compliments.
DiamondRN— I'm not telling. :D
John B— Thank you, my brother. The Trojan Horse—that is an apt description. You read Virgil!? I am impressed! Most Liberal voters don't realize that this is an extremely elitist group, which thinks intellectuals need to tell the common man how he should live and what to do with his resources. Many dictatorships began this same way. Thank you for visiting and leaving your insights.
msorensson— Commendation accepted. Thank you! :-)
Yes, you are, of course, correct. There is a grand plan at work. Who knows, it may be part of that plan for some of us to warn our fellow man of the dangers we face. :D
Robert— I savor your words—some of the best comments I have received in a long time. I think you might want to try your hand at writing my friend. I hope everybody reads your remarks. Great stuff. Thank you for adding wisdom to this thread.
Allan McGregor— Thank you, sir. I, too, am unsure if he is sinister or naive. Oh yes: the mondo. I see a definite drift toward the European model of socialism—at the least. You read Hegel?! You continue to impress, my friend. I hate to say it, but our position does remind one of Weimar. And I agree with you that more tension will be required now that some doubt exists as to whether the American populace will simply roll over.
As always, you bring an intellectual's perspective and I thank you.
Well lets see, much of what he says is sick and demented and actually frightening. Other things sounded familiar such as:
"The organizer's first job is to create the issues or problems." "The organizer 'must first rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people."
after 9/11 fear was instilled into the American people, lathered up into a frenzy, flames were fanned daily with danger zone colors and finally when thoroughly primed, hostile, fearful and desperate he created the Iraq problem taking our eye off the ball of who really was to fear and got us into a war. It took the ignorant people a while before they said "Wait, what?" Too late.
Clearly Obama was not the only person allegedly listening to this guy.
"The third rule of ethics of means and ends is that in war the end justifies almost any means." "Do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments." The war in Iraq. Like we had to go there to save peoples lives. That wasn't Bush's agenda at all!! But that is the response to our having to be there. Like that was suddenly the purpose after no weapons of mass destruction were found.
The first radical Lucifer nonsense is just that - as is most of what that lunatic said. Good or Bad? Of course its bad, but to think it is Obama's agenda goes too far. After all, other politicians have used these tactics too. Was communism their agenda? I am sorry to bring up Bush but it just hit me as soon as I read those words...sounded so familiar and I think we could probably tack some of these words on other politicians as well.
I hope for the sake of your country and the world that Obhama is basically a good guy.
Great, easy to understand hub, as always, and still people do not see it. Are they blind or just ignorant. If you follow Obama and check up on what he has done and said, he is an open book, and people just make up what they want to believe about him. If you mention and show his past, you are just an idiot republican. The facts are there, people need to open their eyes and see what this all means. Bill Ayers ghost wrote his book(s) but Obama just verily knew him. Most people think this is a lie, but it has been proven.
Only hope is, more people are seeing it day by day, it appears. There is still hope.
Keep on hubbing!
James:---Thank you for your superb overview of our American Bolsheviks. Practically the entire world has discarded this failed and murderous ideology and, yet, it is being propagated to perfection by government, business and university elitists. Never mind that the taxpayer and, consequently, the various governments of our land are going broke. One only has to envision the next couple of decades here in America and know that its citizens will be subject to strangling taxation levels. Certain states in the land are already economic basket cases and, yet, unimaginative legislators on both the federal and state levels can only think of tax and spend policies. George Soros has already gotten one huge payoff from B. H. Obama when the U. S. Government gave Brazil over $2 billion to explore for oil and gas offshore. Of course, such a grant for oil exploration would be verboten here in America! Soros, by the way, owns millions of shares of stock in Petrobras. Petrobras is a major Brazilian oil company. Obama, his czars, cabinet, staff, Alinsky and Soros either were or are all sinister, power hungry beings. Typical Communists! Paying lip service to equality! Equality is great for somebody else, but not them. The Second Amendment is more important than ever in American history!
James - your Hub should be taught in our schools! And read on the floors of the House and Senate! I'll be Tweeting your Hub too!
Moonchild60— We'll have to agree to disagree about 9-11, my dear. To me, that was a real event. Alinsky is speaking of manufacturing problems. There is no question that Muslim terrorists would use a nuclear bomb on New York if they had one and no question that Saddam Hussein was friendly with terrorists. If we were wrong about WMD, then Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Al Gore and the rest of the Democrats were wrong, too, because they were all on record as to how dangerous Saddam Hussein was before Bush was even elected.
There is no link between Bush and Alinsky. Obama studied Alinsky and taught Alinsky's ideology to others. Alinsky is considered the Father of Community Organizing—which is what the organizations on this page are and what Barack Obama once was.
But you are a very nice lady with convictions. I admire you and I like you. Thank you for your comments. :)
ethel smith— Well, I will second that. I hope so, too. He appears to be a nice fellow. Thanks for coming by.
eovery— Hey! How nice to hear from you again. One of Obama's underlings compared him to Julius Caesar today! hmmm . . . isn't he the guy who changed Rome from a Republic to a dictatorship?
Thank you for reading my work and for your compliments. I appreciate it.
ThePeeDeeWildcat— American Bolsheviks. Kind of has a ring to it, doesn't it? Just when you thought radical utopians were a thing of the past up pops their dirty ideology again. I don't think this will last much longer. I don't see the Democrats retaining power next year. And I'd be surprised to see President Obama reelected. His ideas are simply antithetical to the American Experience. I do appreciate your support and your wise remarks.
cjv123— Thank you so much for the accolades. If the kids would stop singing Obama songs to the tune of religious hymns they might learn something. :D
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Great piece James. You commented in the postings that you're not yet sure where God fits into all this. Understandable.
What many of us (Christians) are missing in scripture is disturbing. Much of what the churches are teaching now is a watered down gospel-the vast majority of churches anyway. Also, we look to scripture and often conclude that America is pretty much absent, that it's not directly mentioned. I'm in strong disagreement with those teachings.
The harder teachings of Christ are absent from American churches. America IS mentioned time and time again. We're on the cusp of some horrifying days for America. Your article gives us the visable foundation for this.
James, I appreciate this Hub very much but mostly that you have conducted yourself as a gentlemen in your responses. You are definitely a class act.
Sometimes we can over analyze things to the extreme when a simple explanation would have been sufficient. Politics is corruption and it has hit both sides of the political spectrum. Is a politcal ideology more prone to corruption than the other? We can discuss these things till the end of time and probably never arrive at a consensus. So in my case, I look at the facts before me, fall back on my life experiences (all encompassing) and gut feelings to make a decision.If I see policies that encroach on my rights (as individually recognized) and I see consistency in the manner that they are put forth, I will estimate that the next policy will also encroach on my rights. If someone lies to you consistently, you will nolonger believe that person. If a friend steals from you a few times, he will nolonger be your friend and you will consider him a thief. Now the point is recognizing that the friend is stealing from you, because until you do, he will still be your friend. So based on this simplistic view of the world and relationships (which include character), I don't trust this administration and no actions have been taken by it to provide me the feeling that rehabilitation has taken place. My view and hope I am wrong but it is what it is. Great informative hub!
James my friend, nice to see you are back! President has surrounded himself by many questionable people and organizations. We are defined by those we keep company with! During his campaign, the silver tongued devil managed to talk his way out of his association with Reverend Wright. But not everyone bought it thank God. It is very unfortunate that so many people were too color-blinded to see the truth about him before they voted. So many people are still naive and will not see what is staring them in the face. Color has nothing to do with it. He is acting more like a king, making solitary decisions than a President listening to his people. He is dangerous.
He bends down to tickle the ears of people,
while others kiss his bent over ass.
~Shalom
Hxprof— Horrifying!? Gee, I hope not. But you may be interpreting Scripture correctly. Where is America mentioned?
I agree with you that churches in America have watered down the Gospel message. The words "sin" "damnation" "satan" "hell" are not mentioned at all in most of them.
Thank you for your prophetic message.
ehern33— Thank you so much for your kind words.
There are mountains of wisdom in your comments. I very much appreciate you making them here. Nothing else I can add. You have said it all.
kebennett1— Thank you! It is great to be back. I have a lot on my mind to write about after my sabbatical. I can't add much to your comments. I'll let them stand as they are.
quietnessandtrust— It is great to hear from you, my friend. I hear you loud and clear.
Shalom
James, I'd be happy to email you the scripture-I'm unwilling to post it on line.
I'm no prophet, nor are those in the churches who are proclaiming America's undying greatness. Interpreting scripture? Perhaps. Remember what God told Daniel after all the visions. Daniel asked God what these things meant, and God told him to (paraphrase): "Seal them up. These things are for those in the end times". The meaning of prophecy is often revealed on a need to know basis-meaning that past generations were left guessing as to the meaning of much (not all) prophecy.
Let me know if you want the scripture and I'll email it to you. If you want to discuss it we can do so via email also.
Hxprof— Please do send the email. I am interesting in prophecy but I have little understanding of it. Thank you very much for sharing your insights.
James,
Another great hub. Terrific job of connecting the dots, even for those who refuse to see, of which rosariomontenegro and Moonchild above, appear to be examples.
May I offer to you or anyone reading your hub, and especially those that might remember we have a Constitution, and that we are a Republic, read my hub “US Constitution, A Living Document” which may shed a bit more light on your opening capsule concerning the agenda and goals of this self anointed, messianic Administration.
Again well done sir.
readytoescape— Thank you very much. Constitution? What's that?
Republic you say? I do remember something about that . . . I will read your Hub straightaway. Thanks for the tip and for reading my Hub.
The frightening thing about this, as evidenced by some of the comments here is the old saying, "There are none so blind as he won't see." I just don't get how people can continually turn a blind a eye to what are the facts most taken from his own words. Then because they can't defend this man, they throw stones at the previous President. I like to equate it to the guy who mugs old ladies by hitting them in the head and stealing their purses, he says, but you shouldn't hold that against me because the other guy kills people. What kind of logic is that? Just because you don't like what one person does, doesn't mean that everybody else gets a pass. You know?
Lori J Mitchell— You are so right and obviously wise beyond your years. :-)
I keep hearing it is racist to quote the very words of the man or his helpers; that to be alarmed by out-and-out Communists hanging around the White House by the dozen is just being negative and trying to tear down a good man; and as you say, Bush Bush Bush.
But, we keep trying and someday we just might break through.
Welcome to the Hub Pages Community.
GREAT HUB JAMES!!! I HAVE INVESTIGATED THESE THINGS AND YOU ARE RIGHT ON ABOUT THEM!!!! OUR ONLY HOPE IS TO VOTE THESE PEOPLE OUT OF OFFICE, OF IMPEACH OBAMA- THE ONLY THING BIDEN AND PELOSI ARE JUST AS MARXIST. I LOVED THEI ONE. FUNNY HOW THE LIBERALS RAVE ON!! REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH WOULD BE TO MY ADVANTAGE AS I AM PRETTY POOR-BUT I AM VEHEMENTLY AGAINST IT - IT'S JUST NOT FAIR. SO SOME PEOPLE INHERIT THINGS, THATS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. OBAMA OPENS HIS MOUTH AND THE LIES POR OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
linda-patriot— Thank you, Linda. I don't the President has committed any impeachable offense. We can vote them out of office and I think that will happen. I agree with you that people have had the right to pass down their assets to their children for millennia. I am not aware of Obama lying flat out but he is an expert manipulator of the truth, such as when he said illegals would not be covered under the health care bill when he knows there is Supreme Court precedent (as a lawyer) that will make it unconstitutional to exclude them. Thank you very much for your comments.
In such a broil of hate towards Obama, one can find many associates and old quotes that might be damning. Such as the fear that we will be ruined by government run insurance plans, but the truth is only about two percent will actually be using it, hardly a ruination.
He is the most scrutunized man in the world, I highly doubt that an intelligent nation, including all of his supporters would stand for such losses of freedom as mentioned above. There will always be fanatical groups and ideas, guilt by association would condemn us all.
There is a massive movement to discredit a president who is simply trying to better this nation, they are the sore losers, mostly republican mouthpieces who figure if they didn't win, then they'll make the winner miserable.
I had to put up dumbya's shenannigans for 8 years... what with blackwater, and haliburton, and so many other secret truly dangerous precedents that he put in place, and many of them were killing people, innocent as well as guilty.
The very lack of armor in Iraq on our troops and their vehicles contributed greatly to a massive loss of life of our own, and thousands being maimed for life, all in the rush to a war in the wrong place for skewed reasons.
Obama has not cost anyone their life yet, except in the shitpile that bush left him, where he has to decide whether to extract our boys and get them home to safety, or let them languish and die in another futile offensive that will go on and on.
I prefer presidents who multi-task, and work hard daily to change things that were left starved by the past administration, He has only been in office a year, facing insurmountable debt, and war, and whining racist and glen beck driven agendas. I have not seen, nor will I see the anti-christ or hitler, or a witchdoctor or a black supremist in this man, but then I am not blinded by lies and hate.
He will succeed in changing things that will disturb the rich, the lobbyist and and the greedy who are behind the drive to see him fall.
not by losses of our freedom, but by sharing the freedom with all who deserve it.
I actually saw a shirt at one of those tea bagger parties that said, "Shoot Michelle and her two stupid kids!"
If this is the freedom of speech, that they are clamoring for, and the rights that they desire, I want no part of the extreme right, and I will dance on the grave of their beliefs when they fail.
Peace to you and yours, and thanks for the questioning of our leader. I do beleive in questioning those who lead us, though I was censored when bush was in. I know, I write for newspapers, who could not print what I wanted to say. And I am a Vietnam veteran, who saw what two useless wars can do...Vietnam...Cambodia....Iraq...Afghanistan.
I can take you to visit men who are still disabled by Vietnam, almost forty years later. You would be a rare visit for them. they are the forgotten ones.... much like the many who are now returning to spend their lives with massive brain injuries,
needing total support and care.
Look back at the ugliness that was perpetuated on us, before we start looking forward at projections of what might happen, horrors that are being spewed out over the public by the same people that thought Bush was some kind of God.
But you cannot realistically believe that Obama has the power to overthrow the constitution and America, and destroy all of us?? He is becoming the most persecuted and studied president in history, how would he ever get any such destructive programs past the maggots feeding on his failure??
Better we should let him do his job, nothing that is done by Obama, cannot be undone. Much of the crap that bush did is currently being undone as I speak.
We rule this country, after we get what the lobbyist and the rich corporations hand us, the leftovers. Obama is the only president in years to go after them! We should do likewise. Our enemy are the lobbyist who manipulate the system for the vast, wealthy corporations that feed of of us.... (U.S.)
They are chasing and seeking to destroy the messenger, rather then the cause. That is what makes me sad for the minority of Americans that think it's O.K. to disrespect and defame
their latest Commander-in-chief.
This will draw many more out of the woodwork to dispute me and call me blind.
But at this very moment I could care less. My father who has been on life supprt for eight days, needs a mattress to prevent bed sores, which could kill him by sepsis or staff or mersa infections, but his inadequate medicare program will only pay for it after he gets the bedsores.
I say let's strap a couple of executives who made that decision in a bed for three weeks and let them see how bad a bed sore feels, let them die from some erosive staph infection, because saving money is more important then saving lives.
We need changes
but the people that are moaning about Obama's ideas aren't living in a place where their father is rubbed raw by the status quo.
Put that in your tea bags, and sip slowly.
MFB III— Whew! Look at the size of that thing! I'd better get a cup of coffee. . .
Hate? I fail to see any hateful words in my Hub nor do I think the Truth can be hateful. I respectfully disagree about the 2% figure you use. The stated purpose is to move the nation to a single-payer, universal, socialized health care system—with the exception of government employees and union members, of course. This is not an issue of health care. This is an issue of governmental control. One must read between the lines.
http://hubpages.com/hub/National-Health-Care
Guilt by association can be damning, particularly if most of ones associates are on video spouting anti-American, Marxist ideology.
I attended the Orlando Tea Party and did not see any hate, greed, racism, extremism or rich people.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Orlando-Tea-Party
Increase of government power is a loss of freedom.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Liberty-Lost-in-America
I have several personal friends who still suffer from their experiences in Viet Nam. I only missed the draft by one year myself.
Maybe you missed the memo but this Hub is not about former President Bush. I can write about him, though, if you like.
I am in favor of banning the entire lobbying industry. If you think that is what President Obama is up to you aren't paying attention. The Stimulus Package is not about our economy. It is about shoveling hundreds of billions of taxpayer funds to radical Leftist causes.
I have no intention of disrespecting or defaming our President.
I am very sorry to hear about you Father. I am surprised to hear you blast Medicare and favor turning over our entire medical system to Medicare in the same commentary. Executives make the decisions for Medicare? Would not Bureaucrats better describe them?
I want to thank you very much for your thoughtful commentary. You make some good points. And please accept my sympathies for your father's situation. That has to be horrid for him and tough on you.
Well, one question that no one has thought of. How come a change of letting a black man become president? Guess who put him there? GOD.
God does things for a reason and if Obama is there..just watch what prophesy is tied in to it.
He is not a true christian, as he approved abortion and homosexuality, smokes, celebrates pagan holidays as Halloween, christmas etc.
God has been taken out of the schools not to offend the IMMIGRANTS! Which is ridiculous as the Christian men and women who fought for US FREEDOM..must turn in their graves.
US is doing like the Israelites did and started to be buddy with the nation and got corrupted. That is what the US and other countries are doing..but if you go live in IRAN, IRAQ or any other Islamic country..try and do the same as they do in the US..you will get killed, or jailed for life or tortured etc.
People are using our Chart of Rights for their agenda..not to be part of our country but to take hold of it as the Islamic agenda is to turn the whole world to Islam and if you don't convert you will be killed. I was told this time and time again by arabs online.
We don't use our churches to harbor terrorists..Islamic people do. They kill in the name of Allah when our God doesn't need anyone to kill in His name..God just can take one angel and destroy a whole country.
Obama's father was Muslim and is being a christian just a coverup for what he really believes?
The future will tell why God put Obama there..because there is one thing the leaders forget..GOD LOOKS AT WHAT MAN DOES AND LAUGHS AT THEM..because in time God will use them to realize His prophesies so all they are doing is futile.
PEACE WILL NEVER COME BY HUMANS..WARS ARE AND WILL ALWAYS EXIST AS LONG AS MAN RULES AND LEAVES GOD OUT.
We are sending our young men to go and get killed in a war that isn't our business..never will it end. Mohammad ATTA who slammed into the Twin Towers said, " You kill one of us, 50 take his place and we will never stop until every american is killed."
So do any of us think that what he said isn't true? No, I believe every word he says and the proof is there. They never were able to capture Ben Laden..and won't..but how come they got Sadaam Hussein?
The terroists will strike again..they are preparing a attack like never before and it will be a simulatious attack happing all at the same time in selected countries.
The terroists they are capturing are just a SMOKE SCREEN to keep us busy while the real stuff is preparing, by having a smoke screen, we don't see what is truly going on. I see it and I know what Mohammad Atta said is true.
People don't see or hear what I see and hear. I hear planes in the sky that are not the usual ones..I see arrests that are never put in the newspapers. I see special police with anti-bullet vests...I watch and see.. people don't..they go about their business as if all is honky dory..soon they will have a rude awakening.
I can see the famine coming..food shortages even here in Canada..my old age pension was enough before..now it isn't..I have to find a job to supplement what I need..prices are going up. I use my car less as possible and don't go out much because it is a dangerous world out there.
Better get extra food, candles, batteries,etc..because we are going to have a hard winter.
Pray that the Great Tribulation of God ..doesn't happen on his Sabbath or in winter.
DancingRedFeather— This is a rather dark prophecy. I agree that Obama is not a Christian. And one of your best points is how our enemies use our chart of rights against us. They surely do. And they laugh about it, too. We have become a silly, silly people. The day of reckoning is coming. Something wicked comes our way.
James, I will send you those scripture when time allows early next week. Best to you.
Good Hub, the associations of our President are SCARY! Its often said that Nixon wasn't a bad guy...just had bad judgement when it came to choosing his associates. I don't think thats the case here.
Hxprof— Thank you. I'll appreciate that.
C.J. Wright— Thank you. I am not sure what the deal is with our President but his pals are a shady bunch. I'm well pleased that you came to visit. It's good to hear from you.
I reread this hub, Obama is the biggest liar I have witnessed in my life. His organization threatened the NRA from running ads that painted Obama in a bad light. That started in Michigan, I think. He is fundamentally changing the United States -you didn't even mention all the 32 plus czars he has hired to circumvent the Constitution. The man gives the horned hand signal as do all those who follow the devil. YOu can see them on youtube. Obama quoted how he had talked to SEIU to form policy. You painted a faint picture of just how evil this regime really is. I think his ultimate goal is to become a dictator here, and use his army to forse us conservatives to bow. I wouldn't put anything past him. The man has no values or morals anad definitely chooses wrong over right -evil over good- failure over success. He hates America and wants to turn us into a dictatorship. He is another Hitler or Stalin. This is only the first year of his so called leadership and his sheep say baaaah. like Moonchild. I am appalled at how ignorant he thinks we are. in the back of his mind he knows he's going to go too far and we won't take all he shovels at us. What else can we do? They are so indoctrinated with their own ideals - well they have no ideals except absolute power. Why the civilian army- that's already in the works. I wish I hadn't lived to see today.
linda-patriot— I fully appreciate what you are saying. I also have quite a number of readers who are big fans of Obama. Yes, I think they are under the ether. But there are plenty of firebrands out there. I am attempting to engage folks gently so that they might at least read it through and understand what the truth is, by simply presenting the facts without much in the way of opinion. Perhaps, it is the madness of my method that may reach yet a few. :-)
I do thank you very much for making your feelings known.
I like the way you started the post. I suppose that's why the NWO picked him out. He probably is hypnotized everyday into forgetting what he is doing. Of course, he was trained up in early life to be a good Communist. "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." We the People have to band together.
A lot of his appeal is that he is empty headed, but with the help of TOTUS, he can get really worked up to give his usual hypnotic speech and keep the sheeple from thinking.
I also agree and believe he is a marxist at heart. Being of Latvian descent it is a very fine line between freedom and being a communist society. Sometimes we are only as free as our representative leader says we are. Pretty scary to realize the greatest democratic nation could become socialist and next will be censorship
vrajavala— TOTUS? I don't get it. President Obama is surely a hypnotic speaker. And he was trained early to be a good Communist. You appear to be a clear thinker. Thank you for visiting and leaving your thoughts here, my fellow Floridian.
chefaija— As you are of Latvian descent, you are probably familiar with these machinations. Thank you for reading my Hub and for your wise words. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community. I look forward to reading your work as well.
Excellent hub! You may have opened a few eyes with your information. Many people who don't watch Fox news have no idea what is really going on in the White House and Congress.
Patti Ann— Thank you! I hope so. I am amazed at the Fox bashing when the MSM doesn't even carry these stories. They are so in bed with the Prez it ain't funny. I appreciate your comments. :)
It doesn't matter whar president Obama does he will be attacked and hated.he tried to bring the olympics to america and failed and yawl cheered!he won the nobel peace prize for inspiring hope for the world,but instead of being happy that the president is inspiring hope,yawl booed and hissed.fox news has been faking these grass roots movements and has been busted in so many lies that their credibility is shot with mainstream america you talk about soros but avoid mentioning that KOCH the 9th richest man in america is funding all these grass roots movements,tea-party events,limbaugh and beck has grasped control of the republican party all these lies being spread by fox has cost two men their lives,the abortion clinic docter,and the census burea worker.but still you blindly believe anything these people say.History will judge this time in favor of Obama no matter what happens and the republican party palin,beck,limbaugh,and all these so called "grass roots" movements funded by KOCH and fox news will be judged as hate-filled fools.The republican party are nothing more than TRAITORS to america and is evolving into the deadliest threat that america has ever seen,sarah palin over in communist china trying to turn china against america claiming shes "gone rogue"demint and other republican party members flying abroad trying to turn other nations against america.yep I would call that treason.but these are the people that represent you.and just for the record this country was founded by free-masons,just thought you would like to know that,thats why the seperation of church and state was in the constitution,to keep religion out of government.but bush changed all that with his faith based initiative program combining church and state putting us on a path of having a religous government like the taliban and the middle-east.but you can't see the dangers in that.hate-mongers,fear-mongers,and liars is what the republican party represents now,the only plan the republicans have is to make a lot of noise cause fear and panic,divide the country with lies attack and discredit anything that the democrats try to do and campaign for the 2010 elections and 2012 elections this is nothing more then a primary.if you ask any one of them what their plans are they could not tell you.they have none.last year at this time we was staring into the face of another great depression.one year later the deficit is the same as it was last year even with the stimulus its the same as it was last year and we are now in a recovery when the economy bounces back to full strength Obama will be damned for that too.I watch fox news,and cnn,msnbc,the bbc,all of them I'm a news hound I love the news fox use to be one of my favorites but only a fool would take them serious now they have changed over the past few months as one big running joke.just like the republican party.
bill yon— Whoa there big fella! I certainly do not hate Obama or anybody else. Are you saying if anyone disagrees with his policies they hate him?
I am afraid you haven't read the Constitution. Separation of Church and States is not there. I have a copy right here on my desk. That is a myth sir.
What about our nation reminds you of the Taliban? Do you see a lie on this page? If so, tell me where it is and I will edit it out for you. Liberals are the only people I know who call a videotape of themselves speaking "lies."
The Stimulus Package is nothing more than printing hundreds of billions of dollars to give them to anti-American radical Marxist organizations. It is not to stimulate the economy. You have had too much Kool-Aid, sir.
But I do appreciate you coming by to share your views. It has been quite instructive. Thanks.
OK it's on, CNN is moving up with Fox here a jewel they just ran in all that's going on check this out.
This from CNN news: http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/17260182/1610997888/na
Great hub James keep them coming!
Maaaan! Catching up on this hub takes some time. As ever, James, you've stimulated some fascinating comments.
One that tickled me was that of a sincere lady, ethel smith, who hoped that Mr Obama is 'basically a good guy'.
Fine sentiments indeed, but might I point out from history that Neville Chamberlain was 'basically a good guy'. It's one thing to run the local Scout troop, or manage a Starbucks franchise, quite another to Preside over the United States of America and sit in the chair of the Commander-in-Chief of all US armed forces. Which reminds me, FDR was a basically guy too, but had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the fight against one A. Hitler.
Basically good guys don't always make basically right decisions.
bill yon is wrong. Jefferson put the separation of church and state into the constitution to protect religion from state interference, as still happens in England where the bishops of the Church of England still sit in Parliament, appointed by the Prime Minister in the name of Her Majesty the Queen - who, incidentally, is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
50 Caliber— Fascinating. Thank you for that link. Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it.
Allan McGregor— The comments have been quite interesting, my friend. Ethel Smith is one of your fellow Brits in fact. Very nice gal. Neville Chamberlain. Lack of backbone comes to mind. That's the problem with peaceniks. They do not live in the real world. Give me a Churchill or a Patton anytime. :-)
Thank you for visiting and leaving your words here.
Alan McGregor— Actually, there is not separation in our Constitution. Jefferson did write about it in a letter to a pastor friend of his and you are absolutely write, the meaning is that the state will not interfere with the free exercise of religion—and that means everywhere (notice the chaplains in Congress, opening prayers, etc. that have been in place from the beginning of our country). Satan and his minions have twisted the meaning of the words to fit evil desires for utter depravity and wickedness among filthy, perverse, shameless men as they pursue their sociopathic, narcissistic, megalomaniacal mountains of stinking sin.
"I hope he will go down in history as the greatest American President ever. I wish the same for all of my Presidents."
Quite the paradox o.O
thegecko— I see what you mean. I really do wish that 50 years from now Obama is listed among the greatest American presidents. I don't think he will; but I hope he will, for the sake of my children and grandchildren.
"I agree that Obama is not a Christian."
Who has the right to define the President's faith, but himself?
I have been reading through many of your comments and although you "hope" he will be a great president, you show almost zero confidence in him. It feels as though you merely wish to avoid offending people. Lack of sincerity in your statements suggests you already believe him to be a failure. But, I could have guessed that simply from reading the beginning of your Hub.
“I am afraid you haven't read the Constitution. Separation of Church and States is not there. I have a copy right here on my desk.”
Although the original constitution did not set limitations on the US government in regards to religion, the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights clearly does…
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Of course, I would only go so far as to interpret this as part of a general free speech clause, stating that the government shall not interfere with the free practice of religion or adopt a national religion. Either way, it does create some separation of state and religion, restricting the way the government can create laws about religious views and practices.
Your Hub, following in line with some of the press which wishes it could find some real dirt to smack the President down with, fits more into a conspiracy theory mindset than anything else. Yes, Barack Obama can be connected with many organizations, but that does not mean that those connections (some quite distant) define him or his character. I have shopped at Walmart, is it my fault they mistreated their employees in the past, or continue to do so? I pay taxes, I guess it is indirectly my fault we went to war with Iraq, that thousands of men have died in that war? In fact, it’s my fault 9/11 happened, because I am a citizen of a government that continually interferes with the determination of other governments in its own interest. What should I do? Not pay taxes? Should I have dropped out of government funded public schools? Should I stop shopping? Should I go live in a hut out in the middle of nowhere, holding a stance of passive resistance, accomplishing nothing to solve the problem?
Barack Obama made big promises. He wanted people to start thinking big, dreaming big. If FDR believed that all Americans have to fear is fear itself, Obama surely believes that if Americans want to bring about change, they must first start believing in change. After all, we are the ones who will change the future, not one man. And after all the faith we started to give to the President, we have expected him to accomplish so much, while we do…. What exactly? Not much, but complain the whole plan is moving too slowly.
The reality is that our government is a huge republic, chained down by bureaucracy and ongoing, unyielding, bi-partisanship. The reality is that while our President can provide the vision, he cannot write the laws, he cannot force the hands of hundreds of other elected officials (though we can to some extent). The reality is that our system is slow, that it rarely brings about great or fast change, and one man can only do so much. Our government works in very small increments, it’s a long and ever going process. Women’s rights, minority rights, government standing up for the common man, these have taken hundreds of years to accomplish, and we’re still not quite there yet. If anything, the President will only be able to add another step in a better direction, but he’s not a savior, and he cannot be expected to solve all our problems. That’s our job. “We, the people.” It’s when we let go of the freedom to help ourselves that we lose our democracy, after all.
I do not agree with all of the President’s or congress’ decisions, the huge bailout being one, but I rather debate those than these petty connect the dot insults. You’re giving Michael Moore and Cartman and run for their Cheesey Poofs. He’s made mistakes yes, but you rather focus on sensationalized “newsroom” gossip.
So far Obama has shown he’s very calculating, though acted hastily on a few decisions for sure. He seeks opinions, approval, and takes the time to get the message out, to convey his arguments. He’s working against Republicans that won’t give him an inch, even against a huge gathering of his own party. Given the climate, what else can we ask for? He’s one of the first president’s to start he job the day right after his election, not when he entered the White House and he even worked closely with the Bush administration to make a smooth transition. Though he cannot force the government to do the right thing, he at least says what he believes in his heart and fights for it, which is a lot more than most politicians.
You write about socialism like it’s the plague, but we’re a pseudo socialist nation anyway, and where has that left us? We spend more money per person on healthcare than any other industrialized country, but tens of millions do not receive any medical assistance whatsoever, millions more get denied access, and in many parts of our country we cannot even cover our own children.
We fund welfare, but it does little to help single mothers, rebuild families, or create a more self sustainable population (well with only 3-5 years per lifetime, how could it?)
We fund an education system condemned by cultural and socioeconomic disparities.
We fund billions of dollars of research to cure diseases which gets turned over to pharmaceuticals that charge us insane amounts to finally benefit from the treatments paid by our tax dollars.
College students who already excelled in a laughably inadequate academic system graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. If they go on to graduate school, these numbers soar into several hundred thousand, and the students are basically forced into indentured servitude in the name of interning.
Our government uses our tax dollars to subsidize failing business, failing military projects, costly and pointless wars in the name of greed, bankrupt social security, bankrupt medicare, and numerous other atrocities.
No, we are socialist, just our system sucks.
Let’s get to the redistribution of wealth… damn those Marxist pigs, right? But they had a point, they just gave the general population too much credit, unlike our founders who gave us very little, so little in fact they limited who could vote, rejected the notion of direct democracy, and even kept a strong checks and balance system to limit the powers of “elected” officials.
What we know is that the general population is too naïve, too easily content, and too worried of being deprived. They will work for minimum wage when it’s half of what a living wage should be, just so at least they’re getting a job. Most people won’t protest or fight for more money, even if their employer is making billions off of them and could easily afford doubling everyone’s pay.
Personally, I’m all for small government. If everyone could afford their own education, own healthcare, own anything the government provides, I’m in. But they cannot, and a big part of that responsibility falls on the multi-billion dollar elites of our nation - the ones making more and more while paying employees the bare minimum. The people they employ provide all the grunt work, direct service, cogs in the machine. They are not paid their worth. That’s how capitalism works, that’s how America works. So, if the government needs to step in and take back some of that money to give to the poor (and don’t forget, corporate welfare is higher than social welfare, so the rich get a huge chunk back anyway), so be it. Democracy is a government of mediocrity anyway, sacrificing the ultimate luxuries of the few for the general well-being of the many.
Unfortunately, people are not created equal. We’re born with different heights, differe
Unfortunately, people are not created equal. We’re born with different heights, different levels of attractiveness, different types of wiring (take the Mozarts and the Einsteins for example). We’re born into different levels of class, types of culture, and ethnic groups. At least we can strive for equality of morality, equality of respect, equality of life. Why should the rich get all the benefits while the poor who work under them strive just as hard? Why should a wealthy man have full access to healthcare because he can afford it, and a poor man be denied? Where’s the liberty in that? What’s moral about that?
Obama wants to fight to fix this and I’m sure he’s well aware that it cannot be achieved during his presidency, or even in his lifetime, but he wants to get a step closer. Those who want to make leaps closer criticize him, those who want to keep the status quo criticize him, and those who are just too oblivious to see the truth (the same feared by our founding fathers), also criticize him. And by doing so we’re just damning ourselves because without the people, our government usually fails at bringing about real change. Look at the gap between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Movement, and we’re still fighting that battle.
So call him a Marxist, though even Karl Marx hated the term and the ideals behind it. Call him a radical, though his supporters knock him for not being radical at all. Call him a Muslim, though he calls himself a Christian, and though Muslims and Christians share the same religious lineage. Call him black while at the same time condemning the notion because one of his parents is white. Say he doesn’t deserve the Noble Peace Prize, he’s too inexperienced, he’s this, he’s that.
No one will live up to everyone’s expectations.
But to all these critics, have you looked in the mirror lately? What the hell have you done to help America? What have you done to help Obama? Maybe the problem is not that you have too many expectations of our President, to the extent that you would disgrace and undeservingly dishonor him, but that you have so few expectations of yourselves. The unraveling of our democracy will not be at the hands of an alleged socialist, but at the fists of consumerist, materialistic, lean on the government for every problem and complain all the way, while remaining completely apathetic in action and character, Americans.
And a big fat HELL YEAH!!!!! TO that.
thegecko— I suppose you are correct. I should let the President define his faith or lack thereof for himself.
I sincerely hope that 50 years from now Obama is listed as one of the greatest Presidents ever. This could only be good for my children and grandchildren. I could not characterize the President as a failure. On the contrary, he has been wildly successful at implementing his agenda.
I believe you read the Establishment Clause correctly. Most Liberals do not, wrongly believing it tells Religion to stay away from government when what it says is for government to leave religion alone. There is a big difference between the two.
I don't see the connection in your analogy about Walmart. Shopping or paying taxes is not at all similar to the fact that the President has openly proclaimed he was a Community Organizer before becoming a politician. Saul Alinsky is widely considered the Father of Community Organizing and he defined their mission. Obama has acknowledged studying and teaching Alinsky's ideology. Obama worked for ACORN, which had the same aims then that it has now. He has invited the head of the SEIU to the White House 22 times—more than any other person in the world. He sat in the church more than a decade and disingenuously claims to have never heard what was said there. Obama brought the Apollo Alliance in to write the Stimulus Package.
I am certainly not complaining the President is moving too slowly. Quite the opposite. His actions are not designed to bring about more Freedom. Quite the opposite. The more power any government grabs the LESS Freedom you will have.
I do not see any gossip in my Hub. I quoted the very words of the people involved. Are you saying the People should ignore what the powerful say their goals are for our lives and our society?
Socialism is a plague. I described the true nature of this plague in detail
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Progressive-Movement
We spend so much on Healthcare largely because of the pseudo-socialism road taken by LBJ AND because of our terrible diet and obesity.
http://hubpages.com/hub/National-Health-Care
Tens of millions are denied access to medical care? That is absolute nonsense. I live blocks away from Florida Hospital and know several doctors there personally, with whom I have discussed this issue. They give medical care to every single person who darkens their door even if they are in the country illegally. Now you are propagandizing.
Welfare has perpetuated single-motherhood and destroyed families by replacing fathers with daddy government.
I agree with you that our educational system is pitiful but that is the direct fault of the Teacher's Union and the dumbed down, politically correct, self-esteem obsessed curriculum.
Research and Development of pharmaceuticals is paid for with private capital. Some focus on the production cost of individual pills and ignore the cost of R&D, some of which is invested in paths that never gain approval at all.
Exactly when did college get so unaffordable? When the government got involved. The same with health care. It got expensive after the enactment of the two Medis. You rightly point out many government programs are so poorly run they are bankrupt—then you complain about me not wanting them to take on new programs ten times larger. They are terrible managers? By all means they must need much more to manage.
Please name a corporation that is making billions and could easily double the wages of all its employees. A living wage? Who decides what that is? My labor is worth what someone will pay for it. Why should a company be forced by the government to pay me $10 to sweep the floor if you don't have a job and offer to sweep the floor for $7 an hour? If I want more money per hour there is a simple answer: I should make myself more valuable by learning a new skill, a new trade, studying to become more knowledgeable, working harder than the next guy, being more dependable and exhibiting a better attitude than the next guy. Distinguishing myself. If you want to understand this concept more clearly
http://hubpages.com/hub/Unions-killed-Michigan
Most people could afford to buy the things you mention if 50% of the income was not confiscated in taxes. You also fall into the trap of "rich" and "poor" as if they were static groups of people which they decidedly are not. There is more movement between the top and the bottom than in any country on Earth—now or at any time during history.
The bottom line is that between 1917 and 1989 two great theories of government were used in a great experiment: Marxism in the USSR and Capitalism in the US. One built the greatest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world, that millions of people try to sneak into, some aboard rickety rafts across shark-infested waters; the other had to build walls to keep its citizens in and created the worst, most murderous, least free nation in history. One is a fool to follow Marxism.
thegecko— Those who achieve great things should enjoy the benefits of their success and they should help the poor as they see fit through personal charity, not government programs. This is how a nation becomes successful, through the benefits all can see accrue to the achievers. Guaranteed benefits only reduces striving to be all we can be. That is human nature 101. You end up with the Soviet Union, or at the least, Michigan (my home state).
I agree with you that many Americans have grown dependent upon the government. What you don't see is that this is part of a grand plan. I have a link that might illumine this for you (and no, it's not my work; it's from the author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley):
bill yon— Thank you!
James thank you for all the research you have done to produce another excellent hub. I think this hub forces us to take a look at what is happening not just in the United States of America, but the world at large. Obama has his strengths and weaknesses. I think his weaknesses have been clearly revealed in some of the decisions he has made which have been very disappointing to some of us.
However, the good news is he does not really have the last say. God does. We can pray that God will intervene in any plan he has for this country that is contrary to His will and purpose. Some things will not change with prayer. They are inevitable since they have already been prophesied. Regardless, you have done an excellent job in helping us to open our eyes so that we can be more aware of what is happening now. Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
create a page— You are welcome. Thank you for the compliments. I appreciate your clear-eyed analysis of our very limited control over the unfolding of history.
As much as people like to twist around the language of the constitution, I think most of it appears to be pretty straight forward. Of course, I also believe the 2nd amendment does not give citizens the right to bare arms, but at the very least, does not take away that right, as long as citizens can form a free standing militia. It’s really a clause about forming independent defenses outside of government, not the right for all citizens to have a gun. Which is funny, because you criticize the President for stating that the country should do something similar in regards to national security. He is in fact, staying in line with the constitution.
My analogy is this… that many of us, most of us, are connected to organizations that can be viewed as corrupt and wrong doing. Just because at one point we support, work for, or follow these organizations, does not necessarily create an affinity between our character/views and that of the organization in question. I am currently closely linked to a non-profit organization which of late I have disagreed with many of its executive decisions. I believe most of the people who work for the organization have good hearts and are fighting for good causes. I would not judge these people based on the poor policies and actions of the people calling the shots, which I believe conflict with the mission of the organization and the goals of its workers. Just like I would not judge all Americans by the actions taken by our government. I’ve worked with several other organizations that I do not like or disagee with many of their tactics.
We must remember, and I would think Christians of all people would constantly keep this in mind, that people destroy and ruin many well intentioned establishments. Many of the entities you mention in your Hub have good goals, to reduce inequality, to help improve the livelihood and status of groups of people who even today show huge statistically disparities no matter the measure: whether that be fair wages, fair job chances, equal education, equal respect, etc. Racism still exists, chauvinism still exists, many bigoted attitudes and philosophies run rampant throughout our population.
As far as Alinsky is concerned, I agree with him that the best way to create change in a bureaucracy, in a government such as ours, is to initiate change from within the system. Radical protestors usually get thrown onto the sidelines, but those who work their way up through legitimate ranks of our political structure, who can become and influence the elites, will have more success. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this belief, its how our society functions.
I totally agree with you that the more the government gets involved in its citizens’ lives, the more freedom the citizenry surrenders. However, was the freedom really taken, or given up?
I label your Hub as gossip simply because it does not effectively make a case against the President other than trying to tie him to groups who have made huge mistakes and have acted outlandishly. I rather you analyze the policies he has supported, helped put into place, and what he’s currently working on as President.
Before we get into socialism again, I would like to state that I think most people, even liberals (which I feel you have classified me with), do not adhere to Marxism or view communism as a viable solution to social strife.
Maybe you’ve been talking to too many high college students or old school academics (kidding here). I think Karl Marx did an excellent job analyzing the inner workings of Capitalism. Communism was more of his utopia, and his historical views on the progression of civilization, including class conflict, are lacking.
This is a huge simplification, but during most of Western history, and much of Eastern for that matter, there have been the elites, and the ones who serve the elites. Whether those elites be warmongers, aristocrats, kings, nobles, what have you. Capitalism is quite the same - we just have way more individual freedom thanks to our form of government, and a much higher standard of living than our predecessors. I will expand more on this as I get to each point of yours.
I am sure you are intelligent enough not to equate your own experiences with the experiences of the masses. There are plenty of people who cannot get treatment for curable illnesses because they do not have coverage and thousands of them die each year as a result. That rate in the US is higher than any other industrialized nation and on par with third world countries. If they do seek emergency services, many of them still owe the tab. More Americans than any of our developed counterparts go into bankruptcy as a result of medical treatment. Doctors have a moral obligation to treat yes, but they don’t always get the final say, or set the prices, or witness the final outcome.
While welfare might help perpetuate single-motherhood for many, its goal was originally to close the gap and help those in exceptional circumstances. Americans ruined the system. Why shouldn’t the collective work to improve the lives of its citizens if in return those citizens will better contribute to society? Now the welfare system is so ineffective and there are so many social factors working against it, it has little hope.
The educational system is brought down by many factors outside of the surrounding population’s deep rooted issues, including a curriculum that does not prepare students for the real world, but I would not go so far as to blame the teacher’s union or the system being too PC. People aren’t able to learn math because the schools are too worried about kids’ feelings? What do you suggest? Teachers yell at their students? Insult them? Torture them?
While private industry does fund a huge chunk of research and development, so does the government through universities, and so then do the tax payers.
College was always unaffordable, a system designed mostly for the rich. It wasn’t until public universities emerged that this level of education became more accessible to the masses.
You put way too much faith in the rich my friend, way too much. Not that I trust government that much more, but at least it’s accountable somewhat to the people. Who are companies accountable to? Shareholders? The wealthy? Itself, basically.
And speaking about terrible managers, so are the Ivy League educated CEO’s and leaders on Wall Street. Yet we spent more money bailing out these guys, who really run the government anyway, so I guess they bailed themselves out, than we have on the total cost of welfare for decades.
This is funny, I have to concede here… I was trying to do the numbers for Walmart, accounting for their sales, number of employees, average gross pay, etc… and I admit, even they could not afford to double their employee’s pay. In fact, if every employee worked full-time as a sales associate making roughly 20k per year, Walmart would go deep in the red lol. But, I still believe that employers could pay their employees more than they do. Why should a business owner make millions while some employees barely make 20k? Even 40k? Obviously someone else is getting a better end of the deal. The fact the employer has more risk isn’t enough for that disparity.
And everyone can’t just become better skilled and educated. There will always be lower end jobs that need to be filled.
We live in a global economy, even if Americans won’t work for less, others will. That’s Michigan, it’s outsourcing. It’s America as a whole becoming the aristocrats while we let poorer countries supply the serfs. In the meantime, we let the gap between the rich and the poor expand wider and wider, throwing most of the middle into the bottom.
I agree there’s great chance for mobility, but not everyone has an equal chance, and many start much closer to the finishing line. Some are born into circumstances so dire they eventually give up. This is a case of human will, but the choices people make are not black or white or 50/50.
As for the great success… no one succeeds on their own or fails on their own. If I succeed, it is because of a culmination of factors
As for the great success… no one succeeds on their own or fails on their own. If I succeed, it is because of a culmination of factors including other people. If charity really worked, the government wouldn’t have needed to get involved in the first place. Remember, government keeps growing, not shrinking. It’s trying to fill gaps that were already made.
What’s funny about these debates, and even debates between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, is that both sides see the same problems. Both sides point out different causes and so come up with different solutions. I think all the causes are legitimate, I’m not so sure about all the solutions ?
I still believe the biggest problem is our culture and our people. A democracy is only as good as its people and if the country is failing, it’s because its people have failed it.
Many more homogenous countries, like those in Europe, with a greater sense of unity, have chosen socialism for the greater good. To take care of the basic needs of all their people. Being in the same league with modern nations, the US seems to stand alone with believing we should not do the same.
When the rich and powerful refuse to regard the people of lesser privilege with respect and allow them to live in levels of destitution, that’s when a body more powerful than the rich must step in to mediate. For awhile, unions took up the torch, working as a collective to negotiate. In the US, this system has failed. Now people rely on the government, and it is failing.
In Europe though, many unions do benefit the masses, and the government stepping up and stepping in has tried to break somewhat with history, the continuing cycle of elite and servant. I don’t think this cycle will ever go away, it just switches hands over time and begins to become more interconnected through globalization.
So, I do agree with you that less government involvement would be a good thing, lower taxes would be a good thing, more personal responsibility and accountability would be a good thing. But on the same token, more responsibility and accountability on the part of the wealthy and powerful, including better wages, also is needed. And, being redundant here, our culture, American culture, needs to drag itself out of the trenches. We’re tearing ourselves down with too much greed, too much individualism, too much materialism, too much apathy, lack of responsibility, and too much faith in our government, with very little in ourselves.
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country…
How about even just asking what you can do for yourself?
Is it just me, or does Soros look like Rodney Dangerfield?
A little lol
I have no problem with Mr Obama not being a Christian, but with non-Christian politicians who pose as Christians to get elected.
Apropos separation of church and state, does this quote sound familiar?
"Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life."
Richard Dawkins? Bertrand Russell? Karl Marx?
No, it was Lord Melbourne (1779-1848) former Prime Minister of Great Britain, lamenting over the 'political interference' of Christian reformers like William Wilberforce, in trying to abolish slavery, which Lord Melbourne approved of.
It's a funny old world, but the United States is not a free republic despite Christianity but because of it.
The world's first putative democracy was ancient Athens, but that is another Greek myth because only citizens could vote. Excluded were women, slaves and anyone whose parents were not born in Athens. What the Athenians did give us, however, was an interesting word in the English language. Such democracy as they did enjoy they jealously guarded to the extent of considering participation in the democratic process and voting as not just a right but a duty.
For this reason, Athenians considered those who did not participate in their democracy when they could do so as selfish. The Greek for 'self' is 'id', so they coined a term for the democratic non-participant: 'idiotes' - from which we get 'idiot'.
thegecko— I do not agree with what you wrote about Obama's plans for an internal army. The militia was for foreign enemies. Obama's internal army is to control American citizens. Big dif.
I also respectfully disagree about the good intentions for these organizations. As the undercover tapes of ACORN workers from numerous cities shows, they exist to "game" the system; to find the loopholes; to rob the taxpayer.
Regarding Alinsky: you see nothing wrong with a Communist subverting our nation through methodical lying in imitation of Lucifer?
Freedom has been both taken and given up.
The policies Obama has supported? He supported giving eight billion dollars to ACORN out of the stimulus money. Let's see, he has increased the money in circulation from $800 Billion to $1.2 Trillion. Just printing money like crazy is a cheap and dangerous way out of serious problems, largely caused by the Community Reinvestment Act he fought for.
I am very familiar with the masses. I have oodles of friends and family members from every strata. And I do know what they go through, especially back in Michigan right now. I am in favor of eliminating the reporting of medical bills to credit bureaus so people aren't ruined because of illness.
Teachers could teach instead of having kids learn songs glorifying Obama for one.
I was strongly opposed to the bailout of Wall Street.
Why should a business owner make millions? For their achievements. Why should actors and ballplayers and singers make millions?
Thank you for your comments. Your views are well articulated. You are a fine writer.
thegecko— Charity did work before the Income Tax Amendment. Europe is dying. Their demographics point to an eventual end of their entire continent. Let's not follow their lead. They have only survived financially because we provided their defense for 60 years. Our culture is in pitiful shape. Our people are fat and lazy. I know a girl who bragged to me she was going to get lifelong Disability from taxpayers because one leg is shorter than the other. She never plans to work. She is 23 years old.
C. J. Wright— Maybe so. I had not noticed.
Allan McGregor— Boy, you are the best. You made me laugh out loud with your comments. I always look forward to reading what you have to say. You have to be the sharpest man on HubPages. Thanks.
thegecko— I do appreciate the interesting conversation. Thanks for coming by.
I enjoyed it too (though it made me miss watching 2 episodes of the West Wing!) =D
McGregor - does that mean that it would be ironic for me to call someone who voted George W Bush, an idiot?
I wanted to add, Mr. Watkins, if you did not already see, we actially agree on many of the problems eating America from the inside out, including people being proud they can live off the government - essentially, living off the rest of us. That is not something to be proudful of, but just outright shameful. Truly ironic.
thegecko— I'm sorry you missed your program. But I'm glad you paid your visit.
We literally can't afford Obama! He wants to take control of healthcare just like Medicade and Medicare. What are those programs THAT ARE RUNNED BY THE GOVERNMENT doing? Going broke and that's where Government run healthcare will go too. We must stand up for liberty and freedom and oppose this bill!
thegecko— I do believe we are in agreement about many of the problems we face. I appreciate your finely developed ability to articulate your positions. Thank you for your words.
johnb0127— Hey, John! It's nice to hear from you again. I could not agree with every word you said more than I do. Thank you for your observations.
No, Mr lizard, it wouldn't be ironic but it might be sarcastic (:D) A vote is a vote, and that is democreatic participation. Even most of the Germans who voted for Hitler had good intentions, like many who have voted for Mr Obama.
The key as always is not America or Britan, but the Middle East. Keep an eye on Israel...and Afghanistan. If the Taliban win there they will have a solid foothold in Pakistan - India's co-nuclear power in the region. Once the Taliban have Afghanistan, they will share their nuclear capability with their friends in Al Qaeda and Iran.
Oh, and maybe you're not old enough to remember this but 'nasty old America' has interfered on two or three occasions in the region to calm the historical animosties between Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, which brought these two populous nations uncomfortably close to the brink of nuclear war in the 1970s and 80s.
Allan McGregor— Help Mr. Lizard! There is no question that the United States has been the greatest force for good in the world and those Americans who hate her ought to hit the road. Their schtick is wearing thin.
James --- I appriciate your collection of important information in this hub for what it presents and that we are unlikely to find easily anywhere else on our own all in one place.Those who control the Democrats and Republicans are attemping to control not only our society but the world as well.It' s like a battle between two sides of the same team in many respects.The "liberal" Democrats infuriating the Republican conservatives ,and the "liberal" Republicans giving their friends "wellfare" IE "bailouts for the rich.I would like to remind everyone reading this "A fool and his money are soon parted" We must remember it was American capitalists who funded the russian revolution which brought about the communist party and the U.S.S.R.The nazi party and Hitler was also funded by American capitalists who wanted world domination by them rather than the communists.
If,it wasn't for raising capital this country would not have been able to fund much of anything to speak of.On the other hand "CAPITALISM" as it's practiced is not under the control of the people who even invest in it,unless they have a controlling share.This practice of those who have being given more IE "TOTAL control is tantamount to a dictatorship.These kind of capitalists are in reality dictators that use other peoples money to their unfair advantage.Why is it they don't just use their own money for whatever purpose they intend for it,rather than using this practice of involving others and yet give them no say in what is to be done,with it.But,I regress as has already been said -"A fool and his money are soon parted"
As for inheritance ,it's a no-brainer.Who would voluntarily give up an inheritance.Yet,the fact is ,if you personally had no "DIRECT" hand in the earning of that money you are no different than anyone else in society who may have had a hand in the production of that wealth though it may be indirect.
Remember many people have been provided with retirement benefits as a result of their direct participation in the productivity of the corporation or company they worked for,and some who have been denied due benefits for whatever reason.As you said history is full of Kings who left inheritances ,which built up over time and caused them to be seen as deserving of that inheritance,but those who indirectly helped to produce that inhertiance most likey got nothing in their retirement,and did not recieve fair amount for their work.Thus the rise of unions.A construct of not only liberals ,but conservatives as well.
The idea of a commonwealth has merit as no man is an island,and cannot do anything on his own.
It's only right that a man's family deserves to live in the manor to which they are accustomed be it rich or poor or middleclass each according to their present economic status at the time of their husband,wife,mother,father,etc's death each of whom are legally related to the desceased by birth or adoption.But being so related should not be justification for sole poccession by one or more family members alone ,but the commonwealth as a whole.as well,with the provision of helping those in need who can't help themselves as well as those who are willing and able to help themselves.without making them dependent on the public dole for life,like training for work that is needed.Society is not perfect,even our economic system is not perfect.Greed is still alive and kicking.Our ideas of fairness are not perfect either.All one need do is look at our tax system for inconsistancies and unfairness.In short we are not perfect and by virtue of this fact we do not know what is perfect,even if we have a good idea of what is not.We don't know what will happen in 2012 electionwise or otherwise.According to some there may not be an election.
Hxprof may I assume that the scripture your alluding to has the words "Obomination of desolation" in it? Lest people forget it also says that in the end times that those who do not take the mark of the beast will not be able to buy or sell wheather they be rich or poor ,free or bond.
I've recently read the statement that "God will work with us ,but not for us."
We all have to do our part,if we want to be saved.In this respect I'm with Dancing redfeather.
It seems fox news is a republican controlled news outlet.
The consitution says that the government will make no law with respect to religion and the free exercise thereof. The intention may have been to keep religion free of state interference,but you would think it would also be incumbant of religon from interfering with the government directly also.The clause does not mean that religions can't be partisan toward governments,,just that governments can't be partisan toward religions.
James your comment concerning peacniks is interesting ,since that's what the u.s.military claims to be doing ,keeping the peace since the military does not want to be seen as war mongering.The U.N. says it believes in peace too,and they have their own military I can't help be remember Kissenger's statement to the U.N. about the American people being outraged by a U.N. military force in the u.s. He said quote "They will be grateful for the U.N. military force when a foreign nation is invading their shores.
James you have to admit that the stimulus package was promoted as being for the purpose of stimulating the economy even if that was a lie.
Allan Mcgregor --- The only time the presedent can be commander in chief of the armed forces is if we are under marshall law ,which just may be the case since the American civil war and we are unitedstates "corporate" citizens all willing to take the mark of the beast.The beast being a world run by a corporatocracy; called the beast in revalations.I agree with you America's greatness was because of christian beliefs,not Roman Catholic's alone,but protestants as well.I loved your comments about how the word idiot came about.I happen to agree with the Athenians,as well as our founding fathers with their Electorial College Delegates that represent those who have a fundimental understanding of government to cast their ballots for president rather than the system we have now where people can vote based on how popular a persons personality is.Though picking the people to run is the more important task.
thegecko---- when you say that the president can't write the laws,you may be deciving yourself,as he has any number of czars who can and do influence what laws are written.You also say that the president cannot force the hands of the law makers.But that hasn't stopped him from trying to use certain groups like aarp to influence congress.As for the right to bear arms,the constitution states that any rights not enumerated by it are reserved to the people or the states and that's why colorado has so many people who have weapons for self protection.
James A. Watkins, I wrote two hubpages concerning the $787 billion Economic Package and on Tax Havens for the rich courtey of Forbes magazine. The $787 Economic Stimulus bill was passed into law in February of 2009. President Obama took public office January of 2009. There is no way that the Senate and the House of Representatives would let a group called ACORN influence a major stimulant bill that had the purpose of getting the American economy back to recovery. The economy is not out of the recession because of the $787 Economic Stimulus Package.
Obama Nation should have been subtitled, Acorn. Surely, you do not think that Obama was influenced by the people and organizations listed in Obama Nation. Does Birth of a Nation come to mind?
The United States government has check and balances in place so that the president is not running the country on his own agenda. I doubt that Obama used these organizations to get program passed through Congress.
President Obama spent most of his career teaching and organizing poor neighborhoods in Chicago and New York. Why would he divert? I think that a lot of men of Obama's age are not secure in themselves and think that he is a "nice family guy" but wonder how did he get to run the country?
Then they surmise that he must be taking orders from some underground organizations. I suggest that these men of means who can afford lavish trips to confirm their faith, do more research before printing such an articles as this.
As one of the other commenters asked: What are you accusing President Obama of?
Interesting points someonewhoknows. The President's position has fluctuated a little over two centuries, but essentially evolved from being modelled on George III, as British kings still wielded a lot more power in the 18th century than they do today.
George Washington was one of the only two '6-star generals' the US has ever had. I think the other was Pershing in WWI. In Britain we call a 5-star general 'Field Marshal', which was the rank held by Montgomery on 'D-Day', while the man in overall charge was Eisenhower whose 5-star rank carried the title 'General of the Army'. Washington and Pershing, as de facto 6-star generals, held the even higher title of 'General of the Armies'. I wonder if those precedents make the President a 6-star general today?
Checks and balances, lindagoffigan? - only if the legislature reads the Bills it is asked to vote on. The sheer size of such documents nowadays almost makes them 'paper filibusters', intended not some much to obstruct legislation per se, as to impede close examination thereof.
Legislation so passed readily lends itself to the 'law of unintended consequences', and I susupect you'll end up with a system like ours which many call a Parliamentary Dictatorship, because once a law is enacted it is of little consequence that fools voted for it. Think of Hitler's Enabling Act, which he pushed through the Reichstag and then used to abolish democracy. And don't rely on the judiciary. They have already exceeded their Constitutional mandate in claiming equality with the elected branches, and what they have fraudulently arrogated can be taken back from them again if the 'right crisis' emerges, which is beginning to look more and more likely.
If you're looking for a State of Emergency, wait and see. The dreadful shootings in Texas this week have a curious parallel with the killing of five British soldiers a few days earlier by an Afghan policeman they were training.
I think Obama will be sweating over the wider implications of what we are witnessing right now. In Britain we call it 'Homegrown Terrorism', such as we saw in the '7/7' attacks in London a few years ago.
As I said before, if Afghanistan falls to the Taliban and Pakistan's nuclear weapons find their way to Iran, we may look back with fondness at 1973, when oil prices 'only' rose by 2000%. We're already used to paying over $10-a-gallon for petrol in Britain, but how do you suppose Americans will like it if gasolene rockets to $50-a-gallon overnight?
Allan McGregor --If gasoline goes up even a dollar a gallon ,that would make it econoomocally vuerable to alternative energy replacements such as ethanol.etc...
That's great. So, America could just convert to ethanol-fuelled transport overnight. Nothing to worry about from Iran, then.
I suspect it might take more than thirty seconds to build enough windmills and grow enough bio-fuel crops to satisfy America's needs. But it would take less than a sixtieth of that amount of time for Iran's President Ahmadinajad to 'push the button' so to speak. Had Hitler done the decent thing and warned Neville Chamberlain of the Wehrmacht's itinerary, Britain's army might not have had to evacuate France at Dunkirk in 1940. And the Bliztkrieg took a lot longer than a nuclear strike on Jerusalem or Tel Aviv would.
I remember the petrol queues and closed petrol stations of 1973, and the British Government printing books of ration cards in reaction to the instant effects of Arab anger at that time. I remember the electricity blackouts, reading by candle light, and cooking on primus stoves in those days as the Left took advantage of Britain's reliance on home produced fuel in the aftermath of the Arab Oil Crisis.
I recall something very similar much more recently in the Ukraine when Russia cut off their gas supplies.
America has huge fuel reserves, but more than 'nipping out the back with a bucket and spade' would be required to tap into them. Why do you suppose there is such a clamour to halt the exploration and exploitation of new reserves, in the name of the Green agenda?
In the now well-worn words of George Santyana: 'Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it'.
I've been there, I've seen it, and remember the watershed of 1973, and the change of paradigm it forced upon those who in the 1960s had complained of the expense when petrol was 22 pence a gallon. That's about 5p a litre, or a hundred times less than it costs today.
someonewhoknows— I apologize for getting back to you tardily. I have been away for a couple days to a "Men at the Cross" event in Jacksonville. Quite wonderful.
Thank you for your appreciation. I am curious what Americans funded the Russian Revolution. This is new information to me.
I very much like this quote from you, "In short we are not perfect and by virtue of this fact we do not know what is perfect,even if we have a good idea of what is not."
All in all, your comments contain much wisdom and I appreciate you adding them to this thread. Thanks for reading and participating.
lindagoffigan— It is an honor to receive a visit from you, a highly esteemed Hubber. Thank you for coming by and for your commentary.
I most certainly do think the President has been influenced by the organizations listed here. He worked for ACORN and said in a speech last year: "I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues that you care about my entire career."
He has invited the head of the SEIU to the White House 22 times—more than any other human being. I, for instance, have not been invited once, so you could say he is not influenced by me.
The President invited the Apollo Alliance to draft legislation. All of these groups are funded by Soros and the Tides Foundation. There is no question about this.
He studied Saul Alinsky, taught Saul Alinsky, and put his ideas into practice.
"men of means who can afford lavish trips?" I cannot afford lavish trips. A benefactor paid my way 100%.
I did research this article for days for publishing it. I don't view my article as accusatory but as educational protest. I say he is influenced heavily by subversive, anti-Capitalist, anti-The American Way people and organizations.
Allan McGregor— Welcome back my wise friend. I roundly applaud these remarks that you made above:
"Checks and balances - only if the legislature reads the Bills it is asked to vote on. The sheer size of such documents nowadays almost makes them 'paper filibusters', intended not some much to obstruct legislation per se, as to impede close examination thereof.
Legislation so passed readily lends itself to the 'law of unintended consequences'"
Thank you very much for all your comments. Well said.
someonewhoknows— Thank you for coming back and sharing your thoughts with us.
Allan McGregor— The "Green Agenda" strikes me as insidious. I always look forward to your wisdom, displayed in spades in this thread. Thank you very much. We need your voice here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXq-N7239yU&feature
Alan McGregor--- Could it be that our money worth a hundred times less than it used to be rather than fuel being worth a hundred times more?
The initial argument in your post is that wealth redistribution means "the seizure of property, wealth and income from individuals who have earned it, so it may be transferred to others who have not." This argument is fundamentally false in several ways.
Taxation is the redistribution of wealth from individuals to the government for civil purposes. It is quite possibly THE defining characteristic of what we call Civil Society. If tax revenue was somewhat higher than today, and the allocation of that revenue better directed toward civil improvements, we would not have Interstate bridges sliding into the Mississippi River, we would not be conceding the Moon, and the technological developments necessary to get and stay there to China, our education system would still be the envy of the world, and our scores on basic health measures would be at or near the top of the industrialized world instead of at the bottom.
Secondly, changes in tax law do not take money away from those who have "earned" it to "give" to those who have not. Instead, usury protection and health care availability allow those who have truly "earned" their money to keep more of it. Those who make their salaries through predation on the working and middle classes will see a reduction in cash flow. Poor babies.
Changes in tax codes, as well as policies of the Treasury and Federal Reserve have provided incentives to American companies to move jobs offshore, eliminate R&D, and minimize the amount of cash in the corporation by radically increasing executive pay and bonuses. All of which is to the detriment of the shareholders, as well as the country at large.
Reversing those changes and policies will incentivize companies to keep and create jobs at home, keep more cash within the company for R&D, Customer Service, etc., and re-align executive compensation to more appropriate levels.
Your basic primary argument is false. All of your panic mongering about government control is similarly false. Nothing in the Democratic platform hints of increased government control of citizens, and none of it compares at all with the Patriot Act (and even more heinous legislation that was proposed but never sent to the floor for debate) during the Bush Administration.
Right on the money FFrankbb....it's all scary costuming to cover up the real truth, that all the whining and fear mongering, and scare taitics, and radio blathering heads are not worried about Obama's government controlling them , they simply want to regain what they've lost, and re-control the government come mid-term election and 2012. They are sore losers in the worst way, so they make the winners out to be losers, by fabricating lies, and racist undertones, and prophecies, and projections, screaming the sky is falling as the Fox is let loose in the chicken house. If one spends just an hour listening to Fox news, one can see the absoulute ridiculousness of it all.
Their time is coming, their backstabbing of our nation, our president, our belief in truth and justice and compassion, will come back with a massive blow right between their own shoulderblades, as the Republican party goes the way of the whip party......totally whipped out of existence by their own betrayals perpetuated on the masses. Then we will dance on the grave of what was a useless ideology buried in a landfill of their own polluted ways. Thanks for a realistic and true statement in this long list of B movie projectionists who leave us reeling under the bright glare of their dismal future for us all, just because they are not in Power!!
It's nice to see some recent intelligent comments on this thread. ffrank, excellent information.
someonewhoknows— Thank you for providing that fine link. We can never be too educated.
ffrankbb— I very much you sharing the social liberal mindset with us today.
Technically, the theory of Redistribution of Wealth pertains specifically to taking money from some people to give to others. Taking money from everybody for infrastructure is a separate issue and one that most folks do not object to, in the abstract.
I agree with you, that the very premise of "soak the rich" causes wealth to flee the country—all the more to recognize the self-defeating result of this practice.
To assert that the failure of our educational system is a lack of money is ludicrous. We spend more per pupil than any other country. It is our educational methods and cultural shortfalls that cause us to dumbdown kids.
Who do you personally know who was affected by the Patriot Act? NOBODY! That is a load of horse shit.
Nothing about the government taking control of 17% of our entire national economy increases governmental control? WTF!
MFB III— You are full of horse shit, too, my friend. Oh no, printing $400B of phony money and surrounding the President with radical Marxists is no concern at all. All that those in the opposition think about is his sepia skin tone. Fox News is the only network that is not under direct control of the government, you half-wit. You tell me ONE fact reported on FOX that is not true. I'm waiting . . .
It has nothing to do with power. It has to do with you being under the control of Satan. You with the evil heart. You.
rebekahELLE— Thank you for tuning in and leaving your comments. I do appreciate it.
Horse shit is actually a pretty profitable enterprise http://www.gardenclever.com/blended-horse-manure-i
Let us remember, banks other companies have asked the government to take control of their finances, some have even begged multiple times (GM *cough*). It's not like the government is this evil communist force trying to buy up the private sector, or desired to. They're not even doing it with tax dollars, they're doing it with borrowed foreign money for the most part (thanks China!). It’s just our tax dollars will pick up the tab if the plan goes south. So if anything, maybe you should be more concerned that other countries will be soon owning us and our government. Or to more closely equate to your previous statement, this deficit spending and borrowing from foreign aid will allow for those socialist and communist nations to essentially initiate a radically liberal and leftist coup, which will ultimately lead to the destruction of our democracy and great nation lol
Of course, if everything goes as hoped, banks and companies like GM will pay back the federal government, who will in return pay back our foreign lenders. That is, once the economy is booming again. Who knows when that will be…
The government is merely following the lead of its citizenry, borrowing way more money than it can afford, promising to pay it back sometime in the distant future, and hoping it doesn’t go bankrupt o.O
I wonder if a group of countries would ever go to war with the US over debt? People have fought and died for far less… and it doesn’t have to be a bombs and bullets type war, it could be an economic war, or a political war. How long does the US really think it can go, increasing the national debt, and not paying it back? How long does it think China and other countries will continue to invest in us, when in truth, because of our debt, or national growth is merely a smoke screen?
Many of the president’s advisors and staff come from the Clinton administration. An administration that worked closely and relatively well with the Republican controlled congress (no thanks to Newt). Do you really have anything to stand on when you label them Radical Marxists? I have yet to hear anything from anyone in the government that makes me believe they fit into that category and I definitely do not adhere to those beliefs either.
And Fox News isn’t even news, it’s a joke. It’s a Republican propaganda machine. It’s a bunch of hot-headed talk show hosts who don’t even know what journalism is and who love to bash everything down, including their guests, and exaggerate and sensationalize stories (not that MSNBC or CNN do that much better). Most of them, who want to Hannatize the nation (sacrilege?), and yes Sean did say that, blindly follow their conservative doctrine and insult/slander anything that does not fit into their worldview. They demonize liberals, democrats (who I don’t think are the same thing), and anything else breathing who do not adhere to Fox’s beliefs. I should look up the study that found that people who watch Fox News as their source of information about current invents were less informed and actually believed more inaccurate data than people who watched other news stations or got their news elsewhere (from newspapers, online sources, etc). And no, as much as I love the Daily Show, I don’t think that it’s a very valid news source, but a pretty good critique.
But yeah, go buy some horse shit, it’s good for trees and the environment. Go green man, have a blast.
thegecko— I rarely cuss but I have always liked the effect of those two words together. Reminds me of a hammer. :-)
Only 68 pounds. Not bad.
Actually No. Banks nor GM ever asked the government to take them over. They asked for a financial bailout and were told the only way they could get one was with a government takeover. In GM's case, only if the Union was given everything it wanted and everybody else gets screwed. Like the union deserves anything after driving the company into the ground. Good God Almighty!
I was against all the bailouts, including Bush's. The government isn't supposed to follow our lead; they are supposed to lead! Great Googley Moo!
I think we'll just write off the debt to China.
Obama's advisors from the Clinton era are starting to look pretty good to me these days compared to the other bunches of bananas he has brought on board.
Do I have anything to stand on? Just their own words in writing and on videotape. You know, a smear campaign of lies. :-)
Some of the stuff on Fox is over the top but I prefer it to a broadcaster who says the President gives him a thrill up his leg! That's objectivity for you.
Yea, you look up that study and I'll wait . . .
Thanks, man. Its always a pleasure to read your commentaries. And you make sense . . . here and there.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/19/fox-news-viewe
http://people-press.org/report/319/public-knowledg
Though I got to admit, O'Reilly is doing a decent job keeping his viewers informed. I still dislike the guy.
If GM and the banks did not like the arrangement, they should have just collapsed and walked away quietly. I agree, I feel uncomfortable that the Union members will end up owning so much of a company that they played a huge role in taking down. I doubt they are extending those shares to all the thousands laid off due to outsourcing over the past several decades.
I was also against the bailouts and I still am. Government grew too big in the mid to late 90's thinking the surpluses would never run out. They didn't plan ahead, they didn't factor in the inevitable economic cycle, the ups and guaranteed downs. When the economy recessed, they were left with less taxes and a gargantuan infrastructure. Here in California, the voters were given the option to raise taxes to continue to pay for all the government services they love so much. When they voted it down, everyone was shocked that the government cut state jobs across the board. What did they expect? You can’t run in the red forever. Either people were going to up the ante and pay more, or those services would need to be cut back. Too many people want so much, feel that they’re entitled to so much, but they don’t want to have to give anything in return. They can’t even show-up for jury duty every couple of years!
There's really no accuse for politicians to be so short sighted, but that probably has to do with the political make-up itself. When positions run on 4 year cycles, people tend to adapt 4 year tunnel vision. The government setup almost ensures our political leaders will not look too far into the future because it just very well may not be a future they get to lead or control anyway.
rebekahELLE, thank you for the compliment
James A. Watkins, you misunderstand me. Soaking the rich, as you put it, does not force wealth to flee the country. Lowering income taxes on the wealthy reduces tax revenue, encourages boards of directors to raise salaries and bonuses.
The legislative repeal of Steagall - Glass (which kept interest rates and other forms of usury in check) ripped wealth away from the middle and working classes and funneled it directly to the wealthy. This was and continues to be a major contributor to the financial meltdown.
This combination is directly responsible for the redistribution of wealth to the wealthiest 5% over the last twenty years. It needs to be corrected.
To keep wealth in the country all that is necessary is to undo the changes that made this happen. Income taxes should return to about Kennedy-era levels, the Treasury should always offer bonds at 5%, in addition to the current coupons, and the power of the Fed should be greatly cut. These changes will allow the working and middle classes to retain more of their income, reduce their debt levels, and flow more capital into local economies.
Concentration of wealth at the top of any economy does none of these things. Excess concentration of wealth, as we have seen recently, will wreck the economy.
J. A. W. you also asked who do I know who has been directly affected by Patriot. Me. and every other American who has used an airport recently. Every taxpayer seeing hard earned dollars going to misguided NSA and CIA projects. Chicago lost it's Olympic bid partly because of the hassles of traveling in and out of the US. There's billions of dollars that won't be coming here anytime soon, and thousands of jobs lost as a result.
Your point about education expenditures vs. outcomes is well taken. The same situation is true in health care - the US spends twice, per capita, what the next country spends, yet is at the bottom in life expectancy, infantile death, death below age 5, and several other measures. Does lifestyle play a large part? Certainly. Nevertheless, the way in which we direct health expenditures is antagonistic to a realistic improvement in health outcomes.
In education, misdirection of funds is also a big problem, but so is funding. Every district in my state is seeing huge cuts in education funding. We are simply not walking the talk that our kids are our future. Singapore, for Gods' sake, has almost 100% in home internet access for education.
Thegecko: If James A Watson can use such uneducational terms in the debate such as hs and wtf; I shall borrow one line from your response that I liked more than the article
actually and here it is: Many of the president’s advisors and staff come from the Clinton administration
Now back to the subjective nature of relationships where everyone surprisingly has kept a clean mouth on such a scruptulous subject. James A. Watson, no need for you to read the Forbe magazine article and I appreciate being labelled, an esteemed hubber but then things sort of went down hill with the terminology. Thegecko, thank you for the bailout, I needed it.
thegecko— I bookmarked those links but I haven't read them yet. When I do, I'll add another comment here. Thanks for providing them for me.
You are in California? Oh Lord: you are in trouble. I hear your state government has a plan to snatch your earnings from your paychecks out there.
Not showing up for jury duty irks me.
The rest of your comments are level-headed and sensible. Thanks for making them here.
ffrankbb— Soaking the rich does not cause wealth to flee the country? You could have fooled me. In a global economy with many tax havens, I believe it is well proven by now that it does. I might suggest the book "The Fair Tax" which though it is not my philosophy does provide a real education as to why soaking the rich never pays off.
The last "soak the rich scheme" by the Clintons was a luxury tax that ruined the entire yacht building industry in America. Check it out and you'll see that what I say is true.
What wrecks the economy is paying sloths who produce absolutely nothing toward the Commonweal.
ffrankbb— Among the most wealthy Americans are Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg. Are you saying they have ripped away money from the poor and funneled it to themselves? You can limit their wealth by not watching their TV show, movie or golf tournament.
You claim we have been redistributing wealth the wealthy? I think that is called earnings. And the income gap is about the same today as it was in 1989:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/papers
The deal is this, invent a frisbee, or microwave, or Jiffy Pop, or Windows, or whatever and you'll be rich. The carrot of riches upon success is what has made America a wealthy nation, what set us apart, standard of living wise. It made all Americans better off. Some far better than others yes. But when you level out the rewards, incentive goes down, people get lazy, the economy stagnates, it is bad for everybody. See the USSR 1917-1989 for proof.
lindagoffigan— I apologize for the delayed response. I have had a hectic few days. OK. I probably shouldn't have used those terms. I thought it might make y'all feel comfortable since those terms are—by all accounts—used in the present White House routinely and far worse words, too. Rahm Emmanuel is well known to punctuate his sentences with the F Bomb. Since you seem offended by me following the lead of my President, I am sorry.
Lindagoffigan— I had read your article about Forbes before if it the same one you published 4 months ago. If you have a newer one please provide the link and I'll be pleased to read it.
An overwhelming majority of the wealth and money exists at the top, with the rich. It only makes sense to tax them at a higher percent if the government needs more money because taxing the poor more brings in little revenue and could be detrimental to their livelihood. As for the middle class, it can put a dent in their pockets too, where as the rich won't feel the pinch as much. People should be aware though that the poor get a lot of their taxes back, especially if they earn a very low income. Also, a huge chunk of that money goes into social security and medicare, which someday will support the tax payer to an extent (if those two programs don’t collapse in the near future).
And so, we have a tax system that increases in percent the more income one makes. This is actually fair compared to an equal percentage for each income bracket, in so much as how it affects the socioeconomic well being of the tax payer. The tax code also allows for a lot of deductions, especially when you start factoring in charity, property, business, etc. and these deductions work in the rich's favor.
Now, there are some ridiculous taxes for sure aimed at the wealthy, most notably the estate tax and the gift tax. In the long run, these taxes really hurt those with less money as well. Middle class families have to sell their recently deceased parents' homes because they cannot afford to pay the inheritance tax on the house's current value. Bogus. Why should someone have to give 40% of their inheritance to the government when their grandfather dies?
In California, we have property taxes, income taxes, sales taxes, taxes on gasoline, we even have a recycling tax. Come down here and pick up an HDTV and pay 50 bucks extra because it's made out of plastic! That's just going too far. It's already more expensive to live here and the income increase does not account for the increase in the cost of living. But that's the price I am willing to pay, I love San Diego too much :)
In regards to celebrities, Tiger Woods isn’t directly making money off of anyone, it’s all coming from commercials and the tournament winnings. You really need to target Wheaties and Buick if you want to burn a hole in his pocket. Same goes for professional athletes. Actors , film makers, and musicians, that’s another story. But I think the Internet has already started to level the playing field for these guys. People are fed up paying over inflated prices for DVDs and CDs, so they’re downloading them for free, or at the very least, streaming them. Movie theatre attendance is down too, you can tell by the huge price increases in concessions and tickets. Don’t be fooled by the box office numbers, ticket prices are 3 times as much as they were 20 years ago, and the population has grown greatly since then.
Now, people should not be disillusioned by focusing on the entertainment industry. When it comes to necessities, like electricity, water, food, gas, people have less power than economists would lead one to believe. Even if people reduce their consumption, they still have to pay something for these services and commodities, which gives these industries a huge leverage in pricing.
Going back to jobs, yes, people can educate themselves, people can learn new skills, people can try to move up the ranks. But how many do? How many remain at the bottom? Many of the average high school drop at rates hang around 50%. In California, only about 30% of graduates even go to college. Of those, almost a majority drop out, and only about 25% of people who do finish use their degree in a field it was intended for. Way more people are living in the bottom tier of society. Businesses can easily manipulate the market in regards to the poor, because when one is poor, any money is better than no money, and minimum wage gets most people nowhere.
You can argue that well, if people did not have families etc, minimum wage would actually be okay. Both parents can work after all. People can work two jobs. But that leaves children with a parentless household and creates many of the problems inherent in the lower classes today.
This is a matter of personal responsibility and accountability. You can easily map out a plan to survive this situation and make a better life for oneself. The reality is though that growing up in these circumstances, many people give up, many people develop resentful attitudes, many people do not develop a strong sense of will and self worth. It’s a complex social and cultural dilemma, poisoning the country. Welfare and public education are aimed at fixing the problems, but they’re huge failures in that regard. People could rise up as James suggested, but most will not because they’re stuck, mentally, physically, economically, at the bottom. This is where radical social change needs to happen.
But it won’t… Americans are too individualistic, America is too diverse and divided, lacking a true sense of solidarity. History also suggest otherwise. Most countries host social stratification with a privileged few at the top, and a majority of the masses at the bottom. It’s not inevitable, but I don’t see it changing in our country. It might change for a few because yes, the mobility exists, but it won’t change for the majority. Studies show it’s actually working in the other direction, with less being in the top tier, and more falling into the bottom.
What does that say about the future of our country - about the social and cultural fabric of America? The ramifications are great. That’s why there is pressure for the government to step in, to try and fix some of these problems. I don’t think it will be enough.
Now, I too believe in playing fair and though I think the rich should be obligated to cash over more in taxes, I don’t think that money should go to waste. That’s the real issue, the government wastes money, and the problems it faces also makes it difficult for the money spent to really cause an impact, to really provide a solution. As I stated before, the real change needs to come from within, from the people. We need to change and when we do the government will be in a better position to help the process. But right now, I feel as though the people and government don’t really want to fix the deep rooted problems. They just like the status quo and are working on keeping that in place (bailouts).
thegecko— In studies of income mobility, less than 3% of Americans are stuck in the bottom 20% of income. We know who they are. The girl who has four kids by four daddies, none of which she married, some of whom she may not be sure which man it is or know their names; who dropped out of school in the 10th grade, never learned a thing, can hardly read, can't multiply; has no ambition for anything except a government check and some Cheetos. The other 97% are temporarily in the bottom quintile—kids with entry level jobs; housewives and students who work part-time; seniors (who may have money or assets besides their paychecks).
Of the top 20% only 35% are still there after ten years. 65% have dropped down to make room for others; 2/3 of those dropped to the middle of the pack of worse. The vast majority of the top 1% are gone within 10 years.
The notion of a fixed economic class is a mirage fixated on by Liberals. I spent years at the bottom. I was a musician—by choice—and in that bottom quintile for a decade. I have no income now. I was in the top quintile one year ago today. Because I owned my own business, I do not qualify for unemployment. When my business of 14 years with 150 employees went under in February, I lost all my funds. That's the breaks.
I would be in favor of a national sales tax. No more IRS, no more loopholes for the rich, no more billions spent to prepare tax returns, no more sense in hiding money off shore, saving encouraged, the states are set up to collect it, they are experts at it. I believe this would be a real boon to our economy.
I agree with your point about the inheritance tax. Many family farms have been lost forever because of this.
I only mentioned entertainers and athletes because I hear constant bellyaching that some guy running a Fortune 500 company is making $15M a year but the same people utter nary a peep about AROD making $28M a year; Oprah making $80M a year; hell, Will Ferrell made $43M last year. This anti-CEO thing is a Liberal battle cry that is not well thought through. If CEO pay is too high, go be the CEO! You aren't able? Well, that's why she is the CEO and you ain't.
Whose fault is it if some numbnuts doesn't pay attention in school, drops out, never learns any skills, doesn't use the library, and then whines about how unfair "the Man" is?
America had much more solidarity before multi-culturalism and anti-Americanism permeated our schools through the radical leftist teacher's union. They never met a serial killer who wasn't misunderstood and mistreated by society.
You hit on the facts about the incredible waste in our government. The bigger it gets the more it wastes. By all means, let's make it huge and in charge of everything.
Thanks for your great commentary.
I will add that the peak of wealth disparity in the history of the United States was 1916 to 1929. We are not close to those levels.
Even by your stats, sounds like too many people are falling down.
A national sales tax would be an interesting experiement. I would support it as long as taxes on necessities were kept low and taxes on luxuries high.
thegecko— Thank you for your response. I have enjoyed our conversation. Now that we've solved the problems of the United States, what are we going to do about the rest of the world?
Please. Household income in the US has been flat to declining for average workers and increasing for the top earners for over 20 years.
Your Tiger, Oprah, Spielberg argument is a classic example of using the exception to prove the rule when in fact the exceptions are just that.
The US used to have a very high success rate for start up businesses. No more. In fact the US has a smaller percentage of small, start-up and family owned businesses than any European country, Japan or China. The US also has the highest failure rate of start-ups and small businesses amongst the countries listed.
A significant part of the movement of wealth away from working and middle class families to the richest is the direct result of the repeal of Steagall - Glass and the subsequent hikes in interest rates and charges, hidden fees, and various financing charges throughout the financial industry. This can hardly be call "earnings."
It is a squeeze upon those who can least afford it, draining cash from those who actually work for a living creating real wealth - manufacturing, mining, agriculture - and putting it in the hands of those who only use their money and influence to create a legislative effort that puts cash in their pockets for free.
ffrankbb— Umm . . . you are saying you have better statistics than the Federal Reserve? I would like to see those. I wasn't trying to prove anything other than many of the wealthiest people in this country are celebrities and I don't hear any complaints about their wealth, probably because most of them are liberals and it may not be nice to criticize one's own.
You are dead on that small business—an area of which I am well acquainted—is taking it on the chin. A big reason for this is over-regulation. The big corporations favor Democrats because they know the little guy can't keep up with all the regulatory bulletins from the EPA, EEOC, NLRB, OSHA, et al.
I agree with you that charges from financial institutions are way out of hand and need to be curtailed. That is an excellent point that I forgot to acknowledge earlier.
Thank you for your fine comments. Your heart is surely in the right place.
The rest of the world? That's in the hands of the Gods =D
thegecko— Yes. I suppose it is. ;)
Very informative blog. Aside from the many unaccountable czars and Acorn, it is disturbing how in such a short amount of time the government has taken control of the industries in the U.S one by one (banking, automobile, health), and Congress just completely fails to realize that at least half the country is against this. I honestly think they will pay for it in the next election. I didn't vote for Obama, but after he was elected was willing to give him a chance. That lasted like a week.
MHilbert— Thank you. Welcome to HubPages. I see you are a librarian. I think that would be a fascinating line of work. I have about 1000 non-fiction titles on the wall behind me. So, I like books. :)
I agree with you about the government taking control of industries. It's like Central Planning all over again. I thought those ideas went away with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I also see trouble ahead for the Democratic Party. People are over this whole "make history" thing. There is a lot of buyer's remorse.
Thanks for visiting and leaving your fine comments.
While I am always willing to listen to an opposing point of view, I take all views with a healthy dose of skepticism. For example, your quotes have no citations. Where did they come from? How can I read them in context? By taking parts and using logic, you can argue almost anything. Throw in lots of facts with lots of exaggerated "facts" and add in a few lies and you get logic like: God is good, cheerios are good, therefore God is a cheerio. Maybe that's true, maybe not.
According to snopes.com, Obama said, "We have drastically increased productivity since 1995, and there was the theory that if you increase productivity enough some of these problems of living standards would solve themselves. But what we've seen is rising productivity, rising corporate profits but flat-lining or even declining wages and incomes for the average family.
What that says is that it's going to be important for us to pay attention to not only growing the pie, which is always critical, but also some attention to how it is sliced. I do not believe that those two things — fair distribution and robust economic growth — are mutually exclusive."
Can I conclude then that Obama is not for redistribution, but fair distribution?
A last observation... your comments here seem as if you watch a lot of Fox News. So, as a writer, you understand that controversy sells. People watch fights. Glen Beck recently suggested that because Obama went to Copenhagen and Copenhagen chewing tobacco causes cancer, that Obama is as bad for you as cancer. Cheerios are good.
Jeff May— I have changed my first quote from "radically" to "fundamentally." I'm not saying he hasn't used radically, but I don't have all day to hunt down quotes and this one is easy to find. Words have meanings. Fundamentally means:
a. Of or relating to the foundation or base; elementary: the fundamental laws of the universe.
b. Forming or serving as an essential component of a system or structure; central
c. Of great significance or entailing major change
SOURCE: Free Dictionary . com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cqN4NIEtOY
Transform means: To change the nature, function, or condition
jeff may— The second longer quote from Obama in 2001 can be found on thousands of web sites. The first that came up on Google is U.S. News and World Report
The quote from George Bernard Shaw can be found thousands of places. for instance:
The quote by the Tides Foundation can be found on 765 web sites. The first place I see it is:
the description of the aims of George Soros can be found at:
Obama said: “I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career.”
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/10/28/acorn/
On this link—along with 587 others—one can read this description of Acorn
the quote from the preacher who married and who listened to for ten years but never heard anything he said can be found on 24,700 web sites including
Obama's statement "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
the 2nd alinsky quote can be read on 21,900 web sites. In case you can't find it:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53055
Here you may read the 3rd alinsky quote, or on 1,459,999 other web sites.
the 4th alinsky quote is rare—only featured on 998 web sites including this one:
the 5th alinsky quote can be found here:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/obamas_radi
and on 794,999 other web sites
9960 web sites have the 6th alinsky quote including
excuse me that last one was the 8th quote and here is the 7th
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/alinsky.h
also available on millions of other sites
the 10th quote can be found on 2,430,000 web sites and here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/weekinreview/23a
can provide the final quote, also available on 9959 other sites
after you read all of these, come back and we'll talk about it
Jeff May— Whew! That's a lot of work. I apologize that I didn't have footnotes. These quotes are so common, and my readers so adept at Google, I don't use attributions. I'm not submitting this to the Stanford Review or USA Today—it's just a Hub.
Obama is clearly for redistribution, which can be defined as legal theft from one person to give assets or income to another.
Okay, you do make some relevant observations and provide all sorts of citations (mainly from right wing sources). However, your lengthy response highlights my point about logic. (I don’t addresses every one of your responses to my response and don’t expect a precise response to this response to your responses.)
The 2001 Obama quote apparently came from professorial, philosophical musing on history. But I can easily see how it might be disturbing. No one wants our government stealing from us and giving to others.
Is it okay for corporate thieves to steal? A recent TIME magazine article displayed a graph showing how the gap between rich and poor has expanded exponentially. No wonder there is a hue and cry for change... for storming the Bastille. (As you imply, you are a master at Google, therefore, I don’t need to provide a bunch of citations.)
I believe in capitalism, that honest businessmen should be able to earn their living. And I agree that loafers looking for government handouts are a drain and should meet with our disdain. Having said that, however, I do not in any way feel threatened by Obama. (His addresses to schoolchildren, despite the absurd protest to it, clearly promulgated individual responsibly.)
It seems a bit of a leap to link "coalition of powers" to the Tides Foundation. Even so, and even if the group funnels money to “radical” causes. I’m sure a little search will find the same sort of radical nonsense from right-wing extremists. Let’s try being centrist, and not repeat and spew forth extremism. (How about passing a “public option” and stop calling it a total government takeover of your health care?) Let’s put George Soros and Rupert Murdoch in a room together for a mind meld.
As for the 21-second Obama sound bite, "We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." You could view that as a socialist government totalitarian secrete police (just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean someone isn’t following you), or you could do some fact checking on Google and find, “This false claim is a badly distorted version of Obama's call for doubling the Peace Corps, creating volunteer networks and increasing the size of the Foreign Service.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_obama_pla
“Obama did everything Alinsky prescribed” and he knew Bill Ayers too, therefore he is a terrorist, and he is going to maliciously destroy our country. Hmmm, he is the devil too? God is a cheerio.
Jeff May— Man, I feel like I've birthed a baby. OK.
Of course, most of these citations are from conservative web sites. I would not expect moveon.org to run a headline: OBAMA WANTS GESTAPO TO POLICE AMERICANS
The 2001 quote is from a radio interview in which (you can hear it on the internet) they are discussing what can be done for minority communities. The answer is not reduce the 78% illegitimacy, stop saying that reading books is acting "white", have parents help kids with their schoolwork, have kids learn a craft or trade. The answer is as given: the Supreme Court and the Great Society did not go far enough—they only granted equal opportunity. What needed to be done is redistribution of wealth—right out of Marxism—and Obama was going to work toward this goal through "power" accumulated by Community Organizations.
And the income gap is about the same today as it was in 1989:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/papers
It is not OK for anybody to steal, no.
I'm not paranoid. ;) FALSE CLAIM!? FALSE CLAIM!? That's what truly gets me about lefties. They argue with videotaped speeches of themselves. He said what he said. What did he say?
In Barack Obama’s July 2, 2008 speech calling America to national service, Obama proposed “a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded as our military."
Let's not get confused. He also wants mandatory volunteering for every American who gets a student loan to go to college. That is nearly as sinister. But let's not confuse the two. They are unrelated.
The former: "a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded as our military" is paramilitary. What is just as strong as our military? Nothing on earth, that's what. You think he meant a bunch of college kids rebuilding houses in the inner city would be as strong, as powerful as our military??? It's a SECURITY FORCE in his own words.
The mandatory volunteering—don't you see a language problem there? Mandatory volunteering? Is to have all college freshmen work in community organizing for ACORN and groups like them fora year or two—free labor for the most subversive Marxist organizations in America: MANDATORY! The volunteering starts with a training course every volunteer most pass to assure they all have right thoughts on Anti-Americanism, redistribution, gay rights, identity politics, abortion, —reeducation on a level not attempting since MAO.
I am not saying Obama is a terrorist. You are making these assertions as if I am. I am not.
Thanks for coming back and leaving your thoughts.
:) You're calling me a lefty? You seem frustrated by what you might see as my intractability, but I’m sure that true lefties would be just as frustrated by your views.
I said "right-wing" not "conservative" sources.
Unless I'm looking in the wrong place (you're link is broken so I had to google on my own), the statistics only go to 2004. The income gap started around 1983 and in the past five years has gotten dramatically bigger. Your views seem rooted in a bygone political reality.
All I'm saying is that, if I or anybody else chose to do so, we could take the same information and make a logical argument bashing conservatives as paranoid, whacked-out, nut-jobs who find something "Marxist" or "Socialist" about nearly everything this current administration in tries to accomplish.
Let's move to the middle ground.
(I hope your baby thrives.)
Jeff May— No. I'm not calling you a lefty. I wouldn't do THAT to ya. :D
No, Jeff, I don't see as intractable at all. You seem reasonable enough.
You are right, the statistics run a few years behind on massive studies like that. I am not aware of a detailed study more up-to-date. But the same claim of "the rich getting richer" and "the income gap widening" were being made then and for decades prior. The income gap was the greatest in America from 1916-1929. According to the Wall Street Journal the gap is shrinking.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125254156520197777
OK. What do you consider the middle ground? How about this.
Watching the watchers who are watching the blood dimmed tide as it begins to flood the streets.The violence that erupted in south Florida over the weekend between amnesty protestors/counter protestors in the street,leaves me to believe that something wicked this way comes;or not,God has nothing to do with this,hope that the midlle ground can be found in the third dimension and not only in the digital one,cheerio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekW3HmlnYS4
The MindlessBrute— Well, well. What a great surprise! My friend, I am very happy to see you here. It has been awhile. Cheerio indeed. I'll check out those links. Thank you for them. Now, let's see some new Hubs from you. :D
According to the Wall Street Journal, "The deepest downturn in the U.S. economy since the Great Depression may finally (note the words 'may' and 'finally') shrink the gap between the very best-off Americans and everyone else.
If so, it won't be by lifting up the bottom. It will be by pulling down the top. (I'm sure the Wall Street Journal will logically argue this point, however as an adjunct college instructor, I can't afford to subscribe to find out.)
Over the past 30 years, chief executives, Wall Street bankers and traders, law-firm partners and such amassed ever-greater incomes, while the incomes of factory workers, teachers, office managers and others in the middle grew much more slowly. In 2007, the top 1% of U.S. families accounted for 23.5% of all personal income in the U.S., according to economists ...” (This seems to acknowledge my point. However, I would amend “grew much more slowly” to “flat-lined or decreased” when factoring in rising health care costs. At least this has been my wife’s experience.)
To Bute -- Thanks for the link to "Rage Grows in America: Anti?Government Conspiracies"
Jeff May— Do you think perhaps wages should be central planned by the government? Or should we simply take all the income in the United States and make sure everyone makes the same wage each week? Total income of all Americans is about $7.5T and there are what, 300 million of them? That would be $25,000 for each man, woman and child, right?
I suppose that would be "Social Justice."
No, I believe in free markets. However, there needs to be a balance between effective government regulation and ethical free markets. Clearly, we are out of balance. Much of the electorate thought so as well. That's one of the reasons Obama won.
I agree that Obama Is quite adept at putting Sal Alinski's
Teachings into practice. Grabbing power is one of the main precepts taught by Alinski and the "Heath care reform" is a huge grab for power. That is why they are trying to push it through before the people can find out exactly what is included in the bill and how it violates our constitution.
Excellent hub James, thanks for doing the research and presenting it so well.
http://newsflavor.com/opinions/is-forcing-american
Jeff May— That may be one of the reasons. But I think it has more to with black voters rooted for their own (just as they naturally did for say Joe Louis); The indoctrination of white children in public schools of "white guilt" over the last 30 years who can now vote; the Hispanics, sensing that Obama will let all their relatives come to live here off the public dole; the homos who can see Obama declaring their affections to be just as good as any; the Atheists seeing him as the final nail in the coffin of Christianity in America; the socialists ready to strangle the rich with the guts of the evangelicals; the peaceniks who think if they could just sit down and talk to Osama he'd leave us alone; the baby killers seeing a chance to get taxpayer funds for unfettered abortion of even 12 year olds behind their parents backs; the Internationalists who want America brought into a New World Order and cut down to size; the unions, seeing their ideology growing unpopular seeing a chance to force the unionization of all Americans ("Unionism is the first step to Communism") care to name who that quote is from?; the shiftless seeing a chance for a president who will declare they have a "right" to everything anybody else has without any effort on their part. Did I miss anybody?
jjmyles— Thank you very much for the visit. I appreciate your compliments and that link you provided does ask an important question. We are on the road to Central Planning. Nationalize banks, manufacturing, insurance industry, medical industry, government set prices and wages, we're all about you peasants!—sounds like Lenin to me. I thought this experiment failed already in the USSR.
Let's see, SEIU boss Stern has been to the White House 22 times—more than any other person—and what does he say? "We have a chance to correct a 230 year old mistake." Meaning, the United States of America. Nothing there to see, just keep moving. :)
while I respect your opinion, that is one of the great things in America, we are all entitled to have our own. I have the utmost respect for our president. It seems he is being blamed for everything from the economy to global warming. I think he inherited most of the mess he is now left to straighten out and he hasn't been on the job that long. I hope that with Gods guidance he will be able to bring us out of the mess we are in. I think we should at least give him a chance.
Warmest regards, christal
christalluna1124— I respect you opinion as well. I sincerely hope he works for the good of America and the American Way. The organizations he chooses to align himself with gives me doubts. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
It is better to think of the performance of Obama forgetting the black or white character which is not a befitting topic in the 21st century to be talked about.
I love how the left things "redistribution of wealth" is something to cheer about. Let's hear it for Robin Hood!
Redistribution of wealth is part of the evil of Communism. Why are capitalist Americans cheering????
Just stumbled upon your hub. I very much enjoyed it, however, it's quite disturbing seeing it all put together as we only hear about 1 or the other at a given time. I'll most likely catch a lot of flack for this, but I truly fear for the future of this country given the command it is under. God save America, cuz she sure needs it.
H P Roychoudhury— I agree with you 100%. His policies and his worldview should be our concern here. Thank you for adding the voice of reason to this page.
M S Riefer— The only Americans cheering are those who believe they will benefit from this redistribution. Obviously. Thank you for your poignant comments.
rkhyclak— Join the club. Many of us are truly concerned about the creeping governmental control of our lives with the inevitable corresponding loss of Liberty. Those who are crowding in to the government teet; the government hog trough—love the latest developments. Thank you for your wise words.
James, the bottom line as I see it is this: I've never before heard the kind of horsepuckey that is coming out of the mouths of the clowns that are in Washington now. I say clowns, but this is one dangerous pack. I don't believe they will be stopped during the next election cycle-I believe this will go on.
I pray daily for Obama because God tells His people to pray for the government, regardless of what that government is like. This doesn't mean America will reverse course, it's too late for that.
There comes a day when God will act so that all will know the difference between those who serve Him and those who don't. When? I don't know. I do know it's not far away.
Hxprof— I have never heard anything like it, either. But I do think they will be thrown out of Congress next year—resoundingly. Unless . . . they cancel the elections.
I pray Obama does well.
Too late?
God is very patient. He sure has blessed this nation. Now we have turned our backs on Him. Not good.
God is very patient, it's part of His nature. What we know though are these things: 1) Eventually His patience runs out. 2)Israel was founded, so "summer is near". 3) Judgement begins with the church. 4) America has as you say turned its back on God. But why? His people are to be the salt of the earth. Wouldn't America and the world be in better shape if Christians were the salt we're supposed to be? 5)Most Christians believe that once we're saved there's nothing else to be done-God performs His sanctification upon us day by day until we reach maturity. That's a lie, and it has made the church lukewarm.
So much more, but this isn't the place for it.
Wow, this is very similar to what I've read on many other sites. Could Barack Obama rise to the throne of the Antichrist in the way the Bible says one man will - look at this article, it's pretty convincing http://tinyurl.com/ykxycy9
Hxprof— I'm going to take some time and study those Scriptures you gave me tomorrow. I have been in a writing groove and when I get in the zone I take advantage of it to express myself. I can feel myself getting tired, winding down. One more Hub tonight and I'm going to take some time off to read and get refreshed for the next round. And take care of my real world for a few days.
I, of course, agree with every word you said. Thanks!
Veritas— Thanks for that link to that fine article. That does give one pause, doesn't it. I appreciate you tuning in.
I think the whole world is appreciating US for choosing a black president. However, in my opinion this is not about black or white; people of the nation has chosen a right person to be there president. This is nothing related to racism.
SirDent says:
3 weeks ago
As I read this I kept thinking about the Mark of the Beast. Control of people will come very soon. The saddest thing is that many will accept it simply because Obama is the first black president.