Commie plot that put us in the red ~ By Diana West

In Blogging in Our Time 2 Escape, I do my best to provide you with the information in order to help you teach your children, and others, about the difference between capitalism and communism, and how one ideology promotes freedom while the other promotes tyranny. Fortunately, I have plenty of resources to lean on. Today, it is WND columnist Diana West that provides us with the information that helps to promote that goal. Along with Diana's column are several videos that I will be providing in my commentary below.

I learned in a segment on Fox and Friends with Tavis Smiley and Cornell West that since the 1960's, America has spent $16 Trillion to fight poverty, and yet, poverty has become even worse than when the government's war on poverty programs began.

What Diana West writes about in this column is important for us to know. Diana is right when she states "...how matter-of-fact we are in contemplating massive government interventions."  That statement struck me.  In this column, you will find out the reason why we've accepted the deficit spending plot, that is, if you read it closely enough.

It is important for your children and grandchildren to learn how deficit spending is destroying this country, especially when it comes to "fighting poverty." It doesn't work, nor has it ever. They aren't going to learn about this stuff at any time during their K-12 public school days, and probably not even during their days of collegiate curricula. So, it is up to you to teach them.

Diana West does an excellent job in this column to help you understand where the idea of all of this deficit spending came from. And now, I have found another video segment that supports what Diana has to say about the deficit spending.

[Diana West is the author of "The Death of the Grown-up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization," and blogs at dianawest.net]

*     *     *     *

Commie plot that put us in the red

DIANA WEST

By Diana West

October 06, 2011 ~ 2:51 pm Eastern

© 2011

The most amazing aspects of the accelerating American submission to the state are: 1) how matter-of-fact we are in contemplating massive government interventions, such as President Barack Obama's latest stimulus "jobs" plan, and 2) how virtually no one notices the blatant Marxist overtones. When someone does, a la "Joe the Plumber" at the end of the 2008 campaign season, he or she is mocked off the stage.

President Obama demonstrated how this is done in January 2010 when, during an unusual White House meeting with congressional Republicans about his pending health-care legislation – another massive government intervention into the private sector – he declared: "If you were to listen to the debate, and, frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you'd think this thing was some Bolshevik plot."

I remember cringing when a smattering of applause arose from the GOP ranks, as though some Republicans actually believed the president had delivered a punch line revealing the absurdity of considering "Obamacare" a government apparatus for seizing control of the lives of citizens – which it is. And that's no joke.

I wish any Republican had replied: "Not necessarily a 'plot,' sir, but a program that is indeed 'Bolshevik' in conception, design and purpose nonetheless. Government control of private sector activity, as the American people well know (or should), is aptly described as 'Bolshevik' – or Marxist, socialist, collectivist, statist and, for that matter, fascist, too. Indeed, nationalized health care was one of the first programs enacted by the Bolsheviks after they seized power in 1917."

READ MORE on WND.com

Don't be afraid!

WE the PEOPLE

are the MOB
ONE NATION UNDER GOD

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear

Private sector must lead recovery ~ By Herman Cain

The private sector is the engine of this economy, but putting more spending and regulations in the caboose of the train is not going to fuel the engine. So expecting this economy to grow faster by watching and hoping is an empty expectation.

Much of the public has been deceived into thinking that cutting tax rates reduces revenue into the Treasury, and that it only helps the rich. The experience of the 1960s and 1980s, when Kennedy and Reagan were in the White House, respectively, debunks that notion.

Watching this economy struggle over the next 18 months is going to be especially painful for the unemployed, and those businesses that are barely holding on for survival. And, yes, the private sector will have to take the lead when we properly boost the engine.

Until then, we might as well watch grass grow, because that's about all the green this economy is going to see.

Well, here's the thing... Herman Cain makes the case about what needs to be done to get the economy going again. There is no doubt in my mind that it will take the private sector to stimulate the economy, and that Herman's solutions would be the right thing to do. But, I do have some questions... Oh, wait, not about what Herman wants to do, but regarding what President Obama seems to be trying to do.

Here's what is bugging me: How could the person that was touted to be so brilliant be such an absolute idiot when it comes to getting the economy going again? All that Herman Cain explains in this column are commonly accepted principles when it comes to encouraging growth in the economy. Businesses need certainty in the tax code. What will happen following the extension of the Bush tax cuts? The clear intent that Herman Cain shows to cut or eliminate the taxes for businesses investing capital in starting or expanding a business would be the jolt that this economy needs at this time.

In the mean time, Obama's rhetoric and lack of a real solution is not very encouraging for businesses, and that stymies any economic growth. His agenda sends a chill down the back of even the most courageous of entrepreneurs. What I can't quite comprehend is how a President would make so many wrong decisions when it comes to getting our economy going again. In fact, from what I've seen so far, Obama's policies are what is creating the stagnation!

But wait! Isn't Obama supposed to be so magnificently intelligent? Shouldn't he be aware of the economic principles that would move our economy forward, and not backward?

What Herman Cain wrote in this column is mostly what I learned in college in Economics 101 and my basic Business Administration classes that I took. So, there is only one thing that I can assume from Obama's actions so far: He is either really stupid, or he doesn't want our economy to improve. I don't believe he is THAT stupid.... So, maybe, he just doesn't want We the People to be able to start and/or expand a business and succeed. That would make Communism look bad! I'm just sayin'...

Private sector must lead recovery

HERMAN CAIN

By Herman Cain

June 13, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

A senior Obama administration official said recently that the private sector will have to lead this economic recovery. He's right! But the private sector cannot do it unless government gets out of the way. The Obama administration's policies have increased the size of the federal government, increased regulatory barriers and dramatically increased the national debt.

Most Americans sitting around the kitchen table knew that we could not spend and regulate our way to prosperity. But the president and the Democrat-controlled Congress at the time did it anyway. And now, after nearly $1 trillion in government spending, the economy is still stalled. Namely, 1.8 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of 2011is anemic, and a 9.1 percent unemployment rate continues to be disappointing to the nearly 15 million people who are still unemployed.

Our national GDP could easily be growing at 5 percent or more, with the top tax rates for businesses and individuals set at 25 percent and made permanent until we replace the entire tax code mess. And taking the capital gains tax rate to zero is just the fuel that the small business part of our economic engine needs.

It sure would be nice to hear an unemployment rate report of under 5 percent again, which would mean at least 7.5 million people could be back to work. It would be more than just music to their ears. They might even have some real hope again.

"Hope and change" became spend and regulate in the Obama administration. And now, the president and the Democrats want us to "watch and hope." Simply extending the tax rates for two years with a 2 percent one-year payroll tax holiday for employees is not going to tickle this economy back to prosperity.

With all due respect, Mr. President, there is no hope that this economy will turn itself around. It will remain stalled because there are no meaningful tax cuts, there is no regulatory relief and there is still the uncertainty about what tax rates will be in 2013.

READ MORE at WND.com

Don't be afraid!

WE the PEOPLE

are the MOB
ONE NATION UNDER GOD

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear

Herman Cain shines in debate ~ By Joseph Farah

I think Herman Cain scored a tremendous victory in his long-shot campaign for the presidency by going toe to toe with these seasoned politicians and outshining them all.

I'm sure many other Americans are feeling good about the fact that there is at least one exciting candidate in the Republican field already.

Last July, I wrote, "In my humble opinion? This is the guy! He IS the worst nightmare that Obama could ever have!" I've been excited about this guy as a potential GOP candidate for a long time! And so is Joseph Farah, which wouldn't ever surprise me. Joseph was one of the first to let us know that Herman Cain would be a great candidate for the GOP nomination. And it was Joseph, last July, that discussed the things about Herman Cain that inspired me:

Herman Cain is another name to add to the list.

It's a long way between now and 2012. But listening to a man like this gives me hope. He's inspirational, and we desperately need inspiration. He's fiery, and we desperately need that passion. He's experienced, beyond the experience one gets playing politics through adulthood.

I don't know about you, but I get excited thinking about the possibilities for 2012. People like Herman Cain need our encouragement and our prayers.

But somebody had beaten Joseph Farah to the punch: From his own staff! There was a column by Chelsea Schilling on WND that actually appeared three days before Joseph Farah's commentary. It was actually Chelsea who wrote the story saying that Herman Cain was contemplating a run for President in 2012:

Cain, a devout Christian, emphasized he is "prayerfully considering" a 2012 bid for the GOP nomination.

"I'm a man of faith, and I do believe in prayerful consideration of something this big," he explained.

Well, as Joseph wrote in this column, "I'm sure many other Americans are feeling good about the fact that there is at least one exciting candidate in the Republican field already."

Let me add another ingredient to what Joseph said: Herman is a candidate to seriously consider! One of the factors that made Herman the leader of my field of potential GOP candidates was his involvement with the Tea Party Movement. I already knew who Herman was. I had heard some of his speeches. Impressive!

Don't just take Joseph Farah's word for it. Don't even take my word for it! Do your own homework, and find out who Herman Cain is. And I'm sure that Joseph Farah is just as biased in favor of Herman as am I! I do have a feeling that people involved with the Tea Parties across America will have mutual feelings. But I'm just sayin'....

Here are a couple of video clips provided by Fox News from the debate (just to prove the point!):





Herman Cain shines in debate

JOSEPH FARAH

By Joseph Farah

May 07, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

Herman Cain

I watched the South Carolina Republican presidential debate Thursday, and I thought Herman Cain won hands down.

But I was tickled by the fact that virtually the entire focus group assembled by GOP pollster Frank Luntz agreed with my assessment.

Why did he win?

Because he has strong convictions and knows how to articulate them.

He didn't just win the debate – he blew the competition away.

And I have more news for you. I know Herman Cain personally. I've seen him in many other venues. I've heard him speak many times. This may come as a shock to the rest of the Republican presidential cast, but Herman Cain was not even at his best Thursday night.

It took him a while to warm up.

It must be a little intimidating to find yourself on national television for the first time debating as a presidential candidate. Knowing Herman Cain, I suspect that actually meant something to him. He's not an actor playing a presidential candidate. He's the real deal, motivated to action only, I suspect, by his deep love of country, not mere ambition.

So what am I saying here?

Am I saying I have found my presidential candidate to oppose Barack Obama's re-election in 2012?

Well, I've found at least one entirely acceptable to me. I will keep an open mind on some of the others.

But I like Herman Cain. I haven't found anything to dislike about him. He's charming, charismatic, bold, funny and principled.

What's not to like about that?

READ MORE at WND.com

Be sure to check out
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

Why is no one talking about this? ~ By Joseph Farah

The dirty, little secret Boehner and the entire Washington establishment don't want Americans to know is that he can – with one vote – enact the most sweeping cuts in federal spending in a century, by simply blocking an increase in the debt limit in the next 30 days.

If Boehner came out tomorrow in support of this position, the entire bloc of 241 House Republicans would stand behind him. They want him to do it. Most of them support this position right now. They want to say no. And this is the one thing Republicans can do this year that will have a dramatic, historic impact on policy – helping to return us right now to limited constitutional government once again.

It's simply the most important vote that will be cast in Congress in the next two years and, perhaps, the most important in the last century.

Joseph Farah explains how Congress and the President can be stopped from more unconstitutional spending. All they have to do is vote no to raising the national debt limit. That seems to make sense. What doesn't make sense is that the mainstream media has blacked out any news about the fact that more and more Republicans in the House of Representative are planning to vote no, and Speaker Boehner still doesn't support that position. This is the biggest opportunity in years for Republicans to "just say no" to more deficits and more debt!

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) should get on board, especially when knowing that is what most Americans would want him to do. And we need to keep up the pressure on Republicans in the House. It's time to remind them that the Tea Party Movement has not faded away, as Senator Harry Reid would like you to believe.

Why is no one talking about this?

JOSEPH FARAH

By Joseph Farah

April 01, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

As a newsman, sometimes I just shake my head and wonder why everyone in the media are missing the biggest story of all.

No, I'm not talking about Barack Obama's apparent ineligibility. Donald Trump has actually managed to get that story on everyone's radar after three years of work by WND.

I'm talking about a political earthquake about to strike Washington.

No one besides WND has been counting heads among House Republicans on stopping what has been assumed to be an inevitable raise in the debt limit in the next few weeks.

Yet, every day, more House Republicans are of a mind to just say no.

This week, WND polled House Republicans again to learn there are 142 solid votes against it and only 20 in favor!

If just 218 of the 241 Republicans ultimately vote no on raising the debt limit past $14.3 trillion, the whole house of cards falls down for Barack Obama and the Democrats. Not only do they have to stop spending, they will be forced to start cutting – and I mean cutting a lot.

Say goodbye to Obamacare. Say goodbye to the Department of Education. Say goodbye to NPR and PBS funding. Say goodbye to Planned Parenthood subsidies. Say goodbye to hundreds of billions of unconstitutional spending. It all has to go. That's how important this one impending vote really is.

I've been doing my best to make this a national issue for the last eight weeks with the "No More Red Ink" campaign. And I want to thank all the people who have participated so far. You are on the verge of making history!

We have sent nearly 1 million red letters to the House Republicans urging them to realize the power they have in their hands and to use it.

We are on the verge of victory. Votes are changing. The trend is toward stopping all further borrowing. Yet, the blackout continues.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

Be sure to check out
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

'House Republicans alone can downsize Washington'

"There is a lot of pressure on House Republicans to simply negotiate a deal with the Democrats on budget cuts or a balanced budget in exchange for a vote to raise the debt limit," said Farah. "To me it makes no sense. Republicans, by merely voting as a bloc in the House alone, can force bigger cuts in the budget than they will ever get in any deal with Democrats. Why would they trade that nuclear option. Republicans in the House hold all the cards. This is what they were elected to do last November – for a time such as this."

"The House Republicans alone can downsize Washington," he said.

If this sounds like an excellent plan, it is because it would work! It would not allow our government to spend more than it takes in with tax revenues. It would force Congress to find a way to balance the budget, in other words.

'House Republicans alone can downsize Washington'

New petition campaign demands GOP unity against raising debt limit

January 23, 2011 ~ 6:46 pm Eastern

© 2011 WorldNetDaily

JOHN BOEHNER,
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

WASHINGTON – The House Republican majority has the power to impose the most dramatic cuts in the federal budget in decades, halting all new spending by Barack Obama and the Senate majority and significantly reducing the national debt by simply voting in a few weeks to oppose raising the debt limit, says the architect of a plan to persuade GOP representatives to unify around the idea.

A new petition campaign directed exclusively to all 242 House Republicans calls on them not to bargain with Democrats in favor of using the "nuclear option – stopping any further deficit spending for the next two years."

"Few are recognizing what an opportunity the House Republicans have to force Washington to downsize," says Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer of WND and the author of the petition. "If Republicans in the House unite around this idea, there is nothing the White House or the Senate can do to exceed the debt limit. This is a golden opportunity for real change in policy that must not be frittered away in favor of deals with the Democrats."

Farah says some in House leadership are already suggesting they will support raising the debt limit in March in exchange for the promise of budget cuts by Democrats.

"Why Republicans would bargain for budget cuts that Democrats themselves will be forced to implement if the debt limit is not raised makes no sense," he says. "By definition, a vote to raise the debt limit permits the Democrats to spend more money than Washington collects. Republicans will, in effect, give Democrats license to keep overspending and increasing debt by approving a debt limit increase."

On the other hand, Farah says, all Republicans in the House have to do to force Democrats to cut spending radically for the first time in decades is to stick together in opposing a hike in the debt limit.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

Same as the old boss? ~ By John Stossel

This column by John Stossel really does make a person wonder if anything will really change.

This is a revolution? Republicans will have to learn that there is no budget line labeled "waste, fraud, abuse." If they are serious about cutting government, they will ax entire programs, departments and missions.

I'm not confident they have it in them. I hope I'm wrong, but they're politicians, after all. I'm reminded of Spencer Abraham. When he was a senator, he sponsored a bill to abolish the Department of Energy. But then George W. Bush appointed him to head the department. Suddenly, he saw the importance of the Energy Department. "I changed my mind after Congress passed legislation in 2000 reorganizing the department," Abraham explained to his former Senate colleagues. Yeah, yeah.

That's why I fear that the new Congress will soon remind me of that line by the Who: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

Well, of course, since John Stossel referred to this song by the Who, I felt obligated to include it here, along a small portion of the lyrics:

WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN - By The Who

Video provided by TORGHOOVER ~ December 18, 2006

From the lyrics of "WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN" By The Who

There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

That's the problem. Is Stossel right? Is The Who right? I hope not!

Same as the old boss?

JOHN STOSSEL

By John Stossel

January 12, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

Last year, I reported that the United States fell from sixth to eighth place – behind Canada – in the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal's 2010 Index of Economic Freedom. Now, we've fallen further. In the just-released 2011 Index, the United States is in ninth place. That's behind Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland and Denmark.

The biggest reason for the continued slide? Spending as a percentage of gross domestic product. (State and local spending is not counted.)

The debt picture is dismal, too. We are heading into Greece's territory.

Are we doomed? Not necessarily. Economist David R. Henderson points out that our neighbors to the north faced a similar crisis. In 1994, the debt Canada owed to investors was 67 percent of GDP. Today, it's less than 30 percent.

What did Canada do? It cut spending from 17.5 percent of GDP to 11.3 percent.

This wasn't merely a cut in the growth of spending, a favorite trick of congressional committees. These were actual reductions in absolute spending.

"If a cabinet minister wanted a smaller cut in one program, he had to come up with a bigger cut in another program," writes Henderson in "Canada's Budget Triumph," published by the Mercatus Center. All but one of Canada's 22 federal departments experienced real cuts in spending. While Canada raised taxes slightly, spending was cut six to seven times more.

These supposedly painful cuts didn't cause terrible pain. In fact, there was much more gain than pain. Unemployment dropped, the economy boomed, and the Canadian dollar – then worth about 71 cents U.S. – today is about equal to the American dollar.

If Canada can do it, we can, too. But the signs aren't good. New Speaker John Boehner, leader of the Republicans who now control the House, says he wants to cut spending. When he was sworn in last week, he declared: "Our spending has caught up with us. ... No longer can we kick the can down the road."

But when NBC anchorman Brian Williams asked him to name a program "we could do without," he said, "I don't think I have one off the top of my head."

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

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johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

Pelosi's final whopper as speaker ~ By David Limbaugh

Based on the bogus information and assumptions the administration and Congress fed the CBO in order to make Obamacare appear budget-neutral at the outset, the anomalies that have been brought to light since, and the negative consequences the law is already producing, Nancy Pelosi's statement that repealing Obamacare would do violence to the debt and deficit is delusional at best and an outright lie at worst.

The mainstream media will continue to carry the administration's water on this monumental ruse, as ABC's George Stephanopoulos seemed to do in questioning House Majority Leader Eric Cantor recently, but their version must not be allowed to stand. Republicans must be aggressive in countering these lies and hammering home the truth that repealing Obamacare, in addition to striking a blow on behalf of liberty, would reverse, not increase, the government's budgetary imbalances.

David Limbaugh exposes the lies that Pelosi and Obama used to to make ObamaCare sound it like would be budget-neutral. Maybe the starkest truth in the column, David comments that Donald Berwick's appointment to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is just "more evidence Obamacare was never about reducing budgetary pressures."

Pelosi's final whopper as speaker

DAVID LIMBAUGH

By David Limbaugh

January 07, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

Can you imagine the sheer audacity of outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sermonizing that repealing Obamacare would do "very serious violence to the national debt and deficit"? This is the woman whose four-year tenure as speaker saw the national debt explode from $8.67 trillion to $14.01 trillion.

She's the lady who boasted, "Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go." Such is the state of Pelosi's credibility that even 19 of her Democratic colleagues voted against her for speaker.

When it comes to a wide spectrum of issues, I'm not sure which planet Pelosi and her ilk of liberals inhabit, but the Obamacare fiasco takes their other-worldliness to another level altogether – and that's being charitable because it assumes they're innocently unaware of how wrong they are.

Everyone knows that with Obamacare's government-mandated increases in demand and in government control over prices, shortages and rationing are inevitable. (That's either why they've established their little bureaucratic boards or their excuse for establishing them; the boards will ultimately dictate decisions concerning choice of care – including, dare I say it, end-of-life care.) Obama promised universal coverage, which won't happen, but what he didn't tell us is that his socialized plan could only increase coverage, if at all, by reducing access to, choice of and quality of care.

Obama also forgot to tell us when stumping for the bill that he would appoint Donald Berwick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, whose role will be greatly expanded under Obamacare to define the quality of care for every insurance plan and set Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates based on the CMS' assessment about the value in various medical treatments. If you doubted before that Obama's motive in socializing medicine was, well, socialistic, then that doubt should have been removed with the Berwick appointment. For Berwick is the man who loves Britain's socialized medicine and who said proudly, "Excellent health care is by definition redistributional." Just more evidence Obamacare was never about reducing budgetary pressures.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

Be sure to check out
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

The painful Fiorina smile ~ By Robert Ringer

Come to think of it, isn't this the same woman who was caught by a live mic opining that Meg Whitman (the GOP candidate running against Jerry Brown for governor in California) was making a "bad choice" by going on Fox News' "Sean Hannity Show," saying "You know how he is" and that he's "not an easy interview." Wow – if she thinks Sean Hannity is tough, how does she rate Glenn Beck?

Video provided by TheREALjohnny2k

This was a difficult column for me to comment on. When I first read it, I can't say that I agreed with Robert Ringer at all. In fact, I wasn't so sure that I would even include the column in this blog. I didn't want it to hurt the Republican candidate, Carly Fiorina, that is running for the U. S. Senate against Senator Barbara "Don't call me ma'am" Boxer, even if Robert was right.

But then, I watched the two videos included in this column. I wasn't too worried about the video above, where she is caught with an open mic without knowing. It wasn't a train-wreck type of situation.... maybe just a car-wreck. I must say that her comments about Meg Whitman being on Sean Hannity would not be anything that I would want to be public if I were Carly Fiorina. But at least she didn't say anything derogatory about Sean or Fox News! I didn't see anything at all about the open mic incident that was all that damaging. It was just an embarrassing situation for her. It happens. The gaffe-o-meter reading for the incident doesn't come close to any of Joe Biden's gaffes, that's for sure.

However, while she thought that Sean Hannity was a tough interview, that was before she got on with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday last week (10/24/10). After watching the video that Robert included in his column (see below) several more times, I then realized it wasn't so much that she was unable or unwilling to answer Chris's questions. In fact, contrary to Robert Ringer's opinion, I actually thought that her answers were as good as possible considering what his question was. Chris Wallace kept pointing out that none of her solutions were going to cut enough from the budget. To quote Chris, he said at about 3 minutes into the video, "...Let me ask you a specific question, because I still haven't gotten any specifics from you on how you are going to cut four trillion and even more out of the budget..." Seriously, Chris? I thought the goal was to balance the budget and start paying off our debt. I didn't think it was necessary to cut every penny we spend! And all during that drilling, guess what, she made some excellent points about what the solutions would be, one of them being the most important: grow the economy! And the way to do that is to lower taxes, especially for corporations!

Now that I've pointed out some of the things that Robert was complaining about, I must say that I disagree with him. Is Carly Fiorina a progressive? I don't believe she is, at least on the economic issues. In fact, I'd call her fairly conservative in that regard, especially on the economic issues.

And to the point, how the heck is it going to help us if Barbara Boxer keeps her seat in the Senate? Did Robert forget about the point that if the Republicans do take back the Senate, we could get back control of the committees and what goes on the floor of the Senate for debate and votes? That Republicans could stop any more activist judges from getting on the Supreme Court or Courts of Appeal? Is being able to see Barbara Boxer on C-SPAN going solve anything? No. What we need is to get the Republicans back in the majority, if not in 2010, at least by 2012. If Boxer wins, she'll be there for 6 more years!

I'm hoping that Robert Ringer will go back and watch that video of Carly Fiorina on Fox News Sunday again. It wasn't really all that bad. And if I was being treated that way by Chris Wallace, I would probably have a painful smile, too, if I could even smile at all. Just sayin'...

It's no great surprise that in the days following Fiorina's interview with Chris Wallace, Babs Boxer increased her lead over the former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and her embarrassing refusal to answer Wallace's straightforward question might just prove to be enough to allow Boxer to keep her Senate seat.

Which would be no great loss for the Republican Party. They already have a plethora of progressives like Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe within their ranks, so they don't need any more Republicans to reinforce in the public's mind that the GOP does not offer much of an alternative to the Democratic Party's socialist agenda.

The painful Fiorina smile

By Robert Ringer

Posted: October 29, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010



Sometimes I secretly wonder if I have a masochist gene in my makeup. Why else would I watch Chris Wallace's recent interview with Carly Fiorina on "Fox News Sunday"? It was an excruciatingly painful experience that had to make tea-party viewers feel as though someone was tinkling on their heads.

I'm not masochistic enough to live in California again, but if I did still live there and someone put a gun to my head and forced me to vote for either Barbara Boxer or Carly Fiorina – who returned to campaigning yesterday after a stint in the hospital – on Nov. 2, I would probably hold my nose and vote for Boxer.

Why would I vote for one of the most arrogant, obnoxious progressives in the Senate – so arrogant and obnoxious that, in a totally serious tone, she dressed down a brigadier general who dared to call her "ma'am" instead of senator? The reason is that I took Michael Corleone's advice seriously in "The Godfather II" when he said, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

With Boxer, there's no guessing. You know she's the enemy – a staunch enemy of freedom and free markets. I don't want her behind the scenes like Van Jones, Anita Dunn, Jeff Jones, et al. causing mischief. I want her on C-SPAN – nice and close – where I can keep an eye on her socialist activities.

With Carly Fiorina, however, like so many other progressives in the Republican Party, she would undoubtedly be able to fool a lot of muttonheads into believing that she's a conservative – a solid friend of freedom and free markets. Sorry, but based on her lame performance on "Fox News Sunday," it's painfully clear that Fiorina is nothing more than an adult version of Meghan McCain – the diaper-clad, intellectual voice of Republican progressivism.

By my count, Chris Wallace asked Fiorina, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, seven times to "name one single entitlement expenditure you're willing to cut." Her answers made Meghan McCain's old man sound like a straight talker. Softy that I am, I was actually embarrassed for her.

Video provided by fshakir1

Following each of Wallace's seven attempts to get an answer to his question, Fiorina offered a filibuster on topics as closely related to the question as the weather, the Bowl Championship Series rankings in college football and Michelle Obama's (two) arms. At one point, she became so desperate that she inexplicably blurted out, "You're asking a typical political question." Hmm … and here all along I thought that's what he was supposed be doing.

In fairness to Fiorina, however, when pressed by Wallace to woman up, she did fall back on the progressive's defensive weapon of choice – "We have to cut waste, fraud and abuse." Gee, I never heard that one before. She must have been picturing Andy Griffith saying, "Gollee, what a great new idear that thar lady just came up with. Ah might just vote fer her if she kin cut waste, fraud and abuse. What'll them smart folks in Washington think of next? Sounds almost as good as Obamacare."

To her dismay, however, each time Fiorina desperately blurted out the answer of choice for weasel politicians, Wallace pointed out, quite correctly, that waste, fraud and abuse were inconsequential in the overall fiscal scheme of things. He also reminded her that politicians have been talking about cutting waste, fraud and abuse for decades, yet it never happens.

Each time Wallace asked her the question, Fiorina found it increasingly difficult to keep her fake smile in place and repress the anger she was feeling toward him. If you like comedic facial contortions, it was a great show. You could almost hear her whispering behind her clenched teeth, "Why in the hell did I ever agree to come on this S.O.B.'s show? Once I get elected, I'll never give him the time of day."

Come to think of it, isn't this the same woman who was caught by a live mic opining that Meg Whitman (the GOP candidate running against Jerry Brown for governor in California) was making a "bad choice" by going on Fox News' "Sean Hannity Show," saying "You know how he is" and that he's "not an easy interview." Wow – if she thinks Sean Hannity is tough, how does she rate Glenn Beck?

It's no great surprise that in the days following Fiorina's interview with Chris Wallace, Babs Boxer increased her lead over the former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and her embarrassing refusal to answer Wallace's straightforward question might just prove to be enough to allow Boxer to keep her Senate seat.


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Cruising toward destruction ~ By Patrice Lewis

Remember these words you will hear people say: "It can't happen here." Patrice Lewis, in this very powerful column, discusses what is happening in America, and how it parallels Austria in the late 1930's. This column will discuss facts that are based on a column, "Don’t Let Freedom Slip Away," by Kitty Werthmann.

First, Patrice writes about what happened in Austria in 1938 and how it got started, summarizing Kitty's column:

A broken economy is what started the Austrians down this path. Hungry, unemployed and scared, they voted 98 percent to annex Austria to Germany and have that guy with the funny mustache solve their problems. After all, he had all the answers.

And at first, it worked. Unemployment virtually disappeared. Everyone was fed. Women received equal rights. Then education became secularized. Compulsory service in the labor corps was implemented. Daycare became available 24/7. Health care became socialized and free. "All day care and education were free," writes Werthmann. "High schools were taken over by the government, and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing and housing." Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. Undesirables were euthanized. Guns were registered and later confiscated.

Tra la la, does this sound familiar? Does anyone on the progressive side of the spectrum see the eerie similarities, or do they still claim it can't happen here?

Okay, maybe that just sounds so implausible. Euthanization? That could never happen here in America! (Of course not. In America, they just take people off life support because the insurance company won't pay for it after a short period of time.)

But, never mind, because there are other things that were done in Austria, and are pretty much being done now, here in America, that don't sound quite so implausible. From her column, Kitty describes how the economy was being run after the Nazi's took over:

We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn’t meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

We had consumer protection. We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.

Well, again, let me just repeat what Patrice had written above: "... does this sound familiar? Does anyone on the progressive side of the spectrum see the eerie similarities, or do they still claim it can't happen here?" Just sayin'...

Once upon a time, there was a solution to this inevitable collapse and subsequent totalitarianism. That solution was to toss out the massive bureaucratic nightmare into which our government has mushroomed, and instead embrace the streamlined plan originally outlined when our nation was founded.

Sadly, I fear it is too late. Our debt is too high, our entitlements too entrenched and our apathy is too deep. And the "funny" people with all the bright ideas are already in place. For citizens caught up in this unfolding economic nightmare, I can only suggest you Pray, Prepare and Participate.

The Pray and Prepare parts are obvious, but what do I mean by Participate? I mean vote. Rally. March. E-mail. Don't let our guns, our speech and our other freedoms dissolve any more than they already have. Watch out for funny guys who promise solutions to all our problems as long as we give up something in exchange.

Remember, please remember, that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I really don't want to live in 1938 Austria.

Cruising toward destruction

By Patrice Lewis

Posted: September 25, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

The Titanic

My husband and I have always wanted to take a cruise to Alaska. Sounds fun, doesn't it? The luxury, the scenery, the freedom from responsibility. Despite the fact that we couldn't afford it, we decided to borrow money to take a cruise.

Well the cruise was wonderful, though now we have to borrow money to make the loan payments on the cruise, as well as borrow more money to make the interest payments on the loan. But we loved that cruise so much we're booking another one next year. It's OK, we can borrow the money. We plan to take another cruise the year after. And the year after that. And the year after that.

Meanwhile, we'll blame someone – anyone – for the fact that we're so deeply in debt. I think I'll blame, um, my brother. It's not our fault that we can't stop ourselves from digging the debt hole deeper, or that much of the debt is incurred for frivolous reasons. It's my brother's fault.

What's wrong with this picture? If you're the federal government, apparently nothing.

We now know that the actual figure of America's debt is much higher than the petty and trivial sum of $14.3 trillion given by the Congressional Budget Office. And make no mistake, $14.3 trillion is not pocket change (for a knock-you-flat visual of a trillion dollars, click here).

"The Government is lying about the amount of debt. It is engaging in Enron accounting," says Laurence Kotlikoff, an economist at Boston University. That's because the CBO doesn't count the euphemistically called "off-budget" obligations like Social Security and Medicare. (This is like my husband and I deeming our mythical cruise payments to be "off-budget" in our yearly expenses.)

So how much does our nation owe? Mr. Kotlikoff says the debt is actually $200 trillion – 14 times the "official" amount. That's a lot of cruises. And our nation is taking more and more trips.

Does this sound sustainable to you?

Sinking the Good Ship America

Of course not. How can America possibly pay back $200 trillion? It can't. Sooner or later the people who keep lending us money will stop. When that happens, I see no possible alternative except a collapse of our national economy.

The danger of a financial collapse goes beyond the day-to-day struggles of Joe Sixpack. The danger is that Americans will look for solutions in all the wrong places, the same way Germany and Austria looked for solutions to its debt and inflation problems in the 1930s. Their solution took the form of a failed artist with a funny mustache who told people what they wanted to hear and promised to make it all better by blaming someone else. (The Jews were a convenient target since my brother wasn't born yet.)

In 1938, an Austrian woman named Kitty Werthmann was an eyewitness to the creeping totalitarianism of Hitler's Germany. Now living in South Dakota, she wrote an eerie and horrifying account of what happened during her childhood. It's easy to understand the horrifying part. But it's eerie because we are following, virtually word for word, the same path in this country, albeit at a slower pace.

"Totalitarianism didn't come quickly," writes Werthmann. "It took five years from 1938 until 1943 to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little, eroded our freedom."

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

My final thoughts on this column with the help of a classic cartoon from 50 years ago: "Watch out for funny guys who promise solutions to all our problems as long as we give up something in exchange."



Oh, before you go, just one more thing. When you hear them say, "It's for the children," be afraid. Be very afraid. This is the elixir of the snake-oil salesman. Don't give up your freedom in exchange for government promises to take care of you from cradle to grave.

Video provided by TheREALjohnny2k

UPDATE 09.28.2010 ~~ I found a RELATED STORY that I had posted on August 9, 2009. The story seems to illustrate the danger that is facing this country as stated in this column by Patrice Lewis:
Red Alert! Infowars under direct attack by Obama Brownshirts

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19th-century Americans ~ By Patrick J. Buchanan

Pat Buchanan reminds us of how America used to be, and it is what China is becoming: An economic and eventually military superpower. How did this happen? Or, should we ask, why is this happening? Something doesn't seem right about this. Just sayin'...

The Chinese of 2010 call to mind 19th-century Americans who shoved aside Mexicans, Indians and Spanish to populate a continent, build a mighty nation, challenge the British Empire – superpower of the day – and swiftly move past her in manufacturing to become first nation on earth. Men were as awed by America then as they are by China today.

America seems a declining superpower. She cannot defend her borders, balance her budgets or win her wars. Her educational system at the primary and secondary level is a shambles. In the first decade of the century, she lost one of every three manufacturing jobs. In this second decade, she is looking at trillion-dollar deficits to 2020. The world is losing confidence in her ability to manage her surging national debt.

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted: April 23, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

"Thank you, Hu Jintao, and thank you, China," said Hugo Chavez, as he announced a $20 billion loan from Beijing, to be repaid in Venezuelan oil.

The Chinese just threw Chavez a life-preserver. For Venezuela is reeling from 25 percent inflation, government-induced blackouts to cope with energy shortages and an economy that shrank by 3.3 percent in 2009.

Where did China get that $20 billion? From us. From consumers at Wal-Mart. That $20 billion is 1 percent of the $2 trillion in trade surpluses Beijing has run up with the United States over two decades.

Beijing is using its trillions of dollars in reserves, piled up from exports to America, to cut deals to lock up strategic resources for the coming struggle with the United States for hegemony in Asia and the world.

She has struck multibillion-dollar deals with Sudan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran and Australia to secure a steady supply of oil, gas and vital minerals to maintain the 10 percent to 12 percent annual growth China has been racking up since Deng Xiaoping dispensed with Maoism and set his nation out on the capitalist road.

China has dozens of nuclear-power plants under construction, has completed the Three Gorges Dam – the largest power source on earth – and is tying the nation together with light rail, bullet trains and highways in infrastructure projects unlike any the world has ever seen.

Contrast what China is doing with what we are about. We have declared vast regions of our country, onshore and offshore, off-limits to drilling for oil and gas. We have not built a nuclear-power plant in 30 years or a refinery in 25 years. We have declared war on fossil fuels to save the planet from global warming.

Given the power of the environmental lobby to tie up projects in endless litigation, we could never today build our Interstate Highway System, Hoover Dam, the TVA or the Union Pacific Railroad.

Determined to take America's title as the world's first manufacturing nation, as she has taken Germany's title as the world's leading exporter, China keeps her currency undervalued and demands of those who sell to China that they also produce in China. As America's share of the world economy steadily falls, China's share has doubled. This year, China will overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy.

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Rush Limbaugh: 'Thank you, Mr. President!'

Rush Limbaugh thanks President Obama for all the things that Obama has done that will make the election in November so easy for the Republicans to win. Brace yourselves, folks, just watch the video and hear all the things that Rush mentions the many ways that Obama has aroused "the sleeping, silent majority" in this segment.

Limbaugh concluded: "But most of all, Mr. President, thank you for arousing the sleeping, silent majority, because we have been asleep too long.

"November is coming, Mr. President," Limbaugh warned. "That is when we will really thank you."

Grateful to Obama 'for arousing the sleeping, silent majority'

Posted: April 16, 2010 ~ 4:08 pm Eastern

© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Playing off of President Obama's remark to Democrat donors yesterday that tea-party protesters should be thanking him instead of protesting his policies, talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh on his show today ran off a string of reasons he's grateful to Obama, culminating with "arousing the sleeping, silent majority" who are prepared to give his party an unprecedented thrashing at the polls in November.

Obama was speaking in Miami at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.

"Since today happens to be tax day, I should just point out that one-third of the recovery act went to tax cuts. Tax cuts that strengthen the cornerstone of the American dream," Obama began.

Lowering his tone of voice in an apparent aside, he then shared with the Democrat donors that he had been "a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies, about taxes."

"You would think they would be saying thank you," Obama said to laughter from the audience. "That's what you'd think."

Video provided by rightscoop

After playing the clip on his show today, Limbaugh commented: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a classic illustration of authoritarian mocking control. He hasn't cut anybody's taxes. The recovery act stimulus bill – it's more like loaves and fishes. There are no tax cuts in that. There were some tax credits. It's all bogus.

"But he wants to be thanked," Limbaugh continued. "OK, I will oblige."

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Welcome to the Madoff economy ~ By Pat Boone

Pat talks about the similarity between the budget deficits and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

You can't change gravity. And you cannot go on spending trillions of dollars you don't have, and just expect "everything to turn out all right." You can't solve human problems with worthless pieces of printed money, backed by nothing but wishes and impossible promises.

Thomas Jefferson warned, "Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to the wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them."

Citizens, this battle has been forced upon us. Let's get it on.

By Pat Boone

Posted: March 27, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

A little rebellion now and again is a good thing. …

– Thomas Jefferson

Less than three weeks ago, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi cooed, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

Yes, she said that! Right out loud, on national TV. She indicated that she herself didn't know all that the 2,700-page health-care bill contained or mandated – but that she was determined to cram this atrocity down the throats of Americans, before they (or she) learned what it would contain or cost them.

There's a kind of wild ferocity in her manner. Oh, it's softly modulated, but absolutely determined, and nothing was going to deter her quest to deliver this prize for President Obama. Sounding for all the world like an earnest Avon lady selling you her products, she told every audience and the members of the House that this bill was not only patriotic, historic and needed – but would decrease the deficit! And you could have sworn she actually believed it.

She wanted all of us to believe that, having added almost $3 trillion to our national debt, with no one to pay it but us beaten down taxpayers, somehow this monstrosity was going to magically reduce itself! That the American public should rejoice with her that virtually all 300 million of us were going to have fabulous health care, courtesy of the government, including 14 or 15 million illegal aliens and several million others who actually don't want it. And that her Congress could take $500 billion out of Medicare while it tried to serve the 30 million more baby boomers who are entitled to it … and that over 10 years this scheme would result in over a trillion dollars in savings.

I'd like to ask the speaker how she would feel about the following scenario. I don't know her net worth, but am reliably informed that she and her husband might be worth 30 or 40 million dollars, conservatively. So, one morning she learns that a Republican Congress has enacted a giant bill that compels her to accept a $200 million personal indebtedness, and she can't do anything about it. But the good news: This debt will enable the government to extend all kinds of goodies to aliens and homeless and some welfare recipients who haven't even tried to work in years – won't she be deliriously happy about this?

The money is going to such a good and noble cause, and the Congress promises that in 10 years or less, her debt will somehow decrease to only $150 million. And everybody knows how efficient and dependable the government is with the programs it manages. Do you think Lady Speaker would keep her motherly composure and earnest compassion, finding out that her long-cherished $40 million fortune was absorbed into a $200 million debt?

Well, that's what has happened to every American citizen as this gigantic, preposterous bill has been railroaded through a Democratic Congress and signed into law by an inexperienced president determined to "save his presidency," no matter what.

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