About Me

In writing the "About Me" portion of this blog I thought about the purpose of the blog - namely, preventing the growth of Socialism & stopping the Death Of Democracy in the American Republic & returning her to the "liberty to abundance" stage of our history. One word descriptions of people's philosophies or purposes are quite often inadequate. I feel that I am "liberal" meaning that I am broad minded, independent, generous, hospitable, & magnanimous. Under these terms "liberal" is a perfectly good word that has been corrupted over the years to mean the person is a left-winger or as Mark Levin more accurately wrote in his book "Liberty & Tyranny" a "statist" - someone looking for government or state control of society. I am certainly not that & have dedicated the blog to fighting this. I believe that I find what I am when I consider whether or not I am a "conservative" & specifically when I ask what is it that I am trying to conserve? It is the libertarian principles that America was founded upon & originally followed. That is the Return To Excellence that this blog is named for & is all about.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Washington's Manipulative Lexicon

Congressman Frelinghuysen recently wrote to his constituents "As I write this, the federal government could be just one week away from a shutdown of 'non-essential services.'"  Now when you consider that the Constitution was written to delegate few & defined powers to the federal government (Federalist Papers #45 - James Madison) & the fact that every Member of Congress takes an oath of loyalty to uphold the Constitution by supporting & defending it you can start to see just how far off track our nation has come by talking let alone worrying about "non-essential services."  Why do we have "non-essential services?"

Thanks to Ann Coulter for providing a list of departments to eliminate in order to start to re-uphold the Constitution.  We should eliminate the Departments of Health & Human Services, Education, Commerce, Agriculture, Transportation, HUD, the National Endowment of the Arts, the National Endowment of Humanities, & of course the progressive income tax system & replace it with the FairTax (the last one is my idea).  More on the Department of Energy below.

But "non-essential services" is just one of the terms that has gotten out of hand in Washington's manipulative lexicon.

With regard to the budget please consider that our elected reps add to this lexicon by talking-up entitlements as "mandatory spending" that can't be touched.  My letter published in The Reporter in June 2005 pointed out that Social Security benefits are not guaranteed for life.  I referenced Susan Lee's WSJ article dated November 23, 2004 – "Social Security benefits are not guaranteed.  Just like all entitlement programs, they can - & have been – changed by Congress.  The Social Security administration itself says so & so did the Supreme Court when it ruled, in Fleming v. Nestor, that workers & retirees have no legal claim to benefits.  Regardless of how much in taxes they have paid into the system." 

Robert Alexander correctly points out more recently when he wrote "that Social Security & Medicare are driven by spending formulas rather than annual appropriations, but those formulas were established by Congress & the president & they can be changed by Congress & the president.  They are just as discretionary as the 'discretionary' or nonformula based spending.  Referring to these programs as 'mandatory' plays right into the hands of big spenders who want to direct the discussion away from spending cuts & toward tax increases.  'Mandatory' spending isn't a force of nature that's out of control.  It is a problem created by politicians & solvable by politicians, & it could be solved this year if they had the will to do it."

The above removes the terms "non-essential services" & "mandatory spending" from our lexicon & shows that Congress has the power but has never had the will to follow their constitutional oath.

The opposite problem of not cutting spending lies in a very dangerous part of the government lexicon - breaking the "tax free" promise concerning Roth IRAs & Roth 401(k)s.  To help fund projected shortages with Social Security & Medicare Roth IRAs & Roth 401(k)s are sitting there like big turkeys waiting to be taxed - especially as their values grow to huge amounts.  Holders of such accounts will likely lose out.  Can you imagine a future politician trying to defend continuation of tax free treatment for money that has never been taxed in the economic environment we are facing - what a large chunk of money Roth IRAs & Roth 401(k)s are to the politicians who will not be able to resist confiscating large amounts of them. 

Also, we don't need any special lexicon term for raising taxes but the raising of tax rates for traditional IRAs & 401(k)s will also provide a government windfall.  One of the best ways to increase the value of your IRA or 401(k) is to contribute when in a high tax bracket & withdraw @ a lower tax bracket.  The opposite principle can make a loser out of these programs, if Congress raises tax rates, as higher income tax brackets in withdrawal wipes out any investment gains over the years.

As promised the Fire The Night Watchman message included an analysis of the Department of Energy - a department I certainly would include in my list of unconstitutional government programs to be eliminated.  Read the note below & see if you agree - not just with the elimination of the Department of Energy but the entire damn mess described herein & how much of it is our fault for letting it happen. 

---Department Of Energy?---

As we quietly go like sheep to slaughter - Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the Department of Energy ..... during the Carter Administration?

The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. 
 
And now 34 years later the budget for this "necessary" department is at $24.2 billion a year.  It has 16,000 federal employees and approximately 100,000 contract employees.  
 
A little over 33 years ago, 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports.  Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports.  
 

2 comments:

  1. Doug: I just want to take a moment a let you know how much I enjoy reading your emails. When I log in and look at my list the first thing I read are your stories. The Dept. of Energy has always been a thorn in my side. Like Carter, it is a failure and a waste of money filled with patronage jobs. All those agencies you mentioned are cousins of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae. We are at a crossroads in American history, will we stand up to those Union thugs or will we cave like cheap tents. If history tells us anything we will fold like a cheap tent. With most Americans on the receiving end there is no enthusiasm to upset the apple cart.

    Pls keep those news editorials coming. . .

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  2. Doug, "Washington's Manipulative Lexicon"....Excellent...!!!

    Washington spews a lot of nonsense...most of which is usually a lie...they figure they can throw anything at the people, they won't know or care... Our government will try to get away with whatever We The People ALLOW THEM TO GET AWAY WITH...!!!!!!

    As we all know they say that Death and Taxes are the only certainties... The government changes the rules on us all the time and so if the political will is not there...the reality will be here one day real soon...unfortunately these un-representing representatives are without gonads to do the peoples work. There will come a day that we will be forced to right itself, unless We The People get to them first from the voting booth. Aside from this...I believe there is a nefarious purpose beyond behaving the way they do...there are those that believe in a New World Order. This is a notion that would necessarily have to put down America as a country as something less than exceptional...I do not and most Americans would not accept that notion. Those that do can not really be Americans...really???

    I was just reading an article that was talking of America's $14 trillion debt, of which 9.6 trillion held by private banks in the US and the other $4.4 trillion held by 10 countries, which hold 77.4% of that $4.4 trillion.

    The article doesn't say that this $4.4 trillion is NET DEBT...it is debt. I can't believe that these 10 countries (Mainland China, Japan, UK, Oil Exporters, Brazil, Caribbean Banks, Hong Kong, Canada, Taiwan & Russia) do not owe the United States anything? I'm sorry if I sound a tad cynical, but in a world where never a truth is spoken...I find the need to ask this question.

    Simply is this NET DEBT?

    A second question...Has the US billed the world for what we have done for the world? At the risk of sounding presumptuous and forward. What value do we put on what we have done for the world? We forgive foreign country debt all the time...!!! Can and will not America be forgiven for major parts of this debt? If not, may I suggest that the US government get new financial accountants. I for one would be available for this job. I can justify and book the necessary entries, believe you me. We should start making these adjustment immediately...

    When push comes to shove...not only will the politicians have their come to Jesus talk but America will get the concessions on it's debt to foreign countries...without losing her status in the world!!!!

    There are nefarious reasons for the lies we hear from our government day in and day out....

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