Responses - Government-Dependent Mindset - From Food Stamps To FEMA - Expected & Deserved

Below are three responses that not only reinforce the original subject message but also offer their own solutions for correcting the needed government-dependent mindset problem.  All three responses are in agreement re the definition & statement of the problem.  The question is, when the source of funds dries up, will the reaction of the government-dependent people in America be destructive like the current government-dependent people in Greece has been or will Americans have learned from the Greek experience & avoid metaphorically falling down the same flight of stairs?  The answer to this question will make all the difference in the world.

 

---Response #1 From A Resident Of A Town On The NJ Shore---

 

Doug - You hit the nail on the head. This is why it is going to take such a long time and incredible effort to fix this mess. The average American's mindset is to have the government take care of them. The idea of being independent and not looking for a handout is foreign to them. Americans have become conditioned to expect their "Uncle" (Sam that is) to take care of them.

 

I got disgusted watching the TV news and seeing people whining; "who is going to take care of me?"  How about taking care of yourself?

 

So far the liberals are winning and by a large margin. The "greatest generation" and the baby boomers are a lost cause.

 

The good news is that people on our side are starting to catch on. The only way this will turn around is for things to get bad, where the rich can no longer subsidize or refuse to subsidize the poor (Atlas is shrugging) by checking out.

 

For this reason I look at Obama's victory as not the worst thing to happen. Let these fools (Obama, Boehner, Pelosi and the rest of the gang) have their way. Once they can no longer take care of the masses, the masses will turn on them. Won't be pretty but that is life isn't it?

 

At that point if we have done our job to educate the young people on freedom and free enterprise our opportunity will come, but only if we start cultivating the young. Wasting one's time on their elders and the fools in Washington and Trenton is a colossal waste of time.

 

---Response #2---

 

Doug - many significant points in your post about a very disconcerting current U.S. mindset. This mindset needs a drastic change and very soon (like 2013). How?

Educate as many people as you can about:

The pending economic collapse if we do not change course with those currently receiving government benefits other than SS and MC. They are the ones who will be hurt the most.

The need to improve economic productivity. This is the number 1 key variable in long term economic prosperity. We will not get there by increasing taxes. Rather deep cuts in spending and tax rate decreases are the answer. We must cite numerous empirical evidence in simple terms so our deeply economic illiterate citizens can comprehend.

Block all BO initiatives that are debasing our currency (per Lenin the quickest way to destabilize a country rendering it ripe for dictatorial power .. Maybe a BO goal).

It is very disheartening that only 21 of 87 newly elected Tea Party Congressmen stuck to their principles in last Spring's debt talks. Why can't our elected representatives pledge to do what is best for the U.S. for 1 term then go back to the productive private sector?

Re Food Stamps: do you know that BO's administration spends taxpayer $ advertising to Mexicans how to apply for food stamps if they illegally cross the border to the U.S.? This is pure politics - get more dependent people here, further debase our currency, expand Democrat Party base to ensure perpetual government control.  Instead why not encourage more foreigners skilled in technology to enhance our economic productivity, with visas and green cards and encourage ultimate citizenship?  Democrats do not support this because it will weaken their power.

In sum there is much room for improvement.  All who are passionate about getting our core nation's principles back and passionate about once again leading the world in economic prosperity: get to work to drastically change the mindset before it is too late.

 

---Response #3---

 

I agree, at this house we received only minor small branches downed while the neighbors had large trees blow over - thank goodness none fell on the buildings.  We were out of electric for 5 days and since I was the one with a generator the two neighbors plugged into the same generator to keep refrigerators charged. As fuel got low we banded together to find fuel whether it was siphoned from the lawn equipment or autos or finding a station pumping - we all made it.  If we waited for government we would still be waiting.

Government-Dependent Mindset - From Food Stamps To FEMA - Expected & Deserved

  206 buses sitting in a flooded parking lot in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina

 

The reading aloud of The Constitution of the United States (minus the four clauses pertaining to slavery) on the House floor that began John Boehner's Speakership on the first day of Congress assembled in 2011 was the high point of the One Hundred Twelfth Congress.  This meaningful exercise was done to acknowledge the eighty-seven Tea Party Members who had been elected in November 2010. 

 

Now we find that the elected Reps should have gone slower when they read the eleventh & fourteenth amendments so that House Minority Leader Pelosi would know the difference between them.  Nancy's confusion re these amendments just about tops her "are you serious" answer to where in the Constitution ObamaCare is authorized. 

 

But we can't blame Nancy for the things that quickly went downhill following the reading of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment as sixty-six of the eighty-seven Freshman Republicans deserted Tea Party standards by income-tax filing day 2011 & voted in a way they thought was best for their congressional careers – click on Only 21 Of 87 Freshman House Republicans Are Still With You for all the details including who voted for what @ that troubling time that was very instrumental in getting us into the pickle we are in today.

 

Following Hurricane - now better known as Super Storm - Sandy blowing through NJ, I had three separate occasions to see how the above type of mindset that disregards the Constitution & our founding principles of limited government & personal responsibility has given way to government-dependent thinking.

 

1.  On election day eve I received a call from a pleasant enough woman who called to remind me to vote for a certain local Republican candidate.  Our conversation shorty turned to how I made out during & after the storm.  I said that I had some water in the basement & although it was a pain @ the time it really was minor compared to neighbors who had trees fall on their houses.  The woman proceeded to give me suggestions re how to make application to FEMA & even provided a location & phone number for me to call.  I repeatedly assured her that was not necessary but I was most taken by her government-dependent mindset that was revealed as part of a Republican get out the vote call.

 

2.  Several days later I had occasion to call a government office located in another state.  The conversation quickly turned to Hurricane Sandy & when I told this woman that I had water in the basement she asked if the government helped me clean it up.  I told her that Carol & I cleaned it up with the help from a neighbor.  The woman was is a state of disbelief & asked if an insurance company came to help.  She thought of everyone but us doing the work.

 

3.  I have received several invitations from my Town & Republican Congressman to call a FEMA hotline that is open to residents who need legal help related to the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. 

 

The legal hotline is probably well intentioned like the women in the above points 1 & 2 definitely were but all of these experiences were cut out of the same cloth as the recent radio & TV government advertisements letting people know where to sign up for food stamps. 

 

This government-dependent mindset is preying on us & many just take it for granted not understanding how destructive it is to our freedom.  Far too many people overwhelmingly believe that government should do everything for us never recognizing that government can't because it is actually made up of regular people (like all of us) with no magical powers let alone any incentive to make everything right.  People's hopes in government are pinned to a fake that doesn't exist because government bureaucrats have no incentive to make anything right. 

 

Just like the terrorists are taught to hate when they are 3 or 4 years old, the American people have been brainwashed, mislead, & hoodwinked for decades to believe that a government program is the answer to every problem imaginable.  This march of fifth column statists has bred the dependence we have for government.

Chicago was rebuilt after its fire, as was Galveston after its hurricane, & San Francisco after its earthquake - all without a dollar of government money.  In fact until the Civil War, virtually every president regularly vetoed legislation because he thought some bills were unconstitutional - mostly for violating the Spending Clause of Article I, Section 8.  Savannah was not offered any federal government help to rebuild after its devastating fire that destroyed the entire city in the late 1700s because the Congress did not think it had the constitutional power to help a city - the fire did not affect the general (that is national) Welfare of the entire United States – a constitutional principle one of my favorite presidents, James Monroe, applied during his presidency of 1817 to 1825.  The philanthropy & charity of the American people coupled with the free market capitalistic system that has made America the envy of the world restored these cities.

 

Please contrast the points from the preceding paragraph with today's government-dependent mindset.  All of the above cities were restored through acts of genuine charity & free enterprise with the affected people taking control of their lives & property.  Early in our Republic people learned to take care of themselves since they are the only ones they can really count on anyway, as everyone finds out sooner or later as they go through life.  Instead of fostering the above type of self-reliant individual responsibility, we have people like NJ's Governor Christie already applying for & receiving over $29 billion of federal aid -  the governor may very well add to this sum & says NJ "expects & deserves"  federal government help to rebuild after the damage caused by Sandy.

 

With re to Hurricane Katrina – 1) Although he didn't use any of the resources (over 700 buses & Amtrak trains that offered to help) available to him, the New Orleans Mayor blamed the federal government for a slow response in evacuating people.  See photo above of 206 school buses famously sitting in a flooded New Orleans parking lot, & 2) FEMA spent almost $1-billion on prefabricated homes that wound up sitting & rotting when it was discovered the homes were in violation of FEMA's own regulations. 

 

There is a better way than people all over the country continuing to move into hurricane alleys in trailers with the mistaken notion that government will take care of them when disaster strikes.

 

Responses - George Washington's First Thanksgiving Proclamation

"Doug - one of your best posts of the year - thanks so much. This post is so very needed today.. I just sent the link of Washington's address to all of my Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Spread the true meaning of Thanksgiving!" is a good example of many of the responses I received re the subject Thanksgiving posting.

 

Below is a very unique response - an extremely thoughtful one - from a long time subscriber of RTE who, along with her husband, did everything they could in 2012 to help elect candidates of substance & who are currently working with the youth in their neighborhood to provide them with knowledge about our heritage & history that is not being taught in the schools.  I called her to thank her for the message below & during the call she told me they don't like the way it is going in the schools & are not taking any excuses so they are teaching America's founding principles & heritage by home schooling these children accordingly in the afternoon – with the parents approval of course.

 

Carol & I consider it an honor to receive such an inspirational message – they know in their heart of hearts they could not have done more for America which in turn I hope encourages & heartens similar work from the rest of us.

 

Hello Doug,

In this past election cycle my husband and I decided to take your advice & get behind a candidate at the local level that we thought shared our values. We supported this person with funding and a lot of our physical work.

So as we approached election day, even though our person was not on the ticket, we at least had the knowledge that we had done everything we could as citizens. I baby sat for moms on my street so they could vote, I found out (with your help) where my neighbors could vote (our polling place had to be changed because of power outages), I made hand-written notes by flash light at night with voting info and left in every mail box up and down my road, & we stood in line for 2 hours to cast our own vote.

After reading George Washington's first Thanksgiving Proclamation, I am reminded that God is not neutral, He is not "politically correct." History shows us that God abandoned the Hebrews time and time again when they no longer followed his teachings. I believe it was a miracle the way in which our country was forged, but when we no longer are a tribute to His Power and Grace as a Nation, then what are we to expect?

"In God We Trust"; do we? Is there any place in our country where we can look today and find traditional values being displayed or God forbid proclaimed? TV, music, movies, print media, fashion, schools, town hall meetings, the mall, at football, soccer or baseball games? Even churches, yes churches have been infested with statists' ideals and are passing over traditional Christian values we held dear for so long. I defy you to write me back and tell me where I can go today and see traditional Christian values being displayed!

We deserve what we got. God has 3 answers to prayer; "Yes; No; & Not yet." I also know from history that God will preserve "a Remnant."  I babysit my neighbors kids a couple of days a week till she gets home from work. I'm getting some books, DVDs & games that are directed at their age group to teach them the basics of government & American history.

Things are going to be very different and hard for these little ones. They are going to need strong core values and a firm foundation.

Just doing what we can.

George Washington's First Thanksgiving Proclamation

Thanks to Anne Neal, President of American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), for sending George Washington's first Thanksgiving Proclamation issued on October 3, 1789.

 

Do you believe this proclamation could ever be decreed today?  The proclamation is a prayer that conveys the return to excellence that is so sorely needed in our country & our lives.

 

 

The Relevance & Need Of A Viable Third Party

"What the President's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, & then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote, & that strategy worked.  It's a proven strategy...give a bunch of money to a group &, guess what, they'll vote for you...Giving them free stuff is a hard thing to compete against."  Mitt Romney speaking to a group of donors after the election with a similar message to the one he delivered to donors last May re "the 47%"

 

 

By reciting Death Of Democracy messages to donors, like above, it is a wonder that Mitt had any donors @ all during the last campaign.  Every democracy in history has ultimately fallen into ruin by the above quoted principles that Mitt obviously knows so well. 

 

The miserable Republican results from the 2012 election are best illustrated by the popular-vote statistics & the above table - Mitt got one million fewer votes than McCain did in 2008 & that from a voting age population that had increased by over ten million people in the last four years.  Couple this with losses in Mitt's two home states of MA (61% to 38%), NH (52% to 46%) & Ryan's home state of WI (53% to 46%) & you can see the rejection of these candidates by the voters.  Worse yet – Ryan won his House reelection seat by the lowest margin in the last twelve years 55% to 43%.  Ryan had won his last six House races with over 60% of the vote including 68% in 2010.  Ryan's actual voting record instead of his reputation may have caught up with him once he joined Mitt.

 

Each of us can decide for ourselves what the lesson, if any, is from the above statistics & table.

 

Some frightened Republican pundits think the lesson is to somehow reach out (pander) to minorities & everyone else Mitt offended during the campaign & tell them Republicans are really for them after all.  The problem with this deceitful approach is that as they appeal to the masses they are probably losing many in the conservative voting block base faster than they are picking up new supporters.

 

Other just as frightened Republican pundits, who fear the future irrelevance of the Party, have decided that the lesson is to take the gloves off & blame Mitt more & more for the loss.  These pundits are envisioning the hopelessness going forward with the establishment Republican Party in a country where the majority is best described as financially conservative & socially liberal.  Libertarian Party Presidential candidate Gary Johnson pointed this out many times during the campaign & yet people who really should have voted for Gary based on their beliefs were brainwashed into voting for one of the lesser of two evils from the two major parties who each had terrible candidates that conventional wisdom said could win.  The point is that between the Tea Party & the Libertarian Party we already have two other parties to consider & the sooner we recognize these parties as distinct from Democrat & Republican the better off we will be.

 

The results of the recent Two Quizzes posting confirmed that if not a majority @ least many in the RTE readership follow this financially conservative – socially liberal profile which in turn can be classified simply as libertarian.  

 

The hopelessness of the last election persists if no viable alternative develops & if the bluebloods of the establishment Republican Party continue to nominate candidates like Mitt, McCain, & Dole who pander for votes in a way that is not believable to Hispanics, Asians, blacks, homosexuals, single women, young people, & the poor – all groups that went for BO in large numbers & as such are now the groups who control the policies in our country.  Who would ever believe that such Republican candidates could all of a sudden be for homosexual rights, comprehensive immigration reform, abortion rights, free student loans, & expanded welfare?  We don't need two give-a-way parties.  Let left-wing liberals vote for Democrats who support forcing taxpayers to pay for big government social programs & right-wing conservatives vote for Republicans who support laws that restrict personal behavior that violates their ideas of traditional values.  If the rest of the people vote for candidates who are financially conservative & socially liberal we will have established a viable third choice which is the last thing the two major parties want.

 

Now a viable Party that will replace the establishment Republican Party or @ least produce candidates who will be competitive with the Democrat & Republican Party candidates must connect with all of the people in the aforementioned groups who supported BO on the one thing we all have in common; namely, the desire for the self-respect of having a meaningful job that supports a family – if we have lost this human dignity & self-respect than all of this message is beyond our time.  A candidate who will compete against the "gimmee" Democrat & Republican candidates will have to be credible – not one who has been on every side of every issue for the last eighteen years.  

 

For instance, on the deeply divisive issue of abortion which even many libertarians disagree on – try this approach - "The government should neither use tax dollars to pay for or encourage abortions, nor to discourage or prevent them.  Organizations & individuals on both sides of this issue should voluntarily contribute towards providing education or procedures they deem necessary. Doctors & hospitals should be allowed to perform abortions or not based on their own moral convictions, without any government sanctions or penalties. Women should be allowed to make such personal decisions without government interference."

 

I don't know how you could get any more reasonable than the above passage in quotation marks that was taken from Ken Kaplan's website.  Ken was the Libertarian Party candidate for NJ senate & FairTax supporter that Carol & I voted for on November 6.

 

In essence, with this sort of tolerance everyone is free to pursue their own salvation with "fear & trembling" with no one but God Almighty sitting in judgment – otherwise the fight on earth goes on forever with no winners & all losers. 

 

Isn't it better to have liberals & conservatives mind their own businesses & vote as they see fit with the rest of us not caring how judgmental either of them are.  In my preferred plan individuals have the right to do as they please, in action or speech, as long as they do not infringe on the same rights of others.  These government hands-off principles carry forward & apply to all of the other issues as well & work best when you leave the intolerance of the Democrats & Republicans behind.

 

Now none of this eliminates the need to get back to the bedrock basics of educating our youth regarding America's heritage or selecting new candidates who know & can articulate the message of the benefits, including having a more fulfilling life itself & returning to the excellence of our founding principles (particularly self responsibility & free enterprise) so that the government-dependent people can more readily recognize the inevitable economic collapse of the country BO has in mind for them & all of us.

 

Instead of being disillusioned & voting for current major party candidates who pander to one interest group @ the expense of another how about looking for & finding candidates in a Party you can feel good about voting for who just tell you what they believe in & let the chips (& voters) fall where they may? 

 

Results - Two Quizzes

In sending out the subject quizzes in the last post I mentioned that these "quizzes ... may tell you more about yourself than you actually know."  For instance one white Democrat reader who voted for BO both times wrote that his analysis is that "he is a very liberal black man."

 

Below are eight additional responses that give a good cross section of the results received.  RTE has a very diverse readership – the one thing I have found over the years is that any one who subscribes for a few months & reads the posts with an open mind does become more libertarian. 

 

Based on these nine results & the others you can see how the Republican Party ran into trouble in the last election – many voters are strong financial conservatives & liberal on social issues.  More about this in upcoming posts but in the meantime thanks to everyone who participated.  These types of quizzes are fun & insightful.

 

1.  Quiz #1 shows that I am Conservative Republican.  Quiz #2 says I am Libertarian.  Thanks, I did learn something about myself!

 

2.  Hi Doug - I came up "very conservative " (but I hate that term!) on Quiz 1.  Quiz 2 I came out a 60 on personal and 80 on economic and a "libertarian"

 

3.  Hi Doug - On the first quiz, I came up as a Moderate Republican, Quiz #2, Centrist.

 

4.  Scored liberal.

 

5.  Scored very conservative Republican on first Quiz & right on the line between Conservative/Centrist on the second Quiz.

 

6.  Here is my score: Quiz 1 Conservative---- almost at the end of the scale.  Quiz 2 Centrist---at the top right corner between Libertarian & Conservative.

 

7.   Political Quiz:  Economic Issues: more conservative than a Tea Party Republican; Social Issues: more liberal than a liberal Democrat; Overall: Between moderate Republican and Average Republican.  Second Quiz:  Personal Issues: 70%;  Economic Issues: 90%; Recommended Political Party: Libertarian.

 

8.  Not surprisingly I ended up on quiz #1 a moderate to strong Republican.  On economy I was off the charts Republican. On social issues I was moderate to liberal Democrat.  On quiz #2 I was a 90% Libertarian.

 

Two Quizzes

Below are two quizzes that may tell you more about yourself than you actually know.  I know a man who took a similar quiz a few years ago who found out to his horror, in his case, that his answers most paralleled those of Dennis Kucinich.

 

Both quizzes take only a minute to complete & instantly provide an analysis of your responses.

 

Quiz #1 – answer twelve multiple choice questions & you will see where you fit overall, on economic issues, & on social issues.  The analysis also compares your answers to those of other demographic groups by party, age, sex, race, religion, & BO & Mitt.

 

Quiz #2 – answer ten multiple choice questions & you will see whether you are centrist, statist, liberal, conservative, or libertarian.

 

Please let me know how your analyses work out.  I know many people in the readership – people who are big government statists & those to the right of the Articles Of Confederation.

How To Turn The Election Results Around

"I believe that the principles upon which this nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy & to a renewed greatness..."  spoken by Mitt Romney as part of his concession speech after the 2012 presidential election

 

    click on graphs to enlarge

 

Many Republicans & Conservatives have done much soul searching since Tuesday's presidential election concerning how BO won reelection & what they could have done differently.  There are many avenues to go down in this regard including the inexcusable one about the Republicans not having a good ground game.  Getting demolished by the Hispanic vote is another.

 

The left graph above shows the increase in the share of the Hispanic vote since 2000.  This increase in & of itself is not the problem.  The problem is that BO got the support of 67% of Hispanics in 2008 & that support increased to 71% in 2012.  The Hispanic vote decided the elections in @ least Florida, Virginia, Colorado, & Nevada. 

 

The best authority I know re Hispanics' influence on election results let it slip a few months ago that Mitt would lose the election if he did not get a higher percent of Hispanic votes that McCain got in 2008.  McCain received 31% & Mitt's share fell further to an abysmal 27%. 

 

The right graph above shows more directly another problem.  The Cuban-American vote for Republicans has fallen by a third since 2000.  This is attributed to the influence of the older generations dying off & being replaced by people who have a natural affinity for the apparent benefits of the Democrat Party.

 

A high percentage of Cuban-Americans are highly educated & successful in business & as such there is a degree of tension between Cuban-Americans & some other Hispanic groups.  This fact does not help the rising Cuban-American Republican star Senator Marco Rubio win over Hispanics in general.  I know of this tension first hand having worked for a Cuban-American engineer & also having many Cuban-American friends who were engineers & designers.

 

TV pundits have spent the past several days giving many wrong-headed opinions re how the Republican Party can reverse their skid not only with Hispanics but also with blacks, single women, young people, & the poor – all of whom strongly supported BO & also are government dependent to one degree or another.  The emphasis should not be on how to restore the Republican Party to its once prominent position but rather how to move America forward from the pit we are in.   This results of Tuesday's election clearly shows the two-party system no longer works for America – even the strictest Republican has to admit it failed this last time. 

 

People are people & I believe that most, but certainly not all, would prefer having a real life rather than merely existing waiting for the next government handout.  We are doomed if a significant number of the people who voted for BO would turn down the self-respect of having a meaningful job that supports their families.

 

As Governor Romney stated in his concession speech "the principles upon which this nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy & to a renewed greatness."  The immediate problem that has to be admitted before it can be corrected is that the majority of the electorate just voted against this principle.

 

In order to turn around the anti-American result of Tuesday's election the over 1-million people who voted for Gary Johnson plus the 58-million people who voted for Mitt plus the additional 2-million people who voted for McCain in 2008 who did not vote for Mitt in 2012 (I know there is some overlap in these figures) must get back to basics – & this starts with the education of our youth.  The young people who voted for BO are not dumb – they just don't know anything – especially about our founding.  Jay Leno & Jesse Waters prove this every time they present a video asking young people simple questions re America' heritage.  Although these videos can be humorous the young people in them who vote are as much, if not more, to blame for Tuesday's result than any one else.  People aged 18 to 29 made up almost 20% of the electorate & 60% of them voted for BO.

 

We must ensure that our youth is knowledgeable about our heritage & history.  Parents – don't accept any excuses.  If the schools are not teaching America's founding principles & heritage the way you think they should be taught than home school your children accordingly @ night.  Parents & concerned citizens can also run for election to their school boards plus any number of other innovative ways to get involved including joining or starting PTAs & PTOs.  If the teachers' unions are a hindrance work around them yourselves or with private tutors.  We need our youth to have a bedrock foundation re our heritage not one of quicksand like we have today.  If young people don't have the foundation to know what they are missing they will never miss it.

 

Simultaneous to the needed improvements to the education of our youth we need new candidates who know & can articulate the message of the benefits, including having a more fulfilling life itself, of returning to the excellence of our founding principles (particularly self responsibility & free enterprise) so that the government-dependent people can more readily recognize the inevitable economic collapse of the country BO has in mind for them & all of us.  The establishment Republican Party has not run a candidate for president since 1984 that met this standard.

 

The above prescription requires work - especially from people who know in their heart of hearts that they did not fulfill their civic duty over the years – a duty that is required to keep America free.  The speed with which America can be turned around is a function of how fast BO's supporters see that his plans are not in their best interest & how fast an inspirational leader comes forward to offer an alternative of substance.  The current government-dependent mindset that is so entrenched has to be changed.  We can use the economy continuing to stall as a weapon in our favor – painful as it is for the people who just voted for it.  But with the right leader we can reverse course – once the entrepreneurial spirit is truly released following libertarian principles & people are put back to work in meaningful jobs the piddling $16-trillion debt & all of our other economic problems will disappear quickly. 

 

In this regard I am glad to say that current Congressman Mike Pence (favorably highlighted on this blog for years) was just elected Governor of Indiana.  Governor-elect Pence (had considered a run for president in 2012 but instead ran for governor) has all of the traits (including being able to speak) of leadership we need – he is graded "A" by the National Taxpayers Union & like most of such people is a long time FairTax supporter.   The type of inspirational message Mike is capable of delivering coupled with some executive experience as governor would put us on the desired path to prosperity four years from now. 

 

Governor-elect Pence is the type of leader I am looking for – not one of the many currently being talked about who fit some ethnic, racial, or gender classification or are favored for some other politically correct reason made for TV – but rather Mike is one of merit, substance, & accomplishment.

 

But speaking about the next four years let's not forget that elections have consequences & the American people just reelected the biggest enemy this country has had since King George lll.  We are in a hole & it will get deeper before we see our way out of it.  BO is a foe, not just another patriot with different freedom loving ways & ideas, but rather a foe who intends to continue his destructive plan of having the America we grew up in vanish right before our eyes until it becomes irreclaimable.

 

Responses - Presidential Election Analysis & Our Way Forward

There was a lower voter turnout in Tuesday's election compared to the election of 2008 – 132.6 million people voted in 2008 vs. approximately 117.9 million people in 2012 (99% of precincts reporting – source – AP).  Lower turnouts were also reported in several postings last winter for many Republican Primaries.  In the so-called "most important election of our lifetimes" these lower turnouts were either the result of apathy or a poor field or both.  I pick "both."  Mitt received about three million less votes than McCain did in 2008 meaning that Mitt turned off more than enough voters to win the electoral college had these people voted for him – they didn't for any of numerous reasons endlessly documented on this blog.

 

Below are ten responses to last night's subject message.

 

---Response #1 from two time congressional candidate---

 

Well stated.  Bottom line is until the people feel the pain, namely after the free enterprise producers "go Galt" and demand the crony capitalists ( Clinton, Buffet, Soros, etc) pay more and more of the tax burden reform will not come.

If and/or once it happens we have to be ready to take control once again. Simply meaning we will have to have been educating the people on basic freedom and economics in a user friendly way. We are 30 years behind the Dems. And we need to emulate what the liberals did on the other side.

When I ran for office one point I consistently made was that the schools should be teaching economics. If students studied Henry Hazlitt's " Economics in One Lesson" and any of Thomas Sowell's economic books in middle and high school we could kill off fascism/socialism in one generation.

The one point I disagree with is Romney being "the most flawed candidate."  John McCain is much more flawed.  Doesn't understand a single thing about economics (which puts him in good company in Washington) and was clueless on most topics as well.

I really don't blame Romney per se.  I do blame the Republicans as a whole who keep putting out their "America is a conservative nation" shtick for over 30 years, while the nation has been steadily shifting to the left with rapidly changing demographics.  And the Republican leaders are too dull to have figured that out.

 

RTE – McCain was the most incompetent.  Mitt was the most flawed - how could you expect to win with one of your party's biggest objectives being the repeal & replacement of ObamaCare when your candidate was the co-creator of the state system ObamaCare was based on?  There were many other examples of these types of flaws that led to three million less people voting for Mitt than voted for McCain.

 

---Response #2---

 

Hello Doug - sadly saying that this election was the most divisive we have ever seen.  Obama won by driving class against class, using color against color, and being backed up by the media with the most blatant, obvious lies imaginable.  Even though minority groups are outnumbered in this country, they obviously live in the right states with the most number of electoral votes, along with all those jubilant recipients of entitlements.

 

---Response #3---

 

John Galt, where are you? This small business owner is ready to go.

 

---Response #4---

 

Great article.

 

---Response #5---

 

Too few of electorate know anything of significance about Saul Alinsky. Great IBD editorial today http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110712-632608-obama-followed-alinsky-playbook-beats-romney.htm

 

---Response #6---

 

Doug – the glimmer of hope you note is significant:

"The peaceful hope is that enough Americans will see the inevitable collapse of this type of country in time so that America can return to the excellence of our long forgotten founding principles."

Perhaps when our economy is on brink of collapse this will all start to make sense to many Americans and start a comeback.

Right now the reality is that:
at present the US does not have the prerequisites for traditional free market capitalism. This must be grasped by all. The expertise and motivation for free market capitalism, its risk taking, entrepreneurship has been in decline and accelerated over the past few years. This is a reality and a message from the election.

Overcoming this mindset will take some real leadership from a champion of free markets and strict constitutional law. We need someone with charisma and one who can communicate with the common people. Do we have a young Ronald Reagan in the waiting? If we do he should not wait but start countering our Nanny State right now – today.

 

---Response #7---

 

Thanks for coming over yesterday.  Nice seeing you and Carol.

Re: Election was close, but as I see it there were two major problems Romney had.

One was Bain, where he would send U.S. jobs to foreign nations.

Other was where he said no bail out for General Motors - let them fail. You have a lot of auto workers employed in Ohio and Mich. They make good money and would not like to be unemployed, even tho they do not have special skills.

My gut feeling is that blame should go to the Republicans who nominated Romney in the first place. They did not do their homework seeing what negative comments would be made by potential people who wanted to run for President in the Primaries. They fell down on their job in making complete background checks.

One bright spot - within next two years BO has to produce results, if not he will lose a lot of Democratic senators to Republicans.

---Response #8---

 

Hi Doug - I am much more upset over the election than I thought I would be, knowing in advance that Obama had little chance to be ousted. Will never understand why he is so much the media darling. Did Sandy help him? The GOP was so unorganized to begin with, who knows?  Did immigration do it, is this the group we have to cater to? Our families were all immigrants, and we saw them work like dogs so they could have something to eat, and buy 2nd hand clothes because they didn't have entitlements and walk around with free phones. Just sick about it. Big headline today, WORLD CELEBRATION - OBAMA VICTORY. Reading on I saw who was celebrating - China, Jakarta, Palestinians, and hints of secret meetings between Iran and his chief advisor Valerie whatever, former communist, born in Iran or Iraq, now Michelle's best friend.

 

Catch you later.........................

 

---Response #9---

 

Many voters who pushed the button for Obama are highly educated - just in the wrong fields.

 

---Response #10---

 

I said this before - Hispanics-Latinos are growing rapidly in U.S. & they lean to vote for Democrats.

Today's Newark Star Ledger said it all.  At least 70% voted for BO.  If this trend continues Republicans are in big trouble. Over 90% black vote went to BO as expected. They
supported BO because of promise of jobs, health care, education.

 

Republican message flopped.  BO's bailout of General Motors swayed many people to believe that jobs were saved.  Romney's plan to create jobs went nowhere. Romney wanted to dismantle health care.  Good article in the SL.

 

 

 

 

 

Presidential Election Analysis & Our Way Forward

Earlier today I checked the position of several conservative pundits who I did not think would take kindly to BO winning reelection.  I was surprised that some (I have more to check) finally figured out what has been going on in America for decades.

 

For instance Rush Limbaugh's main theme today was "we are outnumbered now."  No not just "now" Rush but for many years as long time readers of RTE know.  The difference is that the government-dependent people have been organized into a majority to vote for the Death Of Democracy of the American Republic which is currently in the apathy to dependence stage & ready & even anxious to fall fast into the dependence back into bondage stage.

 

This deterioration will continue until BO runs out of "other people's money" – including the idea (over four years ago) of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, George Miller, & Jim McDermott to follow the practice of economic basket case Argentina of nationalizing private pension money by seizing or otherwise confiscating 401(k)s.  Also, Neal Boortz reminds us that in 1994 Bill "Clinton was toying with the idea of levying a one-time 15% tax on the outstanding balance in every American's IRA, 401(k) or pension plan to 'shore up Social Security.'"  Dangerous for your economic liberty isn't it?  Even @ that I can run into people who tell me that politics has nothing to do with them.

 

As people of substance execute their exit plans from America or proceed with The Strike (original title during the writing of the best book you will ever read) the slide will only accelerate as we have less people creating wealth & even more people wanting their fair share of its redistribution.

 

The peaceful hope is that enough Americans will see the inevitable collapse of this type of country in time so that America can return to the excellence of our long forgotten founding principles.  This type of hope will depend on enough elected representatives like Jim DeMint & Rand Paul staying with us to lead us in a John Galt-like effort.

 

Below from yesterday's Neal Boortz blog (written before the election results were known) is Neal's feature posting.  I highlight in red points that have been highlighted for years on RTE re 1) providing seemingly free education through government schools where the graduates are little more than illiterate, 2) we're outnumbered, & 3) the Death Of Democracy.

 

One last word re Mitt Romney.  Mitt was the most flawed candidate I have ever seen as documented @ least as far back as August, 2011 – see KO BO Responses - Alphabetically A Through Y Why BO Should Not Be Reelected.  I ended that particular posting – "...I recommend that you redouble your efforts, & then some, because the numbers are stacked very high against us."

 

---Neal Boortz Blog – November 6, 2012---

 

Today America faces it's greatest domestic threat .. the uneducated voter. The type of voter who:

• Will vote for Obama simply because of the color of his skin, and for no other reason.
• Will vote for Obama because they've always voted for Democrats, and that's just the way it is.
• Who believes that Romney is only for rich people.
• Who believes that you can build an economy from the bottom up .. and that poor people start businesses and create jobs.
• Who believe Obama when he says --- and, yes! He has actually said this --- that he brought our deficit down.
• Who believes that Obama saved the auto industry.
• Who believes that it is the goal of government to redistribute wealth according to the political whims of the moment.
• Who doesn't understand that Obama is an anti-capitalist who believes the world would be better off if America is weaker economically and militarily.
• Who believes that Obama actually took the shot that killed bin Laden
• Who doesn't understand that Obama hasn't met with his Jobs Council in over 10 months … but has had plenty of time for dozens of rounds of golf.
• Who believes that the rich don't pay "their fair share" of income taxes.
• Who believes that Warren Buffet actually pays less in taxes than his secretary.
• Who believes that Obama actually gives a damn about Israel
• Who does not understand that fewer people have jobs today than when Obama took office, even though our population has grown by hundreds of thousands.
• Who doesn't realize that Obama has increased our deficit by an amount more than all the presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush --- combined.
• Who doesn't understand how much money their children will have to pay back to cover the cost of those Obama "investments" in green energy – handouts of borrowed funds to Obama cronies.

Oh yeah .. this list can go on and on. The simple fact is the uneducated voter is the greatest threat to freedom, liberty and to America itself; and sadly I think the uneducated voter is going to rule this day.

There is one thing that the pundits seem to agree on: The election today will come down to turn out. Simple as that. For those of you who love freedom and liberty, I'm sorry to say that the numbers are stacked against you. Our nations of moochers has been steadily increasing for decades and exponentially increasing under the reign of Barack Obama. As of right now about 60% of all American households get more money from the government in various entitlement checks than they pay to the government in the form of income taxes, and that number goes up steadily. Very few of these people will vote for any candidate other than the one they believe will keep that money – and more – coming.

This is a term most government-educated voters will not understand ---- but the net-tax payers are outnumbered. The die is cast.

Truth be told, we as a nation have outlived our life expectancy. We have already survived longer than any other society ever built on the rule of law and economic and personal freedom. Societies such as ours generally last 200 years. For those of you who go to government schools, that means that we have passed that mark. But why do these societies eventually die? It's simple, really. Societies such as ours die because people eventually find out that they can go to the ballot box and use their vote to get their hands on somebody else's money. This is exactly what many of these Obama voters will be doing today: Voting to do through the government what would be a crime if they did it themselves.

Laura Ingraham Was Right - Shut Down The Republican Party

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, & government to gain ground."  Thomas Jefferson in 1788

 

"We're more than 50% socialist.  And I don't think we're getting our money's worth."  Professor Friedman in 1996

 

  click on graph to enlarge

 

The pre Hurricane Sandy posting re the first Third Party Debate got the juices flowing of many people in the readership.  Click on Third Party Debate Shows We Have More Than Two Choices to read five comments I published – there were many more sent to me privately.  Many think we need a third party, others think we shouldn't have any parties @ all, others think a third party would ruin their lives right now in that BO will win the election if a third party candidate siphons votes from Mitt, & some merely identified that we are in the apathy to dependence stage of Death of Democracy no matter who wins the election.  I pick #s 1 & 4.

 

Now I have come to think of our current system being comprised of one Big Government Party (countries with one party are usually called socialist, communist, or fascist) with Democrat & Republican wings.  To me we have a third party already – the Tea Party which has held our country & its founding principles together since 2009 better than anything else I can think of.

 

For those who are scared of BO winning a second term please remember Laura Ingraham's words in September to the GOP - "If you can't beat Barack Obama with this record, then shut down the party. Shut it down. Start new, with new people."  Laura referred to this election as a "gimmee election" & the fact that it is not by most accounts tells you there is something else @ play here & it is not jobs, jobs, jobs.  Just look @ the above graph for proof of that.  The unemployment rate has never been lower than when BO took office – not even one month & he is not only still in the game, he very well might win reelection.

 

Laura's thought really conveys a much deeper message that goes far beyond the election of 2012.  How has America come to the point where a failed president by any historic measure is even competitive for reelection let alone not being shellacked?  We have to face what else is in play & it is becoming clearer all the time.  Even if Mitt wins this time the stage is (has been) set for future Republican candidates to keep playing the Democrat government-dependent giveaway game which is what it takes these days to be competitive in an election as the older generations fade away being replaced by government-educated people who were never taught our heritage of limited government, personal responsibility, & free enterprise.  How else do you explain a "gimmee election" being turned into a cliffhanger?  Doesn't this really say America lost – the exact date just has not been determined?

 

After President Reagan's example the Republican Party has proven since 1988 to not be the answer – finding a new party with leaders like Jim DeMint & Rand Paul is the answer.  Should Mitt win a squeaker he will just get us in deeper & keep the slide toward socialism going to set up the 2016 election for another anti-American candidate – & I have one in mind over @ State.

 

A more solid footing is to vote for congressmen & senators who will make the difference for our country – people who will tie the hands of either BO or Mitt.

 

Readers know I do not want BO to win reelection for reasons & problems documented on this blog since BO first became a national figure. 

 

My problem with Mitt is that he signed a state government healthcare law that ObamaCare is modeled after & he still cites parts of ObamaCare he likes even as he says he will repeal it (Just where do you expect this line of thinking to lead?), wants to means test Social Security benefits as further evidence he too is like BO wanting millionaires & billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes as if they don't already, takes the same position as BO on student loans, continued a course already set re a Massachusetts green-energy fund - a cap-&-trade program designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions & provide subsidies to companies like BO did for Solyndra, pressed as governor for waivers in the federal welfare program re what counted as work, & has flip flopped over the past eighteen years on virtually every other issue.

 

We all know that part of BO's class warfare pertains to increasing taxes on singles making over $200,000 per year & couples making over $250,000 per year.  What the Tax Policy Center (TPC) has been able to determine from Mitt's plan re taxes & class warfare is that Mitt's thresholds are even lower.  Mitt would eliminate tax on long-term capital gains, dividends, and interest income only for married couples filing jointly with income under $200,000 per year ($100,000 for single filers and $150,000 for heads of household).  Investment income above these thresholds for Mitt's plan would be taxed @ current statutory rates – up to 15 percent for long-term gains and qualified dividends and as high as 35 percent on other dividends and interest income.  How does either Mitt's plan or BO's plan increase economic growth by treating investment income this way?

 

Mitt loves to say he would declare China a currency manipulator on day 1 of his presidency but will not take the position to abolish the Federal Reserve System that was created by an act of Congress for the purpose of regulating the U.S. monetary & banking system thereby making the Fed the largest currency manipulator in the world. 

 

Mitt missed a tremendous chance to make a difference for America when he made the non-gaffe that "47% of the people will vote for BO (in Mitt's case) no matter what...these people are dependent on government, believe they are victims entitled to government handouts, & pay no income tax."  After saying he would stick with this position for about a day Mitt walked it back & has tried to drop it ever since.  I would be his biggest backer if Mitt would have tried to reach people in this 47% category to convince them that their current government dependent mindset needs to be changed or their futures become even bleaker. This will require the re-learning of taking care of ourselves since each of us can only count on ourselves anyway.  What a difference if Mitt had reached 10% of the 47% – that alone would have started to effect the mindset change America needs.

 

The mot serious problem pertains to Mitt not following up in the foreign policy debate re the murders of four Americans in the consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.  After the moderator helped BO with erroneous info on this subject in the second debate Mitt had plenty of opportunities @ the next debate devoted strictly to foreign affairs to set the Libyan question straight.  Instead Mitt became gun-shy as he played it safe for 90 minutes taking every chance he got to say there was no difference between him & BO on foreign policy.  The tragedy is that the reason for the deaths of four Americans will now likely never be known as the matter disappears forever.  Since the hostile anti-American media has barely brought this issue up Mitt was the only one who could have raised the public awareness of these deaths but chose not to for political reasons such as he wanted to appear normal to some group of voters.  By not making it an issue Mitt diminished his leadership as well as the four lives lost.

 

BO's record of devastation is clear for all to see.  Mitt's partial record is summarized above.  Both show the need for a viable third-party choice.

 

All things considered I would rather have all of the House & Senate candidates favorably highlighted on RTE elected or returned to office than root for BO or Mitt to win. 

 

Oh how far we have fallen from the Constitution & our founding principles.