Is America Really Losing its Luster? - I Say NO!

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4671446/is-america-losing-its-luster/

I like this video report because it highlights and reaffirms my opinion that America is not losing its luster at all in the minds of those who are truly patriotic. Jim Craig is not only a person that I admire in many ways, he also is not afraid to show his love for the United States of America unlike too many who believe America is not the beacon of hope it was in yesteryear. Even with the anti-American news media in this nation, there are a vast majority of us in America (and those many who want to become Americans around the world) know that what we have been blessed with is the most important thing in this world and are willing to die to be able to partake of those freedoms. This gives me hope and energizes me to state my opinions and not simply be led to destruction or captivity like too many of our citizens are currently doing mindlessly in front of the TV. I urge everyone to watch the game Jim is referencing in 1980 against the “evil empire” (USSR). You can’t help but show national pride and get goose-bumps when the winning goal was scored. Listen to the pride and confidence by those fans at Lake Placid shouting USA!, USA!, USA. It is such a chilling and uplifting reminder of freedom and democracy prevailing over godless and evil communism and socialism. Very few in the world expected our team to defeat the Soviet team and when we did, it sent a message symbolically that the United States would not be defeated by lesser forms of government or megalomaniacal tyrants.

What we as citizens and lovers of freedom must focus on is holding to account those who defile the sanctity of our freedoms by downplaying the positive influence of our national values on the rest of the world. There is an unprecedented media blitz all over the world (and most disturbingly to me – within our own country) to marginalize and defeat our nation and its values. There are many angles I could discuss whether or not the USA is losing its luster, but I will focus on three internal issues at this time. Unbalanced public education curriculum and media coverage, and the deification of the United Nations are the three topics I find to be key in facing the bias shown today towards our freedoms.

Public education has for the last many decades been a machine for indoctrination of generations of Americans by unscrupulous and naïve socialists and apologists. If you read the history books from secondary, primary and post-K-12 schools from years past (pre 1960’s), the American dream was held up on a platform and not downplayed as bad for the rest of the world like it is now. When I was in school, one thing in particular that stood out to me was when the topic of Nazi Germany was discussed. The history books I had to read listed the #1 reason for the rise of Nazism as ultra-nationalism. I call BS on that point; Nazism was so successful due to their media playing the Nazi’s up as the saviors of the fatherland. Basically the population of Germany was duped by elitists in their media who basically played right into the hands of Hitler, Goebbels and other nefarious characters’ propaganda machines. It is a well known fact that Hitler knew that in order to get into power, he had to win the hearts and minds of the people. How did he do it? Exactly the way modern day socialists are doing it here in the United States. By monopolizing the media and public education, conservative and traditionalist American values are being meticulously and carefully silenced and marginalized. Once Hitler’s party got the power it needed, he crushed under his boots those he deemed “dangerous.” What better way is there to spread your message than by silencing anyone who has a dissenting voice from your point of view? They (socialists and progressives) aren’t even trying to hide it any more. Just look at the media deification of Barack Obama in 2008 as a case-study. I hope this scheme is as Orwellian-sounding as I mean it to be. History is repeating itself again and too many are not seeing it.

As far as the unbalanced portrayal of American Values in public education goes, I believe we must all mandate that ALL history books be fact-checked and have all opinion removed from their pages. The individual child must be able to form his or her opinions free of forced indoctrination by the writers of particular books. This should be done by parents from each school district on that local level. When the children reach their college or university level classes, they should have a choice of history books to use in class which will be fact-checked in the same way as the K-12 books. If any parent is not involved with reading the history books, he or she cannot whine about the content of those books. No school board should be able to monopolize what history our children are being taught. We also need to break up all public sector labor unions. These unions force dues-paying and thus supporting candidates that individual members may not agree with, thus silencing many (or perhaps a majority of) teachers.

With regard to media bias, what we need to do is push for the media giants to be broken up into smaller companies not associated with each other (i.e. one owner cannot own more than ONE media company IN ANY WAY, shape or form). In other words, break up Viacom, and other large media giants as was done with Microsoft in the 1990’s. Research the grip George Soros has on so many media companies and you will see what I am referring to. That man is the definition of a megalomaniac. The purpose of anti-trust laws are to foster capitalistic competition and stop companies from getting so large that they can force all of their competition out of business or influence politicians like they do now. The media is not held to the same standards as are other companies like Microsoft. Why is that? Of all industries that MUST be carefully regulated, Media is the MOST IMPORTANT of all.

My final topic for discussion regards the deification of the United Nations by our media and many of our public education teacher’s unions. Of all defunct systems around the world, I would say that the United Nations is the most defunct, corrupt and useless organizations on the planet. I call for the defunding of ALL U.N. programs by the United States and banishing the organization from our borders. NATO is a much better organization and needs to be strengthened to guard against rising economic powers in Asia who disagree with freedom and supporting the voice of their people. The lunacy of funding such an anti-American organization is mind-numbingly pathetic to me. The blatant hypocrisy from many of the “member nations” is enough to make me vomit. What basis does China, Syria or any other nation have to vilify the human rights records of the United States? If it weren’t so serious of an issue, I would be rolling on the floor laughing. Basically we are funding our enemies’ public relations wars against us by even being involved with this organization. I want to cut government spending massively and this along with ALL foreign monetary aid to non-ally countries would be a great start. I am tired of being publicly mocked on the world stage by other countries who would have never dared do the same to the USSR; while at the same time accepting a free handout from us. They should be giving thanks that we do not take care of problems like the Soviets did!

The idea of a global society is both impossible and an idea that needs to be extinguished through balanced education and media coverage. If one thinks that our government is corrupt (which I believe it is at this time) then just imagine a global bureaucracy! Any sane person would shun this notion just as quickly as they would shun the idea of having their families ripped from their arms by a kidnapper.

None of the issues our great nation is facing is insurmountable, but they are dire and must be addressed NOW! Many people I have spoken to are voicing their opposition to all dangers to our nation both foreign and DOMESTIC and are opposing all globalization plans from progressive socialists and communists. The first thing we need to do is get the budget balanced (a topic I have discussed at length many times) and then push for the freedoms being held sacred for our children and their children’s children. Our way of life and base core values (previous to being polluted by pseudo-intellectual “progressives”), are worth sacrificing (including the ultimate sacrifice) and must be held closer to our hearts than almost anything else. Freedom is never free and only slavery to another is free with regard to politics. I will never be a slave to any government or person and will raise my voice against all who lust for power; for they are NOT AMERICANS if they do so.

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving Day 2010

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/22/lawmakers-seek-probe-tsas-pat-training-reported-misbehavior/

Well, it has been a very busy last three months for me. I have been blessed greatly by having the work to warrant overtime and especially – having and keeping my jobJ It has been a while since I posted a blog and I thought that today would be a wonderful time to do so.

Being Thanksgiving Day, I have been pondering what I have to be thankful for. In doing so, I have come to the conclusion that there is so much that I am thankful for that the real question should be what there is that I am not thankful for! I will not discuss those though, because I want to publicly thank my Heavenly Father and His only begotten and beloved son Jesus Christ for the myriad of blessings they have both poured out to me in my life. When I awoke this morning (truthfully nearly afternoon;) – a blessing in and of itself LOL) I happened upon a story on the news about the unrest and troubles afflicting the people of Haiti. I saw photo after photo of these people and the suffering and disease they are dealing with and could not help but feel that I have been so graciously blessed in my own life. I do not have to sleep outside and deal with crime, exposure, malnutrition, cholera and the host of other afflictions these people have had to endure. I must admit that my own “problems” seem like no more than simple inconveniences to what many around the world endure on a daily basis.

One thing that I truly thank my Father in Heaven for is the fact that I am able to live in this nation at this time. Our nation holds the values of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness above all others. Do we as a nation have problems? Yes. I think we all know that we do have them, but they are not insurmountable. If we as a society would spend time being thankful for what we have instead of focusing on what we don’t have (especially in material blessings) we would naturally focus on making our nation a better place.

After I read and viewed the pictures of the suffering people of Haiti, I came across an equally poignant but different set of pictures. It had to do with a group of orphans becoming naturalized citizens of our blessed nation. I was filled with emotion as I saw their precious little faces looking forward with anticipation and happiness for what had just occurred for them. Though they are young, I could feel that they knew that what they were experiencing was right and a wonderful blessing.

My friends, we as American citizens are so greatly blessed to enjoy the freedoms that are far too easily taken for granted that we must all stay involved in the political process. The recent TSA policy of forcible sexual molestation (in my opinion) of any citizens flying brought to my mind just how fragile our freedoms are. These unlawful and invasive “searches”, in the name of “security” throw out the window the idea of privacy, innocence until proven guilty, and a host of other basic rights we have (until now) been able to freely enjoy. If I had a daughter and she wanted to fly, I would not allow it under these draconian measures enacted by the TSA. The idea that our bodies are sacred and that modesty is of paramount importance to me personally, and I believe that these searches do nothing more than demean and insult everyone that has to endure them. Treating U.S. citizens as common criminals and subjecting them to searches that are more invasive than most prisoners endure is a slap in the face to our founding fathers and the countless others who have sacrificed so much to keep our country free.

I am shocked that the protest of the airports did not catch on more fully. We all want to visit our families and see our friends, but if we put that above our freedoms then the cowards like Osama Bin Laden and others like him have won. They want to destroy our way of life and force us to capitulate to their extremely warped and evil view of life. If we throw away or freedoms, this gives people like Bin Laden both more resolve and more food for his megalomaniacal ego; not to mention throws away all of the sacrifices in blood, sweat and tears by countless American patriots before us.

We the people must take a stand and take some inconveniences to secure our freedoms and way of life. If we cannot stand canceling our vacations or seeing family temporarily, then I feel that we do not deserve the freedoms that countless others have given all for. The best way to force the TSA to redo their policies is to not submit to these illegal searches. They have no authority to tell us that we have to be viewed naked or submit to being molested in public by their employees. I am frankly extraordinarily angry at the fact that this type of behavior is not being met with more resistance and public outcry. The link I included at the beginning of this post happened right here in my back yard. Do we as a nation want to allow strangers to touch us and our kids in a way that we as parents would beat the living tar out of for anyone else doing it to them or us? NO!

We are witnessing the downfall of our constitution and our precious freedoms and I for one will not sit idly by and submit to being slaves of the federal government. Safety and security are NOT PARAMOUNT to freedom and liberty. There are some who think me extreme in thinking this way, but to those I suggest a careful review of the words and thought of our founding fathers and then see if these views are too extreme. The same people who sit in idle complacency are the same who I will compare to the analogy of the trapped monkey that I discussed on April second of this year.

“If you place a treat inside of a trap that only consists of a hole small enough to fit its hand into, but won’t allow it to be removed with the treat, the monkey will be trapped by not letting go even though he’d be free by just letting go of the treat. So it goes with people habitually feeding at the trough of governmental “generosity.” Right now, a majority of our collective hands are gripping the treat (promises of government invasiveness and pork keeping us all secure and safe) and keeping us trapped by federal bureaucratic inefficiency. Shrinking the size of the Federal government will be a painful but necessary endeavor.”

I believe that we as voters and more importantly, citizens of the United States of America, have a duty to counter any type of tyranny (foreign or domestic) and keep the light of freedom shining brightly. The same sparkle of hope and freedom in the eyes of these newest young citizens of out great nation should always be in our eyes and never be dulled by either complacency or forced servitude (slavery) by unjust and corrupt leaders.

I know that this is not a message of happiness – it was not meant to be. I meant it to be a message of warning to all of us as citizens that our freedoms are under attack from outside and within and we must throw out all of the bums who have been in office too long and replace them with morally astute and just men and women to represent us. Men and women who value the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms we have enjoyed more than their own lives and/or careers. With regard to the TSA, I say that the head of it must be fired and these practices immediately discontinued. This blatant usurpation of power by a Federal Governmental agency must not stand.

Fiscal Irresponsibility in Government and the Current Financial crisis

What part of fiscal responsibility don't the idiots in Congress (especially Congress) and the White House Get; it is not rocket science. Wouldn't it be nice if we could spend recklessly and then print off our own money to cover our debts (and in the process vote ourselves pay-raises while so many are unemployed) - unbelievable! Last time I checked if I were to spend that way I'd be out on the street and/or in jail for fraud. It is time to kick out ALL of the scoundrels (regardless of party) who voted for too much pork spending and start over with only true fiscal conservatives in office. It is also time to cut ALL foreign aid and reroute it to paying off debt. Other nations who are really our friends will continue to be even after cutting off the aid.
It is also time to cut our losses with Social Security and get rid of it completely. It is a leech on the system and bad for the economy. It is the responsibility of individuals to save for retirement, not all taxpayers. This recession would have never been so bad had the federal government kept their hands out of the housing markets and banking industries. If people can't afford a home, there is no right to being able to have one. This is one huge reason Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are insolvent. This led to the huge housing crisis more than any other factor. The banks by and large were forced to lend to people who were not mature or financially capable enough to afford the home they bought. Thus artificially inflating housing prices to the point where very few could afford them and then the bottom fell out when the adjustable rate mortgage interest rates went up. I blame federal government incompetence and vote-pandering for most of this financial crisis and we as Americans must hold them to account.
It seems that President Obama doesn’t get that keeping taxes lower will help the economy – he needs to lobby Congress to keep the Bush tax-cuts in effect. Especially now that we are all going to go into even more debt since Obama-care (gag me) passed the rubber-stamp Congress. The economy is not going to respond well to even more deficit spending and tax-burden for Americans. The politicians who parroted the idea of social security (tax-slavery) said it would never become insolvent or a burden to the tax-payer either – we all know what has happened with that mess.
The education “stimulus” package parroted by the president and passed by the Congress was nothing more than a blatant kick-back for supporting the democrats in their ascent to power. Teachers are paid so little because there are so many people that go into that field. Furthermore, most of them only work for part of the year anyway. I think it is time to make school more like a full-time job and have it last all year long with fewer breaks in between. Then and only then would salary increases for teachers be warranted. Instead of bailing out union thugs it is time to cut the federal government's size and influence tremendously. This would further cut the deficit and in tandem with lowering taxes would stimulate growth. It is also time to get rid of unions and let the market decide wages and benefits – like it should be.
Come November, more fiscal conservatives will be in power and keep the “progressives” (i.e. socialists or “communist lites” in disguise) more at bay. Those republicans who do gain power had better really be conservatives – not democrat “lites” though, because we Americans are fed up with the double-talk and lies coming from our leaders. No more bailouts, no more stimulus packages; only trimming the fat at the federal government level (except the military, which needs its budget increased) and reducing regulation and tax-burdens for people and corporations will do. Bailing corporations out is communistic and thus anti-American – no corporation is too big to fail. There are always risks and rewards for creating businesses and bailing some out sets a bad precedent for future mismanagement and abuse by CEO’s and boards of directors. They will take more reckless risks than are warranted because they know they’ll be bailed out if they go bankrupt.
The only jobs that have been created from this massive “bailout mania” are more federal government jobs – the ones that need to be trimmed down dramatically. The artificially high wages and benefits packages being doled out at the expense of the tax-payer interferes with the true balance of the markets and thus hinders job growth and creation. In the private sector, businesses have to be fiscally astute to maintain higher wages and benefits packages – not lobby for more tax-payer money.
Economic and military superiority are the true ways to ensure continuity of our ideals of freedom and it is time to get back to having drive and determination in the face of adversity. I am not ashamed to be American at all and we do not owe the world apologies for being who we are. If anything, many foreign governments owe us apologies for slandering us to gain political favor in their own nations. The real evil governments were the Soviets, the Chinese communists, the Iranian pseudo-theocracy, North Korea’s Communist government and others who espouse those types of archaic beliefs; not us.

Racism in the Democratic Party

Please read this article to see why I wrote this blog today.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/10/financial-overhaul-provision-promote-diversity-hiring-federal-agencies-stirs/?test=latestnews

I think it is time we look at the Democrats in power and realize that they do not want a color-blind society because it gives them the chance to power grab like petty thieves. We do not want OR NEED a diversity czar (I hate the word czar anyway because we are not a monarchy) we want true equality. You can bet that Doctor King would be totally against this type of bait and switch tactic by burying a racist quota system into this bill (that has nothing to do with race anyway). I think that we as Americans really need to have a discussion about racism and how it is not what we want for our children and discuss it honestly – not through some politically-correct “minder” who tells us what to think (aka the media or public school forced indoctrination). We must hold these charlatans to account for this blatant attempt to bamboozle the public into believing that they (the Democrats in power) are for equality in this nation because it is painfully obvious that they aren’t.
To add insult to injury, this provision is a blatant insult to anyone they (the pc democrat crowd) qualify to be a minority. Effectively, this type of provision says that because they qualify you as a minority, you need their help to succeed. What type of blatant arrogance is this!? Our nation is full of people who have overcome adversity, whether racial inequality in society, socio-economic, physical, mental or any other adversity without GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE. The vast majority of people are good and kind people who would not discriminate on race anyway. This will be a giant leap backwards for our nation if this provision is allowed to remain within this bill. We need to see this provision for what it is – a blatant disregard for all the progress we have made in the country with regard to equality in race. This is just another chain to tie around the American public because they think we are too ignorant to know what is best for us. I think that Maxine Waters need to look in the mirror and assess who exactly is the racist – some Democratic contrived boogeyman – OR HER. We are all born with our talents and abilities and the color of our skin has nothing to do with whether or not we can succeed in life. This sad perpetuation of the archaic belief that races are inferior or superior to one another is a complete travesty! Maxine Waters should be held to account by her constituents and the American public by being voted out of office; and she should also be ashamed of herself for even suggesting this provision be implemented.

The State of Our New "Socialistcare" System and My Thoughts on Progressive Socialism

Wow - the Senate couldn't even pass a simple Medicare adjustment for doctors. Mark my words - this is only the tip of the iceberg now that the federal government has control of health care (approx 70% of our economy!) grrrrrr......!!!!!!!!!! How anyone in their right mind can think that this is a good bill is either nuts or stands to gain from it (only a very few people). I encourage everyone to push for a repeal of this garbage bill and kick out anyone in the Congress or Senate that voted yes for this piece of crap.
We need only true fiscal conservatives in office - not a bunch of vote-pandering, political correctness-worshipping spineless wimps. I am sorry for the anger everyone, but this is serious business and will destroy our economy as well as stifle personal freedom in a way never before beheld in our nation.
If we value freedom at all, we will stop this progressive agenda and get back to true free-enterprise, rugged individualism and less regulation of everything from industry to our daily lives. I want us to continue to be the United States - not a clone of "the rest of the world." The rest of the world does not enjoy the freedoms that we are carelessly throwing away in the name of safety, eco worship and security and I (as well as many others) will never allow this type of power-grab to take place without a fight. Let's all be heard (the majority of Americans) and get to the polls en masse and stand for freedom from tyrants - whether they be foreign or DOMESTIC.
There is no time for petty differences to drive a wedge in our resolve - we have a common enemy - progressive socialism, which is the antithesis of the principles our nation was founded upon. As much as I think Vladimir Putin is no friend to the United States, he did bring up a valid concern for the dangers of socialism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He stated:
"The US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence. In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute, In the long run; this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated. Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state." He further stated:
We must assess the real situation and write off all hopeless debts and ‘bad’ assets." (Which I take as not bailing out insolvent corporations or entities) "True, this will be an extremely painful and unpleasant process. Far from everyone can accept such measures, fearing for their capitalization, bonuses, or reputation. However, we would ‘conserve’ and prolong the crisis, unless we clean up our balance sheets. The time for enlightenment has come. We must calmly, and without gloating, assess the root causes of this situation and try to peek into the future.”
Now, I do not agree with his assertion that the military should not be built up (see the whole speech for where he mentioned this) but I do agree that we must not shift economic control to the federal government. This is exactly the type of thing that brought down the Soviet Union and will meet the same end if we do not make the hard decisions NOW. We must force the federal government to tighten up its belt by aggressively prosecuting those involved in fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer property (and getting it all repaid); cutting down Medicare and Medicaid and eliminating social security all together. Furthermore, we must cut all unnecessary non-military spending and encourage people to capitalize on their talents and abilities. Once those things are done, lower taxes exponentially and watch business growth explode.
We also must view unions for what they really are - leeches on the economy. Why is it that the market cannot decide what wages workers earn? In this age of instant communication, unions are no longer an asset, but rather a liability to the economic stability of our nation. If a company does not pay adequate wages or tries to skimp on health insurance benefits, the talent will move somewhere else or start up their own companies. If there are abuses by certain employers, then those employers will be exposed instantly online. The reason we in the USA are losing so many manufacturing jobs is not because of "evil" corporations moving overseas to rape developing countries, it is because they are being stifled by a staggeringly high tax rate, environmental red-tape, union greed and bureaucratic inefficiency and waste. I have to deal with the red-tape involved in simply getting a building constructed all the time for my employment. The three levels of bureaucracy in our nation are hard at work stifling growth in this regard and I have seen them first-hand far too often. Federal environmental regulation, state regulation/taxation (i.e. exorbitantly high building permit fees) and local (city) zoning rules all contribute to slowing economic development. Of course we cannot have complete "laissez faire" economic policy, but the regulation and red-tape involved with modern US companies is staggering and counterproductive. We have the greatest workers on the planet because they are allowed to produce what and how much of whatever they choose; let’s keep it that way and allow our economy to stop being stifled.

Eminent Domain: Too Big a Temptation for Governmental Agencies to Resist Abusing

Please read the following article on this important subject for background on the reason I wrote this blog and what information I was using.

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/03/last-stand-battle-against-eminent-domain/?test=latestnews

Eminent domain has to be one of the most abused powers in existence right now in the United States. On the surface, it seems logical: stop one (or a few) land-owner/property owner from stopping a freeway from built that needs to be built for everyone else. The problem of course is that it seems to be the nature of governmental agencies and some greedy developers to use this power to further their own interests. There are so many examples of abuses that I could not possibly list them all without spending years to research and compile the information. Because of this, I want to focus on the people fighting to keep the property that their family has owned for a very long time in this blog.
Jake Bono is the current owner of Bono Sawdust Supply, a company that has existed since its founding in 1933 by his family. His land and building is located in the Willits point industrial area of Queens, New York. He, along with a group of property owners in the area are banding together to stop their lands from being redeveloped in favor of a new mixed-use development. Apparently the area is run-down and that made the city want to tear everything down and start over (likely to improve its image). I have a huge issue with this because the city has no business telling one developer that he or she can take the land of another person for the overall public good. I realize that there has to be some control in an urban setting of zoning, but this should be left to the way it is now. What I mean by this assertion is that a city can rezone land at any time anyway, but that new zoning can only affect the tenants if they decide to sell their land or business to another party. This makes it so that as long as the current owner owns the land or building, he or she can still keep the type of business, home or building they currently own or occupy despite the zoning change. This makes much more sense than either uncontrolled hodge-podge development or full governmental control of all property rights and is a good balance in my opinion. This arrangement allows the market to decide what will be built and allows for zoning variances when requested by land-owners or developers while maintaining the right of the current owner to proceed as normal in their business or lives. This system works well despite the fact that the process takes more time than it should.
In the case of the Bono’s and the other businesses fighting to remain in their rightful locations, the city has greatly overstepped its bounds. The land that the other tenants and owners around them has been sold (which is the right of the parties involved to do) which should allow for the new development to take place as planned – just with a different design. If it happens that the development has to be changed, so be it. It may well be true that the businesses who decide to stay will eventually have to move due to the new development’s demographic and economic impact on the area, but if that happens, then the land can by bought at that time and the new development expanded. The market will then decide what form the development takes – which is as it should be. I realize that the owners who choose to stay and fight might make the development economically impossible, but the potential developer of the new mixed use project should do their homework and make a design that works around those who choose to stay or scrap it all together – that is free-market economics; deal with it.
"Willets Point needs to be cleaned up," says the Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. "It's not a place where anybody should be working." The blatant arrogance of this city official is staggering to me. Who says that no one should be working there? Apparently many people do or else there would have been empty, vacant lots and no issue with eminent domain would have existed. The land would have just been bought fairly and developed as is now planned with no issue at all. The fact is that the city of Queens wants to improve its image and will apparently try and use underhanded (illegal in my opinion) means to do so. Eminent domain was never intended to be used in this type of manner. Basically what will happen if the 44 percent of land-owners fighting this move lose, then the city has basically transferred land from one person to another because it “didn’t fit” some bureaucratic entity’s vision of what should be built there. I hope you agree that this is a very dangerous power-play by a governmental agency that should be stopped immediately. I would expect this from the Chinese government, but not any U.S. governmental agency.
Property rights have been chipped away at for a very long time now in this country. Property rights are one of the cornerstones of our nation’s constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms that must be protected by all legal means. I assert that the power of eminent domain be stripped from the books completely and when rare instances of the necessity for doing so arise, they should be dealt with individually and mediated until a decision is reached. This situation is not any public works project that absolutely must be implemented (which is why the law was created) but rather a power-play by the city to strong-arm rightful owners of properties to leave so that they can prop up another group of developers so that "There will be a lot of nice stores, people can shop. "Queens should not be the dumping ground for the world.” (Queens Borough President Helen Marshall.) I think that most people would agree that the area may not be the most attractive place in the world, but it is not the place of the city to decide its future in this manner. Rezoning is the borough’s right to do, but until the businesses who choose to stay move, they have no right to try and force them to leave.
In fairness, the land-owners have been offered money for their land (for sake of argument I will assume that the amounts offered are fair) but what I discussed earlier with regard to the remaining businesses having the possibility of failing because they stayed applies. If they fail, they knowingly took the chance to stay and face the possibility of failure due to the new development that will be built. I am sure that those business owners would be upset, but know they made the choice and move on with life.
As you can see, I am very leery of property rights being eroded away for any reason, but especially being blatantly trampled as in this case. Many who own any land realize that they have very few rights as it is due to property taxes (which I believe to be illegal) and governmental interference. I had a friend of mine say that no one actually owns land because if they don’t pay their property taxes, the government seizes the land. He is absolutely correct! Basically, by allowing land to be taxed, we gave up our rights to it completely! I don’t care that the property taxes are used to fund education, it is not right to give the government complete control of our most basic, constitutionally guaranteed possessions and it must be taken back by making property taxes illegal. Schools can be funded by lowering taxes and cutting unnecessary regulation on industry and commerce, thus increasing governmental revenues. This, in combination with trimming down the size of the federal government will allow the necessary funds to exist and property taxes will become unnecessary.
All of us as citizens of the United States of America have a solemn duty to maintain the freedoms that so many have sacrificed all to maintain or even bring about to begin with. The best way we can do so is to stay abreast of the state of laws and regulations and then vote for or against laws based on our consciences. I, for one, believe that property rights are one area that must be dealt with immediately or else many other freedoms will be taken from us.

The State of the European Socialist Utopia

Please read this article to see why I wrote this blog today.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/10/eu-sets-trillion-eurozoneimf-defense-package-protect-euro-disintegration/

It is time for all Americans to look towards Europe for our cue to start lowering our national debt and spend wisely. Europe's great experiment in socialism has shown that it is completely unsustainable. The Euro could easily collapse in value and send the world into more economic downturn periods. I am definitely not jumping for joy at the plight of our European friends, I simply have to say that spending money that isn’t there is utterly ludicrous. Debt in any form is a form of bondage that must be avoided – especially by nations. Of course there are times where deficit spending is necessary, but those instances are only for a war effort or an economic or natural disaster.
The IMF bailout package is a sure sign that Europe in general has some serious issues to deal with. We, under the leadership of this administration (and several Republican and democrat administrations before this) are heading down the same road that Europe is currently on. The dream of universal and free health care is unattainable. The national debt of Greece, Spain, Portugal and many other European nations is staggering and due in large part to socialistic governmental policies. Our national debt is staggering in dollar amounts, but theirs is staggering as a percentage of their GDP’s. That being said of course, that does not excuse our own staggeringly high national debt.
The health care boondoggle that just got rubber-stamped by the Congress will lead to only one end – universal health care and thus more out of control national debt. We have seen from the failed social security mess that government-run “social nets” are always colossal failures. I believe that the reason universal health care is unsustainable is that there is no incentive for citizens to stay healthy if they can go to the hospital any time they want to – for free. Also, the quality of the doctors and nurses in the system degrades because the financial incentive to gain more education or open new practices is removed. If health care is to be improved, than everyone has to be responsible for using it carefully and judiciously. This includes individuals, insurance providers and doctors. I don’t want to go into health care in depth here, but I believe that one of (or perhaps the main) reason for the state Europe is in is due to enormous social programs that are inefficient, counter-productive and unsustainable economically. Socialized medicine is obviously a large part of their social program pie.
We, like our European friends, have to look into the mirror and realize that sacrifices must be made if we are to survive as free nations. A good portion of Asia has set a good example by paying off national debt while we in the west have done the opposite. We must sit down, figure out what is costing so much and cut it. A close look at the readily available national budget shows exactly what the main culprits for our debt are: social security and Medicare/Medicaid. Again, I don’t want to go into these particular topics in depth individually now; but I will at a later date. Along with cutting national debt, we also need to encourage economic investment and growth.
One of the greatest assets we in the United States possess is a motivated and creative entrepreneurial work force. Even with all the gloom and doom stories of greatly undereducated Americans, the fact remains that the smaller hard-working group of afore-mentioned people is what brought America to the forefront of the world economic stage. I definitely think that education must be improved, but those who want an education will attain it no matter the cost. Also, simply being book-smart means nothing without having drive and determination. There are many people all over the world who are well educated, but it means little because they don’t (or can’t due to governmental interference) apply that knowledge for practical use.
If we as a nation would stop thinking that life should be fair and actually play the hands we are dealt, we would all be better off. The governmental pork that is pulling our economy down has to be cut now. If we take the hit in jobs, services and supposed safety of a bloated governmental apparatus now, we will fuel economic and social improvement later. Continuously passing our desire for instant gratification onto succeeding generations must stop here and now. This is precisely why the United States and Europe are so deeply in debt.
Dissolving Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid would cut our deficit drastically but hurt many people unfortunately. Our generation and the following generations must see the big picture and make the sacrifice to cut these programs now. Non-profit religious or non-religious organizations would step in to help those in need during the ensuing hardship for many Americans when these cuts were to be enacted. This is not all that I feel must be done however. After cutting these programs, we must lower taxes, provide growth incentives for business and analyze what regulations can be responsibly removed in order to fuel growth. Europe used to be a great capitalist powerhouse by and large, but has lost its edge due to an entitlement mentality and socialist governmental policies. We too will surely suffer the same fate if we do not contain spending and over-regulation now and encourage more sustainable fiscal policy by our government.