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.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, May 10, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The False Belief that the American Dream is an Entitlement
It is an unfortunate occurrence as of late that many people believe this to be true. Personally I believe that there are very few things that anyone is entitled to – except your opinionJ. The only way we will remain a great nation is to believe in hard work and actually have hope and faith in its future. We did not get to where we are today as a nation by believing in entitlement or by leaching off of other people's efforts. The majority of previous generations of Americans worked hard and spent wisely to achieve happiness. Too many of us think that we should be able to have all of what our parents have instantly.
The American dream always involved working for your dreams and never involved the victim mentality we see too often today. The "bailouts" (i.e. colossal misuse of taxpayer funds) are a prime example of this "entitlement" mentality and will likely lead to another economic "meltdown." Inflation and interest rate hikes are soon to follow - mark my words. That is another subject all together though:)
Companies have to make the right decisions or be outdone by other more competitive ones. Capitalism will weed out those who do not achieve and the free market will encourage the growth and development of new businesses. This is the way it should be - not paying companies (and/or union bosses or CEO’s) for poor management and greed. The UAW and other unions have lost focus on what free enterprise and competition mean. They want all the benefits they can get without thought to the overall success of the company. Everything in life requires give and take. This was made very clear to me when the UAW would not budge on benefits even as the company failed. This mentality most of all is what brought GM and Chrysler to bankruptcy in my opinion. The UAW was not looking at the big picture. A successful GM and Chrysler would mean more well-paying and secure jobs and more access to benefits for all of their workers. They could then modernize and make vehicles more efficiently and with better work environments. Toyota, Honda and other car companies are more modern and efficient and make cars people want and thus are succeeding.
It is our generation and the ones to follow that must carry the banner of liberty, hard work, ingenuity and competition to get our country back on track. Life is hard and will never be fair. The sooner we all realize this and accept it, the faster we as a nation will be willing to do what it takes to keep our ideals and dreams alive. Each of us has to play the hand we're dealt and then capitalize on our abilities. I always wanted to be a fighter pilot, but could not due to health issues. Is this unfair? I used to think so, but I changed focus and now work doing something else. I am just as fulfilled now than I would have been if I had been able to be a fighter pilot. There are always other alternatives when roadblocks are placed in our paths. Playing victims only leads to excuse-making and stifles ingenuity and drive.
We as a nation are at an extremely important juncture. We can either choose to go down the tired road of failed socialist policy or renew our resolve to take what life throws at us. I personally will never submit to the idea that the government will solve all of our problems; nor will I give up on the true American dream. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the true American dream, not a free house, car etc. Notice that it is the "pursuit of happiness," not simply happiness. The achievement of that dream requires effort and sacrifice. Though painful now, I believe that the bankruptcy of two of our auto manufacturers will re-kindle ingenuity and innovation and spur on totally new industries and technologies. Competition and drive are essential to our continued financial success and should be encouraged, not shunned.
The American dream always involved working for your dreams and never involved the victim mentality we see too often today. The "bailouts" (i.e. colossal misuse of taxpayer funds) are a prime example of this "entitlement" mentality and will likely lead to another economic "meltdown." Inflation and interest rate hikes are soon to follow - mark my words. That is another subject all together though:)
Companies have to make the right decisions or be outdone by other more competitive ones. Capitalism will weed out those who do not achieve and the free market will encourage the growth and development of new businesses. This is the way it should be - not paying companies (and/or union bosses or CEO’s) for poor management and greed. The UAW and other unions have lost focus on what free enterprise and competition mean. They want all the benefits they can get without thought to the overall success of the company. Everything in life requires give and take. This was made very clear to me when the UAW would not budge on benefits even as the company failed. This mentality most of all is what brought GM and Chrysler to bankruptcy in my opinion. The UAW was not looking at the big picture. A successful GM and Chrysler would mean more well-paying and secure jobs and more access to benefits for all of their workers. They could then modernize and make vehicles more efficiently and with better work environments. Toyota, Honda and other car companies are more modern and efficient and make cars people want and thus are succeeding.
It is our generation and the ones to follow that must carry the banner of liberty, hard work, ingenuity and competition to get our country back on track. Life is hard and will never be fair. The sooner we all realize this and accept it, the faster we as a nation will be willing to do what it takes to keep our ideals and dreams alive. Each of us has to play the hand we're dealt and then capitalize on our abilities. I always wanted to be a fighter pilot, but could not due to health issues. Is this unfair? I used to think so, but I changed focus and now work doing something else. I am just as fulfilled now than I would have been if I had been able to be a fighter pilot. There are always other alternatives when roadblocks are placed in our paths. Playing victims only leads to excuse-making and stifles ingenuity and drive.
We as a nation are at an extremely important juncture. We can either choose to go down the tired road of failed socialist policy or renew our resolve to take what life throws at us. I personally will never submit to the idea that the government will solve all of our problems; nor will I give up on the true American dream. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the true American dream, not a free house, car etc. Notice that it is the "pursuit of happiness," not simply happiness. The achievement of that dream requires effort and sacrifice. Though painful now, I believe that the bankruptcy of two of our auto manufacturers will re-kindle ingenuity and innovation and spur on totally new industries and technologies. Competition and drive are essential to our continued financial success and should be encouraged, not shunned.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Dissolving Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
We have some really difficult decisions don’t we? I have been a proponent of eliminating social security, Medicare and Medicaid for years now. The tax money saved would be worth it and I would be willing personally to walk away from and not gain any benefits from it at all (even though I likely will never see any money anyway). I should be responsible for my own medical expenses and retirement expenses. One issue I personally face though is that since I am single, I get taxed way more than a person with kids. I understand the reasoning behind the deductions, but really it stifles my ability to even save for my own retirement - especially during this down economy. Thus I am forced to redistribute a huge amount of my income to pay for someone else's retirement. That is not my responsibility; it is theirs and theirs alone. Would it hurt people to eliminate these government-run failures - absolutely. I still think it is the right thing to do however. The government should then make all donations to charity tax free and families would then have to step up to the plate and take responsibility for their parent’s well-being and their own financial futures. Truly I see only one solution to our debt - cut these programs off and let charitable organizations help those who would be deeply affected by such cuts. Desperate times call for desperate measures and frankly, we cannot maintain this spending. We do not want to see an American economic collapse - no one in the world would because it would make the world turmoil during the great depression look like child's play. It is time to make the decision to put the federal government on a serious diet - no more excuses! Research the federal government's own financial charts and you will see how ludicrous these socialist policies really are. The federal budget should never be in a deficit - especially when it comes to problems that should have been dealt with years ago. Cutting these programs off would affect almost everyone I know, but it is the only answer. It is time to sacrifice for a higher cause and then help each other out. Our children will have no USA (at least as a free nation) in a very short time if we do not act decisively and never look back.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Thoughts on the current administration and Congress
I think that we as like-minded conservatives need to put aside minor differences and band together. We have a common goal - return the country to what it should be; FREE from governmental oppression. In order for us to be taken seriously, we have to be a cohesive group and put aside minor disagreements.
The current congress and white house are filled with individuals who are the antithesis of what our founding fathers envisioned us to be - self sufficient, giving and humble. Unfortunately, too many in the media refuse to press these idiots because they are too afraid of being non-PC or worse, they espouse the same tired beliefs. Allowing government control of almost half of our economy is extraordinarily dangerous and will certainly lead to ruin for us as a nation in both economics and the amount of personal liberties we enjoy. We just need look to Europe and their socialist ideology to see that socialism as primary governmental policy does not work. Do we really want to pay upwards of 60 percent of our incomes to receive the same substandard care that they do? Free-market economics and RESPONSIBLE governmental regulation are the answers to solving the health care woes we have. Tort reform is also a major contributor to skyrocketing health care costs and is something that also needs addressed. While law-suits only make up a small portion of the cost of health care in terms of actual dollar amounts, the fear of law-suits drives insurance prices sky-high which then haves a domino effect on what doctors have to charge patients. This also applies to the pharmaceutical industry and why their drugs cost so much. Just talk to an OBGYN doctor to see how much their insurance costs and you will see a large part of the problem; or research how much money some class-action law-suits cost the pharmaceutical industry. Making law-firms rich off of these suits is another matter all together, but there again, the huge settlements push prices artificially higher than they need be. This is why I feel that there should be a new state or federal court system put in place to weed out law-suit fraud. Their only role should be to hear these cases and then send them on to the higher court if it is found that the law-suit has merit. The party being sued would not even have to deal with attorneys unless this “filter” court deems that the suit can go forward. Caps on punitive damages for injury or wrongful death must also be enacted.
True reform should also consist of creating 100 percent tax-free insurance money pools to be used by those in financial need. These pools should be managed by private lending institutions, run by insurers and regulated by state governments to balance the authority the insurers would have in allotting funds to patients in need. These pools should be basically run like HSA’s are now with tax penalties for use outside of legitimate medical expenses and HSA’s and MSA’s would remain in place for those who can afford to pay into them. Pool funds would be held by lending institutions and backed by low-risk bonds to gain interest. People who prove financial hardship to the state government and insurer should then have partial bills paid from the pool funds. Corporations and private individuals should receive tax write-offs for making donations to these pools to keep funds solvent. People who use the funds should then be required to pay back as much as they can tax-free into the pool monies through a payment plan similar to a loan. Actual dollar amounts would be determined after service has been rendered to the patient and would be determined by a panel consisting of insurance representatives and state government meeting with individual clients and reviewing financial records together. While health care is a perplexing issue, I believe that a carrot-stick approach is much more conducive to maintaining freedom than federal mandates. I don't just blame Democrats for growing governmental reach; too many republicans have also furthered governmental size and scope. President Bush made a huge mistake in pushing the patriot act due to infringements of our rights and forgetting that freedom is of paramount importance. Most of the Patriot act is not based in conservatism and this piece of trash health care reform bill (power-grab) isn't either. We do not want or need any big-brother types of people telling us how to live our lives. We have to make this fact known loud and clear through mail, e-mail, blogs, demonstrations and events such as the Tea Party movement. Every voice counts and this is a fight we cannot afford to lose. Our party must return to true fiscal and social conservatism. What I am referring to is that we must truly work to cut governmental size and influence in every aspect of our society. We need to stop apologizing for being Americans and start doing things on our own, as individuals and not rely on government to keep us safe or happy - it will ALWAYS lead to tyranny. The analogy of the trapped monkey is a prime example of how this works. 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. It is true that there are many jobs that would be affected, but displaced talent can create their own companies or join private-sector firms. To lessen the impact, I believe that a phased approach should be embarked upon in that normal attrition should start the down-sizing with direct cuts to the work-force occurring later. Foreign aid for the most part should be eliminated and that money redirected to temporary unemployment benefits for displaced government workers (maximum of 6 months of benefits). After the cuts are made, the military needs to have its budget increased but spent wisely on weapon systems and training. We cannot afford to fall behind on defensive or offensive military capabilities. Keep in mind that the military budget is a small piece of the budget pie – Social security, Medicare and Medicaid and pensions are a much higher percentage of the GDP than the military. Social Security should be phased out in favor of HSA’s, private hospice savings accounts and the pooled monies collected to support the aging. Medicare and Medicaid should be privatized or eliminated in a phased approach also to transfer health care decisions to individuals and not bureaucrats. It is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to deal with health issues and we cannot place that responsibility in the hands of government. Basically, I feel that the direction President Obama and his rubber-stamps in Congress are taking us leads to one conclusion – a socialist welfare state. This is not the country I want; nor is it the country that so many have fought for and given all to protect. We all have a duty as citizens to defend the constitution and its principles and not allow power-hungry politicians from either side of the political spectrum to erode our freedoms.
The current congress and white house are filled with individuals who are the antithesis of what our founding fathers envisioned us to be - self sufficient, giving and humble. Unfortunately, too many in the media refuse to press these idiots because they are too afraid of being non-PC or worse, they espouse the same tired beliefs. Allowing government control of almost half of our economy is extraordinarily dangerous and will certainly lead to ruin for us as a nation in both economics and the amount of personal liberties we enjoy. We just need look to Europe and their socialist ideology to see that socialism as primary governmental policy does not work. Do we really want to pay upwards of 60 percent of our incomes to receive the same substandard care that they do? Free-market economics and RESPONSIBLE governmental regulation are the answers to solving the health care woes we have. Tort reform is also a major contributor to skyrocketing health care costs and is something that also needs addressed. While law-suits only make up a small portion of the cost of health care in terms of actual dollar amounts, the fear of law-suits drives insurance prices sky-high which then haves a domino effect on what doctors have to charge patients. This also applies to the pharmaceutical industry and why their drugs cost so much. Just talk to an OBGYN doctor to see how much their insurance costs and you will see a large part of the problem; or research how much money some class-action law-suits cost the pharmaceutical industry. Making law-firms rich off of these suits is another matter all together, but there again, the huge settlements push prices artificially higher than they need be. This is why I feel that there should be a new state or federal court system put in place to weed out law-suit fraud. Their only role should be to hear these cases and then send them on to the higher court if it is found that the law-suit has merit. The party being sued would not even have to deal with attorneys unless this “filter” court deems that the suit can go forward. Caps on punitive damages for injury or wrongful death must also be enacted.
True reform should also consist of creating 100 percent tax-free insurance money pools to be used by those in financial need. These pools should be managed by private lending institutions, run by insurers and regulated by state governments to balance the authority the insurers would have in allotting funds to patients in need. These pools should be basically run like HSA’s are now with tax penalties for use outside of legitimate medical expenses and HSA’s and MSA’s would remain in place for those who can afford to pay into them. Pool funds would be held by lending institutions and backed by low-risk bonds to gain interest. People who prove financial hardship to the state government and insurer should then have partial bills paid from the pool funds. Corporations and private individuals should receive tax write-offs for making donations to these pools to keep funds solvent. People who use the funds should then be required to pay back as much as they can tax-free into the pool monies through a payment plan similar to a loan. Actual dollar amounts would be determined after service has been rendered to the patient and would be determined by a panel consisting of insurance representatives and state government meeting with individual clients and reviewing financial records together. While health care is a perplexing issue, I believe that a carrot-stick approach is much more conducive to maintaining freedom than federal mandates. I don't just blame Democrats for growing governmental reach; too many republicans have also furthered governmental size and scope. President Bush made a huge mistake in pushing the patriot act due to infringements of our rights and forgetting that freedom is of paramount importance. Most of the Patriot act is not based in conservatism and this piece of trash health care reform bill (power-grab) isn't either. We do not want or need any big-brother types of people telling us how to live our lives. We have to make this fact known loud and clear through mail, e-mail, blogs, demonstrations and events such as the Tea Party movement. Every voice counts and this is a fight we cannot afford to lose. Our party must return to true fiscal and social conservatism. What I am referring to is that we must truly work to cut governmental size and influence in every aspect of our society. We need to stop apologizing for being Americans and start doing things on our own, as individuals and not rely on government to keep us safe or happy - it will ALWAYS lead to tyranny. The analogy of the trapped monkey is a prime example of how this works. 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. It is true that there are many jobs that would be affected, but displaced talent can create their own companies or join private-sector firms. To lessen the impact, I believe that a phased approach should be embarked upon in that normal attrition should start the down-sizing with direct cuts to the work-force occurring later. Foreign aid for the most part should be eliminated and that money redirected to temporary unemployment benefits for displaced government workers (maximum of 6 months of benefits). After the cuts are made, the military needs to have its budget increased but spent wisely on weapon systems and training. We cannot afford to fall behind on defensive or offensive military capabilities. Keep in mind that the military budget is a small piece of the budget pie – Social security, Medicare and Medicaid and pensions are a much higher percentage of the GDP than the military. Social Security should be phased out in favor of HSA’s, private hospice savings accounts and the pooled monies collected to support the aging. Medicare and Medicaid should be privatized or eliminated in a phased approach also to transfer health care decisions to individuals and not bureaucrats. It is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to deal with health issues and we cannot place that responsibility in the hands of government. Basically, I feel that the direction President Obama and his rubber-stamps in Congress are taking us leads to one conclusion – a socialist welfare state. This is not the country I want; nor is it the country that so many have fought for and given all to protect. We all have a duty as citizens to defend the constitution and its principles and not allow power-hungry politicians from either side of the political spectrum to erode our freedoms.
Joining the blogosphere
Well, I finally did it. I officially joined the blogosphere:) I have wanted to do this for quite a while, but decided to finally take the plunge. As my friends and family on Facebook can tell you, I have many opinions on many subjects. I figured that this would be the best place for me to post and spare them all of my rantings:) This forum provides a very valuable service in that anyone can voice their concerns, opinions or exchange ideas - and it's free. Well, if you followed my Facebook link to my blog, you likely have something to agree or disagree with me on. Please feel free to comment all you want. The free flow of ideas and opinions is of vital importance for freedom to flourish. I just ask that you please not use vulgar language and keep it civil. I will delete posts that fit either of these criteria. I am definitely not right on everything (and possibly on most things LOL) and I welcome any other viewpoints.
Steve
Steve
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