Conservatives Betrayed

I recently read ‘Conservatives Betrayed’, a book written by Richard Vigeurie. In the book, Mr. Vigeurie states “When you look at third party efforts on the Right, whether of the Libertarian Party or Constitution Party variety, you can perhaps agree with their platforms and principles more than with those of the Republican Party – but as minority parties they have next to zero influence on national policy”. I agree with this statement and think we must correct this.

The majority of Americans are conservative in nature, and believe in the traditional values which make America great, whether they acknowledge it or not. The majority are patriotic, believe in God and country, are individualistic and prefer limited government. For most that embrace these values, the Republican Party has been their choice for representation. Unfortunately, the current Republican Party no longer represents these values and the minority parties truly have no influence.

Conservative Americans must understand that they are a block without a party. Since the administration of Richard Nixon, EVERY Republican president has expanded the federal government and increased the national debt, Reagan included. In fact every administration since Kennedy has expanded the Federal bureaucracy and every president has increased the Federal Debt. This is not the representation we seek, but is the representation we allow. We, the majority of Americans, regardless of party affiliation, must unite as one compelling force in order to stop this continuing slide into debt and see America regain the greatness it has lost in recent years.

We who believe in the American way of life have got to find amid our ranks, people capable of bringing all Americans of conservative nature together. We must appeal to the conservative minded majority, to join with us in ONE strong party, to not only regain America but to rid this country of big government, tax and spend professional politicians. The Tea Party movement is the beginning, but we must keep it going and make our voices heard starting with the election in November and all future elections until the entrenched representatives get the message -- You can’t continue to act with impunity and a sense of entitlement. You can’t continue to saddle the American citizen with debt and burdensome laws which do nothing but increase your shield of entitlement.

We must create new beginning to signal that we intend to make government smaller, leaner and stronger. We have to unite to end expanding taxes and outrageous irresponsible spending. We must return to limited government which provides for the necessary protection of all Americans with a strong military, but is limited to the protection of our shores and operates within the limits of our constitution. We must stop the heavy handed promotion of democracy throughout the world it is neither our right nor our responsibility.

We must send the message that we are a free society, and believe in free market capitalism. We must p[resent the case that we are able to succed through our efforts, but when we fail, it is our responsibility. We have to let businesses fail when they are not able to operate efficiently, but we must eliminate regulation which forces private companies to operate inefficiently. We must stop the government from taking control of and operating banks and businesses. We need a fair and flat tax to eliminate the legislators ability to use the tax code to manipulate the population. Most importantly, we must put an end to the entrenched professional politicians and return to the citizen legislator who comes, serves out of a sense of duty to country then returns to the private sector. We do not need or want our politicians to make a career of representation.

We must find and nominate candidates who can uphold these standards of governance and personal conduct. We must go out into our communities and locate these leaders. The leaders will stand out and make themselves known. They will most likely be reluctant to participate, but we have to push them out of a sense of duty.

When the majority realize the political leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties will not allow this, that this will threaten their power base, conservative Americans need to sit down with members of the Republican, Libertarian and Constitution parties and Blue Dog Democrats, and other serious Americans, determine that we are all in basic agreement, then unite as one strong party for the good of the country. The time is right and the groundswell is occurring. America must return to greatness and only by working together and promoting constitutional values can it be done. We need to get something going soon before the elite politicians in charge of the current parties drown us all in a sea of debt.

Conservatives from all parties, including Dem Blue Dogs will accept a new party with a new name and a new beginning easier than fighting to remove the traditional Republican power structure. The true American conservative -- the majority of Americans -- will embrace an inclusive party which consolidates the ideals and objectives of limited government that our founders imagined as they debated the Bill of rights and Constitution.

We the people, the truly patriotic American majority, need to reclaim our country from sure disaster at the hands of professional politicians who are more interested in securing their power base than promoting the American way of life. We must make known our desires for a new beginning.

A new party with all new leaders offers a chance to accomplish this. The staus quo does not. We need to get something going soon before the leadership in charge of the Republican and Democratic parties drown us all in a sea of indebtedness.

Michael Moore is a catastrophe

Everyone needs to get the word out -- This guy is a menace. He honestly doesn't understand that the "people" are us and "we the people" don't want government run health care. Accessibilty to market based, portable Health INSURANCE is what is needed. Do we want or need cradle to grave, universal single payer Health CARE, as envisioned and administered by the current administration, at a cost of hundreds of billions of tax payer dollars. Absolutely not!

He doesn't understand the individualistic nature of the American people any more than he understands capitalism. He is a mockery of the responsible citizen he claims to be. Though he has become notroious with his warped view of American values, he is just plain wrong. "We" the American majority don't agree with him and we need to counter his attempts at intimidation with similar action of our own. Find the smart and independent Americans who can lead the charge to a smaller government and support them loudly! Let Mr. Moore know that "we" are not going to put up with his foolish rabble rousing.

Below are his comments:

Controversial liberal filmmaker Michael Moore on Tuesday issued a warning to Democrats who have been cool to President Barack Obama’s call for meaningful health care reform: Get on board or prepare to lose your seat.

“To the Democrats in Congress who don’t quite get it: I want to offer a personal pledge. I – and a lot of other people – have every intention of removing you from Congress in the next election if you stand in the way of health care legislation that the people want,” Moore told supporters of women’s groups and unions gathered at the headquarters of the government watchdog group Public Citizen. “That is not a hollow or idle threat. We will come to your district and we will work against you, first in the primary and, if we have to, in the general election.”

“You think that we’re just going to go along with you because you’re Democrats? You should think again,” he told the Tuesday crowd in a speech that was carried to members of the media dialed into a conference call. “Because we’ll find Republicans who are smart enough to realize that the majority of Americans want universal healthcare. That’s right. That’s absolutely right. Don’t take this for granted.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27703.html#ixzz0SdMUluug

Federal Taxes

I was planning a post on another subject, but heard a report on Federal Taxes and got sidetracked.

In fact, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. This is because our progressive tax system levies higher taxes on higer earners and lower taxes on those who make less. Is this right? I don't agree with it, but the decision is not mine to make.

One obeservation I will make though, is that taxes are used by politicians to direct public policy and as a method to generate votes through class warfare. This is just plain wrong.

The simple answer in my mind -- Cut the cost of government, pass a balanced budget amendment and install a flat tax with the following conditions:

5% of all earned income above 35K per wage earner to the Federal Treasury. This will be used to operate the federal government and if government has to grow smaller and programs dissolved as a result, so much the better. I think we will more faithfully follow the constitution if we leave it up to the individual states to manage the day to day activities of government. The states will still have the ability to levy taxes in any amount and manner their citizens allow. Those who are not comfortable with the taxes levied in their state of residence will have the option of moving to a state with a tax they deem more acceptable. I ask, why should the Federal Government, operating under the limitations placed by the founding fathers, require more than 5% of the American peroples wages?

5% of all earned income per wage earner to be set aside for entitlement programs. This will cover Social Security, medicare, medicaid and any other entitlement programs agreeable to "We the people". This should have a 10 year grandfather clause requiring no reduction in current benefit levels. Thereafter, if this set aside requires a reduction in current benefits those affected will have time to make other arrangements. Why should the American people give more than 5% of their income for entitlement programs?

5% of all earned income used to pay off the Federal Debt. This is self explanatory. I beleive that those who are most responsible for the cost of government have to help repay the debt they help to create. In this way, all will be less willing to allow the government to grow. At the point in time that the debt is repaid, the tax should be extinguished. This will give the taxpayer incentive to make sure the debt is repaid.

This seems both fair and progressive to me. Progressive because the highest wage earners will still carry the greatest tax burden and fair because it takes away our politicians ability to use the tax code for social engineering.

The battle for the Republican Party

The battle for the Republican Party rages on. The battle is to get real conservatives doing the business of government along conservative lines, which means they support a peaceful disintegration of the global American military empire, and a government that is out of your pocketbook, out of your bedroom, out of your children’s lives, and out of your life. They must have respect for a budget and work to reduce taxes and government spending. Real conservatives appreciate government that provides only the basic services put forth by the founders, and one that is properly constrained by, and wholly respects, the Constitution. Real conservatives love the ideas put forth in the constitution, and they like the idea of a constitutional Republic. They really do.

The battle is raging within the party itself and is being waged between the embedded professional politicians and republican legislators who listen to the conservative American majority.

The battle is not being fought over religion and a bottomless pit of debt. It is over the ideology of smaller government and a return to the principals of the founding fathers. I hope real conservatives will rise up to save their party, but it is going to be an uphill battle against the republican leadership. Unfortunately, the leadership won the battle during the 2008 election. This resulted in the nomination of McCain/Palin and the reactionary election of Barak Obama.

Hopefully the conservatives can win the war. If they can, great. If they are not successful, I can only hope that the rise in an independent party comes quickly enough to stop the liberal tide of socialism from becoming a Tsunami.

Thoughts on Being an American, Post 9/11

In the days after 9/11 I sat down and wrote about my feelings. My feelings haven't changed and I decided that since I created this blog to discuss the ideals of America, it would be appropriate to post these thoughts. So allow me a moment go back and think about being an American just after 9/11.

Tell your friends everywhere that no matter what happens here in America every American should raise a flag, as I am, and remember, the Eagle is America's national bird because it's the one bird which is not afraid to fly during a storm. We're Americans and will fly through this storm. We will weather this storm and remain strong, no matter what some fanatic does to try to break our spirit, provided we maintain our ideals. The ideals which make America a beacon of light for the world.

I will be stronger because I will be vigilant. No longer will I be lazy and no longer will I believe I am invulnerable. Believe me when I say, that not only will America survive, but it will prosper. Why? Because of something terrorists will never understand. America isn't about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about military centers, America isn't about a place, America isn't even about a bunch of bodies. America is about an IDEAL and an idea. An idea, that you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part, like you envision living, and pursue Happiness. We offer no guarantees that you'll reach it, but we offer everyone the opportunity to try. This is what separates us from the rest of the world.

Let the terrorist whine, and chant his terrorist litany: "If you can not see my point, then feel my pain." This concept is asinine to Americans. We live in America, where we don't have to see your point, but believe you're free to have one. We don't have to listen to your speech, but we'll defend you're right to speak publicly. I don't understand where these people got the strange idea that everyone has to agree with their beliefs. Hell, we don't agree with each other in this country, almost as a matter of pride. We're a collection of different thinking people who don't agree and revel in it. We united around an idea, an idea we made up on the spot. You CAN make it up as you go, when it's your country and you not only have the right to express you ideas and opinions, but people will listen to it. We don't have to agree, and that is a right we are given, but as free citizens of this country, we will listen with respect.

Yeah, we're fat, sloppy, easy-going goofs most of the time. That's an unfortunate image to project to the world, but it comes of feeling free, secure and open in our world. It's unfortunate too, because outsiders forget that when you attack Americans, we tend to fight back like a big brown bear. Hard, Fast and ruthlessly!!

So Mr. terrorist, sorry, but you’re not the first bully on our shores, just the most recent. No Marquis of Queensbury rules for Americans, either. We were the FIRST and so far, only country in the world to use nuclear weapons in anger. Horrific idea nowadays? News for the terrorists, it was back then too, and we used it anyway. Only had two of them in the whole world and we used 'em both, because we had a War to win. Does that tell you something about American Resolve? Don't cross an American. We can fight tooth and nail amongst ourselves, but don't come from the outside and mess with us. We will put you down.

So who just declared War on us? It would be nice to point to some real estate, like the good old days. Unfortunately, we're probably at war with random camps, in far-flung places. Who think they're safe. Just like the Barberry Pirates did. They were wrong. So are the terrorists. They better start sleeping with one eye open.

There's a spirit on this country. I will take over people who come to this country, looking for opportunity, looking for liberty, looking for freedom. Even if they misuse it. As for the terrorists, they're only the newest problem, not the first.These Terrorists seem incapable of understanding that we don't live in America, America lives in US!

American Spirit is what it's called. And killing a few thousand of us, even a few million of us, won't change it. Most of the time, it's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of Spirit. But when we're crossed in a cowardly manner, then it becomes an entirely different and vengeful Spirit. God help the Terrorists when they meet him, because they will soon.

I am an American, both in action and in spirit. It may be hard for most outside America to understand, but it is an ingrained part of my life, my psyche and my belief system. I mourn those who lost their lives to the insanity of September 11th, but as an American, I have the responsibility to live free and continue to celebrate the fact that we as Americans cannot be beaten on our shores. Justice may not be as swift as in past history, but it will be just as lethal.

FLY THE FLAG OF YOUR COUNTRY IN SUPPORT OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!!!

MEMORIES OF 9/11 AND THE PENTAGON

As a young child, during the early years of my father’s career in the US Army, We lived South Post, Fort Myer. I used the Pentagon as a playground, the Army Chief of Staffs office as a place to have lunch with Dad.

I would run from our billet past the post swimming pool, through the tunnel under the highway, up to the west lawn of the building. I would always stop and gaze at the helicopters on the recently constructed heliport. Then I’d hurry so my Dad wouldn’t have to wait for the lunch I carried.

I remember running the halls to his office beside the chiefs. I don’t recall which level or ring, but I always knew when I was in the right area because of the portraits on the walls. These were a history of the men who commanded the US Army. Some stood with sabers at their sides. General MacArthur is a particular recollection, staring off into the distance. Each one a man of bearing, proud and strong: stars and ribbons on their chests, gold braids on their caps. Each has a stern look and serious gaze, none smile. As a child, I was always proud of those men and of my Dad’s work.

Seven years ago this morning, I lived in Rosslyn Virginia. I began my day by trying to make my morning calls but the network was overloaded. A short time later my close friend and Attorney got a call through and told me to turn on the TV, that a plane had hit the WTC. Just after I turned on the set they flashed a report that another plane had hit the Pentagon. When I heard the report about the plane crashing into the Pentagon I knew I had to do something. I didn’t know what I could do, but I had to help. I ended the call and hopped on my bicycle for the 2 mile ride to the Pentagon. I rode past the Iwo Jima monument and Netherlands Carillon, alongside the tombs of the navy and marine vets, past the tombs of the Vietnam casualties, interred in ground where I used to live and play those many years ago.

I rode over the tunnel I used to run through and reached a scene of mass devastation. I knew a plane had crashed there, but I didn’t notice it. All I saw was smoke and fire. I immediately began to help in any way I could. I didn’t try to enter the building, it just never occurred to me to do so. I consoled and offered aid to fellow citizens as they fled the burning building. I watched and helped as the injured and burned were laid out for triage in the south parking lot. The memory of those faces and burned bodies are etched in my heart and mind forever. Hours later, I returned to my bike and sat on the ground with my head in my hands, too weary and heartsick to face the trip home.

Two days later, I rode the same path with my nephew, again on bicycles and watched side by side with many other shocked and numb people as a huge flag was flown over the side of pentagon building.

This morning, seven years later, I returned to the west side of the Pentagon. As I watched the same huge flag fly over the side of the building I cried openly and without shame. I cried for the loss of life, not only here in the US, but also in Afghanistan and Iraq. A number much greater than those lost on that September morning.

I listened to President Bush’s the words of dedication and watched as our honor guard uncovered the individual memorial benches. Tears continued to run down my cheeks. I cried because the memories of some of these people, whose names I didn’t know and whose faces I could never place with a name on a bench, overwhelmed me.

I also cried because I realized that the Pentagon, once the largest building in the world, my childhood playground and a major thread throughout my life, was a symbol of war and human destruction. Yet, one of the strongest emotions I felt this morning was a sense of pride at the appropriateness of our American flag flying across the face of the Pentagon.

I am mortified by these revelations and am having a hard time coming to terms with the dichotomy of thoughts and feelings. I am suffering a loss of innocence I didn't realize I retained.I don't know where these feelings and emotions will take me. It will take quite a while to sort through them. They are as profound as the feelings I felt on the morning of 9/11/2001.

I celebrated our entry into Afghanistan, but I did not support the invasion of Iraq. I believe deeply in the ideals of the United States and will continue to do so throughout my life. I will proudly continue do what little is in my power to help preserve and protect her ideals. Some call me naïve. Some sarcastically call me an idealist.

I still do believe in the American dream. So yes, I guess I am an idealist, an American idealist. I carry a little card, offered as a gift many years ago, which states "Believe in the magic of your dreams". The dream of America lives on in my heart. I consider it a badge of honor. I just hope I am able to maintain this sense of idealism throughout the balance of my life.

Today, as I write these words, after a lifetime in which I’ve experienced Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan and the 2 Iraq incursions, as well as the Iranian hostage crisis, the bombing of our African embassies, The Palestinian military building and the USS Cole: I think back to those portraits on the walls of the Pentagon and I wonder. I wonder if those men and their bosses, our Presidents, current and past, led our nation on the right path. I wonder if Hiroshima and Nagasaki might have rippled through time in a way that these many years later will achieve their ultimate destruction. Not through an actual explosion, but through the fear of one and the perception that we must protect ourselves from it. I wonder if the idea of a military safety net has overflowed it banks to become the societal safety net of bloated government. I sit here and wonder about a building of immense proportion, my childhood playground, which is dedicated to war. I wonder.

Obama's Health Care speech, Part 1

For the past few months, I have been following the debate on Health Care reform. I am an average citizen who happens to be one of the people most affected by the current state of health Insurance. I am now and always have been an independent businessman. I have never been employed by a large corporation, nor have I ever been a member of any trade union. As a result, I have effectively been shut out of the normal employer or union purchased, third party payer, health insurance industry.

Purchasing insurance as an individual or for the small number of people I have employed over the years is impossible at competitive rates. I have been declined coverage and paid a huge premium for my independence because I didn’t have the power of a large economically desirable group behind me. I have even been told point blank by a hospital that as a self payer I would be charged 3 times more than insurance companies to offset the cost of indigent care. I look forward to a reform in the health insurance industry, but am not in favor of the proposal being offered by the house and promoted by the President.

President Obama went before a joint session of congress last week to promote his plan for his idea of reform and I listened intently to what he is promoting. I would like to offer my reaction below.

I have some friends who claim that 85% of the population "doesn't have a clue" and that this is the constituency President Obama appeals to. I disagree. I may be an idealist, as some have claimed, but I think the citizens of America are smart enough to see this "plan" for what it is -- BAD POLICY and overreaching on the part of our president.

Thomas Sowell states of President Obama's speech, "To tell us, with a straight face, that he can insure millions more people without adding to the already skyrocketing deficit, is world-class chutzpah and an insult to anyone's intelligence." I fully agree and am even more perplexed, when you add his statement that he will do so with additional “wellness benefits”.

To make this claim after an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office has already shown this to be impossible is not only disingenuous, but extremely foolish. The Congressional Budget Office, considered to be bi-partisan, says Obama’s reform plan will add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years, but will not succeed at shrinking the overall costs of our nation's health care. To state that he "will not sign a health care bill which adds one dollar to the deficit, now or in the future" is at best arrogant and at worst an attempt to deceive. Either that or he has to fold his cards and go home without a bill.

He didn't explain how he was going to stop the "hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud" in the current health care system across America. If the government knows this fraud and waste exists, what are they doing about it? Why haven't they stopped it already? And since they haven't, what makes the President think he can? He may think he very highly of himself and his Czars, but he hasn't shown up anywhere with a magic wand that I have seen. And magic is going to be necessary to pull off this feat.

“There remain some significant details to iron out.” Are the words of the President, again with a straight face, as he told legislators that he was finally delivering not lofty rhetoric, but his plan for health care reform. Of course he doesn't explain how exactly all the savings will materialize. One only needs to look at the TennCare program in Tennessee to see that this doesn’t work. Want another example, how about the state program in Massachusetts which provides for universal care? It is well on its way to bankrupting the state. So I ask, when has a Federal plan ever cut costs effectively? I would welcome anyone in the US to show me an example.

In fact, while he kept referring to "my plan" or “our plan” he never explained which plan he meant. A plan he devised in the Whitehouse no one has ever seen? One of the two House plans? HB-3200 is over 1000 pages of theory, but don’t offer and substantive detail on how the plan will be incorporated. The “plan” whichever one to which President Obama is claiming authorship is not actually a plan, but a broad brush theoretical goal, promoted with rhetoric and absent any detail on how it can be realistically implemented and achieved. If history is an indicator, this is a recipe for an incredible increase in costs, not a reduction.

More to come in a few days. Come back for the next installment.

Obama's Health Care speech, Part 2

The president claims that the ”other side” hasn’t offered any plans, but this too is an untruth. There are a number of plans which have been submitted by Republican senators and at least two I am aware of from outside the government. They may not be any better than the Presidents goals, but at least they offer more detail. These plans which offer more choice and portability to the American citizens are not acceptable in the Presidents view, so I assume he does not consider them plans, even though they offer much more detail than the Presidents unpublished theoretical framework.

The President evoked America’s “self-reliance, our rugged individualism and our fierce defense of freedom”. Does he really believe this? If so, why is he trying so hard to eliminate our ability to rely on our selves and individually buy insurance? He has made the claim that we need to fix the system because “more than 50% of the population, under the age of 65 will lose their insurance at some point during the next ten years”. This is absolutely true, because more than 50% of the population of working Americans will change jobs over the next ten years and will not be able to take their insurance with them. This is because Health Insurance, unlike life and auto insurance are not portable. In fact, in more than 36 states, employers are not legally allowed to pay for employees individually owned health insurance. There is no regulation which disallows employers from paying for employee auto insurance. In fact, many employers pay the auto insurance premiums for their employees who have to drive regularly at work. Why isn’t this allowed for health insurance? One reason is that it removes a major bargaining chip from the Union’s quiver of negotiating points. Is this president going to put anything, regardless of how much common sense it makes, in a bill if it hurts unions? Not very likely, in my estimation.

The President made the claim, loudly refuted, that illegal immigrants will not be covered under his plan. This is wrong, at least from the following perspective -- if someone shows up at a hospital emergency room with a medical issue, they are treated, whether they have insurance or not. They are not asked for proof of citizenship and turned away if they can't produce it. They are admitted and treated. Once they are released, they are able to go back to their anonymous existence, no further payment collected. Think this will change under the Presidents theoretical framework? If so, can I offer you a really good deal on a bridge to Brooklyn?President Obama said that the government option, which he continues to support, “would only be available to those who don’t have insurance, which shouldn't be more than about 5%” and "will be funded 100% from the premiums of those who enroll". This statement goes beyond the bounds of credulity. In the first place, what is the group of 5% that he is speaking of? Is he referring to 5% of the population of the country? There won't be that many people to enroll if the other programs proposed are enacted. If he is speaking of 5% of the people not now covered, the number of enrollees will amount to approximately 1.5 million nationwide. There is no way that this small number of people can be covered 100% with premiums paid.

Obama's Health Care speech, Part 3

The president stated that he would accept the principle of tort reform to reduce the costs of defensive medicine. He didn't accept it, he made mention of it. His comments weren't an endorsement of tort reform, only a bone thrown out to distract and sidestep, an area at which the president is an absolute master. Don't forget the other side of the coin. Not only are the litigators lobbying hard to leave tort reform as is, the ACORN web of organizations use malpractice to go after the medical industry with as many malpractice suits as possible. This is Alinsky's theory of overburdening the system to the point of implosion, in action. President Obama has shown and is continuing this week to show the he will fall on his sword for his Union supporters. Meaningful tort reform is not going to come out of this administration.

At the very least, Mr. Obama should listen to the will of the people he is supposed to represent; he should stop pretending that the August Townhall meetings didn’t happen, that there hasn’t been a national revolt against a government takeover of health care and start being constructive rather than continuing with the rhetoric. To paraphrase him, it’s time to stop playing games. It is time to seriously address the issues and provide some detail Mr. President.

There is certainly much which can be improved with the current state of health insurance by providing for individual ownership, portability, health savings accounts, eliminating exclusion for pre existing conditions and true tort reform. This does require personal responsibility for ones own health which doesn’t seem too realistic in today’s political environment, but it is the common sense answer to Health Insurance reform.

There is a big difference between Health Insurance and Health Care. American Health Care is indisputably, the best in the world. Health Care certainly doesn’t require a government take over and its trillion dollar price tag. Common sense, responsible Health Insurance reform can be accomplished without adding to the deficit. It's unfortunate that the President is letting politics get in the way of common sense and responsibility.