Bernanke’s press conference announcement again booted the stock and bond markets, but did nothing to boost employment.
At his January 25, 2012, press conference, Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke stated that he expects the Fed to continue imposing near-zero interest rates well into 2014 on short-term Treasury securities. In response, the stock market surged, despite expectations of generally lower corporate earnings and reduced consumer spending. Loose credit and low interest rates usually facilitate stock market speculation.
However gratifying this may to individual investors and pension fund managers, it does little if anything to restore production of goods and services or to raise employment. It also continues to penalize increased savings, which alone provides a stable, long-term platform for economic growth. People living on fixed incomes have had their rates of income on saving chopped around 75% since the Fed first cut interest rates.
As Austrian school economists long have observed, central bank manipulation of interest rates and government deficit spending have an uneven impact on sectors of the economy. When unemployment is high and people are yet freighted with excessive personal debt, consumer spending will be among the last sectors to increase.
[With all the chaos on the world and national stage, it may be a good time to look at the wisdom of our third president. Much of what he said would be scandalously politically incorrect today... yet, it's truth would remain. And the truth shall set us free, but only if we take heed.]
Responsibility & Effectiveness of Government
The care of human life and happiness, not their destruction, is the legitimate responsibility of a good government.
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
“Why can’t we all just get along?” pleaded Rodney King after being beaten by Los Angeles police officers in March of 1991. Later actions showed the man to be not quite the innocent that the press painted him to be at the time. This, however, does not change the value of his question… why can’t we get along?
There are many reasons the academic elites offer for our inability to live peacefully with each other. It doesn’t seem to matter if the conflict is with people at work, in our neighborhood, or even in our church. We see the same conflicts in our government and among nations. It seems that each of us judges ourselves by our own good intentions… and we judge others by their actions.
We see the president self-righteously declaring his concern for downtrodden. What person with a concern for his fellow man cannot help but feel for those less fortunate. Assuming the purity of his motivation, one can almost understand his recent speech where he declared that if congress would not bend to his will, he would move toward the realization of his ideal society with out them. It doesn’t seem to matter that there are other opinions, other approaches and even other directions that the country could be moving in. More importantly, it doesn’t seem to matter that the Constitution does not grant him that power.
A group of pastors and community activists from the Houston area have taken to the airwaves to complain about the irresponsibility of Nike and Michael Jordan. What have they done that is so terrible? It seems that they created a product that people want to buy. While I am not sure why people would go to such extremes to get overpriced footwear, these shoes are, indeed, valued by many people who will do most anything to get them.
It is an American success story of a man who worked at perfecting his craft to the point where he was one of the best to ever walk onto a basketball court. It is also a story about a company who produced a quality product in association with this athlete that people want to buy. As one of the critics, Malik Ingram, commented, “These shoes have always had a place of value in Black life.”
In spite of the turmoil our country is facing today, Christmas for many was better than most. Now this can’t be said for those fixated on beating their neighbor over the head to buy some overpriced athletic shoe. In fact, it is just the opposite. The more we move away from the rush to spend money we don’t have, the more we can enjoy this holiday season.
It’s not that people were not giving gifts. I have not seen “official” figures, but I have done a little observation. Wal-Mart and K-Mart parking lots were packed. Perhaps many people were realizing that they need to get the most for their hard earned or redistributed dollar. Dollar Stores and other discount merchants seemed to be doing well.
Not too far from my home there is an “upscale” shopping area featuring all sorts of stores that people love to show their labels or shopping bags to impress their neighbors who, mostly, don’t care anyway. My wife and I strolled around the area two nights before Christmas. It was easy to find a place to park as the lot was only half full… a big difference from just a few years ago.
[This came to me yesterday and it had so much common sense about government regulations and their enforcement that I felt I had to share it.]
Perhaps you have experienced a similar situation: walking into your living room to find your spouse sitting on the floor, the vacuum cleaner flipped upside down, the bag sitting across the room, the bottom cover removed, and screws strewn about. Around your spouse is a collection of small devices – a pencil, a screw driver, scissors, a paper clip – clearly the tools of choice in unearthing whatever they are looking for. Older vacuum cleaners in particular have an affinity for catching string in the rotating brush in such a way that it becomes so tightly wound, causing the whole thing to stop working. The tightly wrapped string has the strength of steel. No tool can clear it in one easy swoop, testing the patience of even the most even-keeled individuals. It takes intention, precision, and a whole lot of persistence to unwind it.
Regulatory red tape in Washington is a little bit like that. It has become so tightly wound around American businesses that it is inhibiting business owners and entrepreneurs from focusing on the operation of their businesses. And its steel-like strength leaves many business owners feeling frustrated or helpless.
Not all regulations are bad, nor are all regulations completely inconsistent with free-market principles. The ability of the federal government to set parameters for the basic protection of American citizens is important – this is true in areas of fraud protection, prescription drug safety, preservation of natural resources, among many others. But the lack of accountability in the regulation process has allowed the red tape to begin to choke seeds of innovation and competition that are so vital to business success. Americans from small business owners, to manufacturers, to farmers, to property owners are affected.
Many of our problems today come, not from any particular event or situation, but from a lack of confidence to move forward. The stock market can’t seem to do more than bounce around because investors don’t believe problems are being fixed… many don’t believe they can be fixed. Banks aren’t lending money… maybe because they don’t have confidence in the economy the borrowers will operate in, or perhaps they feel they’ve been burned and lost confidence in their own ability to make good decisions and they’ve become overly cautious, finding a safer investment is US t-bills.
It appears that we don’t really have an economic problem… but a confidence problem. It’s not that we lack cash… the Fed is printing paper just as fast as the virtual presses will run – but it’s not filtering down to the average taxpaying American. We have a president with no lack of confidence in his ability to do everything short of walking on water, although I’m not sure he hasn’t tried. At this point though, his extreme confidence in himself is not shared by Wall St. or Main St. People have begun saving what money they have and stopped buying much that they really don’t need. The economy is slowly winding down.
One would think that all the people who voted for, and supported, Barack Hussein Obama would have the confidence to move the economy forward, yet even they… the bankers who received bailout money… and contributed to his campaign… don’t have the confidence to start the credit flowing again. For the bankers, it’s not a cash shortage, they received billions of our money from the government, but an unwillingness to lend it out. It’s hard blame them too much as they’ve made a habit of bad choices in recent years… it wasn’t all their fault though…some was because of government rules and community organized intimidation.
With all the enthusiasm for the various personalities running for the Republican nomination, it’s easy to loose sight of the issues that drive the need to replace the current White House resident. As the passions rise, so does the level of rhetoric and the hostility toward other candidates and their supporters. Passion is great, hostility toward others who should be on the same team is not. It makes it too easy to fragment ourselves in a way that makes it difficult to achieve our goal.
What are these issues? Here are some that are critical to our survival as a nation. I make no claim to omniscience, so there are probably others. However, we shall start with these for your consideration:
One of the most pressing problems our country is facing is the economic doldrums where the Federal Reserve and members of the banking community seem to be profiting nicely while the rest of the country is struggling for survival. They are continuously throwing new money in to the system as production plummets. Anyone with an understanding of non-Keynesian economics knows this will never work. The banks, even foreign banks and governments, are bailed out and the American citizen sees his dollars devalued as inflation depletes their purchasing power, and loans are still difficult to get.
Driving through various shopping centers and office complexes around my home, I am seeing more empty stores and offices where functioning business that employed people in my neighborhood had been only a few short months ago. These stores with the “For Rent” signs are not just pieces of vacant real estate. Each one represents an economic tragedy for those involved.
If it was a mom and pop business, it often is the death of a dream. It could also result in major financial loss, family breakdown and evaporation of retirement security. When someone opens a small business, they often put everything they have, financially and emotionally, into it. Then government at all levels comes along and pokes, prods, tweaks and controls them to the point where operating decisions are no longer theirs… and they are still struggling to make a profit to keep things going.
However, perhaps the most damaging thing that governments, particularly the national government, are doing to small businesses is the destruction of the economy where people are loosing jobs and having to cut their spending… with both small and large businesses. It’s difficult to operate a business when your potential customers simply do not have the money to buy your wares.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 (NIV)
In our present day society, the politically correct keepers of proper thought are on constant guard lest the truth get out and expose the lies of the ruling class. We saw the impact of this at the last Republican debate where so many participants, even good conservatives, were scandalized that Newt Gingrich had the audacity to tell the world that the Palestinians were an “invented” people group. It was a people group invented to lay claim to land possessed by a legitimate people group, the Israelis.
Many said, in essence, this is right, but we shouldn’t talk about it because it will make the people perpetuating the lie, and their fellow travelers, angry. Apparently some would rather be a slave to deception than stand on the solid ground of truth.
Others have told the truth. For years, Ron Paul has been telling us of the damage done to our country and our economy by the Federal Reserve System. For those who may have doubts, consider how ineffective the monetary manipulation and ridiculous below market interest rates have been in correcting out economic malaise.
As I was watching Saturday night’s debate, a radical idea came into my mind. It was a thought that I’m sure will anger many partisans completely committed to one of the six remaining candidates. No, it’s not that I’m waiting for Sarah Palin to jump in to the race. We’ll look at that a little later. This radical thought is that, while every one of the Republicans on the stage had some valid points that would serve our country well, we do not have a perfect candidate among them. However, with such acrimony among the various supporters, it’s plain that it’s not just the candidates lacking in perfection.
Being human, we should know that perfection is not within our grasp. There comes a time when we have to just make the best choice we can, then make sure it works. Since there is no one that has every issue nailed down, the selection comes down to prioritizing the strong points of each one and making the painful decision about what we can put on the back burner for the moment as we accomplish our primary task of evicting Barack Hussein Obama from Washington public housing.
I’m sure there will be disputes about what the primary issue is, but let’s get started looking at what each prospective president would contribute to the cause. I also want to make clear that these issues are complex and those we look at are not the only strong points any of the people bring to the table or that they are not the only points that matter.
A week or two ago, I came across a picture of a Wall Street occupier carrying a sign that said, in effect, “I have a degree in Latino, lesbian womens studies and a $96,000 student loan”. I’m not sure it the image was photoshopped or if this young woman was really foolish enough to borrow that much money on a useless degree. She would have been better off learning to be a welder – there is a need for welders. She could have gotten a CDL for a lot less. About the only employers far enough removed from economic realities to hire such a person would be governments, academic institutions and a few non-profits. Certainly any business that would add her would soon fall into the non-profit category.
Young people have burdened themselves with debts that they cannot repay in a declining economy. But can they bear total responsibility? Parents, looking for “only the best” for the little darlings, and living in an instant gratification society, see nothing wrong with borrowing to get the things they want. And they want the “best” education for their kids, even if it buries these same beloved kids in economic servitude for most of their lives.
It seems that young people, and their parents in many cases, think little or nothing of spending outrageous sums of money for and “education” that will “guarantee” their well being in life. The inflated price is of minor consequence as no one has to pay it now. The supposed benefits are immediate and the payments are just a shadow off in some distant future.
Orlando, FL – Liberty Counsel is continuing its eighth annual “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign,” pledging to be a “Friend” to those entities that recognize Christmas and a “Foe” to the Christmas censors. Liberty Counsel is also releasing an updated “Naughty and Nice” list, which catalogs retailers who either censor (“naughty”) or recognize (“nice”) Christmas. The list is compiled from information gathered by consumers and is updated whenever new information is received.
Liberty Counsel encourages shoppers to print out the list and use it to decide which stores to patronize during the Christmas shopping season. The list has been very influential in motivating retailers to acknowledge Christmas. So far this year, Best Buy has embraced Christmas and switched to the nice list, and Dick’s Sporting Goods has promised to change and include Christmas in their advertising. Liberty Counsel was the first organization to launch the “Naughty and Nice” list a number of years ago and since then other organizations have promoted similar programs. The results have been amazing. Major retailers like Wal-Mart moved from the “naughty” side of the list to the “nice” side. There was a time when Wal-Mart sold only “Holiday Trees,” not Christmas Trees and when Wal-Mart employees were forbidden from returning the greeting “Merry Christmas” to customers who initiated the greeting. But Wal-Mart, like many other retailers, has changed and now openly acknowledges Christmas.
The various Darwinian evolutionary hypotheses all rest upon unproved assertions. In the final analysis, the best they can offer is “probably.”
All supposed proofs of Darwinian evolution, whichever of its many theoretical variants is chosen, amount to the unsubstantiated assumption that any two life forms that resemble each other must have evolved from a common ancestor or that one must have evolved from the other. Darwinian apologists have never, and probably can never, offered any example of a continuous evolution from one species to another, apart from controlled (i.e., the opposite of random Darwinian evolution) laboratory experiments with fast-breeding life forms, that doesn’t ultimately revert to the original. They are millions of miles removed from demonstrating a continuous evolutionary chain from one genus to another genus.
The only thing Darwinian apologists can offer to bolster their religious faith in godless materialism is “might have been,” “we can assume,” or “it is reasonable to think that.”
A recent major investigative report by the Los Angeles Times sheds light on what all this “war on terror” is actually costing—and actually accomplishing. According to the report, “A decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, federal and state governments are spending about $75 billion a year on domestic security, setting up sophisticated radio networks, upgrading emergency medical response equipment, installing surveillance cameras and bombproof walls, and outfitting airport screeners to detect an ever-evolving list of mobile explosives.
“But how effective has that 10-year spending spree been?
“‘The number of people worldwide who are killed by Muslim-type terrorists, Al Qaeda wannabes, is maybe a few hundred outside of war zones. It’s basically the same number of people who die drowning in the bathtub each year,’ said John Mueller, an Ohio State University professor who has written extensively about the balance between threat and expenditures in fighting terrorism.”
With official government unemployment numbers hovering around nine percent, and real numbers between fifteen to twenty percent, it’s obvious that we have a serious problem in our country. Our government has tried all sorts of Keynesian tricks to use our money, and Chinese money, in futile attempts to jump start the economy it is destroying. I guess they think we won’t notice the dreadful job they have done if they can squeeze a few more jobs into the moribund business cycle.
Unfortunately for us, and for them: they are wrong. Government officials say we are unpatriotic for not supporting their efforts. The reality is that it would just compound the foolishness if we got behind programs that we know will not be effective. Real patriotism involves working to take our country in the right direction. We are told it is just politics that leads to citizen resistance… but, it is just common sense.
As with much in this world, those of us who depend on the national government to fix our problems will be sadly disappointed. As individuals, is there anything we can do to help restore the nation that was the arsenal of democracy during the second world war? Our government and the multi-national corporations have led us down the free trade path that gave us some lower prices, but at the cost of good paying jobs disappearing and miraculously reappearing in some third world sweat shop. Corporate profits rose and American workers income went down.
Legislation has been introduced by Senators Chuck Shumer (D-NY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) that would grant visas to foreign citizens who will come into the country and buy at least half a million dollars in real estate. It has been added to their new immigration bill with the idea of helping our floundering housing market. We are told it is a great deal all the way around as buyers with cash (hopefully) would be brought into the market, homes would be sold, real estate agents would get paid, banks may be able to reduce their inventory of foreclosed houses and, best of all, we are told, it won’t cost us a cent.
This sounds like a deal that is too good to be true. And, when we look at it a little more closely, it really is too good to be true. This has been presented as a bi-partisan approach to the problem. This description brought to mind the late comedian George Carlin’s thoughts about such proposals, “Bipartisan usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.”
While all the benefits we are supposed to experience because of this bill are necessary and to be desired, we really have to consider what we will do to get them. One of the provisions is that the visas will not be work visas, so buyers will have to have an independent source of funds. We are told that this is the kind of people we want… they are the priority immigrants. They are to be desired if they will come into our country and spend their own money. It is certainly better than people sneaking across the borders and becoming wards of the state.
After losing $8.5 billion last year and looking at losing $10 billion this year, the folks at the US Post Office should really reconsider the business model of their organization. They have been hemorrhaging business for years. Mail volume dropped 20 percent from 2006 to 2010, and the tailspin continues. And their expenses continue. With workers under the iron hand of a powerful AFL-CIO affiliated, American Postal Workers Union, there is little desire and no ability bring costs in line with revenue.
Their push is to save the postal service. In one sense, this is a worthy goal. The post office has a long and honorable history, providing a valuable service to our expanding nation. For the longest time, the Post Office was about the only way to move documents from one place to another. It was necessary for personal communication and business operations.
Today, however, the Post Office is not the only way to communicate and move documents around the country. For those who actually need to move important papers, the Post Office has lost a major part of that corporate business to FedEx, UPS and the ubiquitous fax. Personal communication has been taken over by email and social media. Much of what the Post Office once did, is just not necessary any more, as private businesses have found ways to provide the same services with greater efficiency and dependability.
Did you ever notice that whenever Barack Hussein Obama gets himself all worked up about congress not giving him more and more of our dollars to fritter away, he always falls back on threatening the same people. These are voters who legitimately depend on government checks to live. There are the folks on social security, military and federal retirees, and the ever present police, teachers and firemen (if you will forgive the politically incorrect term).
It seems that the only places the Democrats and some Republicans can come up with to save money is in areas they know the people will reject. It is not only dishonest, which is not surprise nowadays for members of the political class, but this approach also insures our country will never see any progress in returning fiscal.
I would like to suggest to both parties that there are far more productive paths that can be followed to more economical government. They are never suggested because the inside the beltway crowd knows that the people will embrace the cuts and a part of the gravy train will end for the connected class.
Herman Cain’s victory in Florida has been declared an upset by the elite media who are troubled when events don’t align themselves with their notions and desires. Somehow this did not fit the establishment’s Perry vs Romney story line. Whether this really was an aberration and the little people were just saying “none of the above” is something time will tell. The problem is that the formerly mainstream media, and our sometimes reliable FoxNews, almost universally found some other reason for the Cain victory, in which he gathered more votes than both Perry and Romney combined, than the little people actually liked him and would like to see him deflate the Obama campaign.
We shall see if the former Godfather’s Pizza king can build on this showing or if he will be returned to his place as an also ran while the anointed candidates fight it out for the big money support and the primary voters. It will be interesting to watch. Assuredly, Karl Rove will be telling everyone who will listen that this unauthorized and unanticipated turn of events means nothing in the big picture, as will many other experts the talking heads call on for political analysis.
While it is sometimes entertaining to watch two opposing opinions trying to talk over each other on the news shows, when one of the modern day purveyors of propaganda want to make a point, they have one “expert” spinning the facts in the desired direction. The problem with this practice, is that those who follow their advice and almost invariable are led down a dead end rabbit hole.
Often we read about some of the truly awful things that have happened in the past – sometimes even the not too distant past – and try to comfort ourselves with by thinking we are are living in a different time or different place. Until recently, many have thought we were immune from such atrocities we have heard about, read about or seen. In fact, many have kept their juvenile illusion that bad things will somehow skip over them and hit someone else.
Three thousand people thought the same thing as they prepared for their day on September 11, 2001. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Evil came to our shores that day. Or more properly, we saw evil’s presence on our shores that terrible morning.
It may make many uncomfortable to consider, but we live in a fallen world where the effects of this fall are all around us. Sometimes they are seen in smaller, individual ways like a ghetto child beaten to death by a drugged up parent. Sometimes we see it in more traumatic acts like the attacks on the twin towers and pentagon.
One question is, do we see greater evil in the deaths of 3000 men, women and children or in the death of a single innocent child? Are there degrees of evil? Was Nazi Germany the most evil because they killed six million Jews?
One of Barack Hussein Obama’s most frequent complaints is that those pesky Republicans are placing party and politics over the good of the country. In some ways he is correct. One would have to ask what he is complaining about. He got his two trillion dollar blank check and he won’t have to bamboozle congress for more until after his defeat next year. Yet, somehow it is the Republicans fault that the economy is falling apart.
Yes, many Republicans did place party discipline and allegiance over actions they knew to be good for the country when they fell for the fearful John Boehner’s attempt to look statesmanlike by “compromising” with the administration and Harry Reid and giving the President exactly what he wanted – more money to spend and no further chance to stop it until after the people render their opinion of his presidency. I find the term “compromise” a little odd when one side gives up just about everything they fought for and the other side gets exactly what they wanted. Yet the president needs someone to blame his failure on, since it could not possibly be his policies.
This is what happens when our elected representatives place party loyalty and submission to those in leadership positions over following the wishes of those who put them in office – their bosses. How will they fair when the citizens render an opinion on their performance? Considering the fact that generic incumbents have a re-election rate percentage in the nineties and that they will usually be running against socialistic Democrats whose moral turpitude makes them completely unsuited for any kind of responsible position. Our only hope of getting through to them is through primary challenges. Read more of this article »
The inescapable essence of liberal-progressivism is philosophical materialism: the belief that spiritual religion is ignorance and that, as Karl Marx proclaimed, people’s nature is determined (and can be re-shaped) by the physical conditions in which they live and work and by the impact of the political state’s laws and regulations.
A reader posted the following comment regarding The Irresponsible Nanny State.
I missed the part in Heather MacDonald’s critique of Mayor Boomberg’s effort to encourage young men where she said that the program was “Godless.”
While she was caustic, sarcastic and defeatist about making any effort to change the ethos of the inner city situation, I did not see her level the charge that religion was not part of the proposed program.
Help us out here, Tom, and tell us how making an effort to help out young men is anti-Christian.
George Orwell wrote, “Truth is treason in the empire of lies”. It takes courage to speak the truth when so many around you have bought into the conventional “wisdom” of the political elites. It is even more necessary to have courage in view of the fact that the conventional “wisdom” has all but destroyed our once vibrant economy.
One such display of courage in, to use one of John Kerry’s favorite terms, speaking truth to power, were comments from Governor Rick Perry of Texas. Instead of putting on a smiling face like many from both parties are inclined to do, the recently announced presidential candidate declared, “Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in history is almost treasonous in my opinion.” I’m not sure I would completely agree with the statement. I would remove the word “almost”. Read more of this article »
In one of the more perceptive moments coming out of the Romney campaign, the name for the President’s current midwest campaign tour is now becoming part of our pop vocabulary. Even though it may be an indication of a more Beatles than Elvis orientation, “The Magical Misery Tour” moniker captures the spirit of this latest venture.
Not satisfied with having inflicted all sorts of economic and social mayhem on the unsuspecting public, Barack Obama, unashamedly and repeatedly blames George Bush, Republicans, Tea Partiers and maybe a little interference from a misalignment of the stars for the failure of his “surefire” solutions.
He declared, “In the short term, we should actually make more investments that will put people to work and get the economy moving.” Other than the faulty logic of his schemes, the problem may lie in the first part of the statement. “In the short term.”
Atlanta, GA – Today the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 opinion that the individual mandate in Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”) exceeds the authority of Congress and is unconstitutional. The court also ruled that the remainder of the law could continue in effect. The Court ruled that Congress cannot “mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.” The Eleventh Circuit case involved 26 states. Liberty Counsel’s case, Liberty University v. Geithner, was argued on May 10, 2011, at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. A ruling on that case has not yet been issued. Read more of this article »
In watching the debate of Republican presidential candidates I saw a stage full of essentially decent people. Any of these people would be better than the current White House occupant. There are some who would be somewhat better than the Chosen One, and some who would be a breath of fresh air and would bring the hope and change our country was promised, but never received. Then there are those who fall somewhere in between.
What was clear is that within this group are some pretty good ideas. Then there are some pretty bad ideas as well. Some appear presidential and some would be very good advisers. Observing each of these candidates, I thought back to the early days of GOPAC where one of the primary teachings for those looking to run for office was that you run because you want to DO something, not because you want to BE something. I get the sinking feeling in listening to some that they just want to BE president.
At the risk of being misinterpreted as having made up my mind who would be the best choice to give Barack Hussein Obama the boot, I would offer the some thoughts on what I’ve seen. Read more of this article »
This past Sunday, we had a special speaker at Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond. Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy, champion surfer and world class jewel thief told his amazing story. That such a man is speaking at a conservative evangelical church, let alone, is free and alive, is nothing short of a miracle. He was facing a parole date sometime in 2225. Yet, when the miraculous takes place, the facts don’t count.
He told the story of sitting in the back of prison chapel hearing chaplain telling him and his fellow prisoners that if the best you can do is get up in the morning and put on your prison shirt, you aren’t managing your life very well. That was they day his life began turning around. He might have seen himself among the lowest of the low in society and knew things were not right in his life.
Jack Murphy found God in the midst of thieves, murderers and rapists. He found Him while living in a six by nine foot cell. He became concerned about the prisoners around him – more concerned about them than himself. He walked out of that Florida prison after 21 years a different man than the reprobate character that the state put away. Read more of this article »
Why are liberal-progressives so insistent about raising taxes, despite the risk of prolonging and deepening unemployment?
Liberal-progressives outraged by the failure of Democrat/Socialists to win direct tax hikes on “the rich” in the recent debt-ceiling deal assert that such tax increases are necessary, not only to reduce the deficit, but also as a matter of moral principle. What is the basis of that assertion of moral principle?
Morality has to do with the principles by which a society or a religion determines the difference between right or wrong conduct.
Judeo-Christianity, in the Old Testament and the New, teaches that acquiring wealth is acceptable conduct, if done legally and ethically. But the wealthy are to see themselves as the beneficiaries of God’s grace and to regard themselves as stewards of what God has bestowed upon them. They are to deal fairly and charitably with widows, orphans, the infirm, and others who have fallen on hard luck. The Judeo-Christian ethic is an individual one. Each person is answerable to God for his own conduct. Read more of this article »
Yesterday’s drop of 512 in the Dow shows the smashing success of the debt ceiling bill foisted on the American people. We were told increasing the debt limit so the national government can continue spending money on all sorts of schemes to control, rather than benefit the citizens, would eliminate the uncertainty hanging over the business world and the economy would soar out of the doldrums and go into a hiring frenzy like we’ve never seen. Oh yes, and it would user in an era of love, peace and harmony. Well, maybe not.
It’s not exactly happening like the Keynesians planned. The opening of the federal purse is almost guaranteed, they tell us, to open the wellsprings of prosperity on the huddled masses. Unfortunately, this plan has been tried recognizably since the Roosevelt administration and before, and they are still looking for their first success… as are the Europeans and the Greeks, especially the Greeks.
Pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that just 22% of the people approve of this plan that gives the President a pass on this argument until after the election. 26% of us who have no idea of what is going on have no opinion and 53% are actively opposed to the deal. As with ObamaCare and many other emanations from the banks of the Potomac, operations are in direct conflict with the desires and wisdom of the American people. Read more of this article »
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Be the First to Comment 
by Congressman Randy Forbes
Many of our problems today come, not from any particular event or situation, but from a lack of confidence to move forward. The stock market can’t seem to do more than bounce around because investors don’t believe problems are being fixed… many don’t believe they can be fixed. Banks aren’t lending money… maybe because they don’t have confidence in the economy the borrowers will operate in, or perhaps they feel they’ve been burned and lost confidence in their own ability to make good decisions and they’ve become overly cautious, finding a safer investment is US t-bills.
With all the enthusiasm for the various personalities running for the Republican nomination, it’s easy to loose sight of the issues that drive the need to replace the current White House resident. As the passions rise, so does the level of rhetoric and the hostility toward other candidates and their supporters. Passion is great, hostility toward others who should be on the same team is not. It makes it too easy to fragment ourselves in a way that makes it difficult to achieve our goal.
Driving through various shopping centers and office complexes around my home, I am seeing more empty stores and offices where functioning business that employed people in my neighborhood had been only a few short months ago. These stores with the “For Rent” signs are not just pieces of vacant real estate. Each one represents an economic tragedy for those involved.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 (NIV)
As I was watching Saturday night’s debate, a radical idea came into my mind. It was a thought that I’m sure will anger many partisans completely committed to one of the six remaining candidates. No, it’s not that I’m waiting for Sarah Palin to jump in to the race. We’ll look at that a little later. This radical thought is that, while every one of the Republicans on the stage had some valid points that would serve our country well, we do not have a perfect candidate among them. However, with such acrimony among the various supporters, it’s plain that it’s not just the candidates lacking in perfection.
A week or two ago, I came across a picture of a Wall Street occupier carrying a sign that said, in effect, “I have a degree in Latino, lesbian womens studies and a $96,000 student loan”. I’m not sure it the image was photoshopped or if this young woman was really foolish enough to borrow that much money on a useless degree. She would have been better off learning to be a welder – there is a need for welders. She could have gotten a CDL for a lot less. About the only employers far enough removed from economic realities to hire such a person would be governments, academic institutions and a few non-profits. Certainly any business that would add her would soon fall into the non-profit category.
Orlando, FL – Liberty Counsel is continuing its eighth annual “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign,” pledging to be a “Friend” to those entities that recognize Christmas and a “Foe” to the Christmas censors. Liberty Counsel is also releasing an updated “
A recent major investigative report by the Los Angeles Times sheds light on what all this “war on terror” is actually costing—and actually accomplishing. According to the report, “A decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, federal and state governments are spending about $75 billion a year on domestic security, setting up sophisticated radio networks, upgrading emergency medical response equipment, installing surveillance cameras and bombproof walls, and outfitting airport screeners to detect an ever-evolving list of mobile explosives.
With official government unemployment numbers hovering around nine percent, and real numbers between fifteen to twenty percent, it’s obvious that we have a serious problem in our country. Our government has tried all sorts of Keynesian tricks to use our money, and Chinese money, in futile attempts to jump start the economy it is destroying. I guess they think we won’t notice the dreadful job they have done if they can squeeze a few more jobs into the moribund business cycle.
Legislation has been introduced by Senators Chuck Shumer (D-NY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) that would grant visas to foreign citizens who will come into the country and buy at least half a million dollars in real estate. It has been added to their new immigration bill with the idea of helping our floundering housing market. We are told it is a great deal all the way around as buyers with cash (hopefully) would be brought into the market, homes would be sold, real estate agents would get paid, banks may be able to reduce their inventory of foreclosed houses and, best of all, we are told, it won’t cost us a cent.
After losing $8.5 billion last year and looking at losing $10 billion this year, the folks at the US Post Office should really reconsider the business model of their organization. They have been hemorrhaging business for years. Mail volume dropped 20 percent from 2006 to 2010, and the tailspin continues. And their expenses continue. With workers under the iron hand of a powerful AFL-CIO affiliated, American Postal Workers Union, there is little desire and no ability bring costs in line with revenue.
Did you ever notice that whenever Barack Hussein Obama gets himself all worked up about congress not giving him more and more of our dollars to fritter away, he always falls back on threatening the same people. These are voters who legitimately depend on government checks to live. There are the folks on social security, military and federal retirees, and the ever present police, teachers and firemen (if you will forgive the politically incorrect term).
Herman Cain’s victory in Florida has been declared an upset by the elite media who are troubled when events don’t align themselves with their notions and desires. Somehow this did not fit the establishment’s Perry vs Romney story line. Whether this really was an aberration and the little people were just saying “none of the above” is something time will tell. The problem is that the formerly mainstream media, and our sometimes reliable FoxNews, almost universally found some other reason for the Cain victory, in which he gathered more votes than both Perry and Romney combined, than the little people actually liked him and would like to see him deflate the Obama campaign.
Often we read about some of the truly awful things that have happened in the past – sometimes even the not too distant past – and try to comfort ourselves with by thinking we are are living in a different time or different place. Until recently, many have thought we were immune from such atrocities we have heard about, read about or seen. In fact, many have kept their juvenile illusion that bad things will somehow skip over them and hit someone else.
One of Barack Hussein Obama’s most frequent complaints is that those pesky Republicans are placing party and politics over the good of the country. In some ways he is correct. One would have to ask what he is complaining about. He got his two trillion dollar blank check and he won’t have to bamboozle congress for more until after his defeat next year. Yet, somehow it is the Republicans fault that the economy is falling apart.
By Thomas Brewton
In one of the more perceptive moments coming out of the Romney campaign, the name for the President’s current midwest campaign tour is now becoming part of our pop vocabulary. Even though it may be an indication of a more Beatles than Elvis orientation, “The Magical Misery Tour” moniker captures the spirit of this latest venture.
In watching the debate of Republican presidential candidates I saw a stage full of essentially decent people. Any of these people would be better than the current White House occupant. There are some who would be somewhat better than the Chosen One, and some who would be a breath of fresh air and would bring the hope and change our country was promised, but never received. Then there are those who fall somewhere in between.
This past Sunday, we had a special speaker at Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond. Jack “
By Thomas E Brewton
Yesterday’s drop of 512 in the Dow shows the smashing success of the debt ceiling bill foisted on the American people. We were told increasing the debt limit so the national government can continue spending money on all sorts of schemes to control, rather than benefit the citizens, would eliminate the uncertainty hanging over the business world and the economy would soar out of the doldrums and go into a hiring frenzy like we’ve never seen. Oh yes, and it would user in an era of love, peace and harmony. Well, maybe not.
