Common Sense Government Blog

An Open Letter to Ron Paul Supporters

By John Eberhard

The United States is heading down a dangerous road. 50% of all U.S. households receive some kind of public assistance. Roughly the same percentage pay no taxes.

Common sense says that that is mathematically unsustainable. But Democrats have bloated government spending and government borrowing to continue to fund unsustainable entitlements. And the number of people on food stamps and other government assistance has rocketed under Obama, not to mention the fact that the Democrat controlled Congress did away with the welfare reform that was enacted in the 1990s.

Historian Alexander Tytler, a contemporary of the American Founders, stated “A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”

Meanwhile we have a mainstream news media that is fully in the tank for any liberal candidate, concept or idea, and won’t even report anything positive about any conservative candidate, concept or idea, despite the fact that conservatives make up 46% of the population compared to 20% liberal.

But you know all this. That’s why you support Ron Paul, because he’s for fiscal responsibility and returning to upholding the Constitution. And I have to say that in many things, I agree with you and I agree with Ron Paul. We need to have a balanced budget and get rid of the national debt, get rid of bloated bureaucracy, and start applying the Constitution.

But it’s time to give it up.

What do I mean by that? Well, recently I read that Ron Paul basically suspended his campaign, but urged his supporters to continue to try to disrupt the activities of Mitt Romney.

And I happen to know quite a few Ron Paul supporters, and have been active in a political forum where I have spoken a number of times on conservative political values. And most of the Ron Paul supporters I have spoken to have asserted that whether or not Ron Paul is nominated for the Republican ticket, they will still vote for Ron Paul, even if they have to write him in.

But it’s time to face that fact that Ron Paul is not going to win the Republican nomination. We haven’t even had the CA primary yet, but it’s pretty much wrapped up that Mitt Romney is going to win the nomination. And winning a few delegates here and there isn’t going to do it for Ron Paul.

So even though Mitt Romney is not my idea of the ideal Republican candidate, it’s time to support him and stop trying to “disrupt” his activities, whatever that means.

Why? Because the Ron Paul supporter vote could be the thing that turns the tide and puts Romney into office, and throws Barrack and Michelle Obama out on the street so they can indulge in one permanent vacation. You could help make Michelle’s dream of walking out the front door of the White House and never coming back, a reality.

And yes I’ve seen your stuff on Facebook, saying how Obama and Romney are the same and they’re all part of the one world order. So it doesn’t matter which one gets elected.

But that’s where you’re wrong.

Yes I know the Republican Party is far from the perfect entity in terms of upholding the Constitution and fiscal responsibility. But let’s look at some facts:

• Barack Obama is really like no other President in my lifetime. While we have had creeping socialism for over 100 years, he has put the whole effort into warp drive, and is steering us toward the cliff at warp 8.
• It was 100% Democrats in Congress who voted for Obamacare. Not one Republican vote in the House or Senate.
• It was Republicans who gave us welfare reform in 1990s. True it was Bill Clinton who signed it but the Republican Congress created it. And it was one of the most successful reform measures ever, getting lots of people off the dole and back into the workforce. Then it was Democrats who three it out the window as one of the first things the Obama-Reid-Pelosi triumvirate did.
• Obama is running for re-election basically on a platform of attacking capitalism. Throughout his entire Presidency he has attacked business, attacked producers, waged class warfare, pushed for the rich to pay more in taxes, and pushed for more people to get on the dole.
• Getting a Republican majority in the House is probably the only thing that has kept the Democrats from pushing through cap and trade, card check, and other liberal wet dream legislation.
• Obama is committed to bankrupting the coal industry and pushing energy prices up to unaffordable levels. His Energy Secretary said he wants to push gas prices up to the level of Europe.
• It has been Republicans who have fought for budget cuts and Democrats who have fought them tooth and nail.
• It has been Republicans who have fought raising the debt ceiling.
• It is the so-called Blue States which have been under Democratic Party control for the last 30-40 years that are going off the cliff financially the quickest.
• Obama has refused to approve the Keystone pipeline, estimated to produce over 100,000 jobs. Romney says he would approve it as one of the first things he would do.
• The level of accumulating debt under Obama is significantly higher than any previous President. I have seen figures indicating that his level of debt is equal to all previous Presidents combined.

I could go on. But the point is, that Obama and his cohorts have been doing everything they can to basically destroy this country. We could argue about whether or not they are doing it on purpose. But the destruction should be obvious to anyone who has not drunk the liberal Kool Aid.

Recent polls I have seen put Romney and Obama nearly neck and neck. Now a number of events between now and election day could significantly swing it in one direction or another, like the Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare for starters.

But right now it’s a close race.

And I think that whether we have Romney or Obama matters a great deal. Would Romney reverse everything that Obama has done? No. Would he support a total return to the Constitution? No. Would he support getting rid of the Departments of Energy and Education? Probably not.

But he is a supporter of capitalism and someone who actually understands how capitalism is supposed to work, i.e. a meritocracy, the market deciding winners and losers, property rights, rewarding producers, etc.

I was reading an article the other day that was saying that Obama is not really the problem, he is the result of the problem. We have a society made up of people who have been seduced by the idea of easy credit, and now a bigger and bigger segment is being seduced by the idea of living on the dole, letting the rest of us support them.

The recent financial crash came as a wake up call to some of us, realizing we couldn’t keep refinancing our mortgage to pay off our credit cards every year (i.e. living above our means). But many people haven’t woken up, and some have fallen deeper into the entitlement mentality.

I think the fact that the race between Obama and Romney is neck and neck is a scary thing. Don’t people see the things Obama has done? And why is it the Republican Party keeps nominating the most liberal guy in their own field? John McCain? Mitt Romney? Why can’t we get a principled conservative up there?

Well it could be the fact that our mainstream media has descended to the point of being a liberal propaganda machine. But it’s also the society, the population, the civilization. They like the easy way out, not paying taxes, having someone else pay their way. Class warfare sound good to them. That’s why Obama’s numbers aren’t at the bottom, at least not yet.

My point is that it’s going to take time to convince a population that has been sold a bill of goods, that they can live above their means, that someone else can pay or should pay, that there is such a thing as a free lunch.

Ron Paul has created a big effect. He has launched a big idea. Do I agree with everything he says? No. But he has pushed ideas of fiscal restraint and adhering to the Constitution forward into the public consciousness. But it’s going to take time for those ideas to take root. Hopefully we can do it and not descend into riots like the babies in Europe when they threaten to take their free lunch away.

Letting Obama get re-elected would be in essence allowing him to keep the throttle down as the train goes barreling off the cliff. Voting for Romney slows the train down, giving time for conservative principles to take root.

Back to Political Basics

By John Eberhard

I recently spoke at a political forum in Glendale, CA. I decided, in light of the Occupy Wall Street protesters spouting Marxist complaints that were old 100 years ago, that it would be good to “get back to basics,” by which I mean taking a look at definitions of some of the basic words and ideas that make up politics. I also videoed the forum and if I have time I'll edit and post video of it.

This article is a modified version of my talk at that recent forum.

We’re going to cover definitions and basic ideas of several political philosophies.

Many of these definitions have changed dramatically over the last 50 years, and many dictionaries feature outdated and incorrect definitions. I have endeavored to find definitions which reflect the current reality.

Capitalism

“An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.”

Yahoo Education

“An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market”

Merriam Webster.com

Socialism

1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Merriam Webster.com

“A political system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange are mostly owned by the state, and used, at least in theory, on behalf of the people. The idea behind socialism is that the capitalist system is intrinsically unfair, because it concentrates wealth in a few hands and does nothing to safeguard the overall welfare of the majority. Under socialism, the state redistributes the wealth of society in a more equitable way, with the ideal of social justice replacing the profit motive. Socialism as a system is anathema to most Americans, although many social welfare programs like Medicare and Medicaid (once derided by their opponents as "socialized medicine") and Social Security are socialistic in effect, since they are controlled by the government and effect a measure of income redistribution that could not happen if market forces were the sole factor in the economic life of society.”

American Spirit Political Dictionary
(Unfortunately at this time this excellent dictionary is no longer online)

Communism

“The political system under which the economy, including capital, property, major industries, and public services, is controlled and directed by the state, and in that sense is "communal." Communism also involves a social structure that restricts individual freedom of expression. Modern communism is based on Marxism, as interpreted by the Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Ilyitch Lenin (1870-1924).”

American Spirit Political Dictionary

Liberalism

“In political speech now in the U.S. a liberal is a person who believes it is the duty of government to ameliorate social conditions and create a more equitable society. Liberals favor generous spending on the welfare state; they exhibit a concern for minorities, the poor, and the disadvantaged and often see these conditions as a product of social injustices rather than individual failings. This also applies to crime and juvenile delinquency, where liberals are as concerned with removing the social causes of such behavior as they are with detection and punishment. Liberals also tend to be concerned about environmental issues, the defense of civil liberties, and do not favor excessive military spending. The label of liberal is something that many politicians now seek to avoid, since it is out of keeping with the public mood. In the presidential campaign of 1988 George Bush used this to telling advantage, labeling his Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis a liberal, and making the term sound subversive and un-American. President Clinton tried to distance himself from traditional liberalism in his campaign of 1992, calling himself a New Democrat instead.”

American Spirit Political Dictionary

Liberal Policies

• Higher taxes
• More spending
• Big government
• More of the welfare state
• Redistribution of wealth
• Favors affirmative action
• Favors government funded health care (Democrats voted in Obamacare)
• Against federal immigration laws
• Many against gun ownership
• Gay rights
• Environmental movement
• Pro abortion
• Victimology

Currently liberalism is very much aligned with Democratic Party leadership nationally in the U.S.

Conservatism

“A political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions, and preferring gradual development to abrupt change; specifically : such a philosophy calling for lower taxes, limited government regulation of business and investing, a strong national defense, and individual financial responsibility for personal needs (as retirement income or health-care coverage)”

Merriam Webster.com

Conservative Policies

• Lower taxes
• Less spending
• Smaller government
• Against the welfare state
• Believe wealth belongs to those who earn it
• Against affirmative action
• Against government funded health care (No Republicans voted for Obamacare)
• Some for and some against federal immigration laws
• Most favor gun ownership
• Many against gay rights
• Many against the environmental movement
• Many, not all against abortion
• Believes in personal responsibility rather than victimology

This list contains what I observe to be true conservative principles, which are not necessarily the same as what all Republicans stand for. However, all true conservatives are in the Republican Party. Most of the above are what the Tea Party stands for.

Keynesian Economics

“The economic theories and programs ascribed to John M. Keynes and his followers; specifically : the advocacy of monetary and fiscal programs by government to increase employment and spending”

Merriam Webster.com

“Keynesian economics argues that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes and, therefore, advocates active policy responses by the public sector, including monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government to stabilize output over the business cycle. The theories forming the basis of Keynesian economics were first presented in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936. The interpretations of Keynes are contentious and several schools of thought claim his legacy.”

“Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy — predominantly private sector, but with a significant role of government and public sector — and served as the economic model during the later part of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war economic expansion (1945–1973), though it lost some influence following the stagflation of the 1970s. The advent of the global financial crisis in 2007 has caused a resurgence in Keynesian thought.”

Wikipedia

“The idea that large increases in government spending will bring the economy out of recessions and depressions”

John Eberhard
(I added this definition myself to try to simplify things)

Marxism

• History’s defining element is the class struggle, i.e. rich against poor
• Assigns victim status to poor, they are victimized by business owners who grow rich off of their work
• Redistribution of wealth
• Hostile to business owners, sees them as victimizing workers
• Government takes over business
• Throw out the business owners and executives. The people then run the businesses.

When you see these ideas today, you will know where they came from.

Interesting note: Marx, who wrote extensively about the plight of the worker, barely worked a day in his life himself, living first off his mother, then off his friend Frederick Engels after his mother died.

Cultural Marxism

• Expands on the idea of Marxism, with its victimization of the poor, to other groups that it considers have been victimized (blacks, women, Hispanics, gays)
• Idea of redistribution of wealth or advantage to favored groups considered victimized
• Origin of affirmative action

2011 Gallup Poll

• 42% conservative
• 37% moderate
• 21% liberal

In past Gallup polls going back to the 1960s, the liberal element has never numbered over 22%.

Interesting to note that a segment numbering 21% happens to control all the mainstream media, Hollywood, and college faculties today

Quotes from Jefferson

 “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
Thomas Jefferson

“It is incumbent, obligatory, necessary, required, mandatory and binding on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. This is a principle, which if acted upon, would save one-half the wars of the world.”
Thomas Jefferson

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
Thomas Jefferson

“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”
Thomas Jefferson

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
Thomas Jefferson

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
Thomas Jefferson

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Thomas Jefferson

“The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“The pillars of our prosperity are the most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." ~ Thomas Jefferson

American Government Test

The Tytler Cycle Revisited

by John Eberhard

In 2003 I became very interested in a theory developed by Scottish historian Alexander Tytler, and wrote an article on it at the time, which ironically enough is now getting a lot of attention due to being linked to from Wikipedia.

Tytler’s theory set forth a cycle that every democracy goes through, which goes like this. Tytler said the cycle starts out with a society in bondage. Then it goes in this sequence:

Bondage
Spiritual Faith
Courage
Liberty
Abundance
Selfishness
Complacency
Apathy
Dependence
Then starting over with Bondage

Tytler organized these items in a circle:



I was fascinated with this because to me it seemed to explain what we are going through as a country right now, where people are more interested in how they can somehow soak the system to get their free ride, than building anything. Clearly we are on the left side of this cycle, somewhere in the selfishness, complacency, apathy or dependence side.

Recently I found an article entitled “An American Tragedy” dated 12/16/08 by James Quinn, a financial writer and senior director of strategic planning for a major university. Most of the article is about disgraced investment guru Bernie Madoff, but a good chunk of it concerns the Tytler cycle and exactly where Quinn thinks we are in the cycle. Here's what Quinn has to say:

“The following quote attributed to Scottish history professor Alexander Tyler in 1787, seems to portray an accurate reflection of what has occurred during our 200+ years of existence as a democracy.

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith;
• From spiritual faith to great courage;
• From courage to liberty;
• From liberty to abundance;
• From abundance to complacency;
• From complacency to apathy;
• From apathy to dependence;
• From dependence back into bondage

“These words were written two years before George Washington became our first President. There is so much truth in these words it makes me shudder, especially since we are clearly in stage 7. An honest appraisal of our country’s downward spiral is necessary to begin the process of redemption. We have continually voted ourselves increased benefits, dependent upon the printing presses of the Federal Reserve to sustain our country’s ponzi scheme. We have pawned our future and the bill will eventually come due.

“The GreatAmericanRepublic

“My assessment of the chronological sequence our democracy has progressed through, follows.

“From bondage to spiritual faith               (1760 to 1769)

• King George III becomes King of England
• Currency Act, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, Townshend Act passed by Parliament
• Sons of Liberty formed by John Adams, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, among others.

“From spiritual faith to great courage     (1770 to 1783)

• Boston massacre
• Samuel Adams organizes the Committees of Correspondence
• Parliament passes the Tea Act
• Boston Tea Party
• The First Continental Congress
• Battle of Bunker Hill
• Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
• Revolutionary War rages for six years
• British surrender at Yorktown
• Treaty of Paris ends Revolutionary War

“From courage to liberty                            (1784 to 1865)

• Constitutional Convention
• Constitution ratified by 13 states
• George Washington elected President
• Bill of Rights passed
• Fugitive Slave Act passed
• Louisiana Purchase
• Robert Fulton invents steamboat
• War of 1812
• Monroe Doctrine
• President Andrew Jackson battles bankers which leads to the Panic of 1837
• U.S. Mexican War
• California gold rush
• Compromise of 1850
• Dred Scott Decision
• Abraham Lincoln elected President
• Confederate states secede from the Union
• Emancipation Proclamation
• Civil War rages for four years
• Union is restored
• 13th Amendment abolishes slavery

“From liberty to abundance                                   (1866 to 1969)

• Civil Rights Act of 1866
• First Trans-Continental Railroad
• Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
• Industrial Revolution
• General Electric founded
• Spanish American War
• U.S. Steel founded
• Airplane invented
• Automobile invented
• Federal Reserve created
• World War I
• Great Depression
• New Deal programs implemented by FDR
• Golden Gate Bridge completed
• World War II
• Holocaust
• Atomic bomb used to end war with Japan
• Marshall Plan rebuilds Europe & Japan
• US emerges from the war as the only great economic power
• Cold War
• Korean War
• Interstate highway system built
• Civil Rights Movement
• John F. Kennedy assassinated
• Vietnam War
• Great Society programs implemented
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Martin Luther King assassinated
• Neil Armstrong walks on the moon

“From abundance to complacency                      (1970 to 1989)

• Roe vs Wade
• President Nixon resigns in disgrace
• Oil embargo
• Ronald Reagan elected President
• Military buildup and tax cuts
• Fall of the Soviet Union

“From complacency to apathy                  (1990 to 2000)

• Gulf War
• Bill Clinton elected President
• Stock market boom
• Gridlock between Congress & President leads to budget surpluses
• President Clinton acquitted in impeachment trial

“From apathy to dependence                    (2001 to 2007)

• George W. Bush elected President
• Nasdaq stock bubble bursts
• 9/11 attack
• Alan Greenspan lowers rates to 1%
• Invasion of Afghanistan
• Department of Homeland security created
• Invasion of Iraq
• Hurricane Katrina
• Home prices double
• Financial derivatives grow to over $100 trillion

“From dependence back into bondage   (2008 to ????)

• Housing prices collapse
• Financial firms collapse
• Government and Federal Reserve intervene to prop up the worldwide financial system
• Government bailouts of financial firms and auto manufacturers
• Federal Reserve & U.S. Treasury commit over $8 trillion of taxpayer funds
• Barrack Obama elected President
• Immediate borrowing & stimulus packages exceeding $1 trillion are discussed
• Federal Reserve lowers rates to below 1%”

===============================

I tend to believe the above is pretty accurate, because we can see right now that the US government under Obama-Reid-Pelosi is making an unprecedented power grab, by increasing spending dramatically, and increasing their socialistic hold over American life. The current Democratic Party leadership is the most radically leftist/socialist we have ever had. One of their recent actions was to basically repeal the welfare reform which was enacted in the 1990s, and which was so successful too. Obama’s new budget document blatantly outlines his goals to punish high producers because they have broken the rules, which is as Marxist a plan as I have ever seen.

The question I have had for some time is whether this will continue through the entire cycle of Bondage, Spiritual Faith, Courage, Liberty, Abundance, Selfishness, Complacency, Apathy, Dependence, then starting over with Bondage; or whether concerned and knowledgeable individuals can somehow halt the decline and keep us from going into a new period of bondage?

Clearly we see the American public being apathetic and willing to allow the US government to take over more and more of our lives, and thus becoming more and more dependent.

And yet, at the same time, I see outrage and a building frustration by a large segment of the population, with protest events (the recent spate of Tea Party events), petitions, and a plethora of columns in the conservative press, decrying the power grab. Will it be enough? Can we prevent a new period of bondage?

 

Great Quotes from Thomas Jefferson

A friend sent me some very interesting and prophetic quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

“It is incumbent, obligatory, necessary, required, mandatory and binding on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. This is a principle, which if acted upon,  would save one-half the wars of the world.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
Thomas Jefferson
--------------------------

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
Thomas Jefferson
-------------------------

In light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802...:

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Thomas Jefferson

 

Obama’s Big Lie

by John Eberhard

I recently got an email from the National Republican Trust Political Action Committee (http://nationalrepublicantrust.com/), that contained some stuff in it that was too good not to share.

“Let me tell you the real reason Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid pushed through the biggest spending bill in history – without proper debate, without Republican input, and without any public scrutiny at all.

“Simply, they are trying to turn the United States into a one-party country and to put the Republican Party out of business once and for all.

“The massive appropriation called a stimulus – some $787 billion of your money – is really a political war chest for the Democrats.

“They want to change the face of American politics forever, and they want to use your taxpayer money to do it.

“They want to use billions from our treasury to reward their political friends – and have huge amounts of cash to dole out before the 2010 and 2012 elections.

“Some people have wondered why, if the country is in dire need of emergency “stimulus,” most of the money appropriated by this law will not even be spent this year.

“Instead, spending will go on for five to 10 years.

“There is no mystery here, as the answer is simple: These billions in taxpayer funds will fund the Democratic political machine for many years to come.

…

 “Consider that we have long believed America is the greatest democracy in the world.

“Yet Congress passed the largest spending bill in its history – by essentially suspending vital democratic processes, including debate and public examination of the pending law.

“We know that the Democrats, working late into the night, secretly agreed to a “compromise” bill among themselves – and then refused even to share it with Republicans or the public until just hours before the bill went to the floor for a vote.

“The final stimulus bill was 1,079 pages long. We know Barack Obama never read the bill.

“Many members of Congress have admitted not one senator or congressman even read the bill before they voted for it!

“The Democrats say they suspended normal procedures because the country so desperately needed to avoid what Barack Obama said was an economic “catastrophe.”

“The bill apparently was so urgent that the Democrats even excluded Republican leaders from any involvement in negotiations on it.

“When, in our republic, does Congress simply vote on a bill when its members have no idea what it says?

“And, how could congressional leaders like Pelosi and Reid, as well as President Obama, present a monumental law but not allow even one day of scrutiny by Congress, its staffs or the public?

…

“Big Lie No. 1: The Emergency

“They told us that the country is in such a dire situation that it was an emergency.

“That was Big Lie No. 1: The bill was not an emergency measure.

“This was a ruse. They falsely claimed it was an emergency bill to cut off all debate.

“The lie about the urgency was made clear when President Obama, rather than immediately signing the bill, went on vacation to celebrate Valentine’s Day with his wife in Chicago. [Amazingly he had been in Washington less than a month before he took his first vacation!]

“In fact, Obama took almost four days to sign this “urgent” bill.

“Big Lie No. 2: Immediate Stimulus

“And then there is Big Lie No. 2: The bill offered immediate help to our ailing economy.

“The truth: The bill does not offer significant, immediate stimulus.

“Most of the stimulus money won’t even be spent this year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office!

“And the CBO has warned that the bill actually will hurt long-term economic growth.

“Infrastructure programs, including items such as $8 billion for a high-speed train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, will take a decade or longer to complete – if environmentalists ever let the project begin.

“Republican traitor Arlen Specter, who backed the stimulus bill, got more than $6 billion in the bill for “medical research” – another lulu that has nothing to do with immediate economic stimulus.

“Big Lie No. 3: Bipartisan Support

“Then there is Big Lie No. 3: This bill was a bipartisan effort to save the economy.

“It was anything but.

“Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham said bluntly: “If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed."

“Indeed, every Republican in the House voted against the bill, along with six courageous Democratic congressmen.

“In the Senate, almost every Republican opposed the bill except three liberals: Sens. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter.

“Obama promised he would change the “old politics” of Washington. Instead, he is playing hardball partisan Democratic politics of the Chicago type.

…

“The Real Purpose: Abolish the GOP

“I have no doubt what the real purpose of the stimulus bill was.

“Simply, it was to lay the ground work of the remaking of America’s political system into a one-party system.

“Yes, a one-party socialist state that destroyed countries like Mexico.

“We have seen what one-party rule has done to cities like Cleveland, Detroit, other cities – and corrupt Chicago.

“The media will never tell you this, but that’s the real agenda behind the Obama stimulus bill.

“This is why so little of the stimulus is spent now, but spread out over several years.

“This means Obama and Democrats will have hundreds of billions to disburse to their supporters, creating a new party cadre that will help them win re-election in 2010 and 2012.

…

 “The bulk of the Obama stimulus goes directly to the powerful government employee unions that helped get Obama elected and are the backbone, the shock troops, of the Democratic Party.

“Amazingly, it’s been estimated that half of the stimulus appropriation directly benefits government employee and service employees union that played key roles in Obama’s election.

“Second, the bill gives tens of billions to state and local governments to dole out to their cronies. This means there will be even less accountability by Congress.

“And then there are massive payoffs to the special interests to the Democratic Party, with giveaways such as $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $300 million for new cars for government bureaucrats, $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” tens of billions for “green, environmental and energy programs” — they even include $3.7 billion to help “green” military bases and another $125 million to restore “abandoned mines.”

“Shockingly, the bill creates 33 new government programs!

“The stimulus money will give the Democrats the opportunity to become the dominant political party for the next generation.”

 

I have to say I agree with the above from the National Republican Trust Political Action Committee. I was stunned by the speed with which the largest spending bill in history was passed. Now we know why – Obama, Reid and Pelosi wanted to get it passed before the public outcry could mount to an unmanageable level for them.

I read last week that the incoming phone calls from citizens were 100 to 1 against the stimulus package. Yet they passed it anyway. The Democratic leadership of Obama, Reid and Pelosi have no desire to govern by submitting to the will of the people.

This is the most radical leftist leadership we have ever had in America. They know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the public in America does not want more socialism, more giveaways, higher taxes, more welfare. The only way they could get Obama elected was for the mainstream news media to be totally in the tank for him and to keep the public from finding out about his radical socialist agenda.

Now people are starting to find out, and it’s coming as a shock. They are trying to completely take over and hijack the entire government process, and the people’s wishes be damned!

I don’t think the people are going to take it. I read a lot every day on the Internet. I have heard about protest events in various cities across America, petitions, an effort to get Nancy Pelosi impeached, and more. I myself am starting a new, additional blog which will include 8-9 like-minded conservative writers. You will be finding out more about this shortly. I think the Democratic leadership is going to be surprised at the way the American population is going to react to their thuggish leadership strategy. We’ll soon see.

 

 

Mental Health Issues and the Presidential Candidates

An associate named Nancy Reitze compiled this information on the candidates as regarding mental health issues.  If the issue of mental health is important to you, please read this information.

John Eberhard

The "New Freedom Commission on Mental Health"

The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health is the substance in a 93 page report put together by the psychiatric/pharmaceutical industry in 2003 as a recommendation to the President for mental health plans in the US.

This plan lays out detailed programs to screen all Americans for mental "disorders" and includes recommended drug treatment plans. It includes specific mental health screening programs for the elderly, all military personnel, all U.S. school children, drug addicts (and redefining drug addiction as a mental "disease") the poor, screening all pregnant women and infants, (the Mothers Act and another bill detailed below) specific drug treatment "flow charts," mental health "parity" (equal coverage for mental illness as for physical illness/disease) and more.

Obama vs. McCain - The Mothers Act:

This is a bill that calls for mental health screening and "treatment" of all pregnant women and those who have recently given birth.

Obama is one of 10 co-sponsors. McCain is not.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01375:@@@P

More information on the Mothers Act: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/803007275.html

Obama: "Mental health screenings for all troops"

In remarks prepared for delivery on Sunday, the Illinois Democrat proposed changes to recruitment and deployment of military mental health providers. He called for the Pentagon to recruit more professionals to help identify and treat problems. And he seeks mandatory mental health screenings of all troops.

According to Obama's plan, the military would require face-to-face mental health screenings for all service members. By making it mandatory, Obama said the military could reduce the stigma associated with mental health screening and treatment.

The plan also would institute early mental health screenings so future psychological injuries could be more easily diagnosed and treated.

http://www.thenewhampshireprimary.com/news/2007_05_28_news_1.html

McCain opposes this bill.

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/McCain_s_Record_of_Blocking_Veteran...

Obama on McCain: "I have great respect for John McCain's service to this country and I know
he loves it dearly and honors those who serve. But he is one of the few Senators of either party
who oppose this bill."

http://www.barackobama.com/2008/05/12/in_charleston_obama_vows_to_ke.php

Mental Health "Parity"

Obama: "I am a longtime supporter of mental health parity. I helped pass the Illinois mental health parity law. And my national public health plan will include coverage of all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care. I strongly support mental health fairness and parity of mental health coverage in all federal health programs. I cosponsored the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 and I am a supporter of the bipartisan Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007. Similarly, I believe in prohibiting group health plans from imposing treatment or financial limitations on mental health and substance related disorder benefits that are different from those applied to medical or surgical services.

I am also committed to ensuring that Americans with disabilities or mental illness receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits in a low cost, effective and timely manner."

http://www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org/profile.php?c_id=MjU1MjQx

McCain has voted against mental health parity and, in his health care plan on his website, makes no mention of mental health as an issue.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/6/02436/44844/247/588598

Mental Health Screening of Low-Income Families

"Barack Obama would expand the highly successful Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers. The Nurse-Family Partnership provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-

income expectant mothers and their families. The trained nurses use proven methods to help improve the mental and physical health of the family by providing counseling on substance abuse, creating and achieving personal goals, and effective methods of nurturing children."

http://www.nationalplatforms.com/candidates/barack_obama.html

More information on the Nurse-Family Partnership: "Early detection and treatment of mental disorders can result in a substantially shorter and less disabling course of illness. As the mental health field becomes increasingly able to identify the early antecedents of mental illnesses at any age, interventions must be implemented, provided in multiple settings, and connected to treatment and supports.

"Early interventions, such as the Nurse-Family Partnership, and educational efforts can help a greater number of parents, the public, and providers learn about the importance of the first years of a child's life and how to establish a foundation for healthy social and emotional development. Quality screening and early intervention should occur in readily accessible, low-stigma settings, such as primary health care facilities and schools, and in settings where a high level of risk for mental health problems exists, such as juvenile justice and child welfare."

http://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov/reports/FinalReport/FullReport-...

Side-by-Side Comparison

Obama's and McCain's Positions on Mental Health Care

http://anxietypanichealth.com/2008/08/06/obamas-and-mccains-positions...

The above is an excellent article comparing the two candidates. Here are some excerpts:

Barack Obama's position on mental health issues as stated in his health care plan:

Obama specifically includes mental health care in his health care plan. It states: Improve Mental Health Care. Mental illness affects approximately one in five American families. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that untreated mental illnesses cost the U.S. more than $100 billion per year. As president, Obama will support mental health parity so that coverage for serious mental illnesses are provided on the same terms and conditions as other illnesses and diseases.

John McCain's position on mental health issues as stated in his health care plan:

McCain's health care plan does not mention mental health.

Obama and McCain on H.R. 1424/S558 "Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007? Bill: Obama co-sponsored, along with 56 others, the bipartisan Senate's S558 version of H.R. 1424

"Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007? bill.

McCain did not sponsor the bill. The White House is opposed to it.

In Their Own Words

Barack Obama:

"As you may know, mental illness affects approximately one in five American families, and we must do more address this issue. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that untreated mental illnesses cost the U.S. more than $100 billion per year. As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and ensions (HELP) Committee, I worked to improve mental health services for people with serious problems who are going untreated and undiagnosed.

"It is important to end discrimination against those with mental illness, and that's why I support the bipartisan Paul Wellstone (D-MN) Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, an updated version of legislation that Senator Wellstone championed for over a decade in Congress. This bill works to end discrimination against people suffering from mental illness and addiction.

"I also support mental health parity. When suicide is responsible for more deaths in America than AIDS and homicides combined, we must act. That's why I have championed efforts to improve awareness of mental illnesses and provide timely and appropriate treatment, and why I cosponsored the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007. Parity means that we don't allow group health plans to impose treatment or financial limitations on mental health benefits that are different from those applied to medical or surgical services. The bill closes the loopholes that allow discrimination in coverage that does not apply to other illnesses.

"I'm proud of my record on this issue. I helped pass mental a health [sic] parity bill as an Illinois state senator that requires coverage for serious mental illnesses to be provided on the same terms and conditions as are applicable to other illnesses and diseases."

http://psychcentral.com/lib/2008/obama-on-mental-health-care/

John McCain:

"The next President will face a great challenge due to the rising cost of health care of all types. America has the finest doctors and medical science, and the treatment of mental health."