Sometimes not getting everything you want is the best thing you can get. Sometimes enough is too much already. Sometimes the next time might be the last time if this time is just like the last time. Sometimes when we try to run out the time, time runs out on us. Then again, sometimes time seems to stand still, which is exactly the time we need to realize time never stands still.
Sometimes not getting everything you want is the best thing you can get. In the run up to the game-changing election of 2010 many people hoped the Republicans would gain control of both the House and the Senate. This did not happen and that is a good thing. The staggering scope of the re-alignment in the House reveals the breadth and depth of America’s repudiation of the Progressives and their welfare nanny-state. However, if the Teanami had given conservatives complete control of the legislative branch it would have set the stage for President Obama and his accomplices in the media to run against the Tea Party Congress 24/7 for the next two years. As it stands today, the House can act as an anchor slowing down the precipitous rush into the Progressive’s socialist dream world without being a foil for the next comeback kid.
Sometimes enough is too much already. While the House is now in a perfect position to slow down the Progressives march towards Utopia it might be too late. By standing on the promises they’ve made to get another chance at legislative leadership the Republicans can stop anymore over-the-top spending. They can use their power to modify bills and bring some sanity back to our budgetary process. This will be good, but it won’t be enough. The looting of the treasury that’s gone on for the last two years combined with the projected looting already commits us to trillion dollar yearly deficits for the next 10 years. Slowing the rate of growth will do nothing to stop our mad rush into insolvency. Standing still is not good enough, we must reverse course or this Titanic is going to hit the iceberg no matter where we place the deckchairs.
Sometimes the next time might be the last time if this time is just like the last time. The Republicans are hitting the right note as they prepare to take over the House. They aren’t crowing about the victory of their Party. They’re acting chastened and aware that if they mess it up this time they may end up following the Whigs they replaced in the 1850s unto the ash heap of history. After 40 years in the wilderness, the Republicans gained power in 1994. They followed through on their contract and brought in the first balanced budget in a generation, ended welfare as we had known it and inspired a pragmatic progressive to utter those long sought after words, “The era of big government is over.”
Unfortunately, they nominated a lackluster candidate and were out maneuvered by the Clinton Machine in 1996 and then fell into an impeachment debacle wherein they had to fight the administration, the media, and their own Progressive wing. Following their impeachment fiasco the GOP legislative majority followed their Progressive leaders and wallowed in the pork until disgusted voters decided to give the Democrat Progressives a chance.
The Republicans are wise to realize they’ve not been embraced by the Silent Majority / Tea Party. They’ve been given one last chance. Do what you said you would do, fight to reverse the slide, fight to save the Republic, don’t just mark time, or this time will be your last time because sometimes when we try to run out the time, time runs out on us.
Sometimes time seems to stand still which is exactly the time we need to realize time never stands still. The lame duck session grinds on, and we still don’t know what lame laws these ducks will lay before they lose the keys to the House. In a way, with the holidays fast approaching and the blessed sound of a recess bell not too far away it feels as if time is standing still. As if the angels are holding their breath awaiting the first snowflakes as we all gather to give thanks, Congress is going home.
However, the Progressives are not standing still. In the last two years they’ve effectively abdicated their Constitutional responsibilities moving much of the decision-making and oversight from Congress to the bureaucracy. Right now the multiple thousand page bills are being unwrapped like Christmas presents by the departments and bureaus and soon new regulations with the force of law will cascade out of nondescript offices continuing the transformation of America. Those dedicated to the salvation of the Republic cannot rest upon the glow of victory. We must redouble our efforts to turn back the tide. We must limit the government before the government limits us.
Now is the time to petition our representatives, asking them to actively do nothing in the lame duck session that isn’t absolutely necessary. There was no budget passed, so a continuing resolution is required. That’s all that must be done. The tax question can be postponed until the next Congress and made retroactive. The START treaty needs a closer examination. Everything else being proposed such as the Dream Act is nothing but political payoffs for members of the Progressive coalition. The best thing this Congress can do for us after all they’ve done to us is nothing. If they’ll just do that we can all be thankful.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
A Principle for Peter in the 21st Century
The world is lining up to not buy our debt so we are buying it ourselves in a move we call by the innocuous acronym QE2, which is short for Quantitative Easing two. More traditional, or verbally honest, economists are calling this what it is: monetizing our debt. This is a move which has our creditors heading for the doors and our enemies smiling as poor old Uncle Sugar stands with his pockets turned inside out, a bewildered look on his face as he wonders, “Where did all flowers go?”
Quantitative Easing is a type of monetary policy central banks use to pump money into their respective economic systems. This policy is only used when the central bank has already reduced interest rates to or near to zero. In other words, they have tried to encourage lending but they’ve failed. What the central bank does next is create money with a printing press, using that money to purchase bonds from its parent government and from banks and corporations within the nation’s banking system. The second and third tier banks then increase the money supply even further through another process known as deposit multiplication wherein they receive 100 dollars but are only required to keep $20 on hand, so they loan $80. The person who borrowed the $80 deposits it in their bank, and then that bank keeps 20% and loans the rest, and so on and so on until the increased money primes the pump and the stalled economy sputters to life. At least that’s the strategy.
No strategy survives contact with the enemy. And in this case the enemy is a financial system still reeling from government produced or instigated shocks: the housing bubble, the credit crunch, the escalating costs associated with Obamacare, and now the threat of a foreclosure moratorium. The dangers of the QE2 strategy lie in two directions. One it could be too successful igniting inflation and maybe even hyperinflation or two it could fail to re-ignite the economy and then the uncertainty of future tax rates, what new regulations might cost and the prospect of irretrievable assets locked up in a foreclosure freeze causing banks to hold the additional cash as a hedge against the government caused uncertainty. This would put us right back where we started: a frozen economy which opens the door for QE3, QE4, and eventually the dollar won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on.
If you rob Peter to pay Paul you can usually count on Paul’s vote in the next election cycle. This has been going on since FDR’s political genius discovered the magic formula of spend, spend, spend, tax, tax, tax, elect, elect, elect. Years of getting Paul addicted to lying in the hammock of government safety nets and swilling a brewsky as the game dulls his senses haven’t worked. Likewise, years of socialist education teaches Paul he isn’t a parasite he’s a victim with an entitlement haven’t worked. At the end of the day even Paul is starting to see that this can’t go on forever.
The free trade policies of both parties may have brought in cheap consumer goods to make Paul with his diminishing buying power think things are getting better all the time, but these same policies have also destroyed the manufacturing base that once provided Peter with enough income to carry Paul on his back and still live a good life. Today the average Paul is obese and the average Peter hasn’t had a raise in years, has watched his friends get laid-off, and wonders how he’s going to send Paul’s kids to college on burger-flipping money.
This brings us back to the world not lining up to buy our debt and to the definition of monetizing our debt. This is the government version of paying your MasterCard with your Visa. It may relieve current stress, but it portends future catastrophe. Debtors may appreciate moving their debt around, but creditors want to get paid. At a minimum they want to know their investment is secure. If we owe someone 100 dollars they want to know that the 100 dollars they receive in payment will have the same buying power as the 100 dollars they originally lent out. If the money they receive in payment is only worth half as much, they have lost half their initial investment. This is why China is reacting negatively to the Fed’s plan to pump more money into an economic system strangled by red tape and bleeding red ink.
It’s just not that hard to recognize a ponzi scheme. The smart bet is to walk away as soon as you see the shill starting to move the shells around on the table and this is just what the rest of the world is beginning to do. But poor old Uncle Sugar still thinks he has magic in his hands and more than a smile to hide his motives. What happens if you have a bond sale and nobody comes? I guess you buy the bonds yourself.
Will the end of American preeminence come not with a Bang: not with a whimper but instead with a “cha-ching!” If America, once the engine of the world’s economy and the seedbed of innovation crashes due to unsustainable debt will this validate the 20th Century concept of the Peter Principle? This principle states that within a bureaucracy people tend to get promoted due to their competence until they reach a level of incompetence remaining there until over time incompetence fills every level. Or is it time for a Peter Principle for the 21st Century?
Now is the time for Peter to rise up and say enough is too much already! In the coming Tea Party Congress the father and son Paul Team plan to offer twin bills in the House and the Senate to dissolve the Federal Reserve and reassert congressional control of America’s economic destiny. The howls will be loud, the fight will be hard, but either those who want to see a second American Century will usher in a return to limited government and free enterprise or the national motto may soon be, “Help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” To avoid this I urge every Peter who’s tired of being taxed to support the Pauls, contact you congressional representatives asking them to support the Paul Team as they fulfill their promises and strike a blow for freedom. If all the Peters follow these Pauls maybe we can put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
Quantitative Easing is a type of monetary policy central banks use to pump money into their respective economic systems. This policy is only used when the central bank has already reduced interest rates to or near to zero. In other words, they have tried to encourage lending but they’ve failed. What the central bank does next is create money with a printing press, using that money to purchase bonds from its parent government and from banks and corporations within the nation’s banking system. The second and third tier banks then increase the money supply even further through another process known as deposit multiplication wherein they receive 100 dollars but are only required to keep $20 on hand, so they loan $80. The person who borrowed the $80 deposits it in their bank, and then that bank keeps 20% and loans the rest, and so on and so on until the increased money primes the pump and the stalled economy sputters to life. At least that’s the strategy.
No strategy survives contact with the enemy. And in this case the enemy is a financial system still reeling from government produced or instigated shocks: the housing bubble, the credit crunch, the escalating costs associated with Obamacare, and now the threat of a foreclosure moratorium. The dangers of the QE2 strategy lie in two directions. One it could be too successful igniting inflation and maybe even hyperinflation or two it could fail to re-ignite the economy and then the uncertainty of future tax rates, what new regulations might cost and the prospect of irretrievable assets locked up in a foreclosure freeze causing banks to hold the additional cash as a hedge against the government caused uncertainty. This would put us right back where we started: a frozen economy which opens the door for QE3, QE4, and eventually the dollar won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on.
If you rob Peter to pay Paul you can usually count on Paul’s vote in the next election cycle. This has been going on since FDR’s political genius discovered the magic formula of spend, spend, spend, tax, tax, tax, elect, elect, elect. Years of getting Paul addicted to lying in the hammock of government safety nets and swilling a brewsky as the game dulls his senses haven’t worked. Likewise, years of socialist education teaches Paul he isn’t a parasite he’s a victim with an entitlement haven’t worked. At the end of the day even Paul is starting to see that this can’t go on forever.
The free trade policies of both parties may have brought in cheap consumer goods to make Paul with his diminishing buying power think things are getting better all the time, but these same policies have also destroyed the manufacturing base that once provided Peter with enough income to carry Paul on his back and still live a good life. Today the average Paul is obese and the average Peter hasn’t had a raise in years, has watched his friends get laid-off, and wonders how he’s going to send Paul’s kids to college on burger-flipping money.
This brings us back to the world not lining up to buy our debt and to the definition of monetizing our debt. This is the government version of paying your MasterCard with your Visa. It may relieve current stress, but it portends future catastrophe. Debtors may appreciate moving their debt around, but creditors want to get paid. At a minimum they want to know their investment is secure. If we owe someone 100 dollars they want to know that the 100 dollars they receive in payment will have the same buying power as the 100 dollars they originally lent out. If the money they receive in payment is only worth half as much, they have lost half their initial investment. This is why China is reacting negatively to the Fed’s plan to pump more money into an economic system strangled by red tape and bleeding red ink.
It’s just not that hard to recognize a ponzi scheme. The smart bet is to walk away as soon as you see the shill starting to move the shells around on the table and this is just what the rest of the world is beginning to do. But poor old Uncle Sugar still thinks he has magic in his hands and more than a smile to hide his motives. What happens if you have a bond sale and nobody comes? I guess you buy the bonds yourself.
Will the end of American preeminence come not with a Bang: not with a whimper but instead with a “cha-ching!” If America, once the engine of the world’s economy and the seedbed of innovation crashes due to unsustainable debt will this validate the 20th Century concept of the Peter Principle? This principle states that within a bureaucracy people tend to get promoted due to their competence until they reach a level of incompetence remaining there until over time incompetence fills every level. Or is it time for a Peter Principle for the 21st Century?
Now is the time for Peter to rise up and say enough is too much already! In the coming Tea Party Congress the father and son Paul Team plan to offer twin bills in the House and the Senate to dissolve the Federal Reserve and reassert congressional control of America’s economic destiny. The howls will be loud, the fight will be hard, but either those who want to see a second American Century will usher in a return to limited government and free enterprise or the national motto may soon be, “Help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” To avoid this I urge every Peter who’s tired of being taxed to support the Pauls, contact you congressional representatives asking them to support the Paul Team as they fulfill their promises and strike a blow for freedom. If all the Peters follow these Pauls maybe we can put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
My Name’s America and I’m a Debt-a-holic
Anyone who’s walked down the twelve-step path or knows someone who has, which is almost everyone in America, has heard the saying, “Until you admit you have a problem there’s no hope for a cure.”
We, as America have a problem: we’re addicted to debt. Now is not the time to point fingers. This isn’t the time to figure out whose fault it is or when was the fatal binge that sent us over the line from recreational user to addict. Now is the time to man-up, to admit we have a problem, and take the first steps toward recovery. And I’m not talking about some over-priced, jazzed-up, Betty Ford type recovery “Program.” I mean real recovery. This won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen without fears and tears and soul-searching honesty as we look in the mirror and admit to ourselves, “We aren’t controlling the debt. The debt is controlling us.”
Like many survivors of the Summer of Love, and the other social scams of the 1960s, when so many of we Boomers danced in lock-step like lemmings at mass festivals loudly proclaiming our induhvidualism while wearing identical tie-dyed shirts and patched-up jean uniforms, I found myself one day admitting I was addicted to something. No longer could I pretend I was taking the formerly magical something for fun. I was ingesting something that was bad for my body, because if I didn’t I’d get sick. My body, my mind, my soul had become addicted, and if I didn’t keep flying I was going to crash. I had that realization. Step-by-step I learned to walk on my own again. Maybe you’ve never had that experience personally. Hold on to your treasured memories of missing that degrading rite of passage, because we as a nation are about to hit the wall.
If we don’t sober up and take the cure ourselves one day soon our friendly local debt dealers are all going to get together and pull an intervention on us, and that will not be pretty. The austerity you place upon yourself is easier to bear than the austerity placed on you by someone else. If we don’t seize these last few moments of independence to stand up and say, “My name’s America and I’m a debt-a-holic” before we can print enough funny money to pay off our massive debts the countries holding that debt will cut us off and we’ll have to go through withdrawals cold-turkey. Or worse yet, we may be so strung out on living beyond our means that we’ll agree to anything the debt dealers demand if only they’ll extend our credit for a few more days. The borrower is slave to the lender and he who pays the piper calls the tune.
It’s easy to pick out all the pet projects of the opposition and say those are what caused us to go over the line. If we’re truthful we will see that it wasn’t just entitlements it was providing garrison troops to maintain the peace around the world. It wasn’t just tax cuts it was also spending. Truthfulness is a required ingredient for this cure. It won’t work if we just stop drinking, because dry drunks just find something else to fill the hole in their souls. It won’t be good enough to kick the heroin of debt just to become strung out on the methadone of printing money. We can’t just click our heels three times and say “I wish I was home” as Bernanke pumps out billions of increasingly worthless paper dollars. We can’t start using our Discover Card after the shop keeper cuts up our MasterCard and our Visa.
Some fear the cure will be worse than the disease. Some are afraid to admit there’s a problem fearing there will be a stigma. We’re past time to worry what the other countries down the block are going to say. We cannot hesitate because we’re ashamed all the other countries will point at us on the UN playground and say behind phony smiles, “America couldn’t handle their budget and now they have to live within their means.”
We can’t let divisions divide us. We must remember we are the UNITED States. We have to realize we cannot remain anonymous buying our debilitating debt on the corner from dealers who’re laughing at us behind our backs. We cannot continue spending like drunken sailors at the first port-of-call in six months and expect that there will be anything left for the kids. We’re sacrificing our children at the altar of our own desires. It’s time to admit that being generous with other people’s money isn’t generosity, its theft. It’s also time to realize that if everyone demands what they want no one will get what they need.
Yes, this will mean hard choices. Yes, this will mean that we all must roll-up our sleeves, tighten our belts, and go to work for the long haul. But we’re America. We can do this. Instead of expecting our representatives to bring home the bacon let’s ask them to balance the budget no matter how that may gore our sacred cow. Perhaps it’s time we remember to ask not what our country can do for us, but ask instead what we can do for our country.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
We, as America have a problem: we’re addicted to debt. Now is not the time to point fingers. This isn’t the time to figure out whose fault it is or when was the fatal binge that sent us over the line from recreational user to addict. Now is the time to man-up, to admit we have a problem, and take the first steps toward recovery. And I’m not talking about some over-priced, jazzed-up, Betty Ford type recovery “Program.” I mean real recovery. This won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen without fears and tears and soul-searching honesty as we look in the mirror and admit to ourselves, “We aren’t controlling the debt. The debt is controlling us.”
Like many survivors of the Summer of Love, and the other social scams of the 1960s, when so many of we Boomers danced in lock-step like lemmings at mass festivals loudly proclaiming our induhvidualism while wearing identical tie-dyed shirts and patched-up jean uniforms, I found myself one day admitting I was addicted to something. No longer could I pretend I was taking the formerly magical something for fun. I was ingesting something that was bad for my body, because if I didn’t I’d get sick. My body, my mind, my soul had become addicted, and if I didn’t keep flying I was going to crash. I had that realization. Step-by-step I learned to walk on my own again. Maybe you’ve never had that experience personally. Hold on to your treasured memories of missing that degrading rite of passage, because we as a nation are about to hit the wall.
If we don’t sober up and take the cure ourselves one day soon our friendly local debt dealers are all going to get together and pull an intervention on us, and that will not be pretty. The austerity you place upon yourself is easier to bear than the austerity placed on you by someone else. If we don’t seize these last few moments of independence to stand up and say, “My name’s America and I’m a debt-a-holic” before we can print enough funny money to pay off our massive debts the countries holding that debt will cut us off and we’ll have to go through withdrawals cold-turkey. Or worse yet, we may be so strung out on living beyond our means that we’ll agree to anything the debt dealers demand if only they’ll extend our credit for a few more days. The borrower is slave to the lender and he who pays the piper calls the tune.
It’s easy to pick out all the pet projects of the opposition and say those are what caused us to go over the line. If we’re truthful we will see that it wasn’t just entitlements it was providing garrison troops to maintain the peace around the world. It wasn’t just tax cuts it was also spending. Truthfulness is a required ingredient for this cure. It won’t work if we just stop drinking, because dry drunks just find something else to fill the hole in their souls. It won’t be good enough to kick the heroin of debt just to become strung out on the methadone of printing money. We can’t just click our heels three times and say “I wish I was home” as Bernanke pumps out billions of increasingly worthless paper dollars. We can’t start using our Discover Card after the shop keeper cuts up our MasterCard and our Visa.
Some fear the cure will be worse than the disease. Some are afraid to admit there’s a problem fearing there will be a stigma. We’re past time to worry what the other countries down the block are going to say. We cannot hesitate because we’re ashamed all the other countries will point at us on the UN playground and say behind phony smiles, “America couldn’t handle their budget and now they have to live within their means.”
We can’t let divisions divide us. We must remember we are the UNITED States. We have to realize we cannot remain anonymous buying our debilitating debt on the corner from dealers who’re laughing at us behind our backs. We cannot continue spending like drunken sailors at the first port-of-call in six months and expect that there will be anything left for the kids. We’re sacrificing our children at the altar of our own desires. It’s time to admit that being generous with other people’s money isn’t generosity, its theft. It’s also time to realize that if everyone demands what they want no one will get what they need.
Yes, this will mean hard choices. Yes, this will mean that we all must roll-up our sleeves, tighten our belts, and go to work for the long haul. But we’re America. We can do this. Instead of expecting our representatives to bring home the bacon let’s ask them to balance the budget no matter how that may gore our sacred cow. Perhaps it’s time we remember to ask not what our country can do for us, but ask instead what we can do for our country.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
This isn’t a Recession
Perhaps the following examples are emblematic of our present precarious situation. The Progressive Congressional leadership apparently believes Steven Colbert is not only what they perceive as a conservative commentator they also believe his outrageous satirical views are worthy of a Congressional hearing. Not to be outdone by the pedantic puffery of his lockstep legislative sidekicks, our President, like millions of his devotees, apparently perceives John Daily as a serious news broadcaster. Together these two politically motivated comedians are what the left believes constitutes an effective counter-weight to Glenn Beck and his chalkboards.
After the dust settles, after the confetti is swept up and all the balloons have popped what will the transformed American political landscape look like? Who will be leading and where? Will the recently awakened millions who’ve campaigned to get their country back have anything to show for all their efforts? Or, will the entrenched GOP establishment reach across the aisle proving all they were really interested in was co-opting the Tea Party Movement to regain their power so they could continue their side of the slide into the shabby future of a Progressive Social Democracy?
Hopefully the Loyal Opposition will realize this election was not a place holder. This was not merely a warm-up for the opportunity to send Mr. Obama back to Chicago. This tea-nami will send people to Congress who need to know this is their chance to work for the reversal of the Progressive agenda. If instead they misinterpret it as a two-year lease with an option they will soon hear the cry, “We can see 2012 from here!”
Then again this whole election cycle may be President Obama’s version of rope-a-dope. His erratic pronouncements and lack of any message except variations of his car-in-the-ditch illustration make it seem as if he wants the Republicans to win control of the House and pick off some old mass-backs in the Senate. That way like the new boss who cleans out the old team, he’ll be free of Nancy and Harry and for the next two years he can bounce against the ropes, play the Comeback Kid, and let the Senate absorb the force of the punches. Then in 2012 he can blame the Republicans for the mess he has created while saying the answer to the failure of Plan A is Plan A again.
Niccolo Machiavelli once said, “No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.” Now look at the situation the 112th Congress is going to face. Without total veto-proof control of both houses the ship of state will continue to speed towards the glacier of unsustainability while the wide-eyed reformers rearrange the deck chairs. Or as Sun Tzu said, “He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.”
The unemployment rate in September 2010 stood at an abysmal 9.6% and that only includes people receiving unemployment benefits. If everyone is counted, those whose benefits have run out and the underemployed who work part time but want to work full time the real unemployment rate is closer to 16.7% and some analysts peg it as high as 22%. Then there are the 99ers, those who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. With the help of the AFL-CIO and the SEIU they are unionizing online hoping to use the power of collective action to legislate longer benefits.
One in eight Americans, are now enrolled for food stamps. This is the highest share of the U.S. population ever receiving food stamps, which is another first for the Obama Administration’s economic recovery program. The stigma caused by using the old funny colored monopoly money has been replaced with an anonymous looking debit card linked to someone else’s account. Looking forward, the research of professional anti-hunger lobbying groups shows that one in three eligible people are not receiving the benefits they deserve. If this is correct, soon half of America may have the opportunity to subsidize the other half. This will be a major blow to the pro-hunger lobby.
The Census Bureau reports over14% of the population were below the poverty line in 2009, compared with 13.2% in the previous year and 11.3% in 2000. The number has increased three years in a row with no decline in sight as the trillions spent in the President’s recovery plan just keep on giving.
The national debt has increased by 5 trillion since Nancy Pelosi became the Speaker of the House and promised no new deficit spending. Since President Obama’s inauguration the debt has increased by 3 trillion. And according to the administration projections the National Debt will increase by approximately $6.5 trillion during President Obama’s first term which is greater than the unacceptable increases of Bushes two terms.
Apologizing for our past, pillaging our present, mortgaging our future, kowtowing to China, imitating Europe our first post-exceptionalism President rejects our greatness as illegitimate and seeks to manage America’s decline. This isn’t a recession this is the new normal. The Progressive Evolutionaries are systematically destroying our economy in order to produce the Lumpenproletariat their cherished theory of life, the universe, and everything predicted Capitalism would produce. Now that the name of Communism has changed to State Capitalism maybe it will.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
After the dust settles, after the confetti is swept up and all the balloons have popped what will the transformed American political landscape look like? Who will be leading and where? Will the recently awakened millions who’ve campaigned to get their country back have anything to show for all their efforts? Or, will the entrenched GOP establishment reach across the aisle proving all they were really interested in was co-opting the Tea Party Movement to regain their power so they could continue their side of the slide into the shabby future of a Progressive Social Democracy?
Hopefully the Loyal Opposition will realize this election was not a place holder. This was not merely a warm-up for the opportunity to send Mr. Obama back to Chicago. This tea-nami will send people to Congress who need to know this is their chance to work for the reversal of the Progressive agenda. If instead they misinterpret it as a two-year lease with an option they will soon hear the cry, “We can see 2012 from here!”
Then again this whole election cycle may be President Obama’s version of rope-a-dope. His erratic pronouncements and lack of any message except variations of his car-in-the-ditch illustration make it seem as if he wants the Republicans to win control of the House and pick off some old mass-backs in the Senate. That way like the new boss who cleans out the old team, he’ll be free of Nancy and Harry and for the next two years he can bounce against the ropes, play the Comeback Kid, and let the Senate absorb the force of the punches. Then in 2012 he can blame the Republicans for the mess he has created while saying the answer to the failure of Plan A is Plan A again.
Niccolo Machiavelli once said, “No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.” Now look at the situation the 112th Congress is going to face. Without total veto-proof control of both houses the ship of state will continue to speed towards the glacier of unsustainability while the wide-eyed reformers rearrange the deck chairs. Or as Sun Tzu said, “He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.”
The unemployment rate in September 2010 stood at an abysmal 9.6% and that only includes people receiving unemployment benefits. If everyone is counted, those whose benefits have run out and the underemployed who work part time but want to work full time the real unemployment rate is closer to 16.7% and some analysts peg it as high as 22%. Then there are the 99ers, those who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. With the help of the AFL-CIO and the SEIU they are unionizing online hoping to use the power of collective action to legislate longer benefits.
One in eight Americans, are now enrolled for food stamps. This is the highest share of the U.S. population ever receiving food stamps, which is another first for the Obama Administration’s economic recovery program. The stigma caused by using the old funny colored monopoly money has been replaced with an anonymous looking debit card linked to someone else’s account. Looking forward, the research of professional anti-hunger lobbying groups shows that one in three eligible people are not receiving the benefits they deserve. If this is correct, soon half of America may have the opportunity to subsidize the other half. This will be a major blow to the pro-hunger lobby.
The Census Bureau reports over14% of the population were below the poverty line in 2009, compared with 13.2% in the previous year and 11.3% in 2000. The number has increased three years in a row with no decline in sight as the trillions spent in the President’s recovery plan just keep on giving.
The national debt has increased by 5 trillion since Nancy Pelosi became the Speaker of the House and promised no new deficit spending. Since President Obama’s inauguration the debt has increased by 3 trillion. And according to the administration projections the National Debt will increase by approximately $6.5 trillion during President Obama’s first term which is greater than the unacceptable increases of Bushes two terms.
Apologizing for our past, pillaging our present, mortgaging our future, kowtowing to China, imitating Europe our first post-exceptionalism President rejects our greatness as illegitimate and seeks to manage America’s decline. This isn’t a recession this is the new normal. The Progressive Evolutionaries are systematically destroying our economy in order to produce the Lumpenproletariat their cherished theory of life, the universe, and everything predicted Capitalism would produce. Now that the name of Communism has changed to State Capitalism maybe it will.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Wanted a Kamikaze Congress for a Banzai Counterattack
During World War II when the no-longer sleeping giant was pounding on Japan’s door their do-or-die military began Kamikaze attacks against our ever growing fleets in the Pacific. The Kamikaze pilots flew planes filled with bombs into American ships as the first and only honorable expression of the term suicide bomber. During America’s island-hopping advance through the Japanese Empire the combination of courageous marines and naval supremacy led to defeat for the fanatically loyal Japanese. In many cases instead of surrender the last of the defenders launched a Banzai Counterattack. This was the earthbound equivalent of the airborne Kamikaze. A final charge into the face of overwhelming odds meant to either change the game in one decisive blow or to at least die honorably for a sacred cause.
Unless the Progressives are able to pull an election out of their hat the coming midterms have the feeling of an approaching hurricane. The tide, as measured by polls, is going so far out it looks like a tsunami of indignation is about to send a tidal surge of newly elected self-proclaimed Conservatives with a mandate to reverse the Progressive trajectory. A trajectory which has America aimed like a laser at the dust-bin of History. These newly elected heroes, many of whom have come from nowhere to defeat long-serving Progressive icons, will have been hired by the voters to not only drain the swamp of Federal corruption but to turn the swamp back into the seed bed of liberty and opportunity.
These New Hires must not morph into the in-crowd clique in Washington as so many have in the past. And if the entrenched leaders of the loyal opposition are determined to compromise with the Progressives for some favorable coverage and a photo-op in the rose garden, the New Hires must vote them out and elect new leaders who will fight the good fight. The New Hires must remain true to the people who sent them or the millions of newly aroused voters and grass-roots activists will throw them out in 2012. The Momma Grizzlies, the Grammas, the Grandpas, and all the once-silent majority who’ve sacrificed their repose to stand-up for limited government will turn from ardent supporter to dedicated advisory in the blink of an eye if they believe the new boss starts to look like the old boss.
The New Hires must withstand the ridicule of the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media. The propaganda arm of the Progressive Movement will relentlessly mock and denigrate any who try to dismantle the welfare state and return America to limited government. The New Hires must be willing to commit political suicide by not tweaking but by repealing the entitlements which have turned America from the cradle of opportunity and the arsenal of democracy into a half-way house on the road to the poor-house.
Billionaires who amassed their fortunes through crony deals and manipulation, dedicate themselves to the destruction of capitalism and liberty. They use their power and their front-groups to destroy the lives and the careers of anyone brave enough to step into the swamp and confront the Progressive beast. The recent campaigns have shown no tactic, no smear, no fraud is beneath the opponents of liberty. Instead of victory celebrations on November 3rd the New Hires should rededicate themselves to doing whatever it takes to re-establish limited government.
The hour is late and the night is dark. Our Progressive President aided and abetted by the democrat-controlled Congress of Pelosi and Reid have delivered the wealth of the nation and the power to rule into the hands of a professional bureaucracy willing to legislate through regulations, to rule through politically correct guidelines, and the desire to control our every move. This may be the charge of the Light Brigade into the valley of doom for it’s not enough to return to the spending of the Progressive Bush (either of them) or the Progressive Clinton. No, we need to face the austerity our credit financed binge has purchased. We need to dismantle the entitlement superstructure constructed upon the re-interpreted foundation of the Constitution.
We boomers need to admit we’ve been swindled. There’s no lock-box and there never was. All the money we’ve invested in Social Security over the years wasn’t invested. It was flushed down a rat-hole. There’s nothing there. We have to stop demanding what we feel we have coming and join our children, roll-up our sleeves, and together rebuild the greatest Republic ever to grace the history of man. All of us, every American, needs to admit the binge is over and the time for heavy lifting is here. To pass these changes, over the President’s veto, may swiftly end new political careers. New Heroes will be needed to replace the first line of battle as the banzai counterattack of limited government assaults the ramparts of the Progressive- bureaucratic-media-crony capitalist coalition.
If the portents of a coming pro-limited government victory at the polls prove true we must gird ourselves for the long legislative war against an implacable foe. Be prepared for the Progressives to react like a cornered jackal forced to drop its prey. The battle will be bitter, and don’t count your votes until the dust settles. In any close races ACORN-by-any-other-name will find bags of votes someone forgot to count, the ballots for our heroes defending the Empire overseas can’t seem to make it there on time while those to prisoners are hand- delivered. Thugs who intimidate in front of polling places are given a pass while government-funded institutions urge people to vote early and help the Democratic Party.
Total victory may not be possible until there is a change of administration, but it must be attempted. Those who believe in limited government and personal liberty must make a stand so that those who come after will hear their cry, “These principles we believe in and for these principles we are willing to sacrifice our lives, our fortunes, and our political careers!” Keep the faith. Keep the peace. We shall overcome. Who knows Republicans may even win in Chicago.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
Unless the Progressives are able to pull an election out of their hat the coming midterms have the feeling of an approaching hurricane. The tide, as measured by polls, is going so far out it looks like a tsunami of indignation is about to send a tidal surge of newly elected self-proclaimed Conservatives with a mandate to reverse the Progressive trajectory. A trajectory which has America aimed like a laser at the dust-bin of History. These newly elected heroes, many of whom have come from nowhere to defeat long-serving Progressive icons, will have been hired by the voters to not only drain the swamp of Federal corruption but to turn the swamp back into the seed bed of liberty and opportunity.
These New Hires must not morph into the in-crowd clique in Washington as so many have in the past. And if the entrenched leaders of the loyal opposition are determined to compromise with the Progressives for some favorable coverage and a photo-op in the rose garden, the New Hires must vote them out and elect new leaders who will fight the good fight. The New Hires must remain true to the people who sent them or the millions of newly aroused voters and grass-roots activists will throw them out in 2012. The Momma Grizzlies, the Grammas, the Grandpas, and all the once-silent majority who’ve sacrificed their repose to stand-up for limited government will turn from ardent supporter to dedicated advisory in the blink of an eye if they believe the new boss starts to look like the old boss.
The New Hires must withstand the ridicule of the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media. The propaganda arm of the Progressive Movement will relentlessly mock and denigrate any who try to dismantle the welfare state and return America to limited government. The New Hires must be willing to commit political suicide by not tweaking but by repealing the entitlements which have turned America from the cradle of opportunity and the arsenal of democracy into a half-way house on the road to the poor-house.
Billionaires who amassed their fortunes through crony deals and manipulation, dedicate themselves to the destruction of capitalism and liberty. They use their power and their front-groups to destroy the lives and the careers of anyone brave enough to step into the swamp and confront the Progressive beast. The recent campaigns have shown no tactic, no smear, no fraud is beneath the opponents of liberty. Instead of victory celebrations on November 3rd the New Hires should rededicate themselves to doing whatever it takes to re-establish limited government.
The hour is late and the night is dark. Our Progressive President aided and abetted by the democrat-controlled Congress of Pelosi and Reid have delivered the wealth of the nation and the power to rule into the hands of a professional bureaucracy willing to legislate through regulations, to rule through politically correct guidelines, and the desire to control our every move. This may be the charge of the Light Brigade into the valley of doom for it’s not enough to return to the spending of the Progressive Bush (either of them) or the Progressive Clinton. No, we need to face the austerity our credit financed binge has purchased. We need to dismantle the entitlement superstructure constructed upon the re-interpreted foundation of the Constitution.
We boomers need to admit we’ve been swindled. There’s no lock-box and there never was. All the money we’ve invested in Social Security over the years wasn’t invested. It was flushed down a rat-hole. There’s nothing there. We have to stop demanding what we feel we have coming and join our children, roll-up our sleeves, and together rebuild the greatest Republic ever to grace the history of man. All of us, every American, needs to admit the binge is over and the time for heavy lifting is here. To pass these changes, over the President’s veto, may swiftly end new political careers. New Heroes will be needed to replace the first line of battle as the banzai counterattack of limited government assaults the ramparts of the Progressive- bureaucratic-media-crony capitalist coalition.
If the portents of a coming pro-limited government victory at the polls prove true we must gird ourselves for the long legislative war against an implacable foe. Be prepared for the Progressives to react like a cornered jackal forced to drop its prey. The battle will be bitter, and don’t count your votes until the dust settles. In any close races ACORN-by-any-other-name will find bags of votes someone forgot to count, the ballots for our heroes defending the Empire overseas can’t seem to make it there on time while those to prisoners are hand- delivered. Thugs who intimidate in front of polling places are given a pass while government-funded institutions urge people to vote early and help the Democratic Party.
Total victory may not be possible until there is a change of administration, but it must be attempted. Those who believe in limited government and personal liberty must make a stand so that those who come after will hear their cry, “These principles we believe in and for these principles we are willing to sacrifice our lives, our fortunes, and our political careers!” Keep the faith. Keep the peace. We shall overcome. Who knows Republicans may even win in Chicago.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
Monday, October 18, 2010
I’ll See Your Hiroshima and Raise You a Nagasaki
I do not lightly use the names of the only cities in history obliterated by the use of Atomic weapons. The nature of the cause in which they forever stand as sentinels of determination precludes their use for any profane purpose. I wouldn’t use such loaded terms unless the issue at hand wasn’t equally as momentous within the flow of American History.
Hearing the voice of the people on November 3rd, President Obama ought to pivot to the Center after the coming Tea Party driven Republican resurgence. The Chat-o-crats of talk radio and the 24 hour cable news cycle debate endlessly whether he will imitate Bill Clinton who suddenly switched from his drive to socialize America into a born-again reformer bellowing “The Era of Big Government is over” to ensure that he was still relevant. However, there’s a significant difference between the man from Hope and the purveyor of hope and change. Bill Clinton is a pragmatist willing to do whatever it takes to stay in front of any crowd so he can call it a parade and look like the Grand Marshal. President Obama is an ideologue with an iron-clad agenda and, as his most admirable trait, an iron determination to stand by his convictions. Instead of pivoting Mr. Obama will unveil the Imperial Presidency hidden in those thousand-page bills no one reads.
Thousand-page bills don’t write themselves overnight. Since the people who said they wrote them don’t know what’s in them where did they come from? These bills have been waiting in the wings for such a time as this. The Progressives realized that even after their infiltration and hijack of the liberal wing of American politics, even after generations of addicting Americans to one entitlement at a time their naked grab for power during the sprint to the finish line would turn the most died-in-the-wool fellow-traveler back to American values. And they had to fear that their final push to fundamentally transform America into a social democracy might wake-up those dozing on the couch in front of the game. Realizing all along the homeowner might wake up and catch them with their hand in the cookie jar they built automatic-pilot bureaucratic nomenclature into their signature pieces of legislation.
By voting through omnibus bills without reading them the Best Congress Money Can Buy has ceded their power to the vast Federal commissariat. Since the November Revolution of 2008 this gaggle of accomplices and dupes has allowed the Commander-in-Chief to inflate the Federal red-tape machine by more than 15%. Congress rubber-stamped themselves into irrelevance. Power has been transferred to the alphabet soup of Federal agencies and bureaucrats know how to fill in the blanks.
As a case in point: The Obama administration ends their illegal Moratorium on all offshore drilling. Does this mean the tens of thousands of jobs already lost will come back as new operations ramp up to locate and exploit American energy resources? Not so much. At the same time the administration announced the end of the moratorium they also announced that new regulations are coming. This threat of new, unknown regulations discourages anyone from investing money in new drilling. Even the crony capitalists with their government guarantees and bailout cushions aren’t fool enough to invest money in a rigged game when the rigging hasn’t been decided on yet. None of this took Congressional approval or even notification. After the election look for rule by decree by any other name as the people elected to drain the new swamp learn their predecessors gave away the store.
This is what brings us full circle to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki reference. If we who believe in limited government run the board and send a significant majority to put steel in the back of John Boehner as the new Speaker of the House we must also elect a veto- proof majority in the Senate. If both of these are not accomplished the Progressives, who are masters of the legislative two-step, will thwart every attempt to roll back the coup d'état they’ve legislated for themselves and America will swirl down the drain into the historical backwaters of failed experiments. Unless the new pro-limited government majority is large enough to repeal the massive centralization of the last four progressive administrations over President Obama’s veto, they will become cast in the cement of precedent and instant tradition. A willing media and a complicit judiciary will anoint the Progressive agenda as the new normal.
Victory must be total or it will not be victory. The surrender that was signed in August of 1945 would not have been signed for months or years later unless the twin horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki hadn’t convinced even the Japanese Army who was still winning their war in China that all was lost. Likewise, we who desire a return to limited government must take total control of Congress. If the margin is only a vote or two in the Senate the Progressives, who campaign as Patrick Henry and rule as Benedict Arnold, will cross the aisle and the time for an electoral reversal of the Progressive Evolution will pass. America will still be here. The next day when we wake up the world will still be spinning and the birds will still be singing, but the America we have known will be History. Victory must be total or it will not be victory!
Now is the time for everyone who believes in limited government to come to the aid of their nation. In the past few years many who previously ignored politics have awakened to find their nation has been hijacked and they’re about to land in an America more like Cuba than a City-on-a-Hill. Those now awake must wake-up their families, their friends and their neighbors. A tsunami, an avalanche, an earthquake of voters must swamp the polls on November 2nd to overcome the reality that Chicago votes early and votes often.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net
Hearing the voice of the people on November 3rd, President Obama ought to pivot to the Center after the coming Tea Party driven Republican resurgence. The Chat-o-crats of talk radio and the 24 hour cable news cycle debate endlessly whether he will imitate Bill Clinton who suddenly switched from his drive to socialize America into a born-again reformer bellowing “The Era of Big Government is over” to ensure that he was still relevant. However, there’s a significant difference between the man from Hope and the purveyor of hope and change. Bill Clinton is a pragmatist willing to do whatever it takes to stay in front of any crowd so he can call it a parade and look like the Grand Marshal. President Obama is an ideologue with an iron-clad agenda and, as his most admirable trait, an iron determination to stand by his convictions. Instead of pivoting Mr. Obama will unveil the Imperial Presidency hidden in those thousand-page bills no one reads.
Thousand-page bills don’t write themselves overnight. Since the people who said they wrote them don’t know what’s in them where did they come from? These bills have been waiting in the wings for such a time as this. The Progressives realized that even after their infiltration and hijack of the liberal wing of American politics, even after generations of addicting Americans to one entitlement at a time their naked grab for power during the sprint to the finish line would turn the most died-in-the-wool fellow-traveler back to American values. And they had to fear that their final push to fundamentally transform America into a social democracy might wake-up those dozing on the couch in front of the game. Realizing all along the homeowner might wake up and catch them with their hand in the cookie jar they built automatic-pilot bureaucratic nomenclature into their signature pieces of legislation.
By voting through omnibus bills without reading them the Best Congress Money Can Buy has ceded their power to the vast Federal commissariat. Since the November Revolution of 2008 this gaggle of accomplices and dupes has allowed the Commander-in-Chief to inflate the Federal red-tape machine by more than 15%. Congress rubber-stamped themselves into irrelevance. Power has been transferred to the alphabet soup of Federal agencies and bureaucrats know how to fill in the blanks.
As a case in point: The Obama administration ends their illegal Moratorium on all offshore drilling. Does this mean the tens of thousands of jobs already lost will come back as new operations ramp up to locate and exploit American energy resources? Not so much. At the same time the administration announced the end of the moratorium they also announced that new regulations are coming. This threat of new, unknown regulations discourages anyone from investing money in new drilling. Even the crony capitalists with their government guarantees and bailout cushions aren’t fool enough to invest money in a rigged game when the rigging hasn’t been decided on yet. None of this took Congressional approval or even notification. After the election look for rule by decree by any other name as the people elected to drain the new swamp learn their predecessors gave away the store.
This is what brings us full circle to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki reference. If we who believe in limited government run the board and send a significant majority to put steel in the back of John Boehner as the new Speaker of the House we must also elect a veto- proof majority in the Senate. If both of these are not accomplished the Progressives, who are masters of the legislative two-step, will thwart every attempt to roll back the coup d'état they’ve legislated for themselves and America will swirl down the drain into the historical backwaters of failed experiments. Unless the new pro-limited government majority is large enough to repeal the massive centralization of the last four progressive administrations over President Obama’s veto, they will become cast in the cement of precedent and instant tradition. A willing media and a complicit judiciary will anoint the Progressive agenda as the new normal.
Victory must be total or it will not be victory. The surrender that was signed in August of 1945 would not have been signed for months or years later unless the twin horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki hadn’t convinced even the Japanese Army who was still winning their war in China that all was lost. Likewise, we who desire a return to limited government must take total control of Congress. If the margin is only a vote or two in the Senate the Progressives, who campaign as Patrick Henry and rule as Benedict Arnold, will cross the aisle and the time for an electoral reversal of the Progressive Evolution will pass. America will still be here. The next day when we wake up the world will still be spinning and the birds will still be singing, but the America we have known will be History. Victory must be total or it will not be victory!
Now is the time for everyone who believes in limited government to come to the aid of their nation. In the past few years many who previously ignored politics have awakened to find their nation has been hijacked and they’re about to land in an America more like Cuba than a City-on-a-Hill. Those now awake must wake-up their families, their friends and their neighbors. A tsunami, an avalanche, an earthquake of voters must swamp the polls on November 2nd to overcome the reality that Chicago votes early and votes often.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net
Sunday, October 10, 2010
The Unconventional Convention
I’ve just returned from the largest Tea Party Convention ever held, the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention. As a person who has attended more political conventions than I can remember I can testify this was an unconventional convention.
The motto of the Convention was “The Constitution Still Matters.” I found this sad. Sad that those in the America of 2010, the America controlled by the Obama-Pelosi-Reid triumvirate people feel the need to proclaim this as if it’s a radical or shocking statement, “The Constitution Still Matters.” I feel it’s especially sad that while in the hearts and minds of these thousands of fired-up America loving patriots this may be true, but at the same time the actions and even the words of our elitist leaders make it obvious that to them the Constitution doesn’t matter at all.
But what was so unconventional about this convention?
It was pointedly non-partisan and organized by regular people: citizens who’ve stepped away from their lives as homemakers, small engine repair mechanics, and entrepreneurs to organize and lead a grass-roots movement that’s just weeks away from fundamentally transforming Washington D. C. These patriot community organizers are about to show many of the professionals the door as they overwhelm the midterm polls in a tsunami of indignation.
Senator George Allen recommended the States quit accepting Federal subsidies as a way to avoid the strings attached. He also advocated for a Constitutional Amendment stating that when 3/4 of the States determine any Federal law, policy or regulation unconstitutional it would become null and void. He pointed out the abdication by Congress of the legislative power granted them under the Constitution that empowers unelected bureaucrats with the power to control the economic and personal lives of America. He called for people to demand that our representatives represent them and take back their delegated authority. Senator Allen added it’s time the American people get to decide how they want to be taxed. Whether by the IRS using a maze of laws even the people who write them can’t understand or by a flat tax that treats everyone the same. His final points of ending lifetime appointments for Federal Judges and with-holding Congressional pay if they fail to pass a budget got everyone out of their seats applauding their approval.
Senator Rick Santorum told the crowd they should feel blessed to live in a time when America needs them. There have been generations of American who could live their lives in blissful silence knowing liberty and opportunity would be there for their children and their grandchildren. This is not such a time. This is a generation called out of slumber to sacrifice for the nation. Sacrifice their repose for the rebirth of freedom. The Greatest Generation became the Greatest Generation because they were willing to stand up when it came time to sacrifice, and now it is the turn of this present generation to do what has to be done. Senator Santorum cautioned the crowd that they cannot expect the return of limited government to be accomplished in one election. When 2010 turns over Congress he reminded everyone that until there’s a change in the White House nothing will get done. America can’t change the change until the administration changes. He predicted that by the fall of 2011 President Obama will be threatening to shut down the Federal Government unless the new Republican Congress bows to his will. That’s when everyone who supported the Tea Party insurgents needs to stand shoulder to shoulder and not blink as the class of 94 did on their way to becoming the New Elite. He urged everyone to stay active, to remain vigilant holding the feet of the people soon to replace so many to the fire. Make sure they do what they said they would do, or be ready to replace them in 2012.
Representative Steve King of Iowa drew shouts and cheers when he said we were facing a Constitutional Demolition Crew in Washington and that we needed to demand that every act of Congress have a preamble explaining which enumerated power in the Constitution specifically authorized the bill.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia delivered a message highlighting the assault being waged on Federalism. He urged all there to educate themselves in American History. To study the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, because we don’t want to eliminate the opposition we want to convert them. He brought out the non-partisan nature of this movement when he stated there would be no Tea Party if the Republicans had remembered they were supposed to be the party of limited government.
Congressman Ron Paul brought his message of limited government and sound money eliciting a succession of standing Os. His call for an end to the IRS was greeted with unabashed enthusiasm and approval.
Lou Dobbs said the leadership we’re now enduring isn’t worthy of the American people. He asked, will the people work for the government or will the government work for the people. He declared he’s seen a rising tide of Americans who’re telling Washington the arrogant elitism we’ve endured will no longer be tolerated. He said all these people working together can reclaim respect for this country, its people, and its institutions. When he pointed out that he’d been as vocal a critic of Bush as he is of Obama the crowd roared their appreciation for a non-partisan love of America. Dobbs urged everyone to count themselves as Patriots who’ll work to return America to prosperity as citizens who refuse to abide a President who ignores the power of opportunity as the engine of success.
Yes, this was an unconventional convention. It was wonderfully organized and encouraging. Yes, Virginia there will be another morning in America once the Progressive led mourning for America is over. Let us engage in the public arena giving no ground to the ideologues of the right or the left, vigilant of our natural rights, and determined that we will preserve them for our posterity.
By the way Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey won the Straw poll for President, Sarah Palin came in second and Ron Paul came in third.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net
The motto of the Convention was “The Constitution Still Matters.” I found this sad. Sad that those in the America of 2010, the America controlled by the Obama-Pelosi-Reid triumvirate people feel the need to proclaim this as if it’s a radical or shocking statement, “The Constitution Still Matters.” I feel it’s especially sad that while in the hearts and minds of these thousands of fired-up America loving patriots this may be true, but at the same time the actions and even the words of our elitist leaders make it obvious that to them the Constitution doesn’t matter at all.
But what was so unconventional about this convention?
It was pointedly non-partisan and organized by regular people: citizens who’ve stepped away from their lives as homemakers, small engine repair mechanics, and entrepreneurs to organize and lead a grass-roots movement that’s just weeks away from fundamentally transforming Washington D. C. These patriot community organizers are about to show many of the professionals the door as they overwhelm the midterm polls in a tsunami of indignation.
Senator George Allen recommended the States quit accepting Federal subsidies as a way to avoid the strings attached. He also advocated for a Constitutional Amendment stating that when 3/4 of the States determine any Federal law, policy or regulation unconstitutional it would become null and void. He pointed out the abdication by Congress of the legislative power granted them under the Constitution that empowers unelected bureaucrats with the power to control the economic and personal lives of America. He called for people to demand that our representatives represent them and take back their delegated authority. Senator Allen added it’s time the American people get to decide how they want to be taxed. Whether by the IRS using a maze of laws even the people who write them can’t understand or by a flat tax that treats everyone the same. His final points of ending lifetime appointments for Federal Judges and with-holding Congressional pay if they fail to pass a budget got everyone out of their seats applauding their approval.
Senator Rick Santorum told the crowd they should feel blessed to live in a time when America needs them. There have been generations of American who could live their lives in blissful silence knowing liberty and opportunity would be there for their children and their grandchildren. This is not such a time. This is a generation called out of slumber to sacrifice for the nation. Sacrifice their repose for the rebirth of freedom. The Greatest Generation became the Greatest Generation because they were willing to stand up when it came time to sacrifice, and now it is the turn of this present generation to do what has to be done. Senator Santorum cautioned the crowd that they cannot expect the return of limited government to be accomplished in one election. When 2010 turns over Congress he reminded everyone that until there’s a change in the White House nothing will get done. America can’t change the change until the administration changes. He predicted that by the fall of 2011 President Obama will be threatening to shut down the Federal Government unless the new Republican Congress bows to his will. That’s when everyone who supported the Tea Party insurgents needs to stand shoulder to shoulder and not blink as the class of 94 did on their way to becoming the New Elite. He urged everyone to stay active, to remain vigilant holding the feet of the people soon to replace so many to the fire. Make sure they do what they said they would do, or be ready to replace them in 2012.
Representative Steve King of Iowa drew shouts and cheers when he said we were facing a Constitutional Demolition Crew in Washington and that we needed to demand that every act of Congress have a preamble explaining which enumerated power in the Constitution specifically authorized the bill.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia delivered a message highlighting the assault being waged on Federalism. He urged all there to educate themselves in American History. To study the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, because we don’t want to eliminate the opposition we want to convert them. He brought out the non-partisan nature of this movement when he stated there would be no Tea Party if the Republicans had remembered they were supposed to be the party of limited government.
Congressman Ron Paul brought his message of limited government and sound money eliciting a succession of standing Os. His call for an end to the IRS was greeted with unabashed enthusiasm and approval.
Lou Dobbs said the leadership we’re now enduring isn’t worthy of the American people. He asked, will the people work for the government or will the government work for the people. He declared he’s seen a rising tide of Americans who’re telling Washington the arrogant elitism we’ve endured will no longer be tolerated. He said all these people working together can reclaim respect for this country, its people, and its institutions. When he pointed out that he’d been as vocal a critic of Bush as he is of Obama the crowd roared their appreciation for a non-partisan love of America. Dobbs urged everyone to count themselves as Patriots who’ll work to return America to prosperity as citizens who refuse to abide a President who ignores the power of opportunity as the engine of success.
Yes, this was an unconventional convention. It was wonderfully organized and encouraging. Yes, Virginia there will be another morning in America once the Progressive led mourning for America is over. Let us engage in the public arena giving no ground to the ideologues of the right or the left, vigilant of our natural rights, and determined that we will preserve them for our posterity.
By the way Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey won the Straw poll for President, Sarah Palin came in second and Ron Paul came in third.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net
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