I find it amazing in this country that people find it okay to ignore facts that they themselves present or to flat out attack someone because they disagree with their point of view. Yesterday I read an article in the New York Times about a conservative talk show host that is gaining popularity. It was a positive article about someone who has called out the NYT many times, but theyfelt that this person was worth mentioning. I’m going to leave out the name of the person as it really has no bearing on what I’m talking about. I’ve taken a few of the comments from the article and posted them here. After each you’ll get my comments on what the commenter is saying.
I am appalled and frightened by ******'s comment to the effect that God and religion are under attack. No one is attacking religion. Our president himself is a religious person. Yes, religion is less apparent in American politics today -- and American atheists are thrilled that we are no longer having offensive rhetoric shoved down our throats. Yet religion is certainly not "under attack" in America. Such comments are dangerously alarmist.
P.S. The man's statement about FEMA concentration camps is even more disturbing. Who says such things except deluded, senseless, paranoid individuals? He should seriously look into psychiatric help if he believes that the American government would do such a thing to its people.
Charlotte, Kiev
While, I agree that religion is coming under attack in this country I’m going to focus on the comment about FEMA Concentration camps and how the American government would never let such a thing happen to their own people.
There were at least 10 known concentration camps for Japanese Americans in the United States during WW2, all of which had populations in the thousands. Those camps existed on US soil under the watch of the US government. Now, if that happened then, during one of the country's most trying times, why wouldn’t it happen again?
Though competition over at Fox News is fierce, **** has to be the dumbest person on that channel. He has been ranting like a lunatic for months now about how "this has been tried (the bailouts) in the Weimar Republic, and they wound up having to bring wheelbarrows of money to the store to buy bread! It's been tried, it never works! The result is always the same!" and on and on and on.
Of course, the collapse of the currency during the Weimar Republic had not the slightest thing to do with government bailouts - the Germans were printing money as fast as they could to meet their reparations payments under the Versailles Treaty.***** is an ignorant, uninformed maniac - he'll be a hit on Fox for years.
Mike, New York
The first paragraph is simply an attack on the man. The next paragraph is interesting. The US government is currently printing money in an effort to bailout the economy of the country. He says that the Germans were printing money as fast as they could to meet their reparation payments. How is that any different that what the US is doing now? Are we not printing money as fast as we can in effort to pay companies so they can “stay afloat?” While the situations are different, and the reasons for printing money is different both have resulted in a government printing money as fast as they could in an effort to pay for something.
Putting the principles of our Founding Fathers and the Constitution aside for a moment, has anyone realized that the world is a bit more complex then it was in 1780?—
jt, Wilton, CT
Putting the principals of the founding fathers aside would defeat the purpose of them creating the documents and the government that they did. They created the documents they did because of their principles. It was for that reason they felt the government of England was acting against the best wishes of the colonies.
They used their principles in an effort to break away from a government they felt was oppressive. You cannot cast aside someone’s principals when talking about the actions they performed. The world is a bit more complex than it was in 1780 which is exactly why you should stick to your principles. There are more things that can be used to attack a country today than there were in the 1700’s.
Another Republicriminal neo-con shill dispensing lies and slander to the gullible, brain dead American people. Whey American tolerates a right wing media propaganda network run by a foreigner is beyond me. Revoke the honorary citizenship that Reagan and his GOP crime cronies bestowed on Murdoch, break the Fox Propaganda Network into community oriented, public access stations and cable channels, and send Dr. Goebbels and company back to the land down under to ply their fascist agenda.
Ignatz Farquad, New York, NY
Again, a blatant attack on a group of people. The commenter also wants to silence a free citizen because he is not from this country and destroy the livelihood that Mr. Murdoch created in this country and likens him to one of the most notorious propagandist’s in Nazi Germany. I did not find a single piece of evidence in this comment to help people make a decision, except for attacks on a person. That’s definitely a class act.
The beauty of America is that everyone has access to all the information about a subject they could want. All they have to do is put in a little effort to find it. Then they can make a perfectly informed decision themselves. They don’t have to “rely” on someone giving it them. You should never take a person’s word as truth, unless that man is Jesus. You should always use it as a basis to begin your research, but find the facts yourself so you can make up your own mind.
Do not ever attack a person because they don’t believe what you do. If you feel they’ve been misinformed help them find the information that you used to make your decision and let them decide for themselves. If they feel the information is flawed then they need to do a bit more research themselves to find all the facts.
Given the choice between become more like a raional socialist European country (which is what ***** is fighting?) or becoming a ultra conservative religious nation like Middle Eastern countries I would much rather move towards the European model.What Fox News wants, and apparently *****, is that America become a fascist religious nation like Saudi Arabia only with Christianity instead of Islam. I think people need to actually think abotu what these guys are advocating.
WillT26, San Francisco
I think this one speaks for itself. This person would rather rely on the government to provide for their needs rather than rely on their own strength. That’s what socialist countries are all about. The Soviet Union failed because people relied on the government. Once capitalism was introduced the country began to flourish. The same happened in Japan, Germany, and Italy.
No country should tell another person what religion they should follow. That should be an individual choice and should not be forced upon someone. That’s part of the reason people fled to this country from England. They did not believe they should be told by the government what to do. Christianity was the basis of the founding documents of this country and a true Biblical approach to life does not force Christianity on a person. People do not go around anymore saying if you don’t become a Christian I will kill you. I would tell you that person is not a true Christian at all. Christianity is about free will and individual freedom.
Muslim countries limit women’s rights, what entertainment and media a person can listen to, and what religions can be allowed in the country. They are not given choice in how they make their decisions. This country has news and entertainment from every viewpoint you could imagine.
No one is truly silenced.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Are We Racist?
I recently read an article on FOX News that former Law & Order star Angie Harmon is having to defend herself against claims of racism because she disagrees with Barack Obama’s current direction as President.
"Here's my problem with this, I'm just going to come out and say it. If I have anything to say against Obama it's not because I'm a racist, it's because I don't like what he's doing as President and anybody should be able to feel that way, but what I find now is that if you say anything against him you're called a racist.” She goes on to say, "But it has nothing to do with it, I don’t care what color he is. I’m just not crazy about what he's doing and I heard all about this, and he’s gonna do that and change and change, so okay …”
I have to agree with her here. The left is using the fact that the man is of dark skinned descent to further their claims that Conservatives in America are racist. For the most part, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The general public will tell you they don’t disagree with the color of his skin, but of the policies he is putting forth. It could be that people are uncomfortable with him being a socialist rather than black.
I’ll give you a few examples. The recent news that the CEO of General Motors has been “asked” to step down by President Obama is one example. If he doesn’t GM cannot continue to get money from the administration in order to stay in business. This shouldn’t have happened for a number of reasons, but we won’t discuss them all here. The government has no business telling a company who can and can’t be in charge of their business, even if the government is “invested” in that company because that shouldn’t have happened to begin with. That’s bordering on unconstitutionality.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has requested the power to seize other firms besides banks in order to help with financial distress of firms such as large insurance companies, hedge funds, and investment firms. The Obama administration got a taste of the power they have with the auto industry and banks by investing in them and bringing them under government control. They now want to extend that power with these other firms. This is similar to a vampire. Once you start feeding you can’t stop or you die.
Those are just two quick examples of socialist practices already in play in this administration there are more, but that’s not really what this article is about. It’s claims that you are a racist if you disagree with President Obama because he’s black. Well, lets see what the definition of racism is.
Racism – noun
A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial difference produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.
Racial prejudice or discrimination.
Both of these definitions of the word suppose that you are saying that his race tells you that he is wrong. Well, I don’t think race has been brought up in disagreements with him in the general population. Sure there are a few people that will say he’s wrong because he’s black. Look at the statement from Angie Harmon above. She doesn’t say I think he’s wrong because he’s black. She says, I don’t like what he’s doing as President.
A well thought out, intelligent argument against Barack Obama will tell you that his positions are leading towards more government control over parts of America and that once you begin to get power all you want is more. I believe that is where the disagreement with the man comes from. People don’t want the government controlling what they do. They want the government out of their hair as much as possible. The only people who want the government involved in their lives are the people looking for handouts, the ones who don’t want to work hard for their stuff. They want to know that the government will be there to give them what they need.
Racism stems from people not being given a “fair” shake because they’re a different color. It was a big problem in the 17 and 1800’s because people who were not white were not thought of as people. As time went on laws had to be created that gave people the same rights as everyone else no matter what the color of their skin was. In the beginning those laws were good and necessary though I believe they are less and less relevant as we go along.
People want a colorblind society. I do as well. The color of a person’s skin is not, and should not be an issue. You judge people on the words they speak, and on the actions they perform. Everyone is created by God with the same rights as the person next to them. There is no doubt about that. It’s in all of our founding documents.
Racism comes because people are hurt and even killed because of the color of their skin. They’re not given a job because of the color of their skin. If you truly want a colorblind society you have to remove these things from your thinking. They need to be taken off of applications for employment, education, and anything else that asks you what race you consider yourself. Until then people are always going to judge you by what you call yourself.
We need to remove labels such as African-American, Italian-America, Asian-American. What do all of those phrases have in common? They all label you as something before you’re an American. If you truly want to have a society where you are judged by the person you are you have to quit labeling yourself as something other than American. That’s what we all are, Americans. We’re not black, we’re not white, we’re not Asian. We’re people. We’re Americans.
If you disagree with a person you’re not a racist. You have a different viewpoint than them. It’s not wrong to have a different opinion from someone, especially in this country. It’s the beauty of America. People from all over the world can come here and live the life they want to live no matter what color they are, what religion they are.
I will continue to disagree with these positions of our President, and yes he is OUR president no matter what political party you belong to. If you’re an American he is your President. I will not however consider him wrong because he’s black. That would truly be Un-American.
"Here's my problem with this, I'm just going to come out and say it. If I have anything to say against Obama it's not because I'm a racist, it's because I don't like what he's doing as President and anybody should be able to feel that way, but what I find now is that if you say anything against him you're called a racist.” She goes on to say, "But it has nothing to do with it, I don’t care what color he is. I’m just not crazy about what he's doing and I heard all about this, and he’s gonna do that and change and change, so okay …”
I have to agree with her here. The left is using the fact that the man is of dark skinned descent to further their claims that Conservatives in America are racist. For the most part, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The general public will tell you they don’t disagree with the color of his skin, but of the policies he is putting forth. It could be that people are uncomfortable with him being a socialist rather than black.
I’ll give you a few examples. The recent news that the CEO of General Motors has been “asked” to step down by President Obama is one example. If he doesn’t GM cannot continue to get money from the administration in order to stay in business. This shouldn’t have happened for a number of reasons, but we won’t discuss them all here. The government has no business telling a company who can and can’t be in charge of their business, even if the government is “invested” in that company because that shouldn’t have happened to begin with. That’s bordering on unconstitutionality.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has requested the power to seize other firms besides banks in order to help with financial distress of firms such as large insurance companies, hedge funds, and investment firms. The Obama administration got a taste of the power they have with the auto industry and banks by investing in them and bringing them under government control. They now want to extend that power with these other firms. This is similar to a vampire. Once you start feeding you can’t stop or you die.
Those are just two quick examples of socialist practices already in play in this administration there are more, but that’s not really what this article is about. It’s claims that you are a racist if you disagree with President Obama because he’s black. Well, lets see what the definition of racism is.
Racism – noun
A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial difference produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.
Racial prejudice or discrimination.
Both of these definitions of the word suppose that you are saying that his race tells you that he is wrong. Well, I don’t think race has been brought up in disagreements with him in the general population. Sure there are a few people that will say he’s wrong because he’s black. Look at the statement from Angie Harmon above. She doesn’t say I think he’s wrong because he’s black. She says, I don’t like what he’s doing as President.
A well thought out, intelligent argument against Barack Obama will tell you that his positions are leading towards more government control over parts of America and that once you begin to get power all you want is more. I believe that is where the disagreement with the man comes from. People don’t want the government controlling what they do. They want the government out of their hair as much as possible. The only people who want the government involved in their lives are the people looking for handouts, the ones who don’t want to work hard for their stuff. They want to know that the government will be there to give them what they need.
Racism stems from people not being given a “fair” shake because they’re a different color. It was a big problem in the 17 and 1800’s because people who were not white were not thought of as people. As time went on laws had to be created that gave people the same rights as everyone else no matter what the color of their skin was. In the beginning those laws were good and necessary though I believe they are less and less relevant as we go along.
People want a colorblind society. I do as well. The color of a person’s skin is not, and should not be an issue. You judge people on the words they speak, and on the actions they perform. Everyone is created by God with the same rights as the person next to them. There is no doubt about that. It’s in all of our founding documents.
Racism comes because people are hurt and even killed because of the color of their skin. They’re not given a job because of the color of their skin. If you truly want a colorblind society you have to remove these things from your thinking. They need to be taken off of applications for employment, education, and anything else that asks you what race you consider yourself. Until then people are always going to judge you by what you call yourself.
We need to remove labels such as African-American, Italian-America, Asian-American. What do all of those phrases have in common? They all label you as something before you’re an American. If you truly want to have a society where you are judged by the person you are you have to quit labeling yourself as something other than American. That’s what we all are, Americans. We’re not black, we’re not white, we’re not Asian. We’re people. We’re Americans.
If you disagree with a person you’re not a racist. You have a different viewpoint than them. It’s not wrong to have a different opinion from someone, especially in this country. It’s the beauty of America. People from all over the world can come here and live the life they want to live no matter what color they are, what religion they are.
I will continue to disagree with these positions of our President, and yes he is OUR president no matter what political party you belong to. If you’re an American he is your President. I will not however consider him wrong because he’s black. That would truly be Un-American.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Are You a Domestic Terrorist?
A report came out this week that there is a report from the Missouri State Police regarding domestic terrorists and what to look for. If you’re a conservative American in this country chances are you could probably answer yes to many of these questions. Normally a story like this you would just laugh off, but this is actually being used in Missouri. It could easily be used on a National level. Here are the questions that you have to ask yourself.
Are you or have you ever been a libertarian?
Do you believe in a global dictatorship called the NWO which conspires to exploit working class citizens?
Do you have a bible?
Do you believe that there are UN troops already operating in the US in support of NWO?
Do you believe Jews control the monetary system and media?
Do you believe in the Zionist Occupied Government?
Did you make preparations for Y2K?
Do you believe B. Obama is tight on gun control and do you fear that he will enact firearm confiscations?
Are you angered due to the election of the first African American president?
Have you displayed material related to the Constitution Party, Campaign for Liberty, or Libertarian material? I.e. Ron Paul bumper sticker
Are you or were you a supporter of Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin or Bob Barr?
(Have you voted for a third party like libertarian?)
Have you ever displayed pictures, cartoons, or bumper stickers that contain anti-government rhetoric?
(Most will depict groups such as FBI, ATF, and IRS in derogatory manner.)
Have you ever shown a cartoon that depicts the IRS in a negative manner?
Are you or have you ever displayed the US flag upside down?
Have you ever displayed a don’t tread on me flag?
(Come and get it flag, George Washington banner)
Do you believe that immigrants of any sort are taking the jobs of US Citizens during times of High unemployment?
Do you believe that illegal immigrants are sucking up government resources without paying taxes?
Do you believe in or would you ever support an organization that patrols the border to protect against drug smugglers or gangs?
Are you or have you ever been strongly in opposition to the collection of Federal income taxes?
Are you or have you ever been opposed to abortion on demand?
Are you or have you ever been opposed to the use of Radio Frequency Identification in humans? (RFID)
Do you believe Obama doesn’t meet residency requirements to be President of the US?
Do you believe that the NWO is using law enforcement to carry out one world government?
Do you believe the government is operating FEMA concentration camps?
Do you believe that the US army is assigning homeland security functions to an active battalion of troops?
Do you believe that US NORTHCOM will take your firearms and are in violation of the Posse comitatus act?
Do you believe that the banking and media institutions are controlled by the Jews?
Are you in fear of the ammunition accountability act? (marking of ammo)
Do you believe the US government will fall into chaos due to economic issues or racial issues?
Do you believe the chaotic fall of the government will be used to install martial law and imprison many
citizens?
Do you believe the Government is planning a constitutional convention that will strip the 1st and 2nd amendments?
Are you or have you ever been a libertarian?
Do you believe in a global dictatorship called the NWO which conspires to exploit working class citizens?
Do you have a bible?
Do you believe that there are UN troops already operating in the US in support of NWO?
Do you believe Jews control the monetary system and media?
Do you believe in the Zionist Occupied Government?
Did you make preparations for Y2K?
Do you believe B. Obama is tight on gun control and do you fear that he will enact firearm confiscations?
Are you angered due to the election of the first African American president?
Have you displayed material related to the Constitution Party, Campaign for Liberty, or Libertarian material? I.e. Ron Paul bumper sticker
Are you or were you a supporter of Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin or Bob Barr?
(Have you voted for a third party like libertarian?)
Have you ever displayed pictures, cartoons, or bumper stickers that contain anti-government rhetoric?
(Most will depict groups such as FBI, ATF, and IRS in derogatory manner.)
Have you ever shown a cartoon that depicts the IRS in a negative manner?
Are you or have you ever displayed the US flag upside down?
Have you ever displayed a don’t tread on me flag?
(Come and get it flag, George Washington banner)
Do you believe that immigrants of any sort are taking the jobs of US Citizens during times of High unemployment?
Do you believe that illegal immigrants are sucking up government resources without paying taxes?
Do you believe in or would you ever support an organization that patrols the border to protect against drug smugglers or gangs?
Are you or have you ever been strongly in opposition to the collection of Federal income taxes?
Are you or have you ever been opposed to abortion on demand?
Are you or have you ever been opposed to the use of Radio Frequency Identification in humans? (RFID)
Do you believe Obama doesn’t meet residency requirements to be President of the US?
Do you believe that the NWO is using law enforcement to carry out one world government?
Do you believe the government is operating FEMA concentration camps?
Do you believe that the US army is assigning homeland security functions to an active battalion of troops?
Do you believe that US NORTHCOM will take your firearms and are in violation of the Posse comitatus act?
Do you believe that the banking and media institutions are controlled by the Jews?
Are you in fear of the ammunition accountability act? (marking of ammo)
Do you believe the US government will fall into chaos due to economic issues or racial issues?
Do you believe the chaotic fall of the government will be used to install martial law and imprison many
citizens?
Do you believe the Government is planning a constitutional convention that will strip the 1st and 2nd amendments?
Friday, March 6, 2009
Charity
Charity
Noun
1. Benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity
2. Generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering ; also : aid given to those in need
3. A gift for public benevolent purposes
The common sense value of charity is so far distorted that it's important to remind people that charity does not come from the government. President Obama is trying to convince you of that, and Joe Biden tells us that paying taxes is patriotic, but how many people feel charitable on tax day? How many people donate extra money to the government? True charity comes from the people giving on their own accord - not when government takes their money and does whatever they want with it.
-Glenn Beck
The United States of America is the world’s most charitable country.1 Why is that? Well I think it’s because American’s understand that you need to help people in need. It’s not a law in this country. We’re not REQUIRED to give to charitable organizations. We just do. If you look at the top 10 countries in terms of charity not one of them is a socialist country. They are all democratic, or parliamentary forms of government. People, if given the opportunity, will donate towards helping those less fortunate than them. It’s human nature to want to help people.
If you look at the definition of charity above those are all voluntary words. They mean the giver felt it was necessary to help someone that couldn’t help themselves. If you force people to give money to help others it no longer can be considered charity. It becomes something else altogether. Socialism. Socialism comes from the government deciding that you don’t need everything you’ve probably worked hard to get. You make too much and you should take some of that money and give it to someone else because they need it.
The President wants to raise the taxes of people who make more than $250,000 a year to go towards programs to help those who can’t “help themselves” and to bailout industries that are failing, ie. Banks and automakers. I say, it’s not really the governments place to be a “charitable organization” or to do those things. Charitable organizations already exist to help people who need it. Whether it’s to help pay a mortgage or to keep your utilities on while you’re looking for work.
People will tell you that the Constitution states it is the job of the government to promote the “General Welfare” of the people. Well, they forget that the rest of the document contains the powers that the Federal Government has. Article I Section 8 of the Constitution lays out these powers.
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.”
It then goes on to list those duties, imposts and excises.
1. To borrow money on the credit of the United States.
2. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states and Indian tribes.
3. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.
4. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and the standard of weights and measures.
5. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
6. To establish post offices and post roads.
7. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.
8. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court
9. To define and punish piracies and felonies commited on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.
11. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.
12. To provide and maintain a navy.
13. To make rules for the government and regulation of land and naval forces.
14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasion
15. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.
16. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding then miles square) as may, be cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings
17. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or office thereof
The 10th Amendment of the Bill or Rights goes on to state:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Those are the powers that the Constitution gives to the Federal Government. Charitable donations, universal healthcare, government bailouts are not among those powers. It could be argued that the charitable issues the government is dealing with is Unconstitutional.
You can draw a direct comparison to the size of charitable donations to how much money a person has. If they have more money they generally give more to charity. If they have less, they can’t give as much.
When it comes down to it providing healthcare for families, or paying their mortgage is a charitable contribution. It’s not the government’s job to do this. There are free healthcare clinics that provide services to people who can’t pay. Many of those are run on charitable contributions from the general public, along with aid from the Federal Government. Utility companies have programs in place to help people who are struggling with their bills to make payments.
Charity is not a bad thing. It’s a wonderful thing that everyone SHOULD do. Not something they MUST do because the government says so.
Noun
1. Benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity
2. Generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering ; also : aid given to those in need
3. A gift for public benevolent purposes
The common sense value of charity is so far distorted that it's important to remind people that charity does not come from the government. President Obama is trying to convince you of that, and Joe Biden tells us that paying taxes is patriotic, but how many people feel charitable on tax day? How many people donate extra money to the government? True charity comes from the people giving on their own accord - not when government takes their money and does whatever they want with it.
-Glenn Beck
The United States of America is the world’s most charitable country.1 Why is that? Well I think it’s because American’s understand that you need to help people in need. It’s not a law in this country. We’re not REQUIRED to give to charitable organizations. We just do. If you look at the top 10 countries in terms of charity not one of them is a socialist country. They are all democratic, or parliamentary forms of government. People, if given the opportunity, will donate towards helping those less fortunate than them. It’s human nature to want to help people.
If you look at the definition of charity above those are all voluntary words. They mean the giver felt it was necessary to help someone that couldn’t help themselves. If you force people to give money to help others it no longer can be considered charity. It becomes something else altogether. Socialism. Socialism comes from the government deciding that you don’t need everything you’ve probably worked hard to get. You make too much and you should take some of that money and give it to someone else because they need it.
The President wants to raise the taxes of people who make more than $250,000 a year to go towards programs to help those who can’t “help themselves” and to bailout industries that are failing, ie. Banks and automakers. I say, it’s not really the governments place to be a “charitable organization” or to do those things. Charitable organizations already exist to help people who need it. Whether it’s to help pay a mortgage or to keep your utilities on while you’re looking for work.
People will tell you that the Constitution states it is the job of the government to promote the “General Welfare” of the people. Well, they forget that the rest of the document contains the powers that the Federal Government has. Article I Section 8 of the Constitution lays out these powers.
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.”
It then goes on to list those duties, imposts and excises.
1. To borrow money on the credit of the United States.
2. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states and Indian tribes.
3. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.
4. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and the standard of weights and measures.
5. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States.
6. To establish post offices and post roads.
7. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.
8. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court
9. To define and punish piracies and felonies commited on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.
11. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.
12. To provide and maintain a navy.
13. To make rules for the government and regulation of land and naval forces.
14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasion
15. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.
16. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding then miles square) as may, be cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings
17. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or office thereof
The 10th Amendment of the Bill or Rights goes on to state:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Those are the powers that the Constitution gives to the Federal Government. Charitable donations, universal healthcare, government bailouts are not among those powers. It could be argued that the charitable issues the government is dealing with is Unconstitutional.
You can draw a direct comparison to the size of charitable donations to how much money a person has. If they have more money they generally give more to charity. If they have less, they can’t give as much.
When it comes down to it providing healthcare for families, or paying their mortgage is a charitable contribution. It’s not the government’s job to do this. There are free healthcare clinics that provide services to people who can’t pay. Many of those are run on charitable contributions from the general public, along with aid from the Federal Government. Utility companies have programs in place to help people who are struggling with their bills to make payments.
Charity is not a bad thing. It’s a wonderful thing that everyone SHOULD do. Not something they MUST do because the government says so.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
You Are Not Alone
Unfortunately I did not post this, but I wish I had thought of something like this. This is taken from Glenn Beck's website and is discussed frequently on his radio program as well as his TV show.
Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it? Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore? Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone? If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all. We surround them. So, how do we show America what’s really behind the curtain? Below are nine simple principles. If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common.
The Nine Principles
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
If you agree with at least seven of those principles, then you are not alone.
Watch the Glenn Beck Show on Friday, March 13th at 5:00pm EST for more. He's going to be doing an in depth discussion on each of these.
Along with this there are 12 values that Glenn believes the average American believes in. These are essential to building this country back up and I believe every parent should be teaching their children.
Honesty
Reverence
Hope
Thrift
Humility
Charity
Sincerity
Moderation
Hard Work
Courage
Personal Responsibility
Friendship
These are core values in every person and I will be looking at each of these in the future. Looking at my life and seeing where I display these values and where I could work a little harder to improve in respect to them.
Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it? Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore? Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone? If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all. We surround them. So, how do we show America what’s really behind the curtain? Below are nine simple principles. If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common.
The Nine Principles
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
If you agree with at least seven of those principles, then you are not alone.
Watch the Glenn Beck Show on Friday, March 13th at 5:00pm EST for more. He's going to be doing an in depth discussion on each of these.
Along with this there are 12 values that Glenn believes the average American believes in. These are essential to building this country back up and I believe every parent should be teaching their children.
Honesty
Reverence
Hope
Thrift
Humility
Charity
Sincerity
Moderation
Hard Work
Courage
Personal Responsibility
Friendship
These are core values in every person and I will be looking at each of these in the future. Looking at my life and seeing where I display these values and where I could work a little harder to improve in respect to them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)