The Republicans Are Wrong!

The Republicans Are Wrong!
Recently, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget bill passed the US House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin, but without one Democratic vote in support.  It will pay down the scandalous deficit incurred by the Obama-Reid-Pelosi troika by some $6 trillion dollars without raising taxes, and will save Medicare.  In fact, it will create jobs—the only proven way to create jobs—by reducing taxes.  It’s not rocket science.  The record shows that the only way to create jobs is to lower tax rates.  And when you do so, tax revenues actually increase as unemployment declines.  That’s what Jack Kennedy did and what Ronald Reagan did and in both cases it brought America out of hard economic times by expanding the economy and creating jobs.
 
Predictably, the Democrats who had vast majorities in both the House and Senate from 2008 to 2010, yet failed in their Constitutional responsibility to pass or even bring up a budget bill, are now screaming that Republicans want to destroy Medicare and Social Security (the Ryan plan doesn’t actually touch Social Security at all).  It’s a lie, but it’s a politically explosive lie that they have used effectively for more than 50 years to deceive the American people.  But perhaps they have cried “wolf” once too often.

The Democrats know as well as the Republicans that both Medicare and Social Security are insolvent.  Of course, another word for insolvent is bankrupt.  In fact, if an insurance company (and don’t forget that the Democrats under FDR sold Social Security as insurance) had been as badly mismanaged as Social Security, its officers and directors would have been in jail.  We could call Social Security a Ponzi scheme or perhaps a Madoff scheme, but frankly that would be unfair to both Ponzi and Madoff.  Ponzi and Madoff were piker’s compared to the Democrats.

But the Republicans are wrong when they say that the Democrats don’t have a plan to bring down the multi trillion dollar debt that the Democrats have created in just two years under Obama.

The Democrats have a plan.  It’s called a Guaranteed Retirement Account (GRA) and while it won’t provide a long term solution to balancing the budget, it will transfer the money you (and your employer) have placed into your 401(k) plan into the general treasury of the Federal Government.  It could mean a windfall of hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars for the big spending Democrats in Congress.  That’s why they want to seize your 401(k) and IRA funds.  This money will also be used to bail out Union pension funds and to provide a retirement fund to those who have not been as responsible as you have been in setting aside funds for your golden years.

The GRA idea comes from Professor Theresa Guilarducci who, at her website (http://teresaghilarducci.org/about.html) bills herself as a “labor economist and nationally-recognized expert in retirement security.”  Professor Guilarducci is apparently the guru for the Democratic leadership when it comes to saving Social Security.  On October 7, 2010 US Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa) who Chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, held a hearing featuring Professor Guilarducci.  Here is a direct quote from the distinguished professor taken from a leftwing blog:

        “I propose…that the Congress allow workers to swap out their
        401k assets…for a Guaranteed Retirement Account.  Just a
        one-time swap, trading your 401(k) for a Guaranteed Retirement
        Account that will be composed of the equivalent of government
        bonds that pay a 3 percent real return.”

This sounds reasonable enough, except that it’s really not a voluntary swap.  In fact, the good Professor’s plan also calls for abolishing the tax deductibility of your current 401(k) program, thus making you immediately liable for a huge tax payment to the government if you decide not to participate in their latest socialist scheme.  Of course, at that point any future contributions into your 401(k) would also be taxable.  In short, the Guilarducci plan would destroy the most successful retirement plan in the history of the United States and it would likely apply to IRAs, SEPs, etc.—any one of the current plans that lets responsible Americans set aside funds for their retirement needs.

But it gets worse.  In addition, whether you chose to participate or not, you would be subject to an immediate 5% tax on earnings to pay for your GRA and for those who do not currently have a 401(k).  Yes, this is just another Marxist redistribution of wealth program.  The liberals call it a “social justice” economic plan.  It transfers funds from those who are responsible and hard working to those who have not been as responsible.
 
And, by the way, a cursory review of Teresa Ghilarducci’s website did not ever refer to her Guaranteed Retirement Account as being voluntary.  It did, however, contain articles by the good Professor attacking 401(k) plans.  But rest assured, in 2008 The New York Times Magazine named the GRA Plan one of the best ideas of the year.  I’m sure we can all rest easy knowing that.

Nice.  First they take the money you have saved up for retirement and give you back a pittance and then they add an additional tax so that others who were not as responsible as you can receive a pension that you pay for.  And you can be absolutely certain that just like Social Security, Medicare and every other socialistic scheme that 5% tax will soon be much, much higher.  And when the 401(k) funds they have stolen from you is gone, what then?

We would be back right where we are today, facing the financial collapse of our nation due to crazy and irresponsible liberal spending of the Democratic leadership in both Congress and the White House.

It’s not just the liberal Democrats in Congress that are behind this insidious plan.  The Obama White House is on board too.  In fact, in February of 2010, “Crazy Uncle” Joe Biden, our distinguished Vice President put the Administration firmly behind the GRA plan with the release of the Annual Report on the Middle Class.  The VP headed up this White House Task Force which generated a 43 page document that called for the creation of Guaranteed Retirement Accounts.  So there you have it folks.

The Republicans have wrongly accused the Democrats of not having a plan to bring down the deficit.
 
The Democrats do have a plan.  It’s called Guaranteed Retirement Accounts.
So let the debate begin.
 
It’s time for the Republicans to go on the offensive.

It’s time for the Democrats to defend their plan to destroy your 401(k) plan, raise taxes and force you into another government scheme that will (maybe) give you a 3% return (while taxing you an additional 5%).

Before the GOP begins to respond to the false accusations that they want to destroy Social Security and Medicare, let’s demand that the Democrats explain why they want to destroy your 401(k) program.  The former claim is bogus, the latter is not.

It’s time to stop being the stupid party and take the fight to the Democrats.

Onward!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter
On Sunday, April 24th, Christians throughout the world will celebrate the most important day in history—the resurrection of Jesus, the long awaited Messiah, from death into life.  Just what was the essence of Jesus’ message to you and me, and why is Easter so important?

Forgiveness is the reason that Jesus came down from Heaven and was born as a baby in the manger in Bethlehem.  Forgiveness is the one thing that you and I and the whole world need.  It is Jesus’ forgiveness that is our ticket to Heaven when we leave this world and go to the next.

Forgiveness was needed by Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.  The devil deceived them into believing they could be like God if they only ate from the one single tree that God told them they could not eat from.  God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, but He sent them away with a promise that He would send His one and only Son to rescue them from their sins.  And then, for thousands of years, prophets described in minute detail the Messiah to come.  And finally, on God’s time schedule, Jesus came and He fulfilled every single prophesy made about Him over thousands of years.

His mission was simple and straightforward—an offer of complete and full forgiveness.  But what was the price for this forgiveness?  Jesus only asks one thing, to believe in Him as the long promised Savior of the world.  We call this forgiveness – grace.  Songs like Amazing Grace remind us of this incredible gift from a God who epitomizes love, the kind of love which you and I can strive after, but never fully achieve. 

Jesus forgives us for the many sins we commit each and every day.  What kind of sins?  Thinking mean thoughts about others, saying mean things, and doing mean things are just some of the sins we commit each day.  Our failures to be kind, generous, and loving to others are sins too.  Even our failure to forgive others when we are offended is a sin.  Our lack of being forgiving strains relationships, hurts friendships, and makes us miserable.  God forgives us, but we withhold forgiveness.  All we need to do is to ask for His forgiveness and put our trust in Him. 

Yes, forgiveness is the very essence of Christianity.  It is God’s forgiveness that allows us imperfect, sinful human beings to enter into a perfect place called Heaven.  And it’s free!  Free to us, that is, but it cost Jesus a terrible price.  He suffered and died in one of the cruelest and most painful ways ever devised so that you and I could leave this world and join Him in Heaven.  Just imagine the love of God the Father who was willing to sacrifice His own Son for you and me so that we could escape the punishment we deserve for our sins.  It’s impossible to comprehend.

And what we can’t do, live a perfect, sinless life, Jesus did.  And although He was perfect and sinless, He gave Himself up on the cross into death to wipe out our sins.  Finally, He rose triumphant from the grave to give us total and complete assurance that we, too, will not die, but simply move from this life into the next.
He invites us to love Him, trust in Him, and believe in Him.  As Paul the Apostle says in Romans 10:9, “If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought Him back to life, you will be saved.”  It’s as simple as that.

This coming Sunday, my wife, Kathi, and I and our family will be joyfully celebrating the most important event in the history of the world, the resurrection of Jesus, the Savior of the world.  That’s what we believe and put our hope in.  I hope you will share in that joy too.  We wish you a very happy and joyous Easter celebration.

Obama & Pickett

Obama & Pickett
Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg is often referred to as the high water mark of the Confederacy.  Like the famous Charge of the Light Brigade memorialized by Lord Alfred Tennyson, Pickett’s charge was a nearly suicidal mission.  On July 3, 1863, General George Pickett led more than 12,000 men spread a mile wide across 1,000 yards of open field directly into the face of entrenched Union troops.  It was a slaughter.  The result was more than 50% dead and wounded.  And, for all intents and purposes, it was the last major offensive of the South against the North in the American Civil War.  It is today considered the turning point in the war.

Pickett’s charge was uncharacteristic for General Robert E. Lee, a man known as a brilliant tactician.  Certainly in hindsight it makes no sense.  But General Lee greatly miscalculated and was from then put on the defensive.  Although there was an outside hope that the North would sue for peace if McClellan defeated Lincoln in 1864, ultimately Pickett’s charge led to Lee’s surrender in Appomattox, Virginia in April 9, 1865.  Had Pickett’s charge succeeded, the outcome of the war may well have changed.

Like Pickett’s charge and the famous Charge of the Light Brigade by the British against the Russians in the Crimean War, the charge of the far left following the 2008 elections has been similarly suicidal.  President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are in denial.  They act as if they did not get slaughtered at the polls.  They just can’t accept the fact that the American people want absolutely nothing to do with their big government, less freedom agenda that has put the United States of America on the brink of fiscal insolvency.
 
Last November the far left charged forward, certain that Americans would be suckered in by Obamacare and that every American would thereafter become a ward of the state, bowing and scraping to their every whim and demand.  But the election results turned their world topsy turvy.  And yet they never noticed.  They said they did a bad job of getting their message across.  If the American people only heard them correctly, they said, they would embrace their far left agenda.  And so as we march forward toward the 2012 election, the troika of Obama-Reid-Pelosi continues forward down the path of total political annihilation.  They refuse to face the truth that they have reached the high water mark of American liberalism.  They can’t accept the notion that they have gone as far as they are going to go in their effort to transform America from a land of opportunity, decency, and compassion into a nation of lesser goals, lesser opportunities, less stature, and less freedom.

In reality, the left has achieved only one success in its long, dismal climb into power—the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  All other efforts have either failed or have been detrimental to the well being of the citizens of the United States of America.  In fact, their very philosophy of a big government of enlightened liberal elites running the world is the very antithesis of the world view of our American founders. 

For some seemingly bizarre reason today’s liberals or progressives think that a centralized government they create will not result in tyranny as all centralized governments in history have resulted.  For some puzzling reason they think that they are a new breed of benign individuals who are not only more moral and more talented and smarter than anyone else, but also know better than you and I do how we should live our lives.  There is not one scintilla of evidence that liberals are kinder, or gentler, or more tolerant, or more compassionate than anyone else.  In fact, from the evidence it seems that liberals of today are in fact more callous, less civil, and less caring and compassionate than those they seek to rule.  When volunteers or donors are needed to help the poor and infirm it is conservatives who wade into the fray while the vast majority of liberals stand on the sidelines or vote to spend other people’s money to solve the problem.
 
Like the outcome of the last election, today’s liberals ignore history.  There are no instances of socialism working or delivering a better society for all.  Yet the faith of liberals in socialistic schemes continues unabated.  While the history of freedom, and economic freedom in particular, stands as a model of economic growth, scientific advancement, and widespread abundance, the history of socialism is one of drear sameness and of meager existence for all.

How can liberals deny the reality before their eyes?  The amazing answer is that they truly believe that they stand unique in history.  That they in particular have through education evolved into being better and more enlightened than the rest of the population.  Never mind their thuggish political activities or their hate filled rhetoric against those with whom they disagree.  Today’s liberals see themselves as good and everyone else as flawed.

The mirror they are looking into is broken.  Why did the Founders seek a government with limited power over its citizens?  The root understanding of the Founders lies in the Bible.  Books were rare at the time our Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written.  The most widely read book leading up to the American Revolution was the Bible.  A large number of the signers of the Declaration of Independence had formal seminary training. 

And what is the theme of the Bible?  Genesis tells the story of man and woman sinning in the Garden of Eden and being driven out into a corrupted world.  All men are corrupt and evil.  We are saved only by the grace of God.  That’s the message of the Bible in a nutshell.  Only when we fear and love God are men capable of doing good.  The Founders knew the natural tendency of man is to gain power over others and thus they created a system of government which limited the power of the Judiciary, the Legislature and the Executive branch.  And they limited the power of government itself over its citizens.  It was this understanding of human nature that enabled the Founders to create the first truly free nation in the history of the world.  Wisely, they did not make the same mistake as Europe and nationalize the Christian religion.  Instead, they guaranteed freedom of religion, knowing that faith prospers best when government is absent.

No wonder less than 5% of Europeans attend church on Sunday.  They feel they have fulfilled their religious obligation by paying their taxes.  What more should they do?  Government support, which means control of churches in Europe, has led to churches that have lost the true message of the Bible.

In stark contrast, nearly 40% of Americans attend worship services at least once per month.  Another 40% proclaim that they listen to a Christian radio broadcast, watch a Christian television program or read Christian literature once per month.  By establishing a state religion in the various countries of Europe, government has undermined Christianity.  By keeping government out of religion in the US, it has prospered as in no other previous society.

It is the Christian and Jewish understanding of the frailty of man that keeps our nation on track.  The understanding that man’s tendency is toward evil and not good has created a nation that respects life, property, and individual freedom.  It is the silliness of liberalism that has led to its impending demise.  Freedom simply cannot exist in a society where there is not a consensus among its citizenry of the weakness of human nature.  It is this understanding of human nature that allowed the Founders to erect a government that resists a concentration of power into the hands of a few.  If the United States of America ever loses its majority of citizens with this basic understanding, our republic will die.

Freedom itself is not a virtue, it is a blessing from the God who loves us and sent His Son to take away our sins so that we can live forever in a perfect place.  All attempts to create a utopia on earth are doomed to failure because all men are flawed and incapable of perfection.  When we fail to recognize this, we stray from the understanding that enabled our forefathers to create this special land of freedom in the first place.

Let’s not only share the Good News of Jesus with those around us, but also act as good citizens and use our freedom to resist those who lack an understanding of human nature and who seek power over us. 

A political victory by nature is a temporary victory.  But temporary victories are important to the preservation of freedom and to keep the United States of America a beacon of hope to the world.  You and I have been bequeathed a legacy of freedom by our parents and by those that came before them.  We did not create this great land, but thankfully, wise, God fearing men set this nation on the path of freedom and opportunity unprecedented in human history.  It is, therefore, our solemn duty to preserve the American dream for the next generation of Americans.  To do less would expose us as unfaithful heirs of the freedom passed along to us by those who came before us.  When the roll call sounds, let us not be found wanting.

Incredible Double Standard

Incredible Double Standard

  

After a clearly deranged person, Jared Lee Loughner, shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, the mainstream media and their liberal cohorts did everything possible to blame the shooting on the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, etc.  It didn’t stick because the shooter was a nut who had a copy of the Communist Manifesto in his possession as well as other far left books like Mein Kampf (by Adolph Hitler, head of the German National Socialist Party).  Sarah Palin was criticized because some of her 2010 campaign literature had a bull’s eye on candidates they wanted to defeat, even though other liberal groups used similar bulls’ eyes on their literature. 

New York Times writer and noble prize winner, Paul Krugman, was unhinged by the shooting.  Just so you can appreciate the over-the-top rant of Krugman, here is a small taste of his angry outburst:

We don’t have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was. She’s been a target of violence before. And for those wondering why a Blue Dog Democrat, the kind Republicans might be able to work with, might be a target, the answer is that she’s a Democrat who survived what was otherwise a GOP sweep in Arizona, precisely because the Republicans nominated a Tea Party activist. (Her father says that “the whole Tea Party” was her enemy.) And yes, she was on Sarah Palin’s infamous ‘crosshairs’ list.

Just yesterday, Ezra Klein remarked that opposition to health reform was getting scary. Actually, it’s been scary for quite a while, in a way that already reminded many of us of the climate that preceded the Oklahoma City bombing.

You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.

Subsequent to this and other attacks on responsible conservative spokesmen, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, called for more civil discourse in our nation.  He’s right, civil discourse that sticks to the facts is the best.  So why has he been silent about the violent acts of the anti-Governor Walker crowd in Madison, Wisconsin?

Where was the civil discourse in the debate in Wisconsin over reigning in the benefits packages of government workers to a level more in keeping with that provided by those who produce goods and services in the free market?  Where was the public outcry against violence and violent threats when Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin were threatened with death if they voted for Governor Walker’s modest reforms?  After all, Madison, Wisconsin has a long history of violent acts including blowing up a building on the University of Wisconsin campus in protest of the Vietnam War.

Here’s a sample of the threats Republican lawmakers received and which you undoubtedly did not see in your local newspaper or on television.  Nor did you hear an admonishment from the President for civil discourse.

We will hunt you down.  We will slit your throats.  We will drink your blood.  I will have your decapitated head on a pike in the Madison town square.  This is your last warning.

- An e-mail to Wisconsin Republican State Senator Dan Kapanke after voting to enact Governor Walker’s modest reforms into law.

Another hate e-mail directed to a Republican legislator in Wisconsin…

Subject line – Attention Death threat!!!!  Bomb!!!!

We feel that you and your republican dictators have to die.  This is how it’s going to happen:…We have all planned to assult [sic] you by arriving at your house and putting a nice little bullet in your head.  However, this isn’t enough…So we have built several bombs that we have placed in various locations around the areas in which we know that you frequent.  This includes your house, your car, the state capitol, and well I won’t tell you all of them because that’s just no fun.

Yet another…

YOUR STAFF MEMBERS HAVE NOW BEEN ADDED TO THE HIT LIST…PLEASE ADVISE THEM OF THE IMPENDING DANGER LEADING TO THEIR [sic] DEATHS.

These three threatening messages are just a small sample of the many death threats that the Republican Senators in Wisconsin endured.  Where was the outcry by the national news media?  Where were the calls for reason and civil discourse?

As I have said before, if it were not for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all. 

Not only did the Democratic State Senators in Wisconsin flee the state and refuse to do their job, they had the gall to act self righteous about their failure to do their duty.  But it got worse than that.

After a 60 hour debate on Governor Walker’s reforms that were needed to save the state of Wisconsin from bankruptcy, the state legislature voted to approve the legislation.  Upon passage of the bill, Democratic State Representative Gordon Hintz turned to Republican State Representative Michelle Litjens and said…

“You are [expletive] dead.”

Where is the civil discourse?  Where was the national news media to condemn such talk?

The violent language was just the tip of the iceberg.  For some reason unknown to me, demonstrators were allowed inside the beautiful Wisconsin State Capitol Building.  Not only did this allow the union mob to physically intimidate legislators and to interfere with the legislative process, they ended up doing much damage to the State Capitol Building.

There was leadership on the left.  US Congressman Mike Capuano of Massachusetts spoke to a Boston rally in support of the union bosses in Wisconsin.  This is what he said, in part…

I am proud to be here with people who understand that it’s more than just sending an e-mail to get you going.  Every once in awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary.

Where is the outrage against such violent talk?  Does someone have to be killed or die from a bomb set by union thugs before someone speaks up?

Silence is, as they say, not always golden, sometimes it’s just yellow.

Shame on liberals for such a double standard.  Shame on the news media for their silence.  Shame on the President for keeping quiet.