The Government Ponzi scheme

Bernie Madoff was just sentenced to 150 years for the multi billion dollar ponzi scheme that he put together that finally hit the wall. As a result thousands of people lost their life savings. A terrible crime! Bernie apologized to his investors and said they he didn't mean to hurt anyone and that things just got out of hand!

A successful Ponzi scheme is one where early investors are paid with money from new investors. As long as the scammer can continue to sign up new investors, the cycle never ends.

Social security is a great example of a "legal Ponzi scheme". Every time you're paid for work, the government takes a portion of your money to "invest" in the Social Security Trust Fund, where it is supposed to sit, collect interest, until you retire and are eligible to start receiving Social Security checks. Now, our Social Security Trust fund is full of IOUs. Congress has taken our money, promised us it was safe, and then they have SPENT it on millions of "pork" projects and entitlements that social security was not supposed to fund.

Common sense tells us that there is no difference between what Bernie Madoff did and what our government has done. While Madoff goes to jail, our politicians go to a Hawaiian luau at the White House!

Now the Social Security Trust Fund has a massive future liability funding shortfall of around $13.6 Trillion! In other words, politicians have promised to pay $13.6 Trillion, that the Trust doesn't have, to future retirees. Now, millions of baby boomers are beginning to retire and collect Social Security. New payments made by younger workers are being used to pay older retirees. What will happen when the amount of money paid out to retired people exceeds the amount of money taken in from younger workers? This is beginning to happen with so many baby boomers reaching retirement age and our job market shrinking.

In a few words, this is the mess our government has made of Social Security. What are our politicians doing about it? They are SPENDING MORE MONEY on more pork projects and more entitlements, and making promises that they can't keep. At some point their legal Ponzi scheme will hit the wall also. What will happen to people who depend on Social Security to survive? Our children and grandchildren cannot rely on Social Security and will have to pay the shortfall, created by government, by all kinds of increased taxation.

Why do we entrust our future welfare to our government? Why do we let them continue to spend our money irresponsibly? Why do we think they can manage these huge governmental programs any better than they have handled Social Security? Think about it as you listen to all the promises being made by politicians today.

A BENEFIT OF BEING OLD!

"THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST, ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT"

George Santayna

I saw this familiar quote on a blackboard recently, and it resonated in me as it has never done before. As I am approaching the downside of 60, I realize that the wisdom derived from experience in life is one of the most valuable gifts that I possess. I also realize that the events that I have lived through are lessons that I need to remember and pass on to others. After all, getting a "senior discount" is not the only advantage of getting old!

We often don't remember what happened last week! Politicians count on this flaw to manipulate us. They don't want us to remember past events and subsequent results, not as they actually happened, but in a distorted way that benefits whatever cause they are promoting. When I hear or read their arguments, I often comment to myself, "Well, that's not what happened!". I lived through it, and I remember it! Unfortunately, as I grow older, more and more of the authors of these distorted views have not actually experienced the events that they talk or write about!

History as seen through the eyes of people who have not lived it, often becomes distorted. When past events are evaluated by the current society's standards and environment, and not with an understanding of the environment and conditions existing at the time of the event, wrong interpretations, judgement and evaluations often result. This makes it easy for those who wish to manipulate our perspectives of history.

Hitler, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the recession of the 1980's, the prosperity of the 1990's, the administrations of John F. Kennedy, Nixon, Jimmy Carter - these are all historical events I have lived through and learned from. My grandparents lived through the Great Depression, my parents lived through World War II, and they often told me of what happened to them during these times and how it affected them. Those who have actually lived through Sept 11, 2001, will always remember that event and how it affected them. Our politicians often want us to forget!

Now, the great danger I am seeing is that our President and many of our national leaders are counting on our ignorance and apathy to convince us that certain actions will give us certain results that are not substantiated by history. I'm sure that in some situations, it is "their" ignorance that is displayed. But, often they count on "our" ignorance so that we accept what they say as fact.

Here are some things this "older" woman has learned from living through them -

There have always been people who cheat, steal, lie and take advantage of others. They are the minority. Most people are honest and good.

The economy has never been stimulated by raising taxes on taxpayers. Lowering of taxes has gotten the economy going after depression and recessions of the past.

Consumers have not spent more money when they anticipate or experience higher taxes and higher costs of living. Consumers have spent money when they feel comfortable about their jobs and the economy.

Jobs have never been created by taxing business, but rather by giving business tax reductions and incentives.

Investors are not the enemy. Their money has kept businesses going and growing and created jobs.

Unions have done some good in the eras when working conditions were bad. But in recent years they have done more harm than good. Unreasonable demands by unions and lack of incentives to do good work have destroyed the companies that employ the union members. I have seen this first hand!

Supply and demand and the free market have worked better than government involvement and strict regulation. Regulations have come and gone, but the free market always leveled the playing field when we let it do so.

Very often the people making these governmental decisions were the least qualified to make decisions that affected our economy because they had no experience in these areas. As a former employer, I never hired someone to to a responsible position in my company who had no experience! Yet that is what government wants us to do! I have seen the result of government regulation and it has often been unfair, unprofitable and even corrupt!

"Might makes right" when it came to our national security. Our enemies only respected our strength and feared us and our power as a nation. There has always been evil in this world and by showing strength our country has protected us. A strong military and strong defenses have kept us safe. Peace is wonderful, but it has only been gained through strength.

Our nation is unique in the world and our Constitution has been the framework for our extraordinary wealth and power. The Constitution has been the safeguard for our freedoms. Many men and women have died to defend the Constitution and our freedoms and the freedoms of others. I have lived through wars and have seen the results.

History shows that socialism, communism, marxism and all the "isms" that take away individual freedom, have never worked in the long run. Capitalism has worked and we are all living in the result of capitalism. No, it's not perfect, but there has never been a "perfect" system in the world. We have the highest standard of living in the world, the result of capitalism.

People who have not travelled outside our borders, often don't appreciate what we have in America! People who are overly critical of our country should live in another country and they would come back here with a different attitude.

I can't compress what I've learned in 60+ years of my life into a few short sentences. I can say that life experience has taught me to look at the true facts of a situation and to look at history for examples of things that happened in the past and what the results were. That helps me to make good decisions that will positively affect my life. I don't listen to what politicians say!

REMEMBER HISTORY! There are great lessons to be learned from it. Let's not have to experience the negative results of not doing so.

We're All Going to Pay More for Everything!

It's up to the Senate now. The House narrowly passed the Waxman Markey bill, the cap and trade/energy bill. This bill is a massive energy tax in disguise! I have observed that if you make an untrue statement enough times, people will start accepting it as truth! That's what is happening with the climate change argument. But, people in the public eye, like Al Gore, national media, big business and politicians who have something to gain by this belief, continue to promote this faulty climate change theory as a true fact.

The theory that mankind can somehow affect climate change is like saying that mankind can stop the tide from coming in. The earth has had natural cycles of climate change for eons. We are actually in a cooling phase at the present time. The change in climate, in the 100 plus years in which it has been recorded, has changed by a small fraction of a percent and scientists say that this is a natural phenomenon. Thousands of climatologists and other scientists have debunked the theory that man is changing the climate. There are already environmental controls in place that keep our air cleaner and that protect our environment.

There is a lot of money in this environmental and climate game, for the government especially. The Waxman Markey bill is an excellent way for government to increase our taxes indirectly. They have a wonderful justification - They are protecting our environment! So, they can collect billions in taxes and fees to offset their excessive spending. They have to get the money somewhere, don't they! China won't loan us any more money! The result of this bill will do little or nothing for our environment, but will do a LOT for the government coffers!

We, the consumers and taxpayers, are the real losers in this game. Our energy bills for our homes and businesses are going to rise dramatically. Whenever energy costs increase, the price of goods and services also increase because energy goes into the cost of producing these goods and services.

Contact your senators and tell them you OPPOSE the WAXMAN MARKEY BILL! If the Senate passes this bill it will do nothing to affect climate change or create cleaner air, but you will feel it in your wallet!

Enough is Enough!

As we approach the anniversary of our country's independence I am hoping that the American people will reflect on the principles on which our country was founded. I am hoping that the American people will begin to see how far our government has strayed from our constitutional principles and the dangers that these actions represent to our freedoms and our quality of life.

America needs to wake up to the fact that the Executive Branch of government is systematically making Congress impotent and in the future, the real power will be in the Executive Branch. We will elect representatives to Congress that will have very little actual authority to control what happens in our country, and the people's interests will be ignored. The President will make decisions for us!

The rights and freedoms of the Constitution are already being trod upon, and if America keeps going down the current path, the Constitution will become a historical document that has insignificant effect on our government.

Consider these actions taken by President Obama:

Government control over private financial institutions and the attempt to have the Federal Reserve be the oversight for them! The Federal Reserve is one of the least "transparent" segments of government. Does anyone know who really owns the Fed? The government doesn't own it or control it. President Obama is exerting the powers of the Executive Branch over the Fed and American financial institutions. There is no constitutional authority for these actions.

The appointment of Czars over various segments of our society, who answer only to the President and not to Congress.

The government has inserted itself into private business in collusion with the unions. Who is really running these giants of industry now? President Obama has inserted his choices of CEOs into these companies and is even telling companies what they can pay their employees! There is no constitutional authority for these actions.

The unions have made huge gains in control of the industries in which they work. The unions financially supported President Obama's campaign, so he has "paid back" with the power and control that the unions wanted.

President Obama is pushing a national health care system that gives government control over our medical care and eliminates any right to privacy in our medical care that we've had in the past. The government's track record for administering medicare, medicaid, and social security is dismal. Why would we want them handling something as critical to our well being as our health care. The President's plan would push out private medical insurance and millions of people would still remain uninsured. Is there any country in the world who has a national health care system that is satisfactory? Canadians and English citizens would not make that claim. They are coming to the United States to get the medical care they can't get in their countries! Who else in the world is an example of how this national health care system would benefit us? Let me know if you find one.

Candidate Obama promised unprecedented "transparency" in government, but he has provided less transparency than in previous administrations.

Candidate Obama promised the American people time to examine prospective bills before he signed or rejected them. This was not done for the largest spending bill in history and continues to not be done.

Beware of his rhetoric! He states statistics that have no basis in reality. He camouflages his actions with his clever phrases and his facade of concern for the American people. We are experiencing "Chicago style" politics on the federal level.

I won't state any more of the "obvious" tactics being employed by our President. President Obama has ignored the restrictions place upon his office by the Constitution. He taught Constitutional law, so he knows EXACTLY what he is doing. He is moving our country toward socialism, where government (namely the President) is in control.

As we watch the fireworks this July 4th, I hope it will be an new inspiration for the American people to speak up and object to the destruction of our Constitution and the grab for power and control by the Executive Branch of our government.

The View from Europe

While visiting with friends in France, we had a conversation about our new President Obama.  They were surprised that we said that we thought he was doing a terrible job, destroying our Constitution, spending too much money, and generally being a con-man of epic scale!  We had to explain to them about our Constitution and the 3 branches of government as described in the Constitution.  We explained how Obama has greatly exceeded the powers given the President by the Consitution and that he continues to expand his power and control in ways not granted to him by the Consitution.  We explained how he, with the help of his Democratic congress, have spent more money than we can ever hope to pay, and how he and Congress continue to do so.  We explained that he loves to travel everywhere and give lots of speeches, but he is not so good at actually DOING something to improve the problems we face in our country and in the world. We explained that his "stimulus package" that we had to rush to pass, has done little or nothing to improve our economy and the job losses are continuing. 

Their response was interesting.  They said that no matter how bad things are in the USA, it's still better than what they have in France!  I guess that's what we have to look forward to if we continue down the road of socialism as France has done.  

We have found mixed responses to Obama in Europe.  We've travelled in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands  We've had several people ask us what we thought of our new President.  Our negative response did not seem to disturb or surprise people!  The television programs here are much more critical of Obama.  He is not the Prince Charming here in Europe that our media would like us to think.  The television news programs are critical of the Obama administration and we are getting a lot of Republican responses being televised here.  It has surprised us how much negativity there is with Obama and what he's doing.  They all know that what happens in the US affects the world and affects them.

We're anxious to get home and get the real scoop of what's happening in the US.