Time to Wake Up

Amnesty for illegals.

Sex education for our children.

Millions to mosques.

Millions to Haiti

Millions to prisoners who were illegally searched.

Foreign aid to 150 countries.

Record unemployment.

Corporate bailouts.

We all know some facts about the above tag lines. So today, we’re going to discuss something less well known: Homelessness and Hunger in the United States of America.

Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is publisher of the Trends Journal which forecasts and analyzes business, socioeconomic, political, and other trends, and is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events which can send a chill down your spine. 

Celente said that by 2012 America will become an underdeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.

"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas... we're going to see a fundamental shift take place... putting food on the table is going to be more important than putting gifts under the Christmas tree," said Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the great depression."

"America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for," said Celente, noting that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was is even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.

At the end of 2010 Optimistic economists believed that the housing market would recover if the economy stabilized and started to improve. They predicted a better housing market in 2011 for a variety of reasons, but the numbers seem determined to prove the economists wrong. 

According to a new survey released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the number of people experiencing homelessness and hunger has increased in the past year.

The survey, which encompasses twenty-seven major cities found that the overall number of Americans who went homeless in 2010 increased by two percent. More than half of the cities saw an increase in the number of families and individuals experiencing homelessness. The number of families who went homeless rose by nine percent, and the number of individuals who went homeless increased by 2.5 percent.

Since the early 1980's, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has studied the extent of hunger and homelessness issues in cities throughout the U.S., as well as efforts cities are making to address these challenges

Every city surveyed reported that requests for emergency food assistance increased over the past year, and those requests increased by an average of 24% across the cities. Among those requesting emergency food assistance, 56% were persons in families, 30% were employed, 19% were elderly, and 17% were homeless. Unemployment led the list of causes of hunger cited by the survey cities, followed by high housing costs, low wages, poverty, and lack of access to SNAP/food stamps.

Nearly 14 million children are estimated to be served by Feeding America, over 3 million of which are ages 5 and under.

According to the USDA in 2010, over 17 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households and that number is on the rise. 20% or more of the child population in 16 states and D.C. are living in food insecure households.  The states of Arkansas (24.4 percent) and Texas (24.3 percent) have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food. 1,063,864 households (14.2%) in Florida are food insecure.

The Washington Times reported in January that one in six Americans now relies on Feeding America for food and groceries. Some 37.9 million people -- one in eight Americans -- receive food stamps to help buy food at latest count.

I could give you more horrendous facts like how much the federal government has spent producing things in languages other than English but you get the idea. Our government seems hell bent on sending millions overseas, taxing business either out of business or out of country, amnesty for illegals etc. while AMERICANS are going hungry each day and night.

Can someone, anyone, explain this rational – because I can’t.

George Washington long ago urged that the US must "Act for ourselves and not for others," by forming an "American character wholly free of foreign attachments. Americans must push the notion to their representatives, that right now, we MUST put AMERICANS first! They need to stop playing around with our money, stop playing partisan games and get back to the business of making America great! That means less government, fiscal responsibility, and a moral compass focused on America.

One of the most intelligent pieces I’ve read in quite sometime

If every school principal gave this speech at the beginning of the next school year, America would be a better place. 

To the students and faculty of our high school:

I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.

I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and against our country.

First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships.

The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American. This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans.

If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity-, race- and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values -- e pluribus unum, "from many, one." And this school will be guided by America's values.

This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interesting in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.

Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America's citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English -- but if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.

Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can't speak without using the f-word, you can't speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger," even when used by one black student to address another black, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.

Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.

Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue. There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately lucky -- to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you.

Thank you Dennis Prager!

We Reap What We Sow

Given the NEA news of their latest agenda for our children, I have some questions. What is it about the Christian faith that unnerves schools, government and courts alike? What is it exactly that leaves them frantic to keep our kids away from God? Why is okay to promote and ‘educate’ about things their parents and by the way God, deems wrong? Why is perversion ‘in’ and moral authority ‘out’?

In 1962, the Court examined a simple twenty-two word prayer, first used to negate prayer in schools:

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”

This simple prayer, said by children, acknowledged God. Americans’ indifference allowed the removal of prayer from our schools. 

Since 1962 Our SAT Scores have declined

Since 1962 Sexually transmitted diseases have increased

Since 1962 unwed pregnancies have risen

Since 1962 the numbers of girls having premarital intercourse have risen

Since 1962 Female Heads of Household with no spouse present have risen

Since 1962 the rate of unmarried couples living together have risen.

Since 1962 divorce rates have risen

Since 1962 underage drinking has risen

Since 1962 violent crimes have risen

In 1946 Dr. Benjamin Spock made the scene with his infamous book “Common Sense Book of Baby and Childcare’. Within it he stressed not the importance of teaching self-denial and respect for authority but discouraged directive training emphasizing accommodating the child’s feelings and the parents catering to the child’s preferences. Interesting enough, the data above seems to prove that Dr. Spock was wrong. In a 1968 interview with the New York Times, Spock admitted that his first edition of "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" contributed to an increase of permissive parenting in America. "Parents began to be afraid to impose on the child in any way," he said. In his 1957 edition, he tried to remedy that by emphasizing the need for setting standards and asking for respect. Unfortunately, Spock failed to see the deeper problems of his philosophy.

Our children go to school where administrators and faculty are afraid to discipline children when they misbehave. If they want to have sex, no problem, head down to the nurses office for a free condom. They are exposed violence, profanity and illicit sex seemingly at every turn. They seem to have no moral compass, no conscience, and no serious clue as to what is right and what is wrong.

The bible says ‘we reap what we sow’.

I imagine that just about sums it up.

So, I’ll ask again - What is it about the Christian faith that unnerves schools, government and courts alike? What is it exactly that leaves them frantic to keep our kids away from God? Why is okay to promote and ‘educate’ about things their parents and by the way God, deems wrong? Why is perversion ‘in’ and moral authority ‘out’?

President Ronald Reagan once said “If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under”. Why isn’t that amplified by our educations, representatives and courts?

Practice What You Preach

So there I was, sitting quietly having my hair cut. Next to me was a young girl. She was speaking to her friend about her young out of wedlock child and her new boyfriend and how excited she was that she had just received her government issued cell phone with 250 prepaid minutes. She was boasting to her friend that each month the government would refill her minutes – for free while her poor pal, who had a job and was attending college, had to pay $54 a month for hers. She also stated that she received her welfare check and bought these ‘cool new shoes’. As I sat there and listened to this conversation I began thinking about what I’ve been hearing all week – Politics is a dirty business.

I’m an American History major and marvel daily at our Founders. Here we had a group of men coming together, not for their ego, not for their profit, not for re-election, but to risk everything for the country’s future. While our Founders did not agree on everything, a common thread was prevalent: good character, virtue, moral psychology and courage.

As I sat there listening to these young girls and as I read the newspapers each day a glaring fact unfolds – our nation is in trouble. We have trotted off the limited constitutional government, the notion of self reliance and personal responsibility and liberty under God, trail. Why is the question at hand.

While there may be nothing new today in politics – two sides of thought exist and each side fights to have their way, a new philosophy has crept in among those that represent – one of self preservation aka re-election replacing what once was a concern for country and the next generation.

Our children have been taught that they are ‘owed’ something from the government. This young girl believed she was ‘owed’ a cell phone and the right to collect welfare. She seemed to have no desire or thought to better herself or provide for her child for the government would take care of it all. Some politicians push this thought – it’s our job to provide – we must provide aka social justice.

As I was getting ready to leave I couldn’t hold my tongue. I looked to the college girl and said, “she should thank YOU for working, because it is YOU that is providing for her new cell phone, her minutes and her ‘new cool shoes’. With that I left.

Good character, virtue, moral psychology and courage are what is necessary each and every day. We must take those traits with us as we walk the streets, go to the mall, hop on a train or bus. We must remind our schools, our representatives, our family members of what is good and right. We must demand those traits from those that represent if we are to have any hope of steering our nation out of troubled waters. The time has come to start practicing what we preach.

Politics may indeed be a dirty business but it doesn’t have to be. Politicians need to understand that it is not about THEM – it is about future generations. If this mall visit was any inclination – they are failing them. The future generations need a wake-up call that self reliance and personal responsibility is the ‘cool – in thing’ and to be a taker, not so much.

Accountability

 Given all the talk of late of unions and the states are trying to hurt teachers rhetoric, today is a good day to discuss the last hired first fired play that most schools are forced to live by when spending cuts must be made.

 The union’s job is to protect their members. But what happens when their members are no longer performing up to par? Nothing. Actually, they dig their heals in to protect.

I was on a school board a few years back and the conversation came up to link the teachers pay with their student’s performance. You would have thought a proposal was made for the teachers to give up their first born. It was quite amazing. In the end the proposal went nowhere – the unions won.

I am on record understanding the plight faced by teachers. Indeed it’s a new world - one in which parents claim the teachers are too hard on their children, where a parent or student  charges discrimination, sues the school district and wins, where in most cases the teachers hands are tied when it comes to talking, teaching, grading and reprimanding their students. They have children with ADD, Dyslexia, a full spectrum of Special Education Needs, Kids on Ritalin and God knows what else.

Some teachers have just given up – they could care less if their students learn. They get a paycheck and pension so who cares. We’ve all heard it these past few weeks – they’ll start worrying about the children when the children are paying dues. But the truth is the government has gotten in the way with their ridiculous regulations and the unions pushed instead of pulled.

No longer using a red pen (ooh no it hurts the children), give a D to a kid that just shows up b/c they’re not allowed to ‘fail’ anyone (in reality everyone has failed the student b/c they’ve taught him/her nothing) and poof accountability is nowhere.

Students aside, how can we be expected to take the unions seriously when they protect the bad and good teachers equally? Bad teachers are hiding behind the union label and in turn our kids are suffering for it. The unions seem to be of the mentality that it matters not if whom they protect is worthy of being protected. If the unions want to stay in place, if they want their collective bargaining rights maintained, then they should concede to a)allow districts to fire the tenured bad teachers w/out repercussion (providing full documentation is available) and b)allow pay raises to be linked to student achievement. If teachers have to teach to get a pay raise you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be teaching!

I call this the put your money where your mouth is plan.

In turn the government needs to get out of the education business, bring back red pens, and allow teachers and administrators alike to teach and reprimand without fear of parental retaliation. This means that the courts need to wake up to the fact that teachers are in place to teach not be a friend and sometimes when a kid or parent is offended it’s actually A Okay!

And above all else, districts should support teachers that want to fail a kid who isn’t giving their academic career serious attention without fear of losing federal funds.

 Combine all these things together and we have accountability. Accountability from the teachers, the administration, the unions, the government and BINGO the parents and students. It's high time we got our heads on straight and stopped all the nonsense. Accountability across the board is the answer to what ails us.

Teach them well and let them lead the way.

Did you watch the Oscars last night? How about the NASCAR race last weekend? I begrudgingly watched both (I was outnumbered). I have to confess however, sometimes the lessons we learn come from the most unexpected places.

Last weekend 20 year old Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500. He became the youngest winner in Daytona 500 History. First comments from that young man’s mouth – he Thanked God for his victory. His mother said – we prayed for his safety and to just finish the race.

Countless Oscars were given out last night. Not one winner gave God the glory. Not One.

Know how many kids watched the Oscars? Tens of thousands.

Know how many kids watched NASCAR? Thousands.

President Obama has a video message to parents: Spend time with your kids and help them learn. Take some time to sit and do homework with them etc. The overall message seems to be that teachers are not enough, school is not enough, parents must step up to the plate. I couldn’t agree more Mr. President. Our educational system is a mess. We pay teachers to teach our children a leftist version of American History. They have no education on what is good, moral and honest but they have plenty of education on inclusion, acceptance and social justice.

We need to intervene.

Look, I’m not an overly religious person. As a child I went to Sunday School much like the rest of you. I’ve failed my own children in not making them attend Sunday School but I haven’t failed in educating them. They know what is considered good and just in the Lord’s eyes and they are keenly aware that their classrooms are filled with children that don’t share their ideals and morals. We, as adults, find the same thing within our workplaces.

The media continually rants that the Tea Party is nothing more than old, rich white men. I’ve always laughed at that for I’m none of the above. But the point should be taken that children are painfully missing from the picture. The left seeks out the children for they know all too well that the children are our future.

So in the end the moral of the story is this: Hollywood isn’t going to do it. Our teachers aren’t going to do it. Lord knows their music isn’t going to do it. At the risk of being on the receiving end of rolling eyeballs from our kids and grandkids, if we manage to teach them the TRUE history of America, they will see how many eyes, hearts, and minds have looked to, called out to, the Lord for help. How our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and what that really means. How the 10 Commandments were paramount in creating this country and why they remain relevant today. How the U.S. Constitution is not a living breathing document and why. It is the how’s and why’s that are most important in our conversations.

Jesus taught in parables and two of my most recent favorites is found in Mark 4:21 and in Psalms 119:105. Take a few moments and look them up.

I don’t know about you, but I too believe that children are the future, so if we are to have any hope of a good, moral and prosperous America moving forward, we’d better get busy sharing the lessons that will make the most positive, enlightened, and empowering difference.

Let’s bring the lamp out from under the bed. Let's teach the children well and let them lead the way for after all, we cannot benefit the world when we are like the world.

What Are OUR Core Values?

Every single day one of our countrymen puts their lives on the line. Every single day. Fighting a war in Afghanistan is hard enough but our government has decided that we need to give our soldiers something else to think about - other than the people out there wanting to kill them. Our soldiers need a lesson in pc etiquette, that’s right; our combat troops are fixing to get ‘gay sensitivity training’. The Pentagon in their infinite wisdom thinks our service men and women need a lesson on respecting gay’s rights. Fight the Taliban by day gay rights training at night. ARE WE SERIOUS? THIS has to be the most absurd thing I’ve read lately, well okay, it’s in the top 5! Our troops are in dangerous territory and the only thing our government is worried about is their interaction with gay’s and THEIR rights? Talk about misguided priorities.

I’m starting to see very clearly what’s really going on here in America. It’s not just Obama, it’s not just our borders, it’s not just our rewriting of American History, it’s not just a political correctness, it’s not just enemies within our borders, and it’s not just greed.

We have managed to allow the powers that be to rewrite what is acceptable and what is not. The moral fiber of our nation has been stolen and replaced with things that never in our imagination would we think possible some 25 years ago.  A spiritual reconditioning has taken place. The question is - What exactly do we, America, stand for today?

Open homosexuality, Shariah Law in our courts, National Debt, Lying aka political correctness, murder aka abortion, marriage being redefined, divorce rates through the roof, non-wed couples living together opting out of marriage, out of wedlock pregnancies, lifelong welfare recipients, social justice, etc. It’s all being portrayed as normal and socially acceptable.

What are our core values? Do we have them anymore?

The ambivalence is glaring. We have been deceived. Our Judeo-Christian founded country has moved towards something quite evil. Our once unshakeable foundation has been forsaken.

Our Republic has outlasted everyone else’s. Why? Because we were solid in our convictions, morals, greatness and believed in a higher power! Our belief in Almighty God, upon which this country was built, was good. Our quest to be the greatest academic, economic, political system ever devised was good. Yet, over the last 100 years or so we’ve been intentionally misguided, de-sensitized if you will, for the pride, arrogance, greed and lust for power of some .We’ve been made to believe that America is arrogant, that our 10 Commandments cannot be hung in schools or courtrooms b/c they do more harm than good ( I guess all that talk of thou shall not kill, thou shall not lie, thou shall not covet was too much for some), but we must accept Shariah law in Our Country (Shariah is filled with hatred and evil and we’re allowing it here. Why? Because we don’t want to offend. I guess professing the murder of someone who does not believe in Allah is socially acceptable today).

Scripture tells us the enemy roams around like a roaring lion seeking to devour; in all ways. We’ve all been, albeit slowly, reconditioned to reject the truth and become less sensitive to what is wrong. Many of us, through our words and actions contradict our beliefs excusing ourselves with the thought that we had to conform due to political correctness and societal pressure.

Here are just a few examples I came across:

From 1960 to 1990 alone there was a 50% increase in violent crime, a 419% increase in illegitimate births; a quadrupling in divorce rates; a tripling of the percentage of children living in single parent homes; and a drop of almost 80 points in SAT scores. Today, in 2011, those numbers are even higher.

In 1962 organized prayer was taken out of public schools.

On January 22, 1973 the US Supreme Court legalized unrestricted abortion.

Since 1973 there have been more than 40 million abortions.

60% of all websites on the internet are pornographic websites.

85% of kids surveyed last year said their parents had no clue what they did on the Internet.

Homosexuality is now called an alternative lifestyle.

The beloved Disney’s Magic Kingdom began Gay Days in 1990 which has evolved from a one day event to now a weeklong event designed for the LGT community to wear red and be seen while visiting the theme park.

We have states now recognizing same sex unions under the law.

We have over 12 million children living in households where people have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet. Know what that equates to? 1 in 10 households within the USA are living in hunger or at risk of hunger.

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This list of statistics and facts could go on and on to make the point that we are no longer a strong Judeo-Christian country. We have warped into a c’est la vie country. The more research I do the more grieved I become. We have become so desensitized that we have compromised with the world on just about every Thou Shall Not. We have conformed.

Romans 12:2 – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Way back in 1947 Dr. Carle Zimmerman wrote the book “Family and Civilization”. In it he defined eight specific patters of our behavior that signaled the downward spiral and imminent demise of our culture:  

1.      Marriage lost its sacredness; it was frequently broken by divorce.

2.      Traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony was lost. Alternate forms and definitions of marriage arose and traditional marriage vows were replaced by individual marriage contracts.

3.      Feminist movements appeared and women lost interest in child bearing and mothering preferring to pursue power and influence.

4.      Public disrespect for parent and authority in general increased.

5.      Juvenile delinquency, promiscuity and rebellion accelerated

6.      People with traditional marriages refused to accept family responsibilities

7.      Desire for and acceptance of adultery grew

8.      Increased tolerance for sexual perversions of all kinds, particularly homosexuality with a resultant increase in sex related crimes.

I know most of you reading this already pray. But the truth is, until we get GOD back into our lives, this country’s life, and in every facet of it – from our speech to our actions to what we choose to be acceptable, I fear for our country. The only way for this country to again stand for righteousness, godliness and good is through HIS standards not society’s.

Fiscal Responsibility - It's a Bad Word

We have a spending problem. We’ve all heard that before. While that is true we have an even bigger problem – we have a corruption and waste problem. Fiscal responsibility seems to be a bad word to the government.

We live in a world where the government spends $41,000 replacing 36 toilets; Where $1.5 million goes to remove mold from a building scheduled to be torn down; where the unions take member dues and instead of putting that money into pension accounts, they promote campaigns and expect us to bail out the pensions and where the government is seriously contemplating it; where billions are spent in Iraq and Afghanistan and the money turns up lost.

US Budget Watch in 2008 put out a list of the Twelve Principles for fiscal responsibility. It’s time to revisit them:

1.ADMIT THAT WE FACE SERIOUS FISCAL PROBLEMS 

Admit we face serious fiscal problems: The first step toward restoring the nation’s fiscal health is to admit that we have a problem.  Structural budget deficits remain a problem, and they are projected to get much worse in the coming decades. Long-term budget projections are daunting—the long-term fiscal gap over the next 75 years is an astonishing 7 percent of GDP (remember, this was written in 2008).  The government will have to significantly reduce spending, raise revenues, or both, in order to rebalance the budget. 

2. ELEVATE THE ISSUE OF FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Politicians need to use the bully pulpit to focus attention on the nation’s fiscal problems. Through speeches, public forums, town hall meetings, and conversations with the press, they should work to expand public awareness of these problems and place them on the national agenda.  Ultimately, the public will have to demand that politicians act responsibly, but voters cannot be expected to lead the charge.

3. COMMIT TO REDUCING THE DEFICIT

Simply pointing out that there is a problem does not go far enough; politicians need to commit to reducing the deficit. Growing deficits divert capital from economically productive investments, lead to increased interest payments as part of the budget, leave the country reliant on foreign lenders, diminish the projected growth of future U.S. living standards, and shift the costs of today's spending  onto younger and future generations.  Over the past few years, both the president and Congress have proposed budgets that would increase the deficit, even while pledging to reduce it. This pattern of passing budgets that make the problem worse instead of better must be broken. 

4. SUGGEST SOLUTIONS TO FIX SOCIAL SECURITY 

Deficit reduction and balancing the budget are not the only major fiscal challenges facing the country; they are not even the largest. The nation faces an astonishing $53 trillion in fiscal exposures over the next 75 years.  Rebalancing this gap would require immediate spending cuts equal to 20 percent or tax increases of 25 percent. 

5. SUGGEST WAYS TO ADDRESS RISING HEALTH CARE SPENDING

 The options being considered to slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid, and more generally the delivery and consumption of health care throughout the economy, include: improving incentives for both providers and consumers, reforming insurance markets, reforming the tax treatment of health care, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of health care services and delivery systems, and limiting services or beneficiaries that are covered by government spending. It is likely that no matter what steps we take, health care costs will continue to grow faster than the economy, which means that as a nation, we have to decide what we are willing to accept less of in return. 

We should not, at this time, expect any politician to have a fully developed plan to control

the rising costs of Medicare and Medicaid, but we should expect them to acknowledge the

magnitude of the problem of health care cost growth and explain what sorts of options

they support.

6. SUGGEST SOLUTIONS TO OUTSTANDING TAX ISSUES

Unavoidable tax issue is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which was designed to catch very wealthy taxpayers with low tax payments, but is hitting more and more taxpayers each year because it is not indexed for inflation. Congress has shown its commitment to keeping the tax from dramatically expanding by passing patches yearly, but it has thus far failed to enact a permanent solution. The annual cost of these patches is high and growing—and, if the Bush tax cuts are renewed, will reach $100 billion by 2012 and almost $200 billion by 2017.  Eliminating the AMT would be even more expensive.

7. PLAN TO REFORM THE BUDGET PROCESS

The budget process is, in many ways, broken. Congress regularly fails to pass a budget.  Accounting conventions are outdated, deadlines are  routinely missed, restrictions are waived, and enforcement mechanisms are bypassed with distressing regularity. As Congress labors over appropriations bills, the larger portion of the budget—mandatory spending—operates on “automatic pilot.” Particularly relevant to the question of how to reform the budget is the problem that because of how Congress is organized, policy making tends to be overly compartmentalized, and major comprehensive reforms that stretch across budget categories are difficult to enact.  As the next president and Congress work to confront our fiscal problems, they should also reform the budget-making process. Budget process reforms will not replace the need for hard choices—indeed, they can serve as a distraction from or an excuse to avoid taking the specific policy actions that will be required—but process reform should be part of any comprehensive effort to reform the budget.

8. USE HONEST NUMBERS

Budgeting decisions should be made transparently and tax and spending decisions should be made democratically. Politicians often find it convenient, however, to avoid this principle by employing budget gimmicks that cloud the budget-making process. If their proposals are worth their true costs, politicians should be willing to defend them on the merits without resorting to budget trickery. 

9. OFFSET THE COST OF NEW POLICIES

The pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) principle—that new entitlement spending and tax initiatives not increase the deficit—is a fundamental precept of sound budgeting practices.

10. DO NOT PERPETUATE BUDGET MYTHS

Elected officials should be careful not to perpetuate budget myths. Too often, these myths are used to justify fiscally irresponsible actions.

11. DO NOT ATTACK SOMEONE ELSE’S PLAN (Unless You Put Forward an Alternative)

Politics is filled with criticisms and accusations.  Fiscal policies that would improve the budget situation tend to lend themselves to greater attack since they involve increasing revenues and cutting spending rather than the reverse. While rejecting policy solutions may be a useful way for a politician to define himself, by itself it is counterproductive in addressing the country’s fiscal problems. 

12. THE MEDIA SHOULD DO THEIR JOB

 The media need to do a better job of covering all of the issues raised here.

Although the numbers have changed since 2008 – the above is sound advice. Each issue must be addressed in order to strengthen the fiscal and economic position of our country. Instead of the government worrying about creating jobs, redistributing wealth, protecting their special interest buddies and transforming America they should just do their job and address the 12 Step Program!

You Should Know This

Do you know what UN Agenda 21 is? Don’t worry, most don’t but it may just be one of the greatest threats to our freedom. This program has an agenda of socialism and environmentalism with anti-American/anti-capitalist overtones. It’s here for you to read: http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/index.shtml

The agenda calls for sustainable development in local communities and uses the words ‘smart growth’ a lot! Smart growth, according to Richard Tothschild is “not science, it is political dogma combined with an insidious does of social engineering. Smart growth is a wedding wherein zoning code is married with government sponsored housing initiatives to accomplish government’s goal of social re-engineering. It urbanizes rural towns with high density development, and gerrymanders population centers through the use of housing initiatives that enable people with weak patters of personal financial responsibility to acquire homes in higher income areas. This has the effect of shifting the voting patterns of rural municipalities from Right to Left.”

Scott Strzelczyk and Richard Rothschild wrote in the American Thinker that Smart growth plans usurp property rights and constitutional rights. Local officials, at the behest of State Government, revise zoning laws to fit into a "smart code" zoning template. A massive reshuffling of property rights ensues. Farmers may lose subdivision rights; conservation land adjacent to population centers may be rezoned into commercial employment centers; and low-density land in small towns is re-designated as growth area and rezoned to accommodate diverse housing including high-density apartments and condominiums.

Finally, a healthy dose of federal- or state-sponsored housing initiatives is embraced to ensure communities are properly balanced. The net effect of these plans is to create highly urbanized population centers throughout otherwise-rural counties, while simultaneously limiting the availability of land for suburban and estate subdivisions, as these are considered an unsustainable waste of land by Agenda 21 disciples.

Clearly, smart growth plans will impact Americans' future choices in where and how they live. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal and state agencies may attempt to deny grant funds to states and cities that do not adopt smart growth plans.

Regardless of political orientation, two indisputable facts remain. Agenda 21 is a direct assault on private property rights and American sovereignty, and it is coming to a neighborhood near you. Want to know where? Here’s the list:

·Abingdon, VA

·Acton, MA

·Akron, OH

·Alachua County, FL

·Alameda, CA

·Albany, CA

·Albany, NY

·Albemarle County, VA

·Albuquerque, NM

·Alexandria, VA

·Algonquin, IL

·Allegheny County, PA

·Alliance, OH

·American Canyon, CA

·Amherst, MA

·Ann Arbor, MI

·Antioch, CA

·Arlington County, VA

·Arlington, TX

·Arroyo Grande, CA

·Arvada, CO

·Asheville, NC

·Ashland, OR

·Aspen, CO

·Atascadero, CA

·Athens-Clarke County, GA

·Athens, OH

·Atlanta, GA

·Auburn, WA

·Austin, TX

·Ayer, MA

·Babylon, NY

·Bainbridge Island, WA

·Barnstable, MA

·Beaverton, OR

·Bedford, NY

·Belfast, ME

·Bellevue, WA

·Bellingham, WA

·Belmar, NJ

·Belmont, MA

·Belvedere, CA

·Benicia, CA

·Berea, KY

·Berkeley, CA

·Beverly Hills, CA

·Biddeford, ME

·Binghamton, NY

·Blacksburg, VA

·Blaine County, ID

·Bloomington, IN

·Blue Earth County, MN

·Boston, MA

·Bothell, WA

·Boulder, CO

·Bowie, MD

·Boynton Beach, FL

·Bozeman, MT

·Branford, CT

·Breckenridge, CO

·Bridgeport, CT

·Brighton, NY

·Brookfield, IL

·Brookhaven, NY

·Brookline, MA

·Broward County, FL

·Bryan, TX

·Burlingame, CA

·Burlington, VT

·Calistoga, CA

·Cambridge, MA

·Carbondale, CO

·Carmel, IN

·Carpinteria, CA

·Carrboro, NC

·Carroll County, MD

·Carson, CA

·Carver, MA

·Cary, NC

·Champaign, IL

·Chandler, AZ

·Chapel Hill, NC

·Charleston, SC

·Charlotte, NC

·Charlottesville, VA

·Chatham County, GA

·Chatham County, NC

·Chatham, NY

·Chattanooga, TN

·Chelmsford, MA

·Chevy Chase, MD

·Chicago, IL

·Chula Vista, CA

·Cimarron, NM

·Cincinnati, OH

·Clackamas County, OR

·Clallam County, WA

·Clark County, NV

·Clarkstown, NY

·Clayton, MO

·Clermont, NY

·Cleveland, OH

·Clifton, NJ

·Cloverdale, CA

·Coconut Creek, FL

·College Park, MD

·College Station, TX

·Collier County, FL

·Columbia, MO

·Columbia, SC

·Concord, CA

·Concord, MA

·Cookeville, TN

·Cooperstown, NY

·Coppell, TX

·Cortlandt, NY

·Corvallis, OR

·Coupeville, WA

·Cranberry Township, PA

·Creve Coeur, MO

·Croton on Hudson, NY

·Culver City, CA

·Cumberland, ME

·Cupertino, CA

·Cutler Bay, FL

·Dallas, TX

·Dane County, WI

·Danville, CA

·Davie, FL

·Davis, CA

·Dearborn, MI

·Decatur, GA

·Decorah, IA

·Dedham, MA

·Del Mar, CA

·Delray Beach, FL

·Denton, TX

·Denver, CO

·Des Moines, IA

·Devens, MA

·DeWitt, NY

·Dixon, CA

·Dobbs Ferry, NY

·Dryden, NY

·Duarte, CA

·Dublin, CA

·Dubuque, IA

·Duluth, MN

·Dumfries, VA

·Durango, CO

·Durham, NC

·East Hampton, NY

·East Palo Alto, CA

·East Whiteland Township, PA

·Eastchester, NY

·Edina, MN

·Edinburg, TX

·Edmond, OK

·Edmonds, WA

·Edwardsville, IL

·El Cerrito, CA

·El Paso, TX

·Elmhurst, IL

·Emeryville, CA

·Encinitas, CA

·Essex, CT

·Eugene, OR

·Everett, WA

·Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK

·Fairfax, CA

·Fairfield, IA

·Fairmont, WV

·Falls Church, VA

·Falls, PA

·Falmouth, ME

·Fayetteville, AR

·Fayetteville, WV

·Ferndale, MI

·Fitchburg, WI

·Flagstaff, AZ

·Flint, MI

·Forest Hills, PA

·Fort Collins, CO

·Fort Lauderdale, FL

·Fort Wayne, IN

·Foster City, CA

·Frankfort, KY

·Franklin, TN

·Fremont, CA

·Fullerton, CA

·Gainesville, FL

·Gaithersburg, MD

·Garland, TX

·Gatlinburg, TN

·Geneva, NY

·Georgetown, TX

·Glendale, CA

·Golden Valley, MN

·Golden, CO

·Goodyear, AZ

·Grand Forks, ND

·Grand Rapids, MI

·Grand Traverse County, MI

·Grapevine, TX

·Greenbelt, MD

·Greenburgh, NY

·Greenfield, MA

·Greenville, SC

·Groton, CT

·Guadalupe, CA

·Gunnison County, CO

·Hailey, ID

·Hamilton County, TN

·Hamilton, NJ

·Harrisonburg, VA

·Hastings on Hudson, NY

·Haverford, PA

·Hawaii County, HI

·Hayward, CA

·Helena, MT

·Henderson, NV

·Hennepin County, MN

·Hermosa Beach, CA

·Hillsboro, OR

·Hillsborough, CA

·Hingham, MA

·Homer, AK

·Houston, TX

·Howard County, MD

·Howard, WI

·Humboldt County, CA

·Hunter, NY

·Huntington, NY

·Huntsville, AL

·Hyattsville, MD

·Inglewood, CA

·Iowa City, IA

·Ipswich, MA

·Irvine, CA

·Irving, TX

·Issaquah, WA

·Ithaca (City), NY

·Ithaca (Town), NY

·James City County, VA

·Johnson County, IA

·Johnson County, KS

·Juneau, AK

·Kansas City, MO

·Keene, NH

·Key West, FL

·King County, WA

·Kingston, MA

·Kirkland, WA

·Kirkwood, MO

·Knoxville, TN

·Kodiak, AK

·La Grange Park, IL

·La Mirada, CA

·La Plata County, CO

·Lacey, WA

·Lafayette, CA

·Lake Elsinore, CA

·Lake Forest, IL

·Lake Oswego, OR

·Lake Worth, FL

·Lakewood, CA

·Larchmont, NY

·Las Cruces, NM

·Las Vegas, NV

·Lawrence, KS

·Lee County, FL

·Lee's Summit, MO

·Leon County, FL

·Lewes, DE

·Lexington-Fayette County, KY

·Lexington, MA

·Lexington, VA

·Lincoln City, OR

·Livermore, CA

·Lomita, CA

·Los Alamos County, NM

·Los Altos Hills, CA

·Los Angeles County, CA

·Los Gatos, CA

·Loudoun County, VA

·Loveland, CO

·Lowell, MA

·Lower Makefield, PA

·Lower Southampton, PA

·Lynchburg, VA

·Lynnwood, WA

·Madera, CA

·Madison, WI

·Mahtomedi, MN

·Maitland, FL

·Mamaroneck (Town), NY

·Mamaroneck (Village), NY

·Manhattan Beach, CA

·Manitou Springs, CO

·Mankato, MN

·Maplewood, NJ

·Marathon, FL

·Maricopa County, AZ

·Marlboro, NJ

·Marshfield, MA

·Marshfield, WI

·Martinez, CA

·McMinnville, OR

·Meadville, PA

·Medford, MA

·Mendocino County, CA

·Menlo Park, CA

·Merced, CA

·Mercer Island, WA

·Miami Gardens, FL

·Miami, FL

·Miami-Dade County, FL

·Middletown, PA

·Mill Valley, CA

·Millbrae, CA

·Milpitas, CA

·Milton, MA

·Milwaukee, WI

·Milwaukie, OR

·Minneapolis, MN

·Mission, KS

·Missoula, MT

·Monmouth County, NJ

·Monroe County, FL

·Monterey, CA

·Montgomery County, MD

·Montgomery County, PA

·Montgomery Township, PA

·Moorpark, CA

·Moraga, CA

·Morgan County, GA

·Morro Bay, CA

·Mount Kisco, NY

·Mountain View, CA

·Mt. Lebanon, PA

·Muncie, IN

·Murrieta, CA

·Nantucket, MA

·Napa County, CA

·Napa, CA

·Narberth, PA

·Nashua, NH

·Nashville, TN

·Natick, MA

·National City, CA

·Nether Providence, PA

·New Brunswick, NJ

·New Castle, NY

·New Haven, CT

·New London, CT

·New Orleans, LA

·New Paltz (Town), NY

·New Rochelle, NY

·New York, NY

·Newark, CA

·Newark, NJ

·Newburyport, MA

·Norfolk, VA

·Norman, OK

·North Andover, MA

·North Castle, NY

·North Hempstead, NY

·North Las Vegas, NV

·North Liberty, IA

·North Little Rock, AR

·North Miami, FL

·Northampton, MA

·Northbrook, IL

·Novato, CA

·Oak Harbor, WA

·Oak Park, IL

·Oak Ridge, TN

·Oakdale, MN

·Oakland, CA

·Oakley, CA

·Oberlin, OH

·Ogdensburg, NY

·Olivette, MO

·Olympia, WA

·Omaha, NE

·Onondaga County, NY

·Orange County, FL

·Orange County, NC

·Orangetown, NY

·Orinda, CA

·Orlando, FL

·Ormond Beach, FL

·Oshkosh, WI

·Ossining (Town), NY

·Ossining (Village), NY

·Oswego, IL

·Oxford, OH

·Pacifica, CA

·Palm Bay, FL

·Palm Beach County, FL

·Palm Springs, CA

·Palmdale, CA

·Palo Alto, CA

·Park City, UT

·Parlier, CA

·Passaic County, NJ

·Peekskill, NY

·Penn Hills, PA

·Penndel Borough, PA

·Peoria, AZ

·Philadelphia, PA

·Phoenix, AZ

·Piedmont, CA

·Pinecrest, FL

·Pinellas County, FL

·Pittsburg, CA

·Pittsburgh, PA

·Pittsfield, MA

·Plano, TX

·Plantation, FL

·Port Townsend, WA

·Portland, ME

·Portland, OR

·Portola Valley, CA

·Portsmouth, NH

·Pound Ridge, NY

·Prairie Village, KS

·Prince George's County, MD

·Providence, RI

·Pulaski County, AR

·Queen Anne's County, MD

·Quincy, MA

·Racine, WI

·Radnor, PA

·Raleigh, NC

·Rancho Cucamonga, CA

·Reading, MA

·Red Hook, NY

·Redmond, WA

·Redwood City, CA

·Renton, WA

·Richardson, TX

·Richmond, CA

·Richmond, VA

·Ridgefield, CT

·Riverside, CA

·Riverside, MO

·Roanoke County, VA

·Roanoke, VA

·Rochester, MN

·Rochester, NY

·Rock Island, IL

·Rockford, IL

·Rockville, MD

·Rohnert Park, CA

·Rolling Hills Estates, CA

·Rolling Hills, CA

·Rosendale, NY

·Roseville, MN

·Rye, NY

·Sacramento County, CA

·Sacramento, CA

·Saint George, UT

·Saint Helena, CA

·Saint Louis County, MO

·Saint Louis, MO

·Saint Paul, MN

·Salem, MA

·Salinas, CA

·Salisbury, MD

·Salt Lake City, UT

·San Anselmo, CA

·San Antonio, TX

·San Bruno, CA

·San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA

·San Carlos, CA

·San Clemente, CA

·San Diego, CA

·San Francisco, CA

·San Jose, CA

·San Leandro, CA

·San Luis Obispo, CA

·San Mateo County, CA

·San Mateo, CA

·San Miguel County, CO

·San Pablo, CA

·San Rafael, CA

·San Ramon, CA

·Santa Ana, CA

·Santa Barbara County, CA

·Santa Barbara, CA

·Santa Clara County, CA

·Santa Clara, CA

·Santa Clarita, CA

·Santa Cruz, CA

·Santa Fe, NM

·Santa Monica, CA

·Santa Rosa, CA

·Sarasota County, FL

·Sarasota, FL

·Saratoga Springs, NY

·Saratoga, CA

·Saugerties, NY

·Savannah, GA

·Seaside, CA

·SeaTac, WA

·Seattle, WA

·Seminole County, FL

·Sequim, WA

·Sequim, WA

·Shoreline, WA

·Sierra Madre, CA

·Signal Mountain, TN

·Silver City, NM

·Sioux Falls, SD

·Sitka, AK

·Skagit County, WA

·Snohomish County, WA

·Snowmass Village, CO

·Solana Beach, CA

·Solano County, CA

·Somers, NY

·Somerset County, NJ

·Sonoma City, CA

·Sonoma County, CA

·South Bend, IN

·South Burlington, VT

·South Daytona, FL

·South Gate, CA

·South Miami, FL

·South Padre Island, TX

·South Portland, ME

·South San Francisco, CA

·Southampton (Town), NY

·Southampton (Village), NY

·Spartanburg County, SC

·Spartanburg, SC

·Spokane, WA

·Springfield, IL

·St. Lawrence County, NY

·Stamford, CT

·Staunton, VA

·Stockton, CA

·Stonington, CT

·Suffolk County, NY

·Summit County, UT

·Sumter, SC

·Sunnyvale, CA

·Syracuse, NY

·Tacoma, WA

·Takoma Park, MD

·Tallahassee, FL

·Tamarac, FL

·Tampa, FL

·Taos, NM

·Tarrytown, NY

·Temecula, CA

·Tempe, AZ

·Tewksbury, MA

·Texarkana, TX

·Thurston County, WA

·Tiburon, CA

·Tompkins County, NY

·Town and Country, MO

·Tracy, CA

·Traverse City, MI

·Tuckahoe, NY

·Tucson, AZ

·Tulsa, OK

·Tumwater, WA

·Tybee Island, GA

·Tyngsborough, MA

·Union City, CA

·University City, MO

·Urbana, IL

·Vacaville, CA

·Vallejo, CA

·Venice, FL

·Ventura County, CA

·Vernon,CA

·Victor, NY

·Virginia, MN

·Visalia, CA

·Vista, CA

·Volusia County, FL

·Walnut Creek, CA

·Waltham, MA

·Washington, DC

·Washoe County, NV

·Washtenaw County, MI

·Wellesley, MA

·West Chester, PA

·West Palm Beach, FL

·West Sacramento, CA

·West Windsor, NJ

·Westchester County, NY

·Westminster, CO

·Whatcom County, WA

·Williamstown, MA

·Willits, CA

·Wilton, CT

·Winchester, MA

·Windsor, CA

·Windsor, CT

·Winston-Salem, NC

·Wolfeboro, NH

·Woodside, CA

·Woodstock, NY

·Worcester, MA

·Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS

·Yarmouth, ME

·Yonkers, NY

·York, ME

·Youngstown, OH

·Yountville, CA