Democracy

1. philipat Says:
   April 28th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
2. More completely:
3. “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
4. From bondage to spiritual faith;
   From spiritual faith to great courage;
   From courage to liberty;
   From liberty to abundance;
   From abundance to selfishness;
   From selfishness to complacency;
   From complacency to apathy;From apathy to dependence;
   From dependence back into bondage.”
5. Hmm, wonder where we are in the cycle?

TEA PARTY

On Easter Sunday the Obama family attended a service at Shiloh Baptist church led by yet another radical preacher, Rev. Wallace Smith. 

The Rev. Smith had this to say about what his Grandson would say if he could talk "I am here. ... They tried to write me off as three-fifths of a person in the Constitution, but I am here right now. ... I am not going to let anybody stop me from being what God wants me to be."  The famous line from Obama’s mentor, Jeremiah Wright, “No, No, No not God bless America God d—n America,” would fit in nicely after that little bit. 

My mom always told me “you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps,” and Obama has a consistent pattern of surrounding himself with radical American haters.  Whether it is his personal life with the Reverends Wright and Smith and the terrorists,  Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn, or his appointments Eric Holder, Van Jones, and the like, Obama has made it clear that he is comfortable in the company of radicals.  Why would somebody so blessed by America associate himself with those who constantly seek to tear down America? 

Our team here at TheTeaParty.net is unabashedly pro-American.  We love our flag, our freedoms, and the Constitution.  We hold our hands over our hearts during the Star Spangled Banner, and we will never apologize for American exceptionalism! 

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Welfare Reform Tackles Debt Crisis and Unemployment

Welfare Reform Tackles Debt Crisis and Unemployment

by Emily Miller

04/20/2011

House Republicans have begun reforming welfare programs as part of their efforts to cut government spending to tackle the budget deficit and reduce unemployment.  The House passed the Republican budget for Fiscal Year 2012 on Friday.  It reduces government spending on the welfare programs and increases employment through mandatory work requirements.

Also, Rep. Jim Jordan (R.-Ohio) introduced the Welfare Reform Act of 2011, which is an overall restructuring of the entitlement program.  Jordan’s bill would cut redundancy of the 77 federal welfare programs, cap overall spending on the programs, and mandate work requirements.

“This bill begins to treat all American families with the respect they deserve.  We’re giving the taxpayers, who are supporting the system, the facts of where your dollars are actually going, and showing this is why it needs change.  And for the families stuck in the system, we’re going to give them tough-love incentives they need for a better life,” Jordan said in an interview with HUMAN EVENTS.

The key provisions of the Welfare Reform Act are the following:  Formulate the total amount that taxpayers are spending on all means-tested welfare at all government levels, require that the President’s annual budget include the total cost for federal, state, and local welfare spending for the next decade, require able-bodied adult beneficiaries of food stamps to work or prepare for a job, and after unemployment falls to 6.5%, then cap welfare spending at 2007 levels as adjusted for inflation.

Jordan said that welfare reform is needed now because of the debt crisis.  The current national debt is $14.1 trillion, and is projected to hit the statutory debt ceiling in the next month.  And this year’s projected budget deficit is $1.6 trillion.

“Reason one, welfare reform is going to help with the spending problem eventually.  This is mandatory spending.  And there are 77 different means-tested social welfare programs out there,” said Jordan.  “When you factor in state tax dollars and federal tax dollars, it’s comparable to what is spent at the federal level for national defense.”

According to the House Republican Study Committee, which Jordan heads, the state and federal government are spending twice as much on welfare programs since reforms were instituted in 1996.  The committee predicts that welfare spending will exceed $10 trillion over the next decade.

“We have 77 different programs, and you just ask the obvious question, ‘Do you think there is some redundancy there?’  There are probably some programs that we can get rid of, and combine resources,” said Jordan.  “And actually if you combine resources, and you can combine programs, you can actually free up some dollars.  Some of the savings can actually go to help the needy families out there.”

Also, Jordan said that with the slow economy and high rate of unemployment (8.8%), instituting work requirements is necessary to help get people back on the job.

“We want to do things that actually help families, not trap families,” Jordan told HUMAN EVENTS.  “When they actively have to do the job search, or community work, or some kind of employment that supplements what they’re getting from the taxpayer, those are all things that help them with the kind of employment that they can get into long-term, and get away from any welfare program.”

In 1996, the Republican Congress worked with President Clinton to reform welfare by creating the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.  The TANF program required recipients to work or prepare to work.  Jordan said that the 1996 reforms were successful in getting people back to work, but other social welfare programs have since expanded in scope and costs, while the culture has reverted back to old standards due to liberal policies under President Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress.
“The last several years under Democrats, we’ve begun to move back to the old model of thinking of welfare as, the more people you sign up, the more successful the program is, versus what it should be,” said Jordan.  “A successful social welfare program is one that would have fewer and fewer people, more and more people employed in the private sector, and more and more people who aren’t stuck in the old system.”

Jordan also pointed to Obama’s stimulus bill for contributing to the social welfare problems by incentivizing states to sign up more people onto welfare rolls in order to get more federal funds.  “The incentive I think has moved in the wrong direction,” said Jordan.     Welfare is up 54% on Obams’s Watch.
Jordan’s bill has 18 co-sponsors, including the original Republican co-sponsors, Representatives Tim Scott (S.C.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Dan Burton (Ind.), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), and Jason Chaffetz (Utah).  As the 77 welfare programs are spread out among so many federal departments and agencies, the bill was referred to five committees of jurisdiction: Ways and Means, Budget, Rules, Agriculture, and Energy and Commerce.

Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.) included two major provisions from the Welfare Reform Act in the House GOP budget for FY12.  The Republican budget includes the new work requirement for food stamp recipients and puts a spending cap on all welfare programs at 2007 levels after unemployment falls below 6.5%.

The Republicans’ “Path to Prosperity” budget, which tackles entitlement reform of mandatory spending, passed the House last week along party lines, but is not expected to get a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Jordan is pushing for a stand-alone vote in the House this year on the Welfare Reform Act.

“Work requirements, having limits, having an overall cap, we think all these things are going to be helpful as we move forward,” Jordan told HUMAN EVENTS.  “And of course, there’s the other big issue that we talked about, and that is, we’re broke.  We’ve got to change.  And if we don’t begin to dramatically change things, the path we’re on fiscally is just not sustainable.”

A lesson in todays values

Monday, April 18, 2011 Let’s get “real” ... by Larry Edelson

Dear George, Over the past few years, I have warned my subscribers that the Dow Jones Industrials (DJI) — in real terms — had already lost over 80% of its value, when measured from its real, inflation-adjusted high of 14,198 in October 2007. I also warned on several occasions that ... “The U.S. dollar was on the edge of the abyss.” And that ... “The only way to truly understand the U.S. economy — what’s happening, why, and where it’s headed — is to look at asset prices in terms of gold, the world’s only real form of money.” In fact, looking at asset values, even the country’s GDP, not just in nominal terms, but against gold — is the only way to “get real” these days. It is absolutely CRITICAL that you understand that last point, because I believe that concept is the most crucial information you need to know to financially survive and prosper — now and in the years ahead. And because the dollar is now so close to careening of a cliff, if you don’t understand how its value affects you, you’re almost certain to see your wealth get vaporized. But the simple fact of the matter is this: Ever since U.S. politicians severed the link between the dollar and gold, the only truly accurate way to analyze any asset price is to consider it in terms of gold. Before President Nixon dissolved the gold standard in 1971, anything and everything you did in your business, in investing, even in your personal finances — could be converted into or exchanged for physical gold by simply going to your bank and redeeming your dollars for gold. That’s no longer the case. And that’s also why since 1971, asset values have fluctuated much more wildly than they did before the U.S. went completely off the gold standard. Don’t get me wrong. The gold standard had to go for a variety of reasons. For one thing, there was not enough gold in the world back then to support the growth of our economy, yet alone any other. There still isn’t. For another, the gold standard put central banks and politicians on the wrong path. Instead of taking appropriate measures to boost their economies when growth was slow or sinking, central banks and politicians engaged in deliberate warfare to protect their nations’ gold, no matter what the cost to the economy or to human life and suffering. So I understand why we do not have a gold standard today, and further, why putting the world back on a gold standard is not possible. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have your own gold standard so to speak — as I have often implored you to do, by owning gold in your portfolio! You must also, as I noted above, absolutely and unequivocally understand that in today’s world, the value of everything is relative! Consider the Dow Jones Industrials, again, in terms of GOLD — TRUE MONEY, or what I like to call REAL WEALTH. For instance, suppose you had $10,000 of paper dollars (or digital dollars in your brokerage account) to invest in the DJI at the beginning of 2001 ... At the end of 2001, your original $10,000 investment in the Dow was worth $10,021 — a gain of 0.21%. Meanwhile, that $10,021 would have bought you 38.5 ounces of gold. At the end of 2002, your original $10k investment in the Dow would have been worth only $8,341.64, a loss of $1,679.36, or 16.78%. That $8,341.64 meanwhile, would have bought you even less gold, 21.8 ounces, or 43.4% LESS gold. Put another way, in real terms, the DJI didn’t lose just 16.78%. It lost 43.4%! Yes, it is true that the Dow had fallen and gold had risen. But that’s my point. The paper dollars that you had invested in the Dow lost more than you realized. Let’s say that then, despite the loss, you stayed invested in the Dow ... At year-end 2005, you would have been able to buy the equivalent of only 19.5 ounces of gold with your money invested in the Dow ... At year-end 2006, only 15.8 ounces ... At the end of 2007, only 13 ounces ... At the end of 2008, only 10.4 ounces ... At the March 2009 low of 6,440 in the Dow, your investment would buy you only 7.08 ounces of gold. In other words, against gold, REAL MONEY, your investment in the Dow lost an amazing 81.61% of its purchasing power, falling from 38.5 ounces of gold to only 7.08 ounces! Pretty amazing, eh? So where does the Dow stand now, in terms of gold? Today’s Dow buys the equivalent of roughly 8.48 ounces of gold. That means it has snapped back from its low of 7.08 ounces in March 2009, by roughly 19.6%. But think it through and you’ll notice that ... That’s a heck of a lot less of a gain than the “nominal Dow” shows, which has rallied more than 92.3% from its 6,440 low in March 2009 to its current 12,390 level. Why? Answer: Because the price of gold has not only gone up, but it’s gone up faster than the Dow has. So, the “real gain” in the Dow since March 2009 is not 92.3%, but only 19.6%. Assuming that’s the case, then that would explain why I don’t feel that much richer because of the Dow’s rally over the last three years, right? You bet it is. Because you see, the value of paper money continues to lose purchasing power. Period. That’s also why — almost everywhere you turn today — everything costs you more money. Your dollars are deflating, while other asset prices are inflating. Deflation and inflation are two sides of the same coin. Your money is deflating — but just about everything that you use that money for, is, on the other hand, inflating. I don’t expect that to change. In fact, if you’ve read my April issue of Real Wealth Report that published this past Friday, you know exactly what I mean. In the months and years ahead, the purchasing power of your paper money is bound to go down, down and down. It’s the way Washington wants it. Washington wants to inflate away its debt problems by raising asset prices, artificially, via a dollar devaluation. I call it a “default on the sly” — because it’s terribly sneaky. It also robs you of your life savings and wealth ... Unless you understand it and take appropriate measures to protect yourself — with your own gold standard. Best wishes, Larry P.S. Assessing real estate values in terms of gold is another very interesting analysis. At the peak of the housing market in March 2007, the median U.S. home price was $262,600, equivalent to 346.4 ounces of gold. Today’s median home price is $156,100, or 109.2 ounces of gold. So in terms of nominal values, the U.S. median home price has shed 40.6%. But in terms of real money, gold, the median home price in the U.S. has lost a whopping 68.47% since 2007. At some point, housing prices will rebound and start to reflate. Just like the stock market is starting to do. But it won’t perform anywhere near as well as many other assets, especially tangible natural resources that the world depends upon and needs to consume on a daily basis. For more in-depth analysis of how today’s world really works, including all of my recommendations, I encourage you to join Real Wealth Report. Start with the April issue that just published. It’s an eye-opener. At $99 for one year, a membership costs less than one-fourteenth of an ounce of gold, a bargain in today’s money. Click here now to join.

Cairo Messenger - Dear Editor

Dear Editor, you have finally done it: came out of the Obama closet. I knew you would. But, like all die-hard Democrat hacks, you just stuck your toe out, with typically no facts of real domestic interest. Since you are now an economist, I want to add a few facts that your readers can identify with. Medicare and social security is up 14% and 16% respectively on Obama's watch. Domestic spending is up 41%, Welfare is up 54%. I wonder how Grady County likes Obama now. He is the worst president in history. Even worse than Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and Jimmy.
          Wilson and Obama are the only anti-Americans in our history. If I were you I would go back in the closet, so as to protect my image. There is nothing about Obama that is defensible.

George Bivins
dare you to print

Financial train wreck

U.S. Finances Are an Even Bigger Mess
Than is Generally Understood

Even before Obama took office, unfunded federal liabilities had blown past $500,000 per U.S. family of four. In fact, federal finances are in such shambles that David Walker, Comptroller of the Currency, resigned in disgust at the tail-end of the Bush administration.

Worse is what's happened since Walker resigned. As Rep. Ron Paul recently wrote, the trillions of dollars created to bail out banks have added the equivalent of a whole new federal establishment to Uncle Sam's bloated obligations.

Obama's new spending obligations stagger the imagination, amounting to...

• More spending than the socialistic New Deal...
• More spending than the Korean War...
• More spending than the 1980s savings and loan bailout...
• More spending than the entire Iraq War...

COMBINED!

And that was even before the Congressional Budget Office discovered that minor little $75 billion miscalculation I mentioned earlier in the Obama team's math.

Now another CBO report shows that rising unemployment and falling tax revenue will likely force the Social Security "Trust Fund" into the red as soon as this year – a full decade before the Comptroller General's office had previously warned it would happen.