Connor Betts Dayton Shooter poster child for modern Democrat Party, Supported Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, Pro Satan leftist
“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.”…George Orwell
“Not every item of news should be published: rather must
those who control news policies endeavor to make every item
of news serve a certain purpose.”… Joseph Goebbels
“We are being lied to on a scale unimaginable by George Orwell.”…Citizen Wells
The Poster Child for the modern Democrat Party, Connor Betts.
From Zero Hedge.
“Dayton Shooter Was A Pro-Satan Leftist Who Supported Warren, Sanders, Antifa And Communism”
“And while the media was eager to quickly expose the El Paso shooter as a right-wing extremist with the implication that he is merely following Trump’s belligerent rhetoric, only few details had emerged about the Dayton, Ohio shooter although we certainly understand why the mainstream media may not have rushed to make these alleged details public – because according to Heavy.com, the Dayton shooter was an Elizabeth Warren (and Bernie Sanders) supporter who advocated for socialism, communism and supported Antifa.”
“On his alleged Twitter account, he promoted Antifa and the Democratic Socialists of America”
“The account wrote that he would “happily vote for Democrat Elizabeth Warren, praised Satan, was upset about the 2016 presidential election results, and added, ‘I want socialism, and i’ll not wait for the idiots to finally come round to understanding.'”
He also allegedly retweeted a post about “rounding up hostages” in a video game before “shoot[ing] them all in the head”:”
“According to his former high school classmates, he was “a bully who liked to scare women.”
Heavy.com claimed they had verified his Twitter handle “through multiple verification factors, including a matching tattoo on both a page selfie and prominent news outlets’ pictures of Connor Betts; several family linkages to the page; similar photos, including of him and the family dog, on the page and family members’ verified accounts; and references to college and growing up in Ohio and Dayton.”
By Monday morning, Twitter had suspended the account:”
Pope Francis speaks without knowledge and discernment, The Saint Peter principle, Pope rises to his own level of incompetence, Coming from South America where failed socialism and raping of environment is rampant he lectures us on capitalism and global warming
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism.
But, under the name of “liberalism”,
they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program,
until one day America will be a socialist nation,
without knowing how it happened.”
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party.
The Democratic Party has adopted our platform.”…1944 Norman Thomas speech
“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”…George Orwell, “Animal Farm”
“We are being lied to on a scale unimaginable by George Orwell.”…Citizen Wells
Pope Francis is a very likeable person and appears to be genuinely concerned about humanity.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”…Karl Marx
However, like the rest of humanity, he has risen to his own level of incompetence.
I call this the “Saint Peter Principle.”
Not only has he risen to his own level of incompetence, I question that what he is speaking of is the message of Jesus.
To put this in more simple terms, as my mother would say, “he has gotten too big for his britches.”
Pope Francis hails from South America, the home of failed socialist policies, vast raping of the environment and widespread poverty.
He appears to be clueless about the core nature of capitalism such as my ancestors experienced when they left Europe in the 1700’s.
He also appears to be oblivious to the fact that capitalism has brought much of humanity out of historical poverty.
Rush Limbaugh quoting Thomas Sowell addresses this September 22, 2015.
“In this instance, Obama and Moochelle are gonna be out there to greet the pope when he lands. It’s not a long flight up here from Cuba. He’s on an Alitalia jet, which is a capitalist airline. Well, parts of it are. I think it’s an Airbus. It would matter because one’s a capitalist manufacturer and one’s a socialist manufacturer.
Thomas Sowell has a column today about the pope and his arrival, but primary it’s about the pope’s message. I have highlighted three things that Sowell has written here because they’re brilliant. They take issue with the pope and his belief that the objective for all of humanity is to end poverty. And of course the pope believes that we’ve all done a rotten, horrible job of it, and that governments need to get bigger and they need to become populated with more and more compassionate people to find ways to get rid of poverty.
And of course Thomas Sowell points out that there’s one way to get rid of poverty. But let me read to you what he wrote ’cause it’s really, really good, folks.
“Any serious look at the history of human beings over the millennia,” let’s say from the beginning of time “– Any serious look at the history of human beings over the millennia shows that the species began in poverty. It is not poverty, but prosperity, that needs explaining. Poverty is automatic.” Poverty is the natural state. I’ll tell you the reason I like this is because it goes right at my definition of American exceptionalism, which is that since the beginning of time the existence for most of the world’s human beings has been bondage, tyranny, poverty, dictatorship. It certainly has not been liberty. It has not been freedom. Not until the United States came along. And that’s not an exaggeration. ”
“Another stat. Infant mortality rates in 1900 were 165 per thousand. You know what that means? For those of you in Rio Linda, what that means is for every thousand people born, 165 died. Infant mortality rates. In 1997, 97 years later, the infant mortality rate was seven per thousand. It’s quite a reduction, from 165 per thousand in 1900 to 7% by 1997. By 2001 most Americans living below the official poverty line had central air-conditioning, had a car, had cable TV, with multiple TV sets, and other amenities. Poverty in the United States isn’t even close to what real poverty is around the world, and remember poverty is how the species began. ”
“I just wanted to share that with you because for the next five days you are going to hear nothing anywhere remotely like that. You’re going to be hearing, you’re gonna be deluged with how unfair your country is, how unfeeling. You’re going to be told how your country isn’t doing enough, hasn’t done enough, you aren’t doing enough. You might hear how your country and you are selfish. You might even hear how your country has taken things that it does not deserve and are not its own from other parts around the world. You’re gonna hear all kinds of things the next four or five days to try to convince you how unjust, socially unjust your country is. ”
“You may think you’ve heard the Peter Principle before—something to the effect that, “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”
But the Peter Principle was more than an alarmingly nasty motto. It was an alarmingly nasty book—and a funny one at that, illustrating the efforts of many managers to seem productive when in fact they’re in over their heads.”
“Here are the core principles of Peter’s bungling world of management:
1. When you’re great at something, you might get rewarded with a promotion … into something you’re terrible at. A typical example, Peter said, is if you’re a great rule-follower who suddenly is placed in charge of making rules and decisions. You may well freeze up in your new role or gum up the productivity of everyone else.
2. Once you’re promoted to your level of incompetence, you probably won’t get fired and replaced with someone more competent. Instead, others will work around you. Whyaren’t you fired? Perhaps because you probably know too much about your boss’ business to be booted out too casually. Or because people have sympathy for you because you’re working so many hours. Or because the people who are supposed to judge you have reached their own level of incompetence, and damned if they’re able to realize how unproductive you are. So you now have reached the ominously termed station called “Final Placement.””
France 75 percent tax on rich proposed by President Francois Hollande, Businesses that pay salaries over 1 million euros, French actor Gerard Depardieu left France
“A tax increase to a company results in some combination of the following:
Product and service price increases.
Employee and hours cutbacks.
Reduced hiring.”…Citizen Wells
“Nearly every empirical study of taxes and economic growth published in a peer reviewed journal finds that tax increases harm economic growth,”…William McBride, Tax Foundation
“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher
From CNN Money March 29, 2013.
“France’s Hollande wants 75% payroll tax on rich”
“French President Francois Hollande made changes to his failed proposal for a 75% top tax rate on Thursday, shifting the burden of payment from individuals to businesses that pay salaries over 1 million euros.
Hollande, during last year’s presidential campaign, proposed a 75% tax rate on individual income above 1 million euros. The controversial tax was rejected by France’s judiciary.
Hollande made his new payroll tax proposal on big salaries during a late-night television broadcast. “The Constitutional Council made a decision,” Hollande said. “I respect it. So, I’m going to take a different path.”
ll
Hollande said the measure is needed to ensure transparency at large corporations — the only businesses that can afford to pay employees so generously.
His initial proposal, which never became law, inspired French actor Gerard Depardieu to abandon the country, instead adopting Russian citizenship and moving to Belgium.”
“guess what this liberal would be all about? This liberal would be all about socializing — uh, uh, would be about basically taking over and the government running all of your companies.”…Maxine Waters
“So ACORN’s Democratic friends in Congress moved to force Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac to dispense with normal credit standards. Throughout the early ’90s, they imposed ever-increasing subprime-lending quotas on Fannie and Freddie.” “Requests to the Capital Police to release the activists from Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass,) failed. Then Rep. MaxineWaters(D-Calif.) showed up at the jail and refused to leave until the protesters were released; the Capital Police relented.” “Instead, Democrats like Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Reps. Kennedyand Waters allied with the Clinton administration to broaden theacceptability of risky subprime loans throughout the financial system, thus precipitating our current crisis.”…Maxine Waters
“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”…George Orwell, “Animal Farm”
From Breitbart February 6, 2013.
“DEM REP: 2016 PRES CANDIDATE WILL HAVE ‘POWERFUL’ DATABASE THAT HAS ‘EVERYTHING ON EVERYONE'”
“The President has put in place an organization with the kind of database that no one has ever seen before in life,” Representative Maxine Waters told Roland Martin on Monday. “That’s going to be very, very powerful,” Waters said. “That database will have information about everything on every individual on ways that it’s never been done before and whoever runs for President on the Democratic ticket has to deal with that. They’re going to go down with that database and the concerns of those people because they can’t get around it. And he’s [President Obama] been very smart. It’s very powerful what he’s leaving in place.”
This comes as no surprise to anyone observing Maxine Waters’ history.
So, does the database have Obama’s college and other records?
We have quite a dossier on Maxine Waters.
From Citizen Wells December 14, 2009.
October 13, 2008 – Acorn contribution to mortgage crisis
“FOR years, ACORN had combined manipulation of the CRA with intimidation-protest tactics to force banks to lower credit standards. Its crusade, with help from Democrats in Congress, to push these high-risk “subprime” loans on banks is at the root of today’s economic meltdown.””
““Instead, Democrats like Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Reps. Kennedy and Waters allied with the Clinton administration to broaden the acceptability of risky subprime loans throughout the financial system, thus precipitating our current crisis.
ACORN had come to Congress not only to protect the CRA from GOP reforms but also to expand the reach of quota-based lending to Fannie, Freddie and beyond. By steamrolling the GOP that March, it had crushed the last potential barrier to “change.”””
““ACORN’s alliance with the Democratic Party is at the root of the current financial meltdown. And Barack Obama has stayed true to ACORN’s ways.””
“Judicial Watch Announces Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians” for 2011″
“Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2011 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The list, in alphabetical order, includes:
“President of Shell Oil Company. This liberal, Maxine Waters starts to be honest by revealing herself as a Socialist, but stops, stumbles and then comes up with a more accepted answer. Oops! The guy next to her sighs with relief when she finally gets the words out America would want to hear her actually say, the lady next to him seems to be holding back her laughter. A pathetic real time revelation of the true identity of one of our nations liberal Democrat decision makers.”
Obama Dianne Feinstein Democrat Socialists gun control attempts to disarm Americans, Nazi Germany history repeats, Himmler ordinary citizens don’t need guns
“When an opponent declares, “I will not come over to your side,” I calmly say, “Your child belongs to us already… What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.”…Adolf Hitler
“We control life, Winston, at all its levels. You are imagining that there is something called human nature which will be outraged by what we do and will turn against us. But we create human nature. Men are infinitely malleable.”…George Orwell, “1984″
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”…George Santayana
Don’t tell me history does not repeat.
Nazi Germany
“Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.”…Adolf Hitler
“The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear.”…Heinrich Himmler
“Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA – ordinary citizens don’t need guns, as their having guns doesn’t serve the State.”… Heinrich Himmler
Barack Obama
“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”
“I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face.“
“I just want you to know that we are working on it (gun control)….We have to go through a few processes, but under the radar.”
“I’d like to get it done in the first year. I will put forward a very specific proposal based on the recommendations that Joe Biden’s task force is putting together as we speak. And so this is not something that I will be putting off.”
From Vision to America December 31, 2012.
“Dianne Feinstein Confesses Her Goal is to Disarm ALL Americans”
“Dianne Feinstein: “If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States, for an outright ban, picking up [every gun]… Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein’s ultimate plan has always been to have Mr. and Mrs. America turn in their guns to the government, period. Feinstein has admitted that the bill is about gun confiscation.
She tells us a gun ban is about saving the children and reducing crime, but her comments on 60 Minutes in 1995 reveal her true plan is to disarm the American people.
On Thursday, Feinstein will introduced her dream bill to disarm the American people. The legislation is open-ended and includes provisions to re-register firearms and submit the fingerprints of law-abiding Americans as if they’re sex offenders.”
Democrat 2012 platform endorses same sex marriage, 2007 DNC party rules put Democrat Party above nation and Constitution, Norman Mattoon Thomas DNC adopted socialist platform
“It is presumed that the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, when certified pursuant to the Call, are bona fide Democrats who are faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of the United States”…Rules for 2008 DNC Convention and Electors
“The term “presidential candidate” herein shall mean any person who, as determined by the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, has accrued delegates in the nominating process and plans to seek the nomination,….affirmatively demonstrates that he or she is faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of the United States”…Rules for 2008 DNC Convention and Electors
“In selecting delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention, no state law shall be observed which hinders, abridges, or denies to any citizen of the United States, eligible under the Constitution of the United States to hold the office of President of the United States or Vice President of the United States,”…Rules for 2008 RNC Convention and Electors
From Business Week August 11, 2012.
“Democratic Party Backs Same-Sex Marriage for 2012 Platform”
“Democrats unanimously voted today to endorse same-sex marriage in their party’s platform, the first time a major political party has supported the issue in its statement of policies.
Today’s action at the platform committee meeting in Detroit sends the document for ratification by delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, said in May that he supports same-sex marriage. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney doesn’t.
A drafting committee included the same-sex marriage provision in the platform last month. Platform committee members raised no objections.
“The 14th Amendment is very clear — equal protection under the law,” said the platform committee co-chairman, Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. “We as a party have really embraced the president’s ideas.”
While calling the action “very significant,” Booker told reporters after the committee meeting that the top issue in the presidential campaign would be the economy, not same-sex marriage.
“It may repel some, it may attract others,” he said. “This campaign is not going to turn on gay marriage.”
Immigration Overhaul
The platform also calls for “comprehensive immigration reform,” citing the Dream Act, legislation that would allow children brought to the U.S. by undocumented-immigrant parents to get legal status if they go to college or join the military. Congressional Republicans have blocked the legislation. Obama said June 15 that his administration would no longer deport some young adults brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
Senate Democratic candidates in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico had asked that Dream Act provisions be part of the party platform.
While the platform promises to “preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms,” it also says that “the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation,” such as restoring the ban on assault-style weapons and strengthening background checks.
Twelve people were killed and at least 58 were injured on July 20 when a gunman opened fire during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. Seven people, including the alleged gunman, died in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on Aug. 5.
Corporate Donations
The platform also addresses the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which removed restrictions on corporate and union independent expenditures and has led to an increase in campaign spending by outside groups, many of which don’t disclose their donors. The platform calls for “immediate action” to overhaul the campaign finance system, including requiring nonprofit groups running political ads to disclose their contributors.
“You have huge amounts of secret money coming in and changing every level of government,” said Matthew Lesser, a state representative in Connecticut and a member of the platform committee.”
The 2007 DNC party rules made no mention of adhering to the US Constitution. It did, however, reveal the priority of the Democrat Party.
“II. QUALIFICATIONS OF STATE DELEGATIONS”
“C. It is presumed that the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, when certified pursuant to the Call, are bona fide Democrats who are faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of the United States, who subscribe to the substance, intent and principles of the Charter and the Bylaws of the Democratic Party of the United States, and who will participate in the Convention in good faith. Therefore, no additional assurances shall be
required of delegates to the Democratic National Convention in the absence of a credentials contest or challenge.”
“VI. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
The term “presidential candidate” herein shall mean any person who, as determined by the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, has accrued delegates in the nominating process and plans to seek the nomination, has established substantial support for his or her nomination as the
Democratic candidate for the Office of the President of the United States, is a bona fide Democrat whose record of public service, accomplishment, public writings and/or public statements affirmatively demonstrates that he or she is faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of the
United States, and will participate in the Convention in good faith.”
FROM A 1944 speech by Norman Mattoon Thomas, a leading American Socialist and six time Socialist Party of America Presidential Candidate.
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism.
But, under the name of “liberalism”,
they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program,
until one day America will be a socialist nation,
without knowing how it happened.”
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party.
The Democratic Party has adopted our platform.”
The 2007 Republican Party rules at least state the following constitutional requirement for the presidency.
“In selecting delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention,
no state law shall be observed which hinders, abridges, or denies to any citizen of the United States, eligible under the Constitution of the United States to hold the office of President of the United States or Vice President of the United States, the right or privilege of being a candidate under such state law for the nomination for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States or which authorizes the election of a number of delegates or alternate delegates from any state to the national convention different from that fixed in these rules.”
Obama New Party socialist affiliations, ACORN, Democratic Socialists of America, 2008 Citizen Wells reports
“However, when the CHD funds Alinsky-style, church-based community organizations as in the best interest of the poor and supports organizations which advance other agendas, it divests the poor of their right to an authentic voice. This process tends to treat the poor as exploited units of human capital, rather than as human beings created in the dignity of God’s image.”
“To accomplish its goals, as outlined in the People’s Platform, ACORN has developed a political alliance with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Together with others, ACORN and the DSA have formed a political party, the New Party.”…1997 report to the Catholic Bishops
“Barack Obama was an active participant in the 1990s, and a direct political beneficiary, of the Chicago New Party and, importantly, the Chicago DSA, a group of socialists affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America.”…Matthew Weaver, October 2008
From Citizen Wells October 8 , 2012.
“I was preparing to write an article about Obama being a member of and
being endorsed by the New Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.
The NoquarterUSA blog came out with an excellent article yesterday on
this subject and since they do such a great job, I will quote them. I
will add a few points but more importantly show the involvement of
Acorn in the socialist efforts.
The New Party
“Obama is Hiding a Radical Past!
By Matthew Weaver”
“Did you know that Barack Obama was affiliated with a leading national socialist party? Barack Obama didn’t include in his 2008 resume that he entered politics in the mid-1990s endorsed by Chicago’s leading socialists. This just keeps getting better and better. Barack Obama was an active participant in the 1990s, and a direct political beneficiary, of the Chicago New Party and, importantly, the Chicago DSA, a group of socialists affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America.
Barack Obama attended and participated in meetings of the Chicago New Party and the Chicago DSA, the local affiliate of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Barack Obama sought the endorsement of the Chicago DSA which required rigorous scrutiny by the party’s Political Committee as well as Mr. Obama’s signature on a contract promising “a visible and active relationship with the NP.”
Barack Obama actively used the endorsement from the Chicago DSA.
Barack Obama won his DSA-endorsed and -backed campaign to secure his seat in the Illinois State Senate.
Barack Obama continued his involvement with the Chicago DSA — including directly asking the group to join “his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration” — and received their endorsements in subsequent campaigns.
Obama’s participation in and endorsement from the Chicago New Party and Chicago DSA, the local affiliate of the Democratic Socialists of America (which is the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International) is quite clear:”
“Obama Sought Endorsement of Marxist Third Party in 1996
By Warner Todd Huston”
“Here is some interesting as well as character confirming info about one of Barack Obama’s former runs for office. Apparently, Obama actively sought and received the stamp of approval of a Marxist third party that operated briefly in Chicago between 1992 and 1998. The group was called the “New Party” and was started in 1992 by Daniel Cantor (a former staffer for Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign) and Joel Rogers (a sociology and law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison).”
“The New Party was a Marxist political coalition whose objective was to endorse and elect leftist public officials — most often Democrats. The New Party’s short-term objective was to move the Democratic Party leftward, thereby setting the stage for the eventual rise of new Marxist third party.
Most New Party members hailed from the Democratic Socialists of America and the militant organization ACORN. The party’s Chicago chapter also included a large contingent from the Committees of Correspondence, a Marxist coalition of former Maoists, Trotskyists, and Communist Party USA members.”
by Erick Erickson”
“Barack Obama, not needing to, chose to affiliate himself with this band of quasi-communists. As the nation moves closer to the election, it is clear that Obama chose to affiliate with assorted anti-American radicals. Machiavelli once noted that we can know a leader by the people he surrounds himself with. What does that say about Barack Obama, who chose to surround himself with people committed to overthrowing the United States and capitalism?”
“A Commentary on the Campaign for Human Development
Prepared for the Catholic Bishops of the United States
Prepared by the Wanderer Forum Foundation
I. Introduction: This commentary is submitted to the Catholic Bishops of the United States with respect to their possible consideration of changes in the organization, funding, and structure of the Campaign for Human Development (CHD). It is essential to note, however, the limited purpose and scope of this commentary:”
“COMMUNITY ORGANIZING: During the funding period of 1992-1995, CHD gave significant grants to community organizing efforts that implement many of the organizational techniques recommended by Saul Alinsky. Many community organizations patterned after Alinsky’s recommendations recruit their membership either entirely or partially by institution. Included among this class of grantees are four national organizations: the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), Gamaliel, Pacific Institute for Community Organizing (PICO), and Direct Action and Research Training Center (DART). The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) which is alsopatterned on Alinsky’s organizationalrecommendations, recruits individual members. These five national organizations alone account for approximately 33% of current CHD expenditures annually. For purposes of illustration, it will be useful to note here some aspects of the operation of ACORN and the IAF.”
“During the 1990s, ACORN has been openly active in Congressional lobbying. Its leadership operates, “…from inside positions of power. ACORN’s work on the savings and loan bailout provided effective means of developing and applying power…ACORN members won appointment to the Resolution Trust Corporation to help determine the management of the billions of dollars of assets the government seized.”
“To be eligible to receive CHD funds, a program must be run by the poor, benefit the poor, and change social structures that harm the poor.” However, in light of the politically oriented thrust of ACORN’s activities, it is fair to ask whether the CHD subsidies to ACORN are advisable and commensurate with the purposes of CHD.”
“This commentary does not oppose CHD funding of genuine, grassroots community organizations, run and supported by individual members of a parish or diocese. There is potential value and virtue in the collective voice. However, when the CHD funds Alinsky-style, church-based communityorganizations as in the best interest of the poor and supports organizations which advance other agendas, it divests the poor of their right to an authentic voice. This process tends to treat the poor as exploited units of human capital, rather than as human beings created in the dignity of God’s image.”
“Nor is there any basis for the CHD to imply by its actions that there are no alternative organizations that it can fund to promote valuable institutional change, uninfluenced by a politicized agenda. There is no necessity for CHD funds to go to organizations which contribute to or participate in any way in the political support of abortion. There is no necessity for CHD to fund Alinsky-style, church-based community organizations. There are alternative, self-determined organizations of the poor, which are supportive of life. Those alternative, grassroots community organizations do not merely serve their constituency but rather they are their constituency. They do not use community organizing to further an additional agenda.
It would be reasonable for the bishops to consider:
The immediate cessation of all CHD funding to Alinsky-style, church-based community organizations.”
To accomplish its goals, as outlined in the People’s Platform, ACORN has developed a political alliance with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Together with others, ACORN and the DSA have formed a political party, the New Party.
“National ACORN president, Maud Hurd, along with Dr. Cornel West (honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America) and a representative from the Reproductive Rights Coalition Fund, are listed as New Party supporters.”
“In a Russian class at the University of Hawaii, she met the college’s first African student, Barack Obama. They married and had a son in August 1961, in an era when interracial marriage was rare in the United States.” From the NY Times
This may mean nothing, but it sure is interesting. No single puzzle piece is significant until the puzzle picture begins to emerge.
Frank Marshall Davis mentored Obama in 1970′s
“The reason is apparent: Davis was a known communist who belonged to a party subservient to the Soviet Union. In fact, the 1951 report of the Commission on Subversive Activities to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii identified him as a CPUSA member. What’s more, anti-communist congressional committees, including the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC), accused Davis of involvement in several Communist front organizations,” Kincaid said. Kincaid noted Obama has admitted attending “social conferences” and seeing Marxist literature. “But he ridicules the charge of being a ‘hard-core academic Marxist,’ which was made by his colorful and outspoken 2004 U.S. Senate opponent, Republican Alan Keyes.”
“Decades ago, the CPUSA had tens of thousands of members, some of them covert agents who had penetrated the U.S. government. It received secret subsidies from the old Soviet Union,” Kincaid wrote. Read more
Davis defended communists (From an article that downplays Davis’ communist ties)
“Mr. Davis constantly defended the 11 top United States Communist officials recently convicted in New York on charges of conspiracy to advocate the overthrow of the Government by force and violence. One of Mr. Davis’ comments on the case was as follows : “I feel strong sympathy for the Communist minority who are being oppressed for their political beliefs.” (Honolulu Record, October 20, 1949, p. 6).”
“Mr. Davis has signed a number of statements in behalf of Communists under the sponsorship of the Civil Rights Congress; one of these defended was Gerhart Eisler, notorious Communist international agent who escaped jailing forpassport fraud by fleeing to the Soviet sector of Germany.” Read more
Note passport fraud above. Sound familiar and suspicious?
Key witness in passport fraud case fatally shot
“key witness in a federal probe into passport information stolen from the State Department was fatally shot in front of a District church, the Metropolitan Police Department said yesterday.
Lt. Quarles Harris Jr., 24, who had been cooperating with a federal investigators, was found late Thursday night slumped dead inside a car, in front of the Judah House Praise Baptist Church in Northeast, said Cmdr. Michael Anzallo, head of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division. ‘ Read more Obama traveled to Pakistan in 1981
From the Philip Berg lawsuit
“53. Furthermore, Obama traveled to Indonesia, Pakistan and Southern India in 1981. The relations between Pakistan and India were extremely tense and Pakistan was in turmoil and under martial law. The country was filled with Afghan refugees; and Pakistan’s Islamist-leaning Interservices Intelligence Agency (ISI) had begun to provide arms to the Afghan mujahideen and to assist the process of recruiting radicalized Muslim men–jihadists–from around the world to fight against the Soviet Union. Pakistan was so dangerous that it was on the State Department’s travel ban list for US Citizens. Non-Muslim visitors were not welcome unless sponsored by their embassy for official business. A Muslim citizen of Indonesia traveling on an Indonesian passport would have success entering Indonesia, Pakistan and India. Therefore, it is believed Obama traveled on his Indonesian passport entering the Countries. Indonesian passports require renewal every five (5) years. At the time of Obama’s travels to Indonesia, Pakistan and India, Obama was twenty (20) years old. If Obama would have been a U.S. citizen, which he was not, 8 USC §1481(a)(2) provides loss of nationality by native born citizens upon “taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state…after having attained the age of eighteen years”, in violation of 8 U.S.C. §1401(a)(1). Since Lolo Soetoro legally acknowledged Obama as his son and/or adopted Obama, Obama was a “natural” citizen of Indonesia, as proven by Obama’s school record.”
In 1981 Pakistan had millions who had fled Afghanistan. The Soviets controlled the Afghan government.
Soviet invasion and control of Afghanistan, from Wikipedia
“The Government and political structure of Afghanistan had been copied from the Soviet model. As with all communist states, the communist party had supreme power in the government. The party members got all the government positions in the country. When the Parcham took governmental power in Afghanistan, the governmental structure was not altered. The biggest change was that the Khalqies was forced of from their governmental positions and replaced by Parchams.
When the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in 1979 they killed Khaq leader Amin and replaced hin with Babrak Karmal the same year. Karmal’s government was more or less a puppet government for the Soviet Union. The Soviets took total control over governmental politics after the invasion until their withdrawal in 1989.[32]“
What does this mean?
Obama has kept much of his life hidden. We know little of Obama’s 1981 Pakistan trip. It is obvious that there were plenty of soviets in the area. Did Obama meet with them during his trip? We may never know.
Obama has close ties to his leftist, Marxist cousin, Raila Odinga
“Raila Odinga’s politics, like the politics of his father, Odinga Odinga, are on thefar left. Raila Odinga was educated at the Technical University in Magdeburg ineast Germany, where he graduated in 1970″
“with a degree in mechanical engineering. There he heard Fidel Castro lecture and he named his first born son Fidel”
“By supporting Odinga, Senator Obama is also seen in Kenya as siding with the extreme left wing of Kenyan politics, going back to the overt communism of Odinga Odinga. Odinga’s current party, the Orange Democratic Movement, or ODM, is a leftist-socialist political party that stops short of being openly communist.” Read more
Barack Obama visited Kenya in 2006 and campaigned for his cousin, Raila Odinga, a member of the radical ODM party. Obama also criticized the Kenyan government. Obama’s actions in Kenya are a possible violation of the Logan Act. Here is a video ofObama and Raila Odinga:
THIS ARTICLE IS FROM JANUARY 22, 2007
“Obama Manchurian or Mohammedan Candidate?”
“CFP pondered how it was possible for a senator to emerge from the fog to land himself on the pages of USA Today where he was touted as “the new face of change and reform for the Democratic party?””
“”What if Obama is engaged in pious fraud? This is a Muslim practice of pretending not to be Muslim to further the cause of Islam or to “defend the faith”. He becomes President and then says, “Gee…I think I want to be Muslim again” after he finds the “football” in his hands that carries the launch codes for the USA nuke forces.”
Obama, Chavez and Russian vessels off coast of Venezuela
“As of today, September 7, Chavez has announced he is making some similar deal himself with Russia off the coast ofVenezuela. Just to be sure we got the point he threw in one of his demeaning anti-American insults. Notice these wheels have been in motion – spurred on by obama – since May of this year.” Read more
April 2, 2009
“Obama gets Russia on track”
“Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as “my new comrade“”
“The Russian president contrasted Obama as “totally different” to his predecessor George W. Bush, whom he blamed for the “mistake” of U.S. missile shield plans fiercely opposed by Moscow.”
“In their London talks, Obama and Medvedev launched a milestone quest to slash their nuclear arsenals, hoping to reverse the worst slump in the former foes’ ties since the end of the Cold War.”
“”Yesterday I spoke about this with my new comrade President Barack Obama,” Medvedev said.” Read more
The following exerpts tie all of this together and explain the Communist Party’s objectives and how Obama was exposed to them. Remember, much of Obama’s exposure took place prior to his trip to Pakistan in 1981.
“In a dossier posted on the America’s Survival blog Herbert Romerstein, a former US government security investigator, records how Moscow micromanaged the CPUSA. In 1935, Moscow instructed it to establish a CP apparatus in Hawaii to develop a mass revolutionary movement there and promote the withdrawal from its territory of US forces – at that time essential for the defence of the US. This Hawaii CP network was perceived by government bodies to be a major threat to US national security.
A key figure was Harry Bridges, a CP agent and head of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. In 1948, Frank Marshall Davis came to Hawaii at the suggestion of Bridges and another secret CPUSA member, Paul Robeson. Dr. Kathryn Takara, a professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Hawaii, herself a radical poet and Obama supporter (and who takes issue with some of the claims made about Davis and Obama) wrote her dissertation on Davis and spent much time with him between 1972 and his death in 1987. In an analysis, Takara notes that he brought ‘an acute sense of race relations and class struggle throughout America and the world’ and that he openly discussed subjects such as American imperialism, colonialism and exploitation. He espoused freedom, radicalism, solidarity, labor unions, due process, peace, affirmative action, civil rights, Negro History week, and true Democracy to fight imperialism, colonialism, and white supremacy. He urged coalition politics.”
“As Kincaid reports, Kathryn Takara has said that Obama was introduced to Davis by his grandfather Stanley Dunham, who considered Davis a ‘strong black male figure’ and thought he exerted a ‘positive’ and significant influence over Obama during his high school years. In her view, Davis was just such a black role model for the young Obama and gave him ‘a sense of believing that change can happen’ through ‘living in a diverse world’. The problem was that Davis believed ‘change’ could best be achieved through Stalinism.”
“The reason is apparent: Davis was a known communist who belonged to a party subservient to the Soviet Union. In fact, the 1951 report of the Commission on Subversive Activities to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii identified him as a CPUSA member. What’s more, anti-communist congressional committees, including the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), accused Davis of involvement in several communist-front organizations.”
“Obama’s victory was more than a progressive move; it was a dialectical leap ushering in a qualitatively new era of struggle. Marx once compared revolutionary struggle with the work of the mole, who sometimes burrows so far beneath the ground that he leaves no trace of his movement on the surface. This is the old revolutionary ‘mole,’ not only showing his traces on the surface but also breaking through.’
Not surprisingly, therefore, this underground ‘mole’ has been backed to the hilt by American Communists. In 2004, the Chicago Communist Party backed his successful campaign for the Senate, as the People’s Weekly reported:
Activists from Illinois were immersed in the campaign to elect Barak Obama to the U.S. Senate. Obama won a landslide victory in the March 16 Democratic primary. If Obama wins in November, he would be only the third African American senator since Reconstruction. ‘This was a historic victory. It was a victory for political independence and grassroots, coalition, and issue oriented politics over the machine and money,’ said John Bachtell, Illinois CP district organizer.’
And as the Columbia News Service reported, the Young Communist League has mobilised to campaign for Obama: doubtless the Democratic Party is less than anxious to divulge to the nation this particular affiliation of these young activists who are helping it get out the Democratic vote.”
“In his most recent post on the subject, Cliff Kincaid reports that Obama has now acknowledged a personal relationship with Frank Marshall Davis. But in a riposte to allegations about his radical associations, his camp has nevertheless misleadingly edited an article to conceal the fact that Davis was a member of CPUSA. This is less than surprising since, as Kincaid also notes, the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee issued a report in 1956 declaring:
‘Founded in September 1919, the Communist Party of the United States of America is an organization unique in American history. It is not a true political party and differs fundamentally from all political parties in this country. It is in fact a Russian-inspired, Moscow-dominated, anti-American, quasi-military conspiracy against our Government, our ideals, and our freedoms.’ In 1982 testimony, FBI assistant director for intelligence Edward J. O’Malley testified that the CPUSA has been ‘one of the most loyal and pro-Soviet Communist Parties in the world and has unfalteringly accepted Soviet direction and funding over the years.’ The recent book, Comrade J, based on interviews with a Russian spymaster at the United Nations, documents that Soviet intelligence operations against the U.S. continued even as the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia emerged in its place.
Camp Obama might also have a few problems with this recent account in the UK’s Daily Telegraph, which reported that Davis was also a pornographer and sexual deviant who was into sado-masochism and even the seduction of a 13 year old girl:
On other occasions, Mr Davis would cruise in Hawaii parks looking for couples or female tourists to have sex with. He derived sexual gratification from bondage, simulated rape and being flogged and urinated on. He boasted that ‘the number of white babes interested in at least one meeting with a Negro male has been far more than I can handle’ and wished ‘America were as civilised as, say, Scandinavia’. He concluded: ‘I regret none of my experiences or unusual appetites; for me they are normal.’
Ah yes, redefining deviancy as normality, the agenda indeed of Gramsci/Alinsky: patron saints of community organisers, apostles of deeply underground mole-like revolutionary Marxism, architects of the wildly successful undermining of western morality and society in America and Britain — and now poised to embed itself in the White House, epicentre of the oppressive global capitalist regime, itself.” Read more
Is Barack Obama a Manchurian Candidate?
Is Obama being controlled and influenced byCommunists in Russia or other countries?
Part 1 provided well documented ties from Obama to many leftist, socialist and radical people and organizations.
Part 2 has provided Obama’s long time ties to communists and the Communists Party of the United States.
Part 3 will provide evidence that the Russians helped place Obama in power. If you are already not freightened for this country, Part 3 will take you there.”
NC A&T University debuts new website, 400k grant, 10 percent tuition hike, More spending like drunken sailors in UNC university system
“Guilford (Large NC County) appears on it’s way to a third consecutive year with annual jobless rates in double digits. Economists say that likely hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.”…Greensboro News Record December 2, 2011
“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher
Recently I wrote about UNCG, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and other UNC state supported schools spending like drunken sailors and raising tuition. Here is another example. NC A&T is a UNC school also located in Greensboro, NC. Here is another example of questionable spending in the worst economy here since the Great Depression.
From the Greensboro News & Record print edition February 27, 2012.
“A&T debuts new website”
“A $ 400,000 grant funds redesign for vibrant, informative recruiting tool.”
” The new site (www.ncat.edu) launches today, and Martin said it clearly tells the Aggie story and will help the community to better connect and engage with the university.”
“The website was redesigned using $ 400,000 in grant money that helped pay for consultants that assisted university staff on the project.”
From the Greensboro News & Record 19, 2011.
“A&T trustees approve tuition hike”
“N.C. A&T students will see their tuition bills rise over the next five years under a plan the university’s board of trustees approved Friday afternoon.
A UNCG tuition and fee committee this week also recommended increases on that campus.
The tuition increases at A&T represent a 10 percent hike for undergraduates and 12 percent for graduate students.”
“Next year won’t be the last time A&T students feel the pain of a higher tuition bill. Under a plan to phase in increases, undergraduates will pay an additional $200 a year for another four years. Graduate students will pay an extra $300 a year during the same time period.
The UNC system has a 6.5 percent cap in place on tuition increases, but system leaders are allowing campuses this year to propose increases above that cap to help make up for money lost through budget cuts.”
““Literally, schools are in a position where we’ve got to figure out something else to do,” Akua Matherson, A&T’s assistant vice chancellor for budget and planning, told the trustees’ business affairs committee Friday morning in explaining the temporary lift on the tuition cap.
Matherson said the increases will help A&T maintain the level of funding needed to compete with its peer institutions.
The tuition money will generate nearly $5 million for the university. It will be invested in need-based financial aid, academic and student support, institutional support such as safety initiatives, and graduate assistantships.
Trustees unanimously approved the increases, but not without concern.
Once the increases kick in, trustee Pamela McCorkle Buncum said she would like to hear how they are affecting students.
She said she wants administrators to compile information such as how many are having to drop out to work and earn money for tuition.”
UNC tuition hikes, University of NC System raises tuition costs in dismal economy, Working students and families pay other’s tuition, Income redistribution
“Guilford (Large NC County) appears on it’s way to a third consecutive year with annual jobless rates in double digits. Economists say that likely hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.”…Greensboro News Record December 2, 2011
“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher
A teachable moment.
Once again the Greensboro News Record has placed articles about the dismal jobs situation and economy in Guilford county and NC on the front page with UNC, University of North Carolina University System tuition hikes. I congratulate them for that.
From the Greensboro News record February 11, 2012.
“Amid chants of protest from about 100 students, the UNC Board of Governors this morning approved President Tom Ross’ proposal for tuition and
fee hikes over the next two years.
Ross’ plan would raise tuition by an average of 8.8 percent across the system and keeps increases below 10 percent on every campus.
UNCG’s in-state undergraduates would see a $423, or 7.5 percent, increase in tuition and fees under Ross’ plan. Trustees had sought an increase of 7.8
percent.
N.C. A&T undergraduates from North Carolina would see an 8.4 percent, or $385, increase.
Ross’ plan also sets tuition increases for 2013-14. Tuition for UNCG resident undergraduates would increase $153, or 2.5 percent. Those at A&T would see an
increase of $200, or 4 percent.
Students from campuses across the state packed the lobby of the General Administration Building, showing their discontent over the hikes by carrying signs that, drawing on the Occupy movement, declared the board of governors as the one percent; beating drums and chanting throughout the entire meeting. They marched from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and were met by police officers, who explained there was no capacity for all of them in the meeting room.
“We’re trying to take part in the governance of the university!” they yelled in response.
“Our university!”
“No justice! No peace!”
When David Young, chairman of the board’s budget and finance committee, sought a motion to vote, a group of students inside the meeting room interrupted, chanting in part, “Your tuition hikes will shackle students with years of debt and force many to drop out of UNC system schools!”
When board members turned to discussing what percentage of tuition dollars should support needy college students, protesters in the lobby could be heard
shouting, “We want financial aid!”
Today’s vote caps months of intense debate over tuition, which the system has used in recent years to help make up for legislative cuts to its budget. The
hikes have forced more students to take on extra jobs to pay for school, or drop out altogether.”
“The state mandates that at least 25 percent of the money from the tuition dollars go toward financial aid for needy students. Some board members recently have spoken out about that requirement, saying it essentially calls for students, who themselves may be struggling, to subsidize the education of other students.”
The teachable moment.
To the students, working families struggling to pay tuition:
Most people do not fit neatly into boxes that define Republican, Democrat, Independent, Conservative, Liberal, etc. The only tag I accept for myself is
fiscal conservative. I also believe in the US Constitution as the rule of law. At the end of the day it is all that we have to protect you and me.
I promise you, as a fiscal conservative that I am more concerned about your condition in life than the many politicians or liberals spewing platitudes about
educational concerns.
Some observations about the UNC tuition hikes:
I have watched some of these schools spending like drunken sailors for years, apparently not anticipating or properly reacting to the downturn in the
economy.
Colleges in NC and elsewhere spend other people’s money. As Margaret Thatcher stated: “They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money.”
These “educators” are supposed to be educating our young people. What kind of message does this send?
Welcome to the world of socialism, redistribution of wealth. In a way I am glad this is happening. A real world example of taking from the “rich” and giving to the “poor.”
I am on the side of the students. Not because they have a right to a college education, but because as responsible citizens we should endeavor to keep costs down and subsequently teach the ultimate lesson about survival and what bad government and socialist policys yield.
The Corruption of America, Porter Stansberry, America is in decline, Americans Are Getting Poorer Fast, Entitlement root of many serious cultural problems
The following are exerpts from a well written article by Porter Stansberry on many of the economic and social woes of America. The full article is worthy of your time.
“The Corruption of America”
“Why I’m still bullish on America
By: Porter Stansberry
The numbers tell us America is in decline… if not outright collapse.
I say “the numbers tell us” because I’ve become very sensitive to the impact this kind of statement has on people. When I warned about the impending
bankruptcy of General Motors in 2006 and 2007, readers actually blamed me for the company’s problems – as if my warnings to the public were the real problem, rather than GM’s $400 billion in debt.
The claim was absurd. But the resentment my work engendered was real.
So please… before you read this issue, which makes several arresting claims about the future of our country… understand I am only writing about the facts
as I find them today. I am only drawing conclusions based on the situation as it stands. I am not saying that these conditions can’t improve. Or that they
won’t improve.
The truth is, I am optimistic. I believe our country is heading into a crisis. But I also believe that… sooner or later… Americans will make the right
choices and put our country back on sound footing.
Please pay careful attention to the data I cite. And please send me corrections to the facts. I will happily publish any correction that can be
substantiated. But please don’t send me threats, accusations against my character, or baseless claims about my lack of patriotism. If I didn’t love our
country, none of these facts would bother me. I wouldn’t have bothered writing this letter.
I know this is a politically charged and emotional issue. My conclusions will not be easy for most readers to accept. Likewise, many of the things I am
writing about this month will challenge my subscribers to re-examine what they believe about their country. The facts about America today tell a painful
story about a country in a steep decline, beset by problems of its own making.
One last point, before we begin… I realize that this kind of macro-economic/political analysis is not, primarily, what you pay me for. You rightly expect me to provide you with investment opportunities – whether bull market, bear market, or total societal collapse. And that’s what I’ve done every month for more than 15 years.
But that’s not what I’ve done this month. You won’t find any investment ideas at all in these pages. This issue is unlike any other I have ever written.
I’m sure it will spark a wave of cancellations – costing me hundreds of thousands of dollars. I fear it will spark a tremendous amount of controversy. Many
people will surely accuse me of deliberately writing inflammatory things in order to stir the pot and gain attention. That’s not my intention. The truth is,
I’ve gone to great lengths throughout my career to protect my privacy.
I am speaking out now because I believe someone must. And I have the resources to do it. I am sharing these ideas with my subscribers because I know we have arrived at the moment of a long-brewing crisis.
Our political leaders, our business leaders, and our cultural leaders have made a series of catastrophic choices. The result has been a long decline in
America’s standard of living.
For decades, we have papered over these problems with massive amounts of borrowing. But now, our debts total close to 400% of GDP, and America is the world’s largest borrower (after being the world’s largest creditor only 40 years ago)… And the holes in our society can no longer be hidden…
We’ve reached the point where we will have to fix what lies at the heart of America’s decline… or be satisfied with a vastly lower standard of living in
the future.
How do I know? How do I statistically define the decline of America?
The broadest measure of national wealth is per-capita gross domestic product (GDP). Economists use this figure to judge standards of living around the world.
It shows the value of the country’s annual production divided by the number of its citizens. No, the production isn’t actually divided among all the
citizens, but this measure provides us with a fair benchmark to compare different economies around the world. Likewise, this measure shows the growth (or the decline) in wealth in societies across time.
So… is America growing richer or poorer based on per-capita GDP? Seems like a simple enough question, doesn’t it? Is our economy growing faster than our
population? Are we, as individuals, becoming more affluent? Or is the pie, measured on a per-person basis, growing smaller?
This is the most fundamental measure of the success or the failure of any political system or culture. Are the legal and social rules we live under aiding
our economic development or holding us back? What do the numbers say?
Unfortunately, it’s a harder question to answer than it should be. The problem is, we don’t have a sound currency with which to measure GDP through time.
Until 1971, the U.S. dollar was defined as a certain amount of gold. And the price of gold was fixed by international agreement. It didn’t actually begin to
trade freely until 1975. Therefore, the value of the U.S. dollar (and thus the value of U.S. production, which is measured in dollars) was manipulated higher
for many years.
Even today, our government’s nominal GDP figures are greatly influenced by inflation. The influence of inflation is particularly pernicious in GDP studies.
You see, inflation, which actually reduces our standard of living, drives up the amount of nominal GDP. So it creates the appearance of a wealthier
country… while the nation is actually getting poorer.”
“You see, I believe the decline of our country is primarily a decline of our culture.
We have lost our sense of honor, humility, and the dedication to personal responsibility that, for more than 200 years, made our country the greatest hope for mankind. I want to detail some of the factors that gave rise to the current entitlement society. We have become a country of people who believe their well-being is someone else’s responsibility.
I’ve labeled these problems: The Corruption of America.
These problems manifest themselves in different ways across institutions in all parts of our society. But at their root, they are simply facets of the same
stone. They are all part of the same essential problem.
The corruption of America isn’t happening in one part of our country… or in one type of institution. It is happening across the landscape of our society,
in almost every institution. It’s a kind of moral decay… a kind of greed… a kind of desperate grasp for power… And it’s destroying our nation.
The Ethos of ‘Getting Yours’
Americans know, in their bones, that something terrible is happening. Maybe you can’t articulate it. Maybe you don’t have the statistics to understand
exactly what’s going on. But my bet is, you think about it a lot.”
“Bloomberg news published an article based on confidential sources about how Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and the Republican U.S. Treasury secretary during the financial crisis, held a secret meeting with the top 20 hedge-fund managers in New York City in late July 2008. This was about two weeks after he testified to Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were “well-capitalized.””
“This was the most outrageous example of graft and corruption I have ever seen. Certainly it involves more billions of dollars in misappropriated value than
any other similar story I can recall. These managers had the risk-free ability to make tens of billions of dollars, if not hundreds of billions, by using
derivatives to capitalize on what they knew was the imminent collapse of the world’s largest mortgage bank. Who picked up the tab? You know perfectly well.
It was you and me, the taxpayers.”
“What does that say about our country when even the most egregious kind of corruption – involving hundreds of billions of dollars – is simply ignored?
It seems like everyone in our country has lost his moral bearing, from the highest government officials and senior corporate leaders all the way down to
schoolteachers and local community leaders. The ethos of my fellow Americans seems to have changed from one of personal integrity and responsibility to
“getting yours” – the all-out attempt, by any means possible, to get the most amount of benefits with the least amount of work.”
“It is routinely alleged in national political debates that something is fundamentally unfair and un-American about the huge “wealth gap” between the poorest Americans and the wealthiest. Some politicians like to argue that the poor never have a real shot at the American dream, and as a nation, we owe them more and more of our resources to correct this injustice. Most important, it is alleged that only the government has the resources to correct this inequality.
This is a dangerous notion…
First, it promotes the idea of entitlement. Entitlement is a fairly new idea in the American political lexicon – perhaps because most of our nation’s wealth
is still fairly new. The American idea of entitlement argues that because you were born into a rich society, other people owe you something. The idea has
become pervasive in our culture. It underlies the basic assumptions behind the idea of a “wealth gap.” Implicit is the assumption that successful Americans
haven’t rightfully earned their wealth… that in one way or another, they’ve taken advantage of the society and have an obligation to give back most of what
they’ve “taken.”
As you’ll see, I believe the idea of entitlement lies at the root of many of our most serious cultural problems.
The more obvious problem is the idea that the government is responsible for fixing the “wealth gap.” But the government has proved wholly ineffective at
dealing with poverty in America. The data is nearly conclusive that government efforts are far more likely to be the cause of the wealth gap than the
solution.”
“It has now been almost 50 years since the start of the War on Poverty, President Lyndon Johnson’s program to radically increase domestic welfare spending.
These programs and their various spinoffs have been at the center of Democratic politics ever since. In fact, if you compare speeches about these programs from the mid-1960s until today, you will find the verbiage never changes. Obama is merely echoing the same calls for “social justice” that Robert Kennedy used in his ill-fated 1968 campaign for president.”
“And what do the Democrats do with this power? They push a form of American socialism. This political system features transfer payments, government jobs, and lucrative government contracts to voters in exchange for political support – and in many cases, outright bribes. They do all of these things under the cover
of “progressive” politics and “social justice.”
But if you brush away the veneer, what you find is a history of abuse of power, corruption, and outright bribery. Conyers himself was found guilty of several
minor ethical violations in 2006 – mainly of using his staff as personal servants, forcing them to babysit and chauffer his children. In 1992, he was one of
the most egregious abusers of the House Banking scandal. He wrote 273 bad checks and left his account overdrawn for nine months. But that’s all small-time
graft compared to how things really work in his office and in his district.
How do I know? Well… just ask yourself where Conyers’ wife sleeps today.
Monica Conyers, the wife of the second-longest tenured congressman in the United States, sleeps in a federal prison in West Virginia. She pled guilty to
bribery in June 2009. She is serving a 37-month sentence for accepting $60,000 in bribes as the president pro tempore of the Detroit City Council. And yet…
and yet… Conyers won re-election handily in 2010.”
“Government Employee Unions:
Organized Corruption
A big part of the answer lies in understanding the key mechanism in the Democratic Party’s funding system. (Don’t worry… so far, we’ve been talking about Democratic Party failures, but I’ll get to the Republicans next. The corruption of America is a bipartisan problem.)”
“A government union turns the public servant into the public’s master. It is a means of using the government’s own spending to organize control of that
government. And that is exactly what’s happened. The government, unlike private companies, isn’t limited by normal economics because the government controls the monopoly on force and has the power to levy taxes.”
“Our country’s core problems are not found in only one political party.
There is just as much corruption, if not more, on the Republican side of the aisle. It was, for example, as I pointed out earlier, a white, Republican-
appointed Treasury secretary (Henry Paulson) who tipped off 20 top hedge-fund managers about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s imminent collapse after assuring the public that it wouldn’t happen.
For big business, the powerful role of government in our society is simply too valuable to ignore. And the amount of corruption it inspires is stunning. Few
politicians even bother trying to hide the fact that they’re bought and sold like furniture.
Take Newt Gingrich. The white, Republican former House speaker was paid $1.6 million for “consulting” by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during a period of time the two firms were under constant attack by Newt’s fellow Republicans. Were the attacks efforts to truly reform a major threat to our financial system… or were they merely shakedowns? All we know for certain is Fannie and Freddie collapsed, just as many Republicans warned they would. The Republican effort to reform the firms failed. Newt collected $1.6 million.
Fannie and Freddie could end up costing taxpayers as much as $500 billion. No, I’m not ignoring the colossal role the Democrats played in staffing Fannie and
Freddie, lobbying Congress for the companies, etc. I’m simply pointing out that, in Washington, everything and everyone seems to be for sale, on both sides
of the aisle.”
“Here’s a simple solution. Hold the senators and congressmen personally liable for any deficit, each year. We elected these people to be our leaders. We did
not elect them to spend us into bankruptcy. We did not elect them to feather their own nests with unlimited public spending. We did not elect them to buy
votes. The only way to stop what’s happening is to make them personally responsible for their actions. Either they will balance the budget or face personal
financial ruin.
Demanding personal accountability for fiduciary responsibilities would have an immediate and profound impact on our society. It would wipe out the
entitlement mentality that’s destroying our society – almost overnight.”
“I do agree that the nation will soon face a choice between heading down the path towards fascism… or turning back the power of government and restoring the limited Republic that was our birthright. I continue to believe Americans will choose personal liberty.
I believe they will choose more freedom rather than more totalitarian rule. I don’t believe Americans will tolerate martial law for long – even in the advent
of a real emergency, which I do believe will occur.”
“What gives me confidence for the future? Gun sales, for one thing. U.S. citizens legally own around 270 million firearms – about 88 guns per 100 citizens
(including children) today.
That’s a hard population to police without its consent. America is the No. 1 country in the world as ranked by the number of guns per-capita. That plays a
major factor in the kind of government you will see take root in America. Things might go too far in this country for a while… And I’d argue they’ve been
going the wrong way for too long. But the government can only take things so far before they’ll be faced with a very angry, well-armed opposition.
If the government attempts to take our guns… my opinion would change immediately. But that’s one right the Supreme Court has been strengthening recently.
It gives me hope that most people in America still understand that the right to bear arms has little to do with protecting ourselves from crime and
everything to do with protecting ourselves from government…”
Citizen WElls 