Back to the Future

As the incomparable Ronald Reagan once said, “We must not look to government to solve our problems. Government is the problem.” With Congress and the Administration scrambling madly in all directions to “solve” the critical problems of the day, it's easy to forget how those problems arose in the first place, and the most elemental solution to them. Since government is the problem; it should be obvious that radically less government is the answer! Of course those involved in wielding the powers of the state will never criticize or limit themselves. They will not even volunteer basic statistics that might inform the average American about the size, scope, and growth of government. Fortunately, with a little diligent research, that information can be unearthed. An excellent primer is this analysis by the Heritage Foundation - www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/bg1831.cfm#_ftn38 that explores the relationship between the size of government and its effect on economic growth. It is readily apparent that we have long passed the optimal point where government spending starts to stifle growth, and in light of the trajectory of the last several years, is about to flatten growth to near zero levels. In real dollar terms, the St. Louis Federal Reserve in 2006, http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/06/01/GarrettRhine.pdf notes in the first paragraph that per capita spending, in real dollars, has grown from $129 dollars in 1910 to an astounding $7,100 per person in 2004! I can tell you with absolute certainty that it has probably doubled since then, and is currently on an unsustainable upward path with no end in sight,

So what do we do? Simply, as William F. Buckley said, “ A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'STOP'!” We have to kick and yell and scream at the top of our lungs that government must stop! Stop spending – period – and immediately freeze expenditures right now. Stop increasing regulatory interference, which is nothing more than a hidden cost of government. Start looking at reality, and do what every businessman must do – a simple cost/benefit analysis of every existing agency, panel, commission, program, rule and regulation. While some level of government is absolutely necessary to provide for the common defense, maintain basic infrastructure, and provide for the administration of justice, most everything else is counter-productive and should, as the founders intended, be left to states and communities to provide for themselves. The time is long past when we can afford to indulge our every compassionate impulse and Utopian vision. Fairy tales are nice, but you can't live in dream castles. We're going to have to replace a whole lot of our benevolent, wise and noble politicians with hard-hearted, stone cold realists. In short, we can continue to rush headlong like lemmings off the cliff, or we can start a return to our original vision as a country. It is a travesty that we no longer study our founding documents, or the men who crafted them. I'll leave you with an excerpt from one of those “old dead white guys”, James Madison, who wrote this in Federalist Paper #62, discussing the need for cautious and reasoned legislation.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. ...Every new regulation...presents a new harvest to those who watch the change, and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves, but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens....But the most deplorable effect of all is that diminution of attachment and reverence which steals into the hearts of the people towards a political system which betrays so many marks of infirmity, and disappoints so many of their flattering hopes. No government, any more than an individual, will long be respected without possessing a certain portion of order and stability.

It's back to the future, where the choice is still the same as it was 250 years ago – Live Free or Die!

Am I Crazy, or What?

JGL was a Pyschology major long ago, and even though I was also an honors math student, I won't pretend to have even a journeyman's grasp of economics. One thing I do have, none the less, is a pretty firm grasp of logic, and the ability to study and analyze factual information. So here are some basic economic facts:

Unfunded liabilities (from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone) are approaching the One Hundred Trillion Dollar Level

The national debt is rapidly closing in on a level equal to our GDP

Current deficit is $1.4+ Trillion dollars, and is projected to continue in that range for years to come.

Unemployment is 10% (though unofficially closer to 20% if you count discouraged workers, part-timers wanting full-time, and people working reduced hours or furloughs)

The Federal Reserve has more than doubled the money supply in the last year, and still printing, and has committed hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars in guarantees to entities unknown.

The Dow Jones and markets have rebounded to around 10,000 from an earlier low in March.

The GDP rose at a 3.5% rate in the 3rd quarter!! (unless you take out the Cash for Clunkers, $8,000 Homebuyer credit and massive government spending) Oh, and a minimal inventory rebound from an abysmal 2nd quarter devoid of consumer spending.

Real disposable income dropped in the last quarter, and nobody is expecting a bonanza of spending for the holiday season.

Note I'm not even including the falling dollar, looming hyperinflation, or the twin train wrecks that are Cap & Trade and Government Healthcare.

So. I'm asking. Can someone, anyone, please point me to an alternative set of facts, or innovative new theory or model that might explain how this economy will magically rebound, and investment, jobs and prosperity return? And no hell no, I don't want to hear any more from you, Ben Bernanke, Timmy Geitner or anyone else that even knows how to spell Goldman Sachs. .....Yeah, that's what I thought- there isn't one that doesn't involve a lot more pain for everyone west of Wall Street. The only possible solution is for all those productive citizens in the unemployment line to trade places with 15 million government employees. Only a bloody evisceration of the Godzilla that is Washington DC, with equivalent reductions in spending and regulation can put us back on the road to the American Dream. This will be at best a long, slow process, and I believe there will be a lot more misery (maybe a necessary precursor) along the way. I will continue to fight like hell to make that a reality, but in the meantime I think I'll avoid the stock market and invest in precious metals- gold, silver and lead!

Galt's Daydream

In the past, I've written about Thomas Jefferson transported to 2009 (Jefferson's Nightmare) and a fictional “Tea Party” candidate capturing the White House in 2012 (State of the Union 2013). As a Jeffersonian/Libertarian/Anarchist I've had more opportunity than I could ever had wished, or dreaded, to consider what exactly might have been done differently in both domestic and foreign policy over the last 20 or 30 years. I guess we'll call this JohnGaltLives' daydream......

What if we had seriously pursued energy independence? I'm talking expanded oil and gas exploration and production, new refineries, no “boutique” gas blends for each and every state, new nuclear facilities and a corresponding upgrade in transmission infrastructure. How might that have changed our need to protect Mid-East oil production, and would we have ever seen gasoline over $4.00/gallon? Would that have spurred development of fuel cells and other green technology at a realistic market cost and demand?

What if we had seriously followed through on Reagan's much derided “Star Wars” program, and developed defensive missile systems that stayed far ahead of anyone's ability to attack us? Would we need to now spend inordinate time and money and political capital to forestall rogue powers like Iran and North Korea, or could we simply provide or sell that defensive capability to our vulnerable allies like Japan or Israel? Would we need to fight an ongoing war in Afghanistan to prevent Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of Al Quaida or the Taliban? Perhaps, but only...

What if we had actually secured our borders, and implemented the technology that has long existed to track every non-citizen who enters and leaves our country? Would we need to sacrifice civil liberties to prevent enemy infiltrators from waging an internal attack? Would we be paying for myriad social services and prison costs for illegals? Would perhaps Americans actually “do some of those jobs Americans don't want to do” if low-wage illegal labor didn't depress the wages of legal workers? Is it possible we would have a rational visa system to allow entry of both short-term unskilled and long-term highly skilled workers?

And finally, what if, as has been proposed many times, we had an ironclad balanced budget amendment (no “emergency” exceptions!) that capped any spending increase at inflation plus population growth, and immediately froze all spending levels if it was exceeded? Would George W Bush have been able to put federal spending on steroids? Would Obama and a Democratic Congress have been able to then quadruple the worst deficit that Bush was able to run up?

There are countless other “what ifs” that I could list, but I have to believe that if just these few things had been implemented, we might have the luxury to argue about the other important issues of the day. I have to think any good Jeffersonian or Libertarian would approve (anarchists might have other plans for the federal government!) The good news is, I'm also an optimist! All these things are still available and achievable if we have the will and leadership put them in place. We've dug ourselves a deep, deep hole, but maybe not yet quite so deep that we'll never climb out of it. But time is short, and the situation is dire, so man up, patriots – Let's Roll!

Insanity, or "Would you buy a used car from a Lib?"

Who's running the asylum, or, Would you buy a used car from a liberal?

It has never been clearer that the inmates have taken over. How else to explain the totally deranged approach our “government” takes on almost every issue of the day? Let's look at it from a purely practical viewpoint. If you want to start an automobile manufacturing company, and you are putting your own money on the line, what are the first practical steps you would take? I'll suggest a few.

First, you would want to do some market research to see what kinds of cars people want, could afford, and would be most likely to buy. While a whole lot of people might think a hybrid or an all-electric Volt would be kinda cool, not too many will be willing to pay a $10-40,000 premium to indulge that whim. Same goes for buying a Hummer or Porsche Boxter. Sounds great, but not really going to work for your average car buyer. Maybe Toyota or Honda could provide a clue.

Second, once you decide on your target market, you'll need to actually build the car itself. Would you go cheap and hire a bunch of 20 something newly graduated designers and engineers to start your business? Maybe you'd dig up the folks who designed and built the Yugo. Or perhaps you'd try and find the best available people who had some years of experience with Ford, Mercedes, BMW or Toyota. I think the answer is obvious to any rational person.

Why then do the so-called leaders of this country insist on trying to resurrect the Yugo with every single policy they undertake? Take any subject you like, and our elected leaders will are doing their damnedest to build a better Yugo.

Taxes? Don't look back to JFK, Reagan or Bush II. They lowered tax rates and saw robust growth.

Strong defense? Reagan buried the Soviet empire. Chamberlain settled for “peace in our time”.Jimmy Carter is... too painful too even think about.

Morals, values, and faith? Best not ever read the Old Testament or Roman history. For sure don't tally up the body count for the Nazis, Stalinists, Maoists or Pol Pot. Might be unsettling.

Socialized medicine? How's that workin' out for all you Brits, Canadians, and Cubans? Hey, there might be no toilet paper in Havana until next year, but your health care's free!

It's patently obvious that the idiots in Washington are either historically and economically illiterate, or crazy, or both. Einstein is famously credited with saying “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”. I'll leave it to you decide if you'd rather trust Pelosi, Reid and Obama with their new and improved Yugo. Me, I'd rather take old Albert out for a spin in a Mercedes Benz.

Green Shoots

No, not late fall garden veggies. Not illusory signs of impending economic recovery. What I see is serious growth of widespread opposition to the Marxist makeover of America.

Resistance is growing across the length and breadth of this country like the first wispy green strands of brand new grass on a newly seeded lawn. Anyone that cares to look to can see it plainly. As much as the old guard media tried to downplay or totally ignore the massive 9/12 protest in DC, I guarantee that elected officials have noticed us. We may be haughtily dismissed by those in the most secure far left districts, but everyone else sure as hell knows they've got a serious problem on the home front. Want proof? Just look at how many of them (my own Congressional crapweasel included) cravenly avoided any contact at all with their own constituents during the August recess. We do have their attention!

But just making noise and drawing a big crowd is not enough. While our activism has at least slowed down the health care and cap/trade train, and may even run it off the tracks entirely, the Left will not be so easily deterred from their ultimate agenda. It's time to become even more vocal, more active and keep engaging and educating our families, friends and neighbors. You might be surprised (I was!) to know how many folks are frustrated, confused and angry about what's happening to the America they grew up in, but have been so insulated that they just don't have all the information they need yet to translate into action.

Just like those thin green shoots coming up on America's lawn, continued applications of the the water of knowledge and the sunshine of truth will soon turn them into a lush green landscape that will choke off the weeds that have infested our government. Pretty soon you won't be able to step out of a local Congressman's office anywhere and avoid having to step right in the middle of it. Keep the faith, and keep fighting!

Never Forget 9-11! James Patrick Ladley

Like all Americans, the events of September 11, 2001 are indelibly seared into my memory. I was a jumbled mix of swirling emotions – shock, outrage, anger, and yes, fear for what might happen next. But perhaps what stands out most was the anguish I felt when I saw the towers collapse, and grief for the thousands of innocent lives I just witnessed being extinguished.

As a lifelong Midwesterner, I had no personal connections to those who perished that day in Manhattan or the Pentagon or Shanksville. My sorrow was genuine, but unfocused. It was only a month or so later, when reading a list of the victims, that I received my real gutwrenching stab of pain. I noticed that one of the citizens who died that day was James Patrick Ladley. You must first understand that while I can trace my Ladley heritage back to 1700's Virginia, there are surprisingly few people in the United States who share that surname. There are only three in the Kansas City area of nearly 2 million residents, and they are me, my wife and my mother.

When I saw James Patrick Ladley's name, it all came home. I had never known of his existence, but I knew he was in some way a part of me. It became personal. I would like to tell you a little of James, and what the world, and most importantly his family, lost that horrific day. I pray that his wife Sheri, son James and daughter Elizabeth will be honored by what I can infer from what I've learned.

From all I can gather, James (or Jim,or Jimmy,or Jimbo to his family and friends) was part of a large Irish Catholic clan of New Yorkers. The oldest of 5, he was obviously a hero to his younger brothers and sisters. A star athlete in baseball and basketball, he earned a baseball scholarship to North Adams State in Massachusetts, and graduated with a business degree 4 years later. Starting at the very bottom of the corporate ladder, he had a meteoric rise to become a Cantor Fitzgerald partner in his mid-30's. He was successful enough that he could contemplate an early retirement in a matter of years.


It's pretty obvious from the impressive resume he left that Jim was a talented, competitive and focused individual. You don't become a Cantor Fitzgerald partner before you're 40 without an excess of talent,drive and discipline. Early to rise, he was at the European desk before the rest of Manhattan was even awake. Even so, he was always home for dinner with his family. From what I've read, he was a man universally loved and respected for his integrity, wisdom and judgement. I've come to think of him as the kind of cousin I could brag about for his incredible achievements. It's a rare man who can balance that kind of corporate success and still keep his priorities in order. Jim was in his office on the 104th floor of the North Tower, doing what he always did - on the phone with a broker when the unthinkable happened. That was the last contact anyone had with Jim, but I'm confident his last thoughts were for his family and friends.I'm sorry I'll never get the opportunity to meet Jim in this life, but to his family and friends, I want you to know it has been a privilege to become acquainted with him as a result of this project. Please know that all who perished that day, and most especially Jimmy, will be forever honored and remembered by this distant relative in the Heartland of America.

The Price of Liberty

"The conditions upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance, which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt"
John Philpot Curran, Irishman, 1789

I have realized in my six decades on this planet that the forces of evil and destruction never sleep. They may be stalled or thwarted, but they are absolutely relentless. While the rest of us are involved with our occupations, families and responsibilities, our enemies (and yes, I'll call them exactly what they are) are busy plotting and planning and implementing their designs. It's actually not far from an Oriental mindset, not that they're literate enough to appreciate it. The Chinese say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and they know what their final destination is. Incrementalism is their tactic, and it has proven devastatingly effective. I'll give you one example from personal experience, if you'll forgive an excursion into religion.

I was raised in the Episcopal Church. In my youth, it was extremely conservative, orthodox and adherent to 500 years of Anglican tradition and Scriptural integrity. Slowly but surely, it has become by tiny steps something more like Unitarianism than the Anglican Catholic tradition I grew up in. Without making a judgement on whether those changes were good or bad, I will say that every single step along the way was made by people of no integrity, who lied about their ulitimate aims and intentions It went from “modernizing” the liturgy, to ordination of women, to ordination of women (now openly gay!) bishops, to censuring anyone who objected, though they had promised the opposite. Those who wished to “remake” the church were not content to just leave and establish a new work – no, they had to tear down the entire structure and remake it in their own image. This is, to my mind, exactly what has happened to our once proud Republic.

We cannot be content merely to beat back Cap and Tax, or Obamacare, and believe that we can then sit back and resume our productive lives. These bastards will not stop their assault on America until we stop them once and for all. Permanent eradication is probably not possible, but their entire structure and power base needs to be reduced to rubble. Therefore, this is an exhortation to not let up,and to
be “eternally vigilant”. I'll leave you with a snippet from a May 9 blog for a little encouragement, and a quote from the Father of our country, George Washington.

What I see happening is unbelievable organizing, networking and activism in opposition to any or all of the pathologies listed above. While it seems amorphous and disconnected from a distance, there is an incredible amount of crossover and communication among all freedom lovers regardless of their main issues. In the short term this will greatly pressure vulnerable Democrats and squishy Republicans in Congress to balk at further implementing disasters like cap and trade and nationalized health care. In a little over a year from now it will be a powerful grassroots lobby that will make it impossible for politicians to run away from their voting records just to get reelected, and will empower true limited government candidates to mount challenges by providing communications, manpower and money. Think of it in terms of a vast guerilla resistance movement – hundreds and thousands of small cells across the country all actively fighting the power structure, who can't possibly neutralize more than a few at a time. This makes the collectivists vulnerable because they can only think in terms of organizations, personalities and power, and can't really conceive of or counter a large underground bound together by principles rather than class or party. Make no mistake people, the enemy (and that's how we need to think of them) is ruthless and must be ultimately wiped out. This requires all of us to be determined, vocal and increasingly active, but we have the will to take the country back. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “We must all hang together, or we shall surely hang separately”. I don't intend to be the one on the wrong end of the rope! Let's roll!

The time is near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

George Washington, August 27, 1776

Crunch Time

Well folks, it has finally come down to crunch time. Given the atrocities this Congress and administration have already committed against this country, the latest two outrages are way too close to passage. Either of the Cap/Trade or Health Care Reform bills, if implemented, will push this country off the cliff. Both of them would spell the death of the wonderful experiment known as America.

The sheer arrogance and ignorance of those in Washington is truly beyond comprehension. No person with one ounce of fiscal sanity could possible believe that you can spend your way out of debt, triple the supply of money without inflation, tax productivity and expect to get more of it, and, most psychotic of all, expect government to manage anything more efficiently than the private sector. A person only a little more paranoid that JohnGaltLives might even think it was all part of a purposeful plan to cripple America so that the federal government can then control every facet of American life and commerce.

So here we are. TeaParty protests, September 12 marches on DC, more states (go Alaska!) claiming sovereignty will not be able to forestall the devastation that would result from a federal takeover of energy or health care. Both must be stopped, and put six feet under right now. It is absolutely imperative that all of us put as much pressure as possible on our “public servants” to derail this socialist power grab. Yes, nothing is forever, but any government program comes close, and undoing the incredible damage done will be a long a painful uphill battle.

It's time to rise up and make all the noise you can, patriots – it's crunch time.

Rage, Despair and Redemption

Oh yes, JohnGaltLives is mad – really really mad. It might be easier to list the things that don't set me off these days, Even a partial list of things that ought to upset anyone with an IQ above room temperature is seemingly endless- mindless self-indulgent politicians, corrupt administration bureacrats, financial manipulators who would sell out their country for profit, and let's not forget a media that has lost all interest in truth and objectivity. But I'm not angry all the time..

By nature, I've always been a pretty upbeat positive person, but I've experienced more periods of despair in the last 6 months than the rest of my life put together. No amount of activism, networking, or praying seems to stop the insanity for more than a moment. I grieve for 50 million dead babies, .I find little beauty or edification in 90 percent of what passes for “entertainment”. I'm appalled that supposed “news organizations” feel compelled to give Princess Diana style wall-to-wall coverage to Michael Jackson's death. Try to remember how much coverage Mother Teresa got, and how much of even that was devoted to her so-called crisis of faith. I'm astounded that my own Congressman Dennis Moore (D-KS), a self-described moderate and fiscal conservative in a red state could march in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi. His office was deluged with calls, letters and e-mails opposing cap/trade, yet his staff maintained he was still undecided less than 24 hours before the vote. He of course supported the bill, and it turns out he was actively trying to persuade other wavering Democrats the whole time. I see an economy in shambles and policies in response which can only guarantee unneeded suffering and misery for generations to come.

And yet, and yet.... that's still not the whole story. In the midst of all this outrage and hopelessness is the one, and the only one thing in the entire universe that really matters. You see, whether you acknowledge Him or not, there is a Creator God who endows us with our rights. He's bigger than any person or pathology, more intelligent than all Nobel prize winners combined, and most importantly, more loving and compassionate than a million Mother Teresas. He actually wants us to live in peace and comfort in relationship (not blind subservience) with Him He really is in the business of second chances- that's what redemption's all about. Ultimately, the root of our problem- political, financial, personal, whatever- comes from being out of that relationship. Until America regains her moral foundations, no amount of genius will ever fix what ails us. King Solomon heard this word:

“If my people,who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Twenty-two centuries later, John Adams still knew this truth:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

As we go about our daily battles, let's keep in mind what's most important. Only then will we be able to say with confidence, God Bless America!

Takin' It To The Streets

It would have been hard for even the most indifferent American not to have seen at least one video clip of the hundreds of thousands(looked more like a million plus to me) Iranians who finally said “I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!”, and flooded downtown Tehran. These are not just radical students or a few outspoken secular Muslims. This is an entire cross-section of the entire population who are fed up with an autocratic, theocratic, despotic and corrupt government. I actually know two who are 50-something, degreed, professional people who went into the streets knowing there was at least a possibility that they would be beaten, arrested, or even shot by government goons.

So what, you say. What do I care what if a bunch of Middle Easterners get all stirred up and go do a big protest? Got nothin' to do with me. Well I've got a news alert for you- it's got everything to do with you if you love this country and want your children and grandchildren to grow up with some semblance of the freedom and prosperity you've enjoyed up to now. You see, even a group as dictatorial and backward as the mullahs got rattled. They don't have enough police in their police state to put down an uprising of this magnitude. They realize that when enough of their subjects have had enough, and don't care what happens to them anymore, they're history. A couple of hundred students – no problem. Send in the jackbooted thugs, bang a few heads, haul 'em off to jail. End of protest, end of story. But hundreds of thousands, day after day? Keep in mind, this isn't even a movement (yet) to throw out the Islamist rulers. This is as simple as having your vote counted, for a position that has only the power the Guardian Council allows it. Make no mistake - they're plenty nervous. So again, what does this have to do with me, and why should I care?

If you're not aware yet that you are living under an autocratic, despotic and corrupt government intent on controlling more and more of every facet of your life and livelihood, well, you will figure it out soon enough. This administration and Congress is on a jihad of its own to dismantle the very foundations of this country. Left unchecked, they will do more damage than can be undone in at least a generation. The saving grace for America is that we still have reasonably free and fair elections. Our very own “Dear Leaders” don't yet have absolute power, and must answer to the people every two, four or six years. Unfortunately the next opportunity to effect any change through the ballot box is still 18 months away. Given the stunning speed and scope of the “change” that's being crammed down our throats, we need to do everything in our power to put a stop to, or at least slow down, this “remaking” of America.

That means you're going to have to get off your butt and take to the streets. You no longer have the option of sitting idly by and complaining. Yes,you can continue to harass your local Congressweasel, but it's easy for them to filter and ignore negative voice and e-mails. The one thing they can't ignore is a vocal, visible, and angry electorate. Our “representatives” are really afraid of only one thing – losing the next election. They've been able to count on the ignorance, indifference and collective amnesia of their constituents and just lie their way back to Washington DC year after year after year. They need a giant wake-up call, and hundreds of thousands, or better yet, millions of angry citizens exercising their right to peaceably assemble and petition their government will damn sure get their attention.

Independence Day is rapidly approaching, and this is one year we'll have to forget about the hot dogs and fireworks. We need to far exceed the turnout for the Tax Day Tea Party rallies, and Take It To The Streets! This means you, your children, your neighbors and anyone else you can round up. There are thousands of events planned across the country, and you can find one in your area here:

http://www.reteaparty.com/

If you value your freedom, and want to see the America our founders envisioned survive for your kids and grandkids, this is a small price to pay. Many before us have made the ultimate sacrifice, and it's our turn to do what we can to ensure that it was not in vain. Let's roll!

Conspiracy Theory??

So who's really in charge of this country, anyway? Since I just heard a sermon on the book of Revelation, I do know who wrote the whole script. And as a good friend once said, once you get to heaven you'll know the answers to all your questions but you won't care anymore!. But what about the people/forces/organizations that are pulling the strings down here, right now?

I'll give you a warning right now – this is going to be a lot of speculation, rumination, and guesswork on my part. I don't even begin to claim that I have any inside knowledge or special divination. But given what's become of our country in just the last 6 months, you'd have to be deaf, blind and dumb not to wonder just a little, bit, wouldn't you?

Even in the dumbed down USA in the 21st century, how exactly does a Chicago hack politician go from a “coming out” speech at the Democratic convention in 2004 to hijack a once free and proud country just 4 years later? A man of dubious parentage, unproven citizenship, no real accomplishment, and with not a scrap of records from his schooling,”legal work”, or even his bar exam becomes (barf) President? While you've gotta admire the Daley Machine for the way they've systematically corrupted and looted Chicago for over 40 years, even they don't have the kind of pull it takes to put a lightweight like Barry Hussein Soetero Obama Messiah in the Oval Office There's got to be some kind of Wizard of Oz behind the curtains pulling all those levers.

I do know the Socialists/Leftists/One Worlders have been trying to dismantle this country for a looong time. Maybe there's a little more coordinated strategy and agenda than meets the MSM eye? I'm not going into a rant about the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderbergers, or the Club of Rome, but just take a look at what the Federal Reserve's been doing. Trillions of dollars spent, pledged, loaned and printed, and we can't even look at their books?? And who exactly is it that owns the Fed? Quick hint- it ain't the US taxpayer, it's a consortium of private international bankers! And how was it that just when McCain/Palin started to surge in the campaign, there was a massive run on US money market funds that precipitated the whole meltdown? Financial Market Manipulation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCcRT-y2_rg Do you think this was a bunch of retired schoolteachers getting cold feet and all deciding to pull their funds on the same day? While I can't point a finger at any person or group in particular, it might be worth reminding you that the benevolent socialist George Soros has nearly bankrupted several countries with his currency manipulations. Just sayin... if you think this whole mess is the fault of too many clueless libtards, think again. Or better yet, do your own research on groups like the CFR. And see just how much information you can manage to access on the ownership and finances of the Federal Reserve. At the very least write your Congressweasel and tell them to support HR1207- Ron Paul's bill to audit the Fed. - you might be surprised at what scurries off to dark places when the light is switched on.

Old & In The Way

Partisan politics aside, do you ever wonder how America climbed onboard this Hellbound Train, and why it seems so impossible to even slow it down, let alone stop it, with your vote every two years? I've written before about long-term leftist takeovers of education,culture and the courts, but we were designed as a constitutional republic with specific checks and balances that should allow some immediate course corrections if needed. So exactly why don't these seem to be working? How come our elected representatives don't represent anymore? Here's a few numbers that might shed some light:


11.0 12.9 98 92.8/67.3

The first is the average tenure of Representatives in the current (111th) Congress – in their 6th term
The second is the average tenure of Senators in the 111th – into their 3rd term
Ninety eight is the percentage of running incumbents reelected in 2000 – it's always 90%+++
Last is the percentage of all campaign funds raised by incumbents in 2000 and 67.3 is the percent of votes it bought.

See the pattern here? Once in Congress, never out. The only reason tenures are as low as they are is due to Congressmen moving to the Senate, and Senators to Cabinet positions, or either of them moving on to the Promised Land. Consider that Robert Byrd (D-WV) has served over 50 years in the Senate. He's 91 years old! My dear grandmother died last year at the age of 95. She was a woman of great integrity and common sense, but I didn't trust her to drive a car the last 10 years of her life, let alone run a country. No knock against experience and wisdom, but please- fifty freaking years??? The key number here is the amount of money incumbents are able to raise, and thereby overwhelm any potential opposition. I don't suppose that's by peddling their influence – must be their stellar records of accomplishment.

The whole charade of “free and open elections” is just that – nothing more than kabuki theater. The enactment of the 17th Amendment surely didn't help things in the Senate. Since they are no longer beholden to their state legislatures for reelection, they now cater to moneyed interests often far removed from their home states. At least House members have to stand for election every 2 years, but once established, enjoy the same powers of incumbency. Let's be honest. We're talking about 535 people out of a nation of 300 million – less than one one thousandth of a percent! Do you really think that they're the only ones in this country that can provide honest and effective representation?

The answer is simple – term limits - but getting there is not. It is obvious members will not voluntarily term limit themselves, so they must be forcibly retired. They are unlikely to propose a term limit amendment themselves, so two thirds of the states calling for a constitutional convention is the only option. It is open to interpretation that once called, the convention can be limited in what they propose. In the meantime, elect only those who will at least pledge to honor limited terms and work to implement them. Even if they renege, at least they paid some lip service to the idea. The other option is to recruit, encourage and elect fresh faces. If it means losing an Orrin Hatch (32 yrs in the Senate!) to get rid of a Teddy Kennedy (37 years) or John Kerry (25 years), it will be worth it. It's time for some young blood, and a swift kick in the arse to all those who are “old and in the way”!

Conservatives Don't Need GOP - They Need Us!

Every one has surely heard the famous quote from the British statesman Lord Acton:

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

While this is clearly illustrated by infamous tyrants throughout history, have you ever considered that it applies equally well to institutions? In fact, I challenge you to name one institution, be it a company, a government, social organization or yes, even a church, that has not suffered from corruption at some point in its life.This can result from things as simple as neglect and decay, to systemic fraud and abuse. The larger and older the organization, the more likely it is to have experienced several wrenching periods of upheaval. Some self-correct and live on, while others cease to exist entirely. Certainly it is more than evident today in the political arena. Apart from your local police or fire department and maybe a church or civic organization, most Americans at least distrust those who govern them, and in many cases actively despise them. Removed from accountability, entrenched in their positions and literally addicted to power, they exist solely for their own benefit.

Nowhere is this more blatant than the Democrat Party, and by extension, the federal government itself. The Democrats are so wedded to the power of the state that their aims are, by and large, one and the same. Both exist to grow their power and control over ever-increasing segments of society. They function like the inhuman Borg of Star Trek fame, seeking to assimilate anything and everything in their path. But are the Republicans really that much different? Do they offer a clear alternative point of view that actually gives the voter a choice? Sadly, the answer is no, not so much. While there are a few truly dedicated conservatives in the party, it has fallen subject to the same kinds of corrupting influences that infest the rest of Washington DC.

Much has been written about the efforts to “rebrand” and “rebuild” the party. While I applaud a return to a principles-first philosophy, they are going to have to go a lot farther than they have in painting themselves, in the words of Ronald Reagan, in “bold colors, not pale pastels”. They'd better understand, really believe, that they need conservatives more than conservatives need the Republican party. I'll offer myself up as an example. I decided some time ago that I will no longer vote for “the evil of two lessers”. Candidates who only talk the talk will get no support from me in any fashion. I will no longer buy into the notion that a non-vote or a vote for a third party is a “wasted” vote. If the party will not take a strong stand, in writing, and quit playing politics in a time when we're at war for the soul of America, they'll go the way of the Whigs and I say good riddance.

There are lots of alternatives out there. Third parties have never had the power to be corrupted by it, so they exist on principle. I think I speak for a lot of conservative/libertarian/anarchists out there when I say that we will support those, and only those, who have earned the right to be trusted with "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor".

Republicans, we're watching and keeping score. The ball's in your court.

A Target-Rich Environment

Well, let's see – we've got your baby killers, health care socializers, banking and auto manufacturing extortionists, gun grabbers, free speech censors, envirocultists looking to dismantle or tax away energy production, Federal Reservists printing money about as fast as the government can spend it, government school brainwashers, a Congress looking like a class of ADHD third graders with no teacher in the room, and of course the media hyping a non-existent pandemic for days on end. And that's only a partial list!! By the time the poor blogger/activist/conservative patriot can train his sights on one target, three new ones have popped up. Kind of like tribbles in the old Star Trek episode, except there's nothing remotely cute about this bunch.While it might be comforting to believe it's just collectivists run amok, I am coming to the conclusion that this is more orchestrated than it appears on the surface. This administration knows where it wants to go, and what kind of socialist paradise in America it wants to create, and is using a blitzkrieg of attacks large and small along with skillful media manipulation and distraction to achieve it. In addition to implementing their agenda, they also get a bonus by keeping us reactive and constantly on the defensive. It seems to be working well for them so far, right? While they have had their way on a lot of issues, it might not stay that way for long. Here's why.


I can tell you with great certainty that the Tea Party sentiment has only intensified since April15th. Even the Kansas City Red Star went so far as to devote the top half of page 2 to at least a tepid criticism of Obama's 0.5% “budget cuts”. So far as I can tell, this is the first even semi-critical analysis of the administration since the One appeared on stage at the Democratic Convention of 2004. Congressional Democrats are showing some signs of dissent on a number of Barry's pet projects. I can tell you that my own “Blue Dog” Democrat Congressman is starting to act nervous and defensive like never before, and I suspect there are a lot of others who are getting edgy about their reelection prospects in 2010. Every day more and more Americans are waking up to the fact that this administration is taking them to a place they really don't want to go. While I know several Obama voters who have turned into opponents, I challenge anyone to find me a single person who's gone the other way and now supports him. I'm not at all sure he'd win again if an election were held tomorrow. I know the Obama team is not unaware of some of this, but they've shown such immense hubris so far that I don't think they see the tsunami that's building up out of sight on the ocean floor of the real America.

What I see happening is unbelievable organizing, networking and activism in opposition to any or all of the pathologies listed above. While it seems amorphous and disconnected from a distance, there is an incredible amount of crossover and communication among all freedom lovers regardless of their main issues. In the short term this will greatly pressure vulnerable Democrats and squishy Republicans in Congress to balk at further implementing disasters like cap and trade and nationalized health care. In a little over a year from now it will be a powerful grassroots lobby that will make it impossible for politicians to run away from their voting records just to get reelected, and will empower true limited government candidates to mount challenges by providing communications, manpower and money. Think of it in terms of a vast guerilla resistance movement – hundreds and thousands of small cells across the country all actively fighting the power structure, who can't possibly neutralize more than a few at a time. This makes the collectivists vulnerable because they can only think in terms of organizations, personalities and power, and can't really conceive of or counter a large underground bound together by principles rather than class or party. Make no mistake people, the enemy (and that's how we need to think of them) is ruthless and must be ultimately wiped out. This requires all of us to be determined, vocal and increasingly active, but we have the will to take the country back. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “We must all hang together, or we shall surely hang separately”. I don't intend to be the one on the wrong end of the rope! Let's roll!

Tenth Amendment NOT Repealed!

While I am encouraged by the unprecedented grassroots activism sweeping across the country, I do realize that changing the political landscape on a national level is usually a long and laborious process. Freedom lovers in the Heartland, the Southeast, and the West have little (actually almost nothing!) in common with Northeastern liberals and the West Coast lunatic fringe. No offense to you good folks who are exiled in those places, but in broad brush terms it's true. Trying to overcome that entrenched opposition makes the challenge doubly difficult. There is, however, one avenue that can provide more immediate relief for the geographic majority of us- the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Thirty-five of the states are in the process of reasserting their rights under that amendment, which simply reads:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

This is crystal clear and unequivocal - the federal government has specific limitations on what it can and can't do; citizens of each state are to have the ulitimate say so in how they're governed. Don't like the tax laws in Michigan? Move to Texas! Kansas alllows late term abortions – change the law or move to Oklahoma where life is respected. The one overarching problem we face in this country is simply the size, scope, cost and intrusiveness of the federal government. The founding fathers foresaw this over-reaching, and the tenth amendment was designed to check this. What they perhaps did not foresee was that the states would, over time, passively yield their authority to creeping federalism.

“But ambitious encroachments of the federal government, on the authority of the State governments, would not excite the opposition of a single State, or of a few States only. They would be signals of general alarm...But what degree of madness could ever drive the federal government to such an extremity. ” James Madison, Federalist 48

Madness, indeed! Insanity is where we're headed, so consider the general alarm sounded. A reassertment of state sovereignty is one way to exert pressure on Washington that is not dependent on a national consensus. While the federal government has shown no hesitation to use its vast (illegal) power to coerce, intimidate, or outright blackmail states into compliance with their schemes, there is evidence that more than a few states have had enough, and are willing to stand up to Washington in spite of their threats. Consider the enormous impact that Texas alone would have if they actually exercised their right to become the Republic of Texas once again! While Texas is unique in that respect, now imagine if they were joined in their resistance by Alaska and even a few other energy or agriculturally rich states. It wouldn't undo the insanity in DC, but could at least throw enough sand in their gears to slow them down while we work for a broader systemic and national change. Please urge your state's elected officials to press forward with this issue while we continue to press the battle on other fronts as well. Here is a link you should bookmark:

www.tenthamendmentcenter.com

Say Goodbye to Elephants and Donkeys

Well, we've got an out of control, incompetent and far left administration, and a Congress that might be even worse. We've taken a national dive straight off Liberal Lover's Socialist Leap. The only hope is that there's a providential tree branch not too far down, or that that we don't end up like a possum after a midnight interstate encounter with an eighteen wheeler when it's all done.

Assuming there are some pieces left to pick up, what's the best way to set the country back on track? We do live in and under a political system, so anything short of armed rebellion will have to work with, or maybe around, the system. Obviously the Democratic Party has complete control at this time, and they're about as likely to change as the cockroach has over the millenia. That would leave us with the Republicans (Bernie Sanders, the lone declared Socialist, is a party of one and actually to the right of some of his colleagues. He doesn't count.) Many, maybe even most Republicans have shown the same susceptibility to Potomac Fever as their Democratic counterparts. Get elected by promising whatever your constituents want to hear, and then immediately prostitute yourself out to the money and the system to get re-elected, again and again and again. Even some of those who have promised to term limit themselves have later reneged, claiming that the good of their district or state demands their expertise and seniority. A constitutional term limit would have to be voted on by these same crap weasels, or result from a consitutional convention. The former will coincide with the first snowball fight in Hades, and the latter is a years-long, laborious undertaking. So basically, we. are. so. screwed. Right? Maybe not- consider the following.

There have always been third (or fourth, or fifth) parties. The most successful in national elections have coalesced around a candidate, like a Teddy Roosevelt, George Wallace, John Anderson or most recently, Ross Perot. All have been one-hit wonders. Others, like the Libertarian and Constitution parties have shown longevity, but little electoral success. The two party system is rigged to shut out everyone else. It will take an unprecedented effort to overturn that, but I believe it is within the realm of possibility at this time. We are seeing an historic groundswell of concerned, but heretofore politically inactive Americans. This firestorm is fueled by many elements, but it none the less is a movement of ideology, broadly defined. The big question is, can it evolve into something that will upend the status quo? I say, YES!! I fantasized in a pre-TaxDay blog about the "New American Tea Party" (see State of the Union 2013). I think the time is right for the generally conservative majority to come together around a very basic platform - drastic reduction is the size and scope of federal government, fiscal responsibility, and increased personal responsibility. Other issues like illegal immigration, terrorism or abortion will have to take a seat at the back of the bus for now. I think any candidates promising those basic actions, and promising not only to term limit him/herself, but work for a constitutional term limit amendment, would find an enthusiastic majority willing to elect them.

Yes, I concede it is unlikely, but I would have considered it even more far fetched a year ago that nearly a million working Americans would gather in over a thousand cities on the same day to voice their outrage. I don't believe that a fully developed third party is necessary at this point, but rather like-minded candidates. While some Republicans will be on board, I think it's going to be non-careerists, the seldom seen citizen statesmen, who will lead the charge. In this dire hour for America, principles must come first. Party loyalty must become a thing of the past if we are to see the America of our founding survive.

The Truth is out There...Somewhere!

Having attended two public protests (for the first time ever!) and helping organize the Kansas City Tax Day Tea Party, I have been somewhat amused at what the media and punditocracy on both left and right have been saying about the upcoming events. Some dismiss the whole movement out of hand as “Astroturf” (not real grassroots) publicity stunt organized by the Republican brain trust, which may be an oxymoron if you think about it. Others see it as an impotent sputtering from a ragtag collection of malcontents. Yet others see it as the beginnings of a second revolution which will topple the existing power structure. It is apparent that somebody's wrong. In this case, I have the benefit of firsthand experience to guide me in sorting through the contradictory reporting out there. However, none of us have that luxury in evaluating the many important issues and events happening in America today.

So what is the truth? How do you recognize it and separate it from the howl of voices assaulting you from all angles? And is there even such a thing as ulitmate truth, and can you ever really know it? Ah, that's the defining question, and also the most critical divide between those who would be free and those who would control every detail of our lives if left unchecked.

It's really quite a simple question. You get two choices, and they cannot coexist or be reconciled.
Do you believe that humanity is capable of evolving, becoming more “enlightened”, and able through the strength of intellect and good intentions to create Utopia?
Or do you believe that we are created, fallen and imperfect creatures who none the less have access to the eternal and divine that rules the universe?
Put another way, would you rather have knowledge or wisdom?

America's founding fathers certainly knew their answer. They realized that though they could take all their accumulated intellectual power to create a “perfect” government, their genius could not overcome man's basic nature. They knew that only a reliance on a higher power would allow the republic to endure. Indeed, consider the words of a true lover of learning and education, George Washington:

The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institution may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even, in some instances be made subservient to the vilest purposes. Should, hereafter, those incited by the lust of power and prompted by the Supineness or venality of their Constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution and violate the unalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to shew, that no compact among men (however provident in its construction and sacred in its ratification) can be pronounced everlasting an inviolable, and if I may so express myself, that no Wall of words, that no mound of parchm[en]t can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other.

Or the words of John Adams:

Human government is more or less perfect as it approaches nearer or diverges farther from the imitation of this perfect plan of divine and moral government.

Wisdom and knowledge are not at odds, but I'll take wisdom every time. It has been said that the saint learns more on his knees in one day than the philosopher in a lifetime of study. On the day after Easter, in this turbulent time for our country, I'll leave you with some practical advice from the One who said:

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free”.

Look to that which is eternal and unchanging for guidance and discernment, and you shall be free indeed. May God bless you all, and may God bless America!

The Next Step

We're not yet 100 days into the nightmare that our new administration has become. Given the dizzying blizzard of rules, regulations, spending and radical direction changes we've already seen, it's time to survey the American landscape. How much has been altered? Where are the bulldozers headed next? And most importantly, what can be reasonably slowed down, stopped altogether, or undone?

Galt is not here with a happy face for you today, so first let's get to the facts.

Government Spending
TARP Bailout funds - $700B and counting, already spent and gone. It's possible a portion might be returned to the taxpayers, but I'm considering it 95% vanished until I see proof otherwise.
Stimulus/Porkulus II – The idiotic $150B “rebate” from last year is long gone; the roughly $800B of number 2 will probably be 75% already spent or impossible to retrieve by early 2011.
2009 Continuing Budget - $450B or so that's history already.
2010 Budget - Even with some nibbling at the corners, it will still come in at $3.5 trillion plus.Right now there does not seem to be enough Democrat defections to prevent its passage.
Federal Reserve Capital Infusions/Guarantees – While I'm well aware the unaudited Fed is not a government agency, they nonetheless commit the American taxpayer, while they rake in their very profitable cut of the action. To date they have directly infused or guaranteed over $6 trillion+/- of our money. In addition, they have inflated the money supply by about a factor of 3 in the last year. Econ 101 pop quiz – what happens when an increasing supply of money chases a static or diminishing supply of goods? Beuhler? Very good, Mr Beuhler – inflation!

A modest total of government spending in the last year (not counting the first half of fiscal 09) totals nearly $12 trillion dollars, or nearly the amount of the entire GDP of the United States.

Policy Change
Nationalized Health Care – it's hard to put a price tag on this, but will cost hundreds of billions annually. Given the abysmal record of Medicare/Medicaid/VA Healthcare, this will damage our well-being as much as our wallets.
Energy/Cap & Trade - A little noticed fact is that relatively cheap and stable gas prices have been a huge blessing to cash-strapped businesses and individuals. A govermnent mandated move to expensive renewables and a Cap and Trade scam (creating a “market” out of thin air – literally!) will impact every family in America. Estimates range as high as $3100/yr per family in increased energy costs. An embargo on domestic oil and gas exploration and utilization leaves us terribly vulnerable to another drastic spike in fuel prices. Ask yourself what $5/gallon gasoline would do to this fragile economy.
Border Control/Amnesty – This administration is showing the same concern for border control as it's predecessor. Apparently Amnesty for illegals (otherwise know as the Democratic Voter Creation Act) is about to surface again this year as well. There's a real stimulus – first 20, then eventually 30-40 million undereducated, unskilled, low wage net consumers of tax dollars!
Obama Youth Corp/ACORN support Also part of the DVCA – will only perpetuate what is increasingly rampant voter fraud, and further indoctrinate any young skulls full of mush the public education system missed.

Foreign Policy
Still developing, but groveling, appeasement and unilateral disarmament seem to be the watchwords of the day. Odds are good we'll see some very nasty blowback from this approach in the near future.

So what's the next step for freedom lovers who want the real America back? 2010 is still a long way off, and we don't yet know what will grow from the grassroots revolt that's starting to burn white hot.

One – Fight a holding action to limit further damage as much as possible. Visible vocal, angry, unrelenting protest and pressure on every elected idiot in Washington. They scare easy, so we don't need to spook too many to make a big difference

Two – Educate. Persuade. Inform. Far too many people in this country are sadly ignorant of such basics as their own country's founding philosophy and history. Few seem to grasp basic economic principles. Many are completely unaware of how badly they've been sold down the river by their government. We'll need every enlistee and convert we can muster to effect the tough, but necessary decisions that will have to be made.They will not convert on their own – it will take individuals of influence in their daily lives.

Three- Support only those politicians who have stayed true to principle, and those new ones who have actually read and will support the Constitution and limited government.

Four – Remember who we are. Pray for your country, yes even your enemies, and take care of your own family and neighbors as much as you are able.

We can't undo much of the spending, can't control Obama's foreign policy, or change a welfare state mentality overnight. We can however fight like hell for the country we love. Like it or not, you're all footsoldiers in this campaign – sitting on the sidelines is not an option. So saddle up – it's time to ride!

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
Thomas Paine September 12, 1777

State of the Union - 2013

February 14, 2013 - Live from Fox News Desk in Washington DC...

Brit Hume: Welcome to all our viewers across America, and let me say only such a momentous climax to the stunning events of the last 6 months could have brought me out of retirement to be with you tonight. I'm grateful to Fox for the opportunity, and it's good to be back. Before we turn to our panel for a discussion of tonight's address, we thought it would be good to recap the events that led to the remarkable election of Tommy Nguyen just 4 months ago.

Some say it actually began with the nationwide Tea Party protests on April 15, 2009, less than 3 months after former President Obama assumed office.As you recall, as many as one million taxpayers took to the streets in over 1000 cities in all 50 states protesting the massive spending binge by the federal government. The movement gathered steam with the tax withholding revolt of January 2010, and the threat of several states to confiscate and hold all federal tax revenues. That unnerved many Congressional Democrats, leading to the budget impasse that summer, and an eventual agreement to freeze all spending at 2008 levels.

But most certainly it was the unprecedented election of 53 new Representatives and 2 Senators in November 2010 that really shook the corriders of power in Washington. Then only informally known as “The New American Tea Party”, this loose confederation of social conservatives, Libertarians, Constitution, Independent Parties and even many Southern Democrats united around a platform of fiscal restraint and a commitment to Constitutionally limited government. Of course the market crash in the fall of that year which saw the Dow plummet to 3500 was a factor, and ironically also propelled Tommy Nguyen into the national spotlight.

Appointed by Louisiana governor Bobby Jindahl in July of that year to spearhead redevelopment of New Orleans and the Gulf area, Nguyen proved nothing less than spectacular.Born in 1979 exactly one week after his Vietnamese refugee parents took their oath of citezenship, young Tommy grew up in the family shrimping business and paid his way through LSU, earning a business degree at age 21. He rapidly expanded the family fortune, diversifying into oil and gas leases and investments in local real estate. While hurricane damage devastated many, the Nguyen's survived and prospered due to Tommy's philosophy of keeping large cash reserves with zero debt.

With limited state and no federal funds available, Nguyen moved quickly to secure financing from a consortium of smaller regional banks that had avoided the financial meltdown, and needed an alternative to now worthless Treasury bills to invest their funds. His coalition of property owners, commercial interests, and environmental groups like Ducks Unlimited quickly began a massive reconstruction. The 5th Ward was rehabbed where possible or razed and rebuilt, levees were upgraded using state of the art technology modeled on the Netherlands, and the Mississippi river channel returned to a more natural flow to replenish the rich delta marshlands. The phenomenal boom in business that resulted was one of the few bright spots in 2011, but was soon duplicated as Nguyen worked with earthquake stricken California and flood devastated communities in the Midwest to bring market solutions to those areas as well.

With the markets in freefall, inflation rapidly rising, and first Texas, then other states seriously threatening secession, the now official New American Tea Party nominated Nguyen to head its 2012 presidential ticket. The landslide 44 state victory, along with a new Tea Party majority in both houses, has brought us to this State of the Union address tonight. The President promised swift action on the Fair Tax, and elimination of all corporate, capital gains and inheritance taxes. Legislation to remove roadblocks to development of new nuclear and domestic oil and gas resources is already moving through committee. It is highly likely that this session of Congress will also drastically reduce or eliminate the Departments of Energy and Education, and has promised to reduce federal spending to a maximum of 15% of GDP in the next 2 years.

So let's turn to our panel – Mort- Mort- MORT, wake up! We're live here for God's sake! Um, let's take a quick commercial break...

Okay folks, JohnGaltLives knows it's only a fantasy, but this is still America, and it's going to take each and every one of us to keep it that way. Get your behind, and your friend's and neighbor's behinds out to the streets on April 15th Go to reteaparty.com or taxdayteaparty.com for information – let's roll!

Watchman

I'm still not really John Galt, and I don't consider myself any kind of a prophet, but I really feel compelled to relay a warning one more time. If I'm as wacky as all those 19th century “preachers” predicting a specific date for the Second Coming, or Eep and Meep (remember them?) getting ready to board the Mother Ship as the Hale-Bopp comet passed by, well, then, so be it. I am none the less compelled to share with you a warning. How you take it is entirely up to you – I will not be obsessively dwelling on this in future posts -I promise!. Please see Ezekial 33:1-20

We are tumbling headlong into a time of massive social unrest and upheaval.

I have had this unsettling nagging in my soul for quite a while, but in the last few weeks, things keep popping up that compel me to speak up.

1)Glenn Beck had a one hour special asking experts “what's the worst case you see” for America in the next few years. No one claimed any probabilities, but all felt some dire scenarios were certainly probable if not likely.
2)We are in the season of Lent, and every daily reading from the Book of Common Prayer has been a reminder that God allows those who forget him only so much slack. Jeremiah warns in stark terms what lies ahead for those who forsake God for other idols.
3)A guest priest at my church felt compelled to abandon his planned sermon, and stated that he truly felt like this was a time of God's judgement for America.
4)I read about David Wilkerson, author of “The Cross and the Switchblade”, and a long time pastor in NYC. What he had to share is linked here - http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91097
5)My last post posited the possibility of a solar plasma surge- sort of a super flare- that could severely damage our power transmission grid. That news just came out last week, and I also mentioned the possibility of an EMP weapon. Two days ago Newt Gingrich wrote about an EMP attack, and how unprepared we are to deal with it.
6)Finally, today, I received an e-mail ad from a Townhall.com affiliate offering a complete course on surviving the coming social chaos.

I don't see black helicopters hovering over my house, but I'm also not blind enough to ignore all the signs of the times. I don't need to reiterate every rotten thing this new administration has done, but anyone with a lick of common sense can see where we're headed. So this is your watchman speaking: get yourself right with your God and your family, and remember the Boy Scout Motto, Be Prepared!
Disasters of all kinds, natural and man-made, happen all the time, and the time to prepare is now. Even if you don't think any major disaster will happen to you, it takes very little time, effort and money to assemble a very basic short term survival kit. It could make all the difference for you and your loved ones, so don't delay!

I now return to my activist role in helping to plan the KC Tea Party rally on 4/15. Please think about attending one in your area, and help get the word out. We need to sound a trumpet call so loud that Washington DC will finally wake up from their drunken stupor. Every voice counts, so make yours heard!

Welcome to Galt's Gulch

First of all, I'm not John Galt, and I really don't envision a Galt's Gulch a la Atlas Shrugged. However, I am Galt in that I believe it's up to me to provide and protect my family and loved ones. For sure our benevolent government can't, and most likely will be what we need to be protected from. I am more convinced than ever that things have an increasingly high probability of going south in a big way and in a big hurry. That said, if you are convinced that the United States of America is eternal, that it could never cease to exist, and that horrible things could never take place in this country, I suggest you quit reading now, and immediately check out some books on world history from the library,

If you're not so blindly optimistic, but still think the odds of anything drastic upsetting the social fabric in this country are extremely remote, consider a few scenarios:

It was just reported today that a solar plasma surge like one that occurred 150 years ago would essentially cripple every advanced country in the world. This solar activity would create a massive electromagnetic surge which would essentially fry the transmission grid for months or years.

Too farfetched? Consider that a single nuclear warhead detonated in the atmosphere over the US would do almost the same thing. It's known as an EMP weapon, and would devastate us in much the same way. Iran is on the verge of producing a nuke, N Korea is getting ready to launch an ICBM, and Pakistan, with both missiles and nukes, is at risk from Islamic extremists.

Note that there has been no mention yet of a massive financial collapse, or terrorist attack, or a CAT 5 hurricane wiping out most of our oil refineries in the Gulf. Look, people in North Dakota don't expect that every year they'll find themselves stranded on the highway in a blizzard, or snowed in without power for days or weeks at a time. But happen it does, and because they're prepared, they survive.

So then, if bad things happen (and they always have), how do you take care of yourself and your loved ones? First of all, without making yourself into a tinfoil hat wearing paranoiac, you need to imagine- what you would do if you found yourself without power, water, easy access to food supplies, or gasoline to get where you needed.? Well, first things first.

Emergency supplies: This will include things like several days of drinkable water, food, flashlights and a first aid kit. This guarantees some precious insurance if a temporary emergency occurs What if it's a longer term crisis? The answer to this varies depends on where you live you, who you know, what your resources are, and what skills you can bring to bear. I'm fortunate to have some property with shelter, arable land, natural water supply, stocked fish pond, lots of woods with nuts, berries, and deer. I'm preparing for long term survival Everyone needs to consider the following essentials:

Shelter: If you can't see living in your current home for a week without power or running water, you need to find an accessible location that can at least provide the basics of shelter and water. Maybe this is a tent in a state park, or a friend's farm in the country – but you need to have someplace to go.

Defense: This might be issue number one, but if you can't make it a few days to begin with, you're probably hosed anyway. The 2nd Amendment is still in force, and you should avail yourself of your rights. If you are already a gun owner, great. If not, a basic 12 or 20 gauge pump shotgun is easy to buy, easy and effective to use, and ammunition is cheap and plentiful.

Provision: If possible, it would be a great idea to have at least a 30 day supply of some basic food supplies. This would include basics like beans, rice, sugar, flour, canned meats, etc. Vacuum sealed packets (if you have a FoodSaver type system) will take up small space and last a long time.

Sustainability – This covers a wide range of things necessary to survive in place for a period of months or even years. You will need to provide for things like seeds for vegetables, basic tools, fuel for heat and cooking, and possibly a renewable power source like solar panels or wind power. Don't forget the finer things, like good books (especially The Good Book), musical instruments and simple games to entertain and keep your mind fresh.

You are certainly free to take as much or as little of this advice as you wish. I truly feel that this is something that needs to be said, even if most everyone thinks it's nothing more than a sci-fi fantasy. There is abundant information available free and online, and a basic survival package is not expensive. Being prepared could well mean the difference between catastrophe and survival for you and those you hold dear. Mr Galt will continue to call, e-mail, Tea Party protest, and do whatever possible to return this country to its founders vision, but if it's not enough, come and see me in Galt's Gulch – all God-fearing patriots will be welcomed. Everyone else, enter at your own risk.

Jefferson's Nightmare

If you've occupied space on this planet for more than two generations, you know that America has changed dramatically in just your lifetime, and that maybe, on balance, it's not been a change for the better. Since we're stuck with the perspective of our lifespan, I wondered what it might look like for someone who lived way back in...

1809 – Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, 3rd President of the United States, has retired to his beloved Monticello. He is greeted by a traveling delegation of his Congressman, his Senator, and a few bureaucrats from Washington DC, just arrived from 200 years in the future...

Jefferson is greeted by the delegation:

Mr President, we haven't met, but I'm Senator Fossell, and I'd like to introduce Representative Clymer, Ms Gaya from the EPA, Mr Theeves from the IRS, and Mr Minder from OSHA. And may I say sir, I have surely appreciated your support during my 24 years serving the great state of Virginia, as has Rep. Clymer for his 13 terms in Congress.

Jefferson: I'm somewhat confused, good sirs and madam. I've never heard of these aforementioned initials. I've never voted for you, Senator, while I was a member of the Legislature; and most certainly would never have supported any man, Mr Clymer, to serve so long in Congress.

Rep. Clymer: Uh, well, you see, Mr President, it's very important that Virginia have someone who knows the ins and outs of Washington, and with my seniority, I chair several committees and have great control over how much money comes back to this district. And of course, these days we elect Senators by popular election of the people- much more democratic, as I'm sure you'd agree.

Jefferson: Your pardon, sir, but America is a republic, not a democracy. A democracy is nought but mob rule, and not our form of government. And to both you gentlemen, have you no useful occupation to return to? We purposed that elective office should be a duty to the country, served for a season, and never a career.

Sen Fossell: (Harumph) Well, sir, you lived in much simpler times, and could not have conceived of the progress we've made in 200 years. We have challenges you cannot have imagined!

Jefferson: Indeed, has the nature of man become saintly and pristine? Is there no more greed, hypocrisy, or lust for power over one's fellow man? Whatever inventions have come, I dare say these are challenges that are eternal, and not solved by any mortal man.

Rep. Clymer: Well we have made great progress! We now realize the value in diversity, in fairness, and in concern for our environment. Actually, Ms Gaya would like to speak to you about a small issue – Ms Gaya?

Ms Gaya: I need to inform you that you must immediately cease disturbing the southwest corner of your property. That has been declared a protected wetland area, vital to the ecosystem, and you may not attempt to drain or alter it under penalty of law.

Jefferson: I know not what a Ms is, but madam, my property is mine to administer as I wish. Private property is the cornerstone of a free society, and you have no say in the matter!

Sen Fossell: Actually, Mr Jefferson, she does. And I hate to bring this up, but you apparently won't agree to sell the northwest 20 acres you own. I regret to inform you, but the government is exercising eminent domain and will take possession of that property. A large milling operation wishes to build there, and they will employ lots of people and pay a lot more tax than you currently pay on that land – it's for the greater public good!

Jefferson: Sir! Have you not read the 4th Amendment to the Constitution? A man's property is his own, and may not be seized by his government, excepting extraordinary circumstance. How I manage my estate, my business and those who labor for me is my affair and mine alone!

Mr Minder: Um, excuse me, sir, but we also have a little problem with your operations. It seems your buggy wheels are over the allowed dimensions, your outhouses are too far away from the fields, and I'm told you're using an unauthorized brand of kerosene in your lamps. It's not even stored in approved containers with mandatory warnings!

Jefferson: I cannot believe your arrogance! Would you tell me next that you would not only manage my land, run my business, but confiscate the fruits of my labor as well??

Mr Theeves: Not to add fuel to the fire, but it's come to our attention that you are seriously delinquent on not only your Federal Income Tax, but also your State Income Tax, FICA, Medicare/Medicaid, Workers Compensation and excise tax on your last crop of tobacco. I'm sorry, but Federal agents will be here tomorrow to formally take control of this property.

Jefferson::Well, good sirs and madam. I see am most certainly woefully short in my knowledge of the world's workings nowadays. I shall yield to your obviously superior knowledge and evolved approach to government. However, might I entreat you to all step behind the drying barn for just a moment? There is a rare and priceless bit of the ecosystem, if you will, that you simply must see before you depart. It is a bit of fauna that has rarely occurred in all of man's history, Right this way and you'll experience firsthand,,...

The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

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End Game II - the Finale?

I've talked about where we are now, and what our response should be. But what exactly are we up against, and where might we end up in the near future? Let's start with the forces that brought us to this point. This isn't just Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and (name your favorite target) selling this country into abject socialist slavery. They didn't just appear in the last 2 or 4 or 20 years to begin wreaking havoc on America The very fact that they are in the positions of power they currently enjoy has been made possible by a deliberately planned, patient and well executed assault on the very foundations of this constitutional republic

One can go back as far as the first chapter of Genesis for the answer, or if you want to stick to more modern political philosophy, look to the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramci and his theories of “cultural hegemony”. He believed that Ignatius Loyola (founder of the Jesuit Order) had it right when he said “give me a child until he is seven, and I will show you the man”. Unfortunately, Gramci and his adherents had quite a different end result in mind than Loyola. The left has for nearly 100 years made a concerted effort to infiltrate, dominate, and co-opt education from preschool to post graduate levels. For proof of their success, look no farther than one William Ayers, radical terrorist, accessory to murder, and self-described “communist with a small c”. Ayers, far from being locked away for life, or at least shunned by society, is now a distinguished professor of education training future generations of teachers. This relentless, purposeful radicalization of our public education system, in tandem with an equally determined assault on traditional, yes Christian, values by popular culture has finally reached critical mass. The majority of Americans no longer know where they came from, what kind of government the founding fathers bequeathed them, or what lessons history should teach us about the nature of political systems and how they affect those who must live under them. Most tragically, they have lost the ability to even think critically; to seek out, absorb, and analyze information to arrive at their own conclusions. One need only to look back to November 4, 2008 to see how close to this brave new world we've come.

So, is it twilight in America? Is there any hope for the future of the country, not as we see it now, but as it was envisioned over 200 years ago? In a word, no, not if things continue on their current trajectory. Entrenched forces in education, entertainment, and a gargantuan federal bureaucracy will not willingly give up their hard-fought positions. Unforunately for the rest of us, they also have enablers with enormous financial resources who lust for a one world government full of compliant serfs. We should not deceive ourselves that we are, right now, in anything other than a minority position. Reactions to the economy or a foreign policy crisis might temporarily shift political power in a a more conservative direction, but would be unlikely to effect a long-term change of direction.

Does this mean we're doomed? Well, not necessarily. If you consider that the American Revolution succeeded with only one third of the country in support of opposing the mightiest military power on the planet, then you would know that a small but determined force can once again change history. You might also recall the story of the Israelites fleeing the Egyptian army, stuck between the desert and the Red Sea with no way out. I cited Genesis earlier, so I'll look to the last book in the Bible, Revelation, for the way the final chapter ends (hint – there's no USA in the plot line) However, the same book tells us that we don't get to know the timing. In the meantime, I believe that, like that small but resolute minority in 1776, that the miracle that became the United States of America can happen all over again. There's work to be done and it's going to take a massive, public protest that can't be ignored. Tax day is coming with hundreds of Tea Party protests across America. Let's get to it!

End Game

While it seems like the whole of America (at least the literate, rational, thinking part of it) is on fire about the state of the: Congress, economy, stock market, popular culture, embryonic stem cells/StimulusII/TARPII/III/IV/Budget2010 - take your pick - I think it's time to take both a look behind, and at the same time a look over the horizon to see what lies ahead.

It doesn't take a person with more than a functional frontal lobe to know that we are, as the Chinese curse says, living in interesting times. Where we are now did not just materialize with the election of Barack Hussein Sotoero Obama II - or GWB, LGJ, RFK, or any other President in our lifetimes. It's been a many-decades long march toward the destruction of the great experiment we started in the Boston harbor over 200 years ago. So the question before us is twofold. How did we arrive at this point in America's history, and where do we go from here? More importantly, what will the United States of America look like in say, 2012 or 2015, and how does what we do today impact that future? Can this march toward a socialist/one world/totalitarian state be turned back by anything we do today?

First, the look back. How did we get to this state of affairs, and who's responsible? Well, if you read American history (or the Bible) you'll realize fairly quickly that it is not the godly and upright men who have driven this decline, or the decline of any civilization in all of recorded history. In fact, I would argue that it is precisely th.e ungodly, the egotistical, the lovers of material things and not spiritual wisdom who have brought us to this point. I would challenge you to find any prominent "progressive"/"liberal"/ yes, Democrat, who does not for the most part stand against conventional JudeoChristian belief. I would challenge you to put their policy positions up against the Constitution, or any of the words of those who wrote it. The last one hundred or so years have seen a relentless and inexorable march toward a diminution of the rights of the individual and an increase in the power and control of the government. The latest power grab by the current Congress and administration is just a continuation of that long term trend on steriods. If you've studied history, as our founding fathers did, you would know, as they understood, that this is the natural progression of all governments. Centralized power always tend to aggregate continually more control unto itself. So, while this is nothing more than an inevitable progession on first examination, I believe there is even more happening at this moment in history. I believe that we are nearing critical mass - we will fall irretrievably into a Brave New World of centralized control, or there will be a resurgance of human freedom. What will determine our future, and what is our part to play in it?

Which brings us to the next step - what do we do now? You could of course, be fatalistic "It's the end times and there's nothing we can do to stop it". Ultimately this is true; we are not the ones writing the novel - the Author is. It is also true that democratic republics such as ours have historically lasted about 200 years, but we've already beaten those odds. I don't believe that we have no part to play, regardless of how the story is destined to play out. However, there are forces at work that are shaping our future well beyond the daily antics of Obama, Pelosi and Reid. If you're really interested, there are some links below, but I would encourage you to do your own research on the Federal Reserve and the interconnections with the world's financial power brokers. Or check out how someone(s) engaged in deliberate naked short selling to take down major investment banks and hasten the current economic unrest. You might be wearing rose colored glasses, and think that this is just the up and down of the market, and the USA is forever and we'll see a Dow of 14,ooo again in the near future. You might be like me, and millions of like-minded patriots, and believe that with concerted effort we can reclaim the genius of the republic we were bequeathed.

In the end, if you are a citizen who wants to see this country return to its roots - the time for action is now. We are not called to sit on the sidelines and wait for the rapture. Indeed there is much work to be done, and if we the people don't stand up and take action, then the final act in this play is already written. We can make a difference! Check out the Tea Party protests in your area, and be loud and visible. If there's not an event in your area, start one yourself! Politicians live by polls, publicity and the fear of not being re-elected. Support and work hard for people who stand on principle, not political expedience. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option at this critical juncture. Later I'll give you my take on where we'll be in a few years, but for now I'll leave you with the words of St. Paul to to his young disciple Timothy, in a situation not unlike what we face today:

For the time is coming when when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.....I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:3-5,7 ESV

Your Federal Reserve: http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/mar/09/00012/
Financial Market Manipulation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCcRT-y2_rg
Naked Short Selling?:http://antisocialmedia.net/lecture1/player.html

Remember our true Commander-in Chief

God helps them that help themselves.
Benjamin Franklin 1736

In the face of the socialist fusillade that assails us daily, our first impulse is either to take cover or furiously shoot back in all directions. Realistically, a more prudent and effective response is called for, and it's happening across the country. Slowly but surely, an organized army is gathering to take it to the enemy who has no idea what's happening outside of its Washington DC stockade. Being one of those volunteer militiamen, I'd like to act as a volunteer chaplain today.
While Benjamin Franklin was an eminently practical man, and his words still hold true today, it was a priest 200 years before who reminded us of an underlying truth.

Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen
Martin Luther 1521

Whatever your personal religious beliefs may be, believe this: our founders knew, and publicly acknowledged, that this great experiment did not arise from their own genius, but from God - Nature's God, Divine Providence, the Creator. They knew - all too well!-that ultimate authority does not rest with any Congressman, Senator or the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania. They were fully aware that a republic devoid of God and religious practice was doomed to fail, and prayed for His guidance and wisdom. While it is imperative that we mobilize and take action, it is even more important that we not forget He who is the true Author of our liberties, and earnestly seek his protection and favor. In the midst of what sometimes seems like an F-5 tornado ripping through the heartland, it's important to know where our real shelter is. I now yield my pulpit with these words from one of the greatest Americans.

The time is near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

George Washington, August 27, 1776