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!