Welcome to the 1960's (Again)

Welcome to the 1960’s (again).  On the streets we see rioting.  Everywhere you look you see hatred for the “other” side of the issue.  The last time we saw this in America it let to destruction of whole sections of major cities – Detroit, Watts, etc.  This time we have a President and an administration that tend to foster this discontent and hatred.  Instead of a President calling for calm and peace he is commenting on how unjust the outcomes are and sending in his people to “investigate” or file charges against those who a jury of their peers declined to indict.  

We see civil (and non-civil) disobedience and a building hatred for other races, political parties, religions, or classes of Americans.  We have forgotten that we are ALL Americans and need to learn to get along with each other.  Our leaders need to be sending a message that we can do better.  We need a message of hope for our future rather than a message that reinforces or even suggests that America is an unfair place.  While it is true that America is not as free as we used to be it is still a place where dreams can come true if you work towards that dream.  

To accomplish a dream in today’s America you need to get an education.  You need to learn that life is not an entitlement – you will have to work for you income.  We also need to remember that families are the basic unit of society and of our nation and as the families of America fail so does our nation.  The epidemic of one parent families has hit nowhere harder that in our black communities and our current policies appear to be designed to further this decline by fostering single parent homes.  Welfare is rampant with no encouragement to work.  Additionally those who are on welfare, food stamps or other government assistance can’t get off because there is no “soft landing” in the programs.  If you make one dollar too much you suddenly have to make twice as much as you did before because the programs cut you off immediately.  This appears to be designed to keep the poor – well poor.  

If there was a graduated ramp to the benefits you could make more and more money and have your benefits reduce gradually rather than falling off a cliff.  We need a change to our approach to poverty if we want to get more people off from welfare and out of bondage to our government. 

We also need to have it understood that to succeed in today’s world you need some type of education.  You also need to understand that there is a right and wrong approach to life.  We have failed to teach that in our schools so now we have to teach ethics (honesty) to attorneys, engineers, and nearly every other profession.  Our nation has refused to teach right from wrong in our schools but then we expect our professionals to be ethical.  How can we expect our nation to be ethical and honest if we refuse to teach them that this is a requirement to hold onto our government?  All of our founders stated that our government could only be held by a moral group of citizens.  

As I watch our nation I see us slipping into the same pattern as historical societies that have collapsed into ruin.  The part that is before us is further decay and the failure of our government if we don’t repent and turn back to our God (i.e. regain our integrity and honesty).  When we are fully ripe God will teach us the importance of honesty and integrity in his own way.  As we look back on societies and nations of the past, we see that the lessons taught by God are never pleasant.  Whether you attribute this tutoring to God or just to getting your just reward the results are the same.  They usually involve death & destruction.  

We as a nation have become proud and disobedient to the principles that have made us a great nation.  As the saying goes – pride goeth before the fall.  We have become proud, arrogant and our leaders seem to be leading us towards destruction.  Whether this is planned on their part or they are just pawns in someone else’s game remains to be seen.   The one thing that is clear however is that if we don’t change the message coming from Washington and change the plight of our poor our nation will fail from within.

President Obama's Immigration Power Grab

Topic:  President Obama’s Immigration Power Grab

November 20, 2014

Today we get to see two radically different views of how government should operate in action.  On the one hand we have Congress which has been elected to represent us in making decisions and carrying forth our republic.  On the other hand we have President Obama and his supporters that are absolutely sure they know what is best for you, me, and our nation.  They are willing to take action unilaterally to force their ideas on us by circumventing the senators and representatives that we elected to make those decisions.  Their methods include changing the rules in the senate if necessary to get their way. 

This is the stark difference in views of government.  Is government instituted by God as stated in the Declaration of Independence with our rights coming from him with citizens being held responsible for their actions towards each other and towards their governments or is government instituted by men who give whatever rights they want to the citizens?  Are decisions to be made by the masses through their elected representatives or by a few who “know what is best for the masses” since the masses are obviously stupid and don’t understand what needs to be done to keep them “safe” and protected from every consequence that can be envisioned in this world?  The real questions becomes: “Are the citizens of the United States paying enough attention to know what is going on as power is concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people with more and more laws and regulations passed that will eventually make all of us criminals?”

Those who would concentrate power in the hands of a few – whether the few are educated or not – would have a nation where the few rule such as England before wars were waged to reduce the power of the king or that of dictators in other nations.  In these nations the few control the law and its application while the average citizen is powerless to make any change to the government. 

The founders of our nation – mostly common folks or locally prominent members of society met and decided that we needed a nation that recognized God as the granter of our rights rather than the government.  This government was to make decisions based on the will of the majority of citizens who elected representatives to congress.  This process was expected to be slow and cumbersome because important actions would need to be debated and a consensus developed through discussion and compromise.  The rules were set such that the minority could not be run over in the majority’s rush to impose their views on the minority.  Mr. Reid, Mrs. Pelosi, Mr. Obama and ilk have lied to the American people (you can keep your coverage, doctor, “We have relied heavily on his ideas” but “I don’t know who he [Jonathan Gruber] is” and “we borrowed extensively from Dr. Gruber in crafting Obamacare”, etc.), modified the rules to avoid the very safe guards our forefathers developed to protect the citizens of this nation.  The rules were designed to safeguard us so the majority couldn’t impose their will on the minority or take unilateral actions to impose their will on the rest of the nation without debate (i.e. executive orders).

The founding fathers of our nation envisioned a nation where important decisions were discussed, debated and decided over a time period that was long enough for the nation to come to some type of agreement on the question/problem prior to action being taken.  The most decisive issues of today were decided either by one party ramming legislation through (Obamacare) or by Supreme Court action (abortion).  If these decisions had been made through bi-partisan action over a period time long enough for the nation to come to grips with the decisions we could have moved on with less animosity and anger.  It is when one party (whether Republicans, Democrats, the President, or the courts) tries to impose its will on those that disagree through manipulation or force that the American people become divided and begin to shout at one another.  Obviously there are those in every decision that are disappointed and may not agree with the outcome but they are fewer in number and less bitter than if the “majority” imposes their will on the “minority” without sufficient debate and discussion.

Our founding fathers knew what happens when the few reign over the many and set up a government to limit the potential for that to happen.  In the last 6 years we have seen our government make significant movement towards a government where the few have, through manipulation of rules or unilateral actions, imposed what they have “decided” is best on the citizens of America regardless of the desires of the majority of Americans. 

Mr. Obama, Mr. Reid, and Mrs. Pelosi have attempted to impose the will of the few on the citizens of this nation and it has not been received much better that King George’s tax on tea.  It is time for Mr. Obama and his sidekicks (Pelosi and Reid) to review the founding of America and understand again (or for the first time) why this nation was founded and that their attempts at unilateral action are in direct opposition to the very fundamental beliefs of those that founded this nation.  I strongly believe that this nation is better when Congress and the President remember they are representing all of the people of this nation (the minority and the majority) and take actions based on what the people want rather than what the far left (or right) members of their parties demand.  This nation was founded by compromise and debate and it has served us well for 200+ years.  The actions of the few (whether that’s Democrats, Republicans, the Supreme Court or the President) to seize power should not be tolerated nor supported by any of the citizens of this nation.  The process of government set up by our founding fathers should not be bypassed for political expedience by any citizen, member of Congress, judge, political party or president.