This federal government is now sending out to hundreds of thousands of citizens each year an “American Community Survey”, an enhanced Census, which is described as being a legal obligation for us to fill out and return.  They cite Title 13, U.S. Code, Sections 141 and 193)  Title 13, as changed by Title 18, imposes a penalty for not responding.  They may combine your answers with info that we gave to other agencies to enhance the statistical uses of the data.  Based on the info provided, we may be asked to participate in other Census Bureau surveys that are voluntary.

So – We have gone from being asked in 2009 who all lives in our home, their dates of birth, sex and race and whether we own or rent to this survey which asks very intrusive and personal questions.  How intrusive and personal?  It asks  such questions as: how big is your house and when was it built; upon how many acres does the home sit; the amount of sales of all agricultural products produced there in the last year; how many cars are owned; the amount of your real estate taxes and your mortgage payment; your utility bills; your home’s current market value; insurance premiums; 2nd mortgage payments;how many times you’ve been married; what time you leave home and return from your job, and many more intrusive questions. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how all this information can be used by the wrong people.  If it is just about statistics, then why will my name and address be on the Survey?

Can you really think that this survey’s answers are the business of our government?  Are you willing to share this much information with any government, especially this heavy-handed one?  The disrespect for and the intimidation of Americans continues.  Having received by now two surveys and two phone calls, I have discussed the Survey with both my state and federal Representatives, neither of them knowing of it before.  I understand from researching the problem that this tactic may stop the harassment.  Michigan State Representative Greg MacMaster suggested I just tell the agent who will probably show up at my door that if the feds want all that information about me, they can get it at the Secretary of State, the county building offices, etc.  I will not comply, and will fight any penalty imposed by their laws.

President Obama a foreign policy expert?  Really?

One year ago President Obama signed an order for the killing of Osama Bin Laden, wording it in such a way as to give himself all credit if the mission was successful.  If the mission failed, it would have clearly been the responsibility of the Admiral in charge.  Once the mission was successful Vice President Joe Biden, against protocol and intent, revealed that it was Seal Team 6 who did the great deed.  Biden thereby endangered the lives of the Seal Team, their families, and the Pakistanis who assisted in the finding of Bin Laden.  The President promptly revealed the taking of a large cache of intelligence.  This revelation infuriated the intelligence community, who now lost their opportunity to quietly use the intelligence to gain further information.  The President recently traveled to Afghanistan to thank the military and intelligence communities for the Bin Laden mission.  He asked for shout outs to several groups, saying, “We have Task Force Paladin – and Task Force Defender in the house!“  Being the unbridled self-centered man that he is, he then said, “And we have me in the house!“  Instead of asking all Americans to rejoice and have pride in America for getting it done,  President Obama then displayed his  intent to divide Americans by running an outrageous campaign ad saying that Mitt Romney probably would not have made that tough decision.

Regarding our relations with North Korea, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta discussed the recent missile launch by N. Korea by saying that it has us ‘within one inch of war.’  This comes at the same time that Iran is resisting all of President Obama’s attempts to force them to abandon their production of a nuclear bomb, even though the President has  declared that to be “unacceptable”.  China is rising in power as well.

The President, during his campaign, declared that he would give direct negotiations with our enemies a chance, even prior to receiving any concessions from them.  That clearly has not worked.  Some would see a pro-Muslim agenda in his directing NASA, our Space Agency, to have as its mission the improvement of relations with Muslims.  Does that make any sense?  While most Americans understand that those of Islamic faith who are radical terrorists are a great threat to America, President Obama has invited the radical Muslim Brotherhood to the White House to converse with our National Security Council.  He has placed  Mohammed Elibiary, who praised the Ayatollah Kohmeini and leaked highly sensitive intelligence, onto his Homeland Security Advisory Committee.

The organization CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) is gaining power and presence in America.  It is known to have ties to terrorism and has been deemed to be part of Hamas. We ought to understand the founder’s agenda: “Islam is not in America to become equal to any other fate, but to become dominant.  The Quran should be the highest authority in America and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.“  We ought to pay attention to their stated goals.  Nevertheless, the FBI caved to the demands of the Council  by eliminating all references to Islam in the FBI terror training materials.  The Administration has declared that the Muslim who massacred 13 people at Fort Hood while shouting “Allah Akbar!“ is not a terrorist.  The incident was described as an example of “workplace violence”.

On our relations with Islamic countries, the President refused to answer the pleas of Iranians seeking American help with obtaining their freedom.  He placed American soldiers into Libya without consulting Congress, a clear violation of precedent and maybe the law.  Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta then shocked Congress by openly stating to them that the UN and the International community would be part of any decision to enter Syria, and only then might Congress be informed or asked for permission.

A senior State Department official recently declared that the War on Terror is over!  I don’t think so.  It is believed by many that we are less secure as a nation today than we were 3 ½ years ago, just as Leon Panetta insinuated.  We have insulted our allies, made Israel doubt our support, and we have failed to promote peace through strength.

Conservativecorner-karen.blogspot.com

As we await the verdict of the Supreme Court, I wish to discuss some of the things that are wrong with this health care law.  In order to aid 10% of our population, the government would now control 100% of us.  Following are some of the reasons this will happen.  President Obama admits that his highly touted pledge that “we can keep our current insurance if we wish” has disappeared, saying, “I think that some of the provisions that got snuck in might have violated that pledge”.   As the law is currently written, we MUST go onto government insurance once we change or lose our jobs, for there is no insurance portability.  A single payer, government-controls-all insurance market is the obvious goal of the Democrats who passed this bill, including those who took various bribes in order to cast their vote.  It is for this reason that Democrats may not be too devastated if Obamacare is deemed to be unconstitutional, although the law would have gradually put most Americans on government healthcare, by design.
With 10-40% of doctors refusing to have their once private practices taken over by the government, they have said they will retire. So there will be far fewer physicians taking care of 30 million more patients.  That will translate to much longer waiting times, as well as rationing – by necessity.  Due to reductions in government reimbursements to doctors as well as to Medicare and Medicaid, some small community hospitals have been and will be forced to close, and some doctors will stop seeing Medicare patients.

Employers will be forced to make changes to their offered coverage and are being warned about new higher health care costs. Some will decide to pay the government fine and just quit providing insurance.  The Congressional Budget Office has just announced that the cost of Obamacare will be at least double what they told us prior to the passing of the law.  Waivers have been given to “friends” of our President, mostly to union members.

Unbridled power now rests in the hands of the Secretary of Health and Human services to mandate just what insurance must and must not cover.  One debatable requirement is for all Americans to pay for birth control for all, as well as sterilization procedures for young female adults.  Each American is now forced to pay $1 per month to pay for this birth control.  In addition, a Board of appointed “experts” will determine which treatments are in their view worth the expense in relation to the expected length of life.

As Joe Biden said, this law is a”Big Effing Deal”.  It certainly is.  Just some of the ways to solve our health care problems without Big Brother include:

1)      Health Savings Accounts, whereby Americans will be encouraged to shop for competitive prices, and to keep unused funds for a future health crisis

2)       Making legal the sale of health insurance across state lines.  This will cause great competition for customers resulting in lower costs to the insured

3)       Tort reform, intended not to bar lawsuits against malpractice, but to keep frivolous lawsuits out of the courts, and to bar excessive lawyer fees which in turn raise the need for excessive judgments. This alone will save billions of dollars now being spent on defensive medicine

4)      Enrolling the approximately 12 million Americans who now qualify for Medicaid and S-Chip but who have not yet enrolled

5)      Insurance portability – the ability of those who are insured to keep their current insurance policy when they change jobs or are laid off. Insurance portability would greatly reduce the number of people who can’t get new insurance because of a pre-existing condition, for they will continue the insurance they already had

6)       Enhancing health care for the uninsured thru insurance, vouchers, tax credits, and more free clinics

7)       Allowing small business and individuals to join a larger group for lower priced insurance coverage, known as Association Health Plans.

Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid were all passed with true bi-partisan support and votes, unlike Obamacare which received not one single Republican vote.  Congress should go back to the drawing board to construct a plan which will improve American health care without destroying the private market and giving supreme power to our government.  Learn more at  http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/What-Does-Health-Reform-Mean-for-You-A-Consumers-Guide.pdf

In order to aid 10% of our population, the government would now control 100% of us.  Following are some of the reasons this will happen.  President Obama admits that his highly touted pledge that “we can keep our current insurance if we wish” has disappeared, saying, “I think that some of the provisions that got snuck in might have violated that pledge”.   As the law is currently written, we MUST go onto government insurance once we change or lose our jobs, or if our employer changes its coverage – no exceptions.   A single payer, government-controls-all insurance market is the obvious goal of the Democrats who passed this bill, including those who took various bribes in order to cast their vote.
With 10-40% of doctors refusing to have their once private practices taken over by the government, they have said they will retire. So there will be far fewer physicians taking care of 30 million more patients.  That will translate to much longer waiting times, as well as rationing – by necessity.
Due to reductions in government reimbursements to doctors as well as to Medicare and Medicaid, some small community hospitals have been and will be forced to close, and some doctors will stop seeing Medicare patients.

Employers will be forced to make changes to their offered coverage and some companies will be forced to stop serving the pharmacy needs of new Medicare patients, as illustrated by Walmart stores of Washington State. Employees are being warned about new higher health care costs.  The Congressional Budget Office has just announced that the cost of Obamacare will be at least double what they told us prior to the passing of the law.  Waivers have been given to “friends” of our President, mostly to union members.

Unbridled power now rests in the hands of the Secretary of Health and Human services to mandate just what insurance must and must not cover.  One debatable requirement is for all Americans to pay for birth control for all, as well as sterilization procedures for young female adults.  Each American is now forced to pay $1 per month to pay for this birth control.  In addition, a Board of appointed “experts” will determine which treatments are in their view worth the expense in relation to the expected length of life.

As Joe Biden said, this law is a”Big Effing Deal”.  It certainly is.  Just some of the ways to solve our health care problems without Big Brother include:

1. Health Savings Accounts, whereby Americans will be encouraged to shop for competitive prices, and to keep unused funds for a future health crisis
2.  Making legal the sale of health insurance across state lines.  This will cause great competition for customers resulting in lower costs to the insured
3.  Tort reform, intended not to bar lawsuits against malpractice, but to keep frivolous lawsuits out of the courts, and to bar excessive lawyer fees which in turn raise the need for excessive judgments. This alone will save billions of dollars now being spent on defensive medicine
4. Enrolling the approximately 12 million Americans who now qualify for Medicaid and S-Chip but who have not yet enrolled
5. Insurance portability – the ability of those who are insured to keep their current insurance policy when they change jobs or are laid off. Insurance portability would greatly reduce the number of people who can’t get new insurance because of a pre-existing condition, for they will continue the insurance they already had
6.  Enhancing health care for the uninsured thru insurance, vouchers, tax credits, and more free clinics
7.  Allowing small business and individuals to join a larger group for lower priced insurance coverage, known as Association Health Plans.

It is my hope that the Supreme Court decides that government has over-reached  its authority by compelling each of us to buy a product of any kind.  After all, Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid were all passed with true bi-partisan support and votes.  Congress should go back to the drawing board to construct a plan which will improve American health care without destroying the private market and giving supreme power to our government.  Contrary to what is being said, Republicans do not want people to die without health care!

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President Obama has already explained that “where Congress is not willing to act, we’re going to go ahead and do it ourselves.”  What separation of powers?  Here are initiatives 55-63 in the series:

1)      The next stop on the road to amnesty has been declared – a new toll-free hotline to help illegal aliens in custody.  It will assure they are “made aware of their rights”, help them get released from custody, and file civil rights complaints against ICE agents.

2)      The president’s signing statement passed into law the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, whereby he declared that restrictions aimed at protecting top-secret technical data on U.S. Standard Missile-3 velocity burnout parameters might impinge on his constitutional foreign policy authority.  He plans to provide data to Russia, data which will give them the ability to produce weapons to counter the missile.  Russia, of course, may share the information with China, N. Korea or Iran.

3)      A new initiative, part of Obama’s “We Can’t Wait” campaign, is intended to replace a youth jobs fund that would have been enacted had Congress passed the president’s $447 billion jobs bill.  The partnership goal is to create 250,000 new government jobs, along with union memberships and perks, union dues given to Democrat candidates, and eternal Democrat voters.  Congress did not pass the bill.

4)       It is Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) goal to “change how it makes decisions and analyzes problems to give it more power to regulate businesses, communities and ecosystems in the name of the UN agenda of sustainable development.”  Part of its job has been declared to be “providing guidance to EPA on how it might implement its existing statutory authority to contribute more fully to a more sustainable-development trajectory for the United States.  The Republican National Committee has constructed a Resolution Exposing United Nations Agenda 21, for they have never ratified the treaty.  I will be writing about Agenda 21 soon.

5)      The Wildlands Project is being implemented wherever it is allowed. The UN project, part of the UN Biodiversity Treaty which was never ratified by the U.S. Senate, calls for approximately 50 percent of the United States to be set aside as “wildlands”, where no human can enter.  Much has been accomplished over the past 10 years toward that goal, and the pace is stepping up.  Watch for it in your town. 

6)      Barack Obama and the EPA plan to overrule Congress by using regulations to enact environmental policies desired by Obama, in spite of the fact that the Supreme Court  ruled in 2006 that the federal government did not have authority over wetlands and private property.  State agencies will lose their authority to the Feds.

7)      The Obama administration finalized a rule Thursday governing the management of 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands, establishing a new blueprint to guide everything from logging to recreation and renewable energy development.

8)      Six House Democrats, led by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), want to set up a “Reasonable Profits Board”, with no Congressional approval of nominees to control gas profits, with no guideline on what will be determined to be “reasonable”.  They state the “windfall profit tax” could be as much as 100% on the sale of oil and gas profits. Read this one again!  “Reasonable Profits” could be the next Presidential mantra – like “fair share”, and “fair shot”.  If you think this is a good thing, just ponder what you will think when it is your industry’s profits they come after next.

9)      The Department of Agriculture just unveiled new school lunch standards mandating daily fruits and vegetables, more whole-grain foods, and more.  After all, Michelle Obama stated, “We want the food they get in school to be the same kind of food we would serve at our own kitchen tables.”  Never mind that a school in California has gone back to serving burgers because all the healthy food was going into the trash can, creating a black market for “yummy” food.  And never mind that our government has the right to suggest what we should eat, but has no business regulating it.

One third of Americans think we have too much freedom!  Wake up!
conservativecorner-karen.blogspot.com

President Obama’s Budget shenanigans

Our President promised to cut the deficit in half during his first term in office.  His new budget just doesn’t even come close, with Treasury Secretary Geithner calling it “unsustainable”.  The President, through his budget, continues to pit one American against another, blaming the “makers” for not wanting to take care of the continuing number of “takers”.  Because Occupy folks think the rich need to provide more for them, they were asked just what percent of income the rich should be paying.  Asked if a rate of 30% seems fair to them, they said, “Yes!”  They had no idea that the “rich” actually DO pay that much and more in income taxes, as well as paying Medicare taxes to the last dollar they earn.

Now Chief of Staff Lew has said that the reason the Senate has not passed a yearly budget for nearly three years is because of those rascally Republicans who just won’t go along.  He had the nerve to state as truth that the Budget requires 60 votes in Congress, and they just can’t get the votes.  The problem is that it only takes 51 votes, and he jolly well knows it.  The Senate will not pass a budget because it would put in jeopardy the reelections of Democrats from swing states, for it would let those voters actually know what will be necessary to tame our deficit and put our country back on a secure footing, as well as revealing just whom they plan to “target”.

President Obama talks a good game about fairness, sharing and spreading the wealth, using Warren Buffett as his example of a rich person who doesn’t need lower taxes, saying his secretary pays taxes at a higher rate than does he.  He is speaking not of his income tax, but his capital gains tax.  His secretary most likely makes around $200,000, so it is no surprise that she pays more than the 15% capital gains tax rate that Buffett pays.  Warren Buffet may condemn his low tax rate, but he is in court right now over what is said to be about $1 billion dollars in corporate taxes he has failed to pay over the last decade.  It is our Congress which passed the laws that permit the truly wealthy to avoid taxes in legal ways.  The notion that someone making $200,000 is so rich that they should be punished is crazy.  Even Buffett declares one million dollars or more to be the “super rich” who should pay more in taxes.  What kind of President would condemn any group of hard-working Americans as not being part of the “working class”?  Having never had a real job, our President does not apparently know that high-wage earners usually work 12-16 hour days.

Believing that dividing Americans between rich and poor may not be enough to secure our President’s reelection, he recently launched his “African-Americans for Obama” group, a shocking and racist move for the President of all Americans.  The message in Obama’s video is to vote for him because he is black and he is going to punish the rich.

To repeat, nearly 50% of all Americans pay no income taxes – yes, no income taxes.  There are many who because they don’t make enough income to pay incomes taxes actually receive a check from the government because they don’t pay those taxes.  It bears repeating that the top 10% of income earners already pay 70% of all income taxes in our country.  Since the “takers” as well as the truly needy are paying NO income taxes, plus receiving government programs, I ask at what point the takers will think the “rich” would be paying their “fair” share?  Isn’t seven times their “proportionate share” enough?  Even if the “super rich” were taxed at 100% of their income, little would change in our deficit because that amounts to such a small proportion of our debt under this Administration.  For instance, the UK now receives 50% less revenue after raising tax rates to 50%.  The rich simply take their wealth somewhere else when “enough is enough”.  Fomenting hatred and envy of the rich, and  punishment of their successes is a dangerous strategy.   For shame, Mr. President!

In part 4 of my expose: Who Needs Congress, I quote Barack Obama: “I’ve told my administration, we’re going to look every single day to figure out what we can do without Congress,”  “We can’t wait for Congress to do its job.”  Obama and his administration have passed the following laws and regulations:

1. The recent law signed by Obama confers the right of our government to indefinitely detain any terrorism suspect without trial.   Michigan Senator Carl Levin states that Obama asked for the language protecting American citizens to be removed from the bill.  To Congress’ shame, the bill   passed.  While believing no one should be detained or water-boarded at Gitmo, Obama nevertheless decided to kill an American citizen, terrorist though he was, via drone – al-Awlaki.

2. A relaxation on oversight of the FBI’s intelligence gathering activities – meaning our trash can be gone through and law enforcement data bases can be accessed without an investigation being opened.

3. The Department of Justice now has the legal right to tell outright lies about what documents it does and doesn’t have.  Government can hide from us just what it is doing.

4. The National Labor Relations Board is charged with judging private sector labor law cases and interpreting labor statutes. It is proposing sweeping rule changes favorable to unions.

5.  President Obama recently declared during congressional hearings into the disappearance of $1.2 billion that he can preempt the law whenever its enforcement might irritate a foreign government.

6. President Obama argues that he has the unilateral power to nullify Arizona’s Immigration law by saying that it implicates the president’s power over foreign affairs, trumping any state’s immigration-related actions when another nation has a complaint.

7. Our Department of Justice rejected South Carolina’s voter ID law, saying no evidence of fraud had been provided.  This standard was rejected by the Supreme Court but is ignored by Obama.  The Supreme Court also previously stated that the “burden to travel to an elections office with proof of ID is no more a burden than traveling to the polling place to vote.  Voter turnout has actually increased in states that require voter ID.  In Chicago, photo ID is required for purchasing Draino, but not for voting.

8. Obama’s EEOC has just declared that requiring a high school education in order to apply for a job goes against the Americans for Disability Act.  This not only is a ploy to get more votes, it creates a reason for more students to drop out of high school and it further dumbs-down our populace, all in one fell swoop!  Attorneys will be fully employed prosecuting lawsuits.

9.  President Obama recently named a new cabinet-level Office of Manufacturing Policy, along with two new czars who will guide his manufacturing policies.  This comes after he signed the budget compromise wherein the czars overseeing health care, climate change, the auto industry and urban affairs were eliminated.  Following his signing it into law, he declared he would ignore the part about the czars.
10. Obama is collecting information by asking supporters to ‘have a little fun at the expense of a Republican in your life’ by signing them up to get an email from the Obama campaign ribbing them for having ‘inspired’ the supporter to donate. In the process, Obama gets the conservatives’ email addresses.  If the supporter also provides the home address and purchases an Obama store item, Obama will even send the gift to Republicans.  This follows his flag@whitehouse program and “Attack Watch”, the program of snitching to the Obama website on any person who might have said “something fishy” about Obamacare or anything else.

11) Obama’s Cybersecurity Coordinator is moving to give the Commerce Department the authority to create an Internet ID for all Americans, an “identity ecosystem” for the internet.

12) Americans staying at home caring for disabled family members are now forced to join a union and pay union dues.  SEIU receives about $30 of each family’s Medicaid subsidy as union dues.

14) President Obama in early January made three recess appointments of those whom Congress failed to approve.  The problem is that Congress was not in recess, making this a flagrant abuse of the law.

Conservativecorner-karen.blogspot.com

I recently visited Occupy Washington, D.C., just a few blocks from the White House.  I congratulated the protesters there for having a list of responsible principles of non-violence.  I disagree with their stated demands, the first official list I’ve seen.  My response to those demands follows.

1.) The rich are already taxed by states and feds at up to 50% of income, while the lowest earning 47% of Americans are not taxed at all on income.  While never decrying the immense incomes of actors and sports stars, Occupy crowds decry corporate owners and employees who actually provide jobs, develop products and pay the taxes which provide the safety net for the poor.

2) Wouldn’t we all wish for a world with no enemies, no wars, no evil men attempting to take over the world?  Unless Occupy protesters want to have a dictator or tyrant who cares not for their concerns at all, we must defend our freedoms.

3) Yes, the social safety net needs to be protected.  Our money is not now wisely spent, fraud is rampant, unintended consequences increase government dependency, and government has defined poverty up in order to get more and more people on welfare.  We have a multitude of poverty programs caring for the truly needy.  Social Security is not strengthened by decrying the need to raise the age of retirement as we reach longer life expectancies.  As to Medicare, all Americans receive Medicare when they reach the age of 65, whether they want it or not.

4) The end to corporate welfare is a laudable goal.  I assume they disapprove of the recent government bailouts.  Do they think this should also apply to government grants to failing environmental companies which have products which no one could afford to buy without government’s interference, grants which turn into slush funds for companies which quickly go bankrupt?  The basic axiom of crony capitalism is that one doesn’t need to break the law when many loopholes exist, an axiom which also works well for politicians.
5) It would be a wonderful world if we could actually produce enough solar energy, nuclear energy and windmills to provide enough electricity to live in a developed way.  Four decades ago Gary, Indiana had orange air from steel mills which ran with no controls.  Lake Erie was once so polluted that the lake itself caught fire.  Pollution of air and water is dramatically lower now, and we should continue to make reasonable attempts to protect our environment.

6) Worker’s rights are protected – those of all workers.  The days of terrible abuses of employees was certainly ended by unions, whose bloated benefits now put budgets at risk.  Capitalism allows workers to leave one company to work for another which gives better benefits, making a competitive environment which forces companies to compete for the best workers.  The rights of those who wish to work without a union, the vast majority of Americans, should also be protected, from forced membership, from having to pay dues to union bosses, from having to make their votes in public, and from having their union dues sent to just one political party regardless of the beliefs of the worker.  The right to vote for collective bargaining is a protected right.  It should not be a command.

7)  Jobs?  They are created by companies which take risks in order to develop services and products which consumers want and need.  When government provides all jobs, sooner or later the government runs out of other people’s money, as “the rich” decide to avoid tyranny by closing their businesses or taking jobs overseas.

Let’s do get money out of politics!  I love that one!  How on earth do they plan to do this by excoriating corporations instead of Congress and the President?  Politicians are forced to be money-raisers from their first day in office.  Perhaps Occupy would approve of laws which force politicians to have the same health care, benefits and pensions as do the “folks”, as our President calls us.  Congress should be forced to pass no law from which they are exempt, such as the currently exposed legal insider trading.

We need fresh solutions to make capitalism work once again.

Conservativecorner-karen.blogspot.com

“Words mean things”, as President Obama said.  Media continues to ignore the words of Barack Obama, much of which has fueled class warfare in America.  During his election campaign he told Joe the Plumber Wurzelbacher that we must “spread the wealth around”, openly stating his intention to take money from those who produce jobs and wealth and give it to those who don’t, inspiring the demands of Occupy Wall St., which our President openly supports.  He recently said that we must “spread out the sacrifice so that it is fair”.

President Obama once stated that he thinks one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was that there was a “tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change.” It illustrates why this former community organizer is so supportive of Occupy Wall St., which has recently developed a website called Occupy Revolution.  One protestor declared that Occupy is infiltrating our military right now, for “revolution” is impossible without it.

President Obama has argued that our Constitution “is a charter of negative liberties which doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on our behalf.”  He lamented that “the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and economic justice in this society.”  “Occupy” America groups are certainly echoing that.  President Obama is certainly not alone in criticizing the Constitution.  The Democrat Governor of North Carolina recently made a serious suggestion to “suspend elections for Congress for two years.” This anti-Constitutional suggestion bears watching.

President Obama truly believes that capitalism is evil and “social justice” through government policy is good.  He believes in equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity.  This is just who he is. He doesn’t agree with Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman who said, “The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus.” “Capitalism has provided the most wealth to the most people that this world has ever seen”.

Perceived hateful words of conservatives are described by our President and the main stream media as words which create violence.  Words of Democrats go unmentioned by media and our President, who once asked for “respectful speech which doesn’t inflame hatred.” Leading the way, President Obama then said that the vote against the Recovery Act helped to create “the tea-baggers” – a sexually-deviant term he was happy to use to describe the Tea Party.  President Obama has remained mute while some of his favored Occupy Wall St. members have called for more militancy and violence to promote their radical demands.  He continually pits one group of Americans against another, teaching hatred for anyone who does not agree with his agenda.

While Representative Maxine Waters said the Tea Party can “Go straight to Hell”, Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee recently said that right-leaning media and blogs should “shut up”. She urged America to forget our “Buy American” motto and instead go with “Buy African-American”, saying that it is not racist, it is affirmative action.

Nancy Pelosi asked God to bless the Occupy Wall St. protesters. She also had the audacity to actually speak this lie on the John Daly Show: “Bless their hearts.  The Republicans, they do what they believe,” she said. “And they do not believe in social security, Medicare, Medicaid, clean air, clean water, food safety, public safety, public education.” Words, just words.

Speech such as this inspires hatred, class warfare, and anarchy.  “Occupy” protesters reflect the outcome of their progressive education. Entitlement trumps responsibility for ones’ actions.  For decades many college professors have taught that America is bad, capitalism is evil, striving for the riches that come with excellence and hard work is greedy, socialism is cool, and judging behaviors is unacceptable. Is it any wonder that young people who cannot  speak intelligently about their concerns are now focused on entitlement without merit? A newly formed group, Wall St. Fighters, is part of the 53% of Americans who pay all income taxes.  They are asking for protesters to “Occupy a desk”.

It is impossible to solve the problems of America without civil discourse on various methods of solving those problems.

 conservativecorner-karen.blogspot.com

Prior to the infiltration of nationwide Occupy demonstrations by many radical groups, there were some legitimate concerns being expressed, though some will criticize the methods they employ. Certainly there are some concerns they share with the Tea Party, and it may be time for the two groups to come together.

Congress has for many decades passed laws demonstrating good intent, frequently creating unintended consequences.  In the early 20th century personal income of corporate executives were taxed at very high levels, creating a need for alternative ways to compensate.  Thus stock options and pensions became part of overall compensation.  Name the law, and we can find unintended consequences.  Individuals and corporations alike have learned to use laws passed by Congress to their benefit, finding mostly legal ways to avoid further taxation or to gain an advantage.

It is these laws and their loopholes which should be targeted, along with Congress and the President who passes them, not the corporations which create most jobs in America.  Laws forcing banks to provide mortgages to those without the means to repay them, for instance, led to banks figuring out legal ways to avoid taking large losses when those mortgages fell through.  Laws allowing executives of taxpayer bailed-out companies to continue receiving large bonuses before the company repays American taxpayers should not have passed.  Those who break the law in gaining advantages should be, but often are not, prosecuted. Shutting down these businesses by Occupy crowds, however, hurts all employees from blue collar to white, not just executives.

Only 12% of Americans approve the job our Congress is doing. Crony capitalism is condemned because those with close ties to government receive “favors” including permits, government grants, earmarks, and special tax breaks.  We condemn bailouts of failing companies. Our Federal Reserve, which has never been audited, secretly bailed out banks around the world with dollars far greater than domestic banks received.  Baseline budgeting, without any vote in Congress, automatically raises the budget for government programs by 8% per year, even during times of budget deficit and no inflation.  Lowering the increase is decried as a cut, even though the programs receive even more money.

We should rethink spending on government programs.  Trillions of tax dollars have been spent on education, on the war against drugs, and the “war on poverty”, resulting in less able graduates, more drop-outs, more illegal drugs and more poverty.

Chaos, demonstrations and threats can and do bring a problem to the attention of America, as they have throughout our history. Working together, however, we can improve America without destroying the free market capitalism which has enriched the lives of Americans, whereby those who work hard and take advantage of their opportunities have an amazing chance to improve their lots in life, an extraordinary opportunity not afforded to those living in countries run by tyrants and dictators.  Socialist, Marxist and Communist leaders have never provided the freedom and upward mobility that is abundant in America.  People long to come to America and are willing to die to get here – it is the land of opportunity!  President Obama recently dared to defy history by declaring that capitalism has never worked.  He is factually impaired, as capitalism DOES work, and we need to reestablish the best opportunities of that capitalism.

So what is it that we can all do to make a change?  Tea Party and Occupy groups could begin to meet in order to find common causes.  We should peacefully petition Congress in large numbers with letters, emails and office visits, and attend Townhall meetings to have our voices heard.  We should demonstrate, without trespassing or keeping others from getting to their jobs.  We should be writing Letters to the Editor.  We could run for election as Precinct Delegates, the smallest political unit in the country to have a vote. Several hours per day on the phone could be more productive and far more comfortable than spending 3 months in a tent. We should take positive actions to effect change in America instead of trying to bring America to its knees.  Investigate those running for office, study their positions, and volunteer for those whose beliefs match your desires.  It’s the American way!

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