Power and Privilege

One of my early memories was going to a political rally with my parents. I remember hearing two adults talking about the candidate. In this conversation one person was questioning the candidate’s character. The answer to this question was basically: Hey the best thing we can do is send him to Washington where he can’t do as much harm. This statement shows some of the political naivety of the person and the times. The mid 60s was a time when few people were touched by the Federal government. It was a time when local politics outweighed those of the national government.

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Today it is over 40 years later and few are as naive and believe that those in the US Congress can do little harm. With the National debt passing the $15,000,000,000,000.00 ($15 trillion) fueled even faster by the Federal Government’s takeover of the healthcare system the increasing amount of regulations that are suffocating the economy it is hard to not see that Washington is not the place to send people who are not trustworthy. As more and more power is transferred away from the state and local governments those in the new national government have set up a system of power and privilege that is unlike anything ever seen in the nation’s history.

There is a major problem with the actions of those who say they are in Washington to serve the nation. With the release of information that shows that those in Congress have abused the power given to them and now believe that they are above the code of ethics that once guided the nation. This sense of privilege to wealth and power has enriched those in power and harmed the nation. I was not surprised to see evidence that members of Congress have engaged in insider trading, been bribed with options for IPO stock, and used their power to gather wealth through means that would be illegal for anyone else. In these cases they have exempted themselves from the laws they pass. They also write their own ethics rules. Such power and privilege undermines the foundation of our republic. It is no wonder that their approval ratings are so low. Few people would ever agree that our so-called “public servants” were elected for the purpose of self enrichment.

No one is sure how deep the corruption in Washington goes. Over the years there have been too many things done the only speak to corruption so deep that it is the rule, not the exception. Over the years, more and more of the actions taken have been in direct opposition to the will of the people. It goes deeper than the passage of ObamaCare, but it is the most glaring example of imperialistic rule. It is an example of our government grabbing power with the stated idea that: Once the American people began to get the benefits it would be impossible to repeal it. They hope to corrupt the entire nation in the same way that they have been corrupted. When a national leader states openly that: “That we must pass the bill to find out what is in the bill” they no longer care about serving the public.

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The only defense to this corrupt behavior that I’ve heard was: that nothing that has been done was illegal or violated the ethics rules of Congress. Just because they exempt themselves from the same laws that the rest of America are subject to does not mean that it is moral. Just because they determine that insider trading does not violate their ethics, doesn’t mean it is not unethical. This whole affair calls back to the behavior of monarchies, dictators, and tyrants throughout history. When those who rule lookdown upon those who they are supposed to be protecting, they have lost the humanity required to govern. They seem to believe, and with some good reasons, that they can do anything. They have been able to bribe us with our own money and many of us happy with it. This is not the form of government that many of us expect. Those of us who believe that the nation was built on freedom and honest hard work want those who we send to serve to be ethical, honest, and believe in protecting our Constitutional freedoms. This is not done through insider trading, dishonest self-enrichment, and unethical behavior.

In their places of power the leadership has seemed to sell out the country to the lobbyist and the narrow special interests of those who are willing to buy the privilege. The Dodd/Franks Law was supposed to be an answer to the problems that caused the banking crisis of 2008. One of many issues with this law is the timing. Why was this bill passed before the actual issues that caused the problem were identified and understood? How did the debit card fees charged to retailer cause the near collapse of the economy? Why did it do nothing about the real problems in the banking system? Could it have something to do with the corruption of the authors of the bill? Barney Frank defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up to the crisis. Chris Dodd as head of the Senate Banking Committee was way to close to the problem and temptations that his position allowed. What do we not know about his involvement with the insider trading scandal? I trust neither and believe that the rush to pass this bill into law had more to do with covering tracks and less with solving problems. It only appears to be another “feel good” law that shows that they had done something. Whether it did any good or not, it made people think that the problem was solved.

Would it not have been a better solution to once again outlaw interstate banking and separate the brokers from the bankers? With the system created by the repeal of Glass/Steagall Act of 1933 in 1999 allowed banks to grow into what is now known as “too big to fail.” Instead of making a more stable banking system it has created a situation where a failure in one major market endangers the entire economy. It opened the door to the Federal government now is able to meddle in the operations of these large nation banking institutions. Leaving state regulators in less control of what should be a state’s responsibility. It also lead to the crisis of 2008 since banks were open to the bulling by groups such as ACORN as they sought approval for the mergers needed to build the nationwide banking powerhouses.

Another thing not fixed by Dodd/Franks was that they did not separate the commercial banks from the investment banks. You would think that the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008 would have caused an honest, ethical, and sane person to reconsider the danger of combining the two types of banks. The failure of the system in 1929 and once again in 2008 should prove that the risk involved in such large organizations should be limited by limiting the scope of such failures. But since 2008 to today there are fewer banks. These banks now hold more money and are a greater danger to the security of the national banking system. By once again moving away from the too big to fail model and to smaller state based banking the Federal Government will have less say in the day to day operations of banks.

It is impossible to end all corruption, but the question remains on how we can limit the corruption in Washington and our state houses. The power and privilege of such offices presents too many temptations and a total lack of virtues, ethics, and morals seems to be the norm with many of the elder politicians. With the riches that many have amassed through various means it makes it difficult to remove many of the life time members. There is also the fact that many of those who are suspected of being corrupt have large monetary supporters outside of their districts and home states. There is also the problem of uninformed and corrupt individuals that support them. Another issue is that our elections have become the cloud of suspicion, due to the lack of voter verification imposed by the Democrat party. As long as our electoral system is suspect, then there is always the possibility that the American people no longer are in control of the nation. This truly means that the republic is dead.

I pray that it is not too late to save our nation. I see the TEA Party as a major movement that could reignite the understanding of our country and what makes it so special. My biggest fear is with the number of people who ignore and or ignorant of the dangers that face our nation. Those who are living off the corruption don’t want the people to understand or know the troubles the nation face as we go forward. They don’t want us to understand the dangers of the national debt to this generation and all of those who come after it. They tell us that they are going to fix the debt while continue to increase spending. They cut Medicare payments to shift it to a takeover of the healthcare system, and tell us that it is not a problem.

The system may be beyond salvaging but not the Constitution. We must look at our system and determine how to fix it. There have been changes to it that must be repaired. There must be an educational process to undo the lies told and the truth restored. Our founding fathers created the greatest nation on the planet. No system is perfect, but I do believe that ours is recoverable. We as a people must take back control from those who have set up a system designed to reward the powerful and privileged. As long as we have a government that places itself above the population we are no longer a nation of laws. By continuing down this road we are doomed to servitude to a tyrannical and imperial government.

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©2011 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

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SOS

For years the military has served a breakfast item know to many a Solder, Sailor, Airman, and Marine, as “SOS or SHI*…eh...Stuff On a Shingle.” I've also heard it called Same Old SHI*...eh…Stuff. Of course most people should know that SOS is the international distress code. Well if ever the US needed to send out an SOS it is now. But what we don't need is the SOS that the President and his Progressive allies are giving us.

It has now been a month since the President started his reelection campaign with a heaping pile of SOS. I've waited a month to write anything about the President's plan.  As any veteran will tell you: There is nothing worst than warmed over SOS that is over 3 years old. But that is what the President wants. This new plan that he presented and tells us will fix all of our problems is nothing but his old plan using new terms and new spin. After waiting I realized that Obama's new plan is the same as the old plan.

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In his speech he talked about an American compact. He asked whether the government could do something to help the American Economy. He asked that the government can restore some of the “fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning.” That he was sending Congress “The American Jobs Act” that has everything paid for, and will cut taxes for all “working American” in half. He claimed that this bill will give a jolt to the economy and encourage business to invest and hire new workers. The President also promised more tax loopholes for businesses, when he said that businesses would be able to “write off” their investments.

The President then talked about more “investments” (spending) that could be done to “put American workers back to work” without saying that most of those tasks are the responsibility of the local and state governments. He once again talked about how they would better control the spending while saying that they would cut red tape to speed up the approval of projects. (Does Solyndra ring a bell?) He talked about a ladder out of poverty.

Over and over again he called his speech the “American’s Jobs Act.” He then said that the bill was paid for, as he passed the way to do it off to the future. He then launched into his standard class warfare talk while talked about reforming Medicare. Then he went back to class warfare just after he promised to give more loopholes to businesses. The majority of his speech was filled with the duplicity he is famous. He denies class warfare while attacking a whole class of Americans.

The President claims that he wants to create a climate that will make American more competitive. He wants companies to invest and help startup companies get off the ground, but he has done everything to discourage businesses to start or invest. While he talks about trade agreements, he has sent nothing to the Democrat controlled Senate for approval.

His entire campaign speech was an attack upon the American system. He continues to promise that he will cut regulations and wasted spending, while he has unelected czars sitting around writing new regulations. His Health and Human Services Secretary was given the task of writing thousands pages of healthcare regulations as part of ObamaCare.

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This man can not present a balanced picture and can not compromise. His view is a all or nothing view, his way or the highway. (Of course that highway must be paved with Federal money.) He still plays upon the fears of the uninformed. He refuses to admit that regulations hurt business. That the government cannot cure poverty, spend the nation into prosperity, or eliminate risk and make everyone equal.

After his highly hyped and staged reelection kick off speech before a joint session of Congress, the President started a series of speeches telling the American people to demand that “Congress pass his bill.” The only problem with this demand was that at the time there was not a bill only a speech. It took him over a week to present a bill. As of this writing there are no Democrats in Congress that have sponsored the bill. While he still demands that Congress pass the bill and the DNC is running commercials claiming that the Presidents plan is the cure all and should be passed, not one Democrat in Congress is willing to put it up for a vote.

So this “new plan” from Mr. Obama is nothing more than the old plan reheated and served on a new plate with new names. In the time that has passed this speech has become just another rehash of his old plan of more tax and spending. He wants to spend more money on green and shovel ready jobs, have targeted tax credits, continue to pay people to not work, raise the Capital Gains Taxes, and punish the “rich.” But we’ve seen through the Solyndra mess that stimulus money hurriedly spent on so called green jobs only waste money.

It is clear that many who collect unemployment really need the help, but that far too many abuse it, while those out of work for too long become disconnected from work. Employers need people to do work not just draw pay checks. A healthy company needs every employee to make more money for the business then the cost of their employment. Without profits there will be no companies, no jobs, and no tax revenues.

Mr. Obama knows that raising the Capital Gains Tax will lower revenues to the treasury, but his sense of “fairness” tells him that raising the rate would be good for his reelection chances. He is depending on dividing and conquering tactics. He still thinks that as long as one person has more that another, that the nation as a whole is unfair. His Socialist ideals will not allow him to really understand that the Federal Government did not make this country great. Or that the government can not spend its way out of debt. He still thinks that the same old plan will work and that bigger is better as long as it is the government is bigger.

Tax credits don’t work. They are not tax cuts, but only targeted spending. Too many times these tax credits only open up new ways to defraud the government or redirect money that would be better spent in other areas. The idea that small businesses (who the Obama says create the majority of jobs) can create new jobs based only on a $1500 tax credit is beyond belief. Mr. Obama tells us to do the math, well it appears that he has a problem with math. No one with any business sense is going to create a job, even at minimum wage, that will cost the business at over $20,000.00 to get a $1500 a tax credit. Sure there will be a few examples of die hard supporters that will create token jobs to allow bragging rights, but this is just bad business.

Will the American people once again be able to stomach this attempt to impoverish the nation through his ideas of fairness and wealth redistribution? Will the uninformed in this nation once again fall for a speech full of contradictions and empty promises? Will the Socialist, Marxist, and Communist in this nation gain even a greater foothold? Will our Constitutional Government fall into anarchy with the collapse from this uncontrolled spending and crony Capitalistic/Socialistic leadership in Washington? Is it too late to save our nation? The Progressives have complete many of the things that they needed to collapse the system. We must work to defend our Constitution and throw out the corruption in Washington. I don't believe that sending out an SOS will get us much help from the rest of the world.

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©2011 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

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Fool Me Once

I’ve been watching the ongoing debate on raising the Federal Government’s credit limit. Once again our elected representatives are asked to increase the limit on the nation’s credit card. This limit has meant nothing for many years. To say that there is a cap to government spending but constantly raise it shows a total lack of respect for the voters and the values that have supported this nation. Members of Congress have promised to cut spending and turn around and increased spending. Too many times promises have been made and broken. Even the surpluses of the Clinton error were not maintained due to the spending that followed in later years. Our leaders continue to fail us, our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Their inability to control spending will eventually cripple our nation and rob the citizens of this country of our liberties.

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In an effort to repeat history the Democrats in Congress have promised, as they did to the first President Bush, to cut $3 in spending for each dollar of tax increases. President Bush broke his promise and signed the tax increase. The tax increases were immediate and the cuts were to come in the “future.” Those cuts never came and Bill Clinton rode the broken promise into the White House.

There is an old saying: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Many of you know this saying and it is never been more relevant than it is today. This year once again the promise has been made again. The President promises some “future” cuts in spending for increases in “revenues” (taxes). The amount of 3 to 1 respectively has even been floated. The President and his party are sounding like “Wimpy” from the Popeye cartoons. They want to pay us Tuesday for a hamburger today. The one thing I noticed about Wimpy was that I never saw him pay for a single hamburger and I’ve never seen the Democratic leadership follow through with a single promise to make meaningful government spending cuts.

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The President has said in so many words that he will illegally withhold Social Security, Military checks, and general obligation payments if he is not given a blank check. He has tried to crash the stock markets and panic the American people if he is not given his way. He says he is going to cut spending, but he has never presented a plan to cut spending. He is good at making speeches full of contradictions, but he has never presented an actual plan. His budgets only increased spending.

I know that many people remember the betrayals of the past. We must not stand by and allow the tax and spend policies of the past continue. It is time for meaningful cuts NOW. Congress today can not impose spending limits and cuts on the future, but they can create long term spending obligations. It is very clear that the only way we can rein in spending, pay off the massive government debt, and support the foundation of our country is to enforce a balanced budget on the politicians. Without a Balanced Budget Amendment the mismanagement of the Federal government will continue. It is plain to see that politicians are not trustworthy when given an open credit line and a blank check.

Will we be fooled again? It seems that the President and his party think that the American people are fools. I fear that way too many Americans will accept the status quo and really believe the repeated lies that we are being spoon feed daily. If we do not hold Washington’s feet to the fire we will be treated like fools, once again.

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©2011 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

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Gross Fiscal Mismanagement

Have you seen the commercial the government is running where a guy says he's waiting for the "credit fairy?" His friend tells him that there is no such thing as the "credit fairy." After years of uncontrolled spending by the federal government I find it amazing that they are spending even more of our money to tell us about controlling our personal credit. It doesn't take too much of a stretch to say that government spending has been out of control for many years. Year after year Congress has spent money as if there was never going to be an end to it. I know that for several years we had surpluses, but those surpluses were not what they seemed.

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During those years the Social Security "trust" fund was taking in more money than it paid out. Those funds were spent by Congress. Without those revenues the numbers would have looked differently. Each time you hear a politician talking about the Clinton Era budgets, remember that such talk ignores a major funding source. With the increase in the retirement rate and the cut in the Social Security "tax cut" this so called trust fund is now a liability not an asset. With these years of gross financial mismanagement the people who were responsible to protect the country and its future have totally ignored their responsibilities. This is not something that resides in just one party or the other. It is an issue with individuals not party alone.

I blame those who were and are still in Congress from both parties for the current crisis. This is not a crisis that was unforeseen. Anyone paying attention could see this coming decades in advance. This whole debt ceiling debate has been a set up. Please remember that Congress never passed a budget for 2011. This is the responsibility of Congress in which they failed to do with a purpose. The leadership in the Democrat Party understood that they would lose control of the House if history repeated itself. It is not hard to understand that they understood that they felt that they could manipulate public opinion and twist the arms of Republican members to betray their promises.

You must understand that politicians don't want solutions to problems They need those problems to have issues that they can blame on others and promise to fix. They are willing to pass laws that do nothing but increase their own power and those who support their reelection. This type of "leadership" is the reason why our nation is in over $14,500,000,000,000.00 in debt.That is only the debt in Treasury Bonds and not the other obligations such as Welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid. This unsecured debt is estimated to be over $114,697,000,000,000,00 or in words $114.697 trillion.

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The only plan put forward by the President is to increase spending and taxes. Now I know that is not what he seems to be saying, but you must listen to not just what he is saying now but what he has been saying since he has been in office. Unless he is totally stupid there is no way he can claim that he did not know that the credit limit was going to be an issue this year. Not knowing this would occur would be totally irresponsible and an act of incompetency. But his party has presented no answer. They only want to blame the TEA Party and the Republicans.

It is time for more Americans to stand up and say that our so called leaders must stop allowing problems to become a crisis in order for them to push an agenda. Those in power wish to increase their power and enrich their friends by robbing the nation. Obama and the current and former leaders of the Democrat Party have no answers other than class warfare. The greed of the left and the corruption of our government continues to weaken the country. Their answer is to punish the productive, enrich themselves, and bride those who only look to government.

So no. The credit fairy does not exist for the individual or for the government. It is time to look at reality and realize that government can not continue to spend money without limits. The corruption must end. Government must shrink. Raising taxes on anyone at this time will only punish the producers and reward no one. By raising taxes at this time the economy will slow even more and decrease revenue to the treasury.

The answer can only come from less government not more. Maintaining the tax rates and cutting spending will encourage growth in the private sector. Increase taxes and government has only depressed growth. But we have elected officials who see productive people as bad people. The proof is undeniably true that as government grows you have fewer workers producing and paying taxes. This is a death spiral that we are entering with too many cheering it on.

Those in power of both parties are divorced from the reality and wish to only maintain power by any means. We must realize that the more we expect from the government the more they take away. Our freedoms are on the line. Once we lose our freedoms, freedom will be lost to the world. Don't be fooled by the double talk and the blame game. This debt crisis is a manufactured crisis of the Democrat Party. The blame is on their hands. If they had answers that worked then there would be no problem. It could have been solved long before it became a crisis. Don't forget the words of President Obama's former aid: "Never let a crisis go to waste."

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Opening the Lock Box

How old are you? Do you plan to retire? Just how socially secure do you feel? Well I'm in my 50s and I don't really have any retirement plans and never expect to see Social Security. I believe that many of the thinking people in this country feel the same way. I have an IRA and a separate retirement plan, but I fear that the Federal Government will soon confiscate these and put those funds into the Social Security Fund to cover their lack of being able to control spending.

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The financial crisis in this country continues. For years there have been many who have been warning of Social Security and the threat it poses to our country. There have been those within the beltway that say that there is no problem and that the Social Security Trust Fund has enough money to last for years. The main problem that I see with this statement would be the true structure of that “trust” fund. I don’t believe there is or may have ever been such a think as a Social Security Trust Fund. A few years ago the American people were promised by Al Gore that he was going to protect Social Security by putting the money collected by the government in a lock box. I truly believe that Mr. Gore is a fool, an idiot, evil, or all of these in one package. There can not be a Social Security lock box.

For many years we have been told that Social Security was well financed and that each year it collected more money then it was paying out. We were told that it could one day run out of money so we had to make adjustments to “keep it solvent.” The one part that really never caught my attention—until the other day—was that every time there is talk of cutting government spending politicians run to the nearest microphone to decry cuts hurting the retired. I always seem to think that this was services.

I had heard for years things said that never hit me until the other day. I heard a report on cutting spending. The report was talking about discretionary and non-discretionary spending. The report said that the majority of the budget consisted of non-discretionary spending, which could not be touched. The lion share is Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Social Security. That is when I stopped what I was doing and thought wait a minute: Why is Social Security part of the budget? If there really is a Social Security Trust Fund: Then why are the payments made from the US Treasury? The only answer I could think of would be that the whole thing has been a scam.

From The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? “20 percent of the budget, or $708 billion, will pay for Social Security, which provided retirement benefits averaging $1,117 per month to 36 million retired workers (and their eligible dependents) in December 2009. Social Security also provided survivors’ benefits to 6.4 million surviving children and spouses of deceased workers and disability benefits to 9.7 million disabled workers and their eligible dependents in December 2009.”

The way we were lead to believe that this occurred was that the taxes were collected, Social Security payments were made, and all excess funds were “invested in Treasury Bonds.” If this were true then those payments would not be part of the Federal Budget. They would be part of the budget of the Social Security Administration. The fact that the Treasury pays and the Congress allocates the funds means that we were mislead.

Year after year Social Security Taxes have been collected and put into the general fund. These taxes have been used to cover deficit spending for 100 years. Under the name of retirement insurance our money has been collected to supplement Congressional spending.

It has been purposed that the government should confiscate all 401Ks, IRAs, and private retirement funds and use them for the Social Security Trust Fund. The justification would be that since all of that money was exempt from taxes, the government has the right to take 100% of it to “save” Social Security. They say that all of those funds will be credited to your “account.” Which as I see it, will only be put into the general fund to be spent for whatever Congress wants to spend it on.

So it is clear that there is no Social Security Lock Box or Trust Fund. There is nothing but lies and a government spending out of control. Soon this whole scheme will fall apart and those depending on the government to keep promises will find that there is no money to fulfill them.

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These lies make the situation even worse than simply that there is not enough money to cover Social Security payments. It also means that since the government has co-mingled these taxes and become addicted to it, with the current financial situation and the retiring “Baby Boomers” the situation is even worst then what we are told. With chronic low employment and a exploding retired population, budget deficits will continue to increase unless we gain the courage to sever Social Security from Congressional control, cut other entitlements, and cut spending.

So yes Mr. Gore must have been lying when he said that he was going to put the excess proceeds from Social Security into a lock box. As a former Congressman he knew the truth and that to do such a thing would require a real trust fund and not a false tale with ledger entries instead of actual investments.

The idea of privatizing the system has been demonized by politicians for years. There are problems with the old system and any attempt to save it or change it. But we must understand that the addiction to spending is deep in Washington and politicians are not going to give up the income from the SSI tax. But we must have a grown up discussion about the future of this country and the abuses of the past that have created the corruption. Our futures depend on us making the hard decisions and act in the best interest of our children and the country, not just our own selfish wants.

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George Will's Keynote Address at the 2010 Milton Friedman Prize Dinner

The Cato Institute provided the keynote address at the 2010 Milton Friedman Prize Dinner by George Will in their May 18th Podcast.

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Our Trillion Dollar Pony

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President Obama began his dog and pony show last week. This time he is telling us all of the brides that are being payed to us. You know the great things that are going to be "given" to us because the government took over the Healthcare Industry. I'm sure he will never tell us the truth of what the real costs will be until it is too late. Tyrants never tell you the real cost of their power grabbing policies. But he is sure that he can buy us off. I've seen a lot of cheering crowds but the polls don't seem to be moving up in approval. One of the reasons for the cheers would be that the president's speeches are all staged events. He is preaching to the choir. When you are talking to a friendly crowd it gives the appearance that everyone agrees with what is being said. For a dose of reality it would be nice to see him stand in front of a neutral audience and see the reaction. But he would never do this, since it might show the chinks in his armor.

The American people are being given a trillion dollar pony. Most children would be thrilled at the thought of given a pony. Well until reality hits. Once you get the pony, it must be fed and walked and ridden and then brushed. All the fun turns into a lot of responsibilities. As an adult you know this and understand that nothing comes for free. We understand the long term consequences of making such a commitment. Will we be spoiled kids or rational adults? Will we be bribed with our own money? We have had a pony forced upon us all with the promise that it will make our lives better. In the past it was an option, but through a process that many of us are ashamed of, the Congress made the decision for us.

America is being promised a lot of things with this government take over of Healthcare. We are told that the government take over will improve the system and make healthcare available to all. They've promised that we will be able to keep our current insurance and see a doctor anytime we need. But for most Americans they are not giving us anything. From the way it looks we are loosing a lot of things. One of them is our freedom to choose. We are also under a government mandate to purchase a product for no other reason then being alive.

The American people find themselves at a crossroad. We must decide which path we are going to take. Are we going to turn back from socialism and reclaim our freedoms or allow our leaders to bribe us. The current government is tempting the citizens with goodies. The question remains to be answered is: How many of us really believe that there is no price for the bribes we are being offered.

We must as a people realize that the glowing stories and promises are just that. If this tyranny is allowed to stand we will all not only be poorer, but less free. Our children will be paying for the boondoggle and will never know the freedoms that we once knew. Will we doom future generations to a never ending debt or certain enslavement to a totalitarian state.

©2010 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved


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My Government or Enemy?

As I lay awake last night I had one thought; that I am now a man without a country. What happened on Sunday was not a legal process, but an act of a dictator. The United States was built on the premise of a Federal government. That government overstepped its bounds this week. With the death of our republic freedom has died on this world. Is there no place for freedom? It appears that we as a people will soon have to live under the oppressive boot of a government built to preserve rights. But with this lose of freedom that is ObamaCare our lives will slowly be controlled by an Administration filled with people who praise mass murderers.

Is a government that acts against the law an illegal government? For the last few days I feel no longer bound by any pledges to this country. The National government is no longer a Constitutional organization. It has no right to rule. Now we must only be loyal to those who will restore our liberties. We must resist this tyranny. I feel that we are no longer a free people.

Not only are our basic rights being undermined, but we now see the end of American prosperity. Those that come after us will not know a better life. Our government is prepared to bleed us to death through incremental tax increases. Not only will the multitude of tax increases, needed to fund this government takeover of the health care system, consume our disposable income but the coming passage of cap and trade will rise prices and impoverish the middle class. The Amnesty for illegals aliens will destroy our sovereignty and card check will take away our productivity as a nation.


This is not America. The country that I once loved no longer exists. I will work to restore our freedoms, but I see little hope. This is not the change the country needed. I now only see this new dictatorship as an enemy of the people in this country. I will not even call us American right now.



©2010 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

The Knock in the Dark of the Night II

I awoke to a brave new world this morning. I now live in a different country. Liberty died last night. With the passage of this so called Healthcare Reform bill we find that an entire industry has been ceased by the Federal government. Through constant attacks an American President and his party has ignored the US Constitution and grabbed power over life and death of every citizen. The knock in the dark of the night came while many of us slept. Now we find that there was not a change of party rule in 2009 but a coup d'état.

Once again near midnight Congress voted in the middle of the night to rob us of our freedoms.  On March 21, 2010 American liberty died while the Democrat Party celebrated. Now with the passage of this bill American's are responsible to pay just to live. The old rule was that no one could avoid death or taxes. Now it is death, taxes, and insurance. What will be next? When the next power-mad Party ceases control. "No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session." - Mark Twain

So I awoke to a country that now finds that it must now fear the knock in the dark. The IRS's powers have expanded and are an Extra-Constitutional organization that works beyond the limitation of the law. Our lives are now under the total control of a power hungry Federal government. If not this administration then the next or the next will again expand these powers. Putting this much power into the hands of politicians means that none of us are safe to sleep at night. None of us can depend on any of the liberties that we have allowed to be stolen by one party in the middle of the night. What else have they and will they steal?

©2009 Pedro Sykes - Some Rights Reserved

Government Spending

So it is said that Bush spent a lot of money, but look at these projections. How can this be justified?

Click on image to see it in full size.

Full story to be found here: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/24/bush-deficit-vs-obama-deficit-in-pictures/

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