America For Sale

Soooooo... another $819 BILLION of YOUR money is on its way into the hands of some government official to be used for who knows what... (alledgedly $350,000,000 of it to go to STD prevention education and so on and so on). I fear we are moving so far from our roots as a nation that we might not get back. And it's not just the Democrats. Bush opened the door for such "stimulus" plans with his failed attempt just last year.

The new stimulus package passed in the House today by a vote of 244-188. It's now on its way to the Senate.

Sometimes I wonder if lawmakers are deaf or just blinded by their own agendas... Cause there ARE some good ideas out there. Ideas that would not be mere short-term fixes creating more long-term problems, not to mention more dependence on Uncle Sam.

Below is one (a stimulus idea, that is) I came across earlier this week. What do you think? What would your solution look like?

AMERICA FOR SALE

GNP = M x V (where M is Money Supply & V is velocity of money)

"In large part, the $1 trillion stimulus package in discussion in both houses of congress right now is focused on the government’s ability to spend money and spend it as quickly as possible. The majority of our legislators understand, albeit to some small degree, that money has to change hands quickly in order to spur our economy. This is true, but they are going about it all wrong. Bureaucracies are not the nimblest of creatures. Government works projects don’t get launched in the time frame necessary to have a slowing effect on this downward spiral. By the time they begin to have an impact, everyone is pinching dollars even more than before and the net effect is nil.

The only way to reverse this slide is to empower the people at the expense of government. If every other axiom proves false, this one still rings true – Americans can sniff out a bargain. It’s time to put our country up for sale. Everything needs to be incentivized right now. Give a 20% tax credit for new machinery purchases for small businesses – but give an expiration date for this offer. Dole out employment incentives that make it an attractive time for employers to snatch up some of those people standing in unemployment lines. Offer a 4% mortgage rate for owner occupied home purchases made within the next six months – I’d personally jump out and buy. Go a step further and offer a 4.25% rate for investment properties, and I will guarantee you that this will stem the tide of foreclosures and cause property values to begin moving in the positive direction. Instead of propping up the auto industry with $25 billion in aid, give the American consumers $1500 tax rebates when they purchase American automobiles. All of these things will cause growth without creating a long term reliance on government.

The focus should not be on the money supply but rather on the velocity of money. Money has to change hands in order for growth to occur. You can run the printing presses 24/7 and our economy won’t turn around because people and banks are scared and tight-fisted. That’s why it’s possible, and quite probable, that deflation will persist in America even when the printing presses are overheating. We’re in a liquidity trap, and it will stick around a long time if we’re unable to motivate the American public to open up their wallets and spend us out of this mess.

Long term, we’re staring down profound inflationary pressures, raging deficits and a weakening dollar. Let’s not compound those long term problems with fruitless short term programs. More dollars & more debt are necessary at this point in time, but foolish programs that won’t conquer our short term problems will only pump excess money into our economy and exacerbate our long term ones. Only a year ago, we did just that by passing out refund checks. Predictably though, only 1/3 of those checks actually got spent – that’s not much bang for your buck. That’s why incentives are more powerful and much more fruitful - You actually have to spend in order to get the benefit. Right now, we don’t need promises of long term tax breaks or more government jobs. We need to get the heart pumping again, and nothing revs up Americans like a sale!"

The First Week

What do you think of our President's performance so far? Have you been tracking any of his actions in his first week in office? I know one thing I'm not happy about is the proposed stimulus plan (but more on that to come later this week).

In this post, I want to deal with a life or death issue.

On January 23rd, President Obama removed restrictions on U.S. funding for groups that provide abortion services abroad. Simply put, more of your tax money will now go to organizations that support and promote abortion.

Obama himself in a statement released on the topic, said these groups promote "safe and effective... family planning." AHHHHHH! Abortion as a safe and effective way to plan a family?

You can read more on the matter in this article.

January 22nd was the anniversary of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion in this nation. Since then there has been a strong push to normalize a horrendous and murderous practice under the name of women's rights or privacy rights. My friend Clayton had a recent post detailing abortion statistics since 1973 when it was made legal in the U.S. Some of the most staggering numbers to me were the estimated 24 abortions a second while over 2,000,000 people wait to adopt babies (in the U.S. alone).

How is your president doing?

You can check out his other policy agendas in relation to family and civil rights on the official White House website: www.whitehouse.gov. Along with this increased funding for abortion, you'll find:
1.Obama's pledged support for the LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) community
2.His desire to expand the "hate crimes" bill to include gender identification (Could make it illegal for pastors to say homosexuality is wrong from the pulpit).
3. His support for overturning the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military.
4. His expansion of human embryonic stem cell research
5. And his opposition to any constitutional overturn of Roe v. Wade

I wonder if people who voted for Obama considered the moral implications of such a decision.

"A Carefully Crafted Self-Contradiction"

I know my sister already posted some inaugural thoughts, but I wanted to share some additional thoughts on Obama's speech from an article called "We the Government" by Terrence Jeffrey, of CNSNews.com.

Jeffrey points out that Obama's speech makes it clear that, although he talked about things such as hard work, risk taking and personal responsibility, he is attempting to completely change the heart of our nation from "we the people" to "we the government."

I'll quote a couple of the paragraphs I thought summed it up well, but you can read the rest of the article here if you're interested.

Jeffrey said:

"At the beginning of his speech, Obama said 'We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents.'

But even as his oath to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States' faded into the winter air, he rejected any limit on government other than 'wether it works.'

If President Obama were to go back and read the founding document whose first three words are 'We the People,' he would discover that from beginning to end it limits the power of government."

Inaugural Thoughts

Facts and Opinions on the 2009 Presidential Inauguration (I leave it to you to decide which is which):

It was a magnificent view down the Washington Mall... Nearly 2 million people in attendance.

It was cold. At noon in Washington D.C. it was about 28 degrees with a windchill even colder (about 17). I guess it's more important to have a designer coat at these things, as opposed to a suit or dress. The warmest January 20th Inauguration was for President Reagan in 1981... 55 degrees.

Best Dressed (at the Inauguration): Michelle Obama. And rightly so. It's kind of like not wanting to upstage the bride at her wedding. Although Aretha Franklin's hat may have come close. :) I was not, however, a fan of Mrs. Obama's ball gown.

As every journalist and commentator noted, and as I likewise agree, a peaceful transfer of power is an amazing thing.

Thought Rick Warren did a great job. Way to mention Jesus and remind all people and nations that they will be accountable to Him one day. Not sure why he received so much criticism for participating in the invocation. Are we not called to pray for our leaders no matter if we agree with them or not?

Obama voted against Justice Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court... Said he "lacked empathy" (wow... I won't even go there now). Roberts was then the one to administer Obama's inauguration and oath of office.

The only time Obama's full name was used was during his oath of office: Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama was sworn in using the Lincoln Bible... yep, the same Bible Abraham Lincoln used in his inauguration in 1861... pretty cool.

President Obama delivered his speech well... No shocker there. His head speech writer is 27 yr. old Jon Favreau. How does one go about getting that job?

I liked his call to responsibility on the part of all Americans.

Wasn't too sure about lines like "remaining true to our founding documents". We're already so far gone and I highly doubt Obama would take us back. And "remaking America"? Not sure I'm gonna like his way of "remaking" it. It's quite evident that he has a different view of government than I do. I do congratulate him though on inspiring new energy and participation in the political system.

240,000 tickets were available for seating on the Capitol steps.
5,000 port-a-potties were available for public use.
$150 million (estimated) spent on Inaugural festivities... so much in fact that President Bush had to declare Washington D.C. in a state of emergency to get all the public funding needed.
10 Official inaugural balls.

The Military Ball was for me the most touching to see. The Youth Ball got on my nerves. It was like, if you're young and cool, then you must be an Obama supporter. Well, I'm young and cool, and I'm not. :)

Overall a very fascinating day. I know most people are hopeful in what Obama will do. I, personally, am a little scared.

I'll leave you with the words of Rev. Joseph Lowery, who gave the Inaugural benediction, and asked God to help us work for the day when:
Black man no longer told to get back man
Brown can stick around
Yellow will be mellow
Red Man can get ahead man
White will embrace what is right

Ha. Wow. Enough said.

My News Hiatus

So we've been MIA lately...

I confess. I have taken a good LONG break over the holidays from most things politics. I got lost in a few fiction novels, hit the road for some good family visits, and wasted time on Facebook. :) I've really had no desire to turn on my nightly news shows or check the internet blogs and headlines. Instead of talk radio in the car, I've much preferred my one-and-a-half year old singing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs (doesn't quite get all the words but sure knows the melodies and rhythms).

On top of that, Wade sister #2 (Kacey) (#2 only due to birth order, Kace) is about to give birth to her second baby soon, so I've had to cut her a little slack in the blog world. Hopefully you'll give us one last Kacey commentary before the wee one comes...

So, is there anything huge I've missed? What stories have you been following recently?

I'm sure I'll be back in the swing of things in no time. It is a new year. Happy 2009 faithful blog readers! Until then I leave you with a few of my favorite pics from our holiday celebrations.