I'm just reading about our founding fathers. I'm amazed everyday, with the more I read. My grandfather worked in the shipyards during WWII, bucking rivets on ships to go out and fight for our freedom. My dad was just a boy. He was born in 1932, so he was just 10 in 1942. They lived in New Orleans, LA. My grandfather bucked rivets, a very hard job, and my grandmother also worked in the shipyards, so that my dad could study art in high school. It's just like John Adams was quoted as saying in the 5,000 Year Leap.
"The science of government is my duty to study, more than all other sciences; the art of legislation and administration and negotiation ought to take [the] place of, indeed to exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must study politics and war, that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain."
My dad wanted to study art, but instead he went to work in a factory so that I could study art in college. I had that freedom. Did I appreciate it? Not really. I took it for granted. I dropped out of college. I was tired of going to school. My dad had earned a comfortable living for us, and I took it for granted. We weren't rich, but we were comfortable. We didn't have to struggle any more.
But the good thing is that I couldn't find a job, so I joined the military. In the military I found patriotism. But even with patriotism, you may not be totally awake. What good does patriotism do you if your eyes are closed to what is going on around you? I still just voted Republican and sent them off and didn't watch dog them. I am part of the problem in that respect.
It's like being a Christian and not being able to answer why you're a Christian. I want small government. They don't have a right to be in our back pockets. I learned in school that we aren't supposed to be taxed unless we have a say in it. That doesn't mean when we turn our backs, you do it anyway. That's like when we tell our kids to do something, and they say, "Yes, momma, we hear you." And then when we turn our backs they do what they want to do in spite of what we told them to do. I got news for you Congress. We elected you to do what WE want you to do. You ran on a platform of ideas. If you turn around and do something different, that makes you a LIAR. That doesn't make you disingenuous. It makes you a big fat LIAR. Anybody else would be taken to court for breaking a contract. I believe a vote is a contract. If I vote for a REPUBLICAN and they turn coat and start acting like a Democrat, or in today's vernacular, a RINO, they broke my trust, they broke the contract of my vote. I should be able to sue them. I shouldn't have to wait for 4-6 years to kick them out of office.
I'm awake now, but is it too late? My dad would have gone to Korea had it not been for losing his eye in a motorcycle accident at the age of 15. I'm the first in my family to serve in the military. My nephew, my brother's son, is active duty Navy as I write this. His first duty station was aboard a ship that was sent to Haiti to help with clean up. Can you imagine? I don't know if he went ashore or not, I haven't spoken to him yet. I served during the cold war, but serving is serving. Had I let those Russian submarines through our defenses, y'all would be speaking Russian now, and Russia may not have fallen. And believe me, I'd be in Leavenworth, had Russia not gotten through, for treason. Funny, how that's not happening in Washington now, with them trying to throw our country away. In my eyes, it's the same thing.
I'm not anti-government. We need government. We just need small government. And we don't need 50 individual states doing whatever they please. I'm also reading the Federalist Papers. That would make 49 more opportunities for wars. There are 20 states that share a border with our northern and southern neighbor....I just counted. That's 20 chances to have little disagreements that could flare up into wars. With a union, there are 30 other states to cool them down because they aren't involved. That's what he was talking about. We just don't want BIG government regulating the heck out of our every movement. Telling us we can't feed hot dogs to children because we aren't smart enough to cut the rings in half. Or we aren't smart enough to wait until a cup of McDonald's coffee cools a bit before taking a sip, so they have to put WARNING, HOT on the top. DUH! Did you know the milk now has an allergy label, warning, contains milk? Who would go to buy milk, expecting something else?
So, whoever is trying to sow the seeds of "the right tea party movement wants no government" or "we need 50 individual states and not a central government" is probably from the left trying to bring on anarchy so that the socialists can take over and save us from anarchy. Then everything would be peachy and we would just praise them for saving us.
Wouldn't that be grand?
Lori Ann Smith
Showing posts with label Democrats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democrats. Show all posts
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Forced Unionization
Congratulations to John Stossel for his investigative reporting. Who would believe this could happen in the United States of America? Forced Unionization? This is unbelievable and needs to go viral. They have no benefits, and they still have to pay. They don't have the choice of paying or not.
Are we living in 1600 England? What happened to no taxation without representation? And I think Michigan needs to look more closely at Republican Dave Camp....is he a RINO? He seems to be closely aligned with all the Democrats who received pay off money. And I'm just an average American, but it seems like pay off money to me. When a union consists of approximately 40,000 members and only 6,000 voted to actually HAVE the union in the first place? That's taxation without representation. Since when does 15% of a Union get to determine who is represented? And who gets to determine who joins a union? What if someone decides to unionize house wives? Will I be forced to give up part of my husband's pay to pay union dues? I get an "allowance" to do with what I wish - is that in jeopardy? Will I be forced into a union? Is all of America going to be unionized? Will they figure out a way to unionize everyone? They already ask on your tax return what your job is....since when do they have the right to such personal information? And we just roll over and give it to them.
I have a novel idea....let's have a vote across America, and see if we actually NEED unions. If the vote comes up that we DON'T need unions, I say we disband all the unions, whether the unions want it or not. If they can force a union on people having day cares in their own homes, then what's to say we can't force them to shut down the unions? They would be forced to refund all the money back to the people. That would stimulate the economy, giving the people back their money.
And that brings me to another subject. I'm going to stop giving any of my personal information on my tax returns. They don't need to know what my husband's job title is. They just need to know the name of his employer because he signs his checks. He could be toilet fixer or top executive for all they care. And what do they care that I'm a stay home mom? Maybe I should put down blogger this year? That would throw them for a loop. Freelance blogger (non-profit), crafter, taxi-driver for my kids, clean houses (1 client), meal preparer (1 client, also non-profit), Sunday school teacher for bed-babies (not much prep work...a lot of holding and love involved).
Is that civil disobedience?
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Health Care Has Taken on a Personal Note
Well, health care has taken a personal turn. My parents, who have been Democrats all my life, and recently started correcting me and calling themselves Independent, are now firmly convinced there are death panels. I don't feel it my place to say who they voted for in the Presidential race, as that's confidential. I don't think my mom would give me permission to divulge that information to the nation, and I respect my elders. Besides, she'd kick my butt. And since I was raised not to strike my mother, I'd have to let her.
My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer a while back. He's going to be 78 years old in March. They are refusing to do surgery. He's on Medicare. My mom is a breast cancer survivor of 11 years and a retired nurse. She is pressing the issue and wanting to know WHY they won't consider surgery. They used the excuse that with his health issues, it wouldn't be wise. Health issues? My dad is in great health, except for this pesky little new issue that cropped up, called prostate cancer. He's been in a study for the past 20 years or so, that they test his prostate levels every year. His level has been 3 every year. This year it jumped to 14.6. Ya think it might need to be explored? Well, then they tested it again, and got a 4. The doctor thought something might be suspicious and did biopsies and found cancer.
My mom is not one to sit on things, she pushed things. She finally got a sort of explanation. They finally said that there are little spots all over and they would have to take the whole thing out, and they don't recommend that. She brought up my dad's dad, who had his prostate removed. They explained that when you have a prostate removed for a "going" problem, they don't actually remove the whole thing, but the middle of it. In dad's case, they would actually have to remove the WHOLE thing. Mom persisted and did finally get an appointment to see someone else besides this idiot.
I told dad, and Dad agrees with me that it's because he's on Medicare. They don't want to eat what Medicare doesn't pay. They know that Medicare won't pay for the whole thing. They're not stupid. I was on the phone with my mother, and dad is yelling in the background, "There are death panels!" I wonder what he would say if he heard me typing that he sounds just like Sarah Palin?
So, President Obama, even the loyal Democrats are waking up. Your base of voters are crumbling around you. When are you going to open your eyes? When are you going to see? How do you expect to ADD to the rolls of Medicare/Medicaid and not add to the deficit? How do you expect to not bankrupt America? How do you expect the hospitals and insurance companies to not go bankrupt? And you write in a little clause that says no cost shifting? And you think we are going to believe you when you try to say the hospitals and insurance companies are evil? You are the one who is evil. You want everyone coming to you for insurance. What then? Then, when the United States government can't afford it, you have to raise taxes. We'll be like all the other socialist countries, with a 70% tax rate on the middle class. Is that 100% for the upper class? Is that what you want, America?
I can say I did my best, I informed. My parents are awake. I guess I woke up 2 people. Maybe I should be content in that. I'll still stand on the Ramparts and inform as I feel I must. I still feel as if I must warn the Nation. God didn't tell me that anyone would listen, just to talk. I still feel like Pink Floyd: Is there anybody OUT THERE?
Lori Ann Smith
I fight for freedom, though no may listen, until I'm hoarse from the shouting.
My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer a while back. He's going to be 78 years old in March. They are refusing to do surgery. He's on Medicare. My mom is a breast cancer survivor of 11 years and a retired nurse. She is pressing the issue and wanting to know WHY they won't consider surgery. They used the excuse that with his health issues, it wouldn't be wise. Health issues? My dad is in great health, except for this pesky little new issue that cropped up, called prostate cancer. He's been in a study for the past 20 years or so, that they test his prostate levels every year. His level has been 3 every year. This year it jumped to 14.6. Ya think it might need to be explored? Well, then they tested it again, and got a 4. The doctor thought something might be suspicious and did biopsies and found cancer.
My mom is not one to sit on things, she pushed things. She finally got a sort of explanation. They finally said that there are little spots all over and they would have to take the whole thing out, and they don't recommend that. She brought up my dad's dad, who had his prostate removed. They explained that when you have a prostate removed for a "going" problem, they don't actually remove the whole thing, but the middle of it. In dad's case, they would actually have to remove the WHOLE thing. Mom persisted and did finally get an appointment to see someone else besides this idiot.
I told dad, and Dad agrees with me that it's because he's on Medicare. They don't want to eat what Medicare doesn't pay. They know that Medicare won't pay for the whole thing. They're not stupid. I was on the phone with my mother, and dad is yelling in the background, "There are death panels!" I wonder what he would say if he heard me typing that he sounds just like Sarah Palin?
So, President Obama, even the loyal Democrats are waking up. Your base of voters are crumbling around you. When are you going to open your eyes? When are you going to see? How do you expect to ADD to the rolls of Medicare/Medicaid and not add to the deficit? How do you expect to not bankrupt America? How do you expect the hospitals and insurance companies to not go bankrupt? And you write in a little clause that says no cost shifting? And you think we are going to believe you when you try to say the hospitals and insurance companies are evil? You are the one who is evil. You want everyone coming to you for insurance. What then? Then, when the United States government can't afford it, you have to raise taxes. We'll be like all the other socialist countries, with a 70% tax rate on the middle class. Is that 100% for the upper class? Is that what you want, America?
I can say I did my best, I informed. My parents are awake. I guess I woke up 2 people. Maybe I should be content in that. I'll still stand on the Ramparts and inform as I feel I must. I still feel as if I must warn the Nation. God didn't tell me that anyone would listen, just to talk. I still feel like Pink Floyd: Is there anybody OUT THERE?
Lori Ann Smith
I fight for freedom, though no may listen, until I'm hoarse from the shouting.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Life As An American, Mr. President
This was originally posted on January 26, 2010, on another forum that I belong to, but still by me. I am reposting it here, authenticating it as my original work. As you read, remember, it was the eve of the State of the Union Address. And it is documented that this was published before the speech, and not today, on both Asamom.org and ProudtobeaMom.com.
Life as an American, Mr. President
On the eve of the Presidential State of the Union Address, I feel compelled to explain to the President what it's like to be an American. I feel as if I am a typical American; me and all my sisters and the few brothers who accompany me on my web sites who blog. I don't know their experiences, but I am sure they echo my own, and mine are all I can write of, so here I go.
I was raised in a small town by Democrats. Yes, Democrats actually love their country, and have served their country in the military and died for their country in that service. In that respect, Mr. President, you have over-played your hand. You have shown your socialist colors. We know you're about to turn and eat your Democrat party that you have invaded. It has gotten to the point that my parents are now claiming to be Independents. My extended family is still Democrats. They're still proud Democrats, maybe because they still hold to the belief that you are a Democrat and could never destroy America, because no good Democrat ever would.
My parents instilled in me a sense of work ethic that has stuck with me. A job worth doing, is a job worth doing well. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. My grandpa on my Dad's side made his own knives and jewelry out of scrap steel. My dad was born during the depression, in 1932. Grandpa worked in the shipyards in New Orleans, LA., at one time, not sure of the timing there. I believe Dad was 3 years old. Dad was an only child. Mom was the oldest of 7.
I didn't have name brand clothes, and it never bothered me. Mom told me she would buy me a name brand if I wanted, but it would mean one pair, as opposed to 3 pair of this other brand. I was a practical person. We shopped for clothes once a year, right before the school year. Mom always made sure we had clothes for school. Looking back, I'm not sure she bought herself new clothes. She sewed, and she mended a lot of things. I learned to alter things to make them fit better. I had a small waist and got hips for my 12th birthday.....I learned to alter things at an early age, too.
My favorite Christmas was when my Dad was on strike. Now this is gonna blow you away, Mr. President. I was about 3 years old. Dad was worried that he wasn't going to be able to buy me and my brother presents. He was on strike, I blame the unions. He was only getting what little they pay you for walking a picket line. He had a very part time job at a Phillips 66 station. The Phillips 66 station gave him 2 tanker trucks for free. He wrapped them up and put them under the tree with a couple other things. I have a picture of me holding my dolly and sitting on that truck. If it weren't for the picture, I wouldn't remember the dolly. I remember that truck.
The plant folded after that, and Dad went to work for Procter and Gamble. They aren't union. They pay better than unions in order to keep the unions out. Unions strong arm people.
I don't ever remember going without, unless you count the fact that I didn't get my pony. But we lived on the edge of town, and across the county road was a farm. They had a pony, and I just adopted him. So, in a way, I did get my pony. I had a friend who had the Barbi Dream House. I wanted one so bad, so I put it on my wish list for my birthday. Mom checked it out. She told me years later it was too expensive. She found a Barbi Campout, and it was cheaper. She thought I'd like it better, since I went camping with my grandparents all the time. She was right. I was thrilled. No one I knew had a Barbi Campout. I felt special.
I went to a "town" school up until the second grade. That's when we moved out into the country. I moved in the middle of the second grade. I was teased incessantly. There wasn't anyone to stop the teasing. We didn't have someone to say it "bruised our egos" and it shouldn't go on. I turned out just fine. I wear glasses, got called 4-eyes. I wore braces and got called tin-grin. My mom fixed up my hair and teased it for picture day, and got called hair-spray. When I got excited on the bus, my voice would get so high-pitched only dogs could hear it....they called me squeaker. I was skinny, got teased for that. I was smart, got teased for that. Teachers like smart kids, got called teacher's pet. I learned by the time I decided to date, that if I pretended I had no common sense, the boys wouldn't mind because a smart girl with no common sense was acceptable. Otherwise, boys don't date girls that are smarter than them, unless they have a test coming up. So why, Mr. President, do you want to legislate behavior? A whole generation went through teasing and isn't worse for the wear. Were you teased, and it did affect you? Maybe you didn't have the benefit of loving parents telling you it was ok? Maybe that's the difference. If you have parents steeped in communism and hate, I guess it's different.
After high school, I decided the best I could do was more school. I was good at that, so I got a scholarship and continued my education. I had a major in Art, emphasis in commercial art with a minor in photo-journalism. I really wanted to be a photo-journalist. But after a year I dropped out and joined the Navy. I tried to come in as a photographer. Wouldn't that have been grand? Instead, I went in as an Ocean System Technician, Analyst. How ironic. You're a communist, and I was tracking Russian submarines, and fighting communism....hmmm. My husband tells me I was on the the tip of the spear, but it was just a job to me. You see, I had to fill out a form answering questions like, do you know any communists? Does your family know any communists? Have you ever been a member of a communist party? Have you ever attended a rally for communists? I believe they even asked if I had been to a communist country, but I don't remember for sure on that one. It has been 26 years. I wouldn't have been granted my secret clearance had I answered yes to those questions. How did you get your secret clearance, Mr. President?
Through the eyes of the military, I became a Republican. It's also where I met my husband. I've been married for 21 years now. It's been a bit bumpy, but aren't all marriages? He's been into politics the whole marriage. I haven't. You know what got me into politics? We have a son with Down Syndrome. I read the health care bill. I can read the writing on the wall. I know what's in store for him with this bill. I know down the road, health care will be rationed and he'll fall through the cracks. He'll be deemed not a contributing member of society. You know what? If it weren't for that boy, and his unconditional love, I wouldn't have found Christ myself. Of course, I guess in your book, that's probably a reason in and of itself to get rid of him. Did you know, even as much bad as he hears about you, he asks for prayer for you most times we sit around our supper table? His heart is huge.
And you, Mr. President want to politicize a tragedy in Haiti. You are such a narcissist that you believe that the only way people will give is if you get involved. Do you think all of us have our heads buried and won't look up from our stuff unless you tell us to? I didn't catch the exact statistics on how much America gave, but it staggered my mind, considering we are in a recession, and it was out of our abundance. I didn't know we had any abundance. I know I don't. I just had to pay $619 for a hot water heater (when it was covered by the home warranty) that I didn't have. That's what the home warranty didn't cover. That's thanks to unions changing code over the last 7 years. Unions are strangling America, not helping. And you're in bed with them.
So, Mr. President, I just wanted to give you a picture of what an average American is like. We are involved in the daily care of our children. We try to raise them to be honest, hard working, contributing members of society. We have to take care of our houses, fix the things that break. We buy home warranties, and expect them to work. We don't really expect the unions to go behind us and change the rules on us, like changing code, so it's an uphill battle. We don't expect huge corporations to buy up every aspect of something, like the person who inspects our home, warranties our home, sprays for our bugs, puts in our water softener, tends our grass, supplies our food, sells our home improvement supplies, or the construction supplies and electrical stuff to the construction people; in other words has a monopoly on the market. And then have you stand up and say you're going to get rid of all big corporations - except them because they donate to you. I'm talking about Clayton, Dubilier and Rice. Research them. They own everything, but they're ok fat cats, because they donate to the socialist party...oops I mean Democratic party agenda.
Can you hear me now?
Lori Ann Smith
I stand for freedom, until they knock me down and I can stand no more
If you agree with this, pass it along to any and all who will listen
Life as an American, Mr. President
On the eve of the Presidential State of the Union Address, I feel compelled to explain to the President what it's like to be an American. I feel as if I am a typical American; me and all my sisters and the few brothers who accompany me on my web sites who blog. I don't know their experiences, but I am sure they echo my own, and mine are all I can write of, so here I go.
I was raised in a small town by Democrats. Yes, Democrats actually love their country, and have served their country in the military and died for their country in that service. In that respect, Mr. President, you have over-played your hand. You have shown your socialist colors. We know you're about to turn and eat your Democrat party that you have invaded. It has gotten to the point that my parents are now claiming to be Independents. My extended family is still Democrats. They're still proud Democrats, maybe because they still hold to the belief that you are a Democrat and could never destroy America, because no good Democrat ever would.
My parents instilled in me a sense of work ethic that has stuck with me. A job worth doing, is a job worth doing well. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. My grandpa on my Dad's side made his own knives and jewelry out of scrap steel. My dad was born during the depression, in 1932. Grandpa worked in the shipyards in New Orleans, LA., at one time, not sure of the timing there. I believe Dad was 3 years old. Dad was an only child. Mom was the oldest of 7.
I didn't have name brand clothes, and it never bothered me. Mom told me she would buy me a name brand if I wanted, but it would mean one pair, as opposed to 3 pair of this other brand. I was a practical person. We shopped for clothes once a year, right before the school year. Mom always made sure we had clothes for school. Looking back, I'm not sure she bought herself new clothes. She sewed, and she mended a lot of things. I learned to alter things to make them fit better. I had a small waist and got hips for my 12th birthday.....I learned to alter things at an early age, too.
My favorite Christmas was when my Dad was on strike. Now this is gonna blow you away, Mr. President. I was about 3 years old. Dad was worried that he wasn't going to be able to buy me and my brother presents. He was on strike, I blame the unions. He was only getting what little they pay you for walking a picket line. He had a very part time job at a Phillips 66 station. The Phillips 66 station gave him 2 tanker trucks for free. He wrapped them up and put them under the tree with a couple other things. I have a picture of me holding my dolly and sitting on that truck. If it weren't for the picture, I wouldn't remember the dolly. I remember that truck.
The plant folded after that, and Dad went to work for Procter and Gamble. They aren't union. They pay better than unions in order to keep the unions out. Unions strong arm people.
I don't ever remember going without, unless you count the fact that I didn't get my pony. But we lived on the edge of town, and across the county road was a farm. They had a pony, and I just adopted him. So, in a way, I did get my pony. I had a friend who had the Barbi Dream House. I wanted one so bad, so I put it on my wish list for my birthday. Mom checked it out. She told me years later it was too expensive. She found a Barbi Campout, and it was cheaper. She thought I'd like it better, since I went camping with my grandparents all the time. She was right. I was thrilled. No one I knew had a Barbi Campout. I felt special.
I went to a "town" school up until the second grade. That's when we moved out into the country. I moved in the middle of the second grade. I was teased incessantly. There wasn't anyone to stop the teasing. We didn't have someone to say it "bruised our egos" and it shouldn't go on. I turned out just fine. I wear glasses, got called 4-eyes. I wore braces and got called tin-grin. My mom fixed up my hair and teased it for picture day, and got called hair-spray. When I got excited on the bus, my voice would get so high-pitched only dogs could hear it....they called me squeaker. I was skinny, got teased for that. I was smart, got teased for that. Teachers like smart kids, got called teacher's pet. I learned by the time I decided to date, that if I pretended I had no common sense, the boys wouldn't mind because a smart girl with no common sense was acceptable. Otherwise, boys don't date girls that are smarter than them, unless they have a test coming up. So why, Mr. President, do you want to legislate behavior? A whole generation went through teasing and isn't worse for the wear. Were you teased, and it did affect you? Maybe you didn't have the benefit of loving parents telling you it was ok? Maybe that's the difference. If you have parents steeped in communism and hate, I guess it's different.
After high school, I decided the best I could do was more school. I was good at that, so I got a scholarship and continued my education. I had a major in Art, emphasis in commercial art with a minor in photo-journalism. I really wanted to be a photo-journalist. But after a year I dropped out and joined the Navy. I tried to come in as a photographer. Wouldn't that have been grand? Instead, I went in as an Ocean System Technician, Analyst. How ironic. You're a communist, and I was tracking Russian submarines, and fighting communism....hmmm. My husband tells me I was on the the tip of the spear, but it was just a job to me. You see, I had to fill out a form answering questions like, do you know any communists? Does your family know any communists? Have you ever been a member of a communist party? Have you ever attended a rally for communists? I believe they even asked if I had been to a communist country, but I don't remember for sure on that one. It has been 26 years. I wouldn't have been granted my secret clearance had I answered yes to those questions. How did you get your secret clearance, Mr. President?
Through the eyes of the military, I became a Republican. It's also where I met my husband. I've been married for 21 years now. It's been a bit bumpy, but aren't all marriages? He's been into politics the whole marriage. I haven't. You know what got me into politics? We have a son with Down Syndrome. I read the health care bill. I can read the writing on the wall. I know what's in store for him with this bill. I know down the road, health care will be rationed and he'll fall through the cracks. He'll be deemed not a contributing member of society. You know what? If it weren't for that boy, and his unconditional love, I wouldn't have found Christ myself. Of course, I guess in your book, that's probably a reason in and of itself to get rid of him. Did you know, even as much bad as he hears about you, he asks for prayer for you most times we sit around our supper table? His heart is huge.
And you, Mr. President want to politicize a tragedy in Haiti. You are such a narcissist that you believe that the only way people will give is if you get involved. Do you think all of us have our heads buried and won't look up from our stuff unless you tell us to? I didn't catch the exact statistics on how much America gave, but it staggered my mind, considering we are in a recession, and it was out of our abundance. I didn't know we had any abundance. I know I don't. I just had to pay $619 for a hot water heater (when it was covered by the home warranty) that I didn't have. That's what the home warranty didn't cover. That's thanks to unions changing code over the last 7 years. Unions are strangling America, not helping. And you're in bed with them.
So, Mr. President, I just wanted to give you a picture of what an average American is like. We are involved in the daily care of our children. We try to raise them to be honest, hard working, contributing members of society. We have to take care of our houses, fix the things that break. We buy home warranties, and expect them to work. We don't really expect the unions to go behind us and change the rules on us, like changing code, so it's an uphill battle. We don't expect huge corporations to buy up every aspect of something, like the person who inspects our home, warranties our home, sprays for our bugs, puts in our water softener, tends our grass, supplies our food, sells our home improvement supplies, or the construction supplies and electrical stuff to the construction people; in other words has a monopoly on the market. And then have you stand up and say you're going to get rid of all big corporations - except them because they donate to you. I'm talking about Clayton, Dubilier and Rice. Research them. They own everything, but they're ok fat cats, because they donate to the socialist party...oops I mean Democratic party agenda.
Can you hear me now?
Lori Ann Smith
I stand for freedom, until they knock me down and I can stand no more
If you agree with this, pass it along to any and all who will listen
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Progressives in History
My husband has an excellent set of History books, college level, that are just astounding in their insight. As a matter of fact, they're the ones I used in my Open Letter To President Obama. (Which I may post at a later date.) I've been tossing around the concept of the 100 year plan that the Progressives had, and, though it doesn't come out and say they had a 100 year plan, these books are where I got that idea. I've been asked a couple times to explain that, so this is my attempt to do just that.
At the turn of the century, the liberals chose to call themselves Progressives because they figured the people would be for progress. We were making huge leaps in progress at that time. There were new inventions all the time: the telephone, electric lighting, the automobile, the streetcar, the airplane, motion pictures, marketing of goods was quickly being developed, farmers were enjoying unprecidented prosperity and gold had been discovered in 1896 in Alaska. Although there had been a banking panic in 1907, there was a framework of prosperity set. We had a mindset of progress, of prosperity in America. All the progressives had to do was link themselves to reform and progress. And they also linked big government to progress. You had to have big government in order to have progress, in their minds.
They had already established Darwinism as fact by this time. The fittist survive. The unfit die out. There is a quote from John D. Rockefeller: " The growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest.....This is not an evil tendency of business. It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God." So, by linking these concepts together, they established as fact that those against them were against progress, and would die out because they were weak. They were becoming more elite, a higher form of society, evolving. They were also pushing that the United States was a democracy, or that it ought to be. We are a Republic, not a Democracy. But as you see here, the progressives were the elite, not the conservatives. They were not for the common man.
In 1911, they turned their agenda to the school system. Charles A. Ellwood said, that the schools should be used as "a conscious instrument of social reconstruction." The progressives wanted to throw out religious and humane learning, (I take that as the humanities, or arts) and experiment with what would work. They wanted to "socialize" the young. This is when child-centered education began. This started the schools down the road towards what we have now, with the Department of Education taking the control away from the teacher in the classroom.
The progressives had even crept into the Christian movement, according to these texts, who call them the social gospellers. It calls them the most vicious attackers of the American economic system, calling for reform of our tax system. So, in the early 1900's socialists had infiltrated the churches and were calling on reforms and using God's word to back it up. They are the ones who basically were against the free market and started this whole movement that it was against God to be rich.
This is when muckraking became popular. I guess that's what we're doing. Expose articles became popular because the people were hungry for the truth about what was really going on. They list David Graham Phillips' Treason of the Senate...sound familiar?
Originally, Democratic Parties in the south were deemed private parties and excluded blacks. Even with the 14th amendment, blacks were only allowed to vote in the general elections. I guess they didn't want them voting until they had decided who they could vote for. And the south and become solidly Democratic. The progressives were the ones who pushed for segregation. They turned on the black voters. In the late 1800's there was no segregation, there was natural separation, but no forced segregation. By World War I, widespread segregation had been established in the states of the old Confederacy and the neghboring states. By 1930, Birmingham ordinance prohibited Negroes and whites from playing dominoes or checkers together. Two things need to be noted. Segregation was imposed by whites. White superiority was proclaimed, and black inferiority was assumed. Booker T. Washington, a prominent Black leader of the period, told everyone: "to suffer in silence," and to exercise "patience, forebearance, and self-control in the midst of trying conditions." He wanted them to improve themselves and compete in the market. What a smart man, beyond his years. But I have to admit, I don't think I would be able to under those conditions. I believe it was all orchestrated to chose a scapegoat for their future plans. And it's dispicable to choose a whole race for your plans...
Did you know that in 1894 they tried to institute an income tax but found it to be unconstitutional? The constitution says that taxes are to be given out by the states according to population, and by consent...and that's not an income tax, is it? The progressives got around that by amending the tariff bill. This was our first redistribution of wealth, from the rich to the subsidized or unproductive in society. In 1913 is also when we ratified direct election of our Senators. Originally, the Senators were to represent the States, not the people. It was supposed to be one of the checks and balances, so the States had some control over congress.
The progressives were in power nationally from 1901 until 1921, covering the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt refered to his program as the Square Deal, and Wilson had his New Freedom. Neither one professed to be socialists, but they set the country on a path towards socialism. Roosevelt said himself, "The New Nationalism puts the national need before sectional or personal advantage. . . .This New Nationalism regards the executive power as the steward of the public welfare. It demands of the judiciary that it shall be interested primarily in human welfare rather than property..." Wilson said of his New Freedom, "I believe that the time has come when the government of this country, both state and national, have to set the stage...for the doing of justice to men in every relationship of life....Without the watchful interference, the resolute interference, of the government, there can be no fair play between individuals and such powerful institutions as the trusts. Freedom today is something more than being let alone. The program of a government of freedom must in these days be positive, not negative merely." In other words, it's the government's job to be pro-active.
The history book says that in the 1920's, the intellectuals felt alienated from America. They fled to Europe.
The Great Depression began with the stock market crash of 1929. Herbert Hoover was the President, and was considered a cold and calloused president. Actually, he believed that the government should play no roll in picking Americans up out of the low place they were in, that it should be the place of private charities and businesses. He said that once government became the saviour, they would forever be dependant on government aide of some kind. Sound familiar? The Depression was the end of the conservatives in power. So the conservatives only had power from 1922-1932. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932, and the progressives were back in office. He accused the present administration of too much spending, but said that he would spend money on American citizens in order to keep them from starving in the depression. Does that sound familiar? Blame the past administration and spend, spend, spend, but I have an excuse to do so.
At no point in history had any administration had so much been done in the first 100 days to "take care" of the American people, or assert so much authority over our economy. Unless you count the current administration. At one point Roosevelt openly threatened congress, saying if they didn't act, he would take the power and act himself. We were in the midst of a Depression, so the American people didn't see it as a usurption of power.
One of the biggest lies, apparently, was Social Security. It was also the biggest redistrubution of wealth programs the socialists ever came up with. It was set up as a 1% tax on wages and a 1% match by employers and was to be put in a trust fund in the Treasury. An accumulation was to accur. It was set up to slowly increase. Later it was described as an insurance program, I suppose for insuring when you retire. There were programs set up within Social Security that were redistribution programs from the beginning: unemployment compensation, aid to dependant children, maternal and child care, to crippled children, to neglected children, for public health programs. Social Security turned out to be a pyramid scheme. The people coming in to Social Security pay the ones who came in a long time ago. Don't people go to jail for setting up pyramid schemes?
Harry S. Truman became President upon FDR's death, but it doesn't claim he was a progressive. Although he didn't run as a progressive, his Fair Deal plan included a national health insurance for Americans, new "civil rights" legislation, Fair Employment Practices enactments, housing legislation, farming legislation with subsidies, and expansion of the welfare programs...sounds progressive to me. He instituted subsidies to reduce the rent for low income families. The minimum wage was increased to 75 cents an hour. They also increased low interest loans to farmers. The national health insurance was voted down because the people realized it was the first step to socialized medicine. One bill called for paying subsidies directly to farmers instead of driving up the cost of farm products when farm income fell below a certain level. They said it sounded too much like socialism.
When Eisenhower got elected in 1956 there was little known about his political views. Would he get rid of the welfare state? He was the first Republican since the beginning of the New Deal. He described himself as "basically conservative," and said that, "in the last twenty years creeping socialism has been striking in the United States." But, by 1954, it was clear that he wasn't going to take on the welfare state. Eisenhower accepted the Welfare state as fact. Eisenhower came in talking about how frugal we should be, but he had the hightest deficit in peacetime history to that point: 12.4 billion. He turned out to be a middle of the road Republican. Or is it a DIABLO? Either way, he couldn't turn the tide back from the path to socialism.
In 1960, we elected John F. Kennedy, the youngest man elected to the office of President of the United States of America. He did institute several programs, but this series said he had a hostile Democratic congress. Upon his assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson became President.
Johnson pushed the Great Society, which was real close to being openly socialist. Apparently, Barry Goldwater saw the significance of it, and he pushed for liberty in his campaign and lost the moderates to Johnson. Johnson wasn't bothered by scruples, and used a combination of arm twisting, cajolery and trades to get the bills he wanted passed in a Democrat controlled Congress. the National Republican Congressional Committee classified it as a 3B congress: bullied, badgered and brainwashed. Does that sound familiar? Johnson probably did more for the socialist movement than did any modern president. The only thing that stopped his momentum was the Viet Nam War. It also ended his presidency.
After World War II, America has even pushed Welfare abroad. As quoted from this history book, " ...the United States promoted welfarism and subsidized socialism in Europe." The Eupropean Recovery Program allows countries to trade with each other, yet shields them from the world market. They are also dependant on the United States.
This brings our history up to modern times, so I'll quit here. Besides, my mind is boggled. I am now in my generation, and had just no idea of what had gone on before my birth. The victor writes history. And history is being rewritten all the time. Luckily, we have the power to elect our officials, and we have periodically disrupted their plan through out these 100 years. But you can see how the path has wandered and meandered through our history. We are well on the path to a nanny state. I have gotten a much better appreciation for President Hoover. I had always heard that he was the cold and callous man, that he wouldn't even help people during the depression. But that isn't entirely true, is it. It's like the Bible says. Give a man a fish and help him for a day. Teach him to fish and help him for a life time. If we continue to put people on welfare, and leave them there, they will have learned helplessness. I have a handicapped son. When I was teaching him self-care when he was very young, I was told not to give up when he acted as though he didn't know how to do it. Any child will act as though he doesn't know how to get dressed if he thinks you're going to dress him. Why put out the effort if he doesn't have to? If he can stand there and hold up his arms and you'll put on his shirt, why should he struggle to do it himself? It's called learned helplessness. If I show how hard of a time I'm having, you'll come help me, and I won't have to do it. I did the same thing to get out of weeding the cucumber with my mother. I weeded the cucumbers instead of the weeds. It's human nature.
Sooner or later you have to cut off the aide. I'm not against Welfare. Maybe there should be a time limit. That would encourage people to do something to better themselves. Everyone falls on hard times, and needs a hand up. But, there are an awful lot of nanny state programs, and there are people out there to tell you how to play the government and get your "fair" share. And to broaden government aide to include 150% of poverty and include government run health care? I don't think so. We should be shrinking government involvement. We need another Herbert Hoover about now.
Source: A Basic History of the United States, Volumes 1-5, by Clarence B. Carson, copyright American Textbook Committee, 1985, Tenth Printing, July 1994
Lori Ann Smith
I stand for Freedom, though I stand alone, until they knock me down and I can stand no more.
At the turn of the century, the liberals chose to call themselves Progressives because they figured the people would be for progress. We were making huge leaps in progress at that time. There were new inventions all the time: the telephone, electric lighting, the automobile, the streetcar, the airplane, motion pictures, marketing of goods was quickly being developed, farmers were enjoying unprecidented prosperity and gold had been discovered in 1896 in Alaska. Although there had been a banking panic in 1907, there was a framework of prosperity set. We had a mindset of progress, of prosperity in America. All the progressives had to do was link themselves to reform and progress. And they also linked big government to progress. You had to have big government in order to have progress, in their minds.
They had already established Darwinism as fact by this time. The fittist survive. The unfit die out. There is a quote from John D. Rockefeller: " The growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest.....This is not an evil tendency of business. It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God." So, by linking these concepts together, they established as fact that those against them were against progress, and would die out because they were weak. They were becoming more elite, a higher form of society, evolving. They were also pushing that the United States was a democracy, or that it ought to be. We are a Republic, not a Democracy. But as you see here, the progressives were the elite, not the conservatives. They were not for the common man.
In 1911, they turned their agenda to the school system. Charles A. Ellwood said, that the schools should be used as "a conscious instrument of social reconstruction." The progressives wanted to throw out religious and humane learning, (I take that as the humanities, or arts) and experiment with what would work. They wanted to "socialize" the young. This is when child-centered education began. This started the schools down the road towards what we have now, with the Department of Education taking the control away from the teacher in the classroom.
The progressives had even crept into the Christian movement, according to these texts, who call them the social gospellers. It calls them the most vicious attackers of the American economic system, calling for reform of our tax system. So, in the early 1900's socialists had infiltrated the churches and were calling on reforms and using God's word to back it up. They are the ones who basically were against the free market and started this whole movement that it was against God to be rich.
This is when muckraking became popular. I guess that's what we're doing. Expose articles became popular because the people were hungry for the truth about what was really going on. They list David Graham Phillips' Treason of the Senate...sound familiar?
Originally, Democratic Parties in the south were deemed private parties and excluded blacks. Even with the 14th amendment, blacks were only allowed to vote in the general elections. I guess they didn't want them voting until they had decided who they could vote for. And the south and become solidly Democratic. The progressives were the ones who pushed for segregation. They turned on the black voters. In the late 1800's there was no segregation, there was natural separation, but no forced segregation. By World War I, widespread segregation had been established in the states of the old Confederacy and the neghboring states. By 1930, Birmingham ordinance prohibited Negroes and whites from playing dominoes or checkers together. Two things need to be noted. Segregation was imposed by whites. White superiority was proclaimed, and black inferiority was assumed. Booker T. Washington, a prominent Black leader of the period, told everyone: "to suffer in silence," and to exercise "patience, forebearance, and self-control in the midst of trying conditions." He wanted them to improve themselves and compete in the market. What a smart man, beyond his years. But I have to admit, I don't think I would be able to under those conditions. I believe it was all orchestrated to chose a scapegoat for their future plans. And it's dispicable to choose a whole race for your plans...
Did you know that in 1894 they tried to institute an income tax but found it to be unconstitutional? The constitution says that taxes are to be given out by the states according to population, and by consent...and that's not an income tax, is it? The progressives got around that by amending the tariff bill. This was our first redistribution of wealth, from the rich to the subsidized or unproductive in society. In 1913 is also when we ratified direct election of our Senators. Originally, the Senators were to represent the States, not the people. It was supposed to be one of the checks and balances, so the States had some control over congress.
The progressives were in power nationally from 1901 until 1921, covering the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt refered to his program as the Square Deal, and Wilson had his New Freedom. Neither one professed to be socialists, but they set the country on a path towards socialism. Roosevelt said himself, "The New Nationalism puts the national need before sectional or personal advantage. . . .This New Nationalism regards the executive power as the steward of the public welfare. It demands of the judiciary that it shall be interested primarily in human welfare rather than property..." Wilson said of his New Freedom, "I believe that the time has come when the government of this country, both state and national, have to set the stage...for the doing of justice to men in every relationship of life....Without the watchful interference, the resolute interference, of the government, there can be no fair play between individuals and such powerful institutions as the trusts. Freedom today is something more than being let alone. The program of a government of freedom must in these days be positive, not negative merely." In other words, it's the government's job to be pro-active.
The history book says that in the 1920's, the intellectuals felt alienated from America. They fled to Europe.
The Great Depression began with the stock market crash of 1929. Herbert Hoover was the President, and was considered a cold and calloused president. Actually, he believed that the government should play no roll in picking Americans up out of the low place they were in, that it should be the place of private charities and businesses. He said that once government became the saviour, they would forever be dependant on government aide of some kind. Sound familiar? The Depression was the end of the conservatives in power. So the conservatives only had power from 1922-1932. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932, and the progressives were back in office. He accused the present administration of too much spending, but said that he would spend money on American citizens in order to keep them from starving in the depression. Does that sound familiar? Blame the past administration and spend, spend, spend, but I have an excuse to do so.
At no point in history had any administration had so much been done in the first 100 days to "take care" of the American people, or assert so much authority over our economy. Unless you count the current administration. At one point Roosevelt openly threatened congress, saying if they didn't act, he would take the power and act himself. We were in the midst of a Depression, so the American people didn't see it as a usurption of power.
One of the biggest lies, apparently, was Social Security. It was also the biggest redistrubution of wealth programs the socialists ever came up with. It was set up as a 1% tax on wages and a 1% match by employers and was to be put in a trust fund in the Treasury. An accumulation was to accur. It was set up to slowly increase. Later it was described as an insurance program, I suppose for insuring when you retire. There were programs set up within Social Security that were redistribution programs from the beginning: unemployment compensation, aid to dependant children, maternal and child care, to crippled children, to neglected children, for public health programs. Social Security turned out to be a pyramid scheme. The people coming in to Social Security pay the ones who came in a long time ago. Don't people go to jail for setting up pyramid schemes?
Harry S. Truman became President upon FDR's death, but it doesn't claim he was a progressive. Although he didn't run as a progressive, his Fair Deal plan included a national health insurance for Americans, new "civil rights" legislation, Fair Employment Practices enactments, housing legislation, farming legislation with subsidies, and expansion of the welfare programs...sounds progressive to me. He instituted subsidies to reduce the rent for low income families. The minimum wage was increased to 75 cents an hour. They also increased low interest loans to farmers. The national health insurance was voted down because the people realized it was the first step to socialized medicine. One bill called for paying subsidies directly to farmers instead of driving up the cost of farm products when farm income fell below a certain level. They said it sounded too much like socialism.
When Eisenhower got elected in 1956 there was little known about his political views. Would he get rid of the welfare state? He was the first Republican since the beginning of the New Deal. He described himself as "basically conservative," and said that, "in the last twenty years creeping socialism has been striking in the United States." But, by 1954, it was clear that he wasn't going to take on the welfare state. Eisenhower accepted the Welfare state as fact. Eisenhower came in talking about how frugal we should be, but he had the hightest deficit in peacetime history to that point: 12.4 billion. He turned out to be a middle of the road Republican. Or is it a DIABLO? Either way, he couldn't turn the tide back from the path to socialism.
In 1960, we elected John F. Kennedy, the youngest man elected to the office of President of the United States of America. He did institute several programs, but this series said he had a hostile Democratic congress. Upon his assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson became President.
Johnson pushed the Great Society, which was real close to being openly socialist. Apparently, Barry Goldwater saw the significance of it, and he pushed for liberty in his campaign and lost the moderates to Johnson. Johnson wasn't bothered by scruples, and used a combination of arm twisting, cajolery and trades to get the bills he wanted passed in a Democrat controlled Congress. the National Republican Congressional Committee classified it as a 3B congress: bullied, badgered and brainwashed. Does that sound familiar? Johnson probably did more for the socialist movement than did any modern president. The only thing that stopped his momentum was the Viet Nam War. It also ended his presidency.
After World War II, America has even pushed Welfare abroad. As quoted from this history book, " ...the United States promoted welfarism and subsidized socialism in Europe." The Eupropean Recovery Program allows countries to trade with each other, yet shields them from the world market. They are also dependant on the United States.
This brings our history up to modern times, so I'll quit here. Besides, my mind is boggled. I am now in my generation, and had just no idea of what had gone on before my birth. The victor writes history. And history is being rewritten all the time. Luckily, we have the power to elect our officials, and we have periodically disrupted their plan through out these 100 years. But you can see how the path has wandered and meandered through our history. We are well on the path to a nanny state. I have gotten a much better appreciation for President Hoover. I had always heard that he was the cold and callous man, that he wouldn't even help people during the depression. But that isn't entirely true, is it. It's like the Bible says. Give a man a fish and help him for a day. Teach him to fish and help him for a life time. If we continue to put people on welfare, and leave them there, they will have learned helplessness. I have a handicapped son. When I was teaching him self-care when he was very young, I was told not to give up when he acted as though he didn't know how to do it. Any child will act as though he doesn't know how to get dressed if he thinks you're going to dress him. Why put out the effort if he doesn't have to? If he can stand there and hold up his arms and you'll put on his shirt, why should he struggle to do it himself? It's called learned helplessness. If I show how hard of a time I'm having, you'll come help me, and I won't have to do it. I did the same thing to get out of weeding the cucumber with my mother. I weeded the cucumbers instead of the weeds. It's human nature.
Sooner or later you have to cut off the aide. I'm not against Welfare. Maybe there should be a time limit. That would encourage people to do something to better themselves. Everyone falls on hard times, and needs a hand up. But, there are an awful lot of nanny state programs, and there are people out there to tell you how to play the government and get your "fair" share. And to broaden government aide to include 150% of poverty and include government run health care? I don't think so. We should be shrinking government involvement. We need another Herbert Hoover about now.
Source: A Basic History of the United States, Volumes 1-5, by Clarence B. Carson, copyright American Textbook Committee, 1985, Tenth Printing, July 1994
Lori Ann Smith
I stand for Freedom, though I stand alone, until they knock me down and I can stand no more.
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