The Life and Death of Democracy

The Life and Death of Democracy


About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new
constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters
discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years."
"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1 from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:
Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29
Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country.
Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase
of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy,
with some forty percent of the nation's population already
having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million
criminal invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we can say
goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. ----------

The Ant & The Grasshopper vs. The Modern Version

The Ant & The Grasshopper


TRADITIONAL VERSION:


The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his
house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays
the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or
shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!




MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his
house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays
the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands
to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and
starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering
grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table
filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is
allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries
when
they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the
news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has
the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper' s sake.

Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry
King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both
call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act
retroactive to the beginning of the summer! The ant is fined for failing to
hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having n othing left to pay
his
retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary Clinton gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a
defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of
federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent
welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the
ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be
the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't do anything to
maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now
abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once
peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be very careful how you vote in 2008

Tax truth

Tax truth

At first I thought this was funny, then I realized the awful truth of it. Be sure to read all the way to the end!

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he

Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his a**.

Tax all he has,
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom."

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell "politicians?"

And I still have to "press 1"for English.

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times. You could help by forwarding it to your other friends...that' s what I just did!

Who Was Alger Hiss?

"Alger Hiss was a communist spy, a spy for the USSR, and, of course, the left hated Richard Nixon because Nixon was the guy who got Hiss. They've been trying to get even over that for years. Remember, Stalin killed more people than Hitler did. You won't find the liberals admitting that. That's why Alger Hiss is still their hero." --Rush Limbaugh The Authentic History Center: Edward R. Murrow on The Alger Hiss Trial "Belief in the guilt or innocence of Alger Hiss became a defining issue in American intellectual life. Parts of the American government had conclusive evidence of his guilt, but they never told." -Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), in his book Secrecy: The American Experience Washington DeCoded: "First, they tried to smear Hiss's main accuser, Whittaker Chambers, as a fantasist, liar, and spurned homosexual. When that fell short, Hiss and his defenders invented any number of Baroque theories to rebut hard evidence, including 'forgery by typewriter' to explain away portions of classified documents that had been typed on a Hiss-owned machine. Finally, they argued that the case against Hiss was a nefarious conspiracy, a Salem witch trial for the 1940s, orchestrated by such congenital anti-communists as Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover who had only one goal in mind: the destruction of New Deal liberalism, so as to pave the way for the cold war abroad and domestic repression at home." -John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, April 11, 2007 EIB Note: Whittaker Chambers was a Soviet spy who defected to America. An outspoken foe of communism, he helped the good guys convict Alger Hiss for perjury and espionage.

"When the preface of [Chambers's book] Witness appeared as a feature in The Saturday Evening Post, that issue of the magazine sold a startling half million extra copies on the newsstand. The book came out with a great flurry. The bitterness of the Hiss trial had not subsided. For some of the reviewers, Hiss's innocence had once been a fixed rational conviction, then blind faith; and now, after the publication of that overwhelming book, rank superstition." -William F. Buckley, Jr. in National Review magazine, August 6, 2001

"[I]n 1996 when the CIA and National Security Agency made public several thousand documents of decoded cables exchanged between Moscow and its American agents from 1939 to 1957. These materials were part of a secret intelligence project called 'Venona.' A single document, dated March 30, 1945, referred to an agent code-named 'Ales,' a State Department official who had flown from the Yalta Conference to Moscow. An anonymous footnote, dated more than 20 years later, suggested 'Ales' was 'probably Alger Hiss.'" -James Thomas Gay, American History, 1998 (Alger Hiss's mugshot shown on the left)

"Writing in Six Crises, Nixon noted that, 'those who are lying or trying to cover up something generally make a common mistake – they tend to overact, to overstate their case.' Furthermore, the manner in which he qualified his answers, saying 'the name' Whittaker Chambers 'means absolutely nothing to me,' while never stating 'categorically that he did not know' the man, indicated to Nixon that Hiss was hiding something." -CourtTV Crime Library: The Alger Hiss Case

Insight on the News: Allen Weinstein Writes an Epitaph for the Cold War "This stunning book is the most thorough study of Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers yet published. The conclusion that Hiss often lied is difficult to swallow for those who deplore the character and methods of Hiss's accusers. But, alas, the enemy of evil is not always good. Weinstein's evidence has been challenged by some critics. This reviewer finds it persuasive." -Foreign Affairs magazine on Allen Weinstein's book, Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case.

TIME Magazine: Hiss: A New Book Finds Him Guilty as Charged - February 13, 1978

NEW PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

NEW PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

This is probably the best e-mail I've seen in a long, long time. The following has been attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA. This guy should run for President one day...

---

"We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great- great-grandchild ren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, delusional, and other liberal bed-wetters.

We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights."

ARTICLE I:

You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II:

You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone -- not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III:

You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV:

You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes. (This one is my pet peeve...get an education and go to work....don' t expect everyone else to take care of you!)

ARTICLE V:

You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI:

You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII:

You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII:

You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful. (AMEN!)

ARTICLE IX:

You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X:

This is an English speaking country. We don't care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!

ARTICLE XI:

You do not have the right to change our country's history or heritage. This country was founded on the belief in one true God. And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!

ARTICLE XII:

You do not have the right to think you are more special than anyone else.... Enough said.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN REPUBLICAN & DEMOCRATS

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN REPUBLICAN & DEMOCRATS

A simple lesson illustrating the difference between the two parties.

Fred Thompson and Hillary were walking down the street when they came to a
homeless person.

The Republican, Fred Thompson, gave the homeless person his business card
and told him to come to his office for a job. He then took $20 out of his
pocket and gave it to the homeless person.

Hillary was very impressed, so when they came to another homeless person,
she decided to help. She walked over to the homeless person and gave him
directions to the welfare office. She then reached into Thompson's pocket
and got out $20. She kept $15 for her administrative fees and gave
the homeless person $5..

Now, do you understand the difference?

Indoctrinate U:

"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress." - Ronald Reagan

Video: What's Really Going On At Our Nation's Universities

VIDEO: Indoctrinate U: The Intolerant Culture of Our Nation's College Campuses

View the trailer of "Indoctrinate U," Evan Coyne Maloney's much anticipated documentary exposing the anti-intellectual, intolerant culture of our nation's campuses. Indoctrinate U has been dubbed "a call to action" that will "shock the conscience of Americans in the best sense, through exposure to truth and logic." Now, just in time for graduation, the film America needs to see has arrived.

See The Trailer

AMERICA'S CONSERVATIVE NEWS
What the Liberal media does not want you to know!


VIDEO CLICK "NEW PAGE 1"
New Page 1

Indoctrinate U, Evan Coyne Maloney's much anticipated documentary exposing the anti-intellectual, intolerant culture of our nation's campuses, is finally here. Indoctrinate U has been dubbed "a call to action" that will "shock the conscience of Americans in the best sense, through exposure to truth and logic." Now, just in time for graduation, the film America needs to see has arrived.

For information on how you may view the entire documentary, go to http://www.indoctrinate-u.com/cgi-local/welcome.cgi.

===========================================

Family Friendly Movie Reviews From MovieGuide.org

ULTIMATE GIFT
A Real Gem
MovieGuide.org

Quality:
Released: Mar 9th, 2007
Starring: Drew Fuller, James Garner, Abigail Breslin, Brian Dennehy, Ali Hillis, and Ted Hamilton
Genre: Drama
Audience: Older children to adults
Rating: PG
Runtime: 114 minutes

Content: (CCC, BBB, S, A) Very strong Christian worldview, with very strong moral message; no foul language; no violence; some very light sexual discussions and several friendly kisses; no nudity; some alcohol at dinner; no smoking; and, nothing else objectionable.

Summary: THE ULTIMATE GIFT is about a smart-aleck young man who goes on a treasure hunt for the gift left to him by his late, rich grandfather. THE ULTIMATE GIFT is just that -- a very entertaining, emotional, finely crafted, highly polished gem with a very strong Christian worldview that teaches valuable lessons.

Read The Full Review

This Is Not Happening Because Bombs Are So Cheap And Plentiful
People Set Them Off For Kicks!

U.S. General Blames al-Qaida for Bombing
By Kim Gamel
Associated Press

A U.S. commander said Thursday that revenge-seeking police apparently were behind retribution killings in northwestern Iraq, but he blamed al-Qaida for starting the carnage with a bombing in its bid to foil a security sweep in Baghdad by stoking sectarian violence elsewhere.

Gen. David Petraeus also said the surge in attacks in Tal Afar and other cities was posing a challenge to bringing long-term stability to Iraq, but he expressed confidence in the U.S.-Iraqi crackdown on violence, now in its seventh week.

Read The Full Story

TV News- After Imus, DeLay Calls for Rosie to Be Fired - AOL News

TV News- After Imus, DeLay Calls for Rosie to Be Fired - AOL News


The "FAT" one Rosie O'Donald, all the others except Elizabeth Hasselbeck are giving women a bad name.

When you look up "air headed bimbos" you see O'Donald and the others picture.

WHAT A BUNCH OF MORONS!!

BLACK AND RIGHT - VIDEO

To Our Americans Serving in Iraq

Check out this You Tube Video.

Bob Parks is a member/writer for the National Advisory Council of Project 21, and
VP of Marketing and Media Relations/Staff Writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc.

http://blackandright.mensnewsdaily.com/

EVAN SAYET - THE LIBERAL MIND

Dear Friends

A must view of a former liberal comedian who has hit the nail on the head...

His insight is incredible...

Please view Evan Sayet's analysis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION VIDEOS

ILLEGAL ALIENS SHOW THEIR GRATITUDE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBONmdeRvpM

COST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Added November 04, 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY6t2ckpb5g&NR

Crime Victims Of Illegal Aliens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpomTIkv0V8&NR

The Aztec Al_Qaeda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc1XAQc8hS8&NR

This video should be seen by everyone concerned about illegal immigration. It's an eye opener!!"Gumball Immigration"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=58716...

100% Preventable Crimes By Illegal Aliens
Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst 040307

YOUTUBE GLENN BECK

Youtube video of Dan Stien , President of FAIR on Glenn Beck



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VayufV2mqjQ

25 Reasons to Deport illegal aliens:

THE LATEST CALIFORNIA POLL:

The latest telephone poll taken by the Governor of California yielded Results on whether or not people who live in California think illegal Immigration is a serious problem:

41% of the respondents answered: " Yes, it is a serious problem"

59% of the respondents answered: "No es un problema serioso"

*****

illegal alien is NOT a Race.

PLEASE CIRCULATE:

25 Reasons to Deport illegal aliens:

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year.

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.

http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.

http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services, paid by the American taxpayers.

http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the United States.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroine and marijuana, crossed into the U. S. from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report:

http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."

http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/15795654.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_nation

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States".

http://www.drdsk.com/articles.html

15. Every day 12 Americans are murdered by an illegal alien. Another 13 Americans are killed by uninsured drunk illegal aliens and Eight American Children are victims of a sex crime committed by an illegal alien each day! (Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.) http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/ia05_king/col_20060505_bite.html

16. Today, criminal aliens account for over 29 percent of prisoners in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities and a higher share of all federal prison inmates. These prisoners represent the fastest growing segment of the federal prison population.

Incarceration of criminal aliens cost an estimated $624 million to state prisons (1999) and $891 million to federal prisons (2002), according to the most recent available figure from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters0b9c

17. "Illegal Aliens and American Medicine". "Many illegal aliens harbor fatal diseases that American Medicine fought and vanquished long ago, such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, plague, polio, dengue and Chagas disease." The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons

http://www.jpands.org/jpands1001.htm

18. In 2002, HIV/AIDS was the third leading cause of death among Hispanic men aged 35 to 44 and the fourth leading cause of death among Hispanic women in the same age group. Most Hispanic men were exposed to HIV through sexual contact with other men. Source (CDC): http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/hispanic.htm

19. If enacted the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S. 2611) would be the most dramatic change in immigration law in 80 years, allowing an estimated 103 million persons to legally immigrate to the U.S. over the next 20 years – fully one-third of the current population of the United States.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/wm1076.cfm

20. U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) today unveiled an impact analysis that shows the Senate immigration bill – should it become law – would permit up to 217.1 million new legal immigrants into the United States over the next 20 years, a number equal to 66 percent of the total current population.

http://sessions.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=255553&&;

21. The number of illegal immigrants in the United States may be as high as 20 million people, more than double the official 9 million people estimated by the Census Bureau. 1/3/05

http://www.bearstearns.com/bscportal/pdfs/underground.pdf

22. Cases of Leprosy on The Rise In The U.S., The New York Times. "While there were some 900 recorded cases in the United States 40 years ago, today more than 7,000 people have leprosy." Leprosy is an airbourne virus, it can also be spread by touching and coughing.

http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/03_Disease/030226.leprosy.in.US.html

http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-03-15/whitford-americanleprosy

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=78621

23. Organizations Protesting Immigration Reform, State by State. Won’t you join in?

http://www.oregonir.org/Immigration_Reform_Orgs.htm

24. America Welcomes Illegal’s Contagious Disease.

http://www.rense.com/general64/ill.htm

25. Mexico is the 4th Richest Oil Nation in the World.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/02/18/obit.lopez.ap/

"Freedom Isn’t For Everyone, Only Those Who Are Willing To Fight For It."

The Democratic Party's honeymoon is over.

Checkmate
The Democratic Party's honeymoon is over.

BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, March 2, 2007 12:01 a.m.

For Big Labor, this week's "card check" victory marked the ultimate payoff for past Democratic election support. For House Democrats, it marked the end of the honeymoon.

Democrats won in November in part by playing down their special interest patrons--unions, environmentalists, trial lawyers--and by playing up a new commitment to the moderate middle class. The big question was whether the party had the nerve to govern the way it campaigned, and card check was the first test. The answer? AFL-CIO chief John Sweeney isn't smiling for nothing.

Up to now, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had kept her troops in line and her party's liberal wing in check. The vaunted first "100 hours" was run like a military operation, and revolved around a carefully chosen legislative agenda that would unify every faction in her party. It was small potatoes, but it worked, and it was a lesson in how Democrats can practice smart politics.

The card check, in contrast, is a lesson in how the party's liberal base forces Democrats to back political losers. The legislation's only purpose is to give unions an unfair advantage in organizing, namely by eliminating the secret ballot in union elections and instead allowing thugs to openly bully workers into joining up. Americans understand and despise this, with polls showing 90% of the public thinks card check is a racket.

Democrats therefore left themselves wide open for their first public drubbing. The card check gave Republicans a rare opening to beat the daylights out of the new majority, successfully accusing it of trashing democratic elections and shutting down free speech. It unified the business community, which put aside its disagreements on health care and immigration to instead team up to make the vote as painful as possible for Ms. Pelosi's moderate wing. Even the liberal press jumped ship.

And all this, meanwhile, for a vote that was largely symbolic. President Bush has vowed that a card check law is dead on arrival. And that assumes the legislation could even make it through a Senate filibuster--which it can't. As low points go, this was the lowest the new majority has had so far.

The issue for Ms. Pelosi is that this will undoubtedly not be the only low point. The card check is instead the first illustration of the biggest dilemma Democratic leaders will face over the next few years. Savvier party members understand the threat special interests pose to Democrats' ability to commune with more of America. Yet the party is completely dependent on those left-wing interest groups to finance and man their electoral victories. They want a return on their investment.

For years now, unions have provided thousands of volunteers for get-out-the-vote efforts. More important, they've provided a huge purse to get Democrats elected. This time they handed over the money on condition that Democrats support what has become their biggest priority. This week they called in their chits.

Many Democrats also see the card check as vital to their political survival. Union membership has been nose-diving for years. In 2006 it dropped to just 12% of workers. The reigning belief is that if Democrats don't do their part to reverse this decline, they'll see a huge source of manpower and cash for future elections disappear. The card check might be terrible politics, but it is the best shot they have to force more Americans into unions that will spend the dues to re-elect Democrats.

Whatever the motivation, enough Democrats were willing to take a hit if it meant getting card check through. Not that they didn't attempt to lessen the sting. One reason this was the first major domestic legislation up for a vote was that Democrats were anxious to get it out of the way quickly, and put space between it and next year's election. House insiders were this week referring to that strategy as the "Rip Off the Band-Aid" approach: This is gonna hurt, so do it fast.

It also explains the pains House Labor and Education Committee Chairman George Miller took to put the bill through as quietly as possible. The card check will be the biggest change in labor law in decades, yet Mr. Miller allowed but a single hearing and markup on the issue. That hearing was held in the middle of the House's very public Iraq debate, the better to avoid any notice.

The issue exploded nonetheless, and it was the party's moderate wing that got caught in the crossfire. Big Labor, to its credit, had approached the card check with a lot more political savvy than is usually the case. In particular, it started approaching Democratic moderates several years ago, demanding they co-sponsor a card check bill. While many in the Blue Dog wing wouldn't normally agree to such an anti-business measure, they saw this as a useful opportunity to score some union points. After all, Republicans weren't about to bring up the legislation. The problem came when Democrats won, and they had to stand behind their previous support.

The unions' other big coup was to get to this year's Democratic freshmen early in the electoral game. Labor explained that any union support they received in their tight races in GOP-leaning districts would be entirely conditioned on their later vote for card check. Most of them signed up for this devil's bargain, since, as one Democratic aide admitted: "We didn't have a choice."

The business community this week made sure that those Democratic moderates felt the burn. The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace--a group of more than 300 business outfits against the card check--earlier this week laid out a six-figure radio buy for just three House districts, targeting North Carolina's Heath Shuler, Florida's Tim Mahoney and Kansas's Nancy Boyda. All three ran as conservative Democrats, and have only tenuous grips on their seats. The Chamber of Commerce spent another $400,000 on radio ads targeting 51 Republicans and Democrats who are also vulnerable next year. The ads had an effect. Card-check supporters had been hoping to get as many as 290 votes; instead they mustered just 241.

Ms. Pelosi might remember that she only won last year's election because of the success of these moderate candidates. They were the ones who benefited most from Democrats' new promises to focus on "middle class" America. And it is the Democratic Party as a whole that will suffer if those promises aren't kept.
Ms. Strassel is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, based in Washington. Her column appears Fridays.

Copyright © 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110009737

History of Social Security

History of Social Security

(This is something that needs addressing more before we have another election; the Bush Social Security Plan is the most sensible proposal put forth to the American People, ever! We can see what happened to the Bush proposed program; we need a National Referendum in regards to the Bush Plan, but here again, the damaging democrats have smashed it flat as they do everything else in their attempt to gain power of which they are not capable of controlling. It is not power but their greedy want of being in the limelight. They just do not have the intellectual abilities to run a government with good character and integrity. Contact your State Representatives and ask for a referendum for the Bush Plan before they leave office; otherwise we may totally lose forever the Social Security Plan as do have presently.

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary,

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program,

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year.

4.) That the money the participants put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the General operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and,

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to "put away," you may be interested in the following:

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent "Trust" fund and put it into the General fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically-controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the "tie-breaking" deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the U.S.

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive SSI Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!

Then, after doing all this lying and thieving and violation of the original contract (FICA), the democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away! And the worst part about it is, uninformed citizens believe it! Perhaps we have been asking the wrong questions, and should bring to the forefront some of the above before the 2008 election year!

TRUISM!

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress....But
then I repeat myself.

Mark Twain
======================================
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man
standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

Winston Churchill
=====================================
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of
Paul.

George Bernard Shaw
======================================
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man....which debt he
proposes to pay off with your money.

G. Gordon Liddy
===================================
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to
have for dinner.

James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
==============================================
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich
countries to rich people in poor countries.

Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown Univ.
=======================================
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to
teenage boys.

P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
==========================================
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at
the expense of everybody else.

Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
======================================
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it.
If it keeps moving, regulate it.
If it stops moving, subsidize it.

Ronald Reagan (1986)
================================
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

Will Rogers
============================
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs
when it's free!

P.J. O'Rourke
==================================
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible
from one party of the citizens to give to the other.

Voltaire (1764)
=====================================
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics
won't take an interest in you!

Pericles (430 B.C.)
=======================================
No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in
session.

Mark Twain (1866)
=======================================
Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.

Unknown
===================================
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The
inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
Winston Churchill
======================================
The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the
taxidermist leaves the skin.

Mark Twain
=====================================
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the
world with fools.

Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
=======================================
There is no distinctly native, American criminal class...save Congress.

Mark Twain
====================================
What this country needs, are more unemployed politicians.

Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)
================================
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to
take everything you have.
Thomas Jefferson
=====================================
Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. If
no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?"

Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981.

How Can the GOP Get Moving Again

Stuck in the Mud
How Can the GOP Get Moving Again? Drop the Dirty Politics and Get Real.

By Frank Luntz
Sunday, February 25, 2007; B01

"Don't be afraid to see what you see," Ronald Reagan once said.

Today, many of his disciples are choosing not to see the obvious. Republicans in Congress cannot regain their majority merely by relying on a coalition of traditional conservatives and evangelicals. They must reach out to what I call "the fed-ups" -- a large and growing constituency of independent voters who have held the balance of power in every election since 1992, and will hold it again in 2008.

It was only 14 years ago that nearly 20 million voters rejected both Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush in favor of H. Ross Perot, a little man with big ears and a big idea. Perot's principal claim on their allegiance in the presidential election of 1992 was his insistence that government should be competent, sensible and honest about its finances. His supporters were mad as hell and weren't going to take it anymore. Those voters -- 19 percent of the electorate -- demonstrated that there was a potent political movement of fed-up Americans.

Two years later, millions of Perot voters switched to the Republicans and helped them grab control of Congress. They stayed with the GOP for a decade because the party represented "good government." But red ink budgets, earmarked appropriations for bridges to nowhere, endless ethics scandals and a debacle of a war made them mad once again. In 2006 they deserted the GOP in droves and turned control of Congress back to the Democrats.

How incredible that the antidote to what ails the Republicans can be found in the words of a famous Democrat. In his tragic run for the presidency in 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy said, "Some men see things as they are and say, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and say, 'Why not?' " The magnificent poetry of that challenge -- to do more and to do better -- is at the core of who we are as a society, what we want for America and for ourselves. Here is the reason why the Republican Party has faded from relevance in the past two years.

Despite its many problems, the United States remains a nation of dreamers. The American psyche is genetically wired to see possibilities. Faith in the future is in our DNA. It's why we historically vote for the more positive, hopeful, upbeat candidates.

Yet my recent public opinion research has recorded unprecedented anxiety about the country's direction. Just 34 percent of the voting public believe that the America of tomorrow will be better than the America of today, while 57 percent think it will be worse.

This explains why so many people have lost patience with the current U.S. leadership. It is no wonder that 52 percent of voters in my election night survey said they were "mad as hell" about politics and politicians. Can you blame them? It doesn't matter whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, the outlook is grim: a war with no end in sight, rising costs of health care, borders that are poorly patrolled, schools that are failing, manufacturing that is disappearing, and a culture that is coarsening.

Congressional Republicans didn't seem to notice in 2006, and certainly didn't seem to care. For the all-important swing voter in the center -- the current version of those 19-plus millionPerot voters -- Republicans came to represent the politics of hypocrisy and failure. They didn't have a message. They didn't have an agenda. They didn't have a purpose. And so on Election Day, these voters -- now about 16 percent of the electorate -- went elsewhere.

It is unfortunate that the Republican Party is currently dominated by hyperpartisan, gut-punching professional politicians and expert technicians whom I wouldn't want to face at the dark end of the electoral alley. They specialize in the flawless execution of "wedge" politics. That may have worked well in past elections, but no longer. The latest gimmick is "branding" -- a Madison Avenue technique -- to reverse the Republican slide. But political parties are not brands, slogans are not a replacement for ideas and you don't sell leaders the way you sell widgets.

Many rank-and-file Republicans agree. But the party apparatus still doesn't get it. Over the years, I have become unpopular with the GOP hierarchy by telling the apparatchiks what they needed to know, not what they wanted to hear. Nowadays my work is far from the day-to-day grind of political partisanship. But if I were still in the thick of it, my guidance would be just 20 words long: Be bold, return to basics, stop telling, start asking, focus on results, abolish "earmarks" and embrace a permanent balanced budget.

Shortly after the Republican landslide of 1994, Rep. Jim Nussle of Iowa said: "I hope none of us lose the backbencher point of view. We should always look to make changes." Nussle was one of a cadre of passionate Republican reformers who railed against Democratic improprieties. (He gave up his House seat to run unsuccessfully for governor of Iowa last year.) The Republican Party still has its share of outsiders, crusaders, people unwilling to accept politics or governing-as-usual. I think of lawmakers such as Rep. Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), who want to get back to balanced budgets, fiscal accountability and causes that appeal to centrist voters.

They understand that Republicans lost the majority because Americans wanted change. But they need to step up now, speak out and demand a public role in reforming the party and Washington in the same way that former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) demanded that well-meaning but failed Republican leaders step aside in 1994.

There are some hopeful signs.

Both the early front-runners for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 have appeal beyond the party's base of conservative supporters. Arizona Sen. John McCain tapped into the old Perot constituency in his bid for the nomination in 2000, and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is doing that now.

In Florida, a group of Republican legislators stepped back from partisan bickering to try something novel: They asked the people for ideas.

Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio challenged his colleagues to create an agenda for the future with "100 Innovative Ideas" from ordinary people around the state. Instead of fundraisers, they held "idea raisers." Republicans, Democrats and independents were all welcome -- any idea that advanced the principles of good government and political accountability was considered.

It wasn't a political ploy. They released their "100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future" after the election. And Republican legislators got back in touch with constituents.

But what did national Republicans do as the new Congress convened and Democrats began pushing through their "Six for '06" proposals in the first 100 hours? They called a news conference not to present counter-proposals to guide the minority over the next two years, but to complain that the Democrats were treating them unfairly. They objected that the committee process was being skirted and members were denied opportunities to offer amendments.

Were Republicans standing up for retirement security, control over health-care decisions or economic freedom? No. They were upset over who was or was not allowed to offer amendments on the floor. (Note to Republicans: Americans don't care.)

The path to a GOP majority must be paved with solutions to the real problems of real people. Republicans should talk about expanding health savings accounts and educating Americans about the benefits they offer. They should commit to sunsetting government programs every four years unless continuing them can be justified. They should pledge the investment necessary to develop renewable fuels and alternative energy. They should challenge Democrats to tackle the burgeoning tax code and fight for tax simplification on behalf of hardworking taxpayers.

Republicans need a spirited, intellectually based rebuttal to every piece of Democratic legislation and an alternative to every policy -- not a new parliamentary maneuver.

My polls show that Democrats now hold a perceived advantage with voters not just on reducing deficits and balancing the budget but on an issue long seen as a GOP strength: ending wasteful spending. That alone should jar Republicans into taking a fresh approach.

Step one should be the abolition of earmarks for hometown and home-state projects. Nothing will undermine the lobbyist culture more than a clear and definitive statement that there will never again be a highway project like the Alaskan "bridge to nowhere."

Step two is to once again stand for accountability, a principle abandoned in the last Congress. If Republicans are serious about demonstrating that they understand what America wants, they will support a balanced-budget amendment -- but with an important twist: The declining Social Security surplus couldn't be used as a numbers game to "reduce" shortfalls, and there would be a clause making it difficult to raise taxes.

Republicans lost their congressional majority because they lost touch with what Americans really want. As a pollster, I rarely hear voters call for smaller government. They tell me that they want more efficient and more effective government. (Note to Republicans: There is no starker symbol of Washington's inefficiency and ineffectiveness than the federal government's inability to control our borders and prevent illegal immigration.) Last year, Republicans campaigned locally and lost nationally. Relying on local issues to define elections at a time when national matters dominate public concerns is a losing strategy. With 20 months until the next election, Republicans have a responsibility as the minority party, as the opposition party, to prove themselves as once again worthy of public trust. They must adopt a bold agenda to mirror the public's desire for bold change. Anything less and they will fail not only themselves but also the country.

Frank Luntz, a corporate communications adviser, was pollster for the GOP's 1994 "Contract With America" and advised House and Senate Republicans from 1994 through 1999. He is the author of the new book "Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear" (Hyperion).