Bankrupting a Nation - When the Checks Quit Coming

 

At a point in the very near future, I wish that the majority of both democrats and republicans would openly recognize that middle ground must be found quickly before the "check" bubble situation in the country pops. There is very little difference between the far right and the far left in one sense. One side would completely wipe out welfare so that some people would be hungry and the other extreme side would have everyone on welfare and bankrupt the nation so that everyone is starving. In both scenarios the "checks" will quit coming and people will be hungry. In the second scenario, everyone suffers.  Middle ground must be found quickly are we are all screwed.

It would be very wise for everyone to study up on what is going on in Greece and other countries having financial woes due to socialism. Jobs are gone and governments on the edge of bankruptcy.  The countries taking handouts from the International Monetary Fund and other international agencies such as the World Bank are all suffering in different ways.  There is mass chaos and rioting in the streets in many of these countries around the world.  At the same time, those international agencies giving the "handouts" are placing "rules" on the people in those countries that they are giving money to.  These "rules" take away from the freedoms and the liberties of the people. This "international intervention" is also taking away the sovereignty of those countries who are taking money.  Yes, people have been rioting all around the world and yes, the European Union is in bad shape. You saw the rioting at the occupy movements across our nation, but you may not have noticed the extreme elevation of riots worldwide.  The majority of the occupy movement protestors really didn't understand what they were protesting about, but there was something instinctual that something bad was happening in the present and vibes that it would be worse in the future.  Yet they protested something based on a feeling, yet they didn't even really know where that feeling was coming from.  All of that education and student debt, but no jobs.  In other countries protesting, it seems it is about not having jobs or about very little pay from what everyone was accustomed too.  In Greece, their "checks" were cut severely.  Don't think that won't happen here becuase if changes aren't made, it will happen here.  A few people in the occupied movements across the country tried to make the movement political and tell us what "all the others" were protesting about.  They wan'ted some fame and credit for something they themselves really had no clue about.  Some people even encouraged the protestors to the point of hanging "the elite" by tree limbs if they didn't "share the wealth".  Some of the political narcisists even tried to use their momentum for political or Hollywood fame such as Michael Moore.  None of them really got to the bottom of it.  Little did our "leaders" understand how a few choice words of encouragement could have turned a protest into a lynch mob.  We are certainly in "delicate" times.  It is no coincidence as to why this is happening worldwide and I predict that it will get much worse in the future if major changes are not made.


Last I heard, this was the U.S.A., the most powerful superpower in the world. I care about the people here and I yet I understand we've had it very good compared to other countries over the years.  Times are lean now and if changes aren't made soon, lean will have a new meaning with our culture that generations of adults have never experienced.  I wish the majority of our politicians truly cared about the well being of the citizens instead of themselves.

We are spoiled to the point that we are deluded to think that the "checks" will always keep coming but the truth is, that they won't.  In the last few years, the "retirement" checks quit coming to ALL retirees in the city of Prichard, Alabama. Yes, the "checks" quit coming.  Prichard tried to file for bankrupcy and at the same time quit mailing out retirement checks to their aging past employees.  A retired fire marshal there died in his own home.  He was too young for social security and he based his entire budget around his City of Prichard retirement check. When his retirement check quit coming, he was too proud to ask for help and possibly, there simply just wasn't anyone to help. They found him dead in his own house. His power and his water had been cut off because he simply couldn't afford to pay his bills any more. This was a man that worked for the city he loved for 30 + years.  He gave the better part of his life to the city of Prichard, yet a dwindling tax base and corrupt city officials murdered him in his own home.


The retired fire marshal has a name. His name was Rex Wall. You should read the following article and try to get to know Rex because you'll know a lot more people like him if our national leaders don't get their act together.

You can read a little about Rex Wall and Prichard's pending bankrupcty in the following article:
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_next_chapter_municipalities_are_using_chapter_9_to_fend_off_creditors/


The truth is, it doesn't matter if our president is white, black, or purple and from the planet Pluto to me, but what does matter is that programs are put in place to encourage businesses to expand to create jobs here in this country, not laws that encourage jobs and factories to be built in China or other "slave labor" countries.  What matters to me is for our government to not be putting more and more aggresive regulations, restrictions etc on our small businesses when common sense tells us that they are already struggling in the most sluggish economy since the great depression.  I understand completely that you can't get people off of welfare and unemployment if the jobs simply do not exist in our nation.  I also understand that creating new government programs and expanding government entities in order to fool the American citizens into "thinking" jobs are being created is a trend that is not productive.  The real truth is that all government jobs are paid for by taxes from the private sector and if the private sector is shrinking and the government is growing, then there is an increasing deficit.  Government jobs do not bring in one single dollar of "Private sector" tax revenue in the system.  The formula is rather simple really; more government jobs = increased national debt and bankrupcy.  Fewer government jobs and a large and growing "Private sector" job base means increased private sector tax revenue and a decreased national debt.  Increaseing the size of government just to fill some of the lost private sector jobs is a is like putting a stick of dynomite into the leaking crack in the dam which is worse than just letting the dam leak for a while.  Sooner or later that stick of dynomite is going to blow the entire dam up drowning everyone downstream in the floodwater's path.  It only puts our country deeper into debt.  In other words, "ALL checks that come from the government to the people, whether in the form of salaries or in the form of entitlements come from the private sector.  Every private sector job that is lost and replaced by a government job is increasing the national debt and if the trend continues, one day the system will implode.  Every American factory that is closed and every Chinese factory opened to replacing it is transfering American Jobs overseas and destroying our country.  People need to take all of this very seriously because there's going to come  a time when you wished you had.  Our leaders have over 300 million American citizens under their care.  It's past time to start putting American private sector jobs first.


Cities filing bankruptcy is something which is very "new" in the history of our country, and there are many cities and municipalities that are struggling now.  The old saying that change is good, does not apply in this case.  Volcanos sometimes give advance notice of pending eruptions and our economies across the nation are pointing to something very dangerous happening in the future as well.  If we do not pay attention to what these signs are telling us, then we are all in trouble.   Our nation is entering a new "era" and in this case. The thought that the "checks will always come" is changing. Take a look at the following governments that are in trouble (not including Prichard, Alabama):


Jefferson County, Alabama
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 11/9/2011
Debt or Deficit Amount: More than $4 billion

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Status: Bankruptcy filing
rejected, defaulted on payments
Date: 3/10/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: More than $300 million

Central Falls, Rhode Island
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 8/1/2011
Debt or Deficit Amount: $21 million of outstanding debt, plus unfunded
pension liabilities

San Bernardino, California
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 8/1/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: $46 million

Mammoth Lakes, California
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 7/3/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: $43 million

Stockton, California
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 6/28/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: $26 million

Boise County, Idaho
Status: Bankruptcy filing rejected
Date: 9/8/2011
Debt or Deficit Amount: $5.4 million

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Status: Bankruptcy filing
rejected, defaulted on payments
Date: 3/10/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: More than $300 million

Central Falls, Rhode Island
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 8/1/2011
Debt or Deficit Amount: $21 million of outstanding debt, plus unfunded
pension liabilities

San Bernardino, California
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 8/1/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: $46 million

Mammoth Lakes, California
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 7/3/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: $43 million

Stockton, California
Status: Filed for bankruptcy
Date: 6/28/2012
Debt or Deficit Amount: $26 million

Boise County, Idaho
Status: Bankruptcy filing rejected
Date: 9/8/2011
Debt or Deficit Amount: $5.4 million
 

You can keep up with this at http://www.governing.com/gov-d.... There are at least 12 more municipalities attempting or obtaining bankruptcy protection across the nation.  As I said before, all of these bankrupcies are within the last few years.  It is a trend, a very dangerous trend.

People often casually talk about politics but what many people don't see is the dire seriousness of bad decisions and/or "lack of good decisions" made by our politicians that have the potential to affect over 300 million Americans in either a positive, a negative or even potentially catastrophic  way. Our politicians MUST get very serious about the direction of this country. The rising national debt HAS to be reversed.  We need JOBS and we need people off of government programs. There must be JOBS before people can successfully get off. Jobs and creating an environment conductive to allowing businesses to succeed instead of creating programs to stagnate or keep businesses from expanding and creating jobs. Propaganda pushed by political campaigns against businesses that create jobs is bad. Big government programs that do not generate private sector tax income is bad.


If it is true that 47% of the citizens in the U.S. are not making it on their own, and if it's true that 40% of every tax dollar that comes in goes to pay our national debt and only 60% goes towards everything else, then we are in serious trouble. If it is true that the majority of baby boomers have retired and are pulling from the system while at the same time, far less people are working and paying taxes in the private sector to pay for those retirement checks, then we are in serious trouble.


But all in all, you need to understand very clearly that my views have nothing to do with what color the candidates are, or what they look like, or what religion they are. It doesn’t even have anything to do with how well they speak.  I could care less about who they sleep with or who they don’t sleep with.  My thoughts have to do with the images I get when I see people that appear to be eating well now and are moderately happy, and I wonder what they will look like in the future if their check quits coming in because our nation has defaulted and cannot pay its bills.


My heart goes out to the hungry, the homeless, the starving; the people who have lost and will lose their homes. It goes out to the future "Rex Walls" of the United States who will not be able to pay their bills or buy groceries for their families.  I get quite pissed when I see those images. I only wish our politicians were as pissed off when they see those images also, but it appears they are only concerned with themselves.  Get it together people and hold our representatives responsible for their actions and/or inaction or the pain of hundred of millions of Americans could fall on your shoulders.


Don't buy into this nonsense some would tell you that "the lesser of two evils is still evil,  so do not get out vote".  The next time someone tells you that lame excuse for them not voting, ask them if they'd "rather be burned by a match or thrown into a hell fire inferno?".  There is simply NO excuse to not vote in ANY election.  To not vote because your candidate did not make the cut and is too arrogant to endorse anyone except himself , is irresponsible.  To vote for a candidate simply because he is white, black or yellow is also irresponsible.  A candidate that would have you sidestep your responsibilty to vote in any election is selfish and arrogant; neither good traits of a worthy leader.  I learned how to cut through propaganda and lies years ago and it is time for all of us to hold ALL candidates responsible for false propaganda, even if they do pretend to be supporting liberty and the constitution.


I urge you, before you get out and vote, get passionate about learning about the national debt, the recent bankruptcies, what's going on with failing governments around the world (particularly the European Union) and why they are failing, and after you've learned everything you can learn, remember that money does not grow on trees as some people might think and that the chicken came before the egg... I meant to say, businesses MUST exist before employees and more than that WE CANNOT COMPETE WITH CHINESE PEOPLE MAKING $2.5 PER HOUR AND EXPECT OUR FACTORIES TO STAY ALIVE AND WELL IN THIS OVERLY REGULATED FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE BUEROCRACY.


It's time to get serious about good financial stewardship and policies in our nation before it's too late.  If we EVER get to the point in this nation that the "checks quit coming", then you might just become a big fan of the National Rifle Association, at least in principle, because you'll need a gun to keep your hungry neighbors from stealing all the food from your pantry.  All of this talk about sharing the wealth is fine and dandy until you and your children are hungry and armed thieves try to steal the last little bit of food from your freezer.

People will do almost anything for food if they are hungry enough; even bow down to tyranny.  So much for freedom and liberty.  Get it together and hold ALL of them accountable!

P.S.  I find it interesting that there have been 42 views since last night here in the U.S. and 5 views from Germany which is the only "strong" economy left in the European Union because of it's strong private sector and industry base and the other views were all from the two countries having serious problems right now in the EU and they are Greece and Ireland.  If you want to see the into the future of socialism google those two countries and do some research on socialism in those countries, how long they've been geared that way and also what their current economic situation is like.

The Cause of the American - European Crisis

I will try to keep this as short and sweet as possible. The cause of the crisis is simple, and if you really think about my theory, you should also understand that it's really just a matter of common sense, and you’ll ask yourself why our politicians are not talking about it publically and also why this has been going on for so many years and no one has tackled the problem.

The simple version of the American - European Crisis is that American and European private sector factories have been closing down for years and consequently private sector tax paying jobs have been and are being lost in the process. Simultaneously there has been an expansion of government programs and jobs that are replacing the lost private sector jobs. One reason this truth has been hidden for years is because the true unemployment numbers have been hidden due to government jobs being silently filled over time by the private sector jobs that were lost. There is a transfer of wealth from the United States and the Europeans directly to China. Their private sector "taxpaying" jobs are building up while the private sector here in the United States and also in Europe is in decline. Consequently, the strength of China's economy is directly supported by the United States and Europe. Their incomes and way of life are improving and our incomes and way of life are declining.

An analogy for transferring wealth between countries is as simple as two people exchanging money. It's easy to understand that if I give you $100, then you have $100 more and I have $100 less than I did before the transaction. Now consider that analogy on an international level. Every product that you buy that is made in China (or any other country who's labor prices are far less than the United States or Europe) represents a factory and jobs in that particular country. Let me repeat that statement because it is very important that you understand it. EVERY product that you purchase off the shelf here in the United States or in Europe that is made in China (or any other country who's labor prices are far less than ours) represents a factory with employees in THAT particularly country (not our country). When you purchase that product, your money (at least a good portion of it) goes to that country and is "directly" supporting the growth of industry and tax paying jobs in that country instead of your own. I keep mentioning "tax paying jobs" which is important because every "taxpaying job" that is lost in our country means less money going into the U.S. Treasury and also less money going into the Social Security Trust Fund. It's also important to understand that as government programs and jobs are increasing in numbers at the same time the private sector tax base is in decline, it makes the national deficit grow at an increasing rate. It's also just as important to understand that at the same time the private sector tax base is decreasing, and at a time when President Obama decreased the social security tax a year or so back by 2% and at a time when a great number of the baby boomers are retiring. At the same time the baby boomers are retiring, many of their jobs aren't being replaced which means less people are paying which further covers up the "true unemployment numbers" of the private job sector size decreasing. In other words, their private sector jobs WILL NOT be replaced as the private sector continues its downward spiral.  Also, maybe you've noticed a great swell in fast food restaurants and casino's over the years and a great push politically for casinos, bingo halls, etc.  Yes, these are yet more jobs that replace "product" type factory jobs.  These jobs are more consumer "luxury" type positions and when things get really tight, many of these jobs will disappear as well, as people will not have money to gamble or eat out as much, but they do somewhat temporarily "fill the void" because even though they are not high paying positions, they at least contribute somewhat to the U.S. Treasury in the form of taxes.  The truth is, politicians need the unemployment numbers to remain low, so look for more "creative" job positions to surface as the struggle to keep people working continues.

So the dynamics that are helping create the slow and painful death of our factories and consequently our taxpaying jobs in the United States and the European countries is directly connected to the cheaper labor from other countries which create unfair competition. It's very important that you understand this, because it's killing our economies. The strength of our country lies in the private sector, NOT government jobs, because it's the taxes that are paid by private sector factories, industries and private businesses that pay 100% of every government salary that is in existence. This includes our politicians and our military. Sales tax on products and fuel tax are the only taxes I can think of that do not necessarily apply to that statement, but most sales taxes are localized in the communities they are collected and fuel taxes do go towards maintaining our public roads which is a very small portion of our government.

There is also a wealth of misinformation distributed through different outlets, but this hidden truth has not been discussed in an outright and honest fashion. The very fact that it has been covered up and not addressed for many years either leads us to believe that there is much ignorance, apathy and/or incompetence in our federal government or there is something else going on that lends towards some of the conspiracy "one world government" theories. For the life of me, I can't imagine that degree of ignorance coming out of the best and the brightest our political arena has to offer, which makes me consider some of the conspiracy theories about the new world order and also ask myself how many of our presidential administrations had such big ambitions in the world wide political arena that they basically defecated on our countries best interests in order to "balance out the world economy" and gain international political favors.

Because in the world arena, wealth is just like pouring water from one glass into another, the liquid in the one decreases and the liquid in the other glass increases and at some point, they will even out and in theory that is all labor costs balance out (with our wages being lowered and China's being increased) and we will be able to start supplying products to China, India and the other countries, but what was the cost to get us to that point and who will be the victor when we get there? Also, there are dire consequences and serious defects in the theory that this will be just as good for us as it is China.

The best example I can give is the textile industry. If you have two similar quality t-shirts and put them on a rack at a store for sale, we can quickly surmise that the cheapest shirt will in all probability sell first. If one of those shirts sell for $15 and it is made in the United States (or Europe) and the other shirt sells for $8 and it is made in China (or India) then we see that the $15 shirt represents a factory which represents American (or European) jobs and the $8 shirt represents a factory which represents Chinese (or Indian) jobs. Here lies our problem and is proof of this transfer of wealth and jobs that I am speaking of: Unfair competition is causing a major transfer of wealth and power, the proof lies in common sense and discerning what is true and what is just misinformation coming from the powers that be. Common sense tells us that the majority of people will buy the cheaper shirt and common sense also tells us that the other company that creates the more expensive shirt will struggle to stay in business. We have to compete, but how can we compete with the $8 shirt? We either have to automate and lay off excess workers, pay cheaper wages to the workers we have which lowers the standard of living and lowers the taxes our government receives, or we have to lay off most of our employees and subcontract to the Chinese factory, purchasing t-shirts from them at bulk pricing and still put our "made in America" logo on them.

Some will argue with you that trading with China is fair and that there is a huge market in China, a country that has more than four times the population that we have, but again, common sense rules the day and pushes all of that nonsense to the side. The fact remains, if Americans and Europeans can’t afford to purchase products made in America or Europe, but buy Chinese products instead, you can bet that the lower salaried Chinese people are NOT buying the higher priced American and European made products. Keep in mind that they were more expensive to begin with before shipping charges and you can bet that the Chinese media is not encouraging people to “buy American”.

Many people have noticed the middle class shrinking and believe it's because the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, but I say it's because almost every American (and European) salary has been gradually going through a "shrinking stage" for quite a few years now. If you do not believe me what I am saying, then maybe you can check on the history of the standard of living and wage increases in China and compare it to your country. China's salaries and minimum wage have been increasing and because of the law of supply and demand, factories are prospering and the population of China is increasing at a faster rate than here in the United States, and that is true even though China has very strict "one child policy" per family.

So there you have it. Private sector jobs is what pays taxes and produce results and government jobs, even though they do pay taxes, they still create a net "tax loss" because the taxes they pay do not even pay their own salaries, much less pay for the building space they are in, the insurance and benefits they receive, or in some cases, the car that they drive.

This did not happen overnight. It has been happening for years. Do not believe the misinformation that is handed out to us that this one world economy is a good thing because it is lowering our standard of living while increasing the standard of living for the other countries. That is good for them, but not us. We are accustomed to a certain standard of living. Our main streets are congested with restaurants, we love football, we love all these things, but our politicians have sold us out. Only when our salaries can compete with the Chinese will factories balance out and trading is fair, but what have we gained in the process? What have we lost? The idea that things will be great when that occurs and that we can all live in a world full of harmony working together ideally sounds quite delicious, but in reality it is impossible. Politicians will not easily delete all of those extra government jobs and programs that were added as our factories closed down because of the public outrage. EPA helped put extra strains and regulations on the very factories that closed down because they already could not compete with China, so one analogy is that those factory workers went to work for EPA, FDA, and Homeland Security etc. Quite simply, our private sector tax base is shrinking at an expanding rate, and but government jobs, salaries and buildings that require upkeep are not, therefore the national debt will continue to grow out of hand because no politicians are willing to put their necks on the lines and give us the tough love this country needs so they will continue to expand and spend the little money that remains until there is no choice but to raise our taxes so high that most will not be able to make it. We will have to sacrifice some things and it's going to hurt. There will be chaos.

This is not mainstream press, but if the public ever really wakes, our politicians who have known these things for many years will finally have to confess this truth, or at a minimum "pretend" to send harsh words to China. Political posturing and exaggerated words will not fix the problem however, although creative speech may get someone elected, we are getting to the point that China will not easily accept the changes that are required to be made because in order for our factories to rebuild, many of their factories must close down. Also, creating an atmosphere here to rebuild American factories, whether we add extra taxes on imported goods or decrease regulations on American factories so that we can compete with unfair competitors is a good start, but imagine how many years it will take to slowly rebuild the private sector so that the $8 t-shirt is the same price as the American $15 t-shirt. The other major problem in turning this pattern around is that as we have been buying those $8 t-shirts, our salaries have been decreasing to the point where we can no longer afford the $15 t-shirt and fuel prices have been up since 2008 robbing so many people of their extra available income. China will not be happy about it, and diplomatically there will be some sharp dialog from them towards us, so very strong leadership is required to get our country moving in the right direction again and I'll admit, I see the problem, but I do not see an easy solution. We can only hope, but I am worried that the most important truth of the century will be lost and the struggle will get much worse and I am not looking forward to the chaos that will come.

You might consider that one day, there will be a lot more people protesting in this country and Europe than the current occupy movement, but if they don't wise up, they still won't really understand what got them to the point of why they wanted to protest to begin with. You see, it's the private sector that truthfully runs the economy, not the banks. The banks, rich investors and corrupt politicians are just the gnats sucking blood from the wounds. The wounds are a failing private sector and consequently a diminishing economy.  The national debt is swelling government and a dwindling tax base.

Matthew 12:25 (NIV)
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

Transfer Funds and Power Straight to China

The have nots are always so eager to take from the haves, at least many times this is the case.  People call it a "transfer of wealth".  It's only when we see this transfer of wealth and power happening between our country and another country that we recognize that "transfer of wealth" might not be all that highly rated.

How is it that China is growing stronger, more powerful, wealthier and more politically active in the world and the United States and Europe appears to be in decline?  Is it unpatriotic to say that.  No, it's unpatriotic to notice it and not try to stop it.

If you've ever put a dead battery into a flashlight with a new battery in the hopes that your flashlight will work as if two good batteries are inside, you will be quick to discover that the dead battery actually pulls the good battery down to it's level very quickly and then you you have is a dead battery.

So, what will it be like when things get tough within a nation (s) that is used to being spoiled, fast food eateries, plenty of gas money for sunday drives, vacations etc... ? Not a good picture.

A transfer of wealth, industry, money and political power is being transferred from us (the U.S.) to them (China) and that's not a good thing for us, and not good for democracy and freedom.  It's a very sad day when someone sells out to the enemy.  The trade agreements with China are just that.  The NAFTA with Mexico is different.  They won't get too much out of line if we get in a disagreement with them (Mexico), but China, human rights violations, communist government, state run media, arrest you on suspicion and lock you up without a trial China?

To think that a China man in a communist country that's dominated by highly scrutinized government ran media is going to buy an American made t-shirt when we are getting to the point that we can't even afford an American made t-shirt is beyond believable.  Why would he/she?  We don't even buy them.  Does Walmart even sell American made clothes anymore?  I haven't seen any in a while.

My argument is this?  If there is a $10 t-shirt that's made in China and a $15 dollar t-shirt on the rack at Walmart that's made in the U.S.A. what will the majority of people buy?  Ok, the $10 shirt.  So, let's think about this transfer of wealth theory of mine for a minute.  The factory in the U.S. that makes the $15 t-shirt has got to compete with the cheaper Chinese t-shirt so in order for that factory not to complete shut down (laying off every worker in the process) they must do one of two things: 1) hire cheaper workers or 2) buy a machine that makes the t-shirts instead of having so many employees.  What I am saying doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand, just some common sense.  China's workforce is poor but we've opened a huge market for them.  They have saturated our markets with their "cheaper" goods.  Now while this has allowed them to actually open up more factories, and even pay their people better wages, at the same time, just like the dead battery analogy I mentioned earlier, our wages on average, have to drop.

So, China is opening up factories as well as some of the other "poor" countries such as India and Mexico.  Our wages have to decrease for our factories to stay open and at the same time, their salaries increase.  Make sense?  The other thing that is screwed up about the trade agreements is that many businesses and factories are now "outsourcing" goods that they used to make "in-house" to other countries and having those goods imported in cheaper than they can make it here in the states.   Again, that equates to more people working in other countries and less in our own.  The debate they tell us to justify the world trade agreements is that the Chinese and the Mexicans will buy our goods therefore all of this will balance out.  Seriously, how brainwashed are we?  Propaganda, people still believe that everything you hear must be true as if it was written in stone, but it's not.  Do you really think a Mexican in Mexico is going to buy many of the things we make here?  Do you know how poor 95% of mexico is?  Does anyone really think that more than 1% of the Chinese are going to buy our products when we can't even sell them cheaper within our own borders, must less come anywhere close to competing with Chinese goods in China after shipping them there.

Are we so stupid?

I love to hear Bill Gates stand up with politicians and talk about giving up his wealth, and paying more taxes, not that I don't think that he doesn't pay more taxes, but the hypocracy of his statement just kills me.  Why?  Because if he cared so much about our country and was so willing to give up half of his income to pay taxes then why in the heck doesn't he at least hire Americans there at Microsoft.  Now I know he has some, but why is it that when you call MS tech support you can't even understand the person because you're speaking with someone from India or some other slave labor country because Corporate America Bill is trying to make a few extra billion while sacrificing American Jobs?

I am patriotic, very much so, and I am so tired of seeing our factories closing down and people being unemployed and on welfare when this whole fair trade thing could be balanced out better and we start opening back those American factories again and making them competitive without the average employee working for peanuts.

The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to straighten it out.  I am a contractor and I haven't seen a toilet made in America in  years.  All the toilet manufacturers are importing the toilets from Mexico.  Most textiles come from China and other slave labor countries.  The only clothing factory here in Selma is one that has a military contract.  Wouldn't it be nice if there wasn't such a big divide with China and we could open up a couple of large clothing factories here in Dallas County and put some people here to work so that they can start paying taxes too?

Oh, and speaking of another perk of the world trade agreements as they are?  They are the biggest contributors to world wide pollution and global warming (if there is such a thing) that exist.  Why?  Because the United States puts more control over their pollution and more agencies to monitor pollution than about any other country in the world, therefore if the world trade agreements are creating industries in China, Mexico, India and others who  have far less standards (if any) then the damage to the environment is increasing exponentially.

And lastly, we are so desperate for money and to strengthen our economy that we are selling out to the devil (China).  We say "I hope China invests here and gives us some money".  Let me tell you, I don't want to have to answer to China, and I don't want a communist government to hold my mortgage.  If you've ever seen the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" then you understand why George Wilson did not sell out to old man Potter.  If you remember, if George had not have been there, old man Potter would have owned Bedford Falls and life there would have been drastically different (for the bad) under Potters "rule".  Potter was definitely the evil character in the movie and China buying our debt and while we give them the money (through the World Trade Agreements), they buy more of our debt and grow stronger in power, monetarily, militarily and politically.  Don't forget that it was China, followed by Russia that wanted the world to "drop" the U.S. Dollar as the worlds staple currency back at the end of 2008, a move that would have crippled us politically world wide.  This was very obvious a move to throw us under the bus and I am very surprised that the media didn't harp on it more, even now.  I suppose it's a matter of national security and the government doesn't want us to panic?  What ever the case, I was taught to stay away from tigers, especially if they try to eat you, but miss.  They will come back later when the time is right.

There's so much more I'd love to say, but I'll leave it at that for now...

Delete Taxes - Thinking Outside of the Box

The title says it all. Actually it doesn't so let's go on. Why do we have taxes any way? The dollar has not been connected to either gold or silver for many years.

This concept may be considered a bit extreme to some, but let's just think outside of the box for a minute. People, just like animals, are creatures of habit and many times we just go with the flow and walk down the same path that our ancestors have walked down previous to us. The majority of people, after all, are followers, and with such a complicated issue such as taxes (getting even more complicated every year) then surely generations of politicians prior to our "information age" existence must be right, right?

Why?

Let's explore that question; the question why? There may be a slight transition to deleting all taxes completely, but why wouldn't it be possible? It's not like it's attached to gold any more, or jewels or pewter or the things of the past that men and women considered gems, diamonds etc.Listen, when taxes were created, there was no paper money, it was all silver or gold, period. In France, Great Britain, Rome, in all of these countries tax collectors went around collecting silver and gold from the people, and sometimes food as well, you know, tangible things they could put in the kings coffers and build up wealth.

When countries went to war with other countries, they pillaged the villages for what? Not paper money, but gold, silver, jewels and food. They didn't rebuild those cities they pillaged. They kept the wealth for themselves and for their country. Selfish right?

Now that gold, silver, jewels and food are no longer collected as taxes (get where I am going?) to fill up the kings coffers as was done in thousands of years past, why are they still collecting taxes when it is only paper, and many times just an electronic transfer of, you guessed it, nothing. I say nothing because the government prints money on a regular basis anyway, and I'm sure there is some accountability there, although I've often read that the Federal Reserve has never been audited before (whether this is true, I have no clue). So what's the point anyway?

Why can't the government audit every city, state and county as to what their revenue intake has been traditionally and connect that to their infrastructure and population in a fair and reasonable fashion, then print up a year's worth of money and just transfer it into their bank accounts on a monthly basis so that they can meet their obligations, payroll and day to day expenses. If some cities are out of proportion with other cities for how much money is collected per each individual, just find some way to average it out over a period of say ten years. The government "must" allow for this information to be public so as to earn the trust of the people and other city and state governments. This could be accomplished by listing every city, county and state that receives money from the federal government showing exactly how much money they were given compared to their number of employees and their census population. Every year if special needs come up from some of the cities needing additional revenue, then have them write a grant to the federal government.

Everyone will have more money in their pockets and this should stimulate the economy right? Some might argue that this artificial surplus would create inflation, but all of the artificial printing hasn't seemed to do it yet has it? This transition could be accomplished over the course of several years so we could do as the Federal Reserve calls it, a "quantitative easing".

Again, let me repeat that taxes throughout history were gold and silver that actually went into the governments vaults and that they spoils of war were actually spoils of war that went in the conquering government's vaults and since none of this is any longer the case, it could be said that taxes are really just an outdated method of collecting nothing, and therefore does not serve its original purpose anymore.

Deleting them entirely could raise people's spirits, even out the playing field, uncomplicate people's lives and make it easier for all businesses to streamline their production and focus on their products instead of so much red tape. The IRS could probably be downsized considerably, transitioning them into new jobs in the private sector. Accountants currently in existence can help moderate the transition by auditing the IRS and making sure that all cities received proportional amounts of money and to insure that corruption did not take over the system by allowing "certain" cities to receive extra payouts. All figures allotted each city, county and state government monetary figures should be published for the public’s consumption with a easily understood summary of why some cities receive slightly more funds than others as well as how much money in grants they received and for what. 

Roads and streets could still at least "partially" be funded by fuel taxes, although the fuel taxes could be lowered and eventually deleted over the course of several years as the system "evens" out.

I am just thinking outside of the box. I just think this idea could be explored. It is a concept that would be hard for most people to wrap their minds around because there have always been taxes, but life is complicated enough and the tax codes are just so complicated. Doing this could allow us to spread our wings and focus on the more important things of life. I realize that one of the complications may be how this would affect the world markets, and to be honest, I do not know what percentage of taxes other countries pay out, but the concept could be a global concept as long as the entire world is not connected to precious metals with their currency any longer.