Americans to the Rescue

Americans are increasingly losing faith in the ability of our nation’s institutions to address our economic challenges. High levels of unemployment, declining housing values with rising rates of foreclosures, increasing levels of poverty and a decline in families’ real income define today's economy. All this uncertainty has resulted in many Americans strongly believing that our nation is in serious decline.

Fueling the uncertainty to a great degree is the continuing political impasse in Washington. We have a President and Congress deeply divided by party lines seemingly unwilling to compromise in order to address the current economic crisis. At this time, America seems destined to follow in the footsteps of Europe leading to economic ruin and resulting in a permanent lowering of our standard of living. With the necessity of immediate action so evident, why is there such a lack of leadership in Washington?

Adding to the current environment of discontent, is the perception by many Americans that several distinct groups have granted themselves economic immunity through special privileges and access to power in order to shelter themselves from the worst effects of the downturn. Americans have traditionally believed our nation offers opportunity for ambitious individuals and economic success was open to the majority of citizens that apply themselves in positive and proper ways. These traditional notions are being challenged by today's headlines revealing a seemingly corrupt and rigged system whereby well-connected political insiders have special access to economic success. This is the rise of crony capitalism and it is evident for all to see.

While Washington's influence regarding economic matters has always played a key role in our country, the model was more decentralized in the past. In the past, economic decision-making was defused across the country and more prominently residing in the hands of the private sector. The private sector traditionally played the primary role in the allocation of our economic resources resulting throughout our history in a rising standard of living for all Americans.

The private sector’s major strength is that it promotes an environment of competition. Great wealth is created by a free market system bolstered by competition and enhanced by freedom so that individuals can take maximum advantage of opportunities that may arise. A free market system is characterized by flexibility and efficient allocation of vital economic resources driven by the profit motive. The public sector economic model is ruled by the concept of social justice and dominated by Big Government resulting in an economy that limits flexibility, innovation and individual initiative. What is created is a society with limited opportunities available to the average citizen and an overall lower standard of living for all those without “inside” political connections.

The Public Sector on both the Federal as well as State and Local levels have increased their control of power over the economy exponentially through the influence of ever increasing taxation, spending and regulation. With government so extraordinarily intertwined in American’s economic and daily lives, political influence plays a key role in determining our nation’s economic winners and losers.

Due to the poor economic environment, many individual Americans have had to make significant financial cutbacks in their lives. The motivation for making these changes is driven by absolute necessity due to the declining personal financial circumstances of many people. The recent failure of the Congressional Super Committee to agree on any degree of economic reform is the latest of many recent failures of our elected representatives to take significant and meaningful action regarding the economic crisis.

Many reasons can be offered as explanations for these failures to decisively act. An important explanation that cannot be overlooked is that the majority of our elected officials are positioned literally as insiders. The motivation by our political leaders to act more decisively to agree to solutions for our nation’s economic challenges is tempered by the fact that our elected officials are themselves generally suffering limited personal financial consequences in our current challenging economic environment.

As compared to the average American they are representing, our elected politicians are much wealthier, are better paid, have access to better healthcare benefits, enjoy a more generous pension and retirement plan. All of the benefits listed are all paid for by the American taxpayers. More importantly, these same elected representatives work directly with Interest Groups and can enact policies that are often beneficial to their own personal careers and personal financial fortunes. In addition due to the power of incumbency after election to office, they often enjoy a level of job security that would be the envy of most Americans.

Enjoying an extraordinary lifestyle, it is no wonder our elected representatives consistently fail to demonstrate the courage and determination necessary to provide leadership regarding solutions to fixing the economy. Our public officials have personal access to too much money and privileges – causing consistent failure to act on the tough issues. Maintenance of the economic status quo while unacceptable to the average American is acceptable to the majority of our representatives. The reason for this is that they create for themselves ever greater access to personal fortune by consistently increasing their power by expanding the size and influence of government.

Running for political office is a very expensive endeavor. Members of the House face reelection every two years and Senators face reelection every six years. Millions of dollars are necessary to run for election and reelection and this money for campaigns must be raised on a continual basis. With the Federal Government playing an ever more prominent role in almost every major issue of the day, therefore influencing the outcome of legislation and regulation is crucial to protecting a whole host of numerous organized interest groups. A mutually dependent relationship has developed linking elected public officials and lobbyists. This ongoing conflict of interest and level of codependency is a major contributor to the failure of the system to uphold the interests of the electorate versus the interest of these groups. These Interest Groups are sources of crucial funds required for these elected representatives to run their increasingly expensive and numerous election campaigns.

The most effective solution for addressing our economic challenges starts with electing to office representatives truly committed to downsizing the size and scope of Big Government. Replacement through the electoral process of current elected officials committed to the maintenance of the status quo is crucial and fundamental.

The challenge is to establish an alternative and independent power base outside the current system able to elect candidates dedicated to imposing fiscal responsibility upon government. The rapid rise of the Tea Party movement since 2009 and its great influence on the Congressional elections of 2010 is a powerful example of what needs to be done.

The Tea Party’s decentralized structure and grassroots foundation provide a large advantage in raising funds to support candidates to run for office. The majority of funds for the support of candidates can come from a large number of individuals each contributing modest amounts. Tea Party contributors are motivated to support candidates that are dedicated to the much needed proposition of limited government through reduced government spending, lower taxation, reduction of national debt and the Federal deficit.

Citizens still have the power in this country - the key is to exercise it. The issue of greater citizen participation in the political process goes beyond merely voting. The rapid growth of the Tea Party movement is a current example of proactive direct citizen action. More importantly, it reflects a significant discontent among mainly middle class citizens across the country. Tea Party members represent the full spectrum of Republican, Independent and moderate Democratic voters. They aim to reclaim government from the established elites, the insiders and to change the status quo. It is truly a grass-roots effort dominated by local organizations interconnected by the New Media.

Their efforts will lead to a Government more reflective of middle class or Conservative views and most importantly break the monopoly of current politicians mired in a system dedicated to increasing their own power by growing the influence of Big Government. The Tea Party’s ultimate objective is to reclaim a level of greater freedom for each American to act as responsible citizens and expand the role of private institutions and decrease the role of Big Government. These actions will create a better future for all of us. We need the power of individual Americans not the American Government to come to our rescue.

Destroying the Great American Dream Machine: How Obamanomics have permanently hurt small business in America with lethal consequences for our future.

Traveling around Manhattan, I witnessed the activities of two distinct crowds of people. Formerly located on the lower tip of Manhattan in the Financial District diagonal to the former World Trade Center site is Zuccotti Park, the original camping ground of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. 

A dramatically contrasting crowd can still be found only a short subway ride away but a world apart at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in the center of Midtown Manhattan. Each day, the gathering crowd is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to purchase the new iPhone 4S. Individuals line up in an orderly fashion to take home Apple’s latest highly popular new product. Once again with the recent introduction of this new iPhone, Apple demonstrates it remains highly connected with the pulse of its loyal customers.

By the third quarter of this year, Apple grew to become the world's largest publicly traded company. Steve Jobs founded Apple with partner Steve Wozniak in 1976. The story of Apple's success is well documented. It has grown to employ 50,000 workers producing an impressive number of innovative and productive products that have literally changed the world. Steve Jobs is but one example of an American entrepreneur empowered by the freedom provided by our free enterprise economic system that started as a small business that has grown over time to a story that has become part of business legend. Great ideas and a passion for success combined in the capable hands of a great entrepreneur such as a Steve Jobs illustrates the Great American Dream Machine in action.

Steve Jobs revolutionized the world and created a lasting legacy with Apple and Pixar that enabled him to enter the realm of the top 1%. Do the majority of Americans believe that he did make enough of a contribution to society to justify his amassing a net worth according to Forbes Magazine of $7 billion?  Along the way he paid more than his fair share in taxes.

George Soros worth $22 billion according to Forbes, Russell Simmons worth $325 million, Kanye West worth $70 million, Michael Moore worth $50 million, Susan Sarandon worth $50 million, Nancy Pelosi worth $35 million and Al Sharpton worth $5 million are all part of the same top 1%. In addition to being part of the top 1%, all these people are all active supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Did all these people make their incredible fortunes sleeping in a park?

We look like we are at a point where the American people are increasingly losing faith in the ability of nation’s institutions to address our economic challenges. The “cover” message delivered in multiple forms by the participant groups of the Occupy Wall Street Movement sit-in(s) is that wealth should be distributed from people like the late Steve Jobs and the rest of the top 1% to them and other like-minded people. The “takers” are intentionally creating chaos when our nation is economically vulnerable in order to bring forth much more ambitious goals.

While the “cover” message is the desire for a redistribution of wealth, the fundamental intent of this movement goes well beyond this goal. The various left-wing extremists groups that have organized the Occupy Wall Street movement’s real intent is to implement fundamental change in our society to create a new world order based on their concepts of social and economic justice. In other words, they want to collapse our Capitalistic System and replace it with something else. The something else is unfortunately some variant of a failed experiment in communism that did not work in the former Soviet Union, China, Cuba and Eastern Europe. Implemented in a milder socialistic form, the collapsing mixed economies of Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland provide even further overwhelming evidence of the failures of societies dominated by the power of Big Government.

The unions and left-wing groups that are behind Occupy Wall Street ignore reason and evidence because fundamentally they aim not to provide viable economic solutions rather for them this is a fight to gain more power. If you want to know what's wrong with America, Occupy Wall Street participants are eager to inform you with numerous grievances. If you want to know what is right with America you are greeted with silence. The American flag is displayed with disdain. Their strategy is to create chaos through the occupation movement with the intent to escalate the fight through increased violence. The increased mayhem and violence created by the “Occupiers” in many cities have finally resulted in the removal of their presence in several of these locations.

The mainstream media speculates about how the movement can fight for its courses through the political system. This is farcical and a misinterpretation of the primary objectives of this movement. Where Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro and Chavez have failed, George Soros, Van Jones, Bill Ayers, Maude Hurd, Stephen Lerner, Richard Trumka are fighting to take control. These new totalitarians through their various organizations wish to anoint themselves the new controlling elite to seize power in order to replace our great American Republican experiment in government with a new Social Democracy.

On the opposite and of the political spectrum, working within the system to reform it in a constructive fashion and through legal means and the ballot box is the Tea Party movement. The Tea Party Movement has come to the logical conclusion that if Big Government is not working - let's have less of it.

The mainstream media has examined and reported on both movements. Predictably, they have actively distorted the Tea Party’s message in a negative fashion and have worked overtime to diminish their influence and their record of achievement. The great influence of the Tea Party can be gauged by the vehemence of the usual scripted name-calling tactics used by the Left and the majority of the mainstream media to criticize this powerful and influential conservative movement.

The Occupy Wall Street movement earns 24/7 coverage their message is distorted in a way to present a positive story and its influence upon the American people is a greatly exaggerated. With a little effort, it is easy to determine the obvious differences between these groups.

  Policy                                     The Tea Party             Occupy Wall Street       

Economic Policy	Free Market Capitalism-Grow wealth to increase prosperity and opportunity for all. Winners and losers result.	Forcefully distribute wealth from the most productive members of society. Level (lower) the playing field for all except a small powerful elite.
Political Method	Power flows up from citizens  through the ballot box. The rule of law prevails and The Constitution is revered. The Founding Fathers are heroes.	An elite rule in the “name” of the people. The law is relative and subjugated to social policy. The force of raw power is most important. George Soros and Saul Alinsky are heroes.
Change Agent	Reform and downsize the size and scope of Government – decrease regulation and have power flow back to the people.	Bigger Government
Favorite Revolutions	American	French and Russian
Favorite size enterprise and best occupation	Small Business – entrepreneur	The Federal Government-Regulator
Favorite Country	USA	“Palestine”
Least Favorite Country	Iran	Israel and USA
Social Philosophy	Unify – emphasize what we have in common as Americans	Divide – Identity politics via Group, Race and Class

Tea Party members are also active in their movement. The difference in approach is that they need to go home at night to tend to their lives filled with duties and responsibilities involving family, jobs and community.

Entrepreneurs through the creation and nurturing of the growth of small businesses have been responsible for the majority of new job growth in America. Many commentators have correctly asserted that the Occupy Wall Street movement should be centered outside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Obamanomics and the passage of ObamaCare are the primary causes of diminished  job creation by small businesses in this country.

Blaming Wall Street as the primary cause of our current economic malaise is once again a diversion. While the Occupy Wall Street movement is disappointed by President Obama because he has not moved far enough left in their estimation, he still is a major ally of the groups leading this movement. President Obama and many elected Democratic Politicians are in philosophical agreement with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The Tea Party has attracted many small business owners as members. They tend to be aligned with the overall Tea Party objectives of smaller government, lower taxes, and repeal of Obamacare and less regulation of business. While big business has the resources to alleviate some of the worst excesses of the anti-business policies of Obamanomics - small business have suffered out of proportion from the excesses of Big Government much like the middle class in America.

The American Dream Machine has been made possible by the existence of our free enterprise system. Throughout our history, entrepreneurs help create through their talents, hard work, imagination and innovative ways a society with the greatest standard of living in history. Millions of small business owners are working every day under increasingly adverse conditions to invent our future.

The Obama administration has failed America on many levels. The most damaging long-term legacy course caused by its anti-business policies is the diminishing of opportunities for the small business owner and entrepreneurs to play their vital role in our society to create long term wealth and new jobs.

The Tea Party connects with the promise of America by advocating the return to a truly free enterprise system that promises to create more wealth and jobs to benefit everyone. The new economy is increasingly based on services, technology and innovation. There is no lack of opportunity to generate additional economic growth because there is no lack in the imagination and motivation of human beings to create it. Occupy Wall Street's obsession with advocating wealth redistribution is based on a false premise of limited future economic growth potential. Unfortunately, Obama’s economic policies are in concert with Occupy Wall Street’s Socialist objectives.

The American people in November 2012 will have the final say regarding which vision of America will prevail. Will America’s future allow a Steve Jobs, Jeff  Bezos (Amazon), Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Google), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) to succeed and create new enterprises that employ hundreds of thousands of people and have a profound positive impact on society or is the era of the great American Dream Machine over forever?

Is the Democratic Party capable of improving America’s current economic conditions?

Two contrasting visions of how to manage the economy will be competing for our votes in November of 2012.  America’s number one priority is to devise and implement effective solutions to create more jobs and turn around our economy.

In ancient times through the 17^th Century, Alchemists claimed the ability to magically turn common metals into Gold or Silver.  In the early 21^st century, America’s President Obama strongly aided by the ruling Democratic majority in Congress magically claimed that the passage of the $800 Billion Stimulus package and the implementation of traditional Liberal/Progressive economic policies would create a turn around that would lead to lower unemployment and an improving economy.

Given the ongoing negative headlines regarding the continued failure of Obamanomics, trust in any significant positive outcomes deriving from Keynesian inspired Democratic economic theory seems as equally absurd as believing in the powers of Alchemy.

One of the two following competing economic ideologies will best serve our country in the future.  The following is a brief overview of the main tenets of each of the two leading competing approaches to managing the economy:

  Obamanomics/Liberal:                         Reaganomics/Conservative:

Increase Government Spending	Reduce Growth of Government Spending
Increase Taxes	Reduce Income and Capital Gain Taxes
Increase Government Regulation	Reduce Government Regulation
The power of the organizations such as Unions predominate	The power of the individual predominates
Increase the money supply to lower interest rates	Control the money supply to reduce inflation
Government plays an expanded role in providing investments in the economy	Private Sector takes the primary responsibility to allocate Capital

Reagan’s policies in the 1980s created an economic triumph while Obama’s approach today is failing us miserably.  Even with the hard evidence since the passing of the Stimulus package and other similar measures of the failure in practice of Liberal Economic policies, it is unlikely that President Obama and the Congressional Democratic leadership will choose to change course.  They are ideologically incapable of offering alternative solutions to our economic challenges outside the realm of their traditional liberal thinking.

A long term continuation of current policies will mean a permanent lowering of American living standards.  Key segments of society such as the middle class and the poor are under attack on a daily basis. In Europe we have seen ugly scenes of civil unrest. In America, this summer has been touched with pockets of random violence and anti-social behavior. George Clooney, Warren Buffet, Jeffrey Immelt and the majority of the Main Stream Media may be happy with the current environment – many of them are wealthy enough to not be affected by the downturn, however, the rest of us are none too pleased.  Let’s show them what we think and feel in November of 2012, by voting to change our nation’s direction by choosing a new President with views similar to a leader that implemented solutions already tested as successful – former President Ronald Reagan.

Are we seeing the end of the Liberal Era in America?

Why Americans in 2012 will vote for a Conservative as President.

   

Left and Right are labels that designate the two contrasting and opposing Liberal-Progressive and Conservative political philosophies. The American political system operates like a pendulum that moves Left or Right adjusting to the results of the election outcomes for President and Congress.

The Progressive and Conservative operating philosophies line up on the opposite sides of the spectrum in the following ways:

Core Liberal-Progressive Values:                         Core Conservative Values:

Collective duties and responsibilities	Individual Freedoms and Personal Responsibility
Expansive Government	Limited Government
Federal Control by Washington D.C.	Local Control by State and Local Government
Secular Society – Man is supreme	Belief in a higher authority
Interpret the law according to the circumstance	Enforce and live by established standards
The law should change over time	Traditional, the law is more eternal by nature
The Minority rules	The Majority rules
Celebration of what makes us different	Celebration of what we have in common
Emotion and feelings dominate	Rationality and Reason dominate

                                               

On a Presidential Level, Democrats Wilson, FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Carter moved the political pendulum to the Left and Republicans Coolidge, Hoover, Eisenhower, Reagan moved the pendulum to the Right. Nixon was labeled a conservative who operated at times somewhat to the Left and Clinton a liberal who was forced to lean a small degree to the right for several pragmatic reasons.  George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush moved the pendulum to the right of center; however, many of their fiscal policies were not conservative in nature.  Teddy Roosevelt changed his political outlook from conservative to progressive as the years went along. He became a prominent pioneer of the Progressive movement. 

Every measure of current sentiment points to Americans feeling extremely uneasy about their government and their futures. In order to move forward and address the challenges that face us, it is important to have a clear understanding of the current situation. President Obama’s vision of America moves the political pendulum significantly to the left at an accelerating rate. More and more Americans are alarmed each day that the current Administration has implemented policies based on the liberal progressive agenda and they have failed us miserably. Americans are more cognizant that Liberalism in practice does not work.

The dramatic increase in Federal Government spending leading to record deficits, the passage of  Obama Care, increased Federal regulation of business, the lack of an energy policy that promotes self-sufficiency, failed Education policies and promotion of the grow of Union power all contribute to an economy that is suffering with no end in sight. Small business and Entrepreneurs are the drivers of job growth in this country. Their reluctance to hire and expand is caused by the increasingly uncertain environment created by current politics.

Beyond our own failures, many European countries on are also on display desperately fighting the economic catastrophes created by advanced Socialism. The burdens of Cradle to Grave Socialism have caught up in devastating ways to Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, the United Kingdom and lately France.

What do we do? The traditional answer has always been the best answer for America. Americans are faced with failure especially in economic matters due to the movement of the public policy pendulum too far Left. When the economy is dramatically suffering, we have a strong history of voting into office leaders that worked to regain a proper balance between the two competing core value systems.

From Hoover to FDR,

From Truman to Eisenhower,

From Carter to Reagan,

From George H.W. Bush to Clinton,

From George W. Bush to Obama,

From Obama to a Conservative.

2012 will be the year Americans vote to adjust the political pendulum back to the right.

 

How do we repair the American Economy?

Follow the Leaders to Prosperity

America’s dynamism is enabled by our economic prowess. Our traditional economic strength was made possible by the exercise of individual freedom in a predominately free market by a highly educated population. The major challenge faced today by America is to create jobs and spur economic growth.

It has always been true that the private sector has produced the majority of the wealth of this country. The major challenge facing America today is that the Progressive ideology practiced by President Obama and the modern Democratic Party focuses primarily on economic re-distribution rather than economic growth. When the Progressives do face the issue of economic growth, they base their approach on the assumption that the Government is primarily responsible for job creation rather than the private sector.

In the name of social justice, the government has played an ever increasing role redistributing wealth from the taxpayers to the designated disadvantaged at the expense of a dynamic and growing economy. President Obama’s economic policy includes such job killing measures such as more government control in health care, increased regulation of the energy sector and more environmental controls, the public sector takeover of the auto industry and Financial Reform legislation.

In addition, the promotion of labor union power increases at the expense of both the private and public sector has had dampening effects upon our economic health. The ever increasing power of the Democratic Party controlled Education and Legal monopolies stymie meaningful reform in these two strategically important sectors of our society. All the increased measures of having the Federal Government play an increased role in our economy has made America less competitive in the global economy. Americans cannot afford these policies any longer.

Our move further to the Left in regard to these economic policies has made the Middle Class increasingly the target of its failure. At the heart of the implementation of progressive economic policies, is the punishment of success. Progressives aim to level the opportunity for outstanding achievement usually by lowering the standards for all but the anointed elite. Progressive economic philosophy depreciates the traditional successful middle class American values of hard work, self reliance and competition.   

If we are to face up to our current economic challenges, we need models of success for America to emulate to lead us out of our economic malaise. As a counter to the prevailing Progressive economic agenda, where can we look for models of positive policies that have produced more successful outcomes? Where are the exceptions to these prevailing rules?

Several State Governors have shown the way. State and local governments possess an inherent advantage when it comes to fiscal responsibility. Unlike our Federal Government, State and Local Governments are mandated by law to balance their budgets every fiscal year. A partial honor role of leaders taking truly opposing and successful approaches to the issue of economic growth and job creation during challenging times are Governors Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Rick Scott, John Kaisch, Rick Perry, Mitch Daniels, Bob McDonnell and Luis Fortuno. What approaches do they have in common and what can this nation learn from their successful efforts? What do such seemingly differing places such as New Jersey, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Texas, Indiana and Puerto Rico have in common?

The Governors of these States and a Commonwealth promote the following policies:

-       Limited government and spending.

-       Reliance on the private sector.

-       Low taxes on individuals and business.

-       Promotion of pro-business climate through a favorable regulatory environment and development incentives.

-       Implementation of programs that make the delivery of services more efficient and less costly that utilize both public and private sector resources.

-       The limiting of the cost of labor by curtailing the power of public sector unions.

-       Reform of education through imposing higher academic standards, school and teacher accountability and increased competition through school choice.

Each State and Puerto Rico have slightly differing approaches to addressing the above listed goals; however, in each case implementing solutions based on Conservative principals have resulted in the creation of more jobs and revenues. Contrast the success of these examples with progressively governed California. By every measurement of economic health, California is a failure. People vote with their feet and move from Progressive States such as California and New York to settle in an oasis of economic freedom such as Texas. How do we turn around our economy on a national basis? Follow the leaders to prosperity and free the American entrepreneurial spirit.    

  

Is America facing an identity crisis?

It is obvious to many that the American political system is in trouble. Many are worried about the future direction of this country. America is facing no less than an identity crisis. How do we start to solve the great issues of the day? Where do we start?

Great leaders have always emerged in our history at the time of crisis to show us the way. However, it is the citizen's duty to learn as much as possible regarding the leading issues and challenges of the day so when it is time to enter the voting booth an informed decision can be made.

Citizens still have the power in this country - the key is for all of us is to exercise it. The issue of greater citizen participation goes beyond merely voting. The rapid growth of the Tea Party movement is a current example of proactive direct citizen action. More importantly it reflects a significant discontent among mainly middle class citizens across the country. Tea Party members represent the full spectrum of Republican, Independent and Democratic voters. They aim to reclaim government from the established elites, the insiders and to change the status quo. It is truly a grass-roots effort dominated by local organizations interconnected by New Media. Their efforts will lead to a government more reflective of middle class or conservative views.

The identity crisis that America faces is due to the ongoing competition between the views of the Progressives and the Conservatives. With the election of President Obama and the sweep of Democrats into office in 2008, our country has taken on an even more European style Progressive/Socialist flavor. The most interesting point is due to the failure and unsustainable nature of the Progressive/Socialist economic and social models in Europe, these nations have been forced to cut the size and scope of their governments.

We live in an era influenced by the ideas of governing that became popular at the turn of the 20th century called the Progressive Era. The progression of the role of government from that time to now has been towards dominant responsibility of societal problem solving being assumed more and more each year by the Federal Government. In order to take on such vast responsibilities, the Federal Government demands an increasingly large amount of funding each year and resorts to borrowing from future generations in order to pay its obligations.

Nothing less than the future identity of America is at stake in the next election in 2012. The conflict lies on the dividing line between the the political philosophies of the Left (Progressives) and the Right (Conservatives).  We are currently operating with an Administration implementing political solutions that has moved this dividing line even further left. The voters in the recent Congressional elections of 2010 have sent a strong message that the government's role in society on both a Federal and State & Local level must be reduced.

President Obama and the Democratic agenda of a society dominated by certain elites operating through the ever increasing powers of the Federal Government has been tried and has dramatically failed in so many ways. The Tea Party movement is gaining increasing momentum and its collective message is that we must move our path back to solutions based on a more conservative and individual based approach. The collective solutions run by big government are both ineffective, inefficient and often fail miserably.

The success or failure of the Tea Party Movement will be the dominant factor in determining America's identity in the years to come. It is the duty of the movement to present its message as clearly as possible and let the people decide. All of our futures are at stake.


  

Campaign 2012- Will Americans voluntarily give up their freedoms?

On April 19, 1775 eight Militia men were killed and ten more were wounded at Lexington, Massachusetts in the first battle in The War for Independence.  It was called the “Shot heard ‘round the world”.  Millions of Americans over the years have worked and fought tirelessly so all of us can live in freedom.

Chris and Ted Stewart, authors of a recent bestselling book titled “The Miracle of Freedom – 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World” make the case that fewer than 5% of human beings that ever lived – lived in freedom.  Americans can count their blessings that they are members of this very select group of individuals.

It is obvious to many that the American political system is in trouble and will be facing a decisive decision point on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Many issues will be debated during the run-up to the November 2012 elections; however, the essential issue that the voters will determine is how much power shall be allocated to the individual versus the collective.


The great American experiment instituted by The Founding Fathers is based on the premise that man can rule himself. This proposition will be put to a critical test next November and will be decided voluntarily by the voters. The election will be a fundamental test of individual American’s resolve to continue to live in liberty and to exercise the responsibility of such a choice.

Bill Clinton’s Presidential victory over the then incumbent President George H.W. Bush was driven by a campaign focused on the following slogan:

“It’s the Economy - stupid!”

I believe the eventual 2012 Republican Presidential campaign message to every American citizen should be:

“It’s your freedom – stupid!”  

It is time for Americans to reclaim and exercise their freedoms for a better America. Power must flow back once again to reside in the hands of every single American. Government must be made to play a more limited role in all our lives.