The Debt Machine Roars On

Well, the national debt has reached a staggering $18.2 TRILLION and shows no signs of decreasing. Each of us, unwilling slaves to that debt, now owe $154,161. Most of us couldn't afford to pay our "fair share" of that number even if they came and confiscated all of our yearly earnings and left us thoroughly skinned.

   The congress, for all their talk of being fiscally responsible republicrats have managed to slow our economy and hasten the demise of the shrinking middle class with their spending on their pet projects and lobbyist masters in various industries. Their democrat buddies have been no better, saddling us with historically high levels of social spending. And the president shows no signs of that he won't sign spending that comes across his desk. None of these cretins has anything approaching the best interests of this country and its future in mind. They simply do not care about anything but their partisan politics and appeasing their monied constituencies and masters.
   We have reached the point where pumping the brakes is not even nearly enough. Slowing the accrual of further debt is untenable. The brakes must be applied and the course reversed, if we are to avoid catastrophe. The debt currently stands at 102.6% of GDP and is going to rise to more than 105.7% by 2019, by some estimates. I have no faith that it won't be higher than current estimates, because no-one within the DC Beltway has any intentions of actually cutting spending and ridding us of this onerous debt that they have accrued in our name with their endless programs, conflicts and cronyism.
   This is a drum we libertarians must be beating. The two wings of the Boot On Your Neck Party have shown their clear intention to continue business as usual, using us and our economy as their personal piggy banks to fund their draconian dreams. Their avarice, where our money and future are concerned, knows no bounds. We must, somehow, force these political robber barons to cease their spending. They must all be replaced with people who will actually act as stewards of the nation, its economy and our future, not as masters within their own petty fiefdoms. I would encourage any reader to forward the linked article, or this one, to their representatives, if I thought it would make any difference, but I fear we are beyond that point. The people who are robbing our children and grandchildren of their futures have no interest in having their crimes pointed out to them. They are safe in their partisan electoral havens and the people who continue to put them there are seemingly oblivious to the coming train wreck. Perhaps all we can do is take some small measures to soften the blows for ourselves, as we continue to cannonball towards the inevitable.
   Best of luck to everyone. We're going to need it.

A Look At The 2000's

Politically, I have to agree with Reason. Worst decade ever. At the end of it I feel a sense of dread, not hopefulness as one might expect. On other fronts, the decade wasn't the worst for me and mine. Our family has grown and prospered and, despite an economy ravaged by politicians, banksters and others of that ilk. I'm not likely to whip out a crystal ball and prognosticate where the next decade is concerned, but it doesn't look like it's going to shape up to be much better. The political scenery is unlikely to change much and the economy isn't getting better, as the politicians are trying to make us believe. Shoot the commercial real estate debacle hasn't even started to unwind yet. As for the seemingly endless and futile wars, they're going to be continuing for many years. That's how government maintains their health. Those conflicts will still be being waged when our children are of an age to be part of that continuing mess. Whatever the future portends we'll do as we always do around here. Hold on tight and see where the ride takes us.

The Shape Of Things To Come

Well, the election is over and all we have to do now is wait to see what The Anointed One plans to do to us once he begins his reign. Fortunately, he has made it a great deal easier for us to find out what his plans are. On the governments dime, no less. Let's take a look, shall we?

Gun owners can look forward to new and "interesting" times.

Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

Suffice it to say, gun owners are going to be targeted because they have or wish to have firearms that others perceive as more dangerous than other common types of firearms. We can also look forward to having a nanny looking over our shoulder to insure that we make our firearms as safe as some hoplophobe wishes.

Small businesses are going to take multiple hits, as well. Not only will they be taxed at greater levels they'll be forced to pay more for jobs than those jobs are worth. This will also serve to increase unemployment among youth and the elderly.

Increase the Minimum Wage: As president, Obama will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011 and index it to inflation so full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing – things so many people take for granted.

He also plans to give preference to urban dwellers over suburban and rural folks. Go figure that a Chicago machine politician thinks that no-one actually matters outside of the cities.

Create a White House Office on Urban Policy: Obama and Biden will create a White House Office of Urban Policy to develop a strategy for metropolitan America and to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs. The Director of Urban Policy will report directly to the president and coordinate all federal urban programs.

He plans on fully funding programs such as No Child Left Behind. It's ironic that NCLB is in a section called "Do No Harm", huh?

Do No Harm: Barack Obama and Joe Biden do not support imposing unfunded mandates on states and localities. They strongly support providing necessary funding for programs such as No Child Left Behind.

He also plans on raping the oil companies. That would be the same companies which have a profit margin of only 8-10%. This is sure to do wonders for the economy and the price of gas. He actually has the audacity to say this will revitalise the economy.

Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families:Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. This relief would be a down payment on the Obama-Biden long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief.

Lest we forget the unions in this country, Obama plans to strengthen their grasp on businesses.

Ensure Freedom to Unionize: Obama and Biden believe that workers should have the freedom to choose whether to join a union without harassment or intimidation from their employers. Obama cosponsored and is strong advocate for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan effort to assure that workers can exercise their right to organize. He will continue to fight for EFCA's passage and sign it into law.

The EFCA sounds nice, huh? Of course it also means that employees may be approached anywhere at anytime by union members in "signature drives" and does away with the secret ballot. Intimidation by unions is a hallmark of this legislation.

And, lest you thought the first black president was any different when it came to the issue of involuntary servitude.

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Yep, he's going after your kids. Don't you just love it? These are are only a few of the myriad things he has planned for us during his reign. Trillions of dollars in spending, an explosion of cancerous governmental growth, the degradation of capitalism and your rights. These and so many other things are in store for us after his inauguration in January. I urge you to take a look at his "agenda" and prepare yourself as well as you can for what is to come. If you haven't purchased a firearm yet, the time is rapidly approaching when you had best do so. It's not going to be nice and it is certainly going to be a bad thing where liberty is concerned. This country will likely never recover from Obama's reign. What a sad day for us all.

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