Has the Tea [Party] become diluted?

When the Tea Party was established it was in the name of freedoms and liberty. It was used to spread the message that the federal government was outreaching its boundaries; that it was intruding into matters it did not have power to be in. The premise of the Tea Party was a true grassroots movement, made up mostly of what society at large called the fringe group, the conspiracy theorists, those who did not trust government’s ways and means of business, the activists that wanted to be able to live life as they saw fit, with the freedom to choose and the right to prosperity quickly joined the ranks. But what has it become now, where has that fringe group gone? My experience with the Tea Party has been of followers of the party line ignoring their personal principles. When you follow blindly the cliff will not be seen until it’s too late.

The Tea party was a grassroots gathering of individuals set on restoring the glory and values to America, what has wound up happening though is a party affiliation party who will only vote for the candidates that the party picks. Why should we follow our own values when someone else can pick for us? What happens when the party favorite isn’t your favorite?  When the party pick does something that goes against your beliefs or when they sign legislation that doesn’t match your beliefs. What can be gained by following?  A sense of belonging to a group that is blinded? What can be lost from it? Your morals can be in question and your beliefs could be challenged. What has happened to the American spirit of resistance to tyranny, what has happened to those fighting for independence?  What has happened to our patriots? The party mentality is one that I do not endorse.  I cannot follow blindly in the shadows of the group to be slaughtered on an altar made of bad choices and apathy.

The standard bearer and originator of modern day small government, audit the federal reserve, end the wars, and personal responsibility ideals has in the past two election cycles endorsed the big government, continue to devaluation of our currency, progress the wars and start new ones, and a government that can and will take care of all, candidates. It baffles the mind to think that a once great meaning movement has fallen to the levels of our politicians and have left their values at the wayside. We know that this movement was intended for greater purposes but sadly couldn’t bear the responsibility.  It is sad to see the declination of principles for personal and financial gain. So where has the Tea Party gone and how can we steer it back in the right direction? I do not think we should try to move this party back to course; it should be the responsibility of those involved with the party to evaluate their ideal and morals, it is their responsibility to steer their party in whatever direction they choose. We that know the liberty message will watch to see where they will take it and what they plan to do.

As we move forward we shall choose our battles based upon our principles, we will stand up for what is right and we will fight what is wrong. We will be there, the small tireless minority pushing against the mindless wandering masses of people who claim to be Tea Party Patriots.

How welfare hurts us.

     This is not about if welfare is right or wrong, moral or immoral, good or bad. This is about the facts of the system that we have in America and its effects on society. Dependency on any financial aid can produce very differing effects; some will use this handout to better themselves, gaining employment, gaining an education or work skill. Others may use this as a substitute for bettering themselves. They use the system and expect everyone to be ok with it. What I want to cover is the dependency issue, the number of recipients  and the tax burden of those who do not collect from the system but add to it through taxation. I also want to explain corporate welfare and the way fortune 500 companies have added a burden to society by taking government handouts. I want to show the very real fraud with the current system and try to explain some substitutes.

     The lessons of history, confirmed by evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence on relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit. It is inimical to the dictates of sound policy. It is a violation of the traditions of America - Franklin D Roosevelt.

Now this being said from the President who pretty much created the current social security scam and a more broad welfare state of affairs in America, he warned us that if we became dependent upon aid that we would be forever dependent on it. Now there are past presidents and our current one that have used this dependency issue to be elected or re-elected. The main issue with dependency in the receipt of financial aid is that some will use this as an excuse not to seek employment or not to acuire a skill set to use in the job market, they have what they need and are content taking aid. Another issue with this is when the only burden is on the people paying into the system but not drawing from it, it is very unusual to have a recipient pay into his own aid. Now there are many types of aid and all have their reason for being, food stamps are to be used for the purchase of foods, health and beauty, and general grocery store items. Supplemental security income (SSI)  was signed into law by President Nixon, there were laws on the books held by each state that took care of this but Nixon felt it should be a federal issue and he took it on. SSI is a way for impared adults or senior citizens to have a standard of living expense paid for them by the federal government, housing, food and general assistance. This is a needed benifit for those people who are too impaired to work or at an age that makes it impossible to work. It is needed but it needs to be reformed as well as not to come from the federal government. Each state should be able to take care of their own.

     The total number of recipients of monetary aid in 2011 was 15,000,000 people. The total amount distributed was 131.9 billion dollars. 131 billion dollars taken from tax money to be redistributed to others. The statistical information can be found at this link;http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/.

     Corporate welfare is not welfare at all but this being a topic of entitlement programs I though it fitting in here. Corporate welfare is actually subsidies paid to major companies, most commonly Fortune 500 companies. Every year billions of taxpayer dollars are funneled into and out of the US corporate welfare system. Technological advances, research and development, and similar ventures are not inexpensive. In fact, many of the projects funded by corporate welfare can be extremely expensive, and some may even require millions of dollars in annual funding.Corporate welfare provides capitalization and assistance for a number of beneficial programs in the US. One such program is the incredibly popular Advanced Technology Program (AFT), which is intended to promote technological research that has great economic benefits for the nation. Many recipients of this federal funding are Fortune 500 companies, including General Motors, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Texas Instruments, 3M, Raytheon, Dow Chemical, and Xerox. AFT support allows these highly successful companies the means to turn some of their more costly ideas into innovative and cutting-edge products.The amount of money being spent on corporate welfare is disturbing. $100 billion of taxpayer dollars should never be spent on pet projects like Solyndra. Doing so in the middle of a debt crisis is simply irresponsible. Cutting corporate welfare would not be a silver bullet (there is no getting around the need for serious entitlement reform) but it needs to happen. The Keynesian philosophy behind this corporate welfare is a bigger problem than the $100 billion handed out to businesses in FY 2012.

Reform of this system is a area of confusion and frustration for most people. You don't believe in the handing of your hard earned money to those who do not try to work, but then you feel sorry for those who can not work. At the same time you see a need to change the system but can't figure out how. Why not go back to the states responsibility to aid their residents and care for their citizens, then as a state we could come up with what works on a smaller scale. When the Federal Government took control of the welfare of all citizens they bit off more than they could chew, I feel that on a small state wide scale the well being of the citizens can be easily undertaken. I do not think it needs to stop there though, I believe that the re-education of the masses has to take place.The people have to learn that hard work and dirty hands is the right way, living on handouts and dirty knees is not the way to gain prosperity. I do believe that at sometimes every man needs a hand-up but with pride in yourself and a little hard work you should never need a handout.

      But as I said before this isn't about right or wrong this is all my opinion of why the welfare system that we have is hurting the growth of prosperity.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj16n1-1.html

How does a Patriot Act?

     Do you consider yourself to be a Patriot, fighting for liberty and freedoms? Are you aware of your political leaders, their actions and the effects of those actions? Do you find yourself in debates with people who disagree with the small government, small debt, and no more wars, end the Federal Reserve ideas? Well you might be a Patriot, but that’s not what this is about. This is about the bill named The Patriot Act.

     Signed into law by our Republican President following the events of September 11^th 2001, it has been lengthened by the same republican President near the end of his term and was again continued by our Democratic President. A lot of people do not know what this bill is, or what it entails for our rights as individuals or our right to privacy. The bill passed mostly unopposed in both the house and the senate, only a handful of people in congress took the time to understand what this would mean for our security at the cost of our liberty. The title of the act is a ten letter backronym (USA PATRIOT) that stands for Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. This bill also is piggybacked by the NDAA or National Defense Authorization Act.

     What is in this bill that makes it so bad, well I’ll explain that here. The Patriot Act is a bill to piggy back on the FISA act of 1978. FISA or Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a bill used since 1978 to gather intelligence from American citizens and use it against them to deem them threats to national security. How do they gather this information, they have many ways, wiretapping, seizure of electronic devices and seizure of refuse or as we call it digging through your trash. The Patriot Act allows the presidential administration to wiretap phone lines, intercept any electronic messages and sort through mail coming in and leaving any address in the country. It significantly reduced restrictions in law enforcement agencies' gathering of intelligence within the United States; expanded the Secretary of the Treasury’s authority to regulate financial transactions, particularly those involving foreign individuals and entities; and broadened the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of terrorism-related acts. The act also expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which the USA PATRIOT Act’s expanded law enforcement powers can be applied. indefinite detentions of immigrants; searches through which law enforcement officers search a home or business without the owner’s or the occupant’s permission or knowledge; the expanded use of National Security Letters, which allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to search telephone, e-mail, and financial records without a court order, and the expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business records, including library and financial records. Since its passage, several legal challenges have been brought against the act, and Federal courts have ruled that a number of provisions are unconstitutional.

This is an outline of the sections in Title 2 of the act.

201         Authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to terrorism

202         Authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to computer fraud and abuse offenses

203(b)   Authority to share electronic, wire and oral interception information

204         Clarification of intelligence exceptions from limitations on interception and disclosure of wire, oral, and electronic communications

206         Roving surveillance authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

207         Duration of FISA surveillance of non-United States persons who are agents of a foreign power

209         Seizure of voice-mail messages pursuant to warrants

212         Emergency disclosure of electronic communications to protect life and limb

214         Pen register and trap and trace authority under FISA

215         Access to records and other items under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

217         Interception of computer trespasser communications

218         Foreign intelligence information

220         Nationwide service of search warrants for electronic evidence

223         Civil liability for certain unauthorized disclosures

225         Immunity for compliance with FISA wiretap

     So what does all of this mean to you, why should you care, why should you be scared? The federal government has the power and authority to track, monitor and spy on you. So some will say “but I am not a terrorist why would they monitor me?” Well why wouldn’t they monitor you, they have to decide if you are or are not a threat. And then they have to keep monitoring you to make sure you do not become a threat, right? So what is your argument, they will do it, and they have the authority to do it, and they do not need to report to anyone the findings of their espionage. They need no rhyme or reason to watch your every move, they will because they can, because we have allowed them to do this. They hide these things in bills based on security and strip away our rights to privacy every chance they get. When will we be angry enough to stop this from happening, when we are forced to? What you don’t know can always hurt you. Be informed and watch the politician’s actions not their words.

     Patriotism is not about standing with your country it is about standing up to your country when it usurps too much power. It is about being the loudest voice and strongest will, the actions that you do are just as important as your words you speak; be true to this cause and in its own time it will pay off.

                                                                  Peace to all Patriots.

WAR – What is it good for?

     There are a growing number of self-proclaimed republican leaning individuals in this country that state that WE NEED WAR. When I hear this I have to cringe at the thought of what they have just said. I try to break it down for them into the three words they just used. We – Need- War. To me war is nothing more than an excuse not to try diplomacy. It serves no purpose but to wreak havoc on entire countries, generations and populations. It has been used as a means to an end. The end to what most have not figured out. When the thought of someone enjoying war comes to mind I think that individual needs to be psychologically evaluated.

     When these people say WE, they are being all inclusive, leaving no one out. But what if some want to be left out? What if some do not believe in war? Why would they lump some people with others? It is to make you feel as an outcast if your opinion of war differs from the rest of society. They want you to feel like you are different or maybe that you are the problem or reason for our wars. What is the goal of saying WE in a statement that all people do not categorically fit into? I think the goal in a sense is to try to convert your way of thinking to theirs, to change your mind on the subject, even if just temporarily.

      The definition of NEED is to require something because it is essential or very important. It can also be a circumstance in which something is necessary, or that require some course of action, or necessity. So by those definitions is war really a NEED. I believe that if correct diplomacy policies are in places and are properly followed we could essentially reduce the frequency of war and military actions by the very least 95% The NEED that these individuals speak of is in all actuality a want. They want our country in a war, to show dominance. To shove our ways of life down the throats of our rivals, as if our way of doing things is the right or only way, America is one of the youngest countries in the world, what do we know about the ways to successful longevity?

     

    What is a WAR? Military action taken against another nation, sanctions and blockades, genocide, restrictions of trade and barter, assassinations of political figures and citizens, mass murder of innocent as well as militant peoples of another nation? What would you consider a WAR? The actions taken by our country has included all of these things at some point in time. America has used the dirtiest of tricks to oppress people and overthrow governments, we have placed handpicked rulers in power of countries we have taken and then had to assassinate them because they become tyrants and dictators. We have used sanctions, blockades and restrictions to force countries to abide to our will. We have used chemicals in the food supplies to these countries to reduce populations through impotence and birth defects; we have used guerrilla regimes in a country to overthrow the national government.  Al-Qaeda is a prime example. Al-Qaeda was created by and funded by the American government to overtake the communist forces in Middle Eastern countries. Only when they had taken over the communists did they turn their sights on taking over the American placed government in their country. They have been used as scapegoats and compulsory labeled “terrorists’ in the recent past. They have been used as an excuse to invade and occupy countries which are not ours.

     WAR should never be used as an excuse for the failure of words, diplomacy can work and we can have peace, the only question is are you open to the idea of world peace instead of world policing or world dominance. It is a fallacy that WE NEED WAR, some may WANT war, but it is not a NEED. The destruction and decimation of human beings is never the ends to violence it is the breeding ground of it, with the approach of non-interventionism the world would be safe from us and they would be more peaceful with us. The idea that dominance shown through violence has lent itself to history, have we not learned, have we not experienced it enough? Think about it DO WE REALLY NEED WAR?

Who wins when you Fail.

"America once thought it could not fall, but I tell you now she is cutting off her own legs. If we do not change the course that we have placed ourselves upon we will reach those cliffs of certain doom at full steam ahead. If we do not turn our apathy into true patriotism, our borders need not be crossed for we have invaded ourselves, invaded ourselves with unpayable debts, vast and varied enemies, and an unquenchable thirst for our own lifeblood. We must wage war against our own minds to truly be set free, our chains are not around our ankles as slaves, no they are around our throats as we are nothing more than animals" 

When you fail to act as an individual you have let yourself be beaten, you have allowed your captor to control you without ever making an advance towards you. You have in all essence caged yourself. We have our lives to learn and experience, to love and to struggle, fail or succeed. When you fail to act in the community you put a burden on the one's who are doing. You are relying on someone else to pick up your slack. You have a duty to act as an American to repel the advance of tyranny, you have a duty as an American in the defense of this land from enemies foreign and domestic, it is easy to see the foreign threats, it is much more difficult to recognize the threats inside your own backyard. 

When will Americans wake up and see that they are slaves to the Government, slaves in the sense that that pay money to the government out of their labor's wages, slaves in the sense that they are monitored in their daily lives, slaves in the sense that their right to speak has been taken from them, when their right to fair trails and humane treatment in detention. When Americans wake up to the fact that their lives are dictated and planned for them for the fallacy of complete security. When the sleeping giants finally wake from their slumber, when the army of true patriots stand tall against the domestic aggressors that they call their Government, the battle for independence in America will continue. When you stand up to the tyranny and oppression that has plagued this once great nation for decades the future will be secured in the fact that we did not yield, we did not give in , we did not give up. We march forward to the battle for our homes, our freedoms and our futures. Stand tall fellow soldiers, this will not be easy, this will not be quick. But it will be worth it.

Prisoner Mentality

Why do we allow the minority of our elected officials to take away the rights of the majority? Why do we allow them to oppress us and make us live in unavoidable debt? Why do we allow them to silence our voices? Why do we allow this behavior and in a way encourage and reinforce this behavior through re-election? 

I have recently come up with my answer to this question. It is that we as Americans have adopted what I call the Prisoner Mentality. Let me explain what this means and the effects of continuation of this process. In a prison you have two groups, you have the majority which is the prisoners and then you have the minority, which are the enforcers. The enforcers only gain obedience through acts and means of force using weapons and intimidation. If the prisoners realize that they are the majority, they could revolt and take this prison over. It has happened in the past and will continue to happen in the future. What does it take for Americans to realize that the average citizen is the majority and our elected officials are the minority, the elected minority?
There is also self made restrictions and oppression. It’s said that if you tether an elephant to a stake in the ground from when they’re young, they will grow up believing that it’s useless to try to escape from the tether because they tried to do so once – when they were still young - and failed. You are then able to put a fairly flimsy rope around an adult elephant’s leg and tether it to a stake without it trying to break its bonds and escape.

That’s because it has grown up to believe that it will not be able to break free, so it never tries. And for the rest of its life, that elephant will live in a prison it created for itself.

When Nazi Germany had their Concentration camps and America had their Internment camps the ratio of prisoner to enforcer was upwards of 150 to 1 at times, why then did the oppressed not fight back. What was the reason for this? Is it Fear? Is it Apathy? What would have to happen before the prisoners would rise up against their captors? I think that we fear change in our politicians because we are apathetic to it all, if that makes any sense to you. Do we fear failure? Do we fear uncertainty if we succeed? Do we not care what happens to our children and grandchildren? Do we fear retaliation by our oppressors? We need not be afraid, but stand tall as free men and women knowing that our ancestors built this country up from nothing, and we can do it again if it came to it. We need to realize that what we do now will affect the future for decades and possibly millenia to come. Stand up and fight tyranny or die by its hands.

When our government passes laws that restrict or reduce the natural rights of man, it is our duty to act, to revolt. What changes happen if we sit idly by and allow ourselves to become slaves to a system that was designed to serve us? Why are there so many people not willing to escape their paper chains and riot against the establishment? What has to happen before the majority of the sheep have woken up and realized that they are being led down the wrong course, that they are being led to slaughter? When will we act?What has to occur before the true American spirit of freedom and liberty for all Americans has it reemergence in society?