Don't Be Fooled:We Pay for Their Mistakes

In the real world, colossal failures are met with massive investor losses and law suits for the gross negligence and fraud foisted on the investors.  But a failed government program is met by feeding it more money.  An example: the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Let us first distinguish the difference between an accomplishment vs. a failure.  Obamacare is a political accomplishment, but a failure based on its own promises.  As purported by the President, Speaker of the House, Majority Leader of the Senate, and every Democrat in Congress, Obamacare promised to lower healthcare premiums by $2,500, if you liked your health insurance plan you could keep it, if you liked your doctor you could keep him, not to add a dime to the budget deficit, to increase competition through government funded cooperatives, and to encourage more entrepreneurs to start businesses, among many other claims.  All of these claims proved false.

The ACA started as a calamity with the building of an e-commerce website costing billions and failing after years of preparation.  Yet, Obamacare not only moves forward but gets more money paid for by – you guessed it – the taxpayer.  The bureaucrats and politicians who created the program still get their pay and retirement benefits.  And for all the knowingly fraudulent claims made, and the gross negligence that no politician who voted for the legislation read it – well – no one was prosecuted.  Consequences like that are reserved for the real world.

So before you ask the government for another program or to “fix” the economy remember, no matter what the result, we pay for their mistakes!   

Don't Be Fooled: Government Doesn't Solve Problems

We have to remember that government – even in a better form – all too often does not solve problems, but institutionalizes them.  For example, Medicaid, welfare, food stamps, etc. have not solved poverty.  Quite the opposite. After $15 trillion in cost, poverty is at about the same rate it was in 1965 when the war on poverty was launched.  Thus, we should not be talking about problems government should solve, rather how to solve the problems government has created.

In their quest for votes, politicians pronounce what they will do to create jobs and security.  But the reason for the lowest workforce participation and the highest real unemployment rate (U-6 indicator over 9.5%) are the result of government policies.  It is unreasonable to think that adding to the land-fill of government programs will produce more jobs.

Instead, we should set our sights on discussions of reducing government involvement, enabling individualism, and freeing markets.  Adhering to the founding principles of free men and free markets is what produced the American Dream and prosperity.

Rather than the parade of identity politics giveaways that the media thrives on, let us instead give heed to President John Kennedy’s words to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Be Vigilant. Be Free.  

Don't Be Fooled: The Frustration of the Responsible

Let’s review some numbers: the top 10% of income earners pay about 70% of the taxes.

Now for some critical analysis:  out of that 10%, very few are knowledgeable of our nation’s founding, the historical concept of liberty, and the importance – let alone content – of the Constitution.

The level of corruption and dishonesty in the political media and government is at a fever pitch because too many Americans refuse to take the time to learn the most basic constructs of citizenship.  When people do not know their history and the facts, people vote on the emotion of self-interest.  As a result you get what we have today – a circus.

The parade of presidential candidates consist of a liar, a loudmouth and a loon – this is who we have to choose from.  America cannot hope to survive without a course correction.  We had that with Ronald Reagan when he gave us a breather from massive government, and the nation was allowed to flourish.

This election cycle, like no other, is critical for the survival of the American Dream.  We recall the philosopher J.J. Rousseau who wrote of voting 

“The people of England think they are free.  They are much mistaken.  They are never so but during the election of members of Parliament.  As soon as they are elected, they are slaves, they are nothing.  And by the use they make of their liberty during the short moments they possess it, they well deserve to lose it.”

Be Vigilant. Be Free

Don't Be Fooled: The Enslavement of the Present by the Past

It was recently brought up in a conversation that I, as a white female, could not understand the feeling of being the only black guy in a room – well obviously! I am neither black nor male, so how could I possibly ever understand. Just as a black guy could never understand the feeling of being a white girl.  This is not racism or bigotry, this is simple biology.

We have, to our own disadvantage, aligned ourselves with a respective race, religion, political persuasion, etc and pitted ourselves against each other on the premise of past transgressions and ideology.  Does this not seem contrary to the progressive society so many of the younger generation espouse? Yes, understanding the past, learning from history is crucial for further development and progression, but to hold on to such hatred or partisanship for actions and ideas of past generations who have long since passed does not seem progressive at all – seems more like a spiteful woman…and I say that as a woman.

The present should remember and learn from the past, not be enslaved by it.  Let us learn our lessons and move on.

Don't Be Fooled: What the media decides is "news-worthy"

The media plays a critical role in election cycles and more so today with a 24 hour news cycle.  But as we demonstrate in our book, Vigilance the Price of Liberty, the media is bias and each news outlet will “bend” the news toward or against the party, politician, and position it favors.

For example, The Washington Post has 20 people investigating Donald Trump.  How many do they have on Hillary Clinton?  The point being, The Post has a liberal bias and will actively work against Trump.  Fox News has a bias toward Republicans and will spend more time on stories that are unfavorable to Clinton. More important, is the fact that both sides of the political media populate the airways with a lot of words about scandals and not substance.

We need to focus on what is important.  Is a call made by Donald Trump 25 years ago posing as his own publicist a pertinent story to this 2016 presidential election?  Or is a discussion of the presumptive presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, under criminal investigation of note? For us, it is the latter and let us explain our reasoning.

Hillary Clinton’s emails place the candidate under Federal criminal investigation.  Assume, as we should for now, that Clinton is innocent.  She has told us that she never sent or received an email that was marked secret.  However, the fact has been established that she did send and receive secret and classified information.

Her defense is that the emails were not marked as such at the time and the later classification was internal chatter amongst different agencies.  However, this flies in the face of one of her own emails that shows, while the information was not marked classified, she knew it to be classified.  Therefore, regardless of the outcome of the FBI investigation, did not her actions tells us she was reckless with national security information?

The media is supposed to stand as a watch dog for the people against political corruption, not pose as a political lap dog.  This protection of political candidates by the media on both sides of the isle is rampant.  It is the contrast between the two above examples that should draw the audiences’ attention: a silly phone call made over 2 decades ago vs. an FBI criminal investigation of a candidate while serving as Secretary of State.

The media will make this election about political correctness, party lines, sexism, racism or any other –ism.  It will be about who the media deems worthy of running for political office and who they will protect in that endeavor.  And it should be the American public’s endeavor to be vigilant…and be free.

Don't Be Fooled: Parties are NOT a Democracy

This Presidential elections are big events with big outcomes in the balance.  However, the way we go about electing a president relies on emotion rather than fact and reason.  The process is corrupted by parties, politicians and media who shred the Constitution by controlling the agenda to direct you toward what you should think is important and how you should vote. The pandering and deceit is all designed to play us as fools.

In response to the onslaught of misinformation coming to you this election cycle, we would like to introduce our series: Don’t Be Fooled.  Over the next several months we will shine light on the disingenuous dialogues and give you facts to help reason an informed judgement.

To start, there is a notion espoused by the press that parties are part of a democracy.  They are not.  Further, selecting a presidential candidate by a party does not have to be democratic.  Parties are private companies, like labor unions, with the goal, like a labor union, to keep their union members employed.  Parties purport to represent an ideology and offer a “platform” for governance if their “union members” become elected to government.

Important to note, parties are not part of the government.  Parties are not even mentioned in the Constitution.  In fact, parties pose great danger to our Republic, as so noted by President George Washington who, in his farewell address, warned the nation of the dangers from parties when the “will of the party replaces the will of the nation.”

The Democrat and Republican parties are composed of state parties from the 50 states and a separate national committee. The national committee is responsible for the national convention from which the 50 state parties choose their presidential candidate.

Each party can make its own rules on how to choose their candidate.  An enlightening article, The Agony of a Trump Delegate, by Kimberly Strassel on April 28, 2016 appearing in the Wall Street Journal describes the GOP party nomination system in light of Donald Trump’s displeasures of such – click here for full article.

Bernie Sanders can also be displeased by the lack of “democracy” of the Democratic Party. The super delegates are independent of the primaries and caucuses and represent about 30% of the votes needed to win the nomination for the Democratic presidential candidate.  The Democrats put this undemocratic system in place to assure the control of their nominee if the voters should choose someone not of the Party’s design.

In summary, parties are not part of the government.  They are private organizations who select who they want as their presidential nominee according to their own rules, which they may change at any time.  Your vote for a presidential candidate of a party is at best a preference poll.  However, with all this said, parties risk the wrath from their voters if they should chose against the majority of their voter’s preference.

What Do You Think?

When I was applying to college some four years ago, a question was posed that inspired the journey of writing Vigilance The Price of Liberty and building US Vigilance:

Choose an issue of importance to you – the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope – and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.

We would now like to pose that question to you. What do you think is the issue of largest importance? A coddled Millennial generation that appears unable to stand the bright light of reality?  The assault on religion or freedom of speech? A Middle East in turmoil?  A political system that is largely distrusted?

Whatever issue you think is most important, how would crystalize it and begin to solve it?

For me, I thought the issue of largest importance was that “Government has become too large to sustain and too opaque to be accountable which diminishes its ability to do the public good.”  My solution was to team with my father to write a book and launch US Vigilance to promote responsible citizenship.

We cannot be a society of complainers; we must be a society of resolvers.  Once you have identified the problem it is time for action.

What do you think?

#BeVigilant. Be Free.