by Nancy Morgan

Related articles by Zemanta

• A Government Bailout for the Media? (usnews.com)
• Has political ideology finally gone too far? (blue-dot-blues.blogspot.com)
• 100 charged in US and Egypt over phishing scam (telegraph.co.uk)
• Judge to Rule on Bail in Taping of ESPN’s Andrews (abcnews.go.com)
• F.B.I. Arrests Dozens for ‘Phishing’ ID Theft Scheme (nytimes.com)
• This Saturday: Jonathan Gold’s Union Station Cocktail Party – A Cocktailian Gathering of the Shakerati (laist.com)

by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
July 31, 2009

Dear Mr. President,
 
I’m one of those Americans that lives in flyover country. I was treated to your much publicized ‘teaching moment’ last night and felt a response was warranted.
 
I’d like to say, with all respect, that this American resents the patronizing arrogance you exhibited as you deigned to ‘teach America’ about race. First off, I don’t need lessons on race from you. I take my teachings from the Bible, not a man who sat through 20 years of ‘hate whitey’ sermons. I’d much prefer you bestow your teachable moments on, oh, say terrorists, or enemies of democracy.
 
Secondly, if you were genuinely interested in promoting racial healing, you might have used that teachable moment last night to address the third rail of race relations: namely, the reluctance of many blacks to look at whites without automatically assuming they are racists.
 
Last night, you had the perfect teachable moment, but, alas, you let it slip through your grasp. You had a wealthy, influential black man who continues to insist he is still oppressed. Then you had the white police officer who was merely doing his job in the correct manner. And then, we had you, Mr. President, a prime example of the problem. Said problem being the automatic assumption of racism without any facts to back it up.
 
You might have touched on the fact that many blacks of your generation have been taught that anything bad that happens in their life is a result of white oppression. You could have extrapolated or calibrated the fact that attitudes like that are extremely counterproductive and keep many blacks mired in the false comfort of victimization.
 
You might have addressed the fact that the only oppression happening these days is by your buddies Castro, Chavez and all the other third world dictators you seem to think are misunderstood men of good will.
 
Hey, you actually could have lectured your buddy Gates on the proper etiquette when dealing with law enforcement officers. Think of the great message that would have sent to young Americans. Respect for the law. That would have been a good thing to teach. But you let the opportunity pass with nary a word.
 
I’m sorry you didn’t get a good soundbite or photo op out of this unrelenting media saga. I know you were envisioning a hearty three way handshake that could be flashed around the world, signifying absolutely nothing. But the evening wasn’t a total waste. I actually did learn something.
 
I learned that you, and Henry Gates and other black men continue to believe that America is a racist country. I learned that you, Mr. President, will never solve any problems of race until you acknowledge your own racism against whites. I don’t think that will happen in my lifetime but I will continue to ‘hope’ for ‘change’.
 
And just out of curiosity, I was wondering what in the world you, the President of the greatest country in the world, is doing mediating the equivalent of a traffic ticket when our young men are dying in Afghanistan, our economy is in meltdown and Iran is on the brink of nuking Israel. Do you really think that was the best use of your time and political capital?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nancy Morgan is a columnist and news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina

by Margaret Goodwin
Government is Not Your Daddy
September 14, 2009

The United States rose up from a handful of rebellious colonies to become the richest and most powerful nation in the world. Why? Because we led the world in production. For 200 years, America delivered the goods.

But, in the 1970’s, all that suddenly changed. For the first time in history, the U.S. started having trade deficits. That means our net consumption exceeded our net production. And, every single year since 1975, our nation has consistently consumed more than it produced. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that’s not sustainable.

The depressing truth is America is no longer a world leader in production. We are trailing the pack. We are now a debtor nation, and our biggest creditor is China. — What the hell happened? And how will we ever recover? And, the more disturbing question is, what will happen to America if we don’t?

If we ever want to restore America to its proper place in the world, the first thing we need to understand is why we no longer have a productive economy. It’s pretty simple, really. — Because we no longer produce. Why not? – If we take a good hard look at the nature of production, maybe we can figure that out. The three key elements of production are capital, labor, and raw materials.

First, you need capital for research and development. To develop a new product that meets a real need in the marketplace takes a lot of research. It may take many years to develop. Research and development is extremely expensive, and there’s no guarantee of success. There has to be an enormous potential return on investment to justify that kind of risk.

That kind of return on investment is what our current administration refers to as “excessive profits.” And they have this notion that “excessive profits” should be punitively taxed. When government puts a lid on the potential for return on investment, what happens? The investors take their capital and invest it someplace else, — someplace that welcomes production, and wants to build up their economy and provide employment for their population. (Unlike the United States, it would seem.)

The second thing you need for production is raw materials. No matter what you want to produce, you need some combination of raw materials to produce it, whether wood, paper, metal, glass, fiber, or petroleum products. All raw materials come from the earth; they don’t come out of the air, or some genius’ imagination, or the printing presses at the Federal Reserve. They all come out of the ground, either through timber, mining, or agriculture.

Here, in Southern Oregon, we live in one of the richest areas in the country, in terms of natural resources. We’re rich in timber. We’re rich in minerals. But, if this part of the country is so rich, why is it so poor? Why is unemployment so high? Because we’re not allowed to use the natural resources with which we’re abundantly blessed. Overregulation, and the endless environmental litigation it has spawned, has all but curtailed the timber and mining industries, — the very industries that provide raw materials for every sort of production on which our economy relies. And the overregulation doesn’t stop there. It’s hobbling the manufacturing industries, too.

The third thing required for production is labor. We’ve actually got a surplus of that. Look at our unemployment numbers, nationwide. Private sector jobs are steadily declining because our industries are stymied by excessive regulation and punitive taxation. So how does our government address that issue? It tries to replace the jobs lost due to declining production by creating new jobs in the public sector.

The trouble is those jobs do nothing to restore our national productivity. Public sector jobs and service jobs don’t create any new wealth. They just swirl money around in the economy. And, as that money swirls around, more and more of it leaks out to other countries, as we buy foreign-made products because we can’t or don’t produce enough at home.

As the real wealth leaks out of our economy, the Fed prints up more and more new money, which only dilutes the value of the money we already have in circulation, leading to higher and higher inflation. As long as we consume more than we produce, there is no way to add real value back into our economy, and our currency will continue to lose whatever value it has. We must restore production to have a sustainable economy.

This country was founded on the sacred principles of liberty and freedom. Not just individual freedom, but economic freedom. America became a world leader because America delivered the goods. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what it’s always been about. We have to stay solvent to preserve our liberty. If our economy fails, we’ll lose our freedom. Stifling production smothers the economy. And that’s what our government is doing.

Contact your Congressmen and Senators and tell them we want our economy back. Government can’t solve the problem. Government is the problem. Give us back our economy, and get government out of the way!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Margaret Goodwin writes for the Government is Not Your Daddy blog.

Article published with the author’s permission.

Related articles by Zemanta

• China Weighs Tariffs on Some U.S. Exports as Tensions Rise (nytimes.com)
• Odds of relapse 1 in 3, Stephen Roach says (financialpost.com)
• “Lessons from the Fall” (clubtroppo.com.au)
• The keys to a prosperous, competitive Canada (ctv.ca)

by Brian Anderson
CryptoAmerican.com
August 31, 2010

The economy is in the crapper. Unemployment continues to rise. Foreclosures are reaching epic proportions. The trade deficit grows. The dollar is worthless. We are overrun with illegal immigrants that drain what little resources we have. But never mind all that. Congress has finally taken some action to set things right. Earlier this month they stuck it to that steroid-using bastard Roger Clemens. I will sleep better knowing my government is on the job.

In case you haven’t figured it out, the sarcasm is dripping from my words. And in case you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll take you back a couple of years. In 2008 our hardworking members of Congress assembled a special committee to determine if there was a problem with performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. They had several expert witnesses as well as professional players testify. Former pitching great Roger Clemens was one of those summoned before the tribunal. He adamantly denied using steroids, human growth hormone (HGH) or any other banned or illegal substance. Fast forward to August 19 of this year and a federal grand jury has passed down an indictment charging that Clemens lied to Congress.

Geez, I don’t even know where to begin with this. Maybe there is someone out their that can tell me what part of the Constitution grants Congress the power to police a privately owned sports/entertainment league. It’s certainly not a matter of national security. Nobody’s civil rights are being violated. Well, that’s if you don’t count Roger Clemens. I looked all over that beautiful document and I couldn’t find anything that would allow for our federal government to hold those hearings.

I remember when the proceedings were going on. I couldn’t help to think what phenomenal waste of time and taxpayer money it all was. Wait, you’re telling me professional athletes use steroids? Next thing you’re going to say that Playboy Playmates have fake breasts. Could you imagine those committee hearings? There would be some bimbo with watermelons on her chest telling Joe Liberman that she has never used performance enhancing silicone and that she has no idea what saline is. Even if baseball was any of Congress’ business, which it is not, the public spectacle they created was ridiculous. I suspect it was all a ploy to show Joe Six-pack that the government cares about the same things as regular slobs.

The funniest thing about last week’s indictment, and this seems to be lost on most who have chimed in, is that Roger Clemens is being charged with lying to Congress. Wow. Congress lies to us all the time. Have you ever heard of a federal grand jury charging Congress with lying? I haven’t. I think Mr. Clemens can use the "monkey see, monkey do" defense in his trial. He can simply state that he thought lying was proper protocol in any and all Congressional proceedings.

I think there probably is rampant abuse of steroids and HGH in professional sports. It’s up to the leagues to address, not Congress. And if the leagues do a poor job, who gives rat’s ass? It doesn’t effect me or you in any way. It doesn’t drag down the economy or start a war. Ultimately, it’s the offending players that will have to deal with the consequences of their actions. They are the ones that will have shriveled up testicles, mutant offsprings, and inoperable brain tumors.

I’m not a huge baseball fan and I’ve always thought Roger Clemens was kind of a dick. This is not written in defense of my favorite sport or player. I would just like to see our elected officials put their time and our money into something meaningful and important. Abuse of performance enhancing drugs in sports is the least of our worries.

Brian Anderson writes for the CryptoAmerican.com blog,
Article published with the author’s permission.

by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
March 6, 2011

In the summer of 2008 as McCain and Obama were in the midst of their campaigns to capture the presidency, a series of events dramatically changed the focus of the campaign from Iraq to the economy. From that point on, Obama took the lead and eventually won the presidency. 

Now, a full two years later, the Pentagon has issued a reporton the series of events that led to the 2008 economic crash. Bill Gertz writes in the Washington Times:

Evidence outlined in a Pentagon contractor report suggests that financial subversion carried out by unknown parties, such as terrorists or hostile nations, contributed to the 2008 economic crash by covertly using vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system

Consider: The economic house of cards started tumbling on June 26, 2008, when Senator Chuck Schumer leaked a memo questioning the solvency of IndyMac bank. This memo precipitated a run on IndyMac which led to its failure. Federal regulators pointedly cited U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in explaining the bank’s failure. “The immediate cause of the closing was a deposit run that began and continued after the public release of a June 26 letter to the OTS and the FDIC from Senator Charles Schumer of New York.”

As I wrote in February of 2009, this event, coupled with the Lehman Brothers collapse in September, marked the beginning of the current economic meltdown and provided the environment that enabled Barack Obama to focus on the economy instead of his position on Iraq – and, not incidentally, resulted in his election as President.

July 12, 2008: The federal government takes control of the $32 billion IndyMac Bank. *

* Six months later, Jan 2, 2009, a seven-member group of investors agreed to buy the remnants of failed lender IndyMac for $13.9 billion. Other investors included a fund controlled by billionaire George Soros’ Fund Management. 

Sept. 6, 2008: Fannie Mae begins its downward spiral, which will end with a crash in November. This crash was avoidable, as the problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were identified in June of 2006, when 15 Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee introduced legislation to address the problem. Democrats, led by Barney Frank, killed the reform efforts.

Sept. 15, 2008: Obama and McCain are virtually tied in their race for the presidency. Out of no-where, in the space of less than 2 hours, the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous drawdown of money market accounts in the U.S. to the tune of $550 billion. Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania said that if authorities had not closed the banks, $5.5 trillion would have been withdrawn from US banks, which would have caused the collapse of the US  within 24 hours.

The markets reacted to Obama’s proposal to bail-out mortgages and Senator Christopher Dodd’s talk of nationalizing banks by reaching 11-year lows.

Enter George Soros. The infamous one-worlder, billionaire George Soros adds his voice to the media doomsayers by opining that the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of near-term resolution to the crisis.* 

Suspects include financial enemies in Middle Eastern states, Islamic terrorists, hostile members of the Chinese military, or government and organized crime groups in Russia, Venezuela or Iran. Chinese military officials.

Nancy Morgan is a columnist and news editor for conservative news site RightBias.com