Tag Archives: debt

The Cupboard Is Not Bare

Old_Mother_Hubbard_Pelosi

(Artwork by Jason Zoglmann)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recently said that the federal cupboard is bare when asked about cutting deficit spending instead of raising the debt ceiling once again.

Now bless her heart I'm sure Mrs. Pelosi truly believes that because she's never seen a government program that she didn't want to start (if it would buy her votes).

Nor has there ever existed a government program, even if proved to be a failure (which would mean most), that she would be willing to cut.

I once actually had a pleasant conversation with Nancy Pelosi on the phone and so let's just say this blog post is my way of returning her nice call. I want to help the former Speaker of the House and any other legislator who believes the cupboard is bare.

Trust me sister, thar's plenty pork that can be cut.

The good folks at Citizen's Against Government Waste annually publish their Prime Cuts Summary of government programs that could be easily cut from the federal government. Here's a quick rundown of that summary:

(The savings would be over a 5-year period)

Cut $61.76 billion from Department of Agriculture subsidies

Cut $785 million from the Commerce Department by eliminating the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Cut $18 billion from the Department of Defense in unnecessary and unrequested spending

Cut $2.3 billion from the Department of Energy by privatizing two federal utilities programs

Cut $24 billion from Health and Human Services Department by eliminating 50% of improper Medicare payments

Cut $18 billion from Department of Housing and Urban Development by eliminating the Community Development Block Grants and Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks America)

Cut over $2 billion from the Interior Department by suspending federal land purchases and eliminating Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) State Recreation Grants

Cut nearly $7 billion from the Justice Department in community grants

Cut $6.45 billion from the Labor Department by repealing the Davis-Bacon Act and ending OSHA's Harwood Grants

Cut $7.85 billion from the Transportation Department by ending subsidies for Amtrak and ending the Essential Air Service (EAS). EAS is a prime example of a temporary program that has morphed into a monster.

Save $730 million by having the Treasury Department switching from paper $1 bills to coins.

Further cuts could be realized by eliminating the following worthless programs:

AmeriCorps - $3.5 billion; Legal Services Corporation - $2.1 billion; National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts - $1.7 billion

And my favorite cut of all! We could save $9.6 billion over the next five years just by reducing by 25% our support to the United Nations, which means we would save $38.4 billion if we just stop supporting it altogether and throw them out of our country.

So you see Dear Nancy, while you may not think cutting $165 billion in pork is not much, it would at least be a good faith act on the part of Congress.

Then there's the repeal of ObamaCare...

Stay the Course

Thomas Paine

These past few days have been trying, no doubt. But a patriot long ago wrote that "these are the times that try men's souls." It was December 23, 1776 and the essay, or pamphlet was titled "The Crisis" written by Thomas Paine. If you've never read this brilliant piece, do so because when you feel like giving up because of anger, despair, frustration and/or pessimism, we have to decide what price we are willing to pay for liberty.

Most of you know that my son Sergeant Eddie Jeffers paid the price, as President Abraham Lincoln said at the Gettysburg Address, "the last full measure." Eddie at times felt like giving up; he even wrote about in his article "Freedom Feels Good":

But more than anyone, I sometimes see futility in my actions. I fight, I kill, I scar myself emotionally, psychologically, and in some ways physically...and as I lay in the dark at night, I wonder what it's for. I wonder if the Iraqi people will ever get it together or if the country will collapse on itself whether I am here or not. It makes me angry, and a big part of me is content to let it fall apart. Part of me doesn't care what happens to this God-forsaken city after I leave it...as long as “me and my boys” make it out in one piece.

But that is the viewpoint of a man who wishes his actions to be in vain. I do not. I have lost very close friends over here. I don't want their lives to have been given in vain. Simply put, we are fighters. We are all in the same place for various reasons, for me, it's personal. I am in a modern day crusade to exterminate evil. People whose atrocities I cannot even begin to name cannot be allowed to exist among us. As long as these people are here, everything that is just and good is at risk.

I get as mad as the next person over our side not fighting the good fight, the strong fight, fighting in a manner I was never allowed to while in the Army or my son would have never entertained in combat.

And then I remember that those, for the most part, serving in Congress are not our military...not even close. They have the luxury of compromise, bipartisanship, winning the media war, and whatever else excuse they come up with to justify their weaknesses.

But I cannot dwell on that; it is a distraction. I need to keep focused on ensuring that we continue to fight the statists in the White House and the Democrat Party. I need to keep focused on continuing to scourge the Republican Party of the RINOs in leadership and those so quickly willing to "cross the aisle" to work in a bipartisanship manner...with the statists.

Patriots, we need to continue to elect men like Marco Rubio who refused to vote for the languid legislation some are still trying to tell us was a good bill.

And be there no doubt that many in the ruling class of the GOP would love for us to stomp our feet and take our toys home. You see, many of the Rockefeller Republicans are perfectly comfortable being in the minority because then they can "vote on principle" knowing their vote will not change the outcome but give them top cover. That is the height of political cowardice and those are the politicians who should no longer be representing WE the People.

So, now that a few days have passed, let's take some glass cleaner to our looking glasses and be ever vigilant of Capitol Hill and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

We do not let up the pressure.

We do not take our eye off the objective.

We cannot be "summer soldiers" or "sunshine patriots" that "shrink from the service of [our] country."

We must and can stay the course.

Our very liberty is at stake...

A Few Loud Voices

That's what the Washington establishment thinks of the Tea Party movement. From Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calling tea party members "extremists," and John McCain calling the Tea Party hobbits and mocking my dear friend Sharron Angle, it's surprising the amount of attention the Tea Party is getting for being "a few loud voices."

You see, the latest plan by Speaker of the House John Boehner is a great deal for conservatives. Just ask the stalwart conservative pundit from the Washington Post Jennifer Rubin. What's that? Never heard of her. Never mind that, she's outlined for us "ten things that happen if the Boehner bill gets through" the House. I won't go through them all, but let me highlight some of her "highlights."

She thinks Boehner's bill becomes "the inevitable solution to the crisis." Really, even though Harry Reid said the bill is DOA when it reaches the Senate? Nevertheless, whether it's $850 billion or $1+trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, those cuts will of course be ignored by any new Congress. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Ms. Rubin rightly points out the Treasury Secretary Geithner would be authorized to immediately increase spending by $900 billion. So spending is guaranteed to go up while spending cuts are just another Capitol Hill promise to be broken later.

She thinks that the passage of Boehner's bill (I know it's not going to pass the Senate but go along for the ride) will cause "the most shrill voices in the GOP [to] take one on the chin" revealing a gap that "is actually between a few loud voices in the blogosphere and Congress." Oh but she does throw the Tea Party a bone saying passage would show that the movement "can move opinion and govern." Tell that to Reid, Schumer, and McCain.

But hey, don't despair, it's good that the Washington elites are underestimating our strength; that will play to our advantage in 2012, more so than in 2010.

Ms. Rubin goes on to say that "Obama won't have any excuse for the rotten economy." Um...Jen...can you name me one he has now, Ms. Conservative Voice for the Washington Post? Barack Obama is never going to need an excuse for the rotten economy; he has the MSM, including your employer, who will work overtime for his reelection.

Oh, and here's my favorite part. Ms. Rubin believes that the left will be demoralized. Yes, and history shows what happens when the left is demoralized, they stay home in protest and don't vote. Oh wait, I'm getting confused; the right does that. No Jennifer, the left, unlike the right and like the lemmings they are, will still vote for Democrats.

Now, the cherry on the top of this journalistic smashup sundae is she wonders "why this is even controversial in Republican ranks."

This is where we at Aletheia Group L.L.C. can help you out with some truthfulness that corresponds to reality. The plan is controversial  because it is not a conservative plan and the House has already passed a bill which the Senate refuses to vote on.

The ball is in their court.

At least it was until Boehner jumped over the net and volleyed the ball back over the net into the House's court.

Honestly, the supposed conservative punditry inside the Beltway is completely out of touch with the grassroots conservative movement. So much so, and this pains me to write this, it includes the great Thomas Sowell.

More on that tomorrow...

For Sale: United States?

The next big fight in Congress is whether or not to raise the current debt ceiling. Supposedly, Capitol Hill and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—purportedly filled with self-avowed Christians—understand that this spending and debt accumulation cannot go on forever. Alas, right understanding does not always turn into right action, particularly not inside the Beltway.

You can read on the Internet many reasons for and against raising the debt ceiling. What does the Bible say about the level of debt our nation is carrying? It describes it in one word: oppression.

In this week’s verse, my Old Testament hero Nehemiah shames the nobles and rulers (read government) and they had no rebuttal. Oh would to God that 535 elected officials in Washington DC be silenced and have nothing to say in their shame for the oppressive debt they have exacted on our children and grandchildren!

Our current debt is selling our children and grandchildren into slavery. By slavery I mean bondage; we are being sold into involuntary servitude and sold to other nations buying up our debt. Our elected officials are no longer worthy of our trust if they are willing to sell our futures because of some supposed bogeyman on the horizon, the same foreboding that was before us for TARP 1 and 2.

We need to understand that we cannot serve God and money. Many a righteous man and woman have gone to Washington DC to serve with godly character and succumb to the devil’s delights. And they actually have no choice; they have to serve one or the other. They can’t straddle the fence. They can’t compromise on principles and expect to maintain godliness. It is impossible.

Our elected officials who are unfaithful with our money will be unfaithful with the power we’ve invested in them.

It is time to stop selling our nation because we are selling our children and grandchildren into bondage.

Founder’s View of Government Revenue Collection

“The ability of a country to pay taxes must always be proportioned, in a great degree, to the quantity of money in circulation, and to the celerity with which it circulates.” Federalist Paper #12

Our national debt has caused economic chaos beyond what most Americans can fathom.
Most of us realize this debt is unsustainable, but we do not realize the reason our economy is suffering. It is because money is scarce, it is moving too slowly, and the government’s source of revenue is itself, so it must print more dollars when the current source dries up.

In a letter to Samuel Kercheval, the author of our Declaration of Independence and 3rd President Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.”

The government has loaded the people “with perpetual debt.” Jefferson is right; it is the people who fear the government today, when it should be the government who fear the  people. That will only happen when WE the People elect only those who will actually defend the US Constitution and the inalienable rights given to us by God, as identified by Jefferson. We cannot allow our government to continue to load our posterity down with perpetual debt. Our continued freedom is depending upon our holding back this economic tyranny.