The Price Of Political Correctness is National Punishment

One only needs to see the signs.

• God has been reduced to a villain by the national media and Hollywood
• Students cannot read a bible in a public classroom
• Images of faith have been removed from our most important icons
• The Ten Commandments have been removed from court room walls and homes
• Our public buildings have been washed clean of all references to God, Jesus or Faith
• Prayer has been stopped before major events
• Our moral compass is spinning from sights and sounds our children are exposed to 
• We even have taken "In God we Trust" off our national currency

As a God inspired nation, the United States has over the last 20 years done everything possible to remove God from our lips and from our thoughts. Some have openly declared God a public enemy of our nation. How is this all possible for a people 85% Christan?  Why have we turned from God at a time when we need him most? I think in God's eyes, we have lost our way and have allowed a select few "wrong minded people" to rebuke his authority for all. 

Our Nation was founded by God fearing men. Men like Washington, Jefferson, Madison and others. Oppression of religion and liberty drove their pursuit for a better government. Men who founded "One Nation Under God". 

Do you ever get the feeling this nation just might need a reminder who's in charge of our life, our prosperity and our Nation?  It's not OBAMA, even though he would like us to think he is the source our hope and the instrument of our change.  He is a "closet Muslim" and as far as I am concerned, not even a U.S. citizen...he and his appointed "czars" are leading this great nation to its knees.  Maybe God is executing a plan and he is just a pawn in the plan.

I have given this a lot of thought and prayer. Would a loving father correct his children? Sure. Does a caring father allow a child to make some mistakes so they can learn what wisdom they won't receive freely without that awful price? Sure. I think God is about to teach us a very important lesson.

Our Nation is in deep moral and financial trouble. Mohammad-ism (Islam) is spreading unchecked throughout the world. Is it here and we have allowed it to flourish without a single word of opposition by Christians and God fearing religions. God will give us what we allow, just to teach us a lesson.

How far will our Great Nation be allowed to fall?  Where is the bottom? We could use a yardstick to find out. If our benchmark is our founding fathers, then I think we will fall very far....maybe even to the edge of the Republic before being saved by  Christan Revival. Our moral weakness of lack of an open commitment to God will be our undoing.

Is there something you can do? There is...

1. Openly display your faith...in public, on your car, at your work, on your body, in your life
2. Practice your faith...do what God commands
3. Stop political correctness whenever it appears by taking a stand for God
4. Get involved in politics...even if it is volunteer time to a candidate you believe in
5. Enlighten others
6. Teach and show people how to make a difference through Godly actions

The End Goal is Simple:

Return God front and center to the republic and to the people....maybe then, He won't let our country "wander in the wilderness for 40 years"

   

A Time For Hope

(It's Christmas morning as I write this. I am waiting for family to arise and join the day.)

Today is the day God sent his son Jesus Christ into this world.  Today is the day we received a Saviour. Today is the day hope for all humanity began. It is hope I want to focus on.

Hope is the belief in a different outcome than current conditions point to.  Hope is belief in a future state. Hope is the outcome of faith. Faith allows us not only to "move mountains", but allows us to deal with the most extreme conditons of life and this natural world.  Faith allows us to place one entitiy in charge...that is God - and through his son we come to him in faith and in belief.

Today is the day we celibrate the birth of the Son of God. It is not about presents, turkey dinners, football or friends even though those are all expressions of our joy. Today is about the son of God. Today is about faith. Today is about the hope we have for all mankind. That through the birth of Jesus we can find eternal hope, eternal peace and everlasting faith.

Merry Christmas  

CATO Institute "Handbook to Congress"

This is a very interesting "handbook designed for the 105th Congress by the CATO Institute. It uses the Constitution and Bill of Rights as a backdrop for a "laundry list" of suggestions as diverse as the Power of Government to other grievous threats to civil liberty.

Well worth reading as it provides not just questions, but answers, to today's important timely issues before society.    

http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/handbook105.html

Government Report_Identity Theft

http://www.identitytheft.gov/reports/StrategicPlan.pdf

This is worth reading by anyone interested in protecting their identity.

Signs to know when you are about to be let go...

Here are a few signs, (in no order), to know that your employment time is about up:

1. Your boss does not talk to you anymore.
2. Your boss talks to you in a simpler "transactional" manner...."I need this" or "can you please get this" or "have you done that."
3. You receive less and less assignments.
4. Your boss or superiors are more courteous than usual without explanation.
5. You are moved into less prominent digs "for the sake of structuring".
6. You overhear rumors that involve you name.
7. People smile, but do not engage in conversation.
8. You company contributions are being re-positioned into lesser light.
9. Sales are falling and you are not being asked to help fix it.
10. You are not part of the "save the company" team or solution.
11. No new work comes your way.
12. The company is taking steps to consolidate and downsize in other areas.
13. Assets are being sold off.
14. Cash is scarce and even little purchases are being challenged.
15. Your support staff is let go, or reassigned.
16. You're reassigned. Right in the middle of a big project you were working on.
17. Your taken off distribution of new documents issued within the firm you once received regularly.
18. You get that feeling that your not being taken seriously.

I could go on, but you get the general point. Once you start seeing the signs the countdown is on. You need to take steps to secure your future. Steps like:

1. Making sure what you created is in your possession off site and secure.
2. Reduce the amount of personal stuff in your office to a bare minimum.
3. Understanding it is not personal...it is business.
4. Using you time wisely by planning for the future and making contacts.
5. Shoring up your existing internal contacts with friendly notes and external contact data verifications.
6. Preparing your resume and quality examples of your work.
7. Writing off site a more detailed plan for your future...and then work the plan.
8. Start looking for your next assignment now while income is still flowing.

Good Luck...and remember to "be observant"...nothing is worse than being "blindsided" by a layoff or out right firing.

Bankruptcies Will Increase Inspite of BAPCPA

Sometimes we all need a slap in the face to know when we are being "sold out" by our so called "friends" and in this case "elected politicians". Case in point:

BAPCPA (http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/index.htm ) is that little known initiative passed into law in 1995 under George Bush designed to thwart bankruptcy abuse...a law for an abuse which never really existed and was solely created at the behest and lobbied actions of Major Credit Card Issuers.

So why was this law created? One word: Greed

In the following link is a factual Harvard Law sponsored report titled: Did Bankruptcy Reform Fail? An Empirical Study of Consumer Debtors, by Robert M. Lawless, Angela K. Littwin, Katherine M. Porter, John A. E. Pottow, Deborah K. Thorne, and Elizabeth Warren*

http://bdp.law.harvard.edu/pdfs/papers/Lawless/Did_Bankruptcy_Reform_Fail.pdf

This independent study confirmed the BAPCPA law did not protect the rights of people, or end bankruptcy filings...it protected Credit Card Issuer financial interests at the expense of families who really need the relief provided under prior Bankruptcy Laws. Let's face it...Gone are the days when you can "start over financially."


Here's an excerpt and highlights of the conclusions found at the end of the report:

"The Consumer Bankruptcy Project is the first random national sample of
families that filed for bankruptcy after the 2005 amendments. Our initial findings
should dampen the enthusiasm with which some trumpet BAPCPA’s success in reducing the number of bankruptcies. The principal feature of the amendments was an income-based screen that was supposed to differentiate can-pay debtors from their can’t-pay counterparts. The data suggest that this failed: there is no differentiation based on income, either for the sample as a whole or for the division of families into Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.


Instead, the data suggest that the incomes of the families filing for bankruptcy after the amendments are indistinguishable from the incomes of the families filing for bankruptcy before the amendments. By its own design, the means test focused on income. It did not take account of the overall financial condition of debtors; net worth and debt-to-income ratios were irrelevant to the new law. While secured debt received some favored treatment,the size and impact of unsecured debt loads, such as credit card and medical debt, were largely ignored. With only slight exceptions, families that owe a little and families that owe a lot of unsecured debt are equally eligible for Chapter 7 relief once they have survived the income-based means test. Yet this is where our additional findings reveal important differences with the 2007 filers. After the amendments, families filing
for bankruptcy owe more debt, particularly more unsecured consumer debt, than their counterparts from 2001 and are having a much harder time servicing that debt with disposable income.

The higher debt-to-income ratios among the families that filed bankruptcy
in 2007 suggest that Americans are struggling harder than ever before
they collapse into bankruptcy. Whether they are discouraged by the negative
publicity surrounding the 2005 amendments, concerned about the stigma associated with bankruptcy, or dissuaded by aggressive debt collectors who
bully them into believing they can no longer file for bankruptcy, it is clear
that families are not turning to bankruptcy even when they have great need.
This is a result Congress neither intended nor promised."
Some report huh? The above excerpt is A-typical of laws that serve the lobbyists - not the people they target for wealth extraction, loss of liberty or control. In spite of its good intentions, you can bank on several of these predictions as I look downstream in the economic crisis and coming mega-depression.

1. Continued and rising unemployment is going to extend into personal bankruptcy filings.
2. BAPCPA is just a pebble in the path of the train wreck coming down the line as more and more people look for financial protection.
3. Bankruptcy courts are not prepared for the onslaught and will be overwhelmed...this will prohibit "late filers" from reaching status in time to save their position.
4. In the final analysis, no one is going to give a second thought whether you do, or do not, pay down a credit card company balance in a personal survival situation. Likely they will be the first to be shunned.
   "First you have to find me, then you have to sue me, then you have to get blood from the turnip".
   
   
5. The people will call to end BAPCPA as the true nature of the law and its' consequence is revealed. Lot's of "how did this law pass" calls.

Here is my definition of an important concept for all those people who think they are immune from those who seek to redistribute your wealth:
Judgement Proof: A condition or position where a person or legal entity has taken all necessary steps to protect assets present and future from all claims and legal challenges existing, real or perceived.
In essence, all wealth is out of reach and out of touch by anyone except by the holder.
Lack of payments (income) results in loss of corporate income. If you aren't making money you downsize. If you downsize, you send people to the street. If you downsize far enough, you sell off assets to make cash. If you sell off enough assets and are out of cash you are broke...bankrupt.

Combined FED Charts On Economy

Great single document group of charts of all U.S. economic indicators and performance.

http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/directors_charts/econ_fin.pdf

Mortgage Defaults Chart By County

Great interactive chart on defaults.

http://data.newyorkfed.org/creditconditions/

The Promise

I listened to a great sermon this weekend by Pastor Matt Popivits at Crosspoint Church in Katy, Texas. He is a fantastic preacher with good and solid insight and this time was no exception. He spoke about several promises made in the Old Testament about the coming of Jesus. How each was irrefutable. How they all came to reality in time.

On the drive home, I begin to think about the promises of man and government.

There are promises...and then there are promises. Some promises are kept. This brings about trust in future promises. Some promises are not kept and that leads to distrust.

Our Constitution is a promise and so is our Bill of Rights. Together these works of men set out the creation and management of this great Country by our founding fathers...men like Washington, Hamilton, Madison and Franklin. While itis true they each had their vices, sins and faults - on balance these were learned men of integrity and honor...founded in English society and law. God fearing men all.

We have lost our proverbial way after 233 years since our Independence.

• Our Government leaders are not honest, transparent or above influence.
• Gangs have replaced moral development in the family.
• Government liberals want to redefine our Republic.
• God's teachings are being challenged and when possible replaced by Political Correctness out of fear of offense to anyone. What ever happened to leading our morality with those same principals?
• We have fallen into a pool of apathy with our right to vote. Less than 56.8% of the registered voters turned out to vote in 2008. I guess that means that the other 43.2% or 98.6 million people feel their vote will not change the political outcome. Instead they need to know they are the difference and the hope.
• We have overspent and over committed in our personal financial lives and as a nation.
• We are fighting two questionable wars with no clear end goal or commitment to win. Could it be that the real war is over oil?
• We are dangerously close to adopting socialist government programs like national heath care. Once started....it cannot be undone.
• Unemployment has replaced prosperity. Business owners are scared of their future and their Government for the first time in almost 80 years.
• We allow the Government to grow in size unchecked and to devalue our dollar. This is a fraud on the taxpayer and places long range burdens on our children's, children. Why are we not marching on Washington over the irresponsible management of the dollar.
• Corruption occurs in the form of "deal making" in both Houses and "Czars". These acts are converting a well defined political process into a "back room scandal" and a "Mafia Organization" respectively.

Think about the promises of men today...and I am speaking about those who hold a Government office.

• Are these honorable men and women?
• Do they make good on their promises before office?
• Do they do what is best for our county, or follow what is the best for their party and political careers?

It begs to be asked:

How can we re-elect these same people into office who have demonstrated their lack of trust through broken promises and patrician politics. How can we stand by and watch our Constitution and Bill of Rights become trampled under the feet of socialist, liberals and lobbyist influenced people.

I for one cannot be silent. My government and my legislature have failed in their fiduciary responsibilities to me...both as a tax payer and as a citizen.

Where do we go from here?

It is not even about forming some new party. It is my belief that we need a new rebirth in government if this republic and democracy is to survive.

I am going to use a simple approach. Between the Senate and House of Representatives, there are some 545 men and women who officially run the Government of this great Country. Add to that the office of President and Vice President and collectively, these few people are our actors in Government. It is about starting over. Starting over with 545 men and women who believe in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and wish to defend this country and these rights in the face of all adversity...foreign and domestic.

Fellow Citizens. Our problems are not in foreign lands...they reside in a failure to hold our elected officials accountable. Don't make the problem worse by reelecting career politicians back into office. Your vote does count.

Bring back the promises our founding fathers wrote to each of us. Our candidate will be Christan and fear God, believe in this republic, put people first, and practice a conservative Government approach.