What in the world has happened to our once great republic? The U.S. Congress has been turned into a festival of legalized bribery. We all know that at least on some level, but when Glenn Beck interviewed Eric Massa the other day, what Massa had to say totally stunned many of us. He told Beck that "you can literally be bought and sold legally" as a member of the U.S. Congress. He also said that members of Congress spend about 5 hours a day just raising money, and that there are special coaches that are brought in that teach them how to do it better. How insane is that?
But one of the saddest things that Massa had to say is that he felt completely and utterly powerless to change the system as a member of Congress. When even a member of Congress can do absolutely nothing about the runaway corruption of the U.S. government, you know that the system is broken.
Do yourself a favor and take a couple of minutes and watch the excerpt from the interview posted below. No matter what your political persuasion is, you have to admit that this is really, really sad....
The following is a letter to new Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown from a disgruntled Tea Party activist that has been getting forwarded all over the Internet. I think that it sums up the feelings of a lot of those involved in the Tea Party movement regarding Scott Brown. It only took him a couple of days in office for him to betray the people who elected him. The truth is that Scott Brown is a RINO - a Republican in name only. He has already shown that he has far more in common with Barack Obama than with anyone in the Republican Party.
So now many Tea Party activists are furious and are going to be working to vote out Scott Brown in the next election. All of the enthusiasm and passion that benefited him this time could very well be his undoing next time around.
Here is the letter from the disgruntled Tea Party activist....
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Dear Scott Brown,
You are a real piece of work, aren't you? I am a member of the Tea Party Movement that went to bat for you. I donated money, that we just didn't have, but, your words spoke of the true "change" we all wanted. I gave up countless hours in email to the good people of your state, in support of you. I worked your phone banks. You made promises that were nothing more than a lie, to get yourself elected. You are nothing more than a RINO!!!!
You voted with the commies on a jobs bill that you knew was just a fraud upon the people. And, the last straw? When I saw you prancing around endorsing Juan McAmnesty.
You, sir, are a fool. WE put you in office, and, hear me well, AH, WE will take you out just as easily. The TEA PARTY MOVEMENT grows in strength, resolve and determination. Enjoy your 2 years, Brown, because.....WE the PEOPLE are coming for you in NOV 2012!!!!!! The Tea Party Movement can make or break anyone....you are aware of this....you were recipient of our good, generous natures. YOU LIED TO US. You are the same as the rest of them, and, I think you are a sad, pathetic, small, little man.
See ya at the polls, BROWN!!!!
Also, during your 2 years in office? WE the PEOPLE will be on you at every word you speak, and, every action you choose to take. You are about to find out what being on the other side of the Tea PArty Movement is really like.
For the most part, Barack Obama has done a horrible job when it comes to keeping his promises. But when it comes to nuclear disarmament, it looks like he intends to be a man of his word. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama openly set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. At the time a lot of people did not take him seriously, because after all, who in their right mind would suggest that the U.S. should give up having nuclear weapons?
Well, apparently Obama was quite serious.
Senior administration officials are now saying that Barack Obama intends to permanently reduce America’s nuclear arsenal by "thousands" of weapons.
But shouldn't you wait until you negotiate with the other side before you declare that you intend to give up a large percentage of your weapons?
Well, apparently that is not the way things work in Obama World.
In fact, Obama's obsession with getting rid of nuclear weapons is creating quite a bit of friction between him and the boys down at the Pentagon.
On Monday, Obama met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to discuss the "Nuclear Posture Review" which was supposed to be published in December but which was delayed because Obama did not consider it radical enough.
Apparently the brass over at the Pentagon is very resistant to dramatically change U.S. policy regarding nuclear weapons, but Obama is very clear about what he wants.
"It will be clear in the document that there will be very dramatic reductions — in the thousands — as relates to the stockpile."
In fact, during the campaign he very clearly told the American people that it was his intention to set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons....
Since being elected, Obama has been working hard on negotiating a new nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Russians. Under a memorandum of joint understanding signed last July, deployed nuclear warheads for both the United States and Russia will be reduced to below 1,700 on each side within seven years of signing a new treaty. That represents a radical reduction by both sides.
So are we likely to see a new treaty soon?
Well, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Russia and the United States are close to completing negotiations on a new treaty on strategic arms cuts.
So it is getting close.
But besides the cuts called for in negotiations with the Russians, Obama is making unilateral pledges as well.
For example, Obama has pledged that the United States will not develop new nuclear weapons.
In addition, there are rumors that there have been "back-channel discussions" with U.S. allies about whether to withdraw American tactical nuclear weapons from Europe.
All of this comes at a time when strategic threats around the globe are multiplying.
Once upon a time, Russia was the only serious nuclear threat we needed to be concerned with, but now China and North Korea are very serious threats, and nations such as Iran and Venezuela could soon become very big problems as well.
At this moment, the U.S. nuclear arsenal consists of approximately 2,600 deployed nuclear warheads, with another 2,500 in reserve and 4,000 more that are scheduled to be dismantled.
But now the deal that the Obama administration is seeking to make with the Russians would reduce the nuclear arsenals of both the United States and Russia to less than 1,700 warheads, and there are those in the Obama administration that are pushing for unilateral cuts beyond even that.
This would mean that that U.S. nuclear arsenal would end up being less than 10 percent of what it was at the height of the Cold War. Just check out the chart below....
Meanwhile, the Russian military is modernizing their tactical and strategic forces as if they were preparing for war....
*Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday that once it has completed work on its own fifth-generation fighter, Russia must proceed with designing a "next generation" strategic bomber.
*Russia has announced plans to buy four warships from France in the biggest defense deal with a NATO member since the end of the Cold War.
But the Obama administration acts as if the Cold War is over and as if Russia poses no threat to the United States whatsoever.
In fact, the Obama administration is acting as if the U.S. really doesn't need a nuclear deterrent at all anymore.
Posted by Admin | Posted in Economy | Posted on 17-02-2010
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Most Americans believe that the U.S. economy will fully recover from this recent recession and will soon become stronger than ever. But that is definitely not what is happening. The truth is that the very foundations of the U.S. economy are coming apart and we are headed for a massive amount of financial trouble as a nation. Collectively, the U.S. government, U.S. businesses and U.S. consumers have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world. This mountain of debt has enabled us to enjoy a spectacular standard of living for the past several decades, but now the bills are coming due and nobody seems to even realize how great of a financial disaster the U.S. now finds itself in the middle of.
The following are 10 huge flashing danger signs that show just how much of a mess the U.S. economy is in....
#1) The FDIC is opening a satellite office in the Chicago area that will accommodate up to 500 temporary staffers and contractors to manage receiverships and liquidate assets from what they are expecting will be a massive wave of failed Midwest banks.
#2) The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell by $53 billion in December, which is the biggest one month decline in history. China alone reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries by $34.2 billion. So if foreigners quite buying up all of our debt, what happens then?
#3) Mortgage defaults in the U.S. have continued to hit record highs and housing prices are continuing to fall. Now, a massive "second wave" of adjustable rate mortgages is scheduled to reset beginning in 2010. The first wave of adjustable rate mortgage resets absolutely devastated the U.S. housing market in 2007 and 2008. So what is this second wave of mortgage resets going to do to the U.S. economy?
#4) In fact, one new study estimates that five million houses and condominiums will go through foreclosure over the next few years. Needless to say, that would be absolutely catastrophic.
#5) The number of Americans who are declaring bankruptcy continues to skyrocket. 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
#6) But how can Americans pay their bills without jobs? In some areas of the United States it is now nearly impossible to get a really good job unless you have an inside connection. In fact, the mayor of Detroit estimates that the real unemployment rate in his city is approximately 45 to 50 percent.
#7) America needs jobs, but soaring unemployment insurance taxes are discouraging small and mid-size companies from bringing on more workers. According to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, companies in at least 35 states will have to fork over even more in unemployment insurance taxes in 2010. Making it more costly to hire a new worker is not going to help put Americans back to work.
#8) The U.S. economy is facing a pension crisis of unprecedented magnitude. The truth is that the vast majority of all pension funds in the United States, both public and private, are extremely underfunded. With millions upon millions of Baby Boomers now at retirement age, there is simply no way that all of these unfunded pension obligations can be met. Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Chicago and Joshua D. Rauh of Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management recently calculated the collective unfunded pension liability for all 50 U.S. states for Forbes magazine. So what was the total that they came up with? 3.2 trillion dollars.
#9) Not only that, but the Social Security system is also a silent monster that threatens to devastate U.S. government finances. In fact, many analysts are now forecasting that the coming wave of Baby Boomers is going to bankrupt the entire Social Security system.
#10) All of these economic problems come at a time when the U.S. national debt is exploding into the stratosphere. The national debt is now over 12 trillion dollars and it is rising at a rate of about 3.8 billion dollars per day. So how much is one trillion dollars? Well, if you spent one dollar every single second of every single day, it would take you over 31,000 years to spend one trillion dollars. That is a lot of money.
The truth is that the U.S. is drowning in debt. American consumers are broke. American businesses are broke. State governments are broke. The U.S. federal government is broke. The only way that we can keep things going is to borrow increasingly larger amounts of money.
But when we do borrow even more money we make our long-term problems even worse.
The day of reckoning for the U.S. economy is fast approaching and we are headed for some extremely difficult economic times.
The next U.S. presidential election is nearly 3 years away, but suddenly things are starting to heat up. Not only did Sarah Palin give the keynote address at the recently completed Tea Party convention, but the truth is that she also sounds like someone who has definitely decided to run for president in 2012. In a stunning television interview, Sarah Palin told Fox News that she "would be willing" to challenge Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential race if the conditions are right. When asked directly if she would run, this is what she said....
"I would be willing to if I believe that it's right for the country."
Video of this interview on Fox News is posted below....
That definitely does not sound like someone who is not going to run for president.
In fact, everything about Sarah Palin right now screams out that she plans to run - she is just not ready to make a formal announcement for a while.
So, she is saying the right things about other potential candidates for now. During the Fox News interview, Palin said that there were other potential Republican candidates who are "in as strong or stronger position than I am to take on the White House and if they're in a better position than I in three years, I'll support them."
Recent polls have revealed that the Republican base favors her right now over other potential Republican candidates, and when Tea Party convention organizer Judson Phillips brought up the idea of "President Palin" in a question-and-answer session after Sarah Palin's speech, members of the audience reportedly leaped to their feet and started chanting "Run, Sarah, Run."
So will Sarah Palin run for president in 2012?
Yes.
Not only is she snuggling up to the Tea Party movement, she is also out actively endorsing other Republican candidates and plans to be an active campaigner during the 2010 campaign season.
If she was "retiring" from politics she would not be aggressively out there like this.
Everything she is doing is laying the groundwork for 2012.
But if for some reason Sarah Palin does not run in 2012, when will she run?
Never.
In American politics, you must run while you are hot.
Do you think people like Bob Dole, John Kerry, Dan Quayle or Michael Dukakis would have a prayer of getting elected to the presidency now?
No.
But at one time all of those guys were hot and they all had realistic chances of becoming president.
It is all about striking while the iron is hot.
That is what Barack Obama did.
2012 is Sarah Palin's chance.
Either she gets elected then, or it is almost certainly over for her.
That is the reality of American politics.
She is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of American politics already, but the truth is that right now Sarah Palin is very hot with the Tea Party crowd.
2012 is her shot - if she is willing to go for it.
And she will be.
But she may not be the only conservative female running in 2012.
Michele Bachmann is also a huge Tea Party favorite and she is lurking in the background and is evaluating what direction the political winds are blowing. Already there are websites that are urging her to run for president in 2012. She has a ton of support among conservatives and she is getting a ton of face time on the news channels.
So could we see a Palin vs. Bachmann duel for the Republican nomination?
You never know.
Or perhaps they will end up joining forces and running together.
What in the world has happened to our once great republic? The U.S. Congress has been turned into a festival of legalized bribery. We all know that at least on some level, but when Glenn Beck interviewed Eric Massa the other day, what Massa had to say totally stunned many of us. He told Beck that "you can literally be bought and sold legally" as a member of the U.S. Congress. He also said that members of Congress spend about 5 hours a day just raising money, and that there are special coaches that are brought in that teach them how to do it better. How insane is that?
