The American Spectator : A Nation of One-Eyed Sycophants?

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The Obama Watch

A Nation of One-Eyed Sycophants?

Our president is all closed ears when it comes to "chatter" and "talk" disapproving of his policies.

President Obama got it right for a minute during his recent stop in Africa. "No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top," he told the Parliament of Ghana.

Then he flew home to a U.S. economy that's losing a half million jobs per month and started pushing for a new round of tax hikes and costly regulations on American businesses, even though they're already paying double the rate that Obama warned will kill off investment and job growth.

"I wonder if the President is referring to corrupt bureaucrats asking for bribes," wrote the Cato Institute's Daniel J. Mitchell regarding Obama's advice to the Ghanians. "But even if that is the case, why does it matter?" -- i.e., it's same disincentive whether the money is pocketed by the Treasury or by a crooked bureaucrat.

Even before the next round of tax hikes and health care mandates, U.S. corporations are operating under an average combined federal and state corporate tax rate of 39.3 percent, second only among OECD countries to Japans' combined rate of 39.5 percent.

Moreover, the combined corporate tax rate in 24 high-tax states in the U.S. is higher than top-ranked Japan. Iowa is the worst, hitting corporations with a 12 percent corporate tax rate, followed by Pennsylvania with a 9.99 percent rate on corporate income.

Does anyone think that Obama, being consistent, will stop by in Pittsburgh during the upcoming G-20 summit and deliver the same message that he preached in Ghana, warning that Pittsburgh is at the top of the pile in the nation in population losses and low job creation because the city skims too much money from what's left of its business sector?

Since the last census, Pittsburgh had the nation's fifth worst rate of decline in population among the 273 cities with more than 100,000 residents. Remove Katrina-hit New Orleans from the list and Pittsburgh moves up to fourth place (only Buffalo, Cleveland, and Flint, Michigan were worse).

President Obama also had another good line in his economic pontifications in Ghana. "No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves," he warned. What's the chance that he'll deliver that same message to the crooks on Wall Street the next time they have their hands out for more billions of our tax dollars?

Landing back in the U.S., President Obama immediately delivered the marching orders on health care reform, sounding not unlike a father who just got back from out-of-town and found that his teenagers had been having too much fun while he was away.

"So I just want to put everyone of notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone," he declared. "Inaction is not an option."

Inaction, in short, isn't an option even if his plan is fundamentally flawed. And we have to act at once, with no more "chatter."

Dr. David Blumenthal, Harvard professor and a key health advisor to Obama, explained the rush: "Bill Clinton waited nine months to introduce his Health Security Act in 1993, which allowed the opposition to mobilize and defeat him."

President Obama has appointed Blumenthal as the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, a position that Dr. Betsy McCaughey, a former Lt. Governor of New York and a renowned patient advocate, describes as the head of a system of "computer-guided medical care."

That means that Blumenthal and Obama, by design, can decide what we'll be allowed to receive in medical care, not the newly de-skilled and less-expensive physicians who can just bring up on their computers what the central planners are mandating as the "best practice" and most "cost effective" treatment in each of our specific cases, given budget constraints and our age.

Dr. McCaughey describes how that's worked in practice in the U.K. in her "Downgrading American Medical Care" article in the July/August issue of The American Spectator: "In 2006, older patients with macular degeneration, which causes blindness, were told that they had to go totally blind in one eye before they could get an expensive new drug to save the other eye."

After nearly two years, the public in the U.K., still permitted to "chatter," got the care-denying edict by the central planners reversed.

Here at home, with his command for "no more talk," what is it exactly that Obama is demanding? A nation of one-eyed sycophants?

About the Author

Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise and an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (34) | Leave a comment

Robert Rosencrans| 7.20.09 @ 7:19AM

And in summary, the politicians are astute enough to know, you only need one eye to vote!

Appleby| 7.20.09 @ 7:37AM

Obama hears the footsteps behind him and as Satchel Page advised, he is not looking back because he KNOWS something is gaining on him.

That something is us.

Louis Jenkins| 7.20.09 @ 8:26AM

"No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves," he warned.

Seems there is a lot of exploitation going on state side. Another case of do as I say not as I do. The difference is that our Illustrious Leader is enriching (with illicit national debt, fake printed money, and our tax dollars) those who supported and voted in his favor, ie, the Unions, ACORN, whereas the Third World Thugs only take care of themselves and their families. As stated Obama lost no time instituting his political agenda with a ‘slash and burn’ method so common in Third World inter-tribal extermination. Conservatives were off balance when Obama hit the ground running in Jan. Try as he might he very well knew that he could not put all of his oppostion to the sword. Slowly the pendulum is beginning to swing back. He, and his cronies in the House and Senate, are beginning to note the hot breath and snorts of a pissed off bull at their heels. It’s only been six months but it is well past due.

ds80| 7.20.09 @ 8:42AM

The Boy President's strongest credential is that he can't be taken at his word.

Howard| 7.20.09 @ 8:42AM

What we have is a Fascist thug in the White House and a bunch of gangsters in the House and Senate and they are not all Democrats. Everytime I see the phrase "Moderate or Conservative Democrat", I gag. If they were moderate or conservative, they would not be in the party of felons, parasites, and unions. Madoff is an amateur thief compared to the gangsters in government at all levels. They are not just the political class, they are the criminal class.

Louis Jenkins| 7.20.09 @ 9:17AM

The stimulus bill was loaded with pork is an understatement. Go to Drudge Report and look at the headlines or follow the links below. Drudge has more links.

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=12-AG3J14120297210&mode=details&primeid=4

$2,531,600.00 for a packing company in L.A. HAM, WATER ADDED, COOKED, FROZEN, SLICED, 2-LB

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=12-AG3J14120297196&mode=details&primeid=27

$1,191,200.00 for the same packing company in L.A. 2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/contracts-recipient-summary&id=12-AG3J14120297195&mode=details&primeid=30

$16,784,272.00 for a packing company in Wis. CANNED PORK

This is what we and our kids will be paying for? This is our money!! And we have to cut back on health care costs? How about cutting back on pork consumption? That can lower a lot of people's blood pressures, but not mine since I've read the price on those contracts.

Deborah D| 7.20.09 @ 11:18AM

As I said before the election, Obama's motto should be: "Do as I say. Don't question. Unity by force." Maybe I should add: "No one needs more than one eye." Obama has spoken.

Bilwick| 7.20.09 @ 11:35AM

"I'm putting everyone on notice. . . ."???

Sincence, peasants. Il Dufe has spoken! So let it be written; so let it be done!

XD-40| 7.20.09 @ 1:01PM

Where's the Birth Certificate, Kingfish? I hope Walpin nails your commie butt!

Grzmlyk| 7.20.09 @ 1:11PM

Hmm. Wonder why bob hasn't excreted all over this thread yet.

Bobby, where are you? Amassing your ersatz data to tell us why we should believe you and not our lying eyes?

Oh, please, please tell us how corporations don't actually pay income tax at all; how Obama's not a dictator; how, thanks to the wonder of "effective" tax rates, we will never have to worry about exorbitant taxation, or how, thanks to your handy-dandy phony GDP chart (yes, I know its "provenance), America will continue to prosper no matter what government does!

Tell us again how the recovery will be in full swing in just five short months as you decreed. Oh put us right, Infallable one!

Michael Tomlinson| 7.20.09 @ 1:24PM

"'I wonder if the President is referring to corrupt bureaucrats asking for bribes,' wrote the Cato Institute's Daniel J. Mitchell regarding Obama's advice to the Ghanians. 'But even if that is the case, why does it matter?' -- i.e., it's same disincentive . . ." The US Treasuary under Barack Obama and his hireling is a crooked bureaucracy.

As for population and job losses in blue states the only thing I worry about is that they'll move into red states and ruin them with the same stupid voting pattern that ruined their home states. Sort of like how liberal Californians tend to corrupt/ruin everywhere they move to.

Old Texican| 7.20.09 @ 1:57PM

FEAR AND GREED

That is a fearsome combination, ladies and gentlemen.
My wife and I asked ourselves a question this weekend...
""OK Obama and crew are outright communists trying to take this over this country in a financial "Blitzkrieg"..... but why do congressmen follow along?

Folks, the only thing we can think of is FEAR!

...WE BLINKED AND AGREED!

OK.....Then we began asking "fear of what?"

...exposure of personal sins?

...exposure of exposing financial shenanigans?

...fear of being "Sarahed"?

...or "Joe Plumbered"?

Any further fears you guys can think of would be welcomed to our list. Thank you.

William| 7.20.09 @ 2:46PM

I just wish Lil' Barry had been a Lewinski.

Marc Jeric| 7.20.09 @ 2:53PM

Have you seen Abu Hussein from Kenya when he deigns to address us? His head risen up, looking from above on us serfs, disdainful smirk of his mouth - a real new age Julius Caesar! He has got his ACORN brownshirts armed to act; Community Organizer-in-Chief is orchestrating his thugs for protests, intimidation, voter fraud. It is useful to remember that the Russian word for community organization is "soviet".

Louis Jenkins| 7.20.09 @ 4:43PM

Rx for this mess, "Just take a pain pill."

Jeff | 7.20.09 @ 5:19PM

Are you guys really that stupid? No one is talking about instituting anything that even remotely resembles Britain's health care system. What you are employing is called a slippery slope FALLACY. What we are considering and rightly so, is comparative effectiveness research. Here in America doctors often prescribe more expensive, less effective drugs. Comparative effectiveness will reduce these occurrences. For a party so concerned about fiscal discipline it is diffiucult for me to understand your opposition.

Waits for: Liberal fascist, euthanasia, hack, socialized medicine

Any thoughtful response would be appreciated.

Jeff| 7.20.09 @ 5:24PM

Marc Jeric you seem very angry that a black man is your President. This is reflected by the fact that your posts seem to full of resentful personal attacks and devoid of thoughtful critique. Do you consider policy or just spend all of your time thinking about new petty ways to insult Abu Hussein?

Old Texican| 7.20.09 @ 5:33PM

Jeff
I don't know about Mark, but I don't like THIS BLACK MAN as President. I wouldn't like him if he were pink, purple, or ALFFLACK DUCK.

A communist is a communist....GET A JOB!

Pete| 7.20.09 @ 5:57PM

Tex,

You know better...any opposition, whether in thought or deed, of the Messiah means that you are automatically racist. This sort of thing you learn in public school these days...so you must be old or otherwise schooled. How else do you think this anti-American, no experience, left wing clown got elected? (answer: deeply ingrained false white guilt amongst liberals - and a healthy dose of voter fraud, of course)

William| 7.20.09 @ 6:06PM

Jeff - you elect to ignore Marc Jeric's point that Lil' Barry is not proven to be a documented American citizen.

Like the slick little provacateur that you are you throw the race card instead of recognizing the point that Marc Jeric is really making - that the Poseur of the United States is not an AmCit.

Be assured, that to truly enforce the social and economic injutices and tyrannies that all you little lickspittle commisariat types want you will have to impose a terror, a police state, or both. When you do that, the gloves, and all bets, are off.

"NO NO NO - NOT GOD BLESS OBAMA! GODDAMN OBAMA! IT IS IN THE BIBLE! THOU SHALT NOT STEAL"

Live by agitprop, die by agitprop, commissariat scum.

Old Texican| 7.20.09 @ 7:28PM

Pete
William

I have pasted my remarks from another blog here.
I was commenting on Ted Kennedy:

A dog is not doing wrong when he craps in your front yard.........He is just being a dog.

I BLAME THE VOTERS OF MASSACHUSETTS!

Just like I blame US voters, (or fail to voters, or dumbcrap third party voters), for the hell we are going to go through in this country.

>>We now have a dog crapping on the whitehouse lawn...but dammit it is not his fault.
He is just doing what dogs do...because they can.

Old Texican| 7.20.09 @ 7:41PM

Somehow
the end of my comment was deleted when I hit submit....

We have a President and crew who HATE America as it is.
OK, I hate a lot of things too. I hate that we have congress critters who after only two years "service" get a life-long comfortable pension and full health-care for life...no charge.

I hate financial gurus who screw their investors to the tune of billions of $$$ while skimming billions of $$$.

I hate insurance companies who cheat their customers...and thank goodness for Aetna who do not.
I hate worthless bureaucrats who could care less about doing their jobs properly.

Yeah, I hate a lot of things, but with all that...we can improve all those things without a gun to our heads as Obama DREAMS of doing.

He is crapping on every good man and woman who built this country...because...he can...
AND WE LET HIM GET ELECTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big J| 7.20.09 @ 7:52PM

How ironic it was to watch The Big O lecturing the Africans on how to attract investment to their country. Meanwhile, he is putting a boot on the throat of every investment-minded entity in the country he is supposedly leading (notice I didn't say "his country").

Did anyone else find this odd:

Obama has traveled to many countries in the last 6 months. Italy, France, Turkey, U.K., Egypt, a couple in South America, etc.: Every stop he made, he literally trashed America, apologizing for things I had no idea that we had done. Then apologizing some more. Then saying how we were going to be better. Then apologizing some more. Then denying that we won the cold war. Then, send Hillary to apologize some more.

He shows up in Ghana, and lectures them on how corrupt they have been, and how they need to change.

I would be interested in your thoughts on this. It seemed odd to me.

Aside from that, if the man and his minions in the house and senate are not stopped, they are going to DESTROY this country. The Jeff character who posted above is in the minority. Most kool-aide drinkers are onto him, or at least know that somethin's just not quite right.

Jeff: Liberal fascist
euthanasia
hack
socialized medicine

Damn straight, Earl!

Maybe he's catching on after all.

Tailgunner| 7.20.09 @ 9:34PM

Another point on the NHS' inhuman ruling on macular degeneration treatment: It took two years and over 25,000 cases of TOTAL BLINDNESS before this draconian ruling was finally changed.

Nationalized health care is a DEATH SENTENCE.

Patriot| 7.21.09 @ 12:00AM

Hey, Tomlinson--not all Californians are liberal and California is not the source of all America's ills.

Since you seem to be so in the tank for George W, maybe if he had helped us with our southern border we wouldn't be so over run by illegals who all vote (illegally) democrat.

You don't know what you're talking about, moron.

Red Son| 7.21.09 @ 1:11AM

Who was the best Republican president of the past century? Eisenhower. That's right, don't buy all the Reagan lies, the dude was basically brain dead while he was in office, and before I'd wager. Under Eisenhower we had a fantastic 91% top tax rate.

Those were the good days. Indeed they were. Fuck the rich, long live Marx.

Lord Fanny| 7.21.09 @ 1:12AM

Nationalized health care is a DEATH SENTENCE.

I hope you are the first to die. Good day, you drama queen.

Old Texican| 7.21.09 @ 2:02PM

Hi Red Son

One day...In a galaxi far away.......get a job!

Goldwater Girl| 7.21.09 @ 2:27PM

Old Tex,
I too sold employee benefits at Aetna for 16 years, and I've sold for Humana now for 6 years. I agree with you regarding pre-x, HIPAA legislation all but eliminated the possibility of this applying to a member, except in the case where someone truly did wait until they were sick to seek coverage. Can you purchase homeowners after the house burns down?? After you get robbed? This is not rocket science, it is necessary protection against adverse selection. Unfortunately, I see nothing in the democrat's proposals to truly address the problems in the healthcare purchase, and that is that American's have an expectation that a health policy should cover everything. A good analogy is an auto policy that covers oil changes and trips to the car wash. This was not the original intent of health insurance. It is a policy meant to protect your assets against catastrophic loss. Period. And you, the consumer need to get your head in the game, and take some responsibility for buying decisions. A national plan will only trade the devil for his brother, and I don't think you are going to like his brother.

Roger Kress| 7.21.09 @ 5:07PM

The only way “We the People” can effectively stop the insanity of this government is to stop the life blood that keeps it going. That is, the cash they are stealing from us. Government cannot and will not heal itself. The one force, which still holds the power in this country that can do it, is “We the People”. But, that power is being taken away daily and it won't be long before we no longer have the power of “We the People”.

I believe the time has past for talk and symbolic protests like the Tea Parties. Although they are a start, we need to mobilize a real effort to stem the tide of socialism that is being thrust upon us. The socialized liberals are not talking and making symbolic gestures, they are stealing our freedoms and making laws at an alarming rate. If we truly believe in the Constitution and in the fight our forefathers fought to give this country it's Freedom and Liberty than we must not be complacent, or any less aggressive at preserving those rights then they were. If we don't act with the same determination our forefathers did, than we disgrace them and make null all they fought and died for. We cannot and must not let that happen! We will be held accountable by future generations. What will we say when our grand kids and great grand kids ask the question! Why did you let this happen? You saw what was happening and did nothing to stop it.

The Boston Tea Party was not a symbolic activity! It was a revolution where by the American people said we would rather throw our goods into the harbor, and not sell them, rather than sell them and have to pay taxes to an oppressive government, thus cutting off the life blood. Even though it meant they would sacrifice income to support themselves. That is the kind of belief, bravery and tenacity it took to stop the tyranny then, and it will take no less effort and fortitude to stop it today.

I believe we need to cut off the governments source of power by withholding taxes, and there is a way it can be done without the government being able to stop it. Like our forefathers knew, the government cannot force us to open our business. They cannot put us in jail for not selling our products in effect throwing them into the harbor.

It has been said over and over that small businesses in this country are its backbone. If that's true, it's time to get America’s backbone back. We have been treated like the assholes long enough. We don't even need a majority to accomplish this task. Can you imagine if we could rally 100,000 small businesses in this country to close their doors every Monday? How about 500,000? No sales tax, no income tax, no payroll tax, no VAT and on and on. If Monday doesn't get their attention then Monday and Tuesday? And so on. Even 50,000 would make a huge impact. This would be the kind of movement our forefathers would have made. This is the kind of belief and fortitude that our forefathers and the future generations would be proud of. This is the kind of tenacity that made America Great!

I have been trying to get people to understand the power we have as Americans when work together as a team. T.E.A.M.
meaning T.ogether E.veryone A.chieves M.ore!

We need a T.E.A.M America!!!!!!!

We must regain our position as the backbone of this once great nation or forever be it's asshole.

I remember this great story about who needs to be the boss:
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be the boss.

The brain said, "since I control everything and do all the thinking, I should be the boss."

The feet said, "since I carry man where he wants to go and get him in position to do what the brain wants, then I should be the boss."

The hands said, "since I must do all the work and earn all the money to keep the rest of you going, I should be the boss."

And so it went with the eyes, the heart, the lungs, and all the other parts of the body, each giving the reason why they should be the boss.

Finally, the asshole spoke up and said it was going to be the boss.

All the other parts laughed and laughed at the idea of the asshole being the boss. The asshole got so angry that he blocked himself off and refused to function.

Soon the brain was feverish and could barely think, the feet felt like lead weights and was almost too weak to drag the body anywhere, the eyes grew bleary, and the hands hung useless at the sides. All pleaded with the brain to let the asshole be declared the boss.

As the great philosopher Hillel wrote: If not now when, if not us who?

I am but one small person who is trying to inspire us to greatness for the good of our Nation.
If we believe in the Constitution, Freedom, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, which is, what our forefathers fought and died for, then we owe it to them, and to the future generations, to stand up boldly, and say enough is enough. Every day we stand in complacency, every day we try to send a symbolic message, every day we try to fight this battle on their turf we lose. We lose credibility and freedoms. Government will never heal itself; only We the People can stop this insanity.

I pray there are still enough Americans left (on the right) that are willing to fight on the side of Freedom, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness in the country, and save it from this tyranny. Please! Help me get the word out for real Americans to once again be part of the great T.E.A.M. America!
In the words written by General John Stark, July 31, 1809

"Live Free or Die,"
God Bless you and God Bless America! I am,

Very Truly Yours,
Roger J. Kress

Roger Kress| 7.21.09 @ 5:08PM

I have been posting many of the words our forefathers have written about the
Constitution and government. Ironically, and to my surprise, Mr. Obama said in his 4th of July address that America needs to summon the "SPIRIT" that built a cluster of 13 colonies into the United States of America.

Well, on this one point I must say that I am 100% in agreement with him.

But, as with what now has become his modus operandi, he has said one thing, which he thinks will evoke some patriotic response, and is doing something totally the opposite. Another quote I recall from his campaign speeches was "JUST WORDS?"

No Sir, they are not "JUST WORDS"! So lets take a look at the "SPIRIT" of these words and see where it lead us.

WE THE PEOPLE

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We must never forget the intent of those who built this country which gave us the very freedoms that some will now use to destroy her. -- Roger Kress

Spirit of the Constitution

"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." --John Quincy Adams

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. –Benjamin Franklin

The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits. – Thomas Jefferson

"On every question of construction of the Constitution, let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." -- Thomas Jefferson

The care of every man's soul belongs to himself. But what if he neglect the care of it? Well what if he neglect the care of his health or his estate, which would more nearly relate to the state. Will the magistrate make a law that he not be poor or sick? Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves. God himself will not save men against their wills.
--Thomas Jefferson

Constitution and Government

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. – Patrick Henry

A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.
– Thomas Jefferson

To maintain the ascendancy of the Constitution over the lawmaking majority is the great and essential point on which the success of the [American] system must depend; unless that ascendancy can be preserved, the necessary consequence must be that the laws will supersede the Constitution; and, finally, the will of the Executive, by influence of its patronage, will supersede the laws ...
-- John C. Calhoun

Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.
– James Madison

Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters. – Daniel Webster

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. – Thomas Jefferson

I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive. – Thomas Jefferson

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."-- Alexander Tyler

An elective despotism (absolute power or control) was not the government we fought for. – Thomas Jefferson

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation then by deflation, the banks and the corporations will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." -- Thomas Jefferson

The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. – Thomas Jefferson

Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry. – Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. – Thomas Jefferson

The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but a swindling futurity on a large scale. – Thomas Jefferson

"No generation has a right to contract debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence." -- George Washington

If we were directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we would soon want for bread.
– Thomas Jefferson

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. -Abraham Lincoln

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." -- Thomas Jefferson

Duties of the Patriot

If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. – Thomas Jefferson

It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government. – Thomas Paine

God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.
– Daniel Webster

Those who expect to reap the benefits of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
– Thomas Paine

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. – John Adams

Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.
--General John Stark

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"
-- Edmund Burke

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. --Andrew Jackson

"The ultimate authority...resides in the people alone."
"It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ...to forget it." -- James Madison

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...

And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure."-- Thomas Jefferson

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards." -- Samuel Adams

To Those Who Still Don’t See

If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. – Samuel Adams

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty. – Thomas Jefferson

They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety. --Benjamin Franklin

If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny. --Thomas Jefferson

"...There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. ... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing."
–Daniel Webster

Well I'll just be!!!!!

It seems that the "SPIRIT" of the founding fathers more supports a Mission Statement for T.E.A.M. America that it does the actions of our government.
You see it is more than "JUST WORDS" Sir.

So, lets take this just a little further and see if we can do just that!!!!

Our Mission

“One man with courage is a majority”. –Thomas Jefferson

The time is now, and it's up to us! It’s up to You!

My fellow Patriots, Our forefathers have clearly defined what government is, what government should never be and what our role is in defending Liberty & Freedom. Their brave words have shown that it is our "Patriotic Duty" to oppose government when it even hints at laws that begin to tread upon our Freedoms lest it becomes too powerful and too tyrannical.

I believe these are more than “JUST WORDS”.

This is the “SPIRIT” and these are the “BELIEFS” that built this country.

This is the “SPIRIT” and these are the “BELIEFS” our forefathers died defending.

This is the “SPIRIT” and these are the “BELIEFS” that made this country great.

This is the “SPIRIT” and these are the “BELIEFS” that are no longer negotiable.

This is the “SPIRIT” and these are the “BELIEFS” that now fall upon us to defend.

It is up to us to heed these words and be ready and willing to act.

"The ultimate authority...resides in the people alone."-- James Madison

What will history’s memory say about us? Will we continued to follow the downward spiral of “complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage." Or will we summon the courage, bravery and belief of our forefathers and continue defending the self-evident truths of Freedom and Liberty. The time to act is now, not with symbolic protests but with the same tenacity, fortitude, courage and bravery of our forefathers. A true call to action:

Our Constitutional Spirit
(mission)

We find these truths to be non-negotiable, and we will defend the true Spirit of Freedom & Liberty with a force equal to that, which is forced upon us by any “form of distorted, bastardized illegitimate government” which would try to “separate the text from historical background”, “pervert and subvert the Constitution”. “Create debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence”. “Take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not”. Create “laws legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry”. Allow “private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation then by deflation”. “Waste the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them”. “Promises to govern well, but means to govern. Promises to be good masters, but means to be masters”. “Use the Constitution as an instrument for the government to restrain the people, rather than an instrument for the people to restrain the government”. “Take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned”.

“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other”. “The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself”. “The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits”. “On every question of construction of the Constitution, let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed”. “An elective despotism (absolute power or control) is no longer a government we will support”.

As you can see this was not written by my hand but instead gleaned from the very words our forefathers wrote. Not “JUST WORDS” but the very
“SPIRIT” by which they constructed our Constitution.

Please circulate this letter so we can continue to gather names of Patriots who are willing to join T.E.A.M. America and stand up for the beliefs our forefathers gave their lives defending.

For Freedom & Liberty! I am,

Very Truly Yours,
Roger Kress

T.E.A.M. America
Together Everyone Achieves More

P.S. Check out the “Small Business Call to Action” on Facebooks
(T.E.A.M. America) group site. If this speaks to you PLEASE join

Len| 7.21.09 @ 5:39PM

Is the federal government legislating on health care legal?

There are three purposes in Article 1, Section 8 of the US constitution for which powers are delegated. Let me say that again before getting to the substance of my comment, there are three purposes, these in of themselves are not powers, but powers are delegated for them. One is Common Defense, which is not particularly germane here, another is to pay the debt(WHOA!!!!!really missing the boat there), and the third is the general welfare of WHAT?? the UNITED STATES, not the people, the states.
Anyone who actually chooses to read the US constitution can plainly see that the powers are for the states. Common coinage "To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;" This produces confidence and enables commerce by having sound money that is good in all the states.
Interstate commerce, "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes". This enables the states to trade goods with others without being overly taxed by those states which had the advantage of not needing to go through a state with goods.
Interstate travel and shipping, "To establish Post Offices and post Roads". This benefits the states by growing the means of intercourse between them, promoting trade and general common interaction.
There is also full faith and credit, privileges and immunities, but one can see that this all meant to enable the states to have commercial intercourse with other to promote the GENERAL WELFARE. NO OTHER POWERS HAVE BEEN GRANTED! The US constitution, that LEGALLY BINDING document shows that congress and the president are not to dictate to the states or the people how to conduct business, or take over businesses, and certainly not to take away peoples fruit of labor to benefit others. So again both parties by continually assuming powers never granted have contributed to the ruin of this country by continually expanding the role of "government" to reach into all areas of life.

WRITE YOUR SENATORS & REPS| 7.22.09 @ 2:11AM

PLEASE COPY & PASTE THE FOLLOWING TEXT (between dotted lines), OR SIMILAR TEXT, AND SEND VIA EMAIL OR FAX TO YOUR SENATORS & REPS, TO PROTEST THE UNREALISTIC HEALTH & ENERGY BILLS. YOU CAN ALSO PRINT IT OUT AND SNAIL-MAIL IT. DO THIS ASAP!, IF YOU WANT TO PRESERVE OUR BELOVED COUNTRY!

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Dear Legislator,

I am completely against the current ram-rodding through Congress of two very significant pieces of legislation: healthcare reform and energy/carbon reduction. I urge you to VOTE NO on both Bills. These issues are too important to be rushed through without a thorough discussion in the public realm. We need to get it RIGHT, not just get it done! Additionally, both of these bills appear to be way too complex and expensive (and with too much pork, especially the energy/carbon bill).

1. On healthcare: It’s one thing for the government to regulate private enterprise, another for the government to get into the healthcare business. We don’t need everybody in the country on Medicare! We must preserve private enterprise and try to reduce taxes, not increase them. And please: no illegal aliens on my tax nickel! Finally, any provision that would take benefits away from our SENIOR CITIZENS in order to try to finance this Health Bill must be removed, and any "END OF LIFE" COUNSELING that would try to pressure SENIORS into foregoing health treatment must be not only removed but strongly CONDEMNED. This Bill is a legislative nightmare that must not pass.

2. On energy/carbon: Where are the nuclear power plants, the obvious low-hanging fruit? Nuclear is not the dangerous proposition it perhaps once was (look at France, et al.). For starters, there are numerous approved sites that could be expanded or up-graded (or where this is no current plant at all). And I am highly dubious of carbon trading: From what I can see, it is not working in Europe (Scientific American). Also, the major emerging markets (China, India, etc.) are not going to participate anytime soon. Further, WHY PENALIZE HOMEOWNERS, many of whom are under-water with diminishing home values, with a scheme to force them to upgrade their houses before they can put them on the market for sale? This Bill is ill-conceived.

Please take seriously my concerns, as your response to the above will determine whether you will be removed or voted back into office next time around.

Thank you for your time in reading my concerns,

Sincerely,

An Irate American-Voter-Taxpayer

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