Destruction Approaches While the Shepherd and Sheep Sleep Part 2

Have you ever wonder why our politicians, the mainstream media, and much of our population, to include Christian leadership have such a complacent attitude toward Radical Islam. Why do they and we, not confront Islamic forces of hatred? Does Islam not display a wanton disregard for individual liberties? Do they and we, not witness or hear of Islamic atrocities being committed against people of Christian faith somewhere in the world on a daily basis? The answers to these questions are yes.

The West and thus our nation's attitude has empowered our enemy to launch a full scale attack on the liberties free people cherish. You may ask, why would Islam want to attack and destroy us? Islam's grievance is the kindness and respect a man shows a woman, the justice practiced as equals under the law, and the mercies we grant our adversaries. Islam wants to subjugate the the West, and thus America, in order to impose their values and way of life on all non Muslims. They want to destroy all civilizations who do not recognize their God, Allah and his messenger Mohammed.

To destroy all civilizations, they must first target that civilization's Christian population. Muslims know that the West was founded, for the most part, on Christian principles. The Islamist knows that Christianity is the antithesis of Islam, therefore the jihadist must destroy all vestiges of Christianity to include all Christian believers. There is little doubt that jihad has been declared. Any public official or authority saying otherwise is either ignorant of world events, shortsighted or a fool. The slaughter of Christians has intensified, and the world watches, its leaders turn their heads, and the Christian's blood is spilled as if it were a sin offering. Our leaders appear to ignore the blood letting in order to appease those Muslims who will not be appeased. They are no better than those world leaders who ignored the Sudetenland invasion by the Third Reich in order to appease Nazi Germany and its leader, Adolph Hitler. How did that work out? Ignoring the facts resulted in little appeasement and millions of deaths. Has history not taught us anything?

Finally, a man who is both a patriot and political leader has stepped up to the microphone and expressed the views I hold, reference; the war on Christianity. Rand Paul stated during his address at the Values Voter Summit in Washington DC, October 11, 2013, that there is a "war on Christianity" that is being ignored by the Obama Administration and the mainstream media. From "Boston to Zanzibar, there's a worldwide war on Christianity."

"Christians are being attacked around the world, but you won't hear much about it on the evening news because the answer's not convenient, if it does not fit the narrative we have been told about radical Islam. The President tries to gloss over who's attacking and killing Christians. The media describes the killings as sectarian. But the truth is, a worldwide war on Christians is being waged by a fanatical element of Islam."

American tax dollars should not be appropriated to any country whose ruling government ignores those who wage war on Christians. As Rand Paul charged.."that's what's happening across the globe." As Christians, we should take a stand and fight against our tax dollars funding any country, for any reason that turns a blind eye to the persecution of Christians.

The destruction that approaches is Radical Islam and is aided by the silence of the Muslim community. The enemy has landed on America's shores. They now preach hate, recruit converts, condemn our religious beliefs, our laws and our way of life. They do this in our cities, our prisons and in their Mosques.

 I contend that those who remain silent, be it Muslims, political leaders, media, or the Christian Church itself while Christians are murdered and Churches burned are complicit by their silence. 

Destruction Approaches While the Shepherds and Sheep Sleep - Part 1

 The next few blogs will be dealing with our battle against an ideological, theological and geo-political foe. One represents a painting of hate decorated by different nationalities who share a common ideology of hate and intolerance derived from one source: Islam. The other shares some similarities found in the painting but its evolution is systemic in nature and nurtured by indifference and denial.

The West and we in America, its citizens, our media and politicians alike have been wallowing in a state of ignorance, disinformation, shortsightedness, political correctness, indifference and denial for too many years. We simply do not understand the mindset and intention of our enemy. You ask, what enemy? The enemy is one that resides within our land and outside its borders. It is an enemy that is at war with Christianity (for that matter, any religion not of their persuasion), democracy and human rights.

The evil I speak of is the Muslim extremist who has and is perpetrating evil against innocent victims. He commits this evil in the name of Mohammad or Anwar al-Awalki or Bin Laden. You get the picture; the list of Islamic psychopathic terrorists bent on mayhem is seemingly endless. I do believe Islamic terrorists, both past and present were and to a large extent are all delusional if not borderline paranoia schizophrenic. They hid and are now hiding behind the cloak of Allah.

Why do they hate us? What have we done to offend the Muslim world? Simply put they hate us because we are defined in their eyes as 'infidels.' Under the banner of Islam, 'none is good except Allah; Mohammad is the messenger of Allah.' They murdered Jewish children in Israel, massacred Christians in Lebanon, killed Copts in Egypt, Assyrians in Syria, Hindus in India. You get the picture yet? They are miscreants, cowards and sexist's to the extreme. They masquerade as holy warriors who in reality are no more than barbarians with IQ's not much higher than a pig, who kill in the name of Allah.

Middle Eastern infidels have been paying the price for years. Now, infidels worldwide are paying the price for indifference and shortsightedness. What other religion films their disciples beheading priests, eating the hearts of an enemy, slitting the throats of adversaries, and stoning young girls? All these I have witnessed on the news or on various web sites. If you doubt my word, look for yourself. I caution those who search out the web sites. What they will witness will forever be imprinted in their minds eye.

Tolerating evil is a crime. Appeasing murders does not buy protection. It earns one disrespect and loathing in the enemy's eyes. Yet, apathy and political correctness is the weapon by which the West (which includes the United States), is committing what is tantamount to suicide. Political correctness along side apathy forms the cuffs that bind our wrists, by which Radical Muslims are leading us to our demise.

America and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and identify the enemy. The enemy is Islam. The President, his Western counterparts, elected officials, an apologetic media convey through spoken and written word that all other Muslims, are supposedly moderates. Closer to the truth are the pictures of irrational violence in reaction to published cartoons or caricatures of Muhammad or perceived slights of Islamic Law. Irrational acts committed by deranged disciples of Islam are becoming more commonplace in the West. Why, are we, as Americans, unable to see what is happening outside our own contiguous borders? Do you, our President, and media not realize Christians are being systematically killed, churches burned, and  people driven from their homes, all in the name of Islam? If you don't know, you do now. If the President does not know, there is a problem in Washington and it needs to be fixed now. If the media does not publicize it, they are not doing their job, they need to begin publicizing it now.

Follow the "Yellow Brick Road"

Months prior to the the signing of the Affordable Health Care legislation I began to research the subject in depth, or as in depth as one could at that moment in time. I even taught what I had gleaned from my research to a select group of students in a Principles of Leadership class.

The more I read, the more I listen, the more research I do, the more I question the wisdom of the Affordable Health Care Act. I initially questioned the intelligence of Obama, Sebelius, Reid, Pelosi, Biden, and other supporting actors. Obamacare is a fiscal and health care disaster. Its like watching a bad movie with no end in sight, written by an anonymous director and starring a cast of bad actors. Over time, I began to wonder if Obamacare was a remake of the Wizard of Oz. It feels so surreal, yet real. Are we living in a world of make believe? The story line is actually scary. Anyone with foresight knows that a new health care system that relies on young, healthy people paying inordinate sums of insurance premiums is bound to fail. You may ask why would the Federal Government force young and healthy people to get insurance and pay high premiums? The young person's premiums are needed to offset the costs of the millions of people with pre-existing conditions (cancer, HIV, MS etc.) who will enter the pool at the beginning of the new year. I read where a limited plan under the Affordable Health Care Act will cost a healthy person upwards of $5800.00 per year. If a young person opts out, the insurers lose the young and healthy part of their risk pool. If the insurers don't get the ratio they need in the state-based exchanges they're going to be cost prohibitive, because you will have many more sick people and relatively few healthy people. When this happens and it will, insurance premiums will increase. Not only for the sick and lower class but for all of us. As of 1 January, the law requires that if premiums increase, they rise for everyone. This law in turn will push more of the young and healthy who feel they do not need the burden of expensive health insurance out of the pool. As insurance premiums rise uninsured Americans will choose to pay the mandated penalty which costs far less than the required premium. And should this occur, insurers will have to raise premiums even more to subsidize the expenses of the less healthy population they must cover under law.. This in turn, will cause additional people to forgo insurance and pay the fine. And the cycle continues. And, who could blame the young for opting out?

The above paragraph is but a condensed synopsis of Obamacare. If, one looks carefully at the product, does not one see a program that was bound for failure? There are some who claim that despite the promises and expectations of "cheaper and better care for all..." The Affordable Care Act has but one purpose...to fail. The ultimate objective is a government takeover of the entire health care industry. Do you suppose there are people in Washington who knew Obamacare could not work and that it was too expensive of an endeavor for our economy to sustain? Do you suppose these same people knew we would have to go to a single payer system where the government controls everyone's lives? It appears to me that the likelihood of Obamacare suceeding is about the same odds as me winning a million dollar jackpot in a Las Vegas Casino while playing a penny slot machine.  I believe, that just maybe, Obamacare was born to fail. Its already failing according to many sources. And, the facts speak for themselves.

Did not Obama state in a 2003 address to the AFL-CIO "I happened to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country of the world, spending 14%  of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance  to everybody. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that's what I'd like to see. But as you know we may not get there immediately."?

I see two red flags in the above statement. The federal government is the "single payer" and "single payer" means bureaucrats will insert themselves into our personal decisions as they relate not only to our health but to our financial and personal lives.

Mr. Obama has said that the Affordable Health Care Act has nothing to do with the budget.. But over the next decade, this unpopular law will add almost two trillion dollars to the debt and will cost trillions beyond that. Now, if I can see the end result of the implementation of this program, why cannot the producers of this ill conceived health program recognize the same? The directors  may very well have known what they were doing. It appears the screenplay was planned, the script written, and the actors selected prior to the audition. I believe that a select few Washington Progressives Elitists and their marionettes intentionally led us down the "Yellow Brick Road," in order to facilitate a takeover by the federal government of  our health care system.

Enough speculation and intrigue for this posting. The reviews are in. The movie is bad. The public has spoken and it matters not. The show will go on. It is only a matter of which show we actually pay to see. One last thought; can you imagine Soros as the Wizard, Obama as the Scare Crow, Biden as the Lion, Reid as the Tin Man, Sebelius as Dorthy, and Pelosi as Toto?

America Drowns while the Fire Burns and Leadership does Nothing

The fact that I am writing this blog and it deals with America's deficit is a sign of leadership failure within the Executive and Legislative branches of government. It is also an indication that our leadership has yet to figure out how to balance the checkbook. If they knew what they were doing our dependence on financial assistance from foreign countries would not be in the perpetual state it is. The truth be known, I have discovered something with less intelligence than life on the Red Planet. I have listened to Washington bureaucrats and liberal leaning commentators shrug off the national debt as if it were nothing to write home about. Our most esteemed leader, Obama himself, said "we don't have an urgent debt crisis. The only crisis we have is the one manufactured in Washington and it's ideological." Oh, really. I am now dumber for having listened to his absurd ideological statement about our economy not being in crisis. We have a spending problem in Washington. Our representatives have adopted a doctrine of idiocy when it comes to spending. I will attempt to clear the fog, fiscally speaking, on reasons why we are where we currently find ourselves.

Let me assure my readers that I indeed have some background in economics and finance. Limited as it may be, it is there. The study of economics and finance was initially my vocational goal.  That goal lasted one year. Following two semesters of economic theory and two accounting courses I changed majors. Unlike our President reality set in. I awoke from the dream realizing that persons other than yours truly, were probably better suited for managing other peoples money. If only our leaders would awake from their slumber and cease mismanaging our money. At least I awoke from the dream before it became a nightmare. I, unlike the President and some Congressional leaders, have learned through experience to manage money. Admittedly, some of what I learned was through the school of hard knocks. I learned to balance my checkbook following two bounced checks. I learned I could only write a check for what money was in my account, not the amount I thought was going to be there. If, I, a mere mortal, can learn to balance an account, why cannot the President and his Congressional elitist's balance a budget? The answer to that question is easy. It is a philosophy that has permeated Washington for too many years. "What's mine is mine, what's yours is negotiable," has become commonplace in Washington, especially, during the current administration's reign. They think they know what's best for you and me. They think for us. They make decisions for us. They know what is best for us.They spend our money on behalf of us. Why not wipe our butts for us. The ledger indicates Washington does little to help us but a lot to empty our bank accounts. Let me show the reader why we are swimming in a sea of red. The facts will speak for themselves. I will even suggest ways to rid our nation of frivolous spending and begin balancing a budget.

Obama's idea of debt reduction is to print more money, borrow more money, contribute monies to both domestic and international organizations, and provide foreign aid to nations who align themselves against United States interests on practically every UN vote. As always Obama's debt reduction plan  includes raising taxes with most of the burden being placed on the backs of middle-class America, who comprise the majority of those who actually pay taxes. Currently, only 50% of Americans pay taxes. The majority of the rest of America are freeloaders with little or no work ethic. Obama and his economic advisers are of the opinion that the more money printed, the more money borrowed and the more taxes collected, the better stimulated the economy. It has been said by someone more cleaver than I, "if you spend stimulus money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China...If you spend money at the gas pump, your money goes to Arabs"...etc. Who's economy are we stimulating? Not ours.

Our leaders continue to finance their deficit spending with economically disastrous policies (remember shovel ready jobs), while narrowing the tax base to build an unbeatable coalition of voters who believe they will never have to pay for benefits/entitlements they're receiving. President Obama and his merry band of liberal elite crusaders have deeply divided the country between the few who must pay for government and the many who are dependent on it. Never before in our country's history have so many people been so dependent on the government. Approximately one in five Americans depend on the government for food stamps, retirement benefits, health care, job training and a host of other benefits or entitlements and the numbers grow daily. All this at a cost of $2.5 trillion a year, which is more than we collect in income taxes. And all this is before the implementation of Obamacare. The national debt is like a forest fire. The more fuel we add the more intense the heat, the bigger the flames. Adding Obamacare to the national debt is fuel to be added.  One consumes vegetation the other a nation's future prosperity. It's either put out the fire or perish in the flames.

My suggestion for debt reduction follows: eliminate our President's legacy program (Obamacare); eliminate welfare and replace it with workfare; the United Nations needs to go the way of the League of Nations; cease foreign aid to those countries who oppose our way of life; implement a flat or fair tax; quit forcing government agencies to purchase supplies/equipment from minority owned businesses (may I add, at a much higher cost); streamline government functions; abolish the IRS; Abolish the EPA; stop importing oil(we have more than enough to supply our own needs); cease rail subsidies (few people ride the rail anyway); stop giving commercial boosts to "clean energy technologies;" stop giving grants to the enrichment of the arts and the likes of; remove food stamp subsidies from the Farm Bill (which is 80% of the bill); no more "pork barreling" programs; finally, eliminate duplication of functions within the government. My recipe for reducing the debt was easy enough, but then I am of this world. If only Barry, Harry, and Nancy, who apparently are not of this world could come down to earth and see the wisdom in addressing our debt.

Our current administration's managing of America's economy is nothing less than criminal. Increasing U.S.debt is detrimental to its future. It weakens us both at home and abroad. Dave Ramsey, a national financial expert has stated what I believe is the path to America's financial stability. He states; "The fact is that the government can get out of debt the same way you get out of debt. You quit borrowing money. You quit spending. You balance the budget. But to do all that, you'll have to make some sacrifices." Just maybe, the Obama family can scale back their vacation itinerary and Biden can play a few less rounds of golf.

 If our leaders are to turn off the debt spigot they must first recognize there is a debt problem that will not go away by ignoring it. We as a nation, the Chief Executive and United States Congressional Representatives, as a whole, must tighten our and their fiscal belts if we are to survive the ravages of debt. If we fail at restraint, debt will surely drown us in a sea of red. Its either abandon ship or balance the budget.