The New York Post
September 30, 2010
Republicans’ worthless pledge
Republicans' "Pledge to America" lacks tough choices on soaring public debt.
Republicans have lacked fiscal responsibility and failed at curtailing government growth nearly as much as Democrats since the expansion of the Eisenhower era.
It's not the party -- it's the political culture's long-term addiction to personal power, taxing and spending, and sustaining the insatiable appetite of government growth.
Republicans were remiss in resisting the affordable-housing monster. The perfect recession storm was created, and the economy was devastated.
Alas (Tea Party common sense notwithstanding), the future is bleak, as long as the political elite control our future.
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley, Calif.
(Original letter sent)
Republicans' "Pledge to America" lacks tough choices on soaring public debt. Indeed, Republicans (Reagan notwithstanding) have lacked fiscal responsibility and curtailing government growth nearly as much as Democrats (JFK notwithstanding) since the expansion of the Eisenhower era (FDR notwithstanding).
It's not the political party, stupid! It's the long term corruption of the political culture's addiction to personal power, taxing and spending -- sustaining the insatiable appetite of government growth. Surely, Republicans were remiss in steadfast resistance to the affordable housing monster developed by President Carter's Community Reinvestment Act, accelerated by the Clinton Administration, and brought to fruition by the likes of Rep. Barney Frank, Sen. Chris Dodd, and Fannie Mae's CEO, Franklin Raines.
Taken together, the perfect recession storm was created, devastating the economy -- exacerbated by Republican-assisted Democrat ideology, borrowing, spending and debt -- forcing the American people into an untenable situation. Alas, (Tea Party common sense notwithstanding), the future is bleak as long as the combined cultures of the social, economic, legal, political, academic and media elite control our future. Surely, there are no Americans more out of touch with our reality. Hopefully, it's not the result of intended consequences.
National Suicide: How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z
by Martin L. Gross
Pub. Date: September 2009
Publisher: Penguin Group
September 2009
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling author of The Government Racket is back with a scathing indictment of government waste.
The government of the United States is a juggernaut of mismanagement, malfeasance and incompetence. Despite the strong foundation laid down by the founding fathers, it is headed to extinction.
From the Alternative Minimum Tax to Zip Codes, New York Times bestselling author Martin L. Gross outlines the programs that have exploded financially, the laws that had completely unintended consequences, and the scams perpetrated by legislators intent upon remaining in office no matter what the cost to the nation-and its citizens.
Publishers Weekly
Gross (The Government Racket) ticks off how villainous politicians have transformed America into a “humiliated debtor nation” in a fiery A–Z compendium of government greed, chicanery and plain incompetence. Gross enjoys a good rant, but his criticisms are sound and well-supported. With next year's deficit estimated to be $1.4 trillion, he pleads for the urgent streamlining of Washington's bloated bureaucracies: there are dozens of overlapping agencies in charge of education, job training, and rural and farm programs; to consolidate some and eliminate others could save billions of dollars that could be put toward balancing the federal budget. Eliminating archaic and unfair taxes would make the tax code more uniform and boost the middle class; Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are in trouble and merely cracking down on fraud would save big money. Reining in pork, lobbyists, immigration rates and extravagant federal-employee perks would save even more. The only dark cloud on the horizon is, as Gross admits, the implementation of these policies, given his conviction that the U.S. federal government is “the most dysfunctional central operation in the developed world.”
Biography
Martin L. Gross is a journalist, social scientist, and author of The Government Racket and A Call for Revolution. He has appeared on national televisions shows including Larry King Live, Good Morning America, and 20/20.
Dismantling America: And other controversial essays
Author: Thomas Sowell
Publisher: Basic Books
August 2010
Praise for the works of Thomas Sowell:
For anyone looking for a straightforward and honest discussion of the origins of our current crisis, informed by a deep understanding of both economics and politics. . . --Washington Times
I've read all his books and never been even faintly disappointed. --Fred Barnes, executive editor of the Weekly Standard
Thomas Sowell is, in my opinion, the most original and interesting philosopher at work in America. --Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times
Summary:
These wide-ranging essays—on many individual political, economic, cultural and legal issues—have as a recurring, underlying theme the decline of the values and institutions that have sustained and advanced American society for more than two centuries. This decline has been more than an erosion. It has, in many cases, been a deliberate dismantling of American values and institutions by people convinced that their superior wisdom and virtue must over-ride both the traditions of the country and the will of the people.
Whether these essays (originally published as syndicated newspaper columns) are individually about financial bailouts, illegal immigrants, gay marriage, national security, or the Duke University rape case, the underlying concern is about what these very different kinds of things say about the general direction of American society.
This larger and longer-lasting question is whether the particular issues discussed reflect a degeneration or dismantling of the America that we once knew and expected to pass on to our children and grandchildren. There are people determined that this country's values, history, laws, traditions and role in the world are fundamentally wrong and must be changed. Such people will not stop dismantling America unless they get stopped—and the next election may be the last time to stop them, before they take the country beyond the point of no return.
Crimes Against Liberty: An Indictment of President Barack Obama
Author: David Limbaugh
Publisher: Regnery Press
August 23, 2010
Synopsis
As Americans, liberty is an inalienable right that is granted to us by God, protected by the Constitution, and upheld by our government. Yet, Barack Obama doesn’t seem to share that view. To him, liberty is a threat to the government’s power and something to be squashed by any means possible, as bestselling author David Limbaugh shows to devastating affect in his new book, Crimes Against Liberty. In Crimes Against Liberty, Limbaugh issues a damning indictment of President Barack Obama for encroaching upon and stripping us of our individual and sovereign rights. Laying out his case like he would a criminal complaint, Limbaugh presents the evidence—count-by-count—against Obama. From exploiting the financial crisis for political gain, to restricting our personal freedoms through invasive healthcare and “green” policies, to endangering America with his feckless diplomacy and reckless dismantlement of our national security systems, Limbaugh proves—beyond a reasonable doubt—that Obama is guilty of crimes against liberty. Comprehensive and compelling, this is Limbaugh’s most powerful book yet.
From the Inside Flap
Was This the Hope and Change America Voted For?
American voters might have been naïve when they went to the polls in 2008, but New York Times bestselling author David Limbaugh wasn’t. He warned voters of what would be in store. Now he’s back with more than a warning. A practicing lawyer, he has compiled the most comprehensive and devastating indictment of what is turning out to be the most destructive presidency in American history.
Limbaugh charges that this presidency is ambitiously unraveling the Constitution, actively rooting out American traditions and values, and most of all, committing crimes against American liberty. In Limbaugh’s brilliant new book, he documents:
Obama’s offenses against the rule of law (including the administration’s blatant pursuit of race-based justice)Violations of the public trust (including Obama’s Chicago-style bully boy tactics to protect and advance the administration’s cronies)Abuses against the private sector (including how the Obama administration is removing any limits to federal power)Crimes against good governance (including Obama’s mania for secrecy after getting elected on promises of transparency)Betrayals of the national interest (including the administration’s gagging of honest discussion of the threat of radical Islam)And much, much more
If there was ever a must read—this is it. Crimes Against Liberty is a stunning tour de force—a detailed indictment against a president who is pursuing an agenda at odds with the Constitution and that is even more radical than most people realize.
The New York Post
July 28, 2010
THE ISSUE: Whether Democrats will support Rep. Rangel following ethics charges against him.
Charlie on the spot: Will Dems ditch him?
"Charlie's Fading Friends" (Editorial, July 24) comes as no surprise.
Once a credible liberal voice, Rep. Charlie Rangel has become a prime example of self-corrupting politics in the House, which, along with the Senate, has turned the people's chamber into an exclusive club replete with personal power, selfish interests and arrogance.
Rather than policing themselves in the people's interest, Congress is overly protective of its members.
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley, Calif.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/28/return-to-limited-governance
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The Washington Times
April 28, 2010
Return to limited governance
President Obama's push for a financial overhaul of the United States is yet another goal of his grow-government, anti-free market agenda to take over the lives of the people under his protection ("Dodd pushes to get bill on derivatives to the floor," Nation, Thursday)
Indeed, this, along with healthcare, welfare, housing and Environmental Protection Agency control of energy, water and the environment, is simply a fast and furious scheme to force protection upon us whether we like it or not.
To pay for it, this president and Congress undoubtedly will pass a value-added tax (VAT) on all goods and services, which will cause hyperinflation and reduce us to a giant underclass.
As if America was not steeped in enough fear, anxiety and uncertainty, there
is a real danger of Mr. Obama reducing and compromising our defenses,
forcing the American people to take on enormous debt, risking a total market
collapse, making us vulnerable to further terrorist attacks and generally
using the economic crisis to enhance the power of his office.