FFM

"Do It Right, Or Don't Do It At All." Anonymous There is a divide in America between those who want a smaller government and those who want a more active, and thus larger, government. The issue is what is governments role. This will dictate the size of government.and spending The Preamble of the Constitution says: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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."

"The distinctive visions of the two parties — social-democratic vs. limited-government — have underlain every debate on every issue since Barack Obama’s inauguration: the stimulus, the auto bailouts, health-care reform, financial regulation, deficit spending. Everything."   By  Charles Krauthammer , Washington Post, July 28   Let's get some facts straight about what Obama did and the result. 1. The stimulus. If we did not have a stimulus including TARP we would be in worse shape than we are now. We would be in a depression. The problem with this statement is it cannot be proven; however, most economists agree. 2. The Auto bailout. The same holds true. It worked and if it was not done we would have a much larger unemployment problem and a depression. The industry was just to large and a typical bankruptcy would not have worked because it would have taken too long.

" Despite that once-unthinkable possibility, financial markets appear calm. The stock market has not crashed, and interest rates have held steady. Still, one indicator is showing that investors are getting nervous: The cost of insuring U.S. government debt against default is starting to spike." NPR, July 25, 2011 Congress Should Vote on Raising The Debt Ceiling to Make Each Congressman go on Record!

There were discussions whether the United States would default on payments owed on its treasury and other obligations as a result of failure to raise the debt ceiling. If this happened, there would have been negative affects including the rise of interest rates. There is a bigger problem. Our country has already lessened its influence on the rest of the world. Through our inability to address the self-made debt ceiling crisis we have demonstrated we cannot be relied on to act in a rational manner. New countries evolving in the middle east are wondering if our system of governance can work in the 21st century. We are forcing other world leaders to hedge their bets and not assume the United States will always do the right thing. The rest of the world is beginning to wonder if we have a "deficit of leadership". We do and the deficit is in both political parties.

One expenditure in our budget cannot be looked at in a vacuum. The truth is this country needs to get a handle on its spending. Yes, we need to look at ways to generate revenue including trying to jump start the economy with a targeted stimulus package; however, we also need to gain control of the governments spending habits. In order to do this on a rational basis, we need to look at total spending and prioritize expenditures. If we only look at each line item of expenditures separably, without considering the total revenues available, we will never get our budget in balance. A good example is how we went to war in Iraq. When President Bush led us to war, there was no discussion as to how much it was going to cost and how we were going to pay for it. In fact our President encouraged us citizens to not change the way we were living, including our shopping habits. He made the case if Americans changed their live style as a result of 911 and the Iraq war the enemy would have alread

"Following Mr. Reid’s criticism, Republican officials said they have for months stuck to a consistent position demanding that each dollar increase in the debt ceiling be offset with a dollar in savings. They did not appear ready to abandon that position, with a spokesman for Mr. Boehner saying a two-step process was “inevitable." , New York Times, July 23, 2011 The coupling of the debt ceiling and deficit reduction is not law. It is something contrived by Republicans. It is like a teenager telling her parents if she cannot stay out later she will never speak to them again; except it is much more serious. If the debt ceiling is not raised the entire Republican leadership should be impeached. There is no legal reason that the debt ceiling and budget cuts need to be tied together. It is the Republicans who have bound these issues together. If the debt ceiling is not raised we will have a financial disaster. Therefore, if we have a financial disaster  over the debt ceiling,

"Markey joined Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) this week in a letter urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to closely scrutinize any promised benefits of the merger. The lawmakers warned the fusion of the firms would be a “troubling backward step” for public policy. Conyers, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the merger in Congress, said he appreciates the fact AT&T is the only unionized wireless carrier, but that he still believes the DOJ and the FCC must reject the proposal to protect consumers." , The Hill, July 22, 2011 Is Congress going to finally enforce abti-trust laws against AT&T? Oligopolies are destroying our free markets. Hopefully, this is a start.  Read the whole story

This is for you Red!! Happy Birthday. "China has called on Washington to bolster international faith in its economic policies amid signs that Beijing has cut its purchases of US government debt." Financial Times (Asia-Pacific), July 20, 2011 Is Congress hurting or helping our reputation with the rest of the world? Their recent actions relating to gaining control of our finances is doing harm. The world respects the checks and balances between the different branches of our federal government; however, it does not appreciate our government using funds that are rightfully owed to them as a weapon in our internal battles.

These are frustrating times. The country is in crisis and elected "leaders" are not leading. The Tea Party is asserting significant pressure on Washington representatives to make knee jerk decisions to correct the many neglected issues in this country at the risk of creating calamity. The Tea Party has awakened the country to the serious fiscal problems it is facing. However, Instead of throwing tea overboard, we are at risk of throwing this great nation overboard. The Tea Party has done us a favor by bringing these problems to the forefront; now we need them to act responsibly. Tea Party members, the party financed by Rupert Murdock, the Koch brothers and other super wealthy individuals, are correct; this country needs to get its fiscal house in order. We have lived beyond our sustainable means for more than a quarter-century and it is clear this must change. However, it is too important of an issue to address while under the self-imposed pressure of debating whether to rai

Our Constitution gives the power to make laws to the congress. All bills that pass Congress remain law until repeal or expiration. Most laws passed require money be expended in order for it to be implemented. There is no provision in the Constitution that automatically voids laws or appropriations of prior Congresses. Congress also has the responsibility, both moral and legal, to pay the debts and obligations of the United States as agreed. The sources of funds to pay such agreed to debts include taxes, borrowings, savings or other revenue generating activities. This is no different from the average household in this country.

This is a must see. Thomas Friedman, columnist at the New York Times, talks at the Aspen Ideas Festival about the status of the nation. He advocates the need for a third party that is not sipping spiked tea. A core problem facing the nation is that our current parties cannot reach a consensus. . . There was a 90 minute video posted here of Thomas Friedman discussing his ideas of what this country needs to do to get back on track. I removed the video because I have on several occasions tried to post comments to several of his articles in the Times and have been denied. I am posting comments on the New York Times all the time and his column is the only one where I have been blocked. So I figured, "What the hell". Now I know Tom will never know of my retaliation and in the totality of his column my thoughts are not that important; however, pulling his video sure does give me allot of satisfaction. Hunt down the video and watch it. It is good! In the meantime enjoy this re

....We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed,...." Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 During the weekend of celebrating our countries birth we gave pause to remember why this country was created in the first place and judge whether we are currently living by these principles. My conclusion is we can do better. If we have a government as stated by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 "-- of the people, by the people, for the people, ........" government must assist in finding a way to create opportunity and jobs for the masses that are unemployed. We have a structural and competitive unemployment problem in this country and collectively we must solve it. The free market cannot solve it