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This
is America, We Own the Government!
The
Wall of News, November 19, 2008
In 1933 the Nazi Party gained power in Germany. In 1933 the cabinet gained the Enabling Act, the removal of separation of powers. Teenagers were forced into the Hitler Youth group. 1934 saw a coup that over-threw the government. 1938 saw the physical attack against the Jews in the Night of Broken Glass.
The Enabling Act has been accomplished first with the Judicial creating legislation from the bench and then with the United States government "seizing" the financial institutions. These are very serious times in the United States. Are we going to have our own Night of Broken Glass with a group designated the evil within our society?
We are seeing that mandated volunteerism is being compelled. How can government, through the schools mandate volunteerism? Force the students and it is not volunteerism. At the very lest it is a requirement, or intimidation at it's worst. They will never be called the Hitler Youth, but they could turn into a similar organization. The doors are opening for such possibilities. If we allow it.
Our borders are open to anyone. Our money is becoming worthless as well as our credit rating. Government is repealing our rights, right and left. Yes, there are good arguments for the Patriot Act, if that is what it is in reality. Government is confiscating land with no recourse. The Constitution is having the very words given new definitions, as well as the interpretation of the statements of rights.
Congress is dead in the water while the Judicial branch runs rough-shod over our laws and rights. Government agencies can now create policy with the power of law.
Most Americans want a safe environment to raise a family. Americans want good jobs, homes and education. Have you noticed these things are being stripped away one piece at a time?
Each is for a very "good" reason. The design is to change America, one small step at a time. When are you going to lose your rights, rights guaranteed in the Constitution. Good people are being ham-strung by silly regulation that makes doing their jobs with dedication and commitment, impossible. So why try?
We are in jeopardy of losing the Grand Experiment called the United States of America. It is up to each of us to step forward and say, "No!" And mean it for once.
This county is based upon limited government to do the things we need done for everyone. Then, government must stand back and allow each of us to proceed with our lives. If we look honestly at governments' attempt to run our lives for us, it has failed. The last government project failing is our schools which are indoctrinating our youth to false values and truths. How? Some schools have few materials for teachers to use. Other schools are mandated by government rules. Everywhere we turn, the Federal Government is threatening the States with loss of income if they do not tow the line.
The first step we can do is to turn off our TVs and throw away our newspapers. Then start talking to our neighbors again. Think about cause and effect for each idea. Is it a good idea today? Is it a good idea for tomorrow? Track it through with your friends. The only trust-worthy notion from politicians is they want to be re-elected. Change the power we lend to these people so they will have their best interests served by serving us. If it is good for us, it will be good for them. This is America, We Own the Government!
Each day, our sister organization, Foundation Radio plays at the start of each day (Midnight), the National Anthem, At 9:05 am. everyday, it is a daily Christmas carol. And at noon, a military or war song recognizing those who have served. It is done to make each of us take a moment and remember, to think. Now let us get back to the job of being Americans. Always offer the gentle reminders for all of us: "We are Americans."
If we do not pull together as Americans have in the past, we will lose this great nation of freedom. And one at a time the lights will go out on that shining city on the hill.
The
Fairness Doctrine
The Wall of
News, November 9, 2008
President-Elect Barack Obama should have his chance to establish his agenda and set up his administration. This does not mean that the American public should sit back and allow some within his new administration and his advisory personnel be allowed to slit the throats of the citizens and stop legitimate discussion of issues.
These are very strong words;
but, when we look behind the scenes of the major issues, we see Mr.
Obama selecting individuals who are outside the normal expectations
for holding key positions. Yet standard media outlets are not aware
of what is happening. They are keeping a "Neville
Chamberlain" attitude toward appointments. The question is how
they have behaved in the past. Words are cheap.
Henry Rivera is expected to
head the interim team for the FCC. Indications are that this
individual is a strong believer in the Fairness Doctrine. Do not let
the name of any government program or agenda sway your opinion. The
Fairness Doctrine is a failed policy during the Carter
Administration. President Reagan allowed this program to run out -
for good reason.
It demands that broadcasters
offer equal time to all sides of an issue. This was designed to cause
stations to stop talking about anything. So what if you do not like
Rush Limbaugh and would like to see him knocked off the air. At the
same time Allen Colmes, on the left would be knocked off the air. The
exception would be if equal time for all sides was given. There is
strong evidence that the Obama administration will allow the FCC to
re-enact this policy. Welcome to re-runs of the French Chef.
This damages free speech. It
did not work in the past. It will not work today. The Fairness
Doctrine will not harm the outlets such as the Wall of News. It will
harm your ability to hear about important issues.
Mr. Obama did not like to
hear his economic proposals called socialism. The Wall of News will
call the passing of the Fairness Doctrine a strong step towards
Fascism.
If government shuts down
debate, government starts controlling the flow of information. We see
this in countries ruled by dictators. The United States will take a
large step that will harm the First Amendment of the Constitution of
the United States of America, if this is enacted by the FCC.
If the public does not know
what is happening, how can the citizens approve or reject actions by
our government? We will be left in the dark through our major sources
of information.
Is this the change Mr. Obama
had in mind during his campaign? Does Mr. Obama wish to crush our
right to know for political reasons?
The Fairness Doctrine does
not need an act of Congress. As the appointments to the Commission
expire, new commissioners will be appointed. All it will take is
three commissioners to side with the Fairness Doctrine to close down
discussion. It is an FCC act. Congress is not involved. Mr. Obama is
not "involved." We lose our freedom of speech from
broadcasting facilities. It will mean that anyone wishing to keep
track of events will have to go to the Internet or to the few
newspapers who are willing to ppose the government.
It has been the opinion of
the Wall of News' parent organization, the Society for Accurate
Information and Distribution, a 501(c)3 foundation, that there is a
long-term effort afloat to reduce the ability of broadcasters to
communicate by creating impediments that reduce broadcasting
audiences and the signal strength of radio and television stations to
a service area that is a radius reaching only to the horizon, just
under 30 miles.
It should be noted that the
Society for Accurate Information and Distribution owns several FM
non-commercial radio stations that are community radio stations,
broadcasting inside the reach of the horizon by design.
If the Fairness Doctrine is
re-instituted, the Foundation will, as well as all broadcasters, be
forced into non-controversial programming. Currently no station owned
by the Foundation is programming a talk-radio format. The Foundation
will consider options, if the Fairness Doctrine is re-instituted, for
bringing talk radio to the Internet on audio streams.
If Mr. Obama wishes to have
a spirit of bi-partisanship, then we urge him to take the additional
steps needed to protect the freedom of speech for all Americans, not
just political elitists. Only the far left and the far right would
consider the Fairness Doctrine an appropriate step.
It has always been the
position of the Foundation that accurate information is should be
available to everyone. It is your right. Yet, it appears that each
administration and Congress are taking one step at a time to remove
the rights of the people. Each step may be small, but the journey so
far has been long. There are not too many steps left until we have
lost our rights of free speech.
We ask Mr. Obama to be
cautious on his steps being taken. The FCC is a technical commission,
or should be run non-politically.
Mr. Obama, promise the
citizens that you will protect our rights under the Constitution and
stop the Fairness Doctrine once and for all.
Oil,
Taxes, and Gold
The Wall of
News, June 11, 2008
Is the price
of oil too high for you? It is for most Americans. But, is it really
higher oil prices or the loss of value with the dollar? Some is, of
course, higher demand world-wide. The major cause is the loss of
value to the dollar.
Most of us
use the dollar as a platform for cost. “Gee, prices have gone
up!” Could it be the dollar lost value, instead? More often than
not it is the dollar losing value.
We as
Americans should be very conscientious to the price of gold. For the
most part, the value of gold does not change, the dollar does.
Gold used to
cost $500 a troy ounce (14 troy ounces to the pound.) Recently the
price was $1,000. Did the price of gold rise, or did the dollar lose
value? The dollar lost value.
In colonial
times gold was at $10 an ounce. That means when gold is at $1,000 an
ounce our current dollar is worth a penny in Colonial Dollars.
Granted all
things are not equal and there are other forces that influence cost;
but, for the purposes of this discussion and because this is the
major influence, we will equate all effects to gold and ignore the
other factors.
Who is
responsible for the value of money? The Federal Government. The first
step to destroy the value of money was by President (FDR) Roosevelt.
He ordered gold coins and bullion back to the government and no
citizen was allowed to own gold, other than jewelry and similar
objects. In 1963 Richard Nixon removed the last ties to gold or
silver for the dollar and did a major devaluation of our currency.
The dollar has been on a roller coaster ride every since.
The claim
often used is that devaluing the dollar make good business sense. Our
products are cheaper for the world. This is true for the short run,
but inflation enters into the equation and all advantage is gone.
A more
prudent philosophy would be retie the dollar to gold and strengthen
it to be again worth $10 to the ounce. Our prices to the world would,
at first rise, than adjust do to competition.
The one pound
bag of beans costing $1.19 a pound would drop back to one cent per
pound as it was during colonial time. Money is no more than a credit
system that replaces bartering. One horse equals one horse. A good
horse in colonial times cost $10 dollars. Today that same horse would
cost $1,000. Or put it another way, one horse does not equal one
horse, maybe one half a horse.
As the value
of our currency increases, and yes let’s do so in stages, prices
will adjust. It is the value to gold that is the stabilizer to the system.
It should be
as in the past, walk into any bank and swap $10 paper money for one
ounce of gold. But, who wants to carry gold, it is heavy. Money used
to be certificates that the bearer of the paper was entitled to that
money in gold or silver.
Let us bring
it back to today. If the value of a dollar rose again to its recent
past, gasoline would cost a dollar. Maybe there are some folks who do
not want to see this happen. Maybe?
An additional
way to increase the value of a dollar is to bring government back to
responsible spending. We have all heard about the Fair Tax. Sounds
nice. Yet, if you thought the black market was bad during
prohibition, wait until the Fair Tax becomes law. Who knows, it could
make the Tommy gun popular again with gangsters. Why, to save the
cost of taxes on products.
Responsible
taxation, fair to everyone is the goal. So let’s repeal the 16th
Amendment and forbid the Federal government to take in any manner
value of any kind from United States Citizens or Corporations. We
bring it back to the States. Anything the Federal Government needs to
do dealing with money is always done at the state level, never
Federal. It is time to take back this monopoly on money from the
Federal Government. The making, Valuing, and Taxing, that is a monopoly.
We could
mandate that the Federal Government must return to the historical
levels of 3% on Gross National Product (GNP). By doing so, all taxes
could be capped at 10%, including state and local and school. If any
of these entities need more money, let them pass the hat. The states
could enact more taxes if they so desired but the Federal government
would have to come to the states and “assess” them or, more
accurately, “ask” for the money. In this way, the people
would actually have a voice in how their money was spent.
A simple tax
system would be that each state would receive a tax bill from the
Federal Government based upon population. It is the responsibility of
each State to raise the money for this tax bill. And, they could do
it in whatever method they prefer.
Corporations
would not be taxed, making them competitive in the world market. The
corporations would have to provide dividends of all the profits to
the shareholders. The exception would be for special projects such as
new equipment or expansion. These funds would go into a special
account (read: “Trust fund”) and can only be used for such
activities within a given time frame. If not, it must be turned over
to shareholders, or pay a hefty tax of say, 50%?
All taxes
would be paid by the people. No taxes for anyone making under $250
thousand. Locals could not tax, their portion would come by
apportionment from the State. And no the State cannot hang onto the
money that belongs to the locals. The same will be true for schools.
Again, if anyone needs more money - pass the hat.
The economy
would expand exponentially. The increase in economy would adjust for
the shifting in taxes. It would remove sales tax and property tax as
will as all the other hidden taxes. You would be tax-free if you make
under $250,000. And let’s not forget to index the compensation
of federally elected officials. So, if even the value of a parking
space increases for an elected official, that becomes part of the
indexing process for all Americans with this tax.
In the end,
oil prices will even out to an affordable price at the pump. And if
there is a mandate, such as alternative energy, let’s take an
additional 1% to underwrite these mandates by citizens vote. If there
are no mandates, the 1% would go into a trust fund that would grow
and start offsetting taxes with the dividends.
There are
many other “solutions” to this “real taxation”
policy. The ones mentioned here are only meant to begin the
discussion and hopefully the process by which our country can get
back to where it should have stayed all along. We at the Society
would be very pleased to work with any group that feels this is the
right avenue to take in beginning the reform process which would, by
its very nature, change everything about the way our country works.
Let us know
your opinion. Put us in touch with the group or groups you know that
want to make the United States of America great again by getting back
to the basics of our Constitution which limit what the Federal
government can do without state’s approvals. The loudest voice
gets the most attention. That’s what stopped the Vietnam war and
it can work again in this crippling scenario of the American way of life.
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Passing of an Icon
It’s time for Michigan elected
officials to grow up The guerrilla warfare among the elected officials in the Michigan legislature and the Governor is going to hurt the economy and many individuals in and out of government. Why? All for political posturing. With the exception of a very few who have been over-powered by the many, nothing has been accomplished with the budget or for improving the Michigan economy in the State Capitol. If the government is shut down, no Michigan elected official should be paid as long as a State employee is laid off. This includes the Governor not getting paid. As the taxpayers paying the bills, the people of Michigan should consider whether the salaries for all elected officials for the past eight months be returned to the State Treasury based upon the opinion that no one has done their job!
It is time that
Lansing remembers that it would not take much to put all elected
official within legal limits in the un-employment line. Normally,
this would be disastrous to the operation of government, but not this
year. The question is not whether you can do your job, you have
proven you cannot, or will not. The real question is how many of you
will return next term? Hopefully very few.
With the State of Michigan becoming a third world nation based upon economy, the last thing the State pocketbook needs is another $2 billion pulled from the purse of business and workers. Yes, the State needs operating capital. So does the private sector. If the State Legislature takes $2 Billion for taxes can our fragile economy withstand this blow or will it collapse? At a standard 4% tax rate the economy, without compound will need to grow by an additional $500 billion to create the $2 billion. Actually less, because of taxation along the way. And as we learned in our civics courses, each dollar compounds about 11 times through the system. That means $50 billion should do it, if we have the time. How can we grow the economy this quickly? Maybe we can take sales tax off of Michigan made automobiles for six months. Buy a new Michigan made car, no sales tax. As the additional dollars enter the pockets of the workers and the vendors' employees for the auto companies, more purchases are made. Also, income tax revenue will increase. The tax money is generated by expanding the economy. Another area where we may consider such a sales tax elimination, at least for a few months, is new home construction. Both of these examples use many suppliers throughout Michigan. Whereas a tofu maker uses limited resources. We could try this approach for 6 months. The affected businesses could also offer incentives, too. It has been suggested that one auto worker supports 250 jobs in some form. The housing industry would be similar. Create the wealth in the economy and the tax revenue will flow in. Think of the economy as a steam engine. If taxes are the escaping steam, the economy just chugs along. Steal steam from the boiler and the economic engine slows to a stop. Our economic steam engine is barely moving now. Can it lose the additional pressure that $2 billion in additional taxes cause without building the additional economic pressure within the boiler? Three other areas of consideration where the State can be an influence, the first is again using sales tax as an incentive. Be a tourist in Michigan, stay over night for several days, and the sales tax is on us. The second area is rethinking how we do things in the State. We should not layoff State Troopers. But, what about State police posts? Mothball or sell the buildings. All of them. What a State police trooper needs is a desk, a place to hang a hat, a parking lot, and a jail. State penitentiaries and county sheriffs offices can be an excellent place to park the troops. In the penitentiaries, we would segregate a portion of the buildings. Sheriff departments would receive rent for housing the troops in their facilities. Also, it would create a better understanding between State and county law enforcement. If we have to sell a building or two, sell them; keep the State Troopers. A long term approach to dollar savings is to consolidate labs. Where we need labs we house them all together. Why? Because if we need to shift staff around we can. Would there be turf wars? You bet. But, by consolidating labs into one facility if a crunch comes along staff can be re-allocated during the emergency. Management would be more familiar with issues in other parts of the building. Currently we have consolidated some labs, more need to be done. Third clean up the State website. Our parent organization the Society for Accurate Information Distribution (Saidnews.org) has ranked the Michigan website one of the worst among government sites. It is so bad the FinditFast Directory has Find Michigan Now! an easy way to find specific information on the State site. By making it possible to do more transactions through the website and offering a discount to do so, more facilities can be closed and those employees can be moved to areas where State workers are needed. Last, as a symbol, Governor Granholm should pull Governor Engler's Oldsmobile out of mothballs and park her whirly-bird for the duration, except for emergencies. By not using her helicopter, it demonstrates the importance of Michigan's economic troubles. Let the Legislature know that she will call up every dirty trick in the book to keep everyone to the grindstone until the budget is balanced and without soaking taxpayers, or laying off State workers. Is this an easy task? No. But, Mrs. Granholm you wanted to be Governor. This is your second term. It's time to .... or get off the pot. Well you know. And that goes double for all the State Legislature, too!
It's time to
stop thinking about the next election and start thinking about the
next pay check of every worker in Michigan. As the business climate
stands, 3 million people will need to leave Michigan to find work.
That is not acceptable!
Again the Lansing State Journal is issuing a non-apology for the data base directly linking State employees by name to the salaries they earn. The Wall of News has urged the Journal to use the format of the State of Michigan Senate of giving all the information except names. The same result is accomplished. The Lansing paper thought that if there were a little upheaval it would blow over and life would go back to normal for the paper. Whether their intent was or was not the attack of State workers, this is what has happened. State workers are private citizens who happen to work for the government and the trend in the last 15 years has been that these employees have worked with a dedication that would put private sector workers to shame.
The Lansing
State Journal seems to be unable to follow its own code of conduct.
This from Lansing State Journal's Mission Statement as of 09/06/07:
Relationships We will leave it to you to decide whether they have met their promise to the community. 53,000 State workers as well as the Wall of News think they have not. It is not the workers and employees, or even those holding stock in Gannett Co., Inc. that are guilty. It falls upon the shoulders of those making the decisions to be hostile without cause within the community. Yet, the fallout falls on everyone. Little wonder that Richard A. Ramhoff, President and Publisher of the Lansing State Journal is pleading for past subscribers to return to the paper.
He writes in
part in a solicitation for re-subscribing: Again no apology. If he wants some type of consideration for his paper, the database must come down, a sincere apology, compensation in a just form to those injured, and the resignation of top management of the Lansing State Journal would indicate a sincere solution to this mess the paper caused. To be fair, The Wall of News has benefitted greatly from this problem. Readership of the Wall of News is very competitive to the paper edition of the Lansing State Journal. As for their website? The Wall of News was past it from the get-go! This does not mean that this kind of behavior is acceptable by anyone. Those papers who feel this kind of behavior is acceptable deserve the consequences they get. Regrettably, the employees will be caught in the middle as will be everyone else. Is decency too little to expect from a professional organization such as the Lansing State Journal? The public is voting with their pocket book and their feet. The Wall of News started out at about one sixth the paper edition of the Journal, now we are competitive. We would tell you more, but the Journal will not release their figures. They do not have to. But, conversationally their 54 million papers per year circulation is estimated at about one third to one sixth, currently. Thirty days after the data base it was estimated a loss of at one half to one third. The Journal is continually losing circulation and the Wall of News is picking up about one third of those dropped readers of the Journal. The rest are getting their news from other sources.
Again, is
decency too little to expect from a professional organization such as
the Lansing State Journal? But let us always be willing to accept a
sincere apology for an honest mistake. Deliberate is another matter.
Vice President
Al Gore created an agenda with global warming. His movie, An
Inconvenient Truth, was by his words a representative of what
was happening to our planet. But is it? Also, let us consider the income stream. A movie is not a bad revenue source. And the best estimate, and please be aware this is only an estimate, the Global Warming campaign is getting about $10 to support their efforts to every $1 that the other side gets. Think in the neighborhood of $50 billion over the past ten years to vote warm. If you wanted grant money for research or for reports and you have a department to fund, where would you go for your research money? The Warm folks always enjoy bringing up the tobacco industry in an accusatory manner if anyone questions their claims. "It's like the tobacco money!" Maybe it is, but for the Warm folks! They are the ones getting the money. These same groups messed up the air condition industry. They claimed: "Freon was causing an ozone hole." Maybe it was. But, if we had had a little more time, we could have had cooling systems that did not need the next generation of Freon, or any compressor. The current version of Freon is nothing to write home about either. It causes a higher use of energy over the original Freon. If reasonable standards of development were employed, new cooling systems would have eliminated compressors and Freon. Look in your camper. A little gas powered refrigerator that works off of gas (it could also be solar) and the coolant is ammonia. The point is, no compressor. It uses very little energy and works well. Another system that would be worth looking at is cooling with sound. It never made it out of the lab. A solid state cooling system. It should be looked at again. These folks screamed until governments made poor choices that favored them. All the while these folks; that is the ring leaders, were making a boat load of money "caring". What about those who really cared? The ones who put their heart and sole into the cause, not a nickel. So this time around what do we do? Let's respond with facts, not with emotion. If the planet is heating up, is it a natural cycle? Should we do anything about it, or are we messing with Nature's plan? Wise stewardship of this planet usually means it will cost less, not more. We were concerned about sulphur in the air and we did something about it. Carbon? The more we look, the more it shows that we are within normal swings. This is true for temperature, too. Does this mean we should we look to better fuel sources? Yes. Electric cars can happen now. There is a Mini Cooper for about $50,000. It does freeway speeds and about 120 miles before recharging. Granted, there is too much profit built into the car. Competition will bring the price down. For most families, it would make a very good second car. For many young people and small families it would be an excellent first vehicle. There is also the India made Reva. Hybrid Technologies is an American company that is into building electric cars. They have a modified PT cruiser that would meet the driving requirements of most individuals. But as individuals, what we should do is not get hysterical. We should walk gently on this earth. We should teach our children how to use our resources wisely. And if the planet is warming, chances are it is a mild warming for a while. Possibly it is before an ice age. If it gets too warm, we can throw some dust into orbit to help cool the planet. We can do that now. But most importantly, let us listen quietly, not to the Chicken Littles of the world. Let us listen to those with real wisdom who quietly speak and by speaking quietly their words will be heard.
Yes, there is
some truth in what the Warm folks have to say. Some truth. However,
the quiet voices are saying the sky is not falling, not today.
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