Money Spent to figure out what to Spend?!?!?!?

I really enjoy watching the Daily Show  and also the Colbert Report because their extremely funny and being funny about such depressing topics is absolutely my goal.  It is difficult when discussing things that are, in my opinion, so fucking important to the future of this country.  On the Daily Show the other day I watched a topic about saving money that caught my attention.  There was a case where someone questioned a process that was used to save money and the government hired/assigned someone to investigate and a 3-400+ page report was written up to show how much money was saved showing it's effectiveness.  How much damn money do we spend on this frivolous bullshit that taxpayers are paying for.

There are many discussions I hear about various topics on raising us out of "poverty" and putting the United States back on the right path.  One person says we need to cut spending and it always seems to target Military personnel and systems.  While another person tries to raise taxes, lately specifically on the wealthy.  I think that both of these offer their own pitfalls along with their advantages.  Former president Clinton is saying we need to get manufacturing back to the US.  That's very true but there are other aspects that need cleaning up before that truly becomes feasible.

Is there a simple solution?  Of course not.  There are too many fucking people with their hands in the cookie jar for their to be a simple solution.  If a solution would actually do great then someone loses out on a cut of what they've been taken advantage of for a long time.  For example, in the taxes arena, I believe that we have a system that is much too confusing and has too many loopholes and variables.  Why else would the IRS need 150,000 plus employees to run.  Not to mention the amount of money businesses are spending on personnel just simply to understand all realms of taxes as to avoid paying taxes as much as possible.  How much money do we budget to IRS?  BILLIONS!!  And then add to that the amount of money everyone spends on professional tax service.  And then there's the fact that most people at my level (poor) have a large portion of their check taken out for taxes which becomes more of a loan to our government because they get a portion of that back at the end of the year.  I don't know about you but I'm not comfortable with being a bank and if that's what I'm forced to be then where is my "bailout"?

Simplify the tax system and reduce how much money we have to spend on personnel to run just that and you get something that can be better understood as well as reducing spending without effecting the military which has fought for our freedom as well as the freedoms of other countries as well.  If there were a flat tax without complicated deductions and other variables I would personally feel more comfortable with it and would know in a much clearer way what I have to pay.  I like that.  There are a few politicians with ideas in this direction.  My favorite is Mike Huckabee, who's idea is a "Fair Tax".  Read his blog and specifically Tax Reform Post to form your own thoughts and ideas on the topic.

Back to the topic of that very large report.  How much many do we spend on silly reports on irrelevant topics.  Sure, we need lots of research to occur and there needs to be large reports on many topics for managing the research.  But how many things that our government spends millions of dollars on should be turned over to special interest groups.  I am unaware of the numbers but I can assure you that there are many things that the majority of us have no interest in or would consider a good use of the money we are pouring into these things.

So, along with some very specific ideas I have there needs to be a lot of changes but the key is to start making it happen not just talk about it.  To me, Common Sense needs to become a bigger role in everything we do as people and also in what our government does.  Just because it can be made to look good on paper doesn't mean it is good.  Use your common sense.  It's not always easy to make common sense sound right but often times it's exactly what needs to happen or at least be strongly considered against the options that will probably feed a bunch of money into pockets that are already overfilled.

Thanks for taking the time to read my rant.  Hope it makes some sense and is written at least half-ass well.  :)

James

WE CANNOT REGULATE THE POOR INTO WEALTH

Your Turn to Stop Supporting Big Government

I do my best to avoid dealing with political activities and don't care for the loss of freedom that occurs naturally with even the smallest of political ideas.  But often times I discuss politics with some of my close friends and nearly always there is a large agreeance between us in the direction of Government being a failure of freedom.

When discussing politics, every one of our discussions tends to have theories on 'fixing' something or doing something better then they currently do it.  At one point, a very great guy and all around awesome friend, had asked me a question that I couldn't properly answer.  No answer to it truly made sense and we agree on 99% of our theories and solutions except for he has accepted the very negative outlook of corruption and I haven't (although I am think I may be just about there).  The question is, "How is it that we can come up with these simple and positive solutions but the genius' in office cannot?"  This friend understands that all of our elected officials have made it into office by being very intelligent and not the "dumb ass's" that most of us view when we think of what they are or are not accomplishing.

Today, on Facebook, American Exceptionalism had a link with this quote: "There is a salutary effect to minding one's business: the more one withdraws from politics, the more one realizes how trifling politics actually is, while concurrently realizing how cooperation and freedom provide the best solutions to the greatest number of problems." and I just had to, and am very glad I did click on it and read the whole article.  The article was one by Stephen Mauzy and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Read the article HERE and then come back and lets start the solution.

The Solution?  Stop supporting it.  Some of us support it consciously and other subconsciously.  Take a moment to think about what your doing to support this system and come up with a solution that works for you to stop supporting it.  One solution does not work for all of us but there is a solution for each of us.  It's up to you.  Feel free to share your idea.  It may work for someone else as well.

Thanks,

James

Preparing our Youth due to US Failure

It is difficult to find good teachers.  It takes a person of great ability to maintain the energy and audacity to keep children on their toes and wanting to absorb more information from another person.  In Texas, such a person was discovered.  Someone who can see that the "Freedom" once provided by America is nearly dead and that other countries are very soon to be the target of mass influxes of immigrants looking to take advantage of Freedom that can no longer be found in the US.

As a country we have strayed extremely far from our humble beginnings as farmers, ranchers and hard workers with the Freedom to enjoy life in every way.  We worked hard so as to provide for our brothers, sisters, children and parents alike.  I'm not referring only to those of our blood, at one time everyone together was a whole family.  Proud Americans who stood up for each other and took care of one another.  Whether it was with food, clothing or other necessities.  We stood together to became Americans and then slowly over time power and greed corrupted us like so many nations before us and now many are going to, understandably, seek out a new home, a new family of people willing to accept each other for all their great and amazing qualities.

In Texas, they understand this and are giving our children the knowledge required to pursue this without being lost for a time.  These children have the opportunistic fortune to be trained for a seamless transition into another country without concern of having to learn a new language or ideals.  For your ability to see a need and put your neck on the line for our children, I salute you.

Preparing our Youth

James  ;)

Corporations are like Robots

Employer Y is having a  meeting with Employee X.

"Thank You for coming X.  As you are probably aware, we are under new ownership and there are concerns of existing regulations not being upheld by our employees such as yourself. Are you aware that our policies state, 'No other buttons, badges, pins or insignia of any kind are permitted to be worn' on the employee uniform?"

"Yes Sir I am aware of that statement in the employee handbook.  I have been with the company for 2 years and have taken great pride in being an ideal employee."

"Great!! Then you'll completely understand when we fire you for breaking our rules?"

"Wait, What? I've gotten great reviews and compliments from management since the time I've been here.  What are you talking about?"

"X, we just went over this.  I asked if you were aware of our policy and you clearly stated that you were.  So, I'll give you a chance to avoid termination if you just remove that very small unobtrusive piece of "flare" that you have on our uniform directly above your name tag."

"You couldn't possibly mean the "American Flag" lapel, could you?  Many guests have commented on it very positively.  Have there been complaints?"

"There have not been complaints X, however once again, it clearly, and you admitted that you were aware of this, states in our Employee Handbook, 'No other buttons, badges, pins or insignia of any kind are permitted to be worn' on the employee uniform.  Will you remove this symbol of your patriotism and freedom from our uniform so as not to possibly offend our guests who have not complained?"

"This is a lapel that represents my pride in my country and I feel very strongly about displaying this, just as I feel strongly about taking great care of our guests."

"Please clock out and don't come back.  Thank You!"

What the heck is wrong with people in this country.  We have lost way too many freedoms over the years and it appears to be a disease that is wrecking our abilities to honor the ideas of freedom in every aspect.  This is just a silly, childish display of how to live life.  Nobody is ever happy or content with 'living', only of running everything by the book.  We as a country need to break free from this horrible outlook and love each other no matter the differences.  We were founded on freedom and we need to work hard to get back to that place once again.  It no longer exists, for that I am sure, and it's been a long time since it has.  Let's start making a change today in whatever way makes you feel good.  FREEDOM is our right and the only thing worth fighting for.

This was based on the news article linked below:
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/10/16/2011-10-16_florida_hotel_worker_fired_for_refusing_to_take_off_american_flag_lapel_pin.html

James

My first Political Blog

I'm not a great writer but I always have opinions of the political issues that are always discussed and are currently very much plaguing our culture/environment/and every other aspect of our lives.  I never concerned myself with politics but as a very young child I was aware of the lack of freedom in our country that is based on "Freedom".  Makes me think that as a whole we have a misunderstanding of what freedom means.

That lead me to "Google it"!  Simple concept right? So why is it so difficult for all these geniuses in office?  First I simply typed in "Freedom" but there were too many topics on Freedom that it didn't give a description or definition.  Then I searched (and I actually used Bing not Google) "Freedom definition".

This is what came up:

• ability to act freely: a state in which somebody is able to act and live as he or she chooses, without being subject to any undue restraints or restrictions

• release from captivity or slavery: release or rescue from being physically bound, or from being confined, enslaved, captured, or imprisoned

• country's right to self-rule: a country's right to rule itself, without interference from, or domination by, another country or power

Then I typed "To Be Governed" and the very first site says:


“To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be place[d] under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.” (P.-J. Proudhon, General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century, translated by John Beverly Robinson (London: Freedom Press, 1923), pp. 293-294.)

I love watching Jon Stewart with his funny and silly ways to make a point and I'm hoping that I can do similarly with this blog. Lately, it's amazing to me how the media and other persons in power can twist the simplest of things to the complete opposite of what their intentions are. Perhaps our issue is that we've lived under the "To Be Governed" description so long that we no longer have any idea how to have Freedom even in our thought processes. Sad, very very sad.

Good Political Video in my opinion: Click to Watch on YouTube

Libertarian Quotes that express what I believe to be True:

1. Gary Lloyd ~ "When the government's boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence."
2. Benjamin Franklin ~ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
3. Thomas B. Reed ~ "One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation."