A Couple of Recently Read Items

Did any of you read Newsweek recently? It was very surprising to see that a recent cover story was "Hit The Road Barack - Why We Need a New President."  This cover story came from the international historian and financial historian, Niall Ferguson.

Mr. Ferguson argues that President Obama has proven that he‘s an economic illiterate and that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan’s "path to prosperity is our only hope." He points out that "Unemployment was supposed to be 6 percent by now. It has averaged 8.2 percent this year so far." Why doesn’t he mention it has been over 8 percent for over three years now? He states, "Meanwhile real median annual household income has dropped more than 5 percent since June 2009." Of course that is assuming you are not one of the 23 million people un-employed or under-employed. If you are one of those, your income has dropped MUCH more. 

Before someone writes me saying that number is wrong, add the 8.2 million working part time who want to work full time, and add the 2.5 million who are "marginally attached" to the work force, then add the 12.8 million officially unemployed and you reach 23 million. Keep in mind that the "unemployed" number does not count people who have gotten discouraged, are no longer looking for work and have dropped out of the work force!

"Nearly 110 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011," writes Mr. Ferguson. Obama says he is strengthening the middle class. I don’t see that happening – I see the middle class suffering more. Prices for everything are going up, taxes are going up (with more huge tax increases on the horizon), more and more people are getting welfare, food stamps, etc. – that doesn’t show a stronger middle class in my opinion.

He further writes, that Romney "brings to the presidency precisely the kind of experience — both in the business world and in executive office — that Barack Obama manifestly lacked four years ago." Ferguson adds, "And by picking Ryan as his running mate, Romney has given the first real sign that — unlike Obama — he is a courageous leader who will not duck the challenges America faces," Perhaps if Obama had had a business or worked a steady job in the private sector instead of being a community organizer, he might understand that the private sector is not "doing fine". He might also recognize that the owners of successful businesses did build them. They built them with long hours of hard work and by risking the capital it took to start the businesses.

"Welcome to Obama’s America," Ferguson adds "America under this president is a superpower in retreat, if not retirement. Small wonder 46 percent of Americans — and 63 percent of Chinese — believe that China already has replaced the U.S. as the world’s leading superpower or eventually will."

Another very interesting read was a recent speech by Representative Allen West. The speech was given shortly before July 4th this year. He spoke about the Supreme Court decision about Obamacare and the Declaration of Independence. My only comment on this is that I’m sorry I can’t put the whole speech here! Part of what Allen West said was … 

"...those first "Minutemen" who stood ready to defend a new nation which embodied a fledgling idea of the sovereignty of the American individual... a sovereignty that emanates from our Creator, not from man or government. And how those patriots would have shed tears upon hearing the decision coming from the Supreme Court of the United States of America this past week. This decision has set a precedent by collectively subjugating the individual rights of Americans to the subjective whims of the Federal Government. This decision has given the Federal Government unlimited taxing authority to unleash a new era of behavior modification by way of taxation. This decision has taken us back to exactly the point and reason for America’s founding -- onerous taxation."

… Thomas Jefferson created "the longest running Constitutional Republic the world has ever known. He would set forth a concept that was foreign at the time, of rule by the consent of the governed, not by the monarch. His idea that our unalienable rights did not come from a single ruler but were embedded in each of us from our Creator wholeheartedly altered the relationship between God, leaders, and the people."

"Yet, in a single moment five Supreme Court justices decided that Jefferson’s words had no meaning. These Justices decided that James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton had it all wrong." …

He challenged listeners to "Read the grievances which he listed from an invasive and intrusive King George III and England and find the similarities to today. Read and understand the impeccable birthright of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that has been given to all who earn the title of American. …recognize the blessing of having been born in the greatest nation the world has ever known… a nation for which men and women have given their lives… a nation for which many have left other places in order to become a citizen within the laws of the land."

"Read, my fellow Americans, and when you feel that swelling of pride within your hearts and the tears well in your eyes, then you are ready to do as 56 men did 236 years ago -- pledge your life, your fortune, and your sacred honor to restoring the legacy of this Constitutional Republic, these great United States of America!"

"Thanks to the five United States Supreme Court Justices who have reminded us, true Americans, of what tyranny looks like."