some comments to ponder upon

Numbed minds = numbed people; ignorance is no longer bliss!

Entitlement minded = I am entitled and it’s my right = everyone’s freedoms are diminished!

How valuable has our freedom and liberty become when we allow our ‘central’ government to become our ‘entitlor’?

We live in an era of the continual layering upon layering of governmental edicts being proclaimed and foisted upon the citizenry (whether by executive order, legislation or judicial decision) that affect the average American’s daily life in many intrusive, inefficient and costly ways and yet the same governmental careerists that are proclaiming these edicts are consistently ‘excluded’ from their reach…the hierarchy of our leadership has truly moved to a ‘do as I say and not as I do’ governmental regime!

truly amazing times...

We have a government that creates the problems by its regulatory vigor, doesn't bother to count the cost of their actions on the future, and then blames everyone else but themselves for the mess that we end up with!
What kind of government leads its people in that fashion? Not a very effective one - and now we are seeing more of the bad fruit of their continuing actions.

Taken from "The Market Today Online" -
The treatment of Bank of America by politicians for its decision to raise fees on its deposit accounts has been remarkable. The President lashed into the bank Monday saying, “you don’t have some inherent right just to, you know, get a certain amount of profit – if your customers are being mistreated – that you have to treat them fairly and transparently.” He added that “This is exactly why we need this Consumer Finance Protection Bureau…somebody who’s sole job it is to prevent this kind of stuff from happening.” This was an alarming statement for the President to say that it is inappropriate for a private business to set its own fee schedule based on its costs – and that the CFPB would police that.
Senator Durbin followed suit by calling for a run on the bank from the Senate floor, telling Bank of America customers they should “get the heck out of that bank.” Representative Brad Miller introduced legislation that says banks cannot charge fees to customers who close accounts, implying that he is protecting the tide of people who will want to leave the bank. In a statement, he offered his understanding of economic theory saying that “That is the way things work in a competitive, free market as unrepentant banks are still trying to rake in vulgar profits.” Bank of America’s website has been down for two days. It would not be a surprise if there were a run taking place on the bank, although the bank denies that.
Politicians undermining confidence in a corporation for political purposes would certainly not be an example of a free market.

Cost of Government Day

Every year, Americans for Tax Reform Foundation publishes its Cost of Government Day report, which calculates the day on the calendar year until which the average American must work to pay for the full costs of government spending and regulation. Highlights of the report are as follows:

- This year, Cost of Government Day fell on August 12, meaning Americans labored a full 224 days into the year to pay for local, state and federal government spending and regulations.

- Americans have lost 29 days of the calendar year thanks to Obama's overspending and regulatory zeal -- 2011 marks the third straight year Cost of Government Day has fallen in August. Prior to the Obama administration, it had never fallen later than July 21.

- The effects of the bailouts and failed stimulus plan are still being felt by Americans, who must work a full 103 days to pay for the costs of federal spending.

- Americans spend 44 days working to pay off state and local government spending.

- Americans are forced to labor 77 days to pay for total federal regulations, a workload that will increase exponentially with the implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The report also measures varying government burdens in each state to calculate their respective state Cost of Government Day. As in past years, taxpayers in Connecticut must work the latest, laboring all the way until September 10 to pay off the full costs of government. Taxpayers in Mississippi worked the shortest amount of time to pay off their burden off government, laboring until July 19.

Source: "2011 Cost of Government Day: August 12," Americans for Tax Reform, August 12, 2011.

For text:
http://www.atr.org/cost-government-august-a6400

For study:
http://www.costofgovernmentday.com/

Where we stand

The answers are fairly straight forward....but they go against an elite ruling political class' dogma...and thus we shall struggle on our never-ending slide to mediocrity...less freedom, less liberty and less economic success - more spending, more debt and more government intervention.

July 31, 2011 excerpts from a WSJ article:

'But the principles are the same: Encourage businesses to expand, rather than government; let markets allocate capital, rather than politicians; liberate entrepreneurs by reining in the regulatory state. The Obama malaise wasn't inevitable and needn't continue. It will end when our political class admits that its nostrums have failed and it is time to once again free the creative energies of the American people.'

'Americans already know that economic growth is flagging, but Friday's second quarter GDP report confirms it: The current recovery, already one of the weakest on record, nearly stalled in the first half of 2011. The economy expanded by a wan 1.3% in the quarter, following a revised 0.4% in the first quarter, and another downward revision in last year's final quarter to 2.3%. This means that for nine months the economy has averaged growth of less than 1.5%, which is barely treading water. At this growth rate a single major shock—such as a European meltdown, or a Chinese slowdown—could tip the U.S. back into recession. What meager growth there was came from exports, federal spending and business investment. Inventories grew slowly and businesses are flush with cash, so there's hope for a bounce off the mat in the second half. But when you add this report to the jobless rate of 9.2%, the flat to falling housing market, layoffs at firms like Cisco and Merck, and capital flowing out of the U.S., it all adds up to a growth recession.'

Our nation's debt issues pondered

It is truly amazing that so many in Washington DC believe that there is a never-ending fountain of money that they can spend to improve their political futures.

Where is the 'service to our country first' that is supposed to be the mark of a congress person and our president ?

‘Power corrupts...more power corrupts even further...and corrupted power destroys individual freedom and liberty.’

'Spending money brings power, more money means more power - but what happens when there is no more money to spend?'

I still don't know how this can be 'corrected' without hitting the bottom first.....

decisions today

Why do we make decisions today based upon political expediency rather than upon what is best for the future of our country?

The answer: 1) the shallowness of our leaders (elected and unelected) along with 2) the unquenchable thirst and drive for power and control.

how government is played

Here is the way our government plays:

Money is power...

And power means accommodation...

And accommodation means the continuing sacrifice of freedoms for everyone else.

power and control - the driving force

The drive for power and control seeks after its own level and will fill and usurp any void that it finds available...