The Sunset
11 months ago
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A couple of poems....
Here are a few poems that I thought I'd post. I figure poems are supposed to be interpreted differently by everyone, which is why poetry is so fun to read, and these ones make perfect sense to me when I think back on the topic I was writing about. Merry Christmas!
Sunflower's path: for Steph
A sunflower's path across the sky
Warmth of a smile and my heart feels high
Every day a new beginning
Every night the same bright feeling
You're my ray that leads my life
Thank you for being such a wonderful wife.
Warmth of a smile and my heart feels high
Every day a new beginning
Every night the same bright feeling
You're my ray that leads my life
Thank you for being such a wonderful wife.
Father's Self-expression
Descriptions of beauty unimaginable pass my eyes
Their images melt into my mind
Conjure up pieces of puzzles never solved
How can I speak for a sunset?
When does a word depict a song?
Life seems to come in so many forms
Breath only represents a portion
Weaved into eternity are endless creations
Myriad hosts cry hallelujah to His throne.
Their images melt into my mind
Conjure up pieces of puzzles never solved
How can I speak for a sunset?
When does a word depict a song?
Life seems to come in so many forms
Breath only represents a portion
Weaved into eternity are endless creations
Myriad hosts cry hallelujah to His throne.
Swirling Links
Swirling links climb toward the sky
Every one a separate length of steel
Nets strung empty across an open space of green, now white
My soul searches a way into another sight
Barricades will cease with the slow sunrise
Yet here I remain, fingers entwined and eyes toward the ice.
Every one a separate length of steel
Nets strung empty across an open space of green, now white
My soul searches a way into another sight
Barricades will cease with the slow sunrise
Yet here I remain, fingers entwined and eyes toward the ice.
ODE TO PHILOSOPHY 201
Rivers of knowledge, oceans of pain
Lakes in a nation of men gone insane
Drops of a torrent flow quickly past
Ears still their ringing at last.
The tower is empty, the bell has been lost
A rope hangs limp, never used.
Concepts retained in a pool of cement
Nothing lurks living below
Perhaps I should trace my steps to the door
And on my way I should go.
Lakes in a nation of men gone insane
Drops of a torrent flow quickly past
Ears still their ringing at last.
The tower is empty, the bell has been lost
A rope hangs limp, never used.
Concepts retained in a pool of cement
Nothing lurks living below
Perhaps I should trace my steps to the door
And on my way I should go.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Stepping Aside....
Millions below, tiny and slow
Myriad lights flicker and die into the night
Invisible glow of life fills the void below the sky
Texture of droning voices never reaches the summit
Thoughts slumber and rest from a weary climb.
Farther, yet closer somehow
Darker, but so much brighter
My soul stands in the cold air and warms from a distance.
Myriad lights flicker and die into the night
Invisible glow of life fills the void below the sky
Texture of droning voices never reaches the summit
Thoughts slumber and rest from a weary climb.
Farther, yet closer somehow
Darker, but so much brighter
My soul stands in the cold air and warms from a distance.
Mission Recollections
I served my mission in Quito, Ecuador during the years of 2004, 2005, and 2006. I can vividly recall arriving to the city; it was midnight, and the dark view from my airplane window was suddenly transformed into a dazzling scene of lights as we came around a mountain. Roads wound up and down the steep Andes mountains, illuminated on both sides by street lamps. The airport consisted of a small building, a dirt parking lot, and numerous angry-looking women who checked our passports.
We rode to the Assistants' house in the back of a pickup truck, passing a crowd of overdressed policemen as they held a band of criminals hostage in a ruined parking lot. After climbing to the apartment, we slept until morning when we were awakened by loud wheezing, tires screeching, and unending noise from below the apartment. I looked out of the window to find out what had happened; I was greeted by an enormous billboard of a semi-nude woman. The sounds were coming from the street far below us, where I could see stick-shift buses lurching along (that was the wheezing noise). They were packed to the brim, with people hanging out of the doors, laying on dashboards, and clinging even to the roofs of the buses. I could hardly believe the traffic, and it appeared as though there were absolutely no road rules whatsoever.
My first day was spent with two other missionaries. In order to board the bus, we had to run alongside and pull ourselves up as the driver did not want to stop. I had a hard time walking to the back because the driver apparently had no idea how to change gears smoothly, but I finally dropped into an empty seat next to a small, brown Ecuadorian. He was fairly nice, and in my broken Spanish I explained to him who we were and offered to send the missionaries to his home. He accepted, and I had him write his address on a slip of paper before I handed him his first Book of Mormon.
One of the two missionaries who were with me explained how I should descend from the bus. Since the drivers don't stop completely, one must jump facing the direction of movement in order to keep his balance. We left the bus, and I was astonished at the area. Tall, irregular, dirty stone buildings lined the steep mountain streets, and most homes were accessible only by stairs winding in and out between the structures. The three of us climbed about 400 stairs before we even reached the road we needed, and at 12,000 feet elevation I was having some serious trouble getting my breath.
My very first discussion took place in the destroyed foundation of a home, where we taught a 13 year-old boy about baptism. The only spectators were three or four filthy hogs who were rummaging about in piles of trash. The boy wanted to be baptized, so we set a baptism date.
We taught a lot of people that afternoon, and a few things in particular stood out to me. One was the absolute abject poverty that infiltrated every living corner, evidenced by the bare apartments, huts dug into the hillsides, and filthy cobblestone streets. Another was how everyone either knew the missionaries or stared at us like they were seeing ghosts. Almost everyone we taught was female, and it appeared to me that all of the men were either at work or stone-drunk.
It was truly another world for me, four hours away from my home and a century apart. Cathedrals dotted each neighborhood, and tiny shrines dedicated to local “Virgins” were the only well-kept structures in sight. Ecuadorians are mostly Catholic, though their Catholicism has been heavily influenced by age-old native traditions. Often we would be interrupted by the blaring horns of numerous completely untrained musicians as they marched through the streets, carrying on their shoulders a statue of the local virgin while priests dressed as gorillas, monsters, or other creatures danced drunken in front of the crowd. Virgins are not viewed just as intercessors to God by the Ecuadorian people; instead, the statues are actually believed to be the source of all types of blessings. Though idol worship is taught as sinful in the churches, most of the teaching never translates to understanding or actions. Bible study is not encouraged, and in many ways is discouraged by the priests and Catholic leaders. There is a system of inequalities, and the Catholic church rules many neighborhoods. Though it is the center of every community, the church plays no active part in the rearing of children; commandments are taught as guidelines, and most Ecuadorians are very unfamiliar with their church's doctrine even though they attend Mass on a regular basis. However, in spite of the many obstacles which people face as they learn about a new religion that requires active participation, learning, and service the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, along with other Christian religions, is quickly gaining ground in Ecuador.
My first area is one which I hope to never forget. Rightly called La Loma de Puengasi (“The Hill of Puengasi”), it climbed the side of one of the largest mountains in the city of Quito. In order to walk the three miles to our house, we had to traverse the countryside by using trails and dirt roads that turned to four inches of mud every time it poured, which was every day. One evening, it was very dark as we trudged through the rain, mud, and cold air on our way to where we lived. We decided to take a slight detour to find a contact before going on, and we ended up finding a tiny two-room cement house that seemed to be built in the middle of a muddy pond. It was the Calderon family, and they invited us in. Everything was white, except for the tile floor due to the massive amounts of mud and water that my companion and I had tracked in. The father was handicapped by a twisted, gnarled arm that seemed to be glued to his side, and worked earning seventy-five dollars a month as a security guard. The mother sported a shawl to offset the bitter cold of their home. They had jet-black skin, except for the baby (youngest of three) whose color was slightly lighter than the rest. I can still vividly remember that first lesson; my companion was glancing around the room between making eye contact, and in his humble way earnestly shared his testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. I was sitting in a child's chair, barely twelve inches off the ground, and the children sat on bags of rice. We taught them the gospel, and they began to make serious changes in their lives. They were, after many months, baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to see them united as a family was a touching experience for me.
Though there were occasional clashes between our doctrine and the doctrine of other religions, as missionaries we concerned ourselves with building upon the faith that people already had acquired through following their respective religions. For example, the “Testigos de Jeovah” (Jehovah's Witnesses) believed in keeping their bodies healthy; we taught the same thing, and expanded upon it. The evangelists believed in studying the Bible; we encouraged them to apply the teachings of the Bible and search for modern revelation. The Catholics believed that their church was established just after the time of Christ; we taught that the Church of Jesus Christ has been in existence for eternity. Muslims believed in temple worship; we taught them of ancient ordinances performed in consecrated temples that can seal a family together for all time. Atheists believed that God didn't exist because there was suffering in the world; we taught them the purpose of suffering is to be able to experience true joy. Baptists believed in the grace of God to save them, and we taught them how to qualify for that saving grace. We took their gifts of the Spirit and provided the celestial instruction manuals which were lacking, so to speak.
Our religion did not differ so much from others; it only added a new dimension, a new understanding to what they already believed, while clarifying certain points which had been contaminated by the opinions and false teachings of men. Religion is a key factor in the lives of Ecuadorians, which made it both easy to find investigators and sometimes difficult to convince them of the need for anything more.
The final moments of my service in Ecuador were some of the greatest eye-opening ones for me regarding the myriad lessons learned during my two-year sojourn. Perhaps one of the greatest of those moments occurred the day before I was to fly back to the United States. I was in a place called Santa Anita, Ambato, about a mile or so from the bus stop and into the countryside. My companion and the Chango family were seated around a table in a very, very poor neighborhood. The entire family, complete with their cousins, uncles, and aunts had been baptized at different times throughout the previous six months, and Ismael was probably the one who had changed the most. Having been an abusive, alcoholic father and husband, he slowly made changes until he was to be one of the strongest of all the new converts I had taught. At that moment, he stood up and sang to me a farewell, Mas Cerca, Dios, de Ti, (“Closer my god, to thee”). Though his voice was untrained and the melody unrecognizable, the words touched my heart. He was, truly, closer to his God, and in the dusty room I could almost palpate the feeling of love that had entered the home. This was true religion.
We rode to the Assistants' house in the back of a pickup truck, passing a crowd of overdressed policemen as they held a band of criminals hostage in a ruined parking lot. After climbing to the apartment, we slept until morning when we were awakened by loud wheezing, tires screeching, and unending noise from below the apartment. I looked out of the window to find out what had happened; I was greeted by an enormous billboard of a semi-nude woman. The sounds were coming from the street far below us, where I could see stick-shift buses lurching along (that was the wheezing noise). They were packed to the brim, with people hanging out of the doors, laying on dashboards, and clinging even to the roofs of the buses. I could hardly believe the traffic, and it appeared as though there were absolutely no road rules whatsoever.
My first day was spent with two other missionaries. In order to board the bus, we had to run alongside and pull ourselves up as the driver did not want to stop. I had a hard time walking to the back because the driver apparently had no idea how to change gears smoothly, but I finally dropped into an empty seat next to a small, brown Ecuadorian. He was fairly nice, and in my broken Spanish I explained to him who we were and offered to send the missionaries to his home. He accepted, and I had him write his address on a slip of paper before I handed him his first Book of Mormon.
One of the two missionaries who were with me explained how I should descend from the bus. Since the drivers don't stop completely, one must jump facing the direction of movement in order to keep his balance. We left the bus, and I was astonished at the area. Tall, irregular, dirty stone buildings lined the steep mountain streets, and most homes were accessible only by stairs winding in and out between the structures. The three of us climbed about 400 stairs before we even reached the road we needed, and at 12,000 feet elevation I was having some serious trouble getting my breath.
My very first discussion took place in the destroyed foundation of a home, where we taught a 13 year-old boy about baptism. The only spectators were three or four filthy hogs who were rummaging about in piles of trash. The boy wanted to be baptized, so we set a baptism date.
We taught a lot of people that afternoon, and a few things in particular stood out to me. One was the absolute abject poverty that infiltrated every living corner, evidenced by the bare apartments, huts dug into the hillsides, and filthy cobblestone streets. Another was how everyone either knew the missionaries or stared at us like they were seeing ghosts. Almost everyone we taught was female, and it appeared to me that all of the men were either at work or stone-drunk.
It was truly another world for me, four hours away from my home and a century apart. Cathedrals dotted each neighborhood, and tiny shrines dedicated to local “Virgins” were the only well-kept structures in sight. Ecuadorians are mostly Catholic, though their Catholicism has been heavily influenced by age-old native traditions. Often we would be interrupted by the blaring horns of numerous completely untrained musicians as they marched through the streets, carrying on their shoulders a statue of the local virgin while priests dressed as gorillas, monsters, or other creatures danced drunken in front of the crowd. Virgins are not viewed just as intercessors to God by the Ecuadorian people; instead, the statues are actually believed to be the source of all types of blessings. Though idol worship is taught as sinful in the churches, most of the teaching never translates to understanding or actions. Bible study is not encouraged, and in many ways is discouraged by the priests and Catholic leaders. There is a system of inequalities, and the Catholic church rules many neighborhoods. Though it is the center of every community, the church plays no active part in the rearing of children; commandments are taught as guidelines, and most Ecuadorians are very unfamiliar with their church's doctrine even though they attend Mass on a regular basis. However, in spite of the many obstacles which people face as they learn about a new religion that requires active participation, learning, and service the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, along with other Christian religions, is quickly gaining ground in Ecuador.
My first area is one which I hope to never forget. Rightly called La Loma de Puengasi (“The Hill of Puengasi”), it climbed the side of one of the largest mountains in the city of Quito. In order to walk the three miles to our house, we had to traverse the countryside by using trails and dirt roads that turned to four inches of mud every time it poured, which was every day. One evening, it was very dark as we trudged through the rain, mud, and cold air on our way to where we lived. We decided to take a slight detour to find a contact before going on, and we ended up finding a tiny two-room cement house that seemed to be built in the middle of a muddy pond. It was the Calderon family, and they invited us in. Everything was white, except for the tile floor due to the massive amounts of mud and water that my companion and I had tracked in. The father was handicapped by a twisted, gnarled arm that seemed to be glued to his side, and worked earning seventy-five dollars a month as a security guard. The mother sported a shawl to offset the bitter cold of their home. They had jet-black skin, except for the baby (youngest of three) whose color was slightly lighter than the rest. I can still vividly remember that first lesson; my companion was glancing around the room between making eye contact, and in his humble way earnestly shared his testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. I was sitting in a child's chair, barely twelve inches off the ground, and the children sat on bags of rice. We taught them the gospel, and they began to make serious changes in their lives. They were, after many months, baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to see them united as a family was a touching experience for me.
Though there were occasional clashes between our doctrine and the doctrine of other religions, as missionaries we concerned ourselves with building upon the faith that people already had acquired through following their respective religions. For example, the “Testigos de Jeovah” (Jehovah's Witnesses) believed in keeping their bodies healthy; we taught the same thing, and expanded upon it. The evangelists believed in studying the Bible; we encouraged them to apply the teachings of the Bible and search for modern revelation. The Catholics believed that their church was established just after the time of Christ; we taught that the Church of Jesus Christ has been in existence for eternity. Muslims believed in temple worship; we taught them of ancient ordinances performed in consecrated temples that can seal a family together for all time. Atheists believed that God didn't exist because there was suffering in the world; we taught them the purpose of suffering is to be able to experience true joy. Baptists believed in the grace of God to save them, and we taught them how to qualify for that saving grace. We took their gifts of the Spirit and provided the celestial instruction manuals which were lacking, so to speak.
Our religion did not differ so much from others; it only added a new dimension, a new understanding to what they already believed, while clarifying certain points which had been contaminated by the opinions and false teachings of men. Religion is a key factor in the lives of Ecuadorians, which made it both easy to find investigators and sometimes difficult to convince them of the need for anything more.
The final moments of my service in Ecuador were some of the greatest eye-opening ones for me regarding the myriad lessons learned during my two-year sojourn. Perhaps one of the greatest of those moments occurred the day before I was to fly back to the United States. I was in a place called Santa Anita, Ambato, about a mile or so from the bus stop and into the countryside. My companion and the Chango family were seated around a table in a very, very poor neighborhood. The entire family, complete with their cousins, uncles, and aunts had been baptized at different times throughout the previous six months, and Ismael was probably the one who had changed the most. Having been an abusive, alcoholic father and husband, he slowly made changes until he was to be one of the strongest of all the new converts I had taught. At that moment, he stood up and sang to me a farewell, Mas Cerca, Dios, de Ti, (“Closer my god, to thee”). Though his voice was untrained and the melody unrecognizable, the words touched my heart. He was, truly, closer to his God, and in the dusty room I could almost palpate the feeling of love that had entered the home. This was true religion.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Denver
I can't wait to move to Denver; I love exploring new places, and Denver is like a veritable maze. Come to think of it, I never imagined that I'd live in Denver when I was growing up, but the prospect seems very inviting to me now. I'll be glad to move away from Utah, as much as I have enjoyed my time here. BYU has been a huge growing experience for me, and I've learned a lot, but some lessons just can't be applied until circumstances are drastically changed.
My wife is pretty nervous about it, but she'll do great. A man in her home ward once said, "There is no growth in your comfort zone, and no comfort in your growth zone." I think that is a fairly true statement; the only way to overcome our fears is by doing whatever it is that we fear.
Anyway, I just thought I'd put in a comment or two of how glad I am that our family can go through such a big change. I think that a lot of times our greatest blessings are from the experiences we dread the most (which means that Steph's in for a big blessing, and I'll be along for the ride), unless of course we don't let them turn into blessings.
My wife is pretty nervous about it, but she'll do great. A man in her home ward once said, "There is no growth in your comfort zone, and no comfort in your growth zone." I think that is a fairly true statement; the only way to overcome our fears is by doing whatever it is that we fear.
Anyway, I just thought I'd put in a comment or two of how glad I am that our family can go through such a big change. I think that a lot of times our greatest blessings are from the experiences we dread the most (which means that Steph's in for a big blessing, and I'll be along for the ride), unless of course we don't let them turn into blessings.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Changing, dads, and other stuff
Ok, so I've really been thinking a lot this weekend about lots of crazy different things, and I decided that it would be fun to work in wellness programs for big corporations and insurance companies. I would develop programs that would involve a whole lot of people at the same time doing very simple things to live healthier lives, like exercise a little each day or eat more carbohydrates and vegetables instead of fats, or smoke less than 1 cigarette per day. It would be a lot of fun for me, and it is something I could do on the side while I am also a nurse!
I don't think I have enough fun anymore. I am excited to move just so that we can get a chance to change our lives a little bit; right now, our idea of a date is either going out to eat or watching a movie. Since the difficulty pregnancy began, I don't think we've used our imaginations much in deciding what to do for fun or for dates, though we have taken a few sight-seeing trips that were pretty cool (like to Temple Square to see the lights). Anyway, we're going to try to do more fun things in Denver as a family, like creative games and hikes and fishing and playing basketball and scrapbooking and building stuff.
My last day at work is this Saturday, and I am extremely glad to be leaving. I've been there for about 22 months now, and C.N.A. work can be pretty intense sometimes, though I do like working with patients. Being a nursing assistant has taught me, more than anything, that we are living in a mostly conflict society which doesn't pay according to what we accomplish or how much we contribute, but instead what our hierarchal position is that we maintain. I mean, as assistants we determine probably 90% of the quality of life for our patients, yet we get paid literally less than half of what an RN there gets paid, and our job is much more difficult, dirty, and important to the patient than the medications. I'm not complaining about it, I am just stating that it is something that, if I am ever in management, am going to try to fix. Sometimes we don't give the most important jobs the credit we should, just because it's not prestigious. For example, what would we do without dedicated mothers? Yet we don't give them a lot of prestige (nobody boasts nowadays that they are stay-at-home moms; half of them feel like they need to justify it to whoever they are talking to). Instead, we look at the men and say “He's a firefighter” or whatever it is and somehow he has a more prestigious title than a stay-at-home mom who takes good care of her kids.
My parents live pretty far away from everything, up in Pennsylvania. They just bought a house, though, on Lake Wawanoka in Missouri. It is the same house where my mom grew up. I've no idea what their current plans are with regard to retirement, selling their current home, etc. but I hope I get to see more of them in the next several years. I haven't had much of an opportunity to spend time with my dad, or even speak with him on the phone, since before my mission to Ecuador. I know what he is like as a dad, but I often wish we lived closer together so that we could be good friends as well. Of all my friends, I can't think of anyone I would rather hang out with than my dad. He's always been incredibly supportive of my development, and never seems to make a quick judgment about something. He's not perfect, of course; he could have been a little taller so that I would have gotten some tall genes in me, but for now I'll forgive him for that. Ha ha! Anyway, I hope we get to do the things that I wish I'd done more with him when we were younger, like go hiking, camping, canoeing, sightseeing, working on stuff, etc. We did that sort of thing pretty often, don't get me wrong; it's just been too long since just the two of us did it. I think that the last time I really had a lot of alone time with my dad is when we built our garage at Stamps Road. My siblings helped, but I always felt like Dad kind of relied more on me to help him that year than the other kids, and I really treasure those times we spent together building the walls and stuff.
I hope I don't get so caught up in work and life that I forget that my kids aren't going to remember much of the stuff I did for them; instead, they're going to remember the stuff I did with them. The same goes for my marriage. I am really excited that we're not going to have cable tv when we move to Denver, because I have such a hard time turning the tv off and using my imagination to find something to do with my family. Steph seems perfectly able to tune the tv out and do whatever she wants while its on, but it seems to be physically impossible for me not to get absorbed into whatever is blinking on the screen. Not having cable tv will help me immensely to spend more time playing with Braeden and Stephanie during next year. There are so many other things we can do!
I once heard a talk by the late, beloved President James E. Faust called “Do Something.” He spoke on how our society is changing, and we are not looking to entertain ourselves anymore. Instead, we are looking to be entertained. How often are we willing and able to listen to music and praise the accomplishments of others, while not trying to make our own music? We watch sports on television, but we won't go play them ourselves with either our family or our friends.....then he gave the punch line. “Fresh water runs on, but still water becomes stagnant.” We have to always be changing, always be interacting with our environment instead of being acted upon.
This is a long, long post, but I've just been thinking about this stuff over the course of this week. I am going to be writing more blogs from now on, hopefully, and they're just going to be about whatever random thing I'm thinking about or doing that day.
I don't think I have enough fun anymore. I am excited to move just so that we can get a chance to change our lives a little bit; right now, our idea of a date is either going out to eat or watching a movie. Since the difficulty pregnancy began, I don't think we've used our imaginations much in deciding what to do for fun or for dates, though we have taken a few sight-seeing trips that were pretty cool (like to Temple Square to see the lights). Anyway, we're going to try to do more fun things in Denver as a family, like creative games and hikes and fishing and playing basketball and scrapbooking and building stuff.
My last day at work is this Saturday, and I am extremely glad to be leaving. I've been there for about 22 months now, and C.N.A. work can be pretty intense sometimes, though I do like working with patients. Being a nursing assistant has taught me, more than anything, that we are living in a mostly conflict society which doesn't pay according to what we accomplish or how much we contribute, but instead what our hierarchal position is that we maintain. I mean, as assistants we determine probably 90% of the quality of life for our patients, yet we get paid literally less than half of what an RN there gets paid, and our job is much more difficult, dirty, and important to the patient than the medications. I'm not complaining about it, I am just stating that it is something that, if I am ever in management, am going to try to fix. Sometimes we don't give the most important jobs the credit we should, just because it's not prestigious. For example, what would we do without dedicated mothers? Yet we don't give them a lot of prestige (nobody boasts nowadays that they are stay-at-home moms; half of them feel like they need to justify it to whoever they are talking to). Instead, we look at the men and say “He's a firefighter” or whatever it is and somehow he has a more prestigious title than a stay-at-home mom who takes good care of her kids.
My parents live pretty far away from everything, up in Pennsylvania. They just bought a house, though, on Lake Wawanoka in Missouri. It is the same house where my mom grew up. I've no idea what their current plans are with regard to retirement, selling their current home, etc. but I hope I get to see more of them in the next several years. I haven't had much of an opportunity to spend time with my dad, or even speak with him on the phone, since before my mission to Ecuador. I know what he is like as a dad, but I often wish we lived closer together so that we could be good friends as well. Of all my friends, I can't think of anyone I would rather hang out with than my dad. He's always been incredibly supportive of my development, and never seems to make a quick judgment about something. He's not perfect, of course; he could have been a little taller so that I would have gotten some tall genes in me, but for now I'll forgive him for that. Ha ha! Anyway, I hope we get to do the things that I wish I'd done more with him when we were younger, like go hiking, camping, canoeing, sightseeing, working on stuff, etc. We did that sort of thing pretty often, don't get me wrong; it's just been too long since just the two of us did it. I think that the last time I really had a lot of alone time with my dad is when we built our garage at Stamps Road. My siblings helped, but I always felt like Dad kind of relied more on me to help him that year than the other kids, and I really treasure those times we spent together building the walls and stuff.
I hope I don't get so caught up in work and life that I forget that my kids aren't going to remember much of the stuff I did for them; instead, they're going to remember the stuff I did with them. The same goes for my marriage. I am really excited that we're not going to have cable tv when we move to Denver, because I have such a hard time turning the tv off and using my imagination to find something to do with my family. Steph seems perfectly able to tune the tv out and do whatever she wants while its on, but it seems to be physically impossible for me not to get absorbed into whatever is blinking on the screen. Not having cable tv will help me immensely to spend more time playing with Braeden and Stephanie during next year. There are so many other things we can do!
I once heard a talk by the late, beloved President James E. Faust called “Do Something.” He spoke on how our society is changing, and we are not looking to entertain ourselves anymore. Instead, we are looking to be entertained. How often are we willing and able to listen to music and praise the accomplishments of others, while not trying to make our own music? We watch sports on television, but we won't go play them ourselves with either our family or our friends.....then he gave the punch line. “Fresh water runs on, but still water becomes stagnant.” We have to always be changing, always be interacting with our environment instead of being acted upon.
This is a long, long post, but I've just been thinking about this stuff over the course of this week. I am going to be writing more blogs from now on, hopefully, and they're just going to be about whatever random thing I'm thinking about or doing that day.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Fammmmilleeee
Hi everybody (meaning my wife), just checking in to say that Braeden is one heck of a good aim when it comes to peeing and pooping on his mommy. I think she feels special that Braeden would try so hard to squirt her in the face, and she's doing a pretty darn good job of taking care of this kid of ours. He's a good baby, and we have a lot of fun hanging out with him....I love having a normal family now, with a wife who loves me and a little boy who seems very curious about the most random things (our lamp definitely taking the top of the list).
Braeden likes to laugh in his sleep, and it is the greatest thing to hear. Sometimes I forget how incredibly blessed my family has been so far in this life, and I need to realize how fortunate we are. We were able to rent an apartment in Denver this morning, which is a great relief to us. Hopefully, we'll be able to afford to buy an apartment in a few months (it would save us thousands upon thousands of dollars over the next few years) in Denver.
Anyway, I just wanted to put up a post about how cool my wife is. She works pretty darn hard, and never neglects taking care of Braeden, keeping things clean, working on our relationship, and just helping me out in everything. It sounds like I keep her chained in the kitchen or something, but really Steph doesn't seem to mind too much filling those roles. I am excited for finals to end soon, so I can help her out a little more than I do!
Braeden likes to laugh in his sleep, and it is the greatest thing to hear. Sometimes I forget how incredibly blessed my family has been so far in this life, and I need to realize how fortunate we are. We were able to rent an apartment in Denver this morning, which is a great relief to us. Hopefully, we'll be able to afford to buy an apartment in a few months (it would save us thousands upon thousands of dollars over the next few years) in Denver.
Anyway, I just wanted to put up a post about how cool my wife is. She works pretty darn hard, and never neglects taking care of Braeden, keeping things clean, working on our relationship, and just helping me out in everything. It sounds like I keep her chained in the kitchen or something, but really Steph doesn't seem to mind too much filling those roles. I am excited for finals to end soon, so I can help her out a little more than I do!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Blurred
Tones now past, lines erased
Home seems far away.
Another time, another place
A different way to celebrate.
Relationships fade, friendships cool
Experience never stays.
What's before my eyes is as sharp as can be,
And everything else is blurred.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Class Boredom
I was sitting in class, trying to avoid the effects of the bio-degrading boredom of the lecture, when I decided to write a little poem. It was especially funny because, just as I was ending it, my buddy leaned over to me and said “I am so bored I think I'm gonna die.” Here it is:
Drone of voices rumbles past
Air from vents, their quiet blast
A laptop's warmth annoys my legs
The clock ticks slow, ignores my beg.
I entered class with a tiny dread
Boredom seeps from the hairs of my head
If it ever ends, then I'll be glad
But this moment goes down as very bad.
Three more weeks, twenty-one days
Ten more quizzes, a couple of essays
Maybe I'll make it, maybe I won't;
At any rate, this semester's a joke.
Drone of voices rumbles past
Air from vents, their quiet blast
A laptop's warmth annoys my legs
The clock ticks slow, ignores my beg.
I entered class with a tiny dread
Boredom seeps from the hairs of my head
If it ever ends, then I'll be glad
But this moment goes down as very bad.
Three more weeks, twenty-one days
Ten more quizzes, a couple of essays
Maybe I'll make it, maybe I won't;
At any rate, this semester's a joke.
Monday, November 17, 2008
From Monday, November 10th
Ahh, the feeling of not having to wait any more for this baby is very relieving. It's similar to waiting for a mission call; everything gets on hold, nobody has anything else to talk about except for the “when” questions, and half of your friends think you've already left (or already had the baby) and it ruins the real surprise. Saturday morning found my wife in labor, so I called around a bit until someone volunteered to come replace me at work.
Stephanie was dilated to 5 centimeters when we arrived at the hospital; that was enough to make us cheer after all of our previous hospital experiences. We were in Timpanogas Regional Hospital, a nice little place that is clean and filled with nurses and techs eager to help in any way they can. We'd visited the hospital two or three days before when my brother's wife went into early labor, giving birth to a 10-inch long little girl who lived for 41 minutes before saying goodbye to her parents. It is always interesting to me how life comes and goes, each moment precious in its own right.
Anyway, the labor went pretty quickly; I was impressed by how deftly the nurse anesthetist handled the epidural, but on second thought realized that he's probably done it a few thousand times here in Orem and Provo, places inhabited by over a hundred thousand college students. Stephanie's water didn't want to break, so by the time she was pushing the baby out we were thinking that the amniotic sac might come with it! In a last burst of super-mommy strength, Steph managed to spurt a thick stream of amniotic fluid that went straight into the air and landed four feet away from the bed. Our nurse was really lucky, though, because the stream made a pit-stop on the way toward the opposite wall. She got nailed in the face with it, and spent the next few minutes trying to dry her hair out.
I was feeling pretty guilty by the time (about twenty minutes later) the baby decided to start showing his head. However, I have lots of faith that we will someday, in the heat of the moment, forget how painful and miserable childbirth really is and end up having another baby. Braeden didn't look too much like an alien, and he didn't have any serious facial deformities (that was what I had been worried about), so we were pretty happy. He cried for a while, his lip quivering faster than a hummingbird flapping its wings, and we got to hold him before they gave him a bath.
There weren't any problems with his eating habits because he's a Busey and always tries to bankrupt the local restaurant. He eventually made us think that he'd pooped, but we turned out to be wrong. It was actually some sort of black tar, you know the kind that they use when they put down asphalt.
Anyway, to make a long story short we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I went home for a few minutes to shower and eat massive amounts of S'mores before returning to Steph's hospital room. We left the next day.
Stephanie was dilated to 5 centimeters when we arrived at the hospital; that was enough to make us cheer after all of our previous hospital experiences. We were in Timpanogas Regional Hospital, a nice little place that is clean and filled with nurses and techs eager to help in any way they can. We'd visited the hospital two or three days before when my brother's wife went into early labor, giving birth to a 10-inch long little girl who lived for 41 minutes before saying goodbye to her parents. It is always interesting to me how life comes and goes, each moment precious in its own right.
Anyway, the labor went pretty quickly; I was impressed by how deftly the nurse anesthetist handled the epidural, but on second thought realized that he's probably done it a few thousand times here in Orem and Provo, places inhabited by over a hundred thousand college students. Stephanie's water didn't want to break, so by the time she was pushing the baby out we were thinking that the amniotic sac might come with it! In a last burst of super-mommy strength, Steph managed to spurt a thick stream of amniotic fluid that went straight into the air and landed four feet away from the bed. Our nurse was really lucky, though, because the stream made a pit-stop on the way toward the opposite wall. She got nailed in the face with it, and spent the next few minutes trying to dry her hair out.
I was feeling pretty guilty by the time (about twenty minutes later) the baby decided to start showing his head. However, I have lots of faith that we will someday, in the heat of the moment, forget how painful and miserable childbirth really is and end up having another baby. Braeden didn't look too much like an alien, and he didn't have any serious facial deformities (that was what I had been worried about), so we were pretty happy. He cried for a while, his lip quivering faster than a hummingbird flapping its wings, and we got to hold him before they gave him a bath.
There weren't any problems with his eating habits because he's a Busey and always tries to bankrupt the local restaurant. He eventually made us think that he'd pooped, but we turned out to be wrong. It was actually some sort of black tar, you know the kind that they use when they put down asphalt.
Anyway, to make a long story short we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I went home for a few minutes to shower and eat massive amounts of S'mores before returning to Steph's hospital room. We left the next day.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Wife Questions
Well, Steph answered the following questions about her husband, so I figured it was only fair if I did the same for her. The only difference is that I made up my own questions; here it goes:
What is your wife's favorite thing to spend money on?
Well, I'd have to say that it's a clash between scrap-booking materials and diet Dr. Pepper.
What was the funniest thing you ever saw her do?
I came home one day to find her laying on the bed, stomach uncovered, letting the unborn baby listen to music through headphones attached to her belly button.
What is your wife's idea of a scary place?
Anywhere males don't shave every day. She locks the car door whenever there's anybody on the sidewalk (even if we're driving 45 mph).
When your wife is sick, who does she most resemble?
Robin Hood in prison.
What is she doing right now?
Laying in her hospital bed, trying to literally throw ice chunks into her mouth.
What is her most common response to your arrival home?
“Wow, honey. It looks like a tornado in here.”
Does your wife always ask you “Can you feel this contraction?” and do you always say yes even though you can't feel a thing?
Yes.
What does your wife act like when she is on her period?
She tries to run over small children with the truck. She also insults little old ladies who are walking along the sidewalk. Oh, and she thinks I'm a meanie. Thank goodness for pregnancy......death to those periods of hers....
What do you most admire in your wife, other than her amazing physical characteristics?
She has an incredible attention span with children. I can hardly stand to play with little kids for five minutes without getting bored, but she can go for hours.
Does your wife keep secrets from you?
Yes. Secret cash stash, secret candy stash, secret present stash, all kinds of secret stashes. And I lie about going to Wendy's to get Frosties.
When did you first feel attracted to your wife?
When I saw her for the first time at a pool party. I'm sorry, but she was incredibly sexy that afternoon, all wet in her swimming suit with the blue water accentuating her blue eyes.
What did your first conversation with your wife entail?
Five of us were in the car, playing the questions game. If you've never played it, it's easy; you ask questions about each other. I asked her what grossed her out the most.
What confuses you the most about your wife?
The fact that, if she is crying, it either means that she's really sad, really happy, really happy, or cutting up onions. She thinks I should be able to tell the difference, but the only one I'm good at is the onions one.
Why did you fall in love with your wife, excluding the obviously amazing physical characteristics?
She was always so incredibly unselfish in our relationship, and always put in more than her part. She also works hard, and has an awesome sense of humor. Plus she let me drive her car on the first date.
If you were in a terrible motorcycle accident that left you without arms, legs, and only minutes to live, what would you tell your wife?
“I promise not to do it again.”
What is your wife's favorite thing to spend money on?
Well, I'd have to say that it's a clash between scrap-booking materials and diet Dr. Pepper.
What was the funniest thing you ever saw her do?
I came home one day to find her laying on the bed, stomach uncovered, letting the unborn baby listen to music through headphones attached to her belly button.
What is your wife's idea of a scary place?
Anywhere males don't shave every day. She locks the car door whenever there's anybody on the sidewalk (even if we're driving 45 mph).
When your wife is sick, who does she most resemble?
Robin Hood in prison.
What is she doing right now?
Laying in her hospital bed, trying to literally throw ice chunks into her mouth.
What is her most common response to your arrival home?
“Wow, honey. It looks like a tornado in here.”
Does your wife always ask you “Can you feel this contraction?” and do you always say yes even though you can't feel a thing?
Yes.
What does your wife act like when she is on her period?
She tries to run over small children with the truck. She also insults little old ladies who are walking along the sidewalk. Oh, and she thinks I'm a meanie. Thank goodness for pregnancy......death to those periods of hers....
What do you most admire in your wife, other than her amazing physical characteristics?
She has an incredible attention span with children. I can hardly stand to play with little kids for five minutes without getting bored, but she can go for hours.
Does your wife keep secrets from you?
Yes. Secret cash stash, secret candy stash, secret present stash, all kinds of secret stashes. And I lie about going to Wendy's to get Frosties.
When did you first feel attracted to your wife?
When I saw her for the first time at a pool party. I'm sorry, but she was incredibly sexy that afternoon, all wet in her swimming suit with the blue water accentuating her blue eyes.
What did your first conversation with your wife entail?
Five of us were in the car, playing the questions game. If you've never played it, it's easy; you ask questions about each other. I asked her what grossed her out the most.
What confuses you the most about your wife?
The fact that, if she is crying, it either means that she's really sad, really happy, really happy, or cutting up onions. She thinks I should be able to tell the difference, but the only one I'm good at is the onions one.
Why did you fall in love with your wife, excluding the obviously amazing physical characteristics?
She was always so incredibly unselfish in our relationship, and always put in more than her part. She also works hard, and has an awesome sense of humor. Plus she let me drive her car on the first date.
If you were in a terrible motorcycle accident that left you without arms, legs, and only minutes to live, what would you tell your wife?
“I promise not to do it again.”
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
America
Well, the deed is done. The election has ended, and Obama supporters are rallied across the nation in celebration. We, on the other hand, are a little sobered by what may be coming in the next several years for our country, but be as it may I am very glad that Americans turned out to vote (last I saw, about 100 million of them had voted). I explained why I cast my ballot for Chuck Baldwin in my previous post, and I hope some of you took the time to read or at least skim it. Good luck, America, may God bless you in these changing and somewhat troubled times.
Casting My Vote
At the beginning of this election campaign, I had no idea for whom I would cast my vote. After reading through the views of the republican and democratic candidates, I was still confused; most of their views were actually very similar, though one opted for more government control than the other. I spent hours reading articles both from conservative and liberal views, trying to figure out which one I really was. I participated in a health care ethics course which ended up addressing many of the controversial topics of today; I was glad to be able to hear so many different viewpoints on topics such as abortion, socialism, economy, patient assisted suicide, personal choice, and religious perspectives. It really opened my eyes about some things, helping me see where my views may be too heavily influenced by my lack of experience.
What I am getting at is I have been trying to figure out a better way for me to shape my views, and after a lot of reflection, personal research, and contemplation I have come to the conclusion that our views are not to be shaped every time a new situation pops up, but rather our views should reflect the principles that we uphold. For example, there is no reason for us to decide whether or not we should gamble if we understand that Satan has always tried to get us to think we can have blessings without the work, or happiness without following good morals. I think that our personal freedoms operate along the same path, and that our God-inspired Constitution provides the principles upon which our country should operate but that our current political situation breeds ignorance of those principles and emphasis on faith in oneself instead of something much greater.
I disagree with McCain and Obama on immigration, education, gun rights (McCain says he supports them, but his history speaks otherwise), part of their views on abortion, their increased spending for a government up to its neck in debt, views on how to resolve the mortgage crisis, improving the economy through temporary solutions, and several others (especially on Obama's side, but we won't go there).
I also disagree with Chuck Baldwin on a few things. Number one, I think that he overestimates the power of the presidential office in bringing about change. Number two, should he be elected (which I know is not going to happen, so don't even start), he would quickly realize that a few of his ideas are simply not feasible (such as eliminating the FDA). However, I believe that the principles that he upholds are correct, and as long as he would continue making decisions based on the principles of the Constitution, this country would be safe.
I read through the entire websites of each candidate for the last time this morning. It saddened me that, on McCain and Obama's extensive websites, I hardly found enough references to the Constitution to be counted on one hand, and even those were simple wording quotes (ie "of the people, by the people, and for the people" ). We are about to elect, whether it is McCain or Obama, a man who is not basing his presidential decisions on the principles founded by the Constitution, but on personal viewpoints. That is not good government, either of a country or of a person. When we elect a president, we should elect a man who is willing to put down his personal pride and say “The Constitution of the United States supports” instead of “I think we should....” We need a man who will uphold principles and not just personal ideals.
Really, this was a hard decision for me to make. Chuck Baldwin obviously has no experience as a politician, cannot possibly win, and this is an important election. If I lived in a swing state, my vote may have been different, but as it stands I am going to support a man who I believe bases his ideas on true principles, which means that although his methods can and would probably change, the effects would be the same of protecting our freedom and helping this nation prosper once again. I made this decision after reading the following passages from Doctrine and Covenants, and I have placed a list of quotes from Baldwin's website at the bottom of this post. I refuse to vote for “The lesser of two evils,” because I refuse to support evil in our government. I am trying to base my voting on principles, and not individual characteristics.
D&C 98:10-14
Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; and as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil. I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free. Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn. Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil. And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God. For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith.
D&C 101:77-80
According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles; that every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment. Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land.
Chuck Baldwin's Website Excerpts
Education
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
I wholeheartedly support the unimpeded right of parents to provide for the education of their children in the manner they deem best, including homeschooling or private or religious instruction. My Administration will oppose any and all federal legislation that would interfere with or restrict that liberty.
I support equitable tax relief for families whose children do not attend government schools. "Education" will only start to improve in this country when control of the education of our children is returned to the states, the local communities and, most importantly, to the parents.
2nd Amendment Rights
Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the Declaration, once said, "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
Just as the right to bear arms is necessary in the defense against tyranny, so to is that same right vital for the purpose of self-defense. American citizens use a firearm to defend themselves more than 2.4 million times EVERY YEAR. That is more than 6,500 times EVERY DAY. This means that, each year, firearms are used 60 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives. Furthermore, of the 2.4 million self-defense cases, more than 192,000 are by women defending themselves against sexual assault. And in less than eight percent of those occasions is a shot actually fired. The vast majority of the time (92%), the mere presence of a firearm helps to avert a major crime from occurring. That is what Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) concluded after extensive research. According to Rep. Bartlett, the number of defensive uses is four times the number of crimes reported committed with guns.
Healthcare
Government regulation and subsidy constitutes a threat to both the quality and availability of patient-oriented health care and treatment. Hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers should be accountable to patients - not to politicians, insurance bureaucrats, or HMO Administrators.
If the supply of medical care is controlled by the federal government, then officers of that government will determine which demand is satisfied. The result will be the rationing of services, higher costs, poorer results - and the power of life and death transferred from caring physicians to unaccountable political overseers.
Hope
To all Americans who believe:
That each individual is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness;
That the freedom to own, use, exchange, control, protect, and freely dispose of property is a natural, necessary and inseparable extension of the individual's unalienable rights;
That the legitimate function of government is to secure these rights through the preservation of domestic tranquility, the maintenance of a strong national defense, and the promotion of equal justice for all;
That left unchecked, it is the nature of government to usurp the liberty of its citizens and eventually become a major violator of the people's rights; and
That, therefore, it is essential to bind government with the chains of the Constitution and carefully divide and jealously limit government powers to those assigned by the consent of the governed...
Immigration
"The time for rhetoric is over. We will seal our borders and ports. I support construction of a fence to secure our borders, but a Baldwin Administration will not wait for the construction of a fence in order to seal and secure our borders. We will utilize whatever force is necessary, including regular military personnel, to effectively secure our borders immediately. It is lunacy to send troops and National Guard half way around the world to protect the borders of Iraq while leaving our own borders wide open.
"Employers in America who knowingly hire illegal aliens are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. In plain language: any employer who consciously hires illegal aliens would go to jail. They would not pass Go; they would not collect $200; they would go straight to jail.
"By sealing the borders and by cutting off the money supply to illegal aliens, the problem of illegal immigration would dry up. As it is, we have no idea how many potential terrorists--not to mention violent gang members such as MS-13--have snuck (and are sneaking) through our borders.
"As President, I would enforce our visa rules. This means anyone who overstays their visa or otherwise violates U.S. law is immediately deported. We mean business and only when it is clear that we do mean business will we begin to see respect for our immigration laws.
"There will be no "path to citizenship" given to any illegal alien. That means no amnesty. Not in any shape, manner, or form. I would not allow tax dollars to be used to pay for illegal aliens' education, social services, or medical care. As President, I would end birthright citizenship for illegal aliens. There would be no "anchor babies" during my administration.
Jobs
In order to keep jobs in this country, we need to have a trade policy that works in the best interest of the American people. To this end, I favor a tariff based revenue system, originally implemented by our founding fathers, which was the policy of the United States during most of our nation's history. A tariff on foreign imports, based on the difference between the foreign item's cost of production abroad and the cost of production of a similar item produced in the United States, would be a Constitutional step toward a fair trade policy that would protect American jobs and, at the same time, raise revenue for our national government.
Fourth Amendment: the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures
"I oppose any legislation and/or executive order, that deprives the people of their rights secured under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments under the guise of "combating terrorism" or "protecting national security." Examples of such legislation are the National Security Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and the proposed Domestic Securities Enhancement Act (colloquially known as "Patriot II").
"I will oppose and vigorously support the movement already underway in many state legislatures to repeal the Real ID Act. The national ID card called for in the Real ID Act of 2005 is repressive, invasive, and unconstitutionally violative of the fourth amendment rights of the people. The "Real ID" has been unadvisedly promoted as a deterrent to terrorism and illegal immigration, but would not resolve either of those problems as evidenced by the fact that several of the September 11th hijackers used legitimate driver's license.
Abortion
The pre-born child, whose life begins at fertilization, is a human being created in God's image. The first duty of the law is to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. It is, therefore, the duty of all civil governments, and that certainly includes the office of the President of the United States, to secure and to safeguard the lives of the pre-born. I affirm the God-given legal person hood of all unborn human beings, without exception.
In addition to guaranteeing the legal person hood of the unborn, Ron Paul's Sanctity of Life Act, which I wholeheartedly support, would strip the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in all cases of abortion in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 2. This would mean that Roe v. Wade would immediately pass away as any legal authority on this issue.
What I am getting at is I have been trying to figure out a better way for me to shape my views, and after a lot of reflection, personal research, and contemplation I have come to the conclusion that our views are not to be shaped every time a new situation pops up, but rather our views should reflect the principles that we uphold. For example, there is no reason for us to decide whether or not we should gamble if we understand that Satan has always tried to get us to think we can have blessings without the work, or happiness without following good morals. I think that our personal freedoms operate along the same path, and that our God-inspired Constitution provides the principles upon which our country should operate but that our current political situation breeds ignorance of those principles and emphasis on faith in oneself instead of something much greater.
I disagree with McCain and Obama on immigration, education, gun rights (McCain says he supports them, but his history speaks otherwise), part of their views on abortion, their increased spending for a government up to its neck in debt, views on how to resolve the mortgage crisis, improving the economy through temporary solutions, and several others (especially on Obama's side, but we won't go there).
I also disagree with Chuck Baldwin on a few things. Number one, I think that he overestimates the power of the presidential office in bringing about change. Number two, should he be elected (which I know is not going to happen, so don't even start), he would quickly realize that a few of his ideas are simply not feasible (such as eliminating the FDA). However, I believe that the principles that he upholds are correct, and as long as he would continue making decisions based on the principles of the Constitution, this country would be safe.
I read through the entire websites of each candidate for the last time this morning. It saddened me that, on McCain and Obama's extensive websites, I hardly found enough references to the Constitution to be counted on one hand, and even those were simple wording quotes (ie "of the people, by the people, and for the people" ). We are about to elect, whether it is McCain or Obama, a man who is not basing his presidential decisions on the principles founded by the Constitution, but on personal viewpoints. That is not good government, either of a country or of a person. When we elect a president, we should elect a man who is willing to put down his personal pride and say “The Constitution of the United States supports” instead of “I think we should....” We need a man who will uphold principles and not just personal ideals.
Really, this was a hard decision for me to make. Chuck Baldwin obviously has no experience as a politician, cannot possibly win, and this is an important election. If I lived in a swing state, my vote may have been different, but as it stands I am going to support a man who I believe bases his ideas on true principles, which means that although his methods can and would probably change, the effects would be the same of protecting our freedom and helping this nation prosper once again. I made this decision after reading the following passages from Doctrine and Covenants, and I have placed a list of quotes from Baldwin's website at the bottom of this post. I refuse to vote for “The lesser of two evils,” because I refuse to support evil in our government. I am trying to base my voting on principles, and not individual characteristics.
D&C 98:10-14
Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; and as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil. I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free. Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn. Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil. And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall forsake all evil and cleave unto all good, that ye shall live by every word which proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God. For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith.
D&C 101:77-80
According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles; that every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment. Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land.
Chuck Baldwin's Website Excerpts
Education
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
I wholeheartedly support the unimpeded right of parents to provide for the education of their children in the manner they deem best, including homeschooling or private or religious instruction. My Administration will oppose any and all federal legislation that would interfere with or restrict that liberty.
I support equitable tax relief for families whose children do not attend government schools. "Education" will only start to improve in this country when control of the education of our children is returned to the states, the local communities and, most importantly, to the parents.
2nd Amendment Rights
Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the Declaration, once said, "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
Just as the right to bear arms is necessary in the defense against tyranny, so to is that same right vital for the purpose of self-defense. American citizens use a firearm to defend themselves more than 2.4 million times EVERY YEAR. That is more than 6,500 times EVERY DAY. This means that, each year, firearms are used 60 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives. Furthermore, of the 2.4 million self-defense cases, more than 192,000 are by women defending themselves against sexual assault. And in less than eight percent of those occasions is a shot actually fired. The vast majority of the time (92%), the mere presence of a firearm helps to avert a major crime from occurring. That is what Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) concluded after extensive research. According to Rep. Bartlett, the number of defensive uses is four times the number of crimes reported committed with guns.
Healthcare
Government regulation and subsidy constitutes a threat to both the quality and availability of patient-oriented health care and treatment. Hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers should be accountable to patients - not to politicians, insurance bureaucrats, or HMO Administrators.
If the supply of medical care is controlled by the federal government, then officers of that government will determine which demand is satisfied. The result will be the rationing of services, higher costs, poorer results - and the power of life and death transferred from caring physicians to unaccountable political overseers.
Hope
To all Americans who believe:
That each individual is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness;
That the freedom to own, use, exchange, control, protect, and freely dispose of property is a natural, necessary and inseparable extension of the individual's unalienable rights;
That the legitimate function of government is to secure these rights through the preservation of domestic tranquility, the maintenance of a strong national defense, and the promotion of equal justice for all;
That left unchecked, it is the nature of government to usurp the liberty of its citizens and eventually become a major violator of the people's rights; and
That, therefore, it is essential to bind government with the chains of the Constitution and carefully divide and jealously limit government powers to those assigned by the consent of the governed...
Immigration
"The time for rhetoric is over. We will seal our borders and ports. I support construction of a fence to secure our borders, but a Baldwin Administration will not wait for the construction of a fence in order to seal and secure our borders. We will utilize whatever force is necessary, including regular military personnel, to effectively secure our borders immediately. It is lunacy to send troops and National Guard half way around the world to protect the borders of Iraq while leaving our own borders wide open.
"Employers in America who knowingly hire illegal aliens are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. In plain language: any employer who consciously hires illegal aliens would go to jail. They would not pass Go; they would not collect $200; they would go straight to jail.
"By sealing the borders and by cutting off the money supply to illegal aliens, the problem of illegal immigration would dry up. As it is, we have no idea how many potential terrorists--not to mention violent gang members such as MS-13--have snuck (and are sneaking) through our borders.
"As President, I would enforce our visa rules. This means anyone who overstays their visa or otherwise violates U.S. law is immediately deported. We mean business and only when it is clear that we do mean business will we begin to see respect for our immigration laws.
"There will be no "path to citizenship" given to any illegal alien. That means no amnesty. Not in any shape, manner, or form. I would not allow tax dollars to be used to pay for illegal aliens' education, social services, or medical care. As President, I would end birthright citizenship for illegal aliens. There would be no "anchor babies" during my administration.
Jobs
In order to keep jobs in this country, we need to have a trade policy that works in the best interest of the American people. To this end, I favor a tariff based revenue system, originally implemented by our founding fathers, which was the policy of the United States during most of our nation's history. A tariff on foreign imports, based on the difference between the foreign item's cost of production abroad and the cost of production of a similar item produced in the United States, would be a Constitutional step toward a fair trade policy that would protect American jobs and, at the same time, raise revenue for our national government.
Fourth Amendment: the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures
"I oppose any legislation and/or executive order, that deprives the people of their rights secured under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments under the guise of "combating terrorism" or "protecting national security." Examples of such legislation are the National Security Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and the proposed Domestic Securities Enhancement Act (colloquially known as "Patriot II").
"I will oppose and vigorously support the movement already underway in many state legislatures to repeal the Real ID Act. The national ID card called for in the Real ID Act of 2005 is repressive, invasive, and unconstitutionally violative of the fourth amendment rights of the people. The "Real ID" has been unadvisedly promoted as a deterrent to terrorism and illegal immigration, but would not resolve either of those problems as evidenced by the fact that several of the September 11th hijackers used legitimate driver's license.
Abortion
The pre-born child, whose life begins at fertilization, is a human being created in God's image. The first duty of the law is to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. It is, therefore, the duty of all civil governments, and that certainly includes the office of the President of the United States, to secure and to safeguard the lives of the pre-born. I affirm the God-given legal person hood of all unborn human beings, without exception.
In addition to guaranteeing the legal person hood of the unborn, Ron Paul's Sanctity of Life Act, which I wholeheartedly support, would strip the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in all cases of abortion in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 2. This would mean that Roe v. Wade would immediately pass away as any legal authority on this issue.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Outdoors
It's more than just being outside. It's experiencing the myriad sounds that break a genuine silence. It's learning to interpret a true expression of nature's pristine existence, of quickly catching a swirling leaf before it reaches the ground to persistently continue the circle of life. It's becoming one with myself again, of retrieving hidden memories and valuable morals that have been long forgotten. Being outside is, for me, a way to re-connect with God, myself, and my personal purpose. The most valuable moments are usually the most easily taken for granted, so I make time for them to resurface. Carefully and quietly they communicate their content to me once more, and I return to the city life just as refreshed as I have ever been.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Want more government control on health care?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=15945
Medicare should be scrapped, eventually
Posted: October 16, 2000
1:00 am Eastern
By Jon E. Dougherty
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
As the Nov. 7 election nears, senior citizens have been treated to a host of Medicare-funded prescription drug plans offered by the candidates of both major political parties.
I have a better idea. Instead of adding another huge, expensive, inefficient and burdensome layer of bureaucracy to the bloated Medicare program, let's just scrap it instead and begin to teach Americans once more how to be self-sufficient and plan for their own retirement.
Crazy? Politically, perhaps, but that's the problem with Medicare in the first place, isn't it? It's too damned political. As long as it stays that way -- which will be forever -- then the program will remain broken, expensive and inefficient.
Think not? Well, consider that Medicare has been a government-run program from the outset. Through the years, has it become better or worse at delivering on its original promise of unfettered, universal health-care coverage for senior citizens?
I dare say if it was getting better, both major party candidates wouldn't be spending so much time in Florida and elsewhere, trying to explain a new drug benefit package that is simply going to be too expensive on our youth and younger workers in just a few years.
It's free market "cause-and-effect," much like the government's guarantee for student loans. Prices for colleges skyrocketed when politicians began "guaranteeing" loans for college-bound Americans -- as if every American really does "deserve" to go to college or is suited for college.
Speaking of medical care, the "guaranteed payment" principle once applied to hospitals and insurance companies. At one time, patients with any kind of insurance were often admitted to hospitals for dubious and inappropriate conditions. Many didn't require hospitalization, but doctors admitted those patients anyway because they knew insurance companies would simply write a check for the bill. The result? Escalating medical costs and draconian insurance "reform" measures in the mold of problematic HMOs.
Voters should not allow lawmakers to foist yet another burdensome layer of Medicare bureaucracy on our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. They won't be able to afford it.
Granting more "subsidies for initial levels of drug spending will only increase incentives to over-use Medicare benefits and increase the cost of prescription drugs," wrote Tom Miller, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, on July 17, in discussing the House Republicans' prescription drug plan.
He's right. Medicare is incapable of being "fixed" as it is. Enlarging it will only make it worse -- and more expensive -- which will eventually cause Uncle Sam to cut it back again, just to "save money." It's a vicious circle, and it's getting us nowhere except further in debt and more reliant on Washington's "generosity." To hell with that.
Medicare was a bad mistake. We can repeat it -- over and over -- or we can scrap a program whose time never came.
Jon E. Dougherty is a Missouri-based writer and the author of "Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by Our Unsecured U.S.-Mexico Border."
Medicare should be scrapped, eventually
Posted: October 16, 2000
1:00 am Eastern
By Jon E. Dougherty
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
As the Nov. 7 election nears, senior citizens have been treated to a host of Medicare-funded prescription drug plans offered by the candidates of both major political parties.
I have a better idea. Instead of adding another huge, expensive, inefficient and burdensome layer of bureaucracy to the bloated Medicare program, let's just scrap it instead and begin to teach Americans once more how to be self-sufficient and plan for their own retirement.
Crazy? Politically, perhaps, but that's the problem with Medicare in the first place, isn't it? It's too damned political. As long as it stays that way -- which will be forever -- then the program will remain broken, expensive and inefficient.
Think not? Well, consider that Medicare has been a government-run program from the outset. Through the years, has it become better or worse at delivering on its original promise of unfettered, universal health-care coverage for senior citizens?
I dare say if it was getting better, both major party candidates wouldn't be spending so much time in Florida and elsewhere, trying to explain a new drug benefit package that is simply going to be too expensive on our youth and younger workers in just a few years.
It's free market "cause-and-effect," much like the government's guarantee for student loans. Prices for colleges skyrocketed when politicians began "guaranteeing" loans for college-bound Americans -- as if every American really does "deserve" to go to college or is suited for college.
Speaking of medical care, the "guaranteed payment" principle once applied to hospitals and insurance companies. At one time, patients with any kind of insurance were often admitted to hospitals for dubious and inappropriate conditions. Many didn't require hospitalization, but doctors admitted those patients anyway because they knew insurance companies would simply write a check for the bill. The result? Escalating medical costs and draconian insurance "reform" measures in the mold of problematic HMOs.
Voters should not allow lawmakers to foist yet another burdensome layer of Medicare bureaucracy on our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. They won't be able to afford it.
Granting more "subsidies for initial levels of drug spending will only increase incentives to over-use Medicare benefits and increase the cost of prescription drugs," wrote Tom Miller, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, on July 17, in discussing the House Republicans' prescription drug plan.
He's right. Medicare is incapable of being "fixed" as it is. Enlarging it will only make it worse -- and more expensive -- which will eventually cause Uncle Sam to cut it back again, just to "save money." It's a vicious circle, and it's getting us nowhere except further in debt and more reliant on Washington's "generosity." To hell with that.
Medicare was a bad mistake. We can repeat it -- over and over -- or we can scrap a program whose time never came.
Jon E. Dougherty is a Missouri-based writer and the author of "Illegals: The Imminent Threat Posed by Our Unsecured U.S.-Mexico Border."
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Change
November 21st, 2004. I am sitting in a yellow, beat-up Cheverolet-turned-taxicab as it sputters up a giant, treeless mountain. The cobblestones are making the ride wickedly bumpy, and I stare at the huts dug into the side of hills and the dirty, barefoot Indians who walk along the road carrying stacks of vegetation for their animals.
It was another world, a world four hours away and a century apart from my own. Little did I know that, even among so many physical differences, the real differences between my world and that of Ecuador would not be apparent until much, much later as I began to scrutinize and contemplate the relationships I would have with my many Latin companions. My trainer's name was Elder Alvarez, and from the get-go we seemed to clash. I wanted to work, he wanted to sleep. I wanted to study, he wanted to cook. I wanted to be 100% obedient, he wanted to bend the rules a bit. I wanted to teach, he wanted to watch. We had so many arguments that sometimes I even, in my own little mind, accused him of not even wanting to be a missionary.
Eventually, I began to learn a little more about my trainer, and it wasn't until then that I was able to really see him for who he was. It is funny to me now, the fact that I never knew him until I never saw him again; sometimes we don't understand the lessons we've learned until after the experiences are gone. For example, I judged Elder Alvarez too harshly. Though he wasn't as gung-ho as I had been, he was in the process of a mighty change of heart, a change that I refused to see because I was looking too hard. We will never see our children grow if we only compare them to the day before, and that was the problem with Elder Alvarez. My first transfer was also a first for him, as a senior companion. Many of his friends had been excommunicated from the church for rules broken on the mission, and though he had been somewhat involved, there was certainly a change of heart for him to stay on the mission and complete it, even though he was well-known in the mission for deeds committed by his peers.
He was training for the first time. His entire family had been excommunicated from the church, and there was no one waiting for him when he arrived home. Though I didn't see it at the time, now I am amazed at how well he did as my trainer. We weren't perfect, but we worked and studied very hard, and though I judged him harshly he never returned those feelings.
Who am I to say that he didn't have enough faith? Faith is a relative term. For me, perhaps serving a mission was not as great a leap of faith as it had been for him. Faith is improvement, and frankly if our performance is measured that way than Elder Alvarez had me beat, because though his level may have been on a different scale his improvement could hardly be compared to my skimpy advancements.
This is a lesson that has helped me in my marriage. We are all from different backgrounds, and it is not our place to judge. It is our place to love, influence, and learn from each other, and all that is required is steady improvement. As it has been said, the Lord is not looking for flashes of lightning acts of faith that briefly illuminate and then fade; He searches for the candle that is set on a hill, steadily lighting the way for others. If anyone ever feels unequally yoked, they should realize that it is a blessing to be yoked at all. Joseph Smith, with his wonderful wife Emma, was a wonderful example of a righteous, charitable, loving judge of character. Do you really believe that Emma always understood why Joseph had to do what he did, why they had to suffer as they did, and why he had to die as he did? Yet I have never read a word of complaint from his mouth regarding his marriage, never a word of unrighteous judgment, only consistent and loving influence. My wife is that influence on me, and I hope I am that influence on her, and if we can continue to love each other and to clumsily, consistently, and carefully progress on our paths to eternal life, then that will be the greatest satisfaction and success than I could ever dream about.
“And the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature; for I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
This is a gospel of change. Let's work for that change, and not focus too much on the past.
It was another world, a world four hours away and a century apart from my own. Little did I know that, even among so many physical differences, the real differences between my world and that of Ecuador would not be apparent until much, much later as I began to scrutinize and contemplate the relationships I would have with my many Latin companions. My trainer's name was Elder Alvarez, and from the get-go we seemed to clash. I wanted to work, he wanted to sleep. I wanted to study, he wanted to cook. I wanted to be 100% obedient, he wanted to bend the rules a bit. I wanted to teach, he wanted to watch. We had so many arguments that sometimes I even, in my own little mind, accused him of not even wanting to be a missionary.
Eventually, I began to learn a little more about my trainer, and it wasn't until then that I was able to really see him for who he was. It is funny to me now, the fact that I never knew him until I never saw him again; sometimes we don't understand the lessons we've learned until after the experiences are gone. For example, I judged Elder Alvarez too harshly. Though he wasn't as gung-ho as I had been, he was in the process of a mighty change of heart, a change that I refused to see because I was looking too hard. We will never see our children grow if we only compare them to the day before, and that was the problem with Elder Alvarez. My first transfer was also a first for him, as a senior companion. Many of his friends had been excommunicated from the church for rules broken on the mission, and though he had been somewhat involved, there was certainly a change of heart for him to stay on the mission and complete it, even though he was well-known in the mission for deeds committed by his peers.
He was training for the first time. His entire family had been excommunicated from the church, and there was no one waiting for him when he arrived home. Though I didn't see it at the time, now I am amazed at how well he did as my trainer. We weren't perfect, but we worked and studied very hard, and though I judged him harshly he never returned those feelings.
Who am I to say that he didn't have enough faith? Faith is a relative term. For me, perhaps serving a mission was not as great a leap of faith as it had been for him. Faith is improvement, and frankly if our performance is measured that way than Elder Alvarez had me beat, because though his level may have been on a different scale his improvement could hardly be compared to my skimpy advancements.
This is a lesson that has helped me in my marriage. We are all from different backgrounds, and it is not our place to judge. It is our place to love, influence, and learn from each other, and all that is required is steady improvement. As it has been said, the Lord is not looking for flashes of lightning acts of faith that briefly illuminate and then fade; He searches for the candle that is set on a hill, steadily lighting the way for others. If anyone ever feels unequally yoked, they should realize that it is a blessing to be yoked at all. Joseph Smith, with his wonderful wife Emma, was a wonderful example of a righteous, charitable, loving judge of character. Do you really believe that Emma always understood why Joseph had to do what he did, why they had to suffer as they did, and why he had to die as he did? Yet I have never read a word of complaint from his mouth regarding his marriage, never a word of unrighteous judgment, only consistent and loving influence. My wife is that influence on me, and I hope I am that influence on her, and if we can continue to love each other and to clumsily, consistently, and carefully progress on our paths to eternal life, then that will be the greatest satisfaction and success than I could ever dream about.
“And the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature; for I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
This is a gospel of change. Let's work for that change, and not focus too much on the past.
Friday, October 17, 2008
READ THESE ARTICLES
The previously posted three articles I found extremely interesting. Read them (from the bottom up, preferably), discuss them with your spouse, family or friends and make some comments to me about what you think when you read them!
What We Can Do to Prepare for our Economy, by Glenn Beck
For documentation links and other articles, see the following website: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16799/?ck=1
Glenn Beck: What Can I Do to Prepare?
October 15, 2008 - 3:00 ET
Guys,
Here is the third letter I promised you. In my earlier letters I've explained "what happened" and "what's coming." Today, I want to answer the questions you've asked regarding "what can I do to prepare myself and my family."
Related Articles:
Glenn Beck: What happened?
Glenn Beck: What's Coming
The focus has to be on 'value' and 'values.' These are the concepts that too many of us have forgotten, celebrities dismissed as old-fashioned or politicians tried to convince us were no longer necessary.
The good news is that our current economic mess is manmade. We did this to ourselves by continuing to elect politicians who sold our country to militant community activists, greedy mortgage brokers and Wall Street types who placed profits above anything else. We were all involved, Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We made this problem by choosing to believe the lie that we could have it all and have it right now. But being manmade means we also have the capacity to solve it.
It is not going to be easy. I believe that the economy is going to get a lot worse. The 'experts' are telling us that we're headed towards at least 10% unemployment and a possible 10 year period of economic stagnation. I fear it could be much worse and so do many of the people that advise me on these matters.
What follows are the things that my family is doing to prepare for substantially tougher economic times.
Your Finances
I'm not a financial expert but even the 'experts' didn't know what our grandparents knew: unnecessary debt is something you have to avoid, it is not a good thing. In our version of the Roaring 20's, the financial elite had lawn parties in the Hamptons where invited guests arrived via helicopter. The parties we had didn't involve helicopters and other excesses but our job as responsible Americans will be to identify our 'helicopters.'
Soon, the Wall Street crowd will turn to the actual economy and the conversation and pressure will change to consumer spending. Remember, YOU are the engine of the US economy. Wall Street NEEDS you to spend. I pray that we hold fast to the 'storm clouds' that are still gathering and ignore the lures and lies that will attempt to hook you back into your old style 'lawn party.' We will continue to spend and consume. We just need to focus on a few out of fashion American values such as thrift, value and moderation.
You know what your family can afford and what it needs. Kids still need to go to college, broken cars still need to be repaired and worn-out appliances still have to be replaced. What needs to change is how we shop. We need to look for value and we MUST live within our means.
How do you know when you're getting something for a good value? Just imagine buying it (whatever it is) in front of dad. Can you imagine telling dad that you 'need' to spend an extra $3,000 so your car can come with that 'must have' automatic self-closing sunroof option? Or paying an extra $650 on a washing machine option so it can connect to the internet? I'm beginning to think that if dad won't spend the money on it, I probably don't need it. Dad is great at spotting value and it's his sense of values that makes him so good at it. I always try to think like my grandfather when I want to buy something, if in my head, he says, "Why, you've got a perfectly good one now," I know I don't need it.
The economy is in for a very rough landing. I think it's more and more probable that we hit a major long-term recession. That's not a reason to panic but if we know what's coming we can start to prepare now.
I don't know who you get your financial advice from (advisor, friend, on your own) but you need to ask these two questions:
First, what caused the current economic crisis?
If you can't answer this question or your financial planner can't give you an easily understandable answer, please get more information or think about replacing your financial planner. You need to know what got us here because that will help you understand what's coming.
Second, how bad will things get?
No one knows what's specifically coming our way but I do know that all possibilities are on the table. Whoever you're getting your financial advice from must be willing to admit that he or she doesn't have all the answers and that we are in relatively unchartered waters. If they don't think that this is a once in a lifetime event and just about anything could happen, move on.
Hyperinflation: Printing Money is Not the Answer
This is the real devil in our 'bailout' packages that seem to be coming every day. The same people that told me that there is no way we could go into a recession, let alone, a depression now tell me Wall Street and our politicians are too smart to create these doomsday conditions.
I don't know about you but I sure haven't been impressed with the Wall Street and Washington genius so far. After all, they weren't smart enough to figure out that 0% down on a 125% loans to individuals that were not required to present ID or a paycheck stubs was trouble.
I do know that if the answer was just to print more money our politicians would have solved this crisis $1.8 trillion dollars ago. But printing more money is not the answer, in fact, it's causing other problems and possibly setting us up for a long-term disaster. Every American must read up on and ponder what I believe is the real possibility of hyperinflation.
This past summer we had a $152 billion stimulus package, followed by a combined $123 billion bailout of AIG, which was followed by another $700 billion bailout bill. As I write this, politicians are promising swift action on yet another stimulus plan and the government has announced a direct injection of $250 billion into several large banks. No problem has ever been solved by just throwing money at it but plenty of problems have been caused by doing just that.
Countries that have tried to spend their way out of an economic crisis have always triggered inflation (i.e. Argentina, Israel and Iran). Hyperinflation is caused when people lose faith in the value of a currency, too much money is printed and there is no corresponding increase in productivity. So instead of printing $50 and $100 bills the government prints $300 and $500 bills but your $500 bill only buys $50 worth of goods. Soon the $500 bill is replaced by a $1000 bill.
One of the best examples of hyperinflation is the Weimar Republic where that government actually printed a one-trillion dollar bill and you still couldn't buy a newspaper with it.
Germany took its first inflationary steps when it decided to fight World War I on borrowed money. It didn't want to raise taxes and there was relatively little in national savings so it borrowed money to build and arm its war machine. Does this sound familiar? It should, it's what we're doing now.
The War which started in 1914 officially ended in 1919 and during that same period of time the prices of goods in Germany doubled. In other words, inflation was running about 20% a year.
Three years later, in 1922, those same goods doubled in price in just 5 months! The process continued to accelerate until menus in cafes had to be re-written throughout the day just to keep up with rising prices. When someone got paid they were met by their spouse who would literally run to spend the money as quickly as possible and no one saved money because the longer you held on to it the less you were able to buy. With no one saving and no countries lending any more money, the government did the only thing it could do, crank up the printing presses and print more money.
The same economic laws that applied to the Weimar Republic apply to America today.
Our government tells us that inflation was recently running at 5.4%. What they don't tell you is that in 1983 government changed the way they measure inflation. If the government used the same inflation measures that it used in 1983 inflation would be running between 10%-12%. Naturally, when the government altered the way it measured inflation it coincidently found that it wouldn't have to pay out as much money in Social Security and other benefits pegged to inflation.
We won't see a true spike in inflation until next fall. It's coming unless the government makes serious changes. If we continue to borrow billions of dollars a day from foreign countries while printing trillions more we are inviting, no begging, for hyperinflation to come and pay us a visit. Please consider this as you decide who to vote for in this upcoming election. Anyone, at any level, running for office who isn't talking about REAL and considerable cuts in government programs and avoiding new spending is either a fool or lying about what's coming.
You can prepare your family for economically tighter times. Our family has been preparing by buying food now that will last us for another 3 to 6 months. I want to be clear: we didn't run out and buy it all at once. Instead, when we went shopping and saw something on sale that we new we would be using in the next 3-6 months we bought a few more than we normally would. We're in the process of doing the same thing with our kids' clothes and shoes. They're growing-up and will need the next size-up in pants, shirts and shoes so Tania and I keep our eyes open for sales and when we see something that's a good value we buy it now knowing that in a year or two our kids will be able to use it and that prices could be substantially higher.
I think this is a good investment and a good way to spend money today that may be worth less tomorrow. Don't run out and liquidate your savings or assets to buy shoes and shirts for the next 10 years, plan and purchase with prudence and moderation.
Guns
You've asked me if you should go out and buy a gun. This is a very personal decision and I struggled for over 2 years trying to make this decision. I never wanted a gun in the house but after discussing it with Tania (and Adam) we decided it was the right decision for our family to have a gun in the home for self-defense.
Before we even thought of buying a gun and bringing it into our home, we spent countless hours at various gun shops asking lots of questions. We also reached out to the NRA (which, as you know, is one of the only organizations that I believe in and belong to) and took several courses in shooting and gun safety. If you're willing to make that kind of commitment then, and only then, can you start to consider whether or not you should purchase a gun.
If you decide to buy make sure you have a home safe that can be easily opened by you and your spouse. Also, when selecting a gun, make sure you ask your dealer for a gun that doesn't take exotic or hard to get ammunition.
The gun laws may DRAMATICALLY change with the election of the next President and a new Congress. Time may be of the essence on this issue so vote with that in mind.
Values
Why are we so different from grandma and grandpa? Remember how they made our clothes? They knitted sweaters and gloves, mended tears and placed patches over holes in our jeans and shirts. What do we do today? We go out and buy our kids clothes that are intentionally faded, frayed or torn. Our grandparents would think we were nuts for doing that.
How many times did we hear, "who left this light on" or "turn off the light when you're not using it." They didn't say this because they were swept up in the latest environmentally friendly fad; they said it because they hated waste. They didn't see themselves as conservationists but at their core they were the first truly 'green' generation.
It's their example that inspired me to re-discover the traditional American family eating plan in our home. This plan applies to mom, dad and all four kids. It's simple: if you don't finish your dinner, it's wrapped and put in the fridge and the next day you have to finish your leftovers.
What a great decision this has been because I'm more careful about what I put on my plate and have already had dinner table discussions with my kids about being grateful for what we've been blessed with and why it's important to avoid wasting food.
Gardening
Tania and I are planning on planting our very first garden next year (yes, I promise to send you pictures to prove it). We've already bought the fertilizer and seeds. In a way this is going to be our modern day Victory Garden our parents and grandparents planted during World War II.
A lot of people think we're planting the garden just for the food and although that's part of it, Tania and I really believe that our family will grow closer by all gardening together. Our hope is that our children will have a greater appreciation for the meals they eat when they experience the work in growing the food they will eat.
We've got so much to learn. I've already learned that there is a difference between heirloom seeds (not genetically modified) and those seeds which have been genetically modified. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type, so familiarize yourself with their respective pluses and minuses. Research what grows well in your area and what you will need to keep your plants healthy and growing.
I do want to share something I learned about seeds. Heirloom seeds are capable of producing viable seeds. So you will always have seeds to plant for the upcoming year. Several genetically modified seeds have 'terminator technology' (that's their phrase, not mine) which will prevent these seeds from reproducing viable seeds.
I'm for reasonable and safe genetically modified seeds and food. They allow people to grow crops where they normally wouldn't be able to and are more robust against disease and predators. Coming-up with all that technology is expensive so these seed producers recoup their costs by limiting the ability to reproduce. You need to have those seeds that are capable of reproducing.
Out of everything I have planned for next year, I can tell you that gardening ranks at the top. It is long term, it brings the family together on a project and it not only teaches my children science but the value of hard work. Does that make me a true sick freak?
Good Books
This is going to sound hokey but we all need to read the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers. We need to go to the original sources, not someone's interpretation of them. Reading these documents will remind us of what our Founding Fathers really intended for us. Their words will inspire us and renew our faith in America.
We need to familiarize ourselves with the founding principles our country and Constitution are built on. We need to better understand the Founding Fathers, what they believed and how they lived their lives.
The books we read should teach us about our heritage. They should inspire us and educate our children. We need books that tell us the greatness of America's past and the promise of her future. We need to read about the mistakes the government has made so we can avoid taking those same paths. The books that I think best capture these principles are:
* The 5000 Year Leap
* The Real George Washington
* The Real Benjamin Franklin
* The Real Thomas Jefferson
Each of these books dramatically demonstrates that America was built on the collective sacrifices of individuals who willingly gave their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor." They remind us that real power rests with "We the People," not Wall Street, Washington or Hollywood.
Also, read books on history that can help you see what may be coming based on our past. The parallels are truly frightening. We are going down the same path by making the same mistakes. These books include:
* The Forgotten Man (on the mistakes of the great depression)
* Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism (arguably the world's first fascist leader and one reason why our children are now taught in school that the Founding Fathers and the Constitution are irrelevant)
* Liberal Fascism (reveals the real danger and roots behind the nanny state mentality and what it means to America's future)
Family Time
As a country we've neglected our most important asset and resource: our children. We've become so busy trying to provide the best for 'things' and opportunities for them that we work longer hours, spend more time away from home and too often don't give them the attention they need and deserve. If the economy starts to sink, this situation will get worse.
One of the best things we can do now is to build stronger ties with our spouse and children. Our family gets together once a week for a 'family night.'
This past week Raphe had the lesson, "my favorite animal." I was in charge of the game, everyone had to imitate their favorite animal and Tania baked cupcakes for our snack. It's amazing what miracles have taken place in those short 30 minute 'family night' get-togethers. We may have forgotten this in our 'Roaring 20's' mentality but it remains true: simple things have real and lasting value.
Tania and I also set aside time for just the two of us. We have date nights where just the two of us go out. It's usually nothing fancy. Sometimes we go out for a walk or just window shopping. We've even gone on a 'date' to the grocery store to pick-up some groceries. It's not really what you actually do but the fact that we spend time together. It refreshes me. It brings us together. I love this time.
Finally, just continue to seek out those sources you trust and continue to ponder and think the unthinkable. While these things hopefully don't ever take place, they are certainly possible and unfortunately becoming more probable everyday.
The good news is that there's still time to prepare ourselves and our families. We created this problem and we can solve it but there won't be any shortcuts or an easy way out.
We must vote for those candidates of any party that reflect these values: hard work, self-determination, smaller government, fiscal responsibility and honesty. Look to the character of anyone you chose to support. Their past does matter if they haven't learned from it. Their personal life is as relevant as their public one. We must be able to trust those who will be advising and leading us on what our country must do next.
The problems we face in this country can be traced back to the lack of trust. Our whole system fails if we do not trust it and right now we do not have that trust. In the last 20 years we have lost trust in our presidents, congress and court system. It was lost when politicians argued over the definition of 'is,' the duplicity on our border security, during the OJ trial, by a renegade 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the 2006 Republican Mark Foley sex scandal and the 2008 Democrat Tim 'more moral future' Mahoney sex scandal and so many other hypocrisies and double-crosses. Our lost of trust was inevitable.
Our political system was not designed around the people in power or really even us. It began with the core belief that we were created and given rights by God. For America to truly fulfill its promise we must restore our faith in the only thing that is solid, unchanging and real: God.
As we find ourselves not trusting our leaders, institutions or even our currency, remember the secret is simple and found as close as your pocket or purse. How appropriate that on the symbol of our present troubles we find the answer: IN GOD WE TRUST.
Only those who are mentally, emotionally, spiritually and temporally prepared will be strong enough to help themselves and others. Many will be fearful if these things come to pass but if you prepare now, fear is the one thing you will not have to worry about. You are not a victim. You are not a survivor. You are a leader. You are an American.
We are all Americans. Let us recommit that, regardless of where we stand politically, we will do the tough things to save our nation because the task at hand requires no less.
The Americans of the past did not look for leadership to come from the politician in the White House for they knew American leadership only came from your house.
Fear not, stay strong and lead the way.
glenn
Glenn Beck: What Can I Do to Prepare?
October 15, 2008 - 3:00 ET
Guys,
Here is the third letter I promised you. In my earlier letters I've explained "what happened" and "what's coming." Today, I want to answer the questions you've asked regarding "what can I do to prepare myself and my family."
Related Articles:
Glenn Beck: What happened?
Glenn Beck: What's Coming
The focus has to be on 'value' and 'values.' These are the concepts that too many of us have forgotten, celebrities dismissed as old-fashioned or politicians tried to convince us were no longer necessary.
The good news is that our current economic mess is manmade. We did this to ourselves by continuing to elect politicians who sold our country to militant community activists, greedy mortgage brokers and Wall Street types who placed profits above anything else. We were all involved, Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We made this problem by choosing to believe the lie that we could have it all and have it right now. But being manmade means we also have the capacity to solve it.
It is not going to be easy. I believe that the economy is going to get a lot worse. The 'experts' are telling us that we're headed towards at least 10% unemployment and a possible 10 year period of economic stagnation. I fear it could be much worse and so do many of the people that advise me on these matters.
What follows are the things that my family is doing to prepare for substantially tougher economic times.
Your Finances
I'm not a financial expert but even the 'experts' didn't know what our grandparents knew: unnecessary debt is something you have to avoid, it is not a good thing. In our version of the Roaring 20's, the financial elite had lawn parties in the Hamptons where invited guests arrived via helicopter. The parties we had didn't involve helicopters and other excesses but our job as responsible Americans will be to identify our 'helicopters.'
Soon, the Wall Street crowd will turn to the actual economy and the conversation and pressure will change to consumer spending. Remember, YOU are the engine of the US economy. Wall Street NEEDS you to spend. I pray that we hold fast to the 'storm clouds' that are still gathering and ignore the lures and lies that will attempt to hook you back into your old style 'lawn party.' We will continue to spend and consume. We just need to focus on a few out of fashion American values such as thrift, value and moderation.
You know what your family can afford and what it needs. Kids still need to go to college, broken cars still need to be repaired and worn-out appliances still have to be replaced. What needs to change is how we shop. We need to look for value and we MUST live within our means.
How do you know when you're getting something for a good value? Just imagine buying it (whatever it is) in front of dad. Can you imagine telling dad that you 'need' to spend an extra $3,000 so your car can come with that 'must have' automatic self-closing sunroof option? Or paying an extra $650 on a washing machine option so it can connect to the internet? I'm beginning to think that if dad won't spend the money on it, I probably don't need it. Dad is great at spotting value and it's his sense of values that makes him so good at it. I always try to think like my grandfather when I want to buy something, if in my head, he says, "Why, you've got a perfectly good one now," I know I don't need it.
The economy is in for a very rough landing. I think it's more and more probable that we hit a major long-term recession. That's not a reason to panic but if we know what's coming we can start to prepare now.
I don't know who you get your financial advice from (advisor, friend, on your own) but you need to ask these two questions:
First, what caused the current economic crisis?
If you can't answer this question or your financial planner can't give you an easily understandable answer, please get more information or think about replacing your financial planner. You need to know what got us here because that will help you understand what's coming.
Second, how bad will things get?
No one knows what's specifically coming our way but I do know that all possibilities are on the table. Whoever you're getting your financial advice from must be willing to admit that he or she doesn't have all the answers and that we are in relatively unchartered waters. If they don't think that this is a once in a lifetime event and just about anything could happen, move on.
Hyperinflation: Printing Money is Not the Answer
This is the real devil in our 'bailout' packages that seem to be coming every day. The same people that told me that there is no way we could go into a recession, let alone, a depression now tell me Wall Street and our politicians are too smart to create these doomsday conditions.
I don't know about you but I sure haven't been impressed with the Wall Street and Washington genius so far. After all, they weren't smart enough to figure out that 0% down on a 125% loans to individuals that were not required to present ID or a paycheck stubs was trouble.
I do know that if the answer was just to print more money our politicians would have solved this crisis $1.8 trillion dollars ago. But printing more money is not the answer, in fact, it's causing other problems and possibly setting us up for a long-term disaster. Every American must read up on and ponder what I believe is the real possibility of hyperinflation.
This past summer we had a $152 billion stimulus package, followed by a combined $123 billion bailout of AIG, which was followed by another $700 billion bailout bill. As I write this, politicians are promising swift action on yet another stimulus plan and the government has announced a direct injection of $250 billion into several large banks. No problem has ever been solved by just throwing money at it but plenty of problems have been caused by doing just that.
Countries that have tried to spend their way out of an economic crisis have always triggered inflation (i.e. Argentina, Israel and Iran). Hyperinflation is caused when people lose faith in the value of a currency, too much money is printed and there is no corresponding increase in productivity. So instead of printing $50 and $100 bills the government prints $300 and $500 bills but your $500 bill only buys $50 worth of goods. Soon the $500 bill is replaced by a $1000 bill.
One of the best examples of hyperinflation is the Weimar Republic where that government actually printed a one-trillion dollar bill and you still couldn't buy a newspaper with it.
Germany took its first inflationary steps when it decided to fight World War I on borrowed money. It didn't want to raise taxes and there was relatively little in national savings so it borrowed money to build and arm its war machine. Does this sound familiar? It should, it's what we're doing now.
The War which started in 1914 officially ended in 1919 and during that same period of time the prices of goods in Germany doubled. In other words, inflation was running about 20% a year.
Three years later, in 1922, those same goods doubled in price in just 5 months! The process continued to accelerate until menus in cafes had to be re-written throughout the day just to keep up with rising prices. When someone got paid they were met by their spouse who would literally run to spend the money as quickly as possible and no one saved money because the longer you held on to it the less you were able to buy. With no one saving and no countries lending any more money, the government did the only thing it could do, crank up the printing presses and print more money.
The same economic laws that applied to the Weimar Republic apply to America today.
Our government tells us that inflation was recently running at 5.4%. What they don't tell you is that in 1983 government changed the way they measure inflation. If the government used the same inflation measures that it used in 1983 inflation would be running between 10%-12%. Naturally, when the government altered the way it measured inflation it coincidently found that it wouldn't have to pay out as much money in Social Security and other benefits pegged to inflation.
We won't see a true spike in inflation until next fall. It's coming unless the government makes serious changes. If we continue to borrow billions of dollars a day from foreign countries while printing trillions more we are inviting, no begging, for hyperinflation to come and pay us a visit. Please consider this as you decide who to vote for in this upcoming election. Anyone, at any level, running for office who isn't talking about REAL and considerable cuts in government programs and avoiding new spending is either a fool or lying about what's coming.
You can prepare your family for economically tighter times. Our family has been preparing by buying food now that will last us for another 3 to 6 months. I want to be clear: we didn't run out and buy it all at once. Instead, when we went shopping and saw something on sale that we new we would be using in the next 3-6 months we bought a few more than we normally would. We're in the process of doing the same thing with our kids' clothes and shoes. They're growing-up and will need the next size-up in pants, shirts and shoes so Tania and I keep our eyes open for sales and when we see something that's a good value we buy it now knowing that in a year or two our kids will be able to use it and that prices could be substantially higher.
I think this is a good investment and a good way to spend money today that may be worth less tomorrow. Don't run out and liquidate your savings or assets to buy shoes and shirts for the next 10 years, plan and purchase with prudence and moderation.
Guns
You've asked me if you should go out and buy a gun. This is a very personal decision and I struggled for over 2 years trying to make this decision. I never wanted a gun in the house but after discussing it with Tania (and Adam) we decided it was the right decision for our family to have a gun in the home for self-defense.
Before we even thought of buying a gun and bringing it into our home, we spent countless hours at various gun shops asking lots of questions. We also reached out to the NRA (which, as you know, is one of the only organizations that I believe in and belong to) and took several courses in shooting and gun safety. If you're willing to make that kind of commitment then, and only then, can you start to consider whether or not you should purchase a gun.
If you decide to buy make sure you have a home safe that can be easily opened by you and your spouse. Also, when selecting a gun, make sure you ask your dealer for a gun that doesn't take exotic or hard to get ammunition.
The gun laws may DRAMATICALLY change with the election of the next President and a new Congress. Time may be of the essence on this issue so vote with that in mind.
Values
Why are we so different from grandma and grandpa? Remember how they made our clothes? They knitted sweaters and gloves, mended tears and placed patches over holes in our jeans and shirts. What do we do today? We go out and buy our kids clothes that are intentionally faded, frayed or torn. Our grandparents would think we were nuts for doing that.
How many times did we hear, "who left this light on" or "turn off the light when you're not using it." They didn't say this because they were swept up in the latest environmentally friendly fad; they said it because they hated waste. They didn't see themselves as conservationists but at their core they were the first truly 'green' generation.
It's their example that inspired me to re-discover the traditional American family eating plan in our home. This plan applies to mom, dad and all four kids. It's simple: if you don't finish your dinner, it's wrapped and put in the fridge and the next day you have to finish your leftovers.
What a great decision this has been because I'm more careful about what I put on my plate and have already had dinner table discussions with my kids about being grateful for what we've been blessed with and why it's important to avoid wasting food.
Gardening
Tania and I are planning on planting our very first garden next year (yes, I promise to send you pictures to prove it). We've already bought the fertilizer and seeds. In a way this is going to be our modern day Victory Garden our parents and grandparents planted during World War II.
A lot of people think we're planting the garden just for the food and although that's part of it, Tania and I really believe that our family will grow closer by all gardening together. Our hope is that our children will have a greater appreciation for the meals they eat when they experience the work in growing the food they will eat.
We've got so much to learn. I've already learned that there is a difference between heirloom seeds (not genetically modified) and those seeds which have been genetically modified. There are advantages and disadvantages to each type, so familiarize yourself with their respective pluses and minuses. Research what grows well in your area and what you will need to keep your plants healthy and growing.
I do want to share something I learned about seeds. Heirloom seeds are capable of producing viable seeds. So you will always have seeds to plant for the upcoming year. Several genetically modified seeds have 'terminator technology' (that's their phrase, not mine) which will prevent these seeds from reproducing viable seeds.
I'm for reasonable and safe genetically modified seeds and food. They allow people to grow crops where they normally wouldn't be able to and are more robust against disease and predators. Coming-up with all that technology is expensive so these seed producers recoup their costs by limiting the ability to reproduce. You need to have those seeds that are capable of reproducing.
Out of everything I have planned for next year, I can tell you that gardening ranks at the top. It is long term, it brings the family together on a project and it not only teaches my children science but the value of hard work. Does that make me a true sick freak?
Good Books
This is going to sound hokey but we all need to read the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers. We need to go to the original sources, not someone's interpretation of them. Reading these documents will remind us of what our Founding Fathers really intended for us. Their words will inspire us and renew our faith in America.
We need to familiarize ourselves with the founding principles our country and Constitution are built on. We need to better understand the Founding Fathers, what they believed and how they lived their lives.
The books we read should teach us about our heritage. They should inspire us and educate our children. We need books that tell us the greatness of America's past and the promise of her future. We need to read about the mistakes the government has made so we can avoid taking those same paths. The books that I think best capture these principles are:
* The 5000 Year Leap
* The Real George Washington
* The Real Benjamin Franklin
* The Real Thomas Jefferson
Each of these books dramatically demonstrates that America was built on the collective sacrifices of individuals who willingly gave their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor." They remind us that real power rests with "We the People," not Wall Street, Washington or Hollywood.
Also, read books on history that can help you see what may be coming based on our past. The parallels are truly frightening. We are going down the same path by making the same mistakes. These books include:
* The Forgotten Man (on the mistakes of the great depression)
* Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism (arguably the world's first fascist leader and one reason why our children are now taught in school that the Founding Fathers and the Constitution are irrelevant)
* Liberal Fascism (reveals the real danger and roots behind the nanny state mentality and what it means to America's future)
Family Time
As a country we've neglected our most important asset and resource: our children. We've become so busy trying to provide the best for 'things' and opportunities for them that we work longer hours, spend more time away from home and too often don't give them the attention they need and deserve. If the economy starts to sink, this situation will get worse.
One of the best things we can do now is to build stronger ties with our spouse and children. Our family gets together once a week for a 'family night.'
This past week Raphe had the lesson, "my favorite animal." I was in charge of the game, everyone had to imitate their favorite animal and Tania baked cupcakes for our snack. It's amazing what miracles have taken place in those short 30 minute 'family night' get-togethers. We may have forgotten this in our 'Roaring 20's' mentality but it remains true: simple things have real and lasting value.
Tania and I also set aside time for just the two of us. We have date nights where just the two of us go out. It's usually nothing fancy. Sometimes we go out for a walk or just window shopping. We've even gone on a 'date' to the grocery store to pick-up some groceries. It's not really what you actually do but the fact that we spend time together. It refreshes me. It brings us together. I love this time.
Finally, just continue to seek out those sources you trust and continue to ponder and think the unthinkable. While these things hopefully don't ever take place, they are certainly possible and unfortunately becoming more probable everyday.
The good news is that there's still time to prepare ourselves and our families. We created this problem and we can solve it but there won't be any shortcuts or an easy way out.
We must vote for those candidates of any party that reflect these values: hard work, self-determination, smaller government, fiscal responsibility and honesty. Look to the character of anyone you chose to support. Their past does matter if they haven't learned from it. Their personal life is as relevant as their public one. We must be able to trust those who will be advising and leading us on what our country must do next.
The problems we face in this country can be traced back to the lack of trust. Our whole system fails if we do not trust it and right now we do not have that trust. In the last 20 years we have lost trust in our presidents, congress and court system. It was lost when politicians argued over the definition of 'is,' the duplicity on our border security, during the OJ trial, by a renegade 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the 2006 Republican Mark Foley sex scandal and the 2008 Democrat Tim 'more moral future' Mahoney sex scandal and so many other hypocrisies and double-crosses. Our lost of trust was inevitable.
Our political system was not designed around the people in power or really even us. It began with the core belief that we were created and given rights by God. For America to truly fulfill its promise we must restore our faith in the only thing that is solid, unchanging and real: God.
As we find ourselves not trusting our leaders, institutions or even our currency, remember the secret is simple and found as close as your pocket or purse. How appropriate that on the symbol of our present troubles we find the answer: IN GOD WE TRUST.
Only those who are mentally, emotionally, spiritually and temporally prepared will be strong enough to help themselves and others. Many will be fearful if these things come to pass but if you prepare now, fear is the one thing you will not have to worry about. You are not a victim. You are not a survivor. You are a leader. You are an American.
We are all Americans. Let us recommit that, regardless of where we stand politically, we will do the tough things to save our nation because the task at hand requires no less.
The Americans of the past did not look for leadership to come from the politician in the White House for they knew American leadership only came from your house.
Fear not, stay strong and lead the way.
glenn
What's Coming, by Glenn Beck
For full information pertaining to this article, including links of documentation, see the following website:
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16278/?ck=1
Glenn Beck: What's Coming
October 9, 2008 - 3:58 ET
Guys,
If you thought my first email letter answering the question “how did we get here” was on the scary side you’re really going to find this email letter that answers the “what’s coming” question very sobering. I promise you though, my next letter addressing “what you can do to prepare you and your family” will be positive.
Related Article
Glenn Beck: What happened?
Here’s my answer to your question of “what’s coming.”
The economy is going to get worse. I know that’s hard to believe considering that in the past 15 months Americans have lost over 2 trillion dollars of retirement savings, that Iceland which has a GDP of $14 billion and liabilities in excess of $100 billion held by its banks and is on the brink of bankruptcy and the International Monetary Fund has just warned of a global “major downturn” in 2009.
A Second Great Depression?
Just how bad will things get? Recently, I had an off-air conversation with one of the titans in the business community. He has been in the thick of what’s happening on Wall Street, the credit crisis and the economy. I’ve been speaking with him about these issues for about two years and he has always been an optimist. Every argument I would make about how bad things were going to be he would counter with an equally optimistic economic prognosis. For the first time he’s now told me that our economy is in for a very “rough landing, at best” and that if our politicians don’t get the bailout exactly right we could see our GDP (a measurement of the total value of all the goods and services produced every year) falling between 15%-20% in one year.
So what does that really mean? A 15%-20% reduction of GDP would be like wiping out between $2.1 to $2.8 trillion dollars from our $14 trillion GDP. To show you how big that number really is, consider that in one year we spend about $583 billion to run the entire Defense Department, $43 billion to fund the entire Department of Homeland Security and have spent less than a trillion dollars fighting in Iraq since that war began.
By way of comparison, in the Great Depression, our national GDP fell 29% over a four year period (1929-1933) and in that period we saw 7000 banks fail, a 25% unemployment rate and a Dow Jones industrial Average suffer an 80% decline. And that was when the pain of a shrinking GDP was spread over 4 years!
About three weeks ago I had the opportunity to walk with very successful billionaire who has spent over seven decades doing business in America. I asked him what it would mean if our economy suffered a 15% reduction in GDP in one year. He stopped mid-stride, thought for a few minutes before saying, “I can’t begin to imagine how bad things would be if that ever happened.”
Credit Card Debt and Greedy Politicians will Prolong our Problems
All the financial ‘experts’ are telling us that whatever is coming our way will be short-lived. Yes, times will be tough, but we’ll quickly emerge and be stronger. I agree that we’ll survive and that we’ll be stronger, but I don’t think it will be a quick recovery.
Unlike the Great Depression we don’t have a large industrial base that will assist in our recovery and too many people don’t have the savings to help them weather the storm. Instead, the average American household carries at least $8,000 in credit card debt. Lastly, our political leadership will be a burden, rather than a help, in getting us back on track. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, President Bush and Secretary Paulson wake-up each morning and gobble-up larger pieces of the economy and American businesses. They tell us that ‘we need to do this or things will get bad’ but none of them have gone on record and told us that if we follow them we’ll be better off.
The Great Depression showed us that government intervention, at best, will only delay the eventual belt-tightening and pain that must take place to bring the marketplace back into balance. The overbuilding and liquidity excess of the past 10 years has to be brought back into balance. Despite 10 years of government programs under Hoover and Roosevelt accompanied by massive government spending it was not until World War II began that unemployment fell below 10%. It was not a coincidence that the stock market finally regained the strength it had in 1929 only when the prospect of global war appeared to be inevitable in 1939.
How Hedge Funds Could Make things Much Worse
If the government regulated banks can be in as much financial trouble as they are now, just imagine the problems lurking in the unregulated hedge fund world. Hedge funds are a 2 trillion dollar industry. That 2 trillion has been leveraged by several multiples giving it much more influence than the 2 trillion would suggest.
The super-rich invest their money in hedge funds because of their traditionally higher returns. Along with the super-rich, teacher unions, government employee unions and large mutual funds invest in hedge funds, in short, if you have money invested in the market there’s a good chance some of it is held and managed by a hedge fund.
In September, hedge funds around the world recorded their biggest drop since August 1998. Investors that wanted to pull their money out were prevented from doing so by mandatory ‘lock-up’ periods imposed by hedge funds that prevent investors from pulling their money out without giving advanced notice, typically 60 or 90 days. I can only imagine that lots of people have given notice and when they can, will be pulling out their money. When that happens the smaller hedge funds will be wiped out and the larger ones will take big financial hits. The next big test for hedge funds will be October 23rd when an estimated $400 billion in Lehman related credit-default swaps will have to be auctioned and settled, those hedge funds that can’t come up with the money will be wiped out.
Our Politicians keep Playing Politics while our Country is on Fire
Look for our politicians to take advantage of this crisis to promote their own agenda. They keep treating this like a game and are taking actions only after weighing whether their action will help or hurt ‘the party’ at election time. Our country is at the edge and our politicians are worried about elections. This can’t be about Democrats or Republicans. This has to be about saving America.
It’s shameful that Obama and McCain haven’t told the American people that there is no money for all of their proposed spending plans. No, our candidates continue to promise us new plans when we don’t have enough money to pay for the ones we already have.
During the last debate Obama told us that America is the richest country in the world and that we need universal health care. Maybe one of his advisors should tell him that this richest country in the world is borrowing 2 billion dollars a day from foreign countries because that’s how much more we spend than take in, and that was before we started bailing out Wall Street, Main Street and homeowners.
Obama is unbelievably still planning on redistributing wealth in the middle of an economic crisis by taxing those who earn in excess of $250,000 and then redistributing that money to those who make less than $200,000, including sending people who don’t pay any taxes at all $1,000 check. His plan has been called a New Tax Welfare Plan. Call it what you want, we don’t have the money to pay for it.
McCain’s plans for revamping our health care system and his support for a carbon-tax plan are also unaffordable. He should come clean with the American people and tell us that. His failure to so demonstrates that he really doesn’t understand what is taking place in our homes and businesses.
Congress wants in on the action too. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd will flood our country with new programs. The progressive ultra-left has taken over the Democrat Party. They are so liberal and so out-of-touch with mainstream America that Senator Lieberman, a longtime Democrat, left the party and is now an Independent who is publicly thinking about no longer caucusing with the Democrats. Longtime Democrat and chief fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, has said that her party is too far left and is now actively campaigning for John McCain.
Politicians Waiting to Exploit the ‘Right’ Tragedy
Too many politicians are anxiously waiting for the right moment to expand government. They’re waiting for the “Megan Law” moment. That moment when the stars align so politicians can pass legislation over any objections, whether it’s good or bad.
Megan’s Law is named after a 7 year old girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a repeat violent sexual offender. The public had finally become so outraged that the politicians had to act. Megan’s Law requires the posting of information about sexual offenders to the public. Passing Megan’s Law was the right thing to do but it shouldn’t have taken this tragedy to do it—but it took Megan’s tragedy in order to overcome the opposition from the ACLU and other groups who kept screaming about the rights of the accused.
Pelosi, Reid and the progressive left as well as many Republicans still don’t believe that our very survival is at stake with what is going on today. They still look at this meltdown as just another opportunity to score political points. If the Democrats in the House of Representatives really believed that our country’s economic security was at stake then they would have passed the bailout bill. They didn’t need any Republican support. They had the votes. But Pelosi and the Democratic leadership didn’t want to risk a massive voter backlash so they didn’t push the bill through. That is playing politics. If the Senate believed that our country’s economic security was at stake they would have passed a bailout bill without the $100 billion in ‘goodies’ attached. That is playing politics. Do the right thing for the country, stop playing politics.
As the crisis worsens and takes a higher emotional toll on the public we will see tragic stories. We will see more stories about people giving up hope, losing focus on what’s truly important and ending their lives and the lives of people they love. And when the ‘right’ story comes along, it will be exploited to take away more of our freedoms, to shred the Constitution just a little more and grab more money for the government from the people who earn it.
We can also expect our international/foreign enemies and competitors to take advantage of our current economic crisis.
Inexpensive oil is the lifeblood of our economy. It helps us plant our crops, is needed to make the clothes we wear, and keeps us moving freely by car, plane, and ship. America benefits when oil prices are low. Russia, Iran and Venezuela (along with several other countries) benefit when oil prices are high. Iran recently misreported that it forced a U.S. military airplane to land (it turned out to be a Hungarian plane carrying relief supplies). This was an attempt by Iran to spike oil prices temporarily, and it worked, until the truth came out.
Russia’s invasion of Georgia wasn’t about South Ossetia. It was about sending a message to the West that our efforts to build and maintain an oil pipeline through Georgia relied on the good graces of Russia and they didn’t want the West to forget that. Iran has continually petitioned OPEC to cut back on production in order to keep oil prices high and Venezuela is using its petro-dollars to spread his form of socialism.
Russia is also using its massive petro-dollar supply to buy influence on the international front. Remember all those banking problems Iceland is experiencing? Russia is now working with Iceland on a bailout package in an attempt to leverage this crisis into strengthening its international influence. Russia is also reaching out and strengthening its ties to Syria and Iran. Syria announced that it is dredging its fishing port of Tartous so it can accommodate Russian warships.
Iran will continue to develop its nuclear program. The countries of the world will increasingly be focused on reviving and in some cases, saving, their economies. Iran will take advantage or our collective distraction. I am increasingly in the camp that thinks Israel will have to take unilateral action against Iran before it develops a nuclear weapon and that would explain why we’ve decided to sell Israel 1,000 bunker busting bombs.
In the past four weeks Venezuela hosted two strategic long-range Russian bombers, and held joint navy exercises with a fleet of Russian ships, including a nuclear-powered missile cruiser. President Chavez has also been busy working with Columbia’s FARC terrorists and last week renewed his goal of building a ‘civilian’ nuclear program and has called for revolution throughout South America.
These countries will increasingly use more aggressive methods to drive up the cost of oil and expand their sphere of international and regional influence by generously spreading around their petro-dollars.
Meanwhile, North Korea doesn’t have any oil so it’s using the next best thing, the threat of nuclear weapons to get what it wants. It wasn’t too long ago that President Bush was touting a new ironclad agreement between America and North Korea. Well, after promising to verifiably dismantle its nuclear power plants in exchange for financial aid and fuel, the North Koreans have vowed to resume their suspended nuclear program. You can expect the guy with the crazy haircut and glasses to demand more money, fuel and aid for him to play nice again.
Closer to home you will see that Americans are increasingly feeling isolated and detached from their government. Part of the reason is that we don’t think politicians care what we think anymore. The $700 billion bailout bill passed the Senate at a time when only 30% of the country supported it. We felt that a giant stick was poked into our collective eye!
59% of Americans would vote the entire Congress out of office but due to the self-serving way the politicians have drawn their election districts it’s just this side of impossible to do it. Only 49% of the people believe that this congress is currently doing a better job than a group of individuals selected randomly from a phone book would do and 33% of us actually believe the group selected at random would do a better job!
Politicians play Politics with our Economy by Playing Politics with Energy Policy
But our politicians just don’t get it. Look at energy. We need inexpensive oil to make our country work and maintain our standard of living. To be perfectly clear: without inexpensive energy our economy doesn’t work and our standard of living dramatically falls.
You would think that our politicians, who understand this, would put our national interest above their petty desire for re-election, but they don’t. Look at what happened with offshore drilling. The federal moratorium on offshore drilling legally expired at the end of September. In theory, oil companies could have started drilling the first week of October but instead no oil company is even drafting plans to drill, why? Because they know that the politicians aren’t serious about offshore drilling. They know that too many congressmen are servants to the extremist environmental movement and as soon as the election is over will vote to either prevent offshore drilling or impose onerous conditions on any drilling. So the politicians will go home to their districts and tell the voters they are for drilling and then turn around and collect big fat donations from the environmental lobbyists who oppose drilling.
The same thing can be said about coal and nuclear power. Obama tells a national audience during his nomination acceptance speech that he and Joe Biden are for clean coal. Less than 90 days later Joe Biden is captured on tape telling a woman that coal isn’t going to play a role in an Obama Administration energy plan.
Obama and McCain have talked-up nuclear power on the campaign trail but have done little to actually make it happen in their many years of service in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile China plans on building about one nuclear power plant a year up through 2020.
There’s a real disconnect between our elected leaders and the people, but the majority of Americans are willing to work through this disenfranchisement. We want to reform government. We want to improve our country and communities but there is a fringe that is actively trying to exploit this disenfranchisement. I have someone on my staff that monitors the extreme blogs—stuff that most people, thankfully, haven’t even heard of. These blogs contain a call to revolution. One writer said that we need to “join with your brothers in arms and through force, return what is rightfully the peoples to the people” and another entry encouraged the reader to “rise up and join us before our nation is taken from us by the crooks and bastards that waste our air, one nation, taken back by the force of the peoples militia…”.
Guys, I told you that this was going to be a sobering letter. We are on the edge of a giant abyss that could swallow not only our economy but the freedoms and security we have enjoyed for over 200 years. Believe it or not, I don’t think that this letter captures the urgency that I feel, but I didn’t want to include wild speculation because I can’t see into the future but I wanted to give you a sense of the Perfect Storm that I have talked about and how the pressures that our economy and country face at this time are once again placing our “lives, fortunes and sacred honor” at stake.
Please ponder and pray about what I’ve said and then pass these email letters along to as many people as possible so they can prepare themselves and their families. Then, the more people there will be to help us overcome fear and desperation.
There is good news. We can prepare ourselves and our family for what’s coming and work to prevent the worst from happening. We have to focus on value and values. Those things that our parent and their parents lived but somehow too many of us have forgotten. But that’s for my next letter to you.
With love, glenn
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16278/?ck=1
Glenn Beck: What's Coming
October 9, 2008 - 3:58 ET
Guys,
If you thought my first email letter answering the question “how did we get here” was on the scary side you’re really going to find this email letter that answers the “what’s coming” question very sobering. I promise you though, my next letter addressing “what you can do to prepare you and your family” will be positive.
Related Article
Glenn Beck: What happened?
Here’s my answer to your question of “what’s coming.”
The economy is going to get worse. I know that’s hard to believe considering that in the past 15 months Americans have lost over 2 trillion dollars of retirement savings, that Iceland which has a GDP of $14 billion and liabilities in excess of $100 billion held by its banks and is on the brink of bankruptcy and the International Monetary Fund has just warned of a global “major downturn” in 2009.
A Second Great Depression?
Just how bad will things get? Recently, I had an off-air conversation with one of the titans in the business community. He has been in the thick of what’s happening on Wall Street, the credit crisis and the economy. I’ve been speaking with him about these issues for about two years and he has always been an optimist. Every argument I would make about how bad things were going to be he would counter with an equally optimistic economic prognosis. For the first time he’s now told me that our economy is in for a very “rough landing, at best” and that if our politicians don’t get the bailout exactly right we could see our GDP (a measurement of the total value of all the goods and services produced every year) falling between 15%-20% in one year.
So what does that really mean? A 15%-20% reduction of GDP would be like wiping out between $2.1 to $2.8 trillion dollars from our $14 trillion GDP. To show you how big that number really is, consider that in one year we spend about $583 billion to run the entire Defense Department, $43 billion to fund the entire Department of Homeland Security and have spent less than a trillion dollars fighting in Iraq since that war began.
By way of comparison, in the Great Depression, our national GDP fell 29% over a four year period (1929-1933) and in that period we saw 7000 banks fail, a 25% unemployment rate and a Dow Jones industrial Average suffer an 80% decline. And that was when the pain of a shrinking GDP was spread over 4 years!
About three weeks ago I had the opportunity to walk with very successful billionaire who has spent over seven decades doing business in America. I asked him what it would mean if our economy suffered a 15% reduction in GDP in one year. He stopped mid-stride, thought for a few minutes before saying, “I can’t begin to imagine how bad things would be if that ever happened.”
Credit Card Debt and Greedy Politicians will Prolong our Problems
All the financial ‘experts’ are telling us that whatever is coming our way will be short-lived. Yes, times will be tough, but we’ll quickly emerge and be stronger. I agree that we’ll survive and that we’ll be stronger, but I don’t think it will be a quick recovery.
Unlike the Great Depression we don’t have a large industrial base that will assist in our recovery and too many people don’t have the savings to help them weather the storm. Instead, the average American household carries at least $8,000 in credit card debt. Lastly, our political leadership will be a burden, rather than a help, in getting us back on track. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, President Bush and Secretary Paulson wake-up each morning and gobble-up larger pieces of the economy and American businesses. They tell us that ‘we need to do this or things will get bad’ but none of them have gone on record and told us that if we follow them we’ll be better off.
The Great Depression showed us that government intervention, at best, will only delay the eventual belt-tightening and pain that must take place to bring the marketplace back into balance. The overbuilding and liquidity excess of the past 10 years has to be brought back into balance. Despite 10 years of government programs under Hoover and Roosevelt accompanied by massive government spending it was not until World War II began that unemployment fell below 10%. It was not a coincidence that the stock market finally regained the strength it had in 1929 only when the prospect of global war appeared to be inevitable in 1939.
How Hedge Funds Could Make things Much Worse
If the government regulated banks can be in as much financial trouble as they are now, just imagine the problems lurking in the unregulated hedge fund world. Hedge funds are a 2 trillion dollar industry. That 2 trillion has been leveraged by several multiples giving it much more influence than the 2 trillion would suggest.
The super-rich invest their money in hedge funds because of their traditionally higher returns. Along with the super-rich, teacher unions, government employee unions and large mutual funds invest in hedge funds, in short, if you have money invested in the market there’s a good chance some of it is held and managed by a hedge fund.
In September, hedge funds around the world recorded their biggest drop since August 1998. Investors that wanted to pull their money out were prevented from doing so by mandatory ‘lock-up’ periods imposed by hedge funds that prevent investors from pulling their money out without giving advanced notice, typically 60 or 90 days. I can only imagine that lots of people have given notice and when they can, will be pulling out their money. When that happens the smaller hedge funds will be wiped out and the larger ones will take big financial hits. The next big test for hedge funds will be October 23rd when an estimated $400 billion in Lehman related credit-default swaps will have to be auctioned and settled, those hedge funds that can’t come up with the money will be wiped out.
Our Politicians keep Playing Politics while our Country is on Fire
Look for our politicians to take advantage of this crisis to promote their own agenda. They keep treating this like a game and are taking actions only after weighing whether their action will help or hurt ‘the party’ at election time. Our country is at the edge and our politicians are worried about elections. This can’t be about Democrats or Republicans. This has to be about saving America.
It’s shameful that Obama and McCain haven’t told the American people that there is no money for all of their proposed spending plans. No, our candidates continue to promise us new plans when we don’t have enough money to pay for the ones we already have.
During the last debate Obama told us that America is the richest country in the world and that we need universal health care. Maybe one of his advisors should tell him that this richest country in the world is borrowing 2 billion dollars a day from foreign countries because that’s how much more we spend than take in, and that was before we started bailing out Wall Street, Main Street and homeowners.
Obama is unbelievably still planning on redistributing wealth in the middle of an economic crisis by taxing those who earn in excess of $250,000 and then redistributing that money to those who make less than $200,000, including sending people who don’t pay any taxes at all $1,000 check. His plan has been called a New Tax Welfare Plan. Call it what you want, we don’t have the money to pay for it.
McCain’s plans for revamping our health care system and his support for a carbon-tax plan are also unaffordable. He should come clean with the American people and tell us that. His failure to so demonstrates that he really doesn’t understand what is taking place in our homes and businesses.
Congress wants in on the action too. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd will flood our country with new programs. The progressive ultra-left has taken over the Democrat Party. They are so liberal and so out-of-touch with mainstream America that Senator Lieberman, a longtime Democrat, left the party and is now an Independent who is publicly thinking about no longer caucusing with the Democrats. Longtime Democrat and chief fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, has said that her party is too far left and is now actively campaigning for John McCain.
Politicians Waiting to Exploit the ‘Right’ Tragedy
Too many politicians are anxiously waiting for the right moment to expand government. They’re waiting for the “Megan Law” moment. That moment when the stars align so politicians can pass legislation over any objections, whether it’s good or bad.
Megan’s Law is named after a 7 year old girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a repeat violent sexual offender. The public had finally become so outraged that the politicians had to act. Megan’s Law requires the posting of information about sexual offenders to the public. Passing Megan’s Law was the right thing to do but it shouldn’t have taken this tragedy to do it—but it took Megan’s tragedy in order to overcome the opposition from the ACLU and other groups who kept screaming about the rights of the accused.
Pelosi, Reid and the progressive left as well as many Republicans still don’t believe that our very survival is at stake with what is going on today. They still look at this meltdown as just another opportunity to score political points. If the Democrats in the House of Representatives really believed that our country’s economic security was at stake then they would have passed the bailout bill. They didn’t need any Republican support. They had the votes. But Pelosi and the Democratic leadership didn’t want to risk a massive voter backlash so they didn’t push the bill through. That is playing politics. If the Senate believed that our country’s economic security was at stake they would have passed a bailout bill without the $100 billion in ‘goodies’ attached. That is playing politics. Do the right thing for the country, stop playing politics.
As the crisis worsens and takes a higher emotional toll on the public we will see tragic stories. We will see more stories about people giving up hope, losing focus on what’s truly important and ending their lives and the lives of people they love. And when the ‘right’ story comes along, it will be exploited to take away more of our freedoms, to shred the Constitution just a little more and grab more money for the government from the people who earn it.
We can also expect our international/foreign enemies and competitors to take advantage of our current economic crisis.
Inexpensive oil is the lifeblood of our economy. It helps us plant our crops, is needed to make the clothes we wear, and keeps us moving freely by car, plane, and ship. America benefits when oil prices are low. Russia, Iran and Venezuela (along with several other countries) benefit when oil prices are high. Iran recently misreported that it forced a U.S. military airplane to land (it turned out to be a Hungarian plane carrying relief supplies). This was an attempt by Iran to spike oil prices temporarily, and it worked, until the truth came out.
Russia’s invasion of Georgia wasn’t about South Ossetia. It was about sending a message to the West that our efforts to build and maintain an oil pipeline through Georgia relied on the good graces of Russia and they didn’t want the West to forget that. Iran has continually petitioned OPEC to cut back on production in order to keep oil prices high and Venezuela is using its petro-dollars to spread his form of socialism.
Russia is also using its massive petro-dollar supply to buy influence on the international front. Remember all those banking problems Iceland is experiencing? Russia is now working with Iceland on a bailout package in an attempt to leverage this crisis into strengthening its international influence. Russia is also reaching out and strengthening its ties to Syria and Iran. Syria announced that it is dredging its fishing port of Tartous so it can accommodate Russian warships.
Iran will continue to develop its nuclear program. The countries of the world will increasingly be focused on reviving and in some cases, saving, their economies. Iran will take advantage or our collective distraction. I am increasingly in the camp that thinks Israel will have to take unilateral action against Iran before it develops a nuclear weapon and that would explain why we’ve decided to sell Israel 1,000 bunker busting bombs.
In the past four weeks Venezuela hosted two strategic long-range Russian bombers, and held joint navy exercises with a fleet of Russian ships, including a nuclear-powered missile cruiser. President Chavez has also been busy working with Columbia’s FARC terrorists and last week renewed his goal of building a ‘civilian’ nuclear program and has called for revolution throughout South America.
These countries will increasingly use more aggressive methods to drive up the cost of oil and expand their sphere of international and regional influence by generously spreading around their petro-dollars.
Meanwhile, North Korea doesn’t have any oil so it’s using the next best thing, the threat of nuclear weapons to get what it wants. It wasn’t too long ago that President Bush was touting a new ironclad agreement between America and North Korea. Well, after promising to verifiably dismantle its nuclear power plants in exchange for financial aid and fuel, the North Koreans have vowed to resume their suspended nuclear program. You can expect the guy with the crazy haircut and glasses to demand more money, fuel and aid for him to play nice again.
Closer to home you will see that Americans are increasingly feeling isolated and detached from their government. Part of the reason is that we don’t think politicians care what we think anymore. The $700 billion bailout bill passed the Senate at a time when only 30% of the country supported it. We felt that a giant stick was poked into our collective eye!
59% of Americans would vote the entire Congress out of office but due to the self-serving way the politicians have drawn their election districts it’s just this side of impossible to do it. Only 49% of the people believe that this congress is currently doing a better job than a group of individuals selected randomly from a phone book would do and 33% of us actually believe the group selected at random would do a better job!
Politicians play Politics with our Economy by Playing Politics with Energy Policy
But our politicians just don’t get it. Look at energy. We need inexpensive oil to make our country work and maintain our standard of living. To be perfectly clear: without inexpensive energy our economy doesn’t work and our standard of living dramatically falls.
You would think that our politicians, who understand this, would put our national interest above their petty desire for re-election, but they don’t. Look at what happened with offshore drilling. The federal moratorium on offshore drilling legally expired at the end of September. In theory, oil companies could have started drilling the first week of October but instead no oil company is even drafting plans to drill, why? Because they know that the politicians aren’t serious about offshore drilling. They know that too many congressmen are servants to the extremist environmental movement and as soon as the election is over will vote to either prevent offshore drilling or impose onerous conditions on any drilling. So the politicians will go home to their districts and tell the voters they are for drilling and then turn around and collect big fat donations from the environmental lobbyists who oppose drilling.
The same thing can be said about coal and nuclear power. Obama tells a national audience during his nomination acceptance speech that he and Joe Biden are for clean coal. Less than 90 days later Joe Biden is captured on tape telling a woman that coal isn’t going to play a role in an Obama Administration energy plan.
Obama and McCain have talked-up nuclear power on the campaign trail but have done little to actually make it happen in their many years of service in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile China plans on building about one nuclear power plant a year up through 2020.
There’s a real disconnect between our elected leaders and the people, but the majority of Americans are willing to work through this disenfranchisement. We want to reform government. We want to improve our country and communities but there is a fringe that is actively trying to exploit this disenfranchisement. I have someone on my staff that monitors the extreme blogs—stuff that most people, thankfully, haven’t even heard of. These blogs contain a call to revolution. One writer said that we need to “join with your brothers in arms and through force, return what is rightfully the peoples to the people” and another entry encouraged the reader to “rise up and join us before our nation is taken from us by the crooks and bastards that waste our air, one nation, taken back by the force of the peoples militia…”.
Guys, I told you that this was going to be a sobering letter. We are on the edge of a giant abyss that could swallow not only our economy but the freedoms and security we have enjoyed for over 200 years. Believe it or not, I don’t think that this letter captures the urgency that I feel, but I didn’t want to include wild speculation because I can’t see into the future but I wanted to give you a sense of the Perfect Storm that I have talked about and how the pressures that our economy and country face at this time are once again placing our “lives, fortunes and sacred honor” at stake.
Please ponder and pray about what I’ve said and then pass these email letters along to as many people as possible so they can prepare themselves and their families. Then, the more people there will be to help us overcome fear and desperation.
There is good news. We can prepare ourselves and our family for what’s coming and work to prevent the worst from happening. We have to focus on value and values. Those things that our parent and their parents lived but somehow too many of us have forgotten. But that’s for my next letter to you.
With love, glenn
What's Happened to Our Economy, by Glenn Beck
For the full text and documentation links of this article, see the following website: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/16171/?ck=1
Glenn Beck: What happened?
October 8, 2008 - 1:47 ET
Glenn's letter to his family explaining how we got into this economic crisis...
Yes, another email letter from your crazy brother. You raised a lot of questions in your last email and I am going to try to answer all of them.
I think all of your questions fall into three areas: (1) how did we get here; (2) what's coming; and (3) what can I do to prepare myself and my family.
Consider this email as my answer to your first question, "how did we get here?". I'll be sending you 2 more emails answering your other two questions. Since there's a lot of misinformation out there I will document each of the facts in my emails so you know where I pulled the information from and where you can go to read and learn more.
What you shouldn't do is panic. We'll get through this--don't pull all of your money out of the bank but have enough cash on-hand to meet any possible emergencies.
First, you've got to get the stock market's ups-and-downs out of your mind. The recent drops and upticks are short-term. Our economic problems are much bigger and deeper. Too many people believe that if the stock market goes up our problems are behind us and that's simply not true.
Last week the market had big drops and big upswings. In the end, the market ended down more than 800 points and lots of 'experts' were shouting it was a time to buy. I don't see it that way.
Did you know that just two days after the stock market crashed in October 1929 the market actually gained ground the next two days? The New York Times reported that "the market quickly regained its poise and stability...." Today, Wall Street 'pros' are telling us it's a good time to invest because Warren Buffet is investing. A lot of people were probably using the same argument when the Rockefeller family was buying stocks right after the 1929 crash, what they didn't know was that it would take Wall Street ten more years to see those prices again.
Our current economic crisis was caused by politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, who perverted the American Dream by treating home ownership as an undeniable right rather than what it really is, a privilege. President Bush aggressively promoted the benefits of home ownership through various policy positions, including a reckless zero down-payment initiative for some homebuyers and praised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even after concerns about their accounting standards began to surface.
Home ownership has always been part of the American Dream. It allows individuals and families to build wealth by having them pay themselves instead of a landlord or rental company and vests people in their communities by grounding them in local schools, stores and government.
The concept that owning a home was a privilege and not a right began to change in 1992 following a flawed Boston Federal Reserve Board study which allegedly found subtle discrimination in loan and mortgage lending by banks and mortgage lenders.
Politicians didn't care that the study was full of errors. The study found discrimination took place when five minority applicants were rejected for special low-income loans even though the applicants were rejected because they made too much money to qualify for a low-income loan, not because of their race. The report also classified as 'rejected' the applications of eight minority borrowers even though these borrowers voluntarily withdrew their mortgage applications. The study's sloppiness also went the other way.
The study reported that a white applicant was approved for a $3,115,000 loan in order to purchase a home valued at $445,000. It was later demonstrated that the actual loan was approved for $311,500, far less than $3 million reported and more importantly, less than the home's purchase price. When these and other errors were corrected no evidence of discrimination existed.
But politicians didn't care. They used this report as the basis to fix a problem which didn't exist. Leading the charge for change was President Clinton who immediately set-out to rework the Community Reinvestment Act to give federal officials the power to pressure banks to make loans they otherwise considered too risky or uneconomical.
Traditional lending requirements were labeled 'outdated' and discriminatory. What 'traditional lending requirements' were viewed as 'outdated' and 'discriminatory'? (1) banks were told that a "lack of credit history should not be seen as a negative factor" and that "past credit problems"
should be viewed and considered in light of any "extenuating circumstances" so loans could be extended when they otherwise would have been denied; (2) banks were encouraged to let borrowers without enough money for a down-payment make-up any deficiency with "gifts, grants, or loans from relatives, nonprofit organizations, or municipal agencies" even though banks considered this risky as the home buyer would have little or no equity in the house; (3) banks were also instructed that borrowers who received child support, welfare payments or unemployment benefits could count that as 'income' for borrowing purposes.
Call me crazy but if you need to count child support money that's intended for your child, or are in such bad economic shape that you're relying on welfare payments to make ends meet or are unemployed, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't be buying a house. Too bad our politicians and the 'best and brightest' on Wall Street couldn't figure that out!
Community groups like ACORN, threatened to cry racism if banks didn't increase their loans to subprime borrowers. Banks typically avoided subprime loans as they carried a greater risk of default, but with law on its side, ACORN and other groups intimidated lending institutions into making such loans.
Banks soon learned, however, that making subprime loans actually could increase their profits without increasing their risk. Once the banks extended a loan to a subprime borrower that loan could then be sold by the bank to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, two government sponsored entities charged with making home ownership affordable to all Americans.
Banks, Wall Street, and mortgage lenders were soon eager to extend mortgages to subprime borrowers because they could make lots of money without carrying any risk. Fannie and Freddie carried all the risk once the original lending agency sold the loan to them. And once Fannie and Freddie bought the loan this freed up the banks to make even more subprime loans.
So everyone was a winner. The subprime borrower got the money to buy a house. The banks generated mortgages and made a nice profit and Fannie and Freddie executives made tens-of-millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses by hitting their annual goals.
The problem was that in order to keep all of this going lending standards were continually lowered to help the next level of subprime borrowers qualify for mortgages and no one had an incentive to make sure that the new subprime borrowers would actually be capable of making regular mortgage payments. The banks which extended the loans really didn't care because they were just going to sell the loan off to Fannie or Freddie. Fannie and Freddie weren't too concerned because it wasn't their money-they knew that they were insured by the 'full faith and credit' of the federal government (that's government lingo for "you and me").
So when federal regulators began to warn the executives at Fannie and Freddie about the increasing risks of non-payment by subprime borrowers the companies did nothing and when the regulators took their concerns to congress their warnings were met with scorn and contempt. The politicians who received the most political contributions from Fannie and Freddie, by pure coincidence, just happened to be their biggest defenders: Chris Dodd (D-$133,900), John Kerry (D-$111,000) and Barack Obama (D-$105,189).
Representative Barney Frank, who has been a fierce defender of Fannie and Freddie, actually said, while arguing against more regulation, "I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.... " It's nice to know that he doesn't mind gambling with our money. Senator Chris Dodd, in praising Fannie and Freddie said, "I, just briefly will say, Mr. Chairman, obviously, like most of us here, this is one of the great success stories of all time.
"While Senator Charles Schumer said, "And my worry is that we're using the recent safety and soundness concerns, particularly with Freddie, and with a poor regulator, as a straw man to curtail Fannie and Freddie's mission."
Barack Obama has received more money from Fannie and Freddie than any other senator, with the exception of Senator Dodd, in the last four years. Before entering the senate, Obama filed a class-action lawsuit against Citibank, alleging that the bank was red-lining, or not doing enough lending in certain areas. That lawsuit was eventually settled. Arguably, Barack Obama helped cause the problem he now wants to fix.
The Federal Reserve Board was doing its part by throwing huge piles of cash at would-be home buyers by keeping interest rates too low. With low interest rates speculators began to look at houses as business opportunities, while others began to look at their homes as a giant piggy bank rather than a place where you actually lived and raised a family. Alan Greenspan encouraged this type of behavior and proudly said, "American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgages..." President Bush, responding to September 11th unwisely encouraged us to "go shopping" rather than hunker down financially and contribute to the War on Terror in other ways (can you say home equity loans?).
The SEC also shares in the blame. It failed to do its job (failed to adequately regulate mortgage brokers, the credit rating companies, and naked short-sellers), acted only after the markets froze-up (finally addressed mark-to-market rules) and refused to examine how the credit-default-swap market could grow from $919 billion in 2001 to over $54 trillion by 2008 (which allowed companies to make wild financial bets with the false confidence that 'insurance' would be there if the deal went south).
So what happened? Home-ownership rates which had been relatively constant for 25 years began a 10 year upward climb beginning in 1995, around the same time that government began its push and pressure for banks to make more subprime loans. The politicians, banks, lenders and Wall Streeters were thrilled because they were all making gobs of money.
Today we are all paying the price for the decisions made long ago. I have spoken to people involved at the highest levels and they now are all saying the same thing, "it is worse than anyone knows" and "worse than I even thought." Political and business leaders who I respect have told me that the economy is on the edge of an abyss.
The bailout is an outrage and is designed only to buy time for the politicians. It will delay the real hard times from hitting until after the November elections. Not one politician has said that this bailout legislation will put us on a better financial footing or that our economic problems will be put behind us. In fact, we'll be worse off because our politicians, even in this crisis, can't stop themselves from spending. This bill includes an extension of the rum tax benefits for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands ($192 million), tax benefits for companies which manufacture wooden arrows for kids ($6 million), car racing tracks ($128 million), a provision which forces insurance companies to treat mental health problems like physical problems ($3.8 billion) and many, many more.
International markets don't offer any better alternative. Germany, England, the Netherlands, and Russia have all come out with their own government backed bailout plans. There are now calls for more international regulation (presumably led by the United Nations) and China has taken this opportunity to call for "a diversified currency and financial system and fair and just financial order that is not dependent on the United States." Meanwhile, there is increasing international indications that the dollar will lose its place as the reserve currency of the world.
The politicians from both political parties continue to lie to us. They promise us better healthcare and more government programs. The only thing either party will be able to deliver is higher, much higher, taxes as the debt swells and government revenues fall. The same politicians remain silent, while capitalism, which brought us the highest standard of living in the world, is increasingly attacked and discredited by its enemies.
But it's not capitalism which has been discredited by our current crisis, it's greed that has been shown to be at the root of our present economic uncertainty, and greed is unfortunately a universal human trait and has demonstrated its reach in socialism, fascism, communism and capitalism. The greed of Wall Street is nothing compared to the greed of our politicians who have continued to expand their power and influence at the expense of their country.
Our children and grandchildren will ultimately pay the price for their failure to act prudently and in the best interest of our country because they will be the ones saddled with mountains of debt and diminished standard of living.
I hope that this summary gives you a better idea of how the people who caused this fire are the same ones who are now telling us that they know best how to put it out and a reason not to believe their current promises.
We have faced tough times before. We fought the Nazis in World War II, defeated communism in the Cold War and Americans fought each other to keep our country together in our own Civil War. These tough times require us to educate ourselves and help others understand what has brought us to this point and the grave consequences of what will happen if we let this continue-that is our fight.
In my next email letter I will answer the other question you asked, "what's coming?"
Sis, I know you will always consider me your crazy brother but please pass this message on to all of your friends. There are too many rumors circulating and I want to put the facts out there. This isn't about slamming the Democrats or Republicans--this is about getting the truth out to as many people as possible. The more people we can wake-up the more people we will have restoring the hope, promise and opportunity of our great country. Please pass this on.
Glenn Beck: What happened?
October 8, 2008 - 1:47 ET
Glenn's letter to his family explaining how we got into this economic crisis...
Yes, another email letter from your crazy brother. You raised a lot of questions in your last email and I am going to try to answer all of them.
I think all of your questions fall into three areas: (1) how did we get here; (2) what's coming; and (3) what can I do to prepare myself and my family.
Consider this email as my answer to your first question, "how did we get here?". I'll be sending you 2 more emails answering your other two questions. Since there's a lot of misinformation out there I will document each of the facts in my emails so you know where I pulled the information from and where you can go to read and learn more.
What you shouldn't do is panic. We'll get through this--don't pull all of your money out of the bank but have enough cash on-hand to meet any possible emergencies.
First, you've got to get the stock market's ups-and-downs out of your mind. The recent drops and upticks are short-term. Our economic problems are much bigger and deeper. Too many people believe that if the stock market goes up our problems are behind us and that's simply not true.
Last week the market had big drops and big upswings. In the end, the market ended down more than 800 points and lots of 'experts' were shouting it was a time to buy. I don't see it that way.
Did you know that just two days after the stock market crashed in October 1929 the market actually gained ground the next two days? The New York Times reported that "the market quickly regained its poise and stability...." Today, Wall Street 'pros' are telling us it's a good time to invest because Warren Buffet is investing. A lot of people were probably using the same argument when the Rockefeller family was buying stocks right after the 1929 crash, what they didn't know was that it would take Wall Street ten more years to see those prices again.
Our current economic crisis was caused by politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, who perverted the American Dream by treating home ownership as an undeniable right rather than what it really is, a privilege. President Bush aggressively promoted the benefits of home ownership through various policy positions, including a reckless zero down-payment initiative for some homebuyers and praised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even after concerns about their accounting standards began to surface.
Home ownership has always been part of the American Dream. It allows individuals and families to build wealth by having them pay themselves instead of a landlord or rental company and vests people in their communities by grounding them in local schools, stores and government.
The concept that owning a home was a privilege and not a right began to change in 1992 following a flawed Boston Federal Reserve Board study which allegedly found subtle discrimination in loan and mortgage lending by banks and mortgage lenders.
Politicians didn't care that the study was full of errors. The study found discrimination took place when five minority applicants were rejected for special low-income loans even though the applicants were rejected because they made too much money to qualify for a low-income loan, not because of their race. The report also classified as 'rejected' the applications of eight minority borrowers even though these borrowers voluntarily withdrew their mortgage applications. The study's sloppiness also went the other way.
The study reported that a white applicant was approved for a $3,115,000 loan in order to purchase a home valued at $445,000. It was later demonstrated that the actual loan was approved for $311,500, far less than $3 million reported and more importantly, less than the home's purchase price. When these and other errors were corrected no evidence of discrimination existed.
But politicians didn't care. They used this report as the basis to fix a problem which didn't exist. Leading the charge for change was President Clinton who immediately set-out to rework the Community Reinvestment Act to give federal officials the power to pressure banks to make loans they otherwise considered too risky or uneconomical.
Traditional lending requirements were labeled 'outdated' and discriminatory. What 'traditional lending requirements' were viewed as 'outdated' and 'discriminatory'? (1) banks were told that a "lack of credit history should not be seen as a negative factor" and that "past credit problems"
should be viewed and considered in light of any "extenuating circumstances" so loans could be extended when they otherwise would have been denied; (2) banks were encouraged to let borrowers without enough money for a down-payment make-up any deficiency with "gifts, grants, or loans from relatives, nonprofit organizations, or municipal agencies" even though banks considered this risky as the home buyer would have little or no equity in the house; (3) banks were also instructed that borrowers who received child support, welfare payments or unemployment benefits could count that as 'income' for borrowing purposes.
Call me crazy but if you need to count child support money that's intended for your child, or are in such bad economic shape that you're relying on welfare payments to make ends meet or are unemployed, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't be buying a house. Too bad our politicians and the 'best and brightest' on Wall Street couldn't figure that out!
Community groups like ACORN, threatened to cry racism if banks didn't increase their loans to subprime borrowers. Banks typically avoided subprime loans as they carried a greater risk of default, but with law on its side, ACORN and other groups intimidated lending institutions into making such loans.
Banks soon learned, however, that making subprime loans actually could increase their profits without increasing their risk. Once the banks extended a loan to a subprime borrower that loan could then be sold by the bank to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, two government sponsored entities charged with making home ownership affordable to all Americans.
Banks, Wall Street, and mortgage lenders were soon eager to extend mortgages to subprime borrowers because they could make lots of money without carrying any risk. Fannie and Freddie carried all the risk once the original lending agency sold the loan to them. And once Fannie and Freddie bought the loan this freed up the banks to make even more subprime loans.
So everyone was a winner. The subprime borrower got the money to buy a house. The banks generated mortgages and made a nice profit and Fannie and Freddie executives made tens-of-millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses by hitting their annual goals.
The problem was that in order to keep all of this going lending standards were continually lowered to help the next level of subprime borrowers qualify for mortgages and no one had an incentive to make sure that the new subprime borrowers would actually be capable of making regular mortgage payments. The banks which extended the loans really didn't care because they were just going to sell the loan off to Fannie or Freddie. Fannie and Freddie weren't too concerned because it wasn't their money-they knew that they were insured by the 'full faith and credit' of the federal government (that's government lingo for "you and me").
So when federal regulators began to warn the executives at Fannie and Freddie about the increasing risks of non-payment by subprime borrowers the companies did nothing and when the regulators took their concerns to congress their warnings were met with scorn and contempt. The politicians who received the most political contributions from Fannie and Freddie, by pure coincidence, just happened to be their biggest defenders: Chris Dodd (D-$133,900), John Kerry (D-$111,000) and Barack Obama (D-$105,189).
Representative Barney Frank, who has been a fierce defender of Fannie and Freddie, actually said, while arguing against more regulation, "I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.... " It's nice to know that he doesn't mind gambling with our money. Senator Chris Dodd, in praising Fannie and Freddie said, "I, just briefly will say, Mr. Chairman, obviously, like most of us here, this is one of the great success stories of all time.
"While Senator Charles Schumer said, "And my worry is that we're using the recent safety and soundness concerns, particularly with Freddie, and with a poor regulator, as a straw man to curtail Fannie and Freddie's mission."
Barack Obama has received more money from Fannie and Freddie than any other senator, with the exception of Senator Dodd, in the last four years. Before entering the senate, Obama filed a class-action lawsuit against Citibank, alleging that the bank was red-lining, or not doing enough lending in certain areas. That lawsuit was eventually settled. Arguably, Barack Obama helped cause the problem he now wants to fix.
The Federal Reserve Board was doing its part by throwing huge piles of cash at would-be home buyers by keeping interest rates too low. With low interest rates speculators began to look at houses as business opportunities, while others began to look at their homes as a giant piggy bank rather than a place where you actually lived and raised a family. Alan Greenspan encouraged this type of behavior and proudly said, "American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgages..." President Bush, responding to September 11th unwisely encouraged us to "go shopping" rather than hunker down financially and contribute to the War on Terror in other ways (can you say home equity loans?).
The SEC also shares in the blame. It failed to do its job (failed to adequately regulate mortgage brokers, the credit rating companies, and naked short-sellers), acted only after the markets froze-up (finally addressed mark-to-market rules) and refused to examine how the credit-default-swap market could grow from $919 billion in 2001 to over $54 trillion by 2008 (which allowed companies to make wild financial bets with the false confidence that 'insurance' would be there if the deal went south).
So what happened? Home-ownership rates which had been relatively constant for 25 years began a 10 year upward climb beginning in 1995, around the same time that government began its push and pressure for banks to make more subprime loans. The politicians, banks, lenders and Wall Streeters were thrilled because they were all making gobs of money.
Today we are all paying the price for the decisions made long ago. I have spoken to people involved at the highest levels and they now are all saying the same thing, "it is worse than anyone knows" and "worse than I even thought." Political and business leaders who I respect have told me that the economy is on the edge of an abyss.
The bailout is an outrage and is designed only to buy time for the politicians. It will delay the real hard times from hitting until after the November elections. Not one politician has said that this bailout legislation will put us on a better financial footing or that our economic problems will be put behind us. In fact, we'll be worse off because our politicians, even in this crisis, can't stop themselves from spending. This bill includes an extension of the rum tax benefits for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands ($192 million), tax benefits for companies which manufacture wooden arrows for kids ($6 million), car racing tracks ($128 million), a provision which forces insurance companies to treat mental health problems like physical problems ($3.8 billion) and many, many more.
International markets don't offer any better alternative. Germany, England, the Netherlands, and Russia have all come out with their own government backed bailout plans. There are now calls for more international regulation (presumably led by the United Nations) and China has taken this opportunity to call for "a diversified currency and financial system and fair and just financial order that is not dependent on the United States." Meanwhile, there is increasing international indications that the dollar will lose its place as the reserve currency of the world.
The politicians from both political parties continue to lie to us. They promise us better healthcare and more government programs. The only thing either party will be able to deliver is higher, much higher, taxes as the debt swells and government revenues fall. The same politicians remain silent, while capitalism, which brought us the highest standard of living in the world, is increasingly attacked and discredited by its enemies.
But it's not capitalism which has been discredited by our current crisis, it's greed that has been shown to be at the root of our present economic uncertainty, and greed is unfortunately a universal human trait and has demonstrated its reach in socialism, fascism, communism and capitalism. The greed of Wall Street is nothing compared to the greed of our politicians who have continued to expand their power and influence at the expense of their country.
Our children and grandchildren will ultimately pay the price for their failure to act prudently and in the best interest of our country because they will be the ones saddled with mountains of debt and diminished standard of living.
I hope that this summary gives you a better idea of how the people who caused this fire are the same ones who are now telling us that they know best how to put it out and a reason not to believe their current promises.
We have faced tough times before. We fought the Nazis in World War II, defeated communism in the Cold War and Americans fought each other to keep our country together in our own Civil War. These tough times require us to educate ourselves and help others understand what has brought us to this point and the grave consequences of what will happen if we let this continue-that is our fight.
In my next email letter I will answer the other question you asked, "what's coming?"
Sis, I know you will always consider me your crazy brother but please pass this message on to all of your friends. There are too many rumors circulating and I want to put the facts out there. This isn't about slamming the Democrats or Republicans--this is about getting the truth out to as many people as possible. The more people we can wake-up the more people we will have restoring the hope, promise and opportunity of our great country. Please pass this on.
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