There is one thing that "almost" everyone I talk to can agree upon. Whether republican or democrat it seems we have all come to the conclusion that we can't continue to run budget deficits forever.
If you read this and the first thing you want to do is begin blaming one party or the other, don't bother. WE are all to blame.
We can not continue the path we are on. We must either decide to make very deep cuts to social service programs, or raise taxes significantly on EVERYONE. Not just the very rich. Just taxing the rich more wouldn't be enough.
Every dollar taken in in taxes in a year is consumed to pay for Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security alone. That leaves every other program and service including DOT, DOD, Treasury, and countless other programs to be funded by loans.
With recent reports of 45 percent of households having at least one member receiving aid from government and nearly half of all people paying zero dollars in taxes, I'm afraid there is no cutting of the programs. At least not without riots in the streets.
All this leaves us in a position where taxes will need to go up dramatically in order to pay our every expanding debts. This could include a VAT tax on top of income taxes, high taxes on corporations (which would likely be very detrimental to business), higher personal income taxes across the board or maybe even all of the above.
How would you solve the problem. Cut programs, raise taxes or a combination of the two.
Just a hint for those of you who would blame Iraq/Afghanistan war operations for the deficit, fine, but realize that ALL the money spent on all the war operations in the last 9 years is still 300 billion less than the budget deficit this year alone. So, you can say we need to stop the wars, and that would be a good start. However, one year's worth of war costs is less than 9 percent of the deficit. We've got a long way to go. It's time to make a choice.
Showing posts with label welfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label welfare. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Limiting Pay
What would happen if we limit the pay of top executives working for private companies? Why do we want to limit it? If you do limit their pay, Where does it go?
I'll start with why. Why do we want to limit pay? Simple. Anger and jealousy. The masses are angry that wall street executives made loans they new were not wise, made millions of dollars doing so, and then were bailed out by our tax dollars when things went south. The anger is righteous. The solution would have been to let them fail. We are jealous because we see the lifestyles they lead, and believe falsely that if those executives had less the rest of us would have more.
Where would that money go? These are privately owned companies. If the money doesn't go to the executive it would stay in the coffers of the company to be used for various other endeavors like building new offices, expanding services, or perhaps just stay on the books as profit in cash. BUT.... would that really be okay. I mean isn't the point here that these companies are making too much money at the expense of consumers. So, instead a windfall profit tax would be in order. Therefore instead of expanding their business and HIRING more employees, they will shelter it in foreign investments, or have it taken by the government to be given to others.
The myth here is that there is a limited amount of money in the economic pie. Each dollar I have in my pocket is a dollar not available for anyone else. This is only a myth. In reality profits grow the economy and make more jobs available. Deficits shrink the economy and make less jobs available.
It isn't difficult to see what will happen. You can't redistribute money to make all people equally wealthy. You can only redistribute money to make all people equally poor. Understand that if you took ALL the profits from Exxon Mobile at the peak of their profit, each tax payer could get 1 tank of gasoline. Whoopie.
I'll start with why. Why do we want to limit pay? Simple. Anger and jealousy. The masses are angry that wall street executives made loans they new were not wise, made millions of dollars doing so, and then were bailed out by our tax dollars when things went south. The anger is righteous. The solution would have been to let them fail. We are jealous because we see the lifestyles they lead, and believe falsely that if those executives had less the rest of us would have more.
Where would that money go? These are privately owned companies. If the money doesn't go to the executive it would stay in the coffers of the company to be used for various other endeavors like building new offices, expanding services, or perhaps just stay on the books as profit in cash. BUT.... would that really be okay. I mean isn't the point here that these companies are making too much money at the expense of consumers. So, instead a windfall profit tax would be in order. Therefore instead of expanding their business and HIRING more employees, they will shelter it in foreign investments, or have it taken by the government to be given to others.
The myth here is that there is a limited amount of money in the economic pie. Each dollar I have in my pocket is a dollar not available for anyone else. This is only a myth. In reality profits grow the economy and make more jobs available. Deficits shrink the economy and make less jobs available.
It isn't difficult to see what will happen. You can't redistribute money to make all people equally wealthy. You can only redistribute money to make all people equally poor. Understand that if you took ALL the profits from Exxon Mobile at the peak of their profit, each tax payer could get 1 tank of gasoline. Whoopie.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
If I had Voted for Barack Obama
I can only assume people voted for Barack Obama because they agree with his policy statements. So, if I had voted for President Obama, would I be happy with his performance to this point?
Obama Policy: Pull out the troops from Iraq. Keep them in Afghanistan.
Result: Well, I'm not exactly happy. Obama kept the EXACT time table set forth by Bush. But what else could he do. The war in Iraq was all but over, and the pull out would have been very difficult to have pulled off any sooner. There is now a major thrust in Afghanistan. Just where President Obama said we should be.
Obama Policy: Ensure every American has health care insurance.
Result: He is certainly pushing for it. I'm happy that possibly by next year I will no longer pay for health care what so ever.
Obama Policy: Improve diplomatic relations through talk as opposed to force.
Result: This is certainly what he is trying to do, thought it seems he is alienating some of our closest allies (the Brits, Israel) in an effort to be nice to Iran, Venezuela and others. This is what he said he would do. I'd like it if he could do this without upsetting our long time friends.
Obama Policy: Force "green energy on the public.
Result: While there have been some rumblings about this on a large scale cap and trade doesn't seem to be close to a reality yet. There are vouchers to buy greener cars. That is a step in the right direction. I'd still like to see Obama push to rid the world of coal fire power plants.
Obama Policy: Set up a system that rids us of the old model of "bubble and burst".
Result: Giving money to those troubled companies, and setting up government programs to ensure they are run properly in the future. Using tools like, pay czar, car czar x2. Economy seems to be getting better. Credit goes to Obama.
I guess if I'm an Obama supporter I have to be happy with his performance. I would have to say that as far as campaign promises go, Obama seems to be more serious about keeping them than most presidents. Or perhaps he just has the majorities to get it done.
Obama Policy: Pull out the troops from Iraq. Keep them in Afghanistan.
Result: Well, I'm not exactly happy. Obama kept the EXACT time table set forth by Bush. But what else could he do. The war in Iraq was all but over, and the pull out would have been very difficult to have pulled off any sooner. There is now a major thrust in Afghanistan. Just where President Obama said we should be.
Obama Policy: Ensure every American has health care insurance.
Result: He is certainly pushing for it. I'm happy that possibly by next year I will no longer pay for health care what so ever.
Obama Policy: Improve diplomatic relations through talk as opposed to force.
Result: This is certainly what he is trying to do, thought it seems he is alienating some of our closest allies (the Brits, Israel) in an effort to be nice to Iran, Venezuela and others. This is what he said he would do. I'd like it if he could do this without upsetting our long time friends.
Obama Policy: Force "green energy on the public.
Result: While there have been some rumblings about this on a large scale cap and trade doesn't seem to be close to a reality yet. There are vouchers to buy greener cars. That is a step in the right direction. I'd still like to see Obama push to rid the world of coal fire power plants.
Obama Policy: Set up a system that rids us of the old model of "bubble and burst".
Result: Giving money to those troubled companies, and setting up government programs to ensure they are run properly in the future. Using tools like, pay czar, car czar x2. Economy seems to be getting better. Credit goes to Obama.
I guess if I'm an Obama supporter I have to be happy with his performance. I would have to say that as far as campaign promises go, Obama seems to be more serious about keeping them than most presidents. Or perhaps he just has the majorities to get it done.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
I'm No Economist, But I Can Do Math
I'm going to warn you at the outset. There are a lot of numbers in this post, but I'm going to try to keep this simple. When I first heard about Obama's plan to give a tax cut to 95 percent of Americans and raise taxes to "fair" levels on everyone else I couldn't see how the numbers would pan out. So here they are. I have taken these numbers from the United States Census, National Taxpayers Union Foundation, and the Federal Government. I'll state at the outset that these are numbers from 2006 and will admittedly be a little off from 2008, but they are the most recent available when all needed information is considered. Please read this post as it is important to Barack Obama's plan for your taxes, health care, and the economic future of our country.
2006 Revenue $1,397,800,000,000 just from income tax.
Total Income is $2,407,000,000,000
2006 Expenditures $2,655,400,000,000
Top 1% AGI is $389,000 and pays 40% of all taxes.
Top 5% AGI is $153,000 and pays 60% of all taxes.
Bottom 50% make less than $32,000 and pay less than 3%
2006 population estimate 298,754,819..... 25% under 18
So let me break this down for you. There are 224,066,114 adults in the United States. 1% of that is 2,240,661 people. That means the average person in the top 1 percent pays roughly $250,000 in taxes. Remember the top 1 percent starts at only $389,000. Seems a bit extreme doesn't it. That leaves just $139,000 for raising their kids, paying their student loans and maybe even creating more jobs for other Americans. And that doesn't even include state and local taxes.
What about the top 5 percent who start at only $153,000 per year. Excluding those in the top 1 percent who have already been tallied; The average person in this category pays $31,191
How high do you want to raise taxes on the top 5 percent, so that we can give a tax cut to everyone else. Remember roughly half of all Americans pay virtually NO income taxes to the federal government. If you were to raise taxes an additional 10% on the top 5% of wage earners it would raise an additional $83,868,000,000 that is a heap of money. No question about it. But how much is that for the 95% of Americans who will get that money. That is right after raising taxes another 10 percent on those who create jobs we could cut a check to everyone else for a cool $394.
Remember Obama has also promised to provide you with health care and a slew of other spending programs that would either increase our indebtedness or come out of your 394 dollar check.
You could elect Barack Obama. You could get the check. But is it worth the damage it would do to our economy.
These are the facts. I didn't make them up. I did the math.
2006 Revenue $1,397,800,000,000 just from income tax.
Total Income is $2,407,000,000,000
2006 Expenditures $2,655,400,000,000
Top 1% AGI is $389,000 and pays 40% of all taxes.
Top 5% AGI is $153,000 and pays 60% of all taxes.
Bottom 50% make less than $32,000 and pay less than 3%
2006 population estimate 298,754,819..... 25% under 18
So let me break this down for you. There are 224,066,114 adults in the United States. 1% of that is 2,240,661 people. That means the average person in the top 1 percent pays roughly $250,000 in taxes. Remember the top 1 percent starts at only $389,000. Seems a bit extreme doesn't it. That leaves just $139,000 for raising their kids, paying their student loans and maybe even creating more jobs for other Americans. And that doesn't even include state and local taxes.
What about the top 5 percent who start at only $153,000 per year. Excluding those in the top 1 percent who have already been tallied; The average person in this category pays $31,191
How high do you want to raise taxes on the top 5 percent, so that we can give a tax cut to everyone else. Remember roughly half of all Americans pay virtually NO income taxes to the federal government. If you were to raise taxes an additional 10% on the top 5% of wage earners it would raise an additional $83,868,000,000 that is a heap of money. No question about it. But how much is that for the 95% of Americans who will get that money. That is right after raising taxes another 10 percent on those who create jobs we could cut a check to everyone else for a cool $394.
Remember Obama has also promised to provide you with health care and a slew of other spending programs that would either increase our indebtedness or come out of your 394 dollar check.
You could elect Barack Obama. You could get the check. But is it worth the damage it would do to our economy.
These are the facts. I didn't make them up. I did the math.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Where I'm coming From
While working in Missouri a woman strolled through the doors carrying a baby and pushing a stroller at the same time. This is a feat. Much respect for moms all across the country toting with them their youngsters. I had known both this woman and her husband for some time now. They were excellent customers. On most occasions they were a cheerful lot bringing joy to those around them. Such was not the case during this incident, which was about to get ugly. She wanted my opinion.
She was wagging her finger in the her husbands face saying her paycheck was getting cut because of him. Let me explain. This couple, though pleasant and fun to be with, had been on the public dole from the time they moved out on their own, about 5 years at this point. The mother had taken a test when she was in middle school and had been identified as learning disabled. An apparent disability that I was unable to see from my vantage point, and it certainly hadn't hampered her ability to mother two children. So, at this point in addition to her "disability" she received food stamps, housing assistance, wic, and a host of other financial incentives. I had been to their home. They had two cars, sat elite tv, a flat screen bigger than my twenty inch and of course 3 video game systems to pass the time not spent working.
Here is where the trouble began. A few days prior I had encouraged the husband to get a job at a local car dealership, a position he took and loved. This simple act however cut her "paycheck" as she called it, in half. Now I was in the middle of a marital war. She demanded he quit, He demanded she get off her lazy but and get a job. I was in a pickle.
She was wagging her finger in the her husbands face saying her paycheck was getting cut because of him. Let me explain. This couple, though pleasant and fun to be with, had been on the public dole from the time they moved out on their own, about 5 years at this point. The mother had taken a test when she was in middle school and had been identified as learning disabled. An apparent disability that I was unable to see from my vantage point, and it certainly hadn't hampered her ability to mother two children. So, at this point in addition to her "disability" she received food stamps, housing assistance, wic, and a host of other financial incentives. I had been to their home. They had two cars, sat elite tv, a flat screen bigger than my twenty inch and of course 3 video game systems to pass the time not spent working.
Here is where the trouble began. A few days prior I had encouraged the husband to get a job at a local car dealership, a position he took and loved. This simple act however cut her "paycheck" as she called it, in half. Now I was in the middle of a marital war. She demanded he quit, He demanded she get off her lazy but and get a job. I was in a pickle.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Poor in America
What does it mean to be poor in America? Hungry? Overworked? Thirsty? Cold? No, No, No and No. Here is a picture of the average poor person in America.
The typical American deemed poor in the United States has a car, air conditioning, refrigerator, stove, clothes washer and dryer, microwave, 2 televisions, cable or satellite, DVD player, and a stereo. He has access to medical care, his home is in good repair, and doesn't have to live with a house full of people. Don't believe me. This is compiled from information submitted by the "poor" who indicated as such to the census bureau and compiled by the Heritage Foundation.
Here are more results...
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
24 percent of poor households have a cell phone.
I have been saying for some time now that poor people are given too much by the federal government. They live too well to receive public assistance. Up until this point though, my evidence has only been anecdotes from my personal experience. A weak argument at best. So, in response I would always hear, "Sure you will get a few people who take advantage of the system, but it's worth it to help the masses."
As it turns out however I was right all along. Abuse of the system is not the exception to the rule. It is the rule. This is why when poor families receive their earned income credit, which they have not earned, they are able to spend it on a brand new 4-wheeler. Living on the government dole should be painful. It should be a very miserable existence. No cable, no cars, and no cell phones. There must be some incentive to work your way out of poverty.
You can't work your way out of poverty Jay. Really?
The average American poor family with children works only 800 hours a year. In case you don't want to do the math that is about 16 hours a week. Most of us do that in 2 days or less. If those same families were to have just one wage earner working 40 hours a week 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of the poverty range.
Coming soon. My solution to poverty and the welfare state.
The typical American deemed poor in the United States has a car, air conditioning, refrigerator, stove, clothes washer and dryer, microwave, 2 televisions, cable or satellite, DVD player, and a stereo. He has access to medical care, his home is in good repair, and doesn't have to live with a house full of people. Don't believe me. This is compiled from information submitted by the "poor" who indicated as such to the census bureau and compiled by the Heritage Foundation.
Here are more results...
Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
24 percent of poor households have a cell phone.
I have been saying for some time now that poor people are given too much by the federal government. They live too well to receive public assistance. Up until this point though, my evidence has only been anecdotes from my personal experience. A weak argument at best. So, in response I would always hear, "Sure you will get a few people who take advantage of the system, but it's worth it to help the masses."
As it turns out however I was right all along. Abuse of the system is not the exception to the rule. It is the rule. This is why when poor families receive their earned income credit, which they have not earned, they are able to spend it on a brand new 4-wheeler. Living on the government dole should be painful. It should be a very miserable existence. No cable, no cars, and no cell phones. There must be some incentive to work your way out of poverty.
You can't work your way out of poverty Jay. Really?
The average American poor family with children works only 800 hours a year. In case you don't want to do the math that is about 16 hours a week. Most of us do that in 2 days or less. If those same families were to have just one wage earner working 40 hours a week 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of the poverty range.
Coming soon. My solution to poverty and the welfare state.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
How Whites Get Everything
This is the secret white people don't want blacks to know. When we are born after a dna test to confirm there is no black dna that has crept into our bloodline we are bestowed a manual. This is a handbook designed to show you how to get the advantage over other races in all situations. Unfortunately there is no section in this book regarding how to dance, dunk a basketball or sing the blues. Apparently those are sections our white ancestors failed to master.
In reality I've been reading lately in a few blogs about "white privilege". In the name of full discloser, I am a white guy of Scottish ancestry. That doesn't mean I wear a kilt and play bagpipes in the same way a black person doesn't automatically eat watermelon.
Here are my thoughts on the subject of white privilege. I didn't ask to be born white. I'm not going to feel guilty about something that I can't control. I think there is some modicum of racism left in America. It is not what it used to be. It is getting better with each passing generation.
Part of the definition of "white privilege" describes this as an advantage not shared by all. A person who didn't grow as tall also shares a disadvantage they can't control. Normal sized models have a disadvantage. Bald actors share a disadvantage when it comes to getting leading roles in major motion pictures. I am not saying that these are all equal but they have the same premise. A person with a disadvantage being discriminated against by the general population.
Here is what I want those complaining about race to understand. You are not helping your cause when you group white people into a category that is deemed "racist". Not all whites are racist. In fact most are not. Not all whites are rich. Many of us don't have much money at all and live paycheck to paycheck. So when we hear that whites are granted jobs/money, we wonder why we were left out. Am I not white enough? Many of us had our own handicaps that caused discrimination. Perhaps the discrimination you encounter is worse.
I don't know of a law that can be changed that would make things more equal. In the letter of the law things are equal, even if not in its enforcement. When it comes to the masses there may still be prejudice lurking within. That is easing with the passing of time as whites and black spend more time with one another and with the Asian and Hispanic. That is what the United States is all about. The melting pot. What is black is American. What is Scottish is American. What is Mexican is American. America takes what is great from all of us and makes it her own. We are all Americans and we are in this together. Life is hard enough with out seeing the hyphenated race.
So from one white guy. Will you please stop calling me racist? If you have a problem with an individual, even me, call him by name. You might be surprised how many white people join along side you.
In reality I've been reading lately in a few blogs about "white privilege". In the name of full discloser, I am a white guy of Scottish ancestry. That doesn't mean I wear a kilt and play bagpipes in the same way a black person doesn't automatically eat watermelon.
Here are my thoughts on the subject of white privilege. I didn't ask to be born white. I'm not going to feel guilty about something that I can't control. I think there is some modicum of racism left in America. It is not what it used to be. It is getting better with each passing generation.
Part of the definition of "white privilege" describes this as an advantage not shared by all. A person who didn't grow as tall also shares a disadvantage they can't control. Normal sized models have a disadvantage. Bald actors share a disadvantage when it comes to getting leading roles in major motion pictures. I am not saying that these are all equal but they have the same premise. A person with a disadvantage being discriminated against by the general population.
Here is what I want those complaining about race to understand. You are not helping your cause when you group white people into a category that is deemed "racist". Not all whites are racist. In fact most are not. Not all whites are rich. Many of us don't have much money at all and live paycheck to paycheck. So when we hear that whites are granted jobs/money, we wonder why we were left out. Am I not white enough? Many of us had our own handicaps that caused discrimination. Perhaps the discrimination you encounter is worse.
I don't know of a law that can be changed that would make things more equal. In the letter of the law things are equal, even if not in its enforcement. When it comes to the masses there may still be prejudice lurking within. That is easing with the passing of time as whites and black spend more time with one another and with the Asian and Hispanic. That is what the United States is all about. The melting pot. What is black is American. What is Scottish is American. What is Mexican is American. America takes what is great from all of us and makes it her own. We are all Americans and we are in this together. Life is hard enough with out seeing the hyphenated race.
So from one white guy. Will you please stop calling me racist? If you have a problem with an individual, even me, call him by name. You might be surprised how many white people join along side you.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Democrat?
The other day I was sitting at the bar of a well known chain restaurant waiting for my take out food. The place was quite packed for a Monday evening. As I sat sipping on a pepsi the conversation around the bar turned from casual sports chit chat to politics. I promise I was not the instigator of this conversation. It was a matronly woman sitting one over to my right. I believe with the exception of the bartender she was the only woman in our little section of the restaurant.
The first statement had to do with the recent visit from Barak Obama to a local high school then to an Indian Reservation. The woman glowed as she spoke about how he dripped with charisma. I thought for sure I was in the presence of an Obamamaniac. However, she followed this up by saying, "of course I'll be voting for Hillary in the primary". This is when her husband got up and left.
Those of you who know much about me understand that holding my tongue is only rarely a quality which I espouse. This was not one of those occassions. As I proceeded to grill this woman about what she believed, why she believed it, and why she was voting democrat, this is what I learned.
She's voting for Hillary because:
She is tired of the government handouts.
She believes in the swift enforcement of the death penalty.
She doesn't belive in abortion.
She believes gun rights should be protected.
Wants lower taxes.
Wants to secure the border.
Wants to end the war.
Wants free healthcare.
She has never voted republican. Hates George W. Bush. I wonder how many other democrats don't know what their party really believes.
The first statement had to do with the recent visit from Barak Obama to a local high school then to an Indian Reservation. The woman glowed as she spoke about how he dripped with charisma. I thought for sure I was in the presence of an Obamamaniac. However, she followed this up by saying, "of course I'll be voting for Hillary in the primary". This is when her husband got up and left.
Those of you who know much about me understand that holding my tongue is only rarely a quality which I espouse. This was not one of those occassions. As I proceeded to grill this woman about what she believed, why she believed it, and why she was voting democrat, this is what I learned.
She's voting for Hillary because:
She is tired of the government handouts.
She believes in the swift enforcement of the death penalty.
She doesn't belive in abortion.
She believes gun rights should be protected.
Wants lower taxes.
Wants to secure the border.
Wants to end the war.
Wants free healthcare.
She has never voted republican. Hates George W. Bush. I wonder how many other democrats don't know what their party really believes.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Scope We Do Not Understand
In the United States of America we were devastated on 9-11 when the world trade center buildings were struck by terrorists and came crashing to the ground ending the lives of around 3 thousand people. This was one of the most horrific scenes we had ever seen, and one of the most deadly on our soil ever. Then came hurricane Katrina and we lost another 1500 or so in Louisanna and Mississippi. Thousands more were displaced from their homes. A disaster, yes.
However, In other countries when natural or man-made disasters occur the death toll often rises much higher, much faster. In China right now 15,000 have been confirmed dead following a massive earthquake. Another 40,000 are buried under the rubble. Many of those are likely to be confirmed dead in the days following.
In Burma the International Red Cross is estimating a death toll between 68 and 127 thousand. What!? To put that into perspective for you that is more than 42 times the death toll of the attacks on 9-11.
What causes the death toll to rise so dramatically. I can pinpoint a couple factors. First is the concentration of population. With more people in the area you are no doubt going to have a higher casualty rate.
Second is wealth. In very poor areas you don't have warning systems on television and radio blaring instructions for you to take cover. If you did you wouldn't have a basement in which to take cover. You can forget about evacuation because there are so few roads in and out of these places, and the number of individuals owning vehicles is very slim. When it comes time for rescue efforts, there are fewer helicopters, boats, generators for light, equipment.. etc to enhance the ability of the volunteers, military or other rescue staff.
In this country we simply do not understand magnatude of these disasters. You can say what you will about how our government mismanaged the response to Katrina, however 90 percent of those in the area were evacuated. Something not possible in other countries. There was warning of the impending threat on television and radio. Something not available in many countries.
Were there mistakes, sure. Should "Brownie" have lost his job, not for me to decide. I can say however, that had this been another country many more would likely have lost their lives. For that I am thankful.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Church is Failing...
Of late I have been writing much about our rights as Americans. A big part of that has been my belief that you do not have the "right" to anything that costs me money. Examples of this include healthcare, food, housing, an automobile, etc...
While I do not believe the government has a place in these issues the church certainly does. As a Christian you are commanded to look after the orphans and widows. You are commanded to look after the poor and disabled. You are to have compassion on those who are ill. That compassion should then translate into action.
If you are not a Christian this does not apply to you. If you are a Christian, this next piece is absolutely directed at you. Do not ask for state programs aiding the elderly, the poor, the orphaned to end unless you are willing to pick up the slack.
That doesn't mean you indiscriminatly throw money at the problem the way the government has in the past, but it does mean that you will be required as a Christian to follow the commands set forth to care for those less fortunate.
I would even be willing to concede that the government has stepped in to these social welfare issues due to the failings of the local church.
My final thought. If you are a Christian, Don't complain about these programs unless your are willing to step in to fill the gap for those truely in need in your community.
While I do not believe the government has a place in these issues the church certainly does. As a Christian you are commanded to look after the orphans and widows. You are commanded to look after the poor and disabled. You are to have compassion on those who are ill. That compassion should then translate into action.
If you are not a Christian this does not apply to you. If you are a Christian, this next piece is absolutely directed at you. Do not ask for state programs aiding the elderly, the poor, the orphaned to end unless you are willing to pick up the slack.
That doesn't mean you indiscriminatly throw money at the problem the way the government has in the past, but it does mean that you will be required as a Christian to follow the commands set forth to care for those less fortunate.
I would even be willing to concede that the government has stepped in to these social welfare issues due to the failings of the local church.
My final thought. If you are a Christian, Don't complain about these programs unless your are willing to step in to fill the gap for those truely in need in your community.
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