Welare Accountability Shouldn't be Taboo

I’m sick and tired of Conservatives being demonized in the media when it comes to the discussion of government spending at every level of the bureaucracy but particularly on entitlements.

I consider myself a compassionate human being that believes in helping others having spent 15 years in a community service organization (U.S. Jaycees) raising money for all sorts of charities. In a 5 year period I chaired projects that help raise $23,000 the Wyoming Multiple Sclerosis Society and $4,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Association. I've assisted with other projects that raised money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House, and a specialized care facility that cares for children dying of aids. This doesn't include some of the local charities I've been involved with like Toys for Tots, Christmas Shopping Sprees, Thanksgiving Food Baskets, and Hunter Safety for kids.

So please don't generalize and put me and others like me in some box where we don't belong, I'm not some heartless human being that doesn't care about the social problems others are facing but it must start with a righteous and earnest need.  

If you are between the ages of 18 and 63 and are of sound mental and physical health you should be able to provide for yourself. As a taxpayer giving almost 50% of what I earn to the government I should have the right to question where and how that money is being spent.

Helping the truly needy, children and senior citizens is something we must do as a civilized society. Writing blank checks and laying out a red carpet for people who could and should be doing it on their own is a totally different matter. That's where situation has become horribly unbalanced. Our free society cannot and will not survive this kind of non-accountability.

What Barry Goldwater said 40 years ago is coming to fruition today, “The effect of Welfare on freedom will be felt later on - after its beneficiaries becomes it victims, after dependence on government has turned into bondage and it is too late to unlock the jail.”

Everyone needs help now and then, people make mistakes and need temporary or long term assistance but we can't keep rewarding people who could be contributing something to their own welfare.

This goes for corporate welfare and government subsidized business as well. It should not be the governments or the taxpayer’s job to subsidize any individual or business. Higher education is one of investments we should subsidize but only if the receiver of said money understands that it is a loan and that like all loans it comes with accountability and payback.

Long before the great Welfare State created by FDR and liberal Democrats in the 30’s families had the individual responsibility to take care of their own children and their aged parents. If they needed help Churches, private and public civic organizations helped them as well. This is what we should return to. Not a giant bloated federal bureaucracy that is wasting billions taking it from the producers and giving to the non-producers who have no stake or consequences attached to it.

Yes, we should help children under 18 with health care and education if certain conditions are met. Yes, we most certainly must take care of the people who are seniors and need assistance. Yes, we need to help people who are physically and mentally handicapped. I can't believe any "reasonable" person no matter what their political views would disagree with this kind of taxpayer assistance.

However, we're all fooling ourselves if we believe they are no more sacred cows and that we can keep borrowing, spending and printing money forever. Every single federal agency is wasting billions. It’s beyond our small minds to comprehend the mammoth waste and we must force DC to start taking some personal and financial responsibility and accountability. This includes welfare or entitlements whatever term you choose to use.

“Our whole way of life today is dedicated to the removal of risk. Cradle to grave we are supported, insulated, and isolated from the risks of life and if we fail, our government stands ready with band-aids of every size.” Shirley Temple Black

Llewellyn Rockwell once said, “The laws of economics tell us that the expansion of the central state can't go on forever. Its limit is reached when the looted turn on the looters.”

The longer we’re in denial about the spending and debt problem and the longer nothing is done to reverse course, the worst the social and economic consequences are going to be for everyone. We're pawning this off on our children and grandchildren and one day soon if nothing changes we're headed for a complete financial collapse and they'll be the ones trying to pick up the pieces.

The Demonization of Conservatives

I’m sick and tired of Conservatives being demonized in the media. I consider myself a compassionate "Fiscal Conservative" who believes in helping others. I spent 15 years in a community service organization raising money for all sorts of charities. In a 5 year period I chaired projects that help raise $23,000 for people afflicted with MS. In a 5 year period back in the 80's I chaired projects that raised close to $4,000 for MDA. I've assisted with other projects that raised money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House, and a specialized care facility that cares for children dying of aids. This doesn't include some of the local charities I've been involved with which is another long list, like Toys for Tots, Thanksgiving Food Baskets among many others.

I give you this abbreviated list not to toot my own horn but to prove that I've put my time and effort into helping others and been a person of action.

So please don't generalize and put me and others like me in some box where we don't belong, I'm not some heartless human being that doesn't care about others when there is a sincere and earnest need.

All that said I'm as hardcore a Fiscal Conservative as you can get. I can tell you what is not an "unreasonable" thing to expect of our citizens and our government, it’s a very simple concept.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 63 and are of sound mental and physical health you should be able to provide for yourself. As a taxpayer giving almost 50% of what I earn to the government I should have the right to question where and how that money is being spent.

Helping the truly needy, children and senior citizens is something we must do as a civilized society. Laying out a red carpet for people who could and should be doing it for themselves is a totally different matter. That's where things have become horribly unbalanced. We cannot and will not survive this kind of non-accountability. Everyone needs help now and then I understand that. People make mistakes and need assistance but we can't keep rewarding people who could be contributing something to their own welfare. Writing blank checks to this group can't go on.

This goes for corporate welfare and government subsidized business as well. It should not be the governments or the taxpayer’s job to subsidize any individual or business. Higher education is one of investments we should subsidize but only if the receiver of said money understands that it is a loan and that like all loans it comes with accountability and payback.

Long before the modern welfare system families had the individual responsibility to take care of their own children and their aged parents. If they needed help Churches, private and public civic organizations helped them as well. This is what we should return to. Not a giant bloated federal bureaucracy that is wasting billions taking it from the producers and giving to the takers who have no stake or consequences attached to it.

Yes, we should help children under 18 with health care if certain conditions are met. Yes, we most certainly must take care of the people who are seniors and need assistance. Yes, we need to help people who are physically and mentally handicapped. I can't believe any "reasonable" person no matter what their political views are would disagree with this kind of taxpayer assistance.

However, we're all fooling ourselves if we believe they are no more sacred cows and that we can keep borrowing and printing money forever. Every single federal agency is wasting billions. It’s beyond our small minds to comprehend the mammoth waste and they must start taking some personal and financial responsibility and accountability.

This includes welfare or entitlements whatever term you choose to us.

The longer we’re in denial about the spending and debt problem and the longer nothing is done to correct it the worst the consequences are going to be for everyone. We're pawning this off on our children and grandchildren and one day soon if nothing changes we're headed for a complete financial collapse and they'll be the ones trying to pick up the pieces.

Multiculturalism: American Suicide

Richard Lamm on Multiculturalism

We know Richard Lamm as the former Democratic Governor of Colorado from 1975-1987. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. In 2004 there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of American's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Davis Hansen talked about his latest book, Mexifornia, explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.

Richard Lamm

Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.'"

"Here is how they do it," Lamm said:

"First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country." History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: 'The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy.' Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans."

Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

Third, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: 'The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.' Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."

"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high. school."

"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."

"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. E. Pluribus Unum -- From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus'. Instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."

"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."

In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said, "Lastly, I would censor Victor Davis Hanson's book, Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."

There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book, 1984. In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that the future of our great nation is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped quickly, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.

The Welfare State

We ask that the government undertake the obligation above all of providing citizens with adequate opportunity for employment and earning a living. The activities of the individual must not be allowed to clash with the interests of the community, but must take place within its confines and be for the good of all. Therefore, we demand: an end to the power of the financial interests. We demand profit sharing in big business. We demand a broad extension of care for the aged.

We demand the greatest possible consideration of small business in the purchases of national, state, and municipal governments. In order to make possible to every capable and industrious [citizen] the attainment of higher education and thus the achievement of a post of leadership, the government must provide an all-around enlargement of our entire system of public education. We demand the education at government expense of gifted children of poor parents.

The government must undertake the improvement of public health - by protecting mother and child, by prohibiting child labor by the greatest possible support for all clubs concerned with the physical education of youth. We combat the materialistic spirit within and without us, and are convinced that a permanent recovery of our people can only proceed from within on the foundation of the common good before the individual good.

From the political program of the Nazi Party, adopted in Munich, on February 24, 1920, quoted in Die Nationalsozialistische Dokumente 1933-1945, edited by Walther Hofer, Frankfurt am Mein: Fischer Bucherei, 1957, pp.