Government

Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution

February 15, 2012 By carltown Leave a Comment

Summary: There has been a progressive erosion of our Constitution by government leaders in all branches of our government. Hillsdale College is beginning a 10 week online course Constitution 101 The Meaning and History of the Constitution as a step in helping serious students learn how to restore what our early founders lived and died to give us. The college offering this course is a liberal arts college in the Midwest famous for its stand against government interference with its programs,its strong Christian values and teachings. By its refusal to take any government funding in any form, this college can maintain its total freedom from any government influence.

“I would not look to the U.S. Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. “
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice, in an interview on Egyptian al-Hayat television

This is a judge that has sworn to uphold our constitution and has repeatedly failed to do that.
Massive failure is also there with the Executive and Legislative branches of the government.
Now on to this course on the Constitution:

Title: Constitution: The Meaning and History of the Constitution
Fee: Free, but with suggested donation of $50 a person
Structure: Ten 40 minute lectures, uploaded to the internet each Monday noon (see their Web site for more info)
Starting: February 20, 2012 with lectures remaining posted and online – listen any time after class date.

Outline:

Pre-Course Introductory Materials

The American Mind
Larry P. Arnn
Monday, February 20

The Declaration of Independence
Thomas G. West
Monday, February 27

The Problem of Majority Tyranny
David Bobb
Monday, March 5

Separation of Powers: Preventing Tyranny
Kevin Portteus
Monday, March 12

Separation of Powers: Ensuring Good Government
Will Morrisey
Monday, March 19

Religion, Morality, and Property
David Bobb
Monday, March 26

Crisis of Constitutional Government
Will Morrisey
Monday, April 2

Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution
Kevin Portteus
Monday, April 9

The Progressive Rejection of the Founding
Ronald J. Pestritto
Monday, April 16

The Recovery of the Constitution
Larry P. Arnn
Monday, April 23

For more information and registration, go to: http://www.constitution.hillsdale.edu. Have patience when registering. There are already over 187,000 registered participants and the site is slow.

PS – If you are really a glutton for their good stuff, go to the main college site at hillsdale.edu and go to the online library. There you will find speeches given at the college by the men and women who have led America. You will see names like Powell, Reagan, and much more. A real treasure!

Filed Under: America, constitution, freedom, Government, Uncategorized

Who are a Group of Christian Conservative Organizations Endorsing?

January 17, 2012 By carltown Leave a Comment

Last weekend a group of 150 leaders from Christian conservative organizations met in Texas. The goal was to try to come together to endores a single candidate for the Republican nomination. Who they they endorse?
See: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2012/01/does_a_group_of.html

Filed Under: America, Government, politics

Suzanne Bonamicis or Rob Cornilles?

January 15, 2012 By carltown Leave a Comment

On the local political scene, I was mad at the Democrats last November for cloaking the information about Wu and for The Oregonian for failing to identify Wu’s problems to the voters. Now the Democrats with Bonamici want to spend, spend, spend – even raising my taxes to do it. I know people want to keep Portland weird, but it seems more like the voters are sick, not weird, if they go that way. Now she’s attacking Cornilles, as she lacks any serious and workable vision. I’ve met Cornilles and his wife as was very impressed with his vision. He’s taken kids that were pretty messed up and trained them for successful work and values, then released them to real jobs. He has strong family values.

The nest question is – how long could Cornilles stay there if elected? I am pretty much ready to send everyone home at the national level (except Gabby). Cornilles would have to stand up to stop the reckless spending, speak into the corruption naming names, and hold the next President accountable. As a freshman there, can he do that? I know Bonamici can’t do it.

For the inside scoop on Suzanne Bonamici, see: http://oregoncatalyst.com/14166-suzanne-bonamicis-role-conspiracy-silence-protect-david-wu.html

I don’t agree with Cornilles on a lot of issues, but the Bonamici is not the answer.

It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.

John Adams

Not only do the liberals endorse immoral values, they are cramming one socialistic policy after another down the throat of the majority.
Russ Newman

Filed Under: Government, politics, Portland

Essential Changes Needed in Washington – Part 1

November 16, 2011 By carltown Leave a Comment

Congress has an approval rating of 9% as I write this. For the latest number, see:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance

The same Rasmussenreports at this time shows 53% totally disapprove of how the President is handing his job and only 47% approve.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Disaster. Time to send all of them home even before the next election.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are running on a 170 billion subsidy of your tax dollars, and they then turned around and paid out 12 million of that to their executives as bonuses. Who is holding these people accountable for spending my money? (This is from Fox News, but the numbers vary depending on whether you are reading O’Reilly or other speakers, but they are all about the same.)

Solyndra got a government loan of over $500 million (that’s over half a billion) from the taxpayers and quickly went bankrupt. As we got closer to the November, 2010 election, the Administration panicked when Solyndra (seeing that their company was collapsing) planned to announce layoffs. The Administration urged them to hold off until after the election, and loaned them more money to do that (The Oregonian, 11/16/2011, p. A2). That is politics, corrupt politics. Where did all the money go and what was the political back-scratching in this? Who is being held accountable for spending MY money like this?

Bank of America got help from the government with loans, but is letting 30,000 workers go. They did, however, give $11 million in severance pay to Joe Price and Sallie Krawcheck. Who is holding those execs at Bank of America accountable for spending my money?

The government (that’s you, if you are a US taxpayer) loaned GM 50 billion (that’s billion) to get turned around when they were making Hummers – a useless car for the American consumer when the gas companies were sticking us for gasoline ($1.81 to almost $4 a gallon during the reign of Obama). GM had placement ads on CSI with the hero driving a Hummer around. Meanwhile, Toyota developed the hybrid car and had a hard time keeping up with the demand for awhile. That 50 billion we gave GM was for equity stock, so the taxpayers own GM. To break even, the government would have to sell 365 shares at a profit, putting the break-even point at $55 a share. Right now GM sells at $28.90 a share. That’s a loss of $11 billion of your money, and don’t expect it back any time soon. GM has lost a lot of brand value in this, and Ford is doing a better job without taking the government money. For more info, see:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/06/10/truth-about-gm-bailout/#ixzz1d2d7F9n0

You are also losing money with taxpayer loans to Chrysler, AIG, etc. and don’t expect to see that again or anyone held accountable. At least with the President and Congress we have now.

The government (that’s you, if you are a US taxpayer) loaned Goldman Sachs (more popularly known as Golden Sacks) several loans, one of which was $589 billion. Then, last January, they announced they were paying their employees $15.3 billion in bonuses (almost half-a – million per employee). They needed the money, they said, because “they were too big to fail”. Other banks, emulating the failed Golden Sacks, emulated that behavior to get loans and to paid bonuses. If they were too big to fail, the government should have broken them down to smaller banks. This was done with AT & T some years ago. Today, however, the executive and legislative branches of our government are owned by Wall Street and the corporations and the President and Congress are too wimpy to stand up for the taxpayer. The bonuses for this year will be announced January 20, 2012. Watch the numbers and the banks named when they are released – other banks will copy this. And who goes to prison? (This is from multiple Golden Sacks-related sites.)

Since these payments that these banks and corporations are all done with virtual money printed by the government, the value of each dollar in circulation is less. This is called inflation. More accurately, it’s a crime and forbidden by the US Constitution. (http://creatingnewworlds.org/2010/08/19/reform-1-demand-that-we-restore-the-broken-economic-system/ ) Gas went from $1.81 a gallon at the beginning of Obama’s rein and is now almost $4 a gallon (http://gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx). Parking at my school went from $3 a day last year to $4 a day this year. My business license went from $50 to $100 a year. The price of a tiny sack of Lay’s chips went from $.99 to $1.50 a few weeks ago (OK, it’s got a few more chips in it.). The government hasn’t increased the Social Security payments to account for inflation in two years, saying there has been no inflation. They lie. Next year the SS payments go up $38 a month. That is a joke.

And Social Security? This is currently set up as a pyramid scheme. Now, with the boomers retiring, in a few years the younger adults entering the workplace won’t paying enough to support the retiring boomers. Start by putting Congress on Social Security and Obamacare with no pensions.

Don’t give up – here are suggested strategies. (Don’t give up, it will take a few decades to clean out the junk that is there now. It took a long time for the system to crash.

Essential Changes Needed in Washington – Part 2

(This posting – and the next part -are not copyrighted. Please post a link here, however, as this is updated at times.)

Filed Under: constitution, economy, education, employment, Government, Uncategorized

Essential Changes Needed in Washington – Part 2

November 15, 2011 By carltown 1 Comment

Changes are made by visionary people, people who are willing to stand up, speak out, and be courageous. The steps listed here are great, but the people who step us and take the necessary action steps.

Our country was founding by strong moral people that believed in God and were willing to risk there lives to give us the freedoms we have. Now a bunch of yahoos in Washington are committed to destroying all that. It’s time changed things. We need visionary leaders that are willing to stand up and restore what has been lost.

“One of the things that is sorely lacking in our lives is a necessary level of courage to stand up against the things we know are wrong, and FOR the things we know are right. There has been a lot of complacency – it feels more fear-based to me.- where people, especially in organizations are too afraid to speak up and we have become, I believe, moral cowards in a way. We give all sorts of reasons why we can’t speak up. …I think people have developed a sense of helplessness about it. …But I also live with the awareness that if we don’t start speaking up we are going down a road that will only lead to increased devastation, and destruction.”
Margaret J. Wheatley: Disturb Me, Please – http://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/herotohost.html

Write your congressman (or woman) and ask then for a Congressional Reform Act:

Congressional Reform Act of 2012

1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

Ask the President to Institute the Economic Leadership and Banking Reform He Promised Us When Elected
The President had a choice when it came to reform. He could have chosen Paul Volcker as his Treasury Secretary and taken the path endorsed by Volcker and Elizabeth Warren: Restructuring the big banks, imposing regulatory reforms (such as the Glass Steagall Act, which would have prohibited Wall Street gambling with derivatives), and a possible tax on Wall Street transactions (especially those derivatives). Instead he chose another route and sold out to Wall Street. Obama made weak choices and is now watching everything fall. All of this needs to be fixed.

Ask Your Congress and the Government to Make the Investment in Education to Train Leadership for the Global Market We Have Today.
The job market needs strong employees but America has gone soft. The WEF report (World Economic Forum) rates America as 51st in science and math education. America has dropped to #5 in global competitiveness in most areas behind Sweden, Singapore, Finland, and Switzerland. In rating the efforts to improve our competitiveness over that last decade, America is next to last. There needs to be more investment in our technical education and financially helping students. Pell Grants and related programs are needed for students today. These can be paid for by taxing the wealthy yahoos that got us into this mess. Disconnect the Congress and President from K street.

In addition, China is a leading company when it comes to hurting our economics and job market. First, it manipulates its currency to promote imports. Increasing tariffs on imports is not the strategy, as we are members of the World Trade Organization. Where we do have control, however, is in the intellectual property area. China is famous for forcing American companies to give up intellectual rights to products in return for reaching the large Chinese market. Companies, such as GE, are famous for agreeing to do this. And there goes the jobs and production shifts to China. We need strong schools here for quality graduates, hold on to the graduates, and then hold on to the intellectual property rights.

On Jobs? Don’t buy from companies that give their technology away to China.

Many American companies want our government to raise tariffs on imported goods that destroy American jobs – particularly when the foreign government subsidizes those imports. A good example here is the companies producing solar panels in America, which are undersold by Chinese solar panels where production is highly subsidized. We’re in a global market. Keep things open and compete with the world. Our government subsidized Solyndra with over half-a-billion, only to see Solyndra go bankrupt as China subsidized their solar panel production. One of the problems is that American companies give away their intellectual property to China (for example) in return for getting the Chinese market, giving the company access to their huge market. And there go the jobs to China.

The biggest employer in Waukesha, Wisconsin, General Electric, just moved out. To Beijing. GE is moving its headquarters there and also investing $2 billion in China to train 65 of their engineers. They are also building six research centers there. GE also has moved a lot of its civilian avionics business to China in a 50-50 joint venture. This is the same GE that made $5.1 billion in the United States last year and paid no taxes. Jeff Immelt. Chairman of GE, was appointed by Obama to head the government’s commission on job creation. – a job czar, so to speak. Huh? For which country is he creating jobs? Time to boot Obama.

Filed Under: economy, education, employment, Government, Obama, unemployment

Recovering America’s Vision

October 7, 2011 By carltown Leave a Comment

I took a recent test to sense my beliefs and values, which puts you as a simulated delegate for the political campaign for the next election that has really already started. My answers were compared against almost two million others who had taken the same test. Assuming the sample was correct when it compared my expectations, I was shocked. We’ve come a long, long way (downhill) from the nation that was birthed here in 1776 and the vision of those founding fathers – some of who gave their lives for a nation that, essentially, now is on a self-destruct course.

What we have today reminds me more of the Israelite nation described in Judges 21:25:

“In those days …. everyone did what was right in his own eyes”.
Judges 21:25 NKJV

This phrase is actually repeated four times in the book of Judges. Sounds like what we call postmodernism today. No absolutes, you just do your own thing. If you have the courage, try reading the tragic stories in Judges 17-19. Read how the tribe of Dan sank into idolatry and disappeared as a part of the Israelite nation that began to emerge with Samuel at this time. In fact, in the book of Revelation the tribe of Dan is not even mentioned as a part of Israel.

How has America begun to look like this? What idol do our national leaders worship? What is is their moral and ethical compass now? The Constitution today has become what the political leaders call a “Living Constitution”, and is trampled on by our leaders over and over again. The First Amendment has been altered so now it is interpreted as exactly the opposite of what the founding fathers intended. Churches have often redefined the Gospel to something Jesus never intended.
David Wilkerson(1), said this of the American Church:

“For the most part, the church today is experiencing widespread spiritual famine: shallow sermons, dead hearers, “lively” worship that is not backed up by righteous living.”(2)

The great historian Toynbee said if the 22 great civilizations, 19 of them died from within. There were no bands playing or flags waving when they died.

Is this America today?

Into the spiritual desert we see at the end of the book of Judges, Samuel is born. As that story begins the Bible tells us at the beginning of 1 Samuel 3 that there was no vision at that time.

“And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation [vision]. “
1 Sam 3:1-2 NKJV

Not even the priest Eli could hear the word of the Lord. God had to speak to Eli through the child Samuel.

By the end of this single chapter, Samuel is a man and the situation is completed reversed. Now there is Vision, Place (Shiloh), and Purpose.

“So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD. Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD. “
1 Sam 3:19-21 NKJV

This is phenomenal. God used one man to turn an entire nation around in one generation. This also happens today. I think of John Knox, who was imprisoned during the 1540’s for supporting the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. He prayed daily, “Lord, give me Scotland, or I die”. By the time he died in 1572, Scotland had been transformed and the Scottish Parliament had adopted Reformation doctrines.

Today, often spiritual leaders in nations and cities that lead in the transformation process are often called “John Knoxers” for that reason. I think of Julio and Ruth Ruibal who mobilized the pastors in drug-infested Cali, Columbia and led in the transformation process there – at the cost of Julio’s life, who died a martyr. I think in my own city of Portland of Jr. Joe Aldridge, Terry Dirks, Bob Cryder and others who became John Knoxers in my own city in the early nineties, leading prayer summits for the coming of the Holy Spirit in our city. None of these leaders are around anymore, having gone on to their Glory with others. There is nothing “dated” about what God did with those John Knoxers or Samuel, however. God does it today. Last Easter (just a few months ago) in a suburban Portland church, the Holy Spirit swept through that small church and some 24 people came forward and were baptized. Nothing but a tub and water was available and it was cold and raining; but no one could stop what God was doing there that day.

Thomas Jefferson was one of our most brilliant and educated Presidents in the history of America. It is said that John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. At the dinner Kennedy made this statement. “This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House of the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone..”

Jefferson was an Episcopalian and some of his writings indicated a strong leaning to Christianity. He was heavily influenced by the Protestant Reformation as well and philosophy of John Locke. He was very supportive of strong state rights and a minimum of federal government. Here are a few quotes attributed to Thomas Jefferson:

“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes, a principle which, if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world.”

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”

And another quote is sometimes attributed to him but no hard evidence has been found in his letters. There are many statements from Jefferson, however, that are close to this and he did believe in what is said in the quote:

“I believe the banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will group up around the banks will deprive the people of property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Transformation and the necessary change can happen in America, in Portland, in my town. I can still remember a quote Vera Katz (Portland mayor at the time) gave me years ago when I was researching the city. “If this city is ever transformed, it will need to be the churches that do it.”, she said as she challenged a group from local churches. Very insightful wisdom from a Jewish lady. Now that’s a challenge for the local church, of which I am a part. The real transformation, however, always starts in our hearts.

Dave Wilkerson is best known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He was the founder of the addiction recovery program Teen Challenge, and founding pastor of the non-denominational Times Square Church in New York. Dave died in an automobile accident in April of 2011.
http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/14316

(There is no copyright on this. You may share or backlink as you wish. Thanks to Toni Anderson and Jerry Propst for some of the information here, but the options are my own.)

Filed Under: church, Government, visioning

The American Government and the Judeo-Christian Framework

September 25, 2011 By carltown Leave a Comment

What does the Bible say about our relationship to the government and how to resolve issues?

Here is a good worksheet for guiding you on these answers. Print out both pages:
Page one of worksheet
Page two of worksheet
Our government was founded on a Biblical and Judeo-Christian foundation. The Constitution was written based on that. Read the Foundation of Social Institutions on the second worksheet and related verses.
The first page of the first worksheet has three interesting circles: Government, Family, and Church. Look at each issue in the section Sphere of Responsibility on the second worksheet, look up the verse, and then write that issue in the circle where it belongs from a Biblical viewpoint from the verse on the first worksheet.

When you have mapped each issue, take a hard look at how far our political leaders have gone from the intent of the founders. The destruction of America was done over a long period of time and it is time to take the country back. We can at least begin with the next election.

(worksheet created by Doug Lundin and reprinted by permission)

Filed Under: America, church, constitution, core values, familiy, Government, Uncategorized

What kind of leader does America Need?

September 9, 2011 By carltown Leave a Comment

A recent quote from Matt Damon describing the kind of leader he wanted:

Somebody who believes that building a strong, solid, educated middle class is ultimately the best thing for America. Someone like FDR. There’s a misconception that leaders lead. They don’t. They follow. Every great movement has come from the bottom up.

(TIME, 9/12/2011, p. 92)
Do you believe this?
What kind of leader do you want?
Can you name anyone alive that fits that description?

Filed Under: America, Government, leadership

A leadership lesson from Senator Hatfield

August 31, 2011 By carltown Leave a Comment

Here is interesting article about a speech Senator Hatfield (who died August 7, 2011) gave some years ago at Warner Pacific College.
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110821/COLUMN0108/108210326/Rep-Vic-Gilliam-reflects-his-time-Sen-Hatfield

Senator Hatfield

The comments Senator Hatfield in this speech could be applied to many other areas where Christians should be involved: political change, abortion protests, protecting my city parks, etc, – you name it. And Senator Hatfield lived what he is saying here.

Filed Under: change, Government, leadership

The Destroying of the American Economic System

August 31, 2011 By carltown Leave a Comment

Surprising Facts from RE-MAKING MONEY:

What cost $1 on August 15, 1971 – the day 40 years ago that Nixon removed the dollar’s gold anchor and unleashed inflation – in 2011 now costs on average more than $5.65.

Measured in inflation-adjusted dollars, the average American today earns the same income as he or she would have 30 years ago. Inflation has kept the purchasing power of American wages flat for three decades.

Despite $5 Trillion in recent “stimulus spending,” America’s economic growth for the past two Quarters has averaged an anemic 0.85 percent, within the margin of error of being zero or lower. This means that we may already be in a double-dip Great Recession. New economic research shows that Keynesian “stimulus” doesn’t work in modern societies.

The Federal Government now borrows 42 cents of every dollar it spends. The government now borrows $58,000 every second, $3.5 million every minute, $210 Million every hour….24/7.

Twice as many Americans now work for government as work in all of manufacturing combined.

51 percent of adult Americans now pay no income tax, and a 2011 Gallup Poll found that 47 percent of Americans now believe the government should impose more redistribution of income.

45 percent of all American households have at least one person living there who receives some form of regular government check. By the time 84 million baby boomers are retired, more than 60 percent of American households will be receiving regular government checks.

Nearly 40 percent of America’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), comes from federal, state or local government spending.

Since President Barack Obama’s January 2009 inauguration, the share of America’s GDP taken by the Federal Government has grown by roughly 25 percent – from 19 percent of America’s total income to more than 24 percent.

Government, in other words, has effectively grown 25 percent (one-quarter) bigger during just the past two and one half years under President Barack Obama.

The outgoing President of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City said that America “is no longer a market economy,” that our economy is now “crony capitalism” in which companies succeed or fail because of their contributions to politicians.

To receive your FREE copy of Re-Making Money Call 877-864-1072 or email mwpeters@swissamerica.com Must include name address and phone number.

By Michael Weiner

Email: mdweiner@swissamerica.com

Click here for bio and archived articles

Filed Under: economy, Government