Christina Odone
The Telegraph
It’s official: Britain is no longer a Christian nation. In banning Eunice and Owen Johns, a devout Christian couple, from fostering children, Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson declared that we live in a secular state, and that the Johns’ religious convictions disqualified them from raising citizens of that state. We’ve outgrown Christianity, the judges professed. Instead, we have graduated to the status of a multicultural nation, blessed by a plurality of faiths.
Ironically, the justices who have pronounced that Britain is no longer Christian did so in a court where witnesses swear on the Bible and invoke God’s help in telling the truth. I do not imagine that these judges leave out the first word in “God Save the Queen” – nor would they shun an invitation to the Royal wedding, which is happening not at a registry office but the centrepiece of official Christendom, Westminster Abbey.
In taking part in these traditions, the judges – and the rest of us – are no different from past generations. For Christianity is not merely a part of life here, a provider of schools, hospitals and orphanages. It is the backbone of our laws, the impetus for the charity, justice and tolerance that have long been characteristic of this country. Its grand principles have inspired citizens to extraordinary actions, such as William Wilberforce’s campaign against slavery, and to ordinary kindnesses, such as reading to hospital patients or delivering meals on wheels. When David Cameron speaks of our moral duty to our Arab brothers, or shares his vision for the Big Society, he taps not into narrow party allegiance, but into our common Christian heritage.
The Christians of an earlier era may not have known about multiculturalism, or predicted that it would be the signature tune of our times. Yet their faith gave them a moral imperative that demanded respect for others: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Without this moral underpinning, multiculturalism sags into a factionalism of competing demands and conflicting interests. Instead, the Gospel’s commandment inspires the Christian majority to accommodate Jewish, Muslim, atheist and Hindu minorities, without losing sight of the basic principle of mutual respect.
This, indeed, is one of the reasons why non-Christian believers are so passionate in wanting to protect Christianity as a presence in public life. Jews, like Muslims, recognise that while Christians – and especially Anglicans – may enjoy a special status, their faith embraces all people as made, and loved, by God. The Act of Succession, which bans us Catholics from the throne, makes me angry; but like all members of a religious minority, I feel safer in a culture that cherishes spiritual values than in one that rubbishes them.
So it is not just Christians that the ruling in the Johns case will alarm and unsettle. As the judges wagged their fingers about the secularist principles that, they claim, define the nation (and which “ought to be, but seemingly are not, well understood”), they were not describing the status quo: a strong majority of Britons still consider themselves to be Christian. Instead, they were making clear their desire to steer this country in a direction of their own choosing – one that matches the views of an increasingly strident group that is determined to scrub Christianity from public life.
Its efforts to push the majority faith underground are evident everywhere, from our bus stops to our workplaces. The British Humanist Association is campaigning to discourage “cultural Christians” from identifying themselves as believers in the forthcoming census. Jo Johnson, a Tory MP, wants to drop the prayer that traditionally opens Parliamentary sessions. Companies like BA forbid their Christian staff from wearing crosses to work. Schools and offices present Christian holidays as secular breaks. And now devout Christians are to be prevented from becoming foster parents.
According to our learned judges, “the aphorism that ‘Christianity is part of the common law of England’ is now mere rhetoric”. How excruciatingly unjust.
View Original Article HERE
Related: People Have Only Qualified Right to Christianity
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Deputies Seek Protection After Threatening Family
Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
Several Maricopa County, Ariz., deputies are seeking protection from the courts after threatening to take children away from their parents because the homeschooling family was unwilling to allow social workers inside their home for an inspection based on an unsubstantiated anonymous rumor.
But officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association have responded to the court filing by the deputies, explaining that they must answer for their actions in a court of law.
The case stems from a conflict in 2006 between social services in Arizona and John and Tiffany Loudermilk.
A judge previously ruled that their lawsuit over civil rights violations by the social workers and the deputies can move forward. But the deputies appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that they should be exempted from liability.
Social workers, told earlier by the court that they must respect the U.S. Constitution regarding privacy and parental rights, did not appeal that ruling, and the case, pending in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will move forward at the district court level once again when the deputies' requests have been resolved.
So far the court has suggested the social workers, accompanied by Maricopa County deputy sheriffs, made unsupported threats to place a family's children in custody and arrest the parents if they were not allowed to make what ended up being an allegedly illegal search of the family's home.
No intellectually serious argument can be made to support the [deputies] incredulity about why an innocent man would wish to keep a government official from intruding into his home without legal authority," the HSLDA brief in opposition to the deputies' requests said.
"The deputies were not merely bystanders. They were active participants in coercing consent to search. It was clearly established law that the threatening presence of several officers is an important factor in determining whether consent to search is voluntary and whether a person is seized," the HSLDA said.
"They cannot claim that they were merely present or merely 'standing by.' Indeed, the physical presence of a single uniformed law enforcement officer is considered to be the use of 'force,'" the brief said.
"After Sgt. [Joseph] Sousa arrived on the scene he determined that there were no grounds for arrest … and that there was no justification to enter the Loudermilks' home without a search warrant. The written policy of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office about consent searches further put Sgt. Sousa and the rest of the MCSO defendants on notice that, 'any consent to search must be voluntary, without fear, threats or promise.'
"Sgt. Sousa was the patrol sergeant. He had the authority to order the deputies to leave the Loudermilks' home, but he did not do so. Each of the deputies individually and all of them together were active participants in the violation of the Loudermilks' constitutional rights," the brief argues. "Their conduct was contrary to clearly established law; it was contrary to their training; and it was contrary to the sheriff's written policy about 'consent searches.'"
"Deputies argue that the district court erred in denying their motion for summary judgment and that they should be granted qualified immunity. This is wrong," the brief said. "The law of the Fourth Amendment in relation to warrantless searches in child protective investigations is clearly established and has been since at least 1999.
"There was a clear violation of the Loudermilks' constitutional rights to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures," the brief said.
Earlier, U.S. District Judge Earl H. Carroll decided that the lawsuit by the family against the social workers, sheriff and deputies, would be allowed to continue, because the social workers' concerns were based on "an anonymous tip that the … Loudermilk children were being neglected and that plaintiffs' home was uninhabitable."
However, the judge said that under federal law, an anonymous tip, "without more, does not constitute probable cause."
The Loudermilks are members of the Home School Legal Defense Association, a Virginia-based organization leading their defense.
"Social workers and sheriff's deputies had come to the home … demanding entry based on a six-week-old anonymous tip that the newly constructed home was unsafe for children," the organization said.
The judge's ruling had directed the case toward a jury trial, except the process was interrupted by the deputies' demand for protection from the courts against accusations of civil rights violations.
Authorities have alleged the Loudermilks voluntarily allowed the search of their home, which produced no evidence that the rumor, in fact, was true.
The HSLDA said, however, that "assertion ... ignores the fact the social worker had said the Loudermilk children would be removed for 72 hours if the parents did not permit entry."
According to the HSLDA, social workers responding to the six-week-old tip demanded entry into the home.
"After an escalating confrontation at the front door that lasted 40 minutes, the social workers, backed by no fewer than four deputies, threatened to take the Loudermilks' children into custody and place them in foster care if the Loudermilks continued to deny them entry into their home. An assistant attorney general repeated this threat to HSLDA Attorney Thomas Schmidt, who was assisting the Loudermilks by phone during the confrontation.
"Under this duress, Mr. and Mrs. Loudermilk allowed the social workers and sheriff's deputies inside. Within five minutes, the social workers determined that the anonymous tip was false and left," the HSLDA said.
The family's subsequent lawsuit filed by the HSLDA alleged violations of the Fourth and 14th Amendments.
The lawsuit names Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, deputies Joshua Ray, Joseph Sousa, Richard Gagnon and Michael Danner, social workers Rhonda Cash and Jenna Cramer, and Assistant Attorney General Julie Rhodes.
The judge, in handing authorities a previous courtroom loss, noted that the social workers misrepresented that they had a court order for an inspection of the home. He also noted the deputies were uncooperative, refusing to provide their cell phone number so the HSLDA attorney could talk to them.
The judge ruled that verbal threats generally are not actionable in a federal civil rights proceeding, but in this case, "courts have held that a threat constitutes an actionable constitutional violation in certain circumstances, including 'when the threat is so brutal or wantonly cruel as to shock the conscience.'"
View Article With Links Here
View Related Article HERE
WorldNetDaily
Several Maricopa County, Ariz., deputies are seeking protection from the courts after threatening to take children away from their parents because the homeschooling family was unwilling to allow social workers inside their home for an inspection based on an unsubstantiated anonymous rumor.
But officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association have responded to the court filing by the deputies, explaining that they must answer for their actions in a court of law.
The case stems from a conflict in 2006 between social services in Arizona and John and Tiffany Loudermilk.
A judge previously ruled that their lawsuit over civil rights violations by the social workers and the deputies can move forward. But the deputies appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that they should be exempted from liability.
Social workers, told earlier by the court that they must respect the U.S. Constitution regarding privacy and parental rights, did not appeal that ruling, and the case, pending in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will move forward at the district court level once again when the deputies' requests have been resolved.
So far the court has suggested the social workers, accompanied by Maricopa County deputy sheriffs, made unsupported threats to place a family's children in custody and arrest the parents if they were not allowed to make what ended up being an allegedly illegal search of the family's home.
No intellectually serious argument can be made to support the [deputies] incredulity about why an innocent man would wish to keep a government official from intruding into his home without legal authority," the HSLDA brief in opposition to the deputies' requests said.
"The deputies were not merely bystanders. They were active participants in coercing consent to search. It was clearly established law that the threatening presence of several officers is an important factor in determining whether consent to search is voluntary and whether a person is seized," the HSLDA said.
"They cannot claim that they were merely present or merely 'standing by.' Indeed, the physical presence of a single uniformed law enforcement officer is considered to be the use of 'force,'" the brief said.
"After Sgt. [Joseph] Sousa arrived on the scene he determined that there were no grounds for arrest … and that there was no justification to enter the Loudermilks' home without a search warrant. The written policy of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office about consent searches further put Sgt. Sousa and the rest of the MCSO defendants on notice that, 'any consent to search must be voluntary, without fear, threats or promise.'
"Sgt. Sousa was the patrol sergeant. He had the authority to order the deputies to leave the Loudermilks' home, but he did not do so. Each of the deputies individually and all of them together were active participants in the violation of the Loudermilks' constitutional rights," the brief argues. "Their conduct was contrary to clearly established law; it was contrary to their training; and it was contrary to the sheriff's written policy about 'consent searches.'"
"Deputies argue that the district court erred in denying their motion for summary judgment and that they should be granted qualified immunity. This is wrong," the brief said. "The law of the Fourth Amendment in relation to warrantless searches in child protective investigations is clearly established and has been since at least 1999.
"There was a clear violation of the Loudermilks' constitutional rights to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures," the brief said.
Earlier, U.S. District Judge Earl H. Carroll decided that the lawsuit by the family against the social workers, sheriff and deputies, would be allowed to continue, because the social workers' concerns were based on "an anonymous tip that the … Loudermilk children were being neglected and that plaintiffs' home was uninhabitable."
However, the judge said that under federal law, an anonymous tip, "without more, does not constitute probable cause."
The Loudermilks are members of the Home School Legal Defense Association, a Virginia-based organization leading their defense.
"Social workers and sheriff's deputies had come to the home … demanding entry based on a six-week-old anonymous tip that the newly constructed home was unsafe for children," the organization said.
The judge's ruling had directed the case toward a jury trial, except the process was interrupted by the deputies' demand for protection from the courts against accusations of civil rights violations.
Authorities have alleged the Loudermilks voluntarily allowed the search of their home, which produced no evidence that the rumor, in fact, was true.
The HSLDA said, however, that "assertion ... ignores the fact the social worker had said the Loudermilk children would be removed for 72 hours if the parents did not permit entry."
According to the HSLDA, social workers responding to the six-week-old tip demanded entry into the home.
"After an escalating confrontation at the front door that lasted 40 minutes, the social workers, backed by no fewer than four deputies, threatened to take the Loudermilks' children into custody and place them in foster care if the Loudermilks continued to deny them entry into their home. An assistant attorney general repeated this threat to HSLDA Attorney Thomas Schmidt, who was assisting the Loudermilks by phone during the confrontation.
"Under this duress, Mr. and Mrs. Loudermilk allowed the social workers and sheriff's deputies inside. Within five minutes, the social workers determined that the anonymous tip was false and left," the HSLDA said.
The family's subsequent lawsuit filed by the HSLDA alleged violations of the Fourth and 14th Amendments.
The lawsuit names Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, deputies Joshua Ray, Joseph Sousa, Richard Gagnon and Michael Danner, social workers Rhonda Cash and Jenna Cramer, and Assistant Attorney General Julie Rhodes.
The judge, in handing authorities a previous courtroom loss, noted that the social workers misrepresented that they had a court order for an inspection of the home. He also noted the deputies were uncooperative, refusing to provide their cell phone number so the HSLDA attorney could talk to them.
The judge ruled that verbal threats generally are not actionable in a federal civil rights proceeding, but in this case, "courts have held that a threat constitutes an actionable constitutional violation in certain circumstances, including 'when the threat is so brutal or wantonly cruel as to shock the conscience.'"
View Article With Links Here
View Related Article HERE
Mob Robbers And Rampant Looting: Is This The Future Of America?
The Economic Collapse Blog
Have you ever heard of mob robberies? What happens is that dozens of young people storm a store at the same time, take whatever they want, and then storm out as powerless store clerks watch helplessly. Most of the time these "mob robbers" end up getting caught, but unfortunately "group crime" is a trend that is rising. Is it a sign of the times that large groups of people are starting to recklessly invade retail establishments? Is this the future of America? As I have written about so frequently, the U.S. middle class is being destroyed by this economy and large numbers of our young people are losing hope. Frustration and anger are rising from coast to coast and millions of Americans are losing faith in the system. The thin veneer of civilization which we all take for granted is already starting to disappear. So what is going to happen when the economy collapses? As our economic system fails, mob robberies and rampant looting are only going to become more common. Let us hope that the economy can hold together for at least a couple more years, because once society falls apart things are going to get really, really ugly in our major cities.
Are you prepared for what America is going to look like during the next Great Depression? It isn't going to be pretty. Over the past couple of decades we have gotten hints of what America is going to look like when society breaks down, and those hints have been very frightening.
This first video is a news report about the mob robberies that have taken place in Minnesota recently. What would you do if you were a store clerk in this situation....
Unfortunately, these mob robberies are not just an anomaly. The American people really do seem to be losing it. Over the past couple of years, some almost unbelievable brawls have been breaking out in restaurants and in retail establishments all over the nation.
In addition, who could forget the wild mob scenes that erupted at stores all over America during the most recent Black Friday holiday sales?
Of course we all remember what happened during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. All along the Gulf Coast looting was rampant. Sadly, people were even openly looting stores in front of television news cameras....
This third video contains a compilation of footage from all over the United States over the past few decades. Is this what America is going to look like when the economy breaks down and people are going wild in the streets?....
But don't think that Americans only act this way in the big cities. The truth is that human decency is breaking down everywhere. This was perfectly illustrated by a recently reported case of horrific child abuse in Oklahoma.
According to CNN, a 9-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were actually forced to eat pet food and had suffered burns all over their bodies due to the nightmarish abuse that they had received from the couple that adopted them.
The 15-year-old boy in this case told authorities that at one point he was forced to live in a plastic dog carrier for two months and that all three of the children have had their tongues burned with a hot spoon by their "parents".
The following is how CNN described some of the abuse that these children were subjected to....
Authorities said the Kluths are accused of burning the children with hot spoons, choking them and locking them "in the storm shelter behind the residence for long periods of time with only chairs to sit in and plastic buckets for bathroom use. It was also alleged that the Kluths deprived the children of meals for punishment and fed them cat food and dog food," according to a statement from authorities.
Can you imagine?
As Americans, we like to think of ourselves as "good people", but is that really true?
In the United States today, the percentage of the population that is in prison is more than ten times higher than it is in Japan.
Part of that is because the U.S. is rapidly becoming a "Big Brother" police state, but we also have to admit that the American people don't seem to be made of the same "stuff" that they used to.
Something has gone dramatically wrong.
We have lost our way.
Is this country going to be able to handle another Great Depression?
Right now more than 43 million Americans are on food stamps. This is helping keep the population under control. But what is going to happen when the price of food goes up 50 percent and all of these millions of people can't even feed themselves anymore?
That is a frightening thing to think about.
Most Americans have never known hard times. Most Americans cannot even imagine what deep economic suffering is like.
When the U.S. economy does completely unravel, it is going to blindside most of the population. Many Americans will go completely crazy when they finally realize that the "good times" are gone and are never coming back.
What we are seeing in Wisconsin right now is only a very small foretaste of the kinds of economic protests that we will see in the future. There are tens of millions of Americans that are just not going to quietly accept that their affluence is gone permanently.
Unfortunately, the time to start saying something was years ago. Our economy is being gutted right in front of our eyes and yet most Americans just keep on voting for the globalist politicians that continue to ship our factories, our jobs and our prosperity overseas.
Believe it or not, cities like Detroit, Michigan were once the envy of the world.
In 2011, the rest of the world laughs at Detroit. It has become a global joke.
And you know what?
Hundreds of other communities across the United States are being slowly but surely transformed into new Detroits.
Today, there are many towns across the United States where you can almost reach out and feel the despair. It is almost as if someone has sucked all of the hope right out of the atmosphere.
People are getting desperate. As the economy crumbles crime is only going to increase. In fact, many of our biggest cities have large areas where residents simply do not ever want to venture outside after the sun goes down. Life is getting crazier in America with each passing year.
The America that so many of us so fondly remember is being rapidly destroyed.
So what do you all think? Are mob robbers and rampant looting the future of America? Are people going to go crazy when the economy collapses or are Americans going to be able to handle it fairly well? Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....
View Article With Links HERE
Have you ever heard of mob robberies? What happens is that dozens of young people storm a store at the same time, take whatever they want, and then storm out as powerless store clerks watch helplessly. Most of the time these "mob robbers" end up getting caught, but unfortunately "group crime" is a trend that is rising. Is it a sign of the times that large groups of people are starting to recklessly invade retail establishments? Is this the future of America? As I have written about so frequently, the U.S. middle class is being destroyed by this economy and large numbers of our young people are losing hope. Frustration and anger are rising from coast to coast and millions of Americans are losing faith in the system. The thin veneer of civilization which we all take for granted is already starting to disappear. So what is going to happen when the economy collapses? As our economic system fails, mob robberies and rampant looting are only going to become more common. Let us hope that the economy can hold together for at least a couple more years, because once society falls apart things are going to get really, really ugly in our major cities.
Are you prepared for what America is going to look like during the next Great Depression? It isn't going to be pretty. Over the past couple of decades we have gotten hints of what America is going to look like when society breaks down, and those hints have been very frightening.
This first video is a news report about the mob robberies that have taken place in Minnesota recently. What would you do if you were a store clerk in this situation....
Unfortunately, these mob robberies are not just an anomaly. The American people really do seem to be losing it. Over the past couple of years, some almost unbelievable brawls have been breaking out in restaurants and in retail establishments all over the nation.
In addition, who could forget the wild mob scenes that erupted at stores all over America during the most recent Black Friday holiday sales?
Of course we all remember what happened during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. All along the Gulf Coast looting was rampant. Sadly, people were even openly looting stores in front of television news cameras....
This third video contains a compilation of footage from all over the United States over the past few decades. Is this what America is going to look like when the economy breaks down and people are going wild in the streets?....
But don't think that Americans only act this way in the big cities. The truth is that human decency is breaking down everywhere. This was perfectly illustrated by a recently reported case of horrific child abuse in Oklahoma.
According to CNN, a 9-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were actually forced to eat pet food and had suffered burns all over their bodies due to the nightmarish abuse that they had received from the couple that adopted them.
The 15-year-old boy in this case told authorities that at one point he was forced to live in a plastic dog carrier for two months and that all three of the children have had their tongues burned with a hot spoon by their "parents".
The following is how CNN described some of the abuse that these children were subjected to....
Authorities said the Kluths are accused of burning the children with hot spoons, choking them and locking them "in the storm shelter behind the residence for long periods of time with only chairs to sit in and plastic buckets for bathroom use. It was also alleged that the Kluths deprived the children of meals for punishment and fed them cat food and dog food," according to a statement from authorities.
Can you imagine?
As Americans, we like to think of ourselves as "good people", but is that really true?
In the United States today, the percentage of the population that is in prison is more than ten times higher than it is in Japan.
Part of that is because the U.S. is rapidly becoming a "Big Brother" police state, but we also have to admit that the American people don't seem to be made of the same "stuff" that they used to.
Something has gone dramatically wrong.
We have lost our way.
Is this country going to be able to handle another Great Depression?
Right now more than 43 million Americans are on food stamps. This is helping keep the population under control. But what is going to happen when the price of food goes up 50 percent and all of these millions of people can't even feed themselves anymore?
That is a frightening thing to think about.
Most Americans have never known hard times. Most Americans cannot even imagine what deep economic suffering is like.
When the U.S. economy does completely unravel, it is going to blindside most of the population. Many Americans will go completely crazy when they finally realize that the "good times" are gone and are never coming back.
What we are seeing in Wisconsin right now is only a very small foretaste of the kinds of economic protests that we will see in the future. There are tens of millions of Americans that are just not going to quietly accept that their affluence is gone permanently.
Unfortunately, the time to start saying something was years ago. Our economy is being gutted right in front of our eyes and yet most Americans just keep on voting for the globalist politicians that continue to ship our factories, our jobs and our prosperity overseas.
Believe it or not, cities like Detroit, Michigan were once the envy of the world.
In 2011, the rest of the world laughs at Detroit. It has become a global joke.
And you know what?
Hundreds of other communities across the United States are being slowly but surely transformed into new Detroits.
Today, there are many towns across the United States where you can almost reach out and feel the despair. It is almost as if someone has sucked all of the hope right out of the atmosphere.
People are getting desperate. As the economy crumbles crime is only going to increase. In fact, many of our biggest cities have large areas where residents simply do not ever want to venture outside after the sun goes down. Life is getting crazier in America with each passing year.
The America that so many of us so fondly remember is being rapidly destroyed.
So what do you all think? Are mob robbers and rampant looting the future of America? Are people going to go crazy when the economy collapses or are Americans going to be able to handle it fairly well? Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....
View Article With Links HERE
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Lindsey Williams Exclusive: NWO to Target Iran, Saudi Arabia Next, Oil to Hit $200 a Barrel
Infowars.com
Oil Prices Skyrocket After Williams’ Latest Revelations.
On the day after pastor Lindsey Williams went on the Alex Jones Show and talked about the globalist plan to destroy the dollar and jack up oil prices through the stratosphere in an effort to wreck the economy, the price of oil went up to just short of $100 per barrel. Sources inside the oil industry told Williams the price will ultimately reach between $150 and $200 per barrel. Williams also told Alex Jones the oil producers Saudi Arabia and Iran will be targeted.
View Article with Links HERE
Oil Prices Skyrocket After Williams’ Latest Revelations.
On the day after pastor Lindsey Williams went on the Alex Jones Show and talked about the globalist plan to destroy the dollar and jack up oil prices through the stratosphere in an effort to wreck the economy, the price of oil went up to just short of $100 per barrel. Sources inside the oil industry told Williams the price will ultimately reach between $150 and $200 per barrel. Williams also told Alex Jones the oil producers Saudi Arabia and Iran will be targeted.
View Article with Links HERE
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Are The Wild Teacher Protests In Wisconsin A Prelude To The Economic Riots That Are Coming To America?
The Economic Collapse
Have you seen video of the teacher protests that are going on in Wisconsin? We haven't seen anything like this in America in quite some time. If you haven't seen video of the protests yet, some very good raw footage is posted below. On the one hand it is good to see Americans coming together and standing up for what they believe in, but on the other hand what these teachers are freaking out about shows just how much America has changed. These teachers are not protesting for liberty, freedom or to change the government. Rather, they are protesting because they want things to remain the same. They simply don't want anyone to mess with their pay. Well, the truth is that none of us ever wants to experience a pay cut. It is not a lot of fun. But sadly, states like Wisconsin are so broke that they have to find cuts somewhere. Someone is going to have to make a sacrifice. The teachers in Wisconsin just want to make sure that it is not them.
In the United States today, state and local governments are facing unprecedented budget crunches. Tax revenues are way down and expenses are way up. State and local government debt has reached at an all-time high of 22 percent of U.S. GDP, and many state and local governments are teetering on the brink of insolvency.
States like Wisconsin have to do something or else they will collapse financially. Wisconsin is facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit (which for that state is huge), and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans in the legislature are attempting to make some tough cuts.
In particular, they want public employees to pay a little more towards their health care premiums and pension programs. In fact, what the Republicans are proposing would still leave Wisconsin public employees contributing far less to health care and pensions than their private sector counterparts.
U.S. Representative Paul Ryan recently appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program and described what Governor Scott Walker is asking the teachers to do....
Scott and I are very close friends. We e-mail each other quite a bit... He's basically saying that state workers which have extremely generous benefits packages relative to their private sector counterparts, they contribute next to nothing to their pensions, very, very little in their health care packages.
He's asking that they contribute about 12 percent for their health care premiums, which is about half of the private sector average, and about 5.6 percent to their pensions. It's not asking a lot. It's still about half of what private sector pensions do and health care packages do.
So he's basically saying "I want you public workers half of what your private sector counterparts do" and he's getting riots. It's like Cairo has moved to Madison these days.
These proposed changes have caused a massive uproar in Wisconsin. Just check out the following raw video footage from the last few days....
But this is what we have come to as a nation. Almost everyone agrees that reducing government debt is a good thing "in theory", but whenever anyone starts to put forward some specific proposals to cut government spending it makes those that will be affected by the cuts extremely upset.
Just look at what is happening with the federal government. Republicans and Democrats are both frothing at the mouth over extremely small budget cuts that have been proposed. Virtually none of our national politicians are even willing to discuss budget cuts that would actually make a serious dent in our budget deficits.
But we have got to do something. Spending by the U.S. government is spinning wildly out of control. Back in 1970, the U.S. government only spent about 200 billion dollars for the whole year. Well, this year the federal government is going to spend somewhere around 3.6 trillion dollars, and Barack Obama's newest budget proposal calls for U.S. government spending to increase to 5.6 trillion dollars by the year 2021. If the government continues to spend money at such a rapid pace it is going to completely wipe out our entire economic system....
But it is not just the U.S. government that is spending like a drunken sailor. Most of our state governments are complete financial disaster zones at this point as well.
As I have written about previously, the state of Illinois is such a financial disaster zone that it is hard to even describe. According to 60 Minutes, the state of Illinois is six months behind on their bill payments. 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Croft asked Illinois state Comptroller Dan Hynes how many people and organizations are waiting to be paid by the state, and this is how Hynes responded....
"It's fair to say that there are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people waiting to be paid by the state."
Something has got to be done about our national addiction to debt.
Government spending has to be dramatically cut. All of us are going to have to make sacrifices. We simply cannot continue to spend far, far, far more than we bring in.
But we are Americans - we do not like to make sacrifices.
Our founding fathers warned us about this. They warned that when the American people figured out that they could vote themselves money out of the U.S. Treasury it would greatly endanger our republic.
Unfortunately that is exactly what is happening today. The vast majority of government spending on both the national and state levels consists of direct payments to individuals of one sort or another.
The American people have become addicted to the bread crumbs that they receive from the hand of their master.
This is not what our republic was supposed to look like.
As the U.S. economy continues to decline, we are going to see a lot more riots like we have seen in Wisconsin. Once the American people realize that the "good times" are over, all hell is going to break loose.
Already the anger and the frustration of the American people is starting to boil over. Unfortunately, that anger and frustration is focused in 1000 different directions. The ruling elite and the establishment media are constantly encouraging us to hate one another. I recently wrote about this phenomenon in an article on another website....
The truth is that the "establishment" is constantly trying to divide us and get us fighting with one another. They pit the Republicans against the Democrats (even as though control both sides). They pit one race against another. They pit one gender against another. We are told that the rich are against the poor, the north is against the south, urban is against rural and that there are even "generational battles" going on. Frustration and hate are rapidly growing in the United States today, and a lot of that frustration and hate is unfortunately aimed at the targets that the mainstream media has programmed all of us to hate. Meanwhile, those at the top of the pyramid who are controlling the whole game love it when we are divided because we can never become united and challenge their control.
Unfortunately, America is more divided today than ever. Our extreme affluence has kept the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted from disappearing so far, but once our affluence is gone all of the hate and frustration in society is going to come bubbling to the surface and it is going to be horrifying to behold.
Once the economic collapse happens, most Americans are not going to take it sitting down. Most Americans are going to want someone to blame. Most Americans are going to want to lash out somehow.
America today is like a big, fat spoiled baby that is about to have its favorite pacifier permanently taken away. America is going to whine and cry and complain like there is no tomorrow.
For decades the financial "gloom and doomers" have been warning about what would happen to this country if we didn't get our house in order, but nobody wanted to listen. Everyone just kept piling up more debt as if it would never be a problem.
Well, now our entire country is covered in red ink. Large numbers of state and local governments across the country are on the verge of defaulting on their debts, and they are hoping that the federal government will bail them out. The federal government has already accumulated the biggest pile of debt the world has ever seen and continues to behave as if we can just keep borrowing and spending massive amounts of money forever.
There is no way out of this nightmare under the current system. Taxing people more is not going to solve our problems. Taxing people less is not going to solve our problems.
We have gotten to the point where it is inevitable that the debt bubble that we have created is going to burst. Our politicians can try to delay it for a while, but in the end the whole house of cards is going to come crashing down.
When the U.S. economy does totally collapse, it is going to make the riots that we have seen in Egypt and throughout the Middle East this year seem tame by comparison.
What we are witnessing right now in Wisconsin are just the "birth pains". The American people don't want to "tighten their belts". In fact, most Americans have absolutely no idea what "hard times" would even look like. When things go from bad to worse we are going to see temper tantrums in this country like we have never seen before.
So get ready. Unless there is some kind of dramatic transformation in this country, in the years ahead we are going to see some horrific economic riots.
It would be nice if we had a brighter future to look forward to, but we don't do ourselves any favors by living in denial.
So what do you all think about what has been going on in Wisconsin? Do you all believe that we could see huge economic riots inside America in the years ahead? Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....
View Article With Links HERE
Have you seen video of the teacher protests that are going on in Wisconsin? We haven't seen anything like this in America in quite some time. If you haven't seen video of the protests yet, some very good raw footage is posted below. On the one hand it is good to see Americans coming together and standing up for what they believe in, but on the other hand what these teachers are freaking out about shows just how much America has changed. These teachers are not protesting for liberty, freedom or to change the government. Rather, they are protesting because they want things to remain the same. They simply don't want anyone to mess with their pay. Well, the truth is that none of us ever wants to experience a pay cut. It is not a lot of fun. But sadly, states like Wisconsin are so broke that they have to find cuts somewhere. Someone is going to have to make a sacrifice. The teachers in Wisconsin just want to make sure that it is not them.
In the United States today, state and local governments are facing unprecedented budget crunches. Tax revenues are way down and expenses are way up. State and local government debt has reached at an all-time high of 22 percent of U.S. GDP, and many state and local governments are teetering on the brink of insolvency.
States like Wisconsin have to do something or else they will collapse financially. Wisconsin is facing a $3.6 billion budget deficit (which for that state is huge), and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans in the legislature are attempting to make some tough cuts.
In particular, they want public employees to pay a little more towards their health care premiums and pension programs. In fact, what the Republicans are proposing would still leave Wisconsin public employees contributing far less to health care and pensions than their private sector counterparts.
U.S. Representative Paul Ryan recently appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program and described what Governor Scott Walker is asking the teachers to do....
Scott and I are very close friends. We e-mail each other quite a bit... He's basically saying that state workers which have extremely generous benefits packages relative to their private sector counterparts, they contribute next to nothing to their pensions, very, very little in their health care packages.
He's asking that they contribute about 12 percent for their health care premiums, which is about half of the private sector average, and about 5.6 percent to their pensions. It's not asking a lot. It's still about half of what private sector pensions do and health care packages do.
So he's basically saying "I want you public workers half of what your private sector counterparts do" and he's getting riots. It's like Cairo has moved to Madison these days.
These proposed changes have caused a massive uproar in Wisconsin. Just check out the following raw video footage from the last few days....
But this is what we have come to as a nation. Almost everyone agrees that reducing government debt is a good thing "in theory", but whenever anyone starts to put forward some specific proposals to cut government spending it makes those that will be affected by the cuts extremely upset.
Just look at what is happening with the federal government. Republicans and Democrats are both frothing at the mouth over extremely small budget cuts that have been proposed. Virtually none of our national politicians are even willing to discuss budget cuts that would actually make a serious dent in our budget deficits.
But we have got to do something. Spending by the U.S. government is spinning wildly out of control. Back in 1970, the U.S. government only spent about 200 billion dollars for the whole year. Well, this year the federal government is going to spend somewhere around 3.6 trillion dollars, and Barack Obama's newest budget proposal calls for U.S. government spending to increase to 5.6 trillion dollars by the year 2021. If the government continues to spend money at such a rapid pace it is going to completely wipe out our entire economic system....
But it is not just the U.S. government that is spending like a drunken sailor. Most of our state governments are complete financial disaster zones at this point as well.
As I have written about previously, the state of Illinois is such a financial disaster zone that it is hard to even describe. According to 60 Minutes, the state of Illinois is six months behind on their bill payments. 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Croft asked Illinois state Comptroller Dan Hynes how many people and organizations are waiting to be paid by the state, and this is how Hynes responded....
"It's fair to say that there are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people waiting to be paid by the state."
Something has got to be done about our national addiction to debt.
Government spending has to be dramatically cut. All of us are going to have to make sacrifices. We simply cannot continue to spend far, far, far more than we bring in.
But we are Americans - we do not like to make sacrifices.
Our founding fathers warned us about this. They warned that when the American people figured out that they could vote themselves money out of the U.S. Treasury it would greatly endanger our republic.
Unfortunately that is exactly what is happening today. The vast majority of government spending on both the national and state levels consists of direct payments to individuals of one sort or another.
The American people have become addicted to the bread crumbs that they receive from the hand of their master.
This is not what our republic was supposed to look like.
As the U.S. economy continues to decline, we are going to see a lot more riots like we have seen in Wisconsin. Once the American people realize that the "good times" are over, all hell is going to break loose.
Already the anger and the frustration of the American people is starting to boil over. Unfortunately, that anger and frustration is focused in 1000 different directions. The ruling elite and the establishment media are constantly encouraging us to hate one another. I recently wrote about this phenomenon in an article on another website....
The truth is that the "establishment" is constantly trying to divide us and get us fighting with one another. They pit the Republicans against the Democrats (even as though control both sides). They pit one race against another. They pit one gender against another. We are told that the rich are against the poor, the north is against the south, urban is against rural and that there are even "generational battles" going on. Frustration and hate are rapidly growing in the United States today, and a lot of that frustration and hate is unfortunately aimed at the targets that the mainstream media has programmed all of us to hate. Meanwhile, those at the top of the pyramid who are controlling the whole game love it when we are divided because we can never become united and challenge their control.
Unfortunately, America is more divided today than ever. Our extreme affluence has kept the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted from disappearing so far, but once our affluence is gone all of the hate and frustration in society is going to come bubbling to the surface and it is going to be horrifying to behold.
Once the economic collapse happens, most Americans are not going to take it sitting down. Most Americans are going to want someone to blame. Most Americans are going to want to lash out somehow.
America today is like a big, fat spoiled baby that is about to have its favorite pacifier permanently taken away. America is going to whine and cry and complain like there is no tomorrow.
For decades the financial "gloom and doomers" have been warning about what would happen to this country if we didn't get our house in order, but nobody wanted to listen. Everyone just kept piling up more debt as if it would never be a problem.
Well, now our entire country is covered in red ink. Large numbers of state and local governments across the country are on the verge of defaulting on their debts, and they are hoping that the federal government will bail them out. The federal government has already accumulated the biggest pile of debt the world has ever seen and continues to behave as if we can just keep borrowing and spending massive amounts of money forever.
There is no way out of this nightmare under the current system. Taxing people more is not going to solve our problems. Taxing people less is not going to solve our problems.
We have gotten to the point where it is inevitable that the debt bubble that we have created is going to burst. Our politicians can try to delay it for a while, but in the end the whole house of cards is going to come crashing down.
When the U.S. economy does totally collapse, it is going to make the riots that we have seen in Egypt and throughout the Middle East this year seem tame by comparison.
What we are witnessing right now in Wisconsin are just the "birth pains". The American people don't want to "tighten their belts". In fact, most Americans have absolutely no idea what "hard times" would even look like. When things go from bad to worse we are going to see temper tantrums in this country like we have never seen before.
So get ready. Unless there is some kind of dramatic transformation in this country, in the years ahead we are going to see some horrific economic riots.
It would be nice if we had a brighter future to look forward to, but we don't do ourselves any favors by living in denial.
So what do you all think about what has been going on in Wisconsin? Do you all believe that we could see huge economic riots inside America in the years ahead? Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....
View Article With Links HERE
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