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  Thomas Paine - 1776



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REASONED VIEWS ON TIMELY ISSUES

A view of what has happened to the purchasing power of the dollar in our lifetime
By Ben Cerruti

$purchasepower (31K)

I ran across this graph at http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=17796 which I think every American should view. A picture is worth a thousand words and this one illustrates what the Federal Reserve System, aided and abetted by the Federal Government's deficit spending policies, have caused. There is good reason why this country has undergone another economic tsunami which will lead to eventual economic suicide. The only one way to prevent this from happening is to recognize the event that caused it and then attempt to reverse it.
 
In 1913 the 16th Amendment to the Constitution abrogating the original words "no capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herin before directed to be taken" was enacted. This allowed the imposition of a federal income tax and allowed the Federal Government to take tax money derived from one State and give it to another. Along with the act another act established the Federal Reserve System. There is no mystery why both were enacted at the same time as the progressive legislators in power at that time needed complete "power of the purse" to establish the centrallized power of the Federal Government. It is obvious that efforts to repeal these acts are paramount.
 
Over the last century, with the ability to essentially buy legislative influence with campaign contributions and other benefits. progressive elements have been successful in having legislation passed that induced many to look towards the Federal Government as the entity to take care of their daily problems. In doing so the freedom endowed by our creator of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have been incrementally eroded. There is no free lunch and this is becoming apparent with each passing day. In electing a President whose actions follow the teachings of Karl Marx we find the ultimate progressive ready to have us all pay the piper by way of a fascistic form of government. One in which the purchasing power of our "fiat" currency would be worthless and probably be replaced by a world currency with greatly reduced value.. It should be apparent that the prosperity experienced in the past would be diminished since the incentives for entrepreneurs to gain an adequate return for their investments would in turn be diminished.
 
Thus readers, if this makes sense to you as it does to me,  strongly oppose every piece of legislation supported by this present administration, even though it may seem to be harmless. When legislators themselves do not have the time to read that on which they vote it must arouse suspicion. There are many ways to change bills that have been written in either chamber and especially when the leaders of both houses of Congress come together to reconcile their respective bills into one that will be submitted to the President.
 
Finally, there are movements in this country to repeal the acts heretofore mentioned. When you hear of them please support them. There are more than two political parties in this country and perhaps the time has come to look at all of them before making your voting decisions.

Welcome global governance
By Henry Lamb  Thursday, September 24, 2009

If there were ever a question about Barack Obama’s dedication to the concept of global governance, it has now been answered fully.  His track record to date points toward his commitment to global governance; his speech to the United Nations removes all doubt.

In order to fully appreciate the effectiveness of Obama’s pursuit, it is necessary to have an accurate picture of what global governance really is.  The picture of global governance has been deliberately camouflaged by images of black helicopters and imagined blue-helmeted U.N. forces invading nations to enforce its mandates.  This is the picture of global governance that its proponents want people to see so they will not see the real events that are constructing the actual global governance.
Global governance is a new procedure for creating and administering laws that govern all nations.

The United Nations consists of a General Assembly, the Security Council, and more than 1300 different agencies, councils, and commissions.  Each of these governmental bodies is staffed by individuals who perform administrative duties dictated by the administrative hierarchy.  In theory, the policies that guide the administrative hierarchy are established by the delegates from the U.N.’s 192 member nations.  Keep in mind that these delegates are a ppointed officials of their government.

These delegates meet in luxurious facilities, and mouth platitudes and indictments and, more often than not, eventually approve whatever agenda the administrative staff has laid before them.  This form of government is most accurately described as the “Administrator” form of government.  To be absolutely clear: global governance is a system of rules and regulations, created by an administrative hierarchy, that dictate how individuals and organizations must behave.  Each nation becomes an administrative unit responsible for implementation of U.N. rules and regulations.

This is the form of global governance first envisioned by Woodrow Wilson’s alter-ego, Colonel Mandell House, who shared his vision with the world in his book titled “Philip Dru: Administrator.”  Wilson’s League of Nations was designed to bring global governance to the world, but the United States balked, and rejected a global administrator.

Franklin Roosevelt, who served in Wilson’s administration, surrounded himself with others from the Wilson Years, and began implementing an “Administrator” system of governance in the United States.  With the help of a Democratic majority, Roosevelt pushed through Congress a laundry list of legislation that allowed the President, or Administrator, if you will, to undertake many programs for which there is no Constitutional authority.  Eventually, the Supreme Court tightened the reins and slowed the transformation of U.S. government.  But not before Roosevelt reconstructed the League of Nations using a new name – the United Nations.

It is significant that Obama quoted Roosevelt in his speech to the U.N.:  “We have learned to be citizens of the world,” said Roosevelt.  It is significant that Obama, campaigning in Berlin, told his audience that “I come to you as a citizen of the world. ”  Since assuming office as President, he has acted like Philip Dru’s Administrator, campaigning for the position of Administrator of the world.

Obama’s actions in office are similar to Roosevelt’s actions in office, except Obama appears to be on steroids.  While relying on his teleprompter to mouth platitudes and indictments, Obama has ignored all Constitutional constraints, and surrounded himself with people who reek with Marxist ideology.  With the help of a Democratic majority, he is pushing through Congress a laundry list of programs that will essentially change the American system of government – just as he promised in his campaign.

Now he has told the world that America has not only “re-engaged” the United Nations, but that America is adopting policies that accept and embrace the global governance pursued by Mandell House, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt.  While still a Senator, Obama introduced legislation to comply with the U.N. request to increase America’s contribution to international aid to .07 percent of GDP – to nearly $845 billion per year.

In his speech to the U.N., Obama promised the world that America will reduce its defense capability, effectively leaving U.S security in the hands of the International Atomic Energy Agency.  He is apparently content to leave the bad behavior of rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea to whatever “consequences” the U.N. may choose to administer.

To achieve “peace and security” in the world, Obama threw Israel under the proverbial bus, demanding that Israel stop construction of their settlements, return to pre-1967 boundaries, and provide “contiguous” territory for a Palestinian state.  He forgets that Israel was quite happy with the pre-1967 borders until its neighbors invaded, a second time, in an all-out effort to push Israel into the sea.  The additional land that Israel captured when it kicked Palestinian butt, was to provide a little more buffer between its sworn enemies and the sea.
Obama promised the world that America would bow to the U.N.’s global warming agenda and support the creation on a whole new set of administratively created rules and regulations to limit the behavior of individuals and organizations.


 WHY DO WORLD LEADERS SUPPORT THE CO2 GREENHOUSE GAS MYTH?
By Ben Cerruti

It is disturbing to hear the President of the United States propagate that which is not true. In his speech to the United Nations today he advanced the Global Warming/Climate Change myth. At the same time appearing in the New York Times an article by Andrew Revkin contains the fact that "global temperatures have been stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years", In addition, there are many scientists, meteorologists and weather experts who have debunked the notion that the creation of excessive amounts of Carbon Dioxide is the cause of global warming if, in fact, it actually exists.

When leaders in all major countries in the world including ours claim there is climate change that has been created by mankind caused green house gasses our citizens tend to believe them. When they claim that man made Carbon Dioxide is a green house gas and must be reduced markedly people tend to accept that as a fact. In fact, established evidence proves the propaganda which they are conveying is not the truth. Why would our leaders and others in high places lie to us since on the surface there appears no reason to do so?  There is a reason and it should be shocking to those who are willing to acknowledge it. Especially since it could lead to the loss of our country's sovereignty. Let's look at some interesting history on this subject.

In a speech to the UN relating to the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change in 2000, French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac said   "For the first time, humanity is instituting a genuine instrument of global governance, one that should find a place within the World Environmental Organization which France and the European Union would like to see established." Adding on to this rhetoric was climate change advocate and former VP Al Gore's statement that the proposed Congressional Carbon Cap and Trade bill will help bring about "Global Governance". In a speech made in 1991 we also also heard former President George Herbert Bush refer to a "New World Order".

Financier and major political campaign donor George Soros (György Schwartz) has been an avid advocate  of a strong central international government to correct for the excesses of self-interest. He is also known to speak Esperanto, a universal language, learned from his father. He is also a member of the Tri-Lateral Commission that has had the issue of global governance on its agenda for many years. Founded 40 years ago by David Rockefeller the commission members also include Zbigniew Brzezinski (he called for a world government in his 1970 book "Between Two Ages"), Henry Kissinger, Madeline Albright, George H. Bush, William J. Clinton, Lynn Cheney Dianne Feinstein. Thomas S. Foley, Richard A. Gephardt, David Gergen, Richard Holbrooke, Brian Mulroney, Charles B. Rangel, John D. Rockefeller IV,  Lawrence H. Summers, Paul A. Volcker, William H. Webster, Mortimer B. Zuckermank and other noted national and international persona of various political persuasions.

The complete membership list can be seen by clicking on the following link http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Trilateral_Members.htm .  It meets every year and its agendas to any sharp observer would appear to be leading the world down that garden path to a new world order led by an international government (possibly a reformation of the United Nations). 

Aiding and abetting this movement is the "Global Warming", recently renamed "Climate Change", that has become a vehicle to create a world wide emergency. What better way to usurp a country's sovereignty than to impose rules and regulations such as those first encompassed in the Endangered Species Act and now being proposed in the Cap and Trade bill. This is an obvious world wide conspiracy that transcends political parties. We have seen this in past months with TV spots showing Newt Gingrich and Nancy Plosive together supporting the reduction of green house gasses that has to increase one's sense of conspiratorial behavior.

The questions arises, why do these people support this movement that has no basis in fact? There is a rational answer. There exists in this world an elite class whom I call the "super rich" that follow an ideology that would minimize the chance of potential chaos caused by disgruntled elements of society. Their intent would be to find a way to eventually establish an international world government. That is their ideology and the result would be loss of our sovereignty and distribution of income and accumulated wealth among the rest of us. Essentially socialism that ends up being a two class system with the upper elite class having the power of the purse controlling the masses.


 The Audacity of Barack Obama
By Ben Cerruti
 
He says that he personally, as if a Congress wasn't involved, will not allow any tax of a family making under $250,000 a year to increase by one dime.  He continues to say this despite the fact that both his Treasury Secretary and Director of his National Economic Council have said that such a tax could not be taken off the table. Both of these gentlemen are economists while B.O. has no such education or experience. In addition, the fact that the Cap and Trade bill, if passed, would admittedly increase the cost of everyone utility bills and the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office has indicated that the proposed Health Care bill could not be paid for without more tax revenue further contradicts his rhetoric. To expect that the people will continue to believe he can fulfill this campaign promise is the height of audacity.
 
The audacity continues when he says about the proposed health care plan that people can keep their present medical insurance if they so desire when Insurance Co's, unjustly so,  are being blamed for the high cost of medical care. In fact, the public option plan is designed to put the medical insurers out of business and lead to a fully nationalized program. Video clips have shown Congressman Barney Franks saying as much and B.O., prior to his election, stating that he favored a single payer plan. Further, he has stated the seniors should not worry about losing their coverage despite the fact the health care plan states that they must accept counseling relating to their final years of life. This is a precursor for government making decisions affecting the necessity of specific health care to prolong one's life. Decisions that morally should be left up to the individual and their family. Again the Messiah is demonstrating his audacity.
 
The fact that a person is elected President doesn't endow him/her with omnipotent powers. B.O. does not have the background and experience to qualify him for anything but what he has been. A community organizer, essentially supporting socio-political activity such as that exemplified by ACORN, a corrupt and government supported entity. A civil rights lawyer and university teacher of constitutional law and later as State Senator and  U.S. Senator his experience was limited. Even his stint in the U.S. Senate was spent mostly campaigning for President.  Yet he wants to impose a profound change in the governance of the people that will diminish the freedom endowed to us by our founding fathers that will be virtually impossible to reverse.  He obviously does not have the experience commensurate with the audacity he portrays.
 
This audacity is typical of the type of autocrat we see and have seen leading third world countries countries into socialism. His Marxist leanings were bred early on in Chicago as an avid student of the teachings of radical community organizer Saul Alinsky who believed the Marxist credo that the end justifies the means. This being further amplified with his association with William Ayers,. a co-founder of Weather Underground, which conducted a campaign of bombing public buildings during the 1960s and 1970s. Anyone who takes the time to review B.O.'s background and then his rhetoric, along with his flagrant disregard for its substance displayed in his actions, must acknowledge that he is following the Marxist credo espoused by Alinsky, "the end justifies the means".
 
He then must be judged to be a Charlatan, a Con-Man, and like the Pied Piper many Americans appear to be following him on his road to serfdom for them. Americans still have time to realize what is occurring and to express their desire to maintain the freedom provided them by our forefathers. We should pray that this is happening and will continue to the point of bringing this audacious person to his knees and eventually removing him from office before he can do any more serious damage.

Medicare is a financial failure as will be Obamacare
By Ben Cerruti
 
According to the 2008 report by the board of trustees for Medicare and Social Security, Medicare will spend more than it brings in from taxes that year (2008). The Medicare hospital insurance trust fund will become insolvent by 2019. This is not a surprise. There has never been a program in which government has injected itself that has been able to support itself financially. Take Social Security. a Ponzi scheme look alike, will start to run a deficit in 11 years and is predicted to be bankrupt in 2037. Other examples are Amtrack and the Postal Service who both run continual annual deficits. It would seem that those in government would use this experience as a guide for what they consider doing in enacting legislation for other such programs. But that appears to not be the case.
 
The Public Option in the proposed health care bill is obviously another Medicare type program only expanded to cover everyone. Surely it must be acknowledged that making a program that is going bankrupt larger will only make the bankruptcy that much more severe. Of course, government has the power to borrow from the FED that in turn owns a money printing press. Supporting a program that operates at a loss in this manner, as should be learned from the past, eventually causes inflation and impacts the ability for private enterprise to grow and prosper and provide employment for the benefit of all our people.
 

B.O. is an economic ignoramus or a devious Marxist
By Ben Cerruti

Recently B.O. said "Wall Street took unnecessary excessive risks and almost our entire economy into depression". It is unfortunate that he knows so little about economics and the fact that what happened on Wall Street was the EFFECT rather than the CAUSE of the economic tsunami. In fact, if not ignorant he certainly is disingenuous since the Wall Street to which he is referring happens to be the entity that markets the debt issued by the Treasury. Firms like Goldman-Sachs are in essence an arm of the Treasury. The fox in the chicken coop.

In regard to the economic crisis that occurred on Wall Street, its CAUSE was initiated when the Fed placed an excessive amount of money into the economy to address the recession that started just prior to the GWB presidency and extended to ease the economic blow of 9/11. This inordinate amount of money deposited into our banking system had to be loaned out since that is how banks make money. The ability to easily sell the loans removed the liability of foreclosure and the result was the accelerated development of creative loans to meet the demand.

The increased demand caused home prices to increase markedly attracting speculators. The increased need for buyers of these loans was met by Wall Street's investment bankers. They created bonds that were backed by a bundled package of a variety of mortgage types and initially priced by a complicated mathematical formula. Called Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) they became considered as highly desirable investment vehicles and were sold worldwide.


A Letter To My Employees
  By Anonymous
To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

However, what you don't see is the back story. I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

The Fallacy of Keynesian Economics
  By Ben Cerruti

"John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes  (5 June 1883 ? 21 April 1946) was a renowned economist from Britain whose many ideas on economic and political theories as well as on many governments' monetary policies influenced America. He advocated a government that played an active role in the lives of people regarding business, economy, etc. In this role, the government would use fiscal measures to reduce the consequences of recessions and booms . His ideas are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian Economics"
 
The foregoing entry into Wickipedia succinctly states that which readers of Keynes' "General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" must acknowledge. That is the use of Keynesian economics deeply involves the use of government powers to control that which affects trade in order to maintain an orderly market. THAT IS ITS FALLACY. It is impossible for government to do that which is desired. The reasons are very basic and I have evidence provided by Milton Friedman, also a renowned economist and Nobel Laureate, to support them.

B.O. Is Disingenuous on Health Care
  By Ben Cerruti
B.O. has done it again addressing EFFECT rather than CAUSE. It is ironic that the burgeoning costs of Health Care that he wishes to address was CAUSED by the Government and his plan would compound the EFFECT previously CAUSED. In 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson's leadership legislation was passed to establish Medicare which has become financially untenable.. According to the 2008 report by the board of trustees for Medicare and Social Security, Medicare will spend more than it brings in from taxes that year (2008). The Medicare hospital insurance trust fund will become insolvent by 2019.
 
The enactment of Medicare essentially usurped the function of the market place in setting prices for health care services. This was not necessarily without the collaboration of the medical practitioners who were not necessarily averse to price fixing.  Nor where the Insurers who simply adjusted their pricing accordingly.  The pricing established by Medicare was reflected in the pricing of health care in general.  Rather than let the market place determine the cost of health care the Government, despite being well intentioned as it is supposedly always is, was as is usually prevalent the CAUSE of what has ensued over these 40 plus years since the inception of Medicare.

PRESIDENT ADDRESSES EFFECT INSTEAD OF CAUSE
This exacerbates our economic problems

June 17th, 2009: This morning I listened to our president present a program to implement extensive government financial and economic regulations. This to address the EFFECTS of the economic tsunami in which we find our country, Unfortunately, he was disingenuous in his oratorically impressive presentation because he along with many in his administration are not addressing that which CAUSED what his mis-guided actions are attempting to correct.
 
The CAUSE of our economic tsunami is the same as that which caused the 1929 Stock Market Crash and Great Depression and subsequently every recession, stock market bubble, housing bubble etc. It is what caused President Nixon to take the country off the Gold Standard in 1971 and the subsequent hyper inflationary period. The CAUSE which our government has never really addressed and which continues to disingenuously ignore is the Federal Reserve Board's mis-management of the money supply. 
  
Economics, by definition, the study of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, must by its nature also involve the study of money. As the substitution for barter, money provides the means for all that the study of economics involves to occur. In fact, where barter is not used it is the basic required ingredient (catalyst, if you will) for all else that occurs. Milton Friedman, best known for his monetary theory, sent to me in correspondence I had with him in the 1990's graphs providing empirical evidence that there was an approximate two year delay between a change in the money supply and its attendant affect on the economy. He also has stated: 

DEFICIT SPENDING AND THE FED ARE TO BLAME

Unfortunately that which has actually caused our present economic crisis is not even being given lip service by anyone. It is hoped that which is contained herein will help fill that void for the reader..

As every family knows, when it spends more than it earns it can only make up the difference by borrowing or increasing income. It is the same for the government except they also have the power to essentially print money. Let's look at how government appears to get away with running continuing deficits while any of us who did the same thing would eventually be forced into bankruptcy. When the government spends more money than it receives, the Treasury Department has the power to borrow the difference by offering bonds for sale at market interest rates. Ready buyers of these bonds are those foreign countries who sell more of their products and services to U.S. entities then is purchased from them. The dollar difference (trade deficit) must eventually return to the U.S. and is predominantly used to buy this debt.

When the amount of funds required to satisfy the deficit exceed the amount of trade deficit dollars available to buy our bonds, the Federal Reserve Bank (FED) buys the bonds. The FED presently owns around 40% of the national debt and this means the government essentially owns this portion of its own debt. They buy these bonds by crediting the attendant purchase amount to the bank accounts of the dealers that sell them. Since banks are required to only maintain 10% of their deposits in reserve they can lend 10 times that amount. This 10 to 1 leverage is then further increased when money is moved by transactions to other banks.

Why should this be of concern? Because this created money is just like any other commodity and its purchasing power decreases when the amount of it available increases . When there is more supply than demand of a commodity the value of that commodity decreases.. Hence, the devaluation of the dollar and resultant eventual inflation.

Our present economic condition has been brewing for many years. Its beginning can be traced back to what ensued after it was agreed by 29 nations at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 that the U.S. would guarantee to sell gold at $35 an ounce effectively pegging the value of world currencies to the U.S. dollar. Subsequent continued deficit spending that exacerbated in the 1960's coupled with an increasing trade deficit resulted in marked devaluation of the dollar relative to gold. This led to the issuance of what were called “special drawing rights (sdr's)”, that were in essence iou's, to offset the difference between the market price of gold and $35 an oz.

>In 1971 the continuing increased national debt and ensuing pressure from speculators and central banks forced President Nixon to abandon the gold standard. Thus the dollar became a fiat currency whose value was to float in relation to other world currencies. Without the restraint of the gold standard, deficit spending accelerated and rose from under $500 Billion in 1971 to $9 Trillion in 2008. During this period the FED continued to manipulate the money supply resulting in an inordinate increase in the price of homes followed by a marked decrease in these prices circa 1985 to 1998.. What then transpired brought us to our present economic predicament described as follows..


BO's speech at Notre Dame completely ignored the role of the Doctor in abortions, as did Notre Dame's administration

BO's speech to the 2009 Notre Dame graduating class amplified the sounds of those on both the pro-life and pro-choice sides of the abortion issue. No one seems to view this issue as having what can be viewed as another position based on who are those who are committing the abortions. The Doctor performing the act is getting away with what some would call murder. If reason was used it could be held that the expectant mother is asking someone to commit this act and the very acceptance of a Doctor to do so could be considered an illegal act under the Constitution. Hence if it is the Doctor who is committing an illegal act that should be prosecutable.
 
The following article I wrote a few years ago addresses the personal responsibility issue and the fact that the expectant mother does have a choice but that it does not include a third person to commit the act. It would not mean that a Doctor should not be able to administer to her after she has opted to find a way to induce the abortion herself, including possibly taking a pill prescribed by a Doctor. The point being morally and ethically shouldn't she be responsible for performing the physical action of inducing the abortion? Having to make such a decision in which she is physically initiating the act makes it more likely that she would more seriously examine her options. Those being to keep the child or to offer it up for adoption. Being more personally responsible could cause those thinking of practicing unprotected sex to think twice about it and possibly consider a degree of abstinence. Of greater possible importance would be that a third person, the  Doctor, would not be taking a life and violating moral and ethical tenets..
 
In regard to BO's position on stem cell research, he has authorized use of our tax dollars similar to those provided for foreign abortion clinics, to fund embryonic stem cell research. The government should not be in the business of funding these programs on which our society is divided. However, the private sector is free to spend their research dollars as they wish. In fact, positive results of adult stem cell research has recently shown that that embryo's need not be destroyed at all.

The President of General Electric, Jeffrey Immelt recently said the following in a letter to stockholders. This should scare the hell out of freedom loving Americans everywhere. But will it?  
     "We are in a recession and, at times like these, it is difficult to predict how bad and for how long. We are running GE to 'weather the cycle'. However, I believe we are going through more than a cycle. The global economy, and capitalism, will be reset in several important ways. The interaction between government and business will change forever. In a reset economy, the government will be a regulator; and also an industry policy champion, a financier, and a key partner."
      Corporate America appears to be on its way to becoming hung on the government narcotics being offered to them. Those duped by these words will rue the day they passively accepted them as a path to Utopia. Think about it, Public-Corporate partnerships cannot be partnerships because the government by its very nature will be in control. The shareholders interest will become subservient to the government. Socialism will take over. Goodbye American freedom!

THE BASIS OF RATIONALITY

Information gathered in the present, combined with that obtained and processed over past periods of time, is reprocessed by our mind. If the past information is either not factual or erroneously perceived, judgments reached will not have validity. To achieve validity, reason based on factual information must be utilized as the basis for making reevaluations of past judgments and evaluations of all new judgments. This website's purpose is to advance this rationale.

A Rational Advocate's Biography

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931


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How to Cure Health Care
By Milton Friedman
The United States spends a mind-boggling percentage of its GDP on a health care system that virtually everyone agrees is a disaster. Is there any way out of this mess? There is-and Milton Friedman has found it.

Since the end of World War II, the provision of medical care in the United States and other advanced countries has displayed three major features: first, rapid advances in the science of medicine; second, large increases in spending, both in terms of inflation-adjusted dollars per person and the fraction of national income spent on medical care; and third, rising dissatisfaction with the delivery of medical care, on the part of both consumers of medical care and physicians and other suppliers of medical care.

Rapid technological advances have occurred repeatedly since the Industrial Revolution-in agriculture, steam engines, railroads, telephones, electricity, automobiles, radio, television, and, most recently, computers and telecommunication. The other two features seem unique to medicine. It is true that spending initially increased after nonmedical technical advances, but the fraction of national income spent did not increase dramatically after the initial phase of widespread acceptance. On the contrary, technological development lowered cost, so that the fraction of national income spent on food, transportation, communication, and much more has gone down, releasing resources to produce new products or services. Similarly, there seems no counterpart in these other areas to the rising dissatisfaction with the delivery of medical care.

These developments in medicine have been worldwide. By their very nature, scientific advances know no geographic boundaries. Data on spending are readily available for 29 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. In every one, medical spending has gone up significantly both in inflation-adjusted dollars per person and as a fraction of national income. In 1997, the United States spent 14 percent of gross domestic product on medical care, the highest of any OECD country. Germany was a distant second at 11 percent; Turkey was the lowest at 4 percent.

A key difference between medical care and the other technological revolutions is the role of government. In other technological revolutions, the initiative, financing, production, and distribution were primarily private, though government sometimes played a supporting or regulatory role. In medical care, government has come to play a leading role in financing, producing, and delivering medical service. Direct government spending on health care exceeds 75 percent of total health spending for 15 OECD countries. The United States is next to the lowest of the 29 countries, at 46 percent. In addition, some governments indirectly subsidize medical care through favorable tax treatment. For the United States, such subsidization raises the fraction of health spending financed directly or indirectly by government to more than 50 percent.

What are countries getting for the money they are spending on medical care? What is the relation between input and output? Spending on medical care provides a reasonably good measure of input, but, unfortunately, there is no remotely satisfactory objective measure of output.

Ultimately, the purpose of this article is to examine the situation in the United States. I have mentioned the data on the OECD countries primarily to document the two (related?) respects in which the United States is exceptional: we spend a higher percentage of national income on medical care (and more per capita) than any other OECD country, and our government finances a smaller fraction of that spending than all countries except Korea.
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Universal Health Care
By Thomas Sowell  (TownHall.com)
Those of us who are getting on in years can remember a time when most people had no health insurance, when we simply paid the doctors or the pharmacies and went on our way, without giving it a second thought. I have especially painful memories of having a hospital bill of $50 for the treatment of a baseball injury back in 1949. You have no idea how big $50 was for me at that time. It was the most money that I had ever paid for anything. But the bill got paid off, a few dollars at a time, over a period of months. When and why did health insurance, paid by third parties, become widespread in the American economy? Like so many things that the government does, third-party health insurance grew out of problems created by previous government policies.....

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WORLD ISSUES
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Talk by Israeli scientist, Haim Harari (honoraria and bio), at a meeting of the International Advisory Board of a large  multinational corporation, April, 2004.
 
As you know, I usually provide the scientific and technological "entertainment" in our meetings, but, on this occasion, our Chairman suggested that I present my own personal view on events in the part of the world from which I come. I have never been and I will never be a Government official and I have no privileged information. My perspective is entirely based on what I see, on what I read and on the fact that my family has lived in this region for almost 200 years. You may regard my views as those of the proverbial taxi driver, which you are supposed to question, when you visit a country....

This website has had posted a poll question relating to Islamic beliefs and recently also posted an essay by 'A Rational Advocate' whose content was related to that subject matter. The following is an email dialog that developed from the initial comments made by a visitor whom shall be called Ms X.  The commentary provides an interesting insight to the rationale of some non-Muslims relating to the subject matter....

Madrassas, Islamic Schools, and American Public Schools do have a similarity.  This similarity lies in the fact that they both graduate students that have been indocrinated with a unilateral social ideology.  Some may argue that Madrassas deal with religion but, in fact, the tenets of the Koran that are taught include much involving the manner in which the society must function....

Evidently there are some in the Western World that think the answer to this question is yes.  In the U.S.A. we find among them many candidates vying to be the Democratic candidate for President, acting as if we should have continued passively after 9/11 and our military activity in Afghanistan, waiting for the next attack by the terrorists on some target within our 50 states.  In Britain, where our President has visited recently, they attack the actions of Tony Blair and the Coalition of the Willing in their effort to bring democracy to Iraq.  Their actions convey the feeling that they seem to be on the side of the terrorists and thus to support the longevity of terrorism.....

This is a World War
By Ben Cerruti
Many pundits, politicians, members of the press, and others in our society, maintain the view that the armed conflicts existing around the globe are not necessarily connected. However, this view does not hold up when the obvious facts emerge to show that there is a common thread that exists to tie them together. This thread is terrorism.....

WIN THE BATTLE - LOSE THE WAR
By Ben Cerruti
It is apparent that there is confusion in the mind of many people. It lies in the view that they think we have engaged in a war in Iraq that is winding up with the U.S. as winners. The events that have transpired involving mid-east terrorists over the last 20 plus years, culminating with the events on 9/11/2001, can only lead any rational person to the conclusion that our war is against terrorism and we are far from winners of that war yet......

TRUMAN WAS WRONG
By Ben Cerruti
What with all the hoopla over the North Koreans recent nuclear saber rattling one would think that some mention would be made of what got us here. We hear nothing about the Presidential decision that led to the permanent separation of Korea into two states. Fifty two years ago a confrontation between President Truman and General Douglas MacArthur, over far east policy leading to this decision, dominated the news. It resulted in the removal of MacArthur from his position as Commander of the U.N. armed forces then fighting the North Koreans.....

A view appears to exist that America is more dependent on the receipt of mideast oil than the supplier is dependent on the revenue from its sale. As a result we find contentious argument both inside and outside of government as to the need and methods for making our economy less dependent on foreign oil....

The following burning question, I would think, should rationally enter the minds of the greater majority of civilized people in this country and world. Why would educated young Muslims take the lives of innocent victims along with their own in the conduct of suicidal missions in support of a cause? It would appear contrary to any religious belief, including that of Islam.....

This morning I posed myself the following questions. (1) Why can’t the causes behind the acts of terrorism on our country dating back a decade be determined by a rational analysis? (2) Why can’t we wean ourselves away from dependence on the resources of the region of the world that threatens us?......


POLITICAL ISSUES
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Why do so many seemingly good people with a liberal bent become pent up with rage when they read or hear the word "Christian" in a conservative context.  In their diatribe they invariably relate the word to their villainous foe "the religious right", or as it is sometimes called, "the Christian right".  Regardless of the possible merits to be found in the presented material, they lose rationality when they see the word "Christian" even though it may only be referencing the most positive moral virtues and perspective.....

The creator’s of our Constitution were so concerned that the Federal Government would usurp the powers of State Government that they included provisions to lessen that possibility.  However, time has taken its toll on these provisions and the politics they had hoped to minimize has reared its ugly head in the Supreme Court to further erode the powers of State Government.....

VOTING ON PRINCIPLE
By Ben Cerruti
In general elections should a person vote for a candidate or his party affiliation? There are various reasonable arguments that can be proposed to justify voting in either manner. Perhaps it would be well to look at the motivation for voting.......

President Bush had threatened a veto if the Homeland Security Act did not include provisions that would allow the new department flexibility in dealing with employees.  Such provisions to include the right to waive collective bargaining rules and to eliminate the lengthy and difficult procedures to move or terminate federal employees now existing in federal law.  With difficulty, and some compromise with members of Congress, the Act was finally enacted with provisions that somewhat minimzed the ability for public employee unions to adversely affect homeland security........

A visitor to this web site recently had comments to make about the essay “Are You Conservative or Liberal?” written by “A Rational Advocate“. As a result, an interesting dialog developed that should be of possible interest to other visitors and it follows.....

The answer to this question, as used in political connotation, requires an understanding of the respective terms. This process involves the semantics of their use in discourse. It stands to reason that a mutual understanding of the words and terms when utilized in discussions is required for communication between the parties involved to convey true meaning to the discourse.......


We have been witness to a continuing use of class warfare by those in government, abetted by the media and an assortment of special interest groups and individuals.  In this essay we will consider the methods they use to establish definitions as it relates to the redistribution of income......


What are the reasons for contributors to provide money to candidates for public office? Common sense tells us that they are as follows:
1. Ideological, meaning to promote the ideals in which the contributor believes.
2. Self-seeking, meaning to gain from the candidate commitment to actions that will be economically beneficial to the contributor.....

There are those that claim that elections are the most effective method of holding legislators accountable for their actions.  In a truly democratic system this might be possible but unfortunately ours is not such a system as experience tells us....

There is a great misuse of meanings of certain words and phrases by many in our society, with the greatest abusers being many media and political persona and social opportunists (self-serving individuals and groups).  It is especially disingenuous when this practice takes place in the categorization of people for the purpose of pitting one category against the other....



SOCIALISSUES
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OREGON, THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH,
EUTHANASIA AND ABORTION

By Ben Cerruti
Hitting recent headlines was the cognizant U.S. District Judge's confirmation of the Oregon voter-approved law allowing doctors to assist in the death of terminally ill patients. I wonder if this Judge is aware of the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath, of course, is what historically was taken by those entering the medical profession upon graduation from medical school........

A visitor to this web site recently had comments to make about the essay "Homosexuality Is Not Normal" written by “A Rational Advocate“. As a result, an interesting dialog developed that should be of possible interest to other visitors and it follows...

Why do homosexual couples who wish to establish a union between themselves insist on having the government allow them to be endowed with the same marriage title provided to heterosexual couples? Why are they not satisfied with being provided the same legal provisions in the form of a title called "civil union"? A single answer to both questions is obvious. They want society to consider their relationship normal. The reason the government should not concede to their demands is also obvious. Their relationship is not normal because man and woman were put on this earth with complementary sex organs meant to procreate the species....

Another visitor to this website recently had comments to make about the essay  "Homosexuality Is Not Normal"  written by “A Rational Advocate“. As a result, the following dialog developed between the visitor, who is given the name Mr. H, and A Rational Advocate (ARA)....

WHY GO TO MARS
By Ben Cerruti
The Space program had become another humdrum government program to the average American before the tragic loss of Columbia. It took that event to awaken us to think about this program and the reason for its existence at this point in time......

The 4th Constitutional Amendment states:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized" - Recently Representative Howard Berman, Democrat from California, introduced HR5211,a bill to indemnify holders of copyrights on files who use technological means to enter one's Computer and disable the use of such files.......

Altruism is defined as regard for and concern for the welfare of others. An Altruist is defined as one who adheres to the practice of Altruism. A problem exists in our society in the interpretation of actions versus intentions. The  premise I take here is that a person cannot perform an altruistic act that does not fulfill a personal intent to commit it. Thus the definition of Altruism contradicts itself.

DO WE WANT THIS BRAVE NEW WORLD?
By Ben Cerruti
Published in 1932, a novel by Aldous Huxley, entitled “A Brave New World”, described a fantasized society of the far future which has, as time progresses, becomes less a fantasy and more a possibility. This society controlled by an authoritarian centralized government practices mass breeding of humans in laboratories, called hatcheries, replacing normal maternal reproduction......

LOVE AND SEX
By Ben Cerruti
Love is a most misused word.  Saying things like “I Love Cookies” or  “I Love It” or “I Love to Ski”, when the word that should be used is “like”, is innocent enough....However, the word love also has another common misuse, with which we are also all familiar, but this misuse sometimes gives the user of the term a lot of grief....

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