The Right Lane 1.08.13

In pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, free markets and individual liberty

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

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We Are Not Subjects

I've been vexed in trying to understand the behavior of the American voting public and the extent they are willing to stand for such excesses coming out of Washington.  One consideration I must entertain is that people have begun to think of themselves as "subjects".  There are of course many things to be considered yet, I don't believe there is ever "one answer" to complex issues.  So, I again ask how can it be that a free people under a Constitution that guarantees freedom from being "subjects" to anyone or anything.  We are free people on many levels.  A Republic of Free States with an allegiance to a central government with limited powers.  All of this is (or at least should be taught in our public schools).

How do subjects behave versus a free people?  Free people look to themselves for answers and for control of self.  Subjects wait to be told and adhere to stringent rules given out to those that rule them; as in subject to....

What makes this so perplexing is that anyone can understand the Nation's budget woes.  No one can understand the true complexity of millions of words on paper that actually make up our Federal Spending, but we all understand simple math.  How might we determine that you ask?  Simple, most every American is surviving daily in a very complex world; going to work, buying what we need and paying our bills.  Simple enough? Yet, when it comes to our own government, we act more like "subjects".  We act and behave as though we were the helpless subjects of a psychotic ruler.  A ruler that behaves badly and not in our or the Nation's best interest!  Moreover, we listen to the political blather as though it is the "truth".  Once done, the "truth" crowds out any civil discourse on the "right thing to do".  As individuals, we wrestle with these questions daily and do just fine.  But when we listen to the political class speaking nonsense we act as though loyal subjects cannot and must not think for themselves!

Another thought.  Subjects do tend to behave as though they are helpless; they cannot do anything about psychotic or tyrannical behavior by those who we (citizens) have hired (elected) to act in our best interest.

So here we sit, a Nation in such horrendous debt that for those reading this, we will not recover in your lifetime or maybe in the lifetime of your children.  This makes no rational sense to me.  It is our country!  We must and should take accountability to make things right!  However, if we have taken on the context of being a "loyal subject", we will sit idly by and wait for it to all come crashing down.  That while having the satisfaction we can blame it on Washington (our psychotic ruler if you will).

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Planned Parenthood's New Annual Report: We Did 333,964 Abortions; 1 Every 94 Seconds By Penny Starr

(CNSNews.com) – Planned Parenthood Federation of America's latest annual report for 2011-2012 says that its affiliated clinics performed 333,964 abortions in fiscal 2011. That works out to an average of one abortion every 94 seconds. The 333,964 abortion Planned Parenthood did in fiscal 2011 is an increase of 4,519 from the 329,445 abortions it did in 2010, according to a fact sheet that Planned Parenthood published last year. Over two years, Planned Parenthood says, it has aborted 663,409. The 2011-2012 report states that Planned Parenthood received $542.4 million in “government health services grants and reimbursements,” which it states includes “payments from Medicaid managed care plans.” The report also shows that Planned Parenthood’s total assets top $1 billion dollars, specifically $1,244.7 billion. “We are so proud of the year’s many successes, and deeply grateful for all the partners, sponsors, volunteers, staff and friends who helped make them possible,” states the report's introductory letter, signed by PPFA president Cecile Richards and Cecelia Boone, chairwoman of the organization.

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Health Insurers Raise Some Rates By Double Digits

But…but.. “Affordable Care Act”? Even the NY Times is reporting on the failures of Obamacare. Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s healthcare law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own. In California, Aetna is proposing rate increases of as much as 22 percent, Anthem Blue Cross 26 percent and Blue Shield of California 20 percent for some of those policy holders, according to the insurers’ filings with the state for 2013. These rate requests are all the more striking after a 39 percent rise sought by Anthem Blue Cross in 2010 helped give impetus to the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, which was passed the same year and will not be fully in effect until 2014.

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NY Democrat Proposes To Repeal 22nd Amendment, Term Limits on Presidency

Not that it is likely to happen, but it truly shows the depth of radical thinking within the Democrat party.  H.J.Res 15 proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment. This would remove the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President. Rep. José Serrano (D- NY15) introduced the controversial joint resolution on Friday, the second day of the 2013 legislative session. The last President to serve more than two terms was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt served three full terms as President and was elected to a fourth term. Roosevelt died 83 days into his fourth term in office. Congress passed the Twenty-second Amendment on March 21, 1947. The required number of states ratified it in 1951. There have been numerous attempts to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, including a previous attempt by Rep. Jose Serrano. Rep. Serrano attempted to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment with H.J.Res. 5 in 2009. Opponents of H.J.Res. 15 are being urged to inform their representatives of their opinions and to voice their opinion on PopVox.com.

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Obama's $264 Billion Tax for 2013 May Spark New Recession by David A. Patten

With the fiscal cliff deal and many Obamacare taxes taking effect, Americans will be slammed with an estimated $264 billion in new taxes this year alone — making 2013 memorable for delivering one of the largest one-year tax increases in American history. The math breakdown of the new taxes is simple: Key parts of the Bush tax cuts will expire as a result of the new fiscal cliff legislation, hitting American taxpayers with taxes of about $39.5 billion each year for the next decade.  In addition, the expiration of the so-called “payroll-tax holiday” will fill federal coffers with another $160 billion each year, on average, over the next 10 years. And finally, several new Obamacare taxes begin this year, costing Americans an estimated $41.8 billion of additional taxes. In the wake of this tax tsunami, a growing chorus of economists is warning that Congress’s last-minute effort to dodge the fiscal cliff — which added some $2.2 trillion in new revenue over 10 years, could function as a massive "anti-stimulus" — pushing a teetering economy into a full-blown recession within the next 12 to 18 months.

While the number crunching continues in earnest, the tax wallop of the 157-page American Taxpayer Relief Tax Act of 2012 that Congress passed last week is gradually emerging.
In 2013 alone, the new tax revenues would include:

• $160 Billion Hike in Payroll Taxes. This is due to the expiration of the payroll tax “holiday,” which increases the payroll tax that helps fund Social Security from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. According to the Tax Policy Center, this increase will actually hit lower- and middle-income taxpayers harder, in percentage terms, than the wealthy. Commentators often say “it’s just a 2 percent increase” — it’s actually a 48 percent increase over the tax rate wage earners paid for each of the past two years.
• $39.5 Billion in Income-Tax Rate Hikes. President Obama and the Democratic Senate insisted on letting the Bush tax cuts lapse on high-income earners. Such earners making more than $400,000 ($450,000 for married couples) will see their marginal income-tax rates rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. That shift is projected to garner $395 billion in taxes over the next 10 years. The tax affects less than 1 percent of American households — but also impacts many high-spending professionals and successful small business owners who pay taxes on the personal returns.
• $15 Billion from Limiting Deductions. The new law calls for a “personal exemption phase out,” or PEP, affecting the exemptions and deductions that wealthier families can claim. It affects individual filers at $250,000, and $300,000 for joint filers. The tax bill for a couple earning $400,000 averaging about $50,000 in deductions each year will rise by about $1,000 according to a Wall Street Journal calculation.
• $5.5 Billion in Capital Gain and Dividend Taxes. The new tax rate for capital gains and dividends will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent (this figure doesn't include an additional 3.8 percent surcharge on investment income for high-income earners, which will kick in during 2013 to help defray the cost of Obamacare).
• $2 Billion in Estate Taxes. The law increases the top rate for gift and estate taxes from 35 to 40 percent.

Despite President Obama's promise during both of his campaigns not to raise taxes on middle-income wage earners, The Tax Policy Center reports taxes will go up for over 77 percent of American households.  The bottom line of the new taxation: Economists predict less economic growth as cash is sucked out of the economy to cover the burgeoning federal deficit. And some see a worse scenario: greater likelihood of a new recession.

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Bank of America Freezes Gun Manufacturer’s Account

Bank of America has reportedly frozen the account of gun manufacturer American Spirit Arms, according to its owner, Joe Sirochman. In a Facebook post dated December 29, Sirochman wrote the following:

“My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms…our Web site orders have jumped 500 percent causing our Web site e-commerce processing larger deposits to Bank of America. So they decided to hold the deposits for further review. “After countless hours on the phone with Bank of America, I finally got a manager in the right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on hold for further review — her exact words were — ‘We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet.’”(emphasis added)

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How college students think they are more special than EVER: Study reveals rocketing sense of entitlement on U.S. campuses

Books aside, if you asked a college freshman today who the Greatest Generation is, they might respond by pointing in a mirror. Young people's unprecedented level of self-infatuation was revealed in a new analysis of the American Freshman Survey, which has been asking students to rate themselves compared to their peers since 1966. Roughly 9 million young people have taken the survey over the last 47 years.  Self-love: New data suggests students today are convinced of their own greatness regardless of whether they've accomplished anything.

Up, up and away! Over the past 50 years American students have increasingly grown confident not only socially but also about their own writing and intellect skills and their confidence in leadership ability Psychologist Jean Twenge and her colleagues compiled the data and found that over the last four decades there's been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being 'above average' in the areas of academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability, and self-confidence. But in appraising the traits that are considered less invidualistic - co-operativeness, understanding others, and spirituality - the numbers either stayed at slightly decreased over the same period. Researchers also found a disconnect between the student's opinions of themselves and actual ability.

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Welfare recipients take out cash at strip clubs, liquor stores and X-rated shops By KATE BRIQUELET

They’re on the dole — and watching the pole. Welfare recipients took out cash at bars, liquor stores, X-rated video shops, hookah parlors and even strip clubs — where they presumably spent their taxpayer money on lap dances rather than diapers, a Post investigation found. A database of 200 million Electronic Benefit Transfer records from January 2011 to July 2012, obtained by The Post through a Freedom of Information request, showed welfare recipients using their EBT cards to make dozens of cash withdrawals at ATMs inside Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn; the Blue Door Video porn shop in the East Village; The Anchor, a sleek SoHo lounge; the Patriot Saloon in TriBeCa; and Drinks Galore, a liquor distributor in The Bronx. The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), which oversees the “cash assistance program,” even lists some of these welfare-ready ATMs on its Web site. One EBT machine is stationed inside Club Eleven, an infamous Hunts Point jiggle joint known as much for its violent history as its girls in pink thongs.  Critics blasted the government for turning a blind eye to welfare’s sleazy money. “This is morally scandalous,” said Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. “I have nothing against strip clubs, but that’s not what benefits are for. I don’t blame [recipients]. If you are poor, it’s a crummy life and you want to have a drink or see a naked woman. I blame the people who are in charge of this.” The food-stamp program prohibits the purchase of booze, tobacco and lottery tickets with an EBT card. But with the cash-assistance program, users can blow money on strippers or a six-pack and to tap welfare dollars from liquor stores, casinos and adult-oriented establishments. The Post found dozens of pubs, nightclubs and tobacco shops where welfare dough was dispensed — and presumably spent. The Boiler Room, a gay dive bar in the East Village, had $120 and $60 transactions a minute apart on Jan. 17, 2011. The bar is around the corner from a Bank of America that takes EBT cards. With only one of the city’s Assembly members, Nicole Malliotakis (R-B’klyn./SI), as a co-sponsor, the bill faces an uphill battle. The Assembly typically doesn’t support welfare reform, because its more liberal members think the measures “hurt the poor,” Libous said. If the bill remains stalled, the state stands to lose $120 million in federal welfare funding. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, signed by President Obama last February, requires states to prohibit sinful welfare spending by 2014. If they don’t, they’ll forfeit federal cash. “The people who are stealing from the program are the ones I want to go after,” Libous said. “Not someone who lost his job or a single mom who has to feed her kids. That’s what this program is supposed to be for.”

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Be Defined by Godly, Loving Commitments
by Rick Warren

Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! (2 Peter 3:11 LB)

Your commitments can develop you, or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you. Tell me what you’re committed to, and I’ll tell you what you’ll be in twenty years.

It is at this very point of commitment that most people miss God’s purpose for their lives. Many are afraid to commit to anything, so they just drift through life. Others make half-hearted commitments to competing values, and that leads to frustration and mediocrity. Others make a full commitment to worldly goals, such as becoming wealthy or famous, and they end up disappointed and bitter.

Every choice we make has eternal consequences, so we need to choose wisely: “Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living!” (2 Peter 3:11 LB). As believers, we should be defined by godly, loving commitments. If we want to become more like Jesus, then we need to commit to the same things he did.

Talk about it:

• What do your commitments say about you?
• What commitments do you need to let go of? Where do you need to make or renew commitments?

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"[W]hen the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, - who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually, by totally disusing and neglecting the militia."

--George Mason, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788