Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Special Free study course #8
16
Oct
One of the biggest problems today, second only to the loss of our value for life, stems from the loss of our God-given concept of justice for all and the rise of the man-centered concept of survival of the fittest.
We are offering our course on Christian Values-Rule of Law for free for a limited time. The coupon is good until October 26 to the first 100 who sign up at https://www.udemy.com/course/christian-values-rule-of-law/?couponCode=7019EA9
Public Assistance-C
12
Oct
Programs for the disabled have caused just as many problems. Disabled benefits are taken out of Social Security funds for those who haven’t reached retirement age but paid into Social Security and are unable to work. That adds to the number of people drawing on the fund. However, the worst problem is the way it is administered. There are many people who are disabled who could work with help. I had Polio when I was young and have trouble with my legs. There are a lot of jobs I can’t do, but I have found jobs I could do. I have been able to work most of my life up to retirement and still take odd jobs. While many recipients of disability are limited in the work they can do, there are other jobs they can do. It may require training but it would be far cheaper to train them and return them to the work force than to continue to support them. In addition, many have disabilities that could be helped with assistance devices but the devices are too expensive for disabled people who cannot work without them. It would be far cheaper to get them the devices and return them to the workforce than to continue to support them. Most of the social programs developed by the Democrats are geared toward maintaining those in need and not to returning them to active employment. The programs make the people dependent on government support instead of helping them provide for themselves. The real problem is that Democrats having been using that dependency to pressure recipients to vote for them. They claim that if Republicans get in power they will end the programs and recipients will lose their benefits. Republicans have made no such threats and have pushed to redesign the programs to make them more geared toward making recipients better able to provide for their own needs. Republicans did it with welfare and can do it with other programs if given the chance.
Public Assistance-B
12
Oct
The programs for the elderly have been just as bad. Prior to Social Security, people worked until they could no longer work. Then they went in a nursing home or went to live with family. Social Security was meant for the few who could not work but were not in need of a nursing home. Now many people retire at 65 or even 62 so they can enjoy their retirement. As a result, a lot more people are drawing benefits and they are drawing them longer because many people live far longer than they used to. That would not have been a problem if Democrats had not drained the Social Security fund to develop other poverty programs. The money paid in would have drawn interest and continued to support the withdrawals. By draining the surplus, it forced the money paid in to fund current recipients and not sit drawing interest. That was not a problem at the time because there were more working than were drawing Social Security, however the signs pointed to trouble ahead, but they ignored them. The fact that people were living longer and drawing longer, is putting a bigger strain on Social Security than the designers planned on. In addition, abortion has eliminated one out of three babies. That, and the fact the more women are working and having fewer kids means that fewer kids are coming into the work force. That means that fewer workers are paying into the system while more are drawing out of it. That is putting an even bigger strain on the system which many predict will soon run out of money. In addition, Social Security has not kept up with inflation and many Seniors are struggling. Their solution is to increase the tax on the rich to provide extra benefits to the poorer recipients. They ignore the fact that there are very few very rich and the added income will not cover the added benefits to the lower income recipients that make up the bulk of recipients. Since Seniors are more healthy and many could work ten to twenty more years, It makes more sense to support Republican plans to raise the retirement age. That way more workers will work longer and draw for a shorter time. While they work, they will continue paying into the system while not drawing from it. That would provide far more benefits because the number contributing would be far greater. The number of people dying increases with age so the age group with the highest number is just after retirement. It addition, it would help if the Democrats just returned the funds they took out for other social programs, including the interest it would have made if invested. The workers paid that money in expecting it would be there for them when they retired but Democrats betrayed them by spending it on other programs. Those funds would support the program for many years to come. The Democrats cry about how Social Security is running out of funds even though those on Social Security paid that money into the fund but continue to add to the benefits that go to those on welfare who did not pay into it with no thought to the cost. If welfare benefits can be taken from the general fund, there is no reason that funds for Social Security can not be taken out. Seniors deserve it far more.
Public Assistance-A
12
Oct
Democrats say they are concerned about social causes and care about the poor, the elderly, and the disabled and they work to provide safety nets. While that sounds good, the programs they have developed have caused tremendous problems. While private agencies help the needy on the basis of need, the government programs are based on eligibility. When I worked for the welfare dept., we constantly checked to make sure they fell in the income guidelines, however income is not a very good gage of need. A family with no income that got $400 a month in assistance and paid $300-400 a month for rent had nothing left over for utilities. If the family owned their home, they could pocket anything left over, but would have to spend it so they didn’t accumulate more savings than allowed, so they spent it recklessly. Both families met the qualifications but only one really needed that much. The same with Food Stamps. The family with a garden got the same as the family without, but one needed it more than the other. While Public assistance required recipients to look for work, many jobs they could have got did not pay as much as they got on welfare so it was often better to go on welfare. They could still work and get partial benefits to make up the difference but the program punished recipients for working by holding their welfare checks until they got the pay stubs and refigured what they were eligible for so their checks would be late. I encouraged my clients to find work to enable them to move off welfare but the other Social Workers would get after me because it made more work for them when one of my clients moved into their area. I figured the extra work was worth it if the recipient was able to better themselves. While the recipients would look for work, it was easy to keep from getting a job by making a poor showing at job interviews. In addition, the husband had to leave the home before the family could get help. That caused a lot of broken marriages as husbands left the home so the rest of the family could get help. There was no limit on help and children would grow up and go on welfare, which was easier than working. The “Welfare Reform & Upward Mobility Act” restored the connection between work and assistance by establishing a 100 hour per month work requirement. There would be an exemption for single parents with children under age 6 but they would still have access to all vocational opportunities. It provides money to assist with vocational programs for those having trouble finding work. Married couples could split the work requirement enabling them to juggle family and work. In addition, it put a cap on benefits so people could not spend their whole life on assistance. However, they put in a loophole so they could shift a lot of people from welfare to disability once their benefits reached the limit. It did a lot to curb abuses but there is a long way to go. Many recipients are third generation welfare recipients and have never developed the work habits needed to get and keep a job. It will take a long time to retrain them to support themselves, but the benefits will far outweigh the cost of continuing to maintain them.
Politics-AB-AG
27
Sep
The proof is in the results. President Trump has pushed policies that have benefited average Americans and stimulated the economy in spite of continued harassment by leaders of the Democrats. The leaders of the Democrats continue to push expensive programs that will strangle the economy and sink us far deeper in debt. Republicans continue to push laws to protect babies born after botched abortions and protect the American people from illegal immigrants, terrorists, and drug dealers, but the Democratic leadership continues to oppose them. The Democratic leadership seems to be doing everything they can to break down the protections we have in our election system and open it up to fraud in spite of Republican efforts to prevent them. The Democratic leadership seems to be totally out of touch with the American people but they don’t seem to care, they are determined to get their way anyway. Unfortunately, the rest of the Democrats are forced to go along or lose their campaign funds and they are supported by some Republicans which has made it difficult for the remaining Republicans to accomplish much. We are fast approaching another election and it is time the American people voted out those who are trying to take over the government through deceit and replaced them with people who will respond to the will of the people. The primaries are coming up next Spring and is where you need to choose the best people because if you don’t choose wisely in the primaries, all you will be left with in the general election is choosing the lesser of two evils.
Politics-AB-AF
27
Sep
Democrats are accusing the Republicans of holding up the approval of the budget and risking a government shutdown, however they ignore the fact that they are also holding up the approval. Democrats have included massive new spending programs in the budget that will benefit different groups which they want to vote for them, but which will further increase the national debt and push us closer to government collapse. It will also require increased taxes which will take money out of American pockets and result in less money to spend, resulting in a downturn in the economy. They refuse to give in and reduce spending to help balance the budget, Republicans want to have a balanced budget that will help reduce the national debt and allow for tax decreases which will leave Americans with more money in their pocket to spend which will stimulate the economy. The worst part is they are telling all the special interest groups that will benefit from the giveaways that Democrats are proposing that they will lose all their special benefits if Republicans have their way. Democrats appeal to the greed of the voters to gain support for their programs with no thought to the fact that those benefits are not sustainable. They also openly talk of the people who will suffer from a shutdown with no mention of the people who will suffer from the inflation that results and the higher taxes instituted to support those lavish giveaway programs. That doesn’t even consider all the people who will suffer if the government collapses and America is thrown into another massive depression.
Gun Control-B-B
20
Sep
The government is supposed to protect citizens, however Democrats have proposed a number of bills to control guns, which will do nothing to protect Americans. No mass shooter has acquired their guns through private sales. They were either purchased publicly, passing a background check, or stolen. It would only make it more difficult to buy or sell firearms, ensuring that a gun dealer will get a cut of the profit. It would also create a national gun registry allowing the government to know who has guns so they could confiscate your gun whenever they decides to do so. There has been no media publicity about these bills in spite of the impact they would have on the country. Cities and countries which limit guns have seen dramatic rises in gun deaths caused by criminals who ignore the law and deaths from knifings as criminals prey on citizens unable to defend themselves. The gun laws only curb the use of guns by honest citizens. The Democrats have proven how ineffective gun laws are. States and cities controlled by Democrats have the strictest gun laws in the country and they also have the highest rate of killing by guns. Chicago which has the strictest gun laws in the nation also has more shootings that anywhere else in the nation. While gun opponents talk about gun violence as if it is everywhere, the vast majority of violence occurs in only a few places which restrict the use of guns. Mass shooters and other criminals target areas which restrict the use of guns where they do not have to fear running into someone with a gun, and many mass shootings have been prevented when a bystander carrying a gun took the shooter down before he could kill many people, but the media doesn’t report those because they don’t support their anti-gun narrative.
Gun Control-B-A
20
Sep
Democrats say they are seeking responsible gun use however when they gained control of the House, they pushed a wide range of bills to promote their agenda. Talk is cheap but the truth lies in what they vote for. They pushed the “Universal Gun Registration Act” which would ban all private sale of guns and require they be handled through an authorized gun dealer. All guns would have to be registered through a national registry. While that sounds good, It would disarm the citizens and leave them at the mercy of criminals and terrorists who would not register their weapons. In addition, it is the first step dictators use to disarm their citizens and allow them to subdue the citizens. While people say that can’t happen here, we saw how far President Obama pushed the country towards government control using universal health care. Most provisions never went into effect but were truly scary. They are also pushing legislation which would ban gun sales to military age adults and to mandate ammo microstamping (to trace ammo-?). They are also pursuing the “Red Flag Gun Confiscation Bill” where they could take away your gun simply because someone said you posed a threat with no due process.
Environment-L
18
Sep
While Democrats claim to support scientifically based transition to renewable energy, they ignore much of the scientific evidence. While they push the benefits, they ignore the problems created. While they push reducing pollution emissions in the United States, they ignore the fact that we have already reduced the vast majority of emissions and further efforts will seriously hurt the economy while producing almost no benefit to the environment. In addition, they push for stricter controls in the United States while ignoring China and India who produce the vast majority of man-made pollution. In addition, many so-called scientific studies have been doctored to create scary scenarios and ignore the real facts. They pushed scary stories of the dangers of overpopulation to justify the need for abortion at a time the birth rate in the United States was actually declining and food production was exceeding demand resulting in needless destruction of grain because there was no place to store it. In fact, last year the world’s population actually decreased and the government continues to pay farmers to keep thousands of acres out of food production to support food prices and prevent surpluses.