Progressives: 100 Years of Saving the Poor...From Prosperity

FDR, LBJ, Barack Obama; The New Deal, The Great Society, Hope and Change. For most of the past hundred years, Progressives have been the self appointed saviors of the poor, the forgotten man, the working class...the 99%. Labor laws are, perhaps, their proudest achievement. In their minds, they've assured all Americans "fair" working wages and conditions. All they ask in return, is loyalty at the voting booth and the surrender of some liberties. For truly poor people, the only property they truly own, and the only wealth they possess are in the form of their labor. These people's only means of survival is to sell their labor. Prior to progressive wage controls, they were free to sell it to the highest bidder or to sell it at a lower price in order to sell more of it or to acquire other assets, such as education and experience. Groups that had a harder time finding work, such as minorities, women, and the very young, had the option of selling their labor at a lower price in order to find work. People in low paying jobs had the option of working more hours to earn extra money. Mandatory forty hour work weeks and overtime wage laws took that option away. I work in construction, where we employ 300-400 craftsmen and laborers, depending on our workload. Most times, our employees could have the option of working twenty to thirty additional hours weekly, but the price we're being paid for the work doesn't support overtime wages. These workers are denied the option of increasing their income by as much as 25-60% and they have no input in the decision. To progressives, this is called "looking out for the poor". The lowest income earners live check to check, scraping by just to survive. They make choices between buying food, paying the rent, or buying their kids a new pair of shoes. But working the weekend to pick up an extra $200 is off the table. When I was younger, a lot of construction workers were classified as independent contractors, and not subject employee labor laws. I took every opportunity I was offered to work more hours at my normal rate of pay because I always needed the money. Some of that still goes on, but the government has cracked down on employers to protect employees...from having a chance to earn more money. To those who haven't been there, I'm not sure you can grasp what an extra $100 or $200 means to someone whose regular pay is $400. It can mean the difference between living in an apartment and a house, or having 3 or 4 bedrooms instead of 1 or 2. It can allow a mom more time with the kids by working less or not at all. It can be the difference between your kids wearing new clothes as opposed to second hand. Government does NOT have the right, or the constitutional authority, to deny working people that choice! Last summer, 48.8% of Americans 16-24 years old were employed. That's the lowest percentage since the Department of Labor started keeping track of it in 1948. Young people don't have any skills or experience. They used to have the chance to gain those things by agreeing to sell their labor at lower prices. Minimum wage laws made that illegal. There have been similar effects on some minorities. It must be nice to be a progressive and pat yourself on the back for playing God with people's lives, while never having to worry about suffering the consequences.

Let's Keep Our Eye On the Prize

As I suspect is true of many conservatives, I'm pretty disgusted with the potential Republican presidential nominees, as well as the selection process.I don't think we ever had a great field to choose from, though there were a few with good character and strong conservative credentials. The biased rhetoric of the media, the Republican establishment, and the super PAC's has turned it into a pretty ugly affair. No matter which one of these guys hangs on to win, it's a safe bet that a significant number of voters are going to be disappointed. With all of the mud slinging, we've started hearing the inevitable talk that "The rest of the candidates are no better than Obama."; that's where we have to draw the line. They're ALL better than Obama, much better! Anyone with thoughts of staying away from the polls out of protest or apathy, needs to shake themselves and focus on the ultimate goal; getting Obama the hell out of the Whitehouse. We can find fault with all of the Republicans; Romney installed govt. health care as governor, Gingrich is an adulterer and he believes in global warming, Santorum was a rubber stamp for the big spending policies of the Bush administration, and Ron Paul underestimates the danger from Islamic terrorism. But none of these guys would be as damaging to the economy and the American way of life as Barack Obama. Whether you think he's incompetent, stupid, or anti-American and intentionally destructive, there's no denying that his presidency has been disastrous for all Americans. Unlike the campaign in '08, when we could only speculate about what a leftist radical he was, he now has a record; it's documented Here are a few of the highlights:

• He jammed through a govt. takeover of our health care system, most of which doesn't go into effect until until after the election this year. It will raise the cost of insurance for most people, cause millions to lose their coverage, lead to rationing of services, force all Americans to buy insurance or pay a fee, force businesses to provide insurance to their employees or pay a fee, and, eventually force most private insurers out of business through price controls and mandated services, ultimately forcing everyone into a single payer govt. program.
• He has added over $5 trillion to the national debt in 3 years. This is more than double the pace of George W Bush, who was previously the worst deficit spending president in history. At this pace, and with the additional burden of Obamacare, it's likely that Obama would add more than twice as much to the national debt as all previous presidents combined, over an 8 year term.
• His constant interference in private sector business has lead to the loss of jobs, stalled economic growth, and very little creation of new jobs.
• The uncertainty over over the tax code and the costs of Obamacare had forced businesses and investors to postpone expansion and sit on capital.
• Regulations passed under Bush added an estimated $40 billion per year in compliance costs that are taken out of the economy during his 8 year term, $60 billion was added in only Obama's first 2 years. If re-elected he has already outlined 7 new regulations that, if passed, would add over $100 billion per year.
• He corrupted the bankruptcy proceedings of Chrysler and GM and rewarded the unions at the expense of the bond holders, who had legal priority. Despite his claims that the loans were repaid, taxpayers will lose about $14 billion, through a loss of stock prices, according to his own people.
• He has issued 35.1 billion in taxpayer loans to "green energy" businesses, 80% of which went to major Democrat campaign donors. Several of these businesses have since filed bankruptcy, including Solyndra, which received over $500 million. According to the DOE website, this $35 billion created 3,768 permanent jobs, at a cost of $ 9,315,286 per job. Despite this massive failure, he has vowed to continues these policies.
• After the gulf oil spill, he instituted an offshore drilling moratorium against the recommendations of his own investigators and in defiance of 2 federal court orders. A study by Joseph R. Mason of Louisiana State University estimates that in 1 year, the moratorium resulted in 19,000 lost jobs and $1.1 billion in lost wages, as well as $2.7 billion in lost economic activity nationwide, $2.1 billion in Louisiana alone.
• While the drilling moratorium was in place, he loaned Brazil $2 billion for offshore drilling, then promised their president that the U.S. would be their best customer. Shortly thereafter, Brazil signed contracts with China for the sale of oil.
• He killed the deal for the Keystone pipeline, which would have created an estimated 20,000 jobs and provided a huge new source of North American oil at no cost to U.S. taxpayers.
• He has sent troops into Egypt and Libya, neither of which posed any apparent danger to U.S. national security with no approval from congress and with no explanation of our mission.
• He cut manned space flight at NASA and directed his newly appointed director to reach out to Muslim nations to help them feel good about their contributions to science.
• He refused to grant Obamacare waivers to religious groups, including the Catholic Church, which would force them to provide their employees with coverage for abortion, in violation of their religious beliefs.
• His ATF and justice department allowed the sale of guns to Mexican drug dealers and has refused congressional requests for information for their investigation.

This is just a sample, there's much more. We have to get this guy out of office! I encourage you, and I hope you'll encourage everyone you know to campaign against his re-election, regardless of who his opponent is. It definitely makes a difference. Then let's put more strong conservatives in congress to keep the next guy in line.