*** by Michael Martin ***
It matters little whether you call it congressional or professional Kabuki theatre. It essentially means the same thing – much ado about nothing. Will Rogers put it succinctly “ The opposite of progress is Congress!”. What sort of misdirection game is Congress playing on now? I don’t know, but I’m willing to take a guess.
Prior to the election (much prior), Congress suspended the DEBT ceiling thru/until March 1, 2019, at which point the new debt ceiling becomes whatever the government owes as of that date. I suspect that they will try to increase the debt ceiling while funding the border wall so that both the President and Congress could declare themselves winners. The President wins-He gets wall funding. Congress wins they kick the debt ceiling down the road yet again. The public wins as the country becomes safer from drugs and infiltrating illegals/terrorists and other insurgents.
Who then loses? Your children and grandchildren become the big losers as eventually, they must repay that debt. $100 in 1901 would be worth about 2823.61 in 1918 dollars when adjusted for inflation. Inflation? What is inflation? Inflation is what the government uses to steal your money without you noticing it. Example – you earn about 100 per year and for this, you can $90 worth of goods (the government taxes you 10% so 100-10=90). You receive a 3% raise and now make 103 per year, but the inflation rate is 7%. The government taxes you 10 % or 10.30 and the $103 becomes $92.70. $92.70 times 7% equals $6.49, 92.70 minus 6.49 inflation gives you buying power of 86.41. Hmm, you make more money than last year but can’t buy as much. Remember the rate of inflation is always higher than the rate of your pay increase. If the government screws up, they change the way they calculate inflation.
When you made $100 a year you ate steak once a week which, for example, cost $10 per year. The government screws up and you can actually buy more after your raise, they will say people can’t afford steak and eat hamburger instead costing $5 per year. Let’s see — 10 per year would be 10%, but 5 per year for substitution would be only 5%. Good news citizens, your cost of living didn’t go up 7% but only went up 2 % because people substituted hamburger for steak. Since your cost of living didn’t go up that much they calculate that you received too big a raise based upon the cost of living calculations. So, the government raises your taxes so that they can collect the money you aren’t spending for steak now since you can no longer afford it.
What causes inflation? Too many dollars chasing too few goods, the good old law of supply and demand. Too large a money supply occurs when the government spends more money than it takes in, which is a politically incorrect way to state – they increase the national debt ceiling so that they can print more money.
We need Term limits so that we can try to keep politicians inexperienced. It seems to me that the only experience they gain after 2 terms in office is how to better milk the system and you out of what should be yours. They do this by buying votes. This is called income redistribution. They take your money and give it to the poor under the guise of promoting the common good. I agree that it’s good for the people receiving the income (but only in the short run), but how can taking my money and redistributing it to the poor good for me? It isn’t, it’s only good for the politicraps who want to buy votes to remain in power. I think it was Samuel Clemons who said that politicians and babies should be changed often, and for the same reasons. If not him then maybe it was Mark Twain or Will Rogers. If you are interested – look it up – I did.
Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a return to Constitutional government. When the founding fathers wrote the Constitution they divided the powers and wrote citizen protections into the Constitution. They did this because they were also citizens and did not want an all-powerful government controlling their lives. The early Congresses’ did not exempt themselves from the laws they wrote, and they tried to write reasonable laws because they knew they would have to live under them after their term of office. There were no “professional” politicians.
There are laws against “insider” trading of stocks and bonds. Stock traders can be fined and sent to jail for buying and selling stocks based upon “privileged” information. But our politicraps who can decide what companies get what defense contracts are free to buy and sell stock based upon their “privileged” inside political information! How do you think the politicraps make their money and suddenly become wealthier and wealthier the more time that they spend in office? Think about it. The President must put his holdings into a blind trust while he is in office! Why isn’t this required of our Senators and Congressmen? Think about it.
Think about an Article V Convention of States to limit the power of the federal government and bureaucracies. Think about the delegates being civilians and subject to the amendments they propose. Think about not allowing lawyers or legislatures to sit in on the forming of the amendments.
Now write you Texas legislators to pass an Article V amendment convention. Write your federal congressmen, senators and demand that the debt ceiling not be raised – show a little love and compassion for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren the current politicraps are enslaving to debt.
Dear Lord, I pray that you save us from our government. Lord, I pray that you awaken your people to the their perils. Lord, I pray that you be merciful to our souls. In Christ’s name, I pray.
