Is Obama a Socialist? Uh, YES!

I hate it when politician are politicians...if that makes sense. Always making sure they say the right words or phrases to not cause any potential fallout. Playing it safe and giving "political" answers to tough questions. Mitt Romney was no different when asked by Bill O'Riley point blank if Obama is a socialist.

Read the full story HERE from The BLAZE.

If anyone were to take just a small glimpse into President Obama's record and policies, there is no doubt that he is a socialist and wants the government to run every facet of your life. The biggest, most significant policy is the new health care laws and regulations, which will eventually lead to a complete takeover by the government and drive private insurance out of business. It's just a matter of time unless we get a conservative President and Congress to repeal and replace it.

Checks & Balances Out the Window

I have a three year old daughter who is very independent. When she asks me if she can do something or have something and tell her no she will immediately go to my wife (her mother) and ask her. If my wife says no, she'll put up the biggest fit and end up trying to do it anyway! Sound familiar right? I used to do this, you probably used to do it too - but usually when we grow up and become more mature we tend to grow out of such things. Not so with President Obama.

He tried to get his American Jobs bill passed. The Senate took it to the floor and it failed to pass. So Obama decided to break up key parts of the bill tacked on other pieces of legislation...that also failed. So now, because he can't get what he wants, he's just going to bypass mommy and daddy (Senate & House of Representatives) and do it "administratively." Seriously...how can he do this and get away with it? Isn't there some type of system in place to avoid this from happening? Oh wait, there is - it's call the CONSTITUTION! Apparently our public officials don't care about it and will do whatever they want when they want.

Check out the full story on The Blaze...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/reuters-obama-set-to-take-action-on-housing-student-loans-without-congress/

Hey Mr. President, if it doesn't pass the Senate or the House of Representatives there's probably a good reason...I don't like, it will do more harm than good! I know you are trying to fundamentally transform America into something else and this is just another piece of that puzzle, but we can't always get what we want. Apprently you still need to learn that lesson.

Obama Without His Teleprompter

Thieves recently broke into a van and stole teleprompters belonging to President Obama.  Don't worry, everything is fine.  Obama is handling it well...



First time Conan made me laugh!

Freedom and Free Enterprise

I find it fascinating how history tends to repeat itself. I find it even more fascinating how most of us don't even know enough about history to recognize when it's happening again. The most fascinating thing of all is that most people don't care. As long as their life remains undisturbed, the world and nation can go about without having to worry about a thing.

"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing."

That quote was by Edmund Burke and is a call for good men to stand up against the forces of evil.

If you turn on the television today to your favorite news program, you may hear some reports about the Occupy Wall Street Protests going on throughout the nation. Depending on the news station, you may find these protests as good or evil. Young and old people, whom most don't even know why they are protesting, are protesting against big corporations and the 1% wealthiest people who control the money - greed. A lot of these individuals would like to see the destruction of capitalism and have socialism/communism take it's place - or at the very least see the wealth redistributed from the rich to the poor to make everything fair and equal.

If these people knew anything about history, in order to have the luxuries of the freedoms that our country has experienced for over 200 years we must have free enterprise (i.e. capitalism).

I found an article written by Ezra Taft Benson. In 1953, Benson was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by President Eisenhower. Benson accepted this position with the permission of LDS Church President David O. McKay and therefore served simultaneously in the United States Cabinet and in the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Benson was an outspoken opponent of communism and socialism. Through succession, Ezra Taft Benson became the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1973, and as President of the Church in 1985.

The article was given/written in 1977 - the year of my birth. I was again fascinated that while I was reading how prevalent the words applied to our time and day. The article is titled, "Freedom and Free Enterprise" (click link to view).

Here are few quotes that you may find interesting...

"It is my sober warning to you today that if the trends of the past forty years and especially the last fifteen years continue we will lose that which is as priceless as life itself: our freedom, our liberty , our right to act as free men. It can happen here, it is happening here. The outlook for free enterprise in the world has never seemed so uncertain as now."

"Today it seems evident that we are rearing a generation of Americans who do not understand the productive base of our society and how we came by such prosperity."

"The ethic of the day seems calculated to indoctrinate our citizens for a dependency on the state. Our founding fathers recognized that certain rights are inalienable, that is, God given. Today the state is looked to as the guarantor of human rights, life, liberty and property. Our forbearers practiced the biblical ethic that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his own brow. Today’s ethic seems to be that it is right to be supported by the sweat of another’s brow."

You really need to read the entire article to come to a better understanding between the two forces at play here - good and evil. Evil likes to make it look good, and that's why I think so many people, even good people, can relate to some of the messages conveyed by these Occupy Wall Street protesters. There is no gray, only black and white. The sooner we can see that, the easier it will be to defeat it. "Give me liberty or give me death." - Patrick Henry
Read "Freedom and Enterprise"

Obama Desires to Bypass Congress

From the book "The 5000 Year Leap", by W. Cleon Skousen he summarizes a few of the checks and balances set up by the American Founding Fathers. They "achieved a system of checks and balances...These included the following provisions:

1. The House of Representatives serves as a check on the Senate since no statute can become law without the approval of the House.
2. At the same time the Senate (representing the legislatures of the states before the 17th Amendment) serves as a check on the House of Representatives since no statute can become law without its approval.
3. A President can restrain both the House and the Senate by using his veto to send back any bill not meeting with his approval.
4. The Congress has, on the other hand, a check on the President by being able to pass a bill over the President's veto with a two-thirds majority of each house."

These are only a few of the checks and balances that were set up by the Founding Fathers - these are the main ones that relate to this post today. My previous post showed a 26 second video clip of President Obama telling his advisors to looks for things in the jobs bill that they can get done "administratively" without Congressional authority. In other words, to ignore the checks and balances of America's Three Headed Eagle and to pass laws without Congress. We even have representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) encouraging President Obama to do it as well - bypass Congress - Don't believe me? Here it from their own mouths...


Crazy right? Have you seen or read about this anywhere in the mainstream media?  The Blaze and GBTV.com reports on things that you can't find anywhere else! You should at least make The Blaze a daily read and try GBTV free for 14-days, if you don't like it or find value in it, you don't have to continue it - just give it a try.

Obama the Dictator

President Obama's jobs bill lived a short life and died in the Senate today. There's talk about Democrats breaking up the legislation in pieces and pushing them through a little at a time tucked away in some other bill on page 1,324 where no one will even notice until all the pieces come back together to complete the puzzle.  But why wait for Congress?  President Obama decided to circumvent Congress to try and get it done without their authorization.  Here it from his own mouth:

Thanks to The Blaze for this original video! A news website that is actually reporting on what's really happening in our nation and throughout the world.

Seriously! How is our President getting off the hook with this and nobody in the mainstream media questions this?...let alone even report on it? We have three branches of government for a reason - for reasons just like this! There's a proper order to get legislation passed and having the President go around Congress to get things done is an attribute of a Dictator. To not recognizes Congress' authority as established in the Constitution of United States in my opinion is a President NOT defending it like he should when he was sworn in as President.

"Economic Crisis is Like a Cancer"

The title of this post comes from an actual quote from Alessio Rastani, and Independent Trader while being interviewed on BBC News about the Eurozone Rescue Plan. He candidly said that he and other people like him don't care about the economic condition because their job is to make money. In fact, he said, when "I go to bed every night, I dream of another recession. I dream of another moment like this...People don’t seem to remember, but the 30s depression … wasn’t just about a market crash," he explained, "there were some people who were prepared to make money from that crash, and I think anybody can do that. … It’s an opportunity."

He also predicted that millions of people will lose all of their savings within the next twelve months. His advice? BE PREPARED.

Watch a portion of the interview here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC19fEqR5bA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

It's nice to know that somebody else besides Glenn Beck is telling it like it is that nobody else will seem to say or cover. In fact, there's a movement that's going on right now trying to discredit this independent trader who decided to be open and honest about what's really going on in the world.

It's crazy to think about and some don't want to think about it. But we need to. We need to be aware of what's going on in the world and prepare accordingly. No longer can we sit idly by because sooner or later the cancer will take over.

Contributor to this post: The Blaze

Obama's New Jobs Bill Exposed

Deep inside the new jobs bill is a provision that would override the 11th amendment of the Constitution of the United States...individual state sovereignty. This is unacceptable! Read the full story as reported at The Blaze.

The Truth Lives Here

If you follow my blog or have read any of my posts there's no surprise that I'm a Glenn Beck fan. He is one of the only political commentators that I truly connect with because he tells it like it is. He doesn't favor any political party and bashes on all if they don't stand for honor.

Another reason I like listening to him is due to the fact that he reports on news and events that you can't get from anywhere else. For example, his news website - The Blaze - is dedicated for that purpose. I learn more about what's really going on in our country and the world by spending a few minutes each day reading the articles than listening to a full hour on any main stream news outlet.

A little over a year ago I subscribed to his Insider Extreme membership on his website, which gave me full access to his live radio program, documentaries, and more! That membership has recently been converted to the new GBTV.com featuring his new daily 2-hour live program every weekday. I absolutely love it! Plus he just launched a new iPhone/iPad/iTouch app that allows you to watch live or on demand right from your mobile device!

Subscribe today! 14-Day Free Trial

10-Year Anniversary 9/11/01

I can't believe that it's been ten years since that dreadful day! I remember it like it was yesterday. I was awaiting for class to begin at BYU-Idaho when my teacher comes in and begins to unfold the events of the morning. I was in shock and disbelief - AMERICA WAS UNDER ATTACK!? -

I immediately tried to log on to CNN.com and other news websites to get more information and to see pictures, but they were all bogged down with too much traffic and their servers crashed. Not long after, school was cancelled for the rest of the day, and I immediately went to my apartment and was glued to the tv for the rest of the day!

One of the best renditions I've heard...
I browsed the tv a lot today trying to find programs with tributes and footage of that day. Found programs, but the actual footage was scarce...why is that? I've heard that it almost takes an act of God to get permission to air the actual footage - so I went to YouTube.com and found some of the best/scary footage I've seen...


Speaking of God, I think that this was a wake up call for our country. We, as a people of the most blessed country on this Earth was forgetting God. We were pushing Him out of our lives, schools, government, etc. The reason our country was founded was because of God and people under persecution seeking religious freedom.

Ten years ago, the Prophet/President of my church addressed what happened on this day and what we must do as a people...




Wise words from a wise man. I am so thankful for all the people that help to make our nation safe and secure from policeman, fire fighters, all branches of the military, border patrol, coastguard, etc. - may God bless you in your efforts and may God bless us as we turn to Him and serve him with all our heart, might, mind, and strength.

New Tone, but Same Hot Air

I reluctantly tuned in this evening to watch President Obama address a joint session of Congress. The President presented and enthusiastically promoted a new piece of legislation called "American Jobs Acts." A lot of the things that were said sounded good on the surface level, but couldn't help but wonder what's laying below down deep.

Just like the health care bill, we may not have time to get on our snorkeling gear to explore the reef below. Obama pressed umpteen times that we needed to pass this bill as fast as we can and is planning on giving us more detail on specifics in a couple of weeks. Is it like Nancy Pelosi said, "...we've got to pass the bill to see what's in it..." uh, no. THIS SHOULD BE A RED FLAG TO EVERYONE! Don't pass the bill until it has been given enough time for everyone to read it and openly debate it.

It's just another multi-billion dollar program that the President is planning to spend with our money.

I think President is in campaign mode. He is a very smart man. He's thinking re-election, and with his speech painted Republicans into a corner. If Republicans reject Obama’s jobs agenda, the president will be able to tell voters that he’ll never stop fighting for jobs and prosperity -- and that Republicans will never stop defending tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

Tax the rich. Tax the rich. How about the 42% of Americans who aren't currently paying taxes, start paying taxes! 42%!!!

SSDD.

Freedom

A quote from Spencer W. Kimball...

"The only way we can keep our freedom is to work at it. Not some of us. All of us. Not some of the time, but all of the time.

"So if you value your citizenship and you want to keep it for yourself and your children and their children, give it your faith, your belief, and give it your active support in civic affairs."

From the Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 405; from an address given at the Rotary Club, Salt Lake City, UT, June 8, 1976.

Obama = Hypocrite

HYPOCRITE: A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her feelings or motives. Hypocrisy is thus a kind of lie.

The Presidnt must really think the American people are just a bunch of idiots who don't understand basic economics. If you spend more than you make you go into debt. If you spend less than you make you have a surplus. Obama's actions are so contrary from what he says it is ludicrious to think he actually believes it himself.

In his first two years in office, President Obama has racked up over $2 trillion in debt making our national debt over $14 trillion! Last week when the Democrats and Republican agreed on $39 billion in spending cuts is just a fraction of the overall budget. In fact, our nation borrowed over $50 billion in the time to negotiate the cuts! If that isn't enough to boggle your mind President Obama plans to borrow another trillion dollars to get us through the rest of the government's current fiscal year!

With that said, President Obama goes on television tonight and says this:

"We have to live within our means, we have to reduce our deficit, and we have to get back on the path that will allow us to pay down our debt."

H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E. Do as I say, not as I do right? Is anyone really taking him seriously? What a joke.

Government Shutdown 2011

President Obama hasn't had a budget passed since 2009. If you read my last post you would have learned that keeping and staying on a balanced budget is a common sense principle of living within your means, not overspending, and getting out of debt. Something our lawmakers seem to think is not important. Now the country is faced with a pending government shutdown if an agreement cannot be made by midnight tonight.

What does this mean? Well, I read an article on examiner.com saying that 800,000 federal non-essential federal employees won't get paid. My first thought was non-essential employees? If they are non-essential, why do we even have them in the first place?

That sounds like a good spot to start making cuts in the budget and the scope and size of our government.

Getting Out of Debt - My Personal Experience

I've had a credit card since I was seventeen years old. I loved the idea of buying something now and paying for it later. By the time I was approaching twenty years old I had three or four credit cards and the interest on them was ridiculous, and it was getting difficult for me to even make the minimum payments. Something needed to change. I either needed to make more money to suit my lifestyle or I needed to change my lifestyle and stop using my credit cards and cut the amount I was spending.

I had a pretty good job managing a local restaurant, but wasn't really in a position to increase my income...the thrift store to eBay sales just wasn't cutting it. My lifestyle needed to change. I stopped using my credit cards and paid them off, but didn't really change my lifestyle. A few years later I was back in over my head in credit card debt. Then I found Dave Ramsey. He gave me a Total Money Makeover and common sense principles to get out of debt. It has changed my lifestyle.

• I didn't just stop using my credit cards this time, I cancelled them.
• I created a budget and assigned each potential dollar earned a name. In other words, a balanced budget.
• I now deal in cash only. Saved up a baby emergency fund and have started paying off debts smallest to largest. I am still in this step.

Even though I'm not out of debt yet, I wanted to point out that I made drastic changes by cutting things out of my life that were needless, only spent what I made or less than I made (i.e. living within my means), and kept and stayed on a budget. These are some of the common sense principles I'm doing in my life to get out of debt.

Now let's talk about these ding dongs in Congress running our country, whom also control out tax dollars and how it's spent. You would think they use some of these same common sense principles starting with balancing the budget. But when the housing bubble burst and the recession took hold we were told that we had to spend money to make money (Joe Biden) and this administration has continued to spend more money than the tax revenues are brining in...in the trillions of dollars. The debt ceiling (the amount of money our government can borrow) keeps getting raised and we're borrowing more and more money where sooner or later we aren't even going to be able to afford the interest payments on these loans.

Drastic changes need to be made. First and foremost, we need a balanced budget ammendment in our Constitution. This will allow we only spend the amount of the projected income the government receives through tax revenue. Second, needless government programs need to be eliminated or drastically cut. Government employees salay should be capped with the average American household. They also need to contribute more to their health care plans and savings accounts/pensions. Third, like we did in the 20's we need to cut spending drastically in upwards of 50% spending cuts in the budget.

Doing something like this will hurt, but needs to be done. We need to get our country back on track.

Obama Secretly Destroying the Republic

In a previous post I talked about Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. They lived during the Roman Empire and were brothers and part of the Sempronii. As civil leaders they helped destroy the Roman Republic while allegedly attempting to better the country. I found another piece of evidence that suggested our President, Barack Obama is doing the same thing. This is my opinion and connecting the dots.

"President Obama, reversing a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, unveiled a plan Wednesday [03-30-2011] to allow oil drilling off the Eastern seaboard and potentially the western coast of Florida." [S] On the outside this sounds pretty good and something that we need to do to stop our dependence on foreign oil. But what aren't they telling you?

• These new areas have never been explored before and may not even contain oil.
• Reversing the bad in one step. The next step would granting the leases and permits to start oil exploration in these areas.
• In order to get these permits almost takes an act of God thanks to new regulation (Cass Sunstein) with last year's Gulf oil disaster.
• In reality, it could take years, even decades before we see any real benefit from lifting this ban.

Don't get me wrong, I am totally for new exploration. It is something I believe this country needs to do in the long-term to stop that dependence on foreign oil. We also need to open up drilling on our lands as well, just not in the oceans.

But what about the Gulf of Mexico? The moratorium is still in place. Meaning that the oil rigs that were drilling there aren't and haven't been for months and won't for who knows how long! How about we reopen the Gulf of Mexico and start extracting the oil where we already know where it is! At the same time opening up new areas of exploration. But apparently it's too dangereous.

And then there's Brazil. President Obama recently visited Brazil and granted the permits and licenses for a Brazilian oil company to drill in the Gulf of Mexico! What!? An article on Investor.com writes, "Obama wants to develop Brazilian offshore oil to help the Brazilian economy create jobs for Brazilian workers while Americans are left unemployed in the face of skyrocketing energy prices by an administration that despises fossil fuels as a threat to the environment and wants to increase our dependency on foreign oil." In addition to these permits, our government is also loaning them $2 billion of our tax dollars to help with their effort! President Obama explains: "We want to help you with the technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely. And when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers." [S] So he's giving them money and permits to get the oil that we will then buy from them. Hmmmm, uh, how about we use that $2 billion for our U.S. companines, put people back to work, drill for the oil ourselves, and then we won't have to buy it! It just doesn't add up.

So he's doing stuff that on the outside looks like he's doing it to better the country, but it's actually helping to destroy our own economy and the Republic. I believe this is Obama's true intentions and has been wanting it for a very long time...even before he was President.

Obama to SEIU: Your Agenda Has Been My Agenda

If you haven't read my last post, Economic Terrorism, please do so now. It talks about Steven Learner - who is "considered one of the smartest organizers, if not the smartest organizer, working in the labor movement"[S] and supposed former SEIU member/leader. While employed with SEIU he spent millions of SEIU's dollars to bring about the plan as described in my previous post.

Now watch the clip below where Obama passionately tells SEIU members that "your agenda has been my agenda..."



Is it too far of a stretch to think that the White House knows about Steven Learner and his plans? He, Learner, has visited the White House at least four times. It is little stuff like this that connects the dots for me that make me believe that Obama is like the Sempronii Brothers who - as civil leaders - helped destroy the Roman Republic [and now America's Republic?] while allegedly attempting to better the country.

By the way, SEIU spent over $60 million dollars to help get Barack Obama elected as President of the United States. Don't you think they are expecting a return on their investment? Read about that here.

Economic Terrorism

Obama's Brazilian Tour

I saw and read an interesting news article on The Blaze titled "Between Soccer Games in Rio, Obama Urges Arab Countries to Follow Brazil's Democratic Lead" and my first thought was Brazil's Democratic Lead? Wow! It wasn't too long ago when the nations and countries of the world were looking to America's lead.

That's another thing that bugs me...our country is not a Democracy, it's a Republic! Don't know the difference? Look it up or read the book The 5,000 Year Leap.

A couple of paragraphs in the news article got my attention and gave me a puzzled look, and I think my head exploded. I quote:

"...Brazil – a country that shows that a dictatorship can become a thriving democracy. Brazil – a country that shows democracy delivers both freedom and opportunity to its people. Brazil – a country that shows how a call for change that starts in the streets can transform a city, a country, and the world.”

"Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship from 1964-85, a regime that was eased from power not by a sharp, violent revolution, but through a long, massive popular movement of peaceful protest and strikes led in large part by labor unions and dissident political groups. New President Dilma Rousseff, the nation’s first female leader, who took power in January, was a key member of a Marxist militant group that battled against the dictatorship."

Stop. Go back and read those two paragraphs again. Obama is praising Brazil and how change started in the streets and can transform. The leader in power in Brazil was a key member of a Marxist militant group that battled against the dictatorship isn't much better than before. Probably worse. Coo-coo.

You got to read the entire article.

The Sempronii

I'm reading this fantastic book titled Celebrate Liberty! that's full of famous patriotic speeches and sermons that was compiled with historical annotations by David Barton and came across a reference to the "Sempronii."

The reference comes from an Oration given on July 4, 1796 in Boston by John Lathrop Junior. One of the best lines in his Oration inspired me and have caused me to ponder on the power of one individual. It reads,

"To preserve - to perpetuate - the independence of our country is the duty not only of our civil rulers but of every individual. Much depends, frequently, upon the exertions and designs of a single member of society. The fate of empires has been decided by an aspiring demagogue or an ambitious hero!"

David Barton's annotation of an 1830s definition of a demagogue would like a people half educated; enough to read what is said, but not enough to know whether it's true or not. That way, I suppose, you can manipulate the masses and they wouldn't be the wiser.

The next paragraph in the Oration is really what caught my interest and thought it relevant today...

"Intrigue [secret scheming] and faction [seeking special interests rather than the common good] are the instruments which designing and artful men employ to produce the destruction of good government and the consequent annihilation of order and of law. When those infernal agents [evil influences] are at work, he who bellows loudest for liberty intends to be the tyrant-in-chief. Let us be jealous [suspicious] of those Sempronii - unmantle their nefarious [wicked] intentions and convince them of the fallacy of their hopes to effect their purposes in the midst of an enlightened people."

Again, David Barton's annotation about the Sempronii were two Roman brothers (Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus) who - as civil leaders - helped destroy the Roman Republic while allegedly attempting to better the country.

I immediately thought of our current President Barack Obama and the people he surrounds himself with. If you know anything about President Obama (i.e. childhood, early education, college, background, etc.) you would probably think the same thing. I wholeheartedly think that Obama's intentions for this country are not good. He's like the Sempronii brothers destroying the America Republic with policy and regulation while "allededly attempting to better the country." Obviously there's no way to prove this theory, but getting to know President Obama you can get a pretty good idea.

I just thought it was interesting that something that was said in 1796 was so relevant today.

Stickin' to 'em Guns

In a bold move "Republican state senators in Wisconsin have successfully pushed through a provision stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights by separating it from Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial budget bill." The Blaze By separating it from the budget bill, it didn't require any Democrats to be present as did with the budget bill. Genious, pure genious! It's almost as genious as my idea. One of the Republicans should've pulled an Arlen Specter and switch parties so the budget bill could be voted on.

I am very impressed with Gov. Walker and not backing down and sticking to his guns! I started to lose respect for him earlier today because I heard on the radio that there was some talk of him giving in to some concessions with the Unions, but it may have all been a ploy to pass the stripping of the collective bargaining rights in a separate bill.

Of course the Senate Democrats are up in arms about it and came out with this statement: "In thirty minutes, 18 State Senators undid fifty years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten. Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people. Tomorrow we will join the people of Wisconsin in taking back their government." The Blaze

Keep in mind it's the Democrats fault it came to this in the first place! If they didn't run away like a dog with its tail between its leg at least they could've said they tried and will continue to try to protect their precious union buddies. Also, I think the Dems would've done the exact same thing, if not something more sneaky, if the roles were reversed.

Stripping of bargaining rights of unions is starting to spread as well. Idaho lawmakers just recently approved a bill restricting the teachers union. The Blaze

I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of unions in America.

The Beginning of Slavery

After submitting my last post about the Constitution declaring a slave as three-fifths of a person it got me thinking of how it all started? We know how it ended, but no one really talks about how it all began...at least I couldn't remember. I decided to do some research and to find out.

At first I did a Google search for "history of slaves in america" and found a lot of the results brought back were how Africans were brought over in ships and sold as slaves, but there had to be something before that right? I dug deeper. What led to full blown out slavery was something called indentured servitude.

Indentured servitude was a common practice throughout the globe in which a land owner hired servants to work their land. The land owners paid for their passage on ship and were provided room and board. The servitude usually lasted between 2-7 years and were given the opportunity to work hard, pay off their debts, and become land owners themselves. Oh, I also found that servitude wasn't based on color, rather creed and whether or not you were a Christian. Servants were both black and white.

I also found the story of one individual known as Antonio, a Negro as was entered on a manifest. He was an indentured servant and worked really hard and in four years was able to pay off his debts and became a land owner himself with a 50 acre plot of land with supplies and equipment called "freedom dues." Antonio changed his name to Anthony Johnson and hired five indentured servants himself increasing his land to 250 acres. As part of the contract each servant increased the land ownership by 50 acres.

One of Anthony's servants was named John Casor (also a Negro) in which he contested the length of his servitude and believed that his employer unfairly extended the length of servitude. The case went to court and ruled in favor of Mr. Johnson and John Casor's length of servitude was extended for life! Anthony Johnson, a black guy, was essential the first slave owner of another black guy! Because of this, is one of the main reasons why reparations for blacks and slavery is difficult, if at all, to enforce or pass.

At around the same time this was happening with Anthony Johnson another case of a land owner had three runaway indentured servants. One was black, two were white. They servants were captured and taken to court and the two white servants had an extension on their servitude of four years while the black servant's was extended for life, which started slavery being based on color rather than creed. By the way this was early 16th century (1600-1630's) and slavery didn't become law until 1665 so it evolved gradually over time that started out as hired labor to enslaved labor for life.

Interesting eh? This is obviously isn't something taught in the text books so one should question, why? I'll leave that for another post coming soon!

The 3/5 Compromise

I was on my lunch break the other day at work working on my netbook computer of which I have a picture of three of the Founding Fathers: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel Adams. This striked up a conversation between me and a couple of my co-workers. One of them said the Founding Fathers were all racists. After investigating further they thought they were racists because they owned slaves and only counted negros as three-fifths of a person in the Constitution.

This lit a fire underneath me because I knew that these individuals had no clue what was actually meant when the Founding Fathers put this into the Constitution. I felt the need to educate my co-workers. They thought that the 3/5 statement was in the Constitution because the Founding Fathers wanted to continue slavery when in actuality it was the exact opposite.

"The Three-Fifths compromise was a compromise between the Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which three-fifths of the population of slaves would be counted for enumeration purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the appointment of the members of the United States House of Representatives. It was proposed by delegates James Wilson and Roger Sherman.

"Delegates opposed to slavery generally wished to count only free inhabitants of each state. Delegates supportive of slavery, on the other hand, generally wanted to count slaves in their actual numbers. Since slaves could not vote, slaveholders would thus have the benefit of increased representation in the House and the Electoral College [which would be more difficult to abolish slavery]. The final compromise of counting "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual number reduced the power of the slave states relative to the original southern proposals, but increased it over the northern position." - Wikipedia

The actual text in the Constitution found in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 says: "Representative and direct Taxes shall be appointed among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons."

Wikipedia continues: "Following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1865), the three-fifths clause was rendered moot."

Once I explained this to these individuals, I saw their mind enlightened and were surprised, and they didn't have anything further to say. It irks me to no end when someone just spits out something like that they have no understanding of...just something they heard or thought without doing their homework.

The Adjustment Bureau

Choose your own path! Click here.

It's just been over three months since my last post and it took me going to a movie called The Adjustment Bureau to inspire me to write a new post.  Let me explain why.

Here is the synopsis of the movie according to http://www.imdb.com/: "Do we control our destiny, or do unseen forces manipulate us? Matt Damon stars in the thriller The Adjustment Bureau as a man who glimpses the future Fate has planned for him and realizes he wants something else. To get it, he must pursue the only woman he's ever loved across, under and through the streets of modern-day New York. On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, ambitious politician David Norris (Damon) meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt)-a woman like none he's ever known. But just as he realizes he's falling for her, mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart. David learns he is up against the agents of Fate itself-the men of The Adjustment Bureau-who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds, he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path... Written by Universal Pictures"

This "bureau" basically nudges individuals on a path that has already been written by the Chairman. If these nudges don't work sometimes it turns into shoves. If shoves don't work then the bureau makes you do it without really giving you a choice.

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Right off the bat, this movie reminded me of Cass Sunstein, Obama's Regulatory Czar, and his book Nudge. In it he talks about how through regulation you can manipulate people in making decisions. It gives them the illision of free will and making their own choices, but someone else is actually pulling the strings and guiding them on a path that maybe, just maybe they wouldn't normally take.

For example, if Cass wanted to ban guns...there would be no way Congress would ever pass a law that goes against our Constitutional right, but he could put in place new regualation that it would make it more difficult to be a gun owner like increasing license fees, more paperwork, etc. So Obama's the Chairman and Sunstein is head of the Adjustment Bureau manipulating our choices and what they think is right. The movie, unlike the Obama administration does have a happy ending.

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