Government Entitlement Programs

On September 2, 2010 I posted a blog about how 1 in 6 Americans receive some sort of government aid and wanted to expand a little more on how these type of programs can be destructive to our nation and the individual/family who is receiving that aid. But first let me define the word "ENTITLEMENT/ENTITLED"

ENTITLEMENT

1. (a)the state or condition of being entitled (b)a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract
2. a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group
3. belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges
   

The following is a story about Bob in relation to an entitlement program called Medicaid (state/federal health insurance for the poor):

Bob's family NEEDS health insurance because they have two children that have special needs that require a lot of medical assistance and other programs. Bob is a full-time student and has a part-time job. His wife stays at home with the kids. Because Bob's income is very low he and his family has been on Medicaid for the last 5-7 years until recently.

I got a call from Bob the other day because he remembered that I sold supplemental insurance. He explained to me that he and his family was kicked off Medicad because his income was $15 too much per month. He is now shopping around for health insurance for him and his family. Not only were they kicked off Medicad, their Food Stamps may be in jeopardy as well...another entitlement program.

Our telephone conversation went something like this:

Bob: Betsy and I lost our Medicaid.

Me: Why?

Bob: I made $15 a month too much.

Me: That's frustrating.

Bob: I know! Now I understand why people don't work, if you work you lose benefits. There is no incentive for working.

Me: I'm sure something will work out.

Bob: I'm sure it will too. I'm figuring out the options, but it's frustrating. I can't afford to pay the $300 of student insurance for my family just because I made $15 too much. We could lose food stamps too. Why work and try and provide for your family when it is going to be used against you?

That! my friends is why government assistance programs CAN BE destructive to our nation and family. Bob and Betsy are...what's the word...assimulated?...into the system and have gotten used to the entitlement and now have no incentive to work because in his words, "why work and try and provide for your family when it is going to be used against you?"

It is destructive to the family because they have no motivation to work more and better their condition because they will lose benefits and be more costly causing them to always be dependent on the government. It is destructive to the nation because more and more people are receiving government aid...with more people in the system the more it costs the government. The more it costs the government the more the actual working class will need to pay (i.e. higher taxes) to keep the entitlement afloat. It is mathmatically unstainable and could eventually collapse the system.

You know what I wanted to tell Bob? I wanted to tell him to take some personal responsibility for your self and get a better job! Where's your pride? Bob has no problem receiving "free" assistance and will milk it as long as he can. In fact, I predict that Bob will start working less so he can again qualify for Medicaid because the other option costs too much.

If it were me, and it was me there for a few months when I got laid off and inbetween jobs, I'd be totally embarrased to receive any type of welfare/assistance. It made me so uncomfortable that I did everything I could to get another job so I wouldn't have to be helped. I felt that it was wrong because I was raised to believe that nothing is free and you can't get something for nothing.

It's a broken system. Don't get me wrong, I believe that these entitlement programs are important and need to be in place for people who really need it. But if people do need it there should be a plan put in place with a short time period for them to get back on their feet so they don't have to rely on these programs. Or have them give something back. John F. Kennedy comes to mind when he said, "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Other posts of interest:

Are We a Nation of Gullible Gulls?
1 in 6 Americans Receives Government Aid

Cass Sunstein and the Devil

Cass Sunstein, co-author of the book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, whom also was appointed by President Barack Obama as "Regulatory Czar."

First let me talk about the book Nudge. Amazon.com asked the authors what they mean by the title and why do people need nudged?

"By a nudge we mean anything that influences our choices. A school cafeteria might try to nudge kids toward good diets by putting the healthiest foods at front. We think that it's time for institutions, including government, to become much more user-friendly by enlisting the science of choice to make life easier for people and by gentling nudging them in directions that will make their lives better."

To make a lengthy discussion short, the major premise of the book is that people should be nudged to make a decision that will make them better off. On the outside it seems like good intentions and many people applaude and praise Cass Sunstein for his insight. Recent audio/video has been uncovered of Mr. Sunstein expressing how he feels about people.

"Once we know people are human and have some Homer Simpson in them, then there's a lot that can be done to manipulate them."

To break it down, we are too stupid to make our own decisions and need to be nudged into making better decisions. [SOURCE]

I was raised to believe that the agency of man (i.e. free will, choice) is a gift from God. We came to Earth to learn good from evil and to experience mortal life to experience opposites for ourselves. How can we know pain if we don't know pleasure? How can we love if we don't know hate? The point is, it is our choice. I don't need anyone nudging me into making a decision that they think is best. I will make a decision that I think is best, and if it doesn't turn out that it is the best decision, I will learn and grow from it and become a stronger and better person for it. If someone is making the decision for me that doesn't happen.

Now let me introduce you to Satan, the Devil, Lucifer. There are bits and pieces in the Bible where we learn how Satan became Satan. I personally believe that we lived with God before coming to Earth and there was a grand council in Heaven where God presented the Plan of Salvation...the pathway to be "saved"...and we "sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). At the heart of this Plan of Salvation was the way to get back, and God asked for a volunteer on who should he send to redeem mankind. The firstborn of God, known as Jehovah, was the first to volunteer saying I do it and return the glory to thee. Lucifer also volunteered saying I will redeem all mankind that not one soul will be lost and give me thy glory. Lucifer wanted to destroy the agency of man to not give them a choice and would save every soul regardless. This is referred to as the War in Heaven as discussed in Revelations 12:7.

As we know God chose the first, in of which Lucifer then rebelled against God and took with him a third of the hosts of heaven and became Satan, the father of all lies to deceive and blind men and to lead them captive to his will.

What's the point of all of this? Well, isn't it obvious? Cass Sunstein is the Devil! Metaphorically speaking of course. Cass wants to "save" the Homer Simpsons of the world and direct/nudge them into making correct decisions that he thinks is best and not what Homer thinks is best. As "Regulatory Czar" Cass Sunstein is in a perfect position of power to regulate/nudge us into making decisions we may normally would not. For example, we go to a fast food restaurant wanting to get a burger and fries, but through regulation the restaurant industry is now requried to offer a fresh veggie or fruit on the menu instead of fries. Oh, it's happening...just read the story on The Blaze on your guide to a government regulated diet.

Because of his position of power, and the fact that he doesn't report to anyone but the President, is why Glenn Beck often refers to Cass Sunstein as the most dangerous person in America.

Does This Make Sense?

March 31, 2010 the New York Times reports: "The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time...The proposal is to be announced by President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland..."

April 20, 2010: "A methane bubble comes up from the well and explodes, killing 11 and injuring 17. The subsequent fire will burn for two days and ultimately sink the platform. The blow-out preventer, a device on the ocean floor engineered to stop the flow of oil in case of emergency, fails to engage, and crude oil gushes from the wellhead some 5,000 feet below the water’s surface." [SOURCE] Resulting in the infamous BP oil spill we've heard about over the last five months.

April 30, 2010: "Ten days after the initial explosion, the Obama administration issues a moratorium on deepwater drilling. The decision sparks controversy in Gulf communities dependent on oil drilling jobs. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will effectively overturn the ban on July 9." [SOURCE]

July 14, 2010: "Despite two federal court rejections of a drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama has ordered a second round of deepwater suspensions while federal investigators examine the BP catastrophe. 'A pause on deepwater drilling," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in an official announcement, "is essential and appropriate to protect communities, coasts, and wildlife from the risks that deepwater drilling currently pose.'" [SOURCE]

August 21, 2010: "Federal documents show the Interior Department estimated its six-month ban on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling would temporarily cost about 23,000 jobs..." [SOURCE]

September 12, 2010: "Despite President Obama’s moratorium on U.S. deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, with govt approval, intends to guarantee $1 billion in loans to PEMEX, the Mexican state oil company, to bolster the company’s oil drilling in the region... the Obama administration is happy to give a foreign country money to do what it prohibits by law its own country to do." [SOURCE]

So I ask you again, does this make sense? Obama bans oil drilling in the gulf and any future drilling, which has cost tens of thousands of jobs during a recession! The economic impact alone in the gulf region is getting worse because of it, not better. Now with government approval loans Mexico a billion dollars to exploratory drilling in the same area that' Obama banned! It doesn't make sense...unless you understand Obama and possible motives and plans of the Progressive agenda to redistribute the wealth from the rich to the poor...not just on a national level, but a global level.

More to come on this post...about global distribution of wealth. Actually, Glenn Beck explains it the best...please follow the link below and spend the 20 minutes watching the clip.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/45715/

What to Say?

Everyday there is so much in the news that it is difficult to keep up let alone blog about it. I find it overwhelming at times with all the craziness going on in the nation! The mainstream media continue to be biassed and ingnore the facts or even dig into credible stories that would have major impact on the minds of the American people. I just wanted to give my little tidbit on a few headlines over the past few days.

Defense/Amnesty: Not: two words you would normally couple in the same sentence let along a spending bill going through the Senate, but that hasn't stopped Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tacking on an amnesty "ammendment" to a defense spending bill in hopes to lure in Republicans. I am so sick and tired of congress tacking on items to bills that have nothing to do with the actual bill just to get it passed because it wouldn't stand on it's own two feet and never pass by itself. We need some new rules, regulation, or ammendment to the Constitution (if that what it takes) that any bill that goes through the House or Senate only applies to the actual bill and anything unrelated is either ommitted or automatically vetoed or something! The insanity has to stop!

Our Creator: For two years of my life I served as a proselytizing missionary for my church and when I visited with people to teach and discuss about God we started on basics and how everyone believed in a Supreme Being, a Creator, even though we may call them by different names. Our President claims to believe in God and His son Jesus Christ, but he can't even bring himself to refer to the Creator as he recites a portion of the Declaration of Independence...



You can tell he is reading from his trusty teleprompter and he noticeably pauses and blinks several times debating in his mind if he should just read what is displayed or omit a certain phrase..."endowed by their Creator"...in the end he chose to omit the phrase leaving Diety out of the equation. This doesn't really surprise me because afterall, we are talking about a guy who believes in "collective salvation." Which basically means he doesn't get saved unless everyone else gets saves...



Like the Pope and Glenn Beck said that this so called doctrine of collective salvation is "demonic" and a "perversion of the gospel of Jesus Christ." It totally undermines the Plan of Salvation, which teaches that Christ died for our sins and we can be forgiven of them and be saved in and only through Him! Not dependent on others. I'll probably dedicate an entire post on this subject in the near future.

There is a lot more I would like to discuss, but just don't have the time right now. Come back soon for more updates!

1 in 6 Americans Receive Government Aid

Stop being dependent on others and become financially independent within 12-24 months! Click here.

I was reading a USA Today article detailing that one is six Americans receive some sort of state or federal government assistance to meet their everyday needs. Here's a few of the highlights:

• More than 50 million on Medicade, up 17% since December 2007
• More than 40 million receive Food Stamps, up 50% from 3 years ago
• Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, up four times
• More than 4.4 million on welfare, up 18%

I will concede that due to the economic conditions of our nation have dramatically impacted these programs, which have caused most of the increase; and I also concede that there are some people in the nation that desperately need these programs. With that being said, there are some who abuse it intentionally. I'd like to focus on the Food Stamps and Unemployment Insurance programs.

Food Stamps - the program needs reform in a major way. I personally know a family who is on food stamps and have known other families/individuals to use the program. This family, we'll call them the Smith's, receive $500 a month in food stamps. When they first started on the program this amount was excessive and wasn't needed for their small family. Mrs. Smith only used $200-$300 that first month. The government told her that she needed to use all of the $500 each month or they wouldn't get any of it. So the Smith's now use $500 a month in food stamps and use the excess to build up food storage and have even bought food for others (illegal btw) because if they don't it's gone and they need it.

For me and my family, I work 40+ hours a week, my wife works 20 hours a week, and we budget $400 a month for food. Here I am working my butt off trying to keep myself afloat when there's this other family getting more than me a month who work less than 20 hours a week. I'm not condemning the Smith's, but how about evaluating each family/individual and giving them an amount they need...and only for necessities. Let's go a step further, let's put a limit on how long you can stay on the program. It goes back to the story of if you give a man a fish he eats for a day, but teach him how to fish he eats for a lifetime...or something like that. The more often one receives a handout the more they get used to it and expect it. Some will keep their poverty at a level to continue to receive the aid.

For me personally, and probably others, would do everything in my power NOT to receive government aid. Take personal responsibility and improve your situation...have a sense of pride!

Unemployment Insurance - originally this program was only 26 weeks and for individuals who have lost their job and receive compensastion while they find another job. This program and the benefits have been extended several times in Congress, and is now good for 99 weeks!

Again, I personally know a couple of individuals who use this benefit. "Bob" has told me he has no motivation to find a full-time job because the unemployment benefit he receives and the income from a part-time job is enough. He is not actively seeking for full-time employment because he will no longer get the unemployment benefit. This, in my opionion is wrong. By Congress extending these benefits, I think is making the economy worse. In most cases it prevents people from improving their life or finding a job because they like receiving a handout or are so used to it they look it as their paycheck or income. The following quote says it all:

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." - Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005), Former Pastor of the Bellvieu Baptist Church in Memphis, TN as quoted on

Also, don't forget about the GULLIBLE GULLS - a must read.