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By Jon Kraushar - Communications Consultant
Originally posted December 25th, 2008 3:14 PM Eastern
Whose Ponzi Scheme Is Worse: Madoff’s or the Government’s?
Pardon my humbug this Christmas Day, but how many people have considered that the trillion-or-so dollars the Bush and Obama administrations might spend on bailout and stimulus efforts could turn out to be a worse Ponzi scheme than Bernard Madoff’s fleecing of investors, estimated at up to $50 billion?
Before we rush headlong and panicked into throwing even more good taxpayer money into believing that, yes Virginia, government programs like this actually work, have we looked at the model for all this — similar government “rescue” spending during the Great Depression?
That “New Deal” turned out to be a bad deal. Research by historians including Amity Shlaes, Jim Powell and others has found that President Roosevelt’s expensive Depression-era make-work projects actually coincided with an increase in unemployment and that the projects took years to complete, producing at best minimal benefits to the economy.
When was the last time that government spending on such a large scale turned out to be anything more than a stimulus to special interests? Labor unions and favored industries, including “green” ones, will benefit under the ongoing or proposed stimulus plans by Obama and Bush.
But where is the evidence that when government throws billions at a crisis it stimulates much more than waste, mismanagement, fraud, abuse and campaign contributions to politicians from the special interests chosen as the beneficiaries of all that taxpayer money? Where are the facts — the historical precedents — that prove that “this time it’s different”?
There is a huge risk here that, as in a Ponzi scheme, the government is merely paying off some people and some businesses as long as money can keep coming in from the suckers still paying in — and those suckers are us, the taxpayers! Where is the outrage?
I’m not saying that nothing should be done. What I am saying is let’s not be so hasty, desperate and credulous to buy into — to trust — government schemes that could make Bernard Madoff look like a piker.
Let’s listen more to those in Congress like Republican Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and some “blue dog” Democrats who are waving a caution flag saying, “Hey, slow down. There are alternative ways for government and the private sector to work together to work us out of this economic crisis. Let’s not just throw billions at this, willy nilly and half-cocked.”
Government isn’t Santa Claus. Taxpayers needn’t be Scrooges. Let’s not confuse humbug with prudence.
This Christmas season let’s submit our ideas and call for more thorough thinking before a trillion dollars in government “stimulus” and “bailout” spending possibly turns into another cautionary tale of a Ponzi scheme.
Communications consultant Jon Kraushar is at http://www.jonkraushar.net/.
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Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
"ICWA for Dummies" - Illegality of ICWA for Those That Can't Think
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As the birth Mother of five enrolled members of the Leech Lake Tribe, and the legal custodian of four additional members, I stand behind the Larsons 100%. I know life on the Leech Lake Reservation very well. My husband was a member of the tribe. He passed away foour years ago, but just three weeks before he died, so week from his cancer that he needed a wheel chair, he again went to DC and told Senators that ICWA was a bad law. He also spoke at the National Press Club about it. Then he came home, spent ten days in the hospital, and was discharged to our home to die. His last strength was used fighting ICWA.
This case in Utah is NOT ISOLATED and many children and families have suffered from ICWA. Someone needs to stand up and say it is wrong! Please see more ICWA family stories at http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html
Those that think this ICWA law has any validity are insane. The only reason this law exists is because the tribal governments have been doling out millions of dollars to federal and state campaign coffers for the last 30 years. Surprise! The tribes aren't as broke as they lead you to believe. Only trouble is, it's YOUR money that they are buying Senators with, and it's not being used for it's intended purposes.
Yes, there are many constitutional attorneys and professors that say that much of Indian law is unconstitutional. Please contact me and I can refer you to some.
Importantly, look at the last US census and ask yourself why so many enrolled members have moved off the reservation.
Now, ask yourself two questions:
#1) WHY have so many enrollable members moved off the reservation? As for our family and many of our relatives, the answer is that The Reservation Is No Place to Safely Raise Your Children.
Racists will try figure out some way to blame it on the "white man." Only trouble is, MOST Enrollable members are more white than Indian. It's easy math. Most tribes require only 1/4 blood quantum to be enrollable. SOME TRIBES have much LESS. And the Cherokee Tribe has NO required blood quantum. We have a case where a tribe has been interfering with an adoption of a child with less than 2% blood quantum. (http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html)
#2) If the Tribes have so much money to pay Congressmen with, as well as attorneys to chase children down with, why aren't they instead spending that same money on infrastructure and job growth on the reservation? What are the true priorities? Why not just develop resources and make an honest effort to move away from the federal dole? If the reservations were cleaned up, wouldn't more people want to stay there and live? How can a government call itself Sovereign when it is constantly running to the US Congress and demanding more money? Sounds like a bunch of teenagers!
So, let me wrap this little lesson up. I will use my family as an example in order to get the point across.
The Tribe Does NOT Own My Family - and in Particular, MY Children.
My Children are 50% Minnesota Chippewa, but they are also 1/4 German, Jewish, and a spattering pf Irish Catholic. They have OTHER relatives than just those on the reservation. MOST enrollable children have relatives of other heritage.
In fact, we have German Jewish relatives that died at Auschwitz.
So tell me why my children's Native American heritage is more important than their Jewish, Irish, or Scottish heritage. Tell me why in the world the state of Minnesota has passed a law last year that says that suggests tribal heritage is more important, and that the Minnesota tribes have jurisdiction over any enrollable child, even if the child and his family don't want to be involved with the tribe and has never had any contact or relationship with the tribe.
That law affects not only my children but my grandchildren, who will all be at least 1/4 Minnesota Chippewa.
For every non-Indian screaming about how we have to honor Leech Lake's tribal sovereignty...why don't they move their families to Cass Lake, Minnesota. Enroll their kids in school there and encourage them to go play at the housing tracts.
If they are not willing to raise their own children under the conditions of the Leech Lake Reservation, they shouldn’t be demanding that our children be raised there.
A commenter had the nerve in a post to suggest the Larson's had "kidnapped" this baby. Excuse me? Who the heck are the ones doing the kidnapping, but the tribes themselves that push federal and state legislators to give them all the rights to Our Children!
If anyone can connect me with the Larson’s, we have lots to talk about and much work to do.
.
As the birth Mother of five enrolled members of the Leech Lake Tribe, and the legal custodian of four additional members, I stand behind the Larsons 100%. I know life on the Leech Lake Reservation very well. My husband was a member of the tribe. He passed away foour years ago, but just three weeks before he died, so week from his cancer that he needed a wheel chair, he again went to DC and told Senators that ICWA was a bad law. He also spoke at the National Press Club about it. Then he came home, spent ten days in the hospital, and was discharged to our home to die. His last strength was used fighting ICWA.
This case in Utah is NOT ISOLATED and many children and families have suffered from ICWA. Someone needs to stand up and say it is wrong! Please see more ICWA family stories at http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html
Those that think this ICWA law has any validity are insane. The only reason this law exists is because the tribal governments have been doling out millions of dollars to federal and state campaign coffers for the last 30 years. Surprise! The tribes aren't as broke as they lead you to believe. Only trouble is, it's YOUR money that they are buying Senators with, and it's not being used for it's intended purposes.
Yes, there are many constitutional attorneys and professors that say that much of Indian law is unconstitutional. Please contact me and I can refer you to some.
Importantly, look at the last US census and ask yourself why so many enrolled members have moved off the reservation.
Now, ask yourself two questions:
#1) WHY have so many enrollable members moved off the reservation? As for our family and many of our relatives, the answer is that The Reservation Is No Place to Safely Raise Your Children.
Racists will try figure out some way to blame it on the "white man." Only trouble is, MOST Enrollable members are more white than Indian. It's easy math. Most tribes require only 1/4 blood quantum to be enrollable. SOME TRIBES have much LESS. And the Cherokee Tribe has NO required blood quantum. We have a case where a tribe has been interfering with an adoption of a child with less than 2% blood quantum. (http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html)
#2) If the Tribes have so much money to pay Congressmen with, as well as attorneys to chase children down with, why aren't they instead spending that same money on infrastructure and job growth on the reservation? What are the true priorities? Why not just develop resources and make an honest effort to move away from the federal dole? If the reservations were cleaned up, wouldn't more people want to stay there and live? How can a government call itself Sovereign when it is constantly running to the US Congress and demanding more money? Sounds like a bunch of teenagers!
So, let me wrap this little lesson up. I will use my family as an example in order to get the point across.
The Tribe Does NOT Own My Family - and in Particular, MY Children.
My Children are 50% Minnesota Chippewa, but they are also 1/4 German, Jewish, and a spattering pf Irish Catholic. They have OTHER relatives than just those on the reservation. MOST enrollable children have relatives of other heritage.
In fact, we have German Jewish relatives that died at Auschwitz.
So tell me why my children's Native American heritage is more important than their Jewish, Irish, or Scottish heritage. Tell me why in the world the state of Minnesota has passed a law last year that says that suggests tribal heritage is more important, and that the Minnesota tribes have jurisdiction over any enrollable child, even if the child and his family don't want to be involved with the tribe and has never had any contact or relationship with the tribe.
That law affects not only my children but my grandchildren, who will all be at least 1/4 Minnesota Chippewa.
For every non-Indian screaming about how we have to honor Leech Lake's tribal sovereignty...why don't they move their families to Cass Lake, Minnesota. Enroll their kids in school there and encourage them to go play at the housing tracts.
If they are not willing to raise their own children under the conditions of the Leech Lake Reservation, they shouldn’t be demanding that our children be raised there.
A commenter had the nerve in a post to suggest the Larson's had "kidnapped" this baby. Excuse me? Who the heck are the ones doing the kidnapping, but the tribes themselves that push federal and state legislators to give them all the rights to Our Children!
If anyone can connect me with the Larson’s, we have lots to talk about and much work to do.
.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Leech Lake Tribal Government Steals Child from Utah Family
,
On Sunday, December 16, 2008, in South Jordon, Utah, Clint and Heather were forced to give the baby they had adopted and cared for to one of the worst reservations in the United States.
In the Spring of 2004, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune had done a series called the "Lost Youth Of Leech Lake." In it, the reporter described the horrible environment children are being raised in on that reservation, as well as the treatment of children by tribal social services. I myself have witnessed first hand plenty the neglectful and downright dangerous treatment and care of children on that reservation, and twenty years ago, my husband, a member born and raised there, made a decision that our children weren't going to be raised anywhere near it.
It is NOT safe, and the United States Government is CRIMINAL to be forcing children to be raised there when they have the option to live in a safe and loving home. As a matter of fact, one of the worst cases of the U.S. forcing children out of a good home and into a dysfunctional home in Leech Lake was reported in the series, the "Lost Youth of Leech Lake." It involved three little girls.
That decision by the tribe - as well as every one of our US Congress that voted for this awful ICWA law - resulted in these little girls being placed in an awful home. The final result was a murder and attempted murder. And that isn't the only tragic story involving ICWA in Leech Lake.
I urge every parent with a conscience to speak up against this law. After all, you never know when it might affect you. We have adoptive families that have written to our organization, in pain and fear because the child they have adopted is being pursued by a tribe, and the child has only a small fraction of blood quantum. in one case, the child is 98% NON-Indian. We also have had birth fathers write to us when they lost custody because they weren't Indian. We've also had grandparents write because they were denied custody because they weren't Indian.
Please, check out http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html to read many letters from families affected by ICWA.
.
On Sunday, December 16, 2008, in South Jordon, Utah, Clint and Heather were forced to give the baby they had adopted and cared for to one of the worst reservations in the United States.
In the Spring of 2004, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune had done a series called the "Lost Youth Of Leech Lake." In it, the reporter described the horrible environment children are being raised in on that reservation, as well as the treatment of children by tribal social services. I myself have witnessed first hand plenty the neglectful and downright dangerous treatment and care of children on that reservation, and twenty years ago, my husband, a member born and raised there, made a decision that our children weren't going to be raised anywhere near it.
It is NOT safe, and the United States Government is CRIMINAL to be forcing children to be raised there when they have the option to live in a safe and loving home. As a matter of fact, one of the worst cases of the U.S. forcing children out of a good home and into a dysfunctional home in Leech Lake was reported in the series, the "Lost Youth of Leech Lake." It involved three little girls.
That decision by the tribe - as well as every one of our US Congress that voted for this awful ICWA law - resulted in these little girls being placed in an awful home. The final result was a murder and attempted murder. And that isn't the only tragic story involving ICWA in Leech Lake.
I urge every parent with a conscience to speak up against this law. After all, you never know when it might affect you. We have adoptive families that have written to our organization, in pain and fear because the child they have adopted is being pursued by a tribe, and the child has only a small fraction of blood quantum. in one case, the child is 98% NON-Indian. We also have had birth fathers write to us when they lost custody because they weren't Indian. We've also had grandparents write because they were denied custody because they weren't Indian.
Please, check out http://www.caicw.org/familystories.html to read many letters from families affected by ICWA.
.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Palin's Church torched - only Arsonists were Hurt
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Sarah Palin's home church in Wasilla was set on fire by an arsonist about 10 pm Friday night. On Saturday, the fire chief said that the fire was "definitely suspicious."
Isn't that something? The anger directed at Sarah Palin during the campaign was unbelievable. It seems as though someone still hasn't gotten over it.
What's amazing was all the accusations made by those on the left about how horrid the right was going to be toward Obama. There were all kinds of accusations concerning racism and the danger that would come from "rednecks." But it was Sarah that was the recipient of the greater number of vicious attacks - and it was due to her Christian world view. Apparently, a lot more people hate Christians than hate people of a different race.
The Wasilla Bible Church has an estimated $1 million worth of damage. Fortunately, none of the ten people inside, including two children, were injured.
But Sarah is said to have faith in "the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good."
Pastor Larry Kroon said to KTUU TV, "I've had a lot worst calls at night. When one of your parishioners dies or loses a child, it's a whole different thing than the building's on fire."
Give thanks to God for everything. Every travail is an opportunity. Praise God for His goodness. Pray protection for Sarah, her family and her church and that God come against those that would try to hurt them. But also pray for those that set the fire. They must have a lot of anger and pain in their hearts to have done something like this. They really need Jesus Christ.
So many people in our country are in extreme pain - lost without Jesus Christ. It's the only explanation for the amount of anger they have when confronted with the Holy Spirit indwelling in a person such as Sarah. She's someone they can't touch - at least not that they can see. She doesn't react to their barbs. So they just get angrier and angrier.
Even after this, they haven't touched her. Her sadness is for the effect it had on the church and the messed up lives of the arsonists. But their attack doesn't change anything within her. They can't touch her. She's above everything they try to do to her. That's because she has Jesus in her heart. As Joe the Plummer said, "She's the real deal."
Dear Lord, Bless Sarah, and give her - our Esther - as well as her husband - her protector - all the strength and wisdom necessary for the job you have set before them.
.
Sarah Palin's home church in Wasilla was set on fire by an arsonist about 10 pm Friday night. On Saturday, the fire chief said that the fire was "definitely suspicious."
Isn't that something? The anger directed at Sarah Palin during the campaign was unbelievable. It seems as though someone still hasn't gotten over it.
What's amazing was all the accusations made by those on the left about how horrid the right was going to be toward Obama. There were all kinds of accusations concerning racism and the danger that would come from "rednecks." But it was Sarah that was the recipient of the greater number of vicious attacks - and it was due to her Christian world view. Apparently, a lot more people hate Christians than hate people of a different race.
The Wasilla Bible Church has an estimated $1 million worth of damage. Fortunately, none of the ten people inside, including two children, were injured.
But Sarah is said to have faith in "the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good."
Pastor Larry Kroon said to KTUU TV, "I've had a lot worst calls at night. When one of your parishioners dies or loses a child, it's a whole different thing than the building's on fire."
Give thanks to God for everything. Every travail is an opportunity. Praise God for His goodness. Pray protection for Sarah, her family and her church and that God come against those that would try to hurt them. But also pray for those that set the fire. They must have a lot of anger and pain in their hearts to have done something like this. They really need Jesus Christ.
So many people in our country are in extreme pain - lost without Jesus Christ. It's the only explanation for the amount of anger they have when confronted with the Holy Spirit indwelling in a person such as Sarah. She's someone they can't touch - at least not that they can see. She doesn't react to their barbs. So they just get angrier and angrier.
Even after this, they haven't touched her. Her sadness is for the effect it had on the church and the messed up lives of the arsonists. But their attack doesn't change anything within her. They can't touch her. She's above everything they try to do to her. That's because she has Jesus in her heart. As Joe the Plummer said, "She's the real deal."
Dear Lord, Bless Sarah, and give her - our Esther - as well as her husband - her protector - all the strength and wisdom necessary for the job you have set before them.
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Saturday, December 13, 2008
Funny - Democrats v. Republicans
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Comment by Henry, http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/12/10/miller_blago/
December 11th, 2008 at 1:29 am
"A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be a Republican.”
“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”
The man smiled and responded, “You must be a Democrat.”
“I am,” replied the balloonist. “But how did you know?”
“Well,” said the man, “You don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You’ve risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You’ve made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and now you expect ME to solve your problem. You’re in EXACTLY the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now, it’s MY fault."
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Comment by Henry, http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/12/10/miller_blago/
December 11th, 2008 at 1:29 am
"A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be a Republican.”
“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”
The man smiled and responded, “You must be a Democrat.”
“I am,” replied the balloonist. “But how did you know?”
“Well,” said the man, “You don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You’ve risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You’ve made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and now you expect ME to solve your problem. You’re in EXACTLY the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now, it’s MY fault."
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