Limiting Compensation

Lately I have been amazed at all the talk about limiting executive compensation. I understand the frustration that some people have expressed over companies that are mis-managed and now have been unwisely bailed out by the federal government, giving large salaries and bonuses to their execs. I also understand the politics of class warfare that so many in D.C. have exhibited expertise in. They always play one class, one race or one sex against the other... seems they use a divide-and-conquer strategy to take more power away from "We the People". They are so eager to limit the income and opportunity that is available to others while making sure that the sky is the limit for the income and excess that they enjoy. I have even heard of some of the brilliant Hollywood crowd getting in on this act.

Aside from the fact that I think this is the worst idea possible in a supposedly capitalist society, maybe we should take a look at their ideas, and even make this a universal application of limiting income. First of all, maybe we should limit income to, say $75,000 annually for anyone in an elected office for the state or federal governments. This would make sure that they are much more in touch with the middle-class that they all say they want to represent. Oh, and of course we would need to eliminate any form of contributions for the maintenance of multiple households, use of any government vehicles or any government paid expenses other than the normal office expenses... you know, things like stamps, stick pens, staples and printer paper. They could all be enrolled in the wonderful Social Security Program and be provided with a modest private provider group health plan similar to what would be provided at a comparable paying private sector job.

Then we could move on to the sports industry. Oh, God forbid we mess with these celebrity superstars! Since a corporate executive has quite a bit of responsibility for the salary that they would be paid under this plan, we must adjust the athletes salaries accordingly. Maybe $100,000 a year would be fair for the best of the best... after all they probably do work more than our elected officials! With the remainder of the multi-million dollar salary that is paid to way too many of these, we could provide free benefits to all the illegal aliens that politicians love so much.

Next would have to be Hollywood! These folks are always so outspoken on how the rest of us should live while they indulge themselves like a divine aristocracy too good for the common folks in fly-over country. How about, in addition to a salary cap of $50,000 per movie, we also hold them accountable for the results of their effort. We need to be fair about this, so perhaps if they make a movie that is a blockbuster at the theaters they get to be eligible for a small additional bonus of say, $1,000 per $1,000,000 of box office revenues. That sounds fair! Oh, but on the flip side is the condition that they loose money if the movie gets poor reviews! We can appoint a 3 person panel to review all films and all starring actors/actresses lose $2,500 for each bad review. That limits them to just $7,500 of risk if they put out a really bad movie... of which there are plenty. This makes it fair for everyone!

Writing this has got me so optimistic about the possibilities that are available when we allow the government to decide how much someone in a free-market society gets paid! I need to come up with something really special for those who just want to save the planet like Al Gore... they are so nice, I am sure they will want to give it all away, except of course for what is needed to maintain their eco-friendly, all natural, mud and straw huts! This is going to be so much fun!

We The People

Maybe it's just me, but in the event that it is not... is anyone else sick and tired of hearing about the Economic Stimulus plans, plans to bail out Wall Street, Detroit, the health-care system, small business, etc? I hear something everyday about how the wonderful, benevolent officials we the sheeple have elected are going to bestow economic prosperity on us and fix the economy. Are they really that stupid, or do they just think that we are that stupid? We wasted around $800 Billion on a first plan that did nothing... we wasted more on a larger (understand more earmarks and special interest) plan that was going to get things going... it continues still and there is no end in sight. Now nearly $2 Trillion later, things are the same or maybe worse.

Now I hear our beloved and anointed President saying that we need to spend more to open up lending to small business. Hello!!! Anyone paying any attention? Isn't borrowing and credit what got us into this mess to begin with? Are we going to borrow our way out of it? That's a brilliant idea! How about this for a revolutionary idea... quit taxing everyone into oblivion to pay for more stupid stimulus plans! Want to start the economy? Put more money into the hands of those who actually work and create jobs and wealth in this great country and stop the hand-outs, bail-outs, and give-away programs. Stop paying for condoms and abortions with our tax dollars! Stop pouring money into the false science of Global Warming! Stop the graft and corruption in the District of Corruption and allow the people of this land to take care of themselves, their families and each other!

Now I know that there are some idiots among us that don't have a clue how to earn, spend, or save money. Fine, let them suffer the consequences of their decisions... that is called learning! Quit over regulating the financial and auto industries, telling them what to do, how and when to do it... then blaming them when it doesn't work and bailing them out with our tax dollars and more pitiful oversight and regulation from the people that have ruined everything they have touched! Mr President, Congress, our elected officials at every level... YOU ARE NOT THE ANSWER, YOU OBVIOUSLY DO NOT HAVE THE ANSWER, YOU WILL NEVER FIND THE ANSWER UNLESS WE THE PEOPLE SHOW IT TO YOU!

The American people have always been hard working, ingenious, and productive people and still are today. If "you the government" will leave "We The People" alone we can make this economy work as it should and make smart decisions that will reward the producers and penalize the non-contributing parasites. Stop giving trophies to all the teams in Little League and start rewarding the winners for their hard work and perseverance. Give the also-rans in life something to shoot for. Let this nation full of generous and able people take care of their families and neighbors. Get out of our way and worry about National Defense like you are supposed to. Quit telling me to wear a seat-belt, where or if I can smoke, if I can have a firearm and forcing me to pay into a failed, pitiful supplemental retirement system that you politicians have bankrupted! We make this country run, not you. Get over it!

How Fair is "Fairness"?

Why is it that those who claim to be the largest proponents of freedom and personal choice (i.e. liberals) oppose any freedoms that are not granted by the state? Last time I checked we have a country founded on the belief that our rights and freedoms are granted by God, not the Federal Government. Our right to freely and openly oppose our government or express our dissenting opinion is what makes America different, and may I say, better than any other country. In their quest for a liberal Utopia the political left in this country is on a crusade to silence opposition. One of the most obvious examples is their efforts to silence "hate speech". While I don't endorse any speech that is born out of hatred and meant to demean and devalue those of another race or religion, in America we have a right to express dissent and opposition to any person, organization or government institution.

The left in this country continually defends the right of individuals to use any type of crude , obscene or sexually explicit language in the public arena. This is touted as 'freedom of speech'. I would argue that all citizens have the right to any type of language in private, but are required by the laws of decency to eliminate this from public use. The Constitution provides, through the Bill of Rights, free speech in the form of economic, political and religious ideology, basically the type of speech that is most valuable and on the top of the list for liberals to ban. We may very soon be experiencing the reinstatement of the 'Fairness Doctrine' that will take us a long way towards government control of any dissenting point of view via radio. Liberals that spout off about freedom of choice and free speech are working hard to silence talk radio, the only media dominated by conservative political and religious thought. They cannot compete in a free market on the basis of their liberal agenda, and so the only course of action for them is to silence freedom's number one outlet.

Lately this has become an all-out war on Rush Limbaugh. Regardless of what you think about Rush, Sean Hannity, or Glenn Beck, if they are allowed to succeed in silencing conservative political speech on the radio, how long before they move to silence the internet news and bloggers? Or how about the churches that speak out on issues of morality? How long before any anti-abortion speech or the teaching that homosexuality is sin is condemned? Will the left continue to tolerate the homeschooling crowd that is bypassing their state indoctrination program? How soon will we find any speech opposing the liberal, socialist agenda outlawed as 'hate speech'? I am convinced that day is coming, and possibly much sooner than most of us think. Will entertainment addicted America ever wake up? I pray to God that we do.

Crazy Times

Maybe it's just me... I have always been a little different. My wife has often told me that I am just too extreme! I need to quit being so radical about things. Maybe she's right, I don't want to come off sounding like some wacko razor-wire, compound-livin', bomb-shelter-building, government conspiracy, Republic of Texas nut case. Yet, at the same time, I cannot sit by and just watch some of the crazy things that are going on without commenting. I feel that many like me are no longer heard in our representative republic and it is getting extremely frustrating.

I recently viewed a excerpt from a CNBC broadcast in which the usual talking heads were discussing the economy and the stimulus bills. If you have not seen this, you need to. In this excerpt Rick Santelli starts to actually tell it like it is (can you imagine, on CNBC) and of course is treated like a extremist radical by the elitist news people. You can watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZB4taSEoA

I have not seen anyone on any mainstream news outlet get it more right than this guy. Of course Hannity, Rush and Glenn Beck have been saying things like this for years... but this was a shot right into the numb-minded, propaganda believing audience of CNBC. Hope someone out there wakes up. I could not agree more with what was said. We have an establishment of elitist career politicians, educators and media pundits that are so out of touch with reality and what I hope is the silent majority of main-stream America that it is no longer even a little bit funny. These people walk around in their rich, elitist, socialist dream world without a clue about what the average middle-class American stands for or believes.

I am beginning to think that for the next presidential election we need to support Tommy. You know, the deaf, dumb and blind kid from Soho? I figure that he could not possibly more detached from what is happening in the real world outside D.C. (District of Corruption) than the idiots we have there now. These people are destroying America and running rough-shod over the Constitution and our rights. Do they not understand they are taxing us into oblivion? Are they really so stupid as to believe that government spending can solve anything besides lining the pockets of themselves and their friends. Taking from the producers in society to give to those that refuse to produce will not stimulate anything except a economic collapse.

Maybe I am a little extreme... but then again, I was raised to believe in a country founded by men of extreme faith and belief. A country that valued freedom above all else. A country that was founded to provide the opportunity (not the guarantee) for all people to work hard, usually against the odds, and to achieve something for themselves and their families. Guess that is a little extreme!

Life Just Isn't Fair

The old saying is true. Life isn't fair. I think most people's idea of fair is a level playing field, equal opportunity, a chance for everyone to be or do what they most want in life. This will never happen. One man is born with an IQ of 136 while another has a intelligence quotient of only 86. One woman is born with extraordinary athletic ability while another is born crippled and unable to walk. Many people are born in America where opportunity abounds, while others are born in war-torn areas of Africa suffering abuse and persecution. Life just isn't fair.

So, where does that leave us? Should we abandon our efforts to help those that are disadvantaged? No. I do not believe that we can in good conscience abandon our efforts to help our fellow man, however, we must also realize that penalizing those with more opportunity is never the way to improve the situation. We must help those that will help themselves rise up to the highest attainable level their skills allow. We must not legislate penalties into our system to punish or slow down the achievers in society. We must be a society that teaches a mindset of running to win the prize... and if you fail, you get up, learn what you can from the experience, train more and run again.

The agenda we have allowed in our schools teaches cooperation and scorns competition. Teach the children to work together for the better of everyone. Take from those with an abundance and give to those in poverty. Sounds like a good idea doesn't it comrade? Don't compete, don't question, just cooperate. The problem is that they are being taught not to question or oppose liberal ideas. It appears that our students, from elementary through the universities, are being indoctrinated into the way of thinking that will make them fit best into a socialist society. The same people that during the decades of the 60's and 70's taught our young to question everything (because we were much more conservative) are now teaching them to question nothing. This is a huge failure on the part of our educational system. The most important thing we can teach our citizens is the history of this great nation, the documents that established it (i.e., the Constitution with it's Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence), and the ability to think for themselves.

Our young people need to realize that life is not fair. If you want to succeed you will have to compete. They need to be taught that overcoming an obstacle is a healthy learning experience that ought to be embraced for the reward that it offers on the other side. Dependence on one's self, family and God needs to replace dependence on the nanny state. We must teach them that cooperation and competition are not polar opposites. We all must cooperate with others to achieve common goals while we compete individually to be the best we can be. Life is not fair and you may not achieve the same success as someone else, but if you pursue excellence in all you do, live to use your unique talent to help others, and learn to mature from a state of dependency to healthy interdependence, you will achieve your own success.

Imprisoned by your Freedom?

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.(Gal. 5:1)

My religious background is a patchwork of various Christian denominations, each slightly different, yet all claiming the same major doctrinal tenets. I attended a Presbyterian church from the age of birth to somewhere around the middle of my grade school years. The next church for our family was a Congregational church where we stayed through the remainder my grade school years and into my freshman year of high school. At age 14 we switched again to a Nazarene church which I attended with my family until, at age 20, I decided to attend a Church of God (out of Anderson, IN) where there were more young people near my age. Somewhere during this denominational journey I made a decision to become a Christian and accept Jesus as savior, although I did so more out of a compulsion to avoid the fiery pit of hell than a clear understanding of what I was really getting into.

In 1985 I was married and began a journey through a few more versions of the Christian church, again with the same basic doctrine (belief in the Trinity, that Christ died for our sins and was raised, etc.) but variations on minor points and practices. Our new family stayed in the Church of God, the denominational affiliation of our college, and we were active in the local congregation for several more years. Upon moving to Texas in 1990, I began attending a Nazarene church again for a short time, then on to a Baptist church where we stayed until moving again around 3 years later. Our next move took us into the crazy world of the Charismatic believers. The freedom from ritual along with the contemporary music drew us in to this church home until we again moved. Since that time in 1993 we have moved several more times, but stayed in non-denominational, charismatic churches.

I tell you all of this denominational history to give you a limited idea of my background in the Christian faith and so you can understand why, to some degree, I have questioned so much of the teaching I have heard. I guess in some ways it has been beneficial to my spiritual development to have such a varied background, since this has allowed me the freedom to search out truths for myself. I know many people that have spent most of their years in one particular denomination and as a result have trouble with questioning their denominational training. They feel almost as though it is sinful to consider that what they have been taught may not be the full truth. Feelings of guilt overcome them if they question the fullness of their experience and start to wonder if maybe God has something more for them. This indoctrination leads to a type of enslavement that Charismatics would label as Legalism or Religiousness. I believe that this type of 'religion' and following ritual, rules and traditions for the sake of conformity is what Christ came to set His people free from.

As of late however, I have seen another form of enslavement that some non-denominational, inter-denominational or charismatic believers seem to be falling in to. It is an enslavement to their supposed new found freedom from legalism or a religious spirit. While it is true that as a believer in Christ, we are free from the strict legalism of the old covenant and the practice of dead rituals, it is also true that we can easily become captivated by our obsession with trying to appear non-religious. We must remember that to follow Christ in a non-religious manner is to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, not to be preoccupied with engagement in worldly activities that will signal to others that we are free. This type of pseudo-freedom actually has another name... bondage. We can be deceived so easily by our flesh into thinking that we should participate in things that will offend the religious legalists to show them what freedom looks like. This is not freedom!

Christ Jesus died on the cross for us so that we may truly be free to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in every area of our lives. True freedom will allow us to make decisions and involve ourselves in activities that bring glory to Him without purposely offending our brothers and sisters that may have differing doctrinal beliefs. We must remember that while all things are permissible, not all things are beneficial. We are reminded in the New Testament that we are to be considerate of those that may be caused to stumble because of our exercise of freedom. While we will not allow ourselves to be resubmitted to the bondage the Holy Spirit has led us out of, we must also take seriously our responsibility to the body of Christ and to avoid pride and arrogance which will lead us into bondage of another sort. I urge you all (as I remind my self) to examine yourself daily and to follow in humble submission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the only true way to the freedom God has for each of us.

Bail Out? Maybe that's exactly what we should do...

The talk everywhere you turn for the past several months has been about government bail-outs and the need for economic stimulus. I have heard many of the arguments for, and to a lesser degree, the arguments against these actions. I know many are confused on what needs to be done, torn between giving ailing businesses and industry sectors help and leaving the market place to itself to correct the problems over time. For most of our politicians I think the question boils down to how much should the government be involved and what kind of return will they get when elections roll around again. The question I would like to ask is 'what caused these problems and when did it become the governments job to interfere in the marketplace?'.

If you dig past the surface of 'smoke and mirrors' that the politicians in congress are throwing up you find that most of the problems we have faced go back decades into the past. A great deal of government interference (as opposed to involvement as some suggest) began with the policies of FDR and his Big Government approach to solving economic issues. Many scholars now point to his administration's policies as a key factor in extending the economic depression by up to seven years. This is where the modern big government liberalism started. President Johnson put us into the welfare crisis that we have today by allowing people to live off the success of others instead of working to achieve something for themselves. Nixon gave us the out-of-control, over regulating EPA to assuage the environmentalist radicals that demanded federal intervention in the pollution problems we faced. I could go on about many more federal agencies (such as the NHTSA, OSHA, etc.) and regulations that interfere with our daily lives and override the idea our founding fathers had of each state's right to regulate themselves.

If you look into the current crisis in mortgage lending the problem is not corporate C.E.O.'s with large salaries and 'golden parachutes'. Have some of these people been overpaid and given outrageous severance deals over the years? Yes. Is it the business of anyone other than the board of directors and shareholders to change this? No. The real problem that hit the mortgage industry so hard was a meddling government that required loans to be made to people that were bad credit risks and could not afford the homes they were purchasing.

The same is true of the ailing American auto industry. The people that know how to make and sell automobiles work for Ford, GM and Chrysler.... they do not hold seats in the Senate, House or any other post in the government. The C.A.F.E. standards that have been applied to the automakers along with the outrageous burden of the overpaid employees of 'Big Labor' have combined to cripple our domestic manufacturers ability to compete. If rising fuel prices cause the public to demand vehicles with better mileage, then competition will drive the manufacturers to meet that need without government interference. The market dictates who succeeds and who fails based upon a sellers ability to meet the buyers wants and desires.

This is where the problem for most politicians and radical liberals originates. They see themselves as better educated and wiser than the public. They spend all of their time talking about freedom of choice (aren't these the 'pro-choice' people?) yet they want to eliminate our freedom of choice in so many areas. They want you to drive the car that they approve of (in spite of their continuance to drive large SUV's and fuel inefficient sedans) instead of the car you would like to buy. They want our children to attend public schools and have a government mandated curriculum, and appropriate indoctrination, instead of allowing us to make a choice of where our dollars and our children attend school. These individuals who have proven that they cannot manage anything (how's the future of Social Security looking, or the federal budget deficit) want to take control of our financial institutions, the auto industry, health care, the petroleum producers, regulate the thermostats in our homes and now even dictate whether television broadcasts are analog or digital (and use our money to provide converters for those that cannot afford to miss Oprah or The View).

I for one think that it is time for a massive, all inclusive bail-out. The federal government needs to bail-out of the free market, the affairs of the free states, and our supposedly free lives. Our nations founders did not risk their lives, the lives of their families, their fortunes and all that they had to be ruled by a government that sought to control their money, education, purchasing decisions and tax them into oblivion. God help us to start the return to reason in government and restore our freedoms to their intended state.