Politics
The Meaning of the Tax Rate Debate: American Socialism’s Hail Mary?
For the past week various pundits, commentators and politicians have been trying to wrap their mind around the tax rate compromise put together by President Obama and Republican leaders.
For awhile, I must confess, it was very confusing.
But now I understand.
The Obama-brokered tax rate compromise is American Socialism’s version of a Hail Mary Pass.
Let’s hope it is incomplete.
For non-football fans, a little explanation is in order. A Hail Mary pass is a desperation heave that is usually the last play of a football game. The team with the ball is behind by less than a touchdown and has much of the field to cover if they are to score and win the game. The time has clicked down to the final seconds, and there is time for only one more play.
The quarterback takes the snap and throws the ball as far as he can–usually into the end zone–hoping, saying a prayer (Hail Mary), that one of his teammates will out jump the defenders, catch the ball, score a touchdown and win the game.
One of the most remembered Hail Mary passes in history was Doug Flutie’s forty-eight yard toss on October 20, 1999 that allowed Boston College to defeat its arch-rival, the Miami Hurricanes
Barack Obama is now trying to do the same.
The tax compromise is American socialism’s desperate Hail Mary.
But before we describe the Obama Hail Mary strategy, let’s look at the confusing rhetoric of the past week. I’ve rarely seen such political confusion in all of my life.
Conservative Angst
When the tax compromise was first announced by the White House, many conservatives applauded the plan because it extended the current tax rates for two years. However, they didn’t like the extension of unemployment benefits and other special interests earmarks.
The Heritage Foundation was cautiously supportive at first, while echoing conservative concerns. In their first Morning Bell on the subject, they stated “The deal originally cut by Republicans had some good economic policy in it, but it also had a lot of harmful provisions. The temporary two-year nature of the arrangement did not provide the long-term certainty that businesses need to make long-term investment plans that create substantial economic growth and jobs.”
Tony Perkin’s Family Research Council was also ambivalent at first saying “Congress has had two years to deal with this ticking time bomb called tax relief–and they have less than 14 days to diffuse it. The Senate is scheduled to vote on a “compromise” tax package on Monday afternoon with both good and bad provisions. It does maintain the current tax rates, preserves the Child Tax Credit , and keeps married couples from being penalized. On the negative side, it’s all still temporary and raises the death tax by 35 percent.”
Liberal Concerns
Some liberals also accepted the bill because they thought it it was the best they could get after the November 2 election “shellacking.” Vice President Joe Biden reportedly told House Democrats that the tax deal cut with Republicans was a “take it or leave it” proposition that could not be changed.
Others hated it because the president caved on his pledge to raise taxes on “the rich.” During Democratic caucus meetings, various members were overheard cursing the president and his unwillingness to raise taxes on the wealthy and small businesses.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a committed socialist, was so livid about the compromise that he filibustered the Senate for a grueling 8 hours and 37 minutes, speaking nearly non-stop about class warfare and the blessings of national socialism.
Fidel Castro would have been proud.
Two Who Got It Right
Though at first, there was widespread confusion over the compromise, two men got it right from the beginning.
Maybe we should elect one as president and the other as VP in 2012. They seem to be the sharpest minds in the republic.
Columnist Charles Krauthammer called it the “swindle of the year,” and said from the very beginning that the only person who truly benefits from passing it is Barack Obama. “[With this deal], the President negotiated the biggest stimulus in American history, larger than his $814 billion 2009 package.”
His column in the Washington Post is worth reading.
I don’t know where Charles got his $814 billion number–some (like Sean Hannity) question it, but still believe that Krauthammer is right. I must admit, when I first heard Charles’ take I was skeptical.
Then I began to think and pray–and concluded he was correct.
Senator Jim DeMint also made headlines by becoming the first Republican politician in Washington to declare his opposition to the tax compromise. He even threatened to filibuster the deal.
In an e-mail via DeMint’s PAC Senate Conservatives Fund, DeMint laid out why he is opposed to the tax deal.
“First, I do not want to see anyone’s taxes go up and I have been fighting for years to permanently extend all the tax rates. I disagree with the President that we cannot afford to extend these rates for everyone. It’s the people’s money and we should not raise taxes on hardworking American families.”
“But this bill does much more than simply extend tax rates. For starters, it includes approximately $200 billion in new deficit spending and stimulus gimmicks… The bill also only extends rates for two years. We don’t have a temporary economy so we shouldn’t have temporary tax rates.”
“The bill also fails to extend all of the tax rates. It actually increases the death tax from its current rate of zero percent all the way up to 35 percent. One economic study shows that this tax increase alone will kill over 800,000 jobs over the next ten years.”
“Finally, the bill now includes dozens of earmarks for special interests, including ethanol subsidies, tax breaks for film and television producers, give aways for rum manufacturers, favors for auto racing track owners, and a hand out for businesses outside [the United States].”
One reason I like Jim DeMint because he lives at 133 Street–my old office on Capitol Hill.
One other former Senator and Hollywood star, Fred Thompson, also was prescient on the error of extending unemployment benefits yet another year (totalling three years).
He remarked, “With unemployment being extended another 13 months, is it maybe time to just start calling it welfare?”
Or maybe socialism.
That’s what the battle is about.
For nearly one hundred years, a portion of our society has been trying to change America from a Christian-based, freedom-oriented society to a secular-leaning socialist model. There are many forms of national socialism, but the bottom line is trust in and control of people by ever-expanding government.
Our founding fathers called it tyranny.
Its opposite is liberty. William Penn spoke for all colonial Americans when he said, “Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.”
He was referring to Europe at the time.
Europe has known many forms of tyrannical governments. Prior to the Reformation, kings and princes lorded it over their subjects for hundreds of years. In the 20th century Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler gave birth to national socialistic regimes that became cruel and oppressive. Communist Russia took socialism a step further when it seized economic control of the State through “the barrel of gun.” More recently, European states created vast welfare states under the banner of democratic socialism.
But its all the same at the core: Power comes from government, not from the people.
European nations have experienced many forms of socialism.
Different teams. Same game.
The American experiment was exceptionally different. Backed by a Christian world view that recognized the sovereignty of God and the power of Christ in the individual, our early founders and settlers established the United States on faith, character and freedom.
This was a new “team” the world had never seen before.
This team believed in freedom. Their faith produced a great nation. “Team Tyranny” was always there, trying to even up the score. but never able to get ahead.
Then came Woodrow Wilson and his secular progressive plans, next FDR and the New Deal (vast expansion of the Federal Government), and finally LBJ and the Great Society. “Team Tyranny” was gaining ground on “Team Liberty.” The battle was enjoined. America’s future had truly turned into a competitive civilizational struggle.
Jimmy Carter was socialism’s next attempt to take the lead in the game. But he was petty and inept as a leader, and freedom-loving Ronald Reagan was swept into office. His influence kept “Team Liberty” ahead in the game for another twenty years.
Then following some missteps by the Republicans who were supposed to key players on “Team Liberty,” Barack Obama was elected to national office. In two short years he took “Team Tyranny” into the lead in American life via massive government stimuli, a takeover of various businesses and the financial sector, and finally the crowning jewel–creeping socialized medicine through Obamacare.
At that point, socialism was winning the game and Bernie Sanders was no longer the lone kook.
His team was now ahead.
But then “Team Liberty” awoke through the Tea Party Movement and concerted prayer. They “scored” big in the November 2, 2010 elections and re-gained the lead for the forces of freedom. On many fronts, freedom and common sense triumphed and was preparing to add a larger national advantage on January 3, 2011 when the new 112th Congress convenes and in 2012 when a new president can be elected.
So Barack Obama, captain of “Team Tyranny,” saw the victory slipping away and let fly with his Hail Mary.
Don’t be deceived by other members of his team that are yapping and swawking. They’re just decoy receivers that are really working for the same goal. Barack Obama was throwing to other “receivers”–Independents–who he needs to score a winning touchdown.
The Compromise was all about his re-election in 2012. Without it, socialism will not be able to win the game.
Barack Obama has not changed. He’s still a socialist-of-some-type at heart. But time was running out and momentum had swung.
He desperately heaved a Hail Mary to try and get re-elected.
Let’s hope and pray that his pass is incomplete during the Lame Duck Session.
As Heritage Foundation and many others now understand, the compromise must fail.
Then “Team Liberty” can once again get the ball back on January 3, 2011 and make permanent the tax rates, begin repealing Obamacare, and soundly defeat the socialists in 2012. Next, a new generation of leaders must stop frivolous spending, balance the budget, promote faith and morality, strengthen national defenses and encourage an American spiritual awakening.
That’s the meaning of the tax rate debate.
Wake Up Left Coast!
I recently had lunch with a Washington State businessman who’s run a successful company for nearly forty years. He has fought many battles over those decades with county inspectors, state regulators, and cultural trends. He’s had his share of family problems, including some dark days when one of his children was far from God.
But I’ve always known him to persevere. He wants to make a difference in our world and is one of the greatest givers to God’s work that I’ve ever known. He’s a fighter, a scrapper, a man of his word that does not give in easy.
So I was surprised during the meal when he looked me in the eye and said that he was considering moving his entire family to another state for their spiritual and economic health.
He wants to get off the Left Coast.
I’m beginning to understand what he means.
Left Coast is a political term implying that the west coast of the United States is politically left-wing. This means the population is more secular and thus hostile to Judeo-Christian values. The implication is that the states of California, Oregon, and Washington (particularly, the coastal counties and cities within those states) vote predictably for the Democratic Party, or that the people who live there have a generally more liberal attitude than the rest of the country. The phrase plays on the fact that the west coast of the US is found on the left of the contiguous 48 states when looking at a map.
I would include the state of Hawaii as a part of the Left Coast. They have become another bastion of liberalism, including the 2010 election of Neil Abercrombie (D) as governor with a 58% vote and the defeat of many conservative Christian candidates around the state.
In the 2010 elections, many secular-liberal politicians were swept away in most parts of the country. Conservative Republicans picked up over sixty seats in the US House, but few of these were on the Left Coast. The governors map changed radically in the center, south, and east of the nation where conservatives won the states of New Mexico, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even Maine. Overall, the Republicans picked up twelve governorships to the Democrats two (California and Connecticut)
If you need a visual, imagine a significant amount of “red” being added to the 2008 map that is shown above–but not on the Left Coast. In governor’s races, Jerry Brown won by twelve points in California and John Kitzhaber eked out a one point victory in Oregon. Washington’s governors race will take place in 2012, but liberal Democrats have controlled all aspects of Olympia for twenty years.
What does that matter, you ask? Well the secular-liberal stranglehold on the Left Coast brings some serious consequences.
Taxes. Left Coast states produce big spending governments that overtax and overburden their people. Hawaii is the number one taxed state (per capita) at $3,050 per person per year. California is number nine at $2391 and Washington is number thirteen at $2238. Washingtonians had the good sense to reject an income tax proposition this fall, but the Evergreen State’s gas and sales taxes are among the highest in the nation.
Jobs: Whereas states like Texas keep churning out jobs due to its conservative policies, Left Coast States are in the lower half of job growth due to their anti-business climates. Washington has an unemployment rate of 9.0 percent though it sports some of the great entrepreneurial companies in the nation (Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon.com etc.) Boeing has moved its headquarters to Chicago due to the bad business climate. Oregon has a 10.6 percent unemployment rate which ranks it 8th in the nation.
But California, which just re-elected Governor Jerry Brown has a whopping 12.4 percent unemployment rate, and for the first time in fifty years, more people and businesses are leaving California than arriving. California may face default this coming year due to a mind-boggling 500 billion dollars in unfunded pensions. That liability around its neck won’t create many jobs.
Morality:It’s hard to place a rank on these categories, but it’s beyond question that the sexual mores of San Francisco and Seattle have made them a hot-bed of immorality and the push for gay marriage–which would totally unravel the moral fabric of America. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is being challenged in California (of all states), and two of the three states in the nation that allows its people to kill themselves with the help of doctors (physician assisted suicide) are Oregon and Washington. The third is Montana–which is almost a bed-room community to the Left Coast.
This list of the consequences of secular-liberalism could go on–but I think you get the point. The liberal worldview does not create prosperity or strong families. It leads down a road to tyranny, poverty, in-ability to economically compete, and moral confusion.
So, with much of the nation in 2010 turning back to Judeo-Christian principles and conservative applications in government, why is the Left Coast still stuck in the grip of liberalism?
That’s the million dollar question–and I don’t profess to have the answer. I do have some hunches that might be contributing factors.
First, the independent spirit of the West fosters a tendency to reject God and his principles for living. The cowboy mentality can easily morph into a spirit of rebellion that displays itself in humanistic laws and sexual dysfunction. On the Left Coast, I believe that demonic powers have been given a stronghold that impacts the lives of our people and political leaders (Ephesians 6:12).
I remember flying out of the Soviet Union in the 1980s while it was under communist oppression. On one flight, the experience of leaving “tyranny” and heading into “freedom” caused spontaneous applause on the aircraft! You could “feel” the leaving behind of demonic dominions and traveling into “freer space.” It was a tangible experience, undoubtedly related to the reality of spiritual warfare.
Many people say the same thing about the Left Coast. They feel a heaviness and discouragement here that is not felt in other parts of the nation. It’s not just the clouds (in Washington). The peoples of the Left Coast have attracted the presence of demonic principalities that are affecting this region of the country.
Second, the Christian foundations on the west coast are much weaker than any area in America. Many of the Left Coast states are later entries to the Union. California was 31, Oregon 33, Washington 42, and Hawaii 50. We missed most of the spiritual awakenings in our history; We didn’t have Pilgrims or Puritans to lay our social foundations; Our governing documents don’t contain phrases and concepts that pointed to God’s sovereignty and his natural laws; We were the “younger spoiled kids” of the Republic who did not form our corporate character at Valley Forge or Gettysburg.
Thus, our foundations are not as rooted to the rock of Christ as in others states. We were planted on wild, slippery soil, and our roots don’t go as deeply into the truth of God’s Word.
Third, there is the reality that actions have consequences. For example, Washington is the only state in the nation that legalized abortion via a vote of the people before Roe v. Wade in 1973. Activist judges didn’t send our innocent babies to their deaths. We the people, voted their demise at the hands of abortionists–the only state to do so.
That was a horrendous decision that opened us up to the presence of evil and judgment of God. In many societal realms, are we simply reaping what we sowed? Only God knows, but there is certainly room for state-wide repentance on this and other moral issues.
But there’s another interesting theory that I learned from a respected scholar.
Dr. Gregory Boyd points out in his insightful book God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict, that Satanic power and presence have been historically associated with raging, chaotic waters–in particular, the raging seas–especially oceans.
Boyd says, “The authors of the Old Testament shared significant elements of the common Near Eastern perspective that the earth was part of a cosmic war zone. The chaotic waters and sea monsters were demonic creatures against whom God had to fight…The Israelites believed the earth rested upon waters, but that Yahweh pushed back the waters to make dry land appear. ..Something about the cosmic environment of the earth–the waters–was, and still is, hostile toward God and humanity.”
It’s a much bigger discussion (three chapters in his book), but Boyd says that in the Old Testament, water was either a symbol of demonic chaos, or even a place of demonic habitation.
In the New Testament, when Jesus cast out a legion of spirits from a man, the demons specifically asked to not be sent to the “waterless places” but rather into some pigs, who stormed down the bank and were drowned in the water (Luke 11:24-NASB). When the Book of Revelation describes the new heaven and earth, it specifically says “and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1). The only water mentioned is the River of Life whose trees bring healing to the nations (Revelation 22:1,2).
So, in the Bible, large amounts of raging waters are associated with evil. Fertile land is associated with blessing and good.
What’s the point? It’s interesting to me that the regions of our nation near the large raging waters (the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and the Great Lakes region) appear most susceptible to liberal influences. The states that are inland–closer to the soil–tend to be more conservative.
And in 2010, the only region that resisted the conservative tide was the Left Coast. Is this just coincidence, or is there something even in our geography that we don’t fully understand?
Regardless of the true reasons for our troubles, what should we do about the secular-liberal stronghold of the Left Coast? Should we all pack our bags and leave for inland havens? Should we follow my businessman friend to greener pastures elsewhere?
God may lead some to go, but many of us must stay and fight for freedom and God’s blessings:
- We must participate in an empowered prayer movement that will bind the principalities and powers that are deceiving and impacting the Left Coast.
- We must mobilize the Church to care for, educate, and encourage our fellow citizens to embrace a new heritage in God.
- We must get involved in the political process, and work for good candidates who can help us change our laws and culture. Reformation is one of the gifts of God. It can come to the peoples of the western states.
Gregory Boyd comes to the same conclusion: “All who name the name of the Lord are called to identify and resist, in the power of God, the structural forces of evil that work to thwart God’s plan for the earth…When we fight, we do not do so in our own power, but God Himself reenacts his primal victory over these destructive forces through us.”
So let’s get to work.
I’m not going anywhere.
Our most important response is to reject discouragment and not give up. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He can bring it in our individual lives. He can also “wake up” the Left Coast with his grace and power.
Send this article to your friends on the Left Coast. Ask them to pray and act.
Let’s make the Left Coast the “Righteous Coast” of the United States of America.
Why Liberalism Cannot Cure the American Economy
Liberal politicians in Washington, D.C. are very nervous about the upcoming elections. The American economy is stuck in the doldrums–if not headed for a double dip recession–and the people just might vent their wrath against those holding the reins of power.
In fact, President Obama’s team is so concerned that they’ve been meeting around the clock to try to come up with a solution. Should they enact another stimulus? Should they unleash a new set of tax credits or incentives? How should the government intervene to get the economy going?
We are told that the president will make a major speech this week about what they plan to do.
There’s just one problem. Liberal solutions to economic problems don’t work. They do not “reckon with reality,” so they are doomed to fail. Liberal politicians and their media cronies just don’t get it.
It’s freedom that we need. Not more government.
As Ronald Reagan once wisely stated: “Government is not the answer to our problems. Government is the problem.”
I recently read a book that opened my eyes to the blindness and bias that exists in both liberal political and media circles. Peter Goodman’s Past Due: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy, was given to me by a friend who wanted my opinion on it. Mr. Goodman is an economics writer for the New York Times who previously served for ten years as a Washington Post correspondent.
Reading books like Goodman’s is a healthy thing to do. It helps me understand what the other side is thinking and keeps me honest in my own beliefs. If you don’t read your philosophical opponents, then you must be unsure of your own principles or afraid to have them challenged. I am neither. As a pursuer of truth, I am open to find it wherever it may be found—sometimes in unusual places.
My friend thought I might be helped by a book from the bastion of liberal thought—the New York Times. I was sadly disappointed. Though Mr. Goodman is an engaging and thorough writer, I was amazed at the conclusions he drew from his analysis of where the American economy went wrong and what we must do to right it.
To be fair, Mr. Goodman rightly points out that many American institutions and individuals got hooked on easy money and credit over the past couple of decades. We spent beyond our means because we used the increasing equity in our homes as a cash cow to fund a debt-ridden lifestyle. He is right in this analysis. Americans got careless with debt during the Reagan-led boom that lasted from 1982 to 2007.
So far, so good.
Goodman weaves many personal stories into his narrative to prove his point. All of these people, from many walks of life, over spent, over borrowed and got shellacked when the mountain of debt became due. He discusses how the big banks and financial institutions did the same—apparently motivated by capitalism and greed. There are some elements of truth here as well.
But then the analysis reverts to the liberal bias. George Bush is consistently mocked throughout the book because he was a believer in unrestrained free enterprise. He also takes to task Bill Clinton’s reform of welfare, Robert Rubin’s and Larry Summer’s leadership during the Clinton years, de-regulation policies, and especially Alan Greenspan’s guidance of the Federal Reserve which was too laissez-faire.
The biggest culprit is what Goodman calls “faith based markets.” He says, “The intensity of the recession… was the direct result of a massive abdication of regulatory authority, one that enabled Wall Street and Madison Avenue to get rich by selling the dream of immediate wealth.” In other words—the government wasn’t involved enough. He calls this neglect “living in a fantasy world or Neverland.” He labels the free enterprise proponents as modern day Peter Pans.
Thus Mr. Goodman shares a fond affection for the Keynesian view of economics—that government must assume control of the economy and take the lead. He says, “The government must once again regulate the financial system to protect the economy from investment binges.” His desired direction is the government establishing “seed investments,” especially in bio-tech and renewable energy (he’s really big on wind and solar), and should finance health care through expanding Medicare and Medicaid and promote a “collective enterprise” between government and industry.
Let’s just say it as it is. Goodman is a socialist—or a fascist. They’re the same thing in his Liberal Neverland. He decries Wall Street and Main Street—but he a cheerleader for “State Street.” Goodman wants the government to control it all.
That’s why he is admiringly pro-Obama and his liberal economic ideas in the book. There is not one negative or cautionary word about the president’s policies. He lauds the fact that the president declared on inauguration day, “We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the re-making America.”
This re-making included the massive federal stimulus bill which Goodman applauded because it “took the edge off the worst economic fears and raised hopes that the suffering would diminish. It would generate needed paychecks. It would provide relief to those laid off. It would spare jobs that otherwise would have been lost by sending aid to cash-strapped states.”
Talk about Fantasyland. The so-called stimulus was a trillion dollar failure. And normal Americans don’t agree with Goodman’s enthusiasm over the government takeover of health care. They reject it by nearly a sixty to forty margin.
Goodman–and the Obama administration–believe that Big Goverment with its massive income re-distribution priorities are the best masters of the free enterprise system. What they fail to realize is this: It is government intervention that is the problem. Centralized governments always grossly misallocate currency and capital resources that are better guided by individual market decisions. The choices of millions of consumers provide much better checks and balances than a few bureaucrats do.
Here’s what Goodman amazingly missed in his research. He says that banks and other greedy financial institutions lent money they shouldn’t have. They were careless, reckless, and this is why the housing bubble inflated. There was too much money floating around with people abusing it via their home equity loans and re-financing schemes to get rich. He says there wasn’t enough regulation (government control) of the money supply.
But where did they get the money? Private companies cannot print money. Only governments can. It was short-sighted government regulation, through Richard Nixon, in 1971, that removed American finance from the gold standard, allowing trillions of dollars to be printed in the last thirty years that are backed by nothing. In 1971, gold was at $35 an ounce and the dollar was “pegged” to it for stability and strength.
In 2010, gold is over $1200 an ounce and the dollar remains incredibly weak. Bad government regulation has “inflated” our financial institutions with too many dollars. They simply used what they were unwisely given.
You can’t blame the Monopoly players when bank (the Government) is at fault for circulating all the funny money. If the government had left the money supply pegged to gold, there would have been no inflated home prices and no crash. The central planners messed up the system.
Goodman and his liberal friends are also disingenuous about other government agencies that heavily contributed to the financial meltdown. In Past Due, Goodman discussed the giant mortage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He calls them “private companies” and places no blame at their feet for the collapse of the housing market.
But they are not private entities. They are government subsidiaries that tried to regulate people into homes they couldn’t afford, breaking all the normal laws of wise lending practices. Freddie and Fannie are in bed with the liberals and contribute heavily to their campaigns.
Here’s the bottom line: The US government bears the major responsibility for screwing up the American economy by grossly inflating the money supply and then lending it to unqualified buyers. If the government had stayed out of the markets, they would have been far more stable and self-correcting.
They didn’t–and set us on a course that looks an awful lot like sinking Europe, depressed Japan, and the disgraced and fallen Soviet Union.
Peter Goodman and his ilk now want the Federal Government to lead the American renewal with what? More controls! This is not only dumb–it is suicidal.
Past Due: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy is a propaganda book with a ludicrous conclusion. I think it should be re-titled: Past Due: The End of Liberal Dis-Information About the Virtues of Big Government.
America’s economic engine runs on the fuel of faith and freedom–characteristics that liberal thinkers neither understand nor promote.
Fortunately, the American people are seeing the light and will be voting for freedom in November, not for more government regulations. They know that liberalism cannot cure the economy because it puts its faith in the wrong thing–the Almighty State–instead of Almighty God who dwells in the hearts and minds of a self-governing people.