E-Newsletter No. 112                 April 2023          

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Conservatives champion the fundamental principle that every individual has “Equality” and equal protections under the law.  It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, or what your ethnic heritage or race might be.  And we appreciate the Rule of Law (even though we oftentimes think there are way too many meaningless laws and that some laws are counter-productive and need to be changed through the legislative process).

The acronym DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and this is a major agenda item for the Left.  Conservatives reject the Marxist concept of “Equity.”

Conservatives embrace Diversity.  We are a nation founded by immigrants, with innumerable ethnic backgrounds, which add to the fabric of American life.  America has always been a land of opportunity that draws immigrants from around the world. We believe in the motto at the base of the Statue of Liberty – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  However, we are a nation of laws, and we expect immigrants to come here legally.  Unfortunately, the actions of illegal immigrants, which are being tolerated (encouraged?) by the Left, show a total disregard for the Rule of Law.

Conservatives also embrace the concept of Inclusion.  Again, we do not care about a person’s ethnic heritage or race.  Our fundamental guiding principle should always continue to be “e pluribus unum” (out of many, one). 

The reason Conservatives reject the Marxist concept of “Equity” is that we recognize the reality that each individual has their own particular skills and aspirations, and this reality inevitably results in “unequal outcomes.”  And of course, that reality is entirely contrary to the agenda and goals of Marxists.  Their solution is to obtain absolute control of the government, so they can use the power of the government to redistribute wealth from some citizens and then transfer it to their supporters. 

Fortunately, there continues to be some level of resistance to that particular tactic.  However, unfortunately, there is another tactic used by the Left to achieve their goal of “Equity” and that tactic is to steal that wealth from future generations. 

US Debt Clock – – March 1^st – $94,440 per citizen / April 1st – $94,600

E-Newsletter No. 111                 March 2023          

Our country continues to be in the middle of the ongoing war against Socialism.  It is a well-known Marxist tactic that one of the best ways to advance Socialism is to divide the people, and then pit those groups against each other.  While there are innumerable ways in which the Left continues to try to divide our country’s citizens, we will focus on just two in this newsletter – class warfare and racism.

Saul Alinsky wrote a book “Rules for Radicals”.  One of the divisive steps that is oftentimes attributed to Alinsky is the use of Class Warfare – – Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor.  This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to tax the wealthy with the support of the poor. 

Part of the Socialist ideology is the rejection of the concepts of private enterprise, earned income and profits, which are the basic features of capitalism.  Unfortunately, under Socialist ideology, profits and “inequality” are evils that must be eliminated.  Instead, their ideology is “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”  Unfortunately, under Socialism, people are not free to pursue the maximum use of their own individual abilities, and it has been proven time and time again that the government can never know what each individual needs (or wants).

We will talk more about “Equity” (the “E” in “DEI”) in a future newsletter.  For now, let’s just say the idea of “Equity” might sound good on paper, but to accomplish it creates a massive amount of divisiveness, especially when it’s the government that will be used to enforce “Equity.”

Critical Race Theory is a classic Marxist divide-and-conquer tactic.  Identity politics is used as a tool to sow hatred among people.  The Democrat party is fixated on race.  They have a long history of racism with the KKK and Jim Crow laws.  Conservatives, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about someone’s ethnic heritage.  We embrace the philosophy of the words of Martin Luther King Jr – “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” 

If we can hold on to that fundamental value, we will be able to retain one of our country’s founding principles – E Pluribus Unum.

US Debt Clock – – February 1^st – $94,290 per citizen / March 1st – $94,440

E-Newsletter No. 110                 February 2023  

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

Last month, we began a series of newsletters that discuss various values, and how those values affect a person’s vote in an election.  Based on exit polling data for the 2022 midterm elections, it appears that a significant majority of younger voters age 18-30 voted in support of President Biden’s desire to buy votes and unilaterally (and unconstitutionally) forgive student loan indebtedness, along with the Democrats’ push for unrestricted government-funded abortion rights, including up until the moment of a baby’s birth.

Our Editorial Board agrees that nearly every person has a desire for both Liberty and Safety.  Some of the growing divide in our country stems from the question of which value represents a person’s higher priority.  “Collectivists” continue to place a higher value on Safety, even if there is a detrimental effect on (individual) Liberty.  One example of this conflict in recent years has been the proliferation of Free Speech Zones and Safe Spaces on college campuses.  Should someone’s right to Free Speech be canceled because some college student needs to feel safe from someone else’s viewpoints they do not share?  Ben Franklin expressed a fairly “conservative” value in his defense of Liberty in the 1700s.

The Social Security program was instituted in 1935 to provide an economic safety net for people who did not save enough of their own money for their own retirement.  This socialist program is now an albatross hanging around the necks of our children and grandchildren.  Over the intervening years since 1935, both the demographics and the economics have changed significantly.  There are now fewer than 3 workers for every retiree receiving benefits.  Life expectancy is now much longer than it was in 1935.  Retirees are now receiving increasingly higher multiples of benefits, when compared to their payroll tax withholdings paid into the “system” (scheme) prior to their retirement.  Career politicians will not address this problem (aka “the third rail of politics”) because our citizens were lied to about the Social Security “Trust” (which holds no cash) and have become increasingly dependent upon this “safety net.”  It is much easier for career politicians to continue to push this burden onto our non-voting children and grandchildren, rather than put forward a solution.  (See our foundation’s solution on our website in a Conversation Piece entitled The 2020 Initiative).

Which leads us to this latest bit of updated news.  On January 19, 2023, the federal government ran out of cash (again), when it hit the statutory debt limit of $31.385 trillion.  Interestingly, the US Debt Clock currently shows debt of $31.575 trillion, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s just a rounding difference.  The Treasury department is now (again) using “extraordinary measures” to avoid a technical event of default.  (How many times over the past several years have we seen this same “crisis” reoccur?)  It is anticipated that the extraordinary measures will run out in the next few months.  Stay tuned.

US Debt Clock – – January 1^st – $94,130 per citizen / February 1st – $94,290

E-Newsletter No. 109               January 2023    

Last month, we asked the question “Did the Growing Divide Shrink?”  (Probably not).  Did people vote their values?  (Probably).  In future newsletters we will continue our discussion on many of these differences in voters’ values. 

Much of the analysis of the November elections focused on the significantly higher turnout of voters in the 18-30 age group.  Election analysts have determined that this was the highest turnout by this age group in the last thirty years.  Was this due to the ease of voting via Mail In Ballots?  (Maybe).  Even though polling is not a precise science, exit polls indicated that the voters in this age group cast their vote for a Democrat candidate by a wide margin.  Some analysts claim the gap might have been as high as 32 percentage points.  The exit polls also indicated that their vote was cast for the Democrat candidate, primarily because of student loan debt forgiveness and / or abortion.

In order address the competing values underlying these two issues, as well as to provide some background and facts, we have prepared two new Conversation Pieces –

The November 2022 Midterm Elections – Student Loan Forgiveness

The November 2022 Midterm Elections – Abortion

In both cases, there is a stark contrast between the values of the Left and Conservatives.  You will also note that the mainstream media played a critical role in pushing the Left’s narratives.

In other news, another piece of legislation was passed last month that demonstrates the growing divide between the Left and Conservatives.  On December 13th, President Biden signed into law the euphemistically entitled “Respect for Marriage Act.”  Unfortunately, this legislation effectively nullifies the “Defense of Marriage Act” signed by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996, which defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman.  This “Dis”-Respect for Marriage Act tramples on the beliefs of Conservatives and violates their religious liberties.  The Democrat majority has re-defined yet another key cultural concept (vital to our society) in their ongoing quest to fundamentally transform our country.

And lastly, two days before Christmas, Congress passed a $1.7 trillion Omnibus spending bill.   We do not have enough space to list all of the truly appalling items that were included in this spending bill.  The real tragedy is that the federal government’s fiscal management process remains in shambles.  This was just one more year in an annually recurring nightmare right before Christmas.  The “good news” is that 20 brave conservatives recently stood their ground and forced 15 votes during the process of electing a new Speaker of the House.  They were able to force significant changes to the House’s rules, and they obtained key concessions from the entrenched “leadership” that will go a long way towards beginning to minimize and then ultimately end the theft from future generations.  Some of those changes will now come into play next month as Congress grapples with its annual self-induced debt ceiling crisis.  Stay tuned.    

US Debt Clock – – December 1^st – $93,910 per citizen / January 1st – $94,130

E-Newsletter No. 108               December 2022

Last month, we asked the question “Can the Growing Divide Be Resolved?”  We were hopeful that the answer would be a resounding “Yes” and that our country’s citizens would vote to re-embrace conservative values and reject the growing divide caused by the “progressive” movement’s desire to fundamentally transform our country.  But it appears that in many ways the 2022 midterm elections show that the philosophical divide continues to grow.  The good news is that in the aggregate for the 435 elections for the US House of Representatives, Republican candidates received 50.1 million votes and Democrat candidates received 44.3 million votes.

Our Editorial Board believes the fundamental question that confronts a voter on election day is “Am I going to cast my vote in a way that best represents my values?”  

We have pulled together a partial list of some of the key issues that cause the growing divide between conservatives and those on the Left –

Limited Government vs Bureaucracy

The Tenth Amendment vs an all-powerful federal government

Personal Responsibility vs Socialism

Individualism vs Collectivism

Freedom of Speech vs the proposed Ministry of Truth

The supremacy of family values vs government “woke-ness”

Freedom vs Government-directed mandates

E Pluribus Unum vs divisive “special interests”

Free Markets and Choice vs Government Ownership and Control

Secure national borders vs Open borders

Fiscal responsibility vs Unsustainable growing debt

We readily admit that sorting this out is extremely difficult, because each individual voter must assess each issue and how each issue aligns with their values.

Unfortunately, with the Left’s control of the media narrative and the education system(s), along with their ongoing collusion with the DC Swamp, their attempts to fundamentally transform our country will not end, and it appears that the growing divide will continue to grow.

US Debt Clock – – November 1^st – $93,750 per citizen / December 1st – $93,910

E-Newsletter No. 107               November 2022          

Our Editorial Board believes the answer to this question is a hopeful (but qualified) “Yes.”  Former President Barack Obama’s stated goal was to use the power of the federal government to fundamentally transform our country.  Conservatives never bought in to that idea, as it conveyed a message that America was fundamentally flawed and needed to be fixed by the federal government (instead of by families, churches, charities, and other civil society groups).  In the years since, the “progressive” Left has continued to pursue its ambitious agenda to fundamentally transform our country. 

Here are some of the Left’s ideas that are still being pursued:  H.R. 1, which calls for the federalization of our elections, Puerto Rico and /or Washington DC statehood, expanding and then packing the Supreme Court, eliminating the Electoral College, eliminating the Senate filibuster, Medicare for All, paying a “Universal Basic Income,” etc. 

John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country.”  It seems like the Democrats’ new ideology is “What can we give you for free?”

As we discussed last month, the growing divide is being driven by the progressive Left who prefer Big Government, collectivism and socialism versus Conservatives who want to conserve the best of the past and who prefer individualism, personal responsibility, Liberty and Freedom.

Our Editorial Board is hopeful that in this month’s elections, our country’s citizens will return to our roots and re-embrace the founding principles that are listed on our currency and coins:  E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one), Liberty, and In God We Trust.  If we resoundingly reject the Marxist tactic of creating divisiveness and then pitting the resulting “special interest groups” against each other, then E Pluribus Unum may yet again prevail, and the growing divide will diminish.

US Debt Clock – – October 1^st – $92,800 per citizen / November 1st – $93,750

E-Newsletter No. 106               October 2022          

Freedom is a concept relating to the individual – – each person’s unalienable rights and the choices each person is able to make for their own life.  However, the amount of Liberties an individual is allowed to have is oftentimes impacted by what a government can control and/or dictate.  In our most recent newsletters, we have written about Freedom of Speech, Religious Liberties, the right to bear arms (which shall not be infringed), and the right to privacy and to be secure in our houses, papers and effects.

Our country’s Founders included the Tenth Amendment in order to restrain the government’s natural tendency to grow and become increasingly intrusive.  The Founders also created a Constitutional Republic instead of a Democracy, in order to help protect an individual’s rights from mob rule (aka the tyranny of the majority).

Our country’s current growing divide between Left and Right centers on that key issue about the size and scope of the federal government.  Conservatives (for decades) have been slowly losing the battle against the ongoing incremental intrusiveness of the federal government. 

The Democrats/Socialists have an agenda (which has been duly announced to the public at large) on how they want to gain absolute power and continue to grow the size and scope of the government.  Here is a partial list –

Eliminate the Senate filibuster, so that a simple majority of Senators can push through legislation, rather than have at least 60 of the 100 Senators agree.

Eliminate the Electoral College and have the President elected by a simple majority of people casting votes for the President.

Pass HR 1, which is a proposal to “federalize” our elections, rather than have elections continue to be administered at the state level.

Expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court, and then pack the court with additional “progressive” justices.

Admit additional “states” (Washington DC and/or Puerto Rico) to add additional “progressive” Senators from these new blue states.

Institute “Medicare for All” and have the federal government monopolize the healthcare industry and administer all aspects of our country’s healthcare system.

Some of the other announced items on the Socialists’ wish list include –

Instituting the payment of a Universal Basic Income.

Furthering the racial divide within our country by paying reparations to individuals who have never been slaves.

Legislating a federal right to abortion, including allowing abortions up until the moment of a baby’s birth (and possibly for some period of time afterwards).

Removing the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Eliminating any remaining remnants of our southern border, and instituting a true “Open Borders” policy, which would require the voiding of all existing immigration laws that have been passed by Congress, and which the current administration currently chooses to ignore.

When the federal government abandons the concept of the rule of law, then yes, our Liberties are in grave danger of being toppled, unless Conservatives get out and vote in next month’s elections.

“Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” – Janis Joplin

US Debt Clock – – September 1^st – $92,650 per citizen / October 1st – $92,800

E-Newsletter No. 105               September 2022          

“I want a government so small you can barely see it.” – Rand Paul

That is the same vision that our country’s Founders had when they wrote the Tenth Amendment – – The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Our Liberties are in danger of being toppled by the ever-expanding power and intrusiveness of the federal government.  Our Editorial Board believes most of the growing divide within our country between the Left and Conservatives is due to this “scope of government” issue.  The Left’s “religion” is Big Government.  Conservatives support the principles behind our country’s founding and the Tenth Amendment.  Conservatives reject the idea that the Constitution is a “living document” and generally oppose the thinking that underlies the “progressive” agenda. 

This issue is probably the most important of the three planks of the petition to call a Convention of States under Article V of the Constitution – – …to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government. 

We recently ran across an interesting website – https://usgovernmentrevenue.com/ – that shows government revenues as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product) going back to the year 1900.  The increases are alarming, but one of the interesting aspects of the chart is the shift between local, state and federal government revenues.  The federal government used to be less than local government.  And while State governments now also surpass local government, the burden of State taxes are nowhere near the taxes collected by the federal government.

                Local         State       Federal        Total

1900        3.78%          .81%         3.22%        7.81%

1950        3.89            3.83          13.16         20.88                     

2000        6.48            9.62          19.76         35.86     

2020        7.12            8.99          16.37         32.48  

You might initially think the federal government in 2020 was “good news.”  Unfortunately, that was not the case at all.  The numbers above are government revenues as a percentage of GDP.  The federal government’s deficit in 2020 was a whopping $3.1 trillion (Revenues of $3.4 trillion and Spending of $6.5 trillion).  The federal government’s spending in 2020 was over 31% of GDP and the $3.1 trillion deficit has been “borrowed” from our children and grandchildren.  

The above results are entirely due to the “progressive” agenda and the Left’s desire for a bigger federal government.  The petition for the Convention of States is limited to proposing amendments that pertain to three aspects of the Constitution and the federal government.  The other two planks are – …to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, and to limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.   All are worthy changes, indeed.  You can call them “anti-progressive.” Additional information on the Convention of States can be found at www.conventionofstates.com.

US Debt Clock – – August 1^st – $91,925 per citizen / September 1st – $92,650

E-Newsletter No. 104               August 2022          

Our Liberties are in danger of being toppled.  In previous months, we discussed the Left’s attacks on the First and Second Amendments.  This month, the Fourth Amendment –

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Is this fundamental right in danger of being toppled?  We believe so.  There are too many instances to list them all, so we will only mention a few of the more prominent examples.  It has now been confirmed that the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane probe spied on the Trump campaign.  Other questionable searches and seizures have been conducted against Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani, Brandon Straka, James O’Keefe, and several others, including the FBI’s August 8^th raid on President Trump’s home in Florida.

In addition to the incidents mentioned above, there continues to be a general increase in public surveillance.  Fortunately, our country has not (yet) gone to the extremes of the Chinese Communist Party with their implementation of comprehensive surveillance, coupled with face recognition technology, and the implementation of a person’s “social credit score.”  The CCP’s social credit ranking system ranges from Level 1 for people “who have done nothing wrong” to Level 6 for people who are considered to be a dishonest person and will face restrictions in their social lives, including being banned from air travel.

–     –       –      –     –     –

This month, we also need to comment on the Democrat party’s $740 billion “Inflation Reduction Act” that was signed into law on August 16^th.  This spending equates to over $2,200 per person / nearly $9,000 for a family of four.  Inflation can be characterized as paying more money for a particular item or (even worse) paying more money for an item of lesser value.  Contrary to the name the Democrat party is using to sell this piece of legislation to the public, a more appropriate title should be the “Inflation Increase Act.”

President Biden has also announced the cancellation of Student Loan Debt.  Estimates of the possible cost range from $300 billion to $1 trillion (another sizable sum).  So, here are some pertinent questions.  Is this simply a classic example of trying to buy votes?  Aren’t the beneficiaries of this debt cancellation supposedly the individuals who have generally higher incomes?  Isn’t this debt forgiveness simply shifting costs from those lucky individuals to someone else (i.e., our country’s taxpayers, many of whom have already paid off their own student loans)?  And lastly…  How can the Executive Branch unilaterally make such a law?  Isn’t it the responsibility of Congress to control the federal government’s purse strings?  When we were studying the Constitution, we were told that the Legislature writes the laws, the Executive branch enforces the laws passed by Congress, and the Judiciary helps protect our rights.  What do we need to do to make sure each branch of government gets back to doing its own role, as laid out in the Constitution?  (Nothing more, nothing less).

US Debt Clock – – July 1^st – $91,700 per citizen / August 1st – $91,925

E-Newsletter No. 103               July 2022

Our Liberties are under attack and in danger of being toppled.  In previous months, we have talked about the Left’s attacks on the First and Second Amendments.  This month, we were planning to discuss the Fourth Amendment.  However, that discussion is being delayed one month due to the need to revisit the Second Amendment in light of the Uvalde, Texas and Highland Park, Illinois tragedies. 

The first question to be addressed is – Are these two tragedies (which are horrendous tragedies) more or less tragic than the 797 murders in Chicago during 2021? (Set aside the other murders that also happened in New York, Detroit, etc).

The next question is – Were those deaths more or less tragic than the 50 murders in Chicago during 2021 that did not involve a firearm? (Stabbings, blunt force trauma, arson, strangulation, child abuse, vehicular). 

The next question is – Has anyone on the Left researched the fact that over 80% of the victims who died during a “mass shooting” (an incident with more than 6 victims) were murdered by handguns?

The next question is – Does anyone seriously believe that “just one more law” will ever be able to stop evil in a person’s heart?  (Cain killed Abel before guns were ever invented). 

The final question is – What is the real reason for the Left’s desire to violate the US Constitution by violating the actual words in the Second Amendment that read “…shall not be infringed”?  Is the Left’s true agenda a desire to eliminate the Second Amendment and ban all firearms?  (Conservatives have a serious issue with that agenda).

One other final question – Why do some on the Left condone the practice of allowing a baby to be “aborted” after birth?  (aka infanticide).  Isn’t such an occurrence also just as tragic, if not even more so?

Our Editorial Board absolutely understands the horror of the Uvalde, Texas and Highland Park, Illinois tragedies (along with Columbine and Sandy Hook, etc.).  But might we also ask another question – Are there other motives behind the resistance to having a safer environment in our schools, by having a trained, armed safety officer on site (similar to banks, airports, and in schools in Israel)?  It is well documented by the media that the police can never get there in time once a tragedy starts.  Is the elimination of the Second Amendment more important than enhancing school safety? 

We also recognize that the Leftist media focuses on these horrors and generally avoids covering the daily tragedies that occur in our country’s largest cities that are run by Democrats.  So, might we also ask yet another question – Do Black Lives really matter to the Left, and even to BLM itself, given BLM’s calls to defund the police?  Our Editorial Board unequivocally believes that All Lives Matter.  And we also believe that once our society starts to focus on the root cause of these tragedies, we will realize that we need to shift the focus away from AR-15s and back to the root cause of these tragedies.

Two final thoughts….   Benjamin Franklin once said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”  We would go further and say that giving up Liberty to purchase “no real valid assurance of any kind of Safety” is a fool’s choice.

Lastly…  We recently ran across an article that discussed a key difference between the concepts of Freedom and Liberty.  Many people think that Freedom and Liberty are the same thing.  We agree that many of the aspects are similar, and they are both vital to the human condition.  However, there is an important distinction.  Freedom is a personal thing – an individual is free to think and act to pursue their own individual preferences in life.  Does that sometimes lead to bad choices and/or evil?  Unfortunately, yes.  On the other hand, Liberty is a “societal” concept.  Unfortunately, Liberties can be toppled by a government that is intent on tyranny.

US Debt Clock – – June 1^st – $91,550 per citizen / July 1st – $91,700