This Government is Lying

How do I lie to thee? Let me count the ways.

Well, I can outright lie or I can tell a partial truth

or a partial lie or I can just not say something

that I should say because it is too important to not say.

I can deceive, deflect and divert.

I can make you look away while I barely say something

I should be emphasizing.

I can tell you something in a way

that makes it appear to be exactly what it is not.

I can tell you something in such a way that you would need

to be Sherlock Holmes and Albert Einstein to get at the real facts.

I can draw your attention to other situations and downplay the really important ones.

Or I can just reveal something in the dark of night when all are asleep

and hope that no one bothers to examine it in the light of day.

How can I lie to thee? All of these ways and a thousand more.

Oh believe me am I good at it.

What am I? Who am I? Where am I?

I am everywhere.

I am your government.

I am your president.

I am your senator.

I am your congressman.

I am your bureaucrat.

I am everywhere. I am nowhere.

I am a liar.

And I am good at it.

The USTreasury Department announced on Christmas Eve, when normal people are wrapping gifts and making meal preparations for family and friends, that it would provide an open ended, unlimited amount of funding capability to FNMA and FHLMC, otherwise known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These two entities are now wholly owned, entirely dependent borrowing/lending mortgage companies of your federal government. Without the Treasury support these entities would fail and bankruptcy would ensue. Without the federal support of these entities there would be virtually no home mortgage lending market in the United States. Just think of that situation. After hundreds of billions of dollars of wasted federal spending propping up everything from the aged senator from West Virginia to the welfare states of Michigan and California to two failed automobile companies (that statement is not quite true; the spending was mostly directed to the failed leadership of the United Automobile Workers) to bailing out the horrific Democratic Party leadership in the states of New York and Illinois and the indescribable meathead leadership of the body builder from Austria and his California public sector union loving Democratic Party apparatchiks, there is no independent residential home mortgage lending capability in the United States of America. Why is that you ask? Because the corruption of the leadership in the white house, federal reserve and the congress for the last 20 years coupled with the thievery of the boards of FNMA and FHLMC and the party apparatchiks they put in executive positions with salaries, bonuses and stock option at Wall Street levels, have destroyed the confidence of investors around the world in US home mortgages and related products. So, the USTreasury now is the American home lender. And, that situation is going to be with us for a long, long time. When was the last time that the boy president, (el presidente Niño for our Spanish readers) had a chat with us about this situation? By the way, what exactly is your house worth?

The prior issue could well bankrupt the country. Here is how you solve this issue going forward. A simple piece of legislation that requires all debt, all securities, all notes and claims, all liabilities issued by any entity, person, corporation or government agency/authority to carry, on every page of every document, at the very top and the very bottom, in bold face type at least twice the size of any font used elsewhere on the page, the following sentence, “This obligation is not and will not be guaranteed by the United States of America.” Then, of course, the people need to elect officials who can understand that simple sentence and will actually enforce it. In the meantime, hunker down for a long cold winter.

The Vote

Here is the vote. The 60 YEAs have voted to force all US citizens to purchase, under penalty of law, health insurance. These same 60 have taken an oath to “support and defend the constitution of the United States.” Not one can cite any passage in the constitution granting them the power, directly or indirectly, to force such a position upon any US citizen. One Senator was asked if he thought the vote was constitutional.  His response, "I'm not a lawyer."  These same 60 people used bribes, coercion, closed door deals and outright corruption with their special interest groups to attain passage of this legislation. If this country had even one Judiciary official with one ounce of backbone, the 60 would be indicted for crimes and misdemeanors and prosecuted as any one of us would similarly expect prosecution for such violation of oath and law. The best we can hope for is that they are retired in due course by the American voter to enjoy the massive perquisites, benefits and retirement payments they have voted themselves. In a culture with fundamentals and values, these 60 would be shunned and shamed and dispensed to the dustbin of ignominy.

YEAs ---60

Akaka (D-HI)

Baucus (D-MT)

Bayh (D-IN)

Begich (D-AK)

Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kirk (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

You can read the entire bill here:  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:6:./temp/~c111QodK5L::

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Dear Editor:

I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West 95th Street

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehended by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance, to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart a baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest men, nor the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory behind. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.


At a time of incredible challenge to values and fundamentals, we turn to this editorial written by Francis Pharcellus Church that appeared in the New York Sun on September 21, 1897 and say, simply, to our Creator, Thank You for this boundless world filled with beauty and joy.  We pray that Your light will shine upon the little minds of the Santa skeptics.

Good News of a Great Joy

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke 2:1-20

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

"'Twas the Night Before Christmas"

By Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter,

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!

On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

Global Warming?

Global warming is a touchy subject. Believers, perhaps, feel a sense of guilt and don't want the subject raised. By the way, here’s a challenge: What % of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide? 35/1000’s of a percent (.035%) will probably surprise you. Don’t feel bad – most people who think that governments should do “something now” don’t know. Carbon dioxide is considered a “greenhouse gas” along with water vapor. It is estimated that greenhouse gases cause the earth to be 60 degrees warmer than it would otherwise be, and that water vapor causes about 2/3rds of the effect. Also, remember that 50 years ago a lot of scientists where decrying “global cooling…, another ice age coming…”, and that government should do something about it “now !”.

But what about the skeptics? To hold that anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is a farce, you'd have to believe that governments around the world are colluding to extort a crippling tax on citizens and were in bed with those who might stand to pocket billions inventing and trading carbon credits. And you'd have to believe that an Academy Award winning Nobel Peace Prize recipient is either a mildly convincing actor...or a menace to humanity.

But that's not all. As of a couple of weeks ago, to suspect that AGW is a con, you must believe that private emails exchanged between climatologists responsible for providing the "consensus" data excluded dissenting viewpoints and manipulated evidence. In case you didn’t hear about the "Climategate" scandal, here's a very quick wrap: In late November, hackers broke into the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (CRU) in England, one of the four official sources of global temperature data used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The exposed emails and files were then leaked to various media outlets and published on Al Gore's "Internet." The results were interesting... For example: "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate." Professor Phil Jones, CRU director, has stepped aside from his post at the University, an independent investigation is underway there, and the Oscar-decorated Nobel Laureate mentioned above has canceled the lecture he planned to deliver at the crucial Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Estimates vary on how much a proposed "cap-and-trade" plan might cost. For the US this could be between $200-$350 billion, or roughly $1,750 - $3,000 per household. Remember this is on top of the costs for 2 dumb wars, TARP, bailouts, “cash for clunkers”, home-buyer incentives, ? trillion for an undefined bureaucratic national healthcare system, tax increases, a 1.4 trillion deficit, 14 trillion debt, and 104 trillion in unfunded liabilities, which you and your children must somehow pay.

President Obama himself said that energy costs were likely to "skyrocket" under his plan. Obama's transition team after last November's election, estimates that, "Economic costs will likely be on the order of 1 percent of GDP". (140 billion?) Critics, predictably, rebuke those figures, claiming that they are typically inflated and that their government would never spend that much money on a bogus scheme. (Remember Rumsfeld berating a journalist for saying our wars would cost $300 billion – he claimed that was ridiculously high.)

Lou Muno

TheFundamentals adds --  Thank you Lou for this essay on a timely topic.  We at TheFundamentals have a modest suggestion.  Let's make Washington DC a green town and ban all carbon emissions coupled with one of those famous "zero tolerance" government enforcement schemes..  Nancy P's jet would, of course, be grounded.  Who wouldn't like to see Nancy P stand in line and have her carryon baggage examined in full view of her fellow passengers?

Learning our ABC's

America has changed. The country has redefined itself and has redefined its fundamentals.

Today, America’s ABC’s are: Apparatchiks, Bureaucrats and Congress. Americans are now beholden to their representative democracy in ways never anticipated by the Founders. It is most interesting to read and reread the Declaration of Independence, written and adopted in 1776, a mere 233 years ago. The Declaration is a series of complaints and observations and anecdotal views of life as experienced by independent thinking citizen colonists. These folk worked hard to gain control over their lives. They wanted economic and personal freedoms, unencumbered by the kings men and those favored by the kings apparatchiks. They wanted to be able to engage in commerce without the interference and burdens imposed by the crowns bureaucrats. They wanted to be able to enjoy the privacy and security of their homes. They did not wish to be subject to the demands and vagaries of the armed kings men. Simply stated they sought life, liberty and property. These were the fundamentals that all men have sought. These are the fundamentals that fulfill men in their roles as fathers, husbands and providers and relieve the burdens of women in their roles as mothers, wives and providers. These are the necessities for all men and women who are independent in their thought and word and action. These are the rewards of hard work, discipline, frugality and sacrifice. These are the opportunities that are due educated, law abiding, God fearing citizens. This was the ABC’s of life for decades in the US of A.

Today, 22 million people are employed at various tasks at various levels of government across the US. 22 million people depend on the other Americans to earn enough money to provide for their compensation. Just think of that simple fact. The entire workforce in America, when working, is about 150 million people. Today it is quite a bit lower; approximately 135 million people. If you subtract the 22 million people who depend on others for their compensation, that means that 113 million people are working to provide food, shelter, clothing, health care, education and multiple levels of taxation for themselves and their families on their earnings. These very same people also pay for the food, shelter, clothing, health care, education and savings/pensions of the 22 million people who are employed at all levels of government. One in five feed at the public trough. Look around you. Do you know five people who do not work for any government? If yes, those five are supporting one government employee. In the old Soviet Union, many of these government types were called “apparatchiks.” They were engaged in the tasks of politics or bureaucracies or both. In the US we tend to call them presidential appointees, special interest personnel or bureaucrats. They are not known for their work ethic, their efficiency or their productivity. How can you identify them? They get more vacation, more days off, more paid holidays, more compensation, better health care and benefits and much more generous pension plans than the people who pay their compensation. That is an important point; let’s repeat it. They are better paid, better benefitted and better pensioned than the people who pay their compensation. Ponder that simple fact for a few minutes today.

Who figured out such a program? Well, the Founders did. They call it “representative democracy.” We call it Congress. Congress; the 50 mini congresses in the states and the many micro/mini political entities within the states pass the laws that create the jobs and the wages and the benefits and the pensions for 22 million.

So, that is today’s history lesson. The evolution of America’s ABC’s. A = apparatchik. B = bureaucrat. C = congress. The Congress just passed a bill funding America’s apparatchiks and bureaucrats in ten cabinet departments at a record high $1.1 trillion for one year. It is called HR 3288. Details and comments from Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation are available at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm2728.cfm  Per USA Today, 19% of the federal employees will earn more than $100,000.00 per year. A record! The average federal employee makes $71,000.00 per year. The average private sector employee - $40,000.00 per year. These new ABC’s have an interesting reality. Every five earners get to support one government employee. And you and your fellow earners are, on average, paying that government employee more than you are making. A lot of people were attracted to the rhetoric of the organizer and his growing, costly government. TheFundamentals wonders how attractive these very same folk find this reality. Hopefully some will keep these facts in mind on November 2, 2010.