Marco Rubio: 2013 Loser of the Year?

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The ever-colorful, and controversial Tampa Bay Times, has easily called Senator Marco Rubio, their choice for 2013′s loser of the year.

While I don’t agree that Rubio is the loser of the year, I will say that Rubio made a compelling case for himself, and his year was more like that of his beloved Miami Dolphins, who turned out another lackluster football season. Boy, do the Dolphins really stink.

Once thought to be the future of the Republican Party, and the one that could and would beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election, Rubio managed to commit one of the biggest unforced errors in political history.

Rubio was at the top of his game, until the immigration reform debate took form. Instead of offering his own immigration reform bill, one that would encompass his pro-legal immigration position, he nestled into bed with the devil, and his demonic stooges, Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Schumer, and Dick Durbin, and offered Americans a whopping amnesty bill that only served to enrage them, and paint himself as a pro-amnesty hack.

Rubio desperately switched gears into conduct damage control, after realizing the mistake he had made. His own staffers from the very top, to the ones at the state level, were out trying to put out the grassroots fires Rubio started, but to no avail.

Rubio had done irreparable damage to his brand.

Some within Rubio’s political circles believed that this would blow over, but this screw up will transcend far beyond 2013, and possibly affect his chances of winning the GOP presidential nomination, if he decides to run for re-election, or for higher office in 2016.

The Republican Party, which was once considered to be Rubio’s party, is now is now that of the likes of Ted Cruz, Rand Paul.

Now in all fairness, Rubio supports conservatives and conservative causes 95 percent of the time, including his recent showing of how hawkish he is on foreign affairs, and with the recent repeal Obamacare movement.

But while most Americans praise him over his accomplishments and bona fide conservative voting record, his position on immigration reform, and co-sponsoring of the amnesty-lite Gang of Eight bill in the Senate, have become the political anvil permanently strapped to his ankle.

This said, Feliz Navidad!

This column originally appeared on The Shark Tank.

Al Sharpton’s Chicago Town Hall Erupts into Anti-Machine Revolt

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[youtube]http://youtu.be/Jzo9lCBYzA4[/youtube]

On December 19, 2013, a town hall meeting was hosted by Al Sharpton and the National Action Network to address gun violence exploded into a revolt against “Chicago Machine” politics, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and black alderman in City Hall with panel and audience members calling to vote out their elected officials. One 82-year-old preacher even called for “Tea Party” style meetings in some of Chicago’s south side communities such as Altgeld Gardens and Trumbull Park.

According to Breitbart, “One 82-year-old preacher even called for ‘TEA Party’ style meetings in some of Chicago’s south side communities such as Altgeld Gardens and Trumbull Park.”

“This was a historic event,” Paul McKinley of V.O.T.E. (Voices of the Ex-Offender) and former 2nd Congressional District GOP nominee to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr. told Breitbart News. “Not because of Al Sharpton coming to town,” he continued. “This was first time since electing Mayor Harold Washington in the eighties that all of these grassroots groups and community organizers have come together under one roof to talk about the problems plaguing our community.”

While the stated goal for Sharpton was to bring the many different groups together to discuss solutions to the city’s violence epidemic, he may not have gotten the types of responses he was looking for. Calls for more gun control laws and getting guns off the streets were nonexistent and not mentioned by residents throughout the session.

Like Nixon, Obama Must Be Forced to Resign

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A December 17 Reuters article was titled, “Obama’s Current Approval Rating Is The Ugliest Since Nixon.”

“President Barack Obama is ending his fifth year in office with the lowest approval ratings at this point in the presidency since President Richard Nixon, according to a new Washington Post/ABC poll released Tuesday.”

Nixon was forced to resign on April 22, 1974 after two long years that followed the revelations about Watergate, a break-in of the Democratic Party offices in Washington, DC. The backlash against the horrors of Obamacare, concerns about the “deal” with Iran, and a succession of scandals from Fast and Furious to Benghazi, have raised fear and anger over his judgment, competence, and behavior in office.

Having lived through the years that led to Nixon’s resignation, I am seeing the same national resistance that Obama’s five years in office have led to. Nixon was never a “popular” President, widely seen as “Tricky Dick”, but like Obama, he was twice elected to the office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, who assumed the presidency was defeated by Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and, four years later, an unhappy electorate defeated Carter and elected Ronald Reagan who would serve two terms. Even the popular Bill Clinton faced impeachment.

Not since the days of the Great Depression in the 1930s have Americans endured an economy that has failed to overcome slow growth despite Obama’s full first term in office and another year in his second term.

Ignoring the central role of a free market prolongs bad economic conditions and high taxation to maintain an ever-expanding central government led to big problems for European nations and promises the same—or worse—for the U.S.

When you add in the increased debt imposed in Obama’s first term you are looking at the road to ruin. Blaming “millionaires and billionaires” or “income inequality” is the very essence of communism. It is a rejection of our capitalistic economic system.

Financial ruin for America is embedded in its huge debt, its deficits, and its multi-trillions of dollars in unfunded debt that already insolvent Social Security and Medicare programs represent. And Medicare was looted to fund Obamacare!

The destruction of our healthcare system, one sixth of the nation’s economy, is widely regarded as a disaster and it bears the President’s name. Passed late at night prior to Christmas in 2009 and signed into law by Barack Obama, Obamacare is distinguished by the lies the President told all Americans about their right to keep their healthcare insurance plans, retain their personal physicians, and see their costs reduced. It has done the opposite and it is impossible to believe the President did not know this would occur.

The nation has reached a point when the President must be told to resign.

Whether a Congress, also held in extraordinary low esteem, can or will do this is unknown. While I have said in the past that Obama cannot be removed by impeachment, I now believe that if the House would initiate impeachment proceedings that in itself would focus public attention, for example, on the President’s excessive use of executive orders to by-pass Congress and his unconstitutional altering–tweaking–of the Obamacare law.

His first term was filled with scandals that included using the IRS for political gain. His role in dragging down the nation’s international position as an exemplar and protector of freedom has made the world less safe. These and other issues need a review and discussion that would not occur in the mainstream press in any other way.

This isn’t about a President who authorized a break-in. This is about a President who is a current and future threat to the Constitution, the nation’s military strength, and the restoration of its economy.

This is about a President who can use existing laws to declare martial law based on a manufactured crisis. Existing law would permit him to seize control of all aspects of life in America.

The nation’s mainstream print and broadcast media is showing signs of disillusionment, but not enough to abandon a President they have supported with deliberately biased reporting.

Complicating a demand for his resignation is a divided Republican Party whose elites have rejected the Tea Party movement that has already elected a number of members to Congress. Many find little to differentiate the GOP from the Democratic Party, but there are differences and the House of Representatives is proof of that.

Many Americans sense that the nation is at a very dangerous point.

Dramatic action is needed. A demand for Obama’s resignation via petitions and other measures is needed to save America from the worst President ever elected to that office.

© Alan Caruba, 2013

Allen West Endorses a former Brigadier General in the FL GOP District 13 Special Election

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Former Congressman and Fox News Contributor, Allen West, is weighing in on the upcoming special election in Florida’s 13th congressional district. West is backing Brigadier General Mark Bircher over ” David Jolly, Young’s former general counsel and lobbyist; and Kathleen Peters, a pro-choice state representative.”

West cited Bircher’s recent quote, and announced his support on his website here.

“Instead of spending the rest of my life complaining, even if I were to fail, at least I wouldn’t have to say ‘what if?’ I want this job. I want to do the best I can.”- Gen. Mark Bircher.

While Jolly will have to overcome the hurdle of being a D.C. lobbyist, Peters will have a tougher time of overcoming her shortcomings.

As we posted earlier this week, Peters supports the controversial Common Core education standards conservatives like West and Senator Marco Rubio oppose. Peters also does not support a full and immediate repeal of Obamacare, as Jolly, Bircher, Rubio, West, and others all do.

And then there is the fact that she is backed by left-of-center Republicans, who at one point, were all Charlie Crist Republicans, working hard to defeat Senator Marco Rubio in 2010.

If Bircher can defeat Jolly and Peters, he would then have to face off against former Florida CFO, Democrat Alex Sink, in the March special general election.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The Shark Tank.

83 Unbelievable Numbers From 2013

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Fed Up USA posted 83 numbers that they call “almost too crazy to believe”. Thanks to Fed Up USA for their work in compiling this end of year list of things you can believe or not.

During 2013, America continued to steadily march down a self-destructive path toward oblivion.  As a society, our debt levels are completely and totally out of control.  Our financial system has been transformed into the largest casino on the entire planet and our big banks are behaving even more recklessly than they did just before the last financial crisis.  We continue to see thousands of businesses and millions of jobs get shipped out of the United States, and the middle class is being absolutely eviscerated.  Due to the lack of decent jobs, poverty is absolutely exploding.  Government dependence is at an all-time high and crime is rising.  Evidence of social and moral decay is seemingly everywhere, and our government appears to be going insane.  If we are going to have any hope of solving these problems, the American people need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and finally admit how bad things have actually become.  If we all just blindly have faith that “everything is going to be okay”, the consequences of decades of incredibly foolish decisions are going to absolutely blindside us and we will be absolutely devastated by the great crisis that is rapidly approaching.  The United States is in a massive amount of trouble, and it is time that we all started facing the truth.  The following are 83 numbers from 2013 that are almost too crazy to believe…

#1 Most people that hear this statistic do not believe that it is actually true, but right now an all-time record 102 million working age Americans do not have a job.  That number has risen by about 27 million since the year 2000.

#2 Because of the lack of jobs, poverty is spreading like wildfire in the United States.  According to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, an all-time record 49.2 percent of all Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program each month.

#3 As society breaks down, the government feels a greater need than ever before to watch, monitor and track the population.  For example, every single day the NSA intercepts and permanently stores close to 2 billion emails and phone calls in addition to a whole host of other data.

#4 The Bank for International Settlements says that total public and private debt levels around the globe are now 30 percent higher than they were back during the financial crisis of 2008.

#5 According to a recent World Bank report, private domestic debt in China has grown from 9 trillion dollars in 2008 to 23 trillion dollars today.

#6 In 1985, there were more than 18,000 banks in the United States.  Today, there are only 6,891 left.

#7 The six largest banks in the United States (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley) have collectively gotten 37 percent larger over the past five years.

#8 The U.S. banking system has 14.4 trillion dollars in total assets.  The six largest banks now account for 67 percent of those assets and all of the other banks account for only 33 percent of those assets.

#9 JPMorgan Chase is roughly the size of the entire British economy.

#10 The five largest banks now account for 42 percent of all loans in the United States.

#11 Right now, four of the “too big to fail” banks each have total exposure to derivatives that is well in excess of 40 trillion dollars.

#12 The total exposure that Goldman Sachs has to derivatives contracts is more than 381 times greater than their total assets.

#13 According to the Bank for International Settlements, the global financial system has a total of 441 trillion dollars worth of exposure to interest rate derivatives.

#14 Through the end of November, approximately 365,000 Americans had signed up for Obamacare but approximately 4 million Americanshad already lost their current health insurance policies because of Obamacare.

#15 It is being projected that up to 100 million more Americans could have their health insurance policies canceled by the time Obamacare is fully rolled out.

#16 At this point, 82.4 million Americans live in a home where at least one person is enrolled in the Medicaid program.

#17 It is has been estimated that Obamacare will add 21 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.

#18 It is being projected that health insurance premiums for healthy 30-year-old men will rise by an average of 260 percent under Obamacare.

#19 One couple down in Texas received a letter from their health insurance company that informed them that they were being hit with a 539 percent rate increase because of Obamacare.

#20 Back in 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance.  Today, only 54.9 percent of all Americans are covered by employment-based health insurance.

#21 The U.S. government has spent an astounding 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs over the past five years.

#22 Incredibly, 74 percent of all the wealth in the United States is owned by the wealthiest 10 percent of all Americans.

#23 According to Consumer Reports, the number of children in the United States taking antipsychotic drugs has nearly tripled over the past 15 years.

#24 The marriage rate in the United States has fallen to an all-time low.  Right now it is sitting at a yearly rate of just 6.8 marriages per 1000 people.

#25 According to a shocking new study, the average American that turned 65 this year will receive $327,500 more in federal benefits than they paid in taxes over the course of their lifetimes.

#26 In just one week in December, a combined total of more than 2000 new cold temperature and snowfall records were set in the United States.

#27 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income in the United States has fallen for five years in a row.

#28 The rate of homeownership in the United States has fallen for eight years in a row.

#29 Only 47 percent of all adults in America have a full-time job at this point.

#30 The unemployment rate in the eurozone recently hit a new all-time high of 12.2 percent.

#31 If you assume that the labor force participation rate in the U.S. is at the long-term average, the unemployment rate in the United States would actually be 11.5 percent instead of 7 percent.

#32 In November 2000, 64.3 percent of all working age Americans had a job.  When Barack Obama first entered the White House, 60.6 percent of all working age Americans had a job.  Today, only 58.6 percent of all working age Americans have a job.

#33 There are 1,148,000 fewer Americans working today than there was in November 2006.  Meanwhile, our population has grown by more than 16 million people during that time frame.

#34 Only 19 percent of all Americans believe that the job market is better than it was a year ago.

#35 Just 14 percent of all Americans believe that the stock market will rise next year.

#36 According to CNBC, Pinterest is currently valued at more than 3 billion dollars even though it has never earned a profit.

#37 Twitter is a seven-year-old company that has never made a profit.  It actually lost 64.6 million dollars last quarter.  But according to the financial markets it is currently worth about 22 billion dollars.

#38 Right now, Facebook is trading at a valuation that is equivalent to approximately 100 years of earnings, and it is currently supposedly worth about 115 billion dollars.

#39 Total consumer credit has risen by a whopping 22 percent over the past three years.

#40 Student loans are up by an astounding 61 percent over the past three years.

#41 At this moment, there are 6 million Americans in the 16 to 24-year-old age group that are neither in school or working.

#42 The “inactivity rate” for men in their prime working years (25 to 54) has just hit a brand new all-time record high.

#43 It is hard to believe, but in America today one out of every ten jobs is now filled by a temp agency.

#44 Middle-wage jobs accounted for 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession, but they have accounted for only 22 percent of the jobs created since then.

#45 According to the Social Security Administration, 40 percent of all U.S. workers make less than $20,000 a year.

#46 Approximately one out of every four part-time workers in America is living below the poverty line.

#47 After accounting for inflation, 40 percent of all U.S. workers are making less than what a full-time minimum wage worker made back in 1968.

#48 When Barack Obama took office, the average duration of unemployment in this country was 19.8 weeks.  Today, it is 37.2 weeks.

#49 Investors pulled an astounding 72 billion dollars out of bond mutual funds in 2013.  It was the worst year for bond funds ever.

#50 Small business is rapidly dying in America.  At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed.  That is an all-time record low.

#51 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.

#52 Once January 1st hits, it will officially be illegal to manufacture or import traditional incandescent light bulbs in the United States.  It is being projected that millions of Americans will attempt to stock up on the old light bulbs before they are totally gone from store shelves.

#53 The Japanese government has estimated that approximately 300 tons of highly radioactive water is being released into the Pacific Ocean from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear facility every single day.

#54 Back in 1967, the U.S. military had more than 31,000 strategic nuclear warheads.  That number is already being cut down to 1,550, and now Barack Obama wants to reduce it to only about 1,000.

#55 As you read this, 60 percent of all children in Detroit are living in poverty and there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.

#56 Wal-Mart recently opened up two new stores in Washington D.C., and more than 23,000 people applied for just 600 positions.  That means that only about 2.6 percent of the applicants were ultimately hired.  In comparison, Harvard offers admission to 6.1 percent of their applicants.

#57 At this point, almost half of all public school students in America come from low income homes.

#58 Tragically, there are 1.2 million students that attend public schools in the United States that are homeless.  That number has risen by 72 percent since the start of the last recession.

#59 According to a Gallup poll that was recently released, 20.0 percent of all Americans did not have enough money to buy food that they or their families needed at some point over the past year.  That is just under the all-time record of 20.4 percent that was set back in November 2008.

#60 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today.

#61 Right now, one out of every five households in the United States is on food stamps.

#62 The U.S. economy loses approximately 9,000 jobs for every 1 billion dollars of goods that are imported from overseas.

#63 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs.  Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#64 According to one survey, approximately 75 percent of all American women do not have any interest in dating unemployed men.

#65 China exports 4 billion pounds of food to the United States every year.

#66 Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975.

#67 The number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.

#68 It is being projected that the number of Americans on Social Security will rise from 57 million today to more than 100 million in 25 years.

#69 Back in 1970, the total amount of debt in the United States (government debt + business debt + consumer debt, etc.) was less than 2 trillion dollars.  Today it is over 56 trillion dollars.

#70 Back on September 30th, 2012 our national debt was sitting at a total of 16.1 trillion dollars.  Today, it is up to 17.2 trillion dollars.

#71 The U.S. government “rolled over” more than 7.5 trillion dollarsof existing debt in fiscal 2013.

#72 If the U.S. national debt was reduced to a stack of one dollar bills it would circle the earth at the equator 45 times.

#73 When Barack Obama was first elected, the U.S. debt to GDP ratio was under 70 percent.  Today, it is up to 101 percent.

#74 The U.S. national debt is on pace to more than double during the eight years of the Obama administration.  In other words, under Barack Obama the U.S. government will accumulate more debt than it did under all of the other presidents in U.S. history combined.

#75 The federal government is borrowing (stealing) roughly 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day.

#76 At this point, the U.S. already has more government debt per capita than Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland or Spain.

#77 Japan now has a debt to GDP ratio of more than 211 percent.

#78 As of December 5th, 83 volcanic eruptions had been recorded around the planet so far this year.  That is a new all-time record high.

#79 53 percent of all Americans do not have a 3 day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes.

#80 Violent crime in the United States was up 15 percent last year.

#81 According to a very surprising survey that was recently conducted,68 percent of all Americans believe that the country is currently on the wrong track.

#82 Back in 1972, 46 percent of all Americans believed that “most people can be trusted”.  Today, only 32 percent of all Americans believe that “most people can be trusted”.

#83 According to a recent Pew Research survey, only 19 percent of all Americans trust the government.   Back in 1958, 73 percent of all Americans trusted the government.

Scary combo: Impotent Congress and Imperial President

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The 113th Congress is about to end its first session and has been referred to as one of the least productive legislative bodies in recent history. Perhaps there are those of you who feel that’s a good thing…

As Reid Wilson writes in the Washington Post:

“As the Senate prepares to take up the budget deal this week, both sides say it is likely to be one of the final pieces of significant legislation to pass the 113th Congress as midterm elections loom.

After the Senate reconvenes in January, observers say, the coming year is unlikely to yield significant legislative action. Democrats will probably advance measures intended to draw political contrasts with Republicans — including a proposal to raise the minimum wage and a number of smaller bills that they say would boost jobs and strengthen the economy. None of those measures are likely to win Republican votes or spur action in the GOP-controlled House.”

In other words 2014 brings the American people more politics, not policy, as the game continues, DC-style.

Here’s what we have to look forward to: a final deal on the farm bill, a water-resources agreement – and of course another deal to raise the debt ceiling. Speaker John Boehner says he won’t take up the Senate-passed version of immigration reform, but the Senate may take action on a proposal from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to make changes to the military’s handling of sexual assault cases.

We wrote on this legislative proposal by Sen. Gillibrand and her desire to completely remake the Commander’s involvement in the military justice system, basically stripping them of their command authority in all major cases and creating an outside independent legal body. This is a very bad idea and we hope you’ll contact your Senators to express disapproval. Lastly the Senate may consider a new package of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, albeit against the desires of the Obama administration.

But don’t take your eye off the ball when you have a lying, obtuse, arrogant, and belligerent President Obama who will try to use low Congressional approval ratings to support his unilateral executive actions — something he’s already done.

As we reported, John Podesta, former President of the Center for American Progress, is joining the White House and is known as an expert in “Executive Actions.”

And with a stacked DC Circuit Court, thanks to Harry Reid’s violation of Senate rules, we could be looking at a 2014 not of governance by legislation and the will of the people, but rather of rule by edict — executive order and regulatory fiat — issued from a despotic ruler who sees his agenda to fundamentally transform America as his ultimate will. Fasten your seat belts folks, we’re in for bumpy ride.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appears on AllenBWest.com.

Soviet Socialism in the 21st Century, Part I: Socialism and Communism

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Have you noticed how often the media uses the words socialism, communism, and Marxist ideology? Those terms have become popular topics for discussion on radio, TV, and the internet. And that is good; but words are often misleading, and to really understand Socialism, you must have lived through it.  I am a survivor of Russian socialism and I know what it truly means.

I came to America to enjoy the freedom and opportunities the country offers to humanity. I love this country and I am concerned about the state of America’s national security, especially during this dangerous time for our country. This is the reason I want to share my personal experiences living under a socio-economic system called Socialism and expose the frequent misrepresentations of what the term means.

For most Americans Socialism is an abstract notion—something they have never experienced. Not coincidentally, Americans wonder about the difference between Socialism and Communism, and it is very hard for them to find the truth on the internet. For those of us raised under the Communist system in the Soviet Union, Marxism-Leninism was a mandatory subject in all universities. Most Russian émigrés know the subject well.  I was astonished by the various explanations of Marxist theory offered by American authors. Some of them were pure propaganda. One misleading presentation on Marxist theory and its comparison of Lenin with President Reagan surprised me the most.

Other strange statements I read included such comments as, “Socialism is liberal…Communism is conservative.” This was news for me. We cannot compare liberals of the 19th century with leftists of the 21st century, just as we cannot compare Democrat President Harry Truman with Democrat President Barack Obama. Over the past sixty years, there has been a drastic transformation within the Democrat Party and this transformation itself requires a separate discussion. Because there is an alarming need for real knowledge, I will present my view on Marxism to Americans who hunger for the truth.

The publication of The Communist Manifesto in 1848 provided a road map for the period’s leftist political activists and their comrades in the Unions. Marx was the primary author of the Manifesto, while Engels’ exact contributions are unknown. Both offered their views on how capitalism would eventually be replaced by socialism and then give way to communism, the purest form of socialism. Nevertheless, any potential details about what communism would look like were missing. I would say the Manifesto was a left-wing political program of the mid-19th century with some historical and social information, even more—it had declared a war to Western civilization…

Creating the Theory of Socialism and Communism as a means of rooting out the exploitation of man by man, Marx and Engels purposely divided it into two phases: the first phase was Socialism and the second –- Communism. They identified in detail the tasks, agendas, and ways to achieve them in their “Theory”, as follows.

  • First – the tasks and agenda—overthrowing the capitalist economic system and establishing Socialism as a basis for the creation of a classless Communist society in the future.
  • Second – how to fulfill the tasks and agenda—through World Revolution.
  • Third – the World Revolution would occur under the leadership of the proletariat.  “Proletariats of the world unite!” was their slogan.
  • Fourth – Marxist Theory can be applied only in industrially developed European countries.

The first task and the agenda, which I call the first postulate is clear—the overthrow of the existing Capitalist economic system and the creation of a new Socialist economic system under which all means of production would belonged to the government. As a survivor of Socialism, I can tell you how this was brought about — through the forcible confiscation and nationalization of all private property.

Private Property is the main target of Marxism. Neither Marx nor Engels, however, identified over what time span Socialism would mature into the evolved and perfect classless Communist society. That is the crux of the matter—a dark hole in the theory and not the only one… The simple truth is that private property is a cornerstone of our democracy and our American economic system.  As it’s declared by our Founding Fathers: “that we have been a property-holders’ democracy.”  Michael Barone.

The second postulate, how to achieve the task, is also clear—through World Revolution. It is a radical and categorical approach to the matter entailing unrest, chaos, violence, and killings. I am vehemently against such an approach because I know the tragedy that occurred in Russia. Marx’s statement that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle,” is simply not true. America’s Founding Fathers created a just and fair government and free country without any class struggle.

The third postulate is the leadership of the Proletariat. Class division is the wrong approach to the problem of leadership. And again, the example of America is the antithesis of the Marxist approach and suggests, to the contrary, that only competent, well-educated, and highly respected individuals — leaders who come from all walks of life with all kinds of talents — can provide a country true leadership, as was the case in America.  It is individual personality and human qualities that bring a leader to the forefront of a movement, not his or her identification with a certain class.

The fourth postulate is perhaps the only logical and economically sustainable position, i.e. that Marxist theory can be applied only to industrially develop European countries….

Ironically, despite not meeting the requirements of any of Marx’s four postulates, the first Socialist Revolution took power in Russia in October 1917. And despite failing to meet Marxist requirements, and on the contrary by perverting all of them while at the same time using Marxist rhetoric to further his ends, Joseph Stalin created his own ideology and established a criminal syndicate, a totalitarian machine called Soviet Socialism.

A more comprehensive explanation of this complex and important subject will follow. I will offer you a suggestion and a series of articles to read to learn about Soviet Socialism in the 21st century.

Please, read in addition the article Replacing Property as a Source of Wealth Creation, Michael Barone, Townhall.com, July, 4, 2011.

Florida becomes 3rd State to pre-file for an Article 5 Convention

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[youtube]http://youtu.be/AqDs2DQX9no[/youtube]

Senator Alan Hayes

Senator Alan Hays, R-FL District 11.

Florida State Senator Alan Hays files Senate Memorial 476 calling for an Article V Convention. Here is the transcript of Senator Hays’ remarks:

Many of you have asked what can be done at the state level to reform our “runaway” federal government. After exploring Florida’s options, I attended an assembly with state leaders from across the country to discuss protocols for enacting an Article V Convention. This mechanism, inserted into the Constitution by our founders, allows states to petition Congress to allow delegates to come together to discuss and compose proposed Constitutional amendments.

Delegates chosen by their respective states will convene and compose the language of any amendments they wish to propose for ratification. Those amendments will then be transmitted to all 50 states and each state legislature will vote to accept or reject the proposed amendments. Only when 38 state legislatures approve the language, does it officially become part of the Constitution. Effectively this means 13 states failing to approve an amendment blocks that amendment from becoming part of the Constitution.

Recently, I filed SM 476 which outlines the focus of a future Article V Convention; imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limiting the terms of office of federal officials and members of Congress. Our goal is to have 34 state legislatures pass the petition in the next two years and then hold the convention in late 2015 or early 2016.

Restraining the federal government’s excessive power is of great concern to Americans in all states and of all political parties. I feel it is important to take these steps toward imposing this important reform. Noted below is a link to a video in which I discuss this legislation further as well as links to various articles and websites regarding this issue. Alan

For more information on a Convention of States click here. Michael Farris shared his thoughts on the assembly. Glenn Beck said the COS Project is “the only way back.”

Finally, Florida became the third state to pre-file our application, and more are on their way!

The COS Project gives you an actual opportunity to do something about the mess in D.C. The folks in VA, SC, and FL have already started. Sign up today!

I Now Pronounce You Man and Wives

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The Family Research Council reports:

Turns out, marriage isn’t about two people who love each other — it’s about three or five or six. That was Judge Clark Waddoups’s opinion in the most explosive ruling the media isn’t talking about. Late last week, the U.S. District Judge’s ruling should have kicked off the evening news in every major market across America. Instead, his 91-page pro-polygamy bombshell is nothing but a back-page blip. And that’s no accident. When Waddoups struck down Utah’s criminal ban on “plural marriages” last Friday, the networks started tiptoeing around the story like the cultural grenade it is.

Like us, they know the Left’s dirty little secret — that people who support same-sex “marriage” are saying “I do” to a lot more than they bargained for. While liberals insist that same-sex “marriage” is the ultimate goal, their demands only lay the groundwork for other relationships to demand the same entitlements. Once the courts and policy makers depart from the natural definition of marriage, the Left has a legal foundation for any arrangement between consenting adults.

Judge Waddoups essentially admitted as much. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court outlawed polygamy years ago, Waddoups insists that he can’t possibly rest on that decision in modern society. In his words, America has “developed constitutional jurisprudence that now protects individuals from the criminal consequences intended by legislatures to apply to certain personal choices.”

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act this summer only sped the process along. Polygamists popped the corked on a little champagne of their own after the June ruling, as they wait their turn for nationwide acceptance. “We’re very happy with [the ruling on DOMA]” said Joe Darger, a Utah polygamist, “I think [the court] has taken a step in correcting some inequality, and that’s certainly something that’s going to trickle down and impact us… I think the government needs to now recognize that we have a right to live free as much as anyone else.” Proponents of polygamy are riding the homosexual movement’s wave of success all the way to legitimacy.

And that’s exactly what the mainstream media is afraid of. They see the potential for this debate to sway the middle and derail the same-sex “marriage” train. Recognizing that their destinies are very much intertwined, polygamists are using the same playbook as their same-sex “marriage” counterparts: Step one: overturn the law. Step two: demand recognition. Step three: force acceptance.

Ten years ago, Justice Antonin Scalia predicted exactly that in Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court decision rolling back sodomy statutes. With prophetic insight, he pointed to the threat to state laws “based on moral choices” against “bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution… adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity.” Anyone being intellectually honest knew this was where liberals were pushing America. Of course, the media for years laughed off groups like FRC who warned that the Left’s goal isn’t same-sex “marriage” but any kind of marriage.

Just this year, extremists like Jillian Keenan did conservatives a favor by owning up to the fact that homosexual “marriage” is just the warm-up act to an even more shocking agenda. “Let’s not forget that the fight doesn’t end with same-sex marriage,” she wrote in a column for Slate. “We need to legalize polygamy too. Legalized polygamy in the United States is the constitutional, feminist, and sex-positive choice. More importantly, it would actually help protect, empower, and strengthen women, children, and families.”

That wasn’t a typo. Keenan actually argues for polygamy — a practice that degrades and devalues the role of women — as the feminist alternative. And the Left wants to accuse conservatives of a war on women? Legalizing polygamy would undermine the Left’s banner cause — equality — and turn back the clock on women’s rights that has become the standard of Western Civilization.

Shows like “Sister Wives” may make people sympathetic. It may even help break down inhibitions (as evidenced in Gallup’s poll). But once Americans start to realize the practical implications of these parallel movements — for their school curriculum, tax dollars, and free speech rights — the public debate will only intensify. Despite the media’s silence and homosexual activists’ increasing campaign of intimidation, the American people may have finally found the inspiration to push back against the forces trying to redefine marriage. It’s never too late to change course — and this decision may have finally given the nation a reason to try.

New Florida Poll: Christie, Clinton Most Popular, Crist leads Scott for Governor

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SAINT LEO, Fla., Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The two most popular politicians among Florida voters are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to a new poll by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute.

Clinton, a Democrat, is viewed favorably by 59 percent of Florida likely voters and unfavorably by 37 percent, for a net favorability rating of +22. Christie, a Republican, has a favorability rating of 55/29, for a net favorability rating of +26. This compares to Vice President Joe Biden’s favorability rating of 50/44 (+6) and that of former Republican vice presidential nominee and current U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin 39/40 (-1).

Should Clinton run for president, she would receive a warm embrace from Florida Democrats. Clinton’s favorability rating among Democrats stands at 91 percent, with just 6 percent taking an unfavorable view of her. Nine in 10 Democrats (89 percent) said they would consider supporting her, if she ran for president. Comparatively fewer said the same about Biden (34 percent).

Christie has competition for the affections of Republican primary voters. Slightly more likely-voter Republicans say they could support Jeb Bush (44 percent), the former governor, and current U.S. Sen.Marco Rubio (42 percent), if they were to run than Christie (38 percent). U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky(30 percent), Paul Ryan (28 percent), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (24 percent) also have large numbers of voters who say they could support them.

In the Florida governor’s race, former Gov. Charlie Crist holds a 46-34 percent lead over incumbent Gov.Rick Scott. Scott’s numbers are weighed down in part by some cracks in his own base. While 68 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Scott, just 59 percent of Republicans say they would re-elect him. A significant percentage of Republicans hold an unfavorable view of Scott (24 percent) and 17 percent say they plan to vote for Republican-turned-Democrat Crist.

The survey put Florida’s U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s approval rating at 48/33 (+15) and his re-elect rating at 43 percent. Senator Marco Rubio’s approval ratio is 45/41 (+4) with a 40 percent re-elect rating.

The methodology used can be found at the Saint Leo University Polling Institute website.

SOURCE: Saint Leo University Polling Institute. Web Site: http://polls.saintleo.edu

Politically Correct is Political Ignorance

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Americans are inclined to believe that, with the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the Cold War from 1945 to 1991 was over. In fact, that war of ideologies, communism versus capitalism, began in the 1920s after the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, initiated a covert program to undermine America. Today we call it “political correctness” and its impact on our society is sapping it of its true history and values.

“Willing Accomplices: How KGB Covert Intelligence Agents Created Political Correctness, Obama’s Hate-America-First Political Platform, and Destroyed America” by Kent Clizbe, a former CIA espionage officer, reveals how active and covert agents of the KGB, the Soviet security and intelligence agency, has led inevitably to the election of a President who hates America and is seeking to undermine it in every way possible.

If that sounds implausible, keep in mind that Obama is the first President to shake the hand of Raul Castro, the brother and current president of Communist Cuba, at the recent Mandela memorial. He is the same President who told Dmitry Medvedev, the third president of the Russian Federation from 2008 to 2012, that he would have more “flexibility” in his second term to carry out its ideological war on America.

Clizbe’s book deserves far more notice, but in a nation in which its mainstream print and broadcast outlets are filled with Leftists, that is not going to happen. He details and documents how the messengers of the attacks “denigrated American patriotism, capitalism and individualism, and called into question American foreign policy.” He calls those messengers Russia’s “willing accomplices.”

“By the 1980s, full-blown politically correctness (had) infected academia, education, the media, Hollywood, and American society in general. Americans were constantly bombarded with reminders of their hatefulness, bigotry, racism, sexism, and imperialism. Confused by the message of hate and disgust, while their daily lives were filled with positive energy, normal Americans became wracked with guilt.”

“They were reminded daily that they were guilty of slavery, bigotry, killing babies in Vietnam, oppressing minorities and women around the globe, stealing the continent from the Indians, being arrogant in dealing with foreigners, killing the Earth with their hairspray, and various other sins.”

 

It took the imposition of Obamacare to awaken many Americans to the danger of a government intent on taking over one sixth of the nation’s economy, the movement called the Tea Party, and it is awakening millions more to the threat to their lives.

This is why, during his first campaign, Obama accused Midwesterners of getting “bitter, they cling to their guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment…” This is why, during his first term, he launched a major effort to attack the Second Amendment and why American opposition to illegal aliens is characterized as wrong.

It explains why the Obama administration bailout of General Motors which should have been allowed to file for bankruptcy and reorganization has cost Americans ten billion dollars. It explains why billions were wasted on “investments” in solar and wind turbine manufacturers that went bankrupt shortly afterward, and why some six trillion dollars was added to our national debt in Obama’s first term.

It explains why Obamacare, a full-fledged disaster, was passed by Democratic Party votes by Senators who never read the bill. No Republican voted for this bill. And hundreds of thousands of Americans will die because they can no longer afford their medications, no longer have access to their personal physicians, and can no longer gain admittance to hospitals.

Political correctness has been advanced by a fundamental formula: Admit nothing. Deny everything. Make counter-accusations.”

Little wonder why conservative politicians and the Tea Party movement are constantly attacked as bigoted and evil.

Political correctness infuses all aspects of our culture today, but is most evident in our school systems and our institutions of higher learning. Glizbe warns that “Children exposed to this insidious self-hate are programed to hate themselves, their ancestors and predecessors, their country’s founders and leaders, past and present.” It explains why a massive effort was launched to ensure that neither the salute to the American flag, the pledge of allegiance, and prayer are no longer a part of the daily regime in our schools.

It is evident in Hollywood where one of its famed purveyors, film director Oliver Stone said “Nationalism and patriotism are the two most evil forces that I know of…” It explains why films like “Wall Street” denigrate capitalism.

It explains why so much of American culture, particularly what passes for entertainment, has fallen victim to the massive covert effort that was launched after the end of the Russian civil war to imposed communism. “The goal was to destroy the core moral fabric of American society.”

It will take an equally massive effort by Americans, patriots, to fight against and reverse the harm that has been done to our society and our governance–check out the numbers and names of the Progressive Caucus in Congress—but it must be done in the face of President Obama’s campaign to reduce the influence of America on global affairs, to create class warfare against America’s “millionaires and billionaires”, and the vast expansion of the “social programs” that have millions of Americans on some form of government dole while we struggle to overcome the longest recession since World War Two.

It is the naked face of communism. Political correctness is political ignorance.

A vast re-education of generations of Americans will be needed to reverse its effect on our lives and the future of the nation.

© Alan Caruba, 2013

The Project: How the Republican Party is Abandoning Ronald Reagan

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The Republican party has decided it can’t win national elections. Finally, they get it but … do they? There is a “new” strategy out called the “Growth and Opportunity Project“.

The Project states:

At our core, Republicans have comfortably remained the Party of Reagan without figuring out what comes next. Ronald Reagan is a Republican hero and role model who was first elected 33 years ago— meaning no one under the age of 51 today was old enough to vote for Reagan when he first ran for President. Our Party knows how to appeal to older voters, but we have lost our way with younger ones. We sound increasingly out of touch. As Mike Gerson and Pete Wehner wrote recently, “It is no wonder that Republican policies can seem stale; they are very nearly identical to those offered up by the Party more than 30 years ago.For Republicans to design an agenda that applies to the conditions of 1980 is as is Ronald Reagan designed his agenda for conditions that existed in the Truman years.”

The Republican Party needs to stop talking to itself. We have become expert in how to provide ideological reinforcement to like-minded people, but devastatingly we have lost the ability to be persuasive with, or welcoming to, those who do not agree with us on every issue.Instead of driving around in circles on an ideological cul-de-sac, we need a Party whose brand of conservatism invites and inspires new people to visit us. We need to remain America’s conservative alternative to big-government, redistribution-to-extremes liberalism, while building a route into our Party that a non-traditional Republican will want to travel. Our standard should not be universal purity; it should be a more welcoming conservatism.

Kevin Price from Renew America writes, “If you know of Ronald Reagan, you are likely to be aware of his ‘three legged stool.’ Reagan developed a success formula to build winning coalitions that was as simple as it was brilliant. A sample of that simplicity and one of the hallmarks of Reagan’s policies was his ‘three legged stool.’ Reagan’s policies were built on three ideas; free enterprise, strong defense, and pro-family social policies. He chose these three because they, of course, reflected his own values, but he also realized that each of these ideas have enormous appeal on their own.”

So what is “a more welcoming conservatism”?

Is this George W. Bush’s compassionate conservatism rebranded? It appears so. What did that get the Republican party? The party of smaller government expanded Medicare with the prescription drug program. The Prescription Drug Liability is over $22 trillion. The national debt went up, not down, under Bush 43. Don’t forget G.W. Bush’s famous or infamous statement, “I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.” This brought on the first stimulus and bailout of major Wall Street corporations. Is this what The Project is talking about?

G.W. Bush in his second term abandoned all free market principles. He also abandoned his “Axis of Evil” national security policy. He took down Iraq but left North Korea and Iran standing. Both are stronger now than ever.

The Project is a “pogo stick” strategy.

Price wrote, “Today, the common cry from economic conservatives is that they are the only ones with a message that matters to the voting public. After 40 years of Roe vs. Wade, we have two generations who only know a country with abortion on demand, they argue. Secondly, many conservatives have grown suspicious of ‘the military’ leg. They believe that just as the government has gotten suspicious in its domestic spending, it has also lost its bearings when it comes to defense and has found itself being internationalists with muscle. Essentially, ‘the three legged stool’ is being replaced by a pogo stick. A single area of interest and concern — the economy, being the springboard for political success.”

Here is what The Project states, “One of the contributors to this problem is that while Democrats tend to talk about people, Republicans tend to talk about policy. Our ideas can sound distant and removed from people’s lives. Instead of connecting with voters’ concerns, we too often sound like bookkeepers. We need to do a better job connecting people to our policies.We are the Party of private-sector economic growth because that is the best way to create jobs and opportunity. That is the best way to help people earn an income, achieve success and take care of their families.” Republicans need to talk about principles not policy.

Ada Fisher, the Republican National Committeewoman from North Carolina, told The Project, “There are some people who need the government.”

Taking care of families, some people need government? Is that a conservative or progressive position?

Barry Goldwater wrote, “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”

It not the economy stupid, its the three legged stool!

Defining Moment: Hillel International Confronts Swarthmore College Chapter on Zionism

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Eric Fingerhut

Eric Fingerhut, Pres. & CEO Hillel International

For more than a decade we have been witness to Hillel Chapters on college and university campuses drifting to a policy of tolerating leftist Jewish ‘progressive’ and Muslim groups advocating delegitimization of Israel.  We have seen it in Hillel chapters abetting efforts of groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice for Palestine, Muslim Student Association chapters putting on annual Israel Apartheid Awareness Weeks on college campuses across the US. In too many instances they were supported by local Jewish Federations in programming activities, as well as Jewish and Israel studies programs and faculty.  This ‘tolerance of the intolerant’ by Hillel campus chapters may have been supported in the past by Hillel International: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life  (HI). However, with the arrival in April 2013 of HI’s new President and CEO, Eric Fingerhut, this legacy of former HI President Wayne Firestone has ended.

The confrontation between the Hillel Chapter at elite Swarthmore College near Philadelphia and Fingerhut over the chapter’s so-called Open Hillel policy of presenting speakers delegitimizing Israel marks a new and potentially important development for this Jewish campus organization.  The controversy has come to a head when recently the Harvard College Hillel Chapter barred a presentation by former Knesset Speaker, Avraham Burg,  co-sponsored by an anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions group.   Burg is a controversial leftist proponent of delegitimizing Israel internationally, who lives in self imposed exile in France. The incident at Swarthmore  also comes at a time when two academic associations in the US, Asian American Studies and Council of the American Studies Association endorsed resolutions calling for boycott of Israel universities akin to  similar  efforts in the UK and EU higher education professional groups. These developments are  the focus of two articles, “Going Rogue” in the Inside Higher Ed blog of The Chronicle of High Education and another  in The Jewish Press by  US Correspondent, Lori Lowenthal Marcus, “Hillel CEO: You can’t use our name if reject Zionism”.

Swarthmore is not unlike other campuses in that the student groups have virtual autonomy from national affiliations, supported by local endowments and student activity fees.

We have written about these episodes  at colleges and universities across the US.  Professor Tammi-Rossman Benjamin at UC Santa Cruz went on a national speaking tour in 2012 to raise attention to the problem. We continually addressed the problems of the Olive Tree Initiative at UC Irvine and other major California campuses. We witnessed the indictment and conviction of 11 members of the combined UC Irvine/Riverside Muslim Student Association chapters on charges of conspiring to deny the free speech of former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren in February 2010.

Watch this brief video of UC Santa Cruz lecturer Rossman –Benjamin’s presentation at Congregation Ahavath Torah in Stoughton, Massachusetts in 2012.

The current kerfuffle between HI’s Fingerhut and the Hillel Swarthmore chapter arose when the later published a series of rebuttals last weekend  concerning the latter’s Open Hillel resolution in defiance of new standards adopted by HI. The Inside Higher Ed  blog noted:

The student board at Swarthmore College’s Hillel chapter has unanimously passed a resolution saying it will not abide by the international Jewish student organization’s ban on hosting anti-Israel speakers.

Declaring itself an “Open Hillel,” in an allusion to a broader movement against Hillel guidelines on campus-based Israel activities, the Swarthmore chapter resolved that it will “host and partner with any speaker at the discretion of the board, regardless of Hillel International’s Israel guidelines.”

The president of Hillel International has responded with a rebuke, describing the chapter’s position as “not acceptable” and saying that no organization that uses Hillel’s name can choose to violate its guidelines. Those guidelines stipulate that Hillel chapters will not partner with or host organizations or speakers that deny Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, or that seek to “delegitimize, demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel,” or that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel

The premise of the Swarthmore Hillel chapter resolution was:

That Hillel International’s rules have prevented campus chapters from cooperating with groups such as Breaking the Silence and Jewish Voice for Peace, and asserts that Hillel, “while purporting to support all Jewish Campus Life, presents a monolithic face pertaining to Zionism that does not accurately reflect the diverse opinions of young American Jews.”

Swarthmore sophomore Hillel student leader Wolfsun offered an olive branch via email to Fingerhut saying:

Although we stand by our resolution and our editorial, we look forward to a productive and fruitful dialogue with both you and with Hillel of Greater Philadelphia.

Fingerhut in his letter to the Swarthmore chapter noted Rabbi Hillel’s famed dictum “If I am not for myself then who a am I?” saying:

We here at Hillel international hold firm to his legacy. We encourage debate and dissent, but we draw the line at hosting groups who would deny the right of the State of Israel to exist. We will stand with Israel, the democratic, open, pluralistic home of the Jewish people. On that fundamental principle, we are unwavering.

Given our exposure to problems on US campuses over a decade, we applaud what Fingerhut at HI is doing.  We presume that he has the backing of the principal funder of Hillel International programs, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation of Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Let us hope Fingerhut’s arrival as President of Hillel International isn’t too late to reign in anti-Zionist efforts like the Swarthmore Open Hillel initiative on many US college campuses.

A tip of the chapeaus to Judy Block and Lori Lowenthal Marcus.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The New English Review.

Charlie Crist’s Horrible Track Record Speaks For Itself

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Charlie Crist is running his campaign on a mountain of lies and failures. He has continued to campaign on the same politics and policies that he once claimed to be against — is it really that surprising that his campaign manager quit before he even started?

Although Crist got into office by claiming to be a tax-cutter, he has been anything but that. His “Accelerate Florida” stimulus plan cost $28.8 billion — and what does he really have to show for it? All that Crist really succeeded at doing was accelerating Florida into debt…

Moreover, “Accelerate Florida” is extremely similar to Obama’s “Shovel-Ready” Stimulus (and of course, we all know the president’s stimulus was nothing but “shovel ready” and it did nothing to help the unemployment rate.) The Associated Press reported that, “A federal spending surge of more than $20 billion for roads and bridges in President Barack Obama’s first stimulus has had no effect on local unemployment rates, raising questions about his argument for billions more to address an ‘urgent need to accelerate job growth.’”

Another massive failure of Crist’s? His “Back To Work” program, which was funded with stimulus money. Results did not even come close to meeting Crist’s goals for the program.

As reported by The Brandenton Herald, “Florida’s Back to Work Program hasn’t quite worked as envisioned. At first, the government’s pledge to pick up at least 80 percent of salary and training costs for certain lower-income workers lured thousands of employers. Florida was poised to receive about $126 million in federal stimulus dollars to pay for some 14,000 new jobs lined up in the private sector… But with the funding spigot set to close as soon as today, the results did not come close to meeting those goals: Employers statewide filled only 5,500 of 13,787 jobs approved for funding over the past six months. Nearly 8,300 jobs have been left vacant, with employers either unable to find suitable candidates or backing away from promised jobs because of the still-shaky economy.”

Crist continued to spend ineffective dollars, despite attacking democrats for raising taxes during his campaign. In fact, Crist raised taxes and fees by $2.2 billion in 2009 alone.

Even other democrats blasted Crist for his irresponsible spending. Rep. Ron Saunders (D-Key West) said, “We’re not complaining that they raised taxes. We’re complaining that they chose to raise them on the average Floridian.”

Bottom line: Crist left Floridians in debt and out-of-work. 832,000 individuals lost jobs and Florida’s debt increased by 23% under Crist.

And now he says he will raise taxes again if elected governor.

It seems that as Crist’s horrible track record and lies catch up with him, his campaign is beginning to crash. Floridians aren’t buying what Crist is selling.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The Shark Tank.

Ronald Reagan was the TEA Party!

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Newly re-elected Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) on CNN’s Jake Tapper show stated, “I’m a conservative. I’ve governed as a conservative in this state, and I think that’s led to some people disagreeing with me in our state, because it’s generally a left-of-center, blue state.”

But is Christie truly a conservative?

Republicans, like Christie, often quote Ronald Reagan when speaking about conservatism. In September 2011 Christie spoke at the Reagan Library, his topic was “Real American Exceptionalism“. Christie focused on Ronald Reagan’s stand against striking air traffic controllers in 1981. Christie said, “The air traffic controllers, in violation of their contracts, went on strike.  President Reagan ordered them back to work, making clear that those who refused would be fired. In the end, thousands refused, and thousands were fired. I cite this incident not as a parable of labor relations but as a parable of principle. Ronald Reagan was a man who said what he meant and meant what he said. Those who thought he was bluffing were sadly mistaken.  Reagan’s demand was not an empty political play; it was leadership, pure and simple.”

“We tend to still understand foreign policy as something designed by officials in the State Department and carried out by ambassadors and others overseas. And to some extent it is. But one of the most powerful forms of foreign policy is the example we set. This is where it is instructive to harken back to Ronald Reagan and the PATCO affair. President Reagan’s willingness to articulate a determined stand and then carry it out at home sent the signal that the occupant of the Oval Office was someone who could be predicted to stand by his friends and stand up to his adversaries. If President Reagan would do that at home, leaders around the world realized that he would do it abroad as well.  Principle would not stop at the water’s edge,” noted Christie.

Reagan’s policies were based upon in what has become known as his “three legged stool”. Some call them the “Three Pillars of Conservatism”.

Kevin Price from Renew America writes, “If you know of Ronald Reagan, you are likely to be aware of his ‘three legged stool.’ Reagan developed a success formula to build winning coalitions that was as simple as it was brilliant. A sample of that simplicity and one of the hallmarks of Reagan’s policies was his ‘three legged stool.’ Reagan’s policies were built on three ideas; free enterprise, strong defense, and pro-family social policies. He chose these three because they, of course, reflected his own values, but he also realized that each of these ideas have enormous appeal on their own.”

Reagan was a man of principle, true conservatives are as well. Compromise on matters of principle is foreign to conservatives. Conservatives intuitively know that compromise on principles is the art of losing slowly.

J. Matt Barber from Christian News Today in his column “The Complete Conservative” writes, “I recently attended the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration hosted by the Republican Party of Virginia. It was co-sponsored by, among others, the Ronald Reagan Institute for Conservative Leadership. Michael Reagan, the oldest child of the man widely considered our greatest modern president, was the keynote speaker. Mr. Reagan said something that I think concisely sums up the core values shared by the ragtag millions who comprise the Tea Party movement. ‘People often ask me if Ronald Reagan would have supported the Tea Party,” he said. ‘Ronald Reagan was the Tea Party’.”

Speculation about who is the frontrunner for in the 2016 presidential Republican primaries has begun. The media always frames the Republican selection process as a need to run as a conservative in order to win the primary but run as a moderate in order to win the White House. That strategy was unsuccessful for both John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Price wrote, “Today, the common cry from economic conservatives is that they are the only ones with a message that matters to the voting public. After 40 years of Roe vs. Wade, we have two generations who only know a country with abortion on demand, they argue. Secondly, many conservatives have grown suspicious of ‘the military’ leg. They believe that just as the government has gotten suspicious in its domestic spending, it has also lost its bearings when it comes to defense and has found itself being internationalists with muscle. Essentially, ‘the three legged stool’ is being replaced by a pogo stick. A single area of interest and concern — the economy, being the springboard for political success.”

Price concludes, “The reality is the ‘three legged stool’ tripled the reasons why one would vote Republican. If the GOP provides the only means to protect traditional families, Christian conservatives will support it, regardless of the other legs of the stool. I think the same can be [said] of the other parts of a coalition that made the Republican Party very successful. If the stool is dead, the fortunes of the party may be also.”

Has the GOP adopted a “pogo stick” as the only path for political success? If so, losses as far as the eye can see may occur, as they did in Virginia, a state that could have elected the conservative Ken Cuccinelli.

Barry Goldwater wrote, “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!”

It not the economy stupid, its the three legged stool!

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