America is on the decline - The Dirty Dozen

by

       George Sontag

      How has the last century of creeping Democratic Socialism (a.k.a. Progressivism) done in the United States? - A report card.

1. Median wealth per adult

       Rank of U.S.: - 27th out of 27 high-income countries

2. Education and skills

       Rank of U.S.: - 16th out of 23 countries

The US ranked near the bottom in a skills. The US placed 16th in adult literacy, 21st in adult numeracy out of 23, and 14th in problem-solving.

3. Internet speed and access

       Rank of U.S.: - 16th out of 34 countries

The cost of internet is among the highest ($0.04 per megabit per second in Japan, for example, versus $0.53 in the US).

4. Health

       Rank of U.S.: - 33rd out of 145 countries

When it comes to its citizens’ health, in countries that are home to at least one million people, the US ranks below many other wealthy countries.

5. People living below the poverty line

       Rank of U.S.: - 36th out of 162 countries, behind Morocco and Albania

Officially, 14.5% of Americans are impoverished — 45.3 million people–according to the latest US Census data.

6. Children in poverty

       Rank of U.S.: 34th out of 35 countries surveyed

When UNICEF relative poverty – relative to the average in each society—the US ranked at the bottom, above only Romania, even as Americans are, on average, six times richer than Romanians.

7. Income inequality

       Rank of U.S.: - Fourth highest inequality in the world.

The most severe inequality can be found in Chile, Mexico, Turkey — and the US.

8. Prison population

       Rank of U.S.: - First out of 224 countries

More than 2.2 million Americans are in jail. Only China comes close with about 1.66 million.

9. Life satisfaction

       Rank of U.S.: 17th out of 36 countries

10. Corruption

       Rank of U.S.: 17th out of 175 countries.

Special interest groups are gradually transforming the United States into an oligarchy,

11. Stability

       Rank of U.S.: - 20th out of 178 countries.

The Fragile States Index considers factors such as inequality, corruption, and factionalism. The US lags behind Portugal, Slovenia and Iceland.

12. Social progress index

       Rank of U.S.: - 16th out of 133 countries

A broad measure of social well-being, the index comprises 52 economic indicators such as access to clean water and air, access to advanced education, access to basic knowledge, and safety.

      The Progressive movement, which started around the turn of the 20th century, has thwarted  the exceptional contributions to humankind that our Constitutional values have generated. With the tendencies of the past few years, we can only expect these figures to worsen.

The Real Party of the Rich in Today's America

 by

       M. Richard Maxson

      Fifty years ago, Republicans had a big financial advantage, and few rich people backed liberals. In the 21st century this is not the case. Democrats have become the party of the rich.  Most of today’s rich love Barack Obama—so much so that Washington D.C. area airports ran out of space to handle all of the private jets flying in the well-heeled for both of his inaugurals and high cost parties. Democrats now control the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional jurisdictions. More than half of the wealthiest households are concentrated in the 18 states where Democrats control both Senate seats. This new political demography holds true in the House of Representatives, where the leadership of each party hails from different worlds. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, represents one of America's wealthiest regions. Her San Francisco district has more than 43,700 high-end households. So please, enough of this about Democrats being the party of the little guy.

     In 2012, Barack Obama carried eight of America's 10 wealthiest counties.  He carried the majority of the richer rich, those making $200,000 or more per

year.  These rich Democrats level of wealth is different, and how they earn it is different. They live in rich social enclaves. They live on the two coasts, and have a different value system.  They are not religious.  They are not family oriented and they are determined to "change" America. The most famous example would be in the entertainment industry, where star-studded events have become a significant part of Democratic fund raising culture.  These “elite” group of liberal “millionaires and billionaires” is pumping money into an elaborate network of groups to influence the country's policies, even using “shady” donations from foreign companies to fund their efforts.

      There is argument over the definition of what is rich. Mainstream media supports Democrat propaganda by defining rich as households that earn more than $75,000.  In today's world, seventy-five thousand for a two-income household is not rich. The unbiased Pew Report states that the median wealth for the middle class was $96,500.  A review of the 20 richest Americas found that 60 percent affiliate with the Democratic Party…Among the richest families, the Democratic advantage rises even higher, to 75 percent. 

      This falsehood of fighting against those "rich Republicans"continues to be pushed as a main driving force of the Democrats and the mostly uneducated people in this country consider it as truth. The real truth is that it is the education levels that prove that Republicans are the party of America’s middle and working class, while Democrats are the party of the extremes.  People who vote Democrat haven’t graduated from high school or else tend to have post-graduate degrees. The majority of high school graduates, people with some college, and people with a college degree are Republican.  Education largely determines class in this country. The educated can plainly see the "big lie" but judging by the last few decades election results, many cannot. 

       If the media would ever check Democrat talking points, the evidence that Democrats are the party of the rich is easy to find. There are now more Democratic millionaires in Congress than Republican ones. Of 534 current members of Congress, at least 268 were millionaires, according the Center for Responsive Politics’ review of financial disclosure reports filed last year. The Democratic party is that the party is increasingly ruled by the “new oligarchs.” In his review of The New Class Conflict, by Joel Kotkin, a lifelong Democrat, George Will explains that there is a “growing alliance between the ultra-wealthy and the instruments of state power. The bigger the government, the easier it is for the increased power to be abused by moneyed interests. Growing the government doesn’t change that fact; it only changes the people who become rich. In Hollywood and high tech, there is a sudden jump into wealth. The very richest of these are Democrats.

       Yes, but haven’t many of the leading plutocrats, such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, embraced higher income taxes? Yes, they have, but one important fact has escaped notice: higher income tax rates will not touch the bulk of the fortunes of today’s plutocrats, for the simple reason that the great bulk of the accumulated wealth of Gates, Buffett, Silicon Valley and Wall Street consists of appreciated asset values—not ordinary income. Few seem to be aware that most of this wealth has never been taxed, and in the case of Buffett and Gates, who are taking advantage of the charitable foundation laws, will never be taxed. Rich Leftists are not stupid, but maybe we Americans still are.

      

The First Amendment and The Rise Censorship in America

By

       George Sontag

 The left's assault on the First Amendment---from free speech to religious liberty---is total. Nothing is exempt from the tyrants of tolerance.”

                           - Gary Bauer - End of Day report (3/11/16)

      Four in 10 young Americans have no idea what America is. That's the conclusion of a new Pew Research poll showing that 40 percent of Americans aged 18-34 say that the government should be able to prevent people from making "statements that are offensive to minority groups." In a democracy, citizens must be able to criticize their leaders. It's a reason America's founders put free speech in the Bill of Rights.

      The Left uses “rights” agendas to wrap itself in the mantle of righteousness and seize the supposed moral high ground, tactically putting us on the defense in the process. They encourage censorship in the name of "tolerance,"but they couldn’t care less about the actual issue except in its ability to facilitate their path to power. They do this to force people to accept what they don’t agree with. It's a double standard on the part of liberals when it comes to this issue. “Free speech for me, but not for thee.”

      Perhaps the biggest censorship of all by liberals

comes in the form of political correctness which is a style of politics in which the more radical members of the left attempt to regulate political discourse by defining opposing views as bigoted and illegitimate.” It is censorship before the fact. Censorship in speech not even yet given. Censorship of perceived thoughts. 

      Their attempts to destroy the first amendment can be seen on the college campuses today as......... 

• Leftists shout down unpopular ideas or simply forbid nonconforming views from being heard there in the first place. 
• Declared academic freedom an “outdated concept." 
• Declaring that freedom is oppressive and that they should not be expected to tolerate ideas that they do not share. 
• They have violently assaulted students studying in libraries and assaulted student journalists with whom they disagree. 
• They are demanding mandatory ideological indoctrination sessions for nonconforming students. 
• They have staged dozens of phony hate crimes and sexual assaults as a pretext for persecuting unpopular organizations and people....
• …...and the list goes on.

      For the past several decades, government public schools and nearly all colleges have touted socialism’s principles of redistribution, racialism and class envy while declining to make the connection between socialism and tyranny, which the lost lives of hundreds of thousands of souls in the twentieth century attest to. It’s no wonder that so many young people have a rosy view of Socialism when it’s depicted as the epitome of compassion and “fairness” instead of for the passive slavery which it imposes.

      If the First Amendment can be challenged this way; if a certain group’s “rights” can trump the U.S. Constitution, and if the Supreme Court can actually issue an edict making it so, then the entire Constitution has become meaningless. This is the Left’s true agenda and it always has been. The goal for them has always been destroying the country's identity in order to impose Democratic Socialism -- with them in charge, of course. In order to do that they have to strip America of its culture, its traditions, and most importantly, the most important law of the land, the U.S. Constitution.