Manchin is Full of Crap, Here is Why

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2021

Mnuchin is full of Crap, Here Is Why

 

Mnuchin is full of Crap, Here Is Why

Here are the real facts about the minimum wage. Anything less than $15 is an absolute ripoff. Here are some real numbers that state the facts.

In 1958 Congress annual salary was $22,000, it is now $174,000. That is 7.9 times what they made in 1958. The minimum wage was 50 cents. 7.9 times that would be $3.95. If we get a $15 and hour wage, for Congress to get and equal raise they would be getting $660,000 a year. We definitely have a problem. The main one is that Congress acts like it is their money they are giving us a raise with is their own money. Sadly it is our, the taxpayers, money.  Secondly they have no idea what it takes for a family of four to live for a year without holding three jobs just to break even.

A living wage for a family of four that will make a house payment, buy a car, pay for health care and the basic necessities of life would take a minimum wage of $30 per hour. If we want to see stay at home moms and families put back together, it will take about $62,000 a year. According to the Census, over 42% of American wage earners earn less than $15 an hour. That is a travesty caused by Congress kissing Big Business and the Wealthy's ass so they can stick more money in their bank accounts. Please excuse my French.

The reason we have Social Security is so the wealthy do not have to feel quilty about ripping us off. All a $15 an hour wage does is make your buying power equal to that of a 1958 minimum wage of 50 cents. A bottle of pop cost 5 cents back then. To buy the same 10 bottles of pop out of a machine today would take $15. You can look at many other things from the price of a new car, which was $3500 for a top of the line fully loaded Chevy, to the price of gas, which was 15 to 17 cents per gallon and about anything else. Even a new home costs roughly ten times what it did back then. 

It is not my goal to insult Senator Mnuchin, but he needs to look at the facts before he spouts off a number that has nothing to do with the reality of life in America today.

Why A $15 Minimum Wage Is Not Enough

 

Money, Who Turned Off The Flow? How To Turn It On

       Sometimes it is hard to decide which direction to go and what to do.  Especially when you are going through major changes like losing a job, ending a relationship or even discovering that though you still have a job, it does not make you enough income to meet your needs or pay your bills.  Sooner or later something has to give. It has been my misfortune to be in that position several times in my life.  Especially the one where I was working my butt off, but still did not have enough to survive on.

       My solution when I found myself in that situation was usually to find a second job or if that did not work, create one. The double income would usually make it to where I could meet my needs.  However I am retired now and looking at the job market from the outside.  A couple things struck me as I have watched my grand kids enter the job market.  They are not getting a fair shake for a couple reasons.  First there are barely enough minimum wage jobs to  go around.  Not that a minimum wage job is something to aspire to. The second is that the minimum wage has not even come close to keeping up with the cost of living.  When I entered the job market the minimum wage was fifty cents and hour.  Yes I am old, seventy plus some.  If you think that is bad my grandfather told me back during the depression he worked 12 hours a day and 6 days a week, that is 72 hours, for the princely sum of $3.

     Time to get back on track.  At the same time that the minimum wage was fifty cents a bottle of pop was a nickel and you got two cents back when you took the bottle back.  Also a candy bar was a nickel.  They still had penny candy that was three pieces for a penny and best of all gas was only 17 to 19 cents a gallon.  Not so anymore.  Well with pop at a $!.50 a bottle, that is 30 times what it cost way back when.  If you figure in the deposits it would be even more.  Candy bars have done about the same amount of increase.  Gas has had the lowest increase with only costing 23 times what it cost in the late 50's or early 60's.  That means if the minimum wage had just stayed even it would be between $11.50 and hour and $15 an hour.

      The price of gas has kept pace with inflation.  The seventeen to nineteen cents it cost way back then was roughly 34% of the minimum hourly wage.  So at today's prices it is still close to 34% of what the minimum wage "should be."  Most other things that people buy in the course of life have also gone up many times what they cost way back when.  The new price of a car has gone from the $2700-$3000 range into the $35,000 to $45,000 dollar range.  Oh yes you can still buy the low end cars at lower prices, but even they are many times what the low end cars cost back then.

    What is sad is when you project the annual income levels of the minimum wage.  If you take the 40 hour week times 52 weeks per year.  The annual wage for a minimum wage worker back then was just a whopping $1040 dollars.  That is versus the present working minimum wage that would get you an annual salary of $15,040 per year.  While if adjusted to the rate of increase of the cost of living.  That wage would bring you $31,240.  Sounds incredible but what is considered a middle class wage today is in reality only a  minimum wage job.  My method for figuring this rate out is not very scientific.  Basically what I did was take what the buying power of my wage back then could buy and what it can buy now.  In other words an hours pay would buy me ten bottles of pop out of a machine.  The same pop today would cost $15 and the same for the candy bar.

        What does all that mean. It means the buying power of American wage and therefore the standard of living of the average American has diminished greatly.  It means the middle class wages have been diminished also.  Your labor does not get you the buying power it did back then.

       So when today's youth go to work they are only making twenty-five to thirty to percent of what my generation did.  So now they need two and a half jobs to just break even.   They can forget getting ahead.  That is why my grandchildren have been urged to get a good education or create their own job.  The odds of getting ahead on a minimum wage job are slim to none. Even if you are a master at managing your money.

      It is about knowing that when life gives you a bunch of lemons you learn to make lemonade.  Use what you have to work with to your advantage, especially your brain. I entered the work force in my early thirties.  Not that I was privileged or anything like that.  I just spent thirteen years of my life in the Army making up my mind what I wanted to do. The military taught me a lot of skills which I was able to translate into jobs in civilian life.  Just writing this blog is one example.  My last year in the Army was spent writing for the Command newspaper in Panama.  That job became available not because of my writing skills, but because my Commander saw some of my pictures displayed for a photo competition I entered and he liked them.  He needed a photo/journalist and I had half the skills which were learnt from my hobby.

     This story is not about me though.  It is about the American working class and the fact they are being bent over and having it stuck to them.  They in general do not even realize it.  The only way you are going to get ahead in the world we live in today is create your own job.  You have to figure out what level you want to live at and go for it to make that kind of money.  You say but I do not have the skills to do that.  Well you better learn to grab hold of the shirt tails of someone who does and be the ultimate good worker for them. Giving them a full hundred percent of your support.  Even entry level management jobs in today's market are really only at where the minimum wage "should be."

     The only and best way I know of to get ahead is to learn to let your money work for you.  Instead of you working for your money.  Basically it is learning to see opportunity when it knocks and taking full advantage of it.   When you get that tax return invest it.  You have to look for a "real deal."  What is a real deal, something you can buy for 10 to 20 percent of its actual value, OH YES, AND IS NOT HOT.  You can find the deals if you take the time to look.  They are out there.  Then advertise the item through some form of free advertising.  Something like Craigslist or if your town or county has one, an online yard sale site.  If you do it a few times and turn the profit back into the business it will not take long to get to where it actually makes you some income and an easier life.

     One bit of advice.  Do not use advertising media you have to pay for.  I use the local newspaper to go find yard sales and deals.  It costs as much as $40 to put an add in the paper.  Often times that is more than a lot of people make off their yard sale.  It is bad enough to sell stuff that you no longer need at a loss, but to make the loss even worse is sad.  I understand that things wear out and kids grow up, but often when I look at yard sales I see lots of stuff that people are selling that I am sure they bought it on a whim to start with.

      Another place to look around is for stores that have super clearance sales.  I do flea markets and farmers markets to sell stuff myself.  I generally enjoy it.  I have found that there are a couple of chain stores in my area that when they need to clear shelf space they sell stuff.  Brand new still in the box and at 10 to 20 percent of the marked value.  If I buy a $10 item for a $1 and sell it for $4 the person buying it gets a good deal and I am multiplying my money,  which means my money is working for me.  It is not rocket science but it works.

      Here is an example.  You see a deal on a riding mower for $200 and you know it costs way over a $1000 new.   So you buy it and sell it for say $500.   You just made $300 for a couple hours of wheeling and dealing.   That is what a minimum wage job pays for forty hours of work and you did not pay taxes on it.  Of course I advise you if you get into it big time to keep track and pay your taxes.   The government does not like getting ripped off.  That is their job.

How Racism Saved My Life

  

How Race and Racism Changed My Life

America has had a black President and a now has a Black Vice President. If race is the problem how did they achieve success. Really if you look at those two examples there is something that stands out. It is about attitude. Both of these individuals are first generation blacks in America. They do not have a link to the four hundred year history of race in America. They were also raised by families that told them they could be anything they wanted to be. They were never told to mind their place. If they were, they did not buy into it.

In fact that seems to be something I have noticed in Senate Testimonies over the last few years. It seems immigrants care enough about America to get involved. Dozens of people I have witnessed speaking are either immigrants themselves or first generation immigrants of America’s immigrants. They see America as a land of opportunity, something many Americans no longer see in America, mainly because it is to easy to just complain.

The most recent election in America and all the Black Lives Matter protests may be an indicator that blacks in America are no longer buying the lie that they are inferior. The election in Georgia gives the best example. Georgia went from Red to Blue. Not only that they proved in the runoff race, that Black Votes Do Matter. Thank God for this. We just suffered through four years of hell because blacks failed to take part in the 2016 election.

The events of 9/11shook America to its core. It made us question our goodness and our greatness as a nation. It set the stage for a change I NEVER, thought I would see in the America I lived in. In July 2004 I saw a young man give a speech that summed up the hope of America, and that it was a hope for everybody. Four years later that man ran for President and succeeded. Even with portions of America denying his very existence.

I am sure where I live is not the only place that his posters were taken down. When Obama won the election, it stunned me. I think people believed and bought into his message of hope.

The past twelve years the Republican Party has been fueled by hate and a desire to undo anything that Obama did. Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and the Republicans are totally focused on getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, just as Democrats are determined to get rid of Trump. Have the Republicans solved “ANY” of America’s problems or offered their own solutions to the problems facing America. The answer is a big fat NO. Unfortunately for America, neither have the Democrats. Exactly why we need a party that is for all Americans.

America needs a mentoring program for race relations. When in the Army I spent several months as the only white person in a 12 man room. I learned a lot of things about being a black American, that I would never have learned without that experience. Most of America's race problems are from a lack of communication. When we see white cops, killing black citizens we are seeing a lack of respect for human life, especially of our fellow Americans. Mainly because they can get away with it. They are using their authority, to avoid responsibility, for their actions. Authority needs to also require accountability.

Why can they get away with it, because of a lack of peer pressure to do what is right. It is something that is taught. When in the Army at Ft. Bragg, I went to the store to get milk with a friend of mine and his wife. While he went in to get the milk, his wife, baby and I sat in the car waiting. A black man walked past the car and the wife, started telling the baby who could not even walk yet, say N----- Johnny, this went on and on till her husband returned. I know for a long time I blamed it on the fact they were from Alabama. After my months in the room as the only white boy, I found it is taught, it does not just happen.

Even when I was growing up I experienced it in a different way. My Dad took me to the Indianapolis 500 time trials. We had to drive thru a very dark part of Indianapolis. I remember my Dad making me roll up the windows and lock the doors. His actions puzzled me. My home town only has a few hundred blacks in the whole city. Our high school had over 1200 students and only five students in the whole school were black.

Why I found my father a World War II veterans actions puzzling was that he had me do his good deeds so to speak. We had one elderly black lady in our whole neighborhood and her husband had died. My Dad sent me to mow her yard and shovel her snow, whenever it needed it. As he did for several other widows. While I would never call my father a racist, stereotypes definitely effected his decision process.

If America wants to cure the problem, the first thing we need to do is admit there is one. I remember when I was stationed in France and went to Paris that Blacks, Whites and others mingled and interacted and race was not a barrier or a problem. At least I didn't see it.

When I see the peaceful protests going on, I realize there is hope for America. One thing we need in America is accountability for every life. No one is above the law, especially those who administer the law. The idea that a law enforcement officer can take a life and is above the law is absurd. It may happen, but not when a person is shot in the back seven times from point blank range, or when a man is running away from law enforcement. He is not a threat, he is scared and in this country he has every right to be. Which is a sad thing to say.

My first experience with racism came in April or May of my tenth grade year in high school. I was taking a printing class and had to manually set type. I had a piece of type and looked at it and could not make up my mind if it was a “j” or an “l” and started saying Enee, Menee, Minee Moe and suddenly realized the person at the table face to face with mine was our schools star athlete a senior, and he was black. I stopped what I was saying. He said, “Finish it.” and I did. I have never forgotten what he said. “Words have meaning, and they have consequences” Two months later I dropped out of high school and joined the Army. I remember setting on the back steps of my barracks a week or so into training and four or five guys were talking. As I listened it was like they were speaking a foreign language. Little did I know that a year down the road I would get a crash course and learn that language.

While living in that twelve man room I got a date with a local girl. Her Dad was the head of a local bank. He and I tried to make small talk while we were waiting for dinner. I bought up the subject that I noticed almost all the blacks in the community lived in run down shacks but had brand new and really nice cars in the drive and nice color TV’s which I could see from the road. I asked why they didn’t they fix up their houses. They evidently had money. The banker made it clear to me that they could buy anything they wanted, but they would never get a loan from him to fix up their property. Because then they would want to sell their house and move, possibly, in next to him. That was not happening. The supper was very good, but the atmosphere was very chilly. Needless to say that was my last date with her. She was still very friendly, but I got the understanding I was not welcome to come back to his house.

Sometime later I went to the enlisted club on post and had a learning experience. We had to be in uniform to attend the club. I was the only active duty paratrooper on the post. The other one lived off base. Anyhow I got called out by a black guy who wanted to start a fight with me. I said fine, but lets take it outside. As we went outside several of his friends fell in behind us. When we faced off outside several of his friends circled us. I was sure I was gonna get my ass kicked regardless what happened. BUT, All of a sudden another group of blacks came out of the club and formed a circle around his circle. It was my room mates. One of them stepped forward and said, “If you want a piece of his ass, your going to have to whip us too.” Suddenly it all just cooled down. When we got back to the barracks I got tagged with my new nickname, I was the cotton tailed nigger.

I learned a couple things living in that room. I asked why they always went everywhere in pairs. They explained that a lone black man walking in Georgia was an invitation to be assaulted if not killed. I also learned that they felt they had a station in life and they should not feel they could get ahead. If I did nothing else in the time I lived in that room. I told them that was bull crap and they were entitled to anything any other American had. If they did not stand up for their rights they were only hurting themselves. Over the time in that room I did acquire a couple changes in my life. I like bright colored clothes and most of my CD’s are soul music.

Almost ten years later I was stationed in Germany and one of the black soldiers in my squad was charged with drug possession. It was all a set up. My superiors wanted to get rid of him because they considered him a trouble maker. I refused to press the charges. So they moved him out of my squad and charged him anyhow. I went to his trial as a character witness. I knew I was cutting my own throat when I did it. I told my wife that if I testified my career was over.

I went to the trial and they would not let me testify till after he was sentenced. Then it was to vouch for his character. The judge asked me what happened and I told him. He smiled and looked at me. Then he said I have had six people tell me their stories and I realize yours is the truth. It makes sense of all their stories which were missing one thing or another. So instead of kicking him out of the Army which is what my superiors wanted, he fined him $25 and dropped all other punishments. My superiors were livid. I paid for it when I left Germany a few months later. The gave me two efficiency reports to ruin my career. They missed one thing. They had promoted me to Staff Sergeant half ways between the two reports.

Actually that turned out to be a Blessing in disguise. A year and a half later after reenlisting for six years at Fort Campbell. I ended up going to Panama, I volunteered for the Qualitative Management Program and used those two reports as part of reason. I had also received several reports in Panama saying I was physically unfit for my job. Just as I suspected the review board never caught the little glitch on the efficiency reports. For some reason I could not handle the heat in Panama and could not physically do my job. My father came down from the states and we went sight seeing. I could not keep up with him. It was then I realized I had a problem. I could not do the two miles in eighteen minutes for my physical. I was a miler in high school and ran five minute miles, so I knew something was wrong but I did not know what until almost thirty years later I found out the problem. I had been exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

The reason My father came to visit me in Panama was that in World War II he had been at the Normandy invasion and at the end of the war he was in Tokyo Harbor tied up close enough to the USS Missouri to watch the surrender ceremony. In the process of going to the Pacific Ocean they only kept a skeleton crew on his ship and picked the crew back up in California. It allowed the sailors a chance to go home and see their families. So he missed the trip through the Canal and wanted to see it. We had a neat thing about our birthdays. I was born on December 7^th the day World War II started. He was born on August 6, the day they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and technically ended the war.

In July of 2010 I went to a 4^th of July celebration at my best friends home. Most of the guest were retired military. One of them was a retired Air Force Colonel who had worked in claims and compensation before he retired. In the course of our compensation the subject came up that I had had a heart attack in 2004 and had a defibrillator. He informed me that all I had to do was file a claim and based on my condition I was automatically qualified for Agent Orange Compensation. In January of 2012 I decided to file a claim based on our conversation.

In October of 2014 I started receiving my Agent Orange Compensation. It was not till four or five years later I realized I had been ripped off for about half of the compensation I should have gotten. I received a copy of the Niehmer Claims compensation guidelines and realized I should have received compensation from the time the claim was created. As I was under VA treatment at the time. Actually they owe me till the Diabetes Claims were started. If they want to be technical my letter to request discharge under the Qualitative Management Program made clear that I wanted out for health reasons, Even though I did not know at the time what caused those problems, so technically they owe me from the start of it all.

After leaving the Army I did not really feel like I had wasted thirteen years of my life in the Army. I learned to drive a truck in Vietnam while driving OJT for three months. It got me a job in civilian life. I did it till I had my heart attack caused by the Agent Orange, but I do feel cheated out of what I was entitled too. Which is part of why I felt compelled to write this post for my blog. I intend to send a copy of it to my Congressman and see if he can get me what I am entitled to.

How Elections and Racism can Destroy America or Save America

 

Why Elections Will Not Fix America

 

         What is wrong with this picture, taken on election day in 2008?

                         What Is Missing?

America Needs Hope And Mentoring Programs

The above picture was taken on Election Day 2008. To an observant person with an average memory something is missing. To a White Supremacist it is a perfect picture. In reality though it is a picture of what is wrong with America. It explains how we have gotten to where we are today. We have forgotten our history and what makes America Great, it is not Donald Trump, it is Hope. America has always had the hope and vision that a better day is coming.  Elections in America do not offer hope or change. We need a third party that is for America, and puts all Americans on the same level. The present system allows the wealthy to take all they can get and ignores the needs of those who are not wealthy.

The events of 9/11shook America to its core. It made us question our goodness and our greatness as a nation. It set the stage for a change I NEVER, thought I would see in the America I lived in. In July 2004 I saw a young man give a speech that summed up the hope of America, and that it was a hope for everybody. Four years later that man ran for President and succeeded. Even with portions of America denying his very existence.

I am sure where I live was not the only place that his posters were taken down. When Obama won the election, it stunned me. I think people believed and bought into his message of hope.

The past twelve years the Republican Party has been fueled by hate and a desire to undo anything that Obama did. Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and the Republicans are totally focused on getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, just as Democrats are determined to get rid of Trump. Have the Republicans solved “ANY” of America’s problems or offered their own solutions to the problems facing America. The answer is a big fat NO. Unfortunately for America, neither have the Democrats. Exactly why we need a party that is for all Americans.

America has been sold a bill of goods by the insurance companies. They have convinced America we can not survive without them. They charge you for insurance, and then they charge you a deductible to use it. The medical field is a job like any other, but insurance companies have learned to use it to empty American pockets. The pharmaceutical companies are so evil they have banned discounts for the government, even though it is one of their best customers. I learned this by dealing with the VA.

America needs solutions, not hate. America needs a health care program that takes care of each and every American, not just some Americans, from the Womb to the Tomb.  Article One, Section 8 of the Constitution, gives the duty of the “welfare” of America to Congress, and I do not think they meant, food stamps. Welfare meant the needs of America, just like you take care of the needs of your family. Food, clothing, shelter, education, safety and even heath care. If Congress comes up short on any of these items they have failed their job.

Yes they are responsible for national defense and the budget also, They are given the responsibility to tax and create the programs that provide the above mentioned items. However, for the last twelve years Congress has failed in it duties, with a capital F. They tax to give big breaks to the rich and corporations on the backs of the middle and lower class Americans.

With the economy in chaos because of Covid 19, millions of Americans are slowly sliding into a financial abyss. More and more people are loosing their homes, and apartments. We are right back where we were in 2008 when the housing market collapsed. The Federal Government has failed to act. They say it is not their responsibility. Excuse me Congress, but it is not only your responsibility, but your duty under the Constitution to fix the problem, and believe it or not there are ways to do so.

America needs a third party that puts Americans and America first. Systemic Racism is rampant in America, the pandemic has proven that issue. One other problem that needs to be addressed is the immigration problem. Immigrants are not evil, we are a nation of immigrants. If a person is willing to risk all they have in order to come here to start a better life and lift up their family, they are not evil. In this day and age some who come may be evil, and it is our responsibility to weed them out. We need to create a more effective work program that lets those willing to do the jobs that most Americans won’t, come perform those much needed jobs like field hands.

My wife is an American born Mexican. Or as I call her, a Texican. There were thirteen kids in her family and they all worked in the fields as laborers at some point in their lives. Yet as they have all gotten older, they have all found what I call a normal job. None of them work in the fields anymore, but somebody still needs to do that work.

Mexicans have survived and thrived doing work that blacks will not or are unwilling to do. It is not an easy life. Many live along the Mexican border in Texas and come north every year doing field work. Farmers need them and often do not report the illegals among them. Many farmers use unscrupulous tactics to take advantage of the Mexican laborers. It is not uncommon practice for farmers to hold 20% of their pay till the end of the season. As most are paid by piece work. If the crops run out, and there was not enough work to keep them busy the farmer will force them to stay to get their 20%. If they move to better crops and more work elsewhere, they loose a considerable amount of money.

The recent pandemic has shown the unfairness in America’s healthcare system, minorities have been effected at a much higher rate. Yet in most cases they have no recourse. Many of the meat packing plants are full of minorities. They are forced to work in an environment dangerous to their health. They are deemed as essential workers, but they are not afforded the protections they deserve and need to work safely.

I invite you to read my blog at the following link. https://carpforamerica.blogspot.com/2020/07/carp.html This post outlines the needs and platform of a 3^rd party and while I want to see it implemented and at 70+, I no longer have the fire or the zeal to push it, but I can share how to do it.  I invite you to subscribe and follow my blog so you will get updates when I post them on issues concerning our rights to vote.

America needs a mentoring program for race relations. When in the Army I spent several months as the only white person in a 12 man room. I learned a lot of things about being a black American, that I would never have learned without that expeience. Most of America's race problems are from a lack of communication. When we see white cops, killing black citizens we are seeing a lack of respect for our fellow Americans, because they can get away with it. They are using their authority, to avoid responsibility for their actions. Authority needs to also require accountability.

Why can they get away with it, because of a lack of peer pressure to do what is right. It is something that is taught. When in the Army at Ft. Bragg, I went to the store to get milk with a friend of mine and his wife. While he went in to get the milk, his wife baby and I sat in the car waiting.  A black man walked past the car and the wife, started telling the baby who could not even walk yet, say N----- Johnny, this went on and on till her husband returned. I for a long time blamed it on the fact they were from Alabama. 

After my months in the room as the only white boy, I found it is taught, it does not just happen. Even when I was growing up I experienced it in a different way. My Dad took me to the Indianapolis 500 time trials and we had to drive thru a very dark part of Indianapolis and I remember my Dad making me roll up the windows and lock the door. His actions puzzeled me. My home town only has a few hundred blacks in the whole city. Our high school had over 1200 students and only five students in the whole school were black.

 Why I found my father a World War II veterans actions puzzeling was that he had me do his good deeds so to speak.  We had one elderly black lady in the whole neighborhood and her husband had died. My Dad sent me to mow her yard whenever it needed it, as he did for several other widows. 

If America wants to cure the problem we first need to admit there is one. I remember when I was stationed in France and went to Paris that Blacks, Whites and others mingled and interacted and race was not a barrier or a problem. At least I didn't see it. 

When I see the peaceful protests going on, I realize there is hope for America. One thing we need in America is accountability for every life.No one is above the law, especially those who administer the law. The idea that a law enforcement officer can take a life and is above the law is absurd. It may happen, but not when a person is shot in the back seven times from point blank range, or when a man is running away from law enforcement. He is not a threat, he is scared and in this country he has every right to be. Which is a sad thing to say.

CARP Party Platform on Abortion

 

The conflict between Christian values and the Word of God, and the non christian values of the people is at a boiling point. While those in authority tolerate the murder of both the living and the unborn, there is a problem. Compromise is not possible when both sides are unwilling to see the other side.

Do those who are living have less rights and values than the unborn, When the living demand rights for actions that our Founding Fathers would never have tolerated, while claiming the right to kill those who have no voice to defend themselves, we have a problem.

The first thing that must be realized is that each individual is responsible for his own actions. If his actions go against Biblical standards, it must be equally recognized that those who say they believe the Bible have no right to impose their hatred on others.

If two people care about each other and want to be bonded to each other. Is it their right. Our laws have been changed to say it is okay. Yet those who cry out for the unborn have no problem with killing the living who go against their values.

To “ME” and this is my opinion. What happens between a doctor and his patient is not a matter of concern to those not directly involved. In the same breath I will say that abortion other than the pill, a condom, a vasectomy, or a hysterectomy is murder. Failing to be responsible for actions that create life, does not give you no right to destroy life. Once it is viable, it is murder to kill it at any point. The fact many states charge a person who kills pregnant woman with two murders says it is life. It is therefore protected by our Constitution. Remember it is Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Life is first, and if you screw up your life, you are bound by the consequences of your actions.

The CARP Party Platform, Offering Solutions To Fix America

 

       The CARP Party Platform, Offering Solutions For Helping Fix America

       CARP is the Constitutional Antifederalist Reform Party...CARP is about solutions.  Solutions to the problems in America. Whether the problems are leadership, energy, budget, taxes it is CARPS goal to rise up and find a workable solution to the problem.  CARP is meant to be a Progressive party seeking change for the better and bringing the government back in line with the Constitution.  Our goal is to get government back under control of, to, by and for the people.  The present two party system is out of control and is not answering to the needs of the citizens of the United States.  With areas of the economy, housing, jobs, infrastructure and energy in a state of chaos or crisis it is time for solutions.   Yes solutions do exist. Some can be done by private industry by repealing restrictive regulations and some by government sponsored and directed programs. Some of them require thinking outside the box and some require biting the bullet and making tough choices.  Choices that are geared to restoring America to where it was. It is time for a party that cares about the people and what is good and right for America. The two present parties have problems.  The Republicans, or as I call them, the Republi-can'ts will not face the fact that to get out of debt requires spending money to pay for the debt that they doubled during the Bush administration.  They raised the debt but provided no funds or way to pay for the expenditures they made. The rule is you spent it, you pay for it.  Who benefited from their expenditures? Certainly not the poor or middle class Americans.  If anyone has benefited it is big business and the wealthy Americans.  Much of it was spent to support countries that not only hate us, but hold values that totally oppose everything America stands for.  America is in economic bondage to countries that not only despise America, but are financing those that would destroy us and what we do stand for.  The other party the Democrats are not much better.  The Dum-ol-crats as I call them have never seen a program that they did not want to raise the funds for.  They won't cut spending and the Republi-can'ts know that.  Every dollar increase in taxes will be spent on new programs and not to reduce the debt.  This has to change.

      The following ideas are laid out as guidelines and goals of CARP.  Most have already been addressed in my blog.  You can see my blog at http://rictheturtleryan.blogspot.com/  and most of the following issues have at least one blog entry dedicated to and explaining my or the party point of view.  Yes a couple of my ideas are out there radical ideas, but I think if most people will think about what I say they will agree with me.  If they do not, I eagerly await their input. Some issues need more detail and clarification.  My goal was to get the ideas out there for discussion.  At present I have no goal to support or push anyone for president.  CARP's goal is to force changes and direction to the present system.  Eliminating existing programs and waste may accomplish more than passing new programs.  Therefore it is not the parties idea to pass new legislation, but to make sure what is already in place and proposed in the future is sound.  Not only sound but in the best interests of all Americans and America as a whole.

      It is my opinion that the average American sees the problem and is willing to do whatever it takes to put America back on the right track

1. Constitution:  Any and all programs, actions and legal activities of the party will comply with the Constitution.

2. Taxes:  The first issue is the economy.  CARP has a tax proposal that I feel is sound.  It will have to be evaluated and possibly be adjusted, but I think it addresses most ot the problems. The Program is the 10/20/30 Plan.  First thing is that anybody living below the poverty level in America will not owe any taxes under this system.  They will be taxed at the lowest rate but will recieve all their money back at the end of the year.  Most of the people in the lower brackets already pay nothing.  Those earning from the poverty level to the $100,000 dollar net income level will pay 10% of their income in taxes.   Those making $100,000 net income and up to the $10,000,000 level will pay 20% of their net income.  Those making more than $10,000,000 will pay 30% of their net income, including that from capital gains. The inheritance tax will be eliminated.  You earned it, it is yours.   A tax rate of 10% of net income for all businesses with gross revenues below ten million dollars.  Businesses making over ten million gross revenue will be taxed at the rate of 20% of net income.  All loopholes and subsidies that do not directly benefit each and every American equally will be eliminated.  This should generate enough comments for me to address.

3. Infrastructure: Based on the Consitution's Article 1, Section 8, paragraph one. States that the Fed has the responsibility to raise taxes and levys, provide for the security and the welfare of the United States.  They have failed to perform on the welfare requirement.  Welfare means meeting the needs of the country, just as any individual would meet the needs of his family.  Shelter, clothing, food, education and even a path to the outhouse if necessary. This was not suggested by the Founding Fathers, it was a duty.  A program will be established to create a perpetual and long term system of dealing with and funding the infrastructure problems in America.  This is addressed in my blog as a fuel tax.  Yes it is a seperate tax and the money goes directly to the states.  It is a Federal program only in that they give oversight to make sure all funds collected are used for what they are intended for.  That is infrastructure.  This program is immediate and will help solve the job problem in America.  It is my belief that American's will be willing to bite the bullet and pay this tax if it really helps solve the problems in America.  It has to be written and done in a way that the Fed has no access to the money involved.  The Fed will get its share from the increased tax revenue as American's go back to work.  With the failure of the supercommittee to solve the problems facing America it is guaranteed that the problems facing America will get worse and not better.  As people are cut off from unemployment, more homes will go into foreclosure.  This will drag down the markets further and slow the economy even more.  The revenues the Federal government has based its projections on will start to shrink.  Federal income will drop as it did during the Great Depression.  Prople who are making nothing, pay nothing.  That is not totally true they still have the duty to pay their property taxes.  However with no income they go into foreclosue and bankruptcy.  At some point that reality will hit home.

4.Balanced Budget: The government must have a completely balanced budget within ten years.  Balanced from my point of view means paying no interest on debt. 

5. Debt Free: The government must be debt free in twenty years.  Which means running on what it takes in.  This means all programs must be paid for as they go and not dependent on borrowing from one program to support another.

6.  Four Day Week...This is self explanatory.  It can maintain the forty hour week, but by cutting the days worked it should open opportunities for more workers.  The main goal of this is energy conservation.  Closing businesses, schools, parking buses, reduced commuting to work,  when added up nationally total an awful large amount of energy savings.

7. Military: Bring all troops home to the United States.  Not just from Iraq and Afghanistan, but also from Korea, Germany, Italy and all the other places we have them stationed around the world.

8. Medicare:  Make the medicare program pay 100% of all medical bills. Also enforce the government getting a discount for bulk buying.  At present the government gets no discount for buying large quantities of medical supplies and medicine.  The government pays top dollar.  Example if I buy a ninety day supply of one of my meds thrrough the VA it costs $24 dollars and they send me pills that I have to cut in half to get the right dosage.  If I buy the same meds at Wal-Mart.  They come in the right dosage. They come packaged in sheets of thirty and it costs me only $10.  As you can see veterans and the taxpayers are getting ripped off by the pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

9. PAC:  PAC's Political Action Committees will no longer be allowed to donate funds to any candidates campaign.  The risk of buying influence needs to be eliminated.  They can advise, but not give or contribute to candidates financially in any way.

10. Legalize All Drugs:  This is probably my most controversial position. Read the highligted part at the end of this section before  you write me off.  This is a First Amendment item.  The 1st Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion.  Genesis 1:29-30 says God gave "every" herb bearing seed, upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat...I have given every green herb for meat...Our government is spending billions of dollars every year trying to stop and wipe out God given plants.  If one simply looks at prohibition you will realize you can not legislate morality.  However you can tax it and you can set quality standards.  How many thousands of people die every year because of using contaminated drugs.  Drugs contaminated so the dealers can make extra profit at their customers expense.  Their attitude is who cares if a junky dies.  They are right in that the government certainly does not care.  Then there is the issue of incarceration of hundreds of thousands of people and the cost.  What they really need is guidance.  My argument is that if the churches were reaching out to families and teaching the value of life, maybe people would not get messed up to start with. My final argument for legalization is that there are many products that can be made from the plants.  Marijuana for instance can be made into rope, canvas (look that word up in Webster and see where the Can in canvas came from) and clothing material.  Legalization takes away the profit motive. Why would you pay ridiculous amounts for something you can grow for yourself free.  If there is no money in it the dealers are not going to mess with it.  Do you see any alcohol dealers on the corners?  Sure some sell to minors and they get sent to jail and they should.  Taxing the drugs allows them to provide money to take care of the drug abuser, with their money and not ours.  Legalizing all drugs lowers the cost.  Even the phamaceutical drugs being legalized will reduce medical costs.  Sure some can hurt people, but often you know what you need but you have to pay some doctor to give you a piece of paper to legally get it. Getting medical costs under control is going to take some major changes and adjustments in attitudes.  What is needed here is education not regulation. Please note that legalizing, or better said, decriminalizing drugs is restricted exclusively to organic drugs in their original form.  Most of the organic plants can be used to treat cancer and many other diseaases and a person can grow as much as they need for their own use.

  It does not include man made drugs like cocaine and opium deriviatives. All man made drugs are not God made and people creating and dealing in them should be charged with attempted murder, unless someone overdoeses, then it should be murder. Drug dealers do not care if they kill people they only care about the money.

11. Home Schooling:  Is it time to start home schooling all kids.  Taking them to school periodically for testing.  The internet could be used for this.  Some say children would not be able to socialize.  Go to church.  Get involved in community sponsored leagues.  Only kids that desire to do so get into sports.  Why should taxpayers have to subsidize it. Think of all the energy savings and the cost of "not" building schools.  This one may come about on its own if the government does not get it together and fix the problems.  When unemployment hits 30 to 40 % it could very well happen because of a lack of taxpayer revenue.  You say that can not happen.  Well in the Great Depression many cities had 50% unemployment.  The national average hit over 25% for middle aged white males.  All other age, sex and racial groups had much higher levels of unemployment.  So it already has happened and it can happen again. 

12. The party will limit support for CARP party candidates to 8 years in the house and 12 years in the senate.  The party will not support candidates attempting to continue in office.

13. Eliminate the Electoral College and have direct popular election of the President and Vice-President

14. All citizens will recieve full rights at age eighteen.  A person who is willing to serve and die for their country deserves full rights of a citizenship.  All rules requiring a citizen to be twenty one will be amended to be effective at eighteen.

15.  Repeal the light bulb bill and eliminate agencies involved in creating such lunacy.

16.  The Congress will serve the last two weeks in January in Washington, DC and then will return home to serve their constituency.  They will return to Washington in the last two weeks of March, May, July, September, and last two week meeting of Congress for the year will convene the first Monday after Thanksgiving.  They will do their communicating by phone, computer or how they see fit. This will ensure they serve their constituents and not the lobbyists.  The less time they spend in Washington may actually benefit the country. 

17. A survey and review will be done of all government programs and spending.  Programs that can be eliminated will be.  Laws and regulations will be reviewed and revoked when not needed.  Government will be reduced to its minimum operational level and all possible programs will be administered and run by the states with the Fed acting only in an advisory capacity.

     In closing let me say that the only thing that is going to fix America is citizens getting involved and making the things happen that need to happen.  There are things that could be improved through new legislation and accomplished by the private sector.  Some things could be done by the private sector by getting rid of regulations that strangle business.   It is not going to happen with the present two party system and that is a fact. I read somewhere that the United States has the best government money can buy.  The wealthy do not care who is in charge. As long as they have a price and they can get the politicians to vote your tax dollars to pay for it.  Which is probably the one of the most honest appraisals of our government ever spoken.

   CARP is for all Americans.  It does not discriminate because sex, race, age, sexual preference, disabilities, marital status, or your service to America.  However neither does it, give special breaks or attention because of your status in any of the groups mentioned.  Your status is simply that you are a concerned American, and concerned about the direction the nation is going.  There is still time to set up and get the party recognized in many states before next years elections.  Anybody that would like to help set up state chapters, spread the message, get involved or donate to the cause, your Help is welcome.  It is my desire to get in contact with the Occupy Wall Street movement and hopefully we can help each other.  This is all new to me, but it needs to get moving.  If you have any comments, suggestions, or other input.  You can message this blog or send me an E-mail my address is ric.f.ryan@gmail.com .  Thanks for any and all support and interest.

Comprehensive Two Part Gun Solution

 

                       Comprehensive Two Part Gun Solution

       Controlling the size or type of weapons will not reduce the crime level in America.  Several serial killers and mass murderers in American history never used a gun.  Jeffrey Dahmer, Timothy McVeigh and the 9/11 terrorist never used guns to inflict injury.  They fell through the cracks in the system back then and still would.  As far as I am concerned they can have an Abrams Tank as long as they are willing to cough up the fees for the permits and have a legal right to own a gun.

      The weirdos and wackos who are intent on committing a crime will do so regardless of the laws.  Just like Americans who use drugs.  If they want them they will get them.  A large portion of the killings in America are crimes of passion and they could be reduced considerably if the party involved knew they were going to pay steeply for their actions.  England and Japan are a perfect example of that fact. Why a two part solution? One part deals with the death and carnage that guns cause in our country and to save lives. That is a totally seperate issue from gun controls. I deal with both issues seperately, both, however, boil down to respect for human life.

     The real problem is a lack of respect for life and authority in America. All lives matter.  Yes even black lives matter. To fix the gun problem America needs to deal with the real problem.  Today in America there is a lack of willingness to accept blame or to assign blame.  The standard is to give everybody a break, especially criminals.  The gun problem needs to be dealt with by Federal laws.  The right to have a gun is given in the Constitution to all American citizens and should therefore be a Federal offense. Those not born in the USA should not be entitled to that right unless they are naturalized citizens who have sworn and allegiance to the United States. Just because someone is visiting America should not give them the rights of Americans guaranteed under the Constitution. That is not unfair as convicted felons no longer have the right to own a gun. I have been told that in some states they allow felons to only have muzzle loading weapons after a criminal conviction as it is what they had at the time of the Constitution's writing.

     England has a population of about sixty three million people, but they supposedly only had fifty eight shooting deaths last year.  In America almost 400 were killed by cops alone.  While America has five times the population England has.  We have over eight thousand shooting deaths a year. That is over one hundred and thirty times the amount shooting deaths England has.  Police in England do not even carry guns. That may have changed with all the terrorism today. The question is why so big a difference. The police officers in England perceive their duty as maintaining the safety of their fellow citizens, not defending the state.  It boils down to respect for life.

     The punishment system needs to be modified to reflect the seriousness of owning and using guns.  There needs to be a set punishment for certain crimes.  They need to be enforced with no plea bargains being allowed.  You commit the crime, you do the time.  My views may be harsh but they are fair if they are enforced without favor.  These laws all need to be Federal crimes and punishment done in the Federal prison system. Proof that you had a gun is all that is required to be sentenced. Period

     So how do we make room for all the new prisoners without building new prisons. America needs to decriminalize marijuana which is not the same as legalizing it. It simply makes it not a crime to have or grow it.  Alcohol is not illegal, but it is still regulated. Marijuana and all drugs grown from seed should be decriminalized. If you want to take the time to grow your own you should be allowed to. Native Americans are not allowed their religious freedom as the government has criminalized the plants they use in their ceremonies.  Prohibition should have taught us something. Decriminalizing alcohol and making it legal ended the mob violence. Legalization took the profit out of it for everyone except the government. Making laws against nature is almost as asinine as the politicians that pass them. You might check Genesis 1:29 and the Declaration of Independence and see that all plants from seed are a God given right.  Removing people from the prison system who have an addiction and treating them for it will make plenty of room in the prison system.  Then you will have room for the criminals who deserve to be there.

    The following laws would go a long ways towards a realistic solution. Ending the Wild West attitude in America would be a step in the right direction. There was a time when guns were needed. That time has passed. We also need to get our government out of the killing business. All lives matter, even foreign ones. The very first rule is that there are no plea bargains. You commit the crime, you do the time, period. 

     Why do I have such an attitude?  I knew a young man who at the age of 14 with two friends shot and killed his grandmother so they could go for a joy ride in her car. He was incarcerated in the state system as a minor and because of Indiana law, when he turned 18 he was released.  Just after he turned twenty he went back to prison for killing his employer.  He was an easy going and soft spoken kid and I did not believe he did the first murder and that his friends had set him up. The second murder proved I was wrong. Another young man I knew beat a man, there was no gun, severely.  He got a sixty year sentence and his victim is out living a normal life. The system definitely needs some reworking and making all gun related crimes Federal Crimes would be a step in that direction.

1.  Commission of a crime with a gun should be a Federal offense and should carry a minimum of a life sentence. Regardless if anyone is injured.  Just the presence of the gun at the time of the crime would require enforcement.  The word will get out quick and attitudes will change. (Japan has such a law and has virtually no gun murders)

2.  Shooting someone in the commission of a crime would carry a life sentence with no chance of parole.   

3.  If anyone is killed in the commission of a crime the minimum sentence is life in prison without the chance of parole. Number three may sound harsh but the victim who is shot does not get a second chance at life.  Knowing there is a set penalty for a crime might stop some from committing a crime, but not all. I worked my way through college tending bar in a private club and knew many customers who had DWI's and no license and continued to drive. Which proves to me that the only real solution is to remove the problem from society, or it will happen again and again. Till someone is dead. My preference would be capital punishment for crimes which take a life, with execution within twelve months of sentencing so we do not put the burden on society for the criminal’s action.  Would you want the person who kills you to go on enjoying his life at the expense to your family in the form of higher taxes?

4.  Anyone who possesses, uses, or transfers a licensed weapon without a proper permit and title transfer will receive a minimum five year sentence. Number four means if a person with no background check, no permit to own a licensed weapon or with a criminal record is in possession of a gun they can be charged.

5.  Threatening a person with bodily harm while using a weapon of any kind is grounds for a ten year prison sentence.

The only exemption from these punishments is an act of self-defense to preserve a life.

The sentences should be cut and dried.

Possesion of a gun during a crime automatic five years in prison.

If the weapon is used during the crime the sentence is an automatic ten years

Injuring a person during the commission of a crime, Twenty years to life. 

Taking a life in the commission of a crime, mandatory life sentence.

Taking of more than one life in the commission of a crime, automatic death penalty.

Persons committing a crime which requires the death penalty must be executed within ninety dadays of sentencing.

                                           Part II

This second part deals with gun ownership.

Guns should be broken into two categories or classes of guns.                                                  1. 1. Constitutionally allowed guns or type 1 guns.                                                                                 

2. Recreational Licensed guns or type 2 guns.

The mandatory sentences in part One apply regardless of the type weapon used in the commission of a crime.

Constitutional or type one guns should have no conditions to owning them or how many you can own.  This class includes muzzle loaders, bolt action, lever action, shotguns and revolvers.  All weapons that must be loaded or cocked between shots would be in this category.

 This nation was liberated from England with single shot weapons and it was preserved as a nation with single shot weapons.  Single shot weapons properly handled can save a life or shoot game to provide for the needs of the hunters family.  Generally these are not the weapons chosen for mass murders.  They are often used in crimes of passion however.  These guns should not require a permit or a license of any kind.  This would preserve the rights granted under the Constitution.  These would be called Constitutional or Type One Weapons.

     The second class would be recreational or licensed weapons.

     All semi-automatic pistols and rifles, and all automatic weapons should require a permit/license for ownership.  These would all be considered class two guns.

(We require a license to drive a car, and proof of age to acquire alcohol.  Both of which often take lives, just like a gun.) The permit should require both a background check and mental evaluation.  It should be kept on permanent record.  All of these weapons should be licensed just like a car with a minimal annual fee.  They should have a certificate of title and the title should be changed anytime ownership of the said weapon takes place.

    Anyone having three or more weapons should be classed as a collector. Collectors should be required to keep all their weapons under lock and key.  The weapons and the ammunition including magazines should be required to be in separate storage units each having its own key.

    Some of the funds raised by this program could be used to teach gun awareness and handling in the schools.  This would reinforce the understanding of why we have a second amendment.  It could be combined with an understanding of the

American Constitution and history. The classes should also teach ethics and values and the sanctity of human life when using guns.

   Finally and mainly the funds could be used to put bullet proof doors on American Schools and classrooms.  A card lock system that restricts the entrance to any school except by a designated door should be put in place.  The system should be able to lock all classrooms from the main offices.  A system similar to those used in most motels and hotels in America should be installed.  This could be used to restrict intruders from entering a classroom without the proper card.

     This system does not take away any rights.  It does provide for a system of control and accountability as to who has weapons.  Penalties could be put in place for having a weapon without the proper paperwork also.  The system of permits and licenses could be put in place retroactively without violating the Constitution or the ex post facto laws.  Slaves were long term held property and their status was changed by use of the Constitution and all were freed.  Regardless of their standing before the war, all blacks received freedom.  This would be similar in nature. The ex post facto laws should not apply