Ok folks, it’s time for me to vent again.  Here we are just a few days from celebrating the birthday of our great country, and my blood pressure is rising!  I am as big a patriot as you will find, and I love America.  That is why I am worried about our nation and our freedoms.  A few years ago I heard this analogy of  “A Frog in Boiling Water”?  It is said that if you take a live frog and drop him into a pot of boiling water that he will, of course, immediately jump out.  With the sudden shock to his system, his automatic reflex is to jump to safety.  But… if you take that same frog and put him into a pot of cold water, he will stay there and be very comfortable.  And you can warm that water up, just a few degrees at a time, and the frog will stay there.  You can continue to heat up the water and the frog will not move as his body slowly adjusts to the warm water.  And the frog will stay in the pot even as the temperature of the water gradually rises to reach the boiling point.  His body becomes accustomed to the change a little at a time.  The frog will not jump out of the pot and he will boil to death. 

That is exactly what is happening right now in the United States of America as we gradually lose our freedoms.  Our republican form of government, and our capitalist economic system are slowly eroding as we sit by day by day and watch socialism take hold one degree at a time.  Make no mistake, the current administration and the current socialist democratic dominated legislature are using the normal cycle of an economic recession to impose their socialist agenda and satisfy their hunger for power, under the guise of “change that you can believe in”.  And it will get even worse as they spend our tax money on their “stimulus packages” and “government bailouts”.  American businesses, financial institutions and our own health care system are being taken over by our government, just a little at a time, as government wants to “take care” of all Americans from cradle to grave.    And you can be sure that the ultimate goal is total government control.  But that is not what our Founding Fathers had in mind.  Security is not freedom!  If we don’t do something about it, this generation may be the last to see a truly free America, and your children and your children’s children will not have the freedoms and opportunities that we have so enjoyed.  Please pray that the people of this country will wake up before it is too late.    

May God bless you, and may God bless America!                

Don, I could not agree with you more and I have lost many hours of joy thinking about it.  So what can we do?  It is obvious that the legislation that is being put into law has nothing to do with what is best for our country and the populace votes in ignorance.  I have the solution for all of this countries ills.  This country can be turned around and become the haven and paradise that everyone really wants.  As I see it the current political majority has an idea of creating a great eutopia. Sounds good, but they think they (man) can create it.  I look back at how blessed this county has been and how the problems have increased as we have strayed from the founding ideals and principles.  And then I read the Bible and see the parallels between the USA and the children of Israel.  This week I read Isaiah 1:1-20 and I once again came to the conclusion that only by turning to God can this country become truly blessed.  And blessed beyond anyone's wildest eutopian imagination.  I didn't mean to go off on a sermon.  Here's Isaiah for your perusal (with my comments).

Isaiah 1

 ¹ The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

A Rebellious Nation

 ² Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!                      *(I think earth includes us.)
       For the LORD has spoken:
       "I reared children and brought them up,
       but they have rebelled against me.

 ³ The ox knows his master,
       the donkey his owner's manger,
       but Israel does not know,
       my people do not understand."            

 ⁴ Ah, sinful nation,
       a people loaded with guilt,
       a brood of evildoers,
       children given to corruption!                          *(Corruption in our country?)
       They have forsaken the LORD;
       they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
       and turned their backs on him.

 ⁵ Why should you be beaten anymore?
       Why do you persist in rebellion?
       Your whole head is injured,
       your whole heart afflicted.

 ⁶ From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
       there is no soundness—
       only wounds and welts
       and open sores,
       not cleansed or bandaged
       or soothed with oil.

 ⁷ Your country is desolate,
       your cities burned with fire;
       your fields are being stripped by foreigners      *(Foreigners in our country?)
       right before you,
       laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.

 ⁸ The Daughter of Zion is left
       like a shelter in a vineyard,
       like a hut in a field of melons,
       like a city under siege.

 ⁹ Unless the LORD Almighty
       had left us some survivors,
       we would have become like Sodom,
       we would have been like Gomorrah.

 ¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD,
       you rulers of Sodom;
       listen to the law of our God,
       you people of Gomorrah!

 ¹¹ "The multitude of your sacrifices—
       what are they to me?" says the LORD.
       "I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
       of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
       I have no pleasure
       in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

 ¹² When you come to appear before me,
       who has asked this of you,
       this trampling of my courts?

 ¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
       Your incense is detestable to me.
       New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
       I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

 ¹⁴ Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
       my soul hates.
       They have become a burden to me;
       I am weary of bearing them.

 ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
       I will hide my eyes from you;
       even if you offer many prayers,
       I will not listen.
       Your hands are full of blood;

 ¹⁶ wash and make yourselves clean.
       Take your evil deeds
       out of my sight!
       Stop doing wrong,

 ¹⁷ learn to do right!
       Seek justice,
       encourage the oppressed. ^[a]
       Defend the cause of the fatherless,             *(Aborted babies?)
       plead the case of the widow.

 ¹⁸ "Come now, let us reason together,"
       says the LORD.
       "Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
       though they are red as crimson,
       they shall be like wool.

 ¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,                          *(The answer!!!!)
       you will eat the best from the land;

 ²⁰ but if you resist and rebel,
       you will be devoured by the sword."
       For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Gary… as bad as things are, I still sleep well at night because I know that God is still in control!  I think your answer is right on target.  When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, it was written in the Mayflower Compact that they came to the New World for “the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.”  We have indeed strayed in the nearly four hundred years since then, and I see a lot of similarity between the Old Testament children of Israel that were God’s chosen people, and the America of today.  God often called the Israelites a “stiff-necked people” and he loved them and punished them too.  Americans could learn a lot from their mistakes.  Our God is a forgiving God.

 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.”  Psalm 33:12    

Through the years, I have written letters to my Congressmen and Senators and even the President.  I have also made my opinions known to the editors of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  It is time to once again let my voice be heard.  We are at a critical point in our nation’s history, and one vote by one lawmaker could make all the difference in how we live the rest of our lives, and whether or not the generations that follow us will enjoy the same freedoms that we have enjoyed.  I have drafted the following letter that I intend to send to certain members of Congress, and I am directing it to those lawmakers who may be on the fence with their decision to vote on this Health Care Reform Bill.  I would appreciate your feedback, and any suggestions you may have as to who should receive this letter.  This is my opinion… I welcome yours.  

March 11, 2010

Dear Congressman,

I am a concerned and frustrated American citizen who loves my country and loves freedom.  I treasure my right to vote and have cast a ballot in every local, state and federal election since I was old enough to vote in 1968.  I have voted for both Democrats and Republicans and was a social liberal in my younger days.  I now consider myself to be a fiscal and social conservative.  God willing, I will celebrate my 60th birthday later this year.  I have done my best to be a good American citizen by working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes, obeying the law and being charitable to those in need.  I have been in business for myself for over 30 years as a Graphic Designer.   I am a student of American history and have a great appreciation for the courage and faith of our Founding Fathers and their love of freedom.  I am grateful for the blood, sweat and tears of the generations of Americans who have sacrificed their lives to defend that freedom.  I am proud that America has a history of being a government “of the people, by the people and for the people,” and it is my sincere prayer that it will continue to be just that. 

However, it seems that I may have taken my freedom for granted.  I see things changing rapidly in America, and I do not believe it is a healthy change.  Our great country is on the road to destruction, not by outside forces of tyranny or terrorism, but by our own elected government.   Too many of our representatives have turned a deaf ear to the voices of their own constituents.  Many of them have abandoned the basic principles of a free, capitalist economic system in favor of more government control and regulation.  As a result, we have a runaway federal bureaucracy on the road to socialism and economic disaster… and “freedom be damned.”  Security is not freedom.  For the first time in my life, I fear my own government and the direction that it is leading our great country.

The proposed Government Run Health Care Reform Bill now before Congress is a prime example.  The majority of the American people have made it abundantly clear that we do not want federal bureaucrats controlling and making decisions on our personal health care choices.  National polls continue to bear this out.  There is certainly some need for limited reform, but not a complete government takeover.   However, President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Leader Harry Reid and the majority of the Democratic Party seem to be hell bent on forcing it down our throats.  They appear to be more focused on their own biased agenda, political power, and an Obama grand legacy than they are on what is best for this country.  I know that once my government controls my personal health care, it controls ME.  America would no longer be a “government of the people,” but a “people of the government.”  Our leaders are not listening to America.  They are even willing to bend the accepted rules of Congress by using the “reconciliation” process as a means to accomplish their selfish agenda, even though reconciliation was clearly devised as a measure to resolve budgetary matters, not to pass major legislation that affects the lives of every American.   This will set a very dangerous precedent.  The proposed Health Care Bill would be another layer of over-bloated bureaucracy that our fragile economy cannot withstand.  It will cost billions of dollars that we do not have, and billions that the next generation cannot afford either.  The Democratic leadership would have us believe that they can add millions of Americans to the health care rolls (including those here illegally), improve the quality of that healthcare and reduce the costs in the process.  This is sheer lunacy.  The latest promise that President Obama has made is “FREE preventive care” under this legislation.  I KNOW, and I am sure you know and President Obama knows that there is no such thing as a “free lunch,” and there is no such thing as free preventive care.  That is a basic flaw in socialist thinking.  With all due respect the President is being fundamentally dishonest in order to buy votes.  Someone will have to pay for preventive care, and that someone will be the American taxpayer.  I have no doubt that if this bill becomes law, average Americans like me will pay more in taxes, spend more on health care, receive poorer quality care, and probably lose part of our coverage or be the victim of rationed services.  Past experience has shown us that the costs of any proposed government program has usually been ten times the cost of initial estimates.  It is a recipe for economic disaster.  We are already swimming in red ink that will be a burden for our children and their children for generations to come, and this Health Care Bill is like pouring gasoline on a fire.  And to add insult to injury, this legislation will require American taxpayers to fund abortions, the murder of innocent unborn children.  Those who vote to pass this legislation will have blood on their hands. 

Last year we had a so-called economic “stimulus” package that we were told would create much needed jobs in America.  It has not.  Unfortunately, it was used by our government officials to take over and control private financial institutions and corporations and fund special pork barrel projects and socialist programs.  The American people have been lied to and deceived.  I am not an economist, but I do know that government does not create jobs in this country.  Jobs are created by private businesses and creative ingenuity meeting and fulfilling needs with new products, services, and investments.  Government can only provide a friendly free market environment for those businesses to operate.  Unfortunately the current administration has done just the opposite by discouraging and frustrating businesses and burdening them with more taxes and government regulations.  As a result, businesses are firing instead of hiring, and the unemployment rate has risen to over 10%.  The uncertainty over this Health Care Bill has only added to a stagnant and hostile business environment.   A government that should be concentrating on economic solutions is instead focusing its energy on a Health Care Bill that Americans DO NOT WANT.  I fear that the passage of this legislation may well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.  That is why I feel an urgent need to do something, and that’s why I am writing you. 

One of my favorite quotes of Thomas Jefferson, the author of our own Declaration of Independence is this:  “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”  I admire Jefferson’s love of freedom and I ask that you would place the good of the American people and the future of this country ahead of your own personal agenda and party loyalty.  I appeal to you as one of our elected representatives to cast a vote for FREEDOM and vote NO on this proposed Health Care Reform Bill.  Please consider this matter as if you were voting on the survival of America as we know it.  That is exactly how serious I consider this issue to be.  It is my sincere desire that every lawmaker who casts a vote for this horrendous socialist legislation will be fired themselves, and will join millions of other Americans in the unemployment line after the next election.  Our future is in your hands, and I pray that almighty God would guide and direct your decision.  I am grateful for your time and attention.

My sincere thanks,

Don Chandler

Don,

Good letter!  If you want to see where this county is headed, look toward Greece today.  I'm still reading "Aftershock" and I can see everything they predict being set up.  This Healthcare Insurance Destruction Bill will only accelerate the inevitable and there will be no money to pay for all of those promises.  Thank you for being a responsible citizen!

While Socialists are celebrating their victory over the American people with yesterday’s vote for GOVERNMENT RUN health care in this country, I find it a sad day for our great Republic and a sad day for those who love freedom.  While July 4, 1776 is the date we celebrate the birth of American Freedom and the birth of the USA.  I think that March 21, 2010 will be a date which live in infamy… the birth of the USSA… the United Socialist States of America.  I will remember it as a date when Freedom was put on life support, diagnosed with a terminal virus called Socialism.  And while I find it very discouraging, I for one will not give up.  While Congress has refused to hear the American people, I pray that freedom loving Americans will rise up and let their voices be heard, especially at the ballot box in this November’s election.  We can throw the rascals out while we still have the right to vote.   If something is not done very soon, this country will collapse into economic, social and moral bankruptcy, and a great nation will become a third world country.

Even in tough times, I try to remain optimistic.  When I pray, I always pray that GOD’S WILL BE DONE.  And ultimately I rest on Romans 8:28… “All things work together for good for those who love God…”  It does not say that all things ARE good… but that all things WORK TOGETHER FOR good.  I do not believe this Health Care Bill is good, but in God’s ultimate plan, it will be used to accomplish HIS greater purpose.  GOD IS IN CONTROL.  And may God Bless America!

Brother as Sean Hannity says, "Let not your heart be troubled."  As you said God is in control.  Now all we have to do is get with his plan.  The passing of the Health (no)Care Plan was bound to happen.  Our country has been moving this direction since the early 1900's.  I'll bet I could get a real argument going here on what brought us to this point but no single event can be blamed.  Labor unions contributed with their collective demands that exceeded the necessities on which they were founded, ie., the overt abuse by "employers".  The industrialization of our country that generated such prosperity and gluttony and created the "Great Depression".  (Will our current economic crisis be called the "Greater Depression"?)  The Government response "appeared" to work but in reality only compounded the problem and delayed the recovery - much like what we will be seeing over the next few weeks, months, years.  Politicians trying to please their voters with no thought of the future just added to the problem.  Now our national debt is beyond all hopes of recovers and yesterdays actions only pile on more.  Debt should be used to invest with an expectation of a positive return.  Our "leaders" have chosen to ignore this basic financial princpile and borrow like a drunken sailor.  We have been borrowing to pay people not to work.  Granted, necessary in some circumstances but too many have learned how to manipulate the system.  The heros of society are not the guys that get up and go to work every day, but the ones that have learned how to get paid to stay home and hang out on street corners.  And yesterday, the Democrat Representatives (and the electorate) got trick f***ed.  A Senate bill that no one likes was passed and will be signed into law with expectations that "fixes" would be forthcoming.  Want to bet on that?  Why should anyone in the Senate waste time negotiating anything.  Their bill is law!  Gotcha!!!  And all of the President's Executive Orders - null and void by the new law.  Gotcha!!!  Just like all those poor (ignorant) soles that thought their mortgages would be paid and their new cars would be arriving right after the election, none of the promises will come to fruition.  Now we have a promise of total health care.  Nancy Pelosi said we can now quit our day job and go off and write poetry without worrying about going bankrupt over health care.  NEWSFLASH - anyone who is going off to write poetry wasn't going to worry about going bankrupt anyway! 

I hate to keep beating a dead horse but get "Aftershock" and READ it.  I don't think they are 100% correct but they are close.  Remember 18% interest rates of 1980 - 1981?   We are headed there again.  Get cash liquid and invest only in short term bonds and money market funds.  Put some money in gold - a disaster investment.  Have you read about the Great Depression and what caused it?  We are there again, only now its the government that will be unable to borrow money not just investors.  We have overspent and now its time to pay up.  Don, you are so right - God promises to see his children "through" not around troubled times.  For so long I listened to sermon after sermon about the "Rapture" and how believers would be taken up to avoid the coming calamity.  Then I started studying on my own - IT AIN"T THERE!!!  Although "Aftershock" is not a religious book, if you read it with your Biblical beliefs in mind, its not hard to draw some parralels and then prepare for what's coming.  I wish you all well and hope and pray that all will heed the signs and warnings.  Later.