Tea Party Speech: Unsustainable

Hello Brighton, Michigan!

We’ve got nine days left until perhaps the most important election in our lifetime.  After listening to Michelle and Trevor, are you as fired up to elect Mitt Romney as I am? 

By the way, I loved Mitt Romney’s Sesame Street satire at a recent charity event.  He said, “Barack Obama, brought to you by the letter ‘O’ and the number ‘sixteen trillion’”.  Romney’s satiric reference to our national debt of $16 trillion highlights the sustainability crisis of the current administration. 

It’s really ironic that radicals like Obama constantly harp about sustainable energy and sustainable environment, and yet his administration has led us to an unsustainable economic future called “the fiscal cliff”.

The reckless policies of the Obama administration are so unsustainable, that our grim situation is not even about politics any more.  It’s not about left or right, or conservative or liberal.  It doesn’t matter if you’re in the 1%, the 47%, or the 99% -- if the government can’t afford its life style, everything it promises is an illusion.    

Let’s take a deeper look at how unsustainable Obama’s current path is:

1)      Social Security is unsustainable if it isn’t fixed.  The social security trust fund is an illusion of uncollectible IOU’s – it’s phantom $2.5 trillion in assets have all been lent to the general fund of the government and squandered on wasteful things like windmills and corrupt green energy companies.  Payments into the program have been cut for political expediency.  We need a leader like Mitt Romney who will stop lying to our seniors and who will courageously take the necessary steps to make Social Security solvent again. 

2)      The Federal Government’s finances are unsustainable, with its skyrocketing $16 trillion debt.  In 2011 alone, the federal government borrowed almost 40% of its operating expenses.  It borrowed from China, it borrowed from our children, and it borrowed imaginary monopoly money printed by the Federal Reserve.  In 2011, the government borrowed $1.3 trillion, while only collecting $1.1 trillion in personal income taxes.  Think about that -- to eliminate the deficit for just 2011, we would have had to more than double all personal income taxes, not just taxes paid by the rich.  We need a president like Mitt Romney who understands finance and how to balance budgets, not a professional community organizer who only understands victimhood and class warfare.

3)      How can we sustain a secure place in a dangerous world -- a world threatened by Islamic terrorism, Russian aggression, and Chinese expansion -- when the radicals in Washington drastically cut military spending to pay for transfers of wealth to union cronies and to people who don’t want to work?  We are rotting from within as our enemies abroad grow stronger.  We need a president like Mitt Romney who will exercise the first and most important responsibility of his office, which is to protect us from harm here and abroad.  We need a leader who realizes that an apology tour and constant appeasement are not legitimate substitutes for a strong national defense.

4)      Our civil society is unsustainable when 48% of the voters pay zero federal income tax.  Today, we have more and more free riders in our society, and fewer and fewer people pulling the wagon.  The percentage of people working in America is at a 40 year low, and the number of people on food stamps and disability are both at record highs.  We need a president like Mitt Romney who realizes that prosperity is a result of people working and investing, and not a result of people taking handouts and condemning those who actually did build that.

5)      Our freedom and individual rights will be unsustainable if the radicals in Washington are allowed to push us ever closer to Socialism.  Socialism always leads to totalitarianism, because it is a philosophy based on force rather than freedom.  Consider these threats to your freedom from an ever-expanding government:

• When the government transfers income from productive citizens to unproductive citizens, they essentially are taking hard-earned wealth with the implied force of the IRS and its power to imprison those who fail to conform.

• When the government takes over the health care industry, it will inevitably take over our behavior.  It starts with regulating soft drinks and school lunches, it will never end.

• When the government takes over the energy industry, it will inevitably take over our behavior.   It starts with regulating light bulbs and gas mileage, it will never end.

• When the government harasses small businesses with regulations and taxes and forced unionization, it begins the process of taking over the entire economy.  It will never stop.

As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  The radicals in Washington are tempting America with the temporary safety of big government.  In doing so, they are imposing on us an unending parade of unaccountable czars, unconstitutional executive orders, and other abuses of our individual freedoms.

We are frogs being slowly boiled in a pot of socialism.  If we don’t stop the radicals, the middle class will perish, caught in a pincer movement between the poor, who won’t be able to pay for the government’s reckless spending, and the rich, who will simply find somewhere else to safeguard their wealth.  We in the middle class will be left holding the bag.    

Remember, every socialist country in history has devoured its middle class.   We’re already seeing this happen in America:  middle class wealth is down 20% in the last ten years, middle class incomes are down, the prices of food, gas, health care, and education are up, and middle class retirement savings are evaporating.  The road to socialism will always lead to unsustainable government and unsustainable civil society.   Just as Margaret Thatcher said, socialism is fine until you run out of other people’s money.  It is truly unsustainable.

Ironically, we Americans already have a fabulous blueprint for a sustainable government and a sustainable society.  It’s called the U.S. Constitution.  That grand vision of our forefathers is the greatest blueprint for sustainable society in the history of the world.

But, the Obama administration wants to continue ignoring our Constitution and moving this country leftward – he calls it forward – toward socialism.  So, let me ask all of you, are you ready to fight for limited government in America?  Are you ready to fight to defend the sanctity of the Constitution?  Like our forefathers, are you ready to fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?   In other words, are you ready to deliver Michigan for Mitt Romney and fire Barack Obama on November 6^th?

Let’s do this!  Thank you.

Tea Party Speech: We Can Be Heroes

Fellow Patriots!

Since this is a Tea Party, I’m going to get you riled up.  Let’s start with this -- Federal government spending has increased 21% in the past two years.  Let me ask you, have you all gotten 21% raises?  Has the value of your house gone up 21%?  Have your investments increased 21%?   So tell me, are you ready to stop the insane spending by our government?

There are only 17 days until we begin the limited government revolution in America.  There are only 17 days until we fire Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.  There are only 17 days until we patriots have a lot more to say about what goes on in Lansing and Washington!

This is a momentous time.  Just when we thought there were no more heroes, we discovered through the Tea Party movement that we the people are the heroes.  Our movement has accomplished extraordinary things.  We have fueled conservative activism and energy that seemed unimaginable just 18 months ago.  We have reintroduced the concept of limited government into mainstream political discussion.  We have taught nervous politicians that “We the People” is no longer a trite patriotic phrase, but rather the battle cry of an organized movement with tremendous clout.

And yet, the Tea Party movement has many important things left to do.  First, we all need to vote in 17 days.  Limited Government champions like Tim Walberg, Ruth Johnson, Bill Schuette, Bob Young, Marybeth Kelly, and Rob Steele need to get more votes than the Big Government apologists running against them.   After this election, we need to actively recruit and support the next wave of limited government champions for 2012 and beyond.  The Tea Party revolution is not just about one election; it is about fundamentally rejecting Big Government for generations to come.    

For almost two years, the Tea Party movement has been warning America that many of our government leaders are dragging us down a deadly path that is contrary to our Constitution and our founding principles.

Let’s examine the cold, bitter reality of the predicament that these traitorous leaders have put our country in:

• ·        There is no money left in the Social Security trust fund.  Every penny has been given to the general fund of the government, and it has all been wastefully spent.  Now, the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare are greater than the GDP of the entire world!  As baby boomers start to retire, the government will have to either raise taxes or cut their benefits.   If the managers of a private pension fund did this, they would be thrown in jail.
• ·        The government is borrowing 43% of what it is spending this year.  It is clearly living beyond its means.  If a business did this, it would be declared bankrupt and its officers would be fired.   
• ·        The federal government has 380,000 employees who make over $100,000 per year, an increase of 50% since Obama took office.  We don’t need millions of overpaid bureaucrats in Washington watching over us and telling us what we can’t do.  My six year old son needs babysitting.  I don’t.     
• ·        The U6 unemployment rate, which includes workers who have simply stopped looking for work, is now at 17%.  It was 12% when Obama was elected.  So, after trillions in bailouts and stimulus spending, the U6 unemployment rate is five points worse.  The radicals are not only squandering our future, they are ruining our present.  Guess which city in America has the lowest unemployment rate?  Washington D.C.!  Guess which city has the richest suburbs?  Washington D.C.!  The only things booming in America are Big Government and the production of purple SEIU shirts.
• ·        In the year 2000, Michigan ranked 19^th among the states in per capita income.  Today, we rank 37^th.  In just ten years, we have become a national laughing stock, and businesses avoid our state like the plague.  Jennifer Granholm is probably grateful for term limits, because otherwise she would be fired by angry Michiganders in November.    
• ·        In just four years, Obama will accumulate more debt than the previous 43 presidents combined over 233 years.  His multi-year budget will leave us 20 trillion dollars in debt.  If you lined up 20 trillion one dollar bills end-to-end in a straight line, it would reach from the earth to the sun and back 20 times.
• ·        30% percent of personal income in America now comes from government transfer payments of some type.  America is becoming a nation of dependents and freeloaders.  Our radical leaders would rather have government bureaucrats handing out food stamps than business owners handing out paychecks.   Here’s what hope and change has gotten us so far:  A record 36 million Americans are now on food stamps, including 25% of all children. 
• ·        The government took over 17% of the economy with Obamacare.  The government also took over GM, Chrysler, and a large number of banks.  There are now more unionized government workers than unionized private sector workers.  This is socialism, and it has to stop!    
• ·        The radicals say they will only tax the rich, but if the government was required to balance its budget this year by raising taxes rather than borrowing from our children and from China, they would have to tax 100% of the income of everyone making $75,000 or more.  The radicals in Washington will eventually obliterate the middle class in order to implement socialism.

This is serious business.  We are facing the biggest political crisis in America since the Civil War.  On November 2^nd, we are going to choose the future identity of our country.  Our domestic enemies will vote for more socialism, bigger government, end-runs around the Constitution, bailing out failed businesses and irresponsible people, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and weakness abroad.  We patriots are going to vote for free markets, limited government, the rule of law based on the U.S. Constitution, personal responsibility, secure borders, and a strong national defense.  In other words, we are voting to protect and nurture the American Dream.

The choices we make as a country in the 2010 and 2012 elections will decide everything.  If we have not removed Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and the other radicals from office by 2012, then may our children forgive us, and may God have mercy on our souls.  If we fail, the America of Jefferson, Adams, Lincoln, and Reagan will no longer exist.

Our mission is clear.  In the next two elections, we need to replace Big Government apologists with limited government champions in at least 39 seats in the House, ten seats in the Senate, and one seat in the White House.  And then we need to hold every single politician in America accountable to the Constitution, no matter which side of the aisle they sit on. 

Month after month and year after year, our elected officials need to hear from us, clearly and loudly, that we will not tolerate backsliding toward Big Government.  It does us no good to elect false conservatives and RINO’s who will move us along toward socialism just a little bit slower than the liberals. 

The blessings of liberty require eternal vigilance by the people.   The Tea Party movement cannot be a passing fad; it must be a continuous way of life that defends our freedom from oppressive government.  The Tea Party movement is not just about winning one election; it is about defending liberty and the U.S. Constitution for the rest of time. 

I’m wearing my father’s paratrooper wings on my shirt today.  These wings are the greatest gift he left me.  They remind me that millions of brave men and women in the armed forces have risked their lives to defend America and its principles.  We cannot allow the bloodshed of our military heroes to be wasted.  Therefore, we must be political heroes.  As Reagan said, it is now up to us to save America and to preserve the freedom that our soldiers sacrificed so much for. 

To win this political battle, we need to recruit the votes of every like-minded relative, friend, and co-worker.  In the name of everything that is exceptional about America, I am challenging you to convince the political fence-sitters to get off their asses and help us rescue America on November 2^nd!  Convince them that there is nothing more important to do than to join us in this political house cleaning!  It all comes down to this.  We the People can take a giant step toward saving this country in 17 days.  Not Glenn Beck.  Not Fox News.  Us!  You and I!  We are going to be the heroes!

And this election is just the beginning.  We need to continue our momentum and recruit more and more like-minded Americans into the Tea Party movement.  As the years unfold, we need to challenge ourselves and our fellow patriots to become precinct delegates, poll watchers, campaign volunteers, fund raisers, letter writers, e-mail generators, phone callers, and media monitors.  We need to be the defenders of liberty and the guardians of our sacred Constitution decade after decade.  We need to be the engine of a new America.  We patriots need to be the heroes responsible for saving this country! 

Thank you. 

(If you enjoyed this speech, please consider purchasing the author's new book by clicking on this link to "We've Been Had:  How Obama and the Radicals Conned Middle Class America".  You can also view the author's Facebook page by clicking on this link to We've Been Had.)

July 4th TEA Party

Happy birthday, America!

Fellow Patriots, welcome to our 4^th of July TEA party!

After the TEA Parties on April 15th, President Obama said he was unaware of them. I need your help during the next 30 seconds to make Mr. Obama aware of today’s TEA Party. At the same time, we can give America a very loud birthday salute. So, please join me in making this familiar chant loud enough to be heard in Washington. (Lead U-S-A chant).

233 years ago today, patriots just like us gathered in the old State House in Philadelphia. Just like us, they objected to a distant and intrusive government. And just like we’re doing today, they documented their complaints for the world to hear.

It is most fitting on this 4^th of July that I quote from the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson’s ideas fundamentally changed the relationship between sovereign individuals and their governments. His powerful words inspired the creation of the greatest nation on earth. I therefore recite the following with reverence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.”

Jefferson went on in the Declaration to document the complaints of the colonies against the oppressive government in London. Those complaints were so serious that patriots 233 years ago were compelled to bear arms and revolt.

And so here we are today. Once again, we are burdened with an oppressive government, this time in Washington. Once again, we are documenting complaints that are severe enough to cause us to rise up and challenge our leaders. I present now just two of these complaints:

1. Complaint #1: This administration is imposing on us a public debt beyond all comprehension. Here are a few examples:
   1. Obama’s budget deficits in just four years will be greater than the combined deficits of all of the other presidents over the course of 233 years, from George Washington to George W. Bush.
   2. The national debt at the end of Obama’s first term will be greater than our entire annual Gross Domestic Product.
   3. The true deficit of the federal government is actually $65.5 trillion, if you include total unfunded obligations like social security and Medicare. This exceeds the annual GDP of the entire world.
   4. This reckless spending is destroying our “Triple A” credit rating and driving interest rates up. It now costs more to buy credit default insurance on U.S. government bonds than on debt issued by McDonald’s. In other words, a hamburger joint is now considered a safer investment than the United States of America.
   5. Since the world is now reluctant to buy our government bonds to cover our debts, we are essentially printing money to buy our own bonds. This means that future inflation will devalue the assets of every American.

1. Complaint #2: This administration is establishing socialism in America. Here are a few examples:
   1. They are nationalizing the banking, finance, and automotive industries. They are appointing CEO’s, setting compensation levels, and acquiring equity in private companies. This is the very definition of socialism.
   2. GM and Chrysler dealership owners have been summarily relieved of their profitable franchises and their property rights by the government. We will hear more about this today in the form of a letter from dealership owner and former POW Marvin Tamaroff.
   3. They have established 22 czars to take control of our lives and our economy. That’s more czars than the Romanov’s in Russia appointed.
   4. They are ignoring bankruptcy law. 2000 families who own GM bonds will get nothing, even though they are secured creditors. Instead, the UAW, which is an unsecured creditor but a political patron of the administration, will get partial ownership of the new GM.
   5. The mainstream media have essentially nationalized themselves into a fourth branch of the federal government, like Pravda was in the Soviet Union. ABC broadcast a special on nationalized health care directly from the White House for free, while refusing paid airtime requests from opposing groups.

Electing Obama and the socialists was not a four year mistake, it was a forty year mistake. It will take generations to repair the damage they are doing.

A monumental change is taking place in the relationship between the state and the individual in America. We are rapidly descending from a Constitutional Republic of limited government and free and independent citizens to a European Socialist state that is larger and more oppressive than the European monarchy we revolted against two centuries ago.

Thomas Jefferson said, “Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” He was very prophetic. We are at a dangerous tipping point. Roughly fifty percent of eligible voters pay federal income taxes, and the remaining fifty percent don’t. Eventually, taxpayers could be exposed to an electoral majority that will simply vote their wealth away. We are starting to see that happen now, with the elected socialists in Washington spending a trillion here and a trillion there.

I want to speak directly to the middle class now. Too often, our political discourse is about the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak. Too often, the middle class is just a pawn used by politicians for the benefit of victims and bureaucrats. It is time for middle class Americans to be heard. It is time for you soccer moms and football dads to flex your political muscle. You are the backbone of this country. You work hard every day, you nurture your families, and you build your communities. There are enough of you to control the political fate of this country.

The socialism that is descending over America will affect you, your children, and your way of life for decades to come. Obama has proposed over $8 trillion in new spending in his first term. The rich don’t make that much money. The middle class is going to pay for it, either through increased taxes or through inflation. If the government confiscated 100% of the income of every person making $75,000 or more, it would barely have enough to cover 2009 expenditures. That means they’re eventually going to raise middle class taxes.

But increased taxes are not the only clear and present danger. Here are three other imminent threats to every single person in the middle class:

• Threat #1: Your retirement is going to be far more difficult than you imagined. Here are a few examples:

• • The government has already spent your Social Security contributions. There is not a single penny for your retirement in the trust fund. And since there are fewer and fewer workers, and more and more retirees, the government will have to raise social security taxes, or reduce social security benefits. One or the other will happen.
  • A proposal is being floated to eliminate your 401(k) tax deduction. Apparently, the government doesn’t like it when you save your own money for your own retirement.
  • Nancy Pelosi has proposed a Windfall Tax on all stock market profits, including retirement funds and 401(k)’s. When asked how these new tax dollars would be spent, she replied, “We need to raise the standard of living of our poor and unemployed.” So, after saving your entire life, you will be forced to hand it over to someone who didn’t.
  • Your retirement savings will be indirectly confiscated through inflation. As the government prints more and more money, your retirement assets will be worth less and less.
  • This administration is going to cause you to work longer, to retire with less, and to hand over your assets to someone less responsible than you.

• Threat #2: Your energy costs are going to sky rocket. Here are a few examples:
  • They are creating new bureaucracies and new taxes to “save” us from carbon dioxide, which is a gas we naturally exhale and a gas plants naturally use for food.
  • Therefore, energy costs will be higher as “cap and trade” carbon emission fees are imposed and the government forces conversion to more expensive alternative energy sources. Cap and trade will cost a typical family $3000 per year.
  • The government is preventing drilling for domestic sources of oil. This will drive the price of gas to record highs when the world economy recovers.
  • Every commodity that requires energy to be produced and distributed will cost more, especially food. The cost of doing business will go up, which will drive more jobs overseas.  Ironically, these jobs will likely go to India and China, where they have 2.3 billion people who also exhale carbon dioxide and who are not going to impose cap and trade regulations on themselves.

• Threat #3: Nationalized health care will result in higher taxes and fewer choices. Here are few examples:
  • The program will cost at least $1 trillion dollars. Here are two of the taxes being discussed to pay for it:
    • A tax on health care benefits is being considered, but without the $5000 credit that McCain proposed. Interestingly, union workers will not be subject to this tax.
    • A Value Added Tax is being considered. This will increase the cost of everything you buy.
  • Socialized health care will cost you more than money. Here are some unfortunate side-effects:
    • A government bureaucrat will come between you and your doctor. This bureaucrat will ration health care and, ultimately, determine who lives or dies. In countries with socialized medicine, old age is increasingly being used as a reason for denying access to expensive procedures. Soccer moms, heads up: In England, the most effective treatments for breast cancer are no longer covered, because they are too expensive.
    • To see how ineffective socialized health care will be, consider how government involvement has fared in other areas:
      • The government gave money to banks and car companies, then used it as an excuse to make decisions for them. When they pay for your health care, they will use the exact same excuse to make decisions for you and your family.
      • Think about how the Secretary of State office is run. You will take a number, stand in line, and wait for health care, too.
      • Think about the horror stories of poor quality health care provided by the Veterans Administration. If the government can’t even properly care for veterans who risked their lives for us, what kind of care can your family expect?
    • White House, Congress, and Federal employees will not be required to participate in the plan. That alone should tell us everything we need to know.

The middle class will be taxed more, its energy costs will skyrocket, its wealth will be stolen by inflation, its healthcare will be rationed, its employers will be hounded out of business, and its golden retirement will vanish into the nothingness of a bankrupt socialist state. To get a glimpse of your future, consider what is happening in socialist states like California. California is on the verge of issuing IOU’s to vendors and low-income seniors, because their government has run out of money. You can’t feed a family with an IOU.

This is a momentous time. We are witnessing the opening acts of the most profound restructuring of our political system since 1776. We will be making great choices, for ourselves, our children, and our nation. We are choosing between:

• Individual rights versus subservience to bureaucrats
• Individual responsibility versus chronic dependence on taxpayers
• Limited government versus a nanny state that intrudes in every aspect of our lives

We have 100 senators, 435 congressmen, and 1 president. 536 politicians, in a nation of 300 million citizens, are responsible for the predicament that we’re in. The problems in our civil society exist because these 536 politicians are focused on the next election, not on the next generation, and not on our founding principles. Abraham Lincoln told us, “We the people are the rightful masters of the congress and the courts, not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the constitution.” Given the disaster confronting us now, we have no choice but to follow Lincoln’s advice and throw the tyrants out of office!

But do we have the will to do it?

There are examples of brave people around the world revolting against their oppressive governments. Young students in Iran are risking their lives for a precious yet intangible thing called liberty. They are truly courageous, and they deserve our admiration and support.

But make no mistake. No one in the world knows the value and the cost of liberty more acutely than we Americans. Many times over, we have bought and paid for our liberty with our blood and our lives, on American battlefields called Yorktown and Gettysburg, on Normandy beaches called Omaha and Utah, and on Pacific islands called Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. Liberty is ours by right. Liberty is ours by the blood of our fallen soldiers. Liberty is something we will never surrender to socialists who are betraying us in Washington today!

I had an epiphany on election day last November. After seeing the results, my wife and I couldn’t believe what had happened to our country. We shed a few tears and fell into a depression. But later in the evening, we had a revelation, a spiritual conversion, sort of like Saul on the road to Damascus. We realized that we had not earned the right to feel sorry for ourselves, because we had not fully participated in being citizens. Sure, we had voted, but voting on election day is like going to church on Sunday. Just as being a true Christian requires participation every day, not just on Sunday, being a true citizen requires participation between election cycles, not just on election day.

We decided to become true citizens. So, here I am, an average taxpayer and a father of eight kids. I’m up on this stage because I refuse to leave the world to them in the mess that it is now. Our fathers and forefathers left our generation a priceless jewel of a country. It is on the verge of being destroyed. It is up to every one of us to save it.

Will this battle be difficult? Of course. But think about the difficulties the original patriots faced. When they signed the Declaration of Independence, 30,000 mercenary soldiers were landing in New York harbor to put down the insurrection. Signing the Declaration was like signing their own death warrants. Some of them were killed in the years that followed, and some lost their fortunes.

Ronald Reagan told us, “No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”

So, free men and women, get ready to make your voices heard, because I have a few simple questions for you.  Please answer them loudly:

· Are we going to surrender our liberty to big government in Washington?

· Are we going to allow our government to nationalize our industries and our health care?

· Are we going to allow our government to spend and tax the middle class out of existence?

· Are we going to allow our government to transfer wealth from successful businesses and hard-working individuals, to failing businesses and irresponsible individuals?

Well then, I hope you’ll join the battle and sign up to help. As for me, I’m all in. I’m all in for the U.S. Constitution, for limited government, and for sovereignty of the individual. I’m all in for doing whatever it takes to preserve liberty in America. I’m all in, just like our brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be free. I’m all in, just like our forefathers who committed their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor on a 4^th of July many years ago to give birth to America. I’m all in, just like Patrick Henry. If you’ll recall, he had something important to say about situations like these.

He said, “Give me liberty, or give me death”.

It’s tea party time in America!

Thank you!