Black Tongued Liars

I was once told to be careful about what I said or my tongue would turn black implying that I was about to lie or that I had already spoken it.

How many have heard that if a dog has a black spot on its tongue that it’s part Chowchow? My Golden Retriever, Tyler, had black spots on his tongue and I don’t think he was part Chowchow. Maybe I was mistaken.

A lot of folks these days are running around with black tongues from the President to Senator Chris Dodd and many others in Washington. It’s amazing what happens when you bring “change” to DC isn’t it? Perhaps all the black tongued government officials are Chowchows or Golden Retrievers or just plain old liars?

The double-speaking, lying, conniving, spin doctors are working double time with their outrage over the AIG bonus payment incident. The major media isn’t telling the American taxpayer that the Administration and the Congress have known about the AIG bonuses since last November.

The Obama administration says they didn’t know anything about the bonuses that were paid last Friday until a couple of weeks ago. AIG has received about $170 billion in bailout funds and paid out $165 million in retention awards to keep employees

The truth is, for months, the Obama administration and members of Congress have known that insurance giant AIG was getting ready to pay huge bonuses while living off government bailouts. It wasn't until the money was flowing and news was trickling out to the public that official Washington rose up in anger and vowed to yank the money back.

So far, the administration has been unable to match its actions to Obama's tough rhetoric on executive compensation. And Congress has been unable or unwilling to restrict bonuses for bailout recipients, despite some lawmakers' repeated efforts to do so.

It was our ole buddy Democratic Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut who heads the Senate Banking Committee, who added to the economic recovery package an amendment that cracked down on bonuses at companies getting bailout money, but exempted bonuses protected by contracts, like AIG’s. Under pressure by Republicans, Mr. Dodd stated this week that the AIG exemption actually had been inserted at the insistence of the Treasury during Congress’s final legislative negotiations.

While the administration has been mostly on the defensive, the competing outrage in Congress belies the fact that a few Democrats had tried to draw attention to the A.I.G. retention bonuses since last November.

Proverbs 6:17 - 19

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:

• a lying tongue,
• a heart that devises wicked schemes,
• feet that are quick to rush into evil,
• a false witness who pours out lies
• and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Our President needs our prayers.

This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquaris

While thinking about writing this blog the following words keep swarming around in my head and they just wouldn’t go away. If you are old enough you will remember the following words to the hit song by The 5th Dimension.

When the moon is in the Seventh House, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Age of Aquarius. Aquarius! Aquarius! Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding, no more falsehoods or derision's. Golden living dreams of visions, mystic crystal revelation, and the mind's true liberation. Aquarius! Aquarius!

It is said that in astrology*, the Age of Aquarius is one of the twelve astrological ages. According to astrologers, it is either the next age to come, or else it is the current age. Since the election of President Barack Hussein Obama you would think we were in the Age of Aquarius by his followers.

During the Campaign we heard over and over again that he was going to bring "change." The only “change” we have seen so far is all of the leftist have come out of the shadows looking for jobs in the new administration, tons of spending, control of the banking, insurance, and auto industries, hugh deficits, class warfare, and victimization of the President.

Perfect alignment of the stars will be possible in the next four to eight years if the President has the opportunity to select new Supreme Court judges. With the Democratic Party in power in both Houses of Congress and the White House, it won’t be long before the left will control all three branches of the government and voila the stars will be in perfect alignment and the true Age of Aquarius will have arrived.

The left are feeling their power and they are flexing their muscles. President Obama has signed the Trojan Horse Stimulus Package with all of its hidden amendments and funding sources for organizations like ACORN, he has practically nationalized the banking system, taken over Wall street and now Main Street with a mortgage financing package, control extends to the Detroit Three, and who knows who else will bow to the Federal Behemoth by feeding at the public trough on taxpayer dollars.

This is the greatest power grab in American history at the expense of the American taxpayer which will result in higher taxes, the mortgaging of future generations, the loss of freedom and rights, dictating how you will live, and the misuse of the Constitution (Passage of a clearly unconstitutional bill giving DC statehood status with a voting member in the House and two Senators).

It is interesting that many of Obama’s appointees like to spend taxpayer money, but don’t like to pay their fair share. I think it was Vice President Biden who said it was patriotic to pay taxes. I guess we have a number of non-patriots leading our government. It seems each week more and more leftist tax cheats are exposed through the vetting process. But that is okay with the Administration and the media since they are "progressives" who are trying to lead us and help us get out of the mess we are in.

The flexing of the leftist muscle will become more emboldened in time over issues like trying to neutralize conservative talk radio, bills calling for unrestricted abortion, nationalization of health care, euthanasia of the elderly, and this is only the beginning. With the Supreme Court on their side they will be able to pass laws with no threat of a veto and have the Court back them up. It indeed will be the Age of Aquarius for the leftist leaning mind.

According to the Monday, February 16th issue of USA Today our financial problems are only beginning with State and local governments in big trouble with no set-asides to fund medical benefits for retired civil servants as the Baby Boomers start to retire. The bill has now grown to over $1 trillion or more. Since they can’t print money they have to raise taxes and/or cut benefits.

President Obama has made it a big deal not to raise taxes on families making $250,000 a year or less. What about the economic impact of taxing those who already pay most of the taxes? When he signed the SCHIP expansion into law, he also signed a significant increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes which will be paid mostly by those earning less than $250,000 per year.

The America’s Marxist movement has never been so bold since the days of FDR and Woodrow Wilson. The leftist were elected, they are flexing their muscle and they see the stars aligning in their favor.

In many of life's situations there is a "king," a President, a Speaker of the House, a Senate Majority Leader, or a Committee Chairman, the gatekeeper. That's the one whose permission is needed. That's the one who's in a position to decide whether this is a yes or a no.


And here's what God tells us about those people in Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart" (the most powerful guy around). "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases." Even if he's far from God, even if he's the most powerful man in the world.

So one of the most powerful prayers you can pray is, "Lord, change his/her heart." Through fervent, consistent prayer, focus all of God's unlimited power on the heart of the "king.” Like a skilled heart surgeon, God has the ability to open up a heart - to move an unmovable heart, to change a stubborn heart.

So exercise the authority you have in prayer - the authority to enter the throne room from which billions of galaxies are governed and to aim God's power at one heart on earth. It is amazing the difference the Master Heart Surgeon can make when He changes a heart that no one on earth could move.

A changed heart could cause the star’s realignment for the good of America. Please pray for America and our leaders.

*As a Christian I do not endorse or recommend astrology. Our faith is to be placed in the Creator of the universe, in Him and Him alone.

The Porker of All Porkers -"Here Pig Pig Pig"

How would you like to take you credit card and go on a spending spree to get yourself out of debt? Wouldn’t it be great to take one of those check offers that comes in the mail from the credit card company to eliminate all of your debt. It is a unique concept to borrow oneself out of debt.

It is hyper borrowing and spending that got us into this mess in the first place and now our government has proposed massive spending that is to reverse the contraction of our economy. As the Scripture says, “We reap what we sow”

Last week the US House of Representatives passed the so called (Speaker Nancy Pelosi created)“Economic Stimulus Plan,” a plan to borrow $1.7 trillion dollars in bloated pork goodies with less than 5 per cent of the funds going to repair America’s deteriorating infrastructure.

Neither one Republican nor 11 Democrats voted in favor of the “stimulus bill” that is nothing more than a massive irresponsible bloated spending spree that further in debts our nation. Create more debt to get out of debt.

Every problem plaguing our economy can be traced directly to some government policy or lack of government over site. Centrally managed economies like those in socialist style governments in Europe don’t work. Economic planning like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 have failed over and over again.

This bill is not about creating new jobs. It is about one party’s pork-barrel earmarks that will further in debt our nation. Here are a few of the non-job creating provisions of the bill:

• Illegal aliens eligible for federal cash up to $1000 with taxpayer identification number (TIN).
• $4 billion for neighborhood stabilization activities-feeding trough for ACORN.
• $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts-remember the “Piss Christ” paid for by taxpayer money.
• $335 million to help prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
• $600 million for ‘climate change” research.
• $2 billion for subsidized child care.
• $75 million to fund programs to help people stop smoking. (What happened to all of that money the government got when they settled with the tobacco industry?)
• $650 million in coupons to help consumers convert their TV’s to receive digital signals.
• $2.4 billion to show how carbon gases can be removed from the atmosphere.
• $1 billion to further subsidize the loser Amtrak who hasn’t earned a profit in 40 years.
• $400 million for research into global weather change.
• $600 million to buy new cars and trucks for federal employees. (What are we going to do with all of those used vehicles?)
• $21 million to re-sod the National Mall that got mauled during the Inauguration and to help pay DC for cleaning up the tons of garbage the city was buried under.
• $2.25 billion for national parks. (Our national parks are in bad shape and have been underfunded.)
• $87 billion for Medicaid.
• $53 billion for a “smart electricity grid.”
• $20 billion for an additional food stamp plan.
• $13 billion to weatherize public housing, help the homeless, repair foreclosed homes.
• $54 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and energy programs.
  

The above is only some of the non-job creating programs the bill contains and does not include all of the 32 new federal funded programs. When you add the interest ($347 billion) to the $819 billion pork barrel bill you will find it will cost approximately $1.17 trillion. What has been portrayed as a stimulus bill is nothing than a bloated spending bill. Most of the spending doesn’t occur until election years 2010 and 2012. Are you surprised!

Now the bill is in the senate so make a difference by contacting your US Senators and let them know you mean business by telling them to vote “NO” to this over sized pork bill (S.1) by going to the following web page and sending them an e-mail which you can customize if you like. It is easy to do and doesn’t take that much time.

I urge you to send a powerful message to your U.S. Senators today that you oppose this bloated, ill-conceived, pork plan!.

Here "pig, pig, pig, suee, suee!"

If you click on the above and it doesn't take you to the Council For Citizens Against Government Waste then copy the following into your browser and send your e-mail to your Senators today!

https://secure2.convio.net/cagw/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=553


Exodus 23:1-2
1 Do not spread false reports.
2 Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.

Another "Stench" On Wall Street

My last Blog I wrote about the stench coming from Chicago and now we have a stench coming from New York City.

What I am about to write about surpasses anything that we have heard about in our country’s business community.

I think God is shaking the American tree and all the bad fruit is falling to the ground. The tree shaking started back in the 70’ and 80’s revealing the corruption in some of America’s religious institutions. Sex scandals, thievery, lying, fraud, are some of the words used when the fruit started hitting the ground.

God started with his church and now He is exposing the business community along with our government institutions for all of the lying, fraud, pandering, and corruption that has entered in. So far it hasn’t made the front pages of our major newspapers (and their turn is coming) but this one so far takes the cake!

After graduating from law school back in the early 60’s Bernard Madoff started Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, which we now find has been running a con game, a giant Ponzi scheme, a type of fraud in which earlier investors are paid off with money raised from later victims - until no money can be raised and the scheme collapses.

Madoff has bilked his investors out of over $50 billion dollars. The house of cards came tumbling down Friday because he was not able to keep up paying off his older investors with the money created from his new investors. With the stock market down it all tumbled on Friday taking thousands of people and institutions with him including his very own family.

For years, investors, including rivals and government regulators all wondered how Bernard Madoff worked his magic of continually yielding over 10% returns on investments even when others on Wall Street couldn’t even come near it. Why wasn’t his suspected con game not uncovered sooner by government regulators?

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which investigated Madoff in 1992 but cleared him of wrongdoing, appears to have been completely surprised by the charges of fraud. A Boston whistle blower has claimed that he tried to alert the SEC to the scheme as early as 1999, and Barron's weekly newspaper raised questions about Madoff's returns and strategy in 2001, although it did not accuse him of wrongdoing.

Despite all the red flags, many hedge fund companies kept promoting Madoff's funds to other investment houses and individuals. Many prominent Jewish families in the New York and Miami areas have lost everything. Recently, the Japanese firm, The Nomura Group, one of the largest global investment banking and securities firms began soliciting investors for Madoff internationally. One hedge fund advisory firm alone, Fairfield Greenwich Group, said on Friday that its clients had invested $7.5 billion with Madoff.

Victims of the scam included grey-haired grandmothers in Florida, investment companies in London, and charities and universities across the United States. The Wilpon family, the main owners the New York Mets, and Yeshiva University both confirmed that they had invested with Madoff, and a Jewish charity in Massachusetts said it would lay off its five employees and close after losing nearly all of its $7 million endowment. Wealthy individuals and other money managers entrusted billions of dollars to funds that in turn invested in his firm, based on his reputation and reported returns.

Now thousands, possibly tens of thousands of investors confront losses that range from serious to devastating. All the pain and suffering because of one man’s greed and corrupted heart!

Stay tuned and let’s see what God’s Word has to say.

Psalm 14:1
"Fools (those who are morally deficient) say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile.”

Proverbs 10:23
"A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom."

Proverbs 11:29
"He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind."

This story only highlights the condition of a man's heart. Mr. Madoff has lived with this lie for over 40 years. When sin is allowed to harden the heart like a stone then it loses its tenderness to hear the voice of right and wrong. Through the washing of the blood of Christ Jesus and the confession of sin the heart can be restored. May God have mercy on his soul and that he will find the One and only restorer of hearts, Jesus Christ! Please pray for Bernard Maddoff, his family, and all of those who have been devastated by his con game.

One last thought from Matthew 16:26, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

THE CHICAGO WAY

Something Has Been Stinking in Denmark! Ooops! Illinois! The stench of government corruption in the heartland has permeated itself to the point that the smell may follow the President-elect to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Don’t forget the mayor of “Chicagoland” not only runs the city but the State of Illinois. He is the political king of Illinois and is in the know.

I don’t know if you have ever smelled someone who has been around a bonfire but when you get near them you can smell the burnt wood. It “kind of sticks to ya” knowingly or unknowingly and is especially noticeable to those who have not been around the fire.

For mayor Daily, President-elect Obama, or Congressman Jackson to deny that they were not aware of the goings on in the governor’s office is beyond belief. Daily, Obama, and Jackson come out of the same mould of corrupt Windy City politics. Now, we find Congressman, Jessie Jackson, Jr., was the 5th person heard talking to the “Gov” and something about $500,000 was mentioned by him or one of his aids on a FBI wiretap of the governor’s office phone seeking the nod to fill the vacant Obama Senate seat.

On November 10th there was a 2-hour+ marathon telephone conference bugged by the Feds between Governor Blagojevick’s office and Obama politico’s in DC. It is interesting that Valerie Jarrett was Obama’s first choice for the nomination for his Senate seat and within hours of the big meeting she said she was no longer interested. While we are at it former Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, to be one of the most powerful unelected officials in the White House, who runs interference for Obama, is part of the Chicago Way.

Here is an interesting little tidbit if you already don’t know. All one has to do is connect the dots and follow the money and you find that President-elect Obama’s ties to arrested Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevick is also connected to Chicago slum land lord and convicted felon Tony Rezko. You see Resko was the political godfather for both Obama and Blagojevich, helping both to rise in the stench and corruption of Chicago and Illinois politics. President elect Obama has credited Rezko with helping with his political career. Of course this was said before he ran for the office of the President.

Evidence that things are so bad in Illinois, Blagovjevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were bold enough to try selling President-elect Barrack Hussein Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder according to a 76-page FBI affidavit released this past Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald calls the effort to barter the seat the “most sinister and appalling” of a long list of accusations against Blagojevich and Harris. When there is a Senate seat vacancy the respective state governor is responsible for naming a replacement.

What proof do we have that Obama has ties to Rezko? Briefly, here are a few that are public.
-1990 Rezko offered Obama a job while he was still at The Harvard Law School.
-1995 billed 32 hours of work to Woodlawn Preservation and Investment, a low income housing project Rezko was partnered with.
-1995 Rezko was Obama’s second largest contributor when he ran for an Illinois state Senate seat.
-1997 two Rezko companies contributed $2,000 to Obama’s political operation.
-1998 Rezko contributed about $450.00 in food to Obama’s campaign.
-2002-2003 Rezko was one of Obama’s biggest contributors when he ran for his current Senate seat in addition Rezko was a member of Obama’s campaign finance committee. In June 2003 Rezko had a fund-raiser for Obama at his home. Rezko helped raise as much as $250,000 for Obama run for the Senate in 2003.
-2005 Obama purchased a house for $1.6 million beside an adjacent lot Rezko’s wife paid $625,000 for and both deals closed on the same day with the same bank. Later Rezko sold 1/6th of the lot to the Obama’s for $104,500. A fence was constructed to separate the property and Obama paid for the maintenance on both properties.
-2007-2008 Rezko helped Obama’s presidential campaign raise over $150,000 while he was under a Federal investigation. Obama’s campaign eventually gave the money to charity.

I can go on the same way with Rezko’s ties to Blagojevich but I don’t have the room or time and I am sure you don’t want to read it anyway.

So what does all of this mean? It means that Obama, Blagojevich and Rezko are closely associated. Rezko is in prison and if proven guilty Blagojevich will be there with him. So far this is two out of the five that comes out of the same Chicago political mould and the investigation is on-going.

Something is stinking in Denmark! Oooops I mean Illinois! Oooooops in Chicago! Ooooooops maybe 600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

Anyway it has always been like that hasn’t it? After all, it’s the Chicago Way. For the sake of the White House and our Country I hope not.

Here are some thoughts from The Teacher.

Ecclesiastes 10:1-2, 5-6

1 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left.
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
6 Fools are put in many high positions,
while the rich occupy the low ones.

Ecclesiastes 11:13-14

13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the [duty] of every human being.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

I need not say any more! Blessings!!!

Extremism of the Unusual Kind

There are a number of places found in the “Land of the Free” where we find extremism of the unusual kind. For example in San Francisco you can be a card carrying pot smoker and inhale cannabis right on the streets in full public view and not be arrested by the local john arms. What started as medical marijuana is now found throughout the city. The homeless cruse the streets and public parks in groups and the gay community can be found day and night practicing their art in public places. Walking the streets and public parks of San Francisco one has to be careful not to step on a used needle or have your child pricked by one of them. It appears the general community has been worn down over the years and has accepted what is going on in their town. Sodom and Gomorrah have nothing on the city by the bay.

Then we have another kind of extremism found in the one and only “Detroit City.” Here we find a “cradle to grave mentality” that has entrenched itself deep into the soul of the community by both government and private enterprise. Loss of jobs, people fleeing, high unemployment (9.7%), violent crime 5x and property crime 2x the national average, corruption at all levels, schools in shambles (61% graduation rate), and governmental regulations are just some of the signs of the illness that stifles freedom, es·prit de corps, productivity, competition, and the free market.

As you know the “Big Three” the last time in Washington, were ridiculed for asking for $25 billion without a plan on how they were going to use it. The three CEO’s travel to Washington from Detroit could have been a public relations coup, but turned into a PR nightmare when they were asked how they traveled and they replied by saying private corporate jets. They left DC with no money and their tails between their legs. But don’t let that fool you. They are back this week driving to DC with a plan in hand and they will get your money.

Many in the Congress are beholding to the unions. The Big Three’s trip to Washington this week will strike gold in “them there halls.” Even if the $25-plus-billion only delays the inevitable, they will get the money to save the union jobs. If they fail as businesses, the finger will be pointed at management and not the union and certainly not the Congress or the Administration.

I have been to downtown Detroit a number of times and it is a disaster. Liter everywhere, potholes in the streets, vagrants and homeless on street corners and in the boarded up entrances to abandoned buildings. Walking the streets the stench of human urine permeates the air. The spirit of the city is downcast and fatalistic.

The State of Michigan has been in a serious recession for a number of years. Businesses are closing or moving out of the state to greener pastures where they are not being taxed into the ground. Michigan loses more people then it gains (25% fewer jobs since April 2007).

Government’s answer is always more taxes, more programs, and more regulations. The auto industry has sold its soul to the union in order to keep the peace. Over the years the Big Three have provided more money for hourly wages, medical and retirement benefits, and layoff benefits. They have been hamstrung by their own doing, as well as, by the government.

How about $73 per hour (It costs over $73 per hour on average to employ a union auto worker, according to University of Michigan at Flint economist Mark J. Perry) or $1,500 in legacy cost for each unit coming off of GM’s production lines (GM CEO, G. Richard Wagoner, has noted that each of his company’s vehicles produced in North America includes an average cost of $1,525 in health care benefits, and asserted that GM is the world’s largest private provider of health care benefits) or try getting 95% of your wage if you are laid-off, and what about those long vacations?

Just to give you an idea how bad things are the Wall Street Journal recently reported the following: Ford owes more than $26 billion to the UAW Trust Fund, with $6.3 billion due at the end of 2009. Ford keeps asking the UAW for payment delays-the clock is ticking for this time-bomb. As time moves on it can only get worse as the number of employees retire and the industry shrinks with less working workers.

In both examples of extremism cited above both are fatal to the people and to the society. Maybe it’s time to bite the bullet; maybe it’s time for change. Here are a few words of Solomon the Teacher, King David’s son, the wisest man in the world (935 BC) from Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 6-7, 16-17.

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment-wickedness was there, in the place of justice-wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself, "God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed."

In Ecclesiastes 12:13 Solomon says, “Fear God and obey His commands, for this is the duty of every person.”