End Foreign Aid. Oust Bill Nelson

Foreign aid sucks.

Ron Paul's Definition of Foreign Aid

I was at the fitness center a couple of days ago and an story about Representative Ron Paul touted on the cover of the May issue on Esquire Magazine caught my eye. I read the extensive article over my two most recent visits, Wednesday and Friday. Here is the first of three quotes from Congressman Paul from that article which impressed me.

“Foreign aid is “taking money from poor people of a rich country and giving it to the rich people of a poor country.”

 --- Ron Paul, as quoted in John H. Richardson’s article, “The Founding Father,” Esquire Magazine, May 2011, page 90
 

How true this is. Look at the Middle East dictators who have been or are in so much trouble today. Hussein, Gaddafi, Mubarik, etc. all became rich skimming the foreign aid we gave their countries. It is the poor and middle class Americans who bear the brunt of the taxes. Taxes hurt affect us more than they do the rich. We don’t have General Electrics accountants, lawyers, and political connections to avoid having to pay taxes. 

Riots in Egypt--Will the U.S. Learn from the Past?

It seems like these pushes (U.S. Government meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries, particularly Muslim) almost always end with anti-U.S. (usually radical Islamist) forces in power.  

(listen at 10:40)

I agree with this reporter’s statement.   Why can’t we learn that the best thing to do is stay out of it?  Even if you are successful in getting a Muslim country to accept “Democracy”, you can bet that they will elect an anti-American government.  Time and time we have done this, only to end up fighting against the very government we helped to establish.  Hamas, the Taliban, the Mujahadeen (which became Al Qaeda), the Iranian government, and the Bathist (Saddam Hussein) government were all set up by the United States of America.

And why are we giving Egypt billions of dollars in MILITARY aid???  DUMB!

Articles of Freedom, part 10

This is a series of posts concerning the works of the 2009 Continental Congress. Two weeks ago I wrote about Article 8 of the Articles of Freedom, which was about juries and the seventh amendment. Now I will continue with Article 9, the text of which follows.

I completely agree with this article. Too bad most conservatives still don’t understand either the proper role of government or that Biblical mandate concerning “bless[ing] those who bless you [Abraham]” is talking about Christians, not any race of people. (Read Galatians 3:16, 28-29, get a KJV, and get a clue that Arabs are also literal descendents of Abraham!) Of course, this doesn’t just apply to Israel, but also to any other nation which we have enslaved ourselves (i.e. China, South Korea, Germany, etc.).

ARTICLE 9.

FOREIGN POLICY AND THE GENERAL WELFARE CLAUSE OF THE

PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

A. BACKGROUND AND STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

The "general Welfare" is mentioned twice in the Constitution for the United States.

First in the Preamble where embedded with other reasons to establish a Constitution, it is stated: “. . . to promote the general Welfare . . .”

Article I § 8 then states: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common defence and general Welfare of the United States; . . .” This declarative sentence is followed by a list of powers that restrict what Congress may do in this regard.

As James Madison states in Federalist 41 referencing the General Welfare clause: “Nothing is more natural or common, than to use a general phrase, and then to explain or qualify it by a recital of particulars.” Madison further writes that it would be an “absurdity” if the list of particulars was interpreted as anything but restrictive on the general statement.

Therefore, notwithstanding the interpretations of the past century, the Congress of the United States has misinterpreted the General Welfare clause in order to expand its powers and to impose the tyranny of unjust taxes upon The People.

The Preamble of the Constitution reveals that one of the reasons for its creation is to promote the general welfare of the people. A foreign policy which seeks to meddle in the internal affairs of foreign countries, including the act of choosing sides, is clearly detrimental to this cause. The “9-11” Report documents that this policy of meddling has caused foreign nationals to turn their hostilities toward Americans. These hostilities have given rise to domestic policies such as the so-called “war on terror”, which have resulted in the enactment of statutes such as the USA PATRIOT ACT that are inconsistent with the so-called Privacy Clause of the 4th Amendment.

There can be no doubt that this policy has endangered the security of the American people and has restricted their Natural Rights. This approach to relations with those beyond our borders clearly does not serve the General Welfare and does not serve the national interest.

The federal government has been served with a Petition for Redress of this grievance. However the government has failed to respond. Such refusal to respond, along with infringement of natural and enumerated Rights, Freedoms and Liberties reflects the behavioral characteristics of a police state.

The general welfare of the People is a principal goal of the United States Constitution, which implies a foreign policy consistent with the admonition of George Washington in his Farewell Address regarding foreign nations – i.e., “to have with them as little political connection as possible.”

We might look to Switzerland, a land-locked country in Central Europe, which has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, which has avoided war since 1815 despite shared-borders with Germany, Italy and France.

Switzerland has remained aggressively neutral and her citizens are well-armed and well-prepared in the defense of their country.

B. REMEDIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO CONGRESS

Follow the Constitution for the United States:

1. Discontinue funding for any foreign aid or other funding that is not necessary for the defense against invasion of the United States;

2. Treaties that are inconsistent with or that violate the Constitution that have been ratified shall be nullified; and any further treaties that would infringe upon individual rights, liberties and freedoms, or that are otherwise repugnant to the Constitution shall not be ratified;

3. Repeal the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, REAL ID, and any other statute repugnant to the 4th Amendment of the Constitution.

C. REMEDIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO EACH OF THE SEVERAL STATES

The State Legislature of each of the several States shall pass a resolution in support of the above instructions to the Congress and thus exercise our just- powers as guaranteed by the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

D. RECOMMENDED CIVIC ACTIONS FOR THE PEOPLE

We call upon the People to:

1. Raise their voices with ours and those of each of the several States in support of the above instructions to the U.S. Congress;

2. Educate themselves and encourage their fellow citizens to increase their knowledge and awareness of this topic in order to bring our elected officials back under the control of the Constitution, and therefore, of the People;

3. Become personal ambassadors of good-will to citizens of all nations.

(from Articles of Freedom, the Works of the Continental Congress 2009)

Continue here.

Ancient History Lesson for President-Elect Obama

Cicero to Obama, "Listen up, bro."

Ciscero in the Roman Senate to Obama in the U.S. Senate.

T.D. sends us this timely quote from 2000 years ago that is most applicable today and especially January 20, 2009 when the new President assumes power.

"Where have we heard this before? So what else is new? Does history really repeat itself?"

> “The budget should be balanced,
> the treasury should be refilled,
> public debt should be reduced,
> the arrogance of officialdom (bureaucracy) should be tempered and controlled, and
> the assistance to foreign lands (foreign aid) should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.

“People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance (welfare).'"

-- Cicero, 55 BC

This is good advice in 2008 for America, to avoid the collapse that inevitably came to Rome because it did not listen to Cisero . . .

Should the U.S. Fund “Moderate” Terrorism?

The U.S. is engaged in several attempts to arm various groups around the world as they are fighting against extremists and terrorists. But are these groups themselves terrorists?

It is well known that President Bush wants to establish a Palestinian state. The U.S. is giving them $190 million in aid to do this. The U.S. is arming the Palestinian group Fatah as they are fighting against the more radical, but popularly elected Hamas. They have taken over the Gaza Strip, and the Bush wants Fatah to control the West Bank. But will the weapons that we are giving them end up being pointed at the United States? King George wants to “spread democracy”, but only when the elected are to his liking.

The U.S. is now engaged in arming Sunnis in Iraq, even some former Bathists (ones who were loyal to Saddam Hussein). The hope is that they will use these weapons to fight against Al Qaeda. These were the very people who President Bush said were evil and were in cahoots with Al Qaeda and must be overthrown for the safety of the United States. Now he is saying we must help them defeat Al Qaeda. Is this wacky or what? Some of the dollars we are pouring into Iraq are bound to end up in hands of the insurgents.

The U.S. has given aid to Pakistan in order to seek out and kill Al Qaeda members who have crossed the border from Afghanistan. Remember that the justification for overthrowing the Taliban in Afghanistan was that they refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden. He has not been caught, despite the fact that Pakistani President Musharaf has said, “we have done our part”. Not only has Musharaf been complacent about this, he has made treaties with Taliban factions and has created a “safe zone” (no Pakistani police or military presence) for terrorists in Pakistan along the Afghanistan border. Musharaf will not even allow U.S. forces to come into that region and deliver justice to these murderous terrorists. Remember that President Bush once said, “We will make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them.” The case for war against Pakistan is now equal to that of the case for war against Afghanistan and far greater than the case for war in Iraq ever was, and yet President Bush still wants to give Pakistan aid.

The Mujahadeen fighters (which included Osama Bin Laden) that were armed by both the Carter and Reagan administrations against the Soviet Union became the Al Qaeda of today. The establishment of the Taliban government was also funded by the United States under the Clinton administration. Bush claimed that he was against such “nation building” when he first campaigned for president in 2000, but unfortunately, he discarded this promise soon after he was elected.

The other Islamic madman that the world has focused its attention on in is this Mahmoud Amedinajad. (I think that the mullahs have the real power in Iran, but this is moot point—they are all of the same ilk.) I don’t know that the U.S. is funding Iran now, but it did help Iran at one time. Remember the Iran-Contra scandal?

I have only mentioned the funding of Islamic groups in this article only because that’s where everyone’s attention is these days. Don’t think that I don’t know that they have not cornered the market on terrorism. Both republicans and democrats alike have funded and/or aided countless other thugs, dictators, and bloody revolutionaries who were worse than those they overthrew.

Is “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” really a good policy? Have we really learned the lessons of September 11th?

Psalm 118:8, 9 says, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.”

Psalm 146:3 says, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”

Isaiah 31:1-3 says, “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they shall fail together.”