Website owner: James Miller
Our country has squandered trillions foolishly and it just keeps spending
Our nation has spent many trillions of dollars on welfare since Lyndon Johnson declared his war on poverty. What have we gotten for those trillions? Consider the following quotes:
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Government is in the business of misdirected incentives. Take poverty. Years ago LBJ unleashed a flurry of government programs to eliminate it. We've spent well over a trillion dollars and all our good intentions got us is more poverty. Tom Purcell
Liberals cling to the idea that critics of welfare are motivated by greed or callous disregard for the less fortunate. In fact, during the twenty five years that followed Lyndon Johnson's declaration of war on poverty, U.S. taxpayers spent $3 trillion providing every conceivable support for the poor, the elderly, and the infirm. Private foundations spent scores of billions more, and private and religious charities even more. Nevertheless, as Ronald Reagan later quipped, "In the war on poverty, poverty won". Mona Charen
These guys [liberals] will never tire of spending our money and will never hold themselves accountable for their boondoggles. For them the failure of $5 trillion to eradicate poverty simply means we haven't spent enough money. Ditto with education. The solution is always more money. No amount of empirical evidence will shake their socialist theology. David Limbaugh
Quotas have done nothing to help the black underclass, or break the vicious cycles of welfare dependency and drug abuse, unwed motherhood and crime, fatherless families and dysfunctional public schools ... Uncle Sam spent trillions of dollars making a bad situation worse. An avalanche of government welfare money - no strings attached - paid people not to work or marry, save or invest, or confront the behavioral causes of their poverty. Rod Martin
We know that welfare is a failure. It has neither reduced poverty nor made the poor self-sufficient. It has torn at the social fabric of the country and been a significant factor in increasing out-of-wedlock births with all their attendant problems. It has weakened the work ethic and contributed to rising crime rates. Most tragically of all, the pathologies it engenders have been passed on from parent to child, from generation to generation. Michael D. Tanner
Once we realize that government doesn't work, we will stop dreaming that this or that social problem can be solved by passing a law - or by creating a new government program - or by electing someone who will make Washington more efficient or cost-conscious. Harry Browne
Once a bureau is created, its staff becomes a tenacious political interest group, well placed to defend its budget and to make a case for expanding its activities. Robert Higgs
The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program. Ronald Reagan
Once a fellow's enjoying the fruits of government health care and all the rest, he couldn't give a hoot about the general societal interest; He's got his, and if it's going to bankrupt the state a generation hence, well, as long as they can keep the checks coming till he's dead, it's fine with him. Mark Steyn
It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first. Ronald Reagan
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Do you think anyone could have predicted ahead of time that Johnson’s War on Poverty programs wouldn’t work. I would have. I think many others would have also. I personally would probably have been against essentially all the social type legislation that has been passed over the last 75 years. I would have objected with reasons like, “It won’t work.”, “It is not right. It is not just.”, “It is not worth the cost.”, “The cons outweigh the pros.”, etc. Why is it that some people can see ahead of time, before it is even tried, that an idea won’t work? What is it that they have that other people don’t have? Maybe common sense? You say you have to try it to know? I disagree. Who is responsible for all this type of legislation? Liberals. They take my money away from me very brazenly and freely and have all kinds of really great ideas on ways to spend it.
We have spent trillions and trillions on one war after another (Vietnamese war, Iraq war, war in Afghanistan). How many of the wars have we really won? What have we gotten for all those trillions that we have spent on all these wars? The yearly expenditures of our nation have exploded in size with passing years. We spend profligately. We have gone from the world’s largest creditor nation to the world’s largest debtor nation. Because of the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency we have been able to get away with repeatedly simply printing gigantic sums of money. Can we just keep going on in this way? For how long? Are we possibly living in a financial house of cards that will on some fine, beautiful day, suddenly come crashing down, triggered by some unexpected impetus, and taking with it 90% of the world’s economy? And what kind of social chaos do you think this kind of calamity would cause?
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Americans used to save their money. They used to be thrifty. They used to make things to sell to foreigners. Foreigners used to save their dollars so they could buy high-priced products, Made in USA. So much did they crave U.S. dollars that the American currency easily became the reserve currency of the entire world, and America became the world's biggest creditor by lending dollars to foreigners. Now, it is the foreigners who lend. They save their dollars, not to buy U.S. goods, but to buy U.S. Treasury bonds ... so Americans can buy high-quality foreign-made goods! And now, America is the world's biggest debtor." Bill Bonner
Whether ancient or modern, monarchy or republic, coin or paper, each nation descends pretty much the same slippery slope, expanding government to address perceived needs, accumulating too much debt, and then repudiating its obligations by destroying its currency. James Turk and John Rubino
The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced: the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced, if Rome doesn't want to become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. Marcus Tullius Cicero
No matter what federal program one selects - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the drug war, the income tax and the IRS, education, foreign interventions and wars - they are all a giant mess. Jacob G. Hornberger
One thing is certain. At some point global investors will lose confidence in our [U.S.] easy dollars and debt-financed prosperity, and then the chickens will come home to roost. David A. Stockman
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July 2016
Jesus Christ and His Teachings
Way of enlightenment, wisdom, and understanding
America, a corrupt, depraved, shameless country
On integrity and the lack of it
The test of a person's Christianity is what he is
Ninety five percent of the problems that most people have come from personal foolishness
Liberalism, socialism and the modern welfare state
The desire to harm, a motivation for conduct
On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading
Topically Arranged Proverbs, Precepts, Quotations. Common Sayings. Poor Richard's Almanac.
Theory on the Formation of Character
People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest
Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle
We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet
Avoiding problems and trouble in life
Role of habit in formation of character
Personal attributes of the true Christian
What determines a person's character?
Love of God and love of virtue are closely united
Intellectual disparities among people and the power in good habits
Tools of Satan. Tactics and Tricks used by the Devil.
The Natural Way -- The Unnatural Way
Wisdom, Reason and Virtue are closely related
Knowledge is one thing, wisdom is another
My views on Christianity in America
The most important thing in life is understanding
We are all examples --- for good or for bad
Television --- spiritual poison
The Prime Mover that decides "What We Are"
Where do our outlooks, attitudes and values come from?
Sin is serious business. The punishment for it is real. Hell is real.
Self-imposed discipline and regimentation
Achieving happiness in life --- a matter of the right strategies
Self-control, self-restraint, self-discipline basic to so much in life