Area tea party calls out detractors - Galesburg, IL - The Register-Mail

 

“Tea partiers have the common view that we need less government, less taxes, less spending, less regulation and more personal responsibility,” Block said. “We ought to deal with our debt. The nation cant live the way we are living. We dug the hole for ourselves, and it’s time to fix the problem.

full article: Area tea party calls out detractors - Galesburg, IL - The Register-Mail

"Hardest Hit" in Illinois aren't those facing foreclosure, they're those paying taxes

 

Question is, who really is the "hardest hit" in Illinois?  Certainly no one enjoys seeing a neighborhood family be forced to pack up and move out because the recession pushed them into unemployment or underemployment and out of their homes.  But what about the folks who bought homes within or under their means, sacrificed new cars, food and clothing in order to make their house payments and pay their taxes?

How about those who are struggling with the same jobs they've had for years, but have had to make salary and wage concessions to keep their companies afloat?  And all the time, they were paying federal taxes so that hard-earned money can be dished out to neighbors through the greased palms of bureaucrats seeking political allegiance?  How about those small businessmen whose overhead has multiplied via jacked up health care costs, thanks to Obamacare?

We think maybe those good folks that "play by the rules" are once again left holding the bag - those folks are Illinois' real "Hardest Hit."  Maybe that sounds cruel and heartless, but where does this stop?

read the full article here: Illinois Review: "Hardest Hit" in Illinois aren't those facing foreclosure, they're those paying taxes

Social Security is a “PonziScheme”, says Rick Perry

This Letter to the Editor By Charlie Gruner of the Galesburg 9/12 Group was in today's Register Mail:

Texas Governor Rick Perry called Social Security is a “PonziScheme”

A Ponzi Scheme, namedfor Charles Ponzi, is a pyramid scheme where the schemer takes money form“investors” and promises far better than normal returns on that “investment”.In order to make the initial investors believe that the scheme is working hehas to pay out “profits” to fulfill his promises. He gets this money from thenext group of investors.

To keep the scheme solvent the schemer has to keep expandingthe base or increase the required investment from future investors. Eventuallythe Ponzi scheme is unsustainable and collapses.

When the Social Security Act was passed (August 14, 1935),it was sold to the American People as a form of “insurance”. (Any insurancecompany run like the SSA would be closed down and the officers jailed.) Therewere promises made to the public, among them that it would be voluntary, thatthe Social Security Number would never be used as identification, that the taxwould never exceed 2% and that only you, the SSA and your employer would everhave to know that number. Every single one of those promises has been brokenover the years.

Let’s examine Social Security against the Ponzi scheme. ThePonzi scheme is completely voluntary. Social Security is not, even though itwas originally presented as such. The Federal government does not have todepend on volunteers because it can, and does, use the power of coercion. Onceyou’re in, you cannot opt out. On this level the Ponzi scheme is the betterdeal. First, you don’t have to get in if you don’t want to. Second, you can optout at any time by simply not re-investing.

How about expanding the base that is continually bringing inmore money to pay out on the earlier investors? Social Security has increasedthe base in at least three ways. First, the people who were specificallyexcluded originally (including self-employed, professionals, certain governmentworkers, higher-income citizens, etc.) were required to join. I was required toget my Social Security card when I was 16 years old and got my first job. Nowyou cannot bring your new-born child home from the hospital without the card.

The second way that the base has been expanded is simply byincreasing the Social Security tax rates. Since 1937 these tax rates haveincreased 19 times. Third, the base was expanded by increasing the amount ofincome the tax applies to. In 1937 the rate applied only to income up to $3,000per year. This has been increased 42 times until it now applies to income up to $106,800.

The Social Security tax rate was decreased exactly once inthe last 74 years, by one-tenth of one percent, the exact amount of theincrease in Medicare tax. The Medicare tax was implemented in 1966, which couldaccount for 12 of the rate increases because Medicare and Social Security werededucted under one entry on your pay stub. That changed in 1991 when it wasdecided that the increases in the tax might be noted by the public easier ifthey were given one number rather than if they had to add them together, so nowthere are two line items. Medicare has worked in a way similar to SocialSecurity in that the base kept changing. The difference is that in 1991 thelimit on earnings was changed to No Maximum. Social Security taxes are appliedto income up to a maximum of $106,800 this year but there is no limit for Medicare.

A while back we all watched the news as Bernie Madoff wasconvicted of fraud. We were told that he built the biggest Ponzi scheme in thehistory of the world. Actually, Madoff’s scheme pales beside the fraud of SocialSecurity. Even the Social Security Trustees have been saying that the systemcannot be sustained for too many more years. But even that isn’t all. Rememberthe trillions of dollars that we are in debt? Social Security owns much of thatdebt. It’s not just China and Japan; it’s everyone in the country who has aninterest in the Social Security system. That means almost all of us.

Something has to be done to insure that people who aredependent on the system will not be abandoned, but it cannot go on forever.While it may be comforting to know that the government is going to look out foryou in your future, the reality is it can’t. What we as citizens have to do isbe vigilant and not vote for anyone who promises something that has to be paidfor by someone else or that offers us something for nothing. Now as always, “there’sno such thing as a free lunch”.

CharlieGruner

Knoxville, IL

Letter to the Editor: Farmland Fines

Dear Editor –

If you come toward Monmouth and you smell an odor, it isn’t coming from Farmland’s hog processing plant. It is coming from the federal government! We read that on August 22, 2011, the Justice Department settled with Farmland for, what seems to us, following the law!!!

The settlement of $290,400 was because Farmland was essentially protecting itself from litigation if they hired illegal aliens to work at the plant. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 established a prohibition on employers from hiring unauthorized workers and established criminal and civil sanctions. The lawsuit sited Farmland for “imposing unnecessary and excessive documentary requirements on non-US citizens and foreign-born US citizens when establishing their authority to work in the United States.” It seems to us, Farmland was covering itself because of all the fraudulent documentation that is available to illegal aliens.

Part of the problem is that on August 24, 2009, Illinois enacted S1133 prohibiting the state or localities from requiring employers to use an employment eligibility verification system. As of June 15, 2011, Illinois is the only state to impose limited usage of the E-Verify system. E-Verify was implemented by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to help employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers. How else is Farmland to determine eligibility other than asking questions of potential new hires? Farmland is a private company. Where does the government get off thinking they have the right to control a company? The company has all the risk and provides a service to the community – jobs. What is government’s contribution? Uncertainty about the future.
To add to the uncertainty and confusion, IL passed HB 1743, which creates privacy and antidiscrimination protections for workers if employers participating in E-Verify do not follow the program’s procedures. Is your head swimming yet?

Government says it is OK to be here illegally but damned the company that works to have a legal operation.

Western IL can not afford to lose industry which in turn causes a loss in jobs!!! I’m not sure President Obama or Governor Quinn makes that correlation when they add more tax and regulation to companies, sign wishy-washy legislation and sue those companies that are needed to provide jobs. Western IL does not have an over abundance of industry. When one shuts down, the effect is devastating. Just ask Galesburg after Maytag left.

Businesses are there to make a profit. When they hurt, the entire community hurts along with them.

D. M. Wasson and C. J. Parrish
Monmouth Tea Party

link to the original article: http://www.galesburg.com/news/business/x1153511442/Farmland-to-pay-290-400-in-penalties

Roundtable: How to create U.S. jobs? - Galesburg, IL - The Register-Mail

QUESTION:

WASHINGTON D.C. —

What strategy would you suggest for creating jobs in the United States?

Remove onerous regulations, cut waste
Some large corporations at least appear to have a lot of cash on hand. Consumers seem to be willing to buy although without using their credit cards quite so recklessly. The hang-up is uncertainty. From large corporations to small businesses there’s a wait-and-see mentality. The key, therefore, is to remove the uncertainty.

Last week the president announced the elimination of some of the government regulations. Not as many were removed as were added. As long as the uncertainty remains, jobs will elude us unless we start reversing the situation. I would suggest: Start eliminating the most onerous regulations. Next, start eliminating the waste and redundancy that was reported by the GAO last March. They can be done simultaneously. Once this is seen as a serious effort confidence will begin to emerge and hiring will begin again. If no serious effort is seen, employment will remain stagnant at best.

Charlie Gruner

Galesburg 9/12 Group Member

To read the full article follow the link below:

Roundtable: How to create U.S. jobs? - Galesburg, IL - The Register-Mail

Letter to the Editor: Congressional Black Caucus Attacks Tea Party

 

This is a letter to the editor sent to the Register-Mail on Wednesday. It has not been in the paper yet.

I am writing about the 3 recent attacks on the Tea Party by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

1) Rep. Maxine Waters , California Democrat, while addressing a community summit, said the Tea Party can go straight to Hell. Rep. Waters is currently under an ethics probe for obtaining $12 million in TARP money for One United Bank. Her husband Sidney Williams was a former director of the bank and owned $350,000 in bank stock.

2) Rep. Andre Carson, Indiana Democrat, while addressing a CBC event in Miami, said that some Tea Party affiliated Congressmen would love to see you and me (blacks) hanging on a tree. I would suggest Rep. Carson identify these Congressmen so we can vote them out of office.

3) Rep. Frederica Wilson, Florida Democrat, while addressing a jobs fair in Miami, said the real enemy is the Tea Party.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson also jumped on the Tea Party "dog pile". Jackson was speaking at a Martin Luther King luncheon and said the Tea Party is not new. It is reminiscent of the States' Rights groups of the past that fought federal integration. In case you forgot, Rev. Jackson was the one caught on an open microphone saying he wanted to neuter then candidate Obama.

I have been to a few Tea Party rallies and several Tea Party meetings. I have never heard a racist comment. When I attended my first Tea Party meeting, I was not greeted by a "Grand Inquisitor" at the door asking if I was a racist, homophobe, gun owner, Christian, pro life, right-wing extremist, big oil and corporate jet owner lover. I was merely welcomed to the meeting. The Tea Party has 3 core values - limited constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, and free enterprise. Our monthly meetings are educational in nature. Our members are encouraged to do research on pertinent issues affecting our Country such as social security reform, health care, immigration, tax reform, deficit reduction, etc. and present position papers to the group for open and honest discussion. Although many Tea Party members are already active in community service, we have been exploring ways to increase the service by possibly partnering with other groups.

I have found my fellow Tea Party members to be well-informed individuals who care deeply about the Country. I would like the CBC to adhere to Dr. King’s ideals of judging people by their character.

Kirk Heller

Galesburg TEA Party Member

Knoxville, IL

Galesburg Tea Party 2nd Annual Rally - Sept 15, 2011

Galesburg Tea Party
2nd Annual Rally
Thursday, Sept 15, 2011
6:00p.m.
Lake Storey Pavilions 1,2 & 3

“We the People” - What We Stand For!
Fiscal Responsibility, Limited Government & Free Enterprise

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2011 Master of Ceremonies
Judge Harry Bulkeley & Rick Welty
2011 Guest Speakers
John Block, Former Secretary of Agriculture
Darin LaHood, Illinois State Senator
Dick Johnston,
Professor Monmouth College
Joe Mangieri,
Mangieri Electric

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Enjoy patriotic music, singing and
reciting the Pledge of Allegiance!

FREE TO THE PUBLIC!

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Bring your own lawn chairs,
refreshments & umbrellas!

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Visit our Website
www.galesburgteaparty.org