Tag Archive: United States


Lessons Learned from Singapore

Filed under: Articles by Allen Scott — Leave a comment
February 20, 2012

What We Can Learn from Singapore

The Singapore Skyline v3Along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, Singapore is one of the original Four Asian Tigers. The Singaporean economy is known as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, and most business-friendly. The 2011 Index of Economic Freedom ranks Singapore as the second freest economy in the world, behind Hong Kong. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, Singapore is consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, along with New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries. . . .

The percentage of unemployed economically active people above age 15 is about 2%. Singapore has the world’s highest percentage of millionaire households, with 15.5 percent of all households owning at least one million US dollars. Despite its relative economic success, Singapore does not have a minimum wage, believing that it would lower its competitiveness.

Here’s what I found most interesting about Singapore’s economic philosophy. “The government has rejected the idea of a generous welfare system, stating that each generation must earn and save enough for its entire life cycle.” Even so, there are a number of “means-tested ‘assistance schemes’ provided by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in Singapore for the needy.”

If there’s one thing we in the United States can learn from Singapore is its emphasis on self-government, planning for the future for ourselves and families and not to depend on money confiscated from other people.

Now I ask all thinking American’s to answer this one question. Should the United States copy the failed policies of Greece and Spain and Portugal, or would we be better to adapt the Singapore model for economic freedom and prosperity? Now if you selected Singapore I must remind you that Singapore got their economic model from the United States of old. While our liberal leaders keep running fast toward European socialism, more economically advanced cultures are moving toward the ‘free market’ system that American once held dear.

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Fairness My Asterisk: Op Ed on the SOTU Speech

Filed under: Articles, Current Events, Eagle Views by Allen Scott — Leave a comment
January 25, 2012
English: Seal of the President of the United S...

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President Obama’s State of the Union address revealed his plan for a new American economy that he claims must be “built to last” through government and financial systems that will ensure “everyone does their fair share.”

“We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share,” Obama is slated to say.

Fairness, class warfare, and social justice are bandied about as reasons for mandated wealth redistribution. There has always been wealth disparity in the United States. The Bible even says that the poor will always be with us. But how poor is poor?

“Compare the vision of the poor as presented in the Bible – men without homes, their bodies full of sores, hungry, owning only one tunic – to the circumstances of many poor people in the United States, and the social skewing of the definitions of poverty becomes clear. To be poor in America often means ‘having less than one’s neighbor’ instead of ‘lacking resources necessary for life.

Obama said much the same months ago in a speech delivered in Osawatomie, Kansas, the same city where a century ago, former President Teddy Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for a “New Nationalism.” Roosevelt’s speech extolled the government’s role in promoting social justice and regulating the economy to help the underprivileged, and he criticized some fellow Republicans for refusing to tackle the economic power of the wealthy, which is simply code for more taxes on the rich so that government can continue to give select groups of people goodies from the confiscated goods of others.

What is fair about forcing America to pay for his failed bail-outs that we told him we did not want? What is fair about forcing taxpayers who pay their bills to have to bail-out states and unions who do not? What is fair about increasing our taxes just to pay for wasted government stimulus plans which threw billions if not trillions away on so-called “green jobs”.

Obama calls for the elimination of corporate loop holes in the tax code which he says are not fair but I ask what is fair about the stimulus loop-hole he gave to the teacher’s unions and the Public Employees Unions? What about the loop-hole of giving tax-rebates to people who do not even pay any taxes? How is that fair? I mean how can someone who owes no taxes and pays zero taxes get a rebate check in the mail?

How is it that Obama wants to raise taxes on people who actually pay taxes and ignores all his democrat buddies who refuse to pay taxes like tax cheats Tim Geithner, Charlie Rangel, Jeff Imelt of GE, and Warren Buffet, who owes billions?

What is fair about giving a special tax credit to people with children while those who do not have children have to pay for it? What is fair about taking money from senior citizen’s retirement funds and then turn around and tell them we have to raise the retirement age because there is no money to pay their Social Security benefits? Had the person actually taken the almost 14% of their wages and put it in an interest earning account they would actually have money when they retire as opposed to this “FAIR” plan Obama and the democrats like to promote.

There is nothing fair about Social Security where a system forces producers to pay for non-producers. But the biggest injustice of all was telling our seniors that the money that was being taken from their paychecks was going into a “lock-box” and was an “insurance policy” for their retirement when all along the government knew it was nothing more than a tax and a revenue stream for the government to squander on worthless programs and to buy constituent votes.

Tell me what is fair about almost 50% of the population who take from the system but do not contribute one thin dime for the same system? Why should less than 50% of the population have to pay all the taxes and almost 50% pay nothing? You call that fair? What would be fair is if EVERYONE paid something.

What would be fair would be to cut all tax rebates and subsidies of any kind and begin a flat tax. Eliminate the IRS and the current tax code which is only used to garner political favors and punish producers. If you end all these special tax breaks and rebates and make everyone pay something that would be fair and then the government must be forced to live within its means. Pass a balanced budget amendment which would mandate that congress could not spend more money then they have. Families and businesses must work within a budget so too should Congress. Now that would be fair.

What is fair about forbidding the drilling for oil in the Gulf but subsidizing the drilling for OIL in the Gulf by China and Brazil and Cuba? What is fair about handicapping our industries with onerous EPA regulations and blocking the opening of a Boeing plant by the NLRB or raiding a guitar company just because they are the only non-union shop? What is fair about giving unions huge tax-payer bail-outs at the expense of the average working man? Why should taxpayers be forced to pay for their retirements and benefits just because they refused to do so?

What is fair about having to pay for public employee retirement plans because they were made promises by some politician? Let those politicians who lied to them pay the freight. What is fair about always asking the American people to pony up and the federal Government ever does with less? No matter what, the federal budget grows year after year, in good times and bad. While the rest of the economy struggles the federal government continues to spend, spend and spend.

You want fairness Mr President then how about you and your crooked pals retire and let someone else with integrity take your place? You want fairness Mr President how about you stop beating up the American business person and calling patriotic Americans derogatory names.

You want fairness Mr President how about you stop the flood of illegal activity along our Southern border and instead of suing an American State how about you prosecute those who are breaking and entering our country illegally? You want fairness Mr President how about you call off your NLRB and EPA dogs and allow businesses to run free of onerous government intervention.

And that is my view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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The Emperor has No Clothes

Filed under: Current Events by Allen Scott — 2 Comments
January 8, 2012

“When Congress refuses to act, and as a result hurts our economy and puts our people at risk, then I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them. I’ve got an obligation to act on behalf of the American people. I will not stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people they were elected to serve. Not when so much is at stake. Not at this make-or-break moment for the middle class. I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer.” –Chairman Obama

Everyone who has pride in his heart is disgusting to the Lord: he will certainly not go free from punishment. Proverbs 16:5 (BBE)

Have you met a person who thinks he is wise? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Proverbs 26:12 (GW)

The wicked person arrogantly pursues oppressed people. He will be caught in the schemes that he planned. The wicked person boasts about his selfish desires. He blesses robbers, but he curses the Lord. He turns up his nose {and says}, “God doesn’t care.” His every thought {concludes}, “There is no God.” Psalms 10:2-4 (GW)

His mouth is full of cursing, deception, and oppression. Trouble and wrongdoing are on the tip of his tongue. Psalms 10:7 (GW)

He waits in ambush in the villages. From his hiding places he kills innocent people. His eyes are on the lookout for victims. He lies in his hiding place like a lion in his den. He hides there to catch oppressed people. He catches oppressed people when he draws them into his net. {His} victims are crushed. They collapse, and they fall under {the weight of} his power. Psalms 10:8-10 (GW)

Your arrogance has deceived you. You live on rocky cliffs. You make your home up high. You say to yourself, ‘No one can bring me down to earth.’ Even though you fly high like an eagle and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord. Obadiah 1:3-4 (GW)

Pride precedes a disaster, and an arrogant attitude precedes a fall. Proverbs 16:18 (GW)

I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their wrongdoing. I will put an end to arrogant people and humble the pride of tyrants. Isaiah 13:11 (GW)

Whoever honors himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honored. Matthew 23:12 (GW)

But when he became so arrogant and conceited that he became overconfident, he was removed from the royal throne. His honor was taken away from him. Daniel 5:20 (GW) 

I think it could it be said that those of us who vote against Obama will be doing the Lord’s will come November 2012.

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Dictatorial Powers?

Filed under: Current Events, Eagle Views by Allen Scott — 1 Comment
January 7, 2012

In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right. Judges 21:25 (GW)

Two days after defying Republicans and the Constitution by appointing Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Obama visited the new agency to take a little time to gloat.

Making a victory lap of sorts at the independent agency, Obama cracked a joke, telling employees that he came by to help their new director move in.

When he announced Cordray’s appointment in Ohio on Wednesday, Obama made it clear that he would not wait for Congress to act on issues he deems pressing.

“When Congress refuses to act, and as a result hurts our economy and puts our people at risk, then I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them,” he said.

“I’ve got an obligation to act on behalf of the American people. And I’m not going to stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people we were elected to serve. Not with so much at stake, not at this make-or-break moment for the middle class.” Source The Hill

And our elected leaders said nary a peep about it. Where is the outrage? Where is the uproar? Where are those who swore on oath to uphold our Constitution?

Constitution of the United States of America

Image by The U.S. National Archives via Flickr

Ours is not a nation of men but of laws so eloquently spoken by John Adams. By taking an end run around congress Obama has set himself up as the dictator in chief. Congress is elected by the people to represent their interests and to act on their behalf. This action by Obama, like other actions rammed down the American people’s collective throats, shows exactly how little respect Obama has for the American people. Wednesday Obama gave the American people the proverbial finger. It is time we give him the proverbial kick in the butt right out the door.

In spite of the many valid criticisms leveled against John Adams, it is fair to argue that his ideal, that America was a “nation of laws, not of men,” has been the bed rock of our Nation’s longevity.  At every crisis faced by our nation, the Constitution has always been there to temper the heated passions and calm the political tempests.  The genius of the Constitution’s simplicity and brevity has been one of the keys to its permanence.  However, it is only a piece of paper.  It takes citizens to create a civil, law-abiding nation. 

Amoral relativism has reduced questions of right and wrong to simple expediency. Everyone doing what they think is right regardless of established law is a canker that becomes the death knell of free societies.

The American ideal is that we are “a nation of laws, not of men,”  but the unpleasant reality is that the ruling class obeys only the laws it chooses to obey.

“We the people”can persuade its ruling class to “choose to obey” its laws through various means, and not even the absolute monarchs of ancient times could casually disregard all of them.We need to challenge our representatives to take a stand against unconstitutional government and voice our positions firmly but politely, reminding them that they work on our behalf and were chosen to represent our interests not their own. Groups like the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, the TEA Party movement and other grass-roots activists groups have been successful in stemming the tide of tyranny rapidly overtaking our society.

Of course, there is always the punishment we can administer at the ballot box, but this is a “limited.” The rate of re-election for the House of Representatives hovers around 95%, and rarely drops below 90% . Senators enjoy high re-election rates as well, with the worst years of the modern era barely dipping below 80%. The most fabulously corrupt members of Congress have been there for decades.I guess we are gluttons for punishment. It is time we enforce our own term limits upon these ‘career politicians’. We must insist that they represent our interests or they will be replaced at the next election. One term until they learn that our government is of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The growth of the modern super-state will continue to grow and become more unruly as it continues to circumvent or disregard legal restrictions on its power enumerated in the Constitution.We the people must hold our elected officials accountable to us and urge them to uphold and defend the Constitution as ‘rule of law.’ Things have degenerated to the point where no one even bothers asking if the actions taken by congress, the President, or the courts is constitutional. The government has become unhooked from the restraints of the constitution and it is now operating lawlessly.

A government that is not restrained by the ‘rule of law’ is both immoral and inefficient. It’s interesting to note that almost the only restraint on government power to survive the last few decades intact is the two-term limit on the presidency, imposed through the 22nd Amendment in 1951.  Of course, like any law, it could be changed – and there are people who wish to repeal the 22nd Amendment – but changing a law is vastly more difficult than ignoring it, particularly when dealing with amendments to the Constitution.

Equally strong term limits for Congress would go a long way toward draining the Washington cesspool, making each politician less attractive targets for graft, and preventing them from accumulating decades of power to insulate themselves from the consequences of their actions. In a similar vein, dramatic tax reform is the only reliable means of preventing Washington from believing it can appropriate unlimited funds to indulge its grand designs. I am a strong advocate for abolishing the IRS and instituting a flat tax or fair tax. Eliminate all tax loopholes and apply the tax to everyone. None is exempt thereby making everyone invested in how their tax money is being spent. With almost 50% of the population not paying any taxes is it any wonder there is a large percentage of the population in favor or raising taxes? Since they do not contribute they are not concerned about those who must pay the bill.

We need to take our country back but that requires effort on our part and the willingness to actually take part in our own leadership. We need to embrace the IDEAL that we are a self-governing people and not looking to be ruled by a ‘elite ruling class’. By our silence and inaction, we have allowed our current state of affairs. We have not sought to maintain our autonomy but rather went looking for a king. Well my friends a king is what we have crowned. Giving all authority and power to an individual or a ruling class delimits our own liberty and makes us slaves of the masters.

I do not know about you and your house but this current administration does not speak for me on nearly all matters pertaining to my life and liberty and pursuit of happiness, therefore the ruling class is not seeking to defend my liberties but is only interested in advancing their own agendas and gaining power and control over my freedoms.

And this is another view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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The Silence of the Lambs

Filed under: Articles, Eagle Views by Allen Scott — Leave a comment
January 4, 2012

  1. No I am not talking about the movie starring Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins but rather the reluctance of Christians to speak out on political issues. The silence of the lambs has allowed an ever-expanding government to grow even larger and more tyrannical with each subsequent administration.

In this article from Godfather Politics the author traces the silencing of the lambs historically to tyrannical regimes of the past including China and Nazi Germany. The article’s writer cites references to the government crackdown on religion and especially preachers who dared challenge the government aggression or speak out against government abuses of power.

“Over time, churches in Nazi German were “confined as far as possible to the performance of narrowly religious functions, and even within this narrow sphere were subjected to as many hindrances as the Nazis dared to impose.” This is the evaluation of a 1945 report published by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA. It was called The Nazi Master Plan: The Persecution of the Christian Churches and was prepared for the War Crimes Staff. It offered the following summary: “This study describes, with illustrative factual evidence, Nazi purposes, policies and methods of persecuting the Christian Churches in Germany and occupied Europe.””

  1. “Where did the strategic plan begin? “Implementation of this objective
    started with the curtailment of religious instruction in the primary and
    secondary schools with the squeezing of the religious periods into
    inconvenient hours, with Nazi propaganda among the teachers in order to
    induce them to refuse the teaching of religion, with vetoing of . . .
    religious text books, and finally with substituting [a] Nazi Weltanschauung [worldview] and ‘German faith’ for Christian religious denominational instruction. . .”

  2. “The next step was to neutralize the impact that churches would have on
    politics. “Under the pretext that the Churches themselves were
    interfering in political and state matters, [the Nazis] would deprive
    the Churches, step by step, of all opportunity to affect German public
    life.” How often do we hear that the “separation between church and
    state” means that churches must remain silent on social and political
    issues?”

If any of this sounds familiar it is because the wiles of the devil have not changed. In order to gain access to destroy a family, a community, a city or a country the evil one must first be granted permission to do his dirty work. By getting God-fearing men and women to fear the created and not the Creator, the enemy of life and peace is able to gain the upper hand and sets himself up as god. This can be seen clearly in the garden of Eden where the serpent beguiled Eve to seduce Adam to disobey God and by so doing the serpent gains access to all that once belonged to Adam. The serpent gained power over all of life and began to bring about man’s destruction along with everything created by God.

  1. Adam did not heed the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and by his disobedience sin entered the world.

Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned.Romans 5:12 (GW)

Jesus came to regain the authority that Adam lost through his disobedience. Jesus therefore defeated the power the enemy had to run amok in the world. Therefore Satan has to resort to his tried and true tactics to gain power and authority over a group of people. His main modus operandi is to twist the word of God to seduce people into believing that God hates them and is keeping something from them and thereby getting a person to distrust God which makes them an easy target.

Be well-balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it). 1 Peter 5:8-11 (AMP)
God gives stern warnings to the church and church leaders who refuse to warn His people of impending doom and destruction. Since Satan operates in all areas of life that pertains to humanity why should Christians be limited to only being concerned about one area of life the spiritual? Shouldn’t Christian leaders be encouraging their flocks to be diligent in all areas of life especially since Satan is out to gain authority over them anyway that he can? I think that answer to that is obvious.
The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I bring war on this country, and the people of this country choose one of their men and make him their watchman. If he sees the enemy coming to attack the country, he will blow his horn to warn the people. If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. They heard the sound of the horn but ignored its warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had taken the warning, they would have saved themselves. “‘But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t blow his horn to warn the people and the enemy comes and kills someone, that watchman must die because of his sin. I will hold him responsible for their deaths.‘ Ezekiel 33:1-6 (GW)

The trumpet has been sounded, you have been warned, take heed to yourself how you shall respond. As for me and this blog I will continue to speak forth the words of the Lord as the Lord gives me the utterance so help me God.

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