Fourth Grade Patriot

Posted on 16/04/2013 by Grumpa Joe

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As a child in grammar school I read a lot of books. Once I discovered the local library my world opened immensely. I lost myself in reading books about early American life, the frontier life. I especially enjoyed reading about colonial America. The Revolutionary war held my interest and I reveled at the exploits of our Patriot Citizens who formed an army to fight the mighty British.

As an adult, I often bad mouth the French for their attitude toward the US, but when I read accounts about the founding of America, I realize just how critical French help was to making victory possible.

This winter I have read a few books more than I have in the past, and on my last trip to the library I spotted a book that piqued my interest. The author’s name did it, Newt Gingrich. Gingrich has been somewhat controversial in recent years He served in Congress and was Speaker of the House during the Clinton Administration. He is largely responsible for Clinton’s successful second term as President. Clinton is often praised for leaving a budget surplus for the next president. The truth of the matter is that Gingrich as Speaker orchestrated legislation that Clinton very wisely signed into law.

Newt Gingrich is a historian. Before entering politics he taught history. His love of history is clear in “Victory at Yorktown.”  Reading this story brought back memories of my fourth grade début into the world of history. Gingrich with co-author William R. Forstchen have crafted a fictional story of George Washington’s leadership to end the war and to solidify the USA. Within the story depicting the factual accounts of Washington’s strategy and the hardship his army endured for six long years there unfolds a personal account as well. Two friends growing up side by side in the colonies find themselves working as spies. One worked for the Loyalists (England) the other for the Patriots. They share a love for a single woman who has her own allegiances. Who will she wind up with, or will she survive the rigors of war? Throughout the story of the war, the authors cleverly weave the love story into the plot just often enough to keep it a fascinating read.

It infuriates me when I read news accounts about modern educators dumbing down America by  rewriting history books to push their ideological spin on our kids. As a child, I developed a love for my country by learning about the hardships endured by those who fought to make it happen. It filled me with pride to know I was born into that effort. The authors of the new history books want to re-direct our children into learning to love ideologies which are contrary to those of the Founders.

As parents and grandparents, we must stay ever vigilant to the material being fed to our  kids at school and to take action to remove offensive material, and to banish politically motivated teachers from the system.

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Slavery to Slavery?

Posted on 21/02/2009 by Grumpa Joe
My Flag Flies Everyday

My Flag Flies Everyday

I got to thinking about those trillions the government is throwing at earmark projects called stimulus. I asked myself how many people could a trillion dollars really help?  I looked at three items that people spend money on: house, car, and college education.

Here is how it works out:

1. How many $200,000.00  houses can one buy for a trillion? A two hundred thousand dollar house is probably affordable for most of the population.

ans: Five million

2. How many cars valued at $25,000.00 each? Not a Lexus or Cadillac, but a Ford Focus will get you to where you need to go.

ans: Forty million.

3. How many students could spend $40,000.00 on college tuition?  This one assumes you spend three hundred dollars per credit hour and you require one hundred and thirty credits to get a degree, and live with your parents.

ans: Twenty five  million five hundred thousand.

A trillion dollars given away in this fashion would most likely stimulate the economy. Instead we will direct the money through a filter called “government.”  The end result will be that only a third will get to the consumer. The remainder will be lost in management fees. In big government management fees are more commonly referred to as GRAFT.

What BHO failed to tell the people of the USA is that his redistribution of wealth will make everyone in the country a slave. By robbing the rich to give to the poor, the result will make everyone poor.

The direction of the country toward “Change You Can Believe In,” will bankrupt the treasury. The end result is that the greatest country in the history of the earth will become  a slave to the countries who buy our debt.

Barack likes to compare himself to Abraham Lincoln. While Lincoln freed a small number of the population who were slaves, Barack will enslave the entire country. How will that happen?

We will borrow the money from China or other countries. In order for them to loan us the money, we will have to make it worth their while. We will have to pay higher interest. Higher interest will mean that the government has less money to pay for the programs that they have legislated into law. In other words if it takes a trillion dollars to run the country, we’ll now have to add the interest to that.  Where will the government get the extra money? They have two ways: 1. Pass the expense to the tax payer by increasing his contribution. 2. Print more money to cover the bill. This means that your money is worth less than it was before. I already have trouble making ends meet on my fixed income.

Here is what the interest payment looks like on a trillion dollars:

Interest rate-percent   interest payment
2   20,000,000,000.0
3   30,000,000,000.0
4   40,000,000,000.0
5   50,000,000,000.0
6   60,000,000,000.0
7   70,000,000,000.0
8   80,000,000,000.0
9   90,000,000,000.0
10   100,000,000,000.0

In case you have a problem reading all those zeros, they are billions.

Mark my words, this country is headed for another civil war with the rampant spending under this president. Isn’t civil war another issue that Lincoln had to deal with?

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