The Government And Money…

One of the biggest issues here in the US, and probably all over the World right now is about money, taxes, and benefits in general. And with reason. Money is tight for everyone right now, be it an individual, a family, a city, state or the national government.

This is an issue we need to look at very closely. But the subject is a VERY touchy subject for many of the wrong reasons, as it deals with individuals and their goals.

This is were I see things as it deals with the US, my family and I…

First off, we need to start at the bottom and at the top of the structure concurrently. I will start here with the “top”, national government of the US, and work down to my family and finally me.

Having worked in the US Government initially in the US Army, and now as a Veterans Administration Employee (as well as one other position) I have seen how the US Government spends money and how small or big it is. Many aspects of our US government are WAY too large, while in a few they are way to small. We spend too much money on financing and looking at entitlement programs for individuals and “groups” (those groups beings social/racial/sexual) and in managing those programs once they are set up. Once we realize that EVERYONE is a human, and treat everyone the same, regardless of their race/creed/sexual preference, and get rid of a vast majority of the entitlement programs out there, our national budget will start (but not get there) to get under control. At the same time, because we are doing away with the programs, the size of the over reaching government will shrink. (Don’t worry, I’ll talk about jobs as well!)

The Government, at the top levels needs to start participating in the health and retirement programs, which probably should stay in place, just like their constituents are required to. And once they leave office, they should have the same benefits that would be given on the “civilian side”, meaning they don’t get their non-contributing pension when they leave, even if they served for only one or two terms. Speaking of terms, ALL positions in the US Government should be term limited, with no more than eight (8) years of service before moving on. Since the majority (ALL?) of the members of Congress are not farmers or active business people anymore, we need to do away with the long term breaks, which were set up to allow the original members to go back to their farms and plant, harvest, etc. They are paid full time salaries now, work full time like the rest of us. They should have the same leave (vacation) practices that the rest of the Government employees have. In just these steps, several millions of dollars are actually saved.

Our law making process needs to be looked at, and in many cases cut back on. Funding the “investigation” into laws that “protect the individual from themselves” needs to be cut out, and the emphasis should be on laws that protect the citizen from others. Removing laws that protect an individual from themselves (what they can eat, where they can get it, adults wearing seat belts (although I think every person should wear one, that should not be a law that requires monitoring, etc.), etc. should happen immediately. Laws should deal with protecting someone from someone else. Requiring children to wear seat belts makes since, as they do not have the reasoning capability to understand the dangers of not doing so. Laws on toy manufactures restricting what they can use in the production of toys that may harm kids makes since. This change in our law system will save even more money, and help focus the time spent on the floors of Congress being reviewed and in-acted.

There are some government organizations that do need to be increased in size. Our military as it makes since for readiness and ability to respond to US issues and, in a somewhat more limited fashion, global issues. Our intelligence agencies should be properly funded and staff to meet our need for proper intelligence for the safety of our nation. And laws should be review, rewritten and/or deleted to better focus on the national protection of citizens, more so than individual protections as it seems to currently be.

Now, how do we fund these things? First off, EVERYONE, individually, not business (more on them shortly), in every State of the US should be taxed the same. My recommendation is a flat 10% of gross income, across the board, for all income levels. Eliminate all the tax loopholes that are out there that stop people from getting breaks, which will reduce the need for such a large collection agency we call the IRS, reducing it’s size significantly, although not getting rid of it, as it has a valid function, allowing only charitable donations as a reduction of taxes up to 25% of the total tax paid. Tax should be done on gross income, before expenses. This is earned income, including on investments, etc. Once you earn it, you pay the taxes. If you reinvest that earnings, after taxes, be ready to pay taxes on the earnings that investment garnishes later! No deferment till you actually put it in your pocket, because when you invest it again, you put it in your pocket for a second before you re-invested it!

Business should be taxed at a flat rate of 10% as well, after operating expenses are deducted. Again, aside from operating expenses, get rid of all loopholes to reduce taxes. Public companies should pay their taxes BEFORE paying dividends, which should not count as operating expenses, but benefits to investors. Buying back stock is NOT an operating expense in this case either. However, assisting employees in medical expenses IS an operational expense!

With the reduction of Government jobs as outlined above, there will be some people “on the streets” without work. We need, as a nation, to get back to providing our own food. Farming needs to become an important business again, and that will require many hands and bodies to work the fields and make things grow. This will do several things. It will decrease, in the long run the cost of food. We need to open our own oil fields. This will further reduce the cost of food, while it helps reduce the cost of oil products as well. Both of these two endeavors will increase the need for labor pools. We need to get back to being the innovative nation we use to be, bringing our industries back within our shores and building things again, from the ground up!

All of this requires that we begin re-building our education system as well. Which will require more teachers, again more jobs. Our education system should get back to the basics, focus on the foundations of business and innovation, reading, math, history (to learn from past mistakes and good events), and social studies. It should include the arts: music and art, which should be MANDATORY up to a certain age, and start early to get the foundation there.

This nation was built on “faith” in God. That faith needs to come back as well. This will cause ripples, but it is fact, and should be looked at closely, as the departure of that faith has caused many of the problems we now see here in the states!

Meet the Saints: A Book Review

Over the past several years I have been very interested in the Saints of the Catholic Church. I have been wanting to know their history, how they became Saints, and a bit about them. I have read many books on individual Saints and a few on groups of Saints.

Most of those books put words into the mouths of the Saints, as well as feelings and thoughts, that I often felt the author had no way of knowing if it was true or not. Basically putting words into the mouth of the Saint where I felt they shouldn’t.

This book broke the mold I was seeing in the other books. The book takes 12 months of articles posted in a newsletter series called “Walking With the Saints”. It covers the lives of 37 Saints and what got them Sanctified.

It is an easy book to read, well written and informational. It appears to be factual without glorification. The result is well received by me, and I’m betting by you as well.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Meet the Saints. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.

Clement and the Early Church of Rome: On the Dating of Clement’s First Epistle to the Corinthians – A Book Review

I selected this book from the list available at the Reviewers section of The Catholic Company, as I am very interested in the foundations of the Catholic Church, and the early writings of the Church.

I highly recommend before acquiring or reading this book that you acquire and read a copy of the two letters sent by St. Clement to the Corinthians, as it will make the reading of this text mean more to you.

Over all the book was pretty good. Reverend Thomas J. Herron goes into great detail into the history of the time and the reasoning he has for dating the writings as he does. He has, what I believe to be, sound reasoning behind his though processes, and gives strong validation to those thoughts.

Why is this important? It provides a context to the extent of the Church at the time of Clement before and after he took over as the “Pope” (he was not called Pope in that time in history) of the Christian Church. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the foundations of the Christian and specifically the Catholic Faith.

It is a well written book, worth the read, but I’m not sure most lay people would want to acquire this book, unless they are historians.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Clement and the Early Church of Rome . They are also a great source for serenity prayer and baptism gifts.

The New York Mosque – Part 2…

Ok, in an earlier post, I stated that legally we can’t stop the Mosque from being built in that location should they have the legally acquired funds to do so.

Now let me state where I stand on this issue:

There are currently roughly 20 Islamic Mosque within a two mile radius of this location, one just one or almost two blocks away from this desired location. Is the area that heavily populated by Muslims that each of those Mosque are overflowing and needing an new place to expand their worship? (If so, it is time to more loudly proclaim the Word of God as given to His people, as promised to Abraham.)

It is the history of the Islamic nation to build a Mosque in each area of importance that they “conquer” and it is even required in the Quran 018:21 states, in a rough translation, that those areas they conquer they are to erect a Mosque over that area. You see this in history in many places, but to name just three times, look in Jerusalem where they tore down the Temple built by the Jewish people and where now stands the Great Dome Mosque, then look to Damascus where there once was a great Orthodox Christian Cathedral, which is now an even greater Mosque, and finally look at Mecca, which was once a pagan holy ground and is now a VERY large High Holy Ground of the Islamic nation, one in which all males for sure, and all Muslims in general are required to go to at least once in their life time. In each case, these sites were once Christian or pagan holy places or icons and when destroyed, were replaced with a Mosque.

My fear here is that the Islamic Nation is now saying, we destroyed you here, and we are now building our Mosque to show ownership of this area. If you listen to Rauf’s comments in 2009, he called the location iconic to his faith, and now he wants to put a Mosque there. See where I am coming from?

The Muslim faith is a peaceful faith, provided you follow their laws and rules, but if you question them on their laws and rules, they will fight to the death or outright kill you. This is NOT the will of the One God we both pray to, Muslims through the family of Ishmael first born of Abraham, Christians through the family of Isaac and the Covenant given to Abraham through Isaac.

This Mosque is not needed, and is a bad sign for those not of the Muslim faith and a sign of conquering and success in the eyes of the Muslims, were there was no success, as we survived the attack and have kept them from doing more open attacks on our Nation, in our Nation. There was no success or conquering here in the US by the Islamic Nation.

Believing in Jesus – A Book Review

Over the past 15 years, I have been studying various religions and the theology behind those religions. Six or so years ago I began “homing” in on the Catholic faith and converted a few years ago to the Catholic faith. I continue to grow in my “new found faith”, and in that function of growing, I am always wanting to get a deeper understanding of where the Church stands on things, and why.

This book was a great find to help me grow in understanding in the faith that God has led me to.

This book follows, loosely, the American version of the Catechism of the Church book released a few years ago. It does a very good job of describing why the Church believes as it does, ties it to the Bible, and explains the differences on a concept between the Catholic Church and other Christian Churches in the Protestant areas.

I HIGHLY recommend this book for any Christian, so they can better understand where the Catholic Church comes from in it’s theology of life.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Believing in Jesus – 6th Edition Revised and be sure to check out their great selection of Mary statues while you are there.

Haiti – Religion

The event in Haiti where the 10 “Christian” people attempted to take 33 children across the boarder into the Dominican Republic has me wondering about the people I live with here in the US.

First, let me set the record straight. Many people that know me think that I am not supportive of the people of Haiti post the massive earthquake they weathered. I am. I am 100% behind sending help and support their way to help them get back on their feet and to help clean up the mess left over from the devastating earthquake. My problem with Haiti is the corruption that I have seen in the people from Haiti that I have come in contact with, which have been many such people. I have not, as yet, met one Haitian that was not corrupt in more than one way. I pray that not all Haitians are corrupt though!

Back on track now: While I do not think all 10 of the US Citizens involved in this event knew 100% what was going on, I feel confident that many did know that what they were doing was illegal, in Haiti, the US and Internationally! One does not go into a devastated area such as this area, pick up 33 children and put them in a bus and drive away without any paperwork, legal status, etc, in the hopes of taking the kids to a place that caters to families trying to adopt children and a second purpose to indoctrinate those children into your faith base.

I am pretty sure with some of those kids that were “taken” from existing parents, that money exchanged hands between this group and the parents. This is human trafficking. Plain and simple! And I’m not 100% against the parents in this case, it it provided them with some badly needed money, while giving their children a chance to grow in a better condition. I AM 100% against the people on the other side that probably paid that money and took the kids though.

What Haiti needs is for people to come in and help heal the hurt and sick, help feed and water the hungry, build temporary and permanent housing for the homeless, and help the nation rebuild their lives. We don’t need to be looking at the nation as a place to build our families, or our wealth. (These kids were apparently going to a place in DR that was basically an orphanage that taught the faith and housed the kids until people paying big money would come to the resort and pick their new families then head to the US, meaning people were going to make money off of this move. This is NOT what Christianity is about!)

Mary, the Mother of Jesus

The Bible that is used by Christians tells us that Jesus was born of Mary. I do not think anyone in the Christian faiths disagrees with this.

All of the main line Christian faiths appear to state that the Trinity, God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, are one.

The Catholic Church, based on Mary being the Mother of Jesus, and God/Jesus/Holy Spirit being one entity, calls Mother Mary, the Mother of God. (Mainly in the Hail Mary/Rosary.) Is that a far stretch? I hear many Protestants complain that Mary is NOT the Mother of God. Do they believe that the Trinity of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is one entity as their faith professes (in most cases)? If so, how far of a stretch is it to say that Mary is the Mother of God? At least in His human form?

Mary, in an effort to bring the people of God BACK to God, has been reported to appear before many people over the years. In each of these apparitions, she has requested that people come back to the beliefs of the Church created by her Son, Jesus Christ. In each case her message was about Jesus and coming back to him. She would often have the person(s) she was talking to do something to help improve and grow the Church in the name of her Son. (At least those apparitions that have been approved by the Catholic Church.) Many of these apparitions and the messages associated with them brought healing to the recipients.

The Catholic Church believes that Mary was of Immaculate Conception, meaning that she was born without sin, and that she lived a life without sin. This declaration was proclaimed in 1854, and in 1858, St. Bernadette, an uneducated little girl at the time, who had not heard those words before, received the words, “I am the Immaculate Conception” from an apparition of Mary who gave her various instructions to follow. These instructions again tried to point people to the Church and to help grow the Church.

The Catholic Church believes that Mary was ever Virgin. That she had no children after Jesus. Records, such as Protoevangelium of James, that were created in early times (in the case of Protoevangelium of James, it is estimated to have been completed within 60 years of the death of Mary), indicate that Mary was dedicated by her Mother Anna to the Church of God, and that she lived and worked in the Church as a virgin until she was of age and then was to be married to Joseph as her protector, who was an older male with offspring of his own already (wife was deceased). The original Greek word of “Brethren” used in the Bible transcripts meant includes half brothers/sisters, cousins and other close relatives, as was the custom in that time. While the Bible states that Jesus’ brethren were out side, it could well include His half brothers/sisters through Joseph, His cousins, etc. It is curious to me that there is never, in any of the transcripts from that time, that I have read or heard of, telling of Mary ever being pregnant again, and of her having any other child. The early Protestant Reformers, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli, all believed in the Ever Virgin status of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It was their followers that sought to distance themselves even further from their Parent Church for various reasons that removed that doctrine from their faith.

In conclusion, many people of the Catholic faith, put a lot of faith and trust in Mother Mary, talk to her (pray) often and ask her for her intercession with Christ for a better life, or help in life. Who better to ask for intercessory pray that the Mother of Jesus?

Catholic Statistics…

A Order Brother sent me an email with a bunch of statistics about the Catholic Church. It is attributed to a non-Catholic person that is actually Jewish. I was not able to verify that info, and somehow don’t think that is who originally authored it, but I did verify the statistics:

Proud of Being Catholic

Excerpts of an article written by Sam Miller,
prominent Cleveland Jewish businessman -( NOT CATHOLIC )
Submitted by Dee Lynd.
18 April 2008

Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?

Do you know – the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Your graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, all at a cost to you. To the rest of the Americans it’s free.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students. The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people – not just Catholics – in the United States today.

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

Let me give you some figures that you as Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8 % of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed. Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic problem.

A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now.

Walk with your shoulders high and you head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States. -Then remember what was written in Jeremiah:’Thus says the Lord: Stand by the earliest roads, ask the pathways of old. Which is the way to good, and walk it; thus you will find rest for your souls.’ (Jer 6:16 [show]Jeremiah 6:16 [16]Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
).

Be Proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions.
…… Be Proud That You’re A Catholic……

These are trueish numbers. The number of students may be up or down each year, but the rest of the numbers are pretty close to the “real” numbers.