WOULD YOU PAY YOUR EMPLOYEE MORE THAN YOURSELF? (well, you do!!!)

The question: You pay the salaries of federal employees. Do you want to pay them more than you make yourself? Do you want to use your money to fund them with better benefits and better retirement packages than you have?

In a nutshell: Federal employees are paid through Federal Tax Revenue. You pay the Federal Tax Revenue. Federal employee pay has outpaced private sector pay at an alarming rate and continues to increase (steadily). Data shows that including benefits, federal civilians earn double compared to private industry. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2006, of the 1.8 million federal civilian workers, the average pay was $111,180 (including wages and benefits.) In 2008, the average pay was even higher!

(Chart from Cato Institute, Chris Edwards,http://www.cato-at- liberty.org/2009/08/24/federal-pay-continues-rapid-ascent/)

-From 2000-2008, wages for federal civilian employees went up 53.7%, while the private sector rose only 28.5%!

-Wages continue to climb. In December 2009, President Obama issued an executive order to increase pay for federal employees by 2% effective Jan 1, 2010.

According to Ilana Mercer, “The average worker in the US pays $10,000 in income taxes; enough to keep one federal work in style for one month! There are upward of 20 million… in 87,000 different institutions in government and public education, where the payrolls are always lard-laden in comparison to private-economy paysheets.”

NOT ONLY ARE YOU PAYING THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES EXTRAVAGANTLY, YOU WILL SOON BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING MORE OF THEM! BEWARE --- THE NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT WORKERS IS INCREASING — WHICH MEANS YOU WILL NEED TO PAY MORE EMPLOYEES! In the second quarter of 2009, the government added OVER 500,000 workers while the private sector lost more than 1 million.

HOW YOU PAY: The top 50% of wage earners with a threshold of $32,879 and up paid 97.11% of Federal personal income tax. (Source: Internal Revenue Service) 45% of Federal Tax Revenue for 2008, was from INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX, 36% was from PAYROLL TAXES, and only 12% was from Corporate Income Tax. (Source: Congressional Budget Office)

Should you care? The government has an undisciplined accessibility to an income source — YOU! The government has the ability not only to tax, but to acquire money through debt. Either way, the taxpayers are responsible to pay. The government is employed by you and paid out of taxes. It is clear that the more the government expands, the more it will debilitate the taxpayer. Your money will be their money. You can save for your own retirement OR you can pay federal employees lavish benefits. Agreeing with Ms. Mercer, "The larger the parasite gets, the weaker the host will grow."

Sources: www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/08/24/federal-pay-continues-rapid-ascent/, govexec.com,fedsmith.com, Ralph smith, 8/2/07, wnd.com, 9/25/2009, Ilana Mercer, Tax Policy Center Urban Institue and Brookings Institution, ntu.org,monkeychimp.com

PROGRESSIVISM: Is it PROGRESS or a PROBLEM?

The question: What is progressivism and how does it differ from, “Change We Can Believe In”...uhhh, I mean Social Progressivism? Both types of progressivism view the transformation of laws and policies as “societal progress” and therefore are termed progressive.

In a nutshell: Social Progressives are using the idea of Progressivism to advance an oppressive amount of government control that will result in loss of personal freedom.

PROGRESSIVISM: So, what IS the description of Progressivism?

The original intention of progressivism is defined as using social changes to provide a better standard of life for the average working person.

• Progressive movements have supported women’s voting rights, the minimum wage law, and child labor laws.
• Progressives have rallied against wide-ranging corporate power and influence.
• Progressives distrust US foreign policy because they relate it to economic motivations.
• Progressivism emphasizes support to conserve and shield nature. According to progressliving.org, “The fourth Progressive movement is associated with the Green Party and the Nader presidential candidacy.”

ON THE OTHER HAND

SOCIAL PROGRESSIVISM: What is the description of Social Progressivism?

Social Progressives champion the idea that social justice is achieved through government domination, providing services (which are seen as “rights”), and by sharing the costs of the “rights” through taxation.

• Social Progressivism uses techniques to advance their agenda, specifically to exert control of the people through government. (The constitution is unclouded when it states there should be limited government and individual freedom should be protected.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although the current administration wears the hat of Social Progressivism to advance government control and government reliance through social programs, President Obama also caters heavily to Wall Street as evidenced by his Economic Team.

Should you care? YES, if you believe in democracy, freedom, and individual rights. “There are ten easy steps toward a progressive-socialist-Marxist civil society:

1) change the popular consensus
2) destroy Christianity, the traditional family, and existing social mores
3) transform the culture
4) install a radical Left mind-control;
5) attain political power
6) impose strict control of the military and law enforcement
7) restrict freedom
8) socialize the economy
9) erase American sovereignty
10) embrace a world without borders”, (restates Robert Chandler on Gramsci’s formula).

Is social progressivism on the right track, or will it “progress” America into Socialism?

Sources: Aim Report, Robert Chander, 4/6/09, How Obama Revolution Came to America, Allexperts.com/e/p/pr/progressivism, Americanthinker.com 8/17/09, “I Don’t Accept the Premise”, Andie Brownlow, 12/12/09, The End of Liberalism, Danny Huddleston, Progressiveliving.org