Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The United States of Decline: America unravels at an increasingly dizzying pace.
The National Review ^ | February 17, 2014 | Deroy Murdock

Posted on 02/17/2014 12:39:35 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

America is unraveling at a stunning speed and to a staggering degree. This decline is breathtaking, and the prognosis is dim.

For starters, Obama now rules by decree. Reportedly for the 27th time, he has changed the rules of Obamacare singlehandedly, with neither congressional approval nor even ceremonial resolutions to limit his actions. Obama needs no such frivolities.

“That’s the good thing about being president,” Obama joked on February 10. “I can do whatever I want.” In an especially bitter irony, Obama uttered these despicable words while guiding French president François Hollande through Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson — a key architect of America’s foundation of limited government.

That very day, Obama decreed that the Obamacare mandate for employers with 50 to 99 workers would be postponed until 2016 (beyond an earlier extension to 2015), well past the November 2014 midterm elections. This eases the pressure on Democrats, whose campaigns would suffer if voters saw their company health plans canceled due to Obamacare’s unnecessary, expensive, mandatory benefits — e.g. maternity coverage for men.

So, by fiat, Obama has postponed the employer mandate. When Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) effectively tried to do this through legislation last fall, Democrats virtually lassoed and branded him.

Also by decree last week, Obama decided unilaterally to soften political-asylum rules. Refugees and other immigrants who provide terrorists “limited material support” now can come to America. So what if someone merely clothed and fed Mohamed Atta or Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? After all, garments and meals don’t blow up. Welcome to America, Mustafa!

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is working hard to revoke the asylum of and deport the Romeikes....

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: khalidsheikhmohammed; mohamedatta; obama; obamacare; tedcruz; texas
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-138 last
To: Alberta's Child

“Minimal corruption” in a socialist state?

And that’s aside from Michael Milken’s soiled reputation.


121 posted on 02/17/2014 10:23:30 PM PST by Olog-hai
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Pride in the USA; Stillwaters
This National Review piece hits it out of the park. Well worth the read!

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/371248/print

122 posted on 02/17/2014 11:53:09 PM PST by lonevoice (We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: P-Marlowe
I don't trust any of them -- Obama, Congress, the IRS, etc.

I do, however, have complete faith that all of the people in Washington will put their political interests ahead of the law, their principles (if they even have any), etc. This is why you have Democratic Senators who voted for Obamacare in 2009 running over to the White House begging Obama to issue these waivers and delays. It's really pathetic, but that's what you get when you pass a law that defies any logic.

What does the Law say right now? The law says that if you don't insure your employees, you will be fined $3500 for each employee next year. You think the IRS is going to pass up this goldmine?

Do you own a business right now? How are you dealing with this?

The reason I ask this is that I have no idea what the tax forms for the 2014 tax year even look like, and whether the IRS even has a mechanism to document compliance with this "mandate" right now.

123 posted on 02/18/2014 3:30:20 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("I've never seen such a conclave of minstrels in my life.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: P-Marlowe
The employees may not be exempt, but their fine is so minimal that they'd have to be deranged to pony up $12,000 for an individual policy when the fine for non-compliance is only a few hundred dollars.

Everybody knows this ... which is exactly why so few younger/healthier Americans are signing up for insurance plans.

124 posted on 02/18/2014 3:32:05 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("I've never seen such a conclave of minstrels in my life.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: Brooklyn Attitude

See it as you may. I see it as it has and is happening.


125 posted on 02/18/2014 7:09:54 AM PST by RetiredArmy (God's judgment on America is here for us to see. If America does not wake up, it is going to suffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: Jacquerie

Well, we did have Klinton, but he lost track and was too busy chasing women to do that damage that the Muzzie is doing.


126 posted on 02/18/2014 7:10:56 AM PST by RetiredArmy (God's judgment on America is here for us to see. If America does not wake up, it is going to suffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: F15Eagle

Yup. Familiar with the passage. Just as I heard my pastor say Sunday morning, we got what we are. This is what America has become and God puts in place those as punishment for it. Obama is America’s punishment. America has lost its mind and gone Porno and Obama is the king. America aborts 55 million and Obama holds the knife. America marries gays and CELEBRATES gays and Obama is the pedophile God puts in place. We got what we wanted. Sadly, there are WAY TOO few to do anything about it. The Remnant Church is few. I firmly believe that the REAL Bible Believing, Blood on the Cross purchased, believers of the Resurrection of our LORD is FEW!!!! I don’t believe the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ will damage America as bad as some think. I think we are few. I am ready now. Ready to go home right now, this second. There is NOTHING on this earth that I would say to Him, “but LORD, let me see my kids graduate from college or my grandchildren grow up.” Nope. They would be better off in Heaven with the LORD than in a liberal college learning gay love. Nope, Maranatha, Maranatha, Come Quickly LORD Jesus!!!! I am ready to go home NOW!!!


127 posted on 02/18/2014 7:16:39 AM PST by RetiredArmy (God's judgment on America is here for us to see. If America does not wake up, it is going to suffer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: alloysteel

Did the American civil war suppress corruption? If so what corruption did it suppress? My read is that is basically started us towards the corrupting influence of overarching federal control. But I may be looking at it myopically.


128 posted on 02/18/2014 7:30:31 AM PST by palmer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: palmer

The short answer to your question of “what corruption did the Civil War suppress?”

Slavery. Slavery was an institution that was coming to the end of its practicality, but was sustained in place by a series of compromises made between the bankers of the Northern states and the slaveholders of the Southern states, where slavery was held to be still legal. The cause of the Civil war had little to do with freeing the slaves (that was a bonus announced when the war got under way), but a great deal to do with a falling out between the bankers and the large plantation owners, who had come to rely far too much on slave labor, while the bankers saw their investments in the cotton production industry going away. Punishment had to be exacted. The corrupt bankers and the corrupt slave owners were both punished by impoverishment.


129 posted on 02/18/2014 7:46:34 AM PST by alloysteel (Obamacare - Death and Taxes now available online. One-stop shopping at its best!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: Cringing Negativism Network

I manufacture and sell custom printed t-shirts. My t-shirts are printed here in New Mexico, but the vast majority of the blanks are manufactured overseas, some (not many) in China.

My vendors do offer Made in the USA t-shirts, but they are about triple the cost of the imported t-shirts and are no better in quality. I was chastised by a local Union goon for not selling more of the USA t-shirts, so I ran an ad campaign emphasizing Made in USA with prices that while higher than the imports, still had a much lower profit margin than we usual charge.

To a person, EVERY customer that asked about the Made in the USA shirts ended up buying the imports. While people talked patriotic, when the rubber hit the road, they spoke with their wallet.

As a business owner, I need to supply what customers want.

I do think it is very interesting that the same people who scream about government intrusion, government taxes, government control over their lives, are often willing to allow the government to interfere with commerce, raise taxes, and reduce their choices in purchasing merchandise.

America needs to be competitive. Remove unneeded government restrictions, reduce the influence of unions, and reduce corporate taxes. Free trade while hamstringing our businesses is a recipe for disaster.


130 posted on 02/18/2014 7:46:56 AM PST by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ArtDodger
Our time is running out swiftly.

Yes. They have brainwashed a large percentage of the children. Not insurmountable, but formidable. They have a significant portion of the adult population under psychoactive medication. That doesn't mean those people are socialist or that they all don't need medication. But it means that political change becomes much more difficult due to the difficulty of changing attitudes. They have a large portion of the population brainwashed to a lesser or greater extent through the media. Those folks propagate socialist crap through social media. The social media is still "open" for now but won't be for long.

131 posted on 02/18/2014 7:51:01 AM PST by palmer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: mgist
In a way, a fast decline is good. That way people will realize what is happening.

It's tricky because decline could lead to a dicatorship. On the contrary decline could lead to renaissance. Faster decline may mean that more people are still aware of the correct path as we hit bottom. But the stupidity of Americans seems to have grown very rapidly.

132 posted on 02/18/2014 8:03:09 AM PST by palmer (There's someone in my lead but it's not me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 86 | View Replies]

To: alloysteel

Thanks for the answer. I can definitely see how slavery can be corrupting. I am still not sure if the federal control of the south didn’t plant seeds for more corruption. But that’s probably the way it always is, anytime violence is used to eliminate one form of corruption there will be imperfections in the outcome that can lead to more corruption.


133 posted on 02/18/2014 8:24:28 AM PST by palmer (There's someone in my lead but it's not me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: Cringing Negativism Network
Bring back American jobs. Lots of American jobs. Stop buying everything imported.

North Dakota discovered the "secret" to this: DRILL BABY, DRILL!

Want to put this country back on top? DE-REGULATE and open all federal lands to oil exploration and drilling. Build new refineries and mandate that ALL the fuel be sold domestically until pump prices drop to $1.50-$1.80 per gallon and only then can the oil companies start selling overseas. Also give huge tax credits to domestic oil companies that do NOT do business with OPEC on a large scale. Encourage fracking and build the dang Canadian pipeline!

134 posted on 02/18/2014 8:27:48 AM PST by ExSoldier (Stand up and be counted... OR LINE UP AND BE NUMBERED...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: F15Eagle
Galatians 6:7...


135 posted on 02/18/2014 8:29:17 AM PST by 444Flyer (How long O LORD?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: palmer
Agreed. They have a system down pat. It is long term, several generations and working fine. As in the war against the Muslim dominance, we will lose to attrition.
136 posted on 02/18/2014 8:37:21 AM PST by ArtDodger
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]

Comment #137 Removed by Moderator

To: RetiredArmy
Yeah, that is true. Bent Willie believed in . . . Bent Willie. No principles at all, he was pure ambition.
138 posted on 02/18/2014 11:59:34 AM PST by Jacquerie ( Obama has established executive branch precedents that no election can reverse. Article V.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-138 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson