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	<title>www.jeff4gov.com &#187; the economy</title>
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		<title>&#8220;Now Start Dreaming Again and Proceed to the Realization of Our Dreams&#8221; &#8211; President Noynoy Aquino</title>
		<link>http://www.jeff4gov.com/100/now-start-dreaming-again-and-proceed-to-the-realization-of-our-dreams-president-noynoy-aquino</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:41:28 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[President Noynoy said that in his first three weeks of serving the Filipino people he was able to unearth anomalies committed during the previous administration. To mention a few:
The first six months of the current year, Arroyo&#8217;s administration spent more than what it has collected in terms of revenue resulting to an increased deficit to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;">President Noynoy said that in his first three weeks of serving the Filipino people he was able to unearth anomalies committed during the previous administration. To mention a few:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The first six months of the current year, Arroyo&#8217;s administration spent more than what it has collected in terms of revenue resulting to an increased deficit to P196.7B. Of the targeted revenue collection, the shortage was P23.8 B. The expenditure exceeded by P45.1B.</p>
<p><span id="more-100"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The national budget for 2010 is 1.54 trillion pesos. What remains in the budget appropriated for 2010 is barely 100 billion pesos which is only 6.5% of the total budget. He said that this is the only figure left for the next six months of his administration.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Where did the funds go? He asked. President Noynoy discussed that the previous administration funded P200 M for Calamity Fund. While the fund is too small, and the typoon and flood season have just started, 70% or 1.4 billion pesos has already been spent.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The budget allotment for Pampanga province of P108M, P105 went to only one district. The fund was released during the month of election, seven months after the typhoons Ondoy and Peping hit the country. Whereas the Province of Pangasinan that was directly hit by typhoon Peping only received P5M for the damaged caused not by Peping but by typhoon Cosme which occurred in 2008.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Further, he added that the fund has been exhausted for the damaged caused from last year&#8217;s typhoons. &#8220;What will happen if typhoons hit the country tomorrow? The future will suffer for the excesses of the past,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">President Noynoy went further, same thing happened to the funds in MWSS, another government agency (Manila Waterworks Sewerage System). Very recently, people were lined just to get water. In spite of this, the &#8220;good&#8221; leaders of MWSS rewarded themselves when in fact their retired employees have not received their retirement fees yet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In 2009, the total payroll of MWSS was P51.4M. But this is not the only benefit; there were additional allowances and benefits that reached up to P160.1M. In other words, the leaders received P211.5M last year, out of which only 24% represents the salary, 76% were additional benefits which they only approved.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">An ordinary worker receives 13th month pay plus cash gifts only. At MWSS, it reached to an equivalent of more than 30th month pay including all the bonuses and allowances they got.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Worst even is the anomaly on the earnings of the Board of Trustees. He said: &#8220;Let us take a look at the allowances they are receiving:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A mere seat in the Board of Trustees at Board Committee meeting, one is entitled to receive P14, 000 already. It could reach P98, 000 monthly aside from the yearly grocery incentive of P80, 000. The benefits do not end there; there is a mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, year-end bonus and financial assistance with Christmas bonus and additional Christmas package. Each of these is worth P98, 000.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The sum total will reach P2.5 M annually for every member of the Board aside from free luxury car, technical assistance and loan accommodation. All these they accorded to themselves despite their retirees have not received their pensions yet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">La Mesa Watershed did not escape their greediness, instead of planting trees around the area for steady supply of water; houses were built for the top ranking officials of the said agency.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">President Noynoy said that &#8220;they will not eventually be ousted from office because they belong to the Midnight Appointees of former President Gloria Arroyo.&#8221; However, he will have to make investigation regarding this issue and &#8220;If they still possess even a little of self-worth, they should voluntarily resign from office,&#8221; the President added.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Regarding the infrastructure program of the government, DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) pointed out 246 priority safety projects that will be funded by the Motor Vehicle Users charge. It will need a budget appropriation of P425M.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">What were funded were 28 projects only. 218 projects were not only considered but were replaced with 70 projects not within the plans. The requested budget of P425M went up to P480M for the projects which benefitted only few beneficiaries. The projects were useless and not well-deliberated upon, they just came out from nowhere.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Five days before the end of Arroyo&#8217;s term as President, she ordered the release of P3.5 B for the rehabilitation of those affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. The amount was supposed to be for 86 projects. President said that 18 of these projects worth P981M were discovered by his men and barred because it was found that even before the release of the Special Allotment Release Order, contracts have already been executed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">President Noynoy also discussed what had happened in NAPOCOR (National Power Corporation). From 2001 to 2004, the government under Gloria Arroyo forced the said agency to sell power supply at a loss to avoid an alleged high price for consumers but he added that the real reason was to raise funds for the forthcoming election then.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Because of this, in 2004, the debt of NAPOCOR reached its maximum limit that forced the national government to shoulder the P200B debt. The people were made to believe that they were benefited by the move however; it is the consumer that shoulders the burden of paying the said debt. The decision was founded on wrong politics and not in accordance with the people&#8217;s needs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Same thing happened at MRT (Metro Rail Transit), he further discussed. The operator was forced to maintain low transportation fare resulting to losses and eventual purchase of MRT by Land Bank and Development Bank of the Philippines. With the government&#8217;s failure to uphold the guarantee given to the operator that they can recover the cost, people money was switched over for a losing business.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Regarding the funds of NFA (National Food Authority), in 2004, 117,000 metric tons was the shortage in rice supply of the Philippines. The NFA bought 900,000 metric tons. However you compute it, still the over importation was seven times more than the shortage. In 2007, 589,000 metric tons was the supply shortage, they bought 1.827 million metric tons. Again, there was excessive importation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The sad part is that the rice were made to rot in warehouses. This also happened in 2008 when people were lining up for hours under the scorching sun just to buy a kilo or two of NFA rice.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Is this not a crime to allow the rice to rot despite the reality that 4M Filipinos are deprived of three-square meals a day?&#8221; he asked.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The disgusting result is NFA&#8217;s debt reached P171.6B this May. The wastage could have funded the following:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">1. Judiciary budget of P12.7B for 2010.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">2. Conditional Transfers for 2011 of P29.6B</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">3. Classrooms at P130B</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;These kind of governmental processes are exceptionally displeasing,&#8221; remarked the President, summing up the anomalies that he and his men brought to light during his first State of the Nation Address.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As he continued his speech, he further reiterated that his leadership marks the end of extravagance and unbeneficial use of government funds. Out of keeping projects will be bumped off and implement a zero-based approach on the budget. By next month they will come up with a budget that acknowledges real problems and focuses on the possible rightful solutions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;These are but a few of the uncovered problems facing the nation. Here are some of the steps that are being considered&#8221;, he further hashed out.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There was a case of an owner of a pawnshop who could purchase a car worth P26M, who can afford to buy a Lamborghini but cannot however pay taxes. The appropriate charges were already filed in court. Every week, cases are being filed against smugglers and tax evaders.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">For extralegal killings, 50% are up for resolutions. The other half will be earnestly pursued and that they will not rest until justice has been attained. All perpetrators of injustices have to be punished.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Truth Commission to be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide who has recently finished his term in the International Court of Justice has been created. This commission will be responsible to uncover the truth of the alleged anomalies that occurred during the past seven years. Within the week, President Noynoy will sign the very first order creating the Truth Commission.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If the answer to injustices is judgment of conviction, the answer to budget deficit is modern and creative ways to resolve the perennial problems. We have great deal of indigences, from education, infrastructure, health, military and police, etc. The budget is not enough to respond to all these demands, he further discussed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He continued saying, &#8220;no matter how great is the burden to respond to these problems, I am inspired because many are showing interest for change and trust in the Philippines.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The solution will be: Public-Private Partnerships. Even if there is no contract yet being executed, he added, he can say that this is effective and will be fruitful. There are already interested parties to construct an expressway from Manila, that will pass through Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya to the end of Cagayan Valley without the government spending even a peso, he said.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">According to him, in the military service, we have 36,000 nautical miles but, we only have 30 ships that were acquired during the time of MacArthur. There was a proposition to rent the headquarters of Navy in Roxas Boulevard and Naval Station in Fort Bonifacio.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The proponent will shoulder the cost of transferring the Navy Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo and immediately give the government USD100M aside from an additional share in the earnings of the businesses that will be integrated at the rented area. In short, the government will earn without spending.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are other offers from local as well as foreign businesses to help augment the needs of the people.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">From these public-private partnerships, the economy will flourish and every Filipino will be benefited and can provide aid to other sectors. To help promote tourism, infrastructure can be constructed. In agriculture, grains terminals, refrigeration facilities will also be constructed with good road networks and post-harvest facilities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With the help of the private sector, the food supply chain can be in order, so instead of importing, we can dream of supplying food to the international market. If the suggested railway system is realized, prices of goods will go down, much cheaper, speedier, more convenient and more so, travelers can avoid &#8220;Kotong&#8221; cops and extortion from rebel groups.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Just a reminder, he said:&#8221;Foremost in our platform is the creation of more jobs and jobs come from a growing industry. Industry will only flourish if we can only make it clean, speedier and convenient in the processing for those who wanted to put up businesses.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He promised to speed up the process of projects under the Build-Operate-Transfer. With the help of the sectors of government and the citizens, the processing period will be reduced to six months when before, it takes years if not a decade.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He inspired the people that the time has come when we need not choose between security and future of our children. Once the public-private ownership is realized, it can fund social services in accordance with the platform of government, particularly in education from the 10 years to the global standard of 12 years.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Further he said that the future is good. He will push for the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, where a bill will not be passed not until the source of funding is identified. There were bills that have been passed into law but due to insufficiency of budget allotment, they were not implemented.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He further reiterated that we should not allow another NBN-ZTE scandal. He asked help from the legislators to help amend the low on procurement. And the need for an Anti-Trust Law that will provide opportunity to small and medium scale enterprises to participate in the growth of the economy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Also, he asked for the passage of the Whistleblower&#8217;s Bill to prevent fear and silence of material witnesses and strengthened the Witness Protection Program.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Regarding the situation in Mindanao, President Noynoy said his views on the issue remain unchanged, that the mistakes of the past must not be committed again and be aware that the past peace processes is undoubtedly tinted with political color and not solely for public interest and welfare.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">About the CPP-NPA-NDF he asked: &#8220;Are you ready to lay concrete suggestion instead of criticisms?&#8221; &#8220;If peace is all you want, are you ready to an extensive cease fire? &#8220;Let us talk. It is hard to talk when the air is filled with gun powders. I am calling on you; let us not allow putting to waste this very good opportunity to meet under the same political desire, he added.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In addition, he said, peace and order is the foundation of progress. Continuous fighting is continuously tying us to poverty. Let us realize that this is the time to sacrifice and this sacrifice will serve as our investment for our future. Associated with our rights and freedom is our duty to our people and country.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In closing, he ask the media to watch their own line to upheld the principle of their profession, fair and truthful reporting. He also asked the people to watch at their elected officials and move from criticizing to participating in the affairs of the government and be a part of the solution.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He summated that it is God and the people that brought him to where he now stands. The mandate is cogent evidence that the people are still hoping for a change. &#8220;The situation is really different. Now is to dream again. Let us proceed to the realization of our dreams,&#8221; he closes.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">PureComfortLinens.com, the ecommerce outlet of Vicera Enterprises, Inc., a duly registered corporation, offers a wide variety of high quality bedding and accessories for every bedroom in your house. It carries simple and colorful linens, stylish bedspreads, conventional comforters with self corded edge finish, etc., balmy pillows, beautiful pillow cases and other bed accouterments. We have been providing consumers with durability and comfort at reasonable prices.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marivic_Malinao</p>
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		<title>The Trouble With Business Tax Cuts</title>
		<link>http://www.jeff4gov.com/97/the-trouble-with-business-tax-cuts</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:40:09 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[A lot of discussion has arisen lately over the potential expiration of the tax cuts pushed out during George W Bush&#8217;s presidency. These cuts gave extensive tax incentives for the upper class, allowing them to save millions of dollars. As the tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2010, Congress is in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;">A lot of discussion has arisen lately over the potential expiration of the tax cuts pushed out during George W Bush&#8217;s presidency. These cuts gave extensive tax incentives for the upper class, allowing them to save millions of dollars. As the tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2010, Congress is in heavy debate over whether to let them expire or to extend the cuts. Unfortunately, extending these cuts can be very dangerous.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The notion of the Bush tax cuts was the idea of trickle down economics. By giving the wealthy bigger chunks of their income, the government believed they would give them more capital to launch businesses. These investments would then spur the creation of new jobs, helping the economy grow. In a country that prides the small businesses, this is a big benefit as more wealthy means more business creation.</p>
<p><span id="more-97"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">However, the trouble is, this tax doesn&#8217;t quite work with the effectiveness you would think. As recent news stories have shown that the Fortune 500 have over one trillion dollars in reserves, the concern is not a lack of funds, instead, it is a lack of interested purchasers. Demand is low, so is a reduced tax on the wealthy going to increase demand?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Not likely. When you study the marginal propensity to consume (or the percent of every dollar you earn which you spend), the wealthier you get the less likely you are to spend money. Think, if a person has millions of dollars, they are in no rush to spend that extra money. However, if you are living paycheck to paycheck as the poorer people are, as soon as you give them money, it will go straight into the economy, thereby increasing businesses demand.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As such, increasing demand for businesses is more about giving money to the lower classes. Lack of funds is not stopping businesses from growing, and so giving them better tax cuts will not help the economy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Martin Fister is an active product blogger, writing for web sites including nook vs kindle and haynes furniture. In his spare time, Martin also pursues his interests in the music industry as a journalist.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Fister</p>
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		<title>Exposing the Myth &#8211; &#8220;I&#8217;m From the Government and I Am Here to Help You&#8221;</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:40:42 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description><![CDATA[Probably at some point in our nation&#8217;s past, this was a true statement: &#8220;I&#8217;m from the government and I am here to help you.&#8221; That was when government was much smaller and more focused on a limited set of functions. So limited, in fact, that government was actually good at getting some problems solved. However, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;">Probably at some point in our nation&#8217;s past, this was a true statement: &#8220;I&#8217;m from the government and I am here to help you.&#8221; That was when government was much smaller and more focused on a limited set of functions. So limited, in fact, that government was actually good at getting some problems solved. However, given the behavior of today&#8217;s government functions, personnel, and the American political class these past few years, it is probably true that this statement is no longer a fact, it is just a myth. Consider the following myth busting behaviors:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">1) The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is responsible for overseeing the integrity of the accounting processes and accuracy of public companies&#8217; financials. They were obviously asleep at the wheel when many of Wall Street&#8217;s largest financial firms, rapidly and without warning, either went bankrupt or dove into deep financial stress at the onset of the greatest financial collapse in this country since the Great Depression. How did this economic and financial fiasco occur with almost no advance warning by the SEC? A possible answer was published in an April 23, 2010 Associated Press article which reported on the findings of an SEC Inspector General analysis. The analysis found that more than two and half dozen SEC employees were found to have used their government issued computers to search the Internet for pornography during the time they should have been hard at work protecting the interests of Americans who invest in public companies. As examples of their findings, one SEC attorney spent up to eight hours a day downloading pornography, burning his findings to CDs and DVD discs once his hard drive filled up with the pornographic material. An SEC accountant was blocked over 16,000 times in one month (or about 800 times a day, 10 times an hour) from visiting pornographic websites yet he was able to eventually collect a collection of pornographic material on his government computer by using a method to bypass the SEC filters. Seventeen of the pornography seekers at the SEC were considered &#8220;senior level&#8221; employees, earning salaries up to $222,000 a year. These government employees were obviously too busy to help protect the interests of the American investors, people who lost untold billions of dollars as a result of the financial crisis that the SEC staff never saw coming.</p>
<p><span id="more-79"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">2) In January of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a report that concluded the $150 billion that the Federal government had spent on the Head Start program since 1965 has no long lasting benefits to the children that had been enrolled in the program. Another analysis, this one conducted by the Heritage Foundation found similar results: &#8220;Head Start has little to no effect on cognitive, socio-emotional, health, and parenting outcomes of children participating in the program.&#8221; Thus, rather than delivering the benefits that Head Start is supposed to deliver, we are left with an annual multi billion set of early education government programs that are little more than a government subsidized baby sitting service.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">3) In the April 26, 2010 issue of Newweek magazine, an article by Dan Stockman exposed the fact that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is not doing a lot of protecting, at least relative to the Clean Air Act. According to research done by Mr. Stockman, his analysis of the EPA&#8217;s public database of enforcement records showed that on a national basis, more than 750 companies have been in continuous violation of clean air laws since 2007. Included in these 750 companies were over two hundred companies defined as high priority because of the severity of their offenses. What good is having a law and identifying offenders if there are no consequences or changes in behavior? Not very helpful.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">4) In the April 9, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, there was a short article about how shoddy the work at the Energy Department is relative to classifying products as deserving of a high energy saving appliance rating within the EnergyStar program. A company who gets an EnergyStar rating can market the energy efficiency of their product, as approved by the government, and theoretically sell more products and/or sell them at a higher price. Consumers look for the EnergyStar designation with the assumption being that these are good deals from a cost of energy perspective. One problem though. The article reported on a sting operation by Federal regulators that sent bogus designs to the people running the EnergyStar testing program. These bogus products included a gasoline powered alarm clock (certainly not a very efficient way to tell time) and a feather duster attached to a space heater that had been called an &#8220;air filter&#8221; by the regulators. Unfortunately, both of these bogus products and most of the others were awarded the EnergyStar status by the Energy Department. Obviously, the Energy Department is not here to help you distinguish energy efficient products from those that are not if these somewhat outrageous fake products can pass the current energy efficiency standards in the inspection process.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">5) Most people probably know that Toyota has been having a spate of safety problems with it&#8217;s cars over the past few months, with accusations that these safety problems have resulted in traffic fatalities. What most people do not know, as reported in the March 1, 2010 issue of Businessweek, the government had opened, and shortly thereafter closed, eight inquiries into the problem with Toyota products, starting back in 2003. In all eight cases they found no significant problems and closed all probes with no action taken. It was not until the past year or so that the government finally recognized that maybe there is a problem and Toyota was finally forced to take remedial action on its vehicles. The article points out the fact that the two government interface executives at Toyota used to work for the very government agency responsible for automobile safety, implying that the government might have gone easy on their former co-workers. Given that upwards of a hundred Americans may have died as a result of faulty Toyota products, it does not look like the government is helping anyone here either.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">6) Several years ago the government belatedly pulled a series of imported toy products from China off of the shelf because the products were made using lead based materials that could seriously hurt a child if the the child put a toy in their mouths and the lead entered their systems. While the good news is the government safety organization finally got the products off of the shelves, it would have been much better if they had never entered the country in the first place, Even worse, according to a May 20, 2010 Associated Press article, the overseas producers simply replaced their lead laced products with cadmium laced products which are just as dangerous. One would have thought the government would have been a little more alert to these types of products since they had just gone through the lead based experience. Alas, they were no better the second time around as the cadmium products came ashore.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">7) A May 17, 2010 Associated Press article reported on the many oversights and incompetence of Federal employees of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Federal agency, the agency responsible for overseeing the safety of oil rigs in the Gulf Of Mexico. According to the article and an internal report, not as many inspections were done as required, many MMS employees received hunting and fishing vacations along with other gifts from the same companies they were supposed to keep in line from a safety perspective, some MMS employees were inspecting oil rigs of companies at the same time they were in negotiations for employment by those companies, and some MMS employees admitted being addicted to illegal drugs while being responsible for safety inspections and compliance. These Federal employees were obviously little help in preventing the devastating Gulf oil spill.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> <img src='http://www.jeff4gov.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif' alt='8)' class='wp-smiley' /> The Department Of Homeland Security has certainly not been helpful. This past December, a would be terrorist traveled from Somalia to the skies over Detroit and would have blown up the airliner he was in if his underwear bomb had not malfunctioned. In the spring, another would be terrorist almost blew up a car bomb on the streets of Time Square which failed to explode only because of a defective bomb. Unknown numbers of illegal aliens and drugs, and who knows what else, continue to flood over our southern border with Mexico. Are we feeling secure yet?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">9) In a related non-helpful effort, an article in the June 11, 2010 issue of The Week magazine recalled a resolution from the House of Representatives in 1986. At that time, the House demanded that the Pentagon seal our borders within 45 days against illegal drugs. Looks like they missed that deadline.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">10) The No Children Left Behind legislation from the Bush administration has proven to be unsuccessful in raising the lower than expected learning levels of American children relative to the education of children in many other countries. Thus, nothing has changed since the Reagan administration issued its scathing report on American public schools in 1982, &#8220;A Nation At Risk.&#8221; Thus, the American political class and its government processes have been unhelpful for at least twenty eight years in raising education standards and output of the country.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">11) On the foreign affairs front, government and the political class have not been very helpful either. Two renegade countries, North Korea and Iran, with economies and populations that are just a small fraction the size of the United States, will both soon have the ability and intention of creating and stockpiling nuclear weapons. Unstable leadership in these countries is not a long term formula for safety and security.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">12) In the face of all of these failures, what have the politicians been working on during the past year that might eventually help all of us live a better life? A California Congresswoman and her staff worked on legislation that would establish Federal regulations for the sound volume of television commercials, another Congressman was working on legislation that would prevent male dysfunction commercials from airing on television, another Congressman and his staff worked on legislation to give pet owners a tax deduction in these hard economic times, and many Washington politicians were involved in the debate on how to get a national college football playoff system in place. How many of these items would fall in the top 20 issues facing most Americans today? Probably not many. Politicians spend time on these small, insignificant issues while the big issues of public education, energy policy, leaky borders, high health care costs, skyrocketing national debt levels, and high unemployment continue to grow unabated.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">13) Finally, the biggest and most widespread non-help in the past sixty years was obviously related to the financial crash and economic downturn of the past few years. Numerous government agencies were absolutely no help in foreseeing and managing the housing and banking crisis that caused the so-called &#8220;Great Recession.&#8221; These Federal government entities include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, SEC, Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, House of Representatives housing and banking committees, Senate housing and banking committees, the FDIC, the FHA, the Bush administration, the Obama administration, and any number of other unhelpful government organizations. If these agencies and politicians could not see this great, historic economic crisis coming until it was way too late to do anything, what makes us think they have any chance in successfully managing the smaller, more subtle aspects of the economy?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Did we leave anyone out? We need to get over the myth that government is somehow an efficient and effective ally in our lives. The above examples should be proof of that. Many Americans still think that once a law is passed or a program established that the battle is over and everything will be great: government workers and agencies taking care of things in a super efficient manner at a reasonable cost. Given the above list of incompetencies and the record, sky high national debt levels we have, we are getting the worst of all possible combinations &#8211; high cost, low quality.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We need to start a long term, systematic downsizing of government in order to reduce our national debt and get government smaller and more focused on just the important, major issues of our times, which does not include the sound volume of television commercials. The logic is if the political class and government agencies have less to worry about, they may actually get good at a few things rather than being incompetent in a wide range of things. It makes no sense to continue to support a government bureaucracy when all we get is the low performance or non-performance described above. Drastically downsize and focus, that is what must be done to get us out of the high cost/low quality zone into the low cost/high quality zone. Then, and only then, might the myth &#8220;I&#8217;m from the government and I am here to help you&#8221; actually become a reality again.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Our new book, &#8220;Love My Country, Loathe My Government &#8211; Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class&#8221; is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com and online at Amazon and Barnes &amp; Noble. Visit our blog at http://www.loathemygovernment.blogspot.com for our nealry daily dialog on American freedom.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bruno_Korschek</p>
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		<title>The Odd Politics</title>
		<link>http://www.jeff4gov.com/56/the-odd-politics</link>
		<comments>http://www.jeff4gov.com/56/the-odd-politics#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:55:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politic News]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.jeff4gov.com/?p=56</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Politics have always been an interesting topic to people engaged in government related activities. Historically, politics is the back bone of every nation. Its effectiveness can always dictate the future of the nation it serves. True leadership will always be tested when it comes to the idea of serving the purpose of politics. It has [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;">Politics have always been an interesting topic to people engaged in government related activities. Historically, politics is the back bone of every nation. Its effectiveness can always dictate the future of the nation it serves. True leadership will always be tested when it comes to the idea of serving the purpose of politics. It has always been a challenge for politicians to face defining moments. Defining moments are events that will test even the most tactful judgment. Its always easy to choose between right and wrong but its just difficult to choose between right and right. Experience and values are always the differentiator of every politician.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The odd in politics come to surface on each election period. You can just imagine the events that may arise during campaign period. The funny thing is that it is very rare to see a politician keep up with commitments and promises made during the campaign. You and I will agree that each of them would showcase what they can do when elected. Those promises in itself is quite odd. It is like setting a condition before taking the right actions. Seldom that you will hear somebody &#8220;I have done this and will continue doing it&#8221;; in most events, you will hear them say &#8221; when elected, I will move the mountains for you&#8221;. Indeed oddity!</p>
<p><span id="more-56"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">What is in store for a politician when elected is the million dollar question that needs an answer. We enumerate from the compensation up to the benefits of being a politician. Depending on a nation&#8217;s economy and the position gunning for, compensation as politician varies. Nevertheless, it is always less than what executives of small and big companies get. So why are people going for office? Maybe due to fame? Maybe due to influence? Connections maybe? Or all of the things I have mentioned? Whichever the case maybe, it all serve one&#8217;s self. If the answer is a big yes then you have a major problem. It has been said that the future of each nation depends on its leader.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We all have that power to put someone to office. That has always been the question when a nation goes starving due to some crooks elected in office. Sad truth it may seem but looking at each campaign before elections day, we are made to believe of every platform so they said would change or better our economy. Once they sit in office, our hands are all caught in a cookie jar. We are on dead end. So the key there is a wise decision making when choosing your leader. It doesn&#8217;t take an expert to choose one nor a previous experience to decide who should get our votes. It only needs somebody aware enough of the current situations of the nation; someone who pays attention to the daily news.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Its really a defining moment for everyone concerned of what will happen to the future. It is indeed a tough decision to make. The future of the nations depends on the powerful votes that we will cast. That future pertains to the economy our children will have to live in. The odd of politics will always be there as long as people do not value our nation&#8217;s welfare.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">When I am not busy dead lifting over half a ton, I am reviewing electric wine chillers which I use for my protein shakes and energy drinks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Carbon</p>
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		<title>The Start of the European Union</title>
		<link>http://www.jeff4gov.com/23/the-start-of-the-european-union</link>
		<comments>http://www.jeff4gov.com/23/the-start-of-the-european-union#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:28:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.jeff4gov.com/?p=23</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The European Union is commonly abbreviated as simply the EU, and is the collection of many of the countries located in what is generally considered to be the continent of Europe. The Union has been in existence since 1993, and the initiatives it has undertaken have been both political and economic. Perhaps the most publicly [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;">The European Union is commonly abbreviated as simply the EU, and is the collection of many of the countries located in what is generally considered to be the continent of Europe. The Union has been in existence since 1993, and the initiatives it has undertaken have been both political and economic. Perhaps the most publicly well known initiative that is recognized in North American is that the European Union established a standardized currency across most of Europe, which is known as the Euro. European Union trivia will show that sixteen countries have now adopted the Euro officially.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A European Union quiz will show that there are twenty seven countries that are members of the organization. They are in alphabetical order, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.</p>
<p><span id="more-23"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The EU has grown to its impressive twenty seven country size after starting with only six. France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are shown in European Union trivia to comprise the original members of the Union. The majority of the continent has since joined after meeting the criteria set out in 1993 to join. Most of the non members are in the Eastern part of the continent. The Western European countries which have not joined are Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A European Union quiz will show that the goals of the organization were never military in nature, and that the economy and trade were always the far stronger goals. It was decided early on that existing military policies which were in place were more than sufficient to govern that part of policy. Most of the countries are already members of NATO, while those who are not have neutrality policies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are a number of reasons why the Euro has only been adopted by sixteen of the countries in the Union. Two have had their membership include the fact that they will not have to accept the Euro as their sole currency. These are the United Kingdom, and Denmark. Sweden on the other hand, has carefully avoided having to adopt the Euro by not meeting the targets required for them to meet before adoption.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Although most matters of internal policy are still left to individual governments, the EU has attempted to have an impact in other areas. The Environment, agriculture, and energy are other key areas in which the EU attempts to set common policy and goals.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Masters of Trivia is a website dedicated to trivia games and quizzes that cover several different areas of interest. The various trivia questions available on the site can be easily accessed and played by going to http://www.mastersoftrivia.com.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shawna_S._Ruppert</p>
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		<title>The Reagan Coalition &#8211; Past, Present and Future</title>
		<link>http://www.jeff4gov.com/10/the-reagan-coalition-past-present-and-future</link>
		<comments>http://www.jeff4gov.com/10/the-reagan-coalition-past-present-and-future#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:22:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.jeff4gov.com/?p=10</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Reagan coalition was a group of voters brought together by Republican Ronald Reagan in order to establish a major political realignment with his massive victory in the 1980 United States Presidential Election. Democrat Jimmy Carter&#8217;s failure in majority of socio-economic groups made the formation of the Reagan Coalition possible.
The Past:

It was in the year [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;">The Reagan coalition was a group of voters brought together by Republican Ronald Reagan in order to establish a major political realignment with his massive victory in the 1980 United States Presidential Election. Democrat Jimmy Carter&#8217;s failure in majority of socio-economic groups made the formation of the Reagan Coalition possible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Past:</p>
<p><span id="more-10"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It was in the year 1984 that Reagan corroborated his support by claiming nearly 60% of the popular vote and carried 49 of the 50 states. The Reagan Democrats, who were mainly white, socially conservative blue-collar workers of the Northeast, were Democrats earlier but voted for the Republican in favor of Reagan&#8217;s social conservatism on issues such as abortion, and to his hawkish foreign policy. However, these voters who brought landslide victories to Ronald did not vote for the Republicans in 1992 and 1996. Thus, the popular term &#8220;Reagan Coalition&#8221; soon fell into abandonment, except as a reference to the 1980s. The term is now usually used to describe the southern whites who permanently changed party affiliation from Democrat to Republican during the Reagan administration, and they have largely remained Republican to this day.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Founding Principles of the Coalition:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">• Individual Liberty<br />
• Personal Responsibility<br />
• National Security<br />
• Limited Federalist National Government<br />
• Free Market Capitalism<br />
• Traditional American Values<br />
• The Rule of Law</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Present: Obama Heading the Carter Way:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The biggest question that needs to be answered today is whether Obama can create a sensation and improve his favorable rating, which has recently dropped down to the below-50 mark, by revivifying the dilapidated Reagan Coalition. Obama&#8217;s radical and expensive policies have caused his approval ratings to tank in a very short span of time. Several Conservatives have already started to believe that President Obama is headed more and more in a Jimmy Carter direction. With President&#8217;s high expenses, government control of the economy, especially on energy, and apparent signs of retreat abroad, it seems like Jimmy Carter has again won his second term of office, 28 years after getting booted by the American electorate!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Future: Are We Ready for Another Reagan Coalition?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Reagan had established himself into a redoubtable candidate by discussing politics and philosophy on the speaking circuit for years and then adhering to conservative values as the governor for 8 long years. it was his clear optimism that allowed him to form the coalition. He led the coalition to power in 1980 and people were aware about the agenda that he would follow as a President. But, the point of interest here is that it took a Carter to put Reagan in Office. If we go by what most Conservatives are feeling today, we already have a Carter ready in form of President Obama. But, do we have a Reagan ready to go? Years 2010 and 2012 will give Conservatives a golden opportunity to revive a kind of &#8216;Reagan Coalition&#8217; if they could find a candidate who has the experience and credibility in office and activism to give it that kind of strength.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Find similar articles and more on Reagan Coalition Future at ReaganCoalition.Com.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eshwarya_Patel</p>
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