Steps to a Better New Year

A new year has begun, bright and shiny and full of promise...if we make it so.

There is a lot to be learned from the past few years as we forge ahead. Let's review some of the most egregious economic errors of the recent past and what we might do as individuals to solve the problems that have arisen as a result.

Firstly: It's about time we start to demand responsibility from our elected officials...especially those who directly represent us in legislative branches of government. Our constitution set up the US Congress to be the most powerful entity in the land. Our Founders did this for a very good reason...congress was designed to be large and have many members therefore requiring a great deal of debate before creating laws and regulations. This was intended to make certain such laws would be limited in their impact and power, and balanced in their effect.

The Executive branch was meant to be the weakest of branches as that branch would be limited in size...normally the President and cabinet. The intent was to minimize the power of a small group of individuals, as throughout history the failure to restrict the power of a small cadre had always produced dictatorships.

Over the last few decades, and increasingly so in the last few years, our Congress has voluntarily handed over power, a bit at a time, to the Executive branch. In the last few years that branch has added literally thousands of new "laws" in the form of regulations mainly over the businesses which power our economy. In response the economy has been forced into reducing production and employment, all done by proxies of the Executive branch of government, most of whom are unelected, with no input from the people's representatives in the legislature.

It is past time for our congressional members to step up to their responsibilities and shut down this abuse of power. But we have to demand it or it won't be done. With House elections coming up, this issue should be a measuring stick for judging the candidates...will they shirk their duties, or step up to the plate and act as responsible adults?

Secondly: to move our economy forward we must demand truth and accountability from our elected, and unelected, officials. While hundreds of thousands of jobs are being lost each month, the federal government has been busy redefining what "jobs" are and the number of such jobs (how can jobs be "lost" if they don't exist...oddly they did exist a few years ago). This has enabled them to make vague claims of an "improving" economic picture so as to hide their incompetence. When the media talking heads tell us that losing 380,000 jobs is "good" because we might have lost 400,000 jobs...let them know we are not idiots and they shouldn't be a party to such pure nonsense. Then let your elected representatives know as well.

The above is simply one example of the communications we receive from a government trying to maintain and increase its power. Don't be afraid to openly repudiate such garbage and to demand the truth. Remember...they work for us...they are our employees.

Thirdly: we have to start thinking critically. We are inundated daily with nonsense and pure propaganda, and normally either ignore or absorb such messages without analysis. This "information" is designed to sway us in a direction that will benefit the messenger instead of society.

For example; probably the most important thing we can do at this time to put our economy on track and guarantee our future is to push for aggressive policies that will quickly increase the energy supply available to our economy...energy being the cornerstone of production and wealth creation. Uncapping sealed oil fields, building the proposed pipeline, and clearing the huge backlog of permits that the EPA has stalled for political reasons would be a start. In the past, simply threatening these actions has caused world oil prices to drop in half, or greater, and has been a huge boon to the US economy. So why has our government refused to even threaten such steps?

Our government officials are literally petrified by the environmental movement working hand-in-hand with leftist radicals and foreign oil companies. This weird lobbying and protesting block has become the most powerful political force in WA DC and they will not go down without a fight. Their tactics include creating phony environmental and economic think tanks and "research centers" which inundate us with constant propaganda.

A perfect example being a recent "finding" by an economic think tank, actually founded and paid for by a large Brazilian oil firm, "warning" US citizens that the currently proposed pipeline project would actually decrease US supply, therefore increasing the price of gas. Such strange violations of economic law is the bread and butter of foreign corporations using "front groups" to help support lobbying efforts against US business and consumer interests.

If our elected representatives learn we are aware of such shenanigans, and are willing to belittle and denounce such in public, they will begin to grow fearful of us...their employers...instead of radicals, protestors, and foreign monied interests.

But we need to make it happen. Get the email addresses of your state and federal law makers...send them polite, but firm, messages on these issues...and politely demand they work for us instead of special interests, lobbyists, and foreign corporations. If we, the people, don't control our futures...those with hidden agendas will...and it will not be a good thing for our children and generations to come.