THINGS TO PONDER WITH SERIOUSNESS

By |2018-01-09T19:48:57+00:00January 9th, 2018|Uncategorized|

A thought to remember, Marx said,

“Remove one freedom per generation and soon you will have no freedom and no one would have noticed.”

There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class.

One day while the class was in the lab, the professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter.

The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting Communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime.

In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked:

 

“Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.

The young man said that it was no joke.

 

“You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free food.

When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.

They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.

The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again. You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America & Canada. The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare entitlements, medicine, drugs, etc., while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should always remember two truths:

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

If you see that all of this wonderful government “help” is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America & Canada, you might want to share this with your friends.

If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will probably not share this.

BUT, God help us all when the gate slams shut!

Think about this ……
Quote for today: “The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living.”

Where Your Tax Dollars Go: Transparency Update

By |2017-12-27T22:05:54+00:00December 27th, 2017|Taxes, Uncategorized|

Who We Are

At OpenTheBooks.com, we work hard to capture and post all disclosed spending at every level of government – federal, state, and local. We’ve successfully captured nearly 4 billion public expenditures, and we are rapidly growing our data in all 50 states down to the municipal level. We won’t stop until we capture every dime taxed and spent by our government.

As a government watchdog organization, we accept no government funding.

OpenTheBooks.com is a project of American Transparency – a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan charitable organization. All donations are tax deductible for federal or state income tax purposes to the fullest extent of the law.

What We Do

OpenTheBooks.com operates under three distinct magnifying glasses.

  1. Current Events
    We follow the national news cycle closely and apply our unique data to breaking news stories. Our data adds to the national narrative and provide a new angle for the country’s most-covered stories.
  1. Oversight Reports
    We publish in-depth oversight reports on the federal, state, and local government entities. Our reports are unique, providing detailed insight to the intricate ways tax dollars are spent.
  1. Unique Database 
    Perhaps our most important microscope for long-term impact, we have worked to make our data easy to use, accurate, and accessible. OpenTheBooks.com is the world’s largets private database of government spending. Our goal is to put every government expense – local, state, and federal – online in real time. The data is accessible via cell phone, iPad, and computer to everyone including public citizens, investigative reporters, academics, think tanks, politicians, and more.

What We Believe

It’s your money, and you deserve to see where every dime is spent! We believe taxpayers have a constitutional right to government oversight. We believe hard data is a game changer. Once citizens are able to see how the government spends their money, it will influence how they vote and how they view their government.

Holiday Survival Guide: How to Deal With the Left-Winter in Your Family

By |2017-12-23T18:54:36+00:00December 23rd, 2017|Uncategorized|

It’s the season to spend time with family and celebrate the season. Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Kawanza, or Christmas, odds are you’ll be seeing a lot of relatives this year. The question on everyone’s minds is how to survive the holiday season when your child comes home from college, or when that one cousin, uncle, or a grandfather who’s been a Democrat his entire life comes to visit. We have the solution.

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Enough with the Victimhood: Millionaire Athletes and Their Lost Cause

By |2017-12-07T21:13:46+00:00December 7th, 2017|Uncategorized|

By Sylvia Thompson

I must admit I have never in my life purchased a ticket to a sports event. I am not a sports enthusiast. But I am an American black citizen, and I have had it up to the gills with black people who embrace victimhood. I also highly resent my being expected to do the same in order to affirm my “blackness.”

Black victims these days, for the most part, are the product of decades of Black Americans being used primarily by white progressive leftists to advance an anti-American agenda.

The current brouhaha surrounding the despicable behavior of NFL athletes toward the National Anthem and the American flag is a prime example of what the Left has done to my race.

One must assume these players and their guilt-conflicted white coaches and owners (and victimhood-inflicted black coaches) are being manipulated by the Left, because no intelligent, thinking people would deliberately cut themselves off at the knees. Essentially, what these young misguided mostly black men are doing is ensuring the demise of their lucrative paychecks. Further, I would wager that if these teams consisted of all white athletes, none of this idiocy would be allowed. We are witnessing this travesty because the vast majority of players are black and can whine “oppression” if appropriate action is taken against them for their unconscionable behavior.

The twisted reasoning that claims these protests are to highlight “injustice” and “police brutality” is a laughable crock. What they do in fact is dishonor valued symbols of this nation’s heritage and cover over truth about black crime.

Black males bear the brunt of police encounters because black males commit disproportionately more crimes. Police encounters with black men are so often confrontational because so many of these men, especially the young, don’t think “compliance” applies to them. They foolishly assume they are above the law and disrespect for police officers is an act of honor.

These young blacks, sadly, took much of their direction from racists Obama and Eric Holder during Obama’s destructive, eight-year regime and Holder’s corruption of the Justice Department. These two men, abusing their federal powers, gave young blacks the impression they need not heed the law, because laws are somehow unjust when they are applied to black Americans. The NFL lot, and any other athletes taking a similar stance, are also influenced by Obama’s and Holder’s disdain for law and law enforcement.

I am not familiar with one case where a black suspect to a crime was not proven legally to have caused the behavior against him, particularly in cases where the police officer involved was exonerated by facts. Michael Brown of “hands up, don’t shoot” infamy is one good example. Blatant lies were spread to cloud the truth about Brown’s case.

Back in the day when I was growing up in the racially segregated South, the opposite prevailed in many cases. There was much injustice particularly toward black men, but not today. Today, too many blacks have been fed the notion that it is now “pay-back” time, and they can flaunt their lawlessness because some whites flaunted theirs during an earlier time in our nation’s history.

Although Obama and Holder no longer wield power in this country, some of their minions continue on the pernicious path of “paying back” American whites for wrongs, real or imagined. But as the saying goes, there is a new Sheriff in town and he is not guilt-conflicted. He expects fair play under law and tolerating pay-back is not part of his agenda. Black Americans, when they break the law, can no longer claim victim status simply because they are black. Those days are over.

American laws and law enforcement personnel will be respected in America, again; our traditions and values will not be impugned in America without consequences, again. Anybody unsettled about this turn of events is welcome to leave this country. I suggest all the black players try a country in Africa, and see how successful they will be at making millions playing games. They will all soon learn what oppression really means.

Some self-directed, independent-thinking blacks (and there are many of us) have offered that if these millionaire protestors want to tackle some real problems, they might consider the thousands of black children killed in abortions annually (by the progressive Left), or perhaps the many, many young blacks murdered routinely on inner-city streets by other young blacks (in cities run by progressive, leftist Democrats), or the downright criminal state of education of black inner-city children, orchestrated by the progressive leftist National Education Association (NEA). The NEA’s aim is to produce unintelligent pawns to feed the cause of progressivism.

I am annoyed by the expressions of “sincerity” gracing the faces of the NFL protestors—as if to convey the “hallowedness” of their cause. In actuality, they provide a picture of grown men allowing themselves to be made fools of by the progressive Left. I don’t doubt, however, that some of these men have been coerced into compliance with this lost cause, either through threats of violence or shunning (from coaches and players). Alejandro Villanueva of the Pittsburgh Steelers and former Army ranger is very likely a victim of such threats. He was publicly castigated by his leftist coach for his patriotism. The coach demanded unity behind an ignorant cause.

And finally, this issue has nothing to do with First Amendment rights. President Trump’s speaking out against the clownish behavior of the athletes, on behalf of the majority of American citizens, does not mean he can or would stop any of these misguided people from making fools of themselves. To restrict them, as a government entity, would indeed be a violation of the First Amendment. But their employers, if they were to develop even a modicum of testicular fortitude, could and should fire them for doing major damage to the bottom line of the business. The rest of us non-millionaire “Joes” would certainly be pink-slipped by an employer if we dared to be so clueless about the necessity of profits and so disdainful of the sensibilities of customers.

I will wait patiently for the true sports enthusiasts to vent their rage by simply boycotting the games. It will be sweet revenge to witness the slain goose cease producing its golden eggs.

Regarding Net Neutrality

By |2017-12-07T21:05:02+00:00December 7th, 2017|Uncategorized|

Regarding Net Neutrality:

The government has no business regulating the internet. Hands off. Can you imagine the vote fixing slimy politicians could create and the stock market manipulation that could happen if speeds were sold and not offered equally. The world would become a nightmare due to information being manipulated by the swamp. I can’t imagine the corruption they would create. No, No, No. leave it alone, it works fine the way it is

Sign the petition here and call Congress to stop the vote from the FCC on Dec. 14, 2017

https://petitions.signforgood.com/ProtectNetNeutrality/?code=kos

An Open Letter to NFL Players

By |2017-10-10T20:05:24+00:00October 10th, 2017|Uncategorized|

You graduated high school in 2011.  Your teenage years were a struggle.  You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.  Your mother was the leader of the family and worked tirelessly to keep a roof over your head and food on your plate.  Academics were a struggle for you and your grades were mediocre at best. The only thing that made you stand out is you weighed 225 lbs and could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds while carrying a football.   Your best friend was just like you, except he didn’t play football.  Instead of going to football practice after school, he went to work at McDonalds for minimum wage.  You were recruited by all the big colleges and spent every weekend of your senior year making visits to universities where coaches and boosters tried to convince you their school was best.  They laid out the red carpet for you. Your best friend worked double shifts at Mickey D’s.  College was not an option for him.  On the day you signed with Big State University, your best friend signed paperwork with his Army recruiter.  You went to summer workouts.  He went to basic training.

You spent the next four years living in the athletic dorm, eating at the training table. You spent your Saturdays on the football field, cheered on by adoring fans.  Tutors attended to your every academic need.  You attended class when you felt like it. Sure, you worked hard.  You lifted weights, ran sprints, studied plays, and soon became one of the top football players in the country.  Your best friend was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. While you were in college, he deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice.  He became a Sergeant and led a squad of 19 year old soldiers who grew up just like he did.  He shed his blood in Afghanistan and watched young American’s give their lives, limbs, and innocence for the USA.

You went to the NFL combine and scored off the charts.  You hired an agent and waited for draft day.  You were drafted in the first round and your agent immediately went to work, ensuring that you received the most money possible. You signed for $16 million although you had never played a single down of professional football.  Your best friend re-enlisted in the Army for four more years. As a combat tested sergeant, he will be paid $32,000 per year.

You will drive a Ferrari on the streets of South Beach.  He will ride in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter with 10 other combat loaded soldiers.  You will sleep at the Ritz.  He will dig a hole in the ground and try to sleep.  You will “make it rain” in the club.  He will pray for rain as the temperature reaches 120 degrees.

On Sunday, you will run into a stadium as tens of thousands of fans cheer and yell your name.  For your best friend, there is little difference between Sunday and any other day of the week.  There are no adoring fans.  There are only people trying to kill him and his soldiers. Every now and then, he and his soldiers leave the front lines and “go to the rear” to rest.  He might be lucky enough to catch an NFL game on TV.  When the National Anthem plays and you take a knee, he will jump to his feet and salute the television.  While you protest the unfairness of life in the United States, he will give thanks to God that he has the honor of defending his great country.

To the players of the NFL:  We are the people who buy your tickets, watch you on TV, and wear your jerseys.  We anxiously wait for Sundays so we can cheer for you and marvel at your athleticism. Although we love to watch you play, we care little about your opinions until you offend us. You have the absolute right to express yourselves, but we have the absolute right to boycott you.  We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth..  We should be ashamed for putting our admiration of your physical skills before what is morally right.  But now you have gone too far. You have insulted our flag, our country, our soldiers, our police officers, and our veterans. You are living the American dream, yet you disparage our great country.  I am done with NFL football and encourage all like minded Americans to boycott the NFL as well.

National boycott of the NFL for Sunday November 12th,

Veterans Day Weekend.

Boycott all football telecast, all fans, all ticket holders, stay away from attending any games, let them play to empty stadiums. Pass this post along to all your friends and family. Honor our military, some of whom come home with the American Flag draped over their coffin.

Yes, or No?

By |2017-10-10T19:46:08+00:00October 10th, 2017|Uncategorized|

As many of you are aware, the Knights of Columbus submitted to congress that the words Under God” should be added to our pledge of allegiance.

Both Houses of Congress passed the law and it was signed by President Eisenhower in 1954. The information below was based on a poll taken by NBC on what percentage should keep the words in our pledge versus the percent who want it removed.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Shock to NBC

86% to keep God in the Pledge of Allegiance and 14% against. That is a pretty commanding’ public response.

Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why should our Nation cater to 14%?

Remembering 1987

By |2017-06-12T15:19:31+00:00July 12th, 2017|Uncategorized|

I had forgotten about all of this.  Makes this an important point for those who try to blame everything on Bush.

Do you remember 1987 when the Senators were giving Ollie North such a bad time?  This brings it all into perspective.  I thought you might be interested in this forgotten bit of information.

It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were playing an old news video of Lt. Col. Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration.  There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree, but what he said was stunning!

He was being drilled by a senator, “did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?”

The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience,

“Isn’t that just a little excessive?”

“No sir” continued Ollie.

“No, and why not?” the senator asked.

“Because the lives of my family and I were threatened sir”.

“Threatened? By whom?” the senator questioned.

“By a Muslim terrorist sir”. Ollie answer.

“Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?”

“His name is Osama bin Laden, sir”, Ollie replied.

At this point the Senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn’t pronounce it, which most people back then probably couldn’t. A couple of people laughed at the attempt.  Then the senator continued. “Why are you so afraid of this man?” the senator asked.

“Because sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of”, Ollie answered, “And the Muslims are trying to take over America and destroy it from the inside out and putting their people into our political offices.

“And what do you recommend we do about him?”, asked the senator.

“Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth.”

The senator disagreed with this approach, and that was all that was shown of the clip.  By the way, that senator was Al Gore!  Also: Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him.  As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called, “political prisoners”.  However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands.

The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, insisted that all prisoners be released. Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked us by flying an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center.  This was reported by many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first identified.

 

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