Paineful Truth

Socialism is bad. Very, very bad. If you don’t believe that, then I encourage you to take a vacation to Venezuela sometime. Just be sure to bring your own food because that’s something they’re kind of having a shortage of these days. The country has been struggling to say the least, especially over the last several years. When dictator, Hugo Chavez, took over in 1999, the government began expanding , gobbling up sectors of private industry. And before you knew it, private oil, telecommunications, energy and the cement industries were all under government control. And things are only getting worse. The government appears to be in panic mode and just recently seized a General Motors plant in the country. GM has made statements indicating that it is pulling out of the country entirely, forced out by government overreach. GM’s actions will add nearly 2700 people to the 25% unemployment in Venezuela. GM is only the latest in a series of major companies that have been forced out of bu...

It’s been a rough week for Donald Trump. Depending on who’s counting, he changed his mind on at least 4 key policies that were major talking points during his campaign. Probably the most striking position change was his switch regarding NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization went from obsolete in Trump’s eyes to ‘no longer obsolete ’ in the matter of a day. This article is not designed to criticize Trump necessarily. Some of his changes were arguably good changes. However, this does bring up an important point that we all need to consider - how do you tell the difference between a flip-flop and a genuine change of heart and mind? Anytime politics is discussed, if it’s not commiseration it’s generally an argument. You are trying to convince someone that they are wrong and that you are right. Since it happens so seldom, when someone actually does change their opinion, we don’t know what to do. Do we believe them? How can we trust them? How do we tell if it’s a flip-flop or a...

It’s been over two months since Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Since then we have seen both sides doing their best to freak out on a daily basis. Republicans freaking out about the Democrat’s hypocrisy, freaking out about the threat of a filibuster, freaking out about how the court needs all its justices to operate. The Democrats freaking out about how extreme Gorsuch is (despite his unanimous appointment to the 10th Circuit), freaking out about how unfair it is they didn’t get to help pick the nominee, etc. etc. etc. There is no doubt, emotions are running high on both sides of this issue. Each side has their own different reasons, but there is palpable fear on both sides. This begs the question - why this one nomination is causing so much fear on both sides? We ought to realize it is because the court is outside its Constitutional limits. Federalist #78, Hamilton, “The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or...

The Founding Fathers - this group of illustrious individuals are quoted heavily and viewed by many as experts, authorities on most subjects relating to government. This has become accepted practice in most circles that respect the original intent interpretation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. However, just because something is “accepted practice” does not mean that it should be an “unquestioned practice”. Indeed, the more familiar something is, the more normal is appears, the more we should investigate, the more we should question in a pursuit of truth. Thomas Jefferson: “Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.” Truth does not fear questions. Rather it encourages it. If our foundation is unexamined, how can we depend on what we build on that foundation? The Founding Fathers can and should be trusted as authorities when it comes to Americ...