Thought for the Day: On Nancy Pelosi vs. Donald Trump from Fr. Tom Collins

Trump defines progress as increasing the number of loaves, which can feed people.

Pelosi defines progress as increasing the number of loafers, who can feed off of people.

Today's Guffaw: Obama is to Blame for Loss of Jobs

I was listening briefly to Laura Ingraham on the way home from church this morning -- just long enough for a good guffaw. She was playing a clip (missed the source) of a man talking about Obama being responsible for loss of jobs. Excuse me? He certainly isn't helping the situation, but his two years have had little to do with the collapse of manufacturing in this country and the accompanying job loss. The steel industry went south about fifteen years ago and had a big impact on members of my husband's family who worked for Pittsburgh and Wheeling Steel. They lost jobs and pensions and Obama wasn't even a twinkle on the horizon. Now where does most of our steel come from? China and Russia?

The last time I was in a department store, every clothing item I picked up was from China, India, Indonesia, or VietNam. Are there any shoe factories in the U.S. anymore? How about toys? Linens? Rugs? We used to have a Levi factory here in Woodstock. It closed several years before Obama. Now it's a roller rink offering low level service jobs (and not many at that). A few miles south of us the Merrilat cabinet manufacturer laid off workers with the housing collapse. They used to run round the clock with three shifts. No more!

I'm no fan of Obama but the collapse of our manufacturing predates this administration by years...and years. Democratic policies have been disastrous, but what have the Republicans done to fix things when they are in office? Darned little. Like Joe Sobran always quipped. We have the choice of the evil party or the stupid party.

And what about ourselves? Some of our problem is due to the greed of American consumers who want more and more and more junk at cheaper and cheaper and cheaper prices. I like cheap too...that's why I go to the thrift store. But I don't need fifty pairs of shoes and twenty five dresses. And who needs every electronic gadget on the market? We can't compete with countries like China that keep their prices artificially low and pay slave wages and use convicts as factory fodder. We can't compete with the sweatshops of the third world and we shouldn't try. I don't know how you get other countries to pay a living wage, but the way to stop this country being a dumping ground for cheap goods is protective tarrifs and trade balance. We've been running a trade deficit since the 1980s and a long-term trade imbance destabalizes an economy. Unemployment increases, currency is undermined, and foreign debt becomes a serious problem. Sound familiar? Pretty soon we'll be a third world country ourselves. The middle class is disappearing. They're working at WalMart and McDonalds.

What can the individual do to stop the insanity? Live like a Christian for starters. Moderation in all things. As I look around my house, my own words convict me. But I want to get to the point where I have moderation indoors and glut outdoors. You can have too much stuff, but you can never have too many flowers and vegetables. Make your abundance visible in your garden and share its produce. As for the stuff, follow the Fly Lady's advice. If you have two of something that you only need one of, keep the one you like best and give the other away.

Now if I can only follow my own advice!

Out of Work for Christmas

Unemployment is devastating any time, but at this time of the year it is particularly stressful. How do you give your children Christmas? How do you put food on the table? In my county in Virginia, Shenandoah, 1/5 of residents receive food stamps or some other form of government aid. But what most need is a stable job, something that is becoming less sure as the current administration increases our economic woes through insane tax and spend policies.

My niece's husband was out of work for five months before he landed a new one that, thank God, pays more than the former. But they had to sell their house at a $10,000 loss and had family help with the use of my sister's second home for a few months.

A friend of mine and I used to talk about how the Lord would punish this nation. In view of the fact that we have traded the very lives of our children, our future, for economic prosperity, punishment through the pocketbook was pretty predictable. The fact is, when that happens, who is in the best situation? Those who have large families. They can depend on one another for assistance. And that is God's blessing to those who strive to be faithful. Christians won't be immune to the disasters of their times, but will be better able to withstand them because of the support they receive from each other.

If you are financially blessed, give generously this Christmas to those who are suffering. The measure you measure out will be measured back to you.

And pray that the government takeover of health care and all the other takeovers will ultimately fail. A family can't spend itself into prosperity and neither can a country.

Poll Reveals Trauma of Joblessness in U.S.

U.S. recovery appears firmer as unemployment drops Only in the mainstream media can a one-month drop from 10.2% unemployment to 10% be considered a "recovery."

Remind us again of how the stimulus was going to help

Barack Obama told us the economic "stimulus" plan was absolutely necessary to improve the economy and prevent unemployment from hitting double digits. So where are we? A Washington Times editorial reports on the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for May which shows the U.S. barrelling toward 10% with no end in sight.

"What is stunning is the speed at which the unemployment rate is increasing. Since January 1990, there have been just three months when unemployment has increased by 0.5 percentage points or more in a month. Two of those months - February and May of this year - have been under the Obama administration."

Three hundred forty-five thousand more jobs were lost in May. Those are real people with real families. That means more business failures, more foreclosures, and more poverty for the American people. So where are the indications that the liberals' economic fiasco is helping?

Of Elites and Wage Slaves

What do you think about Barack Obama preaching to the American people about tightening their belts and sacrificing while he and Michelle fly to New York for dinner and a show and take the family to Paris for a weekend sightseeing trip? I've lived in the Washington, D.C. area my entire married life and I can testify to the abundance of professional theatre right here in town. The Kennedy Center, the Folger, the Arena Stage, the Warner, the Shakespeare Theatre, and a whole panoply of semi-professional theatre is available. For heaven's sake, the president has his own box at the Kennedy Center! As for the Paris jaunt, what can one say? Sacrifice is for other people, not the leftist elite. The people can't afford Paris? let them visit London. But Barack is an egalitarian monarch. He didn't wear a tie on the outing to New York.

The journalistic pool, of course, accompanied the first couple on the little NY trip. Here's one report. It gives you an idea of the magnitude of such productions. How many helicopters, planes, limos, Secret Service agents, military support personnel, and police officers from the NYPD, etc. were involved in the outing? How much did it cost the taxpayers who are already in hock for trillions in increasing debt since Obama took over? And what did the Paris trip cost? Who knows? Will we get an itemized bill?

Part of the anger of people over the Obamas' extravagance isn't so much the trip; presidents have always traveled on the taxpayer's dollar. It's the sanctimonious hypocrisy. When GM CEOs came to Washington in their private (already paid for) jets, they were excoriated for their extravagance because of the financial crisis. Obama and other liberals, however, think nothing of using the taxpayers' money to fund their own extravagance despite a severe recession and mounting unemployment. Greed is greed is greed except when you're a liberal and see it as your divine right. (Or should that be divine left?)

I wonder what all the out-of-work GM workers think about the Obamas' trips. Maybe the first family should visit Detroit. Not nearly as much to see as in Paris, of course. And somehow I doubt the streets would be lined with cheering folks. But maybe I'm wrong. The capacity for people to deceive themselves is limitless. (Look at the Notre Dame commencement - those folks are Catholic?) Many probably still believe the Messiah of Washington will save them. They can send their mortgages to the White House or their foreclosure notices.

Unemployment here in the U.S. is reportedly 9.4%, higher than it's been in 25 years. One article I cited below says the "real" rate is 15.8% because of all the discouraged, no-longer-looking folks - and that's from an ultra liberal group that's still blaming the Republicans as they claim "the worst is behind us." What a pipe dream! As if spending three trillion more dollars you don't have can get you out of already massive debt. The solution for them is the money tree. Out of dollars? Get the presses rolling and "stimulate" the economy. Reminds me of my kids when they were little - "Just write a check, Mom." They didn't get the concept of needing money in the bank before you can write a check.

Liberals don't seem to get it either. But neither did the neo-conservatives in the Bush White House who worked for bigger, more intrusive government. Unless the Republicans return to their conservative roots, the U.S. of the Founding Fathers is finished. The American dream is already nearly dead - except for politicians who are becoming more and more the elite nobility instead of the servants of the people and, obviously, the ultra wealthy. Unless the middle class rises up in protest there soon won't be one. We'll see only the politicians, financiers, and entertainment elites at the top, and the wage slaves at the bottom.

For Christians there's always a note of hope, however. Today's Gospel passage tells the story of the poor widow who drops her two small coins in the Temple treasury while the rich contribute large sums. Jesus honors her for giving from her poverty, from all she had to live on, while the rich gave from their surplus. What does it mean in a spiritual sense to give from our poverty? I'm meditating on that question today. If things keep going the way they are, many of us will know first hand what real poverty is, not just poverty of spirit.

And a few articles for those interested:

Obamas' trip to Paris raises some eyebrows

Real Unemployment at 15.8%: Highest Level Since ADA Began Tracking

‘Great Recession’ Will Redefine Full Employment as Jobs Vanish

GOP takes aim at Barack and Michelle Obama's NYC trip