Levin: The Collapse of the Modern Welfare State

Mark Levin led off his Tuesday radio show with a great discussion of where overspending has brought America, and the choice we now face: liberty or tyranny.

Set aside some time, and listen to the first part of his show here.

(courtesy of LibertyCentral)

'Prayer at Valley Forge' Painter, Arnold Friberg, Dead at 96

Arnold Friberg, the painter who is best known for his patriotic portrait of George Washington kneeling in prayer beside his horse in the snowy woods near Valley Forge, Pa., died on July 1 at the age of 96. 

"Prayer at Valley Forge" is one of my all-time favorite paintings.  You really get a feel for Washington's faith and the battles he was enduring.  What a great American and leader!

In order to capture the realistic setting for his 1975 painting "The Prayer at Valley Forge", Mr. Friberg studied Washington's uniform at the Smithsonian Institution and later hiked to the Pennsylvania banks of the Schuylkill River in the middle of February.

To "recall the pain, and the cold of that cruel winter," he removed his gloves and sketched the snow-covered tree limbs until his fingers froze.

"I did that to pay tribute to Washington, to portray the burden that fell upon one lonely man," Mr. Friberg told the Salt Lake Tribune in 2000. "I'm a hero worshiper. I have to respect, almost idolize, whatever I paint."

"The Prayer at Valley Forge" is among the most reproduced paintings in the world, and a copy of it was displayed in the White House during the Reagan administration. The original was recently valued at more than $12 million and is on exhibition at the first president's home at Mount Vernon.

Illegal Immigration a $113 Billion a Year Drain on U.S. Taxpayers

A new study released this week by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that illegal immigration now costs federal and local taxpayers $113 billion a year. The report, The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers, is the most comprehensive analysis of how much the estimated 13 million illegal aliens and their U.S.-born children cost federal, state and local governments.

The cost estimates are based on an extensive analysis of federal, state and local spending data. The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers examines dozens of government programs that are available to illegal aliens and their U.S.-born children, both legally and fraudulently. The report provides detailed analysis of the impact of illegal immigration on education, health care, law enforcement and justice, public assistance, and other government programs.

The report also accounts for taxes paid by illegal aliens about $13 billion a year, resulting in a net cost to taxpayers of about $100 billion. However, the study notes that government at all levels would likely have realized significantly greater revenues if jobs held by illegal aliens had been filled by legal U.S. residents instead.

Federal spending on illegal aliens amounts to $29 billion, finds Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers. The lion’s share of the costs of illegal immigration is borne by state and local taxpayers an estimated $84.2 billion. In 18 states, expenditures on illegal aliens exceeded the size of those states’ budget deficits in FY 2009.

Among the key findings of The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on U.S. Taxpayers:

• The $113 billion in outlays for services and benefits to illegal aliens and their families represents an average cost to native-headed households of $1,117 a year. Because the burdens of illegal immigration are not evenly distributed, the costs are much higher in states with large illegal alien populations.
• Education for the children of illegal aliens represents the single largest public expenditure at an annual cost of $52 billion. Nearly all of that cost is absorbed by state and local governments.
• The federal government recoups about one-third of its share of the costs of illegal immigration in the form of taxes collected. States, which bear a much greater share of the costs, recoup a mere 5 percent of their expenditures from taxes paid by illegal aliens.
• Granting amnesty to illegal aliens, as President Obama and others propose, would not significantly increase tax revenues generated by current illegal aliens. However, over time, amnesty would dramatically increase public costs as newly-legalized aliens become eligible for all means-tested government programs.
• Arizona’s annual cost of illegal immigration is $2.5 billion.

Observations from a Busy Week....

Apologies for not posting any updates last week on the many happenings that took place across the country affecting our lives and liberty.  The week was a lot busier than we had hoped, which kept us away from the posting thoughts to the RC Blog.  Anyway, enough excuses.  Here are a few thoughts on some of the bigger events of the past week:

McDonald vs. City of Chicago -- On Monday, the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision in favor of gun rights of individuals.  This landmark decision follows a similar ruling in the Heller case which ruled in favor of handgun ownership in the District of Columbia.  Kudos to the NRA and other organizations for helping get this long battle through the court system.   This decision has the anti-gun groups up in arms!  We must add, however, that the RC Blog is greatly disappointed in the NRA's decision to drop its fight against the Disclose Act, only after it received an exemption from the bill along with the unions.  This bill is a blatant violation of our First Amendment rights and is an example of the Left's crooked attempts to downplay the impacts of the Citizens United ruling on the upcoming November elections. The bill ultimately passed the House 216-209 in late June and awaits action in the Senate.  The NRA has traditionally being a strong supporter of both First and Second Amendment rights of Americans, but in this case it ignored the First Amendment. 

Obama Accepts Foreign Help for Oil Cleanup -- On Day 70, that's 7-0, President Obama finally accepted some help from foreign allies who have been offering their assistance since the first few days of the disaster.  This acceptance still requires all the bureaucratic hurdles that come with such assistance -- approvals from State, DOD, DHS, USCG, EPA, etc.  President Obama's has exhibited in the past month some strange tendencies of being a Globalist and a Protectionist at the same time.  We nearly gagged when he encouraged other countries to continue government-type spending in order to stop the global recession that is before us.  Is he kidding?  European countries like France are finally looking to reduce long-standing entitlements and other facets of welfare state economics, while we seem to be doing the opposite.  Who would have thought that we would see a day when France is moving toward our economic model and we are moving towards theirs.  Sad....

Kagan Hearing -- We did listen and/or watch a good amount of the Elaina Kagan confirmation hearings this week in the Senate.  Ms. Kagan was stymied by several questions, especially those posed by Senators Sessions, Hatch, and Kyl.  At one point during the questioning, Ms. Kagan wouldn't answer a question asking if the government has the right to tell Americans what they can or cannot eat.  In addition, Senator Franken fell asleep during the hearings and doodled some cartoons instead of paying attention.  Sadly, the RC Blog expects her to be confirmed as the newest member of the court.  She will be as Left as any previous judge in history.  The only good news is that she is replacing another Liberal judge, so the vote counts should not expect to change much.  We are hard pressed to believe that President Obama could not have selected a more experienced candidate for this important position.  Instead, he selected a close associate who will be sure to enforce his Leftist agenda on the highest court in the land.

The Economy -- After a brief and artificial bump in the economy over the past several months, led only by tax incentives and temporary federal hiring for the Census, the economy has begun another downward path.  We envision a major tumble in jobs, consumer spending, and the stock market.  Not only did the stock market take a major dip this week, but the employment and housing numbers released were pitiful.  How many more times will we be fooled by Keynesian economic model, which supports heavy government spending, as a solution to improve our economy!!!

Virginia's Battle for Liberty -- We did get a post in earlier this week on the results of the oral arguments made by Virginia in federal court against the Federal Government's opinion that the lawsuit against ObamaCare be thrown out.  Keep your fingers crossed for a decision in Virginia's favor in late July or early August.  As Virginia AG Cuccinelli has pointed out on several occasions, this is not a lawsuit against the health care reform; it is a lawsuit for liberty.  The exact same lawsuit would have been filed if the government was trying to force us to be crayons.

President Reagan: July 4, 1986

This is a great address, on the work and the aspirations of the Founding Fathers.  Thanks to Liberty Central for posting this address!