By: Dale Weckbacher
My child, don’t lose
sight of common sense and discernment.
Hang on
to them.
(NLT)
Often as I look over the news of the day in order to
determine what to write about, it is easy to become discouraged and I even have
doubts about whether we can change the direction our country is currently on
toward socialism and tyranny. As a
believer in Jesus Christ and the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, I find
peace and comfort when I discern the news through the Word of God. This is why I add a scripture at the
beginning of each post that I believe is appropriate to the topic of the
post.
Looking at the events this week in the news we have to
wonder what has happened to common sense and logic. For example in the middle of the lowest labor,
participation rate in 35 years (1) instead of working on policies designed to
create jobs for unemployed citizens of our country. Instead, we are discussing how to grant
amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for people who chose to violate the
immigration laws of this country. (2) These people come into our country and since
they are here illegally are willing to work under the radar for wages that are
often below minimum wage.
Politicians try to convince us that these individuals are no
threat to American workers since they are doing jobs “Americans will not
do.” This may have been true when our
economy was thriving and unemployment was low but millions have exhausted their
unemployment and given up on finding work.
I am sure these individuals view an influx of cheap labor from south of the
border as a threat and would prefer we enforce our immigration laws as a means
of protecting them against an economic invasion of cheap labor competing for
their jobs.
In another example of the absence of common sense in our
government, we have the raising of the debt ceiling. Back in 2010, my wife was among those that
lost her job. When that happened, we had
to reevaluate our family budget. One of
the things we did was pay off our much of our debt with the severance package
my wife received when she left her job.
This is what common sense tells us to do when we face economic
trouble.
However, that is not the common sense of Washington. When Obama took office, the total debt for
the United States was $9,986.1
billion. As of the end of 2013, the debt
has increased to $16,738.2
billion. (3) Unlike what families do by reducing their
spending and debt, the logic in Washington DC is to increase debt and spending,
thus bankrupting the next generation that will have to pay back the massive
debt our nation is accumulating.
Then we have the logic of how to create jobs. The majority of Americans work in the private
sector. In that sector, jobs are created
by private companies that grow and need additional employees to run those
businesses. Growth in these companies
does not occur because of some government program and instead is the result of
their efforts to develop and deliver products and services people demand. These companies thrive in an atmosphere of
limited governmental control and intervention.
However, the logic in Washington DC is one of creating an atmosphere
that is hostile to private sector growth and prosperity. (4) The Obama environmental policies threaten the
coal industry in our nation and the jobs of those working in that
industry. Obama was unable to have his
cap-and-trade legislation passed in Congress but has not given up on the
implementation of his environmental agenda.
He has now introduced a strategy that bypasses Congress through the
implementation of a series of EPA regulations known as New Source Performance
Standards (NSPS). (5)
These regulations will impose firm caps on the amount of carbon new
coal-fired plants can emit and the government is even considering limiting the
emissions of existing coal-fired plants.
(5) This will serve to limit the demand for coal
as these plants are required to limit their production of energy. This curtailing of demand will mean less coal
will need to be mined thus causing smaller coal mining operations to go out of
business and larger operations will downsize.
This means more unemployment in the coal industry. In addition, the limiting of production of
cheap energy by these coal-burning plants will mean increases in energy prices
for everyone. This will be especially
troubling for families facing higher health insurance premiums and reductions
in hours because of Obamacare.
Common sense tells us that what our country needs is an energy policy
that does not limit energy production but instead increases energy production
using new technologies. North Dakota is
experiencing an energy boom using technologies such as horizontal drilling and
fracking to tap into newly accessible oil reserves. (6)
This oil boom not only benefits those working in the petroleum industry
but also means the creation of new infrastructure. It also means higher pay in other
industries. For example, even trainees
at Walmart in North Dakota start at $17 per hour. (7) North Dakota provides an example of the
economic boom our entire nation would experience if we would lift the onerous
regulations placed on energy production by the EPA.
What we need to restore our nation to the greatness it once had is to
return to the commonsense policies that our founder envisioned when they
drafted our constitution republic. They
envisioned a small government that would play the role of protecting the
citizens of our nation and allow the creativeness of individuals in our nation
to thrive. They would have opposed the
opening of our borders allowing an invasion of cheap labor that would take away
jobs of citizens. They would have
opposed continual deficit spending and the incurring of massive debt that future
generations will have to repay thus limiting their economic opportunities. They would have also opposed onerous
regulations that threaten the nation’s vital production of cheap energy, which
is critical to the infrastructure of the nation.
Give me Biblical common sense as opposed to Washington DC common sense
any day.
1. Adams, Becket. U.S. Unemployment Down to 6.6
Percent, Labor Participation at 35-Year Low. www.theblaze.com. [Online]
The Blaze, February 7, 2014. [Cited: February 7, 2014.]
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/07/u-s-unemployment-down-to-6-6-percent-labor-participation-at-30-year-low/.
2. Erickson, Erick.
And We’re Doing Immigration Reform? www.redstate.com. [Online] Red
State, February 5, 2014. [Cited: February 7, 2014.]
http://www.redstate.com/2014/02/05/and-were-doing-immigration-reform/.
3. Chantrill,
Christopher. US Federal Debt Since 1900. www.usgovernmentrevenue.com. [Online]
US government Revenue. [Cited: February 7, 2014.] 16,738.2.
4. (Diary),
Alecastates. President Obama Doesn’t Know How to Create Jobs, and a Minimum
Wage Increase Won’t Help. www.redstate.com. [Online] Red State, February
6, 2014. [Cited: February 7, 2014.] http://www.redstate.com/alecstates/2014/02/06/president-obama-doesnt-know-how-to-create-jobs/.
5. Howe, Ben.
Obama’s Plan to Bankrupt Coal Continues Without Congress. www.redstate.com. [Online]
Red State, February 6, 2014. [Cited: February 7, 2014.] http://www.redstate.com/2014/02/06/obamas-plan-to-bankrupt-coal-continues-without-congress/.
6. Briody, Blaire.
The Next North Dakota: 5 States About to Go Oil Boom. www.thefiscaltimes.com.
[Online] The Fiscal Times, December 2, 2013. [Cited: February 7, 2014.]
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/12/02/Next-North-Dakota-5-States-About-Go-Oil-Boom.
7. Louwagie, Pam.
North Dakota struggles to cope with its oil-boom prosperity. www.startribune.com.
[Online] Star Tribune, January 28, 2013. [Cited: February 7, 2014.]
http://www.startribune.com/local/188503971.html.
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