The Patriot Post Brief 9-12-2011

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The Patriot Post Brief 9-12-2011
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." --Thomas Paine

Opinion in Brief

"We join America in honoring the anniversary of September 11, 2001, when terrorists killed nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens. In the days after 9/11, Americans stood together as one, setting aside partisan fervor and recognized a common enemy in Islamist terrorist groups, particularly al-Qaeda. National security was rightfully restored as our nation's highest priority. Ten years later, Osama bin Laden is dead, delivering to victims' families and the rest of America a bit of justice for the heinous acts we all witnessed. But one terrorist's death does not justify returning to the national security mindset that existed prior to that day. As Thomas Paine said, 'Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.' That notion is ever true. Thanks to important policies put into place after 9/11, America has been able to thwart at least 41 publicly known terrorist attacks. Such vigilance saved lives and will continue to do so moving forth. ... The global war on terror that began as a result of 9/11 continues, and brave men and women risk their lives daily to protect America and prevent future acts of terrorism. As soldiers return from Afghanistan and Iraq after third or fourth tours of duty, we're reminded that a clear and present danger remains. ... On this, the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, it's important to honor the victims and the heroes of that day by not only remaining on guard, but promising we will never quit this important fight until the threat no longer exists. We ask Americans to join us in a display of unity once again. Today, we hope that every neighborhood across the nation is flooded with American flags celebrating the lives of those we lost in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania and the heroism we witnessed, while also reminding each other that the fight to prevent another attack is not over." --Heritage Foundation's Ericka Andersen1

Reader Comments

"Mark Alexander asked, Are we safer today?2 I would say yes -- for now. However, it will take constant vigilance and preemption to stay that way. I fear for the country that Obama and the democrats in Washington have allowed our security to become lax instead of increasing our security. To say that the southern border is secure is a great overstatement or if you prefer a lie. Where is the allegiance to the oath they took when assuming office? I think that was just a formality to too many." --Floyd

"We are absolutely NOT safer today than we have ever been. Mark Alexander is spot on with his current assessment. How can we be safe when we have an administration more concerned with homosexual advancement in the military, cutting needed military budgets, weakening the US economy, dividing any unity we did have, and fulfilling his own selfish vacation/golfing needs? Many of these people anguishing over 9/11 are those who have forgotten most, as they scream for tolerance to the very group who declared war on us ten years ago. There are many of these people who voted, on purpose, for the very man who is in office now, the man who supports these terrorist agendas by his statements and actions. America, you have forgotten already, as a nation, look at the direction we have gone. We had the power to 'change' course, and we didn't. We chose to put a traitor in office. We deserve what we have." --Marcy

"Despite Barack Obama's repeated calls in his latest propaganda statement3 to 'pass this bill,' there is no bill. He submitted nothing. I think Congress should schedule a vote on a blank piece of paper with only 'Obama's American Jobs Act of 2011' on it and give the president exactly what he asked for. There's little danger that folks would be unable to read the entire bill before the vote on it!" --Peter

Government

"If President Obama's economic policies have had a signature flaw, it is the conceit that by pulling this or that policy lever, by spending more on this program or cutting that tax for a year, Washington can manipulate the $15 trillion U.S. economy to grow. With his speech last [week] to Congress, the President is giving that strategy one more government try. This is not to say that Mr. Obama hasn't made any intellectual progress across his 32 months in office. He now admits the damage that overregulation can do, though he can't do much to stop it without repealing his own legislative achievements. He now acts as if he believes that taxes matter to investment and hiring, at least for the next year. And he now sees the wisdom of fiscal discipline, albeit starting only in 2013. Yet the underlying theory and practice of the familiar ideas that the President proposed last night are those of the government conjurer. More targeted, temporary tax cuts; more spending now with promises of restraint later; the fifth (or is it sixth?) plan to reduce housing foreclosures; and more public works spending, though this time we're told the projects really will be shovel-ready. We'd like to support a plan to spur the economy, which is certainly struggling. Had Mr. Obama proposed a permanent cut in tax rates, or a major tax reform, or a moratorium on all new regulations for three years, he'd have our support. But you have to really, really believe in hope and change to think that another $300-$400 billion in new deficit spending and temporary tax cuts will do any better than the $4 trillion in debt that the Obama years have already piled up." --The Wall Street Journal4

Insight

"The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government." --philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

Essential Liberty

"Those who have grown used to having others provide their food, shelter and other basics as 'rights' are by no means grateful. On the contrary, they are more angry, lawless and violent than in years past, whether they are lower-class whites rioting in Britain or black 'flash mobs' in America. Their histories are very different, but what they have in common is being supplied with a steady drumbeat of resentments against those who are better off. ... Henry Ford benefited millions of other people by creating mass production methods that cut the cost of automobiles to a fraction of what they had been before -- bringing cars for the first time within the budgets of people who were not rich. But the Ford Foundation has become a plaything of social experimenters who pay no price for creating programs that have been counterproductive or even socially disastrous. Nor was this the only foundation created by business philanthropy with a similar history and similar social results. Let business pioneers do what they do best. And let the rest of us exercise more judgment as to how much charity is beneficial and how much more simply perpetuates dependency, grievances and the polarization of society." --economist Thomas Sowell5