'Voices of reason in a time of financial upheaval'

May 3, 8:56 PMOrlando Senior ExaminerTom Holbrook

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'To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones'

America is currently going through one of its most challenging times politically and economically. Millions are unemployed, retirement accounts have been reduced drastically and rapidly because of a near 40% drop in the stock market.  Retired individuals are wondering whether their money will give up the ghost before they do and are canceling plans for cruises and long-awaited getaways.  Many of those who were contemplating retirement this year have changed their minds because they just don't have the money to make it all work like they had planned.

The majority of America's citizens blame the government, i.e., Congress, for their ineptness in handling our economy and are looking to their newly elected wunderkind, Obama, to work his miracles and bring prosperity back for us all.

There are many, such as myself, who believe that the enormous spending bills recently passed, and future ones proposed, will drive our nation even deeper into a pool of debt from which we will never recover.  I believe Mr. Obama intends to Socialize this country as quickly as he can while the American citizens are still in a euphoric mood and mesmerized by his oratorical skills. 

I have put together a collection of quotes of  a few respected men of our near and distant past who want to put in with their two cents' worth. The quote under George Washington's picture above, was made by our country's first President in April, 1799... isn't it amazing how topical it still is today?  Maybe some of our Congressional members will read these tidbits of wisdom and determine there is a better direction in which we can take our country rather than the one we're headed currently.

1. 'In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.'-- John Adams- America's 2nd President

2. 'Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself.'-- Mark Twain- American Humorist/Writer

'No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.?'--Twain-

3. ' I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.'-Winston Churchill-British Prime Minister in WWII

'The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.'--  Churchill

4. 'A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.'-- George Bernard Shaw- Irish playwright (1850-1956)

5.. 'A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.'-  G. Gordon Liddy- American writer and radio talk-show host

6. 'Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.'-- Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

7. 'Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys  to teenage boys.'-- P.J. O'Rourke, Political satirist

8. 'The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.'-- Ronald Reagan- America's 40th President

'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it'.?- Reagan 

9.  The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.?-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

10. 'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.'-- Thomas Jefferson- America's 3rd President and primary author of our country's Declaration of Independence.

For quotes of:
George Bernard Shaw

P.J. O'Rourke

Winston Churchill

Mark Twain

For Video of:
Reagan