Have You Let Them Know How You Feel?

SHOULD CONGRESS BAILOUT WALL STREET TO HELP MAIN STREET? --- headline on the Congress.org web site - September 29, 2008

They are poised to vote on the big "bailout" which involves 700 billion dollars. Lots and lots of discussion on this thing in private conversations plus all the media attention. What few people who may stumble on to these comments in this blog will have their thoughts on this.

The big question -- have you contacted your personal representatives in DC -- that is, the senators of your state and the representative of your congressional district?

Lately, I have heard a lot of complaining about the proposed bailout. How many have actually taken the time to phone or write a personal letter to those who will vote on this monster of a debacle?

And the question can be thrown back to the writer of this piece -- have you made contact with them? And the answer is "Yes!" -- surprise, just earlier at a little past 7 AM I talked with a staff member in Represenatative Murtha's office in Washington DC -- the fellow is on duty early this AM -- the senators will have to wait a bit -- their voice mail boxes are FULL! I wonder why!

A good source for running down the names, addresses, phone numbers and fax numbers is found at Congress.org

The bailout will likely pass and the president will sign it. As noted in an earlier post on this subject, it is also likely that the CEO's and upper level management people who demonstrated such irresponsibility in this mess will still hold on to obscene salaries, perks and related benefits -- it will hardly amount to a slap on the wrist in terms of penalty! These scoundrels do have political connections and their contributions will not be forgotten!

But there has to be the maintaining of a vision which reaches far enough into the future to realize that it will not always be like this -- one of these days our Lord Jesus will return to this planet -- and it will be, as framed in the words of the famous Gomer Pyle, "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!"

So hold on folks -- Jesus will write the last chapter in human history and for those who long for and pray for His soon return, it will be ecstasy indescribable! Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20).

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. --- Isaiah 9:6, 7

Please, Mr. Fed, I’m in Financial Distress – Will You Bail Me Out?

The U. S. Treasury along with the Federal Reserve revealed plans to “shore up” those odd-named mortgage outfits known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Shares have plunged due to losses from their mortgage holdings which posed a very serious threat to their financial survival. --- news information released on July 13, 2008

Here’s the key – get BIG and invest tons and tons of money, getting it from whomever you can convince to go along for the ride! And then when things go sour and the money is leaving you faster than it can be flushed down the toilet, just yell, “Help!”

And guess who will come running? Why the financial “Dynamic Duo” of Washington DC – the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury, of course!

Years ago there were “bail outs” of big companies and since history doesn’t really change in such matters, we are seeing a repeat – only this time it is in the wonderful world of mortgages with two biggies on the verge of going belly up!

News information revealed that the “government is prepared to take all necessary steps to prevent the credit market troubles that started last year from engulfing financial markets and further weakening the economy and housing markets.”

And how about this – the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been given “authority” to lend those outfits with those odd names the money needed at a rate of 2.25 percent! That’s the present rate paid by commercial banks and what are considered “big’ Wall Street firms!

When was the last time you got a loan at a rate of 2.25 percent? If you have the misfortune of having certain credit cards, you are paying well over 20 percent on unpaid balances. Your vehicle loan is quite a bit above that 2.25 percent level is it not? Although in desperation some manufacturers once in a while bait potential customers in with an offer of 0 percent financing over a number of months. But the price of that gas guzzler is so high that getting that 0 percent is not that much of a bargain in the long run -- especially when you discover it likes its "tea" in huge amounts!

But here’s the point – if you are big enough, when you wallow and begin to sink in financial disaster, just yell and the government will bail you out! But if you a “little guy” as most of us are, and you are trying to deal with financial disaster, don’t go to the government for help – all those people are interested in is the tax money you pay, and if possible, they will scheme somehow to get more out of you in the future!

A couple of things to remember:

First, the government is itself so deeply in debt, that the day will come when it won’t be able to bail out a person who is $1.00 in debt! The national debt is increasing steadily by billions each year – total now is over 9 trillion – that’s a 9 followed by a lot of zeros!

Second, there is good news – the day will also come when government officials in every nation will be dismissed from their positions, because One Who is identified as the King of kings and the Lord of lords will have returned and taken control of the affairs of this present world. Now it will be a bit messy at the time of this transition, but He will get it all settled down and finally, peace will be the order of the day.

You can read all about it in a book called the Bible. Yes, yes, I already know – for some people, to talk like this is to talk like a crazy person who should be put in a padded cell. So it comes down to a choice – did Jesus know what He was talking about when He mentioned quite often that He will return to this earth, or is He simply a deluded fool? What do you say, and how has this impacted your life? Does it make a difference when you wake up in the morning and when you lay your head on the pillow at night?

As for me, He’s the best Friend I have and I’ve know Him personally for over 5 decades. I and some others excitedly look forward to His return and taking control of the chaotic governments and financial systems of this world! In the meantime we seek to carry out His parting command to confront the world with His call to repent of all sin and rebellion and believe on Him as Savior and Lord, the living Son of God. Yes, some of us still believe that command is still in effect -- in spite of what you may have heard in some church circles!

Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." --- Matthew 28:18-20

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" --- Revelation 11:15

We're Doing Our Part to Stimulate the Economy and We Haven't Even Received Our Check from Bush Yet!

....Congress, Bush, the Federal Reserve and Wall Street are hoping the money will burn such a hole in people's pockets that they won't be able to resist spending it. And the spending is supposed to give an energizing jolt to a national economy that is in danger of toppling into a recession if it hasn't already.

Bush called the measure "a booster shot for our economy."....... --- Tidbit from Associated Press report on Valentine's Day, 2008

We're doing our part to stimulate the ailing economy of our republic and we haven't received that big check which Bush and Congress said we're going to get!

Here's how this past week went for me and the best wife I ever had -- don't laugh, because she has put up with me nearly 55 years and 57 years when you include the dating time! But, alas, again I digress -- here is the record starting on Monday, February 11:

• Monday - I put $25.00 worth of gas in the tank -- about 75 drops or so!
  
  
• Wednesday - Car inspection at a cost of $40.23 -- we're in an area where emission inspection has to be done, so that elevates the tariff a bit!
  
  
• Thursday - We had appointments at our dentist -- Jean had to have some extra work plus xrays -- $205.00 exit fee! Then Jean had an ear doctor's appointment at 5:30 pm and that was a $20.00 copay. A few days back 2 prescriptions for the ear problem cost $45.00. What a way to spend Valentine's Day -- you can't get much more romantic than that, can you?
  
  
• Saturday - A couple more prescriptions which cost $120.00 -- yes, it only hurts when I laugh! Now, remember, we got some groceries in addition to all this stuff -- unfortunately the store wasn't running any specials on cheap dog food!
  

Now, if my addition is right -- just the numbers mentioned come to about $410.23 -- won't Bush, Congress and Company be proud of us -- that money was really burning a hole in our pocket and we just had to get rid of it -- and you see in detail just how we did it -- really, folks it's not as hard to do as some people make out. Just have nimble fingers, a pen, and a checkbook handy!

Do you ever get the feeling that something is a bit amiss in the "land of the free and the home of the brave?" The government doesn't hesitate to pour billions of dollars into "wars," billions into so-called "space" programs, and without serious objection has permitted the outsourcing of a host of high paying jobs to foreign countries, but cuts back funding for helping those who are in need -- senior citizens and low income families.

But there is good news -- somewhere on the web site, Circuit Rider's Range, or in an area of this blog is a link to a piece titled, "Good News! A Day Coming in Which All Politicians Will Be Removed from Office!" If you go there by way of this link, use return feature on your browser to come back here. So, keep hanging on -- that wonderful day will come! At that time the Creator of this mighty universe will be completely in control! Take a walk through Philippians 2:5-13 in the New Testament for a "day brightener!"

"Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD had not spoken. The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger." --- Ezekiel 22:27-29

Wow! The Dow Blasts Through 13,000 -- But That Doesn't Mean a Chicken in Every Pot!

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! --- 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Wall Street ready to throw a party in the streets -- money rolling like a mighty river -- "experts" on investing so excited that they might even dampen their britches and start looking for some Pampers to assist them in their "emergency" circumstances!

Yes, for a time there are some who are making money like crazy -- as one convicted "insider" said years ago, "A little greed is a good thing!" For a time he served in a "country club" prison environment (designed just for "white color" people) and then was released to spend all his millions made with a bit of "manipulating" in the world of finance.

But the masses within our republic will reap no benefits from this supposed "boom" as the DOW ascends to new heights. It can be proven by data available that the gap between the rich and poor is an ever widening chasm.

Greed is the motivating factor more and more with obscene profit figures being released by a growing number of corporations such as those dealing with petroleum, pharmaceuticals, etc. And there is that Haliburton outfit (with which Dick Cheney had direct connections years ago) which is making money by the truck loads under the guise of "reconstructing" Iraq, and which has made a move to shift headquarters into an Arab country! Anyone out there noticed lately about an "accountability" problem with millions and millions of dollars in the so-called "reconstruction" of Iraq?

A number of companies have dismantled operations here in the U. S. and have set up shop somewhere overseas or across the border in Mexico where workers will be paid a piddling amount under unhealthy work conditions to put together a product which will be sent here for sale! Have you made it a practice to look at where your purchased consumer items have been made? Write down the names and see how soon you have a quite a listing of countries which occupy representative seats at a place called the United Nations!

But who cares? So long as the select "few" make tons of money in the process everyone will be happy, right? And every once in a while we hear a word from that dark, dismal and depressing place known as Washington DC about how great the economy is doing!

OK -- enough of the attempt to bring us down to reality! This republic which finds itself in a most tragic state of spiritual, moral and ethical bankruptcy will discover likely too late that what seems to be a financial "boom" really is not, and is to be likened to an overinflated balloon about to pop! And guess who has the pin in His hand ready to prick it?

Among the many "idols" which have been set up over the years in this nation, the one which occupies the #1 position is most likely money. God has indicated that He will judge a nation and in the process He will bring its gods to nothing! He did it in ancient Egypt and in ancient Babylon as well as in dealing with many other peoples as history has run its course -- here is God's declaration about the matter:

The LORD will be awesome to them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations. --- Zephaniah 2:11

In fact it is predicted that the time will come as human history reaches its final stages that fear will drive even prominent, powerful and very wealthy people into the recesses and cavities of the earth's surface! You don't think it will happen, do you? If you disagree, you'll have to have a heart to heart talk with the One Who said this:

The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols He shall utterly abolish. They shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. --- Isaiah 2:17-21

It's really not a question of whether that Wall Street "balloon" will pop, but rather WHEN it is going to happen!

Stayed tuned for the next edition of further discussion on this interesting subject of money and how to be wise in handling whatever amount God sees fit to entrust to your care -- that way you won't get burned as will happen to the majority in the future!

"After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'" --- Matthew 25:19-21