BOLSHEVIKS AND THE INTERNATIONALIST CORPORATE CABAL

Occasionally I check in on a site called Mat-Rodina who is a Russian blogger. Honestly, I will tell you Stanislav, the author of the blog, hates the United States. I checked in today and found this video that I thought you might find interesting. I know nothing about who the people are in this video. The gentleman in the video says it is 1987. The caption on the youtube site says this: "A classic interview by Professor Antony Sutton, who taught economics at California State University, and was a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution." Having said all of that, this is a 13 minute 29 second long video describing the U.S. / Internationalist corporate involvement in creating the utopian Soviet Union with Trotsky and Lenin and then forward to the continual global corporate cabal up to the date of the video...1987.

I am bringing this video to you to ask a question. What is different from this man's description to what we are seeing today? I would say there is nothing different. When you think of the Tsar of Russia, the Shah of Iran, and the plethora of national heads being taken down recently, I wonder if you see what I see, i.e. the connection between our State Department (Hilary Clinton) and the Internationalist money cartel ...and the destruction of sovereignty of nations all over the world. Is it any wonder Stanislav hates the U.S.? I only hope Stanislav can see the divide between the people of the U.S. and the leadership that has been up to its eyeballs in corrupt money for the last 100 years. Take a look.

WILL SOMEONE MAKE THOSE HORRIBLE WIND FARMS GO AWAY?

“They are ridiculously expensive and don't work half the time,'' he said. “And no matter how many are built, they won’t replace coal, gas or hydro or nuclear plants, because they are continuous and wind is not always reliable.''
Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace
Article here

Moore told his audience the wind energy industry in Spain has resulted in a 30% unemployment rate among people under the age of 30.

I am not generally on the same side of things political with environmentalists, but this time I whole-heartedly agree with this Dr. Moore who decided to join with those who use their brains for reason, instead of running headlong into destructive insanity. Evidently Dr. Moore had an epiphany some 25 years ago and decided to look for more practical methods, environmental and realistic. Good for him and for us. He has the life experience that led him know the difference between bone-headed nonsense and logical solutions. He knows what the radical environmentalists are, how they plan, and how damaging they can be.

You may wonder why I find this subject so important to discuss since there are no wind farms going up in my near surrounding area. First, our federal and state tax dollars are being used to support this insanity. And secondly, I cannot suffer what these things are doing to birds. Thirdly, they are a blight on the landscape. If you don't like power lines...good heavens, you should see the ugliness of these wind farms.

The thing about these windmills is they are huge, hugely expensive, totally impractical, bird killers, and absolutely the most unnecessary waste of money that I think I've ever seen in this nation. Those windmills are the poster child for everything that is wrong with the green monsters who have taken over our government. You could pick Solyndra for solar panels, or the Chevy Volt, as kindred spirits, but the gigantic windmills, looming like aliens across the farm lands where I have seen them, are a visual blight and reminder of how big and powerful stupidity can become if allowed to steal from the public trough. One thing about the era we live in now is that the boondoggles and monsters are larger and faster appearing than the slow march of historical mistakes and gruesome tyrants of past eras.

If the economics and practicality are not enough for you to see what a disaster these wind farms are, this article tells the story of the birds. "In 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that about 440,000 birds are likely killed each year by the fast-spinning wind turbines -- and that was at a time when the industry was just beginning an expansion that may bring about a 12-fold growth by 2030. It is impossible to determine how many dead birds that will translate into (it depends how and where wind projects are built), but without a sea change in the industry, it will certainly be in the millions."


Back to the money stolen from you to fund this insanity...(yes, I keep calling it insanity because I can't think of a better word for it..), here is a run down on what the Obama administration has spent on wind turbines and where that money is going:

Despite all the talk of green jobs, the overwhelming majority of stimulus money spent on wind power has gone to foreign companies, according to a new report by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University’s School of Communication in Washington, D.C.

Nearly $2 billion in money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been spent on wind power, funding the creation of enough new wind farms to power 2.4 million homes over the past year. But the study found that nearly 80 percent of that money has gone to foreign manufacturers of wind turbines.

“Most of the jobs are going overseas,” said Russ Choma at the Investigative Reporting Workshop. He analyzed which foreign firms had accepted the most stimulus money. “According to our estimates, about 6,000 jobs have been created overseas, and maybe a couple hundred have been created in the U.S.”

Even with the infusion of so much stimulus money, a recent report by American Wind Energy Association showed a drop in U.S. wind manufacturing jobs last year.

That money is gone...down the tubes. If you want another good reason to get rid of the criminals in DC, starting with the one in the White House, windmills and wind farms would be a darn good reason. And that isn't just bird feathers....

WE ALL HAVE OUR ISSUES IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Each of us is carrying around with us some hot button issue that hits at the heart of our core beliefs. Some of these issues are narrow. Some are more broad. A narrow issue might be something like the seat belt laws. But even that represents a broader issue at the heart of liberty. A broad issue might be something like Obamacare. This is a liberty issue on steroids. As the government (at all levels) has become greedier and greedier for power, the issues and laws have become incrementally, but lately expeditiously, more all encompassing and more broad.

One of my hot button issues is the " Anthropogenic Climate Change" hoax. It hits me at so many levels it is hard to describe the magnitude of my frustrations over it. The lie is so stunning as to make one's head spin. That deliberate lie on the basis of false doctrine is enough to send me into hives. The lie, taken to its full extent, presumes to cover every activity known to mankind. For instance, if you try to face down the proponents of light rail on the basis of economics or logic, and you dig deep enough into the proponents' reasons, you find they use "Climate Change" as the reason for light rail. If you try to talk sense into someone who proposes tracking recycling activities, you find that underneath the insanity of that is someone who believes in Anthropogenic Climate Change. (AGW) If you want to buy an appliance for your home, you are faced with salesmen pushing "energy star" products. Why? AGW. If you want to take a drive in your gasoline propelled automobile, you are made to feel guilty for doing so. Why? AGW. Buying groceries? Buy local. Why? AGW. Taking a walk? Better take that walk on a previously privately owned piece of property that has been taken for public use. Why? AGW. Want to live 'til you are ninety? Better not. Why? AGW. Heating your house? Don't do it. Why? AGW. Taking a shower? Better make it short. Why? AGW. Whatever you do is now under the cloud of a lie that has become so prevalent that you can't escape living without it? It is everywhere.

Right now we conservatives are vetting candidates for the Presidential race. Some of us are concerned about foreign engagements. Some of us are concerned about domestic policies, energy policies, immigration policies, and more. Some of us focus on employment. Some of us are concerned about privacy issues. Some of us see the big picture and are trying to find a candidate that solves all of the above.

While the AGW issue does not necessarily cover all of the foreign policy issues, it is used as an excuse for some of our foreign policy initiatives. ( We are using foreign aid to support green energy in other countries.) AGW does come into play in almost all of the other issues. It is that broad. So when Rick Santorum explained that he believes AGW is a hoax, my ears pricked up. Why? Because if he is smart enough to tag that as the lie that it is, and say so definitively, he gets my vote for honesty, If he is brave enough to stare the liars right in the face and say so, he gets my vote for courage. The AGW machine is huge and funded with billions of dollars. Santorum sounds willing to tell them to take a hike, get off the stage, take their lies and shove them where the "sun don't shine." That makes me very happy and relieved. We need leadership who is not afraid to tell the truth to the American people. This made me look at Santorum in a different, more favorable, light.

Romney has hedged on this issue. He knows there are buckets of corporate money to be had in this area. He is not about to face down the liars. In fact, Romney likes to embrace all sides of an issue and then pretend he is an honest broker. He likes having everything both ways. He calls Romneycare a good solution for Massachusetts, for crying out loud. If he doesn't resemble a chameleon, I don't know who does. This conservative writer is not a happy Romney-ite. If we are stuck with Romney, yes I will do what is necessary to get rid of the Communist in the White House and will probably vote for Romney. But not happily. While Romney says he will give waivers to all of the states on Obamacare, he does not address the issue that the funding is still in place and some states will continue on implementing pieces of it that no one wants. And Romney definitely does not stand for the truth on AGW.

(Just to make my readers crazy, I have not given up on Newt Gingrich quite yet either. If he lives up to his record from his Contract with America, I see a lot of hope for his candicacy. But he is going to have to get on board with me on with the AGW issue and show the country that he is willing to stand on his convictions for American freedom. He is the smartest guy in the room, as they say. His grasp of history could make him a great leader. Not just that, he has been around the block. He knows what it is like to play hardball with both internal and external enemies of our way of life. I'm hoping he can show why Romney is not the conservative we need.)

There may be hot button issues in your mind that drive you to one candidate or another. This election season is no easy task for choosing the best Presidential candidate. You just need to know that one of the worst is already sitting in the White House. Getting rid of the O is paramount. Replacing him with a Constitutionalist, someone who tells the truth, and someone with the courage to fight for the truth, would be my hope.

One thing is for certain. This election season is not dull.

DEFYING DEFINITIONS

I've been having a hard time putting labels on those in the political class over the last few years. I don't know what to call those who rule as oligarchs, are doing government deals with corporations, propose populism but implement socialism, and get campaign funds from globalists who get their money from capitalism at the same time trying to destroy capitalism. What do you call these people? There seems to be a mix of too many governing methods to land on one name or another. This coming election year brings a challenge to voters to dare to define a candidate, not just by party affiliation, but by any historically acceptable definition of political science.

First, what is the benefit of a label? A label tells you what you are getting. Or it is supposed to represent something. It says "Green Giant," or it says "Pepsi," or it says "Quaker" oats. A brand name, a label, can make or break a product or an idea, or, in this case of discussion, a political method of governing.

Somewhere in the earliest days of the 1900's the labels of political parties started going off into some neverland of un-definitions. (I would thank Teddy Roosevelt for this due to the Bull Moose Party and his attempt at defining the Republicans as "Progressives.") Defying definitions, the two party system in America has turned into some mish-mash of confusion, so that now we have to look harder, listen harder, and realize a Democrat is no longer what we thought that meant, nor is a Republican what we used to know as "republicanism." When a political party created a platform for governing, the public used to have a reason to look at that platform and decide if it means something they want in their government. That political party then, for purposes of definition, listed the ingredients of the party in their platform so the public would know what they are getting. A brand, a label, would be enough to know if you would want to align yourself with that political party label. The candidate attached to that label would be recognizable.

If you buy Cole Hahn shoes you know what you are getting. If you vote for a Democrat today, what are you getting? A Communist? And if you vote for a Republican today, what are you getting? Progressivism á la Teddy Roosevelt? Or Conservatism á la Jim Demint?

At the top right of my blog you will see a quote from Norman Thomas, a former Socialist Party candidate for President. He says something quite profound regarding the Democrat Party. In his day, the Democrat Party had adopted Socialism so fully, that he basically saw no reason for a Socialist Party any longer. In other words, Democrat = Socialism.

As time has moved on, the Democrats have indeed adopted a full fledged form of Socialism. However, Democrats need money. And while they have succeeded at bleeding the populist dry (note BO's expansion of the national debt), they have to turn somewhere else for money. The Democrat constituency is made up of a lot of the poor dependent class. Not much money there. Yes, they still suck money from unions, but union memberships over the years have dwindled and there isn't as much money in unions as there used to be to fund the Democrats....or maybe another way of looking at this is the high price of politics has out-paced the union money, so the Democrats have had to go fishing in other places. So where have the Democrats gone? They have tapped into the business sector. And that leads to Fascism. Fascism is government rule over business. What did B. O. do? He had the government buy GM. He has hitched his wagon to a global corporation, i.e. GE. He is using government force to take power over businesses, who better pay up and back him...or else. He is attached at the hip to the Goldman Sachs and Soros wall street crowd. Even Warren Buffet has leaned in his direction. The Fascist model is a pay to play model where the corporation or investment class pays the politician or faces the consequences of government force.

Then, with the brief stage appearance of Van Jones, we had a glimpse of someone in BO's camp who unabashedly says he is a Communist. We also have in his camp global Socialists and rabid Environmentalist Socialists. We know his parents and surrounding friends were / are Communists. Put together the GM / GE Fascism, and the hedge fund gleaners, with the others and what we have in BO is a Socialist Fascist Communist.

Then there is the Republican Party who can't seem to shoot straight. Republicanism is supposed to support states rights and individual liberty, small government, etc. Republicans used to support localism by lower taxation, even if that was by default. The less money squeezed out of the states and persons for central government, the more prosperity would fall back onto the states and persons. That was the idea. Instead, what we have had from Republicans is expansion of Democrat social programs simultaneously with the lowering of taxes causing the country to run smack into more debts. You could call this unfunded liabilities, like No Child Left Behind, the Prescription Drug Bill, or Medicare and Medicaid. The Republicans seem to want their cake and eat it, too. Buying the votes of dependents with social programs, but not being able to pay for them is a major flaw in the Republican mindset. The theory is that if you lower taxes on everyone and every business, capitalism thrives and more money flows into the central government coffers. Is that the goal? What is the purpose of government? As long as you are supporting central government social programs you are not a small government, liberty promoting, Republican. Rinos Rejoice!

So, no matter how you look at the two parties, the expansion of the federal, central power of government just goes on unabated. Until finally, no one in the nation has anyone to turn to for small, limited, federal central power. Neither party can say with any authenticity that they are the label for the people, by the people, or of the people. The American public is getting shafted from either direction and definitions no longer hold true. Labels are shams. The mix of definitions has become a toxic soup of Socialism, Fascism, Communism, Environmentalism (now a code word for global socialism), and whatever other ism you want to throw in there.

(Just a quick note on "libertarianism" recommending to legalize drugs and prostitution which taxes those two categories of activities. Basically, more taxes for some immoral behaviors, which isn't any different than Democrats who deem profit as greed and an immoral behavior, wishing to tax it. The Republicans have latched onto various environmental causes and will find taxable activities such as support for land use restrictions, light rail, smart growth, etc. Just saying "libertarianism" is not better than the other two, just another taxation policy.)

So what do you call a politician who is all of the above? Democrat and Republican labels just don't seem to fit anymore. A Socialist Fascist Communist? A Progressive Regressive Politburo? An Environmentalist Fascist Socialist? A Capitalist Fascist Autocrat? Turkeys and Skunks. Might as well be.

Definitions matter.

A LITTLE CHEER FOR A NEW YEAR - TOTALLY NOT QUITE POLITICAL -WILF SHARING

The one who is asleep here is our Bosley. The one above is Wilf the Polish Lowland Sheepdog. You can see why I think Wilf is adorable....because there is some resemblance to Bosley.

I have another political essay forming in my mind, but instead of writing on the dismal state of oppression coming at us, because it is New Year's Eve, I just have it in me today to share with you a precious blog about a dog. My New Year wish is for all good dogs to be loved. You see, I own a rescued mutt. His name is Bosley. I love Bosley and we love life with Bosley. He makes us laugh, he makes us happy, he interrupts me all day long when I am trying to write, and he keeps us on our toes when warning us about the squirrel family is raiding our bird feeders. In short, Bosley is just the sweetest and most adorable fellow who takes his job very seriously. Because I love Bosley and have had three great dogs in my life, I take notice when I see other adorable dogs and how they are loved by their families.

So for a little New Year cheer, today I am going to share another blog with you about a dog named Wilf. Wilf is owned by Angus (Which may be a pen name... I'm not sure.) and his wife who is called "the font." The family has a housekeeper named "Madame Bay." There are lots of other characters who light up the stories with Angus' writing skills. The family lives in a small town in France. Angus is a superior writer and has chronicled Wilf's and their lives with amusing and charming stories about the town and events in their lives. Some time ago, Wilf lost his brother, Digby, to cancer. And then, Wilf, himself, contracted cancer. But with incredible care and tons of love, Wilf has been saved a miserable death and goes on making life wonderful even though he is now blind. Whenever I'm down and feeling lousy about the world, I go to Angus' blog about Wilf and get lost in his stories of life in the little French town with their dog, Wilf. As you will see when you go to this blog, Angus does a great job of photography to illustrate his stories, too. I have fallen completely in love with Wilf and his owner's delightful journal of their lives together.

Here is just a little piece of Angus' writings from Dec. 9, this year:

"Seven thirty am . Amid a crashing of gears and a beep-beep of its asthmatic horn Madame Bay and her gold metallic ' Wild Child ' voiturette arrive at the front door . This morning our saintly cleaning lady is dressed in pulse quickening orange and purple . The tout ensemble crowned by a paisley patterned turban and a cascade of lemon chiffon .

This jarring vision of loveliness is the cue for Wilf and Angus to head off to the little cafe under the arcades . While the family fellow savours his half croissant , Angus reads the paper . Overnight there's been yet another European Union summit so the headlines are full of unseasonal doom and gloom. This is intermixed with a healthy dose of Anglo-Saxon bashing . The failure to reach agreement blamed on '' our friends the British " . A phrase liberally spread across the pages with relished bile. For a moment Angus thinks of joining the beer and absinthe set in a pre-breakfast tincture .

Dogs of course are untroubled by such things . They have an attitude to life that asks : " Will this matter tomorrow ? "

So here it is: Wilf And Digby Go read and have a HAPPY DOG NEW YEAR on me. It's back to politics the next time!

NO COINCIDENCES THIS YEAR AND NEXT

I confess I have been naive in my political views in earlier years in my lifetime. I look back now and have a completely different perspective on world events, a perspective that is closer to reality, but still probably lacking in enough sophistication to grasp the entirety of it all. I have never been what you would call a "jingoist," promoting "my country right or wrong" kind of person. But I did have, in my earlier days, a serious connection to faith in some of our leadership to do some things right, mostly for the defense of our nation. That sounds ridiculous if you consider I came out of the Vietnam era still holding that belief. I do still see reasoning behind our actions there because I understood the domino theory and I saw the sense in that. Communism, sadly, is still alive and well and I believe it needs to be thwarted, destroyed, and wiped from the face of the earth. Looks like that is not going to happen in my lifetime, especially since communism is infiltrating the United States at breakneck speed these days, with a toxic mix of fascism thrown in for good measure. But at the time, in my earlier naivité, it seemed a reasonable premise that we would fight for freedoms and individual rights against totalitarianism. The turn now to "collective" rights is such an aberration that I wonder how any Americans could be literally sucked into such a distorted view of how government should be operating. This is no coincidence.

It's just that I am learning more and more, as I research world events, about movers and shakers behind the scenes who are directing actions that have no connection to our Constitution or to our electorate. Too many things are being fomented in foreign countries to even pretend there is some kind of worldwide coincidence. The middle east is not erupting out of happenstance. The protests in Moscow are not spontaneous demonstrations any more than Occupy is a spontaneous movement in the U.S. It's all too convenient and too coordinated to blow off as a contagious explosion of false freedom fighters all showing up at once to display dissatisfaction with their governments. Simultaneously, the UN is just too happy to be throwing around treaties and global rules in the midst of all of this, the WTO is in the process of admitting Russia into its fold, and the IMF is taking in American tax payer money to prop up the Euro.

What do the protests have in common? What they are all asking for is more government oppression, albeit cloaked in humanist / communitarian drapery. How did that happen? None of it is about freedom. It is all about wanting a nanny state to crack down on freedoms. What nanny states? Well, in the middle east it would be the Muslim Brotherhood implementing Sharia Law. In Russia, I hear, it is about people wanting to go diving deeply back into communism, because the powers there have been abusive and fascist leaning. Here, it seems the Occupiers want government to crack down on corrupt corporations, which is really kind of hilarious because it is government who encouraged all of the corruption and collusion with corporations. If the Occupiers think government is going to save them from corruption and collusion, boy, are they looking at the fox to guard the hen house. Total nonsense.

Simplistically stated, it seems we have two factions vying for global powers, although one of them is completely bogus. The bogus one is "humanists." These are the folks who say they want global communal rules, communitarianism, if you will. These are also the same folks who think the environment is the common denominator that will link us all together in some sort of delirious global hug. This is a crock, frankly. They are fools and/or calculating devils. They are fooling a lot of people, unfortunately. But they are going to lose this global battle in the end because it isn't about Kum-ba-yah. There isn't going to be any nice global warming collective hug. That was never going to happen anyway. What is going on is much more serious than that.

The second faction is the financiers who, by the way, are in bed with global corporations. The only thing this faction has in common with the humanist faction is they are both about wanting to control resources. The humanists say they want equal justice and "fairness," thereby redistribution of resources and wealth. The financiers and corporations are hardly in the business of "fairness." They want resources, "fairness" be damned. The UN, the WTO, the IMF, the menage á trois of financiers, corporations and false humanists, all pretending to be in the business of humanistic endeavors, but at the same time funding the overthrow of governments world wide. This one, the financiers, is not bogus and is seriously dangerous. (As Soros goes laughing all the way to the bank(sters).)

Is George Soros really John Law incarnate? History repeats itself. The consternation comes when people don't learn from it or even study it. A man named John Law created a financial bubble in 1720 that took down the French economy....and he did it with the help of the French government. Maybe I should have referenced Ben Bernanke instead of John Law, for monetizing the debt. But the financiers seem to have taken the opposite lesson from the failures of John Law and just multiplied the cursed errors to fit the global finance system so the whole planet can come crashing down. Why? What would be the motives? Assuming the global financiers are not stupid, this is NO COINCIDENCE. The EU will not survive as it is designed. I cannot believe that anyone in global power ever thought it would. Which leaves the only other plausible explanation, that it was designed to fail. Now putting Americans on the hook for bailing out the IMF, is.....NO COINCIDENCE.

On the global corporation front, if you brand your corporation with the "philanthropic" label, good for the planet and good for the poor, you can hitch your wagon to government organizations across the world and call yourself saintly. This supposedly makes your products more desirable and appealing to the better nature of humanity, those who want to go to bed at night thinking they did something good today. As the leader of that corporation, you know damn well you are just doing it to manipulate people to promote sales and to get preferential treatment from governments. How that leader sleeps at night is another story. (no idea) But nonetheless, you pull in gobs of money and play the global socialism / fascism game. (Think Coke in bed with the World Wildlife Fund, and you've got the picture.) Draining the American economy through Chinese imports and ridiculous philanthropic ruses is .....NO COINCIDENCE. Global corporations are in bed with both, the humanists and the financiers, not to mention the collaboration with government to satisfy all contingencies. Fascism á la Mussolini seems like the analogy here, only on a global scale. (The likes of Jeffrey Immelt of GE should show us how government collusion works, enriching some who know how to kiss up really well. )

So my naiveté is seriously dented. Let's see. Humanists. Global corporations. Money changers. World powers dominating sovereign nations. As I look forward to next year, I am seriously fearing the global manipulation of our election process. We are already covered up with so much propaganda and lies, infiltrated with so many communists (even in our congress), and at the mercy of bad actors screwing around with the voting apparatus in our states, that I am really concerned. Just realize there are no coincidences as we trudge forward toward the goal of restoring our great nation. Powerful forces are gathered to thwart us. We will have to be nimble, quick, and strong. My friends in the Tea Party movement are going to have to gather together to mount a huge showing during the coming elections. Tepid and timid are not going to get it.

Let there be no coincidences for our side next year...let us take the country back with no ifs, ands, or buts. Reagan was right. This is the last place on Earth. God save America.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE WELL-HEELED!

Christmas is around the corner and the U.S. government is handing out borrowed money like candy, with you as collateral. Some people do think government is Santa Claus, and bureaucrats are all to happy to perpetuate that myth. The United States government today is forcing you, the tax payer, to pick up the tab for the wealthy in ways the Founders never imagined.

Redistribution of wealth supposedly takes from the wealthy and hands it over to the poor. But our government is redistributing in strange and mysterious ways, hardly living up to the Robin Hood mythology Obama likes to conjure up. In fact, the concept is turned completely on its head in today's upsidedown world.

Recently, a very well-off local Dr. purchased 71 acres of land in our county. This Dr. sits on the board of a lands conservancy group. Well, what do you know? He then donates the land to the conservancy group and lands a nice, big fat, tax deduction for his generous donation. What is never brought to light is that you picked up the bill. He just moved the property tax burden to the remainder of the county citizens for all of the rest of land still being assessed taxes. Non-profit lands conservancy groups do not pay property taxes. Not only that, the land in question is taken out of any possible use for "perpetuity." Yes. That means "forever." So what happened to the availability of land for private use? It just became 71 acres more scarce. The theory of supply and demand tells you that the price of land just went up due to this scarcity. And you financed the whole transaction. How? By allowing this Dr. to transfer some of his tax burdens over to the rest of the population....and raise the property tax values at the same time, so you can pay more.

The tax deductions offered for this sort of transaction are many. Some are for property taxes, some for income taxes at different levels, locally, state, and federal. And here we are, in Gastonia and Gaston County paying some pretty stiff property taxes. And wondering why. Those of us still paying property taxes are making up the difference for guys like the doctor cited.

But it gets even better. We've gone from tax exempt status for non-profits to granting them lots of money. And when you hear about public / private partnerships, you might want to look into how many corporations have set up non-profit foundations in order to jump in on the tax benefits for the latest cause celeb. They are greasing all sides of the skids by taking donations and giving donations, AND soaking the taxpayer by getting government grant money. Nice work if you can get it, eh? And even better, our government is colluding with them.

Another curious example happened this past year involving the Carolina Thread Trail and the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. DSBG is owned by a private foundation and is supported by donations, as well as various activities DSBG sells, such as wedding receptions, groups tours, a gift shop, etc. The land owned by DSBG, and incorporated into the Garden, was not targeted for any kind of other development that I could find in research. The DSBG Foundation is a non-profit and already is afforded tax exempt status. Donations to DSBG are tax deductible. The land is contained by the Foundation that owns it. Yet, DSBG was all too happy to sell off part of its land to the Carolina Thread Trail to supposedly turn 2.3 miles of it into a "nature trail." This was a transfer of land from one non-profit to another. And what does that have to do with you? You paid $1.5 million dollars to purchase this "nature trail" from DSBG to hand over to the Carolina Thread Trail. And that amounts to $652,000.00 per mile you paid for a little walk through the woods. I'm not sure you can even access this trail without paying admission to the Garden. The $1.5 million grant came from the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, supposedly to "protect" the water from development. But again, this land was not targeted for development anyway. ( Caveat here: I am a founding member of DSBG and I thought is was going to be continually a privately owned Foundation, separate from government funding. As a private foundation, and as a destination to enhance our county, I thought this would be a good thing, never dreaming our taxes would be confiscated to support it. And, I did not join DSBG for the purpose of tax deductions.) If that amount of money were not enough, there were posts with names of donors at the beginning of the trail when I walked it this past summer....donors who all took tax deductions for their contributions. I have no idea how much money they donated, but I recognized the names of several of them as locals known to have lots of money. And when you figure into the rest, that abstract unknown amount of money they took off their income taxes, you can add that to the pool of revenue going into this little venture.

Ducky! Well, speaking of ducky, I have another one for you in Mt. Holly. This one is called the Catawba River Greenway, previously known as the Mt. Holly Riverwalk. The city of Mt. Holly has secured $800,000.00 from the State Transportation Improvement Program for this little gem. Catawba River Views I don't know about you, but when I think of Transportation Improvements, I think of filling pot holes or widening roads. After all, the transportation budget gets money from our gas taxes. So one would think that, if the users pay for roads, then the gas taxes would go to roads. Instead, our gas taxes are being siphoned off for walking trails. Hmmmm...I guess walking is transportation, especially in high density inner cities where you really can't afford to park a car. In fact the Smart Growth and Sustainable Development crowd have made it mandatory that certain percentages of transportation money go to walking trails, bike trails and lanes, and light rail, which is so expensive that no one can afford it.

The greenway people are very clever. They have managed to put greenways in several different categories so they can draw grants from many different departments of government. First they say it is for protection of the environment, so that brings in EPA money. Then they say it protects the water, so that comes under the State Clean Water Management Fund. Then they say the trails are for recreation, so next they can get money from Parks and Recreation funds. And then, if that weren't enough, they figured out if they call these trails "transportation corridors," they can tap into the transportation money at the state and federal levels. I haven't found this yet, but why not put these trails under health and welfare, too? Might as well...and they probably will.

The non-profits supporting these tax breaks are closely related to the wealth management industry. Wonder why that is?? In fact, the last two directors of the Carolina Thread Trail came straight out of the banking industry to take the job with Carolina Thread Trail. The guy that is the CEO for The Nature Conservancy came straight from Goldman Sachs.
Nature.org

"Mark Tercek, President and CEO: Before joining The Nature Conservancy, Mark was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where he played a key role in developing the firm’s environmental strategy. He headed the firm’s Environmental Strategy Group and Center for Environmental Markets, which worked to develop and promote market-based solutions to environmental challenges."

It is not a far stretch these days from non-profit wealth management to protecting that Christmas stocking fund for the rich. So Merry Christmas to the well-heeled! We paid a lot of green for their new walking shoes and tax shelters and .....fa la la...la la!