Please submit your opinion to the editor, Jack Wibby:  jwibby@maine.rr.com 

"No people will tamely surrender their liberties, nor can be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved.  On the Contrary, when people are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign invaders                                                                                                                 John Adams

Charles Krauthammer on Obama's Next Act

In the political marketplace, there's now a run on Obama shares. The left is disappointed with the president. Independents are abandoning him in droves. And the right is already dancing on his political grave, salivating about November when, his own press secretary admitted Sunday, Democrats might lose the House.                               Read more .....

Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine
by former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich

In the 20th Century, America fought and defeated Nazism, Fascism, Imperialism and Communism -- four existential threats to our survival. In this century, America is facing two different kinds of threats, though no less grave.

This time, the threat does not come from nation-state superpowers, but from non-state networks, each pursuing an agenda based upon radical ideologies. The first motivates non-state terrorist networks to kill Americans both here and abroad. But even more disturbing than the threats from foreign terrorists is a second threat that is right here at home. It is an ideology so fundamentally at odds with historic American values that it threatens to undo the cultural ethics that have made our country great. I call it "secular-socialism."

 The Left has thoroughly infiltrated nearly every cultural commanding height of our civilization. That is, they hold power, influence and control of academia, the elite news media, Hollywood, union leaders, trial lawyers, the courts, the Congress, and the bureaucracy at all levels of government. They are radically redefining our very culture by deciding what is news, what is entertainment, what our children learn in school, and what kind of government we should have. They share a vision of a secular, socialist America run for the interests of the members of the political machine that keeps them in power, where government dominates the people instead of representing them. In short, this ruthless "secular-socialist machine" wants to use government power to change who we are and how we think.

After the Republicans lost their way and failed to govern, the Left took their opportunity to remake America. Barack Obama is the most radical President in American history. His administration combines the radicalism of Saul Alinsky, the corruption of Springfield, and the machine politics of Chicago. If they succeed in completing their agenda while in power, America will face becoming a European-style, high-tax, big-bureaucracy, low-economic-growth state.

 The question before us is simple. Will we be able To Save America before it is too late? Who Are We? As my daughter Jackie Cushman wrote, "We were told to vote for change we could believe in and found we had elected people who wanted to change what we believe." Of course, this begs the question --- what do we believe? What are the historic, uniquely American values under attack from the Left that have led to our unprecedented safety, prosperity and freedom?

My new book, To Save America: Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine argues that this basic question is the first step in understanding the threat posed by the secular-socialist machine and preparing to defeat it. That's why Chapter 1 in To Save America is entitled "Who We Are" and it describes ten areas of conflicting values that illustrate the fundamental divide between historic American ideals and those of the secular-socialist Left.
One of these fundamental value conflicts is over the importance of the work ethic. In 1607, during the very first summer of English-speaking colonization in Jamestown, Va., wealthy aristocrats tried to convince Captain John Smith they did not have to work since they had paid their way for the journey. His response was simple: "This is a new world…if you don't work you won't eat." Thus, from its earliest days, America was based on a simple proposition: People should work hard and in return they could keep the fruits of their labor. In other words: "An honest day's work for an honest day's pay."

 This American ideal is vividly contrasted by the dishonest machinations of the secular-socialist machine, which thanks to its socialist vision of wealth redistribution, has undermined the very concept of "an honest day's work," especially through its union power. In fact, it spreads the opposite ethic: game the system to get as many benefits as you can while working as little as possible. (over) A typical example is the Long Island Railroad, where almost every employee is approved for federally subsidized disability payments shortly after retiring.

Another example is the Post Office, which is suffering from a $7 billion deficit, yet is forced to pay a large group of employees more than a million dollars a week to do nothing. Union rules prevent laying off unneeded workers. This is one example of the fundamental cultural conflict between the secular-socialist machine and historic America. After laying out these areas of fundamental cultural conflict, To Save America spends several chapters building the case about why the Left can best be understood as a "secular-socialist machine," which President Obama now directs. The book examines the actions of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid governing team through the lens of understanding it as a "secular-socialist machine," including the health bill. It then outlines the parts of the machine, including those you might not consider, like big business interests. It also suggests three questions that the 2010 and 2012 elections could be organized around, which, if done correctly, would defeat secular socialism at all levels of government. Of course, it's not enough to win the next few elections. If we are going to permanently defeat the secular-socialist machine, we need to successfully govern to keep them out of power. That means meeting the many serious challenges facing America in the 21st Century.

Replace Not Reform

That's why the second half of To Save America is filled with solutions to America's most pressing challenges. The key theme throughout these solutions is the need to replace - not reform - the failing bureaucracies and policies that are crippling America. This includes the Environmental Protection Agency, our complicated tax code, bureaucratic schools and, of course, Obamacare. Our bureaucracies are so broken, so beyond repair, they need to be fundamentally replaced if America is going to thrive in the 21st Century.

 The solutions presented include a set of five tax cuts that would ignite a new American prosperity, a patient-centered, high-tech healthcare system, an American energy plan, and a pro-market, pro-innovation, anti-bureaucracy solution for environmental stewardship.

A Movement To Save America Yesterday I was on the Today Show with Meredith Vieira, talking about To Save America, and she reacted with incredulity to my assertion in the book that "the secular-socialist machine represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union did." But I fully defend that statement, because in terms of the threat to America's core identity, the secular-socialist machine would end America as decisively as a Fascist or Communist victory would have.

The great American experiment is a belief that "our Creator" endows us with unalienable rights and that through elections, we the people loan power to government.

This stands in stark contrast to the secular-socialist idea, seen in democratic European states as well as in the American left today, that the state grants rights to the people, and thus politicians and bureaucrats can dominate citizens through big government.The only thing that will save America from the secular-socialist machine is a movement of citizens dedicated to repealing and replacing the failed politicians and policies that threaten America's future. And this movement starts with To Save America: Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine. I hope you will buy a copy from Amazon.com or pick up a copy at your local bookstore this week.

Freedom is Always the Best Policy!

by Dean Scontras

Candidate for Congress in Maine's First District

America and Freedom are inseparable. Freedom has forever been the light that draws people to our shores, and is why so many still seek to come here- freedom and opportunity. That is why our ancestors came here, not because of what the government can give, but because of what it cannot take away.

History shows that as government grows, liberties shrink. Yet this Congress insists on increasing the size of government. Our growing debt threatens to consume generations of hard work while smothering the hopes and dreams of our children. Washington D.C. has continued to spend too much of our money. We have watched as the American government has taken over the auto industry, the housing industry, finance and education. Our government is now threatening to take over the healthcare and energy sectors. The only way to stop them is to send them all home next November.

Maine deserves a Representative that will approach each issue through the unbending lens of Liberty, framed in Freedom. History is clear - Societies that embrace and defend freedom thrive; those that turn away from freedom fail. Freedom is always the best policy. Freedom unleashes productivity. Freedom inspires. Freedom provides competition and choices. But, Freedom comes with responsibility, something that is lacking in Washington today.

One of the most popular and respected American president observed: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same"

Today, the freedoms we have always taken for granted are threatened. It's time for all of us to become part of the fight to preserve these freedoms. It's time to grab a bucket and join the brigade.

Please help support this struggle by donating whatever you can, right now.

Scontras for Congress 2010
PO Box 385
York, ME 03909

"There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism." --Alexander Hamilton