Welcome to the United States of Communism

I've been listening to the Obama debt crisis and how everybody else is at fault. Yet during this whole thing, some interesting commentaries came up from sources I typically don't participate with. There was a talk show out of Canada that I tuned into last night on AM radio - a shocker to be sure, and their discussion was well under way. Since it was about 2 AM and the lights were out, I don't know what station it was or who it was doing the talking. 

But what I did manage to remember was their topic was about the book The Naked Communist by W. Cleon Skousen. The host and some listeners were comparing our President, the debt crisis and our society in America to what it once was, what it is and what it looks to become. They specifically said the communist influence has been slow and steady from the inside and Americans need to wake up before they lose all their freedoms to the state. I guess they haven't been in New York lately.

They discussed the goals of the Communists and how they wish to alter America and move from democracy to  communism. After reading these points, which I was stunned by, I can see the change that's taken place during my lifetime. Maybe you can see them too? Read this list and then decide.

[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]

CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

Taxed Enough Already? There Might Be Hope

There’s a resurgence underway. I attended a Taxed Enough Already (TEA) meeting in White Plains this past Saturday. It was attended, if you will, over-attended, by about 150 people of various ages, political affiliation and income. The theme was a common one of dissatisfaction with the political climate in Westchester, New York and the nation. What stood out more was the desire by those in attendance to expect and receive more honesty and responsiveness from our governmental officials. 

I've attended several TEA meetings in the past and even spoken at one or two as a candidate. Each time was impressive as the people participating were hungry for positive change with our representation. It's unfortunate that the same media, hungry for access and the “big scoop”, have abrogated their responsibility to society, woefully abandoning our need for them to scrutinize government and its leaders actions and inactions. They only seem interested when they find some sexual escapade that they can feature on the six o'clock news.

The TEA people did not appear to be kooks or wackos as they've repeatedly been portrayed by the lamestream media, hoping to discredit them. Their speakers were impressive and the main, featured speaker was TEA Party member, newly elected NYS Assemblyman Steve Katz. He spoke with passion for about twenty minutes to a half hour, highlighting some (?) of the dysfunction in Albany and what he and others are trying to do to counter it. In the end, this is the type of representative I want in Albany and Washington. 

One legislative candidate’s representative got up to speak and said that ‘his’ candidate, when elected, will vote with County Executive Rob Astorino, breaking the stranglehold we see in the County Legislature. A man sitting at the table opposite me said that wasn’t what he wanted in a candidate, regardless of party affiliation. He wants a candidate, ultimately an elected official, who would scrutinize the pending issue and positions from both sides and vote appropriately on its merit, not party line. We don’t need a continuation or worsening of the same partisan politics. We need elected officials with backbone and the ability to do the right thing, not the comfortable or expedient thing. I know the candidate whom we were told will vote with Astorino and will be calling the candidate directly to discuss this issue. I’ll see how it goes and hope this was just a miscommunication. I too, want more from our representatives than partisanship.

There were several candidates at the meeting. Most notably was Mark Rosen, who is planning again to run against Nita Lowey for Congress. You may recall that Rosen was in the race in the last campaign but withdrew when he was recalled for duty to Afghanistan. Recently returned, he has been picking up his pace to get back into the political fray. You may also recall the Republicans then endorsed Paul Wasserman, a newly converted Democrat to Republican until he dropped out for personal reasons. Finally, stalwart candidate Jim Russell begrudgingly received the Republican nod only to implode when his earlier writings were exposed by the same people who sued the County over the Housing Desegregation. 

The Republican and Democratic parties both seem locked in a pathetic partisan game of one-upmanship, disappointingly abandoning and alienating more and more voters. It’s why many don't even bother to vote any more. The Conservative Party is no longer endorsing conservative candidates and the Independence Party leader is literally working for the Democrats, subsequently handing out Independence Party endorsements to only the democratic candidates! It’s absurd and not showing signs of improving. Where’s all this hope and change we kept hearing about? Where are the promises made during the last election? Maybe it’s with more TEA endorsed candidates. Let’s hope!

Illegals Prefer Emergency Room Visits

Polls indicate Obamacare will boost, not reduce Emergency Room visits. Supporters of the healthcare reform legislation passed by Congress claim it will reduce emergency room visits by providing nearly all Americans with the insurance they can use to see a primary care physician. I've seen first-hand a restructuring of the remaining area hospitals emergency rooms and now additional triage rooms. Why a triage area? Because the amount of people using the emergency rooms for primary care has negatively altered the real emergency care delivered for people with true emergencies.

A new survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that 97 percent of doctors every day treat Medicaid patients in their emergency departments because the patients could not find a doctor willing to treat them for the fee Medicaid would pay. If Obamacare provides insurance that reimburses physicians at Medicaid rates, visits to the ER will likely increase, according to ACEP. In fact, 89 percent of doctors polled said they believe ER visits will increase under Obamacare. 

“This poll confirms what we are witnessing in Massachusetts — that visits to emergency rooms are going to increase across the country, despite healthcare reform, and that health insurance coverage does not guarantee access to medical care,” said ACEP President Sandra Schneider. “While hundreds of emergency rooms across the country have been forced to shut down due to financial issues, increasing the workload at those remaining open, and the healthcare reform law fails to address this issue,” she added.

In Sleepy Hollow, Phelps Memorial Hospital anticipates an increase to the tune in excess of $40 million of loss per year. When queried as to why, I was told because NYS law entitles anyone requesting medical aid treatment, specifically with ER’s, and they cannot be turned away. Nearly half of the physicians surveyed in ACEP’s poll said fear of lawsuits is the biggest challenge to cutting costs in emergency rooms, and 53 percent said their fear of lawsuits was the main reason for ordering many of the tests they perform. That speaks volumes. The intent of not turning people away from ER’s requesting treatment was originally meant to provide emergency care to those truly in need, but without health insurance or a job with income. Once again, the extremists morphed this into what they wanted it to be, ultimately forcing the closure of many hospitals. Locally, we’ve seen Saint Agnes Hospital in White Plains, and United Hospital of Port Chester, close.

The effects of closing hospitals in our area has been dramatic. While it’s not politically correct to say who benefits the most from this liberal interpretation of the NYS law requiring treatment for all, the people working in the ER’s tell me it’s primarily the illegal alien population, aided by patient rights representatives that we also pay for. All of our area hospitals have recently renovated their emergency room areas to have more seats in the waiting room, more beds in the ER, larger staffs, and most importantly, larger triage areas. Why is that important? Because ambulances routinely bring victims and patients in around-the-clock. What used to be a routine call for them of 45 minutes to and hour, has been increased to at least an hour to an hour and a half. And, most are volunteer fire or ems personnel, giving their time to their communities. When they arrive at a hospital, they can no longer allow just any nurse or doctor “sign off” on receiving a patient. Now specific triage people must do that. Then there’s the sometimes long wait just to get a patient off of their stretcher onto the hospitals stretcher or bed. Going to an emergency room nowadays is like visiting a Friendly's Restaurant: there are a lot of people moving around and looking busy, but nobody is helping you! Get used to it.

Undocumented Immigrants To Get Tuition Breaks – and More!

A headline buried inside the Journal News read, Undocumented Immigrants Getting Tuition Breaks. This is the very type of issue and position that is what’s wrong with our current crop of legislators. The issue can be morphed into a Town of Greenburgh issue. Maryland, Illinois and Connecticut are all poised to allow illegal immigrants, undocumented workers, aliens, etc., the ability to go to school, as are Oregon and Rhode Island. While the need for an education is paramount to all, it should be to all if they are a legal, tax paying resident of their state and our country.

Recently, Victor Rojas, 16 years old, of Greenburgh, was arrested for hosting an underage drinking and drug-use party of about sixty kids. Police arrested Rojas and charged him with underage drinking, hosting a party with alcohol, and such. Where were his parents during this illegal event? Police found a sixteen year old girl passed out on the floor from apparent an alcohol overdose. His parents were also charged. Interestingly, he gave his address as 21 McKinnley Street in White Plains. And, while being questioned, he bit a police officer. So in addition to being arrested for 25 counts of unlawfully dealing with a child for allegedly supplying alcohol at the party, he added assaulting a police officer. It remains to be seen if he will be prosecuted as a youthful offender or an adult.

The other crime here, beyond the drugs and alcohol usage is that he and his family were committing fraud against the White Plains School District using his aunt’s address in White Plains. So Rojas’ phony permanent address enabled him to attend the White Plains schools instead of the Greenburgh schools. His mother would drive him to school daily and pick him up at the end of the day. The crime? Falsely attending one school district’s school while living outside the district and financially defrauding them by attending their school.

Many would say it’s no big deal. But it is. These same people would say the undocumented immigrants (not so with Rojas), vis á vis illegal aliens, need an education too. In fact they’re entitled to it. While that’s debatable, who pays for it is not up for debate, so in fact, they are not entitled. The taxes to fund our school systems are paid by taxpaying property owners – nobody else. Legal citizens pay. If they are actual property owning immigrants, who followed our rules and regulations about being here and are playing by the rules, they have a say in the issue. As such, these are the people that should be making these decisions, not some vote-hungry politician who knows if it’s presented in their liberal state, not enough people will rise up and vote against it. In time it will get worse.

Lawmakers Playing Games Again

Government Discrimination
Our County lawmakers are delusional. In the Saturday Journal News headline, “Astorino: HUD Actions Go To Far”, by Gerald McKinstry, states, “Democrats on the Board of Legislators criticized the administration for going it alone and called Astorino’s announcement ‘highly disappointing’.”  However, this is the same legislature that then County Executive Andy Spano also chose to exclude during the plea deal process he brokered with the Housing and Urban Development arm of the Federal Government with the Housing Desegregation Lawsuit. I think it speaks volumes when the Democratic County Executive choses to not work hand-in-hand with his democratic Legislature!

McKinstry’s article states the parameters of the Housing Desegregation settlement that democrat Andy Spano agreed to with democratic-majority approval from the previous legislature. It mandates that Westchester leverage $51.6 million for the creation of 750 affordable homes over seven years in 31 of Westchester’s mostly white communities for ONLY blacks and hispanics. That's not a reversal of discrimination, rather, its a government sanctioned discrimination. Is one really better than another? I don't think so.

Stand For Your Conviction
County Executive Astorino believes the segregation agreement was the wrong decision to make. As then County Executive Spano stated in one of his press conferences, he just wanted the county’s legal department to make this lawsuit go away. In lawyer-speak, this means find a way to settle. They did. Then his legislature did. Now Astorino won’t abide by the two decisions. Good for him. Finally, we’re seeing some leadership in Westchester. By the way, I don’t agree with everything Astorino is trying to do via his methodology, but in principal find more to agree with than disagree.

Interestingly, the legislature should be in agreement with the County Executive. When the hearings regarding the settlement were taking place, the majority of individuals who spoke were against the settlement, maintaining we were not racist or prejudiced against anyone moving in next door. The only people who spoke in support of the settlement were those in the DSS system receiving benefits or a paycheck. I spoke to one single-parent woman who believed she was now going to be able to move to Scarsdale and have her children attend the Scarsdale schools. She wasn’t interested in discussing other ramifications her children might experience being there or the lottery she’d need to be chosen from to move there.

Shameless Self-Promotion
In the ‘Westchester County Board of Legislators NEWS’ boilerplate mailing, which is really nothing more than a campaign piece in disguise, it states there was an increase in Westchester’s total population by 3%, or 25,654 people. The biggest growth was in the northern part of the county, with the southern part losing population. I know taxes are lower up north and the amount of property per dollar ratio is significantly greater, offering more bang for the buck; there are no known gangs, although there soon will be; less traffic and less congestion; malls with free parking and the list goes on. Could any of these along with unmentioned reasons be the cause for the shift? No doubt.

Movin’ On Up
From the same campaign piece: “The Hispanic/Latino population grew by 21% in the county, reflecting the largest demographic growth, with Port Chester now 59.4% Hispanic/Latino and Sleepy Hollow now 51.5% Hispanic/Latino.” What’s not mentioned because its not within the scope of the census, is the influx of the same groups into the county, and how many are living in illegally adapted housing, whether they are working legitimately or in the “gray market” (on the books paying withholding taxes or working for cash); are in gangs; may be here legally or not? The list of questions goes on. We see more and more communities alarmed not over the influx of legal immigrants, but that of the illegal ones and the services we are bound to provide to them by law as long as they simply apply, straining our already limited funds. We even increase this ease by accommodating them with language interpreters. Just think of how many of our seniors who have paid their taxes for their entire lives could be receiving help if the funds were available...

What Westchester Legislators Believe
So if the County Legislators are to be believed, Westchester is racist because they favor continued blind adherence to the settlement. Astorino does not. They send out mailings, which the latest one admits that there is a huge increase in the minority population. They should be standing next to Astorino, fists held high, championing the cause against the settlement because without county interference, the population balance has shifted. It doesn't mean anything though as Ken Jenkins and crew insist on fostering partisan politics, not what is good for the County and it’s residents. I still maintain we are not racists. If you can afford to live in any community, then you do. No real estate agent, home seller or other type of seller, especially in this economic climate, will turn down a sale.