Health tips (?)

A lot of folks are out of town for the long Memorial day weekend. My sermon today at TLBC was timely. I've been preaching on Christ and the Ten Commandments and today it was Christ and the 4th Commandment. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. To see an outline of the message click here

*****
Points about health and exercise.
*****

Walking can add minutes  to your life.
It enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional
6 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.

Grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60..
Now he's 97 and we don't know where the heck he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are
taken by people who annoy me.

I have to walk  early in the morning,
before my brain figures out what I'm doing..

I joined a health club last year, I Spent about 400 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.

Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise',
I wash my  mouth out with chocolate.

The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die,
they'll be amazed at your good looking corpse. 

If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.

I got a lot of exercise  the last few years,......
just getting over the hill.

You  could run this over to your friends but
why not just e-mail it to  them!

We all get heavier as we get older,
because there's  a lot more info in our heads.
That's my story and I'm sticking  to it.
***** 

Memorial Day this weekend

Why we do Memorial Day.

:: THE SACRIFICE OF ONE :: Igniter Media Group ::

a superior senior moment

My sermon today at TLBC was on "Christ and the 3rd Commandment".
Click here for access to the sermon outline.
Notice also the latest news and prayer requests.

*******

A very self-important college freshman attending a recent football
game, took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen
sitting next to him why it was impossible for the older generation
to understand his generation.

"You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive
one," the student said, loud enough for many of those nearby
to hear. "The young people of today grew up with television, jet
planes, space travel, man walking on the moon, our spaceships
have visited Mars. We have nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen
cars, computers with DSL, bsp; light-speed processing ....
and, " pausing to take another drink of beer.

The Senior took advantage of the break in the student's litany and
said,

"You're right, son. We didn't have those things when we were
young.....so we invented them. Now, you arrogant little idiot,
what are you doing for the next generation?"

The applause was resounding...

U scare me

A LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT

THE LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America's true living legends- an
acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest
rated speakers. Lou changed the way America does business by
creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering."
Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and
Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course
of 36 years, made corporate history.


AN OPEN LETTER TO
PRESIDENT OBAMA
Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike
any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive
Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no
visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth
growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus
don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned
yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to
publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America '
crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style
country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our healthcare system
with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly
capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose
that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of
living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics
against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from
challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider
opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both
omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything
you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the
Limbaugh's, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing,
conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will
probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett


This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Big surprise.

Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 1,500,000 hits. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.. It's happening right now.


http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/youscareme.asp

can u will u?

I WAS BUYING FOOD THE OTHER DAY AT THE COUNTRY MARKET. ON THE LABEL OF SOME PRODUCTS IT SAID 'FROM CHINA '.

FOR EXAMPLE THE "OUR FAMILY" BRAND OF THE MANDARIN ORANGES SAYS RIGHT ON THE CAN FROM CHINA . I WAS SHOCKED!! SO FOR A FEW MORE CENTS I BOUGHT THE LIBERTY GOLD BRAND OR THE DOLE FROM CAL .

Another example was in canned mushrooms. No-Name brand came from Indonesia . Next to them were President Choice brand. Product of Canada !! The P. C. went into my grocery bag.

TAKES FOREVER JUST TO BUY FOOD AND DO LABEL READING ! !

Are we Americans and Canadians as dumb as we appear --- or --- is it that we just do not think?

While the Chinese, knowingly and intentionally, export inferior and even toxic products and dangerous toys and goods to be sold in North American markets, the media wrings its hands and criticizes the Bush Administration (now Obama Administration) (and the Harper Government!) for perceived errors.

Yet 70% of North Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended.

Well, duh..why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges?

SIMPLY DO IT YOURSELF, AMERICA/CANADA!!

Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says 'Made in China' or 'PRC' (and that now includes Hong Kong), simply choose another product, or none at all.

You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.

Who needs plastic eggs to celebrate Easter? If you must have eggs, use real ones and benefit some North American farmer. Easter is just an example, the point is do not wait for the government to act. Just go ahead and assume control on your own.

THINK ABOUT THIS, If 200 million North Americans refuse to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that's a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor...fast!!

The downside? Some Canadian/American businesses will feel a temporary pinch from having foreign stockpiles of inventory. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!

The solution? Let's give them fair warning and send our own message. Most of the people who have been reading about this matter are planning on implementing this on June 4, and continue it until July 4. That is only one month of trading losses, but it will hit the Chinese for 1/12th of the total, or 8%, of their North American exports. Then they will at least have to ask themselves if the benefits of their arrogance and lawlessness were worth it.

Remember, June 4 to July 4 !

EVEN BETTER. . . START NOW !

Send this to everybody you know. Let's show them that we are intelligent Americans and Canadians, and NOBODY can take us for granted.

If we can't live without cheap Chinese goods for one month out of our lives, WE DESERVE WHAT WE GET!

Pass it on, North America !!

Why?

Why wouldn't Washington want you to know about this or think about it?

Our national debt is nearly $13 trillion. That's over $42,000 per American (which includes infants) -- more than most of us make in a year. China and Japan own almost $1.7 trillion of our debt, and the debt to GDP ratio is over 90%.

So what is Washington doing to solve this economic crisis and stave off a catastrophe?

Nothing. In fact, they have made it worse.

The only thing our elected officials care about is getting re-elected. All of those hearings, proposed legislation and new regulations, they are just a smokescreen. Washington isn't going to solve our problems. That's why I'm determined to vote OUT the elitists of D.C. and start all over with candidates that will adhere to the Constitution.

Sixth District Survey

For those in the Wash. State 6th Dist.

Take the Sixth District Constituent Survey

Cap and Tax

The present resident of the White House would love nothing more than to flash a grin for his pals in the national media as he signs Cap and Tax into law. But just like the recently passed nationalized health care mandate, Cap and Tax is just another excuse for Big Government to reach its greedy hands into our wallets.

If passed, Cap and Tax would:
*** Increase taxes by $650 BILLION, virtually guaranteeing that our economy gets even worse and NEVER recovers;
*** Result in over ONE MILLION lost American jobs per year, as energy-intensive industries are forced to shut their doors or move overseas;
*** Allow Big Government politicians to decide which businesses get taxpayer subsidies and which ones are shut down, virtually guaranteeing massive corruption on a scale we've never seen before in the United States.

And don't believe the lies. This bill has nothing to do with the environment.

In fact, the best experts agree Cap and Tax will have almost zero impact on the environment anyway -- except, of course, for lost jobs, higher taxes, and blighted small towns and rural communities. So what is Cap and Tax really about?

Raw government POWER.
Government POWER to tax.
Government POWER to enter your home to "check for compliance."
And government POWER to control the economy, our lives and our freedom.

Just take a look at Spain -- the Cap-and-Taxers' "shining" example of an eco-socialist paradise. There, unemployment is approaching 20% and rising. And what about all those new "green" jobs Cap and Tax apologists are claiming will be generated? In Spain, for every new "green" job created (at a taxpayer cost of $800,000 EACH, mind you), 2.2 economically-productive jobs are destroyed!

The fact is, passage of Cap and Tax could send our economy nose-diving off a cliff!
So it's important that you act TODAY. Already, Big Government politicians on both sides of the aisle have rammed this bill through the U.S. House.

That's why it's vital you sign the petition to your U.S. senators, demanding they vote against this dangerous power grab IMMEDIATELY.

Last Ride.

See today's sermon outline on the front page of our church website click here.

***
So I walked to the door and knocked. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing,' I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy,' she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly.

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.'

I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse.

Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.

'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?

What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, ~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

You won't get any big surprise in 10 days if you send this to ten people. But, you might help make the world a little kinder and more compassionate by sending it on.

Thank you, my friend...

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well

dance.

COWBOYS

This is great - brings back a whole bunch of fond memories. Those were the good ol' days.

http://www.greatdanepro.com/Western%20Stars/index.htm

RespectWashington.us

For registered Washington State
VOTERS only...


RespectWashington.us

Channel 2 Investigates U.S. Border Security Part 2 - Video - WSB Atlanta

Channel 2 Investigates U.S. Border Security Part 2 - Video - WSB Atlanta

Stop Net Regulation

Stop Net Regulation

Sign this petition and pass it on.

Reasons for taxes

My sermon today at TLBC was on "Christ and the 1st Commandment" and you may see the outline on the front page of our church website.

*********************

Taxes... Whether Independent, Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening. www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008 Single making 30K - tax $8,400 - tax $4,500 Single making 50K - tax $14,000 - tax $12,500 Single making 75K - tax $23,250 - tax $18,750 Married making 60K - tax $16,800 - tax $9,000 Married making 75K - tax $21,000 - tax $18,750 Married making 125K - tax $38,750 - tax $31,250 Obama will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen at the end of this year. It is probably that 47% of the public that do not work a legal job or pay any income taxes at all but live comfortably on government entitlement programs.

Quote of the Day........"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it." -- candidate: Barack Obama

We always hear it said that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. Although the war is very expensive, it isn't the only thing that is bankrupting us. The bigger problem is illegal aliens!!!!!

I hope the following 14 reasons for enforcing present immigration laws are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.

Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.

Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.

Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."
Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in The United States."
Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

WHO honesty thinks that if we give them amnesty that all this will go away and things will get better?

Rag Heads

"RAG HEADS"

Please be advised that I have been warned about using the politically incorrect term "Rag Heads". We all need to be more sensitive in our choice of words. Apparently, the Islamic terrorists, that hate our guts and want to kill us, do not like to be called "Rag Heads". They tell us that the item on their heads is not a rag. It is in fact a small folded sheet. Therefore, from this point on, please refer to them as "Sheet Heads". Thank you for your support and compliance on this delicate matter.

***

Passed out fifty gospel tracts in the neighborhood around TLBC. Looking forward to a good First Friday Fellowship Meeting tonight at 7PM.

The Thessalonian Doctrine

The Thessalonian Doctrine

Happy May 5th...

Political bullies around the nation are trying to intimidate Arizonans into asking their elected officials to back down on the enforcement laws they have been enacting the last few years.

It is important to the entire nation that Arizona hold firm as a model of what a state can do to reduce its illegal population. As many as 25% of illegal aliens in Arizona may have left the state during the last couple of years, and its voters and officials are determined to keep the outflow continuing.

Wouldn’t a 25% drop in the illegal population of your state be fantastic!

The most important action would be for your state to adopt Arizona’s mandatory workplace verification law. But another good way would be copying the latest law that helps local police detect and detain illegal aliens. Perhaps its most important contribution is that illegal alien leaders and local news media tend to become hysterical and scare a lot of illegal aliens into fleeing the state.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A NEW TV AD

25 million U.S. workers who would like to have a full-time job can’t find one.

# The national leaders of the Republican Party do not put those 25 million as a priority.


# The Democratic leadership of Congress does not put those 25 million as a priority.


# Pres. Obama does not put those 25 million as a priority.


BUT YOU DO! AND WE DO!

Keep the pressure on Congress to figure out that Arizona’s new law is about putting American back to work.

Put the pressure on your state legislators to follow Arizona’s lead.

Take every opportunity for action that we give you to shame any public figure who denigrates the people of Arizona for insisting on full-scale enforcement to reduce their illegal-alien population.

Mayday Mayday

May Day is well known for it's display of power by the anti-America crowd.

The latest rallies in America were not what we would call bowl of cherries.

Click Here

Will stinko-de-my-yo be much different?

545 People

My sermon today at TLBC was on "True Worship". See outline: Here
==============================
545 People ……By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.

In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority.

They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.

I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.

No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget.

He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House?

She is the leader of the majority party.

She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want.

If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper

What a choice...

I found the following article to be quite interesting...

The Daily Reckoning Weekend EditionSaturday,
May 1, 2010
Taipei, Taiwan

Joel Bowman, reporting from Taipei, Taiwan...

Against a backdrop of heated immigration disputes along its border states, America this week learned that a small but growing number of her citizens are choosing to renounce their citizenship in order to pursue a freer life abroad. This should come as no surprise, not even to those who have forgotten why their ancestors set sail for the "Land of the Free" in the first place.

According to the Federal Register, the government institution charged with keeping tabs on such activity, 502 expatriates gave up their US citizenship or permanent residency status in the last quarter of 2009. That figure, though still relatively small when compared with the 5.2 million Americans estimated to be living abroad, is more than twice the total for all of 2008. Nevertheless, the increase - from a rate of 235 per year to over 2,000 per year - is enough to raise a nationalistic eyebrow or two.

For some, the decision of their fellow countrymen and women to surrender their American passport - and, after an enormous initial penalty, future tax obligations - is tantamount to desertion...treason, even. Of course, that all depends on what we assume a freedom-loving person chooses to swear their allegiance to in the first place: the concept of freedom itself...or a nation professing to uphold and honor it.

"Let's be clear about something," opined Lew Rockwell, founder of the Mises Institute and editor of LewRockwell.com, earlier this week, "A person who decides to give up his US citizenship is not guilty of disloyalty to America; quite the opposite. He could very well be more loyal to American principles than the regime is willing to tolerate."
Indeed. It is helpful here to inquire as to what, precisely, this band of wayfaring renegades is voting (with their feet) against.

"American expats have long complained that the United States is the only industrialized country to tax citizens on income earned abroad," elaborated an editorial in The Washington Post during the week, "even when they are taxed in their country of residence, though they are allowed to exclude their first $91,400 in foreign-earned income."

In addition to onerous taxes (which some expats have taken to calling "taxation without representation"), it would be difficult to argue that the growth of the State - and its myriad associated expenses, debts and deficits - had nothing to do with this still nascent trend. It is surely no coincidence that this uptick in "deserters" comes as the Feds demand and occupy an increasingly larger share of the country's economic landscape.

In fact, not since a brief spike circa WWII has government expenditure gobbled up a larger percentage of the nation's GDP pie. Where as government expenses began the 20th century at a relatively modest 7% of the nation's entire economic activity, they today account for almost 45% of the whole. Until as recently as 1950, total government expenses - including pensions, health care, education, national defense, welfare and all other spending - were still in the vicinity of $70 billion, or roughly 25% of the nation's GDP. Just two decades later, that number had more than tripled (in nominal terms) to $322 billion, or around one third of the nation's GDP. We doubt if the number 'trillion' had ever even been uttered in the halls of Congress at that time, but by 1990 the government's expense figure had reached just over $2 trillion, edging its way toward 35% of GDP. Today, it weighs in at over $6.5 trillion and is projected to top $8.6 trillion by 2015.

Because politicians don't typically spend other peoples' money as prudently as they might have spent their own, state-funded activity generally leads to a mountain of waste and, eventually, an even bigger mountain of debt. According to figures compiled by the Peterson Foundation, the government's debt was over $180,000 per person in 2008. Since then, it has grown at more than $4.2 billion dollars per day. This includes expenses like servicing the interest payments on the national debt, maintaining armed forces in hundreds of permanent bases around the world, funding various and multiplying welfare programs and paying the swelling public workforce more than the private market would ever tolerate for the sub-standard services they tend to provide.

Why is this important? Because an increase in the size and cost of maintaining a welfare state is directly proportional to a decrease in economic freedoms for those who are forced (through taxation and other coercive measures) to sponsor it. Ergo, greater state presence in an economy equals more confiscation of private individuals' property and, ultimately, an unsupportable number of people living at the expense of the dwindling, productive few.
Unsurprisingly, Uncle Sam is cracking down. One only need consider the ever-tightening noose of capital controls. Our vigilant friends over at The 5-Minute Forecast noticed recently a "provision slipped unceremoniously into the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, AKA 'the jobs bill,' which passed into law on March 18, 2010.

"The provision," The 5 continued, "outlines new rules on 'Foreign Account Tax Compliance.' The gist is this: Send more than over $50,000 to a foreign bank not on good terms with the US and the IRS will withhold 30% of it for possible tax claw back - and a boatload of your private account information."

What's more, with trillion dollar annual deficits as far as the eye can see, there is little chance that the political pressure to "eat the rich" will ease up anytime soon. Is it any wonder then that a fast- growing number of people are already trying to get out before the hammer really slams down? And, more germane to this discussion, are these people to be considered "unpatriotic" for surrendering a passport - of any color and origin - in favor of liberty?
Perhaps it is useful here to consider freedom as a concept, not an institution or a political or geographical location. Certainly one cannot point to freedom on a map, nor is it defined - regardless of laws attempting to render it otherwise - by the color of one's passport or skin. It resides neither in the wooden speeches of politicians nor in the empty promises of their sophistry, where it is prone to being debased, corrupted and molested. Instead, it lives and thrives in the impenetrable safekeeping of those who seek to achieve it. As such, it is only natural that the torchbearers of mankind's greatest attribute should seek a home in which they can live their lives unencumbered by the coercion of others.