Best laid plans

It has been 8 years since my friend and I created this blog with the best of intentions.  On my part I found the research needed to figure out the convoluted state that is this country's financial situation to be a full time job which unfortunately doesn't pay the bills.  On my friend's part she ran into medical issues that meant she had to simplify her life.  So to the 3 current followers of this blog I apologize for the lapse.  I hope you will find the change in focus interesting.

As I was looking at some posts on my Facebook account I ran across an article from a conservative website that talked about another person's Facebook post.  One of the comments intrigued me.  It said essentially that the article was misconstruing the post in order to stir up emotions.  I do find that to be the case in a lot of reporting these days, so generally if I find or hear something upsetting, I then try to find out the whole story.  So I did that with this article and what I found has prompted me to speak out.

The article was about what a local Black Lives Matter leader posted to her Facebook account in reaction to what happened in Charlottesville, VA recently.  She posted 10 suggestions she felt rich white people could do to help.  Now the conservative article reported them as mandates from Black Lives Matter but from what I could find out, the lady who posted them did not mean them to be a statement from Black Lives Matter.  They are just her opinion on what might help our country.  So it was incorrect for the article to report this as a mandate from Black Lives Matter.

I reviewed her suggestions and most of them hinge on "white people who can" giving housing or land to "black or brown people" or building housing and letting "black or brown people" live there for free.  I use "black or brown people" in quotes because that is the term she used in her post.

There are several questions I have about this approach to the problem of generational poverty which seems to be the focus of her suggestions.

1. What is the racial breakdown of generational poverty in the United States? 
I'm pretty sure it isn't just "black and brown people". They may represent a greater number but it isn't exclusive to them.

2. If historical racism is the cause for "black and brown people's" generational poverty, then why do we have so many successful "black and brown people"? 
Unlike other countries, the United States has a fairly mobile population.  The circumstances you are born into, do not determine where you can go or what you can do.  There are stories every day of people rising above their circumstances to become successful in whatever they endeavor to do. 

History has also shown that most immigrants to this country have racist difficulties in their history, it isn't something that just "black and brown people" have claim to. 

In my own history, my ancestors where chased off their land by angry mobs and a governor of the state made a law that they were to be driven from the state or killed (which wasn't rescinded until this century).  Some say this was because they were against owning slaves and the rest of the state was concerned how they would vote.  Regardless of why it happened, it happened and my people were chased out of the country into a inhospitable place, until by their hard work and perseverance, they made it hospitable. Eventually through land purchases it became part of the country again.  So then because of rumors and other issues with the religion they practiced, the government sent an army to this new place to put down a rebellion.  It was even threatened, they would disenfranchise our church and take all of it's assets.  So being oppressed isn't just the purview of "black and brown people".

3. If handouts to reduce poverty were the answer, then why isn't the current welfare system working to get people out of poverty? 
Free housing has already been tried and in most places that housing is not being taken care of by the people who live there. Programs like Habitat for Humanity, which require the recipient to help construct the home, work much better because they provide the recipient with a sense of ownership and pride in the housing they are getting. Working for something brings a sense of accomplishment which goes farther in reducing poverty than anything else.  Handouts only create dependency.

The idea that we each determine our own destiny is what makes this country great.  It is this idea that makes it possible for all of us to succeed regardless of what has happened in the past.  Instead of weakening people by assuming they can't take care of themselves.  Let's empower them by assuming they are capable and figure out what they need to help themselves.

At the same time, we need to understand that we can not force people to succeed.  Ultimately it is their choice, whether they take advantage of their opportunities or not.  If we force an equal outcome it will stifle ambition and creativity.  Whereas, if we provide an equal opportunity, we encourage ambition and creativity and we are all enriched by it.  The communities that are thriving are the ones where people are working together to better themselves and are not waiting around for someone to do or provide it for them.

And so it begins . . . .

Let me introduce myself. My name is Tamara. I consider myself a conservative in that I don't believe Government can solve all problems or that Government knows best. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This means I am a Christian and it is also where the title to this blog comes from. In the Book of Mormon, at a time of political unrest a man called Moroni tore his cloak and wrote on it this basic truth: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children." Alma 46:12. He attached it to a pole and called it the Title of Liberty. He then went forth with this cloak and pole to help the people know the truth and make choices based on this truth, not coercion or rhetoric.

During this last presidential campaign, I and my friend Bonnie became very frustrated because it seemed there was no place to turn for truth and facts that didn't have some kind of agenda. That wasn't trying to tell us how to think about what was being said. So I began searching for the facts myself.

One of the things I became curious about was money. What is the government doing with the money they get from me? I knew the President proposed a budget but what happens then. Does the President have the authority to spend money? How does it work? As I researched, I discussed my findings with my friend, Bonnie and she brought up other questions that she had. As we discussed things, we realized there were probably others like us that are tired of being told what to think and may not have the time or resources to search on their own, so we decided to publish what we find in a blog.

This is the first entry in what we hope will be a long series of entries. We are going to publish twice a week. I will write one and Bonnie will write one. Bonnie will introduce herself with her first entry.

We may state our opinions on what we find but it will be clear to you, the reader, which is opinion and which is fact. We will include our sources and we will be diligent in using sources that are accurate. We will also provide links where appropriate so you can review our findings for yourself. We will also let you know what you can do if you like or dislike the facts we find. Our sole goal or agenda, if you will, is to empower ourselves with the truth and share what we find with others.

Results of research
As I said I was curious about the money. I started my search by googling 'appropriation bills'. One of the sites led me to a government site with a paper on the process. http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/appfacts.pdf

How the process works is this:

1. The President submits a Budget to Congress
2. Congress can use this budget as a basis to then draw up their own Budget Resolution.
3. The allocations in this budget resolution are used by the House and Senate appropriation committees to create Appropriation bills that have to be passed by the House and Senate.
4. There are 13 such bills that are done for each year.
5. The government operates on a fiscal year that starts on October 1st each year.
6. These bills give budget authority to the various bureaus, agencies and quasi government committees which have been set up by the federal government.
7. Budget authority is the monetary limit that an entity has to create obligations against the federal treasury.
8. The only thing the President can do to affect the spending of money is to veto these appropriation bills.

From this paper I learned that because of how the appropriation bills are worded, the money is really spent by all the bureaus, agencies and quasi-government committees. It is their budgets that would need to be examined to see where the money is going.

When I googled government agencies to see how many there were, I found the following government website: http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/federal.shtml and a link on it lists too many of these entities to be named here but I will list the main ones that I found on a organiziational chart found on this site: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/files/gov_chart.pdf.

3 main branches - Legislative, Executive, Judicial
15 departments - Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, The Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, The Treasury, Veteran Affairs.

On my next blog I will outline the amount of money that was allocated in 2008 for each of the main departments.

Since it is Congress and not the President who controls the allocation of our money, they are the ones to contact if you like or dislike what you know about how the money is spent. So I have included links to the House and Senate Home pages. They will help you to find out who your Congressional representatives are and how to contact them to encourage them to maintain things as they are or to work to change them.

House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/ - search for your representative is on the left near the top of the page.
Senate: http://www.senate.gov/ - search for your senator is on the right near the top of the page.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Tamara:)