Marilyn Writes

Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall began her career as a journalist with the Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 year banking career, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, and other major industry publications. The American Bankers Association (ABA) published Barnewall’s Profitable Private Banking: the Complete Blueprint, in 1987. She taught private banking at Colorado University for the ABA and trained private bankers in Singapore.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

MEMO TO: VOTERS

MEMO FROM: Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall

TO: American Patriots

DATE: 24 October 2010

SUBJECT: SAVING YOUR NATION

It is a sad commentary, but it’s true. Money runs the political process. That’s why I’m writing a Memo to Voters.

Protest carries only so much impact. Eventually, protesters must do something – or, lose credibility – or sound like perpetual whiners in need of government assistance.

Conservatives are at a tipping point. There is no doubt that our moment of dissonance as a nation drew many people, previously content to let government run things, to Tea Party and other activist groups. Political abuse forced people from apathy to involvement. Americans love their country and are not content to sit back while it is kidnapped by a bunch of oligarchs.

An oligarchy is a form of government where all power is held by a ruling or dominant class. It is government by the few over the many.

What makes me confident oligarchy is the direction our Republic is headed? An oligarchy is made up of two classes, the rich and the poor. One reason for America’s success is its independent middle class. It has, until now, prevented oligarch domination.

There is one important thing that separates the American middle class from that of most European nations. America’s middle class doesn’t work for the government. If you think that doesn’t make a difference, look at the recent Greek uprisings and the current ones in France. America consists of independent businesses. We are a nation with three distinct classes – the poor, an independent middle class, and the upper class. If you’re an upper-class elitist who wants an oligarchy, one objective is primary: Eliminate the independent middle class.

One way the independent nature of the middle class can be eliminated is by making a majority of workers government employees. They are then dependent for their survival on doing what they are told. We have seen much of that at Government Motors (GM) and other places since TARP and TALF.

Or, the middle class can be eliminated by dissolving the value of the single important asset that draws a line in the sand between poverty and middle class: Home equity value, the primary asset of American middle class wealth.

Perhaps you thought the attempted death blow to the housing market was accidental. Most of my regular readers know I’m writing a novel explaining what appears to be the economic stupidity of American politicians. Were they stupidities? Or, were they planned failures? If you are interested in finding out, I have placed a portion of Chapter Nine at my blog. The book won’t be out for several months, so don't ask 'cause I can't tell.

What Chapter Nine explains is that the real estate market was the primary victim when the economy went South in 2008. The real estate market dropped like a rock and hasn’t found a floor to regain its value since. It tells you why two government-sponsored entities -- mortgage companies -- were created. It tells you how Congress dissolved the savings and loan industry so these two giant mortgage companies could be created and controlled to bring about our ongoing crisis.

Why did they need to get rid of thousands of savings and loans so two giant mortgage companies hold a majority of America's mortgage debt? They wanted to package mortgages, good and bad, into worthless weapons of mass destruction called "mortgage-backed derivatives." They couldn't control how mortgages were written at thousands of savings and loans -- but could control loan structure at two giant mortgage companies. The S&Ls had to go. The real estate market took what appears to me to be a very well-planned nose dive and middle class assets were destroyed. Without your primary residence, Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America, how financially stable are you?

That attack was perpetrated often using totally unlawful foreclosure methods. The financial services industry and government violated not only the law but basic decency to foreclose on your neighbors' homes -- while driving down the value of your home. A Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit has been filed by a Kentucky lawyer on behalf of clients caught up in illegitimate home foreclosures. There weren’t just a handful of forged documents created to unlawfully foreclose against people. There were thousands. That potentially makes it an organized crime problem.

The entire system is corrupt, from local to national. Getting Republicans elected won’t solve the problem. Both parties have been penetrated by libertarians and progressive liberals and too many republicans are shills of the Republican Party who serve party rather than the people. We need to re-discover our moral compass. It got lost while we the people were on political vacation.

Many who vote this time will make mistakes, thinking they are voting for one thing to later find they voted for another. The main reason for their disappointment will be money.

Is money the curse of politics? Or, is it the solution? Maybe it’s both.

As much as I find that answer distasteful, one doesn’t avoid the truth because it smells like garbage. When you avoid the truth, you avoid solutions.

There is something all people who believe in our Constitution and the Rule of Law and in Truth – those who want to get our country back – need to consider.

On 31 March 1988, Dr. Martin Luther King gave a speech titled Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution. He said: ‘“Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question ‘Is it politic?’ And Vanity comes along and asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”

Answers to these same questions will determine where you and I stand on our page in history.

Conservative candidates need help raising money. We need to do that to become part of the political force that enables us to tell a newly-elected Congressman or Senator “If you don’t support the revocation of health care, we’ll back a candidate in a primary race against you next election.” Or, “If you vote for cap and trade, welcome to a primary race at election time! We'll unseat you as quickly as we seated you!”

That they understand. It places emphasis where it should be: On what politicians do, not on what they promise or try to explain away in the aftermath of their actions.

Successful candidates need advertising and campaign funds if they are going to win primary races and elections for Congress or Senate -- or, County Commissioner. They need publicity. Are you actively seeking a good advertising executive to join your group? You should!

Candidates need to be thoroughly researched. We don’t need something from an otherwise good candidate's background to give opposing candidates advertising fodder. You need money to do background research. Raise it!

Money draws thieves and scoundrels like a light draws moths on a hot July night. So, what are you going to do? Turn off the lights? Not likely. Instead, make use of a screen door and get rid of the moths.

Establish a Trust Fund in each state. Since you know money attracts thieves, create a Conservative Voters Trust Fund (CVTF) with such tight limits on spending, fraud can be avoided – or, at the very least, detected quickly should it occur. If there are fifty Tea Party groups in your state, and if your CVTF requires a two-thirds vote of the membership of each for candidate financial support, you can minimize the danger of fraud. If your Trust Charter requires a good accounting and reporting system to all contributors, fraud can be minimized. The vote of each group is weighted to the amount contributed by it when voting for national candidates -- but they determine how they spend their funds locally.

Spend the next two years finding the best possible candidates. Research them. Use your state’s political system to get real conservatives nominated as delegates to county and state Assemblies. We can either continue to give our oppressors power by allowing money to win their political races; or, we can use their rules against them and get people elected who will change the rules so money isn’t the dominant political factor.

Use events to raise money. It’s not that difficult to raise enough to put a down payment on a meeting room and pay for some airline tickets and hotel rooms for good speakers. You don’t need a star that charges speaker fees. People want to listen and are willing to pay a reasonable amount when you present someone with something important to say -- publicize it properly. And, you need someone who knows how to promote an event to get publicity and good mail brochures. It helps if they know enough about politics to know the best mailing list for the topic being presented to raise funds.

Remember, when you avoid the truth, you avoid solutions. One of the best ways to avoid the reality of truth is to waste your precious vote. VOTE! It's more important this year than ever! Get those *&^%#@! who voted for health care and TARP and TALF out of office!