America: Are We Really Free?

Are we free? Really free? We're taught from nearly day one of school that America is world's freest country; the "beacon of light" to the world; the home of the world's greatest democracy. With the Supreme Court's most recent decision ruling, McCutcheon v FEC, in a 5 to 4 ruling, corporations and the very rich can now donate as much as want to too any candidate, party, cause, or political action committee. They had previously ruled in 2010, in the Citizens v FEC case and another 5 to 4 decision, that free speech equated to money and that corporations had essentially the same rights as flesh and blood individuals; actually, more rights to be truthful since individuals remained capped in what they could donate.

With this recent ruling, the uber-rich and the supra-corporate elite have much more "freedom" that ordinary working class Americans, who are severely limited in the amount of "free speech" they are able to give. In effect, the one percenters can openly buy any candidate and any election they want too. Of course, they've been doing this for a long time already, but now they can come out from behind the curtain and out of the shadows and do it openly while the rest of America just stands and watches their Constitutional freedoms evaporate one by one. Chalk up another victory for the Oligarchy. This got me to thinking--just how free are we really? How do we compare with other nations?

Well, one would hope we're still number one; at least I was hoping. However, not only are we not number one, we're aren't even in the top ten freest countries. The freest country in the world is actually Hong Kong, followed by Singapore. Interestingly, both nations have a "open" or laissez faire economy (think "hands off" by the government or a libertarian style economy). That's something our Founders had planned for us but has long since vanished. So, where do we stand?

Actually, the US is 12th, between former Soviet client state of Estonia and the constitutional monarchy of Bahrain (known for being dictatorial with an ineffectual parliament and ineffective judiciary system as well as human rights violations, which Human Rights Watch calls "dismal"). For "leadership of the free world", that's not exactly good company (no offence to Estonia or Bahrain intended). Our neighbor to the north, Canada, came in sixth while our southern neighbor was ranked 55th, which might explain all the border troubles! If there's any good news here, it's that our friends across the pond, the UK, came in 14th place (and being part Irish, I have to point out to our English mates that Ireland was ranked 9th).

Speaking of human rights, the International Human Rights Ranking Indicator places America in 20th place, between France and Monaco. Not exactly comforting for the "leadership of the free world is it? Canada was ranked 10th while Mexico was 63rd. Who ranked highest for protection of human rights? That was Norway, followed by Sweden and Australia. In another ranking, this time compiled by the Maplecroft 2014 Human Rights Risk Atlas, the US ranked 139th out of 197 countries, making it a "moderate" human rights risk while the Scandinavian countries ranked at the top.

In comparing Hong Kong with the US, I found some remarkable results. In terms of business freedom; that is how much a business can operate without government interference, Hong Kong score nearly a perfect 100 which the US wound up with an 85%. Closely related, in terms of fiscal freedom, Hong Kong "very free" with a 95%. The US was rated as "moderately free" with a 65%. In looking at government spending, the US at 50%, which put it in the "mostly unfree category" while little Hong Kong again was ranked as "very free" with another 95%.

In terms of property freedom, both Hong Kong and the US ran equally at 90% until 2009, when the US dipped to 80%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong continued at 90%. In terms of freedom from governmental corruption, US ranked 72%, making it the 23rd in the world. As for Hong Kong, it came in 13th place at 82%. Any way you slice it, America didn't do so well, so I decided to see just how well respected we were. Surely, we were at least well respected.

Well, as it turns out, not so much. America was ranked paltry 22nd most respected country in the world, just ahead of Peru and just behind Brazil. According to the report, the reasons for our dismal showing was our perceived lack of an effective government and "appealing environment". In case you're wondering, Canada came in first, following by Sweden.

Clearly, we're a nation in trouble, at least from the perspective of the rest of the world, which seems to bear out what the overwhelming majority of Americans think. According to a recent Rasmussen Report, only 28% of Americans think we're headed in the right direction, and those numbers have remained fairly consistent. Congressional approval is currently around 13%, which is actually up from 9% in November. For the last three years, it's been 20% or under. Obama isn't doing much better. Gallup has his most recent job approval rating at 43%. And the Supreme Court? The last poll was taken before their recent decision, but even then, it was only 45%. I'm sure it's much lower now. In any other country, that would be called a "no confidence vote".

So what does all this mean? Well, obviously we're not the free country we think we are, and we haven't been for some time now. It means that not only does the world have its doubts about us, we do too. We're not happy with the nation we've become, and despite our objections, those elected to represent us either ignore us out of arrogance or self-interest, namely they're catering exclusively to those whose "free speech", as defined by the Supreme Court, they hear the clearest. In what has to be the clearest case of politics making strange bed fellows, those outside of conventional party politics on both the Left and Right, have more in common than not when it comes to defining who's to blame. What do I mean?

The non-aligned Left sees the transnational corporation's influence over governments as the key problem while the non-aligned Right see government as being too large and too invasive. Both see the power of government becoming to encompassing as the power of corporations over governments, even superseding governments, continues to grow. In any other country which valued freedom, both would have used this common cause to march together in the streets and in to the halls of power----Wall Street and K Street and maybe if they have time, Capitol Hill. In any other country which valued freedom, there would have been revolution to rid itself of the corruptors and abusers of our sovereignty, but America isn't any other country...or is it?


2014 Index of Economic Freedom
http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

The World's Most Reputable Countries 2013
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/06/27/the-worlds-most-reputable-countries-2013/

Right Direction or Wrong Direction?
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/right_direction_or_wrong_track

Barack Obama Presidential Approval
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116479/barack-obama-presidential-job-approval.aspx

Congress Job Approval Starts 2014 at 13%
http://www.gallup.com/poll/166838/congress-job-approval-starts-2014.aspx

International Human Rights Ranking Indicator
http://www.ihrri.com/index.php

Maplecroft 2014 Human Rights Risk Atlas
https://maplecroft.com/themes/hr/

A Snapshot of America: Not A Pretty Picture

12.9%. That's the average approval rating for the United States Congress. That means 87.1% of Americans think that Congress is continuing to do an unacceptable job---a pox on both houses by the voting public apparently. Actually, that rating, which comes from Real Clear Politics, is the average of several polls, ranging from a high of 14% to a low of 10%. Gallup, for instance, gives an approval rating of 13% according to their most recent poll from January 2014. So, who do you want to blame---the Democrats or Republicans?

Well, according to PollingReport.com, through the middle of February 2014, Democrats had an approval rating of 33% with a disapproval rating of 60%. Not exactly stellar. Not to be outdone, the Grand Ole Party had an approval rating of just 22% for the same period and a disapproval rating of 72%. Nothing like an old fashion race to the bottom is there? Meanwhile, President Obama has disapproval rating of a whopping 56% for the end of February. So much for his "year of action" so far. PollingReport.com also reported that as of the end of February, 63% of Americans thought that the country was headed in the wrong direction while only 32% thought we were headed down the right road (no doubt many of those are in the hand basket business). Interestingly, that majority has been fairly consistent since at least 2012 according to the polling results. So, what's going on here?

The answer is actually quite simple. These numbers merely reflect the huge and deep disconnect between Washington and the American People---the so-called "flyover country" as the Beltway elite like to call us. There's really nothing new here. While we may not have known the numbers, each of us knew it from the increasing price of groceries to conversations while standing in line or at company water cooler. America is divided; deeply so. The question of course should turn to the obvious--what can we do about it, if anything? To answer that, I think we should look at some of the pressing issues such as illegal immigration, Obamacare, the economy, and the divide between the "haves and have nots".

Illegal immigration has been a hot topic since at least George Bush II, although President Ronald Reagan granted the estimated three illegal immigrants then living in this country a "one time only" amnesty in 1986. The result, as predicted, was a tidal wave of new illegal immigrants in the hopes that they too would be granted a "one time only" amnesty. The truth is, they've come very close to it, having been granted instate tuition by some universities (whereas ordinary students are denied), not to mention access to billions of dollars worth of taxpayer based services such as education, housing, medical care, and so forth. Meanwhile, various religious organizations have quite openly ignored federal laws and not only protected illegal immigrants by providing so-called "sanctuary", but actively assisted in finding housing, enrolling in schools, assisting in sidestepping state and federal laws, and finding jobs (which is illegal for a perspective employer). Meanwhile, Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, have bypassed or ignored existing immigration laws. What do the American Public think?

To those in Washington, it really doesn't matter, but for the record, a plurality favors stronger border security and no taxpayer assistance for those here illegally. But, after almost two decades of opposing illegal immigration being ignored by Washington, it appears most Americans have thrown in the towel. According to a recent Christian Science Monitor article, three-fourths of those polled favored allowing illegal immigrants to remain---provided that could meet minimum citizenship requirements, with the majority supporting some form of amnesty being Democrat. As an aside, in another poll, 87% of Americans still favored making English the official national language.

Regarding the economy, according to a CNN/ORC poll from the end of December, 68% thought the economy remained poor with not much hope for the near term. Half of those polled were cutting back on clothes and appliances while 36% were cutting back on food and medicine. Interestingly, according to a poll conducted by Fox in February, a full 58% think the economy is going to get worse yet. Judging by the prices in grocery store, they may well be right. Speaking of medicine, Gallup released a poll for mid-February which indicated that 51% of you did not like Obamacare. But not fret, that's slightly better than the 54% non-approval rating it has been polling, but then again, two-thirds of those polled said that if they knew then what they know now about Obamacare, it never would have passed. That's the thing about actually reading those pesky bills! Can anyone out there say "trust me"?

There's no questioning that in terms of income, there's never been a greater gap between the rich and poor. The middle class as such doesn't really seem to exist anymore. We seem to have the poor, working poor, the slightly better off (what's left of the old middle class), the near rich and rich, and the insanely uber-rich. Ideally, we should look something like an oval or egg on its side with a large middle class, a small poor at the bottom and a small rich at the top. Instead, we look like a figure eight. What then are we to do?

According to a February 4th poll by CNN, some 66% want the government to reduce the income gap (and we all know what a great job the government has done with the economy and healthcare). Of course, most Republicans disapprove of the idea while a majority of Democrats and Independents are in favor. Oddly, those earning more than $100k also agreed that the government should "do something" to reduce the income gap. There's no question that the continuing wage gap, which has thrown more and more Americans in poverty, increasing the likelihood of social unrest, especially coupled with Washington's arrogance toward Mainstreet America and ever closer ties with Wallstreet. Perhaps that's part of the reason for Washington's increased surveillance of its citizens and stockpiling of ammo. Ever wonder if they know something we don't?

While this article simply can't begin to cover all the issues mentioned in further depth, let along other, equally important topics such as the aforementioned "bugging" of America, home values, declining standard of life, crime, infrastructure decline, rising debt (especially for students), educational "dumb down", race relations, attempts to reign in the 2nd Amendment, the declining power of unions and employee associations, and so much more, it is apparent that we, as Americans, are in trouble. Perhaps more than at any other time in our history, though not necessarily as obviously. Gallup reported recently that 81% of Americans either rarely or never trusted the government. Think about that for just a moment. This is a government which is supposed to represent you and I and yet 81% of us can't trust it. You don't have to a rocket scientist...or political scientist to see where that leads. So, I ask you---what are you prepared to do about it...and then what are you prepared to do?


Congressional Job Approval
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/congressional_job_approval-903.html

Congressional Job Approval Starts 2014 at 13%
http://www.gallup.com/poll/166838/congress-job-approval-starts-2014.aspx

Obama Faces 56 Percent Job Disapproval Rating
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/01/obama-approval-rating-poll_n_4881960.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Most in US wouldn't eject illegal immigrants
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2014/0227/Most-in-US-wouldn-t-eject-illegal-immigrants-a-minority-would-OK-citizenship

Fox News Poll: Voters think worse is yet to come on the economy
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/12/fox-news-poll-voters-think-worst-is-yet-to-come-on-economy/

Poll: Majority of Americans want government to reduce income gap
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/05/poll-majority-of-americans-want-government-to-reduce-income-gap/

Pew Poll: United we stand on wealth gap
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/23/pew-poll-obama-wealth-gap-sotu/4777385/

Trust in Government
http://www.gallup.com/poll/5392/trust-government.aspx