50 Facts About America Our Founding Fathers Never Would Have Believed

The Economic Collapse Blog

If our Founding Fathers were alive today, what would they think of America?  Surely they would be very proud that the United States stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific and has built some of the most amazing cities that the world has ever seen.  They would probably be surprised that the country they founded went on to become the greatest economic machine in the history of the world, and they would be absolutely astounded by things like our interstate highway system and the Internet.  However, there are quite a number of things that they would be horrified about, as well.  The fact that more than 40 million Americans are dependent on the federal government for their daily food would be deeply disturbing to our founders.  Also, the fact that the U.S. government has accumulated the greatest mountain of debt in human history would be incredibly distressing to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the rest of the founders.  But perhaps most of all, our founders would be absolutely disgusted that the land where Americans could once be free to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has become so tightly regulated and controlled…

Needless to say, our founders would certainly not understand many of our institutions or many of the advanced technologies that we have today.  But without a doubt they would be able to grasp how far we have fallen as a nation and how far we have strayed from the fundamental principles that they enshrined in our founding documents.  The United States is a much different place today than it was in 1776, and unfortunately many of the changes have been for the worse.

The following are 50 mind blowing facts about modern America that our Founding Fathers never would have believed.

#1 In 2010, not only does the United States have a central bank, but it also runs our economy and issues all of our currency.  The Federal Reserve has devalued the U.S. dollar by over 95 percent since 1913 and it has been used to create the biggest mountain of government debt in the history of the world.

#2 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that U.S. government agents can legally sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, place a secret GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of you everywhere that you go.

#3 The 50 wealthiest members of Congress saw their collective fortunes increase by 85.1 million dollars to $1.4 billion in 2009.

#4 The U.S. government has accumulated a national debt that is rapidly approaching the 14 trillion dollar mark.

#5 All over the United States, asphalt roads are being ground up and are being replaced with gravel because it is cheaper to maintain.  The state of South Dakota has transformed over 100 miles of asphalt road into gravel over the past year, and 38 out of the 83 counties in the state of Michigan have now turned some of their asphalt roads into gravel roads.

#6 Americans now owe more than $849 billion on student loans, which is more than the total amount that Americans owe on their credit cards.

#7 In 2010, Americans waste an astounding amount of food.  According to a study by the California Integrated Waste Management board, 63 percent of the average supermarket’s waste stream is food. When you break that down, it means that each supermarket wastes approximately 3,000 pounds of food each year.

#8 The city of Cleveland plans to sort through curbside trash to ensure that people are actually recycling properly.  If it is discovered that some citizens are not recycling they will be hit with very large fines.

#9 Once upon a time, U.S. industry was the envy of the world.  But since 1979, manufacturing employment in the United States has fallen by 40 percent.

#10 Even though the U.S. population has exploded in size, the number of Americans with manufacturing jobs today is smaller than the number of Americans who were employed in manufacturing in 1950.

#11 Having one out of every eight Americans enrolled in the food stamp program is now considered “the new normal” and Americans continue to drop into poverty in astounding numbers.

#12 One out of every six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.

#13 A family of four actually has difficulty surviving on an income of $50,000 a year in America in 2010.

#14 Barack Obama is backing a proposal to create a national database that will store the DNA of all individuals who have been arrested, even if they end up not being convicted of a crime.

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Cartoon of the Day: Thanks, Pastor Jones

Obama: Koran Burning, No; Flag Burning, Yes

Ben Johnson, Floyd Reports

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called Pastor Terry Jones’ plan to hold a “Burn A Koran Day” on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 “unAmerican.” Hillary Clinton called it a “disrespectful, disgraceful act.” And just this morning, Barack Obama said the proposed event was “completely contrary to our values as Americans.” He cited local fire ordinances that might be used against the church if it proceeds and called on Jones to cancel the Mohammedan bonfire.

Although he tried to stop the desecration of Korans, Obama showed no such concern for the American flag. In June 2006, Senator Obama voted against the Hatch Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment that read in full: “The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.” It failed by one vote.

In an official statement explaining his vote, the future president said even debating the issue of flag burning was “a disservice to our country” and agreed that banning flag desecration “would destroy part of freedom itself.”

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Video of the Day: Black Panthers Tell Koran Burners, “You Will Be A Target”

If Obama Treated Koran Burning like the Ground Zero Mosque

Ben Johnson, Floyd Reports

Although he would not say a word about Iran’s human rights violations after Mahmoud Ahmadinejiad tortured protesters of the stolen presidential election last summer, Barack Obama brought the full weight of the presidential bully pulpit down against 50 people planning to burn the Koran this Saturday. Obama told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America this morning the would-be Koran-burners’ “stunt” is “completely contrary to our values of Americans…this country has been built on the notions of religious freedom and religious tolerance.”

That is an interesting about-face on the right of religious people to exercise the First Amendment. Less than a month ago, he declared his support for the Ground Zero Mosque, telling Muslims at an Iftar dinner:

Let me be clear: As a citizen and as president I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.

He later said he was only reiterating their constitutional rights and “will not comment on the wisdom” of planting a victory mosque atop the graves of 3,000 jihad victims. But he felt no constraint commenting on the “wisdom” of a tiny Christian church burning the Muslims’ “holy” book. Although he showed enthusiasm for the First Amendment rights of Muslims, he tried to sic the local police on Pastor Jones, stating that he found the Dove World Outreach Center’s rights “frustrating”….

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