Mr. Ramey, if only people would read history and do as the old adages says, "KNOW IT that we not repeat it". There's the problem. Being a prosperous nation has its unintended consequences if we do not use wisdom to keep it and use it wisely.
You and I grew up under the threat of communism and had a healthy fear of it. We knew that as the world goes, so do we. An entitled generation being self-centered, does not look to history to find that prosperity can disappear in a flash, unless you stay vigilant to fight for it. They just assume it will always be there and begin to look to government, and after a generation or two of this belief, can't see that they are being fooled. All they know is that they are being fed. But let taxes go high enough and it weakens our economy. thus, we are easy to defeat. Even osama bin laden said as much.
Reagan had such a good philosophy - Peace through strength. Countries will think twice if they look at our military and realize that we might be too formidable to go up against. That's how you get your enemies to back down. Keep up your writing. I know many on here understand all too well and agreed wholeheartedly.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini

"The real truth of the matter - as you and I know - is that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson." - President Franklin D Roosevelt

Steve, go to the blog where Patch asks the question on Decision 2012 debate: What question would you like to ask the candidates? there are some very good answers on there. Wondered what you think. Revah's question was outstanding.

@Tammy and Steve
What these "anti-communists" fail to grasp is the fact that the closest thing to a centrally-planned economy is one in which the resources are concentrated in the hands of a few big, virtually unregulated corporations, who can now control our government, thanks to the Citizens United decision that allows unlimited contributions by big corporations.. The similarities between corrupted economic systems are striking, always with a ruling party who lives above the masses. The main difference is in whether the ruling party is overt, or covert. Think Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Islands, and undisclosed donors to big Advocacy Groups and 527's. The communist party you are terrified of is the very right-wing party you are supporting.

We pretty much spent the Soviet Union into oblivion. They tried and failed to keep up with our military spending. We now spend more on the military than the next 10 top military powers combined. Despite all this spending, federal revenue since the Bush tax cuts is only 14.8% of GDP. Only .6 higher than 1950. Why is cutting military spending sacrosanct to republicans. Do you really think there haven't been consequences for spending our only competition into insolvency and only mashing the gas pedal down harder since then?

"it is more apparent that our government is still taking much from us and at a more rapid pace than ever before."

More apparent maybe if all you watch is Faux News. The fact is, we don't pay much more in taxes as a percentage of GDP than we did in 1950. Our taxes are historically low DESPITE nearly tripling our military spending in the same time frame.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200

Amy, you are well grounded in your approach to the issues that face our country. Continue your quest for the truth, as i am sure you aware, the truth will set you free.

Claims about the autonomy of the private sector are one of the Big Lies of modern conservatism. The real objective of the Right is along the lines of what Gov. Haley told that tire industry conference: to make sure government serves business through subsidies, deregulation, tax minimization and weakening of unions.
To the companies receiving these forms of assistance to expand their business, one could easily adopt the language of President Obama and say "you didn’t build that alone." The truth is that both liberals and conservatives believe that government should aid the private sector. The difference between the two is in what is expected in return. Liberals make an effort (albeit inadequate) to impose some accountability, whereas the Right believes that business should be able to take all it wants with no strings attached. The debate over whether to limit government should really be one on whether there will be limits on corporations.

In a short period of time we will be the only bastion of freedom left in the world. There will be no place to run to so we must keep our nation strong to defend if necessary against the WORLD. The best jets are needed for defense.
Gwinnett schools (GCPS) budget is $1.73 Billion dollars. Enough money but we lack leadership, discipline and basic interest in fundamental education, readin', ritin' and 'rithmetic. Civics is a class long forgotten. Most of our children whose parents are detached graduate without a clue as to how to rectify bad government. They don't care about accountability for the elected or even who is in charge to hold accountable. GCPS graduates only 67% of its students. For those that don't go to college we need manufacturing jobs not "shovel ready bridge jobs" finished in a few months and gone. Our excessive corporate taxation (35%) manufacturers flee. They have shareholders that demand a return on invested monies and we make that too difficult. Shareholders are like you and me in that if we invest we want to make a profit.
Safety nets are ok but as I said, a hand up not continual handouts. The first thing we do is stop giving illegals thousands of $ to take advantage our system. My mother worked for 48 years and can get no help but illegals come here never contributing a dime(Obama's aunt for example) and receive thousands monthly. What justice do you find in that?
Does the U.S. do everything right? NO! But, it is the best place in the world.

Thank you, Amy, for your comments.
I can't understand why people, like David here, assume that if you support the democrats you must be receiving government aide. The only people I know that have or are currently taking advantage of gov't aide are proud republicans. I'm not saying I understand that either! It's like Mitt's statement about the 47%, he assumes that all of them will vote for Obama and all people voting for him are above accepting gov't help. Sorry folks, it's just not that black and white

"In a short period of time we will be the only bastion of freedom left in the world."

Where do you get this nonsense? Maybe it would come true if we follow your "core belief "In getting out of the United Nations and closing its headquarters in New York. And, "In stopping all foreign aid and applying those monies to the budget deficit." Are you for complete isolationism or only non-military isolationism? I would assume you are still in favor of military interventionism since you are a Republican.

Source for quotes on core beliefs:
http://steverameyforgeorgia.com/?p=111

As i said previously, I stand unapologetically American!!!
I will not stoop to labeling and name calling to those of you that disagree with me nor will I enable you to discredit the good men and women who have served this country and love it. I do suggest that if you don't want to make it better, then Delta is ready when you are!

I took an oath in 1982 to protect this country from all enemies foreign and domestic, but I'm not sure who are the domestic enemies to which Steve is referring.

And Amy is my hero.

"This we'll defend"

Amy - you have insulted a man who purt himself in harms way to defend you?? That's all I need to know about you. Funny how you insult decency. You spout the same old numbers, but is that all you have? Do you really need to stand for something so bad that you fall for anything? Would you like to see the number for January? I got them from a government site! But you don't care, because you idolize a MAN. Girl, let me tell you something. There are countries in this world who envy us. They want to be here (some have died trying to get here). Why? because we are the greatest nation on earth. If obama has his way, we will be socialist like them and there will be NOWHERE to run and NO ONE to protect you. But the only words you seem to understand are insults, calling things nonsense, and put downs. I feel really sorry for you. I'll bet you've never had a conversation with anyone who has ever escaped a communist or socialist nation, have you? I HAVE. You don't want to hear what they have to say about your messiah obama. They say that he is leading us down the path from where they came and they cry that we have succumed to this; that we are this stupid. They literally say what Steve (you know, the man with acual experience here?) said. Keep our nation strong or we will can easily be prey to those who want to destroy us. You simply haven't lived through a time where you feared for your country. When you have some real experience- come talk to us.

Steve, you must be onto something. Nothing worth fighting for is ever worth it until it is attacked and had to be fought for. The USA was born becasue of HIGH TAXATION and government control. Sound familiar?

I love this country as much as anyone. I am not "unapologetically American", however. There have been numerous instances in the history of our country when I was not proud of my country. Many of those instances occurred here in the south. Also, as a Bible-believing Christian, I try to stay away from having any other gods or idols. Too many folks engage in nationalistic idolatry and put America as their god. My Bible repeatedly warns against that sort of thing. I could say much more, but I'll stop there. Just my opinion.

Just throwing a thought out there...if you take an oath to defend from enemies both foreign and domestic, then obviously a domestic enemy exists. Maybe Steve could expand on that. I trust his judgement and expertise.

Amy said: We pretty much spent the Soviet Union into oblivion.
Would you lke for me to give you the very words of osama bin laden when he said the same thing of us? That we would be easy to conquer when our economy fails? If a super power like the soviet union could fall, then is there any reason why it couldn't happen here? can you even entertain the possibility? History has proven it time and time again and it would be arrogant of us to think it will fall into our laps and stay there without some effort to keep our freedoms. DB - The bible does say to keep away from idols (blanket adoration of obama comes to mind), but we are also to stand up for what's right lest be be sinful by ommission. The word says to stand up for the innocent -murdering babie as they come from the womb is the worst sin I can think of, and the party I support is against it. Standing up for life and freedom is godly in my opinion. In the end, having done all, we stand (in faith). Thank God we have Patriots that understand the need to continue to fight for what's right.
And, yes, nice try Roger. It will never happen.

But David B., I do admire where you are coming from (so don't get me wrong-lol).

It is really pitiful when individuals allegedly engaging in a political disagreement resort to referring to the President as "Obooboo" and compare commitment and support of the President to idol worship. It is sad when you don't have facts and evidence on your side.

Also, I want to congratulate Steve Ramey for his commitment to not resort to labeling and name calling the individuals that disagree with him. I'm not sure what prompted this declaration since it appeared to be in response to a posting by Amy where she simply quoted his core beliefs. Still, great job Steve. Your level of discourse will remain superior to that of Tammy and David, although I'm not sure that is much of an accomplishment.

Steve I've read your original posting a few times and it just doesn't seem to make sense to me. On your campaign web site you said you considered yourself a statesman and not a politician. Do you care to provide any examples that support any of the statements you originally made? I expect that from a statesman (if you don't mind).

That he stands unapologetically American should be the only thing you need to know. How dare you insinuate that that shouldn't be enough. Why do you hate America so much?

Sarcasm aside, Ramey didn't exactly keep it clean. I simply questioned the truthiness of his statements and he said, "nor will I enable you to discredit the good men and women who have served this country and love it." At what point in this discussion did I target veterans as a whole?

The Founding Fathers were merchants, farmers and a variety of artisans. Many were ministers wishing to keep the Anglican church from becoming the forced religion of the colonies. Only about 40% of the colonist were for independence. I suspect several of you would be in the 60% category.
Founding representatives were paid a small stipend and just enough to feed and house them part-time. It is still part-time but paid more than 4 times the average wage of the working class. Some of the expense accounts of these reps would be the envy of ol' King George himself.
I ran for Georgia State Senate this year with a promise not to accept any monies from lobbyist if elected. I would work for the base of $17K and per diem. How far do you think $17K will go? I wanted to serve not be self serving. The elected have not been challenged for many years on their illicit behaviors, it was/is time!
The federal government contributes about 6% of Georgia's education but demands to control almost every factor in some way. What of states' rights? Do you remember the 10th Amendment?
Did you know the income tax was supposed to be just temporary? Taxpayers get so happy & excited at tax time when they will get a refund on monies forcibly taken from them! A huge portion kept by the feds is given to those not deserving both foreign and domestic. What kind of mentality is that?
You seem to hate capitalism. Capitalism, Amy, is what enables you to be a field engineer. We have 2 much government.

Steve knows history. So simple when you are able to come to a conclusion based on full knowlege rather than something that changes with the tide. I doubt that many even knew what you just stated before now. That's why we must keep to our constitution without fail. States rights-Romney got it right on that one.
I've know Steve a lot longer than most of you. He knows his history and is consistent in his beliefs. Steve, I'm afraid that because we are several generations on the other side of that "temporary" taxation, there has been time to indoctrinate people to believe that it all belongs to government. Hitler said, "give me the text books of the young...". He knew. Many of the dictators of old spoke of what we are seeing today almost prophetically. They knew that there was a way to set up the masses and they would believe anything. Then government could do anything it wants with no way to stop it - because the the people willingly allowed it. That's what makes the US so special. They said NO! And they fought for their GOD given rights, not their government given rights. They knew the proper balance and knew the difference. And they took care of one another so that government wouldn't have to. That's a modern day thing too, by the way. No wonder we fear. We have reason to.

"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." --George Orwell, in his book titled 1984
A good read. I recommend it for three reasons. 1. A lesson about History. 2. A lesson about today. 3. A lesson about the future.

Hitler? Really? Are you going to withdraw that, or have the courage to print just which Americans you think are like Hitler. That's as ugly as ugly gets. And shows you don't know a damn thing about history.

The lesson is fictional but in many ways mirrors what we have done to ourselves. If you don't see that, then you are the one that doesn't know history.

Fiction is not flattered. The Nazi comparison is the ugliest, most venal, stupid, anti-American idea there is. If you see similarities between Hitler and any American president, you need to leave the country, find one with no history and no idea of what a Nazi really is. Steve, you should be the first to shame those kinds of posts. That you defend them just shows I'm right.

Steve - good article, thanks for contributing...

Couple of thoughts here - just because others brought it up...

The wealth is going to be divided by income rank. It makes sense. If you have those that make money and those that make less, more money is concentrated in the upper echelons of the range. The important thing here is the amount of income or wealth by group vs taxes paid. The top 1%, while having 35.4% of the income (depending on your source) pay 40% of the taxes. The bottom 50% of wage earners only pay 2.5% of the total taxes paid. So much for the rich not paying their fair share.

I also love how those people that rail against the ability of corporations to donate money have no problem with entities such as labor groups doing so.

So let me see if I have this right - we have THE highest corporate income tax rate in the developed world, and there's somebody that would like to RAISE that rate? really? You do realize that corporations pay tax on incomes, right? And they would rather take the hits in other countries with lower rates before they make the claims here? And there's really nothing we can do about that, since income is, by definition, income, and spending that money in one place influences their income? Would it not be better to lower the rate, remove any deductions, and take their money here? Money we're not currently getting?

AND, as long as I'm throwing out ideas, let's try this - completely remove corporate income taxes. Stay with me here, I'll explain.
One, for those that argue against corporate personhood, yet want them to pay income taxes, isn't that slightly hypocritical?
Two, corporations pay income taxes on profit - money that would be spent elsewhere. This adds to costs, and drives up prices. Anybody that thinks corporations don't pass on all costs, be it labor, materials, or taxes, really isn't paying attention.
Three - if the money from a corporation isn't taxed as income, what happens to it? There's only three choices. The company can hoard it, which, really, it's not going to do. Benefits them in no way to do so. They can spend it on labor - raises, bonuses, additional labor. Which we would see as taxable income. No down side there. Or in infrastructure, be it expansion, renovation, hardware, software, office furniture, whatever. Which, guess what, stimulates the economy and gets taxed. Again, no downside.

So tell me again why we even have a corporate income tax and why it benefits us at all?

What international law are you referring to? If it is a treaty signed by an elected American politician, it is Constitutional law. Who attacked the USA at Fort Sumter? Where were the slaves freed and where not? Had there been no attacks,there would have been no invasion or reconstruction.And after reconstruction, how was life for black men and women in the South? 16 years? How long did slavery last? How is Morocco relevant to black men and women hanging from trees, black women raped, the KKK, and slavery in America? Finally, why do you feel it is necessary to apologize for the military of the USA? Their job is to defeat the enemies of the country. The CSA was the enemy, or as Tammy would put it, the ENEMY!

Lee, you have to open your eyes to see. Have you ever read the Constitution? If you don't have one, I'll be happy to send one to you. I have purchased and given away thousands while addressing groups. The south were the ones following the Constitution when they seceeded from the north. I'm through talking to someone that feels the world owes him something and harbors so much hostiity. You may respond to this comment but I will no longer respond to you. Others can choose to listen to your unfounded rants but as for me, no! Wishing you well.

Thanks Mike for the clarification for Lee. It is shamful about re-writing the history of this nation. Lee would never believe that many slaves volunteered to fight for the CSA. When the freed slaves did receive their 40 acres & a mule (many did not) promised by the Feds, carpet baggers FROM THE NORTH ran in and cheated them out of their property for just a few dollars. The truth many times will hurt but in this case it is falsehoods that have help cause derision between the people of our nation.

I stopped reading about 1/2 way down. Truly sad. Steve, from one veteran to another, Thank You for your service. I have traveled to other countries and been to war and to be quite honest we are stumbling down a path that is NOT pretty. Other countries have tried to appease the people and given them handouts and benefits and told them they didn't have pay taxes. Look at Greece. Their government is now broke from doing that, destitute. If you constantly give people handouts, they have no incentive or motivation to do for themselves, because others will do it for them. I am in agreement with giving them a hand up, but not a hand out. Our country has gotten lazy and greedy; giving new meaning to fat and happy. The tax cuts people are complaining about expiring, were put in place when the government had a budget surplus. Guess what, we now have a $1.4 Trillion budge deficit. I believe in spending cuts, but not with respect to our military. We are already spread too thin from the cuts that have already been made, if we cut any more we will not be able to defend our own borders. We are the land of the free for a reason. We faught for that right and have defended that right ever since. The government doesn't pay for itself, we have to do that. We pay them to do a job. If you feel they aren't doing their job, which they aren't, the fire them; vote them out. BUT, educate yourself first. KNOW what you are talking about from all sides first. But, VOTE!

This political stuff was hot when I did my blog,"We are only asking for self-government" and I'm not even sure it got read. If anyone has time, please go to my name and find my blogs and read it. It's about what I learned at the Atlanta History Center concerning slaves fighting with us in the Civil War and the war of ideals. It brings the subject into a more personal view.
Actually, thanks to Amy for clarifying what I was trying to say. I was trying to make the point that unless we are not vigilant and question what we hear from our leaders, we could develope a sense of being indoctrinated without knowing it. With that kind of attitude (pretty complacent in past years), what would happen if we really did get an evil man in the white house? They could do anything and we'd allow it.
Beachski- great post!

@all
"Gish Gallop" look in up on google

If you haven't seen this, please look it over and educate yourselves. The charts provided are an excellent, easy to follow resource for explaining the underlying problems with our current economy and taxes.

http://www.businessinsider.com/who-pays-taxes-2012-8?op=1

The takeaway for those of you who refuse to read is that yes, rich people pay most of the taxes in this country. But, they only do so because wages for the rest of us haven't increased in 50 years. 96% of the income growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top 10%. And it is not because companies are doing poorly. Corporate profits as a percentage of the economy are at an all time high while wages are at all time lows.