A Nation In Decline

Many politicians are asking the question today: "Why are the American People so angry?" The following may lend a clue to the clueless.

According to the annual "Index on Economic Freedom," produced by the Heritage Foundation, the United States now ranks 8th, just behind Canada. That's a drop of two full points since last year, and the largest drop of all nations in overall economic freedom. .

The index ranking is based on 10 measures of economic openness, regulatory efficiency, the rule of law, and competitiveness. The basic principles of economic freedom emphasized in the index are individual empowerment, equitable treatment and the promotion of competition.

According to the Heritage Index, the U.S. lost ground in seven of the ten categories. Losses were particularly significant in the areas of financial and monetary freedom and property rights. Driving it all were the massive bailouts, government intervention in such things are the auto and banking industries, and runaway environmental protection policies.

While the United States is among the "most declined" nations, Mexico ranks among the "most improved." The United States was once the bastion of economic and personal freedom for its citizens, making it the wealthiest economy and the highest standard of living in the world. Today, it has chosen to abandon that model of freedom, instead seeking economic security through government programs and controls.

As a result, our nation stands on the edge of economic collapse; more than 10% of our people are out of work; costs are skyrocketing, and goods and services are becoming harder to come by.

Socialism does not work. It robs the fruits of labor from one citizen to fill the pockets of another. It kills incentive. It demoralizes industrious people. And it leads to misery. Socialism combined with Fascist Corporatism (as in the current trend toward Public/Private Partnerships) creates government-sanctioned monopolies, giving the corporations the reins of power over government at the expense of the people. That is the model America has now chosen to follow.

The United States is on a path to destruction. In one year it's dropped two more points toward totalitarianism. The people feel the pain and are furious about it. And yet, the Obama Administration still thinks the anger and protests are just false products of the Republicans and Fox News. Astonishing.

See the complete Economic Freedom Index at http://www.heritage.org/index/


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom DeWeese is one of the nation's leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, property rights and back-to-basics education. For over thirty years he has fought against government oppression.

In 1988 Tom established the American Policy Center (APC), an activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, VA. In 1992 Tom DeWeese became passionately involved in the fight for the preservation of American private property rights and against intrusive environmental regulations. He is also a recognized leader in the fight to preserve American national sovereignty from intrusive United Nations' policies on global governance. APC has also joined the fight to rescue American education from federal intrusion and the fight for American privacy rights against intrusive government data banks, and a national identification card.

He makes regular appearances on radio and television talk shows and has articles published in several national publications.

Tom DeWeese is the publisher/editor of The DeWeese Report You my contact Mr. DeWeese here.