God, Politics & Lessons Learned

Random Thoughts from the Wheelhouse!

Follow Me To My New Site…www.mattshultz.org

Posted by mattshultz on May 30, 2009

Please check out my new blog at www.mattshultz.org !

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House Of Rock To Open This Weekend!

Posted by mattshultz on May 7, 2009

hor

Come check out the service times at Oak Leaf Church!

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White House Says No To Day Of Prayer

Posted by mattshultz on May 6, 2009

Yesterday we learned that President Obama and the White House have decided no to participate in the National Day of Prayer.  This has been something that has been done for a number of years and it is disappointing to see this decision by the Obama administration.  As I look at this choice I am left to ask myself what is to be gained by drawing this line in the sand against the Christian faith.

President Obama presented himself as a man of faith throughout the election process but his choices as President to date have been hostile to Christianity.  In his zeal to appease the enemies of this country he has shown himself to be extremely more secular than candidate Obama.

This is just another sad example of the complete disregard for Judeo-Christian the history of  this country. In my political view there was nothing lost by participating in this event so my only conclusion is that President Obama wants to continue to antagonize people of faith who generally fall right of center on the political spectrum.

President Obama has out kicked his coverage ( to use a football term) on the extremely liberal policies that he has shoved down the throats of the American people.  As we continue to see the socialist/fascist direction of this new government my hope is that those people who voted for Obama will decide that this is not the  “CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN’ that they signed up for!

Check out more information at CitizenLink

prayer

Posted in Christianity, Church, Leadership, Obama, Politics, Republican | 6 Comments »

President Obama Is An Economic Fascist

Posted by mattshultz on May 5, 2009

Economic fascism can be defined as government control over the four P’s: Product, Price, Profit Margin, and People. When the government controls the product created by the market, when it controls the price structure for product and company securities, when it controls how much profit particular companies can make, and when it controls the people who are hired and fired, economic freedom has been banished, and economic fascism reigns supreme.

And economic fascism reigns supreme in Barack Obama’s America. Just look at the recent government handling of Chrysler. In a series of press conferences this week announcing Chrysler’s bankruptcy, Obama hit on all of the four P’s.

This quote comes from a recent story on the conservative web site Human Events.  It amazes me to see these people in our country right now driving around with Obama stickers on their cars oblivious to the damage they have done to FREEDOM in this country. This type of Economic Fascism has its roots in WWII era Italy with the policies of Benito Mussolini. In shifting our government to this type of freedom killing enterprise he has done what the AXIS powers of WWII could not.

President Obama and the Democrats are using this economic downturn to implement socialist policies that will hurt the long term viability of this country.  I hope that people will begin to see that the unimaginable sums of money that is currently being spent unchecked in Washington D.C. is not what the founders of this country intended for America.

It appears the Democrats have finally figured out what de Tocqueville warned us of a long time ago.  In his famous quote de Tocqueville said: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money illustrates his idea on how a “democratic state” can actually be perverted by soft despotism.

I recently heard radio personality Mark Levin talking about this very concept of Soft Tyranny that we are currently experiencing under the Obama Administration. Wake up Americans you are losing the very FREEDOM that millions of people have fought and died for.

America was always meant to be a country of opportunity…..Never a country of GUARANTEES!


Posted in Bartow County, Obama, Politics, Republican | 2 Comments »

Today Is Race Day!

Posted by mattshultz on March 21, 2009

racer

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Back Seat Jesus

Posted by mattshultz on March 2, 2009

more about "Back Seat Jesus_Promo on Vimeo", posted with vodpod

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Another Path To Prosperity

Posted by mattshultz on February 27, 2009

Check out these 12 ideas from American Solutions to create Jobs and secure prosperity for America:

  1. Payroll Tax Stimulus.  With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax, every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what they earn.
  2. Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.
  3. Reduce the Business Tax Rate.  Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.
  4. Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they can keep their homes.
  5. Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget.  This begins with eliminating Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.
  6. No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud.  Require state governments to adopt anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.
  7. More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.
  8. Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More investment in America means more jobs in America.
  9. Protect the Rights of American Workers. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by secret ballot whether to join a union, and the worker’s right to freely negotiate. Forced unionism will kill jobs in America at a time when we can’t afford to lose them.
  10. Replace Sarbanes-Oxley.  This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups.  Replace it with affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.
  11. Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.
  12. Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.

Print it Out!

Posted in Bartow County, Leadership, Politics, Republican | 1 Comment »

A Home Built On Good Soil

Posted by mattshultz on February 25, 2009

Read this today and I immediately thought of my children. This passage was meant to describe mans understanding of God’s word but I think it could also be a commentary on the family.

Our children are like the seeds in this parable and the type of environment we provide is like the soil.  It is no wonder that children stray when they are raised in rocky thorn ridden homes.  The type of home life we provide for our kids is one of the single biggest predictors of what kind of adults they will become.

I pray that God will always remind my wife and I to keep our home built on the good soil of God’s plan for our life and the lives of our children! 

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3″Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”

Posted in Christianity, Church, Education, Leadership, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

It’s Time To Say No!

Posted by mattshultz on February 19, 2009

PRESS RELEASE

As a result of President Obama signing the stimulus bill there will be additional funds coming to the state of Georgia.  Many people around the state are already trying to figure out how to spend this money as if it were free.  This bill was wrong for America and in my opinion will do nothing but harm the future fiscal stability and prosperity in this country. This bill places this nation squarely on a path towards Socialism which our new President and his party have so fully embraced.

I am a fiscal conservative that believes in the redeeming characteristics of the free market system and its ability bring this country out of our current economic downturn. This lurch towards socialism will takes years to correct and it is time for the people of this country to say NO MORE!

As a result of this deep held belief I have asked Dr. John Harper the Superintendent of the Bartow School System to quarantine and account for all money received by the Bartow County school system through this stimulus bill.  I have further asked that a separate public vote take place on an item by item basis so that I and the other board members can record our position on this issue.

I will not be guilty of doing nothing while the free market fabric of our country is being ripped apart right in front of us each day.  It is my hope that we reject these funds and send them back to the state.  This will not be a popular position and there may very well be some costs associated with this action but we can no longer operate under the misguided belief that these choices bare no consequence.

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions on this issue.

Matt Shultz,

Bartow County School Board District 3

Posted in Bartow County, Education, Leadership, Politics, Republican | Tagged: | 7 Comments »

Teachers Make Sure You Look At All Investment Options

Posted by mattshultz on February 18, 2009

Last night at our school board meeting I asked to table an item that would have selected companies to provide investment choices to our certified employees.  Teachers have historically been vastly under served with 403 (b) plans and the fee structure and commission rates are significantly higher than other investment options.

There have also been problems with requiring teachers to keep the money in these accounts for a specified period of time or face massive withdrawal penalties. I believe that our teachers need to have a full range of options so that they can make the best decisions to supplement retirement.

I have asked our financial staff to make a low cost, low fee provider like TIAA-CREF, Fidelity or Vanguard available to our employees as an alternative to the companies that we have traditionally done business with. These companies offer some of the best products with solid returns with a fee structure of usually less than 1%.

Bartow County does not provide a match for these 403 (b) plans so there is really no real incentive for participating in them. In most cases teachers in our community would benefit more long term from avoiding all of these programs and investing in a ROTH IRA .  In a ROTH  the money is invested after tax and all the gains on that money grow tax free at withdrawal.

Please do not just make the simple choice because it may not be in your best interest in the long run!

Posted in Bartow County, Education, Politics | 2 Comments »