So what is the Glenn Beck rally actually ABOUT?

King forcefully advocated for drastic action by the federal government to combat poverty; supported "social justice"; called for an "economic bill of rights" that would "guarantee a job to all people who want to work"; and stated that we must address whether we need to "restructure the whole of American society" -- all ideas that Beck has vilified. Martin Luther King would have been on Glenn Bekc's chalkboard.

I think with all of these challenges being met and with all of the work, and determination going on, we will be able to go this additional distance and achieve the ideal, the goal of the new age, the age of social justice.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life's most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?
Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
Martin Luther King, Jr.

We will place the problems of the poor at the seat of government of the wealthiest nation in the history of mankind. If that power refuses to acknowledge its debt to the poor, it would have failed to live up to its promise to insure "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to its citizens. (From A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.)

AspenValley wrote: The arguments from the right for a return to pre-1910 America seem to focus mostly on economics, can you please enlighten us as to what you believed was superior about the American economy and standard of living in 1910?

I hear lots of talk about how this or that has been "killing us", please enlighten us as to what we can expect when you return us to the 19th century.

The federal social spending programs are what is driving the deficit up every year AV. It is also what is taking more and more money from the middle class in federal taxation.

Let's take Social Security as a "For Instance". In 1960 the wage cutoff for mandatory "voluntary" participation was the equivalent of about $35K a year in 2010 dollars instead of the actual $105K that it currently exists at - a threefold increase in 50 years. The tax rate at which those wages are taxed has also increased, nearly doubled in fact. And despite this massive tax increase over the last 50 years, this year Social Security will distribute more than it takes in and the program has an unfunded liability that exceeds the current national debt.

bailey bud wrote: Heartless - I think there's a difference between being opposed to Christ - and being opposed to Christianity.

I'm frankly not certain that Christ would recognize today's Christian church.

So tell me BB, was the "social justice" as defined earlier part of Jesus' message or not?

PrintSmith wrote: Let's take Social Security as a "For Instance". In 1960 the wage cutoff for mandatory "voluntary" participation was the equivalent of about $35K a year in 2010 dollars instead of the actual $105K that it currently exists at - a threefold increase in 50 years. The tax rate at which those wages are taxed has also increased, nearly doubled in fact. And despite this massive tax increase over the last 50 years, this year Social Security will distribute more than it takes in and the program has an unfunded liability that exceeds the current national debt.

Part of that, I'm sure, is because Social Security has been raided by the legislature.

Are you willing to give up your Social Security and scrap the program? Since people keep calling for less government, that's a good place to start.

And, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a champion for social justice and he preached it from the pulpit. That's why he was labeled a communist (sound familiar?) by the right.

The question remains unanswered Wayne. Is the collective salvation doctrine incorporated in the concept of social justice that was offered earlier the message of Jesus? Did Jesus preach confiscation of personal property or wealth through taxes? Did Jesus preach a doctrine of equal outcome via the government?

I think the answer to that is patently obvious, don't you?

And yes Wayne, I would be willing to get back every nickel of money that the Social Security ponzi scheme has taken from my and my employers to date, along with a reasonable compounded interest over that term, and disavow any participation in the program when I reach my senior years. No problem.

Personally, I would like to see the maximum salary limit removed, and subject ALL income to the tax. The system would be solvent forever. (And it would drive the conservatives nuts...)

And I'd trade the defined benefit ponzi scheme for a defined contribution federal pension plan in a New York minute. Ever wonder why that isn't offered as an alternative?

Probably because the crash of 2008 proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that people putting their retirement savings into the market would have left them wiped out. But then, what do you care if millions of people suddenly find that their retirement savings are gone?

(And, no, Social Security is NOT insolvent... But you can go ahead and insert the expected response here: ____________________)

Oh please LJ, of course Social Security is insolvent. It has an unfunded liability that exceeds the current federal deficit all by itself. The government is borrowing money to pay the interest on the principle that has been borrowed. How long can you borrow money to pay the interest due on the loan before the whole house of cards crashes?

The current federal deficit is equal to the entire "discretionary" federal spending this year. 100% of the tax money that will be collected this year will be spent towards the "mandatory" social programs that the federal government has created and paying the interest, not the principle, the interest, on the national debt. That is no money for law enforcement, no money to maintain infrastructure, no money to defend our nation and our liberty. No money for federal support of the education in this nation. No money for housing and urban development. No money for Veterans Affairs, the EPA, the FDA, the Department of Treasury. All of the funds for these and other programs will have to be borrowed this fiscal year in order to pay the interest on the national debt and the social welfare programs that the federal government has enacted over the last 90 years. We know what it is that is driving this nation into debt when we rationally look at this, don't we.

One of the issues that is being raised is the use of the Special Operations Warriors Foundation to fund the costs of the "rally". Beck, in promoting the event, claims that all donations made in the name of the Foundation will be sent to the Foundation. However, if you read his fine print, it states that:

"All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place on August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will then be retained by the SOWF."

http://www.glennbeck.com/828/donate.html

Pretty sleazy to me, using donations made by contributors to the SOWF to pay for his event without adequate disclaimers, just fine print buried in a form. "Restoring Honor", right.