Small Government is the Only Way

For far too long the federal government has been taking over more and more power and more and more freedom from the people of the United States.   This has happened under Republican and Democrat administrations – neither are immune from criticism.  I have taken time to illustrate many of the actions taking place which are eroding our freedom and I have attempted to explain why it is in our interest to reduce and then enforce the limits put on the federal government by instruments like the Constitution and the judicial system which is supposed to clarify the limit of the federal government.

From many troubling elements of the Patriot Act (most every congressman voted for this without reservation), the Campaign Finance Reform Act (sponsored by John McCain), to most everything President Obama’s administration has done show that were are heading down the road to federal totalitarianism quicker and quicker.    I am not completely against the Patriot Act, and I can even see the need to have passed it in its whole after 11 September and the realization that we were not well equiped to deal with the modern threats to our security, but that time as passed, for a while, it has been an appropriate time to look over all the parts of this legislation – line by line – and get rid of the more questionable and downright unconstitutional elements of the bill.   For instance, the fact that, if I see my neighbor’s house being searched by the feds, the feds can order me to NOT speak about it to anyone or else I myself may face federal charges.   Considering that I am a conservative / libertarian blogger, you can imagine how well that sits with me.

The McCain Feingold Act (Campaign Finance Reform), puts restrictions on both when I can speak and how I can speak regarding a candidate, as well as limiting the amount of money I can give to a candidate directly.   This last part may seem good on the surface, but what needs to be remembered is that the entrenched politicians who cater to the needs of their parties can get soft money from those parties as well as the fact that the parties can run ads and smears against the opponents just fine.   but if I were to run as either an ‘off the reservation’ Republican, or as an Independent, I would not get that money from the party organ, and with the limit people can give me how would I ever be able to compete against the parties in power?  I can not.  I can not get my word out enough, because I can not get money in the same amount as the parties of the status quo.  All this passed with a name as friendly as ‘finance reform’ since so many people thought it was a bad thing to see so much money in politics.   Did it work?  Not at all.  There is more money in politics today than yesterday, and tomorrow will have even more.   The powers-that-be know how to manipulate the system — they wrote the law, but you and I can get hammered if we fall out of line.

President Obama’s administration has taken control of the 19 largest banks, has pushed for the removal of a CEO of a large auto maker, and constantly is having his people push an agenda of growing control — all in the name of us, the people, or more disturbingly, the environment.   This is an incredibly large power grab mixing private business, publically traded corporations, and the government into the same pool where to object is to be moved off the scene.   The same Congress who rallies around these ideas is also the one who gives more money to supporters via pork barrel ear marks, yet complains and fakes outrage when AIG, who was forced to take money, pays some of the better executives it has bonuses that are of a smaller whole value as well as percentage than the pork barrel corruption in congress (versus the bailout money vis a vis budget).  AIG bonuses: Less than 1% of all bailout money given to them, Congress: Pork barrel spending between 1% and 2%.   Millions vs. hundreds of billions.

Complicit in this abuse of power is the media who seem more interested in smearing AIG and the Tea Parties than in asking tough questions and bringing concerns about Congress’ spending and politial theater.  There is a media mentality that truly thinks that it can not be the average citizen who is upset with the government, it must just be those people on DHS’ list of potential threats.    This thought is why they treated the Tea Parties the way they did.

We need less decisions being made in Washington and we need less of our money going to support their spending.   Congress’ addiction to spending our money for what benefits them as well as Congress habit of ignoring their Constitutional limitation shows that the danger is not from extremists on the right or even from the left — the danger lies in the hands and pens of the law makers at the federal level.   We need to remind these politicians who is in charge and who is the servant.

Texas!

The Governor of Texas has spoken!

There’s a lot of different scenarios,” Perry said. “We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

Texas is a delightful place where people are not afraid to speak their minds, nor are they afraid to dissolve ties when those ties are more like shackles than willful and mutually beneficial connections.  People, all people, need to remember that the United States implies the State are united for a common cause.   As we move forward in time it becomes harder and harder to see what that common cause is.   The Constitution, this document, is an agreement amongst the states and it has less and less place in America, and with that, the union becomes less and less viable.

I am a Threat to the United States

So the Department of Homeland Security says under the rule of Janet Napolitano, “The department “is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities,” the report said.”

Yet, the report also says, “DHS had no specific information about pending violence and said threats had so far been “largely rhetorical.””

Let’s count the ways in which I may be considered a threat to Obama’s version of what America should be:

1) White Supremacist Groups

– While I am not racist, I am white and I find Kwanzaa stupid, so I might qualify in the broad new definition soon to follow I’m sure.

2) Anti-Government Extremists

– Government has its place, but not in the way Obama wants it to be, so I’m probably considered a threat to them on this count.

3) Militia Movements

– Not so much, but I do own guns, so that probably qualifies me

4) Oppose Abortion

– See this .   Definitely a strike against me there.

5) Immigration

– Foolish people will not call it ILLEGAL immigration — against which I am.

6) Oppose gun laws

– Ding!

So in the end I found out I am an extremist and a threat to the United States.   No, DHS, I’m  not a threat to the United States, I’m one of those who wish to preserve the United States.

How much longer will Americans elect the types of people who appoint agenda-driven bureaucrats to positions where they have the power to investigate, monitor, or even harass people due to their political and social views?   I’m not the one threatening to destroy Western civilization, nor the United States…  Those views need to be monitored, but the ACLU protects them.  Stop voting these people into power!

Congressional Black Caucus in Love with Anti-American Castro

Politico has a number of good stories today.

In this one, it would seem that the Congressional Black Caucus is hugging Castro, “Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana.”

Amnesty International, not exactly an organ for conservatives to quote at times has this to say about Castro’s Cuba:

One

30 March 2009

“Activist and political dissident Jorge Luis García Pérez, usually known as Antúnez, began a hunger strike on 17 February 2009, in protest at the human rights situation in Cuba. Since 17 March, police and State Security officers have surrounded his house, threatening him, his wife Tamara Pérez Aguilera, Carlos Michael Morales, Diosiris Santana Pérez and Ernesto Mederos Arrozarena who joined him in the hunger strike. All five are in grave danger.”

Two

19 March 2009

“The Cuban authorities took action on Tuesday to suppress peaceful demonstrations marking the 6th anniversary of a crackdown against dissidents. Several members of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) were prevented from travelling to Havana for activities marking the anniversary.
Some were blocked from leaving their homes and one of them was forced to get off the bus that was taking her to Havana and was driven back to her home.
“The Cuban authorities must stop this continuing harassment of activists who are peacefully attempting to exercise their freedom of expression and association,” said Gerardo Ducos, Cuba researcher at Amnesty International. he Cuban authorities arrested 75 men and women for their peaceful expression of opinions critical of the government in 2003. The 75 were subjected to summary trials and were sentenced to long prison terms of up to 28 years. Amnesty International declared them to be prisoners of conscience. Fifty-four remain in prison.”

Three

All print and broadcast media remained under state control.During 2007, the government refused to renew the visas of a number of foreign correspondents because “their approach to the Cuban situation is not one which the Cuban government finds appropriate.”

The practice of using the criminal justice system to silence political dissidents and critics continued. Many were sentenced for a crime known as “social dangerousness”, a pre-emptive measure defined as the “proclivity to commit a crime”. Behaviour such as drunkenness, drug addiction and “anti-social behaviour” is criminalized under this legislation. However, it was almost exclusively applied to political dissidents, independent journalists and critics of the government. Those convicted of “dangerousness” face up to four years’ imprisonment and can be subjected to “therapeutic treatment”, “re-education” or “surveillance by the Revolutionary National Police”.

Harassment of political dissidents, independent journalists and critics for carrying out dissident activities or reporting on the human rights situation in Cuba continued. Some were detained for 24 or 48 hours and then released; others were held for months or even years awaiting trial.

There is more; if interested please visit AI.  With that in mind, please read what members of the Congressional Black Caucus had to say:

“Lee and others heaped praise on Castro, calling him warm and receptive during their discussion. But the lawmakers disputed Castro’s later statement that members of the congressional delegation said American society is still racist.”

Shocking that none of the Black Caucus recall calling American society racist when publicly called out on it.   One of two things is true, and possibly both: They are too stupid to realize that Castro would use them to meet his needs and further his ends by promoting to his own people the negative aspects of the United States and having it appear that even black members of the US Congress agree.  And / Or, they will say one thing to Fidel to kiss his posterior and yet another to the American public.   Since they are willing to visit and be entertained by him they are obviously stupid, but they could also be duplicitous.

“It was almost like listening to an old friend,” said Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Il.), adding that he found Castro’s home to be modest and Castro’s wife to be particularly hospitable.
“In my household I told Castro he is known as the ultimate survivor,” Rush said.

Bobby Rush either is not aware of how Castro survives (see above imprisonments, etc.) and should be thought of as a ignorant buffoon or he admires such tactics to stay in power and should never be thought of as a serious American again.

Richardson said Castro knew her name and district. “He looked right into my eyes and he said, ‘How can we help? How can we help President Obama?'”

All salesmen learn about their potential clients, all con artists get information on their marks, even fortune tellers pry out clues to make sure they something they think you want to hear.   But I guess making eye contact makes him honest.   How do such fools get put in office?   I guess other fools elect them.

I didn’t see a response from the Congressional White Caucus.  But that would be because our racist society does not have such an organized collection of people.

It is obvious that the CBC is about as anti-American as Reverend White, Castro, and so many other people who slander and bad mouth the US for their own gain.

Please stop electing these idiots into office.

The White House Thinks Us to be Fools

President Obama bows.

The White House says that is not so.

Did he slip?  Did he need to check his shoelace?

“It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

If this is the case, then bending so far forward to shake someone’s hand is as demeaning to that person as it would bowing  to a price be demeaning to the Office of the Presidency as being a subject of a prince.  We all know that President Obama likes to go out of his way to pay honor to those who deserve none, so this should not be shocking.

No surprise at all is that The White House’s website does not have any comments on this matter at all at this time.

President Obama’s Method of International Relations

Giving DVDs usable in North America to the PM of Britain, Obama’s State Department’s inability to translate a ‘Reset Button’, as well as stating that The United Kingdom is just another nation… nothing special there are all signs of his ineptitude and all within the first hundred days.

While pushing away from, and then trying to get back in favor with, Britain Obama has been busy giving town hall speeches to Turks declaring that the United States does not consider itself a Christian or Jewish nation.   Strangely, the US does not have to define itself, nor let any individual define the US either.   When the vast majority of a country is of one form of faith then it is structured as such. The President should realize, unless he is too to understand that values always get translated into laws, ethics, and morality, then we are completely influenced by the largest single moral guide:  The Christian Bible.  Why? Because the majority of the people in the US is Christian.   Why has Iraq colored its laws in an Islamic frame?   Because the vast majority are Muslim.   This is not an insult or some sort of indictment; this is just a simple reality.  Why would someone need to backtrack and act like this is not the case unless that person is not happy with the current standing.   After 20 years of having Minister Wright as a moral lighthouse, perhaps I’d be turned from Christianity as well.

Obama also wants to get in bed with Cuba, cater to Venezuela, and make threats to North Korea with no plans of following through what so ever.   His cowardice and willingness to reverse so many US positions is giving more power to those who despise us.  This charity for our adversaries does go into the idea of spreading the wealth, but int his case it the wealth of international power and that is at the detriment of the United States.   His foolishness weakens the US, his stupidity makes it impossible for him to realize it, and his naivety makes him willing to give more away.

How much longer will Americans tolerate this?

Biden: Either Out of Touch or Out of Clues

Vice President Biden stated, “I would say to the protesters that unless we talk, unless we attempt to deal with this changed circumstance we find ourselves in, there is no solution. Things will only get worse.” This comment was in relation to the several thousand protesters who will be camped outside of the G20 meetings in London.   I do not find myself sympathizing much with these protestors because they have not been able to convey any message of meaning.  As reported, “The Put People First march was organised by a “rainbow alliance” of 150 trade unions, church groups and charities including ActionAid, Save the Children and Friends of the Earth. The theme was “jobs, justice and climate” and the message was aimed at the world leaders who will be gathering for the G20 summit here next week.”

Of course, anyone should be able to figure out that this not a ‘theme’, but three themes all jumbled together in a way to weakly link a lack of jobs, a lack of justice, and a changing climate to the ‘big bad rich nations’ and their ‘corporate goons’.  These people don’t like the way things are going, they haven’t like the way things have been going for quite some time and are interested in a completely different way… at least those not paid to be in attendence in order to boost numbers.

Vice President Biden should realize that their opinion will not change no matter what the results or decisions made in this conference; they do not like the fact that there even is a conference.  VP Biden comes off sounding weak and as if he is whining about there being a group of people who despise him and in fact, the idea of personal freedom.   Strangely, it is the unions and the environmentalists which his party woos during every election, and yet here his is offering up the weakest effort to explain what is going on to them.

We need to all remember the lack of effort and the false assumptions VP Biden works under: He assumes these people who are currently against him want the same ‘end game’ he does, he also assumes that talking it over will get them all neatly on the same page if they only would listen to good ole Joe.

Joe’d do well to listen, The Put People First march was organised by a “rainbow alliance” of 150 trade unions, church groups and charities including He said the march would have to mark the start of a more concerted movement to properly regulate financial institutions and invest in climate change solutions. “This is just the beginning of the prelude of the prologue. The forces of greed are very tenacious and just because we march up and down it won’t make a difference on its own.”

The protesters know this alone will do nothing to make the G20 people change, yet Biden thinks that if they only read the plans and proposals they’ll ‘see the light’.   This is very problematic and something that can be seen in the rhetoric not just with the Vice President, but also with the President: There is an idea, a false mind-set that assumes that talking and negotiation will make people see things your way, whether it is related to G20 protesters or talks with Iran, Venezuela, or even North Korea.  I do not think the modern Democratic Party understands that there are people out there who will never like or agree with the way we do things, and they will stop at nothing to first stop the spread of these ideas and then reverse the trend all the way up to and including destroying the United States.  These people do not want to hear your pathetic cries for diplomacy, unless it gives them more time to plan their own actions.

Not just Joe Biden, but the controlling body of the Democratic Party have lost contact with the realities of foreign policy and now send YouTube messages to foreign leaders or beg for protesters to give them a chance in a set of negotiations where the protesters will hate the outcome no matter what.

How much longer will ‘We the People’  permit these types to be elected and let them dictate the policy of this nation?

Lawyers

We all have heard jokes about, and at the expense of, lawyers.

We all know stories of how lawyers bastardize the idea of legal justice in order to get their client either a bigger award or off the hook.

Most people do not like all the lawsuits and corruption in the courtroom.

Is it any irony that so many people in Congress are or were lawyers?  The same people who work for those big law firms get to also be the ones who…   WRITE the laws of the land.   Is this not a conflict of interest?

A telling statistic shows that, of all lawyers and law firms, during the last election cycle, lawyers gave a total of $232,323,361.  That’s over $232 million dollars.  Because some many people like to act like one party is the same as the other, the natural assumption is that the money was handed out relatively equally.  This idea could not be further from the truth.  76% of the money, or $177,436,159 was given to Democrats.

Barack Obama (D)	$42,861,936
Hillary Clinton (D)	$15,749,506
John McCain (R)	$10,116,660
John Edwards (D)	$7,808,769
Rudolph W. Giuliani (R)	$4,196,831
Mitt Romney (R)	$2,842,810
Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D)	$2,343,747
Bill Richardson (D)	$1,887,325
Christopher J. Dodd (D)	$1,233,801
Fred Thompson (R)	$1,063,219
Mike Huckabee (R)	$363,347
Ron Paul (R)	$267,188
Thomas J. Vilsack (D)	$118,700
Sam Brownback (R)	$79,954
Tommy Thompson (R)	$63,293
Ralph Nader (I)	$52,988
Dennis J. Kucinich (D)	$37,231
Duncan Hunter (R)	$36,250
Jim Gilmore (R)	$30,050
Tom Tancredo (R)	$13,930
Bob Barr (L)	$11,500
Mike Gravel (D)	$5,050
Alan Keyes (R)	$4,050
Cynthia McKinney (3)	$2,200

Why would so many people who know the effects of our sue-happy society filled with people bringing suits against each other for the most idiotic of reasons vote for people who are in bed with the problem?

Do people actually know who is backing the party determined to take our money and thus our easiest form of freedom?  They threaten to change everything you do and they do they make these threats via fear mongering in the name of the poor, children, minorities, and the environment.  When they cannot win with arguments they then turn to their friends in Congress and lawyers to make laws and then using special interests like the ACLU they sue to force the courts to change the way we live our daily lives.    Because the vast majority of us in the country do believe in the word of law, we do not fight since we foolishly assume that all others want the same thing we do.

How much longer will you permit these people to reign over your freedom and threaten your way of living?

What, Obama Worry?

Initially there was a crisis, then President Obama was down-playing it all, and now he yucks it up.  In his 60 Minutes interview the President seemed quite content to laugh it all away:

His remarks came in a “60 Minutes” interview in which he was pressed by an incredulous Steve Kroft for laughing and chuckling several times while discussing the perilous state of the world’s economy.“You’re sitting here. And you’re— you are laughing. You are laughing about some of these problems. Are people going to look at this and say, ‘I mean, he’s sitting there just making jokes about money—’ How do you deal with— I mean: explain. . .” Kroft asks at one point. “Are you punch-drunk?” Kroft says.
“No, no. There’s gotta be a little gallows humor to get you through the day,” Obama says, with a laugh.

The running ideas of comparing the situation to the one faced by Roosevelt fails on so many levels, and most obviously his current levity regarding putting $1 trillion of new currency into the financial world is not fit to compare to the actual Great Depression.

Hope and Change?   Change is all that’s left from the dollar bill I used to have, so I guess he can laugh it up with his ex-Fannie Mae multi-millionaire friends who now hold positions in his administration.   I guess he is laughing; he is laughing at us.

How much longer will you tolerate such elitist, out of touch, people in positions in power?  How much longer will America permit the Federal government to have and abuse all this power?

Slanted Media?

Is there anyone who still does not think there is a media bias in favor of President Obama?  The media has fallen in love with the idea of the Obama Presidency so much that are willing to ignore stories which may tarnish their own estimation of his pending greatness, and they will also bury any attempts by thier own people who decide to be critical.   This is the state of today’s media, this is the state of today’s political atmosphere.   Luckily our friends across the pond have not bought into this idiocy and they have not shirked their duties to report and inform both the positives (few and far between these days) and the negatives.

This article at the Telegraph is a good example of things you may or may not have heard about:

Just after he’s been sworn in by him, the newly-minted Vice President Joe Biden gets the name of Justice John Paul Stevens, “one of the great justices” of the Supreme Court, wrong by calling him “Justice Stewart”.

If the VPs name were Dan Quayle I know we’d still be hearing about this inability to get the name correct of someone who the VP thinks is a great justice.  Didn’t make the news?   Too inconsequential to bother reporting?  Perhaps.

Barack Obama jokes about Nancy Reagan having séances in the White House. He later called her to apologise after the AP noted that although she had consulted astrologers, “she did not hold conversations with the dead”.

I’m not a big believer in astrology, to be fair, but the usual habit of not speaking ill or mocking of former presidents or their families seems to be a lost art for modern Democrats.  Poor form for the new President.  Didn’t make the news?   Too inconsequential to bother reporting?  Perhaps.

Joe Biden forgets the “website number” for the White House internet site designed to show how TARP money is being spent.

This seems like a small error, but as I recall the Obama campaign railed against a technologically illiterate John McCain because he doesn’t send emails, and does not use the web until it was reported the reason being due to the injuries sustained while being tortured as a POW.   The media ran with the out of touch line, but when the truth as to why came out they were silent and simply dropped the angle.   What is Bidden’s excuse for 1) not knowing the web site for such a historically large bill,  and 2) not even knowing the correct term for the website — and please do not claim he was asking for the IP address.  Didn’t make the news?   Too inconsequential to bother reporting?  Perhaps.

A Marine One double. First, on his maiden Marine One trip Obama breaches protocol and makes life uncomfortable for an enlisted marine by shaking the the serviceman’s hand as he’s saluting his commander-in-chief, then – Gerald Ford, eat your heart out. Barack Obama bangs his head as he boards his helicopter.

I’m not so concerned with biffing his head, but when you become Commander-in-Chief, is it not worth your time to know some of the protocols and expectations of the position since you will be publicly interacting with members of the branches of the military which you now command?   The election was won in early November but he was never briefed, or just does not care?  Didn’t make the news?   Too inconsequential to bother reporting?  Perhaps.

Joe Biden tells his wife that he had the choice of being either Secretary of State or vice-president – an offer that was news to Obama aides and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when Jill Biden spilled the beans on Oprah.

A candid moment from the VPs wife results in…  nothing for the media.   Seems intriguing to see that such high level positions were being tossed around and that, evidently Joe was given pick before Hillary.   Any news-worthy items there?   I guess not.  Didn’t make the news out side of Oprah’s show?   Too inconsequential to bother reporting?  Perhaps.

Gordon Brown presents the new President with: a pen holder carved from the timbers of HMS Gannett, a sister ship of HMS Resolute; the commissioning certificate of HMS Resolute; and a seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill. In return, the Prime minister gets 25 DVDS, which don’t work in Britain.

This one is unforgivable.  This arrogance and inconsideration is topped off with a large dose of stupidity.  Let’s not forget also that a State Department official declared [t]he real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key. The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.”

These arrogant fools in the White House now want to equate the relationship we have with the United Kingdom to being on the same level as, and no more important than, our relationship with, say, Iceland?  I’m uncertain if this Administration is aware as to how many British soldiers have given their lives to honor the treaties and requests of the United States in overseas engagement.  What we have with the United Kingdom is special, and if the Democrats in power can not see that, then their worthless ideas of culrutal relativism are firmly in place.

How much longer are you willing to accept people like this as being the best possible candidates to represent us at the federal level?