tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91412203483312520972024-03-19T00:03:47.723-04:00Letters from the FrontMilk the Crisis is a political satire company that exists to awaken freedom loving people everywhere to the growing global tyranny taking place against the many by the few.
Milk the Crisis seeks to educate, motivate, and develop critical thinking people beyond party lines to face the real issues of liberty and oppression.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-2943662279675424172012-08-28T00:37:00.001-04:002012-08-28T02:01:27.624-04:00How the Tar fell off the Heel...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYU_-CAeZDuhua2QkrBBSMNEsneBwRMshQaD752YNaaaDBl-inkhXzQLs2gtMC5RaSWxEc_aAoJ8aA8ZeziEorEYjy8pHPmqJZunmKjmLwNkyj4cBPLIsY3dKXqcWO8IKrYY7YH8ENXVN/s1600/220px-Robin_Hayes,_official_109th_Congress_photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYU_-CAeZDuhua2QkrBBSMNEsneBwRMshQaD752YNaaaDBl-inkhXzQLs2gtMC5RaSWxEc_aAoJ8aA8ZeziEorEYjy8pHPmqJZunmKjmLwNkyj4cBPLIsY3dKXqcWO8IKrYY7YH8ENXVN/s200/220px-Robin_Hayes,_official_109th_Congress_photo.jpg" width="163" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihG6hsjofRy0RlokQZBf-AWTjUTuRfw71plZ2qwLQ2lH6uy1xfG6rPCuEQAe4L3f0T-PUPwafp09bcRiCAjRSnXCLVt5_fjQz71dWGH7uFfBtmZtw7WLnqXlEBrteITESKWgiA29S-3jAa/s1600/king_wayne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihG6hsjofRy0RlokQZBf-AWTjUTuRfw71plZ2qwLQ2lH6uy1xfG6rPCuEQAe4L3f0T-PUPwafp09bcRiCAjRSnXCLVt5_fjQz71dWGH7uFfBtmZtw7WLnqXlEBrteITESKWgiA29S-3jAa/s200/king_wayne.jpg" width="196" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="font-size: x-large;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: x-large;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: x-large;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: x-large;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: x-large;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: x-large;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: x-large;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Just tonight...</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I have received word via multiple emails and personal phone calls that NC GOP Chairman Robin Hayes and NC Vice-Chair Wayne King have rounded up the North Carolina delegation and put pressure on them to essentially give away North Carolina's authority on the delegate selection process to the RNC. There are Minority Reports in the works in Tampa, initially supported by National Committee-Woman Ada Fisher and even Speaker of the House Thom Tillis. Somehow, however, in the midst of the shuffle, orders came from on high, and some backbones were lost (some have never been there to begin with...) and the tar that we North Carolinians used to be famous for has gotten lost in the slime of "go along to get along" politics. Our neighbors to the North, Virginia, as well as to the South, South Carolina, both support the Minority Reports with their delegations. But, as usual, under the "leadership" of Hayes and King, North Carolina finds herself cowering in fear of the mighty mighty RNC. Will the delegates stand for the state who sent them to Tampa? Or will they forever be remembered for betraying the trust of every North Carolina Republican and cow-tow to the fickle cowards at the top of the RNC? The next 24 hours will tell the truth about Robin Hayes and Wayne King. Will the RNC find true Tarheels on Tuesday? Or traitors to their state's trust?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Developing...</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-70095557552649900232012-07-22T23:22:00.001-04:002012-07-23T00:14:16.447-04:00Little Kings of Alamance: Martial Law averted...for now<h2>
<b><i><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The following is the first report from one of our field investigators concerning an attempted power grab in Alamance county. More information will be disclosed as we get it.</span></u></i></b></h2>
<b><i><u><br /></u></i></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">At the latest Alamance County Commissioner meeting an interesting item was attempted to be passed on the "Consent Agenda". The "Consent Agenda" is a portion of the agenda meant for approval by unanimous consent and with little debate because the items are supposed to be general or routine. One particular item in the packet of 'routine' work to be handled, however, was anything but general or routine. Frankly, if not for the watchful eye of veteran Commissioner Bill Lashley, the unthinkable package of authoritarian power meant to be handed over to the Alamance County Manager in the event of a "State of Emergency" would be a reality today. The fact that the action was stopped is commendable, but unearthing who is responsible for the production of the document and its insertion on the agenda in such fashion has yet to be answered completely.<br /><br />Please note<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b> <a href="http://www.alamance-nc.com/acweb-20/acvideo/commissioners/2012-meeting-videos/july-16-2012.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">in this video link</span></a></b> </span>beginning 1 hour 28 minutes and 50 seconds Commissioner Bill Lashley begins speaking about<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> <b><a href="http://www.alamance-nc.com/publicftp/AgendaPacket071612.pdf" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">the document in the Agenda (begin on page 39)</span></a>:</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">BL: "The problem I have with this is I think it's Unconstitutional. When you are going to control businesses, you're going to stop selling gas, when you're going to stop legal people to assemble...it is Unconstitutional. I'm not going to support this. What it's going to do is turn Alamance County into a Police State and I won't be part of it. Where did it come from?"<br /><br />Clyde Albright (Alamance County Attorney): "I drafted it about 3 years ago, at Mr. Smith's direction."<br /><br />So from what can be ascertained, Lashley stopped the agenda item from being considered and that a "Mr. Smith" had authorized Clyde Albright to author the document. Researching Alamance Co. officers over the past few years, the only Mr. Smith we note is David Smith, former County Manager who, coincidentally, would have been the person receiving the near Dictatorial Powers. In fact. according to our research, David Smith had also served as Alamance County Attorney and is now currently running for Alamance County Commissioner as a Republican. If elected, David Smith could steer through his package of Emergency Measures and Police State Powers.<br /><br />According to concerned citizen, David Andrews, the topic was discussed at length during a recent Tea Party meeting 3 days after the County Commissioner meeting. Andrews explained he was there to encourage locals to become more like "watchmen", as Andrews describes his role, of local politicians as much as on Washington. Andrews used the proposed ordinance as an example of why watchmen are needed. Andrews read and discussed "what I would call a Martial Law item on the Consent Agenda." It was at this point an unexpected speaker piped in on the subject, none other than Mr. David Smith was on hand. Mr. Smith stated that the proposed ordinance was not a good idea. At that point Mr. Andrews addressed Mr. David Smith saying 'that is odd, Mr. Smith. You may want to speak up and clear the air. It is a matter of public record' that Mr. Albright said that you (speaking of Smith) are complicit on this ordinance being written. Mr. Smith then responded, as best could be inferred by Andrews, that he (Smith) had utilized this type of thing as County Manager several times in the past. Thus far, we cannot document any such passage or use of the Martial Law Plan in Alamance County dating back to 2009.<br /><br />So here's how it stands to date. Alamance County tables a Martial Law Ordinance (thanks to Patriot Bill Lashley) that was written 3 years ago by County Attorney Albright at the behest of former County Manager David Smith, <b><i><u>who is currently running for County Commissioner</u></i></b>. The ordinance would empower the County Manager with Dictatorial Powers in the event of a State of Emergency, including but not limited to the Power to Ban Peaceful Assembly. The Ordinance in question was attempted to be passed in what some consider a sneaky fashion via the Consent Agenda. The question now is, <b><i>Who intervened and had this Egregious assault on our Constitution placed on the "Consent Agenda" for this past month's meeting?</i></b> We will be investigating further and reporting when the situation becomes more clear.<br /><br />Until then, Live Free.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-44101988958428526662012-07-20T07:53:00.001-04:002012-07-20T07:53:27.679-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxidFBt1f55tLoYj0mX0XqE1h9NjIdO3gVjZ7o6xEPVM_Wle9S1KCsvkjTMCQA5nWYPNmI203Enejilm-dV1esSSf-A-5IzYLDXZVf3lv4_1dGQ2hZE5QjpCdqlZ5ioc_nNzxEXu-2DQ-/s1600/thank-you-sir-may-i-have-another.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxidFBt1f55tLoYj0mX0XqE1h9NjIdO3gVjZ7o6xEPVM_Wle9S1KCsvkjTMCQA5nWYPNmI203Enejilm-dV1esSSf-A-5IzYLDXZVf3lv4_1dGQ2hZE5QjpCdqlZ5ioc_nNzxEXu-2DQ-/s400/thank-you-sir-may-i-have-another.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><u>Life over Liberty: Thank you sir, may I have another!</u></span></b></h2>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I’ll take Life over Liberty every day of the week. What’s a minor inconvenience of randomly being checked for explosives at the airport? Does it really matter that during my annual physical that they take my blood to ensure my BMI is not in line being 60 lbs. over the national standard, so I will now be paying a little extra for my health insurance? Obama care’s death panels are only for the really old, right? By the time I hit 80 I’ve lived a good life, and selfishly taking up the new generation’s resources is asking a bit much don’t you think? Life is fairly mundane around here, so if I find myself in the midst of social networking... </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 28px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 18px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />Read more: <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/07/life-over-liberty-thank-you-sir-may-i-have-another/#ixzz21AAeUZsj" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003399; font-size: 18px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/07/life-over-liberty-thank-you-sir-may-i-have-another/#ixzz21AAeUZsj</a></span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-72402302948718136332012-07-17T00:30:00.001-04:002012-07-17T00:30:34.813-04:00Time to declare War on War!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglh3eKEZxUNj_40NU-I6xU9vM1L7cBZ_NXj4Jb6LgQO9Form1eGVUY6-g0UyRcC-r_wnuoJxLm00xEk5iRnpuGHu99H5t5SLXLKNjBpg7UXCt2Mp6hMm1IUhY7CF582GmGLUbZ4noblKLn/s1600/Obama-Libya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglh3eKEZxUNj_40NU-I6xU9vM1L7cBZ_NXj4Jb6LgQO9Form1eGVUY6-g0UyRcC-r_wnuoJxLm00xEk5iRnpuGHu99H5t5SLXLKNjBpg7UXCt2Mp6hMm1IUhY7CF582GmGLUbZ4noblKLn/s400/Obama-Libya.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">WAR! WAR! WAR! Who really cares about “War” here in America? Does it really affect me? Not really.</span></div>
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">No one is coming down my street in a NATO or UN tank. No one is trying to take my personal property or my house away from me. Sure there is talk about “gun control” later this month in some distant place called the U.N office in New York. Isn’t that just a bunch of foreign ambassadors that hang out with an ear piece in their ears working with translators?</span></div>
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Honestly, everyone over exaggerates in these alternative news media sources to compete with the mainstream media anyway. The “World” is coming to...</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;"><span style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/07/time-to-declare-war-on-war/#ixzz20qoq3tkI" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #003399; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/07/time-to-declare-war-on-war/#ixzz20qoq3tkI</a></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-85122420355094665662012-04-03T12:18:00.000-04:002012-04-03T12:18:54.682-04:00Put it on the Underhill's!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0o05kwfsF7v65t9ZtqRCEKm0BPRBHBnBGHlgk2T9jVn59LC6XsO5c8qQf1uGaAlT62YC_ikOOyECiYqXiRuqzLsTZRD7dg1MZbaJOx0gAumNavZtYZU5VXWYwz5w3148sjt0lmycD9KIv/s1600/fletch-chase_240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0o05kwfsF7v65t9ZtqRCEKm0BPRBHBnBGHlgk2T9jVn59LC6XsO5c8qQf1uGaAlT62YC_ikOOyECiYqXiRuqzLsTZRD7dg1MZbaJOx0gAumNavZtYZU5VXWYwz5w3148sjt0lmycD9KIv/s400/fletch-chase_240.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">“I’ll have a Bloody Mary, a steak sandwich, and uh….. a steak sandwich please!” quips Chevy Chase’s investigative journalist Fletch in one of the 80′s funniest comedies. And, much like Fletch trying to stay one step ahead of the hitmen, the law, the doctors, his wife’s lawyer, his boss, rabid dobermans – you get the picture – almost every American I know feels like their lives are one giant Con where money is concerned. After all, the concept of real currency has been a fairy tale that we’ve read about in history books for almost a century now. Let’s all try a practical exercise. Go to your wallet (or purse, ladies…) and pull out any denomination of paper money. Read the words at the top: Federal Reserve Note. Do you know what those words mean? They mean that the value of that piece of paper in your hand is determined by a particu...<a href="http://frontporchpolitics.com/2012/04/put-it-on-the-underhills/" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">continued HERE</span></b></a></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-22164315280243020042012-03-26T15:48:00.000-04:002012-03-26T15:48:51.996-04:00It's not the media blackout, STUPID!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DoBx9qfu4Bd1bI23yKsnkTAz3vk1wSC31WSeIWia-phAks_h_XRiFvndNY1iduMAiB-zXvqYeP50a8izOLbRac6GYkKWX8NRaDy3ZdR7-klgKppOolL9b16LwGqv8LCY9MJ8tZJYeSAb/s1600/Forrest+Gump+Ping+Pong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DoBx9qfu4Bd1bI23yKsnkTAz3vk1wSC31WSeIWia-phAks_h_XRiFvndNY1iduMAiB-zXvqYeP50a8izOLbRac6GYkKWX8NRaDy3ZdR7-klgKppOolL9b16LwGqv8LCY9MJ8tZJYeSAb/s400/Forrest+Gump+Ping+Pong.jpg" width="381" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">I am not sure of the statistics of how many Americans are really, truly stupid. “STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES” states Forrest Gump. What qualifies for a person to be</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">clinically</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">stupid? Is it not being able to read, write, or do arithmetic? Is it a lack of common sense? Could it be a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;">clinical</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">diagnosis? Is it a conspiracy theory that we should research? Stupid scientists stating that it may be so many prescription drugs being prescribed for clinically diagnosed Stupid People? Could it have something to do with the quality of a state funded education? If you are reading this article, consider yourself blessed that you don’t really need to be concerned, or</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold;"><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">do you</em></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">? Maybe</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><em style="font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold;">I</strong></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">need to be concerned? Let’s hope not. However, being one of the few smart individuals of the non-drug induced, educated Americans that can still have the skill set of being able to critically think, we can come together to this profound reality: that indeed the fall of the republic is</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold;">not</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">because of the media blackout taking place. It is because</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold;">WE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN DECLARED OFFICIALLY STUPID!</strong></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold;"><br />
</strong></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">More story <a href="http://frontporchpolitics.com/2012/03/its-not-the-media-blackout-stupid/" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">HERE!</span></b></a></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-47495242048353244282012-03-01T12:34:00.000-05:002012-03-01T12:34:35.732-05:00Chicken Little Bernanke<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPt1No4ICbsWgAbqel18oaSYo0zbI4fG6LxBjkayaZZOhb_1-Ez2xJu5iu7hzFanICu6O0tbS9HZXNr6QM0XyjixzxEtQESY6vBAmz9LBGkb-WKcPQzHcdkyzHiqawdBTAAsjbMId4PzWq/s1600/bernakiburns1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPt1No4ICbsWgAbqel18oaSYo0zbI4fG6LxBjkayaZZOhb_1-Ez2xJu5iu7hzFanICu6O0tbS9HZXNr6QM0XyjixzxEtQESY6vBAmz9LBGkb-WKcPQzHcdkyzHiqawdBTAAsjbMId4PzWq/s400/bernakiburns1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>The sky is falling! The sky is falling! This, in much more articulate words, has been the message of the Federal Reserve to the Congress over at least the past five years. In 2008, the Federal Reserve sounded the alarm eight times from March to October. It seemed every other week there was another crisis to abate, another fire to put out. From Bear/Stearnes and JP Morgan to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, from AIG and the Big 3 Automakers to the monster that was TARP, we as citizens were on the hook to the tune of 1.6 Trillion dollars. (that’s with a “T”, folks) Then, Bush handed the baton to Obama, and our current president picked right up where our former one left off. Another 1.13 Trillion was printed shortly after Obama took the oath of office in early 2009, when he rolled out his economic plan that projected $8T more to be thrown in the pot...continued <a href="http://frontporchpolitics.com/2012/03/chicken-little-bernanke/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">HERE</span></a></b></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-11753439958200557062012-02-24T16:40:00.001-05:002012-02-25T13:36:46.600-05:00Rednecks for Romney!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9hRujWzKDcChqAIl7RoFgv-U8TGzDItK_6iPsi6bmwTiCaJtzohu8HPfKZ5tPv0OjjwE8Job3ye9R1wTQ2rTh3WjszbCVVD-aj0s1Kt4RcW-RiApweI9FMLBvaN25roakkz85XHyd1WY/s1600/ricky-bobby-cougar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9hRujWzKDcChqAIl7RoFgv-U8TGzDItK_6iPsi6bmwTiCaJtzohu8HPfKZ5tPv0OjjwE8Job3ye9R1wTQ2rTh3WjszbCVVD-aj0s1Kt4RcW-RiApweI9FMLBvaN25roakkz85XHyd1WY/s400/ricky-bobby-cougar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">Steve Routszong - Contributor</span></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">On Wednesday the Obama campaign launched "African Americans for Obama 2012."</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/BdjoHA5ocwU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">Surprised? No, of course not! Apparently, the POTUS hasn't taken lessons in class from Morgan Freeman, who sees February as nothing more than the month between January and March. But Mr. Freeman, we CAN'T stop talking about it. If we stop talking about it, what is the NAACP going to do with all that spare time? What are Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and all the other race baiters going to do for a living?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;">Now, let's flip the coin over for a minute..</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
For the full story, go <b style="color: blue;"><a href="http://frontporchpolitics.com/2012/02/rednecks-for-romney/" target="_blank">HERE!</a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: large;"><i>Steve Routszong is a self-made Monopoly Millionaire (which has nothing to do with him being the banker all the time), and all around snarky contributor to MilktheCrisis.com. Seriously though, he <b><u>is</u></b> the 1% in that game. </i> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-11236395004372195902012-02-21T14:35:00.000-05:002012-02-21T14:35:40.154-05:00The Third War for Independence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlFDP220wZut-f6IhhzvW1xxEE9ibpg7lQTPcXyqg7O6zMEXdza6aQLhSU1Q5KB73xAW_BRdzbsYhXcQcge6T5NtlQ8MyaQ-_0Z0z_hzeO2gPunh2w7xq7vgN6C0cvy4zLxCIRUADSeVI/s1600/statue_of_liberty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlFDP220wZut-f6IhhzvW1xxEE9ibpg7lQTPcXyqg7O6zMEXdza6aQLhSU1Q5KB73xAW_BRdzbsYhXcQcge6T5NtlQ8MyaQ-_0Z0z_hzeO2gPunh2w7xq7vgN6C0cvy4zLxCIRUADSeVI/s400/statue_of_liberty.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 22px;"><b style="font-size: x-large;"><i><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">We ask not your counsel nor your arms.</span></u></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you.</span><b style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">forget</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> that you were our countrymen.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>- Samuel Adams</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/N7X8WJdlq1k?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This is our finest hour.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-11230656681335493312012-02-17T20:32:00.000-05:002012-02-17T21:21:00.624-05:00Food and Drugs and Food and Drugs and....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHNUiwHtNPRDOZaazvqZvjOMHpZxkz-ehJdbmDDzeo79bs80fN32UamHakPdXyOvlfOL66-1jLsfQqAn1-sOdo7Cnfj_XIoDLWj42X94RyNiKRlIoK27g8jtyHMAw4xeygLD5DLYdsIjl/s1600/gmo_dees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIHNUiwHtNPRDOZaazvqZvjOMHpZxkz-ehJdbmDDzeo79bs80fN32UamHakPdXyOvlfOL66-1jLsfQqAn1-sOdo7Cnfj_XIoDLWj42X94RyNiKRlIoK27g8jtyHMAw4xeygLD5DLYdsIjl/s400/gmo_dees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>With the VICE PRESIDENT of Monsanto being appointed as the new "Food Safety Czar" to the FDA(story <a href="http://thestoryoflibertyblog.com/2012/01/12/obama-appoints-monsantos-vice-president-as-senior-advisor-to-the-commissioner-at-the-fda/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">HERE</span></a>), it's got me thinking: "You know what? Maybe there is something to the fact that the average American is becoming more and more unhealthy at an earlier age."</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>I mean, I don't have pretend to be Mel Gibson with my eyes taped open being chased by Patrick Stewart to know that America has had the most cases of preventable diseases we've ever had in our nation's history.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/JVnwrg7BDhY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>NOBODY KNOWS!! NOBODY KNOWS!! Although, I really feel like it sometimes...</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Don't get me wrong, I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on anything organic or nutritious. I really just feel like the little kid watching the emperor running around naked while everyone else is complimenting him on that garment's particular hue of purple. The problem is you get called a cuckoo bird any time you even breathe a whisper about the connection between the two industries that make up the name of the department that oversees them both. I mean, it's really not all that sinister, is it? The fact that 90% of the food we eat is genetically modified, we get more and more diseases younger and younger in life, and have to go to a pharmacy to pick up a drug to alleviate the symptoms of said illness? It is all just some kind of massive coincidence, right? Apparently not. Even to the point where hundreds of thousands of organic farmers are taking Monsanto to court to keep their garbage out of pure fields. (Story <a href="http://www.nationofchange.org/300000-organic-farmers-sue-monsanto-federal-court-decision-march-31st-go-trial-1329059467" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">HERE</span></a>) </b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>So, while we're not always in the forefront of political controversy here in North Carolina, we do hit the news every once in awhile. This past week has seen an example from a particular school in the town of Raeford, where their "Star Rating" was threatened by a parent who dared to pack her child's lunch. We as a nation can't stand for that! After all, a drop in star ratings might affect federal money designated to the county. The Monsanto raised, FDA approved (and don't forget inspected!) cafeteria food is MUCH more nutritional than ANYTHING kept in a person's house. The federal government can't be expected to inspect every single citizen's pantry and fridge... yet. But the government run school is a much safer environment to ensure every child (owned by the state) is given a proper dose of genetically modified food to ensure the pharmaceutical industry has lots and lots of prospective clients in 20 years. (Story from Raeford <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/exclusive-2nd-n-c-mother-says-daughters-school-lunch-replaced-for-not-being-healthy-enough/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: blue;">HERE</span></a>)</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>The good news is that, for every family here in Carolina content to eat the poison offered by Monsanto, there is another family fighting to protect our food supply from genetic modification. Well, maybe not an equal ratio, yet, but the more awareness that is raised, the more options are presented, the healthier we and our children will be. Here's a great video from the western end of our fair state - (sorry about the subtitles)<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nndEZBQ9bds?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Let's hope that the families affected by "The Fat Police" will have the bravery to challenge the state for the authority to make decisions concerning their children's nutrition.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow; color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/FAT-POLICE-T-Shirt-/120858940455?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item61cdb7bc39#ht_500wt_1144" target="_blank">PICK UP YOUR "FAT POLICE" SHIRT HERE!</a></span></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>This is our finest hour.</b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-19500422333184560512012-02-11T10:48:00.001-05:002012-02-28T08:41:13.716-05:00A Call to Return<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAQdLQJj8OXT-5NXqo4nrdvlXtJgqU4aaR9RMD2PRI4vZro20v0PEwqgUoODsMcuCFs85m-xbn1WHut0w7OkEXVV8aeVsmxPMaov43n8gVVZgbMSiSrR8tLLzMJIzLUA3GNvszgpAMeQG/s1600/the-national-debt-of-course-keeps-growing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAQdLQJj8OXT-5NXqo4nrdvlXtJgqU4aaR9RMD2PRI4vZro20v0PEwqgUoODsMcuCFs85m-xbn1WHut0w7OkEXVV8aeVsmxPMaov43n8gVVZgbMSiSrR8tLLzMJIzLUA3GNvszgpAMeQG/s400/the-national-debt-of-course-keeps-growing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>There was a time in this country where our leadership reveled in the exploits of patriots in great days gone-by. There was once even a time when our leadership was not content to simply do so, but to try to match those exploits with exploits of their own. A time when men and women were not merely content to read and remember words and deeds that made and shaped this nation for the cause of liberty, but had to add their voice and hands to that cause for future generations. There was a time when men and women were not for sale, where their voice and vote was not up for grabs, not up for debate. A time when principles shaped hearts and minds and decision making. A time when public office was something to be taken up reluctantly, where it was viewed as something higher than the person aspiring to hold it, when it was something viewed as a most serious duty. A time when an oath was a solemn oath, not to be violated in fear of judgment of the people, and judgment before God. A time when accountability was king at all times, not just during an election year. A time when journalism was feared and respected... FULL STORY <a href="http://frontporchpolitics.com/2012/02/a-call-to-return/" target="_blank">HERE!</a></b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-11599606529317180292011-10-13T11:42:00.000-04:002011-10-13T11:42:18.829-04:00The Excuse We Needed: War with Iran Draws Near<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnpOhRE1zAhKkpWblwl9cpxZVbx7Vhp9kSxHlSNKxaZiwJNY8Pe-tIS5SLfjOgvp28joA-LuSMMAll_66yRYddedDedqEECJuSGz1Qpgdi14lcLgrVlcEv6W8VzJz4b2KHLw-8wMMjsdE/s1600/ahmadinejad-time-350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnpOhRE1zAhKkpWblwl9cpxZVbx7Vhp9kSxHlSNKxaZiwJNY8Pe-tIS5SLfjOgvp28joA-LuSMMAll_66yRYddedDedqEECJuSGz1Qpgdi14lcLgrVlcEv6W8VzJz4b2KHLw-8wMMjsdE/s400/ahmadinejad-time-350.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><i><u><br />
</u></i></b></span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><i><u>From Truth and Culture-Dr. Brian Phillips</u></i></b></span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">American-Iranian relations have been strained for some time, as the U.S. has raised continual concerns that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Iran has denied all such charges, claiming that they have only been using nuclear materials for energy development – a practice allowed by international law.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Many Americans defend the idea of military action against Iran because the assumption is that they are guilty of developing a nuclear arsenal, even though there is no proof of those assertions. After all, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is a terrorist group (only designated as such by George W. Bush’s executive order)! How dangerous the world would be, the thinking goes, if <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Iran</em> had a nuclear weapon! Wouldn’t they attack Israel?</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Well, one could simply ask Egypt and Syria what happens to a nation that attacks Israel. They were both embarrassingly defeated, though they attacked Israel together. Additionally, Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons in its arsenal. Do Americans really have to worry about <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">their</em> well-being? It would seem that if America is deeply concerned about Israel’s safety, the simplest move would be to get out of the way.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Perhaps there are other motives for picking a fight with Iran?</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">David Broder of <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The</em> <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Washington Post</em>, one of the more well-respected journalists in recent history and 400 time guest on <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Meet the Press</em>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/01/david-broder-war-with-ira_n_777013.html" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">argued</a> that starting a war with Iran would be the surest way for Barack Obama to garner conservative support, help the economy, and save his presidency.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Spend 2011-2012 attacking Iran, Broder advised the President, and enjoy your reelection. Apparently the time has come…</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The story broke today that U.S. authorities foiled a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Two men - Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri – have been charged in the plot and each of them is claimed to have strong ties to the Iranian government.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="274" src="http://dailybail.com/storage/holder-obama-3.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1298913633786" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/mistylook/img/shadow.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-style: none; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; display: block; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 4px;" title="Attorney General Eric Holder" width="412" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In fact, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder minced no words on the connection between the alleged assassins and Iran. He <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/iranians-charged-u-over-assassination-plot-180902967.html;_ylc=X3oDMTNrc2x0YTJhBF9TAzc2NDUzNjUEYWN0A21haWxfY2IEY3QDYQRpbnRsA3VzBGxhbmcDZW4tVVMEcGtnAzgyMjRlZWE2LTViMGYtM2Q3Yy1hYWIzLWIyOWQ5ODI5MzU5MgRzZWMDbWl0X3NoYXJlBHNsawNtYWlsBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">said</a>, “High-up (Iranian) officials…were responsible for this plot. I think one has to be concerned about the chilling nature of what the Iranian government attempted to do here.”</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The Iranian government quickly disavowed any involvement in the plot and released this statement on their English television network – “The Islamic Republic of Iranhas rejected U.S. accusations of the country plotting to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington as a prefabricated scenario.” The denial was repeated by the Iranian spokesman to the United Nations.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Such denials, however, did not stop <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/11/iranians-charged-over-terror-plot-in-us/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Holder</a> from calling this a “flagrant violation of U.S. and international law” and promising that the U.S. will hold Iran accountable.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">It would seem an open and shut case. The two men were apprehended and, though both are said to have confessed everything to law enforcement. Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was read his Miranda rights and given a public defender (as opposed to the “droning” he would have received on foreign soil).</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Arbabsiar reportedly approached a Mexican drug cartel for help in the plot, but his contact turned out to be an agent of the D.E.A.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Yes, indeed, an open and shut case. And even though Iran denies the allegations of their involvement, all Americans know they are liars, right?</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Secretary of State Hillary Clinton <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/11/iranians-charged-over-terror-plot-in-us/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">told</a> The Associated Press that, “the idea that they would attempt to go to a Mexican drug cartel to solicit murder-for-hire to kill the Saudi ambassador, nobody could make that up, right?”</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Wait…was she asking or telling?</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">It remains to be seen what “hold accountable” means, but it seems the war hawks are circling again. After all, it is election season.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Article also appeared on <a href="http://antiwar.com/viewpoints.php" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #265e15; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Antiwar.com</a> – October 12, 2011</span></em></div><div class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><div class="sd-block sd-like" id="wpl-likebox" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.128906); border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; bottom: auto !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 10px !important; position: static !important; width: 508px; zoom: 1;"><div class="sd-content" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; float: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 508px;"><div id="wpl-button" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="like needs-login sd-button" href="http://truthandculture.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/the-excuse-we-needed-war-with-iran-draws-near/?like=1&_wpnonce=8fbad6ecaf" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, rgb(247, 247, 247) 0%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 100%); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 102, 51); border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) !important; border-left-style: solid !important; border-left-width: 1px !important; border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) !important; border-right-style: solid !important; border-right-width: 1px !important; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) !important; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-style: solid !important; border-top-width: 1px !important; box-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 1px 0px inset; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; display: block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="I like this post"><div><br />
</div></a></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-40203189785329178342011-10-02T00:49:00.001-04:002011-10-02T01:02:14.326-04:00I Am a History Teacher & I Lie to My Students<div class="postnav" style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="postnav" style="color: #333333; display: block; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><i>Taken from <u>"Truth & Culture"</u> by Dr. Brian Phillips</i></b></span></div><div class="post-1059 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-education category-culture-current-events-history tag-constitution tag-anwar-al-awlaki tag-samir-khan tag-u-s-history tag-bill-of-rights tag-drone-attack-in-yemen tag-due-process tag-terrorism" id="post-1059" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 2em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="entry" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 1em; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">On September 30, 2011, I woke up and began my daily routine, preparing for another day of teaching history to high school students. In the course of an average school year, I literally teach the history of the world – ancient history, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and modernity. My eleventh grade students take U.S. History, a required course for any student who plans to graduate.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In that class, we spent a great amount of time going, nearly line by line, through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I tell them that nothing else in U.S. History matters as much as their understanding of these documents. The Constitution is what protects us, guides us, and rules us as a people. The Bill of Rights, I say, guarantees that government does not overstep the bounds laid out for it by the Founding Fathers. Those amendments help protect our dignity, our liberty, and our lives.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I am lying to them…</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">What I tell them about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is true, but I fear that, for them and their children (and for my own children) these wonderful documents will rank with the other insignificant dates and dead people of history. The Founding Fathers will simply be dead guys who had a pretty good idea a few centuries ago.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The proof of this depressing claim is legion – from unconstitutional government programs and departments, to the tyrannical taxes levied against us, to the undeclared wars and “selective service” that will likely take some of the young men in my classes to die in foreign nations (even before they are allowed to drink beer). Yes, all of these things show it quite clearly.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Our government has trampled what my students memorize, and the rights of the people continue to diminish in shameful ways. But, surely none can be more shocking than what I witnessed on that morning of September 30<sup style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">th</sup>. As I drank coffee and ate breakfast, I took a moment to catch up on the morning news. Fox News led the nation in rejoicing with a “Breaking News” segment that celebrated the death of terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Al-Awlaki was killed by a drone attack in Yemen and, as the Associated Press later reported, he was the intended target of the attack. Another man, Samir Khan, was also killed in the bombing. Both were U.S. citizens.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">According to the same article, Al-Awlaki was the suspected mastermind of several terrorist plots, including “the attempted 2009 Christmas Day bombing of a U.S.-bound aircraft. The official said that al-Awlaki specifically directed the men accused of trying to bomb the Detroit-bound plane to detonate an explosive device over U.S. airspace to maximize casualties.”</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Born in New Mexico, al-Awlaki was never charged with any crime, never received a trial, and though the military could pinpoint his exact location, there was no actual attempt to arrest him.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I reflect over the lies I have told: “<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” </em>(5<sup style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">th</sup>Amendment).</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Samir Khan, from my own state of North Carolina, was not an intended target, but he did produce a magazine that gave instructions on how to use bombs and weapons and, the <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Associated Press</em> assures us, it was read by lots of people. He happened to be in the same caravan of vehicles as al-Awlaki, so he too was killed. Guilt by association, I guess.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">More lies: <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“</em><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence” </em>(6<sup style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">th</sup> Amendment).</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">“But,” the bloggers and commentators bellow out, “these men were terrorists! They relinquished their rights of citizenship when they turned against us!” The government can take one’s citizenship when they break the law?</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">There can be little doubt that these men committed treason, so I breathe a momentary sigh of relief. Perhaps I haven’t completely been dishonest with my students? <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort” </em><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">(Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution). If only the framers had stopped there.</em></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The next sentence makes me face another round of lies: </em><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">“No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.”</em></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The attack has been heralded as “the latest in a run of high-profile kills for Washington under President Barack Obama.” Kills for Washington? What will my students think?</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">There can be little doubt that were Khan and al-Awlaki apprehended and tried, they would have either been found guilty or confessed in open court. But they were not tried. They were not charged. They weren’t even apprehended and water-boarded. They were killed by an armed drone. Killed for Washington.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Citizens and political leaders throughout the nation are and will continue to rejoice over this fresh kill and the deaths of these men will be used for political capital. It is election season, after all. Yes, the same ones who swear to uphold the Constitution will make a name for themselves by assassinating American citizens. Does my dishonesty know no bounds?</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Any right given to the government is one less right retained by the citizens. I can hear the room of 17-year-olds reciting the 10<sup style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">th</sup> Amendment. What will become of them when their government defines “bad men” a bit differently?</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.7em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I climb into my car and make the short drive to school where I must live another day with the realization that I am a history teacher…and I lie to my students. Perhaps. But, maybe, just maybe, they will be the ones to lift the veil. Perhaps they will, by remembering what all others seem to have forgotten, they can reclaim what generations before are seeking to rob.</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/N3xf56nWU0E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-88473910326208395782011-09-28T13:11:00.003-04:002011-09-28T14:45:22.743-04:00Only Tarheels and Queers… Come From North Carolina<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6c0Nqa3BiioI75O5RMhuwU6HqJ_UgnmJ6SGLHHJDidziKxG0CiqIlm2I4UVXWEoj_MIMhfCg0SfVuXX7fUEhc5Q6PWlCKpaQ_p2SX0mTvI_ghzGk1Pn-vbyammgbnJBGWopsrwDajN-91/s1600/gay-marriage_lea2_s640x422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6c0Nqa3BiioI75O5RMhuwU6HqJ_UgnmJ6SGLHHJDidziKxG0CiqIlm2I4UVXWEoj_MIMhfCg0SfVuXX7fUEhc5Q6PWlCKpaQ_p2SX0mTvI_ghzGk1Pn-vbyammgbnJBGWopsrwDajN-91/s400/gay-marriage_lea2_s640x422.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Dave Durand - Contributor</span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This May, North Carolinians will have the opportunity to vote for an amendment to the state constitution that would ban gay marriage. While it is currently illegal for gays to marry in NC, this measure would be a hefty road block for any future legislature to repeal the current law. It is also a safeguard against any overzealous judge that may feel the need to legislate from the bench.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">There are several reasons often given to justify a general ban on gay marriage, but I’ve yet to hear one that convinces me of the need to restrict the personal liberty of my fellow citizens. Here are my thoughts on the main two. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Homosexuality is a sin, and therefore gay marriage should be illegal.<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">As a Christian, I completely agree with the first half of this statement. The Bible is quite clear that homosexuality is a sin. But to those who feel that sins should be outlawed, allow me to let you in on a little secret…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">… there is a difference between a crime and a sin. (Gasps of Horror!!!)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">A sin is an act of disobedience against God. A crime is an act of force against man. These two ideas do not necessarily overlap. For instance: It is sin to get drunk, but it is not illegal. It is a sin to cheat on your spouse, but it is not illegal. It is a sin to covet, but it is not illegal. It is sin to be selfish, but not illegal.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I am not sure why Christians don’t just use the force of government and eradicate sin all together. Why not simply make it illegal to be a homosexual. After all, it is the underlying sin that drives all this gay marriage hoop-la. Why not take it a step further and make a law mandating that everyone in America must convert to some brand of Christianity. In fact, let’s get real here and makes it illegal to not accept Christ as you personal savior. Problem solved right?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Gay marriage threatens the sanctity of marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I argue heterosexuals have done a pretty good number on the sanctity of marriage all on their own. Something like 40% of all first marriages ends in divorce, and nearly 50% of all subsequent marriages end in divorce. I am pretty sure the sanctity argument was thrown out long ago by straight couples.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Also, I just don’t get how the deeply personal relationship between you and your spouse can be somehow threatened by the existence of another relationship. Did you or did you not promise before God, your family, and your friends to uphold your marriage vows? Was there an exclusion clause in the fine print that gives you an out if two dudes tie the knot down the street? Let me ask you this. Are you any less married if gay couples are allowed to marry? Are you really worse off in any tangible way? If so, how?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">So how will I vote?<o:p></o:p></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Well I have to say that in the interest of liberty I will vote against the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. I can see no threat to my life, liberty, or property posed by gay marriage, and therefore I will not support government standing in the way of personal choice. All things being equal, I would vote to get the state out of marriage entirely, but since we are forced to ask for the government’s permission to get married, I can only support a decrease in Raleigh’s control over us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">May God help this straight, married, liberty-minded Christian.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><i>Dave Durand is a weekly contributor to Letters to the front, and has his own mind on matters of liberty.</i></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-26761947914991874982011-09-16T15:31:00.000-04:002011-09-16T15:31:00.661-04:00Federal Reserve newest bailout? Europe....AGAIN!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCKqerSNRTFVr-EiDNiCZwUkDM2i1EY1Eo0B1_VQLIpwg0FTlGu8RzWPmqTdTkqX8IFhF2yiQxmXhvq-TnUGAP1r0iPpwmZ3AU76CzL_ZCiy8-r7NUqEczt-3QSKE4waPAnosq0vNQ5fA/s1600/helicopter-ben-bernanke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCKqerSNRTFVr-EiDNiCZwUkDM2i1EY1Eo0B1_VQLIpwg0FTlGu8RzWPmqTdTkqX8IFhF2yiQxmXhvq-TnUGAP1r0iPpwmZ3AU76CzL_ZCiy8-r7NUqEczt-3QSKE4waPAnosq0vNQ5fA/s400/helicopter-ben-bernanke.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">"To the list of mega-corporations bailed out by the United States government, we now must add — <b><i>Europe</i></b>. In an announcement that rocked financial markets worldwide, the European Central Bank announced today a concerted effort in combination with four other major central banks — the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Switzerland, and yes, the United States Federal Reserve — to use dollars rather than euros in an attempt to paper over the European Union’s economic woes.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Starting in October, the Federal Reserve and other major central banks will begin auctioning allotments of dollars to the European Central Bank, which will then use the new money to shore up shaky European megabanks"....Full story <b><a href="http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/sectors-mainmenu-46/9011-federal-reserve-to-bail-out-european-banks-again">HERE.</a></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;">We've seen this before somewhere, ah yes, <a href="http://dailybail.com/home/alan-grayson-which-foreign-banks-got-the-feds-500-billion-be.html" style="color: #0019bd; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Grayson grilling Bernanke in 2009 about dollar loans to foreign banks.</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;">Inspired by a liquidity crunch, a silent run on European banks, with no access to market capital and few dollars to spare, from the sidelines enters the Federal Reserve, with Bernanke as Peyton Manning (before the neck fusion), and The European Central Bank, the Bank of England, Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank as wideouts. A trillion dollar Hail Mary that will postpone the inevitable for another 3 months... Full story <a href="http://dailybail.com/home/bernanke-to-the-rescue-in-euro-bailout-redux-european-christ.html"><b>HERE</b>.</a></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-31205173103240604892011-09-15T15:24:00.001-04:002011-09-15T17:29:57.687-04:00The Right To Fast Food<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Dave Durand - Contributor</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqjcGA7KnigQ70yVk3rxwaq03NHdlKQVlzh6JOsm0iwnESh6FCYEiS-Ue2RgdcXHSQ7wgm66G6Lk0-yD0NUycXxBRhcGve5ZnHKP4MfkqEJn__BX0h6A72SZMybRWE_iHmyHmVH8E82WpO/s1600/ebtjack1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqjcGA7KnigQ70yVk3rxwaq03NHdlKQVlzh6JOsm0iwnESh6FCYEiS-Ue2RgdcXHSQ7wgm66G6Lk0-yD0NUycXxBRhcGve5ZnHKP4MfkqEJn__BX0h6A72SZMybRWE_iHmyHmVH8E82WpO/s400/ebtjack1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">While visiting my corner convenience store, I noticed an interesting advertisement plastered on the wall outside. It read “SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) now accepted here”. It got me thinking as to why newly polished Food Stamps are now accepted at a convenience store. My assumption was Food Stamps were only accepted at grocery stores. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Turns out I was wrong. Unbeknownst to me, food stamps are accepted at a wide variety of establishments from state to state. Even as far back as the 1970s, the federal government has given out waivers which allow certain businesses to accept Food Stamps.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">A little more background to set the mood… </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Since 2005 the cost of the Food Stamp program ballooned from $28 Billion to $64 Billion annually. There are now 39 million people that receive some kind of food purchasing assistance. That is 1 out 7 Americans. Let that sink in for a minute. Literally 1 out of every 7 people you meet is a parasite that feeds off its taxpaying host. How can we survive as a nation when 15% of the population can’t even muster the drive to freaking feed themselves? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This is both sad and maddening, but wait, it actually gets worse. Now several states may be granted waivers that would allow fast food chains to accept Food Stamps. Currently 4 states allow for some kind of prepared meals to be purchased with Food Stamps. So it should be no surprise that YUM Brands is lobbying hard to get a piece of this very big pie. If they succeed, you’ll be seeing “SNAP” advertisements at the local KFC, Taco Bell, Long John Silver, or Pizza Hut.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPMS6tGOACo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Can you imagine that? We are now at the point in this country when going out to dinner is some kind of “right”. Even if you argue that food is a “right” – you absolutely cannot argue that by the way – there is no way in Hell that you can argue for the right to a Supreme Stuffed Crust Pizza or a Beefy 5 Layer Burrito.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The sickening part is that I now realize that I am an absolute chump… a sucker… a pushover…. a doormat. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Here I am living month to month on a self-imposed budget. Here I am paying my bills, and paying down debt. Here I am working hard and not asking for anything from anyone. Here I am consciously deciding to NOT EAT AT RESTAURANTS because I have my damn priorities straight.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">All the while there are those who absolutely refuse to grow up. Those who refuse to take the hard road or play the hand they are dealt. Those who refuse to provide for themselves the basic necessities of life. Those who would apparently allow their children to starve to death unless they are given a voucher for a bucket of the Colonel’s original recipe, 6 biscuits, mashed potatoes, and gravy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I’m about ready to quit my life and plug myself back into the Matrix. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><i>Dave Durand is a weekly contributor to the Letters to the Front blog, an amazing beer snob, and all around good guy to be around when watching a sporting event.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><u>Subscribe to get updates from the first ever LPAC out of Reno NV this week!</u></b></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-80031831521607054332011-08-31T08:14:00.001-04:002011-08-31T08:47:33.774-04:00The Politics of Disaster. If you declare it, relief will come<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Dave Durand-Contributor</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xBXyvxh-3D5STQEX_aB44bOu49BPuITlmr5rm5SCEMDWkRsXLshyiwV5rnaLpXeUZMt-XwTlZul7GC_Cg7-fdNSt8LLTf6iWgja4V4OyzvBelk9VtIKfHMF8ybjwAj8zJyMkephjJzI9/s1600/rick-moranis-ghostbusters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xBXyvxh-3D5STQEX_aB44bOu49BPuITlmr5rm5SCEMDWkRsXLshyiwV5rnaLpXeUZMt-XwTlZul7GC_Cg7-fdNSt8LLTf6iWgja4V4OyzvBelk9VtIKfHMF8ybjwAj8zJyMkephjJzI9/s400/rick-moranis-ghostbusters.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This country is headed for a disaster of Biblical proportions. What do I mean by "Biblical"? What I mean is Old Testament, Mr. Reader. Real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes! The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice… dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">No, I am not just referencing Ghostbusters here. I am quoting verbatim the disaster declarations from states directly in the path of Hurricane Irene… ok maybe not “verbatim”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I’d like to ask you to undergo a short intellectual exercise with me regarding federal disaster relief funds. But first, please read what James Madison had to say on the issue. "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on the objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Right on Jimbo! There is no doubt that Madison is correct in saying there is no constitutional authority for the federal government to provide disaster relief. My objection goes a little deeper than that. I tend to take a more philosophical stance against government sponsored charity whether it is on the federal, state, or local level.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Let’s assume for a minute that you have a home, and it is burns to the ground from a lightning strike. What would you do under the circumstance? I think there are three logical and just ways to deal with this problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I would suspect that the vast majority of you would call your insurance agent and have the home rebuilt. Now if you are a fool and you don’t have insurance, I would think you would then have to rebuild, purchase, or rent another home. If you did not have the money for a new home or a rental, I would think you could ask your family, a friend, or a private charity to take you in during your time of need. It seems to me which ever path you take, it is logical and just.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">What if instead of the three solutions presented, you broke into 1000 homes and stole $100 from each family. You then used the money to purchase a new home for $100,000? Would that be logical and just? I argue no. What if you had the ability to break into 10,000 homes and steal just $10, or 100,000 homes and steal just $1, or 1,000,000 homes and steal just $0.10? Would that then be logical and just? I say no! What if instead of mass larceny, you employ your elected representatives to tax your neighbors, give their money to you, but call it “disaster relief”. Would that then be logical and just? I still say no!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">If you agree with me, then how can you support government sponsored charity such as FEMA or other disaster relief programs? How can you support government programs that will help rebuild areas affected by Hurricane Irene? If you disagree with me, let me say it plain. What you support is the taking of property from one individual via taxation, and giving it to another for altruistic reasons. This is not charity. It is theft.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Am I responsible for my neighbor’s misfortune? Is my life and property any less my own once my neighbor’s house is reduced to a pile of ashes or is washed away in a storm surge? At what point, can my neighbor legally claim possession of my money in order to rebuild his shattered life, even if his life is shattered through no fault of his own? I’ll leave it to the reader to answer these questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This is not a rant against charity, altruism, hand outs, or the ideals of a community that helps those who are less fortunate. If these actions are voluntary, then they are the epitome of love, kindness, and selflessness that only a free and prosperous people can truly demonstrate. What’s more, I think that America has shown itself to be exactly the kind of nation I just described.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">What I object to, is forced participation in a cause no matter how worthy, widely accepted, or useful. In the final analysis government is force, and force should only be used to repel illegitimate force. This is why we grant government the power to maintain a military, police forces, and a court system. This is why we establish laws that make it illegal for one person to initiate force on another. Once government forces you to participate in charity, then you have flipped the proper role of government on its head. Your property rights, along with you freedom, are then a thing of the past.</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/O3ZOKDmorj0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-46834997629895407412011-08-28T22:28:00.001-04:002011-08-28T22:29:33.846-04:00The Federal Gas Tax Needs to Go! Defending The Logical.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Dave Durand - Contributor</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFDrk4Avxz4TkgcyIzbZRle14eTDd08FW-VlQfhz3Fj0fGuIH4vYxtZB4zI2XbJEukveY-aD2BaaZc1OF3cIqC6xKZwb3qjotE9iCV4UYGlES6tlqXZaHsZ9YKNGmtqf1QyHqeiJcFGxC/s1600/gasprices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFDrk4Avxz4TkgcyIzbZRle14eTDd08FW-VlQfhz3Fj0fGuIH4vYxtZB4zI2XbJEukveY-aD2BaaZc1OF3cIqC6xKZwb3qjotE9iCV4UYGlES6tlqXZaHsZ9YKNGmtqf1QyHqeiJcFGxC/s400/gasprices.jpg" width="322" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Last week, I refuted three of the commonly given (yet still asinine) reasons to KEEP the federal gas tax, which is set to expire on September 30<sup>th</sup>. Some may say it’s easier to argue against an established position rather than come up with a convincing argument to support a position of your own. Indulge me, if you will, as I take this opportunity to put my money where my mouth is and give you <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">my</b> three reasons why the federal gas tax <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i></b> EXPIRE. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">#1 – The transportation needs of one state will no longer be subsidized by taxes of another.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Remember that the federal gas tax is collected at the state level, sent to Washington D.C., and then sent <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">back to the states</b> for spending on transportation projects.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Not surprisingly, once Washington D.C. gets its hands on your money, there is a tendency to dole out special favors to politically connected constituencies. Transportation projects are no exception, and many states actually get back <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>more</u></i> money than they collected from the gas tax. Others, then, receive back <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>less</u></i> than they collected. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">For example, in 2008, North Carolina only received back 0.877% of every dollar collected from the federal gas tax. Conversely, Arkansas received back 1.110% of every dollar collected from the federal gas tax. Good for Arkansas, bad for the North Carolina. You can check the data<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/04/federal-highway-program-shortchanges-more-than-half-the-states"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">HERE.</span></a></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">However, the GAO (Government Accountability Office) will argue that every state receives back <b><u>MORE</u></b> than they contribute to the Highway Trust Fund. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Wait… what? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Can the federal government turn 7 loaves and a few fish into a meal for thousands with baskets of food to spare? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvZHwqMu3dIDKYSi18Gxc4l9rBLhVKaUJ5zAMDCYMff1rWaiKRrDQuUDBR5SRAchd3UWghlziowkiLFLmQZjeB4MpGHKGAwxR1DgPzPc7zJIT3n5Uq3MZEsRi6FlUnkrzVhiZPyrsvTWc/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvZHwqMu3dIDKYSi18Gxc4l9rBLhVKaUJ5zAMDCYMff1rWaiKRrDQuUDBR5SRAchd3UWghlziowkiLFLmQZjeB4MpGHKGAwxR1DgPzPc7zJIT3n5Uq3MZEsRi6FlUnkrzVhiZPyrsvTWc/s320/images.jpeg" width="271" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Something doesn’t add up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">What the GAO <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">meant</i></b> to say is that the Highway Trust Fund spends more than it takes in. It can do this because the Department of Transportation is allowed to raid the general tax funds when it wants to spend irresponsibly. Good thing the entire federal government doesn’t spend more than it takes in or we would be in quite a pickle.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">#2 – Washington DC will no longer dictate behavior through extortion</span></b>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Like a good control freak, the central planners will only portion out certain Highway Trust Fund money if the states behave in an appropriate manner. Typically, a federal law is passed, and the states are given three years to <s>roll over</s>… sorry … I mean<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>“comply”</u></i></b>. If they don’t obey, they don’t get their money back. After all, you can’t actually expect your state and local representatives to spend your tax dollars wisely. It takes a federal bureaucrat to guide us. Want a few examples?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">In 1984, 26 states set their drinking age at 18.</span></i></b> <i><u>The same year</u></i>, Congress “found” the constitutional authority to mandate the minimum drinking age of 21. Just 3 years later, <b>all 50 states</b> had a minimum drinking age of 21, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>they were rewarded</u></b> by getting their own money back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">In 1995, 26 states did not have a zero alcohol tolerance law for drivers under the age of 21. </span></i></b><i><u>The same year</u></i>, Congress “found” the constitutional authority to mandate a zero alcohol tolerance law for drivers under the age of 21. Just 3 years later, <b>all 50 states</b> had a zero tolerance law for drivers under the age of 21, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>they were rewarded</u></b> by getting their own money back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">In 2000, 31 states set the legal blood alcohol level above .08%.</span></i></b> <i><u>The same year</u></i>, Congress “found” the constitutional authority to set the maximum legal blood alcohol level at .08%. In just 5 years, <b>every state</b> had set their maximum legal blood alcohol level at .08%, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>they were rewarded </u></b>by getting their own money back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Some of these laws may very well be the smart thing to do, but just because a broken clock is right twice a day doesn’t mean states should give their autonomy over the Washington D.C. Some states do stick to their guns against federal attempts to mandate helmet, primary seatbelt, and texting laws, but most are more than happy to bend over and</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/Z9_jIa2WADc/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z9_jIa2WADc&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z9_jIa2WADc&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">… well whatever.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This tendency for states to acquiesce is leading to even more problems. There is now a push in Washington D.C. to mandate Highway Trust Fund money to be diverted <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>solely to public transportation projects.</u></i></b> States will be required to use up to 25% of the returned funds to establish or maintain Mass Transit programs, or even worse, High Speed Rail (HSR) projects. Like all mass transit, HSR boondoggles cost billions up front, cost millions more in operating subsidies, and are used very little by the general public. Hence extortion is the name of the game.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">#3 – Keep the power in your hands and your money in your pocket.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In almost every circumstance, reducing the scope and influence of government is a good thing. If taxes are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">indeed</b> necessary, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: red;">you should demand</span></u></b> expanded access to those voting to deprive you of your hard earned money. Keeping the federal government out of transportation is one good step.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Besides, if your state is responsible with <s>its resources</s> (excuse me… your money), they may choose to maintain the current state gas tax and continue to provide the same level of transportation “services”. Some states, I suspect, will go ahead and raise their gas tax to up to the federal level so they can continue to squander your money on projects that favor certain constituents. The beauty in either case is that your state/county representative is a lot closer to you that your Senator or Congressman. You and your neighbors have much more control over state and local government than you will ever have over the federal behemoth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">So I say let the federal gas tax die and see if anyone notices! Are you worried?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-9052696634059028112011-08-25T22:27:00.000-04:002011-08-25T22:27:25.690-04:00Time Mag Article on Ron Paul- run away, Neo-Cons!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwoQ6SFndEs1VngBt-p24_O4nxyJxDmWkut-AlwEPLh_QLMjI8HjY3b9njN7Ie6UFyMXpUbIBVSUcVG2sVAxvXj_ac_vF9xr4A5xUiadxm-qC6hyphenhyphenZJ5SwMXIgGYE-kfkyuvKohzZhVP4l/s1600/ron_paul_poster_flyer_by_the_russian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwoQ6SFndEs1VngBt-p24_O4nxyJxDmWkut-AlwEPLh_QLMjI8HjY3b9njN7Ie6UFyMXpUbIBVSUcVG2sVAxvXj_ac_vF9xr4A5xUiadxm-qC6hyphenhyphenZJ5SwMXIgGYE-kfkyuvKohzZhVP4l/s400/ron_paul_poster_flyer_by_the_russian.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The Prophet</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">By Alex Altman / Concord Monday, Sept. 05, 2011-Time Magazine</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Twilight descends in new Hampshire as an old man climbs onto his soapbox. LIBERTY: TOO BIG TO FAIL reads a banner hanging in the jam-packed tent. He is hardly a commanding figure, but a thousand people chant his name and lean in to listen, ready to follow, as Ron Paul delivers his genre-bending stump speech. There are no focus-grouped slogans, no empty calories: Paul's talk is more like a high-fiber graduate seminar on economic theory, forgotten history and the nooks and crannies of the U.S. Constitution. "The Federal Reserve system and all their members have been counterfeiters for a long time," he says, his reedy voice straining. "Sound money is connected to free markets and the freedom message and the Constitution, and we can bring this all together for people. It fascinates me, and I'm sure it must fascinate a lot of you also."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In normal times, Paul's esoteric pitch might leave voters bemused, bewildered or just bored. But these aren't normal times, and the rapt crowd roars its approval. The attendees share his conviction that a great man has met his moment in history. "Our time has come," Paul declares, and this time, it may be more than wishful thinking.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">For decades, the Republican Congressman from Texas has preached much the same brand of libertarian politics and Austrian economics. When he ran for President four years ago, Paul drew a zealous but narrow following, and his warnings that murky monetary policy, runaway spending and a sprawling foreign empire would ruin the country struck many Republicans as kooky. His GOP rivals smirked or simply ignored him. Although Paul raised a staggering $35 million, he captured just 1% of Republican delegates.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">But in the four years since, the world has changed in mostly grim ways that seem to affirm Paul's worldview. His vision of an eroding Constitution and a Washington--Wall Street cabal helped spark the Tea Party movement. Conservatives who once sneered at his foreign policy as being "isolationist" have grown weary of war. His call for a more accountable and transparent Federal Reserve has morphed from quaint obsession to mainstream Republican talking point in Congress and on the campaign trail.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">As presidential contender, Paul remains an extreme long shot. He lags behind central-casting candidates like Mitt Romney and Rick Perry in polls. The pillars of his libertarian philosophy--restoring the gold standard, abolishing the central bank, letting states legalize drugs, gutting the size of government and the social safety net, sharply reducing America's global footprint--are too radical for the typical suburban swing voter. Not to mention that the 76-year-old Paul would be the oldest ever first-term President.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">(page 2)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">But as prophet, he is still defining the GOP race. He came within a whisker of spoiling Michele Bachmann's headline-making win at the Aug. 13 Iowa straw poll and helped end Tim Pawlenty's candidacy by denying him a second-place finish. When Republican heavies like Newt Gingrich and Perry bash the Fed's monetary policy, he mocks them as latecomers to his party. "Who would have thought the former Speaker of the House would come out for 'Audit the Fed?'" Paul says to deafening applause in Concord. "Now we have a Southern governor. I can't remember his name"--a wry reference to Perry, who suggested it would be almost "treasonous" for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to pump more money into the economy--"[who] realizes talking about the Fed is good too."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Paul still struggles to win the major media's attention, prompting Jon Stewart to compare his candidacy to "the 13th floor of a hotel." But Paul's allies say he's more interested in influence than political power. "He does not have a great personal desire to be the President," says Jesse Benton, Paul's campaign chairman and grandson-in-law. Instead, he is that rare commodity in modern politics: a man of ideas, however unconventional they may be.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The Making of the Maverick</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Ron Paul's political epiphany took place on Aug. 15, 1971. That was the day Richard Nixon, hoping to boost a flagging U.S. economy, decoupled the dollar from the gold standard. Few people understood or cared about the change. For Paul, it was a calamity. "That was the moment I knew something very strange was going on in the government establishment," he recalls, sitting in a desk chair in his Concord campaign office. Paul believes that a currency unmoored from gold is based on, well, nothing, and that simply printing fiat money inevitably leads to ruin. "I thought it was just a total disaster," he says.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The mild-mannered Paul is an unlikely messenger of economic doom. Born outside Pittsburgh, he attended medical school at Duke and joined the Air Force in 1963. He served as a flight surgeon during Vietnam, an experience that convinced him the American "empire" is folly. As he built an obstetrics practice in Brazoria County, Texas, he spent his free time studying the theories of Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises, giants of the Austrian school of economics, which champions unfettered free markets, individual rights and money backed by scarce commodities like gold and silver. "When I discovered people like Mises, to me they were geniuses," Paul says. "They could explain this stuff. It helped me feel comfortable that it wasn't only me in the world."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In 1974 Paul ran for Congress in South Texas, promising "freedom, honesty and sound money." He lost that race but won the seat two years later. Paul's latest campaign ad boasts that he is "guided by principle," and his record supports the claim. Though he represents a rural coastal district, Paul regularly votes against farm subsidies and flood insurance. He has never voted for a tax increase or an unbalanced budget. He opposed congressional medals for Rosa Parks, Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa as well as aid for Hurricane Katrina victims, all on the grounds that Congress has no business meddling in such matters.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">(page 3)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Paul isn't a pure libertarian. He doesn't support abortion or gay marriage; he believes those issues should be left up to states. But he has a coherent worldview: that individual liberty is the highest American ideal and a free-market economy its foundation. Paper money is a mirage predicated on trust in a government that can't be trusted. Fealty to the Constitution means accepting the parts of it you might not like, whether it's your neighbor's right to shoot heroin or gamble away his paycheck. "You can take your life and be very productive, or you can be destructive," Paul says, "but you can't meddle in other people's lives."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Paul's acolytes often speak of him in nearly messianic tones. "It's like a light switch going on. You see things you haven't seen before," says Doug Wead, a senior adviser who served under both George W. Bush and Bush's father. After Paul spoke in Concord, hundreds of fans thronged to greet him. Kate Baker, the national chair of a group called Women for Ron Paul, tried to organize a greeting line. "Ron Paul walks where he wants to walk and stops," she tells an eager fan. "We follow him."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">A Revolution Matures</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">For a political prophet, paul isn't much of a speaker. He tangles his syntax and is prone to rambling. But one man's awkward is another's authentic, and when you are trying to sell a candidate as a truth teller, it's best if the packaging doesn't show: his newest ad contrasts him with the "smooth-talking politicians" he's running against. "We've run into Romney. We ran into McCain. Whenever you talk to them, you feel like everything they say is almost programmed," says Jesse Coffey, a 17-year-old Paul volunteer who is among the candidate's many young devotees. "When you meet Ron Paul, it's like meeting an old friend you haven't seen in years."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">For the next hour, Paul stands in the gathering dusk, shaking hands, snapping pictures and signing memorabilia: $2 bills, a watercolor portrait of his face, a copy of the John Birch Society's magazine. "I'd ask you to sign my chest, but it probably wouldn't be appropriate," says one woman, who settles for her sleeve. A trio of young men, including one in a T-shirt depicting a vampiric George W. Bush sinking his fangs into Lady Liberty, crowd around the Congressman to vent about the treatment of Bradley Manning, the Army private imprisoned for allegedly slipping a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks. "They tried to throw Daniel Ellsberg in jail too," Paul says, shaking his head, recalling the furor over the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The 2008 Paul campaign was a ragtag coalition of anarchists, antiwar activists, goldbugs, paleoconservatives, hard-core libertarians and conspiracy theorists. His grassroots supporters threw raucous rallies, floated a Ron Paul blimp, lionized the 17th century British revolutionary Guy Fawkes--infamous for his attempt to blow up Parliament--and raised huge chunks of cash through online "money bombs." But his organization was hapless when it came to translating that enthusiasm into votes. "Last time, we didn't know what we were doing," says Chris Lawless, 42, a volunteer who voted for Paul back in 1988 when he ran for President on the Libertarian Party ticket. "We made WHO IS RON PAUL? T-shirts"--a reference to the "Who is John Galt?" refrain in Ayn Rand's libertarian touchstone Atlas Shrugged. "We had a freaking blimp."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">(page 4)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Paul was almost a passive figurehead in that spectacle, putting his message ahead of campaign tactics. "His goal, I think, was to use his platform as a pulpit to keep talking about these things until people understood it," says Jim Forsythe, his New Hampshire campaign chairman. "Enough people understand it now. It's time to do something about it."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Convinced that he has a shot in 2012--a late-August Gallup poll showed him running nearly even with President Obama in a hypothetical matchup--Paul's aides have hired seasoned operatives and are more focused on ballot-box results, demonstrating early success at the Iowa straw poll. And Paul is still raising big money, including a $1.8 million money bomb to mark his Aug. 20 birthday.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">There remains the matter of the candidate himself, though. "He's incorruptible," Wead says. "He just will not say or do anything that is not based on what he believes, even if it will help his cause. It's very frustrating, because at times using different language would be so much more politically effective."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Whether or not Paul attracts more votes than he did in 2008, his ideas have clearly taken on a life of their own. And that's what Paul says is most important. "I do what I do because I believe that truth wins out in the end," he explains. Even if his candidacy will have a hard time doing the same.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...#ixzz1W3GbiOJg</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-6704621116166312172011-08-23T23:14:00.003-04:002011-08-23T23:25:34.495-04:00The Federal Gas Tax Needs to Go! Refuting the Pro Tax Talking Points.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"></span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2e__J9P7NYlMoCWPMlZBFrqqObIAiubMIfmayJEDSnwGePRQ8Lnp9F7VOpAful-Q9TqtfLKAnvDu3BJOCmb1wWaiS9i8loxYMNbjVzlIcEQxoVBYBJBj8Bra7G4LT3U6UJlRjyp_8bBz/s1600/Jay-Z-money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2e__J9P7NYlMoCWPMlZBFrqqObIAiubMIfmayJEDSnwGePRQ8Lnp9F7VOpAful-Q9TqtfLKAnvDu3BJOCmb1wWaiS9i8loxYMNbjVzlIcEQxoVBYBJBj8Bra7G4LT3U6UJlRjyp_8bBz/s320/Jay-Z-money.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></b></div><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Dave Durand-Contributor</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">“I got 99 problems, but a gas tax ain’t one… it’s actually two.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">On September 30<sup>th</sup> the Federal Gas Tax expires unless it is re-authorized by congress. This means that on October 1rst, the taxes collected by the feds would drop from 18.4 cents to 4.3 cents per gallon of gasoline sold. This amounts to a <b>14.1 cent per gallon savings</b> that goes <b><i><u>directly</u></i></b> into the pocket of the American driver. In perhaps an even more exciting prospect, the (partial) death of the gas tax requires the federal government to relinquish most of its control over transportation <b>back to states where it rightfully belongs.</b> What is the problem with that?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Believe it or not, there are those who oppose any plan that allows for you to actually control more of your money. The federal gas tax is no exception. There are </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">three </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">popular arguments given</span></b> in favor of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">keeping the tax, and I have thoughts on each.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>#1 - Eliminating the gas tax will bankrupt the Highway Trust Fund resulting in a crumbling of the nation’s transportation infrastructure.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><u>No it won’t.</u></b> If you are not familiar with how the gas tax works, let me quickly explain. Every state collects their own excise (sales) tax on each gallon of gasoline ranging from $0.08 in Alaska to $0.47 in California. That money stays in the states and is used to update the infrastructure within said state. On top of that, the federal gas tax of $0.184 per gallon is collected, sent to Washington DC to stock the Highway Trust Fund, and is then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sent back</i> to the states to be spent on updating the infrastructure within said state. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">So while it is true that the Highway Trust Fund will be depleted, it is also true that the money is kept at the state level instead of being funneled through the federal government. So if states like Alaska need more money to spend on transportation, then they are free to raise their gas tax up to California levels to compensate. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>#2 – The transportation needs of a state are much different than the transportation needs of a nation.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><u>Are they really?</u></b> Do states need freely flowing lanes of transportation via road, rail, water, and air? Yes and so does a nation. Do states need these lanes to be safe, affordable, and easily accessible? Yes and so does a nation. Do states need to cooperate with each other so their transportation lanes are compatible in order to promote an easy exchange of commerce? Yes and so does a nation. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I will admit that this is one area where the federal government can play a role (albeit as minimal one). The commerce clause allows the feds “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes”. Regulate literally mean “to make regular”. So the feds can establish standards that prohibit two bickering state legislatures from erecting unfair trade barriers. This happens to encompass interstate lanes of travel, but the scope is very narrow. But as far as taxes go, each state is more than capable to raise their own revenue without the help of the federal government.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>#3 – If we let the gas tax expire, the result will be windfall profit for the oil companies because they will not pass the saving along to the consumer.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>This is wrong for four reasons. </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">First of all, it only takes one gas station in your town to reduce their prices by the amount of the expired federal gas tax and it’s off to the races. The rest of the stations in your town will have to reduce their gas price in order to get your business. Competition works to your benefit. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Second of all, the big bad oil companies don’t own gas stations. They are generally franchisees. If you want to point to windfall profits, you need to look no further than you friendly, neighborhood gas station owner. Go inside, ring the bell, look him square in the eye (or as best as you can through the six inches of bullet proof glass), and ask for the bathroom key. When you done with your business, lecture him about the fact he rakes in all sorts of cash yet fails to stock the bathrooms with disposable toilet seat covers. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvneJHxnfMj9txl8WEQCGJkNqo6l4bPKqklQAzdx1w28C6dce-4AWHr4f6ewALIJbvlAxWLw5xA8TZM24uLabJM9lFBGa9PouLkO5AhdZfsHYVzkNPP99-KhbYO1aluCxLLDvbTk2WhvAC/s1600/apu-kwik-e-mart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvneJHxnfMj9txl8WEQCGJkNqo6l4bPKqklQAzdx1w28C6dce-4AWHr4f6ewALIJbvlAxWLw5xA8TZM24uLabJM9lFBGa9PouLkO5AhdZfsHYVzkNPP99-KhbYO1aluCxLLDvbTk2WhvAC/s320/apu-kwik-e-mart.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Thirdly, the sale of gasoline is a loss leader for gas stations. In other words, they make little to no money on gas, but once you are in the store, they bet you will buy their coffee, milk, chips, soda, beer, Philly Blunts or any of their fine selection of slowly rotating, heat lamp cured “meats” (Stomach pumps are next to the video poker). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14OcvqKOWyvmFhq2EbRNn7BAoEmFwo_J37qcw5M9w0okYWTfacYewRW0uupzIW6GFh4XuRBCiFAi4nZ8cQ292dsrDKK4s3g1rAo9F2SAOFDb7iJZqDpOrb2_a-Gsq16hEGICT5F_LhoUl/s1600/1f10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14OcvqKOWyvmFhq2EbRNn7BAoEmFwo_J37qcw5M9w0okYWTfacYewRW0uupzIW6GFh4XuRBCiFAi4nZ8cQ292dsrDKK4s3g1rAo9F2SAOFDb7iJZqDpOrb2_a-Gsq16hEGICT5F_LhoUl/s320/1f10.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">You take advantage of the convenience, and they make a killing on the premium prices. Therefore profiting from the sale of gasoline price is not a primary concern for gas stations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">And finally, profits of privately owned business are none of your business unless you are a stake holder! However, if you do have a complaint, you should promptly start your own oil company, embark on exploration expeditions, extract the crude oil from the earth, refine your own gasoline, create your own distribution and retail network, and sell it at cost to expunge your guilt. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">So let me conclude by stating that I be feeling you Jay-Z. The federal gas tax <b>will more than likely be re-authorized and the <u><i>double taxation will continue. </i></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Maybe one day these United States will once again govern themselves as our Founding Fathers outlined in the United States Constitution. As sovereign states governed by the citizens therein and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>not</b> by a centralized authority: As a voluntarily compact that comes together in the narrowest of circumstances and only to protect everyone’s natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Where the property you earn cannot be taken from you unless there is a call to action to provide Peoria, IL with a new bike path that falls under the guidelines of a federal smart-growth urban-renewal grant from the Department of Transportation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Ah America…</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-9009052883993979232011-08-18T23:47:00.001-04:002011-08-19T07:47:23.160-04:00Xconomic-Files. The Great Depression, Our Current Recession, and Space Aliens.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDHc7YY8-Kf2bXoHdTrcHed7Tm5zp1XzPGAB0l0TSXwjnZsbJ8NquhrzOPNFls28DGO4W8F9RJ34wHeFLYRCLyWdXz6EqGWeEiVp26NOkrFlXH_GmPDvwCI_RnkV6zF4-3RIzY8AYuIP_/s1600/DownloadedFile.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDHc7YY8-Kf2bXoHdTrcHed7Tm5zp1XzPGAB0l0TSXwjnZsbJ8NquhrzOPNFls28DGO4W8F9RJ34wHeFLYRCLyWdXz6EqGWeEiVp26NOkrFlXH_GmPDvwCI_RnkV6zF4-3RIzY8AYuIP_/s400/DownloadedFile.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Dave Durand- Contributor</b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I’ve noticed numerous discussions over the past few of years about the Great Depression and the policy prescriptions that pulled America out of the worst economic disasters our world has ever experienced. The parallels to our current predicament are obvious, so looking to the past for solutions to the problems of today is a reasonable approach. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In general, I would say that opinions about what ended the Great Depression are split right down ideological lines; Liberal and Conservative.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The line parroted by good Libs everywhere is that the New Deal pulled us out of the Great Depression. Only by the grace of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the all knowing, all caring, all powerful Federal Government did the economy start humming again. Only after tax increases, countless government work projects, targeted welfare programs and carefully written labor and trade regulation did America finally rise like a phoenix from the ashes to become the economic powerhouse we are today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The line parroted by good Neo-cons everywhere is that World War II pulled us out of the Great Depression. Only by the grace of the Allied Forces and the all knowing, all caring, all powerful Federal Government War Machine did the economy start humming again. Only after war bonds, military campaigns, targeted manufacturing programs and carefully written wage, price, and consumption regulations did America finally rise like a phoenix from the ashes to become the economic powerhouse we are today.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I am not surprised by the Left’s interpretation of the New Deal and how it affected the Great Depression. They favor Keynesian economics, central planning, and government intervention. However, I am supremely confused as to how the Right can look to WWII as the cure for the Great Depression. Just like the Left, they seem to favor Keynesian economics, central planning, and government intervention. I’m lost.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">A perfect example of this disconnect happened this week on the Rush Limbaugh radio show. Rush pointed out the absurdity of Paul Krugman’s assertion on CNN that a national mobilization against an impending alien attack would result in a fiscal stimulus that would be good for the economy (even if the threat turned out to be false). Fox Mulder would be so proud.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/NtdnZnizh6U?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Here are some quotes from Limbaugh’s show that got me thinking. The full transcript can be found <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_081511/content/01125110.guest.html">HERE.</a> </span></b></span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">“A product's a product. A bomb is a product, whether it's a good thing or bad thing. But it is a thing of economic value; and in his endless arrogance that Krugman doesn't seem to realize that we really were the world's arsenal. People bought weapons and tanks from us with real money”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">And…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">“See, this is the hypocrisy with these people. They're all running around saying, "Well, we got all these fake, phony wars. We got a Iraq, we got Afghanistan, the net cost to the economy, we gotta get out of there. Those things are a trillion dollars apiece," and yet if we were attacked by space aliens, that would be legit. Thank you, CNN. “</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">May I suggest we change old “Rush is Right” bumper sticker to “Rush is Right… Sorta”? The thing is that Limbaugh wasn’t arguing against the notion that a military buildup to ward off a fictitious alien invasion will result in an economic boom. He was pointing out that Paul Krugman types tout the New Deal as the be-all-end-all economic stimulus program <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">opposed</i> to military spending as the be-all-end-all economic stimulus program. He was actually agreeing with Krugman in a way that military spending on bombs and tanks results in productive, economic growth. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The problem here El Rushbo is that eventually, the war ends, bombs are no longer purchased, the bubble has burst, and you are in the same dire straits as before. As the old saying goes, “Money for nothing and tanks for free” (a little Mark Knopfler humor there). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I hear people on the right espouse this nonsense all of the time. It drives me nuts because you can’t swear off government intervention when it takes the form of the New Deal and in the same breathe credit government intervention because it takes the form of the military industrial complex. They are the opposite sides of the same big government coin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">It is a classic case of the Broken Window Fallacy (or Theory).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">In short, the Broken Window Theory suggests that a broken window is good for an economy because the act of replacing the window spurs economic growth. The problem with this logic is that the owner of the window cannot use the money spent to replace the window on a suit, a lawnmower, or a nice meal at a restaurant. Plus, a perfectly good window was destroyed in the process. The owner of the window would be better off with an unbroken window AND a suit, lawnmower, or a full belly. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The moral behind the Broken Window Theory is a parallel to vandalism, war, natural disasters, and redistribution of wealth as a form of economic “stimulus”. They do not stimulate anything in the long term.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Think about it. During World War II, would it have been wise to allow for the Axis Powers to level Los Angeles? Think of all the construction jobs that would have been created to rebuild a city of that magnitude. Think of all the new homes, businesses, and skyscrapers that would dot the landscape. Boom Baby!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>47</o:Words> <o:Characters>269</o:Characters> <o:Company>Pure Mix Studios</o:Company> <o:Lines>2</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>330</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>12.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--><span style="line-height: 115%;">Maybe we should have spent millions to construct aircraft carriers, set them off the coast of North Carolina, and sink them with our own submarines. Think of the thousands of jobs created for aircraft component manufacturers that would have benefited from such a ramp up in production. Not to mention, the certain boom for the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">TMAA (Torpedo Makers of America Association).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Maybe we should pray to the Keynesian gods for a Japanese earth quake or a Sumatran tsunami to level the entire east coast of the United States. The trillions lost in the unimaginable destruction will only lead to trillions found in the glorious rebuilding effort. Plus, the untimely deaths of millions will lower the national unemployment rate. I think we have just stumbled across a pretty exciting solution to America’s woes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">The answer to government prolonged recessions (or depressions) is never more government. If you want to credit World War II for ending to Great Depression, you could say that it effectively distracted FDR from his destructive, big government, nanny state policies that only prolonged the misery. You could also credit World War II for the death of millions and the incapacitation of Europe’s manufacturing base. This allowed America to assume the role of world’s supplier of commodities and consumer goods for years to come. That is a hollow victory in my book.</span></div><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-61020143539782717922011-08-16T03:48:00.002-04:002011-08-16T08:43:02.077-04:00You know what's funny?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZCEDRGIHluSAc4noS4HCNCDWYn7dhQordVx-wGdydQVDL3ETOWydiFBc8HeG_4LDskyQUFpJHpds1Ql4JCe6Xvo_QkYoco_N1K3Iox6JkusMmidP2B175C1ybaG1IdeF-_AgUAqnIETLO/s1600/man-with-fingers-in-ears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZCEDRGIHluSAc4noS4HCNCDWYn7dhQordVx-wGdydQVDL3ETOWydiFBc8HeG_4LDskyQUFpJHpds1Ql4JCe6Xvo_QkYoco_N1K3Iox6JkusMmidP2B175C1ybaG1IdeF-_AgUAqnIETLO/s400/man-with-fingers-in-ears.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">That John Stewart is more of a journalist than everyone in the collective government media complex!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Check it-</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="540" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://videos.mediaite.com/embed/player/?layout=&playlist_cid=&media_type=video&content=7XR3WG1B6WZ67PTZ&read_more=1&widget_type_cid=svp" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-30918170366350505542011-08-14T23:53:00.002-04:002011-08-15T00:01:25.113-04:00The Department of Homeland Tyranny<table border="0" cellpadding="14" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZOmSggLPEdqArqBqMdkR_QzSSRmf-ZBbb19-tkoX9J-GEXLxYNlwaA8PYOLz9IQoEi03r6NFQgKgQjtxz6mDCpLqb3LP98AlpyWdMB57KtOcLie7eWKvOSywhD89KfUAAMx2iv_eEl8d/s1600/change4th_dees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZOmSggLPEdqArqBqMdkR_QzSSRmf-ZBbb19-tkoX9J-GEXLxYNlwaA8PYOLz9IQoEi03r6NFQgKgQjtxz6mDCpLqb3LP98AlpyWdMB57KtOcLie7eWKvOSywhD89KfUAAMx2iv_eEl8d/s400/change4th_dees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Fellow Patriots, we live in a country reserved for prisoners of war. The last thing your stolen government wants you to be concerned about is the TSA (the boots on the ground army of the Dept. of Homland Security). Below are some of the safeguards set up in our Constitution, put in place by men well acquainted with the tyranny that we once again find ourselves living under. These men left their native land, sacrificed land and fortune and life to give us more than what we now have in America. This land is not their America: it is, without one doubt, a country that they themselves would not live in or abide by. There is piracy and contempt for the law in the uppermost parts of political power in America, and we the people must see it and know it. Only in knowledge of tyranny is liberty brought to life again. How well are you acquainted with that great gift of George W. Bush called the Patriot Act? To what degree are you acquainted with your slavemasters? How passionate are you about repealing it? Hopefully this will stoke some fires. Below are a short list of violations from the Patriot Act to the Constitution.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. <b>Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. <u>May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.</u>"</b></span><b><br />
</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>- Samuel Adams</b></span></span><br />
<u style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
Constitutional Amendments</u><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>Amendment IV:</i> </b>The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.</span></td><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Violations from the Patriot Act:</span></u></b><br />
<br />
<b>Freedom from <br />
unreasonable searches:</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>The government may search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror investigation.<br />
</b></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><em><b>Amendment VI:</b></em> In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.</span></td><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Right to a speedy and public trial: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>The government may jail Americans indefinitely without a trial.</b></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><em>Amendment I:</em> </b>Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.</span></td><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Freedom of association: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>To assist terror investigation, the government may monitor religious and political institutions without suspecting criminal activity.</b></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><em><b>Amendment VI:</b></em> ... to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.</span></td><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>Right to legal representation:</b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>The government may monitor conversations between attorneys and clients in federal prisons and deny lawyers to Americans accused of crimes.</b></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><em><b>Amendment I:</b></em> Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech ...</span></td><td valign="top"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Freedom of speech: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">The government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone the government subpoenaed information related to a terror investigation.</span></span></b></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><em><b>Amendment VI:</b></em> ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him ...</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><a href="http://kzoo.co/VaSuoo"></a></span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://kzoo.co/VaSuoo">Pu</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://kzoo.co/VaSuoo">blic opinion about the</a> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://kzoo.co/VaSuoo">TSA HERE</a></b></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Klqv9t1zVww?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span></td><td valign="top"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Right to liberty: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Americans may be jailed without being charged or being able to confront witnesses against them. US citizens (labeled "unlawful combatants") have been held incommunicado and refused attorneys.</span></span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="commentFont" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: italic;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-41175868706513419612011-08-10T00:08:00.001-04:002011-08-10T09:05:42.234-04:00It Might Happen- Strolling down the primrose path to “Deficit Reduction”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Dave Durand - Wednesday Contributor</span></span></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSDb7cem50ZMq83S2dl4RGgetJ0LI2BKJtbBS8iKrl0K7aCLDhDaYGQhyphenhyphenka-qu5-oIH7_o_c5fjOJJ0md-XXBzWGFGAUmulaJCGTi0IjOzketuBFwc2sfvxek6PpjxVepG6IMTlYfs4Wm/s1600/2011-08-09-humor-toon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSDb7cem50ZMq83S2dl4RGgetJ0LI2BKJtbBS8iKrl0K7aCLDhDaYGQhyphenhyphenka-qu5-oIH7_o_c5fjOJJ0md-XXBzWGFGAUmulaJCGTi0IjOzketuBFwc2sfvxek6PpjxVepG6IMTlYfs4Wm/s400/2011-08-09-humor-toon1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We did it America! After all the partisan bickering and despite all the infighting between the establishment and freshmen congressmen, a deal was finally reached to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. We can confidently proclaim that the threat of default has been forever vanquished. The markets have been pulled back from a great precipice overlooking the abyss known as the double dip recession. America’s AAA rating will remain secure establishing our economy as the standard bearer for the civilized world. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Wait a minute. What’s that you say? The exact opposite has occurred? Get right out of town!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You mean there was never the great threat of default and a compromise to raise the debt limit was completely unnecessary? Are you actually telling me that the market plunged and erased all the gains made this year? I refuse to believe that you are sitting at home, staring at your computer, and screaming at top of your lungs that S&P has downgraded the American Debt after all this rigmarole. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I guess there is a first time for everything.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Despite the reality slap upside our collective heads, we can at least take solace in President Obama's words last week on the debt ceiling compromise. In his most promising and re-assuring tone, the president stated that the deal “will begin to lift the cloud of debt and the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over our economy”. He also went on to add that “It will allow us to start reducing our deficit in a responsible way”.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But is President Obama right to be so optimistic? Are we on the path to reducing the daunting annual deficits we face? Will we finally tighten our belts as a people and make the hard choice to live within our means?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Well, in the immortal words of Wayne Campbell…</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/mOHosIwQEnY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And why don’t I expect to see airborne monkeys anytime soon? Because there has never been a credible plan presented that will intentionally balance the US budget, thereby reducing the deficit allowing us to pay down the National Debt. Oh in case you missed it, out National Debt is now 100% of GDP. That’s European levels of debt. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3u3aWIVzuXIuMKlBlW_6tcDacs3sh3tVn5DVtztIUyMfJPIFtxgL8aOr_Xmw96pSQZG3YGodQJX2KdAjUaj5mtg70bz2e4rRkoBLD0Bwls4ExMYVmp4pvidjEaC_rAXihDIRnZkUZ1HHa/s1600/obama3b1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3u3aWIVzuXIuMKlBlW_6tcDacs3sh3tVn5DVtztIUyMfJPIFtxgL8aOr_Xmw96pSQZG3YGodQJX2KdAjUaj5mtg70bz2e4rRkoBLD0Bwls4ExMYVmp4pvidjEaC_rAXihDIRnZkUZ1HHa/s200/obama3b1.png" width="191" /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sac</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">ré</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">B</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">l</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">eu!</span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p>I argue that we will never balance the federal budget with the current leadership in Washington DC. The Democrats along with President Obama insist on spending and taxing our way to prosperity. The Republicans insist on zero tax increases (I agree!) and spending our way, albeit at a slower pace, to prosperity. Both parties only flirt with the idea of even marginally reforming entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. And if you add the impending deluge of retiring baby boomers and burdensome Obamacare legislation into the calculation, by 2050, the budget for entitlements will have more than doubled from 2005. These costs will literally equal the amount of “revenue” the federal government has historically taken in on average each year!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9vYIgVDtZNKeCXGyk22PP629wka8gJHc3YnTNXj_3p3dKIZ4HugiWC9KQ0u4FLvv59xeTHGyrrqpVgr1gTHklgegDeYuAQKwPzJOdiy13EPVg8wgOKdWVZ5SEyZPVJ7oujFMUwDhZbzh/s1600/entitlement-spending-double-600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9vYIgVDtZNKeCXGyk22PP629wka8gJHc3YnTNXj_3p3dKIZ4HugiWC9KQ0u4FLvv59xeTHGyrrqpVgr1gTHklgegDeYuAQKwPzJOdiy13EPVg8wgOKdWVZ5SEyZPVJ7oujFMUwDhZbzh/s1600/entitlement-spending-double-600.jpg" /></span></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How can we afford this? Does anyone have a reasonable plan to set right our ship of state? Democrats? Republicans? Liberals? Conservatives? Tea Party Caucus? </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEBGXNilWlFS6oMwaJWq9sZ_aXUipBwLOkwLBhXe7U7zxEU6hPjfgHu9Ak8ggYJEfvIuvC5xW8aZnhAeQEHsU0CmZY1lZaGITWtQCut01ojbxm06rX_xPbySCtJEwF3EMMtlqJVIwabxz/s1600/bueller-bueller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEBGXNilWlFS6oMwaJWq9sZ_aXUipBwLOkwLBhXe7U7zxEU6hPjfgHu9Ak8ggYJEfvIuvC5xW8aZnhAeQEHsU0CmZY1lZaGITWtQCut01ojbxm06rX_xPbySCtJEwF3EMMtlqJVIwabxz/s320/bueller-bueller.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Bueller… Bueller… Bueller…?</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How about the Tea Party favorite and budget hawk from Florida, Representative Connie Mack? His plan (H.R. 1848) is known as the "One Percent Spending Reduction Act of 2011". The bill mandates cuts in federal spending (in real dollars) by 1% for every year until 2019 when the federal budget would then be balanced.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Wow. Sounds good right? Well consider this. By 2019 this plan reduces the federal budget to $3.184 Trillion. We were spending this amount 2 years ago!</span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCc3Hd_cEVJCrK-zStvD0xzLS-7CTnFEcytj4Z-r16oLHbqRrhqXjCOTFdLmUnPs_ajw171bb1fheG-yiG2dYdAJX2YKw9m0BQmRiHyQ3SPxJXjWBtRysX2_WUksnf7hWrBl6FzHtuuKzI/s1600/sr78_chart1.ashx.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCc3Hd_cEVJCrK-zStvD0xzLS-7CTnFEcytj4Z-r16oLHbqRrhqXjCOTFdLmUnPs_ajw171bb1fheG-yiG2dYdAJX2YKw9m0BQmRiHyQ3SPxJXjWBtRysX2_WUksnf7hWrBl6FzHtuuKzI/s1600/sr78_chart1.ashx.gif" /></span></span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So this plan, which is criticized by opponents as draconian and disregarded as “extreme”, takes 7 years to roll back the spending we have incurred since 2009. All the while, we will go deeper and deeper into debt as the budget slowly balances. I applaud the effort, but this discussion is getting us nowhere fast.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So what can be done? Well may I humbly suggest fidelity to the Constitution? If the federal government <b>only</b> performed <b><i><u>the 18 tasks outlined in Article 1, Section 8,</u></i></b> then we would not be in the mess we are in. Our monstrous tax code would not exist. Hundreds of federal departments, agencies, bureaus, or commissions would not exist. Social Security, Medicare, and Obamacare would not exist. Millions of regulations that only suffocate private enterprise would not exist. Hundreds of military bases across the world would not exist, and we would not waste blood and treasure on unnecessary wars that do not safeguard our liberties.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If government would only get out of the way, then of the US economy would again be the envy of the world. Prosperity and opportunity would abound. Individuals would be free to pursue life, liberty, and property. Free markets and free minds would flourish, and the result would be the greatest living standard for the greatest number of Americans far surpassing our wildest hopes and dreams.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Just a thought.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9141220348331252097.post-38292921301704365532011-08-08T08:06:00.000-04:002011-08-08T08:06:41.846-04:00Dumb and Dumber<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKylZ1gHEFxnj7VbkdLS9IgVKELXLlmsJghyZp1yd2o_99k6sps0xSZ6wcxdqzDfEXMaurWFZHjFLUE1DMjZ3EJl7fExjm65MidkOGM4iy0-WMxr71_vk-JNXjLzhrS691Nr1wDctt_fOf/s1600/ObamaChinaMoney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKylZ1gHEFxnj7VbkdLS9IgVKELXLlmsJghyZp1yd2o_99k6sps0xSZ6wcxdqzDfEXMaurWFZHjFLUE1DMjZ3EJl7fExjm65MidkOGM4iy0-WMxr71_vk-JNXjLzhrS691Nr1wDctt_fOf/s400/ObamaChinaMoney.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. <b>Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. <u>May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.</u>"</b></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">- Samuel Adams</span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">- Thomas Jefferson</span></span></b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. <b>It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.</b>" </span></span></span></span></b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">- Benjamin Franklin</span></span></b></span></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </span></b></span></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></b></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;"><div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"S&P has shown really terrible judgment and they've handled themselves very poorly," he said in an exclusive interview with CNBC. "And they've shown a stunning lack of knowledge about basic U.S. fiscal budget math. And I think they drew exactly the wrong conclusion from this budget agreement." </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; display: inline !important; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As he spoke, US stock futures indicated a sharply lower open for Wall Street as investors reacted to the move by S&P to strip the US of its coveted AAA credit rating. </span></span></div></b></span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></span></b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></b></span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;"><div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; display: inline !important; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"The judgment by S&P changed nothing. <i><b>It added nothing to what people know about this country,"</b></i> Geithner said. "Again, there's no risk the U.S. would never meet its obligations. We've got some challenges ahead of us, but we'll be able to work with those challenges. We'll get through this."</span></span></div></span></b></span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">-CNBC Interview with Timothy Geithner</span> <div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></b></span></span></b></span></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; display: inline !important; line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> </span></div></b></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span> <div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; display: inline !important; line-height: 22px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Who is this Timothy Geithner? Does he honestly believe an informed public will buy into the latest 2nd grade "he said, she said" charade? Ah, but he's not concerned with an informed public. He has no use for an informed public. Men like Geithner and Bernanke and Barney Frank and Barack Obama might as well be singing this song:</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/o7kzsZreG0o?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You see, no matter what Geithner and CNBC "reports" (if you can with a good conscience call what CNBC does "reporting") the facts remain. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We weren't downgraded because we took so long in raising the debt ceiling. We were downgraded because there are a bunch of fools running the country whose plan to devalue the dollar is just </span><u><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">one more step</span></i></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> toward the endgame of a total power grab. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We have a president (correction: </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">you all</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> have a president) who believes that extending unemployment equates to creating jobs. We have members in congress (Frank) who have boyfriends at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who get a new date to Ruth's Chris Steak House every time the housing market hiccups. We have someone running the FED (an illegal organization) who throws around money like Nicholson's Joker.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiER3abNcuGQkrCB3HmIYAYBx-2-edhPhTkb-6z2-bK85aaUOmYQBqgCTQur3tbsn_Cg0CrdPPe4sBQMmKwCoWSUT-Rkor4ZbvGxkkT6L7Y0MKBLnDOAZmB8i6VdFPVcr7qTIYI0Jv0OaGH/s1600/bernanke+helicopter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiER3abNcuGQkrCB3HmIYAYBx-2-edhPhTkb-6z2-bK85aaUOmYQBqgCTQur3tbsn_Cg0CrdPPe4sBQMmKwCoWSUT-Rkor4ZbvGxkkT6L7Y0MKBLnDOAZmB8i6VdFPVcr7qTIYI0Jv0OaGH/s1600/bernanke+helicopter.jpg" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This person also doesn't believe that gold is money. At least not in public...</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">And, at last, we have Timothy Geithner: a serial tax cheat running the treasury. Someone who, in every sense of the word, is a thief. He always asks forgiveness instead of permission. Do your homework on him. Find out for yourself how evil this man is. He is no less a tyrant than the other three men mentioned before him. Supported by his slaves in the government media complex, every one of his moves thus far has slipped under the people's radar. This man isn't even interested in a balanced budget.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/bBsOYQyUZII?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zOZTXqtph3E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b></b></span></b></b></span></b></span></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b><div class="textBodyBlack" style="color: black; display: inline !important; line-height: 22px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline !important; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">Add to that a recent article by CNBC recently stating that the dollar will be discarded by China: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><b><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/44050325">READ THE JOKE HERE!</a></b></span></span></span></div></div></b></span></b></b></span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">I, for one, think it's hysterical that the country that bases the value of it's currency on our currency is now throwing the tomatoes. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXht__ighjgIaedCXgBe_FA9SdYpVIGFycKjf4qKCTQiViFM_CWizZpJfu2NAPWhx0I5xlg8vDMEbMfdUGhSWSTXd3rfe9ZjQ5gxZhd0mkL86Xy5u6hFbyVe2-iKeYjRra6mhzfmTwSL-x/s1600/china-lends-america-spends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXht__ighjgIaedCXgBe_FA9SdYpVIGFycKjf4qKCTQiViFM_CWizZpJfu2NAPWhx0I5xlg8vDMEbMfdUGhSWSTXd3rfe9ZjQ5gxZhd0mkL86Xy5u6hFbyVe2-iKeYjRra6mhzfmTwSL-x/s320/china-lends-america-spends.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">However, we are faced with one serious problem: the leaders of our country, Republicrat and Dempublican (because other than social issues, there </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>is no difference</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> between the two) have sold our sovereignty to the highest bidder, so that now our dollar is beginning to look more like this than ever-</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUM73hRwttdiWqFfCPah8NWQ50OuzpEr4PKe6iM8z4cAiJhFTXHmAxoe647wPVrVCN5ZUyGfjTeWPoQbKvlX8UVvA1mk_AFzHfaWRU5N0z0ry2ei69vUtjcOXpL_Ru8FvXErf0jRNhPoJ/s1600/Chinese-US-Dollar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUM73hRwttdiWqFfCPah8NWQ50OuzpEr4PKe6iM8z4cAiJhFTXHmAxoe647wPVrVCN5ZUyGfjTeWPoQbKvlX8UVvA1mk_AFzHfaWRU5N0z0ry2ei69vUtjcOXpL_Ru8FvXErf0jRNhPoJ/s320/Chinese-US-Dollar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">I, for one, want to take radical steps to remove the U.S. from the "global economy". I don't believe in a "global economy". It is only slavery. America needs to end the FED, remove and dismantle the U.N., enact the fair tax, unshackle ourselves from Middle Eastern oil, and give a big middle finger to China concerning our debt to them.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The question is, "Who's really dumb, and who's really dumber?" We are dumb for getting in debt to China, but they're dumber for actually taking that debt, knowing the unsustainable track we were on.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">All the men and women who have sold this country down the river may believe they have gotten away with whoring America out for their personal gain, but the fact remains that there will be a Last Day. And on that day every man and woman will give an account to the Judge of all the earth. I tremble for them. I truly do.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">This is our finest hour.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span></span></div></div></b></span></b></b></span></b></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0