by Vin Suprynowicz
For decades, according to deathbed testimony, the IRS made engineer Andrew Stack’s life a living hell, repeatedly seizing so much of his accrued assets as to leave him with virtually nothing for his retirement.
On Feb. 18, Stack, 53, set fire to his own house and then flew his single-engine plane into an office building that houses Internal Revenue Service offices in Austin, Texas.
Stack, who died, left behind a message posted on his Web site, detailing the tax collectors’ actions, with particular attention to “Section 1706: Treatment of Certain Technical Personnel.”
The FBI ordered the page taken down shortly thereafter. So much for the sanctity of deathbed testimony, when it conflicts with the desire of our internal army to protect their fellow worker drones.
(They failed. “I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different,” Andrew Stack wrote. “I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.”)
It appears that Stack managed to kill only one IRS worker, Vernon Hunter, 68. Two others were reportedly injured in the fire.
Less than a week later, agent Hunter’s widow, Valerie, filed a lawsuit against Stack’s widow, saying Mrs. Stack should have warned others about her husband.
Oh. Like the IRS wasn’t aware of what they’d done to Andrew Stack? Of how many people have committed suicide — sometimes double suicides — after having their lives and savings gutted by the “service”?
Read the rest here.
Thursday
Symbols mean things ya know!
Here's the new logo for the Missile Defense Agency, a department within the US Department of Defense:
Look vaguely familar? Hmmmm... look again:
Looks just a little too similar to a couple of other symbols I detest!
Read more about at FOX: Missile Defense Agency, Obama Campaign Logos Cause Internet Stir
Look vaguely familar? Hmmmm... look again:
Looks just a little too similar to a couple of other symbols I detest!
Read more about at FOX: Missile Defense Agency, Obama Campaign Logos Cause Internet Stir
Wednesday
When in doubt Uncle Sam? Spend!
US diplomats add a moat to their expenses at $1bn London embassy
The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built.
That's a BILLION! Nothing but the best, spare no expense, pickin' in high cotton! Hmmmph
A moat 30 metres (100ft) wide and rolling parkland will separate the building from the main road, protecting it from would-be bombers and removing the need for the blast barriers that so dismayed the people of Mayfair.
Gee, why not a roller coaster, or water slide?
These thieves are fleecing the American middle-class as surely as if they physically stuck a gun in our face and lifted our watch and wallet!
The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built.
That's a BILLION! Nothing but the best, spare no expense, pickin' in high cotton! Hmmmph
A moat 30 metres (100ft) wide and rolling parkland will separate the building from the main road, protecting it from would-be bombers and removing the need for the blast barriers that so dismayed the people of Mayfair.
Gee, why not a roller coaster, or water slide?
These thieves are fleecing the American middle-class as surely as if they physically stuck a gun in our face and lifted our watch and wallet!
Four easy steps to a government takeover of healthcare
Hat tip to Old Jarhead for this excellent, easy-to-understand summary.
1. Pass a law to require insurance companies to accept everyone, regardless of ‘pre-existing” medical conditions. This will be very popular with the public, especially those of us like my wife and I with chronic diseases.
2. Pass a law allowing the government to control insurance rate increases, then grant very few increases. This will be popular with everyone—who wants to pay more for health insurance? Except, of course, the insurance industry, already operating at a profit margin of only 2%, according to an AP report.
3. The insurance companies, faced with vastly increased expenditures, and little increased revenue, go bankrupt.
4. The public, faced with a loss of insurance coverage, demands the government take over the insurance industry to provide coverage. Health insurance is declared “too big too fail.”
The government now controls health care, one-sixth of our economy, along with a lot of banks and car companies. It can pass laws to protect it’s investment and the legions of new unionized government workers, who contribute and vote for the party that guarantees their incomes.
And there we have it — Socialism in our time.
1. Pass a law to require insurance companies to accept everyone, regardless of ‘pre-existing” medical conditions. This will be very popular with the public, especially those of us like my wife and I with chronic diseases.
2. Pass a law allowing the government to control insurance rate increases, then grant very few increases. This will be popular with everyone—who wants to pay more for health insurance? Except, of course, the insurance industry, already operating at a profit margin of only 2%, according to an AP report.
3. The insurance companies, faced with vastly increased expenditures, and little increased revenue, go bankrupt.
4. The public, faced with a loss of insurance coverage, demands the government take over the insurance industry to provide coverage. Health insurance is declared “too big too fail.”
The government now controls health care, one-sixth of our economy, along with a lot of banks and car companies. It can pass laws to protect it’s investment and the legions of new unionized government workers, who contribute and vote for the party that guarantees their incomes.
And there we have it — Socialism in our time.
Tuesday
This date in history
On February 23, 1945 Joe Rosenthal snapped what is arguably the most famous photograph in history: The Marines raising the US flag over Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
Contrary to popular belief, the flag rasing did NOT signify the end of the battle. Bloodly fighting raged on for another four weeks after that point. For many years the Marine's KIAs were misrepresented as 4,500. The actual number of Marine dead was closer to 8,000. The Japanese garrison of approximately 23,000 was almost entirely destroyed.
Today, the island has been returned to the Japanese government. Far from the beaten path it only hosts a Japanese naval detachment and a weather station. Japanese visitors make constant trips to the island collecting and burning the remains of their dead. Iwo has many monuments constructed by both Japan and the US, but only the Japanese monuments are maintained. The American monuments on Iwo are just like so many other WWII American monuments across the Pacific; they've been forgotten and allowed to fall into disrepair. Americans for the most part neither know or care what happened here some 65 years ago.
I have a friend who served in the Navy a few years ago, and he told of visiting Iwo Jima once. He and some friends made the climb up to the top of Suribachi to see the statue of the Marines raising the flag. According to his report: the spot reeks of urine.
Although it's not "historical", it certains means something to ME: My father died this morning in 1988. He was a US Navy CB who served on Saipan and Okinawa during WWII. Gone... but never ever forgotten.
Contrary to popular belief, the flag rasing did NOT signify the end of the battle. Bloodly fighting raged on for another four weeks after that point. For many years the Marine's KIAs were misrepresented as 4,500. The actual number of Marine dead was closer to 8,000. The Japanese garrison of approximately 23,000 was almost entirely destroyed.
Today, the island has been returned to the Japanese government. Far from the beaten path it only hosts a Japanese naval detachment and a weather station. Japanese visitors make constant trips to the island collecting and burning the remains of their dead. Iwo has many monuments constructed by both Japan and the US, but only the Japanese monuments are maintained. The American monuments on Iwo are just like so many other WWII American monuments across the Pacific; they've been forgotten and allowed to fall into disrepair. Americans for the most part neither know or care what happened here some 65 years ago.
I have a friend who served in the Navy a few years ago, and he told of visiting Iwo Jima once. He and some friends made the climb up to the top of Suribachi to see the statue of the Marines raising the flag. According to his report: the spot reeks of urine.
Although it's not "historical", it certains means something to ME: My father died this morning in 1988. He was a US Navy CB who served on Saipan and Okinawa during WWII. Gone... but never ever forgotten.
Monday
Quote of the Day
So if you mention the word "socialism," you're a right-wing extremist; but if you try to impose it, you're a moderate centrist.
Radegunda
Radegunda
Friday
The Worldview of the Liberty Minded Man
Recently I was asked by a good friend for the most concise and cogent summation of “what we believe” that he could in turn share with someone that he cares deeply about.
The more I thought about it, the more I was intrigued at the prospect of finding or authoring such a summation. Eschewing all one-size-fits-all labels like conservative, libertarian, Republican, etc., maybe it’s best to label this worldview as The Liberty Minded Man.
I posed the question to a handful of people that I respect and whose views are well within the sphere of what I had in mind when I coined the phrase The Liberty Minded Man. One of those people is libertarian journalist Vin Suprynowicz who mildly challenged me on the need to avoid the label of libertarian. My answer is that far too many people think they know what a specific label means, when in fact they do not. And if the basic premise is to define a worldview, then jettisoning preconceptions that are likely erroneous anyway seems to be the best way to start.
The Liberty Minded Man (let’s call him LM2 in the interest of saving keystrokes) is an avowed individualist who despises being controlled by others. He’s not averse to working with others in pursuit of his goals, but he generally chaffs at arbitrary control; particularly of the sort exercised by government bureaucrats of every stripe! A trip to the Driver’s License agency is a pretty painful experience for the average LM2. On the subject of government, the LM2 firmly believes the old truism that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Can anyone deny that government’s main purpose (in actuality, NOT theory) is to grow more government? The LM2 looks to the Founders and Signers and generally agrees with their view that government should serve the people, and not the reverse.
Today the US government purports to serve the people, but that is nothing more than a thinly veiled illusion that is easily digested by the legions of benefactors of wealth redistribution. Doubt that? Then the next time you find yourself in front of one of the tax feeders that exercises some bit of authority over your life, try voicing the view that they work for you. Watch the reaction you get. I promise you it won’t result in a positive outcome. If you honestly and sincerely want to discover the degree to which you have become enslaved to the growing government colossus, then read a book by James Bovard entitled Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty. You can NOT come away from reading that book without a sharply defined sense of being robbed of your liberties!
So the first defining characteristic of the LM2 is a mistrust and generally dim view of government – ALL government.
On the issue of rights, let me first offer a definition for rights that I hope will set the stage for me expound on the many issues that stem from a proper understanding of same.
It should first be clearly understood that anything called a “right” cannot cost someone else anything – and most especially their rights! For this reason, healthcare or employment are not seen by the LM2 as “rights”. And if something is indeed a right, then it cannot be treated by government as a privilege. If you must ask permission to exercise it, then it’s not a right – or it’s a right that the government doesn’t recognize as such.
John Locke put some ideas into the heads of men like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson; ideas that were written down in the Declaration of Independence. Ideas that in and of themselves, even without being included in one of the greatest political documents in the history of man, had sufficient veracity to stand alone. That is to say these ideas are “unalienable”: a man has a right to life, and to defend that life, no matter what some government bureaucrat might say about it. Get on the internet, (and using a search engine that doesn’t keep a permanent record of everything you’ve ever done) research the subject of Natural Rights.
So now we’ve firmly established that the LM2 sees real rights as Natural Rights; not being government grants, but as superseding all government authority.
Which brings us to the issue of guns!
Since the LM2 is an individualist with a self-reliant bent, and because he usually doesn’t trust government, it stands to reason that on something as important as the defense of himself and his loved ones he’s going to take the view that it is his responsibility alone, and not something to be delegated to others – and most particularly not to strangers wearing government costumes. Just in case you harbor any illusions dear reader, know this: It has been repeatedly ruled in a variety of courts (and upheld on appeal) that the police do NOT have a duty to protect anyone! They are strictly there to come in and clean up the mess after the fact.
LM2s are often labeled as “gun nuts” by those with Statist/Collectivist worldviews, and that’s not really an accurate label. It would probably be more accurate to say we are “liberty nuts”. The LM2 tends to view his gun rights as the proverbial canary in the coal mine. The Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights made it pretty clear that the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed”. Yet our lovely government has trampled all over the plain English meaning of that phrase and literally infringed the crap out it. Here’s where the “canary” argument comes in: If the government can ignore the plain-spoken and utterly clear admonition of “shall not be infringed”, then what else can and will that government ignore in its never-ending quest to grow its own power?
I and most Liberty Minded Men out there tend to look on guns as the barometer for all other rights that are supposedly protected by the Constitution; and most especially because that particular right was offered as the protector and guarantor of all the others. If the 2A can be so easily and completely ignored, then no other right is truly guaranteed. I can envision a nation wherein its people are completely disarmed by layer upon layer of laws and regulation, and yet at the same time those citizens are told “Look, we just want reasonable restrictions… you still have the 2A!” Sound familiar? It should, because that’s essentially where America is heading.
How did we get to the point where in-your-face, plainly stated provisions of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are so blatantly ignored? There’re many contributing factors to be sure, but the vehicle that has been used to convey us to this point is, in the opinion of the typical LM2, the educational system.
Like government in general, the public educational system is rotten and serves a completely political agenda, rather than its stated goal of educating our most precious citizens. It is more a system of indoctrination rather than of education. Certainly there are exceptions to the rule, but generally public schools are of poor quality despite the incredible amounts of money that has been poured into them over the years.
Is this degree of systemic degradation merely the result of cumulative years of incompetence? I don’t believe so. I rather believe, from all that I’ve read, that the system was designed to produce little worker drones, little order-following, malleable subjects, willing to spend the rest of their lives taking direction and guidance from “those who know better”. And similar to government at large, school systems are microcosms of the larger bureaucracy in that they tend to do all in their power to “grow themselves”.
Know that liberty and government are seen by the Liberty Minded Man as mutually exclusive. You cannot expand the one, without infringing on the other. There are no exceptions to this rule. None. History has demonstrated this fact again and again.
This could go on and on, and I don’t wish for this essay to be dismissed as merely a rant. So let me close out by making it clear that the Liberty Minded Man (as I have) takes the view that we’ve been pushed far enough. There will be no more “Free Wacos” or “Free Ruby Ridges” out there. My friend Mike Vanderbough over at Sipsey Street can explain that so much more cogently than I can. Suffice it to say that the backing up is done. Liberty Minded Americans have finally reached their limit, of that I am convinced. There is no place to run. America represents the last bastion of potential freedom in the world today, and it’s rapidly flickering out. So don’t think that going out of the country is going to fix the problem. It’s like this everywhere in the world today. Boston T. Party has aptly described America as the healthiest patient in the cancer ward. The solution is here my friends. Fix America, or face tyranny for your children and grandchildren. There is no other alternative. George Orwell was once asked to describe the future. His response was “Picture a boot, stamping on a human face… forever.”
If you’ve read this far, then you must be interested in why we LM2’s feel this way. Let me invite (or challenge) you to take it to the next level. I have listed here a series of links that lead to a mix of essays, books and videos that collectively describe the views of The Liberty Mined Man so much better than I ever could. Follow these links, and in so doing you will be stepping outside of the “matrix”. All that remains for you is to answer the question: Do I take the Red Pill or the Blue Pill? Awaken to the reality facing our Republic and what the future holds for your children, or remain blissfully ignorant snoozing your way into the darkness of tyranny.
It’s your choice.
Guns
Why the gun is civilization
The Doctrine of the Three Percent
The Justification for Guns in Modern America
Boston's Gun Bible - by Boston T. Party
Rights
What are rights?
Why I am moving to Wyoming - Boston T. Party
The ideas and continuing influence of John Locke
Government
The Declaration of Independence
Lost Rights - by James Bovard
An excellent primer on government
My view of the police
Quotes of the Founding Fathers
Hologram of Liberty - by Boston T. Party
The Night-Watchman State defined
Political Correctness
Fodder for the Gulag - by Will Grigg
Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg (one of the best books I've ever read)
Political Correctness: The Scourge of Our Times
Economics
The coming of Caesar
The Austrian School
The Creature from Jekyll Island
The Crash Course
Education
Against School - by John Gatto
The Underground History of American Education (a MUST read)
America's proud heritage: 'uneducated, illiterate, barefooted, guntoting hay-seeds'?
National security / US Sovereignty
Obama poised to cede US sovereignty
US Sovereignty threatened by Law of The Sea Act
Overviews
A Nation of Cowards - by Jeffrey Snyder
Read anything ever written by James Bovard
Neal's Favorite Quotes
Eject Eject Eject
The Pussification of the American Male - by Kim du Toit
I Believe - by Old Jarhead
The more I thought about it, the more I was intrigued at the prospect of finding or authoring such a summation. Eschewing all one-size-fits-all labels like conservative, libertarian, Republican, etc., maybe it’s best to label this worldview as The Liberty Minded Man.
I posed the question to a handful of people that I respect and whose views are well within the sphere of what I had in mind when I coined the phrase The Liberty Minded Man. One of those people is libertarian journalist Vin Suprynowicz who mildly challenged me on the need to avoid the label of libertarian. My answer is that far too many people think they know what a specific label means, when in fact they do not. And if the basic premise is to define a worldview, then jettisoning preconceptions that are likely erroneous anyway seems to be the best way to start.
The Liberty Minded Man (let’s call him LM2 in the interest of saving keystrokes) is an avowed individualist who despises being controlled by others. He’s not averse to working with others in pursuit of his goals, but he generally chaffs at arbitrary control; particularly of the sort exercised by government bureaucrats of every stripe! A trip to the Driver’s License agency is a pretty painful experience for the average LM2. On the subject of government, the LM2 firmly believes the old truism that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Can anyone deny that government’s main purpose (in actuality, NOT theory) is to grow more government? The LM2 looks to the Founders and Signers and generally agrees with their view that government should serve the people, and not the reverse.
Today the US government purports to serve the people, but that is nothing more than a thinly veiled illusion that is easily digested by the legions of benefactors of wealth redistribution. Doubt that? Then the next time you find yourself in front of one of the tax feeders that exercises some bit of authority over your life, try voicing the view that they work for you. Watch the reaction you get. I promise you it won’t result in a positive outcome. If you honestly and sincerely want to discover the degree to which you have become enslaved to the growing government colossus, then read a book by James Bovard entitled Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty. You can NOT come away from reading that book without a sharply defined sense of being robbed of your liberties!
So the first defining characteristic of the LM2 is a mistrust and generally dim view of government – ALL government.
On the issue of rights, let me first offer a definition for rights that I hope will set the stage for me expound on the many issues that stem from a proper understanding of same.
It should first be clearly understood that anything called a “right” cannot cost someone else anything – and most especially their rights! For this reason, healthcare or employment are not seen by the LM2 as “rights”. And if something is indeed a right, then it cannot be treated by government as a privilege. If you must ask permission to exercise it, then it’s not a right – or it’s a right that the government doesn’t recognize as such.
John Locke put some ideas into the heads of men like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson; ideas that were written down in the Declaration of Independence. Ideas that in and of themselves, even without being included in one of the greatest political documents in the history of man, had sufficient veracity to stand alone. That is to say these ideas are “unalienable”: a man has a right to life, and to defend that life, no matter what some government bureaucrat might say about it. Get on the internet, (and using a search engine that doesn’t keep a permanent record of everything you’ve ever done) research the subject of Natural Rights.
So now we’ve firmly established that the LM2 sees real rights as Natural Rights; not being government grants, but as superseding all government authority.
Which brings us to the issue of guns!
Since the LM2 is an individualist with a self-reliant bent, and because he usually doesn’t trust government, it stands to reason that on something as important as the defense of himself and his loved ones he’s going to take the view that it is his responsibility alone, and not something to be delegated to others – and most particularly not to strangers wearing government costumes. Just in case you harbor any illusions dear reader, know this: It has been repeatedly ruled in a variety of courts (and upheld on appeal) that the police do NOT have a duty to protect anyone! They are strictly there to come in and clean up the mess after the fact.
LM2s are often labeled as “gun nuts” by those with Statist/Collectivist worldviews, and that’s not really an accurate label. It would probably be more accurate to say we are “liberty nuts”. The LM2 tends to view his gun rights as the proverbial canary in the coal mine. The Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights made it pretty clear that the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed”. Yet our lovely government has trampled all over the plain English meaning of that phrase and literally infringed the crap out it. Here’s where the “canary” argument comes in: If the government can ignore the plain-spoken and utterly clear admonition of “shall not be infringed”, then what else can and will that government ignore in its never-ending quest to grow its own power?
I and most Liberty Minded Men out there tend to look on guns as the barometer for all other rights that are supposedly protected by the Constitution; and most especially because that particular right was offered as the protector and guarantor of all the others. If the 2A can be so easily and completely ignored, then no other right is truly guaranteed. I can envision a nation wherein its people are completely disarmed by layer upon layer of laws and regulation, and yet at the same time those citizens are told “Look, we just want reasonable restrictions… you still have the 2A!” Sound familiar? It should, because that’s essentially where America is heading.
How did we get to the point where in-your-face, plainly stated provisions of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are so blatantly ignored? There’re many contributing factors to be sure, but the vehicle that has been used to convey us to this point is, in the opinion of the typical LM2, the educational system.
Like government in general, the public educational system is rotten and serves a completely political agenda, rather than its stated goal of educating our most precious citizens. It is more a system of indoctrination rather than of education. Certainly there are exceptions to the rule, but generally public schools are of poor quality despite the incredible amounts of money that has been poured into them over the years.
Is this degree of systemic degradation merely the result of cumulative years of incompetence? I don’t believe so. I rather believe, from all that I’ve read, that the system was designed to produce little worker drones, little order-following, malleable subjects, willing to spend the rest of their lives taking direction and guidance from “those who know better”. And similar to government at large, school systems are microcosms of the larger bureaucracy in that they tend to do all in their power to “grow themselves”.
Know that liberty and government are seen by the Liberty Minded Man as mutually exclusive. You cannot expand the one, without infringing on the other. There are no exceptions to this rule. None. History has demonstrated this fact again and again.
This could go on and on, and I don’t wish for this essay to be dismissed as merely a rant. So let me close out by making it clear that the Liberty Minded Man (as I have) takes the view that we’ve been pushed far enough. There will be no more “Free Wacos” or “Free Ruby Ridges” out there. My friend Mike Vanderbough over at Sipsey Street can explain that so much more cogently than I can. Suffice it to say that the backing up is done. Liberty Minded Americans have finally reached their limit, of that I am convinced. There is no place to run. America represents the last bastion of potential freedom in the world today, and it’s rapidly flickering out. So don’t think that going out of the country is going to fix the problem. It’s like this everywhere in the world today. Boston T. Party has aptly described America as the healthiest patient in the cancer ward. The solution is here my friends. Fix America, or face tyranny for your children and grandchildren. There is no other alternative. George Orwell was once asked to describe the future. His response was “Picture a boot, stamping on a human face… forever.”
If you’ve read this far, then you must be interested in why we LM2’s feel this way. Let me invite (or challenge) you to take it to the next level. I have listed here a series of links that lead to a mix of essays, books and videos that collectively describe the views of The Liberty Mined Man so much better than I ever could. Follow these links, and in so doing you will be stepping outside of the “matrix”. All that remains for you is to answer the question: Do I take the Red Pill or the Blue Pill? Awaken to the reality facing our Republic and what the future holds for your children, or remain blissfully ignorant snoozing your way into the darkness of tyranny.
It’s your choice.
Guns
Why the gun is civilization
The Doctrine of the Three Percent
The Justification for Guns in Modern America
Boston's Gun Bible - by Boston T. Party
Rights
What are rights?
Why I am moving to Wyoming - Boston T. Party
The ideas and continuing influence of John Locke
Government
The Declaration of Independence
Lost Rights - by James Bovard
An excellent primer on government
My view of the police
Quotes of the Founding Fathers
Hologram of Liberty - by Boston T. Party
The Night-Watchman State defined
Political Correctness
Fodder for the Gulag - by Will Grigg
Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg (one of the best books I've ever read)
Political Correctness: The Scourge of Our Times
Economics
The coming of Caesar
The Austrian School
The Creature from Jekyll Island
The Crash Course
Education
Against School - by John Gatto
The Underground History of American Education (a MUST read)
America's proud heritage: 'uneducated, illiterate, barefooted, guntoting hay-seeds'?
National security / US Sovereignty
Obama poised to cede US sovereignty
US Sovereignty threatened by Law of The Sea Act
Overviews
A Nation of Cowards - by Jeffrey Snyder
Read anything ever written by James Bovard
Neal's Favorite Quotes
Eject Eject Eject
The Pussification of the American Male - by Kim du Toit
I Believe - by Old Jarhead
Thursday
Obama, FDR and a comparison of spending
First of all, can you believe Obama could look us in the face and say this:
Now we all know (or SHOULD know) how Obama and company are blowing OUR money like a drunken sailor just into port. But read the linked article for a mind-blowing comparison between Obongo and another big-spending liberal democrat president. Here's a teaser for you:
FDR was inaugurated in March 1933 and died in April 1945. He is thus responsible for the 12 fiscal years from 1934 to 1945. During those years of depression and world war, according to OMB, federal spending averaged 19.35 percent of GDP. During Obama’s four fiscal years, OMB estimates spending will average 24.13 percent of GDP. That is about 25 percent more than under FDR.
In the first eight fiscal years of FDR’s presidency, before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, federal spending as a percentage of GDP never exceeded 12 (despite the Depression). During those years, it averaged only 9.85 percent. Under Obama, annual spending as a percentage of GDP will average almost two-and-a-half times that much.
“After a decade of profligacy, the American people are tired of politicians who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk when it comes to fiscal responsibility,” he said. “It’s easy to get up in front of the cameras and rant against exploding deficits. What’s hard is actually getting deficits under control. But that’s what we must do. Like families across the country, we have to take responsibility for every dollar we spend.”
Now we all know (or SHOULD know) how Obama and company are blowing OUR money like a drunken sailor just into port. But read the linked article for a mind-blowing comparison between Obongo and another big-spending liberal democrat president. Here's a teaser for you:
FDR was inaugurated in March 1933 and died in April 1945. He is thus responsible for the 12 fiscal years from 1934 to 1945. During those years of depression and world war, according to OMB, federal spending averaged 19.35 percent of GDP. During Obama’s four fiscal years, OMB estimates spending will average 24.13 percent of GDP. That is about 25 percent more than under FDR.
In the first eight fiscal years of FDR’s presidency, before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, federal spending as a percentage of GDP never exceeded 12 (despite the Depression). During those years, it averaged only 9.85 percent. Under Obama, annual spending as a percentage of GDP will average almost two-and-a-half times that much.
I'm Tired - by Robert A. Hall
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.
I don’t think anyone could have said this better !!!
I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce,` and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired . . . very tired.
I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people` who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.
I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.
I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.
I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News ? Get a clue people. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.
I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global` warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.
I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off ? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.
I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next ? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists" ? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military . . . those are the citizens we need.
I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.
Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making . . . I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.
I don’t think anyone could have said this better !!!
I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce,` and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired . . . very tired.
I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people` who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.
I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.
I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.
I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News ? Get a clue people. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.
I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global` warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.
I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off ? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.
I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next ? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists" ? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military . . . those are the citizens we need.
I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.
Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making . . . I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.
Wednesday
They look you right in the face and lie!
If these bastards told me it was daylight, I'd go the window and check!
Biden: US got 'money's worth' from stimulus act
1 hr 51 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden asserted in an interview Wednesday that taxpayers have "gotten their money's worth" out of the $787 billion stimulus program that Congress passed during the depths of the recession.
In an interview broadcast on CBS's "The Early Show," Biden defended the program against accusations by Republicans critics that it hasn't been the job-manufacturing machine the administration promised to the American people.
He argued that money invested in both private and public-sector initiatives has saved as many as 2 million jobs, and said, "I don't think they realize it." Biden said the program, now a year old, was designed to be implemented in two stages, saying "we've only been halfway through the act."
Biden: US got 'money's worth' from stimulus act
1 hr 51 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden asserted in an interview Wednesday that taxpayers have "gotten their money's worth" out of the $787 billion stimulus program that Congress passed during the depths of the recession.
In an interview broadcast on CBS's "The Early Show," Biden defended the program against accusations by Republicans critics that it hasn't been the job-manufacturing machine the administration promised to the American people.
He argued that money invested in both private and public-sector initiatives has saved as many as 2 million jobs, and said, "I don't think they realize it." Biden said the program, now a year old, was designed to be implemented in two stages, saying "we've only been halfway through the act."
Tuesday
Learn the definition of MZB
MZB stands for Mutant Zombie Bikers.
Before you dismiss this as just so much Hooo Haaa, go read this little essay and discover that you are already surrounded.
Before you dismiss this as just so much Hooo Haaa, go read this little essay and discover that you are already surrounded.
Monday
A Nation Without a Country - by Tom Baugh
This guy has some serious insight into the issue of secession. I urge every one of you to read each of his articles carefully and thoughtfully.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Other parts will be posted here as they are released on Mr Baugh's blog.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Other parts will be posted here as they are released on Mr Baugh's blog.
Friday
They no longer even ATTEMPT to hide unconstitutional acts
...the Obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because Americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records" that show where a mobile device placed and received calls.
What the hell is it going to take for the sheep to realize they're being fenced in!
What the hell is it going to take for the sheep to realize they're being fenced in!
Firearms safety
No one on this planet believes more strongly than I do in the right to keep and bear arms. By the same token, guns aren't toys and they need to be handled with care and diligence at all times!
Guns don't EVER just "go off"! They are mishandled by the foolish and/or the ignorant... sometimes with terrible consequences.
Here're some firearm safety comments written by a man who was shot point blank in the chest by a friend who was just fooling around (and he was left a quadraplegic for life as a result)
#1 When a firearm is cleared everyone in the room checks it not just the handler.
#2 Do not put a magazine in your weapon without alerting others around you. (physically stick your finger in the chamber area and make sure that there is not possibly a round, this is used as a double check. first look then feel.)
#3 Pay attention to barrel awareness, flagging (accidently or purposefully crossing someone with your muzzle) around me will defiantly get someone a "boot camp ass chewing" and possibly shot.
#4 No matter how trained and experienced you are with weapons, you can still screw up. (I find that sometimes people with more experience can be at a higher risk of messing up due to becoming lax with their firearms handling.
#5 Always keep yourself and others around in check about safety, and have them keep you and each other in check as well. (If someone corrects you, listen to them, don't just blow them off and possibly get mad about being corrected, listen to them.)
Guns don't EVER just "go off"! They are mishandled by the foolish and/or the ignorant... sometimes with terrible consequences.
Here're some firearm safety comments written by a man who was shot point blank in the chest by a friend who was just fooling around (and he was left a quadraplegic for life as a result)
#1 When a firearm is cleared everyone in the room checks it not just the handler.
#2 Do not put a magazine in your weapon without alerting others around you. (physically stick your finger in the chamber area and make sure that there is not possibly a round, this is used as a double check. first look then feel.)
#3 Pay attention to barrel awareness, flagging (accidently or purposefully crossing someone with your muzzle) around me will defiantly get someone a "boot camp ass chewing" and possibly shot.
#4 No matter how trained and experienced you are with weapons, you can still screw up. (I find that sometimes people with more experience can be at a higher risk of messing up due to becoming lax with their firearms handling.
#5 Always keep yourself and others around in check about safety, and have them keep you and each other in check as well. (If someone corrects you, listen to them, don't just blow them off and possibly get mad about being corrected, listen to them.)
Wednesday
Say No to Democracy - by David Harsanyi
If you've been paying attention to the left-wing punditry these days, you may be under the impression that the nation's institutions are on the verge of collapse. Or that the rule of law is unraveling. Or maybe that this once-great nation is crippled and nearly beyond repair.
You know why? Because the 40 percent (or so) political minority has far too much influence in Washington. Don't you know? This minority, egged on by a howling mob of nitwits, is holding progress hostage using its revolting politics and parliamentary trickery.
Leading the charge to fix this dire problem is New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who advocates abolishing the Senate filibuster to make way for direct democracy's magic.
It had better be quick. The populace is fickle. Jacob Weisberg of Slate believes that Americans are crybabies who don't know what's good for 'em, causing "political paralysis." Even President Barack Obama, after his agenda had come to a halt, claimed democracy is a "messy" process -- as if that were a bad thing.
Actually, "democracy" is not only messy but also immoral and unworkable. The Founding Fathers saw that coming, as well. So we don't live under a system of simple majority rule for a reason, as most readers already know.
The minority political party, luckily, has the ability to obstruct, nag and filibuster the majority's agenda. Otherwise, those in absolute power would run wild -- or, in other words, you all would be living that Super Bowl Audi commercial by now.
And if democracy is the mob -- the "worship of jackals by jackasses," as H.L. Mencken once cantankerously put it -- whom does it comprise in our scenario? Depends on how you look at it, I suppose.
Not long ago, even before the Tea Party existed, Obama whipped up crowds angry at Republicans with his rosy brand of left-wing populism. He was able to hypnotize adoring masses with his grand and nebulous promises, though he had few new ideas and little experience to back it up.
Obama's ensuing coronation -- more than 2 million people reportedly showed up for his inauguration -- must have reinforced the perception in Washington that nearly everyone was on board. And in its first year, this administration acted accordingly, attempting to transform energy and health care policy, among other things.
Turns out, if we believe polls, that Americans changed their minds quickly and in large numbers. And history shows us that generally, unhampered one-party rule doesn't work out for anyone.
Then again, today's argument that the ruling party doesn't have enough power is a reflection of a nearly spiritual belief in the wonders of government, not democracy.
Though many Democrats advocate for direct democracy -- whether it be fighting states' rights or supporting the removal of the Electoral College -- it is a curiously selective endeavor.
Take the Tea Partiers, who also have attached themselves to "democracy" rhetoric. What, one wonders, will Democrats have to say about the filibuster when Sarah Palin is jamming through her first-year agenda as president?
We must be more judicious. We must have more debate before moving forward. The Founding Fathers never envisioned radical policy being jammed through by the majority. Oh, my God, it's actually happening.
Those who contend that the ruling party isn't instilled with enough control are worried about politics, not process. And actually, regardless of which ephemeral majority happens to win the day, we should be looking for more checks on power, not less.
You know why? Because the 40 percent (or so) political minority has far too much influence in Washington. Don't you know? This minority, egged on by a howling mob of nitwits, is holding progress hostage using its revolting politics and parliamentary trickery.
Leading the charge to fix this dire problem is New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who advocates abolishing the Senate filibuster to make way for direct democracy's magic.
It had better be quick. The populace is fickle. Jacob Weisberg of Slate believes that Americans are crybabies who don't know what's good for 'em, causing "political paralysis." Even President Barack Obama, after his agenda had come to a halt, claimed democracy is a "messy" process -- as if that were a bad thing.
Actually, "democracy" is not only messy but also immoral and unworkable. The Founding Fathers saw that coming, as well. So we don't live under a system of simple majority rule for a reason, as most readers already know.
The minority political party, luckily, has the ability to obstruct, nag and filibuster the majority's agenda. Otherwise, those in absolute power would run wild -- or, in other words, you all would be living that Super Bowl Audi commercial by now.
And if democracy is the mob -- the "worship of jackals by jackasses," as H.L. Mencken once cantankerously put it -- whom does it comprise in our scenario? Depends on how you look at it, I suppose.
Not long ago, even before the Tea Party existed, Obama whipped up crowds angry at Republicans with his rosy brand of left-wing populism. He was able to hypnotize adoring masses with his grand and nebulous promises, though he had few new ideas and little experience to back it up.
Obama's ensuing coronation -- more than 2 million people reportedly showed up for his inauguration -- must have reinforced the perception in Washington that nearly everyone was on board. And in its first year, this administration acted accordingly, attempting to transform energy and health care policy, among other things.
Turns out, if we believe polls, that Americans changed their minds quickly and in large numbers. And history shows us that generally, unhampered one-party rule doesn't work out for anyone.
Then again, today's argument that the ruling party doesn't have enough power is a reflection of a nearly spiritual belief in the wonders of government, not democracy.
Though many Democrats advocate for direct democracy -- whether it be fighting states' rights or supporting the removal of the Electoral College -- it is a curiously selective endeavor.
Take the Tea Partiers, who also have attached themselves to "democracy" rhetoric. What, one wonders, will Democrats have to say about the filibuster when Sarah Palin is jamming through her first-year agenda as president?
We must be more judicious. We must have more debate before moving forward. The Founding Fathers never envisioned radical policy being jammed through by the majority. Oh, my God, it's actually happening.
Those who contend that the ruling party isn't instilled with enough control are worried about politics, not process. And actually, regardless of which ephemeral majority happens to win the day, we should be looking for more checks on power, not less.
Still struggling with home PC problems
I'm terribly sorry for the slowness of late. The home PC is sick with a bug, and I've not had the time to address the issue.
Thursday
Just a few of the many reasons you should NEVER send your kid to public schools
Case A - The Pervert millionaire teacher
A Queens teacher who collects a $100,000 salary for doing nothing spends time in a Department of Education "rubber room" working on his law practice and managing 12 real-estate properties worth an estimated $7.8 million. Alan Rosenfeld hasn't set foot in a classroom for nearly a decade since he was accused in 2001 of making lewd comments to junior-high girls and "staring at their butts," yet the department still pays him handsomely for sitting on his own butt seven hours a day.
Case B - US History begins in 1877 for NC students now
He may be the president who governed during the Civil War, freeing the slaves, but under a new curriculum proposal for North Carolina high schools, U.S. history would begin years after President Lincoln, with the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. State education leaders say this may help students learn about more recent history in greater depth.
Case C - Ohio Teacher recruiting students for Obama
An Ohio high school teacher's giving students job applications for a Democratic organization that included suggested radical reading material has raising concerns of indoctrination in the classroom. The government teacher at Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio, handed out forms recruiting students to intern for Organizing for America, a grassroots organization with direct ties to the Democratic National Committee and the successor organization for Obama for America. Included on the forms was a suggested reading list that included Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and Organizing for America's mission to build on the "movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda of change."
A Queens teacher who collects a $100,000 salary for doing nothing spends time in a Department of Education "rubber room" working on his law practice and managing 12 real-estate properties worth an estimated $7.8 million. Alan Rosenfeld hasn't set foot in a classroom for nearly a decade since he was accused in 2001 of making lewd comments to junior-high girls and "staring at their butts," yet the department still pays him handsomely for sitting on his own butt seven hours a day.
Case B - US History begins in 1877 for NC students now
He may be the president who governed during the Civil War, freeing the slaves, but under a new curriculum proposal for North Carolina high schools, U.S. history would begin years after President Lincoln, with the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. State education leaders say this may help students learn about more recent history in greater depth.
Case C - Ohio Teacher recruiting students for Obama
An Ohio high school teacher's giving students job applications for a Democratic organization that included suggested radical reading material has raising concerns of indoctrination in the classroom. The government teacher at Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio, handed out forms recruiting students to intern for Organizing for America, a grassroots organization with direct ties to the Democratic National Committee and the successor organization for Obama for America. Included on the forms was a suggested reading list that included Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and Organizing for America's mission to build on the "movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda of change."
Wednesday
Colin Powell reverses his stance on gays in the military
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The retired general whose opposition deflected the last serious bid to let homosexuals serve openly in the U.S. military, Colin Powell, reversed himself on Wednesday and backed President Barack Obama's move to repeal the restrictions on gays.
Now what has changed since General Powell first opposed gays in the military?
The color of the president's skin!
Now what has changed since General Powell first opposed gays in the military?
The color of the president's skin!
Tuesday
The seductions of decline - by Mark Steyn
An excerpt:
Read the rest. It's damned prescient!
American decline will not be like France’s or Austria’s. For one thing, we don’t appreciate how unusual the last transfer of power was. If you’re not quite sure when that took place, the British historian Andrew Roberts likes to pinpoint it to the middle of 1943: One month, the British had more men under arms than the Americans. The next month, the Americans had more men under arms than the British. The baton of global leadership had been passed. And, if it didn’t seem that way at the time, that’s because it was as near a seamless transition as could be devised – although it was hardly “devised” at all. Yet we live with the benefits of that transition to this day: To take a minor but not inconsequential example, one of the critical links in the Afghan campaign was the British Indian Ocean Territory. As its name would suggest, that’s a British dependency but it has a US military base – just one of many pinpricks on the map where the Royal Navy’s Pax Britannica evolved into Washington’s Pax Americana with nary a thought: From US naval bases in Bermuda to the ANZUS alliance Down Under to NORAD close to home, London’s military ties with its empire were assumed by the United States. Britain’s eclipse by its transatlantic progeny is one of the smoothest transfers of power in history – and unlikely to be repeated.
Read the rest. It's damned prescient!
Monday
Major problems with my home PC
Things will be a bit slow here until I get this problem rectified.
Thanks
Thanks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vmecBD5vbiYR4k5FYh__MqQ0mahURHzriBEbvFHTL_Wv1476I0TCarlS8RXWfNjPi_lSsJxQyMCfwklhP8jojtAb5ttzlZRLINks1LvX8z0y9WUDl0ZtSreDAOoasvBqXBjA=s0-d)
