No Winners In This Go Around

There will be no winners this go around of the election machine. Especially for folks like me, whose ballot would look blank for the most part. It's highly doubtful that any of the folks I would choose to represent me will win their election bids. Some republicrat will likely win and take that victory as a mandate to do as they will to us for another cycle, as opposed to what it actually is. Just a loss by democrats. My prognostication in this arena says we'll see little substantive change, no matter who "wins" or who is retained. Government's going to continue its cancerous growth if the republicrats take the House and/or Senate. Spending may be cut by a $100 billion or so, but that's literally a drop in the bucket with spending in the multiple trillions of dollars.
The wars will continue apace and more people will die, more enemies will be made and more wealth will be squandered.

If there are any "winners" this time around, it will likely be those who didn't vote. They are likely to be in a majority, as usual. Maybe they know something that everyone else doesn't, huh? Even hamsters eventually tire of running in the wheel and slink off to do something better. Maybe we need a cycle where we all just take a time out and no-one votes for anyone, so we can show them how we really feel about them.

The Muslims I Remember

Via Radley Balko comes this interesting piece on Afghanistan in the 50's and 60's. It's a surprising contrast to the 14th century hellhole it is today. The people of Kabul, all Muslims, were embracing the West, technology, reason and civilised culture. It was a place where women dressed much like their Western counterparts and embraced higher education, in a mixed sexes environment. Industry and infrastructure were growing and they were growing cotton and making textiles instead of exporting opium. The difference between then and now is stark and disturbing and the US bears a chunk of the responsibility for its descent into fundamentalist savagery.
Afghanistan was just one of many casualties in the USSR/USA Great Games of the 20th century. The Soviets wanted what little Afghanistan had and the US couldn't allow communism to expand, so we backed the foreign fighters who eventually morphed into the Taliban (who the US was giving money to right up till 9/11). Caught in the middle of this pissing match were the reasonable, secular Muslims of Kabul and the other cities. Needless to say, many of those folks fled.
These were the first Muslims I remember meeting overseas, when I first started traveling. Secular Muslims. Not the fundamentalists that have spread through many areas of the Middle East and now run Afghanistan, (with US blessings). People like YaYa, a Muslim from Indonesia and Afghan refugees I met stand out in my mind. They and many others never let their religious beliefs get between themselves and a new friend. The many Muslims I met during my years in Egypt were what some label "fundamentalists", but they sure didn't act as they were stereotypically supposed to. They were civil, kind and open people. They embraced the West and, almost to a T loved America and Americans. I was welcomed in their homes and businesses all the time. Shoot, even the members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a "terrorist" organisation that I ran across were nice individuals. Civilised. They hadn't been caught up in the full fury of the Great Games of the superpowers. Just the machinations of their local despotic government.
Our participation in those games, with the now defunct USSR, is having ramifications, decades later and will reverberate for many years to come.
Sadly, we're unlikely to see that old Afghanistan or those Muslims anytime soon in Afghanistan. And that's sad. Education, free trade, industry and freedom were what they had and it was all for naught. I wish I'd had the chance to see that Afghanistan.

A Look At The 2000's

Politically, I have to agree with Reason. Worst decade ever. At the end of it I feel a sense of dread, not hopefulness as one might expect. On other fronts, the decade wasn't the worst for me and mine. Our family has grown and prospered and, despite an economy ravaged by politicians, banksters and others of that ilk. I'm not likely to whip out a crystal ball and prognosticate where the next decade is concerned, but it doesn't look like it's going to shape up to be much better. The political scenery is unlikely to change much and the economy isn't getting better, as the politicians are trying to make us believe. Shoot the commercial real estate debacle hasn't even started to unwind yet. As for the seemingly endless and futile wars, they're going to be continuing for many years. That's how government maintains their health. Those conflicts will still be being waged when our children are of an age to be part of that continuing mess. Whatever the future portends we'll do as we always do around here. Hold on tight and see where the ride takes us.

Pouring It On

Do you ever have one of those days, or weeks, or even months when it just feels like certain people are just pouring one thing after another onto our lives? That's what it feels like these days with the current regime. It's just one thing after another. Apparently, they want to see just how much we can stand. It's all a bit overwhelming, frankly and it just sucks the hope out of people and leaves them with nothing but resentment and anger. Eventually something's got to give. We can only hope that it's the powers that be that give.

From one corner of the media comes the disheartening news that war with Iran is inevitable. I'd really hate for that to be true. From the Hill comes the news that the harridan in charge of the House is looking to impose an onerous tax on us and everything we buy. Presumably so she and her cohorts can fund their tyranny. Members from both sides of the aisle are convinced that the worlds best health care system is broken, when it's just government interference and insurance companies that have issues. They're going to ram a socialised medicine scheme down our throats, whether we want it or not.

It just gets to be a bit much, doesn't it?

At least one guy in Malawi is having a good time, poverty or not. Look what he's managed to do with a bit of freedom. Guess there's always a spark of light somewhere in the world. Even if it's not where you are.

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Libertarian, War, Taxes, Obama, Hope

Rushing To Disaster

So, both houses of Congress are set to vote on their "stimulus" package. Too bad they're going to vote on something that none of them have freakin' bothered to read! Or will have the time to read.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) predicted on Thursday that none of his Senate colleagues would "have the chance" to read the entire final version of the $790-billion stimulus bill before the bill comes up for a final vote in Congress.

“No, I don’t think anyone will have the chance to [read the entire bill],” Lautenberg told CNSNews.com.

The final bill, crafted by a House-Senate conference committee, was posted on the Website of the House Appropriations Committe late Thurday in two PDF files.

The first PDF was 424 pages long and the second PDF was 575 pages long, making the total bill 999 pages long. The House is expected to vote on this 999-page bill Friday, and the Senate either later Friday or Saturday. [Editor's note: The first PDF, as posted on the House Appropriations Committee website as of 8:20 AM Friday morning, had grown by 72 pages to 496 pages, increasing the length of the total document to 1,071 pages.]

Of the several senators that CNSNews.com interviewed on Thursday, only Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) claimed to have read the entire bill--and he was speaking of the preliminary version that had been approved by the Senate, not the final 999-page version that the House-Senate conference committee was still haggling over on Thursday afternoon.

When CNSNews.com asked members of both parties on Capitol Hill on Thursday whether they had read the full, final bill, not one member could say, "Yes."

Why the rush? Well, as is being reported by Drudge, it's all because of Nacy Pelosi and a planned Europe junket to Italy and other parts, so she can receive an award from the Italians.

Rep. John Culberson, TX claims the "stimulus" bill must be urgently voted on today -- because Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leaving at 6:00 PM for an 8 day trip to Europe!

Culberson made the charge on Houston's KSEV radio.

Pelosi is hoping to lead a delegation to Europe; there's a meeting with the Pope and an award from an Italian legislative group.

Calls to Pelosi's spokesman went unreturned.

In the rushing, Democrats have now broken their promise to have the public see the $790 billion bill for 48 hours before any vote.

They, those people who are going to rush to vote on this measure, are going to throw us into the fire of debt for political gain. It's not like this "stimulus" is going to actually work. Quite the opposite, in fact. This will do more damage to our economy than doing nothing would. Even though it is unlikely to work in any substantive way, give your Congressional "representatives" a call or an email on this. Demand that they not vote until the bill has been read and understood. And then vote no. We, and our children cannot afford this bill.

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News, Politics, Stimulus, Obama, Libertarian

Government Health Care Is Here

Well, the Senate has passed Obama's spending bill, along with the tons of pork. It won't do any good, in the short or long term, but that's seemingly neither here nor there. Hidden amongst the hundreds of unread pages in this disaster is something much worse than all that spending. The politicians and Obama have managed to place a national health care scheme into this bill (.pdf). One in which the government, (not you and your physician) will determine what therapy you should receive. Thousands of people will be sentenced to death by the governments health "care" Tsar and their bureaucracy.

The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.

But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

New Penalties

Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541)

The worlds best health care system just became a thing of the past, unless people can somehow persuade their politicians to yank this abomination from the bill, which the Senate and House will have to agree to. Do not expect Indiana's Evan Bayh to object to this, (he voted yes). He's a strong proponent of bigger, more intrusive government, like Mr. Obama. "Universal health care" is here.

Don't get sick in the future. Unless you want some government employee deciding your health care options for you.

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News, Stimulus, Universal Health Care, Obama

Clear And Present Danger?

So, it appears that our Glorious Leader truly wants his "stimulus package" to go through, no matter how pork laden it is. He's even gone out of his way to address the issue in the Washington Post with an article on it which is filled with scaremongering. That's a big play to make this early in his tenure.

Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.

The only problem is that his bill is laden with pork to the tune of a trillion dollars and more is being added every minute. Millions for the arts, billions for failed education policies and billions for projects that are nothing more than long ignored earmarks. And it will all be for naught as this is highly unlikely to work as he would have it. The only job growth we will see will be in the area of government and socialism, cancerous growths we can do without.

I would say that you should contact your Senators, (as I did) and demand that they vote No on this boondoggle. Unfortunately, it is likely to make no difference in how they will vote. They no longer care what you think and will either vote a party line or vote against what the majority of their constituents demand. Representative government has become a myth, one which we cling to in vain hope.

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Obama, Politics, News, Stimulus

A Good Start To Every Day

They say that a good breakfast is the best way to start the day. I have a better recommendation, tho. Good news came this morning from Indiana's next door neighbour, Illinois. It looks like their criminal in chief governor has managed to go and get himself arrested by the Feds.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.

According to a federal criminal complaint, Mr. Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Mr. Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.

Mr. Blagojevich also was charged with using his authority as governor in an attempt to squeeze out campaign contributions.

Mr. Blagojevich's chief of staff, John Harris, also was arrested.

Federal agents were in Mr. Blagojevich's office in the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago on Tuesday morning.

Imagine my complete and utter lack of surprise. What are the odds that a Chicago, Illinois politician is corrupt? What are the odds that any politician is corrupt? Pretty good, all in all, wouldn't you say? The fact that its Blagojevich makes this all the more delicious, if only for his anti-2nd Amendment stances. One can only wish that the powers that be would add the charge of violation of oath of office to the list of charges.

This makes 2 in a row for Illinois, given that their last governor is still behind bars for essentially the same crimes as Illinois' latest ruler. Maybe the people there will get lucky and they'll replace him with nobody. Naw, no-one could get that lucky. This is a good start, tho. Maybe we could make a new policy and arrest at least one politician per day? I'd be happy to provide a list of people to be removed from office and placed behind bars. Of course, it would clear out most of the Democrats in the House and Senate from the top down. Then we could get to work on the Republicans. Hmmm...maybe we could make the job so risky that no-one would want to do it. Ah, well. A guy has to have a dream.

Wonder what the Lightbringer will have to say about this, considering it was his seat that the governor was trying to sell? I also can't help but wonder what, if anything, he might have had to do with this and how he'll spin it to grab credit? We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

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Politics, Blagojevich, Libertarian, Illinois

Just Say No

As a parent I am often faced with the onerous task of telling my children no, for one reason or another. It's sometimes a necessity that all parents are familiar with, because we wish to preserve the lives and limbs of our charges. What surprises me these days is that so many of the people in Washington, (many of whom are parents) forget to say no when "adults" show up at their doors after engaging in behaviours that have led them to ruin. I doubt many of us would say yes to an alcoholic or drug addict when they asked for a fix, so why do politicians "have" to say yes when companies addicted to bad habits come begging for a fix from the "lender of last resort"?

The latest to put out the begging bowl are the "Big Three" auto makers from Detroit. This is not the newest of stories, since they were just there a couple of weeks ago. What is new is that they are now asking for much more money than before.

The heads of struggling auto giants General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler reappeared on the Hill yesterday to make their case anew. This time, they came more prepared. The most ambitious business plan proposed was by General Motors, the world's largest auto company, currently teetering on the verge of collapse. It set out a plan to recapture revenue through deep cuts—including slashing 20 percent of its jobs, shutting nine factories, and trying to reduce pay through talks with the United Automobile Workers union.

Along with a more structured plan, however, the Big 3 also had an even bigger request: $34 billion in loans, compared with the $25 billion they'd asked for two weeks ago.

Talk about chutzpah.No doubt the Democrats and their buddies across the aisle are more than willing to add them to the $8.5 trillion dollar plan, after all what's a few measly billion when we're already in the trillions, right? Well, the time has come to just say no.

It might sound cruel and the repercussions may be grave, but the precedent a bailout would set would be vastly worse. Despite Nancy Pelosi's cries that bankruptcy is not an option, the facts speak louder than her political grandstanding. This country cannot afford to continue bailing out companies in distress, unless we wish to end up like Zimbabwe or the Weimar Republic. Allowing the Big 3 to file bankruptcy is the only solution sane people can accept. It worked for the airlines, it will certainly work for Detroit. Continuing to throw money at things will not make the situation better, (as we have seen with the banks and their "lending crisis").

The American auto industry has been, and will continue to be hampered by government, not aided. Any funds that come from the Congress will be attended by more stringent regulations, defacto nationalisation and an acceptance of fraudulent environmental rules that will insure the continued failure to compete. There is no aid to be found in Washington. At least bankruptcy will allow them to be rid of the onerous UAW contracts weighting them down and will allow them the time to restructure in a rational manner. If one of them cannot find its way back to solvency, then so be it. That's the harsh reality of a free market.

Ford could make their way back in time. They already offer a host of vehicles in their overseas markets which are soundly embraced by countries that always have gasoline over $5 a gallon. For some reason they have refused to embrace the same strategies for their US customers, as they do for their European and Asian bases. How many Americans would buy a car that got more than 65 MPG? I bet it would be a rather high number. Ford makes just such a vehicle, the Ford Fiesta Econetic, rated as a winning "green car". Too bad that the US government, and their global warming fascists, make it so hard to sell a clean diesel in this country that Ford can't or won't, sell it here. Even with artificially inflated diesel prices the car would save a driver loads of money in the long run. And, unlike hybrids, it's not a scam where cleanliness is concerned. Making vehicles like this is what would turn the tables for Detroit, not the bogus plans they are presenting to the Beltway Boys. No matter what plans they put forth, it will be too little.

It's time for the Washington crew to start saying no. Yes, the impact on Detroit and other auto states will be considerable. Indiana has something like 60,000 auto industry related jobs that would no doubt be affected. It would be a serious blow to the state government, which is already facing an unemployment insurance insolvency and the taxpayers, who would undoubtedly be called upon to foot the inevitable tax increases, but saying yes to any further bailouts would be much worse in the long run. We have to stop adding to the debt. Especially with the states now lining up for their slice of the bailout pie. It has to stop somewhere, let it begin here.

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Bailout, Detroit, Politics, Libertarian, Debt, Automakers

Change You Can Count On

It seems as if the Ministry of Truth in the new Obama regime has decided to retruth their Change.gov site, since everyone discovered their plans for us. As of today all that remains of their proposed agenda is this.

The Agenda

President-Elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Biden have developed innovative approaches to challenge the status quo in Washington and to bring about the kind of change America needs.

The Obama Administration has a comprehensive and detailed agenda to carry out its policies. The principal priorities of the Obama Administration include: a plan to revive the economy, to fix our health care, education, and social security systems, to define a clear path to energy independence, to end the war in Iraq responsibly and finish our mission in Afghanistan, and to work with our allies to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, among many other domestic and foreign policy objectives.

Who, other than the Obama regime puts up a website, tears it down and memory holes it in the course of a couple of days? No-one who intends to tell the truth.

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Obama, Agenda, Libertarian

Down The Hole

The memory hole, that is.
What a difference a day makes, eh? Apparently Team Obama keeps a sharp eye on their opposition these days. It seems that they saw the many commentaries on their new plans for involuntary servitude and decided to attempt to memory hole them. Here is what was posted yesterday.

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

And here is what they have now replaced it with, after seeing that people were paying attention to them. Of course the so-called "mainstream media" wasn't paying attention, nor will they.

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Notice the differences? They've carefully wiped out the Great Leaders "requirement" for service. Not that it won't be a requirement once they enact their plans for the children and youth of this country after they are entrenched. Thankfully, there are people out there paying attention to them and the internet makes it difficult to send their words away easily. We know what they have planned, no matter what they would have us think and we are going to pay attention. If this is what we can expect from the new leftist regime then things may be worse than we surmised.

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Obama, Memory Hole, Slavery, Libertarian

The Shape Of Things To Come

Well, the election is over and all we have to do now is wait to see what The Anointed One plans to do to us once he begins his reign. Fortunately, he has made it a great deal easier for us to find out what his plans are. On the governments dime, no less. Let's take a look, shall we?

Gun owners can look forward to new and "interesting" times.

Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

Suffice it to say, gun owners are going to be targeted because they have or wish to have firearms that others perceive as more dangerous than other common types of firearms. We can also look forward to having a nanny looking over our shoulder to insure that we make our firearms as safe as some hoplophobe wishes.

Small businesses are going to take multiple hits, as well. Not only will they be taxed at greater levels they'll be forced to pay more for jobs than those jobs are worth. This will also serve to increase unemployment among youth and the elderly.

Increase the Minimum Wage: As president, Obama will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011 and index it to inflation so full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing – things so many people take for granted.

He also plans to give preference to urban dwellers over suburban and rural folks. Go figure that a Chicago machine politician thinks that no-one actually matters outside of the cities.

Create a White House Office on Urban Policy: Obama and Biden will create a White House Office of Urban Policy to develop a strategy for metropolitan America and to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs. The Director of Urban Policy will report directly to the president and coordinate all federal urban programs.

He plans on fully funding programs such as No Child Left Behind. It's ironic that NCLB is in a section called "Do No Harm", huh?

Do No Harm: Barack Obama and Joe Biden do not support imposing unfunded mandates on states and localities. They strongly support providing necessary funding for programs such as No Child Left Behind.

He also plans on raping the oil companies. That would be the same companies which have a profit margin of only 8-10%. This is sure to do wonders for the economy and the price of gas. He actually has the audacity to say this will revitalise the economy.

Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families:Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. This relief would be a down payment on the Obama-Biden long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief.

Lest we forget the unions in this country, Obama plans to strengthen their grasp on businesses.

Ensure Freedom to Unionize: Obama and Biden believe that workers should have the freedom to choose whether to join a union without harassment or intimidation from their employers. Obama cosponsored and is strong advocate for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan effort to assure that workers can exercise their right to organize. He will continue to fight for EFCA's passage and sign it into law.

The EFCA sounds nice, huh? Of course it also means that employees may be approached anywhere at anytime by union members in "signature drives" and does away with the secret ballot. Intimidation by unions is a hallmark of this legislation.

And, lest you thought the first black president was any different when it came to the issue of involuntary servitude.

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Yep, he's going after your kids. Don't you just love it? These are are only a few of the myriad things he has planned for us during his reign. Trillions of dollars in spending, an explosion of cancerous governmental growth, the degradation of capitalism and your rights. These and so many other things are in store for us after his inauguration in January. I urge you to take a look at his "agenda" and prepare yourself as well as you can for what is to come. If you haven't purchased a firearm yet, the time is rapidly approaching when you had best do so. It's not going to be nice and it is certainly going to be a bad thing where liberty is concerned. This country will likely never recover from Obama's reign. What a sad day for us all.

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Obama, Politics, Things To Come, Libertarian, Guns, Economy

Just One More Reason

As if any sane person needed further proof that Obama had ill intentions towards gun owners and, especially those who have Concealed Carry Permits here's his own words as indictment. He'd love nothing more than telling the people of Indiana that they were not able to carry weapons for self defence. He'd willingly turn the entire country into Chicago. The only problem with this is that most of us would just ignore his rules and hope that police would, too. He'd willingly shred the 10th and 9th Amendments. Did anyone expect less of him? While I plan on voting for NOTA, Obama is clearly the most dangerous candidate out there, especially where gun owners are concerned. His own words, presented here, prove it once again. His lies concerning the 2nd Amendment and his "support of it ring hollow and false to any but the fanatic.



Hat Tip to War on Guns

Technorati Tags:
Obama, Gun Control, Libertarian, Politics, Election 2008

The Tactics Of Fear

So, Joe Biden goes out onto the campaign trail and opens his face hole in a way that's guaranteed to make folks pay attention. Unfortunately, I think he's garnered the wrong type of attention.

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

This sounds suspiciously like something that people have accused the current regime in power of doing. Engineering a crisis to consolidate power and the plebes. This type of speech is not likely to engender any type of confidence in anyone with even a moderate IQ. What type of crisis would need grass roots, local support? Does Comrade Obama intend to enact his final solution where guns are concerned? Perhaps, he'll take the decision to finally go after gunowners and will need his Brownshirts to aid them? Turning in your gun owning neighbours would certainly require local level help and no financial help. Maybe he'll choose to go into Iran or Pakistan and will need to fill the ranks of the military. The only way to do that is to embrace the Democrat ideal of the draft. They're the only ones who've been talking about it and it certainly fits into their "national service" schemes.

What crisis would an Obama regime engineer? There are so many to choose from that the mind boggles. Unfortunately, the Obama fanatics are likely to follow whereever their glorious leader chooses to take them. Fear and lemmings go together well and, unfortunately all too many people will get caught up in the stampede. What set of rights shall we have to sacrifice on the altar of this mans cult of personality in order to fulfill Mr. Biden's prophecy? How many people will his prophetic maunderings get killed this time around and what, exactly do they have planned for us, (beyond a full scale and rapid decent into socialism)? And where will the Obama inspired press be where this story is concerned? Prepping the memory hole, no doubt.

So what is this? A threat. A "prophecy". One which they will likely attempt to make self-fulfilling.

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Biden, Obama, Politics, Libertarian

Doing The Math

So, Paul Ogden has done the math and it turns out that Marion County, Indiana (the state capitol) has an astonishing 105% voter registration. How's that for efficiency? Democrats screamed bloody murder about perceived election fraud in Florida and it looks like we're actually going to see true voter fraud this time around, all in an effort to get Obama elected. ACORN, a group he has close ties to has already been implicated in Indiana and other states for massive voter fraud. How bad is this going to be on a nationwide level? The mind boggles.

The potential for either of the two major parties to "steal" the election is there, but the Democrats have seemingly pulled out all of the stops in registering people to vote this year. Could they be looking for "payback" for Florida and the "stolen" election of 2000? There does seem to be more than a bit of derangement coming from the Left this go around. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Regardless of who wins, we're going to lose. It's just a matter of how badly and how bad it will become because of the loss. I, for one will be casting my vote for "None Of The Above" from the safety of my home.

As for living in the aftermath of an election tainted by fraud. That's something I dislike to even contemplate. America is already seriously divided by politics and this will certainly make things worse, especially if the Left were to lose, (something increasingly unlikely). The disenfranchisement of the people continues.

Technorati Tags:
Election 2008, Voter Fraud, Libertarian, Obama

The $2 Trillion Bailout

I'm pretty sure that we're all familiar with the Wall Street Bailout by now. Many of us took the time and effort to contact "our" Congressional members and express our opinion on their actions, either for or against. Many folks have the idea that the $800 Billion+ bill that was passed was somehow the end of the matter. Shoot, the tally isn't even that low, we could only wish for it to be in that range. Nope. Congress, the Treasury and the Bush White House have saddled up with a new debt that is looking to be over $2 Trillion dollars, since this whole Wall Street debacle started.

From Reuters:

* Up to $50 billion from the Great Depression-era Exchange Stabilization Fund to guarantee principal in money market mutual funds to provide the same confidence that consumers have in federally insured bank deposits.

* The Fed committed to make unspecified discount window loans to financial institutions to finance the purchase of assets from money market funds to aid redemptions.

* At least $10 billion in Treasury direct purchases of mortgage-backed securities in September. In doubling the program on Friday, the Treasury said it may purchase even more in the months ahead.

* Up to $144 billion in additional MBS purchases by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury announced they would increase purchases up to their newly expanded investment portfolio limits of $850 billion each. On July 30, the Fannie portfolio stood at $758.1 billion with Freddie's at $798.2 billion.

* $85 billion loan for AIG, which would give the Federal government a 79.9 percent stake and avoid a bankruptcy filing for the embattled insurer. AIG management will be dismissed.

* At least $87 billion in repayments to JPMorgan Chase & Co for providing financing to underpin trades with units of bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said over the weekend he was adamant that public funds not be used to rescue the firm.

* $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury will inject up to $100 billion into each institution by purchasing preferred stock to shore up their capital as needed. The deal puts the two housing finance firms under government control.

* $300 billion for the Federal Housing Administration to refinance failing mortgage into new, reduced-principal loans with a federal guarantee, passed as part of a broad housing rescue bill.

* $4 billion in grants to local communities to help them buy and repair homes abandoned due to mortgage foreclosures.

* $29 billion in financing for JPMorgan Chase's government-brokered buyout of Bear Stearns & Co in March. The Fed agreed to take $30 billion in questionable Bear assets as collateral, making JPMorgan liable for the first $1 billion in losses, while agreeing to shoulder any further losses.

* At least $200 billion of currently outstanding loans to banks issued through the Fed's Term Auction Facility, which was recently expanded to allow for longer loans of 84 days alongside the previous 28-day credits.

Add in the over $800 Billion they saddled us with the other day and we're looking at some serious money. About $18,000 per household, in the US. That doesn't even include the current national debt or the numerous unfunded mandates and programs like Medicare and Social Security. Also add in the fact that California is also lining up at the trough to be bailed out, too. Yep, they've really done us in this time and they'll likely be back real soon for more. We're going to be on the hook for many, many trillions of dollars, down the road. Our childrens chilren will still be paying for the things that today's politicians have wrought.

Their bailout plan isn't even likely to do what they intend for it to do, but we'll still be handed the bill. Socialism will be rammed down our throats and whomever is elected will likely make it worse. So hold onto your hats, folks. Your wallets are already gone and everything else is swirling towards the toilet. We can thank "our" politicians for what's coming at us. Their years of fiscal irresponsibility will come home to roost at our houses, they will shield themselves, as they are currently doing, within their halls of power. Serfdom has reared its ugly head, once again.

Technorati Tags:
Bailout, Politics, Libertarian

Here It Comes

Well, Obama the Lightbringer gave his acceptance speech to the Democratic cultists and I must say that it was filled with quite a bit of...stuff. Mainly it was filled with stuff that many of us knew was coming. More and bigger government, gun bans (if not outright grabs), plans to indenture our children and drive businesses from this country.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the transcript, shall we?

The -- the reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.

Of course, if you own one of these weapons you must be a criminal, for surely you would have no other reason to own one, right? Guns aren't about defence, they're about hunting. Of course there are hunters out there who are going to agree with him and sell other gun owners down the river. We can look forward to yet another AWB, and this time there is unlikely to be a sunset provision.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly and finish the fight against Al Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts, but I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression.

I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation, poverty and genocide, climate change and disease.

So, we can look forward to more warfare from an Obama administration. Only the theatres will change. An escalation of hostilities in Afghanistan is the promise and we already know that he's asserted a desire to attack Pakistan. Now it looks like he's planning a Clintonesque confrontation for Darfur, (something his running mate has espoused in the past). What's his plan for Russia? Who knows. The only thing Russians truly respond to is force, it's all they understand. Is he looking for a physical confrontation? Given their present beligerance and the Wests lame responses to their current aggressions that would seemingly be his only recourse.

I will -- listen now -- I will cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95 percent of all working families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.

Of course, he's going to leave feed the masses on the gains of that other 5% and he won't cut spending, so we can look for ballooning deficits.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
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Now is the time to end this addiction and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution, not even close.
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As president, as president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.

So, despite the fact that our entire economy is built on the use of oil, from lubricants to fuels this idiot thinks that drilling is not the answer. Drilling is not a stop gap and, even if it were it is an absolute necessity. His understanding of this shows that he's delusional. If drilling weren't the solution then why is China drilling in the Gulf of Mexico? They Chi-Coms get, why not Comrade Obama? As for nuclear power....it's already safe. More people have died in cars driven by Ted Kennedy than have died as a result of American nuclear plants. All we need is for Obama and his buddies inside the Beltway to tell their Green supporters to shut the hell up and then get government out of the way.

I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries, and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability.

And we will keep our promise to every young American: If you commit to serving your community or our country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

So, he still plans on getting our children earlier. And then creating an army of "volunteers" to rival the military and commit to service. I know I'm not the only one to find this appalling. It's all been done before.

Now -- now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American.

Oh, look! It's socialised medicine, everyone. Despite the visible evidence from across the globe that this boondoggle doesn't work, Obama and his fellow Dems (along with a number of Republicrats) will likely impose this travesty and destroy the best healthcare system on the planet.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy.

That says it all, for me. FDR, as we all know started this Long March to socialism and JFK got us involved in Vietnam. Presumably, we can expect more of the same of BO.

As a gun owner, I can certainly expect an outright assault on my liberties and my ability to buy what a free market has to offer. And I can also expect to have significant portions of my families wealth transferred to people who have no right to it. I'll see the same happen to friends, too. I will likely see attempts to enlist my children into a new Young Pioneers-like organisation under the tutelage of the latest Great Leader. All in all I expect an Obama administration to truly mess things up, even worse than Bush and his people have. Higher taxes on the productive, more money to the unproductive. A diminishment of liberty in general and a tightening of the reins of power. I harbour no illusions that Obama will not use the powers already in place to further the agenda of the Left. And, make no mistake, McCain is really no better. Both are proponents of bigger government.

Obama and his cultists remind me greatly of Mussolini and his own Italian cult of personality. He, like Obama was the darling of the West and it's political class. People strove to emulate him and his system, until he crawled into bed with Hitler. Obama promises the world and has really only failed in one area. He hasn't promised to make the trains run on time. Yet.

Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato

Technorati Tags
Obama, Politics, 2nd Amendment, Libertarian

UPDATE: B.W. talks about the speech, as well.

D.C. To SCOTUS: Screw You

It looks like the powers that be in the District of Columbia have decided to give a hearty "screw you" to the Supreme Court.

Dick Heller, the man behind the case which brought down the DC handgun ban has been denied a permit by the DC powers. It's also likely that his firearm has been confiscated, as well, even though the article fails to mention it.

WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- District residents can start registering their guns today. But at least one very high profile application was already rejected.

Dick Heller is the man who brought the lawsuit against the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns. He was among the first in line Thursday morning to apply for a handgun permit.

But when he tried to register his semi-automatic weapon, he says he was rejected. He says his gun has seven bullet clip. Heller says the City Council legislation allows weapons with fewer than eleven bullets in the clip. A spokesman for the DC Police says the gun was a bottom-loading weapon, and according to their interpretation, all bottom-loading guns are outlawed because they are grouped with machine guns.

So, semi-automatic handguns are now "machine guns"? Insanity certainly rules inside the Beltway, (but, we already knew that now, didn't we?). Looks as if we are in for yet another round of court battling. I can't help but wonder if this will be an example of Scalia's "reasonable restrictions".

As an aside, I cannot help but wonder if Mr. Heller and his attorneys did not pursue this particular course on purpose. It would certainly be a good case to bring before the courts in order to force DC to implement a rational policy, rather than the overly restrictive current policy.
Technorati Tags:
2nd Amendment, Libertarian, Heller, Police State

Obama's Army

It looks as if Comrade Obama has, yet another use for government. He would like it to be the next big service sector for the youth of America.

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," he said Wednesday. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

He said he would make federal assistance conditional on school districts establishing service programs and set the goal of 50 hours of service a year for middle school and high school students.

I've seen this in action before and cannot help but wonder what colour the kerchiefs will be. Maybe he'll regress to the older brown shirted uniforms. The simple fact is that requiring service, as he wants is nothing less than state sponsored involuntary servitude and is forbidden by the US Constitution. Not that something like that means anything to him or other politicians of his stripe. Service to the state is not something any candidate needs to be calling for at any time. It's repugnant on more levels than I even like to think of.

"Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it. If you do, your life will be richer, our country will be stronger."

This man needs to learn that the country is not the same as the government. I don't want a stronger American government. I want it weaker than a kitten. That leads to a stronger America, better communities and healthier people. There are thousands of opportunities for voluntary voluntarism every day, in every community. Those who wish to freely associate are able to do so in myriad ways, without Mr. Obama's government compulsion. The last thing we need is more DHS lunacy. We've seen where "civilian national security force"'s lead. The 20th century was filled with them, most led by people like Mr. Obama.

"We will ask Americans to serve," the Illinois Democrat said. "We will create new opportunities for Americans to serve."

Yep...he'll make government even larger than George Bush did and reach his tentacles into every corner of our lives, starting with our children. No thanks.

Technorati Tags:
Obama, Politics, Libertarian, Marxism

A Few Reactions To Heller

The usual suspects are out in force, running their mouths and looking for a chance to dance in the blood of the innocents.

"I am profoundly disappointed in Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, both of whom assured us of their respect for precedent. With this decision, 70 years of precedent has gone out the window. And I believe the people of this great country will be less safe because of it."
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Can you imagine my complete lack of surprise that this harridan has decided to come down on the side she did? She'd much rather see women raped and murdered than defend themselves with a firearm. Way to go Comrade Feinstein.

"Today, President Bush's radical Supreme Court justices put rigid ideology ahead of the safety of communities in New Jersey and across the country. This decision illustrates why I have strongly opposed extremist judicial nominees and will continue to do so in the future."
- Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.

Bob Barr's gun control buddy is just another in a long line of people that hate the right of self defence. The passage of his Lautenberg Amendment, (with the support and aid of Bob Barr) has managed to disarm thousands of innocent people for misdemeanors. Why should we expect anything different, right?

"Today's ruling, the first clear statement on this issue in 127 years, will provide much-needed guidance to local jurisdictions across the country."
- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

As with virtually everything that comes from this petty Marxists mouth he manages to say something and nothing at the same time. Perhaps someone will manage to force a more detailed comment from him. We all know what his true feelings are, given his history.

"Eighty people a day die at the hands of guns. We have got to stop that. The court clearly ruled that reasonable regulations are permitted under that decision."
- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

As if there were ever any chance that NYC laws would be changed. Mr. Bloomberg's city is surely one which will see a lawsuit in the near future, if there's any true justice. Unfortunately, as long as NYC has the power to tax their pockets will be deep, where funding of court cases are concerned.

I could only hope that Indiana will take this as a positive sign and do away with their permit system, going to an Alaska or Vermont style carry law - which is more in line with the original intent. We'll have to see what our state politicians say in the coming days.

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Heller vs DC, Gun Control, Libertarian, Politics, Indiana