I would get behind a man that says this 100%….
“I’m an American and I’m proud. I don’t wanna hear all this old jumbo-mumbo. ‘We’re a bad country. We got this wrong, that wrong.’ I love this country. Period. The good overweighs the bad by far. And if people don’t understand that they should get the heck out. …
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/01/17/video-ditka-on-obama-america/
HILLARY CLINTON is to be presented as America’s Margaret Thatcher as she tries to become the first woman to win the White House. As she entered the 2008 presidential race yesterday, a senior adviser said that her campaign would emphasise security, defence and personal strengths reminiscent of the Iron Lady.
Excuse me, but comparing Hillary Clinton to Margaret Thatcher is a hard slap in the face to ole’ Maggie. Hillary Clinton doesn’t have an ounce of the courage, sincerity, and honor that Margaret Thatcher has.
Brown, 63, and his wife, Elaine, 65, were convicted Thursday of plotting to conceal their income and avoid paying federal income tax. They argued the tax is illegitimate and they are not required to pay it………..
……………….. The Browns’ case has found support on the Internet from militia members to libertarians and anti-tax groups.
Rick Stanley, a Denver-based Web radio host and a militia leader, urged listeners to join Brown at his home.
“We are continuing to ask patriots to surround Ed Brown’s property and life with a ring of armed Americans with firearms and video cameras to protect a fellow American,” he said. “This is the flash point. This is the time of raised pitchforks.”
MyWay
Say what you want about this man, but he is doing exactly what more Americans should do, but which 99% of are too afraid to. He is standing up to an oppressive government. Yes, I am talking about the U.S. Government.
The debate over whether or not the income tax is legal has been waging since it was reinstituted in 1913 under the guise of the 16th Amendment. There has also been skepticism as to whether the 16th Amendment was even ratified.
I honestly don’t know if the income tax is Constitutional or not, but I do know one thing. The income tax has been the most oppressive tool used by the U.S. Government to keep its citizens in line. It has allowed the government to take everything from you at the point of a gun and destroy your life completely. So, legal or not, it should be done away with. The government should not be allowed to have that much power over our lives. There are many advocate groups out there that have been lobbying for its elimination, but the bottom line is it isn’t going away until you start seeing more instances like this guy having armed, bloodshedding confrontations with the government and the American people start opening their eyes.
That isn’t freedom, folks. The American people aren’t supposed to fear their government; it is they who should be fearing us. They don’t. The Founders of this nation came here to get away from exactly this kind of tyranny and I assure you they are rolling in their graves over what America has turned into. Don’t be fooled by what you were taught in school. While we may have more freedoms than any other nation, the USA is NOT a free country.
The House approved legislation on Wednesday that would cut the interest rate on Federal student loans almost in half by 2011. Having funded approximately 90% of my college education through the use of Federal Stafford Loans, I am more than attuned to their value to low and middle income students across the country. However, this rate cut somewhat concerns me.
College tuition has been rapidly increasing all over the U.S. every single year. The University of Pittsburgh, for instance, has increased their tuition by 5 to 7 percent on a yearly basis. There are many reasons for this. Domestic costs go up of course, with inflation, but universities also tend to be harbingers of waste, blowing money on a lot of unneeded luxury and overly inflated administrative costs. Why do they do it? Because they can.
As long as there is a strong demand by students to attend a university there is no incentive for administration to get their costs under control. If you can raise tuition 5% every year for some new pet project and the students continue to pay and enrollment thrives, why not keep raising it every year? Want to build a new football stadium with all the latest and greatest amenities? Raise the tuition. Want to add a new set of worthless classes and pay a pompous professor to pontificate about the power of the penis? (No, seriously) Raise the tuition. I can go on, but you get the idea.
Students will pay the increased costs for the same reasons the universities raise them. They too, can, which is why I am troubled by this cut in the interest rates making these loans more affordable. As long as it keeps getting easier and easier for college students to buy their education on credit, the higher tuitions will continue to increase making it more and more expensive. We’re already at the point where tuition at some schools surpasses the cost of a house. While those with a degree do generally make more money over their lifetimes than those without, at what point will the cost of obtaining the degree outweigh the financial advantage in the workplace?
Universities will not get their costs under control and make tuition more affordable until they, rather than the students, start feeling it in the purse. Enrollment has to start dropping before any change whatsoever will even be a thought in a chancellor’s mind.
So, I’m not sure if these rate cuts are good or bad. In the long run are they going to help the students they are meant for, or hurt them? I really don’t know, but government solutions tend to make problems worse, not better. As Ronad Reagan is famous for saying, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
I’m interested to hear everyone’s opinion on this.
WASHINGTON – Former Republican Rep. Bob Ney was sentenced to 2½ years in prison Friday for trading political favors for golf trips, campaign donations and other gifts in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
And to that I say, “Good riddance!”
[UPDATE]: The amendment to strip the language passed the Senate 55-43. Once again the blogosphere and the Republican caucus in the Senate has held the Democratic leadership’s feet to the fire and strengthened the ethics bill. Amazing what a stint in the minority will do to congressional Republicans.
S.1 has been introduced in the Senate as “lobbying reform” — which in this case means “First Amendment infringements.” An amendment has been attached, which requires registration of bloggers with more than 500 readers, and who comment on policy issues. Violation would be a criminal offense.
I’m speechless.
Hat Tip to Of Arms and the Law.
Ah the environmental movement. The new haven for every displaced communist, socialist, and anti-capitalist.
The Weather Channel’s most prominent climatologist is advocating that broadcast meteorologists be stripped of their scientific certification if they express skepticism about predictions of manmade catastrophic global warming. This latest call to silence skeptics follows a year (2006) in which skeptics were compared to “Holocaust Deniers” and Nuremberg-style war crimes trials were advocated by several climate alarmists.
The Weather Channel’s (TWC) Heidi Cullen, who hosts the weekly global warming program “The Climate Code,” is advocating that the American Meteorological Society (AMS) revoke their “Seal of Approval” for any television weatherman who expresses skepticism that human activity is creating a climate catastrophe.
So those who worship at the global warming alter want to squash dissent and they want to try them Nuremberg style.
In addition, Cullen’s December 17, 2006 episode of “The Climate Code” TV show, featured a columnist who openly called for Nuremberg-style Trials for climate skeptics. Cullen featured Grist Magazine’s Dave Roberts as an eco-expert opining on energy issues, with no mention of his public call to institute what amounts to the death penalty for scientists who express skepticism about global warming.
Not exactly what I would call adhering to the scientific method.
h/t: Drudge
UPDATE! Check what out James Spann, operational meteorologist for nearly 20 years, has to say on his blog.
*Billions of dollars of grant money is flowing into the pockets of those on the man-made global warming bandwagon. No man-made global warming, the money dries up. This is big money, make no mistake about it. Always follow the money trail and it tells a story. Even the lady at “The Weather Channel” probably gets paid good money for a prime time show on climate change. No man-made global warming, no show, and no salary. Nothing wrong with making money at all, but when money becomes the motivation for a scientific conclusion, then we have a problem. For many, global warming is a big cash grab.
*The climate of this planet has been changing since God put the planet here. It will always change, and the warming in the last 10 years is not much difference than the warming we saw in the 1930s and other decades. And, lets not forget we are at the end of the ice age in which ice covered most of North America and Northern Europe.
The Democratic Leaders in the Senate continue to do their best to abandon all campaign promises of reigning in wasteful spending. This time it’s over Sen. Judd Gregg’s presidential rescission amendment to the Senate Ethics bill.
I’m not really going to go into it, because RedState has everything you need to know.
HUMAN EVENTS also has a good roundup with more links, including some more Republican amendments to be considered from Senators Coburn (but of course), Cornyn, and Vitter.
Gov. Sonny Perdue broke weeks of silence on Wednesday, telling a radio audience that he doesn’t support the effort to permit grocery stores to sell beer and wine on Sundays.
…
“Think of it this way…It really helps you plan ahead for the rest of your life — buying on Saturday, rather than Sunday,” the governor said. “Time management.”
Give me a friggin’ break. I would expect this to come if we had someone like, say, Ralph Reed in office. This “time management” hogwash is his way of nicely giving Georgians who want to drink a beer on a Sunday (gasp!) the middle finger. Clearly Father Sonny thinks he, not the citizens of Georgia, knows best on such trivial matters. This is absolutely absurd. You can read my original post on the matter here.
The funny thing is, Sonny had the audacity to add this:
“Some things rise to the level of referendums — such as, I felt, the symbol, the flag that represented Georgia, which I felt rose to that level. But you can’t do government really by referendum. And so, I don’t support that, and I don’t know whether it will pass the Legislature or not, but it’ll have a pretty tough time getting the last vote….
Now I’m not going to go into Flagger mode, here, because I think the flag issue is dead and quite frankly I’m ok with that (not to mention I think it’s hilarious that our current flag is based on the first official flag of the Confederacy, as opposed to the old flag having an unofficial battle flag). But for Sonny to trot this out as an excuse not to allow a referendum on alcohol sales on Sunday is pure baloney. Sonny signed off on the Democratic legislature’s edited bill that struck the 1956 flag from the ballot completely, and made the referendum worthless by making it non-binding.
The full article is here. Hat tip to Peach Pundit.
Former Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is seriously considering a gubernatorial run in Tennessee in 2010, possibly setting up a White House bid further down the road.
Sources in Washington and Tennessee say Frist, who will turn 55 next month, is leaning heavily toward a run for the governor’s office, where he could gain executive experience that might position him to try for the presidency in either 2012 or 2016.
“It’s a done deal,” said a source with knowledge of Frist’s plans.
There is no way I would support Frist in a Presidential run after his abysmal performance as Senate Majority Leader. Frist proved himself to have little to no spine whatsoever when it came to standing up for the pivotal issues of our party against the Democrats and the RINOs. However, governor is a different road to walk down. Being the chief executive of a fiscally and socially conservative state like Tennessee would probably garner him more cooperation in governing in a more conservative manner, unlike the conditions of that overstuffed hog farm we call the United State Senate.
If as governor Frist could prove to be effective, then he may be able to escape from his legacy of being partly responsible for the Republican loss of the Senate. The American public does tend to have a short political memory after all.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is proposing to cut property taxes by roughly 5 percent and eliminate the city sales tax on clothing and footwear as New York enjoys the bounty from its booming economy and real estate market, city officials said yesterday.
Mr. Bloomberg plans to outline his proposals today in his annual address to the City Council. The property tax cuts, which would be in addition to an existing $400 annual rebate for homeowners, would apply for at least the next fiscal year, aides said, while the sales tax cuts would be permanent.
I was shocked to hear this considering Bloomberg has been a crazy tax hiker during his mayoral tenure. This will surely come as good news to the residents of New York City who are people dying for tax relief. New York State in general is highly taxed, but the people in the Big Apple get double dipped by the local government to cover all of its costs.
It’s important to note the reasons Bloomberg is doing this:
Mr. Bloomberg concluded that given the city’s overall fiscal health, revenues that had come in so much higher than expected should be shared with taxpayers and plowed back into the economy.
AND
Under the mayor’s sales tax proposal, an existing exemption from the 4 percent city sales tax for clothing and footwear under $110 would be extended to purchases above that amount………………..
………………Such a change would make clothing sellers in the five boroughs more competitive with those in New Jersey, where all clothing is exempt from the sales tax.
And, of course, it is widely rumored that Bloomberg will run for President as an Independent candidate.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the federal government Tuesday for disaster aid because of an ongoing cold snap that has destroyed nearly $1 billion worth of California citrus, and industry officials said shoppers will feel the sting through higher prices for oranges, lemons and other produce.
Visiting a Fresno orange grove, Schwarzenegger said he was asking the U.S. government for disaster status, which would allow California to seek aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Small Business Administration to offset losses to growers and other businesses.
“This is not just about the crop this year. It could also have a devastating effect next year,” Schwarzenegger said. “My administration will make sure that we do everything we can to help the farmers and workers get through this.”
I can only long for the days of Calvin Coolidge, a true free market President, who once said “the business of America is business.” After commercial farmers had lobbied in Congress for relief from depressed conditions, Coolidge vetoed the resulting McNary-Haugen bill. Coolidge fully understood what the role of the Federal Government was and wasn’t, that there was no Constitutional provision allowing the Federal Government to use tax dollars to prop up an industry falling on hard times. Such is the case today with the California citrus freeze. It is wrong for Washington to drain the taxpayers of $1 billion in order to supply these companies with corporate welfare to cover their losses this year.
Many industries experience highs and lows due to market demand and even disaster. It is their responsibility to adapt to these new conditions and take measures to incur the least amount of loss possible. Things will bounce back and they don’t need our money to do it.
We at SaveTheGOP and other bloggers love to point out this or that statistic about economic growth justifying our love of free markets, and on a global scale, free trade. People often counter with moral questions of their own, usually focused on producers of goods at home (”you can’t do that! you’re making us ship jobs overseas!”) or the poor. How are our policies helping them, they ask? Isn’t our desire for unhampered free trade only good for oil barons and the Donald Trumps of the world?
Luckily Daniel T. Griswold from the CATO Institute has an article titled “Seven Moral Arguments for Free Trade.” Here are Griswold’s seven moral arguments:
1. Free trade respects the dignity and sovereignty of the individual.
2. Free trade restrains the power of the state.
3. Free trade encourages individuals to cultivate moral virtues.
4. Free trade brings people together across distance and cultures.
5. Free trade encourages other basic human rights, such as freedom of speech and religion.
6. Free trade fosters peace by raising the cost of war.
7. Free trade feeds and clothes the poor.
I’d recommend that everyone read the article in its entirety to read Griswold’s explanation of each moral. It’s a great ode to the benefits of a global free market.
I got this today from The Club for Growth
As you may recall, each year our Leadership Council develops a policy question that is submitted to ALL Club members for a vote. The vote by our members, which includes you, will be binding on the Club’s Board of Directors and the operations of the Club. To put it simply, you have a voice in shaping official policy for the Club for Growth. You can click on the link below to vote on the question.
After you are through, we hope that you will also answer the other questions that we have listed. By filling out this survey, you will help us identify your priorities, what we are doing right, and more importantly, what we are doing wrong! It will also help us expand the Club.
So we would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to vote and complete this survey today.
Sincerely,
Pat
The Corner reports that there is trouble brewing for tomorrow’s Republican National Committee meeting in Washington, during which Sen. Mel martinez is supposed to be elected “General Chairman.” The Washington Times has the details:
Rebellion is brewing among conservatives on the Republican National Committee over President’s Bush’s attempt to “impose” Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida as “general chairman” of the party, who favors “amnesty” for illegal aliens.
“I will be voting against Senator Martinez if he is nominated for any chairmanship of the RNC,” Tina Benkiser, Texas Republican Party chairman, told The Washington Times yesterday.
Bill Crocker, the elected national committeeman from Texas, says that when the RNC convenes here tomorrow, “Absolutely, I will vote against Martinez.”
The conservatives — one of whom accused the Bush White House of “outsourcing” party leadership — say the general-chairman post does not exist under RNC rules, which can be changed only at the party’s presidential nominating convention.
The Times further reports that the rebellious conservatives have enlisted the help of a certified parliamentarian, to prevent violations of Roberts Rules and the RNC’s own written rules.
Red State story here.
In fact, it’s not clear Tancredo is in line with the mainstream, social conservative wing of the GOP he seeks to align himself with. According to campaign finance reports, one of Tancredo’s biggest financial backers has been the family of Dr. John Tanton, the founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Wall Street Journal editorial-page features writer Jason Riley wrote a devastating piece about the organization back in 2004, in which the group’s pro-abortion and pro-eugenics roots were revealed.
Tanton is also one of the most prominent conservative financiers of Planned Parenthood in the United States, having helped found in the mid-1960s the first Planned Parenthood chapter in northern Michigan.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform and the Center for Immigration Studies may strike right-wing poses in the press, but both groups support big government, mock federalism, deride free markets and push a cultural agenda abhorrent to any self-respecting social conservative.
FAIR’s founder and former president is John Tanton, an eye doctor who opened the first Planned Parenthood chapter in northern Michigan. By Dr. Tanton’s own reckoning, FAIR has received more than $1.5 million from the Pioneer Fund, a white-supremacist outfit devoted to racial purity through eugenics.
Board members of FAIR actively promote the sterilization of Third World women for the purposes of reducing U.S. immigration prospects. And if anything disturbs the good doctor more than those Latin American hordes crossing the Rio Grande, it’s the likelihood that most of them are Catholic, or so he once told a Reuters reporter.
CIS, an equally repugnant FAIR offshoot, is a big fan of China’s one-child policy and publishes books advocating looser limits on abortion and wider use of RU-486. CIS considers the Sierra Club, which cites “stabilizing world population” fourth on its 21st century to-do list, as too moderate. And like FAIR, CIS has called for a target U.S. population of 150 million, about half of what it is today.
I post this just as an fyi. I am not taking a position either way, as I don’t think taking money from pro-choicers makes one pro-choice.
In a move pleasing fraternity members and NFL fans all across Georgia, the Georgia Legislature is considering allowing local communities to decide for themselves whether to allow alcohol sales on Sunday.
As an undergraduate student and conservative myself, I favor this bill for practical and ideological reasons - why should the state government tell me what I can and can’t buy just because of the day of the week (especially Sunday, which is clearly religiously motivated)? And, why am I allowed to go to a restaurant, get sloshed, and then drive home but not to go to a store and buy beverages to consume safely in my home?
From Georgia’s Legislative Watch:
Local communities would be able to decide for themselves whether beer and wine sales should be allowed on Sunday. The legislation introduced on by state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, sets up what is likely to be one of the hot battles under the gold dome this session. Georgia, Connecticut and Indiana are the only three states that ban the Sunday sale of all alcohol for off-premises consumption.
Stephen Spruiell has a nice article over at National Review Online detailing the power of the blogosphere (most notably groups like Porkbusters, the Club for Growth, The Sunlight Foundation, etc.) in exposing wasteful and deceiful antics by politicians. Though STG doesn’t have that kind of power (yet…) it’s pretty amazing when you think of what the blogosphere has been able to accomplish and I’d like to think that we help in that effort, at least in a small way.