With the election of the current Socialist-in-Chief the latest form of protest is a rash of petitions on whitehouse.gov for states to "peacefully" secede from the United States. So I thought I'd weigh in on this subject...
First is the question of whether or not it is Constitutional. The argument against it is a Supreme Court decision, Texas v. White 1868, that ruled it unconstitutional and, of course, the Civil War that put secession down by force. In argument for its Constitutionality is the simple fact that the surrender of the South was force, not law. There is no actual law stating that it is illegal/unconstitutional. True the Court did rule, but as we see now with Obamacare, the Court can make a mistake and rule in the wrong direction.
Also, how can the Court rule on the Constitutionality of an issue that is not discussed in the Constitution? The document makes no statement about secession, one way or another. In this case I would refer to the Constitution's preference for the States over the Federal Gov't. The 10th Amendment gives all powers not specifically granted to the Federal Govt, and not prohibited to the States, to the States themselves or the People. I would say the the ability of a State to secede would fall into that category.
Also, I would submit that the Constitution is not a despotic document. It was adopted in each state only after a consensual vote of its citizens. It did not force anyone to vote for it. If it was not adopted against any one's will, why should we interpret it to keep a state in that manner?
That being said, I think these petitions are a stupid idea!
First, they carry no weight. People are not proposing legislation. The Federal Govt has no obligation to even read them. What it does do is put every one's name, who is unhappy and angry at Obama and his administration, on easy to read lists that also have other information such as IP addresses. All you are doing is saving Obama the time of weeding out dissenters.
Actual secession can only be declared formally by the Legislature of each individual state. And such an action should not be taken lightly nor without fully understanding the consequences. If there is anything that history tells us it is that nothing less than civil war will achieve secession. Just like the previous attempt, the Federal Govt will bring the full weight and force of its resources to bear on the state in question. The only difference is that this time, a civil war would be much much worse. In the 1800's the Federal Govt was fighting to preserve the Union. This time, the Govt would be fighting to suppress the condemnation of this budding Socialist "utopia" that such an action would represent. Also, they would see it as taking resources from their already hemorrhaging social welfare programs.
If any state declares secession, the Govt will swoop down swiftly and mercilessly to crush them.
Showing posts with label anti-Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti-Obama. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Forward....
Well, the results are in. Barack Obama is re-elected for 4 more years. Liberals are jubilant, conservatives are de-moralized. However, the time for mourning is passed. It is time to fight for the country we love! We conservatives, the Tea Party, those of us that believe that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the most sacred documents outside the bible ever written...we ae the ones that have inherited that revolutionary spirit of our Fore Fathers. We who favor the "animating contest of liberty" over "the tranquility of servitude"...are we ready to fight?!? I say yes. Just because a socialist still occupies the White House has no bearing on my ideals.
So, what should we expect in the next 4 years? Here is my predictions:
-There is hardly any chance that Obamacare will be repealed now. Along with Dodd-Frank, it will be implemented in full. Where before they merely caused "uncertainty" in the market pending the election, now the Market knows what to expect. And what to expect are higher taxes, more regulations that cost money to comply with, and a mandate to provide all inclusive healthcare for every employee that will increase the cost of hiring new employees. Job growth, which was anemic at best, will most likely flat line before job losses rise.
-As the cost of Private Healthcare rises, as even the Obama Administration has admitted will happen, employers will begin to drop coverage for employees as the costs become too much to cope with. Falling wages will prevent individuals from affording it n their own as well. Healthcare providers will begin to fail and file for bankruptcy. The whole industry will be decimated if not out-right destroyed, taking millions of jobs with them.
-After businesses halt hiring, as a last ditch effort to cut costs, the cost of complying with excessive regulation will become too much too handle. While big businesses are able to absorb these costs in the short term, small businesses will begin to shutdown as they do not have the capital to comply.
-As businesses begin to close, the unemployment rate will rise and rise quickly. Obama will try to cover this up by continuing to use the U3 number which only includes workers that are on unemployment and those that have looked for work in the last 4 weeks. The U6, which is the real unemployment rate and includes the U3 people plus those that have given up looking for work and those that are marginally empoyed, is currently around 14-15% and will rise into the 20's. This will tip us over the point where there are more people taking from the Government than are putting into it.
-Obama and the EPA will further restrict gas and oil exploration. Permits on federal land will slow to a trickle and the EPA will start persuing legislation prohibiting exploration on private lands. ANWAR and the outer continental shelf will continue to be off limits to our own people while permits for these areas for other countries will be rushed through. Gas prices will rise to $6+/gallon, driving up the price of goods and service all through the Market.
-The Obama-EPA alliance will continue its plan to bankrupt the coal industry and close nuclear power plants shifting the burden of the US power grid on unproven and woefully inadequate green energy such as wind/solar/geothermal. Home enegry costs will skyrocket into the hundreds.
-The Fed, with Obama's blessing, will continue to print money for "quantitative easing" and more stimulus legislation will be implemented. This will kick off a period of hyper-inflation which will severly weaken, if not collapse, the value of the US dollar further rising costs of goods and services across the Market
-Harry Ried and the Democrat controlled Senate will continue to refuse to pass a federal budget continuing yearly trillion dollar deficits, ballooning the national debt. Refusal to reign in spending combined with no plan to reduce the debt will result in more credit downgrades until this situation changes.
-As job disappear and unemployment compensation runs out, the Federal Government will aggressively expand the welfare rolls. This will further tip the scales where even more people will be taking from the federal coffers than are paying into them.
-All these will culminate in the collapse of the US economy. It will begin in January with "Taxmeggedon" when the Obamacare tax combines with ending tax cuts and new taxes to increase taxes by an average of $4000/household.
-As the economy declines and hardships increase, violence and chaos across the country will climb. Obama will side-step the Republican controlled House to acquire more authority and power to himself by Executive Fiat, shredding the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution, in the name of "keeping the peace." As more power is centralized in the Federal Government, Individual rights will be trampled and discarded "for the greater good."
-The US will find no help from other countries as most of Europe is already holding fast to this same road to ruin. And those that are considered allies have seen how The Obama Administration sells out their firends and stab them in the back. Israel, now further isolated, will hold out against its enemies for a while. However, with the certainty that Obama will not stand beside them, and the real threat of a nuclear Iran, Israel will eventually be overrun and destroyed by its Muslim neighbors.
-By the end of his second term, Obama will have solidified enough power behind him to make his final push for "change." He will throw out as much of the Constitution as he can and implement European Socialism. Finally, before the next election Obama will try and circumvent the "two-term rule." We will hear pleas and testimony that he needs more time, and we can't change horse in the middle of the stream...just four more years and Obama can fix everything. Mark my words...before Nov. 6, 2016 Obama will try and install himself as Pres. for life.
-Obama will be aided in all of this by a biased media that will lie, cover-up and screen him from any real scrutiny.
If nothing changes, and changes big, this is the path I forsee for the next four years. I pray that I am wrong...
So, what should we expect in the next 4 years? Here is my predictions:
-There is hardly any chance that Obamacare will be repealed now. Along with Dodd-Frank, it will be implemented in full. Where before they merely caused "uncertainty" in the market pending the election, now the Market knows what to expect. And what to expect are higher taxes, more regulations that cost money to comply with, and a mandate to provide all inclusive healthcare for every employee that will increase the cost of hiring new employees. Job growth, which was anemic at best, will most likely flat line before job losses rise.
-As the cost of Private Healthcare rises, as even the Obama Administration has admitted will happen, employers will begin to drop coverage for employees as the costs become too much to cope with. Falling wages will prevent individuals from affording it n their own as well. Healthcare providers will begin to fail and file for bankruptcy. The whole industry will be decimated if not out-right destroyed, taking millions of jobs with them.
-After businesses halt hiring, as a last ditch effort to cut costs, the cost of complying with excessive regulation will become too much too handle. While big businesses are able to absorb these costs in the short term, small businesses will begin to shutdown as they do not have the capital to comply.
-As businesses begin to close, the unemployment rate will rise and rise quickly. Obama will try to cover this up by continuing to use the U3 number which only includes workers that are on unemployment and those that have looked for work in the last 4 weeks. The U6, which is the real unemployment rate and includes the U3 people plus those that have given up looking for work and those that are marginally empoyed, is currently around 14-15% and will rise into the 20's. This will tip us over the point where there are more people taking from the Government than are putting into it.
-Obama and the EPA will further restrict gas and oil exploration. Permits on federal land will slow to a trickle and the EPA will start persuing legislation prohibiting exploration on private lands. ANWAR and the outer continental shelf will continue to be off limits to our own people while permits for these areas for other countries will be rushed through. Gas prices will rise to $6+/gallon, driving up the price of goods and service all through the Market.
-The Obama-EPA alliance will continue its plan to bankrupt the coal industry and close nuclear power plants shifting the burden of the US power grid on unproven and woefully inadequate green energy such as wind/solar/geothermal. Home enegry costs will skyrocket into the hundreds.
-The Fed, with Obama's blessing, will continue to print money for "quantitative easing" and more stimulus legislation will be implemented. This will kick off a period of hyper-inflation which will severly weaken, if not collapse, the value of the US dollar further rising costs of goods and services across the Market
-Harry Ried and the Democrat controlled Senate will continue to refuse to pass a federal budget continuing yearly trillion dollar deficits, ballooning the national debt. Refusal to reign in spending combined with no plan to reduce the debt will result in more credit downgrades until this situation changes.
-As job disappear and unemployment compensation runs out, the Federal Government will aggressively expand the welfare rolls. This will further tip the scales where even more people will be taking from the federal coffers than are paying into them.
-All these will culminate in the collapse of the US economy. It will begin in January with "Taxmeggedon" when the Obamacare tax combines with ending tax cuts and new taxes to increase taxes by an average of $4000/household.
-As the economy declines and hardships increase, violence and chaos across the country will climb. Obama will side-step the Republican controlled House to acquire more authority and power to himself by Executive Fiat, shredding the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution, in the name of "keeping the peace." As more power is centralized in the Federal Government, Individual rights will be trampled and discarded "for the greater good."
-The US will find no help from other countries as most of Europe is already holding fast to this same road to ruin. And those that are considered allies have seen how The Obama Administration sells out their firends and stab them in the back. Israel, now further isolated, will hold out against its enemies for a while. However, with the certainty that Obama will not stand beside them, and the real threat of a nuclear Iran, Israel will eventually be overrun and destroyed by its Muslim neighbors.
-By the end of his second term, Obama will have solidified enough power behind him to make his final push for "change." He will throw out as much of the Constitution as he can and implement European Socialism. Finally, before the next election Obama will try and circumvent the "two-term rule." We will hear pleas and testimony that he needs more time, and we can't change horse in the middle of the stream...just four more years and Obama can fix everything. Mark my words...before Nov. 6, 2016 Obama will try and install himself as Pres. for life.
-Obama will be aided in all of this by a biased media that will lie, cover-up and screen him from any real scrutiny.
If nothing changes, and changes big, this is the path I forsee for the next four years. I pray that I am wrong...
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Obamacare
So, SCOTUS ruled that Obamacare is constitutional. At first I was quite pissed about this. Obamacare is, and remains, a horrible piece of legislation that is unconstitutional. However, upon reading exerts from Chief Justice Roberts opinion, I have to admit there may be a silver lining to this cloud. Now it could be that Roberts totally abandoned conservatives and changed his views, or it could be a shrewd political move meant to out-flank Obama and his socialist cadres. Or maybe I am just grasping at straws...
Anyway, here is how I see it...
The Court ruled, 5-4, to uphold Obamacare in its enitrety, including the individual mandate. CJ Roberts wrote the opinion for the Court. In summary he noted that there two ways to interpret the law. One way is where the mandate is just that, a decree that all Americans purchase the level of healthcare that the government feels you should have or face a monetary penalty. The other is the one argued by Obama's attorneys before the court when defending the constitutionality of the law: that the mandate is merely a tax on behavior, a practice the government already uses in other areas of everyday life. And in the case where a law has two interpretations, one constitutional and one not, there is a precident in the Court to favor the interpretation that favors the constitution. So, the court ruled Obamacare constitutional based on the government's argument that is a tax, not a mandate forcing citizens to purchase something they do not want.
Now, let us be honest with ourselves. While the ideal situation would have been that the entire law be struck down, that scenario was never likely. The next best scenario was that the individual mandate would be struck down but the rest of the law would stand. But what would happen in that scenario? If the mandate were taken out, but the rest of the law upheld, it would loose its teeth as for individual citizens, but this is not the only issue here. With the bulk of the law intact, its interpretation against religious liberty, namely forcing religious institutions to abandon tenets of their faith, still stands. The provision forcing every employer that provides healthcare to give a mandatory level of care will stand, forcing employers to stop offering healthcare to keep costs down and making them reluctant to hire. In short, only a portion of the what is wrong would be fixed, still leaving a juggernaut that will wreck the economy anyway.
So, CJ Roberts chose option number three. He assented to the constitutionality of Obamacare. Here is the crux of my argument. I believe he did so for a specific reason: if Roberts assents he thereby gets to write the opinion and limit the laws impact, scope and meaning. And this what he did.
In defining the mandate as a tax Roberts throws the entire "Commerce Claus" justification out of the window, ruling that the federal government has no right or authority to compel citizens to engage in commerce for any reason. This is important as it was the key issue: can the federal government force people to buy a product they do not want. Roberts decided definitely no! He simply redefines it as a power Congress already exercises, rightly or wrongly is not the point here. The point is that he makes sure not to the federal government any new regulatory powers.
The bad news is that the law stands...for now. A law can still be repealed. Worse is that it is upheld on grounds almost as shaky as the "Commerce Clause" justification. To justify this under Congress's taxing power is in itself an assault on the constitution. In defining Congress's ENUMERATED powers, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states that "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."
To tax one group of people and not another based solely on behavior that is not illegal, but merely unliked by the government, is hardly uniform. It is the same reason why the current income tax is unconstitutional. It is not applied uniformly over the population.
So, now here is the good news. First, no matter if the law in constitutional or not, it remains grossly unpopular and gets more so everyday as more businesses are forced not to hire or drop health coverage to keep costs down. With the Court's decision, Obama cannot distance himself from an unpopular law in an election year. Now that it's constitutionality intact, Obamacare is now settled sqarely around Obama's neck.
Next, Obama cannot use the Court as a scapegoat anymore. Campaigning against a mean, conservative Court out to get poor little Obama doesn't work when the Court does what you want.
Third, to make a case for its constitutionality before the Court, Obama's lawyers were forced to acknowledge, indeed, forcefully assert that the "mandate" was in fact a tax. So, in an election year, Obama's administration is now on record fighting for higher taxes on ALL Americans. And this after he swore up and down in 2009 that Obamacare would never raise taxes on the middle and lower class.
Lastly, in the fight to repeal Obamacare, this is now a huge weapon. Americans hate taxes of any stripe. So, with this defined as a tax, it will be easier to pitch to people to get rid of it. "You want lower taxes, get rid of Obamacare."
So, as I said, I may be reaching here...but, while not ideal, there is a silver lining to this horrible cloud.
Anyway, here is how I see it...
The Court ruled, 5-4, to uphold Obamacare in its enitrety, including the individual mandate. CJ Roberts wrote the opinion for the Court. In summary he noted that there two ways to interpret the law. One way is where the mandate is just that, a decree that all Americans purchase the level of healthcare that the government feels you should have or face a monetary penalty. The other is the one argued by Obama's attorneys before the court when defending the constitutionality of the law: that the mandate is merely a tax on behavior, a practice the government already uses in other areas of everyday life. And in the case where a law has two interpretations, one constitutional and one not, there is a precident in the Court to favor the interpretation that favors the constitution. So, the court ruled Obamacare constitutional based on the government's argument that is a tax, not a mandate forcing citizens to purchase something they do not want.
Now, let us be honest with ourselves. While the ideal situation would have been that the entire law be struck down, that scenario was never likely. The next best scenario was that the individual mandate would be struck down but the rest of the law would stand. But what would happen in that scenario? If the mandate were taken out, but the rest of the law upheld, it would loose its teeth as for individual citizens, but this is not the only issue here. With the bulk of the law intact, its interpretation against religious liberty, namely forcing religious institutions to abandon tenets of their faith, still stands. The provision forcing every employer that provides healthcare to give a mandatory level of care will stand, forcing employers to stop offering healthcare to keep costs down and making them reluctant to hire. In short, only a portion of the what is wrong would be fixed, still leaving a juggernaut that will wreck the economy anyway.
So, CJ Roberts chose option number three. He assented to the constitutionality of Obamacare. Here is the crux of my argument. I believe he did so for a specific reason: if Roberts assents he thereby gets to write the opinion and limit the laws impact, scope and meaning. And this what he did.
In defining the mandate as a tax Roberts throws the entire "Commerce Claus" justification out of the window, ruling that the federal government has no right or authority to compel citizens to engage in commerce for any reason. This is important as it was the key issue: can the federal government force people to buy a product they do not want. Roberts decided definitely no! He simply redefines it as a power Congress already exercises, rightly or wrongly is not the point here. The point is that he makes sure not to the federal government any new regulatory powers.
The bad news is that the law stands...for now. A law can still be repealed. Worse is that it is upheld on grounds almost as shaky as the "Commerce Clause" justification. To justify this under Congress's taxing power is in itself an assault on the constitution. In defining Congress's ENUMERATED powers, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states that "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."
To tax one group of people and not another based solely on behavior that is not illegal, but merely unliked by the government, is hardly uniform. It is the same reason why the current income tax is unconstitutional. It is not applied uniformly over the population.
So, now here is the good news. First, no matter if the law in constitutional or not, it remains grossly unpopular and gets more so everyday as more businesses are forced not to hire or drop health coverage to keep costs down. With the Court's decision, Obama cannot distance himself from an unpopular law in an election year. Now that it's constitutionality intact, Obamacare is now settled sqarely around Obama's neck.
Next, Obama cannot use the Court as a scapegoat anymore. Campaigning against a mean, conservative Court out to get poor little Obama doesn't work when the Court does what you want.
Third, to make a case for its constitutionality before the Court, Obama's lawyers were forced to acknowledge, indeed, forcefully assert that the "mandate" was in fact a tax. So, in an election year, Obama's administration is now on record fighting for higher taxes on ALL Americans. And this after he swore up and down in 2009 that Obamacare would never raise taxes on the middle and lower class.
Lastly, in the fight to repeal Obamacare, this is now a huge weapon. Americans hate taxes of any stripe. So, with this defined as a tax, it will be easier to pitch to people to get rid of it. "You want lower taxes, get rid of Obamacare."
So, as I said, I may be reaching here...but, while not ideal, there is a silver lining to this horrible cloud.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Conservatism: Back to Basics-Introduction
One of the people that responded to my "contest" brought up a really good point. It is actually a topic that I have considered before and just never committed to it since what is needed to cover the subject is quite an involved undertaking. However, since it has been brought to my attention again, I will take it as a sign that it is time.
My thanks to Ambient Malice for bringing up a valid point. It is a problem that underpins most of our problems today. It is a problem of understanding, of terminology and definition. For decades Conservatives on the national stage have failed to defend conservatism against its opponents. The thinking, I'm sure, was that to dignify the arguement wit ha response was to give them a measure validation. So conservatives have ignored liberals when they accuse them of things like racism. Well, taking the intellectual high road is all well and good but it has had a disastrous consequence. We have let liberals define what conservativism is.
We have let them saddle us with the label of "racist" when time and again it is liberal democrats that have earned that moniker with Jim Crow laws, Black Codes, segregation, the founding of the KKK, etc. It has been conservative republicans that advocated abolition of slavery and Civil Rights. Republicans founded the first black colleges and affirmative action. Freed slaves voted for years in the South after the Civil War, during Reconstruction, until the democrats took over again.
Liberals have defined conservatism as harmful to the elderly when it is liberals who are trying to keep Social Security which is projected to become insolvent within the next 15 years and gives a worse return on investment than a private retirement. They also advocate taking out Medicare Advantage, a free market approach to healthcare passed by republicans that gave seniors more choices, which is the most popular medicare program. Conservatives want to transition from Social Security, which costs the federal government more than $500 billion a year, to a private investment system which will provide a 17% increase in returns over Social Security and also more security since Congress is not actually obligated to pay anything and can change the legislation at anytime.
Liberals have labeled conservatives as being mean to the poor, disadvantaged, and the middle class. However, their "solution" is an ever increasing system of hand-outs and free rides that give the poor and disadvantage no incentive to get out of poverty, keeps them dependent on the government, and continuously decreases their marketable skills the longer they are on the programs. And it is the liberal addiction to over regulation and taxes that is destroying the economy and killing jobs, i.e. the middle class. Conservatism also wants to help the poor, but we do not want to make it easy to stay poor. We want to help the poor while giving them every incentive to get out of poverty and teh drive to do it. And it is the conservative policy of deregulation and lower taxes that, time and again, has proven to grow both the economy and the middle class through job growth and wealth creation.
Are you getting the picture? Everytime liberalism is implimented it has the exact opposite of its stated intent and hurt the country and the people. Everytime they blame conservatives and our silence, our taking the high road, lets them get away with it. Consider the past 3 and a half years. For the first two years of his presidency Barack Obama has had a super majority in both houses of Congress. Republicans did not even have the ability to delay legislation let alone block it. He had the ability to pass anything he wanted, and did. He got his trillion dollar stimulus, Obamacare, and a host of other bills including the expansion of the Patriot Act to give the president control of resources in a crisis, which he defines, and teh ability to arrest and detain citizens without trial.
What has the result been? The economy is in the tank. The housing market is still decimated, homes have not regained their value, tens of millions of jobs lost, unemployment is above 8%, and really more like 12% if you count those who are no longer receiveing benefits and those that are underemployed, which the government doesn't, and the explosion of the welfare state and increase of people on food stamps. And for all of this, Obama is still blaming Bush, and conservatives in Congress. At the same time he and his administration is using media gimicks such as low-balling unemployment and over-estimating economic numbers one week and tehn revising them up and down, respectively, the next week once they served their purpose.
No more! This time is different. This time conservatives are fighting back. We are not remaining silent so that the "status quo" can be maintained. We are getting down in the trenches and mixing it up intellectually. With or with out the "Party's" consent or participation.
But here we come to the crux of the matter: the problem of terminology. Because of the liberal educational system's deliberate failure to teach things like history and civics, a large portion of americans have no idea what we conservatives are talking about. They were never taught the history of our founding. I could write endlessly about conservatism vs. liberalism/socialism, but it won't matter if people we are trying to reach do not know what conservatism is, or that liberalism really is re-labeled socialism. It could preach that this or that law or bill is unconstitutional, but what good is that if someone doesn't know the Constitution?
There are many people that have taken on the task of educating people, see Bill Whittle's channel on youtube, also LearnLiberty.org, and others.
To do my little part, I am going to start a continuous series on this blog that I call "Back to Basics." I will attempt to cover things from the history of why the Founding Fathers opposed England and found it so abhorrent to live under crown law to the very Constitution itself, article by article.
So, stay tuned...
But, first, how about a participation question...What does Conservatism mean to you? You may simply consider this question personally or, if you feel brave, post your thoughts in the comments below.
My thanks to Ambient Malice for bringing up a valid point. It is a problem that underpins most of our problems today. It is a problem of understanding, of terminology and definition. For decades Conservatives on the national stage have failed to defend conservatism against its opponents. The thinking, I'm sure, was that to dignify the arguement wit ha response was to give them a measure validation. So conservatives have ignored liberals when they accuse them of things like racism. Well, taking the intellectual high road is all well and good but it has had a disastrous consequence. We have let liberals define what conservativism is.
We have let them saddle us with the label of "racist" when time and again it is liberal democrats that have earned that moniker with Jim Crow laws, Black Codes, segregation, the founding of the KKK, etc. It has been conservative republicans that advocated abolition of slavery and Civil Rights. Republicans founded the first black colleges and affirmative action. Freed slaves voted for years in the South after the Civil War, during Reconstruction, until the democrats took over again.
Liberals have defined conservatism as harmful to the elderly when it is liberals who are trying to keep Social Security which is projected to become insolvent within the next 15 years and gives a worse return on investment than a private retirement. They also advocate taking out Medicare Advantage, a free market approach to healthcare passed by republicans that gave seniors more choices, which is the most popular medicare program. Conservatives want to transition from Social Security, which costs the federal government more than $500 billion a year, to a private investment system which will provide a 17% increase in returns over Social Security and also more security since Congress is not actually obligated to pay anything and can change the legislation at anytime.
Liberals have labeled conservatives as being mean to the poor, disadvantaged, and the middle class. However, their "solution" is an ever increasing system of hand-outs and free rides that give the poor and disadvantage no incentive to get out of poverty, keeps them dependent on the government, and continuously decreases their marketable skills the longer they are on the programs. And it is the liberal addiction to over regulation and taxes that is destroying the economy and killing jobs, i.e. the middle class. Conservatism also wants to help the poor, but we do not want to make it easy to stay poor. We want to help the poor while giving them every incentive to get out of poverty and teh drive to do it. And it is the conservative policy of deregulation and lower taxes that, time and again, has proven to grow both the economy and the middle class through job growth and wealth creation.
Are you getting the picture? Everytime liberalism is implimented it has the exact opposite of its stated intent and hurt the country and the people. Everytime they blame conservatives and our silence, our taking the high road, lets them get away with it. Consider the past 3 and a half years. For the first two years of his presidency Barack Obama has had a super majority in both houses of Congress. Republicans did not even have the ability to delay legislation let alone block it. He had the ability to pass anything he wanted, and did. He got his trillion dollar stimulus, Obamacare, and a host of other bills including the expansion of the Patriot Act to give the president control of resources in a crisis, which he defines, and teh ability to arrest and detain citizens without trial.
What has the result been? The economy is in the tank. The housing market is still decimated, homes have not regained their value, tens of millions of jobs lost, unemployment is above 8%, and really more like 12% if you count those who are no longer receiveing benefits and those that are underemployed, which the government doesn't, and the explosion of the welfare state and increase of people on food stamps. And for all of this, Obama is still blaming Bush, and conservatives in Congress. At the same time he and his administration is using media gimicks such as low-balling unemployment and over-estimating economic numbers one week and tehn revising them up and down, respectively, the next week once they served their purpose.
No more! This time is different. This time conservatives are fighting back. We are not remaining silent so that the "status quo" can be maintained. We are getting down in the trenches and mixing it up intellectually. With or with out the "Party's" consent or participation.
But here we come to the crux of the matter: the problem of terminology. Because of the liberal educational system's deliberate failure to teach things like history and civics, a large portion of americans have no idea what we conservatives are talking about. They were never taught the history of our founding. I could write endlessly about conservatism vs. liberalism/socialism, but it won't matter if people we are trying to reach do not know what conservatism is, or that liberalism really is re-labeled socialism. It could preach that this or that law or bill is unconstitutional, but what good is that if someone doesn't know the Constitution?
There are many people that have taken on the task of educating people, see Bill Whittle's channel on youtube, also LearnLiberty.org, and others.
To do my little part, I am going to start a continuous series on this blog that I call "Back to Basics." I will attempt to cover things from the history of why the Founding Fathers opposed England and found it so abhorrent to live under crown law to the very Constitution itself, article by article.
So, stay tuned...
But, first, how about a participation question...What does Conservatism mean to you? You may simply consider this question personally or, if you feel brave, post your thoughts in the comments below.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
What happens now
The Republican primary is all but over. With Santorum out of the running, the clear second place in this race, it is all but certain that Romney will get the nomination. Ron Paul has never even come close to reaching the number one position (sorry Paul-ies, its the truth). And Gingrich, in my opinion, is too erratic, and is out if money. Though, who knows, anything can happen. As for me, personally, my candidate was Rick Santorum and eventhough he has dropped out, I still can not bring myself to vote for Romney in the primary. Primaries are for the candidate you want, not the one you can live with.
Further more, I have strong reservations about Romney. He has yet to convince me that his conservatism is genuine, I want a candidate that feels it in his gut, not one that has to think about the answer that will go best with the audience he is speaking to. Romney care gives me great concern. It may be constitutional for a state to dabble in healthcare, it is still unconstitutional to force the people to buy a product/service. It also takes the biggest issue for conservatism, Obamacare, off the debate table. Other issues include taxes, I do not believe he will go as far as is needed in simplifying the tax code, and I do not believe he will go as far as is needed to shrink government. The Fed, which actually isn't a gov't agency and the EPA need to be completely abolished and the Departments of Education and State, not to be drastically reduced and overhauled, if not completely eliminated as well.
That being said, here is what happens now...
Romney will get the nomination and, despite the Left's desperate wishes to the contrary, it will not mean a certain victory for Comrade Obama. Because after the Primary is over, and we have a nominee, all Conservatives WILL get behind him and vote. There are too many issues and consequences involved. Romney may not be the ideal candidate, none of them are, but he is a hell of a lot better than Obama.
Romney will, I believe, at least halt the path the Obama and the Left have put us on and perhaps institute a few conservative measures. However, if Obama is re-elected, there is no telling how much more damage will be done to the country, how many more socialist policies he will enact by executive fiat, ignoring Congress. If you consider that he will not even be beholden to the people since he no longer needs to worry about an election, this threat become even graver.
Believe me, most other conservative feel the same way. We will vote for Mitt Romney's shoe over Obama for a second time. And if you believe in this country at all, want to see it great again, and believe that prosperity and liberty are essential to life, you will do the same.
Further more, I have strong reservations about Romney. He has yet to convince me that his conservatism is genuine, I want a candidate that feels it in his gut, not one that has to think about the answer that will go best with the audience he is speaking to. Romney care gives me great concern. It may be constitutional for a state to dabble in healthcare, it is still unconstitutional to force the people to buy a product/service. It also takes the biggest issue for conservatism, Obamacare, off the debate table. Other issues include taxes, I do not believe he will go as far as is needed in simplifying the tax code, and I do not believe he will go as far as is needed to shrink government. The Fed, which actually isn't a gov't agency and the EPA need to be completely abolished and the Departments of Education and State, not to be drastically reduced and overhauled, if not completely eliminated as well.
That being said, here is what happens now...
Romney will get the nomination and, despite the Left's desperate wishes to the contrary, it will not mean a certain victory for Comrade Obama. Because after the Primary is over, and we have a nominee, all Conservatives WILL get behind him and vote. There are too many issues and consequences involved. Romney may not be the ideal candidate, none of them are, but he is a hell of a lot better than Obama.
Romney will, I believe, at least halt the path the Obama and the Left have put us on and perhaps institute a few conservative measures. However, if Obama is re-elected, there is no telling how much more damage will be done to the country, how many more socialist policies he will enact by executive fiat, ignoring Congress. If you consider that he will not even be beholden to the people since he no longer needs to worry about an election, this threat become even graver.
Believe me, most other conservative feel the same way. We will vote for Mitt Romney's shoe over Obama for a second time. And if you believe in this country at all, want to see it great again, and believe that prosperity and liberty are essential to life, you will do the same.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
THE Problem part 2
Last week I wrote a post where I proposed that while the economy, the attack on and erosion of the constitution, and other prominent issues of the day, while important, are actually symptoms and consequences of a larger problem. That problem is the social issues.
The social issues influence public life. They affect how people view the world, how they interpret it. A person's idea of what the social issues are influence what laws and policies they favor, which ones they agree with and which ones they will work to get rid of. They also affect who they will vote for.
Another aspect of this underlying problem of lack of understanding of social issues is Us. "We the People." The American citizenry. And this is what I want to address.
Barack Obama has been disastrous for this country. He has expanded government power racked up more ruinous debt, and divided the people more than any other preident in the past 50 years at least. But he is still just a man. He did not seize power at the head of a military coup. He was elected by a majority of the population. We the People put him in office.
Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have passed bills that have contributed to the over reach of government into our every day lives. Over the past century they have helped the federal government consolidate power away from the states and the People. They are still men. They were elected time and again by The People. Some of these congressmen have been in office for decades and have had the same views and agendas for all that time.
The judiciary may not be elected directly, but they are appointed by these official that are elected.
We are part of the problem. Not only the people that support this kind of government action but the rest of us too. I, and people like me, who have voted and spoken out against Obama and his Liberal cadres, may not have voted for them but it is up to us to inform and educate the rest. We have been lax in this responsibility.
I, myself, am guilty of this. Yes, I now have this blog where I air conservative views and opinions, at least how I see them, and yes I am not afraid to rise to the defense of my positions with vigor. However, I rarely start the conversation. Whether out of anxiety, laziness, or apathy it is rare that I walk up to a person that I know has a Liberal mindset and ask why they feel this way and ask them to defend their views. Even with more moderately minded people have I rarely started a conversation.
We avoid the subject either because we do not want to offend, or just don't want the hassle that such a conversation would bring. If we are unwilling to do this, how can we expect the country to change?
Elections are important. They are vital aspects in a Constitutional Republic such as ours but they will always be hampered and crippled if the people do not know how they work and why they work that way. If we get a Conservative president and legislature their priorities will be repeal bad laws and restoring the Constitution to its original function. This will require new amendments and the repeal of old ones. These will have to be voted on by the People. Also, how long will the country stay on the path back to the Rule of Law if the people do not know the Constitution as they are the ones that will elect future presidents and congressmen?
We Constututionalists have been complacent. When was the last time the Constitution was taught in schools? I don't just mean the history of it. I mean taking it line by line, every article, section and amendment. How many people in this country know the enumerated powers given to the federal government? Or that the Tenth Amendment gives all rights and powers not specifically given to the government in the Constitution to the States and the People? Or the Seventeenth Amendment destroyed the voice of the States in the government by making senators directly elected by the people?
We must start educating the next generations as to the how's and why's of our system of government. If the schools will not do it because they are funded and co-opted then it is up to each individual person to instill these values and knowledge ourselves. If we do not, then whatever gains we make now will last only until the next generation.
The social issues influence public life. They affect how people view the world, how they interpret it. A person's idea of what the social issues are influence what laws and policies they favor, which ones they agree with and which ones they will work to get rid of. They also affect who they will vote for.
Another aspect of this underlying problem of lack of understanding of social issues is Us. "We the People." The American citizenry. And this is what I want to address.
Barack Obama has been disastrous for this country. He has expanded government power racked up more ruinous debt, and divided the people more than any other preident in the past 50 years at least. But he is still just a man. He did not seize power at the head of a military coup. He was elected by a majority of the population. We the People put him in office.
Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have passed bills that have contributed to the over reach of government into our every day lives. Over the past century they have helped the federal government consolidate power away from the states and the People. They are still men. They were elected time and again by The People. Some of these congressmen have been in office for decades and have had the same views and agendas for all that time.
The judiciary may not be elected directly, but they are appointed by these official that are elected.
We are part of the problem. Not only the people that support this kind of government action but the rest of us too. I, and people like me, who have voted and spoken out against Obama and his Liberal cadres, may not have voted for them but it is up to us to inform and educate the rest. We have been lax in this responsibility.
I, myself, am guilty of this. Yes, I now have this blog where I air conservative views and opinions, at least how I see them, and yes I am not afraid to rise to the defense of my positions with vigor. However, I rarely start the conversation. Whether out of anxiety, laziness, or apathy it is rare that I walk up to a person that I know has a Liberal mindset and ask why they feel this way and ask them to defend their views. Even with more moderately minded people have I rarely started a conversation.
We avoid the subject either because we do not want to offend, or just don't want the hassle that such a conversation would bring. If we are unwilling to do this, how can we expect the country to change?
Elections are important. They are vital aspects in a Constitutional Republic such as ours but they will always be hampered and crippled if the people do not know how they work and why they work that way. If we get a Conservative president and legislature their priorities will be repeal bad laws and restoring the Constitution to its original function. This will require new amendments and the repeal of old ones. These will have to be voted on by the People. Also, how long will the country stay on the path back to the Rule of Law if the people do not know the Constitution as they are the ones that will elect future presidents and congressmen?
We Constututionalists have been complacent. When was the last time the Constitution was taught in schools? I don't just mean the history of it. I mean taking it line by line, every article, section and amendment. How many people in this country know the enumerated powers given to the federal government? Or that the Tenth Amendment gives all rights and powers not specifically given to the government in the Constitution to the States and the People? Or the Seventeenth Amendment destroyed the voice of the States in the government by making senators directly elected by the people?
We must start educating the next generations as to the how's and why's of our system of government. If the schools will not do it because they are funded and co-opted then it is up to each individual person to instill these values and knowledge ourselves. If we do not, then whatever gains we make now will last only until the next generation.
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