Vote an Incumbant Out Campaign 2010

From MartialTalk-Posted by celtic_crippler 11-18-2009
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Vote an Incumbant Out Campaign 2010

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I just heard an announcement about Senator Robert Byrd setting a record just 2 days before his 92nd birthday for serving 57 years in Congress...

57 f'n years!?!?! REALLY?!?!?!

He's served since the Eisenhower administration.

What the hell does this guy have in common with any of you? How can somebody "represent" you, when they can't relate to "you" or your every day problems?

I remember Senator Strom Thurmond once refer to a microphone as a "machine"...

Anyway, our government is full of out-of-touch incumbants that have LONG out-served their usefullness. These bloated parasites have fed off our successes and contributed to our problems for too long.

Why vote them in again? They've had over 1/2 century to screw our country up, and as evidenced by today's environment have done a pretty good job of it too.

"We" share the blame for becoming apathetic and complacent, allowing them to return to office over, and over, and over... so we must STOP.

"We" all know that we can not trust nor count on our current representation to do anything other than pushing us further over the edge.

"We" have to start making changes, real ones, somewhere and there's no better place than at the polls.

"We" know there's no real change on the horizon if "we" trust our county's leadership to bring it about. "We" must do that ourselves... so...

Vote an Incumbant OUT in 2010.

Send a definate message to all that remain that we're mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it any more. You screw up, and do a horrible job and we'll fire your sorry butt!

Spread the word! Vote them OUT! We need fresh perspectives and ideas.

99 Weeks Later, and my Beni's Ran Out. Woe is Me!

99 Weeks Later, and my Beni's Ran Out. Woe is Me!

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Quote:

Jobless army grows as aid ends Facebook holds stories of unemployed WNYers crying out for help They call themselves the 99ers and with each new week their numbers grow by the thousands. There are so many of them — nearly 3,000 in Western New York alone — they have their own statewide Facebook page. "Nobody is hiring, and I can't afford to lose my place to live," said Mike Papay, one of the hundreds of jobless who have told their story on Facebook. "I've already had my vehicles taken. This is crazy! Somebody please help!"

Funny, I see lots of help wanted signs out. Maybe these 99 weekers should stop holding out for that CEO job and go stock shelves at the market, flip burgers at Mickie Dees or cut some grass already. It's work, it's money, and you ain't too good to do it dumbass.



Lets "create" a job for the "there's no jobs out there" folks.

1 Get off ass, knock on doors. Ask old person "Is it worth $10 a week for me to come by and put your garbage can at the curb for you, then come back the next day and put it away?"

Each YES = $520 per year. 10 = $5,200. 25 = $13,000

2. Get off ass again, knock on doors. Ask person "Is it worth $20 a month for me to stop by and wash your car, $35 a month for a wash, wax and detail?"

Each YES = $240-$420 10=$2,400-$4,200 25 = $6,000-$10,500

3. Get off ass yet again. (See a trend here?) Go door to door, ask "Is it worth $20 a week for me to come by and cut your grass with my mulching mower, and sweep up the sidewalk after I'm done?"

Each YES = $1,040. 10=$10,400 25=$26,000

Wow. just shy of a $50,000 income, and it's all cash. Yeah, theres some expense involved. Gas for the mower, bottle of car wash solution, a bucket, a sponge and a shammy, but still. $50 down, $6-10 a week in expense, and you've made $30k-50k cash.

Can you find 25-100 people to do this for in 2 fracking years?

If the answer is no, then you are not looking hard enough.

Have you called your Congressional Rep? I Did.

A lot of people are howling and screaming about Congress these days. I know, I'm one of them. But most of those folks screaming haven't taken the time to actually try to communicate with their reps.

I spent a pleasant 22 minutes on the phone this afternoon with a person at Rep. Brian Higgin's Washington office discussing the health bill.  Now, I identified myself up front as someone who disagreed with Mr. Higgin's vote, but I said rather than be a jerk, I'd like to give them a chance to clear up my possible issues. We had a very informative discussion, and he was very polite about it. While I'm still opposed to the bill, I do feel I have a better understanding of how it will be effecting me, and I seriously suggest anyone else with questions, make a call. Be polite, be specific, and don't be a jerk. 

For phone numbers, visit house.gov or senate.gov.

My questions involved the Medicare Advantage changes (short answer, don't panic) and how the subsidy will be paid (short answer, tax credit at income tax time similar to the EIC pay outs.) We also discussed how these changed will effect small businesses such as my own, and a bit on the credit crunch.

While I'm still opposed to the mandate, I do feel more comfortable about how things are intended to go. I've done my duty in registering my concerns and feel quite comfortable in calling back again later.

Participating in the process.  Try it. It works better than pissing and moaning over an overpriced coffee in a coffee shop.

FBI Investigates Possible Threats Directed at House Democrats

FBI Investigates Possible Threats Directed at House Democrats

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...use-democrats/

Quote:

More than 10 lawmakers have complained they've received threats since the run-up to Sunday's House vote on a health insurance overhaul, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Wednesday, and law enforcement officials are taking the allegations seriously. Federal law enforcement officials are investigating at least two possible threats directed at members of Congress and their families that Democrats suggest are related to their vote for health care reform. Plus the office of Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. -- who initially opposed the Senate's health bill over concerns about abortion funding but switched to support the plan following assurance from the White House -- has received several threatening messages, recordings of which have been obtained by Fox News.

First, let me be very specific in my words here. I do not approve of violence, vandalism or threats. Directed at congress, the President, or their families.

That said, I can understand the frustration many feel as of late, a frustration that is growing as the divide between government and the people widens.

Understand, if you threaten these people, you -will- be investigated. Understand that the Secret Service, the FBI and the Capital Police are not slouches when it comes to their jobs, and they will put maximum effort into these investigations.

With all that said however, I feel that I must say, if any lawmaker is currently a little afraid, then Good.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson

They should fear for their jobs, their elite status, their special privilege, and their perks. It's not the time for them to fear for their lives. As I've said before, bombard them with letters, emails, phone calls. Protest, peacefully, outside their offices. Show up at their rally's and peacefully protest. Support their opponents who hold your views as important, who will need your time, your money, your efforts and your votes. Government in the US changes at the voting booth, not the battle field.

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House votes to pass Dem Health Bill.

The House voted to pass the Senate plan which now goes to Obama to sign into law.

In a separate vote the House voted to send a list of "fixes" to the Senate to vote on. No guarantee the Senate will do as they wish. If they do so, it is expected that Obama will sign that as well.

Numerous challenges are reportedly in the works from State governments.

Virginia has passed a law exempting it's citizens from compliance. Several House Dems have laughed at that idea.

It is expected that the battle will move to the US Supreme Court to decide the Constitutionality of forcing citizens to purchase insurance from 3rd parties as well as several other aspects of the bill.

The fall out from this will drag on and effect this years campaign season with the House and a 3rd of the Senate up for grabs. Republicans stand to gain the most as voter disappointment is currently directed at Democrats. 3rd parties stand a chance to make significant gains for the first time in decades, provided they don't self destruct in the process.

It is truly interesting times.

Virginia passes bill banning mandated health care.

Virginia passes bill banning mandated health care.

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March 13, 2010
State Stands Up Against Obama-Care

Virginia OKs first bill banning mandated health care


http://video.foxnews.com/v/4104280/s...nst-obama-care

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031003908.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35801644...more_politics/


Nice to see Virginia finding a pair again.

Random Quotes on Taxation

Random Quotes on Taxation

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I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents... -- James Madison

When there's a single thief, it's robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it's taxation. -- Vanya Cohen

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -- G. Gordon Liddy

America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation. -- Dr. Laurence J. Peter

Worried about an IRS audit? Avoid what's called a red flag. That's something the IRS always looks for. For example, say you have some money left in your bank account after paying taxes. That's a red flag. -- Jay Leno

We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. - Ronald Reagan

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. ~Author unknown, from a Washington Post word contest

You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock, Bigger and Blacker

The federal government was NEVER supposed to provide all the social services that have essentially bankrupted the nation. Just ask James Madison. - Bob Hubbard

"If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare,
and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare,
they may take the care of religion into their own hands;
they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish
and pay them out of their public treasury;... Read More
they may take into their own hands the education of children,
establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union;
they may assume the provision of the poor;
they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads;
in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation
down to the most minute object of police,
would be thrown under the power of Congress.... Were the power
of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for,
it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature
of the limited Government established by the people of America."

by:

James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source:

referring to a bill to subsidize cod fisherman introduced in the first year of the new Congress

The politicians say "we" can't afford a tax cut. Maybe we can't afford the politicians. ~Steve Forbes

Question: " I understand that Congress is considering a so-called 'flat' tax system. How would this work?"

Answer: "If Congress were to pass a 'flat' tax, you'd simply pay a fixed percentage of your income, and you wouldn't have to fill out any complicated forms, and there would be no loopholes for politically connected groups, and normal people would actually understand the tax laws, and giant talking broccoli stalks would come around and mow your lawn for free, because Congress is NOT going to pass a flat tax, you pathetic fool." ~Dave Barry

The flat tax would be so simple, you could fill it out on a post card. A post card that would say, in effect, having a wonderful time; glad most of my money is here. ~Steve Forbes

U.S. Internal Revenue Service: an agency modeled after the revenue raising concepts of the 19th century economist, Jesse James. ~Robert Brault,

The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. ~Ronald Reagan

To force a man to pay for the violation of his own liberty is indeed an addition of insult to injury. ~Benjamin Tucker, Instead of a Book

Of course the truth is that the congresspersons are too busy raising campaign money to read the laws they pass. The laws are written by staff tax nerds who can put pretty much any wording they want in there. I bet that if you actually read the entire vastness of the U.S. Tax Code, you'd find at least one sex scene ("'Yes, yes, YES!' moaned Vanessa as Lance, his taut body moist with moisture, again and again depreciated her adjusted gross rate of annualized fiscal debenture"). ~Dave Barry

What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue. ~Thomas Paine

America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation. ~Laurence J. Peter

That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. Thomas Paine

4 things our veterans need...

4 things our veterans need...

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1- Lifetime health care at no cost to them. You serve, you face action, we take action and take care of you. Period. There is no excuse that a single vet in this country lacks health care.

2- Public recognition for what they do and gratitude for doing it. They serve so that we can enjoy the liberty and freedom we have. It's not a perfect country, but it'd be a lot worse without them.

3- Lifetime education. You served your time, you want to go back to school, change trades, it should be there for you. You already paid your tuition.

4- Lifetime shelter. No vet should be homeless. It won't be the Ritz, and the chow might only be as good as boot, but there should be a place for you to live. No vet should be forced to live in a box under a bridge.

Who's Poor?

Who's Poor?

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So, a discussion I had got me thinking. I, and all of us are rich.

I just came back from a Walmart that is the size of a 70's era mall. It had the -best- selection of videos, tvs, groceries and more than I've seen in ages.

I'm seeing new construction all around me.

I'm surrounded by an over abundance of stuff, food, clothes, toys, stuff I need and stuff I don't. Surrounded!

We (my wife and I) own over 1,000 dvd's. Have 5 working computers in my house, have high speed internet, 6 phones, a car, dvd players, tvs, vcrs, several printers, scanners and terrabytes of storage. We dine out regularly, eat shrimp, crab and lobster regularly. We do not lack for good nourishing healthy food. We care for our cats and lizard.

By comparison, my grandfather wore hand me downs, ate lard sandwiches, had no tv, no phone, and scraped by as a kid. 20 years ago a treat for the family was to buy a pizza.

Today we enjoy that a few times a month.

Shrimp was rare, and lobster was reserved for New Years, every other year.

Shrimp's a staple in my household.

No, I don't currently own a house, no I don't own either a mansion or a yacht, and no I don't jet set around the world.

But I can usually come and go as I please, can travel as needed, and know I'll be eating dinner tomorrow.

Compared to so many, in so many places, I am wealthy beyond their dreams.

Too often we get hung up on all stuff we don't have, that we forget how truly blessed we are, and how fortunate we are to live in a time and a place where we are surrounded by so much, and have so many choices.

Why is the economy a mess and businesses going under? A reason. by Bob Hubbard

Why is the economy a mess and businesses going under? A reason.
by Bob Hubbard

I recently got married. As part of that life's journey, one contacts a number of businesses and key people to make the day run smoothly. We contacted several facilities, visited 3. We received no call backs or follow ups from any of the places, other than the 1 we ultimately chose. We contacted several photographers, and were waiting on a promised call back from one when another contacted us out of the blue. We went with her and its a good thing we did as we still haven't heard from the one who promised to call us. We left messages with several dj's, tux rental places, and 2 hotels. Not a single call back. Are you seeing a trend here? All over the place people are crying "business is down", "I'm not sure if I'll make it" and similar. Yet we had a hard time finding anyone to take our money.

We stopped at a local fast food chain the other day. Place was empty. We waited 5 minutes before walking out, as no one felt like taking our order. Cleaning the back counter was more important, as obviously was the smoke break. A few days earlier, another chain store, we got indifferent service, mediocre "food", and a shrug when I complained about it.

Last year I made several calls to the management of a local mall, looking for information about possibly renting space there. Despite calling every day for 2 weeks, I never managed to reach the one single person there who could talk to me about anything rental related. He was always "just stepped out" or "gone for the day". I finally asked if he ever comes in, and when the person expressed surprise, I said I'd been calling all week, leaving messages and hadnt heard back. They said that was common. The mall has quite a few vacancies. I wonder why. Another local mall has a waiting list as it's full. They answered their phone and were available to talk. Big difference.

A couple months ago a family member had a plumbing emergency. We called at least a dozen plumbers (with the 24 hr service ads) before reaching a live person. We left messages at the earlier ones, and not a single one ever called back.

The economy may be shaky, a few large companies may be facing ugly restructuring, but the core of the economy has always been the small businesses. Maybe the reason why the core is seems to be rotting lies with the core it self. Maybe, it's shooting itself in the foot by failing to follow up, provide quality service and a quality product, and failing to follow through. Maybe, the solution to the economic mess isn't trillions in bailouts to a few big names, but for consumers to find and reward those companies that do go the extra mile, that do care about their product, that deserve to survive.

Maybe then the slackers, drifters, and such will wake up and step up, or die out like they deserve to make way for the real economic stimulus.

Maine Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Maine Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage


Same-sex marriage became legal in Maine on Wednesday as Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill less than an hour after the state legislature approved it.

"I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage," said Baldacci, a Democrat.

But he raised the possibility that the residents of the state would overturn the law.
[Read Full Story]
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About time. Maine joins Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as Iowa in allowing same-sex marriages. California s still thinking on the matter, and New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York are considering the matter.

Want to Retake Your Government? Learn to Work Together.

Want to Retake Your Government? Learn to Work Together.


Every election, half the people complain that the wrong guy won. Democrat or Republican, odds are, the winner will be one of them. But why? Year after year, people complain yet you never see any other parties getting in, even in the small elections, odds are good that despite our rich number of parties, it's a Democrat or Republican in there.

Behind the "Big Two", the most popular parties are the Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties. Despite years of work though, none have gotten close to winning any major elections. Why is this? Some will point at ballot access issues, road blocks, legal challenges, and a deck stacked against any 3rd party. There is that, but none of that is in fact, insurmountable.

Maybe it's time for these 3rd parties to take some pages out of history and change tactics. They are out numbered, out gunned and out funded by their entrenched opponents, yet stupidly continue to attack head on, and lose.

In the 2008 US Presidential election, Barack Obama changed the rules. He set records doing so. The avalanche he set off is still moving, months after his election. The third parties need to study this, learn from it, and adopt it to their messages.

Something else they must do. Learn to work together.

Barack Obama raised $533 Million, and won 69.5 Million votes. John McCain raised $379 Million, and won 60 Million votes. Third party candidates Ralph Nader (I), Bob Barr (L), Chuck Baldwin (C) and Cynthia McKinney (G) combined raised less than $7 Million and only won 1.7 Million votes combined.

Now, because they are locked out of the debates, because the media only mentions them as an after thought, rarely do they get to present their positions next to the Big Two. But, what if they pooled their war chests. Now, they could take out bigger ads, buy longer spots, and make their voices carry that little bit farther.

Of course, they would also have to start compromising on various points. Everytime a third party starts to gain some headway, it seems it fractures and creates spin offs. I've lost track of how many Libertarian spin off parties there are.

If the thirds want to win, they need to stop taking their balls home and nitpicking. Win some elections, then you can change the world. Until you win, it doesn't matter how right your cause is, especially if only 20 people can hear you speak.

The Rush Towards Socialism – and How To Stop It by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

The Rush Towards Socialism – and How To Stop It
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

It only took the Obama administration a couple of weeks to prove that the national leadership of the Democratic Party is guided by totalitarian-minded socialists who seek to create an omnipotent government. The U.S. government is now controlled by people who have been dreaming of living out their utopian socialist fantasies ever since the fantasies were brought to their attention in college decades ago by their Mao/Castro/Che Guevara poster-hanging, capitalism-hating, communistic professors.

The administration’s main agenda is an explosion of federal spending and debt so large and outrageous that America will soon exceed Sweden in the proportion of the economy that is controlled by government – if it hasn’t already. That’s just for starters. They also want to sharply increase taxes on the most productive and hardest-working people in society; increase the capital gains tax to deter private investment; expand the welfare state; spend trillions on pure, pork barrel spending in a massive vote-buying spree; set all corporate compensation levels by governmental fiat; tax away the wealth of unpopular business people (only starting with those AIG executives); regulate and control all risk taking by private entrepreneurs; enforce a civilian draft to create a modern-day, American version of the Hitler Youth (See Rahm Emanuel’s creepy, Stalinist-sounding book entitled The Plan); nationalize entire industries, starting with the capital markets (they understand that there can be no capitalism without private capital markets); and double, triple, and quadruple the number of "regulators" who already regulate all aspects of human life in America.

At the recent G-20 meeting Obama even signed off on the creation of an international regulatory "authority" that could set compensation policies in American corporations. On top of this, there is a never-ending drumbeat of anti-capitalist propaganda coming from the administration and its worshipful mouthpieces in the "mainstream media."

What can be done? How can this rush toward totalitarian socialism be stopped? Will the Republicans find another old, angry geezer to appeal to the angry white male vote? How about another mumbling and incompetent Bush family heir? Will there be another Reagan who will talk libertarian while governing more like a European Social Democrat? Will they trot out another old "war hero" who will plunge us into war with Iran, North Korea, China, or whomever, to divert our attention away from the economic mess government has placed us in? These are the likely alternatives if we cling to the fantasy that "throwing the bums out" at election time leads to something other than another group of slightly different bums.

The fact is that the American people have been servants or slaves to their government for generations. It wasn’t always that way. When the Adams administration enforced the Sedition Act that made criticism of the federal government illegal, Jefferson and Madison responded with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolves of 1798 that clearly stated that the people did not intend to allow the enforcement of this unconstitutional law within those two states. Section One of Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolve stated, for example, that "the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principles of unlimited submission to their General Government . . ." Other states supported Jefferson and Madison in their defense of free speech.

When President Thomas Jefferson imposed a national trade embargo and consummated the Louisiana Purchase, New Englanders, led by George Washington’s Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, loudly threatened to secede. They decided against it (for practical economic and political reasons) at the Hartford Secession Convention of 1814, but their actions sent a clear message to national politicians.

Outraged by the embargo, the Massachusetts legislature used the language of Jefferson’s own Kentucky Resolve to proclaim that the embargo "was not legally binding on the citizens of the state" while denouncing the federal law as "unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional" and reminding President Jefferson that "this state maintains its sovereignty and independence . . ." All the New England states, plus Delaware, did the exact same thing and nullified the embargo.

When Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of the United States, a precursor to the Fed, created 72 percent inflation in the first five years of its existence and corrupted politics with its politicized spending policies, citizens all over the country assisted President Andrew Jackson in eventually destroying the institution. The heroic Ohio legislature slapped a $50,000/year tax on each branch of the BUS, attempting to drive it out of business. "The states have an equal right to interpret the Constitution for themselves," announced the Ohio legislature, and it decided that the BUS was not constitutional. Kentucky, Tennessee, Connecticut, South Carolina, New York, and New Hampshire followed suit.

When the War of 1812 broke out the New England states effectively seceded from the union by refusing to participate. A proclamation by the Connecticut legislature was representative of the opinions of New Englanders: "[i]t must not be forgotten that the state of Connecticut is a FREE SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT State; that the United States are a confederated and not a consolidated Republic," and that it was refusing to support the war.

When the 1828 "Tariff of Abominations" created an average tariff rate of 45%, applying mostly to Northern manufactured goods, South Carolinians clearly understood that this was a pure act of political plunder at their expense. They convened a political convention to utilize the Jeffersonian idea of nullification and refused to collect the tariff. They even got the South Carolina legislature to allocate $160,000 for the purchase of firearms with which to fend off any would-be federal tax collectors. The result was that they forced the federal government to lower the tariff rate.

During the 1850s the "middle states" of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey developed a very active secession movement that sought to either join a Southern confederacy, form a middle-states confederacy, or support Southern secession. (See The Secession Movement in the Middle States by William C. Wright). Their overriding desire was to separate themselves from the imperious New England Yankees.

When the Southern states seceded in 1860–61, Abraham Lincoln pledged his everlasting support for Southern slavery in his first inaugural address, an address in which he endorsed a constitutional amendment (the "Corwin Amendment") that would have forbidden the federal government from ever interfering with slavery. In the same speech he promised a military invasion and "bloodshed" in any Southern state that ceased paying his beloved tariff on imports which, at the time, accounted for more than 90% of federal tax revenue. The average tariff rate had just been doubled by the Republican-controlled Congress.

The Southern states, along with most people in the North, still held the Jeffersonian belief that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and when that consent is withdrawn the citizens have a duty to abolish the existing government and form a new one. Jefferson never wrote in the Declaration of Independence that the citizens have a duty to abolish the government and form a new one "as long as the other states all agree that you may do so." If the right of secession depends on someone else’s permission, then one does not have a right of secession. That was a fantasy invented by Lincoln, which he used to "justify" waging total war on his own country, murdering some 350,000 American citizens, including some 50,000 civilians. From that time on, government in America was no longer "for the people, by the people, of the people," as Chief Justice John Marshal once said in a phrase that was later plagiarized by Lincoln. From that time on the purpose of government has been for those who run it to plunder those who do not. Nullification and secession were no longer tools with which the citizens could control their own government.

The final nails in the coffin of government by consent were pounded in during the year 1913 with the advent of the federal income tax, the creation of the Fed, and the Seventeenth Amendment calling for the direct election of U.S. senators. The income tax and the Fed gave the federal government the ability to do whatever it wanted to do regardless of the Constitution – even to wage "undeclared" wars. These vast "riches" were used to make millions of Americans totally subservient to the state lest they lose their tiny government subsidies, and to bribe or threaten state governments to do whatever our masters in Washington, D.C. decree, lest they lose their cherished federal highway grants. The ability of the citizens to oppose the federal Leviathan by organizing political communities at the state and local levels was finally destroyed and the centralized, monopolistic bureaucracy that rules America and much of the rest of the world today was created.

The direct election of U.S. senators, as opposed to the original system of having them appointed by state legislature, ended popular control of the federal government. Today, candidates for the senate go to New York, California, China, or wherever the big money is that can be raised as "campaign contributions" to finance their political careers. The interests of such "contributors" are not necessarily congruent with those of the folks back home.

If American citizens are to resist the rush to Obammunism they must first give up on the fantasy that the Republican Party is anything but another cabal of crooks, conmen and clowns, just like the Democratic Party. The only realistic route to freedom, including a restoration of genuine free enterprise, is through the devolution of power away from Washington, D.C. via peaceful secession and nullification, the original American ideals.

Thomas Jefferson understood that democracy could never work in a country as large as the U.S., let alone one with more than 300 million people. In a January 29, 1804 letter to Dr. Joseph Priestly he wrote: "Whether we remain one confederacy, or form into Atlantic and Mississippi confederacies, I believe not very important to the happiness of either part. Those of the western confederacy will be as much our children & descendants as those of the eastern." On the topic of secession, Jefferson continued: "[D]id I now foresee a separation at some future day, yet I should feel the duty & the desire to promote the western interests as zealously as the eastern, doing all the good for both portions of our future family which should fall within my power." When the New England Federalists were threatening secession, Jefferson wrote to his friend John C. Breckinridge on August 12, 1803 that if New England seceded and created a second confederacy, "God bless them both if it be for their good, but separate them, if it is better."

Unlike Lincoln, Jefferson did not believe in threatening "bloodshed" in the case of a "separation" or secession. He understood that such behavior would be a moral abomination and an unimaginable act of barbarianism. A civilized society does not wage total war on "our children," as Jefferson described the future citizens of a new state formed by an act of secession. Yet it is Lincoln, not Jefferson, who is portrayed by American court historians as a kindly, benevolent, and charitable angel.

The Constitution long ago ceased placing any meaningful limits on governmental power. This social contract between the American people and their government was destroyed long ago by Hamiltonian nationalists. Americans now live under a series of dictators (called "presidents") who all believe that they are essentially dictators of the world, capable of ordering the bombing of any place on earth without anyone’s approval. (Within weeks, Obama dipped his hands in blood by ordering a few bombs to be dropped in Pakistan).

As of this writing, several dozen states have reportedly issued resolutions in support of the Jeffersonian principle of nullification. These will all be completely meaningless unless the American public has the fortitude to actually enforce the resolutions and begin ignoring any and all federal government actions that they interpret as unconstitutional and illegitimate. In addition, citizens of every state should learn about the Second Vermont Republic which, for several years now, has been laying the groundwork for Vermont to secede and once again become an free and independent republic, just as all the states thought of themselves as being prior to 1865.

April 14, 2009

Thomas J. DiLorenzo [send him mail] is professor of economics at Loyola College in Maryland and the author of The Real Lincoln; Lincoln Unmasked: What You’re Not Supposed To Know about Dishonest Abe and How Capitalism Saved America. His latest book is Hamilton’s Curse: How Jefferson’s Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution – And What It Means for America Today.

Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

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Re: "Redistribute the Wealth"

Re: "Redistribute the Wealth"

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Quote:

How many Americans here have friends and associates who's deepest concern is who won what game or who's topic of conversation is always "man I got so wasted last night"?

But that's ok. Those of us who work hard, educate ourselves, start businesses, or work 2-3 jobs while putting ourselves through higher education....we can pay more taxes so that lazybones and slacker can have government subsidized health care (while we pay top dollar for ours), government subsidized heating and electric (while we pay for ours), and even free money to spend on lotto and lobster (while we watch our money and live frugally). It's ok. It's our "Civic Duty" to help those "unfortunates".

On education: I read several hundred books every year, own a thousand+, read 4 newspapers (onliine) daily (SF CA, Austin TX (2), Buffalo NY), plus dozens of discussions like this one every day. I've taken extra training classes, community ed courses, online training, and am at Borders/Barnes & Nobel or my local ibraries weekly. I also run history chanel, food network, HGTV, DIY and Discovery as background. If our "unfortunates" did 10% of that, they'd be miles ahead.

Schools today in the US are woefully behind the technical requirements. Teaching methods in many cases are outdated, classes are over crowded, and teachers are still using maps that show the Soviet Union, and still using text books that list Sadamn as the head of Iraq. Unfortunately, even if they were up to date, balanced, and truely designed to learn, even the best teacher can't teach when the student isn't open to learn, or isn't there in the first place. Kids don't want to learn because they know they can grow up, go on welfare and have the government pay for everything. They have no idea of the value of a dollar, not because it's arbitrary imaginary money, but because they aren't required to know how to manage it.

We argue people go bankrupt because of medical bills. Those lotto winners went bankrupt because they were incapable of handling money.

Before you redistribute the wealth, maybe you need to revamp your education system so that people will be able to handle that which you give them.

Then again, maybe it's time that kids learn that they aren't entitled to anything, anything! that they didn't earn themselves.

Michael Badnarik Quote

Marriage partners, not government, should define the terms and spiritual orientation of their union in accordance with our nation's guarantee of religious freedom.

• Source: Gay Rights http://badnarik.org/plans_gayrights.php

Words of Wisdom from the late Harry Browne

Words of Wisdom from the late Harry Browne

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Harry Browne - Big Government

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GHEwhdYs5U

Former Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne explains the dynamics of big government http://www.libertypen.com


Harry Browne: The Great Libertarian Offer

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWXpObAVdyY

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOe-KKOI4gU

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUrPDITcHv4

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqmzSishzwI

Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixwhbmyCrr8

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Do US Citizens have Rights?

Do US Citizens have Rights?
(MartialTalk 12-03-2008)

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Found elsewhere, chew on it a bit.....

Quote:

A Natural Right is a liberty that is granted to us by our creator (God). It is inalienable part of our being (it cannot be taken or given away). Our” rights” are evidenced by the actions we take in exercising these liberties. To be considered a “right,” an action must be something we can do entirely by ourselves. If we need the help of others in any way, either actively or passively, that action cannot be considered a right. An action cannot be considered a “right” if it harms another innocent person, damages their property or prohibits another person from freely exercising their liberties. An inherent part of Natural Rights is the duty to respect the rights of others and not to infringe on the free exercise of those rights by other free people. We can all use logic and reason to determine what these rights are, and to figure out how far our liberties extend.

Quote:

Blacks Law Dictionary. Words are defined quite differently sometimes in the legal sense. Take the word "person" for instance...the legal definition of "person" is: person: In general usage, a human being (ie natural person), though by statue (the) term may include labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers (see 29 USC 152) (The) scope and delineation of (the) term is necessary for determining those to whom (the) Fourteenth Amendment of (the) Constitution affords protection since this Amendment expressly applies to "person". A corporation is a "person" within (the) meaning of (the) Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and due process provisions of the United States Constitution. (Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Ward, Ala, 470 US 869 We can also look at corporation: Corporation: An artificial PERSON or legal entity created by or under the authority of the laws of a state. An association of PERSON created by statute as a legal entity. Now. Keep this definition in mind as you read the 14th Amendment: 14th Amendment, Section I: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. (CONGRESS redefined us as CITIZENS rather than WE THE PEOPLE..congress CREATED US CITIZENS) Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence : Unalienable. Many believe it is inalienable..but it is unalienable. The Founding Fathers were all about property rights and contracts. The entire Constitution is concerned with property rights, to include your body, your person, which is your private property. So we conclude, that this amendment refers to all "persons" , which "may include labor organizations, partnerships, associations"- and "corporations". These persons are "citizens of the United States and (citizens) of the State wherein they reside." This clause establishes dual citizenship, with "citizens of the United States" apparently taking precedence. Remember that the CREATOR is always held to be more powerful than the created. Becuse Congress has CREATED juristic citizens, they are "subject to the jurisdiction" of Congress.

Follow this timeline:

Key

• AR: Date an Amendment was ratified
• AP: Date of the passage of a Constitutional Amendment
• NA: Notable American event
• NW: Notable World event
• PR: Presidential term begins
• SH: Statehood (for original 13 colonies, date Constitution was ratified)
• WR: An event in a U.S. war

1765/03/22 NA - Declaration of Rights is passed
1770/03/05 NA - Boston Massacre
1773/12/16 NA - Boston Tea Party
1774/03/31 NA - Boston Port Act is passed by Parliament
1774/05/20 NA - Administration of Justice and Massachusetts Government Acts are passed by Parliament
1774/06/02 NA - Quartering Act is passed by Parliament
1774/09/05 NA - First Continental Congress convenes
1774/10/07 NA - Quebec Act is passed by Parliament
1774/10/14 NA - Declaration of Rights and Grievances is passed
1774/10/20 NA - Articles of Association are signed
1775/04/18 WR - American Revolution begins
1775/05/10 NA - Second Continental Congress convenes
1775/07/21 NA - Ben Franklin presents a plan for confederation
1776/06/07 NA - Richard Henry Lee introduces independence resolution
1776/07/04 NA - Declaration of Independence adopted
1776/12/20 NA - Third Continental Congress convenes
1777/11/15 NA - Articles of Confederation proposed
1781/03/01 NA - Articles of Confederation ratified
1783/02/04 WR - English declare hostilities at an end
1783/04/11 WR - America declares hostilities at an end
1784/01/14 WR - Revolutionary War Ends (Treaty of Paris)
1787/05/25 NA - Constitutional Convention opens
1787/09/17 NA - Final draft of the Constitution sent to Congress
1787/12/07 SH - Delaware
1787/12/12 SH - Pennsylvania
1787/12/18 SH - New Jersey
1788/01/02 SH - Georgia
1788/01/09 SH - Connecticut
1788/02/06 SH - Massachusetts
1788/04/28 SH - Maryland
1788/05/23 SH - South Carolina
1788/06/21 SH - New Hampshire
1788/06/21 NA - Constitution Ratified
1788/06/25 SH - Virginia
1788/07/26 SH - New York
1789/03/04 NA - The Constitution goes into effect
1789/04/30 PR - George Washington
1789/07/14 NW - French Revolution
1789/09/25 AP - Amendments 1-10, 27, one unratified amendment
1789/11/21 SH - North Carolina
1790/05/29 SH - Rhode Island
1791/03/04 SH - Vermont
1791/12/15 AR - Amendments 1-10
.....
1866/06/13 AP - Amendment 14
.....
1868/07/09 AR - Amendment 14

"We The People" declared independence from England, fought a war and entered into a confederation consisting of the 13 former colonies. A convention was called to fix the AoC, and instead they scrapped it and created the Constitution. "We" then created Congress, who passed the 14th Amendment.

Quote:

WE THE PEOPLE created Congress. CONGRESS created US Citizens. WE THE PEOPLE have a right to keep and bear arms. US CITIZENS must obtain a concealed carry permit. WE THE PEOPLE have a right to travel. US CITIZENS must obtain a drivers license. WE THE PEOPLE have a right to live with whomever we wish. US CITIZENS are expected to get a marriage license. WE THE PEOPLE have RIGHTS. US CITIZENS are granted PRIVILEGES. In other words. US CITIZENS have no rights.

When you're done chewing, let me know how it tasted. LOL!

Robin Williams as the American Flag

Not sure when this video was made, but Robin makes some good points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_L1vLv84vs

Should the 17th Amendment be repealed?

Should the 17th Amendment be repealed?
(originally posted on MartialTalk)

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According to the original design of the founding fathers; U.S. senators were not directly elected by the voting public, but by the state legislatures. This changed in 1914 with the passing of the 17th Amendment, which put the election of Senators into the hands of the general public. With this, the balance between the people, the states and the federal government was broken.

While on the surface this seems smart, has it really worked out all that well?


United States Constitution, Article I, Section 3

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

Amendment XVII

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.



Read this interesting article by Thomas J. DiLorenzo and lets open the discussion.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo93.html

Other notes:
http://www.articlev.com/repeal17.htm
http://repealthe17thamendment.blogspot.com/
http://www.liberty-ca.org/repeal17/s...a2003oneil.htm

For U.S. immigration, 'partnered' doesn't count

For U.S. immigration, 'partnered' doesn't count

Quote:

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, April 3, 2009 Shirley Tan has been with her partner, Jay Mercado, for 23 years. The Pacifica women have twin 12-year-old sons and have been registered domestic partners since 1991. That means nothing to the federal government, which recognizes only a marriage between a man and a woman. Federal authorities ordered Tan, who is not a U.S. citizen, to be deported from San Francisco to her native Philippines this morning. But with the help of her congresswoman, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, Tan received a three-week stay of the deportation order, allowing her to remain with her family until April 22.

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