Hanging from the fiscal cliff

As the fiscal cliff approaches, California has showed us that the Laffer Curve is accurate. Despite raising taxes on the wealthy in California, the states revenue actually decreased. As this report became available, don’t expect it to make the headlines or even be covered by the main stream media, it doesn’t fit with the class warfare agenda of the current administration, where the evil rich don’t pay their fair share, even if no one will explain what is a fair share. With some Republicans caving in under the pressure of the impending fiscal cliff, it appears that a drastic fall off of the cliff may be temporarily averted so we can continue our slow descent into socialism. For all the pre-election talk of plans, the administration still has not released a plan, at least one that Harry Reid and the Democrat led Senate will bring to the floor except the chant of tax the rich. Even if Obama gets his tax increase on the wealthy, the taxes collected would only fund the federal government for just over a week. What all of this really shows is that America has a spending problem, not a so called “revenue” problem. Since Obama has been in office, the United States has been operating on a trillion dollar deficit. The United States currently borrows more than $0.30 of every dollar it spends. The federal government collects just over $2 trillion in taxes even though it spends over $3.5 trillion. If you look at all the waste, duplication and fraud it’s easy to see the government needs to curtail spending, not increase taxes. As individuals, we couldn’t run our households on a 40% deficit and no business could stay in business operating like the federal government but yet we allow our government to operate with such frivolity. Congress will soon head home for the Christmas break and one thing is for certain, the taxpayer will be one that ends up paying for the congressional compromise. One thing that is often overlooked by the general public when they hear the tax increases or spending cuts is what they are actually saying. Take for example, President Obama’s $1.6 trillion proposed tax increase, sounds pretty good when you figure the annual deficit is around $1.5 trillion. On the surface, it appears that the tax increase will almost cover the annual deficit. What’s overlooked is while the annual deficit is an annual number, the tax increase is over 10 years, which means the annual increase in revenue is $160 billion, hardly enough to make a dent in the $1.6 trillion deficit, let alone the $16 trillion national debt. Spending cuts are in no better shape and offer no real plan to curb spending. The spending cuts we keep hearing about are really only proposed cuts to projected future spending. Everyone in Washington DC claims they want to fix the problem, the same problem that those in DC created. If they were serious about the problem, we would not be in the situation we currently in. Congress claims they want to balance the budget, but they are the ones that don’t balance the budget. Relying on the government to fix the problems they created is like clapping with one hand. For reference with links, please see my article here.

Four more years of fraud and corruption?

A week ago, President Obama was reelected. He won the Electoral College by 100 votes and the popular vote by about 3 million votes. The election was much closer than it sounds, many of the swing states were too close to call until early Wednesday morning and the popular vote was decided by less 3% of registered voters. That hardly sounds like a mandate from the voters, especially when the President received 13% fewer voters than four years ago and was the only President that was reelected by fewer votes than their initial election. Now there are reports of potential voter fraud in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. Precincts have reported as high as 140% voter turnout. Additionally, there were over 50 precincts in Ohio where Obama won 100% of the votes. In those areas, Obama got over 19,000 and Romney received 0. There are reports of buses delivering voters from out of state to register and vote in Wisconsin. Republican poll watchers were physically removed from voting locations and in states that require an ID to vote, Obama didn’t win a single state. In Florida, several hours after the polls closed thousands of votes suddenly appeared. In one county in Ohio, out of the just over 90,000 residents of legal voting age there were over 106,000 registered voters. Elections judges in Ohio were even caught letting unregistered voters cast votes. Before the polls closed on the east coast, there was over 70,000 reports of voting problems encountered by voters across the nation. Officials in some areas have already ruled out an investigation. With the liberal bias in the main stream media, no one but Fox News and some alternative news sources will even report these allegations, let alone investigate them. The democrats will be quick to dismiss the allegations as a right wing conspiracy theory and continue to deny that voter fraud happens or is a problem and attack those with claims of tin foil hats and wing nuts. Nevada has had its share of reported problems as well. During early voting there were reports that machines were automatically changing votes and allegations that unions were registering illegal aliens and persuading them to vote. There was even a lady arrested in Las Vegas for trying to vote multiple times. Whether or not there was election fraud, we may never know; it’s not like the “injustice” department will investigate. Look at the Black Panther voter intimidation case in 2008, even with audio and video of intimidation, Obama’s Justice Department decided there was not enough evidence to prosecute. The Fast and Furious scandal is another one that the Justice Department would not investigate and even refused to honor a subpoena from a Congressional committee. If you look at cases that the Justice Department has prosecuted, they include states enacting voter ID laws, states enacting laws to secure their borders and prosecuting private companies for importing wood for guitars. What’s next for the Obama administration? Amnesty? Gun control? Term limits? Remember this administration will not let a crisis go to waste. Please see my examiner article here for links and sources.

Voting for change?

In 2008, Barrack Obama rode the hope of change to the Presidency. Nearly four years later, the hope of any change has faded. This raises the question; can a president really change anything? Maybe a better question would be does a president really want to change anything? Relying on the federal government to restrain itself is like asking the sun not to rise in the east; it's just not going to happen. Not long after the ratification of the Constitution, the federal government has continued to grow. From Marbury vs. Madison, to the War Between the States, to the takeover of the railroads and creation of the Federal Reserve; from the New Deal and Great Society to World War II and USA PATRIOT ACT. There has been no era where the federal government has restrained itself or limited itself to its enumerated powers listed in the constitution. Federal politicians have established themselves as the American aristocracy and invent meanings in clearly written documents to support their grabs of power. The commerce clause, the so called "general welfare clause" and the supremacy clause are three of the biggest offenders. Robert Higgs wrote an excellent book examining the growth of government called Crisis and Leviathan. He shows how the government uses crisis, real or manufactured to increase the scope of their power and never relinquish it. Even during the Clinton years, when there was a supposed budget surplus, the national debt continued to grow. History has shown it does not matter who is in control of the federal government, it continues to grow almost completely unchecked. Since we can't count on the federal government to limit itself are we doomed to live under the ever growing leviathan of bureaucrats and career politicians who think they know how to run our lives better than we do? There are some options that provide a glimmer of hope. In my last article, I wrote about the importance of the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution. States are going in both directions; several states are reasserting their Constitutional rights under the 10th Amendment, passing state laws that nullify overreaching federal laws. Other states, like Nevada are moving in the other direction, moving towards submission to the federal overlord. This makes it even more important to support candidates that not only support the 10th Amendment but also will stand up against the tyranny coming out of Washington D.C. With just about a month until the elections, instead of focusing on federal races, I will look at some state candidates that understand the constitution and the limits placed on it, as the states are one of the last options to curbing the leviathan we know as our government. If you’re voting for change it must start on the local and state levels where the politicians are held more accountable for their actions. For links and sources please click here.

Power to the states

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." That is the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution. When the first Congress convened they adopted twelve amendments, which the anti-federalists required before adoption of the Constitution, and sent them to the states for ratification. Of those twelve, ten were ratified by the states and became what is known as the Bill of Rights. Most of these are known by most people and they include freedom of speech, press, no self-incrimination and privacy protections. Just to make sure, the 9th Amendment was included to clarify that the list of rights was not inclusive of all the protected rights. The 10th Amendment to the Constitution could be among the most important of the Bill of Rights, as the quote at the beginning of the article clearly states, “powers NOT DELEGATED to the United States…” (Emphasis added). Because of this amendment we know that the intent of the Constitution was to limit the federal government to the powers listed in Article I Section 8. To look at the federal government now, you would not know that it was limited in scope. Because of the massive increase in the size of the federal leviathan, many states have found renewed interest in the 10th Amendment. States are passing laws reaffirming the amendment; states are passing laws nullifying federal laws that are in violation of the Constitution. The laws that are being nullified include Obamacare, NDAA and even federal drug laws. In Nevada, we have legalized prostitution, medical marijuana and legalized gambling, if that doesn’t scream state sovereignty, I’m not sure what does. A bill was introduced in the last legislative session to assert state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. This bill was not acted upon within specified time limits and so it was dead in committee. This was not the first time this bill has been introduced and not the first time it died in committee. This is not the first time the state has refused to honor its sovereignty. A few years back, the democratic majority passed a bill that would invalidate Nevada’s vote in Presidential elections. It made it out of the Assembly, but not the Senate. Last session it was re-introduced and again didn’t make it out of the Senate, luckily. In these times of economic instability, 12% statewide unemployment, budget deficits and the federal government demanding more, now is the time to assert state sovereignty. Nevada has to balance its budget; it does not have the luxury of the federal government’s ability to run deficits. The federal government is limited to its enumerated powers; it has no power over the nation’s healthcare, marriage, welfare or retirement. The government has no authority to subsidize industries like farming or energy. The government has no authority to create the massive bureaucracy to oversee education, energy, agriculture or the environment. The taxes that Nevada sends to the federal government are spent in other states and on programs that have no benefit to Nevada or its residents. The money Nevada receives from the federal government is less than the money we send to the federal government. The states created the federal government and must reassert its authority over it if we have any hope of rescuing the greatest nation this world has ever seen. Tell your state legislators to support state sovereignty, support the 10th Amendment and restore the republic. As normal, please click here for links.

None of these candidates, not any more

On August 22, U. S. District Court Judge Jones ruled that it was unconstitutional for the option to vote for “None of these Candidates” to appear on Nevada’s ballots. The rationale behind the decision makes sense. Since even if ‘none of these candidates’ receives the majority of votes; the candidate receiving the most votes would still be elected. Nevada is, or was the only state that allows voters the option of voting for ‘none of these candidates’. The Republican National Committee was seeking an injunction to remove that option from voters. Democrat Secretary of State Miller was defending the law that was passed in 1976 to combat voter apathy. While a candidate has never lost to ‘none of these candidates’; there has been elections where the number of people voting for ‘none of these candidates’ was larger than the difference between the first and second. Those arguing against the law claim that people’s votes are not being counted, a violation of the Voting Rights Act, as essentially a vote for ‘none of these candidates’ is not being counted to a living candidate, a person with a chance to win the election. Those arguing for the existing law claim that people have the right to not vote, and ‘none of these candidates’ is a way to exercise that right. The stakes are high in this election and the presidential race and Nevada’s senate race are so close that people voting for ‘none of these candidates’ could sway the election. I love the ‘none of these candidates’ option on our ballots, my only problem with it is with the outcome. I would love to see ‘none of these candidates’ be able to win the election. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think “nobody” should fill the seat. I think that it should trigger another election. Obviously if a majority of people vote for ‘none of these candidates’ it should send a message to the two major parties that their selections are unacceptable to the people. New candidates would be selected and another election scheduled. I know the cost to run another election is expensive, but I would call it a necessary expense if a majority of the people doesn’t want any of the candidates. The United States may not be a democracy, but we do have democratic leanings.

Harry Reid, the quintessential hypocrite

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in the news again and not for passing a budget, which the Senate has not done in over 1200 days. Reid made news as the democrat attack dog; making accusations that Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has not paid taxes in 10 years. This information supposedly came from some source, but Reid will leave the burden of proof on the accused; another instance of being guilty until proven innocent. Although if you remember, Harry Reid was the person who claimed that paying taxes was voluntary. Reid, who doesn’t face reelection for another four years, has nothing to lose except his position as Senate Majority Leader. He calls out Romney on taxes, but won’t release any of his records. That might be a good idea for Reid, his shady land deals may come out to the public. Is the IRS really that incompetent? Can a millionaire really just stop paying taxes for a decade and then resume again and not send any up any red flags? One thing is for certain, you cannot believe anything Harry Reid says. He constantly proves he is nothing more than a partisan hack. As I mentioned above, Harry Reid attacks Romney as a tax dodger but claims that paying taxes are voluntary. Harry Reid even supported auditing the Federal Reserve; that is until it became something the conservatives wanted. If those were the only two, it wouldn’t be that bad, but it gets worse. Harry Reid supported interpreting the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution to not allow anchor babies free citizenship, but that was only important until the democrats began pandering to the emerging Latino community. Harry Reid pretends to care about protecting our border, but if he was really for securing borders, would he be pushing for amnesty or the DREAM act? Reid continues to show that his only allegiance is to his party, not Nevada, not the country. Under President Bush, Reid was against raising the debt ceiling but now under President Obama, it’s unpatriotic to not raise it. Harry Reid has flip flopped on his stance on the PATRIOT ACT, transparency in government and continues his hypocrisy with senate recesses. Harry Reid continues to show us the problem with career politicians; they are nothing but partisan hacks that care more about themselves and their party than anything else. One thing is for certain, you cannot trust anything that comes out of his mouth because if you wait long enough, it will change.

Titus likes unconstitutional behavior

Ex Congresswoman Dina Titus, who was elected to Congress in the democratic landslide in 2008 and ushered out in the 2010 republican revival, is running for Congress again, this time she moved to a more “friendly” district. She is trying to keep a democrat in the seat that Shelley Berkeley held for seven terms. Shelley Berkeley is running for the Senate against Dean Heller, who replaced former Senator Ensign, who resigned before the expiration of his term. Now don’t get me wrong, Titus did not come out calling for the impeachment of President Obama, she would never do that, she voted in step with the progressive agenda of Obama during her term in the House, but she did point out the unconstitutional actions taken by President Obama. She did point out that Obama is violating his Oath of Office by overstepping his constitutional authority. In an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal’s editorial board, Titus said, Obama expanding executive authority was a dangerous trend and that not only the executive branch but the other two were overstepping their constitutional authority. Of course she voted for congressional overreaches of power like the Obamacare bill. Dina Titus also supported the unconstitutional actions by the President by blaming his actions on Congress’s inability to act. Of course the implication is on the republicans in the House, but you cannot overlook the democratic controlled Senate’s inability to act, like not passing in a budget for over three years. What I find frightening is that Dina Titus is a political science teacher at UNLV. I never took a class taught by Titus, but if she teaches like she governed in the House, students are getting a warped view of the Constitution. She constantly voted for bills that overstepped constitutional authority and now she is supporting executive branch overstepping of constitutional authority. As a political science instructor, I would think she would understand the nature of the government and its limited nature. I would think she would understand our system of checks and balances. I would think she would understand how the government works and why it was designed the way it was. Most importantly, I would expect her to understand that frustration is not a reason to violate your oath of office, violate the Constitution and continue to add to what she called a systemic problem.

The Labor Commission, increasing the cost of business

The Nevada Labor Commission was created to protect the worker against the abuses of business in regards to wages, whether for non-payment of wages to minimum and prevailing wage issues. What they have become is a financial burden to many businesses. While I’m all for punishing companies that violate law, there are so many laws, rules and regulations that have to be followed that it can cost a small company tens of thousands of dollars to try and comply. Most of the laws directly affect the cost of doing business, like minimum wage laws and prevailing wage laws. There are many studies that have been conducted that show how minimum wage laws increase unemployment, especially among the unskilled and low skilled workers. Prevailing wage rates or Davis-Bacon wages are just over inflated minimum wage rates. I can employ an unskilled laborer to run a broom and shovel for a respectable starting wage, but when prevailing wage rates kick in, that unskilled broom operator makes more than three times that amount, currently $44.04 in Clark County and when you add the burden to the company that unskilled employee is costing the company over $55.00 per hour. But that’s not the point of this article. This article is going to look at one indirect cost the Labor Commission imposes on business. Unlike any other proceeding, the burden of proof lies with the claimant or the accuser, but in the eyes of the Labor Commission, the defendant is guilty until proven innocent. The burden of proof lies with the business to prove their innocence, regardless of the claim’s validity. The cost to a business to defend against a claim can cost into the hundreds of thousands. These costs can cripple small businesses and force them out of business. I have personnel experience in one case that took over five years to resolve and the only reason it is not ongoing was because it was cheaper to make an offer to settle than to defend the claim. The administrative costs to the company for the research, the written responses, the hearings and investigations over the five years have nearly exceeded the cost of the original claim and that doesn’t include any legal fees. What has to be decided by the company, regardless of being right or wrong, the associated costs of defending weighed against the cost of settlement. In the case mentioned above, the company was 100% right and had proof to prove their innocence from the fraudulent claim and 99% sure the case would be decided in our favor. But is the cost to be right worth the expense? Sadly, in most cases the answer is no. It does not matter that we had signed employment contracts, written polices and documented correspondence; that was not enough evidence. We provided financial records, job records and reports and that was not enough for the investigator. So after five years of meetings and providing mountains of evidence supporting our claim, it was cheaper to offer a settlement. Please see here for links to sources.

Decline of western education

A study done ranking the education systems of the 24 most developed countries in the world found the United States ranked 18th. Topping the survey was South Korea and Japan; the United States did finish above such countries as Spain, Portugal and Germany. You would expect better, especially when you hear that education spending in the United States is higher than all of those other countries. The United States spends the most on education and can barely crack the top 20, it’s even worse when there is only 24 countries in the study. How far have we fallen? If you look at students entering college, a greater number now require remedial classes before they can take college level courses. This shows more than anything else how our education system is failing and by the amount of money we are spending per pupil, we should have the best education system in the world. There are several reasons why education in America is in the decline, not only since the creation of the Department of Education, but since the federal government has gotten involved in the country’s education. It’s not all the fault of the federal government; we need to look at the unions as well. Unions have proven that they are more interested in membership numbers and protecting their teachers than educating children. When unions are more concerned with automatic due deductions, political contributions and promoting the status quo than keeping qualified teachers, accountability to quality education and shielding substandard performance then it’s no surprise that our education is failing it’s students and society in general. Besides a lack of accountability, the federal government creates a problem with laws like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, which try to group all students in all states into one category, a one size fits all approach. Money may be an issue although there have been no studies that show more spending equals better results, if that was the case, then we could look at all the money wasted in the education. In Nevada it’s even worse, Nevada ranks last in graduation rates while ranking among the top in per pupil spending. A study done in 2008 listed Nevada last in the nation with an average graduation rate below 50%. The Nevada education bureaucracy claims that those stats are incorrect and their own study showed a graduation rate of barely over 60%, better, but still not acceptable. When we hear about the need for education reform the one thing that always comes up is to increase spending. The need for reform has never been greater, but we need real reform. Lots of types of reform have been tried and most have failed. The reason most of the reforms have failed is any attempt to change the status quo has been met with serious obstructions, not only from the education bureaucracy but from the unions as well. Some school districts have actually lowered their academic standards so the schools will meet federal standards for school improvement. In the misguided thought that increased funding will increase school performance, to make up for decreased budgets, schools have cut programs that they consider non-essential, programs such as music and art. Because of the failing public education system, we have seen a rise in home-schooling, public charter schools and a voucher system, which have all been under attack by the educational power structure. To reform education, states should look to what is happening in Florida. Florida has implemented several reforms that have shown student improvement in areas of reading and math; where Florida students have outpaced the national average. The reforms include more school and student accountability, improving teacher quality and school choice. School choice allows students to attend public charter schools or even private schools with a voucher system. Governor Sandoval signed an education reform package to try and help raise the Silver State out of the basement. These reforms include changing the way teachers are evaluated, making it easier to terminate substandard teachers and create a board to oversee charter schools. While these reforms may be a good start, they are far from being enough to turn around our failing education system. We need to hold teachers, administration, parents and students accountable for their performance. We need to hold the schools accountable and we need to make student performance a priority. Please see my examiner article here for links to sources.

Higher priced education

One of the debates in Congress this year is the mounting student loan debt, estimated at nearly $1 trillion. The Occupy crowd and President Obama have even suggested debt forgiveness as a way to handle this problem. This proposal is similar to the bank bailouts, the auto bailouts, the stimulus package and the housing meltdown which means the taxpayer will be paying for students that attended college. Why has this debt become such an issue? One reason is the skyrocketing cost of college, both public and private institutions have seen their tuition explode. What used to cost a couple thousand dollars a year is now over $10,000 per year. Price increases around the country range from around 8% to as much as 300%. Has our higher education system improved their product that much? Is there increased demand for these college educated adults? Sadly, the answer to both is no. College graduates get to look forward to a dismal job market, high unemployment and if anything they are getting a worse education now than in the 1970’s. One reason is there is an increase demand for a college education; more and more students are seeking additional schooling or training in the misguided hopes that it will increase their earning potential. A college degree used to hold some weight, but with the watering down of education and the explosion of degrees in areas that have no real world application means the demand for graduates has lots its weight. The main reason for the skyrocketing cost of college is the government. The government is trying to push everyone into college and the lending institutions are more than happy to oblige as long as the government continues to guarantee these loans via the tax payer. Artificially low interest rates give the illusion of a surplus of money available to loan and with everyone pushing anyone and everyone into higher education the cost is artificially raised as more and more people are herded into massive debt. Does any of that sound familiar? It should, as the old saying goes, “those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” A few years back, with low interest rates, courtesy of the Federal Reserve, the government was pushing everyone into home ownership, whether they could afford it or not. What was the result? Skyrocketing housing costs as the demand for homes rose. Remember what happened? A little thing called the housing meltdown, which bubble burst. Is the education bubble the next one to go pop and leave the tax payer on the hook to pay that bill as well? Check my examiner article for links here.

Unconstitutional power grab

Yesterday, I came across an article in the Las Vegas Review Journal that really made me shake my head. Two former boxers and current Senators, one from each party, have teamed up to grasp even more power for the federal government and establish a United States Boxing Commission. As if anything can restrain the federal government. The main problem with a national boxing commission or the investigations into steroid use or concussions by the federal government is the same problem with more than half of the things Congress does; it does not have the power to involve itself in professional sports. In the wake of Roger Clemens being acquitted of perjury to Congress, stemming from the Congressional investigation into steroid use in Major League Baseball; we have Senators Reid and McCain pushing for government regulation of boxing. This isn’t the first attempt of the government to elbow its way into the boxing ring or the sports realm. Congress investigated the use of steroids in baseball in 2005 and had the National Football League in front of a Congressional committee in 2009 and has been involved with boxing after the tragic fight between Ray Mancini and Duk Koo Kim in 1982. This latest call for government intervention into the realm of professional sports comes after the controversial decision in the Pacquiao/Bradley fight that was held in Las Vegas on June 9. Bradley won a split decision, but most boxing analysts felt that Pacquiao won the fight. What would this bill mean to boxing? According to the bill’s sponsors, it would license judges, referees, promoters and oversee all professional matches. All of this regulation and oversight is to reduce corruption and fraud that has plagued boxing for quite some time. The boxing industry has a different take on the bill. They see it as over-regulation to have government regulators go through every aspect of the sport. With the government’s track record, will they help or hurt the struggling sport? Las Vegas has become the boxing capital of the world, most of the biggest fights in the world are hosted by Las Vegas and how would this bill impact Nevada? The state of Nevada has arguably the best Athletic Commission in the country, and any federal agency would be very wise to use Nevada’s Athletic Commission as the model. That being the case, very little would change, except the corruption would be on a national scale. For links, please check my examiner article here.

Sarah Palin headlines Vegas

Friday, June 15 and Saturday, June 16 the Right Online Conference returns to Las Vegas. Right Online brings together grassroots activists and bloggers from around the country. This year marks the fifth annual Right Online Conference, where bloggers and activists gather to spread the word of free markets and limited government through new media and classic training. This year, Governor Sarah Palin headlines this year’s event. In addition to Gov. Palin, Michelle Malkin, Scott Rasmussen, Dana Loesch, S. E. Cupp, Congressman Joe Heck among others are scheduled to speak. In addition to the speakers, they have four training tracts for attendees including Online Activism and Citizen Journalism. This year’s conference is being held at the Venetian Resort and Casino but if you haven’t already gotten your tickets, it just might be too late. The general session is sold out and only a few tickets remain for the Friday night welcome event. What is Right Online? Right Online is the conservative answer to Netroots Nation, the far left annual conference designed to help transform America into a progressive utopia. Netroots Nation began about eight years ago as the Daily Kos annual convention. Americans for Prosperity sought to level the playing field by bringing the conservative message of free markets and limited government back into the American lexicon. Americans for Prosperity has nearly 2 million activists spread out over 34 chapters in all 50 states. Their focus is to educate citizens about economic policy and encourage grassroots activists in the public policy process. Americans for Prosperity has a Nevada chapter with its office located on West Charleston. You can join the 30,000 activists throughout the state that are working for limited government and free markets. Whatever issue matters most to you, AFP has the resources and the know how to help spread the message. Hope to see you there! Remember to check my examiner article here for links.

Stand your ground Nevada

Whether it’s called Stand Your Ground or Castle Doctrine, one thing is the same across the country; these laws are being looked into in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting. The Martin case drew national attention for most of March and April and seemed to divide the country along two lines. On one side, you had the belief that Zimmerman murdered Martin and, of course, the other side that believed Martin acted in self-defense. Whether Zimmerman is guilty or innocent isn’t the topic of this article, that’s for a Florida court to decide, the topic of this article is the law that appears to be at the root of this case. The basis of the Castle/Stand Your Ground Law is rooted in the natural right of self-defense. Every person has a right to protect themselves and many states laws have been written to reinforce that natural right Nevada is no different. In fact, Nevada has had a stand your ground law for 140 years. Nevada didn’t wait until after the Trayvon Martin shooting to look at its law, last year Nevada clarified the meaning of stand your ground to include a person doesn’t not have to retreat as far as possible before using force to stop an aggressor, as long as the person was not the original aggressor. Nevada not only has a strong self-defense law, it also has favorable gun laws. Nevada is one of about dozen states that allow for unlicensed open carry on your person and in your vehicle and has a preemptive law that won’t allow any county or locality to pass a gun law stricter than state law. Nevada also has eased concealed carry laws. Anyone who can legally possess a handgun can obtain a license to carry concealed, all it takes is to qualify on the range and an instructional course and a few pages of paperwork. It’s nice to see Nevada work for the residents, it protects their Second Amendment rights and openly supports the right of its residents to defend themselves against an aggressor. Nevada not only allows for residents to protect themselves, but also allows for the protection of other individuals in your vicinity. Nevada law doesn’t require a person to retreat until they are backed into a corner to defend themselves and it is not limited to being on your property, but you can legally defend yourself any place you have a legal right to be. Please check my examiner article here for links.

Does Romney really have the nomination?

After the republican primary in Texas, Romney graciously accepted the GOP nomination for president. But is he speaking to soon? According to the main stream media and the national GOP, Romney is the nominee. The only problem is the Ron Paul contingent, their never say die attitude that won’t allow Ron Paul to drop out of the race. Paul’s campaign has even stopped spending money in the primary race but he hasn’t stopped gathering delegates. In fact, even though Romney “won” the Nevada caucus, during the State convention 20 of the 28 delegates selected are Ron Paul supporters. Not only did Ron Paul supporters fill a majority of the delegates selected in Nevada, but they also took over the state party. They replaced the national committee chairman and chairwoman with Paul supporters and took control of the Clark County Republican Party and the state Central Committee. Four years ago, the Nevada convention was shut down because of the fear of Ron Paul winning the convention and now the RNC has threatened to not seat the Nevada delegation to the national convention, even though they have stated that they would respect the results of the caucus held in February. This is not just happening in Nevada but in other states as well. What does all this mean? It could mean a lot, especially if you look at the ruling made in 2008. That year the RNC legal counsel interpreted the rules the bind delegates to vote for a specific candidate are not really binding, that delegates are free to vote for whomever they want. Most state parties have rules that bind delegates; however the national rules override state rules, meaning that there are no delegates officially awarded to any candidate. So any candidate could technically win the nomination, even Huntsman, who dropped out of the race extremely early. There are delegate counts that show Romney has the delegates to gain the nomination and there are delegate counts that show him about halfway to the nomination, but as the 2008 RNC ruling shows that the delegate count doesn’t really matter until the convention in Tampa later this year. So I guess we will just have to wait and see if the national convention turns into a three ring circus. As always, please check my examiner article here for links.

Nontransparent government

The federal government continues to grow nearly unchecked and has an ever increasing impact on the lives of every citizen. In the name of security or the guise of the “common good”, the federal leviathan continues to grow at the cost of its citizens. Whether it’s mandating the purchase of a good or service or violating our Constitutional rights, the federal government usurps more and more liberty from its citizens. Some of these are done publicly with much fanfare and media coverage, like Obamacare or the financial reform bill, while others are done under a veil of secrecy with little to no coverage in the media. Did anyone see Obama signing the executive order on March 16? It’s not a surprise that there was no coverage of this order, but there should have been. This executive order allows the President to take control of all the labor, resources and manufacturing in the country. Of course this can only be done in the event of a national emergency, such as a terrorist attack or natural disaster, or can it? The key part in the entire executive order is the use of the word potential. This power can now be invoked in the face of a POTENTIAL threat. Who determines a potential threat? A hurricane off the gulf coast could be a potential threat; does that mean the federal government can then step in and take control of all the resources of the country or region? While this may seem like an executive power grab, it isn’t really anything new; it’s a renewal of a 1950 law. Maybe March is secrecy month, just about a week prior to the executive order; President Obama signed HR 347 into law. This bill is a direct attack on the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” HR 347 is a direct assault on free speech, peaceful assembly and a redress of grievances. On the surface, this bill may appear to have the best intentions, but opens the door for massive abuses. It allows civil servants to be insulated by groups that have a different opinion and want to voice their concerns and it is not even limited to the top ranking government officials. The President can order Secret Service protection for any individual and the Secret Service will determine who can and cannot be in the “restricted area” and even decide what is restricted. The United States is a republic, with a limited central government, at least the way it was designed. The Founders intent was to keep politics as local as possible. The states created the federal government and now, much like “The Little Shop of Horrors”, has grown uncontrollable. Please see my examiner article here for links, especially the Judge Napolitano video on HR 347.

Chairman Maobama

I haven’t done a good old fashioned rant in quite a while; I’ve been working on being objective and doing thorough research to ensure accuracy and answering to an editorial board for my examiner articles, which can be found here. There is so much to rant about I’m having trouble figuring out where to start. Let’s start with what seems to be what is all over the news. I have to be careful how I put this, I don’t want to infringe on any trademarks, the Zimmerman/Martin case. We live in America and in America, under our Constitution a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, judged by an impartial jury of his peers. Nearly a month after the incident, this became a national story and instantly the media convicted George Zimmerman. The New Black Panther Party issued a $1 million reward of the capture of Zimmerman, dead or alive. Spike Lee tweeted what was thought to be Zimmerman’s address; turns out it was an elderly couple. Professional sports teams even got into the act by wearing hoodies in support of the teenager. ACLU wants the United States Department of Justice to prosecute the case. A member of the United States House of Representatives wore a hoodie on the floor of the House, in violation of House rules. The Congressional Black Caucus even entered into the record that this teen was hunted down and murdered in a case of racial profiling. All of this before any trial; all of this with the police report that reported nose and head damage to Zimmerman that somewhat collaborates his self-defense story. I don’t know what happened, I wasn’t there. I don’t know if was self-defense or a homicide, there are only two that really know what happened and unfortunately one of them can’t tell his side of the story. NBC just fired an executive that edited the 911 tape. The lame stream media shows photos of the 17 year old when he was 12 or 13 and instead of using a current picture of Zimmerman, they used his mug shot from a few years ago. Now the really scary part is yet to come, what happens next. Since the media, the Blank Panthers, the Miami Heat and the CBC have already convicted Zimmerman, what happens if a jury finds him not guilty? What happens if it never goes to trial because of Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law? Are we going to see rioting like we did after the Rodney King verdict? Is it going to be worse? You already have groups of young teens beating and assaulting elderly citizens in this kid’s name. One thing I think is even more sickening than this entire incident is the lack of coverage for other incidents. You have a kid that was set on fire while the assailants hurled racial slurs at him. Chairman Maobama even weighed in on the incident, and shortly thereafter Obama campaign started selling reelection hoodies. One of the most disturbing aspects is the one sided attention. If a white or even a perceived white allegedly murders a minority it’s a federal case, literally. There are tons of minority on minority crimes every day and they barely make the news, even when it’s a minority on a white it barely makes the news. Like the white kid that was lit on fire by two black kids, that didn’t make the news. It’s like the Black Panthers standing in front of polling locations threatening voters in paramilitary gear, but “the admin” can’t find enough evidence to prosecute. The audio and video doesn’t seem to be enough even though you can clearly see and hear it. From there we can jump right on to the Fast & Furious scandal. That’s another one you won’t hear in the lame stream media, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Remember the Iran Contra Arms scandal with Reagan? That was national news, the Congressional hearings, the newspapers and all the network news channels. That was about some arms going to a band of rebels fighting a common enemy half way around the world. Fast & Furious was the government selling guns to violent drug cartels along our southern border and not a peep on the news. Not even a report on how the Justice Department and ATF have been stalling and withholding requested information. This is supposed to be our Justice Department? Selective enforcement and prosecution, withholding evidence from an investigation but aren’t we all equally protected under the law? Apparently not under this regime, I have purposely not called this presidency a regime. I usually refer to it as “the admin” but as time goes on, regime is much more fitting. No Presidency has seen such disdain for the American way of life since the Roosevelts, Franklin and Teddy and Truman. The current regime is following the anti-American playbook laid out by the progressives. Theodore, the so called “trust buster” attacked corporations, that in his opinion had become too large. Most of these companies were already in decline by the time they got busted up. The free market principles allowed these companies to grow because of better organization, management, a better product or even a cheaper product. As these companies began to dominate the market, other companies had to become more efficient and more innovative to survive. Franklin attacked the wealthy and dumped massive tax increases on them. FDR also attacked the Supreme Court, private industry and anyone else that didn’t agree with him. You didn’t even have to disagree with him; Japanese Americans were rounded up and put in internment camps during the Second World War FDR even destroyed food and crops to help keep prices high during the worst depression in the history of our country (at least so far). He created massive government programs that sapped all the extra money out of the economy, prolonging the depression for nearly a decade. Truman seized control of the railroads and used partisan politics, attacking his opponents. Any of this sound familiar? These are all the same tactics the regime is using now. He’s taken control of the auto industry (at least parts of it), massively increased government spending, and massively expanded government control over private industry. Obama continues to attack oil companies, banks and Wall Street even without good reason. The oil companies on average make a profit margin well below most standard industries. All these evil tax subsidies that Obama is demonizing the oil company for using are the exact same tax breaks that ALL US manufacturers receive. I’m not for government subsidies; I don’t think any company should rely on the government to survive. If you can’t make it on your own, should you really be given other people’s money to keep trying? That brings me to the next complaint everyone should have against this regime, the cronyism. For being the first “post racial” President and the great uniter, Obama certainly has fueled the racial flames higher than before his election and has stuck a wedge between the people. He attacks the rich, demonizes them for making money and tries to take wealth from one group to give to another group. He attacks oil companies for making a profit and taking tax breaks and funnels hundreds of millions of dollars to his favored energy companies, regardless of the condition of the company. Chairman Maobama funneled taxpayer money to his green energy cronies, hundreds of millions of dollars sent to a failing company. Much like the auto bailout, if we don’t save these automakers from bankruptcy it will destroy the American auto industry. After hundreds of millions of taxpayer money, GM still had to declare bankruptcy but now the regime had control and gave it to more of its cronies, the auto workers union. The government then screwed all the GM bondholders, by law, bondholders are the first to be paid under bankruptcy law but not under Maobama, give other people’s money to his political cronies. The blatant lies, misrepresentations and half-truths this President continues to spout and the lame stream media, still in love with Maobama, will spread the lies as the gospel and the sheeple continue to buy the fertilizer. What will it take for the sheeple to have their eyes opened? Our liberty is under constant attack, Bush started with the unPATRIOT ACT and it continues with the NDAA. Many of these laws that Congress passes are unconstitutional, it will be interesting if either of those make it to the Supreme Court. Not only is the cronyism rampant and as obvious as the nose on your face, but the bullying tactics continuing throughout the regime. Chairman Maobama openly threatens members of Congress by stating he will go around them if they don’t pass HIS agenda. He says he wants a bipartisan approach and then refuses to listen to any position and forces highly controversial legislation through on a strictly partisan basis. He talks of compromise but then the only compromise has to come from the other side. The Chairman says one thing and then does the exact opposite. Remember as a member of the Senate, he slammed Bush for his spending, $4 trillion in 8 years and then spends $5 trillion in just over 3 years. He slams Bush for the PATRIOTIC ACT and then extends it and goes one step further with the NDAA. He continues policies and programs that helped contribute to the situation we are in and then blame everyone he can, usually the previous admin. It goes on and on, let’s look at the lies next. Most recently, he was exposed as a liar on his resume. Where Maobama claims he was a Professor and taught Constitutional law turns out that he was a lecturer, not a professor. That makes a little more sense than as a Constitutional Professor; he didn’t know that the Supreme Court has overturned laws for over 200 years. Even the left leaning factcheck.org has shown where Obama has been caught not telling the truth. My favorite is his lie about the deathcare bill passing by a strong majority. Really, seven votes in the House is a strong majority? He should have said a strong democratic majority, the bill passed along party lines. We can call him on his oil production claim as well. Oil production may be up, but it’s all on private land, land the federal government couldn’t stop the production on, much like he did in the Gulf, ANWAR, off the Atlantic Coast, off the Pacific coast and about everywhere else oil could be drilled. Chairman Maobama constantly lies about the Republicans blocking his bills; he fails to mention that his own party kills his bills and budgets. His jobs bill failed in the Democrat lead Senate, his budget failed in the Senate 98-0, meaning not one Democrat voted for it, next year’s budget failed in the House with no votes supporting the bill, not even a democrat. He lies about Republicans wanting dirty air, dirty water and people to die, the fact that so many people actually believe those lies, that people would believe that another person would actually want those things shows how far we have gone. Obama lied about the Supreme Court decision on the Citizens United case, either he is unfamiliar with the law or he’s listening to the lame stream media distort the decision. Obama lies about the financial disaster bill and the deathcare bill. The financial disaster bill didn’t do anything, it allowed the “too big to fail” banks off the hook, kept the taxpayers on the hook for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Tons of lies surrounding the deathcare bill, most notably that it will bring down insurance costs. Shall we talk about the oil spill, the one he wouldn’t rest until it was stopped, but took nearly 3 months to do anything, except play golf and vacation on the taxpayers’ dime. Let’s talk about the recession bill or as Maobama calls it, the stimulus, the one that saved jobs, something no economist or politician can explain how to compute. How about shovel ready jobs, at least he admitted that one, sort of laughing off that shovel ready isn’t really shovel ready. How about the big lie about the recession bill keeping unemployment under 8%, which hasn’t been seen since the Bush Administration or the lie about closing Gitmo or cutting the deficit in half in his first term. Those are just some of the lies that Maobama has told since he was elected, while campaigning, he lied about Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Ann Dunham or his lies about a transparent administration or not allowing earmarks or not hiring lobbyists, all lies. He has also lied about his ties to ACORN, or allowing American citizens 5 days to review any bill before he signs it. My favorite lie, is when Maobama claims he visited 57 states and still had a few to go. I wanted to save the best for last, not lies but the fear mongering. I feel this is the worst he can do. Play on the made up fears and lies based on fear. He used fear to avert a government shutdown by lying to military and seniors about cutting off their pay. He used fear tactics to ram through his deathcare bill, he used a false story about Ms. Dunham and lied about insurance companies and Republicans stance. He constantly demonizes and attacks oil companies, banks, Wall Street firms and the rich, he constantly admits he wants to take people’s money and give it to someone else, someone more deserving of your hard earned money than you. Chairman Maobama and his regime have played the race card time and time again. Those investigating Fast & Furious were accused of being racist. If you are against the deathcare bill, you are racist. If you believe in God or guns, you are a racist. If you are against Maobama and you aren’t called a racist you will be condemned as a terrorist. If you are a returning solider from overseas, you are a terrorist, if you belong to or associate with the tea party, you are a terrorist. Let’s get into it a little more, let’s talk about Maobama’s past. Actually it’s really hard to discuss his past, most of it is sealed. We hear from the lame stream media that this is the most brilliant man to ever hold the office, but nothing to verify it against. Bush, who has been called dumb and an idiot more times than I can remember, but his records aren’t sealed. No President has ever had his school records or his past sealed from public view, after all, he is a civil servant, serving the citizens but we can’t know anything about him, except what he wants us to know. We can look into his past a little bit, like how he started his political career in an admitted domestic terrorist who blew up government buildings. He sat in a church for 20 years and listened to an anti-American pastor slam America. I don’t see how a reasonable person could sit there and listen to all that garbage, if they didn’t believe the same things. Remember when it comes to the election, just vote no to Maobama. This could be one of the most important elections of our time. It’s time to make a stand, do you want to live in another European socialist cradle to the grave society or America, the greatest country in the nation.

It's not all about the Presidency

With Romney winning all three primary contests on April 3, he is more than half way to the republican presidential nomination. Santorum, the closest candidate is still more than 350 delegates behind Romney and no one has been able to cut into that lead. With all the focus on the Presidential election this year, one thing that’s overlooked is the Senate and House races. One third of the Senate is up for reelection and the entire House of Representatives and that can always upset the cart. The Republicans are trying to keep control of the House and the Democrats are trying to keep control of the Senate, it goes without being said that both sides are trying to gain control of both houses of Congress. Representatives Joe Heck (R), Shelley Berkley (D) and Mark Amodei (R) are all running for reelection. Both Heck and Berkley were elected in 2010; Amodei was elected by a special election after Dean Heller was appointed to the Senate seat vacated when John Ensign resigned. While Harry Reid is not up for reelection, Joe Heller, who replaced Senator Ensign, will be on the ballot this November. What’s important to remember is that although Nevada has already held its Presidential Caucus, the state primary has not happened yet. Early voting runs from May 26 through June 8 with the primary held on June 12. You can still register and vote in the primary up until four days prior to the start of early voting. Now is the time to start researching the candidates and exploring the ballot initiatives to become an informed voter. If you are not going to take the time to understand who and what you are voting for, do everyone a favor and stay home. When you show up to vote, be sure to show your picture ID, you don’t have to but it’s a good precedent to set and don’t forget to ask for your paper ballot. Remember to check out my examiner article here for all the links.

SCOTUS votes on Healthcare

The six hours of oral arguments have ended and the speculation has begun. One thing is for certain, the Supreme Court has already decided the outcome of the Obamacare lawsuit. Don’t expect to hear that decision before this summer. This is common practice for the Supreme Court, after hearing oral arguments, the Justices take a private poll on how they stand on the case they just heard. This doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t change their mind before the rulings are publicly announced. The first day of arguments, the Court heard whether the case could actually be heard. The Anti-Injunction Act of 1867 prohibits the Court from hearing a case before the tax is actually collected. The government has argued since the law was passed, that the penalty for not obtaining insurance was not a tax. Day one of the arguments, the government argued that the individual mandate penalty did not constitute a tax. The second day of arguments, the government argued that under the tax and spend power; Congress has the ability to impose the tax penalty on its citizens. Yes, you read that correctly. Day one, Obamacare penalty IS NOT a tax but in day two, Obamacare is justified under the tax and spend power given to Congress. So the government wants it both ways. The major argument on the second day was whether Congress has the power to force Americans to engage in commerce under the so called “Commerce Clause.” The commerce clause has been abused to “allow” Congress to do just about anything they want. In the case, of Wickard v Filburn, Congress used the commerce clause to justify penalizing a farmer for growing wheat on his private property for his personal consumption. If the government can force us into commerce, what can’t they force us to do? Day three of the landmark Obamacare lawsuit was focused on the severability of Obamacare, whether the Court can throw out parts of the law and retain others or if the entire law must be ruled unconstitutional. If you listened to the Solicitor General stumble through the cross examination by the Supreme Court, you would think that this law has little chance to survive, but stranger things have happened. Most legal analysts seem to think the law will be struck down along “party” lines, 5 to 4 This could have a profound effect on Las Vegas. Las Vegas leads the nation in unemployment and foreclosures. The central theme of Obamacare is the individual mandate, which forces every person under penalty of law to purchase a product from a private company. With economic hardships among the worst in the nation, forcing people to spend their limited resources on products or services they may or may not want does not make sense. According to President Obama, we are in the worst recession since the great depression; families have had to tighten their belts, so according to the President, the government should make us all spend more money that we don’t have. As always, see here for my article with links.

Romney keeps adding delegates

March 6 was Super Tuesday with ten states holding their primaries or caucuses. The four republican candidates were fighting for the nearly 400 delegates that were up for grabs. Super Tuesday delivers the most delegates in a single day of the primary season with only April 24 and June 4 coming close with both of them having over 200 delegates each. To gain the republican nomination a candidate needs to obtain 1144 delegates out of the nearly 2300. After Super Tuesday, former Governor Mitt Romney added six more states under his belt, extending his delegate lead. Former Senator Rick Santorum added three states bringing his delegate total up to 176, but still more than 200 delegates behind front runner Mitt Romney. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich was only able to win his home state of Georgia but his is still ahead of Representative Ron Paul who has yet to win a primary or caucus. While there is still over 1500 delegates still up for grabs, as I said before, Romney appears to be on his way to the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination. The race is technically far from over though; there are still enough delegates in play for any of the four remaining candidates to win the nomination. Big states like California, New York and Texas have yet to hold their primaries and a win in those states could propel even Ron Paul up the ladder. Rick Santorum supporters started calling for Newt to step down, so a real conservative could take down Mitt Romney but so far Newt has not obliged. Romney’s camp has been calling on all the other candidates to step down so he can focus on beating Obama in November. Despite bringing up the rear, it does not look like Ron Paul or his supporters will let him step down. There are still enough delegates left for any on the candidates to technically be able to grab the nomination. Ron Paul would basically need to run the table to win the nomination, while it’s technically possible it’s also unlikely based on the fact that he has not won one contest to date. While the race is not technically over, Mitt Romney seems to have the nomination wrapped up. Primaries and caucuses held on March 10 continued the same trend; Romney won the majority of the contests while Santorum only managed one, Gingrich and Paul were unable to win any states. Tuesday, March 13 has another group of states holding their primaries and another chance for one of the candidates to cut into Romney’s lead. As always, check my examiner column here for links.

1000 and counting, Harry Reid's failure.

I'm still waiting on a response to a letter I sent to Harry Reid about his budget, or actually his no budget. I'll post the letter when I get a response, if I do. Meanwhile, this might be the start of a series on Pinky Reid. Or maybe the start of a recall drive to replace him.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a prime example of the problem in Washington DC. The United States Senate has not approved a budget in more than 1000 days, that’s nearly three years. The Senate has voted against budgets from the House of Representatives and President Obama, the President’s budget was so bad, it failed to receive one vote. With no budget, I guess the Senate can claim they never went over budget even though they continued to contribute to trillions in debt. This is not simply politics as usual. After the 2008 Presidential election, democrats controlled the House, the White House and the Senate and still Harry Reid did not pass a budget.
It is not only the budget; Harry Reid has failed to bring balance budget legislation to the floor, not once but twice. The Senate Majority leader has also failed to bring several House passed Jobs bill to the floor for debate, let alone to vote on. It’s not only Reid’s failure to bring important legislation to the floor, it’s some of the legislation he does bring to the floor and considers important. Harry Reid supports spending federal tax dollars on a Cowboy Poetry festival in his home state and has been majority leader during the biggest spending spree in our country’s history. He supported the $800 billion stimulus package to bankrupt green energy firms and bridges to nowhere and high speed rail. Harry Reid supported the original PATRIOT ACT and the renewal of the act, which could very well be the largest liberty stealing piece of legislation ever passed. Harry Reid also voted against the American people with the NDAA and supports the PIPA legislation, which he temporarily postponed due to mounting pressure from opponents of the bill.
Harry Reid has not only failed in his leadership in the Senate and has shown his willingness to vote against preserving constitutionally protected freedoms but he has also shown his ability to play the game in our nation’s capital. Senator Reid has attacked republicans in the most ridiculous ways. He claims that republicans want to poison the American people. He claims that republicans are trying to derail any economic recovery, despite his failure to bring job creation legislation to the floor. Reid also claims that those against Obamacare are like the democrats that opposed ending slavery (he didn’t point out that democrats were for slavery and filibustered the Civil Rights legislation). He refers to republicans as hostage takers, obstructionists and 1%ers. He makes blatantly false statements about job creation and the evil millionaires and billionaires.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the perfect example of a career politician. He routinely shows that partisan politics and reelection are his main concerns. Reid is the perfect example of why the Framers of the Constitution had Senators elected by the state legislatures, not the people.

As normal, please check out my examiner article here for all sources.

State of the Union, 2012, 2011 or 2010?

I did not bother to watch the President give his annual State of the Union, I saw excerpts of the transcript and it sounded much like all of his other speeches. He spoke of working with both parties, which he has shown repeatedly that he does not and continued to blame others for problems, he may not have entirely created the problems but definitely made worse. He spoke of amnesty and education and the need to spend more money. He spoke on the need to create jobs and spend more on green energy. President Obama did not stop there; he attacked the oil companies and the banks and continued to drive a wedge into the class warfare argument. After I saw the excerpts, something sounded familiar, very familiar. It wasn’t the campaign style delivery of the speech; it wasn’t the reliance on the teleprompter or members of Congress fawning all over the rock star President seeking autographs. I’ve gotten used to his speech delivery, it always sounds like a campaign speech, a whole lot of promise and very little substance. I’ve even got used to the teleprompter; you certainly can tell when the President is not using it. What sounded so familiar was the actual message; it was almost verbatim from his previous State of the Union address, which was almost identical to his 2010 address.
The only “accomplishment” Obama could mention was the banking bill. I find it almost amusing that there was no mention of his health care reform bill, since polls show a majority of Americans oppose the bill and more join the ranks as more “gems” are uncovered. Obama’s State of the Union sounded like more campaign rhetoric, filled with plans of jobs for everyone, homes for everyone a leaner and more efficient government. Another glaring example of his hypocrisy; Obama asked for more power to eliminate wasteful bureaucracies and cut burdensome red tape to trim down government but then in at least three instances he announced a new bureaucracy. The first was the Trade Enforcement Unit; the next was the Financial Crimes Unit and the new slew of federal prosecutors to prosecute those in the banking industry, the new panels to coordinate jobs for Veterans, altering college programs and lending/borrowing practices.
Finally, like in every other Obama speech, he played the class warfare card again. Demonized companies for trying to make a profit, wanting to implement windfall profit taxes to oil companies. The President continued attacking “the rich” for not paying their “fair share.” No one can seem to explain what their fair share is, or what qualifies as rich. Is 35% a fair share? Is 75% a fair share? What’s rich, $250,000 a year, $5 million a year? President Obama even stuck to the same old misleading democratic talking points; the importance of tax payer funded green energy, the misstatement on the amount of oil reserves in the United States. He continues to make false claims about energy production and border security. I can only hope that the people are seeing through all of the smoke and mirrors and see that the hope and change was nothing more than a pipe dream.


Please see my examiner article here for links.

Occupy: a communist movement?

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848. These two German political philosophers are credited with authoring what has been described as one of the most influential political manuscripts in the world. They predicted the “evils” of capitalism would be eventually replaced by communism. Marx also developed a “test” to see if a country was practicing communism. This test consisted of 10 planks.
I’ve written a couple of articles in my series on the Occupy Las Vegas movement and in this one, I wanted to focus on my biggest disagreement with the Occupy Las Vegas movement and it ties in with the 10 planks of communism. The list of redresses against the government has been taken down the Occupy Las Vegas and replaced with a request for resolution to be delivered to the City Councils and Commissioners of the various local entities.
One of the redresses was the forgiveness of student loans and free education. Free education is the tenth planks of communism. The state controls the educational content and uses it much like the former Soviet Union or modern China to indoctrinate the young to reinforce the communist ideals. Another redress was the increased regulation of the banking industry. A central bank and the centralization of credit is the fifth plank of communism. Government spending in the infrastructure and transportation of the country, which the Occupy crowd favors, is the sixth plank. The seventh plank of Marx’s test is the state control of the means of production, which if you have the government guarantee full employment, they will have to control and that would include the eighth plank, which is equal liability of all labor. The Occupy movement has been pushing for “the rich” to pay their “fair” share (no one can seem to explain what is fair), or a heavily progressive income tax and no surprise that happens to be the second plank of communism. Protestors have started occupying foreclosed homes and private parks, private businesses and private homes showing a total disregard of private property rights. Karl Marx’s first plank of communism is the abolishment of private property. That is seven out of the ten planks from the Communist Manifesto that the Occupy Las Vegas movement was pushing. I would have liked to copy their redress of grievances before it changed to their resolution to the local governments to see if they were promoting the last three which is the confiscation of property from emigrants and rebels, a heavy inheritance tax and finally the equal distribution of people throughout the country. I feel safe to say that if you are for a progressive tax, you probably support the inheritance tax and the confiscation of property of emigrants and rebels. It would not surprise me if they supported the equalization of population density.
This is my major problem with the Occupy Las Vegas group and from what I’ve seen, most of the Occupy movements across the country. They claim to be for the working man and the union, but then they shut down a port keeping a couple hundred middle class union workers from earning their pay. They claim the government is broken and the only way to fix it is to give them more power and let them try and fix the problem they created. They complain about the 1%, but have leadership groups compromising a small percentage of the movement controlling the resources of the “people” or the collective. They are pushing for government control over our lives. From the indoctrination of the young, to the government career that’s selected for you and even where you live and what you use for transportation. Communism has failed everywhere it has been tried and I really don’t want to see the United States of America turn into the United Socialist States of America. Both the Communist Manifesto and Rules for Radicals calls to incite class warfare to bring about a revolution, to make the poor and middle class hate the wealthy and convince them that what they have should be distributed to the people. American guarantees equal opportunity, not equal results. America is for the individual, where you are only limited by your imagination, not stifled by government rules and regulations.