Sequestration is a joke

If you listen to almost everyone in government, the sky is falling. March 1, the sequester cuts go into effect and unless the government saves us from this latest crisis, the country will completely fall apart. President Obama has wasted little time in using this “crisis” to his political advantage. We have seen him on television selling the idea that if the sequester goes through some 800,000 government workers will lose their jobs, jails will be closed and criminals set free. Hospitals will close and send away sick people, the entire country will burn because there will be no firefighters. The military will not be able to protect the country, airlines won’t be able to fly, food will be poisoned and air and water will be dirty. Sick people will die, poor people will starve, parks will be closed, basically the end of the world. Maybe the Mayans were a couple of months off in their calendar. Both parties have been promoting the evils of the sequester cuts, but what is the truth. The truth of the matter is that the sequestration is a joke, a scare tactic created by the government to avoid any spending cuts. Both Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the “devastating” effects of the sequester. I guess they forgot that it passed a Republican controlled House, a Democratic Senate and signed into law by a Democratic President. So how does that make it the fault of one party? It just shows that neither party is serious about cutting spending. What makes the sequestration a joke you ask. First off, the sequestration cuts over a trillion dollars in the next ten years, averaging about $85 billion a year. The annual “budget” is roughly at $3.5 trillion, $85 billion represents just over 2% of the budget. If cutting merely 2% of the budget is going to cause the end of the world, I would hate to see what real cuts would do to the country. To bring this into a little more focus, the Hurricane Relief bill and the recent unemployment insurance bill totaled $80 billion, just $5 billion less, but these cuts will devastate the country. Any leveled headed person who logically looks at the situation, knows that this is nothing more than scare tactics. Not convinced yet, it gets even better than the fact that there is no way a 2% budget cut could trigger all of these catastrophic events. The federal budget increases every year, usually around the rate of inflation. This sequester cuts only the proposed rate of spending. The federal budget is set to increase by approximately 1.7% this year, with the devastating effects of the sequester, the federal budget will increase by approximately 1.6%. So even with the sequester, the federal government will continue to spend more money than it did last year. How does a decrease in the rate of future spending cause such catastrophic events to occur? Simple, it doesn’t. Just another manufactured crisis created by the federal overlord to continue to take more and more from the citizens to feed their spending addiction. Senator Rand Paul is about the only person in Washington D.C. that is speaking the truth about the sequester, he is telling anyone that will listen and trying to tell all of those that won’t listen. It’s a shame he is up against the main stream media and President’s lies about the entire situation. We, the people need to look at the true facts and not listen to the lies propagated by a compliant media at the behest of politically motivated ruling class.

Power of the states

Once upon a time, thirteen colonies belonging to the British Empire got tired of being told how to live be a tyrant who ruled from across the sea. They joined together, putting their regional differences aside and declared their independence. That event founded the greatest country the world has ever seen. The several, independent colonies decided that for mutual benefit, there were some things that they could better as a group; but most of the matters could be solved locally. They met and developed the Constitution to create a republic, where the colonies were free to run their lives as they wanted and their participation on the federal level would be limited to a few enumerated powers. While the story is true, it is a very simple, basic explanation of the founding of America and the Constitution of the United States. I think it outlines a very important aspect that is often overlooked, especially now. Contrary to popular belief, the United States is not a democracy, it is a representative republic. Thirteen independent states joined together and formed a union, they created a federal government and carefully balanced not only executive, legislative and judicial powers, but they were also careful to balance state and federal power. While the strength of the federal government was of great debate, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights simply explained the relationship. The Bill of Rights was a compromise between the federalists and the anti-federalists, to further protect the sovereignty of the independent states. The several states created federal government, not the other way around. States’ rights are not a throwback to the Jim Crow era, not a code for racism or slavery. States’ rights reflect the 10th Amendment, which states that the power not delegated to the federal government are left to the states or the residents. This gets blurred by the so called supremacy clause or the necessary and proper clause, which have been interpreted to allow the federal government to run roughshod over the states. If the federal government was totally supreme, why bother even having a Constitution? If the federal government was not limited in its power and scope, why is there a list of enumerated powers? What recourse do the lowly states have to remedy this situation? Most recently, we have seen several states passing laws that nullify federal laws. Laws like Obamacare, indefinite detention, laws prohibiting TSA searches and now even nullifying gun control laws that might pass through Congress are being passed by states all across the country. The states are exerting their authority. This is not a new concept, nullification has been used before. Northern states nullified fugitive slave laws, states nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Separate but Equal concept of the Brown v Board of Education. Before you jump on the ‘those were all 60 years ago or longer, nullification can’t work now’ I have some more and not those crazy right wing nut ideas. Several cities across the country are what are called a ‘sanctuary city,’ a city where federal immigration laws are not enforced or nullified. Several states continue to practice the concept of nullification through state laws allowing for the medical and/or recreational use of marijuana. Last time I checked, drug legalization and illegal immigration were issues dear to the heart of democrats, not right wing whackos. Nullification is not only constitutional; nullification is one of the tools available to the states to fight against overreaches by the federal government. It has been used throughout the history of our country, by both sides of the political aisle. Article 1, section 8 of the United States Constitution specifically defines the powers that the states delegated to the federal government; the 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution and deal with the issue of what the federal government can do, cannot do and everything else is left to the states, or the people. With the growing nanny state mentality of the politicians in DC and nanny state laws passing in several states; such as the salt ban or large soda ban in New York or the happy meal toy ban and trans fat ban in California. Now is the time to step up and say no to the increasing federal leviathan. Contact your state legislatures and demand that they pass legislation supporting the 10th Amendment and rebuffing unconstitutional laws passed by an overreaching federal monster. The state created the federal government and now is the time to control their monster.

Smokescreens & Misdirection

For the past two years leading up to President Obama’s reelection all we heard was Obama’s plan for the economy and his jobs bills. After the election, we have not heard one thing about a jobs bill or an economic plan from the White House; we haven’t even seen a budget from President Obama. The only thing we have heard from the administration is gun control and amnesty. His inaugural address was filled with progressive ideas that include global warming, amnesty and gun control, among others. With all the propaganda during the campaign, I would have expected at least a mention of an economic plan or jobs plan. But I guess I expect too much. President Obama claims we are in a recovery but with unemployment at its highest sustained rate since the Great Depression and the sluggish economic growth that is worse than the anemic recovery during the Great Depression. With the economy shrinking again and unemployment rising again, I would expect, especially after all the campaign rhetoric maybe he would finally meet with his jobs council or his economic advisors, not dismiss them after meeting with them only four times. How about meeting with your economic council, but I guess I expect too much. Shifting focus away from truly important issues by the administration is made much easier by a compliant media. Where have all the journalists gone? Sometimes the administration doesn’t even have to shift focus to a created issue, the pro Obama media has done a very good job keeping anything controversial out of the general public’s eye. Fast and Furious is the first that comes to mind, a scandal about the United States government giving guns to Mexican drug cartels. Combined, the main stream media covered the story for less than one hour; even after the deaths of a Border Patrol Agent was linked to the weapons. Never heard of it? Know nothing about it? That’s the whole point. How about Benghazi? The main stream media will continue to feed you the real important news, which celebrity is getting married or divorced or which one is in trouble with the law. The Ancient Roman government used a tactic called ‘bread and circuses’ to control the people. They understood if you kept the people fed and entertained you can steal all of their liberty. Well, look at the state of America, we are the fattest, dumbest and happiest people in the world and the government is stealing our liberty while we pay more attention to American Idol than our government. It shows a sad state of the country when more people can recognize the cast of Jersey Shore than the leaders of their country. As usual, please click here for my article with links.