Too Late For Conservatism

Richard D. Cushing (@VoteSmartToday) lays out a vision for leadership that is needed to turn around the U.S.  Put simply, the system of limited government, the vision of our founding fathers, has been destroyed.  It is impossible to conserve that which is already extinct.

Read more of Cushing's work at http://rdcushing.blogspot.com/.

President Obama to Issue Directive 10-289

Wesley Mouch

There comes a time in history, when it becomes clear that the end is just around the corner.  In an effort to keep the economy from further decline, President Obama will issue an executive order, 10-289, to lock the economy in place.  Directive 10-289 establishes the Bureau of Economic Planning and Natural Resources, and a "Unification Board" to deal with insubordination. 

The text of this directive is as follows:

In the name of the general welfare, to protect the people's security, to achieve full equality and total stability, it is decreed for the duration of the national emergency that:

Point One. All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation.

Point Two. All industrial, commercial, manufacturing and business establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit nor leave nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under pentalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any and all of their property.

Point Three. All patents and copyrights, pertaining to any devices, inventions, formulas, processes and works of any nature whatsoever, shall be turned over to the nation as a patriotic emergency gift by means of Gift Certificates to be signed voluntarily by the owners of all such patents and copyrights. The Unification Board shall then license the use of such patents and copyrights to all applicants, equally and without discrimination, for the purpose of eliminating monopolistic practices, discarding obsolete products and making the best available to the whole nation. No trademarks, brand names or copyrighted titles shall be used. Every formerly patented product shall be known by a new name and sold by all manufacturers under the same name, such name to be selected by the Unification Board. All private trademarks and brand names are hereby abolished.

Point Four. No new devices, inventions, products, or goods of any nature whatsoever, not now on the market, shall be produced, invented, manufacturerd or sold afer the date of this directive. The Office of Patents and Copyrights is hereby suspended.

Point Five. Every establishment, concern, corporation or person engaged in production of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth produce the same amount of goods per year as it, they or he produced during the Basic Year, no more and no less. The year to be known as the Basic or Yardstick Year is to be the year ending on the date of this directive. Over or under production shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Barod.

Point Six. Every person of any age, sex, class or income, shall henceforth spend the same amount of money on the purchase of goods per year as he or she spent during the Basic Year, no more and no less. Over or under purchasing shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Board.

Point Seven. All wages, prices, salaries, dividends, profits, interest rates and forms of income of any nature whatsoever, shall be frozen at their present figures, as of the date of this directive.

Point Eight. All cases arising from and rules not specifically provided for in this directive, shall be settled and determined by the Unification Board, whose decisions will be final.

These policies sound quite similar to what we are seeing today.  They hastened economic decline in the fictional novel Atlas Shrugged, and we saw the prolonged stagnation caused by similar policies in the 1930's as part of the New Deal.

The only way to unleash our economy is to eliminate the oppressive tax code, end government stimulus, and free the market of oppressive regulation.

Ron Paul: "Republicans Would be Foolish to Fall for This Ploy"

It appears that our cowardly GOP leaders are ready to cave-in on a deal to raise the debt ceiling that will involve raising taxes.  Those of us with common sense realize that when we give the statist hordes that occupy D.C. the ability to confiscate our private property, we give them license to keep spending.

Congressman Ron Paul issued a statement on his presidential campaign website, saying:

“Sources in Washington tell me that House Republican Speaker John Boehner is considering a deal to raise taxes as part of a debt limit ‘deal.’  In fact, reports are they may be ready to cave in to Barack Obama’s demands for a trillion dollars in tax increases in exchange for mostly phony spending and tax cuts in order to raise the debt ceiling."

If this is true, the Tea Party should be in full revolt mode.  This is completely arbitrary to the mandate handed down as a result of the 2010 Congressional election.

“House Republicans would be foolish to go for this ploy and be taken in by the Obama administration, only to leave American taxpayers on the hook again for more out-of-control government spending."

We all know this is the result of higher taxes.

“The Democrats pulled a similar maneuver during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, a deal that promised 2 to 1 spending cuts in exchange for tax increases. Taxes went up, but the cuts never came. They did it again in 1990, promising much the same deal, and delivering only on their tax increases.  In Washington, if you hear about a so-called deal, you can be sure the taxes will come, but the cuts never will.  Republicans cannot take the bait and get fooled again."

Take it from Ron Paul, the guy who has been there and seen it happen first hand.  If establishment GOP leaders agree to such a deal, we will see massive spending increases, and no cuts. 

The Leviathan keeps growing.

The National Debt Cannot be Stopped

Quite literally, our national debt is on autopilot:

If Treasury were to decide to delay payments, it would need to re-program government computers that generate automatic payments as they fall due — a massive and difficult undertaking. Treasury makes about 3 million payments each day.

If there is one area our government has become extremely efficient, it's making payments with confiscated, printed, and borrowed money.

Happy Independence Day, Discover Founding Principles

The Declaration: Freedom from Tyranny

If you have ever been confused about where your moral, political, or philosophical compass should be pointing, look no further than the Declaration of Independence.  The Declaration is clearly, in this trucker's mind anyhow, the greatest treatise on freedom and governing principles ever created.  The Declaration spells it out, and the Constitution puts it into action.

Let's take a look:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

This shows that our rights are granted to us by God, not government!  This seems to be a concept that is lost on so many leftists today.  The reference to "Laws of Nature" and "Nature's God" make it clear that these guys weren't practicing Christians either, but rather Deists.  They believed that not only do our rights come from God, but our ability to reason comes from Him as well.  When government impedes these God-given rights, it is moral and just for the People sever themselves from such tyranny.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

All men are CREATED equal.  This does not infer cradle to grave socioeconomic equality like so many leftists believe!  Once again it is made clear that our Creator endowed us with unalienable rights that can never be taken away or declared null by any earthly institution, because these rights are inherent and absolute.  The pursuit of Happiness refers to our right to acquire and enjoy private property!  The right to private property is the branch from which all other rights stem!  Any impediment to these rights imposed by government are antithetical to our existence and cannot be tolerated.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Our government is supposed to exist solely to protect our God-given rights.  Government derives it's just powers from the consent of the governed, which is was a radical concept then and still is for many leftists today.  This is the principle of self governance.  In Europe, government or the scepter claimed sole ownership over distributing rights to the people and governance, as the people couldn't be trusted to govern themselves.  Leftists today still hold these sentiments, as they see it necessary to pass incoherent and numerous laws out of unaccountable, unelected administrative bureaucracies that affect every conceivable aspect of our lives.  Do you think that our Form of Government still governs with the People's consent?  Don't you think it's maybe time for some alteration or abolishment of those bureaucracies that infringe on our ability to live freely?

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

This paragraph is just scary relevant to the conditions in which we live today.  The following  "...experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed" perfectly describes the mindset of modern America.  What will it take for people to get really pissed about what the government does on a daily basis to infringe on our right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness?  I personally believe that the actions of our government against private property rights most of the time go beyond the "light" or "transient" kind.

There are our Founding Principles.  I wish more people will take the time to discover them and put them into the context of the country in which we currently live.  Share the Declaration of Independence with your family, spouse, friends, or whoever, and find out why the Founders cherished freedom.

The Reagan Myth

Ronaldus Magnus

There always seems to be a flood of Republicans, especially those who like to label themselves as conservative, that channel the spirit of the great Ronald Reagan when they attempt to justify their love of military adventurism.  Rush Limbaugh states that Reagan's strategy in Afghanistan is to "win", because that is what Ronald Reagan would do.

Tim Pawlenty unveiled his hawkish foreign policy vision Tuesday in front of the Council of Foreign Relations, basically saying that we will be in the Middle East until the rapture occurs.  John McCain wants to invade every country on Earth, as if we have the resources to do so.  McCain has rattled on about the growing sentiment of "isolationists", which in his eyes are anyone not approving of the concept of endless war.

I guess you can lump Ronald Reagan into the "isolationist" category.  What gets lost in all of the fog of channeling Ronald Reagan is that he was extremely prudent in his foreign policy.  In fact, he was less interventionist than the administrations before and after him.

Reagan talked a tough game to the Soviets.  He made sure we had our defenses (key word) built up.  Today, he would probably be accused of "appeasing" the enemy by even talking to Gorbachev.  There were no missiles fired or bombs dropped in the Cold War.

Reagan saw the folly in entering the Lebanese civil war:

"Sending the Marines to Beirut was the source of my greatest regret and greatest sorrow."

Reagan understood the gravity of sending our greatest asset, our soldiers, into harms way.  He did not take this lightly:

“(W)hen Secretary of State Alexander Haig suggested… bombing Cuba, the suggestion ‘scared the shit out of Ronald Reagan,’ according to White House aide Michael Deaver. Haig was marginalized, then resigned, and Reagan never seriously considered sending U.S. troops south of the border, despite demands from (neo)conservative intellectuals… ‘Those sons of bitches won’t be happy until we have 25,000 troops in Managua,’ Reagan told chief of staff Kenneth Duberstein near the end of his presidency, ‘and I’m not going to do it.”

We need a prudent foreign policy in this country.  We cannot be everywhere all the time.  We cannot win a war against a tactic, terrorism.  These expensive occupations are not the answer.  They are not yielding the results we require to keep our country safe, in fact, it is having the opposite effect.  The cavemen of Afghanistan are no threat to us.  Bin Laden is dead.  We are better off bringing our troops home and defending our porous borders.  Not to mention that we are bankrupt and have been financing $.40 of every $1 we spend on our overseas excursions.  We can no longer afford such reckless military spending (along with entitlements and other spending as well). 

Most importantly, thousands of soldiers have been killed or permanently maimed.  It seems like it's so easy for the old white hairs to send our boys off to these meat grinders.  Reagan was a careful steward of our military, and wouldn't put them in harms way at the drop of a hat, as evidenced by history.

Let's hope we can return to the principles of Ronald Reagan's foreign policy.

Who is Jon Huntsman and Why Do I Care?

Jon Huntsman made his presidential aspirations made the other day in the same place that Ronald Reagan made his announcement in 1980, with the Statue of Liberty standing tall in the background.  For the week prior, it seemed that the media was clamoring for such an announcement.  It seemed strange because there was nothing that would make you believe he'd make a run.  Most people, including myself knew nothing of the little known governor from Utah.

The first thing that makes me skeptical is that the media hasn't decried Huntsman a bat shit crazy lunatic.  This obviously makes me think something is wrong with him personally or his positions are off kilter.  I like my candidates to espouse minarchist principles, in contrast with the mainstream media.  It turns out my suspicions are correct.

Huntsman is a classic global warming alarmist.  On a tip from Verum Serum, Huntsman signed on to the 2008 "Global Climate Solutions Declaration", which states:

Based on conclusive scientific evidence, we recognize that global climate change is a grave threat to our people, our environment, and our respective ways of life. Therefore, we resolve to act quickly to stabilize the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases to avoid the resulting catastrophic impacts to the world’s ecosystems, oceans, water supplies, infrastructure, food production, and human health. The magnitude and urgency of the challenges in stabilizing the climate will require an unprecedented level of collaboration and cooperation among all levels of government around the world.
We also recognize that the transition to a low carbon society will invigorate and strengthen global, national and regional economies by enhancing energy security, increasing energy efficiency, and creating new jobs and industries that stimulate diverse, de-centralized and sustainable economic activity.
We further recognize that states and provinces from around the world, including the undersigned, have embarked on journey to pursue innovative actions  and policies to address climate change. This declaration is another step that strengthens and advances our shared vision for long-term cooperative action. We seek to create a low carbon society and enhance energy security by providing ongoing support to our national governments as they combat climate change.

This is enough to disregard Huntsman as a serious candidate regardless of his other positions.  Our country cannot afford, quite literally, any candidate with big government inclinations. 

Add that his potential future opponent is his old boss who he has called a "remarkable leader" and it starts to smell of plant or set up.  Chris "Tingles" Matthews seems to like him for having so-called civility when dealing with the current White House occupant.  Liberal columnist Ezra Klein says Huntsman brings "reasonableness" to the GOP.  Oh my!

All of this leads me to think that if this guy actually gets the nomination, then something was rigged in the primaries, or there were vast amounts of leftists and Democrats crossing over and voting in the primaries.  Guarantee Obama a victory in 2012 if Huntsman gets the nod.  Huntsman has already so much as stated that he won't go at the throat at Obama politically.  Also, kiss the GOP goodbye if Huntsman wins and say hello to a third party.

Why do I care about Jon Huntsman?  Because he is the kind of Republican that is antithetical to the Tea Party movement and principles.  He is the Republican that lost ushered in this recent age of so-called big government conservatism.  He is the type candidate that was thrown out of office in 2006 and 2008. 

He is Charlie Crist and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Ron Paul Won the Debate

Jack Hunter with The American Conservative tells us why.

It's worth noting that Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich were obvious runners up.

Free the Market, End Government Stimulus

Since January 2009, the Obama administration has carried out a mandate of Keynesian economics on an enormous scale.  First was the $787 billion stimulus package that was going to be packed with so-called "shovel-ready jobs" to get the unemployed back to work again.  This past week the president laughed about the lack of those type of jobs in his stimulus.  In essence, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was nothing more than a bail out of state and local municipalities that had been living way beyond their means for years.  After all, President Obama had to secure the votes of all of those public sector union workers right?

This came after TARP, (which he voted for as Senator) another $700 billion or so, to bail out the banksters on Wall St.  So much for all that "Main St." talk right?  This is corporate welfare at its sickest. 

Then you have the Federal Reserve's bailing out of foreign entities with money printed out of thin air.  Worst of all, is that they won't even tell us to whom our money was sent.  The Fed is also buying more treasury notes than any other bank or country on the planet in a scam to destroy our currency called Quantitative Easing.  Trillions of dollars have been printed out of thin air so that our central bank can buy debt from it's own government...seem strange to anyone else?

What have these efforts produced?  The housing market is still in the gutter, with no recovery in sight.  Unemployment still hovers above 9%.  Retail sales are declining.  Manufacturers aren't producing.

The Keynesian notion that government stimulus can have a meaningful effect on the economy has been proven false.  

The only thing that can save our economy from further decline is the free the market.  When I say free the market, what I really mean is "UNLEASH THE BEAST!"

Regulatory barriers need to be broken down.  The government intrudes in nearly every market activity we engage in, from what kind of light bulb we can buy, to how much water our toilets can flush, to the fuel economy our cars can have, an on and on.  The socialist administrative state needs to be made impotent.  

Our current tax system needs to be eliminated and replaced.  We need to let productive Americans keep more of what they earn.  No more income tax, regressive payroll tax, corporate tax, or inheritance tax.  Replace it all with the FairTax, a national sales tax that taxes all retail consumption at a flat rate.  This will attract business investment to the United States.  Think of how competitive the United States would be in every major sector with a 0% corporate tax!  Foereigners, illegal immigrants, and drug dealers will finally be able to help fund our government for the first time.    

While the Looter-in-Chief is out playing golf, giving lucrative government jobs to his biggest donors, our economy is sick due to an infestation of too much government interference.  The cure is a massive dose of free market and less taxes.

The only thing left to do is find a doctor that will administer the shot.

Herman Cain Had To Go There

If there's one thing that the Conservative Trucker can't stand, it is pandering.  Watch here as Herman Cain panders to the evangelical right.  Notice the tone of ingenuousness.  Leave morality for the churches and synagogues.  Mitch Daniels was right when he said that we need to call a truce on social issues and focus on fixing our broken economy.  Why does Herman Cain's personal position on homosexuality matter one iota?

Oh yeah, pandering.

By the way, unemployment is still over 9%.

Putting Weinergate in Perspective

It's frustrating that there was barely any mention of the 67th anniversary of D-Day Monday, as the airwaves and television screens were clogged with discussions about Anthony Weiner's weiner.  It was all the rage.  Sean Hannity dedicated an entire hour of his show to the pathetic spectacle of a press conference in which Weiner apologized over, and over, and over again for his indiscretions. 

The whole affair has not doubt been entertaining to some extent, but to reach the level of coverage it has received is ridiculous.  In the meantime, we have a President that is single-handedly ruining our economy.  Barack Obama should be kissing Weiner's ass for distracting the media away from his ruinous policies as long as he has.  Let's forget the lack of jobs, declining housing market, sky high energy prices, disastrous deficit spending, military adventurism, redistribution of wealth, inflationary monetary policy, and so on and so forth and concentrate our total attention on a naughty picture a liberal congressman sent.

Let's face it, even if Weiner resigns, someone as leftist or even more so will replace him.  Do you think his ultra-moonbat constituency would vote in a Republican due to Weiner's perversity?  It won't happen. 

Jack Hunter offers a similar perspective:

One need not go searching for these immoral government acts on Twitter or in the National Enquirer when they can be found in any news headline at any given moment. Yes, Anthony Weiner and his goofy sex life is unquestionably sad and pathetic but so is the lopsided amount of attention America pays to such trivialities—considering the routine immoral behavior committed in Washington everyday by even the most personally wholesome politicians.

Time to get back things that matter.  

Courts may overturn Obamacare

US judges seem receptive to health care challenge - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110608/ap_on_re_us/us_health_overhaul

Nullification

This is a truly captivating speech on nullification by Tom Woods.  Our 10th Amendment is so blatantly ignored.  The states have the power to nullify unconstitutional federal laws!

 

The Federal Reserve and Quantitative Easing Explained

If more people really understood the ramifications of the Federal Reserve and the stranglehold it has on our economy, then maybe there would be more of an outcry for an audit.  The Fed has trillions of dollars on its balance sheet that banks are just waiting to flood into the economy.  When that occurs, get ready for inflation the likes this nation has never seen.  Inflation, after all, is just an insidious form of taxation as it makes everything we buy more expensive.

This video was presented by Chard Reid, a former candidate for U.S. Congress, at the Hancock County Tea Party meeting on 6/2/11:

What has Weinergate Taught us?

Anthony Weiner: Can't say with "certitude" if that's his junk.

Here is what we do know:  There was a tweet sent from Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter account to a 21 year-old woman in Seattle.  It contained a pic of a man's underwear covered, semi-aroused genitalia.  The tweet was discovered by Twitter user Dan Wolfe (@patriotusa76) and the photo was posted.  Rep. Weiner then discovered the tweet was sent out and had it deleted.  Big Government received the pic from Wolfe and ran the story.

Then the fun begins.  Weiner claims hack, but call a lawyer instead of the police.  Suddenly it's simply a prank, yet he hires a "firm" that specializes in "white-collar" crime.  Weiner calls a presser to put the issue to rest but acts like a little wiener to a couple of CNN reporters that actually ask him tough questions.  Unbelievably, he says that he can't claim with "certitude" that the pic is not of him.

In his interview with Wolf Blitzer, he still can't say that the picture is not him:

 
So what have we learned class?  Politicians dodge their way around questions.  Partisan media outlets will latch on to a story and milk it for all it's worth.  Do you really think Big Government would have taken a story like this to the point they did if it were Sarah Palin sending racy pics to a 21 year-old male Twitter user?  No doubt the Daily Kos would run with that baby until the bitter end.  Be that as it may, it shows the importance of a Big Government.com that will run stories the MSM will not.  The Daily Kos just runs crap against conservatives that their pals in the MSM already do.  It's good to have a side of the media that will combat them.

However, it is now time to move on.  We have an epic battle against Barack Obama to wage.  During the Weinergate distraction, local gas prices shot up $.40 over night, the housing market slumped over 4%, the private sector added an anemic 38,000 jobs in May, and economists are calling for another Great Depression.  We have to defeat Obama and his pack of Marxists on the issues, not scandal.

Let's get back on topic folks, and leave the tabloid stories for the tabloids.

With Gas Prices Burning Our Wallets, Enviro-Statists Push To Stifle Crude Supply

Many families, including mine, are parking their cars in the driveway this weekend because the gas prices are TOO DAMN HIGH.  Middle income families are spending a record level of their income filling up their tanks, burning up disposable income.  In other words, we can't have as much fun as we used to because we spend all of our cash driving to work, choir recitals, baseball practice, and the grocery store.  There is really little that we can do to alter our driving habits (I can't really afford not to drive to my job), aside from not doing any extra driving.

Our country's lack of a long-term energy policy has left us with dwindling supplies and a heavy reliance on foreign sources of crude.  One would think that we would seek to find any additional supply possible in an effort to lower the price at the pump.

Most people don't realize where we get most of our foreign oil.  Is it Iraq?  Nope.  Saudi Arabia?  Nope.  Venezuela?  No way.

Canadian Tar Sands

BLAME CANADA!  That's right, most of our oil is imported from our friendly neighbor to the North.  There are plans in the works to build a pipeline from Alberta, Canada to our refineries in Texas.  Not only would this DOUBLE our supply coming from our biggest importer, it will create thousands of jobs in the process.  This Conservative Trucker likes the fact that thousands of Americans will have well paying jobs and that we will have a far lower dependency on oil from the Middle East.

However, the enviro-statists in Congress are looking to stifle this important project.  Matthew Daly of the Associated Press actually wrote a pretty good article on the subject: Fight over Canadian oil goes to Congress.

Democrats questioned whether the Koch Brothers are standing to profit from the pipeline.  They won't, but what does it matter if they do?  It's not surprising that those scary conservative Koch Brothers would be investigated by political opponents about making evil profits from a pipeline.

There is another insidious group looking to stop the pipeline called Friends of the Earth, whose sole purpose is to take us back to the day of the horse and buggy.  This merry band of global warming alarmists have filed suit against the State Department to halt the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline:

Friends of the Earth is fighting to secure the Obama administration's veto on a massive proposed pipeline called the Keystone XL, which would carry extremely polluting tar sands oil from Canada through six U.S. states to refineries in Texas. The State Department is in charge of reviewing the project, and we are working to hold the agency accountable to its responsibility to conduct a thorough and rigorous environmental review of the project -- to pay attention to the concerns of people, not just Big Oil and its lobbyists.

The fact of the matter is that the technology used to construct a modern pipeline makes the likelihood of an environmental disaster of any significant magnitude slim to none.  It is obvious that the only thing these kooks want is for everyone to drive a tin can that you can plug into a wall.

In my humble opinion, it would be prudent for all of us to contact our representatives and tell them to support the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in order to increase our supply of oil and create American jobs.

Mark Levin Gets Mopped By Tom Woods On War Powers

I'm not going to get much into the commentary on this one.  Mark Levin (who I'm a fan of by the way) makes a pretty weak and incoherent argument on presidential war powers and gets thrashed by libertarian columnist and author Tom Woods.  Simply put, Levin thinks that it is proper for a President to start offensive wars without a formal Declaration of War.  Tom Woods makes a very succinct and coherent argument to the contrary.  Woods challenged Levin to back up his position with evidence that the Federalists approved of the President entering non-defensive conflicts without consulting Congress.

Disappointingly, Mark changes the subject and does his name-calling thing.  Link to the debate below:

Tom Woods / Mark Levin War Powers Debate

A well thought out piece by Tom Woods on the subject:

The Phony Argument For Presidential War Powers

The Morality of Profit

So many in our society today regard profit as evil.  The contrary is true.  Profit is one of the highest of virtues in our capitalistic system because it involves the free exchange of value.  The person buying a product views said product at a higher value than he is willing to give up for it, and voluntarily, without coercion, expresses that value through the exchange of currency to the seller.  Profit shows that the producer created more value than it cost to produce the product.

This video by the Atlas Network also shows which types of profits are gained at the expense of others, i.e. those that profit via government special interests and subsidies.

Tim Pawlenty: Run of the Mill, Big Government Lib

Tim Pawlenty put his hat in the ring for the GOP nomination for President, just following Mitch Daniels's announcement that he will not seek the nomination.  Already, Pawlenty seems to be the darling of Fox News, Newsmax and other so-called conservative news outlets.  They are touting him as the only candidate capable of dethroning our current monarch.  Pawlenty is making his rounds on the talk radio circuit in an effort to garner the favor of conservatives nationwide.  He will most likely serve the conservative base of the GOP a heaping serving of red meat.

Conservatives like me are clamoring for a dependable, solid, principled candidate with a record of conservatism to stand on, with the intellect to convey and articulate the message that will win the hearts and minds of the undecided.  Tim Pawlenty would have you think he is that guy.  With establishment backing and a pile of cash, he could convince many.

Tim Pawlenty:  Sam's Club Conservative

Once under consideration as a running mate for John McCain in 2008, Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute uncovers his true big government, nanny state record:

Pawlenty, who reportedly coined the term “Sam’s Club conservative” to describe his political philosophy, has been an economic populist and big-spender generally. Among other things, he:

• Supported government subsidized health care for all children as the first step toward universal health insurance, and opposed President Bush’s veto of a Democratic bill that would have expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance program (SCHIP) to families earning as much as $83,000 per year;
• Supports Massachusetts-style health care reform, including a “health care exchange” and an individual mandate;
• Has called for banning all prescription drug advertizing, and seeks government imposed price controls for drugs offered through Medicare;
• Proposed a $4000 per child preschool program for low-income children;
• Pushed a statewide smoking ban smoking ban in workplaces, restaurants and bars;
• Increased the state’s minimum wage;
• Imposed some of the most aggressive and expensive renewable energy mandates in the country;
• Was an ardent supporter of the farm bill;
• Received only a “C” ranking on Cato’s 2006 Governor’s Report Card, finishing below such Democrats as Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack and tied with Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

Here is another scathing blog entry that links to a Wall Street Journal article authored by Jason Lewis in which Pawlenty is quoted:

"The era of small government is over . . . government has to be more proactive, more aggressive."
-- Tim Pawlenty, 2006.

When he raised the cigarette tax in 2005 by $.75 per pack, he called it a "health impact fee".  Are you kidding?  He clearly engages in doublespeak like any other typical politician.  Call it what it is, the least you can do is be honest about it.  I'm sure he will call additional spending "investments".

There's his cap and trade ideas, his support for subsidies of all kinds (renewable energy, stadiums, farm bills), all of which are an irrefutable part of Pawlenty's record.

Oh, and I'm going to pistol whip the next moron who calls him T-PAW. 

Let's be serious.  This is not the guy we need to lead us out of this quagmire.  We need someone firmly committed to reducing the size and scope of government, adherent to Constitutional principles, and able to convey the message effectively.  Remember, it's really the undecided vote that will decide the election.

Socialist Bernie Sanders Displays Hilarious Irony

Socialist Bernie Sanders despises capitalism except when it benefits him personally.

Courtesy of Human Events and Jason Mattera:

 

Newt, Ya Done Goofed

Newt: The Left loves you now.

Take a look at how the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is playing Newt Gingrich's incredible gaffe in which he called Paul Ryan's plan for Medicare "right wing social engineering":

Send Newt a "Thank You"

Thank you Newt for giving them fundraising ammo.

Obama: Dictator of the World

Our Dear Leader

President Obama says that Israel must return to its pre-1967 borders with land swaps in order to secure a two-state peace deal with Palestine (who has never been a "State" in their entire existence).  Of course, Israel is called on to make the land sacrifices, while the Palestinians are left to make no sacrifices whatsoever. 

The apparent goal is to give Israel, a sovereign nation, indefensible borders.  It would leave the middle of Israel only 8 miles wide:

The deeper question is this:  What makes President Obama think he can tell a sovereign nation half a world away where their borders should be?  When was the United States granted jurisdiction to make such calls?  Why don't we demand Jordan give up land while we're at it?  It's preposterous to think that we can go around the world and build nations, enter conflicts that don't affect us at all, and tell nations where their borders should be. 

The sovereign people of Israel have a right to self-preservation.  They live in a rough neighborhood, but they know how to take care of themselves.  Leave them be to resolve their own issues.   

Jefferson's Missing Paragraph Proves Founders Understood the Inequity of Slavery

Thomas Jefferson

 You constantly hear from the Left that the Founding Fathers were a gang of bigoted slave owners that could not possibly really believe in every man's unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Well, as usual, they are wrong.  While the Founders were not perfect (no one is), and Jefferson himself owned slaves, they were thinkers.  They understood that slavery was incompatible with liberty. 

The following passage was written by Thomas Jefferson but omitted from the Declaration of Independence at the the insistence of the delegates from Georgia and South Carolina:

"He [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the personal of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation hither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of INFIDEL powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold, he has prostituted the negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might want to no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms amongst us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he also obtruded them: thus paying off former crimes committed against the LIBERTIES of one people, with crimes he urges them to commit against the LIVES of another."

That is pretty strong language from a man that is branded by the Left as a slave-owning bigot that didn't care for the liberties of an entire race of people.  It took an awful lot of balls on Jefferson's part to even present verbiage of this nature to the Continental Congress.

Jefferson and the rest of the Founders understood that it would have been impossible to unite the colonies if they were to take a staunch anti-slavery stance at that point in history.  As we well know, many lost their lives later on to end the scourge of slavery. 

James Madison in Federalist Paper No 42:

"It were doubtless to be wished, that the power of prohibiting the importation of slaves had not been postponed until the year 1808, or rather that it had been suffered to have immediate operation. But it is not difficult to account, either for this restriction on the general government, or for the manner in which the whole clause is expressed. It ought to be considered as a great point gained in favor of humanity, that a period of twenty years may terminate forever, within these States, a traffic which has so long and so loudly upbraided the barbarism of modern policy; that within that period, it will receive a considerable discouragement from the federal government, and may be totally abolished, by a concurrence of the few States which continue the unnatural traffic, in the prohibitory example which has been given by so great a majority of the Union. Happy would it be for the unfortunate Africans, if an equal prospect lay before them of being redeemed from the oppressions of their European brethren!"

Many more of these quotes can be found here.  

Interesting Article Examining the Religious Right

Michael Brendan Dougherty gives an interesting look at the Religious Right, which constitutes approximately one third of GOP voters.  Dougherty goes into their unflinching support for neocon policies and their general intellectual laziness. 

http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2011/05/12/who-misleads-the-religious-right/

Correction:  Evangelical Christians make up one third of the total electorate.

Fat Stupid White People At MSNBC Cry Racism, Yet Ignore Their Own.

Ed Shultz: Fat, stupid racist.

Ed Shultz has never been accused of being too bright.  Needless to say, he is still safe.  I am no fan of Newt Gingrich, but the accusations of racism by Ed Shultz of the Ed Show, and David Gregory of Meet the Press show their own veiled racism and true bigotry. 

Via Real Clear Politics:

"Let's get to the racist part of this," MSNBC's Ed Schultz insisted on his show last night. "To put this in the context of what the culture of the south is all about."

"Newt knows exactly what he's doing," Schultz said in his explanation of why calling President Obama the "food stamp president" is racist.

"You see, being from the south, you know what these codewords are all about. To say something about food stamps is not about white folks, it's about black folks. There's no question about it," Schultz declared.

Ed says whether or not you admit Gingrich is a racist, you can't argue that his policies aren't.

"If Gingrich has his way on food stamps, you know who it's going to hurt? African-Americans. Women and children and millions of low income families," Schultz says since Republicans can't win the issues, they will have to sink to playing the … race card."

This is just laughable!  The big fat racist Ed Shultz views Gingrich's food stamp comments as racist only because he himself thinks that only black people are on food stamps.  Forget the fact that Gingrich is correct when he calls Obama the most successful food stamp President.  More people are on food stamps than ever.  Gingrich was using political rhetoric, making the point that we need more paychecks and less food stamps.  And when did Gingrich say he wanted to take away food stamps? 

According to the USDA, whom administers the food stamp program, in 2006 43% of food stamp recipients were white, while only 33% were black.  Why would you assume Gingrich was making a racist statement against blacks David Gregory and Ed Schultz?  It's because of your preconceived notion that only black people are dependent on food stamps.

It's infuriating that the left-wing vermin in the media has to stoop to such low-level tactics, but they do it everyday.  Anything to protect their Savior and advance their agenda.

A New Conservative, Liberty Driven Blog

I want to take a moment to introduce myself.  My name is John.  I'm a citizen statesman from the Great State of Indiana.  I'm 32 years years old and married with two children; a 14 year old boy and a 4 year old girl.  Most of my time is spent working as a truck driver.  My wife recently lost her job, and we are both working together to get a home business started that is directly related to the job she left.  Things are a little crazy at the moment.  I thought it would be a good release to post my thoughts on a blog.