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.