Thursday, April 30, 2009

Behavioral Scientists and President Obama

Obama regularly consults with behavioral scientists to determine how to craft his messages to the American people. Recently, they affirmed that average citizens have a hard time really understanding big numbers, which is why FairKaye always writes out all of the zeros instead of just saying billion or trillion.

Thus, last week he made a big point of “saving” $100,000,000 from the budgets of his cabinet members by such methods as shopping in bulk for office supplies. According to his mentors, voters would be impressed because they remember 100 million as a big number in contrast to say 3.5 trillion, or 3,500,000,000,000. Here is a video demonstration that drives home the insignificance of his “cuts” versus his spending proposals.

Offensive Coloring Book Removed

According to John Hinderaker in his column,"Airbrushing History," FEMA has removed a coloring book designed to help children cope with massive tragedy. The problem book used examples, including simple pictures, from the 9-11 attacks. His conclusion: “The pace of revisionism is accelerating as Obama's executive branch reviews everything produced by "the previous administration." Eventually the only public legacy of the September 11 attacks will be photos of American soldiers brutalizing detainees.”

“Now We Can Get Things Done”

When Arlen Specter finally admitted he really was a Democrat after all, Nancy Pelosi welcomed him with open arms. “Very exciting, very exciting for the American people, because now we can get things done without explaining process,” were her words to a CNN reporter.

It’s not enough that they ram bills through without reading them, without allowing debate, and without allowing amendments. They don’t even want to explain process to the American people. I guess those staffers really complain when voters melt the phone lines and jam their email boxes witih protests.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Swine Flu and Socialized Medicine

Mexico, with nationalized health care, has received complaints about their handling of the swine flu epidemic from both patients and health care officials. The president of the Mexican epidemiological Association has criticized the endless regulations and layers of bureaucracy in the socialized system that has slowed down effective action during this emergency, just like during the massive 1985 earthquake.

Mexican officials urged patients to seek treatment quickly if they suffered symptoms of the flu, yet many were turned away from hospitals. Elias Camacho was forced to leave an ambulance he had called to take him to the hospital because the medics complained that he might be contagious. Family members then called a taxi to take him there, but once he arrived, the doctor told him that he wasn’t sick. The hospital only accepted him as a patient when another doctor notified state authorities.

Another patient, Jose Cepeda was turned away from two hospitals. One denied him access because the officials said he was not registered in the public health system; another refused to treat him because they were too busy. Others went to hospitals asking for vaccines, but were given masks instead.

The Mexican Health Care Department has been on the defensive since news of the outbreak of a deadly flu first broke. Despite an annual budget of over $5,000,000,000, it has not visited family members of the victims to find out how they got infected and thus, it has not treated the very people who are most apt to spread the disease. Now health departments in other countries are trying to quell the outbreak without vital information about how it started, how it acts, and how it’s being transmitted.

Obviously adding layers of bureaucracy between patients and physicians damages the whole healthcare system, no matter where it's tried. Why does Obama continue to push his socialized health care through Congress by not allowing debate on it? Does he really believe that it will work any better here than in the other countries that have implemented it?

Christians, It's Time to Get Serious



It's only a matter of time until Muslims will rule Europe, the UK, Canada, and the US without firing a shot or sending in another martyr with bombs strapped to his body. Low fertility rates will cause these nations and cultures to enter into an irreversible decline, while the Muslim fertility rate remains robust, keeping their culture ascendant.

America really needs those 50,000,000 babies they've aborted, so we must stop killing our own children. And our faith requires us to love others enough to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Americans for Tax Reform

This group has collected in one spot an evaluation of Obama's first one hundred days. Read it to counter the adulation the main steam media continues to heap upon this president.

First 100 Days

John Hawkins at Townhall has written a funny, insightful column outlining twenty moments in Obama's first 100 days.

Jonah Goldberg on Political Arrogance

Just before Obama's prime time press conference celebrating his first 100 days in office tomorrow Jonah Goldberg writes an interesting column from a conservative viewpoint. You'll enjoy reading it.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Verdict First, Evidence Afterwards

The San Francisco Examiner has a great editorial today about the “climate change” hearings in the US House last week . (Read Gore Refuses Global Warming Debate for some background information.) They conclude that Congress is determined to pass laws regulating emissions (i.e. Cap and Trade legislation) regardless of whether Global Warming is a threat or not. Some Legislators see Cap and Trade as a cash cow for revenue, despite its estimated costs to American Taxpayers.

Someone needs to remind them of end of the story about The Goose That Laid a Golden Egg.

Happy National Debt Day

Yesterday the federal government spent all of the revenues it will receive this year. So from today onward, we are spending borrowed money. That’s 249 days of “credit card” living to go before we have any more money coming in.

While Debt Day has occurred anytime from July to September in the recent past, this year no one is surprised at its early arrival. After all, this is the year Congress passed at least one massive spending bill that not one of the Clowns had read. And we haven’t gotten to bills about socialized medicine or cap and trade yet. You can tell that Obama is really concerned at this point. He and Geithner only asked for $100,000,000,000 to fight global poverty this weekend.

Let’s hope the Chinese don’t make any funny demands about continuing to buy our debts because “the borrower is the slave of the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)

Hat Tip to John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Find Mr. Smith, Then Send Him to Washington

For years I have listened to people complain that they hated voting because there was never a place to select “None of The Above.” Friends, we have tolerated greedy politicians and bad government for too long. The Tea Parties proved that the majority of Americans are unhappy with current conditions at all levels of government. The reason the news media can't figure out the Tea Party message is because they have no clue about the depth and breadth of our angst.

To be frank, it’s time to kick the bums out – all of them – and put some good guys in. We’re supposed to have government of, by, and for the people, not government of, by, and for the political class who think they know how to run our lives for us.

That means that we need to get involved in ways that go far beyond Tea Parties. For true change to occur, we must find good, honest people to run for every office there is and support them until they win their elections. It means that some of us need to step up to the plate and become Mr. Smith. Politics has developed into a career path for lazy people with questionable character. The Founders of the Constitution envisioned it as a service to one’s country, not a stepladder to personal wealth. Let’s get back to the Founders’ ideal!

If we’ve gotten the “leadership” we deserve, we need to change our ways to deserve better leadership. That means citizen involvement, not citizen grousing from the sidelines.

For inspiration, rent or buy Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a 1939 Frank Capra classic starring Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur. One review of the film reads, “
In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, however, the decent common man is surrounded by the most venal, petty, and thuggish group of yahoos . . . . Everyone in the film -- except for Jefferson Smith and his tiny cadre of believers -- is either in the pay of the political machine. . . . or complicit in corruption through their silence, and they all sit by as innocent people, including children, are brutalized and intimidated, rights are violated, and the government is brought to a halt. The film's story of innocence and righteousness triumphant over corruption frames a chilling picture of an ineffectual and venal government fronting for gangsters.”

Friday, April 24, 2009

Gore Refuses Global Warming Debate

For years, Gore has refused to debate global warming skeptics. He prefers to present his slide show without questions from a knowledgeable counterpart. This morning he testified in the House of Representatives that global warming was the most important issue Congress has ever faced. But apparently he didn't want anyone questioning his conclusions.

The Republicans had invited Lord Christopher Monkton, a former science advisor to Margeret Thatcher to speak on the same subject. However when Monkton landed at the airport from London, the Democrats informed him that his appearance has been cancelled. According to Climate Depot, his response was, “The House Democrats don't want Gore humiliated, so they slammed the door of the Capitol in my face. They are cowards.”

Cap and Trade No Matter What

As enough Democrats are backing away from proposed Cap and Trade legislation to force the 60-vote filibuster proof majority, Obama now threatens to achieve his desires through regulation instead. A week ago, the Environmental Protection Agency listed CO2 as a dangerous pollutant and therefore subject to their regulation. Voila! Whatever a bureaucracy wants, a bureaucracy gets, especially since energy is one of Obama’s primary interests.

Previously, Republicans had successfully changed Democrats’ minds about Cap and Trade by arguing it would “tax” every American household at least $3,128 per year. The legislation is still up for a vote, but at the moment passing it with 60 votes appears unlikely.
(You do remember that all initial estimates are way too low.)

It boggles the mind when you consider that this effort and cost is defended as a way of protecting us from Global Warming although there is growing evidence that no such threat exists.

Alinsky Seems to Be Ruling (Updated)

After all, his most effective disciple is now president of the United States. Today’s selective outrage over “torturing” the sworn enemies of our country appears to be a well crafted application of “Pick the target, freeze it personalize it, and polarize it.” The campaign has been so effective that even an experienced FOX journalist spewed foul language on air in denouncing the practice.

All of the commotion, of course deflects attention from the message of recent tea parties or continuing questions about smiling photo ops with Hugo Chavez. But the real problem is that continued scapegoating not only harms the chosen victims, but society as a whole. It makes reasoned discussion impossible and encourages mob rule.

The manufactured crisis has become a morality play that ignores several key issues:
1. Each of the enhanced interrogation techniques, including water boarding, was first “tried out” on American soldiers and determined to be safe.
2. Despite Nancy Pelosi’s statement to the contrary, members of Congress were apprised of the proposals and they approved them.
3. George Bush’s greatest accomplishment was to keep the country safe after 9-11; the only way to denigrate that triumph is to disparage the techniques he used. Otherwise, Obama would have either not released the secret memos or he would have also released the memos showing the good information gained thereby.
4. Threatening to prosecute the lawyers who advised the CIA makes giving a legal opinion a possible crime. And it defines the crime in retrospect. Up until now, it has been unconscionable to make a law regarding crime, then punish people who committed the act before it was considered criminal.

See also Wednesday's entry, Obama Finds New Way to Bash Bush.

Also notice that many of those who are outraged about the enhanced interrogation techniques, including Obama, see nothing wrong with tearing arms and legs off of innocent babies during the process of killing them in the womb.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Jeff Immelt Gets Testy at GE Board Meeting

Jeffrey Immelt took over at GE , parent company of NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC, in 2001 when Jack Welch retired. During his tenure, company stock has dropped nearly 80% and this March GE cut dividends to stockholders by 67%. Never the less, he received $19,591,000 compensation in 2007 and $5,717,469 in 2008. However no mass protests erupted accusing him of running the company into the ground while enriching himself. Instead, Obama acknowledged and rewarded his “expertise” by appointing him to his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Yesterday Immelt cut off the microphones of at least two people during the stockholders meeting when they questioned the obvious political slant at MSNBC and CNBC. Others at the meeting also expressed hostility to the one sided “news” from MSNBC, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

And in case you were wondering why those television outlets are so excited about alternative energy, GE has invested heavily in the wind turbine industry but not in drilling or oil.

Reconciliation Is Not What You Think

In the US Congress, reconciliation means that votes on bills are rushed, allowing little debate and no possibility of filibuster. It virtually eliminates change in any bill that passes using this procedure.

The White House requested that the 2010 Budget be passed under reconciliation rules because Obama’s health care proposal is included in that bill. The House Democrats just voted 227 to 196 to use those procedures and thus limit debate in both House and Senate. That means Obama and the Democrats will ram their version of health care down our throats whether we want it or not or whether or not they have the best possible version. I guess they learned from Hillary’s experience that if discussion and debate about controlling 20% of the economy were allowed, it wouldn’t pass.

They mean for this to pass in spite of the messages from last week’s Tea Parties. If this is government of the people, by the people, and for the people, Heaven help us.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Separation of Church and State?

The recent claims that there should be no mention of God in our government or public discourse are just that -- recent. They arose through activists filing law suits that eventually were settled in appellate courts, not by public demand or open votes. So they reflect the beliefs of our black robed Masters of the Universe, not the people of the US. If you check out this post on What Does The Prayer Really Say, you will see a compilation of the opening lines in nearly all of our state constitutions. Guess what? They all acknowledge and thank God. Read the comments section also for additional information about the faith of our founding fathers.

On a similar note, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus spent the last years of his life trying to restore the acknowledgement of God and Judeo-Christian thought to current discussions. He wrote The Naked Public Square as well as other books, but was best known for the magazine he founded, First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life. The magazine is rigorously interdenominational, with contributions from some of the best thinkers of our era discussing politics and culture from a religious point of view that paints the entire picture, not some attenuated vision that ignores reality. The magazine still reflects its founder's premise; check it out for thought provoking articles.

The Flat Earth Society of The 21st Century

Today, Earth Day, 2009, will feature thousands of calls to protect the earth from the scourge of Global Warming. The methods of protection proposed will generally be no more well researched than the “science” of man-made climate change.

For example, the proposal to grow soybeans for fuel to reduce foreign oil dependency would require plowing up and planting the entire state of Minnesota when we could just drill off shore and/or in the Alaskan wilderness for our own oil. The effectiveness of using power generated from wind farms is also questionable at best. Fervent environmentalists, like Sen. Diane Feinstein, forbid setting up windmills in the Mohave Desert because it must be kept pristine. So exactly where would you put them if they did work?

Cap and Trade legislation would probably reduce the entire population to poverty because it acts like a regressive tax on everything in the market. Europe has already tried this method of decreased carbon emissions and found that it only increased costs without reducing emissions.

Years from now, I can imagine school children laughing at our stupidity, just as we used to giggle over the people who believed the earth was flat. The perception that global warming proponents are more interested in control than in the environment will only increase as more discoveries are made.

Obama Finds A New Way to Bash Bush

I want to join the chorus condemning the release of secret CIA methods of interrogation. And the shift in policy of allowing the prosecution of the people who formulated them appalls me even more.

In the cold light of day, the methods were merely a step or two beyond fraternity initiation rites. How dangerous can it be to threaten to release a caterpillar or non-stinging insect into the room? In contrast to enemies who behead their prisoners in front of video cameras, the CIA methods were masterful for psychological impact on prisoners without harming their bodies.

Apparently Holder, Obama and other Democrats have forgotten that back in 2002 they wondered if CIA and Bush were tough enough on Al Quaeda suspects and detainees. Now, they now only reveal state secrets to the enemy, they undermine all CIA activities in the future. First, because the psychological impact depends on prisoners not knowing for sure what was about to happen, and secondly because no CIA operative will ever feel secure if approval of activities and techniques from Congress, the President, and the Department of Justice is not enough.

It’s beginning to look like Obama thought his oath of office was to hound and discredit his predecessor at home and abroad instead of protecting the country from enemies at home and abroad.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

No Rest for The Weary

Obama is throwing change at the US so fast, citizens hardly have time to realize what is happening, much less fight back. But then, that appears to be part of the plan. The latest worry is federal control of the Internet. I heard a few conspiratorial whispers about this possibility during the campaign, but the onslaught has now officially begun.

On April 1, Senators Rockefeller, Snowe, Bayh, and Nelson introduced S 773 and S 778 to provide cybersecurity to the US by giving the government the right to limit or shutdown Internet traffic and grant them continuous access to “all relevant data Networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access.” Nowhere does the bill define the type emergency that would trigger that destruction of privacy or access to communication.

As you know, the Internet provided the means of contacting people, informing them of the Tea Parties, and making plans. What if the DHS decides that tea party planners are a threat to national security? They’re already moving in that direction. Could a simple Tea Party become the triggering emergency?

Can you imagine being forced to depend only on television news for again? Without the Internet, we wouldn’t even know about S 773 until Obama signed the bill in a Rose Garden ceremony.

Or what about those who use the Internet for banking? Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes, “Essentially, the Act would federalize critical infrastructure security. Since many systems (banks, telecommunications, energy) are in the hands of the private sector, the bill would create a major shift of power away from users and companies to the federal government.”

They already set into motion the means of making all of our private medical information available to any interested bureaucrat, this bill would allow them to also entertain themselves by keeping up with our bank records.

The bill has only been formally introduced at this moment so this is the time to calmly let your Congressional Clowns know how you feel about it. Before it comes up for a vote, I’ll warn you to turn the heat up.

WWJD?

What would Jefferson do about trillions of dollars of debt that Obama thinks is expedient?

"We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt
. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds . . . [we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our mis-managers to account to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers . . . . And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for [another] till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automotons of misery . . . . And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression."

--July 12, 1816 letter from Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval (with a tip of the hat to ND Sullivan)

Monday, April 20, 2009

So He's Saving 100,000,000! Big Deal!

Someone must have told Obama evidently that the Tea Parties protested government spending levels. So he made a big deal on Monday about saving $100,000,000 through his Cabinet offices. Wow! According to American Thinker, that's like a family with $100,000 income facing a shortfall of $34,000. So to make up the deficit, they save $3 and put $33,997 on their credit card.

The Tea Parties Must Have Been Successful

Just look at the number of people who’ve ridiculed them with dirty jokes, derided the cause, or discounted the number of people involved.

David Axelrod claimed that they could easily change into something “unhealthy” and the people involved just didn’t understand how much Obama was doing for them by lowering taxes for 95% of the American people. Apparently he does not understand that “we the people” have figured out that the government can only spend what it takes from its citizens.

Obama pretended not to have heard about them despite the numbers involved. The American Family Association claimed that over 3,000 Tea Parties were held on April 15, including over 2,000 sponsored by them. Perhaps he’ll notice the 4,000 AFA plans for July 4 or the other, non sponsored ones, that will take place then.

The final numbers are not yet in, but PJTV.com has reported that at least 650,000 people from all walks of life and all political persuasions were in attendance. And yes, Nancy, these are grass roots protests because professionals would have turned in their statistics much sooner, but the amateurs have jobs and families that come first.

And to top it all off, according Canada Free Press, an unnamed FBI agent claims that attendees were secretly photographed by the FBI.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Gunslinger's Journal: God's Reason

Gunslinger's Journal: God's Reason If you check out this post, you will understand a little better why we face emotion at every turn, but little rational thought. Sometimes we feel like Alice through The Looking Glass because so few "leaders" make sense anymore. I've been thinking along these lines for months, but never got around to writing about it. Gunslinger has. She and I might quibble over praying for miracles or experiencing the gifts of the Spirit, but basically, it's a great article.

The House Gets A New 45

And it’s aimed at all who believe in the Second Amendment. The bill, HR 45 or "Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act,” would require all hand gun or semiautomatic gun owners to register the guns they already own as well as new purchases. It is sponsored by Rep. Bobby Rush from Chicago, the murder capital of the Midwest in spite of stringent gun control laws.

In addition to registration, with accompanying fees, the registrant must be fingerprinted, pass a test, and submit all of his private psychiatric records. Supposedly aimed at stopping multiple homicides, the bill would give second rate bureaucrats authority to decide whether past treatment for depression, for example, would make one likely to shoot up the nearest McDonalds. Even the most highly trained therapists make no claim of infallibility regarding future actions, and certainly a mid-level paper pusher could not know who might become dangerous.

Those who only purchase deer rifles or shot guns would have to submit to similar requirements even in private purchases or trades. Self defense with a gun would become almost impossible due to stringent storage requirements. Should a gun owner change addresses, he must notify the attorney general’s office within sixty days, but he only has 72 hours to report a stolen weapon.

As I wrote earlier statistics regarding dangers of gun ownership disprove all claims made by those who want to control guns. So why do they want to restrict the Second Amendment?

Friday, April 17, 2009

Of Course We Love Our Tax Rate!

Just in time for the Tax Day Tea Parties, Gallup released a new survey reporting 48% of taxpayers believe that their own federal income tax rate level is about right. Mass media journalists happily pointed out that was the highest satisfaction rate since 1956. Hmmm.

Did they also mention that about 40% of Americans pay no federal income tax? No wonder they’re satisfied.

Or did anyone point out that this year people are still covered by the Bush tax rate cuts although Congress intends to go back to the old higher levels as soon as possible?

No, the emphasis was on repudiating the message from the Tea Parties.

Hey, Nancy, Look at The Signs

Nancy Pelosi piously proclaimed Wednesday that the Tea Parties were ginned up by wealthy people (as if she were not one of the wealthiest people on Capitol Hill), not a grass roots movement of ordinary American taxpayers. Therefore, no one should pay attention to the messages of any of them despite the numbers. Of course when you looked at the people carrying their homemade signs, all you saw was diversity of thought, dress, and social status. On the other hand, “spontaneous” protest marches on the left invariably feature graphic printed designs of one or two thoughts carried by people who look distressingly similar. One always wonders who paid for the uniform, printed signs and how they got it done so "spontaneously."

My dear Lady, “me thinks thou doth protest too much.”

Action Alert: Contact Your Senators

When the Congressional Clowns come back from their Easter holiday, they will vote on additional Obama appointees. While I probably would not approve anyone on the list, I understand that generally a president needs to fill judicial vacancies. However, Judge David Hamilton’s record is so offensive, he should be rejected.

He used to raise money for ACORN and work for the ACLU. President Clinton appointed him to the District Court bench in the nineties despite the rating “not qualified” that the American Bar Association had given him. Now, Obama wants to place Hamilton on the Seventh Circuit Court (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin), the very same court that has frequently overturned his own rulings.

One of his opinions that was struck down had ruled that public prayers could not use the name of Jesus, although using the name of Allah was permissible. Another time he ruled the Indiana law requiring abortion providers to give each mother information about alternatives to abortion was unconstitutional. That too was overruled.

Placing him on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals will seriously alter the character of that court and place him on the fast track for Supreme Court nominations. Contact your senators before it is too late.

Why Don’t We Help The DHS?

After reading the poorly written, poorly conceived, poorly documented DHS report, Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, I suggest that all of us who oppose abortion and embryonic stem cell research, who support the Second and the Tenth Amendments, who oppose illegal immigration, or who have served in the military in the past should just turn ourselves in. That would eliminate a lot of research for them and get us out of their way.

Of course, jailing us would also eliminate all the taxes we pay to support them.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Tea Parties: We Have Elections, Not Coup d’Ètats

If you’ve been discouraged about your country lately, I suggest you overdose today on Internet news reports about yesterday’s Tea Parties. Every conservative website has reports and pictures from numerous protests. While the mass media outlets continue to be dismissive, there is no doubt that the grass roots movement was successful in registering dismay at the way the country is moving.

If politicians prefer to believe rigged poll results to yesterday’s spontaneous expression regarding politics and political culture, they do so at their peril. I expect many will be drummed out of office in 2010.

While many hope that the movement will die down or that the number attending has been exaggerated, I believe that a sleeping giant has been awakened.

The people who showed up are people who do not have the time to show up because they stay busy with work, family, and community affairs. They did take time to phone or email their representatives regarding the recent spending bills, only to discover that phones were taken off the hook, emails ignored, and votes that opposed their convictions. The tea party movement will give them an opportunity to make an impact after being disregarded. I find it hard to believe they will just sit down and shut up now.

Atlanta Tea Party

The Atlanta crowd had little use for the Nanny State, directing all aspects of life for the serfs who support it. Click on the pictures to get a bigger, better view.


The well mannered, patriotic crowd had little faith in today's news media.


The crowd started arriving early and eventually numbered between 15,000 and 20,000.


Homemade signs outnumbered the professional ones by at least 10 to 1. One that is not pictured said, "Why do I feel like a ship passing Somalia?"


Cute sign -- obviously designed by city slickers who never saw a real feed trough.


The crowd made it very crowded and difficult to move around.


Citizen journalists: Cynthia and Jaudon, my son and daughter in law.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Watch Out for Texas

It may be a terrorist threat according to the DHS after Rick Perry publicly announced his support for state sovereignty and the Tenth Amendment. Like I’ve said before, great minds run together.

Tax Day Tea Party Day

Check FairKaye tomorrow for photographs and reports from real people, not professional journalists.

Controversial to Choose Life?

It’s difficult to comprehend, but many Americans believe that it’s controversial to protect the lives of innocent babies. No one protests when animal rights activists demand that we protect baby seals. But opponents of abortions rank high in the new DHS document as possible terrorists. And judges frequently rule against “Choose Life” license plates as too controversial, although 18 states currently allow them. Lawsuits currently prohibit the sale of such revenue generating license plates in Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, and South Carolina. On the other hand, Greenpeace plates are permitted.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Get Ready for The Tea Party Tomorrow

1. Be sure you cell phone is powered up so you can take pictures and make phone calls. Later send your pictures to your representatives (federal and state), news media, and blogs.
2. Bring cameras and video cams if you have them. Try to get some wide shots of the crowd to show how many people are attending. The media tends to focus on tight shots of crowds because they often don’t want to show how many show up.
3. Dress neatly, but comfortably. Wear red if you can because it photographs well and it illustrates the red ink we are protesting.
4. Be aware that some people will attend with the intention of disrupting or creating a false impression about the crowd or their intentions. Do not add any “fuel to their fire.”
5. Remember that this is our country and the government serves at our request. We are not government tax paying pawns.

Liberals Fear The Tea Parties

And thus they have started a negative publicity campaign about it. Andrew Sullivan has an article in The Atlantic calling them Tea Tantrums. Cliff Garstang’s blog insists that the grass roots movement is more like The Weather Underground than the Sons of Liberty, as Fox News had suggested.

Other groups plan to infiltrate and disrupt the demonstrations. The Huffington Post is recruiting volunteers and will send them instructions for the actual event by private email. They encourage pictures, video, written reports, and use of Twitter. Others report that ACORN “volunteers” will be there asking people to sign petitions, only they misrepresent what the petition is specifically requesting. Others report that ACORN people will try to instigate riots to give the wrong impression of the Tea Parties.

DHS Casts A Wary Eye on Active Conservatives

According to Michelle Malkin, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report last week listing the many possibilities they fear could create a radical, revolutionary environment. Included in their list are people who oppose abortion and immigration. Malkin’s article includes a direct link to the actual pdf document issued by DHS, but when I went to the DHS website with the exact name of the report, I received the message that no such document existed. Hmmmm.

Support Your Constitution

Each year that he has been in office, John Shadegg (R-AZ) has introduced a bill to the House that would insist that each Act of Congress contain a concise statement of the constitutional authority for each provision of the act. His goal is to stop continually increasing the power of the federal government over state and local governments.

So far, the House Rules Committee, chaired by Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by John Conyers (D-MI) have not allowed the bill onto the floor for a vote. This time they are also ignoring the 19 additional representatives who are co-sponsors of HR 450.

Of course, this attempt at return to Constitutional limits would require that the bills be read before being passed.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Let’s Control Cars, Alcohol, Swimming Pools, and . . .

I understand Diane Sawyer featured a story on ABC Friday night suggesting that gun ownership is at least partially to blame for the recent spate of multiple homicides. Any time people use guns to murder others, gun control advocates express similar sentiments.

However, it’s based on sentiment, not on rational thought. Since 1977, 27 additional states have passed laws allowing citizens the right to carry concealed weapons if they passed a background check, paid their fees, and completed a training class. In these states, deaths and injuries from multiple-victim public shootings fell by 60% to 78%.


Increased gun control inevitably leads to increased homicide rates. For example, the USSR with strict gun control since 1917, had homicide rates several times that of the US. Jeff Miron, Boston University, studied 44 countries and discovered that “stricter gun control laws tend to lead to higher homicide rates.”

It’s also interesting that deaths from drunk driving kill far more people (15, 387 in 2007) than both purposeful and accidental gun related deaths each year. For every 1,000,000,000 guns. one child dies accidentally, but for every 11,000 swimming pools, one child drowns accidentally. So why don’t these people call for abolishing swimming pools, cars, or alcohol? They are involved in far more deaths each year than guns.

Sue If You Expect to Suffer

Obama’s push to save the environment includes a provision in a current House bill that gives individual citizens standing so they can sue the federal government or private businesses if they have “suffered, or reasonably expect to suffer, a harm attributable, in whole or in part," to inaction regarding green house gas emissions. "Perhaps a more accurate title of the bill would be 'The Lawyer Full-Employment and As-Seen-on-TV Global Warming Act of 2009,' " said Larry Neal, deputy Republican staff director for the House committee. Read more at the Washington Times.


I'm not sure which is more frightening: giving trial lawyers new reasons to sue or even more useless environmental regulation. On the other hand, I would welcome the chance to sue the clowns who force everyone to use low flow toilets that hardly flush two squares of toilet paper down at a time or the ones who demand the use florescent bulbs that require a haz-mat team for clean-up.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Let The World Go By

While you celebrate Easter and contemplate its meaning. Best wishes!

$400,000 Settlement for Girl Who Did Not Offer Evidence

Jana Elhifny moved to Nevada from Egypt with her family, attended school there for part of a year, then moved back to Egypt to marry her fiancé. During the few months she was in school, she filed a complaint that she had been threatened with death for wearing the Muslim hajib (head scarf) and none of the faculty stepped in to assist her. During the investigation she could not say whether her attacker(s) was male or female, what size of person he or she was, or what tone of voice was used during the threat. School officials claim that she was watched protectively, but no evidence could be found to support her accusations. Nevertheless, the school district recently agreed to settle by giving her $350,000 and $50,000 to a friend who had supported her story, such as it was. Read more here, if you're interested.

Delicious Irony

Read this column from a British paper about Obama's International Apology Tour, if you're ready for some clever writing.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Not Reported in US Papers

Depend on a British paper to point out Obama’s recent pizza party. Tired and hungry after his International Apology Tour, Obama wanted pizza last night. So he ordered take-out from St. Louis, MO. I wonder which fund paid for flying in two chefs, the raw ingredients, and pizza pans to serve 140.

Where Is the “Stimulus” Money Going?

Apparently the Democrats in Congress have no idea and furthermore, they don’t care. When Republicans Cantor and Thune tried to find out, they were denied access to official records. So they’re resorted to searching news reports to ferret out tidbits of information.

Not surprisingly, a large percentage of the money so allocated is being wasted without effective oversight:
• A Binghamton paper reports that Union, NY will receive $578,661 from the HUD’s Homeless Prevention Fund even though “Union did not request the money and does not currently have homeless programs in place in the town to administer such funds.”

• The Altoona Mirror reports that $819,000 from the same fund will come to that town even though officials “may not have enough of a homelessness problem to use it.”

• Similarly WHP-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania said the city would receive $855,478 from the same fund, but does not know what to do with it.

And we’re asking our grandchildren to spend their lives paying for this?

If you want more information, check out Byron York’s column.

And please watch the video below to get the big picture.

Great Minds Run Together Again

Check our Ramesh Ponnuru’s op-ed in the New York Times. He goes into greater detail, but essentially promotes my ideas of solving the health care crisis by making insurance portable, i.e. staying with the person instead of with the employer, and allowing IRS deductions to individuals who buy their own insurance.

Stop Spending Our Future - The Crisis

This is an excellent clip with both visuals and historical perspective to illustrate the current spending program by the Obama administration. Take the time to look at it.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

10 Items on The Barney Frank Rap Sheet

1. This week, instead of answering a student’s question at Harvard, Frank lashed out at a “right wing conspiracy” because he dared ask Rep. Frank if he had anything to do with the financial crisis.

2. When the financial crisis of 2008 first hit the news, Barney Frank self righteously proclaimed the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac meltdown was a result of 12 years of Republican rule when they refused to reform the two entities.

3. In 2003 when the Bush Administration asked for more oversight for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Frank, ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, vehemently defend both institutions as being completely sound and in no need of investigation. He also insisted that if there were problems, the federal government had no obligation to bail them out.

4. During the nineties Barney Frank frequently pressed for fewer restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, a action now considered a primary cause of the collapse of the housing market. In fact, he blocked Republican attempts to exercise more control over the agencies’ policies.

5. During the nineties his live in partner was Herb Moses, a Fannie Mae executive who also pressed for fewer restrictions. But both Moses and Frank assured skeptical Republicans that there was no conflict of interest just because one partner happened to make laws that controlled the other partner’s place of employment.

6. In 1989 he was involved in a major scandal when it was discovered that his live-in partner was running a gay prostitution business from Frank’s home.

7. Although the House conducted an investigation of the “Call Boy” charges, Frank was merely reprimanded because he claimed to not know of the business. Fellow Democrats helped paint him as a victim who had merely tried to help another human being by giving him a place to live.

8. Interestingly enough, the media paid far less attention to this situation than to Mark Foley’s emails to former pages. Mark Foley was drummed out of office in disgrace. Barney Frank received a whopping 66% of the vote in his district during the next election.


9. He has voted against Partial Birth Abortion, against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and against the criminalization of transporting minors across state lines for abortions by non family members.

10. In 1987 he “outed” himself by voluntarily admitting to being a homosexual. He had first won his Congressional seat in 1980, running of the slogan, “Neatness Isn’t Everything.”

You need to judge all future Barney Frank actions in light of his past, especially when the mass media seems to have collective amnesia about anything that happened two weeks ago.

Apologies and Piracy

If only Obama had apologized to the Somali Pirates, perhaps they would like us and thus, refrain from attacking our ships, especially the ones bringing food to starving people in their own country. How ironic that they attacked a ship en route to Mombassa with free food for the people in Somali. Uganda, and Kenya.

On the other hand, at least the crew defended themselves. Pray for the safe return of Captain Richard Phillips.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

35 Hours and Counting

You must record your opposition to the Obama administration's plan to rescind the conscience clause for health care providers by tomorrow at midnight. If you haven't done so, please go to Freedom to Care or call the White House (202-456-1111) to express your opposition. I don't know whether they will accede to public opinion or not, but everyone needs to stand up for the right to obey one's conscience as long as it doesn't cause harm to others.

It’s A Republic, If You Can Keep It

The USA has been a grand experiment in personal liberty. Its architects understood that America’s long-term success depended on ethical and educated voters as well as the governmental checks and balances they devised. As John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Knowledge, understanding, and character are precisely FairKaye’s focus. The news items, comments, and occasional instructions are designed to help the electorate “keep the Republic.” I comb the Internet looking for relevant items that tend to be overlooked or misinterpreted by the mass media, then present the ‘cream of the crop’ to keep my readers informed, wisely using their precious time, vote, and influence.

My passion for political involvement took root in childhood when I often watched my grandmother take pen in hand to compose four to five page letters to her senators and congressman. She had been one of two voters in her precinct to oppose FDR’s Social Security proposals – at a time when she herself worked three jobs to keep food on the table. When she passed away in 1967, I re-read copies of some of those missives and the replies from Washington. Each letter revealed a well-constructed argument and each reply acknowledged the validity of her opinion.

Love of politics blossomed during high school when I had the good fortune to study civics under Ms. Rae Files Still who had served ten years in the legislature before retiring to teach. During that decade she wrote a book about the process of bringing an idea into law. I enjoyed her classes, illustrated with real life experiences, but not until later did I comprehend the depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for our form of government that she passed on to her students.

The protests of the Sixties and Seventies only increased my love for the orderly transfer of power and the lawful changes our nation has access to. I often wished that the protesters understood the legal avenues to amendment and citizen activism that I had been taught. Later I began to seriously study the media, while teaching communication at the University level. I grew to fear the media induced sound-bite mentality that substitutes appealing phrases for thoughtful discourse.

Our media and our busy lives keep many Americans either ignorant or complacent about what’s happening to the Republic. Because we have lives to live, children to raise, and jobs to do, it’s easy to comment about Washington but difficult to demand wise actions. While our government will never be perfect, it offers more possibilities for excellence than any other if the voters remain engaged. FairKaye is here to make active citizenship easy and interesting.

The White House Says

Obama did not bow to the Saudi King; he merely stooped to shake hands with a shorter person. Hmmm. Funny we never saw him do that before, like when he met the Queen of England.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Eight Days And Counting

And the number of Tax Day Tea Parties keeps increasing. Google Maps has so many blue markers on the cities involved that they stack up on top of each other. The Taxed Enough Already parties, sponsored by the American Family Association, are currently counting over 1829 sites for their noontime demonstrations on April 15.

In addition, April 15 will mark the second round of “parties” for grass roots groups inspired by Rick Santelli’s denunciation of the “Stimulus” Bill. They have at least 400 rallies planned around the country, many of them featuring conservative radio or television hosts’ live broadcasts on site.

Although the media pretty much ignored earlier demonstrations, local officials took note. In Cape Coral, Florida and Burleson, Texas, supporters had trouble obtaining parade permits. However parties will be (or have been) held anyway. Also, now that too many are planned to ignore, the media has recently featured preemptive smears from Obama supporters. Some TEA party planners even fear sabotage from groups like ACORN similar to the actions that marred the message during the Denver Anti-Porkulus rally. In spite of opposition, more parties across the land will be scheduled on Saturdays and Independence Day to give everyone a chance to protest, even those who can’t take off from work next Wednesday.

If you’re going to one and don’t have a sign yet, Amy, a graphic artist, has generously offered free designs to download and print on card stock at your local copy shop.

No Wonder California Is Broke

They prefer protecting fish to protecting taxpayers. In 2007, a federal judge ordered water authorities to reduce the amount of water they pump through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in order to protect the delta smelt, a small fish about as long as your finger. This year they will pump only 20% of the amount of water usually pumped to the area. In response, over 37,000 have lost jobs and people are moving out of the area as fast as they can, taking their tax money with them.

The ruling was just one more piece of litigation involving the infamous Endangered Species Act. All too often ESA litigation rulings favor animals’ supposed needs over man’s.

People in Georgia are also very aware of the ESA since they have been involved in water fights with the Corps of Engineers and Florida. The Atlanta area had to enforce severe water restrictions for the last few years because of a drought made worse by the Corps of Engineers releasing more water to Florida than they were supposed to from Lake Lanier, the main water supply for the growing metropolis. When Florida received less water than before, they filed an ESA lawsuit because they feared the reduction would interfere with the spring spawning season of fewer than 10 Gulf sturgeon, a federally protected, prehistoric fish. But then, in Florida it was not against the law to water your yard or wash your car, nor were you encouraged to save 15% of the water usage inside the house.

Great Minds Think Alike

Two authors have taken their cue from last Wednesday’s post about CO2 (ahem!). The American Thinker wrote about a recent study proving that trees grow bigger the more CO2 is around. Even during the Dark Ages when I was in middle school, we learned about photosynthesis, the process whereby plants turn CO2 into oxygen for men and animals to breath. In return when we exhale CO2, the plants thrive and grow bigger. So, just exactly why did the tree huggers decide that CO2 was a dangerous substance that must be controlled to save us all from extinction?

Oh yes, I remember, it’s global warming. It’s just so hard to consider the whole global warming shtick when I shiver even while wearing a wool sweater and jacket on April 7 in Atlanta, GA. Besides, Richard Lindzen, a professor of metereology at MIT has concluded, “The earth's climate ... is dominated by a strong net negative feedback. [That is, stabilizing self-regulation.] Climate sensitivity is on the order of 0.3°C, and such warming as may arise from increasing greenhouse gases will be indistinguishable from the fluctuations in climate that occur naturally from processes internal to the climate system itself.”

Then on Monday Dr. Tim Ball insisted that the IPCC’s (UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) claim that CO2 has caused the global warming problem is totally wrong. He avers that sun spots, or lack thereof, cause the warming and cooling trends. Like others, he claims that the computer models used to predict CO2 as the agent of climate change are too simplistic to be reliable.

Fifty years ago H. L. Mencken insisted, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Monday, April 6, 2009

Report Card: Not So Good

The President’s trip abroad is not over, but the results so far are less than exciting. I would give the following grades:

US Media – F The American media continues its slobbering love affair with Obama by overlooking gaffes and misrepresenting facts. They happily reported that Obama received promises of 5,000 troops from NATO countries to help in Afghanistan. In reality England will send “hundreds”, Spain will send 450, and Italy will send 700. Unless, England’s “hundreds” turn out to be 3,850, that hardly adds up to 5,000. Plus they will only be deployed until the August elections in Afghanistan are over. And the media ignores the fact that he asked for 21,000 additional troops from NATO allies.

• Press Conference Without Teleprompter – F
The far left English Guardian reported he ummd and ahhhd for two and half minutes while responding to an unexpected question from a BBC editor about who was to blame for the financial crisis. Apparently he’s only a great orator when reading speeches, not when speaking.

• Understanding History, Even Recent History – F
He chose Czechoslovakia, a nation that broke away from nuclear powered USSR, to present his grandiose plan to do away with nuclear weapons. He apologized for the US arsenal of nuclear weapons; yet the very existence of those powerful weapons deterred the USSR for almost 50 years.

• Gift to the Queen of England – C-
I’m not sure she really wanted to replay Obama’s speeches or desired another recording of her last trip to the States.

• Bowing to King Abdullah – F
His spontaneous gesture of fealty was both embarrassing and frightening. Our own media considered Michelle’s clothes much more important, so we only learned of it from foreign media.

• G-20 Summit – D
It could have been worse, although no leadership from this administration was apparent. Keith Hennessey has an analysis.

• “Dissing” America – F
He not only lied about Bush by saying that Abu Ghraib was the Iraq strategy instead of an aberration, but he dismissed the blood and treasure the US has repeatedly spent to save Europe from itself.

• Reaction to North Korean Missile Launch – F
He slipped in a phrase about setting up a global regime in his grandiose response. Does anyone really believe that a UN on steroids would be any better?

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Masters of The Universe, Or at Least of The US

According to Simon Johnson, former economist at the IMF, our current financial crisis sounds distressingly familiar to problems he handled with smaller countries. Powerful elites from both Washington and Wall Street have over reached during good times and now they need to drastically change their ways. So far both the Bush and Obama administrations have provided cover rather than forcing change because the financial sector has grown too powerful.

Since facing reality does not appear likely any time soon, he fears a depression deeper than The Great Depression looms on the horizon. The Atlantic carries his sober assessment of our problems. Read it if you dare.

People Kill People

The massacre in Binghamton yesterday pushed the usual gun haters out in front of the cameras to pontificate about the urgent need to ban weapons for ordinary citizens. They ignore the fact that if the perpetrator(s) had any hint that one or two people in the building might have a gun, they would have never hatched the plan.

It reminds me of the signs I used to see on nearly every public building in North Carolina piously proclaiming “No Guns Allowed.” I always giggled imagining someone who had planned an armed robbery stopping at the sight of the sign and reluctantly turning back from crime.

But, the mindless mantra has been repeated so often for the last 30 years that it is increasingly accepted as truth, despite the lack of logic. When university students and I discussed Columbine, I always explained my belief that at least one teacher on every hall ought to have a pistol in their desk, but no one should know which teacher was armed. My students were as appalled and frightened as if I had said I approved of mindless killing sprees by crazed people. They had grown up hearing that guns were evil and accepted it uncritically as truth.

It’s a good thing that there were no television journalists in the late eighteenth century. Otherwise, we would still be paying allegiance to the crown and curtsying to the Queen. By the way, does anyone remember episodes of senseless shooting back in the day when practically everyone was armed?

Friday, April 3, 2009

It’s Not Just Me!

The Attorney General of Idaho has also spoken out about the Tenth Amendment and benefits of federalism. In fact all attorneys general joined together to ask the federal government to back off from denying states the right to enforce their own consumer protection laws.

What The Senate Gives, Pelosi Plans to Take Away

Pelosi vows to bring cap and trade legislation to the House floor this year despite the resounding vote against it in the Senate. Waxman (D CA) and Markey (D MA) have promised to get the bill out of committee and onto the floor before Labor Day. When pressed about increasing the cost of power to everyone in America, she promised "to see that whatever we do does not increase the burden on our rate-payers." That defies all logic since increasing costs of production necessarily results in increasing costs to consumers. However, the Speaker merely repeated her mantra when questioned.

It Just Isn’t Done

Why do you suppose Obama bowed to King Abdullah? The implications are rather frightening since no other leaders bowed to anyone during the G20 meeting. Why show obeisance to him, but not say to the Queen of England, the official hostess of the event?
In general, heads of state do not bow and scrape to other heads of states. Since its founding, American Presidents have emphatically refused to do so. Please, somebody buy a copy of Miss Manners to keep in Air Force One.

Stock Market Rallies

Rescinding the mark to market accounting rule caused the recent stock market euphoria. As I said earlier, that rule exaggerated assets during boom times and exaggerated bank losses in bad times. In fact, I stated my opinion in the most emphatic terms possible while avoiding profanity when pleading with my Congressional Clowns to not vote for the original TARP bill. Had it been rescinded last September at the beginning of the crisis, the world’s financial circumstances would be much better than it is now. According to some, the bull market will likely continue until April 15, the deadline for 2008 retirement fund contributions.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Like The New Look?

It comes from the talents of TeKeme Studio, a graphic design firm on the Internet. The page itself demonstrates their creativity and I can assure you that their pricing was reasonable while they were easy to work with. The husband/wife team also designs web sites, print media, logos, and corporate identities. You can find them at Tekeme or by clicking on their logo near the bottom of my sidebar.

Illegal Aliens, Welfare, and Morals

This 56-year-old woman has defied deportation orders twice since 2004. But at her hearing this week, she was given another chance by postponing a final (?) deportation hearing until February 2, 2010. Since 2002 when she first applied for asylum, she has lived on welfare in public housing and even benefited from hip surgery in Boston -- all at taxpayer expense.

She just happens to be President Obama’s aunt. Whether or not he has assisted her financially in any way is not known.

The outrages are too numerous to even list. However, the worst problem is that situations like this encourage everyone to disrespect and disobey the law. It degrades our society’s moral fiber.

Walter Williams
has a column today which also dicusses national morality. He concludes that our welfare system is making it too difficult and "too costly to remain moral and self-sufficient. You might as well join in the looting, including the current looting in the name of stimulating the economy."

They Did Something Right

The Senate has passed legislation making it more difficult to pass cap-and-trade legislation, part of Obama's environmental proposals. The cap-and-trade portion of his plan had been decried by conservatives on both sides of the aisle because it would become an enormous defacto tax on all Americans. By making use of energy more expensive, it would greatly increase costs all across the board, from everything manufactured or transported in the US to all power bills in the home. The 67-31 vote is filibuster proof.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

We All Have Bad Breath

Since the Environmental Protection Agency has declared CO2 is a pollutant, all of us who are still breathing are viciously polluting the environment. What on earth was God thinking when He created human beings and animals to breathe in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide?

Illegitimi Non Carborundum*

Far too long, conservatives have stayed defensive when the more liberal folks (or Statists, as Mark Levin would say) have assaulted them for being uncaring, behind the times, or devoid of new ideas. The last one hundred years, however, include many examples of the failures of central planning, socialized medicine, or government run industry. Indeed, it is the Conservatives who have history on their side.

The US has a relatively new form of government, but it is based on ideas on that have been discussed, debated, and distilled in thousands of years of philosophical discourse. From Socrates to Locke, thinkers and observers in each age studied the human race, observing what worked and what didn’t. The Founding Fathers took this cumulative wisdom and applied it to practical governing principles. Thus was our nation born.

Inspired by the heights of human achievement when set free, but mindful of human depravity, they devised a scheme of checks and balances that allowed the freedom each man craves and yet provided built in brakes to guard against corruption.

This is our heritage. The Constitution spawned and guarded a nation that achieved general contentment and financial success heretofore unknown on this earth. Like all human institutions, it is not perfect. It has created opportunity, not utopia. Results, although magnificent in most areas do allow chicanery, perversion, and suffering to exist.

In response to problems, the American people have developed into the most generous volunteers on earth. From barn raisings to blood drives, for generations citizens have responded to real needs of their neighbors. And Americans have traditionally preferred receiving the leg up instead of the hand out.

However, at least since Woodrow Wilson, there has arisen a group in the national scene who focused on the marginalized and, whether from altruism or a lust for power have sought government programs to solve problems.

Lyndon Johnson accelerated the process with his War on Poverty that continues even today. The result has not been the elimination of poverty, but rather the establishment of an underclass of people dependent on the government for their basic necessities. And as the wealth of society as a whole grows, so does the expectation of what constitutes basic necessities.

Obama appears to want to greatly accelerate the process of government intervention with his solemn pronouncements about changing health care, education, volunteer work, and charitable giving. To Statists, the ideas are noble. To conservatives, the ideas may be noble, but they remain unworkable in the real world. In the end, the messy and occasionally uneven processes involved in human freedom still bring the best results to the most people. Central planning, on the other hand, eventually brings universal misery.

Let us proudly stand up to defend and explain our beliefs so that our country men fully understand what is at stake and return to Constitutional principles rather than embracing unproven or unworkable programs.

* Illegitimi non carborundum is a mock-Latin aphorism jokingly taken to mean "don't let the bastards grind you down". From Wikipedia