Radical Liberal shoots Congresswoman

Republican politicians inability to adhere to the demands of Conservatives caused them to gradually lose control throughout the Bush years, the house in 2004, the Senate in 2006 and then even the Presidency in 2008.  The Obama administration and the Democrats did not give them what they wanted, however, and so they created the Tea Party movement which set about purging the Republican Primary, replacing moderates with hard-line conservatives, and then sending a wave that turned blue districts red in droves.

The Tea Party has been called radical often by those on the left who dislike them for their conservative purism and how quickly they’ll  turn on politicians who stop using the Tea Party playbook.  Jared Loughner didn’t like the Tea Party either, like them, however, he disliked his politicians, though that was because they weren’t socialistic enough for him. However, instead of joining with like minded individuals, waiting for the next election, and voting them out; he decided to shoot his Congresswoman in the head.

Jared Loughner  twice worked for Gabrielle Gifford’s campaign but later formed a grudge against her for voting against the reelection of Nancy Pelosi to the post of Minority Leader.  So on January 8th at ten a.m. he went to a town hall meeting Gifford was holding in her Arizona district and proceeded to shoot her, a Federal judge and a number of bystanders. When Loughner tried to escape other nameless bystanders tackled him to the ground.

See this is because a true radical is one who desires immediate reform through uncompromising methods; vis-a-vie violent revolution.  Although sometimes using violent rhetoric, the Tea Party’s guiding documents do not call for violence.  While Jared Loughner and many on the far left’s do, unless of course the Communist Manifest and Mein Kampf are not core neo-liberal documents that call for violence to enact social change.

By constantly hurling the label of radical at conservatives, who peacefully assemble in protests and hold their congressman’s feet to the fire over legislation, they weaken the meaning of the term.  Jared Loughner and people like him are radicals; Sarah Palin, Ron Paul and others in the Tea Party movement clearly are not.  Trying to put them in the same barrel is the job of the mainstream media, not intelligent liberals and conservatives.

Growing the Economy by Destroying It

Anyone watching the news lately has most likely perked their ears at any mention of the recession because it’s something that effects us all.  The government has been pushing a number of different policies through in an effort to combat the growing recession alongside the three stimulus packages.  The one program that filled the news the most before the health-care debacle was nicknamed Cash for Clunkers.  It was touted as a success by the establishment due to the large amount of participation by the public.  Cash for Clunkers was a program whereby the government would give a person money towards a new car if they would trade in their old car.  The Problem, however, was that Cash for Clunkers did not actually help the economy instead it hurt it by increasing economic disparity and destroying goods needlessly.

Economic disparity hurts the economy by enlarging the class of people, the poor, who use the same or more goods and services than they create.  On the surface it may seem that programs like Cash for Clunkers do not affect the social structure but they do.  My first car was given to me by my sister when she and her husband decided to buy a new minivan.  She wouldn’t have gotten very much money for it had she sold it, so it was an easy decision in her mind to give her car to me who could not afford one at the time instead of selling it.  However, had the Cash for Clunkers program been in place at the time, getting 3’500 dollars off on her new minivan probably would have been the route she would have taken and I wouldn’t have blamed her.  This process of giving away or selling at a low rate cars that no longer have a high value and yet are still in working condition allows people to buy or receive cars who would not otherwise be able to.  This increases their range and mobility in finding work which in turn increases a companies potential employees. We will begin to see the price of used cars rapidly rise as the market adjusts to having 690’000 used cars out of the economy.

Worse so than creating economic disparity is how Cash for Clunkers claims to help the economy by destroying goods.  Edmunds.com has come out with the claim that only 125’000 of the cars bought in the program were from people who had not already planned to buy a car so that is essentially what is happening.  The government pays people to destroy something that has remaining potential so that they will buy new goods and increase the gross domestic product.  The idea is not all that new, in fact it dates back to the 19th century.  A french politician by the name of M.F. Chamans theorized that if the government were to burn Paris to the ground it would grow the economy by creating new jobs and new demand for goods.  It sounds radical but in fact shortly after hurricane Katrina there were news analysts saying the same thing, that our economy would benefit from New Orleans having been destroyed.  Thankfully, better minds prevailed and no actions towards destroying Paris ever came about.  Although Chamans theories were quite popular, his theories were refuted by an economic theorist named Frederic Bastiat in an essay entitled “That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen.”  In it Bastiat tells the story of a shopkeeper whose son accidentally breaks a pan of glass from the shop window.  Chamans would say that the breaking of the glass was good for the economy because it keeps the glass maker employed, however Bastiat says that idea only takes into account the seen.  The unseen is that if his window pane had not been broken the shopkeeper could have bought something he actually needed, that might have increased his business and yet he would also have the benefit of the pane of glass.  By destroying the pane of glass the shopkeeper loses his pane of glass and also loses the benefit of whatever he would have bought instead.

The same is true of Cash for Clunkers, by destroying working cars the economy loses both the benefits of the car along with whatever would have been bought in its place.  Since the three billion dollars used to pay for Cash for Clunkers came from the taxpayers we lost money that would have been spent buying goods.  Also companies lost money that would have been spent increasing the output of goods, and employing more people.  Which would have grown the economy.  Our political leaders would be wise to listen to the advice that things that seem to good to be true, normally are.  And we as voters would be wise to not elect politicians who don’t even have a rudimentary understanding of economics.

In the Battle of Wits Graham Comes Unarmed

Saying Ron Paul hijacked the Republican Party is like saying Paul Revere was a redcoat set on destroying the Republic.  The Republican faithful are angry at their elected representatives for preaching small government, and then going to Washington to do the opposite.  We are not chickens trying to rule the hen house.  We are The People, fulfilling our position in the Republic, and it is about time our elected representatives began to fulfill theirs.

The founders of our party opposed slavery because they felt it was not just morally but also economically wrong.  A man will never work as hard to profit someone else as he will for himself.  Proof of that can be seen in Communist China’s agricultural crisis of the 60′s.   Now the Democrat Party wants to further grow the modern day socialist slavery agenda and the leaders in our own party believe the proper counter approach is sub-slavery.  The Republican Founders are rolling over in their graves.  Gerry Spence  said it best when he wrote, “When we acknowledge the kingdom of the self, we will no longer accept slavery either for ourselves or for others, no matter how it is disguised.” Though I doubt even he realized the power of those words.

Surely I’m not the only one who finds humor in a politician, who has only been in Washington since 1995,  hoarsely shouting that Dr Paul, a Republican congressman who has been serving since 1976, has hijacked the party.  Congressman Paul was writing legislation while Mr. Graham was still skipping through the halls of his college to frat meetings.  It most certainly is true that Ron Paul is normally in the minority in the Congress, like back in 1976 when he and only three other congressmen endorsed Ronald Reagan’s presidential run.  By 1984 Reagan brought in close to 60% of the country’s votes, so I wouldn’t discount Dr. Paul’s conservative core or his opinion.

Speaking of growing the party, Ron Paul and his supporters have brought every single Republican member of Congress onto the Audit the Fed Bill, and 115 Democrat members of Congress.  The majority of which, would have never considered signing onto a bill that seeks to do what HR1207 does.  So why are they?  In short their constituents, both left and right are clamoring for it.  The author of such a bill doesn’t seem like he’s out of touch with the American public to me.  Neither is the core of Congressman Paul’s ideology, which adheres to the Constitution and the inherent rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We live in a country of over 350 million people, we are not always going to agree on everything, and we need a government that respects people’s right to live their lives the way they choose.

Ron Paul has never spoke ill of Lindsey Graham although disagreeing with his ideology.  If Mr. Graham finds his message falling on deaf ears, instead of attacking patriots, maybe he should just shut up.  Graham considers himself a moderate due to his embracing Democrat issues like global warming and universal health-care but that does not make one a true moderate.  All it shows is that Mr. Graham is just equally content to impose Democrat beliefs on Republicans as he is imposing Republican beliefs on Democrats.  A true moderate is the one who writes legislation that does not infringe on the beliefs of anyone and protects the liberty of the individual; that moderate is Ron Paul.

Lindsey Graham would be wise to refrain from shooting the messenger, and instead heed his warning.

The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.

-Ron Paul

Trouble Brewing On San Francisco’s Home Front

He wants our troops to come home, She would consider sending more.  He abhors torture, She turns her head to it.  He wants to open the Federal Reserve’s books and audit the place, She is trying to stop that from happening.  He is a Republican named John Dennis and she is Nancy Pelosi.

John Dennis is a constitutionalist and holds to views much more in line with what our Founding Fathers intended than almost every Republican member in congress.  For this and many other reasons he is an attractive Republican candidate.  However, if I was a Democrat I would find him quite attractive also.  John Dennis is an adamant non-interventionist who wants an immediate withdrawal of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan along with a review of every one of our 700 overseas military bases.  He is an environmentalist and a privacy rights advocate.  At times like these when it seems the congressmen in both parties are refusing to listen to the will of the people, John Dennis would be a great voice for us.

It is refreshing to see a candidate vying for San Francisco’s congressional seat who is a true liberal who will fight for the rights of Californians.  John Dennis doesn’t pick and choose when it comes to liberty.  He refuses to divide them up into our civil liberties, economic liberties, sexual liberties, etc.  Instead in his own words he says, “If we support some types of liberty but not others, ultimately we will be left without liberty at all.”

Pelosi on the other hand has railed against the people who have raised their concerns over the direction the country has taken, saying they’re showing up carrying swastikas to town hall meetings.  This just reminds the people of San Francisco how long it has been since Congresswoman Pelosi last came to a town hall meeting.  Her anti-war stance has been nothing but rhetoric, and never tried to do anything to stop water boarding until being called out on it.  At times Nancy Pelosi has served her district well but now it is time for her to step down.  Especially since her approval ratings have been in a nose dive since shortly after President Obama’s election.

To find out more about John Dennis and his fight for Congress visit JohnDennis2010.

A Legacy of Freedom

 When Congressman Paul of Texas ended his bid for the  Presidential Nomination of the Republican Party, many in the mainstream announced the death of the freedom movement.  But something happened that they did not expect, although logic should have made plain; those voters and their concerns did not go away.  The grassroots supporters who raised over 35 million for Dr. Paul in a nine month period, who came out in droves to give him 25% of the vote in Montana, 24% in idaho, 22% in Washington, and 16% in Pennsylvania,  who flew in from all over the country to attend the counter-convention in St.Paul that ended up outshining the GOP convention in size and enthusiasm had barely gotten started.  When Ron Paul ended his bid for the Presidency he used his remaining funds to start the Campaign for Liberty, which with help from the grassroots has been fueling the campaigns of credible Constitutional Republican candidates in every state in the country.  The one candidate who appears to be making the largest splash so far is Dr. Rand Paul of Kentucky.  Son of the  11th term congressman Ron Paul, Rand is quickly proving that the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Dr. Rand Paul is the founder of Kentucky Taxpayers United an organization that has been fighting to lower taxes in Kentucky since 1994.  The organization pushes candidates for government to pledge not to raise taxes, and aggressively pursues throwing out office holders who renege on their promises.  Dr. Paul is a fiscal conservative who opposed the bailouts, and what he terms the “tax of inflation.”

Also with the healthcare debate quickly taking center stage in the political arena, people like Dr. Rand Paul who have  spent their lives in the medical profession, will be turned to on how best to proceed.  Unlike career politicians like Trey Grayson whose sole lifetime experience can be summed up as learning how best to manipulate the law in ones’ favor.

Rand Paul has already proven that  he has the support of Constitutional Republicans by bringing in over a million dollars in the last quarter.  Trey Grayson, his Republican Primary rival has refused to announce how much he has brought in.  Which obviously leads us to the assumption that Grayson is either barely competing  or falling behind in fund-raising.

In the polls Dr. Paul is doing far better than anyone expected, carving a seat as one of four front-runners in the race for Kentucky’s Senate.  In the latest Rasmussen Poll when compared to Daniel Mongiardo a Democrat, Dr. Paul leads by five percent and against the democratic front-runner Jack Conway he trails by only four percent with a 4.5 percent margin of error.  Trey Grayson only leads Dr. Paul by between 1-2 percentage points when replaced in the poll.  However, to Dr. Paul’s benefit he has a three percent lead on Trey Grayson in the “very favorable” category which will translate into more troops on the ground spreading his message of fiscal governance.

All this leads us to wonder, is Rand Paul about to catapult himself into the front-runner’s seat?

The IOC Saves Chicagoans

The people of Chicago should be thanking the high heavens that the International Olympic Committee voted Chicago down as the 2016 host for the Olympic Games. Atlanta was one of the lucky few Olympic hosts to raise enough donater money to cover the costs of the Olympic Games, most of the time the city takes the hit. Or in other words, the taxpayer. Seeing as London is already bemoaning the fact that they won the 2012 games due to the economic crisis, and 80% of Chicagoans were against the city voting to insure the cost of the games, why would Chicago want to jump into the fervor? The only reason I can see is that corrupt Chicago leaders care more about getting their hands into the billions of dollars that would have flowed into the cities coffers, and less about sending their taxpayers to the poor house.

Obama Lowers Himself to Attacking McCain’s War Injuries

I’m no fan of McCain and although I’m a registered Republican, he won’t be getting my vote come election day. Instead I’ll be casting my ballot for Bob Barr, in disgust at the direction the Republican Party is heading in. That being said there are some things that should have all people regardless of political affiliation shaking their heads. In Obama’s newest ad, seen below, he takes aim at some of McCain’s deficiencies; can’t use a computer, can’t send an email, doesn’t understand the economy and wants 200 billion in new tax cuts for corporations.

Now, I completely agree that McCain doesn’t understand the economy, and his tax cut ideas leave a bit to be desired, but there’s a history lesson to be learned on McCain’s computer “illiteracy.” After five years of torture (which does not make a person more qualified to be President) he lacks the ability to type, and cannot use a mouse without experiencing extreme pain. The ad outright lies in saying that he doesn’t know how to use a computer, because he can with assistance and has a handful of favorite news sites he goes to often, along with his daughter’s blog.

The Obama Campaign left out of their ad that he also can’t comb his hair, tie his shoes, or raise his hands above his head, come on McCain get with the times.

Obama says he wants a campaign that doesn’t sink to mud slinging, but I’m just not seeing it.

Possible Unprecedented Third Party Debate

This coming Wednesday, September 10, 2008 there will be a major announcement at D.C.’s National Press Club, interesting to note Constitution Party candidate Baldwin, Libertarian Candidate Barr, Green Candidate McKinney, and Independent runner Nader will all be in attendance. Also in attendance will be Republican Congressman Ron Paul who rocked the Republican Primaries by twice holding record fund raisers that brought in more money than had ever been raised online by a candidate in a single day, by raising more money from active military personnel than any other candidate from either party, and by holding rallies that pulled in thousands of supporters. Unlike the third party candidates, Congressman Ron Paul has stated that he will not run third party, though others have quoted him as saying that he will run for as long as his supporters want him to, the statements are hotly debated. Either way speculation swarms as to the purpose of the meeting.

Before information leaked that Nader and McKinney would be in attendance, the reigning opinion was that the Libertarian and Constitution Party would unite for this election putting Ron Paul at the head of the ticket and promising Secretary positions to the current ticket heads, VP most likely given to Barr. Highly plausible since Parties are allowed to change the names of the candidates on the ballot until fairly close to the election. Due to Ron Paul’s prominence in the Freedom Movement, his name at the top of the ticket would bring far more votes than either Barr or Baldwin could get on their own. However, with the addition of McKinney and Nader, thoughts of a Unity ticket are highly unlikely. Besides the mutual agreement that the establishment is going the wrong way, ideologically they stand at the opposite end of the room.

That leaves one very likely scenario, that Ron Paul and his newly fashioned, yet powerful, Campaign for Liberty will power a debate between the third party candidates, each candidate by agreeing to debate with the others would bring credibility to third parties in a way that has never been done before. The practicality of “fringe” ideas has always been at the forefront of American’s minds but could they be attracted by the appeal of watching an Environmentalist going toe to toe with a Libertarian over the environment? Or watching a Strict Constitutionalist and Ralph Nader debate the merits of a large government as opposed to one that holds to the Constitution.

Could we finally be seeing the beginning of the day where third parties have a place in American Politics and third party ideas are no longer discounted. A Republican fears voting third party and giving the election to the the Democrats, would he be as scared if there were Democrats on the other side doing the same thing? All third parties growing at the same rate.

By opening our minds to discounted ideas, could we become a better people?

Penndel Borough and Robbins Ave.

Quietly nestled behind a row of houses and riddled with more potholes than actual concrete, Robbins Avenue from the outside looks like your typical poorly maintained small, town road. Though slightly uncommon for a town like Penndel Borough that does a moderately good job of keeping its roads paved. In any other place it would probably be quickly forgotten by everyone, excluding those unfortunate enough to have to drive over it on a daily basis. So why is it that everyone in the surrounding area knows about Robbins Avenue, if not by name?

Possibly because before the FBI drug raid the year before last it was often rumored to be the biggest seller of heroine outside of Trenton in the Delaware Valley? One can only feel bad for the blind-sided renters of the Oxford Grant apartments who couldn’t have had any idea what they were getting themselves into.

So who owns Robbins Avenue in Penndel Borough and why won’t they pave and maintain it? Well that’s the problem, no one will stand up and take responsibility for it. Only three groups whose property connects to Robbins Avenue actually open onto it; the Oxford Grant Apartments, PBU dormitories, and an unfortunate double-house that has been crammed between the two. PBU and the Oxford Grant apartments have taken the position that Robbins Avenue is a public road that isn’t their responsibility . Whilst Penndel Borough refuses to take responsibility for Robbins Avenue, claiming that it’s a private road (although it’s listed on numerous maps and benefits more than one Penndel landowner.)

So what needs to be done to Robbins Avenue to bring security to the area and pleasant driving to all? To start, Penndel Borough needs to step up and take responsibility for Robbins Avenue, it is clearly the town’s road. Even if it wasn’t, it has obviously been abandoned by the real owner and negatively affects everyone in Penndel Borough, being the hot spot for Penndel crime. After they do that, cut the road in half, go slightly to the right of the double house and take out about twelve to fifteen feet of the road and build a small, large windowed, Penndel Borough security office there and get rid of the old one because your police station should be where your crime is. Crazy? Absolutely, however, less crazy than uniting our police force with the neighboring towns which will bring nothing but higher taxes, and would be far more affective in stopping Penndel crime. If nothing else, it can stand as a sign to possible Oxford Grant renters that they might just want to take their family somewhere safer. Then, pave both roads, make the Oxford Grant road West Robbins Road, and make the one that connects to the PBU dorms and the double house East Robbins Road.

When all that has been done, Penndel would be justified in taking down the white tennis shoes that hang above Robbins Avenue.

The Disaster that is Penndel Borough Officials

You would think being an official of an area only .4 square miles would be easy, apparently it’s not. Unless of course it is easy and the residents of Penndel are just cursed with representatives whose intelligence is subpar. Looking at the Renaissance Plans, the so-called vision for the future, makes me think it’s the latter. Do Penndel voters ever even look at these plans that their elected representatives are toting will bring a renaissance to our borough? Firstly the “business” section of Penndel is dying, now I say that with hesitation because I would prefer to say it’s dead. When the most vibrant businesses are a porn shop, a gun shop, a gas station and a Burger King; things aren’t going well. Especially when almost all other businesses have closed, oh but wait, although Al’s Place has closed a go-go bar will soon take it’s place… yay renaissance? But really blaming the go-go bar on the Penndel Borough officials would be a compliment, we aren’t getting the bar because of our officials actions but in spite of them. The taxes and regulations that the town has leveled against our businesses is to blame for so many windows being boarded up, and when honest business can’t survive who should be surprised when a go-go bar pops up.

Penndel residents, however, have a lot more to worry about than the fact that their officials like Mayor Michael Sodano are quite possibly insane to truly believe that they’re going to build massive parks and sky-scraping hotels and art studios. Like the places where they intend to build these things; your homes and businesses!

Just take a quick gander at these plans: Map, Aerial, Full Plan

As you do you may wonder why there is an “Eden Gardens” on top of your house or why your entire block has had a road moved over it. I see one big clear message when I look at these plans, well maybe two; 1. the officials of Penndel Borough could care less about the actual residents and business owners of Penndel, they care more about “progress” and 2. they’re are quite possibly insane.

What Penndel Borough needs is for it’s government to be streamlined. You can’t cut corners, you can’t bring in massive regulations for businesses that don’t exist yet. The majority of our residents work outside the borough, and we’re in the middle of a heavily regulated township, to turn ourselves into a massive business center we need to be more business friendly than our neighbors; low taxes, low regulations. There isn’t any other way.