Thursday, January 31, 2013

More modern way of living - News-Times: Letters To Editor

More modern way of living - News-Times: Letters To Editor: (Editor's note: The following Letter to the Editor, published in the Jan. 23 edition, has gone viral on the Web after a reader linked it to a …

LEGIT OR SARCASM?

Beaufort, N.C.

Jan. 17, 2013

TO THE EDITOR:

Republicans and “so-called” conservatives are at it again. They are claiming that the Constitution gives people the right to have guns without the permission of the government. If that were true, then how could New York and Chicago have laws against it?

We Democrats are sick and tired of Republicans constantly using the Constitution to cover up their true plans, which are to make us all afraid of everyone else. Our great president came from a civilized part of the country where there is strict gun control, and he is only trying to bring the benefits of that more modern way of living to the rest of us. I don’t know the exact statistics, but I’m quite certain that Chicago is a lot safer that Morehead City, when it comes to gun violence.

But do Republicans and conservatives listen to the voice of reason? No, of course not. All they want to do is whine and complain about how gun control and wealth redistribution violate the Constitution, as if the Constitution were all that great, anyway. There are a lot of things that need to be changed about the Constitution, I’d say, and President Obama needs to change it.



The Patriot Post

Alexander's Column – January 31, 2013


Obama/Feinstein: Obfuscation and Vilification

"A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves ... and include ... all men capable of bearing arms. ... The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle." --Richard Lee (1787)   The Obama/Feinstein legislative assault on defensive weapons was formally introduced into the Senate this week, albeit without the bold registration requirements that Feinstein originally proposed -- registration being necessary in order to eventually legislate confiscation.

But the gun confiscators have no intention of relinquishing momentum they shamefully constructed on the caskets of children -- using a genuine tragedy as fuel for an emotionally driven campaign to advance a politically disingenuous gun-control agenda.

Feinstein reiterated that her objective is to remove all guns from circulation. "Will it only be 'assault weapons'? No, most likely there will be a package put together."

The Senate Judiciary Committee immediately launched hearings on Obama/Feinstein, in an effort to squeeze whatever political value was left in the Sandy Hook tragedy.

To win the legislative battle, they are using a two-edged approach.

First, obfuscation. They endeavor to "really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way," as Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder said. They are redefining the Second Amendment as being codified to protect "the traditions of hunting and sport shooting," in order to divert attention from the real reason our Founders codified the right to keep and bear arms: To support and defend our Constitution, and the Liberty it enshrines, as the last defense against statist politicos and tyrants.

Second, vilification. They are framing the contest as one between the evil NRA and the noble objective of "keeping our children safe." "The NRA is venal," Feinstein proclaimed. "The NRA has become an institution of gun manufacturers." Her House lap dog, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), was even more vicious, smearing the NRA and its members as "enablers of mass murder."

Obama, the master of obfuscation, argued this week that it's difficult to amend the Second Amendment by executive order or legislative action because of our hunting traditions. "If you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were 10, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that."

The Obama/Feinstein propagandists are also actively replacing references to "gun control," which originate with the Left's "Gun Control Act of 1968," with more palatable phrasing such as "gun safety measures" and "limiting criminal access" to guns.

Biden now says, "I don't view it as gun control. I view it as gun safety." Blood-spattered Chicago Mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel noted, "It's not about gun control. It's about criminal access. That changes the debate." (Emanuel, of all people, ought to be an expert in matters of "criminal access.")

On the vilification front, picking up on Obama's condemnation of the NRA for "ginning up fear for higher revenues," Sen. Dick Durbin, in the Senate hearings, attempted to marginalize anyone who thinks the Second Amendment is about something more than "hunting and sport shooting." He lamented that some of his constituents in Illinois told him, "It's not just about hunting, it's not just about sports, it's not just about shooting targets, it's not just about defending ourselves from criminals ... we need the firepower and the ability to protect ourselves from our government, from our government..."

Can you imagine that? Some Americans think Obama and his NeoCom cadres are intent on "fundamentally transforming the United States of America" into a nation under authoritarian government with oppressive and dictatorial powers. Who could imagine that Obama wants to subordinate Rule of Law to the rule of men? Where would they find an idea like that, and the strange notion that the Second Amendment is all about defending against such transformations?

Even the Communist Party USA, which issued a strong statement in support of Obama/Feinstein, concurred with Obama: "There is no basis for claiming the Second Amendment was intended to permit unregulated personal acquisition of firearms ... for 'protection,' including 'protection from the government.'"

Obama, Durbin, Emanuel -- what is it about these guys from the "Land of Lincoln"?

Of course, as is the case with all legislative mandates saddled on the people, the royal members of the Senate and House are exempt from the Obama/Feinstein legislation.

Despite the Left's best efforts to keep the Newtown emotions alive, many Americans have returned to rational reasoning when considering the causal factors for these very rare and terrible mass murders.

Even the shamelessly liberal New York Times noted that in Obama's hometown of Chicago, with the strictest gun laws in the nation, and no gun retailers or event shooting ranges (except for public streets), Feinstein's so-called "assault weapons" ban would have done nothing to prevent more than "500 homicides last year and at least 40 killings already in 2013." As we've noted, more Americans were killed in Chicago last year than in the war zones of Afghanistan.

Clearly, "guns" are not the problem, and what the Left calls "sensible gun control policy," is not a solution. The real Obama/Feinstein objective is to, first and foremost, remove defensive weapons from circulation, because the purpose of those weapons is, first and foremost, to defend Liberty.

Unfortunately, too many Republican Senators and their counterparts in the House, are either unable or unwilling to articulate that the Second Amendment IS about the defense of Liberty, and the defensive weapons targeted by Obama/Feinstein are, primarily, for that purpose. Further, most conservative columnists and commentators seem equally unable or unwilling to articulate the same. Perhaps they all need to get outside the Beltway for a little fresh air.

It's LIBERTY stupid!

For the record, if you think that so called "assault weapons" are not properly called defensive weapons, then I bring your attention to a General Service Administration request for bid issued this week, to supply the Department of Homeland Security with 7,000 5.56x45mm NATO weapons. These weapons look like the much-maligned AR-15, except that the DHS request is for "select fire" weapons -- machine guns. That notwithstanding, the very weapons the Left classifies as "assault" are classified by DHS as "Personal Defense Weapons," which are "suitable for personal defense use in close quarters."

On that note, New York State Senator Greg Ball, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said, "Now, even the Department of Homeland Security even agrees that these modern firearms, made illegal by Governor Cuomo, are suitable for self defense."
 
CONTINUED:  http://patriotpost.us/alexander/16525

Major ‘Glitch’ in Obamacare Could Affect 500,000 Kids in a Big Way

Some families could get priced out of health insurance due to what’s being called a glitch in President Barack Obama’s overhaul law. IRS regulations issued Wednesday failed to fix the problem as liberal backers of the president’s plan had hoped.


As a result, some families that can’t afford the employer coverage that they are offered on the job will not be able to get financial assistance from the government to buy private health insurance on their own. How many people will be affected is unclear.

The Obama administration says its hands were tied by the way Congress wrote the law. Officials said the administration tried to mitigate the impact. Families that can’t get coverage because of the glitch will not face a tax penalty for remaining uninsured, the IRS rules said.

“This is a very significant problem, and we have urged that it be fixed,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, an advocacy group that supported the overhaul from its early days. “It is clear that the only way this can be fixed is through legislation and not the regulatory process.”

But there’s not much hope for an immediate fix from Congress, since the House is controlled by Republicans who would still like to see the whole law repealed.


CONTINUED ON THE BLAZE:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/31/major-glitch-in-obamacare-could-affect-500000-kids-in-a-big-way/

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Obama's Push To Gain 11 Million New Voters : The Last Resistance

Obama's Push To Gain 11 Million New Voters : The Last Resistance

Alan K. Simpson said: “There is no ‘slippery slope’ toward loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders.”
This is an interesting quote, because it defies the typical slippery slope argument for a more refined one. This refined argument is crucial in understanding the Obama administration. Barack Obama is very good at ramming legislation down our throats, while simultaneously avoiding any responsibility for the ire he creates. He gracefully walks down the staircase, while we stand blind.
Barack Obama, following after the “Gang of 8″ proposal, has proposed his own immigration reforms. According to ABC News: “Like the Senators plan, Obama’s proposal calls for a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.


CONTINUED:  http://lastresistance.com/1176/obamas-push-to-gain-11-million-new-voters/

Feinstein’s plan bans any gun with a ‘grip’?

Feinstein’s plan bans any gun with a ‘grip’?

Analyst says list 'a smokescreen' to conceal true intent of bill

A key gun law analyst who has published books on the issue of the Second Amendment and its rights and responsibilities for decades says the Feinstein gun ban bill is just exactly that, a gun ban bill.
Not, essentially, a plan to limit certain guns. Not a limit on the size of magazines. Not a plan for restrictions on those with certifiable mental instabilities, a ban on criminals’ access or a plan to encourage gun safety.


CONTINUED:  http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/feinsteins-plan-bans-any-gun-with-a-grip/

Obama administration issues regulations for individual mandate - The Hill's Healthwatch

Obama administration issues regulations for individual mandate - The Hill's Healthwatch

The Obama administration took new steps Wednesday toward implementing the individual mandate in its signature healthcare law, downplaying the scope of the unpopular provision by stressing rules that allow exemptions from the requirement to purchase insurance.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Health and Human Services Department emphasized exceptions to the mandate, which were detailed in new regulations that also laid out the process by which the IRS will calculate penalties for going uninsured.

The mandate requires most taxpayers to either buy insurance or pay a fine to the IRS. It's one of the most politically unpopular provisions of the healthcare law, and was at the core of last year's historic Supreme Court case over the healthcare law.

HHS referred to the politically charged provision as a system of "shared responsibility" payments.
The mandate penalty "applies only to the limited group of taxpayers who choose to spend a substantial period of time without coverage despite having ready access to affordable coverage," HHS said in a fact sheet on the new rules.

The same fact sheet also noted findings from the Congressional Budget Office that less than 2 percent of the American public will have to make a payment under the mandate.


CONTINUED:  http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/280117-obama-administration-implements-health-laws-individual-mandate


Fundamental Transformation of America Equals turning legal civil society into illegal one

In the ongoing forced Battle Royale between a president and what he sees as his all but captured USA civil society, there’s no longer any mystique behind the “Fundamental Transformation of America”. It’s becoming more clear by day that the ‘Fundamental Transformation of America’ is a long-planned formula that is forcing legal civil society into a complete illegal society.

A new kind of segregation has returned. Decency, law-abiding, individual, God and liberty loving are being strategically culled from humanity’s herd. Goodness is punished by Marxists in control of government and those adjectives above is how they identify “the enemy”. With all the heady power of How the West was Won now centralized in one high-handed administration, President Barack Hussein Obama is creating a new society that can be described in three little words: illegals trumping legals. It makes no difference to the regime that theirs is no different than the Politburo, other than no people are being killed off openly—yet.

Obama took a 9-hour plane ride to Las Vegas yesterday at a cost of $1.6 million to unemployed Americans, all to make a speech about the new world order that now describes immigration reform: wholesale amnesty with no borders in between.

You don’t have to be conservative or libertarian to be aware that virtually all things America stands for are disappearing from the landscape. With November 6 still viewable in the rearview mirror, the Second Amendment is being wiped off the books, borders are being made to disappear, the military. already being gutted by massive defunding, now includes sending women to the front.

CONTINUED: http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/52763?utm_source=CFP+Mailout&utm_campaign=0ca4f08ab7-Call_to_Champions&utm_medium=email

Progress: Congressmen call for Investigation into Benghazi Attack!

Progress: Congressmen call for Investigation into Benghazi Attack!


Last fall, in the wake of the 9/11/12 terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya and Cairo, Egypt — the former claiming several American lives — Conservative Action Alerts initiated a campaign demanding Congress to end foreign aid to all non-allied and hostile nations.
At the same time, Conservative Action Alerts ran a parallel campaign to urging the House of Representatives to investigate the Libya attack.
Today we have seen the first fruits of our labor: Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-K.Y.) today issued a “dear colleague” letter to Congressional leadership calling for what we have been asking for for months — an official investigation. (See full text below.)
Momentum is now building again since the Congress has been back in session for a few weeks — old, unresolved battles are again being picked up by our conservative allies in the House and the Senate.
We must continue to urge members of Congress to get to the bottom of the Benghazi cover-up.

Read More:  http://www.conservativeactionalerts.com/2013/01/progress-congressmen-call-for-investigation-into-benghazi-attack/

VP Joe Biden Confirms Assault Weapons Rarely Used In Crime

VP Joe Biden Confirms Assault Weapons Rarely Used In Crime

On January 24, 2013 PBS News Hour with Hari Sreenivasan hosted a Hangout with VP Joe Biden. This interview in my opinion is a priceless work of art and speaks loud and clear about the true agenda at hand.

Biden has continued to spin falsehoods in the main stream media about so called assault weapons since the Sandy Hook Massacre in Newtown. He has worked very hard with other politicians and the president to instill fear into the hearts of the public and parents hoping this will help them to push the agenda of this administration.

Read more and see video:  http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/01/vp-joe-biden-confirms-assault-weapons-rarely-used-in-crime/#ixzz2JTgAzSfS



Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The 12Ds of “Progressivism”: Liberals at Their Worst


Written on Monday, January 28, 2013 by Sean Aland





In 1832 Noah Webster stated “[I]f the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted”.

The Democratic Party—the so-called progressive party—is not only corrupt but is wedded to what I call the 12 D’s of progressivism: Deny, Defy, Distort, Deceive, Discredit, Demonize, Distract, Discourage, Destroy, Do, Disagree, Disclose. In this day and age, as politics becomes more and more corrupt, the political tactics recommended by Saul Alinsky have been perfected by today’s progressive democrats. Not only that, they are now widely used by our liberals throughout our celebrity society.

We have gone from civil discourse, to uncivil, to corrupt in just three administrations. One can pinpoint when the new tactics started: in the early 90’s during the Clinton’s first presidential campaign as they established a “bimbo eruptions team”. Hillary Clinton, who was the brains of the outfit, used her expertise gained from Saul Alinski’s book “Rules for Radicals” to usher in a whole new strategy on how to deal with opposing individuals and ideas. No doubt her expertise revealed in her college thesis was put to good use as she rewrote the rule book for the Clinton camp.

Take any politician today, especially a democrat, who gets in trouble and see how many of the 12 D’s they employ. To enable the strategy you need to have a news media that is no longer objective, and panders to those in power, while pushing their own agenda in concert with the politicians. No doubt the mainstream media has sold its soul to the DNC. The media has become the de facto Public Relations arm of the Democrat Party, Obama Whitehouse, and liberals in general. Pravda would be proud.

With the media’s assistance, anytime liberals find themselves in an embarrassing or compromising situation, they simply employ the “12D’s of progressivism.

CONTINUED:  http://patriotupdate.com/articles/the-12ds-of-progressivism-liberals-at-their-worst/#ixzz2JPKBlWT2

Americans for Prosperity North Carolina

There is alot to like and support here in AFP's agenda!
~Lynn

January 29, 2013

Today, AFP-North Carolina announced its Legislative Goals for the 2013-14 legislative biennium. The Regular Session convened briefly on January 9th to adopt rules and organize the session but will reconvene on Wednesday, January 30th.


When it comes to advancing the free market agenda, no state has a better opportunity this year than North Carolina. We believe that we have a genuine opportunity to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit in North Carolina with lower taxes and regulations to make government less entangling and burdensome to North Carolinians. We will aggressively promote the opportunities of cheaper energy, quality educational choices, leaner and less burdensome government, and lower taxes.

Please remember that AFP deals only with issues of economic freedom, school choice, and property rights. There are important issues that face North Carolinians which fall outside of our mission.

We hope you will stand with us once again to promote the following goals:
  • Passage of the state budget without tax increases;
  • Lower overall tax burden in North Carolina;
  • Support for Constitutional Spending Limits that could include: Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) that would limit government spending to the increase in population and inflation and/or legislative supermajority requirement to raise taxes;
  • Keeping North Carolina as a “Right-to-work State,” by implementing it into the state constitution along with the state’s ban on public employee collective bargaining;
  • Dedicating all North Carolina Education Lottery revenue to school construction; or support ending all state-run gambling;
  • Elimination of North Carolina’s Estate Tax – also called the “Death Tax”;
  • Promotion of legislation that allows for the exploration and production of North Carolina’s energy resources;
  • Advocating a “rollback” of North Carolina’s Renewable Portfolio Standard;
  • Blocking the creation of a North Carolina Healthcare Exchange;
  • Allowing the purchase of health insurance from any state;
  • Passage of legislation to get the state of North Carolina out of the liquor business;
  • Ending all “welfare for politicians,” known as taxpayer-funded elections;
  • Protecting free and political speech rights by deregulating campaign speech;
  • Ending the Golden Leaf Foundation;
  • Converting the Tax Credit for Children with Disabilities into a refundable tax credit;
  • Increasing the number of non-public school choice options available to parents;
  • Repeal of the corporate income tax and elimination of all corporate welfare;
  • Simplifying and lowering individual income taxes;
  • Promoting the elimination of redundant committees and commissions in order to shrink the size of government in North Carolina;
  • Expanding recently passed tort reforms, including “loser pays”; and
  • In general, greatly reducing the regulatory burden on businesses and citizens.

We welcome your feedback.

In freedom,
Dallas Woodhouse
State Director
Americans for Prosperity-NC

STOP FEINSTEINS GUN BAN!! Call your Senators!

Guys & Gals:


I spoke with Burr's office today and he is going to vote against the assault weapons ban making it's way around Washington. Hagan is another matter. Yesterday she had her office closed (how convenient) to take calls; today she is open. Please contact her Washington office if you haven't done so and request she vote no on Feinsteins resolution at 202-224-6342. I also called her Greensboro office (main office in NC) at 336-333-5311. Hagan plays to the liberals in Wake Forest, Chapel Hill, Raleigh etc. She needs to hear from us.

When someone tells you it doesn't make a difference let me tell you this. These offices count calls especially when they are getting hammered on a particular issue.

Thanks,
Lou Call

David Limbaugh: The Stuff of Third World Tyrants


January 29, 2013


President Barack Obama is not just a radical leftist; he is obviously so ensconced in his ideology that he believes -- or wants you to believe -- that anyone who opposes him must have sinister motives.

One of his recurring themes is that some Republicans would work with him but can't do so for fear of reprisal from Grover Norquist on taxes, the National Rifle Association on guns, the conservative House caucus, radio talk show hosts and your garden-variety racists, who allegedly oppose Obama just for sport.

In mid-January, Obama accused the "gun lobby" of "ginning up" fears that the federal government would use the Newtown, Conn., shooting tragedy to seize America's guns, saying, "It's certainly good for business." Is that how presidents should talk?

Obama suggested that GOP congressional opposition was based not on principle but on the fear that unless it resisted Obama's gun-grabbing schemes, it would lose its precious NRA funding. As if the American public agrees with Obama on this issue any more than it did on Obamacare. As if Obama truly cares whether the American public agrees with him on this issue (other than as a means to an end) any more than he cared about the public's view on Obamacare.

Indeed, this is either record-breaking myopia or sophisticated Orwellian deception. Few things are more palpable on the political scene today than the groundswell of grass-roots support for the right to own firearms under the Second Amendment. It is intrinsic to the American character.

Obama didn't just mischaracterize the public mood on the issue of gun control; he threw in an additional allegation of political corruption against Republicans, saying, "The House Republican majority is made up mostly of members who are in sharply gerrymandered districts that are very safely Republican and may not feel compelled to pay attention to broad-based public opinion, because what they're really concerned about is the opinions of their specific Republican constituencies."

Do you see the pattern here? As the leading disciple of radical community organizer Saul Alinsky, Obama must delegitimize his political opposition. He can't just debate issues on the merits. He must "pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." We've seen Obama do it on virtually every policy he has promoted -- from demonizing health care professionals and insurance companies in pursuit of Obamacare to taunting "fat cat banks" in his quest for financial "reform" to his defamation of "big oil" to his personal attacks on the "rich" to his savaging of Rep. Paul Ryan and other House Republicans as callous toward seniors and the middle class for daring to reform entitlements.

CONTINUED:  http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/2013/01/29/limbaugh-the-stuff-of-third-world-tyrants/?subscriber=1

Monday, January 28, 2013

Opinion: Obama's dangerous charge of 'absolutism' - Keith Koffler - POLITICO.com

Opinion: Obama's dangerous charge of 'absolutism' - Keith Koffler - POLITICO.com


What Obama won’t accept is that it is in the very nature of conservatism to question “progress” when progress means an expanding entitlement state and the degradation of traditional values that have helped keep society intact.
Obama believes it is irresponsible lunacy to threaten to shut the government down or not raise the debt ceiling in order to get one’s way. But for conservatives in Congress, what is lunacy is the longstanding willingness of moderate Republicans to shake hands on deals that have generated $16.4 trillion in debt and new bills totaling $1 trillion per year.

By defining an unwillingness to make progress as “absolutism,” Obama is telling Republicans they do not have a right to their philosophy, which seeks to halt in its tracks the “progress” that threatens to destroy the nation.

Washington’s cognoscenti nod in agreement with the president. But they have been duped by his façade of reasonableness.

For what’s hidden beneath Obama’s friendly visage is a canny politician and a leftist political theorist who would demean the very democracy he claims to defend by vilifying his opponents as power-hungry cynics.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/obamas-dangerous-charge-of-absolutism-86773_Page2.html#ixzz2JJsaA2IC

Editorial: Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death . . . Patrick Henry - Galganov.com

Editorial: Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death . . . Patrick Henry - Galganov.com

I am not a US Constitutional Expert, which puts me on an even keel with Barack Obama. 

And in spite of the fact that I am a Canadian, I probably know more about the American Constitution than most of the men and women who occupy the Congress.

THE GENIUS OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION . . . is how brief this modern Magna Carta is, unlike most government laws that are so top-heavy with nonsense, that they are functionally unintelligible. 

UNDERSTAND THIS . . . The more complicated laws are, the less JUST they are. And the more they are written for and by the elite – the less they are written for the people. 

In this day and age, in the USA and in Canada where I live, our government representatives make laws no one can understand, which can ONLY be interpreted by the lawmakers, opposed to the people for whom the laws re supposedly made.

THE TRUTH IS IN THE SIMPLICITY: 

As I’ve written many times . . . the genius of the American Constitution is in its simplicity, understandability and presentation. 

For instance . . . instead of the Constitution telling the government what it cannot do, it simply states what the government can do. And if what the government can do is not written into the Constitution, the government simply cannot do it. 

What can be simpler than that?

CONTINUED:  http://www.galganov.com/editorials.asp?id=1525

CCTA WATCHDOG: NC LEGISLATURE

The North Carolina House and Senate will each convene for business on Wednesday, January 30. As bills are introduced, they will show up on their website at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/. We can use the website to follow the progress of each bill.


The attachment is my "wish list" for the North Carolina General Assembly to accomplish in 2013. I sent it to Norm Sanderson, Michael Speciale, and John Bell with a letter asking to meet with each of them to hear their hopes and plans for the upcoming legislative session, and to get their reaction to the things I'm concerned about. I've now had long, informative conversations with each of them.

To a person, they're sympathetic to the things I expressed concern about. Republican caucus meetings have already been held, caucus votes counted on a number of issues, and it appears there's a good chance we'll see a lot of things we'll like coming out of our General Assembly this year. I'm very grateful to have been reinforced in my belief that we conservatives are excellently represented there.

I met with Michael last Tuesday, and he said that nullification is hard to do, and gave me a little history lesson to show what he means by that. He said that in the prior legislative body, Glenn Bradley had gone "full bore" after the National Defense Authorization Act, but that none of his stuff got to the floor, and he was "double bunked" when his area was redistricted (only the area very near his home remained in his district; most of it was in areas in which he had no name recognition), so he ran for the Senate, but he lost. Apparently, the "leadership" punishes those it deems to be extreme.

Therefore, Michael says he thinks we can achieve much of what I covered in the "PROTECT NORTH CAROLINA CITIZENS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT" section of the attachment by taking a lower key approach. I'm not wed to the word nullification, and I don't think our members are either. We just want North Carolina citizens protected from the expensive, poor quality health care that would come with ObamaCare, and protected from federal attempts to control our weapons and ammo, and protected from being detained without due process under the NDAA, and have our small farmers protected from the most ridiculous aspects of the Food Safety Act, etc.

Michael said he'd like to see the Craven County Board of Commissioners pass a resolution similar to the one passed in Beaufort County so that it's obvious what his constituents want.

Michael also pointed out that two thirds of the general assembly members have been there two years or less, that they're pretty conservative, and they're not the sort to sit quietly in the back of the room and await events. They're there because they have a job to do. Michael thinks PHOTO ID will pass (along with some other voting reforms such as shortening the early voting period, doing away with same day registration and voting, and eliminating "straight ticket" voting), and does not think North Carolina will set up a state exchange. He says they'll be evaluating each bill that might be challenged in court for how well it can be expected to hold up under that kind of pressure. Michael knows several people for whom the FOOD SAFETY ACT is a big issue and thinks we can expect to see some legislation we'll like in that area.

Michael says the state's infrastructure is falling apart. Many state owned buildings badly need repairs. Money is an issue. Spending will need to be carefully watched.

Real tax reform will be proposed. Michael is glad drastic tax changes are being talked about, but doesn't agree with everything he's hearing. I think this is an area we should follow and form an opinion on based on what will make North Carolina solvent, attractive to business, and affect citizens in the most even handed way and so that a maximum number of citizens "have skin in the game."

Michael also expects changes in unemployment insurance to be proposed. I think we should watch this, too. If it gets less expensive for employers, it will tend to strengthen employment; if it gets more expensive, the reverse is true.

John Bell couldn't meet with me until next week, and I'm having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday, so we "met" for a couple of hours on the phone.

John sees ObamaCare as unconstitutional and a jobs killing bill. He doesn't have to look far from home to see the jobs killing aspect because his mother has a medical device business that will be "done in" if ObamaCare is implemented. John says he represents 84,000 people in House District 10, and if they want the effects of ObamaCare nullified, he needs to work toward that end. His is but one voice in the House, but there are ways to work on it, and he pointed out that the North Carolina Constitution could be changed if need be.

John believes that if we lose our 2nd Amendment rights, all our other rights will fall, too. He believes the president wants to take guns from our people, and he'd like to see action in the general assembly to counter that. Like Michael, John would like to see a resolution from local Boards of Commissioners.

John gave an open invitation to CCTA to lobby for anything we want changed, and specifically requested that we give him feedback on our ideas about North Carolina tax reform.

John agrees that the FOOD SAFETY ACT puts some ridiculous regulations on small businesses (family farms).

John has submitted a request for research on the topic of consolidating many of the very numerous boards and planning organizations with which North Carolina is burdened.

On immigration, John seemed favorably impressed with Marco Rubio's recent pronouncements on that topic, and would like to see the laws already on the books enforced.

John expects our election laws to be revisited, calls Photo ID "a must," is not in favor of one stop voting, and says early voting is too long and too expensive.

John is very well aware of how government can harm businesses, and says INCENTIVE GRANTS is the government picking winners and losers.

John was recently in a meeting in which MPOs (Municipal Planning Organizations) and RPOs (Rural Planning Organizations) presented their transportation wish list of projects plus ways to RAISE revenues for them by 2040, and said they wanted to see taxes RAISED on this, RAISED on that, and RAISED on the other thing. I think it's safe to say his reaction was much as ours would have been.

John thinks teachers are not allowed to teach but are tied up with lots of other stuff, would like to see school choice, and thinks the "pink palace" behind the legislative building houses a lot of people who would have a hard time justifying their positions. He'd like to see teachers get back to teaching and believes that parents need to get involved.

John said he'd like to have a continuing open dialogue with CCTA, a sort of roundtable from time to time. He said he'd be pleased if Norm and Michael wanted to participate, too. I told him I'd be glad to serve as liaison to help set it up.

Toward the end of the conversation, John "fessed up" that he had requested an extra button for his desk. In addition to the "Yes" and "No" buttons, he wants a "Heck No" button. Not a bad idea, huh?

I met with Norm today. He fully expects that the ObamaCare exchange start-up money accepted by Bev Perdue will be returned to the federal government, and North Carolina will take the position that the federal government can set up an exchange if they want to; we will not. He says the money isn't there for the feds to use, the feds don't have the infrastructure needed within the states, that they want to use the infrastructure that's already in place in states (Departments of Social Services, etc.), but that we'll just sit back and "let the feds do it." Norm is convinced the feds are not in a good position to do it, and time is not on their side. He said there'd already been a Republican caucus vote on that topic, and all 33 Senate Republicans voted in favor.

On the 2nd Amendment, Norm says he expects North Carolina to have authority over 2nd Amendment rights in North Carolina by preventing any tampering with the right of North Carolinians to make, buy, or sell ammo and weapons within North Carolina. He says weapons and ammo are already being produced in North Carolina, and that buying, selling, and making totally within a state is not interstate commerce.

With steps like this, Norm says, the more states who take the same (or similar) action, the more powerful it is. He said that Pat McCrory recently commented that neighboring states are doing things of this kind, that many of them are ahead of North Carolina, but they won't be for long. Sounds promising. Let's hope he means it.

On PHOTO ID, Norm said the caucus vote was 33 to 0 in favor. I believe we're finally going to get photo ID. Norm says the problem of mentally incapacitated people voting needs to be handled by the Board of Elections. There are laws in place that can be enforced to adequately deal with it. (For example, it's legal for a family member to help them vote; it is not legal for the driver of a van from the place they live to do it.) Norm would like to have a camera in each polling place recording each voter who presents him/herself to vote. That way, we could look back and see what happened if a question arises.

Norm also said there is massive fraud involved in absentee voting, that early voting is too long, and expressed dislike of same day registration and voting. I think we can expect some changes in these areas.

Norm also said there will be a massive need for judges in polling places. We didn't have them everywhere in 2012, and for the next election Republicans will need two judges for every one they had in 2012. I know CCTA is not affiliated with the Republican Party; however, many of our members are. I hope those of us who are will take the training and be prepared to do our parts to assure fair elections.

Norm said, "Homeland Security needs to go away." He pointed out that The National Defense Authorization Act was passed in the immediate aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001 when we didn't know what was coming next, and we made some bad decisions. Now, we're still being affected by it. We can hinder it; for example, the National Guard serves at the pleasure of the Governor. I got the impression that Norm does not expect a frontal attack (nullification of NDAA), but does expect our citizens to be somewhat sheltered from the worst abuses of it.

Norm said to expect to see an OMNIBUS REGULATION REPEAL BILL. He and his fellows have been gathering information about regulations that make doing business needlessly hard for businesses in the areas they represent; this should bear good fruit. They want to get rid of as many regulations as possible. If you know of one that needs to go, please let Norm know.

On the topic of the International Building Code and other attempts to force the UN's Agenda 21 on us, Norm said it's been creeping in for a long time, and we need to back out of it. He recognizes that the building code is driving costs higher. He thinks it'll take time, but that it can be fixed.

Norm thinks our representatives in D.C. need to do their jobs and reign in Executive Orders. He points out that presidents from both parties have done it, but that doesn't make it right.

Norm likes Marco Rubio's ideas on immigration, too. (Lock borders down first. Declare they're here illegally. Pay any back taxes owed. Have a criminal background check. Etc.)

Norm expects tax reform to come up, too. He pointed out something that's very interesting when we got on this topic. He says the money raised by taxes on corporations is roughly equal to the amount of money spent by North Carolina on INCENTIVES to lure business to our state. Looks like if we eliminate incentives, we can eliminate corporate taxes. Wow! Wouldn't that tend to bring business here??? I like that idea!!!

Norm is working on trying to prevent tolls from happening. He'd like to see them off all North Carolina ferries. He says the Ferry Division needs to reduce overhead; it's long been a place to reward someone with a job, and that needs to be reversed.

There is work going on to remove government funding of charities with taxpayers' money. Norm is in favor of only funding those charities that relieve the government of a job that is a proper function of government. He says "feel good" and "look good" projects are not in this category even though they may be very nice.

Norm said that switching from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans for state employees can perhaps be done for new employees, but not for people who are currently working. He did say that existing employees could be allowed to opt into the defined contribution plan. This could be attractive if the person got to choose all his/her own investments within that plan.

Norm agrees that schools are administratively top-heavy (about 4 people doing the job 1 used to do), but said when the budget was reduced, the School Boards fired the teachers' assistants and kept the administrative staff. He says the local school boards have the power to make these types of decisions, so if we believe our schools are administratively top-heavy, we need to talk to David Hale and his associates. I believe we should spend more money in the classroom and less in the office. Maybe I should give David a call?

Thankfully, Norm believes the Charter School Bill will be reworked. Last time around, things were removed to prevent a veto; now it can be improved. One example is that a 20% increase is allowed without permission's being granted. That allows a school to add another class of, say, the 8th grade. However, they can't use the 20% increase in school population to add a 9th grade class if they don't currently offer the 9th grade.

Norm believes that competition from Charter schools will tend to force our public schools to improve. Money from the state of North Carolina follows the child, and children can go to Charter schools in jurisdictions other than the one they live in. Charter schools involve parents. Public schools seem to try to push parents away. Norm sees parental participation as a good thing. I agree.

Norm also expects teacher tenure to be eliminated and to make it easier to fire bad teachers. I expect that'll cause an uproar, but isn't it the truth that everyone in a school knows who the good teachers and who the bad teachers are? Gosh, even the students know, don't they? I always did, didn't you?

Norm thinks the governor is going to initiate off shore drilling by applying to the federal government for North Carolina to be eligible to receive royalties from drilling more than 20 miles offshore.

Norm also says that "fracking" is being worked on. He estimates that it will take a year to 18 months to get regs that will assure it's being done safely. Be still my heart! North Carolina taking steps to become energy independent! And prosperous!

Well, guess I've run on and on, but I really am expecting lots of good things to come out of our legislature this year, and I'm feeling up-beat about it. Let's watch closely, and put our oar in to help where we can.

Sincerely,

Raynor James
North Carolina Legislative Watchdog Sub-Committee Chairman
Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA)

ACTIONS DESIRED OF THE 2013 NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE



1. PROTECT NORTH CAROLINA CITIZENS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

a. Nullify ObamaCare for North Carolina citizens. Return the $73.5 million in Exchange start-up money accepted by Bev Perdue. Refuse any federal money to facilitate expansion of Medicaid in North Carolina. Make it a crime for a State or federal employee to attempt to implement an ObamaCare exchange in North Carolina.

b. Nullify any federal attempts to control weapons in North Carolina.

c. Nullify the portions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that make it possible to arrest American Citizens on suspicion that they are terrorists and hold them indefinitely imprisoned in this country, or some other country, without charging them or bringing them to trial. Make it clear that neither the North Carolina National Guard, sheriffs’ departments, State troopers, nor any other North Carolina law enforcement employee will participate in any effort to do such a thing, but to the contrary, they will protect North Carolina citizens from any federal employee who tries to make such an arrest.

d. Nullify President Obama’s executive order which is ostensibly designed to implement the NDAA by taking over all food, medical facilities and medicine, water, transportation, industry, workforce placement and use (and on and on) by the federal government at his direction for any emergency, or non-emergency, situation when he directs them to.

e. Nullify the Food Safety Act for small North Carolina farming enterprises. (I talked to a man selling chocolate covered pecans at the New Bern Farmers Market Saturday who, in order to continue to sell his product there, had to take a course in food handling, and start to buy “processed” pecans instead of using what he grows on his own trees; this practically wiped out his profit margin.)

f. Nullify all federally mandated codes, boards, regional planning groups, and the like that are designed to force implementation of UN Agenda 21. (Our local Craven County government is rife with them. Hal can tell you the names of several, but one example is the new International Building Code which Craven County was forced to adopt this year; it is an Agenda 21 item. It increased the cost of building a single family home here significantly. The long term goal of Agenda 21 is to make the ownership of a single family home impossible to achieve because it is too expensive, to do away with the small family owned farm in favor of large corporate style farms, and to force all our people to live in highrise’s so that humans have a very small footprint and are controllable, and the wild critters are the only things free to roam the vast regions of our country.)

g. Nullify (as to any effect in North Carolina) any unreasonable amnesty or other immigration change that the federal government may make.

2. VOTER I.D.

a. Protect voter integrity so that each eligible citizen can vote once and only once. (No dead people voting. No one from Raleigh registering and voting in Cove City with a local utility bill under the name of the person billed. No steady stream of mentally incapacitated people being “helped” to vote by the same driver at curbside via multiple trips with new mentally incapacitated passengers on each trip. No illegal aliens voting. Etc.) We need a photo ID and the requirement that each voter be able to correctly state his, or her, name and address.

3. OPPORTUNITY for PROSPERITY of NORTH CAROLINA CITIZENS

a. Reduce the corporate income tax to the lowest in the Southeast, or eliminate it altogether.

b. Reduce regulations on businesses

c. Remove tolls from North Carolina’s water highways (ferries). (Why should a few of our citizens have to pay each time they go to work, school, shopping, a physician, etc., when most of us do not?)

4. MAKE NORTH CAROLINA FISCALLY SOUND

a. Cut inappropriate activities. (Start with charities masquerading as appropriate uses of taxpayer monies under the loose title, “social services.” Please, see Raynor’s letter of November 26, 2012.)

b. Change the pensions for North Carolina employees who are not near retirement age (below age 50) from “defined benefit” to “defined contribution,” and let the prospective retiree pick his/her investments. (This would stop the ever increasing future liability of the State, remove the need to constantly kick more taxpayer money into the kitty because investment results have been poor, and introduce State employees to the world lived in by the entrepreneurs and small business people who largely pay their salaries.)

c. Reduce administrative staffs in schools.

d. Instead of funding charities like Promise Place with taxpayer’s money, require people who commit assault, including sexual assault, to pay a percentage of their earnings to a fund to aid their victims’ recovery (after a period of incarceration) as part of their sentence.

5. IMPROVE OUR SCHOOLS

a. Completely remove all limits from Charter schools – the more, the better.

b. Mandate that our early history be taught and taught accurately. (Has this one already been done?)

c. Figure out a way to reward good teachers and fire slugs.

d. Allow parents to choose which school their child attends.

e. Allow more parental input in school decisions.

6. NORTH CAROLINA ENERGY RESOURCES

a. Make development of North Carolina Energy Resources inviting to private industry and as simple as is compatible with reasonable safety.

CCTA ACTION ALERT!

IMPORTANT UPDATES – TWO PART ACTION ALERT – PLEASE SHARE

1. WE MUST COUNTER OfA - CALL YOUR US REPRESENTATIVES AND US SENATORS MONDAY AND TUESDAY

Organizing for Action (Obama’s campaign organization turned action network) has directed their members to "flood" the Capitol switchboard. Our representatives must hear from us to balance their effort.

In addition, Republican Senators Tom Coburn and Mark Kirk are working with Democrat Senators Joe Manchin, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on new legislation to "keep weapons away from criminals and the mentally ill."

Grassroots NC's position on potential bipartisan or Republican legislation: "None of this is acceptable."

Many people are already being unfairly disqualified from owning a gun because of a diagnosis of PTSD or transient use of an anti-depressant in their past. Some legislators will want to compromise on this type of proposal, but it will infringe on the rights of the law-abiding.

Please call or email your US Representatives and US Senators on Monday and Tuesday, January 28 and 29. Ask them to SAY NO to any gun control measures.

House Reps are in their districts this week so use their local office numbers (while you’re calling, ask them when they will hold a town hall in the district):

Rep. G. K. Butterfield, Jr. (D-01) (252) 237-9816
Rep. Renee L. Ellmers (R-02) 1-877-645-8764
Rep. Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-03) 800-351-1697
Rep. David Price (D-04) 919.859.5999
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-05) (336) 778-0211
Rep. Howard Coble (R-06) (336) 333-5005
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-07) (910) 815-4959
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-08) 704-786-1612
Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-09) (704) 365-6234
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-10) 800.477.2576
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-11) 828-693-5660
Rep. Mel Watt (D-12) (704) 344-9950
Rep. George Holding (R-13) 919-856-9778

Senators are in DC this week:

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) 202-224-3154
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) 202-224-6342

2. FROM GRASSROOTS NC: CALL COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE STEVE TROXLER THIS WEEK

Ask him where he stands on gun control in relation to President Obama’s agenda.

Email AND call Commissioner Steve Troxler at Steve.Troxler@ncagr.gov and (919) 707-3000

“It’s been well over a week since The NC Department of Agriculture Commissioner fell in line with President Obama’s plan to ban the private sales of any firearms following a recent incident at a gun show. After a negligent discharge of a shotgun at a recent gun show at the NC Fairgrounds in Raleigh, representatives of Agricultural Commissioner Steve Troxler saw fit to declare that private sales of any and all firearms would be banned for the rest of the show, and possibly all gun shows held on NC agricultural property in the future.

Where does Commissioner Troxler stand?

After pronouncing that private sales were banned from State Agricultural owned property, Commissioner Troxler has gone silent. The big question now becomes: will a REPUBLICAN controlled state agency now jump on President Obama’s gun control policies without question? When accidents involving automobiles happen, we don’t ban private auto sales. When accidents involving house fires happen, we don’t arbitrarily ban private home sales. Why then, are our elected leaders so quick to ban private firearms sales when a negligent discharge happens?

Maybe we should just ask?

The citizens of North Carolina deserve to know where our leaders stand on this issue. Using the contact information provided and the suggested message (or one of your own), contact NC Agricultural Commissioner Steve Troxler and ask him personally where he stands on the issue of private firearms sales and President Obama’s gun control agenda. With the anti-gun crowd screaming loud these days, we deserve to know just where our leaders stand on the issue."

American Thinker: Gang Violence and Gun Control

Gang Violence and Gun Control

Guns and gangs. Haven't read anything from the Left about that. Certainly nothing from Congress. But with FBI statistics showing more than 1,500,000 members of recognized gangs across the nation and something like 33,000 recognized gangs in the FBI's stats, you'd think Gun Control advocates would list these as a major target of their efforts, especially since gang activity is responsible for at least 48% of criminal and violent activity throughout the US. [1]
You'd be wrong.
Stats:
- 100% of cities with population greater than or equal to 250,000 reported gang activity in 2001
- 85% of cities with population between 100,000 and 229,999 reported gang activity in 2001
- 65% of cities with population between 50,000 and 99,999 reported gang activity in 2001
- 44% of cities with population between 25,000 and 49,999 reported gang activity in 2001
- 20% of cities with population between 2,500 and 24,999 reported gang activity in 2001
- 35% of suburban counties reported gang activity in 2001
- 11% of rural counties reported gang activity in 2001

- 95% of the jurisdictions reporting gang activity in 2001 had also reported gang activity in previous survey years 3,000 jurisdictions across the US are estimated to have had gang activity in 2001
- 56% of cities with population greater than or equal to 100,000 reported an increase or no significant change in the number of gang members in 2001
- 42% of cities with a population of at least 25,000 reported an increase in the number of gang members
- 45% of cities with a population of at least 25,000 reported an increase in the number of gangs from the previous two years
- 69% of cities with population at least 100,000 reported having gang related homicides in 2001
- 37% of cities with population between 50,000 and 99,999 reported having gang related homicides in 2001
- 59% of all homicides in 2001 in Los Angeles and

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/01/gang_violence_and_gun_control.html?utm_source=01-28-13&utm_campaign=AT+Newsletter+01-28-13&utm_medium=email#ixzz2JI9gmwli 

Opinion: Obama's dangerous charge of 'absolutism' - Keith Koffler - POLITICO.com

Opinion: Obama's dangerous charge of 'absolutism' - Keith Koffler - POLITICO.com


A nation should be concerned when it seems its leader has tired of the grueling work of democracy.
One of the most remarkable and frightening aspects of President Barack Obama’s inaugural address was his dismissal of his opposition – presumably the House Republican caucus - as “absolutists” who are without “principle.”

They are mucking up Obama’s agenda, and he won’t have it.

“For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay,” Obama said. “We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect.”

Absolutism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is a form of despotism - “government by an absolute ruler or authority.” That the president of the United States is accusing his democratically-elected opponents of acting in a tyrannical fashion is a remarkable development with potentially profound implications.


Once the president’s opponents have been defined in the American mind as despotically inclined, unsusceptible to reason, and unwilling to play by the normal rules of politics, it is only natural that extreme measures are permitted in response.

This White House has already shown a propensity toward ruling by executive fiat - whether by executive action that effectively enacts rejected legislation, by refusing to enforce existing law, or by crafting rules for legislation to grant vast new powers to bureaucrats.

Once it has de-legitimized the opposition, the White House can claim it is left with no choice but to accelerate and expand its use of executive power. What else can they do, the president and his operatives will argue, when faced with the insanity of the Republicans?

The press, which avidly buys into the notion that much of the House Republican caucus is beyond reason, will lend a sympathetic ear to Obama as he struggles with the forces of darkness.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/obamas-dangerous-charge-of-absolutism-86773.html#ixzz2JI8SQmWo

Second Amendment Freedom: February 5th at 12 Noon


February 5, 2013, 12:00 pm

Second Amendment Freedom Rally, NC General Assembly

Halifax Mall (between Legislative Building and Legislative Office Building)
16 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC.

Show politicians you mean business with a huge demonstration outside their offices….where neither they nor the media can ignore you, your Second Amendment rights depend on it!

Let us know how many people you will bring by sending message to: FreedomRally@GRNC.org. Note: Firearms are prohibited by law at the General Assembly. Empty holsters are not.

For more information go to: www.GRNC.org. Sponsored by Grass Roots North Carolina, PO box 10665, Raleigh, NC 27605, 877.282.0939



Authoritarian Obamacare VS The Freedom To Enjoy Life’s Risks

Authoritarian Obamacare VS The Freedom To Enjoy Life’s Risks

Bob Livingston: Personal Liberty Digest

How To Avoid The Obamacare Death Trap

January 28, 2013

We are less than one year out from healthcare tyranny under the oligarchy-endorsed Obamacare.
It’s very deceptive to call Obamacare socialized medicine. The law has nothing to do with healthcare. It’s just the opposite. It’s sickness care. The Nazis had their gas chambers and America has “medical care,” which is the most sophisticated killing machine that demented minds can create.
Americans are mentally dependent on the “medical” brainwash. When our dumbed-down people hear the trigger word “medical care,” they go blind and hyperventilate. They do not know a scam from a sham. They will go unanimous for anything with the term “healthcare” in it.
Obamacare is not healthcare. It has absolutely nothing to do with healthcare. It’s a great transfer of wealth and population control with a ticket to the death panels when we are no longer considered productive citizens.
As the paper money regime collapses, the money creators are speeding up the printing presses in a desperate ploy to transfer the wealth of the American people before it becomes worthless anyway. It is disguised warfare against the American people.
It reminds one of the last days of the Nazi regime. As the cities were reduced to rubble, German citizens were being shot for “treason.” In the last days of any regime, the process of oppression of citizens is intensified.
In the United States, stepped-up oppression is being done under the cloak of benevolence (healthcare). It is not an issue of so-called healthcare. If it achieves anything related to Americans’ health, it should be called sickness care.
It’s all very simple: The medical cartel needs sick people like military machines need human cannon fodder; no difference. The military industrial complex promotes war under the pretext of patriotism. The medical establishment promotes sickness under the pretext of healthcare.
If you readers grasp the esoteric (hidden) agenda in Obamacare, your thinking runs deep. You should survive the coming crash. Obamacare is a symptom of collapse of the social order. We have no economic order.
As the last days of this system nears total collapse, there will be more and more political calls for synthetic social and medical benefits. Recognize it for what it is: a camouflage for stealing.
Once again for emphasis, Obamacare is not about the healthcare of the American people. It is not about the cost. It is about the stepped-up transfer of the wealth of the American people to the global elite.
Obamacare would be impossible under the gold standard as the medical cartel would not exist, and most of the politicians would be in jail.
Despite denials by the elites, a government-run healthcare system will quickly bankrupt the U.S. Treasury. What’s more, it will condemn millions of elderly and disabled Americans to substandard care and perhaps even to fatal rationing of medical resources.
The New York Times’ resident nincompoop, former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, famously said: “In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We’ve all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false.”
Yes. Sarah Palin was right. Krugman, as was the case in his advice to Enron and in most of his Keynesian screeds, was wrong. There will be death panels. The State cannot justify expending resources on the non-productive. Ask Taro Aso, the finance minister of Japan, who said last week that the elderly should be allowed to “hurry up and die” to relive pressure on the state to pay for medical care.
“I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government,” he said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. “The problem won’t be solved unless you let them hurry up and die.”
Death panels will become acceptable to the public by dehumanizing the elderly and infirmed. They won’t be classified as people. They will become units or incompetents or, as Aso referred to them, “tube people.” Propaganda to dehumanize “the enemy” has been used throughout history.





Facts About the AR-15 ‘Assault Rifle’ You May Not Know

Facts About the AR-15 ‘Assault Rifle’ You May Not Know


Sadly, so called “assault rifles” are getting a lot of negative press lately and are being subjected to a great deal of misinformation. This is not just coming from the usual anti-gun crowd, whom one would expect to lack knowledge about firearms and how they function, but also from supposedly knowledgeable gun owners and hunters, some of whom favor “reasonable” controls on firearms freedoms. Here are a few of the fallacies.
I need an AR=15 primarily for self-defense. Could I use another gun for self defense? Of course I could and the AR may not be the best firearm to use in all defensive situations. I could use a shotgun or a pistol, I could use a baseball bat or a knife, I could use a tennis racket, a golf club, my bare hands, or I could just try playing possum.

Carolina Journal: John Hood's Daily Journal

Carolina Journal | Daily Journal--Look for the Party Label

 I noted a couple of days ago that North Carolina native Richard Weaver helped spark the modern conservative movement with his 1948 bookIdeas Have Consequences. My John Locke Foundation colleagues and I like Weaver’s famous phrase so much that we used it in the subtitle of our new book on North Carolina’s policy agenda.

In political science, the notion that ideas have consequences is actually controversial. Some scholars believe that ideology is neither a reliable predictor nor a valuable explanation for political and legislative outcomes. The argument is that political actors act solely for short-term advantage. They respond to incentives such as financial gain, personal glory, or reelection. To the extent that political actors cite ideology as the reason for their actions, they are either fooling us or fooling themselves – or so goes the argument.

I’m a fan of analyzing political behavior with an economic lens. I think public-choice economics has been a revelation, and that no politician’s protestations of ideological fervor should be taken at face value. We should judge them on what they do, not what they say they will do.

CONTINUED:  http://www.carolinajournal.com/daily_journal/index.html