How Markets Really Work -- Short Video

ABC's John Stossel on Health Care in America

This enlightening program by John Stossel aired on Sept. 14, 2007 on ABC's 20/20.

Keep clicking to the next segment i.e., 1 of 6, then 2 of 6, etc.

Actually, if you click this link, it takes you to the site and the segments are listed on the right side. They are not particularly in order, but you can find them by scrolling.

It is worth the watch if you missed it.

Two interesting stories: Hillary and Hugo

Hillary Clinton on her health care proposal:

"I have been fighting for universal health care for a long time, and I've got to tell you I will never give up on the very fundamental right that Americans should have, to have access to quality, affordable health care, no matter who they are," said Mrs. Clinton, New York Democrat. "Health care is a right, not a privilege."

Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chavez on the state control of private schools:

Education based on capitalist ideology has corrupted children's values, he [Chavez] said. "We want to create our own ideology collectively, creative, diverse." Chavez said Venezuelans --not Cubans as opponents suggest -- have been drawing up the new curriculum, but added that Venezuela could always accept Cuban help in the future.

Hillary on Hillarycare: "If it's free, it's from me!"

TANSTAAFL = There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

Is this a pick up line or what?

Having already downed a few power drinks, she turned around, faced him, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Listen up, Buddy. I screw anybody, any time, anywhere, your place, my place, in the car, front door, back door, on the ground, standing up, sitting down, naked or with clothes on, dirty, clean . . . it doesn't matter to me. I've been doing it ever since I got out of college and I just love it."

Eyes now wide with interest, he responded, "'No kidding. I'm a lawyer, too. What firm are you with?

Should we put on our tin foil hats, or not?

Interesting theory re: Craig from Little Country Lost ...

Excerpts:

Arlen Specter is pissed about the NSA spying program, which allows a wide range of phone calls to be tapped by the Bush administration with no oversight. Another person who has been openly against this program, it turns out, is Larry Craig (go figure that bathroom boy wants to keep his personal life private). Specter wants to challenge the Bush administration on the spying program and is going to need all the votes that he can get, especially from the Republicans. [...]

There is also the revelation that George W. Bush has referred to Larry Craig as "a God damned traitor" and that Bush had instructed the National Republican Senatorial Committee as early as December 2005 to look for someone to run against Larry Craig in 2008. [...]

Why I need a small radio-type production studio

Proposed Ad:

 

Music:  The Old Spice commercial music

 

Do you like whales ... Do you like high-caliber machine guns ...

 

Do you love to partake in cultural events ....

 

Well come on down to Neah Bay, Washington for the cultural experience of a lifetime.

 

Captian Mac the Makah will take you and you family out into the beautiful bay in his luxurious charter boat

 

You and the kiddies can strafe the living hell out of mother natures most beloved gray whale.

 

There the bow mounted 50 caliber for Dad ... a wide assortment of M-16 and AKs for Mom and the teenagers.

 

Captain Mac even has some good old .22's for the youngsters.

 

Daring ... Captain Mac will set you up with a native Makah Tribe harpoon, blessed by the local medicine man.

 

What could be better.

 

See you at Neah Bay and ask for Captain Mac.

 

You will have one whale of a cultural time!

 

Here is the story:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1893456/posts

Our Public School Kids are Awesome

This is not a homeschooler ...

Updated Seal of United States Government

Here is the link to the official site of the United States Government at:
http://www.usa.gov/gobiernousa/

Here is the official Seal of the United States Government:

Politicians vs. Taxpayers

Politicians from every level prey on taxpayers and their family budgets. Here is a visual from Americans for Prosperity on how this constant pressures looks from the taxpayer's point of view.

What qualities are you looking for in a president?

Hugh Hewitt's interview with Duncan Hunter at the Texas Straw poll, which Hunter won.

My Dirty Dog

Otter should pick Ralph Smeed to US Senate

I can't help it ... but I tend to agree with proposal -- should Craig resign -- that an elder statesman pick to succeed would be a sober idea.

I put forth the name of elder statesman and political philosopher, Ralph Smeed of Caldwell.

He'd never run for election and he'd give those cloistered birds at the Senate some freedom principles to think about.

We would have at least 16 months of great entertainment in its most serious form.

SMEED for SENATE -- Make Statism Unpopular!

Conservatives know what the definition of “is” is. Liberals don’t

Republicans, better yet, conservatives, better yet, God-fearing conservatives hold themselves and elected officials they support to a higher standard. That is good and wholesome.

Democrats, better yet, liberals, better yet, “pants-down” liberals don’t really have much of a standard to which they hold their elected officials.

“Pants-down” liberals do get fabulously loud when they divine hypocrisy.

Witness the “pants-down’ers” calling for Sen. Craig to resign because they divined hypocrisy of his opposition to homosexual marriage and now Craig’s famous bathroom event at a problematic airport restroom.

The “pants-down” crowd deems all homosexuals support legalized gay marriage and any deviation of such is hypocrisy.

This is illogical as God-fearing conservatives deeming all “pants-down” liberals as booger-eating morons, knowing full-well that many “pants-downers” don’t eat boogers.

“Pants-down” liberals squeal against peeking into bedrooms, unless someone is storing a firearm there for protection instead of a box of rubbers – now that’s hypocrisy!

God-fearing conservatives are right to hold themselves and their elected officials to a higher standard. We’ve seen numerous conservative politicians fall from popularity while the “pants-down” politicians get re-elected even after a homosexual diddling of a House page or a “boyfriend” running a prostitution ring out of Rep. Barney “the sword swallower” Frank’s apartment.

God-fearing conservatives are the ones creating the double-standard-standard. And, it is a badge of honor to strive to a higher standard ... it is divine.

Who, but the “pant-down” crowd would even listen to their own ilk without feeling creeped out and in dire need of a shower ... (not a golden shower, favored by the pants-downers.)

Let the creeps have their blue dresses stained in the Oval Office or their publicly exposed trysts and lawsuits like Larry LaRocco.

The “pants-down” troupe doesn’t have to tell God-fearing conservatives what the definition of “is” is, unless they are trying to fool them into thinking creeps are OK, especially if their creeps are serving in government office.

LaRocco likely "Mum" on Craig. Why?

Julie Fanselow works for “pants-down” Larry LaRocco and runs the Red State Rebels blog.

Back when Helen Chenoweth “spanked” incumbent LaRocco, Idaho Statesman’s Dan Popkey outed ol’ Larry and his wandering ways. Larry toured the TV media to explain, but it was too late … he already had a fork in him and he lost.

Julie blogged that in regards to the news about Sen. Craig: “Given my role on the LaRocco campaign, I won't have any comment on the story.”

Don’t look for LaRocco to “comment” on Craig which would open him up for his old news to be recycled.

Sen. Cameron (RINO-Rupert) threatens GOP’ers

Here is more evidence that under the Idaho's current open primary voting scheme anybody and their liberal buddies can “help” Republicans select that party’s nominee at a primary election.

Here comes old “faithful” Dean Cameron, nine-terms of cobwebs and skeletons, with his open threat to the rank-and-file Republicans, who voted to have only Republicans select their nominee at primaries.

GOP’ers voted at the 2006 Idaho State Republican Party Convention to close the primary from just anybody and their liberal buddies. GOP’ers voted at the Central Committee meeting in 2007—and that is the governing body of the Idaho Republican Party – to close the primaries to allow only registered Republicans.

Deano’s threat was reported in the Magic Valley Times on Aug. 16, 2007:

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, Idaho's second-most tenured senator, said Wednesday that if the case prevails and Idaho's primary system is found unconstitutional, he expects legislation that will allow independent voters to participate in primary elections.

"If the lawsuit is successful, we will draft legislation to open them to independents," said Cameron.

How’s about grand old Republicans just walking away from his threats and the next time arrogant Dean runs, let the Democrats and independents elect him.

Cameron is ripe to be challenged in 2008 Republican "closed" primary.

ID GOP Chair ticks off faithful while closed primary lawsuit is amended

Update from Rod Beck: GOP Chairman’s “update memo,” and we amend our complaint

August 17th, 2007 by grassrootsidgop

Idaho GOP Chairman Sullivan’s “Closed Primary Update” memo annoys many and bolsters Grassroots amended complaint.

Lots of action and quite a bit to cover in this update …

First, many have read or heard about Idaho GOP Chair J. Kirk Sullivan’s recent memo about Closed Primaries. (Click here). His tone is rather condescending and actually, inadvertently, helps our cause.

He starts out by telling all of us why our ideas about closed primaries are bad. Then Mr. Sullivan tells us how he agreed to be a co-sponsor of a Senate bill that didn’t even get a hearing last session. He said time just ran out.

His claim is in direct contrast to that of the chief sponsor of the closed primary bills, Rep. Marv Hagedorn (R-Meridian) who wrote on his blog about Mr. Sullivan’s memo: “[Sullivan] seemed to ‘forget’ that I and others ran a number of versions of legislative bills starting early during the 2007 session … the same bills he covertly worked against in both the House and Senate.” ...

[Amended Complaint]

Read more ...

I apologize for Larry Grant being a dork

THIS IS A RE-WRITE OF DORKY LARRY'S LETTER TO CONG. ELLISON

The Honorable Keith Ellison
1130 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Ellison:

On behalf of the people of Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, I would like to apologize for the recent apology of our current loser congressman-wannbee, Larry Grant, regarding your election to Congress.

His apology, at the very least, was thoughtless, uninformed, inappropriate, and rather presumptuous. But given that Larry Grant is a dork, the nature of his apology, i.e, on behalf of someone else, simply reinforces that Larry is not all there and his was simply a hollow political stunt.

We here in Idaho do cherish religious freedom, both yours and ours. Except that the good, peace-loving leaders of Boise City ripped a monument of the Ten Commandments out of a once lovely public park. Not to mention that every five years or so, another attack is launched on the illuminated Cross at Table Rock.

I'm sorry that Larry the Dork wrote: "We applaud anyone who stands up for both peace and freedom, as I know you do. " Larry is so forgetful, he didn't clarify "peace." There is Ronald Reagan's definition of "peace through strength" or the other of "peace through submission."

Best wishes,

Big Rattler

P.S. Did you see Larry at the Daily Kos convention? He was there with his other political brother Larry! They are such a pair ...

RePork Card from Club for Growth

CLUB FOR GROWTH 2007 RePORK CARD

U.S. HOUSE

(A high score means voted against pork-barrel spending)

State------------- Score----Ratio
ID – 1--SALI -------- 94%---47/50

ID -2 --SIMPSON-----4% ---2/50

Sali voted against pork 47 out of 50 times.
Simpson voted 2 times against pork spending.

THE letter-to-the-editor of the Year, so far ...

August 8, 2007

Mr. Dean Stone, Editor
The Daily Times
307 E Harper Ave
Maryville, TN 37804

Subject: Pork Barrel vs. Bridge Repair

Dear Editor,

Nearly $7 million in U.S. Highway Transportation funds were secured by Senator Lamar Alexander for the construction of an unpopular funded Civic Arts Center located on the property of Maryville College. Most local taxpayers objected to the use of local tax money for this building which was not owned by the local governments. The Federal portion was just a forgotten background note as most citizens view Federal money as coming from some free source not directly linked to their tax dollars.

Now comes the Minnesota bridge collapse which is linked to a lack of funding (U.S. Highway Transportation) for repairing bridges. There is such a shortfall in available funding we hear that we might have to raise the Federal gasoline tax (which funds bridge repair). I say baloney! The funding to keep our bridges safe was there until numerous pork barrel projects such as the local Civic Arts Center robbed the funds.

Now to be sure, Lamar is not the only Senator to “bring home the bacon” from other Federally earmarked funds to his local friends. I am not trying to single him out. However, should Maryville College erect crosses in the lawn of the new Civic Arts Center in memory of the Minnesota people who died because someone took the funds from their bridge repair budget?

The Civic Arts Center was called a transportation improvement program in order to qualify for Federal funding. Was it given a higher priority than the Minnesota bridge? Pork Barrel projects always cost somebody; and some have paid with their lives. Kind of gives one pause before congratulating a politician for “bringing home the bacon”.

Sincerely,

W.W. (Sunny) Day
Louisville, TN 37777

Grant, LaRocco got nutroots

Anybody, who knows anything about insider politics (current Idaho GOP elected officials excluded) knows that the Daily Kos is the nutty, nuts of the left "idea and policy fountain" for ultra-leftist nutty ideas. (It used to be the New York Times)

All, repeat all, of the Democratic presidential candidates attended the Daily Kos' annual convention dubbed the Yearly Kos. They refer to themselves as Kossacks.

The groovy Idahoans attending were Larry LaRocco and Larry Grant, a.k.a "My brother Larry and my other brother Larry."

If you need to read all about it from the nutroots perspective, here is the link to Red State Rebel's blog about her big adventure with the Kossacks.

Sen. Gary Schroeder is ideologically blinded

Idaho State Senator Gary Schroeder (R-Peoples Republic of Moscow) is blind-in-one-eye-and-can’t-see-out-of-the-other. He has been repeatedly endorsed by the ultra-leftist teachers’ union. He is the apple of the liberal’s eye, and he also fancies himself as a Republican.

Schroeder is quoted in the July 26, 2007 Lewiston Tribune blathering about how closed primaries in Idaho may cost some people their jobs. Maybe he was talking about himself:

Schroeder worries people like judges or state government employees would stop voting in primaries if they must register with a party.

Idaho had three different governors in the space of a year and Statehouse workers lost their jobs as a result, Schroeder said.

"The Capitol Boulevard is running with blood," Schroeder said. "People lose their jobs because they're in the wrong party... and if you register, they know what party you're in."

Schroeder should take back his vile words. “Running with blood” is a crude insult to Idaho governors and this from a Senate committee chairman.

After taking back his words, Schroeder might detect that he has been silent on plentiful examples of ideological discrimination.

Journalism:

[Well-known national columnist Robert] Novak blamed liberal discrimination which he said forces young conservatives to remain "in the closet" if they hope to have a career in media.

"One of the big differences in 50 years is that the liberals have now filtered into the executive ranks of journalism. And so if you go into journalism now not in the closet but out in the open as a conservative, you're going to have a hard time getting a job, believe me." (Source: Media Research Center)


Academia: (University of Idaho included)

Thus, academic hiring committees are elitist and self-selecting, and function like medieval guilds to insulate themselves from external scrutiny. Once an academic hire is made, faculty "tenure" provides lifetime employment to the competent and the incompetent, the scholar and the ideologue alike. This means that outside the hard sciences and practical professions, there is no bottom-line in the university for bad ideas or discredited doctrines. Working in combination with these academic realities, the tolerant attitudes of a free society have made it possible for ideological minorities in the social sciences and related fields to enforce a political conformity otherwise incomprehensible in a modern democracy.

As a result, while the red and blue electoral map reveals an America that is almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, in the nation's universities Republicans (and conservatives) have become almost as rare as unicorns. In most schools, Republicans are less well represented than Greens, Marxists and sects of the far left. This is an indefensible situation with far-reaching implications.

(Source: David Horowitz from his book "You Can't Get a Good Education If They're Only Telling You Half the Story.")

The Politically Correct Constitution

Pick your presidential candidate

This is a good test to see if you are supporting the presidential candidate who closely matches up with your views.

It is also helpful for those studying the candidates.

Click here to take the test.

I matched up with Duncan Hunter ... which is correct for me.

How about you ... post your comments.

Grassroots Idaho GOP file lawsuit for party registration

The liberals are screaming (as usual) that the rotten grassroots members of the Idaho Republican Party have filed suit in Federal Court to require that only declared Republicans be permitted to vote to select the Republican candidates in the Primary Election to represent them in the General Election.

Seems the liberals and RINO's (that's Republicans In Name Only) are witnessing the fact that they will no longer be able to count on cross-over voting in the primary to get elected ... and that means ... the gig is up.

The grassroots GOP'ers believe is it wrong in principle for liberals and their comrades to have a hand in selecting their choice of candidates to face the liberals in the General Election.

In other words, why should the a team have the ability to help select their opponent's starting line-up?

Go to Grassroots Idaho GOP for all the latest news on this important issue.

Comfort level: Nudist vs. Democrat

Hat Tip to Red State Rebels:

 

But a story on the site caught my eye, about the Northwest nudists' convention in Worley. The AP story reported, "Terri Capshaw, an Idaho nudist who built a home next to Sun Meadow, says, 'Your body needs air and sunshine. To me it's just like exercise. I'm more comfortable telling people I'm a nudist than saying I'm a Democrat.'"

People for the Ethical Treatment of Taxpayers

A new pro-taxpayer protection group has been established in Florida with the fantastic name "People for the Ethical Treatment of Taxpayers."

 

This is one of those head-slapping names where you say, "Why didn't I think of that."

 

We wish them the best of results joining the ranks of the many taxpayer groups all across America, struggling to squeeze the juice out of local and state government political machines who, with the help of their private sector cronies, keep pickpocketing the families of American taxpayers.

 

Give a visit to their web site at:  www.pettpac.org.

 

Better yet, send them a couple bucks for help.

 

With a name like that ... it has to be good.

 

Keep rattling,

 

Big Rattler

Biased media hits cultural "tipping point" with Sen. Switchback expose

This insta-ad was produced by HotAir.com (Michelle Malkin). What is important to note, aside from the ad and its content, is how the old drive-by media, the dinosaur press, the mainstream media is being left in the dust heap of history. The new manner and techniques used by the American public simply by-passed the old relics of news dissemination.

The hard-fought immigration issue could be noted in the eyes of future historians as the "tipping point" when it became obvious that these electronic information transfers surrounding this bill is indeed the symbolic moment when the people who are willfully self-governed by the republic threw away the news filter of the self-anointed elites.

(Note: I did not use the term democracy for good reason. "And to the democracy for which it stands?")

With this in mind, please take a click at this wonderful insta-ad:



We see Sen. Sam Brownback switching his vote. Other bloggers and the like have posted Brownback's news release crowing that he voted against the failed immigration bill. Brownback is mocked.

This ad is prima facia evidence that the political gamesmanship practiced by too many politicians is a big reason why Congress suffers from a 14% approval rating.

Politicians are not stupid people when it comes to getting and remaining elected.

This culture shift will be duly noted. The best news is that they are now held accountable to an extent they never were before, and the drive-by media is in large part to blame for covering up this gamesmanship with their biased reporting.

Make way you biased-old, creaky, phony journalists for the blessings of liberty now create confusion in your wretched ranks. You risk being smited by drowning in your own ink.

Thou shalt not steal, even by majority vote.

An excellent article by Gary North on the Duke University scandal and its cultural importance.

North's article is titled: What I learned from Duke University

Quick excerpt:

The elite bourgeoisie and the professors are allied together in a struggle to overcome historic Christianity and the free market. To put this as a slogan, they stand together against Moses and Mises – against Moses, because they refuse to answer to God; against Mises, because they refuse to answer to consumers.

David Ripley: Idaho's justices have denied us our constitutional rights

Big Rattler obtained an orginal copy of this complete article.

Be advised that pro-homosexual PrideDepot.com reports that Idaho Statesman political hachet man, Dan Popkey, sits in Washington D.C. gay bars flashing a photo asking if they know of anyone who "did it" with this guy.    Why would anyone take Popkey's opinions seriously?

 

This is a copy of the guest editorial that ran in the Idaho Statesman 6-22-07:

Dan Popkey is mistaken when he claims that Justice Linda Copple Trout's imperious revision of the Idaho Constitution is somehow an improvement — or, more insultingly, "a favor" to voters.

In the June 13 column, Popkey seeks to defend the decision by two sitting justices to resign early in order to manipulate the selection of their successors. This is not a legitimate exercise of their public trust. In fact, I believe their bold challenge is a violation of their oath of office to defend our state constitution.

Popkey echoes the elitism of Trout when he writes that we would all be better off to leave the hard and complicated work of justice selection to some unelected committee. These special folks will somehow provide us all with a better crop of justices.

I submit Popkey is simply wrong on both a philosophical and practical level.

Idaho voters have done very well without the help of liberal elites. There can be no serious indictment of the quality of Justices Wayne Kidwell, Jim Jones and Daniel Eismann. These people were selected by the people and have served with great distinction. Not even Popkey has leveled a charge that these populists have lacked integrity or proper judicial temperament.

So the problem Popkey seeks to fix must be something else. It seems likely that Popkey is simply frustrated that Idaho voters are considerably more conservative than he. Like many elites, he wants a more liberal judiciary, unaccountable to the people, because that is about the only way his agenda could ever be accomplished.

But the Founding Fathers crafted the Constitution to protect our freedom from just such plots.

Popkey seeks to legitimize his arguments with the claim that he would allow a limited role for the people. Well, I appreciate this consideration — but his bread crumbs don't amount to much. Under his plan, Idaho voters will have a chance to vote for justices in just the same way that the old Soviet Politburo allowed Russians a chance to ratify their decisions. It is, after all, highly unlikely that any qualified lawyer would risk a challenge of a newly appointed justice — particularly when their judicial record would be so slim by the time of candidate filing next spring.

It is only through the rigors of a contested election or a long judicial record that Idahoans will get a solid understanding of the justice's philosophy and values. But by the time we find out that a social engineer has captured a post of such power — it may well be too late.

The dangers of a runaway judiciary are all about us. The list of damages created by the 9th Circuit alone is enough to serve as a clarion call that we must rise to defend our rights under the Idaho Constitution.

David Ripley is executive director of Idaho Chooses Life , a pro-life political action committee.

Victims of Communism Memorial Dedicated in DC

From the Washington Times (6-13-07):

President Bush yesterday told hundreds of people whose countries had emerged from the grip of communism that their sacrifices would not be forgotten as he dedicated the Victims of Communism Memorial to the millions oppressed and
killed by totalitarian regimes.

"We'll never know the names of all who perished, but at this sacred place, communism's unknown victims will be consecrated to history and remembered forever," he said to more than 500 people just blocks from the Capitol. "We dedicate this memorial because we have an obligation to those who died, to acknowledge their lives and honor their memory."

The memorial is the only such monument in the world, according to its founders, who estimate that communist governments have killed more than 100 million people.

Mr. Bush compared the Cold War to the fight against terrorism, saying that the "evil and hatred" that inspired totalitarian regimes to kill millions is shared by terrorists today.

The bronze, 10-foot "Goddess of Democracy" statue was meant not only to memorialize the victims, but also to combat the ignorance of communism's global effects, said conservative historian Lee Edwards, chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

[Statue modeled after the figure Chinese students placed in Tiananmen Square in 1989, which was subsequently destroyed by Chinese tanks]

"This is to send a very clear message that one-fifth of the world's population still live under communism and not by their choice," he said.

The ceremony came exactly 20 years after President Reagan visited the Berlin Wall and called on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear it down. [More...]

T. Blair on the news media

Exiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered a speech on how the media has blurred the lines between news and commentary.

 

Unfortunately, Blair, who has a record of favoring the "big-government" philosophy, concludes that reviewing government imposed news standards may likely be streamlined and put under one authority instead of the various public overseers present in the U.K. today.

 

It appears that he places little faith with the punishment that the marketplace can deliver to sub-standard reporting even if the marketplace moves slowly but surely over time.  If there is a demand for delivering hard-news in an unbiased fashion, the marketplace will reward those who fulfill that what has become a rather niche market, in light of the hard news being who is up or down in the latest offering of American Idol.

 

Here is an excerpt of Blair's speech:

 

Fourth, rather than just report news, even if sensational or controversial, the new technique is commentary on the news being as, if not more important than the news itself. So - for example - there will often be as much interpretation of what a politician is saying as there is coverage of them actually saying it. In the interpretation, what matters is not what they mean; but what they could be taken to mean. This leads to the incredibly frustrating pastime of expending a large amount of energy rebutting claims about the significance of things said, that bears little or no relation to what was intended.

In turn, this leads to a fifth point which is the confusion of news and commentary. Comment is a perfectly respectable part of journalism. But it is supposed to be separate. Opinion and fact should be clearly divisible. The truth is a large part of the media today not merely elides the two but does so now as a matter of course. In other words, this is not exceptional. It is routine.

Black eye to KBCI (C.BS)

From NewsBusters Media Research Center:

Boise TV: Snide Remarks During Soldier's Upbeat Report
Posted by Warner Todd Huston on June 12, 2007 - 03:07.

What is it about some news outlets that they can't report a story without trying to flavor it with their own biases? That they can't give "just the facts m'am" but have to throw in their snide asides and negative phraseology? And, it's bad enough when they do it in their normal attempts at "reporting" the news, but when they do it in between an upbeat report by one of our soldiers who's opinion is that the surge is working and our presence in Iraq is a good thing, it's all the more grating. But, then, they just can't leave their hatred for American foreign policy aside long enough to report this soldier's enthusiasm, now can they?

In this case, Boise, Idaho TV 2 News, in a story by Scott Logan, just can't leave the snide comments out of their story of Army First Sergeant Noah Edney's enthusiastic point of view on our efforts in Iraq. Even the title seems to take a swipe at policy: Boise Infantryman In Baghdad Shares Views On "Surge" -- notice the quotation marks around the word surge? Even as surge is a commonly acceptable term and not one to be questioning with quotations they cast doubt onto it by using the grammatical device. [More...]

Price of Stamps vs. Gasoline

This is quite interesting. Hat tip to Ben Cunningham of TN.

Inside Story about how the Senate Immigration Bill was killed

From the Right Wing News:

A GOP Aide, who's one of my sources in the Senate, gave me the rundown on what happened to the Senate bill today.

After the 2nd cloture vote failure at noon on Thursday, Harry Reid could not get unanimous consent to call up amendments to the bill because Jim DeMint refused to give his consent. This was extremely problematic for Reid because he wanted to get in votes on 6 more amendments before the last try at a cloture vote.

At that point, all the senators who were participants in the "Grand Compromise" AKA the "Masters of the Universe" by the opponents of the bill, leaned on DeMint to try to get him to give consent for the bill to move forward.

Unfortunately for them, DeMint wouldn't budge. This essentially killed the entire afternoon that the pro-amnesty side hoped to use to shore up support for the bill.

While DeMint was gumming up the works, the opponents of the bill, including most prominently Jim DeMint, Jeff Sessions, and Tom Coburn, huddled and came up with a list of conservative amendments they wanted considered ... [more]

Where's the Fence

Immigration is not that complicated if you break it into pieces and do things one-by-one.

Granted, the fedgov is very incompetent, so it makes sense to simply complete one project at a time, then move on to the next project.

Build the already authorized and funded fence -- First.

A Blast from the Past -- Just say NO to Surrender Monkeys

Does Sherriff Allow Illegal Trespass?

Take a look at this video and tell me what you think.

You'll notice that many times they very people who stand up to defend our rights and who understand the legal protections we are supposed to enjoy are just folks trying to get by on what they have.

Those with the means, rarely lift a finger. God Bless the "Road Scholars" of America

Does Sheriff Allow Illegal Trespass?
http://www.break.com/index/sheriff-allows-illegal-trespass2b.html


Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Keep Rattling .....

Making Statism Unpopular Radio Ad

Give a click and listen to these educational radio ads ...

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Excellent Explanations

I caught this from the Ludwig Von Mises Institutes' web site.  The article is logically outstanding demonstrating the the national Republicans and the Bush Administration -- contrary to popular PR and media spin -- actually has not cut taxes and in fact has raised taxes.  (Read, that's one major reason why they lost big in 2006)

 

What!  How can that be!?!

 

Here are some excerpts that should tempt you to read the full article:

 

(Link to full article http://www.mises.org/story/2559 )

 

First, in order to consider how Bush's policies have affected tax burdens, I need to define the term "taxes." Taxes are a revenue source for the state and the state is the entity that has a monopoly, or at least claims the right to a monopoly, over the use of coercion within its political borders. Therefore, Hans Hoppe's explanation of taxation as "a coercive, non-contractual transfer of definite physical assets" ( Economics and Ethics of Private Property, p. 28) provides us with a sound definition of taxation. Taxes are the takings of private property in order to fund the state. They are a form of aggression against private property.

 ... and ...

In addition to what we normally think of as taxes, the state also has the option of borrowing money by selling government securities in order to finance its spending. This is a significant form of finance as the federal debt, including intragovernmental debt, increased $574 billion in fiscal year 2006. Budget deficits are generally not considered to be a form of taxation and it's oftentimes useful to distinguish between revenues generated by taxing the sale of a good or service and revenues generated by selling securities. However, government debt is a coercive transfer of property from private hands to government coffers.

... therefore ...

Those who lend the government money are purchasing a promise to take someone's property in the future in order to repay the loan. If the securities that are issued are to be repaid, then the state is simply shifting tax burdens away from current taxpayers on to future taxpayers.

I know you easily see the logic and intrinsically know this to be true.  But it sure is good to have it said and written down in such a manner that arguing against these facts if futile.

Keep Rattling....

Your Gov't at Work -- Statism

How does business get done at your local State Capitol?

 

Certainly, nothing like this could happen in the hallowed halls of Congress!?!

 

The story below is about a trial of a state Tennessee senator, one of many caught up in an FBI corruption sting operation called Tennesee Waltz.

 

It's some sad reading:

 

URL: http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5500134,00.html

FBI agent summarizes case in Ford trial

 

By Trevor Aaronson

CommercialAppeal.com, Memphis, TN
Contact
April 23, 2007

Calling FBI agent Mark Jackson to the witness stand this morning, Asst. U.S. Atty. Tim DiScenza used the lawman as a summary witness to present a timeline that summed up the government's case against former state Sen. John Ford:

• April 19, 2004 — FBI undercover agent L.C. McNeil introduces himself to state Sen. John Ford at a dinner in Nashville arranged by state Rep. Kathryn Bowers.

• July 17, 2004 — In Miami, Ford asks McNeil for $3,000 to $5,000 per month to draft and pass state legislation that would benefit E-Cycle. Ford expresses interest in E-Cycle's initial public offering.

• July 28, 2004 — "I'm ready when you get back to get that done," Ford tells McNeil in a phone conversation, referring to the E-Cycle legislation.

• Aug. 18, 2004 — Ford tells McNeil he wants to be paid $10,000 upfront and $5,000 each month. Ford then explains which committee the bill will go to and reaffirms that he will sponsor the legislation.

• Aug. 19, 2004 — McNeil pays first cash payment made to Ford: $10,000. Ford takes an E-Cycle brochure and company paperwork, drafted by the FBI, describing the legislation E-Cycle wants.

• Aug. 23, 2004 — Ford calls McNeil and tells him he met with the General Assembly's legal department to talk about the E-Cycle legislation.

• Aug. 26, 2004 — In a telephone conversation, Ford tells McNeil the rough draft of the legislation will be available next week so E-Cycle can review it.

• Sept. 7, 2004 — Ford asks McNeil for his fax number to send the draft legislation.

• Sept. 17, 2004 — McNeil pays Ford $5,000. Ford reads the draft legislation to McNeil and agrees with the undercover agent that the bill should be amended so public schools will not receive surplus computers.

• Sept. 28, 2004 — Ford and McNeil discuss the proposed legislation in a phone call. Ford says he'll fax a new draft of the bill to McNeil.

• Oct. 6, 2004 — A summary of the legislation is faxed to E-Cycle's office.

• Oct. 15, 2004 — McNeil pays Ford $5,000. Ford discusses making the legislation more exclusive for E-Cycle.

• Nov. 9, 2004 — Ford says the E-Cycle bill will be filed in January with "a bunch of bills" so it won't draw attention, he tells McNeil in a phone conversation.

• Nov. 11, 2004 — In a phone conversation, Ford asks McNeil to send him more money.

• Nov. 17, 2004 — Ford tell McNeil in a phone conversation he will not pre-file the bill since it would allow the news media and others to look at the proposed legislation.

• Nov. 19, 2004 — Ford gives McNeil the final draft of the legislation. McNeil pays Ford $5,000 at E-Cycle's Memphis office.

• Dec. 16, 2004 — Ford reassures McNeil the legislation will pass.

• Dec. 17, 2004 — McNeil pays Ford $5,000 at a Miami hotel.

• Jan. 6, 2005 — Ford tells McNeil in a phone conversation he will file "our bill this week, this next week."

• Jan. 12, 2005 — Ford pre-files Senate Bill 28. In a phone conversation, he tells McNeil the bill was filed.

• Jan. 13, 2005 — Ford tells McNeil in a phone conversation he will put a clause in the bill that will give E-Cycle more exclusivity. "We filed it, and we just pulled the other bill," Ford says of the revised legislation.

• Jan. 18, 2005 — The state Department of General Services recommends against passage of E-Cycle's bill.

• Jan. 19, 2005 — Ford pre-files Senate Bill 94 with the definition of computer equipment identical to the list of equipment in E-Cycle's brochure.

• Jan. 31, 2005 — McNeil pays Ford $5,000 in E-Cycle's Nashville office.

• Feb. 1, 2005 — McNeil pays Ford $5,000 in his Senate office in Nashville.

• Feb. 3, 2005 — Ford expresses to Willis concerns McNeil might be working with law enforcement and E-Cycle might be an FBI shell company. A fiscal note is filed in the General Assembly, indicating the E-Cycle bill would increase state expenditure.

• Sometime after Feb. 3, 2005 — Ford aggressively questions General Services Commissioner Gwendolyn Sims Davis about the fiscal note and tells her she does not know "what the hell" she is doing.

• Feb. 14, 2005 — Ford tells McNeil he'll get a new fiscal note.

• Feb. 17, 2005 — Ford tells McNeil he talked to Senate staff about changing the fiscal note.

• March 9, 2005 — Ford tells James White, executive director of the Fiscal Review Committee of the Tennessee General Assembly, to change the fiscal note.

• March 10, 2005 — Ford threatens McNeil, who pays Ford $5,000 in E-Cycle's Memphis office.

• March 15, 2005 — Ford presents Senate Bill 94 to the Senate State and Local Government Committee, then chaired by state Sen. Steve Cohen. It passes 9-0. Ford learns McNeil is coming to Nashville. In a phone conversation, Ford asks FBI informant Tim Willis why McNeil is traveling to the capital. "Hell, we passed the bill. What's his concerns?" Ford asks Willis.

• March 16, 2005 — At McNeil's request, Ford agrees to delay the bill.

• March 17, 2005 — McNeil pays Ford $5,000 at the Sheraton Hotel in Nashville.

• March 23, 2005 — Rosemary Bates, Ford's research analyst, e-mails Senate Chief Clerk Russell Humphrey asking him to keep E-Cycle's bill off the legislative calendar.

• April 8, 2005 — Ford threatens to kill FBI undercover agents McNeil and Joe Carson. Ford agrees to delay legislation. McNeil pays Ford $5,000 outside The Peabody.

• May 26, 2005 — FBI agents arrest Ford in Nashville.

 

You should really send this to all your friends.  It clearly illustrates how business uses government favors to protect them (read, profits) from competition.  This is an example of "Statist Businessmen." 

 

Big Rattler

Now that you've paid your taxes ...

Happy Tax Day


You've paid your taxes, now what's in it for you? What do you get from the government (besides staying on the good side of the Internal Revenue Service)?

Via Heritage's Brian Riedl http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20070415-100128-4378r.htm , here's how your tax bill breaks down:

The federal government collects $21,992 in taxes per household and spends $24,106, leaving a per-household deficit of $2,114. (You might think of that last figure as taxes you haven't paid yet but someday will-or at least somebody will, maybe your kids.)



Per household, the government spends:

*       $8,301 for Social Security and Medicare,
*       $4,951 for defense,
*       $3,550 for antipoverty programs,
*       $2,071 for interest on the federal debt,
*       $907 for federal employee retirement benefits,
*       $664 for health research and regulation, including the Food and Drug Administration,
*       $627 for veterans' benefits,
*       $584 for education,
*       $418 for highways and mass transit,
*       $392 for administration of justice,
*       $305 for natural resources and environmental protection,
*       $304 for foreign aid, contributions to international organizations like the United Nations, and for maintaining U.S. embassies abroad,
*       $299 for unemployment benefits,
*       $282 for community and regional development, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
*       and $451 for all other federal programs, including farm subsidies, social services, space exploration, air transportation and energy.

Posted on 04/17/07 10:56 AM http://www.insideronline.org/blogarchive.cfm?month=4&year=2007#000B610D-CE46-40A5-A584E39468C29BE0 by Alex Adrianson | Blog Archive http://www.insideronline.org/#viewArchives#viewArchives

Nancy Van (Pelosi) norsdel -- Pres. Boise Metro Chamber of Statists

The Boise Metro Chamber of Statists Businessmen (read, Business-people-non-gender-specific-politically-correct-application-of-descriptive-nouns-where-is-Helen-Chenoweth-Hage-when-you-need-her) has again proven that their cabal has no interest anymore in liberty, freedom and the free-market. Instead, their statist leader is teat-high in the government slop-trough.

That "slop" was once a hard-earned, pristine dollar that had huge potential to accelerate through the free-market place, is now just another ration of prisoner chow spooned out by government commissars to members of the Boise Metro Chamber of Statists in the form of government projects and regulatory protection rackets.

Nancy Vannorsdel, who leads the Boise Chamber, wrote a guest editorial in the Idaho Statesman on April 1, 2007 where she shamelessly pronounced: "The days are long gone when pro-business meant laissez-faire."

First, she must know about (and rejected) the economic principle of "laissez-faire" which means minimalist government and maximum liberty especially in private trade.

Second, she announces that pro-business no longer means free-trade rather it now means government restricted trade via regulations that benefit the "incumbent businesses" by creating regulatory "barriers to entry into trade."

Nobel Laureate F.A. Hayak said, "Sometimes I think the biggest challenge is to convince businessmen themselves in the merit of what they do."

The very principle of free-trade, laissez-faire, minimum government interference in the marketplace is the only salvation for a country whose been sold this Vannoresdel/Pelosi/Clinton slop for years; a country whose unfunded liabilities (in ascending order) of government pensions, social security, and Medicaid/Medicare now equal or exceed the entire net worth of the total United States of America economy.

Teat-sloppers like Vannoresdel haven't got a clue, they are just in it for the quick buck. No wonder the Democrats took over congress from a hapless GOP, the likes of whom Vannoresdel gets her skewed ideas from.

Idaho Conservative Scorecard -- Just Released

This Idaho Conservative Scorecard is very informative plus easy to read and understand.

I highly recommend clicking the links to the Idaho House and the Idaho Senate.

Idaho House Conservative Scorecard

Idaho Senate Conservative Scorecard

Quick analysis using the compiled scorecard information and institutional memory:

1. The Idaho House is more conservative than the Idaho Senate. (It really should have the average score included. I did the calculations and the House Average is 62% while the Senate drops to 57%). Still the House cannot be considered "conservative" in spite of what the liberal drive-by-media or old liberal X-Gov. Phil Batt has to say.

2. It helps confirm who the conservative are (read, non-RINOs) plus a few surprises.

Those statesman with 100% are:

House -- Harwood, Nonini (surprise!), Shepherd, Vander Woude (good freshman work), Marriot, and of course the liberty torch-bearer Lenore Barrett.

Senate -- Monty Pearce and Russ Fulcher

3. No reason to list the flaming liberal legislators with 0% or nearby except to say that the following liberal Republican should change party affiliations to the Green or Democratic. They bring shame and dishonor to the GOP Platform: Sens. Charlie Coiner and Joe Stegner (and he's in leadership ... where do we go to surrender?); Reps. Jerry Shively and Max Black.

4. Idaho Conservatives have as their #1 task -- starting right now -- is to get a rule passed in the Idaho GOP Central Committee authorizing party registration for primary elections. The Idaho Senate leadership failed to protect our First Amendment Rights to Free Assembly as demonstrated by the rank-and-file GOP'ers officially voting overwhelmingly for party registration at their 2006 convention in Idaho Falls.

The United States Supreme Court ruled that a political party determines how they select their candidates for the general election, not the so-called public servants a.k.a. state legislators and the Sec. of State. The state's only compelling interest is that elections be honest, orderly and with a fair count of the votes. The party's constitutional rights as ruled by the United States Supreme Court is to tell the state how it wants to select it's candidates.

The failure of the Idaho Senate is a direct slap-in-the-face to all Republicans. Their arrogance is that they want to control the party, and the hell with the constitution, and the hell with the rank-and-file Republicans.

5. Obviously, the other task for Idaho Conservatives is to un-elect many of the arrogant, the hell with the constitution Idaho senators.

6. Given the above success, Idaho may again be a state that respects individual liberty, freedom. Too much government greed in the ranks today. It feels creepy in Idaho with Big Brother not caring even about the First Amendment's right to free assembly.

Dubbed "The Stubborn Nail"

Here is photo of government at work. In this case China. A residence stands alone in the middle of a project. (Meanwhile, Idaho voters reject private property rights protections in Prop. 2).

This photo and its location (China) make the full story a bit perplexing especially as it relates to China's "evolving" property rights as if there are any in said country. May some property rights are indeed on the horizon, given this successful defiance, which would be a huge liberty boost within China. The reporter does little to clear the confusion, but the visual is what led me to forward this on to you.

I've included the photo and caption, with excerpts from the story (below) and the link, in case your interest is peaked.



(CAPTION) Chinese workmen demolished a house, seen here March 2007, that attained almost iconic status because of its owners' refusal to move for a huge property project. However, Wu Ping and her husband's three-year battle may have paid off with a court in Chongqing announcing they would be given a new home nearby valued at about three million yuan (390,000 dollars).(AFP/File/Mark Ralston)

News Story Excerpts:

CHONGQING, China (AFP) - Workmen in China demolished a house that attained almost iconic status because of its owners' refusal to move for a huge property project, but their three-year battle may have paid off. [...]

Their plight -- thrown into the spotlight partly thanks to dramatic photos of the house sitting in the middle of a massive pit excavated around it -- became a symbol of the little man's defiance of China's moneyed interests.

However the couple appeared to have been rewarded handsomely for holding out, with a court in Chongqing announcing Tuesday they would be given a new home nearby valued at about three million yuan (390,000 dollars).

In addition, they were awarded 900,000 yuan in damages because the developer had cut off water and electricity, and blocked traffic to their home during the three-year stand-off. [...]

Wu had incessantly accused the local government of collusion with the developer, while refusing to bow to the strong-arm tactics aimed at getting rid of her home.

Earlier this year, she filed a lawsuit maintaining that she could not be forced to give up her home.

The Stubborn Nail's case hit such a nerve in China because similar disputes are plaguing the country.

While Wu was able to stand up to the powerful and wage a high-profile publicity campaign rarely seen in China, people in countless other cases have lost their property without adequate compensation.

According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Public Security, there were 87,000 protests in 2005, many of them to do with land grabs. Such protests are often crushed by security forces. [...]

The national parliament passed a landmark law last month that solidified private property rights, partly to combat such disputes.

While Wu waged her publicity campaign, her husband had staged a vigil in the home over the past week, at times waving a national flag.

During his vigil, Yang Wu also hung a banner out of the house that read: "The legal private property of citizens cannot be violated," echoing wording in the country's new property law.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070403/wl_afp/chinapropertydispute_070403120212

Hunter Walks the Walk

Duncan Hunter Purchases Brand New Ford F-150

HUNTER WALKS THE WALK
Puts his money where his mouth and principles are

Detroit, MI – Republican Presidential Candidate Duncan Hunter gave a tangible demonstration of his support for U.S. manufacturers in a campaign stop in Detroit today.   On a mid-morning visit to Suburban Ford in Sterling Heights, MI., Hunter made good on his "Buy American" platform.  He bought American by driving off with a brand new Ford F-150 pick-up truck.  "Some may call this a cheap political stunt," quipped Hunter, "but my wife will call this an expensive gesture."

Hunter said he traveled to Michigan to make it clear that he will follow through on his commitment to American businesses.   As President, Hunter said he will restore the strength of this country's manufacturing base.

Hunter has contended, in his campaign swings, that good high-paying manufacturing jobs are being lost to China and other countries.  "Our manufacturers are forced to compete against foreign competitors that benefit unfairly from currency manipulation, and from bad trade deals."

Hunter added, "One of the duties of the American President is to make good trade deals.   We have a bad [trade] deal and, as President, I will rectify it."

Excellent Links

Duncan Hunter Video & Audio Links

Right to Life Rally Firefighter's Forum MSNBC Interview Pt.1 MSNBC Interview Pt.2 (truncated) Hardball Interview Let's Build This Fence MSNBC Interview China Ad Fence Ad Pro Life News Interview Glenn Beck Interview Glenn Beck II Blog Interview Memorial Day '06 Audio Link (long) Podcast Interview

Presidential Straw Poll '08

My Kinda Prez Candidate

GOP '08 hopeful keeps visit low-key

By KAREN LOVETT
Telegraph Staff

NASHUA – When Republican presidential candidate John McCain toured the state on a recent stormy weekend, he hired a plow to lead his bus full of staffers, supporters and a "60 Minutes" news crew.

When fellow hopeful Mitt Romney swept through New Hampshire in February, he was traveling with a small entourage of cars full of assistants.

But when yet another GOP presidential contender, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif ., rolled into the parking lot of the Broad Street Country Store in Nashua on Sunday, it was in a rented Ford SUV.

Store owner Vahrij Manoukian rushed to the passenger side to greet Hunter.

"I said, 'Congressman, how are you?' " Manoukian recalled. "He said, 'I'm not the congressman. I'm the aide.' "

Hunter, it turns out, did his own driving during his visit to the Granite State , which included stops in Goffstown and Keene.

To a crowd of about 50 gathered at the store, the 14-term House member paid little attention to McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Romney, who are widely recognized as theHunter pointed to two recent straw polls – informal votes used to gauge people's opinions – in which he had strong showings South Carolina and Arizona.

And Hunter stands by his main concerns, which are defense, securing the country's borders and bolstering manufacturing jobs, which he says have been pushed overseas.

China is "cheating on trade" by devaluing its currency, Hunter said. The Chinese government gives subsidies to exporters, which ultimately lowers prices and pushes American goods off the shelves.

If elected, he pledged to review trade agreements and take action with countries that aren't complying.

Hunter touted his border-control record, citing a wall built in the 1990s between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, that he said knocked down drug-smuggling by 90 percent and slashed San Diego's crime rate. He has written legislation to extend that wall by 854 miles, stretching through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

An audience member asked his opinion on Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, two Texas Border Patrol agents who, while on duty, shot a Mexican drug-runner non-fatally.

They were each sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, and the issue has generated controversy because some feel the two men should be pardoned. Hunter agreed and said he would do the same if elected.

"I definitely liked his views on illegal immigration and on pardoning the agents," said Candi Mann of Hudson, adding that she didn't share his concerns about international trade because she's unfamiliar with the policies.

"He's a very detail-oriented guy, which makes an effective congressman," said Mark LeDoux of Hollis. "My suggestion in his campaign is to spare some of the details . . . and stick with the big picture."

Dan Hogan of Nashua said was impressed with Hunter's pro-life stance and said he'd keep an eye on the candidate, no matter what the standings say.

"The media has been saying for some time that the Republican people are not terribly enamored with the top three," Hogan said. "I'd say (Hunter) stands as good a chance as anybody."

1st Amendment -- Right to Free Assembly

From Betsy Russell's blog "Eye on Boise."

March 26, 2007

 

The Senate State Affairs Committee has agreed on a party-line vote to introduce legislation changing Idaho's primary election system. Under the proposed plan, Idahoans would have to register with a political party, but they could choose 'independent' and still vote in primary elections. However, their choice of which party's ballot they vote at each election would be public record. This "modified closed" primary system was promoted by The Common Interest, a citizen group, as a way to avoid losing a lawsuit from the GOP if that party attempts to unilaterally close its primary.

Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, said, "One of the hardest things we've had to do here is taking off our party hats. … It can be very easily misconstrued that this is the Republicans trying to push something down someone's throats."

Keith Allred, head of The Common Interest, said the modified closed primary system has been shown in empirical research to result in election results that are more representative, rather than dominated by party extremists or "tomfoolery" where members of one party attempt to sabotage the results for another party. He said lawmakers face a "stark choice" – if they don't pass the bill, "it is likely that, after a messy litigation process, Idaho's open primary statute will be trumped by an internal Republican Party rule that closes its primaries, including closing them to independents."

Democrats on the panel were suspicious, however, and county clerks testified that the state should "go slow" on changing the primary system – that there's not time to move to a new system before the 2008 election. "It's going to be a major change in the election process," said Sharon Widner, president of the Idaho Association of County Recorders and Clerks.

State Affairs Chairman Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, said the bill will return to the committee for a full hearing before proceeding further – though time is running out for this year's legislative session.