Socialist empire: One Year After Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 11/09/09 Last updated 11/09/09

Neither those of the Left Wing nor those of the Right Wing of the Socialist party of the Democrat and Republican Parties have the courage to honestly and publicly admit that the new President's foreign policy is essentially the same as the last - Socialist empire.

And a government's domestic and foreign sub-policies are inseparable parts of it's policy and practices - always has been; always will be. Unless we Americans and our government today are the first on the planet.

Press Release: Federal Reserve Accountability Act An Unacceptable Compromise Posted by Gary Howard

Posted 10/20/09 Last updated 10/23/09

Federal Reserve Accountability Act An Unacceptable Compromise

Washington D.C. October 20, 2009 -Today, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bob Corker (R-TN) introduced the Federal Reserve Accountability Act S.1803, an attempted compromise on the issue of transparency for America's secretive central bank.  The bill would permit an audit of the Fed's actions in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and similar high profile bailouts, but would not allow Congress to review the Fed's inflation of the money supply or the its agreements with foreign central banks.

Legislation that would bring a full audit of the Fed, Congressman Ron Paul's H.R. 1207 and its Senate companion S. 604, has gained strong grassroots support and built tremendous pressure on banking special interests.

Opponents of Fed Transparency argue that a full audit of the Federal Reserve would damage the central bank's "independence" and allow Congress to dictate monetary policy.

"Claims that transparency at the Federal Reserve would leave Congress in charge of monetary policy are simply bogus," said Jesse Benton, Senior Vice President of Campaign for Liberty. "There is absolutely no reason why The American People should not be able to review the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee after a reasonable amount of time has passed."

"The Federal Reserve Accountability Act does not audit the monetary policy functions which have been responsible for our deteriorating dollar and so many of our current economic problems, and it is not an acceptable piece of legislation. Campaign for Liberty will continue to push for a full audit of the Fed."

The announcement of the new legislation comes after the number of cosponsors in the House of Representatives for H.R. 1207 recently climbed to 303, and S. 604 gained 30 senate cosponsors.  Campaign for Liberty has been leading the grassroots effort on H.R .1207, getting it to its current point with 75% of Americans showing support for a thorough audit of the Federal Reserve.

Greenbrier County Campaign for Liberty Present at Townhall Posted by MountainDoc

Posted 09/25/09 Last updated 09/25/09

      United States Congressman Nick J. Rahall II of the West Virginia 3^rd Congressional District was present at a townhall meeting hosted by the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg W.Va. on September 2, 2009.  This was the 4^th in a series of 5 townhall meetings Congressman Rahall would be present at during the August recess.  Approximately 200-300 citizens were present with a notable vocal majority in favor of government option and / or single payer government healthcare with an equally passioned minority against any such legislation being passed by congress.  With such an opportunity to discuss liberty and the Constitution with an elected representative, the Greenbrier County Campaign for Liberty was present.

     We met together an hour before hand for lunch and to pen out questions to ask Congressman Rahall.  Our hope was to either receive a verbal committment to cosponsor HR 1207 or pose a question designed to discuss the Constitutional provisions allowing for national health care legision to be passed by the congress.  The C4L members that made it were all medical students at WVSOM.  Andy and Marc grabbed seats in the assembly while I went closer to the stage to help in the opening ceremonies.  Having taken the initiative earlier in the week to request permission from a dean at the medical school to hand out C4L pocket Constitutions on Constitution Day (September 17th), I had been given the privilage of opening the townhall meeting with a prayer.  After the blessing / reflection, Congressman Rahall came in and stood off to the side with me while he was introduced by the President of the Medical School.  During this time, I was able to thank him for coming and hand him a C4L pocket Constitution with a personal inscription and a promise to pray for him.

     Things got underway and questioneers were allowed to come up by row.  The majority of the stories were personal and the crowd was ready to shout down anyone who ventured too far off the subject of health care.  A spot decision was made to focus on the Constitutional aspects of healthcare rather than HR 1207.  Most of the stories were personal, and all were passionate.  Doctors were present in scrubs, individuals went so far as to bring up the personal medical history of the congressman, and many people had signs.  To Congressman Rahall's credit he was very patient and always civil with any speaker regardless of their hostility towards him or the legislation or the crowds reaction to those same speakers.

      After about 45 minutes, our turn came up, and I was able to have the following discussion with the Congressman (and the body):

Thanks to Tom Woods and his training in St. Louis I was able to anticipate the answers to the intial question and prepare quotes from James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that shut down the usual misinterpretations of the General Welfare Clause and Interstate Commerce Clause.   *Update* - Nancy Pelosi is now using the interstate commerce clause to justify the legislation.  If you read the subtitles of the video you'll see that Congressman's Rahall's answers can be summarized as follows:

1.  The General Welfare Clause, The Interstate Commerce Clause, The Preamble. I'm not an expert on the Constitution.

2.  I represent the will of my electorate first and foremost.

3.  Even if I did something unconstitutional in Congress, the lawyers are protection against any unconstitutional outcome.

4.  The federal government can mandate and demand compliance to the states on any issue whether a right is granted to Washington under the Constitution or not.

5.  An amendment is too hard, and so although unconstitutional it would be easier - and hence legal - to just pass a law enacting federal healthcare reform.

      Although put on the spot, the Congressman's answers show ignorance of his Constitutional powers and duties at best, and willful override of his Constitutional limitations at worst.  For anyone desiring to know more about the enumerated powers or role of the federal government with relationship to the states I strongly encouraging picking up The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D.  I also need to offer a quick apology to those who understand Natural Rights as well.  During the discussion I incorrectly attributed our liberties as coming from the Constitution.  That is not the case, the document merely protects what is ours regardless of government.

     After a bit we left the event and discussed what had transpired.  It was our first event as a group and we were proud to take part in the process.  While buried in the labors of medical school, The Greenbrier County C4L enjoy the discussion of liberty, sound money, and free markets, and look forward to getting together for another event.

Congressman Rahall voted to continue funding ACORN Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 09/19/09

Press Release
For Immediate Release
September 19, 2009

Contact: Marty Gearheart
Contact Number: 304-320-0879

GEARHEART CALLS FOR RAHALL TO EXPLAIN ACORN VOTE

On Thursday [17 Sept 09] West Virginia's 3rd District Congressman voted to continue federal funding to ACORN. There have been allegations leveled against ACORN of embezzlement, voter registration fraud, and misconduct by its workers. Most recently ACORN employees have been filmed at multiple locations offering unethical advise regarding home loans, tax evasion, and how to disguise the identities of underage illegal alien sex workers.

3rd District Congressional challenger Marty Gearheart is publicly asking Mr. Rahall to explain how his vote is in the best interest of our state or nation and how it fits within the value structure held my the majority of West Virginians.

Gearheart stated, "This vote by Nick is an insult and embarrassment to every man, woman, and child living in the 3rd Congressional District and the Congressman must tell voters why he would cast a vote in favor of an organization with this kind of record."


Marty Gearheart was the 2008 Republican Nominee for the 3rd District Congressional Seat from West Virginia and is a declared candidate in 2010.

Rep. Alan Grayson Announces a Hearing on Ron Paul's Bill to Audit the Federal Reserve (HR 1207) Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 09/16/09

The IRS can and does extensively audit us, yet the central bank has not been fully audited, yet.

"When is Enough Really Enough?," updated. Posted by KPatrick

Posted 09/02/09

I originally wrote this article on November 7th, 2007. I have updated it, but I did not have to remove one thing, only add.
---KP
----------
"When is Enough really Enough?"

What does it take? The loss of Constitutionally guaranteed Rights? The loss of Habeas Corpus? Illegal and Unconstitutional Wars? Domestic Spying? Dismissal of most of the Bill of Rights? Presidents who perjure on something far more important than their sex-lives? More than 5,000 [a 2k increase sense the first writting] of our Citizens dying after we already lost half that many in an attack?

What does it take?

I would have thought it would have already occurred. We are a People born of Revolution, we are a People who took part in the grand experiment of liberty and sovereignty. Why then, have we waited quietly, and unperturbed at these horrible assaults?

Marx was right about one thing at least, the Revolution will come; it just will not be the Revolution he thought it would be. However, history has proven him wrong on at least one other front, Marx always thought that the Revolution would come from the middle class but we have seen that instead it comes from the fringe, the poor, the peasants. The middle class has far too much to lose, whereas the working class and working-poor have nothing to lose and everything to gain. These are the dangerous men and women.  And that is why a great lie was perpetrated on the American People.

As the economy continues it's ever-so-graceful swan dive, the markets are manipulated, more and more people lose their homes, the jobs, their lives; we just might find this group gets larger and larger.

This is why the Revolution is late. We bought the biggest lie;  bought it hook, line, and sinker. We were told that we were the middle class. We were told that we were comfortable, and moderately well off. We were lied to. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck, never the wiser; deeper in debt; always deeper in debt. Our retirements are whisked out from under us like the proverbial rug. Corporations till our time and our productivity, the government taxes us to the hilt, so all we do is keep our heads above water. We are the working class, we are the working poor; Wake up America! If we don't, we will see that we have already lost it all.  I think people are waking up to this fact, and that is a dangerous, and maybe needed, thing.

So what does it take?

A war? Wars are good for the economy, right? That's what we're told. We are in the most privatized war in history are we not? We, the People are not at war, for one Congress never declared one, the President has no authority to declare War. On top of that, ask someone who lived through one of the World Wars if we are at War.

Have you bought War bonds recently, rationed your food, donated garden produce or scrap copper and nickle to the military? Turned your yards into gardens? No? I thought not.  But you might want to do this last one...

The US has a GPD of more than $13 trillion. The Iraq war has cost us less than half a trillion dollars to date. Conservative estimates place the total at $2 trillion, whilst liberal estimates at about $4 trillion. The highest of which is slightly more than one-third of one year's GPD for us. That is about 3-6 months of war-time mobilization. Imagine, if every car factory, every chemical plant, every newspaper, every job turned its efforts to War upon another nation. Imagine a full $13 trillion effort. The economy of the US is not well off; we have more mortgage foreclosures now that in the Great Depression, but we are still a force with which to be reckoned if we so chose. We are not at War. As we have given up our national sovereignty to organization like the UN. We have agreed that open war without UN sanction is in fact illegal. So we do not declare war. We disguise military action, and confuse the words by having the War on terror, or the War on Drugs, or the War on Poverty. Actual wars are unheard of, and We, the People are not at war.

Please do not misconstrue, I am not advocating the government take over of industry.  I am simply pointing out that the District of Columbia is at War; We, the People are not.

So what does it take?

We must mobilize. Not to make war on another nation, but as We, the People, we must stand up and say "Enough is Enough!" Their privileges do not supersede our Rights! Enough is Enough. We must, as a People, the great revolutionary People that we are, mobilize, and take back what is ours. We must do the right thing.

Enough is enough, and we must act soon, or else it could be too late. Talk to someone. Ask if they are unhappy in their job, disenchanted with everything that is happening, politically apathetic, ready for a change. Life does not have to be like this. We can decide to make a change, make a difference. Real Change, not the hopey-changey platitude of Election Seasons. Talk to one person, and they will talk to two, and they, four, and soon, we will develop a goal, and a vision. We will see what it take to mobilize our selves, and stand up for what we know is right.

As threats mount, and the government's fear-mongering takes hold, will Swine Flue be the excuse for martial law? The WHO has already suggested forced vaccinations. Ron Paul has even mentioned this possibility, something he has not touched on before.

Just last month, August 2009, the reported number of people killed by the Swine Flue VACCINE was 25. The Obama-Care Bill has language in it authorizing 'home intervention teams.' The government will be sending people to your house to make sure you have given your children all the recommended vaccines. And, if it slipped your mind, they are even equipped to give those vaccines on the spot. This would be the same vaccines that use mercury solutions as the carrier.

This was an event, a take-over, long in the planning. If we do not Rise Up, and take back our Sovereignty and our Rights before it's too late; it will be just that, too late.

There are thing worth fighting for, things worth working for, and we need to protect and defend those things. We find ourselves ruled by an illegitimate government that does not answer to the people. We find ourselves lacking basic and human freedoms and Liberty. We find ourselves afraid of the government's inappropriate use of force.

Friends, compatriots: we must not bow to fear. Even though we are afraid, even though you may feel that we are small, they are large; we are weak, they are strong; It is not so!

Their weaknesses are our strengths. Their size is their immobility. Their tactics are not ours, their beliefs are not ours. Revolution is the rightful cause.

I made the mistake of listening to Sean Hannity for the past three days. I came away with one important thing which I noticed. Every day, more than a few times, he mentioned how we [so-called conservatives] are "the peaceful resistance [to the left]"

Why so much emphasis on peaceful? The Townhall meetings, talk radio, corporate news, all we hear are how this is a peaceful movement... Interesting.

What are they afraid of? What do they know that we do not?

Might it be that we strong, and they are weak? We are many and they are few? Our strengths are their weaknesses? Might it be that We, the People,  the children of 1776, if not by blood, then by spirit; We, the People, are ready to support, protect, defend, and fight for the Constitution and for Liberty?!

It just might be.

I ask you to be ready, be vigilant. Prepare. Do not jump the gun, because early actions is just as unfavorable as late. But Be ready, Be Vigilant, and Prepare. Train, acquire, group together.

When your principles dictate Liberty, the only cause of action is clear.

So I ask you, what does it take?

It might just take you.

Keep your powder dry,
In Liberty,

--- KPatrick
______________________

"History has shown us that government leaders often ignore the fundamental fact that people demand both dignity and freedom. Stripping motivated people of their dignity and rubbing their noses in it is a very bad idea."

Healthcare: What Soviet Medicine Teaches Us Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 08/30/09 Last updated 08/27/09

Take it from a Russian that knows...

Yuri N. Maltsev, senior fellow of the Mises Institute, is Professor of Economics at Carthage College in Wisconsin. Before coming to the U.S. in 1989, he was a member of a senior team of Soviet economists that worked on Soviet President Gorbachev's reforms package of Perestroika.

link to article by Yuri N. Maltsev, "What Soviet Medicine Teaches Us"

U.S. Government Debt: Repudiation or Revolution? Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 08/26/09 Last updated 08/26/09

This is a debt that can not be paid. Nor is it meant to ever be paid. It is meant for one purpose, to keep Americans indebted - kept under the thumb...

History shows us there are only two ways to deal with this kind of debt, Repudiation or Revolution. And this is the road the Debt Masters have put Americans on - we that see,  together with we that choose not to - all will pay the price.

United States National Debt Clock

Good questions to ask elected officials, and they who want to be, "Are you for repudiation of the un-payable debt or  are you for revolution?  And if you believe history is of no value to us, tell us, just exactly how will this debt be paid?"

Colorado Springs police may sell seized firearms to DRUG LORDS Posted by Rogue

Posted 08/26/09

Of course it is not being suggested that we sell seized guns to drug lords. That is just what these guys would imply. 

What a couple of boneheads these two.

Scott Knight of Chaska, MN PD "I certainly was not willing to turn those over to the public."

And Lt David Whitlock, Colorado Springs, CO PD "The other [reason] is not introducing another weapon into the community."

Just two more elitist cops who refuse to acknowledge an armed citizenry is THEIR best defense.

Study after study proves More Guns, Less Crime.

But give a couple of liberal idiots a political agenda and all rational thought goes out the window. Scientific evidence is of no value if it doesn't support the "cause". It's like arguing with an Al Gore devotee about global warming.   The Article
What can you do against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persists in his lunacy? George Orwell

Judge Andrew Napolitano addresses issues with the Patriot Act Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 08/23/09 Last updated 08/23/09

I hear the devil, coming from around a tree,
And the devil stopped to talk to me.
And the devil said, "Give me your liberty and I'll keep you safe."

To him I said, "Many have in days gone by, and many still are they that will blindly take your deal.
But as for me - you can keep your false promise, and I shall keep what is mine.
I'll make no deal with the likes of you, no matter what form nor whose face you wear."

The American Economy is a Mixed Economy - not Capitalism Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 08/21/09

In the words of Ayn Rand:

We are not a capitalist system any longer: we are a mixed economy, i.e., a mixture of capitalism and statism, of freedom and controls. A mixed economy is a country in the process of disintegration, a civil war of pressure-groups looting and devouring one another.

A mixed economy is a mixture of freedom and controls-with no principles, rules, or theories to define either. Since the introduction of controls necessitates and leads to further controls, it is an unstable, explosive mixture which, ultimately, has to repeal the controls or collapse into dictatorship. A mixed economy has no principles to define its policies, its goals, its laws-no principles to limit the power of its government. The only principle of a mixed economy-which, necessarily, has to remain unnamed and unacknowledged-is that no one's interests are safe, everyone's interests are on a public auction block, and anything goes for anyone who can get away with it. Such a system-or, more precisely, anti-system-breaks up a country into an ever-growing number of enemy camps, into economic groups fighting one another for self preservation in an indeterminate mixture of defense and offense, as the nature of such a jungle demands. While, politically, a mixed economy preserves the semblance of an organized society with a semblance of law and order, economically it is the equivalent of the chaos that had ruled China for centuries: a chaos of robber gangs looting-and draining-the productive elements of the country.

A mixed economy is rule by pressure groups. It is an amoral, institutionalized civil war of special interests and lobbies, all fighting to seize a momentary control of the legislative machinery, to extort some special privilege at one another's expense by an act of government-i.e., by force. In the absence of individual rights, in the absence of any moral or legal principles, a mixed economy's only hope to preserve its precarious semblance of order, to restrain the savage, desperately rapacious groups it itself has created, and to prevent the legalized plunder from running over into plain, unlegalized looting of all by all-is compromise; compromise on everything and in every realm-material, spiritual, intellectual-so that no group would step over the line by demanding too much and topple the whole rotted structure. If the game is to continue, nothing can be permitted to remain firm, solid, absolute, untouchable; everything (and everyone) has to be fluid, flexible, indeterminate, approximate. By what standard are anyone's actions to be guided? By the expediency of any immediate moment.

The only danger, to a mixed economy, is any not-to-be-compromised value, virtue, or idea. The only threat is any uncompromising person, group, or movement. The only enemy is integrity.

More poignant today than when she published in 1966.

Μολὼν λάβε: Defiance of Tyranny Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 07/12/09 Last updated 07/12/09

480 BC - Thermopylae, Greece
Persian tyrant-King Xerxes: Surrender your weapons
Greek general-King Leonidas: Come and get them

1835 - Gonzales, Mexico (Mexican Texas)
Mexican Constitutional Lawbreaker Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna: Surrender your weapon
Texans Loyal to Constitution: Come and take it

From these two examples and countless others, from the dawn of time to this day, tyrannists demand freemen give up their weapons. There has been and will always be one, and only one, reason for this - to subjugate a people. All peoples of the earth, then and now, that surrender, suffer the same fate - bondage and slavery in one form or another. Always has been, always well be.

This our American Patriot Forefathers knew well, and my countrymen that choose to reject that timeless knowledge, knowingly or unknowingly, bring tyranny to their neighbors. They make of themselves enemies of Liberty and Freedom bought and paid for in American blood.  They make themselves either, Agents or Ignorant.  To the people's safety and security, one is as much a danger as the other.

It is not without reason and meaning that our Founding Fathers penned the Second Amendment. They did so for one reason, that we the people of thier future not become a subjugated people.

annotation: Greek: Μολὼν λάβε = ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ = Molon Labe (mo-LONE lah-VEH) = English: "Come and get them!" = the original response to "Gun Control."

Republicans Need to Heed Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 07/03/09 Last updated 07/03/09

The NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) has made itself a branch of the socialist post '72 Democrat Party and is Republican like Obama is Lincoln.

The Taft-Goldwater-Reagan Republicans need to heed the Campaign For Liberty's call and take back what they won from the Lincoln-Roosevelt-Rockefeller Republicans. Take back your Party and Restore the Republic!

The struggle to regain control and right-size the US Government in 2010 and 2012 depends on YOU, today.

The End of the Free Market Posted by Rogue

Posted 07/03/09

I have yet to see anybody discuss one particular aspect of Cap and Trade. This aspect spells the end of the Free Market.

A little background first.

If you are familiar with tobacco allotments that may be all you need to know. If you haven't heard of tobacco allotments let me explain a bit. When the government decided to cap the amount of tobacco grown they began an allotment system much like cap and trade. Each farmer that was already growing tobacco would receive an "allotment" to continue growing a proportional ratio of tobacco. These allotments were and are actively sold from one farmer to another. They can also be rented. The price for an allotment can be quite high. Because of the limited nature of the allotments oftentimes the owner of an allotment isn't and never has been a tobacco farmer, they are instead an investor or speculator.

If you suddenly got a whim to be a tobacco farmer you cannot just get an allotment from the government. You have to find somebody willing to sell or rent their allotment. If nobody is willing to sell or rent their allotment then you cannot become a tobacco farmer. As you might imagine, big tobacco has long since locked up as many allotments as possible. The rest are treated like gold and literally passed down from generation to generation.

Big business pretty well dominates tobacco. Once they get their hands on an allotment it never goes back onto the market. The only way they trade allotments are in large blocks that no small business man could afford. The tobacco allotments system was ostensibly to help the little guy but increasingly there are no little guys in tobacco.

For practical purposes we don't have any new tobacco farmers. The little guy, the startup, is shutout.

Next we look at the IP Address space. Originally the IP address space was designed for a network that comprised the military, a few R&D businesses and universities. When the internet went public it was quickly discovered that the number of available IP addresses were not remotely sufficient to serve the needs of the entire world. In a massive lack of foresight (as government is best at), huge numbers of the "allotments" for IP space were given to a few large enterprises. Microsoft, IBM, DEC, MIT, AT&T, GE all own or control huge swaths of IP space they will never use. Anybody who has ever tried to get a few IP addresses to use for their new internet business probably found out pretty quickly there are several forms to fill out and then you cross your fingers and hope you are blessed by IANA or now ARIN.

It was much worse before private enterprise invented ways to effectively reuse the same IP's for multiple sites and eliminated the need for non-servers to have public IP's. If these activities hadn't occurred, the IP space would have long since been fully utilized. It would be difficult, expensive and perhaps impossible to start a new internet business or even a website using a top level domain like yourname.com.  Without that ingenuity IP addresses would be like tobacco allotments, if you weren't lucky enough to be born with one you would be locked out.

By setting limits on carbon emissions government will be creating a whole new allotments system. In addition, because they are setting the total allotments at a level lower than current usage, there will be extreme shortages of the allotments. The businesses that are currently set to receive the lion's share of the allotments may literally divest themselves of productive divisions in order to focus on their new core business, the renting out of their carbon allotments. If you wish to start a business, you will have to find somebody willing to sell or rent you a carbon allotment. If you cannot find somebody to sell or rent the allotment, you will not be allowed to start or expand your business.  

I must admit, I fall into the same group as every other person on the planet, I haven't read the entire bill either. We might assume initially there will be a limited set of businesses affected by the allotments. Maybe it won't apply to a ranching business for example, so you can raise cows without an allotment. Of course there have been suggestions by the EPA of a cow tax but perhaps not yet. Maybe it won't apply to babysitters, yet.

In the end allotments will be held by big business in much the same way must tobacco allotments are held by the big players.

Most economists, including the leftist economists, agree that small businesses are the source of almost all new jobs and growth in the economy. Cap and Trade will hamstring existing small businesses trying to grow and prevent the creation of new small businesses. It won't matter if you have the better idea, higher quality product or faster service. Your big competitor may have excess carbon allotments because you have taken away his market share. He will be able to out-compete you by denying those excess allotments to you or by charging exorbitant rent for them.

Cap and Trade is the end of the Free Market.

Stop the Cap-and-Trade Bill Posted by Matt Hawes

Posted 06/25/09 Last updated 06/25/09

According to various reports, Congress will vote on "Cap-and-Trade" legislation this Friday.  While it is a high priority item for the Obama administration, it appears that House Democrat leadership may yet fall short of the support needed to pass the bill come voting time.

This proposal, all 1,201 pages of it, has been rightly dubbed the "Cap-and-Tax" plan.  Once again, Congress will impose a hidden tax on all of us while attempting to appear "proactive."

From an email sent Wednesday by C4L President John Tate:

You see, energy companies just pass the costs of these draconian regulations through to the consumer in the form of huge price increases.

As a result, you will pay higher gas prices, higher electric prices, and higher costs for goods.

Barack Obama has estimated the costs of this legislation to American taxpayers to be over 650 BILLION dollars over the next eight years, and that figure is no doubt just a fraction of the real cost.

But even that modest estimate amounts to hundreds of dollars a year in increased living expenses for every family -- and will more likely cost thousands a year.

And according to the Heritage Foundation, between 1.2 and 2.3 million jobs could be lost over the next ten-years due to the bill's stifling regulations.

This current economic crisis is no time for Congress to consider both raising prices on hard-working Americans AND costing them jobs.

That's why we must act now to send a message to Congress to reject this disastrous Cap-and-Tax Scheme....

Supporters of the legislation are of course trying to downplay the cost of this scheme to the American people.

But if the bill does not directly and massively increase energy costs to consumers, how would it possibly achieve its stated aims?

It is only through these massive cost increases -- mandated and enforced by the federal government -- that the dubious goal of reducing carbon emissions could possibly be reached....

The Partnership for America's Energy Security has developed a chart of how HR 2454 could affect your state.  Click here to view the potential impact on your family and local areas.

Contact your representative and let them know you oppose putting further regulations on an already over-burdened industry. This Cap-and-Trade legislation will reach government's hands further into our pockets and increase the power of their agencies to control our lives.  Visit your state page today for congressional contact information and urge your representative to vote against HR 2454.

Cult of Personality? Let the Records Speak for Themselves Posted by Edward Burgess

Posted 06/24/09 Last updated 06/24/09

Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul, MD:

* has never voted to raise taxes.
* has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
* has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
* has never voted to raise congressional pay.
* has never taken a government-paid junket.
* has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
* does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
* returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

What living member of Congress can claim such a record of consistency and standing firm on conservative principles?

What living member of Congress can claim such loyalty, steadfast and true, to his Oath given to the US Constitution?

It is not we who judge and evaluate politicians by the evidence of their record that are a cult of personality. It is they that devote themselves only to a person separated from the record that are a cult in fact.

As history is my witness, this is a dangerous thing for all of us, that there are in fact cults of personality at work in America today.

Pay No Attention to the Fed Behind the Curtain Posted by Anthony Gregory

Posted 05/13/09

Thomas F. Cooley says on Forbes.com the Fed must be "boring again" and attacks Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill (HR 1207), typically arguing that the Fed's mechanations must be private because they are far too sophisticated and important for Congress, the public or mere mortals to understand.

Cooley argues that it is crucial to "have an independent central bank" and that the Fed has been so conspicuous with its high-profile actions lately that it is undermining its own indepedence by drawing attention to it that is making people want to audit it. But Ron Paul and others have wanted to shed some light on the central bank going back many years, before most of the public or media ever discussed the Fed.

In response to the concerns about the Fed's "independence," Murray Rothbard wrote back in the 1990s in his great book The Case Against the Fed:

The standard reply of the Fed and its partisans is that any such measures, however marginal, would encroach on the Fed's "independence from politics/' which is invoked as a kind of self-evident absolute. The monetary system is highly important, it is claimed, and therefore the Fed must enjoy absolute independence.

"Independent of politics" has a nice, neat ring to it, and has been a staple of proposals for bureaucratic intervention and power ever since the Progressive Era. Sweeping the  streets; control of seaports; regulation of industry; providing social security; these and many other functions of government are held to be "too important" to be subject to the vagaries of political whims. But it is one thing to say that private, or market, activities should be free of government control, and "independent of politics" in that sense. But these are government agencies and operations we are talking about, and to say that government should be "independent of politics" conveys very different implications. For government, unlike private industry on the market, is not accountable either to stockholders or consumers. Government can only be accountable to the public and to its representatives in the legislature; and if government becomes "independent of politics" it can only mean that that sphere of government becomes an absolute self-perpetuating oligarchy, accountable to no one and never subject to the public's ability to change its personnel or to "throw the rascals out." If no person or group, whether stockholders or voters, can displace a ruling elite, then such an elite becomes more suitable for a dictatorship than for an allegedly democratic country. And yet it is curious how many self-proclaimed champions of "democracy," whether domestic or global, rush to defend the alleged ideal of the total independence of the Federal Reserve.

Montana Nullifies Federal Gun Laws! Posted by MountainDoc

Posted 05/10/09 Last updated 05/10/09

      Anyone who has had the privilege to listen to a lecture from Tom Woods or read Judge Andrew Napolitano knows this is big news. Nullification is one the best weapons in our constitutional arsenal to check the power of the federal government back to its proper levels; although nullification is relatively unknown. Nullification declares a federal law the state feels is unconstitutional invalid within the state passing the nullification law. It goes beyond the language of state sovereignty acts and takes action.

      There is speculation that the Supreme Court would take up the eminent case between the federal government and Montana should an emerging consensus arise with several states adopting similar laws, and overturn the expansion of the Interstate Commerce clause, and in doing so severely tie the hands of congress and the executive branch. The federal government currently uses an expanded and unconstitutional interpretation of the interstate commerce clause to interfere in affairs constitutionally left to the states ranging from guns to what a farmer can grow on his farm for personal consumption. Those looking for more information on nullification should check out the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 penned by Jefferson and Madison respectively or check out this Tom Woods video.

      Montana's nullification action is with regard to gun laws. Montana has declared that federal gun laws are invalid in the state of Montana on guns made in the state of Montana, used exclusively in the state of Montana, and never transported across state lines. This particular law applies to ammunition and gun accessories as well. This is now a law in Montana. It has been passed and signed by the governor.  Similar laws are being formed in Utah, Tennessee, and Texas.  Imagine the impact Campaign for Liberty could have in getting similar legislation passed with local efforts within our states.

The law, included below, says in simple terms the following.

Section 1: Gives a name to the bill
Section 2: States why the state of Montana can nullify a federal law, including references to the 2nd, 9th, & 10th amendments to the US Constitution
Section 3: Sets up definitions for terms used in the bill
Section 4: Nullifies federal gun laws relating to arms built, used, and kept within the state of Montana
Section 5: Sets exceptions to what is nullified
Section 6: Brands Montana firearms
Section 7: Lists where the law goes in the Montana Code
Section 8: Sets application date to October 1, 2009

Text of the New Law
"HOUSE BILL NO. 246
INTRODUCED BY J. BONIEK, BENNETT, BUTCHER, CURTISS, RANDALL, WARBURTON.

AN ACT EXEMPTING FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES A FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY, OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN MONTANA; AND PROVIDING AN APPLICABILITY DATE. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Short title.. [Sections 1 through 6] may be cited as the "Montana
Firearms Freedom Act".

Section 2. Legislative declarations of authority. The legislature declares
that the authority for [sections 1 through 6] is the following:
(1) The 10th amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the
states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government
elsewhere in the constitution and reserves to the state and people of
Montana certain powers as they were understood at the time that Montana was
admitted to statehood in 1889. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of
contract between the state and people of Montana and the United States as of
the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted
by Montana and the United States in 1889.
(2) The ninth amendment to the United States constitution guarantees to the
people rights not granted in the constitution and reserves to the people of
Montana certain rights, as they were understood at the time that Montana was
admitted to statehood in 1889. The guaranty of those rights is a matter of
contract between the state and people of Montana and the United States as of
the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted
by Montana and the United States in 1889.
(3) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the
9th and 10th amendments to the United States constitution, particularly if
not expressly preempted by federal law. Congress has not expressly preempted
state regulation of intrastate commerce pertaining to the manufacture on an
intrastate basis of firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition.
(4) The second amendment to the United States constitution reserves to the
people the right to keep and bear arms as that right was understood at the
time that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889, and the guaranty of the
right is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana and
the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was
agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.
(5) Article II, section 12, of the Montana constitution clearly secures to
Montana citizens, and prohibits government interference with, the right of
individual Montana citizens to keep and bear arms. This constitutional
protection is unchanged from the 1889 Montana constitution, which was
approved by congress and the people of Montana, and the right exists, as it
was understood at the time that the compact with the United States was
agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.

Section 3. Definitions. As used in [sections 1 through 6], the following
definitions apply:
(1) "Borders of Montana" means the boundaries of Montana described in
Article I, section 1, of the 1889 Montana constitution.
(2) "Firearms accessories" means items that are used in conjunction with or
mounted upon a firearm but are not essential to the basic function of a
firearm, including but not limited to telescopic or laser sights, magazines,
flash or sound suppressors, folding or aftermarket stocks and grips,
speedloaders, ammunition carriers, and lights for target illumination.
(3) "Generic and insignificant parts" includes but is not limited to
springs, screws, nuts, and pins.
(4) "Manufactured" means that a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition
has been created from basic materials for functional usefulness, including
but not limited to forging, casting, machining, or other processes for
working materials.

Section 4. Prohibitions. A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or
ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Montana and
that remains within the borders of Montana is not subject to federal law or
federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of congress
to regulate interstate commerce. It is declared by the legislature that
those items have not traveled in interstate commerce. This section applies
to a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured in
Montana from basic materials and that can be manufactured without the
inclusion of any significant parts imported from another state. Generic and
insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or consumer product
applications are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition, and
their importation into Montana and incorporation into a firearm, a firearm
accessory, or ammunition manufactured in Montana does not subject the
firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition to federal regulation. It is
declared by the legislature that basic materials, such as unmachined steel
and unshaped wood, are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition and
are not subject to congressional authority to regulate firearms, firearms
accessories, and ammunition under interstate commerce as if they were
actually firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition. The authority of
congress to regulate interstate commerce in basic materials does not include
authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition made in
Montana from those materials. Firearms accessories that are imported into
Montana from another state and that are subject to federal regulation as
being in interstate commerce do not subject a firearm to federal regulation
under interstate commerce because they are attached to or used in
conjunction with a firearm in Montana.

Section 5. Exceptions. [Section 4] does not apply to:
(1) A firearm that cannot be carried and used by one person;
(2) A firearm that has a bore diameter greater than 1 1/2 inches and that
uses smokeless powder, not black powder, as a propellant;
(3) ammunition with a projectile that explodes using an explosion of
chemical energy after the projectile leaves the firearm; or
(4) a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of
the trigger or other firing device.

Section 6. Marketing of firearms. A firearm manufactured or sold in Montana
under [sections 1 through 6] must have the words "Made in Montana" clearly
stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.

Section 7. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 through 6] are intended to
be codified as an integral part of Title 30, and the provisions of Title 30
apply to [sections 1 through 6].

Section 8. Applicability. [This act] applies to firearms, firearms
accessories, and ammunition that are manufactured, as defined in [section
3], and retained in Montana after October 1, 2009.

Simply Put,  WAY TO GO MONTANA!

"Ron Paul's Economic Theories Winning GOP Converts" Posted by Andrew Ward

Posted 05/05/09 Last updated 05/05/09

The Washington Independent's David Weigel has a great story on Congressman Ron Paul's rising influence in the country.

Paul's unexpected and sudden clout with his fellow Republicans - even some of Paul's staff have been surprised with the momentum of his "Audit the Fed" bill - come as the GOP engages in a tortured internal dialogue about its future....

Paul's own coalition, the Campaign for Liberty, has engaged in a months-long grassroots campaign for the bill, something that Paul credited for a surge in support unlike anything he's introduced in his second stint in Congress....

Read the rest here.