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In December 1775, Benjamin Franklin published an essay in the Pennsylvania Journal under the pseudonym American Guesser in which he suggested that the rattlesnake was a good symbol for the American spirit:
I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids-She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance.-She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage.-As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shewn and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal:-Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.-Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America?
Yet Dr. William Nordhaus of Yale calculates that the economic losses from global warming, if we do nothing to curb carbon emissions, will reach just $22 trillion this century. Dr. Nordhaus also estimates that proposals made by The Stern Review and Al Gore to curb carbon emissions would cost $17-25 trillion more than doing nothing: http://nordhaus.econ.yale.edu/dice_mss_072407_all.pdf
And all of this assumes an effort in which the whole world cooperates, with no cheating!
If Congress imposes cap & trade on the U.S., or ratifies a climate treaty, it will not stop global warming. Instead, it will only damage the U.S. economy and drive more jobs overseas. That's because . . .
Many developing countries will not agree to participate!
We would be hypocrites to condemn them for this. They only want what we already have. Most importantly, there are sound environmental reasons why we should want them to gain our level of affluence . . .
Wealthy nations like ours do better at protecting the environment!
* Our water is safer and our air is cleaner. * We can afford to protect species from extinction. * We can afford research that constantly discovers how to do more with less, allowing us to grow more and more affluent while imposing fewer burdens on the environment.
Environmental protection will benefit from a wealthier world, not suffer from it.
Developing nations will not sacrifice their progress just to please Western politicians, and we shouldn't want them to do so. If we really care about the environment, then we need these nations to become richer, not poorer.
The proposed schemes for a cap & trade law and a global climate treaty will . . .
* Fail because of cheating or non-participation * Cost at least $2 for every $1 we gain, and probably far more * Impoverish America and the world, thereby destroying the innovation and environmental protections that free market affluence makes possible
Do not spend $2 in a vain attempt to save $1. Do not support a scheme that cannot work. Instead, support the economic progress that makes environmental protection possible. Do this by opposing the cap & trade bill, and any global climate treaty. Let free market innovation and affluence pave the way for solutions that will really work.
Remember that the more people who read this message, the more likely we will be victorious.
* If you forward this message to others, be sure to clip off the Dispatch footer when you do * For social bookmarkers and networkers, here's a tiny url for this message: http://tinyurl.com/y946ls7
Obama, trying to escape the turmoil he has created in the USA with an over aggressive legislative agendais spending time overseas, but obviously, he is way over his head abroad, too.
Obama sets the record for countries visited during a President’s first year. In ten months time, he has visited twenty countries. Even with all his globetrotting, Obama returns from his multitude of trips with no real accomplishments or agreements. His most recent expedition to Asia was an abject failure for America.
Proudly strutting into office promising a new foreign policy based on cooperation and international brotherhood, Obama pledged to do away with what he called “Bush’s cowboy diplomacy.” Rather, he would sit down with world leaders playing nicey-nice, building a multilateral consensus. His magic words may have persuaded naïve American voters, but thus far he is having no such luck when it comes to foreign heads of state.
Obama is no stranger to failure in foreign relations, unless you believe apologizing for your country’s past, defines success. In previous attempts at diplomacy, Obama failed to negotiate commitments from Europe on troops in Afghanistan, bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, and botched our once close relationship with the British.
Obama’s Asian trip soured rapidly after he bowed before the Emperor of Japan. Obama has shown a penchant for prostrating himself before foreign leaders, giving visual representation to how he is seeking to submit America to the desires of foreign powers. Obama bent so low, it approached the level of groveling to the diminutive son of the man who ordered the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Next, when attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Obama shook hand with Gen. Thein Sein, the Prime Minister appointed by a vicious and brutal military junta in Myanmar. By shaking hands and meeting with this unelected dictator, Obama sends a message to all those fighting for freedom across the world:America is no longer standing with you, but with your oppressors.
In China, Obama was pushed around by those from whom he is borrowing more and more money.Obama failed to gain any commitments from the Chinese regarding their oppression of human rights. His creditors also greatly restricted his ability to speak to the Chinese people. Obama was allowed one highly scripted town hall meeting that was not broadcast on state run television, as he had expected. While he was in China, the Chinese verbally attacked American economic policy. To top it off, the Chinese signaled they would block American led efforts to sanction Iran for its nuclear program.
Other world leaders know weakness when they see it.
To complete the disastrous list of disappointments, Obama failed to make any progress on North Korea. Upon meeting with Russian Prime Minister Medvedev, Obama announced the US would not complete a new nuclear disarmament agreement to replace the START treaty that expires on December 5. Evidently, receiving a Nobel Peace Prize is much easier to do than reaching agreements that merit one.
In the biggest blow to Obama’s agenda, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum dropped efforts to reach a binding international climate-change agreement. Obama’s misguided efforts to lead a worldwide healing of the planet will, fortunately, have to wait for now.
In response to Obama’s repeated failures in China, Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs down-played the trip, saying they "did not think the waters would part and everything would change as a result of his 2 1/2 day trip to China."Now, compare team Obama’s current complaints about high expectations with promises from June 2008.It was Obama himself who loftily proclaimed after securing the Democratic nomination for President, “this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth.”
When you are down bowing to another leader, it is very hard position in which to lead the free world. Obama’s way over his head and it shows.
That is another reason why he deserves to be removed from office.
Warm regards,
Floyd Brown
ImpeachObamaCampaign.com is a project of the Policy Issues Institute. Contributions are not deductible for tax purposes. 30011 Ivy Glenn Dr., Suite 223 Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Health insurance is cheap in some states. In others it costs as much as the lease on a Ferrari. This isn't because of any flaw in the free market. It's because we don't have a free market! What we have instead are laws that reward corporate welfare benefits to special interests and insurance companies.
Use the Ferrari example in my sample letter to make your case . . .
The average medical plan in New Jersey costs $37,164 per year. The monthly premiums exceed the lease for a Ferrari!
By comparison, Indiana has far fewer corporate welfare mandates dictating what health insurance must cover. People in that state can choose between 43 plans costing less than $5,400 annually!
If the New Jersey family could buy medical insurance from an Indiana provider, they'd save over $31,000 a year!
Extend this to the entire country and the results would be dramatic.
But I think the results would be even better. Once Americans have freedom of choice again . . .
State legislatures will start competing to repeal their corporate welfare mandates
And insurance companies will compete to provide better coverage at lower prices
All American should have free market choices in health insurance! No American should have to pay corporate welfare benefits through their insurance premiums, or have to go without insurance. You can make this possible. DO IT!
Oppose the cancerous healthcare bill being pushed in the House and Senate. Oppose complicated insurance buying pools. Instead, please just fix the problems politicians created!
This issue is important to me, and I want to be represented by someone who shares my appreciation of market solutions instead of political solutions.
Please take additional steps to spread the word, recruit more DC Downsizers, and increase the heat on Congress:
Do you have friends who might like the argument made in this Dispatch? If so, send it to them and maybe they'll join you in pressuring Congress (be sure to clip off the Dispatch footer if you forward this message)
Where and when you can meet Jim Babka this Wednesday, plus, another shot at REAL ID
Some good things have resulted from our past efforts . . .
I spoke at the Williamsport, PA Tea Party on August 29th. There were over 4,000 people there! The organizing committee had a scroll full of demands for Congress to move in a downsizing direction. Hundreds of people signed the scroll. Included among the demands were our Read the Bills, One Subject at Time, and Write the Laws proposals. Since then . . .
The Williamsport Tea Party Committee has been active, including delivering four busloads of people to the 9/12 rally in Washington, DC. They've met several times to plan their long-term strategy. The result . . .
They've decided to focus on our "transpartisan," Downsize DC Agenda proposals, the Read the Bills Act (RTBA) and the One Subject at a Time Act (OSTA).
Tom Anderson, a member of our team and one of the leaders in the Williamsport committee, sent me the following message to describe their thinking . . .
" . . . we believe that this issue (RTBA and OSTA) is the most easily addressable, bipartisan, and most helps us achieve the other demands. In contemplating how to proceed to push this demand, we reviewed DownsizeDC's efforts . . . and decided that the most effective means toward accomplishing it is to 1) make our community aware of the problem and our efforts, and 2) get them all to push their Congress critters to sponsor the DownsizeDC legislation."
The Williamsport Tea Party committee gets it! RTBA and OSTA are levers we can use to restrain government excess in all areas. Passing these bills will make it easier to achieve other demands.
To support their efforts the committee has invited me to speak to them on Wednesday, November 18, and answer questions about RTBA and OSTA. More than 200 people are expected to attend this meeting.
If you're in the area on Wednesday, you're invited to attend the meeting. I'd love to meet you. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at the Cinema Center in downtown Williamsport, PA.
You can use my letter to Congress as a model for you own . . .
I want my Representative and my Senators to be the first to introduce legislation that repeals the REAL ID Act. Do NOT introduce legislation that replaces REAL ID with some similar scheme. I've asked you to do this repeatedly, and will keep asking until you do it.
My request represents the majority opinion on this matter, so it's good politics to honor my request. The simple act of introducing such legislation would win you a lot of brownie points nationally, as well.
I'm well aware that the beltway echo-chamber constantly tells you that REAL ID is needed to protect us from terrorism. I think this is naive. No suicide attack will be stopped by an identity card. Terrorists will devise tactics to work around REAL ID, so the only people really impacted by this scheme are innocent American citizens.
I am a firm believer that power corrupts. And the more power gets centralized at the federal level, the more likely corruption becomes. I want identification cards to be decentralized, at the state level. I do not want my life entangled in the federal databases and tracking schemes that will inevitably result from REAL ID.
Please remember -- everything you do is based on force. I do not want to be coerced into carrying a national ID card. Don't be like the Mafia. Don't fine me, or imprison me, or make me lose my job just because I'm not willing to accept your supposed protection.
I certainly agree with the goals as stated, but I just sent this to our TEA Party organizer this morning:
Hi Tina,
I know that you are involved with the National TEA Party movement and I can empathize with the movement. But, I just want to say that there is only one goal that will really go toward reforming Washington, if it is not too late. And that is to end the Federal Reserve and eliminate legal tender laws!
If your goal is to cut taxes and downsize government then those efforts will be little more than treating the symptoms. The cancer must be excised. As long as the central government has fiat currency and legal tender laws they are uncontrollable. They just pursue whatever adventures suit their self interest whether it be warfare, welfare, or corporatism; print or borrow enough fiat currency to pay for those adventures; and then stick the people with the bill through inflation and rising prices of goods and services.
If, on the other hand, we eliminated the Federal Reserve and legal tender laws and returned to sound money keyed to a commodity, then the only way the central government could conduct their affairs would be through visible taxation. That would restrain them and give the people a voice again.
By a large majority the people did not want the bail outs, cap and trade, health care, etc. But, you notice they did it anyway! Because they can print the money they cannot be controlled!
So, let me encourage you to use your influence to concentrate the goal of the National Tea Party movement to END THE FED!
As of close of business Sunday, the Continental Congress 2009 Delegates have now experienced their fourth day of intense deliberations and moving presentations regarding numerous violations of the Constitution by the U.S. Government.
Although the Delegates have significantly embraced the draft agenda and deliberative process as designed for the Congress, the Assembly has debated and subsequently introduced several modifications to the Committee structures in order to handle the overwhelming work involved in developing both "Remedial Instructions" (to be served upon state and federal officials directing them to perform specific acts to secure Redress for their violations) and "Civic Actions" the People may take to enforce accountability to the Constitution, should those officials fail or otherwise ignore the People's Remedial Instructions.
Since Thursday, the Continental Congress Delegates have been meeting almost around the clock, with committee meetings and Delegate caucuses on various subjects extending well beyond the scheduled agenda sessions into the early morning hours - some reportedly until near breakfast. In short, the CC2009 Delegates are taking the task of defending our Liberty very, very seriously.
The entire historic CC2009 event continues to be webcast live, at no cost, at www.GiveMeLiberty.org/CC2009, where a summary daily agenda is also provided. Archived videos of some of the earlier day's event segments, including Wednesday's opening Ceremony, have begun to be posted at http://www.cc2009.us/archives. (More will follow daily.)
Viral Webcast?
Millions of America need to see that there is hope - hope for a viable means, beyond "Tea Party" street demonstrations, beyond party manipulated elections - to restore Constitutional Order and secure the Light of Liberty for our posterity. Indeed this is the very purpose of Continental Congress 2009.
We ask you to do everything possible to bring the live webcast to the attention of every possible American you can contact. Continental Congress is real - and it is happening even as you read this email. We have made a significant investment to be able to bring the events of CC2009 to every home and office in America - LIVE, and for FREE.
Time is short and the opportunity to experience history in the making passes further each day. Please do what you can do spread word of our historic initiative through every email list, social network, and friend that you have.
Critical Mass is Vital
Before next week, CC2009 will deliver to the American People a viable "sword" with which to "slay" the dragons of tyranny that have become a cancer unto our nation.
Out of CC2009 will emerge a compelling record of the violations of Fundamental Rights our People now suffer, a well articulated set of "Remedial Instructions" to literally direct government officials to execute under pain of mass resistance, and a volume of viable, practical and creative "Civic Actions" every one of the We the People may take en masse, to hold the Government accountable to our Law, and our Constitution.
Let us give our nation, our friends, and our families hope that the promise of our Founding Fathers has not yet been lost. If we join together in sufficient numbers, and embrace a peaceful, cogent, and unified plan of resistance with which to engage our oppressors, our individual acts in the defense of Liberty will no doubt serve to shortly free us again, just as our Founders once succeeded.
As we look forward to the approaching Thanksgiving holiday, let us endeavor to make Continental Congress the discussion du jour at dinner tables across our nation, while we embrace its promise within our hearts, giving thanks and remembrance for the Divine gifts of Liberty that we both enjoy, and as Citizens, are obligated to defend.
Donations Still Needed
Again, we humbly ask for your continued financial support of the Continental Congress 2009 initiative. Although the historic CC2009 event continues as you may read this email or watch the free live Internet webcast, there are significant event-related costs we still need to cover.
Please consider a fully tax-deductible donationof any amount to the 501(c)3 WTP Foundation or to receive the beautiful .999 pure silver CC2009 commemorative medallion. (If you have not visited our website before, please first join our email list.) Again, we offer many, many thanks for your support that has made this event possible thus far.
If you can donate at least $100 are and are interested in receiving a FREE .999 pure-silver CC2009 commemorative medallion, please click the e-store link next to the coin image below. You can also donate using our Mail-in Donate form
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP FUND THE HISTORIC CC2009 WEBCAST!
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson
Campaign for Liberty is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization which neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office and claims no responsibility for the actions of individuals or groups of individuals who use the Campaign for Liberty logo or name or who may claim to act as representatives of the Campaign for Liberty without prior written consent of the Campaign for Liberty. [?]
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