Posted by TheYellowDart on 06/15/11

Just wanted to share the note I just sent my Congressman over seeing this news about him joining Ron Paul in a lawsuit against President Obama over the illegal Lybian War....

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57032.html

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Rep. Bartlett

I just want to say thank you for standing up for the Constitution and suing the President over this ridiculous overreach in Libya. Hopefully this will add weight to the case to end this adventurism which the majority of the American people oppose as being unconstitutional.

Thanks,
Jason Laird
Registered Voter of Frederick, MD

Posted by TheYellowDart on 03/01/11
Last updated 03/01/11

Well, we have some very interesting bills before the MD General Assembly this 2011 session. First, there is a bill (HB606) to take another step closer to decriminalizing marijuana by making it only a small fine ($100) and civil offense rather than an imprisonable criminal offense. Next, there is a bill (HB121) to increase the tax of every alcoholic beverage by 10 cents per serving (e.g. - increase of 60 cents for a six pack of beer). And lastly, I will discuss HB55 which would legalize same-gender marriage.

So let's take the first bill mentioned - HB606. This bill is a very mild step closer to completely legal medical marijuana and decriminalization generally. Currently under MD law, if a person charged with possession under 1oz. can prove that this is medically necessary, there is a good chance they can get off(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzDvewk9VMo). This is very silly and puts all the onus on the defendant rather than the prosecution where it belongs (ever heard of innocent until proven guilty). The prosecutors should have to prove that the defendant doesn't need it for medical needs. Of course it should be completely legal, but we have to be happy that the issue is at least playing out in the right direction.  This new bill would move the ball further by making the "offense" of carrying under 1oz. a civil one rather than criminal and would result in at most a $100 fine rather than $1000 and up to 1 year in jail. This is a good step, but we need to move further next year (if this even passes this year). So I would encourage all MD readers to email there delegates and advocate for this bill - HB 606.

Next we have HB121 - The Lorraine Sheehan Health and Community Services Act. Sounds great doesn't - Health and Community Services ?!?! Well now who wouldn't want that? I don't want it; that's for sure. This bill is being drooled all over by big government types who can't wait to get there hands on your money(http://healthcareforall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Fact-Sheet-Feb-13-2
011.pdf). And they are finding accomplices on the right with social conservative types. This is an enormous increase of taxes on all alcoholic drinks. This would be a 70% tax increase on liquor, almost 174% tax increase on wine, and 159% tax increase on beer! (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fightmarylandalcoholtaxincrease/) There is no excuse to raise taxes ever, but this is highway robbery. Could you imagine property tax payer standing still for a 174% tax increase on their property taxes? We need to fight this before they find something else to raise taxing on like this. So I would encourage all MD readers to email there delegates and strongly oppose this bill - HB 606.

Finally we have the last bill mentioned above - HB 55. This bill would legalize "gay" marriage in Maryland. I have a particular disdain for this kind of attempt to "legalize" "gay" marriage. We should be, as libertarians, trying to remove laws and removing people out from under laws rather adding laws and adding people under laws. We should be for the abolition of state involvement in marriage at all. There should be no state laws concerning marriage. People who want to arrange their finances, child custody, next of kin, inheritors and others matters should explicitly do so in contract that the state should honor as any other contract. Tax laws amongst others are so tortured and pernicious that they distort reality and cause so much unintended consequences. These laws are not just discriminatory to "gay" folk; it is discriminatory to all single people. The current regime for "marriage" is an implicit contract between a man and a women AND the state. But only the state can change the terms of this contract at will. This is why I believe it to be unconscionable that we would be advocating for such a expansion of state power over more people. The marriage laws should be attacked and repealed like every other big government program that rapes peoples pockets and attempts social engineering. Why should "married people" get off with a different tax rate? It should be the same for everyone. If I have two single brothers that pool their resources, share finances, and live together why shouldn't they be able to drought a contract and be treated the same as a "gay" "married" couple or even a traditional married couple? This bill is the wrong way to go about increasing freedom. We should moving to tear down marriage laws and decrease everyone's taxes regardless of social arrangement. I'll leave it to the reader on this one, but I would spend my time elsewhere.

Well I hope you're better informed now on some of this year's MD legislation up for passage. If you can inform me on an error or additional legislation of note, please leave a comment.

Posted by TheYellowDart on 07/24/10
Last updated 07/24/10

This Extravagant US Foreign Policy needs to end!

The US foreign policy costs too many of our soldier's lives, foreign civilian lives, trillions of dollars, and bad press all over the world which causes further attacks and ill will directed at the US. We need to remove ourselves from the offensive forward positions that we occupy. This is much more comprehensive than just leaving Iraq and Afghanistan immediately. We need evacuate the world and return our troops to an actual position of defense in our own country.

Our beloved founder of Campaign for Liberty, Ron Paul, largely made this case in the last presidential election about the wars, blow-back, the military industrial complex and the Federal Reserve which prints the money making this all possible; however, the mainstream right did their best to ignore, marginalize, and exclude this message. We received some help getting the message out from the media on the left, but now that the President is a Democrat, there is much less attention to this issue. We are still in Iraq, Guantanamo, Afghanistan, bombing Pakistan and Yemen, not to mention the other hundreds of sites we occupy in foreign lands and seas. Despite much talk from candidate Obama, President Obama still has 70,000 troops in Iraq. Even if he is ordering the return of 20,000 by the end of August, 50,000 troops in Iraq is 50,000 too many especially given the rhetoric that gave the Democrats the house in '06. They should have de-funded the effort as Ron Paul called for and not waited for the President (Bush or Obama) to act. We still have 176 "detainees" in Guantanamo even after President Obama promised to close this place down years ago during the campaign. We should not even have troops in Cuba let alone "non-POW" POWs. This is a disgrace. And of course there is Afghanistan. Not only have we not made the sensible move of leaving Afghanistan, we have increased our presence there. What is the difference between Iraq and Afghanistan (or Vietnam, or Korea for that matter) that makes this any better of a war?

My brother is a member of the US armed forces. I will not specify further his role out of an abundance of caution for his safety from the US government and other enemies of the troops. He returned recently from his second combat deployment in Afghanistan. After his experiences this last time, he has completely changed his opinion about our role in Afghanistan and the wider issue of our foreign policy. He will be leaving the military ASAP. I wish I could further elaborate on his reports, but I will again defer to his wishes to remain anonymous in this forum. Suffice it to say, his first-hand account further corroborates the argument made by C4L and Ron Paul on this subject.

Is this the America that the founders had in mind - A lone super power with troops and weapons at over 700 spots in over 130 countries? Does this afford those we dominate with the same constitutional protections that we enjoy here? Does Afghanistan get to vote on representation for themselves amongst our armed forces who are the rulers there? Our military is meant to break things and kill people. Why would we have these people governing anyone?

I'll end with the question Ron Paul asked during the campaign - If China had a military base in our country, wouldn't we object? We need to end this world-wide occupation, because it is crippling our national spirit, bankrupting our wealth, ignoring our Constitution, and needlessly killing people.

If you have an active Peace movement in your community, work with them. We may not always agree on all issues, but remember we are not the majority yet. We need all the help we can from every corner of the political landscape. We need to have the heat and light that we had during the campaign on this issue even as those who were just playing politics have gone silent.

Good Luck and Godspeed

Posted by TheYellowDart on 07/21/10
Last updated 08/11/10

Nice little cartoon that makes a very important point about the increasing lack of privacy and the ever out of reach security that it is supposed to buy us.

http://kubrickodyssey.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: Sorry the link is outdated.... looking for it on a more stable location.

Posted by TheYellowDart on 06/09/10

I want to end Schooling as bad as most of you want to End the Fed. While the Fed robs us of purchasing power which sytematically impoverishes the middle class, Schooling robs us of true real-estate property ownership also affecting the middle class the most. County property taxes (mostly used for public schools) means that none of us ever owns our own homes or any land on which they might be situated. The state/county can snatch it anytime for failure to pay property taxes. This means we pay "rent" to "the man" with the illusion of ownership. I have many other reasons for wanting to end Mass Compulsory Public Schooling, and most of the other reasons are available here:

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/edu/education-freedom.php

The most important point to be made is that the state uses schooling to increase citizen obedience to the state. I believe in sepapration of church and state, but more importantly I believe in separation of school and state. We don't need our children to be a captive audience in their most formative years to the very entity we rail against here the most day in and day out. Most states still allow parents to opt out of the public system, but that doesn't mean you get to keep your property taxes (not to mention those who don't even have children). Regardless of where your kids are, the property tax man owns your property in a very real way. The schooling system perpetuates the rest of the progressive system (Fed, IRS, MIC, Drug War, etc..) cranking out perfectly pliable little obedient soldiers to the progressive agenda year after year.

So I would like to know what the wider C4L community thinks of Schooling...

Posted 06/09/10 jbarth3 Arlington, VA

You should distinguish between public schooling and private schooling -- I'm all for private schooling

Posted 06/09/10 TheYellowDart Frederick, MD

I'm for education not schooling. There is a difference. But, of course, this poll is all about the public part - confiscation of children and property taxes.

Posted 08/16/10 Rburdette3589 Frederick, MD