Politics

The word comes from two roots:
poli - many
ticks - blood suckers
Politics is "many blood suckers"

Last Gasps of the Democratic Majority

We should be outraged at the activities of the Federal
Government. They continue to break the law despite their
recent rhetoric. The Congress failed in their primary
responsibility – to evaluate the President's budget and
appropriate monies to fund Constitutional activities of
government.
Fiscal Year 2011 began 1 October with none of the
appropriations bills passed. As is customary, the Congress
has passed two Continuing Resolutions with deadlines of 4
December and 18 December to fund the government. The
leadership then uses extortion to force the rest of House
and Senate members to vote for legislation they would
normally defeat.
The line-item veto would not be necessary if Congress
ever passed a “clean” bill. The bill to prevent tax
increases on 1 January, forced Congress to extend
unemployment compensation (UC) another 13 months. The 2%
decrease in F.I.C.A. Payroll deductions will be an excellent
stimulus. It is strange that putting more in the workers
money was not tried earlier. The bailouts of unions and
mismanaged states obviously did not work. We are
“heartless and without compassion for fellow Americans”
if we do not extend UC to 99 weeks plus 13 months at Hanukah
and Christmas! It is possible that those folks on UC after
99 weeks are waiting for jobs which will never return. Over
three years of UC is as dumb as FDR's program to kill and
bury hogs and dump milk down sewers in the 1930s when
Americans went hungry. As Margaret Thatcher said,
socialism [central planning] fails because eventually you run
out of other peoples' money!
Congress wants to repeal “don't ask, don't tell”, pass START
and pass a CR with a deadline of February or March or … The
Conservatives need to stand firmly until they are dismissed.
The world will not stop turning if these matters wait until
5 January 2011 or later.
If you have read this blog at all, then you know that I favor
the Fair Tax as the needed stimulus. BHO has been anti-business.
Whether he is a socialist or simply anti-colonialist, his
policies work against a business recovery – since they are
anti-capitalist. At least one Federal Judge has also agreed
that the policies are also illegal (unconstitutional).

Tasks for the 2010 Congress

Hopefully we will see a different attitude when the
new Congress convenes in January. Few Congressmen are
talking about tax reform yet. This is surprising
considering what TEA stands for.
A real stimulus to the economy would have been to
implement the Fair Tax. If the Congress will cut the
corporate tax rate and stop picking winners and losers,
then that will be a good start. Our corporations pay the
second largest tax of the developed nations. Combine
that fact with the regulations for environment and labor,
and it is hard to understand why there are still factories
in the U.S.
Right now the Republicans could agree to "tax the rich"
while exempting and cutting taxes on small businesses who
are part of the "rich" and extending the other "Bush tax
cuts." The problem is that the "rich" are mobile. An
obvious example is the baseball player who plays for a NYC
team but lives in Florida. With decreased freedom in the
U.S. (heritage.org/index), it makes sense to leave the U.S.
Congress needs to get the Federal government out of
Education. Both DOEs have been costly failures. We trail
most developed nations in test scores, and we have no place
to store nuclear waste after spending $14B. We heavily
subsidize uneconomic energy sources while paying billion$
to our enemies each day. We need to cut agricultural
subsidies immediately for farms with a net profit over $1M
and by 10% each year for all other farms. We need to reduce
our overseas military presence in Europe, Japan and Korea by
10% each year. We continue to spend far more for defense as
a percentage of GDP than any other nation - and our GDP is
more than triple that of any other nation. We are broke,
and we can no longer be the world's policeman. That is
supposed to be the function of the United Nations, and we
need to tell it when it fails.
The U.S. should pay no more to the United Nations than
any other member of the Security Council (ex. Gabon). Some
want to get out completely, but that would confirm the false
claims of imperialism and war mongering. The UN is still a
useful tool for political dialogue - however ineffective.
However, to pay over 20% of the entire costs to be constantly
insulted is stupid! The U.S. should suggest to our creditors
whose debt to us has been "forgiven" in the past that they
should forgive our debt now that the "goose laying the golden
eggs" is now broke.
We must remember that the United States of America is the
greatest nation on the planet because of our form of government
and the freedoms that it gives. We must protect it from those
domestic and foreign enemies who would subvert it.

Where do we go from here?

The Republicans won a net of about 63 seats in the House
of Representatives and about 8 in the Senate. Just as
important was the net increase in Republican Governors and
Republican-controlled state legislatures. Early next year
(8 weeks), the state legislatures will determine the
districts to be represented by the newly apportioned (2010
Census) House of Representatives.
The Republicans do not control the Senate or the
Executive Branch, but they will control who the checks are
written to. They can control the czars and czarinas by
defunding their bureaucracies. They can defund the EPA's
regulation of carbon dioxide. They can defund the
government jobs given as rewards for political support.
They can even defund the creations of previous
“progressives”: The Department of Agriculture, The
Department of Education, The Department of Energy, etc.
The Republicans – and the Democrats – need to understand
that the American people want the rule of law in the United
States. Politicians – like the Illinois Congressman who
said “I don't care what the Constitution says, it's the right
thing to do” - must realize that the Constitution is the law,
and they are criminals if they violate it. If they have sworn
an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution against all
enemies foreign and domestic”, then it is treason to violate
that oath. Congress may no longer pass laws without concern
for their constitutionality and defer to the Federal courts to
determine the legality.
The Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Party movement is a group
of American citizens – most without political ambitions – who
love America and its Constitution. Many favor the Fair Tax
because it gives freedom to the individual. It frees American
corporations to compete in the global economy. It should
create a booming economy that would be the envy of the world.
It is the America capitalist system which rewards hard work
and innovation which has made America great. We do not need
to apologize for what we have achieved.
We need to let the United Nations be the world's policeman –
and hold it accountable. We should pay no more dues and
expenses than any other member of the Security Council (Gabon
for example). Our funding for the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank should be no more than any other voting member.
We have a national debt of almost $14T. Unfunded obligations
for Social Security, Medicare, Medicare Prescription Drug, etc.
make the debt more like $100T. We are broke. We are also
strong, smart, innovative, and we have a good foundation as a
constitutional republic. We have more than 200 years of
successful experience. Our schools can again be good if we
return to the Truth. We should proudly repeat our Pledge of
Allegiance and “In God We Trust,” and challenge those who would
diminish our founding principles.

"Debt Free America Act"

Who could be against a debt-free America?
The bill (HR 4646) proposes a transaction tax - in addition
to most of the current taxes. The purpose of the tax is to
raise revenue to pay for the illegal spending of the Federal
Government (unconstitutional = illegal).
The "Findings" in the bill make an excellent case for the
Fair Tax:
The Congress finds the following:

(1) The current tax structure creates economic distortions
that limit growth and job creation. [Amen]

(2) The estimated cost of compliance to taxpayers is five
billion hours and approximately $200 billion. [Amen]

(3) Restructuring the tax code will promote economic
prosperity. [Amen]

(4) Replacing existing Federal taxes with a fee on
transactions eliminates systemic inefficiency that plagues
the current tax code. [Fair Tax]

(5) The United States, from its beginning in 1790 to the
present, has been free of a national debt for only two
years, 1834 and 1835.

(6) The national debt has grown from $75.5 million in 1790
to $5.8 trillion in 2008. [Almost $14 trillion now]

(7) Expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP),
the national debt reached a high of 108.6 percent of GDP in
1946.

(8) After 1946, the national debt as a percentage of GDP
declined, reaching a low of 32.5 percent in 1981.

(9) The large budget deficits of the 1980s and 1990s reversed
this trend and pushed the percentage to another high of 49.5
percent in 1993. [Democrat Congress until January 1995]

(10) The Federal budget surpluses from fiscal year 1998 to
fiscal year 2001 were used to retire a portion of the publicly
held national debt. [Republican Congress 1995-2001]

(11) Between fiscal year 1997 and fiscal year 2001, the
publicly held portion of the national debt declined by more
than $400 billion. [Republican Congress 1995-2001; Clinton
had a deficit of about $310B for his 8 years]

(12) Since fiscal year 2002, a return to budget deficits has
caused the debt to grow again. [9/11, war, Medicare
Prescription Drug, triple Education budget, etc.]

Defense Authorization Act Allows Murder

The Defense Authorization Act, which has been approved by
the Senate Armed Services Committee, contains an amendment
that would allow abortions at military facilities and
effectively repeal Section 654, Title 10 -- the law that
says homosexuality is incompatible with military service
and has often been confused with Bill Clinton's "don't ask,
don't tell" policy.
With this bill, the Democrats have shown their disdain for
America's military.

The Cooling World by Peter Gwynne, 28 April 1975

There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns
have begun to change dramatically and that these changes
may portend a drastic decline in food production — with
serious political implications for just about every nation
on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon,
perhaps only 10 years from now. The regions destined to
feel its impact are the great wheat-producing lands of
Canada and the U.S.S.R. in the North, along with a number
of marginally self-sufficient tropical areas — parts of
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indochina and Indonesia —
where the growing season is dependent upon the rains
brought by the monsoon.
The evidence in support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it. In England, farmers have seen their growing season decline by about two weeks since 1950, with a resultant overall loss in grain production estimated at up to 100,000 tons annually.
During the same time, the average temperature around the equator has risen by a fraction of a degree — a fraction that in some areas can mean drought and desolation. Last April, in the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded, 148 twisters killed more than 300 people and caused half a billion dollars’ worth of damage in 13 U.S. states.
To scientists, these seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the world’s weather. Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the trend, as well as over its specific impact on local weather conditions. But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century. If the climatic change is as profound as some of the pessimists fear, the resulting famines could be catastrophic.
“A major climatic change would force economic and social adjustments on a worldwide scale,” warns a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences, “because the global patterns of food production and population that have evolved are implicitly dependent on the climate of the present century.”
A survey completed last year by Dr. Murray Mitchell of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveals a drop of half a degree in average ground temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere between 1945 and 1968. According to George Kukla of Columbia University, satellite photos indicated a sudden, large increase in Northern Hemisphere snow cover in the winter of 1971-72. And a study released last month by two NOAA scientists notes that the amount of sunshine reaching the ground in the continental U.S. diminished by 1.3% between 1964 and 1972.
To the layman, the relatively small changes in temperature and sunshine can be highly misleading. Reid Bryson of the University of Wisconsin points out that the Earth’s average temperature during the great Ice Ages was only about seven degrees lower than during its warmest eras — and that the present decline has taken the planet about a sixth of the way toward the Ice Age average.
Others regard the cooling as a reversion to the “little ice age” conditions that brought bitter winters to much of Europe and northern America between 1600 and 1900 — years when the Thames used to freeze so solidly that Londoners roasted oxen on the ice and when iceboats sailed the Hudson River almost as far south as New York City.
Just what causes the onset of major and minor ice ages remains a mystery. “Our knowledge of the mechanisms of climatic change is at least as fragmentary as our data,” concedes the National Academy of Sciences report. “Not only are the basic scientific questions largely unanswered, but in many cases we do not yet know enough to pose the key questions.”
Meteorologists think that they can forecast the short-term results of the return to the norm of the last century. They begin by noting the slight drop in overall temperature that produces large numbers of pressure centers in the upper atmosphere. These break up the smooth flow of westerly winds over temperate areas. The stagnant air produced in this way causes an increase in extremes of local weather such as droughts, floods, extended dry spells, long freezes, delayed monsoons and even local temperature increases — all of which have a direct impact on food supplies.
“The world’s food-producing system,” warns Dr. James D. McQuigg of NOAA’s Center for Climatic and Environmental Assessment, “is much more sensitive to the weather variable than it was even five years ago.”
Furthermore, the growth of world population and creation of new national boundaries make it impossible for starving peoples to migrate from their devastated fields, as they did during past famines.
Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects.
They concede that some of the more spectacular solutions proposed, such as melting the Arctic ice cap by covering it with black soot or diverting arctic rivers, might create problems far greater than those they solve. But the scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of stockpiling food or of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections of future food supplies. The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality.

Government Bubbles

A few quarters of success attributable to government
policy do not mean that the policy was successful. Home
sales took off last April as the expiration of the New
Homebuyers Tax Credit neared, only to plummet this summer
when it became clear that the policy had merely pulled
demand forward instead of stimulating new demand. The
same thing happened with Cash for Clunkers, to a lesser
extent: A brief bump in sales of cars and light trucks
was followed by a steep drop. Sales have since gone up
slightly, but the latest forecasts predict weaker demand
for autos to go with weaker demand for housing and
continuing high unemployment.

The AIG Bailout

The Federal Reserve Board’s intimate relations with
the leading powers of Wall Street—the same banks that
benefited most from the government’s massive
bailout—influenced its strategic decisions on AIG. The
panel accuses the Fed and the Treasury Department of
brushing aside alternative approaches that would have
saved tens of billions in public funds by making these
same banks “share the pain.”
Bailing out AIG effectively meant rescuing Goldman
Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch
(as well as a dozens of European banks) from huge losses.
Those financial institutions played the derivatives game
with AIG, the esoteric practice of placing financial bets
on future events. AIG lost its bets, which led to its
collapse. But other gamblers—the counterparties in AIG’s
derivative deals—were made whole on their bets, paid off
100 cents on the dollar. Taxpayers got stuck with the bill.

http://www.thenation.com/article/153929/aig-bailout-scandal

Doing the Right Thing

Politicians typically do the right thing after they have
exhausted all of the other possibilities.

Another Reason for the Fair Tax

If illegal immigrants number 12,000,000, and we divide
them into 3,000,000 families of four, using an annual
poverty level of $29,000 spending per family and the Fair
Tax rate of 23 percent, the tax per family is $29,000 x 23%
or $6,670. We get 3,000,000 x $6,670 = $20,010,000,000
in additional tax receipts.
Under the FairTax, U.S. citizens are reimbursed in
advance for taxes paid on basic necessities. This means
they pay no Federal tax on these necessities: a family of
four receives $6,670 as a “Prebate.”
However, those who are in this country illegally will
still pay the FairTax on the first $29,000 they spend, or
$6,670 per family, and they will NOT be entitled to the
Prebate. The result: On the first $29,000 of spending,
illegal aliens will wind up paying 23 percent tax and U. S.
citizens 0 percent. They will have that much less money to
send back to their country of origin. They will be less
likely to stay in this country illegally. Our government
will receive at least $20 billion in additional taxes. With
the Fair Tax we have a win-win situation!

LTE: Federal Budget Deficits

In recent LTEs and comments, the POTUS has been given
credit for the performance of the economy during his
term in office. Democrats like to point to the fiscal
responsibility of Bill Clinton and the surplus that he
left when he left office. Americans who are ignorant
of the Constitution have accepted this half-lie hook,
line and sinker.
Using Clinton as an example, the Federal government
ran a deficit of $420B in the first two years (Democrat
Congress). The deficit in the next three years was $300B
(Republican Congress). The surplus in the next three
years was $410B and the first Bush year was $175B
(Republican Congress). The net deficit for Clinton's
eight years was $310B.
The most important factor appears to be Congress. This
is logical since Congress has the Constitutional budget
responsibility under Article I, Section 8. This is not
really the case now that stimulus bills have been passed
which have given the Executive over $800B to spend without
additional approval. According to Recovery.gov, 436,348
jobs have been created using the initial stimulus bill.
The jobs have cost between $72,230 (VA) and $205,350 (IL)
each. Going into elections, $285B of the initial stimulus
has not been spent and is available for timely "targeted
needs." Congress refuses to return the excess to the
Treasury even though the United States has had 4 quarters
of GDP growth which ended the recession and the "crisis."
Americans are naive if they believe these $billion$ will be
spent in a non-partisan way.
Unemployment is still high because of the uncertainty
among employers about health care expenses for employees and
new taxes, and because much stimulus money went as grants to
irresponsible governments to pay for bad policies and to
unions.

Anchor Babies and Immigration - Again

In the Congress in the 1980s amnesty was granted to 2.5
million illegal aliens as part of a compromise to close
loopholes in immigration laws. Employers of illegals
would suffer severe fines and possible imprisonment.
Unfortunately only the amnesty of illegals was real.
The laws have not been enforced because politicians need
votes to stay in office. Even though they take an oath to
"support and defend the Constitution against all enemies
foreign and domestic", they choose to protect themselves at
the sacrifice of the Constitution and the rule of law.
Congress should immediately pass the following:
Citizenship shall not be granted on the basis of an illegal
act.
This will make the 14th Amendment more clear. It
currently has two requirements for citizenship:
1) All persons born or naturalized in the United States,
and
2) subject to the jurisdiction thereof
It is clear to me that a pregnant female who enters the
United States illegally for the purpose of having the baby
born in the United States is not subject to the jurisdiction
thereof!
It is clear that all babies born under such illegal
circumstances are not citizens. Lindsey Graham is wrong to
grandfather these pawns of criminals. We welcome legal
immigrants, but we are a nation of laws - although the Federal
Government seems to have forgotten that.
Consider the absurdity of the wife of an Ambassador to
the United Nations or other foreign diplomat gaining
citizenship for her newborn. Diplomats are not subject to the
jurisdiction thereof. They and their families have "diplomatic
immunity." Those who enter the United States illegally are
also not subject to the jurisdiction thereof. By their actions
they reject that jurisdiction!

Thomas Jefferson on the Size of Government

I think, myself, that we have more machinery of government
than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor
of the industrious.

Declaration of Independence from the USSA

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of
nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power
from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of
government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the
people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government,
laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and
happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long
established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
accordingly all experience has shown that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are bearable, than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a
long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism,
it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and
to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the
patient sufferance of these states; and such is now the necessity
which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.
The history of the present President is a history of repeated injuries
and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an
absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be
submitted to a candid world:

He has appointed "special assistants", czars, who have not been
consented to by the peoples' Senate and are not subject to the
peoples' Congress.
He has fired an Inspector General, overseer of government for the
people, without following established procedure.
He has fired a Commanding General for criticizing the current
civilian administration.
He has given enemy combatants the status of "criminal" with rights
equal to an American citizen.
He has not enforced the laws concerning immigration, forcing the
states to enforce Federal law.
He has accelerated the nationalization of industries begun by the
previous President. Banking, Automotive manufacturing, Insurance,
Health Care, Housing, Education, etc have been significantly
nationalized.
Under the disguise of fiscal stimulus, he has repaid those that
put him in office.
He has invalidated contract law by placing the UAW in front of the
bondholders during the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler.
He has given aid and comfort to enemies of America while
slighting our historic allies.
He suppressed an EPA report questioning the validity of global
warming. The GW "crisis" is necessary to pass the onerous "cap
and Trade" legislation which is really control and tax.
His administration has failed to regulate oil exploration, and
the largest spill in history now threatens our environment.
He proposes yet another hidden tax with the value-added tax.
He has increased the debt and unfunded liabilities of the nation
at an unsustainable pace.
He and his Democrat-controlled Congress have "deemed" the
2011 budget passed - abdicating the responsibility to pass
specific appropriations legislation.
He has ignored the Constitution and has made America a nation
without the rule of law.

Progressive Presidents in America

Please examine the three Progressive Presidents of the
United States of America: Woodrow Wilson, Franklin
Delano Roosevelt and Barack Obama.
During Wilson's term, the Income Tax, Popular Election
of Senators and Prohibition Amendments were passed.
Millions of American lives were lost in a world war.
He tried to form a one world confederation.
During FDR's terms, the New Deal was passed. Most of it
was unConstitutional, and it was also a failure. The
precedent from 1921 was ignored. Unemployment was above
18%, and the deficit increased over 500%. Millions of
American lives were lost in a world war.
During Obama's term, taxpayers have become owners of banks,
insurance companies and car companies. There are unelected
czars running an ever-increasing part of our world. He has
alienated Israel and the U.K. - two of our best allies. He
has nationalized medical care. He has used "stimulus money"
as political money. Progressive states which have been
bankrupted by liberal policies will be bailed out as federal
taxpayers pay for generous salaries and retirements for
firefighters, police and teachers. All banks will be
punished for the misdeeds of a few banks. Congress has taken
no blame and has protected Fannie, Freddie and the Federal
Reserve - the three largest villains. When an Inspector
General uncovers improprieties, he is fired. When a General
disagrees publicly, he is fired. A failure to properly
regulate deep water drilling has allowed him to implement an
anti-carbon moratorium on drilling - again punishing all for
the few. His anti-business policies have made this the "Great
Recession." The Constitution has been ignored. We no longer
have a "rule of law."

NAFTA passed as an Act rather than a Treaty

The House of Representatives approved NAFTA on November 17,
1993, by a vote of 234 to 200. The agreement's supporters
included 132 Republicans and 102 Democrats. NAFTA passed the
Senate 61-38. Clinton signed it into law on December 8, 1993;
it went into effect on January 1, 1994.

Note that 61 is not 2/3 of the Senators present which is the
constitutional requirement to ratify a treaty. The "treaty"
was sent to the House of Representatives where it passed 234
to 200. I am not sure how an Act of Congress may affect Mexico
and Canada. The process itself smells!

Are They Really Sincere?

The Teamsters Union business agent was confined to the hospital.
A bouquet was sent, with a note reading:
“The Executive Board wishes you a speedy recovery, by a vote of
nine to six.”

Don Obama and his faithful companion Sancho Emanuel

Obama's fixation on alternative energy can be easily
compared to that of Don Quixote and his windmill.
The windmill is the savior rather than the villian for
Don Obama and his faithful companion Sancho Emanuel.
The fixation has distracted Don Obama from centuries
of supply of domestic, cleaner-burning natural gas which
could totally end the U.S. dependence on imported oil.
As we watch the oil from a deep-water well threaten the
beaches and ecosystems of the Gulf region, blame the
environmentalists and the government (and inept regulators)
for forcing off-shore and, in particular, deep-water
drilling. If the same subsidies were available for natural
gas as for wind and solar, then you would see the U.S.
transformed within a decade!
We currently sell our soul at 9.7 million barrels of imported
oil each day at $71.20/barrel.
China is building coal-fired power plants every week, but
they are also building state-of-the-art nuclear plants. Our
roles may be reversed in a decade.

SC Fair Tax - Lt Gov (candidate) Bill Conner

We are facing near record unemployment in our state right now.
The jobless rate has fallen by nearly a point from its zenith,
but remains far too high. The reason for this is clear - we
have grown government to unsustainable levels while taxing
businesses out of our state, or worse, out of existence.

Texas has shown us the way out of this mess. Our beaches are
better than Texas. Our wetlands are more beautiful. Our golf
courses are better. Our places to hunt and fish are better
than Texas. South Carolina is simply a better place to live
than Texas.

But, Texas has no personal or corporate income tax. As a
result, businesses have flocked there rather than here. What
do those businesses do? Create jobs - Texas has about half of
our unemployment rate at this writing.

We know what happens when you tax something - you get less of
it. That's why the legislature just passed an increase in
the cigarette tax; it's not about how much money they make on
the tax hike, it's about how many fewer people smoke as a
result of it. So why are we surprised when a state like ours
that taxes work winds up with fewer workers who have jobs?

So what should a state with an ailing economy do to give it
a permanent boost? Let's end the South Carolina personal and
corporate income tax.

Now, some say that would be difficult to impossible from a
budget standpoint. Where would we "replace" $3B in revenues
that the state receives from income tax? First, that question
ignores the reality of what happens in the economy when you
stop taxing work. If every small business in South Carolina
had that money back in the bank account instead of in the tax
revenue account, we'd be able to create so many more jobs that
sales tax revenues would naturally increase. That doesn't even
count the increase from enforcement: with the FairTax
everybody pays - illegal immigrants, underground economies, no
one is exempt.

Unfortunately, the budget writers in the Legislature don't
account for that sort of thing using their static budget
models, so we'll have to "find a way to pay" to eliminate the
income tax. This is easy - our state currently boasts $3.1B
in sales tax exemptions: on groceries, Thanksgiving weekend
purchases, back to school supplies, that sort of thing. If
we simply ended the sales tax exemptions, we could eliminate
corporate and personal income tax tomorrow.

That's what I support. An overhaul of our tax system that
ends corporate and personal income tax and replaces it with
sales taxes.

Quote of the Day - Dr. Walter Williams

If the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan wanted to sabotage
black academic excellence, he could not find a more effective
means to do so than the government school system in most
cities.

State of AZ and Illegal Immigration

Whereas, The Constitution Party platform affirms the integrity
of the international borders of these United States and the
Constitutional authority and duty of the federal government
to guard and to protect those borders, including the
regulation of the numbers and of the qualifications of
immigrants into the country; and

Whereas, the Federal Government has wrongfully neglected its
role to guard and protect our borders, and thus all Americans,
from an unprecedented invasion of illegal aliens;

Whereas, the State of Arizona, in the dire straits of enduring
the brunt of most of the illegal crossings of the national
border, has passed Arizona Senate Bill 1070 which was signed
by Governor Jan Brewer on April 23, 2010; and

Whereas, this Arizona law enables its Law Enforcement officers
to enforce federal immigration law using federal standards
protecting the rights of all citizens, and are required to do
so without violating civil rights and without resorting to
racial profiling;

Whereas, the Arizona law does not require new documentation
such as a national ID card, but uses existing identification
documentation to establish a presumption of legal status;

Therefore be it Resolved, that the Constitution Party National
Committee stands with the people of Arizona and applauds the
State of Arizona and its Governor Jan Brewer for its recent
action to protect and defend it citizens, our country, and the
sovereignty of both the State of Arizona and the United States
of America.

The Problem With a Green Economy

Elites would have you believe that there are only pros and
no cons to a green economy.
The Kyoto treaty which Clinton signed but did not send to
Congress, required expensive steps for the "developed nations"
while nothing was required of "developing nations." Copenhagen
reiterated the same policies with "developing nations" only
responsible to the extent that "developed nations provide the
financial and technological support." If we pay for it and
share our technical knowledge for free, then Brazil, Russia,
India, China (BRIC) and other "developing nations" should go
green.
Of the nations who signed and implemented Kyoto and
Copenhagen, most found it effective to move their dirtiest
industries to "developing nations." This is what Enron did
when it created "special purpose entities" to transfer their
debt to. The result has been tremendous growth for BRIC and
stagnant growth and high unemployment for the rest of us.

The Secular Socialist Machine - Newt

We are a nation that values hard work, entrepreneurship, innovation,
and merit-based upward mobility. These values have allowed our
nation to rise from colonial subjects of the British Empire to the
world's top economic and military power. But the values that have
made America great are threatened by a secular socialist machine that
wants to transform America into a radically different nation.
The secular socialist machine wants our nation to be dominated by
unions, controlled by bureaucracy, and to become a place where the
government engineers a vast redistribution of wealth to favored groups.

Reasons for Unemployment

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish
and you feed him for a lifetime!
The "progressives" much prefer to give out fish in exchange for votes.
In the early 1970s, Future Shock correctly forecast jobs for the next 30
years. We had moved from an agricultural economy, into a
manufacturing economy and then into an informational economy.
The change was measured by the majority job-type. Dr. Walter
Williams pointed out that, in 1790, 90% of Americans were employed
in an agricultural field. By 2005, the percentage had dropped to 3%.
The same thing happened in the manufacturing jobs. As the industries
matured, technology and innovation allowed more production with less
labor. We found better, cheaper ways to get things done. The
computerization of the information age further increased production
while decreasing the need for labor. Robots now do the dangerous jobs
of welding, painting, etc.
The world has now moved into the global economy. A TV ad shows a
doctor vacationing in Denmark while seeing patients at home. A
programmer can easily telecommute, but can also be replaced by
another programmer telecommuting from anywhere on the planet.
The highly-unionized government schools have failed to prepare
American students for the harsh reality that they will face. As
employees they will compete with better-educated foreigners who
will work harder and longer for less pay. While the U.S. cuts the school
year from 180 days due to budgetary reasons, many foreign students go
to school 220 or more days. There is no summer vacation to "harvest
the crops."

Jaime Escalante - Dead at 79

Jaime Escalante was a successful math teacher. His poor, inner-city
(LA) students passed more AP Calculus exams than students at
nearby Beverly Hills High. His classes were large - up to 50 - because
of demand. The 1988 movie Stand and Deliver documents the
success.
The teachers' union got him removed as chairman of the math
department and, he returned to his native Bolivia. The math
program went into a decline from which it has not recovered.

Government Intervention

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday it's "deeply unfair"
that some financial institutions that got taxpayer-paid bailouts are
emerging in better shape from the recession than millions of ordinary
Americans.
This is the core problem with unConstitutional government actions
which work against a free market.
The United States economy is too large to be manipulated and
regulated by a group of ivy-league "experts." Adam Smith said that
an "invisible hand" - made up of a world of people making financial
decisions - must regulate a free market.

A Good First Step to Energy Independence

“President Obama’s plan to promote more offshore drilling for oil
and natural gas is an important step in achieving true energy reform.
We should be taking full advantage of every available American
resource to help decrease our crippling dependency on foreign oil --
a dependency that is slowing our economic recovery and jeopardizing
our homeland security.

“Even if the estimates of the reserves are correct, we are 10 years
away from being able to use them. It’s imperative that we promote
other immediately available domestic alternatives to solve the
national security crisis created by foreign oil dependency.

“Transportation has to lead the way -- it accounts for two-thirds of
our oil imports. No energy strategy can be effective unless it promotes
the use of domestic natural gas as a transportation fuel alternative to
foreign oil/diesel, and the focus has to be on America’s eight million
heavy duty vehicles. The NAT GAS Act , a bipartisan bill proposed on
both sides of Congress, would advance the use of natural gas as a
transportation fuel.”

When is the Taxpayer Paying?

Under the ObamaCare legislation, women who receive tax
credits to help pay for health coverage may choose a plan
that covers abortion.
In Grove City College v. Bell, 1984, the Supreme Court
held that "there was no "substantive difference" between
institutional assistance and aid received by a school
through its students."  If students received Basic
Educational Opportunity Grants through a Department of
Education-run program, this assistance to students
qualified the College as a recipient of federal
assistance.
If a student receives taxpayer money and spends it for
tuition at a college, then that college has received
taxpayer money.
If a woman receives taxpayer money and spends it for
insurance coverage which includes abortion, then taxpayer
money paid for the abortion.  The requirement to write a
separate check and be reimbursed is a shell game.
There is no 'substantive difference' between taxpayer
money funding insurance coverage which includes abortion
and taxpayer money being received directly by an abortion
clinic from the federal government.

Noteable Government Failures

a. The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. You have had 235
years to get it right and, it is broke.

b. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 75 years to
get it right and, it is broke.

c. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 72 years to get
it right and, it is broke.

d. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 46 years to get it
right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred
to 'the poor' and, they only want more.

e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 45
years to get it right and, they both are broke.

f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 40 years to
get it right and, it is broke.

g. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our
dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees
with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever
before. You had 33 years to get it right and, it is an abysmal failure.
h. The Department of Education was created in 1979 and today our
students are not prepared to compete in the global economy. You
had 30 years to get it right and, it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every 'government service' you have shoved down
our throats while overspending our tax dollars AND, YOU WANT
AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A
GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM? IT'S NOT ABOUT
THE NEED FOR GOOD HEALTH CARE. IT'S ABOUT TRUSTING
THE GOVERNMENT TO RUN IT.

Time to Debate Secession - Again!

With the Federal government out of control, the secession option
should be debated. The nation is deeply divided anyway.
The supreme law of the land, the United States Constitution, has
been ignored for many years lately. It is not a list of "suggestions"!
If the Federal government passes a law - bill in Congress or
Executive Order - that is unConstitutional, then it is void. If it
is a SCOTUS decision, then it has the force of the supreme law -
whether the decision was correct or not. The United States no
longer operates under a rule of law.
Read the Declaration of Independence From the USSA from
4 July 2009 on this blog.

1940 Census Available to Public in 2012

72: Number of years individual census records are kept before they are
made public by the National Archives and Records Administration. In
2012, individual records from the 1940 Census will be made available
to the public for genealogical research.
If you subscribe to ancestry.com, then the "latest" census data is the
1930 census. This is a problem for geneologists because the mistakes
take so much time to resolve. In the 1930 census the taker entered my
mother's father and twin brother incorrectly:
Robert Minter Alexander was listed as Robert Minta Alexander
Peyton Alexander was listed as Paxton Alexander
If you do an exact search, then they will not be found. Surprised,
we did a "close-enough-for-gov't" search to find the errors.

Harmful Energy Policy

With an economy struggling to regain sound footing, Energy Secretary
Steven Chu advocated a starvation diet devoid of additional fossil fuels
that are to remain under the ground and seabed. Instead, he supports
53% more funding for wind research and a 22% jump for solar
research.To leave vast stores of domestic energy untapped while
Americans are looking for cheap energy and jobs is irresponsible.
Unfortunately, this administration has no long-term energy solution,
other than hoping for a lot of cloudless and windy days.
There is a national security aspect when we import about 9 million
barrels of oil each week at a cost of about $80/barrel. This money is
used to educate Islamic terrorists who want to kill us. We have
enough coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy to be energy
independent right now!

5 Points of ObamaCare

1.) Nearly half of a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts. This is a
program that will be broke in six years, yet the Senate bill does nothing
to put it on firm financial footing

2.) Dramatic expansion of government. The Senate bill creates
159 new offices, agencies, and programs. What will these new agencies,
commissions, and programs do? They will regulate, they will dictate,
they will spend.

3.) Raises taxes by more than $500 billion by raising payroll
taxes, fines to businesses, new investment taxes, fees on medical
technology companies

4.) Corrupt backroom deals to buy votes, like the Cornhusker
Kickback, Louisiana Purchase, and exemptions for certain states and
companies so they avoid new regulations or cuts that others will bear

5.) Taxpayer funded abortion coverage. Individuals can use
federal subsidies to help pay for insurance that covers abortion, and
they buy abortion coverage through an insurance exchange that the
federal government creates, funds, and administers. Thus the federal
government will be actively promoting and facilitating the purchase
of abortion coverage.

Census 2010

"Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get
its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health
facilities, and many other programs that you and your neighbors need."
[WARNING:] "Without a complete, accurate census, your community
may not receive its fair share."
Robert M. Groves, Director, U.S. Census Bureau, March 8, 2010.

The Census is for the purpose of "apportioning the House of
Representatives."
United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, Census Act of
1790.

Does anyone else see a difference?

The Role of the Federal government

The role of the Federal government is enumerated in the
Constitution. Other roles are retained by the people and the states.
Jimmy Carter was wrong to create the Cabinet offices and huge
Departments of Education and Energy. You favor:
1) "Federal" money for research grants at universities
2) "Federal" money for low interest loans and scholarships
3) "Federal" money for grants to teachers and administrators
I can not find any of these in the enumerated powers of the
Federal government, so I am against them.
The Savannah River National Laboratory is the newest of the
National Labs, and it is located in your district. Research for the
common benefit should be funded and coordinated by the
National Labs. Research should be for Constitutional purposes -
national defense, etc.
Loans and scholarships are necessary because lottery money has
so increased the demand that tuition at state universities has
increased more than 1000% since I went to Augusta College
(ASU now) in the 1960s. I would like to see corporations do this
instead of government. If the Fair Tax is passed, then
corporations will not be taxed except to buy new supplies. They
have the incentive to pay for the best employees. I like the co-op
program in which your education is reinforced by work in a
chosen career during alternating terms.
Merit bonuses should be given by the people who appreciate the
person the most - the parents.
The Department of Energy spent $13B of utility customer money
on Yucca Mountain. Now Nevada has reneged citing NIMBY. We
want our money back!

President Obama and Sgt Schultz

There was a character on the popular TV program Hogan's Heroes
named Sgt Schultz. He was famous for "I know nothing!"
President Obama is claiming to be "agnostic" about new taxes on
the middle class. This is a curious use of the word. It comes from
two Greek words, "a" and "gnosis". The first is a negative of what
follows and means "without". The second means "to know" or "to
understand". Together they mean "without knowledge or
understanding." In other words "I know nothing!" about new taxes
on the middle class.
It will be interesting to see if the President signs a bill for new
taxes on the middle class while still claiming to be agnostic! The
dilemma is that he promised not to raise taxes on the middle class!
What would Joe Wilson have to say about that?

Money and Education

Scholars have studied the relationship between per-student
spending and achievement test scores since the publication
of Equality of Educational Opportunity (a.k.a. "The Coleman
Report") in 1966. Sociologist James Coleman, its author,
concluded then that per-pupil spending does not have a
significant impact on student achievement scores. Economist
Erik Hanushek and others have subsequently replicated Coleman's
study and even extended it beyond U.S. borders. The finding
of over 30 years of research is clear: More money does not
equal better education. There are schools, states, and countries
that spend a great deal of money per pupil with poor results,
while others spend much less and do much better.
A recent story out of Kansas City, Missouri, illustrates the
truth of this as well as any. In 1985, a federal judge directed
the school district in that city to devise a "money-is-no-object"
educational plan to improve the achievement of black students
and encourage desegregation. As a result, Kansas City taxpayers
ended up spending more money per pupil annually, on a
cost-of-living adjusted basis, than taxpayers in any of the
country's 280 largest school districts. They paid for 15 new
schools, an Olympic-sized swimming pool with an underwater
viewing room, television and animation studios, a 25-acre wildlife
sanctuary, a zoo, a robotics lab, field trips to Mexico and Senegal,
and higher teacher salaries. The student-to-teacher ratio was the
lowest of any major school district in the nation at 13-to-1. By
the time the experiment ended in 1997, costs had mounted to
nearly $2 billion. Yet test scores did not rise, and there was even
less student integration than before the spending spree. In May
2000, the Missouri Board of Education officially removed
accreditation status from the district for failing to meet even one
of 11 performance standards! In short, we have all but exhausted
the rules-and resource-based approaches to education reform,
with little to show for our time and money. This leaves us with
the incentives-based approach. Merit pay for teachers is one form
this can take, but parental choice remains its centerpiece.

The Truth About the Fair Tax

Thanks to all of you who are getting refunds this year.
We taxpayers appreciate the interest-free use of your money!
If you had not over-paid your taxes, then the Treasury
Department would have had to issue debt instruments and pay
interest.
The income tax - as you know - is taken out before
you get it. The Fair Tax is different. You decide when you
will pay it. There is no April 15 or IRS or 16th Amendment.
There are no tax forms or deadlines. If you are paid
$3,000/month, then your pay will be $3,000 (minus the state's
tax if not FL, TX, etc).
You still have to pay taxes - some things never change! When
you decide to buy something new, you will pay a 23% sales tax
in addition to the purchase price. That sounds really bad,
and critics only talk about this aspect. What they fail to
tell you is the Fair Tax replaces the Federal income tax, FICA
Social Security and FICA Medicare. Corporations will pay
nothing! If you have a poverty-level income, then you will pay
no tax at all, and you may get money back if you are frugal.
The Fair Tax will encourage saving and discourage wasteful
spending. The "rich" will continue to pay most of the tax.
What is the prebate? If your poverty-level income is
$36,000/year, then the Federal government will send you a monthly
check for $690 or $8280/year. If you spend less than $36,000,
then you will receive more than you are taxed. Every taxpayer
gets a check - even Bill Gates!
Look at a hypothetical example for a family of 4 with an income of
$36,000/year, and assume that the poverty level for a family of 4
is $36,000. Also assume no state income tax. The family paycheck
each month will be $3,000. The prebate check will be $690 each
month. The family has $3,690/month to spend. Assume they spend
$3,690/month including the sales tax. Their tax burden is $0.
What if they only spend $2,000 + 23% ($2,460)? They will still
get $3,690/month, so they will have $1,230 to save or invest.
What if they spend $4,000 + 23% ($4,920)? They will have to take
$1,230 from savings to make up the difference.
The current system actually encourages waste. The poor may have
trouble affording a car and the tax on it. They are forced to shop
for groceries and necessities at high-priced "convenience stores."
The Fair Tax will encourage frugality and savings.
Note that the 23% sales tax is only on NEW items. There is no tax
on used goods.
Politicians do not like the Fair Tax. Much of their power comes
from bribing us to do things their way. We subsidize the Real
Estate industry with mortgage tax deductions and first-time home
buyer tax credits. We subsidize the auto industry with
"Cash-for-Clunkers" tax credits. The list goes on for thousands
of pages of IRS code. We structure our lives according to the IRS
code - much of it not voted on by the people's representatives in
Congress.

4th Quarter GDP Numbers

The news for the 4th Quarter was great! 5.7%! Remember that
the previous quarter was originally 3.5% and then was revised
down twice to 2.2%.
The Obama Administration was quick to take credit for the
positive numbers. The problem is that the Clinton and Bush
Administrations, Congress and the Federal Reserve are
responsible for creating the loose money, poorly-regulated
environment which induced "fat-cat bankers" to take greater
risks. The truly foolish politicians and money folks have
taken their bribes, fat fees and bonuses and have departed the
crime scene. The Obama Administration was simply at the right
place at the right time - in office when the recovery happened.
Unemployment is still at 10% primarily because of the uncertainty
created by the POTUS and his Congress. Employers are waiting to
see if tax, energy and health reform legislation will pass. If
they are charged a 5.4% surcharge, energy taxes and forced to pay
health insurance for all employees, then they will be reluctant
to hire - especially since minimum wages have already increased
$.70/hr. The mandatory wage increase costs $1,456/employee/yr or
$145,600/yr for every 100 employees. The surcharge costs $54,000
per $million profit. Expenses for "cap and trade" and Obamacare
could be much more! Ev Dirksen would say "a $10K expense here
and a $10K expense there, and suddenly your profit is a loss!"
The Federal Government says that they need $3.83 trillion of
taxpayer dollars for FY2011. That should keep them comfortable -
and gain lots of bribes - with their already above-average salaries.

Health Reform and Evolution

At the present time my doctor will make the life/death
decision if I am incapacitated. If Obamacare becomes law,
then the Federal Health Commissioner and a panel of
politically-appointed "experts" will make rulings which my
doctor must follow - if he wants to be paid.
For several generations now, government schools have taught
that "the universe is self-existing and not created" and that
mankind evolved from a rock/rain soup and is merely a higher
form of animal. This is actually taught as accepted fact even
though the idea cannot be tested in accordance with the
scientific method. It must be accepted by faith.
If we euthanize our pets to end their pain and misery, then
we can also justify the same treatment for the "higher form of
animal" that we call man/woman. We can determine the genetic
status of a baby before birth and can make a life/death decision
based on the "quality of life" or the "national asset value" that
the child will have.
Contrast this idea with the idea of God creating everything.
Each human has his/her name written in the Lamb's Book of Life at
conception, and their name is only removed if they reject Jesus
Christ as Lord. Each human has such worth that God was born as
a man and suffered and died as a man in order to take the
punishment that we deserve. Those who have trusted in Jesus
Christ as Lord are children of God, may call Him "Abba Father"
(Daddy), and are precious in His sight!

United States Treaties

I had to research NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, WTO, NATO, SEATO,
etc treaties due to a correspondence with the Constitution
Party SC/Aiken rep. The ratification results (from Wiki):
NAFTA - 234-200 and 61-38
CAFTA - 217-215 and 54-45
These are as VOID as any other legislation which fails to
pass. The reference is Article II, Section 2:
[The President] shall have power, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided
two-thirds of the Senators present concur.
From this alone, NAFTA, CAFTA, etc have NEVER been law.
By enforcing these, the federal government has been
operating outside the Constitution - the supreme law of the
United States. Any inherent regulations may be freely
ignored - if you trust Federal Courts.

Seven Principles of the Constitution Party

1. Life: For all human beings, from conception to natural
death;
2. Liberty: Freedom of conscience and actions for the
self-governed individual;
3. Family: One husband and one wife with their children as
divinely instituted;
4. Property: Each individual's right to own and steward
personal property without government burden;
5. Constitution: and Bill of Rights interpreted according
to the actual intent of the Founding Fathers;
6. States' Rights: Everything not specifically delegated by
the Constitution to the federal government, nor prohibited
by the Constitution to the states, is reserved to the states
or to the people;
7. American Sovereignty: American government committed to the
protection of the borders, trade, and common defense of
Americans, and not entangled in foreign alliances.

I might question #7 since protectionism weakens our economy
and having alliances is not necessarily bad, but acting as the
world's police probably is. I support membership in the United
Nations as a propaganda platform although the U.S. dues should
be no more than the least country on the Security Council.

Predictions for 2010

1. Unemployment will continue above 8% as Democrats seek to
keep wages high and to have "rich" employers pay for their
programs through taxes and surcharges.
2. The Rating on U.S. Treasury bonds will drop below AAA, and
inflation will soar to double digits. Recession will return.
3. Treating GITMO terrorists as criminals and giving them the
same legal rights as American citizens will embolden terrorists.
At least one major terrorist attack will occur.
4. Obama will show friendship toward Muslims rather than Israel.
5. Subsidies on alternative energies will delay further development
of carbon-based fuels like coal and natural gas and will continue
the flow of American capital to foreigners who dislike us.
6. The Secretary of Energy will delay development and modernization
of the nuclear industry. Power will be provided by 40+ year-old
technology and wastes will build up at existing sites. China will
build modern nuclear facilities based on U.S. technology.
7. Several blue states like CA and NY will get taxpayer bailouts
in the form of "Federal" loans which will then be "forgiven."
8. Jesus Christ will catch up true believers into Heaven, and the
world will experience tribulation.