Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Today in History
On this date, 236 years ago, the King's tea was thrown into the harbor in Boston by brave men willing to do more than forego some TV to preserve their Liberty.
Voter Fraud
The policy of the Washington government is voter fraud. Why else would so many push to let convicted felons and non-citizens vote; people who have no stake in and perhaps a deep resentment of civil society. Combine this with "early voting"; the most delightful invitation to vote the Chicago way - early indeed, but also often, and everyday, for weeks! Lets all have as our goal to vote 30 times; overwhelm the system; let them try to sort it out, and see how many of our 30 votes gets counted.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
County Commission Accountibility
Our county, like so many, is governed by a Commission. We have 5 members elected from geographic districts. We do not elect the Chairman; he is chosen by the commissioners - 3 votes win. They can revote any time 3 of them wish too. Three of them can, in fact, vote to do anything they wish. There is no check or balance to review their votes. Our current 5 routinely vote against express county ordinances (laws) that if honored would allow us be governed by law instead of the whim of 3 commissioners.
The term "whim" is not used lightly.
These 5 Commissioners regularly grant any variance to our County ordinances supposedly controlling development.
These 5 Commissioners regularly ignore their own development planning, itself developed over years with (as it turns out) the window dressing of citizen involvement.
These 5 Commissioners regularly ignore even their own private agreements and understandings with respect to maintaining at least some bit of the rural and agricultural heritage of Henderson County.
These 5 Commissioners bind themselves by no law or from any action except the desires of any three of them. North Carolina law says that to win a seat on our County Commission, a candidate must win 50% + 1 of the votes cast in a valid election.
That sounds kind of familiar no matter how little we may have been taught in civics class at a government school. Except, of course, if there are more than 2 candidates; then the state law says it only takes 40% + 1 to be elected. That doesn't sound quite the same. A sitting Commissioner has a big advantage in having that "name recognition" thing. Already just being a Commissioner might get you pretty close to 2 out of 5 votes, with your name being in the paper regularly.
Have you ever noted how in the months running up to an election whichever of them are running seem to be the ones doing the newsworthy things? Many voters (too many) vote for the name they know. You know the principle - "The devil you know rather than the unknown one". How often has an incumbent Commissioner been defeated for re-election? In the '08 race, two incumbents ran and oddly each had 2 opponents.
One did get just over 50%, while the other squeaked out a very narrow (about 43% to 41%) win. He is a County Commissioner again for 4 more years, but 57% of the votes actually cast were against him. I wonder how many opponents each of the 3 running in '10 will have? If you check the contributors to the campaigns, you find that all four of the others give to any one of them running. Where else in politics do you find that!
They, our county officials, will say "it's the state law". Yeah, and it needs to be changed. Politicians at all levels really don't like elections, except that first one. There are ways to get some accountability into the Commission and Commissioners who have a majority mandate. Here are some beginning by requiring 50% + 1: Period.
a) A separate run-off (Oooooo that costs so much more than living under the tyranny of 3).
b) An “instant” run-off where you vote for 2 or all in order of preference.
c) A publicly elected Chairman (and Vice-Chairman?) so the office is the people’s to loan out, not the property of the Commission and he/they could check the will (whim) of the others.
d) Some combination of the above.
Strength and Honor
The term "whim" is not used lightly.
These 5 Commissioners regularly grant any variance to our County ordinances supposedly controlling development.
These 5 Commissioners regularly ignore their own development planning, itself developed over years with (as it turns out) the window dressing of citizen involvement.
These 5 Commissioners regularly ignore even their own private agreements and understandings with respect to maintaining at least some bit of the rural and agricultural heritage of Henderson County.
These 5 Commissioners bind themselves by no law or from any action except the desires of any three of them. North Carolina law says that to win a seat on our County Commission, a candidate must win 50% + 1 of the votes cast in a valid election.
That sounds kind of familiar no matter how little we may have been taught in civics class at a government school. Except, of course, if there are more than 2 candidates; then the state law says it only takes 40% + 1 to be elected. That doesn't sound quite the same. A sitting Commissioner has a big advantage in having that "name recognition" thing. Already just being a Commissioner might get you pretty close to 2 out of 5 votes, with your name being in the paper regularly.
Have you ever noted how in the months running up to an election whichever of them are running seem to be the ones doing the newsworthy things? Many voters (too many) vote for the name they know. You know the principle - "The devil you know rather than the unknown one". How often has an incumbent Commissioner been defeated for re-election? In the '08 race, two incumbents ran and oddly each had 2 opponents.
One did get just over 50%, while the other squeaked out a very narrow (about 43% to 41%) win. He is a County Commissioner again for 4 more years, but 57% of the votes actually cast were against him. I wonder how many opponents each of the 3 running in '10 will have? If you check the contributors to the campaigns, you find that all four of the others give to any one of them running. Where else in politics do you find that!
They, our county officials, will say "it's the state law". Yeah, and it needs to be changed. Politicians at all levels really don't like elections, except that first one. There are ways to get some accountability into the Commission and Commissioners who have a majority mandate. Here are some beginning by requiring 50% + 1: Period.
a) A separate run-off (Oooooo that costs so much more than living under the tyranny of 3).
b) An “instant” run-off where you vote for 2 or all in order of preference.
c) A publicly elected Chairman (and Vice-Chairman?) so the office is the people’s to loan out, not the property of the Commission and he/they could check the will (whim) of the others.
d) Some combination of the above.
Strength and Honor
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Economics .01
Price is the discipline that insures that each party to a commercial transaction gets fairness. If a buyer refuses the price, the seller gets no revenue and the buyer gets no product.
The seller must offer a different price or a different product.
This is where all innovation comes from and all commerce happens. Class dismissed.
You government wants to abolish price and pretend that everyone can get anything cheap, or free, and buyers and sellers can all prosper without bothering about price/cost relationships. This is called DEBT and is designed in Washington to burden us, our grandchildren, and their grandchildren to the tune of trillions in new debt invented in the last 9 months. It is really hard to conclude anything other there is a deliberate plan, by our government to crash the economy and the social structure; and who are 'Cloward and Piven' or Saul Alinsky???
Paying for this ignorance and stupidity and deliberate evil will fall to the usual suspects, all of the above; and they are assuming general stupidity and ignorance among us to allow it.
Those of us in NC-11 cannot fire Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid; we can do one thing and precisely one thing as our part to set this right, and that is to insure that our Representative in the next Congress does not promote this deadly ignorance. The incumbent has promoted it to me, and half a dozen (the maximum size crowd that doesn't frighten him) other citizens, on two occasions in person to our faces. His vote in the House was a sham and a future campaign claim. He voted "no" after the bill had already passed.
Lets be sure we do everything in our power to git 'er done.
The seller must offer a different price or a different product.
This is where all innovation comes from and all commerce happens. Class dismissed.
You government wants to abolish price and pretend that everyone can get anything cheap, or free, and buyers and sellers can all prosper without bothering about price/cost relationships. This is called DEBT and is designed in Washington to burden us, our grandchildren, and their grandchildren to the tune of trillions in new debt invented in the last 9 months. It is really hard to conclude anything other there is a deliberate plan, by our government to crash the economy and the social structure; and who are 'Cloward and Piven' or Saul Alinsky???
Paying for this ignorance and stupidity and deliberate evil will fall to the usual suspects, all of the above; and they are assuming general stupidity and ignorance among us to allow it.
Those of us in NC-11 cannot fire Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid; we can do one thing and precisely one thing as our part to set this right, and that is to insure that our Representative in the next Congress does not promote this deadly ignorance. The incumbent has promoted it to me, and half a dozen (the maximum size crowd that doesn't frighten him) other citizens, on two occasions in person to our faces. His vote in the House was a sham and a future campaign claim. He voted "no" after the bill had already passed.
Lets be sure we do everything in our power to git 'er done.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Health? - No, POWER Baby, POWWER!
We need to be able buy health care any where we want. We need to keep our health care where ever we work or live.
But do our women not need mammograms, no matter their histories? That is the way a hive works. Everybody is the same. We will never be comfortable in a hive. Will we? The reason you want to waste a crisis is that it relieves, not increases the government pressure on citizens. The health care debate is about the power of more control of your life and is part and parcel with Un-American mass transit and every other communitarian proposal. American transit also, like American Health, is about me deciding exactly when, where, and by by what route I will travel. In my health, I decide what I can afford and a free market provides it.
But do our women not need mammograms, no matter their histories? That is the way a hive works. Everybody is the same. We will never be comfortable in a hive. Will we? The reason you want to waste a crisis is that it relieves, not increases the government pressure on citizens. The health care debate is about the power of more control of your life and is part and parcel with Un-American mass transit and every other communitarian proposal. American transit also, like American Health, is about me deciding exactly when, where, and by by what route I will travel. In my health, I decide what I can afford and a free market provides it.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Who needs a Pacemaker?
The reduction in Medicare is one thing; but it goes quite a bit farther. The plan is clear from Dr. Zeke's "Complete Lives" plan that much more will saved by denying procedures to the old and unwell who are the only people who really need them.
That'll save some money; and getting people out of Social Security and in the ground quicker, saves even more. And, um, who thinks that S.S. COLAs, suspended for the next two years, will ever be restored?
That'll save some money; and getting people out of Social Security and in the ground quicker, saves even more. And, um, who thinks that S.S. COLAs, suspended for the next two years, will ever be restored?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Campaign/Crisis Overload
Its like waking up every morning and finding Nostradamus in your bedroom, and having him follow you around all day telling you how bad it's going to be. After years of this nothing can be said to get you to even raise your eyebrows.
The CNBC bit that Beck played tonight where a fellow predicts the total collapse of the dollar putting the US on an economic par with, say, Paraguay. goes right past the CNBC guy, as if he had said it would be mildly warmer tomorrow. Then the guest says there will then have to be a new order, probably at and of, the UN, led by China and the 3rd world to manage the post-American world. The 2010 ballot is our chance (no I won't say it) to change Congressional faces and ideas. What will you do between now and Nov 2, 2010!!?
The debt clock on our site TEAforLiberty.us shows we reached $12 Trillion in debt today (over a billion more accumulated before I went and noticed) up from 6 couple of years ago - 14 a year from now. Excuse me - my favorite "Gilligan" is coming on.
The CNBC bit that Beck played tonight where a fellow predicts the total collapse of the dollar putting the US on an economic par with, say, Paraguay. goes right past the CNBC guy, as if he had said it would be mildly warmer tomorrow. Then the guest says there will then have to be a new order, probably at and of, the UN, led by China and the 3rd world to manage the post-American world. The 2010 ballot is our chance (no I won't say it) to change Congressional faces and ideas. What will you do between now and Nov 2, 2010!!?
The debt clock on our site TEAforLiberty.us shows we reached $12 Trillion in debt today (over a billion more accumulated before I went and noticed) up from 6 couple of years ago - 14 a year from now. Excuse me - my favorite "Gilligan" is coming on.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
OBAMA BOWS BEFORE JAPAN'S EMPEROR
Fair warning - RANT to follow:
I must get my boundless disgust for this man off my chest. If this personally smug, arrogant, vicious jerk and slick, polished, idiot Chicago political hack knew anything about Japanese protocol he would know that the deeper the bow, the more disrespect is shown, as is studied over-politeness in our, that is American, culture. The most powerful Japanese greet one another with a subtle dip of the chin.
I don't know why I think the following bumper sticker sighting goes together with the Nincompoop in Chief's show of yet another subject where his profound ignorance is on innocent public display to the world in his continuing weak, spineless, apologetic, and groveling planetary tour. OK, now I am better - Thanks.
This utterly stupid (it could have easily been looked up) act would embarrass a country born Kenyan let alone a "Hawaiian". The bumper sticker read "Pray for President Obama - Psalms 109:8".
I must get my boundless disgust for this man off my chest. If this personally smug, arrogant, vicious jerk and slick, polished, idiot Chicago political hack knew anything about Japanese protocol he would know that the deeper the bow, the more disrespect is shown, as is studied over-politeness in our, that is American, culture. The most powerful Japanese greet one another with a subtle dip of the chin.
I don't know why I think the following bumper sticker sighting goes together with the Nincompoop in Chief's show of yet another subject where his profound ignorance is on innocent public display to the world in his continuing weak, spineless, apologetic, and groveling planetary tour. OK, now I am better - Thanks.
This utterly stupid (it could have easily been looked up) act would embarrass a country born Kenyan let alone a "Hawaiian". The bumper sticker read "Pray for President Obama - Psalms 109:8".
Monday, November 9, 2009
You couldn't help but notice the "Blue Dogs" on Saturday night, waiting, cowering in the corner until the end of the vote, so that if all the flaming REDS stayed in line they could safely, if not courageously, vote "kinda sorta" no.
The people all over Africa and the Middle east, central Asia, South America, and even other places, are in such dire straits because of bad government. Wherever people are oppressed it is not corporations who just want to sell them something, but governments, that oppress them.
Bad government that over taxes and over regulates their personal and business lives; that creates political crimes (offenses that are not against other people or property, but against political ideas), and other "crimes" that purport to see inside someones thoughts. Such countries treat the same crime differently depending on who the victim is.
Such governments determine that crimes against a favored group are "hate" crimes, to be punished more harshly than crimes against others. It makes you wonder if crimes against non-favored groups are "Love" crimes?!
The worst offenses are being "counter-Revolutionary", and "Not in support of the Leaders program".
Aren't you glad you don't live in such a country?
According to the Heritage Index of Economic Freedom (which if you don't have, there is no other kind) the US ranks 6th, "We're number 6 " just doesn't have that certain ring to it.
The people all over Africa and the Middle east, central Asia, South America, and even other places, are in such dire straits because of bad government. Wherever people are oppressed it is not corporations who just want to sell them something, but governments, that oppress them.
Bad government that over taxes and over regulates their personal and business lives; that creates political crimes (offenses that are not against other people or property, but against political ideas), and other "crimes" that purport to see inside someones thoughts. Such countries treat the same crime differently depending on who the victim is.
Such governments determine that crimes against a favored group are "hate" crimes, to be punished more harshly than crimes against others. It makes you wonder if crimes against non-favored groups are "Love" crimes?!
The worst offenses are being "counter-Revolutionary", and "Not in support of the Leaders program".
Aren't you glad you don't live in such a country?
According to the Heritage Index of Economic Freedom (which if you don't have, there is no other kind) the US ranks 6th, "We're number 6 " just doesn't have that certain ring to it.
Monday, November 2, 2009
First a word about Raum's quip. Most of you understand that by this he means - don't work on fixing the crisis. If it destroys plans an dreams to let a crisis burn while the political agenda is pursued, it is, after all, for the people - or even better- the women and children. This bold cynical way of governing is what we see in nearly all of this administrations policy initiatives.
But we in the return-to-the-Constitution and free movements are a force they did not fully reckon with, and Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, concerning today's withdrawal of GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava from the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district and about the TEA Party movement:
"In her statement announcing suspension of her campaign in the special election for New York's 23rd congressional district, Assemblywoman and liberal GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava refused to throw her support behind a fellow Republican, Doug Hoffman, who is running on the Conservative Party ticket in this particular race.
"That was one more example of the 'closed tent' mentality of big-government, establishment Republicans who have worked long and hard to keep conservatives out of power at the national, state and local levels.
"The GOP leadership's backing of Ms. Scozzafava was a slap in the face to Tea Party activists, town hall protesters, and conservatives across the country. The Washington GOP establishment's abandonment of fiscal responsibility led directly to the election of Barack Obama as President and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. The American people see the GOP leadership and establishment every bit as much a part of the problem as the Democrats.
"Doug Hoffman and NY-23 is an earthquake in American politics, and is the first of many challenges to establishment Republicans that we will see for the 2010 elections and beyond. The stupid decision by Republican leaders to pour $900,000 into the NY-23rd race against a conservative has unleashed a fury that will lead to new GOP leadership.
"Conservatives anger at Washington-establishment Republicans will cost the national committees tens of millions of dollars as conservative money will start flowing directly to the Tea Parties and their candidates.
But we in the return-to-the-Constitution and free movements are a force they did not fully reckon with, and Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, concerning today's withdrawal of GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava from the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district and about the TEA Party movement:
"In her statement announcing suspension of her campaign in the special election for New York's 23rd congressional district, Assemblywoman and liberal GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava refused to throw her support behind a fellow Republican, Doug Hoffman, who is running on the Conservative Party ticket in this particular race.
"That was one more example of the 'closed tent' mentality of big-government, establishment Republicans who have worked long and hard to keep conservatives out of power at the national, state and local levels.
"The GOP leadership's backing of Ms. Scozzafava was a slap in the face to Tea Party activists, town hall protesters, and conservatives across the country. The Washington GOP establishment's abandonment of fiscal responsibility led directly to the election of Barack Obama as President and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. The American people see the GOP leadership and establishment every bit as much a part of the problem as the Democrats.
"Doug Hoffman and NY-23 is an earthquake in American politics, and is the first of many challenges to establishment Republicans that we will see for the 2010 elections and beyond. The stupid decision by Republican leaders to pour $900,000 into the NY-23rd race against a conservative has unleashed a fury that will lead to new GOP leadership.
"Conservatives anger at Washington-establishment Republicans will cost the national committees tens of millions of dollars as conservative money will start flowing directly to the Tea Parties and their candidates.
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