Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Tea Party - What We Believe - Part IV - Natural Law


This is what the "Tea Party" believes about "Natural law". It is the fourth in a series - more to follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TSiJ2Gp058

Trouble Ahead!!

      This is exactly the type of trouble this country needs. The Liberal/Progressives and the lame stream media are beginning to panic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3fm44OFChk

Friday, October 29, 2010

Connecticut 89th House District Election

Normally, I don't get involved in local State elections, because I don't know that much about them except that you should never vote for anyone with a "D" after their name. However, I have been tipped off about a very important race in this District that covers the area of Prospect, Bethany, and Cheshire. Kathy Brown, a Republican, has been endorsed by The Cheshire Herald, and the NRA. Her opponent, Vickie Nardello, the incumbent Democrat, who is a far left wing Liberal/Progressive has promised, if re-elected, to reintroduce energy legislation that was vetoed by Governor Rell during the last legislative session. It would drastically raise electricity rates in Connecticut and would take away your option to choose what power company you want to buy electricity from. You know, that old free market competition that built this country. Ms. Nardello would like to tell you where you can get your electricity from. More government intrusion into your life and freedoms. If you live in the 89th house district in Connecticut, please vote for Kathy Brown. We need to get rid of as many "D"s as possible.

Thomas Sowell Again - From TownHall.com


THINK before you vote, but VOTE. Your future and subsequent generations are depending on you!!

A Crossroads Election

Most elections are about particular policies, particular scandals or particular personalities. But these issues don't mean as much this year-- not because they are not important, but because this election is a crossroads election, one that can decide what path this country will take for many years to come.
Runaway "stimulus" spending, high unemployment and ObamaCare are all legitimate and important issues. It is just that freedom and survival are more important.
For all its sweeping and scary provisions, ObamaCare is not nearly as important as the way it was passed. If legislation can become laws passed without either the public or the Congress knowing what is in those laws, then the fundamental principle of a free, self-governing people is completely undermined.
Some members of Congress who voted for ObamaCare, and who are now telling us that they realize this legislation has flaws which they intend to correct, are missing the point.
The very reason for holding hearings on pending legislation, listening to witnesses on all sides of the issue, and having Congressional debates that will be reported and commented on in the media, is so that problems can be explored and alternatives considered before the legislation is voted into law.
Rushing ObamaCare into law too fast for anyone to have read it served no other purpose than to prevent this very process from taking place. The rush to pass this law that would not take effect until after the next two elections simply cut the voters out of the loop-- and that is painfully close to ruling by decree.
Other actions and proposals by this administration likewise represent moves in the direction of arbitrary rule, worthy of a banana republic, with only a mocking facade of freedom.
These include threats against people who simply choose to express opinions counter to administration policy, such as a warning to an insurance company that there would be "zero tolerance" for "misinformation" when the insurance company said that ObamaCare would create costs that force up premiums.
Zero tolerance for the right of free speech guaranteed by the Constitution?
This warning comes from an administration with arbitrary powers that can impose ruinous costs on a given business.
Those who are constantly telling us that our economic problems are caused by not enough "regulation" never distinguish between regulation which simply enforces known rules, as contrasted with regulation that gives arbitrary powers to the government to force others to knuckle under to demands that have nothing to do with the ostensible purposes of the regulation.
As more businesses reveal that they are considering no longer buying health insurance for their employees, as a result of higher costs resulting from ObamaCare legislation, the administration has announced that it can grant waivers that reduce these costs.
But the power to grant waivers is the power to withhold waivers-- an arbitrary power that can impose millions of dollars in costs on businesses that the administration doesn't like.
Recent proposals from the Obama administration to force disclosure of the names of people who sponsor election ads would likewise open all who disagree with Obama to retaliation by the government itself, as well as by community activists and others.
History tells us where giving government one arbitrary power after another leads. It is like going into a Venus fly-trap, which is easy to enter and nearly impossible to get out of.
The headstrong, know-it-all willfulness of this administration, which threatens our freedom at home, also threatens our survival in the international jungle, because Obama seems determined to do nothing that will stop Iran from going nuclear.
The Obama administration goes through all sorts of charades at the U.N. and signs international agreements on sanctions that have been watered down to the point where they are not about to bring Iran's nuclear weapons program to a halt. The purpose is not to stop Iran but to stop the American people from realizing what Obama is doing or not doing.
We have a strange man in the White House. This election is a crossroads, because either his power will be curbed by depriving him of his huge Congressional majorities or he will continue on a road that jeopardizes both our freedom and our survival.
Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of The Housing Boom and Bust.

My Wife's Letter to the Editor of the Waterbury Republican


McMahon, Foley offer business background


       Tuesday, I will vote for Republicans Linda McMahon for U.S. Senate and Tom Foley for governor, not necessarily because they are Republicans or fiscal conservatives (whom I generally support), but because of their private-sector experience. It's not easy to run a successful business or work for one. I know because I do.           
       Think of the state as a publicly held company. The governor (CEO), the congressional delegation (board of directors) and the legislature (managers and supervisors, and labor resources), are responsible for one thing: returning a profit to the people (stockholders). Not to make citizens "happy." Not for personal gain at the expense of the state. Not to cater to special interests that may dilute the state's profitability. They work for, us, the taxpayers, who fund every decision they make.
        I believe the state government could learn a great deal from the private sector, which understands business plans, cash-flow metrics, efficiency and correct sizing to be successful. We have an opportunity to see this in action, and I believe we should take advantage of that opportunity.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

What Would Our Founding Fathers Say?

This is a great letter sent to several newspapers. Let's see how many print it. This guy is my choice for the 2012 Republican nomination for U.S. Senator against Joe Lieberman.


As the political campaigns enter their final week I would urge my fellow citizens to consider just what is at stake in this election.  The campaign messages waged in the mass media have consisted largely of bluster, distortions of opponents’ positions, and the reminder of benefits and goodies bestowed, or protected by the incumbents.  But the sorry facts of the matter are that both federal incumbents and the state majority in their never-ending quest for our approval and votes have legislated us to the doorstep of bankruptcy in both Washington and Hartford.  Anyone that can do the math knows that our current fiscal situation cannot be sustained on either the national or state level.  Our current national leadership continues trying to seduce us into thinking it can.  Our state leadership largely ignores the severity of the problem, even as the state’s bond rating declines.
 
Meanwhile federal legislation is coming at us like a fire hose.  For the skeptics among us the federal government is most certainly reducing our freedom in an insidious drip by drip fashion.  Each new swell-sounding law or regulation packaged to appear as safety-focused or good for us often comes with a financial cost, but always with a reduction of personal choice and responsibility, and yes a loss of individual freedom.  As these add up the picture becomes clear and inescapable – government at all levels is inexorable in its march to rule as many aspects of our lives as possible.  That is the nature of government.  The only question for discussion is when to join the effort to reclaim our choices and freedoms for ourselves.  Millions of Americans in tens of thousands of towns and cities across the country have seen enough, realize the time is now, and have taken to the public square to be counted.
 
These good, patriotic fellow citizens realize that continual and increased government regulation and control infantilizes us.  It removes financial responsibility and most importantly mental responsibility for our own lives; we look to government to pay for our needs and solve our problems – needs and problems free American citizens have always solved for ourselves.  It erodes personal character and makes us a nation of government dependents.  This is not the American spirit which built our country, but it is a civic attitude which will most assuredly usher our country into decline.  In the extreme we saw where it led the Soviet Union.  Today, we see where it’s leading Greece , France , Germany and Great Britain .  Europe clearly is trying to reverse the catastrophic financial effects of the social welfare state.  France this very week has been throwing a temper tantrum in the streets at the very suggestion that the retirement age merely be raised two years because there’s simply no more money.  This is what dependency does to a citizenry – we in the U.S. must see this as a lesson and cautionary tale.
 
America was built on a foundation of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and fiscal restraint.  The Constitution is a limiting and restraining force on federal power, and designed that way by our founders so we would remain a free people.  Please come out on Election Day to cast your votes against those who would extend governmental power and for those who commit to go to Washington and Hartford to constrain it.  And if you have any doubt about making your stand today, ask yourself – do you really think that if our founding fathers are calling out to us from their graves they are calling for more government involvement in our lives?             
 
Bob MacGuffie  
Fairfield  

Not Sure How to Vote Next Tuesday?

Got this from my buddy, Dave.
With all the campaign ads running 24/7 on radio and TV, and most of them lying through their teeth, how do you separate it all out, and pick the right candidate to vote for, who matches your values? This is a very good test, and really shows you who matches up with the way you think. Take the test and then go vote on Tuesday.

http://www.votesmart.org/voteeasy/

My Letter to the Editor of The Waterbury Republican

Chris Murphy's America is not the one we want


      The Nov. 2 midterm election arguably will be the most important in our nation's history. It is going to be a referendum on what type of country we want. Do we want the type of country envisioned by our Founding Fathers, with a very limited federal government that shows respect for individuals and their rights, and does only what the Constitution says it can do? Or do we want the socialist government envisioned by Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, and the rest of Connecticut's delegation; a government that totally disregards the Constitution and believes it knows best how "We the People" should be living and will do everything it can to make sure that happens?
      If Rep. Murphy gets his way, he will be telling you what kind of car you can drive, how you can heat and power your home, what kind of foods you can eat, what news programs you can watch, where your children will go to college and even what kind of light bulbs you can use. Did you know Rep. Murphy and the rest of the delegation voted in favor of a bill that tells you what kind of light bulb you can use starting in 2014? He believes in tyrannical central planning from Washington, D.C.
       Rep. Murphy has voted 98 percent of the time for Nancy Pelosi's and President Obama's socialist agenda, and repeatedly for legislation that violates the Constitution. He voted for the almost $1 trillion stimulus that has done nothing to stimulate the economy, but has created a mountainous debt our children and their descendants will be paying off. He has voted for gun control in violation of the Second Amendment. He has voted for the "DISCLOSE Act" in violation of the freedom-of-speech clause of the First Amendment. He has voted for "Obamacare," a disaster waiting to happen. When fully implemented, it will result in doctors leaving their profession, rationing of medical care, especially for the elderly, hospitals closing, skyrocketing insurance premium costs (which we are already seeing), fines and even jail time, if you don't buy government-approved health insurance.
        Rep. Murphy voted for cap-and-trade, a tax on carbon emissions that will do nothing to combat climate change (I doubt it is even occurring), but it will cause energy costs to skyrocket. Your electricity bill will rise an estimated 50 percent to 90 percent, and gasoline prices will be in the vicinity of $4 a gallon, as will home heating oil. It will destroy thousands of jobs across the country. He even voted to spend $20 million to manufacture signs that were placed around the country, telling us how he was spending our tax dollars in the stimulus. Taxpayer-subsidized propaganda?
        Is this the America we want? Not I! I will vote for Sam Caligiuri to send Chris Murphy to the unemployment line and his socialist agenda to the dust bin of history. I hope all voters will join me in voting out Connecticut's congressional delegation.

Jon Quint

Woodbury

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Tax the Rich! - How Many Times Have We Heard That?

 I got this from TownHall .com. Please read it and really think before you vote! Please stop buying into the class warfare the Democrats are so famous for. If taxes are raised on the "rich", you know the people who create jobs, how does that improve your life?


Classic songs from years past are sometimes referred to as "golden oldies." There are political fallacies that have been around for a long time as well. These might be called brass oldies. It certainly takes a lot of brass to keep repeating fallacies that were refuted long ago.
One of these brass oldies is a phrase that has been a perennial favorite of the left, "tax cuts for the rich." How long ago was this refuted? More than 80 years ago, the "tax cuts for the rich" argument was refuted, both in theory and in practice, by Andrew Mellon, who was Secretary of the Treasury in the 1920s.
When Mellon took office, there was a large national debt, the economy was stagnating, and tax rates were high, though the tax revenues were still not enough to cover government expenditures. What was Mellon's prescription for getting out of this mess? A series of major cuts in the tax rates!
Then as now, there were people who failed to make the distinction between tax rates and tax revenues. Mellon said, "It seems difficult for some to understand that high rates of taxation do not necessarily mean large revenue for the Government, and that more revenue may often be obtained by lower rates."
How can that be? Because taxpayers change their behavior according to what the tax rates are. When one of the Rockefellers died, Mellon discovered that his estate included $44 million in tax-exempt bonds, compared to $7 million in Standard Oil securities, even though Standard Oil was the source of the
Rockefeller fortune.
For the country as a whole, the amount of money tied up in tax-exempt securities was estimated to be three times as large as the federal government's expenditures and more than half as large as the national debt.
In short, huge amounts of money were not being invested in productive capacity, such as factories or power plants, but was instead being made available for local political boondoggles, because this money was put into tax-exempt state and local bonds.
When tax rates are reduced, investors have incentives to take their money out of tax shelters and put it into the private economy, creating higher returns for themselves and more production in the economy. Andrew Mellon understood this then, even though many in politics and the media seem not to understand it now.
Mellon was able to persuade Congress to lower the tax rates by large amounts. The percentage by which tax rates were lowered was greater at the lower income levels, but the total amount of money saved by taxpayers was of course greater on the part of people with higher incomes, who were paying much higher tax rates on those incomes.
Between 1921 and 1929, tax rates in the top brackets were cut from 73 percent to 24 percent. In other words, these were what the left likes to call "tax cuts for the rich."
What happened to federal revenues from income taxes over this same span of time? Income tax revenues rose by more than 30 percent. What happened to the economy? Jobs increased, output rose, the unemployment rate fell and incomes rose. Because economic activity increased, the government received more income tax revenues. In short, these were tax cuts for the economy, even if the left likes to call them "tax cuts for the rich."
This was not the only time that things like this happened, nor was Andrew Mellon the only one who advocated tax rate cuts in order to increase tax revenues. John Maynard Keynes pointed out in 1933 that lowering the tax rates can increase tax revenues, if the tax rates are so high as to discourage economic activity.
President John F. Kennedy made the same argument in the 1960s -- and tax revenues increased after the tax rates were cut during his administration. The same thing happened under Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. And it happened again under George W. Bush, whose tax rate cuts are scheduled to expire next January.
The rich actually paid more total taxes, and a higher percentage of all taxes, after the Bush tax rate cuts, because their incomes were rising with the rising economy.
Do the people who keep repeating the catch phrase, "tax cuts for the rich" not know this? Or are they depending on your not knowing it?
Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of The Housing Boom and Bust.

Monday, October 25, 2010

This is the America I Want!

"We the People" standing up (literally) and telling the "Leftie" Ruling class to go to H**!! 

As Peter Finch said in the Movie "Network" - "I'm Mad as Hell, and I Won't Take It Anymore"

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syw_Oe8u4eU

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

Barack Obama - The Best Thing to Ever Happen to the United States!

      With the mid-term elections less than two week away, it's beginning to look like Barack Obama's Socialist/Marxist agenda is going to turn out to be the best thing to happen to us as a country. He has awakened the normally apathetic American people to what is really going on in our Federal Government. The spending, the regulations, the taxes, the "ruling class" elitism, etc.
      As Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said, after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." Today, that "sleeping giant" would be the Tea Party movement. We're going to take back our country!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Obamacare and it's Result

From RADIOVICEOnline:

    You can keep your doctor, you can keep your insurance, it will bend the cost curve down, it will … oh never mind. This is what change looks like.
Anthem Blue Cross has been approved, by the state of Connecticut, to raise rates as high as 47% for some policies, and 19% for all policies as it attempts to meet new mandates from …. drum roll please …. Obamacare! From the Hartford Courant.
For all of its individual market plans, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has received approval to raise rates by at least 19 percent — including a range of 30 percent to 44 percent for the brand of plans in the individual market that was most popular in 2009, Century Preferred.
The reason for the increases is the new federal health reform mandates, according to Anthem and the state Department of Insurance, which is defending its approval against charges by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Those reforms took effect Sept. 23.
If this were not so serious and so stupid at the same time … it would be laughable.
It is not clear how many people are paying, or will pay, these new rates because federal reform allows insurers to grandfather certain plans that existed before reform was passed in March. What it means for Anthem customers is that anyone who enrolled before March 24 will have the option of staying in their current plan, which would increase next year based on rising costs but not because the plan will have added benefits mandated by federal law. Anyone who bought an Anthem plan on March 24 or later will pay the new rates.
Richard Blumenthal of course is “deeply disappointed” and has condemned the state insurance commissioner for not looking specifically at insurance costs and profits as required by law. But Commissioner Thomas Sullivan has fired back.
“The rates that were filed and approved reflect the current cost to deliver care and the impact of more comprehensive benefit designs required under the federal healthcare reform law. If the attorney general wants to complain to someone, he should be complaining to Congress.”
Read the entire post by Courant reporter Matthew Sturdevant. It’s classic.
Ironically even Obama now seems to understand these kind of rate increases will become the norm. Not even Richard “jobs” Blumenthal could expect insurance companies to keep rates the same when the Obama is demanding that they accept any child after they get sick, or allow 26 year old “children” to stay on parents’ policies. This is gunna get worse folks, made even more outrageous by the fact that they pushed this crap down our throats.

Monday, October 11, 2010

The Tea Party - What We Believe

This is what the "Tea Party" believes about "Small Government". It is the first in a series - more to follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLD6VChcWCE

Thursday, October 7, 2010

8/28 vs. 10/2

       Did you hear about Glenn Beck's August 28th "Restoring Honor" rally on the mall in Washington on August 28, and then the Socialist/Progressive/Marxist/Communist's "One Nation Working Together" rally on October 2nd?
       At Beck's rally (picture on the left) there were people who believe in limited government, individual freedoms, and lower taxes. At the "One Nation" rally(picture on the right) were people who believe the opposite. Below are two pictures, side by side, taken at the same hour, which show the attendance at both rallies. Any question as to which way America wants to go? I didn't think so.





Below are three "you tube" videos of what the mall looked like after the rallies. After looking at the videos keep in mind that the radical environmentalists, who care so much about a clean environment, align themselves with the 10/2 crowd.

After the "Restoring Honor" rally:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NioIQc6hA8M


After the "One Nation" rally:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jsG3RbfBug


10/2 rally trashing of World War II memorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCcwXlvb74Y



Less Than Four Weeks to Go!

      On November 2, we will be having an election which is arguably the most important in our nation's history. It could very well determine what kind of country we are going to have. Do you enjoy the freedoms you have as an American citizen? Do you want to keep them? Then it is very, very important that you make your voice heard! We need to get rid of all the "Ruling class" elitists in Congress, who think they know best how we should live our lives and will pass any legislation necessary to accomplish that. We desperately need to get back to the Founding of our Country, so we can be a free people again. Right now we have a government that is acting like Great Britain's King George III prior to the Revolutionary War. Overbearing tyranny, ever increasing taxes, regulations, and  mandates. Enough is enough! We need to show them WE THE PEOPLE are still in charge!
     If you are not registered to vote, get registered! You can check your state's Secretary of the State website to find out the requirements to register in your state. After you are registered, and for those who are already registered, get out and VOTE on November 2. America's future freedoms depend on you.
     You're probably hearing a lot in the "Lame stream" media about the coming wave of Republican victories this election. That is deliberate. While it looks good for Republicans right now, that kind of talk is an attempt to lull potential Republican voters into a false sense of security. They want you to stay home out of apathy and not vote, thereby lowering Republican turnout and increasing Democrat chances. Don't let them get away with it!


Here are a few quotes from some very famous Americans. Read them, really think about them, and then act on them.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin 

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent - Thomas Jefferson 

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them - Thomas Jefferson 

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government - Thomas Jefferson 

Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty - Ronald Reagan 

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives - Ronald Reagan 

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same -Ronald Reagan

Friday, October 1, 2010

The Capital of the World is Going Lower-Case.

From the N.Y. Post. Here is a classic example of Government stupidity and wasteful spending. Every week you get Federal Income withheld from your paycheck. This is how some of it is being used, and people wonder why the Tea Party movement is having such success.

Federal copy editors are demanding the city change its 250,900 street signs from the all-caps style used for more than a century to ones that capitalize only the first letters. Changing "BROADWAY" to "Broadway" will save lives, the Federal Highway Administration contends in its updated Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, citing improved readability. At $110 per sign, it will also cost the state $27.6 million, city officials said. "We have already started replacing the signs in The Bronx," city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told The Post. 'We will have 11,000 done by the end of this fiscal year, and the rest finished by 2018." $27 million to turn PERRY AV into Perry Av? It appears e.e. cummings was right to eschew capital letters, federal officials explain. Studies have shown that it is harder to read all-caps signs, and those extra milliseconds spent staring away from the road have been shown to increase the likelihood of accidents, particularly among older drivers, federal documents say. The new regulations also require a change in font from the standard highway typeface to Clearview, which was specially developed for this purpose. As a result, even numbered street signs will have to be replaced. "Safety is this department's top priority," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last year, in support of the new guidelines. "These new and updated standards will help make our nation's roads and bridges safer for drivers, construction workers and pedestrians alike." The Highway Administration acknowledged that New York and other states "opposed the change, and suggested that the use of all upper-case letters remain an option," noting that "while the mixed-case words might be easier to read, the amount of improvement in legibility did not justify the cost." To compensate for those concerns, in 2003, the administration allowed for a 15-year phase-in period ending in 2018. Although the city did not begin replacing the signs until earlier this year, Sadik-Khan said they will have no trouble meeting the deadline, as some 8,000 signs a year are replaced annually simply due to wear and tear. The new diminutive signs, which will also feature new reflective sheeting, may also reflect a kinder, gentler New York, she said. "On the Internet, writing in all caps means you are shouting," she said. "Our new signs can quiet down, as well."

This from the people who have banned texting while driving, only to find that it actually increased accidents, since people are now texting in their lap (to prevent detection) instead of at the top of the steering wheel, the way they used to. Ah, yes, the laws of unintended consequences.

The Fourth Wedding


A woman, married three times, walked into a  bridal shop one day and told the sales clerk that she was looking for a wedding gown for her fourth wedding. "Of course, madam," replied the sales clerk, "exactly what type and color are you looking for?" The bride to be said: "A long frilly white dress with a veil."  The sales clerk hesitated a bit, then said, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but gowns of that nature are considered more appropriate for brides who are being married the first time - for those who are a bit more innocent, if you know what I mean? Perhaps ivory or sky blue would be nice? "Well," replied the customer, a little peeved at the clerk's directness, "I can assure you that a white gown would be quite appropriate. Believe it or not, despite all my marriages, I remain as innocent as a first time bride. You see, my first husband was so excited about our wedding, he died as we were checking into our hotel. My second husband and I got into such a terrible fight in the limo on our way to our honeymoon that we had that wedding annulled immediately and never spoke to each other again." "What about your third husband?" asked the sales clerk.

"That one was a
Democrat," said the woman, "and every night for four years, he just sat on the edge of the bed and told me how good it was going to be, but nothing ever happened.