Reported by: Ilyssa Trussel
ActionNewsJax.com
LAKE CITY, Fla. -- State Attorney Skip Jarvis remembers when he was assistant state attorney.
As the chariman of hte Suwannee County Democratic Executive Party, he was involved in politics
and spoke at a political event. "I spoke to Democrats, Republicans, Independents, everybody in
that room on unity because I started saying, look to your left, look to your right, everybody in this
room is an American." When he beacme state attorney one of his assistants also got involved
in public speaking.
But he says what KrisAnne Hall did went too far. He says the assistant state attorney,
who spoke on the radio and at Tea Party events, spoke out against the government.
The position that I have seen her advocate in some of her speeches is 'we the people
think differently and only we the people think like me' and that is very divisive," said Jarvis.
Hall said she isn't against the government. She says she speaks to everyone trying to
teach the constitution. "He was the leader of a political organization. I am not.
He spoke on behalf of a particular political party, I did not.
My advocacy was for the constitution which is what unified our country in 1789," said Hall.
Jarvis says he gave Hall a choice to be a speaker or be an assistant state attorney.
Hall chose to give up her badge and now she plans to sue, something that surprises
the man who hired her in the first place. "This is very sad that this has gone to this
extent because a lot of people have become extremely polarized over something that
is very sad that has divided the community," said Jarvis.
The First Coast Tea Party stands behind Hall in trying to get her job back.
The local group plans to rally in front of Jarvis's office next week.
See Video Here
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Attorney General Bill McCollum Comments on Krisanne Hall Firing
May 29, 2010
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Attorney General Issues Statement on Issue Related to Free Speech
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today issued the following statement regarding reports that the State Attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit may have terminated one of his employees for exercising her right to free speech:
“I am deeply troubled by the reports that KrisAnne Hall, a former assistant state attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit, may have been fired for exercising her First Amendment right to free speech. The right to speak freely without fear of persecution is one of the most important rights we as Americans enjoy, a right that should be protected.
“While Florida's State Attorneys are independently elected and do not report to me, I intend to look into this matter more closely in the coming days.”
State Attorney ‘Skip’ Jarvis, Part 2
May 25, 2010 by Karianne Wilkins
by Michael J. San Filippo
I MYSELF AM A MEMBER OF THE GAINESVILLE TEA PARTY, AND I AM A REPUBLICAN, AND I WAS AN ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY FIRED BY SKIP JARIVS IN JANUARY.
AT THE END OF JANUARY, I REPORTED (WITH SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION) THAT MY FORMER SUPERVISOR REQUESTED THAT I REDUCE HER SON’S FELONY TO A LESSER CHARGE. I REFUSED. THE INFORMATION THAT I RECEIVED FROM THE FHP TROOPER WHO HAD ARRESTED HER SON, AS WELL AS THE PROBABLE CAUSE AFFIDAVIT (AND HIS MOTHER’S OWN STATEMENT), REFLECTED THAT A FELONY CHARGE WAS LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY APPROPRIATE. I TOLD THE CLERKS IN THE PERRY COURTHOUSE TO FILE THE CASE AS IT SHOULD BE, THAT IS A FELONY AND THAT THE STATE ATTORNEY SHOULD APPLY FOR AN EXECUTIVE ASSIGNMENT. I WAS SUMMARILY FIRED BY MR JARVIS. ACCORDING TO MR. JARVIS, HIMSELF, THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT HE HAS “INTERVENED” IN A FELONY CASE AGAINST A FAMILY MEMBER OF ONE OF HIS STAFF.
RECENTLY, ANOTHER ASA, KRISANNE HALL, WHO I PERSONALLY KNOW AND BELIEVE TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PROSECUTORS (ONE OF THE FEW LEFT WITH ANY EXPERIENCE) IN THE OFFICE AND FELLOW REPUBLICAN, WAS GIVEN THE CHOICE OF BEING FIRED BY MR JARVIS FOR SPEAKING AND/OR ATTENDING AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN TEA PARTY TOWN HALL MEETINGS, OR TERMINATE HER AFFILIATION. IN AN E-MAIL TO MS. HALL, IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT MY JARVIS ESSENTIALLY RENOUNCED THE TEA PARTY AS A RADICAL AND SUBVERSIVE ORGANIZATION.
ADDITIONALLY, I AM AWARE OF A COMPLAINT WITH THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOR THE STATE ATTORNEY’S TREATMENT OF JEWISH EMPLOYEES, AND THEY ARE PROCEEDING AGAINST MR JARVIS IN NOVEMBER.
MJS
You may contact Mr. San Filippo via email: michael.sanfilippo@hotmail.com
by Michael J. San Filippo
I MYSELF AM A MEMBER OF THE GAINESVILLE TEA PARTY, AND I AM A REPUBLICAN, AND I WAS AN ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY FIRED BY SKIP JARIVS IN JANUARY.
AT THE END OF JANUARY, I REPORTED (WITH SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION) THAT MY FORMER SUPERVISOR REQUESTED THAT I REDUCE HER SON’S FELONY TO A LESSER CHARGE. I REFUSED. THE INFORMATION THAT I RECEIVED FROM THE FHP TROOPER WHO HAD ARRESTED HER SON, AS WELL AS THE PROBABLE CAUSE AFFIDAVIT (AND HIS MOTHER’S OWN STATEMENT), REFLECTED THAT A FELONY CHARGE WAS LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY APPROPRIATE. I TOLD THE CLERKS IN THE PERRY COURTHOUSE TO FILE THE CASE AS IT SHOULD BE, THAT IS A FELONY AND THAT THE STATE ATTORNEY SHOULD APPLY FOR AN EXECUTIVE ASSIGNMENT. I WAS SUMMARILY FIRED BY MR JARVIS. ACCORDING TO MR. JARVIS, HIMSELF, THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT HE HAS “INTERVENED” IN A FELONY CASE AGAINST A FAMILY MEMBER OF ONE OF HIS STAFF.
RECENTLY, ANOTHER ASA, KRISANNE HALL, WHO I PERSONALLY KNOW AND BELIEVE TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PROSECUTORS (ONE OF THE FEW LEFT WITH ANY EXPERIENCE) IN THE OFFICE AND FELLOW REPUBLICAN, WAS GIVEN THE CHOICE OF BEING FIRED BY MR JARVIS FOR SPEAKING AND/OR ATTENDING AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN TEA PARTY TOWN HALL MEETINGS, OR TERMINATE HER AFFILIATION. IN AN E-MAIL TO MS. HALL, IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT MY JARVIS ESSENTIALLY RENOUNCED THE TEA PARTY AS A RADICAL AND SUBVERSIVE ORGANIZATION.
ADDITIONALLY, I AM AWARE OF A COMPLAINT WITH THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FOR THE STATE ATTORNEY’S TREATMENT OF JEWISH EMPLOYEES, AND THEY ARE PROCEEDING AGAINST MR JARVIS IN NOVEMBER.
MJS
You may contact Mr. San Filippo via email: michael.sanfilippo@hotmail.com
Live Oak Prosecutor Fired for Speaking to Tea Party
By Paul Pinkham
The Florida Times-Union
jacksonville.com
An assistant state attorney in Live Oak was fired Monday
after she refused to stop speaking to tea party rallies and
other groups, her boss said.
Prosecutor KrisAnne Hall asked a federal judge Friday
for a ruling that would have allowed her to keep speaking
and prevented her boss, State Attorney Skip Jarvis, from
following through on threats to fire her if she didn’t stop.
Courtroom arguments on that request hadn’t been scheduled
by Monday afternoon, when Jarvis said he fired Hall shortly
after receiving a copy of her federal complaint.
Click here
to view a pdf of the complaint filed by Hall
He called her a good prosecutor, who crossed an ethical line
with her speeches and radio appearances.
“You can’t take a job advocating for the state and go out and
take a position against the state,” Jarvis said.
“I advised her from my first learning of her activity that she was
free to say and do whatever she desired within the law, but she
could not do so while assistant counsel for the state.”
Hall, 40, said she spoke about the original intent of the
U.S. Constitution, smaller government, budget deficits and
Florida’s lawsuit against health care reform.
Describing herself as a disabled Army veteran, she said all
are federal issues she’s passionate about.
“I never said anything bad about the state.
I never said anything bad about Mr. Jarvis,” said Hall.
“I love being an assistant state attorney, [but] I’m not
ready to give up on my constitutional rights.”
Now instead of an injunction, she and her lawyer plan to
amend their complaint to sue Jarvis for retaliatory conduct.
“To fire someone over their political views doesn’t set well
with most folks,” said her attorney, Gary Edinger of Gainesville.
Jarvis said he first learned of Hall’s activities last month from a
constituent after she spoke at tea party gatherings in North Florida
and on a Lake City radio station.
“They were confronting me about my office being used to legitimize
what they consider to be a fringe right-wing group,”
Jarvis wrote in an e-mail attached to Hall’s lawsuit.
“I hate to do this, but I have to ask you to disassociate
yourself from these folks.”
Hall responded that she was speaking on her own time and
was careful not to be introduced as an assistant state attorney.
She said she spoke in response to a request to help educate
people about the Constitution.
Nevertheless, Jarvis responded that she was identified as an
assistant state attorney and had to stop. After several more
e-mail exchanges, she replied that he was being unfair.
“Even when I was in the military, restrictions on my constitutional
rights were never so unreasonable,” she said. “...
I fought for these rights in the military, and as a sworn officer,
I am sworn to defend them.”
The e-mails were followed by a letter from Edinger to Jarvis,
warning about a potential lawsuit and challenging the state
attorney’s view that Hall’s activities were in any way disruptive
to the State Attorney’s Office.
Jarvis responded by letter, also attached to the lawsuit,
noting that his assistants serve as appointed representatives
of the state and do so knowing their outside activities have boundaries.
“She has been given a directive and now must decide whether her
desire to speak outweighs her desire to retain my appointment,”
Jarvis wrote May 10. “It is her decision.”
The issue balances free speech rights and a public employer’s
desire to protect the integrity of the workplace, according to labor
and First Amendment lawyers contacted by the Times-Union.
Lawyer Ed Birk said an elected state attorney can weigh whether
an assistant’s comments impair the public’s perception of the office.
“There’s a legitimate interest of the state attorney to operate the office
in a way that instills public confidence, so there are limitations he or
she can put on the assistants,” said Birk, who has several media clients.
“The rule is generally does the employee’s public conduct interfere with
the proper operation of the office.”
In a small community, Birk said, prosecutors often are easily recognizable,
and people will naturally associate an assistant state attorney’s public
comments with the office she works for.
But labor lawyer Tad Delegal said Hall has a legitimate First Amendment
claim if she was speaking on her own time and her expressed viewpoints
weren’t associated with her official duties.
HERE IS KRISANNE HALL'S SPEECH AT GAINSVILLE TEA PARTY
We The People Must Inform Ourselves
By KrisAnne Hall
I would like to speak to you today on the subject of:
INFORMING OURSELVES.
Thomas Jefferson warned
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of
civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
We have enjoyed the benefits left to us by previous generations.
America has had the greatest medical system, the greatest
technologies, the strongest military, the greatest economy.
However, as our nation has prospered we have become distracted
by our luxuries, busied by our labors and lazy toward our liberties.
We have allowed the enemies of freedom to worm their way into
positions of power and influence.
The Heritage Foundation says it like this,
“There is widespread ignorance of American history…
We face an education system that upholds mediocrity in the name
of relativism; an ever-expanding and centralized government, unmoored
from constitutional limits; judges openly making laws and shaping society
based on pop-philosophy rather than serious jurisprudence…
At the root of all these problems is a pervasive ignorance about the core
principles that define America and ought to inform our politics and policy.”
Unfortunately, I would agree with them.
That’s why the tea-party movement is so important and so encouraging.
I am actually encouraged that the Tea-Party is not a party at all;
it is We the People.
We the People founded this nation and I believe –
We the People will take it back!
But We the People must Inform Ourselves if we wish to take back
our nation for ourselves and our children. Notice I did not say that
we need to be informed, rather we need to inform OURSELVES.
Truth is Power and it is up to us to search out and secure the Truth.
The Bible says, “…ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
If we arm ourselves with truth and act on that truth we can be free from
the bondage that ideological tyrants would desire to enslave us with.
Patrick Henry said in his famous speech from St. Johns Church in 1775.
“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of
experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past."
Patrick Henry’s experience with a heavy handed government illuminated
his understanding of the future… And if American Liberty is to continue,
we must inform ourselves and arm ourselves with the collective experience
of those that have come before. I want to mention four things as briefly as
I can on the subject of Informing Ourselves.
First, We the People must inform ourselves on our Core Principles.
A principle can be defined as a standard based upon truth and experience,
and which serves as a foundation upon which thought and action are built.
A primary principle upon which this nation rests is Constitutionalism –
which is an understanding that the operation of our government and the
security of our liberty are to be guided by our founding documents,
interpreted according to the framer’s intent.
The Declaration and the Constitution have been relentlessly attacked
in modern times. Our own President has implied that our Constitution’s
ideas are flawed. The professors in our law schools deride its relevance.
Progressives would have it be as malleable as silly putty.
But We the People recognize that the Declaration and Constitution
have served as the bedrock of our freedom for hundreds of years.
The genius with which our founding fathers laid down the principles
in these precious documents, I believe, can only be attributed to the
providence of God. And we have a solemn duty to ourselves and
our posterity to become informed in the Core principles contained
in our founding documents.
Get a copy of the Declaration and Constitution; study them.
Research the history of how they came to be.
Acquaint yourselves with men like John Leland and the
Baptist Union of Virginia, without whom there would be no Bill of Rights.
Read the wisdom of George Washington in his farewell address and
be grounded by the experience of one our nation greatest heroes.
–We the People must Know our core principles-
Become not only grounded in them, but become their champions.
For, freedom of speech has no voice of its own, but it waits in
silence for you to plead its case. The right to assemble will sit
alone until you, its champions, gather in the face of despotism.
Our forefathers cry out through the pages of history, but unheard
until you give the written word – voice and life.
When our history is lost either through revision or apathy,
then our liberty is lost as well.
–We the People must Know our Core principles
and stand for them without wavering…for they are our liberty.
The words of Patrick Henry still ring true 235 years later,
“Why stand we here idle?,” he said, “What is it that gentlemen wish?
What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be
purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!
I know not what course others may take; but as for me,
give me liberty or give me death!”
Secondly,
We the People must not only inform ourselves on our Core Principles,
must inform ourselves about Contrary Principles. If our core principles
serve to secure and maintain the liberty we wish to enjoy, then it stands
to reason that there are contrary principles that threaten that same liberty,
and we must be able to identify these enemies of our liberty.
Sun Tzu says in his Art of War,
“Know thine enemy as thyself.”
We must always remember that our enemies are not people or parties,
but the freedom-destroying principles that they espouse.
We must inform ourselves on the principles of progressivism, socialism,
communism; and the mechanisms these philosophies use such as
redistribution of wealth, centralization of power, progressive taxation, and
restrictions on free speech.
Once we are informed on these principles we will then recognize them.
And we must oppose them regardless of the party or personality
attempting to employ them.
I say again,
We must not give a free pass because of personality or party affiliation.
It is ironic that Teddy Roosevelt is heralded as a great hero of the
Republican Party, when in fact history testifies that he was the leader
of the anti-constitutional progressives in 1912. It was also under the
Republican Party that the refundable tax credit was enacted, allowing
progressives to engage in redistribution of wealth and enslave citizens
with the tax refund.
Am I anti-Republican? No;
but these enemies of our liberty entered in because we put party over principle.
The president recently suggested that his program of socialized medicine
was okay because Republican Mitt Romney proposed the same program.
It is not wrong because of who proposed it;
it’s wrong because it is based on
principles that are contrary to Liberty.
You would not allow anyone to feed your child rat poison whether the
giver was Satan or Santa Claus. Progressivism, however, does not
come in a bottle with skull and crossbones. It shows up as something
or someone who wants to “help” and it will have a cute little name like acorn.
It will talk about fairness and recovery; aide and stimulus;
always sounding positive, but underneath – a deadly poison.
Again we must be grounded in our Core principles,
but we must also be guarded against these Contrary principles
which poison our freedom and destroy our future.
We the People must not only inform ourselves about Contrary Principles,
but we must also inform ourselves about Candidates.
We should now realize that a charismatic personality,
eloquent speechmaking, and catchy slogans do not a leader make.
We must identify candidates who hold true to the right principles
and who will not sacrifice those principles for politics or power.
Some would say you must compromise if you hope to accomplish anything.
Surely, cooperation and negotiation are essential in government,
but a principle by its very definition is a foundational and guiding rule,
and so compromising a principle damages the very foundation.
If sound principles cause me to be opposed to a proposal,
then an offer of money or jobs for my state should not change my position.
Let’s inform ourselves about candidates and issues and make an informed vote.
Lastly, and I close, We the People must inform ourselves about Current Events.
It’s encouraging to see the awakening going on around the country, but the
cynic in me says this – “only someone who was sleeping needs an awakening.”
Thomas Jefferson said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
We cannot take time off. We cannot stick our head in the sand.
We cannot slumber even for a moment.
The Tea-Party movement can’t simply be an awakening.
Once we have reclaimed our nation from the forces that
would steer us away from our Core principles, we must
establish a lifestyle of vigilance.
We must stay informed and stay involved.
First step – the 2010 elections;
Next step – the 2012 elections;
THEN we reach The Beginning…
The beginning of a revitalized and reconnected CITIZEN government.
Our cry must be this
“We the People have awakened.
We the People have informed ourselves; and
We the People will never sleep again!!!”
Thank you and God bless you.
_________________________________________________
(You may contact KrisAnne at cla07@windstream.net.
Please do not publicly distribute or use KrisAnne’s work
without asking her permission first.)
Woman Fired for Participation in Local Tea Party
Woman Sues For Being Fired
News 4 Jaxsonville
Greetings friends,
We have created a new website in order to post all the information pertinent
to our First Amendment battle here in North Florida. It is up and running and
we will be adding links very shortly. We will have links to the tax day speech,
Mr. Jarvis’ emails, the Lt. Governor and Attorney General’s statements,
as well as the request for injunction, videos, interviews, updates etc.
No one should have to trade their Constitutional rights for a paycheck.
I hope you’ll stand with me and help get the word out so that we may
inspire people to stand up for our country before it’s too late!
The Florida Times-Union
jacksonville.com
An assistant state attorney in Live Oak was fired Monday
after she refused to stop speaking to tea party rallies and
other groups, her boss said.
Prosecutor KrisAnne Hall asked a federal judge Friday
for a ruling that would have allowed her to keep speaking
and prevented her boss, State Attorney Skip Jarvis, from
following through on threats to fire her if she didn’t stop.
Courtroom arguments on that request hadn’t been scheduled
by Monday afternoon, when Jarvis said he fired Hall shortly
after receiving a copy of her federal complaint.
Click here
to view a pdf of the complaint filed by Hall
He called her a good prosecutor, who crossed an ethical line
with her speeches and radio appearances.
“You can’t take a job advocating for the state and go out and
take a position against the state,” Jarvis said.
“I advised her from my first learning of her activity that she was
free to say and do whatever she desired within the law, but she
could not do so while assistant counsel for the state.”
Hall, 40, said she spoke about the original intent of the
U.S. Constitution, smaller government, budget deficits and
Florida’s lawsuit against health care reform.
Describing herself as a disabled Army veteran, she said all
are federal issues she’s passionate about.
“I never said anything bad about the state.
I never said anything bad about Mr. Jarvis,” said Hall.
“I love being an assistant state attorney, [but] I’m not
ready to give up on my constitutional rights.”
Now instead of an injunction, she and her lawyer plan to
amend their complaint to sue Jarvis for retaliatory conduct.
“To fire someone over their political views doesn’t set well
with most folks,” said her attorney, Gary Edinger of Gainesville.
Jarvis said he first learned of Hall’s activities last month from a
constituent after she spoke at tea party gatherings in North Florida
and on a Lake City radio station.
“They were confronting me about my office being used to legitimize
what they consider to be a fringe right-wing group,”
Jarvis wrote in an e-mail attached to Hall’s lawsuit.
“I hate to do this, but I have to ask you to disassociate
yourself from these folks.”
Hall responded that she was speaking on her own time and
was careful not to be introduced as an assistant state attorney.
She said she spoke in response to a request to help educate
people about the Constitution.
Nevertheless, Jarvis responded that she was identified as an
assistant state attorney and had to stop. After several more
e-mail exchanges, she replied that he was being unfair.
“Even when I was in the military, restrictions on my constitutional
rights were never so unreasonable,” she said. “...
I fought for these rights in the military, and as a sworn officer,
I am sworn to defend them.”
The e-mails were followed by a letter from Edinger to Jarvis,
warning about a potential lawsuit and challenging the state
attorney’s view that Hall’s activities were in any way disruptive
to the State Attorney’s Office.
Jarvis responded by letter, also attached to the lawsuit,
noting that his assistants serve as appointed representatives
of the state and do so knowing their outside activities have boundaries.
“She has been given a directive and now must decide whether her
desire to speak outweighs her desire to retain my appointment,”
Jarvis wrote May 10. “It is her decision.”
The issue balances free speech rights and a public employer’s
desire to protect the integrity of the workplace, according to labor
and First Amendment lawyers contacted by the Times-Union.
Lawyer Ed Birk said an elected state attorney can weigh whether
an assistant’s comments impair the public’s perception of the office.
“There’s a legitimate interest of the state attorney to operate the office
in a way that instills public confidence, so there are limitations he or
she can put on the assistants,” said Birk, who has several media clients.
“The rule is generally does the employee’s public conduct interfere with
the proper operation of the office.”
In a small community, Birk said, prosecutors often are easily recognizable,
and people will naturally associate an assistant state attorney’s public
comments with the office she works for.
But labor lawyer Tad Delegal said Hall has a legitimate First Amendment
claim if she was speaking on her own time and her expressed viewpoints
weren’t associated with her official duties.
HERE IS KRISANNE HALL'S SPEECH AT GAINSVILLE TEA PARTY
We The People Must Inform Ourselves
By KrisAnne Hall
I would like to speak to you today on the subject of:
INFORMING OURSELVES.
Thomas Jefferson warned
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of
civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
We have enjoyed the benefits left to us by previous generations.
America has had the greatest medical system, the greatest
technologies, the strongest military, the greatest economy.
However, as our nation has prospered we have become distracted
by our luxuries, busied by our labors and lazy toward our liberties.
We have allowed the enemies of freedom to worm their way into
positions of power and influence.
The Heritage Foundation says it like this,
“There is widespread ignorance of American history…
We face an education system that upholds mediocrity in the name
of relativism; an ever-expanding and centralized government, unmoored
from constitutional limits; judges openly making laws and shaping society
based on pop-philosophy rather than serious jurisprudence…
At the root of all these problems is a pervasive ignorance about the core
principles that define America and ought to inform our politics and policy.”
Unfortunately, I would agree with them.
That’s why the tea-party movement is so important and so encouraging.
I am actually encouraged that the Tea-Party is not a party at all;
it is We the People.
We the People founded this nation and I believe –
We the People will take it back!
But We the People must Inform Ourselves if we wish to take back
our nation for ourselves and our children. Notice I did not say that
we need to be informed, rather we need to inform OURSELVES.
Truth is Power and it is up to us to search out and secure the Truth.
The Bible says, “…ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
If we arm ourselves with truth and act on that truth we can be free from
the bondage that ideological tyrants would desire to enslave us with.
Patrick Henry said in his famous speech from St. Johns Church in 1775.
“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of
experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past."
Patrick Henry’s experience with a heavy handed government illuminated
his understanding of the future… And if American Liberty is to continue,
we must inform ourselves and arm ourselves with the collective experience
of those that have come before. I want to mention four things as briefly as
I can on the subject of Informing Ourselves.
First, We the People must inform ourselves on our Core Principles.
A principle can be defined as a standard based upon truth and experience,
and which serves as a foundation upon which thought and action are built.
A primary principle upon which this nation rests is Constitutionalism –
which is an understanding that the operation of our government and the
security of our liberty are to be guided by our founding documents,
interpreted according to the framer’s intent.
The Declaration and the Constitution have been relentlessly attacked
in modern times. Our own President has implied that our Constitution’s
ideas are flawed. The professors in our law schools deride its relevance.
Progressives would have it be as malleable as silly putty.
But We the People recognize that the Declaration and Constitution
have served as the bedrock of our freedom for hundreds of years.
The genius with which our founding fathers laid down the principles
in these precious documents, I believe, can only be attributed to the
providence of God. And we have a solemn duty to ourselves and
our posterity to become informed in the Core principles contained
in our founding documents.
Get a copy of the Declaration and Constitution; study them.
Research the history of how they came to be.
Acquaint yourselves with men like John Leland and the
Baptist Union of Virginia, without whom there would be no Bill of Rights.
Read the wisdom of George Washington in his farewell address and
be grounded by the experience of one our nation greatest heroes.
–We the People must Know our core principles-
Become not only grounded in them, but become their champions.
For, freedom of speech has no voice of its own, but it waits in
silence for you to plead its case. The right to assemble will sit
alone until you, its champions, gather in the face of despotism.
Our forefathers cry out through the pages of history, but unheard
until you give the written word – voice and life.
When our history is lost either through revision or apathy,
then our liberty is lost as well.
–We the People must Know our Core principles
and stand for them without wavering…for they are our liberty.
The words of Patrick Henry still ring true 235 years later,
“Why stand we here idle?,” he said, “What is it that gentlemen wish?
What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be
purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!
I know not what course others may take; but as for me,
give me liberty or give me death!”
Secondly,
We the People must not only inform ourselves on our Core Principles,
must inform ourselves about Contrary Principles. If our core principles
serve to secure and maintain the liberty we wish to enjoy, then it stands
to reason that there are contrary principles that threaten that same liberty,
and we must be able to identify these enemies of our liberty.
Sun Tzu says in his Art of War,
“Know thine enemy as thyself.”
We must always remember that our enemies are not people or parties,
but the freedom-destroying principles that they espouse.
We must inform ourselves on the principles of progressivism, socialism,
communism; and the mechanisms these philosophies use such as
redistribution of wealth, centralization of power, progressive taxation, and
restrictions on free speech.
Once we are informed on these principles we will then recognize them.
And we must oppose them regardless of the party or personality
attempting to employ them.
I say again,
We must not give a free pass because of personality or party affiliation.
It is ironic that Teddy Roosevelt is heralded as a great hero of the
Republican Party, when in fact history testifies that he was the leader
of the anti-constitutional progressives in 1912. It was also under the
Republican Party that the refundable tax credit was enacted, allowing
progressives to engage in redistribution of wealth and enslave citizens
with the tax refund.
Am I anti-Republican? No;
but these enemies of our liberty entered in because we put party over principle.
The president recently suggested that his program of socialized medicine
was okay because Republican Mitt Romney proposed the same program.
It is not wrong because of who proposed it;
it’s wrong because it is based on
principles that are contrary to Liberty.
You would not allow anyone to feed your child rat poison whether the
giver was Satan or Santa Claus. Progressivism, however, does not
come in a bottle with skull and crossbones. It shows up as something
or someone who wants to “help” and it will have a cute little name like acorn.
It will talk about fairness and recovery; aide and stimulus;
always sounding positive, but underneath – a deadly poison.
Again we must be grounded in our Core principles,
but we must also be guarded against these Contrary principles
which poison our freedom and destroy our future.
We the People must not only inform ourselves about Contrary Principles,
but we must also inform ourselves about Candidates.
We should now realize that a charismatic personality,
eloquent speechmaking, and catchy slogans do not a leader make.
We must identify candidates who hold true to the right principles
and who will not sacrifice those principles for politics or power.
Some would say you must compromise if you hope to accomplish anything.
Surely, cooperation and negotiation are essential in government,
but a principle by its very definition is a foundational and guiding rule,
and so compromising a principle damages the very foundation.
If sound principles cause me to be opposed to a proposal,
then an offer of money or jobs for my state should not change my position.
Let’s inform ourselves about candidates and issues and make an informed vote.
Lastly, and I close, We the People must inform ourselves about Current Events.
It’s encouraging to see the awakening going on around the country, but the
cynic in me says this – “only someone who was sleeping needs an awakening.”
Thomas Jefferson said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
We cannot take time off. We cannot stick our head in the sand.
We cannot slumber even for a moment.
The Tea-Party movement can’t simply be an awakening.
Once we have reclaimed our nation from the forces that
would steer us away from our Core principles, we must
establish a lifestyle of vigilance.
We must stay informed and stay involved.
First step – the 2010 elections;
Next step – the 2012 elections;
THEN we reach The Beginning…
The beginning of a revitalized and reconnected CITIZEN government.
Our cry must be this
“We the People have awakened.
We the People have informed ourselves; and
We the People will never sleep again!!!”
Thank you and God bless you.
_________________________________________________
(You may contact KrisAnne at cla07@windstream.net.
Please do not publicly distribute or use KrisAnne’s work
without asking her permission first.)
Woman Fired for Participation in Local Tea Party
Woman Sues For Being Fired
News 4 Jaxsonville
Greetings friends,
We have created a new website in order to post all the information pertinent
to our First Amendment battle here in North Florida. It is up and running and
we will be adding links very shortly. We will have links to the tax day speech,
Mr. Jarvis’ emails, the Lt. Governor and Attorney General’s statements,
as well as the request for injunction, videos, interviews, updates etc.
No one should have to trade their Constitutional rights for a paycheck.
I hope you’ll stand with me and help get the word out so that we may
inspire people to stand up for our country before it’s too late!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
How Mexicans See Us
Posted by Lawrence Auster
On The Blog-View from the Right
Paul K. wrote:
Though many Americans were struck by President Calderon's
insufferable gall in criticizing Arizona's immigration law
from the front lawn of the White House, and the floor of
the congress, some of his countrymen felt his behavior entirely
too conciliatory. In particular, they fault him for visiting
Arlington National Cemetery, which, to Mexicans, was a faux
pas comparable to Reagan's visit to Germany's Bitburg.
We are, after all, the enemy.
The following editorial was published in Mexico City's La Jornada newspaper on 5/21/10.
It is quoted from the "M3 Report," a daily roundup of news items from south of the border
published by the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers.
Sovereignty, A Looming Surrender
Yesterday, in his official visit to the United States,
President Calderon placed a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia, in homage to the Mexican-American soldiers killed in U.S. military campaigns.
The president thus broke a tacit prohibition kept through all prior
presidential terms that prevents the head of the Mexican State from visiting that place.
The motive of that symbolic reservation was simply that the cemetery contains soldiers who were in wars against us and in which Mexico
lost more than half its territory.
We must not forget that for two centuries, the U.S. has been
the main threat to the national security and the most responsible
for affronts to Mexican sovereignty. A visit to Arlington is the equivalent to accepting the offenses for which they have never
accepted blame or offered compensation.
The president's gesture was unnecessary.
This act was so inappropriate.
By giving homage to soldiers of Mexican origin who died in U.S. wars,
the government of Mexico gives its approval of such wars, invariably against international rights, national sovereignty and human rights,
as in Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq in recent times.
All have stains of atrocity and of plunder like the attacks by
Washington against our country in the 19th and 20th centuries.
For these reasons, it is unavoidable to see the presence of Calderon
at Arlington as a surrender of sovereignty, the most recent in a
clearly defined line: the Merida Initiative, which gives authority
to U.S. agencies to meddle in our internal affairs, and again, in Washington, Calderon asked the assistance of the DEA and FBI in an internal investigation, tacitly admitting our incapacity in the
"war against organized crime."
Lawrence Auster replies:
What can one say?
The Mexicans have an unassuageable grievance against us for defeating
them in 1848 and taking (with compensation) the Southwest from them. And they don't just see us as having committed historic wrongs against them; they see us as "the main threat to the national security." In short, they see us as an enemy power. Yet this simple, undeniable
reality of Mexican attitudes to the U.S. is NEVER noted by the U.S. media.
In all of history, did a country ever do what we have done--
open our borders to immigrants from a neighboring country to
let them enter a part of our country which that other country
sees as theirs and has an undying passionate desire to regain?
It transcends anything in Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly.
George III's bull-headed idiocies which drove the American colonies
into rebellion were nothing compared to our own idiocy in allowing Mexicans to immigrate en masse into the U.S.
On The Blog-View from the Right
Paul K. wrote:
Though many Americans were struck by President Calderon's
insufferable gall in criticizing Arizona's immigration law
from the front lawn of the White House, and the floor of
the congress, some of his countrymen felt his behavior entirely
too conciliatory. In particular, they fault him for visiting
Arlington National Cemetery, which, to Mexicans, was a faux
pas comparable to Reagan's visit to Germany's Bitburg.
We are, after all, the enemy.
The following editorial was published in Mexico City's La Jornada newspaper on 5/21/10.
It is quoted from the "M3 Report," a daily roundup of news items from south of the border
published by the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers.
Sovereignty, A Looming Surrender
Yesterday, in his official visit to the United States,
President Calderon placed a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia, in homage to the Mexican-American soldiers killed in U.S. military campaigns.
The president thus broke a tacit prohibition kept through all prior
presidential terms that prevents the head of the Mexican State from visiting that place.
The motive of that symbolic reservation was simply that the cemetery contains soldiers who were in wars against us and in which Mexico
lost more than half its territory.
We must not forget that for two centuries, the U.S. has been
the main threat to the national security and the most responsible
for affronts to Mexican sovereignty. A visit to Arlington is the equivalent to accepting the offenses for which they have never
accepted blame or offered compensation.
The president's gesture was unnecessary.
This act was so inappropriate.
By giving homage to soldiers of Mexican origin who died in U.S. wars,
the government of Mexico gives its approval of such wars, invariably against international rights, national sovereignty and human rights,
as in Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq in recent times.
All have stains of atrocity and of plunder like the attacks by
Washington against our country in the 19th and 20th centuries.
For these reasons, it is unavoidable to see the presence of Calderon
at Arlington as a surrender of sovereignty, the most recent in a
clearly defined line: the Merida Initiative, which gives authority
to U.S. agencies to meddle in our internal affairs, and again, in Washington, Calderon asked the assistance of the DEA and FBI in an internal investigation, tacitly admitting our incapacity in the
"war against organized crime."
Lawrence Auster replies:
What can one say?
The Mexicans have an unassuageable grievance against us for defeating
them in 1848 and taking (with compensation) the Southwest from them. And they don't just see us as having committed historic wrongs against them; they see us as "the main threat to the national security." In short, they see us as an enemy power. Yet this simple, undeniable
reality of Mexican attitudes to the U.S. is NEVER noted by the U.S. media.
In all of history, did a country ever do what we have done--
open our borders to immigrants from a neighboring country to
let them enter a part of our country which that other country
sees as theirs and has an undying passionate desire to regain?
It transcends anything in Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly.
George III's bull-headed idiocies which drove the American colonies
into rebellion were nothing compared to our own idiocy in allowing Mexicans to immigrate en masse into the U.S.
What did Hoover, Truman, and Eisenhower have in common?
Back during The Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the
deportation of ALL illegal aliens in order to make jobs available to
American citizens that desperately needed work..
Harry Truman deported over two million Illegal's after WWII
to create jobs for returning veterans.
And then again in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower deported
13 million Mexican Nationals!
The program was called 'Operation Wetback'.
It was done so WWII and Korean Veterans would have a better
chance at jobs.
It took 2 Years, but they deported them!
Now... if they could deport the illegal's back then -
they could sure do it today.
Friday, May 28, 2010
My Memorial Day Tribute
YESTERDAYS HEROS
In the Arms of an Angel - American Soldiers Tribute
Memorial Day Song "Soldier I Thank You"
Remember Me
In the Arms of an Angel - American Soldiers Tribute
Memorial Day Song "Soldier I Thank You"
Remember Me
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
AND THE WINNER IS
The percentage of each past president's cabinet who
had worked in the private business sector prior to
their appointment to the cabinet.
You know what the private business sector is ...
a real life business, not a government job.
Here are the percentages.
T. Roosevelt........ 38%
Taft.....................40%
Wilson .................. 52%
Harding..................49%
Coolidge.............. 48%
Hoover................. 42%
F. Roosevelt......... 50%
Truman..................50%
Eisenhower........... 57%
Kennedy * .............. 30%
Johnson.................47%
Nixon................... 53%
Ford..................... 42%
Carter * .................. 32%
Reagan...................56%
GH Bush................. 51%
Clinton * ................. 39%
GW Bush................ 55%
And the winner of the Chicken Dinner is:
Obama................ 8% !!!
Yep! That's right! Only Eight Percent!!! ..
the least by far of the last 19 presidents!!
And these people are trying to tell our
big corporations how to run their business?
They know what's best for
GM...Chrysler... Wall Street...
AIG... and you and me?
How can the president of a major nation and society...
the one with the most successful economic system in
world history...
stand and talk about business when he's never worked
for one?..
or about jobs when he has never really had one??!
And neither has 92% of his senior staff and closest advisers.!
What's the matter with all of America screaming for JOBs??
Don't they realize there isn't anyone in this administration
that even knows what a JOB IS??
They've spent most of their time in academia,
government and/or the non-profit sector....
or as "community organizers"
when they should have been in an employment line.
*
Did you notice that 3 out of 4 of Obama's Democrat
predecessors didn't seem to know to many working
folk either ??
Yet Democrats always brag about being the party
of the "Working Man"
had worked in the private business sector prior to
their appointment to the cabinet.
You know what the private business sector is ...
a real life business, not a government job.
Here are the percentages.
T. Roosevelt........ 38%
Taft.....................40%
Wilson .................. 52%
Harding..................49%
Coolidge.............. 48%
Hoover................. 42%
F. Roosevelt......... 50%
Truman..................50%
Eisenhower........... 57%
Kennedy * .............. 30%
Johnson.................47%
Nixon................... 53%
Ford..................... 42%
Carter * .................. 32%
Reagan...................56%
GH Bush................. 51%
Clinton * ................. 39%
GW Bush................ 55%
And the winner of the Chicken Dinner is:
Obama................ 8% !!!
Yep! That's right! Only Eight Percent!!! ..
the least by far of the last 19 presidents!!
And these people are trying to tell our
big corporations how to run their business?
They know what's best for
GM...Chrysler... Wall Street...
AIG... and you and me?
How can the president of a major nation and society...
the one with the most successful economic system in
world history...
stand and talk about business when he's never worked
for one?..
or about jobs when he has never really had one??!
And neither has 92% of his senior staff and closest advisers.!
What's the matter with all of America screaming for JOBs??
Don't they realize there isn't anyone in this administration
that even knows what a JOB IS??
They've spent most of their time in academia,
government and/or the non-profit sector....
or as "community organizers"
when they should have been in an employment line.
*
Did you notice that 3 out of 4 of Obama's Democrat
predecessors didn't seem to know to many working
folk either ??
Yet Democrats always brag about being the party
of the "Working Man"
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
New face of immigration?
By Juan Carlos Pérez-Duthie
Special to El Sentinel-
PalmBeachPost
Miami company creates 'Gringo Mask' to start dialogue,
not to offend
Is it Halloween already?
No, not yet, although for many Hispanic immigrants
things seem quite scary in Arizona and for some in
the Latino community, the state's governor, Republican
Jan Brewer, has assumed the role of big bad witch.
The reason: On April 23, Brewer signed into law a controversial
measure, SB 1070, which allows the police to detain anyone
whose immigration status may be suspect.
And playing into this, of course, is the person's appearance.
So, you don't look the way you should in Brewer's
and the police's eyes? No problem!
Because here's the solution, free of charge and
readily available to anyone: the Gringo Mask!
Whether you are a man or a woman, now you can
boast of a perfectly acceptable image for Arizona --
you know, light skin, blond hair, blue eyes --
without having to resort to expensive bleaching
creams like Sammy Sosa or Michael Jackson did,
or cumbersome Joan Rivers-type plastic surgery.
And for this you may thank the leaders and the
creative team of Zubi Advertising, one of the
leading Hispanic advertising agencies in the nation,
with headquarters in Miami.
"When we first heard of the law in Arizona and
the effects it could have in terms of racial profiling,
we discussed at the agency what we could do about
it, since we have access to media,"
says Michelle Zubizarreta, the agency's chief
administrative officer and co-owner along with
her brother Joe.
"How can we address the issue, but do so in a
creative way while at the same time delivering
a message?"
Ergo, the mask.
"What caught our attention was the absurdity of this law,
and the notion that we all must look a certain way,"
continues the Cuban-American executive.
"Once we talked about it, my creative team came back
with the idea of the mask and the website [which went
live on April 30. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are
also being used to spread the word].
Basically, this is all a satire of what is happening
in Arizona."
To take part in this satire, all you have to do is go
to www.gringomask.com, choose the mask that
best applies to you, download free, print it, cut it,
put an elastic band around it and ... bingo!
New face, new immigration status!
"The spirit in which we conceived Gringo Mask,"
clarifies Zubizarreta, "was not to offend anyone.
We wanted to start a dialogue."
**************************************************************
This is typical of the cra# that is printed in my local newsless paper,The Palm Beach Post or as it is more commonly refered to as
The Palm Beach Compost.
If you would like you can go to the original post and
read some of the comments to this article, they are
running about 10 to 1 bashing this advertising company.
Thereis also a "poll" availible on the page for your
opinion of the MASK.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/new-face-of-immigration-miami-company-creates-gringo-707135.html
**************************************************************
Special to El Sentinel-
PalmBeachPost
Miami company creates 'Gringo Mask' to start dialogue,
not to offend
Is it Halloween already?
No, not yet, although for many Hispanic immigrants
things seem quite scary in Arizona and for some in
the Latino community, the state's governor, Republican
Jan Brewer, has assumed the role of big bad witch.
The reason: On April 23, Brewer signed into law a controversial
measure, SB 1070, which allows the police to detain anyone
whose immigration status may be suspect.
And playing into this, of course, is the person's appearance.
So, you don't look the way you should in Brewer's
and the police's eyes? No problem!
Because here's the solution, free of charge and
readily available to anyone: the Gringo Mask!
Whether you are a man or a woman, now you can
boast of a perfectly acceptable image for Arizona --
you know, light skin, blond hair, blue eyes --
without having to resort to expensive bleaching
creams like Sammy Sosa or Michael Jackson did,
or cumbersome Joan Rivers-type plastic surgery.
And for this you may thank the leaders and the
creative team of Zubi Advertising, one of the
leading Hispanic advertising agencies in the nation,
with headquarters in Miami.
"When we first heard of the law in Arizona and
the effects it could have in terms of racial profiling,
we discussed at the agency what we could do about
it, since we have access to media,"
says Michelle Zubizarreta, the agency's chief
administrative officer and co-owner along with
her brother Joe.
"How can we address the issue, but do so in a
creative way while at the same time delivering
a message?"
Ergo, the mask.
"What caught our attention was the absurdity of this law,
and the notion that we all must look a certain way,"
continues the Cuban-American executive.
"Once we talked about it, my creative team came back
with the idea of the mask and the website [which went
live on April 30. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are
also being used to spread the word].
Basically, this is all a satire of what is happening
in Arizona."
To take part in this satire, all you have to do is go
to www.gringomask.com, choose the mask that
best applies to you, download free, print it, cut it,
put an elastic band around it and ... bingo!
New face, new immigration status!
"The spirit in which we conceived Gringo Mask,"
clarifies Zubizarreta, "was not to offend anyone.
We wanted to start a dialogue."
**************************************************************
This is typical of the cra# that is printed in my local newsless paper,The Palm Beach Post or as it is more commonly refered to as
The Palm Beach Compost.
If you would like you can go to the original post and
read some of the comments to this article, they are
running about 10 to 1 bashing this advertising company.
Thereis also a "poll" availible on the page for your
opinion of the MASK.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/new-face-of-immigration-miami-company-creates-gringo-707135.html
**************************************************************
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Taking Back the Money Power
by Ellen Brown
at Global Research
For over a decade, accountant Walter Burien has been trying to rouse
the public over what he contends is a massive conspiracy and cover-up,
involving trillions of dollars squirreled away in funds maintained at every
level of government. His numbers may be disputed, but these funds
definitely exist, as evidenced by the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports
(CAFRs) required of every government agency. If they don’t represent a
concerted government conspiracy, what are they for? And how can they be
harnessed more efficiently to help allay the financial crises of state and
local governments?
The Elusive CAFR Money
Burien is a former commodity trading adviser who has spent many years
peering into government books. He notes that the government is composed
of 54,000 different state, county, and local government entities, including
school districts, public authorities, and the like; and that these entities all
keep their financial assets in liquid investment funds, bond financing accounts
and corporate stock portfolios. The only income that must be reported in
government budgets is that from taxes, fines and fees; but the investments
of government entities can be found in official annual reports (CAFRs),
which must be filed with the federal government by local, county and state
governments. These annual reports show that virtually every U.S. city, county,
and state has vast amounts of money stashed away in surplus funds.
Burien maintains that these slush funds have been kept concealed
from taxpayers, even as taxes are being raised and citizens are being
told to expect fewer government services.
Burien was originally alerted to this information by Lt. Col. Gerald Klatt,
who evidently died in 2004 under mysterious circumstances, adding fuel
to claims of conspiracy and cover-up. Klatt was a an Air Force auditor and
federal accountant, and it’s not impossible that he may have gotten too close
to some military stash being used for nefarious ends. But it is hard to envision
how all the municipal governments hording their excess money in separate
funds could be complicit in a massive government conspiracy.
Still, if that is not what is going on, why such an inefficient use
of public monies?
A Simpler Explanation
I got a chance to ask that question in April, when I was invited to speak
at a conference of Government Finance Officers in Missouri.
The friendly public servants at the conference explained that maintaining
large “rainy day” funds is simply how local governments must operate.
Unlike private businesses, which have bank credit lines they can draw on
if they miscalculate their expenses, local governments are required by law
to balance their budgets; and if they come up short, public services and
government payrolls may be frozen until the voters get around to approving
a new bond issue. This has actually happened, bringing local government
to a standstill. In emergencies, government officials can try to borrow
short-term through “certificates of participation” or tax participation loans,
but the interest rates are prohibitively high; and in today’s tight credit market,
finding willing lenders is difficult.
To avoid those unpredictable contingencies, municipal governments will keep
a cushion of from 20% to 75% more than their budgets actually require.
This money is invested, but not necessarily lucratively. One finance officer,
for example, said that her city had just bid out $2 million as a 30-day certificate
of deposit (CD) to two large banks at a meager annual interest of 0.11%.
It was a nice spread for the banks, which could leverage the money into loans at
6% or so; but it was a pretty sparse deal for the city.
Meanwhile, Back in California
That was in Missouri, but the figures I was particularly interested were for my
own state of California, which was struggling with a budget deficit of $26.3 billion
as of April 2010. Yet the State Treasurer’s website says that he manages a Pooled
Money Investment Account (PMIA) tallying in at nearly $71 billion as of the same
date, including a Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF) of $24 billion.
Why isn’t this money being used toward the state’s deficit?
The Treasurer’s answer to this question, which he evidently gets frequently,
is that legislation forbids it. His website states:
“Can the State borrow LAIF dollars to resolve the budget deficit?
“No.
California Government Code 16429.3 states that monies placed with the
Treasurer for deposit in the LAIF by cities, counties, special districts,
nonprofit corporations, or qualified quasi-governmental agencies shall
not be subject to either of the following:
“(a) Transfer or loan pursuant to Sections 16310, 16312, or 16313.
“(b) Impoundment or seizure by any state official or state agency.”
The non-LAIF money in the pool can’t be spent either. It can be borrowed,
but it has to be paid back. When Governor Schwarzenegger tried to raid the
Public Transportation Account for the state budget, the California Transit
Association took him to court and won. The Third District Court of Appeals
ruled in June 2009 that diversions from the Public Transportation Account
to fill non-transit holes in the General Fund violated a series of statutory and
constitutional amendments enacted by voters via four statewide initiatives
dating back to 1990.
In short, the use of these funds for the state budget has been blocked by the
voters themselves. Bond issues are approved for particular purposes.
When excess funds are collected, they are not handed over to the State toward
next year’s budget.
They just sit idly in an earmarked fund, drawing a modest interest.
What’s Wrong with This Picture?
California’s budget problems have caused its credit rating to be downgraded
to just above that of Greece, driving the state’s interest tab skyward.
In November 2009, the state sold 30-year taxable securities carrying an
interest rate of 7.26%. Yet California has never defaulted on its bonds.
Meanwhile, the too-big-to-fail banks, which would have defaulted on
hundreds of billions of dollars of debt if they had not been bailed out by
the states and their citizens, are able to borrow from each other at the
extremely low federal funds rate, currently set at 0 to .25%
(one quarter of one percent).
The banks are also paying the states quite minimal rates for the use of
their public monies, and turning around and relending this money,
leveraged many times over, to the states and their citizens at much higher rates.
That is assuming they lend at all, something they are increasingly reluctant to
do, since speculating with the money is more lucrative, and investing it in
federal securities is more secure.
Private banks clearly have the upper hand in this game.
Local governments have been forced to horde funds in very inefficient ways,
building excessive reserves while slashing services, because they do not have
the extensive credit lines available to the private banking system.
States cannot easily incur new debt without voter approval, a process that is
cumbersome, time-consuming and uncertain. Banks, on the other hand, need
to keep only the slimmest of reserves, because they are backstopped by a
central bank with the power to create all the reserves necessary for its member
banks, as well as by Congress and the taxpayers themselves, who have been
arm-twisted into repeated bailouts of the Wall Street behemoths.
How the CAFR Money Could Be Used Without Spending It
California, then, is in the anomalous position of being $26 billion in the
red and plunging toward bankruptcy, while it has over $70 billion stashed
away in an investment pool that it cannot touch. Those are just the funds
managed by the Treasurer. According to California’s latest CAFR,
the California Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (CalPERS) has total
investments of $360 billion, including nearly $144 billion in “equity securities”
and $37 billion in “private equity.”
See the State of California Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the
Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009. (pages 83-84)
This money cannot be spent, but it can be invested -- and it can be invested
not just in conservative federal securities but in equity, or stocks.
Rather than turning this hidden gold mine over to Wall Street banks to earn
a very meager interest, California could leverage its excess funds itself,
turning the money into much-needed low-interest credit for its own use.
How?
It could do this by owning its own bank.
Only one state currently does this -- North Dakota.
North Dakota is also the only state projected to have a budget surplus by 2011.
It has not fallen into the Wall Street debt trap afflicting other states, because
it has been able to generate its own credit through its own state-owned
Bank of North Dakota (BND).
An investment in the State Bank of California would not be at risk unless the bank
became insolvent, a highly unlikely result since the state has the power to tax.
In North Dakota, the BND is a dba of the state itself: it is set up as
“the State of North Dakota doing business as the Bank of North Dakota.”
That means the bank cannot go bankrupt unless the state goes bankrupt.
The capital requirement for bank loans is a complicated matter, but it generally
works out to be about 7%. (According to Standard & Poor’s, the worldwide
average risk-adjusted capital ratio stood at 6.7 per cent as of June 30, 2009;
but for some major U.S. banks it was much lower: Citigroup's was 2.1 per cent;
Bank of America’s was 5.8 per cent.) At 7%, $7 of capital can back $100 in loans.
Thus if $7 billion in CAFR funds were invested as capital in a California state
development bank, the bank could generate $100 billion in loans.
This $100 billion credit line would allow California to finance its $26 billion
deficit at very minimal interest rates, with $74 billion left over for infrastructure
and other sorely needed projects. Studies have shown that eliminating the interest
burden can cut the cost of public projects in half. The loans could be repaid from
the profits generated by the projects themselves. Public transportation, low-cost
housing, alternative energy sources and the like all generate fees.
Meanwhile, the jobs created by these projects would produce additional taxes and
stimulate the economy. Commercial loans could also be made, generating interest
income that would return to state coffers.
Building a Deposit Base
To start a bank requires not just capital but deposits. Banks can create all the
loans they can find creditworthy borrowers for, up to the limit of their capital
base; but when the loans leave the bank as checks, the bank needs to replace
the deposits taken from its reserve pool in order for the checks to clear.
Where would a state-owned bank get the deposits necessary for this purpose?
In North Dakota, all the state’s revenues are deposited in the BND by law.
Compare California, which has expected revenues for 2010-11 of $89 billion.
The Treasurer’s website reports that as of June 30, 2009, the state held over
$18 billion on deposit as demand accounts and demand NOW accounts
(basically demand accounts carrying a very small interest).
These deposits were held in seven commercial banks, most of them
Wall Street banks: Bank of America, Union Bank, Bank of the West, U.S. Bank,
Wells Fargo Bank, Westamerica Bank, and Citibank. Besides these deposits,
the $64 billion or so left in the Treasurer’s investment pool could be invested
in State Bank of California CDs. Again, most of the bank CDs in which these
funds are now invested are Wall Street or foreign banks.
Many private depositors would no doubt choose to bank at the
State Bank of California as well, keeping California’s money in California.
There is already a movement afoot to transfer funds out of Wall Street
banks into local banks.
While the new state-owned bank is waiting to accumulate sufficient deposits
to clear its outgoing checks, it can do what other startup banks do –
borrow deposits from the interbank lending market at the very modest
federal funds rate (0 to .25%).
To avoid hurting California’s local banks, any state monies held on deposit
with local banks could remain there, since the State Bank of California should
have plenty of potential deposits without these funds. In North Dakota,
local banks are not only not threatened by the BND but are actually served by it,
since the BND partners with them, engaging in “participation loans” that help
local banks with their capital requirements.
Taking Back the Money Power
We have too long delegated the power to create our money and our credit to
private profiteers, who have plundered and exploited the privilege in ways that
are increasingly being exposed in the media. Wall Street may own Congress,
but it does not yet own the states. We can take the money power back at the
state level, by setting up our own publicly-owned banks. We can “spend” our
money while conserving it, by leveraging it into the credit urgently needed to
get the wheels of local production turning once again.
......................................THE END........................................................
Ellen Brown developed her research skills as an attorney practicing
civil litigation in Los Angeles. In Web of Debt, her latest of eleven books,
she turns those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and “the money trust.”
She shows how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money
from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back.
Her websites are:
www.webofdebt.com
www.ellenbrown.com
www.public-banking.com
Thanks to Carl Herman for discovering the CalPERS figures
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Rebuttal to Mexico's President Calderon
Prominent National Leader of Mexican Heritage
Fires Back at Mexico's President Calderon
Mr. Calderon, you dare insinuate racial profiling by Arizona's latest
desperate effort to implement an already existing Federal law in order
to defend itself against Mexico's invasion of our country. The irony of
the matter is repugnant. Illegal aliens from Mexico have overwhelmed
our nation in ways that constitute war against our citizenry.
You are truly an enemy of the United States.
It is no mystery that you , as the president of a failing country,
have not only condoned this illegal trespass, but encouraged it.
Your continued export of Mexican crime, unemployment, poverty
and disaffected Mexicans illegally to the United States is the safety
valve that supports political corruption in your country. The horrible
subjugation of your citizens encourages their escape even if it means
that they must commit crimes to do so.
The darkest mystery is your refusal to promulgate a sensible resolution
that would create jobs and, ultimately, a better lifestyle for Mexicans.
Your government took pride in the fact that the Mexican minimun wage
was raised to $4.00 a day. Instead, you choose to export your poor,
uneducated, third world citizens to a complacent nation by the millions.
Your repeated assailing of our laws, and unreasonable demands upon
Americans, are no longer acceptable. In fact, you and our very own
elected representatives have orchestrated this entire charade with the
use of illegal aliens from Mexico as a weapon to destroy this great
country and bless us with that promised change Barack O'Bama,
so eloquently spoke of during his vigorous campaign.
A committee of Americans of Hispanic heritage have closely examined
Mexico's immigration laws; you are not only a hypocrite, you a tyrant
hidden in sheep's wool... What you so boldly have demanded of us
Americans is now in the scrutiny of public opinion and will serve as
brighter illumination to your sinister agenda.
Let those American politicians, who so vigorously supported your divisive
retoric in a joint session of the American Congress, know that they have
put their political futures in doubt.
Al Garza
President
Patriots Coalition
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.
(This is a copy of a recent Blog
by my friend Sammye Delcambre
posted on her blog "Write2Fight"
at--http://write2fight.wordpress.com
)
Remember the quote “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country?” In typing class the quote was used to practice keyboard skills. The faster you learned to type the letters, the more likely you were to snag a secretarial job. In the process of learning to type quickly, the quote was committed to memory.
Patriots need to reach into their memory pool to pull out the quote, dust off the words, and shout the quote to fellow citizens: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country! ” It is a desperate plead for help in the 11th hour. Standing shoulder to shoulder, patriots have a chance to block the governmental encroachment on personal rights that is taking place on a daily basis.
Sadly, the call may be too late. However, the American spirit is not to be underestimated. If the call to action is heeded, enemies of the Constitution may find themselves facing angry patriots instead of sheeple who follow along blindly to the luring sounds of utopian pipes.
“Nothing you see happening in our country today is just ‘Left-Wing insane legislation,’ ” says Savant Noir, a history scholar who acknowedges the insdious dismantling of individual rights hidden in an agenda. ”It is, in fact, brilliantly executed. The powers in control know exactly what they are doing and they’re doing it at breakneck speed. While people have been yakking about ‘conspiracies’ for years, or while they waste their time with the latest sensation or hyperbole, this agenda has been marching forward uncontested and unimpeded.” Patriots must become aware of the policies within our country that fall under the category of an overall plan to destroy our way of life while proclaiming it is “sustaining” life.
What is it?
According to Navant Noir it falls under the ostensive concept of saving our planet.
“It is the outcome of the Earth Summit, organized around the concept of ‘climate change,’ man’s impact on the environmental resources and the organic biosphere. It is currently getting notoriety as the United Nation’s Framework for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), which is the Treaty which legally binds all nations to Agenda 21.”
The influx of anti-Constitutional concepts that originated over forty years ago have been embraced through “friendly” implementation in our country since 1992, when Bush signed the “Sustainable Development” program called Agenda 21. In 1993, by executive order, Clinton signed into law the President’s Council of Sustainable Development to further the implementation of Agenda 21.
What is Agenda 21?
Tune your ear to local, national and international policy changes that use buzz words such as “sustainable,” ”equity” or “global.” The words are the mantra of policies sweeping through our country via platforms of organizations, not necessarily from citizen voting power.
The bills presently being pushed through Congress such as Cap and Trade and Health Care Reform are riddled with Agenda 21 verbage. “The language in of all these massive bills are straight out of Agenda 21. Just by reading the 44 chapter titles of this document would give one a good understanding of what is going on if they are politically aware enough to connect the dots,” says Savant Noir.
Agenda 21 is aimed at supporting big government take over of private property rights, medical freedom, education, and economic well being. The Constitution guarantees citizens freedom to control government; Agenda 21 guarantees government control of the citizens. The policies of Agenda 21 are enemies of the framework of our government precisely because they seize government control over individual rights. Sadly, many citizens don’t understand the importance of the Constitutional guarantees and will probably be blind until their personal land is seized, their personal water supply is diminished or cut off, or their kindergarten child is taught about homosexualism.
“Sustainable development” is another word for governmental land grab leading to robbing Americans of their private properties in the name of saving the environment. ”Sustainable Medicine” is a little more personal because it’s a grab of citizens’ healthcare including grandma’s right to live. These policies are justified by buzz words such as: ”global equity, “common good “or “environmental stewardship.” Ostensively reasonable words on the surface, aren’t they? They have pervaded our society. “Global warming,” “Universal healthcare,” “Global governance,” “Global citizenship,” and “Global monetary system’” are used openly.
International concern for the well being of the United States is making nervous allies from other countries speak out.
President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic says,”The environmentalists speak about saving our planet. We have to ask–from what? And from whom? I think I know [those answers] for sure. We have to save the planet, and us, from them.” (Pete Chagnon, One World News Now 3/9/09)
Dr. Richard Lindzen, an MIT professor, says, “I think [there is] one point you should notice as one discusses the science, and that is that global warming alarm–as far as I can tell– has always been a politcal movement, a highly organized one, and although it took me a while to realize this, opposing it has been an uphill battle.” ( ibid) Why is it an uphill battle? Because Chicago thug tactics of ridicule, erroneous data, or pay-offs are used to quiet dissent.
Sound familiar?
Time to act, Patriots. Get the Garlic, Crucifix, tea party and votes warmed up to stop Agenda 21 which is an implementation of a plan to dismantle individual sovereignty, state sovereignty and finally, the sovereignty of the United States.
Just as vampires suck blood, so big government sucks private land, money, education, health and individual rights with one intent–to lead citizens to the utopia called The One World Government.
If Patriots don’t come to the aid of their country NOW, they may become real live characters on the stage of life just like the fictional characters in bondage in Orwell’s 1984, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or Huxley’s Brave New World.
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country!”
For more information go to: www.spinpolitico.com/forum/topics/sustainable-developmentagenda-1
http://thegreenscheme.wordpress.com/lifeplan
http://recyclewashington.wordpress.com
by my friend Sammye Delcambre
posted on her blog "Write2Fight"
at--http://write2fight.wordpress.com
)
Remember the quote “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country?” In typing class the quote was used to practice keyboard skills. The faster you learned to type the letters, the more likely you were to snag a secretarial job. In the process of learning to type quickly, the quote was committed to memory.
Patriots need to reach into their memory pool to pull out the quote, dust off the words, and shout the quote to fellow citizens: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country! ” It is a desperate plead for help in the 11th hour. Standing shoulder to shoulder, patriots have a chance to block the governmental encroachment on personal rights that is taking place on a daily basis.
Sadly, the call may be too late. However, the American spirit is not to be underestimated. If the call to action is heeded, enemies of the Constitution may find themselves facing angry patriots instead of sheeple who follow along blindly to the luring sounds of utopian pipes.
“Nothing you see happening in our country today is just ‘Left-Wing insane legislation,’ ” says Savant Noir, a history scholar who acknowedges the insdious dismantling of individual rights hidden in an agenda. ”It is, in fact, brilliantly executed. The powers in control know exactly what they are doing and they’re doing it at breakneck speed. While people have been yakking about ‘conspiracies’ for years, or while they waste their time with the latest sensation or hyperbole, this agenda has been marching forward uncontested and unimpeded.” Patriots must become aware of the policies within our country that fall under the category of an overall plan to destroy our way of life while proclaiming it is “sustaining” life.
What is it?
According to Navant Noir it falls under the ostensive concept of saving our planet.
“It is the outcome of the Earth Summit, organized around the concept of ‘climate change,’ man’s impact on the environmental resources and the organic biosphere. It is currently getting notoriety as the United Nation’s Framework for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), which is the Treaty which legally binds all nations to Agenda 21.”
The influx of anti-Constitutional concepts that originated over forty years ago have been embraced through “friendly” implementation in our country since 1992, when Bush signed the “Sustainable Development” program called Agenda 21. In 1993, by executive order, Clinton signed into law the President’s Council of Sustainable Development to further the implementation of Agenda 21.
What is Agenda 21?
Tune your ear to local, national and international policy changes that use buzz words such as “sustainable,” ”equity” or “global.” The words are the mantra of policies sweeping through our country via platforms of organizations, not necessarily from citizen voting power.
The bills presently being pushed through Congress such as Cap and Trade and Health Care Reform are riddled with Agenda 21 verbage. “The language in of all these massive bills are straight out of Agenda 21. Just by reading the 44 chapter titles of this document would give one a good understanding of what is going on if they are politically aware enough to connect the dots,” says Savant Noir.
Agenda 21 is aimed at supporting big government take over of private property rights, medical freedom, education, and economic well being. The Constitution guarantees citizens freedom to control government; Agenda 21 guarantees government control of the citizens. The policies of Agenda 21 are enemies of the framework of our government precisely because they seize government control over individual rights. Sadly, many citizens don’t understand the importance of the Constitutional guarantees and will probably be blind until their personal land is seized, their personal water supply is diminished or cut off, or their kindergarten child is taught about homosexualism.
“Sustainable development” is another word for governmental land grab leading to robbing Americans of their private properties in the name of saving the environment. ”Sustainable Medicine” is a little more personal because it’s a grab of citizens’ healthcare including grandma’s right to live. These policies are justified by buzz words such as: ”global equity, “common good “or “environmental stewardship.” Ostensively reasonable words on the surface, aren’t they? They have pervaded our society. “Global warming,” “Universal healthcare,” “Global governance,” “Global citizenship,” and “Global monetary system’” are used openly.
International concern for the well being of the United States is making nervous allies from other countries speak out.
President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic says,”The environmentalists speak about saving our planet. We have to ask–from what? And from whom? I think I know [those answers] for sure. We have to save the planet, and us, from them.” (Pete Chagnon, One World News Now 3/9/09)
Dr. Richard Lindzen, an MIT professor, says, “I think [there is] one point you should notice as one discusses the science, and that is that global warming alarm–as far as I can tell– has always been a politcal movement, a highly organized one, and although it took me a while to realize this, opposing it has been an uphill battle.” ( ibid) Why is it an uphill battle? Because Chicago thug tactics of ridicule, erroneous data, or pay-offs are used to quiet dissent.
Sound familiar?
Time to act, Patriots. Get the Garlic, Crucifix, tea party and votes warmed up to stop Agenda 21 which is an implementation of a plan to dismantle individual sovereignty, state sovereignty and finally, the sovereignty of the United States.
Just as vampires suck blood, so big government sucks private land, money, education, health and individual rights with one intent–to lead citizens to the utopia called The One World Government.
If Patriots don’t come to the aid of their country NOW, they may become real live characters on the stage of life just like the fictional characters in bondage in Orwell’s 1984, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or Huxley’s Brave New World.
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country!”
For more information go to: www.spinpolitico.com/forum/topics/sustainable-developmentagenda-1
http://thegreenscheme.wordpress.com/lifeplan
http://recyclewashington.wordpress.com
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
A Great Lady Has Passed
Dennis McCarthy
Los Angeles Times
Pamela Murphy, widow of WWII hero and actor, Audie Murphy,
died peacefully at her home on April 8, 2010.
She was the widow of the most decorated WWII hero and actor,
Audie Murphy, and established her own distinctive 35 year career
working as a patient liaison at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration
hospital, treating every veteran who visited the facility as if they were a VIP.
Any soldier or Marine who came into the hospital got the same special
treatment from her. She would walk the hallways with her clipboard in
hand making sure her boys got to see the specialist they needed.
If they didn't, watch out. Her boys weren't Medal of Honor recipients or
movie stars like Audie, but that didn't matter to Pam. They had served
their country. That was good enough for her. She never called a veteran
by his first name. It was always "Mister." Respect came with the job.
"Nobody could cut through VA red tape faster than Mrs. Murphy,"
said veteran Stephen Sherman, speaking for thousands of veterans she
befriended over the years. "Many times I watched her march a veteran
who had been waiting more than an hour right into the doctor's office.
She was even reprimanded a few times, but it didn't matter to Mrs. Murphy.
"Only her boys mattered. She was our angel."
Audie Murphy died broke in a plane crash in 1971, squandering million of dollars
on gambling, bad investments, and yes, other women. "Even with the adultery
and desertion at the end, he always remained my hero," Pam told me.
She went from a comfortable ranch-style home in Van Nuys where she raised
two sons to a small apartment - taking a clerk's job at the nearby VA to support
herself and start paying off her faded movie star husband's debts.
At first, no one knew who she was. Soon, though, word spread through the VA
that the nice woman with the clipboard was Audie Murphy's widow.
It was like saying General Patton had just walked in the front door.
Men with tears in their eyes walked up to her and gave her a hug.
"Thank you," they said, over and over.
The first couple of years, I think the hugs were more for Audie's memory
as a war hero. The last 30 years, they were for Pam. One year I asked
her to be the focus of a Veteran's Day column for all the work she had done.
Pam just shook her head no.
"Honor them, not me," she said, pointing to a group of veterans down the hallway.
"They're the ones who deserve it."
The vets disagreed. Mrs. Murphy deserved the accolades, they said.
Incredibly, in 2002, Pam's job was going to be eliminated in budget cuts.
She was considered "excess staff."
"I don't think helping cut down on veterans' complaints and showing them
the respect they deserve, should be considered excess staff," she told me.
Neither did the veterans.
They went ballistic, holding a rally for her outside the VA gates.
Pretty soon, word came down from the top of the VA. Pam Murphy
was no longer considered "excess staff." She remained working full
time at the VA until 2007 when she was 87.
"The last time she was here was a couple of years ago for the conference
we had for homeless veterans," said Becky James, coordinator of the VA's
Veterans History Project. Pam wanted to see if there was anything she could
do to help some more of her boys.
Pam Murphy was 90 when she died last week. What a lady.
Los Angeles Times
Pamela Murphy, widow of WWII hero and actor, Audie Murphy,
died peacefully at her home on April 8, 2010.
She was the widow of the most decorated WWII hero and actor,
Audie Murphy, and established her own distinctive 35 year career
working as a patient liaison at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration
hospital, treating every veteran who visited the facility as if they were a VIP.
Any soldier or Marine who came into the hospital got the same special
treatment from her. She would walk the hallways with her clipboard in
hand making sure her boys got to see the specialist they needed.
If they didn't, watch out. Her boys weren't Medal of Honor recipients or
movie stars like Audie, but that didn't matter to Pam. They had served
their country. That was good enough for her. She never called a veteran
by his first name. It was always "Mister." Respect came with the job.
"Nobody could cut through VA red tape faster than Mrs. Murphy,"
said veteran Stephen Sherman, speaking for thousands of veterans she
befriended over the years. "Many times I watched her march a veteran
who had been waiting more than an hour right into the doctor's office.
She was even reprimanded a few times, but it didn't matter to Mrs. Murphy.
"Only her boys mattered. She was our angel."
Audie Murphy died broke in a plane crash in 1971, squandering million of dollars
on gambling, bad investments, and yes, other women. "Even with the adultery
and desertion at the end, he always remained my hero," Pam told me.
She went from a comfortable ranch-style home in Van Nuys where she raised
two sons to a small apartment - taking a clerk's job at the nearby VA to support
herself and start paying off her faded movie star husband's debts.
At first, no one knew who she was. Soon, though, word spread through the VA
that the nice woman with the clipboard was Audie Murphy's widow.
It was like saying General Patton had just walked in the front door.
Men with tears in their eyes walked up to her and gave her a hug.
"Thank you," they said, over and over.
The first couple of years, I think the hugs were more for Audie's memory
as a war hero. The last 30 years, they were for Pam. One year I asked
her to be the focus of a Veteran's Day column for all the work she had done.
Pam just shook her head no.
"Honor them, not me," she said, pointing to a group of veterans down the hallway.
"They're the ones who deserve it."
The vets disagreed. Mrs. Murphy deserved the accolades, they said.
Incredibly, in 2002, Pam's job was going to be eliminated in budget cuts.
She was considered "excess staff."
"I don't think helping cut down on veterans' complaints and showing them
the respect they deserve, should be considered excess staff," she told me.
Neither did the veterans.
They went ballistic, holding a rally for her outside the VA gates.
Pretty soon, word came down from the top of the VA. Pam Murphy
was no longer considered "excess staff." She remained working full
time at the VA until 2007 when she was 87.
"The last time she was here was a couple of years ago for the conference
we had for homeless veterans," said Becky James, coordinator of the VA's
Veterans History Project. Pam wanted to see if there was anything she could
do to help some more of her boys.
Pam Murphy was 90 when she died last week. What a lady.
The Ballad Of Robert Krentz
| By Digger |  |
class=KonaBody isRoot="true"
class=rimg
Quite a beautiful song written about Robert Krentz, killed along the Arizona border March 27, 2010. Those investigating tracked the killer's trail back to the border of Mexico. At this time no one has been apprehended in the death of Robert Krentz. The Krentz family released a statement wherein they said "He was known for his concern and kindness helping neighbors, friends and even trespassers on his ranch with compassionate assistance in their time of need."
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
NEW KITTENS
A pretty little girl named Suzy was standing on the
sidewalk in front of her home. Next to her was a
basket containing a number tiny creatures; in her
hand was a sign announcing FREE KITTENS.
Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up beside her.
Out of the lead car stepped a tall, grinning man.
"Hi there, little girl, I'm President Obama.
What do you have in the basket?" he asked.
"Kittens," little Suzy said.
"How old are they?" asked Obama.
Suzy replied,
"They're so young, their eyes aren't even open yet."
"And what kind of kittens are they?"
"Democrats," answered Suzy with a smile.
Obama was delighted. As soon as he returned to
his car, he called his PR chief and told him about
the little girl and the kittens.
Recognizing the perfect photo op, the two men
agreed that the president should return the next day,
and, in front of the assembled media, have the girl
talk about her discerning kittens.
So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the
sidewalk with her basket of "FREE KITTENS"
when another motorcade pulled up, this time
followed by vans from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.
Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up,
then Obama got out of his limo and walked over to little Suzy.
"Hello, again," he said, "I'd love it if you would tell all my friends
out there what kind of kittens you're giving away."
"Yes sir," Suzy said. "They're Republicans."
Taken by surprise, the president stammered,
"But... but... yesterday, you told me they were
DEMOCRATS."
Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know.
But today, they have their eyes open."
_____________________________________________
Thanks to Elizabeth Cowen (of CIA) for this Gem
sidewalk in front of her home. Next to her was a
basket containing a number tiny creatures; in her
hand was a sign announcing FREE KITTENS.
Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up beside her.
Out of the lead car stepped a tall, grinning man.
"Hi there, little girl, I'm President Obama.
What do you have in the basket?" he asked.
"Kittens," little Suzy said.
"How old are they?" asked Obama.
Suzy replied,
"They're so young, their eyes aren't even open yet."
"And what kind of kittens are they?"
"Democrats," answered Suzy with a smile.
Obama was delighted. As soon as he returned to
his car, he called his PR chief and told him about
the little girl and the kittens.
Recognizing the perfect photo op, the two men
agreed that the president should return the next day,
and, in front of the assembled media, have the girl
talk about her discerning kittens.
So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the
sidewalk with her basket of "FREE KITTENS"
when another motorcade pulled up, this time
followed by vans from ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.
Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up,
then Obama got out of his limo and walked over to little Suzy.
"Hello, again," he said, "I'd love it if you would tell all my friends
out there what kind of kittens you're giving away."
"Yes sir," Suzy said. "They're Republicans."
Taken by surprise, the president stammered,
"But... but... yesterday, you told me they were
DEMOCRATS."
Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know.
But today, they have their eyes open."
_____________________________________________
Thanks to Elizabeth Cowen (of CIA) for this Gem
FIVE MYTHS ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM US GOVERNMENT
By Frosty Wooldridge
May 10, 2010
NewsWithViews.com
In a whopping “Pinocchio’s nose grows longer than a football field”
essay, the Washington Post published a piece by former INS
commissioner Doris Meissner, currently a senior fellow at the
Migration Policy Institute. She wrote: “5 myths about immigration”
5/9/2010.
Once again, ‘experts’ of the U.S. Government fail, and fail miserably,
to engage the American public with integrity, honesty and service to
American citizens.
“Despite the fact that we are a nation of immigrants,” said Meissner,
“immigration continues to be one of America’s most contentious topics.
The new law in Arizona authorizing police to arrest individuals who cannot show documents proving that they are in the country legally
has set off a fresh bout of acrimony. But as in the past, much of the
debate is founded on mythology.”
Reality check: Americans do not question LEGAL immigration although
it proves more methodical at 1.5 million annually and more disastrous as
it drives this nation toward adding 100 million people within 25 years.
Americans resent ILLEGAL immigration. Meissner stands “up and away”
from reality by making such an egregious statement.
THE FIVE MYTHS BY MEISSNER THAT AVOID REALITY
1. “Immigrants take jobs away from Americans”
“Although legal immigrants account for 12.5 percent of the U.S. Population, they make up 15 percent of the work-force,” said Meissner.
“As a result of this growth, economists estimate that wages for the vast majority of American workers are slightly higher than they would be without immigration.”
Reality check:
Over 20 million Americans suffer unemployment with 35 million Americans subsisting on food stamps. Millions of Americans suffer
home foreclosures because they cannot secure jobs. That means those Americans must be supported by working Americans through taxes.
The fact remains:
Immigrants DO take jobs from Americans. Ten to twelve million fully employed illegal alien migrants displace Americans from jobs and they undercut wages as they work off the books. Over 20 million Americans remain unemployed.
But, as Katie Couric announced, the U.S. adds only 95,000 jobs monthly.
However, the U.S. Congress adds 150,000 to 180,000 legal immigrants every 30 days. Therefore, those immigrants take jobs away from Americans and we cannot possibly catch up to hire Americans to create full employment. Ms. Meissner needs to go back to sixth grade math to understand the numbers.
2. “Immigration is at an all time high, and most new immigrants came illegally”
“Today, two-thirds of immigrants are here legally,” said Meissner.
Reality check:
In 2004, Time Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize winning writers Donald Barlett and Jim Steele, wrote, “What happened?” September 20, 2004. They investigated illegal immigration in that year to equal a whopping:
“Three million illegal migrants crossed U.S. borders.
It’s fair to estimate, based on a Time investigation, that the number of illegal aliens flooding into the U.S. this year will total 3 million—
enough to fill 22,000 Boeing 737-700 airliners, or 60 flights every day
for a year.”
Those numbers, because of the economic downturn, dropped to 1.0 million in 2009.
An enormous 40 percent of illegal aliens arrive with legal green cards and visas, but overstay and melt into their racial enclaves to remain illegal for as long as they like.
In order to remain, the women birth ‘anchor babies’ at a cost along with other services of $346 billion annually to U.S. taxpayers.
(Source: Edwin Rubenstein Report, www.thesocialcontract.com)
3. “Today’s immigrants are not integrating into American life like past waves did”
“Today, as before, immigrant integration takes a generation or two,”
said Meissner.
Reality check:
Most Americans must press ‘1’ for Spanish and ‘2’ for English across the country, which shows that not only are immigrants not assimilating,
their numbers accelerate so fast, they refuse to speak English and work within our society as integral aspects.
They remain outside of American life by their linguistic recalcitrant choices.
4. “Cracking down on illegal border crossings will make us safer”
“Since 9/11, we have dramatically strengthened our borders,”
said Meissner.
Reality check:
In four of the past five years, I personally inspected the borders from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California. We have done NOTHING
of any significance to secure the borders.
Let me repeat that: NOTHING! Over $75 to $100 billion in drugs
crosses the southern border annually and 700,000 plus illegal aliens
continue to cross our border from Mexico annually.
It’s astounding this lady enjoyed publication in major newspapers of her ‘myths’ by perpetrating outright lies about those myths.
5. “Immigration reform cannot happen in an election year"
“Ruling out immigration reform, whether because Congress has other
priorities or because it’s an election year would be a mistake,”
said Meissner.
Reality check:
To give her the benefit of the doubt, she may be correct.
However, the anger and acrimony in Washington, DC today
over the health care bill being passed—
certainly provides an excoriating environment for immigration reform.
First of all, the past four presidents and Congresses failed to enforce
the 1986 immigration amnesty. We do not entertain any chance that
this current president or Congress would enforce our borders after yet another amnesty.
For anyone that might not appreciate HOW deep our predicament,
watch Roy Beck video “Immigration by the Numbers” below for a
look at what we face. His 14 minute video will show you the futility
and insanity of continued mass immigration whether legal or illegal
from a line that grows by 77 million annually of poverty stricken
people searching for a ‘better life’ in America.
You won’t find any media talking about it or addressing it.
They run from, avoid, evade and ignore it at all costs.
But if we ignore it as a civilization, immigration will inject
70 million third world people and their cultures of poverty into this country by 2035—a scant 25 years from now.
We cannot sustain that number and we most certainly will not
survive it with any hope for the continuation of the American Dream
for our children.
May 10, 2010
NewsWithViews.com
In a whopping “Pinocchio’s nose grows longer than a football field”
essay, the Washington Post published a piece by former INS
commissioner Doris Meissner, currently a senior fellow at the
Migration Policy Institute. She wrote: “5 myths about immigration”
5/9/2010.
Once again, ‘experts’ of the U.S. Government fail, and fail miserably,
to engage the American public with integrity, honesty and service to
American citizens.
“Despite the fact that we are a nation of immigrants,” said Meissner,
“immigration continues to be one of America’s most contentious topics.
The new law in Arizona authorizing police to arrest individuals who cannot show documents proving that they are in the country legally
has set off a fresh bout of acrimony. But as in the past, much of the
debate is founded on mythology.”
Reality check: Americans do not question LEGAL immigration although
it proves more methodical at 1.5 million annually and more disastrous as
it drives this nation toward adding 100 million people within 25 years.
Americans resent ILLEGAL immigration. Meissner stands “up and away”
from reality by making such an egregious statement.
THE FIVE MYTHS BY MEISSNER THAT AVOID REALITY
1. “Immigrants take jobs away from Americans”
“Although legal immigrants account for 12.5 percent of the U.S. Population, they make up 15 percent of the work-force,” said Meissner.
“As a result of this growth, economists estimate that wages for the vast majority of American workers are slightly higher than they would be without immigration.”
Reality check:
Over 20 million Americans suffer unemployment with 35 million Americans subsisting on food stamps. Millions of Americans suffer
home foreclosures because they cannot secure jobs. That means those Americans must be supported by working Americans through taxes.
The fact remains:
Immigrants DO take jobs from Americans. Ten to twelve million fully employed illegal alien migrants displace Americans from jobs and they undercut wages as they work off the books. Over 20 million Americans remain unemployed.
But, as Katie Couric announced, the U.S. adds only 95,000 jobs monthly.
However, the U.S. Congress adds 150,000 to 180,000 legal immigrants every 30 days. Therefore, those immigrants take jobs away from Americans and we cannot possibly catch up to hire Americans to create full employment. Ms. Meissner needs to go back to sixth grade math to understand the numbers.
2. “Immigration is at an all time high, and most new immigrants came illegally”
“Today, two-thirds of immigrants are here legally,” said Meissner.
Reality check:
In 2004, Time Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize winning writers Donald Barlett and Jim Steele, wrote, “What happened?” September 20, 2004. They investigated illegal immigration in that year to equal a whopping:
“Three million illegal migrants crossed U.S. borders.
It’s fair to estimate, based on a Time investigation, that the number of illegal aliens flooding into the U.S. this year will total 3 million—
enough to fill 22,000 Boeing 737-700 airliners, or 60 flights every day
for a year.”
Those numbers, because of the economic downturn, dropped to 1.0 million in 2009.
An enormous 40 percent of illegal aliens arrive with legal green cards and visas, but overstay and melt into their racial enclaves to remain illegal for as long as they like.
In order to remain, the women birth ‘anchor babies’ at a cost along with other services of $346 billion annually to U.S. taxpayers.
(Source: Edwin Rubenstein Report, www.thesocialcontract.com)
3. “Today’s immigrants are not integrating into American life like past waves did”
“Today, as before, immigrant integration takes a generation or two,”
said Meissner.
Reality check:
Most Americans must press ‘1’ for Spanish and ‘2’ for English across the country, which shows that not only are immigrants not assimilating,
their numbers accelerate so fast, they refuse to speak English and work within our society as integral aspects.
They remain outside of American life by their linguistic recalcitrant choices.
4. “Cracking down on illegal border crossings will make us safer”
“Since 9/11, we have dramatically strengthened our borders,”
said Meissner.
Reality check:
In four of the past five years, I personally inspected the borders from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California. We have done NOTHING
of any significance to secure the borders.
Let me repeat that: NOTHING! Over $75 to $100 billion in drugs
crosses the southern border annually and 700,000 plus illegal aliens
continue to cross our border from Mexico annually.
It’s astounding this lady enjoyed publication in major newspapers of her ‘myths’ by perpetrating outright lies about those myths.
5. “Immigration reform cannot happen in an election year"
“Ruling out immigration reform, whether because Congress has other
priorities or because it’s an election year would be a mistake,”
said Meissner.
Reality check:
To give her the benefit of the doubt, she may be correct.
However, the anger and acrimony in Washington, DC today
over the health care bill being passed—
certainly provides an excoriating environment for immigration reform.
First of all, the past four presidents and Congresses failed to enforce
the 1986 immigration amnesty. We do not entertain any chance that
this current president or Congress would enforce our borders after yet another amnesty.
For anyone that might not appreciate HOW deep our predicament,
watch Roy Beck video “Immigration by the Numbers” below for a
look at what we face. His 14 minute video will show you the futility
and insanity of continued mass immigration whether legal or illegal
from a line that grows by 77 million annually of poverty stricken
people searching for a ‘better life’ in America.
You won’t find any media talking about it or addressing it.
They run from, avoid, evade and ignore it at all costs.
But if we ignore it as a civilization, immigration will inject
70 million third world people and their cultures of poverty into this country by 2035—a scant 25 years from now.
We cannot sustain that number and we most certainly will not
survive it with any hope for the continuation of the American Dream
for our children.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Student Gets Detention for Possessing Piece of Candy
By Katie Landan –
FOXNews.com
A Texas 3rd grader had to serve a one-week detention
after a teacher found a single Jolly Rancher candy in
her possession.
Ten-year-old Leighann Adair came home in tears,
terrified to tell her parents she’d been slapped with
a week’s worth of detention for possessing a
contraband substance:
The forbidden fruit: a piece of Jolly Rancher candy.
A teacher at Brazos Elementary School in Wallis, Texas, took the unopened piece of candy away from the third-grader two weeks ago after a friend handed it to her.
Both Leighann and her friend were ordered to serve detention during lunch and recess, and they had to
write an essay about what they did and why it was
wrong.
“She came home crying,” said her mother,
Amber Brazda, explaining that Leighann
“has never been in trouble before.”
“It’s an extreme punishment for something so small,”
said Leighann’s stepfather Michael Brazda.
“What are they going to do,
have candy sniffing dogs next?”
her mother said.
But school officials are standing by the punishment.
They say they have to be strict in order to enforce
their no-gum, no-candy policy. Candy and gum,
they say, can cause a mess.
Jack Ellis , superintendent for the Brazos Independent School District, says it’s also a matter of following
state guidelines to limit the amount of junk food in schools.
“Whether or not I agree with the guidelines,
we have to follow the rules,”
Ellis told KHOU-TV in Houston.
A piece of Jolly Ranchers candy has 23 calories
and provides 2 percent of the daily value of
carbohydrates. But there’s nothing in the rules
that compels a school to punish a student for
possessing junk food, says Texas Department
of Agriculture spokesman Bryan Black.
The department sent a letter to the school
reminding staff that state policy doesn’t outline
such punishments. “Our policy does not prohibit
from sharing a Jolly Rancher with a friend,”
Black told FOXNews.com.
“If a parent wants to pack candy, it’s their decision,
not against school policy.
A parent needs to decide what a student eats.”
Though the state has dietary rules for schools —
mandating, for example,
that food be baked, not fried — disciplinary action
is a local decision, Black told FOXNews.com.
And Leighann’s parents say the local decision
routinely goes too far.
“The school has a history of harsh punishments,”
Michael Brazda told FoxNews.com.
“It’s about time someone called them out on it.”
He said students at the school are required to
wear a belt, and a few months ago Leighann’s
brother was given in-house suspension for
failing to wear one –
even though the father said he called the school
secretary to explain that their new puppy chewed
up the boy’s only belt that morning.
He said his son had to “sit in a room all day and
stare at a wall.”
Leighann’s family and members of the community
plan to attend the next school board meeting to
contest the school’s stringent candy policy.
Though the family is trying to change the district’s patterns, the parents say they plan to take their
children out of the school district at the end of
the year.
“I will put her in a private school if I have to,”
Amber Brazda said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOXNews.com
A Texas 3rd grader had to serve a one-week detention
after a teacher found a single Jolly Rancher candy in
her possession.
Ten-year-old Leighann Adair came home in tears,
terrified to tell her parents she’d been slapped with
a week’s worth of detention for possessing a
contraband substance:
The forbidden fruit: a piece of Jolly Rancher candy.
A teacher at Brazos Elementary School in Wallis, Texas, took the unopened piece of candy away from the third-grader two weeks ago after a friend handed it to her.
Both Leighann and her friend were ordered to serve detention during lunch and recess, and they had to
write an essay about what they did and why it was
wrong.
“She came home crying,” said her mother,
Amber Brazda, explaining that Leighann
“has never been in trouble before.”
“It’s an extreme punishment for something so small,”
said Leighann’s stepfather Michael Brazda.
“What are they going to do,
have candy sniffing dogs next?”
her mother said.
But school officials are standing by the punishment.
They say they have to be strict in order to enforce
their no-gum, no-candy policy. Candy and gum,
they say, can cause a mess.
Jack Ellis , superintendent for the Brazos Independent School District, says it’s also a matter of following
state guidelines to limit the amount of junk food in schools.
“Whether or not I agree with the guidelines,
we have to follow the rules,”
Ellis told KHOU-TV in Houston.
A piece of Jolly Ranchers candy has 23 calories
and provides 2 percent of the daily value of
carbohydrates. But there’s nothing in the rules
that compels a school to punish a student for
possessing junk food, says Texas Department
of Agriculture spokesman Bryan Black.
The department sent a letter to the school
reminding staff that state policy doesn’t outline
such punishments. “Our policy does not prohibit
from sharing a Jolly Rancher with a friend,”
Black told FOXNews.com.
“If a parent wants to pack candy, it’s their decision,
not against school policy.
A parent needs to decide what a student eats.”
Though the state has dietary rules for schools —
mandating, for example,
that food be baked, not fried — disciplinary action
is a local decision, Black told FOXNews.com.
And Leighann’s parents say the local decision
routinely goes too far.
“The school has a history of harsh punishments,”
Michael Brazda told FoxNews.com.
“It’s about time someone called them out on it.”
He said students at the school are required to
wear a belt, and a few months ago Leighann’s
brother was given in-house suspension for
failing to wear one –
even though the father said he called the school
secretary to explain that their new puppy chewed
up the boy’s only belt that morning.
He said his son had to “sit in a room all day and
stare at a wall.”
Leighann’s family and members of the community
plan to attend the next school board meeting to
contest the school’s stringent candy policy.
Though the family is trying to change the district’s patterns, the parents say they plan to take their
children out of the school district at the end of
the year.
“I will put her in a private school if I have to,”
Amber Brazda said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
K.I.S.S.
The last report I heard there were just over 8000 people trying
to solve this this nasty oil spill problem. This in it self is as big
a problem as the oil, with 6000 or so of the problem solvers
government employees and the rest pinhead engineers.
But as is usually the case, WE THE PEOPLE have better
solutions to almost any problem, and this oil spill is no different.
On May 5, a couple of local CWRoberts employees presented
a very Simple, Fool-Proof, Non-Toxic, solution to the oil spill and
had the Know-It-Alls paid attention we wouldn't be sweating this
thing at all. Watch the presentation and tell me this isn't Genius:
to solve this this nasty oil spill problem. This in it self is as big
a problem as the oil, with 6000 or so of the problem solvers
government employees and the rest pinhead engineers.
But as is usually the case, WE THE PEOPLE have better
solutions to almost any problem, and this oil spill is no different.
On May 5, a couple of local CWRoberts employees presented
a very Simple, Fool-Proof, Non-Toxic, solution to the oil spill and
had the Know-It-Alls paid attention we wouldn't be sweating this
thing at all. Watch the presentation and tell me this isn't Genius:
Saturday, May 8, 2010
TaxPayers pay His Salary, He enjoys all that is America, He Needs To Shut-Up
UCLA Professor Calls for Mexican Revolt in the U.S.
Calif. tax dollars at work.
"Where we now stand is stolen, occupied Mexico"..
More gems:
'Communist Revolution',
'Frail, racist white people',
'La Raza' (the Race),
Fidel Castro,
'Northern Front of Latin Revolution'...
"40 million...revolutionaries...in the belly of the beast".
"Our enemy is Capitalism and Imperialism". Sedition anyone?
We are revolutionary Mexican organization here.
We understand that this is not just about Mexico.
Its about a global struggle against imperialism and capitalism
At the forefront of this revolutionary movement is La Raza.
We will no longer fall for these lies called borders.
We see America as a northern front of a revolutionary movement
Our enemy is capitalism and imperialism.
Sounds Alot Like Sedition To Me
Calif. tax dollars at work.
"Where we now stand is stolen, occupied Mexico"..
More gems:
'Communist Revolution',
'Frail, racist white people',
'La Raza' (the Race),
Fidel Castro,
'Northern Front of Latin Revolution'...
"40 million...revolutionaries...in the belly of the beast".
"Our enemy is Capitalism and Imperialism". Sedition anyone?
We are revolutionary Mexican organization here.
We understand that this is not just about Mexico.
Its about a global struggle against imperialism and capitalism
At the forefront of this revolutionary movement is La Raza.
We will no longer fall for these lies called borders.
We see America as a northern front of a revolutionary movement
Our enemy is capitalism and imperialism.
Sounds Alot Like Sedition To Me
Friday, May 7, 2010
Charlie Daniels--A True American Patriot
The rant below is titled Mexican Standoffand was penned
by Charlie Daniels back on 04/03/06, a startling reminder of the old saying:
"The more things change, the more they stay the same"
"I don’t know how everybody else feels about it, but to me I think Hispanic people
in this country, legally or illegally, made a huge public relations mistake with their
recent demonstrations.
I don’t blame anybody in the world for wanting to come to the United States
of America, as it is a truly wonderful place. But when the first thing you do
when you set foot on American soil is illegal it is flat out wrong and I don’t
care how many lala land left heads come out of the woodwork and start trying
to give me sensitivity lessons.
I don’t need sensitivity lessons, in fact I don’t have anything against Mexicans,
I just have something against criminals and anybody who comes into this country
illegally is a criminal and if you don’t believe it try coming into America from a
foreign country without a passport and see how far you get.
What disturbs me about the demonstrations is that it’s tantamount to saying,
“I am going to come into your country even if it means breaking your laws and
there’s nothing you can do about it.”
It’s an “in your face” action and speaking just for me I don’t like it one little bit
and if there were a half dozen pairs of gonads in Washington bigger than
English peas it wouldn’t be happening.
Where are you, you bunch of lilly livered, pantywaist, forked tongued,
sorry excuses for defenders of The Constitution?
Have you been drinking the water out of the Potomac again?
And even if you pass a bill on immigration it will probably be so pork laden
and watered down that it won’t mean anything anyway. Besides, what good
is another law going to do when you won’t enforce the ones on the books now?
And what ever happened to the polls guys? I thought you folks were the
quintessential finger wetters. Well you sure ain’t paying any attention to
the polls this time because somewhere around eighty percent of Americans
want something done about this mess, and mess it is and getting bigger everyday.
This is no longer a problem, it is a dilemma and headed for being a tragedy.
Do you honestly think that what happened in France with the Muslims can’t
happen here when the businesses who hire these people finally run out of jobs
and a few million disillusioned Hispanics take to the streets?
If you, Mr. President, Congressmen and Senators, knuckle under on this and
refuse to do something meaningful it means that you care nothing for the kind
of country your children and grandchildren will inherit.
But I guess that doesn’t matter as long as you get re-elected.
Shame on you."
God Bless America
Charlie Daniels
A Recovery Only Washington Could Love
The Heritage Foundation
Today's Morning Bell
Today the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor and Statistics released
Today's Morning Bell
Today the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor and Statistics released
its monthly jobs report showing that the nation’s unemployment rose to
9.9% in April despite the addition of 290,000 jobs, 66,000 of which were
temporary Census 2010 jobs. The rise in unemployment was driven by
the entrance of 195,000 previously discouraged Americans reentering the
workforce. In total, the U.S. economy has now lost a net of 2.6 million jobs
since President Barack Obama signed his $862 billion stimulus plan.
We are 7.6 million jobs short of the 137.8 million he promised the American
economy would support by 2010.
It is encouraging to see the American economy beginning to recover,
but these numbers again indicate that the Obama administration's heavy
government hand has retarded and deformed what otherwise would have
been a more robust recovery. The White House may tout Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) reports showing their $862 billion stimulus created jobs,
but the CBO has also admitted their computer simulation didn't take any actual
new real world data into account. To the contrary, an independent study of real
world stimulus facts found:
1) no statistical correlation between unemployment and how the $862 billion was spent;
2) that Democratic districts received one-and-a-half times as many awards as
Republican ones; and
3) an average cost of $286,000 was awarded per job created. $286,000 per job created.
And what kind of jobs were created? According to Gallup the federal government
is hiring at a significantly faster pace than the private sector. And data from BLS
confirms that governments are increasing public sector pay at far faster rates than
the private sector. None of this should be a surprise. President Obama
specifically designed his stimulus to preserve government union jobs.
Not that President Obama's agenda has failed to produce any private sector jobs.
The Washington economy is booming as private firms have been forced to hire
legions of lawyers and lobbyists to both protect their firms from Obama's new agenda
and find ways they can turn it into profit. This is why energy companies are
spending millions on lobbyists to shape legislation instead of on scientists to find energy.
It is why software companies are spending millions on lawyers to get federal government
business instead of on engineers to develop new technologies.
Back in 1994, columnist Jonathan Rauch explains what happens when Washington
becomes a center of profit for the private sector:
Economic thinkers have recognized for generations that every
person has two ways to become wealthier. One is to produce more,
the other is to capture more of what others produce. …
Washington looks increasingly like a public-works jobs program for
lawyers and lobbyists, a profit center for professionals who are in
business for themselves.
What happens when big government, and the big businesses best capitalized
to influence it, are the main drivers of economic recovery? The recovery is slower
and smaller than it otherwise would have been.
A recent study by the Kaufman Foundation found that small businesses have led
America out of its last seven recessions, generating about two of every three new
jobs during a recovery. But under this Obama recovery, not only are government jobs
growing faster than private sector jobs, but jobs are rebounding faster at large employers
than small businesses.
And the Obama agenda is only set to make the environment for small businesses worse.
The Obama budget plans to raise taxes on the small businesses that earn 72% of
all small business income.
Taxes on capital gains are set to increase to 20% while taxes on dividends are set
to rise to 39.6%.
Obamacare not only inflicts $503 billion in new taxes by 2019, $87 billion of which
come from employer mandate penalties, but also burdens small businesses with
new 1099 IRS paperwork every time they do more than $600 in business with another
entity. Oh, and Obama is proposing more IRS funding and a change in law that will
make it harder for small businesses to hire independent contractors.
There are far more types of small businesses engaged in more kinds of economic
activity than Congress can devise special policy to help.
This sort of one-off, micro-managing, tinkering policy may gain a headline and support,
but it will not help small businesses broadly.
The more Washington taxes and regulates, the harder it is for small businesses to innovate,
force big businesses to be more productive and create new jobs.
The more the Obama agenda is implemented, the slower our recovery will be.
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