Posts Tagged ‘Politics’

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Can’t ban guns? Okay, just ban the ammunition!

January 30, 2009

My usual Friday project for this week was going to be addressing the latest control scheme by those that don’t have anything better to do than infringe upon the rights of others. However, someone beat me to it, and in a much better manner than my poor writing skills allow for.

Read it here

Be sure to also read the comments!

So, what can I add to the discussion? Not a heck of a lot, but I can drop a few ideas!

  • Small business plans are fairly simple to write. This ban could make more people more money than Nigerian Internet scams!
  • Making otherwise law abiding people into criminals will have them going into the underground economy and learning from the professionals that already operate there. Like drug dealers and manufacturers. So, from simple ammunition manufacturing ( like marijuana) one can easily get to the next (transition) step up the criminal ladder. Illegal weapons, such as crew served weapons, RPG’s and so on. (Like cocaine and heroin.)
  • The immense profits will lead to territorial conflicts. An entire new version of gang warfare and violence will lead to a new war. A war on guns/ammo that will make the war on drugs look like a 1960’s love in. Think about the product being sold. Drugs most often kill as a secondary effect, while an RPG kills through primary effect.
  • As the violence rises, so will the profits as more and more people seek the ability to properly and effectively defend themselves and families. The market then starts all over again, and the business plan adjusts to the new cycle as new recruits join the ranks of the criminal world.
  • Government will respond with increased enforcement, and more people will get killed, sometimes based upon incorrect information. Or simply because of the nature of this new class of law breaking.

The path to hell is paved with bricks made from good intentions. Making decent people that simply want to exercise their natural right to defend oneself and family into criminals is in and of itself criminal. Those that seek to pass such laws are the true criminals and should be resisted by any and all that are capable of thinking rationally and logically.

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Law, Men's Issues, News, Politics, Uncategorized, Wordpress Political Blogs | 4 Comments »

Ding Dong, Blago is gone!

January 29, 2009

Well, I am simply amazed. I figured that he would have greased enough palms to smooth things over and everything would be business as usual. And no, not just because it is Illinois.

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Law, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 2 Comments »

The perils of eating

January 28, 2009

American connoisseurs are being poisoned at every opportunity. I mean, our peanut butter crackers!

Be glad that you are not in Japan though! Your Chef might feed you poison testicles… What next? Will Rocky Mountain Oysters slide into the food hall of infamy?

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Humor, Law, Local Politics Colorado, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 5 Comments »

Dems derail Brophy bill to protect homeowners

January 28, 2009

State Senator Greg Brophy has been stabbed in his own home, so to speak. Despite the logic, and indeed inalienable right to properly and effectively defend themselves Democrats stopped this needed legislation.

A Republican effort that would have reinforced Coloradans’ ability to defend their families against home intruders hit a dead end today in a Senate committee.

Assistant Senate GOP leader Greg Brophy, R-Wray, presented Senate Bill 74 before the Senate Committee on State, Veterans, and Military Affairs, calling it a matter of “statewide concern.”

SB 74 would prohibit local governments from passing any law or regulation that requires a person to store their lawfully-owned firearms in a way that renders them inoperable. The Democrat-controlled committee voted to postpone the bill indefinitely, effectively killing it.

Brophy said the bill addresses and recognizes the landmark United States Supreme Court decision made last summer in the District of Columbia v. Heller case.  The Heller decision held that gun ownership is an individual right and that any government in the U.S. cannot put individuals in the position where they would be inadequately prepared to defend themselves against home invasion.

“We need to pass the ban on safe-storage laws in Colorado,” Brophy said in the committee. “I think the Heller case raised this issue to the national spotlight and brought it forward so that everybody is aware of it.”

Research Director of the Independence Institute Dave Kopel, left, tesifies in favor of Sen. Greg Brophy’s Senate Bill 74.

“This would save the citizens of Colorado the trouble of being forced to go the courts and have the courts say, ‘yes indeed the Supreme Court has already ruled on this,'” Brophy said.

Currently, the cities of Denver and Boulder have so-called “safe-storage” laws that require guns be disassembled or secured with a trigger lock while stored in private homes.

In his testimony in favor of the bill, renowned Second Amendment expert and constitutional lawyer Dave Kopel, who is research director at the Golden-based think tank the Independence Institute, offered evidence showing that cities with safe-storage laws actually have higher rates of home intrusion and violence because criminals are all too aware that homeowners are unable to defend themselves.

“Law-abiding gunowners in Denver and the public in general continue to be in danger due to unreasonable laws that prevent families from teaching gun safety in their own homes and make it way too difficult for crime victims in Denver to be able to protect themselves,” Kopel said after the bill was killed.

While ruling Democrats offered few insights to their opposition to the bill, Fort Collins Democrat Bob Bacon rasied concerns about second-guessing local-government policies on the issue of gun ownership.

Brophy countered that such concerns reflect misplaced priorities.

“They’re giving City Hall the right to preempt your own right to defend yourself and your family,” Brophy said. “And I think that’s just wrong.”

Assistant Senate Republican Leader Greg Brophy, of Wray, sits in disappointment after his bill, which would have given homeowners more power to defend themselves, was killed in a Democrat-controlled committee.

SOURCE

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Law, Local Politics Colorado, Men's Issues, News, Politics, Uncategorized, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on Dems derail Brophy bill to protect homeowners

JBC vice-chairman: ‘Ref C wasn’t designed to fix anything’

January 28, 2009

The big lie, and don’t say that you were not warned. Jon Caldara may have led the charge, but the soldiers of economic freedom were slaughtered at the polls by leftest lies. Want some proof? Read on…

During a Joint Budget Committee presentation before the House Agriculture Committee last week, legislators were discussing the state’s budgetary woes. As it often happens under the Capitol dome, conversations about the budget inevitably lead to questions about Referendum C.


PommerState of Colo.

Specifically, people want to know what happened to the billions of dollars that filled state coffers as a result of the statewide measure passing in 2005.

When voters approved Referendum C by 52 percent, they did so based on promises that the estimated $3.7 billion generated over the next five years would be used to fund higher education, health care, and transportation. Voters were also told they were fixing a “glitch” in the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, a 1992 constitutional amendment that limited annual growth in government spending.

So we were shocked to hear JBC vice-chairman Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, assert during last week’s discussion that “Ref C wasn’t designed to fix anything,” and that “Ref C was an arbitrary amount of money.” (Click the player above to hear the audio yourself.) Pommer went on to admit that just last year the CEOs of higher education were asking “what happened to our money?” He told them revenue from Referendum C was just to keep them from “shutting down.”

Calls to Pommer went unreturned before press time.

We’re not sure if Pommer is just exercising selective memory or if that’s truly the way he sees it, but Referendum C was very much sold to the public as a way to fix the budget. And the measure was not an “arbitrary” amount of money. State estimates pegged the new revenue at $3.7 billion, but it has brought in nearly double that amount. Not a small chunk of change.

We would hope a member of the powerful JBC, the vice-chairman no less, would know better.

Note: The first voice in the audio clip is that of Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who asks a question then answered by Pommer.

SOURCE

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Law, Local Politics Colorado, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on JBC vice-chairman: ‘Ref C wasn’t designed to fix anything’

Time to take on Obamanomics

January 28, 2009

As the news media proclaims government spending the golden bullet that can save us from sure economic demise, someone has finally shot back with an articulate explanation of why such Keynesian hyperbole just doesn’t pass the smell test.

In a YouTube video produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity titled “Obama’s So-Called Stimulus: Good For Government, Bad For the Economy,” the Cato Institute’s Daniel Mitchell explains that history provides ample evidence that smaller government is the true engine of economic growth.

As CF&P Foundation President Andrew Quinlan noted in a release, “President Obama’s plan to expand the burden of government is misguided. Redistributing wealth while increasing the size of government is not a recipe for real economic growth. We need a plan that encourages work, savings and investment.”

The piece couldn’t be more timely, especially as Colorado Democrats boast Obama’s plan could bring $2.9 billion to Colorado’s economy. State Treasurer Cary Kennedy is so giggly, she can hardly see straight.

The plan, which would account for more than 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic project over two years, might sound nice in theory, it brings up a second essential economics lesson for today. Just because you print money, it doesn’t make it have value.

SOURCE with Youtube

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Law, Local Politics Colorado, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 2 Comments »

Has free-market capitalism died?

January 27, 2009

Always, and in  all ways  freedom and individual liberty will forever be the favorite whipping boy of those with a socialist bent. Populist’s, such as the new President are in bed with socialist on a number of issues that are directly related. Be that Gun Control, or taxation. However, the economy is currently at the forefront. Below, is an excellent expose of this better than thou attitude by those that are of the collectivist mind set.

Has free-market capitalism died?

Michael Miller

Who would have imagined 20 years ago — when the Berlin Wall fell and we celebrated the death of socialism — that capitalism would be under heavy fire? The cardinal of Westminster, Cormack Murphy O’Connor, reportedly said 2008 was the year when “capitalism died.”

What are we to make of capitalism in light of all the crises, fraud and government intervention, when even some traditional supporters of markets are supporting bailouts?

Before answering this question, it is important to note that “capitalism” is a Marxist term. It gives the impression that the market is a nebulous force. This impersonal understanding can lead us to blame markets when things go wrong instead of exploring reasons that are harder to diagnose.

Pope John Paul II rejected the term, preferring “market economy,” “business economy” or “free economy.” He did so to illustrate that markets are networks of human relationships. This sheds light on the underlying moral nature of markets.

Markets are the combined activities of millions of individuals. They are not composed merely of some guys on Wall Street; they are made up by us. Like anything else run by humans, markets can fail. If we become overly speculative and convinced that prices can go nowhere but up — as happened in the Tulip Bubble in 1637, the dot.com bubble in 2000 and the recent housing bubble — sooner or later reality will set in.

Despite their failures, however, free markets have lifted more people out of poverty and helped create prosperity and peace better than any system.

In these days of financial turmoil, we often hear critics speaking about deregulation or “unbridled capitalism.” But try to think of one country where there are no regulations. For free markets to succeed, they require a framework built on rule of law, contracts and secure property rights.

The real question is what kind of regulation and what level of intervention we should choose.

Many contributing causes of this crisis were an overly invasive government. Federal regulators required banks to provide mortgages to customers who could not pay back the loans; the Federal Reserve manipulated the money supply, exacerbating the housing boom; and politicians promised bailouts that created incentives for irresponsible behavior.

How many of us, out of greed, gluttony or pride, used credit cards to buy things we did not need or could not afford? What about Wall Street bankers who took imprudent risks with clients’ money? Markets cannot succeed without a strong moral fabric among the citizenry.

Yet we again hear calls for increased regulation and government involvement.

If we regulate too much, we concentrate the power of markets in fewer and fewer hands. This has led to all sorts of evil and corruption. Socialist economies, cartels, oligarchies and union-controlled industries produce stagnation and create incentives for corruption. It is a false hope to believe regulation will make everything right.

It is likewise delusional to believe markets alone are enough. Our Founders taught us that without virtue political liberty could not long be sustained. The same holds true for economic liberty. And yet without economic liberty there can be no political liberty. Like liberty, the market must be moral, or it cannot exist.

Michael Miller is director of programs at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids. E-mail letters to letters@detnews.com.

SOURCE

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Immigration, Law, Local Politics Colorado, Men's Issues, News, Politics, Uncategorized, Wordpress Political Blogs | 3 Comments »

Senate Bill 09-057 The Public School Financial Transparency Act

January 27, 2009

Colorado politics, and politicians… One would think that there were more pressing things that need to be addressed, but? Apparently not.

Please Support Senate Bill 09-057
The Public School Financial Transparency Act
The more transparent government is, the more accountable government is.
This bill will require our public schools to show their spending online. Taxpayers could see how their money is used. Today’s technology would make this extremely affordable. When people can easily find contracting or purchasing options that better cut costs, it might pay for itself many times over.
After all, most Coloradans want to see their public education tax dollars going to the classroom. How much better if we all could see it for ourselves!
This Wednesday, January 28th, the Senate Education Committee is hearing testimony on this bill. The hearing is scheduled to take place “upon adjournment” of the morning session of the entire general assembly.This isn’t a specific time, but 10:30 is a reasonable estimate of when the committee meeting will begin. If you can be there to provide testimony in favor of this bill, Libertarian Party member Amanda Teresi (of Liberty on the Rocks and the Independence Institute) is organizing speakers.

People interested in speaking will meet in the cafeteria, which is in the basement of the capitol.  If you can’t find us, call or text me (David K. Williams, Jr.) at 303-588-2731, I’ll find you. The Education Committee is scheduled to meet in Senate Committee Room 354. The staff at the capitol is helpful, and will point you in the right direction.
There is lots of paid parking around the capitol but I would suggest giving yourself time to find parking, or take publicly funded mass transit.  Also, SB 57 is the first bill on the list to be discussed, but they can change that at any time.  There will be pre-written testimonies prepared for people who would like to testify but don’t know what to say.  If people want to come but not testify, that is good too, we just want to show how many people support the issue.
If you can make it to capitol OR NOT, please contact the members of the Senate Education Committee and let tell them to support SB-57, the Public School Financial Transparency Act.(Don’t wait, send them an email right now!)
The Senate Education Committee is comprised of:
Senator Bob Bacon, Chair 
303-866-4841
E-mail: bob.bacon.senate@state.co.us

Senator Chris Romer, Vice-Chair
303-866-4852
E-mail: chris.romer.senate@state.co.us

Senator Nancy Spence, Ranking Republican
303-866-4883
E-mail: nancyspence@qwest.net

Senator Peter Groff
303-866-3342
E-mail: peter.groff.senate@state.co.us
Senator Rollie Heath
303-866-4872
(no email listed on General Assembly website)
Senator Evie Hudak
303-866-4840
E-mail: senatorhudak@gmail.com
Senator Keith King
303-866-4880
E-mail: keith@keithking.org
PLEASE OPPOSE THESE TWO BILLS THAT EXPAND THE POWER OF THE STATE AT THE EXPENSE OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM.

House Bill 09-1094
Cell Phone Prohibitions for Drivers
Deems the use of a wireless telephone by an operator of a motor vehicle as a class A traffic infraction.

This bill would expand the power of police to STOP drivers WHO ARE DRIVING PERFECTLY SAFELY while talking on a cell phone.
The primary sponsors of this bill are:
Representative Clarie Levy (D) 303-866-2578 claire.levy.house@state.co.us
Senator Bob Bacon (D) 303-866-4841 bob.bacon.senate@state.co.us
This bill has been assigned to the House Committee on Transportation and Energy.
This committee is composed of:
Representative Buffie McFadyen, Chair
303-866-2905
E-mail: mcfadyen2002@hotmail.com
Representative Gwyn Green, Vice-Chair
303-866-2951
E-mail: gwynithgreen@yahoo.com
Representative Glenn Vaad, Ranking Republican
303-866-2943
E-mail: glenn.vaad.house@state.co.us

Representative Randy Baumgardner
303-866-2949
E-mail: randy1485@hotmail.com
Rep. Randy Fischer
303-866-2917
E-mail: randyfischer@frii.com
Rep. Jerry Frangas
303-866-2954
E-mail: kjerryfrangas@earthlink.net
Rep. Steve King
303-866-3068
E-mail: steve.king.house@state.co.us
Rep. Marsha Looper
303-866-2946
E-mail: marshalooper@gmail.com
Rep. Frank McNulty
303-866-2936
(no email listed)
Rep. Michael Merrifield
303-866-2932
E-mail: michael.merrifield.house@state.co.us
Rep. Dianne Primavera
303-866-4667
E-mail: representativeprimavera@yahoo.com
Please let these representatives know you oppose the expansion of this police power and that reckless driving is ALREADY illegal. This bill would
House Bill 09-1019
Cat Identification Law for Cities
Requires the owner of a cat to ensure that the animal has a proper form of identification and allows for fines on owners who do not comply.
Sponsors:
Representative Cherylin Peniston (D) 303-866-2843 cherylin.peniston.house@state.co.us
Senator Joyce Foster (D) 303-866-4875 joycefoster@comcast.net
This bill was passed out of committee and to the House Committee of the Whole. Contact your personal Representative and tell him or her to oppose this bill!
You might mention that according to the Fiscal Note attached to the bill, “Implementation of the bill in cities of population greater than 100,000 may result in increased
costs for code enforcement, legal expenses, and other administrative activities.”  Of course it will.

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Posted in Education, Law, Local Politics Colorado, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on Senate Bill 09-057 The Public School Financial Transparency Act

The Black Death returns..?

January 23, 2009

Back by popular demand the scourge of Europe during the middle ages could be coming your way! Or, what do you say when something goes wrong with a terrorist’s toy factory..? Never fear though! Obama will talk these people out of their ways!

Al-Qa’ida goofs in the lab

Q: What’s the one word you don’t want to hear in a Weapons of Mass Destruction lab?

A: Whoops! Unfortunately for some hapless Algerian jihadis, that’s apparently what happened recently. According to a report in The Washington Times, a senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed that al-Qa’ida affiliates in Algeria had to close a WMD lab after they got some “unexpected results” while experimenting with unconventional weapons. Speaking anonymously, the official said he could not confirm reports that the accident killed some 40 al-Qa’ida operatives, but he did confirm that the accident led the jihadis to shut down the lab. U.S. intelligence intercepted an urgent message in January between the leaders of al-Qa’ida in the Land of the Maghreb (AQIM) and al-Qa’ida’s leadership in Pakistan, saying that an area in Algeria previously sealed to prevent leakage of a biological or chemical substance had been breached. “We don’t know if this is biological or chemical,” the official said.

This story was first reported by that paragon of journalism, the British tabloid The Sun, which claimed that some terrorists had died of bubonic plague, the Black Death that killed a third of Europe’s population in the 14th century. However, U.S. officials dismissed that speculation. And while there could be no better end for today’s 7th-century jihadi than dying from a 14th-century disease, this incident is a good reminder that al-Qa’ida is still looking to attack and kill us using whatever weapons they can get their hands on. We hope that the Obama regime will take note.

SOURCE

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Posted in Education, News, Politics, War, Wordpress Political Blogs | 8 Comments »

Hope ‘n’ Change: Reform, riffraff and rubbish, oh my!

January 23, 2009

Obamamania has swept the world — or so the Leftmedia would have us believe. Before the Anointed One uttered a word at his inauguration, The New York Times and The Washington Post were headlining polls that purported to show overwhelming support for the new president. The Times said, “Poll Finds Faith in Obama, Mixed With Patience.” Even the UK’s Daily Mail got into the act: “Obama can save us, says America as polls show wave of optimism sweeping the nation.” The Mail must have stopped with polling at NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN offices.

One couldn’t watch so much as the AFC championship football game on Sunday night without the halftime report by Katie Couric on what Barack Obama had for dinner (we couldn’t hear what she really said since the TV was muted). And while the morning shows found time last Friday to discuss such things as “Obama thongs,” President George W. Bush’s farewell speech was almost entirely ignored. All told, Obama’s inauguration received 35 times the coverage that his predecessor’s did. Indeed, the media’s behavior would make Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels proud.

As for new policy, considering Obama’s reforms in his first three days in office, we find little reason for optimism. Among his first acts behind the Oval Office desk was a phone call to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Obama soon set to work with other agenda items such as issuing an executive order to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, as well as preventing CIA interrogators from using lawful techniques not found in the Army Field Manual, which assumes honorable combatants. Items to follow may include re-banning offshore drilling, getting Congress to allow open homosexuals to serve in the military by rescinding “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” calling for a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and working to make the expired federal “assault weapons” ban permanent.

Meanwhile, Wall Street was not optimistic Tuesday either, dropping 300 points, or four percent, to below 8,000 — the worst Inauguration Day drop in history.

For the inauguration itself, Washington, DC, officials reported that 1.8 million people came to the Mall and the surrounding areas for the ceremony. But how many were actually there? Washington officials claim to have gotten their 1.8 million number from The Washington Post, but the Post said that its analysis “concluded that about 1 million people were on the Mall.” An Arizona State University journalism professor tallied only 800,000 using satellite images.

What we do know is that the word “historic” was used approximately 1.8 million times during inauguration coverage, particularly in The New York Times. Oddly enough, the Times’ own style manual says, “Use [the word historic] with caution for a current event, because history’s verdict is rarely predictable by journalists, and the word suggests hyperbole.” Perhaps someone should have looked that one up beforehand.

However many Obamaphiles showed up, there was certainly enough trash to go around. Estimates are that visitors left 130 tons of garbage — and that was just on the Capitol steps! Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh dubbed it “Hurricane Latrina.”

SOURCE

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Immigration, Law, Men's Issues, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 5 Comments »

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