Happy Halloween

Now that's scary. LOL

What We Believe

I really enjoyed this series of videos. Stop and spend a while, watch and enjoy. There is a lot of good stuff to be found here.







There is some great stuff in there. It took about 30 minutes to watch them. It was worth it. Come back and take it in chunks. Perhaps this cleared up a few things for you? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

Speaking Out

In the last 100 years the government of the United States has taken many steps to remove or reduce our rights as citizens. An example of this is found in the following article:

Pastors to defy IRS with endorsements

Two Minnesota clergymen plan to thumb their noses at the federal government Sunday by endorsing political candidates from their pulpits.

In doing so, they hope the IRS will come after them, allowing them to wage a legal fight asserting their First Amendment right of freedom of speech.

To make sure we are perfectly clear. Here is the First Amendment.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

It seems quite clear that the government has violated this primary law in establishing any restrictions on the church. The ability to speak on all matters of religion and belief may freely stray over political issues. Just because someone should call them political does not remove them from the right as written in the first Amendment.

The key legal issue in question is the Johnson Amendment of 1954. This was placed into the IRS code without the standard scrutiny of congress. It was attached to the 501c(3) rules governing the tax exemption of churches. The law was very specifically written to muzzle the church at the time.

This law was born out of the idea promoted by the use of the phrase: “Separation of Church and State” — This phrase was completely foreign to US law until 1947 in the case of Everson -vs- Board of Education. Without citing a single precedent, and ignoring 175 years of historically consistent rulings, the Supreme Court made this claim, “The wall of separation between church and state must be kept high and impregnable.” With that single decision based on nothing, the wall was born.

Where did they get this phrase? It wasn't found in the constitution. It was found in a personal letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a church. He was attempting to relieve fears that the government would have any influence over the church under the constitution. This is where he coined the phrase "Separation of Church and State".

From 1947 when the phrase became adopted by the Supreme Court, until 1954 we see the phrase turned on its head by liberal progressives and used in many places. Rather then the separation being one way as described by Jefferson, it has been twisted to be used in both directions and ultimately in the opposite direction from its intention.

The Johnson Amendment perpetuates a system that requires government agents to monitor and parse the words of a pastor's sermon to determine whether that sermon violates the law and punishment should be meted out. That system is an excessive and unreasonable government entanglement with religion. The Johnson Amendment allows the government to determine when a pastor's speech becomes too "political." That is an absurdly ridiculous standard. A pastor's speech from the pulpit that talks about candidates from a scriptural point of view is religious speech.

The government once small and carefully crafted by our founders has taken power from the people in small incremented ways. We need to recognize this usurpation and stop it. We can start this November by removing heavily entrenched members of congress from office. We need constitutional patriots to take their place and start the hard work.

Links of interest.
See what has the IRS stopped in its tracks!
Pulpit Freedom Sunday
The Alliance Defense Fund Pulpit Initiative
History of the 1954 Johnson Amendment

Fixing The Economy

Yesterday, Fox News put out a poll asking:
Can Anything Be Done to Fix America’s Economy?
I was not impressed with the article that stimulated the poll. Nor was I impressed with the options they offered. I couldn't help but add some comments. Below is the two comments I added. Go Check out the poll and add yours as well, or offer up yours here.

Comment 1
The problem in America comes down to people wanting somebody else to pay for their problem. The politician taking advantage of this human weakness, offers to do just that. We don't ask how. They then create a law giving someone special status over someone else. Slowly, we steal the life blood from everyone resulting in nothing.

We need to cut business taxes down to the level of Ireland, 11%.
We need to eliminate the death tax, Pulling this money out of the system on a persons death robs everyone of the investments.
We need to reduce government and the layers of bureaucracy that have been created. Are entire constitutional government ran on less then 5% for over 150 years. Why do we need, including fees and misc revenue items, 30%?
Change the Capital investment deduction to the following: A business can write off up to 100% of the percentage of the investment made in America on the first year of implementation. This would bolster business growth and American business opportunities at the same time. All other investments, and the percentage not American, would use the current tax deduction schedule.

This is my short list I could go on.


Comment 2
What do we as citizens need to do to turn this nation around?

Vote - I don't mean show up and pick at random. I mean educate yourself on the issues and the people. Know what it is you are authorizing and who. I don't care if they have a D or an R by their name. Are they a person of character? Will they adhere to the constitution and the limits as written? Have they ever ran a business or been in charge of a group of people? Have they ever had to maintain a budget or make a payroll? Do they willingly admit to past mistakes and yet rise above and move forward? These are the ones to vote for.

Write - Keep your representatives informed of your wishes. Don't put them out there alone. Let them know how you feel about the bills and issues at hand.

Learn - know your history. Look over American history seeking as many first sources as possible. Understand where we have been and what it took to get here. Help those you know gain in this knowledge as well. It wasn't that long ago when issues of the constitution were common items of discussion across the table with friends and family. Bring back those days.

Strength - Stand for something. Don't just buy into the person next to you's bit. Learn and claim your own standards. Boldly hoist them as a banner in your life and defend them in the battle of ideas. This will prove to sharpen your character while you do so with others.

Honesty - Hold the truth as sacred. Don't settle for lies and half-lies (half-truths). Don't accept fence sitters. Stand for something so you don't fall for anything.

Selfless - Think of the future and those who will follow. Leave something better behind.

If we as citizens would do these things, our nation would be transformed to greatness again.

They Don't Get It. They Need To Go.

The Obama Administration has stated that the only reason Americans are dumping the Democrats in Congress is employment. This is the only issue weighing down America. Everything else done by congress and this administration has been welcomed and received with anticipation and excitement.

Let me burst your bubble Mr. President, real unemployment is between 10-20%. I believe it would take more then 20% of America to make the substantial change coming to congress. Let us look at some of the other reasons you have failed to see.

The Healthcare bill you pushed through congress that No One read, is playing a role. Perhaps you haven't noticed that 61% of America wants it repealed. In fact polls have put repeal between 53% and 63% since it was signed. Since no one was willing to do their job and read the bill before voting for it. We have decided to fire our elected representatives for failure to do their job. We told them in mass that we didn't want it and thinking they work for us, we are going to fix the problem.

The vast number of Too Big to Fail bailouts has robbed America of its future. We have increased our debt to such a degree that it will take generations to repay it. We are taking money out of the pockets of people who don't even exist. We are destroying the future of our great great grand children. This is unacceptable and anyone who would encourage such a spending measure should be fired.

The Auto Company bailout has upset us greatly. Your administration dismissed standing rules of bankruptcy and trashed the stock market. Stocks that are high on the scale of debts to be paid under the rules of bankruptcy. If the government can simply snatch your rights as a stock holder then what stocks and investments are safe? How can the market grow and move forward with your administration leaning heavily on all areas? Those, in congress, who have backed your foolishness, need to go.

The now aptly named "Climate Change bill" is sitting in the wings waiting to devastate business and citizen alike. Global Warming has lost its sting with the world suddenly cooling back to pre-warming levels. Yet, regardless of the facts, your administration is still pushing this heavily burdening agenda on its citizenry. Estimates have come in at energy prices being from three to six times higher. Funny thing is, we Americans know that our energy supply is vast, and the high costs is due to your unwillingness to let us use our own resources. Those in government who find this folly acceptable need to go.

The list goes on and on. Let me assure you though of one thing. This isn't about removing Democrats from power. This is about restoring power to the people. Yes, some Republicans may benefit from the current anger, but we aren't going away after this election. We will be watching each and every one of you. As each future election cycle approaches, we will read your sins against this nation and your failures to uphold the constitution that you swore to uphold. We will toss each of you our without regard for party. "We The People" are rising and taking our nation back.

Articles of Interest:
Obama's Policies Drag Down Democratic Governors
Why Obama Is Losing the Political War
Health Care Law Poll

How Dirty?

The same group who overwhelmingly voted in Campaign Finance Reform and them opted out, is now trying to use the power of the federal government to squash the opposition.

Remember this in 2008:

ON the question of public funding of presidential campaigns, we Democrats who strongly support Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy and who previously supported limits on campaign spending and who haven't objected to Obama's opting out of the presidential funding system face an awkward fact: Either we are hypocrites, or we were wrong to support such limitations in the first place.
The next time we speak of the virtue of level playing fields or state our strong belief that democracy can't survive in the modern age unless big money is taken out of campaigns, we'll be counting on our audience's forgetting our silence this year, when the free market was flowing in our direction.

Found Here

Anyone remember the questionable practices used by the Obama team when collection campaign contributions?

No presidential campaign has ever before received such a gargantuan sum of money from unidentified contributors.
The campaign's records reveal big contributors with names like "Doodad Pro" (employer: "Loving," profession: "You") and "Good Will" (same employer and profession). Both donated via credit card. Other reports have suggested that some donations come from overseas - raising the question of whether Obama is accepting donations from foreigners, another violation of federal law.
All of which prompted an enterprising citizen to test the controls put in place to enforce compliance with federal campaign law by the Obama and McCain campaigns. Last Thursday, he decided to conduct an experiment.
He went to the Obama campaign Web site and made a donation under the name "John Galt" (the hero of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged"). He provided the equally fictitious address "1957 Ayn Rand Lane, Galts Gulch, CO 99999."
He checked the box next to $15 and entered his actual credit-card number and expiration date. He was then taken to the next page and notified that his donation had been processed.

The rest of the article makes an excellent read as well.

What we see is the financial blessings now on the other side and poor sports who have decided that they are the only ones worthy, crushing those who donate to the opposing team. Now that they aren't getting their way, we see the power of the federal government being mobilized.

If at first you don't succeed, get some friends in high places to shut your opponents up. That's the latest Washington power play, as Democrats and liberals attack the Chamber of Commerce and independent spending groups in an attempt to stop businesses from participating in politics.

Since the Supreme Court's January decision in Citizens United v. FEC, Democrats in Congress have been trying to pass legislation to repeal the First Amendment for business, though not for unions. Having failed on that score, they're now turning to legal and political threats. Funny how all of this outrage never surfaced when the likes of Peter Lewis of Progressive insurance and George Soros helped to make Democrats financially dominant in 2006 and 2008.

Chairman Max Baucus of the powerful Senate Finance Committee got the threats going last month when he asked Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman to investigate if certain tax exempt 501(c) groups had violated the law by engaging in too much political campaign activity. Lest there be any confusion about his targets, the Montana Democrat flagged articles focused on GOP-leaning groups, including Americans for Job Security and American Crossroads.

How low can you go? OR The failure to remove that plank.

Even Mr. Franken admits in his letter that the Chamber's commingling of funds in its general accounts is not "per se illegal," but apparently he thinks it's fine to unleash federal investigators because the Chamber cash might contribute to the defeat of fellow Democrats.

The outrage over the Chamber is especially amusing considering the role of foreigners in U.S. labor unions. According to the Center for Competitive Politics, close to half of the unions that are members of the AFL-CIO are international. One man's corporate commingling is another's union dues.

Unions and liberal groups are hardly cash poor this year in any case. The Campaign Media Analysis Group looked at the combined spending of candidates, their parties and outside groups and found that Democrats outspent Republicans $47.3 million to $40.8 million in a recent 60-day period.

Democrats claim only to favor "disclosure" of donors, but their legal intimidation attempts are the best argument against disclosure. Liberals want the names of business donors made public so they can become targets of vilification with the goal of intimidating them into silence. A CEO or corporate board is likely to think twice about contributing to a campaign fund if the IRS or prosecutors might come calling. If Democrats can reduce business donations in the next three weeks, they can limit the number of GOP challengers with a chance to win and reduce Democratic Congressional losses.

The strategy got a test drive in Minnesota earlier this year after Target Corporation donated $100,000 cash and $50,000 of in-kind contributions to an independent group that ran ads supporting the primary candidacy of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. MoveOn.org accused the company of being anti-gay, organized a petition, and crafted a TV ad urging shoppers to boycott Target stores. Target made no further donations, and other companies that once showed an interest have since declined to contribute.

Perhaps a full read of this article would help as well.

Dirty politics and power grabs are becoming all too common. Look at the attack ads that are starting to come out. This election in November is getting bigger by the day. I hope you are ready to cast your vote.

Blown Away by Noise

The drive for clean and green energy has led to the construction of thousands of windmills all over the US. As I travel around I have passed windmill parts on the freeway. Passing one of the blades is a pretty incredible site.

Piece by piece, we see these giant structures hauled to some distant place. A couple of years ago, one of the generators rolled off a truck in an under pass. It took weeks for them to figure out how to pick it up and move it out. These things are big.

There has been a huge push all over the world to put these babies up and get the power flowing. And in classic liberal excitement and fashion, they forgot to fully test the idea. Just like the Compact Florescent Light bulb (CFL) was going to save the world, and now we realize far to late, that they may cause more environmental harm them the incandescent they replaced.

The windmills are doing their share of damage with noise pollution. They make this choppy noise that drives people crazy. Some scientists have even suggested that the waves coming off them may cause physical harm over the long haul. Then there is the many disasters where these things simply blow up from too great a rotation. Some have suggested that the tips break the sound barrier and unbalance and destroy the whole structure.

To combat the noise citizens have turned to the courts. In at least one case the turbines have been ordered off between 10pm and 7am. This greatly cuts into the output time of the turbines and increases there cost.

With all the potential harm that results from these huge structures, they are still building them at a record pace. Why are we so focused on such an archaic system when cheaper quieter and more efficient systems are readily available? In June of 2008, I pointed to the future of wind energy with Meglev generators. Here we are over two years later and every one pushing for greener and better and we are still stuck in the past. If we want real progress why aren't we promoting designs like this?

We are already working on overturning the CFL laws. The government has been proven to be poor pickers in the business winner and loser categories. In the case of CFLs, Americans are loosing jobs and increasing pollution with this once considered green product. The Chinese couldn't be happier with our new laws.

Why We Can Say NO to Higher Taxes

Let me First Thank Joe for Pointing out this video.



In multiple blog entries I have discussed the fact that the tax burden on American business and its citizens has been too high. No one seems to want to discuss the fact that the average tax rate prior to 1905 was 5%. Could you imagine your family's condition if your tax burden was back at that level? Can you imagine the growth and expansion of business and industry? We as a nation would be the most desirable place on the planet to locate a business. Rather then companies bolting from our shores, they would be lining up to enter. No longer would employment be a problem of finding a job. It would instead be finding enough employees to fill all the available jobs. (current combined state and federal taxes on business average 42%.)

Don't let the democrats and the ruling elites try to further stifle you and your efforts as a free people. Don't make the assumption that the republicans are looking out for you either. Choose the most conservative, constitution loving candidate who knows what it takes to meet a payroll in a business setting. Stay after them and keep them focuses on serving their constituents and restoring our nation.

If you thought you weren't needed after November, think again. This is going to take four or five election cycles and a lot of input from you and I as citizens, to start seeing things turn around. We can't let them govern without input again.

Feeling a Little Younger

 

We're Doing It Again

You now know the problem and the solution. What are you going to do about it this November?

Solving World Poverty

We can't bring them here. So let's help them where they are.

Open boarders and mass immigration will never solve the problem of the world, unless the goal is to make us ultimately equal to them in there current state. You cannot continue to pour people into our nation and expect it to keep up the same standards.

To make matters worse, the more you bring in the poorer our nation becomes and the less we can help others. The United States gives to the world more then all the other nations of the world combined. If there is a major catastrophe some where in the world, we will be there giving aide and helping them put back the pieces. Friend or foe, when the chips are down, Americans will be standing ready to help. Once America is lost politically or through immigration poverty, who will fulfill our role? Who can be anywhere in the world with all the necessities; food, clothing, shelter, medical, equipment and money, in 24 hours or less?

Don't let amnesty and the various tales or woe, destroy the very salvation so many depend on all over the globe.