This post will finish our latest series of posts and updates regarding the Newtown school shootings and the overall gun control debate. Last week we reviewed the many instances where the Second Amendment has allowed and empowered ordinary Americans to defend themselves, their families, and their properties from criminal elements and other such scum.
We also reviewed other aspects of gun control including the direct report from Vice President Joe Biden who openly stated that any gun control laws they come up with will basically do nothing to prevent violence but these laws should be passed anyway to show they are doing something in Washington even if it is a useless endeavor.
Today’s post will focus on the words of two people that have been personally touched by gun violence. The first set of words is a letter from a Columbine school shooting survivor, a survivor who was actually wounded that day, to President Obama which elegantly and correctly explains in simple terms why shredding the Second Amendment and imposing draconian gun controls on law abiding citizens is the last thing that we should be considering. It should be required reading for all Washington DCand other state level politicians who either do not understand the real implications of their actions or are too lazy to think thought to the root causes of the problem.
The second set of words is from a father of a slain child in Newtown. This father points out that guns were not the problem, theat a disregard for life and hatred was the cause of the shootings. Their actual words and experiences do a much better job of why more gun control is not a solution to the problem caused by Newtown, putting trained, professional and armed police professionals in our school is the simple, straightforward, and best solution for avoiding future Newtown incidents.
So, before anyone goes off and espouses why more gun control is the only solution, control managed by the inept politicians in Washington, listen carefully to the following opinions which carry much more weight than the opinions of those that have not been victims of such violence and hatred.
********************************
Mr. President,
As a student who was shot and wounded during the Columbine massacre, I have a few thoughts on the current gun debate. In regards to your gun control initiatives:
Universal Background Checks
First, a universal background check will have many devastating effects. It will arguably have the opposite impact of what you propose. If adopted, criminals will know that they can not pass a background check legally, so they will resort to other avenues. With the conditions being set by this initiative, it will create a large black market for weapons and will support more criminal activity and funnel additional money into the hands of thugs, criminals, and people who will do harm to American citizens.
Second, universal background checks will create a huge bureaucracy that will cost an enormous amount of tax payers dollars and will straddle us with more debt. We cannot afford it now, let alone create another function of government that will have a huge monthly bill attached to it.
Third, is a universal background check system possible without universal gun registration? If so, please define it for us. Universal registration can easily be used for universal confiscation. I am not at all implying that you, sir, would try such a measure, but we do need to think about our actions through the lens of time.
It is not impossible to think that a tyrant, to the likes of Mao, Castro, Che, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and others, could possibly rise to power in America. It could be five, ten, twenty, or one hundred years from now — but future generations have the natural right to protect themselves from tyrannical government just as much as we currently do. It is safe to assume that this liberty that our forefathers secured has been a thorn in the side of would-be tyrants ever since the Second Amendment was adopted.
Ban on Military-Style Assault Weapons
The evidence is very clear pertaining to the inadequacies of the assault weapons ban. It had little to no effect when it was in place from 1994 until 2004. It was during this time that I personally witnessed two fellow students murder twelve of my classmates and one teacher. The assault weapons ban did not deter these two murderers, nor did the other thirty-something laws that they broke.
Gun ownership is at an all time high. And although tragedies like Columbine and Newtown are exploited by ideologues and special-interest lobbying groups, crime is at an all time low. The people have spoken. Gun store shelves have been emptied. Gun shows are breaking attendance records. Gun manufacturers are sold out and back ordered. Shortages on ammo and firearms are countrywide. The American people have spoken and are telling you that our Second Amendment shall not be infringed.
10-Round Limit for Magazines
Virginia Tech was the site of the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Seung-Hui Cho used two of the smallest caliber hand guns manufactured and a handful of ten round magazines. There are no substantial facts that prove that limited magazines would make any difference at all.
Second, this is just another law that endangers law-abiding citizens. I’ve heard you ask, “why does someone need 30 bullets to kill a deer?”
Let me ask you this: Why would you prefer criminals to have the ability to out-gun law-abiding citizens? Under this policy, criminals will still have their 30-round magazines, but the average American will not. Whose side are you on?
Lastly, when did they government get into the business of regulating “needs?” This is yet another example of government overreaching and straying from its intended purpose.
Selling to Criminals
Mr. President, these are your words: “And finally, Congress needs to help, rather than hinder, law enforcement as it does its job. We should get tougher on people who buy guns with the express purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. And we should severely punish anybody who helps them do this.”
Why don’t we start with Eric Holder and thoroughly investigate the Fast and Furious program?
Furthermore, the vast majority of these mass murderers bought their weapons legally and jumped through all the hoops — because they were determined to murder. Adding more hoops and red tape will not stop these types of people. It doesn’t now — so what makes you think it will in the future? Criminals who cannot buy guns legally just resort to the black market.
Criminals and murderers will always find a way.
Critical Examination
Mr. President, in theory, your initiatives and proposals sound warm and fuzzy — but in reality they are far from what we need. Your initiatives seem to punish law-abiding American citizens and enable the murderers, thugs, and other lowlifes who wish to do harm to others.
Let me be clear: These ideas are the worst possible initiatives if you seriously care about saving lives and also upholding your oath of office. There is no dictate, law, or regulation that will stop bad things from happening — and you know that. Yet you continue to push the rhetoric. Why?
You said, “If we can save just one person it is worth it.” Well here are a few ideas that will save more that one individual:
First, forget all of your current initiatives and 23 purposed executive orders. They will do nothing more than impede law-abiding citizens and breach the intent of the Constitution. Each initiative steals freedom, grants more power to an already-overreaching government, and empowers and enables criminals to run amok.
Second, press Congress to repeal the “Gun Free Zone Act.” Don’t allow America’s teachers and students to be endangered one-day more. These parents and teachers have the natural right to defend themselves and not be looked at as criminals. There is no reason teachers must disarm themselves to perform their jobs. There is also no reason a parent or volunteer should be disarmed when they cross the school line.
This is your chance to correct history and restore liberty. This simple act of restoring freedom will deter would-be murderers and for those who try, they will be met with resistance.
Mr. President, do the right thing, restore freedom, and save lives. Show the American people that you stand with them and not with thugs and criminals.
Respectfully,
Severely Concerned Citizen, Evan M. Todd
*****************************
Rather than do the transcripts of the father of a Newtown victim, his actual words can be accessed at the following link:
http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/01/4127-father-sandy-hook-speaks-out/
His quotes are very compatible with our theme of posts regarding how to fix the world so that Newtown and Columbine never happen again, our assertion that we need more hate control before we even think about more gun control. The following insights are quotes from his video:
“We need civility across our nation.”
“We need common decency to prevail.”
“Cultivating character.”
“Parenting is where we need to focus.”
“If there are going to be gun laws, we need to enforce them.”
“Criminals break the laws. There are more than enough [laws] on the books.”
Both victims, and victimhood extends to the families and friends of all those who needlessly perished in both horrors, deserve to be heard, listened to, and their insights seriously contemplated because they have gone through the entire gamut of emotions and thoughts that most of us cannot even imagine.
Together they make more sense than just about anything coming out of Senator’s Diane Feinstein’s office, Harry Reid’s office, Joe Biden's mouth, and the White House, all of whom likely have other, more political motives, beyond the safety of American children.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
Showing posts with label connecticut school shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label connecticut school shooting. Show all posts
Monday, March 25, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
How About More Hate Control Than Gun Control, Part 8: The Second Amendment In Action Protecting Life, Home, and Family
Shortly after the Newtown school shooting late last year, we presented a set of posts that proposed we address the root causes of gun violence, too much hate in this country in its many forms, rather than shredding the Second Amendment and the gun rights it bestows on Americans. The first post in that series can be accessed at:
http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-about-more-hate-control-before-more.html
We followed that series up with a second series earlier this year that focused on the many instances that occur every day where Americans use their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves, their families, and their assets:
http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-about-some-hate-control-before-more.html
As Senator Diane Feinstein’s ridiculous gun control legislation moves through the Senate, we thought it appropriate to provide an update with the latest instances where the Second Amendment is saving lives of ordinary Americans, a process that would likely be severely curtailed if radical and stupid legislation like Feinstein’s ever became law.
1) Local Milwaukee news outlets reported that on March 12, in West Allis, Wisconsin , a Marine Corps veteran, who was carrying a licensed concealed weapon, was able to stop a vicious attack on a woman while driving home from work without firing a single shot. The veteran came across a large built man while he was viciously kicking a woman on the ground in the head and in the body.
It turns out the man was the ex-boyfriend of the beaten woman who had been stalking her. The veteran stopped, got out of his car, and confronted the man with his legal handgun. He also called the police who arrived to find the veteran holding the man at bay while the woman lie bleeding on the ground. The woman suffered cuts, bruises, and a broken nose but thanks to the heroic actions of the veteran and the Second Amendment, that was the extent of her injuries.
http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/03/6369-marine-with-licensed-concealed-carry-gun-saves-woman-from-being-beaten-to-death/
2) The Burlington (Vermont) Free Press reported on February 20, 2013 that a Burlington resident fired his handgun into the floor of his apartment on recent morning as a warning to a knife wielding burglar who then ran from the residence. The man had gone out for a walk and when he returned he found the burglar already inside the apartment. After a brief struggle and the firing of the shot, the suspect fled, leaving the citizen and his property intact.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130220/NEWS02/302200013/1007/RSS02?nclick_check=1
3) TV station KREM reported on March 6, 2013 that an intruder was shot and killed after police said he was trying to force his entry into a north Spokane home via the home‘s doggie door. The homeowners did personally know the intruder who had been harassing them and who was armed with a knife, a weapon that police confirmed they found at the scene.
http://www.krem.com/news/crime/Man-shot-and-killed-trying-to-force-his-way-into-North-Spokane-home-195798001.html
4) TV station KHOU reported on February 22, 2013 that A 21-year-old man sprang into action to protect his family when three armed men/suspects barged into their home in a home invasion effort. When the son opened the door a crack to see who had knocked, the three suspect rushed into the house, pushed the son and father to the ground, and started attacking the mother.
Fortunately, the son was able to break free, get his father’s shotgun, and fired at the intruders, killing one of them on the spot. The police were alerted to the home invasion and shooting and were able to quickly track down the other two suspects as they fled.
Police know of no reason for the home invasion, making it a case of random violence that was stopped by the Second Amendment.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/21-year-old-protects-family-kills-suspect-during-home-invasion-in-NW-Harris-County-192475271.html
5) NBC News in Prince Edward, Virginia reported in mid-February that a deadly home invasion resulted in a homeowner killing two of the three armed suspects who invaded the home of a man and his two year old child. The home invasion began around 4:30 a.m. when three unknown men forced their way in the front door of the home.
Police said that the man called 911 to report a home invasion and said the suspects were armed. Police reports indicate gunfire was exchanged between the suspects and the caller. Two of the suspects were pronounced dead at the scene, while the third managed to escape on foot. The homeowner and the child were not harmed as a result of the Second Amendment.
http://mrctv.org/videos/man-defends-his-2-year-old-son-shoots-and-kills-2-home-intruders
6) The local Fox Network news station in Dallas reported in late February, 2013 that a local elderly homeowner shot and killed a would-be intruder as the intruder tried to climb through the man’s window into his home. The home invasion attempt occurred in the middle of the day and was not the first time that this home had been burglarized.
The intruder had a long criminal record. The homeowner was not arrested and will likely not be prosecuted since he was protecting his home with a legal, Second Amendment-sanctioned weapon.
http://mrctv.org/videos/man-defends-his-2-year-old-son-shoots-and-kills-2-home-intruders
7) The Miami Herald reported on March 3, 2013 that an 81 year old man realized that he was being followed as he drove his car. He knew he should not lead the follower to his home and eventually pulled over to the side of the road, parked, and pulled out his legally owned firearm.
He got out of his vehicle and was confronted by a much younger man who demanded everything that the older man owned. To protect himself, the elderly man brandished his gun and fired on the would-be robber in order to protect himself. The would be robber has a long list of previous criminal activity including altering a serial number on a gun and illegally carrying a concealed weapon. No charges or arrests were made against the elderly man.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/11/3280251/suspected-robber-shot-by-elderly.html
\8) CBS News in San Francisco reported on February 26, 2013 that some Oakland residents have become so fed up with crime and violence that they are forming or hiring their own security forces to protect their lives, their families, and their assets. Apparently, corruption and forced cutbacks in the Oakland Police Department has resulted in a spike in criminal violence, leading to citizens taking charge of their own security.
The report outlined how 25 homes in just one neighborhood had been robbed in just the past two months, with one home hit twice within 24 hours. According to Alaska Tarvins of the Arcadia Park Board of Directors: “You have to walk around in your house with a gun to feel safe here.” Hopefully, ill-thought out, anti-freedom to protect oneself legislation like Feinstein’s will allow these brave neighbors to continue to protect their friends and families in light of the light protection they currently get from local police precincts.
These are just a few of the many instances everyday where Americans are able to protect themselves as a result of the Second Amendment. All research and studies show that average police response times to a 911 call are around 20 minutes. A lot of violence can occur in that 20 minutes, violence that is prevented daily by the Second Amendment.
If you agree with idiocy like Diane Feinstein, remember a few things. Just because you have not suffered a home invasion, does not mean it will not happen. Just because a would-be assailant has not crawled through your doggie door, does not mean it will not happen. Just because you have not been targeted while driving, does not mean you will not be targeted. Just because a previous boy friend and stalker had not attacked you does not mean it will not happen in the future.
If you want to take the chance that these types of violence will not find you, that is your right. However, it is not your right to deny this type of protection to others. As we have pointed out many times in this series of posts, we need to reduce the root causes of criminal violence. We need more hate control, a primary root cause of the violence, before we even start to talk about more gun control.
We need to talk about improving economic chances and opportunities, understanding how video games and extensive medication of our youth affect decisions, and the easiest solution of all relative to gruesome shootings like Newtown: we need to somehow find about $7 billion a year, by cutting out just a handful of wasteful Federal government spending programs and projects, to place a trained armed police officer in every U.S. school.
Understand the root causes, protect our kids, don’t shred the Second Amendment.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-about-more-hate-control-before-more.html
We followed that series up with a second series earlier this year that focused on the many instances that occur every day where Americans use their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves, their families, and their assets:
http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-about-some-hate-control-before-more.html
As Senator Diane Feinstein’s ridiculous gun control legislation moves through the Senate, we thought it appropriate to provide an update with the latest instances where the Second Amendment is saving lives of ordinary Americans, a process that would likely be severely curtailed if radical and stupid legislation like Feinstein’s ever became law.
1) Local Milwaukee news outlets reported that on March 12, in West Allis, Wisconsin , a Marine Corps veteran, who was carrying a licensed concealed weapon, was able to stop a vicious attack on a woman while driving home from work without firing a single shot. The veteran came across a large built man while he was viciously kicking a woman on the ground in the head and in the body.
It turns out the man was the ex-boyfriend of the beaten woman who had been stalking her. The veteran stopped, got out of his car, and confronted the man with his legal handgun. He also called the police who arrived to find the veteran holding the man at bay while the woman lie bleeding on the ground. The woman suffered cuts, bruises, and a broken nose but thanks to the heroic actions of the veteran and the Second Amendment, that was the extent of her injuries.
http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/03/6369-marine-with-licensed-concealed-carry-gun-saves-woman-from-being-beaten-to-death/
2) The Burlington (Vermont) Free Press reported on February 20, 2013 that a Burlington resident fired his handgun into the floor of his apartment on recent morning as a warning to a knife wielding burglar who then ran from the residence. The man had gone out for a walk and when he returned he found the burglar already inside the apartment. After a brief struggle and the firing of the shot, the suspect fled, leaving the citizen and his property intact.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130220/NEWS02/302200013/1007/RSS02?nclick_check=1
3) TV station KREM reported on March 6, 2013 that an intruder was shot and killed after police said he was trying to force his entry into a north Spokane home via the home‘s doggie door. The homeowners did personally know the intruder who had been harassing them and who was armed with a knife, a weapon that police confirmed they found at the scene.
http://www.krem.com/news/crime/Man-shot-and-killed-trying-to-force-his-way-into-North-Spokane-home-195798001.html
4) TV station KHOU reported on February 22, 2013 that A 21-year-old man sprang into action to protect his family when three armed men/suspects barged into their home in a home invasion effort. When the son opened the door a crack to see who had knocked, the three suspect rushed into the house, pushed the son and father to the ground, and started attacking the mother.
Fortunately, the son was able to break free, get his father’s shotgun, and fired at the intruders, killing one of them on the spot. The police were alerted to the home invasion and shooting and were able to quickly track down the other two suspects as they fled.
Police know of no reason for the home invasion, making it a case of random violence that was stopped by the Second Amendment.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/21-year-old-protects-family-kills-suspect-during-home-invasion-in-NW-Harris-County-192475271.html
5) NBC News in Prince Edward, Virginia reported in mid-February that a deadly home invasion resulted in a homeowner killing two of the three armed suspects who invaded the home of a man and his two year old child. The home invasion began around 4:30 a.m. when three unknown men forced their way in the front door of the home.
Police said that the man called 911 to report a home invasion and said the suspects were armed. Police reports indicate gunfire was exchanged between the suspects and the caller. Two of the suspects were pronounced dead at the scene, while the third managed to escape on foot. The homeowner and the child were not harmed as a result of the Second Amendment.
http://mrctv.org/videos/man-defends-his-2-year-old-son-shoots-and-kills-2-home-intruders
6) The local Fox Network news station in Dallas reported in late February, 2013 that a local elderly homeowner shot and killed a would-be intruder as the intruder tried to climb through the man’s window into his home. The home invasion attempt occurred in the middle of the day and was not the first time that this home had been burglarized.
The intruder had a long criminal record. The homeowner was not arrested and will likely not be prosecuted since he was protecting his home with a legal, Second Amendment-sanctioned weapon.
http://mrctv.org/videos/man-defends-his-2-year-old-son-shoots-and-kills-2-home-intruders
7) The Miami Herald reported on March 3, 2013 that an 81 year old man realized that he was being followed as he drove his car. He knew he should not lead the follower to his home and eventually pulled over to the side of the road, parked, and pulled out his legally owned firearm.
He got out of his vehicle and was confronted by a much younger man who demanded everything that the older man owned. To protect himself, the elderly man brandished his gun and fired on the would-be robber in order to protect himself. The would be robber has a long list of previous criminal activity including altering a serial number on a gun and illegally carrying a concealed weapon. No charges or arrests were made against the elderly man.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/11/3280251/suspected-robber-shot-by-elderly.html
\8) CBS News in San Francisco reported on February 26, 2013 that some Oakland residents have become so fed up with crime and violence that they are forming or hiring their own security forces to protect their lives, their families, and their assets. Apparently, corruption and forced cutbacks in the Oakland Police Department has resulted in a spike in criminal violence, leading to citizens taking charge of their own security.
The report outlined how 25 homes in just one neighborhood had been robbed in just the past two months, with one home hit twice within 24 hours. According to Alaska Tarvins of the Arcadia Park Board of Directors: “You have to walk around in your house with a gun to feel safe here.” Hopefully, ill-thought out, anti-freedom to protect oneself legislation like Feinstein’s will allow these brave neighbors to continue to protect their friends and families in light of the light protection they currently get from local police precincts.
These are just a few of the many instances everyday where Americans are able to protect themselves as a result of the Second Amendment. All research and studies show that average police response times to a 911 call are around 20 minutes. A lot of violence can occur in that 20 minutes, violence that is prevented daily by the Second Amendment.
If you agree with idiocy like Diane Feinstein, remember a few things. Just because you have not suffered a home invasion, does not mean it will not happen. Just because a would-be assailant has not crawled through your doggie door, does not mean it will not happen. Just because you have not been targeted while driving, does not mean you will not be targeted. Just because a previous boy friend and stalker had not attacked you does not mean it will not happen in the future.
If you want to take the chance that these types of violence will not find you, that is your right. However, it is not your right to deny this type of protection to others. As we have pointed out many times in this series of posts, we need to reduce the root causes of criminal violence. We need more hate control, a primary root cause of the violence, before we even start to talk about more gun control.
We need to talk about improving economic chances and opportunities, understanding how video games and extensive medication of our youth affect decisions, and the easiest solution of all relative to gruesome shootings like Newtown: we need to somehow find about $7 billion a year, by cutting out just a handful of wasteful Federal government spending programs and projects, to place a trained armed police officer in every U.S. school.
Understand the root causes, protect our kids, don’t shred the Second Amendment.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
Friday, February 1, 2013
Political Class Insanity, Part 1, February, 2013: Politicians That Cannot Budget Or Save, Luxurious Government Bathrooms and More
At the beginning of every month we review the insanity, idiocy, and follies that the political class has dumped on us over the previous month of so. Last month seems like the whole month of posts was dedicated to political class insanity as we did extensive reviews of the idiocy of Obama Care and the fumbling, grandstanding, and politicizing of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
However, today and for a few days after today, we will be reviewing just plain old, simple incompetence of the political class, the never ending stream of insults and wasting of taxpayer wealth that we get hit with every month from our current set of politicians.
1) Our first example this month actually happened in 2007 but has just come to light. ABC News Reported the following story and facts on January 16, 2013:
2) There are many, many reasons why the nation and its citizens are facing a massive $16.4 TRILLION national debt. Government programs are inefficient, ineffective, redundant, and many infested with massive criminal fraud. Old programs never die, they just get refunded every year even if their purpose for existing is no longer needed. The Democratically controlled Senate has not passed a formal budget since April, 2009, making coherent and rational spending decisions and tradeoffs next to impossible.
To this lurid mix of incompetence we can add in the inability of the Obama administration to hit the legal and required budget deadlines that every President before him has been able to meet:
3) CBS News in Detroit reported on November 28, 2013 that a Michigan state senator has proposed that an option for the future of Detroit might be dissolving the city outright and letting neighboring communities pick up parts of the Detroit real estate and govern it as if it was their own. The financial and governing environment has gotten so bad that some people actually think killing off the city is the best solution. And they may be right.
Think about the magnitude of this position, a position that is not so far fetched. Detroit was once one of the largest cities in the U.S. It had a thriving economy and a large middle class population, mostly as a result of the auto industry. It was a major, major manufacturing center for the country.
Now, it is a vast wasteland with abandoned homes, whole neighborhoods that were abandoned and their structures razed to hinder the crime that the empty buildings harbored. There is effectively no middle class left in the city. The city government and the officials/politicians that have operated it either did a bad job, went to jail for crimes committed while in office, or both. And no political person, political party, or political solution has been able to resurrect what was once a thriving metro area.
The only political solution that might make sense is to just dissolve the city and make it go away, as if it never happened. So sad, another disgraceful performance from a political class that can spend and waste but cannot budget and grow the benefits for ordinary citizens.
4) The Americans For Prosperity website had a post on January 9, 2013 that documented just SOME of the special spending tidbits that our gutless political class had embedded in the fiscal cliff deal that was signed on January 2, 2013. This deal increased the tax burden on almost 80% of Americans starting immediately.
Think about that fact when reviewing the additional spending that Washington politicians approved for their crony and political donor friends, at all of our expense:
5) The Washington Guardian posted a Pentagon related article on its website on January 10, 2013 that discussed two interesting situations. First, the U.S. Navy had decided to retire seven of its battle cruisers from service. In the opinion of the Navy’s experts, these ships were no longer needed for national defense and to upgrade them would unnecessarily cost billions and billions of dollars.
Wow, a part of the Federal government actually trying to do the right thing and be efficient, saving taxpayer wealth in the process. Certainly something you do not see everyday. But it turned out to be too good to be true.
Congress stepped in and prohibited the Navy from decommissioning the ships that it said were no longer needed. Congressional members quoted in the article said they felt that losing these seven, almost obsolete ships would endanger our national defense.
This might be true but who would you believe first, the professionals in the Navy who felt the ships were not needed and wanted to save some taxpayer wealth ($259 billion over five years) or the politicians in Congress that want to protect jobs back in their states and districts, even if those jobs were useless, or who wanted to keep their defense contractor political backers happy? I would vote for the admirals every time.
The second situation is of a broader scope but reinforces the notion that politicians do not want to get spending under control or do not know how to get spending under control. According to the Guardian: “The Defense Department requested $613.9 billion for fiscal year 2013 - almost $32 billion less than it received last year. Instead, lawmakers sent the Pentagon roughly $633 billion for 2013, still less than the agency received last year but $20 billion above what Pentagon leaders had requested.”
Who does not think that the additional funding set aside for the Defense Department, money it said it did not need, was purely for earmarks for favored political cronies and backers of the Washington politicians?
By the way, in light of the Newtown school shooting, that additional $20 billion that the Defense Department said it does not need or want could staff a trained and armed police officer in every U.S. school for almost three years. You decide what the better priority is, unneeded military expenditures or protecting our kids.
That’s it for now, the insanity out of Washington just keeps on coming. And more will come over the next few days.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
However, today and for a few days after today, we will be reviewing just plain old, simple incompetence of the political class, the never ending stream of insults and wasting of taxpayer wealth that we get hit with every month from our current set of politicians.
1) Our first example this month actually happened in 2007 but has just come to light. ABC News Reported the following story and facts on January 16, 2013:
- In 2007, the personal bathroom used by the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, was remodeled.
- The renovation cost an amazing $222,000. One bathroom, one Cabinet level Secretary. I would bet that the average cost of an American home on the market today costs less than $222,000.
- The renovated bathroom has a $3,500 sub-zero refrigerator. Yes, the need for a high end refrigerator in one’s bathroom cannot be underestimated.
- According to the story, one faucet cost $689, which implies there were more than one faucet and more than one sink in the Secretary’s personal bathroom.
- The toilet paper holder cost “only” $65.
- It took the ABC News affiliate in Atlanta four full years to get the details of a single bathroom remodeling costs under a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request. Four years, one bathroom, talk about government inefficiency or more likely, a cover up due to the embarrassment of spending so much on a single bathroom remodel.
- This disgraceful waste of taxpayer wealth was uncovered by an audit done by the General Accounting Administration who appears to have a gift for the understatement: “A number of the items incorporated into the renovation project call into question the need for luxurious materials.”
2) There are many, many reasons why the nation and its citizens are facing a massive $16.4 TRILLION national debt. Government programs are inefficient, ineffective, redundant, and many infested with massive criminal fraud. Old programs never die, they just get refunded every year even if their purpose for existing is no longer needed. The Democratically controlled Senate has not passed a formal budget since April, 2009, making coherent and rational spending decisions and tradeoffs next to impossible.
To this lurid mix of incompetence we can add in the inability of the Obama administration to hit the legal and required budget deadlines that every President before him has been able to meet:
- Obama’s current budget proposal to Congress might not be passed over to Congress until March, a full month past the legal deadline of the first Monday in February (February 4 this year).
- This extends an abysmal track record of Obama’s fourth late budget submission in five years.
- He is now the first President to present three consecutive late budgets.
- Obama already is the first President to deliver three of his budgets late in just one term and the first to submit budgets late two years in a row.
- He also holds the record for the latest delayed budget submission: 98 days.
- According to the House Budget Committee, since enactment of the 1921 Budget and Accounting Act, which created the formal executive budget process: “All Presidents from Harding to Reagan’s first term met the statutory budget submission deadline in every year.”
- Even during World War II and the Korean war, the President’s budget reached Congress on time.
- With the Obama administration, meeting fiscal deadlines is an anomaly.
- Obama has also never submitted a Mid-Session Review by July 16, as required by law.
3) CBS News in Detroit reported on November 28, 2013 that a Michigan state senator has proposed that an option for the future of Detroit might be dissolving the city outright and letting neighboring communities pick up parts of the Detroit real estate and govern it as if it was their own. The financial and governing environment has gotten so bad that some people actually think killing off the city is the best solution. And they may be right.
Think about the magnitude of this position, a position that is not so far fetched. Detroit was once one of the largest cities in the U.S. It had a thriving economy and a large middle class population, mostly as a result of the auto industry. It was a major, major manufacturing center for the country.
Now, it is a vast wasteland with abandoned homes, whole neighborhoods that were abandoned and their structures razed to hinder the crime that the empty buildings harbored. There is effectively no middle class left in the city. The city government and the officials/politicians that have operated it either did a bad job, went to jail for crimes committed while in office, or both. And no political person, political party, or political solution has been able to resurrect what was once a thriving metro area.
The only political solution that might make sense is to just dissolve the city and make it go away, as if it never happened. So sad, another disgraceful performance from a political class that can spend and waste but cannot budget and grow the benefits for ordinary citizens.
4) The Americans For Prosperity website had a post on January 9, 2013 that documented just SOME of the special spending tidbits that our gutless political class had embedded in the fiscal cliff deal that was signed on January 2, 2013. This deal increased the tax burden on almost 80% of Americans starting immediately.
Think about that fact when reviewing the additional spending that Washington politicians approved for their crony and political donor friends, at all of our expense:
- Tax credit for wind farms (Section 407) Cost: $12.2 billion. Description: Extends the wind production tax credit, also offering the credit to those wind farms at the beginning of energy projects instead of at completion.
- Active financing exception for Wall Street (Section 322) Cost: $9 billion per year. Description: Multinational corporations can use this exception to avoid paying some taxes by creating certain overseas entities, a mechanism known as active financing.
- New Goldman Sachs offices (Section 328) Cost: $1.5 billion. Description: Initially established to provide tax-exempt financing for rebuilding the World Trade Center area, this provision partially went to fund Goldman Sachs offices. It has been extended.
- Whirlpool Corporation tax credit (Section 409) Cost: $650 million. Description: For producing energy-efficient appliances, Whirlpool receives an extended $650 million tax credit (not nearly as much as the $1.8 billion extended to financial institutions for investing in “low-income areas”).
- Extended rum tax (Section 329) Cost: $220 million; $547 million in 2009. Description: Funnels the revenue of the excise tax on rum to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, subsidizing their rum industries.
- Incentives for taking public transportation to work (Section 203) Cost: $220 million. Description: As part of an incentive to have people take public transportation, benefits have been set to an equal level with those for driving. Now employers can cover the same amount toward commuting expenses tax-free whether workers take public transit or drive.
- Railroad repair (Section 306) Cost: $165 million per year. Description: Railroads can claim tax credits for performing maintenance.
- Hollywood subsidies (Section 317) Cost: $75 million per year. Description: Provides producers with deductions of $15-20 million for filming in the United States, especially in low-income areas.
- Help grow algae (Section 404) Cost: $59 million. Description: Algae growers receive tax credits in their quest to turn algae into a biofuel source.
- NASCAR racetracks (Section 312) Cost: $43 million over the past two years. Description: Tax benefits for racetracks in order to supposedly even competition with “other amusement parks.”
- Mine safety (Section 307 and 316) Cost: $14 million. Description: Encourages implementation of common sense safety measures by mining companies.
- Electric scooters (Section 403) Cost: $4-7 million. Description: Electric vehicle tax credits extended to include electric motorbikes.
- Indian coal: alternative energy? (Section 406) Cost: $1 million. More specifically, Section 406 subsidizes by $2 per ton coal produced on Indian lands.
5) The Washington Guardian posted a Pentagon related article on its website on January 10, 2013 that discussed two interesting situations. First, the U.S. Navy had decided to retire seven of its battle cruisers from service. In the opinion of the Navy’s experts, these ships were no longer needed for national defense and to upgrade them would unnecessarily cost billions and billions of dollars.
Wow, a part of the Federal government actually trying to do the right thing and be efficient, saving taxpayer wealth in the process. Certainly something you do not see everyday. But it turned out to be too good to be true.
Congress stepped in and prohibited the Navy from decommissioning the ships that it said were no longer needed. Congressional members quoted in the article said they felt that losing these seven, almost obsolete ships would endanger our national defense.
This might be true but who would you believe first, the professionals in the Navy who felt the ships were not needed and wanted to save some taxpayer wealth ($259 billion over five years) or the politicians in Congress that want to protect jobs back in their states and districts, even if those jobs were useless, or who wanted to keep their defense contractor political backers happy? I would vote for the admirals every time.
The second situation is of a broader scope but reinforces the notion that politicians do not want to get spending under control or do not know how to get spending under control. According to the Guardian: “The Defense Department requested $613.9 billion for fiscal year 2013 - almost $32 billion less than it received last year. Instead, lawmakers sent the Pentagon roughly $633 billion for 2013, still less than the agency received last year but $20 billion above what Pentagon leaders had requested.”
Who does not think that the additional funding set aside for the Defense Department, money it said it did not need, was purely for earmarks for favored political cronies and backers of the Washington politicians?
By the way, in light of the Newtown school shooting, that additional $20 billion that the Defense Department said it does not need or want could staff a trained and armed police officer in every U.S. school for almost three years. You decide what the better priority is, unneeded military expenditures or protecting our kids.
That’s it for now, the insanity out of Washington just keeps on coming. And more will come over the next few days.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
Monday, December 24, 2012
Bonus Post: Eight Days Of Logic and Sanity That Prove No American Should Pay Another Penny In Taxes - Protecting Our Kids and Schools
Over the past eight posts we have gone through an extensive list of why no American, rich or poor, should pay another cent in taxes of the Federal government, given how wasteful, inefficient, and criminally infested most government programs are. Our final post on Friday showed how to reduce our staggering $16 TRILLION national debt by a healthy $9 TRILLION over the next decade or so with minimal pain to most Americans AND no increase in taxes.
Well, we thought that would be our last post in this series, a series that shows how ridiculous, stupid, and divisive President Obama has been in these fiscal cliff negotiations. Yesterday, I came across a website post from the Independent Journal Review that listed out the 22 worst expenditure of taxpayer wealth in 2012 which requires an additional post in this series:
http://www.ijreview.com/2012/12/26278-22-of-the-worst-government-expenditures-of-2012/23/
We have covered many of these atrocious wastes of money in previous posts, based on sound research into other news sources, so I believe that most of these are legitimate, actual wastes of taxpayer wealth from 2012.
I would like to review these 22 instances of waste today with two objectives in mind:
1) Reinforce the proof we laid out over the past week of posts that we need to cut overspending by the Federal government, not raise taxes on any American.
2) Consider what these unneeded expenses could have done to prevent the tragic school shooting in Connecticut.
Thus, the Independent Journal Review’s vote for the worst Federal spending in 2012:
We have the ability… but we probably do not have the politicians with the courage to do so. We could have done the same thing after the Columbine school killings, the same types of wasteful spending were going on that year also but the political class did not redirect wasteful spending then either. Unless we decide to hold our politicians’ feet to the fire, our kids will continue to be under protected, the Federal government will continue to spend our tax wealth on totally inane and unnecessary expenditures, and in the coming years when the next maniac goes wild, we will wring our hands and wonder why nothing was done.
If you do not want history to repeat itself, may I suggest you make a call to your politicians and start insisting that we can actually magically redirect wasteful spending to start protecting our kids and stop worrying about what a computer simulation of prom week might look like.
The useless Oklahoma $450,000 airport:
The $520,000 Ohio bridge to nowhere:
The $1.1 million sidewalks to nowhere:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
Well, we thought that would be our last post in this series, a series that shows how ridiculous, stupid, and divisive President Obama has been in these fiscal cliff negotiations. Yesterday, I came across a website post from the Independent Journal Review that listed out the 22 worst expenditure of taxpayer wealth in 2012 which requires an additional post in this series:
http://www.ijreview.com/2012/12/26278-22-of-the-worst-government-expenditures-of-2012/23/
We have covered many of these atrocious wastes of money in previous posts, based on sound research into other news sources, so I believe that most of these are legitimate, actual wastes of taxpayer wealth from 2012.
I would like to review these 22 instances of waste today with two objectives in mind:
1) Reinforce the proof we laid out over the past week of posts that we need to cut overspending by the Federal government, not raise taxes on any American.
2) Consider what these unneeded expenses could have done to prevent the tragic school shooting in Connecticut.
Thus, the Independent Journal Review’s vote for the worst Federal spending in 2012:
- Tax loopholes for the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) – professional sports leagues that generate billions of dollars annually in profits pay nothing in Federal income taxes($91 million worth of taxes)
- Moroccan pottery classes (part of a $27 million grant from U.S. Agency for International Development)
- Efforts to promote caviar consumption and production ($300,000)
- The building of a robotic squirrel named “RoboSquirrel”- part of a $325,000 grant from the National Science Foundation
- Promotion of specialty shampoo and other beauty products for cats and dogs ($505,000)
- Corporate welfare for the world’s largest snack food producer, PepsiCo Inc. ($1.3 million)
- Government-funded study on how golfers might benefit from using their imagination, envisioning the hole is bigger than it actually is ($350,000)
- “Prom Week,” a video game that allows taxpayers to relive prom night ($516,000)
- Oklahoma’s layover boondoggle, a scarcely used airport in Oklahoma receiving nearly half-a-million in taxpayer dollars only to transfer funds elsewhere in the state ($450,000)
- The 2012 Alabama Watermelon Queen tour, paid for in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “to promote the consumption of Alabama’s watermelon through appearances of the Alabama Watermelon Queen at various events and locations” ($25,000)
- Out-of-this-world Martian – $947,000 – NASA is studying what food astronauts could eat on Mars by simulating a Mars outpost at a barren location in Hawaii
- ObamaPhones’ – $1.5 billion. Enrollment in the Lifeline program has skyrocketed as people sign up to get free cell phone for which they qualify if they are on federal tested programs
- Speed reading faces – $30,000. NSF funds used to study whether people can determine a person’s sexual orientation with just a glance.
- Fighting obesity with giant graffiti carrots – $13,000. Anti-obesity funds pay for a giant graffiti mural focused on sustainability.
- Another bridge to nowhere – $520,000. A covered bridge in Ohio that is not used by cars or tied to any walking or bike trail will be rehabilitated with federal funds
- Free bus rides for Super Bowl attendees – $142,419. A Department of Transportation grant paid for free bus rides during the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Average prices for Super Bowl tickets are around $3,000
- Movie theater field trip to see “Red Tails” – $57,000. Federal education funds were misused in Texas to send fifth-grade boys to a movie theater to see “Red Tails” (girls were left behind).
- Self-reflection video game using Henry David Thoreau’s 1845 writings – $40,000. National Endowment for the Humanities funding pays for video game simulating Thoreau’s experience at Walden Pond.
- U.S. Iraqi police State Department training program burns through hundreds of millions, crashes in flames – $400.2 million. State Dept’s Iraq police training program has failed miserably, according the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. No objectives were created, and classes did not help Iraqis at all. The State Department will hand over to the Iraqis several building projects that ended up being unnecessary
- The streetcar named No Desire – $35.6 million. Federal transportation money will help build a trolley in St. Louis that has been called the “Streetcar Named No Desire” by one local. It duplicates existing light rail and public transportation, some say.
- Sidewalks to nowhere anger local citizens – $1.1 million. Department of Transportation funds are used for “sidewalks to nowhere” in Florida and Michigan that have local citizens angered. In Florida, the sidewalk was a “safe route to school” that was still unsafe. In Michigan, Federal requirements forced a county to make sidewalk ramps at an intersection without sidewalks.
- Congressional salaries total almost $100 million. Seems like they should be able to get something done for that much money? Especially since these people will work only 13 Fridays in 2012 and worked less than three weeks in the three months leading up to the November elections.
- According to the Federal government, there 132,183 private and public schools in this country up through high school. (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84)
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average police officer in this country earns about $55,000 a year.
- If we decided to place an armed, trained police officer in every school in America, the annual cost would be about $7.3 billion a year.
- If we could somehow magically redirect the above wasteful spending away from these trivial expenses to funding protection for our kids in school, we would be able to put a trained, armed police officer in 30% of the nation’s schools. ($7.3 billion in police officer costs divided into the $2.16 billion in spending on the 22 projects/program listed above.)
- Thus, if we could find another 50 or so other, similarly wasteful Federal government spending instances (something that would be extremely easy to do), we could annually put a trained, armed police officer in EVERY U.S. school, without raising taxes on any American.
- Another approach would be to magically redirect the $2.16 billion to protecting 30% of our schools and charge every American household just $.85 a month in taxes to cover the other 70% of schools.
- Still another approach is to consider the fact that the U.S. has needlessly deployed over 130,000 troops in Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Rather than using taxpayer money to defend Seoul, Tokyo, and Paris, maybe it is time to maybe it is time to use that taxpayer money to defend our kids within the confines of this country.
We have the ability… but we probably do not have the politicians with the courage to do so. We could have done the same thing after the Columbine school killings, the same types of wasteful spending were going on that year also but the political class did not redirect wasteful spending then either. Unless we decide to hold our politicians’ feet to the fire, our kids will continue to be under protected, the Federal government will continue to spend our tax wealth on totally inane and unnecessary expenditures, and in the coming years when the next maniac goes wild, we will wring our hands and wonder why nothing was done.
If you do not want history to repeat itself, may I suggest you make a call to your politicians and start insisting that we can actually magically redirect wasteful spending to start protecting our kids and stop worrying about what a computer simulation of prom week might look like.
The useless Oklahoma $450,000 airport:
The $520,000 Ohio bridge to nowhere:
The $1.1 million sidewalks to nowhere:
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
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