February, 2016, Part 3, Will The Center Hold: Welfare Reform, State Takeover of Federal Land and Suing Over Amnesty

We occasionally do a review of the theme, “will the center hold.” Given the ever growing reach and encroachment of the Federal government and Obama administration into state matters and citizens’ lives, we have often reported on the increasing pushback against that overreach. From everything from Obama Care to Common Core to gun control to NSA spying, Americans are reasserting their right to tell the Federal government and Washington politicians that citizens in this country hold the power, not them.

Which has led us more than once to contemplate what would happen if Washington enacted a law or the President executed an executive order and the rest of the country simply ignored it? Would the center hold or would we be looking at serious fissures within the country? 

For a few days we have been reviewing where the rest of the country is telling Obama and the Washington political class to stop their power grab and overreaching into our lives: 

1) As you or may not know, in many western states, the Federal government owns/controls more than half of the entire ground area of the state. This has ticked off state citizens and politicians for a long time since they feel that they should be in control of their local areas, forests, parks, etc. and not be forced to deal with dictates from far away Washington. Up until recently, this was not a front burner issue with anyone.

But as the Obama administration has continued its overreach into the lives and freedoms of every American, the states are starting to get feisty when it comes to controlling their own state’s territories. The one state actually being proactive in potentially taking its state’s lands back from the Federal government is Utah. Utah’s state government recently completed a study that shows that there is legal reasoning and precedent that would allow it to challenge the Federal government’s control of Utah’s lands and turn control of those lands over to the state of Utah. 

If successful, states and their citizens across much of the west will be able to take far more control over their lands, their homes, and their economic future and not live under the dictates of a Washington political class that does what is right for themselves and not what is right for states’ citizens.

2) One of the biggest push backs that citizens and states have had to do against an overreaching Federal government is in the area of gun control. The Obama administration has been especially persistent in stripping the Constitutional gun rights of ordinary American citizens with a stupid public stance of protecting Americans from themselves. He and others of his ilk are oblivious to the reality that gun control measures do nothing to take the guns out of the hands of criminals and only end up making it more difficult for law abiding citizens to protect themselves. 

According to an article written by Teresa Monroe-Hamilton for the I Have The Truth website on January 31, 2016, two Tennessee state government politicians are really sticking to Obama and the other gun grabbers. They are putting forth legislation that states if a location insists on being a gun free zone and someone who has a valid, licensed and legal concealed carry permit gets hurt at the location, they can sue that location for not allowing themselves to protect themselves. 

This of course assumes that you survived the violent crime that got you hurt in the gun free zone. But such a law, if passed, might give a gun free zone advocate second thoughts about that status if they knew they would be sued for denying Second Amendment rights to someone. 

The logic of the legislation as explained by one of the politicians, state representative Jeremy Faison, goes as follows: “I believe in the Second Amendment; I don’t believe a person should be held back from having a gun. However, I also believe in property rights. If you have a business, and you don’t want guns there, you certainly have a right to do that. That being said, if you’re going to deny me protecting myself, then you should protect me. If you haven’t protected me, and you don’t allow me to protect myself, then I’m going to say it’s your fault if something happens.” 

I am sure that Obama would fume if he heard this logical, cogent argument. Consider this pending legislation in light of a recent tragic shooting where two police officers actually died responding to a call at a Panera Bread location. Panera Bread locations are official gun free zones, as proclaimed by the Panera management. Despite Panera being a gun free zone, a Panera customer brought a gun into the restaurant and ended up killing two police officers. 

As we have said many times before, criminals do not follow rules and laws, that is why they are criminals. That did not stop this criminal from ignoring Panera’s policy and the results were tragic. Gun free zones make it that much easier for violent criminals. In Tennessee, a more coherent gun free zone could be in the offing, regardless of what Obama thinks.

3) According to recent reporting by The Hill, 25 states are now part of a lawsuit that challenges Obama’s amnesty plans, claiming that his administration overstepped its limits by issuing work permits to illegal immigrants and promising them they will not be deported. The states who filed their opposition are: Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. As you can see, many of the states that are part of the suit are in the southern part of the country where many of the illegal immigrants and the problems they bring are likely most intense.

What is interesting is that 12 states filed a legal brief to defend Obama's overreach and override of existing laws. Every one of those states are far away from most of the illegal immigrant problems with the exception of California, the land of fruits and nuts: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington state and the District of Columbia.

Whatever, this promises to be a major lawsuit and one that pits states against the Federal government and states against states. Will the center hold? 

4) Utah is not the only people interesting in wresting control of their state’s lands back from the Federal government. Some people in Congress are also getting interested in curbing Federal government overreach into states land management:

• Oregon Congressman Greg Walden recently weighed in: “More than half of my [Congressional] district is under Federal management. They have come out with these proposals to close roads into the forests. The have ignored public input.”
• In 2014, Senator Ted Cruz proposed legislation that would prohibit the Federal government from owning more than 50% of the land in any one state.
• Nevada Congressman Cresent Hardy has introduced legislation that would prohibit the Federal government from buying any new land unless it could pass a balanced budget.

Unless something is done, there is a real chance that bloodshed is a potential outcome as the tensions over Federal use and dictatorship of western state lands become more intense. We had the Bundy/Fed standoff in Nevada a few years ago. We recently had the armed standoff in Oregon where there was a fatality. 

Last summer, citizens rallied around mine owners at the owners’ request to provide security at mines in Oregon and Montana after complaints about Federal land managers. In December, 2015, Phil Lyman, an elected official in Utah, got a 10 day jail sentence after he led a protest ride of all terrain vehicles through Federal land that had been closed to local access. Dangerous times.

The frustration of Federal bureaucracy encroaching on states’ lands is summed up by Erin and Jeff Maupin, cattle ranchers in Oregon that pay the Feds to allow their cattle to graze on Federal lands. They have tried to work with the Federal government representatives but come away frustrated by the overwhelming regulations on grazing and environmental issues: “We want somebody to make sure we’re doing it right. But it’s got to the point where there’s no common sense in it.”

Similar frustration come from Leland Pollock, a commissioner in Garfield County, Utah: “The land policies now are, basically, lock it up and throw away the key. It’s land with no use. The local economy’s really suffered as a result. Grazing has been reduced. We used to have a thriving timber industry — that’s all but gone.”

Will the center hold and more importantly, will someone else get killed as Americans push back on the meddling of the Federal government in their lives and homelands out west?

5) One last topic for this month’s edition on “will the center hold?” Starting in early 2016, all able bodied welfare recipients in 23 North Carolina counties will receive government checks only if they work. Specifically, in order to get food assistance, food stamps, under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, these people must work, volunteer, or train at least 20 hours per week in order to continue to get food assistance.

Welfare recipients have 90 days to find a job after the rules take effect. When the state of Maine did a similar program, it found that its welfare roles dropped by 80%, saving state taxpayers a bundle of money. I would assume the same effect will happen here with North Carolina taxpayers feeling the benefit. If only the Federal government would do the same types of common sense things would every American taxpayer get the benefit.

So today we learned that another state is showing the Federal government how to save on welfare costs, a number of states and their citizens and politicians are in the process of trying to figure out how to get the Federal government out of controlling their states’ lands, and half the states are suing the Federal government over amnesty to protect the interests and safety of their own citizens,

Never have so many pushed back so hard on Washington which raises the scenario: what happens when Washington issues an edict and the rest of the country ignores it and yawns in its face? Interesting, and increasingly dangerous times, we live in.

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:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

March, 2013 Political Class Insanity, Part 3: Underemployed Americans, Bad Priorities, and Living With Ulysses S. Grant's Legacy

This is the third part of our series on the political class insanity for the month of March, 2013. Unfortunately, as time goes by, we have had to devote more and more time to the antics, idiocy, and wasteful spending of the political class every month. And this third post will not be the end of this month’s review, making March, 2013 the worst month for the volume of political class insanity we have ever reported on.

1) According to a USA Today article that was summarized in the February 8, 2013 issue of The Week magazine, almost 50% of working Americans with college degrees are overqualified for their current jobs. Around 15% of taxi drivers and 25% of retail sales clerks have at least bachelors degrees. Looks like the Great Recession was NOT followed by the Great Recovery. Or even the Mediocre Recovery.

2) The Boston Globe reported in late January, 2013 that Obama’s inaugural committee raised more than $53 million, mostly from 458 elitist donors who gave $50,000 each. Possibly a better use of that money would have been to provide a trained police officer in some of our schools to protect our kids from another Newtown school incident. That $53 million could have protect over 900 schools for a year rather than blowing it on a pompous and unnecessary set of political class parties and celebrations.

3) This set of bad inaugural priorities is not to be confused with the overall set of bad priorities when it comes to the amount of money spent on the November, 2012 elections. According to a Politico article that was summarized in the February 15, 2013 issue of The Week magazine, the total amount spent on all campaigns and advertising for the 2012 election cycle was a record $7.3 billion.

This is just one indication of how big money has corrupted our election processes. You can be sure that the voices of individual Americans was never heard in this onslaught of billons of dollars from corporations, unions, PACS, and lobbyist.

By the way, from a bad priority perspective, that $7.3 billion could have protected just about every American school with a trained police officer for a whole year.

4) As the U.S. prepares to withdrawal most of its military assets from Afghanistan, let’s review what a financial disaster this military incursion has been across the previous two Presidential administrations, as recently reported in the Tampa Bay Times based on Government Accountability Office analysis

• Total amount of taxpayer wealth spent on Afghanistan - Half a TRILLION dollars.
• Percentage of Afghanistan’s government spending covered by U.S. tax dollars - 64%
• Percentage of Afghanistan’s government spending that comes from Afghanistan - 10%
• Percentage of Afghanistan’s population that is illiterate - 72
• Percentage of Afghanistan’s women who can read and write - 13%
• Afghanistan’s security situation as measured by the number of daily attacks from the Taliban - Increasing over time
• Number of attacks on U.S. forces by Afghan security forces - Increasing over time, with 2012 seeing the most attacks ever, more than twice the number of attacks of any previous year.

Thus, when U.S. military forces went into the country over eleven years ago, the country was terrorist infested, poor, and illiterate with a dysfunctional and corrupt government. Half a TRILLION dollars later, through two Presidential administrations, Afghanistan is still terrorist infested, poor, and illiterate with a dysfunctional and corrupt government.

Not a great return on our investment, an investment that cost the average American household about $4,400 each, with those households who lost family members in the fighting paying a significantly higher cost.

5) Business Week had an interesting article in its February 11, 2013 issue regarding a Federal law that is still on the books even though it was passed during the Presidential administration of Ulysses S. Grant:

• This mining law was originally established to encourage the settlement of the West.
• It allowed prospectors to remove gold and other valuable minerals from government lands without paying any royalties.
• Since then, the West has been long settled and the age of the solitary prospector is long gone but the law still exists, allowing large corporate mining companies to mine Federal lands for free.
• Not only do the mining companies not pay anything for the privilege of mining on government land, the American taxpayer, not the mining companies, is responsible for any environmental cleanup that is needed as a result of the mining operations, a cost that the General Accountability Office estimates at $2.6 billion since 1998 but which the EPA estimates could be as high as $54 billion going forward, all paid by the American taxpayer.
• If these mineral mining efforts were assessed royalties at the same rate that royalties are assessed on oil, coal, and gas that is mined from government lands, the article estimates that $1 billion a year could be generated to offset government spending overall and government spending on cleaning up mining sites.

Sounds reasonable, wealthy mining companies paying their fair share just like their peers in the coal, oil, and gas industries. Also sounds reasonable that an 1872 law be repealed and replaced with something a little more in tune with today’s realities.

But, alas, when does logic and good sense every come into play when dealing with the Washington political class? Although there have been some half hearted efforts to fix the situation, powerful politicians, specificially Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have always succeeded in stopping reform. Want to bet that mining industry companies have been heavy donors to previous election campaigns for politicians like Harry Reid? Just a thought.

That’s enough for today, the third part of our March series on political class insanity. Underemployed Americans, bad priorities, half a trillion dollars wasted for no good in Afghanistan, and living with an 1872 law. The case for term limits for Federal politicians (Step 39 from “Love My Country, Loathe My Government) gets stronger every day.

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

Ain't No Sunshine (And Solar Power) When The Political Class Gets Involved

Singer Bill Withers once sang: "Ain't no sunshine when she's gone." Great song and the inspiration, along with a recent Associated Press analysis, for this blog post, indicating that there is no sunshine and no solar power when the Federal government and the political class that operates it get involved.

According to the Associated press report that was issued on September 1, 2010, the Federal government, through the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in the Interior Department, operates a first come, first served land leasing program that is supposed to foster the development of solar energy on Federal government lands. Under this program, companies could submit a plan and pay a fee to develop a solar energy production facility on the Federal land that they wanted to lease. They could control the solar development potential of that land forever even if they did not develop a solar energy capability on that land. Consider the history of the program, according to the AP article:

• In 2005, Congress gave the Interior Department a deadline of finding a way to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy on public lands by 2015. 10,0o0 megawatts could power about five million U.S. homes during peak usage hours.
• However, Congress and the Interior Department never properly staffed the program, with the Bush Administration focusing the Interior Department on the development of oil and gas leases.
• As a result, according to the article, the small staff working this program have been overwhelmed by the administration of the program, resulting in companies getting the solar energy rights to Federal land but basically just squatting on the land and not generating any power.
• The staff has given out these land rights to numerous companies without ever discerning whether these companies had viable and workable plans to develop renewable energy on Federal land, with the result being that the most choice and prime sites have already been given out with no facilities being build to take advantage of these sites. According to an Interior Department official: "People were making solar applications on Federal lands not knowing what kind of technology to propose and how to develop the land."
• While the companies holding the rights to the land cannot sell their stake to another company, if the company holding the rights is bought up by another company, those land rights follow to the new company, they do not revert back to government control. Thus, just having paper access to the government land for solar development created wealth in the private sector without benefiting the American taxpayer, when several of these companies holding the land rights were bought out.
• Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, has jumped into the giveaway and one of its subsidiaries has filed 52 of the 354 applications for the rights. Goldman is not stupid. They are not solar power developers, they are investment bankers. The recognize the value of these land stakes and for a minimum amount of money they can tie up valuable real estate assets until it suits them to do something with their claims. Goldman and its subsidiary have filed absolutely no plans for any solar facilities so far.
• Five years after Congress set up the program, there are no working facilities on any of the Federal lands designated for solar power sources. The Obama administration has identified 14 "fast track" projects that it wants to be approved by the end of the year. That is approved, not operational. Making an of these plans operational would take several more years at the earliest, according to the article.

What a disaster. Legitimate solar power developers cannot get access to government lands because start up and/or incompetent companies and individuals, along with an investment bank, beat them to the Interior Department's bureaucracy, a bureaucracy that handed out rights willy nilly with a too small of a staff and too few resources available to properly screen out the best and worst applicants. As a result, the government has managed to gridlock the sun. Unbelievable.

Thus, it could easily be ten years from the time that Congress authorized the program in 2005 to the time we finally get any energy flowing. The incompetence is overwhelming. Wasted time, wasted government taxpayer money spent on administrating a failure of a program, and stranded natural resources sitting in prime solar energy territory.

And probably nobody, either in the Interior Department or those sitting on the Congressional committees responsible for implementing these plans, will face an consequences for this failure. They are all complicit in giving away government and taxpayer assets and getting nothing in return. It is a modern version of highway robbery. As with most every government programs, there are lots of people in charge, from the President (in this case, Bush) to Congress to Interior Department leaders but no one is responsible for this failure of a program. As a result, our dependency on fossil fuels and foreign energy sources continue to grow since 2005 with no progress made to change that trend.

Several steps from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" would help to ensure that this type of failure happens less frequently when it comes to government oversight and project management:

1. Step 1 would significantly downsize the overall size of the Federal government over a five year period, resulting in fewer but more important projects being undertaken by the Federal government, projects that are hopefully managed better. This focus on fewer but more important programs would force down accountability to lower levels of government. This downsizing would make it clearer who was both in charge and responsible since the red tape and previous bureaucracy would be gone and the hiding places from responsibility would disappear. Failure in this new era of accountability would result in severe career consequences, much like it does in the private sector.
2. Step 34 would remove Congressional members from their committee posts if they did not fulfill the responsibilities of that committee. This would result in politicians being replaced on the interior department committee or subcommittee that should have stayed on top of this project to ensure that taxpayer assets were not wasted and stranded.
3. Step 23 is the most important step. This step describes what is needed to develop a sane, rationale and doable national energy strategy and policy based on fact and reality, not politicians' focus on getting re-elected or satisfying those lobbyists who can get them re-elected. One reason why this solar on Federal lands program failed is that it is a standalone tactic, it is not a tactic within an overall strategic plan. Develop the overall plan and philosophy and then develop the tactical plan underneath the strategy, complete with deadlines and deliverables. Then you can manage the strategic plan and tactics together, identifying and remedying problems sooner since they pose a risk to attaining the overall strategic goal. It is not hard, companies in the private sector do it all the time to survive. Government rarely does it, usually resulting in failed laws and disappointing outcomes.

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone, ain't no sunshine being turned into cheap, domestic and clean energy when strategic planning is gone and replaced by political class incompetence. Grid locking the sun, who would have thought that possible?


Our new 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.

Also visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/