GOP Future - A Call for Leadership‏

This was sent to me by my friend Don Lee of Eagan.

An open letter to the GOP and its leadership:

Who will stand against the stampede being orchestrated by our president elect? A GOP response is called for, and should be delivered quickly. Barack Obama and the "Party of Free Stuff" want us to throw fiscal caution to the wind, and give him enough power to solve all our problems.

Our response should be emphatic: we are a strong people, capable of solving our own problems. We should state clearly that Mr. Obama's New Deal is a bad one.

Mr. Obama says that the "era of profound irresponsibility" must end, but his policies will take irresponsibility to new heights unless the Republicans stand up to him.

Mr. Obama says that our economy rests on trust. But his plans will destroy the trust that the whole world places in our financial system and our legal system. To spend money we don't have is little more than counterfeiting. Borrowing money that we cannot or will not repay is little more than theft. Money is not a bit of paper. It is a promise and a commitment. It represents the promise of one of us to redeem it for something of value. Twisting the law to enable people to break their commitments encourages irresponsible behavior and breaks trust.

Barack Obama paints a pretty picture of a world where all problems are solved, where every American's needs are met, and the planet is saved by carefully targeted government expenditures. This is wonderful campaign rhetoric, but in the real world, things have costs. The costs will not be born by the president and the 535 members of congress, but by the sweat and sacrifice of taxpayers and their children.

The emperor has no clothes, but most Americans have not yet noticed. It is up to the GOP to remind them that for every responsibility we surrender to Washington, we lose a little bit of our freedom.

Barack Obama tells Americans that they cannot solve their own problems. He thinks we need him to take control, change the rules, and run more of our lives. This is an insult to our long history of independence and personal responsibility. We need the Republican leadership to remind us who we really are.

Sincerely,


Don Lee
Eagan, MN

Celebrating John Brandl & His Uncommon Quest for Common Ground

On January 28, at 4:30 PM at the University of Minnesota Humphrey Center, please join six of Minnesota's strangest bedfellows as they talk about government's proper role in the currently troubled economy in the ecumenical spirit of a remarkable scholar, public servant, and friend.

This will be the first of an annual gathering in celebration of the late Professor Brandl's rich and generous life in which speakers, for one day anyway, seek to bridge differences by civilly ushering away -- both Stage Right and Stage Left -- disagreements that may be more assumed than central.

This event is being co-sponsored by the Center for the American Experiment, Growth and Justice, Minnesota 2020, The Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, the Citizens League and the Minnesota Free Market Institute. RSVPs to Britt Drake at the Center for the American Experiment. 612-338-3605. See Invitation here.

The Toilet Bowls

The Toilet Bowls
Michael Ramirez

The Last of The Kennedy Dynasty

This is just too good to pass up!

As soon as cancer was found, I noticed the immediate attempt at canonization of old Teddy by the main stream media.. They are saying what a "great American" he is. I say, let's get a couple things clear & not twist the facts to change the real history.

1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.

2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. Oops, the man can't count to four. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea, where a war was raging. No preferential treatment for him like "he" charged President Bush received.

3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris, never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his "education" NEVER advancing past the rank of Private.

4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four times, including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark. Yet his Virginia driver's license was never revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959, amazing!!!

5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash, and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a "state secret" until in the 1980's when the report was unsealed. Didn't hear about that from the unbiased media, did we.

6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond.

7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party, after passing several houses and a fire station. Then two friends returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew, that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began "calling in favors", ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne, and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight. Since the accident, Kennedy's "political enemies" have referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS. Kopechne's family received a small pay out from the Kennedy's insurance policy, and never sued. There was later a n effort to have her body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy's family paid their attorney's bills... a "token of friendship"?

8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors and is widely held as the "standard-bearer for liberalism". In his very first Senate roll, he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries.

9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of and increase in immigration, up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the Pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court Nominees, as if he were the standard bearer for the nation in matters of right. What a pompous ass.

10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than "great American".

Let's not allow the spin doctors make this jerk a hero -- how quickly the American public forgets what his real legacy is...and you just know it's all BUSH'S fault!

Hold onto your Wallets: The Legislature is Back in Session Today!

From The Taxpayers League of Minnesota

The Minnesota state legislature is back in session starting TODAY. With a $4.8 billion dollar deficit, state legislators and Gov. Pawlenty face some tough decisions. The Governor has already said that he wants to solve the deficit by reforming government and not raising taxes in this challenging economy. DFLers majorities in the House and Senate say all options must be on the table (code word for tax increases). Hold on to your wallets! It's going to be a bumpy ride!

Keep an eye on your legislators by visiting these websites:

• Find contact information on your State Senator and State Representative.
• Watch legislative committee and floor hearings here.
• Follow bill introductions here.
• As always, check the Taxpayers League website for the latest updates on protecting your tax dollars! Forward the eUpdate on to your friends and family and tell them to sign up too.

Permit-holding gun owners don’t threaten parks

The gun control groups are raising a fuss over a new law that allows concealed carry permit holders to carry their guns in national parks. They make the same old argument that the streets, or trails in this case, will run red with blood. This issue was made in Florida years ago and more recently in Minnesota when uniform, shall issue carry laws were passed. The facts speak for themselves, in Minnesota the concealed carry law had no impact on crimes committed or crimes prevented.


From The Record Searchlight
Redding.com, Redding Ca.

Our view: The law-abiding folks with concealed carry permits are not going to spark a crime wave at the campgrounds.

Nobody could expect gun-control advocates to like rules that make it easier to carry concealed weapons. It's just not in their DNA.

But the reaction by some opponents of a U.S. Interior Department rule allowing concealed-weapons permit holders to carry in national parks is just out of touch with reality.

The Brady Campaign, which is suing to block the rule, said it would "jeopardize the safety of park visitors." Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote in a an Op-Ed that "park visitors expect a safe and enjoyable experience - not loaded guns and stray bullets."

Nobody wants to see shootouts over campsites at Manzanita Lake, but is there any evidence that permit holders are likely to engage in such dangerous activity? By definition, they're law-abiding citizens who've paid fees and subjected themselves to fingerprinting and background checks.

Shasta County is a gun-friendly place, where about 2,500 residents hold active concealed-weapon permits from the Sheriff's Department - a very high number, by California standards, for the size of the county. Even still, Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Friday that he couldn't recall a single gun-related crime by a permit holder in over 30 years. "We issue them to responsible people," he said.

The people to worry about are the ones who carry concealed weapons without a permit, whatever the law says. And frankly, park rangers don't search cars at the entrance stations. They don't stop and frisk backpackers. Compliance with the law is largely on the honor system. Parks are as safe as they are mainly because crooks don't like camping.

Hikers have little reason to pack a firearm in Lassen. And, heck, who wants the extra weight?

But if they're inclined to do so, amply vetted concealed weapons permit holders are the last people we need to fear.

Our view: The law-abiding folks with concealed-carry permits are not going to spark a crime wave at the campgrounds.

Take the Civic Literacy Quiz

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has created a quiz to prove how dumbed down the U.S. population is with regard to basic civics knowledge. You can take the quiz by clicking here.

According to ISI, their survey results reveal that Americans are alarmingly uninformed about our Constitution, the basic functions of our government, the key texts of our national history, and economic principles.

• Less than half of Americans can name all three branches of the government.
• Only 21% know that the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
• Although Congress has voted twice in the last eight years to approve foreign wars, only 53% know that the power to declare war belongs to Congress. Almost 40% incorrectly believe it belongs to the president.
• Only 55% know that Congress shares authority over U.S. foreign policy with the president. Almost a quarter incorrectly believe Congress shares this power with the United Nations.
• Only 27% know the Bill of Rights expressly prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States.
• Less than one in five know that the phrase “a wall of separation” between church and state comes from a letter by Thomas Jefferson. Almost half incorrectly believe it can be found in the Constitution.

The UAW's Money-Squandering Corruptocracy

This arouses my curiosity. I may have to dig into the local union reports and see what they have been up to!

By Michelle Malkin
December 31, 2008

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. The UAW golfed. While carmakers soak up $17 billion in taxpayer bailout funds and demand more for their ailing industry, United Auto Workers bosses have wasted tens of millions of their workers' dues on gold-plated resorts and rotten investments. The labor organization's money-losing golf compound is just the tip of the iceberg.

Last week on my blog (michellemalkin.com/2008/12/16/money-pit-the-uaws-gold-plated-golf-course/), I noted that the UAW owns and operates Black Lake Golf Course -- a "championship caliber" course opened in 2000 that's part of a larger "family education center" and retreat nestled in 1,000 acres of property in Onaway, Mich. Spearheaded by former UAW president Steve Yokich, the resort also includes "a beautiful gym with two full-sized basketball courts, an Olympic-size indoor pool, exercise and weight room, table-tennis and pool tables, a sauna, beaches, walking and bike trails, softball and soccer fields and a boat launch ramp." Like everything else we're subsidizing these days, the UAW's playground is a money pit. The Detroit Free Press reported earlier this year that the golf course (valued at $6 million) and education center (valued at $27 million) have together lost $23 million over the past five years. While membership in the union has plummeted, the UAW retains assets worth $1.2 billion.

Curious about how the UAW will be spending my money and yours, I sifted through the union's most recent annual report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor which you can find at (http//www.unionreports.gov). Who knew hitting the links was so central to the business of making cars?

You can read a lot more here,http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/mmalkin/2008/mm_12311.shtml

What Has government Done to Our Money

The paragraph below is from the book "What Has government Done to Our Money" written by Murray N. Rothbard. This is exactly what our government is doing. On top of taxing us, they are printing more money to do things such as send us stimulus checks and bail out financial institutions and the auto industry. Lets not forget the fact that our elected officials give themselves raises with the money that's created from thin air. See post below. I urge everyone to read this book. It is short, simple, yet very effective in pointing out the folly of our present monetary system.

Taxation, however, is often unpopular, and, in less temperate
days, frequently precipitated revolutions. The emergence
of money, while a boon to the human race, also
opened a more subtle route for governmental expropriation
of resources. On the free market, money can be acquired by
producing and selling goods and services that people want,
or by mining (a business no more profitable, in the long
run, than any other). But if government can find ways to
engage in counterfeiting—the creation of new money out of
thin air—it can quickly produce its own money without
taking the trouble to sell services or mine gold. It can then
appropriate resources slyly and almost unnoticed, without
rousing the hostility touched off by taxation. In fact, counterfeiting
can create in its very victims the blissful illusion of
unparalleled prosperity.

Betty Gets A Pay Raise

I am sitting at home today because there is no work and Betty McCollum and Congress are getting a $4700 pay raise.

It sure is good to know that there is one, yes, just one congressman we know will refuse such a raise in this miserable economic time. His name, Ron Paul.

Thank You Ron Paul. It's good to know that someone in Washington has some integrity.

Here is a link to my post about their $4100 pay raise last year.

http://jungbauer2010.blogspot.com/2008/01/betty-mccollum-gets-pay-raise.html