In the wake of last year’s Heller decision the question of incorporating the 2nd Amendment to the states has seen some play in the U.S. circuit court system. What is “incorporation” and should the 2nd Amendment override state law?
First, here is some audio from Guntalk, a weekly radio show hosted by Tom Gresham of Guntalk.tv, a wonderful resource for all gun-owners.
Gresham reveals the details of the previous incorporation-related cases and a new development that could have a bearing on whether or not the Supreme Court takes up the question. Before it was a no-brainer for the high court to hear the case, but now the 9th Circuit Court appears to be trying their hardest to make it a “brainer”. Listen to Gresham lay it all out in the audio below.
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Originally, the Constitution and Bill of Rights were a set of restraints on the federal government. The states pretty much had free reign on the laws they could enact. The states were governing themselves prior to the ratification of the Constitution. Our Founders (for the most part) tried to avoid trampling on states’ rights to self-govern. The amendments passed following the Civil War, particularly the 14th, set the stage for the trampling to begin.
Again, I query Congressman Dent and point out his unconstitutional health care plan will have the same future result as Obamacare’s socialized medicine.
I wrote to you previously in June on the unconstitutionality of your health care plan and took the trouble to hand-deliver my letter to you personally in July. Although I have not received a response, after reading your featured editorial on August 9, 2009, in the area’s Morning Call newspaper “Health care bill is too important to get wrong,” I decided to write and call your office again. A copy of this letter will be sent to the Morning Call as well. You wrote:
“I believe we can expand access to health insurance through common-sense policies that address the unique needs of the uninsured population. More than half of the 45.7 million Americans who are uninsured are younger than 35. Many of these individuals don’t buy insurance because they are healthy. We should be sure that they have access to less-costly catastrophic plans and provide greater flexibility by allowing young adults up to 29 years to stay on their parents’ health insurance policy as a dependent.”
As an uninsured American younger than 35 with an income level greater than the median household income, I can speak for myself that I did not buy health insurance not because I am too “healthy” but because it is simply too expensive ($700-$1200 per month). You are correct that many younger Americans would opt for less-costly catastrophic plans, but you have failed to ask the critical question: Why is health care today so expensive in the first place?
I apologize for the obvious headline. I couldn’t resist. It’s beginning to look like Peter Schiff may run against Chris Dodd in 2010. The Schiffathon, a money bomb held yesterday and continuing today has helped Schiff’s exploratory committee raise over $750,000 dollars in total for his potential campaign thus far.
Once the $750k was reached a small thank you message was displayed on his website and a new goal of $850k was created. While the sum of money isn’t as great, it is reminiscent of those huge money bombs for Ron Paul back in the primary season of 2007 and 2008.
Given the amount of enthusiasm for Schiff running against Dodd along with the fund raising it is hard to believe Peter won’t officially declare his candidacy at some point soon. An announcement either way may come around Labor day weekend according to Schiff.
Yesterday Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling again. Right now it is at $12.1 trillion which could be exhausted by October, according to Timmy. Not surprisingly his justification is absurd:
“It is critically important that Congress act before the limit is reached so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain confident that the United States will always meet its obligations”
America overdrew it’s credit card a long time ago yet this lunacy continues. Imagine being maxed out on credit cards to the tune of $12 trillion then calling your credit card company and asking them to raise your credit limit. Effectively this is what Tim Geithner is doing. Congress should laugh in his face and trip him when he walks away.
Of course, Congress will likely listen to him. They adore raising America’s credit limit because it means their lobbyists get more stuff. Congress and Geithner are child abusers. They are breaking piggy banks over the heads of our children and taking their money.
We are teaching a new generation that hard work doesn’t pay… unless the recipient is the government.
We don’t need to free our dependency on foreign oil. We need to free our dependency on domestic government.
by Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital and author of The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets
There is an inexplicable, but somehow widely held, belief that stock market movements are predictive of economic conditions. As such, the current rally in U.S. stock prices has caused many people to conclude that the recession is nearing an end. The widespread optimism is not confined to Wall Street, as even Barack Obama has pointed to the bubbly markets to vindicate his economic policies. However, reality is clearly at odds with these optimistic assumptions.
In the first place, stock markets have been taken by surprise throughout history. In the current cycle, neither the market nor its cheerleaders saw this recession coming, so why should anyone believe that these fonts of wisdom have suddenly become clairvoyant?
According to official government statistics, the current recession began in December of 2007. Two months earlier, in October of that year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both hit all-time record highs. Exactly what foresight did this run-up provide? Obviously markets were completely blind-sided by the biggest recession since the Great Depression. In fact, the main reason why the markets sold off so violently in 2008, after the severity of the recession became impossible to ignore, was that it had so completely misread the economy in the preceding years.
Furthermore, throughout most of 2008, even as the economy was contracting, academic economists and stock market strategists were still confident that a recession would be avoided. If they could not even forecast a recession that had already started, how can they possibly predict when it will end? In contrast, on a Fox News appearance on December 31, 2007, I endured the gibes of optimistic co-panelists when I clearly proclaimed that a recession was underway.
There’s a lot to be unhappy about this week if you believe in individual liberty and free markets.
Sonia Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. She was confirmed and it wasn’t even close, as expected. Souter is out and Sotomayor is in. It seems like a wash to me. The next Supreme Court appointee will be the more interesting one.
The Cash For Clunkers program gets added funds. The Senate approved 2 billion more dollars we don’t have to destroy cars that get poor gas mileage and subsidize the purchase of cars that get better gas mileage. For those that don’t “feel” like understanding economics, John Stossel demonstrates why this program is yet another wasteful boondoggle. Did you know that you can buy a brand new Hummer with your neighbor’s money?
An amendment to the additional money for the Cash for Clunkers program by Senator Coburn would have permitted dealers to donate the traded clunkers to charities and the poor. I say would have because the amendment was defeated by the Democrats. I was under the impression the Democrats cared about the poor? It appears they care about appeasing the environmental lobbyists more.
In response to the massive opposition to Obama’s health care plan the White House has taken another page out of Woodrow Wilson’s playbook. In a modernized version of Wilson’s American Protective League the White House would like you to report “fishy” media content that disagrees with Obama’s health care plan. Feel free to report this article. The email address is flag@whitehouse.gov.
“The few who understand the system, will either be so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favors, that there will be no opposition from that class. The great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantages, will bear its burden without complaint.” – Lord Rothschild, European central banker
Originally published August 6, 2009 at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/fractional-reserve-banking-in-pictures-part-12
The below slides are meant to explain fractional reserve banking as simply as possible using pictures. The presentation itself can be found here, and a written description and documentation in “The Money Matrix – How the FED Works (PART 6/15)“.
The below demonstration assumes a reserve requirement of 10%, which is the figure typically given by the banking industry and financial experts. However, in Part 2 I will demonstrate there there is effectively NO set reserve requirement though the banking system obviously carry some level of cash reserves. I alluded to this previously in “Off a Cliff with No Airbags: The FED Banking System Quivers in Fright“.
This morning Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul appeared on CNN discussing health care, Rand running for Senate, and other topics. Watch the appearance below.
Rand Paul continued his media blitz today with interviews on Brian and The Judge, Mike Church, and Glenn Beck. Listen to the Glenn Beck interview below.
They talked for over 15 minutes jumping from topic to topic including foreign policy, abortion, protecting the border, and more. In the end Beck said he likes Rand and wants to have him back.
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Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate yesterday on the Neil Cavuto show. There were reports he would announce on the Glenn Beck show but that didn’t work out. He also appeared on Happy Hour on the Fox Business Channel along with Peter Schiff and Judge Napolitano discussing why he’s running as a Republican vs. an Independent as Cody Willard wishes.
He is also scheduled to be on with Glenn Beck this morning on Beck’s radio show.
Liberty Maven
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