Liberty Maven

“Soldiers’ supreme wish is to avoid war, for the costs are inevitably paid with their blood and brains.“ – Jake Towne

Originally published September 11, 2009 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article6863.html

There is no end in sight to the occupation of Iraq. Under President Obama, the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan are accelerating. I believe that spending cuts have to be made everywhere in government if we are to curb errant spending and inflation from the FED, even including the Veterans Affairs Administration. The VA is a large government bureaucracy run much like a DMV to provide health care and benefits to our veterans. Long lines at VA hospitals, long waiting periods to receive benefits, poor treatment and bureaucratic red tape have plagued the VA for years. The federal Congress is constitutionally responsible for raising armies and navies, they are also responsible for providing care and benefits in return for the veteran’s willingness to place his body into harm’s way. There are several areas where free market principles can be applied to both increase the quality of care and options for our veterans and yet still cut costs.

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Dear Reader –

I took a lot of heat on NolanChart.com a few days when I published a press release “PRESS RELEASE – 912 Candidate: Jake Towne – U.S. Congress PA 15th District” This piece had a few comments in the comment section, but I received quite a few criticisms to my email as well.  Most of them were to the effect that “how could I betray my principles?”  Of course, the answer is I have betrayed nothing, and if you want to read my principles I suggest you go here.  They are not going to be changing.

The following is my candidacy statement to go along with the signed contract and endorsement from 912Candidates.org.

Those who criticize me all appeared to be fellow dissenters with the current form of government, and I remark to them why not seek allies?  Why leave yourself cut off while the country is in distress?   Does “Join or Die” make any sense to you?

One happened to be registered G.O.P.  Take a look at what the so-called “Big Tent” Republicans are doing in Florida in “Republican Party of Florida Purges Pro-Liberty Members” I can confirm that there is a similar purge going on right now in the Lehigh Valley, though much of it is also from disgusted party members leaving of their own accord.

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Oh dear, now look what Rep. Joe Wilson got himself into.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic leaders are planning a House vote early next week to admonish Republican Rep. Joe Wilson if he does not apologize on the House floor for yelling “You lie!” during President Barack Obama’s health care address to Congress.

What is the point of this other than more political gamesmanship? The “Democratic leaders” should be paying attention to more important things than Joe Wilson’s outburst. I don’t know about you but I don’t vote so my lawmakers can stand up in the House wielding a verbal paddle for someone who happens to disagree with the President.

Meanwhile, the Constitution is “shat” upon almost daily by these same lawmakers who apparently have the authority to “admonish”. I bet Joe Wilson is shaking in his shoes. The last thing he wants is to get spanked (verbally) by his peers for speaking his mind in an attempt to lower the pedestal a bit that Obama stands upon.

How nice that the above linked article includes a demand from South Carolina’s beloved James Clyburn to do more than merely “admonish”:

But many Democrats remain angry and have pressed for further action. They say Wilson clearly violated House rules.

“This is about how elected officials should be conducting themselves in the well of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking House Democrat, said in an interview Friday.

No, Jim. Elected officials like yourself should be following the supreme law of the land also known as the U.S. Constitution. Of course we know exactly how much you value that oath you took from your interview the other day with Judge Andrew Napolitano.

Jim, go ahead and admonish Joe Wilson. The American people should be admonishing you and many of your colleagues (including Joe Wilson) for pulling down your pants and pissing all over the Constitution on the House floor with just about every single vote you make.

That is at least a million times more disrespectful than the Joe Wilson outburst.

Let’s make a deal. How about the American people stop charging our elected officials with lying when they actually, oh I don’t know, STOP LYING?

Joe Wilson is no hero for shouting out “You Lie!” during Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress last night. He was just being a good representative, for a change.

The words are constantly echoed “We must respect the office of the President”. But why? It’s not like the President is a King or a God. The “office” should be ridiculed constantly with what it has become.

George W. Bush had a shoe thrown at him by a foreign journalist. America’s shoe closets should be empty right now between what Bush did and Obama is now doing.

The office of the President deserves disrespect. The entire government deserves disrespect. Joe Wilson’s anger last night was quite representative of many of his constituents own feelings. That is part of his job description.

In fact, that type of dissent is every single American’s job description. WE THE PEOPLE are supposed to enforce the Constitution.

I don’t care if you are on the Left, Right, up, or down the essence of American patriotism is to denounce the State when it goes out of control with power.

There is a certain element of the pot calling the kettle black with what Joe Wilson did last night. Those on the Left and many on the Right are denouncing him. I think it’s quite amusing that America is talking about Joe Wilson today rather than Obama’s most recent effort to hypnotize America into accepting health care reform proposals that will hurt us more than heal us.

Yes, we’ll probably get some kind of health reform and both sides will claim victory. And once again Americans will get what they deserve and they’ll get it good and hard.

NOTE: Please note in the video link of the “You Lie” incident at 0:47 Obama accuses his detractors of lying saying, “It is a LIE, pure and simple”. Then at 1:27 Joe Wilson returns the charge back on Obama. I hereby declare this event as the “Health Care Liar Liar Pants on Fire Debate”.

Tonight Obama addresses a joint session of Congress in an attempt to push his version of health reform through. The pundits are all arguing about what he will say, but we all know what his ultimate intentions are. Join the health care experts from CATO for a live blog event during Obama’s speech so that you get a well-rounded view of his words. Below is the announcement:

President Obama is set to address Congress Wednesday night in an effort to push through his health care agenda. Cato will be watching.

Cato health care policy experts Michael D. Tanner and Michael F. Cannon will live-blog President Obama’s address to Congress Wednesday night at 8:00 PM EST.

We’ll start a bit before 8:00 on Cato@Liberty so please join us for this discussion of Obama’s proposals. We’ll also post comments on Twitter and take questions after the speech.

The soon to be released feature length documentary film, “For Liberty: How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered The Withered Tree Of Liberty“, will tug at your hope-strings and heart-strings. It is a definitive portrait of the passion for not just the man Ron Paul, but the glorious message of liberty.

I was lucky enough to acquire an advanced copy of the movie. It went straight from the mailbox into my DVD player. You are going to adore this movie. In fact, you are going to EVOL this movie.

Without revealing too many details (I don’t want this to be a spoiler) it covers all of the major grassroots events, efforts, and activists that were the essence of the Ron Paul Revolution. It begins right around the time Ron Paul announced his candidacy and culminates with the Rally for the Republic.

The creators utilize the “Walk4Freedom” (perfectly I might add) as an avenue to tie the “story” together. The story is told by the grassroots activists themselves, individuals such as Michael Maresco  (Walk4Freedom, Ron Paul Rider, Ride For Honesty), Lawrence Lepard (Full Page Ron Paul Ad purchaser and organizer), Trevor Lyman (Money bomb promotion, Ron Paul Blimp), and many others.

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I write to the incumbent to find out why he supports HR 2749, which restricts the freedom of all food-growers in the nation.

by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution

Originally published Friday, September 4, 2009 at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/nais-an-open-letter-to-congressman-dent-from-jake-towne

Dear Congressman Dent,

I attended your last town hall in Emmaus this week. Unfortunately, there were so many questions that I was unable to ask mine. In some ways, this is understandable as I have clearly communicated to you my concerns, but you can still look forward to seeing me in plenty of future town halls, attending as a private citizen. After all, I will be taking over your job after the 2010 election, and they are great chances for me to hear people’s thoughts.  Thanks for holding them.

The subject of this letter is your vote in support HR 2749, the so-called “Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009″ which recently passed the House. My query to you is to please explain why you would support such a preposterous piece of legislation. You see, our district has quite a few rural farmers, and several of them have contacted me in outrage over HR 2749. As a result I learned more and more about this subject, decided their concerns are warranted, and hence my letter to you. Let me explain my key issues with HR 2749 – that is, besides my keen interest to find out how you could possibly deem this bill constitutional and within the range of the powers delegated to you by We the People.

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Judge Napolitano took another “Anti Ron Paul” to task over support of government health care. In fact, Judge Napolitano asked the one question we Constitutionalists have wanted to ask all of the health reform supporters in Congress. Is government health care Constitutional? We all know how Ron Paul and many free market supporters answer that question. How does an “Anti Ron Paul” justify the opposing answer?

The Judge’s target was House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC). In a 13 minute plus interview Clyburn said some rather telling but unsurprising things. I’ve included the entire interview audio below. I don’t want to be attacked for taking his words out of context. If you’d like to only hear the Constitutional question portion then jump to 5:00 in the audio at the bottom of the article.

First the discussion is about Clyburn’s idea to have a 3 year “test” period for health reform. The Judge chimes in and correctly surmises that it’s just a slower path to the public option.  During Clyburn’s next remarks he mixes up the meaning of words. He says the following:

“So what is a fact to me, may not be a fact to you. So what kind of independent facts can we develop?“

Ridiculous. This is the 3rd ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. He doesn’t know the difference between “fact” and “opinion”.

The Judge then pops the question: “Where in the Constitution is the federal government charged with maintaining people’s health?”

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In case you ever wondered what a Member of the U.S. House is really supposed to do.

by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution

Originally published September 3, 2009, at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/jakes-job-description-for-2011-2012-1

Today, September 3rd, was a busy day as the campaign starts kicking into gear. I visited the incumbent’s town hall in Emmaus, sat in the front row and raised my hand for 90 minutes. One woman sitting to me said, “Wasn’t your arm tired?” I told her, I wouldn’t tire as long as the Constitution is under attack and gave her my business card.

For lunchtime, I had an AWESOME sandwich at American Sandwich Company in Coopersburg and met a few more residents.

In the afternoon, I took a bus to a Anti-Cap N Trade rally with a cheerful bus load of Tea Partiers, and met U.S. Senate candidate Peg Luksik, whom I recommend to people to take a look at. Iwas very pleased with both her directness and content of her replies to my toughest questions. Her website is here.

During the day, one man asked me if I knew what my job description was. In reply, I took out my pocket Constitution and showed him Article 1, Section 8. We talked a bit more on it, and he approved of my answers. One more vote for next November! Here is my job description after my election:

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D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Share this Dispatch with your friends: http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/understanding-the-bills

Quote of the Day: “If Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, needs a lawyer’s help to understand the health care legislation, what chance does the average citizen have of deciphering the bill?”- Press-Enterprise editorial (Riverside, CA)

* On September 2, a team of 38 people took part in a public reading of the bill in Scranton, PA.
* And Hearthebill.org allows people to hear the bill read online

These efforts are well-intended, but how many people can actually understand what they read? One individual read the bill but couldn’t understand it, and went to a Town Hall meeting to get answers. He came away from the meeting saying the bill was “still foggy” in his mind.

How about you — would you understand the bill if you read it? See for yourself.

Here’s just one section:

SEC. 162. ENDING HEALTH INSURANCE RESCISSION ABUSE.

(a) Clarification Regarding Application of Guaranteed Renewability of Individual Health Insurance Coverage- Section 2742 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-42) is amended–

(1) in its heading, by inserting `and continuation in force, including prohibition of rescission,’ after `guaranteed renewability’; and

(2) in subsection (a), by inserting `, including without rescission,’ after `continue in force’.

To understand this provision you’d also need to know what 42 U.S.C. 300gg-42 says. And this isn’t an isolated case; the United States Code is referred to or revised a whopping 439 times in a 1,017-page bill!

Fortunately, DownsizeDC.org’s One Subject At A Time Act (OSTA) has anticipated this problem. OSTA’s main purpose is to prevent unrelated, unpopular bills from being bundled together with popular or must-pass bills. But it also contains a provision requiring all bills to include the full text of any part of existing law that will be amended by the bill.That way both Congress and the public will know exactly what’s being changed.

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