In our continuing series detailing some of the bills being introduced into Congress on a daily basis, we have forty-four more bills introduced on March 4th, 2009. Here are some of the more egregiously unconstitutional ones:
HR209 – Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Daughters of Penelope, a preeminent international women’s association and affiliate organization of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).
HR206 – Honoring the efforts and contributions of the Montgomery, Alabama, Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.
HR1296 – To achieve access to comprehensive primary health care services for all Americans and to reform the organization of primary care delivery through an expansion of the Community Health Center and National Health Service Corps programs.
HR1295 – To mitigate mortgage foreclosures, facilitate and include fairness in housing recovery, and combat mortgage fraud, and for other purposes.
HR210 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that providing breakfast in schools through the National School Breakfast Program has a positive impact on classroom performance.
HR1316 – To provide for appropriate notification of communities and homeowners of establishment of flood elevations for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program.
HR1297 – To establish the Hawai’i Capital National Heritage Area, and for other purposes.
HR1253 – To require that limitations and restrictions on coverage under group health plans be timely disclosed to group health plan sponsors and timely communicated to participants and beneficiaries under such plans in a form that is easily understandable.
HR1259 – To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the distribution of the drug dextromethorphan, and for other purposes.
S-525 – A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the importation of prescription drugs, and for other purposes.
Quote of the Day: “Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” — from “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.
President Obama gave a speech Tuesday night. He asked the American people to believe many impossible things at once. He claims he’s going to . . .
* Continue to intervene in the economy and bailout irresponsible companies and individuals
* Revolutionize health care
* Transform energy and the environment
* And cut government spending too
It was an “Alice in Wonderland” performance. His speech, to once again guote from “Alice,” demonstrated a complete mastery of “The different branches of Arithmetic — Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”
It’s hard to decide which, of all his many impossible ambitions, is the most frightening. However, since we can only fight one impossible thing at a time, we choose this one . . .
* Cap CO2 emissions
* Sell CO2 emission permits to businesses in amounts equal to the cap
* Allow companies to trade and/or sell these permits to allegedly create a market for innovations that would reduce CO2 emissions
* Use the proceeds from the permit sales to create a vast new research bureaucracy to help corporations cope with the cap
Even if you accept that human CO2 emissions are causing problematic global warming, a government run “cap and trade” system isn’t the best way to deal with this problem. Here are some points to consider . . . Read More »
The veneer on the Barackcuda’s real agenda has worn thin even before he takes office.
by Jake, the Champion of the Constitution
Originally published January 13, 2009 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article5792.html
Previously on this site I have avoided articles centered on religion, Israel-Palestine, and global warming even though I have very strong views on these three “taboo” topics. This column started off as antiwar and will remain focused on monetary policy for reasons I explain in the Money Matrix series, but recently I have felt like writing about the Gaza situation and now about Global Warming theory. C’est la vie!
Part 1 is on the Browner selection, Part 2 is on climate change theory.
President-Elect Barack Obama has named Carol Browner as Global Warming Czar. I confess I have no idea why naming unelected individuals to a made-up, unconstitutional office post and then giving them the nickname of an aristocratic Russian emperor is such a beloved tradition with US presidents – drug czars, poverty czars, terror czars – the American people have seen them all and quite frankly they all have not done much. Obama has really shown us his true colors by, among many other “stellar” picks, retaining Bush’s Secretary of War Robert Gates, making former Israeli Defense Force mechanic and Civilian National Enslavement proponent Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff, and a lifetime bureaucrat, the 70-year-old Leon Panetta as CIA Director who has zero CIA experience unless he was undercover in the House of Representatives for the 16 years and for 4 years as Clinton’s Chief of Staff, in which case he sure fooled us! Now we have outright socialist czarettes placed into power!
The U.S. companies say they need $25 billion in taxpayer money to help convert to building smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Many are afraid that if Detroit does not somehow obtain it’s $25 Billion from the taxpayers that consumers won’t get vehicles they need, such as the Chevy Volt. Well, who needs the Chevy Volt, and who needs Detroit?
When I heard William “BJ” Lawson speak for the first time in person I said to myself, “This is the Ron Paul Republican who can win”. Then I checked out his opponent David Price and immediately thought, “I know Lawson can win.” At first glance, the problem is the heavily Democratic North Carolina district he is in, but if you dig a bit deeper, Lawson is the perfect candidate for a district of this kind. He is not your normal present day Republican. Lawson has the ability to attract those on all sides of the political spectrum much like Ron Paul did during his own campaign.
Below you will discover the Liberty Maven rankings for BJ Lawson on the Paul-O-Meter, where candidates and current lawmakers can be rated on how closely they are in line with Dr. Ron Paul on the issues. To learn about the Paul-O-Meter methodology please see this article. You may also assign your own rankings or request a candidate be added to the system.
Continue reading to see if BJ Lawson truly deserves the moniker “Ron Paul Jr.”
It is now time to rate the vice presidential candidates on the Paul-O-Meter. We start with John McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin. The perfect strategic pick for McCain, Palin has little history. She’s been Governor of Alaska for less than two years, but now that McCain’s handlers are pulling Palin’s puppet strings it is difficult to see a difference between the two.
Here we examine Palin on 20 issues to see how she stacks up to Ron Paul. Hopefully this will help some see the lips through the lipstick.
John McCain continues his expertise in politics with the choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. He also continues his quite Bill Clinton-like “wherever the wind blows” stances on policy. I don’t understand how John McCain can argue for his VP selection with a straight face when he says that she “can best help me shake up Washington and make it start working again for people who are counting on us.” McCain has been working in Washington for almost 30 years. He is partly responsible for the broken Washington he himself, and now Palin, aims to fix. The hypocrisy is rampant. Sarah Palin is nothing more than a pretty political puppet for McCain’s politics as usual.
McCain and his expert campaigners have selected someone who the Ron Paul faithful singled out as a potential running mate for Dr. Paul should he magically win the GOP nomination. She has a great conservative record of cutting spending and demanding ethics in government although she is no stranger to alleged ethics violations herself. She is greatly similar to McCain in that light. McCain was part of the Keating 5 Savings and Loan scandal in the 1980’s. He seems to have an expertise in getting people to ignore such things by championing reform of the very things he’s accused of abusing. Palin has a much shorter history of such things, but she has “welcomed the investigation” of herself after being accused of similar nepotism.
On the policy front there are decidedly non-McCain-like Palin positions. She is a very strong proponent of drilling in Alaska, while McCain is still clinging on the protection of ANWR. She has spoken out against “cap and trade” while McCain has made it a key element of his platform. When the Alaskan legislature voted to not fund the implementation of REAL ID Act, Governor Palin acquiesced by not vetoing nor signing the bill. The effect being that Alaska has now rejected the federally mandated REAL ID. The ACLU even praised Palin for her inaction. McCain is a vocal supporter of REAL ID and an assortment of federal legislation that pretends there is no 10th amendment to the Constitution.
Bob Barr gets another hour with Glenn Beck. He demonstrates his moderate libertarianism here. Hopefully he wins over some viewers who were/are on the fence about voting third party. Many topics are discussed. The video below is in 6 parts thanks to YouTube 10 minute limits and commercials on the show.
This afternoon WashingtonPost.com had a Q&A session with Bob Barr. I found it somewhat annoying that he didn’t answer all the questions (or they weren’t included in the transcript) when someone asked a two- or three-part question, but nonetheless it could serve well for those not too familiar with Bob Barr. Oh, and the closet Libertarian purist in me cringed when he called for “some form of a consumption type tax” in lieu of the IRS and payroll deductions.
News Blaze has a op-ed piece detailing the libertarian perspective on lowering energy costs.
Americans pay much more than necessary for energy because of taxes and restrictions that pump up the costs….Speculators have been blamed for driving the price of oil up to $140 or more per barrel, but if that is the case, there is a simple remedy. The big users of oil, such as the airline and trucking industries, could sell oil futures contracts and drive the price down. The fact that there evidently has been no movement to do so indicates that the price of oil is up because of greater demand and limited supply. The price of oil for Americans is also up because the exchange value of the dollar has fallen.
Then the article goes on to give specific details on things that can be done (mostly getting rid of stifling taxes and regulations that hinder the industry).