There are cerebral strategists and balls-to-the-wall activists in the tent of Ron Paul. Both were evident at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) today. Prior to Rand Paul’s stellar speech the surprise speaker was Donald Trump. Many of us in the audience had come to get our seats to see The Rand instead of The Donald, and things got a bit ugly.
During Trump’s speech there were some vocal activists shouting out Ron Paul’s name, among other things. At one point when Trump mentioned there were no good GOP candidates the shouts of Ron Paul became too much for him. The video below shows what happened:
Yes, the out-of-touch celebrity with lots of money reacts by telling the crowd that Ron Paul has zero chance of winning. I immediately said something that was later echoed by Rand Paul, “Trump has an even less of a chance of winning than Ron Paul”. That was only the beginning.
“Nullify, Repeal, and Vote them out”, should be the rallying cry for Americans and it makes a nice campaign slogan for state representatives as well. I just received Tom Woods’ new book, “Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century“, in the mail. I haven’t read it yet, but it promises to be another classic. I’m guessing Tom Woods will cover, in his new book, some of what I’m about to discuss below.
There appears to be a de-facto nullification movement brewing in the United States. There are three main areas fueling this:
The National ID card or Real ID
Marijuana legalization/decriminalization
The health care mandate
The federal government demanded the states implement a national ID card. Back then they called it the REAL ID. These days they call it PASS ID and have attempted to make it more acceptable to the states. The states successfully thwarted implementation of original REAL ID by passing state legislation refusing to comply with the federal mandate. As of October of 2009, 25 states have passed laws refusing implementation of REAL ID in their state. This is the modern form of nullification. This is the model. Hopefully, PASS ID meets the same fate.
Several states have passed laws permitting marijuana for medicinal use and several are considering outright legalization. This goes directly against the federal laws against marijuana. This could become the next de-facto nullification, similar to REAL ID, if things continue down this path.
Opposing the new health care mandate is nullification in its infantile stages. Several state Attorneys General have filed suit on grounds that the health care mandate is unconstitutional. Virginia has passed a law exempting its citizens from the mandate.
You won’t hear many people within the debate on the above actually call what they are doing, “nullification”, but the net effect is the same. This idea of de-facto nullification appears to be the most effective and realistic method to oppose over-reaching federal government unconstitutional laws in our time. I expect to explore these ideas in more depth in Woods’ book and in my future writing.
Also, check out the upcoming “Nullify Now!” tour. Tom Woods, Jack Hunter, Jim Babka, and others are scheduled to speak.
See below for a “must see” Tom Woods interview given by a “Zombie” about his new book.
Tomorrow is June 28th and there are two events every liberty-lover should be participating in.
First up, is the first money bomb for Rand Paul’s General election campaign. Pledge here and donate tomorrow (or beginning at midnight tonight) here. He’s going to need a significant amount of money to defend the attacks that are now coming at him from national progressives and Obamatons.
Next, it is the official release day for Tom Woods’ latest and perhaps greatest book entitled, “Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century“. I consider his previous book “Meltdown” one of the best economics books I’ve ever read. Given Woods’ track record his new book will be mind-opening to those willing to give it a read. The book and Tom were recently featured on Glenn Beck’s TV show about Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom” (see the video below).
So that’s my To-Do list for Monday, June 28th, 2010. I hope it is yours as well.
The Campaign For Liberty has posted Tom Woods’ excellent speech at CPAC regarding state nullification against unconstitutional federal laws as an avenue for real change in the United States.
Mike Miller and I (Marc Gallagher) are attending CPAC over the next few days. This is our first update from the conference. It’s difficult making your way through throngs of people wanting to hand you literature that completely goes against the philosophy of liberty. The Campaign For Liberty row in the Exhibit Hall is an oasis.
We arrived at the hotel around 11am, checked in and headed to the C4L booth to pick up our “credentials”. We then wandered around aimlessly for a bit looking for the “XPAC Lounge” to get good seats for the live Freedom Watch show set for 12:30pm.
Judge Andrew Napolitano was the guest host on the Glenn Beck show again today, and he really knocked it out of the park with his introductory monologue.
Directly following his monologue he talks with authors, Tom Woods and Kevin Gutzman regarding the Constitution, enumerated powers, and nullification. This show is a must-see for all of us.
Watch the entire show below, but if you don’t have time then take 10 and watch the first segment. It makes me happy that Beck has obviously given the Judge near free reign about what guests appear on the show and the topics that are discussed.
Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve, HR.1207, was the topic of a hearing of the full House Financial Services Committee chaired by Barney Frank today on capitol hill. The hearing was quite revealing.
Glancing at the cosponsor list one would get the impression that this is truly a bipartisan bill. No congress person wants to let anyone get the idea that he/she doesn’t support transparency. However, the devil is in the details.
It was quite obvious that Chairman Frank and Congressman Watt are not in total agreement with HR.1207 as it is written. Also, both attacked Tom Woods quite ferociously during the hearing. You can watch Frank’s attack in clip #4 in the embedded playlist below (it is right after Ron Paul questions Woods). Their attacks didn’t have much to do with the actual scope of auditing the Fed, but rather some disagreement with Woods rhetoric.
It is pretty clear that the leading Democrats on the committee would like an audit, but want it to be part of a larger regulatory reform bill. No one, except for perhaps Tom Woods argued that the bill not be part of a larger bill, not even Dr. Paul. It is fairly clear to me from this hearing that HR1207 will not be passed as a stand alone bill. The big question is whether or not the bill will be modified so much so that it fails in its original intent. We’ll find out fairly soon I suppose.
I selected a few highlights from todays hearing and made them available on Youtube. I’ve included all of the times Dr. Paul spoke and added a few others. You can watch these clips below. Also, not included below, but posted earlier, don’t miss Alan Grayson grilling the Fed lawyer like an overdone salmon.
Ron Paul is bringing a friend to Washington DC tomorrow to testify during the hearing on Paul’s HR.1207. Thomas Woods, author of “Meltdown“, is on the list of witnesses. The only other currently listed witness is Federal Reserve General Counsel Scott Alvarez. What an interesting combination this is going to be.
Fed General Counsel Scott Alvarez, in testimony prepared for a Friday hearing, said legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives giving the Government Accountability Office greater leeway to examine the central bank could have a detrimental effect.
“These concerns likely would increase inflation fears and market interest rates and, ultimately, damage economic stability and job creation,” Alvarez said in the prepared remarks for the House Financial Services Committee hearing.
If I were on the Financial Services Committee I’d suggest to Alvarez that the Fed itself is the cause of economic instability and a full GAO audit will neither help nor hinder its “ability” to continue being the primary cause of economic instability. I’m sure Ron Paul and Tom Woods won’t hesitate to make this point.
It’s rare occasion when I can say this, but… this Financial Services Committee hearing is going to be fun.
The government would love nothing more than for you to believe that they have all the answers. They want you to believe that through their laws you somehow magically become more free or more equal. This notion is a fallacy. Government by its very nature is force. Over time many people have attempted to seek methods to minimize government’s force over our lives, but as time moves forwards more and more laws are created limiting our options.
One of the key ingredients in attaining some semblance of freedom is to become financially independent. A new book, “5 Steps To Freedom“, by Jeff Nabers and Phoebe Chongchua supplies us with some extremely effective tools to escape financial slavery. Take elements of Tom Wood’s “Meltdown“, Ron Paul’s “Manifesto“, and Peter Schiff’s “Crash Proof” all rolled into one and you come very close to describing “5 Steps To Freedom”.
The five high level steps are:
Measure
Move
Maintain
Multiply
Mention
The first portion of the book is an education on topics such as:
Here is the great Tom Woods debating all things Federal Reserve at FreedomFest in Las Vegas earlier this month. After you watch it be sure your representative is cosponsoring HR1207 or S604. If not, contact them and urge them to do so!
Liberty Maven
“, in the mail. I haven’t read it yet, but it promises to be another classic. I’m guessing Tom Woods will cover, in his new book, some of what I’m about to discuss below.
” one of the best economics books I’ve ever read. Given Woods’ track record his new book will be mind-opening to those willing to give it a read. The book and Tom were recently featured on Glenn Beck’s TV show about Hayek’s “
” (see the video below).
“, by Jeff Nabers and Phoebe Chongchua supplies us with some extremely effective tools to escape financial slavery. Take elements of Tom Wood’s “
“, and Peter Schiff’s “
” all rolled into one and you come very close to describing “5 Steps To Freedom”.
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