Well, that’s what they want you to think. I want to know why the debate is now all about whether or not there should be a public option and little else? This shows us how Obama and his fellow looters are now firmly in the lead on this debate. The argument is no longer about whether we should have the government more involved in health care, but whether the government should provide health care.

The question is no longer “why are we doing this?” Instead, the question is “how do we do it?”

If Pelosi has her way, this is how:

The new House proposal is similar to one drafted by Democrats months ago. It requires Americans to buy health insurance by 2013 or pay a fine, creates a government-run program similar to Medicare to compete with private insurers and lets 15 million additional people enroll in Medicaid by easing eligibility requirements.

But in an effort to make the bill more appealing to moderates in her party, Pelosi altered some of the fine print. The proposed government-run “public option,” for instance, would negotiate for how much to pay doctors and hospitals rather than relying on government-set rates, as Medicare does.

Echoing concerns raised by his Republican colleagues, Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan said the bill’s heft, at 1,990 pages, indicated how it would expand the government’s role in health care: “Families will face higher taxes,” he said.

Replacing the above word “higher” with “astronomical” would be more honest. One need not read past page 4 (3d) to find the most offensive words to free market liberty loving Americans:

“initiates shared responsibility among workers, employers, and the Government; so that all Americans have coverage of essential health benefits.”

The word “initiates” should be replaced with the more honest word, “forces”. This phrase is a pure unadulterated call for socialism. When you force someone to share, it’s no longer sharing. It is theft, well-intended theft, but theft nonetheless.

Why do we get put in jail if we steal money to give to the poor yet it is perfectly fine for the government to do it without repercussions? I suppose the answer is: they own the jails.

Why do we get put in jail if we murder someone yet it is perfectly fine for government troops to kill people?

Are government humans more special than civilian humans? They seem to be able to operate outside the scope of morality.

The bill would establish a new federal government department inappropriately called the “Health Choices Administration” with the “Health Choices Commissioner” at the head. I can’t wait for their ad slogan to come out: “The Health Choices Administration: Be Nice, we can choose whether you live or die!”

Under this bill the Health Choices Commissioner has the power to regulate a new “market” they call the “Health Services Exchange”. This is the so-called new “free market” where the government public option health care is to compete with private health insurers. Yet somehow this is supposed to allow private insurers to compete on a level playing field? Please.

This bill becoming law would signal the end of private health insurance. It is only a matter of time before the public option will be the only option.

The government owns the jails now. The government tells you what you can put in your body. With socialized medicine the government is just continuing its assault on individual liberty. There is no “I”, only “We”.

“The State is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.” — Frederic Bastiat, French economist of the 19th Century

“How did I go bankrupt? Two ways. Slowly, and then all of a sudden.” — paraphrased from “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway

“May you live in interesting times.” — a proverbial Chinese curse

• Retained, and in some cases expanded, all the Bush-era policies — the wars, the PATRIOT Act, warrantless spying, REAL ID, imprisonment without due process, extraordinary rendition, etc.
• Begun to extend the already existing foundations for a future socialist state with things like direct government ownership of businesses, the health care bill, cap and trade, and a host of other measures big and small

Put the Bush and Obama policies together, sprinkle in a couple more terrorist attacks, and one or two more state-caused financial calamities, and you have a recipe for . . .

• The destruction of American liberty
• The blossoming of a Leviathan State

Read the signs . . .

We are living through a Statist revolution.

Statism is a mindset that prefers coercion to cooperation. Statists love the State because they are blind to its fundamental nature . . .

• The State is a monopoly that you cannot easily fire, replace, or even control
• Everything the State does relies on coercion

If you decide that . . .

• You don’t want to pay for, or be subject to, the new health care plan, or that . . .
• You prefer to buy and sell using gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve Notes, or that . . .
• You want to do, or not do, a host of other things that the politicians either require or prohibit,
• Then eventually a policeman will come to your door and threaten you with a gun, to make you submit

People who advocate expansive State action are really saying, “I think you should be threatened with, or actually suffer violence, if you don’t fund my pet schemes, or live the way I think you should.”

Such people would never go door to door pointing a gun at their neighbors, but the second-hand mechanism of the State allows them to hide their eyes from the violence implicit in what they profess.

Our government was founded to limit this kind of coercion. The American State was given two main functions . . .

• To punish coercion committed by one citizen against another
• To deter coercion by foreign States

Beyond that, nearly the entire Constitution is devoted to prohibiting State violence. This was the purpose of the divisions of power, the checks and balances, and the Bill of Rights. But now those protections lie in tatters.

Everyone is trying to use the State to live at the expense of everyone else, or to micro-manage their neighbors. Our traditional culture of individual liberty, personal responsibility, and peaceful, non-violent cooperation, is slowly dying. We are nearing a point where it may even die completely, suddenly, when we least expect it. As a result . . .

We live under the Chinese curse of interesting times. But we urge you to resist despair. We are even prepared to predict . . .

The End of Statism

Our reason is simple. Statism doesn’t work. The violence at its heart always . . .

• Destroys more than it creates
• Multiplies its victims, who become increasingly deperate enough to resist

Our purpose is to recruit and organize that resistance into an army. It’s . . .

• Why we do
• What we do
• The way we do it

We know that successful resistance will come slowly, before it comes suddenly. Victory will take time, but the time’s going to pass anyway, so why not use it wisely? This is why . . .

We reject all “get powerful quick” schemes as inherently unworkable. We know that societies and movements evolve slowly more often than they leap. History is littered with causes that failed because they couldn’t wait to succeed.

We neither need, nor expect, overnight success. Do you?

What we need instead is constant and consistent progress. And for that we need you, and for you to need us.

Remember where we’re going. We’re building toward the day when we can . . .

• Reach everyone, everywhere, every day, with the case for freedom and against Statism
• Build a big parade — a movement — in front of which opportunistic politicians will want to march. They’ll claim we’re following them, and we’ll let them think that!
• Deploy a huge army to exert relentless, resistance-numbing pressure on Congress, to make them submit

And remember how we’re going to get there . . .

• Slowly and steadily, but also surely
• One person at a time
• One dollar at a time
• One simple action at a time
• With each small step building toward the next larger step

The end of the month is here. We did more this month than we did last month. Now we need your financial support to do even more in November. Please . . .

• Start a monthly credit card pledge
• Or make a one-time donation
• You can do so here

Your support is our progress.

Perry Willis
Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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There has never been a pure free market capitalistic system just as there has never been a pure communist or socialist system, where there is government ownership of the means of production and each individual has equal access to society’s resources. However, we can rank economies as to whether they are closer to capitalism or closer to communism or socialism. If one ranked countries according to whether they were closer to the capitalistic end of the spectrum or the socialistic or communistic end, then ranked countries according to per capita GDP and finally rank countries according to Freedom House’s “Map of Freedom in the World,” he would find a pattern that is by no means a coincidence. The people in those countries closer to the capitalist end of the economic spectrum have far greater income and enjoy greater human rights protections than those toward the socialist and communist end.

According to the London Telegraph article, Moore’s film features priests who say capitalism is anti-Christian by failing to protect the poor. This is pure nonsense and revealed as such by asking, “If you’re an unborn spirit, condemned by God to a life of poverty but allowed to choose the country in which to be poor, would you choose a country near the communist end of the economic spectrum or the capitalist end?” If you chose the United States, you’d find that according to the government surveys, the typical “poor” American has cable or satellite TV, two color TVs, and a DVD player or VCR. He has air conditioning, a car, a microwave, a refrigerator, a stove, and a clothes washer and dryer, and whether he has health insurance or not, he is able to obtain medical care when needed. Try to find that in Cuba, Russia, China or North Korea. If we buy into the nonsense of Moore’s priests, the world’s poor people are incredibly stupid. Whether fleeing legally or illegally, their destination country is likely to be closer to capitalism than their departure country.

Go read the whole article here.

From Wikipedia:

Salami slicing is a series of many minor actions, often performed by clandestine means, that together results in a larger action that would be difficult or illegal to perform at once.

Today Obama is taking it to new levels. He’s acting like the proverbial kid in a candy store or perhaps saying he’s like a fat man at a deli counter is more appropriate. Our government has been salami slicing it’s way toward a socialist and fascist hybrid I call socio-fascism for the last 100 years or so. Certain administrations were worse than others, but it’s not too hard to believe that the Obama Presidency will go down in history as the one that signaled the final slice in the socio-fascist incrementalism pie.

For America to turn the corner and get “better” things are going to have to get a lot worse. People are still dreaming of government-sponsored comfort and Obama is doing his best to deliver. Government words and statistics are attempting to mask the hard economic pain reverberating through America. We need to see beyond this feel-good facade and find the truth.

We are a spoiled-rotten coddled nation of eternal victims with a codependency on government. Government is an abusive spouse who promises unicorns but only ever delivers blunt trauma to the head.

Perhaps the turn-around will come when the “green shoots” become nothing more than “green shits”, when everyone realizes the government is the source of the problem rather than the solution.

It’s time to refuse the government’s salami.

While this rather unimportant news item was brought up on CNN and other outlets another type of “date” was swept under the rug because if it became common knowledge the health care debate may be quite different. Admittedly, I went for a low-brow ridiculous play on words to get to my point but here it is:

In many states there are requirements (mandates) that force private health insurance companies to pay for certain procedures.

Those on the Right complaining of socialized medicine don’t realize that we already have socialized medicine. Those on the Left defending the so-called “public option” don’t realize how much money can be saved by simply abolishing health care mandates. Doing so would help restore the free market in health care and help lower costs.

I’m tired of both sides of the debate missing the fundamental point. The Left and the Right need to realize we haven’t had a free market in health care for approximately 30-40 years.

The health care system is broken and needs “fixing”. The government does not have the answer. On health care the government should not lead, it should not follow, it should just get the hell out of the way!

There is no such thing as a government solution. The government only causes more problems.

To understand how ridding ourselves of health care mandates can reduce health care costs please watch Shelly Roche (bytestyle.tv) give details in the video below. This is the kind of information people need to hear when they accuse others of “just complaining and not offering solutions”.

—————————————

I’ve gotten some feedback on the subject of deregulation, and the effect of greed.  Many are quick to demonize it, but I think we all need to slow down and take a look at what greed really is, before we admonish the “greedy”.

Interestingly, greed, is one of the 7 deadly sins, so we should strive to not be greedy, right?  Well, greed is defined in several different ways, but the most unbiased true definition (not relating to material wealth – I’ll explain why this is important in a moment) of greed is: An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain.  Is this not merely an extension of self interest?  What is self interest?  Self interest is defined as personal interest or advantage.  Everyone acts in ways of self interest, some more than others.  The reason is because life is a competition, like it or not.  You cannot beat the self interest out of anyone, and that is the paradoxical nature of self interest, i.e., greed.  To clarify my point, allow me to give several examples.

1. Early in life, we play games.  The object of a game is to win.  The desire to win is an act of self interest.  Yes it is fun to play, but winning and losing is part of the game, and the desire to win is part of human nature.  If the true object of the game is only to have fun, why do we keep score?  Why do we play at all?  Can we not find more fun and productive things to do if the object is “fun”?

2. When we go to school, we get graded on our performance.  We strive to get good grades based on our performance, and to gauge how we are faring against our peers.  Some learn faster, or in different ways, than others.  It is in our self interest to get the best grades possible, so that we not only know we are learning, but to ensure that our future will be bright, by being accepted into higher educational facilities which boast better educational practices than others.

3. When we are done with school, we hope that we’ve learned what we needed to, and that we have the skill set necessary, for a particular job.  It is in our self interest to get the best job possible (best environment, best pay, best benefits, etc) that most closely fits our needs.  We hope to climb the ladder (if we work for someone else) because we bust our humps every day to try and prove that we are worthy of higher pay, better benefits, better environment, more responsibility, etc.

4. If we open our own business, it is in our self interest to ensure the business survives so that we can support ourselves and our family, so that we do not go on the government doles, which brings me to my next point.

5. Those on welfare also act in self interested ways.  Some would say that they are selfish, others would say greedy, and I can certainly see that point.  This is not to say that I think we should not help anyone, we should be able to help those that cannot help themselves (disabled, physically or mentally, children with no family and cannot fend for themselves yet).  A hand up, not a hand out.  For those that can help themselves, they are simply acting in a self interested way to “get something for nothing”. It is far too easy to “game” the system.  Want more money?  Have another kid.  Get hurt to collect disability also, etc.  Getting a welfare handout check is acting not only in a way of self interest, but it is also at the expense of others.  Does anyone seriously believe that the government can make the poor “rich” by “spreading the wealth around”?  Where is the incentive to work?

6. Politicians act in self interested ways.  It may not be for money, but for position and power.  If you think that those you elect to office, no matter D or R, really want to “help” the little guy, you are sadly mistaken.  Politicians are no different than the public.  George Carlin said something like, if you have a greedy, ignorant population, you will have greedy, ignorant politicians.

7. People who vote do so in self interested ways.  What will my politician do for me, or my group?  As if we’re all oppressed, right?  Many seem to have forgotten how friggin awesome our country is/was because of our Constitution and it’s limits on government, and the personal freedoms our Bill of Rights protects.  It only ever has been, and always will be, the other guy who was at fault, right?  As I’ve pointed out before, when the government gives someone something, it has to do it at the expense of someone else.

8. Even religion and clergy act in self interested ways.  They always want a little more.  The church needs an addition, they need to grow their congregation, etc (and notice how it’s almost always tied to “you need to give more to the church”).

Here’s my point.  We cannot prosecute or persecute people for acting in self interested ways, and so quickly take it to the level of “greed”, because we all do it.  If you think you do not act in greedy ways, you are kidding yourself.  I only cherry picked the most politically palatable examples above.  Really, make an honest assessment of your actions and see how many you can classify as acting only in the interest of others.  There was a Friends episode (unbelievably) that dealt with this.  Even when you give your time and / or money to a charitable (by your own free will, by the way, not by government mandate) organization, it still makes you feel good, so even it is not completely selfless.  Put yourself in the position of others who you classify as greedy.

Take a corporate CEO for example.  You think they make too much money.  Compared to what, the average worker?  Do you have any idea the kind of pressure they are under on a daily basis?  Do you really know how much they sacrifice in regards to a truly coherent family life because of their work?  I highly doubt it.  They are generally in the spotlight more than they’d like, and have to put up with the stress of the livelihoods of hundreds, or thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or demanding employees, stockholders, boards of directors, and the general public.  Do they create that much wealth for the company and for the stockholders?  Maybe, maybe not.  But you cannot, and should not, demonize them for what they make.  If you were in their position, I seriously doubt you would turn down a luxurious contract.  And besides, there are free market mechanisms in place that deal with this already.  Boards of directors hire and fire CEO’s.  Stockholders elect the boards of directors.  If you don’t like the company, or think the CEO makes too much, don’t buy the stock of the company.  Don’t buy products the company makes, nobody is forcing you to buy what they sell .  If you own their stock, elect a board, or appeal to the board, that will act in your interest (aha, there’s that caveat again – self interest of the best stock price possible – oops).  If they are truly incompetent managers that don’t deserve the pay, the company will go bankrupt.  If you don’t buy the product they sell, or have stock in the company, why do you care at all?  Why do you want to control them?  What gives you that right?

Now here’s where we’ve really jacked up.  The politicians we’ve elected are not allowing this to happen.  The free market mechanism that deals with incompetence (bankruptcy) is not being allowed to function.  Is it in my interest to bail out a car company?  No, but I’m being forced to pay for it anyway, for the “greater good”.  Sooooo, now I’m technically paying for cars with my, yes, my, tax money (or eventually, inflated fiat currency), but I’m not actually getting a car?  That’s wrong.  How can anyone justify that to save some jobs in the short term?  Why doesn’t the government just start their own car company?  They know what’s best for us, anyway.  They’ve already appointed a car Czar.  Welcome to Communist Russia, we’d be glad to sell you a Trabant.  It only costs $99,999, but with tax incentives, the cost to you (that you can see) is only $29,999!  (You will actually pay the full $99,999, but we’ll tell you that we’re taxing those “greedy rich” more).  Isn’t that great?!  You are supporting American workers, and inflated, over powerful unions!  Everyone is happy!  Until they’re not.

This almost always comes back to regulation, and deregulation.  The real job of the government is not to regulate the hell out of everything, it is arbitrary.  Prosecute fraud, yes.  But they should not dictate what people should make.  You vote with your dollars every day.  You vote for politicians every 4 years.  Do the math.  The market is absolutely, unequivocally, the most efficient and best resource for regulating the market.  The government is always a step behind.  Derivatives of mortgages blew up, so we need to regulate derivatives.  Uh, you don’t need to, Barry, the market has, or is trying to, learn it’s lesson and cleanse the mess of derivatives by bankrupting the businesses that engaged in it.  Miring us in propagandist nonsense that a company is “too big to fail” is utterly farcical.  I think that it is simply meant to paper over the real reason they failed, trying to make a profit (ooohhhh, greedy) in an over-regulated, ever changing regulation, and over-taxed environment, with governmental decrees on how to conduct business.  Here’s the slippery slope argument.  If the government thinks they can do everything better, why don’t they just do it and take over everything?  Oh, that’s right, I’ve said it before, it’s because socialism doesn’t work.  Liberty and freedom work.

Leftists say that those on the “right” (this includes me, as I’m a Libertarian, limited government kind of guy) are always the nay-sayers.  The party of “no”.  I say, that is separatist nonsense.  When I say no to bailout, I say yes to market consequences for poor decisions.  When I say no to over-arching government programs, such as the poorly run Department of Education, I say yes to private schools, like Charter schools and Montessori, and I say yes to variations in the education of our children.  Because I do say no to everyone thinking, acting, and feeling the same way.  When I say no to the regulation of food products and safety on a national scale, I say yes to victory gardens, community gardens, and farmers markets. I therefore, by extension, say yes to limitations of the contamination of the food supply, as large scale regulation increases the incentive for farmers to become huge corporate conglomerates that spray our food with herbicides and pesticides that have been proven to cause cancer, heart attacks, brain aneurysms, and myriad other health issues.  When I say no (by repeal) of all Presidential Executive Orders, I say yes to the true checks and balances nature of our three branch system of federal government.  I don’t want a dictator.  If I did, I’d move to Cuba, or Venezuela.  (psst, that’s why refugees flee those countries, because of the dictators)  When I say no to ethanol subsidies, I say yes to lower food prices.  When I say no to government spending, I say yes to sustainability without the destructive debt loads for the entire country!  And finally (for this rant) when I say NO to the Federal Reserve Bank(!) I say YES to sound and honest money.  Sound money is the foundational pillar of keeping our government and our markets honest.  Restore that, and most of these niggling regulatory issues will be solved.

“Permit me to issue and control the money of the nation and I care not who makes its laws.” — Mayer Amsched Rothchild

It’s a rigged game folks, and we’re bickering with each other over whether the ball should be pigskin or cowhide.  Here’s another great quote:

“There are a thousand striking at the branches of evil for every one who is striking at the root.” — Henry David Thoreau

Ron Paul and Daniel Hannan united in a one two punch fighting for liberty. They spoke about nullification, secession, and then compared Europe and America on the road to socialism. Another topic that they and the other guests discussed was protectionism. Peter Schiff seems to believe the U.S. need not worry too much about protectionism. Tom Palmer disagrees. Woods and Rockwell delve into the prospects for liberty in our lifetime.

Another excellent show. Watch it below.

Quote of the Day: “A centralized democracy may be as tyrannical as an absolute monarch.” — James Anthony Froud (1818-1894) British author and historian Source: Short Studies on Great Subjects, 1872

* Banks
* Insurance companies
* Car companies
* And, as we reported yesterday, they now fund the majority of state government expenditures

But it isn’t just companies and state governments. The Feds want to nationalize YOU too.

It’s important for our new members to know that Congress is weaving a net that will ensnare all of us in a centralized database that could not only track where you go and what you do, but also . . .

What YOU spend on health care, and the kind of treatment YOU receive.

This scheme started with the so-called REAL ID Act, which would standardize state drivers’ licenses to make a de facto National ID card. You’ll need this card to cash a check, hire a baby sitter, board a plane, or engage in countless other activities. You’ll need it TO BE A PERSON.

Now that may not sound so different from today. You already need a driver’s license and a Social Security number to do many things. But your drivers’ license isn’t centralized at the federal level, and that makes all the difference. Here’s why . . .

The federal government has a huge problem with the Medicare program. They’ve made trillions of dollars in promises they can’t keep. But they have a plan to control costs . . .

* All of us will have REAL ID cards, issued by the states, but tracked in a centralized database
* The Feds will then force us to have electronic medical records too (this process is underway now)
* Your electronic medical records will be connected to the centralized REAL ID database
* The government will then start dictating which medical treatments you can receive and which you cannot

This last stage in the process is also being planned now. The supposed purpose is to protect us from ineffective treatments, but the real purpose is to control costs. In effect, the politicians will turn the entire country into a giant HMO. Do you want your health care needs being dictated by the same Keystone Gang who passed . . .

* The misguided lead regulation?
* And the self-defeating fossil fuels bill?

Well, here’s where all the threads tie together to create a net that will eventually strangle you. Twenty two states have refused to comply with the first step in this disaster scenario, the REAL ID Act. But how long do you think they’ll hold out now that . . .

The federal government funds half their budgets?!!!

Oh, what a tangled web the politicians weave when first they practice to intervene.

Many things are needed to unravel all the interventions by which the politicians have ruined our health care system. But we must also, at the same time, stop things from getting worse. High on this list is the need to repeal the REAL ID Act.

Don’t let Congress nationalize you. Use our quick and easy Educate the Powerful System to tell your Congressional employees to repeal the REAL ID Act.

Use your personal comments to tell them that . . .

* You oppose mandatory electronic medical records too
* You don’t EVER want federal bureaucrats to use REAL ID and/or electronic medical records to dictate what treatments you can and cannot receive
* You don’t want federal aid to the states to be used either to bribe state governments to comply with REAL ID, or punish them for failing to comply

We pounded Congress with more than 31,730 messages in April. To beat that number this month the Downsize DC Army needs to send at least 1,589 messages today. You can send your message at DownsizeDC.org’s “Repeal REAL ID” campaign page.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. To see how much we’re growing please check out the Keeping Score report below my signature.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Keeping Score

You can’t change the government by yourself. You’ll need a huge “army” to help you. That means these numbers must grow constantly . . .

The Downsize DC Army now stands at 25,225. It’s grown by 876 net new members so far this year, and 66 net new members so far this week. We’ve gone nearly 23% of the way to 26,000 in a little over a week, whereas previously it took us 176 days to get from 24k to 25k. The Army’s growth is accelerating!

YOU can make the army grow even faster by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting.

We can also grow faster by mailing recruitment letters to potential DC Downsizers. If you can start a monthly credit card pledge to help make this happen please let us know on the secure contribution form if its okay to publish your name here . . .

NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN MAY: Nancy Kovar, Ryan Ackroyd, WM Michael O’Brien, John C Houghton, James Alan Speedie, ONE unlisted

Or, if you’d prefer to make a one-time donation please let us know if its okay to publish your name here . . .

NEW ONE TIME DONORS IN MAY: Ernest P. Eusea, Chris Reulman, David Anthony, Christopher T Wagner, Thomas Sartwelle, Jr, FOUR unlisted

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Or if you prefer to watch the whole darn show (and why not?) watch it all below.

Lew Rockwell, 2010 liberty loving candidate RJ Harris, Cody Willard, Free State Project founder Jason Sorens, Peter Schiff, and twitter-maven Shelly Roche also join the Judge.

Remember, all episodes are posted at http://freedomwatchonfox.com/ as soon as they are available. You can also find upcoming guest and topic lists as well as the latest news about the show there.

Barney Frank: Under Bush he clamored for more transparency. Under Obama he’s mum on transparency = Pure Blue Partisan Hack.

Neo-con Tea Party Enthusiasts: Some under Bush supported the bailouts. Under Obama they scream for his head because of the bailouts = Pure Red Partisan Hacks.

Antiwar Obama Fans: They wanted to impeach Bush for getting us into the Iraq War on lies. They are oddly less enthusiastic about protesting Obama for relocating more and more troops to Afghanistan = Pure Blue Partisan Hacks.

Ron Paul: Under Bush denounced the Iraq War as unconstitutional. Under Obama still denouncing foreign interventionism = Pure Purple Principled Non-partisan.

Playing the game of partisan nepotism is quite easy. The rules are merely to compare the actions (and reactions) of various individuals and groups to the policies of George W. Bush in the past and Barack H. Obama right now. No doubt there are many other examples. Feel free to leave your own in the comments.

The goal of this game is to lose by showing your purple pride, revealing that you are a principled non-partisan. You believe in the rule of law and don’t change your views just because your team is in the lead. Sadly, I’d say that most Americans are either purely red or purely blue. Sometimes when you win, you really do lose.

The recent Tea Party phenomenon is truly a case study for this litmus test. The partisanship involved in the movement leaves a particularly horrid taste in my mouth. However, it’s hard not to get excited over a semi-grassroots (astroturfing?) movement toward limited government and the Constitution. I say this knowing there are many tea partiers today who refused to party under Bush a few months ago, even though Bush kicked off the bailouts with TARP. And where were they when Bush was busy growing the size of government more than any President in history prior to growing it even more under TARP?

When confronted with the Socialist question Obama childishly said that Bush started it! Well, he’s certainly right (more or less) on that, but what kind of answer is that anyway? That’s like a drug dealer passing blame to the person that cut the dope so the dealer could sell it. One childish answer deserves another: Two wrongs don’t make a right!

I wish our elected representatives and the majority of the American people would wake up tomorrow and realize that the objective is not to be on the winning team, red or blue. It is to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity“. Certainly the red team has their view about how best to accomplish that as much as the blue team. However, both teams are cheating; therefore, neither will ever realize that singular worthy goal set forth by our Founding Fathers.

The fog of partisan nepotism burns away as Ron Paul comes into focus. Ron Paul is largely viewed as a “gone rogue” member of the GOP these days, even as his warnings of the past have come true time after time. If the GOP could manage to put on some magical hat that removes the cancerous partisan gene for awhile, they’d realize that Ron Paul can be the answer to most, perhaps all, of their questions.

Ron Paul knows the golden question is not about Left vs. Right. It is about freedom vs. tyranny. Republicans may have to take baby steps to reach this conclusion after years and years of neo-conservative culture creep.

Perhaps the first step at “Neo-Conservatives Anonymous” (Tea Parties) could be using Ron Paul as proof that sometimes when you lose, you really win.

• HR1690 – To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to coastal states to support voluntary State efforts to initiate and complete surveys of coastal waters to identify potential areas suitable for the exploration, development, and production of renewable energy, and for other purposes.
• HR1691 – To require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer and coverage for secondary consultations.
• HR1684 – To preserve the rights granted under second amendment to the Constitution in national parks and national wildlife refuge areas.  [Why do we need a bill to repeat what the second amendment already says?  Simply hang (for treason) all those who violate their oaths to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution.]
• HR1692 – To amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to exempt ordinary books from the lead limit in such Act.
• HR1693 – To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under part B of the Medicare Program, and for other purposes.
• S-672 – A bill to amend the Natural Gas Act, the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, and the Federal Power Act to modify provisions relating to enforcement and judicial review and to modify the procedures for proposing changes in natural gas rates.
• S-674 - A bill to amend chapter 41 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment and authorization of funding for certain training programs for supervisors of Federal employees.
• S-675 – A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit the sale of dishwashing detergent in the United States if the detergent contains a high level of phosphorus, and for other purposes.
• S-677 – A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require wealthy beneficiaries to pay a greater share of their premiums under the Medicare prescription drug program.
• HR1677 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and expand the benefits for businesses operating in empowerment zones, enterprise communities, or renewal communities, and for other purposes.
• HR1678 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a bad debt deduction to doctors to partially offset the cost of providing uncompensated care required to be provided under amendments made by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
• HR1680 – To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to promote professional retrofit installation of fire alarm detection systems and other fire detection and prevention technologies in nursing homes, hospice facilities, and other appropriate facilities.
• S-678 – A bill to reauthorize and improve the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, and for other purposes.
• S-679 – A bill to establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles, and for other purposes.
• S-680 – A bill to limit Federal emergency economic assistance payments to certain recipients.  [Such a Bill should not be necessary.  No person or entity should receive emergency economic assistance.  Read Davy Crockett vs. Welfare.]
• S-681 – A bill to provide for special rules relating to assistance concerning the Greensburg, Kansas tornado.

• S-682 – A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve mental and behavioral health services on college campuses.
• S-683 – A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide individuals with disabilities and older Americans with equal access to community-based attendant services and supports, and for other purposes.
• S-684 – A bill to provide the Coast Guard and NOAA with additional authorities under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, to strengthen the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and for other purposes.
• S-685 – A bill to require new vessels for carrying oil fuel to have double hulls, and for other purposes.
• S-686 – A bill to establish the Social Work Reinvestment Commission to advise Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on policy issues associated with the profession of social work, to authorize the Secretary to make grants to support recruitment for, and retention, research, and reinvestment in, the profession, and for other purposes.
• S-1694 – To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to establish a battlefield acquisition grant program for the acquisition and protection of nationally significant battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and for other purposes.
• HR1696 – To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf in the Mid-Atlantic and North Atlantic planning areas.
• HR1697 – To ensure the coordination and integration of Indian tribes in the National Homeland Security strategy and to establish an Office of Tribal Government Homeland Security within the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.
• HR1698 – To establish the Green Bank to assist in the financing of qualified clean energy projects and qualified energy efficiency projects.
• HR282 – Recognizing the 30th anniversary of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel
• HR283 – Recognizing the 30th anniversary of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel
• HR284 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all Americans should participate in a moment of silence to reflect upon the service and sacrifice of members of the United States Armed Forces both at home and abroad.
• HR285 – Congratulating the people of the Republic of Lithuania on the 1000th anniversary of Lithuania and celebrating the rich history of Lithuania.
• HCR78 – Expressing the support of the Congress regarding the need to facilitate State innovation in national health care reform.
• S-687 – A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to permit direct payment under the Medicare program for clinical social worker services provided to residents of skilled nursing facilities.
• S-688 – A bill to require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer and coverage for secondary consultations.
• HCR79 – Expressing the sense of Congress that a commemorative postage stamp should be issued to honor Wilton “Wilt” Chamberlain.
• SR84 – A resolution urging the Government of Canada to end the commercial seal hunt.
• HCR80 – Authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for an event to celebrate the birthday of King Kamehameha.
• HR1682 – To amend title 23, United States Code, to require States to develop and implement highway bridge management systems.
• HR1683 – To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring a Federal emission permit for the sale or use of greenhouse gas emission substances, and for other purposes.
• HR1685 – To provide for the acquisition, construction, and improvement of child care facilities, and for other purposes.
• HR1687 – To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at McKinley Avenue and Third Street, SW., Canton, Ohio, as the “Ralph Regula Federal Building and United States Courthouse”.
• HR1689 – To accelerate the development and early deployment of systems for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel electric generation facilities, and for other purposes.

Each bill introduced takes countless hours to be drafted, typed up, disseminated, put through the various stages of the process, all costing time and money.  Do you want your tax dollars being spent on this stuff?

Please take a couple of minutes out of your day to contact your representatives via telephone simply to tell them that you support or oppose a particular bill.  It’ll most likely take you less than two minutes, and it’s so very important that we stand up to our increasingly tyrannical government.

If you don’t know who your Senators are, or how to contact them, click here to found out.

If you don’t know who your Representatives are, or how to contact them, click here to find out.

“We don’t want them to be successful in socializing the nation.”

“Today we are determined to make our dollar weaker.”

“Bernanke is praying for inflation.”

“We don’t allow the correction to occur.”

“My biggest worry is loss of liberty.”

“Why don’t we just obey the Constitution?”

In a somewhat light moment the interviewer asks Paul if the reason he doesn’t fit in Washington is because he’s so logical. Ron uses his time to promote free market economics (Austrian by name) and the Mises Institute (mises.org).

He ends with something I’ve not heard from him. He calls the Federal Reserve the “fourth branch of government.” Watch the goodness below.