Public Law 112-95 - The FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011

This bill should really be called "The Bleed The Taxpayer Dry Act of 2011", inasmuch as it has authorized funding for the FAA of approximately $3.35B per year for the period 2011-2014. The costs for this one government project are $100.69 per person (and increases their $49,752.84 share of the national debt to $49,853.53 [source: Congressional Budget Office] ). Just what we don't need - another $13B+ of debt.

 

According to WashingtonWatch.com, this "law" - as is true with most legislation - was basically sold to the highest bidder! In the House, whichever side provided the greatest monetary incentive - Yea or Nay - got the nod (with a handful of exceptions who apparently voted for the people). All of Utah's representatives voted for H.R. 658 - now PL 112-95 - and in the Senate, Orrin Hatch chose not to vote at all.

 

Have our lawmakers not heard that we are not only BROKE, as a nation, we are in debt (primarily to China) to the tune of $15.6 TRILLION DOLLARS! Since September 27th, 2007, our national debt has increased at the rate of $4.02B per day! And there is no end in sight!! Has everybody in Washington D.C. gone totally INSANE? How will we ever pay off such indebtedness? Increase taxes levied upon the citizens, of course. Perhaps not directly as "taxes" per se, but by insinuating "fees" and "charges" into everyday activities. An example is the 1% transaction "fee" on each and every banking transaction, as proposed by the Obama administration. Make a deposit - personally or by Direct Deposit - of $1,000 and your account is debited $10 for the privilege of making that deposit. Write a check for $500 and your account will reflect a $5 "fee" for that transaction... a business transaction in which the government itself has no investment of time, labor or money! What is the difference between this activity and "protection money" paid by small business owners to street thugs? Such a governmental action is nothing more than legalized (by imperial fiat) extortion of the taxpayers!

 

Can we stop this financial bloodletting by our elected representatives? Maybe... but ONLY if we let them know that we are onto them, and that we will do everything we can to insure they are not re-elected if they continue along this path.

 

As I said in my opening paragraph, this is only ONE of the hundreds of pieces of cost-ignorant legislation passed by Congress each year. If we allow it to continue, perhaps we are as stupid and indifferent as they seem to think we are. If so, we deserve whatever they choose do to us!

Snownami Shuts Down Federal Government for Two Days

DID ANYBODY NOTICE? DID ANYBODY EXCEPT THE POLITICIANS CARE? Could it be that our current administration is so ineffectual, and our Congress so lame that this interruption to government went unnoticed by the majority of the country?

Rather than being received as an "interruption to government", many of us saw it as a relief from government. When government works against the will of the majority of the people it becomes tyrannical. When it works against the best interests of the nation it becomes traitorous. People appreciate relief from either one of those concepts.
This is the year to save our Republic! Replace the left-wing progressives in D.C. with true conservatives, who understand and respect our Constitution and the traditions upon which our once-great nation was founded! The key word there is CONSERVATIVES. Not just Republicans... and don't ignore conservative Democrats - although they are few and far between. We need the Captains of our "ship of State" to save it - not to scuttle it as they are doing today. We need those who are both fiscal and social conservatives controlling our government, and between now and November there will be more "special elections". There are large numbers (around 35 as I recall) of liberal Dems retiring or choosing not to seek reelection to their office.

THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO CORRECT THE COURSE THE ADMINISTRATION HAS CHOSEN!

Opportunities such as this only present themselves once every four years. Governments such as our current one present themselves only once in a lifetime... for which we must be THANKFUL! Do your part - cleanse our national leadership of those supporting the Marxist/Socialist political philosophy - vote CONSERVATIVE in 2010!

Government 101 - How To Control A Runaway Government

First let's establish what the United States is and is not:

a. The United States is a democratic Republic, it is not a Democracy. The difference is that a Republic is a form of government under a constitution which provides for the election of:

1. an executive and

2. a legislative body, who working together in a representative capacity, have all the power of appointment, all power of legislation, all power to raise revenue and appropriate expenditures, and are required to create

3. a judiciary to pass upon the justice and legality of their governmental acts, and to recognize

4. certain inherent individual rights.

b. A pure democracy is strictly "majority rule", and is destructive of liberty because there is no law to prevent the majority from trampling on individual rights. Whatever the majority says goes! A lynch mob is an example of pure democracy in action. There may be only one dissenting vote... and that is cast by the person at the end of the rope.

Professor Alexander Fraser Tytler, nearly two centuries ago, had this to say about Democracy: "A Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of Government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that Democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, always to be followed by a Dictatorship."

We have recently seen this come to pass in the private sector, although Congress has been "voting themselves largess out of public treasury" for decades!

Now that we are all on the same page let's do a little probing. First question: What is the stated purpose of government? Tick-tock, tick-tock... time's UP! According to our Constitution the purpose of government is - "We the People of the United States, in Order to
a. form a more perfect Union,
b. establish Justice,
c. insure domestic Tranquility,
d. provide for the common defense,
e. promote the general Welfare, and
f. secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Those six charges in the Preamble establish the "purpose" of our government. What follows in the body of the Constitution constitute the ways and means by which those goals may be achieved - the "details". The Constitution establishes the limits of the government over those who have installed it.

Second question: Who is the government? Easy answer - "We the People", although we subrogate the responsibilities for the day-to-day operation of the government to those whom we elect (here comes the democratic part) by majority vote.

Third question - Who controls the government? Buzzzzzzzz - WRONG ANSWER! Although technically it should be "We the People", the government has developed its own power to control vital resources, and has encouraged the indolent to become highly dependent upon the government through various giveaway programs. This is - more often than not - against the expressed will of the vast majority of the people. Our government has been growing less responsive to the will of the people for the past fifty years! What we have today is a modernized version of the Roman Circus. Smoke and mirrors, misdirection, sleight-of-hand, palpable charisma, individual complacency, and the promise of "Gubmint cheese" for all who are willing to surrender their rights under the Constitution, have combined in a comedy of errors to erode the people's control of government.

Our elected officials no longer see themselves as the servants of the people, but rather, they now see themselves as the masters of the largest single plantation on Earth. "We the People" must now "tote that barge and lift that bale", or Massa Government will punish us.

How do we regain control of our unresponsive and irresponsible government? The government has no income producing arm other than the Constitutional ability to levy taxes. Government is essentially a parasite feeding upon the fruits of the labors of the governed. If you earned four bananas today, the government will eat at least one of them. As the government grows larger, it requires more food for itself - which leaves you with less food for you and your family. How do we stop the increase of government's girth? We stop feeding it until it slims down! What does it eat? TAXES. If you have ever stopped to think about it, you must realize that every government tax, fee, and license is an (unlawful) income tax! From where does the money come to pay those taxes, fees, and licenses? Your INCOME!

So here are our options:
(1) Continue to feed the beast until you starve, or
(2) refuse to feed the beast until it brings its appetite for taxes under control,
(3) replace the exisiting beast with a more responsive/responsible beast. And, one that is less likely to buy pork with your hard-earned money.
(4) I don't even like to think about option #4.

As always, I could be completely wrong about this... and the millions of entitlement whores could get jobs!

Somali Pirates Are Slow Learners ... or Are WE The Slow Learners?

Apparently it will take the full power of an International military assault on Somalia to halt their criminal acts upon the high seas. These seagoing thieves have stepped up attacks since their recent loss of the Maersk Alabama and its Captain. What, short of a full-scale, International military invasion, can be done to reduce the attacks on shipping in International waters?

A very expensive solution would be to increase the number of battle-ready naval ships in the Indian Ocean/Gulf of Aden. Although the sailors and marines aboard these ships are being paid for their service 24-7, keeping a ship in motion takes a lot of expensive fuel.

Another possible solution would definitely be a money-saver ... interrupt all foreign and humanitarian aid from the USA to African nations for as long as there is piracy in the area. This would put the recipients of the humanitarian aid in the position of having to deal with the pirate problem. Our Government is borrowing money so we can afford to give away food, clothing and medical supplies to other countries! I'm sorry, but where is the sense in that? If we don't have the cash we should just say "NO!"

I could be wrong about this... but I'm not!