Amnesty Si! Unemployment? Who Cares?

The number of unemployed Americans is just about equal to the number of illegal aliens living in the U.S.
That sobering fact should point out that, once and for all, it is time to address the illegal immigration situation.
It stands to reason that if there were fewer non-taxpaying people in this country, maybe some folks who actually pay taxes and don’t suck up billions of dollars in free social programs could get back to work.

Nah, that would make way too much sense.

Instead, President Obama seems to think that it is a better idea to be a guest on a Spanish language radio show and voice his support for giving amnesty to 12 million deadbeats.

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How The U.S. Government Awards Contracts

One of the fine folks who is an ardent follower of us here at Freedom Medium sent me this and asked me to pass it along:

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White
House in DC: One is from New York, another is from Tennessee
and the third, is from Florida .

All three go with a White House official to examine the fence.

The Florida contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil.
“Well,” he says, “I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me.”

The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says,
“I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100profit for me.”

The New York contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$2,700.”
The official, incredulous, says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?”

The New York contractor whispers back, “$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence.”

“Done!” replies the government official.

And that, my friends, is how government contracting works!

CPAC 2009 Day 2 – Get Active

Day one of the Conservative Political Action Convention (CPAC) was a hard one to beat, but today was even better with some great speeches from Newt Gingrich, Sen. Jim DeMint, Rep. John Boehner, and Governor Mark Sanford. Newt Gingrich’s is the one that stood out to me because of his gift for effectively creating and articulating innovative, alternative solutions to the problems we are facing including the rise in unemployment and the ongoing financial malaise. Newt’s speech also stood out because of his ability to inspire and motivate people to take action in order to regain control of the country, which was a very strong theme today and has been for the entire event thus far.

One of the most impressive speeches I have seen here was on tax panel today by Jim Gilmore, former Governor of Virginia. In his speech Gilmore gives insight to how the left’s motivation to drive the budget so incredibly high is a scheme to make permanent as much of the new programs this bill includes as possible. As a former Governor in charge of the budget for the commonwealth of Virginia, Gilmore said he has “never seen a legislature willing to scale a budget back”. Most people who pay attention understand that once a group is given money by the government, it becomes nearly impossible to stop paying the group and even increasing payments to that group. It reminds me of a quote I once heard: There is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program. The objective ultimately is to come back to the American people under the guise of fiscal conservatism and say that we need to “pay our bills” and “balance the budget” therefore, you guessed it, higher taxes. Larry Eastland, PhD, of LEA Capital Management, Eric Singer of Congressional Effect Management, and Steve Lonegan, Republican Candidate for Governor in New Jersey this year joined Mr. Gilmore in providing excellent explanations and reasons why lower taxes would go far to improve economic conditions in the U.S. on this panel. Their discussion will be a great source of info for more posts on tax policy leading up to the next elections.

After the panel on tax policy, it was Ron Paul’s turn. He is an interesting person to listen to and I agree, however I disagree with some of his views on the Federal Reserve and the United States’ overall foreign policy. It was a good experience to see him speak in person and to talk with some of his supporters at the conference.

Mitt Romney came up after Ron Paul to what had to be the most attended speech of the event to this point. I missed some of Mitt’s speech, but from what I saw he gave a very inspirational speech that I think resonated with younger attendees who seem to flock to Mitt Romney. Many people who may have been tired from roaming the convention all day suddenly appeared to have found new energy after Mitt Romney’s speech.

The most interesting conversation I’ve had yet was with a cadet I met today from the Citadel. It is not often I get to meet people like him and his fellow cadets and tell them that they truly are the best this country has to offer. The United States of America would not survive without people like this who dedicate their entire lives to their country starting at military schools and eventually becoming the generals such as General David Petraeus who lead our country through its most difficult cises. My only hope is that the rest of the country starts remembering that we owe guys like this our respect and should always give them the benefit of the doubt in their duty to protect our country.

Tomorrow is the last day of CPAC 2009 and they have saved some of the best speakers for last. The update for the last day will be posted on Sunday, March 1.

Back Online – First Day at CPAC 2009

The first full day of CPAC 2009 is in the books and for a first time attendee like myself it was quite overwhelming. I tried to get to as many panels and speakers as possible covering many topics. The overall theme of the event which has transcended each subject is that Republicans lost, not Conservatism and only with a return to true Conservative principles can we regain power starting in 2010.

The first speaker I saw was Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. This is a true up-and-comer in the Conservative movement and the GOP. He was an outspoken opponent of the bailouts and the stimulus bill, and a very articulate and effective proponent of alternative solutions to the problems the country is currently facing. He did a great job in his speech of confronting the true sources of the financial crisis and placing the blame on Congressional Democrats who opposed better regulation of Fannie and Freddie.

The next notable speech I attended was the highlight of the first day. Former Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton spoke about the national security challenges that the country and this new administration face. Ambassador Bolton gave an alarming call to attention of threats to U.S. sovereignty both within our borders as well as international threats. He warned that this threat is coming from people who think our international policies should be based on or influenced by what leaders of other countries believe they should be, rather than focusing on what the citizens feel and what is in our best interests. He called attention to the fact that Obama is beefing up the State Department and diplomatic efforts while cutting defense spending and support for the military. He talked about the resurgence of Russia politically and militarily. And he gave specific examples of upcoming events that will give new insights to Obama’s intentions on the international stage. One such example was a request by the Dalai Lama to meet with the President in March, which marks the 50 year anniversary of his flight from China. It is a meeting that the Chinese do not want to take place, but one that Obama should give. I will be posting following up on much of what he had to say in coming posts.

Next I got a chance to here another great new leader in the Conservative movement, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana. His speech followed along the theme that Conservatives are “in the wilderness” now having been cast out of power by citizens who expected more responsibility from their elected officials. He was very inspirational calling on Conservatives to take this time as an opportunity to get back to our roots and rejoin the fight to take the power back of far left liberals who are now running the country. He too provided alternative solutions to fix the financial crisis saying that tax cuts instead of stimulus would provide “twice the jobs for half the price”. And he assured us listening that Democrats in Congress are definitely trying to censor talk radio in some form or fashion and that we should stay vigilant against any move that attempts to do so.

The final notable event from the first day was a panel titled “Al Franken and ACORN: How Liberals are Destroying the American Election System”. The speakers were: Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation; Heather Heidelbaugh of the Republican National Lawyers Association; Mark Braden, former RNC Chief Counsel; and Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council and for Ohio Secretary of State. Each speaker provided alarming accounts of how the left is relentlessly attacking our election system through fraudulent voter registration and campaign funding for liberal candidates. And also how they use an endless flood of litigation designed to hamper the legal system that holds up elections and push through cases that further blur the lines of what is and is not fraud. The most salient instances were brought up in a specific case by Heather Heidelbaugh who was the head lawyer in a case against ACORN in Pennsylvania. She had a witness that worked for ACORN who testified under oath that ACORN was actively involved in the Obama campaign and that they were used to funnel money to the campaign from wealthy supporters who reached their legal campaign funding limits. Her witness contacted numerous mainstream media outlets, including the NY Times, with this information long before the trial and was told that none of them were going to run her story. I will be posting more on the specifics that came out of this panel in future posts as well.

In all the first day was a great learning experience. I also got to check out the exhibit hall where I found some great organizations offering great information that is very hard to find. The information I collected from organizations like Americans for Tax Reform, Capital Research Center, the Freedom Project and more are going to be very useful in fighting the left in the coming years. I also picked up two new movies that I look forward to watching: Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Got Targeted, and Newt Ginrich’s Ronald Reagan, Rendezvous with Destiny. Stay tuned for day two.

Senator Tom Harkin…The King Is Dead, Long Live The King!

Of course, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), didn’t make that statement, I chose to confer that honor upon him myself.
For years, Pennsylvania Congressman Jack Murtha has been known as the “King of Pork.”
And it is kind of ironic that Mr. Murtha would loose his crown to a pig.
Now before any of you accuse me of calling Senator Harkin a pig, allow me to explain.

In the massive spending bill that just went through Congress, there are the usual “porky little amendments”, as New York Senator Charles Scuhmer calls them, such as 2 million dollars to promote astronomy in Hawaii, half a million dollars to study the effects of aromatherapy on fruit flies, and all the others that are guaranteed to keep the bacon frying.

But Senator Harkin is far and away the clear winner.
Not only did he obtain a huge earmark for his home state of Iowa,  but he secured this pork for pork!

Senator Harkin’s home state will receive an earmark of 1.7 million dollars for “Swine Odor And Manure Management Research.”
The purpose of this legislation is to “research swine diet and study the gastrointestinal tract to reduce odor production and improve nutrient utilization.”

Some of you may think that isn’t enough money to get the job done.
But you should know that this latest allocation is on top of the 1.9 million dollars that has been earmarked for and spent on this project in each of the last two years.

Are you starting to see why I feel Senator Harkin has dethroned Congressman Murtha?

How can you deny the title and the crown to someone who has spent five and a half million dollars for studying why pig poop stinks?
If you have to waste 5.5 million of the taxpayer’s money on a pork-barrel project, what better way to spend it than on smelling pork poop?

I hope I haven’t offended the Senator, because I’d like to end this with a request.

Senator Harkin, if I were to switch parties and move to Iowa, do you think you can funnel a few million bucks my way so I can study why water is wet?

Just Who Is The U.S. Holding At Guantanamo Bay

There are a lot of misguided individuals who support closing the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, claiming that the U.S. really has no proof that the people being held there actually are terrorists.
Watch the video below, and even if you feel that the claims being made are nothing more than right-wing propaganda, do a Google search on the names mentioned in the video, and then tell me if you think these people are all sweetness and light.

Are You Paying Attention To Your Child’s Education?

If you are paying attention to how well your children are doing in school, I hope you aren’t simply going by the grades on their report card.
You may want to sit down and talk to your kids as to what they are being taught.
And while you’re at it, take a look at their textbooks.
What you learn may surprise you.

Is The U.S. Constitution Out Of Date?

There are rumors running rampant that the House and Senate plans to hold a Constitutional Convention.
I’m perfectly happy with the Constitution the way it is, but if changes must be made, here are some changes I’d like to see:

The (new) preamble to the Constitution:

‘We the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid more riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves an d our great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden, and delusional. We hold these truths to be self evident: that a whole lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim they require a Bill of NON-Rights’..

ARTICLE I:
You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any
other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II:
You do not have the right to never be offended. .This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone — not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc.; but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III:
You do not have the right to be free from harm.. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful; do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV:
You do not have the right to free food and housing.. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V:
You do not have the right to free health care. That would be
nice, but from the looks of public housing, we’re just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI:
You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If
you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim, or kill someone, don’t be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII:
You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you
rob, cheat, or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don’t be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won’t have the right to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII:
You do not have the right to a job. All of us sure want you to
have a job, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful. AMEN and AMEN

ARTICLE IX:
You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to PURSUE happiness, which by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an over abundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

ARTICLE X:
This is an English speaking country . We don’t care where you are from, English is our language. Learn it or go back to wherever you came from!

Lastly

ARTICLE XI:
You do not have the right to change our country’s history or
heritage.. This country was founded on the belief in one true God..
And yet, you are given the freedom to believe in any religion, any faith, or no faith at all; with no fear of persecution. The phrase IN GOD WE TRUST is part of our heritage and history, and if you are uncomfortable with it, TOUGH!

Live at CPAC 2009: Freedom Medium Updates and Coverage

Is The USA A Republic Or A Democracy?

Many think that the terms are interchangeable. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Although this country’s Founding Fathers had a vision for the future of America, it seems that as each day goes by we drift further and further away from that ideal.

And the correct answer to the title of this post may soon be “neither of the above.”

The video will take a few minutes to watch, but the information it contains is worth it.

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