GET INVOLVED

RALEIGH (AMP) — Opinion
Author: Jan MacKay

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

There are people who visit the state legislative buildings with their hand out, and there are people who go there to say hands off. The people looking for a handout want the government to levy taxes so that they can get their hands on it. This leads to spending that is out of control. Unfortunately, the legislators are in the business of spending other peoples money (OPM). In order to get the legislators to stop picking our pockets, people can go to the legislative building and demand they stop robbing us.

The story of Congressman Davey Crockett, speaking on the topic of government handouts, is worthy of consideration. The answer is that the treasury money is "not yours to give".

The Congress is not authorized, by the Constitution, to take money from the treasury and use it for bailing out people (or corporate non-entities) when they undergo disaster, no matter how extreme the situation.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina devastating the Gulf Coast, the federal government had no authority to appropriate tax money to rebuild Senator Trent Lott's house or anyone elses' privately owned property. It is inexcusable when there is a President and Congress who do not know that very simple principle! Congress is authorized to appropriate tax money to rebuild federal infrastructure. They also have the responsibility to intercede when insurance companies fail to honor their contracts with property owners. If the property owners build homes below sea level, and their house gets destroyed, that should be a lick on them if they are under-insured, just as it is if my house were to catch fire, and I do not have the proper insurance coverage. Predatory insurance companies need to be held accountable, with government responsible for fair and equal access to the judicial system. Whether it is just my house that burns down or it is the entire county, the economic impact on me is still the same, and no federal aid should be given if it is a worse disaster with more homes involved.

The same is true of the 2008 bailout of Wall Street, insurance companies and many others. The same is especially true of rebuilding Iraq.

If people want to give to a worthy cause, they can give their own money rather than other peoples money. However, to steal money through taxation, in order to give it to someone else, is...stealing made legal!

The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man,.. Horatio Bunce to Davey Crockett

Government has to begin saying no to all the special interests who appear with their hands out. Unfortunately, government is not going to do the right thing unless people get involved and demand the government change its' insatiable spending habits.

In 2008, we had the perfect opportunity to vote bad incumbent legislators out and didn't take it. I don't think it is because voters are stupid. They are ignorant. There is a difference. Their ignorance comes from failure to learn the responsibilities if government, and lack of involvement. In general, they do not take the time to look beyond what they see in mainstream media. The next time some know-it-all ignoramus proudly says they voted for Obama and Biden or McCain and Palin, ask them who their state legislator is, or when they last contacted their representatives in Congress. Chances are their only involvement is to watch the hype on the 6 o'clock news and vote every four years.

Jan MacKay is an AMP publisher, and ran unsuccessfully for state senator in the NC General Assembly on the ballot for the Libertarian Party in 2008. http://grassroot.us/mackayforsenate

New rule lifts ban on firearms in national parks

WASHINGTON (AP) — People will soon be able to carry concealed, loaded guns in most national parks and wildlife refuges.

The Bush administration said Friday it is overturning a 25-year-old federal rule that severely restricts loaded guns in national parks.

Under a rule to take effect in January, visitors will be able to carry a loaded gun into a park or wildlife refuge — but only if the person has a permit for a concealed weapon and if the state where the park or refuge is located also allows concealed firearms.

The new rule goes further than a draft proposal issued last spring and would allow concealed weapons even in parks located in states that explicitly ban the carrying of guns in state parks. Some states allow concealed weapons but also ban guns from parks.

For the rest of the story, please see www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5irWgvJzXz3UFknRjrJgjierKwnFwD94SV7C00

President-elect Obama and his transition team have a new Open Government and "Your Seat at the Table" initiative at http://change.gov

The Obama-Biden Transition Team will be hearing from many groups over the next several weeks. On this page, you can track these meetings, view documents provided to the Transition, and leave comments for the team.

Excerpts from his new book,
Lee Iacocca Says:

'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage?

We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car.

But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course'. Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!'

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the 'America' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

The Biggest 'C' is Crisis ! ( see the ten C's in his book )

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a attlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess, so here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence and common sense?

I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?

We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm.

Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great Depression', 'World War II', the 'Korean War', the 'Kennedy Assassination', the 'Vietnam War', the 1970s oil crisis and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this:

'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to 'Action' for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough.'

The following is worth the read:

'The Insulting Treatment of Ron Paul'

David Nolan, co-founder of the LP, has some extremely disparaging remarks about Bob Barr. They are posted at the Lew Rockwell blog.

Comment by jan:
Many Libertarians have made comments that, next time, they will be looking for a presidential candidate who is more of a true libertarian. Barr comes from a background that is far too conservative for me!

Wikipedia appears to have done a good job at showing how Barr is far from being a true Libertarian - see article.

Russian warships bound for Cuba in new show of strength
December 15, 2008
MOSCOW (AFP) — A group of Russian warships will from December 19-23 visit the Communist island of Cuba, a long-time adversary of the United States and Moscow's ally in the Cold War, the Russian navy said on Monday.

Article

One of the warships is a Udaloy class destroyer, the RFS Admiral Chabanenko, which is armed with 20 nuclear missiles. Seen in foreground of picture during joint training exercises with US, UK, and FR off the coast of North Carolina in 2007.

This perspective reposted here with the permission of the author, Dr. Marc Guttman, was first published in "The Day", New London CT, on December 14, 2008.

It's All About Individual Rights
By Marc Guttman

It often seems that certain mainstream debates on issues like prayer in public schools, immigration, abortion, and gay marriage are used by the establishment political parties to distract us from other overwhelmingly harmful policies that effect everyone.
When we spend time on these issues, we are not discussing and more importantly, not criticizing, our government's aggressive and lethal foreign military interventions, massive corporate welfare and bailouts, international and domestic trade restrictions, and police state infringements into our civil rights to due process and privacy. Despite these tactics, these marginal issues really are important to the people who are most effected by these policies.

The recent dialogue concerning gay marriage is ironic to most libertarians. To start, should the government be licensing marriage? Obtaining a marriage license from the state is to receive permission to get married. In a free society one does not need permission for any personal choices that do not affect others.

One of the roles of government is to secure contracts. When two persons marry, on a legal level, they are contracting with each other. As far as which contracts the government secures, discrimination is unjust. Any cognitively-competent adult persons, be they Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning (GLBTQ) or otherwise, can enter into a contract together. An intolerant majority may not infringe on individual rights. Couples also have every right to seek out a religious organization that may choose to marry them before their deity; another place government should have no influence. Let's leave questions of personal choice and tradition to individuals and organizations. Connecticut has it right on this one.

All of us discriminate moment to moment in our daily lives. The examples are infinite. We choose what clothing we prefer, what foods with which to provide ourselves with sustenance, what dietary supplements and medical therapies to utilize, with whom to associate, with whom to trade, with whom to be intimate, and on. It is good and moral that we are still somewhat free to make these decisions, aside from the harmful laws that outlaw many of these rights of self-ownership, associations, and trade. And yes, unfortunately, some people do discriminate based on race, gender, religion, disabilities, sexual preferences and otherwise, but intelligent and insightful people understand it is to the prejudiced own detriment.

Although we as individuals ought to be free to make these personal determinations, just as importantly we ought not allow our government to discriminate against innocent individuals. Is denying gays the right to contract and to marry much different than the state and local Jim Crow laws put in place by the Democrats in the late 19th century? These laws denied to non-white Americans, through to the 1960's in several places, access to public schools, public places and public transportation, and often even to private enterprises, such as transportation and restaurants, to the dismay of the private service providers.

The separation of non-whites from the commons was thus legalized and was upheld by the Supreme Court. Society now widely understands that Jim Crow laws were immoral and unjust. Similarly GLBTQ persons ought not be excluded from equal rights and fair public treatment.

The force of law and justice ought be blind to all matters of individual distinction, other than the guilt of initiating force, fraud, or theft. Similarly, the government ought not be preferential to individuals, businesses, industries, or any other special interests.

The only way one can be free to follow ones own endeavors and interests is to allow others the same freedom to follow theirs. This also means we should not be forced to support the ideas and endeavors of others. People who do not understand this will often ignore the infringements on others liberties that do not affect their personal interests or the public funding of activities that do interest them. Surely at some point their personal choices will be outlawed and they will be forced to support that which they are most opposed. This is why it is important to promote the individual rights of everyone.

MARC GUTTMAN IS AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT. HE LIVES IN EAST LYME.