Thoughts and Musings

The follow was sent to me by a person that is near and dear to my heart ....

"I think it is odd and sad that we as a Americans have advanced so much in the world of technology, medical treatments, medications, communications; yet, we have regressed in our political truths and in our educational processes."

I must say I totally agree with the assessment of today's political climate put forth by the author of the above statement and it sparked me into wondering  ...Why has this happened?

I found after much thought and research, that the regression of which the author spoke is the direct result of a departure from the principles on which our country was founded.  It is the intrusive grasp of the central government into the personal lives of the citizens that has caused the dramatic divide along ideological ideals that we see today. The government's constant meddling in the personal affairs of its people has introduced a strife between the masses to which has been allowed to manifest itself into an almost unbreachable chasm.  Our country was a far better place when people understood what Thomas Paine meant when he wrote, "That government is best, governs least."

I hope and pray that we may regain that notion once again

The Oil Spill in the Gulf

The turn of events that has allowed oil to wash up on the shores of our country has left me sadden, angry, and in disbelief.  How this has been handled is completely mind numbing to me.  Some of the action that BP has taken concerning the containment of the spreading oil slick has left me dumbfounded.

BP has been spraying "dispersants" on to the ever growing oil slick for close to a month now and has used an estimated 655,000 barrels so far.  This amazes me for several reasons .... but let explain a few things to you the readers of my blog.  First, I work in the oil industry and I am very reluctant to criticize my industry.  I have worked for a sub-contractor to BP, Chevron, Sunoco, and a host of other oil companies.  I am regulated by the USGC and the EPA and it absolutely blows my mind that BP is allowed to use dispersants on this oil spill.

I am not allowed to use dispersants and in fact if I were to use them I could very well find myself in jail.  You see, it is against the law to use a dispersant on an oil spill on any body of water.  Now, to let you know what a dispersant is or better yet what it does .... a dispersant breaks the tension of the water and allows the oil to drop into the water column.  It is not some magical chemical that makes the oil disappear, it just allows the water to float on top of the oil.

This is utterly devastating to marine wildlife .... I can't even imagine what damage has been done to the Gulf.  It is bad enough to have the oil on top of the water, but at least there is the possibility to remove the oil.  Once it is in the water column ... there is no removing it.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Arizona's Ilegal Immigrant Law

   Who would have thought that a State enacting a federal law as it's own would work?  Since Arizona passed it's law, illegals are leaving the state.  This mass exodus by illegals will reduce the welfare rolls, food stamp expenses and will open up job positions for the legal citizens of the state.

   So, why in the world would the Federal Government be against the implementation of it's own law by a State?  Could it be that the current powers that control D.C. need these illegals to keep them in office?  Some state that Arizona's law is bigoted, heartless, and evil.  I say it is compassionate.

   Arizona's law ends the free handouts to the illegal immigrants.  The illegal immigrants don't know that the "free" handouts come with shackles that will retain them to Uncle Sam's Plantation.  Our Federal Welfare programs have enslaved generations that live on the very edge and will do whatever Uncle Sam asks just so they can keep their section 8 housing, food stamps, and medicaid.  Even if they have the drive to leave the plantation, the federal government places obstacle after obstacle to deter them from doing so.

  The Associated Press has reported in an article that was intended to invoke feelings of sympathy for the plight of the illegal immigrant in Arizona, that the illegals are and will be leaving because they can not locate work now.  These individuals who came to our country illegally should return to their respective home countries.  They should work to effect changes in their own governments to better their plight in life.  The only reason they enter the United States illegally is because it is easier to obtain assistance from our social programs than it is to work for change in their own country.

   If all the States would pass laws like Arizona's we could reduce the amount of debt our country is incurring by carrying  all these people on our welfare rolls.

Sic Semper Tyrannis!!!

Finance Reform .... Dodd, Frank, and the Congressional Black Caucus

   Senator Chris Dodd  thinks the government needs to reform the "evil" banking industry.  So, he has written 1500 pages of reform law and of course he didn't bother to "reform"  Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  One would think that if there was a pair of financial institutions that required reforming it would be these two. It does not surprise me that Mr. Dodd omitted Fannie or Freddie considering both of these institutions have given donations to him over the years.

   Senator Dodd, who has seen the hand writing on the wall,  wants to punish the banks for the mortgage meltdown before he leaves office.  I find it rather ironic that he wishes to do this, when it was him, Barney Frank, and the Congressional Black Caucus that set the rules in which banks were to follow that allowed loans to individuals who could not afford them. 

   There had been many calls to reform Fannie and Freddie long before the meltdown took places, but these law makers had stood firm in their opposition to bring reality to the mortgage business.



  Senator Dodd wants his swan song to be SB3217 "Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010".  What a wonderful parting gift ... excuse me while I gag .... this legislation is more all long the line of TARP 24/7/365 to infinity.  

   I have a suggestion for Mr. Dodd, why don't you just slip away into the night, unseen and unheard, just like a thief in which you are.  Don't do us any "favors" other than staying retired and out of public life. 

Sic Semper Tyrannis!!! 

Victory

   Last night the county's Board of Supervisors held their final meeting on the purposed budget and I am pleased to report that the Board voted to not raise taxes.  This is truly a monumental occasion, for it is the first time in many decades that the Board decided to down size government and live within it's means.

   There is hope for our Country after all. If we can reign in our local government spending, then we can reign in our state and federal governments. All it takes is "Us" to become active in the political process.

Sic Semper Tyrannis!!!

Buying American

    We an as a nation need to start doing this again.  For all to long we have taken the easy/cheap way and purchased goods made in other countries and now we are paying the price for that action.  We have lost most of our manufacturing base and at times it is almost impossible to find items that are made in the good old U.S. of A.

    I am just as guilty of purchasing foreign made goods as the rest of you, but I will not do that anymore. From now on, I will only buy foreign made if there is no USA made available.  I will tell you, attempting to find USA made items can be very difficult ... it seems as if everything we used is now made in China or Mexico.  I do hope more people will start buying American, because we need to keep our money here at home. We need to support American workers and save American jobs.

   I recently purchased a garden cart and though there are many Chinese manufactured models available, they were nothing more than a cheaply made knock offs of an American made cart.  The cart I bought was a model 26 from http://cartsvermont.com/ .  Carts Vermont's products are made in the USA and are hands down the best on the market.  I can not say enough about the fit, finish, and quality of garden cart I purchased.  Yes, it was almost twice the price of the Chinese manufactured, but I have no doubt that my cart will still be in use long after the Chinese one is relegate to the landfill.  Also there is that added bonus of knowing that I purchased American made and did my part to keep my money here in this country.

Sic Semper Tyrannis!!!

Local Politics

   To truly be instrumental about changing  the direction our federal government is heading, we all need to become involved in local politics. We must become actively engaged in the mission to hold our county or city elected officials accountable for their votes and actions. This is the only way we can effectively steer our country on to a new course of conservatism and self reliance. The changes have to take place in all the localities; from there it will spread to the state government and onward to the federal government.   

    I along with many of my fellow Virginians, have stepped up to take our place in the local political process and the past two weeks have been extremely busy, hence the lack of posts.

    In the small county in which I live, the current local political battle has been about the county budget.   The Board of Supervisors are considering raising property taxes in order to maintain several government jobs and to give the School Board some extra funds for it's over-bloated budget.  Needless to say I am opposed to the tax hike for several reasons.

    I have had many conversation with members of the Board of Supervisors over the past several weeks and most I would consider productive; though there have been a few that have left me slack jawed in disbelief.

   One particular conversation made it clear to me that I will have to work to make sure the board member is not re-elected. This Supervisor made it perfectly clear that reducing work hours or layoff of hourly government workers would not be acceptable. That this Supervisor would raise taxes as much and as often as required to keep all county government employees on the payroll.

    Okay, time for a disclaimer and warning statement ....I am about to be very frank and clear about this matter and if my thoughts offend you, so be it.  I am going to state exactly what I think about government employees....  Government Employees, be they county, state, or federal, are nothing more than parasites. They live off the "host" (tax payers) and even though they may provide a necessary services for it's host, a parasite can only survive as long as the "host"(tax payers) is healthy (able to support the parasite).  When the time comes that the "host"(tax payer) is in a weakened state(flat broke),  the parasitic infection must be reduced or the "host"(tax payer) will die(default).

    In the case of county employees, I could not get across to the Supervisor that a county employee brings nothing to the table where tax revenues are concerned. That since the County paid the employee and even though the employee paid taxes back to the county, that there was no "new money" being introduced to the county's coffers.  This Supervisor could not grasp the simple thought, that if all residents were county employees that the county could not sustain itself. 

    The other major issue with the county budget is the fact that the School Board's budget is 60% of the county's total budget.  The current School Board purposed a budget that had no reduction in spending and even included a pay raise of 1% for teachers.  They purposed this while the county, with less than 10,000 residents, is suffering with 9% unemployment,  that has over 50 homes that have been foreclosed on and are up for auction as bank owned properties, and nine months prior had homes sold on the court house steps for tax delinquency. The School Board will present a long term fight to bring back responsible spending to an out of control education system.

   With all that has taken place in the past weeks, it is safe to say that I have become known in local politics. All it has taken is some of my time and my willingness to talk with my fellow residents.  It has not been all that difficult either, anyone can become active and encourage others to do so also.  Though most will be willing to attend Board or Council Meetings that are open to the public, few will stand up and state their case publicly.  This is the one area in which I need to be more persuasive with my fellow residents. I need to encourage and embolden them  to stand up with me and speak out against the reckless actions of our local government.

     Politics ....it's all local.  If we are to bring this country back to what the founders had envisioned, we have to first correct the issues within our counties and cities. If we can not reign in local government, what chance do we have in reigning in the State or the Federal Governments?

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Apathetic People

    I am utterly dismayed at individuals who happily accept the shackles of servitude being placed upon their wrists and ankles by our federal government. At first glance these people appear to just be going with the flow. Much like a leaf floating on the ocean, being taken to and fro by the winds and currents. These individuals make little or no protest of the loss of their liberty and seem oblivious to political changes around them.

    I have always voiced my discontent when it was apparent that my rights were being violated or taken away.  So, these persons that seem to not care, posed a perplexing problem for me.  I could not fathom how an individual could so casually allow his/her freedoms to be usurped without even offering up the faintest protest.  The more I talked with people of this nature, the more I was drawn to study them.  I had to understand what made or would cause an individual to just blindly accept the terms being forced upon them by an oppressive malevolent entity.  I had to know..... WHY?

    My study of this type of person has lead me to understand there are two basic sub-groups;  those that truly want to be told when, where, and how to live their lives and those who are just utterly apathetic.  The bulk of individuals fall into the apathetic grouping.  These individuals are so wrapped up in their own microcosm, that they have become indifferent to the happenings outside of their immediate surroundings.

     While talking with these apathetic people, they appear to be engaged and genuinely interested in the conversation as long as it is about a topic that falls within their finite parameters that define their world.  If the conversation were to move towards a topic such as the political changes taking place with our government, they immediately become detached and retreat back into their own personal microcosm.   Their actions are not much different than the ostrich that buries it's head into the sand at the sight of a predator.

   It appears that the very discussion of events that change the rules that might impact their personal world is such a frightful experience that they can not mentally handle or adapt.  So, they become apathetic as form of mental self-preservation. 

   This truly is a troubling issue for the rest of the population, because these people are making up a larger percentage of the population each and every generation. As their numbers grow so does the easy in which our freedoms can be stripped from us. It appears though that when these individuals are forced to face the stark reality of the facts either by being forced to acknowledge or by brutal oppression, they become engaged and proactive.  The big question is ...How long before they will succumb and revert back into their apathetic ways?


Sic Semper Tyrannis!!!

Is it Constitutional???

    Health Care Reform after many backroom deals, payoffs, and out right bribery is now law.  The battle over this government takeover of 1/6th of our economy was lost on the floor of the house by a strictly partisan vote and now it is up to the States to decide if pursuing legal action to prove the unconstitutionality of this law is worth undertaking.

   Thank God, Virginia has been in the forefront on this battle. Our state legislature passed The Virginia Health Care Freedom Act put forth by Delegate Bob Marshall and Governor McDonald signed it into law.  Our Attorney General has also been hard at work too, he has file suit in Federal Court claiming the Health Care Reform law is unconstitutional.   

   There has been a simply astounding amount of misinformation put forth by biased reporters and pundits about Attorney General Cuccinelli and the lawsuit.   One area where skewed information has been disseminated is the amount of money these lawsuits are costing the States. The lawsuit put forth by Mr. Cuccinelli on behalf of the residents and the State of Virginia, has cost the Commonwealth the entire sum of $350.00.  That is the total sum of cost for this lawsuit.  There are no witnesses and the legal aspects will be handled by the Attorney General's office, which of course is already being paid for performing the legal work of Virginia.  The $350.00 is the filing fee for placing the lawsuit on the federal court docket, now compare that to the expense this law will place upon each and every citizen and the state of Virginia.  Virginia's cost due to this legislation is estimated to be 1.1 billion dollars over the next 12 years and there has not been any estimate published yet as to the cost to Virginia households by means of increased premiums and taxes.

    

The Health Care Reform Law has some very unconstitutional aspects that are included within it 2300 pages:

1. It is not based on any enumerated power of Congress, not even on a very expansive reading of the power to regulate interstate commerce.
2.  It relies on Excessive Delegation of the type held unconstitutional in Schechter Poultry ruling.  (A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (1935))
3. It violates Substantive Due Process, and interferes with doctor-patient medical decisions to a vastly greater extent than did the laws declared unconstitutional in Roe v. Wade.
4.  It violates the Tenth Amendment by commandeering state governments.

   Now, just to give a glimpse into what Congressmen that voted for the passage of this bill think of the Constitution, one has to look no farther than this video of Congressman Hare explaining his vote.

I think that video says about all one can say about how the men and women who voted for the passage of this bill view the United States Constitution.

Sic Semper Tyrannis!!! 

Reflecting

I returned to Virginia, my beloved birthplace, just 10 months ago and in that time I have come to find that I still fit here. Returning to the land that I roamed as a child, that has been passed from father to son for generation after generation has renewed my soul and has put me upon a path I never thought I would travel.

With the uncertainty of the times we live in, I was taken aback to how walking my grandfather's farm could make the world look crystal clear to me. Treading the foot worn paths that were created by the foot falls of my ancestors, reminded me what is truly important in life. As I stood there, surveying this farm that has been in existence since the 1760s, I came to understand what my ancestors knew ... that a life lived without standing up for what is right is a life wasted.

This is how I came to be on the path I am now. I no longer can stand by and watch from the safety of the sidelines as others destroy what my people fought to build, protect and sacrificed their lives for. I will not allow Virginia to fall under the oppression of a corrupt federal government that no long abides by the Constitution. I look back to the history of my family and see men of integrity, honor, and determination; who were willing to put everything on the line for what they believed in. My ancestors were on the battlefield at Yorktown with Washington and they were on the battlefields with Robert E. Lee and surrendered with him at Appomattox. My forefathers knew the meaning of fighting for a cause and now, so do I.

Sic Semper Tryannis!!!