Sacked IRS chief gets grilled

It [the State] has taken on a vast mass of new duties and responsibilities; it has spread out its powers until they penetrate to every act of the citizen, however secret; it has begun to throw around its operations the high dignity and impeccability of a State religion; its agents become a separate and superior caste, with authority to bind and loose, and their thumbs in every pot. But it still remains, as it was in the beginning, the common enemy of all well disposed, industrious, and decent men. – HL Menken

It was somewhat difficult to decide whether to use the Menken quote above, or Joseph Sobran’s “Ask not what you can do for your country; ask what your government is doing to you.” 

American conservatives and libertarians are discovering just what excesses their government and it’s agencies is prepared to do to them in one of the latest scandals to hit the administration; the targeting of conservative PACs by the IRS.

 Rep Kelly (R-PA) while grilling former IRS Acting Commissioner Steven Miller, who appears to be the fall guy for that action stated what we have long believed, “This kind of reconfirms that, you know what! They [the IRS] can do almost anything they want to anybody they want anytime they want. This is very chilling for the American people:”

 

Tea Party laying blame; ought to look at itself first

A great deal went wrong in the Presidential election, to the point where some of us over here were reminded of the 1993 when opposition leader John Hewson lost what was regarded as the unlosable election.  Given the sluggish economy, joblessness, high energy prices, the massive wastage on green energy and stimulus, as well as a 50% increase in debt, by any objective measure the GOP should have romped home and taken the Senate as well.

While Americans are probably the best people to judge the reasons for the failure of the Republican campaign, a couple of things stood out from over here.

The first was the extraordinary negativity of the GOP primary contest.  In the US politics are played rough, but with the possible exceptions of Ron Paul, Huntsman, Cain, and Johnson, who tended to present positive views and solutions, the candidates seemed to concentrate on trying to win by mortally wounding all others.  By the time it was over the Democrats didn’t need to dig for dirt; it was handed to them along with a proven test bed of what was most effective.

The second was the treatment of the Ron Paul crowd.  Ron has an incredible appeal to younger voters given his age and pulled some respectable tallies in the primaries.  The idea of giving Romney the right to replace his delegates at the convention was totally wrong headed on every level.  Had they contested the nomination on the floor of the convention they would have lost, but at least they would have been treated with respect.  The GOP’s action basically told them that they were unwanted and it’s a fair bet most of them stayed home on the day.

Republicans can consider themselves lucky that Paul did not respond by endorsing Johnson.

 Now Jenny Beth Martin, the National Coordinator of Tea Party Patriots has weighed in by blaming Romney and the ‘establishment’ for the loss: 

“What we got was a weak moderate candidate, hand-picked by the Beltway elites and country-club establishment wing of the Republican Party.  The Presidential loss is unequivocally on them.  “While it might take longer to restore America’s founding principles with President Obama back in office, we are not going away. 

“With the catastrophic loss of the Republican elite’s hand-picked candidate – the tea party is the last best hope America has to restore America’s founding principles. …

While Romney may have been less than perfect, he was not the entire problem.  The Tea Party itself has some weight to bear in the loss, which can be summed up in two words, Akin and Mourdock.  These two social conservatives were not only by their idiocy able to lose certain GOP winning positions, but in doing so managed to damage the prospects of many other candidates.

Akin was the weakest of three challengers in Missouri who led sitting unpopular Senator Claire McCaskill in polling before the primary.  With Tea Party support he was able to win the primary over better and saner contestants.  He immediately made his incredibly stupid statement on female bodies having a resistance to getting pregnant in cases of ‘legitimate rape’.  This is not only wrong but suggests that if a woman gets pregnant it is evidence that she was not really raped.

Just to double up on total stupidity, the Tea Party decided to replace Dick Lugar with Richard Mourdock who then insisted that pregnancies resulting from rape were a ‘gift from God’ and were not grounds for abortion.  Dick may have been old and not quite what the Tea partiers wanted, but at least he was not stupid enough to make a comment of that nature.

  In one fell swoop, the Tea party not only caused the loss of a safe seat, but lost a certain pick-up.  This though is not the worst of it.  The Dems were able to use these two idiots to beat the saner GOP candidates around the heads with and no doubt caused the loss of a number of contests, which were close.  While the Presidential race was not that close, there were a number of states that might have gone the other way had these fools not been given their day in the sun.

While it is reasonable to argue that it was not possible to assess that these idiots were quite that bloody stupid, it seems reasonable to think that more effort to vet these people was in order, given the critical nature of the contest.  Where the Hell do they find these people?

Conservatives Spin statement to defame Flake.

Conservatives frequently rail at the way in which their statements tend to be spun into something totally different by opponents and the left wing media. It is not uncommon for an innocent statement to be manipulated into something totally different to what was intended. It’s a form of blatant dishonesty, but has become the norm, unfortunately to the point that conservatives have adopted it.

Jeff Flake is highly regarded among small government types as a Congressman from Arizona who is attempting to enter the Senate in the coming election. Consistently being among the top few people on the RLC Liberty Index for his fiscal conservatism and socially moderate views, he is seen as something of a thorn in the side of the conservatives.

In a recent Tea Party town hall where he was asked whether or not he believes that Barack Obama is a legal President, he answered:

"I think he is our President. I think he is duly elected and I believe he is a citizen. And I do believe it is a distraction. And my job is to make sure we beat him in November.” Here is the video:


Americas Conservative News however has altered his statement to claim that Flake was saying that the US Constitution was a distraction. This is a falsehood in the style of the NBC Trevon Martin transcript doctoring effort, one they are unlikely to approve of:

(ACN) Congressman Jeff Flake got more than he bargained for at a recent Red Mountain Tea Party town hall forum in Arizona. When a member of the audience asked Flake whether or not he believes that Barack Obama is a legal President, Flake tried, in vain, to put the man in his place.

Flake: "I think he is our President. I think he is duly elected and I believe he is a citizen. And I do believe [his eligibility] is a distraction. And my job is to make sure we beat him in November.”

Question: How can you sucessfully take Barack Obama to task for exceeding his constitutional authority when you believe that the Constitution is "a distraction?" Answer: You can't.

Republicans need to move on from the ‘birth certificate’ issue. While eligibility is an important issue, there were plenty of issues in 08 which were valid areas for use in the campaign but were ineffective because they failed to gain traction with the media which seemed to have a lot of blind spots, especially where Bill Ayers and Reverend Wright were concerned.

It is unlikely that the birth certificate will achieve anything. Were the GOP to pin their hopes on this as an issue, and were Obama to present a valid certificate for all to see just before the election, the Democrats would win in a landslide. There are plenty of issues on which the President is likely to be defeated, the Sherriff Joe investigation is not one of them and is only a distraction.

A guide for the indefinitely detained.

Image: So ... You've been indefinitely detained.

You have to wonder if Senators John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and their ilk have ever read the Declaration of Independence, or if they have, did they read the grievance section shaking their heads asking, “What were they opposed to that for?” Given their support for indefinite military detention they possibly feel that George III probably had the civil liberties thing about right. Republicans upset about the 08 result can probably be happy they dodged the bullet of a worse President.

Of course you get those naysayers like Senator Rand Paul:

“If you allow the government the unlimited power to detain citizens without a jury trial, you are exposing yourself to the whim of those in power. That is a dangerous game.

“The FBI publishes characteristics of people you should report as possible terrorists. The list includes the possession of ‘Meals Ready to Eat,’ weatherproofed ammunition, and high-capacity magazines; missing fingers; brightly colored stains on clothing; paying for products in cash; and changes in hair color. I fear that such suspicions might one day be used to imprison a U.S. citizen indefinitely without trial. Just this year, the vice president referred to the Tea Party as a bunch of terrorists. So, I think we should be cautious in granting the power to detain without trial.”

Now that this is a fait accompli “Tom the Dancing Bug” has produced a valuable guide (above) for all of those who through membership of the Tea Party, NRA, Ron Paul campaign, or other suspect organizations, find themselves enjoying the hospitality of the US Army in exotic locations to help you deal with your situation. We suggest that you take particular notice of the useful FAQs.

Cain and Gingrich in Lincoln-Douglas style debate.

This is something new and refreshing for all of us political debate tragics. GOP presidential candidates Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich engage in a 90 minute debate on entitlement reform hosted by the Texas Patriots PAC. There is no moderator and the two candidates discuss and respond to each other’s positions on domestic policy. On the basis of the first 30 minutes I have watched, this is a great idea.

The format is an adaption of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, which were a series of three-hour debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during the 1858 Illinois Senate race. During the first 15 minutes, Rep Steve King gives a great outline of the problem of entitlement spending.


So far, both candidates come over well and Gingrich has some good lines as to why Wallmart does not need a law to compel people to go there, and explains why there are no national inquiries into fraud at McDonalds.

In arranging this, the Tea Party has as claimed here, changed the way of choosing a President: (assuming this takes off.) It is difficult to imagine it taking off in Australia though. Imagine sitting through 90 minutes of Abbott and Gillard.

From a libertarian perspective, it could be interesting to see one between Johnson and Paul.

Richmond Tea Party wants its money back.

Cartoon by Foden.

One aspect of the Tea party rallies that has been largely ignored by the press and government in their vitriolic response to their existence is the fact that the organization is orderly and law abiding while protesting against government intrusion and spending. Despite being portrayed as dangerous, racist, radicals, and anything else that comes to mind, they have not been involved in violence and tend to leave areas cleaner than when they went there.

The Occupy movement, which has the approval of the Administration from the top down, seems to be the opposite. Rowdy, confrontational, and without clear purpose other than being against capitalism, they have generally disregarded all rules.

Here is a comparison between the performances of the two groups.

Now the Richmond Tea Party has had enough of being disadvantaged by rules that the other side is allowed to flout. It has asked for the money paid in fees and charges for their rallies to be refunded:

The Richmond tea party is demanding a refund of about $10,000 from the city, claiming it unfairly charged them for rallies while allowing the Occupy protesters to use the same space for several weeks for free.

The political organization is sending the city an invoice for the charges incurred for three rallies held in Kanawha Plaza over the past three years. The Occupy protesters have been camped in the plaza since Oct. 15.

Richmond Tea Party spokeswoman Colleen Owens says it's not fair that her group had to pay fees for permits, portable toilets, police presence and emergency personnel. The group also had to purchase a $1 million insurance policy.

Tea party groups across the nation have raised similar concerns since the protests spread from New York earlier this month.

They make a good point here, however with the Occupy movement having the approval and encouragement of the President and his lackeys, it is likely that they will find that some protesters are more equal than others in the eyes of the law.

Convoys of No Confidence, libertarian conspiracy: The Drum.

The Convoy of No Confidence has made its protest and will by now, be on the road home. Have a safe trip and thank you to those hundreds of people who, disillusioned with the lies, profligacy, mismanagement, and taxing ways of the Gillard government, drove up to 5,000 kilometers to Canberra in order to make their feelings known.

While there has been some positive reporting, much of the media seems to have concentrated on the negative government response, and in some cases have concentrated their efforts on interviewing some of the fringe elements present, such as the CEC.

Some time back, the Australian public broadcaster, the ABC launched its online forum, “The Drum Unhinged,” to provide a platform for their regular left wing contributors who were too batshit crazy for their regular ABC Online forum. To be fair, Drum also publishes material from right wing masochists to entertain those of their regular readers who are into blood sports.

According to The Drum, Convoys of No Confidence go beyond extremist right wing fascist opponents of the carbon tax who refuse to acknowledge the infinite wisdom of Dear Leader Julia. 
Their intrepid investigative reporter, Ramon Glazov claims to have exposed them as tea-bagging astroturfers duped by the 'libertarian' Just Grounds Community, and inspired by the evil Koch brothers. The glowing reports from the Murdoch 'hate media' don’t fool Ramon:

But is something darker going on? As I examined the convoys myself (as part of an investigative report for US magazine, eXiled Online) I found some disturbing unanswered questions that media sources, centre-left and centre-right alike, have shied from touching.

Firstly, is the Convoy of No Confidence just another Astroturf group - a fake grassroots organisation - much like the Tea Party groups in the US organised with funding from the Koch Brothers.

Reading the Just Ground Community forums - the libertarian website where the Convoys were first organised - you'll notice something strange. The threads with instructions on how to join your local convoy have very few comments, most of which are written by the organisers themselves. There are a total of 11 routes to Canberra, each one departing from a different city in Australia. You'd expect these threads to be full of god-speeds, count-me-ins and dumb itinerary questions, but there are hardly any of those. …

The same names keep appearing: Cate Stuart, Julene Haack, Matt Thompson, Janet Thompson, Anna Hetherington-Grego. It didn't matter if you were reading the thread for Convoy #6 (Perth) or Convoy #10 (New South Wales) or Convoy #5 (Brisbane). The organisers always spent more time communicating with Convoy leaders in other states than with the angry locals who were supposedly lining up to join their protest. …

This seems suspiciously close to how "Astroturf" organisations in the US are arranged: the actual backbone of the group is a tiny nucleus of organisers, individuals with close ties to corporate-sponsored think tanks. These organisers send call-outs to the public, and a larger nebula appears, mostly composed of casual one-timers who know nothing about the organizers. …

The whole thing is standard leftist, tinfoil hat, Koch Bros conspiracy, boilerplate about pseudo angry mobs, creating the perception that these supporters exist, corporate-sponsored event organizers, supporters being unpaid extras, manmade-climate-change-denier Jo Nova, global-warming denial group once sponsored by Exxon-Mobil and the Koch Brothers, and so on. He also claims there is evidence that blockades form a major part of the convoy movement's “libertarian ideology.”

A first hand look at the Just Grounds community reveals little to do with libertarianism, and a lot to do with conservatism. It appears that the author could not bring himself to believe that any group of people could actually disagree with Gillard, even those he perceives as the great unwashed knuckle draggers from out in flyover country. That is of course, unless the minions of the Koch’s such as Allan Jones, Andrew Bolt, Jo Nova, the Cato Institute, Menzies House, and Just Grounds lead them astray.

Disclaimer: Jim Fryar works in the mining and exploration industries, but is not in receipt of any grants from the Koch’s, not even in unmarked brown paper bags passed under the table. He states though, that he would be willing to sell out all of his principles to them for the right sized financial inducement, especially if it were to include an air conditioned office with a couple of attractive research assistants.

Ames Straw Poll, an outside view.

One of the curiosities of the US political system is the phenomenon of the ‘straw poll’. As an outsider looking in, these seem to be mainly done by the GOP, and normally won by Ron Paul, after which it is customary for commentators to rage about the Paul machine, launch accusations of manipulation, and wonder about the relevance of having them, before moving to the next. Go figure.

It appears that to do well in one of these the candidate has to be present and make a considerable effort to get out the vote, something Paul excels at owing to an energized core of enthusiastic young fans. This in itself is somewhat unusual; under normal circumstances a bloke of 75 who talks about the gold standard, economic management, etc would be dismissed as an ‘old white guy’ but the libertarian aspect is compelling.

It is difficult to draw any real conclusions from this poll, especially this time, for a number of reasons. These are the early stages of the campaign and there is still speculation as to whether everybody is in yet. Rick Perry’s entry at the same time as the poll indicates they are not. Mitt Romney, who is the frontrunner in current polling elected not to take part, which makes it an exercise in popularity of the others.

The winners were: Bachmann (28.5%), Ron Paul (27.65), Pawlenty (13.6%) Santorum (9.8%), Cain (8.6%), followed by Romney, Perry, and the also-rans.

It is probably significant, as a couple of commentators have mentioned, that the big loser is the party establishment. Bachmann, the religious right candidate and Paul, the liberty candidate basically tied while the nearest establishment man came a distant third, with less than half Paul’s vote.

As both of the frontrunners are Tea Party favorites, and between them they pulled over 56% of the vote, watch for the establishment element scrambling to find reasons for this to be irrelevant.

GOP Wisconsin win, bad sign for Obama.

Image,Wisconsin protests; London without the arson.

Congratulations are due to Governor Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans for their retention of Senate control in the recall elections on Tuesday. The loss of two seats is unfortunate, but the Democrats, union thugs, and associated leftist rabble who have waged this campaign have little to show for it.

Another recall is due next week for two Democrat Senate seats, which are ‘in play’; and losses in these would mean that they have achieved nothing, and at great expense. Estimates of expenditure range from $30-40 million in the campaigns, about two thirds of that, by Democrats. This is money, which could have been available for the 2012 campaign if better spent.

The retention of Senate dominance endorses Gov. Walker and leading Republican lawmakers who can continue to pursue their agenda including budget cuts, concealed weapons provisions and requirement of identification for voting. It seems that these fools would have been better to have accepted the will of the electorate in the first place.

This has wider implications for President Obama, who sent his own political operatives to the state to boost support for the Democratic candidates. The loss of the President’s influence became visible with the loss of the ‘Kennedy seat’ in Massachusetts in the early stages, then the 2010 debacle confirmed it. Worse still, the anti-Walker campaign looked like the current events in London, minus the arson, and the association by the President with it is clear.

Some commentators see this event as a trendsetter for 2012:

Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political scientist and co-founder of pollster.com, had told the La Crosse Tribune just days before the recall votes that the outcomes would set a national pattern.

"Both sides see this as a test of a new policy direction of the Republican party nationally. They see broad implications elsewhere," Franklin said. "If [Walker's agenda] succeeds here by not flipping the Senate, it gives a real boost to governors elsewhere to continue to pursue that. If the Senate flips, it's a rebuke of those policies.” …

Some Democrats contended Tuesday night that their wins in two of the elections represented a victory of sorts for the anti-Walker movement. But University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin disagreed.

"I don't think there's such a thing as a moral victory," Franklin told the La Crosse Tribune. "You either pick up the three seats and take control or you fall short.”

They still maintain that they have the goal of recalling Walker, although state law wouldn’t allow such a move until he has been in office for a year. Oh well, if masochism is your thing, its probably the way to go.

Wayne Root feels US is screwed.

Wayne Root is usually a fairly upbeat character. It is a little disconcerting therefore to receive the following message; although I have to admit things over there are bad:

Barack Obama is my college classmate (Columbia University Class of '83). I tried to warn the country that virtually all of my classmates and professors were marxist, despised America, and wanted to bring down capitalism. I tried to warn the country that Obama would follow the detailed plan of two Columbia professors named Cloward and Piven- a plan designed to destroy capitalism by overwhelming the U.S. economy with government spending, regulations, entitlements, taxes and debt.

That is precisely why I authored one of the most popular commentaries on the entire Internet in 2010 entitled "The Obama Economic Plan- Purposely Overwhelming the System to Cause Crisis and Destroy Capitalism." I predicted Obama's radical tax and spend policies were designed to crash the system with debt, bring us to our knees, starve business owners (the biggest contributors to his political opposition), make us all doubt capitalism, and dependent on big government. It's all come to pass.

I've written about this plan for 2 ½ years now. My commentaries have predicted the destruction of the U.S. economy under Barack Obama, the decimation of small business and the middle class, and the start of not only the Obama Great Depression, but what I called "the Greatest Depression ever." …

Obama has ruined this economy from sea to shining sea. From the Gulf Coast economy, to the Florida Space Coast economy. From small business, to WalMart, whose most recent sales show a dramatic and frightening slowdown in customer traffic. From a complete real estate collapse, to now a complete stock market meltdown. It's all crashing down upon us.

It's true that the odds of Obama's re-election just went down in a ball of flames, along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But no matter- Obama has accomplished his goal. He has taken down the entire U.S. economy with him. He has trashed the political opposition- small business owners who fund conservative candidates and causes. He has overseen the decimation of the middle class homeowners and stock owners who vote conservative. He has left retirees with few assets- houses worthless, retirement accounts decimated, bank savings eroded by massive inflation. He has made 50 states into welfare queens begging for bailouts from the federal government. The nation is severely overwhelmed, right out of the playbook of Cloward and Piven.

Obama has left in his wake a U.S. economy in ruins. He has made many of us doubt capitalism. He has turned the American Dream into a nightmare. He has brought tens of millions in society to their knees begging for government to save them. Even though it is government that made them dependent in the first place. He has convinced the masses that government feels their pain, even though it is government that caused it. He has enslaved us all under an avalanche of debt so massive it's unimaginable, and of course unsustainable. He has turned hope into a 4 letter word.

Congratulations Mr. Obama. Mission Accomplished. (The full text can be found here.)

While I have to admit, I am not on the spot to judge for myself, it has always seemed to me that there is a certain indestructibility about the mainstream American people. While the situation is probably one of the worst that the nation has faced in its history, and indeed there about 18 months to go on this Presidency, the real Americans can rise to the challenge. The ability to initiate legislation in the House has already been taken away from him.

In 2009, things looked desperate but in the meantime the Tea Party has ridden to the rescue, something that was beyond prediction back then. US people probably felt this way in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour, and look how that one played out.

Conservatives discover “Ron Paul plot.”

For some years we have been hearing about the New Hampshire Free State Project, which aims to persuade liberty lovers to move to that state. Its aims are stated here:

Their mission statement says:

The Free State Project is an agreement among 20,000 pro-liberty activists to move to New Hampshire, where they will exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property. The success of the Project would likely entail reductions in taxation and regulation, reforms at all levels of government, to expand individual rights and free markets, and a restoration of constitutional federalism, demonstrating the benefits of liberty to the rest of the nation and the world.

National Journal has picked up on it and published a report, in which it notes that Ron Paul can expect to gain some traction there in the primaries, if he stands.

Social Conservatives, who have a tendency to see themselves as the heart of the Republican Party tend to view libertarians and the Tea Party with deep misgivings, and are concerned about what they see as a libertarian or Paulist plot to hijack the election. The fact is that the FSP has been going for around ten years and long before Paul stood for President, unless you count 1988 in which he stood for the Libertarian Party.

There are only around 1000 free staters who have moved there, and 10,000 who have committed to do so within five years if 20,000 people commit to doing so, which indicates that with those numbers they will at best be a support group for his campaign, if he stands. Ron would probably approve of the project, but I have yet to see any evidence that he is directly involved in it.

SoCons tend to be alarmed and irritated at the massive and enthusiastic support Ron gets from young people, and do not understand it. What they fail to realize is that big government is oppressive and based on the illogical assumption that the state is there to rule the people rather than merely protect their rights to be free and do what they like, free from coercion. Ron Paul is a straight talker, (which is also a factor,) who exemplifies this.

There is really little other than this to understand, the man is 77 years old, and it is not about young chicks having the hots for him. Their enthusiasm is in some ways a double-edged sword. Their tendency to rally supporters to even the scent of a straw poll may give a great deal of encouragement to supporters, to the eternal angst of the organizers of these, causes him to win them. Unfortunately though, these false results tend to cause unrealistic expectations.

It would be a great thing to see a strong showing for Ron in New Hampshire, as that would be a great encouragement to some of the new candidates in the field this time around, and might convince some of the repeat performers who couldn’t beat McCain last time that they are flogging a dead horse.

Palin speech in Madison.

Breitbart introduction:


Its been a while since I posted anything on Palin, generally I am in a wait and see mode as to the US election, only posting the odd piece I find interesting.

Her speech in Madison though, is such an event. She has shown all of the fire that caused her to be the only bright spot on the otherwise lackluster McCain campaign before his handlers gave up and descended into recriminations and bastardry towards the end. There are some impressive points here:

… A pension is a promise that must be kept. Now, your Governor Scott Walker understands this. He understands that states must be solvent in order to keep their promises. And that’s what he’s trying to do. He’s not trying to hurt union members. Hey, folks, he’s trying to save your jobs and your pensions! But unfortunately some of your union bosses don’t understand this, and they don’t care if union members have to be laid off. No, they want to protect their own power, and if that means forcing a governor to lay off union workers, then so be it; they’ve proven that that is fine with them. But that’s not real solidarity! Real solidarity means coming together for the common good. This Tea Party movement is real solidarity!

Well, I am in Madison today because this is where real courage and real integrity can be found. Courage is your governor and your legislators standing strong in the face of death threats and thug tactics. Courage is you all standing strong with them! You saw the forces aligned against fiscal reform. You saw the obstruction and the destruction. You saw these violent rent-a-mobs trash your capital and vandalize businesses. …

Because let me tell you what isn’t courageous: It’s politicians promising the American voters that, as we drown in $14.5 trillion debt, that they’re going to cut $100 billion out of this year’s budget. But then they cave on that and they reduce it down to $61 billion after they get elected. Then they get in there and they strike a deal and decide, nah, they will reduce that down to $38 billion. And then after some politics-as-usual and accounting gimmicks, we find out it’s not $38 billion in cuts. You know that $38 billion – we don’t have it; we’re borrowing it.

We borrow from foreign countries to give to foreign countries, and that’s insanity. We find out it’s not even $38 billion; it’s less than $1 billion in real cuts. Folks, that $352 million in real cuts – that’s no more than the federal government is going to spend in the time it takes us to hold this rally today! That is not courage; that’s capitulation!

So, to the GOP establishment: if you stand on the platform, if you stand by your pledges, we will stand with you. We will fight with you, GOP. We have your back. Together we will win because America will win!

We didn’t elect you just to re-arrange the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic. We didn’t elect you to just stand back and watch Obama re-distribute those deck chairs. What we need is for you to stand up, GOP, and fight. Maybe I should ask some of the Badger women’s hockey team—those champions—maybe I should ask them if we should be suggesting to GOP leaders they need to learn how to fight like a girl! …

The rest is great; she really lets rip. Whether she stands or not, she can and will energize the base just like last time.

Prediction; Gary Johnson will run.

Given the current revolt against big government, taxes, and wasteful spending going on in the States, this is the ideal time to be looking for someone outside the usual, ‘more of the same’ Presidential hopefuls who start appearing at political rallies around now. On the GOP side the old names such as the Huckster, Romney, Pawlenty and so on are being dragged out for another spin, with the addition of Palin, and Trump neither of whom will stand.

Gary Johnson, the former Governor of New Mexico would be the ideal candidate for these times and has been testing the waters for a while. Gary has a substantial record of fiscal responsibility from his Governorship, which will appeal strongly to the mood of the electorate at present as well as a solid libertarian attitude, which can be seen here in his speech to CPAC this year:


Part two and part three, (in which he deals with the Marijuana issue,) are worth watching if you have the time.

He has been touring the country testing the sentiment and while his figures are in single digits at the moment, as a low profile candidate they show some reason for optimism. There is every reason to believe that Ron Paul will throw his weight behind him, and he is a cinch for the support of the Tea Party with its strong libertarian element.

He is to be a major speaker at the Republican Liberty Caucus National Convention in February, and I tip that he will announce then.

The major difficulty I see him having is with the religious social conservative element over the marijuana issue. Huckabee, who is already claiming he can beat Obama, (along with the drovers dog,) will exploit this area to the best of his ability. There is no avoiding this issue as he is out there over a long period in support of legalization. This has to come to a head and Johnson will win a debate on the issue as Huck can hardly present much of a case for the current drug war being a resounding success.

He will have to ensure that this issue does not dominate the campaign. Press coverage tends to focus on it, as it is something of a novelty for them to have someone who speaks his mind. He has to ensure that the other issues have to come to the fore, or he will be consigned to a novelty issue.

Gary has what it takes to make a real difference, and the track record to prove it from his time as NM Governor. There is a good argument that with his libertarian tendencies he will have a considerable appeal to the saner Democrat voters who are fiscally literate but are turned off the social conservatism of the Republicans, and therefore may be able to turn blue states red.

With a Republican majority in Congress, California and its mates are unlikely to get bailed out of their financial problems in this term and are likely to be bankrupt and angry by 2012. There will be major changes in attitude over the next two years in these states, which can be exploited successfully if the GOP has the sense to be daring enough.

With the abject failure of conservative candidates in California this time, it might be a good idea to try more libertarian orientated people to carry the banner next time.

Palin’s Obama put down, Greetings from the 57 States.

Recently sufferers of Palin Derangement Syndrome, have started out to have a field day three times over her statements which they have claimed to be symbolic of ignorance and a lack of ability to lead etc, etc, etc.

The first was her use of the word “refudiate,” especially after she tweeted to the effect that Shakespeare often invented new words. The hysterics went on for a while, until the Oxford American Dictionary came out and declared it the best new word of the year, and gave the following reason:

"From a strictly lexical interpretation of the different contexts in which Palin has used 'refudiate,' we have concluded that neither 'refute' nor 'repudiate' seems consistently precise," the statement read. "'Refudiate' more or less stands on its own, suggesting a general sense of 'reject.' "

The second was when she urged the Tea Party, “not to party like its 1773 yet.” This was taken to indicate that she had no knowledge of history, until it was pointed out by some spoilsport that it obviously alluded to the Boston Tea party, which occurred in that year. The term “Party like its 1773” has been around for some time, but I read the more plebian stuff that the elites would not dream of viewing.

The third was her reference in an interview to North Korea being Americas ally. Had it been said by someone on the left, it would have been dismissed as a ‘mis-statement’ by the media, but being Palin it was blown up as a display of ignorance of geography. She has answered it by highlighting a whole lot of Obama flubs with her message: “A Thanksgiving Message to All 57 States”

My fellow Americans in all 57 states, the time has changed for come. With our country founded more than 20 centuries ago, we have much to celebrate – from the FBI’s 100 days to the reforms that bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system. We know that countries like Europe are willing to stand with us in our fight to halt the rise of privacy, and Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. And let’s face it, everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma and they end up taking up a hospital bed. It costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early, and they got some treatment, and ah, a breathalyzer, or an inhalator. I mean, not a breathalyzer, ah, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian for that…

The best part is that each one is a Youtube link to him actually saying it.

She maintains that she didn’t have the time to do one for Joe Biden, who has a great many classics out there. During the Presidential election, there was some speculation by the more paranoid elements that the right would be so racist as to assassinate Obama. He took this seriously, and in a devilishly cunning move made Joe his VP, thus guaranteeing his safety. All of the extreme far right knew Obama was the only thing standing between them and a Biden Presidency.

Tea Party around 50% libertarian; Cato.

Cartoon: Lisa Benson.

For some time there has been some conjecture here as to whether the tea party movement is in any way libertarian or whether it is in fact a fairly hard line conservative group that just wants lower taxes. Cato has done a survey at a Tea Party Convention in Virginia, with interesting results. Over six hundred delegates were surveyed, and found that libertarians were 48 percent of Tea Partiers, versus 51 percent who held traditional conservative views.

The method of determining the classification of conservative involved three positions, the first two of which pretty well were agreed to by all. These were that, “the less government the better,” and that “the free market can handle these problems without government being involved.” The one that defined the difference was, “the government should promote traditional values.”

A previous survey by others revealed a similar split, but was criticized on the basis that Ron Paul was one of those who spoke there and it was argued that his presence had skewed the poll in favor of libertarians. The fact that the results are much the same seems to indicate that Paul’s support base is wider than the libertarian fringe some observers seem to indicate. If this view were accurate then we would see a libertarian spike associated with his presence.

Ron Paul is more associated with small government, fiscal accountability, and constitutional governance, more than as a strict libertarian, although these tend to run together.

This has some pretty strong ramifications for 2012 for the GOP presidential choice. Current polling indicates that there are three front-runners each of whom has around 20% support. These are Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Sarah Palin. Whoever gets the nod will have to have Tea Party and independent support to get across the line on the day.

Palin has good relations with some libertarians, indeed the Alaska LP seems to accept her although she is really a conservative, and Romney seems acceptable although Romneycare, which has many similarities with Obamacare is a real negative. Huckabee tends to be a religious zealot and would find it difficult to rally libertarians or independents.

America has a larger religious right than Australia, and as result Huckabee is seen as a credible candidate there while over here he would be ridiculed. Huckabee for President has a ring to it over there, but the Aussie equivalent, “Fred Nile for PM,” would probably get you certified. The memorable thing about his campaign in 2008 was his reply to an ad by Fred Thompson. The Huckabee ad did not address any of Fred’s points, but strongly criticized him for putting out a release on a Sunday, when he “should have been in church.”

Out of the three, Palin would have the best chance of winning, although it is difficult to see her as Presidential, although better than the incumbent. We really need more time to make an assessment and hopefully during that time some others will come to the fore.

Libertarian Republican hits the big-time.

I tend to derive a great deal of pleasure from seeing friends do well, be it in business, personal life, or realizing a dream. I was thrilled when my old mate Al over in the Catskills found he was sitting on a massive gas field and stood to make a fortune.

Eric Dondero over at Libertarian Republican has worked tirelessly on his site and in the cause of liberty for a long time, and has been rewarded for some time with an extensive readership, as well as being quoted and linked by both news media and major sites. He has in fact become an authoritative source of breaking news.

Now he has made it to the HuffPo shitlist. Howling about his tendency to be a little intemperate in his language at times, they came up with an article devoted to what an absolute unmitigated, radical, unfettered free market supporting, capitalistic bastard he is. On our side it just doesn’t get any better than that, unless you get mentioned in the "Pricks we should all hate" section of the NYT or get to be number 1 on Olbermann's "Worlds worst People."

The author wrote an item on being taken to task by a restaurant owner when he tried to engage him in leftie politics. This dirt bag went on to lament:

Our conversation left me rather depressed because he was so absolutely certain of his own position, and so well armed with his own set of facts that there was no point in discussing it with him at all.

Note the condescending “his own set of facts” as if those facts supporting the other side are inferior. Leaving him feel rather depressed is pathetic; the guy needs to, harden up a bit, put in a ‘hurt feelings report’ (maybe it was), or ring some bastard dumb enough to care. Then this:

The restaurant owner represents a growing chorus of obviously educated Americans who honestly believe that the fiscal crisis facing the nation is a result of high taxes and government spending. These people make up the intellectual foundation for movements like the Tea Baggers and the Ron Paul Libertarians. While well intentioned (at least some of them), they are utterly misguided, wrong and dangerous to the economy.

Image: The Peoples Cube.

Apart from showing his ignorance of economics, believing as he does that ideology trumps the natural order of the marketplace, he then goes on to the tired old Rahm talking point of referring to the Tea Partiers as “teabaggers,” as if that is somehow going to make them go away. Then there is the obligatory reference to dangerous Ron Paul libertarians.

He like the rest of the left demonstrates the current fixation of his ilk in attempting to accuse any opponent of racism:

Eric made the comment:

Taxation is theft. Government is coercion, when you get right down to it. What right does the government have to put a gun to my head and steal from me to support some moocher who wants to sit on their damn couch all day long, munch on Cheetos and watch Oprah Winfrey?

In his bitch session about Eric on this subject the writer attempts to suggest race is part of the issue along with the obvious attempts to smear Ron Paul with:

There's usually nothing sadder than a middle aged angry white man venting on the internet about how 'the government stole my wages and gave it to black welfare mothers', but the fact that Dondero actually worked for a main stream political candidate (for President, no less), is actually quite disturbing.

Lefties are pathetic, the moment they are challenged they enter full hue and cry mode about how terrible the right are. They appear oblivious as to the viciousness of their own side which at its most sincere is scumbag vile.

Rand Paul; battling the establishment.

While Rand Paul is comfortably ahead in the polls for the Kentucky Senate seat, he is in a much more insidious battle against the business as usual elements of the party. While Paul has the support of fiscally responsible republicans, and the Tea party, there is an element within the party of good old days Republicans who will move heaven and earth to maintain the status quo, by supporting his main opponent, Trey Grayson.

It is probably a great thing that Congress, the house of ill repute has such a low approval rating that the endorsements they have given Grayson have caused his electoral chances to drop with each one.

Here is a clip that puts things in perspective, including the prospect of his opponent being in charge of the count in the election:

Wayne Root; “Obama knows what he is doing.”

Photo: Wayne Allyn Root.

And it's bad news.

It’s been a while since I mentioned Wayne Root the former VP nominee of the Libertarian Party. Wayne is one of the best Presidential candidates we have seen in recent times form any party and caused considerable concern among some of the more insightful Republicans as to the votes he could get from small government members of the Party. Fortunately for the GOP the LP went into meltdown at the prospect of mainstream candidates instead of the usual ideological whackos.

A Goldwater republican with a strong commitment to the constitution, a deep belief in individual liberty, and a determination to reduce the size, scope, and cost of government that would bring joy to the hearts of all Tea-partiers, Wayne is an articulate voice for freedom. He adopts a reasoned approach to issues and is not prone to extreme statements.

For this reason it was something of a surprise to read his article, “The Real Obama Economic Plan: Overwhelming the System to Destroy Capitalism and Freedom” on his blog. This is not some wild eyed radical right winger, but a solid, sound, and well reasoning person and for that reason we should take notice:

"It’s time to stop mincing words. Obama is not a fool. He is not incompetent. He is not a madman. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He is purposely overwhelming the U.S. economy to create systemic failure, economic crisis, and social chaos- thereby destroying capitalism and our country from within. But the bonus is brilliant…as he destroys and taxes to death business owners; he also cripples his political opposition.

Rahm Emanuel cynically said, “You never want a crisis to go to waste.” It is now becoming clear that the crisis he was referring to is Obama’s Presidency. As Glenn Beck correctly predicted from day one, Obama is following the plan of Cloward & Piven, two professors at Obama’s Columbia University. In 1966, they outlined a plan to socialize America by OVERWHELMING the system with government spending and entitlement demands. Add up the clues below. Taken individually they’re alarming. Taken as a whole, it is a brilliant, Machiavellian game plan to overwhelm the system, wreck the U.S. economy, damage or destroy the free market, in order to turn the U.S. into a socialist/Marxist state with a permanent majority that desperately needs government for survival.

Universal healthcare. The healthcare bill had very little to do with healthcare. It had everything to do with adding millions of new union and government employees (sixteen thousand new IRS agents) feeding at the public trough. Obama doesn’t care that giving free healthcare to 30 million Americans will add TRILLIONS to the national debt. Or that not one new doctor was added to the system, thereby causing a healthcare crisis. What he does care about is that it overwhelms the system and cements the dependence and loyalty of those 30 million voters to Obama and big government. Who but a socialist revolutionary would pass this reckless spending bill in the middle of a depression? Why now? Why the rush? Why risk destroying the economy on a reckless, unproven scheme? There is only one answer -- OVERWHELM THE SYSTEM." ....

He goes on to comment on Cap and trade, making Puerto Rico a state, legalizing 12 million illegal immigrants, card check, stimulus & Bailouts, and raising taxes with the same theme in mind.

Well worth the read. His site is Root for America.

Dallas Tea Party slaps down Olbermann.

H/T Red State.

Keith Olbermann is symbolic of the loony left, a towering intellect to liberals, and a sad figure of ridicule to people with reality based thinking. Keith has of late been as usual echoing the White House astroturf talking points and on this occasion is playing the race card, which is about the only one Democrat supporters have left. His target was the Tea Party movement.

Keith’s problem is that he really doesn’t get out a lot, and therefore has never encountered a Tea Party, I mean they just don’t happen down in his mums basement. The result is that his only knowledge of the subject if any is what he receives from Rahm, liberal journalists and company.

This is a beautiful slap down: