Blogs For Victory

10 thoughts on “With a Measure of Disgust…”

1. Retired Spook January 4, 2013 / 12:00 am

   I share your disgust, Leo.
2. dbschmidt January 4, 2013 / 12:04 am

   Place your disgust with those that words have been usurped into multiple meanings, or really alternate meanings when convenient. The pledge, as posted, is very similar to those many of us have taken Some of us still take our promises / swears to heart and will uphold then no matter.
3. GMB January 4, 2013 / 12:05 am

   Welcome to my world. What took you so long to get here Leo?
4. M. Noonan January 4, 2013 / 12:39 am

   As I pointed out in the last thread, we’ve been pretty constitutionally atrophied since before the 1950’s. Some people are still talking about ObamaCare as if its the problem – Social Security is the problem. Unless and until we can secure sufficient power to privatize Social Security then all we’ll really be doing, at best, is just tapping the brakes on the road to socialism. Don’t necessarily blame these particular Congresscritters – they are products of their times as much as we are and how many of us have really come to the full conclusion that pretty near everything we’ve done, government-wise, since 1929 has been a mistake? Heck, we’re so screwed up that even when it came time – at long last – to really enforce the 14th Amendment we ended up doing it by means which are scarcely Constitutional and which have left us a legacy of race-baiting and spoilsmanship.

   I don’t think even 10% of Americans fully understand the problem – and getting to a majority will take a long time. But, baby steps. One thing at a time. I think our best coalition builder – as well as our means of educating – will be on the issue of Local Control…getting people firmly in control of their local communities…freeing them from the oppressive hand of government, whether its from a federal government grown too large and overbearing, or a State or city government grown too large and overbearing. Wrapped up on the language of liberty and free choice (but without, initially, cutting off government funding) we can use it as a wedge to gain entrance in to precincts heretofore closed to us…and eventually instruct people in the value of personal liberty and personal responsibility…then we can privatize Social Security and restore Constitutional government.
5. Cluster January 4, 2013 / 8:20 am

   I am with you 100% Leo. To spin a phrase from from our self centered First Lady:

   I have never been more disappointed in my country

   I also take exception with the lack of intellectual heft in the body Congress and in the Executive branch. Biden is an absolute idiot, and when I look at critters like Pelosi, Waters, Boxer, Franken, Reid, etc., even Boehner. – I cringe. God help this country.
   • Amazona January 4, 2013 / 9:34 am

     “I also take exception with the lack of intellectual heft in the body Congress and in the Executive branch.”

     How about the lack of knowledge of our own laws? Recently Congress made millions of acres of National Forest into wilderness areas when the stated purpose of the National Forests was to provide protected watersheds, an ongoing source of timber for the nation, and recreation.

     The stated intent of providing timber, alone, is proof that there was never an intent to make them roadless, yet they bowed to pressure from the eco-Nazis, who will never set foot outside their urban onclaves anyway, and without a clue as to what they were doing.
6. Retired Spook January 4, 2013 / 9:59 am

   I don’t often cite Huffington Post, but this guy makes an excellent point.

   Surveys have found that Americans are deeply dissatisfied with Congress. As recently as three months ago, the Gallup organization found that 90 percent of Americans disapproved of the way Congress was handling its job. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 8 percent think Congress is doing a good job. A New York Times/CBS News Poll survey published in February 2010 found that 80 percent of Americans believe members of Congress were more interested in serving special interests than the people they represent.

   Under these circumstances, you would expect that 90+ percent of the Members of Congress would have lost their jobs in the recent election. But instead, 91 percent of those who ran for re-election won! If ever there was an indication that democracy in American is broken, this is it.

   As it turns out, Congressional re-election rates this high are quite normal. Only rarely are less than 90 percent of the members of the House of Representatives re-elected. And while the Senate is more competitive, it is rare for less than 80 percent of senators to be re-elected. Senator Tom Coburn described the situation well when he said, “In several election cycles in recent history, more incumbents died in office than lost reelection bids.” Members of Congress enjoy some of the best job security in America — and the least amount of accountability.

   As some wise soul once said, “nice work if you can get it.”
   • M. Noonan January 4, 2013 / 11:41 am

     Size of the districts and cost of the race, I think, makes the incumbents so safe – and why House members can often look forward to Senate-like tenure of office even though they face the voters every two years. Believe it or not, but I think the cure of this particular ill is more Congressmen.

     The United States is 315 million people with a 435 member lower House…the United Kingdom is 63 million people with a 650 member lower House. Each Brit Parlaimentcritter represents about 97,000 Brits; each American Congresscritter represents about 750,000 Americans. It is, thus, vastly more difficult for a challenger in American legislative races to get a grip. How’s this work out? Well, after people got utterly disgusted with the GOP in 2006 they managed to toss out a total of 31 Republicans. After people got utterly disgusted with the Tories in 1997, the Brits managed to toss out 171 of them. Its not exactly a 1 for 1 thing, of course, because the Brits know that is how they change not just the majority party in the Commons but the entire direction of government, so its more akin to a Presidential election…but, still, you can see how in smaller districts challengers can have a better chance.

     It would be better if we added at least 100 more House members – and this is entirely a legislative matter. The only provisions in the Constitution about it are that each State have at least one House member and that the representation be as far as possible equally distributed by population. The number of House members is a matter of choice. More House members means smaller numbers of electors per district and thus a better chance for challengers…and, of course, also works towards more Local Control.
7. Retired Spook January 4, 2013 / 11:50 am

   Just when you thought you’d heard it all.

   Judge Slaps Down EPA Bid to Regulate Water as a Pollutant

   A federal district judge Thursday shot down a “novel” EPA attempt to regulate the flow of water as a pollutant, stopping dead in its tracks what otherwise would have been a major regulatory expansion.

   — snip —

   The legal confrontation that led to Thursday’s verdict stems from longstanding EPA concerns about the health of aquatic life in Fairfax County’s Accotink Creek, which ultimately feeds into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.

   The Democratic-dominated Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was initially reluctant to join forces with Cuccinelli, concerned with the optics of teaming up with the stalwart Republican conservative in an election year.

   But in July, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance costs, the Supervisors decided they had to have the attorney general’s legal firepower on their side if they hoped to prevail over the increasingly assertive EPA, led by outgoing administrator Lisa Jackson.

   Fairfax County Supervisor John Cook, a Republican, told the Washington Post: “When people talk about federal agencies running amok, this is exactly what it looks like.

   The EPA’s overreach is so extreme that the Democrats on the board realized that, even in an election year, they had to do this for the county.”

   O’Grady’s ruling vindicated Cuccinelli’s argument that the EPA had exceeded its legal authority in granting itself the authority to regulate water flow where no such authority existed.

   “If you want to boil down what ties us all together as Americans,” Cuccinelli told Newsmax, “it’s that is a nation of laws and not of men. Some people in government forget that sometimes.”
   • neocon01 January 4, 2013 / 3:54 pm

     against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

     95% of the democRATS in elected positions should be in prison as domestic enemies.

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