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Last Wednesday, the Obama administration issued new rules defining the EPA’s  jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. These rules are supposedly aimed at protecting the nation’s drinking water. But, this isn’t really about drinking water. This is a classic case of federal over-reach.

The EPA’s definitions are a bureaucratic attempt at justifying federal intrusion into issues that belong to local and regional jurisdictional bodies.The complexity of the rules and minutiae associated with their definitions is supposed to be proof of their objectivity.

The story being spun by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is that “They really do care and their actions only highlight the depth of their concern.”

In support of the EPA’s designs, the Army Corps of Engineers (another Federal Agency specializing in “carefully orchestrated over-reach”) has issued  documentation supporting the EPA’s schemes.

The Corps stated that the changes mark a “historic step for the protection of clean water” and would help roughly 117 million Americans who get drinking water from streams not clearly protected before these regulations.

Are you and I really going to fall for this fake emergency? Does the federal government  really think a full 33% of America’s entire population is drinking water that is unsafe? Is there any “real” danger here? Or, is this only another boogie man pulled from the statist’s closet?

Supposedly, the rule would clarify which smaller streams, tributaries and wetlands are covered by EPA’s anti-pollution and development provisions in the Clean Water Act.

Notice, the phrase “anti-pollution and development”. This is the key to the whole equation. The EPA is operating under a false understanding of stewardship. Their stewardship model links development directly with pollution and claims that the world would be better off with lower human populations and lower levels of human prosperity.

The EPA’s decree would unilaterally expand federal authority over all areas of water, whether for consumption or not. This would crush jobs in developing cities and metropolitan areas as they would be saddled with an onslaught of regulations, rules, paperwork, permits and filings. Additionally, these same issues would lead to losses in agricultural development and food production.

More than 30 governors and government leaders rejected the EPA’s water rule. Local leaders know better than any bureaucrats walking the marbled halls of Washington about local water conditions, uses, and needs.

North Dakota Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer said in a statement these regulations “trample on the rights of private property owners as well as local and state governments” and vowed to work with colleagues to overturn it.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, tried to deny the charges of tyrannical over-reach by stating “the rule will only affect waters that have a ‘direct and significant’ connection to larger bodies of water downstream that are already protected.”

Yet, contrary to McCarthy’s statements, the EPA has said 60 percent of the nation’s streams and waterways are vulnerable, and these regulations would only kick in, “if a business or landowner takes steps to pollute or destroy those waters.”

Now, that sounds like something that is at the top of every business person’s “To-Do List”, doesn’t it?

The collectivists, socialists and statists have gone crazy in Washington and they are mounting efforts to destroy the very Freedom that made America great.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., also disagreed with McCarthy’s innocent assessment of the EPA’s new rules. Inhofe said the rules make it “more important than ever for Congress to act.” He said the final rule allows the EPA to regulate isolated waters — even ponds in farmers’ fields — by declaring them a “regional water treasure.”

Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said his panel will try to force legislation which would require the EPA to withdraw and rewrite the rules this summer.

We need more conservative values in Congress. True representation should includes the voices of those who believe in Freedom and Liberty.

My recommendation is to Stand Firm Against the EPA’s Tyrannical Designs.

Stand Firm against any, and all, federal intrusions. Whether the EPA, TSA, IRS, USFS, FWS, BLM, NSA, DHS, BOR, NPS, USDT, DHHS, NLRB or any of the other more than 3500 federal organizations that are usurping authorities that rightfully belong to our state, and ourselves.

Remember, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”, Article Ten, United States Constitution

Tea Party Patriot and Republican groups are organizing and sponsoring “Petunia Pig Visits.”  Petunia (the giant pig) is the one doing the visiting. She recently stopped into the Josephine County Commissioner’s offices and she may be coming to Klamath County, too.

Don’t let that happen! – Vote NO on Tax levies. These levies promise to fund utopia with only one more fistful of our tax dollars.

Petunia eats well on government waste. She is actually quite a messy pig. She is more than happy to soak taxpayers with false hopes while lavishing them with decent sounding but, empty promises. Tax Levy proponents don’t promise any tangibles because they know they can’t. It’s always some vague public good, like “public safety”, or “well behaved children who know how to eat right and garden well”.

Klamath County, and all of Oregon, needs your help.

We need to put government on a diet. Obesity is now a national dilemma for the general population as well as our Federal, State and Local governments.

However, we can’t blame McDonalds for our over-grown government. It’s our own fault. We have continually allowed ourselves to be duped by an unelected politburo enthralled with its own lust for power and mesmerized by its own collectivist doctrines. Unless we say no to these parasites, the host will perish and so will American capitalism and the prosperity and freedom that it has fostered.

We need to say NO!

It’s going to be hard for Petunia to turn down all the junk and goodies – so we have to do it!  Tax-credits, subsidies and permanent operating District Levies are easy diggings.  A pig like Petunia won’t even get dirty rooting in the pockets of Klamath’s easy-going citizens but when we stand tough, the tearing canines and crushing back teeth will certainly make their marks. Pigs, as you may know, can be savage even on their own offspring.

Actually, a strict diet is the answer.

One of our Presidents from the early 60s saw the problem of obesity and started the “President’s Council on Physical Fitness.” Maybe it’s time to bring back some of his early ideas.

Tell Government :

• Eat Properly:  If you’re full, stop. (Quit dreaming about 2007, when rich-and-gooey chocolate desserts were in abundance.)
• Eat Properly: No Junk Food. (Sure, we have needs but program trimming is also needed – it’s like trimming hooves – only harder.)
• Exercise: Walk, whenever possible. (Don’t wallow in your pigsty; clean up and get going.)
• Weigh In: Be honest, open and accountable.

After all, even little piggies grow into enormous hogs. Take Care and don’t let that happen!

Don’t wait for Petunia to Fly – VOTE ‘NO’ on any Tax levies that are on your County’s Ballot.

If you’re in Klamath County, Vote NO on 18-100 and 18-101!

To read more about Petunia’s exploits visit her at http://www.ocwf.org/

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For more info on Klamath County’s 18-100, visit http://www.klamathjaillevy.com/

For more info on Klamath County’s 18-101, visit http://www.klamathchildren.com/

Fundamental Transformations

Tim McMahon identifies an important under-current in the progressive shape-shifting of words and their meanings.  Our post-modern era is littered with the constant barrage of changing ideas about our words and therefore, our history.

“Marriage” doesn’t mean what it used to, nor does “gender”, or “inflation.” In particular McMahon notes the confusion with words used to describe economic reality. For example, debt is now a good thing, although entirely contrary to old adage about “the borrower becoming the lender’s slave.”

McMahon writes, “between 1983 and 2000 the definition of inflation appears to have shifted from the cause to the result.”

According to the 1983 Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary the definition of “inflation” is:

“An increase in the amount of currency in circulation…”

Yet in 2000, The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition,  defines “inflation” as:

“A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money…”

This confusion is easy to understand. Most of us routinely describe things in terms of results instead of causes. Like, “Un-wed pregnancies are on the rise.” While this may be true it avoids the causes. Therefore, half-witted solutions may rise to the surface quicker because the counter-balancing evidence is not presented.

Without properly identifying the true causes of inflation, or the true results of inflation, the statists remain in control. The  professional deceivers who are supposed to be representing our true interests are actually defrauding us.

Inflation

Inflation is really a transfer of wealth from creditors to debtors. It appears as higher prices but it is really a loss of buying power. Where did your buying power go? Did you really misplace it? Or, was it stolen?

The US Federal government has the largest net-debt on planet earth. More than twice as much debt as the 2nd place nation – Japan. No nation owns more debt than our nation.

This means that the government, as a debtor, gets to make payments with currency that is worth less than when the debt was assumed. Inflation dismisses government debt so that the full value of what is borrowed is never recouped. Ultimately, this is an enormous transfer of your wealth, as a taxpayer, to the bureaucracies in Washington.

Inflation is both dishonest and deliberate.

The political elites in Washington, DC have no desire to stop this chicanery. Reducing the federal budget would mean less power and control for them, while furthering free market independence for us. Politicians do not want to reduce their own ability to lavish rewards on their business cronies and acquaintances.

The creation of new money allows innumerable bureaucrats to grow their respective organizations while throttling businesses, private property owners, and families with extensive, costly and unjustified regulatory actions.

This is power. This is what politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, want to keep.

Our unbalanced budget is the main mechanism that the FED uses to justify creating more money. The Government could tell the current citizens that they are going to increase taxes to provide necessary services. But, this is political suicide, because the tax-paying public would howl like banshees.

Only this slight-of-hand can allow these deceivers to place that burden on citizens of future generations. Will your children grow up to express their gratitude for the debt on their shoulders? Do you really think those who are not yet born will accept the burdens we willing place on their backs?

No, they won’t.

You and I are responsible

You and I are accountable.

You and I must act with prudence or America will not survive.

When more is spent than can be raised by taxes, the government makes up the difference with fiat money. This occurs because our Representatives in the Republican-controlled House are unwilling to cut Pres. Obama’s gargantuan spending plans. (House passes Obama’s $1.1 trillion budget.)

Instead they choose monetary debasement by increasing the money supply. It is a dishonest scheme where government force is used to take wealth from people and spend it. Central banks throughout the world have become modern day versions of legalized counterfeiters.

In today’s podcast discusses an article from David Stockman’s Contra Corner,  Greece and Euroland’s Crumbling McMansion of Debt, by Charles Hugh Smith.

Please listen and enjoy while you learn…

 

Recommended Books…

“Good Books on this and related subjects”

School Choice has the power to undo the Left’s purposeful destruction of our Founder’s ideals.

The ideals of America were once well-known but aren’t any longer. My contention is this is not an accident.

This PatriotUpdate article describes our Founder’s world-view:

“It was a vision of self-government by free people who were willing to govern themselves so that government did not have to. It was a vision of personal responsibility, individual liberty, free markets, and limited government. This is why liberals are rewriting history. None of these things comport with the left’s agenda of big government, burdensome regulations, entitlement, statism, and lifelong dependence.”

The current school choice dilemma originates from a very simple statist strategy for control.  They plead with heavy hearts for your children’s safety, future and prosperity, yet are destroying those very things through their policies. The bureaucracy is getting well-paid and they will get handsome retirement benefits while young graduates can’t find employment.

Compared to worldwide industrialized nation rankings America’s graduation rates are in the doldrums, reading skills are non-existent, and science and math acumen have drastically fallen. The progressive politicians identify the problem – they need more money, more time in class and tougher truancy laws.

The National Education Association’s (NEA) monopolist’s strategy is just like the Fed/IMF/ECB policy for Quantitative Easing (QE) we’ve been witnessing for the past several years. Government policy relies on transmission, traction, and time consistency. Stephen Roach explains,

The impact of those policies hinges on  the “three Ts” of any regulatory policy: transmission (the channels by which  policy impacts the target); traction (the responsiveness of the public to those policy actions); and time consistency (the unwavering credibility of the authorities’ promise to reach specified targets). In monetary policy these would be things like full employment and price stability.  In Education Policy it shows up with promises for higher graduation rates and better test scores.

Transmission is easy when there is an enormous monopoly that controls what gets transmitted – the curriculum.

Traction is also simplified because there is no meaningful resistance. The kids start in pre-school or at 5 years of age. They have no knowledge, no understanding of history and their young lives will be filled with absorbing the material that is presented.

Time-consistency is rock-solid. The shear number of years that a young captive spends in the chair all but ensures the thoroughness of the indoctrination.  In Oregon, Gov. Kitzhaber wants to add a couple more years to the overall scheme by including 0 through 20 years in the state’s education plan.  Kitzhaber says, “I am committed to securing more resources for education and making new investments in a zero-to-20 education system.”  This means he’ll be looking for more taxpayer funding.
No doubt, his policy goals will absorb enormous amounts of money aiming at a target that does not belong to the state but properly belongs to parents. I’m certain he simply wants to keep any nasty parents from ruining their own children’s futures.

Yet, this “fourth T” never gets mentioned – the Target.

What if the target is the wrong target?  What if the government entity has no business making these targets for our children. What can the bureaucrats in Washington, DC possibly know about your child’s individual talents, gifts, skills or preferences?  Can they possibly adjust the curriculum to meet your family’s goals?

If their goals were valid why is it that all of these economic resources have never struck the target? Not in math performance. Not in science , or reading assessment tests. Not in graduation rates. Not in college attendance or college graduates employment opportunities.

 

Monopolies produce two things, higher prices and inferior products.

 

Break the monopoly!

1. Call your Federal Representatives
2. Call your State Representatives
3. Vote for pro-School Choice neighborhood school district board members
4. Choose alternatives for your children
5. Private school options are great
6. Homeschooling opportunities are fantastic

 

Today’s article will be quick and I’ll point out some historical facts about the anti-Federalist position during the Founding Era.

First, the anti-Federalists are responsible for bringing to us, what is commonly know as, The Bill of Rights. These first ten amendments to the constitution are the most important features of the modern constitution because they document the limits of government and highlight our individual rights.

The original constitution basically describes the machinery of the federal government. It gives details about how the various branches (legislative, judicial, and executive) were designed to mesh together. The original intent was to create a natural system of  checks and balances that would balance power within a representative republic. It was necessary to cement cooperative power within strict boundaries because the founders feared our human tendency for fickleness and fervent passions. They sought a balance which would hinder, “[m]en of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs.”

This morning every news outlet across America is priming the pump for President Obama’s upcoming State of the Union Address. It appears this administration believes hogs can get cleaned up with a good dose of statistical magic and some bright red lipstick.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz recently said that Obama’s upcoming schedule will be part of a “three week run-up” to the address that will “highlight the progress we have made in the economy.”

The State of the Union speech is scheduled  for January 20 on Capitol Hill.

What Schultz didn’t bother to tell us is that with the full $1.1 trillion dollar “CROmnibus” funding  in place the President’s agenda has much more than a speech planned. (Don’t forget to send your Thank You cards to Speaker Boehner and his traitorous minions.)

The bureaucratic hog washers can’t wait to get their hands dirty as they hone their language skills for misleading the the hard-working folks who are still holding onto their jobs.

Specifically, I’m referring to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics sharing the glorious news that December 2014’s unemployment numbers fell.

The high-gloss front page reads, “The US economy added 252,000 jobs in Dec.” The BLS reported that the unemployment rate dropping to 5.6% is the best employment statistic since 1999.

Thankfully, just in case children are watching Google News alerts, the blood red details have been carefully removed from any mainstream media stories. Here are the details:

• Unchanged – long-term unemployed.
• Little changed – involuntary part-time workers. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back due to ObamaCare implementation.
• Little changed – marginally attached labor. These were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
• Little changed – unemployment rate for adult men.
• Little changed – unemployment rate for teenagers.
• Little changed – unemployment rate for whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics.
• Little changed – marginally attached. (Those who are not searching for work.)
• Down – Civilian labor participation. (In December, the employment-population ratio was 59.2 percent)

If each of these statistics show “little” or “no change” and if the number of people working as a percentage of the overall workforce declines, “Where does the great news come from?”

The happy headlines apparently originated from this one tidbit:

• Down – the unemployment rate for adult women. It fell .2%

Do we really believe that the entire 252,000 December hiring surge was composed of attractive retail clerks wrapping gifts and selling perfume for Christmas?

These pitiful statistics are simply the muddy slop from an inept administration designed to camouflage the real issues that American’s face. The real problems are the insurmountable piles of debt being laid at our feet and the ever growing federal bureaucracy.

Here’s the real dirt from the federal pig pen:

• Only 171 million individuals pay income taxes out of a population of 320 million.
• The current U.S. national debt exceeds $18 trillion. (Realtime debt clock)
• Every minute each man, woman, child and newborn citizen’s debt (approx. $56,000 each) grows.
• Every minute each taxpaying citizen’s portion of the debt (approx. $154,000) also grows.

The final irony comes from our betrayal by the Republican led House of Representatives. The House should have defunded ObamaCare, stopped the President’s executive amnesty initiative and reined in the regulatory bureaucracies that are stifling American prosperity.

The last-minute deal between President Obama, the Democratic Senate and House Speaker John Boehner pushed through 1,603-pages of “CROmnibus” funding onto our backs and I can guarantee that no one read it.

The estimates for our individual portion of this particular tragedy range from $450 to $500.

If Americans remain complacent Congress will set to work to repeat their successful strategy of deceit. This $500 bill, like the other $56,000 we each owe the federal hog-washers, will get added to the tabs of our children and grandchildren.

Dear friends, this federal pig-farm is awash in the economic debris of excessive spending, unmanageable debt, and perpetual deficits.  The US House fully funded the President’s artful designs and the House is ultimately responsible!

 

 

 

There are a lot of theories being thrown around regarding the missing Malaysian 777. I’ve even had some supporters call with great, well-researched ideas about what might have happened to the plane and how our national security might be compromised because of it. These are essential concepts for our leaders and ourselves to ponder with clear eyes. In a situation like this, we can’t “hope” our way out of the scary reality we live in – that there is evil in the world and terrorism is always a possibility.

(Photo courtesy of Luccio ERRERA/Wikimedia commons)

I definitely feel for the families involved in this case, and I know it must be hard to hear conjecture and theories on every news channel – but I think that this kind of incident is healthy for us to think about. The truth is, when there’s a missing jumbo jet and the very real possibility of seriously high-tech terrorism, it forces us to think about our priorities. In this kind of situation, it matters who we vote for and what we spend our money on. Suddenly, shrinking the military seems foolish and wasting money on endless grants, bail-outs and healthy eating programs seems even sillier. These are endeavors that prosperous nations in peacetime can afford to pay for in moderation, but we’ve become a bloated bureaucratic pool of vanity projects and special-interest payouts. We’ve gotten so comfortable, with 99-week unemployment and worrying about the health of the planet, that we forget there are people in the world who dislike us very much, and are spending their time thinking about how to make us afraid instead of ways to market a lousy healthcare law to hipsters.

This missing flight should remind all of us to vote intentionally, be prudent and be on alert. Because a broke nation is a weak nation, and if we can’t get our financials in order with some strong conservative votes in the House, we won’t be ready for the next terror attack or unforeseen crisis. Evil never sleeps, and so we, as the shining city on a hill, a force for good in the world, should also be vigilant and prudent with our national treasury and defense.

 

Last week, I was challenged about my reasoning for supporting Israel. The question was, if I’m really dedicated to the Constitution, what is my argument for national support of Israel? Here is my response:

Today’s entire Middle East conflict needs to be addressed to help frame this discussion. The Arab-Israeli conflict is, in truth an Arab conflict with Western, particularly American, culture. Part of the dilemma that our nation faces is one of leadership and influence. Is it appropriate that American ideals get exercised throughout the world, or on a smaller scale, in the Mid-East region?

I think the answer is “Yes”, although my preference is that this influence should come through open commerce and voluntary contractual relationships instead of through foreign aid, or worse, foreign wars.

I will continue to support Israel because Israel is a true friend to the American experiment. America was nation was built upon Constitutionally-insured freedoms. These freedoms have been codified in the Constitution, but there will no doubt be gray areas in how our nation supports other “like-minded” nations. In fact, the term “nation” shows up only two times in our Constitution. Once with regard to regulating commerce and the second time with regard to, “Offenses against the Law of Nations.”  This last reference surely calls for recognizing a “Higher Law” concept and would be similar to the Nuremberg “Crimes against Humanity” ideas during World War II.  These higher laws hold power above and beyond the government’s assumed power. Thomas Jefferson commented that any rule which violated the higher law was actually null and void.

In terms of a strict Constitutional justification for what we see today, it doesn’t show up in any one sentence. However, we must note that the Constitution doesn’t describe every jot and tittle.

For example, Article 1, Section 8, reads, “To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;”  Notice, there are no details about what a “Navy” is supposed to do. That comes under the “make rules” clause. Does this mean policy? Or administrative and organizational management rules? As you can see, its wide open to interpretation. This doesn’t mean that we trample all over the original intent in an attempt to make our wishes seem “Constitutional”, but it does mean that we have to exercise some logic and common sense.

I’ll turn to Professor Paul Eidelberg for more thoughts on America and Israel. Professor Eidelberg conducts seminars on constitutions, diverse parliamentary electoral systems, Jewish law, and related topics for the Jerusalem center of the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy.  In 2009, he wrote concerning the larger issues. These were and are legitimate concerns for Iran’s aggressive stance against Israel:

“Let us take a closer look at what a nuclear-armed Iran portends not only for Israel, but for Europe and the United States—indeed, for Western civilization. Here, let us consult Robert Baer, a most farseeing and experienced former CIA operative in the Middle East. Last year, in his book The Devil We Know, Baer convincingly argues that Iran, contrary to what most believe, Iran is not a regime of crazies. Its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, head of the Revolutionary Guard, is pursuing a political strategy whose goal is to restore the Persian Empire. Iran’s nuclear weapons program must be viewed in these grandiose terms. As for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he is Khamenei’s subordinate.

“Ahmadinejad’s imprecations “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” should not be dismissed as the ranting of a maniac. It is a double entendre. It prompts the naïve to trivialize, hence obscure, Iran’s Machiavellian modus operandi. For the cognoscenti, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” signify the demise of Christianity and Judaism and the global ascendancy of Islam.”

If we ignore these warnings, it is at our own peril. If the age of the American collapse has begun, will other free nations be able to survive? I think not. I believe that helping to keep those nations’ sovereignty intact is a discussion that warrants prudence, careful policy and a willingness to see our world as the dangerous place it is.

If you’re interested, I also recorded a podcast on this topic (which you can listen to here).