Category Archives: Republicans Can Be Leftists Too

Debt Super Committee

So, the bi-partisian debt committee Has admitted to failure; they are unable to reach an agreement on the gap they were to address. A couple of things:

1. There is no one that seriously thinks we have a revenue problem. If they say that they are died in the wool Statists or they are lying.

2. The committee was never really considering realm cuts to spending. They were talking about cutting the amount they were gonna increase spending. Never, ever, was the idea to spend less next year than this year.

3. Failure to reach an agreement isn’t the end of the world; we still get 1 trillion in cuts.

4. Republicans running around claiming they can’t cut the Pentagon’s budget are acting like Democrats.

5. With that said, defense spending IS called for in the constitution. Food stamps and section 8 are not.

Just Because It’s Government

Doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Or wrong.

Listen, I’m a pretty big “small government” kinda guy.  I resonate with the whole, “leave me alone” kinda thing.  I firmly believe that if we required government to focus on what government was supposed to do, we’d all be better off.

However, with that said, Government gets to do what it wants to do on land it owns:

Gun enthusiasts are rallying opposition to a string of new federal proposals that could close off hundreds of thousands of acres in the open West to target shooting.

The proposals from the Bureau of Land Management potentially would outlaw target shooting in swaths of public land in Arizona and Colorado as part of a broader conservation planning effort.

As near as I can tell, the government isn’t saying that you can’t own guns on Federal property.  They aren’t saying you can’t CARRY guns on Federal property.  They’re just saying you can’t shoot skeet on government property.

There’s a lot of stuff you can’t do on government property.

You can’t speed.

You can’t sit in the middle of the street just because you’re a stinky hippy sad that someone makes more money than you.

A whole bunch of stuff.

I suggest that the NRA back off on this one.

 

Gay Marriage: This is NOT What We Meant

Republicans, led by the Tea Party, have control of state houses across the country.  Why, right here in North Carolina for example, we have control of both the Senate and the House for the first time in 140 years.

Several, many in fact, good things have come as a result of this.  Tomorrow the Republicans are going to undo much of that good work:

RALEIGH, N.C. — The gay marriage debate has arrived in North Carolina after years in which Democrats managed to push it aside because they controlled the Legislature.

Now Republicans are in charge of the General Assembly after a 140-year absence. They’ve scheduled a legislative session Monday to consider proposed constitutional amendments, including those that would let voters decide next year whether to define marriage in the state constitution as between one man and one woman.

Now, it can be said that such considerations ought be left to the voters.  However, in this case, the basis of the founding of the nation protects the individual.  No matter HOW many people disapprove of gay marriage, the fact remains that Liberty must be served.  Two sovereign individuals have chosen to commit themselves to each other ought be enough for the state.  It ought to be enough for us.

I’m not advocating that the marrying habits of all people be APPROVED, certainly not.  After all, were that the case, it is highly likely that I would never have been allowed to marry my wife; so many people objecting to such an honorable and capable woman of marrying such a degenerate as myself.  That not withstanding, she is capable of free will.

Liberty is powerful.  And hard.  It often means that the outcome isn’t exactly how we wanted it to end.  But that’s what makes it good; the hard.

I hope the Republicans fail tomorrow.  I really do.

What The?

You have to win to govern.  And winning vs. losing in political races is a zero sum game.  When your opponent gets more votes, you lose and he wins.  This creates a situation where elected officials want to “win” the vote as much, or more, than they want to “win” the debate.

I get it, but this still sucks:

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans are so anti-tax, surely they will fight to prevent a payroll-tax increase on virtually every wage earner starting Jan. 1, right?

Apparently not.

They’re saying a tax cut should end as planned, opposing President Obama, who wants to extend it. The policy helps the 46 percent of all Americans who owe no federal income taxes but who pay a “payroll tax” on practically every dime they earn.

Huh?

Surly they can explain themselves?

Tax reductions, “no matter how well-intended,” will push the deficit higher, making the panel’s task that much harder, Camp’s office said.

Nope.  They can’t.

I may give this whole thing up and just go watch some baseball.

Receipts and Outlays

So, it appears we’re close to an agreement on the debt limit. I’m confused how the Republicans allowed themselves to get beat so badly. Near as I can tell we are not going to reduce spending but we are going to raise revenue.

Democrat’s dream.

How pathetic.

Yesterday

Ahh…to be 20 again, right?  And do all that crazy shit that people in their 20s do?

Remember all the things that you thought were true back then?

“Adults” didn’t “get it”.  They weren’t hip.  The new generation was gonna change, ’cause everything was changin’.

And then you kinda grew up.

I know, I did it.  I used to be that long haired hippie dude with the ear-ring.  I used to go down to Mexico and build homes for immigrants trying to cross the border.  I used to support legalizing pot.

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When Elephants Trample

Wisconsin recently passed a concealed carry law in the state.  Basically the law allows people in the state of Wisconsin to carry concealed weapons if they are licensed to do so.

However, the law is clear in that it does not trump private property rights.  That is, just because you have a carry-conceal license does not mean you can carry in my home.  Or other private property.

It would seem that certain people object to the concept of private property:

A Wisconsin jewelry store owner is under fire from customers for opting out of the state’s recently-passed concealed carry law.

Bret Eulberg, owner of Robert Haack Diamonds in Greenfield, Wis., says he has been getting angry messages threatening a boycott of the store. The new law allows residents to carry concealed firearms in public, but business owners still have a say whether or not they want to observe the law in their stores.

“We’re getting phone calls saying we’re not going to come to your store supporting you because you’re against gun rights,” Eulberg told Fox6Now.com. “We’re not against gun rights. My contention is if a bad guy is in my store and you’re a good Samaritan in my store and you see the bad guy whipping out the gun, we already have security procedures in place to protect ourselves.”

Private property is private property.  Mr. Eulberg isn’t saying that you can’t carry a gun, he’s not saying that he disagrees with you carrying a gun, he’s saying he doesn’t want you to carry a gun on his PRIVATE property.

Damn Republicans!

Gay Marriage: Government Is Getting Closer

To be sure, there’s a lot of work to be done.  But the “state” is getting closer and closer each passing year.

We’re seeing courts rule that gay marriage is protected; is a civil right.  To restrict the contract of marriage at a state or government level is simply not consistent with the role of that state.  We wouldn’t expect governments to restrict marriage within the context of religion.  Nor do we expect the state to restrict marriage on the basis of race.

It is with that in mind that I applaud the Navy in their decision:

The Navy will allow its chaplains to officiate same-sex marriages once the military’s ban on gay marriage is officially lifted this summer, according to a new memo written by Navy’s head chaplain, Rear Admiral Mark Tidd.

The memo reads: “Regarding the use of base facilities for same-sex marriages, legal counsel has concluded that generally speaking, base facility use is sexuality orientation neutral. If the base is located in a state where same-sex is legal, then base facilities may normally be used to celebrate the marriage.”

Awesome!

It’s about time.

And not only did the Navy get it right on the brush strokes, but they got some details down too:

Navy marriages on Navy bases typically involve Navy Chaplains, but the memo goes on to say the chaplains involvement is not mandatory and he or she could decline to participate if gay marriage is not “consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization.”

I firmly believe this decision is consistent with the idea of extending personal Liberty to all.  Why in the world do we think the state ought restrict a legally binding contract enacted by two adult and consenting human beings?  Liberty means Liberty.  Even if, in fact, especially when, you may not agree with the application of such Liberty.

And for the religious conservative – Should the state forbid the marriages of atheists?

It’s Hard Not To Be A Leftist

Or, Republicans Can Be Leftists Too!

We all want to what we think is the best for the folks under our care; at least I HOPE that’s what we wanna do.  Now, I understand that at the margin, there are politicians that do enter the system and play the game for the sole purpose of enriching themselves, either with power or money–or both.

By and large, however, I think they play the game in an effort to serve well.

And often times serving well means, or can mean, parenting.

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When We Said “Smaller Government” We Meant Smaller Government!

For nearly 40 years I lived free from the burdens of a red hot political fire.  Sure I had my views on issues, the big ones, without a doubt.  But reading and studying like I’ve done?  Never.

It never EVER occurred to me to “be political”.

But that ALL changed with Barack Hussein Obama.  In an instant.

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