Energy Independence

On Thursday 5/28 from 10-12 in the Spanos Theater, Congressman McCarthy, Congressman Nunes and others will be talking about sources of energy and strategies to make the United States an energy independent nation.  I think it would be a great opportunity for everyone to get a chance to hear what the members of Congress are doing and thinking to improve our current situation.  

A Must Watch Video

I was looking through my e-mail this morning and ran across this video from the Heritage Foundation. I think that it puts our spending into perspective. We should be embarrassed about what we are doing. The Tea Parties can not be the end of protest. If all the projected spending goes through as planed, this country will be ruined. 

You Might be a Terrorist ...

Driving home from a field trip to a machine shop in Paso Robles, I heard a funny thing while listening to Sean Hannity's talk radio show. Apparently the Department of Homeland Security has a warning out to law enforcement agencies that people like me, and probably you, are possible terror threats to our government. In a report that was not intended for public release, the DoHLS  list those that are of heightened  interest are people who are buying ammunition, oppose immigration amnesty, believe we are heading towards a more socialist economy, or are against gay marriage to name a few. Oh, and the most outlandish claim of the whole report is that

 "the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks."

 Wow, talk about supporting our troops...

So basically, if you disagree with the powers that be, you are a terrorist. Janet Napolitano, director of the Department of Homeland Security, has made a blunder here, a big one. It seems like we are one step closer to a Big Brother watching over our every move and limiting what we believe and think. I don't even know what to say about this... it is ridiculous. Everyone should read this paper. 

Nancy is up to it again

I find it interesting that free speech can be protected so closely by someone that is out to take it away from people that have differing oppinions from her own. Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to the Attorney General, Eric Holder, that basically asked him to turn a blind eye to the anti-trust laws that are currently in place which prohibit newspapers (specifically her liberally biased  local San Fransisco paper The Chronical) from merging together. She is claiming that it is the only way to keep the papers from going bankrupt and that 

"we must ensure that our policies enable our news organizations to survive and to engage in the news gathering and analysis that the American people expect." 

Well isn't that just fitting for the liberals, who love the biased newspapers that overwhelmingly supported Obama 3 to 1 over McCain  in the last election. The funny thing is that at the same time she wants to save the papers (which are out specifically for the public benefit, by the way), she wants to tear down the dominance in talk radio by the evil conservatives with her support of the Fairness Doctrine. 

I'm not sure, but to me this sounds a little fascist... It sure seems like she wants to control what people can hear. By trying to resurect a failing industry in the name of free speech, and at the same time attempt to ruin a thriving industry by taking away free speech she is abusing her power. I guess the First Amendment only applies to people that think the same way Nancy does. What a shame.

An Example to the rest of Washington...

On Thursday (3-12-09) Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) proved that some people in D.C. are still there looking out for the good of their constituents and not for themselves. By removing his name from consideration for the position of Secretary of Commerce, Gregg gave up the chance of being in President Obama's cabinet, but at the same time sent a message to the rest of Washington that some conservatives are still willing to stand up for their values. 

In a statement released by Gregg, he says that,  

“It has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.”

Judd Gregg is standing up for what he thinks is right. He could take the job and try to do things his way in the office, but under Obama, he does not think this is possible. The budget proposal is not something that Gregg wants to be part of and he has argued the validity of claims about the budget made by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner,  saying that

"The argument that this budget doesn’t have tax increases [on everyone] is, I think, an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ view of the budget."

Gregg also questions the validity of how the budget will reduce the debt when he said, 

“When you take the deficit and quadruple it and then you cut it and half, that’s like taking four steps back and two steps forward. That’s not making any progress; you’re still going backwards.”

I guess what impresses me the most is that this is a man who says what he thinks and then follows that up with his actions. It seems too often that the people representing us in the Capitol are willing to say one thing and do another. For example, lots of conservatives are bashing democrats for their pork barrel projects, but republicans account for 40% of all the earmarked spending. It is about time conservatives start taking a stand for their principles and when they do, like Judd Gregg has just done, they deserve high praise for their actions.    

More taxpayer money for people who don't deserve it

Part of me wants to join a gang, get a tattoo, leave the gang, complain that the reason I can't get a job is because I have a tattoo, and then let the federal government fix my problem and leave the burden on the taxpayers.

So if you're a defender of tattoo removal, you might say it's a good thing that the $410 billion spending bill that Congress is sending to President Barack Obama includes $200,000 for a small California program that helps people get their unstained skin back.

If you're an opponent, you might say it's a big waste of money.

"I would think under a personal responsibility platform, if you were responsible for getting a tattoo put on you, you might ought to be responsible for getting it taken off, and I do not think our grandchildren ought to be paying for it," said Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn.

I have seen alot of irresponsible spending lately, but this is simply the icing on the cake. Our student fees appear to be going up by over $1000 next year, so if the federal government has money to waste I suggest they donate it to the state of California- to put into the higher education system that is clearly struggling.

To read the rest of the article click here.

The Trouble with gun control...

At this past Tuesday's meeting we talked about the second amendment, and some utterly ridiculous laws that the democrats are trying to get passed. 

What have we learned about gun control???

Oh yea, that it raises crime rates because the entire concept of gun control lacks logic all together. 

Take this for example, 

- Law abiding citizens follow the law

- Felons clearly do not follow the law

-Felons cannot have guns

-But felons don't obey the laws, so they have guns

-If we make it nearly impossible for the average law abiding citizen to own a gun for self defense how would they defend themselves and their family if a someone breaks in to rob them. Remember felons don't care if the law says they can't have a gun, they will be armed and an innocent person will be defenseless. 

Check out this interesting video about the illegal disarming of citizens immediately after hurricane Katrina: