Private Property

I've chosen, in a world where there's never enough time and energy, is to focus on the one political issue which most clearly and unmistakably demonstrates what any politician—or political philosophy—is made of, right down to the creamy liquid center.

Make no mistake: all politicians—even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership—hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician—or political philosophy—can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash—for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything—without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

Some Texans have tried for decades to ramrod a law through Austin that would ban smoking in public places statewide.

All this only serves to heat up the decades long trench warfare between the Anti-Smokers who ultimately want to outlaw tobacco entirely and Smoker's Rights groups who demand that their civil liberties be respected.

What frightens grown men is the uncertainty of what the Federal government is going to do tomorrow. The rules are changing too fast; shooting from the hip. Congress seems to have no time to read the bills, just vote, vote, vote! Moreover, some of these rules are not the laws as the Constitution limited Congress to enact. We are talking about Executive Orders.

Obama is no revolutionary. What he is aiming at may be the familiar old socialism of the past century and a half, but not by one bold move, one big bomb or one gigantic upheaval. He is moving by a process of evolution. One step at a time. This is not Socialism. This is Fabianism.

Is he really just a one-trick pony? What does he do but grind out speeches? What meat-grinder is running behind him, fed with lists of great words, lists of lofty leftist platitudes? His fans swoon, hearing only heavenly hope, nothing but the sweetest swill. Let me rethink this: “O” could be a two-trick pony: great-sounding public speaking and destroying the economy. Maybe Obama should just stick to making speeches. Let the citizens of this once great country take back their responsibilities and regain their rights.

With George leaving office, please remember to refrain from affectionately calling the USA "Bush Country". After the inauguration and swearing in, you may start using "Obama Nation". Thanks for your attention in this matter. Will the Change that Obama proposed resemble what the founding fathers envisioned or will it be an abomination?

The people who run Detroit may not be the brightest bulbs in the harbor, but the automobile industry is hardly going to be better run with congress taking it over.

"President Bush last week signed into law a bill which will see the federal government begin to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the U.S. within six months, a move critics have described as the first step towards the establishment of a national DNA database."

...

"One health care expert and prominent critic of DNA screening is Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care who has written a detailed analysis of the new law in which she warns that it represents the first program of populationwide genetic testing."

...

The Contract Clause is just one of several clauses in the U.S. Constitution that are troubling. The meaning they had among the people who had read the Constitution when it was adopted is no longer the meaning today. Several aspects are ignored, some have been broadened so as to include other meanings far from those of the time the Constitution was adopted. This is the second of these bi-weekly articles that will cover 10 such troubling clauses, which deals with the Contract Clause, that only intended fairness in the right of private parties to have protected contracts they enter into, not just in the interest of each party against the other, but also from state laws that would harm either party. This protection has been attacked in court decisions over time until it is now primarily at the private contract level, often allowing debtor relief (at the cost of the lender) and allowing state alteration of its own contracts, which harms contracting citizens.

During the 30th year of the Humphrey-Hawkins hearings, it would be helpful for Congress to reassess the usefulness of the Humphrey-Hawkins mandate. The dual mandate calls for full employment and stable prices. Humphrey-Hawkins assumes that the Federal Reserve has unique insights into the United States economy that no one else possesses, that the Federal Reserve knows what prices should be and how much unemployment there should be. Full employment which is brought about through rising inflation will eventually lead to a stagnant economy which will lead to more unemployment. 30+ years after the stagflation era, I would hope that Phillips curves are one of those barbarous relics of the past that have been sent to their graves, along with wage and price controls and bans on the private ownership of gold.

But what I wish to highlight the most is the most pernicious part of the Humphrey-Hawkins mandate is the mandate for price stability. This objective overlooks the natural tendency of prices to fall over time. As new production technologies are brought on line, factories gear up, economies of scale are reached, and the prices of goods will decrease.

There is still no such thing as the free market. It is a system entirely rigged to serve the interests of certain groups with wealth enough to buy influence over government....

Dear Indy Texans and Friends:

        You heard the good news that the Texas House passed a 2 year  
moratorium on the Corridor.  This is a major victory.  And, you must  
know that the House (and soon the Senate) is still trying to have  
their cake and eat it too.  For now, they have exempted the N. Texas  
freeway-to-tollway conversations out of the moratorium, like the DFW  
area SH 121 -- the "most lucrative toll road in the country".  And  
the Senate bill that may hit the floor at any moment, attempts to  
exempt out N. Texas, El Paso and Bexar County.

        You see, they want just a little less corruption!  And, really more  
to the point, they want to stop the urban, suburban and rural unified  
anti-corruption uprising to stop Perry from selling off public  
infrastructure to the lowest bidders.

The website you've just come from “GREENIE WATCH” (http://antigreen.blogspot.com/, or one of his dozens of clones), by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.), engages in content theft and copyright infringement. As Mr Ray is a self professed academic professor, claiming a Ph.D. no less, I can only believe he has knowledge of international 'fair use' and copyright laws. He has been sent email before from us, which he ignored, requesting he cease stealing our content. So,

• Please flag his Blog by using the Blogger “FLAG BLOG” at the top of his blog.
• Please email him your displeasure at his engagement in stealing.
• Please contact Google, owner of Blogger, and inform them that he engages in content theft and copyright infringement, he's been ask to quit and to start following international law, and has refused to do so, and therefor you request Google to delete his blog.

The Citizens of Texas are presented with an unique opportunity to challenge the wisdom of the Trans Texas Corridor and express their concern about the growing obsession with toll roads and public private partnerships.

THIS IS NOT ANOTHER TxDOT HEARING

The subject of this hearing is not limited to TTC-35, TTC-69, or proposed TTC corridor routes or specific toll roads.

Come hear TxDOT defend their policies to our elected officials. And, hear others who seriously question those policies. Add your presence and your voice to the debate.

Come fill the auditorium. All eyes at the Capitol will be focused on this hearing as an indication of public acceptance or opposition. This Senate Committee can have a real impact on the flawed public policy surrounding these projects.

Well, I said it over two years ago, "We don't need tolls and the toll plans are just a money grab by corrupt politicians." It is nice that the Texas A&M’s Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has now released a report that backs up my claims and ends up with the same 'bottom line' I did then. It's also most humours that the TTI is sometimes called Perry's lapdog. So, Gov. Perry, your dog bite you in the ass? You not feeding it enough pork?