PatriotWriter - Inane American Humor & Texas Grit

Snowden Speaks - Who Will Listen?

2013-07-02T00:20:00.003-05:00

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow

Monday July 1, 21:40 UTC

One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

For decades the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

Edward Joseph Snowden

Monday 1st July 2013

Historic liberty letter returns to the Alamo after 177 years

2013-03-08T10:17:00.002-06:00

“The Letter” has returned to The Alamo. This is the same letter Senator Ted Cruz read recently during Senator Rand Paul's historic anti-drone filibuster on the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo.

Texans need no further explanation, so they can stop reading now and go see it.

Renowned for its declaration of defiance against a tyrannical Mexican government, William B. Travis’ “Victory or Death” letter is easily one of the most celebrated documents in Texas history. This masterpiece of patriotism is world-famous in its appeal to all who love freedom from an oppressive government.

Penned during the siege on the Alamo in February 1836, it is addressed “To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world” as it pleaded on behalf of 100+ Texans for volunteer reinforcements in a dire situation against a Mexican Army that had gathered in the thousands.

Capt. Albert Martin carried The Letter on horseback across enemy lines under the cover of darkness. He tried desperately to rally troops to help in the fight, managing to return with less than 100 reinforcements, brave men who knew they were almost certainly going to fight to their deaths.

The Letter has not been back to the Alamo since it was written 177 years ago. It has, however, had an interesting journey. After its contents spread like wildfire around the United States and much of Europe during the early days of the sovereign Republic of Texas, The Letter itself made it back to the Travis family.

During a period of financial difficulty in 1893, William B. Travis’ great-grandson John G. Davidson asked the State of Texas if it would buy The Letter for $250. “They went back and forth on the price,” said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. “And the State ended up buying it for $85 — clearly a bargain.”

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/american-humor-texas-grit/2013/mar/5/historic-liberty-letter-returns-alamo-after-177-ye/#ixzz2MxtlO1RI Follow us: @patriotwriter @wtcommunities on Twitter

Gun Control's Sitting Ducks: Poor Californians Should Take a Cue from Texas

2013-02-24T22:53:00.001-06:00

WASHINGTON, February 24, 2013 — Joe Biden’s shotgun home defense tips could go down in history as the most irresponsible comments in the 2013 gun control debate. The “fire blindly at scary shadows” tactic only works to craft your legal defense as to why you shot your lover through the bathroom door, or to explain why, as a law enforcement officer, you just shot an elderly woman delivering the newspaper.

Joe’s advice to his wife could very well get her killed. If she ever does manage to fire the double barrel .12 gauge shotgun “twice” at the scary noises in the woods, misses them, and they happen to be armed, poor Jill will be an easy target – especially if she is knocked unconscious by her weapon’s mighty recoil. Let’s all pray she never has to make that decision.

The common thread that runs through the gun control debate and these individual examples of firearms abuse is fear. A novice gun owner would fire upon an unidentified target if gripped with fear. The police shoot first and identify later when they are afraid for their lives and value their lives over yours. Gun control activists and lawmakers fight for increased restrictions because they are afraid they might be killed in their sleep by a burglar with an unregistered or scary-looking gun.

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/american-humor-texas-grit/2013/feb/23/targeting-gun-control-california-vs-texas/#ixzz2LsnbLqsF Follow us: @PatriotWriter @wtcommunities on Twitter

Too Big to Care—Bank of America Serves Lawsuits, Not Customers

2013-02-14T10:03:00.001-06:00

WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2013 — If the banking industry had a “biggest losers” award, Bank of America Corp. (B of A) would win – and that’s not a good thing.

B of A comes by its image problem honestly, and this may be the only way that “honesty” and “Bank of America” can be paired in a sentence without prompting laughter from bystanders. The company’s sins have been widely reported. B of A essentially crafts laws, much to the chagrin of its customers and taxpayers in general, that are protected in court by well-funded trial lawyers and enforced by the politicians they help keep in office.

The B of A recently received some wrist-slaps from a sluggish U.S. Justice Department over the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan “hustle” more than five years ago. That will bring little comfort to the masses of Americans who were defrauded during the nightmarish loan modification scam of 2011. In the five years between those scams, Bank of America received nearly $100 billion from taxpayers – an act of government largesse without precedent.

(This is my debut column at The Washington Times, a newspaper I have read regularly since I lived in The People's Republic of California! Please leave congratulatory comments here and read the rest of the story at WashTimes and comment there. Thanks!)

The Eyes Have It - Scripts & Tricks at Tampa RNC 2012

2012-08-29T12:03:00.000-05:00

I blew into Tampa on Sunday night along with Hurricane Isaac and he promptly made a left turn. The RNC machine and Team Romney have proved a bit less accommodating. I was eager to compare RNC2012 to RNC2008——where the air was charged, the base was ecstatic over the Palin pick, and McCain was virtually ignored at his own coronation ceremony.

To christen my Florida trip, I grabbed a wheelchair in the airport and sat in it on the curb, awaiting my ride. The only thing I was missing was my own oxygen tank. After witnessing the "business" conducted at the convention Tuesday, I am convinced the establishment tools are sucking on some other type of gas.

While the MSM focuses on interviewing the balloon guy (See Fox News, Bill Hemmer) and the live coverage is dominated by pundits like Karl Rove and Bill Kristol who personify neo-conservativism, I observe and document what is really happening in Tampa. I have chosen a seat near the floor with a partial view of the stage and a full view of the teleprompter. That's how I saw the first pre-determined floor "vote" unravel. Contrary to Boehner's script, the "aye's" quite clearly did not have it.

The epic power grab the RNC pulled via rule change on delegate selection received some news coverage before the vote. This must have helped put party planners on the offensive. John Boehner presided over a convention that seems to have been planned like a war——the continued war within. With Monday's activities cancelled allegedly by Isaac, both sides had extra time to plan their attack. Strategy meetings convened in secret. I attended one held to galvanize grassroots leaders' efforts against the majority report of the Rules Committee. I was amazed at the level of intensity. This has nothing to do with securing the election for Romney and everything to do with ensuring the top spot can always be bought in the future.

In Tampa, delegations not unified for Romney, including Texas, were seated by the RNC as far away from the stage as possible. I am currently getting reports that grassroots champion Morton Blackwell's bus, along with the entire Virginia delegation, circled the arena until the Rules vote was over. Photos are surfacing of party insiders blocking delegates' microphones. Parliamentary procedure does not exist at this sham convention. Check out the resolution/Rules vote here at 1:00 and know that I personally saw the teleprompter read "The Aye's have it" BEFORE the delegation voted. (UPDATE: Just found this video on YouTube as proof.)

How did Team Romney and the RNC pull this off? Let me count the ways. Texas Republican Party Chairman Steve Munisteri's microphone was allegedly cut during the scripted Rules vote to prevent the delegation from calling for points of order or for a simple standing ("division") vote when the voice vote was obviously too close to call. Instead, massive screams from delegates for "Point of Order" were hijacked by insiders chanting "USA! USA!" In hindsight, these occurrences would make a fantastic study. Television audiences should be told that every time they heard the "USA" chants broadcast, it was to mask the voices of others. Such tactics were, in reality, as patriotic as The Patriot Act itself. As an American, I am embarrassed and saddened to see such Gestapo-style methods of suppression in my own country.

Texas National Delegate Jay Stang commented Monday on the proposed Rules change, "Anybody who has any sliver of independent thought or principle will be ejected as a delegate if they don't line up perfectly with the candidate. It's like a Stalinist purge." Keep in mind, national delegate selection occurs before the party has an official nominee. This will result in 100% support to nominate the front-runner, thereby making an RNC convention virtually unnecessary. Stang continued, "They'll get rid of anybody they don't like. So you would have a phenomenon where only the candidate's buddies, donors...would be delegates. There wouldn't be room for the grassroots."

Apparently the RNC is still not familiar with the CIA term "blowback"...for that is what they will get from this ultimate consolidation of power. Its army of doorknockers were just kicked out in the cold. Sure, they are consolidating the big money behind Romney and coaching donors how they can spread donations across state parties and the RNC in order to achieve six figure totals. If it is truly only about fundraising, Romney is in——and so are they. But at least half of the national RNC delegates this year walked away in disgust. What will be result? The GOP just slit its throat, disemboweled its base, all but ensured an Obama re-election, and hopefully a strong, limited government, pro-grassroots primary candidate in 2016.

Perhaps one of the most gratifying aspects of the convention is seeing the huge numbers of liberty delegates, stealth and declared, this year as compared to 2008. Legions of "stealth delegates" were coached by Team Romney people on how to frustrate the efforts of non-Romney delegates trying to speak or conduct business.

Politics is a crafty game, to be sure, and the stakes are high. This year it is so obviously Money vs. Ideology, they didn't even try to pretend otherwise. The "Death Tax" was discussed more than any other topic among elite Romney supporters. Prudent students of history will recognize the age-old pattern. When I get home, I plan to brush up on the French Revolution, maybe hit an oxygen bar or two, and try to recover from the "bread and circuses" stage show that was just fed to the world as a convention.

“Small men seeking great wealth or power have too often and too long turned even the highest offices of public service into mere personal opportunity.” - Barry Goldwater, 1964 RNC Nomination Acceptance Speech

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” - Thomas Jefferson

More sources and explanations:

Maine Delegation Unseated/Romney Questioned

Boehner Booed

The GOP Can, Because You'll Take It

Bloated Bureaucracy is No Life Raft for California’s Sinking Ship

2012-06-04T10:33:00.002-05:00

The so-called California Cancer Research Act up soon for a vote is a misnomer. According to the measure, funds collected from California taxpayers are allowed to be spent researching elsewhere, including other countries. In an already bankrupt state, the $735 million projected to be raised yearly by this new tax will not help balance the budget or do a thing to pay down the $10 billion deficit.

Thanks to a loophole spotted by the career politician behind this measure, it also defies California’s constitutional amendment requiring a portion of all new taxes go to schools. Cleverly, Proposition 29 will shortchange schools out of more than $300 million per year!

Proposition 29 provides for money to be wasted on government agencies completely unrelated to cancer research. The State Controller’s Office, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Financial Information System for California will all get a piece of the bloated pie.

Furthermore, the proposition dedicates up to $110 million a year to be spent on new buildings and facilities when California already has the finest research facilities in the world! It also duplicates existing tobacco control programs by parroting what California has already funded, but adds clone organizations run by an entirely new set of bureaucrats.

Of course, an additional $22 million a year will go toward tobacco-related law enforcement, not crimes with real victims like murder, robbery, or rape.

Some of the provisions for the massive overhead written into this proposition include $15 million a year for six political appointees’ travel, benefits, and salaries. They will have the sole authority, with no oversight, to spend taxpayer money until the end of time.

This measure sets out to prove that it pays big to be a political appointee. Taxpayers pick up the tab for the meetings they attend. The CEO reserves the right to appoint other people (i.e. personal friends) with no oversight and pay their huge salaries, too. There is no limit for how large this bureaucracy can grow!

Perhaps the most sickening part of this maniacal proposition is that the state’s governor or legislature is forbidden to make changes or correct problems within the organization’s bloated, taxpayer-funded bureaucracy for 15 years—even in instances of blatant waste, fraud, and abuse.

If the proposition is approved by voters on June 5, the committee will be able to operate under its own rules, changing them as frequently as desired. The language of the measure explicitly states that grants can go to the organizations that employ the committee members! In an effort to address conflicts of interest issues, the measure plainly admits that it was created to accommodate conflicts of interest! Check it out at http://readforyourself.org

There are many reasons Californians should vote against Proposition 29. Its authors hope voters do not look past the childlike argument, “Cancer is bad. Tobacco is bad. Curing cancer is good.” A deeper look into the wording of the measure reveals its true intention—the same-old-same-old political backscratching that put California into bankruptcy in the first place.

To add insult to injury, the same guy who thought it would be a good idea to dump his fiancée, Sheryl Crow, when she was diagnosed with cancer is on the Board of Directors of this mess, California’s latest tax money laundering scam. Let’s hope the state’s voters wise up and vote against Lance Armstrong’s misleading Proposition 29.

My Letter to Dewhurst's Crook-in-Chief

2012-05-21T19:35:00.000-05:00

Moomaw,

When you and I first met in 2005, you underwhelmed me with your calculated "insider" answers to my sincere questions. Since then, the ever-typical Dewhurst performed a knee-jerk reaction to a minor incident, installing cumbersome metal detectors at every Capitol building entrance. This is just one sign of his big-government-is-the-answer-to-any-little-problem-mentality. The Texas Capitol is crawling with fine people who have their own weapons concealed and who want them to remain that way. They carry for the safety of others. Metal detectors are asinine in that proud Texas building.

Furthermore, The Dew personally gutted our grassroots effort to get the TSA and the DOJ out of our traveling clothes in Texas. He has a lot of nerve running as a conservative. Dewhurst is out of touch with Texans because he has never been in touch! We see who he really is; no amount of money will win him this election. His time is up, thank goodness!

Please count me in to donate to Dewhurst's opponent's campaign. Also, please remove me from your mailing list. I am a vocal part of the anybody-but-Dewhurst campaign. Go Ted Cruz!

Thanks!

PatriotWriter

Prop 29 Takes the Cake (Away) and Eats It Too

2012-05-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Eight years ago, those wild and crazy Californian voters passed yet another massive spending project, this time to generate $30 billion in bonds for stem-cell research. Dubbed Proposition 71, which stands for 7 billion taxpayer dollars for the hope of one ounce of cure, is just another reverse Robin Hood scheme—rob from the middle class to create a few more members of the nouveau riche. Yes, to say that the payout odds were 7-to-1 would be massively optimistic, and massively wrong—unless you’re on staff. Cha-ching!

Predictably, the project is currently steeped in controversy. With no accountability, the top of their food chain rakes in a killing while mismanaging tens of millions of borrowed dollars. For fun. To date, not even a hint of one of the promised miracle cures materialized. But then, it doesn’t have to...that is not part of the deal. No end result is required from the $30 billion in loans. It is research for a good cause, so pitch in and do your part. Stop asking questions. They’ve got golf club memberships to pay, after all.

That same line of thoughtless thinking in the same state that is financially sinking now pitches a new medical research proposition. On June 5, voters will decide whether or not to fund Proposition 29, a billion dollar tax hike. I can think of about a billion reasons to vote this crazy scheme down. One reason is that Robert Klein, the head cheese who pushed for Prop 71 (cha-ching!) just donated $5,000 of his own money to the Yes on Proposition 29 campaign. St. Robert the Research Dollar Generator should feel personally responsible for condemning California to debt, but he apparently feels absolved of any wrongdoing, for he is at it again.

Special Favors for Political Insiders

Like St. Robert’s pet stem-cell research project failure, Proposition 29 is also exempt from yearly oversight. If passed, it will have its funds continuously appropriated, not even pending good behavior. If it is riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse—and I bet you a box of Cuban cigars it will be—it will still get its dirty money. Butt out, Governor. Take a hike, Legislature. The Prop 29 people will do what they want with our tax dollars!

If you thought nepotism and cronyism only thrived in government, you should see what happens with co-opted California research dollars. A scant 15% of the forcibly confiscated funds made it to the outside, to institutions not represented by cronies on the board. $930 million stayed in their pockets. How do you say, like, “total conflicts of interest” with a California accent? Martha Stewart was thrown in the slammer for far less dirty insider dealing.

This is simply how the system works—insiders successfully game it because duped taxpayers continue to pay out. I suspect California voters are catching on, if only because they have nothing left to give. Another $735 million to be generated by Proposition 29 will be administered by a special panel stacked with political appointees. Cha-ching! Their decisions will be set in stone for 15 years, even if they are caught with their pants down in the name of cancer prevention.

Ballot box budgeting is a disaster. Prop 29 is just another drop in the bucket of California’s financial collapse. You can bet the farm on that!

When Lance is King of Texas, You Will Wish You Had Killed His Pet Projects Back in 2012

2012-04-13T05:48:00.015-05:00

We live in a world where it is no longer enough to be Mr. Universe, then the wealthiest actor in Hollywood, then marry a hot news anchor from the Kennedy family. To be truly satisfied, apparently, one must knock a knowledgable accountant out of the race to fix your state's budget crisis, then sit on the Governor's throne, and then boink the maid. For the record, "Conan the Republican" left the California governatorship as a card-carrying liberal. I warned my friends working for his 2003 Total Recall campaign not to come crying to me when he sells them down the river. (They came crying to me anyway.) Every dark cloud has a silver lining, though; my accountant guy is now a Congressman named McClintock.

I don't think California would still be in such dire straits financially now if McClintock had been elected governor way back in 2003. Hindsight is 20/20? Not for me. It's foresight, if I could ever get anyone to listen!

But what do we care about California politics? We are snuggled safely in our Texas cocoon, comforted by a braggadocious budget surplus (take THAT, Cali!) and are far too savvy to allow Sacramento shenanigans in Austin...right?

Ah, but we live in a world where it's no longer enough to be a world-class athlete, then the wealthiest rider of two-wheeled contraptions on the planet, then engaged to a hot pop singer who happens to be the great-granddaughter of former Congressman Crow. To be truly satisfied, apparently, one must lobby for tax increases and new regulations across the country in the name of fighting cancer, then wait for the right election "cycle" to knock out Slick Rick, then ditch the famous fiancé just as she is diagnosed with cancer—as if it is contagious.

Oh, whaddya know! Here comes Tour de Lance racing toward the Congress Avenue finish line in his three-piece suit, looking very gubernatorial! What a twist! Didn't see that coming!

Actually, if you are reading this, you did.

With the regulatory and oppressive record King Lance would give us, I am frankly surprised that those yellow Livestrong bands weren't styled to fit a bit higher on the arm, say, around the bicep.

Armstrong is currently co-chair of a California campaign committee to pass Proposition 29, the so-called California Cancer Research Act, a misleading ballot measure Californians will (hopefully) vote down on June 5, 2012. If passed, the measure is projected to confiscate well over $500 million dollars annually for bureaucratic government use by levying an additional $1-per-pack tax on tobacco products in already smokeless California. Revenues will also be spent on government-appointed smoking-cessation programs and on more criminal-making tobacco law enforcement. Yes, we are all pretending that Californians are solvent and can stomach another burdensome tax, more bureaucratic oversight into private business, and more crowding in prisons for victimless crimes.

Ask yourself: why does Mr. L.A. care so much about the taxes in L.A.? I thought all he wants to do is have some fun! I am sure his heart is in the right place, but he is fooling himself to dream that "the cure" for cancer will magically be discovered by a state government who has spent itself out of existence. It's just smoke and mirrors!

California itself is dying of the cancer of greed, mismanagement, and burdensome taxation. Its demise will be epic if extreme measures are not taken. My first suggestion is for Californians to NOT pass this current extreme measure, this new tax called Prop 29.

Call your friends in California and warn them about the taxes that are still spreading like cancer. If you don't, we could be fighting an uphill battle with a flat bike tire here in Texas. Team Lance is quick, conditioned, well-funded, and very good at winning races. Foresight is 20/20.

The Liberty Movement Needs Female Marketers

2012-03-12T09:53:00.004-05:00

Here's my response to this article titled Liberty for Ladies by Bonnie Kristian in the Daily Caller:

It sounds like the male-dominated liberty movement needs to hire some female marketing professionals to make the conceptual case to women for Austrian economics, non-interventionist foreign policy including American Military History 101, and the private charity track record vs. socialized welfare. Intellectually, I support these and other libertarian concepts but do not enjoy getting bogged down in detailed minutia about economics and warfare tactics. I have a marketing mind, not an engineering mind. Attention men: help me help you make the case for liberty to American women before they re-elect Obama or Obama-lite.

"The Trespass Bill" H.R. 347

2012-03-09T11:19:00.006-06:00

UPDATE: Obama signed this tyrannical bill into law on Thursday, March 8. As if hopping the White House fence or breaking into the Vice President's mansion wasn't already illegal, this law makes it a federal offense to act "disorderly" or "disruptive" at any function of national significance where the Secret Service is present, near any government building, or near anyone who is under protection by the Secret Service. The descriptors are vague and will be enforced randomly and per the arresting officer's own discretion. The penalty for such loud or unruly conduct near anything or anyone of significance to the government is a prison sentence of up to ten years. This reminds me of the people who got arrested in the Lincoln Memorial for breaking out into spontaneous dancing. The level of absurdity we have reached as a regulation state has caused this otherwise patriotic American to snap. I am officially deranged and fully anticipate a lifetime of prison for the disruptive behavior I will most likely employ in the future.

Oddly, I didn't notice any mainstream media outlets mentioning this new law. Coverage of the bill in question was scant and relegated to right-leaning or libertarian-sympathizing outlets. FYI This law already existed but was reintroduced in the House and amended, presumably any protections offered by the First Amendment were removed. Only three Congressmen voted against it in the first round of voting. Congressman Ellison changed his vote in the second round to oppose it. Apparently it passed unanimously in the Senate. I have not verified if Senator Rand Paul was present that day. No voting record in the Senate is paired with its version of the bill.

So the four Congressmen who have escaped the guillotine on this one are: Republicans Justin Amash of WI, Paul Braun of GA, and Ron Paul of TX, and Democrat Keith Ellison of MN voted for it before he voted against it.

Here are the screenshots of the bill:

Check out my Twitterfeed on the tirade. A congressman I really like (who abstained on the votes) responded to me via Twitter that the bill is not tyranny. So the removal of our freedom to protest "near" the President, "near" elected officials, or "near" any event the Secret Service protects is just fine by the Constitution?

Passage of this bill is as near-sighted and sinister (supposedly an answer to the Occupy Movement) as was The Patriot Act (supposedly an answer to 9/11) in that they have resulted in the confiscation of our Constitutional rights. It is my opinion that we officially have an illegitimate government. If given the opportunity to send the offenders to the guillotine, I would not hesitate to do so. In an effort to convert a few without bloodshed, I would offer them the option (pre-guillotine) between tar and feather or public flogging and then strictly monitor their voting record for a probationary period. This gesture is more grace than they deserve for their crimes of high treason, treachery and tyranny. You can bet that it is more grace than we will receive if we shout or dance in proximity of anyone they know or plan to meet.

Off with their heads!

Salute the New Camouflaged Warriors in the Grand Old Party

2012-02-27T10:25:00.003-06:00

Conservative Republican values—I remember them well from my rural, independently-minded Idaho upbringing: limited government, personal liberty and responsibility, fiscal restraint, and respect for human life, right? As proof of my dyed-in-the-wool Republican childhood, Reagan’s portrait had such a prominent place on my family’s mantle I always assumed he was one of our uncles. When George W. Bush changed his address to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I was squarely in the middle of a growing young voter demographic. That’s when I got to know the heavy-hitting Grand Old Republicans in the behemoth states of California and Texas.

It has since taken me a decade to realize that the GOP is run by three types of people: busy-bodied heifers who dominate others through gossip and intimidation, their emasculated sidekicks who meekly fall in line, and shrewd business people who have figured out how to game the system for personal profit, prestige or, if they’re exceptionally shrewd, both.

Try as I might over the years to recruit fresh blood to the Republican Party, the mighty missing alpha males with their well-toned leadership abilities and hearts full of devotion to our country were invariably engaged in more noble, rewarding pursuits. It seemed the guys and gals who could turn the GOP and the country around were deployed overseas, hunting deer at the ranch, raising strong sons, running a business, or throwing a football with friends. Heroes like this have better things to do than dedicate countless nights and beautiful weekends to GOP meeting minutia. Over time, I abandoned my goal to change the GOP from within by introducing pure-hearted, limited government, common sense warriors. I then picked up a few hobbies of my own that did not result in me beating my head against the wall in a room full of mean heifers and girlie men manipulating Robert’s Rules of Order to their advantage.

Cue the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2012. By this stage in my political exposure to the GOPandemic, I knew I was witnessing the party of Uncle Reagan flatline. Mitt Romney of Taxachusetts is your pick? Really, CPAC? Congratulations. Your brand is officially ruined. Thanks for driving the stake through my party’s undead corpse.

Dejected does not begin to describe how I felt when I realized I wasted my twenties as a GOP activist. I wondered if I was the only longtime Republican who had chosen to swallow the Truth Pill in spite of its permanent side effects.

Imagine my delight this President’s Day when I found myself among 544 impressive military members and veterans excited to enlist in Republican politics! My heart soared as Veterans for Ron Paul marched in step toward Chancellor Obama’s pretty white palace, chanting for serious reform in deep-voiced unison. “End this War!” and “Legalize the Constitution!” reverberated like cannon fire off the cheerless government buildings. Upon reaching the Presidential gates, they promptly did an about face and stood in formation with their backs to the Commander-in-Chief’s residence, silently saluting the servicemen lost to war and suicide under his administration.

The Veterans for Ron Paul’s mission is to galvanize tens of thousands of their comrades standing for peace and liberty and march them to the Republican National Convention (RNC) 2012 in Tampa. This organic veterans’ movement is noteworthy due to its leaderless leadership. It grows by word-of-mouth and is assisted by social media outlets. It has no non-profit status or mailing address. It doesn’t even have a real website. Yet, Veterans for Paul are everywhere and are poised to infuse the Republican party with good-old-fashioned American reform that would make our founders proud.

It’s a shame that the same people we send off to fight foreign wars must return only to do battle with the political machine to save their country and revive the GOP.

Ron Paul is the clear choice of the troops. They both oppose the endless wars that have bankrupted our nation. Dr. Paul represents the real Republican Party, old school style. Liberty is indeed popular and his message resonates with young and old, rich and poor, military and civilian. Fortunately, he’s bringing back into the GOP fold real leaders with sound philosophies concerning the proper role of government. The fresh faces are idealistic, to be sure, but they also have iron wills, strong stomachs and are battle-hardened thanks to our misguided policies.

Mean heifers, girlie men and shrewd opportunists be forewarned: you’re about to get some serious camo-wearing competition.

********************************************************************************

For more inane American humor and Texas grit, follow PatriotWriter on Twitter and visit Daily PAuL (Peace. Gold. Liberty.) for my weekly Wednesday column.

"Don't Confuse Me For a Dirty Hippie." Ron Paul is the Choice of the Troops

2012-02-25T22:14:00.013-06:00

If you heard about the recent march on The White House by 544 veterans for Ron Paul and their family and friends, chances are you've seen Zak Carter's handiwork. As the man charged with media and promotion, he personally handed press releases on the event to various mainstream media outlets. A few of them even covered it.

The rally and march were impressive and triggered mixed emotions. The veterans were elated that Ron Paul's ideas are getting so much traction. They're devastated for their fallen comrades, their families, and for the sacrifices active duty military members continue to make overseas without, they feel, true moral imperatives.

The reality of senseless and endless war must be weighing heavily on returning soldiers. The veterans for Ron Paul stood at attention for more than eight minutes with their backs turned toward Chancellor Obama's District of Criminals' residence. The time spent saluting represented one second for each active duty military member who has committed suicide while Obama was their commander-in-chief.

I don't know if you've ever held your arm in the air for eight consecutive minutes, but it ain't easy. Veterans from the Korean War stood next to active duty military members. Both walked with similar limps. Both helped each other march in formation, working through the pain. Both care enough about our country's future that they made it a point to take a public stand in a highly surveilled city.

Zak Carter served his country by deploying to Kosovo and also to Iraq. He had three years of active duty in the Army with an honorable discharge, followed by four years as a Reservist, before he was kicked out of the Army for endorsing Ron Paul and his foreign policy in his military uniform on YouTube.

I spoke with Zak about the conversion process he went through between willingly following Army orders while deployed and realizing the extent of the foreign policy disasters he helped create. He said that he first started to "wake up" on the way home from serving in Iraq. He landed in an America airport and was met by the TSA, only to be treated like a common criminal.

After that humiliation, he began to learn about the situation on our Southern border with Mexico. Familiar with border security procedures while patrolling the Macedonia / Kosovo border, he was shocked to learn that the rules of engagement change when it it our own troops defending our own border. It made no sense to him that our military stationed on the border is issued no ammunition, must retreat when fired upon, and does not have the authority to apprehend anyone. They are simply sitting ducks in what is arguably a war zone. Yes, our federal military personnel is not allowed to enforce the laws of the land. (Posse Comitatus Act) Yet, Zak realized, the Border Patrol, the FBI, the DEA, and many other federal law enforcement agencies have free reign on the border. The difference seemed negligible. 'We're all paid by the same guy," Zak said.

The straw that broke this young man's back was when Zak's wife showed him this video on YouTube. "It forced me to look at everything I'd done in Kosovo and Iraq. I couldn't pretend anymore." he said.

Zak believes former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker when he says that if we don't get our spending and entitlements under control, the United States will be in the throes of another Great Depression by 2016 or 2017. In his own words: "We need Ron Paul. He’s the only one addressing these issues. He doesn’t want to keep papering over the problems. I loved being a soldier. I miss it. The friends that I made are more than friends--they’re brothers and I love every one of them. Many are still active, almost all of them support Ron Paul. They stay in the service because of our brothers, and don’t want them to go into harm’s way without being there for them. It’s a voluntary army, yes, but that doesn’t mean we agree with the missions. We’re not anti-war hippies because we support Ron Paul. Do NOT confuse me for being a hippie!"

For information about the upcoming march and rally at the RNC in Tampa this August, check out http://www.facebook.com/VetsforRonPaul or http://cvrp2012.com/

No Confidence in Eric Holder Except Possibly in a Jail Cell

2012-01-27T22:39:00.010-06:00

January 27, 2012

Federal Affairs
Gun Owners of America
Rep. Gosar Continues to Push “No Confidence” in Holder Resolution

Attorney General Eric Holder -- recently caught lying under oath concerning his knowledge of his department’s Fast and Furious program -- may be moving a step closer to the inside of a jail cell.

On Thursday, February 2nd, Chairman Darrell Issa’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold another hearing on the disastrous Fast and Furious operation.

Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, a member of that committee, is also pushing a resolution of “no confidence” in Holder’s management -- or lack of management -- of the Justice Department.

That resolution, H. Res. 490, provides a course of action for the momentum generated by that hearing.

H. Res. 490 finds that, as a result of “Holder’s failure to properly control, monitor, or establish Operation Fast and Furious, it is likely Mexican nationals were killed or wounded by weapons sold through this scheme” -- and that the victims of Holder’s incompetence included U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

It goes on to resolve that the House has “lost confidence” in Holder, which is, basically, a call for him to resign.

Clearly, the Justice Department believes it can stonewall Issa’s inquiry and bully its way through questions concerning its criminal malfeasance. Adoption of the Gosar resolution would make it much, much more difficult to do so.

ACTION: Contact your Representative and urge him or her to cosponsor H.Res. 490. Click here to send a prewritten message to your Rep.

Mitt Romney's Face Tells All. Is he George H.W. Bush 2.0?

2012-01-09T14:57:00.006-06:00

Does America want what Romney has? What would he be like as President? Who is he, deep down inside? How can one understand where he is coming from? A peek at his face hints at the answers...

Mitt Romney is expressive and mentally quick. He processes information rapidly and has a “get it done now” approach. He is initially optimistic but may become antagonistic if criticized. He is an unconventional thinker whose thoughts range over many areas. He can truly see all sides of an issue. Romney can sense potential problems immediately and is very connected between his inner feelings and outer logic; he is highly intuitive. He has a powerful intellect, thinks constantly, and he easily grasps whole concepts. He has a wide variety of interests. Romney is pragmatic and objective. He is not easily discouraged and possesses resilience under stress, even though he is prone to burnout due to overwork. He truly does have a sense of fairness and justice. He is solid and dependable, has good business sense and is not gullible. He speaks with authority on financial matters and focuses on generating cash flow. Romney maintains a good balance between his public and personal life. He is generally a patient listener. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to respond to issues quickly without making mistakes. My advice is that he ease up a bit on himself; I do see that he is often burnt out.

Mitt Romney hates to be wrong, loves to debate, and holds himself to impossibly high standards. He is brilliant in his field and has worked hard to develop his mental abilities. He has strong perfectionist tendencies and also assigns himself difficult responsibilities. Romney most likely assumes too much responsibility and should learn to relax a little more often. He has a wide variety of interests; I suggest he develop an interest into an enjoyable hobby. (Campaigning should NOT count! PatriotWriter suggests he abandon running for president as a hobby. He should probably join a Harvard crew team instead.)

Interestingly, Romney may have experienced a lack of attention/appreciation in childhood and therefore needs to know that he is desirable. Let his wife take note! Romney probably owes some of his professional successes--and failures--to his obstinate nature. He doesn’t expect life to be gentle or kind and he steels himself to face the world and braces himself for adversity. He possesses natural self-confidence. He takes losses on the chin, so to speak. If Mitt Romney was an animal, he would be a tiger.

Probably one of the most charming things about Romney is his “big picture” outlook. He has a lot of global understanding regarding the relationship of things to each other. He has developed this broader perspective due to his life experience, unlike Santorum whose thoughts are more narrow. He is not easily intimidated and does not back away from a challenge.

Even though he may seem calm and relaxed on the outside, Romney is always constantly evaluating everything--much like George H.W. Bush. He is also reflective, reserved, cautious, and observant. He has a logical work style and is a long-range planner. He differs from Bush, Sr. in that he has a naturally powerful presence. No one wants to argue with his alpha male power jaw and authoritative eyebrows. He is perceived by others as a strong, courageous leader. He is, however, cool and calculating and does hold many secrets. Don’t expect him to open up on some topics. He mistrusts flattery, is reserved, and slow to trust. When he is warmed up, though, he is a good communicator with a wry sense of humor. In conclusion, he has a more powerful presence that Bush, Sr. but is actually quite similar to him in approach. His presidency would probably be similar to #41’s but he would probably have an easier time making allies for his causes than did Bush.

The Real Santorum is Written on His Face

2012-01-08T18:00:00.005-06:00

Who is Rick Santorum? Want to know more about him than what his mouth or record says? Who is this guy, anyway? How does he think, not just what? The answers are literally written all over his face.

In my studied opinion, Rick Santorum thinks in a logical, step-by-step process and has trouble taking in information if it is presented too quickly or out of sequence. He does not think well under pressure--he becomes overwhelmed and shuts down. If he feels forced to rush, he is afraid he will miss something. He genuinely wants to “do it right” and takes his time to get there. When he does learn something, he retains it forever. He may like to make big plans but possibly lacks followthrough. He is not easily discouraged and possesses resilience under stress. In general, he embraces rules and regulations and becomes immobilized if rules are not followed. Santorum prefers to operate within the known systems.

He possesses balance in his personal life in that he appreciates the closeness of his wife and children but also needs his own, independent identity and space. His professional life is a different story, however. He must maintain extreme focus at all times and must not be distracted from the task at hand. His internal agenda is more real to him than anything in the world. This is a very dangerous trait! He sees things as black or white, masculine or feminine. Professionally, he is impatient, overly-critical and extremely sensitive as a result of pushing himself too hard in furthering his career. This tends to make him ill-natured at times. He can become very feisty when he feels he is backed into a corner. He prefers to direct others and delegate work and enjoys seeing his superior plans implemented and appreciated by others. Santorum prefers to work independently and dislikes anyone looking over his shoulder, including reporters and the public.

He may have received little emotional and/or financial support earlier in life and feels he owes his success thus far to pulling himself up by his own bootstraps. Yet, he still feels as if he has not quite found his niche in life. He has a great deal of fear in his personal life which comes from an attitude that he never has enough, financially speaking. He can be emotionally generous with his family but is still very fiscally conservative with them. He has suffered some serious emotional disappointments both personally and professionally. Some of the sad lines on his face were probably the result of the loss of one of his children, and also his lost re-election bid to the Senate.

In conclusion, Santorum is comfortable with the established norm, the status quo, and he asks others to abide by it while pursuing his own internal agenda based on his view of the world. He is committed to his ideals. He identifies with Mr. Spock of Star Trek in his no-nonsense approach to life, yet his mind is not overly developed. He knows a little bit about very few different subjects. I suggest he quit campaigning for a big new job and start a business in the private sector--like founding a superior sports program for cyberhomeschooled kids. In doing so, he could enhance the standing of his worldview for future generations as well as delegate the implementation of his vision to a likeminded staff. Such a sport league probably needs the skills that this out-of-work lawyer-politician can give.

Shocking Middle East "Occupy" Footage

2011-12-05T17:48:00.004-06:00

Hey FCC: USA Not Yet Ready to be the New F'!#?! USSR

2011-11-09T09:31:00.007-06:00

With a headline like that, you might think that I moonlight as a writer for The Onion. No...not yet anyway. The FCC says they want internet content to remain open but what they mean is that THEY want their fingers on the control button, not the broadband providers under our current free market system. What!?! The last time I checked, this was America.

I think We the People should have our finger on the FCC button to shut their regulating bums down when we feel like it. But then, I am a known anti-federal government extremist with ties to nefarious characters like our founding fathers.

Anyway, I'm with KayBay on this one. Regulating the internet is outside the bounds of common sense, not to mention good old-fashioned American values. Have we really lost both of those? Are we really having this conversation? I suppose we are, for I just received the following press release:

Regulation would only hamper the Web

By Mitch McConnell and Kay Bailey Hutchison

Philadelphia Inquirer

November 9, 2012

The Internet has flourished for two decades without burdensome federal regulations. In its early days, a hands-off approach helped it grow and evolve rapidly. The Federal Communications Commission adopted a sensible noninterference policy in 1998, and hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure followed.

Without broadband, do-it-all smartphones and two-way video calls would still be the stuff of science fiction. Broadband has created nearly a million jobs and become an essential part of daily American life. Broadband networks have powered the information and communications industries, which in 2009 accounted for more than 3.5 million high-salary jobs and about $1 trillion in economic activity.

Despite all this, the FCC is about to reverse course and begin regulating the Internet. Unless the Senate acts on a measure under consideration this week, Internet service providers will be subject to the commission's new "Net neutrality" rules.

Under these mandates, broadband companies would lose control over the traffic and technology flowing through their infrastructure. Government bureaucrats would tell companies what is and is not a "reasonable" way to operate their systems. These regulatory burdens would discourage Internet service providers from innovating and investing, inject uncertainty into a thriving sector of our economy, and jeopardize the information industry's vast potential for growth.

More regulation would diminish broadband providers' expected returns on their capital. Lower returns mean less investment, which means fewer jobs created. Smaller companies would suffer the most, as they operate on thinner margins. With unemployment over 9 percent, do we really need this kind of regulatory overreach?

The government's primary rationale for these new rules is that broadband providers must be prevented from blocking certain online content and services. On the surface, this is an admirable goal. We, too, believe in an open Internet free of unreasonable discrimination. But market forces have and will continue to prevent such discrimination. A company attempting to block certain content would create frustrated customers who would simply switch Internet providers.

Indeed, despite a decade of Net neutrality advocates' doomsday warnings that rampant discrimination is imminent, the Internet remains open. The few instances of bad behavior have been dealt with swiftly by the free market or by the FCC using the tools it already has. In short, Net neutrality is a big-government solution in search of a problem.

Moreover, this FCC power grab is unprecedented and, in our estimation, unlawful. Congress has never given the commission the authority to regulate Internet providers' management of their networks.

Furthermore, the American people have shown their disdain for government interference, particularly when it comes to how private companies manage and maintain their investments.

In 1999, former Democratic FCC Chairman William Kennard said, "The fertile fields of innovation across the communications sector and around the country are blooming because from the get-go, we have taken a deregulatory, competitive approach to our communications structure - especially the Internet." In that spirit, we are urging our fellow senators to vote to repeal the FCC's unwarranted broadband regulations. We must preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation and economic growth.

Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, is the Senate Republican leader. Kay Bailey Hutchison, of Texas, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

California is Crazy. But then, I repeat myself.

2011-11-01T15:16:00.006-05:00

The voter-approved "First 5 LA Program" spends $200 million of taxpayers' money without oversight. I know. Shocking.

It isn't. But it should be.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, a recent independent audit of the First 5 LA Commission revealed massive problems with the agency, including lack of accountability, spending oversight or competitive bidding. Perhaps the members of the Commission should get more than a slap on the wrist. Again, PatriotWriter calls for the return of the public Tar and Feather.

It sounds like an evening news program, but First 5 LA is actually part of a statewide program created in 1998 by Prop 10, a measure which was supposed to use funds from a tobacco tax (boo!) to promote health and education of young children. I was living in California at the time of its passage--Propositions for tax increases always magically pass in California. Please refer to the title of this post to find out why.

According to the independent audit, the Commission is not exactly fulfilling its mission. From the Times: An audit by Harvey M. Rose of San Francisco found First 5 LA's Commission was unable to monitor money that was being spent "since monthly programmatic expenditures are not presented relative to a budget." Try using that kind of fuzzy math in your budget at home.

Auditors also concluded the agency was overstaffed while under-spending on programs for children. Note: if a new tax is sold as "for the children" you can translate that into "employment for adults at the expense of the children" virtually every time. So, First 5 LA is spending too much on public employees and not enough on kids? You don't say. I love the government...it's so consistent.

Furthermore, First 5 LA doles out $200 million without a competitive bidding process and operates with such a lack of oversight that there’s no way to determine if the agency has signed agreements "for inappropriate purposes or with unqualified vendors or grantees”. Cronyism? Probably. Tax fraud? You betcha--taxpayers getting hosed again. Sounds like standard operating procedure in California, which has seen similar accountability and oversight problems with other initiative-created agencies as well. Heck--it sounds like standard operating procedure for the government in general. I agree with Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation, "My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk, and the only thing he's allowed to decide is who to nuke."

And yet Don Perata, a career politician, is pushing another measure – the so-called California Cancer Research Act – to create yet another unaccountable bureaucracy with six political appointees that can spend nearly a billion each year, including millions on staff salaries and pensions and overhead. With huge budget problems and public pension costs spiraling out of control, the last thing California needs is another big-spending bureaucracy with no oversight or accountability. The measure is slated for the June 2012 ballot in California.

You can stop government waste on the local level if you are doggedly persistent, on the state level if you pull the gloves off, and on the federal level if you protest and riot long enough. But then, perhaps I am overly optimistic. I am not entirely sure how any government waste, fraud and abuse has been stopped in the history of time. All I can say is, "Hey California--stop voting YES on every proposed tax on the ballot. You're never going to get what you pay for if you trust Gubmint to do it for you."

I am so glad I evacuated California six years ago. It's enough to make me go postal. Oh wait--they're bankrupt due to mismanagement and fuzzy accounting, too.

Partial commentary provided by Stephen Kruiser.

Hello to my International Readers + Cuba

2011-07-27T10:30:00.021-05:00

Hello, Russia

As this is the sixth year I've published my quirky perspective on life via this blog, I thought I would check my readership statistics. I am amazed and humbled to see that I have readers all over the world--in places I have never been and may never see.

The Great Spike of July 2011

Web traffic reached an all-time six-year high this week when I published my TxDot Grant Rant. Oddly, no one has commented publicly thus far but I have gotten lots of feedback in private. (What are y'all afraid of? The Boogeyman is only really after me, you see. And if you believe that, you've learned nothing from reading my taxpayer advocacy diatribes.)

To Cuba and Beyond!

I'd like to say guten tag and willkommen to the folks in Germany. Either I have one crazed reader in Germany who views my blog a lot, or Germans really like my brand of humor. Either way, I am not complaining. Danke!

Also well-represented are the Netherlands, Canada (which makes me feel a tad bit guilty because I do poke so much fun at our Northern neighbor), Ukraine, Brazil (may I come visit!?!), Japan and France (Qui vous aime, bébé!?!). Not sure if that translates. I'd like to do a shout-out to Hungary who just destroyed all of the GMO corn growing there. Nice work! At least their people and livestock will not be sick and hungry in Hungary.

My personal goal is to get a reader in Cuba before Thanksgiving. Anything you can do, dear international reader, to help would be marvelous. I know some of the taxi drivers and hotel workers there pirate internet in their homes at great personal risk, depending on their personal connections. Do you know anyone in Cuba? Referrals are coveted.

The only openly Communist country in the Western Hemisphere is a constant source of fascination for me. Her food, music and people are so amazing. The culture itself seems quite lovely and vibrant.

But did you know that 1/3 of Cuban residents are incarcerated as political prisoners? That should give us all pause. Look at the "justice" system in your country. Is it equally broken? I'd love to hear from you.

O, Canada

A final thought...I vacationed in Calgary and Banff last December. Would you like to know what greeted me as I switched on the TV in my hotel room that first night? A Cuban Department of Tourism ad...Come Visit Cuba!

I was stunned. Suddenly, the Customs form I'd just filled out made a bit more sense. You can bring to Canada, duty-free, ONE bottle of wine and FIFTY cigars. I don't know about you, but it would take me one dinner to drink a bottle of wine and 25-50 years to smoke 50 cigars, and that is if I tried really hard to break my mother's heart.

The moral of the story is that perhaps Canada is quietly trying to offset the financial punch the U.S. has delivered to Cuba for the past five decades.

Our policy is inconsistent, at best. Look at the reasons for the Cuban embargo and then examine our policies with China. We are a two-faced country. While digging around on this issue, I found the following quote. I officially agree with this Democrat, George McGovern.

In June 2011, former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern spoke out against the travel ban before visiting Cuba, remarking: "It's a stupid policy. There's no reason why we can't be friends with the Cubans, and vice versa. A lot of them have relatives in the United States, and some Americans have relatives in Cuba, so we should have freedom of travel ... We seem to think it's safe to open the door to a billion communists in China but for some reason, we're scared to death of the Cubans."

In closing, if you are ever in Dallas, Texas, please visit the Havana Social Club in the American Airlines Center's Victory Plaza. It's a swingin' joint with incredible rum drinks, a state-of-the-art air purifier, and some fine tobacco products. Tell Carlos I sent you.

Now if I could just find a friend from Brazil...

Texas "Click-It-or-Ticket" Weeks are Shameful Scams

2011-07-25T19:14:00.016-05:00

Eight Laws
Texas law says to stop at stop signs; when a yield sign is present, drivers must slow to a speed that is reasonable under the existing conditions and yield to any vehicle with the right-of-way. Texas law says to wear seatbelts while the vehicle is in motion and to observe posted speed limits. Texas law says drivers must be licensed and cars must registered, inspected and insured at all times. Texas law says to not operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Within minutes, it would be possible to break all eight of the aforementioned laws and yet hurt no one. These are what are known as victimless crimes. When a vehicle hits another vehicle or person, then there is a victim. There is damage. Someone must pay. Restitution must be made. When no victim exists, has a crime really been committed? Should your car insurance rate hike because you didn't hit anything or hurt anyone? Think about it. It's all about money, not safety.

Seatbelts Save Lives!
The Texas Department of Transportation admits that 92% of Texans properly follow seatbelt laws. Yet, for two weeks a year Texas drivers must endure the annoying Click-it-or-Ticket radio jingles targeting the noncompliant 8% of the population. The campaign's marketing firm said it's the time of year when “state troopers, police officers and sheriff’s deputies statewide will be stepping up enforcement of the state’s safety belt laws.”

Or not. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security just because you are one of the 92% who use seatbelts. One aggressive little department in Travis County logged in about 100 hours of overtime in the most recent campaign and in that time wrote only five seatbelt tickets. They wrote 190 other moving violation citations, however. This tiny town is riddled with drug dealers and stolen property. How many of those criminals were busted during the 100 hours of overtime? That's right. A big fat goose egg. Zero. But "Officer Maria Overtime" camped out in a sleepy little neighborhood and cranked out hazardous moving violations to every car that failed to sit at her pet stop sign for 3 full seconds in the middle of the night. Then when she pulled them over she would lie and say that she had "no choice" but to write a citation during Click it or Ticket week. Blatant lies. Shoddy police work. Overzealous taxation-by-badge. But why?

Revenue Generation Machines...in Uniforms
TxDOT's Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs (STEPs) target any violation within the predetermined timeframe and supply tax dollars to pay for officer overtime. TxDOT tracks the number of tickets a department writes during the designated weeks for subjective things such as HMV (Hazardous Moving Vehicle), ITC (Intersection Traffic Control Safety), OA (Other Arrests), OC (Other Citations), and UN (Uninsured Motorists). Departments that churn out the most tickets per hour are rewarded with more grant money.

TxDOT gave out more than $1.1 million in grants last year to 102 police agencies. The department I just mentioned got one of these "STEP Incentive" grants for their aggressive revenue generation.

I think the scam should be exposed. It's burdensome harassment of the taxpaying public and does not protect anyone.

According to Paul Perry, the STEP program's revenue scheme can be understood in three easy steps:

1.TxDOT gives your tax dollars to the local police.
2. Your tax dollars pay for more traffic writing ticket hours.
3. TxDOT takes $100 "off the top" of each ticket written.

Put another way, TxDOT hands out our scarce tax dollars to local law enforcement agencies across Texas to pay overtime to officers, so they can write more traffic tickets, so TxDOT can profit.

Show Me the Money
TxDOT doesn't judge the success of STEP programs by noting a reduction in traffic accidents. What the state agency seems to be primarily concerned with is how many more tickets are being written. Section 8 of its grant application indicates that a city’s or county’s past "performance" on enforcement will be considered in future grant requests. Basically, the man with the highest numbers of trivial tickets wins. Throw discretion and common sense to the wind, police people, just keep your citation numbers high and you'll get paid more overtime.

To Protect and to Serve
The two reasons police officers were installed into our society were to protect citizens by deterring crime and catching criminals and to help the normal citizen. There is nothing helpful about TxDOT's Click-it-or-Ticket scam weeks. I wish they'd be content to scrape up off the highway the small fraction of the 8% of drivers who operate sans seatbelt and end up as Texas roadkill and just mount them in courthouse hallways. Paying a good taxidermist to prepare those few violators would be a tremendous savings over the millions of dollars used against us each year in this scam operation.

Fight the Ticket Tax
I'm not advocating trying to break existing traffic laws on purpose. But if you get a bogus STEP citation, fight it. Take it all the way to a trial by jury. It's annoying and expensive to do so, but then again the system was being annoying and expensive to you first. Be brave. It's the only way to win. Don't let them talk you into a trial with just the judge and the officer. (The judge looks a lot like that guy pictured above in the leather jacket. They are on the same team, folks. Team Revenue.) Take it to a jury of your peers. They have probably been similarly harassed. Besides it feels SO good to beat them at their game, on principle. I did it myself just today. Officer Maria Overtime should be ashamed of herself.

I hear TxDOT may be hiring...

Don't Grope With Texas: FED UPdate

2011-06-21T17:24:00.007-05:00

Yesterday evening, Governor Rick Perry added the TSA anti-groping legislation to the special session call, and the Texas Legislature will again take up this topic for consideration as early as Friday, June 24th. If passed, this bill will mark the first legislation in the country with "teeth" to combat the TSA "enhanced pat-downs" and protect dignity and liberty among our state's airport travelers.

During the regular session, this legislation was known as House Bill 1937 and was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives. However, the bill was halted in the Senate after the U.S. Department of Justice delivered a factually inaccurate letter concerning the bill, threatening immediate injunctions against the state.

Texans have not stood idly by at this level of intimidation from the federal bureaucracy. Outraged Texan travelers have contacted their legislators to ask them to urge the Governor to add the bill to the call.

The author of the legislation is freshman Republican Representative David Simpson, who has become a national champion of putting an end to the TSA's use of "enhanced pat-downs" without probable cause, since filing the bill in March. Representative Simpson laid out the case and need for this legislation, his voice and hands shaking with passion at the anti-TSA rally on the Capitol steps. His efforts have drawn national attention to the overreach of the Transportation Safety Administration and their attempt to establish the supremacy of this bureaucracy's policies over the U.S. Constitution.

In the Texas Senate, Senator Dan Patrick has also made this legislation a priority item and announced last week that he had secured enough support in the Texas Senate to win passage in that chamber. The Senate version of the bill is Senate Bill 29, and was filed by Senator Patrick last week. The House version, House Bill 41, has garnered broad bi-partisan support of 114 co-sponsors in the Texas House and is poised for easy passage.

Both of these bills have been crafted with input and specific language from Attorney General Greg Abbott, who requested the authors to draft the legislation with certain wording to ensure it will be upheld in the face of any potential court challenges.

Please contact your State Representative and State Senator to urge their support and vote in favor of passage as the bill is considered over the next several days.

To read the House version of the TSA Anti-Groping Bill, House Bill 41, click here.
To read the Senate version of the TSA Anti-Groping Bill, Senate Bill 29, click here.

Thanks to Chris Elam from the RPT for providing content for this post. However, this is not a Republican issue but a non-partisan one. This is a freedom issue. This is an American issue. Liberty is popular! Let's kick the TSA's roving hands and eyes out of Texas in time for Independence Day!

FED Up? I'll buy Perry's book if he stops the TSA's wandering hands (and eyes) in Texas

2011-06-14T13:15:00.002-05:00

Great news, fellow Texans! Pick up your phones.

We have the votes in the legislature! We just need Governor Perry to add the Anti-TSA Groping Bill to the Special Session! Rep. David Simpson, author of the original bill, has 102 co-sponsors for the Special Session bill HB 41. The TSA Tyranny group has confirmed that 18 Texas Senators support Sen. Dan Patrick's Senate version of the bill, SB 29.

Now more than a simple majority of our Texas Representatives and Senators support the Anti-TSA Groping legislation, which means that HB 41 and SB 29 will pass if these bills are brought before the Special Session by Governor Rick Perry. But we must act quickly to tell the Governor the support he has been waiting for is now there—before the Special Session ends. Perry has said that he won't add the bill unless the support is clear. Now we can see there is no excuse, no reason to delay any longer!

Let's keep the pressure on Governor Perry!

Call Governor Rick Perry's office — (512) 463-2000 or (512) 463-1782 — and let him know we have confirmation that 18 Senators now support the Anti-TSA Groping Bill, SB 29. Tell him we have the simple majority that is required to pass the legislation during the Special Session. Ask what we can do to help ensure that HB 41 (formerly HB 1937) and SB 29 make it to the Special Session.

Perry claims he's FED UP. Well, so are we. Let him know we expect him to follow through and put his money where his mouth is!

When you call, tell him you'll buy his book FED Up if he slates the Anti-Groping Bill for a vote. Bribing makes good politics.

URGENT: Tell Perry & Dewhurst You Don't Want Grope-downs in Texas

2011-05-30T16:42:00.004-05:00

Without any mainstream media coverage, the public outburst over the Texas Senate's killing of "restrain-the-TSA" bill has prompted Governor Rick Perry's office to open phone line (512) 463-2000 to allow the public call to call in and express their opinion.

A special legislative session is now being planned for SB 8, SB 23, SB 1811 and HB 6. Your action NOW can get HB 1937 added to the list.

Call (512) 463-2000 and demand HB 1937 be considered in the upcoming special legislative session.

You can also send emails to the Senate and Lt. Governor imploring them to pass HB 1937 in special session at: http://stopaustinscanners.org/come-and-take-it/

You can learn more about this issue at: http://stopaustinscanners.org/2011/05/the-people-speak-perry-starts-listening/

Facebook and Twitter this information and forward this email throughout your personal network.

T.J. Has the Answer - An American Remedy in Tax Season

2011-04-06T21:40:00.005-05:00

"The Government is shutting down."

It really depends on your perspective as to how you feel about the above statement. If you are serving in our military and need to take care of your family, getting a paycheck is kind of a big deal. If your work is private sector, perhaps you feel the gubmint has it coming after more than a century of waste, fraud and abuse. Regardless, you should be concerned.

There are a lot of issues swirling around the USA's financial disarray. I'm no economist. But is it really that complicated to fix?

"Riots, revolutions and anarchy plague the nations of the world."

Is that really anything new?

I turn to Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address for comfort and direction.

March 4, 1801, Washington, D.C.

Global Perspective

"During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle."

All Things to All People?

On limited government vs. spreading ourself too thin and taking on too much: Some men fear "that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may possibly want the energy to preserve itself?"

What is "American"?

"Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachments to union and representative government. Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensation proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his great happiness hereafter--with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a free and prosperous people?"

Making a Free and Prosperous People

"Still one thing more, fellow-citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities."

General Principles to Follow

1. Equal and exact justice to all men
2. Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none
3. The support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns
4. The preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad
5. A jealous care of the right of election by the people
6. A well disciplined militia
7. The supremacy of the civil over the military authority
8. Economize public expenses, so that labor is only lightly burdened
9. Honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith
10. Encouragement of agriculture and commerce
11. Diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason
12. Freedom of religion
13. Freedom of the press
14. Freedom of person under the protection of habeas corpus, trial by impartial juries

What Now? Thomas Jefferson Has the Answer

"These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of the political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which we try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

April 6, 2011, Washington, D.C.

The Government is shutting down. Riots, revolutions and anarchy plague the nations of the world.

Let us HASTEN to retrace our steps, unentangled.