Blog Entries

State and Local Govt. Add 110,000 new employees in Recession

nedryun@yahoo.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I'm staggered by that figure from the New York Times: 110,000 new state and local government employees from December, 2007 until a month ago. I'm not entirely sure how they all will be paid for. The tax revenue, which of course provides for the salaries of government employees, has shrunk considerably over that same timeframe, and we're adding on new, and massive, burdens to the taxpayers? It doesn't make sense. I was just traveling in Arkansas and was told that in the next year or two (if I rem [...]

27 States and Counting

team@americanmajority.org — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Forgive me for a moment for tooting our own horn. When American Majority was founded in early 2008, we imagined interacting with candidates and activists across the country, providing training and tools to enable individuals to become a force in the political arena.

Little did we know that by the end of 2009, we'd have already trained in 27 states! As we're scheduling our final trainings for the last quarter of 2009, we project to reach this number, and who knows, maybe a few mo [...]

RecessRally.com

nedryun@yahoo.com — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +0100

As most people know, the townhalls taking place across the country are becoming very interesting events. People, better informed than their elected officials, are showing up and letting their voices be heard. But what I'm hoping is that people will show up en masse on August 22nd to the Recess Rally and make a definitive statement that it's not just some people here or there that are put out, that it's not an astroturfed happening, but a real, genuine grassroots movement. I have a feeling it cou [...]

My Response to Rachel Maddow

nedryun@yahoo.com — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Rachel, last night you wound up and tried to discredit RecessRally.com and say that those involved were,"Experts at fake-grassroots campaigns that promote corporate interests" and, "Republican operative millionaires clubs." Rachel, please. Your show is on MSNBC, which is a subsidiary of NBC, which is owned by General Electric. The way you reckon things, that makes you a bought-and-sold creature of corporate interests.

Reports say that you make more [...]

Standing with one of our own.

team@americanmajority.org — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +0100

One of the biggest risks in this nationwide healthcare debate is the temptation to forget that life is about people. Our lives may be short, but they certainly matter and every person contributes something unique to our society and culture.

With that in mind, there's a little boy named Rhett in Houston that needs our prayers right now. Our own Jennifer Grigsby (@grigsby ), Executive Director of American Majority Louisiana is spending the next several days with him in a Child [...]

American Majority and the American Liberty Tour

nedryun@yahoo.com — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I'm getting excited about the American Liberty Tour. American Majority, in conjunction with the American Liberty Alliance and Americans for Limited Government, is going to be doing a coast-to-coast tour, starting in Sacaramento on Sept. 10th and ending in Atlanta on Oct. 13th. We'll be hitting 17 cities total, having candidate/activist trainings, blogger meet-ups, rallies with Joe the Plumber and others. To RSVP for the events, go to www.americanlibertytour.com and you can click on the individua [...]

Mr. President, Mr. Adam Smith would like a word with you . . .

nedryun@yahoo.com — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I was reading an interesting quote of Adam Smith's today. Thought is was appropriate considering some of the issues being discussed, like the President's health care plan.

"The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unecessary attention, but assume an authority which be safely be trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands [...]

F.A. Hayek on Statists and Central Planners

nedryun@yahoo.com — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

It seems these days when I read Rand or Hayek I am reading something prophetic. Both were writing 40-50 years ago and it seems almost every day the truth of their writings is becoming more and more evident. Just proves that the times change, but the nature of man stays the same. I was reading The Road to Serfdom and came across this section:

"But it would make the very men who are most anxious to plan society the most dangerous is they were allowed to do so-and the most intolerant [...]

First Principles

nedryun@yahoo.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I am growing more and more concerned that the idea of limited government conservatism has been so diluted in its meaning that we've lost sight of what it really means. People proclaim their conservatism, but act in ways that are not true to those principles. Even worse, their identifying themselves as conservatives leaves those watching with badly mistaken idea of what conservatism is actually about. My thinking has been that we have to go back to the basics: teach what conservatism really means [...]

President Obama Wouldn't Hurt a Fly, Eh?

team@americanmajority.org — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

A little light-heartedness for this Wednesday morning. For all those who claim that President Obama is so harmless that he wouldn't hurt a fly, I dare you to watch this video.

As of this posting, the linked video had 21 views. That's 17 more views than the viewership of the show this clip was featured on: Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

American Majority in The American Spectator

nedryun@yahoo.com — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

There's a nice article about American Majority in the recent edition of The American Spectator. My hope is that many who attended the tea parties, who want to become empowered as better activists or leaders in their communities will tap into American Majority trainings.

Market Entrepreneurs, Political Entrepreneurs and State Economic Development

nedryun@yahoo.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I just finished reading Burton Folsom's The Myth of the Robber Barons. Interesting study of the mythology behind the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, etc. Folsom draws a distinction between two types of entrepreneurs: the market vs. political. The market ones were the true entrepreneurs, who were the innovators and competed effectively in the open market, with the end result being a better and cheaper product for the great populace. The political ones were those who tried to succeed through subsidi [...]

Steel City a Model for Detroit

team@americanmajority.org — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Last week, President Obama announced that the upcoming G-20 summit will be held in Pittsburgh, PA. My first reaction is that this was purely a political move. Hosting a summit in a consistent battleground state next door to another battleground state seemed like a shrewd move. Obama praised the city for its transformation over the past couple decades and how it serves as a model for what is currently facing Detroit and the auto industry.

After reading this comm [...]

Russell Kirk and The American Cause

nedryun@yahoo.com — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I just finished reading Kirk's The American Cause. I have most of my staff reading it, but I wanted to highlight a few points from the book. Kirk writes that there are three cardinal ideas in western politics: the idea of justice, the idea of order, and the idea of freedom. "Justice is the principle and the process by which each man is accorded the things that are his own-the things that belong to his nature (life, property, rights, station in life, dignity). . . Order is the principle and [...]

Where Does Your State Rank?

team@americanmajority.org — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

William Ruger and Jason Sorens through the Mercatus Center at George Mason university have released an interesting study on personal and economic freedom in all fifty states. Each state was ranked according to its fiscal policies, regulatory policies, economic freedom, and personal freedom. Finally, the results of each were aggregated into one overall freedom ranking.

The authors claim this study is the first of its kind measuring both economic and personal freedom in all fifty states. In t [...]

The Government's 'Trak' Record in Business

team@americanmajority.org — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Yes I know how to spell track and no I do not believe that the government owning more than 70% of GM (Government Motors?) is a positive thing.

Consider the government's "management" of Amtrak. I wrote a blog about the woes of Amtrak last fall and nothing has a changed. Amtrak remains one of the biggest financial black holes among the many the government has affection for.

After considering Amtrak's record over 35 years, what makes anyone think that sud [...]

Where's the Outrage?

team@americanmajority.org — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Short post for today, but I wanted to share a good read with you. It's one thing to ask for information and allow a person to opt out, it's another thing altogether to make it mandatory and threaten punitive action if one does not comply.

Proof that Raising Taxes on Millionaires Does Not Increase Revenue

nedryun@yahoo.com — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Proof that the ever popular "soak those bad rich people" philosophy actually backfires. Maryland decided to raise the marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. What did the millionaries in Maryland do? A full third of them left Maryland, causing a revenue shortfall of $100,000,000.00.

Russell Kirk's Ten Conservative Principles

nedryun@yahoo.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

An article that is well worth the time to read. I know some would disagree with some of Kirk's conclusions, but I think his insights on moral order are very appropriate.

Ten Conservative Principles

by Russell Kirk

Being neither a religion nor an ideology, the body of opinion termed conservatism possesses no Holy Writ a [...]

Capitalism and the Cheating Ethic

nedryun@yahoo.com — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I'm still staggered by this story of Edmund Andrews of The New York Times.I think Steven Malanga nails it on the head with his article, Capitalism and the Cheating Ethic.