The Liberty Blog

Ron Paul: The NDAA Repeals More Rights

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:04:49 PST

Ron Paul

Little by little, in the name of fighting terrorism, our Bill of Rights is being repealed. The 4th amendment has been rendered toothless by the PATRIOT Act. No more can we truly feel secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects when now there is an exception that fits nearly any excuse for our government to search and seize our property. Of course, the vast majority of Americans may say “I’m not a terrorist, so I have no reason to worry.” However, innocent people are wrongly accused all the time. The Bill of Rights is there precisely because the founders wanted to set a very high bar for the government to overcome in order to deprive an individual of life or liberty. To lower that bar is to endanger everyone. When the bar is low enough to include political enemies, our descent into totalitarianism is virtually assured.

The PATRIOT Act, as bad is its violation of the 4th Amendment, was just one step down the slippery slope. The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) continues that slip toward tyranny and in fact accelerates it significantly. The main section of concern, Section 1021 of the NDAA Conference Report, does to the 5th Amendment what the PATRIOT Act does to the 4th. The 5th Amendment is about much more than the right to remain silent in the face of government questioning. It contains very basic and very critical stipulations about due process of law. The government cannot imprison a person for no reason and with no evidence presented or access to legal counsel.

The dangers in the NDAA are its alarmingly vague, undefined criteria for who can be indefinitely detained by the US government without trial. It is now no longer limited to members of al Qaeda or the Taliban, but anyone accused of “substantially supporting” such groups or “associated forces.” How closely associated? And what constitutes “substantial” support? What if it was discovered that someone who committed a terrorist act was once involved with a charity? Or supported a political candidate? Are all donors of that charity or supporters of that candidate now suspect, and subject to indefinite detainment? Is that charity now an associated force?

Additionally, this legislation codifies in law for the first time authority to detain Americans that has to this point only been claimed by President Obama. According to subsection (e) of section 1021, “[n]othing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States, or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.” This means the president’s widely expanded view of his own authority to detain Americans indefinitely even on American soil is for the first time in this legislation codified in law. That should chill all of us to our cores.

The Bill of Rights has no exemptions for “really bad people” or terrorists or even non-citizens. It is a key check on government power against any person. That is not a weakness in our legal system; it is the very strength of our legal system. The NDAA attempts to justify abridging the bill of rights on the theory that rights are suspended in a time of war, and the entire Unites States is a battlefield in the War on Terror. This is a very dangerous development indeed. Beware.

Originally appeared at http://paul.house.gov

Why Neo-Cons Hate Ron Paul’s Honest Foreign Policy

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:02:30 PST

Jeremy R. Hammond

This article, originally titled “Ron Paul: Propagandist Or Prophet?”, was written by Jeremy R. Hammond and published at Foreign Policy Journal

Ron Paul is “the best-known American propagandist for our enemies”, writes Dorothy Rabinowitz in a recent Wall Street Journal hit piece. To support the charge, she writes that Dr. Paul “assures audiences” that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 “took place only because of U.S. aggression and military actions”. It’s “True,” she writes, that “we’ve heard the assertions before”, but only “rarely have we heard in any American political figure such exclusive concern for, and appreciation of, the motives of those who attacked us”—and, she adds, he doesn’t care about the victims of the attacks.

The vindictive rhetoric aside, what is it, exactly, that Ron Paul is guilty of here? It is completely uncontroversial that the 9/11 attacks were a consequence of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. The 9/11 Commission Report, for instance, points out that Osama bin Laden “stresses grievances against the United States widely shared in the Muslim world. He inveighed against the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam’s holiest sites. He spoke of the suffering of the Iraqi people as a result of sanctions imposed after the Gulf War, and he protested U.S. support of Israel.”

Read the rest at Alt-Market

Ron Paul Wins 2011 Values Voter Summit Straw Poll

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:04:02 PDT

Prison Planet
Ron Paul has won another straw poll, indicating he is the choice for many if not most voting Republicans.

Demonstrating that the influence of establishment Republicans remains strong in the party, Herman Cain came in a distant second.

Cain recently made the news when he said unemployment is basically the fault of the individual and not transnational corporations that have sent most of the decent jobs to slave labor gulags in China and Asia.

Cain is the former boss of the Kansas City Federal Reserve.

Here is the poll breakdown:

Ron Paul – 36.9% (732)

Herman Cain – 22.5% (447)

Rick Santorum – 16.3% (323)

Rick Perry – 8.4% (167)

Michele Bachmann – 7.9% (157)

Mitt Romney – 4.4% (88)

Newt Gingrich – 2.7% (54)

Undecided – 0.7% (13)

Jon Huntsman – 0.1% (2)

Note that the current darling of the global elite, Mitt Romney, comes in at a dismal 4.4%. Even the wash-out and faux Tea Party cowboy Rick Perry does better than Mitt.

Ron Paul: Wars Are Biggest Threat to Families

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:01:41 PDT

ABC News

War is the greatest threat to the modern family, Rep. Ron Paul told an audience filled with social conservative activists today.

Speaking to a packed crowd at the Values Voters Summit in Washington D.C., the Texas congressman said that wars in the last decade cost thousands of soldiers’ lives.

Paul added that many more were left jobless as trillions poured out of the economy.

“When you lose a job, it’s hard to keep the family together,” said Paul.

Full story here.

Ron Paul Leads Hearing On First Ever Audit Of Fed

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:43:59 PDT

Prison Planet

“Would it be much of a problem if we were doing this every year?”

Texas Congressman and 2012 presidential candidate Ron Paul held hearings Tuesday into a recent and rare one off audit of the Federal Reserve’s crisis-response emergency lending programs of 2008.

In his role as chairman of the Domestic Monetary Policy subcommittee, Paul relished the glimmer of transparency that was afforded as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, signed into law last year.

“More people now are starting to realize that the Fed isn’t independent of political independence because indirectly and some times more directly it is involved in political decisions or at least private decisions to serve some political interest.” Paul told those gathered at the hearing.

Along with Paul, Republicans in attendance argued that the audit should pave the way for regular reviews of the Fed’s policies, as well as more complete disclosure of exactly who has received upwards of $27 trillion in bail out funds since 2008.

“Would it be much of a problem if we were doing this every year?” Paul asked.

Robert Auerbach, Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, backed Paul up by putting the case that regular and ongoing audits would not affect the Fed’s independence in any major way.

“The Fed’s mythical flag of independence from politics, a favorite Fed mantra to avoid individual responsibility, is merely a shield intended to protect the institution from being forced to act in a more transparent fashion,” Auerbach testified.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Republican of Missouri, expressed concern that although the GAO’s audit authority is now expired, some banks and firms that “borrowed” from the Fed, and by extension the American taxpaying public, as part of the Bear Sterns and AIG relief packages, have yet to pay back the funds.

Luetkemeyer also noted that the one time GAO audit was extremely limited in its scope.

Nevertheless, the GAO’s report found several instances of conflicts of interest and questionable practices involving Fed officials.

It was also revealed that the Fed made $16.1 trillion in secret loans to Wall Street firms at the height of the crisis.

The full hearing, beginning with Ron Paul’s opening statement, can be viewed below:

Congressman Ron Paul also appeared on Freedom Watch yesterday to discuss the economic situation, urging that politicians in Washington are “not offering a prescription”.

“We have too much spending and too much debt, so they’re trying to solve the problem with more debt. There’s not a chance that we can get out of the recession this way.” Paul told host Judge Andrew Napolitano.

“The people here don’t want to change because they have been conditioned by Keynesian economics. Where I’m encouraged is that people outside this place are getting the message. The answers are well known but how do you translate this new message that we have of free markets and the constitution, and get the people that are managing the affairs now out of office?” the Congressman stated.

Paul added that as president he would implement some immediate measures that would cut the deficit and reduce spending in a meaningful way.

“Immediately you could bring all our troops home and have them spend money here at home, that would give us some reprieve. We could change our foreign policy and indicate to the world that we are going to get our budget under control.” Paul said.

“We could remove taxation on all the money that is held overseas by our corporations and not double tax them. We could remove the interest paid by the Federal Reserve to the banks. The banks won’t invest their money because it’s too risky, but the Federal Reserve gives them their money, essentially, for free, and then they invest it back into Treasury bills, so they help monetize the debt too.”

“Those are a few things, but sending a signal will be most important, ‘we’re going to quit this spending’. Right now I’m working on a plan where in one year I want to cut a trillion dollars.” Paul revealed.

“The appetite for big government is the problem. The taxes and the Federal Reserve inflating, that is the symptom, and the budget problem is a symptom of the appetite for big government.” Paul continued.

“Too often the leadership is only in the business of preserving power… It’s a shame that despite all this arguing and bickering going on between the two parties, there is no difference. Regardless of which party it is they still don’t change the definition of entitlements, they don’t change the foreign policy and they don’t go after the Fed.”

The Congressman also reiterated comments he made earlier in the week regarding the unconstitutional killing in Yemen of the American born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

Watch the interview:

RealClear Politics Skews Ron Paul’s Poll Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:25:34 PDT

The Star Ledger
I got copied on this e-mail that Joe Sansone sent to RealClear politics:

Ron Paul is at 11% in this poll with Palin and Christie out of it. You are using everybody else’s numbers without Palin and Christie, except Paul. You are using 9% for him which is his number with Palin and Christie. This does not appear to be the first time this has happened on your site where Paul’s numbers have been shown as less than they are because you have used polls with non candidates for publishing his numbers but published other candidates numbers without using the non candidates included. I have sent this information to the Drudgereport and blind copied other news organizations in hopes that someone brings attention to it.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-1452.html

Here is the actual poll. For now on I will send this stuff to the DrudgeReport when it appears falsely on your site. If this is just a repetitive error on your part, which I am sure it is, I do hope that the potential exposure from other news sources will help you guys to be more accurate in the future.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_100211.html

I checked the numbers and it looks like Joe is right. The Romney number in the field containing non-candidates is 21, not 25. That 25 number comes from the same poll that has Ron Paul at 11.

Yet RealClear quotes the high number for Romney and the low number for Paul.

I imagine this was simply a mistake, but such mistakes make it difficult to assess the field. Even if you assume Paul won’t win, as long as he’s in double digits he will have a major role in the race.

Those double digits have to come out of someone’s else’s totals. Whose? Such questions decide elections. And RealClear is not real clear on this one.
Joe,

UPDATE: RealClear responds, and Joe concedes the point:

We use “registered voter” #s as opposed to “general population” numbers when they are avaliable. We entered the RV #s (w/o Christie and Palin) this morning when the poll was released. They are correct.

Thanks,

John

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_100211.html

21/23/24. (IF WOULD VOTE FOR CHRISTIE OR PALIN) If neither (Christie) nor (Palin) run, for whom would you vote? Which candidate would you lean toward?

NET LEANED VOTE PREFERENCE

————— Without Christie/Palin —————–

Among gen pop Among RVs

10/2/11 9/1/11 7/17/11 10/2/11 9/1/11 7/17/11

Mitt Romney 25 25 30 25 25 30

Herman Cain 16 4 7 17 5 7

Rick Perry 16 29 8 17 30 8

Ron Paul 11 10 11 9 10 10

Newt Gingrich 7 6 6 9 5 6

Michele Bachmann 7 8 16 7 9 17

Rick Santorum 2 3 3 2 3 3

Jon Huntsman 1 1 3 1 1 3

Tim Pawlenty NA NA 3 NA NA 3

Other (vol.) 2 2 1 2 2 1

No one/None of them (vol.) 5 5 2 4 4 2

Would not vote (vol.) 1 2 1 1 1 *

No opinion 7 5 8 7 5 9

Opposition to Obama grows — strongly

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:42:48 PDT

Washington Post

Four in 10 Americans “strongly” disapprove of how President Obama is handling the job of president in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the highest that number has risen during his time in office and a sign of the hardening opposition to him as he seeks a second term.

While the topline numbers are troubling enough, dig deeper into them and the news gets no better for Obama. Forty-three percent of independents — a group the president spent the better part of the last year courting — strongly disapprove of the job he is doing. Forty-seven percent of people 65 years of age and older — reliable voters in any election — strongly disapprove of how he is doing his job.

Strong opposition to Obama has grown markedly since the start of the year.

In a mid-January Post-ABC survey, 28 percent strongly disapproved of the job Obama was doing. With the exception of a poll in early May that followed hard on the killing of Osama bin Laden , that number has steadily ticked upward, as the year has worn on and the economy has remained sluggish (at best).

Read the rest on Washington Post

Rick Perry Is Finished

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 08:29:30 PDT

ALIPAC

Texas Governor Perry destroyed his chances of winning the GOP Presidential primary during last night's debate when he defended his support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens which is opposed by 81% of all Americans.

"Rick Perry proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is not the right choice for America by supporting these radical illegal immigration attracting measures," said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC. "Perry's support for in-state tuition for illegals forces taxpayers to pay to replace their own children in the limited seats in our colleges!"

Prior to 2005, several states like Texas passed in-state tuition for illegals into law without adequate public or lawmaker debate and knowledge.

In 2005, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC defeated North Carolina's HB 1183's In-state tuition for illegal immigrants and then went on to use new strategies to defeat similar measures in 20 other states. Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has become a top voice in America representing the over 80% of US citizens opposed to this measure.

Rick Perry was heavily booed for the second time last night as he continued to promote in-state tuition for illegal aliens.

Mitt Romney opposed Perry's positions and pointed out that Perry's in-state tuition for illegal aliens law was forcing Texans to pay approximately $100,000 in tax monies to support each of the current 16,000 illegal immigrants in Texas colleges.

Romney went on to paraphrase ALIPAC's platform "Comprehensive Immigration Enforcement" which includes adequately enforcing America's existing immigration and border laws by cracking down on employers, securing the borders, and removing taxpayer benefits for illegals like Perry's tuition breaks.

"GOP voters cannot vote for Rick Perry now without legitimizing and supporting in-state tuition for illegal immigrants," said William Gheen. "Perry has assured his own defeat despite the fact that he is receiving so much support and favoritism from globalist groups in the media. It is clear to me that the globalists who are responsible for illegal immigration in America are using their power to promote Rick Perry at this time."

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has just released a new study illustrating that 81% of the 'new jobs' created in Texas under Rick Perry have been taken by legal and illegal immigrants instead of suffering American citizens.

Rick Perry Booed Again For Illegal Immigrant Support Plan

"Obama has fired more Cruise missles than all other Peace Prize winners combined."

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:20:42 PDT

How Rick Perry courts the Zionist vote

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 05:11:30 PDT

Salon

Appearing with Jewish extremists is designed to win over apocalyptic Christians

At a press conference in New York on Tuesday billed "pro-Israel," Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry was flanked by Orthodox Jewish leaders. At first blush the event looked like a play for Jewish voters who would buy his claim that President Obama was a modern-day Neville Chamberlain despite official U.S. opposition to the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the United Nations. But while Perry touted his Jewish endorsers, his intended audience was not Jews but Christian Zionists.

Perry, no doubt, seeks the approval of conservative Jewish pundits and the campaign contributions of hawkish donors. But in the battle to prove himself to the crucial voters in evangelical-heavy early primary states like Iowa, South Carolina and Florida, Perry needs to distinguish himself from the merely Israel-supportive Mitt Romney. And for that, he needs to prove beyond the boilerplate Israel-is-America's-greatest-ally that he embraces Israel's role in what Christian Zionists believe is prophesied in the Bible: that the establishment of the state of Israel is one step in the chain of events that will lead to a bloody showdown at Armageddon and culminate in the Second Coming of Christ.

As a Texan, Perry is well familiar with this base, and in particular the religious underpinnings of its beliefs. His friend John Hagee, the San Antonio televangelist who endorsed and spoke at Perry's August prayer rally the Response, is a leading Christian Zionist who in 2006 founded Christians United for Israel, which in short order became the leading Christian Zionist political organization in the country. With a national network of pastors and supporters who host regular "pro-Israel" events at churches, and Hagee's solid relationships with both Republican and Democratic elected officials, CUFI has managed to transform Hagee's apocalyptic fervor into a political movement with the ear of prominent politicians.

Read the rest on Salon

Rick Perry Caught In Blatant Lie Over Support For Bailouts

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 05:27:53 PDT

PrisonPlanet

Denies he ever supported $700 million blank check for Wall St

GOP Presidential candidate Rick Perry has been caught in an outright lie regarding his previous support for the 2008 Federal bailout of Wall Street.

When asked recently by a reporter about his position on the controversial TARP program and how that tallied with his current position on monetary policy, Perry denied that he had ever expressed any support for the federal bailouts.

“You never supported TARP?” asked the female reporter.

“No ma’am.” Perry replied.

“I thought I saw a letter where you’d written actually encouraging the support of TARP?” the reporter then stated.

“No Ma’am.” Perry once again replied.

In reality, Perry did strongly support TARP, and even wrote Congress in the Fall of 2008, demanding that it heed the call of then Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson to pass the $700 million bailout legislation.

Perry’s letter can be seen below:

Perry even bragged in October 2009 during a radio interview that he had urged Congress to pass TARP:

“As a matter of fact, I signed a letter with the Governor of West Virginia, who’s a Democrat, when September/October a year ago, when they were talking about, Oh my goodness, the economy is tanking. We’ve got to do something."

Read the rest on Prison Planet

Cop Who Arested The Five Dancing Israeli’s On 9/11 Speaks Out

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 05:12:09 PDT

American Free Press

The New Jersey police officer responsible for capturing five Israelis who filmed and celebrated while the World Trade Center towers burned has broken his silence, agreeing to a Sept. 16 exclusive interview with AMERICAN FREE PRESS.As AFP readers are no doubt aware, these are the same Israelis who were working under the direction of Urban Moving Systems, a Mossad front company at the center of Israeli involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Sgt. Scott DeCarlo has never spoken to the media about the details of that day except for two 30-second cameo appearances in Internet videos from undetermined sources. In fact, DeCarlo confirmed that this is the first, and last, interview he will ever grant in regard to this subject.

DeCarlo revealed to AFP hidden details about the events of 9-11 that mainstream media venues should have uncovered 10 years ago, if not for their near-total blackout of meaningful coverage where Israel is concerned.

Although not scheduled to work that day, DeCarlo reported anyway and “was posted on the highway” to prevent traffic from entering New York City.

“There was a BOLO, which is a ‘Be On the Look Out’ for a particular van, perhaps loaded with explosives,” explained DeCarlo, “that may have been on its way to destroy the George Washington Bridge.”

DeCarlo explained: “It [the suspicious van] happened to come our way, and I grabbed my sergeant [DeCarlo himself was a patrolman at that time] and said: ‘Hey, man, that’s our van.’ It wasn’t the exact license plate given reported—it was off by one numeral—but I said: ‘That’s gotta be it; it’s just too close.’”

He continued: “The van was coming off the [N.J.] Turnpike trying to get on Route 3. Traffic was rolling at two miles an hour, so we got in front of the van on foot, weapons drawn, and stopped it.”

All five of the Israeli spies refused to exit their vehicle, so DeCarlo was forced to get physical.

“We asked them to get out of the van, but they didn’t listen,” he said. “So, we . . . put them in handcuffs and did it as quickly as possible.”

AFP asked DeCarlo why he thought the Israelis refused to follow his orders. DeCarlo was unsure, but asked this writer, “You ever have a gun pointed at your head?”

DeCarlo then described what happened after the spies were dragged from their van. “When we removed them, one of the guys that was rather chatty said: ‘We’re not your enemy, we’re your friend. Our enemies are your enemies,’” DeCarlo said. “At that point they said they were from Israel. They kept saying, ‘Hey, we’re on your side.’”

“We brought them over to the New Jersey State Police holding cells in the Meadowlands Stadium, and that’s the last I saw of them,” he said. Shortly after that, the FBI reportedly took over. The five Israelis were held for 10 weeks, but were eventually deported to Israel on charges of immigration violations. In November 2001, they appeared on an Israeli TV talk show discussing how they were in the U.S. “to document the event.”

Sgt. DeCarlo asked AFP to request interested parties not to contact him.

Bradley Blakeman attacks Ron Paul - Ron Paul nothing but a ‘gadfly’ and ‘distraction’

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 04:54:08 PDT

Eric W. Dolan
Raw Story

Former Bush senior staff member Bradley Blakeman attacked Ron Paul on Fox Business, after the Texas congressman won a California straw poll by a large margin.

“Ron Paul is neither selectable by the party to be nominated or electable by the people,” he said on Monday. “Let’s get real. He’s a gadfly and nothing more than that. If I were Romney and Perry, I would be thinking of a way to get Ron Paul off the stage because he is a distraction.”

Watch video, via MoxNews.com, below:

Ruger LCR-22 .22 Revolver

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:48:06 PST

Ruger has announced a .22 LR version of their Ruger LCR revolver. It is virtually identical to the low-end .38 Special LCR. If you own a LCR-38 or LCR-357, the LCR-22 is the perfect range companion.

Michael Bane writes about the Ruger LCR-22 ...

The solution to the challenge is, as it pretty much is with all guns, to shoot them a lot. A .22 option allows you to shoot them a lot, and cheaply. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if you're new to CCW and think a snub revolver might be the way you want to go, I might get the .22 LCR first...no, .22 isn't the world's best self-defense cartridge, but it is substantially better than harsh language. Secondly, you will have a gun that you can shoot a lot and that you will keep even if you decide to go to a semiauto for CCW. If you feel comfortable with the .22, it's an easy transition to the .38 (which I've been carrying for a couple of months now) or the .357 version.

Specifications
Caliber	.22 LR
Capacity	8
Finish	Black / Advanced Target Grey (Cylinder)
Grip	Hogue Tamer
Barrel	1.875"
Overall Length	6.50"
Weight	14.90 oz.
CA / MA Approved	No
Front Sight	Replaceable, Pinned Ramp
Rear Sight	U-Notch Integral
MSRP (Price)	$525

Ron Paul Highlights – Fox News/Google Republican Debate

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:56:10 PDT

Fox News Pulls Poll Showing Ron Paul Debate Victory, Claims Mitt Romney Won

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:57:52 PDT

Prison Planet

Poll showed Paul trouncing Romney by 11,000 votes

The establishment media’s relentless campaign to denigrate Congressman Ron Paul’s presidential campaign has manifested itself once again, after a poll showing Paul had won last night’s Orlando debate was pulled by Fox News who later published an article claiming Mitt Romney had instead claimed the victory.

When we took a screenshot of the poll at around 5am CST this morning, the result showed Paul easily beating his nearest rival Romney by 11,000 clear votes, with Paul at almost 40% and Romney trailing at just under 23%.

After our screenshot of the poll was posted on the ever-popular Drudge Report website, Fox News pulled the page that had previously housed the poll entirely. But the network went further, subsequently publishing an article by National Review editor and Fox News contributor Rich Lowry opining that Mitt Romney had in fact won the debate, thereby completely ignoring their own website poll, which restricts users to one vote per IP address.

Indeed, Lowry didn’t even mention Ron Paul once in his 13 paragraph piece, despite giving praise to Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain – all of whom performed miserably in Fox News’ own post-debate poll. Ron Paul got nearly double the amount of votes in the poll than all three of them put together, but Lowry completely omitted Paul’s name from his report.

As we have previously documented, Fox News, even more so than the likes of MSNBC and CNN, have constantly undermined Paul’s campaign with dirty tricks, including playing the wrong audio of a crowd booing Paul at this year’s CPAC event.

See the results of the original poll before Fox News pulled it below.

A Message For The Government: Get Off Our Backs!

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:53:45 PDT

The American Dream

Government in America has gotten completely and totally out of control. Our founding fathers originally intended to set up a nation where the power of government would be greatly limited, but today government has become a horribly bloated monster that is relentlessly growing. It is not just the federal government that I am talking about. All over the country, there are state and local governments that have become monstrous as well. No matter who we elect, they just want even more of our money, they demand even more of our time and our resources, they pile even more rules and regulations on to our backs, they seek even more control over us and our children and they take even more of our liberties and freedoms away. They have invented hundreds of different ways to drain money out of us, and yet it is never enough. They pile up nightmarish debts that they expect our children and our grandchildren to repay, and yet our cities and our infrastructure are crumbling all around us. Government seems to have a relentless appetite for demanding even more from all of us, and yet they seem to badly mess up everything that they try to accomplish. Well, I have a message for the government. Get off our backs!

I was horrified recently when I learned that the state of Virginia plans to put toll booths on Interstate 95.

Talk about a stupid idea!

I used to spend many hours traveling up and down Interstate 95. It is a traffic nightmare and the last thing anyone needs is for it to become even more congested.

But that is what is going to happen.

So why are they doing this?

Well, it is another way for them to make money.

This is happening all over the nation. State governments are taking roads that have already been paid for and they are turning them into toll roads.

I am very highly offended by this. But amazingly, most of the politicians that are doing this keep getting voted back into office.

Read the rest on The American Dream

Ron Paul Revolution 2012

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:01:50 PDT

The doctor is in: Ron Paul is on the rise

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:29:53 PDT

The doctor is in: Ron Paul is on the rise
Daily Caller
Fielding questions from reporters Wednesday at a press breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor, GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul talked at length about his favorite subjects: economic freedom, the failure of the Federal Reserve and the follies of foreign intervention.

It was a familiar spiel to everyone in the room that morning — journalists whose e-mail inboxes are no strangers to Paul’s devoted supporters. But that itself is perhaps a measure of the success of Paul’s decades-long campaign against big government.

Over the course of his career, Paul and his special brand of small-government activism have moved from the political hinterlands into the mainstream discussion. The man who was once the 1988 Libertarian Party presidential candidate is now a visible presence in the Republican presidential field.

Read the rest at Daily Caller

Ron Paul Wins California Straw Poll with 44.9%

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:07:24 PDT

Ron Paul’s speech: Part 1 and Part 2
(bad audio quality – please contact us if you find a better recording.

The California Republican Party’s 2011 Straw Poll was held today between 9:00AM – 5:00PM, where CRP members, associate members, and registered guests were allowed to choose their favorite from among the 11 official Republican presidential candidates.

A full breakdown of the results is copied below. A total of 833 ballots were cast during the 2011 Straw Poll which included a write-in opportunity for the first time.

2011 Straw Poll Full Results (Votes, %)
Ron Paul (374, 44.9%)
Rick Perry (244, 29.3%)
Mitt Romney (74, 8.8%)
Michele Bachmann (64, 7.7%)
Jon Huntsman (17, 2.0%)
Herman Cain (15, 1.8%)
Newt Gingrich (14, 1.7%)
Thad McCotter (7, 0.8%)
Rick Santorum (7, 0.8%)
Gary Johnson (2, 0.2%)
Fred Karger (1, 0.1%)
Write-ins (15, 1.8%)

Ron Paul: Let’s Get Real on Jobs!

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:09:03 PDT

Stop Wasting America’s Money on Pretend Make-Work Government Programs

by Ron Paul

In January 2009, the administration claimed that if Congress passed a rush stimulus bill, the United States would be saved from economic catastrophe that was threatening to send unemployment figures above 8 percent. Government stimulus was the answer and if we cared about our country, we would set aside our reservations and do what needed to be done to pass the bill. Congress passed the bill. Unemployment continued to go up and has been well over 8 percent ever since. (In fact, economist John Williams of ShadowStats finds unemployment to be closer to 23 percent using traditional methodology.) Yet some are claiming the first stimulus worked and all we need to bring back prosperity is more government stimulus.

Stimulus might appear to work for some people for a short time. It worked for a short time for Solyndra. For a time, they could pretend to be engaging in productive activities that would help the economy. For a time, unemployment was 1,100 people less. But the recent bankruptcy of Solyndra shows that the government is a terrible venture capitalist. This charade cost the American people over half a billion dollars they could not afford, yet there is no mea culpa. The administration is not questioning its calculations, or how they could have been so wrong on their unemployment predictions in the wake of the last stimulus.

Instead, they want more money. Once again we are hearing the cry that if we care about our country, we will approve more spending and more taxes and that will create more jobs. They promise.

Yes, you could have gone to the Solyndra factory and you would have seen jobs. What you could not have seen were the productive jobs that were never created. Real venture capitalists make decisions based not on politics and photo opportunities, but on complex economic estimations of risk and reward. They don’t simply throw piles of other people’s money at a factory and expect magic to happen. The uncreated jobs you can’t see might still be around. Instead, we have more government debt which will lead to more inflation and more taxes. These, in addition to an already hostile regulatory environment, only add to the burden and risk of job creation in the private economy.

It has been said that when all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail. Our government is full of people who sincerely believe big government and more spending is the answer to every problem. They automatically look to government for every solution. Government is their hammer, and all they know to do is to keep hammering. When government “solutions” still don’t solve the problems, they are unfazed. They keep calling for more government, more laws, and more programs. Americans are tired of being treated like nails.

This government-centric mindset is the root of the problem. People who think this way are naturally drawn to politics and government. To them, the Constitution is an annoying road block, something to get around, or ignore.

We must become interested in real, lasting, productive jobs – careers that allow families to build up a solid foundation of prosperity and economic security – not pretend make-work government jobs that waste resources and vanish overnight. We have to choose one or the other.

Vince Vaughn: I Called Ron Paul to Talk about the Fed

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:02:04 PDT

Gun Imports in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:47:46 PST

The BATFE have published a list of the top countries which exported firearms to the USA and how many gun were imported from them. Most of these countries have only one, two or three major firearm manufacturers, so it is not hard to figure out how many guns these manufactures exported.

Note: Many of the companies listed below also manufacture firearms in the USA. Some have been known to export US-manufactured guns to Europe.

Brazil: Taurus/Rossi.

Austria: Glock and Steyr. I am going to make an educated guess and say that at least 70% of those pistol imported are Glocks. Glocks are selling well! The rifles would be Steyrs.

Italy: A number of companies. The bulk would be from the Beretta family (which includes Benelli).

Germany: H&K, SIG & Walther [Thanks Jason]

Croatia: Springfield Armory is selling a lot of XD pistols!

Turkey: A lot of firearm manufactures. A good proportion of those shotguns would from Beretta owned companies.

Canada:
I have no idea who is exporting rifles to the USA. Maybe its a typo? Maybe a large undisclosed purchased of Colt Canada firearms for allied forces in the Middle East? Maybe the Canadians decided to send all their Lee Enfield to collectors in the USA.
Apparently Savage makes rimfire rifles in Canada [ Thanks James ]

Russia: Mostly Saiga rifles from Izshmash. I am surprised, I thought Russia would be exporting a lot more.

Argentina: Bersa pistols.

China: A few countries import Remington 870-clones (ironically the list includes H&R, a subsidiary of Remington). Who is importing rifles? It must only be either a government, defense contractor or military organization.

Romania: Soviet era rifles and handguns?

Japan: Weatherby, some Winchesters.

Philippines: Rock Island Armory and a few other companies.

Serbia: Zastava.

Czech Republic: The majority from CZ. Czechpoint is a smaller company that imports a variety of Czech-made firearms.

Belgium: FN Herstal.

Finland: Tikka / Sako (owned by Beretta).

UK: I am not sure who is importing handguns. I suspect it's a government-related transfer. There are a number of rifle manufactures. Accuracy International is one of the larger companies.

Spain: Star and Astra. Possibly includes imports from CVA and Traditions who make muzzleloaders. [Thanks Jon]

Ukraine: Soviet-era rifles?

Portugal:
Collector guns?
Some Browning-branded shotguns [Thanks Jon]

Bulgaria: Arsenal.

Poland: Collector guns like the Polish PPS-43C.

Israel: IWI pistols.

Switzerland: KRISS and a few other firms.

SIG to introduce ambidextrous pistols in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:25:59 PST

Guns, Holsters & Gear reports ...

Sig P238SIG SAUER is expanding the popular P238 line to include models with an ambidextrous safety. It appears there will be five ambi safety models of the SIG P238 introduced at the 2012 SHOT Show.

The SIG P238 with the new ambi safety will be available in the following versions: black diamondplate, rosewood, desert, equinox and scorpion. All of these versions have become standard across much of the SIG SAUER line.

Non-ambi SIG P238 with “Rainbow Titanium” Finish

“Guns Good Bans Bad” – A new and innovative report on the failure of gun control in the USA

noreply@blogger.com (C.W.) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:37:18 PDT

Georgia Carry

GCO is pleased to release another innovative report, “Guns Good Bans Bad”. The report examines gun control’s impact on crime rates and its financial cost to society.

The report examines the impact on crime rates of five examples where self-defense rights were increased (spoiler: crime went down) and five examples where gun control was imposed (spoiler: crime went up). Applying the latest research data on the total cost of crime, the report calculates the annual financial impact of gun control (spoiler: gun control costs society a lot of money).

One of the examples is Representative Tim Bearden’s HB89, which was signed into law by Governor Sonny Perdue in 2008. The 8% decrease of crime in the year following HB89’s enactment (2009) has saved Georgia $676M/year. In the two and half years since its enactment, HB89 has benefited Georgia by over $1.6B.

The report is the work of Mike Menkus, GCO Member, Founding Member of GCO, and former GCO Board Member and Treasurer.

Michael Menkus is a licensed Professional Engineer in Georgia. He earned a BS degree in Geophysical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from Emory University. His engineering experience includes oil and gas production, construction of petroleum marketing facilities, environmental cleanup of hazardous waste and petroleum spills, air and groundwater flow modeling, and design of data and voice telecommunication networks. His economic analysis background mineral engineering project evaluation, capital investment analysis, and pricing of products and services.

He is a member of GeorgiaCarry.Org and WisconsinCarry.Org. Michael was on the Board of GeorgiaCarry.Org and its first Treasurer from the organization’s founding to 2010. Mike’s other interests include stock market investing, strength training, and practical shooting competitions (USPSA and Steel Challenge)

You can find this new and exciting report here.

His prior research effort was documenting the racist origins of Georgia’s gun laws. You can read that report here.