American Logic

It’s time for us to “man up” and ban smoking and the sale of tobacco and all related products.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.  In fact, they estimate that 1 in 5 deaths in the United States result from the use of tobacco.

Here’s a little closer look at the numbers:

443,000 deaths annually.  Of those, nearly 50,000 were were from secondhand smoke.  (Isn’t that called negligent homicide?)

The Washington State Department of Health has said that 7,625 people died in 2007 alone as a result of tobacco use and exposure.  They further estimate the economic impact of smoking related illness at roughly $3.5 Billion in health care costs and lost productivity.

If that hasn’t got your attention yet, try this:  Every Washington household pays and estimated $631 per year for smoking related healthcare, even if no one in that household smokes. (Washington Dept. of Health numbers)

Since I’m positive that our “leaders” in the legislature lack the moral courage to take such a bold step, I’m hoping that some civic minded attorney will step forward and write a voter initiative for the next election that will address this serious issue and end all the needless death caused by first and secondhand smoke.  We here in Washington State can lead the way and provide and excellent example of courage for the rest of the nation.

As in most things, there is a downside in passing such a piece of legislation.  In fiscal year 2009, the cigarette tax generated $392 million in revenue for the State of Washington.

IF all of this is true, and cigarettes are really THAT bad, then we need to do the civilized and humane thing and BAN the sale and use of all cigarettes and tobacco related products.  In failing to take decisive action against the greatest health threat since the Bubonic plague, what the government and the anti-smoking crowd are basically saying is: “It’s o.k, if half a million people a year are dying, as long as we can make money off it.”

Did you happen to catch Barack Obama on T.V. yesterday stumping yet again for his health care bill.  Appearing at Arcadia University in Pittsburg, Mr Obama said that private insurance rates went up 40% last year and that no one could affored to pay those kind of increases.

“Did anyone here get a 40% raise last year“?  Mr Obama asked the crowd.

My response to that question is simple this:  Does anyone ever remember a politician, especially Barack Obama, asking if the American people can afford whatever tax increase they happen to be proposing at the moment?  Where did this sudden worry about what the American people can afford come from?  Someone should tell Mr Obama that the American people can’t afford nationalized health care either, or his Cap n Trade proposals.

One other thing.  There was at least one person there in Pittsburg who did get that 40% pay raise last year.  His name is Barack Obama.

Have a great day, folks.

Today the original philosophies of individual responsibility and limited government are under threat. Increasingly we are told that we must except a greater government role in the lives of Americans. As one college professor said recently, “It’s government’s job to take care of us.” He must have read a different constitution than the one I have.

On Feb 15^th I was delighted to attend the “Push Back-No Tax” Rally in Olympia, WA.  Citizens from all corners of the state gathered on the steps of the capitol to protest the legislature’s plan to raise taxes, in direct opposition to the will of the people.  Washington voters have approved initiative measures three times since 1993 that would make it harder for state government to increase taxes.  The latest of these voter sponsored initiatives, I-960, passed by an overwhelming majority in 2007.  The initiative did not say that Government could not raise taxes, it would have simply required a two thirds vote by the Legislature to do so, reflecting the view of citizens that tax increases should always be the path of last resort to correct budget shortfalls.  As they have done in the past, the State Legislature and the Governor have once again blatantly ignored the will of people and have refused to abide by this voter-approved law.  Despite her promise during her re-election campaign not to raise taxes in a recession, Governor Gregoire  has signed Senate Bill 6130 into law, neutralizing Initiative 960.

The State Police have said that there were roughly 3,000 protesters on the Capitol steps in opposition to the Legislature’s plan to set aside the voice of voters and raise taxes yet again to pay for the State’s out of control spending.  A few blocks away, a counter rally, almost twice the size, was being held in favor of “increased revenue”.  I guess that sounds better to some people rather than being honest and shouting “raise taxes”!  The pro-tax rally was organized by Rebuilding Our Economic Future, a coalition of labor, education, health care and other groups.

The difference in views and objectives was not the only thing that separated our group from the mostly union crowd just down the street.  Most, if not all, of the Tea Party movement people who were present drove their own cars and many had to take time off work to be there.  The State employees’ unions were not only on a paid holiday, (President’s Day), but many of them were also bused in from locations around the state.  Not only were they being paid by the taxpayer to be there, but they showed up with outstretched hands demanding even more.  While one side is just tying to keep what we have already earned, the other side of the debate is persistent in their attempts to take even more.

“We need to expand services and raise salaries for educators and health workers,” said one college teacher from Seattle who was interviewed by the Seattle Times.  “We think a tax on wealthy individuals and corporations will contribute to that.”

House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, said “You just can’t do an all cuts budget,” she said. “We cut so much last year we don’t have much left.”  I can’t help but wonder if anyone has told Rep. Kessler that that taxpayer does not have an endless amount of money either.

It’s also interesting to note that the majority of people who showed up for the “pro-tax” rally were holding professionally made signs.  All they had to do was show up on a bus that someone else paid for, stand where someone else told them to stand, and hold a sign that someone else made for them and then put in their hands.  No wonder the unions were able to get so many sheep to show up and ask for more handouts.

Not only do we have the public employee unions to contend with, but there are a seemingly endless list of progressive groups which exist solely to increase government spending and higher taxes to pay for it.  A group here in Washington called Permanent Defense, part of the Northwest Progressive Institute, openly states on their web site that their mission is to safeguard the “common wealth”.  It is their view that the dollars in your pocket are not rightfully yours, but actually belong to everyone. What they are talking about is nothing short of collectivism, and they are not alone.

This is the nature of the battle we face. It really is an “Us” versus “Them” struggle, and they are very active.  If we don’t energize and mobilize more people to counter the progressive agenda, we will one day wake up to find that the America we grew up in is gone.  There are those who say it’s already too late, that there is no way for us to get back to the principles on which this nation was founded.  I refuse to believe that.  As Ronald Reagan once said, “We are not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.”

The time has come to act, before it’s too late.  It’s no longer good enough to sit around with your friends and complain about the things that are going on in the world around us, or send a couple of E-mails now and then when you see something that enrages you.  It is  time to turn your anger into positive action.  I can not overstate the enormously important challenge in front of us.  It is by no means an exaggeration to say that we are in the middle of a battle to save a nation from certain ruin, and it’s going to take active citizenship to avert disaster.

It is no coincidence that the first three words written in the Declaration of Independence are “We the People“.  Our form of government demands an active participation by it’s citizens in order to safeguard our liberties. Waiting for someone else to do it for us will always result in disappointment.  No one person can do it all, but if a lot of people do a little, then no one will have to do a lot.

If you’re willing to help, there is an endless amount of ways that you can play a role.  Join a local Tea Party group, and get involved.  The media has done everything possible to trash the reputation of the Tea Party movement and make them out to be a bunch of nutballs.  Some of them are, but the other side of the debate has their fair share of wackos to.  Most of the people in the Tea Party movement are ordinary Americans who understand that we live in extraordinary times.  They just want to insure that the country they leave for their children and grandchildren is the same Nation that they inherited from their parents.  There are thousands of these groups scaterd all over the country.  No matter where you are, there’s probably one near you.

If you use facebook, we have a group there that we use to help members stay informed of current news and upcoming events.  You can find us at “Remember Us…We the People.”  If you need help finding a local group, we can help you with that.   You can also contact me personally via E-mail.  Working together, we can all make a difference.

Here in America, we here much talk about ‘fairness’. We hear politicians use terms like ‘economic justice’, ‘social justice’, and from time to time, ‘racial justice‘. The implication being that somehow America is not a fair country. Not to fear, there is no end to people in our society today who want to legislate fairness.

The Declaration of Independence clearly says that “all men are created equal”. It does not say that we will always remain that way. While we are all born equal, it’s what we choose to do with our lives that defines who we are. Some people choose to work hard and make sacrifices that others are not willing to make. Some in society have enjoyed the benefits of their hard work and ambition, while others live a more meager life, often because they lack the initiative to make life better for themselves without waiting for someone else to make it better for them. As a result, people do not always remain equal. Liberalism, (progressivism), seeks to change that and mandate by law, by tax policy, or by government regulation that everyone is equal throughout life. History has shown us time and time again that it can not be done.

Employee unions have been trying to do it for years. If you’re a member of a union, the person next to you makes the same amount you do, regardless of job performance. As long as the other person has equal seniority on the job as you, they make the same wage as you do, even if they only do the minimal amount of work required to keep their job. Incentive to work harder, or do more than is required, is completely taken out of the workplace.

Government has been using tax policy to “level the playing field” as well. The more a person makes, the higher percentage of their income they pay in taxes. Currently in this country, less than 10% of the population pays 80% of all income taxes. Where in all the discussions of “fairness” does that get mentioned?

The health care reform package currently being forced on America by the Democrat party is now the ultimate in “legislated fairness”. It’s been said that health care is a ‘right’ or that it’s not ‘fair’ that some people can’t afford health insurance. Predictably, the answer liberalism creates is to make someone else pay for it.

America did not achieve its position in the world because of government programs designed to make life ‘fair’ for everyone. We have achieved greatness because of rugged individualism, not collectivism. For two hundred years, people from all over the world have wanted to come here to this country, because here, only in this land, they could determine their own destiny. Here in America, people have always been able to enjoy “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that comes from their own initiative and hard work.

When I was growing up, the American dream was to own a home. Today the American dream seems to be getting whatever you want, and then getting someone else to pay for it. Logical people know that there is no such thing as “free”. Everything has to be paid for by someone. Well, if one person is getting the fruits of another persons labor, isn’t that the very definition of slavery?

It has often been said by civil rights activists that slavery built America.  It’s a sad reality that America’s future is now in danger because of a different kind of slavery.

Is the Speaker of the House of Representatives having a change of heart? Last fall Nancy Pelosi referred to members of the Tea Party movement as “Astroturf” and claimed that they were a bunch of nut jobs carrying swastikas and suggested that they were calling for violence.

“I saw this myself in the late `70s in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it gave — it created a climate in which we — violence took place“.

Now, a short 6 months later, she is softening her tone a bit. In an interview with ABC news this weekend, Pelosi now says she has much in common with the Tea Party that she earlier dismissed as ‘Astroturf’.

“You know, we share some of the views of the Tea Partiers in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, D.C., as — it just has to stop. And that’s why I’ve fought the special interest, whether it’s on energy, whether it’s on health insurance, whether it’s on pharmaceuticals and the rest.”

The only thing I can say is that the Speaker of the House must be delusional from a bad acid trip. The only thing she has in common with those of us in the Tea Party movement is that we happen to live in the same country. While we certainly don’t look favorably on special interest groups, the focus of our concern in mostly upon out of control government spending, the massive debts we are incurring, and the excessive growth of government. The very things that Nancy Pelosi has made a career out of fighting in favor of.

What about those ‘special interest’ groups she spoke of though? I wonder if she was talking about the same kind of special interest groups who paid the bill for Charlie Rangel’s luxury vacations to the Caribbean. Evidently not, because she does not seem to concerned about that and has continued to defend Mr. Rangel’s actions.

“But the fact is, is that what Mr. Rangel has been admonished for is not good. It was a violation of the rules of the House. It was not a — something that jeopardized our country in any way“.

I get it now. Since national security was not at stake, Rangel’s violations of the law are not really anything we should be concerned about. Remember, this is the same woman who promised “the most ethical congress in history”. It’s also the same woman who joined Rep. Steny Hoyer in calling for Tom DeLay to relinquish his post when he was admonished by the ethics committee. Of course, that was then, and this is now. The democrat party has a long history of changing the standards and rules to fit the needs of the present.

A final thought,

While the rest of the nation tightens it’s belt and tries to ride out the recession, the government has been growing in historic proportions.  Now it seems the Obama administration is looking to expand the governments real estate holdings as well.

On Tuesday, Sen. Jim DeMint wrote on op-ed page in the Washington Times revealing an internal administration memo, marked “Internal Draft-NOT FOR RELEASE”, detailing a plan for the federal government to seize more than 10 million acres of land that is currently owned by the states.  This would add to the 650 million acres of land that the federal government already owns that is off limits to any type of development or energy exploration.  Currently, almost one third of the nations land is owned by the federal government.  To lock up even more defies any sense of logic.

It’s going to be a long 1052 days till the end of the Obama administration.

I see where my home state of Washington is now going to change the way they execute condemned prisoners. We’re still going to use lethal injection, but instead of the three shot “cocktail” that states have been using since the start of lethal injections, executions will now be carried out with a one shot “combination”. I’ve got a slightly better idea. What ever happened to a tall tree and a short piece of rope? It probably does not matter what form of execution a state chooses to use, if they don’t use it.  The last execution is Washington State was in August of 2001 when they sent one James Elledge to meet his maker for murdering a 47 year old woman. There are currently eight men on death row in the State of Washington.  The newest resident has been there since 2002, costing the taxpayer roughly $90,000 per year. Anybody got a rope?

If there was ever a good argument for capital punishment, one just turned up in southern California on Sunday.  John Albert Gardner was arrested for suspicion of murdering 17 year old Chelsea King, a straight A student from San Diego.  What’s even more infuriating to me is that Gardner was convicted a decade ago for molesting a 13 year old girl and only served 5 years in prison.

I can’t help but wonder how long we Americans are going to tolerate things like this in our country. Not only is a innocent young girl dead, but now the taxpayers are going to pay through the nose to keep this waste of flesh alive for God only knows how long.  It’s bad enough that people like this even exist, but to allow them to continue to victimize society by living in prison indefinitely does not do justice to the victims, or the taxpayer.

A closing thought:  I watched Sarah Palin on Jay Leno’s show last night. I can’t help but like this woman. She says what’s on her mind, and if the liberals don’t like it, that’s just to bad. I was surprised to see the warm welcome she received from the audience though. After all, this is Hollywood.  Can’t figure out why the left hates her so bad except perhaps because her straight forward, plain spoken style is so effective.

1053 days left in the Obama administration.

What does it mean to be a citizen? Citizenship is not simply legal status in a country or state. Citizenship status in a democracy or republic such as ours requires much more from us. It demands becoming informed about the issues that affect our daily lives, our futures and that of our children and grandchildren.

Throughout history, governments have been ruled by elite men and women who made laws and legal judgments with little or no input from their citizens. There are nations today all over the world that still exist under this philosophy. The rights of the “common man” are granted or denied to them by the government.

The founders of this nation, however, believed that there were certain inalienable rights that men and women were born with, and it is governments job to protect those rights. They also recognized that rights can be taken away and governmental powers can grow beyond reasonable limits. Without the proper limitations, government would begin to work for it’s own interests instead of the peoples. In an effort to prevent this from happening, they actively sought to limit the powers of government and make it work within the consent of the governed.

In order for such an approach to work, citizens must become aware, knowledgeable, and active in their communities and throughout the nation. A democracy requires ACTIVE citizenship. Voting every few years for representatives is simply not enough. Citizenship in a republic demands that that an individual use their own mind, voice, and actions to preserve their freedoms and liberties from an overreaching government. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”.

We have all probably heard apathetic Americans complain that; “My voice doesn’t matter”. There can be only one response to such a statement. “When was the last time government heard your voice?” If as citizens of a republic, we would have security for our rights, we must take responsibility for preserving those rights. While no single person can change the world, we can all do what’s possible within our sphere of influence.

This is the spirit behind the often maligned Tea Party movement. Citizens across the country have joined together in a collective voice to remind governments at all levels that we are “citizens” and not “subjects“. It is “We the People” who control government, not the other way around. It is time we became less concerned with the American Idol and more concerned with the American President.

In 1941, after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto commented that “We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve“. Almost 70 years later, it is not bombs and rockets that threaten the security and future of our nation, but the irresponsibility of our own government. Once again though, the American people are waking up. All of us together must begin to act now to preserve the future for us, our children, and our grandchildren.

Ronald Reagan said it best in 1964 while campaigning for Barry Goldwater. “We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”

“Liberty, once lost, is lost forever” — John Adams

This past weekend a friend sent an E-mail to me containing a letter written to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi by North Carolina attorney Dennis Guthrie. The anger of Mr. Guthrie is evident in the letter and I believe it reflects the anger felt by many Americans across this great country. With the gracious permission of Mr. Guthrie, I am happy to re-post his letter here.

Dear Ms. Pelosi;

I find it interesting that you and your husband are multi-millionaires with much of your fortune being made as a result of your “public service”. You have controlled legislation that has enhanced your husband’s investments both on and off shore. At the same time you have redistributed the wealth of others. Our system of a free market economy is being destroyed by the likes of you, Harry Reid, and now our President. You ride around in a gulf-stream airplane at the tax payer’s expense while criticizing the presidents of companies who have produced something for the economy. You add nothing to the economy of the United States; you only subtract there from.

I would like to suggest that you return to the city of fruitcakes and nuts and eat your husband’s canned tuna and pineapple produced by illegal immigrants and by workers who have been excluded from the protection that 90% of the legal workers in the United States have.

I feel certain your aides will not share this letter with you, but I intend to share it with many.

I’d like to again thank Mr. Guthrie for the passion in his letter. In everything he has said, there is only one thing that I would have to disagree with. He refers to the United States as a ‘formerly great nation’. Though we have fallen a long way from what the founding fathers intended for us to be, I still believe this to be the greatest nation to ever exist on the face of the planet. I don’t often quote former President Bill Clinton, but he got at least one thing right when he said “There is nothing wrong with America that can not be fixed by what is right with America.”

Taken as a whole, the American people are the most honest, decent and hard working people in the world. The majority of us understand that while the Constitution seeks to guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is up to us as individuals to make it happen. Government can only provide the opportunity, primarily by getting out of the way. The rest is up to us.

If we the people of this great land continue to be apathetic about the affairs of our government, then we can continue to expect our leaders to look out for their own self interests above the interests of the nation. On the other hand, when the majority of Americans get as angry at our government as Mr. Guthrie is, and are willing to turn that anger into action, we will once again be the great country that we were always intended to be.