This looks like what we need for immigration reform in the U.S.
https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/immigration-national-interest/?appeal_code=MK1017EM6&utm_campaign=imprimis&utm_source=housefile&utm_medium=email&utm_content=oct_2017_immigration&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_3ttDqfsy4AJE95aCEJrC9Q-JIv2VgVW3fIoeJfzJeq8Z_LLG-SUkLIb1dzP4r0iULFjKCqxJcoFC2eScgE3NwrJ8FdA&_hsmi=57602260
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
What do we want in the United States of America?
A REPUBLIC, BUT WHO WANTS TO KEEP IT?
By Allen West
It was on September 17, 1787 that our rule of law, the US Constitution was signed in Philadelphia. History tells us of an exchange that occurred outside of Independence Hall between Benjamin Franklin and a Philadelphia socialite, Mrs. Powell. Mrs. Powell inquired of Mr. Franklin, “well, what is it that we have, a monarchy or a republic”? Mr. Franklin replied, famously, “a Republic, if you can keep it”.
That was the challenge of 230 years ago, and now we must ask ourselves, do we truly want to keep this Constitutional Republic. However, there is a greater question, how many people know what it means to live in a Constitutional Republic? America is not a democracy. The means by which we elect our representation is through a democratic process of voting. Therefore we are a representative democracy. Sadly, this was something once taught in High School civics, hardly the case today.
In our governmental structure, as learned by James Madison from Charles Montesquieu, we have three coequal branches of government, kept in alignment by a system of checks and balances. Now, however, that system is totally out of whack, and what we are witnessing is complete breakdown and dysfunction.
Consider last week as President Donald Trump signed an executive order on our healthcare system, opening up cross-state competition and ending health insurance company subsidies. There are those who were decrying his use of executive action, yet these were the same folks who said nothing as Barack Obama used executive action some 40 times to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. Any basic high school student would be able to understand that a law cannot be amended by executive action or order, it must be amended by legislative action. That is how it works in a Constitutional Republic where our legislative branch has the most enumerated powers.
But, in the case of Mr. Obama, who had lost the House of Representatives, then later the US Senate, he sought to circumvent our system of governance, and overrule our checks and balances all for his political purposes. And the same can be said about the executive agreements he entered this Nation into with the Paris Climate Accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the Iranian Nuclear agreement. These and many others represent an Executive branch that was seeking to rule by edict, let’s not get started on the plethora of bureaucratic administration rules and regulations of the Obama era as well. Those government agency regulations represented a taxation without representation, you remember that line right? Our Constitution clearly states in the origination clause that all revenue-generating measures must emanate from the US House of Representatives.
If we are to keep this Republic, maybe we should study, and go back to our fundamental principles…then again, Barack Obama did say we were “five days away from fundamentally changing the United States of America”. If there is one thing I admired about Barack Obama, he did tell us who he was and what he wanted to do, he did not want to keep our Republic.
And as for President Trump and his executive actions, well, this is a result of a complete breakdown in the duties and responsibilities of the legislative branch. I understand that President Trump wants to get things done, sadly, he has a legislative branch that seemingly does not. What else can be the reason when you had the entire US Senate taking a Columbus week break, while Americans only got Columbus Day, or as some absurdly call it, Indigenous Peoples Day.
A major threat to the future of our Republic is that we have a dysfunctional legislative branch. Now, I am not one for any semblance of progressivism, statism, Marxism, socialism, or any ideology of governance that places the institution of government over the individual. That is a critical aspect of our Republic, individual sovereignty. However, in examining where our legislative branch has gone it is apparent they are focused on creating more dependency and subservience of the individual to their institution. Look at the massive deficits and debt we have incurred, and the fact that the basic functions of our legislative branch go undone, just wait, there will be another massive Omnibus spending bill because they cannot pass a budget.
This current GOP controlled House and Senate has failed, and guess what, they still left their duty in August for a taxpayer-funded break. And we had to endure the dismissive and obtuse excuse of Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, who told us that, “our expectations were excessive”. When we have a legislative branch that is woefully failing, then the executive branch seeks to take up the slack, or even an activist Judiciary. Legislation, measures, are created and passed in the House and Senate based upon the representation of the people and the consent of the governed…notice I said governed, not ruled. Those bills, measures, legislation are then passed to the Executive branch for signing to become law. And if said law needs amending, it must go back through the legislative process. And the Judicial branch is responsible to ensure we are adhering to our rule of law.
Now we have such a breakdown of what we all learned from watching Schoolhouse Rock on Saturday mornings eating our cereal that our Republic is unrecognizable. I mean even a city, county, or state can now dismiss our rule of law by becoming a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, and certain courts will uphold their illegal action.
What must happen? First of all, the American people must accept Franklin’s challenge and take seriously those whom we elect to public office. Taking the oath of office cannot be seen as some cursory mumbling of words, it is something that must be embraced. True liberty comes when the individual is elevated over the institution of government, our Founding Fathers recognized that premise and created something the world had never known, or seen, but needed. The words of Scottish political philosopher, Alexander Fraser Tytler, were so prescient, and relevant to where we are today in our Constitutional Republic, America.
He said, “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
Ask yourself today, what are you doing to keep this Republic, that is if you want to? And where in the cycle articulated by Tytler do you see the American Republic…that we are individually responsible to keep.
Monday, October 16, 2017
Death by gun statistics
There are 30,000 gun-related deaths per year by firearms in the U.S.
This number is not disputed. The U.S. population is 324,059,091 as of June 22, 2016. Do the math: 0.000000925% of the population dies from gun related actions each year. Statistically speaking, this is insignificant!
What is never told, however, is a breakdown of those 30,000 deaths, to put them in perspective as compared to other causes of death:
• 65% of those deaths are by suicide, which would never be prevented by gun laws. Let this sink in- - suicide = 20,800; guns = 11,200.
• 15% are by law enforcement in the line of duty and justified (99.999%)
• 17% are through criminal activity, gang and drug related or mentally ill persons – better known as gun violence.
• 3% are accidental discharge deaths.
So technically,"gun violence" is not 30,000 annually, but drops to 5,100. Still too many?
Now lets look at how those deaths spanned across the nation.
• 480 homicides (9.4%) were in Chicago
• 344 homicides (6.7%) were in Baltimore
• 333 homicides (6.5%) were in Detroit
• 119 homicides (2.3%) were in Washington D.C. (a 54% increase over prior years)
So basically, 25% of all gun crime happens in just 4 cities. All 4 of those cities have strict gun laws, so it is not the lack of law that is the root cause.
This leaves 3,825 for the entire rest of the nation, or about 75 deaths per state. That is an average because some States have much higher rates than others.. For example, California had 1,169 and Alabama had 1.
Now, who has the strictest gun laws by far? California. But understand, It is crime rate spawned by the number of criminal persons residing in those cities and states. If all cities and states are not created equal, then there must be something other than the tool causing the gun deaths.
Are 5,100 deaths per year horrific? How about in comparison to other deaths?
All death is sad and especially so when it is in the commission of a crime but that is the nature of crime. Robbery, death, rape, assault are all done by criminals. It is ludicrous to think that criminals will obey laws. That is why they are called criminals.
What about other deaths each year - to compare and relate?
• 40,000+ die from a drug overdose–THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT!
• 36,000 people die per year from the flu, far exceeding the criminal gun deaths.
• 34,000 people die per year in traffic fatalities (exceeding gun deaths even if you include suicide).
Now it gets good:
• 200,000+ people die each year(and growing) from preventable medical errors. Hey, you are safer walking in the worst areas of Chicago than you are when you are in a hospital!
• 710,000 people die per year from heart disease. It’s time to stop the double cheeseburgers!
What is the point?
If liberals and the anti-gun movement focused their attention on heart disease, even a 10% decrease in cardiac deaths would save twice the number of lives annually of all gun-related deaths (including suicide, law enforcement, etc.). A 10% reduction in medical errors would be 66% of the total number of gun deaths or 4 times the number of criminal homicides ................. Simple, easily preventable 10% reductions! So you have to ask yourself, in the grand scheme of things, why the focus on guns?
It's pretty simple:
Taking away guns gives control to governments. The founders of this nation knew that regardless of the form of government, those in power may become corrupt and seek to rule as the British did by trying to disarm the populace of the colonies.. It is not difficult to understand that a disarmed populace is a controlled populace.
Thus, the second amendment was proudly and boldly included in the U.S. Constitution. It must be preserved at all costs. So the next time someone tries to tell you that gun control is about saving lives, look at these facts and remember these words from Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed."
P.S. Oh, in case you believe the NRA should be blamed for funding pro-gun candidates for office to protect our right to beararms consider this.
The NRA contributed $3.5 mm to approx. 400 candidates over the past 9 years. However, Planned Parenthood contributed $38 mm to candidates just last year! And, the NRA receives $0 from the federal government. Not so for PP which receives several hundred million in taxpayer funds.
Courtesy of a former high school classmate
This number is not disputed. The U.S. population is 324,059,091 as of June 22, 2016. Do the math: 0.000000925% of the population dies from gun related actions each year. Statistically speaking, this is insignificant!
What is never told, however, is a breakdown of those 30,000 deaths, to put them in perspective as compared to other causes of death:
• 65% of those deaths are by suicide, which would never be prevented by gun laws. Let this sink in- - suicide = 20,800; guns = 11,200.
• 15% are by law enforcement in the line of duty and justified (99.999%)
• 17% are through criminal activity, gang and drug related or mentally ill persons – better known as gun violence.
• 3% are accidental discharge deaths.
So technically,"gun violence" is not 30,000 annually, but drops to 5,100. Still too many?
Now lets look at how those deaths spanned across the nation.
• 480 homicides (9.4%) were in Chicago
• 344 homicides (6.7%) were in Baltimore
• 333 homicides (6.5%) were in Detroit
• 119 homicides (2.3%) were in Washington D.C. (a 54% increase over prior years)
So basically, 25% of all gun crime happens in just 4 cities. All 4 of those cities have strict gun laws, so it is not the lack of law that is the root cause.
This leaves 3,825 for the entire rest of the nation, or about 75 deaths per state. That is an average because some States have much higher rates than others.. For example, California had 1,169 and Alabama had 1.
Now, who has the strictest gun laws by far? California. But understand, It is crime rate spawned by the number of criminal persons residing in those cities and states. If all cities and states are not created equal, then there must be something other than the tool causing the gun deaths.
Are 5,100 deaths per year horrific? How about in comparison to other deaths?
All death is sad and especially so when it is in the commission of a crime but that is the nature of crime. Robbery, death, rape, assault are all done by criminals. It is ludicrous to think that criminals will obey laws. That is why they are called criminals.
What about other deaths each year - to compare and relate?
• 40,000+ die from a drug overdose–THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT!
• 36,000 people die per year from the flu, far exceeding the criminal gun deaths.
• 34,000 people die per year in traffic fatalities (exceeding gun deaths even if you include suicide).
Now it gets good:
• 200,000+ people die each year(and growing) from preventable medical errors. Hey, you are safer walking in the worst areas of Chicago than you are when you are in a hospital!
• 710,000 people die per year from heart disease. It’s time to stop the double cheeseburgers!
What is the point?
If liberals and the anti-gun movement focused their attention on heart disease, even a 10% decrease in cardiac deaths would save twice the number of lives annually of all gun-related deaths (including suicide, law enforcement, etc.). A 10% reduction in medical errors would be 66% of the total number of gun deaths or 4 times the number of criminal homicides ................. Simple, easily preventable 10% reductions! So you have to ask yourself, in the grand scheme of things, why the focus on guns?
It's pretty simple:
Taking away guns gives control to governments. The founders of this nation knew that regardless of the form of government, those in power may become corrupt and seek to rule as the British did by trying to disarm the populace of the colonies.. It is not difficult to understand that a disarmed populace is a controlled populace.
Thus, the second amendment was proudly and boldly included in the U.S. Constitution. It must be preserved at all costs. So the next time someone tries to tell you that gun control is about saving lives, look at these facts and remember these words from Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed."
P.S. Oh, in case you believe the NRA should be blamed for funding pro-gun candidates for office to protect our right to beararms consider this.
The NRA contributed $3.5 mm to approx. 400 candidates over the past 9 years. However, Planned Parenthood contributed $38 mm to candidates just last year! And, the NRA receives $0 from the federal government. Not so for PP which receives several hundred million in taxpayer funds.
Courtesy of a former high school classmate
An interesting observation by my cousin, Jack
A recent post I saw that I liked, but couldn't share. Cut and pasted here.
Don't you love how the Liberal's insist on proving President Trump accurate most all the time. Heck, DJT speaks of an observation that many women will easily lift their skirts for a man with wealth & power. Many of the women pictured here knitted up pink pussy hats and screamed what a pig Donald is. While they suffered actual sexual abuse and kept quiet allowing hundreds of women to suffer the same fate??? Boy this is over the top horrible. Sadly, even Hollywood can't live up to their own narrative. What a bunch of phonies. What is it called when your silence about real abuse is rewarded with a role on TV or the movies?....... are you a whore.... or just acting like one?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)