The Hillsdale College Constitution Class

         Hillsdasle College (http://www.hillsdale.edu) is offering a free online course in the constitution.  It’s excellent.  The brilliance of the founders rests on their profound understanding of human nature. They, on one hand, would agree with Hamlet’s “What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties… how like an angel.”

              But they also understand how stupid, selfish, and irrational we can be, and not just the rich or the poor, the unchurched or unschooled, but all of us.  Alexander Hamilton’s view was especially harsh.  “Men are ambitious, vindictive and rapacious.” Given the opportunity we all would trample another’s rights.

           The founders strived to create a government that would deal with those realities, draw on our remarkable potential and recognize our inescapable failings.  They were not Libertarians.  They understood that governments are necessary, and not a necessary evil, but a necessary good.  They had to find a way that we could govern ourselves without oppressing one another.

                 All tyrannies are the result of the failure of a utopian dream relying on the notion that man is perfectible. Progressives believe that over time, by tinkering with the educational system or the laws or the economic structure, they could create a more perfect society.  It always leads to totalitarianism. The founders were adamant:  “It’s time that we awoke from the deceitful dream of a golden age of perfect wisdom and happy virtue.”   

               But democracies can be tyrannies as well. A hundred despots can be as dangerous as one. We will violate the rights of others for personal gain.  Hoping to protect us from that reality, the founders gave us a strictly limited federal government, balanced carefully among three branches, each of which would govern the impulses of the other, and all dependent on an informed and vigilant populace, lest  “once fashionable follies begin to plague the country.”

             It is our responsibility to make sure they do not pass laws “so voluminous that they can’t be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood [under which] only the sagacious, the enterprising, and the moneyed few can function.”  We have done our job very well. 

I highly recommend the Hillsdale class.

The Reluctant Harry Reid

            Harry Reid, senate majority leader praised the House Friday morning for approving H.R. 3765, extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance for two months, and preventing a planned cut to reimbursements for Medicare physicians.

                 Reid said that the year has been a learning experience for the new members of the 112^th congress.  They’ve learned that politics is the art of compromise.  They’ve learned that they should not wage partisan battles to settle ideological scores.  Both he and President Obama have criticized the House Republicans for playing politics on every issue.

              I hope the year has been a learning experience for the American people. It is patently obvious that it has been Harry Reid who has been playing politics. The house has passed several budget bills and many jobs bills all of which sit on Harry’s desk because he refuses to bring them to the floor.  He knows that some of his Senate Democrats would vote for them and he afford that.

                 He was even reluctant to bring President Obama’s budget bill, his “pass it now…pass it now, pass it now” jobs bill to the floor of the senate for discussion.  He obviously wanted to avoid being embarrassed because he knew that the Democrats would unanimously vote against it.

                You may disagree with the ideology behind the bills passed by the house, but I am sure you would agree that they should be discussed, called to question on the Senate floor.  Here are a few.  You’ll notice that all of them passed with bi-partisan support, some with significant bi-partisan support.  All were refused for consideration by one voice, Harry Reed.

1) The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (H.R 872) passed 292-130 March 31, 2011

2) The Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910)  passed 255-172 on April 7, 2011

3) Preventing the feds from regulating the internet.  (H.J. Res. 37) passed 240 to 179 on April 8, 2011

4) Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act (H.R 1230) passed 266-149 on May 5, 2011.

5) Reinstating oil drilling permits in the Gulf Coast (H.R. 1229) passed 263-163 on May 11, 2011.

6) Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act (H.R 1231) passed 243-179 on May 12, 2011

7) Expedite the process for offshore drilling permit (H.R 2021) passed 255-166 on June 22, 2011.

8) The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act (H.R 2018) passed 239 to 184 on July 13, 2011.

9) Council to vote to set aside harmful federal regulation (H.R. 1315)  passed 241-173 on July 21, 2011.

10) Expediting the operation of the Keystone XL pipeline (H.R. 1938) passed 279-147 on July 26, 2011.

11) Give companies flexibility to operate in states that provide opportunity for growth (H.R. 2587) passed 238-186 on September 15, 2011.

12) The Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts (TRAIN) Act (H.R. 2401), passed 249-169 on September 23, 2011.

13) The Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 2681) passed 262-161 on October 6, 2011.

14) The EPA Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 2250) Passed 275-142 on October 13, 2011.

15) The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2273) passed 276-144 on October 14, 2011.

Tea Party Rant no Harmless

     In the March 28th issue of the Arizona Republic Mr. Eugene Robinson’s (“Tea party rant not harmless”) plea to those who lead the tea party movement and those who “exploit it” start acting like responsible adults.   Mr. Eugene Robinson your bemoaning the violence and the threats of violence on the right is so absurd it set my hair on fire. 

      You identify several supposed threats, some of which may actually have occurred.  However, did you ever object to even one of the thousands of threats, really bloody ones, that were openly demonstrated against our own President Bush.  There were thousands of posters suggesting he be hanged, at least once by an image of Saddam, one by Bin Laden.  There were hundreds of images of his being burned in effigy.  Listed below are only a few of the most heinous posters. 

“Kill Bush.  Bomb his f------n house.”

“Hang bush for war crimes.”

“Bush is the disease.  Death is the cure.

“I’m here to kill Bush.  Shoot me.

“Bush, the only dope worth shooting.

“Death to worlds #1 terrorist pig.  Bush and his sheep.”

“Death to extremist Christian terrorist pig Bush.”

       Some of the pictures were absolutely grotesque, one of Bush with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead, blood dripping down his face.  In one picture his severed head is held aloft blood oozing from the raggedly gashed throat.  Many posters had him brought to the guillotine, one called the Bush whacker. 

       Can you imagine the furor if even one such poster depicting violence against Obama appeared at a tea party?  You scorn Sarah for her imagery, but were apparently not disturbed at all that John Kerry suggested we “kill the bird in the White House.”  I go to tea parties.  They are Sunday School picnics.  The only violence you’ll see is the violence of your socialists friends, Mr. Robinson, who try to disrupt our peaceful gatherings. 

       Speaker Palosi, was supposedly moved to tears remembering the violence of the protesters on the left.  It was quite an act, wasn't it?    If we see violence on the right, we help you prosecute the perpetrators.  You reward your violent protestors with lucrative government jobs.  I know you’re following Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, attacking the character rather than the ideas of your opponents, and if you can keep the rest of America away from the tea parties so they can’t see the truth, it may work.  

John F. Kennedy: What liberals believe

John F. Kennedy supposedly made some assertions about liberals that may have been true for him, but that have been subverted by liberals who serve today. 

Someone who looks ahead and not behind:  Watch out that 15 trillion dollar debt is going to bite you in the rear.

Someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions:  Canadian pipeline?  No thanks.  It’s safer to buy our oil from the Middle East.

Someone who cares about their health:  A turkey sandwich and a banana?  Your Momma is nasty.  Here, have some chicken Nuggets. 

Someone who cares about the welfare of the people:  Let’s trap them into lives of shiftless poverty that way we can always count on their vote.  We’ll keep our jobs and put billions in our personal accounts.

Someone who cares about their jobs: I don’t care if you spent millions building that plant in South Carolina where the unemployment rate is through the roof, you will offer those jobs over my dead body.

 Someone who tries to break though the stalemate:  For nearly four years now the Democratic senate has refused to bring one budget bill to the floor.  Where’s the stalemate? 

Someone who can resolve problems abroad:   Except for the Gulf, Democrats start wars, Republicans end them.

The Canadian Free Press recognizes the importance of religion in sustaining our republic.

                The Canadian Free Press recognizes the importance of religion in sustaining our republic.    http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/45021          

              " The one thing that Presidents from Washington through to modern times have held in common was the belief that religion was a central component of the life of the republic.

             "Calvin Coolidge, President from 1923 to 1929, said 'Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberality, and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government. There are only two main theories of government in our world. One rests on righteousness and the other on force. One appeals to reason, and the other appeals to the sword. One is exemplified in the republic; the other is represented by despotism.'"

               

Term Limits

        My first reaction to Rex Jabobsen’s “Limit terms of office” (Yuma Sun, January 3, 2012) was negative.  I had read an article that showed how the entrenched bureaucracy in D.C.  stymies change.  Many bills that would reform the way Washington does business get pigeonholed by the bureaucrats who really run Washington.  It takes a lot of experience for our representative to find ways to circumvent the behemoth. 

         His idea has resonated with me, however, and I now see the merit.  As it is now our president and congressmen and women lose sight of their allegiance to “we the people” and spend most of their time running for re-election.  If they are all lame ducks, perhaps they’ll think more about their legacy and spend their time making Washington work more efficiently for the folks who hired them.

           According to the constitution, congress shall meet on the first Monday of December.  I like that.  They’d have less time to screw things up.  They could put together a budget for the year and then go home and get a job.

The faith of our fathers

Were our founders men of faith

Based mostly on David Barton who wrote Original Intent

Lest I forget, a few notes about our founders whom we are led to believe were agnostics.

1. Continental Congress printed a Bible to be used in schools.
2. Benjamin Franklin recessed the Continental Congress for three days of prayer and contemplation.  When governor of Pennsylvania he drew up a plan to encourage wider church attendance.  Some historians have discredited him because for his opium use (was in so much pain that he had to be carried to meetings on a chair) and because he was considered by some of his contemporaries to be insane.  They don’t mention that it was because he was so fiercely anti slavery.  In one letter out of thousands he calls himself a deist, but only to emphasize the belief that it doesn’t matter who you think God is, worship him.  When asked about his faith Franklin said there is a god, there is an afterlife where we will have to answer for our sins.  We serve God by serving others.
3. Samuel Adams, governor of Massachusetts called the entire state to prayer and fasting 7 times.
4. Charles Carol, richest man in America used his estate to endow in perpetuity a chapel and a preacher for a remote area.
5. Benjamin Rose founded the Bible Society of America and the Sunday School Society of America.
6. Stephen Hawkins wrote treatises on Christianity
7. Robert Payne was a military chaplain
8. Washington’s adopted daughter described George Washington’s habit of Bible reading and prayer and said that to suggest that he father was not a Christian would be as silly as saying that he was not a patriot.
9. Jefferson signed his documents not just “In the year of our Lord” as most people did, but “In the year of our Lord Christ.”  He instituted church services in the Capitol.  The Marine Corp band played the service.  Ministers of every denomination took turns.  The first woman preacher and the first Black minister in the country spoke there frequently.  More than 2,000 people attended.  He also established churches in the treasury department, the war department, and at the naval yard.  Jefferson published a book called the Red Letter Book, the words of Christ in four languages which was printed every year and handed out to every new member of congress, until 1926 when progressives began taking control of the dialogue and got us to believe that the founders were all atheists.
10. James Wilson founded the first law school and said that you cannot have good civil law without divine law
11. Francis Hopkins published a book in which he set the entire book of Psalms to music
12. Benjamin Rush had a dream about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson who had been in bitter dispute for years.  In his dream he saw a book published containing the many enlightening letters exchanged between Adams and Jefferson.  He felt the dream was a message of the Holy Spirit and wrote to Jefferson telling him about the dream and, because they hadn’t written any letters, encouraged them to forget their differences and begin to communicate so that the dream could be fulfilled.  Adams and Jefferson agreed that messages from the Holy Spirit must be attended to, buried the hatchet and wrote many letters which have subsequently been compiled entitled The Adams and Jefferson Letters.
13. The founders were men of faith and duty.  George Washington did not want to leave Mt Vernon to fight in the wars or serve as president.  Patrick Henry said he had 19 children and 89 grandchildren and he wanted to go home, but he served as well.  They pledged their lives and their sacred honor.   Seven of them were assonated before they could see the result of their efforts.  Seventeen of them lost everything as a result of their stand for freedom and independence.  Five were prisoners of war. 
14. Early schools required students to read two books.  The Lives of the Signers  and The Wives of the Signers.  But in 1926 two college professors (Yale, Harvard, I can’t remember which) wrote a book called The Godless Constitution in which they pictured the signers as agnostics and atheists.  No footnotes, no scholarly references.  A year later a book was published that thoroughly disputed The Godless Constitution, a scholarly book filled with footnotes and references that proved them wrong, but professors at colleges still rely on  The Godless Constitution for their information about the founders. 
15. There are 5,600 quotations in the founding papers.  The largest percentage of them, 34 per cent, came from the Bible,  the largest percentage from the book of Deuteronomy, the book of law of the Old Testaments.

       If anyone is “regurgitat(ing) old tired mantras,” it is Jules Ohrin-Greipp (Debate the facts rather than fears,” Yuma Sun, March 19) calling us birthers, deathers, fringers and depressing ignorant racists.  (Incidentally the author cites not one fact to justify the slurs. 

       Casting ad hominem slurs on the opposition is common on the left.  At every stump speech President Obama manages to call us Flat Earthers.  Had he been up on his history, our president would have known that outside of a few leaders in the Catholic Church, most people knew 2,000 years ago that the earth is round. Eratosthenes calculated its circumference within 50 miles of today’s estimate in about 200 B.C.   The Bible makes several references to the fact that the earth is an “orb” suspended in space.

         The president’s grasp of presidential history is lacking as well.  He compared our resistance to his energy policy to Rutherford B. Hayes’ resistance to the telephone accusing Hayes of calling it a “crazy invention.”  Rutherford B. Hays actually celebrated the invention and was the first president own a telephone. 

Conservatives are called “flat-earthers” because they refuse to recognize that solar, wind, and bio-fuels are the answer to our energy problems. We support individuals investing in a variety of energy alternatives.  Both my daughter and my niece have made their own solar panels to use on their Northern Arizona acreages.  My husband and I built a solar oven way back in the 70’s. 

          All the science, however, reveals that gas, oil, coal, and nuclear energy, (the types of energy about which the left says “Katie bar the door!!”)  are by far the most efficient, most abundant, and the most reliable. First of all, let us dispense with one of our president’s favorite canards, that the United States consumes 20 per cent of the world’s energy and has only 2 per cent of the reserves, a mere 23 billion barrels.  North America actually sits on 1.5 trillion barrels, perhaps more than the entire Middle East.   We have an abundant supply.

           And it’s efficient. Studies at Cornell University illustrate the inefficiency of ethanol.  A car getting 30 miles per gallon on gasoline would get only 20 mpg using ethanol.  It takes 2 gallons of fossil fuel to create 3 gallons of ethanol. The producers gas and oil “to produce ethanol [because they] can't afford to burn ethanol.”   

          Nuclear power is mega efficient.  A nuclear plant takes up about 2 acres of land and can produce 1000 megawatts of power per hour.  It would take 240,000 acres (375 square miles) and 9,600 turbines to produce that much power and 20,000 acres or 31.25 square miles of solar panels. Both types of energy rely on the weather, but a nuclear plant produces its 1000 megawatts 24 hours a day.

          If we could get Katie (the Department of Energy) to quit barring the door, we might very well be paying 2 bucks at the pump again.  

Volcker Rule of the Dodd-Frank bill

     I thought some of our Patriots who cannot watch Cspan would be interested in getting summaries of discussions at the capitol.  Today’s discussion was of the Volcker Rule of the Dodd-Frank bill. Representatives from various regulatory agencies, FDIC, CFTC, SEC, FTC and the Federal Reserve were asked to create the guidelines that would distinguish risky proprietary trading from healthy market-making trading which is absolutely essential to the economic well-being of the country

      The issue is so complex that that one rule required nearly 400 pages of regulations and 1,300 questions.  The regulators agreed that the only way to really distinguish between the two is to examine the intent of the investor, discern the investor’s motives.  When asked how effective it would be all of them were hesitant:  “We think we can…”  We hope…”  “Maybe we can.”  The ineffective implementation of the rule could be caustic to the economy damaging capital building, affecting liquidity, interest rates, property values, the gamut.

Members of both sides of the aisle and all the regulators agreed that there is no evidence that proprietary trading had any effect on the recent banking crisis. They are apparently trying to get a jump on the next crisis which is in and of itself a scary proposition when we realize the unintended consequences of everything government does.

       There was also a lot of agreement with regard to how costly implementation would be.  It would take banks at least 18 months to set up tracking systems that could adequately track activity.  The actual monitoring would cost from 80 billion to 400 billion to implement.  Corporations would necessarily have to sideline a trillion dollars, take a trillion dollars out of the market to make the system work.  The agencies would have to hire extra staff to take on the responsibilities and they would also have to set up a separate research center to maintain data, a significant increase to federal bureaucracy.

       The other hitch is that none of the other G-12 countries have agreed to follow the guidelines which would probably cause a loss of jobs to countries that are more business friendly.

       Aside from some of the Democrats, the only person on the panels who seemed adamant about the importance of implementation was a professor from MIT.