Hiatus

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Rational Nation USA, on behalf of both the editor and the sites occasional contributors, want to thank all who have visited this humble site.

It is the hope of the site owner that in some small way this site may have contributed to a questioning of the whole political and governmental environment in the USA. We are indeed in serious trouble and only We The People can right the ship we are all sailing on.

The efforts expended over the last twenty months have been gratifying as well as eye opening. But as in most things there is a time when stepping back and taking a deep breath is necessary. Now is such a time for this site owner.

After twenty months, over 1100 posts, and many sleepless hours of contemplation it is now time to do just that. Step back, relax, and enjoy the wonderful woman who I have neglected for those twenty months in the misguided belief that I might really be able to make a difference.

So, enjoy the archives. From time to time, when time allows, I may post thoughts on important issues. However, it is time, for both personal, business, and family concerns I back away from the "merry go round without brakes" that is modern divisive politics.

The site remains open and any current contributor on the list of authors can feel free to continue contributing at anytime they so choose.

Again, thank you all, be well, and may America find the answers to its pressing problems.

Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent

Mittens and Barrack

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservationism

Barrack giving Mitt props for his instituting of RomneyCare in Massachusetts when Mitt was governor. Barrack's remarks as reported by CNN Politics below.

"I know that many of you have asked for flexibility for your states under this law," Obama said during a speech to a governors meeting at the White House. "In fact, I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care by giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions. He's right."

Hmm, sounds like they could be campaigning together on the same ticket doesn't it. Here's Mittens response.

"We addressed a problem in Massachusetts that was designed to solve problems for the people of Massachusetts," he said recently. "But it is wrong and unconstitutional to take what is designed for one state and say we are going to apply that in every state."

And to that the Barrack team had this.

... "One of the best things [Romney] did was to be the coauthor of our health care reform, which has been a model for national health care reform."

Should be an interesting election cycle. The rest of the story.

Via: Memeorandum

Update:

By way of clarification. Of course we have the primary season, and the nominating conventions following. So, now is the time to be thinking about RINO season in republican politics. Hopefuly everyone is hearing the call.

But then again, as the "mainstream" democrats and the "mainstream" republicans begin to look more and more alike perhaps we will be considering a "new style" of politics in the foreseeable future. A split ticket at the national level. Now wouldn't that be fitting in a time of increased polarization and anxiety?

Hey, just a thought. The box may be getting bigger. More later.

A Reminder From Franklin

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Benjamin Franklin had it right. Today I think one can safely say that since the great experiment in self government (republican government), whose concepts were born during the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment and came to full fruition with the American Revolution, the nation founded on the principles contained in Franklin's quote below has strayed far.

"The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy." --Benjamin Franklin, Emblematical Representations, 1774

The further we have strayed from the founding republican principles on which this nation was built and grew strong staying true to, the greater our problems seem to grow. We are already in the shadows of a declining nation. The choice we have is to continue on the same path or chart a new one.

Perhaps the nation and its leaders will put aside the politics of political correctness and special interest, turning away from corruption, and pandering to those with the heaviest and most fully stuffed wallet. Even a great nation such as the United States of America can not expect to survive if it turns from the very values that were responsible for it achieving greatness.

Words from a great 18th century thinker. And just some thoughts from a 21st century American patriot who loves his country. It's the {unsavory} politicians, businesses, and unions that are the problem.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

The Simple Truth

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Business Insider points out the obvious in our nations fiscal crisis. The fact we cannot grow our way out of the mess we find ourselves in and that we must cut spending should be obvious. However, in the new vernacular that describes spending as "investments" it is clear it is not so obvious to some in Washington.

2010 US Income and Expense Statement

The clock is running out. Read the article here.

Via: Memeorandum

The Politics of Special Interest

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Lets cut to the chaise. Special interests, and the resulting influence they exert on government has been the norm in American politics for years. Business has spent fortunes in the effort to secure government favors in the form of subsidies and tax breaks. Unions have spent fortunes to insure the rights of labor and to gain favor with the government over business. And the beat goes on.

From a recent post at The Hill's Blog Briefing Room.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka gave his blessing Sunday to President Obama's handling of the labor standoff in Wisconsin.

Amid some criticism on the left that Obama could do more to boost unions in their demonstrations against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and his proposal to eliminate most collective bargaining rights for public workers, Trumka said the president was doing just fine.

"I think he's doing it the right way," Trumka said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

A growing number of Democrats have pressed Obama to take more of a leading role in the labor dispute. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, last week called for Obama to head to Wisconsin.

Obama has called the Walker proposal "an assault on unions," but has said little else personally. Other members of the administration, including Vice President Biden and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, have also voiced concerns about the Wisconsin dispute.

"Everybody could be doing more," Trumka said when pressed about whether the president could do more, pointedly avoiding singling out Obama for criticism.

The only conclusion to be drawn from this is the AFL-CIO and the Obama administration will soon be, if they are not already, in bed together.

And so politics and special favors will remain the order of the day. The only thing that really changes is who it is that is getting the favors. Reason and common sense seem to get lost in the process.

I find it interesting that unions, who create no jobs and have no responsibility save protecting "workers rights", something the government now does, will be getting the "special nod" from the Obama administration.

And the beat goes on.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

Arizona and Illegal Immigration Again in the Spotlight

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

I must confess, the left has a way of perpetually amusing the more reasonable and forever pandering to those that can put and keep them in power. At the expense of the American Republic.

Arizona, in continuing its attempt to respond legislatively to control the steady stream of illegal, and thus criminal, immigration is once again vilified by a pandering and bleeding heart cadre of leftist hyperbole.

Of course the illegal and criminal immigration goes beyond just Arizona. As we know the apparently impotent Federal Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization and its enforcement arm has essentially done little to nothing to stop and control the flood of illegals into the country.

This from NYT's opinion page.

Arizona made itself ground zero for a new nativism last year with a radical policing law that encouraged racial profiling and declared the mass expulsion of undocumented immigrants to be official state policy. This led to boycotts, slumping tourism and convention business, and lawsuits, including one by the Obama administration. Yet Arizona’s current legislative session is overstuffed with nativist bills, several of which passed through committee on Tuesday in an “omnibus” measure.

They include:

A bill to chop up the 14th Amendment to deny citizenship to children born in Arizona to undocumented mothers. A bill requiring hospitals to check every patient’s citizenship status, turning doctors and nurses into the immigration police. A bill to deny education to undocumented children by requiring proof of citizenship to enroll in any public or private school. A bill to criminalize driving by illegal immigrants, and to evict them from public housing. This will fix nothing, and do real harm.

The birthright citizenship bill interprets the 14th Amendment in a way no federal court or Congress ever has. The state would issue a different type of birth certificate to babies whose parents lack papers. It’s a nonexistent problem; women are not sneaking over the border to have babies who — when they turn 21 — may be able to sponsor them for green cards. The plan will not drive away illegal immigrants, but it would turn generations of young Americans into deportable criminals.

The Supreme Court has ruled that undocumented children have a right to primary education, because the country is not served by perpetuating an illiterate underclass. And yet Arizona’s elected leaders persist in their assault on that principle. The bills’ sponsors don’t seem to care about the damage they do. They are bent on inflaming the anxieties in a changing country, even when crime is down in border cities and immigration has tapered off. New Census data shows America’s population growing more slowly than it has since the 1930s — another era of rampant bigotry and racial scapegoating.

We hope the angry Arizonans, and the rest of the country, will soon return to their values. Citizenship by birth and assimilation of newcomers are central to the American experiment. All that separates our newest immigrants from previous waves is the lack of a working system to assimilate them.

Arizona ought to be applauded for its stance and commitment to doing what should have been long ago by the feds. Foreigners gaining entrance into the United States from foreign lands is not a right, it is rather a privilege and should be considered as such.

What it is the left fails to understand about the concept of "illegal immigrant or alien" who knows, but it seems to be quite prevalent among the feeble of heart. On the other hand, and to be fair, the conservative business community that has perpetuated the problem by knowingly employing illegals in defiance of the law ought to have their proverbial criminal a*ses handed to them as well.

Arizona and its law, based on SB 1070 which really mirrors existing federal law, is reasonable, it is the right approach, and it ought to become the basis on which to effectively reinvigorate federal immigration law and enforcement.

The left has it wrong.... again.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

MoveOn.org and More Union Thuggery

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Breaking news... Union thuggery on display in Sacramento California. Truth has a way of presenting the belligerents and thugs. As evidenced here it obviously resides in the union and liberal elements of society. Whatever happened to the civil and respectful discourse demanded by the liberals in MoveOn.org and other liberal organizations? I smell hypocrisy at its ripest.

The video's:







Breitbart's Big Government has the story.

Via: Memeorandum

Frothing (Literally) At the Mouth Liberal Union Thug

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Wella, Wella, Wella. Here we see true colors of the emotional, reasonless, and frothing liberal mob mentality.



h/t Breitbart TV

Via: Memeorandum

Obama Calls For Gadhafi To Step Down

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

All hail the wisdom of President Barrack Husein Obama! Speaking in the tone of past Presidents {GWB immediately comes to mind} he and his sidekick, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, have called for the immediate relinquishing of power by Libyan despot Moammar Gadhafi. Of course they have no viable plan to fill the void once Gadhafi is gone. Unless perhaps to saddle the US with another foreign entanglement in an area we are not welcome and have no business in.

While it is laudable a representative republic such as the United States of America soundly condemn the practices of repressive regimes worldwide, it is not for us to determine the domestic fate of another sovereign state. The outcome of the current unrest in Libya should, and must, rest solely with the government of Libya and the response of its people to their governments decisions.

From USA Today:

President Obama told German Chancellor Angela Merkel today that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi should surrender power immediately because of the attacks he has made on his own people.

"The President stated that when a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now," said a White House readout of the Merkel call.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton echoed Obama's demand in a statement saying that Gadhafi's government would he held "accountable for its violation of human rights"

"Moammar Gadhafi has lost the confidence of his people and he should go without further bloodshed and violence," Clinton said in her statement.

Obama spoke with Merkel a day after the U.S. placed unilateral economic sanctions on Libya, and as the U.S. works with allies like Germany on a set of international sanctions.

The United States of America has pressing domestic problems that threaten its own long term economic viability. Indeed the continued existence of our republic as we have known it is at stake. Therefore, isn't it time we begin acting in our nations own long term self interest as opposed to continuing to be the world policeman and sugar daddy when a foreign nation falters? Is it not time we decide to relinquish the role of world policeman? Is it not time we focus on our own needs and priorites and let foreign nations deal with their problems by themselves?

The point of a prior RN USA post entitled "John Adams on Democracy" was to essentially the forerunner of the consistent conservative views set forth above. It is time for America to honestly focus on its own true self interests and turn its vast capabilities to strengthening itself at home rather than abroad. If you question why this is so I suggest a study of history. With a particular eye to great past world powers and the reasons for their ultimate decline and collapse. Our framers would understand quite well methinks.

And now the rest of the article.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

SPLC Slanders Pamella Geller

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

The Southern Poverty Law Center has just named Pamella Geller, a Manhattan blogger, and her group, Stop the Islamization of America a hate group. Branding the group a posse"of anti-Islamic protesters" the SPLC proves yet once again they are nothing more than a far left totally out of touch with reality fringe organization.

Pamella Geller's work to educate people on the dangers {and evil} of   extreme Islam should be applauded. Aside from the fact Islam denies women basic civil and human rights,  Islam also preaches Jihad which means struggle.  To the extreme Islamist it is interpreted to mean struggle against  all who are non Muslim {infidels}and refuse to be subjugated to Islamic or Sharia law.

Why it is the left refuses to acknowledge the truth behind extreme Islam and it's desire to dominate the world is beyond understanding. Anyone who has taken the time to educate themselves on Islam, read the Koran, and has even a smattering of knowledge about Sharia Law would realize therein lies a great danger to America.

The SPLC, rather than speaking the truth about extreme Islam, has chosen to vilify those like Pamella Geller who recognize the dangers and have taken action to mitigate and neutralize them. Education is the best way to counter threats such as those presented by the Islamic extremists. This is what Pamella and others have tried to do. And everywhere they are met by ill advised and misguided resistance from the far left.

One only need look at the rate extreme Islam is spreading across the globe. Rather than assimilating with the cultures they "adopt" extreme Islam demands that the country they "adopt" accept the Muslim cultural norms and in fact demand special rights by virtue of their religion.

The extreme Islamist would have you believe their religion is one of peace and tolerance. When in reality it is one of gross intolerance. Any religion that treats women as second class citizens in the 21st century, that demands strict obedience to Islamic {Sharia} law, and looks the other way with respect to "honor killings" of girls or women that are deemed to have brought shame to the family is by my definition completely intolerant. As well as irrational, immoral, and criminal.

Perhaps the SPLC should return to its roots. When founded in 1971 it was primarily a civil rights group and had a viable purpose. Today it has sunk to the depth of labeling as hate groups any organization that questions its far left George Soros funded agenda. It even went as far as to compare Geller and her group to the KKK. Ridiculous and an epic fail!

Pamella Geller is doing by far more to foster civil and human rights than the SPLC is capable of ever understanding. The SPLC is so steeped in the political correct statist agenda of the far left it sees only hatred for any opposing views. Perhaps in a stroke of honesty the SPLC ought to name itself a hate group.

I suppose I just put myself on a watch list. So be it. The truth is the truth. No amount of evading the truth will change it. Truth remains the truth.

Keep up your good work Pamella. There are a lot more of us that have your back than have the SPLC's methinks. Even if some of us may be afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation such as you are experiencing..

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

John Adams on Democracy

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

As the world watches the unrest enveloping the middle east, with every one rallying around the call for democracy in a region that has essentially never experienced much liberty, perhaps it would be wise to give thought to what one wishes for. John Adams summed up democracy quite well in his 1763 essay on Man's Lust for Power.

"[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable cruelty of one or a very few." --John Adams, an Essay on Man's Lust for Power, 1763

Reference: Original Intent, Barton (338); original The Papers of John Adams, Taylor, ed., vol. 1 (83)

Democracy, as the ideal is a wonderful concept. In reality, given mankind's inadequacies, it is an unfortunate but necessity evil that we have governments to control our actions. The American republican form of government, one in which citizens are governed by the rule of law and not by the whims of a king or despot is likely as close to the "ideal" as the world will ever witness.

So as we hope the turmoil in the middle east results in the people of the region gaining more individual liberties  and a more representative form of self governance, the likelihood of this occurring is slim. What we should  hope for is stability, whatever forms of government develop in the various countries after the unrest subsides.

In the meantime perhaps the elected Democratic officials from Wisconsin who are hiding out in Illinois and abrogating their responsibilities will do the right thing and return to do their jobs.

Considering Romney for 2012 Anyone?

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

With Mitt Romney a likely 2012 presidential candidate his Massachusetts Healthcare Plan, hereafter called RomneyCare, is certainly to become an issue. In fact Mike Huckabee is already calling for Romney to admit his plan is a failure.

"Ever since the debate over (the national) program began, it’s been compared to RomneyCare, the failed statewide health-care program implemented by none other than my fellow GOP member Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts,” Huckabee says in the book.


“Any critical assessment of this program will show that it failed … and yet the Obama administration decided to emulate it in its pursuit of a national health-care program.”

Romney, through his spokesperson said he was very proud he was able to get all residents covered when he was Governor of Massachusetts.

"Mitt Romney is proud of what he accomplished for Massachusetts in getting everyone covered,”


“What's important now is to return to the states the power to determine their own healthcare solutions by repealing Obamacare," Fehrnstrom added. "A one-size-fits-all plan for the entire nation just doesn't work.”

What is at issue here of course is not whether RomneyCare really works or whether it is a failure in Massachusetts. However, having said this,  indications are it is not that successful and is placing a strain on the state. From this perspective the federal government certainly ought to take another look at ObamaCare as it is modeled to some degree after RomneyCare. The challenges in court by several states are all well an good {albeit ultimately they will likely render little and be a waste of state taxpayer dollars}. However, repeal is the only realistic path to overturning the lawed legislation..

What is important is to note how Romney is positioning himself as he gears up for a presidential run in 2012. As the architect of RomneyCare his "political ego" will not allow him room to criticize his own plan. On the other hand Romney is shrewdly playing the "states rights" meme as he argues that what works for any individual state will not work nationally as a one size fits all "sock."

Romney is without a doubt a shrewd pol. While he demonstrated conservative credentials by cutting budgetary items while governor he also engineered in MA. the plan that is the darling of all progressives. As a presidential candidate he will position himself as a advocate of giving the states more power over matters and presumably keeping the feds less involved.

The upcoming campaign for the republican party standard bearer in 2012 should prove to be interesting and entertaining. Romney will campaign well. Without a party favorite, as RINO McCain was, he will likely be more aggressive and he will go the distance this time.

As a MA. state resident my take is Romney is a RINO in different clothing. For what it's worth.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

A Deeper Inspection into the Role the USA has Played Setting the Stage for the Rise of Extremist Islam

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

As I remain on temporary hiatus, of necessity this post shall be brief. I was sent a link to an outstanding article by one of my readers. After reading it the time it took me to decide to run it here was all of two seconds.

From Perspective, the article is entitled "The tale of three presidents: the Playboy, the Cowboy, and the Wonder Boy". Written by Dr. Michael Youssef it is one of the most insightful articles I have read to date on the performance of three U.S. Presidents over the last eighteen years and how it set the stage for a rising extreme radical Islam.

Excerpts followed by link.

Most social scientists would agree that world events do not happen in a vacuum. Political forces, whether they are accidental or deliberate, in succession or a single action, give rise to political and social movements.

After the fall of the Shah of Iran, Islamic expansionists began looking for ways and means by which to accomplish their religious dreams. Empowered by "divine mandate" and fueled with lots of oil, they believed the world must be dominated by Islam and the Sharia. Yet, in order to claim victory, they had to overcome their greatest obstacle: the power of the United States.

A common belief among these extremists was that American power is more perceived than real, and in the 1990s they began to test their theory. It did not take long to realize that President Bill Clinton's "interests" would distract him from acts of international terrorism. To the extremists, he was simply a 60's generation man who clearly wanted "love, not war." Thus, a series of tests began. Embassies in Lebanon, Kenya, and Tanzania were bombed. The response of the "Playboy President" confirmed their suspicions. Clinton issued many verbal threats but nothing happened.

Then the tests became more daring. The bombing of the USS Cole was designed to reveal the vulnerability of the U.S. military. The response from the White House was from the same chapter, same verse -- "the perpetrators of these heinous acts must be brought to justice." And again, nothing happened. But what was really telling to these Jihadists was that, if Clinton's plan to deflect the scandal of Monica Lewinski meant throwing a million-dollar bomb on a ten-dollar tent in Afghanistan and bombing an aspirin factory in the Sudan, they were free and clear to plan, plot, and scheme for bigger things.

Make no mistake about it: all of the long-term planning and maneuvering that led to September 11, 2001, was going on during the Playboy President's watch. But these Islamists misread the domestic focus of the incoming "Cowboy President" as weakness. All in all, the final exam took place on the Cowboy President's watch. Did they really know that he would respond with such force in Afghanistan? I highly doubt it. They had become accustomed to verbal threats without action. They assumed that the Texas governor promoting education and a couple of other issues would not be willing to decimate their centers of power. As they say "Give the devil his due," he disrupted their hornets' nest and kept America safe for the remainder of his presidency.

All the while, the Islamic groups pressed their wealthy Muslim brothers to use their investments in the West for Jihadi purposes. They pressed them to strategically use their billions of dollars invested in Europe and Britain with strings attached. What were these strings? Demand from European governments for more mosques, more acceptance of Sharia law, more Islamic districts, more visible Islamic symbols (including Islamic banking principles and openness to immigrants from Islamic countries). Clearly, this strategy worked -- and now the Muslim expansionists smelled the air of success for the first time.

The foregoing, hopefully having whet your appetite for the rest of the Perspective, just follow the the winding path to the conclusion.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel and Democracy Central.

Words Unheeded

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

The year: 1796
The place: A Free Nation
The setting: A farewell address from a true leader
The impact: Obviously minimal

It has been said those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past {history}are doomed to repeat them. Given the present state of affairs it is certain those words words ring true.

"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government."

I have pondered this excerpt from President George Washington's farewell address to the nation many times over. Each time I do his words serve to highlight his wisdom.

It also leads one to the conclusion that as a nation we have chosen to learn little.

We Stand Together or We Fall Together

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservarism



Yup, the issue is heating up. Governor Walker, facing a 3 + billion dollar deficit, is attempting to do what he was elected to do.

Perhaps the unions have a valid concern with respect to the bargaining issue. The Governor sure has heck has real concern with respect to the WI state budget deficit. The result of failure to stop the bleeding and gradually reduce the state debt will likely bankrupt the state of Wisconsin.

Governor Walker is being criticized for giving businesses tax breaks designed to keep existing business in the state as well as making it attractive for new businesses to start up in the state. The result should be a net increase in private sector employment. This is a good thing is it not?

At any rate, as you look around and see the federal government with a debt it cannot possibly continue to sustain {and pumping out paper money like water coming out of a perpetually open spigot}, states like Wisconsin, California, New Jersey, Illinois, and others facing huge and growing budget shortfalls with no end in sight, isn't it time to get real and find workable solutions?

Perhaps your state will be next. Maybe it is fast approaching or is already at this point. Something to think about.

Read: Poll Shows Support for Public Employees, Protesters in Wisconsin Fight

Or will it be emotions and politics as usual?

Via: Memeorandum

Chris Matthews Comes Up Short.... AGAIN

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Once again Chris Matthews, MSNBC's resident blow hard gets it wrong. First the clip.



And now the facts presented by Noel Shepard at Newsbusters.

In reality the vast majority of the police and firefighter unions supported Walkers opponent, 310 of 314 to be exact.

Politifact, weighing in on this issue had this to say:

During the campaign last November, leaders of the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association and Milwaukee Police Association appeared in an ad supporting Walker and blasting his opponent, Democrat Tom Barrett. Walker also won endorsements from the West Allis Professional Police Association and the Wisconsin Troopers Association

Walker didn’t get the endorsements of two statewide unions, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association and the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, which both backed Barrett.

For the record, the governor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the charge that he was exempting police and firefighters was "ridiculous." He said he didn't recommend changing the rules for police officers and firefighters because he didn’t want public safety work disrupted.

We then contacted the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the statewide union that endorsed Walker's opponent last year. Executive director Jim Palmer said the statewide organization is much larger than the local Milwaukee police union that endorsed Walker. The state group has approximately 11,000 members versus Milwaukee’s roughly 1,400, he said.

Similarly, the state firefighters association has more than 3,000, compared with the Milwaukee union’s 875.

So much for accuracy from Chris and crew at MSNBC. Typical leftist disinformation willing disseminated by the sheeples on the hard left.

Via: Memeorandum

Vicious Attack On School Teacher in Bow, east London

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Once again we see the tolerant and peaceful religion of Islam on display. Gary Smith, the head of religious education at Central Foundation Girls' School in Bow, east London was brutally attacked by four men wielding a knife, and iron bar, and a cement block. Mr. Smith suffered a slashed face and fractured skull. His crime? Teaching Muslim girls religion.

This horrific act is typical of the extremist that cling to a religion still stuck in the 7th century.

The Details.

Slashed victim Gary Smith was left with a fractured skull

Four men launched a horrific attack on a teacher in which they slashed his face and left him with a fractured skull because they did not approve of him teaching religion to Muslim girls.


Akmol Hussein, 26, Sheikh Rashid, 27, Azad Hussain, 25, and Simon Alam, 19, attacked Gary Smith with a Stanley knife, an iron rod and a block of cement.


Mr Smith, who is head of religious education at Central Foundation Girls' School in Bow, east London, also suffered a fractured skull.


The four now face a jail sentence.


Detectives made secret recordings of the gang's plot to attack Mr Smith prior to the brutal assault.


The covert audio probe captured the gang condemning Mr Smith for 'teaching other religions to our sisters', the court heard.


The RE teacher was targeted as he made his way on foot along Burdett Road in nearby Mile End on July 12 last year, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.


Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse told the court: 'The evidence from what was said on the probe points overwhelmingly to a religious motive for this attack.'


It is believed the gang had made two earlier attempts to get at the teacher.


They were due to stand trial for the attack at Snaresbrook Crown Court but pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Central Foundation Girls' School in Bow, east London, where Gary Smith was a religious education teacher

A fifth defendant, Badruzzuha Uddin, 23, admitted assisting the thugs by hiding blood-stained clothing.


Judge John Hand QC remanded the defendants in custody until sentence on a date yet to be confirmed.


Hussein, of Bethnal Green, east London; Rashid, of Shadwell, east London; Hussain, of Wapping, east London, and Alam, of Whitechapel, east London; have all admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent.


Uddin, of Shadwell, admitted assisting an offender.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

Texas Considering Allowing Students to Carry Firearms on Campus

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Texas Considering Allowing Firearms on Campus 

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is preparing to give college students and professors the right to carry guns on campus, adding momentum to a national campaign to open this part of society to firearms.


More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors of a measure directing universities to allow concealed handguns. The Senate passed a similar bill in 2009 and is expected to do so again. Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who sometimes packs a pistol when he jogs, has said he's in favor of the idea.


Texas has become a prime battleground for the issue because of its gun culture and its size, with 38 public universities and more than 500,000 students. It would become the second state, following Utah, to pass such a broad-based law. Colorado gives colleges the option and several have allowed handguns.


Supporters of the legislation argue that gun violence on campuses, such as the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Northern Illinois in 2008, show that the best defense against a gunman is students who can shoot back.


"It's strictly a matter of self-defense," said state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio. "I don't ever want to see repeated on a Texas college campus what happened at Virginia Tech, where some deranged, suicidal madman goes into a building and is able to pick off totally defenseless kids like sitting ducks."

A strong advocate of the right to bear arms, I frankly find myself at odds with the move in Texas, or anywhere that would allow the faculty and students to carry concealed weapons {handguns} on campus. The desire to prevent mass shootings as occurred at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Northern Illinois in 2008 is certainly understandable. However, does this nation really desire a return to the romanticized "wild wild west" in twenty first century America?

It is sensible, at least in this writers opinion to allow campus security{following proper background checks and firearm training}to carry weapons for the purpose of protecting students and campus personnel in the face a deranged killer. It also make sense to allow professors {following proper background checks and firearm training} to carry concealed weapons to insure student safety in the classroom.

However, allowing students to legally "pack a firearm" on campus is, in this independent conservative's judgment not only misguided, it presents potential dangers as well. Universities and colleges are places of higher learning, not the OK Corral. Lets keep them that way. Give the responsibility and authority to insure campus safety to those properly trained, those who posses the necessary  maturity as well as being  in the best position to make instant judgments for insuring the safety of all students and personnel on campus.

The rest of the article here.

Cross posted to Democracy Central

Via: Memeorandum

Media Failed Us Again--The Truth About Wisconsin

By: Pamela D. Hart

As I mentioned in a previous post, Media slants, omits, and to be perfectly blunt, lies. There is no way the American public can make a rational decision when we can’t get unbiased details pertaining to important issues facing our country, and quite frankly, our lives.

There is a state war brewing in Wisconsin, which is probably the first in many to come, with states being cash strapped and cuts imminent. Governor Walker is under attack by many on the Left because he’s taking on the Union. Public workers-- teachers, police officers and fire fighters, are being called “bottom feeder free loaders” by Rush Limbaugh, because they are protesting at the state capital.

And the media, both Left and Right, is making it worse by not giving the public the FACTS.

Rachel Maddow and some left-winged blogs have informed their audience that Governor Walker inherited a surplus of $121 million, and gave away $140 million in tax breaks (there are tax cuts, but they don't go into effect until next year) which caused the projected $137 million dollar deficit and is taking on the union, and its workers, in order to destroy them, the middle class and the Democratic Party. Right-wing media and blogs are telling their audience that public sector employees are selfish, greedy, and should be fired.

Pitting public sector Americans/taxpayers against private sector Americans/taxpayers, in my humble opinion, is not only egregious, but could very well prove dangerous.

In light of how derelict our media has become, I would like to set the record straight and give you some facts. I promise you I’ve researched left and right sites without my political lenses and just want to report the truth.

I am an American, who is the daughter of a retired teacher, and the sister of a police officer, and I most certainly don’t believe that my mom or my brother are “selfish” or “free loaders”. I’ve also paid attention to the unions, public and private, and I’m here to tell you that they don’t have the best interest of the people at heart. There was a time, long ago, when they did, but not anymore. They have a political agenda, just like politicians and the media.

And the media neglected the truth. Wisconsin does NOT have a surplus. Robert Lang, Director of the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, issued a report, and this sentence, Our analysis indicates a general fund gross balance of $121.4 million and a net balance of $56.4 million, seems to have caused the confusion, because that alone doesn’t tell Wisconsin’s entire fiscal story.

Further in his report, Lang lists $58.7 million needed to repay a Minnesota Income Tax Reciprocity Payment and $258 million in Appropriation Shortfalls. Then there’s $200 million due the state’s Patient Compensation Fund, which the former Governor, Jim Doyle, illegally used to offset the general fund. The circuit court has yet to give a date and final amount, which will include interest, to replenish the Patient account. Those added to the so-called surplus gives the state an approximate $340 million dollar deficit.

Governor Walker now wants to tackle this deficit by asking for concessions from the union workers by asking them to pay up to 12% for pensions and health benefits (8% net pay reduction). Walker wants to limit collective bargaining. By this he wants them limited to wages, capping them at the consumer price index, and taking benefits and rules off the table. He wants annual recertification by majority vote of ALL members, not just a majority of those casting ballots. Walker wants to stop the mandatory deduction of union dues from a union employee’s paycheck and he wants to give employees the option to quit the union without losing their job.

From what I’ve read, there isn’t anyone who thinks the pension/health benefit contribution is out of line. It seems to be the collective bargaining that’s the issue. Some say capping the bargaining at wages renders unions worthless because it doesn’t permit them to bargain for hours, shifts or working conditions. Now, one could argue that with all our laws, we don’t need a union to bargain for working conditions, that we have plenty of laws (wage & hour, equal opportunity, discrimination, etc.) to protect us, and that’s true. But maybe Walker felt that police officers and firefighters should still be able to collectively bargain, after all, they’re EXEMPT from this bill, and let’s face it, they do have the worst hours and the most dangerous working conditions of all the public employees. However, Walker said this was an issue of fiscal security, so why aren't ALL public workers included? Another question then, is, how important is collective bargaining? Do employees really NEED it and are states that ban collective bargaining better off or worse than states that permit it?

Here is an interactive map of the United States and it will show you that 11 permit collective bargaining, 5 prohibit it, and 35 have mandatory collective bargaining. This interactive map rates each state on issues like infrastructure, people and economics, resulting in a grade. If collective bargaining were a huge factor in how WELL a state performed, then, according to the Right’s theory, those states that prohibit collective bargaining would out-perform those states that require it, however, that’s not what the data proves. That tells us unions aren’t as defeating as some on the Right would like us to believe, and the data also tells us that unions aren’t the Great Deliverer for the little guy as some on the Left would like us to believe. There are too many factors. Unions alone can’t fix everything—look at New Hampshire, a mandated collective bargaining state, which has a D+ rating, then go to Washington, also a mandated state, it has an A- rating.

We Americans need to get on the same page and put ideologies aside because Wisconsin is tethering with many other states soon to follow. People are angry, and rightly so. They’ve been lied to by the very people who told them their futures were safe and secure only to find out the parachute won’t open, and even if it does, it’s full of holes. The problem isn’t the teacher, the police officer or even the private sector accountant or beautician. There's a whole lot of blame to go around here, but we certainly can't blame people for wanting to make a living and for believing those who told them they could and would.

I understand that unions are important to the Democrats. Unions donate large sums of money to the Democratic Party. What I don’t understand is how the unions and politicians can lie and deceive us time and time again, pitting us against one another. As Americans it’s time for us to come together. It’s not public vs. private employee, as they would have us believe. It’s us vs. them.

While we, private and public Americans, have been working and feeding our families, they’ve been hiding the truth and making promises they KNEW they couldn’t keep, all for political gain. They knew one day the truth would come out, but they wouldn’t be in office or in charge of the unions when that day came, therefore they didn’t care.

Well, the day of reckoning is HERE and it’s time to pay the piper, in more ways than one. Our officials need to stop lying and do the right thing, even if it means telling us something we might not want to hear. The truth isn’t always pleasant, but it sure beats finding out you’ve been lied to, because at least then we can try to rectify the problem before it's too big to fix.

And I can't say it enough, our media needs to do the right thing too! Stop cow-towing to political parties and start reporting the facts, regardless of what they are.

We don't ask for much from our media, but it seems we get even less.



Picture Compliments of: Worth 1000 by pcysmith

Radical Islam - Part Seven

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

The final segment in the seven part series on Radical Islam.



After hearing the facts you be the judge.

Radical Islam - Part Six

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Part six of the seven part series.

Radical Islam - Part Five

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Part five of the seven part series.

Will the USA be a Day Late and a Dollar Short?

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Nidal Malik Hasan, Major, United States Army, Radicalized Jihadist.

It has been said the greatest dangers often lurk within. That passive refusal to see the evidence and acknowledge it's dangers can be the undoing of a people and nation.

Wall Street Journal, February 16, 2011.

In a month of momentous change, it was easy to overlook the significance of another revolutionary event. Who would have believed that in the space of a few weeks the leaders of the three major European powers would publicly denounce multiculturalism and declare, in so many words, that it was a proven disaster and a threat to society?

One after another they announced their findings—Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Great Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. Multicultural values had not only led to segregated communities: They had, Mr. Cameron noted, imposed policies of blind toleration that had helped nurture radical Islam's terrorist cells.

There can be no underestimating the in-so-many-words aspect of these renunciations. This was multiculturalism they were talking about—the unofficial established religion of the universities, the faith whose requirements have shaped every aspect of cultural, economic and political life in Western democracies for the last 50 years. Still, they were out there—words coolly specific, their target clear.

They came at a fitting moment, just as Americans had been handed a report providing the fullest disclosures so far about the multiculturalist zeal that had driven Army and medical school superiors to smooth Nidal Malik Hasan's rocky way through training, promote him, and, despite blatant evidence of his unfitness, raise not a single concern. Maj. Hasan, U.S. Army psychiatrist, would be assigned to Fort Hood where, in November 2009, he opened fire, killing 12 fellow soldiers and a civilian employee, and wounding 32 others.

In this report, titled "A Ticking Time Bomb" and put out by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, there is a detail as dazzling in its bleak way as all the glowing misrepresentations of Dr. Hasan's skills and character, which his superiors poured into their evaluations of him. It concerns the Department of Defense's official report on the Foot Hood killings—a study whose recital of fact made no mention of Hasan's well-documented jihadist sympathies. Subsequent DoD memoranda portray the bloodbath—which began with Hasan shouting "Allahu Akbar!"—as a kind of undefined extremism, something on the order, perhaps, of work-place violence.

This avoidance of specifics was apparently contagious—or, more precisely, policy. In November 2010, each branch of the military issued a final report on the Fort Hood shooting. Not one mentioned the perpetrator's ties to radical Islam. Even today, "A Ticking Time Bomb," co-authored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) and Susan Collins (R., Maine), reminds us that DoD still hasn't specifically named the threat represented by the Fort Hood attack—a signal to the entire Defense bureaucracy that the subject is taboo.

At a time when major European Nations have started to recognize the true dangers of Radical Islam and Jihad, the leadership of these nations have finally, and rightly so, come to the conclusion multiculturalism is an underlying and powerful reason radicalism and extremist Islam has taken root in Europe. And in the process created the current untenable and very dangerous cultural cauldron.

Yet in America, the government and the leadership, as well as the main stream media seem yet unwilling to confront the very realities our European counterparts are now facing squarely head on. Failing to take the proper action as European nations are starting to do will only put our country at greater risk.

Full text if the WSJ article.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

Radical Islam - Part Four

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Part four of the seven part series.

South Dakota Bringing Abortion Front and Center

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

I am at a complete loss for words. A long time independent conservative, a strong advocate of limited government, an advocate of laissez faire capitalism, with libertarian leanings I can not even find the words to comment on the South Dakota House Bill 1171. It is such a bill as one might find existent in a extremist and repressive Islamic Theocracy. It is supported along a party line vote. Republicans are the supporter of this ill advised and dangerous bill. While I do not approve of  the language, "murdering abortion doctors will be legal", and I have not used this site as a source for information in the past, SD House Bill 1171 is so egregiously profane I found myself in general agreement with the following article.

Generally staying away the abortion debate this report pushed me into the fray of it all so to speak. There are times when one simply believes they must register in, even if they would prefer not to, and realize that in so going they are likely opening themselves up for criticism from their own. This is one of those times for me.

From the pages of Mother Jones.

This article has been updated.

A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of "justifiable homicide" to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus—a move that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. The Republican-backed legislation, House Bill 1171, has passed out of committee on a nine-to-three party-line vote, and is expected to face a floor vote in the state's GOP-dominated House of Representatives soon. "The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers."

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Phil Jensen, a committed foe of abortion rights, alters the state's legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language stating that a homicide is permissible if committed by a person "while resisting an attempt to harm" that person's unborn child or the unborn child of that person's spouse, partner, parent, or child. If the bill passes, it could in theory allow a woman's father, mother, son, daughter, or husband to kill anyone who tried to provide that woman an abortion—even if she wanted one.

Jensen did not return calls to his home or his office requesting comment on the bill, which is cosponsored by 22 other state representatives and four state senators.

"The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers," says Vicki Saporta, the president of the National Abortion Federation, the professional association of abortion providers. Since 1993, eight doctors have been assassinated at the hands of anti-abortion extremists, and another 17 have been the victims of murder attempts. Some of the perpetrators of those crimes have tried to use the justifiable homicide defense at their trials. "This is not an abstract bill," Saporta says. The measure could have major implications if a "misguided extremist invokes this 'self-defense' statute to justify the murder of a doctor, nurse or volunteer," the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families warned in a message to supporters last week.

The original version of the bill did not include the language regarding the "unborn child"; it was pitched as a simple clarification of South Dakota's justifiable homicide law. Last week, however, the bill was "hoghoused"—a term used in South Dakota for heavily amending legislation in committee—in a little-noticed hearing. A parade of right-wing groups—the Family Heritage Alliance, Concerned Women for America, the South Dakota branch of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, and a political action committee called Family Matters in South Dakota—all testified in favor of the amended version of the law.

Jensen, the bill's sponsor, has said that he simply intends to bring "consistency" to South Dakota's criminal code, which already allows prosecutors to charge people with manslaughter or murder for crimes that result in the death of fetuses. But there's a difference between counting the murder of a pregnant woman as two crimes—which is permissible under law in many states—and making the protection of a fetus an affirmative defense against a murder charge.

UPDATE: After Mother Jones inquired about HB 1171, state legislators made major changes to the legal language. The original version is here: (PDF). The new version (PDF) is drastically different. The most important change is the elimination of the ability for spouses, children, or parents of a pregnant woman to use the "justifiable homicide" defense if they claim they were trying to prevent harm to an unborn child. Now only the pregnant woman herself can use the defense. The new version also adds clarifying exceptions: the "justifiable homicide" defense cannot be used for "the defense of human embryos existing outside of a woman's body," and does not apply in cases where the woman was using force anything other than a last resort in the defense of a fetus.

Text of full article.

In the meantime I know I will not be throwing my support behind Mike Huckabee should he eventually decide to run for President in 2012. Or any other far right reactionary for that matter.

Via: Memeorandum

Something To Consider

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Here is a little something that progressives and conservative might want to consider. However, because the words make so much common sense it is likely neither will.

"It is a wise rule and should be fundamental in a government disposed to cherish its credit, and at the same time to restrain the use of it within the limits of its faculties, 'never to borrow a dollar without laying a tax in the same instant for paying the interest annually, and the principal within a given term; and to consider that tax as pledged to the creditors on the public faith.'" --Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Wayles Eppes, 1813

Is it just me or does it seem odd that fiscal conservatives and advocates of Jeffersonian principals seem not to understand his practicality and sense of responsibility?

Given our history fiscal responsibility went out the window in America about 70 years ago. The question is, does the nation have the will to actually start the jurney back to fiscal responsibikly and accountability.

I am not a betting man.

Cross posted to Democracy Central

Radical Islam - Part Three

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Part three of the seven part series.

The Porker Mentality.... Owned by Dems and Repubs

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Forgive my skepticism, but  please people, do not anticipate change anytime soon. Short of an Egyptian style revolution.

As House conservatives push for ever-deeper spending cuts, a tough question confronts GOP leaders: What sweetener will convince their rank and file to swallow bitter budget medicine?

In the past, that sweetener would have been earmarks, the local pork barrel projects that lawmakers could trumpet to constituents back home. Now earmarks are gone, or at least drastically curtailed, banished first by Republicans and more recently by President Obama and Senate Democrats.

Some argue that earmarks will now simply go underground, and that lawmakers will channel federal money to pet projects through federal grants, tax credits, and other avenues. No doubt the business of bringing home the bacon will continue, and Washington lobbyists who’ve built a lucrative industry out of earmarks are already reassuring clients that federal money lives on.

“You need certain tools to make legislation flow, and this was a great tool,” said former Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., now a government affairs counselor at the law firm of K&L Gates. Walsh should know: He served 16 years on the House Appropriations Committee and chaired four Appropriations subcommittees while on Capitol Hill. Earmarks “always get criticized,” Walsh added. “But if you’re in the room making sausage, you need to round up votes.”

“Money will find a way, and it will be far less transparent,” said Walsh. He added: “It’s part of the genetic makeup of a legislator to try to find a way to help your community.”

Yup, looks like the American song and dance routine will continue for the foreseeable future.

Good luck America! Read the rest of the sordid details here.

Cross posted to the Left Coast Rebel

Via: Memeorandum

Some Herman Cain Common Sense

by:Jes Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

H/T to Prof and Right Klick who posted these fine video's. I loved them so much I just had to bring them over to RN USA.







Anxiously awaiting to hear what the resident liberal troll has to say about the truth and clarity with which Herman Cain makes his case.

Radical Islam - Part Two

by:Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Part two in the series of seven

Radical Islam - Part One

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

The first of a seven part series on radical Islam.

The New Obama Deficit Plan... Investment in the Future

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

I just love the new phrase that Obama has sold to the faithful, and that includes the lame stream liberal media. Spending, and trillion dollar deficits have been assigned the new official term of investments.

Lets get one thing straight.... Obama coined the phrase "investments", which is nothing more than a slick snake oil salesman's attempt to confuse the American people and gain support for a huge domestic social spending agenda. That and to insure his pre-determined socialist plan to slip his destructive socialist agenda by the American people and force his spendthrift deficit spending through a willing Congress before anyone noticed. If spending becomes an investment in America's "future" how can lots and lots of it be a bad thing? You may want to refer to Keynesian economic theory for a answer to that one. Then ou will undoubtedly want to check ut Hayek's more rational economic theory.

Spending is necessary to operate the government. No country can remain a viable state without spending on infrastructure, defense, or the the nation's legal system etc. But the idea that it is the federal governments responsibility to take care of the social issues, social concern, or social welfare of 50 sovereign states is ludicrous. Consider also that billions of American dollars are going out in foreign aid to nations that hate America, all in the name of compassion and under the umbrella of altruism.

This misguided altruistic belief, combined with the fervor to feed the Military Industrial Complex is bankrupting America. When one adds to the this fact that government and Corporate America are in fact willing partners in the demise of true capitalism in the pursuit of crony capitalism and corporatism it should be resoundingly clear the American people is the pooch and we are being collectively screwed.

For no other reasons than the above do I welcome the the TEA Parties influence in cutting the federal budget by 100 billion dollars. Waste is abundant in the feral government and we need rabid watchdogs to keep spending{not real investments}under strict control.

I have said my piece. Now check out the following excerpt from THE HILL.

“This evening, on behalf of House Republicans, Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers introduced a Continuing Resolution that will reduce spending by at least $100 billion in the next 7 months – a historic effort to get our fiscal house in order and restore certainty to the economy,” Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a statement.


“At a time when unemployment is too high and economic growth is elusive in part because of the uncertainty created by our skyrocketing debt, this legislation will mark the largest spending cut in modern history and will help restore confidence so that people can get back to work. These are not easy cuts, but we are finally doing what every other American has to do in their households and their businesses, and that’s to begin a path of living within our means,” he said.

All this independent conservative can say is, RIGHT ON! It is indeed time Congress begin to act responsibly and with fiscal restraint. This statement applies to oth sies of the political aisle and political ideology.

What is missing in the 100 billion dollar cuts are cuts to military {defense} spending. Rather, the proposal is for increasing defense 2% over last years expenditures and make ABSOLUTLY n sense.

If we are to again  to become a fiscally responsible nation all expenditures must be put on the chopping block. The pain must be felt all around the budget table. We either act responsibly across the board or we become another Greece or Portugal.

The choice still rests with the American people. Don't squander it on the likes of  the Obama vision. His vision is nothing more than that of a charlatan.

The full HILL article.

Via: Memeorandum

Palin Appoints Chief of Staff for Sarah PAC

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conseratism

It's looking more and more as if the half term Governor from Alaska is priming for a 2012 Presidential run. This is not good news to those of us who actually want to see a person with conservtive bona fides and real gravitas in the white house.Sarah Palin is, in this writers opinion lacking in both.

I find it quite interesting that she turned to an old guard Republican operative {read RINO}in her choice to fill the chief of staff position on her political action committee, Sarah PAC. Michael Glassner, who served as a longtime adviser to Robert Dole has agreed to sign on to run Palin's political operation and possible bid for the presidency in 2010.

From CNN:

Sarah Palin has added a veteran Republican strategist to serve as chief-of-staff for her political action committee, Sarah PAC, CNN has learned.


Michael Glassner, an attorney and longtime adviser to former Kansas senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole, has signed on to steer the former Alaska governor's political operation as she considers a possible 2012 presidential bid.


During the 2008 presidential campaign, Glassner managed vice presidential operations during John McCain's unsuccessful White House bid.


"We are happy and excited that Mike is joining our team," Sarah PAC Treasurer Tim Crawford told CNN.

Her choice of operatives certainly does not indicate with any degree of certainty where her real loyalties have a home. But I'm certain they are at the very least a good possible indicator. She is riding the TEA Party wave and riding it well. With the backing of the GOP power brokers she could in fact win her party's nomination.

That is what concerns me. It will certainly assure another four years with Obama siting in the Oval Office. Now THAT is scary!

Via: Memeorandum

Freedom, Liberty, and the Future of America

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

Freedom and liberty....  the principle that no single entity, or government has the right to subvert the rights of any individual  through force, or enslave them to the whims, dictates, or desires of another entity, whatever that entity may be.

Freedom and liberty are the inalienable rights of all men and women who inhabit this earth. No one has the right to subjugate another to their beliefs, be they religious, secular, or any other reason.

The right of the individual to their life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness {reference the Declaration of Independence}, as determined by their abilities and their effort, should be denied to no one. The freedom of opportunity is a right that was realized, at least for some, in all its fullness in America following the American Revolution.

Principles and ideals that were borne of the Enlightenment and The Age of Reason became the rallying cry for American independence. The desire to be free of burdensome taxation without representation and a the demand for a representative voice in the affairs that affected the colonists lives became the the lightening rod that sparked the American revolution. For 234 years the world has stood witness to the power of liberty and freedom such as enjoyed by the citizens of the United states of America.

The principles that insured these inalienable rights {life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness}were, for a time, and for purely political and economic reasons denied to many for far to long in the very nation that became the champion of individual rights, liberties, and freedom. It is to this nations ever lasting national shame that it took until 1865 to right the wrongs of human bondage on our shores.

Having said the above, I will remain forever in agreement with the philosophical principals of our founding fathers. The principles they wrote so eloquently about, and fought so valiantly to obtain for themselves, are proper principles that hold true for all of humanity. In short they are timeless principles that natural rights and subsequently natural law bestows on all individuals regardless of religious views, ethnicity, race, nationality, or any other affiliation.

You may ask, perhaps rightfully so, what the purpose for this post is. To that question there are many answers. All can be easily identified if one contemplates the true meaning of freedom and liberty. By this I mean in its truest and most pure for

However, in an attempt to answer the above question {perhaps more so for myself than my readership, here is the quick answer.

It is my fervent desire ( indeed my hope) that the TEA Part movement will hold true the ideals of our founding principals and through their efforts facilitate a more fiscally responsible government. It is also my hope and desire the TEA Party will attack the crony capitalism and corporatism that is indeed destroying the American Dream and allowing our international competitors {and adversaries to bleed us to death), while enriching there own nation at the expense of our people and our nation.

Given the events in Egypt, and the possibly, indeed the likilihood of a strong emergence of the Muslim Brotherhoode {see prior post and links on Rational Nation USA it remains my hope that President Mubarak, the despotic leader he was, is not replaced by an even more repressive regime in the form of an Islamic Theocratic Dictatorship based on Sharia Law that does not recognize human rights in general and the rights of women specifically.

The world is a dangerous place. It is my sincere desire, hope, and driving purpose to see freedom and liberty survive in the United States of America. It is equally my hope the seeds of democracy and true freedom and liberty are planted and take hold in Egypt. For if this happens perhaps the rest of the Middle East may come to recognize freedom and individual liberties.