Obama: Banks Cannot Be Allowed To Foreclose

There cannot possibly be anyone left who fails to see that Obama is purposely setting out to destroy the capitalist system.  We Americans must face the horrifying truth that Liberals wish to see capitalism and the American experiment destroyed.  From the Washington Post…

Obama readies steps to fight foreclosures, particularly for unemployed

The Obama administration plans to overhaul how it is tackling the foreclosure crisis, in part by requiring lenders to temporarily slash or eliminate monthly mortgage payments for many borrowers who are unemployed, senior officials said Thursday…

Something To Watch: California Could Legalize Pot

California voters will be deciding this November whether to legalize marijuana in their state.  If they proceed with the experiment, we Texans should watch with an open mind.  As a Libertarian Conservative, I believe the decriminalization of marijuana is something Texans should at least debate and consider as an alternative to the expensive failure that is the current war on drugs.  Here is an excerpt from an AP story on the subject…

Proponents of the measure say legalizing marijuana could save the state $200 million a year by reducing public safety costs.  At the same time, it could generate tax revenue for local governments.  A Field Poll taken in April found a slim majority of California voters supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help bridge the state budget deficit.

Those who grow and sell it illegally fear legalization would drive down the price and force them to compete against corporate marijuana cultivators.

Other opponents view marijuana as a “gateway drug” that, when used by young people, could lead them to try other, harder drugs.  They worry that legalization would persuade more people to try it, worsening the nation’s drug culture.

Pyramid Crumbling From Underneath Social Security Scheme

Social Security has hit the red earlier than expected.  That’s the thing about pyramid schemes…they always fail in the end and screw over somebody.  SS is just one of the many socialist programs that needs to go, or at a minimum, be privatized.  And to all the seniors voting in fear over losing their social security, I do not know one supporter of social security reform who believes we should not pay back the contributors.  The talk about taking away SS from the elderly is a straw man — a liberal scare tactic.  From the NY Times…

Social Security to See Payout Exceed Pay-In This Year

The bursting of the real estate bubble and the ensuing recession have hurt jobs, home prices and now Social Security.

This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office…. 

Castro Supports Obamacare…What A Relief!

Cuban leader applauds US health-care reform bill

HAVANA (AP) — It perhaps was not the endorsement President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress were looking for.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform “a miracle” and a major victory for Obama’s presidency, but couldn’t help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago…

Child Indoctrination: A Rebuttal To “The Talk”

GM Unveils The Gayest Car Design Ever

Government Motors has unveiled the new car of the future, which has been appropriately named, the Laugh.

16,000 New IRS Agents To Enforce Obamacare

Are you ready, comrades, for just one of the horrifying ramifications of nationalized health care?  There is to be a mammoth expansion of the IRS…

IRS looking to hire thousands of armed tax agents to enforce health care laws

Top IRS officials have been working with Democrats on Capitol Hill to determine how the agency will enforce President Obama’s new health care law. Republican lawmakers estimate the legislation will require the hiring of many thousands of new tax enforcement agents.

While it’s still not known exactly how many will be hired, here’s what’s clear: Under the new law, the IRS is required to fine taxpayers thousands of dollars if they do not purchase health insurance. In order for the government to enforce compliance, tax authorities will need information, for the first time, about people’s health care. Collecting that data will require more IRS personnel…

Krauthammer: ObamaCare Will Be the Law of the Land as of Tonight and We’ll be a Different Country

Amnesty Is Next…Dems Will Need The Votes

Once they have rammed through Obamacare, we can expect “immigration reform” to be next on the Lib agenda.  The Dems know they will have pissed off the majority of the taxpaying public so will need to get more voters on the rolls.  

Thousands of demonstrators marched on the mall today to demand immigration reform.  Enough to make your blood boil.  What follows is a surprisingly fair clip regarding anchor babies, produced by ABC News a while back.  Hat tip: Moonbattery.

Too Much Junk In Our Trunk…U.S. Losing AAA

From Bloomberg:

Obama Paying More Than Buffett as Bonds Show U.S. Losing AAA

The bond market is saying that it’s safer to lend to Warren Buffett than Barack Obama.  Two-year notes sold by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in February yield 3.5 basis points less than Treasuries of similar maturity, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Procter & Gamble Co.

Johnson & Johnson and Lowe’s Cos. debt also traded at lower yields in recent weeks, a situation former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. chief fixed-income strategist Jack Malvey calls an “exceedingly rare” event in the history of the bond market.

The $2.59 trillion of Treasury Department sales since the start of 2009 have created a glut as the budget deficit swelled to a post-World War II-record 10 percent of the economy and raised concerns whether the U.S. deserves its AAA credit rating…

Big Surprise…Stupak Caved

I hope all you Perry voters can count on him leading the charge to nullify this communist crap-sandwich once it passes.  From the AP:

President Barack Obama and House Democratic leaders struck a last-minute deal Sunday with abortion foes to secure the final few votes needed to remake America’s health care system, writing a climactic chapter in a century-old quest for near universal coverage…

A Great Interview With Judge Napolitano

Kansas City Closing Half Its Schools

Another Democrat stronghold run into the ground.  From Breitbart:

The Kansas City school board narrowly approved a plan Wednesday night to close nearly half the district’s schools in a desperate bid to avoid a potential bankruptcy.

The board voted 5-4 after parents and community leaders made final pleas to spare the schools even as the beleaguered district seeks to erase a projected $50 million budget shortfall.  The approved plan calls for shuttering 29 of 61 schools—a striking amount even as public school closes rise nationwide while the recession eats away at academic budgets…

Hilarious Handsome Men’s Club Skit

Walmart Sold Black Barbie For Less Than White Barbie, The Bigots

No, this absurd story is not from The Onion or Scrappleface.  We may have record unemployment here in America, but the race-hustlers still have a gig.  From ABC News:

Black Barbie Sold for Less Than White Barbie at Walmart Store

Walmart is raising eyebrows after cutting the price of a black Barbie doll to nearly half of that of the doll’s white counterpart at one store and possibly others…

A Walmart spokeswoman, who could not verify the exact store shown in the photo, said that the price change on the Theresa doll was part of the chain’s efforts to clear shelf space for its new spring inventory.  “To prepare for (s)pring inventory, a number of items are marked for clearance, ” spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien said in an e-mail. “… Both are great dolls…

But critics say Walmart should have been more sensitive in its pricing choice.

“The implication of the lowering of the price is that’s devaluing the black doll,” said Thelma Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development, a Harlem, N.Y. organization founded by pioneering psychologists and segregation researchers Kenneth B. Clark and Marnie Phipps Clark.

“While it’s clear that’s not what was intended, sometimes these things have collateral damage,” Dye said.

Other experts agree.  Walmart could have decided “that it’s really important that we as a company don’t send a message that we value blackness less than whiteness,” said Lisa Wade, an assistant sociology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles and the founder of the blog Sociological Images…

Life, Liberty and Free WiFi

Yep.  Another entitlement for “the downtrodden”.  So now when they are not watching reality television through the box they purchased with government coupons when we made the switch from analog to digital, they can surf porn for free instead of going out to get a job.  From Reuters…

U.S. considers some free wireless broadband service

U.S. regulators may dedicate spectrum to free wireless Internet service for some Americans to increase affordable broadband service nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday.  The FCC provided few details about how it would carry out such a plan and who would qualify, but will make a recommendation under the National Broadband Plan set for release next week…

And Then They Came For The Fishermen…

Don’t like to fish?  Just wait a little while longer and the collectivists will ban or over-tax something you enjoy. 

Culled out
The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters…click here for story.

 

Where Can I Get My Mossad Coffee Mug?

The January assassination of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, which most everyone agrees was a Mossad hit, has had an interesting effect…

Mark Steyn On Why The Dems Will Stop At Nothing To Get Nationalized Healthcare

Losing In Fall OK With Democrats If It Means They Win Health Care
By MARK STEYN

So there was President Obama giving his bazillionth speech on health care, droning yet again that “now is the hour when we must seize the moment,” the same moment he’s been seizing every day of the week for the past year, only this time his genius photo-op guys thought it would look good to have him surrounded by men in white coats.

Why is he doing this?  Why let “health” “care” “reform” stagger on like the rotting husk in a low-grade creature feature who refuses to stay dead no matter how many stakes you pound through his chest?

Because it’s worth it.  Big time.  I’ve been saying in this space for two years that the governmentalization of health care is the fastest way to a permanent left-of-center political culture.

It redefines the relationship between the citizen and the state in fundamental ways that make limited government all but impossible.

In most of the rest of the Western world, there are still nominally “conservative” parties, and they even win elections occasionally, but not to any great effect.  (Let’s not forget that Jacques Chirac was, in French terms, a “conservative.”)  The result is a kind of two-party one-party state:

Right-of-center parties will once in a while be in office, but never in power, merely presiding over vast left-wing bureaucracies that cruise on regardless.

Republicans seem to have difficulty grasping this basic dynamic.

Less than three months ago, they were stunned at the way the Democrats managed to get 60 senators to vote for the health bill.

Then Scott Brown took them back down to 59, and Republicans were again stunned to find the Dems talking about ramming this thing into law through the parliamentary device of “reconciliation.” …

click here for rest of article

Protecting Your Children From Liberal Brainwashing

Here is an enjoyable video of a CPAC speech given by Ann McElhinney, the director of Not Evil, Just Wrong…

Aint Goin’ Down On Brokeback Mountain…Willie Nelson

Governor Good Hair For Another Four Years

A majority of Texas Republicans voted today to keep Rick Perry in office.  As sad as that news may be for some of us, the real story is how an average citizen who had never run for public office, had absolutely no name recognition and no money managed to make such a strong showing against two of the most well-funded GOP politicians in the nation.  As Public Policy Polling blogged …

Perry and Hutchison have had the funds to saturate the airwaves and Medina hasn’t, … her name recognition was still under 50% on our final poll of the Texas race…

Debra Medina is a fighter though, so with any luck we have not seen the last of her.

Texas conservatives can now only hope (as we have no leverage) Perry will follow through on his pledge to fight Washington’s big government encroachment upon our state sovereignty.  Specifically, Obamacare.  We can, of course, expect another four years of illegal immigrants pouring across our southern border and it would be no surprise to see a rebirth of the TTC.

However, as distasteful as Perry may be to many of us, unless a third party candidate emerges before the general election, Slick Rick is definitely the lesser of two evils in the race against Bill White.

It’s Primary Day And This Time You Really Can’t Say You Weren’t Given A Choice

Today is a busy day, just like yesterday was and tomorrow will be.  But there is a vote happening right now that is of tremendous importance to the lives of Texans.  Get out there and be a part of it.

For those of you on the fence, these are your options:

Rick Perry – Running for an unprecedented third term.  Still blames the federal government for not securing our southern border even though he has had a decade to do it.  Perry failed to build his Trans-Texas Corridor, which would have taken 600,000 acres of private property and displaced close to a million Texans, due to the activism on the part of many Texas land owners who fought it tooth and nail at great personal expense.  Even though he never managed to build one road for the TTC, he spent over $131 million in taxpayer money trying to make it happen.  And if you believe Perry when he says the TTC is dead, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like for you to buy.

Perry talks with a thick drawl, likes to wear his “Come And Take It” boots and spouts southern colloquialisms like Dr. Phil, but he is a big government politician just like Bush.  He signed into law the margin tax on our businesses and in the last year alone, our Texas government has grown at a higher rate than any other state in the union, except North Dakota.

And finally, let’s be clear on this … Rick Perry will not win this primary outright today.  There has been NO poll that shows Perry getting over 50% of the vote. THIS RACE WILL GO INTO A RUN-OFF.  The only question is who will be against him?

Kay Bailey Hutchison – Supposedly running for the “moderate” wing of the Republican party.  She is the epitome of a party hack – supported the bailouts, backed by Bush and Cheney, etc.  Kay wants to force Texas businesses to use E-verify which would create more red tape for our already over-regulated Texas businesses.  I really cannot imagine why any conservative would vote for this woman so I am just going to move on.

and finally…

Debra Medina – The GOP establishment keeps saying she cannot make the run-off, but polls show she is only a few points behind Hutchison, and those polls are based on previous primary voters.  This last year has seen the rise of the tea party movement and a resulting tide of new voters to the primary process.  In fact, early voting in most parts of Texas was over THREE times what it was in the last primary.  Do you think all those early voters were getting out there to vote for Perry again??  The fact is, we have no idea what the turn-out will be in this primary and it is entirely possible that Medina will beat Hutchison to participate in the run-off against Perry.

Once that happens, all bets are off.  Run-offs are unpredictable and the month leading up to that second vote will be a huge education for Texans as they listen to the ideas debated between the two Republican candidates.

Debra Medina is the ONLY candidate in this race who has stated she is willing to support nullification of unconstitutional mandates from Washington – – including Obamacare.  Many states have already passed or written legislation to nullify Obamacare and other unconstitutional laws but Texas is not among them.  That is something we Texans should be ashamed of.

If you believe in private property rights, gun ownership, state sovereignty and a secure border, please get out there and vote for Medina today.  Nothing you can do today will be as important …PLEASE get involved.

Even The Brits Know About Debra Medina

Here is an interesting article on Medina from the UK GUARDIAN, of all places.   It is odd that if you believe in respecting our constitution, the strong rule of law, and small government, you are an extremist.  And evidently we right wing extremists are a phase, like pesto or parachute pants. 

Debra Medina, new star of America’s right, is firing up the race for Texas governor

…Until Debra Medina, that is. When Medina breezed into Lytle’s community hall the locals found themselves confronted with a Texan version of Sarah Palin. She wore a sharp scarlet skirt suit, librarian-style glasses and a puffed-up hairdo. More than 60 Lytle residents had gathered to meet her, a hefty turnout on a weekday at 11am for a Republican primary election in the race to be Texas governor. Medina has become a political phenomenon in Texas. Emerging as a genuine star of the rightwing populist Tea Party movement, she delivers a fiery message of slashing taxes and the abolition of almost all forms of federal government, and issues dire warnings that President Obama is taking America down a slippery slope to Soviet-style communism.

It’s working. Previously unheard of by the vast majority of Texans, Medina has set the race for governor on fire, upsetting the primary contest between the incumbent, Rick Perry, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Those gathered to see Medina in Lytle loved her. Young and old, men and women, Latino and white, listened with rapt attention as she outlined her agenda and asked them to back her in this week’s first round of voting. If she can beat Hutchison into second place, she can secure a runoff against Perry. That would raise the possibility – distant but real – of a Tea Party activist capturing the government of the second biggest state in America. The Tea Party movement would have gone from being a bunch of ragtag protesters to heading one of the largest single economies in the world. “If we can change politics as usual in Texas, then we can change politics as usual across America. This is not just about Texas, but about changing the whole country,” Medina told the Observer before addressing her supporters in Lytle…

Anybody Ever See “Gattaca”?

Not just going to put this one on the blog roll.  Here is a great article on the coming nationalization of health care…

http://biggovernment.com/kashiver/2010/02/25/hidden-healthcare-reform-objective-feds-want-to-know-your-number/

Fidel Castro Is Still Not Dead

Could this be some sort of “Weekend At Bernie’s” scam?  Is this photo actually of a stuffed Castro with the puppet strings photoshopped out?  From the AP:

Stronger Fidel Castro meets with Brazil president
Wearing his now-trademark track suit, Fidel Castro smiles happily and appears to vigorously embrace his longtime friend, the president of Brazil…

Obama’s Health Care Coffee Klatch

After having skimmed through his dog-eared copy of “A Talker’s Guide To Holding Effective Meetings”, our President once again lessened the stature of his office by mediating the health care workshop in Washington today.  What an utter display of ignorance by the Democrats and a refreshing display of knowledge and courage from the GOP.  

The whole thing was a sham so the Dems could say they have attempted to be bipartisan before they try once again to ram Obamacare down our throats.  Gird your loins.

If you missed the snooze-fest, take a look at Weasel Zippers, they provided constant, hilarious coverage.

Here is a great clip of Republican Paul Ryan fighting the good fight today…

Seaworld Killer Whale Was A Teabagger!!

From thenoseonyourface.com:
Some quick investigate reporting by the folks at Daily Kos and Democratic Underground has unearthed a photo of Tilikum, the killer whale who yesterday killed a trainer at Sea World, at a Tea Party event in Omaha, Nebraska…

Afghan Smack-Talk: “My Goat Herd Is Larger Than Yours”

Kind of an interesting little tidbit about the fighting in Afghanistan, from ABC News…

Trash Talking the Taliban During Firefights

It’s a remarkable combination of psychological warfare, political roundtable and trash-talking. Afghan soldiers and Taliban fighters taunt each other, debate each other and try to persuade each other almost daily over their radios, at times while even shooting at each other.

I came across the astonishing facet of the Afghan War while spending time with the 302nd kandak, or battalion, of the Afghan National Army. The foes chatter with each other over their Vietnam-era, two-way radio system. It’s such an antiquated system that the Taliban and the Afghan forces share radio frequencies, and verbal barbs, as they try to kill or capture one another.

I asked Maj. Said Rahim Hakmal what they talk about. Politics, he said. “The Taliban will say things like why do you side with the Americans? Why do you sell out your country? You love Obama more than Afghanistan.”

Hakmal said the standard response goes something like, “The Americans are here to help our country function again. They don’t want to stay. They want to help, then leave. You should help, too.”…

Judge Napolitano’s Freedom Watch: Debra Medina

Medina was on with the judge today.  See here.

Glenn Beck – Pride Cometh Before A Fall

This last week has been difficult for me and many other Glenn Beck fans as we have watched him first spin, and then outright lie about Debra Medina.  I have literally been sick to my stomach for days at the realization that a man I had such profound trust in could now be exposed as a fraud.  I feel stupid, like a gullible member of the congregation in a televangelist’s tent.  Is this the way many Obama voters feel after seeing a year of his lies?      

I don’t know how you can live in Texas and not know about the Medina controversy, but to sum it up…from a poorly answered question by Debra Medina last week on Beck’s radio show, he has since characterized Medina as a Nazi, a fascist, an anarchist, and someone who believes “Cheney and Bush wired the towers to blow”.  But now it seems the scope of this whole thing has gone way beyond Medina into threatening the very conservative establishment that has been pushing the tea party movement for a year.

Within hours of Beck’s interview, the conservative media and top bloggers hopped on this story and painted Medina as a complete whack-job.  This includes Burka with Texas Monthly, Michelle Malkin, RedState, Ace, and others.  From one misstatement in an obviously hostile interview, Medina was tried and executed by many of the leaders in the tea party revolution.  But what these “leaders” did not count on was that many Texans were well-informed about our candidates and the issues, had watched the gubernatorial debates and knew a hatchet job when we saw one.  Since Beck’s interview last week, he has lost over a half a million viewers and his 9/12 Project is hemorrhaging members (myself included).  Liberal blogs like HufPo and the Kos have watched this family fight with glee.

As an avid fan of Glenn Beck’s for over 8 years, I was slow to criticize him too heavily, believing he was simply misinformed.  But as the week progressed, he has now begun to lie to such an extent, he literally appears to be cracking up.  He seems shaky, he looks confused and is obviously caught in a trap of his own making.  His ass is way out in the wind on this one, and now his friends at Fox and those in the blogging community (who blindly followed Beck off this cliff) have a big stake in making this lie stick to Medina, or end up looking like fools.

They may have ruined Medina’s already-slim chances of forcing a run-off, but can this deception hold out forever?  Glenn’s talk radio brethren in Dallas came out today to call him on his lies.  In the links below, conservative radio host Jeff Bolton at KLIF perfectly expressed what so many former Glenn Beck fans are feeling…

Fox News Discusses Debra Medina

You know, Ronald and Nancy Reagan frequently had psychics and astrologers to the White House, Jimmy Carter swears to this day he has seen a UFO, Glenn Beck is a Mormon and as such believes that Joseph Smith was visited by angels and given golden plates which only he could read with divine goggles.  So easy to paint others with the “crazy” brush isn’t it?

If the skeleton in Medina’s closet is that she has a strong mistrust of government and an unwillingness to bash the beliefs of others, that is fine by me.  About a month ago I read a story (wish I could find it now) from a reporter who spent hours with Medina riding around on the campaign trail.  He said she had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Texas law and the constitution.

And at the end of the day, it is Texas and her needs that concern me.        

California is the Greece Of The United States

The economic dangers of collectivism are being played out right now over in the EU.  Similarly, the Democrat controlled, liberal entitlement states are like an albatross around the neck of this nation.  From the UK Mail…

Collapse of the euro is ‘inevitable’:  Bailing out the Greek economy futile, says FRENCH banking chief

The European single currency is facing an ‘inevitable break-up’ a leading French bank claimed yesterday.  Strategists at Paris-based Société Générale said that any bailout of the stricken Greek economy would only provide ‘sticking plasters’ to cover the deep- seated flaws in the eurozone bloc.

The stark warning came as the euro slipped further on the currency markets and dire growth figures raised the prospect of a ‘double-dip’ recession in the embattled zone.

Claims that the euro could be headed for total collapse are particularly striking when they come from one of the oldest and largest banks in France – a core founder-member…

The Masterpieces They Can Create With Photoshop Nowadays

You really need to click on through to this link to see this picture up close.  Impressive. 

Admit It, You Want To Do This Sometimes Too

Medina Explains What Happened In Beck Interview

The Medina Truther Nonsense

As an ardent follower of politics, I have learned a lesson in the past which has been strongly reinforced over the last 24 hours…Conservatives will throw their own under the bus at the drop of a hat.  Does “makaka” ring a bell?

It is so much easier to be clever when you are being derisively critical of someone isn’t it?  What happened to Medina yesterday is politics at its absolute worst – – a newcomer to this bloodsport, she was tripped up into expressing support for “9/11 truthers” — a term that is used to label everyone from those that believe the government brought down the twin towers to those that believe the government should have uncovered the plot before it did and attempted to cover their incompetence after the fact.  The latter being so widely believed it is alluded to in the 9/11 Report.

Medina made a rookie mistake to be sure, but nowhere near a hanging offense in my book.  Certainly not as bad as confiscating the private property of countless Texas landowners so you can build a superhighway, and certainly not as bad as using hard-earned taxpayer dollars on bank bailouts and stimulus packages.  Meanwhile, we wonder why we are stuck at the end of the day with smooth-talking liars in political office.

Medina has addressed this truther nonsense clearly on her website and I believe her.  That it should be Glenn Beck leading the charge on this witch hunt is particularly heartbreaking.  As someone who is perpetually labelled as crazy for his beliefs (some of which are out there baby), I believe he has used Medina to try to make himself look more “moderate”.

However, like the “racist” label, the “crazy” label is one most Conservatives are used to and to many of us, like water off a duck’s back.  Thankfully, I can see I am not alone in these views as the Medina campaign has seen a huge jump in contributions in the last 24 hours as well as a drastic increase in her facebook followers.

Here is a good post I saw this morning, from a lib no less…
http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/9977/gut-reaction-team-rick-perry-used-glenn-beck-to-attack-debra-medina

Debra Medina On Glenn Beck – – Decide For Yourself

I caught the tail end of the Glenn Beck show this morning and from all the Medina bashing, assumed her interview was an absolute train wreck.  However, after listening to the segment I am wondering what the hell Glenn was talking about.  He was rude during the interview, seemed from the get-go to be looking for a gotcha moment and found what he was after.  His surly demeanor reminded me of his worthless Palin interview a few weeks back.

In the post-interview segment, Glenn claimed Medina said, “I have worked within the Republican party, like you.”, which he said annoyed him as Glenn hates both major parties and pushes for a third.  But after listening to the interview, I see she never even said that!  What on earth was he talking about?   

But take a listen for yourself folks.  As always, I thought Medina’s message regarding individual liberty and small government remained consistent, as it has from day one.  Glenn, we Texans have “gut” feelings as well, and on this one you are way off the mark.

**********************************
Update:  Here is Medina’s Response To Glenn’s Bizarre Bashing
(It is a shame she has to clarify this at all, as this has squat to do with the governor’s race and is just a tactic used by opponents to make her seem like an extremist.  Glenn, of all people, should not have allowed himself to be used in this manner.)

I was asked a question on the Glenn Beck show today regarding my thoughts on the so-called 9/11 truth movement.  I have never been involved with the 9-11 truth movement, and there is no doubt in my mind that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11.  I have not seen any evidence nor have I ever believed that our government was involved or directed those individuals in any way.  No one can deny that the events on 9-11 were a tragedy for all Americans and especially those families who lost loved ones.
 
The question surprised me because it’s not relevant to this race or the issues facing Texans.  This campaign has always been about private property rights and state sovereignty.  It is focused on the issues facing Texans.  It is not a vehicle for the 9-11 truth movement or any other group.
 
The real underlying question here, though, is whether or not people have the right to question our government.  I think the fact that people are even asking questions on this level gets to the incredible distrust career politicians have fostered by so clearly taking their direction from special interests instead of the people, whether it’s Rick Perry and the his HPV mandate or Kay Hutchison and voting for the bank bailout.  It is absolutely the right and duty of a free people to question their government.  Texas does not need another politician who tells you what you want to hear, then violates your liberties and steals your property anyway.  I fully expect to be questioned and to be held accountable as Governor, and that’s the underlying issue here: should people be questioning their government.  And the answer is yes, they should be.

Medina at 24%!! Can She Close The Distance On KBH’s 28% and Force A Run-Off?

The latest poll in the Texas gubernatorial race has Medina at 24%, just points away from overtaking KBH, who polls at 28%.  Medina supporters know if we can beat out KBH and keep Perry from getting over 50% of the vote, it will force a run-off.  Once that happens, all bets are off!!  Run-offs are bad news for incumbents and how many Perry voters feel strongly enough about him to get out to the polls a second time to vote in the primaries?  Conversely, most Medina supporters feel so strongly about her candidacy they would go out ten times to vote if necessary.  From the Politico…

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is at risk of finishing third in next month’s Republican gubernatorial primary, according to a Public Policy Polling survey that shows tea party favorite Debra Medina rapidly gaining ground on Hutchison and incumbent Gov. Rick Perry.

Perry leads Hutchison by 11 points in the poll, 39 percent to 28 percent, but Medina registers nearly a quarter of the primary vote, drawing 24 percent. The numbers are similar to a Rasmussen Reports survey that showed Perry with a 44 percent to 29 percent lead over Hutchison last week, with Medina’s vote growing to 16 percent.

While Perry and Hutchison have spent millions on their campaigns to date, the underfunded Medina has relied on two strong televised debate performances to draw attention to her insurgent bid…

Bitching About Your Taxes And The Texas Economy As If You Can’t Do A Thing About It

It is a well known fact that nimrod liberals fail to understand the inverse relationship that exists between taxation and both federal revenues and economic growth.  However, it seems even conservatives are getting a bit confused of late when it comes to the tax implications inherent in voting for either Medina or Perry.  KBH is not even remotely a conservative and so will not be addressed in this post.

If you have been following the governor’s race at all, you know that one of Medina’s keystone issues is the abolishment of property taxes and a movement over to a pure consumption tax.  I have been listening to misinformed critics of this idea for too long now and it was either reply here or have my head explode…

Misinformed argument #1: Do away with property taxes in Texas?  That is just some crazy idea cooked up by a bunch of libertarians.

Not really, no.  In 2009, the Texas Public Policy Foundation commissioned a report from Dr. Arthur Laffer, best known for the “Laffer Curve” and his roll as Reagan’s chief economist and architect of the wildly successful Reagan tax cuts.  Laffer’s group produced a study entitled “Enhancing Texas’ Economic Growth Through Tax Reform”, in which they recommend repealing Texas property taxes and replacing the revenues with a revised sales tax.  A link to the report is HERE.  Despite the fact that Perry supporters will sometimes argue with you on this issue, you will never hear Perry criticize this report because he cherry-picks from it all the time.

Misinformed argument #2: The Laffer report states that if we repealed property taxes and moved over to consumption taxes only, the sales tax would necessarily rise to a whopping 14% just to stay revenue neutral.

Yes, if all we did was abolish property taxes and keep the sales tax base the same.  However, if we broaden the sales tax base to include the sale of property — in other words all property is taxed only once at the time of sale, then that immediately knocks the sales tax to around 9%.  You can play with the sales tax base in various ways to get that number down as low as 6%.  But at the end of the day, that would be an issue to be fleshed out by the people and their lawmakers in the implementation phase.

Misinformed argument #3: Sales taxes are not progressive and hurt the poor the most.

Medina recommends that food and medical care be exempt from the sales tax base.  Not only would a consumption tax not adversely affect the poor, a strong argument can be made that rental rates would drop as property owners see their overhead drop.  In addition, Laffer and most conservatives are supply-siders…a rising tide lifts all boats.

Misinformed argument #4: If we abolished property taxes, the resulting drop in revenues might very well bankrupt the state.

This argument is just plain annoying because we are dealing with a lack of understanding regarding the relationship between taxes and revenues.  In addition, this fails to recognize that not all taxation is created equal.

The property tax is one of the least efficient forms of taxation. It is assessed each year based on a purely subjective perceived value, which often forces homeowners to pay taxes on capital gains that may or may not ever be realized.  Laffer’s report stresses the importance of an efficient and fair tax system to a state’s economic growth, and outlines how moving to a broad-based sales tax would drastically increase personal income and create over a quarter of a million news jobs for the Texas economy.

Misinformed argument #5: Our property taxes are high because we have no state income tax and while Perry is not all that and a bag of chips, he has done an okay job.  Better the devil you know…

This one is common from good-natured folks that are really just not paying attention.  Texans pay one of the highest property taxes in the nation and many Texans believe this must be necessary and fair as we have no state income tax.  Wrong.  While our state’s constitution restricts the passage of a personal income tax, we have not only seen our property taxes continue to rise under Perry, in 2006 he expanded the franchise tax by signing into law the new margin’s tax on businesses.  In addition, state fees have increased across the board making it that much more pleasant when we are forced to deal with the state bureaucracy.

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But let’s step away from the money talk for a moment, because for many civil libertarians like me, this is an issue of liberty and private property.  Currently, there is not one single Texan that owns their property outright.  However, if we move to a consumption tax, homebuyers will pay the tax one time at the point of purchase, and the prospect of being taxed out of one’s home is removed.  The ownership of private property is one of the most important rights guaranteed to the American people by our Constitution and we must fight to protect it.