STARVE THE FEDS

There is nothing that should be allowed to be taken for granted, because abundance now does not mean abundance forever. This is true for love, wealth, health, shelter, and life itself. I will be with the young lady and our respective families this weekend.

It’s going to take a miracle to get this health care bill six feet under where it belongs. I could go on and on about what is in the future for us, but not now. I will say that I am very hurt, livid, angry, and considering actions that no American has considered since the 19th century. I will explain in more detail after the holiday weekend is over.

Right now, family is it. Hope you are with yours as well. Like I have said on my campaign, it will be our duty and mission to personally ensure that year 2010 will be a year no true American will ever forget. We will fight then. The Senate has finally gone home, so shall we. Good night, and God rest ye merry gentlemen.

With Liberty!

I was just talking with a sweet eighty-something year old lady on the campaign trail. Her neighbor that I visited previously told me to say the word “conservative” and she’d let me in. Sure enough, she let me walk on her carpet with snowy and slushy dress shoes intact. She even invited me to sit on her recliner while we discussed American politics.

“Is this the worst you have ever seen?” I asked her during our long conversation. I was a little sheepish in admitting that I was born during the Carter administration. I don’t remember much from that era, and I wanted some historical perspective on what was happening now.

“Oh yeah, this is the worst I have ever seen.”

Even worse than the Great Depression? Well, she told me she grew up poor during that time, but no one really knew they were poor until they hit high school age. Their poverty did not reflect in their attitudes, as they were happy back then. People were very trusting because people were trustworthy. Her late husband served in the Navy during WWII, when “everyone was behind the war”. She believes that the world powers-that- be planted Obama into the USA with the intention of doing exactly what he is doing now – from having his Harvard education paid for, to his community organizing, to the Illinois State Senate, etc.; the whole nine yards. The worst thing she couldn’t stand about “Bam Bam” (as her late husband nicknamed him) was his arrogance along with the arrogance of the Democratic Congress and Senate.

I cannot fathom times like now being worse than the almighty Great Depression. It seems impossible for me to wrap my mind around.

Of course, while Ben Bernanke gets TIME magazine’s Person of the Year honors and accepts credit for rescuing the economy from the 2008 collapse, something tells me this is far from over. I’ve known it - economic logic and common sense leads to that conclusion every time; yet I still can’t grasp the whole thing. I have increased certain supplies at home in preparation for hard times, but not supplies of other materials. I haven’t bought up any gold, although my retirement account is focused on energy stocks and mutual funds for the time being.

To say hard times are coming is one thing. To actually prepare for it is another.

Denial is an evil to behold. I would like to think we can pull through this, because we are more than capable of doing so. However, I remember thinking that as soon as Obama was elected, I really didn’t have that much to be afraid of. Everyday life was going to be relatively the same regardless of who made office, and the effect on us citizens would really not be felt all that much.

From 11/5/08 to mid-February 2009, we put hope and faith behind our elected leaders, even if our gut told us that we have more to fear than fear itself. I wanted to believe that all the fear-mongering was just the Republican party calling wolf in a sore loser’s clothing. I wanted to believe that liberals have their best intentions at heart, and that even if we didn’t agree with everything that’s being done, that there would be some sort of logic and reasoning behind it. I understood the Republican bloodbath; they deserved it. The Democrats had every opportunity to really make Bush and the Republican Congress (2000-06) look terrible.

Instead, they spent more – a LOT more. We were going to be spent down the toilet before that man spent a month in office. It felt like a freefall. We had to organize, vent, and coalesce into Tea Parties or we were going to go absolutely nuts. Enough about the past though. The past is good to use as reference points for history, but the future is what is now at stake.

Venting is no longer enough. Being there “in spirit” is no longer enough. Any concept that is taken for granted is fair game to be taken away by our own government. The evidence is clear, and the conclusion is imminent. There is no room for the argument that the government is naive and unknowing of the unintended consequences of the legislation they are looking to pass. It can’t be possible after these past 10 months. They have been confronted – in the papers, in YouTube, on television, and even in person. They know there is fierce opposition. They have had multitudes of opportunities to research the reasoning behind our madness, regardless of the supposed validity of our arguments. There is no way they can claim ignorance anymore.

Their time is up. Right now they make their steps knowingly, and they are making their moves.

It doesn’t matter what the polls say. The point of a representative republic is that elected officials have the opportunity to sort right from wrong away from popular versus the minority opinion.

So now we know – our government has taken steps to work against us. They have worked overtime, rushed bills that probably don’t exist, and sold votes off to the highest bidder. Some as publicized as Mary Landrieu’s $300 million and Ben Nelson’s freeloading Medicaid paid for by the rest of us; some will come out later after this bill is passed as our unwanted Christmas present.

We’re the person in the music video for “Freaks” by the band Live – where one particular person refuses to drink at a cocktail party despite repeated requests, so the crowd pins him to the ground and forces the mysterious substance down his throat.

We’re what Detective Mills meant in the movie “Se7en” when, in his frustration at his and Detective Somerset’s futile attempts to catch a serial killer, he bends over and yells at the other detective: “You see this? This is us!”

I cannot grasp how anyone who voted for this betrayal of a bill can sleep at night. How can they accept any form of payment, knowing how scrutinized their moves are? How can one voluntarily choose to be a sellout in front of millions of people? How can anyone possibly risk their political careers for life, for their legacy to be tainted forever, and go to their Maker with full knowledge of the consequences they bestowed upon us despite our heated protests? What times do we really live in?

Is it time to water the tree of liberty? Who will fight? Will liberals be prepared to fight for their right to destroy this country economically, regardless of their economic know-how? Will the military follow their hearts or their Commander-in-Chief if/when Civil War II happens? Will I be personally watched due to my opposition and bringing up what may have previously thought to be unimaginable and unthinkable?

What will it take? How many death threats will I get? How will my family be affected? Am I prepared to lose my house over this? What is freedom in a representative republic truly worth? What will it take to hit the “reset” button and give this country another 200+ year lease on life? What strategy can we pursue to ensure there are no more Dede Scozzafavas in this country ready to be placed by the establishment when an offical steps down?

I fully expect the local Republican Party to back my opponent, the incumbent. He’s a proven winner since the 1980′s. However, I am seeing the Republican Party make their endorsements before the freaking primary votes are cast! I am doubting that a city councilman friend of mine comprehends why I question the reasoning behind the Republican’s backing of Rob Portman instead of Tom Ganley for U.S. Senator (Ohio).

We will see who stands firm, and who stands tall. We will see who runs in the face of battle, and who will truly be brave in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The World War II veterans are fading away from us, and hence we do not know the true feeling of a united front in war anymore.

The move has been made; the betrayal inevitable. There will be unrest; of what forms, we do not know. I am going on the offense in the political world, but I refuse to partake in violence. The elections of 2010 will be our first “last stand”; the 2012 elections our second. We must pass both tests with flying colors. We do not have room for an 80-year transition period. We do not have the patience to be taken advantage of anymore. I am tired of fearing our own government, and I will not live like this again. I will never forget nor forgive their blatant disregard for human life and the American citizen.

Iranian protesters for freedom were confirmed to be beaten to death after the “election” of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We are damned fortunate that we don’t allow that here. Now, that privilege is being stomped on by sellouts.

This is borderline treason; and it’s a damn shame it’s going to happen on our watch. The next decade will be the most significant in recent history. These times will define who we are, and who we are truly made of. It’s time to prove that we are not the pansies that our supposed representatives have become.

It has been said that the American Revolution was started on less than what we are dealing with now. I really hesitate on believing that, but am horrified that we live in times where we have to give that statement a second thought.

I’ll try not to make this entry too personal, since this blog’s intention is to report on what I see with my own eyes, as opposed to being about me exclusively. However, there are too many parallels between my personal experiences before and after diving headfirst into the American political muck. It’s at the precise moment when I realize these parallels to be true does the world seem to start making sense; sometimes these realizations are almost epiphany-like.

For example, when I was a more active participant in the music world playing shows with the band frequently, there was always pressure to conform to the “next big thing”. Our band’s priorities include being true to ourselves in how we act publicly, in our lyrics (except the obnoxious songs that are clearly ridiculous sick jokes), and our song arrangements and structure. There are more formulaic approaches to this available, but we chose the ones that reflected us rather than what the music industry clearly wanted. Simply put, our music is an artistic adventure first, and never a commerical one. It’s a musical value system I agree with, for art is the ultimate in self-expression, and that trumped any temptation to water down our material for commerical consumption. I follow that value system for the musical project I do on my own.

For this reason, we consider other bands and musicians who clearly were following industry trends in pursuit of being the next rock stars, as taking the easy way out. It was easier to imitate Korn and Limp Bizkit in front of teenage fans than it was to provide your own sound. It’s easier to scream unintelligble lyrics about how one hates the world than to find new ways of expressing emotion. It’s much easier to rely on playing songs by Motley Crue and Pantera for a paltry percentage of beer sales than it is to come up with original material and introduce it to a crowd. It’s much easier to cater to a local reviewer’s musical taste in order to gain notoriety, especially when the reviewer just happens to be a member of a rival band lacking artistic integrity. You see what I mean when I say that politics are absolutely everywhere?

Anyways, during the thick of things at those times, I remember one of my favorite expressions was something to the effect of: “My life would be so much easier if I just liked bands like Creed.” Earlier this decade, when Creed was a multi-platinum seller and all the girls were hot on the singer Scott Stapp, it was definitely true. I’m willing to bet many of the men and boys who went to Creed concerts weren’t there for the band, but to pick up girls who were already there.

Generally, the music-buying population is mainly 80% mainstream, and 20% underground – the 20% being those who appreciated the artistic nature of music. It wasn’t the easy way through the industry by any means – we would have had more fans, we would have made much more money, and we would have gotten laid more often if we went the imitation and commerical route of the other 80%.

We believe in our music so much that that principle carries more importance than making more money or taking advantage of groupies. Many bands do stick to this principle as well, but many also cave in to “selling out” later in their music careers in order to placate their record company and boost sales.

It’s the same way with American politics. At best, 20% of the population are involved with Tea Parties, or hold some sort of similar belief system, or would vote for a candidate running on a Tea Party platform. The 20% figure is a poll number, but in my experience it seems to be relatively accurate, as much as I wish that percentage was higher.

Radio talk show host Jason Lewis mentioned this past week that the liberals have control of almost everything – the schools, the universities, the press, the federal government, many state governments (and respective Secretaries of States that run election ballot counting), the entertainment industry, and so forth. There may be sprinkles of conservatism here and there in all of the above, but the main dish is liberal leaning. It has to be liberal leaning – why else would an anti-establishment governor who has run a city and a state get negative treatment while a smooth-talking lawyer who couldn’t even run a Dairy Queen get glowing coverage in the 2008 election? Moving right along….

In this environment, I hear or see examples of not-so-thought-out liberalism when I connect to the internet each day, or talking to co-workers, or turn on the evening news, or viewing advertisements, or drive by a local union hall, or see an Obama bumper sticker. Man, wouldn’t it be so much easier if us Tea Partiers would just give in and become liberals? Wouldn’t life just be more of a cakewalk if we gave in to health care legislation and Crap and Trade?

Maybe that was what happened during the 2008 national election. People didn’t elect someone to lead the country, they elected a celebrity who took advantage of his skin color for popularity purposes. People didn’t elect Obama the person, they elected the chance to say to their heirs that they helped elect the first black president. If this is true, can it follow that we are far from Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideals that we should judge a man not by the color of his skin, but the content of his character? Are we truly in a country where we would prefer a black person who is evil over a white person who is moral, just to satisfy the affirmative action guilt in our head?

I think too many people gave in. Too many people sold themselves out. They fell in love with an idea of electing a black president so much that it trumped other principles. People didn’t want to know who he truly was because they were infatuated with the idea of “making history” because we can’t get over ourselves with skin color in 2009. You people have made Barack Obama a “token”, a stance he seems pretty okay with as long as all his destructive legislature is passed.

Think of all work we would save ourselves if we just gave in. There would be no protests, no resistance, no need to purchase defense weapons, no need to run for office. We’d save our money on campaign expenses and funding political action committees. We could stay home and feel proud of ourselves for being such a “post-racial society”. It’s much more satisfying to think that our work is done rather than dealing with the reality that we have a long way to go. Think of all the rage and anger that would disappear out of passionate disagreement. We could just stay home and spend time with our families while the politicians deal with the heavy stuff. We’ve trusted them this long, we’re still alive now, aren’t we?

This would be tempting to anyone who is known to take the path of least resistance. Instead, we know who we are.

Various conspiracy theorists with their own respective causes are now pointing to possibilities of the economy being purposely tanked in order to drive all the citizenry into poverty so that those that have the gold make the rules. Where it goes from there, depends on who you ask. You must understand that I don’t necessarily buy into every theory being floated out there; but at the same time, I’m not dismissing them with ridicule either. Logic works both ways – to prove and debunk.

A commentator named Paul Kanjorski shedded some light on an electronic run on the banks that occurred September 18, 2008, where a half a trillion dollars disappeared from the market around 2:00pm almost instantaneously. George Soros has a history of manipulating world markets solely by making extraordinarily large transactions with various countries’ currencies, so I find this a little more believeable; although, this could also be attributed to electronic wars with North Korea, China, or Russia.

Whatever it is, a case can be made for the vulnerability of our nation’s economy. For example, a lack of a limit on federal government overspending (and overprinting) can lead to out-of-control inflation, which could cause Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe type situations where the dollar is rendered worthless. Even a modest (compared to Weimar/Zimbabwe) 10% annual inflation rate would drive American markets mad. Banks would collapse in mass numbers and fall onto the weight of the “full faith and credit of the United States Government” in the age of the FDIC.

Another example would be some hybrid of the Copenhagen Treaty, Cap and Trade, and the EPA’s recent and sudden willingness to make the environment ripe for the czar picking. If any usage of energy comes with paying some sort of energy tax, then we may as well kiss productive companies goodbye to other countries where energy taxes are not placed. A lack of energy due to consequences either directly caused by or similar to government rationing would just bring us back to the Amish quality of life. Now mind you, I live close to Amish Country and I envy their lifestyle when it comes to the “Simple Life” way of living, but for every person like me there’s at least a million that do not want to live this way voluntarily. Besides, I still like my internet connection, however slow it may be.

If China and other countries follow through on their threat to end reliance on the dollar as the world’s mainstay currency, that will increase our economic vulnerability even more. If we go through Version 3.0 of the Community Reinvestment Act by using it to threaten banks and businesses into stimulating the economy by duress rather than by supply and demand – that will create bubbles that will burst in worse ways than it did in 2008 two months before Election Day.

However it works, many of us are stretched to the limit. You increase household budgets by even a paltry $100 per month, and you’ll see more of the house of cards come crashing down in the form of property foreclosures, IRS property seizures, and eviction notices. As much as I do not think it is a great idea, I am also willing to bet that many in the federal government have no idea how wonderful it would be to refund the remaining $200+ billion in the TARP fund back to all taxpaying Americans instead of spending it down the toilet.

What if the banks were seized by the federal government, and this time they keep it? What if an evil government decides to keep the money in all personal and business accounts? Is this thinking too far out there? Is it beyond us? Are we so bulletproof that someone like Hugo Chavez couldn’t pull off in the USA that he does in Venezuela? Hell, even Argentina seized personal retirement funds and put that money toward their version of Social Security. So what if the feds keep our money?

A person going only by the name of “Mr. Blue” on the Mike Trivisonno Show made the point that physical defense would do us no good if the Feds have access to our bank accounts. If the Feds can take our money, why would they need to come over to our residences are confront us physically? There would be no need to. I don’t know how legitimate “Mr. Blue” is – he could be a conspiracy-hound publicity stunt for all I know – but the point is certainly legitimate. I’m tempted to withdraw everything and go to the mattress method of personal finance.

I’ve also noticed something else. On the first weekend of my door-to-door campaign for County Commissioner, it seemed that the people in retirement age were much more open and friendlier to strangers knocking on their doors asking for their vote than people in their 30′s and 40′s. Is there a generational difference of trust level? Or am I generalizing too soon? Only time will tell as I campaign some more, but I can’t help but think that there may be more to this. I mean, people in retirement age now have more than likely retired from the company they started working for when they graduated high school. Employer-employee loyalty went both directions, and people seemed to take care of each other more. People around my age keep the arm’s length; that distance seems precious. I can’t say I blame them; I’m normally the same way. I’d like to think this arose from growing up with parents who have been laid off a time or two, where the Rust Belt was taking shape and started inheriting that name. Companies could spit you out, and we were just learning how to spit them back out if better opportunities arose. Maybe crime has increased in our times – can we really send kids outside to play on the street anymore?

Hope is difficult to find in a dizzying spiral. Family seems to be the needed rock. God somehow fits into this picture too; although, being the religion rookie that I am, I have no idea how, just faith that He will somehow. It’s to the point of finding out that I have apathy toward any possible apocalypse – why worry about how it will transpire; whether by the December 2012 Mayan prediction or the Biblical Battle of Revelation in Israel – the only question that is important is who’s side I am on at the time. You’ll have to wonder that too, but you can do that on your own time. It’s not for me to decide.

We are in evil times in America. We haven’t duplicated the Japanese imprisonment camps of World War II. We don’t have Franklin Roosevelt turning a bad recession into a long depression by means of constant government intervention. Woodrow Wilson isn’t in office with his progressive agenda, although embers of that administration exist today. We have a Muslim population that no one seems to really either understand or really wrap their head around. We have a current president who surrounds himself with people with Socialist and Communist values (if something of that concept can be considered a “value”). We have government that does not understand or refuses to understand accounting, transparency, and a representative republic.

“Mr. Blue” was most certainly wrong on one point – we Tea Partiers are doing something besides protesting and going home. For someone who seemingly understands the dark side of government and the supposed Illuminati; he sure doesn’t understand what it means to be a part of this movement. He lamented on how people are too concerned about football scores and Tiger Woods to totally grasp what is happening in this country, but yet dismisses the Tea Party organizations and Glenn Beck. Maybe he needs to see who we really are.

If government is full of dark forces such as lust for power, money, and women; and I am campaigning in order to be a part of the “Elected Officials Club”, am I throwing myself to the wolves? I’m learning a lot – who my allies are, and who are opposing me by feigning interest until put on the spot. Lukewarm responses say much more with their silence rather than what is being actually said.

Indeed, hope is difficult to find in a dizzying spiral. I have chosen to fight back twice as hard.

The idea is almost surreal. I mean, we actually have to take steps to work against our own government. We have to slow down their “progress”. We have to mitigate the damage. We have to get the wrongdoers out of there and hope that the course can be reversed. It’s a “cutting our losses” type of mentality.

A truly representative government does NOT work against the will of whom they represent.

I can’t trust anything anymore. It’s man-made global warming – to Climategate – to potential sudden Ice Ages. It’s Kenneth Gladney, the one who was beaten at the Carnahan Town Hall near St. Louis back in August, who has still not seen justice. Hate crime legislation, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton be damned, the law works only if you’re on the same side. The law is a weapon; and ditto for the selective enforcement of law. Add to it that the federal government is considering charging their citizens for dying, because taxing the living isn’t bringing in enough revenue. Add to it that we may be jailed for refusing to purchase mandatory health care as dictated by our caring, benevolent lawmakers. Are we all potential political prisoners in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?

Is 2010 too late? What is it going to take? How much damage are they willing to inflict? What are they willing to sacrifice in order to shove their wrongdoing down our throats? How do we show them that we mean what we say and say what we mean? Can the life-controlling aspect of any health care bill be interpreted as a threat to our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness? Can the rumors of restricting the right to peacefully assemble come to be true? Is it going to come down to choosing between living in a socialistic tyranny versus being murdered defending the right to be left alone to me and my family’s freedom? What is it going to take?

Are the Tea Party movements taking a break? Are we pausing for holiday reflection and coalescence? Are we all moving towards putting ourselves in office like we are doing in northern Ohio? I know we aren’t dead, folks. How are we going to show we’re still living?

Will this tax season serve as an incentive to further protest tax paying to irresponsible agencies? What incentive do governments have to remain fiscally responsible? What will shift the public sector mentality from spending everything allocated to their department in order to avoid budget cuts – to acting as responsible trustees of taxpayer money, knowing the money isn’t really their own to spend?

I’m not really too worried; we are awake just waiting to pounce. I have been accustomed to this turbulent year of 2009 going a hundred miles an hour, so consecutive relative slow news days can stir panic in someone living semi-sheltered as I can sometimes be. In the meantime, it feels like we all live on parallel universes, involuntary consumers to two opposite propaganda machines. Climategate is on the rise, health care legislation is on that suspenseful slow movement on the falling ladder before it rapidly hits the ground. Even if it passes despite my predictions, we’ll be the first to tell the government where to stick it.

It’s becoming more of a certainty that we are heading toward a depression, because we are a stagnant economy at best. How can any business hire anyone when the rules of employment are in danger of changing radically? If an employer’s role in health care costs are going to change by government mandate; if taxes are going to be raised in any way possible – by life or by death; if Crap and Trade is passed and the Copenhagen Treaty is signed which will enact major roadblocks in front of easy energy, why would you hire anyone even if you had the means to do so currently? Obama is killing our economy; is it deliberate?

The FairTax plan may be the only way out of this, because the way we’re heading now – is that the takers will exceed the makers in population, so the makers will disappear. That will leave little for the takers to take. The makers will quit working sensing this, and there will be no more to tax. It’s poverty for everyone.

Income tax season is around the corner. It’s time to find a creative way of famishing them before they famish us. Starvation will be the ultimate character builder. Only then will the true leaders stand while the parasites flee to latch onto others.