How fitting.

Ronald Reagan - "Perhaps there is a simple answer - not an easy answer - bit simple: if you and I have the courage to tell our elected officials that we want our national policy based on what we know in our hearts is morally right."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409004577158903842171724.html

In the article above, Wall Street Journal writer William McGurn observes that, perhaps, Obama's greatest accomplishment is inadvertently turning Americans toward the Constitution again.  Recently, I have heard similar comments from fellow conservatives, and - while this may be true - there is an even greater issue at stake.  Why has it taken so long for Americans to look toward the Constitution for answers?  No, actually, the better question is: why did we turn away to begin with?  In short, I believe it is because we got too comfortable and/or have been too consumed with obtaining what we perceived as comfort.  Since the 1950's, Americans have been chasing this thing called "the American Dream."  And, while most of us have a soft spot in our hearts for the June Cleaver's kitchen and Elvis' Blue Suede Shoes, we conveniently overlook the significant and detrimental changes that took place in that decade and those following.  In an attempt to recover from the war and prevent their children from ever having to suffer as they did, the WWII generation unintentionally began to emphasize personal comfort over community needs.  Eventually, this shift resulted in the Me Generation of the 1980s, and - ultimately - in the entirely self-obsessed generation in which I grew up.  The Constitution is nothing if it does not emphasize personal responsibility.  The American Dream is not about material or monetary success, but about each citizen having the opportunity to obtain this success.  Liberty is the only right for which were created. All else is extra.

MLK Day

Like many of you, I am at home enjoying this much-needed day off.  However, I fear that, for most Americans, that is all that MLK Day represents - a day off.  And, while I am among the first to make plans and enjoy myself, I think it is also important to remember why we celebrate this holiday.  It is about more than Dr. King, more than racial dispute.  It is about the fact that, with his help, Americans were able to stay true to the essence of freedom which we claim.  Yes, it may have taken longer than it should have, but there is nothing we can can do about that now.  It is our job to continuing building on the freedom we have established.  In this vein, I have always wondered why Presidents Day is not considered holiday-worthy?  Not because I think MLK is not, but because our Founding Fathers created the nation that has made all men equal.  Because of them, Dr. King was able to lead a civil rights movement.  Even though we do not get Presidents Day off, I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to think (and, perhaps, learn) about the founding of our nation, and the exceptional gift of freedom we have been given.

What does a political junky do when she can't sleep?

Read nerdy econ articles, of course! Well, I guess that I am really the need. The article is actually simple and informative, especially for those of us who have to battle through Von Mises. Check it out: https://twitter.com/heritage/status/156114257363218433

The Great Object

"'In every political society, parties are unavoidable," [James] Madison wrote.  "The great object should be to combat the evil...by making one party check on the other....If this is not the language of reason, it is that of republicanism.'  The political conflict was not a collision of co-equals, but a war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness in which the Republicans represented the soul of the American Revolution and the Federalists its betrayal." 

This excerpt from my current read, Joseph Ellis' American Creation, reminded me of the facts that many conservatives - myself included - often forget.  Politics is an inevitable and constant war in which we must maintain the upper hand at all times.  This requires continued action, action from which we cannot shy away.  If we really believe our team can and - most importantly - must win the game, we cannot fear playing with all we have.  We cannot feel guilty about strategy, if it is honest.  And, most importantly, we must understand what success means.  In a conflicted world that produces conflicted political systems, there will never be a time when all is well.  However, doing our best to maintain control of this system and use it to the best of our ability is the goal.  And, if we are doing this, if we are maintaining the upper hand for the good of the People, then we are winning. 

Three strikes, and you're out?

While this common American phrase is applicable to many day-to-day situations, it cannot be applied to President Obama's recent abuse of power. And,while the legislature threatens legal action,the American people must threaten political action. The first step is obvious - don't give this criminal president another term. Second, create a public outcry reflecting and supporting our congressmen. Remember, these are OUR rights he is violating. This entirely unConstitutional. Just one more reason to know and defend the Constitution. For those of you who are unfamiliar, do a Google search right now. For the applicable passage, see Articles I & II. And,if you get that far, you might as well read it all!

I have said this before...

and - unfortunately - I am saying it again.  The conservative voters in this country are hopelessly entangled in webs spun from personal preference and second-rate ideals.  Rick Santorum's near win in Iowa is yet more proof that conservative voters and their candidates remain blinded by personal preference and lack the necessary forethought to put a Republican in the White House.  Yes, it is that simple.  We must put a Republican in the White House.  This is a harsh wake-up call to conservative ideologues slumbering contentedly in second-place.  I say contented because, if they were really discontented, if they really had any vision for this country beyond their own noses, if they really grasped the urgency of securing the Oval Office, they would get out of bed and realize that - in reality - there is really only one candidate capable of gaining the majority vote next November.  This candidate is Mitt Romney, and, while his Iowan victory is a good sign, it is not good enough.  The only good that came out of yesterday's elections is that Ron Paul took a resounding third place.  (For brevity's sake I will reserve all comment, except to say that his presence is evidence of the ideological malady I have been referencing.)  While I have been in the Gingrich camp for quite some time, and will always remain a staunch supporter, I realize that Mr. Romney has the best chance to win the 2012 presidential election.  He appeals to many independents, "moderates," and the women Newt Gingrich could never win.  This, added to the conservative Republican base could win the presidency.  Now, it is time for conservatives to rally together and turn that "could" into a "did." 

Wait, what was that?  Gingrich for Secretary of State?

To the Citizens of America

In 1783, following the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington wrote to the citizens of the young America.  "The Citizens of America...are by the late satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and Independency; They are, from this period, to be considered as the Actors on a most conspicuous Theater, which seems to be dedicated by Providence for the display of human greatness and felicity."  The United States of America were not created to benefit some but to benefit all, to allow all men to live equally and share equal opportunities for personal success, if they chose to take them.  Though we are created for liberty, it does not come easily or naturally and exacts a high price from its possessors.  However, the pain of bondage, personally, nationally, or otherwise cannot be compared to the inconveniences of freedom.  And, in the end, it is the discipline born of discomfort that makes man great.

Good Quick Read

This is a great little article from Forbes magazine comparing Reagan's economic policies to Obama's.  For those of us who need simple explanations about economics, this is helpful. http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2011/05/05/reaganomics-vs-obamanomics-facts-and-figures/

Not just another shameless plug...

Last week I fell into a deep hole called my senior project, and today I am emerging to find that Newt Gingrich is still gaining ground in the polls.  And, I hope this is an indication that, not only are conservative voters laying aside personal opinions and thinking about the big, national picture, but that they are getting serious about choosing a candidate for president.  During the GOP debate last week, a Twitter follower commented that it seems like most of the candidates were saying what people wanted to hear and not what they needed to hear.  Yes, this is a campaign.  However, the candidate that is willing to put the country above his campaign will probably be the president that will be willing to what is right, even at risk of his re-election.  Right now, we are watching President Obama make political decisions, like rejecting the Keystone pipeline, that will help him keep his following but not his country. I think Mr. Gingrich is making it very clear that this he is not running a campaign, he is fighting for the cause of America and the freedoms we cherish. 

Speaking of Government...

Interesting comments by Michele Bachmann on how her supposedly conservative opponents do not truly respect the roles of government and people.

Bachmann targets 'frugal socialists' in Republican Party  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/07/bachmann-targets-frugal-socialists-in-republican-party/

What?

I wasn't even sure what to title this post.  FOX posted this story this morning, and I passed over it the first time.  However, this tagline caught my eye, "The Obama administration has imposed a 15-cent tax on Christmas trees in order to pay for a new board tasked with promoting the Christmas tree industry."  Yes, government in its current state is self-defeating.  This is a small but significant example of the need to bring government back to its original limited form, a form which has the good of the people in mind.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/09/merry-christmas-agriculture-department-imposes-christmas-tree-tax/#ixzz1dEPdGXbh

Moderate Lawmakers Lead Insurrection, Urge Super Committee to Defy Leadership and Go Big

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/06/moderate-lawmakers-lead-insurrection-urge-super-committee-to-defy-leadership/?test=latestnews#ixzz1cz8Zfzol

Rice: U.S. Should Do Everything Possible to Bring Down Iran's Government

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/06/rice-us-should-do-everything-possible-to-bring-down-irans-government/#ixzz1cz8kPCsS

Paul: I Don't Want to Run as an Independent

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/06/paul-dont-want-to-run-as-independent/?test=latestnews#ixzz1cz8qGqqi

We Only Have One Opponent

"For days, there's been talk of a Newt Gingrich boomlet in the Republican presidential race here in Iowa.  After Friday night's Reagan Dinner at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines, that Gingrich boomlet talk might turn into talk of a Gingrich boom." Read the entire article here, http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/gingrich-big-winner-key-iowa-event.  As I have mentioned before, Newt Gingrich has consistently put the country before his campaign, indicating a proper perspective on the presidency.  On Friday, Iowa voters acknowledged this, praising Gingrich for his statement, "I am here with very fine competitors, but no opponents. We only have one opponent, and that's Barack Obama." 

For any historians in the crowd, check out this story about William F. Buckley, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/11/05/god_and_man_at_yale_turns_60_111964.html.  For those who are unfamiliar, add Let Us Talk of Many Things: The Collected Speeches of William F Buckley to your reading list.  Also, view the online version of his famous publication, National Review, http://www.nationalreview.com.  Buckley greatly informs the conservative movement we know today and deserves the attention of conservatives who want to influence society. 

"Obama Schooled at Education Forum"

Somehow, I feel like only FOX News can get away with one-liners like this.  And, they did. Check out the excerpt from today's headlines below:

"Two days after President Obama said he would use an executive order to ease student loans, Republican candidate Michele Bachmann slammed him for the move at an educational forum held by Newscorp and the College Board Thursday night in New York.
Speaking via satellite, she cited Obama's decision as an "abuse of power" that would prompt people to avoid financial responsibility for their loans. In addition, she says that putting the burden of student loan debt onto the taxpayer is a "moral hazard."
GOP candidates Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Herman Cain also took part in the forum, and there was consensus among all the presidential hopefuls that education is not a federal issue, but a state one."

Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/10/27/obama-perry-schooled-education-forum#ixzz1c4wza4Du

Also, injured Libyan fighters being treated in US?

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/10/27/injured-libyan-fighters-to-receive-us-medical-care/?test=latestnews

And, updates on 9/11 terror investigation:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/27/congressional-investigators-want-to-interview-gitmo-detainees-on-awlaki/?test=latestnews

Link Update

Today, I have added a link, for the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, to the right-hand source list on this blog.  I encourage all readers to check out this local organization, including its most recent case addressing home owner rights (http://freedomfoundationofminnesota.com/ffm-bulletin-102711), and the others listed beneath it.  Also, check out the FOX News ticker for hourly updates on daily news.  If all you have time for on this site is connecting with these resources, please do!  They are great ways to stay informed locally, nationally, and globally.  The following are interesting articles from FOX today:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/27/obamas-health-care-law-penalizes-marriage-analysts-say/


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/27/fox-news-poll-76-percent-dissatisfied-with-direction-country/

Prolonging the Inevitable?

President Obama's student loan plan (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/26/obama-to-announce-plan-to-reduce-student-loan-payments/), albeit compassionate, is nothing short of prolonging the inevitable for all those holding student loans.  While the amount of academic debt Americans have incurred is alarming and unfortunate, this is not the problem, it is merely a symptom of a greater disease, the gluttony of entitlement.  For several decades, Americans have been fed a terrible lie, that they deserve what they want.  True, America offers enterprising individuals the chance to work for and gain what they want.  However, the only things guaranteed by the Constitution (and indeed the Creator) are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Please note the distinction between happiness and the pursuit thereof.  On an economic level, happiness in America denotes financial success. Regrettably, a generation has been born, raised, and educated to believe that they deserve this success and the comforts it provides.  A post-secondary education is traditionally required and necessary, but it is not deserved.  Education is a privilege, it is an ideal worth aspiring to.  However, it is not a right, and, therefore, it may be obtained slowly if at all.  Americans do not like the latter phrase, "if at all."  We been raised in a country where almost anything is possible.  However, unless we begin a strict diet of responsibility and frugality, we will soon be living a a country where little is probable.  Benjamin Franklin warned,

Beware of thinking all your own that you possess, and of living accordingly.  'Tis a mistake that many people who have credit fall into.  To prevent this, keep an exact Account for some Time of both your [expenses] and your incomes.  If you take the pains at first to mention particulars, it will have this good effect; you will discover how wonderfully small trifling [expenses] mount up to large sums, and will discern what might have been, and may for the future be saved, without occasioning any great inconvenience. (http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf2/advice.htm)

Currently, America is writhing under the pain of the inconvenience caused by irresponsibility.  Our households and our White House are bloated by debt.  Taking on debt that cannot be paid has become not only acceptable but even a way of living.  America cannot survive let alone succeed in this state.  George Washington cautioned,

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit.  One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible: avoiding occasion of [expense] by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of [expense], but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. (http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=82)


Unfortunately, those who are in debt (students or not) are left to begin the slow, arduous, yet worthwhile project of losing excess expense and adopting a lifestyle of discipline and frugality.  Next, this lifestyle must be passed onto future generations, that each may "bear their own burdens" and thus perpetuate a competitive and successful nation.  This evening, I had the privilege to hear former Florida Governor Jeb Bush speak, at the annual Fall Briefing hosted by Center for the American Experiment.  Gov. Bush praised the opportunities America provides for her people and reflected on the beauty of American ingenuity.  Because of these two great things, he called for our nation to encourage its children and students to become the best not just to believe they are the best.  It may be cliche, but today's students are tomorrow's leaders, and America must be raising a generation that can lead locally, nationally, and globally for America to remain a world leader.  A solid education in values, common sense, and responsibility are just as essential as the three R's.

Pro-Life, Pro-America

In an interview Wednesday with CNN, Cain said he believes life begins at conception. "And abortion under no circumstances," he added. But Cain also said "it's not the government's role or anybody else's role to make that decision," according to a CNN transcript.  This is where Cain and many others are wrong.  The issue around abortion is not the making of a decision but the saving of lives.  Abortion is the intentional killing of innocent, unborn children (http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/wdlb/wdlb.html).  If babies were killed instantly after delivery, it would be called murder.  There is no discrepancy - if a child comes out of the womb he was a child within the womb.  Therefore, if he is protected without he should be protected within.  Preventing abortion is no more an attempt to legislate morality than jailing murderers.  There are matters of conscience and matters of right and wrong.  In our pluralistic and relativistic society, we are afraid to address absolutes.  But whether or not we address them, they exist.  Therefore, Americans cannot be afraid to take a stand, to make it known that they do not want to live in a country that allows the murder of unborn children.   A country that will not protect its children will not long be protected.  A people that do not rally around virtue will soon fall to ruin.  In his 1793 Farewell Address, George Washington labeled morality an "indispensable support" to freedom.  A people not held accountable will not be held together.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/20/attacked-by-rivals-herman-cain-clarifies-abortion-stance/?test=latestnews#ixzz1bNtRIs53

Two Things:

First, I am listening to Sean Hannity's interview of Newt Gingrich, following the GOP debate.  Worth checking out, this man has some great things to say. (http://www.hannity.com/videos?uri=channels/400391/1514183) His experience and knowledge lend him impeccable perspective on the political process and a comprehensive view of where America is and what it needs. Also, he seems to be proving that he is more concerned about communicating valuable information and working for the good of the country than winning the presidency, though I am sure he fancies this the best way.  Newt is concerned with exposing America's problems, not those of the other candidates.

Second, this afternoon I caught a few minutes of a painfully ignorant case being made for the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Again, Sean Hannity was interviewing a well-known actress who attempted to defend this movement even though, if the ideals of OWS were upheld, her career and financial well-being would have been impossible.  Just like the protesters, she has little grasp on reality and no appreciation for what she has been given.  Recently, I heard someone say that the Constitution only guarantees Americans three things: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  This is all we are guaranteed because this is all to which we have a right.  All else is extra, the result of hard work and personal responsibility.  Speaking of which, if all of the OWS protesters put as much energy into working as they do into complaining, perhaps they wouldn't have anything to complain about?  Just a thought...  Back to the Constitution, all men are created equal.  They have been given life by God, guaranteed liberty by the Constitution, and encouraged to pursue happiness under a limited government.  It is clear that government was designed to be, and best functions as, an entity limited to protecting its people and maintaining internal order.  No where, does this founding document indicate the government was responsible to ensure happiness, only to allow its citizens to pursue this aim.  Some will not make it, they will encounter hard times.  However, if free enterprise is encouraged and pursued, individuals will have a greater chance to succeed on their own and, in turn, the nation will succeed as well.  And, those that succeed will be able to help those who don't, whether directly (IE charities) or indirectly (IE increased hiring).  Check out Rush's page for more good comments and information:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2011/10/17/capitalism_didn_t_bail_out_wall_street

Dream Coming True

Forty-eight years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous I Have A Dream (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/mlk01.asp) speech.  This evening, FOX News is headlining Herman Cain's surge in the polls, Cain Squeaks Ahead of Obama in New Election Poll (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/17/cain-squeaks-ahead-obama-in-new-general-election-poll/?test=latestnews).  Whether or not HC stays at the top or is just the "flavor of the month," as Larry Sabato believes, all Americans should pause to be properly appreciative of this moment.  Not only is the first black president - a former senator - serving in the Oval Office, but his strongest opposition at this moment is successful black businessman - a former CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City (http://www.hermancain.com/about). While much remains to be discussed on the subject of race in America, we should all recognize the significance of this moment in American history.

Obama's First 1,000 Days Marked By Federal Spending Spree, More Unemployment

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/17/obama-first-1000-days/#ixzz1b6dgbtgJ

VIDEO: "Pre-Occupy MN"  

http://freedomfoundationofminnesota.com/video-pre-occupy-mn

First Palestinian Prisoners Released in Historic Israeli Swap Deal

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/10/17/prisoner-swap-between-israel-and-hamas-moves-ahead/#ixzz1b6gKtJOE