Category Archives: News

Breaking News- NC Senate Rejects Key Provisions of Obamacare

PRESS RELEASE

President Pro Tempore

Senator Phil Berger

919-733-5708
2007 Legislative Building
Raleigh, N.C. 27601
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Contacts: Amy Auth, 919-301-1737
February 4, 2013                                                                     Shelly Carver, 919-301-1744
 
N.C. Senate rejects key Obamacare provisions
Raleigh, N.C. – The North Carolina Senate tentatively passed legislation Monday night to opt out of participation in several expensive provisions of Obamacare.
Senate Bill 4 exempts North Carolina from establishing a state-based health insurance exchange or a state-federal partnership exchange. It directs the N.C. Department of Insurance to return unspent taxpayer funds awarded by the federal government earlier this month to create a state-federal partnership exchange. And it rules out expansion of the North Carolina Medicaid program.
Below is a statement from the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Tom Apodaca (R-Henderson):
“We are not running a state exchange because, to be honest, there’s no such thing. A state exchange gives no state control but would cost the people of North Carolina $100 million a year. The federal government chose to mandate health exchanges, so it should pay for them.”
“And Obamacare’s changes to Medicaid would cost North Carolinians close to a billion dollars through 2019. The federal government is trying to bait us in with ‘free’ federal money that switches to state money after a few years, leaving our taxpayers holding the bag. We are working to protect the economic health of our state.”
Background
Costs for North Carolina’s existing Medicaid program have increased significantly in recent years. In 2012, the General Assembly was forced to fill a surprise Medicaid shortfall that totaled more than $500 million.  In fact, an audit released last week shows shortfalls totaling approximately $1.4 billion over the last three years.

Government Loves You So Much It Wants To Help Manage Your Retirement Account

Last Resistance

 

by

Government Loves You So Much It Wants To Help Manage Your Retirement Account

 

I don’t know which is worse, that the government makes obvious moves to loot the people or that they are able to so easily announce such moves and everyone lets them do it. In my opinion, this Bloomberg headline is a fire alarm. “Retirement Savings Accounts Draw U.S. Consumer Bureau Attention”:

“The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is weighing whether it should take on a role in helping Americans manage the $19.4 trillion they have put into retirement savings, a move that would be the agency’s first foray into consumer investments. ‘That’s one of the things we’ve been exploring and are interested in in terms of whether and what authority we have,” bureau director Richard Cordray said in an interview. He didn’t provide additional details.’”

So, basically, they will do it if they can get away with it. This story didn’t seem to raise an eyebrow when it appeared. Over the weekend “Tyler Durden” at ZeroHedge noticed it:

“The obvious concept is that when the government runs out of money, or they face a drying up in interest for its debt, they will come for the $19.4 trillion in American’s retirement accounts.  It seems that day may be finally drawing near. I stopped contributing to my 401k back when I worked at Bernstein, and I will probably now have to give more serious consideration whether I want to take the penalty and move the funds out of my retirement account entirely.  I haven’t made any decisions, but will be watching closely.”

The excuse for this self-assumed “role in helping” us manage our retirements accounts is that the private sector should not be trusted:

“The bureau’s core concern is that many Americans, notably those from the retiring Baby Boom generation, may fall prey to financial scams, according to three people briefed on the CFPB’s deliberations who asked not to be named because the matter is still under discussion. The retirement savings business in the U.S. is dominated by a group of companies that handle record-keeping and management of investments in tax-advantaged vehicles like 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts. The group includes Fidelity Investments, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (TROW).”

Well, no one needs to wonder if they have fallen prey to a scam, because there is no reasonable doubt about it—they have! The scam is called Social Security. Another is called Medicare. Yet these people are going to be trusted to protect us from scams?

What about JPMorgan Chase and others? Are they completely trustworthy? I doubt it. But since when has the Federal Government shown any real interest in holding them accountable for fraud and other possible malfeasance? These groups are two big to fail and thus too big to jail. The government continues to bail them out. Furthermore, when we look at the role of Fannie Mae in the housing crisis (to name just one example) we don’t see any reason to hope that the Federal Government can protect us from financial fraud and corruption. On the contrary, they encourage it. They are at the center of it.

I don’t think this should be debatable: the group that encourages us to trust in Social Security is not going to protect our interests if they take over the management of our retirement accounts. This is just a new larceny. They’ve tapped out their old ways of pillaging us and are now looking for a new way.

The old way was to justify the housing bubble on the grounds of helping the poor and minorities get housing. The next scam may have a similar rationalization. According to the New York Times, Deal Book blog:

“There’s been no shortage of ideas for how to jump-start economic growth in the aftermath of the financial crisis. But a new one comes with a high-profile backer: the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson. At a three-day conference in New York that began on Wednesday, Mr. Jackson discussed a proposal for increasing the availability of capital by using pension money to make loans in low-income communities. The idea is getting a prominent debut at the 16th annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit, hosted by Mr. Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Citizenship Education Fund. ‘We’ve got to think outside the present fiscal-cliff-debt-ceiling box,’ Mr. Jackson said in an interview on Wednesday. ‘We must have some plan for reconstruction.’”

Right. That’s exactly what I want to do with my savings for retirement–risk it all in loans to people who can’t pay me back.

Jackson made this at a major meeting that included Bill Clinton and other establishment ruling class figures. As insane as it sounds, there is no reason to think that the idea won’t be used to justify robbing America’s retirees.

Church Says Wounded Warrior Project Refused Their Money

By Todd Starnes

A Christian church and school in Florida are devastated after they said Wounded Warrior Project refused to accept their fund raising effort because it was “religious in nature.”

“We were heartbroken,” said Wallace Cooley, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church and Academy in Fort Pierce, Fla.

Cooley said they had already paid a $100 registration fee to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project and were about to launch the campaign when they received an email from the organization.

The church had planned on taking up a special offering on the last Sunday in February and students were collecting money from family and friends.

“We must decline the opportunity to be the beneficiary of your event due to our fundraising event criteria, which doesn’t allow community events to be religious in nature,” read an email from the WWP community events team. “Please note your registration fee will be refunded within the next 7-10 business days.”CHURCH

WWP said as a nonpartisan organization they cannot accept event fundraising from companies “in which the product or message is religious in nature.”

Pastor Cooley said they were so shocked that the school secretary called Wounded Warrior to make sure there hadn’t been a mistake. He said a WWP representative assured her that “religious” was indeed on their banned list.

“We had to tell our children and parents we can’t give to the Wounded Warrior Project,” Pastor Cooley told Fox News. “We are second-class citizens now because we are people of faith.”

A Wounded Warrior told Fox News they would look into the matter. The organization did not respond to subsequent telephone calls.

The fundraising project was a joint effort by the 400-member church and the 460 students who attend the academy. The pastor said he first learned about WWP by watching Fox News Channel.

The email the church received from Wounded Warrior

The email the church received from Wounded Warrior

“We appreciate the freedoms we enjoy in this country and the fact that our soldiers have fought for freedom of religion,” he said. “We teach patriotism in our school.”

The pastor said they expected to raise as much as $50,000 for the veterans.

“We are not a wealthy congregation,” he said. “But they are generous. We could tell as we began to talk to our people that it stirred their hearts.”

He said the idea of giving sacrificially to help someone else struck a chord with students in the academy.

Ted and Cherilyn Mein have two young daughters who attend the school. She said the girls were simply devastated by the news that the fundraising effort had been cancelled.

“Our school is all about patriotism,” she told Fox News. “We teach that our country was founded for religious freedom – and then to find out that we couldn’t even support the Wounded Warriors because we are Christians – it was hard to explain it to them.”

Kindergarten teacher Tanya Sue Albritton posted a note on the Wounded Warrior Project Facebook page recounting what she had to tell her class.

“They were very sad,” Albritton wrote. “One little girl wanted to know, ‘Why can’t we share with the soldiers?’”

“I was at a loss as to what I should tell her because I don’t understand it myself,” she wrote. “Well, WWP, why can’t we share with the soldiers?”

Cooley broke the news to his congregation in what he called “one of the saddest letters I have ever had to write.”

“We are very disappointed that we, as a religious organization, are being discriminated against,” he wrote to parents. “But they are a private organization and have and should have the freedom to make their own rules.”

On the flip side, the pastor told parents that “we also have the right to make our choice as to where our support goes.”

Becky Sharp teaches sixth grade at Liberty Baptist Academy. She posted a message on the Wounded Warrior Facebook page noting here extreme disappointment. She said her students had already raised $400 – many of the boys and girls donated their lunch money.

“I am deeply disappointed that an organization such as yours would reject money from American citizens who want to thank their soldiers for what they have done,” she wrote.

Parents like the Meins are now struggling with how to explain to their children what happened.

“I can’t say that I’ve found a good way to explain it to my children yet,” she said.

The pastor said they have already returned donations that had been collected and will be looking for another veterans group to help.

 

Click to see article

Liberals Bash GOP Unemployment Fix Without Facts

Liberals Bash GOP Unemployment Fix Without Facts

Senator Thom Goolsby

The screaming left-wing ninnies never stop complaining. Their latest squawking is about a reasonable plan to pay off the state’s $2.5 billion unemployment insurance debt owed to the federal government.

Unnamed editorial writers at liberal media outlets are lining up to bash Republicans for their fiscal responsibility. As is typical, the editorialists are long on opinions and short on facts.

Click here for an audio version of this column.

As they decry any reductions in payouts, the “nabobs of negativity” conveniently leave out the fact that these changes will only affect future unemployed workers in an economy that is in recovery mode.

The leftist editorial writers also omit the fact that North Carolina pays out significantly more money in benefits than any other state in the Southeast. The current weekly benefit paid by North Carolina is a maximum of $525. By comparison, here are the top benefits in surrounding states:  Georgia $330, South Carolina $326, Tennessee $275, Virginia $378. It’s no wonder that unemployed individuals currently move to North Carolina in order to file for benefits.

The Revenue Laws Study Committee’s new plan sets the maximum rate at $350. Far from impoverishing future unemployed citizens, this amount will make North Carolina the second highest paying state (instead of the first) in the Southeast.

The plan also calls for reducing the maximum duration of benefits from 26 weeks to 12-20 weeks, depending on economic conditions. If conditions are good and jobs are plentiful, the benefits will be cut back to 12 weeks. If the economy worsens, benefits can be extended to a full 20 weeks. Again, this adjustment compares favorably with the benefits provided in other Southeastern states.

Those bashing the GOP plan also ignore the significant increases in unemployment insurance rates employers will have to pay over the next few years in order to pay off the debt early.  Rates will increase on businesses $21 every six months to a high of just over $120 per employee. This will not be an easy cost for employers to bear. However, it is a far cry from the automatic increases required by the federal plan if we take no action.

Washington’s mandate would jack up rates to over $180 per employee. Further, under the GOP plan the $2.5 billion debt will be paid back by 2015.  North Carolina taxpayers made a $79 million interest payment on the debt in 2011 and another $83 million payment in 2012, but the federal plan would cause our state to suffer under the crushing weight of the debt until 2018.

Lastly, the liberals never mention how we came to this sorry state of affairs. The reason is a simple one:  the prior masters of the General Assembly, the Democrats, never planned ahead. Rather than establish a significant rainy day fund, the Dems were happy to spend all the money in the budget and hope that it would never rain.  They were foolishly wrong and we are now paying the price for their shortsightedness. The Republican plan does not repeat the Democrats “spend-it-all” mantra. It does just the opposite – it places over $1 billion in a rainy day fund for future needs.

The actual facts regarding the proposed Republican plan shed a completely different light on the Chicken Little views expressed by left-wing editorialists. It was President John Adams who said, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” North Carolina must act to pay off this debt and the GOP plan is the only responsible step forward.

Thom Goolsby is a state senator, practicing attorney and law professor. He serves on the Finance, Commerce and Revenue Laws Study Committees in the N.C. Senate.

Letter to the Editor, The Newtown Bee

Elected Officials Are Fundamentally Dishonest

To the Editor:

This letter was forwarded to Barack Obama, John Boehner, Chris Murphy, Dick Blumenthal, Elizabeth Esty, and Harry Reid

I live in Sandy Hook, CT. My family and close friends weren’t harmed on December 14. That day impacted 26 families with an indescribable, staggering pain and anguish. For most of Sandy Hook, it merely affected us with an inescapable intensity of sadness and grief.

Gun control has long been a focus of many in this country. Though I’m not knowledgeable of all the nuances of the Second Amendment, based on the Founding Fathers’ circumstances, it had far more to do with enabling the citizenry to protect themselves against tyrannical government than against local psychopaths. It is about providing a balanced firepower so when King George’s successor came knocking on your door, you could fight back. Government today is no less inclined to abuse its authority than it was then. Based on the absurd and ongoing power grab that is present day Washington, it’s as threatening as ever.

That so many of you view the NRA with its resistance to further restrictions on firearms as intransigent lunatics has far more to do with how you conduct yourselves in office than it does with the NRA’s actions.

You in public office are fundamentally dishonest people. You lead lives of deception at every turn, structuring your lives as comfortably as you can while governing with an indifference and arrogance that is absolutely maddening. When the country is reeling from financial disaster, you waste a trillion dollars on a health care bill we can’t afford and you’ve never read. You claim it’s critical because health care costs are killing this country… no they’re not, you are! You are killing this country. You endorse the ongoing slaughter of millions of unborn children and whine when terrorists are water boarded. You can’t lecture us right in Newtown High School about not doing enough to keep our children safe, while simultaneously slaughtering the unborn. You fabricate the intense, media laden drama of the fiscal cliff and lack the courage to do anything about truly reforming the obscene gluttony of government. You know you’ll be out of office before the bill comes due… you don’t care and have no integrity nor honor.

You lie whenever and wherever you need to to move forth your agenda. Were you able, you would purge the US of guns… every last gun in the country, if you could. So please forgive Wayne LaPierre and those of us who don’t trust you as far as we can spit. You’re a dishonest lot, motivated by a distorted worldview. If mass murder prevention were truly your goal, you would welcome armed security wherever needed. It is outrageous that we protect our money with far more firepower than we protect our children.

I have never owned a gun, nor wanted to as intensely as right now. You’ll stop restricting guns when only you have them.

Brendan Duffy

4 Chestnut Knoll Drive, Sandy Hook January 8, 2013

 

The Newtown Bee

A Legislative Report from Coastal Carolina Taxpayer Association

The North Carolina House and Senate will each convene for business on Wednesday, January 30.  As bills are introduced, they will show up on their website at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/.  We can use the website to follow the progress of each bill.

 

The attachment is my “wish list” for the North Carolina General Assembly to accomplish in 2013.  I sent it to Norm Sanderson, Michael Speciale, and John Bell with a letter asking to meet with each of them to hear their hopes and plans for the upcoming legislative session, and to get their reaction to the things I’m concerned about.  I’ve now had long, informative conversations with each of them.

 

To a person, they’re sympathetic to the things I expressed concern about.  Republican caucus meetings have already been held, caucus votes counted on a number of issues, and it appears there’s a good chance we’ll see a lot of things we’ll like coming out of our General Assembly this year.  I’m very grateful to have been reinforced in my belief that we conservatives are excellently represented there.

 

I met with Michael last Tuesday, and he said that nullification is hard to do, and gave me a little history lesson to show what he means by that.  He said that in the prior legislative body, Glenn Bradley had gone “full bore” after the National Defense Authorization Act, but that none of his stuff got to the floor, and he was “double bunked” when his area was redistricted (only the area very near his home remained in his district; most of it was in areas in which he had no name recognition), so he ran for the Senate, but he lost.  Apparently, the “leadership” punishes those it deems to be extreme.

 

Therefore, Michael says he thinks we can achieve much of what I covered in the “PROTECT NORTH CAROLINA CITIZENS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT” section of the attachment by taking a lower key approach.  I’m not wed to the word nullification, and I don’t think our members are either.  We just want North Carolina citizens protected from the expensive, poor quality health care that would come with ObamaCare, and protected from federal attempts to control our weapons and ammo, and protected from being detained without due process under the NDAA, and have our small farmers protected from the most ridiculous aspects of the Food Safety Act, etc.

 

Michael said he’d like to see the Craven County Board of Commissioners pass a resolution similar to the one passed in Beaufort County so that it’s obvious what his constituents want.

 

Michael also pointed out that two thirds of the general assembly members have been there two years or less, that they’re pretty conservative, and they’re not the sort to sit quietly in the back of the room and await events.  They’re there because they have a job to do.  Michael thinks PHOTO ID will pass (along with some other voting reforms such as shortening the early voting period, doing away with same day registration and voting, and eliminating “straight ticket” voting), and does not think North Carolina will set up a state exchange.  He says they’ll be evaluating each bill that might be challenged in court for how well it can be expected to hold up under that kind of pressure.  Michael knows several people for whom the FOOD SAFETY ACT is a big issue and thinks we can expect to see some legislation we’ll like in that area.

 

Michael says the state’s infrastructure is falling apart.  Many state owned buildings badly need repairs.  Money is an issue.  Spending will need to be carefully watched.

 

Real tax reform will be proposed.  Michael is glad drastic tax changes are being talked about, but doesn’t agree with everything he’s hearing.  I think this is an area we should follow and form an opinion on based on what will make North Carolina solvent, attractive to business, and affect citizens in the most even handed way and so that a maximum number of citizens “have skin in the game.”

 

Michael also expects changes in unemployment insurance to be proposed.  I think we should watch this, too.  If it gets less expensive for employers, it will tend to strengthen employment; if it gets more expensive, the reverse is true.

 

John Bell couldn’t meet with me until next week, and I’m having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday, so we “met” for a couple of hours on the phone.

 

John sees ObamaCare as unconstitutional and a jobs killing bill.  He doesn’t have to look far from home to see the jobs killing aspect because his mother has a medical device business that will be “done in” if ObamaCare is implemented.  John says he represents 84,000 people in House District 10, and if they want the effects of ObamaCare nullified, he needs to work toward that end.  His is but one voice in the House, but there are ways to work on it, and he pointed out that the North Carolina Constitution could be changed if need be.

 

John believes that if we lose our 2nd Amendment rights, all our other rights will fall, too.  He believes the president wants to take guns from our people, and he’d like to see action in the general assembly to counter that.  Like Michael, John would like to see a resolution from local Boards of Commissioners.

 

John gave an open invitation to CCTA to lobby for anything we want changed, and specifically requested that we give him feedback on our ideas about North Carolina tax reform.

 

John agrees that the FOOD SAFETY ACT puts some ridiculous regulations on small businesses (family farms).

 

John has submitted a request for research on the topic of consolidating many of the very numerous boards and planning organizations with which North Carolina is burdened.

 

On immigration, John seemed favorably impressed with Marco Rubio’s recent pronouncements Continue reading →

All The Difference in the World

“I do care a lot” and “None of this was my fault” and “What difference at this point does it make?”

All The Difference in the World

Author
 – Daniel Greenfield (Bio and Archives)  Thursday, January 24, 2013

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived back in the Senate, after dodging a few falling safes, multiple banana peels and an ornery dog named Henry, to give a carefully prepared histrionic rant which can be summed up, “I do care a lot” and “None of this was my fault” and “What difference at this point does it make?”

The last isn’t a sarcastic restatement. It’s what she actually said.

It might make a difference to a Coptic Christian whose trailer was blamed by the leader of the free world for a series of Al Qaeda attacks against American diplomatic facilities and who was sent to prison on the orders of members of the administration.

That fellow of many names, now serving a year in prison, is the only one to actually get locked up. The ringleader of the attack walks the streets of Benghazi freely. A drone could make short work of him, but no drones are coming his way. Instead a car bomb, planted by Libyan enemies, nearly took him out. Some of the other Benghazi attackers were killed by the Algerian military during the siege; doing the work that Obama won’t do. If the Benghazi terrorists finally die, it will most likely be at the hands of the French, the Syrian army or Libyan rival militias.

Benghazi, Obama said, during his appearance with Jon Stewart, the man of many grimaces, was a bump in the road. And that’s all it was. The Obama campaign bus drove over four bodies and reached its destination in an armored parking garage somewhere in D.C. An irritated Hillary Clinton, who is prepping for her own bus tour in 2016, has every reason to demand to know what difference it makes now to discuss who lied about what and who failed to secure the Benghazi mission.

Al Qaeda is dead, except for the parts of it rampaging across Syria, Iraq, Mali, Libya, Algeria and Pakistan Continue reading →

Letter to the Editor re. Second Amendment

We are all aware of  Barack Hussein Obama’s plans to ignore our 2nd Amendment rights and to ban certain guns in America .  In my opinion, this ban would be expanded over time, and if you own a gun, your rights would ultimately be threatened.  Opposition to a gun ban must begin with grassroots individuals and action at the local government level.  I plan to attend the February 18 meeting of our County Commissioners in the Commissioner’s Board Room, upstairs in the County Administration Building (the building where you pay your taxes).  Meeting starts at 6:00.  I plan to sign up immediately before the meeting to be included in the “Public Comment” portion of the meeting.  Rather than complain about gun bans on Facebook, or within our social groups, or murmur among ourselves, it would be good to make a strong showing at this meeting.  Feel free to call me personally if you have questions about this, or if you need further details (252-726-1318).  Hope to see you February 18.  Following is an e-mail I just sent to Sheriff Buck and each Commissioner.

Sheriff Buck, thanks for your continued hard work to ensure the safety and security of  Carteret County , its residents, business owners, tourists, and property.

Next, to those of you who are not new to the Board of Commissioners, thank you for your continued service to  Carteret   County ’s citizens.  And to the newly elected Commissioners, welcome, and may your term prove to be constructive for  Carteret   County , and a positive experience for you.  Thank you for your willingness to serve the citizens of this county.

I am writing to urge each of you to seriously consider taking strong action to nullify any gun ban that Barack Obama or his administration might implement and impose on US citizens.  There is no doubt that it is his intent to disarm us, whatever it takes.  County officials and Sheriffs across the country, and even right here in our own State (Beaufort County Commissioners being the first), are pro-actively taking such action.

Thank you in advance for your serious consideration of this request.

Jennifer Hudson

Letter to Carteret County Board of Commissioners on Second Amendment

January 22, 2013

Sheriff Asa Buck
Commissioner Robin Comer (Vice Chairman)
Commissioner Elaine Crittenton
Commissioner Jimmy Farrington
Commissioner Terry Frank
Commissioner Greg Lewis (Chairman)
Commissioner Jonathan Robinson
Commissioner Bill Smith

Dear Sheriff Buck and Commissioners:

Sheriff Buck, thanks for your continued hard work to ensure the safety and security of Carteret County, its citizens, tourists, and property.

Next, to those of you who are not newcomers to the Board of Commissioners, thank you for your continued service to Carteret County’s citizens.  And to the newly elected Commissioners, welcome, and may your term prove to be constructive for Carteret County, and a positive experience for you.  Thank you for your willingness to serve the citizens of this county.

I am writing to urge each of you to seriously consider taking all necessary and appropriate action to nullify any gun ban that Barack Obama or his administration might try to implement and impose on US citizens.  We all realize that Counties and Sheriffs across the country, and even right here in our own State, are taking such actions (Beaufort County Commissioners being the first).

Thank you in advance for your serious consideration of this request.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer R. Hudson

Republicans confident photo ID requirement will pass judicial muster

Jan. 22nd, 2013

 

RALEIGH — North Carolinians should expect the General Assembly to pass a strict voter ID bill in 2013, and it will be one that will pass federal and judicial scrutiny, a chairman of the House Elections Committee said.

“We’re going to get a bill that requires a photo ID to vote,” said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett.

Democrats and liberal activists continue contending that a photo ID requirement would disenfranchise poor, elderly, and minority citizens who lack proper identification documents. Moreover, they say a recent report by the State Board of Elections showing a large number of voter records don’t match Division of Motor Vehicles data would lead to major hassles when North Carolinians show up at polling places.

Lewis said the law likely would be modeled after one passed in Georgia that has been pre-cleared under the federal Voting Rights Act. Lewis noted that some voter ID laws in other states have been struck down by courts. Continue reading →

The Global Warming News You Haven’t Read

By Dr. Roy Cordato,    January 22, 2013

RALEIGH — Over the past several weeks, there has been a good deal of global warming news, some that focused on the year immediately passed — 2012 — and some that focused on years to come. But in all probability the only headline you have seen regarding any of this read something like this one from The Weather Channel: “2012: Warmest Year on Record for U.S.” Several weeks ago this news covered the pages of newspapers. All the networks spread the same idea.

But, as noted, over the past several weeks there have been other global warming-related stories, and the one regarding 2012 temperature in the lower 48 states of the United States was probably the least important. After all, the issue is global warming, not warming in the U.S., and on that score the news was quite different.

So here’s a headline you probably didn’t see: “2012: 9th Warmest on Record Globally Since 1979.” The reason why you didn’t see this or a similar headline in any major media outlet is because, as far as I’ve been able to tell, the story, while completely true, went unreported.

But according to the satellite temperature record, kept since 1979, 2012 was only the ninth warmest year on record. Here are the years since 1979 ranked by average global temperature — warmest to coolest. Continue reading →

First in the Nation: Beaufort County, NC Adopts Federal Gun Laws Nullification Resolution

January 18, 2013  was a great day for North Carolina. Beaufort County took the first step nationwide to adopt a Federal Gun Laws Nullification resolution!!  The resolution was passed unanimously by the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners and was greeted by overwhelming support. The resolution was written in strong terms, stating that no county official, paid employee, or resource will be used to cooperate with or enforce federal gun regulations. It also calls on the NC General Assembly to pass an act to nullify the implementation of any federal law, executive order, or regulation which restricts the right to keep and bear arms within the state of North Carolina, as well as to propose an amendment to the state constitution to enlarge gun rights.

ABC and Fox News were there to cover the event and Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment Center has spent the entire day getting the story out nationwide.

Please urge your own county commissioners or Sheriffs Department to adopt a similar resolution.  Beaufort County, the Tenth Amendment Center, etc etc will provide the resolution if it will help.

Here is the link to the Beaufort Observer article and full video –

http://bit.ly/beaufortnullification

You can hear what the Commissioners each had to say about the resolution. I was touched by their loyalty to the US Constitution, their patriotism, their understanding of history, and the fidelity of their oaths.

Diane Rufino

The Guns of Obamerica

 

The Guns of Obamerica

Posted: 20 Jan 2013 10:46 PM PST

Forget Wal-Mart and skip your local gun show. The murderers of tomorrow will not be found wearing orange vests at your local sporting goods store. They won’t have NRA memberships or trophies on their walls.

You won’t find them in America. Look for them in Obamerica.

 

67% of firearm murders took place in the country’s 50 largest metro areas. The 62 cities in those metro areas have a firearm murder rate of 9.7, more than twice the national average. Among teenagers the firearm murder rate is 14.6 or almost three times the national average. Those numbers are from six years ago. They have grown worse since.

 

Those are the crowded cities of Obamerica. The places with the most restrictive gun control laws and the highest crime rates. These are the places where the family is broken, money comes from the government and immigrants crowd in from some of the most violent parts of the world bringing with them their own organized crime. These are also the places that have run by Democrats and their political machines for almost as long as they have been broken. Continue reading →

Lt. Gov. Forest attacks attorney general's opinion on driver's licenses for some illegal immigrants

By Bruce Siceloff – bsiceloff@newsobserver.com

RALEIGH — Lt. Gov. Dan Forest said Saturday that President Barack Obama was wrong to defer deportation for some immigrants who entered the United States illeglly as children, and the state attorney general’s office was wrong in issuing its opinion that participants in the deferred-action program are legally eligible to get driver’s licenses in North Carolina.

“A person entering the United States illegally should not be afforded the privileges reserved for US citizens,” Forest said in an email statement released by his chief of staff, Hall Weatherman. “The President is willfully ignoring the laws on the books and should be Constitutionally challenged on this point by our Congress. While Congress has not acted, we in North Carolina can and should. We are a sovereign state and need to stand up and push back when the Feds encroach on our ability to protect our citizens and enforce our laws. The Attorney General’s ruling leaves open the possibility that the DMV can issue licenses to those individuals who came to our country and state illegally. I disagree with this action.”

The state Department of Transportation said Friday that it was “carefully assessing” the opinion issued Thursday by Grayson Kelley.

The Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program delays deportation for two years for some illegal immigrants. Kelley wrote that the DACA program allows the young immigrants to remain legally in the country for two years, and it meets state law requirements for confirming the “legal presence” in North Carolina for non-residents who are applying for driver’s licenses.

Kelley wrote that neither the DACA program nor his opinion has any effect on the lawful status of illegal immigrants.

“We believe that individuals who present documentation demonstrating a grant of deferred action by the United States are legally present in the United States and entitled to a drivers license of limited duration, assuming all other criteria are met,” Grayson wrote.

“This conclusion should not be construed to suggest that individuals granted deferred status under the DACA program have ‘lawful status’ in the United States. … (Homeland Security) Secretary (Janet) Napolitan’s memorandum, in fact, specifically states: ‘This memorandum confers no substantive right, immigration status or pathway to citizenship.’ There exists, however, a recognized legal distinction in immigration law between ‘lawful status’ and ‘legal presence.'”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/01/19/2617956/lt-gov-forest-attacks-attorney.html#storylink=cpy

Letter to the Editor – TAKE BACK AMERICA on Nov 6th

ARE YOU TIRED OF:  lack of progress on job creation?  US Debt continuing to increase with more spending programs?  increased taxation for all Americans?  past and future bailouts?  non-functioning Green Energy stimulus programs?  lack of administration focus, direction, and leadership? replacing Capitalism with Socialism?

THEN DO THE FOLLOWING… On election day, November 6th, cast your vote for Mitt Romney for President and all conservatives, local, state, federal, including Judges.  We need to stop the irresponsible socialistic behavior of President Obama and the potential devastation that will occur if he is reelected.  This may be our last election to place America on the path to economic recovery.  We desire a better America for our children and grandchildren than the practices President Barack Obama’s administration has forced upon us the past four years.

THE TIME IS NOW…  You have the power to right the American ship and restore our Constitutional values by voting for Conservative candidates.  Do it with pride….  Do it with passion…  Do it for your love of the American way…  Do it for all future generations !

Respectfully submitted,

Richard Wilson
Whispering Pines, NC

Letter to the Editor – Proposed Insurance Rate Increase for 2012

Proposed Insurance Rate Increase for 2012

The entire basis for the proposed rate increase is based on flawed data and analysis. First, the increase cites the increased cost of replacing property due to the increased risk of wind and flood damage in coastal NC due to hurricanes. In fact, wind and flood damage in NC is not limited to hurricanes on the coast as history shows that wind damage from hurricanes often takes its toll well inland, west of I-95. In addition, wind and flood damage is not limited to hurricanes, but includes other wind event such as tornadoes that often occur west of I-95. Second, to claim that wind and flood on the coast puts insurance companies at higher risks is a fallacy since most insurance companies have abandoned homeowners to the “wind pool” and flood insurance is covered by federal flood insurance. The insurance companies are at no higher risk due to these events because they no longer insure homeowners against these risks. To use the unproved claim that the coast is at higher risk to wind and flood damage and therefore the claims against insurance companies is higher is an out right untruth since the insurance companies are not responsible for damages from these events.

More disturbing, however, is the timing of this proposed rate increase. During the election for a new Insurance Commissioner, this seems to be a win-win strategy for the current Insurance Commissioner. Mr. Wayne Goodwin has already touted his undocumented savings to homeowners in numerous television ads. Now he is afforded the opportunity by the insurance companies and the insurance Rate Board to deny all or part of the proposed ridiculous homeowner insurance rate (30% for coastal NC). Mr. Goodwin can deny all or part of the proposed increase, then release new political ads on how he again saved the homeowners of NC millions of dollars in premiums. While all along, you the homeowner will be paying more for insurance that not the insurance companies are liable for but that will be paid under the Federal Flood Insurance and “Wind-Pool” Insurance programs, and by all the taxpayers in NC and the USA. In the end, it is we the people who pay, while giving Mr. Wayne Goodwin another false issue on which to campaign.

Kenneth Lang

30%Rate Hike Proposed for Coastal NC

NC Friends:

Below is a slightly edited announcement from the town manager of Pine Knoll Shores.

It applies to ALL NC coastal property owners. Please see if you can attend.

Please also pass this on to other NC coastal property owners you know.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As many of you have heard, coastal insurance rates are being targeted for another major increase.  The message below my signature block provides detail.

You may contact the NC Insurance Commissioner to voice your opposition (which was effective in preventing a much more substantial increase just last year).  The blue/bold text below tells you how to do this.

Next week an organization called NC-20 is holding a symposium in Morehead City that addresses a number of issues significant to coastal NC.  NC-20 is an organization that advocates for many coastal groups on legislative/policy issues such as stormwater management, sea-level rise, and the fight that occurs almost annually over insurance rate increases.

I have found NC-20 to be the best source of information for the lay-person (i.e., not in the insurance industry) to understand these complex issues.

Note that the symposium costs $35 (which includes lunch), and that other important coastal issues besides the insurance rate increase will be covered.

Brian Kramer

Town Manager

Pine Knoll Shores, NC

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Higher Property Insurance Rates Proposed

The NC Rate Bureau submitted a Homeowners Insurance Rate Filing with the NC Department of Insurance on Monday, October 1st. The filing represents an average 17.7% increase statewide in property insurance rates. Continue reading →

Insuring a home may get pricier in NC

By David Ranii – dranii@newsobserver.com

Tags: homeowners insurance | Wayne Goodwin

Insurers are seeking rate increases for homeowner’s insurance in North Carolina that range from a high of 30 percent in coastal counties to a low of 1.2 percent.

The hefty rate increase being sought along the coast fits a long-term pattern that has frustrated and outraged coastal communities that contend the rates homeowners pay already are unjustifiably high. Continue reading →

Supreme Court Outcome Will Have Lasting Effects

Carolina Journal News Reports

Supreme Court Outcome Will Have Lasting Effects

Rulings on redistricting expected to hinge on election results

Oct. 1st, 2012

 

RALEIGH — To many, the race is below the radar, taking a back seat to the presidential and gubernatorial contests in North Carolina. But some say the battle for a state Supreme Court justice seat could be the most important race to be decided by the state’s voters this year.

The reason? The outcome of this race will decide whether the partisan balance will shift toward the Democrats or remain with the Republicans on the officially nonpartisan Supreme Court.

Among other issues, the court will decide whether the legislative and congressional maps set last year by the Republican-led General Assembly are constitutional. If the justices say no, it may take a year or more to draw new maps and complete all the legal challenges to them. The justices may wind up drawing the final maps before the 2014 election, and whether the majority is Democratic or Republican could have a significant effect on the partisan makeup of the General Assembly and the state’s congressional delegation.

The race pits incumbent Republican Justice Paul Newby of Raleigh against Democratic Court of Appeals Judge Sam J. “Jimmy” Ervin IV of Morganton. Continue reading →

Federal Court Upholds the Herding of Demonstrators Into “Free Speech Zones”

Federal Court Upholds the Herding of Demonstrators Into “Free Speech Zones”

truther August 9, 2012 1

 

Mac Slavo
SHTFplan

There was once a group of men who established a fundamental law of the land that allowed the people of their new found country to peaceably assemble and petition their government for a redress of grievances. These founding fathers of that Great nation even went so far as to declare that the government itself could never make a law that would threaten to supplant these protections, which were reserved exclusively for the people. This concept of freedom of assembly and protest was so critical to protecting and preserving the liberty of the people that it was the very first law – the very first Amendment – proposed by the newly elected representatives of These United States of America and came into effect on December 15, 1791.

It’s frightening what just a couple of hundred years of politicking, self serving greed and expediency can do to a nation. Apparently, somewhere along the way, politicians and judges who hold their personal views in higher regard than those laws upon which this nation was founded, have taken it upon themselves to decide what’s best for the American people and that, perhaps, we have a little too much liberty:

A federal appeals court has upheld the creation of no demonstration zones, which prohibit free speech in certain public areas.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals released a ruling yesterday upholding a lower court’s decision that also declared such zones as being permissible. The opinion was penned by Judge Dennis Jacobs on behalf of a three judge panel that included Judges Pierre Leval and Debra Ann Livingston, two of whom are Republican judges appointed by George H.W. Bush.

The case surrounded an arrest that took place in 2004 when Michael Marcavage of Repent America and Steve Lefemine of Columbia Christians for Life attended the Republican National Convention in Madison Square Garden to address the large number of pro-abortion speakers at the event, including Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

According to court records, the two were standing on the public sidewalk holding signs when they were approached by police. The police officer informed the men that they could not stand in their particular location because it had been marked by officials as being a “no demonstration” zone.

When the men asked where they could go to engage in free speech activity, the officer directed them to a free speech zone located a block away from the entrance of Madison Square Garden. The area, which police had specifically erected for demonstrations, was the only location where expressive activity was allowed to take place during the event. Individuals of varying and opposite opinions were forced to stand together in one consolidated and caged area, which included a stage with a microphone.

Marcavage and Lefemine complied by walking away from the area alongside the officers and toward the zone that the NYPD had established. As they walked and were questioning the police about the purpose and reasoning behind the zones, they were placed under arrest for not relocating to the area fast enough.

“They took us to an abandoned warehouse where they funneled hundreds of people into cages that they had set up for this purpose,” Marcavage explained. “They treated us like cattle.”

(source)

Only those who agree with the message being delivered at a particular political or public event are now authorized to assemble in or around these areas. Anyone else is relegated to the cattle cages out of view of the public, the media and the officials at whom their protest or grievance is directed.

 

These zones are the very antithesis of free speech.

And it’s not just judges ruling by decree that are stripping us of our right to assemble and protest. In fact, the 1st Amendment itself has been, per recent Congressional action, overridden by a new law that was passed earlier this year. The Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act now allows national and local authorities to declare any venue they so choose as an “event of national significance,” at which point anyone who is found to be demonstrating in those areas can be charged under Federal criminal statutes.

Congress Criminalizes the Right to Free Assembly; Strips Basic Protections of First Amendment:

The new legislation allows prosecutors to charge anyone who enters a building without permission or with the intent to disrupt a government function with a federal offense if Secret Service is on the scene.

…

It’s not just the president who would be spared from protesters, either.

Covered under the bill is any person protected by the Secret Service. Although such protection isn’t extended to just everybody, making it a federal offense to even accidently disrupt an event attended by a person with such status essentially crushes whatever currently remains of the right to assemble and peacefully protest.

…

In the text of the act, the law is allowed to be used against anyone who knowingly enters or remains in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so…

…

Under that verbiage, that means a peaceful protest outside a candidate’s concession speech would be a federal offense…

With the definitions for “domestic terrorism” now taking on a broad scope and encompassing almost any activity deemed as such by the Department of Homeland Security and federal authorities, it is only a matter of time before peaceful demonstrators are not only detained for their criminal terroristic activities, but held indefinitely under US anti-terrorism laws like the National Defense Authorization Act.

That members of our Congress and appointed Federal judges would first create, then uphold, such laws designed to explicitly enact regulations in direct and overt violation of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights is nothing short of a treasonous action.

It is, by all accounts, a betrayal of the people of this country and of the established laws of the land.

The Liar in Chief

Obama Lies so Far

Below is a list of Obama’s documented lies so far with the most recent lies first. If you see we are missing a documented lie Submit the lie here.

Lies During Third Year

I will walk on that picket line with you, if workers are denied the right to bargain.
Youtube

In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Obama said that American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years.
www.breitbart.com

I’ve done more for Israel’s security than any President ever
Obama aided Islamic Extremists take over of Egypt/ Libya – Weapons pour into Gaza

Virtually every Senate Republican voted against the tax cut last week
Examiner

“Every idea that we’ve put forward are ones that traditionally have been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.”
Like Raising taxes?

Obama met highly qualified out of work teacher Robert Baroz
He wasn’t out of work and Obama never met him.

GOP Responsible for Obama Jobs Bill Not Passing
Dems Rejected Jobs Bill

You have 80 percent of the American people who support a balanced approach. Eighty percent of the American people support an approach that includes revenues and includes cuts. So the notion that somehow the American people aren’t sold is not the problem
Gallup Poll: Only 69%

These are obligations that the United States has taken on in the past. Congress has run up the credit card, and we now have an obligation to pay our bills.
Looks like it’s been incurred mostly in the years of Obama

Jobs Bill Paid for
Seems not so much Paid for

Then you’ve got their(GOP)which is dirtier air, dirtier water, less people with health insurance
Barack Obama, campaiging in Asheville, NC, 10/17/11

I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.
American.com

USA producing more oil than ever before
Petroleum Insights

Fence between US and Mexico is “Practically Complete”
Department of Homeland Security says 5%

Rich doesn’t pay their fair share.
National Taxpayers Union

Mitt Romney would deny gay people the right to adopt children.
Cnn Interview

Lies During Second Year

Obama claimed the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United v. FEC, “open[ed] the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections.
nationalreview.com

No signing statements to nullify or undermine congressional instructions as enacted into law
Obama Lies to Keep Czars

No “boots” on the ground Libya
Anyone that has worked with the AC-130 gunship can tell you, you need spotters to let aircraft know where the targets are. Usually it is Special Forces, Rangers etc trained for this mission. It’s CIA Agents in Libya on the ground

Reform will also rein in the abuse and excess that nearly brought down our financial system. It will finally bring transparency to the kinds of complex, risky transactions that helped trigger the financial crisis.
Obama Lies About Financial Reform Bill

All Americans WILL BE were, “surprised, disappointed and angry” about lockerbie bomber
Obama Memo

I will not rest until the BP Oil Spill stops
Obama’s Schedule

The health care bill will not increase the deficit by one dime.
Campaign and Presidency

If you like the health care plan you have you can keep it
TownHall

“Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.”
U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., September 9, 2009.

ObamaCare Fee is not a new tax
Obama denies healthcare is a new tax on all Americans

We have run out of places in the US to drill for oil.
Obama’s oval office speech in June 2010

Now suddenly if you don’t have your papers and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you can be harassed, that’s something that could potentially happen.
Arizona Immigration Law

Doctors choose amputation because they get better compensation. Greedy Doctors taking out tonsils for more money.
Claims never documented

The Health Care Package will pay for itself
Time

Republicans don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas — not one.
Hmm Immigration?

We shouldn’t Mandate the purchase of health care
Democratic Debate Lies

Obama says he’ll save average family $8,000 in gas
Video Proof

I am immediately instituting PayGo “Pay as you go”
Said during a speech immediately after the Trillion Dollar “Shovel Ready” bill.

I got the Message from Massachusetts
Daily Bail

Lies During First Year

We began by passing a Recovery Act that has already saved or created over 150,000 jobs.” – caught cooking the books and now changed to ‘jobs supported’ versus ‘created/saved’
AP fact Checker

Number one, we inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit. … That wasn’t me.” – Congress, under Democratic control in 2007 and 2008, controlled the purse strings that led to the deficit Obama inherited.Obama supported the emergency bailout package in Bush’s final months — a package Democratic leaders wanted to make bigger.
AP fact Checker

Collective salvation
Obama calls himself a Christian

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Obama Inauguration. 20 Jan 2009

Cut Deficit in Half by end of first term
Associated Press Video

Health Care deals will be covered on C-span
Obama Lies

As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide
ABC

Recovery Act will save or create jobs
ABC News

Unemployment rate will be 8.5% without stimulus.
Obama Lies

No Earmarks in the $787 Billion Stimulus
CNN

I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan
Specator.Org

We have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages.
Obama Lies

I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage.
NPR

Guantanamo bay to be closed within a year
Council on Foreign Relations.

Won’t Raise taxes on those making less than 250,000 per year.
Businessweek: Obama Agnostic on taxes
List of Tax Promise Violations

2008 Campaign Lies

I will walk the picket line with you, if workers are denied the right to bargain
Youtube

No more wiretapping of citizens
Youtube

Mr. Ayers as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” but “not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.
News Busters

I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Obama campaign would accept public funding
ABC

Minimum Wage will increase to $9.50/hr
A Socialist

Ann Dunham spent the months before her death in 1995 fighting with insurance companies that sought to deny her the coverage she needed to pay for treatment.
Mounting Heath Care Lies

Didn’t know Jeremiah Wright was Radical
Dreams of My Father – A radical Socialist.

Would have the most transparent administration in History
Cato Institute

We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way.
Boston Globe

I have visited all 57 states.
Snopes

I’ll get rid of earmarks
Source: Any bill passed during presidency

When a bill lands on my Desk, The American people will have 5 days to review it before I sign it.
Campaign Speech

My father served in World War II.
The Videos and the Facts

Have troops out of Iraq by March 31, 2009
News Video

Seniors Making less than 50,000 will not have to pay taxes
YouTube

Would not vote for any bill supporting troop funding without a firm withdrawal commitment from the Bush Administration.
He has done nothing but continue the Bush admins strategy and to explain how the “surges total failure” has now become his greatest achievement.

Present Votes Are Common In Illinois
NPR

I Won Michigan
Huffington Post

I won Nevada
The Nation

I don’t Have Lobbyists
US News

My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad
Crooks and Liars

I Have Always Been Against Iraq
Washington Post

My Wife Didn’t Mean What She Said About Pride In Country
CNN

Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity.
Obama Campaign Video

I Barely Know Rezko
Sun Times

My Church Is Like Any Other Christian Church
ABC News

Large Corp. Exec’s &
Politicians are Royalty
You are the Serfs.

Videos

By firedoglaketv, Andy Kaczynski, punkomama, anticonformist911| 4 videos

Email from Senator Kay Hagan on UN Arms Treaty

Talk about Double-Speak! If Senator Hagan feels so strongly about the Second Amendment as she says, what else is there to consider. Maybe she should consider that every gun owner in NC will vote her out of office if she votes to ratify this UN Small Arms Treaty.

Letterhead

     July 26, 2012

Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting me regarding Second Amendment rights. I greatly appreciate your thoughts on this important matter.

As you know, in 2006 the United Nations (UN) began discussions regarding an Arms Trade Treaty. While the United States originally opposed these discussions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has more recently stated that the United States would support and participate in these talks. In October 2009, the UN adopted, by a vote of 153-1 with the United States in support, a resolution laying out a timetable for negotiations. However, even should a treaty be signed, it would require the approval of two-thirds of the Senate before it would be considered ratified and in effect.

I understand your concerns regarding the protection of Second Amendment rights and I oppose allowing international law to override our constitutional rights. Like you, I support the Second Amendment. My family, like the great state of North Carolina, has a long tradition of hunting and gun ownership, and I take great pride in that heritage. Already during my time in Congress, I have voted on various pieces of legislation that protect Second Amendment rights, including to correct the District of Columbia’s overly-strict firearm regulations in order to protect Second Amendment rights in our nation’s capital.

President Obama has not sent any treaty regarding gun control to the Senate; however, I can assure you I will take your opinions and comments into account as I consider this important issue.

Again, thank you for contacting my office. It is truly an honor to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, and I hope you will not hesitate to contact me in the future should you have any further questions or concerns. If you would like to stay informed on my work in the Senate, you can sign up for my e-newsletter, follow me on Twitter at @SenatorHagan, or visit my Facebook page.

Sincerely,

Signature

Kay R. Hagan

Please do not reply to this email. Instead, if you have further questions, please visit www.hagan.senate.gov and fill out my web form for your inquiry. Thank you.

2 Attached files| 25KB

The Ultimate Takedown of Obama’s ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Speech

via PJMedia

(go to original article for videos)

President Obama’s instantly infamous “You didn’t build that” speech is a major turning point of the 2012 election not because it was a gaffe but because it was an accurate and concise summary of core progressive fiscal dogma. It was also a political blunder of epic proportions because in his speech Obama unintentionally proved the conservatives’ case for limited government.

This essay will show you how.

When Obama implied at the Roanoke, Virginia rally that some businessmen refuse to pay for public works from which they benefit, he presented a thesis which, like a three-legged stool, relies on three assumptions that must all be true for the argument to remain standing:

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1. That the public programs he mentioned in his speech constitute a significant portion of the federal budget;
2. That business owners don’t already pay far more than their fair share of these expenses; and
3. That these specific public benefits are a federal issue, rather than a local issue.

If any of these legs fails, then the whole argument collapses.

For good measure, we won’t just kick out one, we’ll kick out all three.

“Small Government” Is Not the Same as “No Government”

Progressives critique the fiscal conservative/Tea Party/libertarian position by purposely misrepresenting it as anarchy. When fiscal conservatives say “We want smaller government,” progressives reply, “Oh, so you want no government?”

“Government” in this particular discussion is shorthand for “communal pooling of resources for mutual benefit.”

Fiscal conservatives have never called for no government — that’s the anarchist position, and contemporary anarchism is actually dominated by extreme leftists, not extreme conservatives. Instead, fiscal conservatives clearly and consistently call for limited government, or for smaller government — but not for the absence of government altogether.

So when President Obama and his mentor Elizabeth Warren justify their call for tax hikes by pointing out that all entrepreneurs benefit from communal infrastructure, they’re committing the classic Straw Man Fallacy by arguing against anarchy — a position that their opponents do not hold.

Here’s the shocking truth: President Obama and Elizabeth Warren are correct — we all benefit from certain taxpayer-funded collectivist government infrastructure projects and programs. And here’s the other shocking truth: Therefore, we should limit government expenditures to just those programs. Why? Because most of the other government programs either

• hinder, constrict or penalize entrepreneurial activity; or
• benefit some people to the detriment of others; or
• waste money on bureaucracy, overhead or ill-considered expenditures that end up indebting the nation and by extension all Americans. Continue reading →

Walter Jones on UN Small Arms Treaty

Dear Mr. Kukulinski:

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns over the ratification of the United Nations “Small Arms Treaty”.  I appreciate your taking the time to share your concerns with me.

We are in agreement that there is no area where the need for vigilance is more necessary than in preserving our rights under the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  During my time in Congress, I have been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  Rest assured I remain committed to seeing that these rights are not infringed upon and I will continue to support the right of Americans to bear arms.

As a member of the Congressional Sovereignty Caucus, you will not find me supporting the subjection of any aspect of our country to any United Nations treaty.  The U.S. Constitution gives the Senate exclusive power to approve treaties. Therefore, as a member of the House of Representatives I am unable to vote on ratification of this treaty.  Therefore, you should contact our NC Senators, Richard Burr and Kay Hagan and encourage them to vote against ratifying this agreement if it comes up for consideration.

Please continue to contact me on any issues of concern, although you can ALWAYS count on a reliable vote supporting the Second Amendment.


Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones
Member of Congress

Walter Jones on Nation's Financial Crisis

Dear Mr. Broyles,

Thank you for contacting me with regard to our nation’s fiscal crisis.  I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and I am happy to respond.

I share your strong opposition to the deficit spending that is causing our federal debt to spiral out of control. In the last eight years, the debt has more than doubled from $7 trillion to over $15 trillion today. We are adding over $1 trillion in deficit spending to that total every year. Most of that is borrowed from China and other foreign nations which do not have our best interests at heart.

I am proud to be the only member of Congress to have voted against every single one of the deficit spending-filled budgets that have doubled our debt over the last eight years. I am also proud to be the only member of Congress to have voted against every single increase in the debt limit over that time frame. Continuing to raise the debt limit and pass budgets that feature $1 trillion annual deficits is irresponsible. We owe our children and grandchildren more than just continuing to kick the can down the line; we need to tackle the problem now.

That’s why I strongly support a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) to the Constitution. I have cosponsored this legislation every year since I’ve been in Congress, and I’ve voted for it each time it’s been considered. Now, more than ever, this nation needs the fiscal discipline required by a statutory mandate for a balanced budget. It is extremely troubling to me that so many of my colleagues oppose the common sense concept of not spending more than you take in.

Please rest assured that I will continue to fight against the deficit spending that is crippling this nation. I appreciate you allowing me to update you on this important issue.  If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones
Member of Congress

Walter Jones on Transfer of Alaskan Islands to Russia

Dear Mr. Lang:

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns on President Obama transferring Alaskan islands to Russia.  I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and I am happy to respond.

Please know that this claim is an internet rumor.  The United States does not own the islands that are mentioned.   The islands lie on the Russian side of the U.S. – Russia maritime boundary that was set by a treaty the Senate ratified and President Bush signed over 20 years ago.  To find out more about this, please visit  http://factcheck.org/2012/03/alaskan-island-giveaway/ .

I do hope this has answered any questions or concerns you may have.  If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones
Member of Congress

Walter Jones on Immigration Enforcement

Dear Mr. Kukulinski:

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns regarding immigration enforcement.  I appreciate you taking the time to contact me and I’m honored to respond.

                Like you, I am deeply concerned about  America’s lack of immigration enforcement.  I have been, and will continue to be, a strong supporter of initiatives to strengthen enforcement and an opponent of efforts to reqard those who break our immigration laws.  You will be happy to learn that I have cosponsored a number of bills that would do just that, including:

· H.R. 140, the Birthright Citizenship Act would clarify that children born in the  United States to illegal immigrants are not granted citizenship, ending the process of birthright citizenship.

· H.R. 100, the CLEAR Act of 2011 would provide resources for state and local agencies to assist in the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.

· H.R. 280 and H.R. 282 would each require contractors to participate in the E-Verify program as a condition of any work for the federal government (H.R. 282), and within the United States Capitol Complex (H.R. 280).

· H.R. 787, The No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act, would ensure that illegal immigrants would not receive social security.

· H.R. 692, the Nuclear Family Priority Act would end the process of “chain migration” where countless non-nuclear family members of immigrants are allowed to immigrate into the  United States.

· H.R. 152, the National Guard Border Enforcement Act would direct the Secretary of Defense to make National Guard troops available for border security upon the request of a  US Governor.

Please know that I will continue to do all I can to secure borders and to oppose amnesty for those who break our immigration laws.

                Again, thanks for sharing your concerns with me. If you have any questions on other immigration legislation, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Walter B. Jones
Member of Congress