travis' brain dump

Funny how my blog has turned pretty political lately… perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the government paid to work for us continues to amaze me with the constant poor performance as a whole they give this country. If I were to directly compare it to my line of work I would expect to be fired for failure to perform my duties as assigned.

Don’t get me wrong, there are quite a few politicians up there that seem to have the right ideas at least 50% of the time but overall we’ve got problems. Enough on my rants about the lacking abilities of our government. Let’s turn our attention towards this whole climate nonsense, because it is at that nonsense.

This past week (July 7th) at a Senate hearing law makers started the battle concerning whether”cap-and-trade” would hurt or help the US economy with a little pressure from cabinet officials.

“Denial of the climate-change problem will not change our destiny; a comprehensive energy and climate bill that caps and then reduces carbon emissions will,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu in remarks before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

I’ve figured it out… Chu and Waxman are planning a family together cause let’s face it, they support each other like a husband and wife… I wonder who the wife is…

Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the panel’s top Republican, said the cap-and-trade system would amount to the largest tax increase in American history, a statement echoed by many Republicans but shot down by Democrats including Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, who chairs the committee.

“There are no new taxes,” Ms. Boxer said Tuesday morning.

No new taxes? So you’re saying that the several trillion dollars the government expects to collect from this bill just magically appears out of nowhere!? Clap your hands kids, the fairy dust will make you flyyyyyyy! Really!? Do you expect us to believe that collecting money from introducing a new “tax” on companies by way of this “cap-and-trade” nonsense isn’t going to get passed onto us American’sby way of increased costs of production and loss of jobs over the course of this bill being put into action? You are so full of self-importance and self-indulgence that you can’t see past your own ego’s for 2 seconds to realize that by doing so it will only cause another round of increased recession and failure in our economy that will cause this country to land in such a downward spiral that will leave us with nothing left but the skin hanging off our bones. You think you’re saving the planet? The planet doesn’t need saving, we do.

“It’s no surprise that during today’s G8 meeting, China, India and other developing nations refused to accept mandatory emissions controls on their economies,” Senator Inhofe said. “Without participation from China and India, anything we do here at home would impose burdensome costs on consumers in the form of higher electricity, gas, and food prices, all for no climate gain.  Unless supporters of cap-and-trade legislation can develop a plan to convince China and India to make meaningful emissions reductions on par with the United States, no such bill will pass the U.S. Senate.”

Go Senator Inhofe!

The only good news out of this whole debate came from the EPA!? That’s right, the EPA Administrator herself confirmed while appearing before the committee the following:

 ”I believe the central parts of the [EPA] chart are that U.S. action alone will not impact world CO2 levels,” Administrator Jackson said.

Nuff said. This bill is exactly what people are calling it… “Crap-and-Tax” If this bill were to pass it would eventually complete the job of flushing our economy entirely down the drain.  America, it was nice while it lasted but the dream has turned into a nightmare… somebody wake me up.

First off I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July.

This last weekend I sat back and thought of a few things when thinking about Independence Day. It’s amazing how far we’ve come and equally how far we’ve fallen since that day back in 1776.

One of the things that I got to thinking about was how the words used in the Declaration of Independence spoke of things such as equality and rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It also spoke concerning government involvement  in the affairs of its citizens, namely when counteracting those basic values and beliefs on which this country was founded.

After this Declaration, a Constitution was created for the United States of America. While a great start, there was definitely grounds for modifications and these founding individuals saw that and provided a means for it to be improved upon within Article V. The purpose of this Article was to benefit the citizens of this country by means of an adjustment process that  ensured those very values of the Declaration of Independence were upheld from that day forward despite any oversight of its original creators. This made it possible for changes to be made in order to further define certain freedoms and rights for individuals for an ever changing nation.  (Keep this in mind as there is a point to bringing this up, bear with me. )

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s of God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are  created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying it’s foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.  Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” – Declaration of Independence, In Congress, July 4, 1776.

These people believed so much that their oppression had reached a point that a declaration of their freedoms had to be made to the whole world. They would no longer stand by and allow the people of the Colonies/States to be subject to the “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny” placed on them by the King of Great Britain. They challenged a nation and it’s armies for what they believed in without hesitation because their freedoms had been so damaged because of the actions of a corrupt government that they felt they had no choice but to revolt. Amazing. The courage it took to stand up and say “NO MORE!” and do something about it.

In reviewing some of the “Facts to be submitted to a candid world,” I came across several that really stuck out that made me think. I encourage you all to go read the Declaration of Independence in detail. In fact, there’s a GREAT site that goes over the points line by line to explain what they mean and why they were written. The site can be found at:

http://colonialhall.com/histdocs/declaration/

How many of these do you believe to be applicable to today’s government? In our own modern way, there are quite a few. While they don’t apply word for word the similarities are scary. It’s frightening to think about how many of our “freedoms” are slipping away piece by piece and we don’t even take the time to notice what’s going on. There are more government agencies in place today to “regulate” items than ever before with more being created right now. We’re being taxed for something new it seems almost daily that we didn’t approve of but was decided for us without our consent. Wether it’s directly out of our income or added onto the items we purchase, we’re getting it from both ends, out of our hands and our back pockets simultaneously. It’s sad.

The worst part is to sit here and watch the system which was designed by the people, for the people, be taken away Amendment by Amendment. We revolted once, among other things, for being taxed without our consent… yet Amendment XVI  states, ”The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” Really? *rolls eyes*

I will agree that I am thankful to live in the United States of America. Despite the crap we’re putting up with right now, we’re still better off than most, for now at least. My only concern is if we allow the government to operate unchecked as they have been (read my previous post on HR 2454) we are looking at a grim future for our children and beyond. Wake up America, this is your country and you need to take it back. Stop being a sheep following the herd and educate rather than accept.

Well, folks, with all the action going on over in Iran, you might want to start looking at that as a possible glimpse into the future for us. I’m serious…

If there is anything that has become more evident to me today in following this latest bill that Congress just motioned through is that our government has stopped *working for us* and started *thinking* for us. 

Seriously. Has anyone actually looked at the pipe dream that is this bill (HR 2454)? Take a good long look at http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090515/hr2454.pdf - but keep in mind that’s even missing the 300+ page amendment that those slimey bastards slipped in this morning at 3:09am. Henry Waxman, you’re an idiot.

So, nowhere online can you find any support for this bill unless you’re some die-hard tree hugger who thinks this scheme is actually going to work. If you do, you’re even more confused and even more of an idiot than we thought. Then again, maybe I’m wrong… Maybe this is what you really want… you like living off the land and having no modern conveniences, right?  I mean, this  is exactly what you’re going to have when you can’t buy anything since the cost of your energy takes your entire paycheck. But you like that right?

Seriously folks. There are so many better ways to go about cleaning up our energy usage but the provisions in this bill will destroy this country from the inside out. Aside from that, this is a prime example of the government *NOT* listening to their constituents. 219/212 – at least some of them got the picture, but for those 219 pocket lining, no good, creators of excessive CO2 (blower of hot air), you better believe if this passes through the Senate, your day will come. Your days of living it up off taxpayer money and enjoying your inheritences will be over next election. That is if an angry mob of people who’ve lost their jobs due to your ignorance doesn’t beat you to election day. *shrug* Just stating the facts here folks.

Today the phone lines were jammed with people trying to voice their opinions on this bill. SO many in fact that the lines we overrun. The people answered the call by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana who said, “Call your congressman, right now!” from the House floor as the chamber seemed near a vote.

CNN quoted in their article a Rep from Texas:

“I can’t begin to tell you how many calls we’ve received,” said Rep. Charles Gonzalez, D-Texas. “And it’s disproportionately vote ‘no.’”
Gonzalez, who voted “yes,” believes special interest groups generated many of the calls on both sides, including the late surge of negative feedback.

*PRIME* example of Congress deciding for us without taking our input into consideration. They chalk it up to ‘ special interest group generated calls ‘ – yeah, the special interest group is THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO!

So, what’s next? After we’re impoverished and we have no fight left in us, are you going to dissolve the Constitution of the United States so you can have your supreme power? Get a clue folks, that will never happen. As people start to feel the American Dream die, you can bet history will repeat itself. So quickly has our government forgotten how they even came to power. The people put you there with trust and hope and you’re showing you’re no different than the British Empire of 1776.

/soapbox

ps. Henry Waxman, you’re still an idiot.