novatownhall blog

Remember the elections of 2010 where the Tea Party put up conservative candidates for election and many of them won seats in Congress? And do you remember the angst they gave Boehner when he tried to deal with Obama (read give away the store) and these conservatives bucked him and the system? And remember when the Republican Party was known as the “conservative” party? Then what is this all about? And why is he presenting 800B in deduction elimination? I don’t know who is driving this bus but Boehner and Cantor are surely in the back seat. This needs an investigation with public humiliation towards those involved.

Why are we worried about raising the debt ceiling when all we do is borrow money to pay interest on the money we borrowed? If the House holds the purse strings, why are we funding ANYTHING until spending is gotten under control? If Boehner and the Republican house want to deal, there is a Ryan Budget Plan sitting over in the Senate and needs to be voted on. Let that be the starting point and have the Senate and Obama work from that platform. This is beyond stupid. The conservatives are looking for a home and the GOP is no longer it. We need amendments on term limits, no retirement pensions for congress and a flat tax. We also need another party for conservative values only. Why there isn’t open revolt from the people is beyond me. I would like to go secession and back to State rights where we belong because the US govt is out of bounds and out of control. Tar, feathers and firing squads come to mind.

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (Matt. 5:13)

“If you look at the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country, it is net zero. It’s been that way now for almost two years.” -Gov. Jeb Bush

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

“The New Colossus”
Emma Lazarus, 1883

For centuries now, the huddles masses of lesser nations have come here, to the United States, looking for opportunity and freedom that they could not have in the lands of their birth. No more. Not under President Barack Obama. They no longer see America as the Land of Opportunity, as the Land of Freedom.

If we lose our opportunity and our freedom, where will our huddled masses go?

The dishonesty of the Democrats this year has blown passed insipid, through vapid, past farcical and hit full Retard. Wasserman cannot concede a damn thing, even when the truth is staring her in the face, and not see her narrative come apart. Even Wolf Blitzer is recognizing what would be obvious to any 5th grader, eventually forces her to admit the obvious: It does not impact the seniors who already are on Medicare, nor does it pull the rug out of those about to retire. The rest of the population has over 10 years in which to make the needed adjustments, the Romney/Ryan plan impacts those 55 and below.

The money for the social welfare is programs is running out, frankly the money for all the programs is running out. The current government interference in the market is having a huge impact on the price of medical care, and is threatening the medical industry and the ability of ordinary citizens to get reasonable access to care. Which is the opposite of the programs stated purpose. Government action has driven up the price of medical services at two to four times the rate of inflation since WWII. Maybe the solution is LESS not MORE government interference. People are not stupid, especially when they are treated like adults, as opposed to treating them like ignorant and gullible children.

The reason Wasserman cannot concede even the obvious is that once people are given choices they are unlikely to want to give them up. The progressive mantra is: ‘we will take care of you‘; because, ‘we think you are to dumb to take care of yourself.‘ This is a fatal conceit, one the Frederick Hayak described in great detail. The question for the progressives should always be: ‘Who are you to make decisions for me?!?‘ This sort of debate is lethal to Wasserman’s narrative. so we are forced to hear of the imagined carnage with 80 years old’s with no health care. The trouble is that while this scenario is not being proposed by anyone — Wasserman needs this false narrative in order to breed fear and to intimidate voters.

Fear and intimidation is the hallmark of bullies. the Democrats have become bullies. Bullies, when given power, become tyrannical. America was founded on the idea that people can take care of themselves, and in doing so, they then pursue happiness. This pursuit is what leads to prosperity. Government cannot manage our lives. We need to manage them ourselves, if we are to prosper. The Romney/Ryan plan is but one tiny step back towards the people managing their own lives. The Wasserman’s of the world want to manage your life for you. How appealing is that?

History demonstrates that it is capitalism and only capitalism that generates enough wealth in the economy to create the standard of living that we all take for granted today. Feudalism, Mercantilism, Socialism, Fascism and Communism all fall far short of the mark. In the 1930’s upper middle class was defined as having indoor plumbing, an ice box, electricity and a radio. Today, by that measure, even those one welfare have such a living standard.

The free market system that this country became great under is the only one that celebrates each man pursuing his own happiness. It was not about being collectivized and forced to work together. It was about individual decisions, either to work for hire, or, to start a business, or to invent that unleashed the creative genius in the human spirit. People in this country had choices. The result was an exponential rise in the national standard of living for over two centuries.

The average American today has the equivalent of some 70 house servants. These servants come in the form of indoor plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, kitchen appliances, electrical lights, radio, television, and the commercialized internet, motorized transportation, and ready access to medicine. The sum total of all this individual wealth and services provides an average American with a lifestyle that would be the envy of ancient, medieval and renaissance monarchs.

Milton Friedman defended the free market system better than most. He so thoroughly skewers Donahue some three minutes into the interview that Donahue, reeling, decides it is time for a commercial break. The contrast cannot be more striking, the touchy-feely Donahue is earnestly arguing from a position of profound ignorance, and is gently, but thoroughly schooled on every point by the liberty-minded Friedman — who speaks with authority, and is obviously in command of the facts. This one is worth sending to your liberal friends, if only to make them mad.

The proposition of having 2.6 miles of light rail track connecting Ryan Rd and Old Ox to the rest of the Silver Line is currently being considered by the BOS. It appears that support for this measure is crumbling in the face of the fiscal reality. What worries me most is the fact that this board is trying to come to a final decision in less than six months. Metro will have a larger monetary impact on Loudoun County than the CBPO. Think about that.

All this to get an estimated 12,000 riders? The report that claims this number assumes people are willing to pay for a $10-$20 round trip into Fairfax to DC. Why do this when the current bus system does the same job for a lot less? Why ride when driving costs less, but is more convenient? The price does not include the cost of parking your car at the Metro. The estimated ridership has been called into question given the reality of the cost for using the service. The ridership will be lower. We are looking a cost per rider to the tax payer that is in the thousands. Think about that.

Now, The in politics the golden rule is, “He who controls the gold, makes the rules.” How much Loudoun tax money will MWAA and WMATA have control over, if Loudoun opts-in? Loudoun will be giving up a fair amount of autonomy because the county will be on the hook to feed the Union Machine that is MWAA/WMATA. This is a lot of money for Loudouners to pay just for two periphery stations at the end of the Silver Line. The time for a Loudoun Rail has not yet arrived — and it should never yoke us to the union machine in DC.

In a previous article, I discussed the tension that exists between liberty and legislation. The first is a right and a necessity, the second is a necessary evil. 9/11 gave birth to the TSA and all the laws and regulations that proscribe our freedom to travel. If one is not free to go where one pleases, in the manner and time of his choosing, then there is an abridgment of that freedom. Laws dictate how fast we can drive, and on which side of the road, and where we can walk or bike. Such laws governing the above fall into the necessary category.

The laws transition over the evil category when they are used to entrap. Manipulating posted speed limits is one example. Back in the 1970’s, a county in Texas had speed limits drop from 55mph to 30mph so fast that even slamming on the brakes would not keep you below the posted limit. A deputy was on location 24-7 writing tickets. A judge had the county take the sign down. Many jurisdictions subtly engage in similar practices.

Laws that impinge directly on other freedoms, in the name of regulating travel, are more egregious. The price we pay for flying is ridiculous. We have our dignity violated in the name of security; our privacy stripped away. We cannot even bring a bottle of water from home because everyone who wants to fly is under suspicion. This violates the 4th Amendment. The TSA thugs inflict indignities upon flyers that are worse than the profiling of El Al. Think about it, would you rather be questioned or fondled, or, scanned naked?

Children running up to hug grandma are subject to rank thuggery:

a recent incident in Wichita, Kansas has reinforced that argument, as a four-year-old girl was apparently subjected to a humiliating ordeal after she hugged her grandmother while she was waiting in line.

We have gone well past necessary into evil here. People flying from London to Rome have their rights less trammeled than do Americans flying from New York to Atlanta. Considering that London and Rome are the capitals of two separate countries, while JFK and ATL are but airports inside a single nation, this is absurd. What is even more absurd is that many celebrate their shiny new chains.

The next step will be railroad and roadside check points. The TSA has declared such activities to be myths. Then why have such check points been established in Tennessee?

A week ago, Tennessee became the first state to team up with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to implement highway checkpoints for random searches in a move to counter terrorism.

According to the LA Times, the TSA has been busying itself elsewhere:

The Transportation Security Administration isn’t just in airports anymore. TSA teams are increasingly conducting searches and screenings at train stations, subways, ferry terminals and other mass transit locations around the country.

Other societies have succumb to fear, and sought to trade security for freedom. These societies paid a heavy price for such folly.  Americans historically bridled at the thought that their liberty was for sale at any price. Americans have a proud heritage of seeking freedom and opportunity, eschewing security — our frontier epitomized such freedom and opportunity. The Frontier Spirit gave us the power to persevere in the face of danger.  We would do well to remember it.

The most pernicious aspect of all this is that such restrictions and indignities have become the new normal. How can one miss something, if one never had it in the first place? Most people are too young to have experienced a world without the constraints that exist today, or they simply do not remember. An animal born in captivity does not notice the bars on the cage either.