Monday, July 25, 2011

Warren Buffett’s Deficit Reduction Plan :)

The INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
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Warren Buffet says, “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for reelection.”

On the one hand, I’m fairly confident Buffett is correct that if such a law were passed, the deficit would shrink to below 3% of GDP. On the other hand, I’m presuming Congress would have to pass that law. How likely is that?

The Republicans are talking about a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. They also seem to like the idea of term limits (that is, until they’ve actually been elected). Buffet’s plan combines the two ideas. I’d love to see Buffett’s idea go viral, pushing Congress to enact it… but I don’t foresee that happening.

No, You're Not King Sir Jackass

The Market Ticker
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That was an absolute disaster for Obama.

Let us not forget that this President came into office and ran the credit card to the extent of more than $1,500 billion a year for the last two years. He continued the bankrupt policies of George Bush who did the same damn thing. He has blown money like crazy, yet has utterly refused to face the fact that there is no way he can continue to do what we've been doing with these deficits for the indefinite future.

We were told these deficits were necessary due to a crisis in 2008. But we have also been told the crisis is over. That our economy is recovering. That Wall Street is "healthy." That the banks are "ok" and "well-capitalized."

These are lies and The President knows it! The economy is a damn wreck. The banks are only "solvent" because they're lying about asset values. And Wall Street is punch-drunk - again - on cheap leverage, headed for yet another utter and complete disaster.

So now, having run smack into the Tea Party and Boehner saying "no more damnit; we're going to blow up if this crap continues!" The President now turns around and throws a temper tantrum on national television threatening the old "tanks in the streets" (effectively) if he does not get what he wants - which is yet another blank check.

Well Mr. President I want to know when the blank check demands stop!

Why? Because there's no damn money, that's why. The US Government is unable to keep doing this crap forever.

It has to stop!

In fact S&P has clearly stated that if you pull the crap you intend the downgrade you claim you're trying to avoid will come.

I know in advance it is going to suck when the deficit spending stops. I've been writing on it for more than four years and have been utterly consistent. There is no escape from the mathematical facts.

So, Mr. President, if you intend to demand this crap continue, you have the affirmative obligation to tell the American people exactly when and how this is going to stop because you are not a King, you're a President and you are subservient to the people - not the other way around.

If you can't or won't then Congress has the absolute responsibility to say NO - period - and force a balanced budget right now, since you will have, by doing so, declared that you never intend to resolve the underlying problem.

It's that simple.

Agents Provacateurs

Could have been written today.

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Virtually all governments use undercover agents and informants in their police and intelligence agencies. As a society, we recognize that this often is necessary in order to combat organized crime, foreign espionage, drug cartels, subversion, and terrorism. However, the political powers that be often abuse their powers and misuse these intelligence assets not to protect society, but to endanger it; and in so doing provide a pretext for increasing their own power. History is replete with examples of governments using agents provocateurs to justify eliminating the opposition and assuming dictatorial powers.

Adolf Hitler consolidated his power on the infamous “Night of the Long Knives” of June 30, 1934, an assassination blitzkrieg in which he wiped out his erstwhile friend Ernst Roehm (who had become a competitor) and the top leadership of Roehm’s brownshirted storm troopers. Using his own agents within Roehm’s organization, Hitler fabricated evidence that Roehm was plotting a coup.

Josef Stalin used a similar deception to attain totalitarian power in Soviet Russia, destroying two of his Communist Party competitors in one fell swoop. Stalin had his agents murder Sergei Kirov and then used the murder to justify the claim that Russia was beset by a massive conspiracy plotting assassination and terror to overthrow the Soviet regime. Stalin fixed the blame for the Kirov murder on Grigori Zinoviev, providing an excuse for “purging,” i.e. killing, all who were deemed part of the “Zinoviev faction.” Ultimately, Stalin expanded this into the “Great Purge,” in which millions were executed or sent to the gulag (the Soviet prison system).

In 1989, Tibetan independence protesters were embarrassing their brutal Communist Chinese occupiers. The Communist regime in Beijing ordered 300 police agents to disguise themselves as Tibetan nationalists and discredit the protests. The Communist agents provocateurs joined the marchers and turned a peaceful protest in the Tibetan capital of Lahsa into a wild melee. This provided the government troops with an excuse to open fire on the protesters, slaughtering 450.

In Russia, the hand of Vladimir Putin’s KGB/FSB in various “Chechen terrorist” incidents has become obvious. Even some reporters and pundits for the Western press who regularly fawn over “Putie,” our dear “ally,” have felt compelled to note the evidence that incidents such as the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings were actually provocations by Putin’s agents. Putin has used the incidents to justify seizing more power and instituting more police-state measures.

“Discredit From Within”
So-called democratic governments also have been known to instigate elaborate provocations to justify measures aimed at concentrating power and eliminating checks and balances, in the name of security. In Germany, for instance, in 2002, it was revealed that the National Democratic Party had been financed by Germany’s intelligence services for more than 40 years. As the country’s leading neo-Nazi front, it could be counted on to stage ugly racist and anti-Semitic demonstrations that would give impetus to “hate crime” legislation that could be used against all political dissent. The National Democratic Party extremists also helped to taint all German political conservatives by making statements that would associate conservatives with neo-Nazi positions. National Democratic Party co-founder Wolfgang Frenz and Udo Holtmann, editor and publisher of the National Democratic Party newspaper, along with three of their younger NPD lieutenants, were identified as government agents. The NPD was completely a government operation.

In Canada, the racist Heritage Front served as the counterpart to Germany’s National Democratic Party. In the mid 1990s, Grant Bristow, the notorious co-founder of the Heritage Front, was exposed as an undercover agent of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). While on the CSIS payroll, Bristow had committed acts of violence and sedition and built the Heritage Front into a menacing band of racist misfits who provided the pretext for Canadian “liberals” to enact oppressive legislation that has drastically undermined the freedoms of all Canadian citizens.

The November 4, 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was used to vilify religious and political conservatives and to provide a pretext for clamping down on all civil liberties. The assassin, Yigal Amir, a young law student, was described as a “right-wing extremist” and a “religious fundamentalist.” However, it later turned out that Amir and his “handler,” Avishai Raviv, were actually agents for Israel’s intelligence agency known as Shin Bet, or General Security Service. Avishai Raviv was the head of a “right-wing extremist group” called Eyal. One of his purposes was to “discredit from within,” that is, make statements and conduct himself in a way that would bring religious and political opponents of the ruling socialists into disrepute. The assassination of Rabin certainly accomplished that.

The March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings have raised the specter of another deadly provocation. Although the reports are not conclusive, the Spanish press reported that at least two of the lead suspects in the terrorist acts that took nearly 200 lives (and caused a radical Socialist government to sweep to power three days later) were undercover operatives for Spanish police agencies. Rafa Zouhier, reportedly, was an informant for the Unidad Central de Operaciones, an elite unit of the Guardia Civil. Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, apparently, was an undercover operative for a narcotics unit of the National Police Corps. Zouhier and Trashorras allegedly supplied the explosives that were used in the attack.

Federal Infiltration
Does the U.S. government use agents provocateurs to carry out illegal activities and to discredit opposition? The record shows that it does. Over the past decade, some of the most notorious racists and violent extremists in the U.S. have been revealed as government “assets.”

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Representative Steve King on default: Obama could be impeached

Via Blue's Blog

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Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said Monday that President Barack Obama “would be impeached” if the nation falls into default.

“STOP talking about default,” he wrote on Twitter. “The 1st dime of each $1 of revenue services debt. Obama would be impeached if he blocked debt payments. C C & B!”

King is among the House Republicans who voted for the so-called “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan that would introduce a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. The Senate last week dismissed the House bill.

King isn’t the first Republican to suggest that Obama should be impeached over the debt crisis.

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No Debt Ceiling Increase: Balance the Budget Now!


After weeks of intense negotiations and political maneuvering, President Obama and congressional leaders still don't have a debt ceiling increase deal. However, even the supposedly most conservative, most fiscally responsible plan, "Cut, Cap, and Balance," is not acceptable to strict constitutionalists, such as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and The John Birch Society.

Click on the video of Ron Paul's excellent "Floor Speech on Debt Ceiling, July 19, 2011" at the left to learn more.

(Previously posted:
Ron Paul, at his best, on the Debt Ceiling )

If you agree that Congress should vote against increasing the debt ceiling and begin taking steps immediately to balance the federal budget by cutting out unconstitutional agencies and programs to reduce federal spending drastically, contact your Representative and Senators and give them this message:

No Debt Ceiling Increase: Balance the Budget Now!


Thanks,


Your friends at The John Birch Society


Gunwalker: Newell = "A blatant lie"

Via Sipsey Street Irregulars

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Newell
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The public first learned about Fast and Furious in late January 2011 when U.S. Attorney Burke called a news conference in Phoenix to announce a 53-count indictment involving 20 suspects. The indictment alleged that from September 2009 to December 2010, the suspects bought hundreds of firearms to be illegally exported to Mexico.

To Newell, who was also at the news conference, Fast and Furious was a “phenomenal case,” the largest-ever Mexican gun trafficking investigation, a direct answer to the call to stem the flow of firearms south of the border.

A local reporter asked Newell about the rumors that ATF agents had purposely allowed firearms to enter Mexico.

“Hell, no!” he answered. Newell said that they could not follow everyone and that sometimes suspects would elude agents, which could result in guns getting into Mexico.

Peter Forcelli, an ATF group supervisor in the Phoenix office, watched the news conference on television. “I was appalled,” he later testified to Congress. “Because it was a blatant lie."

Lovefield

Via Cousin Colby

The best short film I've ever seen. (5 minutes)

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Lovefield combines elements of horror, suspense and drama to create a story that takes the audience on a roller coaster ride of emotions.


Nullification: An Early Argument

Do the states have the power, or indeed the obligation, to nullify federal laws, if those laws are unconstitutional. We won’t presume to answer that question here. However, we will examine some of the arguments raised during the Nullification Crisis of 1832.

Some background is probably in order.

John C. CalhounThe debate centered around President Andrew Jackson’s Tariff of 1832. The South, and South Carolina in particular, saw this tariff as a nothing less than a means of transferring wealth to the northern states at the expense of the southern states. The tariff ensured that the prices for northern finished goods would remain artificially high by protecting them from foreign competition. At the same time, raw cotton enjoyed no such protection, and was sold at market value.

Interestingly enough, the debate pitted the Vice President, John C. Calhoun, against President Jackson, as the leaders of the opposing sides. Calhoun resigned as Vice President to take up his argument in the Senate, where South Carolina returned him.

Calhoun championed the notion of states’ rights and maintained that the unconstitutional federal laws could and should be “nullified” by the states as a legitimate means of defending not only their rights, but also in protection of the Constitution itself and the people. In support of his argument, Calhoun referenced the work of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which pertained to the obligation of the states to ignore the odious Alien and Sedition Acts, enacted during the Federalist administration of John Adams. The salient portion:

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Nullification: An Early Argument

None To Lend Nor Give Away

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Published in 1951, the writer’s assertion that Congress has no authority to "lend money or to give it away" is just as important to remember today as it was 60 years ago. James Madison's warning of paper barriers was echoed by another American president, Jefferson Davis, who wrote in 1881: "Of what value then are paper constitutions and oaths binding officers to their preservation, if there is not intelligence enough in the people to discern the violations, and virtue enough to resist the violators?"

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
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None To Lend Nor Give Away:

"The Constitution gives power to Congress (1) "to coin money" and (2) "to borrow on the credit of the United States"---but not to lend money, or to give it away, either at home or abroad. What is expressed in a Constitution is equivalent to a prohibition of what is not expressed. The powers over money mentioned are the only ones that the Constitutional Convention brought in from the world of inherent powers and fixed in the Fundamental Law.

Those specifications reject the theory of unlimited powers exercised by European monarchs in 1787. Not long before that, Louis XIV had kept Europe embroiled in wars by loans or grants of money to belligerent rulers. Did the Constitutional Convention, at least one member of which was born in his reign, intend to give that power to Congress? It did not say so. The power was therefore withheld by the people from their servants.

The United States is now, without authority---under a denial of authority---lending or granting money to Europe, and to the rest of the world. Postwar programs, 22 in number, for aiding foreign nations, in addition to the military aid program, have piled on top of the costs (330 billion) of (World) War II $30,757,000,000, according to Senator Byrd of Virginia, speaking in September 1949. Thus, the limitations of the Constitution become what Madison gave warning of---"paper barriers."

(Undermining the Constitution: A History of Lawless Government, Thomas James Norton, Devin-Adair Company, 1951, page 22)

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None To Lend Nor Give Away

Where's The Kaboom?


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The Market Ticker
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We were promised an earth-shattering Kaboom by Timmy Geithner if he didn't get his deal by Monday.

Well, where is it? Hmmm.... I wonder if that "tanks in the streets" threat was as good as Hanky Paulson's, which of course Congress got conned by.

Inquiring minds want to know, and we'll explore it today with Tickerguy on Blogtalk.

http://blogtalkradio.com/marketticker at 3:30 Central today!

Breivik targeted next generation immigration proponents

I thought somewhat similar as soon as it was identified as a socialist camp.
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First of all, what happened in Norway is horrible. And my sympathies and prayers go out to the families of the victims.

Second, I’d like to address the media’s reporting of this unfortunate incident.

Apparently, Breivik didn’t just randomly target Norwegian teenagers on an island, as was first reported by the American media, but deliberately targeted the youth camp on Utoya island. These teenagers and 20-somethings were the elite of Norway’s ruling left-wing party, whereby Breivik attempted to “wipe out” the next generation of Labor politicians, whom he blamed for mass immigration.

- It seems that the NY Times and others are attacking the Norwegian blogger Fjordman, who writes in English and is extremely popular throughout Europe. It seems that Breivik quotes Fjordman extensively in his manifesto, although Fjordman has never advocated violence. Fjordman is quite saddened by the recent incident, but says that bloggers should remain committed to the truth. He writes:

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Federal Government Encourages Employers to Hire Foreign Grads


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The math is pretty clear. Given the potential savings for employers, new foreign grads are also worth more than American veterans.

Police Misconduct NewsFeed Weekend Recap 07-23-11 to 07-24-11

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Injustice Everywhere

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  • Washington Twp PA police officer was arrested on homicide, conspiracy and possession of stolen goods charges after his father was arrested on homicide charges involving the stabbing death of a 92-year-old woman who lived next door to both of them. [0] http://bit.ly/oGarR7
  • Lee’s Summit MO settles a lawsuit for $15,500,000 to a man who was falsely convicted of child molestation by a cop who conspired with his ex-wife to convict him. [0] http://bit.ly/r2JTYu
  • Detroit MI city council approved $71k in multiple settlements to 5 men allegedly groped during illegal searches by “booty cops”. The council dragged it’s feet for months until a judge threatened to haul them into his court 60 miles away to explain what was taking so long to approve these settlements, some of which were recorded in our database last year. [0] http://bit.ly/oFoM0E
  • 2 Anderson County TN deputies accused of using excessive force on a repo man after a resident reported a suspected car prowler. [0] http://bit.ly/o2MNDi
  • San Francisco CA cops accused of excessive force & false arrest by man who was just found not guilty on several charges stemming from him telling an officer “fuck you” [3] http://cbsloc.al/nd7XAC
  • 13 East Baton Rouge Parish LA deputies demoted for pocketing expense money meant for cops helping w/extraditions [0] http://bit.ly/qZeNEx
  • Eden NC police detective resigns after his affair with an informant was discovered which potentially compromised several cases [0] http://bit.ly/oakOge
  • Nantucket MA police sgt charged w/drunk driving & may face weapons charge after he was accused of pulling two women over without cause while off duty. [0] http://bit.ly/oFLSGq
  • Reno NV police sergeant will supposedly be the first to face a new set of stricter discipline policies for off-duty crimes after his 2x limit DUI motorcycle crash [0] http://bit.ly/nCXMJj
  • Panama City Beach FL police officer on paid leave after arrested on off-duty drunk driving charges [0] http://bit.ly/nSatUw

The death of diversity


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Throughout history, nations have taken violent exception to being invaded by large masses of foreigners. The Canaanites did not take kindly to Israelite immigration into the Promised Land, nor did the Israelites later welcome the arrival of Philistine immigrants from the Aegean Sea. The Arabs, who immigrated to Palestine in the centuries that followed Hadrian's destruction of Judea after the Third Jewish War, are still actively resisting the return of the Jews to their ancient ancestral lands 63 years after the Israeli war of independence.

In Spain, the Reconquista took 770 years, from King Pelagius' defeat of the Umayyad Caliphate at the Battle of Covadinga in 722 to the last European sultan's capitulation to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492.

People value their cultures, their traditions, their religion, their land and their blood. They always have and they always will. The false mantras of the multiculturalists, which proclaim in Orwellian fashion that "diversity is strength," "the greater the diversity, the greater the perfection" and "my country is the world" do not become any more true with repetition. Social science has supported the long-standing verdict of history; Harvard's Robert Putnam was distressed to discover that "immigration and ethnic diversity have a devastating impact on social capital, the fabric of associations, trust and neighborliness that create and sustain communities."

In other words, diversity is socially and societally destructive. And yet, one so seldom sees that historically and scientifically established fact on bumper stickers or university advertisements.

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2nd Amendment GOA Alert

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Obama Nominates Anti-gun Activist to Country’s Second Most Important Court

In case you were thinking that Barack Obama’s hatred of the Second Amendment was subsiding, Obama has now nominated -- to the country’s second-highest court -- an avid leader in the effort to destroy firearms manufacturers using frivolous litigation.

The nomination of Caitlin Halligan -- formerly the solicitor general of New York -- to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals would put a rabid anti-gun activist in a position where she could do maximum damage to the Second Amendment.

As New York’s solicitor general, Halligan was one of the chief lawyers responsible for New York’s baseless and politically motivated efforts to bankrupt gun manufacturers using frivolous litigation. In so doing, Halligan proved that she places liberal political activism above fealty to the law.

Halligan’s public hatred for firearms was only matched by her zealotry inside the courtroom. In a speech on May 5, 2003, Halligan called for “handgun manufacturers [to be held] liable for criminal acts committed with handguns.”

Certainly, no other manufacturer of another item -- whether it be cars, baseball bats, or anything else -- would be held liable for the criminal misuse of its product. And, as Halligan well knows, the application of that principle to firearms would surely eliminate the manufacture of firearms in America.

It is also significant that a Washington-based anti-gun group openly took credit for coordinating anti-gun suits such as Halligan’s.

After attempts of legal extortion of the firearms industry were repudiated by a bipartisan vote in Congress, Halligan’s office signed a brief calling for New York courts to declare the federal Gun Makers’ Protection Act “unconstitutional” because it supposedly overstepped Congress’ powers.

This, at a time when Halligan would no doubt hold the anti-gun ObamaCare is constitutional because there are no effective limits on Congress’ powers.

Finally, Halligan, in written testimony submitted to the Senate in connection with her nomination, attempted to conceal the extent of her anti-gun animus.

Halligan’s failure to provide information that would clarify her statements, thus keeping her testimony from being misleading, constitutes “fraud” against the Senate. As such, the only role she should play in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is the role of a defendant.

We have to stop this Presidential court-packing scheme. But we don’t have much time -- the Senate could be voting on this anti-gun nominee this week!

ACTION: Contact your senators and urge them to vote against the Halligan nomination.

Click here to send your Senators a prewritten email message.

HALT Obama’s ‘Backdoor Amnesty’

The American people, North and South, went into the [Civil] war as citizens of their respective states, they came out as subjects … what they thus lost they have never got back.
-– H.L. Mencken
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As most Americans already know, our nation’s immigration laws have been poorly enforced for decades now. This has led to the current situation where the Obama administration, following suit with previous administrations, is so lenient with illegal immigrants that our nation’s immigration policy is moving closer and closer to being a true open borders policy that would permit unlimited immigration into the United States. However, under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, it should be Congress that determines our nation’s immigration policy, not the executive branch.

Legislative leaders of both parties have tried many times to get comprehensive immigration reform (read “amnesty”) legislation passed by Congress, but the grassroots pressure against amnesty has blocked passage. One of the best examples of this was the 2007 McCain-Kennedy-Bush amnesty bill that was dropped by the Senate after the public uproar against amnesty became too great to ignore.

Various amnesty bills have been introduced since, but they haven’t gained sufficient traction to be passed. Just this year seven Democratic Senators introduced a new amnesty bill, S. 1258, on June 22, but it’s not expected to be approved.

Ever since the rebuff of President Obama’s agenda by the voters in the 2010 congressional elections, we’ve been told that Obama would be looking more and more to making his impact via executive orders and other administrative regulations. On June 17 this prediction was fulfilled in the area of immigration policy when John Morton, Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency issued a memo with the subject: “Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities of the Agency for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens.” According to this memo:

"Because the agency is confronted with more administrative violations than its resources can address, the agency must regularly exercise "prosecutorial discretion" if it is to prioritize its efforts. In basic terms, prosecutorial discretion is the authority of an agency charged with enforcing a law to decide to what degree to enforce the law against a particular individual. ICE, like any other law enforcement agency, has prosecutorial discretion and may exercise it in the ordinary course of enforcement. When ICE favorably exercises prosecutorial discretion, it essentially decides not to assert the full scope of the enforcement authority available to the agency in a given case."

The memo goes on to list nineteen “Factors to Consider When Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion.” These factors include the illegal immigrant’s length of stay, circumstances of arrival, pursuit of education, and a whole laundry list of other reasons why ICE agents can decide against enforcing our nation’s immigration laws. In fact, after listing the nineteen factors, the memo goes on to say this list is not exhaustive, and that agents should always consider “prosecutorial discretion” on a case-by-case basis.

Some commentators are saying that this June 17 memo has made the DREAM Act amnesty bill, which Congress has not been able to pass, a federal law by executive branch fiat.

In response to the June 17 policy memo regarding “prosecutorial discretion,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has stated:

“Congress has defeated amnesty for illegal immigrants several times in recent years but this has not stopped President Obama from trying a backdoor amnesty. Over the course of the last year, the Obama administration has ignored the will of Congress and the American people by using executive branch authority to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S.”

On July 12 Smith introduced H.R. 2497, known as the Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation (HALT) Act in order to counter the administration’s “prosecutorial discretion” policy. According to The Texas Tribune, July 14: “This resolution would prohibit the government from canceling the removal of illegal immigrants, granting temporary protective status to any immigrant and granting parole or issuing deferred action (except in narrow circumstances).”

On July 18 Senator David Vitter (R-La.) introduced S. 1380, a Senate version of Smith’s HALT Act. So far, Smith has 24 cosponsors in the House and Vitter has two cosponsors in the Senate.

Send a pre-written, editable email message to your Representative and Senators in support of the HALT Act to stop Obama’s “backdoor amnesty” policy of “prosecutorial discretion.”

Thanks,

Your friends at The John Birch Society

Florida Liberty Summit 2011, August 19th-21st, Rosen Centre Hotel, Orlando, FL

Via Peter

















Invited Speakers

Ron Paul Rep. Ron Paul, is an American medical doctor and Republican U.S. Congressman for the 14th congressional district of Texas. Paul serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Financial Services, and is Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy, where he has been an outspoken critic of current American foreign and monetary policy.

Paul served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 until 1968, during the Vietnam War. He worked as an obstetrician and gynecologist in the 1960s and 1970s, delivering more than 4,000 babies, before entering politics in 1976.

Paul is the founder of the advocacy group Campaign for Liberty and his ideas have been expressed in numerous published articles and books, including Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom (2011), End The Fed (2009), The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008), Pillars of Prosperity (2008), A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship (2007), and The Case for Gold (1982).

Paul has been called the "intellectual godfather" of the Tea Party movement. According to University of Georgia political scientist Keith Poole, Paul had the most conservative voting record of any member of Congress since 1937. His son Rand Paul was elected to the United States Senate for Kentucky in 2011, making the elder Paul the first Representative in history to serve concurrently with his son (or daughter) in the Senate.


Sen. Rand Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party and aligns himself with the Tea Party movement. He is the son of Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas. Rand Paul is the first United States Senator in history to serve alongside a parent in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As founder and chairman of the anti-tax organization Kentucky Taxpayers United (KTU) since 1994, Paul regularly presents "taxpayers' friend" awards to state legislators. KTU sponsors the Taxpayer's Pledge of Americans for Tax Reform, encouraging politicians to pledge publicly to vote uniformly against tax raises.

Paul has been a practicing ophthalmologist in Bowling Green, Kentucky, since 1993, and established his own clinic in December 2007. As a member of the Bowling Green Noon Lions Club, Paul founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic to help provide eye surgery and exams for those who cannot afford to pay. In 1999 Paul founded the Non-profit organization National Board of Ophthalmology (NBO).

Paul has authored a book entitled The Tea Party Goes to Washington, released on February 22, 2011, which defends the Tea Party movement.


Doug Wead is a presidential historian, philanthropist and public speaker. He was Special Assistant to U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and is the author of more than thirty books that have collectively sold over 29 million copies, including the New York Times best-seller All the Presidents’ Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of the First Families. He has authored a sequel which examines the parenting of presidents of the United States, The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders.

In 1979, Doug Wead joined entertainer Pat Boone and Dan O’Neill in co-founding Mercy Corps and in the 1980s, he organized the Annual Charity Awards, now under the name International Charity Association. In 1979, Wead gave a speech titled “The Compassionate Conservative” at the annual Charity Awards Dinner, and tapes of the speech were later sold across the country at corporate seminars.

From 1984 to 2000, he served as an on-and-off adviser to both presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.

In March 2008, Wead helped create the website Religious Freedom In America, focusing on government threats to religious observance. He currently serves as president of Canyonville Christian Academy, a private boarding high school in southern Oregon.

Wead continues to speak around the world. He has spoken to audiences in 30 countries, including Russia, Poland, Hungary, France, Germany, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Brazil and across the United States.


Dudley W. Brown is a pro-gun lobbyist, as well as the founder and executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners based in Denver, Colorado. Brown's organization bills itself as a "no-compromise" pro-gun Second Amendment group. Dudley Brown is also the executive director of the National Association for Gun Rights, a group that serves as an umbrella coordinator for various state-level pro-gun organizations.

Brown is a 1989 graduate of Colorado State University, and founded the CSU College Republicans. After Brown’s 1989 graduation, he served as Northern Colorado Director for U.S. Senator Bill Armstrong. In 1990, when Armstrong retired, Brown became the Media Director for the Colorado House of Representatives

Brown currently resides in Northern Colorado. Brown is a weapons instructor and avid shooter, as well as a leader in Colorado's conservative movement.

In 1993, Brown became Legislative Director of the Firearms Coalition of Colorado and contract lobbyist for the Colorado State Shooting Association (the NRA state affiliate). In 1996 Brown founded Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a no-compromise gun rights lobby concentrating on Colorado, which operates independently of other gun rights organizations. He is the only professional lobbyist to endure the 9-year battle for a "shall issue" concealed carry law in Colorado.

Dudley Brown's lobbying activities have focused on influencing the Colorado Legislature, both in opposing new gun legislation such as that proposed in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre, and supporting specific legislation to relax concealed carry regulations. Brown often criticizes the National Rifle Association as being soft on gun control.

Brown is well known for involving his organization in bitter Republican primary elections at the state and local levels.


Philip Giraldi is a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer who served 19 years overseas in Turkey, Italy, Germany, and Spain. He was Chief of Base in Barcelona from 1989 to 1992, was designated as senior Agency officer for support at the Olympic Games, and served as official liaison to the Spanish Security and Intelligence services. He has been designated by the General Accountability Office as an expert on the impact of illegal immigration on terrorism.

Giraldi is now the Francis Walsinham Fellow at The American Conservative Defense Alliance and provides security consulting for a number of Fortune 500 corporate clients. As a counter-terrorism expert, he has assisted multinational corporation in the upgrad of their secufity at overseas sites to help them comply with the Patriot Act. He was one of the first American civilians to travel to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, was brought in for consultation by the Port Authority of the City of New York in its planning, has assisted the United Nations security organization, and has helped develop a security training program for the United States Merchant Marine.

He has written op-ed pieces for the Hearst Newspaper chain, is a columnist for AntiWar.com, and a contributing editor to American Conservative magazine. His media appearances include Good Morning America, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, FOX News, Polish National Television, al-Jazeera, and 60 Minutes. Phil was awarded an MA and PhD from the University of London in European History, and speaks Spanish, Italian, German, and Turkish.


Dr. Yuri Maltsev is a college professor, author and world-renowned speaker. Professor of Economics in Wisconsin, and has held various government and research positions in Moscow, Russia.

Before defecting to the U.S. in 1989, he was a member of a senior economics team that worked on President Gorbachev's reforms package of perestroika.

Before settling in the Midwest, he was a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, a federal research agency. His work involved briefing members of Congress and senior officials at the executive branch on issues of national security and foreign economic and military assessment.

Dr. Maltsev may be the only person to have briefed senior leaders on both sides during the last stages of the Cold War. He also testified before the U.S. Congress and appeared on CNN, PBS NewsHour, C-Span, CBC and other American, Canadian, Spanish, and Finnish television and radio programs. He has authored five books and over a hundred articles.

Dr. Maltsev has built a reputation for accurately identifying the right economic trends and political developments. His unique and broad experiences establish him as a primary source of information on the opportunities and risks created by the demise of the Soviet Union.


Thomas E. "Tom" Woods, Jr. is an American historian, economist, political analyst, and New York Times-bestselling author. He has written extensively on the subjects of American economic history, contemporary politics, and economic theory. Woods is considered a libertarian and is a proponent of the Austrian school of economics.

He is the author of eleven books, most recently Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse and Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century. His other books include the New York Times bestsellers Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse and The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, as well as Who Killed the Constitution? The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush (with Kevin R.C. Gutzman), Sacred Then and Sacred Now: The Return of the Old Latin Mass, 33 Questions About American History You’re Not Supposed to Ask, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, and The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy. His critically acclaimed 2004 book The Church Confronts Modernity was recently released in paperback by Columbia University Press. Woods’ books have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Polish, French, German, Czech, Portuguese, Croatian, Slovak, Russian, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

Woods is a convert to the Roman Catholic Church. He was associate editor of The Latin Mass Magazine, which advocates traditional Catholicism, for eleven years. As a traditional Catholic, he advocates the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and cultural conservatism. His 2005 book, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, was the basis for The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization, a thirteen-episode television series which aired on EWTN in 2008. The series examined the Church's influence on law, morality, science, and scholarship.


Thomas DiLorenzo is an American economics professor at Loyola University Maryland. He is an adherent of the Austrian School of Economics. He is a senior faculty member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and an associated scholar of the Abbeville Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Virginia Tech.

DiLorenzo has devoted much effort to scholarly historical revisionism, focusing on what has been called "the Lincoln Cult” as a political and historical phenomenon. In the same vein, he has spoken out in favor of the secession of the Confederate States of America, defending the right of these states to secede in a view similar to that of abolitionist Lysander Spooner. He has also criticized the crediting of the New Deal for ending the Great Depression.

DiLorenzo lectures widely, and is a frequent speaker at Mises Institute events.

DiLorenzo has authored at least ten books, including:

  • Hamilton's Curse: How Jefferson's Arch Enemy Betrayed the American Revolution – and What It Means for Americans Today (2008)
  • Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed To Know about Dishonest Abe (2006)
  • How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, From the Pilgrims to the Present (2004)
  • The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War (2003)
  • From Pathology to Politics: Public Health in America (2000)
  • The Food and Drink Police: America's Nannies, Busybodies, and Petty Tyrants (1998)
  • CancerScam: The Diversion of Federal Cancer Funds for Politics (1997)

Bruce Fein is a graduate of Harvard Law School. As a lawyer in the United States , he specializes in constitutional and international law. Fein has written numerous articles on constitutional issues for The Washington Times, Slate.com, The New York Times, Legal Times, and is active on the issues of civil liberties. He has also worked for the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, both conservative think tanks, as an analyst and commentator.

Fein was a top Justice Department official under the Reagan administration. Under President Ronald Reagan, Fein served as an associate deputy attorney general from 1981 to 1982 and as general counsel to the Federal Communications Commission. In 1987, he served as the minority (minority party) research director of the committee in the United States House of Representatives that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair. He recently served on the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Presidential signing statements.

In March 2007, he founded the American Freedom Agenda with Bob Barr, David Keene and Richard Viguerie. Notable published writings by Fein include articles advocating the impeachment of former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney.

He is frequently quoted in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, and other major national publications. He has been featured on the cover of the American Bar Association Journal, the legal profession’s most prestigious publication. He is a regular guest at the BBC, C-SPAN, CNN, Reuters, MSNBC, and NPR. He is invited to testify regularly before Congress and administrative agencies by both Democrats and Republicans.

He has authored several volumes on the United States Supreme Court, the United States Constitution, and international law. He has assisted three dozen countries in constitutional revision, including Russia, Spain, South Africa, Iraq, Cyprus, and Mozambique, and consulted foreign nations on matters ranging from telecommunications and cable regulation to sugar quotas, oil and gas pipelines, immigration, election laws, and human rights.


Lew Rockwell is an American libertarian political commentator, activist, proponent of the Austrian School of economics, and chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Rockwell served as Ron Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982. He has maintained a working relationship with Paul over the years.

In 1982, Rockwell founded the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama and was its president until the summer of 2009, when he transitioned to the position of Chairman of the Board. He also is Vice President of the Center for Libertarian Studies in Burlingame, California and publisher of the political weblog LewRockwell.com.

The Mises Institute published Rockwell's Speaking of Liberty, an anthology of editorials which were originally published on his website, along with transcripts from some of his speaking engagements. Rockwell and the Ludwig von Mises Institute together publish the Journal of Libertarian Studies.


Tom Mullen is a writer, musician, and business consultant. Tom is originally a native of Buffalo, NY and graduate of Canisius College. He earned a Master’s Degree in English from State University of New York College at Buffalo. He now resides with his family in Tampa, FL.

In January 2009, he published his first book, A Return to Common Sense: Reawakening Liberty in the Inhabitants of America. Tom was the opening speaker at the Revolution March in Washington, D.C. in 2008 (keynote speaker Ron Paul). He has been a featured speaker at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum, Campaign for Liberty, Florida Liberty Summit, and numerous campus and community-based organizations.

Tom has made appearances on Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano on Fox News and RT’s Adam vs. the Man. Tom’s writing has been featured on some of the most popular libertarian websites in the world, including LewRockwell.com, 321Gold! and Campaign for Liberty.

During the 1990’s, Tom was lead singer, guitarist, and principle songwriter for The Skeptics, an alternative powerpop band that played for audiences all over the U.S., including opening shows for national acts including 10,000 Maniacs. Tom has appeared twice on A.M. Buffalo with The Skeptics, and was also featured on Buffalo’s local music television broadcast, Nickel City Scene.

In 2007, Tom released his first solo CD, A Glimpse of the Ether, containing 13 original compositions. Tom’s style has been described as “Powerpop with a hint of modern rock.”


Sheriff Richard Mack is an author, speaker, a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and former sheriff who served two terms until 1997. He was named Elected Official of the Year by the Arizona-New Mexico Coalition of Counties in 1994, received the NRA Law Officer of the Year, inducted into the NRA Hall of Fame, 1995 Cicero Award, Samuel Adams Leadership Award from the Local Sovereignty Coalition, and Gun Owners of America Defender of the Second Amendment Award.

During his tenure, federal officers informed the sheriffs of the state that they would be required to enforce the so-called "Brady Bill" and run background checks at their expense under the law. In 1994, Mack and six other sheriffs from across the country, challenged the constitutionality of the Brady Bill and ultimately, fought it all the way to the United States Supreme Court, where they won a monumental decision for freedom.

Three years later, in a landmark 5-4 split decision based on the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Mack won his case.

Mack has been a consultant on numerous cases regarding police abuse, brutality, and other misconduct by public officials. He has joined with other members of the law enforcement community to speak out in favor of drug policy reform. During the past two years Sheriff Mack has been a speaker at more than 70 different Tea Party rallies all across the country, ranging all the way from Honolulu to Bangor, Maine. Mack has supported this noble movement, because it is both effective and peaceful.


Sen. Carey Baker was 18 years old when he joined the family business, the A.W. Peterson Gun Shop. The A.W. Peterson Gun Shop is the oldest gun shop in the United States, and has been owned and operated by the Baker family for over 50 years.

In addition to joining the family business at 18, Baker also joined the Army National Guard. He is still an active member, having served over 28 years and having attained the rank of First Sergeant. In 2003, while a Member of the Florida House of Representatives, Baker was deployed to combat missions in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was the first state or federal elected official to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom while in office. His colleagues tied a yellow ribbon around Baker’s chair which remained in place until his safe return.

Carey Baker successfully ran for the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 and was reelected in 2002. In 2004, Baker won a special election for the 20th district seat in the Florida Senate. He was re-elected to full terms in 2006 and 2008.

Senator Baker was the Senate Sponsor of the Florida Health Care Freedom Act (which will be on the 2012 ballot as a possible constitutional amendment), the Florida Firearms Freedom Act and the 10th Amendment Resolution. These bills are Senator Baker’s response to encroaching federal influence in state policy

In November 2008, Senator Baker announced his candidacy for Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. However, citing a lack of funds, he dropped out in February 2010 and decided not to run for his current seat again.

Baker is currently a consultant and confidant to Senate President Mike Haridopolis.


Rep. Scott Plakon is a Longwood, Florida CEO and publisher. He is a Republican politician who serves as the representative for District 37 of the House of Representatives of the State of Florida. He was first elected to the Florida House in 2008. He was re-elected in 2010 without any opposition.

Representative Plakon was the House Sponsor of the Florida Health Care Freedom Act (which will be on the 2012 ballot as a possible constitutional amendment), the Florida Firearms Freedom Act and the 10th Amendment Resolution. These bills are Representative Plakon's response to encroaching federal influence in state policy.

Scott Plakon is a dedicated husband and father as well as a well regarded local businessman. After his first foray into publishing, he joined a local firm and had a successful career in the securities industry. He later served as chief operating officer at another publishing company and in early 1996, after only 3 years, that Central Florida Company started to trade on the NASDAQ National Stock Market.

Scott Plakon believes that we all have a responsibility to give of our gifts, talents and resources to help others that may be in need. Scott serves as the Vice Chairman of the Sanford Rescue Outreach Mission and the Open Door Shelter for Women and Children, one of the few places of refuge for the homeless and hungry in Seminole County.

Scott also serves as a founding board member of the Safe Harbor Pregnancy Center, which counsels pregnant women and helps those who have chosen to give birth to their babies be prepared for their new lives as mothers.


Sen. Greg Evers is a farmer and a small businessman from Northwest Florida who currently serves Florida Senate District 2. He was elected to the Florida Senate in 2010. Greg was previously elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2001 to represent Florida House District 1 and was subsequently re-elected.

As a Representative, Greg has put his experience in agriculture and business to good use in the Florida Legislature and is proud of his legislative accomplishments on behalf of Florida's critical agriculture industry, economic development, job creation and Second Amendment issues.

Evers has sponsored and passed legislation enabling Florida farmers to transport their farm equipment from field to field without the burden of additional government permits or fees; legislation creating tax incentives that enabled the Jay Oil Field to reopen, restoring numerous Northwest Florida jobs; and legislation protecting the right of law-abiding citizens in Florida to have legal firearms secured in their automobiles in public parking lots.

Greg followed in the footsteps of his parents with farming, taking over his parents' business, Baker Farm Center. He continues to operate Baker Farm Center and his farming has grown to include peanuts, soybeans, cotton, wheat and strawberries.

Evers has been a strong proponent of Second Amendment issues, the Intrastate Commerce Act, and Tenth Amendment issues.



Jack Hunter began his punditry career in the late 1990’s when a friend and popular alternative rock disc jockey agreed to let Jack air his political views during the afternoon drive on 96 Wave (96.1 WAVF) in Charleston, South Carolina.

Creating the moniker the “Southern Avenger,” which was borrowed from popular 90’s conservative talk radio host Ken “The Black Avenger” Hamblin, Jack assumed an anonymous super hero/ pro-wrestler persona, and entertained FM rock audiences with his antics and conservative political views until his departure from 96 Wave in 2007.

In 2007, Jack began working for WTMA 1250 AM talk radio in Charleston and began writing a column for the Charleston City Paper, that city’s premiere alternative weekly. Jack also began producing his popular video podcasts around this time, and today his You Tube Channel has received over two million views. Today, you can find Jack’s videos and columns as part of “TAC TV” at The American Conservative magazine.

Jack is a frequent guest host for The Mike Church Show on Sirius/XM’s Patriot channel and is a frequent guest on “The Savage Nation” with nationally syndicated talk radio host Michael Savage. His writing has appeared at The American Spectator, Lewrockwell.com, CampaignforLiberty.com and in Young American Revolution, the official magazine of the youth activist organization Young Americans for Liberty, to which he is also a contributing editor. Jack also assisted Sen. Rand Paul with his book The Tea Party Goes to Washington, released by Center Street in February, 2011.


Michael Boldin is the founder and executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center. Michael has a full schedule working as senior editor of the Center’s website, writes a regular column, fields media interviews, and travels the country (when invited, of course) to speak to crowds about sticking to the Constitution – every issue, every time, no exceptions, no excuses.

While media and activists alike seemingly want to pigeonhole him into a political category, his viewpoints and positions defy the standard categories and political parties. As he often says in his speeches, “I’m no conservative, and I’m no liberal. I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. And I’m not a green or a libertarian, or a socialist or an anarchist. I’m not even an independent. All I am is me. And all I want is to live free.” Michael lives in the belly of the beast in Los Angeles, California.