Tom

New Hampshire resident. Patriot. Proud to live in a state and country with Constitutions like ours. Disgusted how our governments ignore them. I am determined to help correct that.

Did they really say “Lifestyle Behavior Modification”?

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File this under "Dear Leader" syndrome…

President Obama took one step further away from the traditional role of a US President, and one step towards "Dear Leader", dictatorial status, when he signed the following Executive Order on June 10, 2010.

Under the authority of the unconstitutional "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" of March 23, 2010 (aka "Obamacare"), this order establishes the "National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council".  No budget, no benefits, and no rights are directly involved, so no Congressional involement is required either.

Yeah, right.  No problem.

I’m sure the Whitehouse was waiting for a credible crisis to occur before releasing this order.  I guess that was this week.

This looks like a passive, semi-stealthy, advanced party setup for a future "National Healthcare Personal Benefits Evaluation" process (my name) – a program that I’m sure Progressive Healthcare authors deem to be necessary, as a foundation, once their widespread National Healthcare goes into effect in a few years, if not repealed first.

It smacks of "let us take care of you, little, helpless people, for we are smart, and know better what you need to be healthy".  The audacity of this administration never ceases to amaze me.

 

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Can Charlie be “Energy Independent”?

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I recently read an article claiming that "biomass" energy will produce more greenhouse gasses than coal over the next 40 years.

Basically, biomass energy is the process of harvesting, then burning/incinerating wood and other plant (sometimes animal) products.  In addition to wood, the biomass plant category includes corn, hemp, and sugarcane.  The act of harvesting can include using construction debris, collecting waste or fallen trees, or by cutting live trees.

Massachusetts, under Governor Deval Patrick, recently invested $1M into the development of four new wood-burning plants in their State, but has decided to rethink their position based on this study, which was prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.  The department has opened the study for comments, and plans to conduct hearings this July.
 
Click References to this study can be found in numerous articles: Here, and here

Now, I’ve listened to Charlie Bass speak a number of times.  Each time, he’s touted the fact that he’s been successful in the renewable, "biomass" energy business for a while.  Charlie has used his time and experience in the biomass industry, since losing to Paul Hodes in 2006, as a badge of honor.  Charlie is a board member for 2 renewable energy companies.
 
He has claimed that biomass can help us "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" (it could make a small dent, at the expense of cutting a lot of trees), is renewable (only if cut-based harvesting is followed by replanting), and is clean.  Well, according to this study, it may not be as clean as we thought, and is certainly not "carbon-neutral".
 
I recently asked Charlie whether he’ll resign from the boards of these companies (one makes wood-pellets, the other builds biomass plants), or recuse himself from all energy policy activity in Congress, should he be elected in November.  His response was that he will "resign from the boards".

However, my big question is…

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Federalism: The Founders’ Formula for Freedom

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Great article by Rep Rob Bishop (R-UT), passed on to me, that takes only 5 minutes to read.
Federalism – "A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units."

Inside the House chamber in Washington D.C., the upper wall is surrounded by the cameos of all the world’s great lawgivers. Moses, as the greatest lawgiver, is the only one with a full face. The others are all side views. The only Americans included are Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, and, ironically, neither signed the Constitution. Mason was actually one of three men who stayed for the entire Constitutional Convention and then refused his assent to the finished product.

When I taught high school, I insisted my kids know why Mason refused to sign. He objected to the document because it did not contain a Bill of Rights. I always hoped, in vain, that some bright student would ask the more pertinent question. The better question would have been not why Mason refused to sign, but why such patriots as Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Dickinson, Wilson, etc., objected to Mason’s request?

Federalism: Structured Freedom

While George Mason insisted on a written list of prohibited practices (a Bill of Rights) to protect citizens, the rest of the Constitutional Convention chose the structural concept of federalism and separation of powers as the means to ensure citizens’ liberty was protected.

The U.S. style of federalism and balance of power were two complementary strands of power separation—one horizontal and one vertical. The purpose of both horizontal and vertical power balance was to protect individual liberty, the goal the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Constitution. They believed the only way to preserve individual liberty was to check government power. Each branch would check the other branch of the new national government. However, since a national government might not check itself, the national government must also be checked by the states. The 50 states were to be a counterbalance to the national government.

Federalism/separation of powers was the vehicle designed to protect people. Madison, in Federalist 45, envisioned how the vertical separation of powers (federalism) was to operate. He wrote, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution …are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite….The Powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which…concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people…”

While largely a new political concept, American-style federalism had roots in the Old Testament. Moses developed the concept of federalism in Exodus 18:13-26. As Moses worked to exhaustion dealing with all the issues brought by the children of Israel,…

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A Letter to Susan Almy – NH House Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee

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Ms. Susan AlmyChairperson, House Ways and Means Committee I read in a newspaper that your committee voted to collect $85M through seven different taxes so that the cuts proposed by Gov. Lynch to the state budget need not take place.  The paper also reported that the revenues were running low in April. It appears that … Read more

“Washington is unpredictable these days….the uncertainty of the business climate in America, is frightening…and is delaying recovery”

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Check out this short video, which aired on CNBC, May 28th.   "Washington is unpredictable these days….the uncertainty of the business climate in America, is frightening…and is delaying recovery"   Steve Wynn, the "King" of Las Vegas, rebuilt much of the strip and built many new resorts, such as Bellagio, Wynn, Mirage, and Treasure Island.  Wynn … Read more

“A Stranger in Our Midst”

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Recieved the following by email:

If you don’t read anything else today please read the essay below by Robert Weissberg, Professor of Political Science – Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana.  It offers by far the most accurate description of what most Americans are feeling but haven’t been able to put their finger on it. Part of the problem is the fact that it’s far easier to stir up a mob with a platform of lies if the audience is both under informed and filled with a sense of entitled. Combined with the participation of the media and you have a prescription for what we have witnessed over the last two years. We must not allow any of our fellow patriots to remain in the dark. I hope you will forward this to everyone you know. It is critical ammunition in the fight to retain our individual freedom.

From American Thinker:

A Stranger in Our Midst

As the Obama administration enters its second year, I — and undoubtedly millions of others — have struggled to develop a shorthand term that captures our emotional unease. Defining this discomfort is tricky. I reject nearly the entire Obama agenda, but the term "being opposed" lacks an emotional punch. Nor do terms like "worried" or "anxious" apply. I was more worried about America’s future during the Johnson or Carter years, so it’s not that dictionary, either. Nor, for that matter, is this about backroom odious deal-making and pork, which are endemic in American politics.

After auditioning countless political terms, I finally realized that the Obama administration and its congressional collaborators almost resemble a foreign occupying force, a coterie of politically and culturally non-indigenous leaders whose rule contravenes local values rooted in our national tradition. It is as if the United States has been occupied by a foreign power, and this transcends policy objections. It is not about Obama’s birthplace. It is not about race, either; millions of white Americans have had black mayors and black governors, and this unease about out-of-synch values never surfaced.

The term I settled on is "alien rule" — based on outsider values, regardless of policy benefits — that generates agitation…

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With the NH Legislature being called into special session by Gov Lynch for failure to handle the budget properly….

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I’ve heard many times about the "38 new taxes and fees" that were instituted by our Legislature in Concord last year, but I didn’t have the facts in front of me.  I decided to do some research, and to pass it along.  This may be especially helpful to Conservative candidates when going door-to-door, or making statements, explaining to voters why a change in Concord is necessary this November.
 
Using the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy study  (July, 2009, link below), I produced an extract spreadsheet of the taxes and fees that were passed for the following budget years: 2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2009 (up to June 30, 2009).  This spreadsheet is attached.
 
I also extracted some of the significant and revealing statements from the study (shown below).  I suggest you read the full study to get the complete picture.

If you are a candidate, you would be well-served to get to know the folks at the CNHT.
 
Tom
New Hampshire 9.12 Liberty Action Team

*****

…"So far this year, the legislature has passed 38 new or increased taxes and fees that are budgeted to raise $318.6 million over two years. For historical comparisons, there were 29 new taxes and fees passed in the previous two years. In previous legislative sessions, the low has been 9 in 2003-4 with 20 in both 2001-2 and 2005-6. The majority of tax and fee increases have been passed separately from the budget itself."…

…"A study of the total number of tax and fee increases over the last decade shows a consistently high number with the exception of the 2003-2004 legislature.  However, the current total for this legislature at 38 is nearly double the 19.5 average of the last four budgets."…

"The largest taxes and the fees that are being used to raise money for new spending tend to be part of the budget process. Many more fees are added on after the budget or in stand alone bills. In the previous four budget cycles, 30 taxes and fees were added as part of the budget and an additional 48 occurred as stand alone bills, many of them in the second year of the legislature. So far this year, 35 have been part of the budget and 3 as stand alone bills. History suggests more fees will be enacted in the next 12 months."

Basically, most of these new taxes and fees are being used to pay for shortfalls in the budget, due to excessive spending, not for increases in the cost of doing business or regulating – spending must be reduced)

…"The exact difference between a tax and fee is something of a judgment call. In general a Tax…

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Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith Congressman Steve King…

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Conservative Congressman Steve King (R-IA) took part in a whirlwind tour of New Hampshire yesterday, speaking with and endorsing Jennifer Horn for Congress in our 2nd district. For those who couldn’t make it, you really missed a spectacular Statesman talking about our government’s issues, and his plans to reverse them  (there may eventually be some … Read more

Impressions on the Rochester 9/12 US Senatorial Debate (Republican) held last night

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Luckily, I was able to attend the Senate Candidate debate last night in Rochester. I watched last week’s NHIOP "debate" (online) but heard that the Rochester event might be more of a true debate, where candidates actually engage each other. Well, it didn’t exactly go that way, but it was better than the ‘infommerical" that … Read more

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