What Obama won’t cut: Calligraphers, 77,000 empty buildings, junkets, and robot squirrels.
What Obama won’t cut: Calligraphers, 77,000 empty buildings, junkets, and robot squirrels.
Tag: freedom
“A lot of what we do is make believe.”
From a former TSA screener: “A lot of what we do is make believe.”
Read the whole thing. It will give you a touch of reality. Everything the TSA does is an abomination to freedom and common sense.
The Federal Reserve reports that Obamacare is causing layoffs and a slowdown in hiring.
Surprise, surprise! The Federal Reserve reports that Obamacare is causing layoffs and a slowdown in hiring.
Some US communities are trying to make gun ownership mandatory.
This is wrong too: Some US communities are trying to make gun ownership mandatory.
As much as I think gun ownership and personal defense a good idea, forcing people to do it is just as bad as denying them that right. In each case it is an act of tyranny, using the power of government to impose the will of the majority on everyone, even those who disagree. Nor does it satisfy that some of these local laws allow for an exemption from gun ownership because of religious or personal beliefs. The use of the law to force people to do things is still wrong, no matter what the cause.
The frightening thing to me is the trend. Everyone, from both sides, seems eager to use the law to solve every problem, when the law is probably the worse tool for solving any problem you could possibly imagine. All it ends up doing is robbing everyone of freedom and their fundamental rights to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.
The TSA issued security badges to at least eleven airport employees with criminal backgrounds.
Does this make you feel safer? The TSA issued security badges to at least eleven airport employees with criminal backgrounds.
According to a Feb. 22 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the TSA’s mishandling of the program caused a backlog of security badges that had yet to be issued. As a result, the TSA permitted airports to issue security badges to employees without conducting federally required background checks between April 20 and June 1 of 2012. The OIG concluded that there still may be individuals with criminal records who are working in secured areas of airports.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the Obama administration does not have the right to search or seize a person’s electronic devices when they cross the border.
Good news: A federal appeals court has ruled that the Obama administration does not have the right to search or seize a person’s electronic devices when they cross the border.
The [Department of Homeland Security’s] civil rights watchdog, for example, last month reaffirmed the Obama administration’s position that travelers along the nation’s borders may have their electronics seized and the contents of those devices examined for any reason whatsoever — all in the name of national security.
The San Francisco-based appeals court, ruling 8-3, said that view was too extreme. Under the ruling, border agents may undertake a search of a gadget’s content on a whim, just like they could with a suitcase or a vehicle. However, a deeper forensic analysis using software to decrypt password protected files or to locate deleted files now requires “reasonable suspicion” that criminal activity is afoot. The court left rules intact that a “manual review of files on an electronic device” may be undertaken without justification. [emphasis mine]
Why is it that I sometimes get the feeling that this administration does not know how to read? They certainly seem all too often completely unfamiliar with the Constitution.
The TSA screeners at Newark Airport allowed a federal agent with a fake bomb to pass through security.
Does this make you feel safer? The TSA screeners at Newark Airport allowed a federal agent with a fake bomb to pass through security.
This covert test of security only proves once again how pointless the whole TSA charade is. Get rid of it. If we simply let the pilots and passengers be armed so they can defend themselves, which was the way we did things until the early 1960s, the chances of a repeat of 9/11 will be considerably less, and we would all have considerably more freedom.
Which is what this country is supposed to stand for, y’know.
Rand Paul’s proposed non-binding resolution on the use of drones that the Senate Democrats refuse to bring to a vote.
Rand Paul’s proposed non-binding resolution on the use of drones that the Senate Democrats refuse to bring to a vote.
Read it and I dare you to tell me that the Democrats still believe in civil rights and the Constitution.
The great ammunition myth.
As much as I and many others feel it is important to question, challenge, and be suspicious of government power, we mustn’t let those fears cloud our judgement. This article outlines some truths about the government’s purchase of ammo that will dissipate some of those fears.
An email from the Obama administration confirms their effort to make the sequester cuts as painful as possible, even if it isn’t necessary.
Irresponsible: An email from the Obama administration confirms their effort to make the sequester cuts as painful as possible, even if it isn’t necessary.
The CEO of a major health insurance company warned that rates will likely go up 20% to 100% next year because of Obamacare
Finding out what’s in it: The CEO of a major health insurance company warned that rates will likely go up 20% to 100% next year because of Obamacare.
“Investigate them.”
Stating the obvious to the press: “Investigate them.”
A new poll finds that support for Obamacare continues to drop.
Finding out what’s in it: A new poll finds that support for Obamacare continues to drop.
Republican John Boehner, Speaker of the House, agrees to consider any gun control bill passed by the Senate.
With friends like this, who needs enemies? Republican John Boehner, Speaker of the House, agrees to consider any gun control bill passed by the Senate.
Homeland Security has purchased almost 3000 armored vehicles and has had them retrofitted for use on the American streets.
Why do they need them? Homeland Security has purchased almost 3000 armored vehicles and has had them retrofitted for use on the American streets.
Another chance at killing Obamacare in the Supreme Court?
Another chance at killing Obamacare in the Supreme Court?
The sequester in one chart.
We are doomed, but not because of the sequester, but because of how meaningless it is compared to the scale of the debt.
The censoring of Google maps, by Google and governments.
The censoring of Google maps, by Google and governments.
This is a complex issue, described in great detail by the article. Very much worth reading.
The boycott by gun and ammo manufacturers of anti-gun states has now grown to over 100.
Pushback: The boycott by gun and ammo manufacturers of anti-gun states has now grown to over 100.
Hail Armageddon
The Obama administration has every incentive to make the sky fall, lest we suffer that terrible calamity — cuts the nation survives. Are they threatening to pare back consultants, conferences, travel and other nonessential fluff? Hardly. It shall be air-traffic control. Meat inspection. Weather forecasting.
A 2011 Government Accountability Office report gave a sampling of the vastness of what could be cut, consolidated and rationalized in Washington: 44 overlapping job training programs, 18 for nutrition assistance, 82 (!) on teacher quality, 56 dealing with financial literacy, more than 20 for homelessness, etc. Total annual cost: $100 billion-$200 billion, about two to five times the entire domestic sequester.
Are these on the chopping block? No sir. It’s firemen first. That’s the phrase coined in 1976 by legendary Washington Monthly editor Charlie Peters to describe the way government functionaries beat back budget cuts. Dare suggest a nick in the city budget, and the mayor immediately shuts down the firehouse. The DMV back office, stacked with nepotistic incompetents, remains intact. Shrink it and no one would notice. Sell the firetruck — the people scream and the city council falls silent about any future cuts.
After all, the sequester is just one-half of 1 percent of GDP. It amounts to 1.4 cents on the dollar of nondefense spending, 2 cents overall.
The only reason sequestration will cause a shut down of government services will because Barack Obama and his administration choose to do so. Keep that in mind if you discover that lines at the airport have suddenly grow to hours.