Category: Domestic Policy

A Historical Take on the New Gun Debate


It seems that every time some nut goes on a shooting spree, politicians crank up the tried-and-true gun control argument.  The recent Colorado killings gave liberals yet more ammunition (pardon the pun) to threaten our sacred gun rights.

What many politicians seem to have forgotten, if they ever knew to start with, is that our rights come from Almighty God; the government never bestowed them upon us.  Therefore, the government can never take them away.  Those that do are nothing more than tyrants, pure and simple.

The concept of natural rights was so important that the Anti-Federalists insisted, upon ratifying the new Constitution, that a Bill of Rights be included.  The Second Amendment is quite clear:   “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Continue reading “A Historical Take on the New Gun Debate” →

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Drought 1887 versus Drought 2012: A Lesson from Grover Cleveland


Droughts periodically strike the United States and this year is no different, as a severe calamity has affected at least half the country, the worst, at least so far, since 1956.  The House of Representatives recently passed a one-year relief bill, yet the Senate adjourned for August recess without acting on it.  Senate Democrats have already passed a massive agriculture bill that totals nearly $1 trillion over a decade and want the House to do likewise.

So the question is not if there will be relief, but only how much relief will be doled out from Washington.  It wasn’t always this way.  During the late 1880’s, a severe drought struck Texas.  Congress, growing with progressive-minded members, sought to help, since no organization like the notoriously inept, incompetent, and corrupt FEMA existed in those days. Continue reading “Drought 1887 versus Drought 2012: A Lesson from Grover Cleveland” →

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The Impending Police State


“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1755, “deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  We don’t deserve either, he felt, because we will have neither.

Americans today seem to be doing just that, giving up our cherished rights as free men and women, with little resistance, in order to live in a promised state of security, protected from domestic criminals and international terrorists.  But are we really safe?  And are we still free? Continue reading “The Impending Police State” →

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The Dangers of a Cashless Society


Many conservatives and civil libertarians erroneously believed that the implementation of the ObamaCare bill would be the final nail in the coffin of a free society, which is why President Obama spent a full year trying so hard to implement it.  But I respectfully disagree.  Though it is part of the same big government scheme, the creation of a cashless society will be the endgame.  And the movement toward it has already begun.

In March, the government of Sweden announced that it would be moving toward establishing a cashless economy.  Other nations are examining the possibility of using new ways to rid their society of cash, as well as to identify and keep track of its citizens.

Biometric ID devices, or biometric authentication, can identify a human by specific characteristics and traits – fingerprints, iris scans, vein scans, DNA, voice recognition, facial recognition, and even behavior analysis.  These technologies presently exist and are being perfected every year.

The populous nation of India, with 1.25 billion people, announced recently that they were forming a biometric ID program for all Indian citizens.  Each person will be given a unique identification number that will be tied to biometric data, using the prints of all ten fingers, scans of the iris in both eyes, and facial photographs.

In this country, we are beginning to see an increased discussion about the usefulness of a cashless economy backed up with a biometric ID system.  But to impose it, the government must convince us of its benefits.  What reasons might our government have for moving us in the direction of Sweden and India in the future? Continue reading “The Dangers of a Cashless Society” →

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When Tyranny Comes to Main Street


“Which is better,” Boston clergyman Mather Byles is reputed to have asked, “to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away, or by three thousand tyrants not a mile away?”

Many loyalists and fence sitters during the very early days of the American Revolution pondered that very point.  It did not mean they were in love with George III by any stretch of the imagination but only that they were just as wary of homegrown despots.

In our present predicament, it seems we have both – a tyrant in the White House and a multitude just down the road in our local courthouses.  We must ever be mindful that local governments can oppress the rights of citizens just as effectively as Washington, DC. Continue reading “When Tyranny Comes to Main Street” →

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The FDA’s War on Health Choice


In 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act into law, which eventually led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a new regulatory agency that would ensure that the American people would consume only the best food and pharmaceuticals.

To conservatives who distrust government power, liberals are fond of asking, “Why oppose such a benevolent government program?” But if you understand the nature of government, as true conservatives do, then you realize that such a venture could eventually evolve into an instrument of tyranny.

According to recent reports, the Obama Administration is now using the FDA to ensure that “we the children” only choose the foods and medical treatments that our government parents approve of, and they are using the most vicious tactics to see to it that you obey. Continue reading “The FDA’s War on Health Choice” →

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Independence Forever!


On a warm summer afternoon, June 30, 1826, nearly fifty years to the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a small, informal delegation led by the Reverend George Whitney paid a visit to 90 year-old John Adams in his Quincy, Massachusetts home.  In four days the town would celebrate half a century of freedom from British rule.

Though the Founding Father was very old and feeble, and certainly unable to attend the ceremony, the delegation sought from him a toast to be read on his behalf.  Seated in his library, the former President gave them a simple phrase, “Independence forever!”  Astounded, the visitors asked if he might like to add something to his meager statement, to which Adams replied, “Not a word.”

What President Adams understood, that his visitors obviously did not, was that his toast was far from simple; it was a powerful declaration of American sovereignty.  Such a treasure was priceless and Adams had lived through the entire struggle to gain it.  He desired nothing more than to see the United States of America, a free and independent nation, endure throughout the ages. Continue reading “Independence Forever!” →

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The Return of Sedition


“The whole aim of practical politics,” wrote famed journalist H. L. Mencken, “is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Truer words were never spoken, which begs important questions:  Will our “War on Terror” ever end?  Will our need for national security ever diminish?  Most likely not, as Washington is always on the lookout for more ways to protect us from our “enemies.”  As Vice President Biden told recent graduates at West Point, “Prepare for new threats.”

But new laws designed for our safety threaten to reach deeper and deeper into our private lives with more intrusive surveillance, as many in our government have taken to heart words attributed to Cicero, “In times of war, the law falls silent.” Continue reading “The Return of Sedition” →

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A Three Stooges Economic Plan


This column was published in the Laurel Leader Call (Laurel, MS) on Tuesday, June 12, 2012:

As a young grade-schooler in the 1980s, I was fond of watching The Three Stooges show before departing for another eventful day of fun-filled learning at my local government school.  I hated getting up that early, and still do, but at least a little slapstick comedy while eating breakfast would lessen the pain.

I remember one episode fondly.  Moe, Larry, and Curly embarked on a duck-hunting trip on a nearby lake.  While sitting in the boat awaiting the ducks, Curly, earnestly trying to get his gun to fire, accidentally shot a hole in the bottom of the boat.  As water gushed in and pandemonium ensued, Larry devised a quick solution:  He shot another hole in his end of the boat to let the water run out!

Now we all know how monumentally stupid such a move would be, but our Obama-led government has been doing exactly the same thing in fighting our current economic recession for the last three years, using a Three Stooges approach.  A severe economic downturn caused by too much spending, too much debt, too much borrowing, and too much inflation is being fought with more spending, more debt, more borrowing, and more inflation, with no end in sight. Continue reading “A Three Stooges Economic Plan” →

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Safeguarding Our Minds


This column appeared in the Laurel Leader Call (Laurel, MS) on May 22, 2012:

“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”  So said Thomas Jefferson, the architect of American liberty and its greatest champion.  Throughout his entire life, he fought every attempt by government to control the lives of the people, in thought, speech, and deed.

Today we should be just as vigilant, whether a form of tyranny originates in Washington, Jackson, or the local schoolhouse.  We must be ever mindful that state and local governments can be just as tyrannical as Washington, DC. Continue reading “Safeguarding Our Minds” →

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