Tag: Politics

Bath Salts are Now Illegal in Alabama

I’m not sure what bath salts are but apparently they can be used to make illegal narcotics and thus the state of Alabama has banned them [PDF]. You know, because banning anything that can be used to manufacture illegal drugs makes total sense.

That was sarcasm in case you didn’t catch it.

Unfunded Retirement System Leads to Conflict Between Generations

When it comes to pension systems there are two types; funded and unfunded. Funded retirement systems are ones which you must put money into such as a savings account or a 401k plan. Unfunded systems are ones such as social security where tax money is used to pay for the pensions of the already retired. The problem is unfunded systems ultimately lead to a self perpetuating conflict between generations.

Unfunded systems ultimately lead to the retired voting for better benefits which leads to higher tax burdens on those still working. I think you can see where the resentment generates. The article is a good read.

Minnesota Senators, Stomping on Your Rights Since the Election

I went through the roll call for the bill to extend the expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act. Guess what I found? Both of our senators, Franken and Klobuchar, voted in favor of extending the provisions.

Anybody want to join me is starting up a recall election? Neither of these pricks should be in office if they’re willing to shit all over our rights like this.

You know who didn’t vote for it? Rand Paul. Just sayin’ (he’s looking good and hopefully continues on this path).

Busted

Fox News is the neo-con’s favorite channel. Not only do they spend a lot of time arguing how terrible the “liberals” are they also like to take swings at actual conservatives. Take for example this stunt they pulled in an attempt to make Ron Paul look bad after winning the CPAC presidential straw poll:

Congressman Paul replicated his 2010 victory over Mitt Romney by defeating the former Governor of Massachusetts for a second consecutive year at the annual CPAC conference.

However, before anchor Bill Hemmer introduced a segment concerning the story, Fox News played a clip of the 2010 announcement of the poll results, during which Mitt Romney supporters had loudly booed Ron Paul’s victory, passing off last year’s footage as representative of this year’s event.

This is why nobody takes Fox seriously (it’s actually the same reason nobody takes MSNBC, CBS, or CNN seriously either).

Your Tax Dollars at Work Arming Mexican Drug Cartels

Governments are interesting entities. They claim to need power over the citizenry in order to protect the citizenry. This power often includes the ability to prohibit certain activities and establishes punishments for those citizens who disregard the prohibitions. What makes this whole situation interesting is the fact once these very prohibitions are in place the government turns right around and disregards them.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has been one of many organizations covering what we gun rights activists have labeled the Mexican Gun Canard. The Mexican government has been claiming the source of drug cartel guns has been the United States. Due to this the Mexican government has urged our government to enact stricter gun control laws and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have jumped right onto this bandwagon in order to obtain more funding. The ATF have also been asking for emergency powers to record people buying “assault weapons” near the Mexican border.

Recently stories have broken that show the ATF is likely responsible for guns flowing from the United States to Mexico. Well the NSSF has a good post that brings up a story about a WikiLeaks document showing our government as a source of guns for the Mexican Drug Cartels.

To sum up the cables the drug cartels have obtained many of their weapons from other Central American countries which were supplied with weapons by the United States. Shocked? Didn’t think so as anybody who knows anything about the National Firearms Act knows machine guns and grenade launchers aren’t exactly things you can go down to your corner drug store and buy. Likewise the export of arms to other countries is strictly regulated meaning selling arms to other countries is one of those things that we can’t do (without proper licensing) but our government most certainly can.

There is a bit of irony in the fact we have to fight against the same weapons that our government gave out so many years ago. What isn’t ironic through is the fact our government officials are claiming we need to regulate private citizens further to prevent the flow of weapons into Mexico. I guess passing the blame onto somebody else is a common tactic used by 8 year-olds which is roughly the mental maturity level of our government.

Simply Amazing

I follow politics, can you tell? I also do what I can to ensure legislation I want to pass is passed and legislation I don’t want passed is shot down. Often though I’m amazed at the apathy of most people when it comes to our political system. It’s almost impossible to rally people to make simple phone calls to their “representatives” asking them to vote against things like the PATRIOT Act. Until last week I didn’t think there was anything you could do that would get people active in fighting the cronies at our capitals. You want to know the secret to raising a political army? Get alcohol involved.

Minnesota’s liquor laws are quite special in their complexity and stupidity. Due to our laws a brewery can not sell more than 3,500 barrels of liquor a year and have a restaurant at the same time. This has put a kibosh on Surly Brewing Company’s plans for a massive new facility which would include a restaurant. All of the sudden the most politically apathetic people I know are all fired up to fight these laws. They’ve gone from yelling about fighting “the evil lobbyists” to meeting with a lobbyist group. The irony is delicious I will admit.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to raise a political army is to somehow involve alcohol. I’m trying to figure out a means of doing this with every political issue I care about and you should to.

House Voted to Extend PATRIOT Act Spying on Citizens Powers

No surprise here but the House voted to piss all over our rights yet again by extending the “surveillance powers” of the PATRIOT Act:

In a 275-144 vote, the chamber voted to extend until December provisions on wiretaps, access to business records and surveillance of terror suspects.

I’m sure it was only a coincidence that Janet Napolitano claimed that the United States currently faces it’s largest threat from terrorist attack EVAR!!!!OMGTHINKOFTHECHILDREN.

Seriously every so-called representative that voted for this should be instantly recalled by their states and brought up on charges of treason. The legislators in Washington are supposed to uphold the Constitution not use it a toilet paper to wipe their collective asses.