Houston Area Liberty Campaign

by Kaili Joy Gray aka Angry Mouse

Congressmen Embrace Escalation as Evidence of War’s Folly Grows

Though one would have expected that the massive release of some 92,000 classified documents Sunday underscoring just how poorly the war is going would have changed some minds, the Obama Administration has gotten its way once again, with the House of Representatives approving the $59 billion emergency funding bill to keep the war going by a 308-114 vote.

There was, at the very least, some vigorous debate in the House today, with Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D – OH) and Ron Paul (R – TX) at the center of the opposition to continuing the war. At the end of the day, however, all the new evidence about the disastrous war was ignored in favor of pumping tens of billions of dollars into the conflict.

The 308-114 vote was saw a majority from both parties supporting the war, with only 12 Republican and 102 Democrats opposing the conflict. A secondary vote calling for US troops to withdraw from Pakistan was voted down 38-372.

The House was forced into the direct vote last week after the Senate rejected a number of domestic spending amendments attached to the bill in a procedural effort by the House early in the month. Read the rest of this entry »

Mises Daily: Friday, June 18, 2010 by Aaron Smith

In our society of victims, entrepreneurs are blamed for many of the hardships that ail our economy. Whether it is because of high prices, low wages, or substandard economic conditions, they are often accused of exploitation in their quest for profits.

The real victims in our economy, however, are usually not workers who voluntarily enter contracts to sell their labor nor consumers who voluntarily purchase products and services but instead entrepreneurs who are involuntarily subjected to the not-so-invisible hand of our government caretakers. Somehow, it seems completely reasonable to overtly exploit entrepreneurs for their resources in the name of preventing the potential exploitation of anyone else.

Price floors and price ceilings are two sides of the same coin; both of them are economically irrational and morally unjust.

Legislators often garner popular support for measures that exploit entrepreneurs by citing ostensibly alarming data: Exxon Mobile made $45.2 billion in profits in 2008 when gas prices eclipsed $4.00; they’re price gouging! The average compensation of Fortune 500 companies in 2009 was $9.25 million, yet they’re paying unskilled workers only $7.25; the minimum wage is too low!

While drawing such illogical conclusions wouldn’t score a teenager any critical-reading points on the SAT, it does help legislators get bills passed in Congress.

A recent victim of the government’s crusade against entrepreneurs is American Samoa, where in 2007 Congress dictated a 61% increase in its minimum wage as part of the Fair Minimum Wage Act, despite forceful pleas to the contrary from the island of 65,000. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, StarKist, one of Samoa’s largest employers, will reduce its Samoan workforce 60% by 2011, which they directly attribute to the new wage floor. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones scaling back in Samoa; Chicken of the Sea closed its operations last September, forcing over 2,000 additional Samoans into unemployment. Read the rest of this entry »

By Erica Goldson – Coxsackie-Athens High School Valedictorian

Update: Someone finally posted the video of Erica’s speech. See it below.

Comment: The following speech was delivered by top of the class student Erica Goldson during the graduation ceremony at Coxsackie-Athens High School on June 25, 2010. Check out Erica’s blog.

“There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years . .” 
The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast — How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” 
Replied the Master, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.”

This is the dilemma I’ve faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.

I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn’t you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared. Read the rest of this entry »

           The battle between Democratic and Republican Party operatives over the Green Party’s ballot access petition drive, now headed for the Texas Supreme Court, has the potential for consequences not yet brought to light.  The ban on corporate contributions in Texas campaigns could be ruled unconstitutional by the Republican aligned Texas Supreme Court in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court Citizen’s United ruling, which makes it easier for corporations and labor unions to fund federal campaigns.  The Texas corporate (and union) ban, established in 1905 during the heyday of the populist movement, is one of the few campaign finance laws in Texas.  It is widely supported by voters of all political hues including independent-minded (read:  independent of Rick Perry) tea partiers.

            Attorney David Rogers is an independent Republican who has worked with former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Steve Smith.  Rogers currently represents the Green Party in its appeal to the Texas Supreme Court seeking a ballot line in November’s general election.  Rogers believes that the Democrats fighting Green Party ballot access really don’t have a case because petition drives are exempt from the corporate ban as a “normal operating expense.”  Rogers said, “The Democrats are playing a dangerous game. They have, by virtue of naming the two corporate entities involved in the fray, Free and Equal, which managed the petition drive and Take Initiative America, which may have provided the funding to Free and Equal, set the stage for the possibility that the Texas Supreme Court could strike down the corporate ban as unconstitutional, something neither I nor my clients would support.” 

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting reading.  Be informed before you vote in the current primaries and in the general elections coming this November 2010…your new taxes… 
 
You better change the current leadership in Congress or find a way to hide your money, because they are coming to take it from you in 2011…
 
This is astounding.  Many have no clue about the changes coming our way in 2011 and beyond under the current US Congressional leadership (super majority of tax and spenders extraordinaire). The new tax impact on the average taxpayer as outlined below is hard to imagine. Not to mention the shock wave that will ripple through every part of the economy.  Just adding health care benefits as part of income on the W-2 of every employee in the USA will add $150.00 a month to the average couple’s tax debt. Who has that budgeted for 2011? The Arizona Immigration Law federal lawsuit, DOJ/Black Panther story, Lindsay Lohan trial story, etc, etc in the nightly media are just distractions to keep everyone’s attention off real impacting issues like this one.  Read this and weep about how much money you are going to lose five months from now; when the tax laws change in January 2011…
 
Subject: 2011 Tax Increases
 
In just five months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:
 
If you want to see the entire list of increased taxes for average citizens; you can download this complete PDF Version at the following link:  http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0sY8waPq1
 
First Wave of Taxes in 2011:  Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
 
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.
Read the rest of this entry »

The following article is long but a very informative read that provides a solution to the economic and political issues the are seriously threatening this country.  I recommend you take the time to read this and understand that this may be what we American Citizens must do to correct this wrongful government.
 
Demand Liberty,
Bruce
 
HOW TO FIGHT CONSPIRACIES AND WIN

When someone at last discovers that some conspiracy has taken over this or that institution, he gets into a mentality that sees conspiracies everywhere. Anyone who finally accepts the fact that one or more conspiracies have been operating for one or more centuries to control the affairs of his nation, or even the whole world, has a tendency to see everything in terms of conspiracies. He begins to attribute to this or that conspiracy the ability to forecast the future almost perfectly, to control the future almost perfectly, and to thwart all attempts of critics to deflect the conspiracy from its agenda.

Over 40 years ago, the man who would later be my father-in-law, R. J. Rushdoony, warned me about this attitude. He called these people “gravediggers.” This was before Phyllis Schlafly used the phrase. He called them gravediggers because he equated them with people who are required by their executioners to dig their own graves before the executioners execute them. This saves work for the executioners. Rushdoony’s point was that conservatives tend to dig their own graves, with the result that their enemies have much less trouble disposing of them. I have found over the years that his assessment was accurate. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Fellow Patriot,

This week’s exercise:
CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND STATE SENATOR with the following message:

(Find your legislator here)
“I am very concerned about the state of the Texas economy. Economists have noted that the mode of taxation is, in fact, quite as important as the amount. Just as a small burden badly placed may distress a mule that could carry with ease a much larger one properly adjusted, so we are becoming impoverished and our power of producing wealth destroyed by property tax, which, levied in any other way, could be borne with ease.

Property taxes impose a larger burden on a state’s productive sector than do sales taxes. Consequently, property taxes reduce overall economic performance more than necessary to raise the same amount of tax revenue. This larger cost created by property taxes compared to sales taxes creates a tax reform opportunity for Texas. Do you have in your office a copy of the Texas Public Policy Foundation – Enhancing Texas Economic Growth Through Tax Reform, Texas Public Policy Foundation April 2009?

You have an opportunity to make groundbreaking change in Texas! I want to be sure that you are on board to ensure we have a Constitutional Amendment that secures, once and for all, private property ownership in Texas by repealing property tax.” Read the rest of this entry »