Houston Area Liberty Campaign

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 »

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 »

[Forwarded to HALC.us editor by Pam of the Brazos Valley Campaign for Liberty.]

============================================

Somehow, the perky Katie Couric missed this.

Stop the Mosque at Ground Zero
Part II

June 16, 2010, New York , N.Y. ,   –  by El Marco

Americans Stand Up Against Radical Islam in New York – We Will Not Submit!

Not one major network sent a satellite truck or camera crew to this event. Without bloggers this newsworthy event would have remained unknown to the public and history

On Sunday, June 6th, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition of Americans opposed to Islamic violence and intolerance rallied at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

9/11 families were joined by immigrants from India, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Africa, Iran and Europe to show opposition to the construction of a mega-mosque at Ground Zero. Others flew in from overseas to speak or just to share their particular ethnic communities’ experiences at the hands of Muslims.

These are parents and spouses of firefighters killed on 9/11. The rally took place just a minute’s walk from Ladder 10 Firehouse, where their loved ones were stationed for duty that terrible day. Ladder 10 lost seven firefighters.

Crowd estimates ranged from 5,000 (NYPD) to 10,000. The crowd overflowed the police barrier enclosures that ran the full length of two city blocks. This photo shows the enclosure in front of the stage at the intersection of Liberty and Church Streets. The second enclosure ran the length of the next block and can be seen on the other side of the traffic lights.

Continue reading story and view comments here.

I saw this a few years back… an acquaintance sent this to me again.  Thanks to Tony S, group leader on The Colony Co-Op.
=======================================================
How to Catch a Wild Hog…
August 15, 2007
By Lowell E. Hedges

wild hog in search of free corn

I can best explain my concern about the new congress’s agenda, by using this analogy given to me by a former student of mine. Several years ago I was supervising a beginning teacher in a city school system.

One day during our end-of-the-day feedback conference, the young man gave a facial grimace and began to rub his back. I asked him if he had strained his back in the school lab.

After a long period of silence, he sat down at his desk and explained that he had immigrated to the United States because of political problems in his native country. The discomfort in his back was caused by a bullet wound he had received while fighting the Communists who were trying to take over his country’s government. He was then a member of the underground nationalist force.

Then he asked me a surprising question: “Dr. Hedges, do you know how to catch a wild hog?”

The question was completely out of context regarding the day’s classroom and lab teaching. I replied, “I’m not sure what you are talking about. Tell me?”

“First,” he said, “you find out where the wild hogs are roaming and feeding and then you put some corn out in the field. Soon they will come to eat the corn. You keep putting out the free corn. More wild hogs keep coming to eat the corn.”

Read the rest of this entry »

[From Wallbuilders.com, edited for content]

Two hundred thirty-four years ago, 56 Founding Fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor – putting literally  their lives, their monies, and their reputations on the line – to guarantee freedom for future generations. Because of their sacrifices, America is still the longest on-going constitutional republic in the history of the world. This is a blessing that we too often take for granted.

Typical Fourth of July celebrations include cookouts, firework shows, days at amusement parks, or any other number of frivolous activities. However, when the Founders reflected on what they felt upcoming Fourth of July celebrations might – and should – look like, John Adams said it should also be a day when we remembered God’s hand in deliverance and a day of religious activities when we committed ourselves to Him in “solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

The importance of remembering God’s Hand in American independence was passed from generation to generation – illustrated by John Quincy Adams’ famous 1837 oration in which he reminded Americans:

The birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. It forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation. The Declaration of Independence . . . laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to this HALC author’s friend, Rick, in MN….

 OK, I did my part.  Now You FIRE this around the world to everybody you know.  GRRRRR!!  I’m MAD AND YOU WILL BE TOO!
 
 Your   U.S.  House & Senate have voted themselves raises at $4,700 in the House
and $5,300 in the Senate.

1.     They voted to not give you a Social Security cost of living raise in 2010 and 2011 

2.     Your Medicare premiums will go up $285.60 for the 2-years and you will not get the 3% COLA: $660/yr. Your total 2-yr loss and cost is -$1,600 each or -$3,200 for husband and wife.                                                        

3.     Over 2-yrs The House & Senate each get $10,000 raises

4.     Do you feel SCREWED?

5.    WILL your cost of drugs – doctor fees – local taxes – food, etc., increase?  You better believe they will!
Read the rest of this entry »

Only God can bless us !!!

I heard the sound of Taps one night, when everything was still. I listened to the bugler play and felt a sudden chill.
Read the rest of this entry »

Original Editorial by HALC Member Jeff Larson

Now With 40% More Added Unconstitutionality

Will we be seeing more of these signs soon?

Well, this should be the third and final installment of Arizona Mythbusters, my look at Arizona SB 1070 as modified by Arizona HB 2162.  If you missed the first two parts of Arizona Mythbusters, you can find Part I here and  Part II here.  What I’ve been doing is just looking at the plain text of the new Arizona laws, and just trying to explain what it all really means.

Can you go to jail in Arizona just for taking an illegal to church?

Full disclosure:  I have an ancestor who was a lieutenant in George Washington’s Spy Corps, and I have a niece who is marrying an illegal later this year.  I understand Juan’s English better than I understood some of my grad school professors, and Sammie’s Spanish proficiency has been growing by leaps and bounds…mostly from helping Juan’s family in the kitchen at family get-togethers.

Juan and Sammie are grateful that they don’t live in Arizona.  Since Juan is already “in the system” and on his way to getting a green card because his mother is legal (she got amnesty a few years back), it is extremely unlikely that he’ll be deported unless he does something stupid, and Juan’s not that kind of guy.  But most illegals know someone who has been deported, and are very careful to avoid that fate.  In Juan and Sammie’s case, they’ve been reluctant to come to Texas for fear of him getting into immigration trouble.  They absolutely won’t visit Arizona, because if Sammie was driving, she could be thrown into jail, too.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s Still The “Most Reprehensible Thing Since The Japanese Internment”

Arizona Immigrant

Hey, I hope you had a fine Memorial Day.  Myself, spent some time watching the video my daughter made for her history class, and tried to plumb the inner mysteries of Arizona SB 1070 as modified by Arizona HB 2162.  That’s right, it’s time for the second installment of Arizona Mythbusters!

We last left off with the new Section 11-1051 of Title 11 of the Arizona Statutes.  Today, we’ll start with the new Section 13-1509 that they added to Title 13 of the Statutes.  13-1509, subsection A:

“In addition to any violation of federal law, a person is guilty of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document if the person is in violation of 8 United States Code Section 1304(e) or 1306(a).”

Hmm.  That sounds like “Your papers, please?“  That sounds reminiscent of second class status of Jews in Germany prior to World War II when they had to have their papers with them at all times and were subject to routine inspections at the suspicion of being Jewish.  Well, according to US federal law (Section 1304(e) referenced above), all legal aliens must have their papers with them at all times and are subject to routine inspections at the suspicion of being an alien.  And that’s been the law of the land since 1940, when we were asking real Nazis in the US for “your papers, please?”  All the Arizona law does is also make it a state crime to be in violation of federal law.  Under federal law, the penalty for having a green card and not carrying it is a $100 fine and 30 days in jail.  Ouch!  Don’t leave home without that green card!  If prosecuted under state law, the penalty is reduced to 20 days for a first offense, 30 days for a subsequent offense.  There may be a loophole, though, that I’ll describe below.

Those Arizona legislators are real softies!

Immigrants really catch a break from Arizona if they never bothered to register in the first place.  Under Arizona law, it’s still a $100 fine and 20/30 days in jail.  On the federal side, failure to register is a $1000 fine and six months in the pokey.  So, if I was an illegal who failed to register, I’d rather be prosectuted by Arizona than by the feds.  Those Arizona legislators are real softies!
Read the rest of this entry »

[By HALC.us staff]

Why the choice of Justices sitting on the bench is vitally important …and how since they’re human too, they can royally eff it up for about 300 million other people.

In this writer’s personal opinion, the following are the top five worst rulings by the U. S. Supreme Court.  This was quite a difficult task to undertake, as there has been so much from the Court that seems to fly in the face of what is “good,” “right” and Constitutional.

I will give a basic layman’s case breakdown, the Court’s decision and subsequent case history (as far as being contested further in the lower courts after being “reversed and remanded” or being overturned by subsequent U. S. Supreme Court cases.  I will also give my “gems of reasoning” as to Constitutional issues and arguments that have been or will be quoted by legal scholars for decades to come.

[In case you’re interested in other people’s take on this subject, check here, here and here for other folks’ opinions as to the top five or ten U. S. Supreme Court decisions.  My top five pretty much mirrored those reflected in these other instances.  I got the idea for this article in light of the recent clamor over the Elena Kagan nomination for U. S. Supreme Court.]

*Per curiam means “by the court.”  It’s a phrase used to distinguish the whole court’s opinion versus one judge’s opinion.  Sometimes it denotes an opinion written by the Chief Justice or Presiding Judge, or to a brief announcement of the disposition of a case by court not accompanied by a written opinion.

**Slip opinion is the second version of an opinion which is sent to the printer later in the day on which the bench opinion is released by the Court. Each slip opinion has the same elements as the bench opinion–majority or plurality opinion, concurrences or dissents and a syllabus–but contains corrections not appearing in the bench opinion. Slip opinions are posted on this Website within minutes after the bench opinions are issued and remain posted until the opinions are published in bound volumes of the United States Reports.

Read the rest of this entry »