Ring in 2011 with the Bellingham Tea Party

When I think about the past couple of years, the positive awakening of the U.S. electorate, the total denial of this awakening by the political leadership in Washington D.C., it is no wonder that I am thankful to ring in the New Year.  With a firm reliance on the ability of the grass root relationship of the Tea Parties nationwide to keep a firm eye on the career politicians and their newly elected compatriots, I enter into 2011 with a belief that change is coming.

Yours in Truth    Shelly

LiveJournal Tags: 2011,New Year,Politics,Bellngham,Tea Party,Politicians,D.C.,Washington,Awake

2010 In Review -- 2011 and Beyond!

Happy New Year to all and to all an enthusiastic THANKS FOR 2010... we say goodbye to an inspiring 2010 and hello to a vigorous and energizing 2011.

Let this quotation by Daniel Webster stir your hearts and minds as we look to 2011:

Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.

~ Daniel Webster, US diplomat, lawyer, orator, & politician (1782 - 1852)

Upon reflection of 2010 we see a light shining on all the patriots who have given of themselves in the last two years by rising up in one voice and rallying for the preservation of our country.

A renewed commitment to overseeing the government locally, at the state level, and nationally was generated by our citizens through grass root assemblies that delivered the following accomplishments in 2010... And all of it was made possible because of you!

• Election victories across the nation.
• Balanced government power in Whatcom County and to some extent in Washington State.
• Visible and articulate network of patriots speaking out publicly for the first time.
• Increasing number of citizens demanding government "get their fiscal houses in order".

The Bellingham Tea Party, along with other Tea Party organizations across this nation, made the battle cry plain and simple to understand... we reject deficit spending, the concentration of power in central government and the systematic attempt to diminish states' rights and individual liberty.

May our fervor remain in 2011 as we are united in a passionate movement to reclaim the balance of power declared by our Constitution... decreeing government's accountability to "We the People". We have lots to do!

Click here to review the Bellingham Tea Party 2010 events that brought us together...

Our next objective: Ensuring the new Congress lives up to their oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution, and in 2012, electing senators and a president who believe in our Constitution. Bellingham Tea Party events for 2011 are being developed and will be announced when they are more completely framed

EPA begins Power Grab through Carbon Emission’s Regulation

LiveJournal Tags: Cap_Trade,Conservatives,Constitution,Economy,Energy,Politics,Private Citizen,Business Survival,Regulation,Tea Party,Vote,2012

While we listen to the tragedy of East Coast blizzards, the Federal EPA begins its power grab to regulate and tax carbon emissions.  This is just the beginning and will foretell the future of the GOP.  If the GOP unite behind the principles that the Tea Party has given them, fight every power grab the Executive Branch fires at the private sector and ‘We the People’, with reductions to the size of all government over the next 2 years"; 2012 should be a landslide for the GOP.

Yours in Truth  Shelly

EPA, Texas go to war over carbon-emission rules

posted at 2:00 pm on December 27, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

And so it begins, and on the most fertile red-state territory in the nation.  Texas, which got four more seats in the House through the 2010 Census reapportionment, has had its air-quality rules superceded by the EPA as part of its aggressive new action on carbon emissions.  Governor Rick Perry promises a fight:

The federal Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday effectively declared Texas unfit to regulate its owngreenhouse gas emissions and took over carbon dioxide permitting of any new or expanding industrial facilities starting Jan. 2.

The EPA also set up a framework for regulating greenhouse gas emissions in seven other states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Oregon and Wyoming. In addition, the agency set a timetable on establishing regulated levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

The action will give the EPA permitting authority over refineries, power plants and cement facilities in Texas, the agency said, but will not affect small pollution source facilities, such as restaurants and farms.

Well, perhaps not directly, but the increase in energy prices and shortages created by the EPA imposition of what will essentially be carbon taxes will impact businesses throughout the Texas economy, as well as consumers who ultimately pay the costs of the regulatory regime. Rick Perry has signaled a court fight to stop the EPA and the Obama administration:

Texas is the only state that has refused to implement the new rules. President Barack Obama is pressing ahead with the regulations after Congress failed to pass legislation capping carbon emissions. Perry, a Republican, calls the rules overreaching by the federal government that will cripple his state’s economy.

“The EPA’s misguided plan paints a huge target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers by implementing unnecessary, burdensome mandates on our state’s energy sector, threatening hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs and imposing increased living costs on Texas families,” Katherine Cesinger, a Perry spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement.

 

Click here to read the full story.

Obama Administration Approves of the FCC Usurpation of the Legislative Process? Go Figure…The Road to Tyranny is Right Here in the U.S.of America

From a local blog that puts the latest move by regulators in the Obama era into perspective.  Just because the Congress is now supposed to be handed over to a ‘conservative’ majority, does not mean that ‘We the People’ can sit back on our laurels.  This past ‘lame duck’ session has been anything but lame; chaos might be a more appropriate descriptor of the ducks in D.C. right now!  Quackin-Up!

Yours in Truth    Shelly

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Time for the Alternet?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now circumvented checks by congress and the courts, in their bid to regulate the Internet. Started during the first big wave of the "progressive" movement with the Communications Act of 1934, the FCC has always been the government's tool for regulating technology, commerce, and of course, information. When it was first created, the FCC was regulating the then-new technologies of interstate and foreign telegraph, telephone, cable, and radio communications. Where in the Constitution did We the People give government the authority to do that?
By establishing a few strategic choke points on business, the government has very powerful control over content. Where in the Constitution did We the People give government the authority to do that? If radio stations want to keep their FCC license (i.e., stay in business), they have to comply with reams of technical, legal, business and content regulations. Even for a small mom-and-pop station, it requires at least one full-time employee just to stay in compliance. See section 73 and section 74 of the FCC Broadcast Rules. But wait, there's more! Much more! I know. I used to be the chief engineer (First Class Radiotelephone Operator License P1-13-10705) for just such businesses. The excuse given for this overwhelming government take-over in 1934 was to ensure freedom from interference and to set up international and interstate compatibility standards. Never mind the fact that the free market could have done the same, and in fact, was already moving in that direction. Where in the Constitution did We the People give government the authority to do that?

Click here to read the full article.

Here is another related article to the FCC’s unabashed take over of the internet and it’s freedom.  Shelly

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL

Politics from the Nation's Capital

DeMint vows to reverse FCC's 'Internet takeover'

• TAGS:
• FCC
• federal communications commission
• first amendment
• Freedom of Speech
• Information Wants To Be Free
• internet
• Internet Freedom
• Julius Genachowski
• Sen. Jim. DeMint

By: Mark Tapscott 12/21/10 2:33 PM
Editorial Page Editor

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC, says Federal Communications Commission should be renamed the "Fabricating a Crisis Commission," following a vote by the panel's three Democrats to approve proposed rules that amount to a hostile takeover of the Internet by a government agency acting illegally.

The proposal - misleadingly described by proponents as an attempt to insure "net neutrality" by guaranteeing equal access to the Internet - was introduced a year ago by Julius Genachowski, President Obama's appointee as FCC chairman.

A federal court has ruled that the commission has no authority to regulate the Internet, and a bipartisan group of senators and representives warned Genechowski not to attempt to impose a regulatory regime on the Internet earlier this year.

The move's legality was even questioned by FCC Commissioner Michael Copp, one of the Democrats who voted today with Genachowski, saying he considered voting against the proposal because it lacks a sufficiently defensible legal basis to survive a court challenge promised by major Internet Service Providers like Verizon, Microsoft, and AT & T.

But legal challenges by industry are likely to be much less of a problem for the Genachowski-led takeover than efforts in Congress to stop the FCC in its tracks.

That's clearly what DeMint has in mind, as he said in his statement released today following the FCC action:

“The Obama Administration has ignored evidence that this federal takeover will hang a millstone of regulatory and legal uncertainty around the neck of a vibrant sector of our economy.

"Proceeding on its own liberal whims rather than facts, this FCC has chosen to grant itself broad authority to limit how businesses can bring the internet to consumers in faster and more innovative ways.

“Americans loudly demanded a more limited federal government this November, but the Obama Administration has dedicated itself to expanding centralized government planning. Today, unelected bureaucrats rammed through an internet takeover, even after Congress and courts warned them not to.

“To keep the internet economy thriving, this decision must be reversed. Regulatory reform will be a top priority for Republicans in the next Congress, and I intend to prevent the FCC or any government agency from unilaterally burdening our recovering economy with baseless regulation.

"In order to provide the stability businesses need to grow, I will work with my fellow senators to see passage of my FCC Act, which would ensure that the FCC can only use its rulemaking powers where there is clear evidence of a harmful market failure, as well as the REINS Act, which would add the accountability of a Congressional vote before any government agency’s proposed major regulations may be finalized.”

If the FCC plan somehow manages to survive, it will almost certainly do for First Amendment liberties and the Internet what it did for them in regulating broadcast television and radio. Former CBS News president Fred Friendly's landmark book, "The Good Guys, the Bad Guys and the First Amendment," describes in great detail how the Kennedy and Johnson administrations used the FCC to silence conservative critics

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2010/12/demint-vows-reverse-fccs-internet-takeover#ixzz18pE2d8uM

LiveJournal Tags: FCC,Internet,Regulation,Constitution,Communication,Free Press

“Oh Say Can You See?”

The following article and video are an epitome of the past, present and future of our Country.  Please share them both this holiday season and into the new year.

Yours in Truth    Shelly

Story of “The Star Spangled Banner”.

December 15, 2010

The Only Thing That Will Save Us Now Is Fear Itself

By Herbert E. Meyer

On March 4, 1933, millions of Americans sat beside their radios listening to Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivering his first inaugural address, in which he famously declared that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  (Joe Biden thinks he watched the speech on television, but that's the subject for an essay in Current Psychiatry, and this is American Thinker.) FDR gave Americans the confidence and courage to cope with the Great Depression, which is among the reasons he's one of our very greatest presidents.

I hate to say this, but right now the only thing that can save our country is -- fear itself.  Our government is bankrupt, its deficit is insurmountable, and at both the federal and state levels, we've run up more debt than can possibly be repaid.  This isn't a political thing; it's a numbers thing.  Either everything I've ever learned about math and economics is wrong, or we're on the verge of going down.  The only possible way to come through safely -- and even so, the odds are against us -- will be to frighten ourselves so badly that we'll be willing to do things that in normal times we simply could not imagine doing.

Read the full article by clicking here: http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/the_only_thing_that_will_save.htm

LiveJournal Tags: Star Spangled Banner,Tea Party,United States,Economy,Taxes,Patriotism

Tax Deal Could Lead to Higher Interest Rates for US Debt

The US Congress is bent on resolving the tax code before the end of this year.  There are consequences to their delayed attention to this matter and this is just one of them…

Yours in Truth    Shelly

Moody's Warns It May Cut US Rating if Tax-Cut Deal Becomes Law

Monday, 13 Dec 2010 11:34 AM

Moody's warned Monday that it could move a step closer to cutting the U.S. Aaa rating if President Barack Obama's tax and unemployment benefit package becomes law.
The plan agreed to by Obama and Republican leaders last week could push up debt levels, increasing the likelihood of a negative outlook on the United States rating in the coming two years, the ratings agency said.
A negative outlook, if adopted, would make a rating cut more likely over the following 12-to-18 months.
For the United States, a loss of the top AAA rating, reduce the appeal of U.S. Treasury’s, which currently rank as among the world's safest investments.
"From a credit perspective, the negative effects on government finance are likely to outweigh the positive effects of higher economic growth," Moody's analyst Steven Hess said in a report sent late on Sunday.
After Obama announced his plan, Treasury prices fell sharply in volatile trade last week and yields have hit a six-month high, in part due to concerns over the effect the package will have on government debt levels.

To read the full story click here.

LiveJournal Tags: Debt,Economy,Economic,Tax Reform,Taxes,Credit Rating,Moodys,Government

Health Care Reform Lawsuit(s): Round 1 Winner “We the People”

And so it begins….

Yours in Truth  Shelly

Federal judge in Va. strikes down health care law

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Play Video FOX News  – Exodus of Physicians in America?

By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Larry O'dell, Associated Press – 1 hr 16 mins ago

RICHMOND, Va. – A federal judge in Virginia has declared the Obama administration's health care reform law unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan.

Read the full article here.

More related links on this breaking news release:

Court Challenges (4):

Michigan, US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Judge George Steeh

                Thomas More Law Center v. Barak Hussein Obama, in his capacity as President

                Case 10-CV-11156

                Oct 7 ruling dismissed case, (in favor of ACA) – case is not “ripe for review” based on plaintiff’s description of “future harm,” also Judge Steeh interprets “inactivity” as a valid “economic decision.”   See full text of dismissal at:  http://www.mied.uscourts.gov/News/Docs/09714485866.pdf

                May be resubmitted, or go to Appeal

http://www.heartland.org/healthpolicy-news.org/article/28637/ObamaCare_Constitutionality_Upheld_in_Michiganfor_Now.html

Virginia, US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia - Judge Henry E. Hudson [appeal would go to -> 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals]    Virginia passed a state law against ACA

                Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius, 10-cv- 00188

                First argued October 18, 2010

                Ruling:  Unconstitutional, December 13, 2010

Text of ruling (PDFs)

http://www.vaag.com/PRESS_RELEASES/Cuccinelli/Health%20Care%20Memorandum%20Opinion.pdf

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/121310virginiahcruling.pdf

Contact form - Ken Cuccinelli:

http://click.bsftransmit2.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=6812%7c676284%7c238682&digest=3uoi2lPHZSzA%2f4PwdwpvzA&sysid=1

Florida, US District Court, Judge Roger Vinson, Pensacola FL (proceeding)

                Case includes 19 states, including Washington State

                Hearing:  December 16

Also:

California

                Pacific Justice Institute:  Baldwin, et al., v. Sebelius, et al., 10-369

                Case was lost:  Now slated for appeal in the Ninth Circuit (docketed as 10-56374)

LiveJournal Tags: Health,Care,Healthcare Reform,Virginia,Lawsuit,We the People,Obamacare

Where in the Constitution did We give You the Authority to do that?

An excellent article which articulates the ascendancy of the Constitution back to its rightful place in the lives of all citizens of the United States.

Yours in Truth    Shelly

December 10, 2010

Why Constitutional Conservatism Is Ascending

By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

If 2009 was the year of birth of the Tea Party movement, 2010 was the year of ascendancy of constitutional conservatism.  In many ways, the movements are the same -- except, perhaps, that the Tea Party is a movement of political activism by people who weren't traditionally activists, and constitutional conservatism represents an awakening about the way back to American exceptionalism.

Read the full article by clicking here.

Happy Holiday or Black Friday? Which Do You Celebrate?

As a true believer in ‘free markets’ and no ‘public/private’ co-operatives which exist only by tax dollars…it pains me to agree that events like ‘Black Friday’ and all of it’s relatives are not a good way for consumerism to exist.  It’s just another bubble which encourages otherwise respectful human beings to behave like self centered infants.  Holidays should be about giving, celebrating and spending time with family or loved ones.  The Holidays should be about enjoying these moments, not stressing out and spending so much money that you spend the rest of the year to pay off the debt you’ve accumulated, just to do it all over again.

How are you spending your holidays this year?  Share your favorite ‘holiday’ thing with me and anyone else who happens by this posting.

Yours In Truth    Shelly

The Madness of a Lost Society

LiveJournal Tags: Black Friday,Christmas,New Year,Holiday,Hanukkah,Debt,Madness,Society