THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS—AN UNSEEN CRITICAL ISSUE

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Richard Johnson

The Second Amendment to the Constitution reads, “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.”

Let us be clear: the operative word in “gun control” is control. The current media discussion arising out of the Aurora, CO massacre will not have an impact on the 113th Congressional elections. Aurora CO already has a strict gun control law. Mayor Bloomberg, Arianna Huffington and the rest of that pack would be smart to, like President Obama, “keep their powder dry.” The casualty toll in that theater might have been 10% of the awful loss and devastation if Aurora had had conceal and carry laws.

Update: President Obama characteristically tries to “shoot his ammo and keep it too.” At a campaign stop, he called Wednesday for gun control laws. But don’t doubt me. his focus is not on tougher local gun laws. He wants all the rsult of a UN small arms treaty.

But, why is President Obama so much smarter than Mayor Bloomberg? Because he is working on the 2012 United Nations passage and Senate ratification of the United Nations Small Arms Treaty. So, what exactly, does the intended agreement entail and how will it affect your community and family? (Larry Bell, Forbes) “While the terms have yet to be made public, if passed by the U.N. and ratified by our Senate, it will almost certainly force the U.S. to:

  1. Enact tougher licensing requirements, creating additional bureaucratic red tape for legal firearms ownership.
  2. Confiscate and destroy all “unauthorized” civilian firearms (exempting those owned by our government of course).
  3. Ban the trade, sale and private ownership of all semi-automatic weapons (any that have magazines even though they still operate in the same one trigger pull – one single “bang” manner as revolvers, a simple fact the ant-gun media never seem to grasp).
  4. Create an international gun registry, clearly setting the stage for full-scale gun confiscation.
  5. In short, overriding our national sovereignty, and in the process, providing license for the federal government to assert preemptive powers over state regulatory powers guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment in addition to our Second Amendment rights.”

Every 2012 Liberty List candidate will be in favor of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. They must be aware and firmly opposed to the United Nations Small arms Treaty.

Posted in Liberty List 2012, Reclaiming and Restoring America, World Events | Leave a comment

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ATTACKED BY THE SITTING PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Richard Johnson

(Included in Each Daily Call) Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that count darkness as light, and light as darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. —Isaiah 5:20

We’ve called Barak Obama a thug when he joined with thug Union toughies to intimidate and more recently called him a bully when the term fit him better than a schoolyard tough. But in a matter of months, we are really witnessing tyranny. For the first time in American history we have a tyrant heading the American Federal government. President Barak Obama is a tyrant.

Eight contributors to a Super-Pac that is supporting Romney have been placed on an Obama-Biden campaign “Enemy List.” Rory Cooper writing at the Heritage Foundation’s Foundry wrote back in April:

In 2012, President Obama’s campaign has managed to make Nixon’s list look quaint, legitimate and even routine. This week, on the president’s ominous “Truth Team” campaign website, his staff listed the names of eight of his likely opponent’s donors. They were listed in this way:

 “A closer look at…donors reveals a group of wealthy individuals with less-than-reputable records. Quite a few have been on the wrong side of the law, others have made profits at the expense of so many Americans…”

After each name, the campaign lists deeds that they find objectionable or “less-than-reputable” that mostly boil down to business transactions that included alleged outsourcing or layoffs and involvement in the oil energy industry.

For example: “They also control the … investment firm which bragged about buying automotive accessories manufacturing company in Kansas in 1997 and moving production to Mexico. In 2002, the … group’s Mexico operation decided to outsource to China because China was ‘offering incentives and making it easy to open operations there.’”

Each name was then tweeted out by the @TruthTeam2012 twitter handle with similar charges.

This follows a multi-year effort by the ongoing Obama campaign to vilify specific donors to competing philosophical causes and demands that organizations release lawfully protected donor lists or donors reveal lawfully private and personal financial information.

In each of these instances, President Obama has relied on a vast grassroots network to coerce, bully, boycott and vilify individuals lawfully taking part in the political process, just as his own donors and supporters are freely allowed to engage.

There are subtle differences between Obama’s and Nixon’s enemy lists. President Nixon kept his secret, and allegedly used the force of the government to punish adversaries. President Obama’s list is open and designed to elicit public scorn, shame and rebuke. There is no current evidence the President has manipulated the federal machinery punitively. But the message remains clear, if you support a philosophical adversary, you will face some retribution.

The media has so far given this White House tactic a pass in this administration. What name will elicit a defense of Constitutional freedoms? Must it be one of their own, as was the case under Nixon?

Shouldn’t every American be protected against the heavy hand of governmental intimidation? The President must explain his intimidation of people who have lawfully participated in the political system and have borne no electoral injustice to our nation other than participating in lawful industries the President finds objectionable and supporting organizations and campaigns the President opposes.

The difference between Obama and Nixon noted in the third paragraph above disappeared quickly. Government agencies, beginning with the IRS, are applying heavy hands on these citizens. Consider one of the eight victims of the Obama tyranny, 63 year old businessman, Frank VanderSloot of Idaho interviewed here by Heritage’s Rob Bluey:

Because the fraud media covers this up, we have no way to know if any federal employee has resisted this tyrannical use of power. Question: if Romney defeats Obama, will Obama refuse to turn over power like Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Will the military and Federal police departments stick with the tyrant or their Constitutional Oath?

Posted in A Criminal Enterprise, Lawless Government | Leave a comment

THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW—A CRITICAL ISSUE

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Our Number One Domestic Policy and Foreign Policy Issue

This is world map of petroleum “No Drilling Zones.” As this map shows, these zones are only in US waters. These restrictions are placed on America by a single world power—us. This is insane.

End Government Insanity 

Including these zones, America has the largest Barrel of Oil Equivalent in the world. Let me say that again. America has the largest Barrel of Oil Equivalent (BOE) in the world—1446 billion BOE. Nobody else is close. Our technically recoverable oil is 229 billion BOE or about one fifth of the technically recoverable oil in the world. That is likely to double in the next few years to 500 billion BOE. Don’t be surprised if we have a tremendous increase in our world leading 904 billion BOE natural gas. This thrilling table is from an October, 12 2009 presentation by Energy Section Research manager, Gene Whitney, at the Congressional Research Service.

Do we want American jobs? Drill

Do we want low cost personal transportation? Drill

Do we want increased value in 401-K’s etc.? Drill

Do we want lower cost food and consumer items? Drill

Do we want a new source of revenue to help pay down the debt? Drill

Do we want a return of manufacturing and more jobs? Drill

Do we want to change the balance of world energy power? Drill

Do we want put Islamist Shariah, Jihad, and the rest back in a bottle? Drill

Do we want to stop International bullies like Russia in their place? Drill

Do we want to tell the UN, EU, IMF and the rest to sit down and shut up? Drill

The men and women—citizens seeking seats in the new 113th Congress—who find their place on The Liberty List will firmly declare their determination to unshackle and unleash America’s oil producers and change that disgraceful map. Let us support them as we step beside the God of our founding and the Power that endowed us with this abundance of cheap, clean energy for the next century and beyond. With Him, we will light up that “Shining City on A Hill.” We cannot fail!

Posted in Drill Here Drill now, Jinad/Shariah, Liberty List 2012, Reclaiming and Restoring America, World Events | Leave a comment

THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—THE BIG THREE CRITICAL ISSUES

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Taxes, Spending and Obamacare Put to the Constitutional Test

We know government has nothing to give anyone ranging from your neighbor to Pakistan. What government gives it must first take from you. The Constitution had an effective clamp on Federal taxing power before the 16th Amendment (income tax) and a century of Positive case law. Today, jurists only argue the fine points. Today, taxing is taking property that rightfully belongs to American citizens, residents and businesses. Spending is largely giving people, Corporations and States benefits they have not earned.

The point is—has always been—control. A company is taxed at confiscatory rates then is given deductions or exemptions to act, perform or behave in a government specified way. This pressure is shows up as many things such as “clean air and water” but it is known this year as “job creation.” States get the same treatment. Medicaid is a prime example of the Federal government attaching pages of requirements and regulations to the Medicaid payments. Of course the money granted came from the productive citizens of the several States. State that fall I line will receive money from citizens of more principled States.  (Remember the government has nothing.)

Obamacare Is the Complete Package

No single piece of legislation has ever put all factors of power together like this before. We can learn much from Justice Scalia’s dissent on Obamacare concerning the Medicaid provision.  

(A bit of Background. In the majority opinion, seven justices agreed that Congress had overreached when it threatened states with the loss of all Medicaid funding if they didn’t sign up for ACA’s new Medicaid expansion. This, they said, was too coercive. It’s OK to make new funding contingent on acceptance of new rules, but you can’t make existing funding contingent on new rules.) Did you get that—too coercive? Coercive is fine; just not TOO COERSIVE.

Scalia agreed, but said the court can’t simply strike down this penalty. Instead, it has to invalidate the entire Medicaid expansion:

The reality that States were given no real choice but to expand Medicaid was not an accident. Congress assumed States would have no choice, and the ACA depends on States’ having no choice, because its Mandate requires low-income individuals to obtain insurance many of them can afford only through the Medicaid Expansion. Furthermore, a State’s withdrawal might subject everyone in the State to much higher insurance premiums.

….Worse, the Government’s proposed remedy introduces a new dynamic: States must choose between expanding Medicaid or paying huge tax sums to the federal fisc [treasury] for the sole benefit of expanding Medicaid in other States. If this divisive dynamic between and among States can be introduced at all, it should be by conscious congressional choice, not by Court-invented interpretation.

This is representative of the entire 2700 pages. It pits State against State, age groups against other age groups, doctor against patient and even disease against disease. Make no mistake, the new disease “reproductive rights” is to be given higher priority than, say, dementia.

The new far reaching (perhaps unending) taxing authority that is the law under Obamacare now puts the Internal Revenue Service in charge of healthcare. Not, you, the patient. Not the Doctor. Not the clinic. Not some insurance company. Not some “Insurance Exchange.” Not the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The IRS will be in charge of your health care. Did I make that clear? The IRS will be in charge of your health care. No, I can’t explain it. When someone does (within weeks if not days) we will link the explanation here.

Update: (August 3, 2012) America’s #1 tax resolution authority, Dan Pilla has masterfully unwound the PPACA rats nest and presented it in stark clear terms. This monster is many, many times worse that any of us had imagined. Click here, read it now then send everyone you can to the article.

For this reason alone, Obamacare must be repealed in its entirety. If we hold the House—and we must—and if we take the Senate—and we must—and if we elect Mitt Romney President—and we must, we can and will repel Obamacare. We know a President Romney is not a Justice Scalia or Thomas and we know he is not Michele Bachmann, Mike Pence or Jim DeMint. To go where those men and women will lead—and we must—we will need to get beyond a President Romney. The work ahead is long as well as hard. Our Liberty Listers positions must comfortably stand on the commitment to restoring Constitutional law as the Constitutional champions named above.

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THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—THE CONSTITUTIONAL VIEW OF “JOBS” —A CRITICAL ISSUE

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Richard Johnson

The Constitution provides no role for the Federal government when it comes to job creation. Of course jobs are created when the government hires people to carry out every aspect of the constitutional purpose. The Federal government has plenty of people already on the payroll to do that important work. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands—millions—of people now employed by the Federal government doing unconstitutional jobs. That must be addressed and corrected beginning in 2013. It will take years to correct but let us begin.

The Federal government must do two things immediately. One is ending the web of rules and regulations that stifle our domestic petroleum production. It will be addressed in a separate post. The other, like the first, must be ending the suffocating regulations and taxes on all of America’s entrepreneurs. It must be done quickly. There is no place on earth that can match job creation in a free America. 2012 Liberty Listers will be passionate about getting the Federal government out of the way and passionate about the morality of free enterprise.

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THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—CONSTITUTIONAL CONSERVATISM IN A NEW CONGRESS —A CRITICAL ISSUE

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Men and women—citizens seeking seats in the new 113th Congress—who find their place on The Liberty List will have a common political philosophy. We may see it expressed in many different forms but they will all be Constitutional Conservatives.

 The foundation of Constitutional Conservatism is one core principle — a return to the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. The Constitution is not a living document. America must be governed by the Constitutional original intent.

The seven articles and 27 amendments of the Constitution for the United States of America are designed to limit the scope and reach of the Federal government to this clear original intent, “. . .  to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

Constitutional Conservatives are not isolationists and stand by America’s friends while opposing America’s enemies.  We encourages Liberty across the world. Liberty is our DNA, Liberty is our calling.

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JOEL B. POLLAK: THE TOP 10 THINGS OBAMA HAS NOT RELEASED

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Joel B. Pollak posted the Top Ten Things Obama Has Not Released at Breitbart.com in a column yesterday. The vetting continues daily over there. Make it a habit to check it out.  Today, enjoy Pollak’s delightful top 10 here.

As the Obama campaign and the media continue to press Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns, and to suggest–without a shred of evidence–that he is a “felon,” it is worth noting how much critical information Barack Obama has withheld from view–both as a candidate in 2008, and during his term in office. Here is a Breitbart News top ten list of things that Obama has refused to release (a complete list would fill volumes):

10. State senate papers. In the 2008 primary, Obama criticized Hillary Clinton for not releasing papers from her eight years as First Lady–but failed to produce any papers from his eight years in Springfield. “They could have been thrown out,” he said.

9. Academic transcripts. His supposed academic brilliance was a major selling point, but Obama (by his own admission) was a mediocre student. His GPA at Occidental was a B-plus at best, and his entering class at Columbia was weak. Can he prove his merit?

8. Book proposal. Obama’s literary agent claimed he was “born in Kenya”–for sixteen years. His original book proposal exists–biographer David Maraniss refers to it–and seems to have embellished other key details of his life. Yet it has never been released.

7. Medical records. In 2000, and again (briefly) in 2008, GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain released thousands of pages of his medical records. Obama, who had abused drugs and continued smoking, merely provided a one-page doctor’s note.

6. Small-dollar donors. In 2008, the McCain campaign released the names of donors who had contributed less than $200, though it was not required to do so. But the Obama campaign refused, amidst accusations it had accepted illegal foreign contributions.

5. The Khalidi tape. In 2003, Obama attended a party for his good friend, the radical Palestinian academic Rashid Khalidi. The event featured incendiary anti-Israel rhetoric. The LA Times broke the story, but has refused to release the tape–and so has Obama.

4. The real White House guest list. Touting its transparency, the Obama White House released its guest logs–but kept many visits secret, and moved meetings with lobbyists off-site. It also refused to confirm the identities of visitors like Bertha Lewis of ACORN.

3. Countless FOIA requests. The Obama administration has been described as “the worst” ever in complying with Freedom of Information Act requests for documents. It has also punished whistleblowers like David Walpin, who exposed cronyism in Americorps.

2. Health reform negotiations. Candidate Obama promised that health care reform negotiations would be televised on C-SPAN. Instead, there were back-room deals woth millions with lobbyists and legislators–the details of which are only beginning to emerge.

1. Fast and Furious documents. After months of stonewalling Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder asked President Obama to use executive privilege to conceal thousands of documents related to the deadly scandal–and Obama did just that.

In addition to the above, Obama and his campaign have lied about many facts about his past–his membership in the New Party; his extensive connections with ACORN; and his continued relationship with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, among other examples. Obama’s own memoir is filled with fabrications. And now he is lying about his opponent’s honorable record in business. He—and the media—have no shame.

Posted in Irony Is Funny, Lawless Government, Liberals Deatroying America, Media: Do Your Job, Obama, Obama's America: Racism, The Cost of Democrats | Leave a comment

THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—GETTING THE FOUNDATION RIGHT—A CRITICAL ISSUE

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Richard Johnson

As you know, the 2012 Liberty List will be formed right here in the next few weeks

The 2012 Liberty List will be citizens running to win seats in congress to reclaim Constitutional government and help restore America.  They will be Republicans. No Democrat, who stands on the foundation we declare below, could receive the support of the Democrat Party. Just as important, we cannot support anyone who would help put or keep Senator Harry Reid, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat congressional leadership in power. The primary issues include out of control spending and taxes, facing down the growing National debt and jobs, jobs, jobs. Secondary issues are illegal immigration and national security.

Issues of life, marriage, family and faith will not be featured. But they are foundational. Those who will make up and define The 2012 Liberty List will stand on that foundation. The Manhattan Declaration, developed by Catholic and Evangelical leaders in 2009, was providentially and perfectly designed to fill that purpose. It is a declarative statement which I, among 531,000 citizens along with Christian and some Jewish leaders, have signed. We signers actively proclaim and promote LIFE, MARRIAGE and RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Here is the core of the Manhattan Declaration:

Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense. In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image. (Read and sign)

Many who qualify to form the 2012 Liberty List will be signers of the Declaration. Some may not be signers but their words and deeds must be in firm agreement on these foundational principles.

Posted in 2012, Engaging the culture, Liberty List 2012, Reclaiming and Restoring America, Remaking the Republicans | Leave a comment

THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—THE DESTRUCTIVE MISCONCEPTION OF DEMOCRACY

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Most think of democracy as the source of Liberty. This is not simply a misguided understanding, it is completely wrong. Let’s get fundamental. Here’s the definition of democracy:

Democracy, n. G: Government by the people; a form of government, in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people collectively, or in which the people exercise the powers of legislation. Such was the government of Athens.

The form of government could conceivably work in small villages. But the majority, even in these circumstances, acts to deprive a minority of rights. Note the word collective in the definition. No collective will protect individual freedom. We could quickly and tragically descend into a democracy here in America. All that will be required is for the majority to forget, or never learn, the source of their rights. Instant National opinion polls could make national governing decisions. Watch the speed with which we “spread the wealth around’ then. Individual Liberty and enterprise will be quickly and permanently lost. We must not let that happen. Let us each, beginning with this turning point election, refresh our understanding of and commit to the restoration of our God give Liberty. As a refresher, here is the definition of Liberty.

LIB’ERTY, n. [L. libertas, from liber, free.]

1. Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind. The body is at liberty, when not confined; the will or mind is at liberty, when not checked or controlled. A man enjoys liberty, when no physical force operates to restrain his actions or volitions.

2. Natural liberty, consists in the power of acting as one thinks fit, without any restraint or control, except from the laws of nature. It is a state of exemption from the control of others, and from positive laws and the institutions of social life. This liberty is abridged by the establishment of government.

3. Civil Liberty, is the liberty of men in a state of society, or natural liberty, so far only abridged and restrained, as is necessary and expedient for the safety and interest of the society, state or nation. A restraint of natural liberty, not necessary or expedient for the public, is tyranny or oppression. civil liberty is an exemption from the arbitrary will of others, which exemption is secured by established laws, which restrain every man from injuring or controlling another. Hence the restraints of law are essential to civil liberty.

“The liberty of one depends not so much on the removal of all restraint from him, as on the due restraint upon the liberty of others.”

In this sentence, the latter word liberty denotes Natural Liberty.

4.  Religious liberty, is the free right of adopting and enjoying opinions on religious subjects, and of worshiping the Supreme Being according to the dictates of conscience, without external control.

5. Liberty, in metaphysics, as opposed to necessity, is the power of an agent to do or forbear any particular action, according to the determination or thought of the mind, by which either is preferred to the other.

Freedom of the will; exemption from compulsion or restraint in willing or volition.

6. To set at liberty, to deliver from confinement; to release from restraint.

To be at liberty; to be free from restraint. Liberty of the press, is freedom from any restriction on the power to publish books; the free power of publishing what one pleases, subject only to punishment for abusing the privilege, or publishing what is mischievous to the public or injurious to individuals.

Posted in Liberty, Liberty List 2012, Reclaiming and Restoring America | Leave a comment

THE 2012 LIBERTY LIST—WE MUST REJECT THE FALSE AND UN-AMERICAN PRINCIPLE OF “SOCIAL JUSTICE”

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Richard Johnson

Social Justice is defined as, “The fair distribution of advantages, assets, and benefits among all members of a society.” So you know it is another way to say,

  • Egalitarianism
  • Equality of outcome
  • Gender Equality
  • Racial equality (of outcome)
  • Social equality
  • Distributive Justice

Or, simply put, “We’re taking your money, your stuff and your free life.”

Social Justice has a religious twist. I will not try to unwind the “Social Justice” rat’s nest in the Roman Catholic Church. I will just say some of it is beneficial and sound Christian charity. But much is deeply problematic and destructive. Liberation Theology and Black Liberation Theology springs from a Social Justice philosophy.  The term “Social Justice” is generally used by American “Mainline” denominations and increasingly by evangelical pastors.

Because Barak Obama’s spiritual mentor, Jeremiah Wright, has become a lightning rod for Black Liberation Theology, let’s be a bit more expansive. Dr. Anthony Bradley, associate professor of theology at The King’s College in New York City, wrote this, in part, for the wonderful Action Institute”

James Cone, the chief architect of Black Liberation Theology in his book A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), develops black theology as a system. In this new formulation, Christian theology is a theology of liberation — “a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ,” writes Cone. Black consciousness and the black experience of oppression orient black liberation theology — i.e., one of victimization from white oppression.

Black Liberation theology, Catholic Liberation Theology and Mainline Social Justice all make Jesus into nothing more than a Marxist. In American politics, when you run into people promoting Social Justice, they are after your money, your property and your Liberty. This is exactly what the OWS 99%—Obama campaign is about. If they prevail, we will be in a long period of darkness. If we prevail, we will have years of hard work for the restoration of our “Shining City on a Hill.” Let us prevail and roll up our sleeves.

Posted in Defending Christianity, Engaging the culture, Liberty List 2012, Obama's America: Racism, OWS, Reclaiming and Restoring America | Leave a comment