“…A president who won a sweeping political mandate, … [with] about as much power as any president could ever hope to muster in peacetime — was only able to pass an expansion of health … a limited stimulus … and a financial regulation bill … . Obama probably did the best he could do, and that’s the point. [It is] the best our current two parties can produce today.”

I beg to differ.

Obama failed because of a massive awakening and outcry of the citizens, coupled with the checks and balances provided by the US Constitution, not because of a flaw inherit in the two party system.

I don’t want a smoothly working machine that can ram anything down our throats quicker than we can say “Internal Revenue Service.”

Friedman concludes that “a serious third party” is needed “to look Americans in the eye and say: ‘These two parties are lying to you. They can’t tell you the truth because they are each trapped in decades of special interests. I am not going to tell you what you want to hear…’” — in other words, a party not beholden to the almighty dollar wielded by special interests.

Pardon my asking, but how will a “serious third party” do this? Will they not still need money to get elected, and thus be vulnerable to the very same corrupting influences that got us here to begin with?

Furthermore, our undoing has primarily been in the last century, beginning with the creation of the Federal Reserve as a source for unlimited Federal spending (and thus vote-buying) and the passage of the 16th and 17th Amendments. It is not a systemic product of the two-party political system that existed long before 1900.

The GOP and the Democrats have become increasingly unified ideologically. To prove my point, isn’t it true that whenever long-overdue reforms like universal parental choice, private accounts for Social Security, term limits or spending caps are proposed by “Tea Party types,” the political elite of both parties unleash a cacophony of “no?”

So with this in mind, if (or when) a third party enters the scene, it seems to me that it would have to capture a majority of the House and Senate in order to get anything done, because in a three-way split, the third party will be outnumbered by a supermajority of the corrupt elites that are the problem.

I propose that a more effective way out is to elect principled, courageous state leaders who will assert the sovereignty of their citizens and of the state and actively resist Federal tyranny via Nullification and Interposition and even economic secession (which will be the topic of a future post). There are many gutsy measures before our state legislative bodies just waiting for statesmen with spines to vote for them.

Are we now so far from our Constitution and The American Ideal as to believe that our solutions must come from Washington, instead of our backyard? I hope not.

Many in the Tea Party movement lately have been asking Grooms, deemed the Tea Party candidate, whether he could be as effective on the conservative issues facing the nation from the Governor’s Office in Columbia. Grooms says this has been another major factor playing into his decision.

Dean Allen, candidate for Adjutant General and a dedicated patriot who was fighting for freedom long before the tea party movement, had some interesting comments on the SC Congressional races. I find his comments ironic and significant since our Republican Congressional delegation held hands and jumped for TARP together, reasoning that “they can’t throw us all out.”

(I am convinced, and always have been, that things were not as bad as they were made out to be. I believe the sub-prime mortgage crisis was a deliberately engineered plot, and the people who supposedly represent our interests all fell for it. I have always said that true conservatives know better than to bail out business with taxpayer’s money, and I will never apologize for that.)

Now for Dean Allen’s comments:

Larry Grooms is a true patriot and I hate to see him out of the Governor’s race. His departure puts Congressman Gresham Barrett in dead last place. It is interesting that the man with the most name ID, and the most money, Barrett is dead last.

All six SC Congressmen voted for the $850 Bush Bailout. Brown and Barrett are not seeking re-election. Inglis and Spratt are in trouble for re-election. Looks like the voters are awake and in a mood to throw out the bums that can be thrown out starting with non-conservative Gresham Barrett.

Under the agreement allowing the earlier health care vote, Senate Republicans have been guaranteed votes on four amendments to the second debt ceiling bill that the Democrats would probably rather have avoided. According to the Senate Calendar, the Republicans will be allowed to hold votes on the following amendments (all will be subject to a 60-vote requirement) when the second debt ceiling vote takes place in January:

• Sen. Thune (R-SD) TARP amendment — would end the Troubled Assets Relief Program (Wall Street bailout) and require that all TARP funds that are repaid by banks be spent on reducing the debt. Many Democrats want to use repaid TARP money for job creation measures.
• Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) EPA amendment — seeks to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouses gas emissions if Congress fails to pass their own climate change legislation.
• Sen. Coburn (R-OK) rescission amendment — not much information available on this one, but it will likely change the rules and require that Congress votes on presidential rescission packages.
• Sen. Sessions (R-AL) spending caps amendment — would set spending caps for the next five years on all discretionary government spending. Besides entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, the amendment would limit spending growth to a maximum of 2 percent per year for the next five years.

What the negotiating Republican Senators do will determine the end game. The Senators who have the power to see Obama pass or fail are:

• Sen. Grassley (IA)
• Sen. Enzi (WY)
• Sen. Snowe (ME)
• Sen. Collins (ME)
• Sen. Graham (SC)
• Sen. Bennett (UT)

These six Senators should stop negotiating a compromise and let this monstrosity die. The following URGENT actions are needed:

• Visit, call and email YOUR Rep/Senator
• Call and email the six Senators listed above
• Write letters to your local editor and mention the six Senators
• Post reminders about the six on your Facebook, Twitter and social media profiles
• Post reminders about the six on your blog
• E-mail your friends and family and explain the details about these six Senators
• Contact the RNC/GOP and demand they put pressure on the six Senators

We The People employ these elected Senators. It’s our job to demand they do their jobs and look out for the interest of America. (Thanks to Eric Odom of the American Liberty Alliance for the tip)

I don’t think that parties are obstacles. I think that the mindset and values of those who control the parties are the obstacles and the enemies. We have a war of values and ideals on our hands, and we need to target that.

Those who know me well will tell you that I’m passionately opposed to Republican elitism and so-called “moderate” Republicans, and I am not interested in helping the GOP get and maintain power. More and more I believe that at least on the Federal level the Republicans and Democrats are all controlled by a single larger scheme, agenda, or machine.

With that said, I do believe that the Republican party is still the most viable vehicle for conservatism (although if Sarah Palin decides to start or join a third party and the tea party groups all over the US rally around her it could be a historically unusual opportunity to make it work, and I would definitely support her in such a move). Blame the drivers of the party, not the party itself. I guess right now I’m more of a puritan than a separatist.

Jonathon Hill

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:26:56 -0400, PASTOR TONY ROMO wrote:

Hey Y’all,

Just a word of encouragement. There are obstacles to overcome but with the Lord’s help and true passionate Constitutionalists working in tandem and pulling in the right direction, those obstacles can be overcome. The excitement that we sense for the future can only be realized through the hard work of passionate individuals applying Christian Worldview principles throughout their lives. And while it may seem to be a daunting task, “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us”.

The Republican Party is not our enemy, but our obstacle. The Democrat Party is not our enemy, but our obstacle.

The Republicrats have so meshed themselves into one huge Tyrant that neither is serving “we the People” but are enslaving “we the people”. One party may be doing it sooner than later but it’s being done, nevertheless.

The Constitution Party’s platform is declaring the rightness of our Constitution and that we will “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”.

Our obstacle must be overcome with the Constitution. The sophisticated ignorance of most of America CAN be overcome with the Constitution.

Let’s look at our obstacles as objects to be overcome with the truth. The political truth is contained in the Constitution. Let’s learn it and compare what the other morphed party has done with it.

You won’t be happy when you find out that you’ve been a part of the destruction. …I know I wasn’t.

“You are never going to be able to erase support for a stimulus package in the Republican primary or you’re never going to be able to erase your support for liberal judges in the Florida Supreme Court,” said Rubio. “You’re never going to be able to erase the fact that you tried to implement, in your home state, virtually the same cap and trade policies that are now on the verge of destroying America. I think those differences are so significant that there is no money advantage in the world that can overcome them.”

Rubio has challenged Crist to a series of debates to talk about these issues, and others, inside the state or out. Crist has refused, saying that he was too busy governing Florida, despite spending almost every single day of June raising money for his Senate campaign.

Marco Rubio is the conservative challenger to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w5OBKAMqK8

Several Republicans failed us on the Stimulus vote. The Stimulus legislation was a total and complete declaration of war on the free-market system. This was followed by several Republican votes for the Cap and Trade nightmare (and by the way, Congressman Kirk, I will ACTIVELY work to defeat you in the primary for Senate in 2010. In fact, I’ll donate to the first viable candidate who opposes you.) that once again reconfirmed the declaration of war against the free-markets and taxpayers.

I’m willing, for the first time in a long time, to rejoin the Republican ranks and do everything I can to advance the Republican party and its fiscally conservative candidates. But I’ll do so if, and only if, the following conditions are met.