An Illustration of Big Government Assault on Freedom, Decency, and Common Sense

by CarterFliptMe

This case, Sackett v EPA, is a story of somebody who bought land in a residential area, and simply wanted to build a home and farm the land.  Suddenly, the leviathan known as the Environmental Protection Agency (along with the Army Corps of Engineers) swooped in and stomped on him, declaring his newly acquired land as "wetlands".  This bomb not only put an indefinite halt on his simple plan, but levied astronomical fines of $75,000 every day.  The landowner can't even dispute whether the EPA is correct in it's finding, or whether the EPA has this authority under the Constitution, without these fines being administered daily.  The landowner is faced with two choices: 1.) Tear down any and all structures currently on his land, incurring thousands of dollars of cost, and loss of income. 2.) Stand his ground and incur fines of over $75,000 per day while he waits indefinitely for the EPA to make a final determination.

There is no freedom, decency, or common sense to be found in this situation, and it's not the only one like it in this country.  This big government bullying, done by the U.S. Federal Government in the name of environmentalism, happens all the time.  Perhaps now, finally, we and the Sacketts can get some relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Please read the article from the Washington Times

Emperor Obama Warned Us, "He Can't Wait", And He Meant It

by CarterFliptMe

In October, President Obama boldly declared, "We can't wait!", and promised to bypass Congress to enact new legislation and do pretty much anything he damn-well pleases.

Now, to strengthen waning union power in the United States, he's bypassed the Senate approval process, and declared his appointments to fill three vacancies in the National Labor Relations Board, and put Richard Cordray in charge of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
 
The Senate had been blocking Obama's nominees to the NLRB because they were too partisan, and represent only union interests.  The approval of Cordray had been delayed because Republicans objected to the structure and spending authorization of the new CFPB, and were trying to get changes made to it in Congress. 

The most obvious point is that Congress is not in recess!  According to Obama, "We know what would happen if Republicans in Congress were allowed to keep holding Richard's nomination hostage.  More of our loved ones could be tricked into making bad financial decisions."  That's his rationale for violating the Constitution again?  Somebody might be tricked?  It is the now further unrepresented people of the United States who are being bamboozled yet again by the Alinskyite-in-Chief.
 
Thanks to the Dodd-Frank regulations, we now have a CFPB in charge of telling our loved ones which financial decisions are good, and which ones aren't.  The people that run this new Bureau are not elected, and now the head of it has not even been approved by the Senate.  Don't we have laws in place already (which aren't being enforced) that are supposed to protect people from illegal financial practices?  Lastly, does this mean that our laws in financial and lending matters are now irrelevant?  It seems so, since the CFPB (the head of which, again, is unelected and unapproved by the Senate) now gets to decide what's 'fair' or 'unwise'?


Does anyone think this Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will 'protect' anyone? The only people this new layer of bureaucracy will protect are elected representatives, by sheltering them from making the tough decisions that affect the economy and our individual lives.


Legal challenges are expected, and this move may cause the entire appointment approval process to come to a screeching halt.  I hope and pray for both!

Obama is a Sitting Duck

by CarterFliptMe

I understand conservatives' angst in nominating a candidate in the GOP Primaries, but I remain optimistic that whoever is nominated will thrash Obama soundly.  It may even be more one-sided than Reagan vs Carter was in 1980.  In a CBS poll from December 9th, 2011, a staggering 75% of Americans say that under Obama the country is going in the wrong direction. This is a crucial element, obviously, because it speaks directly to whether Americans would be willing to give Obama another 4 years (of going in the wrong direction).

A Gallup poll from December 22, 2011 shows that 87% of Americans think that it is "a bad time to find a quality job".  Not only is this a horrendous statistic, but it has been hovering around 90% for about the last two years.  At the start of Obama's term, in 2008, that percentage was around 60%.  At this time in Bush's second term, the number was about 48%.  This speaks directly to the old campaigner's question, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

The increase in the negative outlook on quality jobs occured at about the same time that ObamaCare was signed into law.  The passing of ObamaCare has stifled job creation, worsening Americans' bleak outlook on the job market.  The administration's refusal to push for fast-tracking to the Supreme Court the various constitutionality questions surrounding the individual mandate in the law has exacerbated the uncertainty, and thus, the negativity.

Keep in mind, all of these numbers are before the GOP has even begun running ads highlighting various failures, problems, and scandals the country and the administration faces. (See: Occupy Wall Street, Solyndra, and Fast and Furious)

So keep smiling Republicans, Obama, with his Alinsky tactics and horrible economic policies, has rendered himself a sitting duck.

Silent Night Sung in Gaelic & English - Celtic Woman

by CarterFliptMe

Celtic Woman sings 'Silent Night' in Gaelic then in English. Merry Christmas everyone! Let us all have a joyous time celebrating God's wonderful gift, the birth of his only Son, Jesus.

Winter, Communism, and the Occupy 'Movement'

by CarterFliptMe

A metaphor, and a pretty cool video.  Oh... and nature rocks!

 

see the original article in BBC Nature

Paul Ryan Wants to End Another Democrat Lie

by CarterFliptMe

Democrats have been in the habit for quite some time of making absurd claims and accusations with no basis in fact, reality, or believability. They make these statements without offering any kind of proof supporting their claims, and the network news, along with mainstream media outlets, dutifully report them as facts. As a result, much of the 'old-school', or 'lamestream' media has become irrelevant.

Increasing numbers of people have found that through modern media, they are able to get facts that had previously been ignored, or simply misreported. Because of this, we have seen exploding popularity of conservative and non-traditional media sources. Now much of the news is being covered by people with alternative viewpoints who have broken away from traditional outlets and started media outlets of their own. In many cases, breaking stories are covered by independent, amateur bloggers.

Here is a request by Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan asking us to clear up the lie about his Bill he calls, the Path to Prosperity.  The lie being that "Republicans voted to end Medicare". You can read the Slate article by Dave Weigel here, and find links to Politifact where you can place your vote for 'the biggest lie of 2011'.