From Eric Dondero:

Radical Islamic watchers may recall this incident from 2007 at a Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. From the Dallas Morning News, April 5, 2007:

Dallas police and federal terrorism officials are investigating two women, both dressed in camouflage pants under their traditional Muslim robes and scarves, who were seen conducting what appeared to be surveillance and acting suspiciously at Dallas Love Field.

One of the women, Kimberly "Asma" Al-Homsi, 42, of Arlington, who is on probation for a 2005 Garland road rage incident involving a fake grenade, is said to have long-range assault rifle and explosives training, according to a Dallas police intelligence bulletin issued March 5.

Feds knew of her radical intentions but didn't act

Now, this breaking news...

Asma Al-Homsi has been involved in yet another incident, this time involving live explosives.

From WFAA-TV, Dallas/Ft. Worth:

Southeast Loop 820 and East Rosedale Street in Fort Worth were reopened early Sunday morning after being shut down for five hours overnight.

The Fort Worth bomb squad detonated four charges that were found in a pickup truck that spun out following a police pursuit.

Two people are in custody, and one of them is well-known to police.

It all started in Arlington as a road rage incident in the 1000 block of West Abrams Street.

"Someone called to say that there was a person in another vehicle that pointed a weapon at them," said Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard

The chase continued for 20 minutes. It came to an end when the truck spun out on Rosedale.

Officers took two people into custody: Kimberly Homsi — who is also known as Asma Al-Homsi — and Yasinul Alan Ansari.

News 8 has learned that Al-Homsi has been under government surveillance and was on the federal "no-fly" list after being involved in a road rage incident in December, 2005.

Al-Homsi linked to Al Qaeda

Now even more information is coming out from the Dallas Morning News:

Al-Homsi has also claimed a friendship with Wadih el Hage, a former Arlington resident and former personal secretary of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He received a life sentence for his part in a bombing conspiracy.

And the name of the second suspect has been released:

Al-Homsi, 45, and Yasinul Alan Ansari, 18, both remain in the Arlington city jail. Bail has been set at $210,000 for Al-Homsi and $100,000 for Ansari.

DMN goes on to describe Al-Homsi as "bumbling," and has a new somewhat frightening mugshot of her with her head shaved. Al-Homsi is claiming that she is being discriminated against, because "of stereotypes about her religion."

Since the incidents occured late Saturday night, outside of metro Dallas/Ft. Worth there's been little if any coverage by the national media.

David Boaz, Vice-President of the libertarian Cato Institute, is mostly down on the thought of Sarah Palin running for President. He recently wrote a piece for Cato@Liberty, questioning her possible plans, "President Palin?"

However, included in his remarks disuasive of her potential candidacy, Boaz begrudgingly admitted:

Sarah Palin can be a dazzling performer.

He also went on to compare her to Reagan in some respects, saying:

As for those who compare Palin to Ronald Reagan, yes, there are some similarities. They both lived in the West, they’re both “conservative” in some sense, and they were both dismissed by effete East Coast intellectuals.

But he concluded ultimately Reagan was more experienced and had a more extensive intellectual grounding in economic theory.

Family Feud on the Libertarian Right

From Eric Dondero:

In a heartbreaker for Libertarian Republicans who admire both Sarah Palin and Joe Wurzelbacher, the Ohio Plumber now says he is no longer backing the Alaska Fox.

From State House Sound Bites, PA:

Wurzelbacher touched on several different points during his speech, and many of them were surprising. He said he doesn’t support Sarah Palin anymore. Why? Because she’s backing John McCain’s re-election effort. “John McCain is no public servant,” he told the room, calling the 2008 Republican nominee a career politician.

Wuzelbacher was in Berks County for a rally in support of Republican State Rep. candidate Sam Rohrer, who he says is Pro-Gun and Pro-Tea Party.

From Eric Dondero:

Quite an eye-opener. 1980s/90s SuperModel Kathy Ireland expressed her support for Israel, and a strong Defense in an interview with the Jerusalem Post.

From JePo Feb. 2:

"I think so often Israel is not fairly portrayed in the media. Meeting with the military, the air force, [I saw] the efforts that go into the strategy of not hurting civilians and the heroic efforts of these soldiers who put themselves in harm’s way to rescue the wounded, even when the wounded might be their enemy.

In America, we’ve been so spoiled not to have really known, our generation, what it is to be at war... it’s very apparent that if Israel is not safe, then the rest of the world is not safe."

Ireland is now an international capitalist mogul, owner of clothing manufacturer and seller Kathy Ireland Worldwide. She's described as a "high-powered, fast-moving CEO." The company sells products in over 29 nations.

In the past she'd been rumored to be a potential GOP voter, though she's never made any definitive statements on her partisan affiliations. (Her name does appear on a Free Republic list of "Republican celebrities.")

Ireland is a professeed Christian, pro-life, and appeared early last year on Fox News' Mike Huckabee show.

Are European liberals guilty of Racism?

by Tim Daniels, California

Now get this, I found these pictures of the Obama float from France's "King of the Blue Planet" carnival parade over at the hard left-liberal site Democratic Underground Hardly flattering right? Well, the folks at the highly popular and respected DU didn't even blink an eye.

A giant figure of U.S. President Barack Obama is seen during preparations for a carnival parade in Nice, southeastern France, February 3, 2010. The 126th Nice Carnival starts on February 12 until February 28 and will celebrate the theme "King of the Blue Planet".

Similar to 19th Century depictions of African Americans?

Upon further inspection, I must surmise that the King of the Blue Planet, aka Barack Obama is a liberal adventure in Euro-racism. I mean, after all, look at the toothy grin, the ears.

Remember the popular character of Sambo from the early 19th Century portrayed in minstrels, early films and cartoons?

Political Correctness applies only to Some and not to Others

Note - In February of last year, in Orange County, California, a Republican city councilman was forced to resign because he sent out an email to some friends in city government that included a comparably mild cartoon of watermelons on the White House lawn. And immediately after the 2008 Presdential election a bakery shop owner was castigated by CNN and other liberal media outlets for baking Obama cookies, that portrayed the President-elect as having bigger than normal lips. The baker vehemently denied he was trying to make fun of him.

And to this day, the most popular restaurant (Denny's like) chain in all of Mexico, that caters to a largely American Latino clientele at Mexican border towns like Tijijuana and Mexicali, is named "Sambo's."

Though, no cries of "racism" from La Raza.

Editor's Note - Tim's blog is the popular "conservative-libertarian"Left Coast Rebel always linked at our blog roll on the sidebar.

Pro-Liberty legislation on Guns & Property Rights proposed by GOP legislators

by Michael W. Dean, Wyoming

Some interesting things going on here in the Rocky Mountain West...

There are three gun-rights bills going before the Wyoming legislature this month (as extra bills in a budget-only session), don't know that they will pass, one will probably get tabled and considered later. two are 10th Amendment bills that would allow guns made and used only in the state to not come under federal purview (circumventing the Interstate Commerce Clause), but unlike the Montana bill, one of these actually allows the state to prosecute federal agents who violate it.

The other bill would allow Wyoming non-felons to carry a gun concealed without a permit, like Alaska and Vermont.

From the Casper Tribune:

CHEYENNE -- A proposal that would allow people in Wyoming to carry concealed weapons without permits passed an initial legislative hurdle on Thursday.

If the bill passes, Wyoming would become only the third state in the nation, after Vermont and Alaska, to allow conceal-carry without a permit.

Under House Bill 113, the only people not allowed to carry concealed weapons in the state would be people under the age of 21, convicted felons, those convicted of drug-related charges, alcoholics, those with physical disabilities that impair their ability to handle firearms, and people who have lived in the state less than six months.

Currently, Wyoming residents must apply every five years for concealed weapons permits.

Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, the Thermopolis Republican sponsoring the bill, said the legislation is meant simply to spell out rights that are already guaranteed under the Wyoming Constitution and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"I just believe people have the right to protect themselves and defend themselves," Quarberg said. "And I want to make sure that we put it in statute and people know they can do it."

And then there's this from Utah...

Salt Lake City Tribune:

SALT LAKE CITY -- Conservative Utah lawmakers (photo of state capitol in SLC) want to spark a U.S. Supreme Court case that could ultimately allow states to develop resource-rich parcels of land that are now off limits where the federal government is the landlord.

The lawmakers said they will attempt to trigger an avalanche of legislation in the West through the use of eminent domain, which governments use to take private property for public use.

More than 60 percent of Utah is owned by the federal government, and policy makers here have long complained that federal ownership hinders their ability to generate tax revenue and adequately fund public schools.

Legislation was introduced in the Utah House on Thursday allowing the use of eminent domain on federal land. The effort has the full support of Republican Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who would have to defend the law.

Editor's Note - Michael W. Dean is the Libertarian Punk. His blog is listed on LR's Blog Roll.

by Eric Dondero

The French have faced some fundamental societal questions in recent years, with the influx of Muslim immigrants from Northern Africa and the Middle East. One particularly sensitive issue has been clothing and whether such an open society should allow women to wear the full-length burqa, or hijab in public. Of course, the natural libertarian stance would be absolument!Individuals should be free to do as they please, so long as they are not hurting others or infringing upon their rights.

But now a couple of developments have occured that calls into question, whether in fact, wearing Muslim clothing may indeed infringe on the rights of others.

Muslim Woman refuses to take off veil for Drivers License

A few years ago, the issue came up here in the US. A Muslim woman in south Florida sued the state, claiming that she should have the right to obtain a driver's license without having to show her face in the driver license photo. She argued, taking off her veil, even for a driver's license would be a violation of her religious views.

Even libertarians agreed that in such an instance, societal's rights over-ride the rights of the individual. It seemed fully reasonable, that the woman in this instance should be required to show her face. Obviously, she could commit any crime, or get into a car accident, without police officials being able to identify her as the culprit.

Now two recent cases from France, of all places, have raised the same sort of questions; where do the individual's right to wear whatever he or she pleases end, and where do society's rights to be free from threats and coercion begin.

Burqa Bandits on the increase throughout Europe

From the LA Times, Feb. 8:

Reporting from Beirut — A Moroccan immigrant has been denied French citizenship after admitting that he forced his wife to wear a burka, French officials announced this week.

The decision, heralded by officials of President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, was the latest round in a public debate over the Muslim garment for women and French national identity.

And then there's this also out of France. From the UK Telegraph Feb. 8:

Employees let the pair through the security double doors of the banking branch of a post office, believing them to be Muslim women. But once inside, the men flipped back their head coverings and pulled out a gun, officials said.

They seized 4,500 euros (£4,000) in cash, according to staff at the branch in Athis Mons, just south of Paris, and made their getaway.

The raid comes as France is looking into ways of restricting - or banning - the use of the head-to-toe Islamic veil on the grounds it is incompatible with the values of the republic.

Last month a parliamentary report called for a ban in schools, hospitals, government offices and on public transport.

Jean-François Copé, the leader of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Right-wing UMP party in parliament, wants to go further, and has presented a bill to make it illegal for anyone to cover their faces in public on security grounds.

The unusual bank heist, carried out on Saturday, will provide ammunition to supporters of a blanket ban due to security concerns.

Security concerns on public property

Also from the LA Times, Jan. 27, "In France, panel recommends Burqa Ban in public":

The full-body garments are a security issue in places like banks and subways where people need to be identifiable, the parliamentary committee says.

Muslim women should not be allowed to wear burkas in public institutions, including banks, post offices, schools and even on public transportation, a report by a parliamentary committee said Tuesday.

Yet the report on how to stop Muslims from wearing the full-body garment in France fell short of gathering a consensus on key questions such as whether to completely ban the burka from French streets.

Nevertheless, lawmakers could be closer to drafting a bill barring the burka in selected places to assist public servants in dealing with veiled Muslims in hospitals and schools, the report said.

The report recommends denying services to anyone in a full-body veil, but it does not advocate other punishment.

A limited ban on burkas could be legally justified, said public law expert Denys de Bechillon at France's Pau University, because it would address "a problem of security . . . in places where we need to identify people."

Of course, President Sarkozy has been on the forefront of the debate, saying forcefully, the burqa conflicts with French values. Continuing:

President Nicolas Sarkozy said in June that the burka was "not welcome" in France, fueling a media frenzy.

Easy answer on Private Property; Less clear cut on Public grounds

Much of this can be handled through private property rights. Individuals should be able to wear what they please on private property. If a bank wants to ban women wearing burqas from enterting their establishments, they should have every right to do so. If the French people (or for that matter the Israelis), wish to ban burqa-wearing women or men forcing women to wear burqas from becoming citizens, that's their right. They're the owners of their respective countries. It's their property, and they have every right to decide who should be allowed to stay on that property.

Cultural libertarians like Sarkozy, and myself included, are utterly repulsed by the Burqa, Hijab, and other Muslim clothing. But, there is zero libertarian justification for banning such attire on public property, just because one finds it offensive. Libertarians are fully on the side of personal freedom here. The current rap/hip hop wearing pants off the hips comes to mind.

However, when clothing restricts with the rights of other individuals in society or puts them in danger on public property, for example, checkpoints, border crossings, driving on public roadways, than such a ban can be entirely justified.

Photos above - right, "British Burka Bandit" who has robbed at least 3 banks in the London area. Left, Israeli Defense Forces lead away a Burka wearing Palestinian who stabbed a customs officer at a checkpoint.

Says people overseas may know more about what really happened on 9/11

Candidate for Texas Governor Debra Medina, got into hot water last Wednesday for commenting on the Glenn Beck show that she wasn't certain that Muslim Terrorists attacked the United States on 9/11.

Now another candidate for Texas Governor is echoing her sentiments, this time on the Democrat side.

Farouk Shami, a multi-millionaire businessman based in Houston responded to a similar question by a reporters from WFAA-TV Dallas/Ft. Worth:

INTERVIEWER: The question was posed [to Debra Medina] whether the United States was involved in the attacks on 9/11. Let me pose that question to you?

DEMOCRAT FAROUK SHAMI: I was told that is what she said. Well, you know, there's no smoke without fire. We heard the commission on 9/11. But ya know, somehow people are not believing that. I'm not sure. I'm not going to judge on something I'm not sure about. But the rumors are there. True or not, it's hard to believe what happened... The possibility is there. The jury's still out.

INTERVIEWER: Let me be very clear, understand what you are saying. Do you think it's possible?

DEMOCRAT FAROUK SHAMI: Well, so many people have talked about it. Professors have written books about it. So many people overseas talk about it. And whenever I go overseas people ask me these questions... Do they know something we don't know?

Would we ever find the truth about 9/11? That's a very dangerous subject to get into. It's hard to make judgement. I'm not saying yes or no.

Watch the full video at WFAA.

Photos - Farouk Shami right, Khalid Sheik Muhammed, and Muhammed Atta bottom left.

John Drew, Ph.D has now revealed his former acquaintance Barack Obama's Marxist background.

Drew being interviewed yesterday on Breitbart TV:

I visted her [ex-girlfriend] at her home in Palo Alto, and young Barack Obama showed up with basically his closest friend Hasan Chaandu. And they both showed up, and ya know, we all went out to dinner, and parties, and smoked cigarettes, and did what young Marxists do. We basically argued politics...

I did not take my status as a Marxist Revolutionary lightly in 1980. For me it was a serious business. It meant to me that I was an enemy of the US Government in a sense. It meant that I was an enemy of the wealthy people who were ruling the country... and it meant that I was willing to take the sacrifices necessary to... be part of a revolutionary movement that overthrew it. So for me, being a Marxist college student wasn't a light-hearted romp n the park... it was a dead serious statement.

When Carolyn told me Barack was coming up for a visit, she basically introduced him as "he's one of us." And what she meant by that was that he was on our team, a blood brother, member of this revolutionary elite that was going to turn around our country when the revolution hit.

When I met him, he wasn't just some sort of idle explorer of intellectual Marxism; he was good. I know this is kind of incendiary, but he was basically a Marxist-Leninist.

He believed that there was a revolutionary class that was going to turn around our whole nation, ya know redistribute wealth, change control over private property. I think in Dreams of My Father he explains that he liked to "hang out" with Marxist professors. But where he's deceiving the public is that he doesn't explain that he's in total, 100% agreement with those Marxist professors.

Earlier in the interview, Drew explains how he tried to get this information out through repeated faxes and emails during the 2008 campaign, but was ignored by major media, including Fox News.
Drew first recounted the story on Anonymous Political Scientist blog on Sunday, Feb. 7. Three days later NewsMax broke it nationally.

According to his Twitter site, he is now booked for numerous national media appearances next week.

Drew is a researcher, grant writer and author who now lives in California. He is no longer a Marxist, and says that his conversion away from Marxism came while researching the affects of welfare programs on society.

See the full interview at BreitbartTV.com

From Eric Dondero:

BATF and local authorities in Texas have just released photos of three "persons of interest" in the string of 11 now fires that have been set to Central and East Texas Christian churches.

From Christian Telegraph:

Two more Baptist churches, less than two miles apart, burned Monday night, making a total of 11 East Texas churches damaged or destroyed by fire since the New Year and seven confirmed as arsons, authorities say...

[Tom] Crowley, based in the ATF's Dallas office, said the latest fires are possibly associated with a string of church blazes set since Jan. 1. There have been seven confirmed arsons -- three in Athens, two in Tyler, one in Lindale, and one in Wills Point. Each of the fires was started from inside the churches... An arsonist's attack on a church in the central Texas city of Temple [Photo - near Austin] is being investigated as well...

The Dallas Morning News reports:

Sketches of three "people of interest" in the string of East Texas church fires were released by federal authorities Friday morning.

Information about the three men, whom officials are hoping the public will help identify, has been developed over the last two weeks, said Tom Crowley, public information officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The pictures show one man with short hair and a flamelike tattoo on his neck, another short-haired man with a cross on his left forearm, and a third man with longer hair.

Meanwhile, another high profile chuch targetted by arsonists immediately after the 2008 presidential election, remains un-resolved, and now largely ignored.

Josh Painter at Texas for Sarah Palin blog reminds us that after one full year, the case of the arson at Sarah Palin's church in Wasilla, still remains outstanding.

Wasilla Bible Church Arson Still A Cold Case

It's been well over a year since the church Sarah Palin and her family attend in Wasilla, Alaska was torched, and not only has the crime not been solved, but investigators appear to have few, if any, good leads. And there's been precious little outrage on the Left over this unpunished hate crime.

Retired journalism professor Susan Eovaldi calls the mainstream media "indifferent" on the story in The Collins Report:

The heinous fire crime at the Christian Bible Church languishes in the cold case file.

Wasilla PD investigator Ruth Josten didn’t return several calls. Last January the Collins Report posted an exclusive interview with WBC elder Tom Ryan that exposed many horrible facts still being ignored. The Report’s editor, a retired NYPD officer determined early on this crime was much more than simple arson, but instead was a six count attempted murder 1, apparently committed by an outside hired assassin.

These facts are still being ignored: 1. wires for phones, fire alarms, and water systems were slashed from INSIDE the building, near the control room 2. fire accelerant was spread across each church exit to prohibit escape of the five women and one teen girl trapped inside.

(Photo h/t Ironic Surrealism blog)

LR WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEW

From Paris With Love

by Dan Sheill

John Travolta as a brash, foul-mouthed, terrorist-fighting machine equals Eric Dondero’s wet dream. That pretty much sums up From Paris With Love, a fantastic, and fairly original action flick starring John Travolta as the maverick CIA agent Charlie Wax, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers who plays James Reece, a young up and coming assistant at the US Embassy in Paris who gets more than he bargains for in an unexpected promotion from his boss, Ambassador Bennington (played by Richard Durden). On the same night that Reece’s girlfriend proposes to him, Bennington calls up the young officer for a special assignment which involves getting Wax past customs at the airport.

Wax is introduced to the audience as a mile a minute, almost sociopath type personality, determined to get his prized energy drinks past customs by openly insulting the French security there for hating America, and having to have had their asses bailed out of two world wars. Turns out the energy drinks are actually Wax’s favorite guns which propel him into ass kicking action which turns city of Paris upside down. By expropriating a vase full of cocaine from a Chinese restaurant, Wax begins lead Reece on a wild goose chase, which starts as an effort to catch a high profile drug dealer, but ends with the drug revenue leading directly back to Pakistani terror cell.

The movie has several priceless scenes, including one where Reece’s fiance` catches him and Wax together with a prostitute in an elevator. Throughout the movie, Reece cannot fathom that his special lady would ever cross him. But as it turns out, she in fact is working with the Pakistani’s and has manipulated young Reece into a love affair which she uses to gain access to an African Aids Summit where the US Secretary of State was going to visit. The movie comes down to a final scene where the girlfriend reveals herself to be a suicide bomber, and Reece is forced to shoot the woman he loves in the head in order to save the lives of innocent civilians.

I definitely recommend this movie.

Editor's Note - Attorney Dan Sheill is a transplanted Michigander who now lives in Texas. He serves on the Republican Liberty Caucus National Committee, and still runs the Michigan RLC.

CO Libertarian: Christine Smith: "Not the government's role to protect individuals from themselves"

The Colorado State Senate is considering a Democrat-backed bill to increase the penalty for non-seat belt law usage from a $10 fine to $75.

From the Denver Post, "Buckle up, or else" Feb. 9:

Drivers who don’t buckle up could face traffic stops and higher fines under a bill that gets its first hearing this afternoon.

Traffic cops can ticket drivers for not wearing seat belts now, but only if they’re stopped for other offenses.

Fines would also jump $10 to $75 for violations under Senate Bill 110, sponsored by Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora.

Republican legislators are lining up against the bill. Continuing:

And Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, (photo) said the mantra from her rural constituents is “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

“They’re probably the ones who choose not to wear seat belts, and they don’t want me as their state senator telling them to do that,” Spence said. “I don’t try to impose rules and regulations on them that they don’t want. I respect their opinion.”

Naturally, the Libertarian Party of Colorado is siding with the Republicans. From Christine Smith, Libertarian Party of Colorado blog:

I am getting sick of this. If the issue is that “everyone pays” because tax money is going to subsidize hospitals/emergency rooms, then that is the problem and not people making choices for themselves that are dangerous. Driving unbuckled may be dangerous, but it is only dangerous for the person not wearing their seat belt. It is not the governments role to protect a person from themselves.

More info on citizens against seat belt laws at National Motorists Assoc.

A "Sarah Palin-ite" Republican

Iraq War Veteran Sgt. John Kriesel (photo to the left) is announcing for an open seat in Congress.
From KARE News 11, Minneapolis, Feb. 10:

Sgt. John Kriesel says he'll run as a Republican for the House of Representatives District 57 seat, representing Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park and South St. Paul.

It's the seat now held by Karla Bigham who announced she won't seek re-election this fall.

Sgt. Kriesel lost both his legs in a blast near Fallujah, Iraq on December 2, 2006. The same blast that killed two of his best friends. His injuries resulted in 25 surgeries over the course of just two months.

He is unabashadely a supporter of the War on Terror.

From USIraq.Procon.com

"Congress was right to vote to fight terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. I reenlisted after 9/11 because I don't want my sons to see what I saw. I want them to be free and safe. I know what I lost, I also know that if we pull out now, everything I have given in sacrifice will mean nothing. They attacked us and they will again. They won't stop in Iraq."

Kriesel is affiliated with the Pro-War on Terrorism, libertarian-oriented group Freedom Watch. He obtained some celebrity over a year ago, in national ads run by Freedom Watch. From Tikun-Olam blog:

In one Freedom’s Watch ad, Sgt. John Kriesel, a National Guardsman from Stillwater, Minn., who lost his legs in a bomb attack near Falluja, pleads with Congress and the American people not to “surrender” in Iraq. As the screen shows a still photograph of the second hijacked plane bearing down on the burning World Trade Center, Sergeant Kriesel adds, “They attacked us, and they will again. They won’t stop in Iraq.”

(H/t Jim Hoft)

Consistent with other recent polling data out of New Hampshire a Univ. of New Hampshire survey shows Manchester's Republican Mayor Frank Guinta with a comfortable lead over incumbent Democrat Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter.

From UNH:

Guinta Shea-Porter Other DK (N)

1ST CONGRESSIONAL DIST.

Frank Guinta 43%
Carol Shea-Porter 33%
Other 2%
Undecided 22%

Guinta is best-known as a hardline budget balancer and anti-tax crusader. He also has a reputation as a bit of an eccentric, and is known to pal around with NH Libertarians and libertarian Republicans.

Dear friend of the Libertarian Party of Steuben County,
 
     This message is to provide official notice of the 2010 
 Annual Convention of the LPSC.  Our Convention will be 
 held at 4:30 P.M. on Wednesday, April 14.  Once again 
 we will meet at the Steuben County Community Foundation 
 building - 1701 N. Wayne Street.  (This is in Country Fair 
 shopping mall.)  The North door will be unlocked.
 
     We will be selecting two LPSC delegates to the State LP
 convention, nominating county candidates, and we will discuss 
 2010 campaigns.  Several members have already expressed an
 interest in campaigning for a local office in 2010.  I will send a 

read more

"Brother can you spare a dime?"

By Clifford F. Thies

For the second month in a row, the unemployment rate has fallen while the number of Americans employed has dropped. This is not good news. It means that more and more people who normally would be looking for work are not looking because they do not think they can find work. The spread of discouragement among workers is a disaster. Yet, Obamanoids consider the fall in the unemployment rate to be good news.

Let us look back to the economy of March 2007, an economy that was being described as "the worst economy since the Great Depression." Back then, the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent and the number of discouraged workers, as a percent of the labor force, was 0.2, for a combined, expanded definition of the unemployment rate of 4.6. In December 2010, the unemployment rate was 9.7 percent and the number of discouraged workers, as a percent of the labor force, was 3.9, for an expanded definition of the unemployment rate of 13.6. Whatever the government is doing is not working.

Roosevelt's Democrat Depression Redux

If we consider the problem of short-hours, we would see an even worse picture. Of those who have jobs, 8.3 million are working part-time when they would prefer to work full-time. Treating these people as partially employed and partially unemployed results in an unemployment rate of 16.4 percent. This is the kind of unemployment situation that the economy "settled-into" under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s.

President Roosevelt "tackled" the economic crisis he inherited with a mix of policies known as the New Deal. Famously, this included a greatly-expanded role of government in terms of spending, taxing and regulating the economy.

The Works Progress Administration and related works projects of the New Deal deserve special comment. FDR called for programs to directly employ many of those who were out of work. The purpose of these programs was not simply to provide income security. They were to maintain physical vitality and the "habit of work." FDR recognized that people out of work more than six months start to lose the ability to work because their job skills atrophy and because of the erosion of the pride that comes from being a productive member of society.

Pay in these work projects was low, so that upon the eventual recovery of the economy, workers would spontaneously transfer to the private sector where they would make more money. Furthermore, these work projects were mainly concerned with the construction of public infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, dams and irrigation projects, so that - when the bonds floated by the government to finance the projects came due - the tax revenues generated by an expanded economy, as opposed to higher tax rates, would pay the bill.

Democrat pork spending, not Jobs

Did the stimulus of last year follow the example of this part of the New Deal? No, it did not. In spite of the Congressional testimony of just about every economist, that the stimulus be directed to infrastructure, in the end, only 6 percent of the money was targeted that way. The bill was little more than a humongous pork barrel for the special interests that constitute the Democratic Party, money that has been borrowed and spent with nothing remaining but a huge increase in the national debt.

With so many people discouraged from looking for work and with the majority of those counted as unemployed being out of work more than six months, the number of us remaining "at the oars" is fast shrinking. But, don't worry, our government tells the foreigners who own our national debt, we will beat the drum faster and crack the whip harder on the fools.

Editor's Note - Dr. Thies is a professor of economics at Shenandoah Univ. in Virginia. He is also a former Libertarian National Committee member, and former National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus.

Tea Party GOPer Ed Lynch can win Democrat seat

by Stephen Maloney

Conservative Republican Ed Lynch is running for Congress in a critical special election against a liberal Democrat who vows to rubber-stamp all of Obama's radical agenda.

Frankly, we dont need more "Obama-bots" in Congress . . . Pelosi-types sucking the life out of our country.

A contractor who builds cell towers, Ed Lynch is working hard to build an upset victory in FL's 19th CD, which includes Palm Beach and Broward counties.

Ed Lynch can win -- if he "nationalizes" his campaign, as Scott Brown did. "Nationalize" means to get volunteer help -- and critical financial support -- from people like you. The Special election will take place on April 13 . . . and it will be a very big deal that day on national television.

A staunch fiscal conservative

From the Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 9:

West Boca - In their first faceoff since winning their party nominations in last week's primary, Democrat Ted Deutch and Republican Ed Lynch offered dramatically different approaches Tuesday for fixing the nation's economy.

Lynch said he wants to see a variety of deep tax cuts, primarily for business.

Lynch said he wants a two-year moratorium on all corporate taxes, a moratorium on the employer and employer shares of payroll taxes, and a four-year moratorium on capital gains taxes. "We need bold steps because we are in a situation where our economy is crumbling and we have to bring it back."

A month ago, the pundits would have said Ed had only a slim chance to win in a traditionally left-leaning district. And then, along came a man named Scott,Brown, who had "no chance" to win in liberal Massachusetts.

Ed Lynch has secret weapons, including massive support from the Tea Party and 9/12 movements. His "ground game" will be powerful.

Lynch quoted in the Sun-Sentinel:

"This campaign is going to be won with the grassroots. Special elections typically have very low voter turnout. And it’s the grassroots people, of which I am one. I am a tea party guy, a DC Works For Us guy, a 9-12-er.”

Says jobs come through small business expansion, not government stimulus

by Eric Dondero

The owner of the SmokeEaters Pub in Philadelphia is seeking the Republican nomination for Congress in Pennsylvania District 13. The seat is currently held by Democrat Rep. Allyson Schwartz.

Haughton is a retired Philadelphia Firefighter, and a former officer in the US Air Force.

Haughton takes a blue collar, regular guy common sense approach to the issues. His basic credo:

He believes people should be trusted to make their own decisions, not the government. And he believes that the United States should not apologize for being the best country in the world.

Specific policies from his campaign website:

Politicians must stop expanding the role of government into areas best left to hard working people of the Small business community and the working man of our country. Bailouts, borrowing, pork barrel “stimulus,” ownership of businesses (auto companies, banks, AIG) and expensive government programs will only lead to greater government control, erosion of our liberties, higher taxes, crippling debt...

From Philly.com:

He also backs an effort by the state legislature to add table games to slot machine parlors.

"That would create a substantial amount of jobs," he said.

Hauhgton opposes the Obama stimulus, which he sees as a waste of money and not providing any real jobs. Continuing:

The candidate said small businesses need tax breaks and incentives to grow.

"Name something, and we get taxed for it," he said.

Texas Governor Rick Perry will join libertarian Cable News talker and Constitutional scholar Judge Andrew Napolitano for a forum on States Rights next Monday. The event will be held in Plano (north of Dallas).

From the Texas Conservative Coalition:

The Tenth Amendment Town Hall hosted by the Texas Conservative Coalition, the conservative caucus of the Texas Legislature, will be a forum to explore solutions both to restoring the constitutional rights of the State of Texas and its people, and to rolling back the growing power and influence of the federal government.

The Town Hall will feature a stirring keynote address from Judge Andrew Napolitano (author and Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst), as well as comments by nationally-prominent constitutional scholars and conservative state legislators, including Representatives Phil King, Bryan Hughes, Ken Paxton, Wayne Christian. Governor Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott will also participate in this event, as will State Supreme Court Justice Don R. Willett. Other speakers include grassroots leaders Ken Emanuelson, Greg Holloway, and Dan Morenoff.

The Town Hall will feature three panel discussions:

•State Actions to Restore the Tenth Amendment
•Requiring Congress to Balance the Budget
•Nullification: What it means, and is it an option for states?

Napolitano, who has a regular libertarian show on Fox News weekend, has praised libertarian-conservative Perry in the past for his pro-state autonomy stance.

Appearing on the Joe Paggs show out of Houston, on KTRH back in November, Napolitano made the following comments:

"Governor Perry is right. Half of what the federal government does is not justified by the US Constitution."

A DRAMATIC SHIFT IN TEXAS GOVERNOR'S RACE IN ONE SINGLE DAY

From Eric Dondero:

You've heard the old cliche'; a day can be a lifetime in politics. That day here in Texas came today.

Ron Paul Republican candidate for Governor of Texas Debra Medina, was a guest on the Glenn Beck radio show this morning. Something rather unexpected happened. And it led Glenn and his co-hosts Stu and Pat Grey to lose their breakfasts.

(Of note, Pat is from Houston, and was a longtime radio talk show host here on KTRH before he went full-time with his friend Glenn. He is a self-proclaimed "Christian libertarian." He knows Ron Paul and his followers, very well.)

I happened to be listening to the show. And had an immediate reaction similar to Glenn's.

"The fastest way back down to 4% in the polls..."

A reference to Medina's recent climb from 4% to 24%.

Full Disclosure: As regular readers of this blog know well, I'm a big Rick Perry supporter. But I also felt Medina was bringing up issues in the debates, that lent well to the primary race. Obviously, I don't feel that way any more.

You judge for yourself.

UPDATE!

AP just broke the story...

Excerpt related to Libertarian Republicans via Washington Post:

Beck, who is influential among the Libertarian-leaning voters that Medina has attracted, said he had been flooded with mail since he announced she would be on the show. Medina said in the interview that she has not been questioning the attacks publicly.

"There was a theme that ran against you, and that is, you are a '9/11 Truther,'" Beck said, referring to the term given to people who doubt the official account of Sept. 11.

"While I don't endorse anyone ... I think I can write her off the list," Beck said. "Let me take another look at Kay Bailey Hutchison if I have to. Rick, I think you and I could French kiss right now."

UPDATE!

Medina loses Dallas Morning News columnist over comments

From Politico:

Mike Hashimoto, a Dallas Morning News columnist who was leaning toward supporting Medina, wrote Thursday afternoon that Medina’s slip has severely damaged her bid.

“Sorry, but some things are deal-breakers,” Hashimoto wrote. “Inability to say, with clarity, that she dismissed ‘9/11 truther’ thought and would not surround herself with anyone who thought that way is enough for me to make it a two-person race again.”