pretty much....

the DC mantra - 

if it aint broke, break it anyway...

when it is broke, make it worse....

and when its worse, blame somebody else!

Justice Antonin Scalia...

Justice Scalia stood firmly on the rule of law and the role of our Constitution...and fought vigilantly against the whims of man's capricious decisions based upon political agendas and worldly understandings that contravene our freedoms. 

 

Where the rule of law is ignored, ignorance of the law will rule…  

oh, so it is more government that you want...

Government bureaucracy- the generous spender of other's money (and debt creator for future generations), consistently and effectively inefficient as well as fiefdom builders extraordinaire  

Government: accountable to the people - apparently not anymore! It was a good idea while it lasted...and it lasted until the government became a tax and spend and spend and spend machine. 

We are from the government and we are here to plunder, pillage and generally create havoc (or you can fill in the blank with any freedom and liberty inhibiting phrase, program, tax, regulatory enactment, etc of your choosing)...

I voice support for politician liability...

if old Bernie can seek to place after-the-fact liability on gun makers.....

I voice support for politician liability...for all of the incompetence, dereliction of duty, destruction of freedom, ignorance of and blatant disregard for the Constitution, pork barrel funding, ginormous debt creation for future generations to deal with (inter-generational theft), power brokering for personal enrichment and general malfeasance....

This new class of elite, the professional career politician, must have some accountability for their continued harm that they inflict upon the American people - the death of the American Dream. 

Bernie Sanders Voices Support for Gun-Maker Liability

By Colleen McCain Nelson  Jan. 17, 2016 

CHARLESTON, S.C.—Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday voiced support for legislation that would remove gun manufacturers’ protections from liability, one day before a Democratic presidential debate and amid sustained attacks from Hillary Clinton on the issue of firearms restrictions.

here, here I say....

the English language is so rich with amazing words....may we not limit ourselves to a diet of verbal junk food.....

let us desire to expand our vocabulary and thereby lift the art of speaking and communicating to that of our founders.....rich, poignant, intellectually stimulating, lacking in wasteful verbosity!  

The Founders, Religion and Government

Another unfortunate trait of our society is the use of profanity. Some do not seem able to string together a simple sentence without at least one vulgar expression in it. This is not a matter of freedom of speech, but of common decency. One can, and should be able to, express one's ideas sans vulgar and profane words. An inability to do so demonstrate's, as our own grandfather was want to say, demonstrates an ignorance of the English language. One mark of the Founders was their way with words. If we wish to see their like again, we should strive to improve our own language and the ability to express our ideas. The loss of that plays into the hands of tyrants and despots.

"The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish, and wicked practice, of profane cursing and swearing (a Vice heretofore little known in an American Army) is growing into fashion; he hopes the officers will, by example, as well as influence, endeavour to check it, and that both they, and the men will reflect, that we can have little hopes of the blessing of Heaven on our Arms, if we insult it by our impiety, and folly; added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that every man of sense, and character, detests and despises it."

~ George Washington, General Orders on Profanity (August 3, 1776)

No More Great Society: We Don’t Need More Stuff; We Need a Leader Who Will Stop Our Unraveling

for ponderment.....

the federal government is not our friend....it has become a wild gaggle of politically motivated, Constitution ignoring, power and control-hungry elite who believe they know better than every other American citizen...it must stop!

No More Great Society: We Don’t Need More Stuff; We Need a Leader Who Will Stop Our Unraveling

John Linder;  he served in Congress for 18 years from Georgia. He and his wife, Lynne, have retired to a farm in Northeast Mississippi.

What has happened to the idea that is America? When did history’s greatest experiment in freedom and opportunity begin to unravel? Did we celebrate the 50th anniversary of that event just last May?
Growing up in a small town in the 1950s was all about community. If government was discussed at all, it was about war and peace. We had been in two recent wars and elected a general to lead us.

Dr. James Nakamura was our beloved physician in Deer River, Minnesota. He drove a new Thunderbird.
Dr. Jim had file drawers of records on patients he treated for free. He viewed it as his community responsibility. He often said, “Pay me when you can.” It was not uncommon for that to be a chicken or a ham.
President Lyndon Johnson’s landslide victory over Sen. Barry Goldwater in 1964 gave Johnson immense political capital and he spent it.

On Nov. 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater for president in a landslide in 1964, 486-52. Johnson used his political capital to create the Great Society. (AP Photo/File)

The Great Society, which turned 50 years old last May 22, replaced community responsibility with the War on Poverty.
Those who were struggling would be cared for and the elderly and poor would get their health care provided by a beneficent and generous government.
The world changed that day.
Doctors, whose taxes paid for the Great Society, no longer treated patients for free. They billed the government.
Those who had seldom seen a doctor decided to go more often. We never spend other people’s money as carefully as we spend our own.
As costs exploded, Congress acted to control them. Insurance companies followed suit with private patients, and soon bureaucrats were making our medical decisions.

People whose ideas fail seldom admit to failure. They generally conclude that they need to do more.
Ultimately, more and more became Obamacare.
The poverty rate in America today is approximately the same as it was $22 trillion ago when the War on Poverty began. We lost the war.
The poor got attention, but the money went to corporate America. Agribusiness has a firm grip on all government nutrition programs from school lunches to food stamps and WIC.
Other industries watched in awe and began to lobby for more government, too. They became natural allies with Democrats who also worshipped at the altar of Big Government. Crony capitalism was the result.
Presidents who followed Johnson decided that using the government to do good things was a neat idea.
Nixon gave us the EPA and food stamps. George H.W. Bush gave us the Americans with Disabilities Act. Clinton gave us the Crime Bill and Motor Voter. George W. Bush expanded Medicare with a drug entitlement, and Obama put all of the above on steroids.
As big business got our money, politicians and bureaucrats got our choices.
Some medical procedures are approved. Others not.
Some foods can be bought with food stamps. Others not.
Your cattle may drink from streams on your farm but may not urinate in them. (You and I get that. Try explaining it to the cattle.)
Even our light bulbs were determined by an act of Congress.
Government and business became so deeply intertwined that it was just a matter of time before politicians stepped up to fix bad business decisions with your money and corporate bailouts became a presidential indulgence.

Former Rep. John Linder says that government believes it can run people’s lives better than individuals can. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

As our personal and business decisions became subject to politics so did our lives. Every decision and every thought of every American became viewed through a political prism.
Those who use political power to improve our lives expect us to behave, so they bully us to be politically correct.
This week a lady said she was suspicious of the behavior of the San Bernardino terrorists but didn’t report it because she didn’t want to be accused of racial profiling.
Even issues of war and peace are driven by politics.
War has been declared on us, but we refuse to engage because it doesn’t fit the political narrative.
The saddest fact in all of this is that it could have been prevented. We know how to stop this.
These are not complicated decisions. They are made complicated by politicians calculating the political implications of every move in a desperate attempt to hold on to political power.
If we replaced those in political power today with a few thousand Americans selected at random from across the country, this would all end.
The government must be removed from everything in our lives that we can do for ourselves.
For those who simply cannot take care of themselves, their neighbors will. That worked for a few centuries before the Great Society took over.
Health care decisions must be returned to you and your doctor. Yes, even Medicare and Medicaid can be delivered by the marketplace. For veterans, we’ll pay the medical bills.
Education decisions should be returned to the county school superintendents. They did just fine until 1964.
If someone shouting Allahu Akbar kills an American, it must be recognized for what it is — an act of war by radical Islam.
We may cause some temporary damage to the environment in the desert, but we are capable of annihilating the Islamic State in a few weeks.
Iran should be told, in no uncertain terms, that we will no longer tolerate their funding of terror against Israel. They might be reminded that while they are trying to build nuclear weapons we already have them.
Vladimir Putin should be told, “You know what we are capable of. Go home.”
We are sick and tired of being lectured to about diversity. We don’t need or want any more “stuff.”
America is not a great nation because of the Great Society. We are a great nation because in America ordinary people do extraordinary things.
The political leader who understands this will commit to get government out of our way. We will put things right once again.
Whoever does understand this will find a huge reservoir of good will and support. Let us see who tries.
Email: linderje@yahoo.com Twitter: @linderje

moving away from a strong foundation....

Way too many people today believe the converse of these statements....and it all starts with a belief that government is the way, the truth and the life...how did we get here???

and its not 'apart from the government nothing'......

it is 'apart from Him nothing'.....