Obama's Council of Governors - What's Going On Here?

explained at Flopping Aces.
Slow sovereignty and rights erosion by Executive Order?

MataHarley does some sleuth type research and asks the right questions.

On a lighter note... I got this in the email today. Pretty much sums it all up.
Can you guess what this is?

Click to embiggen.

Read more...

Haiti - In Case You Haven't Heard...

needs our prayers and help. You can donate $10 via text message to the Red Cross Int'l Response Fund by texting HAITI to 90999. It's easy.

Or you can help in other ways, The website Human Events has a list of charities that are involved in the relief effort.

The Anchoress has a real time update on the situation.

Read more...

Jet!

Read more...

Lessons From The Losing Side...

 ...of the constitutional debate over 200 years ago. - from Imperfect America

The United States under the Articles of Confederation was a disaster. The federal government was weak and heavily indebted, state governments carried massive debts, printed money like it was newspaper and imposed confiscatory taxes on their citizens. Inflation raged, veterans went unpaid and farmers across the country were being thrown off of their farms and into jails because of debts and taxes. This was the climate in which the Anti-Federalists were decrying the Constitution. They suggested the federal government would become too powerful, that citizens would lose their freedoms and states would become beholden to it. What they didn’t suggest however was a coherent or compelling alternative. When faced with a choice between the Federalist’s imperfect Constitution and the Anti-Federalist’s nothing, the citizens chose the Constitution.

  read the rest here.

Read more...

The Robot's New Girlfriend

I'm sure you saw this coming... I've found a girl for my blog's namesake. Her name is Roxxxy, but I'm not sure I can afford the price tag. The Robot will have to earn his keep a little while longer if he wants a date with this little automaton.

Read more...

Debra Medina Interview‏ - Candidate for Texas Governor

NOW FEATURING:

The Peter Morrison Report has graciously granted the Robot permission to republish his in-depth interviews with Texas political candidates and insightful commentary on issues close to those of us in Texas and Southeast Texas in particular. The Peter Morrison Report will also be featured in a new sidebar on this site along with other sites of importance to Texans and to the S/E portion of the state as we get ready for the 2010 election cycle.  Thanks Peter. Here is the first installment:

A few weeks ago the Peter Morrison Report was contacted by the Debra Medina campaign. She is a Republican candidate for governor here in Texas. An interview came out of that discussion.
To be fair, I have also contacted the campaigns of the other three declared candidates: Kay Bailey Hutchison, Larry Kilgore and Rick Perry. If they agree, each will be featured in a future report so you can make an informed decision in March.

The interview consists of a question followed by the candidate's unedited responses. Let's get to it:

Peter Morrison Report: What do you see as the top challenges facing Texas, and our next governor?

Debra Medina: Texas, like all of the United States, is facing unprecedented economic challenges. Property taxes, excessive regulation and broad use of eminent domain authority all but destroy private property ownership. Couple those concerns with a
growing dependence on federal largesse, a high unemployment rate, additional school property tax buy down and diminishing sales tax returns and you quickly realize that the state of Texas must cut spending drastically and restructure tax in order to relieve the drag it places on the economy.

PMR: In your opinion, what are the causes of the terrible setbacks the Republican Party suffered in 2006 and 2008? How do you think we can reverse this trend?

DM: Failure to walk our talk. We must elect officials who follow the strict interpretation of constitution and govern in a manner consistent with our party platform. Recognizing that politics is corrupting and that absolute power corrupts absolutely, the Texas Republican Party should adopt a rule unilaterally establishing term limits as an additional eligibility requirement when seeking a place on the primary ballot for all state officeholders i.e., state representatives, state senators and all state-wide officeholders.This would serve to protect not punish Republican office holders.It would keep them beholden to the people they serve and remove incentives to be "bought and paid for" by special interest groups seeking to use the law to gain favor in the marketplace.

PMR: What are your major differences with Rick Perry, and why should conservative Texans support you over him?

DM: I recognize that the family is the building block of a free society and that parental rights to manage that family as they deem must be aggressively defended.  It is not the role of the government to usurp that right even when the government thinks it knows best. Rick Perry only wants you to manage your family until
he doesn't like what you do, then he will use the mighty arm of the great state of Texas to swoop in and mandate healthcare or take your children.

I recognize that private property ownership and gun ownership are essential elements of freedom.  I will fight to curtail eminent domain authorities and will certainly recognize the duty to protect the sovereignty of Texas rejecting any attempts to cede our land to foreign interests.  I will advocate the ownership and skilled use of weapons so as to increase safety and security in our state.  I will not, as Perry did, cavalierly throw tax money at psychological counseling following the next tragic shooting in our state as though that will help solve the problem.  I recognize that the protection of life, liberty and property must begin with us. We
must be prepared to defend ourselves. In our earliest days as a country, Noah Webster recognized, "the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, of any pretence, raised in the United States."

I recognize that the central banking system in the United States is incapable of maintaining a stable economy.  I recognize that the market is the best regulator of the economy where inefficient businesses are allowed to fail and are held responsible for those failures.  I recognize that Texas assets must be protected and that just as nations such as China and India are moving away from the dollar, Texas must move a portion of our assets as well to protect those assets and protect the Texas economy.  I will not sit idly by and wait for Washington D.C. to protect Texas.  I will not, as the
Governor did with his "what recession" remark discount the suffering in Texas as many are unemployed and struggling.  I will recognize that people not government care best for people.  I will resist efforts to make the state the benefactor of the hurting and needy - families and businesses alike. 

PMR: If elected, what concrete steps will you take to deal with the invasion of illegal immigrants which is transforming Texas?
DM: Texas must press the federal government aggressively to secure our border.  Meanwhile, however, we can not simply wait on Washington D.C. to act.  We must develop stronger working relationships with border county sheriffs to support and augment their efforts to secure the border to insure that all traffic enters Texas through a legal port of entry.  These efforts should involve coalition building between state and local law enforcement, allocation of funds for equipment and personnel and enhanced deployment of State Guard and volunteer corps along the southern border.

Texas must also protect the economic interests of her citizens by challenging federal mandates into healthcare.  The cost of providing "free healthcare" to anyone who asks has forced many hospitals from market-driven profitable enterprises to
public-dependent (tax funded) facilities.  Texas' healthcare providers must be allowed to set their own charitable service policies.  Texas should fight to overturn the federal EMTALA provisions and return to the state oversight of our healthcare
industry.

PMR: What is your stance on the Voter Photo ID bill from the last session?

DM: Do not believe photo ID will serve to prevent illegal voting until and unless the issuance of photo ID is restricted to U.S. citizens and legal aliens.  Texas currently issues drivers licenses to individuals who admit to being in our state illegally.  We
should work instead to tighten voter registration requirements and to insure that the voter rolls are accurate.

PMR: Do you support sanctions against employers that knowingly employ illegal aliens?

DM: Yes.

PMR: Do you support a border fence?

DM: Only in areas where local law enforcement acknowledges that it will help in their efforts to secure the border.  In discussions with these individuals believe that is in densely populated urban areas only. 

PMR: Do you believe that local governments and law enforcement officers have the authority to enforce immigration laws?

DM: No, believe that immigration law enforcement is clearly the purview and responsibility of federal law enforcement.  Do believe that we, local governments and law enforcement, must enforce the laws that we have.  Do believe that  individuals convicted of a crime in Texas should be deported if they are here illegally. 

PMR: As governor, would you encourage localities in Texas to enforce immigration laws?

DM: Will work closely with local law enforcement to identify where and if state law needs to be strengthened to address this issue. Would not advocate local law enforcement becoming "federalized."

PMR: Do you support Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona, who has vowed to keep enforcing immigration laws even though the feds have ordered him to cease and desist?

DM: Appreciate Sheriff Arpaio's efforts to insure law and order.Appreciate his leadership in enforcing law and protecting citizens in his county in spite of "you can't do that" opposition.  Agree with Sheriff Mack regarding the role of the county sheriff, "We must start at home, in our counties, in our own 'spheres.' We must erect the barriers and keep those at bay who would confiscate bank accounts, guns, land, property, and children...You cannot shrink from that duty merely because the violator comes into town with a three piece suit and a fancy attaché case." 

PMR: In August, you posted an article called "Latinos and the GOP" on your campaign website, which many conservatives would find troubling. You seemed to be criticizing Kay Bailey Hutchison for voting against Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court, and saying that her vote will make it harder to attract Hispanics to the GOP. Yet Sotomayor is a hard core supporter of affirmative action and quotas, as well as gun control. This seems inconsistent with your stances on personal liberty and the right to bear arms. Can you explain what you meant?

DM: Kay Bailey Hutchison was absolutely correct to vote against Sotomayor; the problem I was addressing is that the GOP has treated Latinos so poorly for so long that George Lopez was able to characterize this as a racially motivated "no" vote instead of a "no" vote based on the fact she was the wrong candidate on the issues.  Texas Republicans have for years claimed to be working hard on "minority outreach" and yet we see no indication of any meaningful relationship with or participation of Hispanics in the Republican Party.  Because there is no true relationship between the party and the Hispanic community in this state, all action is viewed along strictly racial lines.  People are social beings, we crave belonging to a group.  Texas Republicans must recognize that there are many areas where we share common ground with Hispanics. We must purposefully and genuinely reach out to this group (and to other groups) where there is a high likelihood of shared value.  We must teach and we must engage...or Hispanics will continue to block vote straight ticket democrat...and in just a few years when that voting block alone comprises in excess of 50% of our population, conservatives will be forever a bygone relic in the Texas public square.  There is no room for compromise of values and ideals; there is plenty of room to talk so that we are heard - that includes speaking the language (or, in my case, at least making sure my message is communicated in Spanish), getting into the community, meeting people where they are and where they live. 

PMR: In that same piece, you went on to say that the GOP must start considering the reaction of the Latino community when it comes to illegal immigration and border security. You even refer to these as "Latino interests." It's hard to understand this as anything but a call for the GOP to back off on these issues. Could you please clarify what you meant?

DM: By ignoring our law, we've contributed to a climate that has hurt the state and no area more so than the Texas border.  A new culture of lawlessness exists along the border and an area which was once a paradise of productive farm land has become economically depressed and in some areas quite desolate.  We must enforce the
law, but we should see this as an issue of law, not an issue of race.  We must stop allowing it to drive a wedge between cultures.That doesn't help anyone. 

This issue is a polarizing one because we've allowed it to travel along racial lines, rather than directed the dialog along state sovereignty and economic lines where it belongs.  We would not be at odds with fellow Texans if the debate were kept in proper perspective:  The state of Texas and the United States have a duty to protect our sovereignty.  My comments were not a call to back off on these issues.  They were anything but.  I said we can not be indecisive.  We've not taken a position; we've not stuck to a position.  Meanwhile, the social and economic divides along the
Texas border have grown wider; the crime rate climbing, the drop out rate among Hispanics remains alarmingly high and is predicted to stay there.  Until and unless, Republican leadership is willing to make a concerted effort to address these issues and others that are uppermost in the minds of the Latino community in this state,
we are likely to see that block vote continue straight ticket Democrat.

PMR: You support the growing movement among states to reclaim our sovereignty from the federal government. What actions would you take to strengthen this trend, and to reclaim more sovereignty for Texas in particular?

DM: In particular, I have already taken steps to lead the charge against the socialization of health care presented by the Obama Administration. I have consulted with the Attorney General's office. I have called on the citizens to lobby their representatives for special session of the Texas Legislature to prohibit enforcement. I am also looking into the legal process of suit against the federal government on constitutional authority to stop this legislation, whether it be injunction or class action.

PMR: Does the U.S. Constitution prohibit secession? If so, where?

DM: I find no prohibition to secession in the original content of the U.S. Constitution but understand that historically, secession has led to war. I prefer taking steps to declare our sovereignty as stated in the Texas Bill of Rights and nullification of federal authority on constitutional grounds. 

PMR: Do you support the concept of state nullification of federal law?

DM: Yes

PMR: There is currently a move to hire hundreds of additional state employees to administer the food stamp program in Texas. Supporters say that there's a backlog resulting in some people experiencing long delays in getting approved. Where do you stand on this?

DM: I will not grow state government.  Our state has a debt of $31 billion. The inefficiency of government, whether it be federal or state, has gotten out of hand as leadership has been taken over by entrenched career politicians.  Running a state is a business and should be handled as a business. We must use sound business and management practices to correct inefficient use of resources.

PMR: What additional taxes or tax increases, if any, would you support and under what conditions?

DM: I support the elimination of all property taxation and prefer a broader based sales tax that would decrease the present sales tax percentage and allow property owners to own their property without the danger of losing it to any government agency. I do not anticipate supporting any tax increases.  I support shifting responsibility for government to counties and cities - closest to the area where the service is delivered and allowing/forcing the revenue to be derived there ie., altering the 6.25:2% sales tax allocation so that more of the tax stays local.

PMR: Do you support the franchise tax?

DM: No, the franchise tax is nothing more than an income tax imposed on businesses.

PMR: Do you support any sort of race-based preferences (i.e. affirmative action)?

DM: No, under the rule of law, in a Constitutional Republic, all citizens are equal and should not receive unjust preference to the detriment of others.

PMR: Do you support the continuation of preferences in state spending being given to Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs)?

DM: No, the decision to patronize business should only be the decision of the consumer, through a free market economy and should not be based on preferential treatment.

PMR: Do you support extending concealed carry rights to Texas universities?

DM: Yes, the Second Amendment insures the right of law abiding citizens to carry a weapon for the protection of the innocent.

PMR: Do you agree with Harrold ISD's decision last year to allow board authorized individuals who have undergone specified training and have their concealed carry permits to carry concealed weapons on Harrold ISD school campuses?

DM: Yes, the Second Amendment insures the right of law abiding citizens to carry a weapon to protect the innocent.

PMR: When does human life begin?

DM: Human life begins at conception.

PMR: When does a baby get human rights?

DM: A human baby receives rights from the creator at conception.

That's it for the Debra Media interview.  I appreciate her taking the time to answer my questions and urge all Texans to carefully consider their options in the March 2nd primary.

The Peter Morrison Report
http://www.PeterMorrisonReport.com - Sign up for newsletter
http://www.facebook.com/morrisonreport

Read more...

This is Your Congress on Drugs

Jeffrey Ellis' post at The Thinker had a comment that got me to well, thinking. The post is about government's unintended consequences while trying to (they say) solve the housing market "crisis".

Jeffrey is nobly trying to apply critical thinking to the politicians' motives and results with respect to the housing crisis, the health care crisis, the Afghanistan crisis and the player to be named later crisis. OK, maybe not Afghanistan. Not even critical thinking can solve that Rube Goldberg puzzle. The point is Jeffrey is definitely a critical thinking individual. One smart dude.

I admire intellectuals. I sometimes mistakenly think I am one. To be honest, I sometimes force intellectuals to talk to me. "Go away." is a constant in my life. Tenacity can be a virtue.

But I digress.

While, as Jeffrey opines, the politicians may very well be either in denial, misjudging the outcomes of the policies they are imposing, or are just plain wrong, I have come to believe they are now also drunk on the very power they wield and therefore no longer deserve our trust.

Which brought me to the analogy of an addict politician. A political power junkie if you will. (Apologies to heroin addicts and alcoholics everywhere.) Not a new analogy I know, but it might be interesting to take it down the road a bit to see where it leads.

"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism." - Carl Gustav Jung

Unfortunately, I'm familiar with addicts and the myriad of ways a junkie rationalizes their addiction. It's not a pretty sight to see a friend going back again and again to the very source of their current troubles, looking to escape from reality by substituting the high. Only to come crashing back to earth, sometimes with a deafening, chest pounding, kick drum hammer of a thud. What does a true friend do in such a situation? A true friend intervenes and intercedes.


These drunks are stumbling through the halls of congress, using the constitution as a rolling paper (Hey, it is hemp, right?) and we've got to stop them from doing more harm. Given the fact that an addict has to want to change their own bad behavior, we as concerned citizens have an obligation to intervene, to remove them from the source of their addiction, to remove them from power and to intercede on their behalf to God, our higher power, and pray for them to lose such addictions so that they may be whole again. At least I think there is a scripture that says to pray for your enemies.

So in that line of thinking, I offer a rough draft of this: "The US Citizens' Twelve Step Program To Rid Washington Of Its' Power Addicted Politicians". Which by the way makes a really cool acronym: TUSCTSPTRWOIPAP see? Or maybe not. Yea, needs work but hey, it's only the first draft right? Still time and room for improvement. So without further ado, and with a nod to AA and NA, here is the

===================
Manifesto of Intervention

We The People of The United States of America have come to the following conclusions and plans of action:

1. We have come to the realization that our politicians have become drunk with political power and can no longer be trusted with it.

2. We have come to believe that only a power greater than our government can restore sanity.

3. The power greater than our politicians is "We The People" who believe in a constitutional form of government as framed by our founders.

4. We will undertake a searching and fearless moral inventory of our politicians.

5. We will make public the assessment of such politicians and the exact nature of their wrongs.

6. We are entirely ready to remove every defective, self serving or corrupt politician.

7. We seek assistance from God -as we understand him- in removing politicians who fall short in character assessment.

8. We resolve to make and keep lists of current politicians and their voting records and hold them accountable to such by ballot and public ridicule.

9. We aim, by replacing corrupt and immoral legislators with ones of higher moral fiber, to repeal any such legislation that has become a burden to society or restrictive to liberty, thus weaning politicians of power addiction.

10. We will continue to maintain records on both freshmen and senior politicians and to publicly rebuke them as needed.

11. We seek through prayer and meditation to improve our contact with God -as we understand him-, praying for knowledge of his will for us and our country and the power to carry out that will.

12. Having had an awakening as a free people who desire to remain free, we resolve to carry this message to all citizens, and to practice  these principles as is necessary for self government.
===================

Yea, I see what you're saying. Verbose but brilliant. Right? I know, I know. It's ok you can send money later. For now You should remember this...

The crises we are witnessing are by design. They are an attempt to overwhelm our senses, ala Saul Alinsky, to bring such an onslaught of attacks on so many fronts as to cause us to give up and give in (Turn on, tune in, drop out) to the claim that we cannot think and act for ourselves. These power junkies are pushers as well, entitlement pushers, dependency pushers. Not only that, the pushers have started hitting the product. They are mainlining on power and money, dealing power like drugs (ACORN SEIU, Banks, Bailouts, Bla Bla BS). An addict cannot survive their addiction without a slew of enablers and co-dependents. Pushers can't survive without users.

I'll give you three guesses as to who the enablers and users are in this case.

"Those who have once been intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, can never willingly abandon it." - Edmund Burke, 1727-1797

Make no mistake, the politicians will go as quietly as a baby pulled from suckle. However, we owe it to our forefathers, our veterans, ourselves and our children to get the drunks out of the car, take the keys and hide the bottle.



Update: A  hearty welcome to all you Huns from Little Miss Attila's site! Thanks for the link!
Update II: A Texas size Howdy to  visitors from Doug Ross @ Journal. This humble robot is grateful for any and all linkage.

Read more...

Nominate Robert Frith Today!

Off politics for a bit...
A good friend of mine, a wonderfully talented musician and incredibly likeable guy, is once again in the running for many honors in the Texas Music Awards.
You can hear clips and purchase his music at RobertFrith.com
or you can go to www.mytexasmusic.com/robertfrith and check out all four of his CDs and listen to song clips and read/leave reviews.

If you are so inclined, you can go to  http://www.texasmusicawards.org/  and click on "Nominate now". This will bring you to the nominations page.
Robert is eligible for:

Entertainer of the Year
Singer/Songwriter OTY
Record OTY: Robert Frith
Song OTY: Miss Saturday Night
Male Vocalist OTY
Album OTY: Robert Frith
Musician OTY
and Producer OTY

Click over and give Robert a listen. He lives and plays in Southeast Texas, so you Houstonians and S/E Texans can catch one of his gigs too.

Read more...

What the...?

theblogprof: Hope? State Department Using 'Diversity Visas' to Encourage Immigration to U.S. from Terror-Ridden Yemen

Are we running low on terrorists wanting to blow up airplanes? I can't think of anything that sounds more idiotic that a "diversity visa." Yet it's been going on for some time now.

Idiocy.

Read more...

Question...

John Lott's Website: How appropriate is it for Bill Clinton to get millions of dollars from governments that are dealing directly with his wife as Secretary of State

Is it appropriate that foreign governments give money to Bill Clinton why they are dealing directly with his wife as Secretary of State? Is it appropriate that the exact amount of the donations not be reported public?

Ummmm  no.  But it was predictable.

Read more...

I Hate To Say...

I told you so, so I won't. But I've "mentioned" it...*grin*

Today, 46% of government employees say the economy is getting better while just 31% say it’s getting worse. Among those who work in the private sector, the numbers are reversed: 32% say better and 49% worse.

Geography of recession map here.

My original post here

Read more...

Whom Do You Serve?

Sometimes all we need to do, in order to realize what's going wrong with the world today, is to step back, look at the bigger picture, and truthfully ask a simple question: "Who am I serving?" or "Who does this glorify" or "To what end does this lead?" I believe our leaders know the answers to these questions. They have merely quit asking them.

Read more...

To Bully or Not To Bully

That, is the TSA's Question... at least a couple of their um, well, bullys' agents' question. Check out the story at LMA.

Read more...

Recommended Reading

Found from the followers section of this blog... What, you're not following this blog? What a pity.
Goomba News Network: Serfdom vs. Liberty in 2010

So shameless are corruption's practitioners and their enablers that their behavior is rationalized through euphemisms. Bribery of the sort that would land those in the private sector in the pokey for 10 years is called "legislating" in Washington. It is rewarded with tenure by voters either too enamored with the supposed windfall to understand that the depth of the pickpocketing reaches to their ankles or with memories far too short to effect change in the next election.

Is there an echo in here? I like the way GNN thinks.
Into the blogroll mateys!

Read more...

Rush Limbaugh Hospitalized - Left Rejoices

Snark and Boobs and BigFurHat have the scoop over at iOTW.
I for one wish him well. Here's hoping for a full recovery.

By the way, it’s not a good argument for wanting to take over our health care, Left – wishing DEATH on those with whom you disagree.

Well played.

Now, I'm off to work.
Have a Happy and Safe New Year.

Read more...

Funny Stuff From The Web

Criggo Asks: Who?

via The Presurfer: Bad Obama Paintings
Here's a sample:

Questions: Did the painter have an underwear bomber premonition? Who's flag is that above the White House? And what is that on Obummer's head? A taco???
There are others. You just have to see for yourself. Click the pic to scroll through.

also, from The Generator Blog: The Robot Shake!
Robots are cool, especially dancing robots.

and "The Stupid, It Burns!"

Read more...

I Second The Nomination...

For Anti-Obamanation and Anti-Islamification Activist of the Year...
HT - iOTW - (Who wouldathunkit?)

Read more...

Al Gore To Be Sued Over Climate Gate Scandal...

by founder of The Weather Channel?

Read more...

Baucus Channels Ted...

or maybe Foster Brooks



HT HotAir & Newsbusters

Read more...

Ron Paul Gains Momentum...

From the Houston Chronicle:

Paul goes from ridicule to respect

No one would have been surprised if the Lake Jackson congressman had slipped off the political radar after his 2008 quixotic bid for the presidency, his ambitions for higher office thwarted.

But Paul has refused to go out to the political pasture to live in comfortable irrelevance. As odd as it may seem, he has become one of the most influential Republicans in a capital city dominated by liberal Democrats.

The subject that has brought him to prominence is the same issue that subjected him to ridicule from establishment Republicans for years: his long-standing opposition to the nation's monetary system and the Federal Reserve Board that prints money and controls its supply.

"On economic matters, he was seen as a way outside the mainstream," University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray said. "His views were somewhat 19th century in the view of a lot of economists."

Well, they say history repeats itself, and suddenly Paul's "19th-century" thinking seems appealing to those suffering through the first economic meltdown of the 21st century...

...Paul's proposal to audit the Federal Reserve — first introduced by the Texas congressman more than 20 years ago — recently sailed through the House Financial Services Committee.

His bill has an astonishing 317 co-sponsors in the House, three-quarters of the chamber's members.

Surprising to the Chronicle maybe, but not to me.
I don't think Paul's economic ideas are far from our founders' ideals.

As far as I'm concerned, you can take all the new fangled economist's hokum, mingle it with the strategies of so-called prosperity from the leftists, bundle it up in a burlap sack, and all you'd have is a bag of the same BS, ready to set ablaze and left on the porch of the American taxpayer, smoking, stinking and ready to be stomped upon and made all the worse because of it.

These people aren't solving the problem. They are making the problems worse, and by design.

Why not just let common sense and the free market make it's own case for prosperity? Oh yea, that would make too much sense and not enough money for the bureaucrats. Sorry 'bout your bad luck.

I could say more, but it's late and sleep is calling.
Ciao.

Read more...