Alternatives to Socialized Medicine

It's Not About Facts, I'ts About Agenda

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The debate is over? 30,000 scientists/ 9,000 PhD's disagree

A Primer on Global Warming: Dispelling CO2 Myths

The Primer


http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org/

Tax Day Tea Party

Find one near you! http://taxdayteaparty.com/ Tomorrow!

John Stossel on the Bailout

ht to Jim Demint

Ron Paul on Glenn Beck

February 24, 2009




* ht to http://blog.yaliberty.org/

The 1000 Page Bill That No One Had Time To Read - and the democrats passed it anyway (doesn't that tell you something?)

CA counties say "we're not gonna take it"

Tax revolts, Boston Tea Parties, yeah, this is starting to get good. Here's to the second American revolution! Tell the out of control government that we're not gonna take this anymore.

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1600656.html

Inauguration Day for Kids

I'm actually doing a music theme this week. It's crazy being a former music teacher and knowing that your kids are actually getting very little music training. But now that the pregnancy symptoms seem to finally be easing up a bit (hopefully it wasn't just another short stretch of decent days that just get my hopes up before smashing them), I'm hoping to get music lessons back on track. More on the music stuff later...


We're breaking for a bit of Inauguration stuff on Tuesday. Some TV viewing, though I have to admit it's more to watch Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman than Mr.Obama - see a music week tie-in!- just kidding. Seriously, he's swearing in on the Lincoln Bible, which my kids will find very cool. Of course, we have the possibility of snow being on the ground in the morning, in which case all bets are off about any viewing or doing of things inaugural. All of you out there that are snowless or sick of snow will have to use these links instead. :^)


Without further ado:

1. Time for Kids is our first stop. They have their teacher guides available online with some great worksheets for younger (K5-1st) and slightly older (2nd-5th grade) students. And another one on the White House here.
2. A linked schedule of Inauguration Day events
3. Scholastic has some really nice worksheets as well as lesson plans.
4. This is a great page of links . I recommend the links to streaming news sites for the inauguration, coloring pages, and a pretty nice powerpoint on the inauguration in lew of a lower elementary book on the topic. And actually the 44 Presidents rap song, while irritating, has really nice portraits of all of the presidents. If you already know their names, maybe you could watch it on mute. :^)
5. This is an interesting Obama Inauguration Q&A page. It includes information about the first daughters that my kids will be interested in.
6. National Geographic Kids has an interactive Inauguration Trivia Quiz. I scored only a 70% - see if you can do better.

Don't forget to let your voice be heard in the fight against the Freedom of Choice Act. Millions of children will thank you.

Does it take a rocket scientist to discount the logic of ethanol?

Nope. Just high schoolers that can do math.

Tony Perkins Asks Barack Obama: When Does Life Begin?

In case you actually wonder how this happened

Children of the State by WORLD magazine



hat tip to Kendra

The election for kids

Update: Check out the links for election printables at LaPaz Home Learning

1. If possible, take your kids with you to vote. Try to avoid voting between 7-9 AM, noon-2 PM, and 5-7 PM.
2. Then head to Krispy Kreme for your free patriotic donut with your "I Voted" sticker - buy one for your kids too. :^)
3. Make a Future Voter button from Kaboose's election page.
4. Solve election word problems for math or print other election day worksheets from abc teach.
5. Need a mind-numbing game? Try the online election word search at the weekly reader election pages. Not really for younger kids - it took me four times to beat the timer!
6. There's lots of interesting stuff at Scholastic's election page.
7. And, of course - Time for Kids. The page of worksheets is a real gem. My fav on that page is the electoral college map. I alos like this candidate comparison sheet for young kids. Older kids can read this article, then fill out these worksheets.
8. Check you local PBS station for some of these new Election day episodes:

Electoral College

Their stance on LIFE - in their own words

Another side of the story

A Vote for Obama is a Vote for Infanticide

I don't love McCain, heck, I don't even like him - but this guy is sick, heinous. How could anyone support this practice?! This is not ancient Sparta or Nazi Germany. And this is not a good man.

If you vote for Obama, this is what you're voting for. This is the kind of change you will get.

And you will deserve it. But I pity your children and grandchildren. Especially the ones you will never know.

That's all I have to say.

Thank God for voices of sanity

Thank you, Senator DeMint, for continuing to be a man of principle, wisdom, and integrity. We salute you!

September 22, 2008 - Washington D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) announced his opposition to the $700 billion plan proposed by the Bush Administration to bailout Wall Street. "

After reviewing the Administration's proposed bailout plan, I believe it is completely unacceptable. This plan does nothing to address the misguided government policies that created this mess and it could make matters much worse by socializing an entire sector of the U.S. economy. This plan fails to oversee or regulate the government failures that led to this crisis. Instead it greatly increases the role for Secretary Paulson whose market predictions have been consistently wrong in the last year, and provides corporate welfare for investment firms on Wall Street that don't want to disclose their assets and sell them to private investors for market rates. Most Americans are paying their bills on time and investing responsibly and should not be forced to pay for the reckless actions of some on Wall Street, especially when no one can guarantee this will solve our current problems."

"This plan will not only cause our nation to fall off the debt cliff, it could send the value of the dollar into a free-fall as investors around the world question our ability to repay our debts. It's also very likely that this plan will extend the cycle of bailouts, encouraging other companies to behave in reckless ways that create the need for even more bailouts, triggering an endless run on our treasury. This plan may make things look better for Wall Street in the next couple months, but the long-term consequences to our economy could be disastrous.

"There are much better ways of dealing with this problem than forcing American taxpayers to pay for every asset some investor doesn't want anymore. We should start by reforming government policies and programs that created this mess, including the Federal Reserve's easy money policy, the congressional charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Community Reinvestment Act. Then Congress should pass a number of permanent and proven pro-growth reforms to encourage capital formation and boost asset values. We need to make permanent reductions in the corporate tax and the capital gains tax rates. We have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world, which encourages companies to take jobs and investment overseas."

"It's a sad fact, but Americans can no longer trust the economic information they are getting from this Administration. The Administration said the bailout of Bear Stearns would stop the bleeding and solve the problem, but they were wrong. They said $150 billion in new government spending using rebate checks would solve the problem, but they were wrong again. They said new authority to bailout Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would solve the problem without being used, but they were wrong again. Now they want us to trust them to spend nearly a trillion dollars on more government bailouts. It's completely irresponsible and I cannot support it."

Congressional Bailout

It is time to contact your members of Congress and tell them to not ruin our economy any more than they already have.

Leslie forwarded Ron Paul's letter giving a sane view on this topic. Then, at the bottom of the post, I've copied for you my own letter to my Congressmen. You're welcome to copy and use it to contact your own.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dear Friends,

Whenever a Great Bipartisan Consensus is announced, and a compliant media assures everyone that the wondrous actions of our wise leaders are being taken for our own good, you can know with absolute certainty that disaster is about to strike.The events of the past week are no exception.

The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress' throat is not just economically foolish. It is downright sinister. It makes a mockery of our Constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect. It promises the American people a never-ending nightmare of ever-greater debt liabilities they will have to shoulder.

Two weeks ago, financial analyst Jim Rogers said the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made America more communist than China! "This is welfare for the rich," he said. "This is socialism for the rich. It's bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters."That describes the current bailout package to a T. And we're being told it's unavoidable.The claim that the market caused all this is so staggeringly foolish that only politicians and the media could pretend to believe it. But that has become the conventional wisdom, with the desired result that those responsible for the credit bubble and its predictable consequences - predictable, that is, to those who understand sound, Austrian economics - are being let off the hook. The Federal Reserve System is actually positioning itself as the savior, rather than the culprit, in this mess!

• The Treasury Secretary is authorized to purchase up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any one time. That means $700 billion is only the very beginning of what will hit us.• Financial institutions are "designated as financial agents of the Government." This is the New Deal to end all New Deals.
• Then there's this: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

Translation: the Secretary can buy up whatever junk debt he wants to, burden the American people with it, and be subject to no one in the process.

There goes your country.Even some so-called free-market economists are calling all this "sadly necessary." Sad, yes. Necessary? Don't make me laugh.

Our one-party system is complicit in yet another crime against the American people. The two major party candidates for president themselves initially indicated their strong support for bailouts of this kind - another example of the big choice we're supposedly presented with this November: yes or yes. Now, with a backlash brewing, they're not quite sure what their views are. A sad display, really.

Although the present bailout package is almost certainly not the end of the political atrocities we'll witness in connection with the crisis, time is short. Congress may vote as soon as tomorrow. With a Rasmussen poll finding support for the bailout at an anemic seven percent, some members of Congress are afraid to vote for it.

Call them! Let them hear from you! Tell them you will never vote for anyone who supports this atrocity.The issue boils down to this: do we care about freedom? Do we care about responsibility and accountability? Do we care that our government and media have been bought and paid for? Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government? Do we care?When the chips are down, will we stand up and fight, even if it means standing up against every stripe of fashionable opinion in politics and the media?

Times like these have a way of telling us what kind of a people we are, and what kind of country we shall be.

In liberty,

Ron Paul

Dear Senator _______,

I wanted to go on record to strenuously urge you to reject the federal bailout of these mortgage companies. It is not a Constitutional right or responsibility of Congress, and that alone should stop you. It should be illegal.

Yes, this could create a financial disaster. But better we deal with the monster now in the way a free market demands, than create an ever increasing federal debt that will bring far greater disaster as the American dollar becomes as worthless as Confederate currency.

Listening to the same national financial advisers that allowed this mess to be created is nothing better than sheer idiocy, and I hope that you will endeavor to think outside the Washington bubble and see what financial minds across the globe easily see.

This is not your place. Please leave it alone.

Sincerely,

Alicia

Obama's support of live abortions

Okay, I never supported Obama, but after reading the article, Why Jesus would not vote for Barack Obama , I no longer feel that he would perhaps not be as bad as a Clinton. Indeed, "anyone but Hillary" doesn't even sound funny anymore.

"As a nurse at an Illinois hospital in 1999, I discovered babies were being aborted alive and shelved to die in soiled utility rooms. I discovered infanticide.

Legislation was presented on the federal level and in various states called the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. It stated all live-born babies were guaranteed the same constitutional right to equal protection, whether or not they were wanted.

BAIPA sailed through the U.S. Senate by unanimous vote. Even Sens. Clinton, Kennedy and Kerry agreed a mother's right to "choose" stopped at her baby's delivery.

The bill also passed overwhelmingly in the House. NARAL went neutral on it. Abortion enthusiasts publicly agreed that fighting BAIPA would appear extreme. President Bush signed BAIPA into law in 2002.

But in Illinois, the state version of BAIPA repeatedly failed, thanks in large part to then-state Sen. Barack Obama. It only passed in 2005, after Obama left.

...Obama articulately worried that legislation protecting live aborted babies might infringe on women's rights or abortionists' rights..."

by Jill Stanek, WorldNetDaily, read the rest here

The Governor's Reply

Thank you for contacting me about the recent Second District Court of Appeals ruling on home schooling.

Every California child deserves a quality education - but it is the parents' right to decide what's best for their children. Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education.

This ruling is outrageous and must be overturned by the courts. If the courts do not act to protect parents' rights, then - as elected officials - we will.

Again, thank you for adding your voice to this important issue.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

We might have to move after this election...

Montanans insist on gunrights

Now every state should stand up and demand that their citizens not be deprived of their Constitutional rights. It's time to hold the feds accountable.

Happy Anniversary, Ron and Carol Paul!

Update:

And e-mail from the Ron Paul campaign just included this perk for donating today:

"For those of you who will be contributing on Friday in honor of Ron and Carol's many loving years together, we've included an added bonus: Everyone who contributes at least $201 (since Friday is, after all, 2/01) will get to write a personalized anniversary message to Ron and Carol!
In the coming days, we'll display some of these messages on our website, and we're also going to present every one of them, along with your names, as a gift to Ron and Carol!"



It's time for another moneybomb! Super Tuesday is coming up fast and if you want a pro-life freedom fighter for President, you'd better ante up and kick in!

Tomorrow, February 1, is the Paul's 51st wedding anniversary. Ron Paul supporters are spreading the word (and we've little time, so jump right in, all ye lovers of liberty!) and the goal is 100,000 $51 donations tomorrow. So let's say, "Happy Anniversary" loud and clear, okay?

Eat beans and rice this week if you have to, and sign your name on the pledge list at http://www.fiftyoneyears.com/.

Pro-Life Activist Norma McCorvey ('Jane Roe' of Roe v. Wade)

Endorses Ron Paul for President !

Ron Paul Foreign Policy/War on Terror links for those interested

Addendum to previous article:Ron Paul's response to the terrorist attacks, included voting for the Authorization for Military Force Against Terrorists and proposing H.R. 3076 [107th]: September 11 Marque and Reprisal Act of 2001, which Congress failed to act upon.

First, his Wikipediea bio
Questions that won't be asked about Iraq (Ron Paul asked them in Congress, 2002)
An interesting analysis of the war (Ron Paul, 2005)
Straight Talk: Paul Has a Point (Radley Balko, 5/07)
Suicide Terrorism(and interesting analysis of this specific type od terrorism by Ron Paul, 2005)
Effective and Practical Counter-Terrorism Measures (Ron Paul, 10/01)

Chuck Baldwin Endorses Ron Paul

The Freedom Index

Hey isn't this what Americans want? What they believe in?

It should also be what they vote for.

Check out the Freedom Index which is a congressional scorecard rating members of Congress for their adherenc to the Consititution. You'll never guess who the only representative to score a 100% was.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Some stuff I've been wondering:

1. Is there any intelligent possibility that a pro-war Republican candidate can win the general election when 65% of Americans oppose the war?
2. For that matter, does anyone really believe that even if we did stay John McCain's one hundred years, we would turn Iraq into a peaceful democracy?
3. Will I ever be able to learn to do Crystal's crazy-wonderful CVS deals so that I can get half my groceries for free? What I really wonder is how does it not take her all day long to figure this stuff out???
4. What will it take for homeschoolers and Christians in general to get off the Huckabee bandwagon? I'm sorry if he's your guy, but he bothers me. He bothers Spunky Homeschool, Mary Pride, and David Thompson too.
5. What is going to have to happen to our economy before Americans stop trusting the government for everything and demand real change?
6. Why did that mouse that just got caught in my trap have to still be alive and squeaking?
7. Why does God love me so much that he gave me a very brave and kind neighbor that is willing to rescue me from half-dead mice?

Just wondering...

Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians for 2007

Maybe this a new requirement for being "electable."

This list was recently published by Judicial Watch, which describes themselves as, "a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Through its educational endeavors, Judicial Watch advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people.

Judicial Watch fulfills its educational mission through litigation, investigations and public outreach. "

1. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY): In addition to her long and sordid ethics record, Senator Hillary Clinton took a lot of heat in 2007 – and rightly so – for blocking the release her official White House records. Many suspect these records contain a treasure trove of information related to her role in a number of serious Clinton-era scandals. Moreover, in March 2007, Judicial Watch filed an ethics complaint against Senator Clinton for filing false financial disclosure forms with the U.S. Senate (again). And Hillary’s top campaign contributor, Norman Hsu, was exposed as a felon and a fugitive from justice in 2007. Hsu pleaded guilt to one count of grand theft for defrauding investors as part of a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.

2. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): Conyers reportedly repeatedly violated the law and House ethics rules, forcing his staff to serve as his personal servants, babysitters, valets and campaign workers while on the government payroll. While the House Ethics Committee investigated these allegations in 2006, and substantiated a number of the accusations against Conyers, the committee blamed the staff and required additional administrative record-keeping and employee training. Judicial Watch obtained documentation in 2007 from a former Conyers staffer that sheds new light on the activities and conduct on the part of the Michigan congressman, which appear to be at a minimum inappropriate and likely unlawful. Judicial Watch called on the Attorney General in 2007 to investigate the matter.

3. Senator Larry Craig (R-ID): In one of the most shocking scandals of 2007, Senator Craig was caught by police attempting to solicit sex in a Minneapolis International Airport men’s bathroom during the summer. Senator Craig reportedly “sent signals” to a police officer in an adjacent stall that he wanted to engage in sexual activity. When the police officer showed Craig his police identification under the bathroom stall divider and pointed toward the exit, the senator reportedly exclaimed 'No!'” When asked to produce identification, Craig presented police his U.S. Senate business card and said, “What do you think of that?” The power play didn’t work. Craig was arrested, charged and entered a guilty plea. Despite enormous pressure from his Republican colleagues to resign from the Senate, Craig refused.

4. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA): As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on military construction, Feinstein reviewed military construction government contracts, some of which were ultimately awarded to URS Corporation and Perini, companies then owned by Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum. While the Pentagon ultimately awards military contracts, there is a reason for the review process. The Senate's subcommittee on Military Construction's approval carries weight. Sen. Feinstein, therefore, likely had influence over the decision making process. Senator Feinstein also attempted to undermine ethics reform in 2007, arguing in favor of a perk that allows members of Congress to book multiple airline flights and then cancel them without financial penalty. Judicial Watch’s investigation into this matter is ongoing.

5. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY): Giuliani came under fire in late 2007 after it was discovered the former New York mayor’s office “billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons…” ABC News also reported that Giuliani provided Nathan with a police vehicle and a city driver at taxpayer expense. All of this news came on the heels of the federal indictment on corruption charges of Giuliani’s former Police Chief and business partner Bernard Kerik, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to accepting a $165,000 bribe in the form of renovations to his Bronx apartment from a construction company attempting to land city contracts.

6. Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR): Governor Huckabee enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls in December 2007, which prompted a more thorough review of his ethics record. According to The Associated Press: “[Huckabee’s] career has also been colored by 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor’s office.” And what was Governor Huckabee’s response to these ethics allegations? Rather than cooperating with investigators, Huckabee sued the state ethics commission twice and attempted to shut the ethics process down.

7. I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby: Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 for lying and obstructing the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation. Libby was found guilty of four felonies -- two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements to the FBI and one count of obstructing justice – all serious crimes. Unfortunately, Libby was largely let off the hook. In an appalling lack of judgment, President Bush issued “Executive Clemency” to Libby and commuted the sentence.

8. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): A “Dishonorable Mention” last year, Senator Obama moves onto the “ten most wanted” list in 2007. In 2006, it was discovered that Obama was involved in a suspicious real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko. In 2007, more reports surfaced of deeper and suspicious business and political connections It was reported that just two months after he joined the Senate, Obama purchased $50,000 worth of stock in speculative companies whose major investors were his biggest campaign contributors. One of the companies was a biotech concern that benefited from legislation Obama pushed just two weeks after the senator purchased $5,000 of the company’s shares. Obama was also nabbed conducting campaign business in his Senate office, a violation of federal law.

9. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who promised a new era of ethics enforcement in the House of Representatives, snuck a $25 million gift to her husband, Paul Pelosi, in a $15 billion Water Resources Development Act recently passed by Congress. The pet project involved renovating ports in Speaker Pelosi's home base of San Francisco. Pelosi just happens to own apartment buildings near the areas targeted for improvement, and will almost certainly experience a significant boost in property value as a result of Pelosi's earmark. Earlier in the year, Pelosi found herself in hot water for demanding access to a luxury Air Force jet to ferry the Speaker and her entourage back and forth from San Francisco non-stop, in unprecedented request which was wisely rejected by the Pentagon. And under Pelosi’s leadership, the House ethics process remains essentially shut down – which protects members in both parties from accountability.

10. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV): Over the last few years, Reid has been embroiled in a series of scandals that cast serious doubt on his credibility as a self-professed champion of government ethics, and 2007 was no different. According to The Los Angeles Times, over the last four years, Reid has used his influence in Washington to help a developer, Havey Whittemore, clear obstacles for a profitable real estate deal. As the project advanced, the Times reported, “Reid received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Whittemore.” Whittemore also hired one of Reid’s sons (Leif) as his personal lawyer and then promptly handed the junior Reid the responsibility of negotiating the real estate deal with federal officials. Leif Reid even called his father’s office to talk about how to obtain the proper EPA permits, a clear conflict of interest.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/judicial-watch-announces-list-washington-s-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-2007

Judicial Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Judicial Watch neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office. For more information, visit http://www.judicialwatch.org/.
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Unelectable

I talk to people about Ron Paul. And some are voting for him, a few don't like him, but most say that they like what they've heard, but they don't think he's electable. He polls too low. It's obvious why. He gets no media coverage. But with enough of our support, with higher polling, and higher ranking in the primaries, they will be forced to pay attention.

What's the worst that can happen? Those other guys, whom you don't like as much anyway, won't get your vote. In my conservative state, the most liberal Republicans probably don't stand a chance anyway, so what's the concern? That we'll "throw our vote away". Didn't we learn anything from the Bush/Clinton election? If everyone that I've talked to that liked him, would vote for him and convince ten other people to go for it too - what would happen?

How do people get elected? By votes. Your vote. My vote. Would you rather have the party just choose a candidate without giving any of us a say in the matter? It seems to me that most people think like that. They look at the polls and decide who to vote for. That's backward. We make the polls. Our votes.

So don't tell me that someone is unelectable. I'm tired of hearing it. Just say that you won't vote for him. Because it's not about him. It's about whether we have the heart to take a chance on helping the best man win.

ABC's New Hampshire Debate

airs tonight at 7PM. This is your friendly reminder. So watch with me. They actually included Ron Paul, unlike "fair and balanced" Fox News.

Grading the GOP Presidential Candidates on Family-Value Claims

"Campaign for Children and Families, a leading West Coast pro-family organization that researches and advocates for the natural family, is pleased to announce the Report Card on the Natural Family to inform voters where the leading Republican presidential candidates stand on protecting the basic family unit." Here are the results.

Ron Paul

This has been a tough year for choosing a candidate. Today I'm here to tell you why I'll be voting for Ron Paul.

First, who else could I vote for?

Life is sacred. This is not politics, this is ethics, folks. Tell me, if a president said that it was okay if people wanted to kill their four year olds, that he wouldn't outlaw the places were you could take them to be murdered, would you consider the guy? Even if he made it clear that he would never want to murder his four year old? Does that make it clearer for some of you that think you can avoid that issue? That four year old, that baby, could be your future grandchild. Are you okay with that? If you are, then you have bigger problems than I can deal with right now.

But let me just say. No culture that has allowed this has survived. It takes very little time to digress into euthanasia and the elimination of all with special needs, or anyone deemed less than desirable. The Jews and mentally handicapped children in Nazi Germany, the elderly in Holland today, the second children in China could testify to this. If they hadn't already been slaughtered. Because someone thought that that wasn't the most important issue.

Ron Paul is pro-life. He is an OB-GYN who has delivered over 4000 babies, never has considered performing an abortion, and has made it clear that it was never necessary to save the life of a mother. Every pro-life politician has a different line of attack for changing the progress of abortion in America. Ron Paul's choice is consistent with his platform of limiting the federal government. He wants to obliterate federal opinion on the matter, making it a state issue. This would throw out Roe v. Wade and most states would immediately outlaw abortion completely when freed of the meddlesome federal courts. Ron Paul has made it clear that he is running for life and liberty, and that that life begins at conception.

Few choices remain with even some who claim pro-life status being seriously questionable. Mike Huckabee is one exception. He is pro-life and his position papers read well, but his political track record is anything but a recommendation. Even Ron Paul's most adamant opposers will say that his track record is flawless. I don't always agree, but he knows what he believes, and votes it consistently. Integrity. I'll take that. At least I know what to expect.

Ron Paul believes in the Constitution. This is the highest and most forgotten, and most twisted law of our land. If you know anything about the Constitution and our founder's intentions for it, then you will see that Ron Paul's entire platform is mirroring those very intentions.

I wavered on Ron Paul because of his foreign policy. Not that I necessarily disagree with it, It's just a messy subject. He attracts a lot of the anti-war people because he's the only Republican that's against the war in Iraq - he wants a full immediate withdrawal. While this seems like a lousy solution, I surely don't expect Iraq to become a peaceful democracy and stay that way in this life. I appreciate that his stance on it has been consistent from the beginning and, like everything else he does, is based on the Constitution. He won't support it, because it is not a war declared by Congress, and is therefore unconstitutional. He says he is not antiwar, just a non-interventionist - and he can quote a bunch of founders on that being there intent for our country. He's also made it clear that just as we do not go and buy things that we cannot afford, we can not fight all over the globe when our nation is in debt. We will turn into someone else's slaves.

The Patriot Act is a gross violation of our freedom, and Ron Paul seeks to restore our right to habeas corpus.

So his foreign policy stance and other of his more libertarian positions seem to be why a lot of really conservative people don't like him. I'm still not sure how I feel about all of that, but in every other regard he is the small government, no IRS, no Dept of Ed, etc guy I've been dreaming about since high school. All of these things conservatives complain about, he is ready to take on. He has a vision, and a consistent record. He believes that morality must start with the individual and be built from the inside out, not the federal government in. He is a believer that doesn't hide the fact, but refuses to use his faith to garner votes. He is loved by the home school community and fights for their right to freely educate their children. He has been married to the same woman for fifty years. He really seems to be a man of principle and a staunch Constitutionalist. This year was the first national caucus. he garnered 50% of the republican caucuses. The media hates him and purposefully cuts him out.

When I approach this election in terms of choosing a candidate, I'm putting on my hundred year glasses. In a hundred years, the war in Iraq will be a blip on the timeline. I appreciate all of the good that our troops are doing there. We have a lot of great Americans doing a lot of great things, but this is not my main issue. In one hundred years the continued assault on our civil liberties will have consequences. They will have ceased to exist as the Constitution continues to be regarded as an archaic document. We cannot see the future, but this could be our last opportunity. How will our grandchildren judge us if we take the safe path? Maybe it's time to go out on a limb. Time to say, "Enough! Not on our watch!"

Oh, and by the way, some people don't believe that he could win a general election. I believe that he has a much better chance of winning it than Mike Huckabee. Mike Huckabee only appeals to one voting sector. He will not gain swing or crossover votes. Ron Paul crosses party lines. This may occassionally bring out some unsavory-looking supporters, but the point is, he has supporters on more than one side of the fence. And frankly, folks, that wins elections.

Check out Ron Paul. And maybe you'll find that you, too, can dare to believe.

Tell me what you think.

Dr. Paul and Me

Whitewashing jihad in schools

I may have been the only one who missed this up until now, but Sheila Wray Gregoire referenced it in her weekly letter and I was amazed. Twice now, homeschoolers have been used as fictitious perpetrators for mock terrorism drills at public schools. Interesting, huh? Wouldn't want those kids to suspect a Muslim or the kid beside them in math that's doodling bombs in his notebook, but those homeschool kids...

Read Michelle Malkins syndicated commentary here.

Supreme Court upholds Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act

"WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure today - handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench. The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion." Read the rest of The Salt Lake Tribune article here.