Archive for the ‘We The People’ Category
News like this will certainly give Democrats heartburn. Speaker Pelosi is justified in worrying about this election cycle. This is terrible news for Democrats:
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with Trump’s statement in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives before the vote: “This impeachment represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by Democrat lawmakers unequaled in nearly two-and-a-half centuries of American legislative history.”
With a microscopic-length list of accomplishments and a reputation of unjust investigations, not legislation, Democrats won’t get the benefit of the doubt on whether they should be given the opportunity to govern. That’s especially true when multiple Democrats have said that they’d continue impeaching President Trump if he’s re-elected.
With 2020 likely to be spent campaigning, there’s virtually no chance that the Democrats’ list of accomplishments will grow. What they have now will be what they have when Election Day arrives. A congress that abuses its authority while ignoring its responsibilities to We The People is derelict in its duties.
Democrats are treating impeachment is being treated like it happens daily. That isn’t acceptable. Impeachment is the political equivalent of the death penalty. For 3 years, Democrats have tormented President Trump daily while he’s tried accomplishing things on the people’s behalf. It won’t take a genius to highlight the difference between President Trump’s attempts to work on the people’s behalf and the Democrats’ attempts to resist President Trump’s positive initiatives. This is what happens to Democrats who try impeaching President Trump with hearsay testimony:
It isn’t pretty.
This LTE highlights how society is increasingly rejecting objective truth. This paragraph is the perfect example of undisciplined thinking:
Our disagreements about how to run government, provide health care and offer housing and a sustainable living to families are only the tip of the iceberg. We disagree about how to best take care of both immigrants and citizens. None of the ways are the “right” way. We must understand that each is “a” way and that they all work with varying degrees of success. When we factor human kindness into the equation, or love of neighbor, we have more success.
Actually, the right way to deal with immigration is multi-faceted but eminently logical. It starts with the belief that each nation has the right to determine who gets into its nation.
In fact, it’s important to realize that nations have the affirmative obligation to protect its citizens. Providing for public safety is a core function of government. Implicit in the above paragraph is that there isn’t a wrong way. That’s foolish. The wrong way is the way that the Democrats’ presidential candidates are advocating for.
During the Democrats’ first round of presidential debates in Miami, FL, every Democrat presidential candidate lifted their hand, signaling that they thought the US should decriminalize illegal immigration. That’s insanity. That’s like sending out an invitation to the world that they can live in the US if they pay a fine.
Saying that all ways “work with varying degrees of success” is foolish. Closing immigration loopholes, tightening up asylum questions and sealing our border with physical walls will shut down illegal immigration to a trickle, stop human trafficking and restrict the flow of illegal drugs to the point of crippling the drug cartels’ profits.
Hearing Nancy Pelosi say that obeying the immigration laws that Congress has passed and that various presidents have signed “isn’t who we are” is sickening. If those signed laws that were passed by this nation’s elected leaders don’t represent our nation’s values, what does? After all, those laws weren’t shoved down our throats. They required compromise, wisdom and principles.
Democracy is that great American experiment in which we each have a say because we were created as equals, no matter our lot in life. Gerrymandering and restricting access to polling places (see our neighbors in North Dakota, for example) give lie to the experiment. True democracy makes it easier to vote and works toward equal representation, not the reverse.
Before the federal government existed and immediately after the Colonists won the Revolutionary War, France recognized each of the 13 former colonies as individual nation states. Today’s Democrats advocate for the opposite of the post-Revolutionary War United States by advocating for a system of government that doesn’t take into consideration what rural America, America’s heartland and blue collar America need but caters to the needs of coastal America and elitist America.
It’s important to stipulate that we don’t have a national government. We have a federal government. Theoretically at least, that federal government is there to serve the states. It isn’t there to tell the states what to do. The best way that the federal government can serve We The People is to let us make most decisions at the local or family level.
Yes, there really is a right way. Yes, there really is a wrong way. Though the Founding Fathers were imperfect, the Constitution that they put together was as close to perfect as any document in human history.
This Our View Editorial highlights the short-sightedness of the St. Cloud Times. The subject of the Our View editorial is the new Tech HS that will officially open Tuesday. One of the lessons we supposedly learned is that “If Central Minnesotans have learned anything in the past decade, it’s that investments in school facilities are rarely quickly decided. It can take several years and several rounds of proposals to find out the will of the people.”
Actually, what I’d learn from that statement is that the school board could get things done faster if they listened to their constituents instead of making a proposal, then putting the school board’s proposal up for a vote. I know it’s a revolutionary concept but I’m betting that listening to the people who will be asked to foot the bill for projects might improve the ideas the board votes on.
That concept is rooted in William F. Buckley’s that he’d rather be governed by people randomly picked out of a phone book than by a bunch of elitists. I’m wholeheartedly with Mr. Buckley on that.
For all intents and purposes, I was the No Vote organizer on the first Tech building referendum that got defeated. The St. Cloud Times ruined the ISD 742 strategy when it wrote that they were “disappointed” that they hadn’t seen more yard signs promoting the Tech building referendum. The minute I read that, I knew that Willie Jett and the ISD 742 school board were trying to silently pass the referendum without telling the community at large.
In other words, the education elitists didn’t want the hoi polloi finding out about the referendum. The school board knew that their proposal was, at minimum, controversial. They wanted to keep turnout down. As the Vote No coordinator, I wanted to whip voters into a frenzied mob. On November 3, 2015, the referendum lost by a wide margin. (I guess I did my job pretty well.)
My next goal is to get people to understand why it’s important to flush the establishment critters off the school board ASAP. People hear about universities being centers of indoctrination. It’s indisputable that they tilt heavily to the left but it’s equally indisputable that indoctrination doesn’t start on university campuses. It starts in Kindergarten, grade schools and high schools.
If people don’t start asserting themselves, we’ll have students who are heavily indoctrinated before they’re junior high students. As an activist/leader, LFR will publish something on this topic soon.
More and more, the American people are getting the impression that anti-American forces are trying to take apart part of the United States’ identity simply by complaining. In St. Louis Park, it might not have taken even that much for the City Council to vote to eliminate reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before City Council meetings.
According to the article, “council members voted for removal because some argued the Pledge of Allegiance could discourage non-citizens from the political process.” So the St Louis Park City Council voted unanimously to stop reciting the Pledge because it might offend someone? How is that different than a heckler’s veto against conservative speakers?
Thankfully, our pro-American president isn’t sitting on the sidelines while the Hate America First Democrats strip away one tradition after another. This isn’t just one isolated incident after another. These are related. There’s no question that there’s a plan in place. Here’s President Trump’s tweet:
Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you! @foxandfriends— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2019
Apparently, these politicians don’t understand who they’re dealing with as constituents. This is the age of Brexit, populism and President Trump. Check this out:
(Anne Mavity, the council member who sponsored the original changes to the meeting protocol, previously told KARE 11 that non-citizens shouldn’t have to say a pledge to do business with the city). However, the decision led to some backlash and even national media attention, including the president’s tweet. Mavity said she supports a detailed research process that incorporates feedback from constituents. “We clearly fumbled by not anticipating the desire of our St. Louis Park residents to be in conversation about this,” Mavity said. “So, I want to make sure we get it right at this time.”
First, if non-citizens have a problem with meetings that start with the Pledge of Allegiance, that’s their problem. Period. Next, it’s important for the United States to maintain its identity. Someone should send this recital of the Pledge to the Council:
I’ve watched the Pledge getting recited dozens of times. Each time, I gain new appreciation for the Pledge. Whenever this Pledge is recited, though, something special happens. I can’t explain it but I know it when I feel it.
That’s why winning this fight isn’t just important. It’s essential.
The mayor supports reinstating the pledge but was out of town when the vote occurred in June. On Monday night, he said council members “skipped a step” and should have taken more time to consider the community’s feedback. “Let’s have a focused discussion (about the pledge),” Spano said in interview. “Whether or not that is in fact welcoming or unwelcoming and what does that mean? And how do we move forward as a group?”
It’s difficult to believe that the Council accidentally skipped a step. I think it was intentional because I’m betting that the Council wanted a specific outcome and because they didn’t want to have to explain their decision to the uppity peasants.
Jenny Berg’s article about Dr. John Palmer’s decision to run for the St. Cloud City Council highlights something important. It is best highlighted when Dr. Palmer is quoted as saying “I’ve chosen consciously to talk about ‘we the people’ because I really think the current council and the person I’m running against has forgotten that they are servants to the people. In our republican form of government, it’s the people who are in charge.”
What Dr. Palmer implied, I’ll state explicitly. The men who represent the citizens of Wards 1, 2 and 3 don’t listen to the people of their wards. Jeff Johnson, who isn’t seeking re-election, is the only member of the City Council that consistently listens to his constituents and who sees what’s happening in this city.
Of the candidates running for the City Council, I’m confident that Dr. Palmer, Liz Baklaich, Paul Brandmire and Mike Conway will listen to the people. I’m confident of that because I know each of them and I’ve seen how good of listeners they are. It’s possible that the other candidates are decent listeners. I just can’t vouch for their listening skills.
Nobody should like the direction that St. Cloud is heading. The Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Kleis and the incumbents have told us that the city is heading in the right direction. Unemployment is low but Electrolux is moving. Herbergers is closing. Our airport is on life support. What part of that sounds like we’re heading in the right direction?
Palmer said his goals, if elected, are to grow the economy of St. Cloud and ensure citizens’ voices are heard. “We can no longer rely on simply increasing fees and sales taxes, increasing hotel and motel taxes and increasing property taxes. What we need to do is grow the economy in able to have sufficient revenue,” he said. “What you want more of, you certainly don’t tax.”
Palmer said the council needs to be open to differing opinions. “My main goal is to reform the council in such a way that the primary orientation is to listen to the people and to conduct the affairs of the council in such a way so that the people’s voice is not stifled,” he said.
“Let me give a concrete example — by having a public hearing two weeks before they are going to have a vote, and by excluding the public from participating in the debate at the time they are going to vote, you stifle public input. You stifle the quality of the debate.”
That’s what principled leadership sounds like.
In her speech during the open forum portion of the City Council meeting, Liz Baklaich said that the Council is irreparably damaged and couldn’t be fixed. In my opinion, she’s right. Dave Masters, Steve Laraway and John Libert aren’t suddenly going to start listening to the people. That isn’t who they are. I don’t often agree with Vice President Biden but he once said something that’s inescapably true. He said “A leader without followers is just a man out for a walk.” Masters, Laraway and Libert are just people out for a walk.
Frankly, Masters is a disgrace. When Dr. Palmer tried making a point at last Monday’s meeting, the Council President told Dr. Palmer to sit down. When he refused to sit because sitting would’ve violated a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling, Masters said “Personally, I take offense with Dr. Palmer not following the rules and standing before the Council after being asked numerous times to sit down please. You have your time when you can speak during the Open Forum.”
I have a problem when elected officials ignore state Supreme Court rulings:
I feel like justice was finally served,” said Robin Hensel, whose refusal to move her chair at a 2013 Little Falls City Council meeting was at the heart of the court’s decision. Hensel, a grandmother and peace activist who frequently protests at Camp Ripley, said she never thought she would actually get charged when she moved a folding chair to the open space between the public galley and the City Council’s dais.
In its ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court sided with Hensel, saying: “The statute is broad and ambiguous, prohibiting any conduct or speech that ‘disturbs an assembly or meeting,’ whether expressive or not. An individual could violate the statute by, for example, wearing an offensive t-shirt, using harsh words in addressing another person, or even raising one’s voice in a speech.”
Masters is part of the problem. In my opinion, Dr. Palmer is part of the solution because he’s a principled leader.
Late this afternoon, Elizabeth Baklaich announced that she’s running to replace Steve Laraway representing St. Cloud’s Second Ward. Baklaich introduced herself to Ward 2 voters with this statement:
My name is Elizabeth Baklaich. I am a concerned citizen who is stepping forward to run for office because our St Cloud City Council needs real change.
Our founding fathers knew what they were doing declaring our independence and establishing our Constitutional Republic. The St Cloud City Council seems to have forgotten that our human rights come from a power higher, not from government. We The People are the government. We have a right to be heard, to be safe and, when needed, to redress a government.
Our current government has ignored attempts to redress them from the outside. I have watched as laws have been ignored and Tax Payers rights have been violated. The change did not seem possible from the outside, so much to my chagrin, I am stepping up and taking the lead so that this power run amuck does not take the next step and turn into tyranny.
I am a wife, mother and survivor. I grew up in Pennsylvania as a Quaker and graduated from a small steel town in Chester County Pa. I have lived in many places in the US, and in 2001 chose to make Minnesota my home. I have a great respect for history and do not want us to repeat it. I am not politically correct. I own my mistakes, then do my best to learn from them and not to repeat them. My work history which began at 14 includes everything from legal research, to real estate, to insurance to scrubbing toilets. There is always work for those who are willing to roll up their sleeves and do it. Currently, I sit on 1 local board and teach Red Cross & American Heart Association CPR classes for 3 different employers. I like helping others and helping others become trained to help others.
We are going to create situations for the citizens to be heard, for their views to be respected. As a beginning, I am creating several listening sessions for the people of Ward 2 to clearly be able to share their concerns without interruptions, limitations or a 3-minute timer on them. I see several opportunities to increase community engagement while making the government more efficient. The government should work for us, not dictate to us.
I look forward to being the people’s choice for Ward 2 in St Cloud.
Mr. Laraway is part of the old boys network. He’s part of the problem. He isn’t part of the solution. Ms. Baklaich wants to listen to her constituents rather than tell them what she’ll do. Ms. Baklaich’s words prove that she knows we have a Constitution limiting what government can do.
Further, it’s clear Ms. Baklaich knows that government is only possible with the consent of the governed.
There’s no question that people are resistant to change. They appreciate the familiar, which is why it’s difficult, if not impossible, to change things that are broken. Sometimes, though, a dramatic shake-up is exactly what’s needed. The colonists knew that in the 1770s. There are lots of angry activists in the 21st Century who wonder if it isn’t time for another revolution.
This op-ed, which I linked to in this post, highlights the fact that the “council has broad authority, including the ability to levy taxes” but that the governor is their primary constituent. In the colonists’ times, they started a revolution. One of their chief rallying cries was “No taxation without representation.”
According to Dictionary.com, the definition for No taxation without representation “became an anti-British slogan before the American Revolution; in full, “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” I can’t disagree with that last sentence. Taxation without representation is tyranny.
This paragraph especially stands out:
The mayors in their commentary suggested that elected city and county officials could not handle the workload or think “regionally” while representing both their municipality and a Met Council district.
There’s a simple explanation for these mayors’ preference. They want their initiatives to get rubberstamped and put into place ASAP. What politician enjoys the mess that’s created when making sausage? The Met Council is a mayor’s dream. They get their wish list enacted without having to cut deals with uppity peasants.
This nation’s Founding Fathers understood the appeal of mob rule. That’s why they designed a system filled with checks and balances. They wanted to thwart entities like the Met Council. They wanted the system to be messy because efficient governments are usually out-of-control governments that don’t pay attention to the citizenry, aka the uppity peasants.
Here’s the lengthy list of elected officials that signed onto this op-ed:
Scott Schulte is an Anoka County commissioner. Chris Gerlach is a Dakota County commissioner. Jeff Lunde is mayor of Brooklyn Park. This commentary was also submitted on behalf of the following local government officials. County commissioners: Rhonda Sivarajah, Matt Look, Julie Braastad and Robyn West, Anoka County; Tom Workman and Randy Maluchnik, Carver County; Liz Workman and Nancy Shouweiler, Dakota County; Jon Ulrich, Scott County, and Jeff Johnson, Hennepin County. Mayors: Mark Korin, Oak Grove; Kelli Slavik, Plymouth; Jim Adams, Crystal; Jeff Reinert, Lino Lakes, and Dave Povolny, Columbus. City Council members: Jim Goodrich, Andover; John Jordan, Brooklyn Park; Jeff Kolb, Olga Parsons and Elizabeth Dahl, Crystal; Dave Clark and Jason King, Blaine; Brian Kirkham, Bethel, and Bill Krebs, Columbus.
The time for a dramatic reform of the Met Council is at least a decade overdue. Further, there’s never a good time to give government the authority to raise taxes without giving people the authority to boot the bums out of office.
Technorati: Met Council, Mark Dayton, Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny, Activists, American Revolution, No Taxation Without Representation, Checks and Balances, Founding Fathers, Accountability, We The People
Jim Geraghty’s post, titled If You’re Explaining, You Los- Eh, No, Wait, You’re Doing Your Job., demolishes Donald Trump’s fanatical rant that voters were disenfranchised. When Geraghty wrote “You vote for delegates at your precinct March 1; the delegates you elect vote among themselves for delegates to district and statewide conventions; at the district and statewide conventions, those delegates vote on who goes to Cleveland. Boom. Done.” he gutted Trump’s whining complaints with the greatest of ease.
Still, I’d add that Trump’s done something much more disgusting than just lie about the process. By saying that “one million Republicans in Colorado were sidelined,” Trump essentially said that the 65,000 people that participated in Colorado’s precinct caucuses on March 1 don’t count as real Republicans. Shame on Mr. Trump. They did something he wasn’t willing to do. They participated in the political process. They didn’t just whine about how awful America is. They stepped forward. They offered solutions for fixing the mess left by 8 years of Barack Obama. By now, they’re working hard getting legislative and congressional candidates elected.
By comparison, Mr. Trump has flown around the country, held rallies where he complained about being treated unfairly, told people that they should punch protesters if they acted up and bragged about how he’s doing in the polls.
If saying outrageous things and lying are qualifications for being president, talk radio is filled with qualified presidential candidates.
Mr. Trump complains about the power brokers who’ve rigged the game in their favor while pretending to fight for working people. That’s another myth worth dispelling. Trump is for Trump. Period. If Trump cared about voters, he wouldn’t be disparaging them for their participation in the political process. Why isn’t he working as hard as they are in getting conservatives elected?
If Trump wants to make America great again, here’s a suggestion: don’t contribute to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Here’s another suggestion: stop supporting single-payer health care. Stop supporting tax increases. Stop supporting economic isolationism.
Comparatively speaking, Trump isn’t a patriot. In fact, Trump doesn’t fit the dictionary definition of patriot:
- a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.
- a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, especially of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government.
Standing behind a podium and complaining isn’t defending “his nation and its interests with devotion.” That’s what whiners do. Here’s the definition of whiner:
to snivel or complain in a peevish, self-pitying way
It’s stunning that a man who’s received $2,000,000,000+ worth of free air time on TV and radio think that he’s being mistreated.
When Trump isn’t bragging about how good he’s doing in the polls, he’s complaining about getting mistreated. I can’t wait until we don’t have to deal with Trump’s complaining.
Comparing the GOP activists in Colorado with Trump isn’t fair. The activists work hard to make America the best it can possibly be. Trump complains, then passes the buck for his lack of leadership.
Technorati: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Washington Insiders, GOP Activists, Patriots, Delegates, Republican National Convention, Election 2016
Thank God that great prognosticator and policy wonk Harry Reid has ended the confusion. Thank God we now have Harry’s word that the border is secure. If I hadn’t gotten that information from ‘Gospel Truth Harry’, I’d probably pay more attention to this article:
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut officials have rejected a federal request to temporarily house up to 2,000 immigrant children from Central America at a mostly-vacant facility built for developmentally disabled adults.
The Republican-American reports the New England office of the U.S. General Services Administration has inquired about leasing space at the Southbury Training School.
I’ve got a suggestion for Sen. Reid and the Obama administration. Since the USGSA is checking into renting facilities, why don’t they just keep this in house? According to their website, they manage over 9,600 properties nationwide.
Since this is a mess of the federal government’s making, specifically of this administration’s making, let’s house these children right there in the nation’s capitol. Let’s let these children see the nation’s capitol. Let’s let them visit Capitol Hill. Let’s let them attend a Harry Reid press availability. Let’s have the entire First Family visit them on one of their days of service, like they usually do each Thanksgiving.
As usual, Washington, DC is behind the curve:
“Right now it’s looking like we’ll have a little more than 300 protest rallies large and small across the country. Our goal is to unify Americans of all races, political parties and walks of life against the Obama-inspired illegal immigrant invasion,” Gheen said. “At last count we had 257 communities signed up, but that was two hours ago. We’re expecting more than 300 and updating the event list every two hours.”
Here’s a couple questions I wish the DC press had the cajones to ask Sen. Reid on camera:
- Sen. Reid, if the border is secure, why is this protest growing by the minute?
- Sen. Reid, if the border is secure, why is the USGSA looking into renting space in states all across the country to house these immigrants?
The truth is that the border isn’t secure. The truth is that Democrats don’t want it secured. Think that’s a little harsh? Check out this exchange between Charles Krauthammer and Kirsten Powers:
It’s time for Democrats to stop lying to the American people. It’s time Democrats stopped telling us that the Tex-Mex border is secure while TV reports run articles about how people are protesting the dumping of illegal aliens into their citiess. Democrat should stop lying about the border being secure while a nationwide rally is being planned to protest the Democrats’ open border policies.
It’s sickening that the Democrats think we’re that stupid. It’s sickening that Harry Reid has spent the last year or more lying to us about one thing or another. The Democrats’ lying must stop immediately.
Technorati: Harry Reid, President Obama, Open Borders, Tex-Mex Border, General Services Administration, Illegal Immigrants, Democrats, Charles Krauthammer, Border Security, Open Borders Protests
Hollee Saville just published this information on her Facebook page:
With breakneck speed, the BMS has set the mail-ballot election for SEIU’s attempted unionization of home care providers to begin on Friday, August 1. DHS and SEIU are prohibited from the unfair labor and election practices for which SEIU is often known. If you are threatened, coerced, or harassed in any way, please contact the police and the BMS and please let us know so we can keep a record of it. Please share this information with EVERY PCA you know so that they know that they can vote NO to unionize.
We are trying to set up mailings and phone calls to inform PCAs. If you would like to help with this, please let Hollee know.
Here’s the important “fine print”:
Ballots will be mailed to each eligible employee at the home address supplied by the State of Minnesota, Department of Human Services, together with a letter of explanation and a stamped, self-addressed return envelope.
Ballots will be mailed on Friday, August 1, 2014, and must be returned to the Bureau of Mediation Services, 1380 Energy Lane, Suite 2, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108-5253, in the envelopes furnished for that purpose in order to be counted.
Any eligible employee who has not received their ballot by Friday, August 8, 2014, must personally call the Bureau at (651) 649-5421 and request that a second ballot be mailed to them.
All ballots must be returned to the Bureau office no later than 4:30 pm on Monday, August 25, 2014.
http://mn.gov/bms/ELECTION–HOME%20HEALTH%20CARE%20PROVIDERS%20Order.pdf
To say that Hollee and others aren’t sitting still is understatement. To say that the DFL, SEIU and AFSCME don’t get it that this will hurt them this November is understatement. I published 4 articles written by child care providers who are Democrats who oppose SEIU’s and AFSCME’s unionization drive. See here, here, here and here.
After the Harris v. Quinn ruling, SEIU and AFSCME said that the ruling wouldn’t prevent them from continuing their organizing drive. This news is proof they meant what they said. The thing is that the Harris v. Quinn ruling didn’t say they couldn’t organize. The heart of that ruling said that PCAs and others who are quasi-government employees couldn’t be forced into paying dues or fair share fees.
This organizing drive is just reminding these small business owners that the DFL doesn’t listen to them, that the DFL only listens to the special interests write big checks for their campaigns. The so-called party of the people is really the party of, by and for the elitists and special interests.
This organizing drive is proof that the DFL will always give a higher priority to bigger campaign contributions than it puts on doing the right thing. That’s a sickening thought.
Technorati: SEIU, AFSCME, PCAs, Personal Care Attendants, Special Interests, Union Dues, Fair Share Fees, Bureau of Mediation Services, DFL, Hollee Saville, Small Businesses, Election 2014
