Revenge of the Chickens

Sorry this posting is not about an attack of mutant Rhode Island Reds but that sure would be fun. It is, however, about a major event occurring from a totally unexpected catalyst.

The National Industrial Recovery Act ( NIRA) of 1933 authorized the President to regulate and permit cartels and monopolies in an attempt to to stimulate economic recovery , and which established a national public works program. The bill was hastily put together and pushed through Congress. (Where have we seen this recently?)

The NIRA act was administered through the National Recovery Administration (NRA) and became notorious for generating large numbers of regulations. The agency approved 557 basic and 189 supplemental industry codes in two years. Between 4,000 and 5,000 business practices were prohibited, some 3,000 administrative orders running to over 10,000 pages promulgated, and thousands of opinions and guides from national, regional, and local code boards interpreted and enforced the Act. The backlash against the Act was so significant that it generated a large loss of political support for the New Deal and turned a number of Roosevelt's closest aides against him.

To build support for the NRA the idea of a patriotic emblem known as the Blue Eagle was developed. Any businessman who refused to display the Blue Eagle was, not surprisingly, considered to be a suspect American, one who had to be dealt with. To deal with such dissidents, pro-New Deal proponents organized well-publicized economic boycotts designed to pressure these unpatriotic dissidents into getting with the program.





In 1935, in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a central piece of the NIRA legislation. In reviewing the conviction of a poultry company for breaking the Live Poultry Code, the Court held that the code violated the Constitution's separation of powers because it was written by agents of the president with no genuine congressional direction. The Court also held that much of the code exceeded the powers of Congress because the activities it policed were beyond what Congress could constitutionally regulate.

In layman's terms a bunch of butcher's from Brooklyn took the US Government to Court and won. In a sense the chicken was found to be more mighty than the eagle. I am by no means an expert on constitutional law or law for that matter and I am not going to try to draw legal analogies between the NIRA and the recently passed Health Care Act.

There are some who are saying government mandates to purchase health insurance are unconstitutional. I would argue as the Devil's Advocate, however , that we are already mandated to purchase car insurance if we want to drive . There are others who say that it is unconstitutional for the US government to pick up the Medicaid tab for some states but not for others as defined in the law. I and anyone with a lick of common sense would agree with this but my opinion really does not matter.

The Obama Administration has taken a "Please Sue Me" approach to the Health Care Act and are basically daring those opposed to the law to take it to court.

I had a class in surveying when I was in college that was taught by a professor who also had a degree in surveying but also in land law. The man had at one time led a survey party across the Amazon so the true circumference of the Earth could be calculated to send a man to the moon. One of his favorite quotes was " You should always try to settle out of court and never go before a court of law unless you have to . The reason for this is Lady Justice is blind and you never know which way her scales will tip. You may not get what you deserve in a court of law but you will get justice"

Somewhere in America a court case is coming concerning the Health Care Act and from a direction that no one expects. At that time I expect the chickens will again come home from to roost and the Obama administration will cease to be so Cock Sure.

A Voice Crying In the Wilderness

PS: This post actually put chills down my spine. If our government was capable of this 75 years ago they are quite capable of doing it now. The videos have a story to tell all their own

Sources

Fascism and the Blue Eagle by Jacob G. Hornberger

Wikipedia.org

PBS

WAR!!!

WAR!!!!


I have to admit I have followed politics since I was 10 years old. I have seen Presidents do things that I disagreed with and voted against them. I remember feeling sorry for Nixon and I remember being disappointed with Ford when he pardoned Nixon. I never remember being angry at Carter, Reagan, Bush 1 or at Clinton. I remember G.W. frustrating me to no end, but anger... No.

I did not vote for Mr. Obama but I, like most Americans, held hope that his message of hope and change would become a reality. In shortly over one year in office, this President and Congress has managed to divide this country more than I have seen since the Vietnam War.

The debate over civil rights was before my time and I understand was quite controversial. I also know that the voting rights act was passed with broad bipartisan support as have all major items of debate in the history of our Republic. That has not been the case with the health care bill as of late.

The President said this week "he was not concerned about the process", the deem and pass option was discussed openly for days so as to allow an actual up or down vote, and Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings said yesterday "There are no rules here... We make them as we go along."

The health care bill that just passed is an insult to the United States and its citizens. The process of how the bill was passed has infuriated me as no other action our government has ever taken. Our President, as our chief law officer, has taken the mantel and legacy of the corrupt Daley Chicago political machine over the defense of the US Constitution.

You in your arrogance have awakened a sleeping giant. The last time that happened, it was a surprise attack on 9-11 and before that Dec. 7,1941 . This time it was done in broad daylight!! Today the moderate wing of the Democratic party that I belonged to as a young adult died. In 2010 the Democrats will not be running against the GOP but against the American people.

The picture and WAV file below explain it all.






http://www.entertonement.com/clips/llmsnhdpzp--Hell%27s-comin%27-with-meTombstone-Kurt-Russell-Wyatt-Earp-


A VOICE OF TENS OF MILLIONS SCREAMING IN THE WILDERNESS

How are you doing?

Welcome to my imaginary psychotherapy couch. I will now ask you a very simple question.

How are you doing?

It's not just a pleasantry anymore and not just a greeting in the personal sense. It is now a question asked to and from your suppliers and competitors as to how your business is doing.

How are you doing? Probably all right but the odds are that some of your friends and family have been unemployed or underemployed for over one year.

How are you doing? My guess is that if you now are working harder and more hours than you did a year ago as your firm had layoffs and you had to absorb all the work and tasks those people performed.

How are you doing? With fewer people working the rest of us are having to pick up the slack by paying higher taxes.

How are you doing? Your paycheck is probably the same as it was a year ago as cost of living increases have been canceled.

How are you doing? I was asked the question last week by a fellow contractor who relies heavily upon getting their work from the private sector. They complained how fewer and fewer bidding opportunities were crossing their desk. They then asked me when I thought things might turn around? I responded simply in one word "2012". They both gave me a deer in the headlights look and asked "Why?" I responded in one word "Election" I watched the gears turn for a minute in the heads of two guys who probably voted the straight Democratic ticket recommended by the AFL-CIO for the last 30 years. In the words of the TV commercial. Priceless!!

How are you doing? It seems to be an important question to everyone now but to those who reside within the beltway of Washington DC and not one they want to hear the answer to.

A Voice In the Wilderness


How am I doing? I am blessed to be extremely busy and putting in 70 hour workweeks. That's why the time between my postings is stretching out a little. I can assure you one thing though... Next week's posting will be a doozie.

A Taste of Tea!!

OK after nearly one year of reading , hearing , and watching the Tea Party movement I decided to actually attend an event. My wife, who is the voice of reason in our marriage agreed ( after being offered lunch out) to come with me to the "liberal bastion" of Mill Valley in Marin County CA. The event which had been proclaimed by some local liberals as an event promoting sedition was the Conservative Candidates Groupa-Palooza.

As we entered town we made a left turn one left turn early and drove up a hill. We met a group of young college age men with protest signs of Barack Obama with a Hitler mustache and American flags. We were told that the event was one street over but my heart sank after seeing these idiots and for a second I thought about just turning around and going home. But I ever the fool trudged on and we managed the find the last parking spot in the lot. More about those idiots latter.

My first analysis was to determine just what kinds of vehicles do people drive to an event like this? Some would say that the parking lot being inhabited by the rich and earth hating Republicans would have been filled with Hummers and Escalades, but that was not the case. The cars were pretty much non d script. Our chromed up PT Cruiser was perhaps the most exotic car in the lot. It usually is.

We joined a line in front of the center only to see the idiots with the Hitler posters again but then I saw something at the bottom of the posters. The words Lyndon LaRouche were proudly displayed at the bottom of their signs. For those of you too young to remember Mr. LaRouche is a crazy man who ran for the Democratic nomination for President in the 1980's. His followers actually won a couple of state legislature primaries but the campaign momentum was short lived as Mr. LaRouche was sent to prison for financing his campaigns with stolen credit card numbers.

I and the rest of the line joined in a polite heaping of verbal barbs toward these young men. I was beginning to feel a little better.

We then proceeded into the hall into what seemed to be a bazaar of politics. Now one would expect the GOP to be dominate at an event like this and they were. There were also booths set up for the American Interdependent and Libertarian Parties. There were also booths for the Minutemen and several book publishers. Individual candidates also had booths and I took time to speak with Ms. Virginia Fuller the lady pictured at the top of this post. She is seeking to replace my worthless excuse for a Congressman , Mr. George Miller.

The makeup of the crowd attending this event was 98% white and to many who choose to profile the tea movement this is in itself proof of racism. My observation however of those outside the community center and on the city streets was that they were 100% white. In other words our event was as diverse or more diverse than the surrounding community.

The one thing that bothered me a little was what seemed to be the lack of Asian Americans at the event. When I drive past my local abortion clinic and I see people praying in silent protest it is invariably people of Asian descent. In other words hard working middle class social conservatives. These are people would have may have been defined as Reagan Democrats in the 1980s. I have a feeling that tapping that demographic into the Tea Party is going to take a while but when that sleeping giant awakes it will shake CA.

The event was sponsored by the Bay Area Patriots a group with no officers and all volunteers. The main organizer of the event Ms. Sally Zelikovsky, presented a home baked "Humble Pie" in honor of Nancy Pelosi to the joyful roar of the crowd. She the proceeded to introduce local candidates for office as they gave short speeches and also local conservative talk show host Brian Sussman.

In general the people attending this event were as polite as anything I had ever seen this side of a church potluck. After tasting the tea I think I will come back for more.

A Voice In the Wilderness

And the 2012 GOP Nominee is ????

I have dusted off my crystal ball in giving you my prognostications as to who I believe will obtain the nomination of the Republican Party for President in 2012. I have listed a dozen potential candidates below in an ascending order as to how much chance I think they have of being nominated. OK, This is just for fun, let's laugh at this two years from now.


12. Colin Powell- He could have run and been elected President 10 years ago. His time has passed and he speaks now only for the nearly extinct Rockefeller Republicans . He could now only emerge as the GOP nominee from a deadlocked convention. The more probable scenario would have him becoming the running mate of NY mayor Michael Bloomberg on a third party ticket. That would spoil the GOP's chances and that would be something Mr. Powell would enjoy.

11. Glen Beck- The party that gave us both Bushs , Bob Dole , and John McCain will not allow an outsider to win.

10. Ron Paul- No, despite the fact that he just won a straw poll at CPAC he is too old and just a little too scary.

9. Tom Huckabee- The man who did more for getting John McCain the GOP nomination in 2008 than anyone else says he is not running. The perfect beltway Republican from outside the beltway knows he can't win and that's a good thing.

8. Newt Gingrich- Says all the right things and has done all the wrong things. Famous for the Contract with America and infamous for prosecuting President Clinton for infidelity while cheating on his own wife at the same time. In 2009 he backed liberal GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava over conservative Doug Hoffman.
Newt will run and will find out that a man named after a lizard can't be elected President.

7. Governor Bobby Jindhal - The capable Governor of Louisiana who is of Hindi descent and speaks with a southern drawl . Very few of us have prejudice anymore but all of us have preferences. The GOP voters will have a preference for someone else.

6. Scott Brown- A pretty face who will only have two years in the Senate in 2012 ( hey, didn't we just do this?) My prediction is that he may be the Vice Presidential nominee.

5. Tim Pawlenty- A likable able Governor of Minn. I think his efforts will turn up short and is another good candidate for the VP spot.

4. The unknown entry- Television and the Internet make stars out of unknowns who appear at rallies or sometimes Congressional hearings and can be a jump off point for a candidacy. Perhaps someone like Senator Lamar Alexander of TN will decide to run. Another scenario could be a small state Governor who runs against the establishment. Anyone remember Jimmy Carter?

3. Sarah Palin- The most loved or hated woman in the GOP depending on who you talk to. She will be the one they gang up on in debates and how she handles those debates will determine if she gets the nomination. One contributing factor as to whether she will even run or not is that her special needs child will be four years of age in 2012.

2. Mitt Romney- Lots of money and the man the establishment GOP hopes wins. Unfortunately, he backed state run health care in Massachusetts. and that's not going to be something he can run on with the Tea Party folks. It's March 2010 and he has just published a book, is appearing on Letterman and on every FOX commentary show. There is nothing more stupid than the GOP establishment and they tend to vote in mass for the establishment candidate.

1. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina - At this time not a household name. He heads a powerful political action committee and is breaking with the GOP establishment in supporting Marco Rubio over Governor Charlie Crist in the GOP senate race in Florida. South Carolina is an important early GOP primary and even Sarah Palin's star power will not be enough to overcome home field advantage. DeMint not only appeals to Tea Partiers , but has the money and establishment connections to win the nomination. If Mr. DeMint is nominated, he will be the perfect Ogre in the eyes of the Democrats to run against . I also think they thought that about some guy named Ronald Reagan.